I've played Ragnarok online since the year 2003 and I have to admit, it sure was a blast to play. It had simple graphics, nothing particularly unique about it. But then again, that was one of its charms that drew a lot of players to start and continue playing it. This shows how simplicity beats complex eye candies.
The gameplay is just as the graphics were, simple. There was nothing really hard to understand about the game. When you first start out, the tutorial would suffice you with enough information to figure out the gameplay of the game. You can check out how it would look like in this simple video made by a player from the link given below.
RO Gameplay
There's also something called a rebirth system in the game where once you've reached the maximum level, you have a choice of rebirth in which your character will start back as a High Novice and you are given extra status points as well as extra job levels for your second class jobs. The maximum level currently for the official server is base level 99 and job level 50 for non-rebirth characters and base level 99 and job level 70 for rebirth characters.
Besides the gameplay being easy, there's also the classes available within the game that are easy and simple. Most of them can be very direct, and some can be very unexpected. You will start the game as a Novice, and from there you can change your job once it reaches level 10 to either Swordsman, Mage, Archer, Thief, Acolyte, Merchant, Gunslinger, Taekwondo or you could continue being a Novice until you reach base level 40, where you could change job into a Super Novice. So let me start by giving a small description towards the 7 basic classes which are Novice, Swordsman, Mage, Archer, Thief, Acolyte, and Merchant to help you understand a little more about the classes in the game.
Novice
The Novice is basically the class you start out with in the game. You will have to train yourself until you get to job level 10 to change job or you could stick with it until you reach base level 40 and change into a Super Novice. When you first create your character, you will be given an option to choose the character's name, hairstyle, hair color, and what stat points to add on the char, and which stat points you would be giving up for the price of the stat point you would like to increase. The stat points that are available to add in the game are Str(Strength), Agi(Agility), Dex(Dexterity), Int(Intelligence), Vit(Vitality), and Luk(Luck). You should think about which job class would you be playing in the game before creating the character as the starting points would help out the build of your character, even though it is by a greatly minimal amount.If you're just starting out in playing the game, I would not suggest on picking to be a Super Novice as your first character as it is quite difficult to level up the Novice character up to base level 40. Best to pick as a beginner class would be either a Swordsman or an Archer.
Swordsman
This is one of the most common jobs picked out by new players of the game as it is one of the easiest characters to play. Most of the Swordsman skills are passive types rather than active which helps a lot for those who are still not too used to the controls. Swordsman specializes in equipping 1-handed swords and 1-handed spears with a shield or they could also equip 2-handed swords and 2-handed spears. Swordsman have a choice of changing into two types of jobs which is either a Knight/Lord Knight or a Crusader/Paladin. There are a few ways to build a Swordsman's status depending on the skills and gameplay you wish to play. There's the Agi type, where you would use your stat points on adding Str, Agi, and Dex. There's the Vit type, where you would add Str, Vit, and Dex. Then there's also the Magic/Tanker type for those who wish to pursue the second job, Crusader/Paladin, where you would pump most of your stat points into Vit and Int with a little dash of Str to help you level up a little bit.
Mage
The Mage jobs are for those who love to play skills, play from a distance, and play as a heavy damage dealer. The Mage gives up it's defense in exchange for higher damage than most of the other jobs available in the game. The Mage attacks from a distance unlike the Swordsman. This job is ideal for those of you who love to spam skills as that's really one of the only way a Mage can level up. Mage can equip themselves with weapons such as wands, staffs, and even books! Mage have a choice of advancing their jobs into either a Wizard/High Wizard or Sage/Professor. The basic stats to add for a typical damage dealing Mage is Int and Dex. Int would increase your damage and Dex would reduce the casting time of your spells. This build is known as a paper Mage build as your damage is high but you're as fragile as a paper. Another build would be Int, Vit, and Dex. This is for those who are not confident in the paper Mage build where the Vit would increase the chances of you surviving an attack.
Archer
The Archer is another type of range job available in the game. Archers are loved by most of the players as the best item hunting character of the game. They shoot from afar, and their damage are almost in-par of the Mage job! They can equip themselves with bows and arrows, and harps/lutes/whips (only for the second class of the archer). The archer could change job to either a Hunter/Sniper or depending on the sex, either a Bard/Clown for guys or Dancer/Gypsy for girls. Basic stats for this class is either Dex, Agi, Int, or Dex and Agi, or Agi, Int, Luk, and some Dex. Note: Your damage for this class is based on Dex, not Str.
Thief
The Thief class is known to be one of the fastest class of the game. It doesn't have much defense, but it's avoid is incomparable to any of the other classes. Thief can equip themselves with daggers, swords, shields, and on their second class they are able to equip katars, bows and arrows. Thief can either change job into an Assassin/Assassin Cross or a Rogue/Stalker. Basic stats for a thief is Str, Agi, Dex. A unique build just for the Assassin Cross would be Str, Int, Dex where they would depend on a skill the Assassin Cross has called Soul Breaker.
Acolyte
Acolytes are the healer class of the game. This is basically one of the only class in the game that have the skills to heal, buff, and resurrect other players. But don't underestimate these healers, for they are powerful against undead monsters. They can also be a strong melee class fighter if they wanted to. Acolytes can equip themselves with wand, books, and claws. The second jobs available for them are a Priest/High Priest or a Monk/Champion. For those going for a full support Priest, the only stats you need would be Int and Vit. For those going for the type of Priest that can kill masses of undead monsters, you would need to add Int, Vit, and Dex. For those who would rather be a melee fighter, you'd require to add Str, Agi and Dex with a dash of Int on the side.
Merchant
Merchant is one of the best class to make money with in the game. It's the only class with the skill to start a shop and sell things to other players unlike the normal trade requests. In their second jobs, they are even able to create weapons for other classes as well as healing potions. They specialize in weapons such as 1-handed axes and 2-handed axes. Merchants could change their jobs into either a Blacksmith/Whitesmith or an Alchemist/Creator. A typical melee fighter Merchant would have Str, Agi/Vit, and Dex as their stats. If they were forgers/item creating builds, they would add Dex, Luk, a dash of Str, Vit/Agi and Int. Forger builds are one of the hardest to level up in the game.
That's all for the basic 7 classes. I won't give you the details for Gunslinger, Taekwondo, and Super Novice as these can be considered an advance type of class to play in the game. Not suited for beginners.
Next is of course, in-game money. The currency used in Ragnarok Online is called Zeny. To obtain Zeny, you would have to sell off the item drops of the monsters that you killed. Another method would be equipping yourself with a weapon that would make monsters drop money but only a handful of classes are available to equip that weapon and it is not easy to come by. The weapon is called a Zeny Knife. In my opinion, you're better off at selling the monster drops than using this weapon as it's attack is not that high and the money you receive from the monsters are not that much either.
The music within the game do contain some feel of reminiscence, which makes it very enjoyable. Some however, disappoint me in terms of the mood given during the action being executed.
The community of Ragnarok Online when I first played it was big and everyone was eager to party with each other rather than solo. Unfortunately today, the official server of Ragnarok Online are mostly filled with Bots, programs that level your character for you without you playing it. The number of real players in the English Ragnarok Online (Malaysia & Singapore) has dropped down significantly.
Overall, I gave this game a rating of 7.7 out of 10 during the year 2003, but only a rating of 2.9 out of 10 for the recent year in the official server.
If you would like to play this game, I would suggest you to go for a private server or wait until Ragnarok Online 2 is released. Two private servers that I would recommend you to consider playing in are:
EssenceRO
EarthBoundRO
For an online database of the game, you could go to the link below to check it out:
RO Database
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