Nefium
04-10-2016, 05:13 PM
Hey everyone, I'm here to tell you guys about a server up on EQ Emu called Sanctuary and why some of you would probably fall in love with the server. It's definitely not for everyone, but i really think some of you will be interested.
What is Sanctuary?
Sanctuary is a server on EQ Emu that takes out the Norrath and re-creates a new world and game using the EQ core mechanics and art assets we all know and love with original lore and systems added.
What are the classes like?
There are 15 Base classes that range from very custom to pretty familiar with what you know with. Once you achieve level 20 and gain access to a certain city you will be able to do a quest for one of two sub classes for each base class that will take your character into a completely different direction. Sub classes are where the true customization of the classes start to come into effect. Some subs might be somewhat similar in role from the same base, and some will be drastically different. One of my favorite examples is the Monk base class. Monks start like monks you already know, with a few minor changes, like kicks and strikes having separate cool downs, and being able to use some slashing weapons like katanas. Once you're 20 you can pick between Samurai or Sensai sub classes. Samurai have the tools to be a tank, and can also build for dps, or both. While Sensai has the tools to become a healer, and uses their endurance to heal and buff, while still being able to dual wield, feign death, and fight very much like a monk, but still stack dps gear if they wish and be a utility dps. Versatility is ingrained into most classes.
What is loot like?
Loot is everywhere in Sanctuary. Almost everything has rare/very rare/ultra rare/artifact type rare items on their loot table, you honestly never know when something might drop a ridiculous item for that level and be a server first discovery. Some items are so rare and powerful that only rng jesus himself will find them, but when he does it will be very meaningful. Itemization here is a lot more meaningful then just more health and mana and ac, with minor stats that don't really change much. The most dynamic would be things like spell damage on gear which adds flat damage to each spell cast or each tick of a dot. Dots are very powerful here with stacked spell damage, but usually have higher mana costs due to the sheer power. Another stat on gear you will find in Sanctuary is Melee DMG, which literally adds flat damage to each melee swing you put out. Also to note, haste comes on all kinds of gear and is 100 percent stack able with each other with no caps, actually there is no caps on almost anything, mana regen, spell dmg, hp regen, haste, nothing has caps. Gear choices here really define a character and you can really build a character to a play style you enjoy instead of being pigeonholed into gear just because of your class. At the same time there are also plenty of subclass specific gear that have pure flavor written all over them.
What is the content like?
This is one of my favorite things about Sanctuary. Leveling here is not a speedy process. its relatively fast ( comparatively to after ) to lvl 25, but starting at 25 xp per kill goes down to about a 3rd of what you would have gotten per kill before, and it goes down again at 30. What this means is, you will be stuck in your mid to late 20's for awhile, and even longer for your 30's and 40's. This is where the content comes in. This world is BURSTING with content for all level ranges. Many xp zones, many group zones, PLENTY of raid targets, all in the mid 20's to low 30's alone. I mean honestly when some of us get together to do some raid content we struggle to decide which places to hit up because there are so many. Leveling here is very meaningful and goes a long way, but you by no means need to rush to high level to experience challenging fun content of all types. The server is set up to have deep character progression that is lasting and feels rewarding every step of the way. At times you may just progress latterly, not leveling for even a whole week because you are to busy bashing your head against content for loot and maybe it didn't g to well with a lot of deaths. But when you finally get that sick drop of a robe with 25 spell damage on it it totally becomes worth it. Remember, gear means a lot more then your used too, and some of it is very challenging to get. Risk vs Reward is very much in play here, and the higher the risk the better potential reward. Another thing to mention would be how the world uses zones you know, but renames them, makes them connect differently, and repopulates them with completely different npcs then before. It even goes as far as literally re skinning the textures of walls and such in some zones. The best part over all of that? Even with so much content, Zerjz has made comments that atleast 40 percent of whats in game still has yet to be discovered by players. It's mind blowing. Here are a few screenshots to get an idea how some of the zones have been changed.
What used to be Kurns Tower, but now Ivy Citadel
http://imgur.com/nArFnGJ
What used to be Najena's Lair, but now Malefix, the Mines of Mana
http://imgur.com/lMIYA0k
Whats the population and community like, can i box, and what is it like to solo?
Ill start with boxing, you can box up to 3 accounts, eventually when population increases this will most likely be reduced to 2, and with how deep character progression is, and how much work you need to put into your gear, its highly recommended to play 1 character, as it will be very difficult to keep 2 or 3 up to par. The population currently is around 7 on a dead morning to about 20-30ish on a sat night. This is why I'm here! This world is designed to be played with people. It is designed to team up with other people and work together, and we need more people!
Most of the community is fantastic and kind and always willing to team up, because you need to!. Some classes are able to solo up in levels, but it will almost never be efficient and is almost always better to party up! Good news is I rarely see our solo character players struggle to find a group when people are around. People are very welcoming and almost none of the boxers shun away people unless they are really focused on a specific goal and are just grinding that one goal out, like a super rare drop from an easy kill.
Am I going to be behind everyone who's established?
Sure you will be a bit behind, but because of the nature of level speed here, its not that hard to catch up to a relative level. The highest level person right now is only lvl 28 after playing with a pretty high play time for the last 3 months. most people are around lvl 25 who have been around for at least a month.
What about trade skills?
Endless recipes. There is completely customized trade skills with many classes getting unique trade skill containers that only they can use to drive a player economy. The trade skill system is intensely deep, with over 80+ trade skill recipes STILL to be discovered, and more being added regularly faster then we can figure them out. Honestly if you love tradeskilling you could keep busy for an extremely long time trying to figure out combines. You can craft anything from food/drink to armor and jewelry, to utility such as the glass pipe that's crafted with smithing, but uses purple passion pipe grass that alchemists can make, when you use the pipe with the grass you get the heavy clouds buff which gives you a stacking 4 mana regen. All kinds of fun stuff like this inside trade skills. Something fun as well, you get xp for each combine you complete that still gives skill ups, and is based on your current level, making trade skills help level you as well!
How active are the devs?
I'll start by saying DEV, only 1 dev. Zerjz is our main man here at Sanctuary. It is a 1 man show for the most part, with a few people giving a hand here and there on some basics. What this means is everything is known to the dev, nothing falls outside of his grand vision, and he completely understands how everything works with one another. You might think that content comes slow due 1 man, and I can safely say it does not. Updates are damn near daily. New zones being added, sub classes being fleshed out more, zones being populated with more loot or monsters. New systems being put in place like the weather system ect. Zerjz is very passionate about this world and he puts an insane amount of time into it, and it shows. Something to note here as well - The server is VERY much a work in progress still. This current iteration has only been up since mid January or so and while there is tons of content in place, there is still much much much more to add, with over 6000 notes in his note book to add to the game still. I can safely say you will be very satisfied with the quantity of work being done to the server through 1 man. If something feels weaker then it really should, or something doesn't feel fleshed out fully, that's because its probably not done and still needs to be worked on and will be worked on as Zerjz feels the priority is right, or sometimes he just gets on a idea roll with something and wants to focus on that before going back to something else. We just try to leave the master at work and enjoy what we get as we get it.
This sounds GREAT! How do I getting started?
First thing is first, you will need a copy of ROF2 client to play on Sanctuary.
You can check out the site at http://www.playsanctuary.com/
At the top is also a menu where you can go to chat and join the discord server for Sanctuary. Here you will find all the daily announcements and patch notes, and be able to read and participate in general chat ( ooc ) in real time from anywhere.
If you follow the getting started guide on the website for the launcher its very simple. You simply take a fresh copy of ROF2, download the launcher from the site, add the launcher to the ROF2 folder, launch the game from that launcher ( I recommend making a short cut on your desktop ) and it will patch everything for you. Every time he updates just run the patcher and everything gets fixed up for you all on its own. Its that simple!
If you have any questions you can check our my stream at https://www.twitch.tv/niusto whenever I'm on and ill answer any of your questions, you can also ask in any of the various discord channels for the server and our community will be more then welcome to answer them.
I really hope some of you decide to give Sanctuary a shot. This is a very young but promising world that feels like a classic gaming experience but with much more depth.
SEE YA IN GAME! -Niusto
What is Sanctuary?
Sanctuary is a server on EQ Emu that takes out the Norrath and re-creates a new world and game using the EQ core mechanics and art assets we all know and love with original lore and systems added.
What are the classes like?
There are 15 Base classes that range from very custom to pretty familiar with what you know with. Once you achieve level 20 and gain access to a certain city you will be able to do a quest for one of two sub classes for each base class that will take your character into a completely different direction. Sub classes are where the true customization of the classes start to come into effect. Some subs might be somewhat similar in role from the same base, and some will be drastically different. One of my favorite examples is the Monk base class. Monks start like monks you already know, with a few minor changes, like kicks and strikes having separate cool downs, and being able to use some slashing weapons like katanas. Once you're 20 you can pick between Samurai or Sensai sub classes. Samurai have the tools to be a tank, and can also build for dps, or both. While Sensai has the tools to become a healer, and uses their endurance to heal and buff, while still being able to dual wield, feign death, and fight very much like a monk, but still stack dps gear if they wish and be a utility dps. Versatility is ingrained into most classes.
What is loot like?
Loot is everywhere in Sanctuary. Almost everything has rare/very rare/ultra rare/artifact type rare items on their loot table, you honestly never know when something might drop a ridiculous item for that level and be a server first discovery. Some items are so rare and powerful that only rng jesus himself will find them, but when he does it will be very meaningful. Itemization here is a lot more meaningful then just more health and mana and ac, with minor stats that don't really change much. The most dynamic would be things like spell damage on gear which adds flat damage to each spell cast or each tick of a dot. Dots are very powerful here with stacked spell damage, but usually have higher mana costs due to the sheer power. Another stat on gear you will find in Sanctuary is Melee DMG, which literally adds flat damage to each melee swing you put out. Also to note, haste comes on all kinds of gear and is 100 percent stack able with each other with no caps, actually there is no caps on almost anything, mana regen, spell dmg, hp regen, haste, nothing has caps. Gear choices here really define a character and you can really build a character to a play style you enjoy instead of being pigeonholed into gear just because of your class. At the same time there are also plenty of subclass specific gear that have pure flavor written all over them.
What is the content like?
This is one of my favorite things about Sanctuary. Leveling here is not a speedy process. its relatively fast ( comparatively to after ) to lvl 25, but starting at 25 xp per kill goes down to about a 3rd of what you would have gotten per kill before, and it goes down again at 30. What this means is, you will be stuck in your mid to late 20's for awhile, and even longer for your 30's and 40's. This is where the content comes in. This world is BURSTING with content for all level ranges. Many xp zones, many group zones, PLENTY of raid targets, all in the mid 20's to low 30's alone. I mean honestly when some of us get together to do some raid content we struggle to decide which places to hit up because there are so many. Leveling here is very meaningful and goes a long way, but you by no means need to rush to high level to experience challenging fun content of all types. The server is set up to have deep character progression that is lasting and feels rewarding every step of the way. At times you may just progress latterly, not leveling for even a whole week because you are to busy bashing your head against content for loot and maybe it didn't g to well with a lot of deaths. But when you finally get that sick drop of a robe with 25 spell damage on it it totally becomes worth it. Remember, gear means a lot more then your used too, and some of it is very challenging to get. Risk vs Reward is very much in play here, and the higher the risk the better potential reward. Another thing to mention would be how the world uses zones you know, but renames them, makes them connect differently, and repopulates them with completely different npcs then before. It even goes as far as literally re skinning the textures of walls and such in some zones. The best part over all of that? Even with so much content, Zerjz has made comments that atleast 40 percent of whats in game still has yet to be discovered by players. It's mind blowing. Here are a few screenshots to get an idea how some of the zones have been changed.
What used to be Kurns Tower, but now Ivy Citadel
http://imgur.com/nArFnGJ
What used to be Najena's Lair, but now Malefix, the Mines of Mana
http://imgur.com/lMIYA0k
Whats the population and community like, can i box, and what is it like to solo?
Ill start with boxing, you can box up to 3 accounts, eventually when population increases this will most likely be reduced to 2, and with how deep character progression is, and how much work you need to put into your gear, its highly recommended to play 1 character, as it will be very difficult to keep 2 or 3 up to par. The population currently is around 7 on a dead morning to about 20-30ish on a sat night. This is why I'm here! This world is designed to be played with people. It is designed to team up with other people and work together, and we need more people!
Most of the community is fantastic and kind and always willing to team up, because you need to!. Some classes are able to solo up in levels, but it will almost never be efficient and is almost always better to party up! Good news is I rarely see our solo character players struggle to find a group when people are around. People are very welcoming and almost none of the boxers shun away people unless they are really focused on a specific goal and are just grinding that one goal out, like a super rare drop from an easy kill.
Am I going to be behind everyone who's established?
Sure you will be a bit behind, but because of the nature of level speed here, its not that hard to catch up to a relative level. The highest level person right now is only lvl 28 after playing with a pretty high play time for the last 3 months. most people are around lvl 25 who have been around for at least a month.
What about trade skills?
Endless recipes. There is completely customized trade skills with many classes getting unique trade skill containers that only they can use to drive a player economy. The trade skill system is intensely deep, with over 80+ trade skill recipes STILL to be discovered, and more being added regularly faster then we can figure them out. Honestly if you love tradeskilling you could keep busy for an extremely long time trying to figure out combines. You can craft anything from food/drink to armor and jewelry, to utility such as the glass pipe that's crafted with smithing, but uses purple passion pipe grass that alchemists can make, when you use the pipe with the grass you get the heavy clouds buff which gives you a stacking 4 mana regen. All kinds of fun stuff like this inside trade skills. Something fun as well, you get xp for each combine you complete that still gives skill ups, and is based on your current level, making trade skills help level you as well!
How active are the devs?
I'll start by saying DEV, only 1 dev. Zerjz is our main man here at Sanctuary. It is a 1 man show for the most part, with a few people giving a hand here and there on some basics. What this means is everything is known to the dev, nothing falls outside of his grand vision, and he completely understands how everything works with one another. You might think that content comes slow due 1 man, and I can safely say it does not. Updates are damn near daily. New zones being added, sub classes being fleshed out more, zones being populated with more loot or monsters. New systems being put in place like the weather system ect. Zerjz is very passionate about this world and he puts an insane amount of time into it, and it shows. Something to note here as well - The server is VERY much a work in progress still. This current iteration has only been up since mid January or so and while there is tons of content in place, there is still much much much more to add, with over 6000 notes in his note book to add to the game still. I can safely say you will be very satisfied with the quantity of work being done to the server through 1 man. If something feels weaker then it really should, or something doesn't feel fleshed out fully, that's because its probably not done and still needs to be worked on and will be worked on as Zerjz feels the priority is right, or sometimes he just gets on a idea roll with something and wants to focus on that before going back to something else. We just try to leave the master at work and enjoy what we get as we get it.
This sounds GREAT! How do I getting started?
First thing is first, you will need a copy of ROF2 client to play on Sanctuary.
You can check out the site at http://www.playsanctuary.com/
At the top is also a menu where you can go to chat and join the discord server for Sanctuary. Here you will find all the daily announcements and patch notes, and be able to read and participate in general chat ( ooc ) in real time from anywhere.
If you follow the getting started guide on the website for the launcher its very simple. You simply take a fresh copy of ROF2, download the launcher from the site, add the launcher to the ROF2 folder, launch the game from that launcher ( I recommend making a short cut on your desktop ) and it will patch everything for you. Every time he updates just run the patcher and everything gets fixed up for you all on its own. Its that simple!
If you have any questions you can check our my stream at https://www.twitch.tv/niusto whenever I'm on and ill answer any of your questions, you can also ask in any of the various discord channels for the server and our community will be more then welcome to answer them.
I really hope some of you decide to give Sanctuary a shot. This is a very young but promising world that feels like a classic gaming experience but with much more depth.
SEE YA IN GAME! -Niusto