Ragnarok: Eternal Love SEA to be released with Episode 4 patch - What to Expect

I've read from rierin.com (a site that had been supporting the Ragnarok Mobile Community since the beginning) that Ragnarok M: Eternal Love SEA will be released with all the updates up to Episode 4.

So, what does that mean? There's a possibility that all the features that are currently implemented on the CN server will be implemented on the SEA server, too. FYI, Episode 5 is the latest update on the CN server

I've reviewed the patch notes from Clo (Thanks Clo!) and listed down the features that *might* be applied to the SEA server.

PS: For more information on certain features listed below, please see Clo's patch notes above.

Level Caps:
Base level: 110
Job level: 70
Max stat points per attribute: 119

Classes:
Alternate 2nd jobs: Crusader, Monk, Alchemist, Rogue
3rd Jobs - Rune Knight, Royal Guard, Guillotine Cross, Shadow Chaser, Archbishop, Shura, Warlock, Geneticist, Ranger, Mechanic

Maps:
Glast Heim
Aldebaran & Clock Tower
Lutie & Toy Factory
Amatsu
Yuno

System Features (account-related):
PIN system - this makes you type a PIN whenever you access certain features in-game, i.e kafra inventory, auction house.
Shared journal - achievement of one character reflects on the journal of your other character.
Account-bound quests - same principle with journal achievements, but with quests.
Build switcher - you can pre-define stat builds and switch them over
Job Switcher - you can switch jobs easily (back and forth)
Butler system - see patch notes.

Game-related features:
Rune system - dev's way to strengthen chosen builds per class
Cooking system - includes food buffs system
Pet system & Pet labor system
Equipment Recycle system
Mentor system - see patch notes
King Poring (card crafting) & Card recycling
Cat Mercenary system - very useful in grinding
Auction system - lets users bid on rare items posted by other players (weekly reset)
Marriage system
Cloth Dying - change color of clothes only.
Market Gifting system - pay Gift credits to be able to 'gift' purchased item from market to a friend, see patch notes for more details.
Vending system - a bit complicated, see patch notes. (cost of item is paid with Gift credit + 75% zeny)

PVP/mini game Features:
Yoyo mode
Desert Wolf mode
Mini WoE mode
Poring Fight
MVP War

Guild-related:
Guild Raid - Valhalla ruin
Guild Quests
Guild facilities
War of Crystal - Relics of God (aka WoE)
Custom Emblem
Goddess' Blessing


As you know, I have quit RoM several months ago which means I have little information about some of the features above. I would highly suggest that if you need more information about them, read the patch notes from Clo or visit rierin.com.

And again, it is not sure yet if all of these will be implemented. Though I doubt it, there's still a chance that they will be. After all, we should still be looking forward to them as they came from the same developer Xindong.


I hope you guys find this article very helpful!

Class Review: Cleric

Since I can't think of anything to write, I'll just write about something I'm most familiar with - Crusaders. I hope this article will help someone out there eventually. This is a first of a series as I'm planning on writing about all the classes I've tried (currently using Barbarian, while waiting for Dark Avenger to be released).

I could've just recorded arena battles to showcase the skills of this class but I know for sure that written information is more useful than just watching fights. Please read on and comment about what you think of this write-up.

I've been a Cleric for sometime and to be specific, my character used to be a Crusader. I consider this class as balanced since they are very versatile - they can tank, they can fight well in PVP (if you've got skills, I dont) and can do solo runs in PVE (again, with skills). A very well-round class if you ask me, and if Dark Avenger (when it comes out)  fails my expectations, I'm 100% sure I'll be switching back to Crusader.

As a tank:

The Cleric's sub-class Paladin has a skill 'Provoke' which can be used by both advanced classes Crusader and Guardian. If you want to go on full-out tank, you'd go with Guardian but if you want a little bit of damage, you'd want to be a Crusader.

The skill provoke is cast on a very wide, and a bit long, fan-shaped area in front of you. This skill is better than using Swordsman's Giant bomb (or Smith wave, whatever) since you don't really have to aim it directly at the monster like the latter. The taunt lasts for about 10 seconds which is enough to let the skill cool down which is about 9 secs or 7~ if you choose to get an A-grade skill cool down heraldry equipped.

Together with Provoke, Paladins also have group support skills that complement either attack or defense. Other than that, they have self-buffs that increase attack (Crusader) and/or increase defense to 32% (both Crusader and Guardian).

Dodging skills:

After trying out Swordsman and Assassin, I realized that the evasion skill of Paladins is more efficient. And I'm talking about the Dodge + attack button combo. Unlike with the two aforementioned classes, the dodge combo of Paladins extend the invincibility when you hit the attack button about after dodging. For me, this had always been very useful all around. Not to mention Thump which is a 'iframe' skill (that's how others call it) which also has a  minuscule invincibility, also useful in case dodge is cooling down.

In the arena:

The Crusader is well-rounded because they have skills in all ranges. For short-mid range we've got the Lightning shock and Thump; The Holy Cross Ex's range is from mid-long and then there's the Judge Hammer (Ex) whose range is from short (melee) to VERY long. They also have a (what I'd like to call) stance-recovery skill that can be used when you are being hit. On top of that, they have a passive skill that grants 20% chance to block attacks. I'm not going to highlight their aerial recovery skill since all of the classes have those, kind of like dodge - you don't need to mention it.

The only downside of Crusaders is their skill cool down. Even if you have the A-grade cool down skill heraldry for Holy Cross Equipped, it only shaves off 1 sec on it's 10-second cool down and it's not enough (sometimes) to deal a limitless combo, knocking the opponent up or down, voiding them from returning the attacks. In order to compensate for the range, they also have the Charge skill which knocks up the enemy when the last hit lands. It can also be used to evade or move away from the enemy while giving you damage reduction on the duration of the skill.

The Guardian is also a very sturdy opponent in the arena since their skills mostly complement's defense. Too bad their reflect skills is of not much use in PVE, if it was, it'll be fun to see this class rush head-on and take all the nukes the enemies can throw at him.

The Inquisitor and Saint are very tricky to use in the arena. Inquisitor uses long-range skills and summon statues that mostly electrocute the enemies hindering them from attacking or running away. The Saints however, rely on the wards since this class focuses on support. But don't fight them when they are Lvl80 because these guys will have a skill that makes the wards cast lightning in their respective areas(regardless of what ward they are) which means if you are surrounded by their healing wards and/or defense and debuff wards then you'd probably be toast with just one cast of their Lvl80 skill.

Conclusion:

I hope you guys agree with me about what I have written here, I didn't go into much detail because if I do, we might be looking at a 10-page long article.

Happy gaming!

Two ragnarok mobile games coming in English version

In case you missed it, XD recently announced that it's mobile version of Ragnarok will finally be released in English in SouthEast Asia. But wait, didn't Tencent announced that it will release the game in English, first?

Well you might be confused about what's going on but don't worry I'll explain it to you. It's kind of funny, actually.

Xindong's Ragnarok - Eternal Love

Tencent's Ragnarok - Love at First Sight

Yes, there's going to be 2 different versions of the game being released - one from XD and one from Tencent. XD and Tencent are two different developers and both have developed their own versions of the game. Both will be from Gravity as well, as you know it is the sole owner of the game franchise Ragnarok.

I could only speculate about what is going on in the background and I dont really want to discuss legalities as I have little information about those things, but Ill give my two cents about it at the end of this article.

More about the games being released, we could only expect that they are different - at least graphics-wise. If I am to judge the poster released on XD's preregistration page and compare it to the one from Tencent, it should somehow confirm my assumption that the game that XD will release will be the same game they released exclusively to China called "Ragnarok - Eternal Love" while Tencent's version is called "Ragnarok - Love at First Sight". If you haven't seen Tencent's version, go to Youtube and look it up. If you have played XD's version then I'm sure you'll notice the difference graphically - both UI and fluidity of the animation. Not to be biased but I'm sure you could also say that Tencent's version is better, not to mention all the other features they had put into it (like having your character do a selfie - like as if the character is REALLY holding a phone to capture a selfie). It's easy to say that XD is finally releasing their version in English (after players ranting to have one in English for years) while Tencent's release will be a whole different take on the game.

About the gameplay, we're sure that there shouldn't be any huge difference since they just created a mobile version of an ever so worldwide-popular pc game. You can actually consider it as the father of all MMORPGs.

As for the background story, we're not certain yet but the two different titles give us a hint that they might have different stories (as if most of the players give a crap, anyways). I'm not big with background stories, too, but since Eternal love was in Chinese and the third party translation group I subscribed to have not translated the story yet, back when I still played Eternal love ( yeah, I quit. Life.), I was unable to understand the story very well. It might be possible that the stories might be different. If not, I'm sure it revolves around old Roman Gods with a slightly different story about a protagonist.

So, there you have it. But you have to think, why is XD doing this now that the hype for Tencent's version is at its peak? And to be honest I didn't know this is possible without hitting each other with legalities. I mean come on, isn't it illegal that you are releasing a version of a game that I'm supposed to have sole rights? AND IN THE SAME MARKET, WTH? LOL. (It was rumored before that Gravity  signed a contract with XD that the mobile version Eternal love will be released only in China). Funny thing is, both games are official releases! It means Gravity has contracts for the two developers. Whatever is happening on the background I'm sure Gravity had it all sorted out - with deals this big, you're not gonna pick up a stone just to slam it to your own head, right? Well played, Gravity, well played.

So, to end this all up, here are the links to the two versions of the game. Preregistration for XD's release starts at September 19. Dont miss out!

Ragnarok - Eternal love (XD): http://en.ragnaroketernallove.com/
Ragnarok - Love at First Sight (Tencent): http://ro.qq.com