A while back, I talked about the incredible diversity Istaria has. I'd like to expand on that a bit by talking some about the classes themselves. An in-depth description of them can be found at Istaria's wiki site: http://istaria.wikia.com/wiki/Schools. Although personally my two main characters are a solo class warrior human and a dragon, a myriad of adventure combinations are available. As with biped crafting, biped adventuring is very broad in scope, with all sorts of combinations available. You are not limited to having only one class, and indeed many prestige adventure classes require skills from several basic classes. Each adventure class brings it's own benefits and drawbacks to a character build. While single class characters are rare, they are still as capable as multiclass characters. However, multiclassing allows you to better fine-tune your character to your liking. Unlike craft classes though, multiclassing adventure schools does have a significant effect as time progresses. The benefits of having multiple classes mean the character has an overall higher adventure rating than the actual class level. This, in turn, means that experience is awarded based on the adventure rating, not class level. So, a rating 16 character may have a current adventure class of 2 (having just picked it up), but may require hunting creatures many levels higher for decent experience. This may pose problems if the class rating is significantly lower than the entire adventure rating. However, in those circumstances, finding a group of characters to hunt together often results in better overall effectiveness, not only for the individual but for the party as well.

Istaria also has the opportunity to forget adventure classes. For example, a character has three adventure classes, one of which is a prestige class. After several dozen levels, the player may decide to drop the basic classes as the prestige class is preferred. A couple quests and the basic classes are gone. This does come with the drawback of losing certain abilities and skills associated with the classes being forgotten, but if a person can handle them, there is no need to have extra adventure classes affecting overall rating if those classes are not intended to be used.

For more information or to test the waters with a trial or demo account, please visit http://www.istaria.com.