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Blood Pact: Affliction and Demonology in Patch 3.0.2
It's easy to be disappointed with Warlocks, really. The best tree we have right now is Affliction, and is just really fun to play while dealing incredible damage. This is sad news for a lot of players who enjoyed playing Demonology or liked pressing their Shadow Bolt button with a dead Succubus. For one thing, going deep Demonology nets us a half-baked 51-point talent (more on that later) and killing off your Succubus for 10% more Shadow damage doesn't seem as compelling anymore.To top it all off, we're simply squishier than ever in PvP. We've lost Stamina, lowered survivability, and need to make major sacrifices in PvP if we're to pursue deep Affliction or Destruction. Thankfully, Blizzard recognized this and -- according to Ghostcrawler -- will be making an important change to Soul Link by increasing the damage absorbed to 20%. It will still be inacessible if we take 51-point talents at Level 70, but it should be alright by Level 80. Unfortunately, when we finally get there, we'll be sharing gear with lowlife Mages and Priests. I mean that literally -- those guys simply used to have lower life totals.
Mercenaries 2 'Total Payback' update is M.I.A.
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames fanboys who were excited to get their hands on the new Total Payback title update will, sadly, be dissapointed. Pandemic Studios has yet to release the new update, which was supposed to release on October 13th. The Mercenaries 2 forums are abuzz with angry gamers, so much so that forum moderators have been deleting threads that make mention of the Total Paypack update being delayed. We aren't sure what Pandemic's reason is for the delay or when it'll finally be released, but we've contacted them for comment and will update when we hear back.[Thanks, Chris]
[EDITED] Patch 3.0.2 primer for Warlocks
First things first. Things will be changing this Tuesday for all of us. One sobering fact that we must all face is that from that day forward, we're going to be just a little bit squishier. Demonology, in particular, has taken some hits in survivability with the rework to Demonic Embrace (Stamina increase reduced to 10% from 15%, but Spirit penalty removed) and Soul Link (15% damage transfer, down from 20%). General homogenization of cloth items also means that we will no longer be getting more Stamina than other squishies in gear past Level 70. Stamina stacking from gear is about as good as it gets at Level 70, so enjoy it while it lasts. On a good note, Soul Link has been moved up to an 11-point talent, giving us some very interesting choices to make when considering going deep into Affliction or Destruction. In fact, out of all the 11-point talents, Soul Link is the only one that should give us any pause for thought. Considering that for about a month, we can only allocate up to 10 points in another tree if we choose to get a 51-point talent. Anyway, Patch 3.0.2. What's in store for Warlocks? An overview of the talent trees after the jump.
Mercenaries 2 receives Total Payback on Oct. 13th
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames will be receiving it's first ever title update on Monday, October 13th with the release of a "Total Payback" update that's aimed at connecting gamers from around the world, adding more variety and enabling cheaters to, well ... cheat. The Total Payback update will add an additional six characters to the Mercenaries 2 mix, give players the ability to enter cheats and (this one's a biggie) enable cross-region support of Xbox Live multiplayer. Huzzah! Again, this is an update, meaning it'll be applied instantly and for free come October 13th.Also, Pandemic revealed that they'll be releasing the first set of Mercs 2 downloadable content sometime this November. So, keep an eye out for that.[Thanks, Fox]
Mercenaries 2 demo now on Xbox Live
So, are we posting about a demo for Mercenaries 2 (that just arrived on Xbox Live) solely so we can have an excuse to share "Oh No You Didn't," which somehow, mysteriously, has eluded our grasp for weeks? Possibly. We hope you can forgive us. If you came here for actual demo information rather than hilarious song stylings, you should know that it only pays out 20 minutes of fun before it shuts the whole operation down and kicks you to the dashboard. If you're looking for a really meaty taste, you may want to turn to renting.
Mercenaries 2 demo explodes onto Xbox Live
Three days after Pandemic announced that a Mercenaries 2 demo was on Xbox Live Marketplace, it finally emerges. Where was it hiding? We're not sure. Venezuela perhaps. Regardless of where it's been, it's available now for anyone who wants to give its particular brand of open world destruction a try. Be warned though, the demo only lasts for twenty minutes, and the timer doesn't reset when you die, and it boots you back to the dashboard when time is up. Better get that destruction in while you can (and hope that you can figure the game out without a tutorial).
Skill Mastery: Haunt
When Blizzard started work on the Warlock class for Wrath of the Lich King, I imagine one of their goals was to make the underrated Affliction tree viable for raiding. Unstable Affliction was a great spell for PvP, but anyone specced deep enough for it wouldn't have Soul Link and thus were practically free kills in the Arena format. In raids, it was a wasted spell because most mobs and bosses don't dispel. It also had a cast time that ate into the Warlock's spell cycle. It was a great spell on paper, but lost a lot of luster in practice. Now along comes Haunt, the 51-point talent in the Affliction tree. It's a direct damage spell that applies a 12 second debuff that increases the damage of the Warlock's DoTs on the target by 20%. In addition, at the end of the debuff's duration or if it's dispelled, it heals the Warlock for 20% of the damage it dealt. It's a nice effect but the amount healed is rather negligible so I hope that aspect of the spell gets tweaked some more before it goes live.
Mercenaries 2 demo NOT on the Marketplace
Last night, Pandemic sent word to the internets informing everyone that the promised Mercenaries 2: World in Flames demo was released to the Xbox Live Marketplace for download. And even though they sent word, it doesn't mean it's true, because it simply isn't there. We're sure the Mercenaries 2 demo will eventually make its way to the XBLM (probably sooner than later), but right this moment we aren't seeing it. Keep your mercenary eyes peeled and your mercenary ears perked ...[Thanks, Rob]
Instant Corruption and other infernal joys
Hot on the heels of Blizzard asking Warlocks for feedback on Metamorphosis, the Wrath development team shows how amazingly fast they work and how they actually listen to players. Koraa and Ghostcrawler materialized into the Warlock Beta forums to announce -- simultaneously on separate threads -- that Metamorphosis was going to change significantly in an upcoming Beta build, with the changes happily incorporating most of the feedback that players threw in.First of all, Metamorphosis will no longer replace a summoned demon -- a no-brainer feature that should have been there from the start considering that most talents in the tree buff up the Warlock's demon! It will also now increase armor by 600%, up from 360%, a coefficient that scales better with a Warlock's base armor of... cloth. Significantly, the demon form will now also increases all damage by 40%, after players realized that turning into a demon with many melee abilities and being cut off from normal spells actually reduced their DPS. Speaking of normal spells, Warlocks in demon form can now cast those, too. These changes come in addition to a few others that Blizzard is working on such as a few demon form-exclusive abilities -- and it seems like Demonology will finally be truly, diabolically fun. [EDIT: In my excitement I forgot to mention that the spell was reverted to a 5-minute cooldown and the form lasts 45 seconds. Still awesome!]I griped about this on the last Blood Pact along with a throng of other Warlocks, and it seems like Blizzard has heard us -- Corruption will now be baseline instant cast! It's a change that has been a long time coming, and it's finally turning real. Improved Corruption will instead increase the damage of Corruption by up to 20%, effectively negating Empowered Corruption and hopefully freeing up space for a new, exciting talent or at least more points to use in an already bloated tree.
Blood Pact: Affliction in Wrath Beta
I know, I know, we've been slacking off. Warlocks have been wanting for some love from around these here parts and rightfully so -- there are a lot of amazing things happening for Warlocks in the Wrath Beta. Some of our readers have called us on it, so here I am taking up the demonic slack because as much as I'm devoted to the Light, playing around with the dark side is fun, too. Anyway, so Beta. Warlocks have gotten a fair amount of changes but have yet to see a major second pass which means that a lot of what's already in can still change a lot, or even completely. Michael Gray covered basic changes in the patch notes some time back while Vims giggled over the new Level 80 ability Demonic Circle (I'll giggle about that some other time...). For today we're going to take a look at the new, juicy, and ridiculously bloated Affliction tree.
Mercs 2 gas giveaway causes 'chaos' in London
While a similar publicity stunt in LA went off with relatively little drama, it appears the Mercenaries 2 petrol giveaway in London was "irresponsible and dangerous," according to local residents. The BBC reports that traffic was gridlocked as drivers waited to get their £40-worth ($70) of gratis gas. The promotion started at 6:30AM and ran until police apparently shut it down. Local residents were quite upset about the traffic and honking the stunt caused in their neighborhood. Lynne Featherstone, MP for the district, stated that while a lucky few got free gas, "hundreds of residents have faced misery." She's demanding an apology. We're sure that EA is real sorry about all the free publicity and we're positive those people with tanks full of free gas are even more sympathetic. [Thanks to all who sent this in.]
Play with Mercenaries 2 devs, 'catch' an Achievement
One of the more ... interesting Achievements in the Xbox 360 version of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is the 50-point "Everybody Wants Some," which is earned by playing online with one of the game's developers, or someone who's already played with them. Yep, it's contagious. Actually, it's sort of like the STD of Live Achievements, if you'll pardon the icky analogy. We think it'd be pretty cool to hear the 360 "Achievement Unlocked" sound in real life every time we came down with a cold or other ailment. Hear that Microsoft? Get on it – after all, you were all about "Live Anywhere." Mercs 2's devs will be playing September 5 through 12 using special easy-to-grok Gamertags, which we've listed after the break. Now, go forth and expose yourself to viral goodness.
GameTrailers compares 360, PS3 versions of Mercenaries 2
Considering the inflammatory nature of these little side-by-sides, we're not even going to weigh in an opinion on which version of Mercenaries 2 comes out ahead in the GameTrailers comparison video we've put just after the break. Suffice to say: They're both better than the PS2, and that's as far as we're willing to go. Even if we wanted to express some opinion (which we don't) we're not sure if we could even pick a side, as they seem pretty darn close to parity. Do you have a preference?
Metareview - Mercenaries 2: World in Flames
No doubt your eyes have already darted to that score at the bottom, recoiling in shock at the sight of a number so low, it actually manages to spell something: catastrophe. Five out of ten? What happened? Well, it seems not everybody is blown away by Mercenaries 2 and its highly delayed destructive, open-world gameplay. Most reviews think the game accomplishes what it set out to do (i.e. set charges and blow the world to smoldering smithereens), but there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the supposedly shallow combat, dubious AI, the adherence to the previous game's formula and, of course, the bugs. 1UP (B+): "While Mercs doesn't do anything particularly new or interesting, the formula is inherently fun (as long as you enjoy blowing things up like I do). I can keep complaining about the quirks -- ridiculously repetitive voice samples from NPCs, a climax that consists of a trial-and-error button-pushing session -- but the wealth of smaller problems are insubstantial in light of the effective fundamentals." IGN (79/100): "For every time I cursed the stupid AI, I cheered at the demolition of another building. For every bug that got me stuck in some bushes, there was an attack chopper waiting to be jacked. If Mercenaries 2 had more polish, it would have been a great game. As is, it's still worth playing – and enjoyable – but falls far short of its promise." WorthPlaying (76/100): "Cars will flip for no reason, your character's legs will get stuck in the environment, things will explode for no reason, etc. It's impossible to play without encountering bugs on a regular basis." Eurogamer (50/100): "We'd now go a little further than that: apart from some cool explosive effects and solid controls, Mercenaries 2 is utterly mediocre in almost every sense that matters. From the initial sorties onwards it's bogged down by the worst kind of brain-dead cannon fodder enemies, lead-you-by-the-hand level design, arbitrary boundaries, and some technical howlers."
New games this week: Mercenaries 2 edition
We hate to be the ones to break the news to you, but, with the season still three weeks away, the fall onslaught has officially begun. The biggest release is the oft-delayed Mercenaries 2, sure, put you've also got a new Viva Pinata, Trouble in Paradise, and Facebreaker, which ... well, at least it has Snoop Dogg in it. See the rest of the week's releases right after the jump. %Gallery-1961%
Mercenaries 2 gets a Flash version
If you find yourself unable to wait until the Aug. 31 release of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, we may have the perfect soothing balm for you: Armor Games and EA's Mercenaries 2: World (Nearly) In Flames. It's exactly like the console versions of Mercenaries 2, except it's free! (And it's made in Flash. And it's two dimensional. But other than that? Exactly the same.) OK, so maybe it's not as technically impressive, but we could think of many worse ways to kill some time until the real release than with this solid, old-school diversion. Enjoy.
Mercenaries 2 dev diary talks destruction
A new Mercenaries 2 developer diary has been released and it features lots and lots of destruction. Pandemic director Cameron Brown discusses all the various destructible elements of the game. Mercenaries 2 uses what Pandemic has dubbed "Crashable structures" which are objects that can be destroyed by a moving object like, say, a car. All that is just talk though. The highlight of the video is undoubtedly all the yummy footage of things being destroyed. Now imagine wreaking this havoc with a friend and we've really got something.
Mercenaries 2 co-op developer walkthrough
We'll be honest: most of the staff at Joystiq has a serious medical condition that makes us physically unable to resist good co-op gameplay. We can't do it. It's a serious condition. There's only two known treatments: 1) massive amounts of mind-altering pharmaceuticals or 2) co-op video games. Sometimes, we're forced to seek out the former when there aren't any co-op games on the ol' release calendar while other times there are games like Mercenaries 2: World in Flames that would appear to provide enough co-op gameplay to keep us drug-free for a long time. Above you've got another Mercenaries 2 developer walkthrough, this time sharing the wonders of the game's co-op functionality. Don't mean to brag, but we've already played it. That means you'll want to pay attention, lest you miss things like "drop-in," "drop-out," "campaign," and "explosion." Say, does anyone have an early copy of Castle Crashers, we're really hurting over here ...
Joystiq plays Mercenaries 2
Those lucky jerks passionate journalists at Joystiq recently got a chance to try out the online co-op in Mercenaries 2. Not only that, but they were playing it with a member of the Pandemic development team. From the sound of things, it sounds like they had a blast. It was quite literally a blast actually, what with the hands-on preview mentioning inappropriate use of surface-to-air missiles, using a tank to punch holes in concrete walls and calling in air support to sink a ship. And that's only a handful of everything that went down. Head over to Joystiq to check out the full preview.
Joystiq hands-on: Mercenaries 2 online co-op
Click to enlarge blow up So many things in life are just that much better when enjoyed with a friend. Ice skating, canoeing, inline skating ... grappling a helicopter to escape the blast of a nuclear bunker buster strike you've just called in. That last scenario – and more! – is exactly what we experienced during a recent game of Mercenaries 2 online co-op with developer Pandemic Studios. Unfortunately, there's no "Hi-Five!" peripheral (yet) for the 360 or it would have gotten plenty of use during our brazenly over-the-top cooperative mass destruction of a virtual Venezuela. %Gallery-29596%
