I mentioned my favorite browser game of all time in my previous post, but I never explained what the game was about. Now is a pretty good time to do this because the game will be undergoing a major revamp and start its second beta.
What is Domain of Heroes?
Domain of Heroes is a free-to-play, text-based browser MMORPG designed so you can play while doing other things. Essentially (for me), it combines the treasure hunting aspect of the Diablo series with the almost AFK quality of Progressquest. So you pretty much select a race/class, then proceed to complete quests (there's a lot of them), fight monsters, conquer lands, and find shiny items. There are 3 factions that you have to choose from when you create a character: Legion, Brotherhood, and Knights. There's no advantages among them, but you can only join guilds of the faction you are in. In addition, when fighting monsters on land that is controlled by your faction, you gain more coin and exp.
As with all free-to-play games, there is a shop where you can purchase things with real life money. The currency of the game is coin an wishes, and the item shop allows you to purchase wishes directly as well as purchase treasure keys and character/account upgrades. Although the shop does slightly skew the game in the favor of paying patrons, the cost-to-advantage ratio is pretty darn high. That being said, there are a substantial amount of players (2-5%) that are heavy spenders, so you might have to steer clear of them sometimes. Of course, they are the ones that keep the game going, and the shop is by no means the only way to get wealthy in the game.
One of my biggest pleasures in this game is of course the item hunting aspect of the game. In this game, along with STR/MND/AGI/LIF/END stats, there is also a luck (LUK) stat. The luck stat improves your chance of finding higher quality items. In addition with LUK, items with Magic Find (MF) enchants, which cannot made through the forging process, also contribute to the quality of the item. These items can be sold for coin and wishes, and some items have been sold for A LOT of currency.
Like in Diablo II, along with the item slots that you can equip on your character, there are also rune/charm drops that can be placed within your inventory to gain a bonus. With wishes, your inventory can be upgraded to 60 slots, so this allows for a greater amount of builds. Because you can purchase and upgrade a mule to also hold items (runes/charms don't work if placed on the mule), most players attempt to fill up all 60 inventory slots with runes to improve their characters. This of course, is a time-consuming (for some, a money-consuming) process, but well worth the improvement in treasure hunting or fighting capability.
Leveling
Leveling in DoH is a little different from the grinding that occurs in other games. Sure you do have to grind, but you have to grind in two different ways (more grinding...yeah! *sarcasm).
Normal EXP is gained from fighting monsters your level, and the game makes it easy for you to do this by providing an option of searching for monsters. You kill monsters by selecting a skill and...watching yourself fight. It is not the most interactive leveling experience, but of course much easier to do while doing something else.
VXP is gained from dueling other players or by participating in FvF. FvF stands for Faction versus Faction, and it revolves around players conquering lands held by the opposing enemy factions. Once a player initiates a location conquer, this attempt is announced to the faction currently holding the land. This faction can then mobilize and defend the land or leave it to be conquered. Defending is encouraged by the game engine since you gain VXP when you die defending the land whereas you only gain VXP through conquering if you succeed in conquering (or by killing a player on a different faction). FvF is particularly intense in the higher levels 70-80 because of the increased coin and supposedly better item drops for the faction in control. This has led to some very massive FvF battles, some of which are recorded in the DoH Forums.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Domain of Heroes remains my favorite browser game because it allows me to enjoy my favorite aspect of RPG games (treasure hunting!) while doing other things as well. I may be grinding in DoH while actively playing Heroes of Newerth or Starcraft II Beta. I profit because I can enjoy both games at once, and DoH receives my eternal undying devotion and salute! Check it out here.
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