Log Horizon: Create Your Own Character

[Lazgrane]

The part where level doesn't matter, what matter is your own skill.

And if you look at her first description:

Shirayukihime did not make her avatar according to what she thought would be strongest in the game. She made it according to the <<shape of the heart>>.
She believes that the avatar must <<reflect the inner truth>>. <<Focus>> on one thing and grow accordingly.

Yeah.

[HasuMasu]

I've been busted. Ofcourse the name <<Shirayukihime>> is a dead give-away too.

Originally Posted by Keroko

The teamwork part still works though (Shiroe wouldn't exist if not for that after all), so I'd say focus on that instead.

I'll take this to heart.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Masuzu

At any rate, this isn't really a problem as far as <<Shirayukihime>> is concerned.

One of the things I wanted to show were that the rules have changed. Before the <<Disaster>>, your numerical stats were your absolute limit. Fighting with your body adds a whole new dimension.

I made <<Shirayukihime>> level 1 on purpose to show the new meta-game: your own sword skills and the help of your friends.

You are also penalizing your character in term of quests. There are the possiblity that some quests that were repeatable and some that gives rewards such as the Dazanegg's Magic Bag might not exist anymore due to NPCs being alive people with their own lives and all.

[HasuMasu]

I'm not really trying to make her strongest.

Otherwise I'd have had her use her old-man level 90 Sorcerer.

[Sheba]

I said nothing about that.

[HasuMasu]

I was just giving the reason why I would intentionally penalise her.

[WhiteJoker]

Originally Posted by Keroko

The authors experience seems to be mostly based on the old type of MMO's, where leveling through grinding was the main way to level. Given that the players are doing just that: Leveling through grinding, it stands to reason that this is the same in Elder Tale.

His experience is mostly from EQ2 (Mamere is known to have played it for a long time and it seems to be his fall back example whenever he needs one) which is somewhere between the two systems. It's got a linear EXP system and is very quest heavy, but like old MMOs questing seems based primarily around party questing as opposed to solo-questing towards end game raiding like WoW style MMOs. As noted by the talk about the Magic Bag, and events in the LN not yet covered by the anime, Elder Tales does have a fairly extensive quest system, though it isn't mentioned exactly how rewarding the experience is. So if we go off of EQ2, the issue is more that killing enemies after a certain point requires partying and in an MMO, finding a party is usually the hardest part of grinding.

Really, Elder Tale as a whole seems to be more akin to the old type of MMO's. XP loss upon death, items drop on death, skill leveling requires raiding, even mobs many levels below you are a potential threat, soloing is only feasible for skilled players, all stuff that you don't really see much in modern day MMO's. Not surprising I suppose, given that this is a 20 year old game and all...

It seems to be a mixture of EQ1 and EQ2 combined with a sandbox like Skyrim (but with far more epic quests/raids)

Anyway, Touhya and Minori have been training like crazy for a full month in just this episode alone, and yet they haven't dinged to cap at all. So leveling takes a long time, even for the lower levels.

Their training seems more to be about learning the mechanics then it does grinding for levels and experience. Additionally, if Naotsugu and Akatsuki are constantly jumping in to keep Tohya from dying then they're going to wind up stealing most of the experience.

Spoiler:

But we also know from the LN that when the training camp starts Tohya is level 29 and Minori is 21. The level difference is because Tohya was forced to go farming every day when they were still in Hamelin while Minori just crafted all day long. Since the two were only in Hamelin for about two weeks, it means Tohya gained 8 levels from grinding without quests and with a crappy party that had to regularly go back to town and pick up party members who died due to incompetent Shreider shenanigans (come to think of it, he was probably sucking up a lot of exp too since he wasn't using the Mentoring system). We also know from the Goblin War that if a party spends all day fighting something around their level, at a constant rate, they can gain 3 levels in about as many days.

Spoilery stuff might provide a few more handles for how long it might take to level:

Spoiler for novel spoilers:

There is a time difference in the game compare to the real world. When it was a game, one hour in real-life was twelve hours in-game. Now that the game has become reality, this has shifted through as well. A good rule of thumb could be "time to level = time it would take in the real world X 12"

I know but even with that ratio it seems difficult to gauge travel times due to factors which wouldn't be apparent in game; things like encounters on the road seem to be more likely and apparent then it was while in game. Real world factors like uneven terrain and so forth would also be contributing factors. There just too many variables to account for that I really didn't want to get sucked into the time sink that is thinking up the thousands of things which could further increase travel time beyond the time compression factor. And then I'd have to draw up a graph, make a flow chart... and oh god, kill me now before I lose half a day again.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by WhiteJoker

His experience is mostly from EQ2 (Mamere is known to have played it for a long time and it seems to be his fall back example whenever he needs one) which is somewhere between the two systems. It's got a linear EXP system and is very quest heavy, but like old MMOs questing seems based primarily around party questing as opposed to solo-questing towards end game raiding like WoW style MMOs. As noted by the talk about the Magic Bag, and events in the LN not yet covered by the anime, Elder Tales does have a fairly extensive quest system, though it isn't mentioned exactly how rewarding the experience is. So if we go off of EQ2, the issue is more that killing enemies after a certain point requires partying and in an MMO, finding a party is usually the hardest part of grinding.

Hmm, you're right, that does seem to be the system here. Most mobs we've seen so far chain-aggro, which would be murder for most solo players. Group combat seems to be the way to fight in this game.

Originally Posted by WhiteJoker

Their training seems more to be about learning the mechanics then it does grinding for levels and experience. Additionally, if Naotsugu and Akatsuki are constantly jumping in to keep Tohya from dying then they're going to wind up stealing most of the experience.

Spoiler:

But we also know from the LN that when the training camp starts Tohya is level 29 and Minori is 21. The level difference is because Tohya was forced to go farming every day when they were still in Hamelin while Minori just crafted all day long. Since the two were only in Hamelin for about two weeks, it means Tohya gained 8 levels from grinding without quests and with a crappy party that had to regularly go back to town and pick up party members who died due to incompetent Shreider shenanigans (come to think of it, he was probably sucking up a lot of exp too since he wasn't using the Mentoring system). We also know from the Goblin War that if a party spends all day fighting something around their level, at a constant rate, they can gain 3 levels in about as many days.

Little bit more than two weeks for Tohya, going by the timeline (warning, spoilers, etc.). At least 24-ish days I'd say.

And if we're talking a non-linear leveling system (which I agree is most likely) the time required to level is only going to grow.

[Marcus H.]

Shirayukihime is not really a strong character based from what I read. Her equipment set is more Assassin than Swashbuckler, making her overly dependent on the debuffs of her skills. And even with that, at a low level, she needs to be careful of her moves because she's not that tanky as most melee non-stealth classes.

On other news, I'll consider having Light Punishment (battle style associated with the illuminating effects of Cleric skills, pun intended) as an Overskill for Orix.

[Sheba]

Originally Posted by Marcus H.

On other news, I'll consider having Light Punishment (battle style associated with the illuminating effects of Cleric skills, pun intended) as an Overskill for Orix.

Kick ass for the Lord?

[WhiteJoker]

Originally Posted by Keroko

And if we're talking a non-linear leveling system (which I agree is most likely) the time required to level is only going to grow.

Yes and no since it can go either way. New world, new rules factor can extend grind time due to having to re-learn old tricks and what not. On the other hand you really shouldn't under-estimate how fast you can power level somebody if you've got a level 90 healer standing around buffing and healing you even if you're grinding, and if you can think up of other exploits to game the system and get more bang for your buck, it can become a cake walk. Also, remember that one of the themes in Log Horizon is how to effectively game the system (for the powers of good!). Look at the very concept of kuden.

Spoiler:

Regarding Tohya, that's more a mark in favor for what Masuzu's highlighting since under the inept leadership of Hamelin Tohya only manages 8 levels; with a good party, knowledge of what he's doing, and occasional assistance from level 90s he manages at least 3 levels from combat against the goblins for a day or two

But to swing the topic back on track, I'll have a character idea written up soon. Well, rewritten since I accidentally lost the one I had earlier. Sigh. I are genius.

[Marcus H.]

Sheba: Without being dying, as much as I can.

I also need to work out Karinda's background.

[WhiteJoker]

Name: Fahrey
Class: Monk
Subclass: Pathfinder
Level: 90
Build: Evasion Tank/Back-up Tank
Guild: Formerly of The Independents, now guildless
HP: A lot
MP: Not enough

Equipment: A collection of artifact or fairly high level production gear from a variety of different servers. There is no unifying design style to what Fahrey wears beyond "not clown suit" and "kind of works." Focus on boosting evasion, MP regen, and movement speed (not attack speed). Only one item is really of note.

Knight-Errant's Deceit: Said to have once been worn by a renegade knight seeking to correct the corruption he saw; he wore this mask believing it would help protect his fellows from retribution. A smooth metal half-mask etched with oaths of justice, this artifact-class accessory has a low chance of reducing the cooldown on certain evasion skills when hit. Fahrey wears it more because he likes how it looks then anything else.

Playstyle: Fahrey has only one maxim when it comes to battle: don't die. As a tank, Fahrey is less concerned about dealing damage or killing things and more concerned about pulling aggro, keeping hate, and not dying. As he opted for a monk as his primary character, Fahrey prefers to fulfill his one rule by not getting hit and so he prioritizes mobility and dodging over damage dealing. However, even if you can dodge every hit, a tank isn't doing it's job if it isn't keeping hate, so Fahrey carries a few items that help him regenerate MP more quickly so he can spam skills combos more frequently (and as a positive upshot, Fahrey prefers skills that do the job of tank while also boosting his evasion). While a competent main tank, Fahrey truly excels as a back-up tank since his hyper-kinetic combat style works exceptionally well at grabbing ADDs and sub-bosses, plugging holes, and providing a bit of battlefield control. Post-Catastrophe he's also picked up a somewhat off-kilter delight in kiting mobs madly around a zone while his allies pick them off; his friends grumble a bit about him having seen far too many wuxia movies.

Background: Prior to the Catastrophe, Fahrey was a somewhat lackluster post-grad coasting through school on minimal effort and squandered talent. More interested in playing around than his future, Fahrey was a fairly long time player of Elder Tales. Due to his long history, Fahrey has a tendency to outlast the guilds he joins and has been part of a great many with a variety of interests, but due to this most of the relationships he forms tend to be fairly shallow and short term. Some what fed up with trying to find a lasting small-to-medium sized guild to raid with, and not particularly interested in joining the large guilds, Fahrey decided to explore the international servers. His forays into the international servers left him with a rather large collection of server unique artifacts and production items; his time on the Korean server has also left him with slight fixation on collecting cash shop pets and mounts (because they're cute!). He also possesses a rather large generalist knowledge on the layout and quest structure throughout the world.

Post-Catastrophe: Stranded on the Japanese server with few contacts he can rely on, Fahrey is only moderately active in raiding however he's less interested in leveling or gaining new items and more interested in finding a way to establish contact with North America and finding any friends which may have been caught up in the Catastrophe (prior to his roving, Fahrey usually relied on guild systems to contact friends, and never quite picked up the habit of adding people to his friendlist). A strong supporter of the Round Table due to the changes he's witnessed, Fahrey has also been volunteering to test the Fairy Ring system since he believes his game history and experience would be helpful to a team should the system ever lead one into a non-Japanese zone. He is currently guildless since he was actively avoiding people during the recruitment drives (out of fear reasoning that given the chance the first person people in fear tend to turn on is the person who's different) and the deterioration of Akiba; after the Revolution, he found less of a need and a greater interest in freelancing between guilds as a third party.

[Estavali]

I don't think you'll need to worry about the language issue. It's stated in the GO EAST! side story that Elder Tale has a pretty good built-in auto-translator and it's still working after the Catastrophe.

Spoiler for Slight spoiler from Kanami and Leonardo (and their friends') Magnificent Journey:

That's why Leonardo and Kanami could understand each other from very moment they came across each other. This function appears to be so efficient that Leonardo didn't realise Kanami was Japanese until she told him herself =3

[WhiteJoker]

Originally Posted by Estavali

I don't think you'll need to worry about the language issue. It's stated in the GO EAST! side story that Elder Tale has a pretty good built-in auto-translator and it's still working after the Catastrophe.

Spoiler for Slight spoiler from Kanami and Leonardo (and their friends') Magnificent Journey:

That's why Leonardo and Kanami could understand each other from very moment they came across each other. This function appears to be so efficient that Leonardo didn't realise Kanami was Japanese until she told him herself =3

Ahh, that's good to know. I haven't read Kanami's side story yet so I'm not familiar with what happens in it.

[HasuMasu]

I did say it was all tentative, and as I expected there are some heavy revisions.


Name: Sakura
Race: Human
Primary Class: Swashbuckler
Secondary Class: Housekeeper
Guild: las Companneros


(Final Stage) Equipment:

Ethereal Veil of the Lich: Purple cloth-type dress obtained as drop. Gives average armour for cloth at its level but increases evasion depending on avatar level. Has a toggle skill that doubles current evasion for mana. Designed for monks but not very popular due to monk's lack of mana. Gives off a faint glow and trail.

Phantom Longsword of the Trial: Thin black longsword obtained from chest. Average damage at its level but increases critical hit chance depending on total attack speed. Chance stacks on successive hits to any one target. Stacks reset upon inflicting damage to a different target. Designed for swashbucklers but not very popular due to focus on single-target damage. Players still can't agree whether it's metal, crystal, wood, or other.

Nightmare Wings of the Fairy: Small white translucent butterfly wings obtained as quest reward. Increases movement speed inversely proportional to current health. Strangely more common among male players due to the quest's horror-theme.


History: Sakura is also her offline name. Sakura (written in English Alphabet) is her second account which she created on the day of the <<Disaster>>. She reached level 90 with a previous sorcerer-sailor account which she abandoned only days before starting over. Before this, she sold all her items and transferred all her money to Kaneda so he could transfer them to her new account.

[Chaos2Frozen]

General question here- what are the stats/attributes that the characters have?

Is hit/critc/dodge/parry/block/resist ratings in the game as well?

[Lazgrane]

hmm are you asking about what kind of attribute a character have?

Like, in RO there are str, agi, int, vit, dex, luk. ?

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Chaos2Frozen

Is hit/critc/dodge/parry/block/resist ratings in the game as well?

I don't know the full list, but dodge -or evasion as the current translations call it- at the very least does exist. It's specifically mentioned as one of the Monk's strengths.

Elemental resistances were mentioned as early as episode 3.

[Sheba]

There are hit and crit rate as well. Remember to avoid numbers unless those are HP and MP.