| Cabal Online | |
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| Developer(s) | ESTsoft Corp. |
| Publisher(s) |
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| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows XP, Windows Vista |
| Release date(s) |
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| Genre(s) | MMORPG |
| Mode(s) | Online Multiplayer |
| Media/distribution | Client Download |
| System requirements
Minimum
Recommended
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Cabal Online (Korean: 카발 온라인) is a free-to-play, 3D massively-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), developed by South Korean company ESTsoft. Different versions of the game are available for specific countries or regions. Although Cabal Online is free-to-play, the game has a "Cash Shop" which allows players to purchase game enhancements and useful ingame items using real currency.
The game takes place in a mythical world known as Nevareth, which was destroyed by an evil entity known as the CABAL. Out of the survivors, six "Masters" rose up, each wielding the abilities of the "Force Power". These masters taught the people, and Nevareth was rebuilt. Years later, the CABAL is plotting a return to power, and the characters of the game take up the role of heroes who battle the CABAL uprising and conspiracy.[1]
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Cabal Online was first released in South Korea in October 2005.[2] The game was later released from closed beta testing in Europe in July 2006,[3] and in December 2006 it was announced that the game and all subsequent versions had become free-to-play.[4] In North America, OGPlanet had picked up the license for the game and open beta testing began on February 1, 2008.[5] It was also stated that the full release would most likely come by the end of February.[6] On February 28, 2008, the game officially launched in North America,[7] while closed beta began in South-East Asia.[8] Gameforge published Cabal Online in Germany on December 3, 2009.[9] The service in North America provided by OGPlanet was ceased on March 31, 2010, as the company did not reach an agreement with ESTsoft, while the latter subsequently re-established North American servicing directly.[10]
As a typical MMORPG, gameplay is focused on killing monsters, grinding, performing quests for experience points and venturing into dungeons for treasure and "Alz", the in-game currency.[11][12] Players can band together to form a party, with a maximum of six characters. Bonus experience points can be awarded to party members based on their contributions.[13]
Characters are created on "servers" or game worlds, each with its own unique name, such as "Mercury" or "Venus". Players from different servers cannot interact with each other; however, usage of a specific Cash Shop item allows characters and accounts to be transferred between servers, though this function is not available in all countries. All non-event servers have equal content, the only differences being the player base and the total number of items and money flowing in-game. One account allows for a maximum of six characters per server and a player is allowed to play on every server with that single account. Servers are subsequently divided into "channels", the number of which differs from country to country. Players can communicate with others in different channels through private messaging, or "whispering"[14] and they can switch to any channel, including Premium ones if they have purchased a Premium package.
Channels possess different characteristics depending on various factors. Channels labeled in green have manual player killing disabled, while those with a white-coloured name have it enabled. Even if player killing is disabled, more difficult higher-level maps always have Nation War PK activated regardless of the channel. The Trade channel is designed specifically for buying and selling items from other players through either broadcasting to the entire channel, or shouting, or by the use of personal shops where players set up a number of items and their prices and quantities.[15] The Novice channel serves as a gathering place for newcomers and has PK also disabled. Premium channels are only accessible by those who have acquired the Premium status from the Cash Shop packages or from a Blessing Bead Plus, which is the substitute for monthly subscriptions. Premium provides many bonuses in experience gain and item and Alz drop rates, as well as the ability to use Premium channels and special teleportation points, or warp gates, through the use of the "GPS Warp",[16] among other benefits. There is also a War channel in which Nation War PK is fully enabled without penalty and in all maps, effectively extending the war status to the entire channel except for "Warp Gates". While in Nation PK, the two opposing factions the player can join are allowed to battle each other without the usual Honour Point and temporary NPC access penalties that apply to regular player killing. Those without a nation may also battle every player without a penalty, though they will have no allies within the war.[17][18]
The world of CABAL Online is split into different zones, namely maps and dungeons.[19] Starting players will only be able to access three maps and one zone, the "Warp Gate", which provides walking access to all the three initial maps. As they progress into the game and gain character levels, they will gain access to new and more difficult maps, as well as dungeons, or instances. Each map has a different setting and weather; examples of these include deserts, forests, snow and ice maps and even a futuristic cityscape. Each map has its own unique set of non-playing characters, such as quest characters and shops, as well as many monsters to fight and gain experience and treasure from. Travelling from one map to another is done by either walking through the warp gate links or by using Premium GPS Warp to instantly warp into a specific map. In assisting travel by foot, players may acquire special vessels, namely Astral Boards and Bikes, which provide greater speed, or by using the teleportation skills of Dash and Blink, the latter exclusive to the Wizard class.
There are six character classes in Cabal Online. Once a character is created, the player must choose which character class it will assume.[20] The six classes are the Warrior, the Blader, the Wizard, the Force Blader, the Force Shielder and the Force Archer. Different character classes provide different strategies, skill libraries, arsenal and even starting locations.
By levelling up, players will gain points that they can apply in three different attributes that will shape their character, those being Strength, or STR, Intelligence, or INT and Dexterity, or DEX. These attributes affect several secondary attributes which will effectively determine the strengths and weaknesses of the character. These secondary attributes are Attack, the physical strength of Sword skills, Magic, the magical strength of Magic skills, Defense, the resistance to enemy attacks, Hit or Attack Rate, the accuracy of all the player's attacks and Defense Rate, the rate at which enemy attacks are fully evaded or dodged.
The Warrior class is the typical melee sword-user. They use Force to brutally enhance their physical abilities. They possess the highest innate vitality or health value and their offensive skills are slow and powerful. Their equipment set is by default the highly-defensive Armour Set, metallic armours made of various materials and two-handed swords, either Great Swords or Daikatana. They possess many strengthening buff skills that can even further enhance their capabilities, including party-targeted buffs. Their primary attribute is Strength which enhances their physical attack value and their resistance.[21]
The Blader class is a fast sword-user melee class known for its enhanced dodging and accuracy, as well as the speed of its skills. They use Force to enhance both their dexterity and strength, giving them more flexibility than a Warrior. Unlike warriors, however, they possess only two party-enhancing strengthening skills; as such relying more often on their individual strengths even when in a party, namely their damage output and critical hit rate. Their equipment includes by default the Martial Set, a lightweight kimono-styled cloth which favours Defense Rate, or evasion, as well as a Blade and a Katana, or two swords of only one type if the player is so inclined.[22]
The third class is the Wizard and it is the basic magic-user. They use Force to amplify the power of the elements around them akin to what a Warrior does to its own strength. Their primary attribute is Intelligence which raises their magical attack power. They possess several buff skills that can affect not only themselves but any other friendly targets they choose, as well as many party buffs. Some of these skills are well known, namely the most basic ones which increase Health or Defense and are usually performed on newcomers to aid them in their initial progress. Their skills have a powerful damage output; however, they have one particular difference from melee classes, which is their area of effect, or AoE. While melee classes deal high damage to lesser enemies with the same skill, Wizards disperse their damage through the highest area possible for all classes. Combined with the paralysing capability of all of their strongest skills, Wizards are crucial for controlling masses of enemies. Their main disadvantage is their lower Defense; still, this can be tactically overcome by making use of the stun effect of their advanced magic. Their equipment set is by default the Martial Set and dual Orbs, single-handed globe-shaped controllers which spawn staves in recent versions of the game.[23]
Force Archers are a variation of Wizards who prefer to manipulate rather than amplify Force. Because of this, their skills have a lesser area of effect in comparison to the Wizard's skills but, in contrast, their damage is more precise, more accurate and with a higher critical hit rate. They visualize and create a weapon in a way similar to the Force Shielder, which is the Astral Bow; this weapon enhances their accuracy and critical rate. They also possess the highest attack range of all classes, even higher than that of a Wizard. Unique to this class, they possess supportive magic such as powerful single-target and party Healing skills, as well as many useful buffs, especially some used on new players alongside the Wizard's. Their skills have the fastest casting time of all, giving them a high damage per second value. Force Archers value Intelligence and Dexterity, both for magical power and dodging, as well as the balanced Battle Set and dual Crystals.[24]
Force Shielders are one of the two classes who have learned to materialize Force into a real weapon. By studying magic, they have gained the ability to visualize and create an Astral Shield, a relic which provides them with greater Defense. This class is the basic tank class which possesses the highest Defense of all classes and, when combined with its powerful damage-absorbing party skill, can effectively guard other party members from a high amount of damage. Force Shielders also possess a basic Healing skill, unlike all other classes save for the Force Archer. Their latter skills are also the most critical damaging techniques of all classes, making them both a good defender and attacker. Like the Force Blader, they are a hybrid Sword-Magic class. However, unlike the Force Blader who ultimately will have to develop both spheres to be able to use curses, the Force Shielder can truly specialize in only one area of expertise. A Sword Force Shielder will focus on the physical Sword skills and value brawling and critical damaging. In this case, they would value Strength and Dexterity for physical power and resistance. A Magic Force Shielder will focus on Magic skills, namely cannon-type targeted spells which value damage per second instead of high instant damage. They will rely on Dexterity and Intelligence for strength, resistance and dodge. The class can also be hybridized to fully utilise its complete potential, commonly making use of paralysing Magic skills when fighting against the environment. Their arsenal is by default the Armour Set, a Blade and a Crystal, counterpart to the Orb, though it can depend on the type of specialization taken if the player so chooses.[25]
The Force Blader class is themed as a magic swordsman. They use Force to empower their blade arts and have developed unique debuff skills that no other class possesses. Although they can use targeted cannon-type magic skills to fight, their sword skills are the strongest, their magic affinity being demonstrated only in their Force-imbued Sword skills. Their most powerful attacks are also enchanted with curses, causing negative handicapping effects on their targets alongside damage itself. Because they evenly nurture all three of the main attributes, they are both the most flexible and most time-consuming class to develop. Their equipment is by default the balanced Battle Set, a protective suit made of many different kinds of fibers, a Katana and an Orb. Their complexity in the use of curse skills makes them a class best for advanced players.[26]
All classes are provided with a skill library that spans in both Sword and Magic-based spheres. Classes who are focused on one sphere, like Warriors or Bladers, will have all its offensive and support skills in it, while the other will be used only for common targeted magic spells and novice buffs, as well as an advanced one. Hybrid classes may use both spheres for different purposes; while Force Bladers develop only curses in advanced stages of the Magic sphere, Force Shielders possess some offensive unique arts in that sphere as well. Beyond offensive and support skills, there are also teleportation skills that all classes possess. Dashing is one that every character can use if they develop the necessary Sword sphere stage, which causes them to quickly dash a short distance and can be used in intervals to increase walking speed. Wizards have a unique teleportation skill called Blink which behaves similarly to Dash but is developed in the Magic sphere. Wizards are also the only class that can use both Dash and Blink and thus walk faster than any other class, effectively moving faster than even the rare vehicle items that exist in the game.
Special skills are unlocked at certain points during the character's growth by completing specific "ranking" quests. These skills include the Combo Mode, which allows several skills to be used in succession when the combo meter is pressed with correct timing, as well as several Battle Modes that provide temporary attribute bonuses to the character or even a special combat mode.[27][28] Aura Mode is a basic empowering Battle Mode that can be later stacked with either advanced Battle Modes to further increase attributes. It is elemental in nature, although the element bears no difference in bonuses applied, altering only the visual effects of the skill. Battle Mode 1 is an advanced Aura Mode that is unique for all classes. Some Battle Modes provide special characteristics; the Force Blader's Battle Mode 1 allows him to use elemental cannon-type spells as superior versions of the class's defensive buffs, while the Force Shielder's counters enemy damage by reflecting part of it. The Force Archer's BM1 grants some advanced skills the ability to multiply and hit more than one foe around the target, though it has the downside of removing the area-of-effect attribute of the skill; because of this, the skill will affect less enemies than it would without the BM1, making this Battle Mode solely useful for skills that possess no area of effect.
The latter Battle Mode 2 provides not only an attribute increase but also a special combat mode unique to each class. Warriors are able to use scythes named Astral Lances for successive attacks and special finishing skills; Bladers use fast-paced Astral Claws whose finishing skill has the highest critical rate of all the classes' skills. Wizards are given special Orbs that allow them to target two enemies at the same time and simultaneously cast two skills, each targeting a different enemy. They can also target one enemy and use two skills at the same time against it. Force Bladers were initially given an Astral Charger which would charge up to three levels when using sword skills and would then shoot one to three magical beams when a magic skill was used. However, this was later changed into a fast-paced fencing combat mode with ethereal visual effects. The Force Shielder can turn its Astral Shield into a throwing Astral Blade Shield that is used akin to a boomerang. Lastly, the Force Archer turns the Astral Bow into dual Astral Guns that can target one or two enemies at once and deal fast damage for little Mana.
There are also other skills for different effects - classes with Astral weapons have one for summoning them, for example. There are skills for summoning vehicles such as the Astral Board and Astral Bike, as well as corresponding Combo Mode skills for when riding those vehicles, along with many other tool skills such as Loot, Follow and several Social skills, or emotes, for showing emotion animations such as sitting, laughing, crying or dancing. There are also many upgrade skills that provide different and cumulative attribute bonuses in Health, Mana and secondary attributes.
Skills can only be purchased and learned when a certain skill rank or stage is achieved. Like levelling up, increasing skill ranks requires gaining skill experience which in turn is gained by using skills repeatedly, namely offensive skills. In previous versions of the game, Sword skills would only increase Sword experience and Magic skills would increase Magic experience. This was later changed to a common experience gain where any skill increases both spheres. The experience pool is shared by all skills, meaning that points gained can be applied in any skill of that sphere and any skill can be used to gain experience. Another change that was applied is the requirement of a "class rank" for achieving a superior skill rank. Class ranks are gained by completing ranking quests every ten character levels.
Once a player has reached level 52 and completed the quest for choosing a Nation, during which they will select either the Capella or Procyon factions, a new event is enabled for the player. This event is the Nation War, Tierra Gloriosa, which occurs multiple times each day (total of 6 times per 24 hour) and allows opposing nations to fight each other and gain war experience points that can then be converted into either EXP, skill points or honor points at Port Lux officer as well as into rune cubes at each faction's nation war lobby. Depending on the level range of characters, different Tierra Gloriosa channels will be accessed. During nation war, players struggle to overtake key locations controlled by powerful guardian monsters dubbed as Legacy Guardian, fend off the enemy players and ultimately take control of the enemy's main base and effectively winning the war.[29][30][31][32]
Each Nation War lasts one hour and the entrance lobby is open for some time before the event begins so as to allow players to plan strategies, stock up on consumables and heal for the battle. While many players can enter the lobby, only a certain number will be able to take part in the War, in which the amount is equally same for both factions. Entry to Tierra Gloriosa may cost differently, depending on the level range of Tierra Gloriosa channel entered, which may be refunded depending on the player's total score as well as whether the faction is victorious or not. Players are also awarded special consumable items for their performance that they can sell on NPC shops, where the rarest and most valuable of these will be worth a large sum of Alz.
Cabal Online received mixed reviews from critics. In December 2006, PC Gamer UK gave it a rating of 6.4, commenting that the game was "mindblowingly generic".[33] The magazine had also criticised Cabal Online for sharing many features as other Korean MMORPGs. Despite the negative review from PC Gamer UK, the game was selected as one of the "Top 9 Free MMOs Worth Playing" in the magazine's June issue.[34][35]
Cabal Online 2 was promoted in South Korean on October, 2010 before the G-Star 2010 start at Busan, South Korea. The game promotes a change from its original 'techno-punk' theme into royal theme, hyper-action game with 6 jobs for the characters. However, this change includes the removal of "Blader" class from the original Cabal Online and introduces the "Priest" class. This sequel version of Cabal Online uses CryEngine 3 as the main graphic engine.