Following closely in the footsteps of its predecessors, NCSoft’s Lineage W continues to make waves, hitting more than a million downloads from the Google Play Store alone just 2 weeks after its launch. Lineage W offers a perfect mix of conventional MMORPG elements with modern mobile gaming mechanics, appealing to both old school MMORPG fans as well as newcomers to the genre.
While Lineage W’s quality of graphics and depth of its story contributes to making it an immersive experience for each player, the abundance of contents and variety of features ensures players will be enticed into long hours of adventure and exploration. Beyond the massive lands littered with an abundance of quests and farming locations, Lineage W’s in-game features system on its own certainly stimulates a lot of time checking into.
If you have yet to start your journey within the world of Lineage W but raring to do so, we highly recommend that you read our Lineage W beginner’s guide first. Our article contains some useful tips and strategies to jumpstart your adventure and help you level up and progress through your quests fast and efficiently. Additionally, we have published a detailed class guide, where we showcase each characters class that’s available in the game.
Considering the number of features and mechanics tucked tightly within Lineage W, there are still plenty of things we were not able to cover in the beginner’s guide. To be honest, the initial salvo of information players go through in the course of the tutorial and feature introductions can be a little overwhelming. While some may be understood on the first peek, some require a couple or more visitations to fully grasp.
Our aim for the advanced guide is not just to tackle the rest of the early features that each player needs to understand and utilize, but also touch on additional tips and strategies that go beyond what we have already shared in our previous guide. While each set of tips and strategies are independent of one another, we feel that the set of topics we will tackle here require a little more familiarity with the basics of Lineage W.
1. Use Morph And Magic Doll Features Wisely
While some elements of Lineage W, particularly features that directly impact gameplay and character development, are as easy to be familiar with given their resemblance to more conventional RPG mechanics, the Morph and Magic Doll features in Lineage W are a comparatively a unique set of core features that players are not likely to experience in any other RPG worlds. Both these features can help players in their adventures tremendously and while you can easily progress in the beginner content without paying much attention to either of these features, both are very critical to empowering your hero.
To simplify, the Morph feature lets players transform into more powerful monsters that provide stat boosts or even extra skills within the transformation period. Magic Dolls, on the other hand resemble pets or NPC companions that aid you in battle. Although both of these key features will be introduced fairly early in your adventure, we felt it is best to understand the other game mechanics first before diving into either of these systems.
The Morph feature can easily make the impression for beginners that it is all aesthetics. Taking on the form of monsters is cool enough as it is. However, each monster you can morph into comes with certain perks and the boosts come in percentages ensuring a more impactful effect in combat. Morphs have 5 tiers or rarity grades and you can expect morphs belonging to higher tiers to be stronger as they typically have more stat boosts to offer or provide bigger amounts of each boost.
Note that morph cards can have weapon requirements, which in some cases delimit the morphs you can use based on your equipped weapon. Some are universal, however, and can be utilized by any character wielding any type of weapon.
Beyond aligning the morphs you use for your character based on the boosts they provide, note that some morphs come with morph skills. Skills may vary from something that is very useful in combat or something entirely trivial. In any case, it can happen that a lower tier morph can be more suitable for your hero than a higher tier one.
You can acquire morph cards from the store or the blood pledge merchant and you can obtain them as rewards from some quests or completely analyzing specific monsters in the monster codex. You can also obtain duplicate morph cards for a chance to acquire a higher tier one through the “Fuse” tab in the Morph window.
You need 4 duplicate cards of the same tier to fuse and it is not a guaranteed success. Success leads to obtaining a morph card of a higher tier while failure leads to a morph card of the same tier. Remember to pack some morph scrolls so you can use your morphs in combat. It is not always necessary to morph but then you should always be ready for anything to utilize those massive stat boosts.
Magic Dolls serve as your eternal companions, ensuring that even single player campaign quests are not lonesome adventures for you. Just like Morphs, Magic Dolls can also be purchased from the store and the blood pledge merchant, and can also be obtained as rewards from some quests. Likewise, Magic Dolls are also covered by 5 tiers or rarity grades, determining the overall perks they provide. All Magic Dolls provide bonus XP and additional weight limit. Higher tier Magic Dolls provide more perks and higher amounts of it.
Just like morph cards as well, Magic Dolls can be fused to create higher tier ones. Fusing 4 duplicate magic dolls of the same tier is required and success is likewise not guaranteed. Success can earn you a random Magic Doll of a higher tier and failure leaves you with a Magic Doll of the same tier as the ones fused.
One feature relative to Magic Dolls is the Magic Circuit, which you should definitely peek into and make adjustments to early on. The Magic Circuit lets you customize the behavior of your Magic Doll when it comes to attacking enemies as well as loot prioritization and weight limit considerations.
2. Fill Up The Codex For Extra Stat Boosts
While item management in conventional MMORPGs are generally limited to ensuring ample space in your bag as well as storage, if provided, Lineage W provides an added measure that creates a more fulfilling outcome for having extra copies of items and resources. The Codex System in Lineage W serves like a system for documenting items you have collected as well as provides information on them as well as each of the monsters you have encountered. There are 4 separate codices in Lineage W and each one should be peeked into regularly.
The Item Codex indexes gears you have obtained, specifically weapons, armors, and accessories. The Monster Codex provides information on all the different monsters you have encountered. Both the Morph and Magic Doll features each has its own codex as well.
Considering all the different codices, what is important to know is that you will need to register extra copies of the respective items to progress each codex and earn stat bonuses. This excludes the Monster Codex, of course, as you will have to battle each one for analysis materials that you consume to analyze them in the Monster Codex.
In our beginner’s guide, we mentioned the importance of having extra copies of weapons, armor, and accessories as these are requirements to upgrade specific items. As much as you may want to save items for upgrading purposes, be sure to remember registering some to progress your Item Codex. Additionally, make use of the search function within the Item Codex to delimit items needed for a particular target as well as the filter function to check which items provide which stat boosts.
Back to the Monster Codex, you will discover just how many monsters exist within the massive world of Lineage W. Monsters are organized by regions and dungeons, making easier to track progression by location. The Monster Codex serves as an excellent tool as well for you to determine the kind of items each monster can drop as well as where exactly each of them can be found.
Note that there is an “Analyze” button at the lower right side of each monster’s page. The analysis materials you can collect for defeating specific monsters are used to analyze them, and once fully analyzed, you will be rewarded with a morph card.
The Codices within both the Morph and Magic Doll features work the same way. Although extra copies of morph cards and magic dolls are collected as fusion materials, remember to register some in their respective codices to be on your way to earning permanent perks. Considering all codices, it is important to keep in mind as well that your overall progression in it will permanently boost your stats. It does not apply exclusively to your first or main character, but also extends to other characters you will use in the account.
3. Strengthen Your Relationships With NPCs
Lineage W further immerses players in the world of Aden through a relationship-building mechanic in your adventure. While most conventional MMORPGs will have you visit some NPCs as part of a quest or constant needs for supplies, Lineage W’s Friendship System allows added perks for building up relationships with some of Aden’s inhabitants.
The Friendship System in Lineage W centers around bringing gifts to some NPCs. This will, in turn, unlock additional gifts or perks for you to enjoy. The Friendship System does not apply to all NPCs in Lineage W and are only available with the Gear Merchants, Magic Scroll Merchants, General Merchants, Codex Merchants, and select village residents.
There are different items you can earn across your adventure that only serves as gift items for NPCs to increase your friendship level with them. Some merchant types, however, can only be gifted specific items as gifts to increase your friendship level with them. As far as improving relationships statuses are concerned, keep in mind that friendship stages with one type of merchant apply to similar types of merchants across all villages. The only NPCs you need to establish friendship levels individually are the non-merchant village residents.
Upon reaching a new level or stage of friendship with a merchant, you can unlock a one-time milestone reward, which is comprised of items. More importantly, there are permanent effects that come in the form of additional items available for sale, daily items received from them, or even discounts on purchases from the specific merchant types. Given that you will always need to interact with these merchants from early game all the way till the end game, it is recommended to work on unlocking the additional benefits you can earn from all NPCs in Lineage W.
4. Venture Across All Dungeon Types
The plethora of quests and missions to take on in Lineage W, in addition to the main campaign quests, are certain to give players a lot of objectives to conquer to more than satiate their thirst for new adventures and exploration. Add that to various in-game systems like codices and upgrade methods to constantly visit and there will hardly be any idle time for anyone as they dive into Aden in Lineage W.
Considering everything we have gone through above as well as the basic features we discussed in our beginner’s guide, one of the biggest and most challenging adventures to enjoy and revel in, as you delve within Lineage W, are its dungeons.
Lineage W boasts 5 different dungeon types you can access through the “Dungeon” button in the main menu, and each one is certainly worth exploring and venturing into provided that you are capable of doing so. There are Common Dungeons, Special Dungeons, Party Dungeons, World Boss Dungeons, and Blood Pledge Dungeons. There are varying difficulty levels and conditions involved to take on different dungeon types but natural progression will certainly enable you to venture into all of them.
Dungeons can help you gather various resource materials and equipment to further strengthen your character. There are monsters and bosses unique to dungeons as well, and a lot of the loot they drop cannot be obtained anywhere else. On each dungeon banner, you can click on the search glass to check the levels and kinds of monsters present in the dungeon and on each floor. You can instantly travel to dungeons using Adena or even unlock higher floors by spending diamonds. Some dungeons, however, have level requirements that you need to satisfy first.
While we always recommend pursuing main campaign quests over all sorts of quests and challenges in Lineage W, the dungeons that have limited daily attempts to conquer should always be challenges once you are able to do so. As minimum level requirements will continue to occasionally prevent you from taking on some main quest objectives, keep in mind that dungeons can be your go-to places to earn more EXP and reach the needed level to proceed with your main campaign.
The Common Dungeons are easily the most accessible dungeons you can access in Lineage W. You will get to visit some of these dungeons in the pursuit of some quests but chances are that you will explore each one further as the need for some exclusive drops and extra EXP becomes prevalent as your adventure deepens.
The potential items you can obtain across each Common Dungeon floor can easily be seen and given that there is hardly anything that limits you from spending time in these dungeons, the only challenge that lies within each one are the plethora of other players also grinding for items and EXP.
Special Dungeons provide unique terrains, monsters, and items you cannot see anywhere else. These are sources of Traces, which can imbue elemental attributes to equipment like earth, wind, fire, and water. Party Dungeons can be a little more challenging, as you find yourself and 3 other allies facing off against a powerful monster. Although it is best to tackle the Party Dungeon with a group of friends or Blood Pledge allies you are familiar with, venturing into it alone will automatically pair you with other players to complete the 4-unit team.
World Boss Dungeons are actually server-wide raids that are perhaps the most massive dungeon battles you can partake in. You can expect the World Bosses to be the toughest bosses there are and accomplishment of the feat of beating one relies on how active players in the server are. Blood Pledge Dungeons are dungeons exclusively accessible for members of the Blood Pledge and requires a certain level of Blood Pledge Raid for members of the Blood Pledge to unlock and engage in.
5. Exercise Caution With The PvP And Propensity Levels
No MMORPG adventure is complete without its fair share of PvP content. While quests, missions, and dungeons all provide opportunities for players to enjoy solo adventuring as well as cooperative gameplay, there is plenty of room in Aden for PvP combat, along with its own set of repercussions. PvP can happen almost anywhere and it is important for you to know the kind of zone you are currently in or travelling to as well as what can happen in each one relative to PvP and death.
Areas in the world of Lineage W can be Safe Zones, Unsafe Zones, and Combat Zones. All villages are naturally Safe Zones, which means that no PvP combat can ever take place within any of them. Most areas right outside of towns are Unsafe Zones and PvP can happen.
Unsafe Zones also come with penalties when players die like losing some hard-earned EXP and a chance of losing one of your items as well. Combat Zones are specially designated PvP arenas where players can hone their PvP combat skills without the risk of incurring any of the aforementioned penalties.
Relative to PVP combat, a karma system is in place to ensure that players are well aware of consequences attributable to slaying other players. Lineage W has a Propensity System determining a player’s nature. A player may either be Neutral, Lawful, or Chaotic based on their general actions relating to combat. Neutral is the default propensity level that leaves neither advantage nor penalty. Hunting monsters naturally take the propensity level towards Lawful status, and imbues players with certain stat bonuses.
On the other hand, engaging in PvP outside the designated combat zones will lead to a propensity level to decrease and swerve more towards being Chaotic, imposing certain sanctions as well. A player branded as Chaotic can have certain disadvantages as far as stat debuffs go but the more frightening part of having this status is that you can also lose more items if you are killed in an Unsafe Zone.
The PvP Book, which you can access via the main menu holds various other information and features relating to PvP combat. You can view players whom you have engaged PvP combat with and can even travel instantly to where they are to exact revenge in case they defeated you. The PvP Book can also show PvP history of fellow Blood Pledge members.
This can lead to various actions from members of your Blood Pledge against the Blood Pledge of the attacker. Last, but not the least, you can also customize PvP message settings through its button on the lower right side of the page. You can create a message that gets posted in chat when you are victorious and display emotes real-time for both victory and loss.
Lineage W certainly offers a massive world waiting to be fully discovered but this is where we will end our advanced guide. We certainly hope that the additional tips and strategies we shared here, along with the most basic ones we covered in our beginner’s guide, will help you stay on top of your game moving forward in your adventure. If there are some unique tips and strategies you would like to share or need more clarification on certain topics about the game, be sure to connect with us through the comment section!