The Swords of Legends Online beta has come and gone, and with it went valuable time to grind levels and get familiar with the game's mechanics until the official game release is upon us. The game is stellar, fast paced and a blast to grind levels in, but it sure can be daunting to get into. I know personally that even approaching the game felt like a tall task given the time commitment required to get the “full” experience.

After grinding the beta, I feel like I have a solid grasp of the beginning grind of the game and what it's like to start as a new player. Throughout my playtime with the beta, I had a few questions that felt hard to answer at first, and the learning curve can feel a little steep, but that's what we are going to talk about today. As I grinded the early levels, I constantly found things that I wish I would’ve had a better understanding of when I started, and so this article was born.

Let us begin as we look at the three things I wish I knew before starting Swords of Legends Online Beta:

Classic vs. Combat Modes

A part of Swords of Legends Online that I grew to appreciate immensely was the two gameplay modes (Classic and Combat) that players will be using throughout their journey. When I first started playing the game, I brought much of the same muscle memory that I gained from previous MMOs. However, this ended up being a negative for my own playtime as it caused me to miss the importance of these modes, even if the game is very upfront about their usefulness.

So if you are anything like me, sometimes even the smallest of tool-tips can escape you (even if the game makes extra sure that you see it.) So within the first several levels while playing on my Reaper class, I became frustrated as I tried to engage in combat while in Classic mode expecting to be able to auto-attack my way to victory, a habit I learned from other MMOs. But as I leveled and leveled I realized that the Combat and Classic modes are vital to learning the game and progressing properly.

Unlike other MMORPGs I have played, Swords of Legends Online really puts the “RPG” in “MMORPG.” The game is very focused on the fluidity of combat, just like traditional hack-and-slash games, and going between the Classic and Combat modes with the “CTRL” button makes combat flow much better Classic mode is focused on navigation, moving with Mouse 1 and 2 and giving you the ability to activate abilities with keybinds.

Combat mode on the other hand, is focused on the fluidity of combat, binding your two primary class abilities to one and two, giving you the ability to chain these binds with the rest of your abilities on your keyboard. When in combat mode, combat became significantly more fun, and gave me that same adrenaline rush that I get from awesome combat in other MMOs. So basically, don’t be like me and make sure that you switch between these two gameplay modes effectively.

The Difference Between Classes and Roles

Swords of Legends Online features six classes for you to choose from, each with their own strengths. So as I went into the game blind, I picked the class that seemed the coolest to me, so I chose Reaper with their death abilities and the giant scythes. What I didn’t understand immediately when selecting this class, is the usefulness of the two roles that each class can switch between

Out of the six classes, each class contains two roles, with a selection of one of the four class roles: melee, ranged, support and tank. Now not every class will have every role covered, hence the need to level up more characters so that you can have one of each role covered if that is needed.

For example, in my class, the Reaper can switch between the Assassin role (melee) or the Occultist role (support). Each one of these classes has their own particular strengths as told by the class roles title. The Assassin role is designed for players who want to deal the most damage possible and thrive to destroy their enemies, along with providing a really solid DPS role for group content like dungeons. The Occultist role however is designed to be a support/healer hybrid that uses abilities to heal their allies and create buffs.

What I learned in playing is that you should try to play the class that contains the roles that you want to fill the most. If you want to be a crazy DPS dealer and slay all the bosses, then melee or ranged is probably for you. However, if you are more interested in tanking damage and supporting or healing members of your party then maybe you should go with a class that features a powerful support or tank role.

Each class has its own synergies and I recommend that you do your own digging to see which class seems the most interesting to your own playstyle. However, if you aren’t concerned about maximizing the potential of all of your abilities in endgame group content and just want to play for fun, just pick the class that looks the most fun and enjoy! I plan on leveling up a different character than Reaper once the game releases so I can get the best idea of what class works for me the best. The bottom line is that all classes are fun to play, some just have certain specialties for different parts of the game.

Pay Attention to the Tutorial (Seriously)

So if you have noticed a recurring trend here in this guide it is that I might have an issue with paying attention, especially when it comes to the introductory levels of Swords of Legends Online. As someone who has played many MMOs in their time, whenever I start a new one, I am always antsy to get past the introductory phase and get to the meaty stuff like story and group content. However, in Swords of Legends Online, the game does a really good job of spreading all of this introductory content out across the game.

Like I said earlier in this article, the difference between Classic and Combat modes are properly explained in the tutorial, along with the proper ways to understand the navigation systems. This might sound ridiculous but some of these introductory moments can be missed if you are trying to get leveled up as fast as possible just like me.

Along with movement basics, combat really becomes easier once you let the game explain it to you, of course the hack and slash nature of the combat doesn’t have a whole lot to understand mechanically, but the game does a great job breaking down the way your specific class and role works.

For example, the Reaper class isn’t just a simple hack a slash, which I thought to be the case until I properly took in the combat training section of my Assassin class. The class requires you to properly manage a couple of different mana bars in order to properly cast spells and deal as much damage as possible. The RPG-esque combat is straightforward, but the slight complexities of your specific combat abilities makes for a combat experience that made me want to grind and grind and grind some more.

Within the first hour or so of my experience with the beta, I was in such a rush to level up as fast as possible that I didn’t let the game explain itself to me. It might seem really obvious but seriously take your time with this game, make sure you understand the mechanics, and let the game unfold itself for you instead of just ripping through it as fast as possible. Or maybe that is just me.

Conclusion

My time with the Swords of Legends Online beta was wonderful. It is a great MMORPG and genuinely a fantastic game to play this summer. If there is anything to take away from this guide (apart from making sure to pay attention and slow down with the game) it is to have fun. The game has that special ability that a lot of great MMOs have to keep you engaged for several hours.

I found myself trying to stop several times while grinding to write down notes for this guide, promising to stop after killing only a few more mobs, only to play for another hour. The game is addicting, the game is fun, and I can’t wait to get a hold of it when the full game releases.