composition
Latest
Arena Junkies looks at some Gladiator statistics
You have to be real careful about how you put together statistics. As Gregg Easterbrook said, "Torture numbers, and they'll confess to anything." So, grain of salt, people. That being said, Arena Junkies has put up a pretty interesting compilation of numbers. They took a look at their (fairly substantial) membership, and figured out the approximate class makeup of each Arena season's Gladiators. The results aren't exactly a surprise, which supports the analysis's validity. Warlocks -- once the Arena juggernaut to the sounds of much QQ -- have lost 8% of their dominance in the Gladiator ranks. By comparison, Rogues have picked up 6.5%. Druids are the big winners, though. Only 7.5% of Season 1's gladiators were druids, compared to 16% of Season 3's. And yeah. There's a lot of metagame interpretation that could be done regarding these numbers. Melee have slowly risen in power over the span of three seasons, and Paladins -- once the bubbling unstoppable -- have really dropped in performance. Druids used to be unremarkable, but now the "science" of Line-of-Sight and Mobility has taken the day. Arena Junkies promise to further update their analysis when the Hall of Fame is updated for Season 3. But I agree with Tyveris: I think the current sample is indicative, and we're not going to see any huge differences between these numbers and those.
Blood Sport: All aboard the drain train
PvP in its purest form is a beautiful thing. Amanda Dean, always obsessed with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat brings you news you can use in the Arena. When I first started the arena, I thought "Hey, me and my friends can just get together and play." And we can, but there are limits to success based on composition. Some of the most successful teams are based on archetypal compositions such as Rogue, Mage, and Priest (RMP). These typical compositions are based on synergy among classes. Focused mana draining is another fairly successful team structure. The key to successful arena play is usually to control the playing field. Drain teams deny their opponents the ability to attack or heal. Drain teams focus on characters that have mana depleting abilities, plus have a few other tricks up their sleeve to pull out when necessary. Your main contenders are Hunter, Priest, and Warlock.
Blood Sport: Do and don't, pro-style
PvP in its purest form is a beautiful thing. Amanda Dean, always obsessed with the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat brings you news you can use in the Arena. Hailing from Korea, Council of Mages was victorious in this year's World Wide Invitational 3v3 tournament. Second place went to Improved Clicks of Spain. The winners took home a check worth $36,000 for their victory and made an excellent showing throughout the tournament. Improved Clicks cashed in at $18,000, and third place finishers SK-US was awarded $9,000. The final standings for were: 1. Council of Mages 2. Improved Clicks3. SK Gaming 4. Millenium Dream 5-6. Kill EA 5-6. Made in Taiwan 7-8. SK Gaming 7-8. Pandemic Blue 9-12. aAa nawaK 9-12. Elite 9-12. MoB Gaming 9-12. Pandemic Black 13-16. Sapped Cows cant say moo 13-16. Team EG 13-16. fnatic 13-16. Nihilum.Mousesports
Rumor: Oblivion composer to score Duke Nukem Forever
It sounds like brothers Jeremy and Julian Soule will bring music to 3D Realms' Duke Nukem Forever. 1UP believes so, and lays out its case with two intertwining pieces of evidence: 3D Realms developer Raphael Van Lierop discussed in his blog about a recent visit from Julian Soule. In an Insiders-only interview with IGN, Jeremy left one hint about his secretive upcoming project: "When it's done!!!" Okay, that alone would be enough of a confirmation since Duke Nukem Forever, still one of the most ironic titles in the history of entertainment, has kept to a release date of "when it's done." Add to that previous relations when Jeremy Soule composed the soundtrack for 3D realms' Prey. Is Duke Nukem Forever really in full production? Minuscule screenshot notwithstanding, we'll have to see to believe it.
