Choosing a server 2017
As a new player you may not have realized at first there are 2 servers. You'll no doubt realize rather soon if you haven't already. Maybe now you're wondering what the differences are between the two servers.
Server 1:
Benefits:
1) s1 has a larger player base. At the time I made this thread s1 had 800 toons (characters not total rl players) vs 85 on s2 currently logged. As you can see from the time of the post it is fairly late so most of the afk logged toons are already logged by this point. Quite a large difference. This means that the auction house (AH) is more developed and has an abundance of items due to many toons getting drops daily.
2) High level trophies are more common on s1 but prices are similar if you find a seller on s2.
3) The vast majority of useful gems if not all have been found and masters have been made. Same for epic and legendary gear. With plentiful resources it is easy to get things crafted.
4) S1 is several years older and it is more developed. High end PvE (player vs npcs) is easier on this server because things are easier to acquire.
5) There are an abundance of clans you can join on s1 as a new player to get help for guidance and basic runes. This includes my own clan Blaze, Seastar's clan Cseas, Pallytothemaxx's clan Guide, Tipcrys' clan Otcst, Soxson's Nova, and a couple of larger clans called Tical, Iron, and Blood often take new players as well.
Demerits
1) There are more caps (level 85+ players) so this means some items are more expensive that s2 (supply vs demand) (though this is a benefit for things like resources being more readily available). Namely time cards (time cards are used to become a standard or premium account and cost $5). On s1 a time card can sell rapidly for 1,650,000 gold which is next to impossible to grind to until higher levels. This means unless you spend real money you'll spend much of the early game as a N (free account).
2) There are three types of arena (arranged team, random team, and solo. Only 1 happens at a time and seasons last 3-5 months). In team arena a player on s1 will have no chance of any prize until they are either grouped with powerful toons or they are at least 85 themselves.
3) An extention of 2). S1 is far more developed. This also means it can be hard to catch up. There is a feature called 'uptiering' which makes legendary gear stronger. It takes a lot of time and gold to keep uptiering. So it is a challenge to overcome that. There are a couple builds such as healer that can work with a low tier suit though and still compete. If you put your head to good use you can overcome the tier gap as well. Excellence and Brickk aren't the most overpowered toons for tiers but they still keep winning arena.
4) Monopolies. S1 is nearly 9 years old. The big monopolies are in crafting for this server. They aren't monopolies 'per se', but they're reliable and a lot go to them. If you were to say not counting armor 90% of the legendaries on s1 were crafted by Dennisthemenace...
you probably wouldn't be far off. There are alternatives... but Dtm Inc has been a reliable trustworthy crafter for years. He has many loyal customers. Enchanting.. Brother is the unmatched king of enchanting. He is the only person in the game on either server able to make +40 enchanting stones. There are a couple +39s (Dtm pops up again..) so he's not super game breaking, but when every stat point counts a lot of people still go to Brother or the +39ers for stones. Finally there is Noremorse. Nore has the least hold on his monopoly as he is the cheapest to match (Dtm's lgs take a lot of luck or gold to match. Brother takes ~1 billion gold to match). Meanwhile for Nore it's 500k-5 mil per epic gem for the most useful ones. Nore has the most masters in the game but not all are used 24/7. Lg gems there are more expensive, but will still only run you so much. So crafting is a hard field to get established in at cap with some titans running around.
Server2:
Benefits:
1) Arena. Unlike s1 arena s2 arena lacks enough players so as long as you work a bit you can get an arena prize. top 50 teams get 1 free tc. if a player manages to grind to top 25 he gets 2 free tcs. (top 150 or 75 in solo/random team arena). You may even be able to get a free tc for without a single fight if you form a team. There are currently 91 people in arena on s2. Top 150 gets a time card this season. If you win 1 match you'll move to rank 72 and get 2 free time cards if you hold the rank for the season.
2) Tcs are cheaper on s2. From the s2 players I asked time cards seem to sell for as high as 500k but the average is closer to 300k. However it seems time cards are also somewhat rare on server 2 so you may need to spend real life money. I do not play the server though so perhaps you can maintain a constant face off auction house and clannies selling.
3) Merc2 accepts players of any level so new players have somwhere to go, and more may be on the horizon.
4) S2 gets a 33% exp bonus that affects everything except pilgrimage i think.
5) S2 is younger, but has less players. So if you can get the materials to craft your legendaries it is easier to catch up. Members of Kcno have a variety of masters and crafting skills to help get stuff made.
6) Pk is somewhat safe at low-mid levels on server 2 so if you find a way to redeem before you get to the high levels you may be able to abuse the x3 exp and trophies to cap faster.
Demerits
1) S2 has less players so this means less items on ah compared to s1 (most noticeable when it comes to resources) and less choices in clans (only Kcno and Merc2 have runes as far as i know on s2).
2) Crafting issues. From what nearly every s2 player says there are a lack of materials. The auction house is normally barren so relying on clan mates is often required. Some mention a lack of t30 silk often as well.
3) The server is newer so the gem section is the biggest gap between servers probably. It can take a lot of luck to get gems so while they probably got a decent selection now might take years before they get all r10-12 and r18-20 gems along with the auras.
4) Monopoly. Most of the players not in Kcno say that Kcno rule the server. Fixing epic beasts, arena, and even cutting certain people off from their resource supply so they cannot grow stronger unless they get the resources themselves. Perhaps it isn't as bad as people like darklordss make it out to be though.
People are free to debate or add their own pros and cons to either server. this is aimed to help new players make a semi informed choice.
Last edited by Blaze; 03-01-2017 at 10:41 AM..
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Choosing a server 2017
