Drakensang Online

[Greybeard]

The best way to progress in Drakensang is to undertake and solve quests. But as a level 20 ranger, I get far too difficult quests. The latest is to kill 15 nefertari necromancers in the Catacombs Dungeon (level 15-16). I have not yet killed one. The quest guides you by marking out the route to take. Yet this quest is difficult for me. The goal is to enter the Crypt of Kings (level 16-17) which is only reached from the Catacombs. I have only entered the Crypt of Kings a few times, but never reached a necromancer to fight one. Just entering this dungeon-with-a-dungeon is difficult. There the minions defending it are many and too hard for me to beat, before I can engage a necromancer one-to-one.

I have come to the conclusion that I am just too slow to complete this task. My old fingers are not nimble enough. In the dungeons you fight solo, but in the Wild Forest, the young level 16 rangers can wipe out many opponents, faster than I can follow with my eye.

[Greybeard]

Still in Drakensang online, my ranger now level 21. Its about at this level that it becomes a hard grind to get better. I've switched to a spellweaver character, level 17 just now gone up to level 18.

However, the game is going to introduce a restriction on free revival of dead characters only available to those paying the premium. At that point I will withdraw from Drakensang.

[Greybeard]

One of the fun things about Drakensang is the weird characters. Just about every conceivable mount imaginable -polar bears wearing armour Giant apes with a frame on the back to carry a fighter on, Giant insects, dragons, and many different kinds of familiar, each with special skills to complement the player's character and skills. There are even skeletons, some with wings to enable them to fly, as well as winged player characters.

Another cool thing is the dungeons that only one player at a time gets to enter. No idea how they do that. Each narrow range of skill levels has its own private dungeon. The disadvantage of other players being able to enter, for example, the Wild Forest, is that other players launch attacks on the monster you happen to be fighting. And apart from dungeon environments there is no limit to the number - and level - of players with the hunger to snatch environmental opponents thata you re about to kill yourself.

[Greybeard]

On alliances and guilds:

I've been handicapped by not joining with other players in guilds or alliances. They do tend to be short-lived as far as I can see, but being older and with slower reactions I don't feel I would be competitive enough to make it worth my while to apply. A familiar would be handy but none of my characters have been approached by a familiar so I don't have one. Again, this would be an advantage of joining a guild, I've just never done it.

[Greybeard]

My ranger has reached level 22. I have been given a "Bird of Prey" which harasses an enemy, thereby distracting him for a few seconds. This animal follower is a specialised familiar, so it is limited.

I have barely begun exploring the wider world of this game. Based in the large town of Kingshill this is just one of a series of urban centres that provide a non-fighting environment, and a place where quests can be obtained. The others I have visited are Grimford (a village), Werian Sanctuary is another. This is just a small part of the world, and one location, in the port of Shorefolk, has a Resistance Command Center, (perhaps I will go there one day) which looks interesting. Completing quests is a vital part of success in this game, There are rewards for successfully completing quests which are both in-game money (andermant, gold, silver, copper) and progress through your level. The higher levels also need these quests to progress from one level to the next, as it gets progressively harder.

[Greybeard]

It is 4 months since I last posted on this thread and my ranger has reached level 25 of 50 levels. Still a beginner, really. I also started a new character, a Spellweaver, and he is also now on level 25.

So what does the world of Drakensang look like? Players begin in one of the home areas, "urban areas" where no fighting can take place and that have exits to 2 or 3 other areas where most of the action occurs and they are ranked in order of diifficulty. The urban areas vary considerably. The Werian Sanctuary is useful as a base for Slifmoor My characters all started in Kingshill, the largest urban area I have yet come across in the game. It has a hill on top of which is a throne where the king sits. He has a chancellor, one level below. And there are many other who task willing adventurers with quests. Most players seem to start out with quests against undead in Swerdfield Pastures. As characters become more experienced they graduate to harder quests. Hagastove Grotto is probably the next place to receive quests. The Dark Forest (17-20 levels) will be next (including the Wildherz Caverns - caverns are classed as dungeons, which players solve quests alone), and after that Slifmoor (lvl 20-22). There is another sanctuary called The Resistance Command Centre where I have been once, and another wilderness area Troll Canyon (lvls 25-26), good for hunting fist-stone trolls. There is also the Burning Coast where dragons set fire to buildings and  plunder them. These are the main ones I have been active in but there are many, many more. I hope to explore some of them if I progress and get the chance.

The beauty of the game lies in the great variety of quests to be undertaken and the well-designed scenic nature of the areas. But also the German efficiency of the way the game is run.

[GrimFinger]

I tried it, just now. After about five minutes, I closed it out. Maybe I need a better computer.

[Greybeard]

Or perhaps a better internet connection? Its well worth persevering.

[GrimFinger]

I got tired of the character continually going backwards a few steps, every time that I tried to have it walk forward. I just couldn't see doing that over the long term.

[Greybeard]

Its called "rubberbanding", I've seen it done by others but never done it myself. Wouldn't even know how to do it. Very odd.

There is also a forum, but I rarely use it.

Purely by chance, yesterday I experienced rubberbanding when I tried to exit my character from Troll Canyon. Another character was standing there having just entered the area, and I found my character was having difficulty leaving and displayed the same behaviour.