Shaiya: Light and Darkness - Free-To-Play Fantasy MMORPG

 Shaiya: Light and Darkness is a free-to-play, fantasy-themed MMORPG set in ancient times, in the world of Teos. The story begins when The Goddess Etain created three races - the Dragons, Nordein and the Dumianas. The Nordein were deemed imperfect by Etain, and were cast into the soil. The Dumianas questioned The Goddesses power and authority, and as a result, was weakened. The Dumianas took the opportunity to attempt to kill her, but instead, her soul was ripped in two. Teos was left out of balance, and other gods began to vie for power, creating monsters in an attempt to conquer the land for themselves. The dragons faded from the face of the world, hiding themselves amongst the chaos. In time, two Goddesses came to rule over Teos, and the remaining Dumianas were split into two factions - the Elves and the Vail. Soon after, Humans appeared, and joined with the Elves. Similarly, the Nordein re-emerged, became the Deatheaters and joined with the Vail. The two resulting factions became known as the Alliance of Light and the Union of Fury.

Shaiya: Light and Darkness caters to many play-styles, whether your preference is solo, questing with groups or forming large, powerful guilds to take on the game's greatest challenges. There are 12 classes available in Shaiya - each of the 4 playable races (Humans, Elves, Vail, Nordein) have 3 classes to choose from, each with their own well-balanced strengths and weaknesses. Shaiya is largely set apart from other free-to-play MMOS (or really MMO games, in general) by the fact that there are 4 difficulty modes. In Easy mode, less experience is required to gain levels, but levels are capped at level 30. The other 3 modes are capped at level 70. Normal mode is a "standard" baseline, Hard is unlocked once a character reaches level 40 in Normal mode, and Ultimate mode is unlocked once a character reaches level 40 in Hard mode. Though the harder difficulty settings offer greater challenges and characters gain experience slower, there are also increasingly greater rewards for the harder difficulties. But beware - if you are brave enough to attempt to play on Ultimate mode and your character is slain and if they are not resurrected within 3 minutes, that character will be permanently deleted! A harsh punishment to be sure, but it truly adds a unique sense of danger and excitement to gameplay.

Another unique mechanic of Shaiya is The Goddess Blessing. Each side has access to points awarded by their corresponding Goddesses for slaying members of the opposing faction or for destroying enemy relics. But the Blessing is not just enjoyed by your character alone - it is shared with the entire realm. This creates an interesting dynamic, making your actions benefit your faction as a whole. Benefits of the Goddess Blessing includes, but is not limited to: increased attack power; increased maximum Hit Points, Magic Points and Stamina Points: increased success for upgrading weapons and reduced repair costs of damaged equipment.

Shaiya is certainly worth checking out, if you are a fan of the fantasy genre. The only question is, which side will you choose?

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Bryan_M_Gosselin