One of the best Online RPGs out there!
The leveling system goods as so: You start with a little Novice, a young character full with possible potential. You first must choose what he/she will become, weather it’s a brave Swordsman or a wise and powerful spell casting Mage. There are six first classes to pick from; Swordsman, Mage, Thief, Acolyte, Archer, and Merchant.
While you level up, you gain two types of EXP, Base & Job. Base gives you points which you can then place in your stats to help make you character grow into whatever your making him/her. Example: If your going for Mage you’d start building his/her Intelligent (INT). If a Archer, it’s Dexterity (DEX), if Swordsman, Strength (STR). There are many different builds you can do, which can be found on message boards or websites if you have problems or questions.
The second type of EXP is Job; Job EXP is used to learn skills. This can also effect the way your little character grows, so choose wisely. Not all skills have to be learned, only the ones that will better suit for whatever kind of build your going for. Again, check forums and websites for help.
Once a Novice character reaches Base 12/Job 10, they are ready to pick the path they want to become. This will involve a small simple side quest.
But the growing up doesn’t stop there, heck no! Now your character has a future to become a higher, better version of whatever he/she decided on. Each of the six classes has two different second classes he/she can pick from when they reach Job level 40 or higher. The classes go as followed:
Swordsman---Knight or Crusader
Mage---Wizard or Sage
Thief---Assassin or Rogue
Acolyte---Priest or Monk
Archer---Hunter or Dancer (Girl characters), Bard (Boy characters)
Merchant---Blacksmith or Alchemist
The quests to becomes one of these classes are a bit more complex but are worth it.
Recently, the game made it possible to ‘transcend’ these second classes and have characters be reborn into something even more powerful! I have yet to do these, for it’s for polished, long time players. The characters must first be at the limit of his/her levels; 99/50, which is one of the toughest things to pull off in the game. With that, the player then can have their character ‘reborn’ back to a Novice. Now, before you start freaking out, there is a upside; your twice as strong and have the title ‘High Novice’. Next you go as you did in the beginning, you go for your first class, lets say a Mage. You become a ‘High Mage’. Finally when your ready, you go to a place known as Juno, and find a book which takes you to a realm above the world where you can become a transcend class. In a High Mage’s case, if he/she was a Wizard in the past life, he/she becomes a High Wizard, and if a Sage, a Scholar.
These Transcend Classes are as powerful as they boast to be. The classes go as this:
Knight---Lord Knight
Crusader---Paladin
Wizard---High Wizard
Sage---Scholar
Assassin---Assassin Cross
Rogue---Stalker
Priest---High Priest
Monk---Champion
Hunter---Sniper
Dancer---Gypsy
Bard---Minstrel
Blacksmith---Mastersmith
Alchemist---Biochemist
Again, these classes are for hardcore players.
If you want to get the most out of iRO, joining a guild can unlock all kinds of things. The one major event all guilds are welcome to do is The War of Emperium, or WoE for short. Happens twice a week, guilds battle it out for castles where they can call their HQ. Along with a castle, guild members and the Guild Master can get rare items which they can sell for Zeny (money) or use for the guild’s benefits. Each guild is different with numbers of members and skills; the bigger the guild, the bigger the challenge.
Along with many side quests and events, iRO is a never ending adventure where you interact with people from all over the USA and from other counties as well. Weather you are a long time RPG-addict, or new to the world of online RPGs, Ragnarok is a treasure cove of fun, surprises and hours of partying with your guild buddies.