Category Archives: Champions Online
More on Rift 1.5 (and a tad more)
While DDO is my “new shiny” right now, any time I do log in to Rift I still have a blast, so I decided to keep my sub going at least until SWTOR comes out and after that. . .we’ll see. A bonus I got for the latest renewal was that when I logged in last night I got the 12 month veteran reward logged to my acccount, in spite of the game only being out for 7 months.
The vet rewards are really just so much fluff — some XP potions (when I’m at level cap. Could go to PA’s, but . . meh) and some costume armor. Up through the 6 month reward the armor is simply given to you, but for the 12 month reward you have to buy the final 3 pieces of the set off your special vet reward vendor. Not a big deal, it’s not that expensive, but it’s still not feeling very much like a reward to spend 10 plat. . . .
Interestingly, in spite of Rift’s propensity to make the female armor either very low-cut or all the way to “chainmail bikini-dom” the veteran armor is a slightly modified male version of what the faction NPC’s wear. Which TBH, I am a little annoyed with. I actually like how the NPC females look. Ah well. Some examples:
Defiant Character vs both NPC genders:
Guardian Character vs Female NPC:
Guardian Character vs Male NPC:
Sorry for the dark screenies — it was night in-game and I had to leave for work so I didn’t have time to wait for day. I did brighten them up as much as I could in a basic editor……
Anyway, I think they still look fine, but I would have loved the female version of the armor too. Maybe a toggle option?
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In DDO, my artificer progression proceeds apace. I’m now up to level 6, so I have the Flame Turret spell. My only complaint about it is its slow cast time. Other than that, it’s one of those “wowzers!” spells. It looks awesome, and it does a ton of damage to the mobs I’m fighting now.
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My foray into Champions Online is proceeding much more slowly. I deleted the 2 characters I had and remade 1 of them. I stuck with the Ice Archetype, since I’ve liked that one the most so far and gave my character an outfit that I think looks pretty icy in keeping with that theme. Apparently it looked good enough that a few other people I ran by in the tutorial commented on it, so . . yay, I suppose. Sorry, no screenshot though. I’ve forgotten to do that in that game as of yet.
In order to remove the chat restriction on new accounts I bought some points, so when I got this character to the point where you select your 1st travel power, I chose to keep more in the theme and buy the “Ice Slide” power. It’s VERY fast, which is nice, but that speed makes it a little hard to control at times, and you have to fly up a little just to maintain altitude. It’s still a very fun power, even if I think it looks more like the Silver Surfer’s board than a true ice slide. Limitations of the programming and all of that….
Still and all — now that I’ve got the power builder thing figured out and am able to tell a bit better which mobs are melee and thus a good idea for my to root, the game’s starting to gel a bit for me, so I plan on trying to work this character up to level 20 or so in the next few weeks also. I’ve got an IRL friend playing and he said he’d happily come group up with me and show me the ropes, so that should help a bunch too.
Happy gaming!
Odds and Ends
Stargrace recently posted about how she becomes disaffected with games once she hits the level cap in them. I made a reply in the comments that I am in the same boat. It probably explains my severe alt-itis. For me, I hadn’t really noticed I was growing disaffected with Rift (heck, even now I’ll tell you I love the game) until while writing that post I realized I’d not played it in over a week and I hadn’t missed it. Now granted, as seen in my post below. . DDO’s new artificer class is my current “new shiny.” I figured that once the 1.5 patch came out I’d be back over in Rift to work on grabbing some AAplanar attunement points.
I read the patch notes for the 1.5 and they actually make me want to work on my rogue a bit, as well as checking out the new solo/duo dungeons on my cleric, and the PA stuff sounded interesting at 1st, until I read a thread where someone had compiled all the PA’s a cleric could get and at the end summarized what the whole kit’n’kaboodle got you, and the answer was — very little. Not even a single gear piece of improvement. And it would cost you over 92 million xp being ground out.
Now I’ll grant you that the final 5 levels of Rift cost about 2 million xp overall and they only take a few days to get, so even a casual player like me can probably get “all the PA’s” in about 3 months, but to what end really? 30 points to 3 stats is a nice boost, but it’s hardly a big deal, especially as these are considered by the game to be buffed points, so abilities that boost your stats don’t apply to them. 78 spell power is about an 8% boost to me with my not-so great gear, but if I played enough so that I could get all those PA’s in that time, I’d probably upgrade my gear to the point that I’d be looking at a 3% boost, if even that. In short, these are things that I certainly won’t turn down when I receive xp enough for them, but there’s no incentive for a casual player to go chasing them either.
My Rift sub is on their 3 month plan. I’d thought to let it renew for until the end of the year when SWTOR comes out, but… I think I’m just going to cancel it. In my remaining time I’ll be able to go see the new solo/duo dungeons on my cleric and there really isn’t much else I’m interested in seeing.
This leads me to DDO, as I expect I’ll be enjoying its F2P goodness as my primary game for the next few months. I’ve got my Warforged Artificer up to level 5 now, and it’s almost ridiculous how easy it is to play this character right now. My dog pet sits at 122 hitpoints, which I can buff up to 173. My character sits at 75 hp which I can buff to 126. This is an insanely high amount for a level 5 character, especially one with a d6 hit point die. Damage done is very high, so very few mobs get close to me to even try to get in a hit. And next level I’ll get Stoneskin and Flame Turret, so my defense and offense both will dramatically improve. Should be fun to experience as I move through it.
A friend of mine has been talking up Champions Online lately to me, so since it’s F2P I installed it to check it out. When F2P you are limited to archetype power sets that the game selects for you, so you don’t get overwhelmed by choices right out of the gate. The character creator is insanely amazing and I could easily spend hours creating a character if I wanted to just checking out all the options, much less choosing some of them. I’ve tried the Fire, Ice, Blade, and Soldier archetypes so far. The energy building mechanic is something I’m still getting used to, but it seems to work pretty well, and I like that if you’re paying attention to the mobs that you can block their high damage attacks. I’ve barely made it out of the tutorial, though, so I can’t comment on a whole lot yet as I’m still feeling things out.
And to close…. EVE online recently released their Incarna expansion, which included the new “Captain’s Quarters” for you to walk around in with your new avatar. Some enterprising soul(s) discovered that the looping video playing on the TV in the room could be customized by converting your own video files to BIK format and dropping them in the appropriate EVE folder on your hard drive. Here’s what CCP had to say about it in their latest dev blog:
Now, most companies would have branded this as a defect and “fixed it” by doing checksum validations on the files or something equally boring. But not us. . . . [Instructions on how to do it all] . . . [K]nowing our players, we are of course absolutely certain than none of you would ever, ever think of putting anything even remotely questionable on your screen, given the total lack of constraints and the rock solid moral high ground on which our pilots firmly stand…
I love their sense of humor. Almost makes me willing to re-sub to EVE. Almost.
Happy Gaming!
Champions Online Celebrates 1st Anniversary
ATARI AND CRYPTIC STUDIOS CELEBRATE
FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF CHAMPIONS ONLINE™
FREE TRIAL AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 1 – SEPTEMBER 7
(Los Angeles, CA) September 1, 2010 – Atari, one of the world’s most recognized publishers and producers of interactive entertainment, and Cryptic Studios, creators of the acclaimed City of Heroes and Star Trek Online, will celebrate the first anniversary of its superhero universe Champions Online™ with several promotional initiatives benefitting both loyal and new fans.
Highlights include:
- Champions Online Anniversary Free Trial: New customers can play Champions Online for FREE beginning Wednesday, September 1 at 10 a.m. PDT to Tuesday, September 7 at 10 a.m. PDT. Players can access this exciting opportunity here: http://champions-online.com/play_free
- Champions Online Anniversary Sale: All C-store merchandise will be 20% off with the exception of the new “Millennium Costume Set” from Wednesday, September 1 at 10 a.m. PDT to Tuesday, September 7 at 10 a.m. PDT. Visit the store at: http://champions-online.com/store
- Champions Online $6 Digital Download: Direct 2 Drive customers can purchase Champions Online at a significantly reduced price of $6 from Wednesday, September 15 at 10 a.m. PDT until Tuesday, September 21 9:59 a.m. PDT. The Direct 2 Drive Champions Online product page is available here: http://www.direct2drive.com/8333/product/Buy-Champions-Online-Download.
Champions Online brings epic heroism to the MMORPG genre with depth that challenges the most experienced online gamers, while its fast paced action engages new entrants to the online superhero universe. Enter a world where the diabolical genius Dr. Destroyer has returned to wreak havoc. After he single-handedly destroyed Detroit, many thought he had perished in the colossal explosion that leveled the city, but he is back to inflict his evil plans on the unsuspecting world. Join with Defender and the legendary Champions to stop Dr. Destroyer and his minions in an ultimate showdown of good vs. evil.
Champions Online Revelation: Powers!
Champions Online
Energy StormPower Set: EnergyUnleashes a storm of the elements, causing fires to start, ice to form and lightning to strike. (Combo power.)
Implosion
EnginePower Set: GadgeteerTosses a grenade-like device which generates an implosion vortex. (AoE. Deals large crushing damage over 3 seconds and pulls everyone toward the vortex.)
Fury of the DragonPower Set: Martial ArtsA large, transparent dragon appears on the character which then breathes fire on and claws at nearby enemies. (Maintain or PBAoE Fire and Slashing damage.)
Mind LinkPower Set: MentalistYou temporarily link your mind with your opponents’, causing any damage you take to be shared with enemies within range of you. (PBAoE, mobile maintain.)
Unleashed RagePower Set: BrickLets forth a deafening shout, terrifying and damaging nearby foes. (PBAoE. Targets are knocked down and feared.)
Planar FracturePower Set: MysticCauses a rift between this plane and another, causing chaotic storms to break out. (AoE. Deals large dimensional damage around the Fracture, and has random effects applied in the area and to targets. Random effects are: Fear, Bleed, Poison, Confuse, Snare.)
Champions Online Revelation Overview
Vibora Bay was never destined to be like other cities. Some will say it’s the music that sets her apart, some will say it’s the food, or the culture, or the religion steeped in voodoo tradition. The more discerning will say it’s the magic so thick it fills the air. But they’d only be partly right.
Revelation takes us far below Vibora Bay, the sultry southern city, where an ancient magic lies. An angel (Therakiel), exiled from heaven and hell for his refusal to take sides during Lucifer’s first rebellion, has been hiding deep below the city. It is his primeval magic that permeates all of Vibora Bay and has drawn powerful witches, wizards, and sorcerers to the city for centuries. The ultimate resolution of this epic conflict hinges on one man, Robert Caliburn, and whoever controls Caliburn will control the war and triumph.
Revelation is a free expansion pack available to all players in mid-March. Venture into Vibora Bay, the mysterious city on the bayou, and discover all new threats lurking around every corner! Here’s what you can expect from Revelation:
- Brand New Level 37 to 40 Content: Experience the endgame in all new ways, as friends become enemies and the picturesque Vibora Bay falls sway to the half-angel, half-demon Therakiel.
- Six Bew Meta-Powers: Earn brand new Tier 4 powers.
- Therakiel’s Temple: Group with friends to conquer the most challenging Champions Online Lair yet!
- New Enemy Groups: Battle a variety of new enemies – including five all new factions- the Sovereign Sons, Trey Kings, New Shadows, Dogz and Nephilim!
- Over 30 New Perks: Dozens of new ways to achieve in Champions Online.
- New Costume Pieces: Entirely new costume sets available.
Vibora Bay is overrun by all new villains and heroes. These are some of the friends and enemies you’ll meet along your way.
Guy Sweetland: At his restaurant in Vibora Bay, Guy Sweetland makes the best cheval steak you’ve ever had. Anyone you meet will tell you he’s also a mobster, not that most of them have proof. Some will tell you he’s a werewolf, although most are too afraid to say anything. A few people will also tell you that he consorts with demons, which isn’t precisely accurate – More like a fallen angel. He is a powerful man looking for more power. If that means hurting other people, he doesn’t have a problem with that.
Black Mask: She is the first woman to pick up the mantle of the Black Mask. Jennifer Ward was the only child of the prior Black Mask. Her father was reluctant to train her; he wanted to keep his little girl safe. But Jennifer wasn’t about to give up her quest to become a part of the family legacy. Eventually, her father gave in. Since his retirement she has worked tirelessly to protect her chosen city, Vibora Bay. She’s a well trained martial artist with a keen analytical mind. If she has to, she’ll use weapons to defend herself, but she prefers to use her intelligence to defeat her enemies.
Baron Cimetiere: He is the leader of the street gang known as the Sovereign Sons, a voodoo priest in his own right, and a very dangerous man. He uses his power to strengthen the Sons, expanding their ranks – some whisper – with his zombie servants. What few know is that he has become little more than a shell for the Loa, powerful spirits, who ride him for their own purposes.
Juryrig: Juryrig is a mechanical genius. He can build almost anything and do it even with limited resources. He’s also a bit of a prankster. He gets a kick out of capturing bad guys and making them look ridiculous at the same time. While he doesn’t have the same kind of physical prowess as the Black Mask, or magical ability as Dr. Ka, he’s determined and inventive. He has a particular vendetta against VIPER; they stole one of his earliest inventions and used it to commit crimes. He’ll do almost anything to spike their guns.
Nomadic Gamers 