At this point, there are so many varieties of the Lineage series that my eyes are about to cross themselves. Between mobile versions, the original, and its sequel, you’d be hard-pressed to wonder if the MMO world needed another variant of the game. Yet here we are in a brave new world where yet another form of Lineage II exists.
Meet Lineage 2 Essence, a new free-to-play Lineage title distributed on the 4game platform. This version of the MMORPG boasts all of the features the MMORPG is known for without the extra grinding, including accelerated leveling and auto-hunting, open world raid bosses, six races and 34 classes to pick from, and “no need to have multiple accounts for the comfortable play” according to the press release we received. It effectively reads like a condensed and concentrated form of Lineage 2 for those who don’t have a lot of time on their hands.
As for the original Lineage II game itself, there’s a promotion going on now where players can collect forgotten spellbooks to grant themselves buffs to physical and magical attack, armor defense, and elemental guard and vitalizing. Furthermore, all of these books can be enhanced with SP and Adena costs to reach even greater buffs, though reaching the higher tiers will require Chapter 2 and Chapter 3 of the appropriate book.
These spellbooks are, effectively, lootboxes that have a random chance to grant you one spellbook of a specific buff type of either Chapter 1-3, combining the “great” tastes of gamblebox mechanics and pay-to-power mechanics in one hellish stew. The one bright spot is that these items are only available until Wednesday, October 16th.
