Wednesday 17 March 2010

Ding 1 Year!

Post soundtrack: “Happy Birthday” by Weird Al Yankovic

It came as something of a surprise to me when I was browsing my old posts a couple of weeks ago, and realised that this blog is about to hit it’s first birthday.  Yes, 12 months ago I started off with my first post, Who/Where/What?

A gnome in transit

Now that I’ve over a hundred posts under my belt (this is not only my anniversary post, but also post #103 – I didn’t notice that my Single Abstract Noun post was #100) the question of where to go next raises its head.

Since I started writing, I’ve raided through Ulduar (where Blizzard made vehicles briefly fun and exciting) and ToC (where Blizzard showed us just how boring they could make a raid if they thought they could get away with it – and get away with it they did), and entered ICC (where I managed to get in a few disappointing attempts on Festergut and Rotface before I gave up on raiding in an effort to preserve some love for the game).

I’ve gone from a fulltime raider in a hard-core raiding guild (Tempest, I miss you) to a raider in a not quite as capable guild (I should really /gquit from it actually, considering how little time I spend online on those characters) and now I’m taking thing easy in what’s mostly a social and levelling guild (probably the best place to be, when the game starts feeling dull).

I purchased a new gamecard today, so I think it can be taken as said that I’ve reclaimed some degree of interest in playing the game – while rolling new characters can be fun, I think it’s interacting with these curious new people I’m guilded with that has made the biggest difference.  The difference between a silent guild chat and the rather more vocal SAN guild chat has make a remarkable difference in my enjoyment of the game, even when I’m just levelling solo as I tend to do.  (I’ve even briefly popped onto the unofficial guild vent server to say hi to people – if you didn’t know better, you’d think I was much more socially inclined than I actually am)

I’m not looking too far into the future of my new characters – I’ve no idea if I’ll try raiding again, and to be honest the thought of the large number of heroics needed to gear up a new level 80 isn’t all that appealing (I’m kind of writing off my characters on Dath’remar, as I just don’t have the social network there to keep me there – they may be revisited in Cataclysm, but my enthusiasm to do so at the moment is minimal currently)

So I guess this is my “casual season,” while I bide my time and see where Blizz takes the game next.  I’ll admit it’s tempting to buy into the “Cataclysm will fix everything!” meme that seems to be spreading lately, however it’s not only too early to start speculating but it’s also quite likely that they indeed won’t fix everything – Blizz aren’t perfect, after all.  But they may bring enough changes and improvements to Azeroth that they’ll make new characters more pleasure than chore to play.

What better rite-of-passage than your character's first haircut?

While I’ve been taking things in a more relaxed manner with NewPringle and NewMingle (my new dwarf priest on Argent Dawn), I’ve been taking the time to give new games a try, such as Batman: Arkham Asylum which I picked up last weekend on special on Steam.  I’m also looking at some other old games that I didn’t give much time to or didn’t buy when they came out, with an eye to giving them a try this time round – my copy of GTA4 would be a good example of this, as my pc was a tad underpowered for it at the time and I didn’t put much playtime into it as a result.

So that’s where I am now, in quite a different mental space to where I was when I started writing.  Change happens, both in people and in the games they play, and blogging about the changes has proven to be surprisingly fun – you can take that to mean I’ll keep on going (although there will probably be a lot more “Look where my characters are now!” filler posts – you’ve been warned!).

For now?  I guess I should log back onto NewMingle, as she’s got a long way to go.  But it looks like it’ll be a fun trip, and having good company while you travel usually tends to make those long journeys more enjoyable.

It's a big world for a little virtual character, but it's a fun place to spend your time

/wave

Sunday 14 March 2010

Disc Priest PvP Gear – 3.3 Edition

Post soundtrack: “I Put A Spell On You” by Nina Simone

Update: new list for 4.0.1 here

Well, this post has been a long time coming – I blame the distraction of Star Trek and being put off WoW by ICC. (For reference see the old guide, parts 1, 2, 2.5 and 3)

For the final tier of pvp gear of the expansion...  it's oddly disappointing, isn't it?

This is simply a list of what’s now available in each slot, where to get it, and how much the items cost. I’m also including 5-man PvE weapons, off-hands and wands for players new to 80 who need to get items from somewhere. For enchants and gems for your gear, my old list here should still be accurate enough.

For reference, don’t forget the good old crafted Frostsavage set when you’re starting out. It may be pretty awful in comparison to the current tiers of gear, but resilience is still pretty much essential for any form of longevity.

The new top tier PvP gear is the Wrathful Gladiator’s Investiture. The introduction of this set means the previous top tier, Relentless Gladiator, is now available for purchase with emblems of frost or honor+arena points. Furious Gladiator, the tier below, can now be purchased with emblems of triumph or honor points. The lower tiers are now effectively obsolete, thanks to the ease of acquiring triumph emblems, and won’t be included in the list.

Also note that, in the interest of brevity, I’ve only listed a single item (usually Salvation) where there are multiple variants (such as wrathful cloaks, which have Ascendancy, Deliverance, Dominance, Salvation and Subjugation variants for casters).

Abbreviations:
AP = Arena Points
AR = Arena Rating Required
CS = Champion's Seal
Frost = Emblem of Frost
HP = Honor Points
Triumph = Emblem of Triumph
WGMoH = Wintergrasp Mark of Honor

Head ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Mooncloth Hood 270 2370AP (1950ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Mooncloth Hood 251 95 Frost or 13200HP+770AP
Furious Gladiator’s Mooncloth Hood 232 75 Triumph or 54500HP
Titan-Forged Hood of Salvation 200 40 WGMoH
Frostsavage Cowl 187 Crafted

The Wintergrasp helm isn’t really worth bothering with – save your marks for other Titan-Forged items.

Shoulder ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Mooncloth Mantle 270 1930AP (2000ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Mooncloth Mantle 251 60 Frost or 10550HP+600AP
Titan-Forged Shoulderpads of Salvation 251 40WGMoH
Furious Gladiator’s Mooncloth Mantle 232 50 Triumph or 34700HP
Frostsavage Shoulders 187 Crafted

The Wintergrasp item this time is actually well worth the cost. Recommended pick.

Chest ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Mooncloth Robe 270 2370 AP (1600ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Mooncloth Robe 251 95 Frost or 13200HP+770AP
Furious Gladiator’s Mooncloth Robe 232 75 Triumph or 54500HP
Titan-Forged Raiment of Salvation 213 40WGMoH
Frostsavage Robe 187 Crafted

You’re better off missing the Wintergrasp chest this time, unless you have marks to spare.

Hands ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Mooncloth Gloves 270 1430AP (1400ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Mooncloth Gloves 251 60 Frost or 8000HP+440AP
Furious Gladiator’s Mooncloth Gloves 232 50 Triumph or 43300HP
Frostsavage Gloves 187 Crafted

No Wintergrasp alternative? What a pity…

Legs ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Mooncloth Leggings 270 2370AP (1500ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Mooncloth Leggings 251 95 Frost or 13200HP+770AP
Furious Gladiator’s Mooncloth Leggings 232 75 Triumph or 34700HP
Titan-Forged Cloth Leggings of Salvation 232 40WGMoH
Frostsavage Leggings 187 Crafted

It’s a toss-up – 40 marks is costly, but they are ilvl232…

Back ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Cloak of Salvation 264 52200HP
Relentless Gladiator’s Cloak of Salvation 245 26100HP
Titan-Forged Cloak of Ascendancy 245 25WGMoH
Cloak of Crimson Snow 200 Crafted

Another good purchase.

Wrist ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Cuffs of Salvation 264 43400HP
Relentless Gladiator’s Cuffs of Salvation 245 21700HP
Titan-Forged Cuffs of Salvation 226 15WGMoH
Frostsavage Bracers 187 Crafted

Up to you – 21k honor doesn’t take long to make, but then neither does 15 marks…

Waist ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Cord of Salvation 264 68200HP (1300ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Cord of Salvation 245 34100HP
Titan-Forged Cord of Salvation 213 15WGMoH
Frostsavage Belt 187 Crafted

Another one where convenience decides.

Feet ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Treads of Salvation 264 68200HP (1400ARR)
Relentless Gladiator’s Treads of Salvation 245 34100HP
Titan-Forged Slippers of Salvation 200 15WGMoH
Frostsavage Slippers 187 Crafted

15 marks for ilvl 200? If you have marks to spare, go for it. Otherwise spend the honor for the shiny pair of ilvl 245 boots.

Amulet ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Pendant of Salvation 264 52200HP
Relentless Gladiator’s Pendant of Salvation 245 26100HP
Titan-Forged Pendant of Ascendancy 245 25WGMoH
Sky Sapphire Amulet 200 Crafted

Another good WG pick.

Rings ilvl Cost
Wrathful Gladiator’s Band of Dominance 264 52200
Relentless Gladiator’s Band of Ascendancy 245 26100
Titan-Forged Band of Ascendancy 226 15WGMoH
Runed Mana Band 200 Crafted
Savage Titanium Band 187 Crafted

As a placeholder, the WG ring is useful until you can afford the Wrathful and Relentless rings.

Trinkets ilvl Cost
Battlemaster’s Ruination 245 34100HP
Medallion of the Alliance (horde version) 226 68200HP
Platinum Disks of Sorcery 213 25WGMoH
Titan-Forged Rune of Audacity 213 25WGMoH
Flow of Knowledge 200 25WGMoH
Jouster’s Fury (horde version) 200 10CS

The Rune of Audacity is a great early pick, for the on-use freedom effect, and either Flow of Knowledge or the Platinum Disks are a easy way to pick up extra resilience.

PvE Weapons ilvl Source
Surgeon’s Needle 232 Pit of Saron (H)
Spectral Kris 219 Trial of the Champion (H)
Chilled Heart of the Glacier 219 Halls of Reflection (N)
Titansteel Spellblade 200 Crafted
Mariel’s Sorrow 219 Trial of the Champion (H)
Bone Golem Scapula 219 Halls of Reflection (N)
War Mace of Unrequited Love 200 The Nexus (H)
Titansteel Guardian 200 Crafted
Engraved Gargoyle Femur 232 Pit of Saron (H)
Blood Boil Lancet 219 The Forge of Souls (N)
Staff of Draconic Combat 200 The Oculus (H)

The crafted weapons are convenient (and probably a little less expensive, with the changes coming to titansteel creation), but still may be costly for some players. LFD is your friend!

PvE Off-hands ilvl Source
Shriveled Heart 232 Halls of Reflection (H)
Iron-bound Tome 200 Crafted
Frostbridge Orb 200 The Oculus BoE
Prison Manifest 200 Violet Hold BoE

A few options, but the Heart is your best bet (provided it wants to drop for you).

PvE Wands ilvl Source
Nightmare Ender 264 ICC BoE Drop
Brimstone Igniter 245 25 Triumph
Soulsplinter 232 Halls of Reflection (H)
Coffin Nail 219 FoS/PoS/HoR (N)
Rod of the Fallen Monarch 200 Azjol-Nerub (H)
Wand of Ahn’kahet 200 The Old Kingdom (H)
Incessant Torch 175 Violet Hold BoE
Gwyneth’s Runed Dragonwand 174 World BoE

It’s worth grinding out the emblems to buy the Igniter (and likely won’t take that long).

And there you go. Hopefully it’ll be of use to someone out there.

/wave

[updated to add the Brimstone Igniter – thanks for pointing that out Spiritu!]

Wednesday 10 March 2010

SAN: New Things, New Dungeons

Post soundtrack: “One O’clock Jump” by the Count Basie Orchestra

So this is what low-level rogue play is like?  It’s been so long I’d almost forgotten.  No poisons until level 20, no Vanish or Distract until 22, even Sap isn’t available until level 10…  But on the plus side, they’ve changed things so you start with Dual-Wield, so it’s all good (or good enough).  Pringle has endured, and at level 34 she’s slowly turning into a real rogue.

To think, gnomes may actually finish reclaiming their capitol...  But what are the chances the bridge in Redridge will still be unfinished?

There’s one thing that’s really caught me by surprise, and that’s the ease of running these low-level dungeons via the LFD tool.  Since I started leveling Pringle I’ve completed Razorfen Kraul (for the first time in my 5 years of playing), Shadowfang Keep, Stockades, Gnomeregan, Scarlet Monastery Graveyard (which came up 11 times in a row – is that proof the LFD is really random?) and Scarlet Monastery Library.  Having them available on tap (without the need to traverse the world the way they used to) is proving to be a handy way to take a break from questing while still gaining experience.

One useful tip, if you plan on running these, is to keep track of what dungeons you’re eligible for and to go out of your way to pick up the quests for them before you run them.  This can lead to a bit of running back-and-forth for some dungeon quests (such as Stockades or Gnomer) but the rewards can be well worth the effort.

I’m considering getting Pringle to 40, buying her epic mount, and then putting time into Mingle so I can try my hand at healing some dungeons.  The idea of playing a tanking class is appealing, as that would get me into them faster, but I just don’t trust my sense of direction in there (at least at this stage) – running around some of those dungeons, you get the feeling they were designed by Escher.

For now though, time to go exploring Kalimdor (as I’m feeling the pinch of being between zones, questing-wise).

On the road again, I can't wait to get on the road again...

/wave

Saturday 6 March 2010

My <Single Abstract Noun> Post

Post soundtrack: “Europa And The Pirate Twins” by Thomas Dolby

After reading the post about Single Abstract Noun on Righteous Orbs, and then the post by Miss Medicina’s blog about the US branch, I’ve decided to invest one of my oh-so-precious character slots on a new character to play around with over there on Argent Dawn.

One shiny new gnome rogue.  Cold out here, innit?

Meet Pringle, my cute little kind-of-red-headed gnome rogue. (Hmm, I really need to process my backlog of screenshots – reclaiming the 6gb of space on what’s nominally my game drive would be most useful) I’ve also tentatively rolled up a dwarf priest and dwarf paladin, and may yet bring my alt priest over (she’s currently gathering dust on Blackrock along with a decent quantity of coinage).

It’s been a curious experience – not just revisiting the dwarf/gnome starting zone as a stubby little footstool gnome, but doing so with minimal resources.  Of course, gold is easy to come by – Pringle is now level 17, and has 53g income and 38g outgoings since she was created, giving her 15g in hand.

I’ve been approaching things in a slightly more laid-back manner while I’m levelling, unlike my usual motor-through-the-game style. Admittedly I’m still levelling fast, but it’s more due to the number of hours I’m logged on than to any claim to efficiency.  I’m considering getting Pringle to 20, buying her mount and some bags for my priest, and then putting some time into getting my priest up to the stage of my belf from my leveling-as-disc guide experiment (which ran head-first into a large quantity of inertia).

I gave up on Age of Conan as well, after purchasing my mount at level 40 and realising that the extremely grim tone of the game just…  Well, it was depressing, and not much fun for me.  I have to admit, I was missing the comic-relief you find so often in WoW.  It was fun while it lasted, but it just wasn’t something I was going to enjoy once the novelty wore off (which was around level 40).  So bye-bye AoC, welcome back WoW and SAN (at least, maybe welcome back – time will tell, I suspect).

I’ve also installed Aliens vs Predator (which finally arrived in the post) and quickly ran head-first into my dislike of jump-horror games (in the form of the Marine single-player campaign).  I was holding off trying the multiplayer component until I have some experience with the different classes from the campaigns, but I’ve just run out of enthusiasm for either at this stage.  (I think I bought the game almost entirely on the strength of limited LAN time spent head-shotting other players in AvP2, many many moons ago – I don’t even know if you can do that in the new game)  I guess much more play of this will probably remain a get-around-to-it-later thing for the time being.

On a related note, the multiplayer component of Bioshock 2 is mildly fun on team-based maps, but I wouldn’t want to waste time in deathmatch or other non-teambased play thanks to the complete lack of ranked player matching.  I mean, you start multiplayer as level 1, and it takes time to reach level 40 and unlock everything. When you can end up matched against level 40 players when you are level 1 it does kind of look like multiplayer is kind of broken.  And the upcoming multiplayer DLC that ups the level cap to 50 and adds new weapon upgrades looks like it’ll only make things worse for new players, unless level 50 players are limited to play with other high-level players.  I’ll admit it is mildly entertaining mindless fun, though; I just have other more interesting things to do and games to play.

And for now though, I have a gnome to continue leveling.

I'm sure you'll be seeing me again soon - I'm cute, donchaknow?

(It’s amazing the difference a haircut makes)

/wave

Tuesday 2 March 2010

Another Week, Another MMO: AoC

Post soundtrack: “Oriental Smile” by Paolo Fedreghini & Marco Bianchi

Well, my brief dalliance with Allods Online has been and gone, and I’ve moved on to something older (and more honest – they may be backtracking, but I’m not emotionally investing myself in a character they want me to pay by the hour to play).  I’ve also tidied up loose ends in STO (putting my two characters surplus of currency in the fleet bank) ready for my account there to run out of gametime (regardless of odd marketing decisions from Atari and Cryptic).

It's the login screen.  What more can I say?

So I’ve started playing Age of Conan, having picked up a ridiculously cheap copy on special (which was cheaper than the bandwidth required to download the trial).  And it’s proving fun, in a rather visceral kind of way.  Expect overblown dramatics, unfamiliar-sounding names and locations, and lots of violence.  Season with extra game development post-launch. Top with a surprisingly deep combat system (including amusingly hokey ‘fatalities’).  And you have a recipe for a surprisingly fun timesink.

Out of habit, I started by rolling a stealth class – in this case, an Aquilonian assassin.  Meet Kayardia – although you might want to keep a hand on your coinpurse, and be sure to count your fingers afterwards if you shake hands.

Looking at her, I keeping thinking she needs to steal a good meal or three

Although the game is at its heart just another fantasy MMO like WoW, the differences in it's approach are quickly apparent.  The visual differences are most obvious; where WoW went with a more stylised look, AoC went for a much more realistic look (which has taken quite a bit of adjustment on my part, to get used to).

For one thing, the armor and weapons are believable (apart from odd issues with head armor graphics, mostly designed to avoid clipping issue I suspect) – seriously, look at WoW’s high-tier shoulders and helms, and tell me with a straight face that the character would be able to turn their head (or even stand up, bearing that much weight).  Player and npc models are accurately proportioned, and often well animated (although I would have liked to have seen the option to have a less skinny female model, especially for melee classes).

Sunny Tortage!  Come for the shipwreck, stay for the bloody revolution!

The starting zone for new characters, one of the Baracha Isles, is a self-contained zone containing the town of Tortage and the White Sands Isle.  Questing through these two areas will get your character up to level 20, at which stage you can leave for the wide world of Hyboria and promptly get lost (like I did). The initial starting area (you wash up on a beach, and have to then trek to the town of Tortage through the jungle through pirates, poachers, picts, and demons) gives you enough of information on how to play that you don’t get in over your head – too much.

I was initially surprised at how many quests are quite thematically dark, although with some reflection (and some cynical recognition that the game is supposed to be ‘mature’) you can understand (or rationalise) this in a world where there is little or no law beyond that with an individual is able to purchase with their own strength (and the social place of slaves isn’t enviable).

One criteria I have in games is the "Spider Test".  Namely, do they make me jump?  AoC passes (with flying colours)

Gathering (or as the game refers to them, harvesting) professions become available at level 20, and curiously all six can all be learnt by your character.  Mining (for metals such as copper), Prospecting (for valuable metals such as silver), Stonecutting (for rock), and Woodcutting (which is fairly obvious) are all straightforward and mostly the same as in WoW.  Weaving is initially leveled by collecting cotton (an environmental spawn, like the others), but the higher tiers require silk which is dropped by mobs.  Skinning is purely gathered by mob drops.

Harvesting quests (requiring collecting 20 of the resource for that tier) are available at level 20 for tier 1, level 50 for tier 2, and level 70 for the final third tier.  There are also ‘rare tier’ quests that need to be completed, requiring you to collect a rare drop of each resource type which occasionally drops in place of the normal resource (such as Ebon Ash instead of Ash for tier one woodcutting).

All done!  (Zug Zug)

The manner in which resources spawn in the game world is also curiously different.  The spawn points are fixed, and they regenerate over time.  When harvested, a normal item reduces the resource by 10% health, and rare items reduce it by 20%.  As I understand it, it takes around 30 minutes for the spawnpoint to return from 0% back to full.  So it’s actually pretty straightforward to plan a route around a map, and the ability to collect everything is a nice touch.

I haven’t been able to try my hand at the crafting professions yet, as they don’t become available until level 40.  The five professions are Weaponsmith, Armorsmith, Alchemist, Gemcutter, and Architect.  The last is connected to the system of in-game player housing that I’ve yet to look all that closely at, but apparently a guild city offers benefits for members of that guild.

Some monsters just look...  odd.

On the subject of combat, from the wiki:

In melee combat you have six different angles of attack; down against the head, diagonally down from the right, diagonally down from the left, thrust against the torso, diagonally up from the right and diagonally up from the left. Combining these angles you'll be able to create combos that can give additional damage and faster combat.

You don't choose a single target in melee combat, but instead you turn your character to the direction you wish to hit, and you attack from one of the six angles. Attacking from some of these angles allows you to hit more than one enemy at a time; dealing damage to all of them. The damage of the attack will then be spread out on all the enemies that you hit.

You can get a soft lock on a target, but this doesn't mean that you're within range of the target. You can attack from where you stand, but that doesn't mean that you will hit anything. When you strike, the underlying engine will decide whether you hit a target, several targets, or none at all.

It has a nice solid feel to it, especially on a stealthy class like Kay.  Initially you only have three attack directions to chose from (at lvl35 I still haven’t acquired the other three attacks), down against the head, and diagonally down from the left and right (selected by the keys 1, 2 and 3).  Then you have the choice of stronger attacks (not sure if these are the combos the game refers to – still trying to figure that out) which require pressing 1 2 or 3 (or for more advanced attacks, sometimes multiple directions in the correct sequence).

Believe it or not, I'm fighting spiders.  It's hard to tell when the lawn is so overgrown

Add a weakness mechanic, namely the Shield System, and combat takes on a nice degree of additional depth.  Again, from the wiki:

Part of the combat system in Age of Conan is the directional attacks, controlling every swing and strike, and working hand in hand with that is what we call the shield system. The shield system is simply a way of representing a lot of small things, like the guy who always tries to cover his right side or the monster that’s weak to frontal assaults.

Your enemy will focus their defense in certain areas, represented by a set of icons that surrounds them. The more of these icons that are on one side, the heavier his or her defense is on that side, and the less damage you will do when attacking that side.

Your opponent will constantly shift their defensive focus around depending on where you’re hitting, so mashing the same attack over and over again (or using the same combo over and over again) will quickly decrease its effectiveness. While not all enemies will use this defense system (and some may use it less than others), studying each foe carefully and noting its tendencies and mixing up your attacks will make for the most effective and most enjoyable gameplay.

It makes for challenging fights where you can react to the shifting weaknesses of your opponent – for example you may hit your target’s weak left side, after which that side gains shields and you follow with an attack to their now-weak right side.  The only downside I’m running into is a lack of keys and fingers – I’m reliant on the mouse to select combo attacks, as there’s not enough free keys left within reach (and my number of different combo attacks is growing slowly as I level).

exlion_sm

All in all, the game is quite absorbing.  It’s taking time to grasp some of the subtleties in the combat system, and I’ve a lot of new abbreviations to learn (such as the ones for all the race-specific class specialisations – PoM means Priest of Mitra, not Prayer of Mending, and Assassins are referred to as Sin, probably because there’d be something kind of disturbing about a raid advertising “LFM 1x Ass”).

Will I be playing after the 30 days that came with the box?  I’m not sure just yet, but the game is solid and the playerbase seems enthusiastic (and the fact the developers have an expansion in the pipeline is a very good sign).

Now for a few more screenshots to make it look like I’ve been busy.

Tortage by night still doesn't smell all that pleasant

The hearthstone equivalent, the Path of Asura

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valour

Where's a giant rolled up newspaper when you need it?

Looking good outside the walls of Tarantia

/wave