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Allods Online

Allods Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG with many Sci-Fi elements mixed in. Following the shattering of the world of Sarnout, two factions known as the Empire and League now fight for control over drifting continents known as Allods.

Publisher: Mail.ru
Playerbase: Medium
Type: MMORPG
Release Date: February 16, 2010 (NA)
PvP: Duels / Open PvP/ Astral Battles / Arenas
Pros: +Well-crafted world, lore, and sound tracks. +F2P and subscription servers available. +Wide variety of races and classes.
Cons: -Slow-paced progression. -Cash shop offers enormous benefits.

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Overview

Allods Online Overview

Allods Online is a 3D fantasy MMORPG and is the third game in the relatively unknown PC game series Rage of Mages, which is made by Russian game developer Astrum Nival. Fight for either the Empire or the League and determine the future of the world! The game was developed with a $12 million budget, which is quite high for free-to-play MMOs; it features beautiful scenery, sharp graphics, and fluid gameplay. PvP options range from open world faction battles and duels to Ship vs Ship combat in the Astral zone.

Allods Online features ten different class archetypes, which are named differently depending on what race is chosen. Each race/class combination also bestows players with one unique class spell for each combination. Not every race has access to the same classes, so choose carefully! Check out the "Classes" tab for more information.

Allods Online Screenshots

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Allods Online Featured Video

Classes

  • Bards bards use music to cast spells that damage enemies and buff allies. Their abilities are called Marches, and groups with multiple bards can use several different Marches simultaneously.
  • Engineers engineers use large guns and cannons to blow their enemies away. They can also lay down turrets that deal damage to nearby enemies, or use explosives.
  • Healers healers are part of the Church of Light, and their divine powers enable them to both heal those in need and bring down righteous judgment to their enemies.
  • Mages mages use a variety of elemental magic. Their area-of-effect (AoE) abilities make them handy in parties, as they burn and shock groups of foes at a time.
  • Paladins paladins may not have as much restorative magic as the Healer, but their dedication to their holy war is unmatched. Paladins combine an iron strong defense with their faith to tank and deal damage to the wretched.
  • Psionicists psionicsts use magic to boost the abilities of their own mind, allowing them to boost their skills or invade the mind of their enemy.
  • Scouts scouts are agile fighters, excelling in both long and close-range combat. Using nearly any weapon, scouts emerge from the shadows to brutalize foes, or use enchanted arrows and special bows to demolish them from a distance.
  • Summoners summoners have mastered death magic, calling undead and demonic minions to aid them. They cast spells that wither and drain the very life from their enemies.
  • Wardens wardens are masters of nature, using powerful magic to summon thunderstorms or to command ferocious beasts to attack on their behalf.
  • Warriors warriors have dedicated their lives to battle, and can use a variety of weapons while attacking. They also know different defensive stances that minimize the damage done to them.

Full Review

Allods Online Review

By Dimitri Jordan

Allods Online is a 3D Fantasy MMORPG developed by Russian game developer Astrum Online Entertainment and published by Mail.ru that was released on April 26, 2011. Originally published by gPotato, it was handed off to Mail.ru when gPotato was acquired and incorporated by Webzen in February, 2013. It has a focus on PvP, plenty of races, classes, and quests, and the unique feature of Astral sailing. The world of Sarnaut is broken up among different floating continents, and players are able to sail between them in their own ships. This is the only way to reach several in-game areas, and has many impacts on gameplay. Since changing publishers, the game has improved quite a bit. Many aspects of the game that players found too punishing, such as the fear of death debuff, have been removed.

Starting Up

When first starting Allods Online, players choose between the two servers, one is free-to-play while the other is only for paying players. Then players choose between the game’s two factions, The Empire and The League. Each faction has three races: the Empire has Xadaganians, Orcs, and Arisen, while the League has Kanians, Elves, and Gibberlings. Unlike some games, choosing a faction does not lock a player into that faction; they can freely make characters for both factions.

As far as character-creation options, Allods Online offers solid options. Players are able to change their character’s face, facial features, hair style and color, skin tone, and figure. There’s enough to lower the chance of running into overly similar characters, and invites players to try out multiple classes and looks.

The First Few Levels

In the game, players are guided through a tutorial area that is different for each faction. It gets players used to the combat style, in which there is no auto-attacking. While it keeps the player more focused on the game, it can grow tiresome, especially when factoring in the number of quests that are composed of killing specific mobs. When fighting a dozen monsters to fulfill a quest, it would be easier to at least have the basic attack run automatically.

There is almost an overwhelming amount of quests in Allods Online. Many quest givers have multiple quests, and it’s not unusual to have over a dozen active quests at any one time. This can cause quick leveling early on, and players may find that they out-level their quests quickly, with a level six quest not being worth the effort for someone that is level ten. However, at higher levels this ensures that there are always quests to do. Many of the quests involve a good deal of traveling, and running to them may grow tedious. Luckily there is an auto-run feature, letting players manage inventory, check quest details, or assign skill points while running. This is one of the best features in the game, and is useful even at the max level, 65.

Skills

Each class has a talent tree and three talent grids. The talent tree shows all the skills a player can learn, each having a max level of three. Each level costs more talent points, with level one skills costing one point and level three skills costing three points, or six points to max each skill. At level ten, players unlock their talent grids, three tabs that offer boosts for their skills. For example, a Summoner can unlock the Massacre upgrade on the talent grid, lowering the mana cost and cast time of Acid Bolt by 10%. Each upgrade is greyed out until an adjacent one is unlocked.

The Astral

The main draw of Allods Online is the Astral. Sarnaut was broken during the Great Cataclysm, and the planet was broken into different islands floating in the Astral. Players are able to navigate the Astral in astral ships, visiting other continents, as well as instanced areas called Allods. The locations of the Allods change, preventing a definitive map, and players must manually navigate to these islands, with no auto-pilot available. Players are able to collect loot that is held on their astral ships until they reach a dock, and players are able to engage in faction PvP in the Astral.

Astral Ships

Astral ships are essential to late-game content. The quest line to receive a ship begins at level thirty-five, and once acquired open up the game considerably. Players are then able to navigate to other areas in the Astral, most importantly to Allods.

The ships look different depending on the faction, and house several different areas. In the navigation room there are stations for thrust, side-to-side turning, and vertical steering. These are three different stations, so one player can control all three, or three players can each control one. Navigators can view a 3D map of the ship’s route, and it’s their job to inform the pilots of Allods, astral demons, or other impending attacks.

Gunners are stationed on each side of the ship. The cannons fire directly forward, without any auto-aim, so communication between the pilots and gunners are essential. There is a defense station where someone can monitor shields, and also a reactor. The reactor heats up as the ship engages in combat, and if it overloads the ship is destroyed. It can be shut down to cool it off, but that leaves the ship immobile. Navigating through dogfights then becomes a chess match between ships firing, dodging, and managing the reactor heat to keep from exploding.

PvP

Allods Online offers several options for PvP:

Upon reaching level twenty-one, players from the opposing faction can openly attack each other. This adds an added level of danger to areas as players may be trapped between aggressive mobs and other players.

As described above, ship vs. ship PvP is a large draw in Allods Online. Teams of players can man each ship, and they must manage between attacking and cooling the ship during combat. If the two ships are close together, players can even board other ships, attacking from the inside. Ships have a treasure room that holds the items salvaged from exploring Allods. If a ship is boarded, players can head to the treasure room and actually steal from another ship. Ship PvP and piracy are some of the most unique features in Allods Online, and are even better when experienced first-hand.

In the Arena of Death, players seek to collect chests and bring them back to a capture point. Arena of Death supports 24 vs 24 PvP battles in instanced zones; it becomes available to players at level fifty-one. The chests slow players while being carried, and if not picked up they quickly spawn demons. The first side to score 15 or more points wins. Arena of Death adds a welcome game-mode aside from standard PvP.

While navigating the Astral, players may engage in Astral Confrontations. These are guild vs. guild events where one side attacks while the other defends. The attackers must capture four different points before fighting the Great Mage boss. Each capture point has several cannons around the area, providing support for the fighters. Once the attackers reach the final boss, the defenders are spawned one last time, and once dead they are permanently out of the fight. Upon winning, the attackers can capture, plunder, or raze the Allod. Capturing ejects the defenders and the Allod is owned by the attackers for a week. Plundering the Allod splits its resources between attackers and defenders. Razing the Allod ejects the defenders, and no one gains resources.

Cash Shop

The cash shop in Allods Online is one of the most controversial features of Allods Online. Many of the items were initially overpriced, such as a backpack expansion that added 6 more slots for $20, significantly more than any other free-to-play game. Initially, dying in Allods Online would penalize the player’s stats, and Holy Charms were available in the cash shop to remove the status curse. This did not sit well with players and the backlash was swift. Shortly after, Holy Charms were available in the cash shop for free.

While things have evened out, there are still some red flags. Players can buy guild nobility points, bonus experience, or pay for materials to upgrade their items. It presents a definite disadvantage compared to what the average player is capable of upgrading to. There are also mounts, potions that boost a player’s stats, and more. As usual, the pay for convenience stuff such as bonus experience is no big deal in my eyes, but paying for bonus stats and item upgrades does give players an unfair advantage, especially in PvP.

Final Verdict: Great

Allods Online has its flaws. The way the cash shop can enhance those willing to pay is off-putting to the average player who isn't looking to spend money on a free game. Despite this, it has solid gameplay, thousands of quests, plenty of race and class options, and the Astral zone with ship vs. ship PvP. Allods features a unique, must-see type of gameplay that's uncommon in MMORPGs trying to make a name for themselves. Allods is deep enough to pour tens and hundreds of hours in, and won’t disappoint anyone looking for a strong MMO experience.

Screenshots

Allods Online Screenshots

Videos

Allods Online Videos

Playlist: Allods Online

System Requirements

Allods Online System Requirements

Minimum Requirements:

Operating System: Windows 2000 / Windows XP
CPU: Intel Pentium 3 1.5 Ghz
Video Card: nVidia GeForce FX 5200 / AMD Radeon 9550 / 9600
RAM: 512 MB
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB

Recommended Requirements:

Operating System: Windows XP / Vista / 7
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz or better
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 7600 GS or better
RAM: 1 GB or more
Hard Disk Space: 8 GB or more

Music

Allods Online Music & Soundtrack

Additional Info

Allods Online Additional Information

Developer: Astrum Nival (AKA Astrum Online Entertainment. AKA Allods Team)
Soundtrack Composer: Vladislav Isaev, Mark Morgan, and Michael Kostylev
Closed Beta Date: November 19, 2009 (First closed beta in U.S.)
Open Beta Date: February 16, 2010

Foreign Releases:

China / Taiwan / Macau: March 4, 2011 (Published by Cayenne Tech through the Wasabii.com portal)

The Brazilian server for Allods Online shut down on December 23, 2014. The European servers through Mail.ru have no IP Restrictions, so those in Brazil are free to play there.

Development Background

Allods Online was developed by Russian game developer Astrum Nival, which later changed its name to Astrum Online Entertainment. Allods was developed with a $12 million budget and branded itself as an 'AAA' title. The game originally launched in Russia in early 2009, but quickly grew in popularity world-wide. The game was originally published in North America and Europe through gPotato, but since their closure Mail.ru picked up the license. Mail.ru currently publishes Allods Online globally with no IP restrictions.