Revelation Online has been on my radar for some time. Released in June 2015, the free-to-play title, published and control by My.com on eastern shores has continued flourish. The latest class release, the Assassin, marks the seventh available to players.
Although the Assassin has been playable in the Chinese client for some time, the transition to a western audience takes some time. Similarly to the likes of Black Desert Online, our version of Revelation Online is a little behind. Fortunately for us, such a delay allows for a steady stream of updates and in this case, it comes in the form of an agile new class.
It has to be said that I’m a fan of any Assassin type class. Whether it’s Valeera in Hearthstone, the Thief in Guild Wars 2, or Rogue in World of Warcraft, there’s something undeniably attractive about a class which can stealth, use poisons and generally cause misery upon opponents.
Where Revelation Online is concerned, it was inevitable that an assassin-type class would eventually arrive. Between the Gunslinger and Blademaster, there’s not only room for such an addition, but the existing roster undoubtedly needed it. Implementing such a class is often contentious, and although my limited time with the game provides little room for judging whether or not the Assassin is a viable end-game class, there’s no mistaking that it’s fun.
The moment you implement any class who can stealth, deal damage over time, while adding a dose of high AOE damage and crowd control, you’re potentially looking for trouble. I’ve played few stealth classes in my time that feel fair, and most, if not all, have been fairly broken at some point or another. Having said that, the Assassin in Revelation Online - while undoubtedly familiar - shows no early evidence of being overpowered. There’s every chance it could be, such a kit will always sit on a knife-edge when it comes to PvE and PvP. Even with its light armor, it’s somewhat evident that the time spent incubating in China, before arriving on our shores, has reaped rewards. There’s every possibility that I could soon change my mind as I continue to level up in Revelation Online, and as someone entirely new to the game, I’m still very much getting to grips with what each class does, and how well it does it.
On that subject, and digressing from the Assassin, I have to admit that all the classes in Revelation Online have caused me a lot of problems. As a player who suffers from altitis, being presented with seven classes that all look and feel fantastic is a huge headache. When you’ve spent more time creating characters, testing new classes and exploring what each of their kits do and how they fits into your preferred playstyles, the game is doing something right. Although it’s no reflection on the Assassin, I suspect I’ll eventually settle on the Spirit Shaper purely because the ability to heal, use psychic abilities and summon spirit beasts is right up my street.
When I originally set out to write about the Assassin and Revelation Online (with a notepad full of scribblings) I realized that I simply want to spend more time in the game. I don’t want to jump to any early conclusions regarding the class, the combat or how it delivers content. For me, any first impression I write is born from a simple question: is what I’m playing enjoyable? Where Revelation Online is concerned, the answer is undoubtedly yes.
Most MMOs can grip new players, and I’ll freely admit to being easily enticed by new and shiny games to play. Despite that, there’s something undeniably moreish about Revelation Online. I can’t state as to why, or what it is that has captured me (maybe the fact it’s free to play?). There’s time for such opinions to change, but with me being so keen to play more, I’ve decided to mix things up.
Instead of my laying out all my thoughts on the game, even during my infancy in it, I’ll instead diarize my experience. It’s something I haven’t done for a long time, and something I’m very much looking forward to. I can’t promise it’ll be all Assassin based, but I’ll try my hardest not to navigate towards the Spirit Shaper.
Stay tuned for my next update on Tuesday.
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