TERA Online: Open Beta – Final Thoughts

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And here we are with the final beta impressions report! It’s been a wild ride guys, and I really hope you enjoyed it. Today, I’ll end our journey with my quick review on the Berserker class as well as my final thoughts on the whole beta experience.

CLASSES:

NOTE: Refer to this article if you’re interested in learning more about the other classes.

Berserker

Personally, I had fun playing this class. It’s slow but extremely powerful. Each successful hit is a damaging blow to your enemies. Is it better than the Slayer? I can’t really say because they’re both quite different. The Slayer utilizes fast, wide-arced attacks as opposed to the Berserker that focuses more on slow, concentrated attacks (though it does have a few area-of-effect skills). It really depends on your playstyle.

PROS

• Has the possibility to kill enemies with only a few hits with the proper level and gear.
• “Axe Block” is a reliable defensive skill very similar to a Lancer’s, except you use your axe as opposed to a shield.
• Great combination of focused and area-of-effect attacks. “Thunder Strike” and “Cyclone” are two really good examples.
• “Mocking Shout” is great for stunning or knocking down enemies, which you can follow up with “Vampiric Blow” to absorb their HP over to you.

CONS

• Not enough skills to close the gap between you and ranged classes in PvP early on.
• Seems rather sluggish due to initial attack animations. Time your attacks or you’ll miss. You do get “Flurry of Blows” that speeds up your attacks later on, though.

OPEN BETA FEATURES:

Prologue Experience

“Our journey to salvation was to begin on the Island of Dawn. Instead it began with destruction.” – Elleon

I’m glad En Masse Entertainment added this “Prologue” experience. It’s a completely optional feature that extends the lore just a bit and helps teach players the basics of the combat system. If anything, it serves as a hook that draws in newcomers to the game.

Improved Quest Routes

Quest routes have been organized in a more streamlined fashion, so now there’s less running back-and-forth… at least for the first 20 levels or so.

Improved Travel

The Pegasus Express now allows you to travel to various locations regardless of which station you’re coming from, as opposed to before where you were forced to make a quick-stop at the capital city before proceeding to your actual destination.

Robust Trade Broker

Okay, I guess pet shops are gone for good. But at least the trade broker now has better search filters and trading functionality. And maybe it’s just me, but it seems like there are more trade broker NPCs available in towns this time, so the fear I originally had of everyone crowding around one trade broker has gone out the window.

For you Dungeon Raiders

There’s now an instance dungeon matcher, which quickly groups you up with others for a particular dungeon. Bosses have been tweaked to drop more loot this time around. New dungeons and bosses have also been added.

Everything Else

There were more features added but I couldn’t experience them since they were mostly endgame stuff, such as the daily quests that let you undertake interesting missions like siege weapons and ambush monsters; the Nexus, which pits you against hard-mode level monsters; and the reputation system that earns you nifty rewards such as headgear, new mounts, and valuable crystals.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Overall, I found TERA Online’s OBT experience to be rather pleasant. None of the core aspects have been changed from CBT to OBT, but there have been noticeable differences (like the features noted above), which I can safely say were for the better.

So, is TERA Online worth subscribing? Honestly, I would say yes. But I’ll admit that if you’re more interested in lore, you’re better off looking elsewhere. TERA’s lore is okay at best, but where it truly shines is in its non-target combat system (with full gamepad compatibility) and its beautiful, immersive visuals. And unlike other MMORPG publishers, En Masse Entertainment has so far demonstrated excellent support and are fully dedicated to improving TERA, so we can definitely expect better things to come from here on out.

As for me, however, I’m game and ready to take on the argon forces once again. For the Federation!

Click the links below if you missed the previous reports…

TERA Online: Open Beta – The Story (Pt. I)
TERA Online: Open Beta – The Story (Pt. II)
TERA Online: Open Beta – The Story (Pt. III)
TERA Online: Open Beta – The Story (Final)

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