How much quality is in the new Free to Play MMO Dragon’s Prophet?
You will find out now and today in this test report. So read, form your own opinion, and be happy with an amazing dragon by your side..
Without a doubt, the imposing dragons are here THE central element, but it is self-explanatory that an online role-playing game involves more than just going on an adventure with a more or less powerful companion.
The developer Runewaker, known for its award-winning debut Runes of Magic, throws a bunch of features into the mix with its new title that brings a wide grin to the faces of most genre fans. Battles for territories, deep character development, action-packed fights, a home of your own, and not least a vibrant fantasy world. Someone has set themselves a lot of goals, perhaps too many?
Rocky start
Was the game released too early? Time to ponder…
A few months ago, my answer would have been a clear “YES”. I had already taken a look during the open beta, but the disillusionment came faster than expected. I did not stay long, and to summarize in one word, “unfinished” seems mild – even for a beta. Serious bugs, item shop too expensive, weaknesses in game design, missing content, and so on…
The negative feedback was, of course, not spared for the operators, and they reacted with numerous improvements. To give an example, the release version on September 19, 2013 even came with a 6-meter-long paper of patch notes. On one hand, it is a sign that improvements to the player experience are being worked on intensively. On the other hand, it reveals that apparently, much was not going as hoped.
Why the free MMO Dragon’s Prophet is still worth a look, I will explain to you in the following sections.
As seen in the video, there is a really large number of features advertised.
Mein MMO took a closer look at the content advertised in the video. Do you want to know more? Then read the test on Dragon’s Prophet *breathing fire* 😉
May the games begin!
The adventure begins on the starting island Puretia, after you have chosen from one of 4 selectable classes – a weapon master, magician, hunter, and a cleric are available here. The character editor in Dragon’s Prophet is very extensive and grants you plenty of freedom – the range of sliders allows you to create a distinctive Osira. Auratia, we are ready!
The start begins in Puretia, a place where you suddenly wake up…
What should not be a problem for MMO veterans, can be a challenge for newcomers at first: The game is rather complex in itself, and the sometimes weak tutorials certainly do not help. You have to teach yourself a lot based on the motto “learning by doing” or “try and error”. I don’t find that bad per se, as it obviously works, but one would like a little guidance.
After a brief introduction to the story and a few quests, you will quickly tame your first dragon. These giant lizards are capable of performing more functions than the best pet ever could. The first encounter with this creature quickly makes you forget that the entry into the game otherwise goes unspectacularly. The strange cutscenes also contribute to this.
Taming dragons made easy?
This Osira has successfully tamed a dragon.
First, let’s discuss the taming process. To establish a relationship with a dragon, you must prove yourself in a mini-game where you jump on the creature and try not to fall off! This is rodeo at its finest and a task that, depending on the level and type of your lizard-like counterpart, can be easier or harder.
For those who are already despairing at the thought of a mini-game, let me tell you that this process can be simplified with the help of an item shop item. However, I was never tempted during my attempts, I’m just a real cowboy ;-). Joking aside, failing occasionally actually motivates you to try again and be more successful next time!
Many dragons can be accommodated in the enclosure.
The abilities of each creature are random, so you spend quite some time creating the perfect partner. In your dragon enclosure, however, it is also possible for the magical beings to teach each other, which fortunately makes this process a bit more practical.
Some may recognize a hint of Pokemon here. That’s right, it feels like that. Just more extensive.
Particularly appealing are the impressively designed Legendary Dragons, which are not so easy to obtain. Of course, they differ in size and appearance from the common standard dragons, making them doubly desirable. This also increases the chance of owning a dragon that other players envy you – cool, right?
Where do I find these rare creatures!? Either at a very low percentage in dungeons, in the open world, through group activities, or by summoning them using a dragon flute, you have several ways open to you. In this context, I find it noteworthy to mention the intense cooperation between guild members and the community at large, who all pursue the same passion: how to obtain dragon X or Y.
Side by side with Legendary Dragons.
The Dragon Features – very well implemented!
What do the ultimate dragons bring me? They definitely showcase Dragon’s Prophet and I know of no game that has set up such a comprehensive companion system. Your companion is a multifunctional super beast.
The interpretation of dragons in this MMO is very broad. From a Velociraptor dinosaur to mammoths and crocodiles, to the classic serpentine winged hybrids as they are usually depicted today, you will encounter several forms here. Some might be thinking: What’s going on here? They look completely different in my children’s books…? But honestly, I don’t mind at all, as these differences do bring variety to the game. Someone who is familiar with the myths also knows that dragons do not follow just one model.
The appearance also partly reflects what they are capable of, as a crocodilian dragon swims faster, for example, and a winged monster shows its strengths in the air. This way, you select the most effective companion for every path. But what would a partner be if they couldn’t cook? 😉 Phew, lucky for me! They also master this, so you can send them to gather, cook, and god knows what else.
It’s always best when fighting alongside your dragon!
Now it gets exciting: Besides the crafting and movement skills, the companion also fights by your side. They contribute significantly to the battle and actively assist you with attacks as well as healing. I owe my favorite dragon several lives. I want to take this opportunity to thank him again.
What about the hero himself, your irresistible alter ego? Can this also be individualized more deeply? The answer is short and clear: yes.
In addition to a selection of individually fillable attributes, a sort of skill tree (mastery skills), several ways to improve and specialize your equipment, dragon skills also play a major role.
Once the player forms a bond with the dragon, there is a chance to gain special abilities from the dragon that you can adopt. Through these skills, you also define your role: the all-rounder, a caring healer, or a pure damage-dealing killing machine?
Although the official page mentions tanks, the purpose of that escapes me. I never needed a tank on my journey, not even in a raid. Thus, the interplay between healing and damage is more important.
This dragon can swim quickly!
Actually, there is not much to complain about with these exciting features. Of course, you wish for a few more dragon models here and there, but let’s stay grounded; the game has only been officially out for 2 months, and in this regard, quite a lot is certainly still to come (shortly after I finished the test, new ones came out…).
There are, however, other areas of the game that currently seem to lack potential. A few downsides exist, though, as some rare dragons can also be purchased in the shop, which negatively impacts their “rarity”. And I miss a bit of the “emotional” bond with my companion, as there is no real communication between character and companion. If you still want to build an attachment, then strain your imagination.
Action-packed fights, dungeons, and quests: Room for improvement
Dragon’s Prophet relies on an action-packed real-time combat system, much like we know from Tera, Neverwinter, or Guild Wars 2. It is not so far-fetched to wonder why many developers are increasingly preferring this over turn-based combat systems.
It creates the feeling of having more control over your character and not being at the mercy of random numbers. As the player, you have to block at the right moment or dodge in a specific direction, which gives it a distinct dynamic. This also includes independent aiming, which might captivate you more as it requires you to engage more intensely with your opponent’s movements. But as the world is, tastes differ.
Still room for improvement, but it’s fun nonetheless!
I wouldn’t call the fight perfect here, but rather improvable. The fun of combat is definitely present and stands out thanks to an innovative beat ’em up style combo system; it’s just that it still feels quite rough and repetitive in places. There’s a sense that the time for fine-tuning has been too short so far. It can be annoying when the collision detection is again weak. Not infrequently, character models collide, which might increase the birth rate between a man and a woman, but in sweat-inducing battles, it simply seems hindered.
The animations look partly really good and are convincing; however, there is also a downside. The sprint animation, for instance, appears too unnatural. Moreover, while it’s a very nice approach that hits not only reduce health points but can also knock you down or spin you through the air, the implementation suffers as the animations lack any physics and show no smooth transitions.
You know what I enjoy most in this MMO?
Pulling large monster groups! It’s just so much fun to draw all sorts of things to one point, throw them around, and ultimately annihilate them. Sometimes it’s too much and you die, but it doesn’t matter. It’s fun. They’ve really done a great job with this. WHAM!
The dungeons are, in my opinion, quite challenging yet not always satisfying in the free online role-playing game Dragon’s Prophet. This is partly due to the many bugs that occasionally force you to restart the instance, and secondly, I find the bosses somewhat limited in their capabilities. Please reduce the anabolic consumption and increase their IQ a bit!
Sammos, a boss from the challenging raid.
The problem with action-rich combat systems is often that tactical elements are left behind. I did not experience creative events on my odyssey. However, I find it very positive that there are different difficulty levels for both solo and group players!
Yes, exactly, every dungeon can also be played alone in its first level – sure, the reward is lower, but not every Osira is after epic items or feels the desire to look for a group for hours. For group lovers, a new raid has recently appeared that is quite demanding.
The quests in Dragon’s Prophet are anything but exciting and mainly consist of “kill this, collect that…”. Here, everyone must decide for themselves whether they really need exciting and varied tasks or not. The dragon MMO is very classically designed and can be referred to as more of a “grinder”.
The monsters in Dragon’s Prophet look quite unique.
In my opinion, it does hinder motivation from time to time. It doesn’t help if you are sent back to the same place again and have to defeat the same opponents once more. The dynamically generated events do liven things up, but on the other hand, they unfortunately also reinforce the effect of having just defeated certain enemies (felt for the 10th time). One should address this and try to keep dynamic quests almost completely separate from regular tasks.
Atmosphere: Graphics and immersion
Let’s start with the positives. Graphically speaking, I find Dragon’s Prophet mostly quite gorgeous, at least on maximum details: Although it may come off better in some other games, I believe it is quite far from causing eye cancer. Just don’t expect ultra-modern graphics and live with some weaknesses, which include a somewhat inconsistent style: sometimes realistic, then stylistic – the graphic designers seemed to disagree.
The world of Auratia, however, is coherent and believable to a certain extent. The creatures are suitably integrated into the environment, so you’ll meet frogs, cranes, or water dragons near lakes and streams, bandits in remote camps, and so on. Unfortunately, many species appear over-proportioned here and there. Are they all that fertile or what?
The vastness of the game world is overwhelming, as the player is not only on the ground but also in the air. It goes very, very high up. If you now think that emptiness always haunts you at cloud height, you are mistaken. Even at an altitude of about 100 meters, you’ll sometimes encounter floating islands, tall mountains, or similar. You often have to complete tasks at such heights, which in turn makes the areas more appealing, as you sometimes land on plateaus that are again equipped with caves, monuments, and other objects.
What I personally find important is that the world feels alive. It does here, but unfortunately, the handling is not always consistent. Things move around you, and the day-night rhythm also benefits the atmosphere.
There’s also attention to small but fine details in some places. I can spontaneously think of the occasional fights between animals, which rarely occurs in many other games because apparently all beings love one another. And even when you walk over grasses and plants as a player, this has an influence, and you see how the green friends under you move after each step.
It is also worth mentioning that with a clever travel system, the game occasionally takes a break from its pace, allowing you to attend to other things: Why not talk to the player next door about ongoing alliances or simply enjoy the surroundings? With trains like the Polar Express and airships, you can travel from one area to another – however, they do not run constantly, so sometimes it takes 2-3 minutes before it is said: “Please board, the journey will begin shortly!”
Please board and don’t be surprised: The train drives itself 🙂
Unfortunately, the immersion goes lost because “the concept did not reach the destination”. Waiting for the next trip is boring, as you rarely encounter other players at the stops, which is probably due to the large world. Theoretically, it would be possible to make up for the time with mini-games or similar, but unfortunately, there aren’t any! Moreover, the public transport is controlled completely automatically. Pretty spooky, right?
The developer hasn’t always succeeded in creating a world that feels unique. You get the feeling that especially in the beginnings, a lot has been seen before. A fantasy setting that too rarely surprises with beautiful scenarios.
It would probably have been better to make the areas a bit smaller; in return, more attention could have been paid to the nuances. I felt, especially in the oversized cities, where there are too many, like a little lonely ant on an exploration tour. Like I said, there are players around, but the world could really use a few more.
Winterflut is discovered beyond level 50…
Moreover, I do not understand why the environment hardly changes up to level 50 and keeps the same color scheme. Why do the desert, ice, and volcano areas only start to gradually appear after about 50 levels, which subsequently brings a bit of variety to the game?
Housing, Frontier System, and PvP
First, it is possible to settle in Dragon’s Prophet and claim an apartment, regular house, or even a villa for yourself. In the Auratian sky realm, you will find areas where players can settle, and after purchasing the land, fulfill the wish for their own home.
My alter ego, my dragon, my house!
Of course, you can beautify your home with various decorative items. It is also practical to be able to take in boosts or practice professions by placing the necessary tools. There’s still room for improvement here. On the islands designated for this purpose, construction was active, but there seem to be too few incentives to keep coming back – it almost resembles a ghost town. This is probably because it is a “world of its own” and players are busy with their tasks on other maps. There is a need for optimization in this respect. I want real neighbors!
The Frontier System consists initially of an ongoing conflict between alliances, where islands are attacked and defended on specially designed terrain. In several phases, the goal is to gain the upper hand by taking over crystals on islands and gaining victory points by killing enemy players. This part describes the Citadel System and is probably the most eventful spectacle in territory warfare.
After a successful takeover, a Highlord is crowned, who is responsible for managing and defending the claimed sky island, for which various defensive structures are needed. Taxes must also be levied because this endeavor is not cheap. The question then is whether a possibly too high tax rate is justified, which can lead to tensions.
Frontier System: Exciting battles between alliances!
Rewards are also not lacking here; for example, useful items can be acquired that allow summoning tamable Legendary Dragons. A rather complex system, yet unfortunately, the game lacks sufficient explanations for it.
PvP is already fun due to the real-time combat system, but I found that during my daring excursions outside the safe zones, battles are extremely brief. Often, just one combo is enough to kill the opponent. In addition, the engine’s performance in larger player groups still leaves much to be desired, and the dragon battles in the air are too imprecise and thus almost pointless. The mounted combat is, however, still quite fresh.
Some will painfully miss an alternative to open PvP. Instanced battlefields like arenas, which are standard in the genre, unfortunately do not exist at this time.
Nevertheless, it is commendable to program content that is virtually never-ending, continuously providing new situations and allowing players to exert influence on their environment.
You will notice that the PvP is still in its infancy, but good approaches are in place – the question is whether the footprints aren’t too big to follow comfortably.
The conclusion to Dragon’s Prophet
I am a bit conflicted. The dragon MMO oscillates between genius and madness, because after all, we have a companion system that is second to none and without a doubt the best in the genre.
But the not always smooth implementation outside of the dragon features and the boring quests leave me no choice but to recommend the game only conditionally, with the note that Dragon’s Prophet is a young wine that still needs to mature. Time is a precious commodity, and it clearly shows in several areas: there just wasn’t enough of it.
The combat system is fun, the territory wars lead to exciting combat between players, the customization is profound, and so on and so forth – but all the features have something in common: the polish is missing, and so is some love for detail. Good ideas, just not fully thought out.
However, for those who love online role-playing games with companions and have spent nights playing Pokemon, this MMORPG is practically a must. If it doesn’t manage to convince, where lies the problem? After all, it’s free to play – at least it’s enough to get a good impression.
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For those who wish for a smooth start, we recommend the starter package for Dragon’s Prophet, which is available for about €10 and provides the player with useful in-game items. These would otherwise cost more than €20 when bought normally. Furthermore, you also get a nice box for the game.
![Dragon's Prophet - [PC]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51FZem25TTL._SL160_.jpg)
*Affiliate-Links. Wir erhalten bei einem Kauf eine kleine Provision von Amazon. Vielen Dank für Eure Unterstützung!
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The game is free and accessible to everyone without further ado. The question is whether the model is indeed fair. Essentially, you can achieve everything in Dragon’s Prophet without payment, but there are definitely a few points that could significantly dampen the gaming experience.
The spaces in the backpack and dragon enclosure are very limited, for example. After a while, you will likely become extremely annoyed being limited in these aspects. For me personally, it was already too much, and I had no choice but to expand these spaces eventually. Fortunately, it is very inexpensive and costs only a few euros, especially if you combine it with a promotion. Therefore, I find that acceptable because an MMORPG cannot be financed without revenue.
What annoys me the most is that you have to pay for the port to the dungeons when you are on another map and do not want to travel for too long. This is probably the reason why group matchmaking via the group finder simply doesn’t work – getting to the destination can be quite cumbersome depending on your location, unless you pay for direct transport with diamonds or use a transport rune.
There’s a reason why no known F2P game, except Dragon’s Prophet, generally asks for money for this. Fairly, I must say that you can also earn the transport runes in-game, but then you are short on tokens elsewhere, which are more important. Those are better spent on upgrading equipment, which is also not exactly cheap.
However, I must also give some praise to the publisher Infernum at this point. They continuously distribute gifts to active players, which I have never experienced to this extent.
Moreover, you can also trade item shop items with other players, which of course benefits frequent players. All in all, a good free to play model with some weaknesses.
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[intense_icon type=”cogs” size=”1″ color=”#000000″ /]Minimum system requirements:
CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz or equivalent
Graphics Card: Nvidia 8600 GT or equivalent
RAM: 2 GB
Hard Drive: 20 GB of free storage space
Operating System: Windows 7, 8, or Vista
[intense_icon type=”cogs” size=”1″ color=”#000000″ /]Recommended configuration:
CPU: i3 3220 3.3 GHz Dual Core or equivalent
Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 460 / AMD HD 5850 or equivalent
RAM: 8 GB
Hard Drive: 20 GB of free storage space
Operating System: Windows 7, 8, or Vista
