Wasteland Diaries: Passing the time

With what looks to be a brand-new combat system on the way, there is a lot of anticipation for the next few incarnations of Fallen Earth. Well, I'm anticipating them, anyway. Dave "Archangel" Haydysch himself says the team will be "gutting" the combat system, for one. There are bound to be some major changes to Fallen Earth in the coming months. These changes include, but are not limited to, the combat system, factions, and PvP objectives. Not to mention that Icarus has verified that we will be getting PvE group instances to romp around in.

There's a lot of goodness on the way, but it's still several weeks or a couple of months off in the future. We will know more with the September state of the game announcement. In the meantime, many of us are at the level cap (I have three level 50 characters myself), and many of us are running out of things to do. Even with PvP-flagging, which allows PvP anywhere, there is very little endgame PvP. Most of the action seems to be in sector 2. I blame the combat system for that, but that's another story. With Deadfall looking like a ghost-town, sometimes the apocalypse can be a lonely place, at least for those of us who have hit the level 50 brick wall a couple times. After the cut, I'll throw you some ideas to pass the time until the next content update.

One of the first things you should do is max out your faction reputation. And I mean all the way up to the 600k cap. Don't stop at 540k when you get the next tier of gear. Besides, if you get it up to 600k you get a new title. You will also amass tons of high-level crafting materials and loads of chips. But by the time you're level 50 and you have maxed out faction rep, you won't need chips for much. (Later in the post I'll give you some ideas on what to do with excess chips.) Besides, with all the mats these veteran mobs drop, you could easily craft an interceptor for everyone in your clan just to be nice, unless you're in one of the big clans.

Maybe you like to PvP? Well, there isn't much level 50 PvP right now, but the guys who play Blood Sports would appreciate another body in the queue. BS matches won't start until the requisite amount of people are queued. And why not do it? How else are you going to get the 180-Armor Use death toll gear? Open-world PvP, at 50 death toll per kill? I think not. Even if you camp Office Park from sun-up to sundown waiting for hapless crafters, you'll need to kill about 4,000 of them to get the full DT regalia.

You can craft consumables for your clanmates, or anything for that matter. Unless you have researched every tradeskill book in the entire recipe compendium, I feel you still have work to do as a crafter. If you have done this, I commend you, as I'm still working on it. You can go to sector 1 and craft new items for the new players who are recruited into your clan, and help them through tough missions. Hell, you can do this with random new players, and then recruit them. Or you could even go all out and join T.E.M.P.S. as a counselor. Nothing warms the heart like helping a noob not be such a noob.

All of this stuff will keep you busy, but when you want to get away from the grind and do something new, you may want to consider roleplaying. Roleplaying, when done properly, even alone, will provide you with all of the endgame content you could ever imagine (sorry, bad joke). There are a few roleplaying groups and clans that are very active in these roleplay events. There are several different events which all seem to be centered around Beauville's Tavern in New Flagstaff. There are even events to drive to the event together and post-event events as well.

The Invicta Bike Rally is a long-standing event that takes place at the aforementioned tavern on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. EDT. Keep tabs on this event by tuning into Invicta Radio. And that should keep you busy on Thursday. There is a new event on Wednesdays now called the Humpday Hideaway Hoedown, hosted by Legends of the Fall and Iron Sights. Clues as to where the hoedown will occur can be heard on Demonville Radio, so tune in and find the party. And the Wasteland Crafter's Cooperative also hosts a monthly crafting bazaar in Sunshine Corners on the first Saturday of each month for the crafter in you.

Roleplaying isn't your scene? You're more of a PvPer? No problem; I've got you covered. Just before the Invicta Bike Rally is PvP Boot Camp. Hollywood Undead and a few other instructors will be teaching the finer points of PvPing in Fallen Earth. Feel free to contact Hollywood in-game for more information and to get set up on the Ventrilo server. Wednesday and Thursday are booked, but there are still five more days a week when you're wondering what to do. Again, I've got you covered.

Remember all those chips you have accumulated? Spend them on every serendipity drop available on the auction house. Or, if the prices are too crazy (they usually are), just find them all yourself. If you really want to kill some time and save the chips for blackjack, go with the latter.

A few other things you could do to occupy yourself while you wait for the next patch involve some exploration. There are things in Fallen Earth that nobody but the development team has ever laid eyes on. The game is immense, and there is a lot of area that hasn't been fully explored well off the beaten path. For instance, try to get inside sector 4 and take a look around. Radiation be damned -- you're a clone. Or maybe try to jump up onto hard-to-reach places. Or find the highest, steepest cliff you can find and either jump, ride or drive off of it and see whether you live or not.

If you still have tons of chips, take them to the nearest bunker bar and play blackjack at one red chip per bet. Try to hit and exceed 99 yellow chips just to see what happens -- I don't even think the devs know. I'm sure it's akin to dividing by zero times infinity. If you do break 99 yellows, go ahead and solo El Cadejo next, because you're unstoppable. On the other end of the spectrum, you might wind up flat broke. Then you'll have something to do: make all those chips back.

I'm not much of a gambler, so one of my favorite minigames to play in Fallen Earth is the most-damage-when-one-hitting-level-one-mobs game. You just get a few clannies together and find a nice crowd of Gully Dogs. Depot 66 is a great spot. Then, open fire and keep track of the most ridiculous single-shot damage roll. You'll be surprised how much you can dish out to these chumps at level 50 with a nice headshot. Be sure to team up so everyone can witness your handiwork.

Until the next patch comes out, the only PvP I'm getting is on the Fallen Earth forums. So if you see me out in the wastes wandering aimlessly... I'm exploring. See you next week.