Mystic Worlds

GW: Growing on Me

I jumped on Guild Wars the other night.  I hadn’t been on in a couple of weeks.  Short on time, I didn’t get much accomplished.  I’m not in a hurry to enter pre-Searing, so I wandered around Lakeside and picked up a couple of simple quests.

Observing the countryside I realized that the graphics were growing on me.  I liked them better now.  I don’t like them as much as EQ2 or even the flat stylistic graphics of WOW, but they’re not so bad.  I’d enjoy them even more without the constant halo effect.  It’s a bit over-used and often makes me feel like the graphics are out of focus. 

Granted, the landscapes are intricate.  However, they feel so very hollow.  Even with the terrific mob A.I. and abundance of NPCs, it still feels pretty lifeless.  I attribute this to the fact that GW heavily instanced.  This makes the quest areas lonely even with five players in a group.  I’m glad the graphics are growing on me.  I’m not playing much these days but when I do, imagery is important.

GW Week Toon Round Up

This week was my GW toon week.  Although I did participate in two raids on WOW, BWL and AQ, the rest of my time was spent leveling my toons on Guild Wars.  I didn’t mean to have two toons this early.  I mistakenly left pre-Searing Ascalon prematurely and wanted to see what I’d missed.  I’ve found that in most MMOs, the landscapes become darker and harsher as you level.  I guess that is to be expected.  However, I like the shire-type towns, lush groves and plush countryside quest areas reserved for new character questing.  To see what I had missed, I decided to start another toon.  I’ll go into more detail about each toon in a different post.  I haven’t decided on exact builds.  I need to do research first and learn more about group dynamics and PVP. 

My main toon is Saylah Rai, a level 8 Elementalist/Mesmer.  Hired henchmen at her side, Saylah completed several Charr related quests this week.  Some of the quests were easy.  Others were difficult because of the long run west without the ability to portal to nearer cities.  With Piken Square as my most western outpost, the run to Diessa Lowlands is a long and treacherous run for a level 8.  I need to acquire the jump to Grendich Courthouse to ease the burden.  That will be the first thing I work on accomplishing the next time I log this toon.

Illia Rai is my alternate toon.  She is a level 4 Necromancer/Monk.  Although I haven’t worked out the details of the build, she will be a Minion Master.  I like the idea of being able to raise a mini army from the dead to add to the offensive power my group.  As a Monk secondary, I will be able to heal myself and my minions during battle or assist the primary healer.  So far life is good with this toon.  I’m taking my time and exploring the areas I skipped on Saylah.  I’ve found lots of free loot stashes and chests throughout the countryside.  If you like the sunnier side of questing, be sure to check out the locals in Green Hills and Lakeside.

 

Beware of Sir Tydus

When you finish designing a new role-playing character in Guild Wars, you are placed into Ascalon City.  Upon arriving you are guided to your first quest giver, who sends you out of the city, and into Lakeside Country.  There you’ll meet up with your primary profession trainer for a series of quests that get your game-play started.

Accustomed to playing MMOs, I gather as many quests as possible before heading out too far.  This allows me to accomplish several objectives along the way and saves a huge amount to time by not having to back-track to the same areas repeatedly.  I also stop to slay mobs within my level for some easy experience points and extra loot.  I was leveling in this fashion on my Elementalist/Mesmer and having a good old time.  I randomly pick up quests and often don't read the quest until I have time to work on my next set of objectives.

Returning to the city to sell some loot and take a break, I saw Sir Tydus.  He was standing on a rock surrounded by a dozen or so players.  As the players approached and spoke with him, he showered  them in a blinding light and applauded.  Curious, I sauntered over to see what was going on.  When I reached him I noticed that he had a quest available for me too.  Anxious for my share of game glory, I accepted the proffered quest.  Blinding flash of light and a rousing round of applause later, I was standing in an arena getting my ass kicked.

I promptly died and was resurrected into a post apocalyptic Ascalon.  I now know that where I had been questing, was called Pre-Searing Ascalon.  Talking to Sir Tydus had sent me into the Academy for training – err, in my case an ass whipping.  And having joined the army, there was no way of returning back to the former quest area.  Boo!  I still had quests to complete for my professions and specialty items, which were now lost to me.  Eventually I was told that I could go and buy the missing skills.  As a lowbie and a bit of a pauper, that was an expensive option but the only choice which remained.

So for you other noobs out there just starting to play GW, be forewarned and stay clear of Sir Tydus until you’re ready to leave the comfort of your newbie home.  Do not accept quests to join the war effort, unless you’re ready to leave the gentle rolling hills and lush pastures or Pre-Searing Ascalon.  I’m here for the adventuring and role-playing, and want to experience as much of the content as possible.  I’m going to roll a Necro/Monk soon than I had originally planned, so that I can go back to see the content and quests I missed on my Ele/Mes

Guild Wars – Journey Begins

The Premise
This role-playing journey casts you as a hero trying to help reclaim the charred lands of Ascalon.  The settings provide the usual MMORPG fare of lush countryside areas interspersed with barren or burning landscapes.  There are bustling towns where players gather to pick-up quests, purchase necessities, conduct trade and start groups.  Nothing innovative or out of place, except that I immediately felt the flavor of the orient.  The introductory music and anime-like features of the character sets reminded me of Final Fantasy.  This isn’t a bad thing mind you – just an observation.

Classes
All races are human in GW.  This might be a problem for many players.  However, since my preference in fantasy is to look like a human, I don’t find it to be a problem.  I’m sure that there will be others who balk at this lack race selection.  In your choice of fight styles you’ll also find the usual suspects – damaging dealing tank, master of the elements, healer, bowman, magic crowd control and de-buffer and magic pet master.  In GW these are known as Warrior, Elementalist, Monk, Ranger, Mesmer and Necromancer.

What is unusual and innovative about GW classes, is the ability two combine two fighting-styles, as part of your character development.  The now defunct AC2 used a similar class building structure but it wasn’t nearly as rich as and customizable as GW.  Building your character template feels exciting.  You can go the safe route and make a cookie-cutter hero or go out on the limb and do something distinctive of your playing style.

GW Elementalist Gear

Her name is Saylah Rai.  She’s quite the cutie isn’t she?  This caster class is very fun to play.  At level 8, I’m still going it solo but I did join a small guild last night.  Afterward, I used some of my gold to purchase armor upgrades.  I’m broke now but the questing is easier.  I’m now sporting three Elementalist items:

Robe – 30 AR, +5 Energy
Gloves – 30 AR, +5 Energy
Shoes – 30 AR, +1 Recovery

Figuring out how to get the armor was simple.  I spoke to an Armor Merchant (NPC) to view what was available.  There is no player crafting in GW.  The various crafting NPCs will show you what they have available and the components needed to make each item.  Comps are acquired by purchasing them from an NPC, salvaging them from items that yield that material or looting them directly from a mob.  I’ve seen salvage kits for sale and I have some salvageable items but the kits are rather expensive.  Until I understand more about what might be yielded, I can’t afford to risk the 100g.

I wanted to get out of the Apprentice armor and into Elementalist specific items that fit but budget.  Luckily, the lowbie items I wanted only required bolts of cloth, which I purchased from an NPC in the Trader’s District.  Equipped with the bolts of cloth, I returned to the Armor Crafter and paid 150 gold per item.  I’m down to 80g which is the equivalent of being broke but that’s how it goes.

Now that I’m better equipped I’d like to branch out a bit more and discover new areas.  So far, my quests have kept me pretty close to Ascalon City.  The mobs go down quickly and they drop nice loot but I’m ready for a change of scenery.