Jobe123
02-14-2017, 04:50 PM
So I am in no way affiliated with this server, however I have been playing here for a few days and have found it to be everything I've wanted in a server and more. So let me share my thoughts on this server and let you all know how much fun it is!
What's the server about
Caves and Kobolds is a very laid back server that focuses on leveling and having fun at every step of the way. The goal seems to be focused around having small improvements to your character at every possible opportunity instead of having a long drawn out camp or long respawn, theirs a chance for a gear upgrade on every single kill. The way they do this is it seems there is custom armor (looks like modified defiant gear) that scales every 10 levels and drops fairly often. This means that every single mob you fight can give you that new weapon or armor slot you've been needing without having to farm for hours and you can play regularly.
The great thing about this is it seems like there is a custom script which modifies and adds certain stats to every piece of gear to make it better, but all in different ways.
As far as I've seen generic armor received a bonus to Hp's, AC, generic stats as well as heroic stats. This gear also seems to have added great benefits to casters with things like improved damage, mana preservation and a litany of other caster buffs pre-baked into almost all of the custom gear so casters receive just as many benefits as melee's when it comes to getting gear upgrades and they dont seem to be lacking at all.
This server DOES however take a new twist on gearing, and normally with defiant like gear dropping it makes almost all normal drops like FBSS or SMR or CoF obsolete, however it seems that items with stats received even larger bonuses than normal items, so while you can find ringmail armor from Mistmoore with an additional 40 hp's +3 to all stats and mana pres 3 on it, if you farm something like the hooded black cloak from there you will see it received an additional 90 hp, 50 mana, +10 all stats and an additional +9AC.
This means that while you can play and never farm a single item the entire time you're here, it also means that the camp for rare items is greatly increased in payoff where you'll be getting MUCH better gear if you put in the time, but it isn't the only way to progress your charcter.
From what I can see, this server also allows 2 or possibly 3 boxxing so a lot of the content will be doable by one or two people boxxing, it also doesn't let one person make a 12 person group and just steamroll content without ever engaging in other people and making a community.
NPC's and Tuning
I don't know exactly what happened to the NPC's here, but from playing here it seems that most NPC's are about 30% weaker than their live counterparts. This means that while your soloing or duoing yo'ull be killing faster and oftentimes involved more, rather than having fights that last tens of minutes while your just pressing a few buttons waiting for enemies to die.
I've also noticed that NPC's that are certain classes act like they're that class, no more wizard NPC's casting healing, no more warrior mobs using any spells for that matter. It seems that wizard enemies are weaker but nuke a lot more, warrior mobs have higher HP and act more like warriors and the list goes on. The enemies seem like they are the actual class they are supposed to be which makes for a much more challenging and entertaining experience.
Misc benefits
Some other things I've noticed are zoning times are suepr fast here, I don't know the hardware but my loading time on an old outdated laptop are only 10-15 seconds and I'm running very bad hardware, so I'm assuming the server has a good connection and a decent amount of RAM and chunky processor since it never seems to chug at all.
Also out of combat regen is set to what appears to be 6-9% per tick, so no more than a minute until you are full regen'd after a fight, means less downtime and more fun.
In all honesty this server seems like everquest with all the hassle removed, and with the difficulty set to slightly easier than normal. It's probably not going to attract the hardest core people that want to run through a server and dominate, but it should bring in a ton of people who want a laid back small group server where they are having fun whether they have 9 hours to raid or 30 minutes to complete a quest or finish off a level. I think this server hits all the right notes, and since it is so brand spanking new it should be a great server if you want to try a laid back experience and get in on the ground floor.
This server reminds me a LOT of the older iterations of Nagafens Lair, Icelance 2.0 and various other small group / solo servers, but with a lot of the smaller nuisances removed and a lot of the high end farming / camping toned waaaay down to make it more casual friendly.
I really hope people try this server out and post if they enjoy it, I would love for a community to form here and get to enjoy this hidden gem of a server.
TL;DR Breakdown
3 Box max
Mobs tuned 30% down
Custom script for increased gear stats and custom tiered gear
Out of combat regen boost
Spellscribe (dunno if up to a certain level or not)
Minor custom items like server charm thats up-gradable.
Solo / Small group server
What's the server about
Caves and Kobolds is a very laid back server that focuses on leveling and having fun at every step of the way. The goal seems to be focused around having small improvements to your character at every possible opportunity instead of having a long drawn out camp or long respawn, theirs a chance for a gear upgrade on every single kill. The way they do this is it seems there is custom armor (looks like modified defiant gear) that scales every 10 levels and drops fairly often. This means that every single mob you fight can give you that new weapon or armor slot you've been needing without having to farm for hours and you can play regularly.
The great thing about this is it seems like there is a custom script which modifies and adds certain stats to every piece of gear to make it better, but all in different ways.
As far as I've seen generic armor received a bonus to Hp's, AC, generic stats as well as heroic stats. This gear also seems to have added great benefits to casters with things like improved damage, mana preservation and a litany of other caster buffs pre-baked into almost all of the custom gear so casters receive just as many benefits as melee's when it comes to getting gear upgrades and they dont seem to be lacking at all.
This server DOES however take a new twist on gearing, and normally with defiant like gear dropping it makes almost all normal drops like FBSS or SMR or CoF obsolete, however it seems that items with stats received even larger bonuses than normal items, so while you can find ringmail armor from Mistmoore with an additional 40 hp's +3 to all stats and mana pres 3 on it, if you farm something like the hooded black cloak from there you will see it received an additional 90 hp, 50 mana, +10 all stats and an additional +9AC.
This means that while you can play and never farm a single item the entire time you're here, it also means that the camp for rare items is greatly increased in payoff where you'll be getting MUCH better gear if you put in the time, but it isn't the only way to progress your charcter.
From what I can see, this server also allows 2 or possibly 3 boxxing so a lot of the content will be doable by one or two people boxxing, it also doesn't let one person make a 12 person group and just steamroll content without ever engaging in other people and making a community.
NPC's and Tuning
I don't know exactly what happened to the NPC's here, but from playing here it seems that most NPC's are about 30% weaker than their live counterparts. This means that while your soloing or duoing yo'ull be killing faster and oftentimes involved more, rather than having fights that last tens of minutes while your just pressing a few buttons waiting for enemies to die.
I've also noticed that NPC's that are certain classes act like they're that class, no more wizard NPC's casting healing, no more warrior mobs using any spells for that matter. It seems that wizard enemies are weaker but nuke a lot more, warrior mobs have higher HP and act more like warriors and the list goes on. The enemies seem like they are the actual class they are supposed to be which makes for a much more challenging and entertaining experience.
Misc benefits
Some other things I've noticed are zoning times are suepr fast here, I don't know the hardware but my loading time on an old outdated laptop are only 10-15 seconds and I'm running very bad hardware, so I'm assuming the server has a good connection and a decent amount of RAM and chunky processor since it never seems to chug at all.
Also out of combat regen is set to what appears to be 6-9% per tick, so no more than a minute until you are full regen'd after a fight, means less downtime and more fun.
In all honesty this server seems like everquest with all the hassle removed, and with the difficulty set to slightly easier than normal. It's probably not going to attract the hardest core people that want to run through a server and dominate, but it should bring in a ton of people who want a laid back small group server where they are having fun whether they have 9 hours to raid or 30 minutes to complete a quest or finish off a level. I think this server hits all the right notes, and since it is so brand spanking new it should be a great server if you want to try a laid back experience and get in on the ground floor.
This server reminds me a LOT of the older iterations of Nagafens Lair, Icelance 2.0 and various other small group / solo servers, but with a lot of the smaller nuisances removed and a lot of the high end farming / camping toned waaaay down to make it more casual friendly.
I really hope people try this server out and post if they enjoy it, I would love for a community to form here and get to enjoy this hidden gem of a server.
TL;DR Breakdown
3 Box max
Mobs tuned 30% down
Custom script for increased gear stats and custom tiered gear
Out of combat regen boost
Spellscribe (dunno if up to a certain level or not)
Minor custom items like server charm thats up-gradable.
Solo / Small group server