Review Submitted By: Randall Trowbridge
Author Status: Player
Started on Duris: Land of BloodLust: 1996-97
Submission Date: Oct 15, 2003
TMC Listing: Duris: Land of BloodLust
The following review is the opinion of the review's author [Randall Trowbridge]
and in no way represents the opinions of this website or its staff.
The name 'Duris, Land of Bloodlust' says it all. This mud is probably
one of the most successful muds to date since its creation in the
mid 1990's. Why? To put it simply, it has the nasty tendency to make
you jump out of your seat when you least expect it.
The theme of Duris is a three-way war of the races with each unique
racewar side uniquely tailored to fit your 'role-playing' tastes.
'Good' aligned races make up the bulk of the newer players which
provide this racewar side with a numbers advantage and simpler,
somewhat player friendly environment. By comparison the 'Evil' and
'Undead' racewar sides experience more hardships and consequently
are played by more experienced players. All sides have a wide
variety of unique race and class options. A quick list of these will
give you an idea of the diversity of this game:
Good Races: Evil Races: Undead Races:
Storm Giant Ogre Wight
Barbarian Troll Revenant
Centaur Githyanki Phantom
Human Orc Vampire
Dwarf Duergar Shadow Beast
Grey Elf Drow Elf Lich
Gnome Goblin Shade
Thri-kreen Thri-kreen
Minotaur Minotaur
Halfling
Half-Elf
and:
Hitter:
Warrior, Mercenary, Paladin, Anti-Paladin, Reaver, Ranger, Monk,
Berserker, Dreadlord
Rogue:
Thief, Assassin, Bard
Magical:
Sorcerer, Conjurer, Necromancer, Illusionist, Alchemist
Clerical:
Cleric, Druid, Shaman, Warlock
Mindflayer:
Psionicist
As you can see, the goodies races have the most options for new
players. The evil and undead races and their class options require
a bit more knowledge to select. Each race has an excellent variety
of usable innate abilities. For example Lich’s, Grey Elves and Drow
Elves have magic resistance which enables them to shrug magic,
Phantoms have the ability to walk through doors, Goblins have the
ability to self haste for short periods of time, etc.
As a new player I would strongly recommend learning the mud as one
of the “Good” races. There are a number of players on the “Good” side
that will assist you with information and if you are lucky some
equipment as well. In addition as a good race you can access a newbie
chat channel by typing “nchat”. Experience on Duris is best done in
groups, so you probably want to type “toggle group” to enable a
(Group Needed) flag next to your name on the who list.
When designing your character you initially pick your race then your
class. There are a wide variety of available classes that fit into
the standard groupings of classes commonly found in fantasy games.
Your class options are based upon the race and racewar side that you
choose and include the following:
Different combinations of race and class will provide an extremely
different experience. For example a Centaur Ranger is size large and
due to its unique body structure it cannot utilize the ranger
“springleap” ability to takedown victims (although it can still bash
if a shield is worn). However Centaurs cannot be taken down by any
opponent smaller then itself, feature enhanced damage when using
the “kick” skill and they have most hitpoints of any ranger class in
the game. By contrast a Grey Elf Ranger has almost half the hitpoints
of a centaur and can be taken down by anyone within the standard
takedown size ranges. Yet Grey Elf Rangers can utilize the
“springleap” ability, they have innate magic resistance and they do
more damage in the same amount of time as a Centaur Ranger due to a
faster “pulse”. Obviously, race-class combinations can make big
differences in your characters abilities.
Duris features up to 56 levels. The first 50 are attained by gaining
experience via zoning, “fragging” (player killing) and/or quests.
51-56 are attained one at a time by completing 'potion zones' which
require a strong organized group and good leadership. Attaining levels
from 1 to 50 is not that difficult once you have played the game for
a bit. The idea is to get you into the action of the game as soon as
possible so that you can compete with the other opposing racewar
sides for 'frags'. 51-56 potion zones are long; however they can
provide immense gratification from either receiving a potion and the
accompanying top notch equipment or slaying opposing racewar sides
within the potion zone as your enemy attempts to potion their own.
Ability to succeed in the game is dependent on two things, levels and
equipment. The Duris map is quite large with 5 major continents and a
number of lesser continents/islands. There are more zones in the game
then you will probably ever get to do, and the room count is a
ridiculous number way over the million mark. Yet, the way the game is
designed there are a number of excellent methods of getting around so
that you do not feel lost.
The size of Duris makes it quite interesting in terms of racewar
battles, because they can occur anywhere, anytime, with any number of
players involved. This is where the 'I think I soiled myself'
aspect enters into the game. As a player you are free to attack
anyone regardless of racewar side just about anywhere. True safe
rooms do not exist, although your guildhall can be a temporary haven
from the opposing racewar side. Hometowns provide limited safety from
opposing racewar sides to low level players but they are not totally
secure. The beauty of player killing on this mud is that the players
enforce who dominates and who dies, not the code.
The equipment found this mud, is exciting to say the least. Duris has
maintained a firm grip on thematic content, so you will not see silly
names on equipment or zones, and the ANSI is stellar. Equipment can
provide a wide variety of character enhancements, including effects
that would normally only be attainable if you were playing a different
class, or racewar side. Balancing your character’s equipment properly
is key to having a strong character. In addition to standard zone
equipment there are a number of unique 'Artifacts' which can provide
your character with enhancements. All Artifact items must be 'fed' on
the blood of an opposing “fraggable” enemy race character within a
four day period, otherwise the Artifact will magically “poof” out of
your hands. Once poofed the Artifact will load at its default spawn
point in a difficult zone where anyone has access to obtaining it
(provided they have a group to do the zone). In addition you will get
your name listed on the Artifact list (if that sort of thing matters
to you) for all to see. Here is the current artifact list for you to
get a glimpse:
Daqill the orb of the sea
Duac the unholy avenger named 'Bloodlust'
Lac SunBlade the two-handed sword of Justice
Ippo the mystical warhammer of the barbarian kings
Lur staff of blue flames
Daqill a cloak of Elvenkind
Iat the sphere of wind
Kymazz Lyrical Instrument of Time
Duac the platemail of the DragonLord
Straker the sword of fire and flame
Zulor the sword of light and darkness
Noob A God Stone
Ayaki Avernus the life stealer
Lom Doombringer the sword of chaos
Hitokiri Tiamat's poison tail stinger
Daqill the Living Necroplasm
Grubner the holy mace of the effreeti
Azcre Tsunami, the trident of storms
Iruzl a blood red sword named 'Death Rider'
Keslor the Rod of Dispator
Hitokiri a pair of pale, misty gloves
Sais the mace of the earth
Gitji Tendrils of Shadowy Mist
Aik the globe of shadows
Torsak Chaos, The Unholy Avenger
”Frags” are obtained by slaying enemy races. The only time you will
not frag an enemy race, is if the victim you killed was more then 10
levels lower then your characters level. This discourages newbie
killing as a method of obtaining frags and feeding Artifacts. Like
the Artifact list there is a frag list where you will be listed if
you are within the top 10 fraggers.
The best feature of this mud is a consistently active group of coders.
This has been the situation since the day Duris was born, and will
probably remain so until the end. Updates are put into the game daily,
which can be accessed by the “news” command. There is a constant
sense of growth.
Aside from the player killing element of this game there are a
variety of other features to the game including:
1) a brand new quest system
2) personal ships, sailing and pirating/sinking other vessels
3) guilds complete with guildhalls and outposts
4) random zones, equipment, and continent connector zones that change
per boot
5) active website with a forum for battle logs, newbie help and
player input
I almost forgot to mention, that the fighting in this game is VERY
dynamic. Solo fights or small skirmishes occur frequently, however
the large group fights truly exhibit a well thought out fighting
engine in zones as well as in player killing. Without a good level
of group coordination you will be very lucky to experience success
on the battlefield. As a plus every class in the game has a unique
purpose or advantage they bring to a fight, so you don’t feel left
out because you picked the wrong class/race.
There is so much that can be said about this game, but one of the
best points that can be made is that a large number of Duris players
continually return to the game after taking time off to deal with
real life. Duris qualifies as a serious addiction. For more
information check out WWW.DURISMUD.COM, and if you jump on, I will
be happy to introduce you to the game by having my Undead
Wight Warrior feed off your carcass.
Niz
