On Saturday, The Immortal Imperial Legion had its first formal social event. We gathered up and went sports fishing in ArcheAge. There are two types of fishing that can be done in AA. Basic fishing can be done from any body of water using a fishing pole and bait. You can even set it to auto-cast and just stand there collecting fish. Common uses for basic fishing are XP gain and crafting resources.
Sports fishing requires interactive participation. In addition to a fishing rod, you also need lures and chum. The game automatically applies lures to the rod for as long as you have them in your inventory. Chum is chucked into a school of fish to attract them. You can purchase chum and lures from the Blue Salt President in Windshade if you’re playing for the West faction.
The quality of your rod + your fishing proficiency will determine how big a fish you can handle, which equates to how much damage you’ll be doing to the fish in order to kill it – catch it. Fish caught in open waters with sports fishing can fetch a good price. At the docks of any port, you can using the fishing scale to sell your fish or mount it to hang in your house.
Guild Shenanigans
Our small but boisterous group gathered in Feuille Sound and went out in multiple boats looking for schools of fish. This was my first time fishing in the open waters having only tried basic fishing in Alpha. Fannel and Brokenwind where already out searching when I arrived. I hopped in my clipper and sailed straight west. A few seconds after setting sail I saw a large group of seagulls circling an area in the distance. I asked in chat if that was a visual indicator for a school of fish and they replied yes. Sahweet, I’d found a school of Bluefin Tuna.
The raid converged on my location. Brokenwind handed out bamboo fishing rods and we were off to the races. At first, I had no idea what I was doing. I’d snag a fish. I’d wrestle with it for a few then it would get away from me. Boo!! It wasn’t until after the fact, that I realized my resolution is set so high and my interface is reduced to 80% (to aid in blocking gold spam) that I couldn’t really see the buffs on the fish in order to apply the corresponding fishing pole maneuvers like pull left, right, hold your ground, etc.
The three serious contenders in the first group who joined the event were Weegee, Fannel and Brokenwind. They each hooked fish regularly and battled them for quite a while. Weegee, Brokyn and I were fishing off of my clipper. Fannel had ditched his clipper in favor of a rowboat. Brokenwind was alone on his clipper – I think. Others joined over the course of the next couple of hours and there was a lot of shuffling around.
Weegee was the first to catch a fish. Woot! After retrieving it he had to be taken ashore to put it down since it becomes a pack on your back once get it out of the water. Brokenwind caught one next and his was bigger than Weegee’s, igniting a race between these two.
Multiple rowboats were out, guild members kept trickling in to participate and fun was being had by all. Jokes and lots of teasing banter. Brokenwind was fishing directly in the water and everyone was having a good time.
Party Poopers
Clearly, we were having so much fun we’d forgotten what game we were playing. We didn’t have anything of value so weren’t being particularly aware of our surroundings. Fannel saw a fishing boat coming near and mentioned it. However, not having anything of value we didn’t expect anything to come of it. But the fishing boat kept coming and without preamble, crashed through our circle of clippers and rowboats. A clipper full of red named players came out from behind the larger ship. Aww shit, in come the party poopers.
Reds were gliding and dropping into the water around us. I was certain we were all going to die. Most people hadn’t remembered to swap back to weapons. I could see their fishing rods on their backs as they tried to escape. I immediately de-spawned my ship, dropping Weegee, Brokyn and I into the icy waters. Poor Weegee didn’t stand a chance at level 20-something. I tried my usual – stun those around me and dive. Unfortunately, that doesn’t stop the ping-ping of arrows in my back. I’m dead. Our crumpled bodies appear at the nearest resurrection point.
Never Surrender
AA can be a dog-eat-dog world if you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was no monetary gain for them attacking us but that’s part-n-parcel of a PVP game. We didn’t let it wreck our fun. We hopped back in our ships and started again.
A few more guild members were now in on the action. We were out looking for yet another school of fishing, having exhausted our previous location. Fannel was now amongst those who’d caught a Bluefin. Brokenwind was on his second and Weegee was determined not to let Brokenwind win the event.
I was alone on my clipper when I heard Fannel talking about another clipper being near him. Ever the pot-stirrer, he decides to pretend he’s going to attack them. He sails close, I think he boards them or says hi or something then leaves. A little while later I see the clipper sailing toward me. They come along side and suddenly, cannon fire is being lobbed in my direction. WTF! There’s three of them on their ship and just me.
I tell people in voice chat that I’m under attack. I was probably talking VERY LOUD. *LOL* I start evasive maneuvers in an attempt to get out of range and change position. That’s right, I played Pirates of the Burning Sea for a hot minute. I know to get perpendicular to your ship so you can’t fire and since you have cannons, you don’t have a harpoon. We circle each other while the nubcakes keep firing. Me, they can kill if they can catch me, but to hell with them downing my ship.
Brokenwind responds he’s racing in my direction. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a TIIL crest on the sails of ship. Strength in numbers - once the ship is close enough I jump in the water and attempt to de-spawn my ship and join the other TIIL vessel. No can do! It’s under attack so can’t be de-spawned. I race back to my ship and get it moving again.
The other TIIL ship engages aggressively causing the nubcakes to change targets. I de-spawn my ship and sprint swim to them. I board and see Wolfie is captaining so perhaps Brokenwind jumped into Wofie’s or whatever the hell is going on but the fools with the cannons are still at it.
All’s Fair in Love and Gank
The ship we’re on has a harpoon instead of cannons. We harpoon them and Brokenwind jumps in the water to attack. I cast attacks from the deck and watch Broken’s health. He moves out of healing range. I yell for him to kite them toward us but he’s getting low. I jump into the water to stun and get off a quick heal. Next thing I know I’m trapped/stuck under the hull of the ship with my oxygen fading quickly. I’m scrambling and panicking, trying everything I can to get unstuck before I start to suffocate.
GRR!! I double tap as if attempting to launch a glider. That somehow frees me from the geometry. I swim down and sideways to get out from under the hull. Panting, I scramble back on board. Our three would-be assailants are dead. Fucking scrubs. Brokenwind killed them all singlehandedly. We regroup and fish a bit more but people’s attention is starting to drift. I volunteer to take Weegee’s latest catch to shore on my way to check my livestock.
Not on my Watch!
Shortly after landing in Gwen Pumpkin Garden a group of reds come sauntering through. This is a “safe” area for us. They can’t attack us unless we attack them but screw that shit. It’s bad enough they camp us at their docks and we don’t do much of the same. I’ll be damned before I watch them walk our streets unaccosted.
I ask for guild members to come fight. Fannel and Brokyn portal in. We have three to their five. The first attack isn’t coordinated enough. We kill one of them but we die in return. The second attack goes much better. Killset has joined us. We kill each of them but still lose Fannel in the exchange. They resurrect and come back. We murder their arrogant asses again. They decide it’s best to go elsewhere.
There are no Fair Fights in War
Later that day, I’m out doing my level 50 starter gear quests in Karkasse Ridgelands. I’m careful as I go. I find a place where there’s a large mountain at my back. To come at me sideways you have to make it through a cluster of mobs. Unless you come in using stealth, you’ll pull aggro, alerting me to your arrival. And even stealthed, we’re gonna do the aggro dance when you get near me because I’m squeezed in between mobs. You might kill me but you’re just as likely to die.
I go about the slow process of collecting 12 skulls while fighting in a small corner. I watch my surroundings and I see a red clearing his way in my direction. Now – he might not have had killing me on his mind but I can’t be sure of that. I watch him die to mobs twice because the Orcs are clustered close and hit hard. Screw it. I decide he’s encroaching and I’m not waiting to see what’s going to happen. That shit on the water while we were out having our little guild event reminded me of the first strike rules from EVE Online. Pew-pew first and ask later.
I watch him try to figure out how to attack the mobs with them all being so close. I’m thinking, “You should have come from the other side dumb ass. And now it’s time for you to die.” I launch Ollo’s Hammer knocking him to the ground. I combo that with Crippling Mire to slow him and do extra damage. When he hops back up he moves sideways trying to figure out where the damage is coming from. Oops, now you have aggro from the mob near you. I shoot him in the face with a few Mana Stars while the big ass Orc starts pounding on him. Little furry creature’s health is getting low. I slowly drain the rest of his life. My bad, you’re dead. Ktnxbai. I collect the rest of my skulls and turn in my quest.
Great End to a Fun Weekend
The first ever guild event was a hit. Even after the initial group of us bailed, others came on and went fishing on their own or in pairs trying to beat Brokenwind’s catch. It was not to be. At the end of the evening Broken still had the largest catch of the day.
After the fishing event, I finished 2 parts of the level 50 starter gear on Saturday and completed the remainder unmolested on Sunday. It’s nice to be in a full set of level 50 armor and weapons! I’m spending gold to insert lunagems into the available slots to buff magic defense, healing and magic damage. Wow, the cost of these enhancements HURT. However, it’s worth the expense. I’ll be wearing this set until I can get a level 50 set of cloth crafted and beyond. Just getting a cloth set to Conqueror’s is bankrupting me. This is going to take time which makes investing in the plate set worthwhile.
Comments