My First Dungeon Runs.

Yep, that’s the truth. I had never done any instanced dungeons in WAR until last night. This is mainly because I was unable to settle on a character until the Slayer was released. Now, with Khazgar at 4/5 Annihilator, I felt ready to start doing Sigmar Crypts or Skaven Tunnels. Luckiy, I’m in a guild that is ready to run newbies through dungeons, and we have a good group of players that are now massively overgeared for the instances. This is probably why the runs went so smoothly. The group was composed of myself, another newbie Slayer, our Guild Master was the single tank, with an Engi and two Runepriests. Yes, an all-dwarf group. For some reason our guild is composed of over 75% dwarfs. Go figure.

Anyway, the run went smoothly, we hit Crypts first, with my GM laying out basic strats on vent along the way. We got all the way to Twin Lectors without a hitch, and after the strategy was explained, we went to it. It was surprisingly easy, even with one tank, but as I said, my guildies were overgeared for this run. We downed them without a hitch, and the Sentinel Leathers dropped! My roll karma was strong and I won the chestpiece! I was stoked, and they don’t loot half bad either. At least they aren’t bugged and actually show up on my character, unlike the Annihilator chest.

After this we headed out to the Blowhole Tavern and hit the Tunnels. This was a first for me as well, but it seemed to go by quick. The tank kited the Grey Seer Boss while we ran around like headless chickens beating on the boss. Grey Seer went down like cake and not only did the Sentinel War Shroud head piece drop, but I won that roll as well! I honestly felt kind of bad for the other Slayer in the group, but I’ll pass on both next time til he gets them should they drop.

Doing these runs gave me a better understanding of the Ward System and how one is supposed to start progression through the endgame. I now know exactly when I can start doing Bastion Stair on my next alt, and I’m gonna make a concerted effort to get at least one character through Lost Vale.

Speaking of Bastion Stair, why don’t more players run it? It seems like a pretty doable dungeon, especially considering you can start getting your lesser wards regardless of your Renown Rank. I mean, considering the relative difficulty of getting certain pieces of the Annihilator set, doing BS sounds like a more reliable method.

Cross-server Scenarios, Is Now The Time?

A guildie and I were having a conversation last night while we were on our T3 alts, lamenting the recent lack of scenario pops on our server. I play on Badlands, which is the sixth most active server according to Warheap. We chalked it up to the fact that the Slayer/Choppa wave has mostly progressed to T4, and so, the lower tiers are pretty slow as a result. 

We were brainstorming ways to fix this, and when the subject of cross-server scenarios was brought up, we were at first reluctant to really consider it, but then we realized that in T4 at least, the Zone Domination mechanic makes VP spillover from previous tiers almost insignificant. In my experience, when locking a zone, players are running around in the lakes, capping BO’s and Keeps, or trying to bottle up the opposing realm in their warcamp. When it usually takes less than 2 hours to lock a zone, the VP spillover doesn’t seem so important..

And so, if VP from previous tiers is no longer a significant factor, why not implement cross-server scenarios? This feature worked well for WoW, who at the time was having similar issues with some servers having constant Battleground pops, while others could take hours to get a single game in.

I would support this if they were to implement it. As a player with multiple alts, scenarios can be one of the most efficient ways to get xp and renown when leveling an alt. They are also a welcome break from PvE, especially if the open RvR in your area is slow. However, since most servers can now be considered mature, with a large percentage of their population now in T4, leveling an alt can be an arduous process. This is bad for the game as it makes it difficult for new players to progress quickly through the tiers. When your game is about WAR is everywhere, not being able to get a scenario pop is pretty discouraging, especially if you are a new player.

However, Cross-server scs should only be implemented for Tiers One to Three. Tier Four activity is sufficient to not require this feature on most servers’ T4. So on each server, server pride will still be preserved. Don’t worry, you’ll still be facing your mortal enemies from your rival guilds when warbands are galloping around Praag, trying to capture the zone.

I hope Mythic takes a look at the possibility of implementing this feature, as it would address some concerns with the activity of early tiers, and it would foster a more welcoming and active RvR experience for players new to the game. While they are addressing concerns at endgame, I hope that Mythic does not neglect the early to mid-level experience for it’s players, both old and new.

Ding 40! And Additional Randomness.

I turned 40 on Khazgar finally last weekend, and I still have the same pants =/. Anyway, I got myself a Tellurian Giantsplitter from the Guild Vault and I’m now in the process of figuring out what I need to do from here. I’m evaluating what stats I need to be stacking, as well as trying to figure out what jewelry I need to be slotting. I’m also looking at different build/tactic combos, currently I’m Trollslayer to Rune of Absorption, and Giantslayer to Violent Impacts. My professions are still below 150, so that’s another thing I need to catch up on.

In other news, Order on Badlands had a great zone flip this past weekend. I say great, because of the level of organization that was required to pull it off. Destro was pushing Reikland really hard, but we were able to hold both Keeps and eventually take and hold all the BO’s and lock the zone. We had a little more than three warbands in Reikland, and we were able to hold off several Destro assaults on all the objectives. We did this by posting a scout on the high cliff at Wilhelm’s Fist, and this scout would watch the Destro warcamp and call out the directions that Destro groups would take out of the camp. 

Using this strategy, we were able to coordinate the different warbands to defend or assault the various objectives. Normally with this many players in a zone, warbands just randomly zerg, but this time players listened to the warband leaders and actually followed orders! It was a great experience, with a hefty chunk of renown, influence and medals for finally locking the zone. After the zone lock, we all rode north to Praag and captured the south keep just to spite Destro. I logged off shortly after this, with a great feeling of realm pride and camaraderie with my fellow players. Good job, Order of Badlands, it was a privilege to fight by your side.

And now that I finally got to level 40 on Khaz, guess what I do next? Yup. I rolled another alt. This time a Warrior Priest. Sigh. This altoholism is definitely a chronic condition. Oh, and I’m sorry I haven’t put up the next book review yet. I ran into a snag, namely, I didn’t have access to the book I was reviewing for about a week, Long story. But not quite as long as the review, which I will post soon. That’s it for now ladies and gents, I will see you guys again soon.

Why Does WAR Discourage Alts?

If you have spent any time reading this blog, it is immediately obvious that I’m an incorrigible altaholic. So far, six months out, I’ve only managed to level a  single Rank 40. My Ironbreaker Stahlrek. In that same time frame, I have now have a 27 Slayer, 25 SW, 24 WH, 18 Engi, 32 Blorc, 23 Blackguard and more alts in the 8-15 range. I’m sure you see the problem. Recently, I’ve given some thought to rolling up a Swordmaster as well. So I rolled one up, got him to 8 or so, and now he’s parked in Altdorf. Why? Because I don’t know if I can commit to leveling him through T2 and T3 again. 

Having one tank at max rank has taught me that leveling up a tank can be an arduous process. Now I know that doing scenarios while questing is the fastest way to level. However, my server sc pops are busiest at night. So I play my Slayer at night, so I can maintain my RR. This means because I can’t take advantage of scenarios for my SM, because my Slayer needs the renown as well. Which forces my alt SM to do mostly PvE, in the mornings when the server is pretty dead. And I gotta tell you, I’ve done T2 PvE over five times, I don’t want to do it again. 

You know, I really wish WAR would allow me to “gift” some levels to my lowbie alts. Say, once you reach Rank 40, you can give one alt of yours a certain amount of ranks, depending on the tier. If the character is in Tier 2, you can give 5 ranks, Tier 3 you can give 3, etc. Each alt can only be gifted ranks once. WAR already has the Collar of Servitude/Rod of Service items that allow you to bring a lower ranked player up to within two ranks of your level. Why not allow players who already have a rank 40 to do the same? 

The thing is, WAR rewards the player who plays one character exclusively. Your most played character will have the best gear, highest RR, most unlocks, etc. Your alts, especially ones that you don’t play often will be significantly less progressed than your main. In addition, the sheer amount of time needed to get to T3 or higher is pretty intense.

If you have limited playtime like me, you often don’t want to mess around on alts because you feel that the time is better spent leveling your “main” character. Also many careers don’t quite come into their own until later levels, usually around 21-24. For example, my Shadow Warrior didn’t quite click with me until I got to rank 18 and picked up the Split Arrows tactic, and later at 21 acquiring the Shadow Sting ability made a huge difference to my enjoyment of the class. There are some really interesting builds i want to try out with my SM, but I don’t know if I have the time to level him up to an appropriate level. 

Now before you say that I’m looking for an easy way out, this is not the case. I just want to get to a point where I can really get a feel for the class. I’m not asking to be magically 40, just for a quicker way to get to 20-22. I’ve already leveled multiple characters through that level range, including another tank. It’s not like Mythic doesn’t already have the Bolster mechanic in place. I also don’t really see a downside to providing this convenience. It’s not as if it skews the population or anything like that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m aware the leveling curve is nowhere near as grueling as it was after launch. Mythic did a great job making the grind to 40 less arduous, no doubt. 

I guess I’m just frustrated that there are so many classes I want to play, with not enough hours in the day. Mythic may not purposely try to discourage playing alts, but it certainly feels that way to me when I get excited about a class, roll one up to around 10 or so, then park them because I simply don’t have the time to level an alt effectively alongside my main.

Multiple Characters with Limited Playtime.

I’m nearing 20 on my Slayer, having just hit 18 this morning. I feel sort of bad, since I haven’t been playing my Shadow Warrior lately, being caught up in the Slayer mania. Usually about this time, I start to feel an itch to play an alt. Of course, this is also strongly influenced by the talk in the forums I am a regular poster on. Recently, the topic has shifted to Chosen, and how badass they are.

So now, I’m itching to play a Chosen again. This cycle has already occurred several times, and each time I end up rolling another alt. This accounts for my Witch Hunter, White Lion, Shadow Warrior, Knob, and Warrior Priest. Yes, I know I have a problem. On destro, I had this happen to a much lesser extent. I only seriously tried out a Black Orc, Chosen, Blackguard and Marauder.

I also quit playing characters because of weird, niggling complaints that really mess with me mentally. For example, I quit my Chosen because I didn’t like the way his shield or two-hand sword clipped through his armor. Also, some of the graphical effects turned me off with how “bright” they were. Ravage, for example.

Anyway…I’m rambling again. Back to the erstwhile topic. I really want to rank up both my SW and my Slayer, but I have less time to play. I like to play my Slayer during prime time in the evenings, since the most ORvR goes on around this time. Also, scenario pops are much quicker. So it’s a lot easier to get RvR in between quests. I really want to rank my Slayer up as quickly as possible, so I can play more with my guild at T4.

But I also don’t want my SW to fall by the wayside. From an efficiency standpoint, whichever I play, I need to play at night. I  enjoy the change of pace from melee to ranged. At the same time, I can’t help but feel that I’m not getting the full experience until I hit at least rank 26 or so, when more Mastery abilities are available to me. Sometimes I wish I could skip leveling, if only so I can start trying out all those theroryhammered career builds on wardb. Alas, this can not be the case.

First, I have no interested in powerleveling, and second, WAR is a game that really rewards investment in a single character. It’s no accident that the character you play most ends up with the most tome unlocks, titles, gear and gold.

I guess I’m just overanalyzing this. I should just shut up, play what I feel like, and have fun with the game. It’s the min-maxer in me talking. I guess its because I have less time to play that I want to make the most efficient use of my playtime. This post has rambled enough, so I guess I’ll cut it short for now. If you are still reading this, I thank you.