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The Skill System
With individual skills organized under the various skill trees of Asheron's
Call 2, the potential exists for over two-dozen distinct
professions. However, in AC2 characters are far better defined by
their unique distribution of these skills, not by any class title, providing
a measure of true individuality.
Of trees and branches
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In AC2, characters take on the individuality of the skills
they learn, chosen from among the five skill trees. Each race possesses
its own unique set of trees for characters to explore careers of magic,
melee, and missile combat. These three skill trees are different,
though equally powerful, for each race. A fourth, open to all races,
holds defense and transportation skills.
The fifth skill tree. . . will be covered in a later article.
With a true tree system, developing skills in AC2 involves a logical
progression. Through overcoming challenges (such as combat and questing),
your character will earn experience points (or “XP”). At any time
you can spend your available XP to improve your skills. Also, when
enough XP has been earned, your character will rise to a new level
and receive a skill credit. These credits may be spent at any time
to unlock new skills. |
For example, your character Meelin may wish to
take up the bow and master its many uses. She must first study basic skills
of archery, becoming proficient with this weapon. Later on, as she gains
experience and skill credits, she may apply these toward more advanced skills
of targeting and firing empowered arrows.
At the moment, three hundred skills are currently in development, offering
an incredible amount of choice. These skills scale up in power as your character
advances, so that you don't need to outgrow the skills you've invested in.
They are also interconnected; various skills have their separate strengths,
yet when chained together they become more powerful than ever.
The cost of specialization
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Throughout the course of their careers, every skill tree remains accessible
to every character. They may spend credits to progress down any path
they wish. At some point, though, this presents an intriguing choice:
whether a character should specialize by continuing to the end of
one path, or attempt true diversification by following several paths
at once.
After long and careful practice, Meelin has mastered use of the bow.
However, there are still instances when her foe remains alive by the
time it reaches her; and, once her enemy enters melee range, she can
no longer shoot it with her bow. Meelin can either choose to further
specialize with the bow to better assure she slays her foes before
they close in on her, she can improve her skill with blades so that
she becomes formidable in melee, or she can seek out companions who
compliment her skills and allow her to focus on what she does best.
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Un-training skills
One of the revolutionary features of AC2 is the means to un-train
a skill. Characters may follow any skill path. In addition, if players wish
to completely refocus their favorite characters, they also have this option.
Skills may be un-trained, and new ones learned. With time and effort characters
receive back the skill credit and experience they invested in skills they
un-train. These credits may then be applied to any other available skills.
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The AC2 skill system brings a new level of diversity and choice
to its characters. Without question, the game assures that no two
characters need know the same skills in order to advance. With the
wide variety, there is no one optimal path to follow--players may
advance quickly doing what they most enjoy. |
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