reincarnation
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Dungeons & Dragons Online launches Game Update 20
The latest update for Dungeons & Dragons Online is out now, and it features a whole lot of new options for reincarnation. More than you might expect. If you feel you haven't incarnated nearly enough, this update promises to fix that. Sure, there's True Reincarnation, but now you have both Heroic True Reincarnation and Iconic True Reincarnation along with Epic Reincarnation and... you get the idea. There's a lot of new ways to go back to the beginning and start a life over, that's the point. These changes coincide with alterations to the amount of experience needed to level characters on their second lives, making it easier to hit 20 after reincarnation. There are also new quests and alterations to the quest experience rewards, changed so that longer quests are no longer less proportionally rewarding than shorter ones. Plus there are plenty of changes to Enhancements, a new Enhancement tree for Sorcerers and Wizards... you'd probably better just read through the patch notes. There's a lot going on. Too much? You can take a look at our preview of the update to help guide you.
DDO Update 20: The past lives of robots and vampires
With two Forgotten Realms-themed expansions under its belt, Dungeons and Dragons Online might look like a game that's focused on this popular setting while sweeping its "other" world of Eberron under the rug. However, Update 20 shows that Turbine has love for both worlds and the playerbase spread across them. DDO's Update 20 has three important features on the docket: an Eberron dungeon, a Forgotten Realms dungeon, and changes to the reincarnation system and enhancement tree. This looks to be a good update for the thrifty subset, as all of its content is coming to the community free of charge. This update's coming next Tuesday, November 12th, so forge ahead and prepare yourself for the adventures to come.
The Think Tank: Do you believe in MMO reincarnation?
As living worlds, MMOs lend themselves to much more than just a simple shelf life. When they succeed, they can thrive; when they lose, they can lose it all. But some MMOs are returning from the dead lately, whether through a new publisher, as with APB: Reloaded, or through a complete redesign, as with Final Fantasy XIV. Further still, some games are enjoying renewed interest levels from players as game-changing expansions are being announced. So what does the Massively staff think of MMO reincarnation? Follow along after the jump to see!
DDO plans changes to reincarnation system
Reincarnation, Dungeons and Dragons Online's "do over" system, is slated for a revamp with Update 20. When the update lands, there will be four types of reincarnation available to players: heroic true reincarnation, iconic true reincarnation, epic reincarnation, and lesser reincarnation. At the same time, greater reincarnation will be phased out of the game. These four types of reincarnation reset your levels (either back a few or all the way to level 1) while giving you bonuses like past life feats and more build points for your next run. Epic reincarnation merely resets your epic levels to 20, while iconic reincarnation applies only to the new iconic characters. There's a great amount of information about this complex system available on the forums, including a look at how different forms of reincarnation will work depending on your class. [Thanks to Scott for the tip!]
Allods Online launches new Renaissance patch, reincarnation system
Allods Online has just published its first content update since officially launching earlier this year. The Renaissance patch delivers a lot of new stuff, and it's a good thing too since Allods recently surpassed 3.5 million registered players. Those players now have a unique endgame feature to look forward to in the form of the reincarnation system, which allows players to re-roll while keeping their main character. The main becomes what's known as an Ascendant, while the new character (called an Incarnation) inherits certain abilities from the main. Both characters share gold, mounts, potions, and other items, and the reincarnation mechanic "offers the most powerful players in Sarnaut the opportunity to become even more unstoppable," according to the latest Allods press release. That's not all there is to Renaissance, though. Allods players will want to explore new zones like the Twilight Isle and the Cave of Tka-Rik, and there's also a new astral layer in store for spacefaring characters. Last but not least, there's the Happy Hours and Happy Days event, and though it doesn't feature the Fonz or Richie Cunningham, it does bring some nice XP bonuses at least once per month on every Allods server. You can learn more about Renaissance at the official Allods website, and don't forget to head past the cut for the new Renaissance trailer.
Allods Online's Rise of the Gods patch now live
It's patch day for Allods Online, and gPotato's free-to-play fantasy epic is sporting quite a few revisions. The Rise of the Gods release (version 2.0.04.49 if you're counting at home) includes new high-level zones, increased challenge via the third Astral layer (as well as some ship navigation tweaks), more vanity items, and a new reincarnation system. This last bit caught our interest as it allows high-level Allods players to create a second character that shares all of the original character's item shop goodies. Both toons also have access to the same Astral ships, gold, and a few other trinkets according to gPotato's latest press release, and the mechanic offers a new spin on the traditional alt-creation pastime. Read all about it via the 2.0.04.49 patch notes.
Allods Online reveals more about... Revelation
Free-to-play favorite Allods Online marches ever closer to Patch 2.0.04. While we got a good look at the interesting Reincarnation system last week, today gPotato is highlighting two of the patch's new areas: Twilight Isle and the Cave of Tka-Rik. Twilight Isle will be the latest end zone to hit the game, with a height requirement of 46 or above to go on this ride. It's no happy carnival, either; the Isle is populated by the Demonic Cult and its deathmetal decor. Players will be tasked with figuring out why the demons are starting to move through the Astral and to stop them posthaste. Among the many new quests to come with the zone is the ability to take out demons with a portable cannon, which automatically makes it the coolest feature we've heard of this week. So far. Tka-Rik's Cave is another endgame challenge, wherein lie many deadly trials that are guarding the secret behind the Revelation. We don't have a firm date for 2.0.04 yet, but the way Allods is promoting it, it shouldn't be too far off!
Allods Online previews the new Reincarnation system
Remember Tabula Rasa's system for letting players save characters and later play a copy of a different class? It was a good system, but it sadly vanished along with the rest of the game, and the upcoming Allods Online patch won't bring it back. But it will bring something very similar in the form of reincarnation, which has just been previewed on the official site. Players at level 46 or higher will be able to create a new character that's linked to the original -- and as a result, learn abilities that would otherwise be unavailable. Characters who complete the trials necessary for reincarnation will be able to create a special Incarnation character, who shares most of a character's resources such as bag size and mounts. Incarnations are less powerful than the original while leveling, but the bonus is that both the original character and the incarnation may learn abilities from the other's class, allowing more freedom in creating a unique character. Allods Online players interested in this system can find more information on the official preview page -- it should be an interesting way to explore a different character type and earn some extra character abilities in the process.
Blizzard clarifies combat resurrections for Cataclysm
Earlier today, Blizzard's Zarhym posted some clarifications on the changes to Create Soulstone and Rebirth that we can expect to see in Cataclysm. I know a lot of warlocks and druids who are going to be very unhappy about this change. These mechanics are not fully implemented on beta yet. These limitations affect raid content only. One combat resurrection is allowed per boss attempt in 10-man raids (Rebirth or Soulstone). Three combat resurrections are allowed per boss attempt in 25-man raids (any combination of Rebirth and Soulstone). Accepting a combat resurrection is what counts towards the total accrued, not the cast. Create Soulstone has a 15-minute cooldown. Rebirth has a 10-minute cooldown. Zarhym also hinted at the possibility of adding to the existing functionality of Soulstone by allowing one to be cast in combat on a deceased character, a change that would soften the blow ever so slightly for many raid leaders. Zarhym remained cagey when questioned about the ultimate fate of Reincarnation, but it seems that reincarnating currently counts towards the attempt combat resurrection total. Whether this is a bug or a feature is yet to be determined. The full blue posts are after the jump.
WoW Rookie: The method in the madness of resurrection
New around here? See all our collected tips, tricks and how-to's for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide. It ain't over 'til it's over -- and in World of Warcraft, it ain't over 'til every player has used the last resurrection cooldown and trick. Death is far from permanent in Azeroth, and over time, the available methods of resurrection ("rezzing") have multiplied. Some classes can resurrect only outside of combat; one class can rez even in the heat of battle. Some classes have rezzes that work only on themselves. Now that the dungeon finder makes running instance groups so easy for a leveling player, it's a good idea to familiarize yourself with all the alternatives for coming back to life. There's a specific etiquette that's risen up around rezzes, as well, so take note and don't get caught looking like a chump.
Raid Rx: 5 Factors to consider for Rebirth
Every week, Raid Rx will help you quarterback your healers to victory! Your host is Matt Low, the grand poobah of World of Matticus and a founder of No Stock UI, a new WoW blog for all things UI, macro, and addon related. This week, we look at Rebirth and what to consider before using them. There were a few comments from last week's Raid Rx in regards to raid saving abilities. One of the abilities mentioned was the Druid's Rebirth (and to a lesser extent, a Shaman's Reincarnation). Both have their uses. What's the difference between these two spells and the ones mentioned last week?
Shaman glyphs in Beta build 8905
The inimitable Matthew Rossi, our burly Shaman and Warrior expert, had his hands full with the overwhelming number of Warrior glyphs that popped up in the new Wrath Beta build. Since the few Shaman glyphs this build got me a little excited -- more than the yawn-inducing Paladin ones last week, anyway -- I thought I'd cover this one while Matt does the heavy lifting with the Warrior changes.Glyph of Water BreathingYour Water Breathing spell no longer requires a reagent.An excellent glyph. I'm a huge fan of these no-reagent glyphs for obvious reasons. Although Shiny Fish Scales are abundant and cheap, they do take up bag space. What I like about these types of glyphs is that they'll literally pay for themselves over time because there's a direct cost. The best part of this? It now works exactly like the Warlock spell and can be used as an additional buff in PvP without worrying about running out of Shiny Fish Scales (e.g., it still consumes a reagent in Arenas).
Totem Talk: Misinformation
Totem Talk is the column for shamans. Matthew Rossi has decided to spend this week's column exploring the odd notions people, including up and coming shamans, sometimes get about the class. He'll admit that he was guilty of one of these himself, and looks forward to your guesses.I was thinking I might talk about how to solo and quest as a restoration shaman. After all, there are a lot of new dailies out now and you might not have anyone online to run them with. Since elemental and enhancement are both DPS options, I thought it would be reasonable to talk about some things like putting Frostbrand or Flametongue on your weapon instead of Windfury (I always used to use Windfury with my dinky, 41 dps healing mace, and it was the wrong move) if you're soloing in your healing gear. Both frostbrand and flametongue get the benefit of 10% of your spell damage, making them better than Windfury for elemental or restoration shamans who won't be doing a lot of weapon damage - I use frostbrand on my resto shaman and would prefer it over flametongue if I were elemental, because I like to try and get back out to casting range, but flametongue can do a lot of damage on a fast weapon so a lot of elemental shamans like it better. And I definitely think I'll probably still do a column about proper soloing for the healer shaman. (Hint: your healing gear has a decent amount of spell damage now.)But then I got into a discussion with an old game friend I haven't talked to in a while about shamans, and things he's had people ask him or tell him while he was playing his (he has three, making me feel like a shaman slacker) and he told me that a group he was running with recently got upset with him for not shifting to Ghost Wolf to clear an entangle.Perhaps they thought he was a druid, you might say, even with the totem dropping and the being a troll. I find these kinds of errors to be regretfully common, and so I decided that for today, we could cover a few of them and try and clear up any mistakes people might have about shamans. A lot of these will seem obvious to long term shaman players and those familiar with the class, but believe me, sooner or later (in my case, often sooner) you will group with someone who does not know this stuff.
A non-violent first person Hindu shooter using the Unreal engine?
Escapist Magazine has posted a fascinating article detailing the attempts of an heir to a furniture fortune, and graduate students from the Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa to create a non-violent first person Hindu shooter.It sounds crazy at first, but when you look at the actual thought and effort that went into the game, it isn't that dissimilar from today's RPGs -- "We had Vedic abilities: astrology, Ayurvedic healing, breathing (meditation), herbalism, Gandharva Veda music, architecture (which let you purify demonic areas) and yagyas (rituals). During the game, you could acquire the siddhis of clairvoyance, levitation, invisibility, shrinking and strength. Your aim was to achieve pure consciousness by cleansing your six chakras in ascending order. But your current karma (depicted as a gray pall over your character's silhouette), if it covered any chakras, prevented you from cleansing them. So you had to remove karma by completing quests before you could purify yourself."The only way to actually win the game would have been to complete it without harming or killing any other living creature. You could die and be reincarnated in a number of different forms like a human, a pig, a dog, or a worm -- but whatever form you came back as would limit the way in which you could interact with other characters in the game. They had licensed the Unreal Warfare engine for use in the game, but eventually things began to fall apart because the graphics looked sub-par, and the producer had to face the facts that the development was beyond the team's ability to create.Still, at least they tried to do something new that wasn't another standard shooter clone and featured some true innovation. It's refreshing when someone takes a risk every now and then and puts something truly unique on the map.
