Atlantica Online: Pros V. Cons

[for the new / returning guys]

I am reflecting on the current issues & what’s still decent from this game.
I’ll add more to the list once it comes up / if I’ve forgotten something.
I love the game, so don’t take the Cons as if I’m just a salty player lashing out.

Pros:

1.) Bugs / Client / Servers:

  • Some bugs aren’t extremely detrimental; can speed up battles by removing the time-consuming animations.
  • Some other mechanics are considered broken as players are able to do more damage by exploiting a few combat methods [Vitality / MP Drain / etc].
  • Client Patches are usually done weekly, mostly for Server refeshing; but often also small changes like implementing Events and removal of old Event files.

2.) Community:

3.) Customer Support:

  • It exists?

4.) Developers:

  • N/A

5.) Forum:

  • N/A at this time.

6.) Gameplay:

  • Unique genre of turned-based Tactical RPG in an MMO environment.
  • Can be quite fun in situational occurrences or challenging dungeons.
  • Some players like the PvP aspect, even though it’s considered broken.
  • Among the toughest of MMOs to reach the maximum equipment / end-game gear.
  • Many enjoy the Arena of Atlantis system, as it has different mechanics than normal PvP/League systems. Also nice as players can play it at any level.

7.) GMs:

  • Try to do what they can with their capability.

8.) Item Mall:

  • Has some interesting items to decrease time-consumption in fights.
  • Examples below:
    1. Ancient Minotaur Set [all versions],
    2. Neo Aca-II Search Robot License [all versions],
    3. Noble Archangel Set [KR/JP/NA only],
    4. Black & Red Wind [all versions]

9.) Billing System:

  • At least has SSL certificates to safely purchase GCoins from the [sign.valofe.com] sub-domain.

Cons:

1.) Bugs / Client / Servers:

  • At this time the patches have crippled the game far enough for many boxes / items to not be usable.
  • Exploitations rampant all across the Client / AO Platform.
  • The Patches that are implemented by VALOFE usually cause more bugs / glitches than it fixes.
  • Server configuration issues – not able to handle the current resources in-game:
    1. After every maintenance, if a Nation runs the 3rd floor of Avalon [ND], the server is hit with lag and the lag worsens over time until the next Server Refresh.
    2. Mob spawns / etc when a server has a high population & is normally grinding mobs, requiring more spawning in places like Olympus Tower.

2.) Community:

  • A large amount of players that take advantage of exploitations [questionable programs, duping methods, bugs, etc].
  • Many players that attempt to sell their accounts even when it’s against the Terms of Service.
  • Gold Sellers that constantly spam the servers and sometimes send messages directly through the in-game Mail and/or Whisper.
  • Many players and scammers that will try to get good deals out of you (in personal trades), but try to buy things for ½-¼ the ratio/price they are selling items for. You are to be reminded that fellow players are always wanting to fuck you over when it comes to getting what they want; Small exceptions are trust-able guild members and friends, of course.

3.) Customer Support:

  • CS Platform is extremely limited and outdated; in the [at.valofe.com] domain.
  • Whoever tracks the CS takes forever to respond; anywhere from two weeks to never.
  • In order to respond to a previous Ticket, the Customer has to make a new one; then refer to the old Ticket. Also stupid or unnecessarily redundant and just creates more work for the person handling the Tickets.

4.) Developers:

  • Communication with them directly is completely non-existent.
  • GMs have to submit a “Report” in order to get the Devs review specific Bugs / complaints.
  • Tend to implement faulty Patches.

5.) Forum [when it was existent]:

  • Was infested with Phishing attempts from Gold Sellers and other anonymous players who want to steal other players’ accounts.
  • Didn’t have an approval system to block Spam or Phishing links.
  • Didn’t have a Forum Moderator system to manage content of the… you know that Forum that’s supposed to have a few Moderators to handle the issues of Phishing / Spam / and anything similar.

6.) Gameplay:

  • Only certain Main Characters and Mercenaries are useful; many are either outdated or nearly useless with the current game’s content.
  • A huge variation of Server sustainment issues and bugs that can affect Indis, Guild Dungeon completion, Nation Dungeon completion, etc.
  • Many implementations of gear and mounts are varied across all Versions of AO, to include the stats and availability.
  • PvP [Leagues] is broken; Defense stats are non-existent.
  • Very tough to acquire decent gear for reasonable prices because of the current in-game inflation.

7.) GMs:

  • Seem to be fairly inexperienced.
  • Judgment of some GMs has resulted in unnecessary mass bans in the past.
  • VALOFE doesn’t have very many GMs for all applicable languages.

8.) Item Mall:

  • Extremely RNG-based for opening the boxes/cards.
  • Very costly for many Licenses.
  • Extremely Pay-to-Win nowadays.
  • No content preview for many of the IM Boxes/Cards; been working on personally making a list [https://arcanicvoid.comatlantica-online/item-mall/].

9.) Billing System:

  • Many of the Credit and Prepaid options for the Billing System either don’t work, or are flawed in some way. The Cherry Credits option, for instance, is an outdated payment option that doesn’t even have Atlantica Online as an option on it’s own site; which probably explains the reason as to why it doesn’t work.

10.) Login Vulnerability [sign.valofe.com] -> [at.valofe.com] sub-domains:

  • This is mostly speculation, but it is possible that the communication between [sign.valofe.com] / [at.valofe.com] and/or other locations may be vulnerable to Man-in-the-Middle attacks or Session Hijacking.
    1. The moment someone tries to login (sign.valofe.com), they may receive a message regarding the login information being sent over an unsecured connection (at.valofe.com) if they click “Continue”.
      • Doesn’t mean someone’s session / login information will be hijacked for sure, but there’s a chance of it.
    2. The image further below shows a warning that accepting an unsecured connection (at.valofe.com) could cause login information to be possibly leaked.
    3. Clicking “Cancel” keeps your login closed to only [sign.valofe.com] but you won’t be able to interact with any account purposes on the [at.valofe.com] side.
    4. This basically means GCoins can be purchased without risk to your account, but you will have to click “Continue” in order to proceed into [at.valofe.com] to interact with the domain.
      • NOTE: this is only possible if you get the warning message; if you don’t receive this message upon logging into [sign.valofe.com], then it is likely your browser automatically sent your information over the unsecured connection without warning.

Author: ArcanicVoid

"Forward the Foundation" - Hari Seldon

6 thoughts

  1. Hi ArcanicVoid,

    Ty for your guide, and tips, trying hard to find guides and comparisons for mains, but couldn’t find any that answer my doubts.

    I’m thinking about coming back to AO, just for that nostalgic feeling. Nothing hardcore, just a couple of hours week.

    I left some time after the pegasus equipment was released.

    At the time the money making were solo TBS, and at that time the staff main, gun main were the easiest/cheapest to solo them. Most of my guild mates at the time changed their main to Gun, myself included. I was previously a P.Saw main. My TBS team after changing main was Gun Main, Christine, Oracle.

    But after all these years, and after all in-game changes, what would you advise?

    I was thinking about using one of the atlantian main;
    Mostly doing PvE content solo;
    I have to start from scratch, because I didn’t migrate my account;

    Thanks in advance.

  2. Hey ArcanicVoid, thank you for the info. I currently a returning player, a lot of new changes in AO. Like to know which mercenaries is good for PvE, currently using atlantian blademaster main.

    1. As a Blademaster, you’ll want to focus on Waltz of the Blade for your AoE/grinding; can also add Marauder’s Edge as your Specialization Magic if you don’t plan on keeping the Pirate around.

      Just some examples…

      Useful for Physical Damage:
      Automaton (w/ Jupiter Cannon + decent MHR passive for Cannons in formation, AoE heal, & AoE offensive magic),
      Centaur Archer (w/ Jupiter Bow + good proc magic, decent AoE),
      Clown (w/ Dell’arte/Jupiter Swords + Dell’arte passive gives Attack Power and Accuracy, Masquerade for more Attack Power and some extra CRIT),
      Demeian Guardian (w/ Jupiter Cannon, skills are kind of meh in PvE, nice Accuracy formation buff though),
      Folklorist (w/ Jupiter Cannon + a seal for just about any mob/boss, decent heal),
      Pirate (w/ Jupiter Swords + Marauder’s Edge, decent proc).

      Useful for Magic Damage/Buffs:
      Arthur (Dark Legacy & Sage Sword Excalibur),
      General (his offensive magic),
      Elementalist (Blazing Earth for damage, Freezing Atmosphere for magic sealing on melee),
      Spartan (his War Cry is fairly nice + has a decent Spear-specific buff for the form),
      Warlord (Demoralize for bosses, Thunderbolt Slash for mobs, Rally for main buff).

      Useful Support:
      Ching Ya (MHR buff+AP, shit heals),
      Puppeteer (one-trick-pony that gives AP to any target in the form),
      Taoist (Spear-specfic MHR buff for form, AP buff, can seal almost anything [Vital Seal] – exception is Lancelot/Merlin in Avalon),
      Vampire (mostly used by Gate Guards in Nation Dungeons or in TBS),
      Necromancer (used in rare cases like Infinity Challenge).

  3. Hey ArcanicVoid, thank you very much for your guides and informations! It helps a lot. I wanted to ask you a question about the main character as stated above. Which main classes are still worth it? What about the Maniac, specifically? Thank you very much!

    1. What do you mean by “Maniac”?

      Classes page for Atlantica Online

      Atlantian Battlemage is not at all popular since it’s famous TBS-cheated spell (Electron Field) was nerfed back in 2015 by Nexon. However, I’ve seen alot of BMages use Impulse to buff their mercenaries, themselves, or other players – increase to multi-hit I believe plus some other stuff? I don’t know enough about the BMage to elaborate.

      Atlantian Blademaster is the most popular for grinding (PvE); can clear entire formations with the Waltz of the Blade spell. Main passive ability that gives +10 Action Power to the entire formation; it’s okay, but less useful because of the new Item Mall titles that came out.

      Berserker (Saw Main) is not popular, but can be tanky in PvE/PvP. The Main passive ability: 12% to Attack Power & Defense in formation is interesting, I suppose. Also, has a skill that stuns whatever mercenary/main stuns him.

      Bombardier (Cannon Main) was popular to use when Avalon first came out in November of 2015, then slowly lost popularity as more people migrated to using the Bow Main instead. The strategy is to play on the Combo ability/Talent that the Cannon Main has and be able to do more damage as the Combo is maintained in the Lancelot / Merlin Fight towards the end of the Avalon Nation Dungeon. The Cannon Main is still useful for Gigas’ AoE that it’s able to use (Arms of Atlantis); a.k.a. a useful tool for grinding.

      Celestial Hunter is not as popular as the Bow Main, but can be somewhat useful because of it’s unique attack pattern and multi-hit / extra turn passive.

      Dragoon (Spear Main) is not as popular is it used to be, but can still do some great damage versus bosses.

      Maestro (Instrument Main) is popular in PvP because of their cheap mana-drain & sustainability.

      Mage (Staff Main) is popular for using Blazing Earth in the first turn and also a reliable grinding main in some places. Useful against Merlin (Avalon end-boss) with a certain strategy.

      Marksman (Bow Main) is the most powerful single-target damager in PvE/PvP. Useful against all bosses with their x3 Attack Power buff Talent + Defense Ignore Talent. Also has a Main passive ability that gives 15% Attack Power to the entire formation – fairly overpowered.

      Reaver (Axe Main) is not very popular and I haven’t heard much about it that gives it value.

      Rifleman (Gun Main) is apparently useful somehow, but I don’t know enough about it to tell. I think someone mentioned it’s use in PvP. Also, the main has the highest potential in damage, but only a couple of bosses unlock that “potential”.

      Stormcaller (Whip Main) also has Defense Ignore capabilities, but not as powerful as a Bow Main.

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