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How to Return to Imperian

I'm looking to return to playing Imperian after a long absence (a number of RL years), and it seems like things have changed quite a lot, what with the Gods being gone, autocuring existing and there being an official demonic circle now. So I've come to the forums to try to get a little guidance on how and where to return, despite the fact that I know this post is dangerously close to flamebait - please try not to tell me just how your given org is awesome and everyone else sucks.

Here are my three main questions:

  • What level of activity does each circle/guild have around now? I'm vaguely favourable towards playing magick circle because I have a friend who's just started a character there, but ultimately I'll go where I feel I'll find it most interesting. Interest, though, requires people.

  • Which classes are at least not brokenly underpowered now? I know autocuring will have unbalanced a bunch of stuff, so if there are certain classes that are just not worth playing at the moment or are scheduled to get changed massively soon, that'd be worth knowing about.

  • Are there any major RP changes I should be aware of? For reference, I last played seriously around the time Ithaqua was founded. How strict is the whole circle thing generally, are there any weird alliances/enmities that I should avoid or might be fun to get into? Is there anywhere that particularly stands out for interesting RP at the moment?

Thanks in advance for any information, and hopefully I'll be joining some of you soon on one character or another.
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Comments

  • Magic: seems to have a high population, although they've seemed to not be coming out to shardfalls and such lately (I may just be missing the times they do). I've heard they have quite a lot of internal stuff, but I've never played magic so can't really say for sure.

    Demonic: was low population, but has started to pick up the last couple of weeks. Definitely the smallest circle still, but they typically do well and have people around down to help pick fights (if that's what you're interested in). Demonic rp was pretty solid when I was in the circle, and I doubt that's changed.

    Antimagic: Probably a bit smaller than magic, but definitely up there. (Might just be external perception which puts magic as having more people). I enjoy the environment personally and don't have anything to complain about. Again, nearly always has people down to go pick fights or rp with unless you play the twilight zone.

    None of the classes are really terribly underpowered. Some are much more useful in teams than one v one (Malignist for instance), but they're all pretty good. Summoner and mage are due a revamp in the next three months or so. If you're more interested in team combat or one on one that might be easier for people to expand upon.

    I wasn't playing back when Ithaqua came out, so can't say what changes have taken place since then. I'd say cults/sects are probably the biggest opportunity for new rp opportunities though.

    Tl;dr: All the circles are good, none of the classes really suck but summoner and mage are getting redone soon, look at cults/sects.

  • Antimagick: I would say this is the largest circle at the moment and also seems to have the most active people at very late or very early hours. (For North America time zones.)  There seems to always be someone you can interact with and they typically dominate the shardfalls. (For now!)

    Magick: Not quite as big as Antimagick, but fairly close. Unless one of the 'Generals' is about and willing to lead most people don't seem interested in the shardfalls. I enjoy the people I interact with and the sect roleplay is a lot of fun.

    Demonic: I can't really say much other then it seems like the smallest circle. (I don't play a character on this side.) Definitely has some good people that make great enemies. Also I am jealous of the woodlings. :(

    Big Differences: There isn't much in the way of cross circle IC interaction, other then as enemies. The shardfalls plus autocuring has blurred the line between the PvPers and the RPers, which I think is fantastic. The roleplay, especially from the older generation of players, is much more subtle then it used to be. I forget when multi-class went in, but it's pretty awesome.

    A little more knowledge about what you're interested in doing would probably let people give you more of an idea where to go or what class to pick up. Whether you want to be an Aspect asap. PvP singly, in teams or both. Quests or intense RP is your thing? I think Septus covered most everything else nicely.

    If you do decide to join your friend in Magick, feel free to bug Aulani if you're looking for interaction or need some help. (This goes for your friend as well.)

  • Demonic: I can't really say much other then it seems like the smallest circle. (I don't play a character on this side.) Definitely has some good people that make great enemies. Also I am jealous of the woodlings.

    We're so bad, we'll send empty track pets into your cities. 
  • Demonic is basically Venezuela/Cuba. Just waiting on Chavez and Castro to croak so things can improve FALL INTO CHAOS.
    ‘Least I won’t have to carry it no more. You see how bloody heavy it is?’

    ‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
  • Bathan said:
    Demonic is basically Venezuela/Cuba. Just waiting on Chavez and Castro to croak so things can improve FALL INTO CHAOS.
    Which am I?
    I am the righteous one... 
    the claims are stated - it's the world I've created 
  • Probably Castro, considering Chavez is already dead.
    Jeremy sings, "Sugar how you get so fly?"
  • Lionas is his own man. He is unique because he helped pollinate the leech wood.
  • Yah, I was messing around. Lionas is cool people. Khandava's not a bad spot at all, as I recall. Lionas, Aleutia, Ahkan and some other competent people keep it from being the kind of downer Stavenn's been for about the last year.
    ‘Least I won’t have to carry it no more. You see how bloody heavy it is?’

    ‘Every sword’s a weight to carry. Men don’t see that when they pick ’em up. But they get heavier with time.”
  • Bathan said:
    Demonic is basically Venezuela/Cuba. Just waiting on Chavez and Castro to croak so things can improve FALL INTO CHAOS.
    Now with the support of Russians
  • Moar like Chinese support, imho.
  • Wait a second  :-/
  • The Venezuelan government is more tight with the Chinese than with the Russians
  • Well Putin did call Chaves a real friend of Russians! And I am Russian, so no CHinese!
  • Septus said:

    Tl;dr: All the circles are good, none of the classes really suck but summoner and mage are getting redone soon, look at cults/sects.


    I read up on cults and sects, that definitely seems interesting. Having briefly looked into the sect info files, I presume since there are currently so few they're all pretty active? Also, is there a reason the Flame sect has so few members when it's the only magick sect?

    Aulani said:
    A little more knowledge about what you're interested in doing would probably let people give you more of an idea where to go or what class to pick up. Whether you want to be an Aspect asap. PvP singly, in teams or both. Quests or intense RP is your thing?

    Obviously a class that is good at hunting is a bonus, but it's not my primary focus. Both kinds of PvP interest me, although it's been so long since I fought in an IRE game I'd basically be starting from scratch. Are quests really a big deal now? I know there is separate quest exp in Imperian nowadays, but they always felt like kind of an afterthought in all the games. RP is definitely a big deal, because it's those interactions with real people that keep me logging in over the long haul.
  • edited March 2013
    Xarion said:
     Also, is there a reason the Flame sect has so few members when it's the only magick sect?
    cult list magick
    ************************[ Cults in the Magick circle ]*************************
    Short name      Name                      Leader          Entity          Members  
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Contention      the Cult of Conflict and  (nobody)                        1
    Rashirmir       the Cult of the Dream Rea Arakis                          26
    Primal          the Cult of the Primal Sp Gurn                            12
    Whispers        the Cult of Whispers      (nobody)                        5
    Saeculorum      the Cult of the Saeculoru Lyrith          Drystan         6
    Echoes          the Cult of Echoes        Aislygn                         8
    *******************************************************************************
    There are a lot of people in cults still working toward being a sect, and you also have to take into account that each cult/sect has its own focus, so it's not going to suit every character's RP.

  • Magick diluting their population? No way.
  • edited March 2013
    And people are hung up in cult charters as well. (And contrary to what seems to be spreading around. Flame does not require applications.)

    - I think most classes are decent at hunting now. In magick the power houses of hunting are Runeguard and Druid.
    - PvP is different and for some classes up in the air with classleads in progress. Perhaps other people who know more can weigh in here for other classes. Hunter is really nice for teams but not very effective in one-on-one unless you plan on getting artifacts. (I have a lot of testing left to do with the brainmelt change.)
    - I mentioned Quests because the newer areas are somewhat interesting (plus the achievements and QHonours) and Bards with their waymarks make great questers.
    - RP can be found everywhere, you just have to be a bit persistent sometimes.
  • I'm sorta leaning towards one of the types of knight at the moment.

    Do all three knight guilds have active populations? Are there any major differences between the classes or guilds that I should be aware of at the moment?
  • Profession-wise, they're all in a pretty solid spot right now. They all bash decently, they all PvP decently, they're all awesome in groups. While they'e not all equal, we're talking like "9, 8, 7" and not "8, 5, 1" here. It's pretty hard to go wrong with knight, no matter what circle you decide on.

    As well, the guilds don't really matter that much, since you can learn the profession without being in the guild. So if you, say, wanted to be in the Noctusari guild but be a deathknight by profession, that's perfectly workable if you can find somebody to give you the deathknight profession. 


    "On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."

  • While all three guilds seem to be fairly active, I think the Vindicators are still firmly on top in regards to consistently high population. Something to keep in mind is that all three have taken on at least one other class, and I think that all of those guilds are still struggling to find their identities amidst the merging, even after all this time. 

    That said, the actual classes: Having played a Runeguard, I can tell you it's pretty fantastic. It's most definitely the tankiest class in the game, solid bashing, and some fairly diverse options for PvP with the introduction of runeflaring. The synergy that they have with all the classes in magick, even more so with the upcoming Mage revamp (at least that's my prediction), is pretty stellar.

    I'm currently a Templar, and while it's less great than Runeguard, it's still a solid class. Devotion has some neat tricks in it, including the ability to return to life once, instantly, upon death (like a starburst tattoo, but better). It also has an okay synergy with the other AM classes, especially Priests, for which there's a skill entirely intended for a Priest/Templar pairing. 

    I can't speak a lot for Deathknight, having never played one, but it looks like a lot of fun. Necromancy is an amazing utility set which includes a unique setup to a deliciously brutal instakill, Vivisect.

    I suspect you'll want to poke around a bit in each before you settle on one, but all three are great choices. Good luck!

  • Nothing either of the other knights really has tops vivisect for one v one, but I'd say rg is the place to be for teams. Templars pretty good at both (your team will like you more because of rites and hands, and flare is pretty awesome). Like has been said though, you can't really go wrong with knight.
  • As a note, if you decide on Runeguard and don't want to be a Vindicator, you can send me a message and I'll apprentice you. 

    I don't really care about class control, because if you really wanted to get the profession and run off and be an ass with it, all you'd have to do is put up with the guild long enough to learn up to class.

    "On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."

  • I find that the best way to return to Imperian is to find a buddy or two and phase into an existing neato clique.
  • edited March 2013
    Khizan said:

    As well, the guilds don't really matter that much, since you can learn the profession without being in the guild. So if you, say, wanted to be in the Noctusari guild but be a deathknight by profession, that's perfectly workable if you can find somebody to give you the deathknight profession. 

    Oh, I didn't realise that's how it worked. I knew about the multi class change, but I thought you're still limited to the classes your guild supports. Is there a downside to being of a class that isn't part of your guild? Will your tutor actually teach your skills?
    Caelya said:
    Having played a Runeguard, I can tell you it's pretty fantastic. It's most definitely the tankiest class in the game, solid bashing, and some fairly diverse options for PvP with the introduction of runeflaring. The synergy that they have with all the classes in magick, even more so with the upcoming Mage revamp (at least that's my prediction), is pretty stellar.
    Yeah I noticed from looking at ab runelore that they seem to be able to ink runes on tablets now, but didn't notice anything that explained what tablets actually are. Is that what this runeflaring thing is?
  • A guild tutor will teach any class skill. The only thing is you have to learn to tri-adept before you can start learning unevenly - which is only like.. 178 lessons in each skill? Something like that.
                                                   image
  • Xarion said:
    Khizan said:

    As well, the guilds don't really matter that much, since you can learn the profession without being in the guild. So if you, say, wanted to be in the Noctusari guild but be a deathknight by profession, that's perfectly workable if you can find somebody to give you the deathknight profession. 

    Oh, I didn't realise that's how it worked. I knew about the multi class change, but I thought you're still limited to the classes your guild supports. Is there a downside to being of a class that isn't part of your guild? Will your tutor actually teach your skills?
    Caelya said:
    Having played a Runeguard, I can tell you it's pretty fantastic. It's most definitely the tankiest class in the game, solid bashing, and some fairly diverse options for PvP with the introduction of runeflaring. The synergy that they have with all the classes in magick, even more so with the upcoming Mage revamp (at least that's my prediction), is pretty stellar.
    Yeah I noticed from looking at ab runelore that they seem to be able to ink runes on tablets now, but didn't notice anything that explained what tablets actually are. Is that what this runeflaring thing is?
    General skill tutors can teach general skills, and guild skills to adept. Guild tutors can teach any guild skill from your circle.

    Rune tablets are what are used to flare runes. Each AB in runelore describes what that rune does when flared on a tablet. To flare the rune, it must be sketched on a tablet in your inventory, and in some cases you must also have a tablet wielded.
    I am the righteous one... 
    the claims are stated - it's the world I've created 
  • Aleutia said:
    A guild tutor will teach any class skill. The only thing is you have to learn to tri-adept before you can start learning unevenly - which is only like.. 178 lessons in each skill? Something like that.
    Is it only until adept? The learning help file suggests if you're not in a guild of that class it has to be learned evenly all the way.
  • Xarion said:
    Aleutia said:
    A guild tutor will teach any class skill. The only thing is you have to learn to tri-adept before you can start learning unevenly - which is only like.. 178 lessons in each skill? Something like that.
    Is it only until adept? The learning help file suggests if you're not in a guild of that class it has to be learned evenly all the way.
    This used to be the case, but hasn't been for some time. It isn't updated in the help file.
    I am the righteous one... 
    the claims are stated - it's the world I've created 
  • edited March 2013
    It was to tri-expert. Roughly 210 credits total, 70 credits per skill (I mastered many professions this way).

    As Lionas said, it appears to be no longer required to learn equally, since the advent of Defilers.
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