Alternate Characters for Age of Conan - The Bear Shaman

So yesterday, I reported that I'm fairly certain I'll be playing the Herald of Xotli on the 17th when Age of Conan's doors open to the pre-ordering public. But I've spent significant time in the beta with 3 other classes... and I'm also pretty sure that I'll be adding one of each to my stable of characters on launch day, plus another I haven't even tried yet. Here's my brief thoughts on what will be one of my alts in Age of Conan.

The Bear Shaman

This was the first class I played during my stint in beta. Our goal at TTH was to have at least levels 1-20 for all 12 classes documented by the time the press embargo lifted. This was the first one I played back in February, so my apologies if some of this info is outdated, though I'm pretty sure it's not.

Anyway, the first thing that struck me about the Bear Shaman was, "Boy, is he weak or what?" and that was with nothing to go off of as I hadn't played other classes yet. But despite this early weaksauce experience, the further I played with the class the more I found I liked him. Like the Herald of Xotli, the Bear Shaman is a casting class that doesn't hang back and heal and buff... he's right up in the thick of things whacking mobs with a two-handed mace and debuffing them with auras all the while keeping his mates alive with HoTs and burst heals.

The only real issue I had with the Bear Shaman is actually a quirk of all healing classes in the early levels. That is to say that their heals and the necessity of having them in groups is not readily apparent in the early stages of the game. I mean, they're helpful as potion substitutes (you can get healing potions easily in AoC that do a decent job of keeping you alive while solo-ing if you're a non-healing class) but really there's no need to have one in your group EARLY ON. It's not until the mid-teens or even level 20 that you can start to see where the Bear Shaman and his other healing compatriots will come in handy.

As you go further down the feat trees (think WoW's talents), the abilities of each class become much more specialized and magnified, and this is especially true for the Bear Shaman. Throw in high survivability due to buffs, and you basically have a long-lasting priest that can even hold his own in combat. I didn't get to play him in PvP, but for PvE he's definitely the type of healer I can see myself playing. Not at all unlike a Paladin or Shaman from WoW with more healing oomph.

I'll be using this guy a lot, even for an alternate I think.

Age of Conan's Herald of Xotli - May Be the Class For Me

Obviously, I've been playing a lot of GTAIV when I get some game time free over this past week. But that hasn't stopped me from hopping into Conan to do some more research on just what class it is I want to play first at release. No doubt I'll be playing more than one, as I've always been an alt-a-holic, but I need a "main".

After about 3 months in the beta, and extensive time spent with 4 of the 12 classes (Herald of Xotli, Bear Shaman, Assassin, and Dark Templar) I think I'm for sure going to go with the Herald of Xotli as my main. Let me explain why this is "news" in Bildo's world.

I never play mages. I usually hate their squishy nature and the glass-cannon effect that comes along with it.

But the HoX is far too cool of a class to pass up. Fire and brimstone and a bid of demonic possession are all the tools I need to convince me that it's the kind of experience that's right at home in Hyboria. The only downside is that it means I'll have to play a Stygian... bleh. I've always been partial to Cimmerians as they're the more Nordic flavored people. Stygians are the Egyptian-esque people in Howard's world. Not that this is a bad thing, in fact their armor, weapons, and scenery are among the prettiest in the game, but they're just not my bag aesthetically.

If I can, I'll be the palest Stygian out there, and the one with the reddest hair.

There's just something about the HoX's skillset... right from the beginning you're lighting people on fire, spewing flames from your mouth, and turning into a demonic essence of the god Xotli and causing fire damage to all around you (for a brief period of time). I've also seen some of the feats and skills later in the game (and since I work for TTH I can post about this I believe). There's a skill later on that actually spawns a volcano nearby the enemy and proceeds to burn them to death. There's a giant pillar of flame that if it kills an enemy leaves behind a burning corpse that does AoE damage to other enemies in the area.

I mean... it's just so cool, and to top it all off the HoX isn't really a sit-back-and-fire type of caster. He may wear lighter armor, but that doesn't stop him from getting up close and personal with a 2-handed sword and slicing and dicing his foes. Throw in the every 2 minutes demonic form (the casting time of which can be negated with feats later in the leveling process) and you've got one hell of a fun class to play in my book. It's what a WoW rogue would be like if you gave him the powers of the Human Torch and took away his sneakier abilities.

I can't wait.

On another note, it looks like Funcom will be changing the Open Beta client to an All-PvP-Fest on the 10th, and they'll be auto-leveling the level 13 players to 20 and putting them in their respective hubs to begin the mayhem. Here's the rundown:

Funcom has announced that on May 10th they will be transforming the entire Open Beta for Age of Conan into PvP MAYHEM, while at the same time giving testers access to all that Hyboria has to offer! They will take down their servers for a short period to change the rule-set to Free For All PvP. Here are further details:

All servers become PvP servers. You can kill each other - no level restrictions on killing or getting killed, but you cannot PvP in the major cities.

All level 13 characters becomes level 20. Their inventory is wiped, but they have -tons of money and really nice equipment suitable for level 20s. Shopping bonanza!

You have access to ALL zones and ALL levels after level 20!

You will be zoned to your Race's Hub. (Cimmerians:Conarch Village, Aquillonians:Old Tarantia and Stygians:Khemi!)

We will get back with detailed information on the exact time it starts on the official Open Beta forums at IGN, as well as on the Age of Conan forums and community site.

Sounds like a buttload of fun for the PvP folks, but not exactly my cup of tea, nor other fellow "carebears". I'll pass on that part of the OB. Hopefully the Closed Beta will remain as normal so I can still compile class info this weekend for the TTH Guides.

EDIT: I'd also assume that this patch to Open PvP and level 20s will be bringing the client up to a more stable version, but don't quote me on that. It's wishful thinking on my part.

EDIT2: They don't really have anything to hide, but methinks making the servers FFA PvP is a way to limit the leveling process for players so they don't get too high up and then not buy the game because they played to 80 in a week... though I suspect some still will.

Cheers!

Age of Conan's Early Start Level Cap - Nixed

When Age of Conan's pre-order players begin on the 17th, it was originally intended to be level-capped for the 3 days at level 20, which is not a whole lot different than LotRO's level 15 cap for two weeks of a head start. But when Funcom announced this "feature" of the Early Start program, it was met with rounds upon rounds of heavy fire from power gamers and genuine whining people alike who thought they were somehow disserviced by this limit. Maybe they were?

In any case, these players can now rest easy in the fact that they won't have to step foot outside during those 3 days at all. Get the Doritos and Mountain Dew ready, guys.

LINK

Perhaps in the face of negativity, Funcom's willing to bend a little here. I'm sure I'll still be around level 10 by Tuesday though... damn busy weekends. Someone please tell my wife that we don't have to be doing something EVERY day. :)

Cheers!

AoC Closed Beta - Worlds Different Than Open Beta

When I woke up yesterday morning and came to work, I started immediately looking for some blogs and impressions on Age of Conan's Open Beta. After all, I'm deeply invested in this game and I've been in the beta for months and haven't been able to say anything. I was looking forward to hearing about how surprised people were with Funcom's latest game.

And instead of them being surprised... I was. Reports across several forums and blogs of a fun game with some SERIOUS performance issues. I was stunned, really. That couldn't be right. As I'd been in the beta I'd watched an unfinished and buggy game become one of my favorite MMOGs to date - one that was ready to hit store shelves soon. I whole-heartedly expected to see thousands of other people similarly pleased with the client, its promising combat mechanics, and beautiful graphics even on lower-end computers. I expected people to be pissed that they were stuck at 13 and 13 only, but never did I expect all the shouts of crashing and leaking and BSODs.

Why?

Because these issues had been rectified in the weeks past, somewhat miraculously. Indeed in the Closed Beta there are still bugs. There are still some wrinkles to iron out. But by and large the game I'd been playing was very nearly ready to hit the hands of eager players looking for something new. The problems people were having with the Open Beta were issues that arose and were eradicated (for the most part) several weeks prior.

After talking back and forth with Keen (one of many affected by crashing, memory leaks, and poor FPS performance), we came to a realization. He got into Closed Beta and it just so happens that indeed Funcom IS using an older beta client on the Open Beta servers - one full of bugs that are outdated, crashes, and memory leaks that had been squashed.

I'm glad I'm not crazy, and that the game I play on the Closed Beta servers is as polished as it seems... but I can't help but wonder what caused Funcom to initiate its biggest pre-launch publicity event with code that was outdated and leaves a bad taste in the mouths of prospective customers.

I guess all I can do as a fan and one who's seen just how fun this game can be is hope Funcom patches the Open Beta client up to where the Closed Beta is. Because not only are the Open Beta testers getting a false image of what the game's like, but Funcom's potentially losing a lot of customers.

I'll cross my fingers and pray to Crom I guess.

An Opinion of Grand Theft Auto IV

I'm now about 13 hours into my life as an illegal Serbian immigrant in Liberty City. I'm nowhere near done with the game, and I haven't yet done everything I can do from a gameplay standpoint, but I still feel compelled to come here and gush about this piece of software. I highly doubt that in the next 30-40 hours I'll be playing this thing and it will somehow become "worse". So here, in my sincere and heartfelt opinion, is why Grand Theft Auto IV is quickly becoming my favorite experience in the 19 years I've been playing videogames.

These NPCs aren't just NPCs. This city isn't just polygons and textures. Liberty City in GTA IV is a vibrant and burgeoning society of thousands of people. It's not the kind of reality that we once dreamed of with Lawnmower Man, of course not. Not even close. But it is as close as any game has come to offering a virtual world.

I can't play Crackdown anymore, despite the more exciting powers your given. I can't sit through the dialogue in Mass Effect and be convinced by it because it's not accompanied with the same type of veritas. I can't get into Oblivion because the world seems dull and lifeless compared to Liberty City. And don't get my started on the once great but now outdated Godfather.

GTA IV, while still rife with bugs and little things that need improvement (not to mention that the basic structure of what the game's about hasn't changed since GTA III)... GTA IV is the kind of game that comes along and turns the industry on its head because of the possibilities it offers as feasible. The RAGE engine in combination with NaturalMotion's Euphoria produce a world and people so eerily lifelike (and yet cartoonish at the same time if that makes sense) that I find myself feeling for pedestrians I knock off of their bikes.

I was running from the Cops the other day and I had to jack some poor guys' SUV for my use. 2 of the 3 people inside ran for the hills, but 1 of them was sincerely pissed that I had tried to steal his friend's ride. He proceeded to try and pull me back out of the vehicle, and when I drove off away from him he was hanging onto the door and cursing at me until a bump caused him to let go.

During this event a pedestrian (some old lady with a cane) saw what was happening and called 911. I was long gone by the time they arrived, but I heard the sirens of the approaching 5-0.

When I left my apartment last night to go cruising and complete some missions I heard a lot of shouting on the street... preaching really. I turned around to find an older black gentleman standing on the corner with his bible open, telling anyone who would listen about how we're all going to hell. I waited for him to finished before approaching. He looked me square in the face and told me I was going to hell. I jabbed him in his self-righteous face, causing the bible to be dropped and the man to stumble. I don't mean he fell with a canned animation, but rather thanks to Euphoria he actually fell in a completely unique and realistic manner, clutching his face. He slipped while getting up off the pavement and proceeded to run like mad away from me.

The radio ever so cleverly keeps up with the pacing of the story with news broadcasters highlighting my escapades (man killed in violent gunfight, the suspect is a white male) as I advance the main campaign. The parked cars on the streets are often times locked, forcing me to kick or elbow the window out, sometimes setting off an alarm and alerting the police or the pedestrians who in turn call the police. When I get onto a motorcycle, if there's one available, I put on a helmet... which can be knocked or broken off my skull on impact. I can go to clothing stores and get sunglasses, and these too can be broken in a heated fight with some rival gang.

To top it all, Rockstar has finally created a protaganist worthy of our sympathy and within 15 minutes of playing you can't help but want to hug Niki Bellic and tell the poor bastard everything will be okay... even though it likely won't.

I could go on and on, and you'll probably see a few more posts on the adventures I have in this game. But here's what I'm trying to say:

This isn't just a game. It's visitation to 200+ developers' brainchild. This is quite possible the Citizen Kane of the videogame industry. In the long run, it won't be remembered for drugs, or killings, sex, or languange. It will be remembered because it was another giant leap in bringing videogames closer to reality. It's not often that a game can make me actually care about the characters involved. And I imagine it will only be harder for future games as I doubt they'll be able to match up to this experience.

Warts and all... GTA IV is not to be missed by anyone who's interested in videogames as art.

Open Beta NDA Lifted for Age of Conan

That is, if you're in the Open Beta you can post and speak freely about the game, post screens, video or whatever.

But if you're in the closed general beta and not in the press, you're still being held to the NDA. Unless of course you happen to be in the closed beta AND the open beta.

Apparently the two sets of servers are split up, so people in General are not automatically in Open beta. Hence the limit of 50,000 for the open beta. I guess it makes sense not to include the 10,000+ already invited into Closed/General beta.

Anyway, just wanted to post that to remind everyone that the lid's not fully off the cookie jar yet. Though I don't expect we'll be short on things to talk about from the Open Beta even with only 13 levels to play.

EDIT: Got an e-mail from Funcom and now it says to be perfectly clear that Closed Beta players can say whatever they want about the game up until level 13 (the cap in Open Beta). The rest of the game beyond that is still under NDA. Weird? Yes. But hey, at least it's a sign that we're almost there.

I can talk all I want though, heh. *Holds Up TTH Press-Pass*

But that comes later.

The US Reporters' Embargo for Age of Conan is Lifted

Not the NDA that beta participants are held under, but it's close. Not at all unlike when the NDA was lifted on TR for reporters first and then a bit later for the general beta population, it seems all of us press-folk have been given leeway to print our material that we have ready.

Now, that doesn't mean I'll be posting a review here just yet. That'll come when the full NDA lifts with the rest of the blogging public. But I wanted to hop on here to link you to Ten Ton Hammer's Age of Conan Guide Portal.

Me, Machail, and Martuk have been working our arses off for the past few months to get this stuff ready and now we can finally begin to share the fruits of our labors. Straight from Machail's fingers, I'll let him do the talking...

That’s right folks, Funcom has lifted the NDA for US reporters (that means sites like this) and we are now free to talk about the game!

Let me tell you, it’s been one heck of a ride. Martuk, JoBildo and myself have been in game steadily working away for the past few months to get you all the information you crave; and BOY do we have the goods for you.

Over the next couple of weeks, starting today, you’ll be seeing quest guides, spell lists, and feats lists. We’ve got videos, screenshots, and more general guides. We’ve played through all the Destiny quests for the archetypes and will have those rolling out very soon for your reading pleasure. We’ve also got other big things planned, but I don’t want to spoil it ALL.

It’s been a lot of fun playing the game. We’ve played all the classes and are pretty confident you’re all going to love playing it as much as we have.

So, grab a chair and dig in. The hot infoz are coming at you.

Today, we’ll just point you over here where you can catch a glimpse of spell and combo lists. Some of these are complete lists as they stand today in beta. Others have the first 20 levels documented and will have the last 60 updated for you in short order.

Enjoy! And check back often – you never know when we’re going to post a new article.

Ten Ton Hammer's Age of Conan Class Guides Portal

Benjamin "Machail" de la Durantaye,
Age of Conan Site Lead,
Ten Ton Hammer

So what are you waiting for? Go study up on that Barbarian you've been wanting to play so badly!