Snafzg returns to WAR (week three): Tearing up tier four (p2)
As for Land of the Dead (LotD), I haven't seen much, but what I did see wasn't super impressive. My experience was, I hate to say it, "tainted," by pick-up groups. Everyone had competing interests wanting to do different public quests. I just went with the flow because I wanted to see a lot of what the zone had to offer. I only ended up doing a couple PQs, getting annoyed by bugs, and waiting to go back with a more formal group setup.
It wasn't all bad though. Order gained control while I was inside once and I was happy to quit the PQ in search of some RvR in the desert. I was a bit miffed to see that the Order side of LotD was almost a mirror image of the Destruction side. On the plus side, it was familiar, so I knew where I was going. I stumbled across a couple Order over there and we had a couple nice fights. I eventually died and respawned back in the Inevitable City.
I really do aim to go back to LotD with a more cohesive group so we can actually get things accomplished. The tokens, vessels, armor sets, and other LotD-specific things look quite appealing and I'd like to get my hands on some of them. At the end of my two hours in the zone, I had 10 golden scarabs.
I couldn't find a group for Blood/Bile, but I am still looking. I only need one more piece of Sentinel gear (the helmet preferrably) for my 4-piece set bonus. I just hope they upped the drop rates because a 1/12 chance really put me off these dungeons in the past.
As for RvR influence, my bars are slowly creeping along. The elite reward influence weapons are quite amazing and my shoota + stabba could really use an upgrade. I need about 9,000 more influence for the new spear and 12,000 more influence for the bow. It seems like they have reduced the influence you gain from battlefield objectives but increased the influence you gain from keep defenses and zone flips. Renown earned from player kills seems to have stayed constant, but I wish it was higher. I really find the influence grind dreadfully slow even now.
As for the top issues I've been experiencing, topping my list are terrain stickiness and fall damage. The terrain in WAR is the most unforgiving I have ever experienced. I have honestly never used the /stuck command in an MMO more than I have in this game. This issue is still present and very annoying. Nothing beats trying to kite someone in RvR and then getting totally stuck on a random tree, boulder, or fallen twig.
Fall damage is also still a big issue for me, especially when you mix in WAR's intermittently laggy RvR experience. You'll be chasing someone down on a slope (or running away kiting), get a small lag hiccup, and all of a sudden take an insane amount of fall damage. This can turn a close fight into a losing one. And I'm not talking a "big" fall here. I've been running down a 30° slope, fallen maybe 5 feet, and taken over 1/4 of my HP bar in damage. I don't understand the benefits of this system at all...
Neither of these issues are game-breaking, but they do stick out as sore spots for me that should have been improved over the last few months. Overall, I've been having a decent amount of fun on my Squig Herder. I just wish I could quickly find a guild to experience PvE and RvR with a more organized group of people. I'm still on the hunt though!
Ahem... specifically a Wild Hunt. Next week marks the beginning of WAR's new Live Event that celebrates their one-year anniversary. I look forward to taking part in the festivities and achieving a few more of the goals I set out for myself. Stay tuned next week for my recap!
