RecommendedSteam player
As someone who has played the RU version for 1000hrs+ and have leveled two characters legit and boosted 8 of them (to 50) my two cents about the topic: + The game is a fun journey from start to the endgame. The leveling process gets a bit dull, but on your first character it's manageable. + The start of the endgame is quite fun. When you first hit 50 there's a lot 'island quest' storylines to complete, reputation quests to unlock, new guardian fights/new dungeons/new raids to experience, some 'sea events' and other 'timed events' to check out. Progression feels pretty good and smooth (until you gear gets around +9, the +10-+15 upgrades are significantly 'harder' to succeed => More fails => More costs => Way slower progress). + The equalized arena PvP is fun although very CC-heavy and takes a little learning curve to get into. However the rewards are quite poor beyond the 'weekly' ones, so unless you are really into PvP you probably won't spend a lot of time playing it. The ranked PvP is only TRUE SOLO QUEUE, so no premades (which is pretty fun for solo players!). What does this actually have to do with potential P2W and 'forced alts'? + Kinda tricked you with the topic. The game is a fun journey even before you need to think about spending. To the actual topic: + Once you hit your first progression wall (starting from +9 / +10 upgrading) you'll start to see yourself being handicapped by various resources. It might be materials (drops from limited daily dungeons/daily quests etc.), it might be shillings (daily dungeon/daily quests/'limited' cube dungeon), or it might be gold (weekly dungeons/weekly raids/weekly quests). To get through this wall you'll either need to just take it slow (log-in and do your daily/weekly things) or go faster (start making alts that allow you to farm more of the aforementioned) or go super fast (start top-upping with $/€'s and turn that into gold to get the resources needed for the upgrade gamble). + 'Taking it slow' is around 1-2 hours each day for your 1 character + 'Going faster' is around 1-2 hours each day for your 1 character + 1-2 hours or so per WEEK per alt character + 'Going super fast' is only limited by your bank account <- beware though getting to 'max gear' as soon as possible removes many gaming goals you might have when 'taking it slow' or 'going faster' Now there are other monetizations that boost your progression in various ways but these are laid out in other posts and are not that significant. Basically with 50$ you'll get all the permanent things you'll ever 'need' and then you have the option of running the recurring 'crystalline aura (sub)' for extra benefits. The only thing I'd raise as a 'must-have' is the pet which is around 5-10$ and it's ACCOUNT WIDE, so you'll only need one of them. The reason for the pet is auto-looting, which is a major convinience for your daily dungeon running (the pet picks up the constant loot pinata from the daily dungeons instead of having to run around furiously smackin the loot button). Pets are also given out through events so you are likely to get one for free sooner or later. TLDR; The game is a fun journey from 1-50 regardless of whether you spend a single dime or not. When you get to the mid-late game (of the current patch) you'll either take it slow (1 character), go faster (alts) or you go super fast (spending $/€'s).Show moreShow less
5 hours at review5,130 people found this helpful