ragnarok posting
Ragnarok Online
Ragnarok Online | |
---|---|
Developer(s) | GRAVITY Co., Ltd. |
Publisher(s) | GRAVITY Co., Ltd. |
Engine | AEGIS and Granny 3D |
Release date(s) | |
Genre(s) | MMORPG |
Mode(s) | Multiplayer |
Rating(s) | aDeSe: +13 CERO: B (12+) ELSPA: 11+ ESRB: T (Teen) OFLC (AU): M15+ SELL: 12 USK: 12+ |
Platform(s) | Windows |
Media | Download/CD |
System requirements | Intel Pentium 500 MHz equiv. CPU, 128MB RAM, Internet access, DirectX 8, 8MB graphics card, sound card, 1GB+ hard drive space |
Input | Keyboard, mouse |
Ragnarok Online (Korean: 라그나로크 온라인), often referred to as RO, is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game created by GRAVITY Co., Ltd. based on the manhwa Ragnarok by Lee Myung-Jin. It was first released in South Korea on 31 August 2002 for Microsoft Windows and has since been released in many other locales around the world. Much of the game's mythos is based on Norse mythology, but its style has been influenced by Christianity and various Asian cultures as well. The game has spawned an animated series, Ragnarok the Animation, and a sequel game, Ragnarok Online 2: The Gate of the World, is currently in development. Some versions of the game requires a monthly fee to keep playing, while others offer a free-to-play server along with pay-to-play ones.
Contents1 Gameplay |
Gameplay
Ragnarok Online uses a combination of isometric sprites and three dimensional graphics in order to present the world of the game. Players are able to select the job, hair color and hair style for each of their characters. Gender also varies from player to player, but all characters on a given account have the same gender due to technical limitations and Gravity policy.[2]
Gravity franchises the game to allow distribution in a variety of locales not directly supported by the company. As of 26 March 2007, official franchises of the game are available in South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brazil, Singapore, Russia, India. Service in Oceania was terminated on 2 March 2007, marking the first time a locale has been closed.[3] Two other less country-specific versions of the game exist, European Ragnarok Online serving Germany, Italy, Austria, Turkey, the United Kingdom and Switzerland and International Ragnarok Online serving North America and most countries that do not have their own franchise.
Four servers currently exist in International Ragnarok Online: Chaos, Loki, Iris and the Sakray test server. Other franchises may have fewer or more servers depending on the amount of demand for the game in the country in question. Some franchises include an Urdr server where player-killing is possible outside of towns. While many players of the International franchise have expressed interest in such a server for that franchise,[4] no action has been taken towards that goal as of 1 October 2007.
Interface
Both a mouse and a keyboard are required to play Ragnarok Online. The heads-up display consists of a log and chat window, a minimap, various menus and a status window detailing the current hit points and spell points, progress towards leveling up and encumbrance of the character as well as the amount of money he or she possesses. With the exception of the status window, all components of the heads-up display can be disabled by the player. Ragnarok Online's interface has an interchangeable skin or theme letting players design their own for use in game.[5] Many fan sites host themes for the interface from players who've sent their designs in.
Icons representing status effects, regardless of whether they are positive or negative, appear at the right-hand of the screen. Menus allow the player to access his or her skills, stats, inventory and various configuration options. The player may assign hotkeys to streamline access to commonly-used skills or items on the function keys of the keyboard. However, there is another option that allows more freedom of skill uses through battlemode (/bm).
Quests
Ragnarok Online, like many other massively multiplayer online games, does not have a set plot. The game is essentially open-ended; players are free to roam the game world at their leisure with the only limiting factors being the ferocity of the local monsters, and less frequently, in-game payments for access or the prerequisite of a transcendent character. Some events are related to a specific time of year (such as the annual Christmas quest),[6] but most are available year-round.
Some items are limited to the completion of certain quests, while other quests only give a percentage of experience points to the user. To complete these quests, a bulk amount of common items, rare items and/or Zeny is needed. As you venture throughout Rune-Midgard certain quests can offer you secret places and features such as the "shout tower" in Louyang.[7] Other quests feature a complex story line, such as the Sign Quest[8]
Leveling
Much of Ragnarok Online's gameplay centers around leveling as that is the basis of a characters strength. Killing monsters of equal level is the main resource for experience but it can also be received through the completion of certain quests. As characters get to higher levels, it becomes harder to gain a substantial amount of experience in a short time. Players at this point can either continue to fight monsters solo or as the gameplay leads, join parties. Some players mob many monsters at once and kill them quickly with an area of effect skill. Other players kill extremely strong monsters slowly, leading to an overall gain of experience.
Character Growth
Ragnarok Online's level system is separated into two categories, Base Level and Job Level.
All characters have a Base Level, which allows for the growth of the character's attributes, (STR, AGI, DEX, INT, VIT, and LUK). Each attribute costs a certain amount of points to increase it by 1, which is given each time a character has leveled up it's Base Level,.
All characters also have a Job Level which allows for the growth of the character's job. After each Job Level you are given 1 skill point which is used to level up a job skill.[9]
Setting
Ragnarok Online is divided into a series of maps, each of which has its own terrain and native monsters, though many monsters are native to multiple regions. Transportation between maps requires loading the new map and monsters cannot travel from one map to another.
There are three major nations in Ragnarok Online, the first of which and where all players start is Rune Midgard. The Schwaltzvalt Republic, an industrialized neighbor to the North, was added in Episode 10[10] and Arunafeltz, a religious nation modeled after a combination of Israel and Turkey is the subject of Episode 11.[11]
A series of other, minor nations also exist, generally modeled after an ancient society in the real world, examples such as Amatsu, which is modeled after ancient Japan,[12] and Louyang, which is modeled after ancient China.[13]
Job System
Jobs are one of the most important aspects of Ragnarok Online, as the job a player chooses will have profound implications on his or her strengths and weaknesses, both in a party and outside of one. The job system includes a total of 39 different jobs, divided into 6 categories: Novices, Super Novices, First Job Classes, Second Job Classes, Transcendent Classes and Extended Classes. The list of job classes are as follows:
Swordman | Thief | Merchant | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Knight | Crusader | Assassin | Rogue | Blacksmith | Alchemist |
Lord Knight | Paladin | Assassin Cross | Stalker | Master Smith (Whitesmith) | Biochemist (Creator) |
Mage | Archer | Acolyte | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wizard | Sage | Hunter | Dancer/Bard | Priest | Monk |
High Wizard | Scholar (Professor) | Sniper | Gypsy/Minstrel (Clown) | High Priest | Champion |
Extended Classes:
Taekwon Boy/Girl | Ninja | Gunslinger | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Soul Linker | Star Gladiator (Taekwon Master) | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
- Novice
- Guild: None
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- All players start in the game's first class, the novice. Novices are, as their name implies, largely a tutorial class built for allowing new players to get the general feel of the game. Novices originally only had one ability, called Basic Skills, which as it is leveled progressively increases the number of functions the player is able to use, such as the creation of chat rooms, the use of Kafra Storage, and the use of emoticons.[14] After the end of beta, novices were additionally able to learn two other skills, First Aid and Play Dead, by completing special quests. When Basic Skills reaches level 9, a novice becomes eligible to change jobs, an opportunity most players make use of, unless they wish to become a Super Novice or stay a novice forever.
First Jobs
- Swordman
- Guild: Swordman Association, Izlude
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- The typical fighter class, Swordmen are the strongest physical attackers of the first jobs. Swordmen excel at melee combat due to their strong attacks and physical defense. The armors with the highest defense rate in the game is also exclusive to swordsman job. This job's skills focus on increasing the physical attack power of the character or allowing the swordman to withstand more damage.
- Magician
- Guild: Mage Guild, Geffen
- Combat Style: Offensive Spellcaster
- As swordmen are the fighters of Ragnarok, magicians are the black mages. Magicians are extremely weak in melee combat, but compensate for it with the use of powerful magic. As a result, they are most effective in a party with another, more melee-capable character, in front of them, such as a swordman. This job's skills almost entirely are offensive magic, including the five basic elements of fire, water, earth, air, and soul
- Archer
- Guild: Archer Guild, Payon
- Type: Ranged Combatant
- Archers are simple ranged attackers, though they lack the affinity with nature commonly associated with a ranger class. Archers excel at defeating their enemies from a safe distance where they are not directly in harm's way. This job's skills focus on increasing the range and accuracy of the character's ranged attacks or allow the character multiple strikes simultaneously. With only five non-quest skills, archer is the only job where a player may master all of the skills of the class prior to his or her job change.
- Merchant
- Guild: Merchant Association, Alberta
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- An archetype which may be unique to Ragnarok, Merchants forgo physical or magical abilities to gain a number of economic and financial benefits in the game, such as the ability to change the buy/sell prices of NPC stores for themselves or to set up stores with the Vending skill. Merchants do have some physical attack power, and possess the powerful Mammonite attack skill, allowing them to do additional damage through the use of zeny.
- Thief
- Guild: Thief Guild, Pyramid, Morroc
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant or Ranged Combatant
- A staple of most RPGs, the thief implements the thief archetype. Thieves excel in their speed, using their skills to hit multiple times a turn while not being hit by their enemies. Jobs that roots from Thief class can have the highest possible flee rate due to the Improve Dodge skill of thieves. They are often not very physically strong and are generally not the primary attackers in parties if a swordman is present.
- Acolyte
- Guild: Prontera Sanctuary, Prontera
- Combat Style: Supportive Spellcaster or Melee Combatant
- The healers of Ragnarok, the acolyte job implements both the white mage and cleric archetypes simultaneously. Some Acolytes choose to pursue the former route, permanently taking a subservient position within parties by being "full support" and only focusing on supportive magic, while others focus on the latter and its combat implications. The great disparity between those these two interpretations of the acolyte class reflects the disparity between the second-level jobs that an acolyte can become, either the supportive priest or the physical attacking monk.
- Super Novice
- Guild: Super Novice Association, Al de Baran
- Combat Style: Any
- Prior to the introduction of the super novice class, there were a number of players who attempted to get to level 99 as a novice, for various personal reasons or for bragging rights. In response to this, a special character class, the super novice, was created for them. The super novice class retains most of the features of the novice class, but is also able to learn almost all of the skills associated with the other first job classes, with the exception of those requiring weapons novices are not proficient with, such as a bow or a two-handed sword. Unlike the other first-level jobs, there are no corresponding second-level jobs and super novices are not able to transcend. The maximum job level for super novices, however, is 99, allowing for great flexibility on the part of the player in the skills he or she chooses to learn. Becoming a super novice requires base level 45 in addition to the normal requirement of Basic Skills level 9. The super novice also gets more skill points than first class characters.
Extended Classes
- Taekwon Boy/Taekwon Girl
- Guild: None
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- The first of the Extended Classes, the Taekwon Boy or Taekwon Girl are martial artists of the martial art of Taekwondo. To this end, they are not able to use any weapons, though they may equip most types of armor. Implemented into iRO in September, 2006 as part of Episode 10.3 Noghalt, they are the newest first job to iRO. While there is no formal guild for this class as there is for the other classes, a player may choose this job in Payon.
- Gunslinger
- Guild: Gunslinger Guild, Einbroch(que_ng 149 167)
- Combat Style: Ranged Combatant
- The second of the Extended Classes, gunslingers use guns and bullets of all varieties to inflict damage upon their enemies from a distance. There are no second jobs for the gunslinger job and gunslingers are unable to transcend, but to make up for this the maximum job level for gunslingers is 70 rather than the usual 50. They have a slight disadvantage when compared with the archer class, since only 2 kind of bullets are available. (Neutral and Holy property.) But to make it up, they have more skills to choose from. They were implemented into iRO on January, 2007 as part of Episode 10.4 Hugel.
- Ninja
- Guild: Ninja Guild, Amatsu(amatsu 45 137)
- Combat Style: Ranged/Melee Combatant, Offensive Spellcaster
- The third of the Extended Classes, ninja, specialize in using a combination of elemental magic of the three primary elements and throwing kunai and shuriken at their enemies. There are some confusion on the usage of shuriken. Two types of shurikens are available to ninjas, the standard throwing shuriken that act like arrows and the Fuuma Shuriken, a large shuriken used as a permanent weapon. Like gunslingers, there are no second jobs for ninja and they cannot transcend. They are compensated for this by having a maximum job level of 70 rather than the normal 50. They were implemented into iRO on January, 2007 as part of Episode 10.4 Hugel.
2-1 Jobs
- Knight
- Guild: Prontera Chivalry, Prontera
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- As the 2-1 job for swordsman, the power of knights lies in their incredible durability and physical strength. Knights specializes in spear attacks and the bulk of their skills are meant to improve spear class weapons but they also have some skills that are meant to increase two handed sword proficiencies. The knight's two hand quicken greatly increases their two handed sword attack speed and their counter attack skill can enable them to kill opponents without recieving damage. Knights can learn to ride on a Peco Peco to increase their movement speed. They generally do not use magic in the typical sense, using their SP for special abilities that increase their combat worthiness.
- Wizard
- Guild: Wizard Guild, Geffen
- Combat Style: Offensive Spellcaster
- Just as the knight improves on the physical aspect of the swordsman, so too does the wizard improve upon the magical aspect of the magician. The wizard is the master of arcane magic, existing solely to bend all of the elements to his or her will. Whereas a sage would concentrate on more practical applications of magic, the wizard's goal is to increase the amount of damage he or she is able to do, and this is reflected in the large number of additional spells at the wizard's disposal. Wizards are extremely offensive spell casters. They specialize in causing damage with Area of Effect (AoE) spells, such as summoning a snow storm (Storm Gust) to damage multiple targets at once. Though the wizard's AoE spells have long cast times, the high amounts of damage make up for the long wait.
- Hunter
- Guild: Hunter Guild, Hugel
- Combat Style: Ranged Combatant
- While the affinity with nature is all but absent in the archer class that precedes it, the hunter is as pure a ranger as they come. Making use of traps and a pet falcon, hunters rely on creatively dispatching their enemies rather than melee combat. As of Episode 10.4 Hugel, the location of the Hunter guild has been moved to Hugel.
- Blacksmith
- Guild: Blacksmith Association, Geffen
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- The blacksmith is the 2-1 job option for merchants. Like alchemists, blacksmiths focus on the production of items, although whereas alchemists produce potions, blacksmiths produce weapons and refines material. The weapon production skills are complemented by an array of skills meant to boost physical attack power, maximizing damage, dealing perfect damage to any monster type providing an overall well-rounded melee combat class. The supportive skills of the Blacksmith which is shared to party members can give an entire party added power and advantages. The location of the Blacksmith guild is moved to Einbroch as of Episode 10.4 Hugel.
- Priest
- Guild: Prontera Sanctuary, Prontera
- Combat Style: Supportive Spellcaster and/or Melee Combatant
- Priests are the logical extension of the "full support" acolyte. With a large amount of supportive magic at their disposal, priests are strong support characters in a party. Some priests have chosen to take a path similar to that of a monk, though due to the addition of the latter class, this has been less common. As a priest of the church, they can also eliminate undead/demon monsters with their Exorcism skills (such as Magnus Exorcismus).
- Assassin
- Guild: Assassin Guild, Sograt Desert
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- Whereas rogues focus on the brigand aspect of the thief class, assassins focus on the speed aspect. Assassins rely on dodging attacks and attacking quickly rather than being particularly strong. Assassins (and their transcended Assassins Cross) are the only class able to equip a weapon in each hand and the exclusive users of Katar weapons. The assassin (and assassin crosses) are the only people who can walk faster than others without the use of Increase Agility, as long as they leveled the proper skill(Thief's Improve Dodge). The katar wielding Assassins also receives a certain advantage in the game that are not given to any other job. Katar users are given double amount of critical hit. Therefore, whatever amount of critical rate Assassins have, it would always be doubled meaning that they only need 45-50 critical hit to achieve Perfect Critical damaging.
- Taekwon Master
- Guild: (None),Payon (Location of job change NPC)
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant
- Known as Kwonsung, Star Knight or Star Gladiator in other localizations, these are Taekwons who have mastered their skills, and can convert a book's power. The Taekwon Master can use various skills to get an advantage on certain maps or versus monsters. Possible advantages include increased experience gains from monsters, improved attack/defence, or other improved stats.
2-2 Jobs
- Crusader
- Guild: Prontera Castle, Prontera
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant and Supportive Spellcaster
- The disparity between crusaders and knights is similar to the disparity between priests and monks in that there are two distinctly different ways to play as the first job, the swordman. In the case of the crusader, the swordman is willing to forgo some of the benefits of being a perfect physical warrior in order to gain the use of holy and supportive magic. In addition, crusaders adopt the use of shields and one-handed swords, a tactic all but absent among knights, due to the preference for two-handed swords or spears in the skill set of the knight class. The Crusader is also the only job in the game aside from Paladin to permanently increase total hp by learning a skill. Like knights, crusaders may also learn to ride on a Peco Peco.
- Sage
- Guild: Sage Academy, Juno
- Combat Style: Supportive Spellcaster and/or Melee Combatant
- While wizards gain additional spells and an increased potential to cause damage, sages gain skills such as the ability to cancel spells mid-cast or to move while charging to increase the versatility and usability of the spells they already possess. Sages also have the ability to enchant the ground with a spell called Magnetic Earth (Land protector in other localizations), preventing all AoE (Area of Effect) magic from causing damage. Sages are useful during WoE because of their supportive magic and abilities to stop wizards, whom are potentially dangerous in WoE situations because of their AoE skills. Sages are extremely different from wizards because of their abilities to cancel and absorb magic. They are the anti-form of the wizard, built to manipulate magic to their own bidding and prevent it from hurting others.
- Bard
- Guild: None, Comodo (Location of job change NPC)
- Combat Style: Supportive Spellcaster and Ranged or Melee Combatant
- The 2-2 Job for male archers, bards are the musicians of Rune-Midgard. Unlike archers, who were ranged attackers, bards are a much more supportive class, using their music to increase the power of the other members of their party. Bards act very much like Paladins would in other games. They provide Auras that can increase health, increase damage or decrease damage taken, shorten cast times, etc. Their effectiveness is increased if a Dancer is partied along. One can adopt the bard job in Comodo.
- Dancer
- Guild: Dancer Guild, Comodo
- Combat Style: Supportive Spellcaster and Ranged or Melee Combatant
- The 2-2 job for female archers, dancers are the visual accompaniment to the music of the bard. The dancer class is very similar to the bard yet has skills with very different effects, although if both are present in a party their ability to improve the party's strength is even greater still. Dancers act very much like Paladins would in other games. They provide Auras that can increase health, increase damage or decrease damage taken, shorten cast times, etc. Their effectiveness is increased if a Bard is partied along. One can adopt the dancer job in Comodo.
- Alchemist
- Guild: Alchemist Association, Al de Baran
- Combat Style: Offensive and Supportive Spellcaster/Summoner
- The 2-2 job for merchants, alchemists possess a markedly different playing style than the more physical merchant and blacksmith classes, relying more on the usage of summoning monsters or using attack items to cause damage than melee combat. Alchemists also possess the ability to create potions similar to the way blacksmiths are able to create weapons and armor. As of Episode 10.2 Lighthalzen, implemented into iRO in March 2006, Alchemists are able to summon Homunculi to fight for them, greatly increasing the combat-worthiness of the class.
- Rogue
- Guild: Paros Lighthouse, Comodo Field
- Combat Style: Melee or Ranged Combatant
- Whereas assassins focus specifically on the speed aspect of thieves, rogues focus more on continuing the development of one's capacity for law-breaking behavior, from improving the ability to steal from monsters through the use of Gank to the flagrant vandalism of the Scribble skill. A notable difference between the Assassin and Rogue is the set of "Divest" skills, used to remove equipment from enemy players, the skill improves once the Rouge becomes a Stalker(Chaser in some versions.
- Monk
- Guild: St. Capitolina Abbey, Prontera Field
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant or Offensive Spellcaster
- Unlike priests, which focus on supporting warriors of other sorts, monks take their acolyte supportive abilities and apply them to become better warriors themselves. A much more violent and melee-oriented class than priests, monks are not a particularly party-friendly class, as they generally do not have the ability to support anyone other than themselves, though they are very good at this task. Nonetheless, as the class is open to interpretation by the players who take it, there are players who have chosen to forgo this mold and be an active members of parties, regardless of their class's general inability to support other warriors. Their Asura Strike(Extremity Fist or Guilottine Fist in some version) is the most powerful single attack in the game.
- Soul Linker
- Guild: None, Morroc (Location of job change NPC)
- Combat Style: Melee Combatant and Supportive Spellcaster
- Soul Linkers are taekwon boys and taekwon girls who have given up the martial art in favor of the continued development of their spiritual abilities. While they lose their ability to use taekwondo kicks in combat, the skills of this job focus on increasing the powers of other classes either by bestowing, temporarily, additional skills upon them or enhancing the potency ones they already have. Like taekwon boys, taekwon girls and taekwon masters, there is no formal guild for soul linkers.
Transcendent Classes
There are those who passed the test given to them by the messenger of the gods: the Valkyrie. Their prize is to be reborn, and to be taught by the gods themselves in their second life on Midgard.
- Lord Knight: Even stronger, some Knight's lust for strength leads them down the path of a Berserker where their rage consumes them until death. Others manage to calm themselves before death takes them. As always, these men of strength are always at the front lines of the king's army. Their Spiral Pierce gives incredible amounts of damage by using their spear's weight. They can also increase their minimum damage and hit rate by a skill. Parry also enables Two handed sword Lord Knights to totally negate attacks.
- Assassin Cross: An elite group of Assassins who are taught a secret technique: poisoning themselves to strengthen their body. More agile than the normal Assassins, these are very powerful with their splash damaging Meteor Assault and Soul Destroyer (Soul Breaker) which is both based on the INT and ATK stats of the player.
- Biochemist: A bit of a darker side of Alchemists. With their powerful potions, they now use the skills Acid Bomb (Acid Demonstration) to deal high damage to those with high VIT and Full Chemical Protection to help stop their equipment from being destroyed by others. This class is known as Creator in other localizations.
- Champion: Though given another chance by the gods, the monks once again turn to training their physical strength and ignoring the call to help others. Now with the power of the gods, they are able to strike and kill in one hit. The combo capabilities of Champion is far more powerful than Monks. Champions can now call five spirits all at once. They can pull off the deadly Guillotine Fist (Asura Strike) faster than Monks, and deliver a devastating palm strike. Champions are truly a powerful class and deadly killer.
- Gypsy: With more lithe and agile bodies granted by the gods, Gypsies are hard to resist especially when one begins her dance. Not a single drop of sweat can be seen. Every dance and movement seemingly effortless. Graceful dance is her specialty, dancing gracefully to lure the monster to its death.
- High Priest: Despite the many skills taught to them by the Priests of Prontera Church, these men and women still need to learn a few more from the gods themselves. Now able to create areas where no violence may occur, they are able to heal more, bless more and serve even more. They are truly a gift from the gods.
- High Wizard: Once a wizard is taught secrets from the gods, they become one of the Elite. They deal even more damage than before. Wreaking havoc in battle, they kill faster with their damage enhancing skills.
- MasterSmith: Stronger versions of Blacksmiths, they forge more and refine easier. They are the only job in the game to uprgade weapons with higher chances than NPC's. The +10 weapons can be easily achieved by Mastersmiths. They deal larger amounts of damage with High Speed Cart Ram (Cart Termination) and can destroy their enemies armor and weapons. This job is known as Whitesmith in other localizations.
- Minstrel: Taught new songs by the gods themselves, Minstrels are now a powerful class. They are able to enchant the enemy with different music and deal large amounts of damage using Arrow Vulcan before the effect wears out. Minstrel and Gypsy job can also give half their stats to a supported character enabling the supported fighter to increase their damage. This job is known as Clown in other localizations.
- Paladin: An even stronger version of Crusaders. They now have skills such as Pressure to deal damage to those who disbelieve in God and Battle Chant to help themselves and their friends.
- Scholar: The blend of supportive and offensive properties of Sages are raised up to a whole new level for Scholars. Instead of focusing on the offensive aspect of magic, scholars are able to support other people by being able to convert their health into SP using a skill called Indulge (HP Conversion in other localizations). Scholars can also trade their SP for another player's using Soul Exhale (Soul Exchange in other localizations), which is useful for party members and allies that are low on SP. Scholars can even destroy the SP of enemies using Soul Siphon (Soul Burn in other localizations). This attack causes mental damage to the opponent and completely reduces their SP to zero, preventing them from using their abilities. Scholars have a myriad of magical skills that are useful for many different situations. This class is known as Professor in other localizations.
- Sniper: First thought to wield guns, Snipers are the advanced class of Hunters. No longer focused on merely bows and arrows nor traps, these men now focus on their lifelong friend, the falcon. When friendship strengthens, so does their power. They also have skills that amplify their bow mastery.
- Stalker: Stalkers are masters of hiding and stealth. Improve Concentrations, Ruwach and Sight can never detect a hidden Stalker by using their skill Stalk. They can be right behind you and you would never know. They were originally trained to spy upon the Assassins for the Rogue guild but refusing, they now roam alone through the lands. As a Stalker, you can remove all pieces of gear that a character has on temporarily and can now hide and move without being detected by anything. Improve Concentrations, Ruwach and Sight can never detect a hidden Stalker.
A player will change jobs multiple times over the course of playing, though the number of changes will be determined by choices made by the player.[15]
Player vs. Player (PvP)
Player vs. Player in Ragnarok Online takes place on series of maps identical to the game's major towns but devoid of all exits and non-player characters. Access to these maps is restricted to players level 31 and above and comes in two modes: Yoyo Mode and Nightmare Mode. The primary difference between the two modes concerns the penalties for dying; Yoyo Mode has no penalty for death, while Nightmare Mode has the experience point loss and item loss penalties that exist on all non-PvP maps.[16]
War of Emperium
Also known as the "Guild War," for two hours on any day of the week (depending on the server) an event called War of Emperium (commonly abbreviated "WoE") takes place. Guilds that have obtained the Seal of Approval skill may attempt to enter and gain control of a series of castles available in-game. On the fourth floor of each castle lies the Emperium; if a guild breaks another guild's Emperium, that guild gains control of the castle. If a guild can maintain control of a castle until the end of the War of Emperium it will retain control until the next War of Emperium and may gain a variety of benefits for victory, including access to special 'Guild Dungeons', which give the members of the holding guild a definite advantage in gaining experience and items.[17] During War of Emperium hours, the castle maps are set in PvP mode and behave much the same as the standard PvP maps with a few exceptions, in particular the lack of damage indicators and a large decrease to the effectiveness of magic, skills, and ranged attacks. War of Emperium is the most popular feature of the game[18] and most players participate in it at least once per week.[19]
Guild Point System
As a unique feature for iRO (International Ragnarok Online) the Guild Point System allows guilds who fully defend their castle for the full 2 hours of War of Emperium, to obtain guild points. The point distribution is as follows:
- 3 points can be earned every Wed/Sat for a guild that can successfully own and defend a castle for the full 2 hour WoE period.
- 5 points can be earned by a guild that is able to hit a point where they have 50 econ or 100 econ on a castle. Each guild can obtain this bonus point only once during a 3 month period.
- 10 points can be earned by a guild that is able to hold a castle with 100 econ for 20 consecutive WoE days. Each guild can obtain this bonus point only once during a 6 month period.[20]
These points are added up after a 3/6 month cycle and guilds who have the highest amount of points are given rare and valuable items. Players keep track of their guilds progress on the official website. Not only can players see how well their guild is doing, but they can also keep track of other guilds that may be gaining a lead. Guilds are able to increase their point intake by controlling more castles at once. This requires a large and organized guild, but can overall be very worthwhile.
At the end of a 3 month cycle the 3 point leaders for each server will be given a single God Item Piece for the castle in which they currently hold or held to obtain their points for that 3 month period. The top 5 guilds will also be given 5 Bloody Dead Branch items.
At the end of a 6 month cycle the top 6 point leaders for each server will be given the chance to participate in a Team PvP Tournament to further win rare items and rewards and a spot in the final rounds of the next year's USRC. The top 2 teams will be invited to the cross server battles and would not need to participate in the same server battles.[21]
Audio
The background music of Ragnarok Online currently consists of 116 individual tracks, composed, arranged, recorded and mixed by SoundTeMP and Hankook Recording Studio. The game's music spans a wide variety of genres and musical styles, including trance, techno, jazz, rock, and orchestral. New tracks are added to the soundtrack as with every new area added to the game world.
A limited edition two-disc original soundtrack, titled The memory of RAGNAROK, was released in 2006. The album features vocal arrangements of certain pieces, performed by Lee Seung-Yeon, Lee Jeong-Hee and Seo Ji-Hae. The album's booklet features text in Korean, Chinese, English, and Japanese.[22]
Ragnarok Mobile
Gravity Co. Ltd. released 8 separate games for the mobile phone allowing players to experience the game on the road. Each version focuses on the main aspect of the acolyte, thief, merchant, mage, archer, and swordsmen class based on the version of the game they have. Players are able to advance their characters using the attributes STR, AGI, VIT, LUK, INT, and DEX. Though not placed in the server, players control their character and complete a series of quests or tasks. As players earn zeny, (the in-game currency), they are able to send the zeny to their real accounts. Along with that, a ranking is present where characters are ranked by the amount of zeny the character has. [23]
Kafra Shop
The Kafra Shop was added to iRO (International Ragnarok Online) on June 19th 2007. Users are able to purchase Kafra Credit Points with U.S. dollars as a currency for the special items limited to the Kafra Shop. Payment for Kafra Credit Points can be made directly through Paypal, and/or can be acquired as a bonus for paying the already necessary monthly subscription. The transaction fees are as follows:
Product | Price |
---|---|
500 Points | 4.99 USD |
1050 Points | 9.99 USD |
1650 Points | 14.99 USD |
2300 Points | 19.99 USD |
5200 Points | 39.99 USD |