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Commando: Steel Release Date
Previously announced for a Q3 release in the U.S. from XS Games, Mana's Metal Slug-ian shooter Commando: Steel Disaster is now coming out on May 6th, published by Take-Two subsidiary Jack of All Games, according to Gamestop. While we don't know about the release date, the publisher information is consistent, since Jack of All Games distributes XS's releases in the U.S. (according to the original press release).We want to believe this listing ourselves, since it puts running and gunning in our hands sooner. And it puts Commando mostly out of the way of the late-May/early-June rush of action-oriented DS games.%Gallery-18362%
World of WarCrafts: Super potions
Every Thursday, Shelbi Roach of The Bronze Kettle guides you in creating WoW-inspired crafts using real world mats with World of WarCrafts.If you ever find yourself low on Health or out of Mana, or you're in need of an innovative gift idea for a hardcore WoW fan, then try your hand at crafting these nifty potions. Minimal alchemy skills required. One of these pots is guaranteed to add +10 geek appeal to any players WoWspace.Here is what you will need: Candle Gel Wax Candle Dye (Gel Safe) Glass Potion Bottle (any shape) Funnel Corks (unless your bottle comes with one) Extra Supplies: Ribbon (go for the gold) Scissors Super Glue Click on the images below to view a gallery of step-by-step instructions. %Gallery-20145% DISCLAIMER: If you are under 18, please make sure that you are supervised by your parents or an adult. Do not attempt to consume.
Commando locks and loads for U.S. release
Mana's Metal-Slug-but-not-really run-and-gun Commando: Steel Disaster will be coming to the U.S. in Q3, courtesy of XS games. We've been keeping tabs on Commando for a while now, anxious for some Metal Slug-style blasting, and a U.S. version has felt increasingly likely since a European release for the game was confirmed.With a Metal Slug 7 release date still to be fired our way, we fancy that Commando might just beat SNK's title to shelves, while the trailer we posted earlier this month suggests it could be a capable imitator.%Gallery-18362%[Via press release]
2.4 leaves hunters low on mana
Since patch 2.4, hunters have been having some problems. Aside from the outrage over the fact that our traps are now announced, we seem to be having issues with mana. On the forums, hunters are not seeing much love from the non-hunter crowd, but I suppose that is to be expected. It is important to note however, that our mana efficiency is an intended attribute of our class. We are useful, not solely, but arguably primarily, because we can provide sustainable, long-term DPS. No, we don't crit like mages. In a boss fight though, we can keep going after mages short out.Why are hunters all of a sudden having issues with mana? There are a few theories floating around, but we have yet to be graced with a blue response. Take the jump to learn more about why this might be happening.
Commando: Steel Trailer
Lexicon Entertainment has made a new Commando: Steel Disaster trailer available, and it certainly impresses. It seems that Lexicon knows exactly how to convey the important qualities of a shooting game through video. We admit that we're a bit disappointed with the lack of actual in-game sound effects in the trailer, and we don't even know if that music appears in-game.The graphics and animation are great, actually, but even that's not what really gets our attention. What tells us that this might be an interesting run & gun is that the player dies in almost every scene. In the trailer. That's hardcore.[Via GoNintendo]
What does the Warlock lifetap nerf mean?
We've mentioned it in passing, but it's considered by some to be a pretty massive change in the way Warlocks will be played in the future, and thus deserves a closer look. Life Tap will now take a certain percentage of your max hp (26% at the highest rank on the PTR currently), and give you a certain percentage of your max mana (26% at the highest rank on the PTR currently, as well). Before, it took a set amount of your max hp and gave all of it to you as mana. But what exactly does that mean? How does it change Warlocks, and why do so many Warlocks hate it? Let's look at it closer after the break.
The problem of burst drinking
Yes, burst damage is an increasingly important factor in class balance, but have you heard of burst drinking? Apparently that's a big problem, too, as the latest update to the patch notes adds a very strange function to drinking: as of patch 2.4, "the benefits of drinking have been delayed," and the real mana regen won't start until five seconds after you've started drinking. Wha?But it's true-- apparently Blizzard felt that anyone drinking for only five seconds (either in a PvP or PvE situation) was getting too much mana. Drysc confirms that it's a serious change, and that anyone worried about their mana regen only needs to drink for six seconds, at which point they'll have as much mana as before the patch (which suggests that there is a burst of mana given at the 5 second mark, to make up for the delay).But is this really that much of a problem? Sure, with the changes to spell haste, things are going to get faster in the battlegrounds. But are we at the point already where an extra second of out of combat drinking makes all the difference? Blizzard thinks so.
No, It's not a drinking problem
Matthan of Burning Blade brought up an issue with drinking to recover mana on the public test realm. He found that he was not receiving the normal benefit from imbibing. Hortus indicated that this phenomenon is not a bug but a change in the mechanics that ramps up mana regeneration over time. Players are used to a steady increase in mana with every tick. This change was not included in the patch 2.4 notes. The general consensus from players is negative. Speculation suggests that the change was geared toward casters drinking Star's Tears or conjured water in the arena. Posters have made many arguments on why this would have negative consequences in the PvE environment. Many casters drink between pulls and do not usually have the opportunity to spend thirty seconds drinking in raids and instances. Incremental increases in drinking over time would inconvenience all members of a party or raid as they would have to wait for casters to fill up on mana. This could change become disastrous in chain pulls and endurance fights, where every second counts.
"Make them bleed blue"
Screwface on the forums has an interesting idea about a PvP tweak, even though his implementation isn't quite right. He says that since healers are so overpowered in PvP (well that's his first problem), abilities like Rend and Garrote should not only bleed blood, but also bleed mana off of casters. Of course, simply making all bleed abilities also take off mana would make them overpowered on their own, so his plan of making a sweeping change like that doesn't quite compute.But the idea of more abilities that directly affect mana is an interesting one. Right now, there are only four "mana drain" spells in the game (warlocks can steal mana for themselves, priests can turn mana into damage, and hunters can sting mana off of a target). But as much as mana pools and regen have grown in the last patch, it's true that there hasn't been a balance in the opposite direction. No, warriors don't need another buff, but what if shaman were given a mana drain totem somewhere in the next ten levels? Or Boomkins got a spell that negated mana over time?It's nothing to play around with lightly. But Blizzard does have to come up with ten more levels of abilities and talents for the next expansion, and messing with mana is something they haven't done much of lately. In Northrend we might not only be worried about health and DPS, but mana draining and mana attacks might become another piece of the class balance puzzle.
Secret of From the Abyss
We initially dismissed From the Abyss when Famitsu announced the title last October -- partly because it seemed like a drop in the ocean of generic RPGs coming out in Japan, and partly because we saw that the studio developing the game is "Sonic Powered." To be honest, we're not familiar with any of Sonic Powered's previous work, but we took its name as a signal to immediately bail out.It turns out that Sonic Powered has nothing to do with the hedgehog of the same name, and From the Abyss actually has some interesting merits -- it's a 2D ARPG in the same vein as the Seiken Densetsu (Mana) series, styled to look very much like Children of Mana, though with less polish. After answering a set of questions to create your pseudo-personal character, you'll be able to fight enemies with a variety of weapons/magic and capture their souls to gain their skills. Apparently, some ancient seal has been broken, monsters are now roaming the land, and yadda yadda story. There's even a two-player cooperative mode, but it's limited to local play, and it appears that you'll be playing in a special dungeon as opposed to the main campaign. Hella lame, we agree. From the Abyss hits Japan early next year on January 17th. You can see the game's boxart and some screenshots in the gallery below.%Gallery-12097%[Via GAME Watch]
You say Mana. I say Manna.
The Ritual of Refreshment is available for Mages today, among other things. The Ritual of Refreshment produces stacks of Conjured Manna Biscuits just as the Soulwell produces healthstones for others to take as needed.Conjured Manna Biscuits or Mana Biscuits? Which is right? Flaye reported it as a text bug, but Hortus confirms that Manna is the correct spelling.Manna: Magical food. You may have heard it in a non-game context as "manna from heaven".Mana: The resource pool that is used for casting spells in WoW.So Manna, in this context, replenishes Mana (and Health). It may have been a better idea to call the food that restores both health and mana something like ambrosia or chocolate chip pancakes or something less confusing.What do you think would have been a better name for the Conjured Manna Biscuits?Mmmmm. Chocolate chip pancakes. Now I'm hungry. /afk
Mage buffs on the horizon
Here's some more good news today for mages. On top of Hypothermia going back from 45s to 30s, Kalgan has stopped by the mage forums to promise some additional buffs in person. These probably won't make it into 2.3, but he says they'll go in "in the near future." My guess is that translates to 2.3.X or 2.4. It looks like Blizz is basically in a "buff" swing recently, which fits in with their general design philosophy -- start underpowered, and then build the classes up as necessary. Buffs make far fewer people angry than nerfs do.What are these buffs, you ask? Trainable Ice Block, and "to-be-finalized improvements to mana issues in longer fights" (source). We've been seeing more and more skills moved to trainable as the game has matured, from Evocate to Holy Fire to Improved Sap. Ice Block mades good sense to add to that list. Kalgan's reasoning is that IB is something they want to be able to design PvE encounters around all mages having, and that it helps open up the range of viable specs for PvP. As far as the "mana issues" improvements, it's hard to comment too much on that without any details, but efficiency is good. Any speculation on what they're going to do there?Oh, and in a later post, Kalgan lets slip that mana gems are also slated to be buffed. Let that be a sort of after-dinner mint of buffage.
Project Exile finds publisher for early 2008 release
We thought that Project Exile was abandoned, left to rust in an unused barn with the other RPGs from indie studios that we haven't heard much from in months (e.g. Western Lords), but that wasn't the case! Signature Devices and Graffiti Entertainment announced that they've teamed up with Montreal-based developer Studio Archcraft to publish Project Exile, predicting a release for the 1st quarter of 2008.If this is your first time hearing about the title, Project Exile is a "Japanese-style RPG" that follows the traditions of classic SNES RPGs with both its graphics and game design. In fact, its similarities to games like Chrono Trigger, the Seiken Densetsu series, and Final Fantasy 6 are so pronounced, there was a bit of controversy over whether or not the developer was using altered sprites ripped from its forefathers.Though we're weary over what functionality the team might've shoehorned in during the game's mid-development move from the GBA to the DS, if Studio Archcraft manages to fulfill its promise of "eight fully developed playable characters armed with over 100 different abilities, skills, and combos," we'll definitely be at the front of the line when Project Exile hits shops.[Via Joystiq]
English-translated Secret of Mana 2 cart on eBay
Though Square never brought Seiken Densetsu 3, Secret of Mana's sequel (which itself was a follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure), to the states, a fan translation project provided gamers with a localization ROM patch in 2000, five years after its release in Japan. Even with just an unofficial translation, the cooperative ARPG is widely acclaimed by those who've played it, some even claiming it as the Mana series' apex. As fun as Seiken Densetsu 3 is, the Super Nintendo experience just doesn't seem "authentic" unless you're playing the game with the original rounded controllers on hardware yellowed with age. This auction on eBay plays on that sentiment, offering up a "Secret of Mana 2" set which includes the patched game on an SNES cart, a mocked-up box, and an English-translated instruction booklet.Everything about its production screams "bootleg," and counterfeit releases like these can never be trusted for their quality or reliability, but that hasn't stopped bidders from running its auction price up to $300 with 15 hours still left on the clock![Via GameSniped]
Buy Heroes of Mana for a not ridiculous price
As great as Heroes of Mana might be, we can't fathom spending $40 dollars on any non-import handheld title, lest it has the words Contra on its cover or, at the very least, a cowboy pig. It's not that we're strapped for cash; we're just saving up our allowance to order a Masculator. Yeah, laugh at us now, but we'll see who's the chump when our arms are brimming with muscles. It most certainly will not be us. Amazon and Best Buy seem to be the only retailers with any damn sense, marking Heroes of Mana to $29.99, a price more reasonable than the $40 it's going for at other shops like GameStop. If you're looking for a portable RTS to take you through these last weeks of summer, look no further! Well, unless you're looking at Ecoris. [Via CAG]
The story of Mana continues with new screens
Just in time for release, we've got fresh new screens from Heroes of Mana, the RTS-take on the long-running series. Set after the never-released-here Seiken Densetsu 3, Heroes of Mana tracks the story of Roget, who crash-lands in the midst of an adventure of epic proportions. Early reviews -- which we'll take a look at later -- are all over the place, but one thing's pretty solid: the screens are looking nice. Check out the updated gallery to see for yourself.%Gallery-4132%
Ten commandments of being in a group
Reader Poga dropped us a line to this article he wrote for his guild about the "ten commandments of being in a group" (perhaps inspired by my ten commandments of dueling). Pretty much every group problem is in here, from stealing aggro to breaking CC to loot whoring.The pulling one is an especially good tip-- decide at the beginning of the run who's going to pull, and then only have that person pull. Can't tell you how many times, someone decided to just pull with an instant spell because they felt like it, and not realizing that another pull was already incoming. And I think the "not wear thy gear in vain" tip is an interesting one, too-- you should putting gems and enchantments on your gear already, just to make your character the best it can be. Seeing it as a way of benefiting the group is a new way of looking at it, but it's true as well.If everyone followed these tips all the time (and even the best tanks I know sometimes forget to wait for mana), we'd all have better groups, whether they be PuGs, good friends, or raids.
The ten commandments of honorable dueling
Dueling has a bad reputation, I think. Too many players see it either as a way to brag about their own skill (or, more likely, time investment), while many other players see it as a way for the first group of players to do that at their own expense. I love dueling, whether I win or lose, because it's a great chance for me to see if I can use everything in my arsenal to the fullest, as well as see another player working against me, hopefully at their best. A great duel is a chance for two players to duke it out and have a great time without anybody dying, while a terrible duel (and the perception of most duels, I think) can be a humiliating or confusing experience.And so, in my efforts to bring honor back to dueling, I present the Ten Commandments of Honorable Dueling in World of Warcraft. I've split them up into three sections-- Before the Duel, During the Duel, and Post-Duel-- and each one covers a point that has been corrupted or ignored among the worst players in dueling. No longer should we suffer from duel spamming. And no longer should there be jerks who gloat and taunt after a duel has taken place.Dueling is a very interesting form of PvP-- it's not the large scale onslaughts of the battlegrounds or the smaller matchups in the Arenas. Dueling can even be held within factions-- it's a one-on-one skirmish between two players in the game. And unlike the Horde vs. Alliance shenanigans held in world PvP or the BGs, I believe dueling should be an honorable and respectful endeavor. Click the link below to read the Ten Commandments of Honorable Dueling.
Square Enix release dates: RoF due next spring?!
Square Enix spent the morning revealing its lineup of "fresh new faces and timeless classics" that the company plans to exhibit this week at E3, attaching US release dates to its upcoming titles: Heroes of Mana - August 14 Front Mission - October 23 Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker - November 6 Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings - November 20 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates - Spring 2008 We're jumping on our beds with glee over the fact that we'll be receiving Front Mission so early after the localization was announced, but several disappointing details failed to escape our attention -- Final Fantasy Tactics A2: The Sealed Grimoire, It's a Wonderful World, FFIV DS, and Dragon Quest IX's absence; and Ring of Fates' distant date. The multiplayer ARPG and its DS Lite bundle are scheduled to hit Japan this August 23rd. [Via NeoGAF]
Mage's evocation: working as intended?
Over on the European forums, there's been some question over the Mage ability Evocation. High end mages are saying it's just not restoring enough mana to be useful. CM Aeus comes to the rescue with an answer -- though not the answer most Mages want to hear: We feel evocate is working as it is intended: it's simply highly dependent on how much spirit the mage has. Unfortunately, many mages seem not to like spirit that much and would rather spend their gem slots and enchants on other stats. This is fine, everyone has the freedom to choose what stats they want to focus on. Whereas in the past we forced a lot of spirit onto the mage's tier sets so that they would have good mana regen, to leave more room for flexibility and choice we have replaced a lot of that spirit with gem slots in recent gear.Mages, on the other hand, say that to maximize their DPS and justify their use in a raid, they're required to stack gear and gems that eschew spirit and add to their spell damage, thereby rendering Evocation useless. But if they want decent returns from Evocation, and enough mana regeneration to keep them going in long fights, they have to sacrifice their spot on the damage charts in order to equip more spirit gear. To this Aeus responds:No one's asking anyone to gimp themselves; just making it clear that choices have to be made when it comes to certain aspects.So, Mages, what do you think? Is Evocation working as intended -- or does it just not give Mages these days enough staying power if they're trying to keep to the top of the DPS charts?
