Perfect World: Malystryx turns 89, finally
March 16, 2008 by Joel Tan
Filed under Asian MMO, Asian MMO Players, Level Up! Games, MMORPG, My World, Perfect World, Random Rants
At last! The baby is now a lady, that is, if you can call her that … a baby, I mean. After, hmmm, almost nine months of playing Perfect World, my main character, Malystryx, is now Level 89.
Why the big fuss over reaching Level 89? Well, in Perfect World, Level 89 represents the pinnacle of your character’s life and the beginning of a new one. You see, aside from levels, characters in this game also go through several stages called Esteem, which determines what skills he or she can learn. Of course, you can’t gain Esteem levels if you don’t take the Cultivation quests. What are these Cultivation quests?
To simplify my explanation, here’s an excerpt from an article I wrote for a local gaming magazine about Esteem and Cultivation:
One of the most intriguing aspects of Perfect World is the fact that you need to level up an attribute called “Esteem” to access more skills for your character. Some players, however, will readily contests the use of the word “intriguing,” as the trials they go through to level up cultivation is no walk in the park.
Esteem reflects your avatar’s growth, his or her understanding of the world, and how the actions of one being affects others, on the path to enlightenment. Hence, your character’s cultivation will frequently be put to the test in the game as immortals pit you against both physical and mental obstacles.
For simplicity’s sake, the game’s local publisher, Level Up! Games, translated or changed the names of the cultivation levels. Closed-beta test players are familiar with words like Harmonious Union and Primordial Infant but are growing accustomed to calling them by simpler, one-word names like Starting, Cunning, Attuned, Lucid, Enigmatic, Forbidding, and Sinister.
Each cultivation quest automatically starts whenever your character reaches base levels with the number “9.” For example, the shift from Steadfast, the first cultivation level after Starting, to Cunning is at Level 9. The next cultivation level is at 19, and then another at 29, until you reach the magic number 89, when you will be asked to choose between Heaven and Hell, or Sublime and Diabolic.
If you want to learn more about Perfect World cultivation quests, there’s a step-by-step guide, from Starting to Nirvana, here. I’ll write about the advantages and disadvantages of hitting Level 89 in a subsequent article. For now, let me enjoy every moment of being Diabolic.
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Check out what others are saying about this post...[...] While the Chinese and the Japanese enjoy the wonders of Zhu Xian, I’m stuck with an older version of Perfect World. I really hope Level Up! Games, the Philippine publisher of Perfect World, patches the game soon. There really isn’t anything more to do in-game when you reach Level 89. [...]