CBT2 Review part 2
Recreation effect
In TERA you will get 'tired' while running and fighting. This condition is applied to your character instead of your weapon and ranges between 0-100%. So you'll notice a loss or awards in character stats. You can keep playing while you're in this tired state but it's best to find a camp or city to revitalize.
Using special items, you can improve the state of your character.
Of course, using a campfire in the middle of a field can also be used to recharge. It is also possible to receive additional stat effects such as damage increase.
In TERA the sounds of battle and well-made effects created a good impression. It's not easy to put this in words.
Falling is one of many reactions. The fall of a monster is a good opportunity for the player.
Every correct hit is displayed in TERA with some effects. It is possible to get knocked over and fall. We had the feeling this wasn't perfected yet. Improving the response of the character and effects could significantly improve the feeling of a hit.
Items & Equipment
Items in TERA can be divided into weapons, "upper" part of the armor (jackets), "lower" part of the armor (pants), gloves, boots, rings and earrings. Different slots for weapons and armor. There are additional slots for crystals that alter your stats. Usually a damage increase, higher critical rate or increase in HP, MP.
Slots for arms and armor, as well as slots for crystals.
Crystals can be put on and taken off and replaced by crystals of another type. Thus, during the game you can select the required combination. However when you die, there is a chance that one of your crystals breaks.
There is also an item level limit in game. At early levels, if you use a more advanced weapons, you'll encounter a lack of effectiveness.
Party play
TERA is best played with parties. After level 8, many of the (usual individual) quests focus on group monsters. In general, quests after level 11 are for the most part group based. I am not fond of solo play, because the effectiveness of such gameplay is often very poor in MMO. The effectiveness of party play is impressive in TERA.
The icon of the monster shows its status. In this case - help fellow mobs.
Given the extreme efficiency of party play it's not surprising that most users will prefer group gameplay. Regarding the Priest class, leveling speed slows down significantly after level 11. In any case, I do not think that people would party play much if they are not actively push in to it.
You'll find parties everywhere because of the group quests.
Note that if a priest heals the party, he has to pay attention. He has to keep moving because his spells have to be in the range of his teammates. In the raids, it is best to have more then one Priest in your party. Often one good healer was not enough, so the group died.
When healing or buffing, the group should get in the circle. It's best that tank players move back to the Priest.
Quality and fun
We had 20 hours of gameplay in the second closed beta. It's a short time to figure out if this game will ultimately be fun in the long run.
The game features, characters and battle system are fine. You can hardly call TERA boring.
Excellent graphics contribute to the atmosphere.
Hardcore traditional mouse users will not be very interested in this game. But this is something that everyone has to decide for them self. If you are familiar with non targeting games, you will adapt quickly to TERA.
Graphics in TERA are excellent and there is support for 5.1 sound.
It is too soon to talk about PC system requirements because a lot of optimization still needs to be done performance wise.
The second beta made clear some things need to be corrected and optimized as a result we can expect a great game.
You could produce and gather items in CBT2 but 20 hours of gameplay is too little to explore this.