AdventureQuest

AdventureQuest is a free, lunch break-sized online RPG that was developed by Artix Entertainment in 2002. The system requirements for the game are a web browser and version 7.0 or later of Macromedia Flash Player. The game is free of cost, but for a one time donation of $14.95 (£8 for UK players, €12 for EU players) one can become a "Guardian" and receive in-game perks and features not available to regular players. The game and its costs are entirely supported by player donations, and as such, there are 'Guardian Swims' whenever money is needed to support costs. During this period only Guardians can log in and play. Once the swim is over and enough people have become Guardians, the game is free for all to play again. Guardians can also play ArchKnight, another RPG based loosely off AdventureQuest.

Gameplay

The game itself plays much like any other turn based RPG; the player has a menu with several commands his or her character can perform. These include attacking with the current weapon, using spells, drinking potions for restoring health/mana, changing equipment, and commanding pets. Guest characters can also be obtained and will help you in battle.

In the game there are eight elements, as opposed to the classical four found in most games. These elements are: Fire, Water, Wind, Ice, Earth, Energy, Light, and Darkness. Both monsters and players have elemental resistance towards each element, and all attacks and spells of that element. For example, a player could run into a Djinni, which takes 130% damage from ice attacks. Since the Djinni's attacks are fire, the player equips himself with an armor and a shield for best possible protection against fire, and arms himself with an ice weapon for most damage.

Not only do all attacks have an element but also a type: Ranged, Melee, or Magic. Both monsters and players have different blocking values against each type. The player can change his or her blocking values by switching armors and shields, which the monster cannot do. Another important difference is the random damage bonus that depends on player statistics. The random damage bonus is calculated by the following:

Melee Damage 

strength/8

Ranged Damage 

strength/16 + dexterity/16

Magic Damage 

intellect/8

The random damage bonus is added to the weapon's random damage (max damage – min damage), and is such not a guarantee for doing more damage. For example, a character with 80 intellect using Trident of Etain, which is a magic weapon with 15 random damage, gets a 10 boost to the random damage, making it 25.

All characters gain stat points upon the completion of a character level. Stat points can be placed into strength, dexterity, intellect, charisma, and luck. You gain five stat points per level until you reach the maximum level of 110, which makes a total of 550 points to spend. Because not all of your stats can be maximized, one must choose to specialize in certain areas while sacrificing others. Thus, two main groups of players have formed: mages and warriors. Warriors focus on training strength, while mages train intellect. Naturally, rounded characters with about equal intellect and strength (known as hybrids) exist, as do Rangers who train dexterity. Rangers are rarely played due to a shortage of strong ranged-supporting equipment.

Classes

In AdventureQuest, classes are gained by completing missions for NPC's. The abilities you gain by training in these classes can only be used when you are equipped with the related class armor. The currently available classes are Dragon Slayer, Vampire Slayer, Mage, Fighter, Ninja, and Rogue.

Races

At present you may only be a human, but in the future you will be able to play as other races. You can get armors known as "Forms" to simulate a change in race. As of this writing the form armors include Dwarf Form, Martial Artist Form, Werewolf Form, Blob Form, Vampire Form, Drakel Form, Zombie Form, Canine Warrior and Ninja Form.

Sub-Races

None as of this writing, but you will be able to become a Werewolf, Vampire, or Werepyre in the future. As with races, there are also armors that can simulate a change in sub-race.

Wars

As well as random encounters and quest battling, there are sometimes events called wars. These are server-wide events that call for a certain amount of monsters to be defeated before moving on to a boss battle. If a player defeats the boss he or she may be able to claim a rare war prize. In the past players did not actually have to slay the boss to get the rare prize. The matter was resolved by implementing a system where items are purchased from what is known as a "War Chest" only after the boss is killed.

Community

AdventureQuest has an IRC channel located on the Caelestia server. The main channel for AdventureQuest players is #battleon and the random chat for players is #yulgarsinn. The official message board for AdventureQuest players is located at http://forums2.battleon.com/f/.

Clans

Clans are not currently present in the game itself, but several large clans exist on the AdventureQuest message forum. If and when clans are introduced to the game, you may be able to associate yourself with the clan you joined on the forums.

External links

• AdventureQuest site
• AdventureQuest tip site