Alternate-advancement-points
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The Tattered Notebook: Attacked by AAs in EQII
When EverQuest II first went free-to-play in December 2011, a number of long-lost players poked their noses back into the game. But even before that, and certainly since then, veteran players have found cause to return to Norrath after a (sometimes very) prolonged absence. And why not? There are plenty of great things to lose yourself in within EQII... as well as plenty of ways to feel lost! Invariably, those who have been gone for any length of time are confronted with a doozy of a headache-inducer upon their return: alternate advancements. Back in the dark recesses of time, The Tattered Notebook brought you a newbie guide to these AA points. But much has changed in the ensuing two years, including the AAs. So it behooves us to take another look and update our information. The following is my personal journey with that at times intimidating system, sprinkled with tips, tricks, and tales of woe I've picked up along the way.
The Tattered Notebook: A newbie look at alternate advancement
So my little ratonga wizard is fast approaching level 50, and I figured it's high time I started worrying about his AAs. Actually, it's probably past time (he's got a paltry 29 at this point), as I've been too busy running willy-nilly around the world of Norrath flinging fireballs, exploring, and collecting junk for my South Qeynos rat hole. Yes, I've been terribly remiss about properly planning out an alternate advancement strategy so that my furry friend isn't horribly gimped upon his eventual arrival at endgame, but thankfully it's not too late (in fact, it's never too late, thanks to the awesome sauce that is chronomagic). EverQuest II vets may be rolling their eyes at the prospect of an AA article, but for newbs on both the Live and F2P shards, alternate advancement can be a tad confusing if you're averse to reading a lot of tooltips. In this week's chapter of The Tattered Notebook, I'll break down EQII's AA system to give you a baseline of knowledge and a starting point for thinking about your own builds.
Vanguard to get expansion-sized serving of free content in coming months
We're not going to call it an actual expansion until they do, but it sounds like there's a serious amount of new content in the works for Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. The game's lead designer Salim "Silius" Grant was recently interviewed at Allakhazam, and he spilled the beans about what to expect in the way of patches over the next few months. We're talking two new dungeons with both group and raid components (which were previewed at SOE's Fan Faire '08), an Alternate Advancement system that might sound familiar to fans of EQ1/2, item enhancement, and an increase to the level cap.Whether or not SOE decides to tie all of this new stuff together as an expansion of sorts is of little consequence, because -- and here's the best part -- it is all intended to be free. For a few specifics: currently, the level cap will raise to 55, and this does mean that classes will be getting a mix of both new abilities, and upgrades to older ones. The AA system will be modeled after the one found in the original EverQuest, and there will be passive bonuses like stat and run-speed increases, as well as class-specific bonuses. As for the dungeons, one will help players to get from level 50 to 55, and the other will be for 55's and will feature some AAs. To get the full scoop on these things and more, make sure to check out the rest of the interview with Silius.
