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Check out Black Desert's renamed Tamer class in quick combat trailer
Black Desert fans already knew that a Tamer class was heading into the game; today that class is available to play on the Korean servers under the new name of Beast Master. As the name would suggest, the Beast Master class utilizes summoned magical beasts during battle and has a close-to mid-range fighting style; the skills available will be dependent on whether or not the player is fighting alongside her pet or is mounted during the battle. If you want a quick peek at how the Beast Master plays, check out the class combat trailer below.
Blood Pact: What makes a 'lock a 'lock?
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill discusses class identity. One of our editors, Adam Holisky, forgot what class he was playing last week, and it made me a little sad. It's great that he wanted to be a warlock again, but we are not hunters. We're not mages either, despite how convinced Matt Rossi is by shared armor. We're not shadow priests, we have demons not totems, and having purple wings is the only similarity between a demo 'lock and a night elf moonkin. I'm not out to make Adam eat his hat, but warlocks certainly distinguish themselves from other classes, I think.
WildStar answers Esper inquiries
Continuing with Esper Week at WildStar, Carbine devs opened the floor to a wide array of questions regarding the futuristic spellcaster. Topics touched upon included the Esper's healing ability (the devs claim the class is "the best single-target healer" in the game), the lack of movement speed reduction while casting, its high burst damage potential in PvP, and that nifty Phantasmal Armor skill that was seen at the end of the re-reveal video. One fan asked if the Esper could be built as a pet class. "You also have the ability to focus yourself on a pet build," a developer confirmed. "Last week my build was based around Phantom Swarm (three small illusionary pets) and Geist (one large illusionary pet). I had tiered these guys up as much as I could so that they were doing tons of damage, healing me at the same time, and blowing up on their deaths to do AoE damage."
The Daily Grind: What type of animal do you like as a pet?
I love pet classes that allow you to capture, tame, and use an animal as your new combat buddy. It adds a lot of variety and choice to playing the class compared to pet classes that just stick you with the standard pet that everyone else gets. This was perhaps why I played a Hunter in World of Warcraft for so long. I was just nuts about collecting the most interesting and most unique pets. The highlight of my career was using a bunch of taming tricks to snag a Spectral Wolf back in Burning Crusade era that wasn't supposed to be tamable. I felt like the bee's knees when I had that guy running around with me. So when it comes to pet classes that fling animals at enemies, what type of beastie do you prefer? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Mog Log Extra: Starting an Arcanist in Final Fantasy XIV
My initial plan for last Saturday's edition of The Mog Log was foiled by the simple fact that getting to Limsa Lominsa was much more difficult than it needed to be. There was no way to get to Limsa, unlock Arcanist, level Arcanist, write a column of a thousand words or more, have it proofed, and have it readable by the time that you fine people expect to read something. My apologies are deep and heartfelt. Despite that fact, once I finally did get to Limsa, I poured myself into playing Arcansit as if it was my job. Which it sort of was. And I found that to my pleasant surprise, despite the fact that the class is everything I usually dislike in a class, I was having an absolute blast. I wouldn't say it's my favorite class in Final Fantasy XIV, but it's up there. But you don't care too much about that, do you? You want to know how to play one. Luckily, I can tell you that, too.
SOE Live 2013: EverQuest II expounds on Tears of Veeshan
After so much attention has been given to the latest sibling in the EverQuest franchise, some fans have expressed concern about the fate of EverQuest II once EverQuest Next comes out. But anyone who was present at SOE Live had those concerns laid to rest; the passion and commitment of the development team is no less vibrant and palpable now than before the big reveal. Should anyone be worried that EverQuest II will be neglected and just fade away? No -- not if you heard all the upcoming plans for the title, both short and long term. Besides the revelations at the keynote address, EQII fans had myriad panels, events, and even special play-test sessions to attend to learn about the game. There was a focus on the new Tears of Veeshan expansion overall, a dedicated look at just the Channeler class, a panel just for new systems, and more. Players who missed the Q&A session missed out on learning some specific changes that are being added to the list for the future. Luckily, we've hit these all up and have the highlights for you right here.
The Road to Mordor: Six reasons LotRO's Lore-masters rock
In my Lord of the Rings Online career, I've played two classes far more than any others: the Captain and the Lore-master. Both scratch that "pet class" itch that I have in MMOs, both are quite group-friendly, and both seem to be somewhat unorthodox picks (at least compared to the plague of Hunters and Champions infecting the game). I'll leave a discussion about Captains for another time, but today I felt like talking about the strangeness that is the Lore-master. It's such a unique class in feel and execution, and it's captivated me such that I'm actually leveling up my second Lore-master because I was dissatisfied with the way I handled my first one. Maybe you've never tried one. Maybe you picked one up and just couldn't get a feel for what it was supposed to do. I'll admit that the LM is an acquired taste, partially because its skillset is all over the map and it doesn't settle into an expected template. However, it may just be the coolest class in the game. Here are six reasons why.
Blood Pact: To summon or not to summon, that's the question
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill scraps another attempt at Kanrethad to discuss being a pet class instead. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous pet bugs in encounter design like jumping down into Nefarian's pit in Blackwing Descent so your pet then did nothing but stand in the middle, or to take up Doomguards against a despawning abyssal phase 3 in Throne of the Four Winds -- and by opposing end them: to die, to sacrifice. To sacrifice, perchance to DPS; Aye, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death, what meter-topping dreams of 5.0 may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil (no, not that one!), must give our developers pause. My terrible warlock Shakespeare adaptation aside, we've had the ponderings about how tied to pets warlocks should or shouldn't be. As I continue to throw myself at Kanrethad's own demonic stampede, I've had some thoughts about the subject.
ArcheAge's pet system turns cute baby wolves into fearsome battle wargs
Did you know that ArcheAge features a battle pet system? As of the recently completed CBT5, XLGAMES added a wolf pet that's different from the title's normal mount critters. While all ArcheAge mounts may be used in combat, battle pets are significantly stronger. Both pet types have their own character screens and equipment, but battle pets feature more active skills. You'll also need to be level 25 to obtain the battle pet quest (as opposed to level 5 for basic mounts). Also like mounts, battle pets have their own levels which are advanced through hunting mobs (gathering, crafting, and quest turn-in XP does not affect either pet type). Finally, battle pets can die and will lose XP when they do. Head to ArcheAge Source for a lengthy system breakdown, and check out the baby wolf video after the cut. [Thanks to Dengar for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Do you want the option to have a pet?
There are some people who really love the heck out of pet classes in MMOs. I am not one of those people. That's why I'm always happy about classes like the Guild Wars 2 Necromancer or all of the RIFT classes, which allow you to have a pet but just as easily allow you to never use one. Usually pet classes will have builds that focus less on your pet, but a Warlock in World of Warcraft always uses one even if he doesn't focus on it. Skill-based games usually don't restrict you from having a pet if you want one, but most class-based games have certain classes with pets and others without. Given the option, even if your class or build wouldn't make heavy use of it, would you like to be able to have an in-combat pet along with you? Or would you prefer to have some pet classes/builds in a sea of petlessness? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite MMO pet class?
If you started playing MMOs at the beginning of the genre, you may be saddled with a prejudice against pet classes. In early Ultima Online, an Animal Tamer's pets, usually dragons, had a way of getting their master into notoriety trouble. In EverQuest, if ever a pull went awry, blame was placed on the Necromancers and Magicians, deserved or not -- obviously, those classes just had poor pet control. Even City of Heroes' Masterminds, implemented only in 2005, have a bad reputation for reckless behavior (not to mention for blocking party members' movement). Pet AI has come a very long way over the last decade and a half, though, and pet classes continue to be popular, perhaps because they allow players to micromanage a group without actually having to be in one. And some games, like Star Wars: The Old Republic, have made all classes pet classes by virtue of companions. Are you a fan of pet classes, and if so, what's your favorite implementation across the genre? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
EQII patch features Beastlord prelude quest
Sony Online Entertainment pushed a small update to EverQuest II's live servers today. While that's not particularly newsworthy in and of itself, it bears mentioning because the patch brought a hint of the oft-requested Beastlord class to the newest version of Norrath. EQ2Wire has the details, and also assuages our fears a bit about the necessity of completing the quest prior to the class's official introduction in next months Age of Discovery expansion. As it turns out, today's quest is the second in a series, and it's entirely optional. The quest line provides interested players with some background lore on where the Beastlords have been and why they're now returning to Norrath.
SWTOR dev diary comments on companion control
A couple of weeks ago, BioWare began a diary outlining the Star Wars: The Old Republic companion. In the second part of the companion developer's diary released today, Senior Game Designer William Wallace tackles the intricate mechanics of companion control. MMO players' opinions vary on how pets should be handled in combat situations. If not handled well, companions can overpower a group sometimes and completely ruin it at others. Wallace admits that BioWare's vision for companions has been augmented based on how players actually used the NPCs during gameplay. The team added passive and active controls over companions. In fact, if a player only wishes to control some companion actions but not others, BioWare provided ways to do that, too. We also know that sometimes groups can be split up. Wallace explains how SWTOR works around that: If a player leaves the group or its proximity, to travel to a vendor for instance, he is able to summon his companion for the journey. Upon reentering proximity of the group, the companion is automatically dismissed. The remaining group can temporarily substitute the missing player with one of their companions if desired. Companions are a staple in BioWare games. Developers promise to continue to make the companion gaming experience better -- meeting or exceeding your expectations.
Lore-masters tune up their hogs to cruise the mean streets of Isengard
Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard is bringing plenty of class changes, tweaks, and updates to the table, and the hybrid Lore-master class is waiting for the dev love with arms wide open. While Turbine's talked about the class' increased ability to be a reliable off-healer, word is coming out of the beta that there are many more changes than just the ability to slap a bandage on a wounded ally. A Casual Stroll to Mordor reports on how the improved skills function in play. These include the ability to stack up to three Burning Embers DoTs on a target, the combination of two Signs of Battle powers into one Wizard's Fire, a nice 10% buff to pet damage through Sign of the wild: Rage, and a much more versatile Improved Staff Sweep. There's also word on the new Lore-master pet: a Limrafn. While Lore-masters were originally slated to receive an Auroch pet, apparently the common complaint about the pet's size ended up swaying Turbine's mind. The Limrafn is a floating ball of light that doesn't attack, but instead assists the Lore-master in the off-healing department. Lore-masters will also see one of their lesser-utilized trait lines -- Keeper of Animals -- given much love in the form of tempting abilities and buffs.
Hyperspace Beacon: Nuna bites
If you happened to be in San Diego this weekend then you may have noticed a large gathering of geekery known as Comic-Con. Usually, this mecca of nerdom focuses on comic book related publications. Although Star Wars: The Old Republic isn't exactly comic book gold, Dark Horse comics rose through the ranks of pulp royalty because of its vast library of Star Wars-related publications. It only seems right that TOR presents itself to this audience. Besides the panel in Comic-Con proper, BioWare developers hosted three separate question and answer sessions focusing on Star Wars: The Old Republic. As with most Q&As, the majority of questions asked have been answered already in the past. If you were hanging out in Darth Hater's Ventrilo server like I was during the live broadcasts, then you heard a lot of "We knew that already." That being said, there were some pieces of juicy meat tossed to the crowd that we had not heard before. I will call them nuna bites, and you can find your slice after the break.
The Tattered Notebook: Exec. Producer Dave Georgeson on EverQuest II and EverQuest Next
If there's one thing that came out of Fan Faire about EQ Next, it's that no one will talk about EQ Next. No matter who you talked to, any time the subject came up, the answer was always, "I can't talk about that." However, Executive Producer Dave "SmokeJumper" Georgeson sat down with Massively during Fan Faire to talk more about EverQuest II, and during that interview, he did give a tiny glimpse into what that game would be like. In this week's Tattered Notebook, Massively gets the scoop on Beastlords, the dungeon builder, Freeport's revamp, and much more.
The Daily Grind: Does a class' popularity influence your desire to play it?
There are a few constants that dog my adventures into every MMO. I will play a female character even though I am a man, I will go nuts over pet classes if they are available, I will probably create a legion of alts before ever hitting the level cap, and I will wear stylish hats even if the stats aren't the greatest. But above all of that, the biggest constant in my playing career is that I almost always refuse to pick MMO classes that are extremely popular. I think it's because I -- like probably most of you -- like to feel unique in games, even though it's usually difficult to achieve. Choosing a class that's in the minority helps with that feeling, and conversely, going with the FOTM or whatever the kids are calling it these days makes me feel like I've got my unique snowflake status revoked. So is this insane? Do you allow class popularity to influence your desire to play it, or do you just go with whatever sounds like the most fun? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Daily Grind: What do you want from a pet class?
It's a fact of life: If an MMO has a pet class, I'll be playing it. It's simply too alluring to avoid! I love the constant virtual companionship, the feeling that I'm "cheating" by tag-teaming mobs with a solo party of two, and the customization that pet classes bring. From Lord of the Rings Online's Lore-master to Anarchy Online's Meta-Physicist, pet classes suit me like a second skin. So assuming that you have at least a passing interest in pet classes, what would you want from one? Maybe you'd like a pet to grow physically over time or to respond to a plethora of commands. Perhaps your playstyle skews more toward controlling a horde of minions at a go. Or do you like being able to hunt and tame your own unique beast from the wilds? What would make the ideal pet class? What haven't we seen in MMOs yet that could make these classes even better? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: In the case of Masterminds
It's hard to get a much more iconic villainous archetype than the Mastermind. Most of the City of Heroes choices can make perfect sense for both factions, but if you're calling in legions of battle droids to fight your opponents, you're really half a step away from building a laser to destroy Newark. (Although that might just be throwing good lasers after bad, there.) That doesn't mean that the players have no right to play on the faction they want, just that... it's a bit harder to see the archetype as particularly heroic. But we're not here to talk about the thematic elements of the class (or at least not just for that). This week it's time to look at what is also one of the most recognizable archetypes in City of Heroes by virtue of its uniquely overwhelming system of minions. So whether you're new to the game as a whole or just to this particular archetype, click on through for an examination of what it means to be a Mastermind.
GDC 2011: Gods & Heroes hopes to give its audience something unexpected
The in-game story for Gods and Heroes begins with a Roman general returning home after his time in war only to be thrust into battle again. The history of the game itself mirrors this journey: In October 2006, the original creators of the game, Perpetual Entertainment, shut down. However, in August 2010, independent developer Heatwave Interactive picked up the rights to develop and distribute the game. Our hero's journey started once more. Just as your character in G&H returns home to an estate in ruins and a craving for revenge, Heatwave developers are fighting back the old gods and attacking the game with renewed vigor. At GDC 2011, our editor-in-chief Shawn Schuster discussed the rise, fall, and rebirth of the game with CEO Anthony Castoro, Lead Designer Tim Schubert, and Community Manager Donna Prior. "I think a lot of people expected us to go free-to-play and microtransact the minions then put it out there. But in early alpha tests and beta tests, people really wanted a full game out of this and expect us to treat it a certain way. We are working really hard to do that," said Castoro, who went on to assure us that he is not just out to make money -- he hopes to deliver a great game too. Follow after the break to find out what is going to make this game victorious in the gladiatorial arena. %Gallery-118322%
