passive-abilities
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Chaos Theory: Testing my Secret World DPS makeover
It's no secret that The Secret World is just a wee bit different than the majority of MMORPGs out there. Hallelujah for that, right? And one notable area it differs from the rest is how it treats gear and classes. As such, players can't necessarily bring habits and know-how from other titles and translate that into immediate success in TSW. It's no wonder that even good players can sometimes feel stumped or at a loss when navigating through builds. For that very reason, Chaos Theory brought you the first episode of What Not to Wear, a live makeover that focused on sharing hints and tips that non-theorycrafters (like yours truly) could use as a base for forging their own path. It was a simple makeover really -- just minor changes in my focus and equipment using gear I already had in my bag and abilities I already had access to. Did it help? Did my effectiveness as a damage-dealer increase? The outcome was rather surprising.
Breakfast Topic: Talent chaos
Choosing talents is a fun aspect of playing WoW. Many talents are situational, or work in concert with certain glyphs to produce unique effects. Some healers and tanks use their second spec not for a solo or questing DPS build, but as another healing or tank spec specifically tuned to certain encounters. Some people have a PvE and a PvP build, or a battleground build and an arena build. The bottom line is that talents add options and choices, leaving players to determine what they like and what works best for them. New expansions and available levels bring us new spells and abilities, and with talents, we often get even more. I'll admit, I pretty quickly fall into the "overwhelmed by options" box. For me, the first question I ask myself when picking a new talent is, "Does this tier have a passive option?" I love passive options. I don't have to figure out where to keybind another button! This doesn't mean that I'll always take the passive option, of course. Sometimes it's just really not a good idea. For example, as a resto druid, there was no way I was ever going to pick Soul of the Forest over Incarnation. But for my feral spec, I picked Dream of Cenarius (though I am considering switching to Heart of the Wild), and both specs get Feline Swiftness. Though I can justify those choices in other ways, I won't pretend that the fact that they are passive abilities wasn't also a huge draw. My kingdom for extra spaces on my bars! How about you? Do you, like me, groan at the thought of having to rearrange your action bars yet again to make room for some new ability you can't pass up? Do viable passive options bring you inordinate glee? How do you deal with the glut of choice in this game?
Is the beta spellbook layout an improvement?
When I first log in with the default UI, I always enable all four extra action bars on my screen. I then drag every possible spell I can onto my bars. I figure out what's important later as I beat up various quest mobs, reading tooltips mid-cast and dragging abilities around mid-fight. I suppose I'm just too excited (or impatient) to sit with the spellbook for five minutes. Yet I still noticed the spellbook changes in the beta. My racials, guild perks, and flying licenses were jumbled up in the same tab as my spell passives, talented abilities, and regular abilities. Without even a search box up, I had to flip through all the tabs multiple times to make sure I hadn't missed anything. Ghostcrawler posted two weeks ago about the pros and cons of the new beta spellbook design. I don't quite know what four to five tabs he's talking about -- to me, everything appears to be one big mess in the same tab.
Anti-Aliased: Rogue rage
There's always a rogue. Doesn't matter what setting you're really dealing with either. Medieval times? Rogues. Renaissance? Professional rogues. Great Depression? Organized crime. Modern day? Thieves. Sci-fi? Assassins. It's the one job that follows you no matter where you go. Yet, I don't think we utilize our fine shadowy friends well. No, let me say it even stronger, we've sidestepped our shadowsteppers. Rogues use to be more than backstabbers and cutpurses, but since the traditional MMORPG model has taken over, our rogues have taken steps backwards. No guys, this isn't just some rant thread about how the rogue classes needs uber l33t buffs. This is about how the class plays at its very core across all games. This is about taking advantage of a class's passive abilities and how just a few new tricks of the trade can aid social gameplay for everyone.
BlizzCon 2009: Archaeology and Path of the Titans
The upcoming expansion, Cataclysm, will be incorporating greater levels of character customization than ever before. From guild talent trees, a different talent tree system, new races and race/class combinations, to a new profession that will be all about customization. Enter the Path of the Titans, and the new secondary profession, Archaeology.Pass through the break for all the details, but be warned, spoilers lay ahead!
