Astellia Online Closed Beta 2 Impressions and Thoughts

So the second Closed Beta for Astellia is over and I thought now would be as good a time as any to go over what I learned and experienced over the course of the game.
I played for roughly 18 hours spread over 3 characters.
The first characrer I leveled was an Archer, and I leveled normally via quests to around level 18? 20? Somewhere around there.
The second time I wanted to try a melee character. I don’t normally play melee characters so I figured it’d be a good opportunity to.
However, after reaching like.. level 6? 7? I was told that you can level your characters to max level via an NPC in the first town.
So, I went ahead and opted to make a Mage, since that was what I really wanted to play and try out endgame and see how that was.
The only way my wife and I got in-game and had all the beta keys to give out to all of you was because the team behind Astellia sponsored us with all of them, so here’s a big thank you to them.
I’m also going to be giving away several copies of the game completely free for those of you that are interested in attempting to win one without spending anything! Just follow this link to participate!

Astellia is a traditional tab-target MMORPG that is attempting to return the genre back to its roots. It’s set in a large, open world separated by small portals.
This is how both Final Fantasy XIV and Blade & Soul handle their large worlds without issue.
Honestly, the game world itself is absolutely beautiful. I’ve heard people comparing it to both TERA and Blade & Soul and you wouldn’t be incorrect in assuming it resembles them. They’re both very fantasy-themed and so is Astellia.
The game does run on Unreal Engine 3, just like the upcoming Ascent: Infinite Realm does but man it’s gorgeous.
The environments, the characters.

Oh, don’t worry. Character creation doesn’t disappoint. This is a Korean MMO after all and if there’s anything Korean MMOs do well.. it’s the character creation.
I have yet to come across a Korean MMO that doesn’t have outstanding creation tools – or, heck, even customization in the form of outfits.
I daresay that Astellia has potentially more customization options than almost any other MMO out presently.
It gives you significant control over how you want your character to look. My Wife MrsStix managed to make a very attractive character and I.. well I believe my character looks better, but I’ll let you guys decide that.
But yes, control over your facial structure, but also control over a large part of your body- which I’m well aware you guys are fans of.

Being able to customize your very own bodacious beauty or byte-sized loli are both highly possible.

I know, character customization is important, but.. combat is where a lot of you draw the line. If combat sucks you’ll probably end up quitting. I know those feels, trust me.
As mentioned initially, Astellia is tab-target, meaning there’s no action to it at all. But then again, WoW and Final Fantasy XIV are both tab-target and they’re two of the largest MMOs of all time, right?
Thankfully, although tab-target the combat itself is pretty fun – if a little.. hectic at times. Not because it’s bad, but purely because I had so many damn skills on my Mage.
I insta-50’d her so I would be able to see what end-game was like but let me tell you, maxing out a character is never a good idea.
I spent a solid hour trying to figure out which skills I should be using at what point and in the end I ended up YOLO’ing it ’cause why not?
I couldn’t imagine going into PvP blind like this though.

Okay, so this is actually one of the most unique aspects of the game. See, while you can party with other players to tackle open-world or dungeon content, there’s also less of an incentive to due to Astel’s.
Astel’s are little NPC companions. They’re obtained via a variety of methods in-game and function primarily as combat-partners.
They’re restricted to the holy trinity of tank/healer/DPS and offer quite a few beneficial little enhancements to gameplay.
I’ve had Astel’s that heal me – which, honestly wasn’t much of a necessity considering I play with my wife who has always and likely will always main healer.
I’ve also had Astel’s tank for me, or try to at least (haha) and then the most common Astel: The DPS which.. yup, you guessed it, attacks every single thing in sight. They’re bloodthirsty little things I swear.
My wife got this cool looking wraith Astel and decided she’d go get a drink real quick. I turned over to look at her screen and all I saw was this.. menacing embodiment of death wreaking havoc on the poor souls around us.
By the time she got back he’d disappeared and she didn’t believe me. She claimed he was innocent and adorable. Little did she know…

There are currently 5 classes in Astellia. The Warrior, the Assassin, the Mage, the Scholar and the Archer. Classes are currently gender locked with Warrior and Assassin both being male and Mage, Scholar and Archer all being female.
The team behind Astellia have promised to remove the gender locking of the classes though so keep that in mind before getting the pitchforks.
My wife played Scholar and I played Mage at level 50 and I admit, both were very fun. Skills were impactful and flashy and ultimately I had no complaints.

Playing through Astellia was fun. I regret insta-50’ing my character as I know I would’ve learned much more had I chosen to play through the game like a normal person but with the limited beta.. I wanted to test as much as I could.
Combat reminded me a lot of ArcheAge and graphically.. we’re looking at an updated TERA. And you should take that as a compliment, as TERA is still to this day a very aesthetically appealing game.
Astellia is a very traditional MMO – It’s tab-target, has dungeons to run, is story-heavy, you know. What made MMOs of the past popular. I enjoyed my time in it like I do every new MMO.
I know it won’t appeal to everyone – no game ever does. So, enjoy playing the game if it looks and sounds like something you’d enjoy. I will be when it officially launches and you can expect an updated look at the game then.