News from the Front 4/30

Wow, April is just about over.  This week saw the start of the new city siege system being tested.  Test #2 was held last night and was much improved compared to the first test.  I am putting together a video for next week.  Until then, on to the WAR community!

Mythic

• Keaven, one of the devs we had a chance to talk to during our trip, published a Developer Diary about the new city siege.
• A feedback thread was created for Test #1, it has some good posts to read.
• Mike Wyatt gives us a glimpse at possible future city changes.

New WAR Blog

• Welcome to Krosuss Say Burn.

Articles

• Gaarawarr posts an interview with The Andy Belford from our trip to Mythic.
• Krosuss gives us his thoughts about 1.3.5.
• This is madness! No it's actually Blog the Witch trying something new.
• Bootae writes about a 6 vs 6 event on Karak Norn.
• Gordon, not the Alf variety, talks about coming back to WAR.  Will he do it?  I think so.
• Maeve also makes a return to WAR, seems to contagious. 
• Skar writes a bit about losing.  I'm not sure what he means, as the only times I die are when destro cheats. 
• Blurring Shock would like to see better Tier 4 campaign rewards. I would agree that the campaign itself should be the meat of the game. 
• Just One More Unlock returns to WAR as well.  Seems like an epidemic has broken out. 
• Super Effective teams brings us a Zealot's guide to Bloodwrought Enclave.
• Grimnir has some great ideas to spruce up the Engineer career.
• i heart Gorefang shows some terrifying pictures.  Not safe for anybody.  Ok, it's just the new optional character heads from Asia which will make their way to WAR.

Videos

• Mykiel streamed the city siege tests last night live.  You can catch the recordings if you missed it.  Brett Favre.
• Jenive brings us A Squigs Tale.  It almost makes me not want to stomp them, almost.
• Gaiscioch took some video during the first city siege test.
• Roaming RvR video from Karak Norn.
• A look at a nice leveling grind spot.  Come for the info, stay for the Footloose music. 
• Very nice WP video from the Myrmidons on Volkmar.  Has an epic feel to it. 

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1.3.5 Features Part 2

In Part 1 we covered some of WAR's new features for the mini-map, looting and combat.  This time we will take a look at some city changes and the new options for your guild.  There are also a few pictures from the first City Siege test at the end.

One of the questions which will no doubt be asked when 1.3.5 launches is: Where did the trainers go?  Due to the "red plague", career/renown trainers and other npc's have returned to their capitals. Banks and Auction Houses have also been relocated in some cases.  I marked where they can be found on the maps below. 

Guilds were given a few more interesting options in 1.3.5.  More guild vault space (up to 60 slots) can be purchased by visiting the vault and clicking on the new tab.

The same goes for your personal bank space!

Another new option is that guilds can now reset their heraldry (standard/cape). You can find the option on the heraldry window.

The same goes for your choice of tactics.  The Purchased tab in the Guild tactics window should have a Respecialize button.

Mythic also made some interesting changes to world drops.  The class restrictions on many of the items has been removed.  Instead, the only limitation is the armor skill needed.  For example, my Engineer has the Light Armor skill, so he can use any of the drops which require it.  This only applies to world drops at this time. See below for a few examples.

As promised, a few shots from Tuesday nights city siege test!

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Pink for Tink

One common misconception about PvP focused games is that the players are just a bunch sociopath teenagers living in their parents basement.  Sometimes an event comes along that reminds me how untrue that stereotype can be.  It's a shame it had to be a sad occurrence.

Last week, one of my guildmates found out that her breast cancer had returned.  As terrible as this news was, it was actually very nice to see how the Badlands community reacted.  An event was held, Pink for Tink, and a lot of players came out to show their support.

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Vulture Lord Video

Last week, I participated in test of the Vulture Lord dungeon for the upcoming 1.3.5 patch.  The focus of the changes was on the purge mechanic and the 7th boss fight.  I took some video as we tested both, trailer style.  Continue on for the video.

NOTE: Added some notes about last nights city siege testing.



First, a word about last nights city siege testing.  I don't have much to report, as it was the first test and went as you might expect.  Many bugs were discovered, so it was a success.  The siege itself did not go well for our instance due to bugs and other issues.  I don't want to comment on how it all plays out and if it is fun until a later test.  

Back to the ToVL testing...

Overall, it was a fun night of testing.  That was actually the first time I had seen the 7th boss.  I had heard many horror stories about it though.  The revamped encounter seemed pretty solid and polished.  As for the purging, the changes should make it a much less frustrating experience.  Gone are the days of the griefing purge (hopefully).

Head on over to the patch notes and check out the Encounters section for all of the details.

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Watch the city siege testing as it happens

Mykiel, the video blogger, will be streaming tonight's city siege tests live via ustream.  If you were not selected to participate, this is the next best thing!  The show will start around 8pm est at this link.  Head on over to Mykiel's site for more details.  I should be around too, just look for a Dwarf Engineer who spends most of his time dead.

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1.3.5 Features

The new city siege system may be the biggest feature of the 1.3.5 patch, but it is just one of many interesting additions to Warhammer Online.  In this post, I will go over some of the other items that may have been overshadowed in the patch notes.  Read on for Part 1 of 1.3.5's features.

Part 2 is up.

Gutters. These mini-map indicators will help point the way to battlefield objectives and keeps.  No longer will you have to open up your world map to take a peek at where they are.  If you mouse-over an indicator, it will also give you its status and distance in feet or meters.

This feature can be enabled/disabled on the User Settings -> General tab.

Mount Info.  The tooltip for mounts has been improved.  Now it will detail the speed improvement and chance you can be knocked off of the mount.  This is actually good to know, as I didn't realize some of the differences.

Combat Lighting.  This is one of the mysterious changes, at least to me.  They added an option that causes characters to glow during combat.  A red glow means damage is being taken and a green glow means they are being healed.  Perhaps this is one of the changes they made for the Asian markets?

This feature can be enabled/disabled on the User Settings -> General tab. 

New Talismans.  Two new talismans have been added to the RvR medallion vendors.  One will increase your movement speed up to 6% and the other can reduce your AP costs by as much as 10%.  They are limited to Boots and Helmets, respectively.  The costs and benefits may change before hitting the live servers.

Looting.  To make looting your victims easier, Mythic has added a new key binding which will loot the nearest enemy (within a certain range).  When the key is pressed, it brings up the loot window.  Combined with a Loot All key, you never have to use your mouse.  Hopefully this does not encourage bots.

Still have a bunch more to cover, stay tuned for part 2 later this week!

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Gratuitous Discount

Over the weekend, the fine folks over as Positech sent me a little gift.  As an owner of Gratuitous Space Battles, I got a coupon code that gives half off of the game.  Since I don't need it, I'd like to give it away to one of you.  Read on for the details.

NOTE: Winner has been selected.

Gratuitous Space Battles is already affordable ($23,) but at $11 it is even more so.  If you're interested, just drop me an email at contests@weritsblog.com with GSB is the subject.  Tonight (my time) I'll randomly pick one and send off the code.  You will have to make the purchase within the next 24 hours else it will expire.

For more info about GSB, check out this past coverage.  Also, here is one of the newer videos I made for it. 

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Engineer in 1.3.5

In Warhammer Online's upcoming 1.3.5 patch the Engineer class will see a few changes. In recent history, many of the changes have not been positive for the class.  That is not the case this time, the changes are actually pretty good!  Let's take a look at the specifics and how it will actually affect the career.

First, the notes:

*Electromagnet: This ability will now use Ballistic Skill instead of Intelligence to determine defense chance.
* Friction Burn: This ability is now based on Ballistic Skill instead of Strength.
* Spanner Swipe: This ability is now based on Ballistic Skill instead of Strength.
* Spanner Swipe: This ability no longer requires the victim to be hexed before it snares them.
* Fixed numerous tooltip issues.
* Concussive Mine: Fixed an issue in which this Tactic would remove the Stagger granted from "Land Mine".

The changes primary deal with the Tinkerer mastery tree. That tree has been one of the major complaints about the class.  On live, skills in the tree are based on 4 different stats: ballistics, strength, willpower and intelligence.  Only one of those are actually stack-able by an engineer.  The result was some very poor abilities.

Changing some of them to be ballistics based is a great start to making the tinkerer tree viable.  What does this mean as far as damage goes?

My Ballistics: 964
My Total Ranged Power: +200dps
Tinkerer Tree: 15 points
------
Spanner Swipe on Live: 296 (hex required)
Spanner Swipe on PTS:  556 (no hex required)

Friction Burn on Live: 741 over 9 seconds
Friction Burn on PTS: 1158 over 9 seconds

Changing Electromagnet from intelligence to ballistics will result in the ability working successfully more often.

The damage increases are nice but that would make them overpowered.  Most importantly, the Tinkerer tree should become a bit more popular.  Destruction, prepare yourself for the return of magnet Engineers!

Another feature of the 1.3.5 patch is the addition of many new models for the scenario weapons.  My engineer wields one which was changed, you can see it below.

Overall I am pretty happy with the Engineer changes in 1.3.5. I have been playing around with the tinkerer tree for a little while and have been finding it quite enjoyable.  The career still needs a little bit more work, but it is in good shape.

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News from the Front 4/23

It's been a fun week as far as WAR goes.  Mythic unleashed the 1.3.5 patch notes upon an unsuspecting world.  While no patch is perfect, it is shaping up to be my favorite one yet.  Hopefully it will makes its way on to the live servers within a few weeks.  The WAR community seems to be pretty happy about it too.

Mythic

• The 1.3.5 patch notes are up for all to see.
• Mythic issues an apology for the recent billing troubles.  Those affected will be getting some sweet in-game items.
• As part of the apology, all players are getting 100% XP/Renown for 2 weeks.  Now is the time to break out those alts for some fast leveling!

Articles

• Blurring Shock takes a look at the avoidance stats in WAR.
• Gaarawarr posted the interview with Carrie from our trip to Mythic.
• Slurms ponders which class to play.  The correct answer is always a Dwarf.
• Wasdstomp is pretty happy with the extra renown... as am I.
• Shadow WAR, an elf disguised as a knight, talks a bit about the 1.3.5 patch notes.
• What's all this about a Red Plague?  Mykiel does the research for us. 
• Bootae is another big fan of the 1.3.5 patch.
• Zizlak thinks the patch notes are good too.  Yes, we will see more magnet Engineers :)
• Last week's Twisting Towers scenario... in pie chart form. 
• KruelWAR is a bit worried players will progress too fast.  I am too actually, hopefully something is in the works :)
• Erbse tries on a dress and goes Elf.  A nice detailed look at the Swordmaster career.  

Videos

• A very nicely edited RvR video from WAR Korea.  Now I want to play a Marauder.
• Black Orc action in Caledor Woods. The music is one of my favorite songs of all time, which alone makes it awesome. 
• Epic ORvR action in High Pass from Wirwindyo.
• The Siege of the Eternal Citadel. A look at some of the Destruction city boss fights, great video.
• MAUL0r1 is back with a video from an attack on the Altdorf Palace.
• Tomb of the Sky video (1080p) from WAR Poland.

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Whoa! 1.3.5 Patch Notes

That's a Joey Lawrence whoa, not a Matrix.  Last night, Mythic unveiled the patch notes for 1.3.5.  We already knew what to expect, or that's what we thought.  What we got was a mountain of improvements.  I am very excited about this patch!

There is, of course, a thread on the official forums discussing the patch notes.  I will save you some time and summarize it for you: "me me me me me me me me me me me me me me."  If you are feeling especially masochistic today, go check it out.

So why am I so excited about 1.3.5?

City Siege.  We've known about the new city siege for a while, but it is almost here!

Vault Space.  Players can now purchase more bank space.  As a cultivator, this is great news.

AFK Changes.  They have made some adjustments to reduce the amount of scenario AFKers, hopefully they help.

Class Balance.  Rune Priests and Zealots got a healing buff.  Sorc's and BW's were brought down a notch.  The changes for most other classes were slim.  This is exactly how they should do it, make a few changes then see how it plays out. 

Engineer Changes.  Electromagnet, Friction Burn and Spanner Swipe will now be based on the Ballistic stat.  This should mean the return of the Tinkerer Engineer! Also, Spanner Swipe does not need a target to be hexed anymore.

City Services.  Career trainers and merchants will now only be found in your capital city.  Seems like an effort to bring more players in to the city. Always nice to see a lot of players. 

Tomb of the Vulture Lord.  Several boss encounters were adjusted or fixed.  Should be great news for PvE players.

Purges.  The ToVL purge mechanic has been changed, should be a lot less frustrating to invade and be invaded.

Crests.  Current crests will be exchanged for an Ancient crest, worth 5 of the original.  Going forward, there will be a 1:1 downward conversion process.  This is also great news!  It should allow Mythic to add items to buy at every crest level rather than just Royal.

RvR Talismans.  Two new types of talismans are available from medallion merchants:  AP reduction and speed.  Very excited to have something else to spend RvR tokens on.

BoE PQ Rewards.  Items from Public Quest bags (PvE chapters, up to purple) will now be BoE. This will probably help out leveling characters and provide more options.

Armor Requirements.  It seems the class restrictions for many armor items have been removed.  I'm not quite sure what this means yet, could be interesting. 

Odjira.  Speed proc talismans from the Land of the Dead will now end if an ability is used.  Glad to see this change, it should still be useful as an escape tool though.

New Sounds.  New sounds have been added for when you receive mail and tell's.  I often miss them, so a sound should help quite a bit.  

There is still so much more in the patch notes.  If you are at work and being blocked, Bootae has posted the full notes on his blog.

The PTS is up and running, so be sure to check out the changes for yourself and give Mythic feedback.  Not sure how to get on the PTS? Check out this post.

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Speed Kills

In most combat, speed plays a very important part in the outcome.  If you can't catch or hit an enemy, it will be very difficult to defeat them.  This is especially true in PvP MMO's.  Warhammer Online provides a number of ways to alter your speed.  1.3.5 will have some interesting changes regarding speed.

As I mentioned, there are a number of ways to increase your speed in WAR.  There are abilities like Charge and Flee.  Tactics such as Run Away will give you a proc which increases your movement speed.  Standards have tactics which will give an aoe speed increase.  These are just a few examples, I'm sure there are more.

Of course, we can't forget Odjira.  It is the best of a whole line of speed enhancing fragments for boots found in the Land of the Dead.  It is quite popular, as a 60% speed increase is huge.  It is also silly if you have seen how fast players start moving around in combat.  There is a lingering concern about stacking these items and abilities for some crazy speeds.

I don't use Odjira on my characters for a few reasons.  One is I'm cheap.  On the AH it sells for a few hundred gold, no thanks.  Another is that the only way to get it myself would be in the Tomb of the Vulture Lord.  Since I don't go very often, this option is out unless I get very lucky.

In 1.3.5, Odjira will probably be receiving some balancing love.  We'll have to wait for the patch notes to know for sure.  While Odjira may be getting toned down, Mythic is adding some more options for increasing your movement speed.  Best of all, these new talismans can be obtained via RvR!

Nate, the combat and careers lead, dropped this bit of info on the forums:

I understand why you're concerned about the potential that's represented by these talismans, and I think that once you can try the PTS for 1.3.5 your concerns will be satisfactorily resolved.  However, since PTS isn't available yet, let me add some details into the discussion so that you have a better idea of what the scope of the talismans will be:

• 1% Runspeed costs 1 Recruit's medallion and lasts for 2 played hours.  Requires RR 3.
• 2% Runspeed costs 2 Scout's medallions and lasts for 4 played hours.  Requires RR 11.
• 4% Runspeed costs 8 Soldier's medallions and lasts for 6 played hours.  Requires RR 20.
• 6% Runspeed costs 25 Officer's medallions and lasts for 8 played hours.  Requires RR 30.
• All Runspeed talismans are Boot-only.

Please keep in mind that these are obviously tentative values and are subject to change over the course of PTS testing, but they do represent what we're looking at currently.

Finally, something else to spend some Officer medallions on.  Some players are a bit concerned about these talismans becoming a requirement rather than a choice.  Is 6% too much?  I'm not sure, so I guess that is a good sign. Are you willing to give up a talisman slot for a slight speed increase?

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Returning to WAR: World RvR

In last weeks Returning to WAR we looked at some of the changes combat has seen.  This week it is time to take a look at World (open) RvR.  It has undergone quite a few changes since launch.  With the new city siege system in 1.3.5, I expect to see a ton of world RvR.  Read on for what you need to know.

WAR Report.  The WAR Report gives you an overview of what is happening in each tier.  Next to your mini-map, you should see a small piece of paper, when used it will bring of the report.  It will give information such as any keep under attack, where there are a lot of players and even which PQ is popular at the moment.

Another benefit of the WAR report is you can get a free trip to the nearest warcamp once every 8 hours.  With Gyro-copter fuel costs being what they are, saving the silver is nice.  Be sure to check out the WAR Report (which comes with the client), it will get you to the action faster.

Fight Finder.  Before the WAR Report, I made this add-on.  It will basically monitors hot spots, which occur when several players fight.  These can range from small to large and will appear as a symbol on the map.  I really wanted a way to know when these occur without searching through the maps.  This add-on will notify you of hot spots and keep attacks using the RvR chat filter.

Keep Indicators.  On your map, you may see a bunch of stars underneath keep icons.  These stars represent the difficulty of attacking or defending a keep from your perspective.  If an enemy keep has 1 star, it should not be very challenging to take.  If your keep is under attack and has 5 stars, it will be a very difficult keep defense.

The more stars, the better the rewards for attacking and defending the keep.  Since forts are no longer in the campaign, Conqueror gear can be obtained by winning these difficult keeps.  In addition to better gear, more PQ bags will be available from keeps with more stars.

Field of Glory.  In an effort to improve world RvR rewards, Mythic added the Field of Glory buff to keeps and battlefield objectives.  When fighting near them, you will get a significant boost in the amount of renown and xp earned.  

There is a lot more to talk about, so this article will have a more few parts. Come back next week for sequel, The Search for more Rewards.  Ok, so that won't be the title, but Spaceballs is awesome.

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Mythic Trip: Conclusion... or is it?

Like all good things, our trip to Mythic had to come to an end.  We were lucky enough to speak with a number of Mythic developers, all of whom I'd like to thank for their time.  It was also great to meet my fellow bloggers, even if there was some singing involved.  There is one bit of news and a mystery that I have not mentioned yet...

Mythic has always been very good to its blogging community, as this trip is evidence of. They even want to make having bloggers down a more regular occurrence, perhaps once or twice a year!  There are no specifics yet, but all in due time.

During our tour of the office, we got to see nearly everyone.  There was one group of WAR developers that we couldn't talk with or even see what they were up to.  Who knows what they were working on?  It must be something good though :)

I was not sure what to expect during the tour of the Mythic offices, as I have never been inside a game studio before.  It is a pretty standard office, but with awesome decorations.  There was cool stuff everywhere.

One stop on the trip was the EA Store.  Yes, there is a game store in their office.  The best part is the EA games were sold at a discount!  I picked up Battlefield Bad Company 2 for $20 :)  Now I just need some time to play it.  There was also a nice WAR shirt which I had to have too.

Speaking of stuff, I have quite a few prizes to give away, including item codes, Collectors Editions and posters.  Stay tuned, in the next few weeks I'll start some contests to give them out.  First, I need to think of some fun contests.

While chatting with various Mythic folks, it became very clear that they are passionate about WAR.  It was suprising how much they actually played the game and knew the happenings on the servers.  While we may never know their in-game identities, they have likely fought with (or against) us on the battlefield.

Thanks to everyone at Mythic who made this possible.  I've been playing and blogging about WAR for almost 2 years now and it was great to see where 'the magic happens.'  Special thanks go out to Andy, who had to deal directly with us bloggers :)

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News from the Front 4/16

After taking a little vacation last week, the News from the Front has returned!  It has been a great two weeks.  A few of us bloggers visited to Mythic HQ and had a wonderful time.  This week, Mythic released the details on the new city siege system and it has been met with mostly positive responses.  Continue on for a look at what the WAR community has been up to!

Mythic

• They posted the details for the new RvR driven city siege!  I'm very excited to see this in action.
• The mechanics of auto-attack haste will be changed a bit in 1.3.5.  Great change as certain classes were getting pretty crazy.

Mythic Trip

• Check out the interviews from Gaarawarr, Mykiel, Shadow WAR and myself.  It should keep you busy for a large chunk of the day.

New Blogs

• Welcome to Thehealeroftru, Talk Nerdy to Me and Rudepox at WAR.

Articles

• One Shard takes some time to go over some of the positive aspects of WAR.  Nice read considering the last week or so Mythic has had.
• Fight on the Flag sings to an Orc. Is this the Enchantment under the Sea dance?
• Someone managed to get a screenshot of the new city siege in action. 
• WARgames is glad to see the new city siege, as the old one was not very fun.  I happen to agree, Stage 2 was not my idea of a good time.
• Blurring Shock wants to see some tanking stats on the scoreboard.  Me too!  It has been asked before and they've said it is a lot more work than it seems.  
• The Back Seat Dev wants to start up a 6 vs 6 tournament .
• Zizlak likes the city changes but is worried about bugs.  There is no aggro for the npc's, so hopefully that will lessen the risk of bugs. 
• Erbse is quite happy about the new auto-attack haste changes. 
• Shadow WAR, an evil scientist, is working on a new experiment.

Videos

• Another great video from Kill Frenzy.  It seems pimpin is indeed easy.  
• Tier 1 Chosen and Rage against the Machine. 
• Grimnir is back with the 6th installment of his add-on videos.
• Trailer for the Battle of Badlands community event, run by the Gaiscioch guild.
• Some new Ironclad video footage.  I hope this scenario comes back soon!
• How to 2 man Gunbad.  Music warning.
• Shadow Warrior footage from Gorfang.  Music Warning.

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Mythic Trip: Interview with the Producer

The final person I got to interview for before departing Mythic was the Producer, Carrie Gouskos.  She was able to sit down with us for a while and was more than happy to answer our questions.  Continue on for a few of mine.  Thanks Carrie!

In the interest of time, I am going to paraphrase her points, rather then transcribing it all.  Please keep that in mind.

Q:  In previous Producer Letter's, it was mentioned that you were looking to bring some aspects of the foreign WAR markets back to the US (EU?) version.  Can you elaborate?

• First and foremost, we are being very careful about only bringing back what is appropriate.  For example, grinding is a popular aspect of some games, which would not work as well in the US market.
• Another example of something that may not work so well is crafting resulting in the loss of a piece of armor.
• Some features will be purely optional.  The new character heads/hair are something they want to make available to US players, if they so choose.  Don't worry, Dwarves have not been altered. 
• Economic improvements are an aspect they would like to use in the US market.  It doesn't mean gold specifically, but more how players interact with each other.  More BoE items and Auction House improvements are an example of what they'd like to add.
• Money sinks are also an area they want to be careful with.  There may be some added in the future, but they do want to grandfather players in where possible.

Q:   The last Producer's letter didn't give use any new information on 1.3.6.  When will we be able to find out more?

• The April Producer's Letter, which is due out near the end of the month, should have some more details.

Q:  1.3.4 was about scenario weapons, 1.3.5 is about sieges, is there a general theme to 1.3.6?

• All she could divulge is that it may have something to do with items.  

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Mythic Trip: More City Details

The new city siege is probably the feature most people are excited about in 1.3.5.  Yesterday, Mythic posted the details on how the city siege will work.  It's a great read and the player response has been mostly positive.  I posted some of the Q and A about the city last week.  Now it is time to go into a bit more detail on what we can expect.

I'd like to focus in on a couple areas, namely city rewards and instances.  For even more details, check out Shadow WAR, Mykiel and Gaarawarr.

NOTE:  This is all subject to change

City Rewards.  The city is still divided into 3 stages which represent a reward tier: Stage 1 is Invader, 2 is Warlord and 3 is Royal (Sovereign).  Unlike the current system, all 3 stages will occur for each instance.  Regardless of the outcome, you will receive a crest reward for participating.  That includes the Royal crest, more on that later.

Where's the loot?  Each stage is also a PQ (as described in the forum link).  Whoever wins the stage, will get a chance at the bags.  Inside the bags we will find what is in the city now, plus some of the items dropped by PvE bosses who had to go.

Stage 1 is the only time where there will always be a PQ winner.  The other stages can end in a draw, then crests will be the reward.  Players will also receive an Insignia reward for completing the stage.  That means, if the defenders win Stage 3, they will have a shot at Sovereign gear.  It certainly provides incentive to defend.

Each instance is independent, so your progress is not dependent on those in other instances.

Tokens.  In 1.3.5, the existing crest token system is getting a bit of an overhaul.  Instead of being broken down to 5 crests of the previous tier, they will now work like Insignias and be converted to 1.  Don't go rushing to break down your crests, they will be increasing everyone's crests 5x.  So if you have 2 Warlord crests (like I do), they will turn into 10.

With the new system, they can now add items to vendors for all tiers without making them extremely expensive due to the break down system.

Since we will have a reliable way to earn high end crests,  the existing item costs will likely increase.  I'm more than happy to see a price increase, now that I can actually obtain the needed crests.

Instances.  The new city siege system will be based on a 24 vs 24 instance (down from 48 vs 48).  The best way to think of it is like a scenario.  You can queue more than 1 group, but there is no guarantee you will all go to the same instance.

As the siege is instance based, it will run the risk of having empty instances.  This is a tough problem to solve.  You don't want to deny players from participating, so they seem like a necessary evil.  The developers has said they do want to address this, so we'll have to stay tuned.

In order to prevent instance hopping,  your PQ lockouts will enabled if you leave.  You can still get crests, but not any of the good loot.  This is another tricky situation, what happens if you crash?  They are very aware of this possibility but didn't have anything they could comment on.

Overall, I am very excited about the changed they have planned.  The city seems like it will be a lot of fun.  It is also nice to have a clear path to Warlord and Sovereign equipment.  It may take me a while, but some day it will all be mine!

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Returning to WAR: Combat

Last week, we took a look at how progression has improved in WAR. Combat is another area where WAR has made significant improvements since launch. Before you go marching off into battle, there are some things you need to know.  Continue on for a look at recent CC and AoE changes.

Crowd Control.  Since launch, crowd control (CC) in WAR has changed quite a bit.  One of the most common complaints was that there was just too much and players were often unable to control their characters.  In today's WAR, CC is much improved due to the immunity timer changes.

Root, knockback and pull abilities will grant the Immovable buff preventing re-application for 30 seconds.  If you use an ability on someone immune, your attack will fire but there will be no CC effect.

Knockdown, disarm, stun and silence abilities grant the Unstoppable buff.  The length of the immunity timer is 10 times the duration of the effect.  A 2 second knockdown will grant a 20 second immunity.  Both immunity timers will persist through death.

Stagger.  In an effort to make combat more tactical, a new effect called Stagger was added.  It replaced stun abilities and some knockdowns. For example, the Engineer ability Landmine was changed from a knockdown to a stagger. When staggered, you will be unable to to do anything for the duration of the effect. 

Here is me, staggered:

Any damage you take will break the effect, including DoTs.  Stagger will also trigger the Unstoppable immunity timer.  When used properly, Stagger can be a very powerful tool.  Who wouldn't want to take out a healer or two for a few seconds?

Resolute Defense.  When used, this ability will make you immune from all forms off CC for 10 seconds every 5 minutes. Rank 40 players can obtain it using renown points at a Renown Trainer. 

Area of Effect.  AoE abilities have been balanced across the board.  Their damage, range and area have been streamlined and in many cases reduced.  Abilities such as Rain of Fire (Pit of Shades) and Napalm (Dissolving Mist), will not stack with themselves anymore.  For example, only the highest ranked napalm will cause damage. 

AoE abilities can still be very dangerous.  PBAoE (point blank) abilities like Scorched Earth can still put out quite a bit of damage.  While AoE may not be the be all and end all, they are still a very effective tool.

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Mythic Trip: Combat and Careers

In part one we spoke to the content development team.  Next up we met with the combat, career and itemization developers.  We had a lot of questions for these guys and they were happy to answer.  Continue on for the questions from folks who twittered me and the answers.

All of the following answers are paraphrased by me, so do not read into them.
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Q: Will city scenarios make a comeback?

A: No plans for that at this time. (This is one I missed from Part 1)

Q: Any plans to make door repair wood stack?

A: They are looking into fixing that issue.

Q: Are there any new lints coming?

A: No plans for new lints in the near future.  They are not planning on having every combination available.

Q: Any plans to change KotBS/Chosen resistance aura's?

A: No plans to make adjustments in 1.3.5, but they do feel that these abilities are too powerful.

Q: How do you guys feel about The Engineer's rifle tree?

A: Paul Barnett joined us for a few minutes and possibly stole a cookie.  The devs do feel it could use a little help (as does the related Magus tree) but no time-frame was given.

Q: What are your feelings on the current Time to Kill (TTK)?

A: The developers feel that it is too quick at this time.

Q: Any plans on changing Exhaustive Strikes or Subvert Strength?

A: Exhaustive Strikes is being toned down in 1.3.5. Subvert Strength is not being changed.

Q: Any plans for a snare immunity?

A: Not at this time. Snares do not deny the player using abilities like other forms of CC do.

Q: Will stealth breaking too often be looked at?

A: They are aware of the issue and looking into fixing it.

Q: Will Flak Jacket/Daemonic Armor be improved?

A: These abilities are ones that the developers feel should be improved, no time frame given.

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Be sure to stop by Gaarawarr, Shadow WAR and Mykiel for answers to their questions.

Thanks to Nate, Steven and Sean for taking the time to answer our questions. Also, thanks to all who submitted questions. Part 3, starring Carrie Gouskos, should be up in a couple days.

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About part 2....

I had planned on posting part 2 of the q and a, but the day was just too busy (and fun).  The trip is over and I had a great time.  Part 2, which mostly covers combat and careers, will be out Monday.  Until then, check these out:

• http://gaarawarrgabs.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/mythic-answers-your-twitter-questions/
•  http://shadowwar.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/mogwai-dont-feed-them-after-midnight/
•  http://mykielwar.wordpress.com/2010/04/08/367/
•  http://www.weritsblog.com/2010/04/mythic-day-1.html

I'll do a proper recap post next week too.

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Mythic Day 1

I actually arrived on time, the traffic gods must have been smiling on me.  We picked up some fellow bloggers at the airport and grabbed some lunch.  Back at the Mythic HQ, our first meeting was with some of their content developers.

The focus of this Q&A is on the upcoming city siege revamp.  We did get to see some of it, and it should be a huge improvement over what we have currently.  Now for some answers.

First, a general comment.  The expansion question was, of course, asked.  The answer was along the lines of: no comment, but they do have new content in the works.

All of the following answers are paraphrased by me, so do not read into them.
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JustBlaze7208:  Any plans to add new Dungeons?

No current plans.

tauronus: What is happening to the PvE bosses in the city siege?

Many have gone, some have stayed.  They may not be how you remember them either and they possibly left some stuff.

Utopii: Are cities be being revamped for ORvR or are they still using a 48 man instance.

Cities will no longer use a 48 man instance.

tauronus: Will players still have to push the city into Stage 2?

Cities do have stages, but not like the way the current system uses.


tauronus: Will the city siege timer be 1 hour?

The city siege timer is variable in the new city system but in the same ballpark.

akalukz: Is instance hoping a thing of the past?

There will be penalties if players change instances.

wargrimnir: Will you be able to earn insignias and emblems from the city siege?

Yes, similiar to the way you do now.

WARAyleen: Any changes to the Stage 1 PQ Bosses?

Yes, Stage 1 has changed quite a bit.

tauronus:  Will it finally pay off to defend your city?

Yes, very much so.

OneShard: Will cities still have the capture the flag mechanic?

Capture the what?
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This is just the first batch of answers.   We have to head out soon, so expect more tomorrow.

NOTE: Part 2 is up.

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Gone to Mythic

Gaarawarr, Shadow WAR, Mykiel and myself are off to Mythic today.  We will be sitting down with  the WAR developers for some question and answer time.  You are invited to tweet us some questions you want asked, check out the full details here.

Basically, follow @WARHerald and around 2pm est (today) there should be a tweet telling you to start sending your questions to any one of the bloggers.  That's it, should be easy and fun.  Later on, we will post the answers on our sites :)

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1.3.5 Preview

You may have read that myself and three other bloggers were invited down to the Mythic HQ tomorrow.  The emphasis of the trip is on the upcoming 1.3.5 patch, which you will be able to ask questions about through us (more on that tomorrow).  I figured it would be a good idea to go over what we can expect with the patch.

What does 1.3.5 have in store for Warhammer Online?

Class Changes.  There will be a few class changes, just like most of the other patches.  The Back Seat Dev has put together a nice post about confirmed and rumored changes. 

New City Siege.  A revamped city siege will be making its appearence in 1.3.5.  It is said to be '100% RvR driven.'   There are no details yet, but I expect them very soon :)

Armor Dye.  As we saw in the Producer's Letter, armor dying got a bit of an upgrade and now looks much improved. 

Tomb of the Vulture Lord.  The current end game dungeon is going to see some bug fixes with 1.3.5. 

Mini-map.  The mini-map will get a few on-screen direction indicators for objectives.  This should lessen the need to bring up the world map when moving around. 

Storage.  In a previous Q & A, it was mentioned they were looking to allow players to purchase more bank space and possibly backpack space too.  This is not confirmed for 1.3.5, but it seems likely. 

These are what I expect to see in the 1.3.5 patch.  Hopefully the patch notes will be out soon, but if they are not this should make a nice guideline for tomorrows Q&A.  Of course, non-1.3.5 questions are welcome too :)

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Returning to WAR: Progression

In a previous article I discussed the current state of careers in Warhammer Online.  Next up are some tips and tricks to leveling your character in today's WAR.  Since launch, Mythic has added a few new ways which make leveling by PvE or RvR even quicker.

Bolster.  The bolster mechanic is one of my favorite things about WAR.  It helps you compete in PvP regardless of your rank.  Recently the mechanic has been adjusted a bit.  When engaging in PvP, your rank will be increased to the tier limit.

Tier 1: 11
Tier 2: 21
Tier 3: 31
Tier 4: 40

Are you rank 1 and want to PvP? No problem, your stats will be adjusted to that of a Rank 11's.  You will not gain any new skills and your gear is unaffected but at least you can compete.

The Land of the Dead can be flown to once your character reaches Rank 25.  This zone does things a little differently and you will be bolstered to 40.

Apprentice. One of the newer improvements Mythic has made is the apprentice system.  It will basically bolster the apprentice to the rank of the mentor.  You do have to stay close to your mentor, else you will lose your bolster.  To use the system, join a group with someone of a higher rank and have them make you an apprentice.

Now you can head to their tier (Tier 4 for example) and get some exp or even participate in open RvR.  However, You will not be able to queue scenarios any higher than your true level. It's a great way to play with your friends even if they have advanced beyond your tier. 

WAR Tract.  Did you know you can obtain a scroll which gives you a free level? It's actually pretty easy to get and you can save it until you are Rank 39 and use it to reach the cap.  Check out Gaarawarr's guide for the specifics.

RvR Quest.  When you reach level 19, you should receive a mail about an important quest.  The rewards from the quest-line are about 250k worth of XP.  The mail will start the quest but the next stop is a Tier 3 RvR lake. You will need to get some open RvR kills to complete all of the steps but it is well worth the effort.

The quest may mention the Gates of Ekrund scenario, but I believe that part is obsolete due to the new scenario structure in 1.3.4.

Land of the Dead.  The Land of the Dead is one of the fastest ways to level a character.  While it is primarily a PvE zone, PvP can occur at any time, so watch your backs.  Using the above mentioned apprentice system, you can actually hit the LotD any time after you hit level 12.  Just find someone greater than level 25 to fly down to the zone and use a summoning stone to bring you down.  Warning: If you are below rank 25, you will not be eligible for the bolster, but the apprentice system will still work.

Once there, you and your friend can hit any number of "grind" spots.  Be sure to remember that you are an apprentice, if you wander too far it will lead to the effect being lost and a quick death.  As you are bolstered or apprenticed to 40, you will probably want to skip the Rank 36 monsters and go after the ones which are 40.  The XP is very good.

To get you started, I've circled a few of the grind spots (may not be exact) on the map below.  There are many more of them, so do explore.

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Phoenix Gate

Over the weekend, we had Phoenix Gate as our weekend warfront scenario. The ruleset of this capture the flag game was altered a bit.  Normally, any player kill would score points for your team.  This time around, Mythic made it so only capturing the flag will give points.  How well did this new ruleset work out?

In the original rule set, the flag was normally only captured a couple times and the rest of the points came from player kills.  That was my experience, yours may have been different.  By taking player kills out of the equation, it did make the flag much more important.

It was actually fun trying to finish the objective rather than concentrating on getting as many player kills as possible.  There was a big downside with this ruleset though.

If one side is outmatched, it can easily turn into a 15 minute farming session.  The side with the upper hand can take up the entire clock since player kills do not count towards reaching 500.  This probably happened in at least half of the scenarios I played.

On the other hand, matches which were competitive were a lot of fun. Nothing quite like the thrill of trying to make a last second flag capture.  That would rarely happen with the original ruleset.  Tactical scenario's like this are great when you are organized.

I'm very happy to see them trying new things with these weekend scenarios,  Sure, some of them may not be fun but this is the perfect way to test them out.  There is going to be a chicken involved one of these weekends...

If you have feedback about the ruleset, Mythic is collecting it here.

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Distant Worlds Impressions

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that I was looking forward to the release of Distant Worlds.  Well, it did launch and I have been playing it a bit since.  It is unlike most other games and even its 4x cousins.  Continue on for my impressions.

I purchased the Digital + Physical copy version of the game.  As much as I love digital distributions, having the hard copy of a game is always a nice feeling.  Sadly, the game is only available through Matrix Games and not through Steam and other services.  

Let's start with the most important question: How does the game play?  In Master of Orion and its 4x decedents, you controlled every aspect of your empire.  Every ship, colony and decision was yours to make.  While this level of micro-management can be fun, it just doesn't scale well.

Distant Worlds is really really big.  1,400 solar systems and over 50,000 planets, moons, asteroids etc.  The traditional 4x micro-management is just not going to work in a game this big.  In Distant Worlds, you truly are the leader of your empire.  All of the mundane details are handled by the AI, many of which can be manually controlled if desired. 

It actually took me a few tries to enjoy the game.  This was mainly due to me trying to play it as if it was Master of Orion.  Here is an example: The AI is in charge of your warships for the most part.  Part of its duties is to escort ships, which it handles automatically.

When one of my mining outposts (also built by the private citizens AI) came under a pirate attack I tried to handle it myself.  Many of my ships were elsewhere in the empire, so it was a struggle to respond to the incident.  It turns out these incidents are common (until I find their home base and destroy it).  They can impact my economy but are not really a huge deal.

I learned if I provide my Navy enough ships, they will take care of these pirate attacks by themselves.  If they become particularly bothersome, I can create a fleet and assign the targeted system as its home.  Now they will stay in the area and be ready to respond.

The morale of the story is, Distant Worlds is not meant to be played like other 4x games.  Just like the leader of a country is not involved in mundane details, you are not either.  The player is responsible for guiding the empire to whichever victory path you so choose.

So far Distant Worlds is a refreshing new take on the 4x genre.  It is actually a lot of fun to see your empire grow without having to get down in the weeds and control everything.  It reminds me of Sim City a bit, as new freighters pop up to trade with your latest colony.

I hope to have a video review of the game posted next week.  For more information, head on over to the Distant Worlds forums.

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News from the Front 4/2

With Spring's arrival, I felt it was time to do some cleanup up of my inventory.  One goal of mine is to have my alts setup with the boots and gloves for all of the tier 4 armor sets.  So I spent a nice chunk of time mailing them around.  It may take a long time for them to get any use but at least they are there.  On to this weeks community activity report (April Fools free)!

Mythic

• EDIT: I have been informed by Ayleen that WAR EU has Phoenix Gate this weekend.  Turns out it is Phoenix Gate in NA too.
• The Producer's Letter for March is out.  Mostly talks about more stuff we will see in 1.3.5.

Webcast

• Mykiel and Grimnir will be a hosting a live webcast about WAR tonight.

Articles

• Blog the Witch decides on a new weapon to use.  Gives a nice insight into the mind of a Witch Elf.
• KruelWAR wonders about players motives in WAR post-1.3.4.
• One Shard gives returning players a look at leveling in the Land of the Dead.
• It is possible to defeat a zerg and have a lot of fun doing it. 
• Shadow WAR talks a bit about gameplay and what players want. 
• The recent hot fix which changed keep doors so they must be repaired by a player with wood please Fight on the Flag.
• Zizlak writes about perception in a PvP game.  Pretty much true, and the reason I try to stay out of most forum threads.
• Blurring Shock is back, this time with a bar graph!  He breaks down the damage he received by class and damage type.  Great stuff as always.  
• Slurms finally decides which WAR class he will play.  It isn't a Dwarf, so I'm not sure why I should be posting this :)

Videos

• Here we have a video of a Chosen fighting it out in the Lost Temple of Isha. 
• The Goblin Allstars in Tier 1 action.  I wonder if they are related to the P-Funk Allstars?
• Grimnir is back with his forth installment of his add-on series.
• Bootae and Kill Frenzy bring us some naked Orc action, and GnR. 
• Bitter Rivals indeed.  Choppa versus Slayer in Tier 1. 
• Engineer and Rocky, need I say more?
• Narrated Witch Hunter pvp video in Nordenwatch. (Metal Music warning)

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Mounts of WAR: Empire

Last week we took a look at the Greenskins and their boar mounts.  Next up is the Empire with their traditional horses.  There is a pretty good variety and the high ranking mounts are decked out in armor.  You can pick up the low ranking mounts up at your capitals mount vendor or the advanced mounts from the quartermaster in the guild hall.

Chesnut Stallion

Skewbald Stallion

Palomino Stallion

Dark Bay Stallion (Guild Rank 25)

Grey Stallion (Guild Rank 25)

Black Stallion (Guild Rank 25)

Dark Bay Charger (Guild Rank 37)

Grey Charger (Guild Rank 37)

Black Charger (Guild Rank 37)

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