Tales of Pirates is a 3D Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game developed by the Chinese company MOLI. Tales of Pirates is published by IGG (Internet Gaming Gate), who have also published three other games, Voyage Century Online, WonderLand Online and Myth War Online. Several versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions such as an older version Pirate King Online.
Overview
Once an account is created, players are able to log in to a server and choose a character to begin the game. All characters start at level 1 and initially level up through very simple introductory quests designed to teach the player about the game. These quests take a few minutes to complete and will give a new player an idea of how to move, control their character and other simple concepts. At level 10 a character can choose a specific class related to the character they chose. A "Lance" character can become an Explorer, Hunter or Swordsman, for example.
When a player levels up they receive 1 attribute point, but every 10 levels they gain 4 bonus attribute points. Starting at level 61, they will receive 2 attribute points every level.
Strength: Increases melee damage for swords. Recommended for: Champions, Crusaders.
Accuracy: Increases accuracy and critical hit rate for all classes. More damage for bows/guns. Recommended for: hunter.
Constitution: Increases HP (health points), faster health regeneration, and defense. Recommended for: swordsman, herbalist, explorer, champion
Agility: Increases attack speed and dodge rate. Recommended for: swordsman, hunter.
Spirit: Increases SP (spirit points) - magical energy - as well as increasing SP regeneration rate. Recommended for: herbalist, explorer.
In addition to the class-specific skills that characters can use, there are generic "life skills" available for all, such as Woodcutting, Salvage, Mining and Fishing. These skills allow characters to make money, do quests and support their ships at sea, and you will automatically get a level 99 character once you reach level 2.
Starting at level 15, a player may purchase a ship with which they may sail on the water (which makes up most of the world map). Certain elements of the game can only be accessed by the water including the usage of life skills like fishing and salvaging, as well as access to the three mazes (Forsaken City, Dark Swamp and Demonic World) that make up most of the mid- and high-end game content. (Demonic World does not require a boat)
Unconsciousness
When a character's health points reach 0, they will fall unconscious. A dialogue box will display and allow the player to teleport to a re-spawn point. When the character revives, no items are lost, but they will lose all of their HP and SP and approximately 2% of their current experience points. Note that experience points are not displayed as a number but as a percentage progression to next level. It is possible after dying to have a negative percentage progression, meaning XP will have to be gained to work off the negative penalty. In version 1.35, if you die you will lose a 2% EXP. You will not have negative EXP.
In addition, a character will lose 5% of the durability of their currently worn equipment if the player is above level twenty. Players may also be revived through the use of the Seal Master,Cleric and Herbalist skill, revive.
Partying
While solo play is entirely possible and fun for lower-level characters early on or even high level characters almost anywhere, joining a party is often preferred, players can start having party's at lvl8. Support characters such as the herbalist, cleric, champion and seal master may find it harder to adventure solo and would benefit from belonging to a party.
Joining a party is a matter of right-clicking on another character and sending a party invite. If accepted the invitee joins the party. Up to 5 people can be grouped at once. While in a party, experience points are split among party members, and loot dropped by monsters can be picked up by any party member. It would be wise to indicate if there are any rules for splitting loot beforehand, otherwise support characters not at the front lines may lose out on loot.
Chat
Tales of Pirates Chat System
There are 5 different chat channels: Note: Instead of typing the selected symbol to chat in a channel, a user has the option to use an automated chat type.
World:- By typing an asterisk before a message allows the message to travel to the world channel. This channel allows players to chat to each other where ever they are in the game as long as they are in the map. i.e. people in the deep blue region use the world chat to talk to people in the deep blue. In version 1.36 speaking in World channel costs 200 gold, then next message within 3 minutes costs 200 gold*2, then 200*2*2 etc.
Local:- If the first character the user types into the dialogue box is a letter, the messages sent can be read by nearby players. By typing in the local channel, the chat is more directed at the people near them as a speech bubble appears above the person who typed it.
Guild:- When one types and places an % as the first character, the messages will only be sent to the user's guild members.
Party:- ! is the symbol to type to one's party. When one uses it or when another party member uses it, the messages will be highlighted in the chat box allowing more attention from the party members.
Trade:- Many users type ^ before they chat allowing them to chat in the trade channel. The channel is meant to let users to trade, sell or buy items. The message will be read by all users in the world. However, most users just use the World channel for trades. In version 1.36 speaking in Trade channel costs 200 gold, it will not allow you to speak until the next 3 minutes is consumed.
Camp:- This newly introduced mode of chat is used for Sacred War to talk with team mates, e.g. a pirate guild member in the Union War map can talk to anyone in any pirate guild that is also in the map using the "" symbol. (Vertical Bar)
There is also Private Messaging, better known as a "PM", which allows a player to chat directly to another player with no one else viewing their speech. It can be done by left clicking another user's name, or by typing @character name, then typing the message to be sent.
Chat Channels: You can block out what you don't want to hear by clicking the speech bubble next to the area where you enter your text. It will give you the option to block out any of the channels stated above and the system.
Guilds
There are two guild types one can join or make: a Navy Guild or a Pirate Guild. Both have their benefits and obviously oppose each other. To create a guild the player must have one hundred thousand gold pieces, reached lvl 40, and have obtained the Stone of Oath item. It is most resonable to join a guild only after lvl 40 because most people don't want newbies (low lvl characters) on their guild as this will be disadvantageous during a guild war .
After joining or making a guild, you can participate in guild wars. Guilds bid to fight each other and reap the benefits of being able to buy from special NPC's as well as other benefits, such as status.
Item Mall
Tales of Pirates is free to play but some players may choose to further customize their characters by purchasing point cards via several methods of payment, which allows players to buy special items such as pet fairies, wings, costumes, etc. Updates (and occasionally new items) are added on a regular basis and there are special promotions at the end of every month. Current methods of paying are Google checkout, Pay Pal, Western Union, and cash payment. When you purchase from any of the methods except Google Checkout and Pay Pal you are automatically entered into the lottery contest giving you a chance to win up to 1 million gold in game. It is also possible to buy in-game mall points from other players. However, these are extremely expensive. It is a much better option just to simply buy the item you want from other players.
Mazes
The game also contains three dungeon-like areas called mazes, which offer considerably more experience and loot than the regular areas of play. The three mazes open in rotations of 3 hours each, and each maze has its own ranged level requirements. The mazes are also one of the few PvP areas in the game, enabling players to fight not only the monsters in the maze, but each other as well. Due to the PvP nature of the mazes, it's recommended to wait until a character is near the maximum level cap before attempting to traverse one. The mazes are Forsaken City (You can find skeletar chests here,FC level 30-45), Demonic World (You can find enigma chests here, DW level 50+) and Dark Swamp (You can find evanscence chests here,DS level 40-55).
Ships/Commerce
There are several ships available for each city, ranging from a Guppy to a Great White Shark. Some are more suited for different tasks like commerce or guild wars. As your level increases you will be enabled to buy stronger ships, the level requirement ranging from level 15-45. If you plan on going to become a sea voyager it is recommended you choose either an Eagle or a Great White Shark as they are the strongest ships in the game. Commerce is a great way to earn money using one's ship, which involves buying goods from a trader on one harbor and selling it to another trader and earning a profit.
Commerce is currently "bugged", and not working on some servers.
Pets
Pets are a very important asset in this game as owning one can greatly improve your battle performance. You can add a specific stat on them by feeding them the corresponding fruits, e.g. Shaitan Biscuit for adding SPR, Snow Dragon Fruit for adding STR, etc. You can also add skills (only three) that increase your health and spirit regeneration like Standard Meditation and Standard Recovery. The maximum level for a pet is level 41 and trying to feed it after that point will usually end in failure. To increase a pet's leveling speed there are fruit of growths and great fruits that add 2 stat points instead of one, but are much more expensive. Fairies can also be married when both fairies are level 20 and above to create another fairy depending on what object is used during marriage. Married pets can produce 2nd generation pets or Mordo Juniors, which have the ability to "possess", which activates a skill that doubles the amount of stats the fairy gives at the cost of some stamina. Possession can be bought in 3 different skill books: Novice, Standard, and Expert. Novice possession makes fairy stamina decrease 6x faster than normal, Standard 3x, and Expert 2x.
