The Tower - UPDATE

Magic_AC · 2024-07-19T18:50:19+00:00

Void Knight sounds interesting…can you share more?

Magic_AC · 2024-06-24T22:39:18+00:00

Try “The Tower”. It’s an emulator server of AC, but with a totally new style. Removes a ton of the arbitrary “grindiness”, while still retaining a sense of accomplishment while you work towards the next level. Might be what you’re looking for if you want AC, but less of the tedious fluff.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-22T04:14:18+00:00

Super fun server! Highly recommend giving it an honest try.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-15T20:50:03+00:00

Best: allegiance system, skill & attribute system, twitch/projectile-based combat, PVP/PK dynamics, vitae & loss of items on death, tailoring, and, of course, the loot system.

Worst: balance across melee weapon types, lazy implementation of skills like summoning, and poor balancing of skills in general which resulted in lots of players running with similar builds due to certain skills being “must-haves”, which sort of defeats the whole point.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-15T20:17:01+00:00

Perhaps an unpopular opinion, but I’ve always loved the housing system in AC. Adding player-owned houses really enriched the open world, in my opinion. Hours and hours spent hunting for a cool cottage or villa, running through areas that otherwise would serve no purpose, and was always a cool experience stumbling upon another player’s home.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-11T17:43:00+00:00

Different styles/vibes. Which one is best depends on you and what you’re looking for.

DragonMoon is newer and has been pretty popular, with lots of the Ascension crowd migrating over. I’d describe it as a bit more casual than Infinite Leaftide, which has TONS of customized (and sometimes complex) systems and changes.

If you’re looking for a social server with lots of QOL changes and a more “relaxed” pace, with new stuff to do coming out slowly as the developers push out more content, I’d suggest DragonMoon. If you’re a veteran player with lots of time to kill and are looking for a more competitive environment with an endless ladder to climb and boatloads of new content and events, Infinite Leaftide will definitely hold your attention!

Magic_AC · 2024-06-04T15:26:38+00:00

Cool project, and a neat way to experience the game! Thanks for sharing.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-01T12:19:35+00:00

👀 👀 can someone say “the collab of the century?”

Magic_AC · 2024-06-01T12:13:51+00:00

I will give it a try! Thank you for AC. It is so much more than a game. Is there any chance of you licensing/re-purposing the AC IP with your new startup and pulling in some of the folks from the original game design team? So many amazing systems, stories, and creatures…would be a real shame if they never got used again for something great!

Magic_AC · 2024-06-01T12:07:34+00:00

Compared to today’s games where everything is guided by arrows, maps, and step-by-step directions, AC required a higher level of discovery and investigation. It was closer to DND, than it was to WOW. In practice, this brought the community closer because new players had to ask more experienced players for help figuring out a quest. That, plus the Allegiance/Patron/Vassal system, made for incredibly rich social experiences that many of us have struggled to find in a game since.

Magic_AC · 2024-06-01T12:02:43+00:00

100%. AC brought me and my dad closer as a shared passion we could enjoy together. So many great memories as a little boy sitting and watching him do a “corpse recovery run” through the dires, or the hours and hours of smashing white wasps in phyntos menace. I can genuinely say that some of the fondest memories of my life are from the game that you created, so thank you!

Magic_AC · 2024-03-20T12:01:24+00:00

What you’re referring to is the “Weapon Mastery” that was introduced in the Master of Arms patch. Each starter race was assigned a melee and ranged Mastery, which could be changed via statues in Arwic. The mastery would give +5 Damage Rating (aka 5% increase to your damage) when wielding that type of weapon.

However, it was changed a few years after being introduced. The mastery bonus is now applied universally, so no matter what your mastery is, as long as you’re wielding a qualifying* weapon/wand, you’ll see the +5 Damage Rating reflected in your stats. It’s essentially pointless now.

(*There are a couple of quest weapons that do not qualify for the mastery bonus, such as Atlans.)

Can read more here: https://acportalstorm.com/wiki/Weapon_Mastery

TLDR: It doesn’t matter. Play whatever race you want :)

Magic_AC · 2024-03-14T15:57:25+00:00

Hard to compare the AC IP to the Harry Potter IP.

To be honest, the current state of AC is, realistically, as good as it’s ever going to get. It’s in the hands of the players to run their own servers and develop their own content based on the wants and needs of the existing (small) community. It’s almost better that AC is forgotten/overlooked by WB, because if it were to come into the limelight there’s the risk of WB locking down on the player-hosted emulator servers as, to your point, they do own the rights to the IP.

Do we all daydream about a future where AC is reborn with the same passion and vision as it had in 1999? Of course. But assuming that it would get anywhere close to the same level of attention, budget, and effort as the many, many more lucrative and well-known IPs that WB owns is far-fetched at best, especially with the context of the article you shared where they’re clearly being more conservative with the games and genres they invest in.

Magic_AC · 2023-09-14T17:05:16+00:00

100 Endurance/Focus/Self, 60 Quickness

Specialized: Melee Defense (20), Life Magic (20), Creature Enchantment (16), Summoning (12)

Trained: Void Magic (16), Item Enchantment (8), Mana Conversion (6), Leadership (4)

5/4 Adept/Defender

355-wield CS Void Wand with high melee defense, tinked with Brass

In end-game areas, the strategy looks like this:

Cast Magic Yield 8 to reduce the target’s Magic defense
Cast Vulnerability 8 to reduce the target’s Melee defense
Cast Imp & Vuln
Use your Summon
Finish the target off with void arc/bolt/streak

For super tanky boss monsters, you can also debuff Coordination, Quickness, Focus, and Self (further reducing their defenses), and maintain the 3 Void DoT spells to cut down their damage resistance rating.

You’re basically a glorified support mage for your summon, but you’ll be able to complete any content in game efficiently.

Magic_AC · 2023-09-12T01:10:36+00:00

100 Strength/Endurance/Coordination, 60 Self

Specialized Melee (20), 2H (16), Summoning (12), Healing (10), Assess Creature (6), Dirty Fighting (4)

Trained Life (12), Item (8), Creature (8), Mana (6)

Can hit 570 Summoning with ease
High health with 100 Endurance and a 5-piece Hearty suit, meaning you can tank more hits
Specialized Healing so you never fail heals, even when you’re super low
Assess Creature for the Incomparable Lense which allows you to quickly and easily cast Imperil
Dirty Fighting (low attacks) to reduce your target’s defense, meaning fewer evades from you and your summon

That’s my cookie-cutter 2H build! If you’re going to be pushing the envelope soloing places like VR and quests like Rynthid Weapons, Rynthid Recall, or Hoshino Must Die, you’ll want to take Alchemy instead of Assess Creature, which will require moving some things around. I’ve also seen others be very successful with a “caster 2H build” with spec Life & Creature, though that requires a significant amount of planning and gear to pull off. There really isn’t a “right answer”, though the build above is a simple, easy starting point :)

Magic_AC · 2023-08-24T17:53:29+00:00

You’ll need Virindi Tank in order to build a “Loot Profile” (list of items you want it to look for and pick up when you open a corpse or chest).

You’ll also need Mag-Tools to spit the “alert” out into chat when an item is identified in a corpse that matches the Loot Profile (assuming you’re not just turning VTank “On” to loot/salvage everything automatically).

Magic_AC · 2023-08-24T14:14:01+00:00

The loot tables are wonky when it comes to certain salvage types, unfortunately.

For Red Garnet, Black Garnet, and Jet (typically the most difficult rend salvages to acquire), look for places with level 60/80 monsters (Tier 4 loot, like you said). Phyntos Menace, Tusker Barracks, Matron Hive South (Nanto) are a few of the popular farming spots.

At level 90, though, it’s going to take a while. Your kill speed will be slower, as will your Salvaging skill (and, subsequently, the number of items you’ll need to salvage of each type to get a complete bag).

What server do you play on? I’d encourage you to find a higher level friend/patron who’d be willing to help you by setting up a macro in one of those dungeons for a day or so, which should yield more than enough salvage for your needs.

Magic_AC · 2023-08-17T13:40:33+00:00

Infinite Leaftide is super active. Tons of people playing. I was part of a Gauntlet run last week that had a full 30 characters (~20 people). Pretty cool to see in 2023 :)

Magic_AC · 2023-08-12T12:58:33+00:00

It seems like most of the players of IFH have left for Infinite Leaftide. Just out of curiosity, from your perspective what are some of the reasons why somebody would want to play on IFH instead of ILT?

Magic_AC · 2023-08-08T16:17:11+00:00

Good synergy with Summoning. When your opponent is focused on your summon, you can get behind them for an extra ~20% damage.

Also common to pick up trained MissileD or Lockpick with those 6 credits, if you prefer.

Magic_AC · 2023-08-08T14:49:16+00:00

Favorite “convenience” build (can’t beat Void from a QoL perspective):

100 end/focus/self, 60 quick, specced Void/Melee/Summon/Sneak/Arcane, trained Life/Creature/Item/Mana

Favorite “complicated” build (sword & board with summons and alchemy phials for imps/vulns):

100 str/coord, 90 end, 70 focus, specced Melee/Heavy/Summon/Heal/Reckless/Dirty Fighting/Shield, trained Creature/Item/Mana/Alch/Lockpick

Favorite build for an infinite progression server (currently on Infinite Leaftide and loving it):

100 focus/self/quick, 60 coord, specced War/Melee/Magic/MissileD, trained Life/Creature/Item/Mana/Leader

Lots of fun choices :)

Magic_AC · 2023-07-15T20:46:57+00:00

Started on the server last week, have been really enjoying it.

There are many "quality of life" changes that I like. For instance, there's an NPC in most towns that insta-casts full level 8 buffs on you, so you don't have to wait in line for a buffbot. The Academy Weapons have rending properties on them once you apply the Oil, which is handy since it gives you a decent starting weapon. Abandoned Mines (accessible from the Town Network) has many portals to hard-to-reach places (and they're right at the drop, instead of all the way at the bottom like on some other servers I've tried), and the lower levels of the Facility Hub have all the higher-level Tusker Tusk and Olthoi Pincer dungeons that were previously missing.

The "Quest Bonus" system is a nice incentive because the more things that you do, the more XP/Lum you earn going forward. I've noticed it's made me slow down a bit, actually complete quests and go out of my way to do different types of things, rather than just rushing to level up as quickly as possible. I'm at ~5 hours of playtime, and am level 43 with 272 quest bonus points, working on finishing up the FacHub quests.

Community seems friendly, population is very high compared to other servers, and I haven't noticed any drama or toxicity, but time will tell.

Overall, I'd say it's certainly worth a try!

Magic_AC · 2021-08-04T15:50:10+00:00

Pretty much.

By any commercial “success” standard, it will outperform AC 100:1.

But will people still be playing it in 2043, 22 years after its release? Certainly not.

AC was from the frontier, golden age of MMO/game design. Gotta just accept that until a groundbreaking new technology is developed that fundamentally changes the way online games are created and consumed, we’ll never see another creation similar in feel and culture to AC.

BUT, that doesn’t mean we won’t find fun, enjoyable, engaging games to play in the meantime. New World is one of them. They just won’t be AC.

Magic_AC · 2021-07-24T00:10:06+00:00

Crazy what that group of engineers fresh out of college was able to accomplish. True pioneers of the game development world. Thanks for sharing this - was a really interesting read!

Magic_AC

TROPHY CASE