dual-wield
Latest
Smartphone MMO Avabel Online releases new content
While it didn't impress too much in the beginning, Avabel Online is hoping its latest major content update changes a few minds. A mobile 3-D action game available on both Android and iOS smartphones, Avabel Online offers both PvE content and PvP. The newest update adds six advanced classes (each with four new skills) to the 12 already available. Additionally, characters can now equip items in their left hands, from daggers to guns to fist weapons. Players can also roam new maps. See what's in store in the trailer below. You can try the game and try it out for yourself by visiting Apple's AppStore, Google Play, or Amazon. [Source: ASOBIMO, Inc press release]
Vindictus cuts out a place for new character Vella
She slices, she dices, she eviscerates, and she's the newest character in Vindictus. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Vella and her dual blades. She's the star of the newest video from the game's team at Nexon, which shows off her penchant for quick maneuvers and swinging arcs of destruction. In the game's lore, Vella is a mariner renowned for her skill with blades and her agility. In play, she more than lives up to the reputation, possessing a variety of attacks that either help her close the range with her opponent (such as Typhoon Slash) or help her get out of range as necessary (such as the spinning attack Slipaway). While she's obviously a melee character, her ability to dart in and out of range and vent around larger opponents should help keep her versatile on the battlefield. But don't take our word for it -- check her out in action just past the break. [Source: Nexon press release]
Aeria teases Eden Eternal Thief video
Another day, another Eden Eternal video reveal. It's almost old hat now since the free-to-play fantasy title from Aeria Games is on its third class trailer in as many weeks. First we had the Warrior, then the Magician, and today we get a glimpse of the Thief as the game rolls on towards its June 2nd beta date. A glimpse is probably all we'll get, too, since the Thief is a trickster who excels at evasion and stealth. Two cloaking skills come standard with every Thief, and the rascals can also make use of the five branch skills available to all melee DPS classes. Thieves are most effective when dual-wielding a pair of daggers, but like all Eden Eternal classes, they can fight with any weapon in a pinch. Sneak past the cut for a look at the Thief in action.
Exclusive: A preview of the Hellion in Ether Saga Online
Ether Saga Online has been quiet for a little while, but this spring, the game is gearing up for a major update which includes a brand-new race, the Mogui. Long locked away from the world, the Mogui have broken free of their confinement in the wake of the battle against the forces of Oxen Ultera. The race has two unique classes, and the team at Perfect World Entertainment has decided to start off by previewing the hot-tempered Hellion class first. Hellions are an aggressive class, wielding twin battleaxes and assaulting enemies through direct attacks and wide-range area abilities. They've also got the ability to improve their damage via sacrificing health. At level 75, a Hellion can upgrade to either a Warlord or Ruiner depending on player choice. We've got several new shots of the Hellion in action (including a distressingly happy dance) in the gallery below, which should keep Ether Saga Online players excited about what's coming with the spring update. %Gallery-65163%
Fiesta Online reveals the Trickster
"The Trickster is here!" the brand-new trailer for Fiesta Online proclaims. Affectionately known as "Trixie," this class has had players wondering what Outspark had planned for the New Heroes of Isya patch. While the trailer doesn't cover much territory, the main feature of the class is highlighted: dual-wielding. Trixie is shown with a pair of nasty-looking dual claws, although the video promises that dual blades is also a lethal option. The Trickster can specialize as either a Renegade or Reaper, and Outspark has said that the class deals damage in a freaky new way. You can get a glimpse of Fiesta Online's Trickster after the jump, and don't miss out on our interview with Outspark about this upcoming patch!
Lichborne: The death knight beta diaries, part 2: Dual wielding in Deepholm
Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly source for news, guides, tips and opinions on the death knight class. Our adventures in beta continue, as promised, with a new zone and a new spec. With Hyjal behind us, the next logical zone to head to is Deepholm, and such is where I headed, after a suitably epic breadcrumb quest sequence. My spec was dual wield frost. Just to give you an idea of where I'm coming from with this testing, I should note that I have been equipping quest rewards if they're itemized for death knight usage, even if they're downgrades, in order to get an idea of how much survivability and damage potential your average casual death knight will have.
Two blades are better than one: MapleStory announces dual blade class
When it comes to weapons, the general thought process in pop culture goes, "One is definitely good, but two is twice as good, not to mention really, really cool looking." Let's be honest -- if people had three hands, we'd be seeing Hollywood movies full of triple-wielding gunslingers, and we'd love it. MapleStory knows this, which is why their latest class strips away pretensions and plays it like it is. Dual blades are a subset of the thief class, specializing in melee weapons to lay down a double-whammy on the bad guys. The new class also comes with an interactive backstory, as they're accepted into an organization of secret thieves (as if thieves advertise) who are out for revenge against the Dark Lord. With a name like Dark Lord, you know he isn't just selling Girl Scout cookies, so he probably deserves what's heading his way. Nexon's set up a special site for the new class that includes a trailer, three contests for impressive prizes, and a handful of dual blade wallpaper downloads to spiffy up your desktop. You can check out all of MapleStory's double-wielding action here.
Lichborne: Notes from the Twitter developer chat
Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly source for news, guides, tips and opinions on the death knight class. While paladins got some of the biggest bombshells in last week's big developer Twitter chat, there was still quite a bit of juicy information for death knights. Reading between the lines, it's pretty obvious we're getting some major tree revamps, especially in the frost tree, what with On a Pale Horse being added and Runic Empowerment being made baseline. The answers also bought some interesting insights into some of the various decisions being made as our class takes shape in Cataclysm. A few of the answers definitely merit some deeper discussion, so let's get to it.
Totem Talk: A weapon in every healing hand?
Want to be a sultan of swing healing? A champion of Chain Heal? Totem Talk: Restoration will show you how, brought to you by Joe Perez, otherwise known as Lodur from World of Matticus and the For The Lore podcast Were you excited about the talent tree preview Blizzard gave us? We got to talk about it a little bit some of the upcoming changes (or lack thereof) and see a little bit about what is in our futures. Since the release of the preview speculation and planning has been running wild. One of the more interesting topics that has come up quite often, Dual Wield restoration. It was always one of the more interesting specs proposed, but in patch 3.1 Blizzard made all the good spell power weapons main hand only. This reduced the viability of the spec, and has since been looked upon with a fond adoration like the memory of a lost love. Now however, it just may be that this mythical spec may be viable again come Cataclysm.
Lichborne: Frost DPS 101
Welcome to Lichborne, where we're taking a break from all the Cataclysm info and analysis to focus on the here and now in death knight issues. One of Patch 3.3.3's biggest focuses was adjusting frost DPS to be viable at the end game. The changes proved to be mostly successful, and as a result, dual-wield frost DPS is back on the map and may have an outside chance of not getting you laughed out of a raid. With that in mind, it's a perfect time to take a look at the spec. This guide will give you a rundown of the basic stuff you need to know to break into the ground floor of the spec. The goal is to make speccing, gemming, glyphing and doing damage as simple to understand and implement as possible, making it easier for you to break into the playstyle and start using it on your own character. In some cases, this means "cutting corners," and in other places it means making judgment calls on gemming and glyphing options that are still a bit more nebulous once you get to the really heady theorycrafting stuff. This article is meant to make being moderately success at frost an easier task. Without further ado, then, let's begin!
Lichborne: The rise of PvE frost DPS on the patch 3.3.3 PTR
Welcome to Lichborne, your weekly look at the world of the death knight. With Patch 3.3.3 on the PTR and looking closer and closer to going live, the buzz around death knights is just about where you'd expect it to be, squarely on the frost talent tree. This is especially true of frost DPS. While it once reigned supreme as a cornerstone of the famous 39/32 builds, it's fallen out of favor, and even Threat of Thassarian hasn't been enough to keep it from being consigned to the status of third rate, a pariah from any raid that already has a shaman to provide Windfury. Blizzard's obviously dedicated to getting the tree properly buffed in Patch 3.3.3, but have they succeeded? Let's take a look at the frost tree thus far, and what we may be doing with our own builds and talents in a few weeks' time.
Patch 3.3 PTR: Rogues learn to stealth properly
Patch 3.3's notes are pretty sparse so far, and the rogue-centric bits are really no exception. Rogues only have three little bullet points, two of which apply strictly to the leveling game. The first is that rogues will have Dual Wield right at level 1, which only makes sense. It's quite possibly the most iconic part of the class. Waiting until level 10 to get your hands on it always felt a little off. The first ten levels is hardly indicative of the sort of combat you'll be getting into as that particular class.The second change seems to aim for that same purpose: Making the first ten levels as a rogue feel more rogue-like. Stealth: This ability no longer has multiple ranks. While active, the single rank of this ability (available at level 1) allows rogues to move at 70% movement speed. Stealth is a lot less fun when it's as slow as molasses, isn't it?
The Queue: I don't really know what's happening here
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.The video I've included in today's edition of The Queue is... something. It is certainly a thing. A thing that is entirely unrelated to WoW. I know the music is produced by Justice, but the video? Well. It's a video. Enjoy?corwin asked... "Is anything more going to be done with the Grizzly Hills Venture Bay PVP areas? It seems like it has a lot of potential and isn't paid any attention."
Dedicated dual wield tree for Death Knights a possibility
A few days ago, Bornakk responded to yet another thread regarding dual wielding for Death Knights. I read it, shrugged, moved on with life, but I found myself digging up the thread again because I started to warm up to the idea Bornakk put forth: They're considering (that's the key word here) "something like making the frost tree the dual-wield tree" and letting the strikes hit with both weapons like Mutilate and Stormstrike.Bornakk says balancing both Dual Wielding and 2Handers in each talent tree has been exceptionally challenging, and I think we've seen that firsthand. Talents aimed for one build make their way into another, and things quickly get out of hand. Turning one of the trees specifically into the Dual Wielding tree (whether it be Frost or Unholy or whatever) is something I can get behind, even if it runs counter to what they've been trying to do with the talent trees since the Wrath beta.
Lichborne: Dual Wielding and Tanking on the 3.1 PTR
Welcome to Lichborne, where Daniel Whitcomb is ready to help you roll with the punches (and Death Knight changes) coming from the PTR.We had a new build hit the PTR this week, and with a week gone by, now's a good time to take a deep, focused look at the changes and see how they're shaking down. They're mostly pretty solid nerfs, and a lot of Death Knights aren't too happy about them. Still, beyond people concern about the fact that they are nerfs, the question remains: Were they merited, and where do they leave us? Let's discuss.
Ghostcrawler defends Death Knight Howling Blast nerf
Ghostcrawler is on the forums today getting feedback on all of the patch 3.1 notes we saw yesterday, and the conversation has turned to the Death Knight's Howling Blast nerf, which some players are complaining has "dismantled" the DK's dual wield chances. Our own Daniel Whitcomb agrees -- he says that the 0/32/39 build will pretty much be out with 3.1 on the live realms.But Ghostcrawler responds with an insight that all classes might benefit from hearing: Players will find a way. First, he says that if Blizzard didn't want Death Knights to dual wield, they wouldn't be able to. He says that the damage needed to be nerfed, if only so other classes didn't think they were going to start being able to do that kind of DPS. And then had adds that just because one build is being quashed, it doesn't mean other builds won't eventually appear -- Blizzard predicts what players might do with their talents, but GC says they're almost always surprised by what players come up with, and that he expects Death Knights will come up with another way (some already known by Blizzard) to make two weapons more than viable.Which some players don't appreciate (they accuse GC of designing by breaking first and letting player fix later), but I kind of like that idea. As Ghostcrawler says in his followup, if there was just one way to play a class, everyone would play it that way. It's Blizzard's (and his team's) job to put the challenge not just in the dragons we fight, but in the tough choices in the talent trees. Everyone knew DKs were getting nerfed (and GC even says that players always say "but I didn't know they were getting nerfed that much!"), and it's interesting that Blizzard is already looking forward to Death Knight players re-finding their grooves, even with the nerfs.
Lichborne: Death Knight DPS gear for Naxxramas
Welcome to Lichborne, the weekly class column for Warcraft's newest class, the Death Knight.Ok, I know I've been focusing on tank quite a lot lately, but I'm here to say that I swear I haven't forgotten about the DPS. To prove it to you, this week's edition of Lichborne is all about gearing up to hit 10-man Naxxramas as a DPS. For the most part, your gearing choices as a DPSer are going to be more or less the same no matter what your spec. For the most part, I'm going to be following the statistical information I outlined in the Death Knight statistics primer, which means the gear I pick out will follow this basic rule for stat choice: Hit rating to the 8% cap > strength/attack power > critical strike rating > expertise > everything else.
Lichborne: Howling Blast and other patch 3.0.8 follies
Welcome to Lichborne, WoW Insider's weekly Death Knight column.Yeah, I definitely have to put out a mea culpa here. Alas, Lichborne is a little bit late again. I have a valid excuse, I swear. It involved a flaming plum pudding, a flailing geist, and a sudden snowstorm at the Shadow Vault over in Icecrown. But after an emergency eye transplant by a Forsaken Death Knight who used to be a member of the RAS, I'm back in the saddle and this week's column is only a few days late. Anyhow, this week I thought I'd take a look at the deeper implications and meanings behind some of the Death Knight changes coming our way in 3.0.8. Our newest Mike has summarized and analysed quite a few of them, but I have just a few more things I want to say, especially about a new change that was added in a recent PTR update.
Lichborne: Dual wielding and weapon scaling
Welcome to Lichborne, your (slighty late this week) weekly window into the zen of being a Death Knight. As the dev team works to firm up Death Knights and get them ready for release, there is a debate that rages on among beta testers and the Death Knight community at large. I don't mean whether the recent huge nerf to Death Knight damage was justified. Rather, the argument I'm talking about is over the clash of 2-handers and dual wielding. 2-handers have been the Death Knight weapon of choice in the modern era of the game up until recently. Frostmourne, the ultimate Death Knight weapon, is a massive two-handed claymore. In the early to middle part of the classic end game, Baron Rivendare was the Death Knight that loomed large in everyone's thoughts, and he too wielded a much coveted two-handed runeblade. Because of this, many Death Knights have no plans to ever pick up 2 weapons. The massive bloody two-handed runeblade is the classic Death Knight emblem. It's part of the lore and the feel of the class and, they say, there's no reason to change it.. At the same time, many other Death Knights say that dual wielding is here to stay. New prominent Death Knights such as Lord Darion Morgraine dual wield. It's now part of the lore, and 2-handed lovers should just suck it up.
Breakfast Topic: Finding motivation to level or grind
Arrowd of the US Cairne server has a question: How do you keep leveling without getting bored, abandoning a character, or rerolling? She says that she's had around 14 characters, and she's never managed to stick with one past about level 45. She always gets bored, and she wonders if there is a way to avoid it. Now as I've mentioned before, I've leveled a lot of characters myself, and have a few 70s, but even I can sometimes get a little bit tired of the grind, and sometimes even I need to make up goals to keep myself focused. Sometimes I even need it for my level 70s if I'm running low on gold or raiding supplies. In that way, I can definitely feel where she's coming from, but I do (usually) manage to keep myself motivated. Sometimes, for me, the Motivation is pretty simple. For example, on that Shaman I'm leveling, what keeps me going is the prospect of getting some sweet Dual Wield action going. I'm actually having a lot of fun with her, so I don't need to focus on it too hard, but the idea of imagining her with 2 axes enchanted with Windfury is a mental picture that is too awesome to put into words. I mean, we're talking cover of a Dragonforce album awesome. So now I turn the question over to the rest of you. Whether it be leveling on a lowbie or grinding on a 70, how do you keep yourself motivation when the going gets tough and you get tired out? Is it the promise of a new skill? A new piece of gear? What keeps you charged up and logged in?
