Art Convergence

I've mentioned in previous blogs very briefly that video games are comprised of nearly every form of entertainment media carefully mashed together into an interactive experience all its own. I wanted to take a moment and really look at just how daunting a task this has turned game making into.

Creating any form of entertainment media with the intent of making money off of it is no easy feat. You have to take into consideration what people like and then create something to show them their entire life has been a hollow mess without (Insert Media Title Here). Point being, you've got to drop some jaws with whatever you do otherwise you've essentially been wasting your own time and everyone else's.

When drafting up the next big thing in any media industry it requires the attention of extremely talented individuals to write, produce, edit, film, tweak, etc. So what happens when a new video game is born? You get to go find talented people for every form of media.

I think this is why management for video game projects can be so difficult at times, you're effectively managing a vastly diverse set of very talented individuals, all fully fit with their own style and ideas. Then you have to get them all to conform to one specific type of art in their respective fields. If you had a game that didn't intentionally feature 63 different art styles you'd have a visual mess that would detract from the continuity in other fields.

Despite my perception of this making game design a managerial nightmare I also think this is the most intriguing part of video games. You capture so many different things in any video game experience. Games are some of the most emotionally provocative forms of media out there simply because it hits you on so many levels. You can listen to a sad song play in an emotional climax of a dramatic movie and be moved to tears but what happens when you're viewing an emotional climax of something you've not only been directly involve in but also retains those same visual and auditory elements?

The result is a powerful mix, not only is the player drawn in by the audio and visual elements but they've also invested time into vicariously living out the story of these characters. This often results in a deep attachment to the characters that they players have been playing. It's always sad to see characters I know and love end up dead. Zack Fair's death in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core is one that always gets me. It paves the way for the events of FFVII to happen and due to Crisis Core's nature as a prequel, Zack's ultimate fate is something already known by the players. You're essentially walking through the story knowing full well that this character you're playing does not make it out alive. It's quite a powerful story telling device.

I love games, I love how they bring creative media together and give us truly interactive story experiences that, for me, transcend all other current forms of expressive media.

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Aion 3.5 Chronicles: Tiamat Stronghold

Hey! This guide will serve as a general instance knowledge and boss strategy guide fully fit with any bugs encountered along the way. Tiamat's Stronghold is definitely one of the more challenging instances in the game right now so I figured a nice how-to guide was in order. Let's get started.

H'okay so  let's talk party composition. The group I typically run with is as follows:
1 Sorcerer
1 Gladiator
1 Spiritmaster
1 Templar
1 Chanter
1 Cleric

That setup is one that works quite well as spiritmasters can dispell key buffs off the bosses that simplify the fights considerably. Anyway, I want to talk a little bit about melee dps' role in this instance as it isn't traditional in the sense that up until now there have been no instances that really call players to respec to a more PvE friendly stigma build in a long time. This instance has one boss in particular that absolutely requires maximum dps to be dished out and having ranged dps as opposed to melee seems to make the fights a lot easier. We had no trouble with any boss when running mostly melee dps except that last one. So, I urge caution if you choose to run melee dps in this instance as they will need to spec for maximum dps to ensure the final boss goes smoothly.

Let's talk bosses.



Boss #1: Invincible Shabokan
This guy is quite easy and his rotations are predictable and easily avoided, provided people are quick on their feet. This instance has a lot of bosses that use kind of progressive AoE attacks that will continually deal damage the longer you stay in them. This boss in particular uses a skill called tremor. The tank and all melee dps should be out of the range of this attack whenever he uses it, you just don't need to get hit by it at all. The range is quite small, it's a very visible circle around the boss, so yeah, don't stand in it.

Aside from that he'll just use a skill called Earth Upheaval that is reminiscent of Raksha's Earth Fragments in Raksang. It'll spawn several rock formations under the party's feet, just move away from these to avoid taking some pretty heavy damage. They do explode quickly so be ready to move and be sure to have someone in vent or chat calling out when he uses upheaval.

Once you have a firm grasp of these two skills you can avoid the boss is really just cake. He has one more single target skill that he'll use on random members of the party which isn't a big deal at all. The only other thing to watch out for is at the last 20%~ or so he will pop a buff, it's a little yellow icon (I'll insert the actual name later) which increases his attack power and speed but stops him from using any of his skills. At this point in the fight you just focus dps on the boss to burn it down, shouldn't be much of an issue.

Known Bugs: None

Now, after this boss you enter a large plaza area with three branching paths, which I'll refer to as "Top", "Left", and "Right". You can attempt these in any order you want but for this guide the boss numbering will be as if you went down the left hall, then the right, finishing with the top.

Left Hallway:
Boss #2: Brigade General Chantra
The next boss you encounter is quite easy. The only thing to take note of before starting is that the room is circular and consists of three rings. This boss will do a skill called "Activate Drana Reactor" and sections of the floor with blink red. Do not stand on the red areas. Your group needs to be ready to move between the rings as the fight goes on. Aside from that, this boss is a simple tank n' spank. He will pop the typical attack/speed buff during his last 15% or so.

Boss #3: Brigade General Terath
Before starting this boss you need to position yourselves properly, near one of the two circular panels on either side of the boss. These serve no purpose until the boss does a very obvious room AoE which will kill anyone left inside of it for too long. All ranged dps and healers should be near one of the platforms at all times while the melee fights the boss near-ish the middle of the room. Once the boss teleports she is about to start the room AoE and everyone needs to get on the platform. Just run on top of them and stop moving completely, lest you be thrown off. These circles function as bounce panels that keep you out of the range of the room AoE.

Aside from the room AoE this boss also makes gravity distortions appear around her feet on the floor. These will inflict 3-4k damage per second you stand in them so pay attention to your footing and be ready to move around or back off completely if you're a melee class. Once you understand these two things this boss should be quite easy as the only other skill that is used is a frontal cone AoE (Commander's Strike) that does moderate damage. Just have the tank face her away from any of the melee dps.

Pro tip: While bouncing on the panels you can't use skills but you can use potions, if you need healing.

Right Hallway:
Boss #4: Traitor Kumbanda
This boss can be a bit tricky for a few reasons. First of all, don't stand on the elevator that leads down to him until everyone is ready. Once you go down there you'll begin to be hit with a DoT that will constantly hit the entire party throughout the fight but it starts as soon as you get down there. This boss isn't aggressive but you'll want to start him quickly to offset the DoT damage. Also, do not aggro the boss until the whole party is out of the elevator, as it seals once the boss is pulled, this can trap party members. (If you do trap a party member you can either have them try to jump the rail up at the top of the elevator or reset the boss by running back around the elevator.)

Fighting this guy is fairly simple but you really have to be on guard against a few things. First off, you'll notice you're very slow. This is an effect that can be counteracted by standing in the middle of any of the clocks that will appear around the boss. These clocks speed cast and attack speed significantly. Ranged will need to move around to different clocks throughout the fight, this is especially important for healers. Melee has it a bit easier in this fight as there is always a clock underneath the boss, all melee dps and the tank should be right under the boss. If you want to simplify your life you can have your entire party stand under the boss, the only drawback is that it is a bit hard to see the adds when they spawn. It's best to have a designated add manager who is tab targeting every ~20 seconds.

As mentioned above, this boss also summons adds. They are to be the absolute priority for the group whenever they spawn. Have at least one person on dedicated add duty. I filled this role in my group while on my Assassin, spamming tab while just auto attacking the boss to ensure I jumped on the adds as soon as they spawned. These adds will paralyze the person they have targeted. As you can imagine this is incredibly costly if they target a healer, they are the #1 reason a group would wipe on this boss.

Once you have the adds under control and keep yourselves on clocks this fight is fairly straight forward. At the last little portion of the boss' (10-15%) he will pop that little yellow attack buff like the rest of the bosses and the clocks will stop spawning and you just have to dps him down as best you can.

Pro Tip: The adds can be silenced! If you have a ranger or sorcerer in your group have them start off by silencing the add to ensure nobody is paralyzed. (Stuns work too!)

Boss #5: Laksyaka
This is probably the boss people have the hardest time with but it doesn't need to be! That being said, this is a strange fight and you'll need to come prepared to deal with a change of pace. This entire fight is tanked not by the templar, but rather whomever gets turned into a skeleton by the giant eyeball at the far end of the room, opposite the stairs. When turned into a skeleton the player will be given access to two skills, a taunt and an AoE lifesteal that works on the adds the Laksyaka will spawn.

As a skeleton it will be that player's express purpose to taunt the boss and run him around in circles while your group works on DPSing him down. In addition to kiting and  taunting the skeleton player must kill the adds as they spawn to prevent them from hindering the party. To do this all the skeleton has to do is use their second skill while near the adds, you do not need them targeted for the lifesteal to work and it instantly kills them. Use it several times to be sure the adds all die.

Once your group has the hang of these concepts this boss is cake. However, there are a few things to take note of. First, you need to be ready to switch roles on the fly if you happen to get turned into a skeleton, it happens fast and can be costly if someone doesn't keep aggro on the boss. Second, you can determine who starts as a skeleton by having your party wait on the stairs while the actual tank and your intended skeleton go in. The non-tank should end up as a skeleton.

Known Bugs: If two people are skeletons and both use their taunts there will be a small gap in the aggro hold and the boss will go attack someone else. If you have two skeletons make sure they are aware of each other so one can go after adds while the other taunts the boss.

Boss #6 Anuhart
This boss is a pain if you aren't running with a spiritmaster simply because he gets that nice little yellow attack/attack speed buff the other bosses get, except he gets it three times. More on that crap in a moment. The fight leading up to those buffs being put on is fairly easy but there are a few things to watch out for.

First off, if you're running any melee dps aside from your tank you need to make sure they're aware that they can't stand in Anuhart's 360 AoE. It is easy to figure out when it's coming since he says something ("I WILL CRUSH YOU ALL!") before he does it so listen for that. If you don't play with game sound turned on you can predict it by watching his AoE rotations. He'll do a frontal AoE called "Wave of Pain" three times before using his circular AoE, so be sure to count them for your tank and melee.

Once he starts doing the 360 AoE he'll be shielded and will reflect and close range damage so all melee MUST be outside of this range (roughly 10 meters). Ranged can still attack but they will do no damage. Just before 50% Anuhart will buff himself for the first time and his attack power and speed will increase. This isn't a huge deal if you've got a decent tank and healers but if you're running an SM then have them strip the buff off. He does this again before 25% and one last time at around 15%. If you are not running a spiritmaster you need to save all major cooldowns for this last 15%, your tank will likely need iron skin and the chanter should be pop aetheric field if needed. It is a race at this point and if the tank dies then the party is likely to follow.

Lastly, there is one last AoE he does that hits the whole party which involves him stabbing his sword into the ground and causing other swords to shoot up underneath everyone's feet. Don't worry too much about it but make sure the cleric is group healing everyone back up to full.

Known Bugs: Anuhart WILL drop aggro and reset if your tank doesn't run back in before his 360 AoE ends. It's okay for the templar to reflect himself a bit to make sure he doesn't bug and drop aggro.

Boss #7 Tahabata
This should be the last boss you run into as he will demand most of your big cooldowns. Do not start this fight if you're waiting for important 10 minute cooldowns such as Iron skin, Emperean Providence, and Aetheric Field, you will likely need them. Also, be sure to pop fire resist scrolls if you have them, Tahabata loves his fire.

Tahabata is not a hard boss until his last phase at about 15%. The fight will involve the room getting smaller and smaller as he loses health so be sure to tank him right in the middle of the room. There are a few things to watch out for during this fight. First off, he'll use a room-wide fire AoE every 25% or so that needs to be healed through, it cannot  be avoided but isn't too hard to keep the party alive through.

Aside from that, Tahabata will often teleport around randomly and use a skill called Piercing Strike which is a medium damage AoE but he uses it twice in a row so be mindful and move away from him if he teleports to you. In addition to this Tahabata will also spawn tornadoes around the room that will put players in aether's hold and damage them a fair bit, be sure to move away from these tornadoes as they spawn. He also puts a DoT on people randomly that looks like a tornado but it can be removed with a healing potion or a dispell.

Now, once you get him to about 50% have your chanter pop WoW in preparation for the only dangerous part of this fight. Once you see the boss switch phases for the last time the room will become covered in fire and the entire party will begin taking fairly heavy AoE damage. This can't be avoided so if your templar has it, pop Emp. Providence at this point. Chanters should also pop elemental screen and word of quickness at this point to improve DPS and healing capabilities. Once Providence is over chanters can follow up with aetheric field if you need more time with the boss. It is at this last phase that dps needs to pop their DP skills and pump as much dps into the boss as possible to ensure a smooth finish.

The last thing to do in the instance is porting into the last room through the central area of the instance. This last room contains six AP chests and one gold chest which can contain one of the new mounts if you're lucky.

Congratulations! You've finished Tiamat's Stronghold! If you have anymore questions feel free to drop a comment.

-Fest

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Video Games: Visual Storytelling

The title of this post may not exactly capture exactly what I'm about to talk about so I'll clarify a bit; Seeing as video games use visual representation as the primary method of conveying messages there is a heavy emphasis placed on how a game looks in addition to the story.

In previous posts I've singled out graphics as something we've become obsessed with in recent times that often seems to detract from other important aspects of game creation. That being said, graphics play an ever increasing role in how we take in these interactive stories. So, I just wanted to take a moment to talk about what graphics are doing to promote storytelling in games and where things are heading.

In recent times we've seen several tech demos like this one pop up on YouTube and many gaming sites for the Unreal 4 Engine, the successor to the widely used Unreal 3 Engine. The demo itself showcases an extremely realistic set of events rendered in real time, rather than being an animated video with CGI. So what does all that mean? Well it means that we're going to be hopefully shifting up a gear when it comes to the graphical side of things and video games will take yet another step forward. What are they moving towards ultimately? Who knows.

When I was at PAX East this past spring I got the chance to attend a panel consistent of numerous successful game designers, one of them talked a bit about this visual storytelling component. The man was Ken Levine, renowned for his creative contribution and direction in the Bioshock series. One Ken's points was that much of the story told in Bioshock is not done through verbal speech but rather through the environment that has been crafted for the main character and the player to progress through.

For a bit of background information for those unfamiliar with Bioshock's setting; it takes place in an underwater utopia, ruined wholly by its inhabitants. This place is called Rapture and is completely awash in tragedy and destruction. In this failed utopia the player takes the role of someone who stumbles upon what's left of this corrupted dream. The main character is entirely silent throughout the entire experience and with the exception of whoever is guiding you at the time and maybe some villains there is very little dialogue to be had in present time. There are recordings of past residents that help flesh out certain parts of the story but I digress.

Bioshock's strongest tool, in my opinion, was its carefully crafted visual setting. These weren't always huge things like looking out a window at the collapsing city but rather the most impacting elements were the small details. A pile of luggage left at an elevator door, a teddy bear left on the floor of a child's room, small remnants of humanity that echoed through the now hollow city. These small things communicate much bigger themes that would perhaps be much more dull had they been explained verbally.

I personally loved both Bioshock games and was happy to hear Levine speak on his experiences in helping craft such an intricate and meaning filled world. I do hope that this method of storytelling is embraced further as games begin utilizing the Unreal 4 Engine. With things becoming more and more vivid as time goes on it's important to remember what got us this far.

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Fest's Character Corner: The Sidekick

Sidekicks are a character type everyone should be familiar with, they're a very present component in many stories and video games are no exception. Many video game characters come fully fit with sidekicks ranging from useful to just downright strange. Several games come to mind when I think of sidekicks as these games go as far to feature them in the title of the game itself. First, we have one of my all time favorite series while I was growing up, Banjo-Kazooie.

I loved Banjo-Kazooie for many reasons, ranging from it's quirky story to it's enjoyable platforming, but most of all I loved the characters. Banjo the bear and his rather loud partner Kazooie hold a very special place in my heart but they also just work well together. A bit of a strange pair in nature but you're playing a game where you run around as a bear with a bird in your backpack, only so much can be expected. Despite the noted lack of vocal interaction this pair works extremely well together as Banjo's jumping ability is augmented by Kazooie's ability to glide, yielding a solid puzzle solving duo.

Moving on, we have the Jak and Daxter series. This was more of an action franchise featuring the quiet and noble hearted Jak and his partner, Daxter, who has been turned into a talking weasel. The player primarily controls Jak and assumes periodic control of Daxter to fit into small places or when Jak isn't available for whatever reason. This relationship exemplifies what I see a sidekick as, a supporting character that can do something that the "main" character cannot.

For example, Jak is featured as a silent character but he is paired with what may just be the loudest and most obnoxious weasel in existence. Daxter often serves as a mouthpiece for Jak in the early parts of the franchise when Jak doesn't talk at all but still carries that role as Jak begins to talk more in the later games.

Sidekicks are an essential role in many of today's stories as they provide sometimes differing opinions, guidance for the main character, or fill a role of their own that can't be accomplished by the central character. Gotta love sidekicks.

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Aion 3.5 Chronicles: Comprehensive 3.5 Guide

Features to be added:
Named Mobs: Locations/Maps
Gearing Process and Options: What armor to get.
What Not to do in the Eye: Bugs/Exploits to AVOID
PvP Friendship 101 - A good way to bond with your fellow players. Don't drive them away, get to know them.
Tiamat Stronghold Guide (Almost done! Just adding pictures!)
Dragon Lord Refuge Guide (So close, yet so far)
Leave suggestions in the comments section if you have any requests!


Staying Relevant in the post 3.0 World: A General Guide

Well hello there! Welcome to the last Aion general guide you'll ever need. This guide will encompass all of the 3.0-3.1 content with additional 3.5 info being added as it is made available. So, as this is a fairly large project I won't be able to have it all done at once! Be ready to come back and check as updates are made available, I'll bold them at the top of the guide for easy notification. If you have anything that you feel this guide needs to focus more on be sure to shoot me an e-mail at teaminfestation@hotmail.com! Well, here we go!

Gear in 3.0-3.5:

Kahrun Gear:
This was one of the larger additions to 3.0 as it provided people a fairly easy and progressive way to get top-tier endgame gear with both weapons and armor being available. For any new 60's this is definitely a good place to start getting your PvE Armor/Accessories in order before attempting any of the more difficult instances 3.0 offers.

What's the best way to get Kahrun symbols? 
There are numerous ways to acquire these symbols so don't be daunted by the hefty price tag on some of the eternal gear. The easiest way to consistently get Kahrun symbols is to do the daily quests offered in both Tiamaranta and Sarpan. There will be two regular quests and one [Group] quest for each map. In addition to these daily quests there is also a set of weekly quests that reset every Wednesday after maintenance. These provide tons of symbols and it is fairly easy to find a group for the two [Alliance] quests as most players run them at least once a week. If you're on Tiamat and would like to do these feel free to whisper me on Fest. Since the 3.5 update two of the daily quests in each zone have been switched to Weekly quests and have had their rewards upgraded a bit. This saves on time and you'll total roughly the same amount of symbols per week!

I don't like doing daily quests, is there another option?
Yes! There are other options for getting Kahrun symbols. Since 3.1 came out there have been quests that are automatically acquired in every 3.0 instance that reward you with a Kahrun bundle when you kill the final boss of the instance. So, by running 3.0 instances you not only open yourself up to receive nice gear from the instances themselves but they also contribute to your Kahrun symbols!

Fest I don't have time for all this crap! Give me Kahrun symbols!
For the extremely time restricted player you aren't out of luck! In the near future you'll still be able to buy the tradeable Kahrun boxes that people are selling on the broker. As of tomorrow this promotion on the Black Cloud Marketplace ends but many players still have the conversion items and will be posting them up even after the promotion ends. If you find yourself short on time but have the extra kinah to throw around then look to the broker for some extra symbols!

What mobs should I be killing for my Kahrun daily quests?
-Coming Soon- (With maps!)

PvP Gear:
As Aion continues to develop we will continue to see more tiers of end game PvP gear pop up. Currently there are several eternal sets of PvP gear that may seem quite pricey but are often worth the work to get them. Thankfully 3.5 has brought us multiple ways to pursue this top-tier PvP gear with easier access to both AP and Mithril Medals. (More to come here)

AP In 3.5:
If you like PvP then chances are good that you'll be needing a good way to gain AP as fast as you can to ensure a speedy gearing process. You may be saying silly things like: "Fest! Gaining ap is slow and stupid! What do!?" Fear not, 3.5 has given us a way to make some juicy AP extremely fast and allowing us to utilize multiple methods to do so.

I love PvP! Can I make AP realistically through just PvP?
Yes! I have found the most profitable PvP to be Solo or Duo PvP in the eye as this also opens you up to finding keymasters and get some nice AP bumps through that. In addition to the eye there is also an increased level of PvP in all cross-faction zones (rifts n' stuff). 3.5 has given level 60 players the ability to rift again and every zone is accessible!

I typically make my AP through PvP in Tiamaranta's Eye as it's fairly populated with officers trying to farm keys and whatnot, a veritable AP buffet for an Assassin such as myself. Don't worry though, any class can be successful in the eye, it's just a matter of knowing how to go about it.

Fest! You jerk! I keep dying in the eye, people are zerging like crazy!
This is a fairly common issue people have while playing in the Eye and it happens for a few reasons. First off, there is a PvP daily in there that requires five kills. Often if a group of players is having trouble finding people to fight they tend to congregate near the breakout of the opposing faction and then...a zerg is born. This can be extremely frustrating for people but it doesn't have to be the end of your PvP session.

Keep in mind that these zergs often form from players who aren't overly confident in their ability to be successful in small group situations. In order to discourage this kind of zerg PvP I urge people to start lashing out at some of these groups even if your numbers may not be on par with theirs. More often than not, if you can coordinate a bit with your fellow players you can drop high priority targets with good focus fire rather than just running back to the guards. Showing people that they're still vulnerable in a zerg is a good way to rattle their cage a bit and perhaps discourage them from zerging in the future. Not to be mean but, nobody likes a zergling.

So how do I deal with the zerglings?
The best part about the Eye is that you can quickly navigate it through the use of windstreams. One of these windstreams can be entered right from your breakout and may serve as an option to bypass those pesky breakout zergs. Now, this doesn't always solve the problem but it gives you options, and options are awesome.

To add to that thought I'd also like to urge caution at all times while PvPing in the Eye. It's a harsh zone that, at times, will be very unforgiving to players like myself who tunnel vision their targets. To ensure a positive experience go into the Eye with the understanding that, due to the presence of these windstreams, things change very quickly and a 1v1 you were having could turn into a 20v1 without much notice. To deal with this you have to be ready to drop your fight and book it out of there if things look like they're taking a turn for the worse. Windstreams also serve as a good countermeasure to a bad situation as they're quick exits with safe destinations.

Okay, that's cool and all but what if I don't want to do straight PvP for my AP?
Don't worry, you're in good company as the vast majority of the PvP playerbase also employs alternate methods to gain AP and gain it fast. One of these methods is farming keys in the Eye. Now, it's been a while since 3.0 came out so this isn't exactly new information but hey, I'm sure plenty of people aren't fully aware of how to farm keymasters with any consistency.

Your best bet for key farming is to farm the heroic grade keys from a mob called Keymaster Zumita. There are a total of six rooms that Zumita will spawn in, they are the the small rooms in the outer ring of the eye that have mobs forming an "X" shape with a dragon sitting in the middle. These keymasters will often spawn in basic hide so make sure you're popping an eye or running into the rooms to check if anything aggros you that isn't immediately visible.

Once you find a Keymaster Zumita and kill it you are guaranteed a blue chest key. Now for the important part; you've got a key and are on your way to finding a nice box to open but that's just a little AP and you need a lot so how can you get more? Farm it. Once you kill Zumita in a room it will have a respawn time of one hour. Once this hour is up there is a 20 minute window for the mob to spawn. It is important to make note of the times you kill these mobs so you can make your way back to the room an hour after you kill it. This is a great way to make a lot of AP fairly quickly even if you only manage to get the timer on one room, so get out there!

Fest I can't seem to get lucky with Keymasters are there any other ways to make AP?
Yes! As I mentioned earlier, 3.5 has added content that allows level 60 players to rift into any zone. Why is this useful? Well, as it turns out there are new guards that have been added to provide some extra protection for low level players but they also provide a fantastic source of AP relics and mithril medals! These mobs will spawn in Morheim/Eltnen/Beluslan/Heiron/Gelkmaros/Inggison and come in groups of six.

-edit- As of 3.7 this method has decreased in efficiency since they changed the timers on some rifts (Ing/Gelk) and nerfed the guard's drop rates. A new Gelk/Ing PvP Daily was added so be sure to swing by those maps and you should automatically pick up the daily quest!

Wow, that sounds awesome, how do I find them?
This is the tricky part. These new guards will only spawn near the exits of rifts and there will typically be two sets of six guards per rift. Each guard has a chance to drop an AP potion, Mithril medal, or a Major Ancient Crown, oh yes, these guards drop the good stuff. The guards will spawn between 15-30 minutes (based on my personal observations) after the rift pops up. I'll hold off on posting the exact locations of all guards for now but I may post them in the future should the desire be high enough. Just remember that they are generally on roads and at decent "choke" points. ;)

This may sound a little too good to be true, and it is, these guards may be elites but they aren't training dummies, these guys hit back...hard. There are three types of mobs per group, they are as follows: Sentinels (Easiest), Templars (Medium), and Sorcerers (Holypoop Difficulty). As you work your way down the line you'll find that the sentinels will get stunned and slowed just like most elites as they don't have much resistance to these things (I can solo two on my assassin). Following the sentinels you'll move onto the Templars which don't really hit terribly hard but are quite resilient and resist most stuns and crowd control skills. Finally, the last things you'll contend with are the sorcerers...and oh man these guys are nasty. Unless you are running fairly high MR these may give you some trouble. They resist essentially all forms of crowd control and stuns/slows. In addition to this they also have a buttload of HP and will do things like shooting star storm which hit for like 7-8k damage. You will either need two heavy DPS classes to drop one of these before they kill you or have a dedicated healer.

These mobs all have a nice chance to drop major crowns and are a fantastic resource for fast AP gain. There are a few more things to keep in mind with this method of AP gain concerning how you pull them and minding your surroundings. Any set of guards that spawns will often be accompanied by a large cannon  that players from the opposing faction may enter and do away with any pesky rifters. These cannons have set damage and can turn even a harmless pinkie into a nightmare for a few 60s. These cannons give the person inside them 200,000 HP and access to an area bombardment skill and a direct target attack skill. If you see someone get in a cannon near you, run. If you force a player out of a cannon it will immediately disappear.

In regards to pulling these guards you'll often start by pulling all six of them at once, a potentially deadly task. To do this safely you'll need to be ready to pop defensive cooldowns. On my chanter I typically pull them all with protective ward up and hit my instant heal as soon as the initial skills land and then proceed to kite five of the mobs off while my friend(s) pull the one or two we're going to be killing. The templars and sentinels will open with force cleave (it stuns) and the sorcerers open with tranquilizing cloud (sleep storm). This can be a nasty combo as a sleep may land on you after the cleaves and leave you very vulnerable to further attack.

This all sounds awesome but can I solo these?
Soloing these guards would be fairly difficult for most classes and I could maybe see Chanters and Clerics being able to do everything save the sorcerers (unless they're MR spec). But there is one way for melee classes to farm these themselves it's just a bit less profitable. Last night on my assassin I rifted over to Inggison and killed all the sentinels at every guard spawn. This was only about six mobs in total but I scored crowns off of every single one of them and it wasn't terribly difficult to do since the sentinels have low HP and are vulnerable to blinds/stuns.

I would suggest finding a friend or two and working out an AP feed schedule maybe rotating every rift or every day. Depending on your luck you can clear several hundred thousand AP in a day if you do this right, a boon for any player seeking to get level 60 AP gear fast.

Well, this is a good start I suppose. Good enough to post for now, at least. If anyone has any feedback or suggestions for things to prioritize then please, please,  PLEASE...leave a comment or send me an e-mail at teaminfestation@hotmail.com. Cheers, good luck gearing up!

-Fest (60 Assassin - Tiamat)

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Thoughts for Today

Migraines suck. They really do. Thankfully the worst has passed and the photo sensitivity has gone away to the point where I can at least come on here to write a bit. I just finished Dishonored last night and had some thoughts about the length of the typical action/adventure game. Dishonored was, thankfully, a breath of fresh air in this respect as it kept me busy for longer than most games in that genre.

It has become typical for games to last under 20 hours to complete the main story line which is honestly too short for me. I grew up with games that would take me a solid 40-60 hours if I wanted to play a game fully, getting all side stories and whatnot done along the way. There are even several games in my collection that I've dumped over 100 hours into, mostly of the Shin Megami Tensei variety.

New games, however, seem to lack a lot of content. We trade lengthy epic stories for new shiny graphics and I can't seem to put more than 10 hours into an average game these days. The stories told in games these days seems to be more focused on brief periods of time rather than a full duration of a war or any real significant portion of time. Dishonored being the most recent game I've played has definitely left me wanting more to the story but it also left me with a desire to replay it differently.

I do hope that we find a happy medium with this kind of thing in the games to come but I really am frustrated by how short these games are. They spend years in development to release content I can breeze through in an afternoon or two. It leaves a lot to be desired for someone like me who enjoys putting a lot of time and care into how I play through things.

I'm a lover of stories and I do feel that most games these days put the story on the back burner. Plenty of games have great characters but they're put into a setting where they don't have enough time to fully develop. The stories are simply too short. We're in a phase of gaming where most games, if compared to books, would be short stories rather than novels. I. Love. Novels. It's a frustrating shift in the gaming culture right now and I do sorely hope that it changes in the years to come.

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Fest's Character Corner: The Redeemed Villain

Every story has a villain of some sort, a primary antagonist. These characters are often representative of the exact opposite of the hero. Sometimes the primary villain is close with the protagonist in a story, typically experiencing some sort of event that pushes them apart, down opposing paths. These characters have always been of great interest to me as they represent the risk of falling and also the possibility for redemption.

Often in stories where the antagonist and protagonist are close there is a potent sense of drama that just isn't generated by the more generic villain types. This really gives certain stories some intense depth and great dynamics.

These kinds of villains also seem to find themselves in a position to redeem themselves in some way and return to the light, so to speak. A good example of this type of character would be Kratos, from Tales of Symphonia. Kratos is a character that assumes both the role of hero and villain in Symphonia, often serving as a mentor to the game's protagonist, Lloyd, when he's in a helpful mood. His shifts between good and evil help direct the game's story and flesh out Lloyd's conflicted feelings in regards to Kratos' allegiance.

It is revealed later in the game that Lloyd is actually Kratos' son, a revelation that shocks Llyod, who believed his parents were dead. Similarly, Kratos had believed his entire family was killed in a battle and had lost all meaning in his life. These events pushed him to his former comrade Mithos, the primary antagonist in Symphonia.

Kratos is a constantly conflicted character who is forced to choose between his comrades and his son, ultimately siding with his child to destroy the organization he helped build. The drama between Kratos and Lloyd is also quite interesting as they both have very different perceptions of the world. Kratos is an aloof character who takes very little interest in the world around him while his son fights desperately for even the smallest semblance of peace.

The redeemed villain is always something I like to see in a story and seeing games take that concept further is always nice. Having the ability to use a former villain as a new ally is always a good feeling and makes for deeper character connections.

Another example of this type of character is Jaffar from the original Fire Emblem game. This character's nickname is "The Angel of Death", given to him by the primary antagonist of the series, Nergal, after he found Jaffar as a child, sleeping on a pile corpses. He was trained as an assassin and seems to possess literally no emotions or remorse for those he kills. It is explained that he was under Nergal's control and that his actions were not his own but even after Jaffar escapes Nergal's control he still lacks emotions, for a while anyway.

Upon meeting a female rookie assassin by the name of Nino, Jaffar begins to change. The two of them are put on a mission together to assassinate a prince but when the moment comes for Nino to kill him she hesitates and cannot bring herself to do it. Upon realizing that the mission failed, Jaffar and Nino's employer turns on them both, seeking their death. Jaffar is wounded severely and expects Nino to kill him, respecting the order's way of killing the weak. Nino refuses and nurses Jaffar back to health, which baffles him.

At this point you're actually able to recruit both Nino and Jaffar into the main protagonist, Eliwood's/Hector's, party as they attempt to destroy Jaffar's old master, Nergal. Jaffar decides to stay with the party and protect Nino, whom he eventually falls in love with. In staying with Eliwood, Jaffar seeks to redeem his past actions and atone for all the lives he has taken. Through conversations with the other characters a significant change occurs in this character as he begins to develop an emotional component as he fears for Nino's life.

Overall I would say that these are some of the most interesting and dynamic characters that can be placed into a story. They represent the reality that there is the potential for even a good man to fall into the clutches of evil while also showing that even the filthiest soul can find redemption.

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Fest's Character Corner: The Rising Hero

So I decided I wanted to start doing a weekly "theme" post every Friday delving into the various character archetypes we commonly see in video games. I figured a good starting point would be the concept of the Hero as this would be the "main" character(s) in a story. To clarify a bit I want to talk about the "rising" hero which I'm defining as a type of character with humble beginnings that we follow along his/her rise to hero-dom.

So, why do we like this concept of the humble hero? Honestly I think it's because we can all identify with the concept of a hero starting off as nothing more than a normal person. Sometimes this unassuming hero gains his strength through supernatural means or perhaps chance but there is always a sort of defining moment in the story when that normal, small person becomes something so much more.

One of my favorite examples of this that has been fully fleshed out over many years doesn't even come from a video game, although he appears in many! That hero would be Goku from the anime classic, Dragon Ball (Z/GT). I've always loved Goku and have joked on more than one occasion that I need to write a book about how Goku shaped my moral compass as a kid but to me he's a perfect example of a hero.

For those reading this that may not be so familiar with this character's story he's an alien that's been sent to destroy the Earth but through a nice bump on the head he completely forgets about this mission and begins to develop into a moral paragon who would grow up to save the planet on numerous occasions.

The concepts of destiny are strewn throughout Dragonball but they are accompanied by an emphasis on hard work yielding results. Nothing is achieved without work and more often than not, sacrifice. These concepts become less true as the series progressed but Goku's rise from a little kid competing in his first martial arts tournament to fighting enemies strong enough to blow up planets on a whim demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about.

To get this a bit more specific to video games I'd also like to talk about the main character from one of my favorite games, Tales of Symphonia, a Gamecube classic. In this particular installment of the "Tales" series the main character is a young man named Lloyd. He is often depicted as a compassionate yet hot headed man with a deep concern for those he cares for. Throughout the game there are numerous people that almost overshadow Lloyd's leadership and force him to develop and adapt on the fly.

Lloyd also encounters numerous defeats and set backs along the way as a plot to eradicate humanity develops in front of him. In a lot of ways Lloyd seems like an unlikely leader, at the start of the game he really has very little experience with anything. As the story develops it almost drags Lloyd along with it, a concept that made him very appealing to me. The plot of this game also has a lot of uncertainties that call Lloyd's judgment into question and there are times where he is completely wrong and pays for it dearly. There is even a time where he is flung into a world parallel to his own with seemingly no hope of return. These obstacles helped define the character into something I valued and grew fond of.

A hero in crisis is often what people really want to see, stories just aren't interesting when the hero has it all figured out. Even in games like Devil May Cry the forever arrogant Dante still develops and adapts to his obstacles, despite his extremely laid back personality. Nobody wants to play a stagnant hero.

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Dishonored: First Look

When it comes to video games one might find that they see every single new release hyped up in a manner that is a bit more than acceptable, leading to some pretty bitter disappointments. Dishonored however, seems to be living up to the hype.

Dishonored is a stealth action game developed by Arkane Studios in cooperation with Bethesda Softworks. Arkane studios set out to redefine the concept of freedom in the stealth action genre and Dishonored seems to do just that, boasting an impressive amount of ways for players to accomplish the missions laid out in front of them. Along with this freedom to shape the story, Dishonored also equips the player with a multitude of supernatural abilities including things like short range teleporting, time distortion, and even corporeal possession.

Dishonored has fought for and won my attention in the past year through the use of tantalizing trailers and promises of unparalleled freedom. However, being the ever cautious person I am I didn’t want to overexcite myself and get disappointed by a sub-par finished project.  So, I decided to make playing the exclusive demo of Dishonored at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), a large gaming convention held in Seattle, WA, my top priority.

After several hours of enviously watching my peers get their chances with the game, it was finally my turn. I grasped the controller in my hands and dove into the scenario that had been laid in front of me. As I began to experiment with the controls I took a moment to survey my surroundings. This demo took place in a ruined portion of cityscape with collapsed stonework and disheveled residents wandering to and from my projected point of entry.

As I continued with the demo I shifted through my extensive physical and magical arsenal testing out various powers and weapons as I went, finding what suited me best. This process led me to a realization that made me quite happy, I actually didn’t need to fight any of the enemies in front of me to succeed in the mission I was given. Using a combination of time distortion and teleporting I managed to sneak my way into the primary mission location without inflicting a single casualty along the way.

Graphically, Dishonored is fantastically impressive with its steam punk style dystopian world. It sets a gloomy tone to the story as the main character, Corvo, sets out to clear his name of a crime he did not commit. Corvo is assisted by an enigmatic man known only as “The Outsider” who imparts upon him a seal and the ability to utilize supernatural abilities.

Dishonored brings a lot to the table for both stealth and action fans alike. With the freedom to choose how you’d like to go through the game, players will be able to have a personalized experience, different from their peers. Dishonored is a game that shouldn't be missed! It launches on October 9^th.

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