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Wings Over Atreia: A quick guide to Aion 4.0 dungeons, part 2
Do you want to know why you are wading into a particular instance and decimating all you see? Or are you more of a just-get-in-and-get-it-done kind of Daeva? Either way, you've come to the right place! Welcome to the second half of the handy dandy Aion 4.0 dungeon guide. From lore to location, this guide will aid you in your journey to lay the smackdown on the latest Atreian troublemakers that are so rudely keeping your new loot from you. In the first half of the guide we could cover only six of the new instances: Steel Rose, Kamar Battlefield, Danuar Mysticarium, Danuar Reliquary, Danuar Sanctuary, and Idgel Research Center. Today's part two introduces and offers a bit of insight into the five remaining Dark Betrayal dungeons spread throughout Aion's newest zones of Katalam, Danaria, and Idian Depths. Each of these instances is for Daevas level 65+ and for groups of six (unless otherwise noted).
Warhammer Online releases patch 1.4.5 highlights
Despite Mythic Entertainment's recent winnowing of the Warhammer Online servers -- bringing them down from four servers to a measly pair -- the company is still hard at work developing patches for the RvR-based title. Patch 1.4.5 will be hitting the live servers tomorrow, January 31st, and it brings a number of interesting changes and also ushers in the return of fortresses, which should be good news for open RvR fans. With the recent Skaven invasion, a number of relics have been found in myriad underground tunnels dug below the game's fortresses. Players will be charged with guarding their faction's relics while attempting to purloin those of the enemy. The Grovod Cavern scenario is also making a return, allowing two teams of 12 players to duke it out in the crumbling cave. But this time, there's a twist: Players will be taking control of two teams of Skaven; hilarity will ensue. To top it all off, 1.4.5 is bringing fortresses back into play (after they were removed some time ago), which should hopefully encourage players to head back into the open RvR lakes for fun and profit. For the full details, just head on over to the Warhammer Online official site.
Wings Over Atreia: F2P and vet rewards and bears, oh my!
OK, so maybe there aren't really any bears. Wait, I take that back -- there are maybe sorta bears... at least alluded to! Polar bears, to be exact. No really, work with me here: What Winter Festival, Atreian or otherwise, doesn't conjure up images of polar bears? We just won't get into the whole dancing bears thing. What we will get into this week in Wings Over Atreia, however, are musings about a few topics of interest that are swirling around lately, most notably Aion's upcoming conversion to free-to-play in Europe, the changes to the veteran reward system, and the aforementioned Winter Festival (sans dancing bears). Quick quiz now: Other than involving Aion, what else do these three subjects have in common? Give up? Time. While this column usually delves into single topics at a time, the fact that two of these are time-sensitive necessitates that they share face-time, else the news most relevant to Daevas would become obsolete. The third is less time-sensitive but more time-relevant.
Aion fortress sieges to follow set schedule
Aion's Assault on Balaurea expansion has wrought more than a few notable changes across the sundered face of Atreia, in addition to opening up several new areas for intrepid daevas to explore. Among these are four new fortresses to conquer and, along with old familiar names like Siel, Krotan, and Asteria, each of these mighty forts will now be subject to a recurring vulnerability schedule. This is in contrast to the pre-Balaurea system of random fortress vulnerability times, a mechanic that left legions and alliances somewhat unsure as to when to marshal their forces in anticipation of sacking certain fortresses and accessing their rewards. NCsoft has posted the current fortress vulnerability schedule on the official Aion website, though they do note that it is subject to change based on the final integration of the new forts into the rotation.
Lengthy Aion 2.0 patch notes translated
Aion's near-mythical 2.0 update went live on the Korean test servers last week, and the lengthy English translation is finally available for your reading enjoyment at the official site. Despite the fact that it will likely be months before the update makes its way to America, it's exciting to see some of the upcoming tweaks. Additions include the Balaur homeland zone featuring new fortresses and artifacts for both Elyos and Asmodians, as well as new flight/gliding options including windstreams, updrafts, and geysers. Six new dungeon instances have also been introduced, and the level cap has been raised to 55. Additionally, a plethora of new and upgraded skills have been added to each class. Crafting now features a Mastery level (549), and harvesting vitality in certain areas of the new Balaur zone may result in the acquisition of a unique weapon. Finally, several quests have been tweaked for difficulty, and many new quests have been added, along with a robust pet system. Whew. Check out all the details at the official site.
GameX 2009: 1.3.2 decision making, streaming client, and unlimited trials for Warhammer Online
We saw the Warhammer Online booth at GameX, and we wagggggghed ourselves right into a video interview with James Casey and Matt Shaw from Mythic Entertainment that pulled no punches. We wanted to know what was going on behind the scenes with their decision making in patch 1.3.2, shooting James and Matt the hard questions.Why were fortresses pulled from the endgame? Why choose 1.3.2 for performance fixes and not fix these things earlier? While we interrogated, Matt and James were also happy to tell us about the new stuff for WAR, including the new-user experience added in 1.3.2, the awesome unlimited trial that starts today, and the new streaming client option that trial users will receive.So for the answers to some burning WAR questions, jump with us after the break and check out our video interview!
