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The Anvil of Crom: Breaking down the Khitai grind, part one
So I'm attacking the endgame faction grind with renewed vigor. After spending the past couple of months thoroughly engaged in Darkfall and somewhat distracted by Global Agenda, I have to confess to (formerly) being less than enthusiastic about Khitai repeatables, marks of acclaim, and 6-man pick up groups in Age of Conan. Time away from Hyboria (or at least, less time in Hyboria) makes a man yearn to return, though, as there is no place in MMO land that compares in terms of sights and sounds. That said, I'm still not a fan of the grind, and I still think Funcom needs to address the fact that it takes the average player months -- if he's lucky -- to get a full suit of Khitai armor (never mind jewelry and a couple of weapons). It does seem a bit less daunting when you break it down into chunks, though, and when you set yourself a reasonable goal and stop worrying about if or when you'll ever have time to play an alt.
Age of Conan 2.0.7 coming today after extended downtime
If you had your heart set on a little Hyborian hooky this afternoon, go ahead and cancel that sick day and head on in to the office. Funcom is in the process of uploading Age of Conan version 2.0.7 to the live servers, and according to a post on the official boards by senior community manager Tarib, the downtime has been extended from six to a full eight hours (it began early this morning at 7:00 a.m. EDT). The good news is that the patch looks to improve performance in Khitai's Northern Grasslands zone (often called Northern Crashlands due to its low framerates and frequent lockups). While the jury is still out on the success of this aspect of the patch, it's gratifying to see Funcom taking action on the matter. 2.0.7 is also tweaking the ranger class (yes, again), in the seemingly neverending struggle to bring Hyboria's bow and crossbow crowd into line with the rest of the classes. This time it's not a nerf but rather a series of mini-buffs, including more damage for the deft stabs skill, a better snare effect on pin down, and more. You can view the patch notes from the Test Live server, but you'll need to sign in with a Test Live forum account.
The Anvil of Crom: Journey through the Grasslands
The assassin moved forward, slowly, the soles of his padded boots gliding soundlessly over the dense packing of leaves and mulch that formed the forest floor. His eyes darted this way and that, scarred hands never far from the ivory-inlaid hilts of the blades hanging loosely at his waist. Quickening his pace, he ducked and dodged around the endless stalks of greenish bamboo that reached for the canopy high above. Thin sunbeams bathed portions of the glade in an otherworldly light. They also cast parts of the dense bamboo thicket into semi-darkness, and it was from one of these dim pockets that the bear emerged. A towering, snarling monstrosity, it leered at the assassin, then charged. Stalks of bamboo snapped and splintered in its path as the assassin whirled and fled. The ground shook as the beast gained; he felt its breath on his neck as he emerged from the forest into blinding sunlight. A rock wall loomed ahead of him and he leaped for it, his feet finding purchase on the tiny ledges as he scrambled up the sheer side of the cliff. Panting, he finally reached the summit and turned to watch the stalks of bamboo swaying far below him like a sea of grass that parted as the beast rumbled back into the undergrowth. Sneak past the cut for more. %Gallery-99125%
