Ragnarok Online The Game Basics Cities Game Mechanics

Ragnarok Online (RO) is an MMORPG created by Gravity Corp. of South Korea. Much of the background of the game is based on the manhwa Ragnarok by Lee Myung-Jin .

Currently, there are official versions of the game in Korean, Japanese, English, Thai, Chinese, Indonesian, Philippine, Brazilian Portuguese and Bahasa Melayu. There is also a version for players in Germany, Italy, AustriaAustria is a landlocked country in Central Europe, a federation of nine states. Austria is bordered by Germany and the Czech Republic to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the, TurkeyTurkey (officially the Republic of Turkey Turkish Turkiye is a country located in Southwest Asia with a small part in southeastern Europe. Until 1922 the country was the center of the Ottoman Empire. The Anatolian peninsula, between the Black Sea and the and SwitzerlandThe Swiss Confederation or Switzerland is a landlocked federal state in central Europe, with neighbours Germany, France, Italy, Austria and Liechtenstein. The country has a strong tradition of political and military neutrality, but also of international c (better known as European RO or EuRO). An AustraliaAustralia is the sixth-largest country in the world (geographically), the only one to occupy an entire continent, and the largest in the region of Australasia. Australia includes the island of Tasmania, which is an Australian State. Its neighbouring countn version known as "Ragnarok Oceania" is in beta stageIn software engineering, development stage terminology expresses how far through the development sequence things have progressed and how much further development a product may require. Alpha An alpha version or alpha release represents the first version o. Ragnarok is continually being revised and revamped, having new features added periodically. Most official licensed versions are now pay-to-play. There are many so-called "free private servers" all over the world, but these servers are illegal and not tolerated by Gravity Corp. or any of the independent hosting companies outside of South Korea.

1 The game

1.1 Basics

The MMORPGWorld of Warcraft are gathering for a raid. A massive(ly) multiplayer online role-playing games or MMORPG is a multiplayer computer role-playing game that enables thousands of players to play in an evolving virtual world at the same time over the Internet is loosely based upon the Manhwa, being set in the world of Rune-Midgard. For the most part, there is no story to the game, but there are small side-quests or events set up by the adminstrators of the game sporadically to add depth and maintain interest.

The game's tutorial does mention that there is a war between man and monsters, an accurate observation given the fact that experience is given to the player when they kill monsters. However, warring is not limited to man v. monster combat, as ingame guilds can fight against each other in the 'War of Emperium', a battle between several guilds for castles in town, which give them access to dungeons and treasures that are not accessible to people who are not in the residing guild.

The currency of the game is Zeny, which may be obtained by the selling of items recovered from defeating monsters. The economy in Ragnarok Online is driven heavily by rare items that are not sold in stores and there is a very large difference in wealth between players, for the most part.

There are eight equipment slots. Three for headgear (top, middle, bottom), one for a shield, one for a weapon, one for body armor, one for footgear, one for a cloak, and two for accessories. (Note: The type of headgear you wear actually appears on your head, and the weapon you choose actually appears in your hand.)

Each character has an HP bar, and an SP bar. Hit Points (HP) tell you how healthy you are. If you have 0, you have died. Skill Points (SP) are needed to use many job-related skills. If you have 0 SP remaining, you cannot use any skills that require SP. Both HP and SP regenerate on their own, while the character is not walking. It regenerates at twice the speed if the character is sitting down. The regeneration speed of HP and SP depends on the Vitality and Intelligence attributes, respectively.

The game is very open-ended: After completing novice training, one is free to roam the world at their leisure, with the only restictions being the ferocity of the monsters in a given area. Low levelled players generally have to stay close to towns or else the enemies will be too powerful for them to handle.

Also, the character is given complete control over their Stats (Strength, Agility, Vitality, Intelligence, Dexterity, and Luck) and Skills (class-based) to create the type of character they want to play.

1.2 Cities

There are several major cities in the world of Rune-Midgard, the world of Ragnarok Online. As was said, players are allowed to visit any of them that they might choose, or any of the many places in between.

Prontera: The capital city of Rune-Midgard, located right in the middle of the world. It's the center of commerce for most servers, as well as the home to the swordsman and acolyte classes. Prontera also houses the only official church in the game, and is the place to go to get married.

Izlude: Satellite of Prontera. Though Prontera may be the official home of the swordsmen, it is in Izlude that one will actually become a swordsman. Izlude is also the one and only place by which one can reach Byalan Island.

Geffen: Located northwest of Prontera. Home of the Mage Academy, where novices may become mages. The Geffen Tower, located in the middle of the city, has an extensive dungeon.

Payon: A city nestled in the forests which also bear the same name. This city is reminiscent of ancient Korean cultureThe traditional culture of Korea is shared by South Korea and North Korea, but there are regional differences. The political differences between the north and the south of the peninsula also mean that there is a different focus on specific aspects of Kore, and is where one becomes an archer. It's located southeast of Prontera.

Alberta: The port city of the southeast (south of Payon), and home of merchants. Alberta's port is the only access without teleport to the sunken ship, the Turtle Island, Amatsu, and Kunlun.

Morroc: The furthest city to the South, where novices turn into thieves.

Al de Baran: Due north of Prontera, with its large clock tower. Al de Baran is also the only way to reach Lutie.

Lutie: also known as ChristmasChristmas (literally, the Mass of Christ) is a traditional holiday in the Christian calendar which takes place on the twenty-fifth day of December and celebrates the nativity of Jesus Christ. Christmas is also celebrated as a secular holiday throughout mu Town, is the home of Santa Claus.

Comodo: Gambling capital of the Southwest, is a cross between Hawaii and Las Vegas. Fireworks can be seen in the sky at all times, and the night is eternal in the city. Comodo's main attraction is its non-functional casino, and decent leveling spots nearby.

Amatsu: Styled after Ancient Japan. The pink-white blossoms of the cherry ( sakura) trees are always in bloom, and the architecture also resembles the period. One of the major draws is the Tatami Maze. : Amatsu was added to iRO (the international server) in August 2004. Amatsu was the first of the "Global Project", in which many new cities were (and still are) added in rapid succession.

Kunlun: Designed in Ancient Chinese style.; Kunlun was the second city in iRO's Global Project, added in September 2004.

Umbala: A lost village, located to the north of Comodo. Home of the self-denominated Utan tribe.; Umbala was the third city of the Global Project, which as of November 2004 is still being tested under the Sakray server.

1.3 Game mechanics

1.3.1 Level and class

Quite unlike other RPGs, each character within Ragnarok has two different levels: Base Level (blvl) and Job Level (jlvl). This is denoted as "Base/Job". So, a character who is 5/1 would be Base Level 5, but Job Level 1.

Base Level indicates personal growth. Through base levels, your Stats grow- you become stronger, faster, or smarter, for example.

Job Level indicates your progression within your chosen profession. For example, you become a better Archer or Blacksmith. In game terms, that means you get more Skills

The current maximum level in most versions of RO is 99/50.

You begin the game as a 1/1 Novice. You have low stats, no skills, and a very large choice ahead of you. Upon reaching Job 10, a Novice can "Jobchange", and become stronger by choosing a Job or Class. There are six basic classes: Swordsman, Thief, Mage, Archer, Merchant, and Acolyte.

Swordsmen deal with swords, spears, and excel in direct combat.
Thieves hide and use sneaky tactics to defeat enemies.
Mages use their magic to destroy foes.
Archers excel in long-range attacks.
Merchants have poor battle skills, but instead deal with the NPCs.
Acolytes harness the Power of God to aid themselves and others.

Each class branches off into two different "Second classes", to make an effective selection of 12 different classes. There is one additional class, the Super Novice, bringing the total to 13.

You may view a primer on Jobclasses from the iRO Official Class Page

1.3.2 Stats

In RO, there are six statistics that determine how your character interacts with the world:

Strength (STR): increases physical attack damage and carrying capacity.
Agility (AGI): increases flee rate and attack speed.
Vitality (VIT): decreases damage taken, increases maximum HP and the rate at which HP is regenerated while at rest.
Intelligence (INT): increases magic damage, magic defense, max SP, and SP regeneration rate.
Dexterity (DEX): increases your hit rate and cast speed, and increases damage dealt with bow and arrows.
Luck (LUK): increases critical hit and perfect dodge probability.

Due to the open-ended nature of the game, one can "build" their character any way they choose. However, due to the low number of overall stat points (and the cost increases that arise with higher stats), it is generally advised to excel in one or two stats than to indulge them all.

Most classes pick one or two "main" stats, and raise those two above all else. An offensive stat and a defensive stat often create a potent combination that allows the character to succeed.

1.3.3 Skills

Each class has a unique set of skills. Skills often have several levels, which normally range from 1 to 10 or 1 to 5. Like learning a new skill, improving a known skill also takes a skill point.

After a first-level class player changes to a second-level class, the learned skills are maintained, but they can't be improved.

Other ways of learning a skill include taking a quest (apart from "First Aid", all skill quests are class-specific) or applying a card to an equipment. Quest skills are permanent; card skills are only available as long as you're equipped with the item. However, skills learned with neither method can be improved, and are always at level 1 (or in the case of the card, set at a certain level described on the card, i.e.: Magnum Break level 3).

1.4 Conduct

There are many things that are frowned upon in Ragnarok Online, as well as many people who do these things.

"heal plz" (shorthand for "Heal me, please"), while a common way to ask an Acolyte or Priest(ess) for a heal, is very rude. Some may heal you anyway, but many will require that you ask more kindly, spell out the word "please". Some may not heal you at all. Please be kind; they need the SP for themselves and partymates, and having others constantly ask for heals begins to grate on the nerves, especially when they don't feel that courtesy is important enough to type out three more letters.

Bots are entirely unacceptable. A bot is a computer program that effectively plays the game for you. Therefore, you get levels and items without even being at the computer. However, these are not only against the rules, they are annoying to all the other players, and also literally illegal due to the nature of the program. Similarly, programs that allow for a rapid succession of item or skill use called 'macros' are illegal but are used by many players, especially those involved in War of Emperium activities.

Private servers are also illegal, as they use stolen software (the server code) to allow people to play RO for free.

Please be kind; play respectfully.

2 The anime

In the first quarter of 2004, an anime based on the MMORPG, as compared to the manhwa, was released on TV Tokyo. It has 26 episodes, and a second season is on the way. The Philippine distributor of the game, Level-Up Games, Inc., teamed up with ABS-CBN Broadcating Corporation for local licensing and distribution rights of the anime.

The story happens in the same world of Rune-Midgard, yet the progression gets darker. An evil entity called the Dark Lord wants to sow chaos in the world with the help of seven crystals that represent seven evil forces who are his subordinates.

2.1 Characters

Roan: A swordsman whose motivation is to gain power to protect his childhood friend, Yuufa. Later turns into a crusader (an alternate second job).
Yuufa/Yufa: An acolyte and Roan's childhood friend. She is haunted by memories of her elder brother, Keough. Later turns into a priestess.
Takius: A mage who wears a blindfold and searches the world for the ultimate truth. Later turns into a sage.
Iruga: An assassin who became best friends with Keough. He regrets the event where Keough was killed in Glast Heim.
Judia: A hunter who has developed a relationship with Iruga. In the Japanese version she speaks with a Kansai accent; in the Philippine version she speaks in the Marinduque accent.
Maaya/Maya: A merchant who has a penchant for items. She also has compassion for monsters. She is accompanied by her pet Poring named Poi-poi.
Keough: Yuufa's elder brother, a knight, and currently a subordinate of the Dark Lord. He was cursed to be that way after he was killed in Glast Heim.

3 External links

Ragnarok Online global portal
International Ragnarok Online (iRO) website
Emperium.org - kRO's updates translated to English, showing a glimpse of the future of RO
RO Datazone - Precise mathematical formulae that describe in perfect detail the mechanics of the game

Massively multiplayer online role-playing games

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