Like a great deal of other things, transportation is also a bit more complex in ArcheAge than most players may be used to from other MMORPGs. The game offers many different ways of traveling and transportation, and they are: mounts, gliders, ships, carriages, airships, trains, and portals.

In this short guide we’ll take a quick look at various modes of transport in ArcheAge, so keep on reading to learn a bit more about how you’ll travel around.

MOUNTS

Unlike in most other games, mounts are easy to come by in ArcheAge. You should get your first mount even before you reach level 10 from a quest and a small fee of 10 silver. Each race has access to a different mount of first: Nuian has horses, Firrans have snow lions, Elves have elks and Harani get leomorphs. Other than the visuals the first mounts don’t differ much in stats like speed.

In most cases mounts are obtained as babies, and you will have to fee and otherwise take care of them over time. They also have separate health bars, experience and levels, and even equipment slots. They have abilities which can be used while you’re riding them, and can be attacked by enemies. It’s interesting to also note that some mounts can carry more than one player which is very useful for trade caravans/packs. Additionally, you can equip various stat-boosting gear on your mounts such as saddles, masks or leg armor.

Later on in the game you can get unique mounts, including a donkey, sled cow, or bloodstock horses. Some mounts like Stormdarter are purchasable with Honor points, and there’s also Roar of the Earth which is obtained by killing a world boss.

GLIDERS

While ArcheAge doesn’t have flying mounts, gliders are the next best thing. The basic glider is obtained through a very early quest and can be further upgraded later on through the crafting system. While flying a glider you can change your height, direction or speed by using movement keys.

As mentioned gliders aren’t the same as flying mounts you might be used to: you will need to start your gliding adventure from higher ground and build speed and height. Unless you’re flying over them, it can’t take you over world obstacles. Flight time and the distance you can travel varies also depending on the type of glider you have: basic ones have very low flight speed, gliding ability, turning speed and initial speed. Later on you can get stronger gliders capable of up to 10 minutes of flight time, and they can also have special abilities such as dropping explosives on enemies beneath you, or leaving a trail of smoke behind you.

CARRIAGES AND AIRSHIPS

Both carts and airships can be found by looking for a Transportation/Bench icon on your map. They are the only automated transport routes out of player control.

Carriages (also called carts or coaches) are a method of public transportation and they are available in most zones of ArcheAge. If you’re looking to transport yourself within a zone or want to travel to another area they are a very convenient way to travel. What’s best about carriages is that they’re unhindered by your character’s load, so they are very good for transporting goods over distances. You can jump on and off carriages at any point.

Airships fly between different zones and travel slightly faster than carriages. You can also use them to safely travel to another area, or to carry trade packages.

WORLDGATE PORTALS

Likely the fastest way to travel in ArcheAge, portals are a very popular but costly means of transportation. When you visit new areas or cities you will unlock their locations (Memory Tomes), which is recorded in your Teleport Book, also used for easier travel in the future. Opening a portal however requires a reagent called Hereafter Stone if you’re traveling within your continent, or a Refined Hereafter Stone if you’re traveling to another. Worldgates can also be used to travel to your house.

There are also static portals you can find throughout the world which have fixed locations and are always open.

GROUND VEHICLES

Ground vehicles include farm wagons and cars. Farm wagons are slower than mounts, but also capable of carrying a large amount of storage, which can dramatically increase the efficiency of your trade routes. Cars are also available in ArcheAge, though they require a sizable investment to build and maintain. They can also transport two trade or resource packs in their storage compartments.

BOATS

The extensive oceans in ArcheAge require an appropriate way of transportation! To get a boat of your own you will first need to acquire plans for constructing one, and having the necessary amount of materials beforehand is highly recommended. You will need to build in open water where your boat will be constructed, and you only have three days to bring the necessary resource packs to complete the construction. Once built you can summon and de-summon your boat as you please.

The first boat you’ll come across will be a very simple rowboat — capable of getting you across short distances, though not safely nor quickly. A bit later on you’ll come across Clippers, small speedboats which are excellent for exploring the oceans either by yourself or with another friend. They also have harpoons and side cannons for basic defense or attack. There are also fishing boats, with improved storage that can hold several large fish and a sonar capable of detecting large fish schools.

Merchant ships are long and fast vehicles used for transporting up to 20 resource or trade packs. Furthermore there are Warships (Eznan Cutter and Lutesong Junk), powerful ships with heavy firepower also capable of taking quite a beating. They are largely unaffected by sea monsters and smaller boats they come across, and most effective when manned by a larger crew. They can take up to 4 trade and resource packs, so they’re best used for protecting or assaulting smaller vessels.

Lastly, the most powerful boat is The Black Pearl, however also the most difficult and expensive to obtain.

It contains very detailed information on pretty much everything you want to know about ArcheAge: world, combat, classes, leveling, ships/vehicles/mounts, PvP/factions/sieges, crafting, housing, trading, piracy, economy, PvE content, gliding, exploration, user interface and addons, and graphics.

The most important game features you should definitely read in the review are those about the classes and the skill system: there’s basically 120 class combinations and there’s bound to be some interesting discoveries to be made even now.

The leveling part basically explains how questing is more rewarding than grinding in ArcheAge, and further in the review it mentions some leveling instances which are apparently insanely hard.

Furthermore there’s a decent chunk of content about various vehicles and mounts as well as ships, included of course are excellent screenshots and videos so you can see it all in action.

Many players are of course looking forward to PvP combat as well and a review of the system is included. It explains the basics of the player versus player battle and shows off several PvP Warzones and areas. ArcheAge also has battlegrounds which are 5v5 instances areas which you can enter every 2 hours. PvP also rewards you with Honor Points which can be used to purchase equipment, mounts and other special rewards.

Another hugely popular game feature is of course crafting. As the author mentions it’s currently a controversial topic as it used to be a system aimed at hardcore players who love crafting, but after recent changes it became overly simplified. Worth noting is that the best equipment you can get in ArcheAge can still only be obtained by crafting which gives you more than enough reasons to delve into it.

There are of course also professions in this game which include Fishing, Mining, Composing (as in composing music, believe it or not: see video of player-made songs), and also trading, harvesting and construction which further add depth to the game.

Trading is basically farming or harvesting various materials which you craft into packages and are required to deliver to certain trading outposts for profits. On the other side of the coin is Piracy which is a huge factor in the game: other players can attack you while delivering packages and steal them from you. Pirating isn’t easy but you have to admit it’s one of the most fun systems that exists in any MMORPG and will certainly get your blood pumping.

A feature often missing in many MMORPGs is player housing and ArcheAge doesn’t disappoint in this aspect: it boasts a pretty powerful and customizable housing system that has benefits other than vanity.

Overall it’s a lengthy read so I recommend you take the largest cup of your favorite drink and be prepared to spend an hour amazed at the amount of information provided in the review. It also includes tons of beautiful screenshots and some useful gameplay videos to provide you with more context.

Do remember that ArcheAge is still not released and many things are subject to change, but judging by this and other early previews this might very well turn out the best MMORPG you’ve played in years. It has amazing potential and it’s up to XL Games to make the most out of it.

Be sure to check out the post and share your thoughts about the review or the game below. Did it meet your expectations, and are you looking forward to playing ArcheAge? Let us know!