Talion, created by mobile game publishing powerhouse, Gamevil Inc, was released worldwide to MMORPG fans to the end of May this year, and the title has received generally good feedback since its launch.
It’s a free to play, 3D MMORPG, with all the familiar elements that it implies, combined with an alliance system with two separate factions and enjoyable PVP. Like any mobile RPG game at the moment, Talion has some negative aspects but on the whole, it’s a fun take on the genre for casual and more hardcore MMORPG players.
Aegis vs Bident: Talion Alliance System
The first thing you’ll realise about the game as you begin is that you’ll need to choose a faction, out of the Alliance of Shield Protection – the Aegis – or the Alliance of Flame Judgement – the Bident.
The world as you know it – the land of Nar – has been overrun by demons and will need saving. You can choose to fight for freedom (Aegis) or fight for complete power (Bident), but in reality, whichever side you join won’t make a huge amount of difference to the story.
However, having played Talion for around a month, what is clear is that the Bident player numbers often outweigh the Aegis numbers during PVP matchups or in areas such as raids or Occupy. Whether this will be looked at or remedied by the developers later remains to be seen.
Also be aware that if you want to play the game with friends, they will need to choose the same faction as you.
Talion Classes
There are four set classes in Talion:
- Kyle – Kyle’s talent is strength, with high defence and HP. He also features a wide attack range. If you want a tank class that can taunt and withstand attacks, Kyle is your class.
- Velletrin – Velletrin is an Assassin, and as such as attack speed and high critical damage as her advantages. She is a melee character, and can quickly overwhelm an opponent with fast attacks and dodges. She is a little bit of a glass canon however.
- Pell – Pell is a battlemage, with magic ranged and damage over time attacks.
- Aizen – rather than a traditional ranger, Talion offers a Gunslinger class. He features high precision kiting skills and mobility.
While you will choose one of these characters as your main, the game encourages you to try them all out as alts, learning their basic and special skills as you go. There is a warehouse system where you can share items between your main and alts, however, this is limited and doesn’t include gear (more about the warehouse later).
Talion Character Customisation
Disappointingly, the classes are gender locked. Yes, you can change the slant of your character’s cheekbones, but you can’t change their gender. This just seems like an unusual decision on the developers’ part, especially with games such as Black Desert Mobile on the horizon.
Some players love a good character customisation system, others will skip past it to use a default character. In Talion, your character customisation options are pretty in-depth. Just be aware that there are features such as costumes and wings in the game, so you may not spend much time actually looking like the character you create in the beginning.
The Talion Quest System
The quest system in Talion is fairly in-depth, with enough to keep even hardcore grinders happy.
The main quest features satisfyingly quick missions to complete (and if you wish you can use autocomplete). There are also an array of sub-quests you can finish for items, exp and gold, as well as daily missions.
In addition, there are quests that you can repeat for farming, where you are tasked with killing 1000 of a particular enemy, as well as field bosses that you can find that will be appropriate for your level and give you boss coins which you can exchange for items.
As the game offers an auto-battle option, this makes AFK farming relatively easy. Also, note that there is an option to turn on a PVE option – where you target monsters first – and a PVP option.
If you’ve set yourself up for an overnight farm and set your options to PVE, don’t be surprised to find that you get PK’d at some point.
Graphics, including dungeons, open filed, mobs and bosses are fairly standard for MMORPGs, and the game offers a good variety of settings you can change, including ambient effects, shadows, camera shaking, movable gamepad and item drop effects.
Talion Guilds
The Guild system in Talion is designed to give you access to Guild Coins (which you can exchange for items in the Guild Shop), a Guild Battle (a similar battle to Occupy but against other Guilds) and Guild Boss, in exchange for daily donations of gold or diamonds if you prefer.
RvR: Deathmatch, Team Battle, Major Clash & Occupy
Talion offers a multitude of ways to gain honor, Alliance coins, gold and item drops, all while fighting the opposing Alliance in real-time PvP. These modes will be gradually unlocked as you progress through the story. They include:
- Deathmatch – this is a one on one live PvP battle
- Team Battle – a five vs five team battle where you need to capture a crown for points
- Major Clash – a ten vs 10 multiplayer battle where you choose to attack your enemy’s Governor or defend your own
- Occupy – a twenty vs twenty 12 minute game of strategy, where players must take then defend bases on a map
Generally matching for these modes is fast, however with all live 1 on 1 PvP games there can be issues with matchup levels, and you may well find yourself occasionally against the best player in the game or a player who is 30 levels lower than you.
Other Talion PvP Opportunities
There are two Raid modes as well – Planerin: The Malevolent Dragon and The Alliance Governors – and both can provide opportunities for PvPing the Alliance players.
In general, you can also venture into the opponent’s map for PvPing if you want to or to finish a daily quest that may be set there; spontaneous wars often arise this way leading to all-out PvP fun.
Fast Exp and Gold Gathering in Talion
Most MMORPGs have some way of getting experience and gold fast, and Talion is no exception.
There are two critical dungeons – the Cave of Ordeals and Gobs Vault.
The Cave of Ordeals has 10 levels of difficulty that provide plenty of exp, gold and occasional skill books (that upgrade your active and passive skills).
Gobs Vault is similar, except you’ll get gold and relics that you can open for random items.
One of the fastest ways to gain exp and gather gold is to run these dungeons during the scheduled Happy Hours, where you get various boosts to your gold and exp gathering abilities.
Add to this an exp or gold scroll (which you will get at times during gameplay, dungeons and as other rewards) and you’ll be levelled up to 100 in no time.
Talion Gear And Growth System
Talion’s equipment system is fairly standard for MMORPG’s and will be familiar to anyone who’s played a game in this genre before. Your inventory consists of a weapon, 4 pieces of armour and 3 accessories.
All gear comes with a set of three stats (in white) as well as new sub stats every time the piece is upgraded and the armour also includes a set bonus.
You can also purchase a weapon and armour with specific PVP stats from the Alliance shop with coins you gather during gameplay.
There are various ways to build your combat power (CP) outside of your gear as well. These include:
- Jewelry, which can be equipped on your weapon and armour
- Magic Symbols, which can be used to give you bonus stats such as PVP attack or HP
- Rides, trusty steeds that carry you from place to place and give you additional stats
- Guardian Fairies, these little guys will stick by your side during battle and provide you with handy stats such as extra attacks or healing
- Costumes, a mainstay of RPGs and a great way to not only look awesome but to give yourself extra stat boosts
- Wings, a similar system to costumes
The Talion Warehouse System
The game gives you the option of creating an alt, albeit from one of the other characters they offer. This is obviously to encourage you to try out and experiment with each of the different classes’ playstyles and skills.
At level 30 you unlock the Warehouse, which is found under the System menu. You get access to a personal storage for 50 items, as well as an Account storage for 50 items.
This may seem exciting to begin with until you realise what you can and can’t share across your various accounts: for example, consumables can be shared such as potions and ride shards, however, you can’t share gear or event items.
Pro’s And Con’s Of Talion
If you’re looking for an enjoyable PVP-centered mobile game to occupy your downtime, Talion is for you.
The game offers a large 200 item inventory when you first start, which can be expanded using diamonds.
On the downside, there is only one build option for your character at the moment, meaning that if you want to equip a specifically PVP or PVE build you’ll have to do it manually.
It would also be nice if the developers added a ‘transfer all’ option to the warehouse to avoid the unavoidable and tedious business of having to identify the number of an item you wish to transfer individually.
The PvP focus of this game is its stand out feature, and while the quest system can be grindy at times, the auto-battle and auto-complete feature for quests and dungeons can help make it seem less tedious than other game titles in the genre.
There will always be an element of pay to win in these mobile games, and Talion is no exception, with a range of packages and individual items you can buy with real money to help you on your way.