I've now unlocked all four available Allied Races (Dark Irons and Zandalari are coming later, presumably with the expansion.) Each race has a quest chain that takes roughly an hour (probably a little less) and explains to a degree how they are brought into their respective factions. I will say that the Alliance ones are a bit more convenient, as they tend to be accessible via teleporters, while the Horde ones will have you flying around a bit.
A bit like the artifact weapons, you need to choose one or the other to do first, and completing the quests will allow you to immediately move on to the next one.
Unlocking the race will also immediately give you their racial mount. Lightforged Draenei get a Felcrusher Elekk (similar to the ones you get from the Exalted+ caches from Army of the Light.) Void Elves get a Void-themed Hawkstrider (my Blood Elf Shadow Priest is jealous.) Nightborne get a Runesaber, somewhat similar to the Arcanist's Runesaber you get from the 7.1 Suramar quests. Highmountain Tauren get a Moose with various totemic adornments (not as fancy as the Grove Warden, but a little more interesting than the generic Moose mounts.)
The characters begin with a very brief introduction - you start off in your home territory (the Vindicaar for LDs, the broken world where you do the quests for Void Elves, Suramar, and Thunder Totem) but you basically just get a quest saying "go to Stormwind/Orgrimmar and talk to the ambassador at the embassy." You get a tabard for your race and are sent off to the Hero's Call/Warchief's Command boards to go and start questing.
Supposedly, everyone's getting four new character slots per server some time this week, so while I started up temporary versions of my new characters on other servers, I'm going to hold off on really working on them much until that happens.
Current plans are:
Lightforged Draenei: Paladin
Void Elf: Rogue
Highmountain Tauren: Warrior
Nightborne: Hunter
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
What Specs Need Fixing?
Every expansion brings fairly big changes to the way classes work, though some changes are bigger than others. Warlords did see an ability pruning, but Legion saw really extensive re-designs of many specs.
In many cases, I think the Legion incarnations are pretty ideal, but there are definitely some specs that need work.
I'll put this caveat out there to say that I might be less familiar with some of these specs than others. As usual, I can't say much about healers. Additionally, some specs need a tweak here and there while others need some real soul-searching. This post is going to focus more on the latter.
Demonology:
Demo got a huge re-work to overlap less with Demon Hunters. Personally I really liked the Mists/Warlords version of Demo, which focused on your Metamorphosis form, but that's really the realm of DHs now, and the idea of summoning hordes of demons to fight for you is pretty cool. If there's one culprit here it's Demonic Empowerment. I'd much rather spend my time generating resources to summon demons and then summoning those demons than having a third step where I need to empower them. Cut this ability and adjust the strength of the demons to compensate, and you could practically call it a day (maybe throw an interesting proc in there - you could even just make Demonic Calling baseline.)
Survival:
Like Havoc and Vengeance, Survival was essentially a brand new spec in Legion. If they're committed to its being a melee spec (and I am in favor of this: it's always seemed weird to me that none of the pure DPS classes can choose between ranged and melee - it would also make sense to make a ranged Rogue spec) I think you can take some of the ideas here but make them into something that feels a little more cohesive. Mongoose Bite is clearly meant to be the centerpiece of the spec, so why not make Survival about spending all your focus on MB and then trying to regenerate as much as possible before the window closes? Having bleeds and traps to maintain along with the bites makes the spec feel a little busy. I'd pare it down some.
Retribution:
The Judgment window feels pretty similar to Colossus Smash for Arms, but it's unclear whether you're supposed to keep it up at all times or if it's a bonus. Frankly, if you made Holy Power generation a little less predictable (like an early-Cataclysm version of Divine Purpose, which granted individual Holy Power units but more frequently,) you could just make the spec about maximizing Templar's Verdict swings. Also, I know there's Divine Hammer and Zeal as talent options, but there really ought to be some quick, on-demand AoE baseline for the spec.
Brewmaster:
I like that Stagger seems to be more relevant at low-damage levels (previously I basically only used Purifying Brew while in LFR) and making Breath of Fire actually worth using is fantastic. Much like Protection Paladins (who need only tweaks,) I'd like some better UI indication of Brews - more like a resource bar, and perhaps some better pulling options (though long-range Keg Smash is not bad.)
Subtlety:
Though I love it in its current form, Subtlety needs to be able to work outside of the Death from Above/Symbols of Death/Shadow Dance burst. This might be more about tweaking things, but while Sub is and should be about big blasts of damage from stealth, I think a somewhat more sustained damage option should be viable (though those 12m damage hits are pretty freaking cool when they happen.)
I'm sure there are others than might need some serious reworks, but that don't come to mind as easily. And obviously this is all opinion. But I'm curious to see what kinds of changes we'll be seeing in Battle for Azeroth. Obviously the lack of artifacts will have a pretty huge effect on every spec, but I imagine we'll see some compensation.
In many cases, I think the Legion incarnations are pretty ideal, but there are definitely some specs that need work.
I'll put this caveat out there to say that I might be less familiar with some of these specs than others. As usual, I can't say much about healers. Additionally, some specs need a tweak here and there while others need some real soul-searching. This post is going to focus more on the latter.
Demonology:
Demo got a huge re-work to overlap less with Demon Hunters. Personally I really liked the Mists/Warlords version of Demo, which focused on your Metamorphosis form, but that's really the realm of DHs now, and the idea of summoning hordes of demons to fight for you is pretty cool. If there's one culprit here it's Demonic Empowerment. I'd much rather spend my time generating resources to summon demons and then summoning those demons than having a third step where I need to empower them. Cut this ability and adjust the strength of the demons to compensate, and you could practically call it a day (maybe throw an interesting proc in there - you could even just make Demonic Calling baseline.)
Survival:
Like Havoc and Vengeance, Survival was essentially a brand new spec in Legion. If they're committed to its being a melee spec (and I am in favor of this: it's always seemed weird to me that none of the pure DPS classes can choose between ranged and melee - it would also make sense to make a ranged Rogue spec) I think you can take some of the ideas here but make them into something that feels a little more cohesive. Mongoose Bite is clearly meant to be the centerpiece of the spec, so why not make Survival about spending all your focus on MB and then trying to regenerate as much as possible before the window closes? Having bleeds and traps to maintain along with the bites makes the spec feel a little busy. I'd pare it down some.
Retribution:
The Judgment window feels pretty similar to Colossus Smash for Arms, but it's unclear whether you're supposed to keep it up at all times or if it's a bonus. Frankly, if you made Holy Power generation a little less predictable (like an early-Cataclysm version of Divine Purpose, which granted individual Holy Power units but more frequently,) you could just make the spec about maximizing Templar's Verdict swings. Also, I know there's Divine Hammer and Zeal as talent options, but there really ought to be some quick, on-demand AoE baseline for the spec.
Brewmaster:
I like that Stagger seems to be more relevant at low-damage levels (previously I basically only used Purifying Brew while in LFR) and making Breath of Fire actually worth using is fantastic. Much like Protection Paladins (who need only tweaks,) I'd like some better UI indication of Brews - more like a resource bar, and perhaps some better pulling options (though long-range Keg Smash is not bad.)
Subtlety:
Though I love it in its current form, Subtlety needs to be able to work outside of the Death from Above/Symbols of Death/Shadow Dance burst. This might be more about tweaking things, but while Sub is and should be about big blasts of damage from stealth, I think a somewhat more sustained damage option should be viable (though those 12m damage hits are pretty freaking cool when they happen.)
I'm sure there are others than might need some serious reworks, but that don't come to mind as easily. And obviously this is all opinion. But I'm curious to see what kinds of changes we'll be seeing in Battle for Azeroth. Obviously the lack of artifacts will have a pretty huge effect on every spec, but I imagine we'll see some compensation.
Battle for Azeroth Pre-Order Available, Estimated Release Date of September 21st
Well, with Argus defeated and Sargeras imprisoned, Blizzard's attention has turned to what's coming next: Battle for Azeroth.
As we've seen, there's a ton of BFA (I've decided "Battle" is too generic to work as the shortened version of the expansion name) stuff in the 7.3.5 patch, particularly Allied Races. It looks like Allied Races are going to be made available to anyone who pre-purchases the expansion, though it's unclear if that means they're unlocked immediately or if the first four (Void Elves, Highmountain Tauren, Lightforged Draenei, and Nightborne) are going to be brought out gradually.
The other big news is that with this announcement, they've also put forth September 21st as the likely release date. This is subject to change, of course, and the 21st is the beginning of Fall, so they might simply mean "Summer 2018." Still, good to have at least an estimate.
While I'm fairly satisfied with what I've gotten out of Legion, I'm also not that sad to have another eight months or so to work on Mage Tower artifact appearances (I'll be happy if I just get the Protection Paladin one.)
EDIT: Allied races (the first 4) are available immediately! Well, or at least until you finish the queue at the online store. (So a few hours.)
As we've seen, there's a ton of BFA (I've decided "Battle" is too generic to work as the shortened version of the expansion name) stuff in the 7.3.5 patch, particularly Allied Races. It looks like Allied Races are going to be made available to anyone who pre-purchases the expansion, though it's unclear if that means they're unlocked immediately or if the first four (Void Elves, Highmountain Tauren, Lightforged Draenei, and Nightborne) are going to be brought out gradually.
The other big news is that with this announcement, they've also put forth September 21st as the likely release date. This is subject to change, of course, and the 21st is the beginning of Fall, so they might simply mean "Summer 2018." Still, good to have at least an estimate.
While I'm fairly satisfied with what I've gotten out of Legion, I'm also not that sad to have another eight months or so to work on Mage Tower artifact appearances (I'll be happy if I just get the Protection Paladin one.)
EDIT: Allied races (the first 4) are available immediately! Well, or at least until you finish the queue at the online store. (So a few hours.)
Thursday, January 25, 2018
BFA Alpha: Profession Rework?
There's a lot of datamining stuff going on, with new models, achievements, ability changes (which are sure to change by far the most from this stage to launch,) maps, and broadcast text that can give away some story.
One of the most unexpected is apparent changes to professions. It appears that the whole 800-level grind is going to be squished down to 100. That being said, we can really only speculate on how the new systems will work. It appears you'll still train different levels of professions for each expansion's content, but each suggest you'll only need to level to 100. My two interpretations are that you'll either get a "new 100" each time you train, and simply be able to make everything from expansions you've passed, or perhaps they're going to kind of ween us off of professional skill levels the same way they did with weapon skills back in... was it Cataclysm or Mists? Having quest- or at least task-based recipe gathering (like vendors with recipes that take some special currency or trade good) opens the possibility of simply doing away with profession skill level as a game mechanic (which is practically true in Legion.)
Anyway, a few more specific highlights:
Tailors will apparently be able to make a Hot Air Balloon
Leatherworkers will be able to make a Scuba suit.
Blacksmiths will be able to craft a Khaz'gorian hammer that causes some of your creations to be indestructible.
Engineers will be able to make a Goblin Hovercraft (I wonder if there's a Gnomish equivalent that perhaps Alliance would get) as well as a portable Stable and a portable Transmog pad (I already have the Yak, so I'm good.)
I do think professions are in need of reexamination as to their role in the game. I think Legion's steps, including the Obliterum Forge, were good steps, but they can still improve a lot.
But hey, my main's an Engineer, which means I'm just there for the fun toys anyway (and looking badass in a pair of steampunk goggles.)
One of the most unexpected is apparent changes to professions. It appears that the whole 800-level grind is going to be squished down to 100. That being said, we can really only speculate on how the new systems will work. It appears you'll still train different levels of professions for each expansion's content, but each suggest you'll only need to level to 100. My two interpretations are that you'll either get a "new 100" each time you train, and simply be able to make everything from expansions you've passed, or perhaps they're going to kind of ween us off of professional skill levels the same way they did with weapon skills back in... was it Cataclysm or Mists? Having quest- or at least task-based recipe gathering (like vendors with recipes that take some special currency or trade good) opens the possibility of simply doing away with profession skill level as a game mechanic (which is practically true in Legion.)
Anyway, a few more specific highlights:
Tailors will apparently be able to make a Hot Air Balloon
Leatherworkers will be able to make a Scuba suit.
Blacksmiths will be able to craft a Khaz'gorian hammer that causes some of your creations to be indestructible.
Engineers will be able to make a Goblin Hovercraft (I wonder if there's a Gnomish equivalent that perhaps Alliance would get) as well as a portable Stable and a portable Transmog pad (I already have the Yak, so I'm good.)
I do think professions are in need of reexamination as to their role in the game. I think Legion's steps, including the Obliterum Forge, were good steps, but they can still improve a lot.
But hey, my main's an Engineer, which means I'm just there for the fun toys anyway (and looking badass in a pair of steampunk goggles.)
Battle for Azeroth Alpha!
Well, that's actually pretty nice to see! Only shortly after the whole of Antorus became available on LFR, and with a new patch that is making leveling alts a lot more enjoyable (seriously, it feels like an actual game again, but with classes that are far better built than they were in the mid '00s) we've got the BFA alpha!
Obviously, this is the very first stage of the new expansion, but I'll be sure to post things I find interesting as the folks at WoWHead and MMO-Champion datamine.
It begins!
Obviously, this is the very first stage of the new expansion, but I'll be sure to post things I find interesting as the folks at WoWHead and MMO-Champion datamine.
It begins!
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
A DM's New Years Resolutions
Acquisitions Incorporated got me into D&D - I'd always been curious about TTRPGs, but it was this that really got me interested in it. The "C" Team, who just had their first normal episode today (I missed the stream to help cook dinner and am eagerly awaiting it) actually started after I had begun DMing, but I think it really expanded my sense of how the game could be played. I've also gotten into Critical Role, which has got to be the most popular of the D&D streams/podcasts. I'll confess that I didn't warm up to this as quickly as the C team, though as I've gotten into the characters I'm definitely now a big fan. Jerry Holkins is a naturally subversive dungeon master, and even though the stakes seem enormous (at the moment, K'thriss' patron - though not his 'god,' or 'unknowably vast godlike entity' - seems like the series big bad) there seems like there's always time for silliness, something the players obviously get into.
Matthew Mercer seems like the platonic ideal of a Dungeon Master - he seems to know all the rules and has a million characters all with clear motivations and goals as well as the potential for serious arcs for all his characters. His story is a little more standard fantasy (for now at least) but that can be a good thing. Essentially, it doesn't force comedy but allows it to arise naturally (as he points out a lot, Grog having an Intelligence of 6 makes him a fantastic character, which Travis Willingham of course plays up brilliantly.) I'm also watching the new campaign, which seems to have some strong characters already (Nott the Goblin, Jester the Cleric, and Beauregard the Monk are all memorable already) and I expect we'll see the others develop as we get to know them better.
Thinking about my own campaign, I'm definitely trying to figure out how to work my players' characters into the plot I want. This is literally my first time to the rodeo (though I've been doing it for a couple years at this point) so I'm going to forgive myself for not being quite at the Holkins/Mercer/Perkins level, but just as I have tried to make an effort to allow for non-combat solutions to problems, I think the next resolution will be to make the story more about the player characters and less whatever villains and environments I think are cool at the moment (though the two are obviously not mutually exclusive.)
There is an arc coming after their current adventures through Red Scar Plains that is still more of the "come do this thing I think is cool," but I think the next several arcs are all going to be PC-based (we're only a 3rd of the way through Red Scar Plains, though I'm hoping that we'll have more regular play time this year and thus be able to get through the following one before 2019.)
But for now I'll listen to the masters and try to glean what wisdom I can from their games.
Matthew Mercer seems like the platonic ideal of a Dungeon Master - he seems to know all the rules and has a million characters all with clear motivations and goals as well as the potential for serious arcs for all his characters. His story is a little more standard fantasy (for now at least) but that can be a good thing. Essentially, it doesn't force comedy but allows it to arise naturally (as he points out a lot, Grog having an Intelligence of 6 makes him a fantastic character, which Travis Willingham of course plays up brilliantly.) I'm also watching the new campaign, which seems to have some strong characters already (Nott the Goblin, Jester the Cleric, and Beauregard the Monk are all memorable already) and I expect we'll see the others develop as we get to know them better.
Thinking about my own campaign, I'm definitely trying to figure out how to work my players' characters into the plot I want. This is literally my first time to the rodeo (though I've been doing it for a couple years at this point) so I'm going to forgive myself for not being quite at the Holkins/Mercer/Perkins level, but just as I have tried to make an effort to allow for non-combat solutions to problems, I think the next resolution will be to make the story more about the player characters and less whatever villains and environments I think are cool at the moment (though the two are obviously not mutually exclusive.)
There is an arc coming after their current adventures through Red Scar Plains that is still more of the "come do this thing I think is cool," but I think the next several arcs are all going to be PC-based (we're only a 3rd of the way through Red Scar Plains, though I'm hoping that we'll have more regular play time this year and thus be able to get through the following one before 2019.)
But for now I'll listen to the masters and try to glean what wisdom I can from their games.
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Argus and the Wound in the World
Well, I need to go back to fight Aggramar, but I took down Argus in LFR. The Argus fight is, I'm sure, a bit watered down from Normal, but I do like some of the mechanics they introduce. The final phase, which involves using character deaths as a limited resource, is a kind of super-mode of the RP-ending to the Lich King fight. I still wish that we'd had some more time to get to know Argus the Titan, or been able to fight Sargeras directly, but it's still a pretty epic way to end the expansion (ironically the final fight of Legion has no demons or even Fel magic it would seem.) Oh, and one quibble - I think Argus (and all Titans) ought to be classified as a Giant (or nothing) rather than a Humanoid, but oh well.
With 7.3.5 out this week, there's actually a fair amount of follow-up to the final raid. You can take a crystal from the post-Argus version of the Vindicaar left by Illidan, where has messages for Malfurion and Tyrande, and then one last one for you. You can also get a quest chain (that might require re-logging) that will send you to Silithus. Here, you'll see the extent of the devastation (it's basically the whole zone, other than some fringes on the edges) and also see just how freaking huge Sargeras' sword is (it has got to be the biggest single object other than the continents themselves that they've made in-game, though unfortunately the textures don't look great up close.)
Much of the quests here point to obvious things given the next expansion: the Alliance and Horde are racing to capitalize on the Azerite pouring out of the wound while Khadgar and Magni urge a continuation to cooperation so that they can heal Azeroth.
Two things of note, though:
At least on the Alliance side (though I'd suspect Horde as well) you are sent to gather samples of the Silithid, who seem to be bouncing back very quickly from the destruction of their hives. Also bouncing back are Twilight's Hammer (there's a rare mob in the Twilight Camp you're sent to that I highly, highly recommend killing to get his journal, which I detailed when it was datamined here.)
The fact that the quests go out of their way to show that both the Silithid and Twilight's Hammer are doing fine really seems to confirm the importance of the Old Gods in Battle for Azeroth. The Silithid are linked to the Qiraji and thus C'thun, and have tended to swarm when C'thun makes a push on Kalimdor. And of course, Twilight's Hammer is dedicated to the chaos of the Void, which puts them on team purple. They were dealt a serious blow in Cataclysm, but they're the exact kind of "leadership not required" cult that makes them very, very hard to extinguish. I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot more of these guys in BFA.
So, with this, we close the book on Legion.
I want to do a retrospective on the expansion some time during the wait for Battle, but I can definitely say that this is one of the best they've done - possibly even the best over all. Certainly not flawless, but then, Wrath and Mists, which have historically been the ones I hear most people touting as best (Wrath for me, personally, though again I might say Legion instead) also had their own big flaws. Battle for Azeroth has a tough act to follow, and perhaps it wouldn't even be fair to expect it to be better than Legion (just don't be as bad as Warlords, please!)
With 7.3.5 out this week, there's actually a fair amount of follow-up to the final raid. You can take a crystal from the post-Argus version of the Vindicaar left by Illidan, where has messages for Malfurion and Tyrande, and then one last one for you. You can also get a quest chain (that might require re-logging) that will send you to Silithus. Here, you'll see the extent of the devastation (it's basically the whole zone, other than some fringes on the edges) and also see just how freaking huge Sargeras' sword is (it has got to be the biggest single object other than the continents themselves that they've made in-game, though unfortunately the textures don't look great up close.)
Much of the quests here point to obvious things given the next expansion: the Alliance and Horde are racing to capitalize on the Azerite pouring out of the wound while Khadgar and Magni urge a continuation to cooperation so that they can heal Azeroth.
Two things of note, though:
At least on the Alliance side (though I'd suspect Horde as well) you are sent to gather samples of the Silithid, who seem to be bouncing back very quickly from the destruction of their hives. Also bouncing back are Twilight's Hammer (there's a rare mob in the Twilight Camp you're sent to that I highly, highly recommend killing to get his journal, which I detailed when it was datamined here.)
The fact that the quests go out of their way to show that both the Silithid and Twilight's Hammer are doing fine really seems to confirm the importance of the Old Gods in Battle for Azeroth. The Silithid are linked to the Qiraji and thus C'thun, and have tended to swarm when C'thun makes a push on Kalimdor. And of course, Twilight's Hammer is dedicated to the chaos of the Void, which puts them on team purple. They were dealt a serious blow in Cataclysm, but they're the exact kind of "leadership not required" cult that makes them very, very hard to extinguish. I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot more of these guys in BFA.
So, with this, we close the book on Legion.
I want to do a retrospective on the expansion some time during the wait for Battle, but I can definitely say that this is one of the best they've done - possibly even the best over all. Certainly not flawless, but then, Wrath and Mists, which have historically been the ones I hear most people touting as best (Wrath for me, personally, though again I might say Legion instead) also had their own big flaws. Battle for Azeroth has a tough act to follow, and perhaps it wouldn't even be fair to expect it to be better than Legion (just don't be as bad as Warlords, please!)
Monday, January 8, 2018
Plenty of Progress, Only One Boss
It's kind of amazing to me how far into the game Irithyll Dungeon felt at the time, when now I return to it feeling as if it's a much easier, earlier area (some of the guards go down in one hit now.)
After defeating (kind of cheesily, as I used a summon) the Dragonslayer Armor, I went through the Grand Archives and actually managed to keep the ember I had used before it (and Champion Gundyr) all the way to an area basically past the Archives with a three NPC gank squad waiting for me. I whittled down their numbers, dying after I took down the caster, then again with the katana-dude, and then the last guy was not too hard on his own. This group feels very similar to the gank squad in Yahar'gul in Bloodborne, and I think I'm in a similar phase of the main game.
Anyway, with easy access to the bridge back into Lothric Castle, I decided to explore a bit. I went into Ariandel a bit more, and I'm rather shocked at how much I've gone through without hitting a true boss. It's a pretty labyrinthine area, but I've managed to get through the Corvian Settlement and defeated Friede's knight lackey and met "Aria" as the fans have come to call her. The subsequent area is a very twisty outdoor area that reminds me a lot of Bloodborne's Forbidden Woods, as the enemies aren't terribly difficult, but you're running a constant battle of attrition.
After dying there without making much progress but having killed about a million Follower soldiers, I went to Archdragon Peak. This area definitely feels like the "not messing around" secret tough part of the game. The Untended Graves was really cool and atmospheric, but other than Gundyr himself, was not terribly difficult. But these snake/dragon dudes are not messing around. I did manage to kill the Ancient Wyvern, which was not nearly as trivial as I expected such a gimmick boss to be. The worst part was when I made it to the end of the gauntlet but did my plunge attack at the wrong time, missing the dragon and splattering myself on the stones below. The subsequent parts of Archdragon Peak do not seem terribly easy either, so I'm weighing my options on where I want to go next.
For now, these progress reports are kind of for my own reflection later on, though I'm eager to write a big comparison between Dark Souls III and Bloodborne at some point.
After defeating (kind of cheesily, as I used a summon) the Dragonslayer Armor, I went through the Grand Archives and actually managed to keep the ember I had used before it (and Champion Gundyr) all the way to an area basically past the Archives with a three NPC gank squad waiting for me. I whittled down their numbers, dying after I took down the caster, then again with the katana-dude, and then the last guy was not too hard on his own. This group feels very similar to the gank squad in Yahar'gul in Bloodborne, and I think I'm in a similar phase of the main game.
Anyway, with easy access to the bridge back into Lothric Castle, I decided to explore a bit. I went into Ariandel a bit more, and I'm rather shocked at how much I've gone through without hitting a true boss. It's a pretty labyrinthine area, but I've managed to get through the Corvian Settlement and defeated Friede's knight lackey and met "Aria" as the fans have come to call her. The subsequent area is a very twisty outdoor area that reminds me a lot of Bloodborne's Forbidden Woods, as the enemies aren't terribly difficult, but you're running a constant battle of attrition.
After dying there without making much progress but having killed about a million Follower soldiers, I went to Archdragon Peak. This area definitely feels like the "not messing around" secret tough part of the game. The Untended Graves was really cool and atmospheric, but other than Gundyr himself, was not terribly difficult. But these snake/dragon dudes are not messing around. I did manage to kill the Ancient Wyvern, which was not nearly as trivial as I expected such a gimmick boss to be. The worst part was when I made it to the end of the gauntlet but did my plunge attack at the wrong time, missing the dragon and splattering myself on the stones below. The subsequent parts of Archdragon Peak do not seem terribly easy either, so I'm weighing my options on where I want to go next.
For now, these progress reports are kind of for my own reflection later on, though I'm eager to write a big comparison between Dark Souls III and Bloodborne at some point.
Embers, Gundyr, and Ornstein's Armor
Fighting my way up to Dragonslayer Armor, which guards the bridge between Lothric Castle and the Grand Archives (there's another you cross later to get back,) I decided that, with 42 Embers in my inventory, I might as well see if there were any hostile NPC invaders. Well, there weren't, but I did find a guy to summon and figured I might as well use that ember on my first attempt against the Dragonslayer Armor.
Holy crap did that make that fight easy. Given that I think a big part of it is that the armor has a massive shield, having someone distract it so that its back is exposed made the fight ridiculously easy. I don't know if I should count it alongside Deacons of the Deep and Yhorm the Giant as the 1-shot bosses (I did have help on Yhorm, but that was a reward for a quest chain.) Anyway, high on that victory, I looked for a summon sign in the Untended Graves.
It turns out there was an NPC invader there. Getting some nice hits in, she then fell off the cliff and I have no idea if there was loot she might have had because it all went bye-bye (I wonder if there's an in-game way to recover "lost" loot.) Anyway, I summoned the Sword Master to fight Gundyr (who had taken my like a dozen attempts) and I easily took him down (aside from one scary moment where he grabbed me and nearly flung me off the cliff.)
I got the Firekeeper's Eyes, but I'm going Lord of Hollows/Usurp the Flame ending on this character, so I'll be careful not to summon the Firekeeper at the end.
So now in the main game I just have Ancient Wyvern, the Nameless King (which I gather is very hard,) Lothric/Lorian, and the Soul of Cinder. However, I think I'm now in a good place to really push into Ariandel (I had one brief attempt when getting frustrated with Gundyr,) which I'll probably do either after getting Lothric down or perhaps getting whatever the closest shortcut to him is.
Holy crap did that make that fight easy. Given that I think a big part of it is that the armor has a massive shield, having someone distract it so that its back is exposed made the fight ridiculously easy. I don't know if I should count it alongside Deacons of the Deep and Yhorm the Giant as the 1-shot bosses (I did have help on Yhorm, but that was a reward for a quest chain.) Anyway, high on that victory, I looked for a summon sign in the Untended Graves.
It turns out there was an NPC invader there. Getting some nice hits in, she then fell off the cliff and I have no idea if there was loot she might have had because it all went bye-bye (I wonder if there's an in-game way to recover "lost" loot.) Anyway, I summoned the Sword Master to fight Gundyr (who had taken my like a dozen attempts) and I easily took him down (aside from one scary moment where he grabbed me and nearly flung me off the cliff.)
I got the Firekeeper's Eyes, but I'm going Lord of Hollows/Usurp the Flame ending on this character, so I'll be careful not to summon the Firekeeper at the end.
So now in the main game I just have Ancient Wyvern, the Nameless King (which I gather is very hard,) Lothric/Lorian, and the Soul of Cinder. However, I think I'm now in a good place to really push into Ariandel (I had one brief attempt when getting frustrated with Gundyr,) which I'll probably do either after getting Lothric down or perhaps getting whatever the closest shortcut to him is.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
A Giant, a Dancer, a King, and Working on a Familiar Champion
So either I've gotten good at Dark Souls or I've learned enough persistence that I manage not to get frustrated.
Having completed all of Siegward's quests, the Yhorm the Giant fight, which I suspect would be easy even solo (once you figure out how to use the Stormruler correctly,) was extremely silly as Siegward used his own Stormruler to blast the giant with its attacks, drawing Yhorm's attention while I was able to charge up my sword with impunity. I had one last toast with Siegward before I was drawn away to the entrance to Lothric Castle, but returned to find Siegward's Catarina armor and his sword (my understanding is that, duty fulfilled, he died.)
With three Lord of Cinder dead, I was able to fight the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, who I believe you can actually fight even before Vordt if you murder the old lady in that room (but that wouldn't be nice.) The Dancer is a really odd fight - at least at first she'll often seem to ignore you, and you might miss her not because she's dodging but because she's just walking away. But when she does attack, her swords come in at very unpredictable angles. Thankfully, I'd just gotten enough vitality to wear some decent armor and still be able to dodge, so I could dance with her, and after five or six attempts I got her down (I'm definitely hitting harder bosses, with Yhorm as an exception.)
From there, I went left into the Consumed King's Garden and faced down Oceiros. Ironically, the second phase of the fight is actually easier, as his attacks are easier to dodge (though he charges across the room so quickly that it's hard to keep up.) With him down, I was able to get into the Untended Graves area.
So now I'm working on Gundyr round 2 (or round 1, if your interpretation is that this is in the past. Alternatively, it might also be round 1 if this is an alternate universe.) I believe his moveset is an expansion of his phase 1 in the first fight. My best attempt (down to about 15%) involved using the Buckler to parry a lot, though it's hard to tell exactly which of his attacks can be parried.
With the Way of the Dragon gesture, I should be able to go to Archdragon Peak. I'm considering starting the Ashes of Ariandel DLC before I attempt the Nameless King, though.
I also decided to use my Titanite Slab on the Hollowslayer Greatsword, as it has worked very well for me over the course of the game. So with that fully upgraded, I'll look into what other weapons to upgrade. I'd love to use all boss weapons (the Dancer's twinswords are pretty appealing) but I don't know how many Titanite Scales I'll be able to find.
I've got the Black Eye Orb to fight Leonhard, but the couple times I've tried he's absolutely trounced me. I imagine this guy is kind of like the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst - the pinnacle of NPC duels. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a ton of stuff left even if the main game is getting into its final act.
Having completed all of Siegward's quests, the Yhorm the Giant fight, which I suspect would be easy even solo (once you figure out how to use the Stormruler correctly,) was extremely silly as Siegward used his own Stormruler to blast the giant with its attacks, drawing Yhorm's attention while I was able to charge up my sword with impunity. I had one last toast with Siegward before I was drawn away to the entrance to Lothric Castle, but returned to find Siegward's Catarina armor and his sword (my understanding is that, duty fulfilled, he died.)
With three Lord of Cinder dead, I was able to fight the Dancer of the Boreal Valley, who I believe you can actually fight even before Vordt if you murder the old lady in that room (but that wouldn't be nice.) The Dancer is a really odd fight - at least at first she'll often seem to ignore you, and you might miss her not because she's dodging but because she's just walking away. But when she does attack, her swords come in at very unpredictable angles. Thankfully, I'd just gotten enough vitality to wear some decent armor and still be able to dodge, so I could dance with her, and after five or six attempts I got her down (I'm definitely hitting harder bosses, with Yhorm as an exception.)
From there, I went left into the Consumed King's Garden and faced down Oceiros. Ironically, the second phase of the fight is actually easier, as his attacks are easier to dodge (though he charges across the room so quickly that it's hard to keep up.) With him down, I was able to get into the Untended Graves area.
So now I'm working on Gundyr round 2 (or round 1, if your interpretation is that this is in the past. Alternatively, it might also be round 1 if this is an alternate universe.) I believe his moveset is an expansion of his phase 1 in the first fight. My best attempt (down to about 15%) involved using the Buckler to parry a lot, though it's hard to tell exactly which of his attacks can be parried.
With the Way of the Dragon gesture, I should be able to go to Archdragon Peak. I'm considering starting the Ashes of Ariandel DLC before I attempt the Nameless King, though.
I also decided to use my Titanite Slab on the Hollowslayer Greatsword, as it has worked very well for me over the course of the game. So with that fully upgraded, I'll look into what other weapons to upgrade. I'd love to use all boss weapons (the Dancer's twinswords are pretty appealing) but I don't know how many Titanite Scales I'll be able to find.
I've got the Black Eye Orb to fight Leonhard, but the couple times I've tried he's absolutely trounced me. I imagine this guy is kind of like the Bloody Crow of Cainhurst - the pinnacle of NPC duels. Oh well, it's not like I don't have a ton of stuff left even if the main game is getting into its final act.
Monday, January 1, 2018
2018 in Azeroth
Happy New Year!
As we enter a new, even-numbered year, we can now look forward to a new World of Warcraft expansion coming before the next time we do the whole champagne-and-fireworks routine (or in my case, driving around sick friends and siblings on a decidedly low-key New Year's.)
So what does 2018 have in store for WoW?
First off, while the Antorus raid is fully open and Argus the Unmaker has been defeated on Mythic, there's still some stuff still on the way. Tomorrow (Tuesday) the third Raid Finder wing will open, with Kin'garoth, the Coven of Shivarrah, Varimathras, and Aggramar available to fight, and in two weeks, the final wing, with Argus the Unmaker, will open up on LFR.
From that point, the big question is how long we have to wait for something else.
We are likely to start hearing about the Beta for Battle for Azeroth some time in late winter or early spring. It probably won't start until spring, unless Blizzard does truly succeed in accelerating their launch schedule (though I'm very much in favor of quality over speed.) If the pattern holds, we can then probably look forward to a fall release.
However, if you're worried about the prospect of many months without anything new to do in WoW, I think there's some reason to be optimistic: After the success of the pre-launch availability of Demon Hunters, particularly in that it allowed some players to take their Demon Hunters directly into the new expansion on launch day, I imagine that they might push for this kind of thing with all "new character incentives." And that, to me, along with the datamining that showed that more or less everything you need to allow Highmountain Tauren, Lightforged Draenei, Void Elves, and Nightborne are already in the game files for 7.3.5, suggests that they will probably allow players to create Allied Race characters well before Battle for Azeroth launches (except for Zandalari Trolls and Dark Iron Dwarves, who will probably not be unlocked before level 120.)
With the new level scaling in the old world, leveling up new characters should be a more compelling experience - you'll be able to finish out the story in certain zones without feeling you've got to move on in order to be more efficient. You'll also be able to pick and choose between certain pairs of expansions' content. I suspect that a lot of my new characters might go straight to Northrend after finishing up the 1-60 experience.
It might actually take longer to level, which I know some people will not be happy with. But I think the main intention is to make the leveling process itself feel more like an actual game than a prerequisite for getting into the "real" game. Releasing Allied Race characters during a relative lull in the main game would be a great way to incentivize more of a "stop and smell the roses" style of leveling.
One benefit of having a big lull before Battle comes out is that you'll have plenty of time to finish out certain things on alts (or mains.) I know that I'm going to try for the challenge artifact appearance on my Protection Paladin, and if I have the time and energy, I'll try for a few other specs as well (I really like the Frost Mage look too.)
Now, once Battle for Azeroth does come out (I really can't speculate that much on a release date, except that launching before September would be highly unusual,) we'll of course have tons of new stuff to explore. There are systems, stories, and environments that we've only seen brief glimpses of, and many are sure to undergo big changes. We're entering a brave new world without artifacts (not too difficult to imagine) nor tier sets (somewhat crazier.)
I'm eager to delve into the new lore of the expansion (which I feel I've been focusing on more lately on this blog,) from the shifting conflict between the factions (I'm kind of shocked/horrified that Undercity is going to be destroyed. I'm less upset about Darnassus) to the shadowy threat underneath it all (how crazy would it be if it weren't actually Old Gods?) I really want to see how the major conflicts of WoW play out in a world where we've managed to defeat even the Burning Legion. And, of course, I want to see new aspects of the lore explored.
As we enter a new, even-numbered year, we can now look forward to a new World of Warcraft expansion coming before the next time we do the whole champagne-and-fireworks routine (or in my case, driving around sick friends and siblings on a decidedly low-key New Year's.)
So what does 2018 have in store for WoW?
First off, while the Antorus raid is fully open and Argus the Unmaker has been defeated on Mythic, there's still some stuff still on the way. Tomorrow (Tuesday) the third Raid Finder wing will open, with Kin'garoth, the Coven of Shivarrah, Varimathras, and Aggramar available to fight, and in two weeks, the final wing, with Argus the Unmaker, will open up on LFR.
From that point, the big question is how long we have to wait for something else.
We are likely to start hearing about the Beta for Battle for Azeroth some time in late winter or early spring. It probably won't start until spring, unless Blizzard does truly succeed in accelerating their launch schedule (though I'm very much in favor of quality over speed.) If the pattern holds, we can then probably look forward to a fall release.
However, if you're worried about the prospect of many months without anything new to do in WoW, I think there's some reason to be optimistic: After the success of the pre-launch availability of Demon Hunters, particularly in that it allowed some players to take their Demon Hunters directly into the new expansion on launch day, I imagine that they might push for this kind of thing with all "new character incentives." And that, to me, along with the datamining that showed that more or less everything you need to allow Highmountain Tauren, Lightforged Draenei, Void Elves, and Nightborne are already in the game files for 7.3.5, suggests that they will probably allow players to create Allied Race characters well before Battle for Azeroth launches (except for Zandalari Trolls and Dark Iron Dwarves, who will probably not be unlocked before level 120.)
With the new level scaling in the old world, leveling up new characters should be a more compelling experience - you'll be able to finish out the story in certain zones without feeling you've got to move on in order to be more efficient. You'll also be able to pick and choose between certain pairs of expansions' content. I suspect that a lot of my new characters might go straight to Northrend after finishing up the 1-60 experience.
It might actually take longer to level, which I know some people will not be happy with. But I think the main intention is to make the leveling process itself feel more like an actual game than a prerequisite for getting into the "real" game. Releasing Allied Race characters during a relative lull in the main game would be a great way to incentivize more of a "stop and smell the roses" style of leveling.
One benefit of having a big lull before Battle comes out is that you'll have plenty of time to finish out certain things on alts (or mains.) I know that I'm going to try for the challenge artifact appearance on my Protection Paladin, and if I have the time and energy, I'll try for a few other specs as well (I really like the Frost Mage look too.)
Now, once Battle for Azeroth does come out (I really can't speculate that much on a release date, except that launching before September would be highly unusual,) we'll of course have tons of new stuff to explore. There are systems, stories, and environments that we've only seen brief glimpses of, and many are sure to undergo big changes. We're entering a brave new world without artifacts (not too difficult to imagine) nor tier sets (somewhat crazier.)
I'm eager to delve into the new lore of the expansion (which I feel I've been focusing on more lately on this blog,) from the shifting conflict between the factions (I'm kind of shocked/horrified that Undercity is going to be destroyed. I'm less upset about Darnassus) to the shadowy threat underneath it all (how crazy would it be if it weren't actually Old Gods?) I really want to see how the major conflicts of WoW play out in a world where we've managed to defeat even the Burning Legion. And, of course, I want to see new aspects of the lore explored.
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