Shattered Kingdoms

I've played SK before, but it was (gasp) several years back. I was, unfortunately, an immature little... noob... at the time, and ended up not enjoying the game (and possibly making it less enjoyable for others). For that reason, the desire for a fresh start, I'm not going to reveal any past character names - I'm back to RP, have fun, and contribute to SK.

That said, I'm sure a lot has changed, and I'm not asking for all the changes, I'll find them out in my own time. I am, however, looking for a bit of advice.

Primarily, I've played human or sprite in the past, usually grey aura. I'm thinking of going with a dwarf this time around (although I'm still partial to human), but I'm not sure what class to roll, as it were.

A part of me likes the idea of a Dwarven Mercenary, but I'm not sure how mercenaries still hold up in PvP (I'd like to get into the Cabal wars eventually, so...). Any advice there would be nice.

Another part of me is partial to a Human Scout or Bard. I've never really played Bard very long, and have more experience with Scout, again, I'd like something that stands up strong and useful in a Cabal setting.

That aside, the aura. What's the current ratio of lighties to darkies these days? I'm big on joining the underdog team. On an off-hand note: last time I played, Grey auras felt kinda left out. You don't get the benefits of a lightie (asking for gear, etc), but were still generally expected not to be a bad guy and start taking and being an overall pain (like a darkie). It felt very much like I was this fringe character with no real place or purpose (And most cabals seemed to lean one way or another, with the greys being unable to really fit in anywhere). Has that changed?

Thanks in advance.

I could be wrong but it feels to me like things are in a flux situation... there are a couple of really strong darkies playing and I'd like to see more lighties, but you could make a case for either way. I have no experience with cabals and lots of my favorite characters right now are gray.

I think I'll give a lightie a try... I'll see you all around.

I'm not playing right now, but from what I can tell, the strongest faction in the game is GoA, which is led by grey-aura characters. The GoA is allied with the lighties, though, so the balance is tipped in that direction atm. As far as I know, the darkies lack a strong and active pvp leader.

Mercs are fine, though I think most would agree that barbarians have a slight advantage over them atm. Dwarf mercs are fine, but not a power combo in my opinion.

Bards are great, but they are fragile and are primarily a support class. If you have some allies and go into large-scale pvp, your bard will win the battle for your side.

The Hand seems pretty under-staffed, Harlequin too, and maybe Druid (not too sure about them).

I recall the Harlequins being ungodly hard to join back in the day, but always wanted to run with them, I like the idea of being good and bad equally, without apparent reason.

I think I've settled on either Rogue, Scout, or Bard. The Adventure style classes always call to me more, and I like to be a "combat support" role.

Edit: Also last I checked, the Harlequins were only taking in darkies, despite the Cabal having an apparent "grey" slant... has this changed?

For some reason Lighties are lacking in sorcs, they have a few, but most of the pk sorcs are darkies, but if you arent looking for a lot of pk then I wouldnt worry about that

Hmm... I've considered a sorc but always just assumed there was an abundance of them.

Another possibility then I suppose

Hoping to make a decision here in the next 10 min or so.

The best sorc in the game is currently lightie GoA unless he deleted.

Current harlequins have no bias of darkie over greybie.

Though the reason sorcs and casters in general tend towards darkie is that with recent changes, deep-elves are by -far- the best race for caster classes.

I've been in the harlequins multiple times now (two or three, I can't seem to remember) and they are a blast! I had at least one rogue and bard in the harlequins and those are some of the best time I've had in the game.

I will also side with you on the adventure class, as I've always had some sort of attraction towards them as well. I've played so many scouts, rogues and bard in so many different cabals, it's ridiculous, lol!

At the moment, I would suggest playing a light aura character. They are a bit scarce, as far as I can tell. If you enjoy the adventure class, I would suggest a scout or bard, as there are a fair amount of rogues around right now. However, if you want to roll a sorcerer, go for it. People are very accurate in saying that they are fairly uncommon right now.

To be honest though, play what you think you will enjoy most and have fun! That is the whole point of the game. It is not what you have, but what you do with it that counts the most. We could use as many players right now as possible, as our numbers are a bit low right now.

Enjoy, and hopefully I will see you in the game before too long.