Atlantica Online: Mars Rider Rolls Out

Move over Mercury Rider, the Mars Rider is rolling out! For the clueless few, both the Mercury and Mars Riders are mounts in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Atlantica Online. Actually, they’re not mounts in the real sense of the word but more of vehicles. The Mercury Rider looks like a giant space suit while the Mars Rider is a futuristic hover bike. Why the two are classified under “mounts” is beyond me.

Anyway, going back to the announcement … yes, the Mars Rider is out and a lot of them are already rolling (rather, hovering) on the streets of Atlantica Online’s six servers—Sikyon, Mycenae, Thebes, Macedon, Argos and Delphi.

Compared to the awkward-looking Mercury Rider, the Mars Rider is sleek and sexy, and doesn’t leave you feeling left out when in the company of other player characters that ride other mounts like the Unicorn (Pegasus *cough, cough*), which was launched a few weeks ago, and Helios’ Griffin.

Take a gander at the Mars Rider and drool:

Check out the Mars Rider’s other features after the jump.

On top of being a cool ride, the Mars Rider has the power to boot, giving your character a decent boost, 330-430, to attack power or damage, and bonuses to strength and dexterity (+130 each) and vitality (+190). The 3900-point increase in defense and 20 percent movement speed bonus aren’t things to balk at either.

The Mars Rider’s stats are by far the highest in Atlantica Online. The closest to it in terms of attributes is the Unicorn, which gives the following bonuses: Attack Power: 320-420, Strength: +120, Dexterity: +120, Vitality: +180, Defense: 3600, Movement Speed Increase: 20 percent.

So what do you need to own a Mars Rider in Atlantica Online? First, you need to purchase Ares’ War Kit from the item mall for 999 Gcoins, roughly USD 10, and then, just like any box you get from the item mall in this game and other online games, it’s hit and miss from there.

Don’t worry, though, as you won’t come up empty handed with every Ares’ War Kit you open. Here’s a short list of the items you can get from Atlantica Online’s Ares’ War Kit:

• 1 Armed Mount Box (from which you can get one of three armed mounts—Byzantine Elephane, Volcanic Raptor and Snow Tiger).
• 1 Ancient Skill Book Box II (your choice of 10 Ancient Skill Books that give 1,000,000 experience points to one mercenary or 50 pieces of one jewel type—Dragon, Giant, Redemption or Phoenix).
• 1 Water of Life Box (your choice of 200 Waters of Life, which revive all fallen mercenaries and their hitpoints, or 50 jewels of the types mentioned above).
• 1 or 3 or 10 Ares’ War Kit!

Actually, the list is a bit long, and repetitive, I might add. So for those interested in poring over the text, hie off to Atlantica Online’s announcement on the Mars Rider’s roll out.

Many thanks to Pacquiao (not the real Manny Pacquiao, although sometimes we think he’s a real deal with the amount he’s spending on his character) of Atlantica Online Delphi server’s ADIK guild for posing with his Mars Rider.