I am a semi experienced newbie. I posted several questions about gameplay, but they are kind of lost after the forum change.
So I am going to share a couple of the tips I got, and things I think I understand.
My perspective is playing Solo.
One of the biggest things I didn't understand, at first, was that this isn't 1 game. It is several different games sharing a universe.
One game is Levels 1-20 on Casual or Normal
One game is Levels 1-20 on Hard or Elite
One game is pushing past 20 into the Epic Levels or True Reincarnating into a new Life.
One game is pushing beyond 30 or Reincarnating at 30
Each of those games require an increasing amount of dedication, non questing support work (Crafting, Loot Management), and detailed knowledge of the game.
You get to choose which of those games you want to play.
Do you want to just goof off in this world and play every so often? Just flower sniff in Casual or Normal.
Change your game if you want more challenges.
For a newbie, Casual is you are super ****** killing a handful of weak enemies, but you can painlessly explore to your hearts content.
Play Normal and you will actually have to pay attention, but you still will whack pretty much anything you run across.
Play Hard if you actually want some challenge as you fight things.
Elite seems to need either hireling healers, a party, or additional lives and such, to be survivable.
Be aware that if you want to farm gear, you can take your higher level characters into quests. You won't get XP, but it makes it easier to burn through the quest to get to the end chest.
Regarding Weapons and Loot, again there differences depending on level.
1st off, I have been told that the stat damaging weapons - e.g. Wounding weapons that reduce constitution - have been nerfed into virtual uselessness. You will DPS them to death before the Stat Damage makes a difference. Be aware, you need to be killing monsters in a handful of hits, or you are going to die.
At levels 1-8? you are going to want to focus on elemental damage bonuses. Then they start to have diminishing returns, as the monsters have immunity and such.
At the higher levels the damage that can be included in Critical becomes more important. Things to increase your Stat bonuses to damage, double strike, and base to hit and damage bonuses become more important, because your critical multiplier increases with advancements.
At some point your Class enhancement tree is going to give a big Critical hit and damage bonus, and at that point your DPS is going to jump dramatically.
Melee Power bonuses are also very important, but they seem to really kick in at Epic Levels and above.
I hope what I shared provides some good perspective, as new players approach the game.
So I am going to share a couple of the tips I got, and things I think I understand.
My perspective is playing Solo.
One of the biggest things I didn't understand, at first, was that this isn't 1 game. It is several different games sharing a universe.
One game is Levels 1-20 on Casual or Normal
One game is Levels 1-20 on Hard or Elite
One game is pushing past 20 into the Epic Levels or True Reincarnating into a new Life.
One game is pushing beyond 30 or Reincarnating at 30
Each of those games require an increasing amount of dedication, non questing support work (Crafting, Loot Management), and detailed knowledge of the game.
You get to choose which of those games you want to play.
Do you want to just goof off in this world and play every so often? Just flower sniff in Casual or Normal.
Change your game if you want more challenges.
For a newbie, Casual is you are super ****** killing a handful of weak enemies, but you can painlessly explore to your hearts content.
Play Normal and you will actually have to pay attention, but you still will whack pretty much anything you run across.
Play Hard if you actually want some challenge as you fight things.
Elite seems to need either hireling healers, a party, or additional lives and such, to be survivable.
Be aware that if you want to farm gear, you can take your higher level characters into quests. You won't get XP, but it makes it easier to burn through the quest to get to the end chest.
Regarding Weapons and Loot, again there differences depending on level.
1st off, I have been told that the stat damaging weapons - e.g. Wounding weapons that reduce constitution - have been nerfed into virtual uselessness. You will DPS them to death before the Stat Damage makes a difference. Be aware, you need to be killing monsters in a handful of hits, or you are going to die.
At levels 1-8? you are going to want to focus on elemental damage bonuses. Then they start to have diminishing returns, as the monsters have immunity and such.
At the higher levels the damage that can be included in Critical becomes more important. Things to increase your Stat bonuses to damage, double strike, and base to hit and damage bonuses become more important, because your critical multiplier increases with advancements.
At some point your Class enhancement tree is going to give a big Critical hit and damage bonus, and at that point your DPS is going to jump dramatically.
Melee Power bonuses are also very important, but they seem to really kick in at Epic Levels and above.
I hope what I shared provides some good perspective, as new players approach the game.