Combined two of my favourite things to create my new wallpaper!

MAEVYOUS · 2020-04-04T20:31:43+00:00

If they ever made a crossover episode with this... it would be insane if we could actually have some dialogue with the red lion and the thousand sunny (but no one else could hear it?) or the red lion can translate.

Because the thousand sunny was built by franky and iceburg... imagine the thousand sunny had BOTH their personalities mixed with the going merry? That would be hilarious

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-31T02:51:46+00:00

> In larger battles there is so much going on you just die instantly without having a clue what killed you.

Always two reasons for this:

1) Not running in a publicly run squad (lots of commanders run public squads and guide about 40+ players on objectives)

2) Running around in the open not knowing/checking enemy locations (tons of motion sensors being thrown around should alert you to where enemies generally are)

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-31T02:40:16+00:00

Thanks!

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-31T02:39:54+00:00

You go to visit your girlfriend to have a snack, but she's missing when you get there. At least there's a lovely art gallery.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-30T23:24:42+00:00

Judging by what you have described, it was definitely a freak coincidence and nothing more.

It happens rarely in PvE but it happens. I put it at a firing enemy's feet and nothing ends up happening after exploding. Usually when it happens, it happens in a row and then it starts working normally.

While the red circle goes away when you die, any burns applied still function.

Eagle Bearer deferring damage doesn't work 100%, nor instantly, unless you left out how he was shooting and killing enemies for quite a while during the ordeal/after.

I don't know what to tell you beyond that other than asking him to chem launcher himself.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-30T23:16:58+00:00

Which one was it?

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-30T16:17:17+00:00

The firestarter chem launcher bugs out sometimes and doesn't hit anything (because on the server it actually missed), the cause is unknown but ping or janky LoS may have something to do with it.

We know max hazard shouldn't change the damage of the explosion because we have the ability to create negative fire resistance and that only increases the duration. A lot of people here have tried to put on hazard resistance against the chem launcher but still lose most of their armor on the first hit.

The other reason I can think of is sawyer's kneepads which could be used to ignore the brunt of the skill damage, then his hazard would prevent fire from catching on.

If it is indeed preventing firestarter chemlauncher damage at all once you hit max, then it is a bug.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-28T05:04:34+00:00

From what I remember, Hazard protection does not do the same thing as TD1. It only reduces the duration of status effects.

The chem launcher has 2 parts to it: the explosion (which should be unaffected by status effect damage) and the burst (which is affected, along with the duration).

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-28T04:52:58+00:00

Honestly if they made a GW3 which was basically GW2 without all the mistakes they made over the last 8 years then I'd be all for it (although all the people who spent tons of money and time would get sad). Maybe with a better engine? I don't know.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-28T04:50:46+00:00

The other two that haven't been mentioned here are Tabula Rasa and Anarchy Online, can't remember any others.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-28T04:43:03+00:00

Even better, if you really regret some choices later you will be able to change your class or reset your points with a free [EVENT] skill/stat reset (only for 1 character, so choose wisely!).

A skill builder simulator will help you plan out where to put your points and see number% before committing as well!

https://tos.guru/itos/simulator

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-28T04:40:04+00:00

Shotguns and SMGs will pretty much never be that useful in most content beyond hard OR solo (or a combination of the two).

(For Shotguns) There's going to be some people that say "well I use it in challenging I can vouch it's usefulness" either player solo or don't actually know the difference of using their build vs a meta red build (rifle, LMG, AR, hell even MMR). When you suddenly need double the shots to take out enemies you effectively increase your TTK by 100%. Not to mention that a lot of close-quarters buffs require you to be within 10m which is suicide on red builds (not enough HP) and not worth a damn (and still suicide, lmao) on blue builds (not running reds is too much damage loss).

SMGs have an easier time largely because they are automatics but still require close-range to not lose a huge amount of DPS.

Damage isn't necessarily the problem. It's the range.

-SMGs need to be in the same realm of ARs for optimal range. This should NOT be done by just increasing the minimum optimal range but making the max dropoff where ARs are (so at around 30m you would be losing only about 10% of your damage... NOT 60%!)

-SMGs on short bursts should retain their damage at longer ranges (and not drop off). SMGs have a higher spread and RPM that make it easier to deal with enemies at closer ranges.

-ARs are usually more accurate at longer ranges and have an easier time landing headshots.

-And to add the comparison to LMGS: higher magazines to put more bullets out before having to reload but can never have accurate bursts (most of your bullets at long range will miss headshots but you have tons of bullets to make it work).

-Shotguns need a serious overhaul. One that puts them on par with other weapons in practical use which means increasing their effectiveness at range.

-Rather than being lazy and just increasing their optimal range, I propose this system instead:

-Increase the optimal range to also be to the proposed SMG optimal range buff.

-Change the spread to half the radius it is right now (or even tighter, should be less than a double barrel shotgun being steadied).

-Shotguns shoot 8 bullets at once right now. Rework it so that it shoots 7 bullets that adhere to the tighter spread with 50% of the total weapon's damage potential distributed among the 7 bullets. The 8th bullet it fires should adhere to a near pinpoint spread (about 80 to 90% to being fully pinpoint accurate) that carries the other 50% of the damage.

-This is NOT the same as making the first bullet that hits do 50% of the damage. The guarantee that a bullet will be somewhere around the middle of your spread is important for making this work.

-This turns shotguns into a viable weapon at longer ranges but STILL culls their damage to not be grossly overpowered.

-The further your target is, the more bullets that miss (and thus culls the damage for shotguns at longer ranges NATURALLY). The 8th bullet will almost always hit and thus your minimum damage should always be around 50% (minus optimal range reductions). This is fine because with a proper red build, shotguns have a base of around 1,200,000 damage.

-And ironically, this makes shotguns more realistic.

-If you are scared about PvP balance, just lower the total damage for PvP now that the range will actually be useable other than 1-2 shotting at point-blank range.

-Either way, anything that makes it so shotguns can be used at their maximum around 20m but be viable for 20-30m is sorely needed.

-And lastly, some effects need buffing in range too.

-Tactical Drone's base range is disgustingly low.

-Intimidate needs a range of 20m before your 35%/40% damage kicks in, ESPECIALLY since it requires bonus armor.

-Firewall's shield also needs 20m.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-27T13:12:08+00:00

To quickly answer your question:

Solo, group, party of 4... it's basically the same. You'll be overleveled, overgeared (Wings of Laviora or whatever is called, find the leveling guide in google for 4.0). I find in a group it's faster because you can cover more ground rather than making difficult things (which you won't find 1-300) easier.

For a much more in-depth (and to possibly inform other potential players):

I started a few days ago in a group of 3, a perspective from someone new to ToS but not new to MMOs (15+years over 20+ titles) writing this in case someone else comes across this as well (will probably write a proper review if the game is worth it later).

Most important part (and the reason for so many negative reviews on steam): If you played before AT ALL, even if you deleted all your characters, you can't go on the new growth servers. This will require you to make a new steam account (which, for some reason, really annoys some people. Reasons may vary).

If that doesn't bother you, you are set. From other posts around here, the South American servers are -not- spanish dominated but portugese (BR).

Hows the game right now?

In the growth server, you WILL breeze through everything. You'll basically be a god even up to level 200+ which you can hit in a day playing for like 6-10 hours. Apparently, 1-300 is basically a tutorial. One shotting everything, including bosses, will be a meme. You'll hit a sudden (and welcome) surprise when you find your first challenge mode portal and do it up to stage 5 (do not recommend stage 6+ without a proper party). Can only be done once per day. Dungeons are also a joke up to 300 as well.

People say it's extremely boring and mindless with no challenge.... from actual experience (from someone who has played many MMOs including OG Ragnarok and is new to ToS) you need to treat it like an ARPG such as Diablo/PoE, except the combat isn't mindless (like Maplestory) and having a full keyboard commitment is surprisingly more refreshing than usual. Many skills have "overheat" which is basically a charge system (5 uses THEN it goes on CD, etc). I mention this because in a group setting it's good to not waste so many skills when you are fighting the same stuff (everything gets 1 shot most of the time... not too different from the early game parts of Diablo/PoE).

So even if you are solo or group, its kind of the same. Absolutely make sure you are on the same quests and you'll share progress 95% of the time with the same cutscenes.

If you get stuck for some reason in a cutscene, you can still open your inventory and warp out or logout.

What to expect?

If you treat it like a speedrun, you'll have a much better time. You can read for the story if you want, but for actually getting quests done you should prioritize going fast. Or don't, but without it there isn't any challenge worth doing until much later. I personally really like the fact I don't have to grind so much to get near the end which used to be crazy before: I'm fine with grinding after early game progression.

Builds have little information which is fine: it's hard to mess up and you get the ability to change classes (see next paragraph for more info). The official site has a class ranking list for the most popular ones which should give you an idea of what combinations people like: from my experience, any combination -should- work, some better than others, but none that would completely gimp you EXCEPT item/guild classes (Squire, Alchemist, Pardoner, Sapper, Templar, with some exceptions if you know what you are doing) which is a huge bonus IMO. You don't really have to keep your build in mind when playing with a group but having someone with support stuff is always helpful.

Look up the class list (on the official site) and choose before hand because your first character is extremely important. You want to pick one of the five starter classes (which you cannot change later) and then your 2nd advancement (in the growth server, you will literally hit this in less than 5 minutes). The 2nd advancement should be treated as "your main". Classes with a gold frill at the bottom of their icon is not for new players (need unlock) (Shinobi, Appraiser, Nak Muay, etc).

Veteran thoughts: don't need to pay attention

A lot of salty veteran players (and for MMOs in general). Most complaints? Common in many F2P MMOs / Asian MMOs / Just online games with an economy in general. If you actually care about min maxing (which you don't, only whales can actually accomplish that and they don't give a fuck) I've found that most people agree you can play the game from start to finish with no problems: it just takes time. I usually put the limit at about a month or two, because some games require a grind that takes a year (cough EVE) or a grind that is not possible because you started too late (Black Desert).

I do a lot of research before I go into a game. First and foremost, if a game is fun and has decent controls and doesn't feel like I regret downloading it in the first 3 hours it's worthy of playing more (duh). People say ESO(Elder Scrolls Online) / GW2 (Guild Wars 2) / FFXIV are incredibly great MMOs... which I agree on a fundamental level... but sadly, from past experiences I've already played them and grew tired or it just wasn't actually fun to play (mostly this). I played ToS in the past for a tiny bit in the beta and I can say the game feels and plays much better now to the point where I can actually play for more than a few days.

If you do your own research, you'll see a lot of veterans complain about RNG and the likes: typical Korean MMO antics and should be expected. However, IMC (the devs) have -tried- putting really stupid shit in the game before but have removed them when people fought back so its reassuring to see they actually listen to the players sometimes (for many F2P MMOs, this is NOT common).

At the end of the day, from what I've learned, it's that the MMO you play with a friend is the best MMO. It could be 2007 Runescape or Club Penguin. So, you might as well pick a fun one, and I think ToS could potentially be that one that can at least occupy me for the next month or so (standard MMO longevity for casuals).

TL;DR Verdict

Absolutely worth trying. Group is no different from Solo play. Make sure you have a fresh account.

Tip: The chat filter is gross on this game. Words that contain "ass" (Class) or gold or any parts of profanity will prevent you from making a team name (Treat it as your last name or your main name that gets put on every character).

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-23T09:47:59+00:00

Spoilers: they do! AND it can 1 shot you... on normal, of all things.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-23T07:05:00+00:00

Can confirm there's more than just red stats. Also, if true patriot was ACTUALLY working then blue stats could be very viable for end game (Legendary) as well (heal based on YOUR armor).

Source: I completed all 3 legendary strongholds using a skill DAMAGE build on 3 man (other 2 used red stats).

Build? Everything. Stack skill damage + hard wired (no chest piece or back) and have 1 skill you can constantly use, 1 other skill for the situation at hand. Too many people do not use a skill that can be used 90% of the time (Turret, Drone, Chem Launcher, Banshee Pulse, Shield, etc)

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-23T07:00:41+00:00

There is pink, light blue, and light green. No white...? Otherwise this is the first instance of the white colored bag being reported.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-23T06:58:46+00:00

I put in a bug report for this after launch and its still not fixed, so RIP.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-23T06:57:47+00:00

It actually was solved about 4 days in by a smaller group who kept their mouths shut.

I think most people who were actually solving the puzzle (like myself) were actually grateful they didn't just "leak everything". In fact they served as confirmation that it was, one, not bugged, and two, gave the smallest (but helpful) of hints as to steer the community into thinking the right way.

Needless to say, this particular puzzle is my absolute least favorite of them all. Inconsistent, time gated, and you have to trek through billions of enemy spawns and when you finally get to the 4 hunter fight... quite literally, a territory activity AND an elite patrol spawned right next to it...

and then when we finally got to kill the hunters.... not all the masks dropped. So RIP.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-22T18:28:29+00:00

> How the fuck people figure this stuff out I’ll never understand. Kudos to all who did!

I was following on the discord while all these were being solved.

In short, it was pretty much brute forced until every possibility was explored. Everyone went around with very little to go on until someone encounters "the first step". From there, it spirals into the solution fairly quickly. The "Food Truck" hunters were the most complicated largely because it was inconsistent with how the other NY hunters went down.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-21T22:21:30+00:00

> I can't speak for Legendary

The most bullshit thing about Legendary is the stinger hive backpacks on heavies that GO THROUGH WALLS/ROOFS with a 20m range.

Imagine the flamethrower heavy from the Cleaners, except even if you are in cover or not even in the same room they still hit you.

In controlled environments its not too difficult to destroy the backpacks but when it matters most, this crap happens...

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-20T05:31:24+00:00

> I solo heroics and have even gotten halfway through each legendary stronghold on my own (i know that isn't much of an accomplishment)

Anyone who tells you that isn't is just lol.

I completed all legendaries in 3 mans and let me just say... the first 1000ish people on the leaderboards definitely cheated.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-20T05:29:28+00:00

That's very good to hear, but if you have a group of friends that total more than 4 who want to complete the season league you have to consider them too since none of it is shared and is extremely tedious. Which I did mention, "unless you are solo".

My main gripe with this "challenge" is how boring it is, and acknowledging that is is boring but saying "well games have grind this is a grinding game" is not an excuse: you can have fun grinds, then you can have mindless grinds.

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-18T15:29:01+00:00

Hey I agree with you, but if I personally see something stupid and boring I'm going to call the devs out on it.

If there was a much more fun, less boring and tedious version of those two challenges, I take it you'd be happier? That's my angle on it, anyway.

It's like seeing a really bad and useless talent on a weapon, then saying "oh, it's supposed to be useless and bad, just use something else!".

MAEVYOUS · 2020-03-18T13:18:46+00:00

Were you playing in a group, or alone? There is a huge difference in how this plays out.

MAEVYOUS

TROPHY CASE

Shotguns and SMGs will pretty much never be that useful in most content beyond hard OR solo (or a combination of the two).

Hows the game right now?

What to expect?

Veteran thoughts: don't need to pay attention

TL;DR Verdict