Real life RPG survival strategies (Inspired by Sword Art Online)

[lightbringer]

Originally Posted by Rethice

Now I'm a person who is watching SAO without any LN knowledge or anything, so I'm not sure exactly what "spec" he is, but he seems, at least from the first few episodes, to be an almost semi-tank duelist build, since he seems to have a lot of deflect abilities. That would be quite a good solo spec - you could protect yourself and still deal damage comfortably.

Spoiler for Kirito's build in the novels:

Kirito favors strength and agility attributes, wears leather armor (in a game that also has both light and heavy metal armor), and fights one-handed with no shield. Skill-wise, his parry skill is pretty much his only mitigation. But his naturally high reaction speed (the highest among all 10,000 SAO players) also helps him avoid damage to some extent. So I think duelist is an apt term, though I wouldn't really call him a tank (maybe evasion tank? but that's a stretch given his aggressive play style). I kind of see him as pure DPS.

[willx]

Originally Posted by lightbringer

Spoiler for Kirito's build in the novels:

Kirito favors strength and agility attributes, wears leather armor (in a game that also has both light and heavy metal armor), and fights one-handed with no shield. Skill-wise, his parry skill is pretty much his only mitigation. But his naturally high reaction speed (the highest among all 10,000 SAO players) also helps him avoid damage to some extent. So I think duelist is an apt term, though I wouldn't really call him a tank (maybe evasion tank? but that's a stretch given his aggressive play style). I kind of see him as pure DPS.

Hm, I'm not sure if I would say that it's a pure DPS style. Seems like your comment about evasion tank might be closer to the truth. He specializes in using his super heavy single sword style to attack the enemy's weapons and inflict "weapon break" or "momentary stun" type statuses and then follow up with multi-hit combos.

If I were to compare it to League of Legends type archetypes, I'd say he's more of a "tanky DPS" vs. "glass cannon / assassin DPS"

I don't know if anyone has played "Ragnarok Online" but for a period of time, there were "2H AGI" warrior builds that used high STR + AGI to do tons of damage as well as have high parry + evasion defenses. It reminds me a bit of Kirito, although again the light armor is interesting.

[jcdietz03]

I think you have to fight in SAO.

If you want mostly non-fighting skills, that's fine. But you need be in a guild to take advantage of other player's mostly fighting builds. In combat, you're just trying to get your one hit in so you can share EXP with the guild (and then hang back / support with items for the rest of the fight). Your level is probably going to be a bit lower than your fellow guild members as well. Once you're able to make equipment better than the best currently available drops, you're going to hang back in town because combat is even more dangerous for you than most players.

[Jinx999]

I believe it's mentioned at one point that the amount of XP you get from an encounter is proportional to the amount of damage you dealt. Which is harsh on tank builds (no healers in the game), but one of the ways used in RL MMOs.

[willx]

Originally Posted by Jinx999

I believe it's mentioned at one point that the amount of XP you get from an encounter is proportional to the amount of damage you dealt. Which is harsh on tank builds (no healers in the game), but one of the ways used in RL MMOs.

Well, a simple solution would be to do it based on a formula equal to:

Damage Dealt + X * (Damage Received + (Damage mitigated))
where X, is a variable based on a monster's 1) level difference, 2) monster type and 3) whether it's a boss or not

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Jinx999

I believe it's mentioned at one point that the amount of XP you get from an encounter is proportional to the amount of damage you dealt. Which is harsh on tank builds (no healers in the game), but one of the ways used in RL MMOs.

Originally Posted by willx

Well, a simple solution would be to do it based on a formula equal to:

Damage Dealt + X * (Damage Received + (Damage mitigated))
where X, is a variable based on a monster's 1) level difference, 2) monster type and 3) whether it's a boss or not

how does that work with EXP share in a group? Especially the tank who soak up damage but don't usually deal much damage.

[willx]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

how does that work with EXP share in a group? Especially the tank who soak up damage but don't usually deal much damage.

That's what that formula is supposed to accommodate for. In a boss battle, where a boss has stupidly high HP, the DPS will get credit for all the damage they deal.

Tanks will get a MULTIPLE on "based damage that would've been dealt" (includes both damage received + damage that was mitigated due to high armor stats)

Also you can add variables for healing if it exists in that world. I've seen this system before somewhere, but I can't remember where..

[Awrya]

It was mentioned in the novel that EXP depends on damage done.

My guess, it's depends on percentage, if you deal 20% total damage, you will get 200 out of 1000EXP.
Another guess is for every 'milestone' (100 damage, 200 damage etc) you will accumulate EXP, which you will receive when the monster dies.

We don't exactly know, but maybe Kawahara will explain it further in Sword Art Online Progressive.

[bhl88]

http://swordartonline.wikia.com/wiki...l_Sword_Skills

I'd pick this
One Handed Sword Skills Mastered
Battle Recovery Mastered
Emergency Recovery Mastered
Weapon Guard/Parry Mastered
Detect/Searching 700
Night Vision 500
(wait are there classes for this one?)
Slash Weapon Forging - 900
Thrust Weapon Forging - 800
Metal Refining - 700
Sprint 900

Battleforger woot
And depend on the rest and join a guild

[pampz21]

If it would be me i'll use 2h and PlateArmors than 1h n Leather, well 2h agi knight would be my build!....that def is a must in a death game!
if you go Dual wield i'd use 1 sword and 1 dagger to balance my speed if i'm not ambidex, from wat I saw Kirito isn't so much of ambidex!

[bhl88]

If there are separate classes instead of one skill, I'd pick Heavy Equipment and be the tank.

Dual wielding is limited to the person with the fastest reaction speed though.

[Andrewthelord]

As a journalist and a volunteer in youth associations in my country, if i would be stuck in a game like SAO i'll probably continue to do what I do in my real life.

In SAO there is the virtual newspaper. Information it's everything. Knowing, for example, that the dungeon in 28 floor it's full of deadly traps before even entering it would make the difference between living and dying. I would join a great guild and devote my time to this task. But i would not sit in my guild house waiting for the front liners to give me informations, i'll probably be a "embedded journalist", like the guys who followed armies during the wars. So, technically, i would be a front liner too, but my goal would not be clearing bosses but stand nearest the "action" as possibile. So i would need to have strong defence and strong equipment.

In fact, I would be someone like Agil, not for the merchant thing but for helping others.

Not only information, even morale would be fundamental. There will be the need to form "support groups", helping each other, giving self the reason to keep fighting. I know not everyone will be in the frontlines, too scared too dying, but i'll make sure everyone knows the effort that some guys are giving to free everyone. So, even mid-level players would help them someway, or, maybe, I'd make possible for some mid-level player to join the front-liners and help us win the war.

Last thing: i was surprised to discover that Kirito and Asuna said each other names only in the end. I think players stuck in a VR would have to talk about always about their real life: because it would remind them what they're expecting out there, and, in the same time, helping people not to twist their personality and even became PK.

[Vmem]

I've tried many builds in MMOs in the past, but in the end, my go-to build would be some form of glass-cannon dagger or mage nuking build. so I guess in SAO I'd probably end up as a pure AGI dagger or short sword (maybe even rapier) DPS glass cannon.

Now why would I make myself so vulnerable even in a death game? simple. The best way to be good at something is to practice. Kirito has this advantage in being a beta testing and having figured out what build he likes (and has practiced). not having this advantage, it would be best for me to focus on a play style that I'm at least used to, rather than trying to tank, fail miserably, and die at level 1 or 2. Besides, given that it's a death game, I believe the safest way to not get hit. so my strategy would be to try to kill my enemy before it starts attacking, and to learn to dodge like my life depends on it (literally :P).

So in the end, I'd work out what combination of AGI and maybe a little bit of Str would give me the highest DPS (and with what weapon), and maybe go with light armor rather than Kirito's leather armor type (more medium?). be faster, hit harder, and most importantly, play solo. In all the games I've played with some type of survivor achievement, all of my failed attempts have been caused by noob party members aggroing the wrong mob, standing in the wrong location, using the wrong skill, etc etc. Eventually, I'd get to a point where it would be almost necessary to be in a party to progress. but at that point, I would hopefully be strong enough to pick a guild to join, rather than beg the stronger guilds for entrance at a low level. (this too comes from personal MMO experiences).

As for PK prevention... what better way to prevent it than to let the other person know that you have the DPS to kill them in a few hits? no one would gamble their life away :P

[ArchmageXin]

Question, IIRC, crafting was not level limited in SAO like it is in WoW right? (Like in order to achieve master crafter etc you need to be level 50 or above)

I probably at least gather a well oiled team and we stay well away from any large population~, and rotate level with at least 1-2 outstriders to watch for PKers/Adds.

I don't think the game would see a lot of PKers, but one is enough to be seriously bad.

Also avoid major guilds like KoB like plague, I seen those kind of guilds in WoW, and they are full of drama queens, backstabbers, and loot whores. Giving them all PK abilities on each other would be asking for trouble. It would be like working for a Mexican drug cartel. Giving how dangerous the game is, watching a discussion for a elite boss drop turn into battlefield spoil is entirely possible....and need to be avoided.

Avoid any girl unless is a IRL friend. Just to be safe. Make friend possible, avoid emotional crap. Admission of any female player into the guild has to be done with extreme care. No offense to the ladies out there, but the very last thing I need is to watch my crew burst into a ragefest over the hot girl in the team.

Get housing ASAP, you don't want to sleep in a room or on the street that can get you PKed like in SAO.

[NoemiChan]

My built would be focus more on agility for high avoidance rate and for frequent critical attacks.

Could be also help in boss fights... Nothing much...

[Vmem]

Originally Posted by Andrewthelord

Last thing: i was surprised to discover that Kirito and Asuna said each other names only in the end. I think players stuck in a VR would have to talk about always about their real life: because it would remind them what they're expecting out there, and, in the same time, helping people not to twist their personality and even became PK.

I think this was done very deliberately by the author, as it is a huge part of the story for the main characters to understand that by trapping them within SAO, Kayaba has created an "alternate real world" within SAO. there's no need for real world names, the names Kirito and Asuna are sufficient as these are "real names" for the world of SAO, which has real adventure, real dangers, real emotions, and real memories. Only when SAO was cleared, did their real names matter again

[Andrewthelord]

Originally Posted by Vmem

I think this was done very deliberately by the author, as it is a huge part of the story for the main characters to understand that by trapping them within SAO, Kayaba has created an "alternate real world" within SAO. there's no need for real world names, the names Kirito and Asuna are sufficient as these are "real names" for the world of SAO, which has real adventure, real dangers, real emotions, and real memories. Only when SAO was cleared, did their real names matter again

it's always real. But you fight to free yourself from that world. And you have always to think what you are aiming for. So speaking about your real life would be fundamental.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by Andrewthelord

it's always real. But you fight to free yourself from that world. And you have always to think what you are aiming for. So speaking about your real life would be fundamental.

Well the thing is, no one thought of that. They all thought that, because this whole world is a new reality, you shouldn't talk about things from the "old reality".

ie. In Aincrad, Talking about RL is a Taboo for most people.

[mystogan]

if stuck in an RPG like SAO, i'll keep some basic things in mind,
always keep a health replenishing solution with you and healing kit with you,
use items like poison, or cursed weapons,
use tactics in battle,
use crystals or other items for specific purposes like teleporting as a back up
and of course fight a lot, gain exp and level up

[ArchmageXin]

Originally Posted by Vmem

I think this was done very deliberately by the author, as it is a huge part of the story for the main characters to understand that by trapping them within SAO, Kayaba has created an "alternate real world" within SAO. there's no need for real world names, the names Kirito and Asuna are sufficient as these are "real names" for the world of SAO, which has real adventure, real dangers, real emotions, and real memories. Only when SAO was cleared, did their real names matter again

According to the novel, it was because people would be depressed thinking about the other side and often fall into despair. Thus, they didn't mention their other lives as a faux pas.