Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer / Re-Eval event for ex-players!

[Harkonis]

Not sure how much solo is available yet, but pretty much all perk and faction stuff is 80.  I think a fair amount of faction stuff are repeatable things for solo or small groups with some 6 man and raid stuff as well.

[ydejin]

Not sure how much solo is available yet, but pretty much all perk and faction stuff is 80.  I think a fair amount of faction stuff are repeatable things for solo or small groups with some 6 man and raid stuff as well.

Thanks Harkonis.  My impression is that the faction stuff is only in Khitan.  Is that correct?

[CeeKay]

they're doing a re-evaluation event for old players.

[Harkonis]

Not sure how much solo is available yet, but pretty much all perk and faction stuff is 80.  I think a fair amount of faction stuff are repeatable things for solo or small groups with some 6 man and raid stuff as well.

Thanks Harkonis.  My impression is that the faction stuff is only in Khitan.  Is that correct?

seems like that is the case.  This really makes playing on a pvp server exciting too since everyone is in just a few zones. 

[LoneStarSpur]

I started back up with a level 20, uh, some kind of sword guy who does fire stuff. 

I am totally lost.

[Blackjack]

The Ranger revamp sounds interesting:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=223041

I'd like to re-visit but I still have my Age of Conan client installed. I'm just not sure if I can just update that, and get a trial key, or if the trial download installs on top of it, separately etc.  

Lonestarspur, you're probably playing a Herald of Xotli (specializes in two-handed swords and demonic mage abilities, but can use other things too). I got pretty far with one and found it a blast to play even if his wispy cloth armor makes him a bit tricky to use sometimes.

Leafing through the forums there still seem to be a lot of longtime players dismayed with technical issues:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=223250
If they had the expanded server capacity they'd gone crazy adding just after launch in 2008, then they could probably tackle an influx of new players and trial players and returnees without issues. Ironic...

[Razgon]

I started back up with a level 20, uh, some kind of sword guy who does fire stuff. 

I am totally lost.

Herold of Xotli! Just point in the direction of enemies, and breathe fire ;-)

[Destructor]

Leafing through the forums there still seem to be a lot of longtime players dismayed with technical issues:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=223250
If they had the expanded server capacity they'd gone crazy adding just after launch in 2008, then they could probably tackle an influx of new players and trial players and returnees without issues. Ironic...

AoC totally still has technical issues. Lag being the most annoying one, other goofy ass issues (the game refuses to save some of my UI settings, will minimize to the desktop whenever it wants to, doesn't start full screen, etc) as well. And this is just from a friend and I playing it the last two weeks.

[Blackjack]

Leafing through the forums there still seem to be a lot of longtime players dismayed with technical issues:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=223250
If they had the expanded server capacity they'd gone crazy adding just after launch in 2008, then they could probably tackle an influx of new players and trial players and returnees without issues. Ironic...

AoC totally still has technical issues. Lag being the most annoying one, other goofy ass issues (the game refuses to save some of my UI settings, will minimize to the desktop whenever it wants to, doesn't start full screen, etc) as well. And this is just from a friend and I playing it the last two weeks.

This is why I wish devs/publishers wouldn't tie in "revisit offers" so soon after a major update or expansion. Maybe it's better to smooth things out (if possible) and THEN ask people to re-visit, if they really want to try to bring back players. I can't single out Funcom cause I think a lot of games make that mistake imho.

[Harkonis]

Leafing through the forums there still seem to be a lot of longtime players dismayed with technical issues:
http://forums.ageofconan.com/showthread.php?t=223250
If they had the expanded server capacity they'd gone crazy adding just after launch in 2008, then they could probably tackle an influx of new players and trial players and returnees without issues. Ironic...

AoC totally still has technical issues. Lag being the most annoying one, other goofy ass issues (the game refuses to save some of my UI settings, will minimize to the desktop whenever it wants to, doesn't start full screen, etc) as well. And this is just from a friend and I playing it the last two weeks.

the lag sometimes happens in spikes.  The saving of the UI settings other than the timer bars has a fix.   The minimizing and full screen issue is a separate issue that is partially windows related and not the game.  STO did the same thing.  What is most likely happening is the alt key is stuck.  (not physically stuck, but stuck on in the windows software)  so anytime he hits enter while that is going on it will switch to windowed/fullscreen and any time you hit tab it will switch to desktop.  Also be careful if using commands that use alt+button because if you hit tab or enter shortly after those it will sometimes do the alt function as well.

There is a program called AoCQS that gives some pretty good fixes that the AoC people didn't apply as well from forcing the program to use all your cores, to skipping intros to starting full screen windowed.

The game definitely still has some bugs but it's far from enough to be frustrating to me, and I bitch and moan about a lot of games

[ydejin]

AoC totally still has technical issues. Lag being the most annoying one, other goofy ass issues (the game refuses to save some of my UI settings, will minimize to the desktop whenever it wants to, doesn't start full screen, etc) as well. And this is just from a friend and I playing it the last two weeks.

I've had similar issues.  As far as randomly minimizing to desktop, from what I've been able to determine, sometimes there's a 1-pixel wide hot region at the bottom of the screen, where if you click the mouse down there, it switches to Windows.  I've been able to determine when the region is there by moving the mouse to the bottom of the screen.  Normally this should bring up the experience tooltip, but sometimes the tooltip doesn't show up.  Try clicking and it will switch you over to Windows.  I'm not positive, but it seems like once you switch back into AoC the problem goes away, since after that the experience tooltip shows up and I can't switch to Windows by clicking at the bottom of the screen anymore.

I've concluded it's better to do this preemptively instead of letting it happen accidentally in combat!

[ydejin]

The minimizing and full screen issue is a separate issue that is partially windows related and not the game.  STO did the same thing.  What is most likely happening is the alt key is stuck.  (not physically stuck, but stuck on in the windows software)  so anytime he hits enter while that is going on it will switch to windowed/fullscreen and any time you hit tab it will switch to desktop.  Also be careful if using commands that use alt+button because if you hit tab or enter shortly after those it will sometimes do the alt function as well.

Fortunately I've never had this happen to me with STO.  The other annoying MMORPG bug I've run into is both LOTRO and DDO sometimes startup and then quit.  You can kind-of get around this if you click on them just as they're starting up before they decide to shutdown.  Very annoying.

I find it very strange that all these MMOs have issues, since I don't recall running into this type of stuff with regular PC games.

[Razgon]

strangely, I've had the alt-tabbing to desktop without actually alt-tabbing happen to me in many other games randomly...

[Blackjack]

Hey I re-activated. Funcom had sent me an e-mail directing me back to my account to do a trial activation. Since I still had the game installed and updated through some point last year, it's just patching that to the current, and then I guess expansion on top of it. Probably take quite a while.

I'm heading out for lunch soon but maybe I can give it a whirl later today.

[Wargus]

Has anybody tried the ranger post revamp?  I have one however am still in Tortage. I'm not sure I like the revamp mechanic: you hit your attack (has to be one of the ranger specific skills), then you hit either an up attack (left, forward, right), or a down attack (lower left, lower right) immediately after and it applies a different effect. This is typically more damage vs. a longer effect, i.e. a snare or dot.  Pre 40, you only have the choice of the up attack.

Somehow I thought it would be more robust, like each direction might have a different effect and you could string them together to build your attack (say 3x up would be your power attack, or doing 2 up and 1 right might add a small dot, etc...). I like the variation to the attack but its still not that great of a system, it is 'almost great'.

The problem is I'm not much into the ranger anyway so probably won't get this one high enough to really test it out.  Other thoughts on this are welcome.

[Blackjack]

I've got an L22 Ranger. Something about bow combat I just didn't find satisfying. I'm trying it again now.


I do think SWTOR's E3 demos might have impressed more people if the light saber combat had some sort of at least simple combo system, maybe even one that wasn't a million miles away from AOC's.

Updating was faster than I expected, so I'm ready to go. I think I had one named "Blackjackian," I'll post some of my other names once I log in.

[Roguetad]

I forgot how much fun the combat is in AoC.  I bought the expansion and started a new Khitan character last weekend.  There is no mmo on the market that can touch the visceral fun of AoC's combat system.  My bear shaman was smashing in faces and exploding craniums at level 5.  I started a Khitan HoX too, and she was burning dudes up, burping fire into their faces, and lopping heads off with her ridiculously oversized claymore.  Around level 15 or so she started combusting guys by just pointing her finger at them (fatality).  

Most of my characters are still in the Wanderers (Legacy of Derketo), but the combat is so deep that I had to start new ones so I could figure out wtf I was doing again.  I'm glad I did.  My new Khitani will be graduating from Tortage tonight, and will be off to their homeland.  Looking forward to questing there.  

[Harkonis]

kato and I are on tyranny(pvp), I think the rest are on set(pve)

[Barrakketh]

 My new Khitani will be graduating from Tortage tonight, and will be off to their homeland.  Looking forward to questing there.  

I ran a Khitani Bear Shaman through the Gateway to Khitai zone last month. It is listed as 20-40. I think I did every quest but maybe 2 (one of which was bugged) and I needed to jet over to an old zone for maybe 2 levels to get enough XP to hit 40. Khitai is vast, and very open compared to the old world areas.

I'm not on the same server as the rest. Wiccana here.

[Gryndyl]

The 20-40 in Khitai is fun but yeah, not quite enough on it's own to get you 20-40. You'll need to hop somewhere else for a level or two and then come back in order to see it all.

[Wargus]

Wait until you start eating minions hearts.  You reach into their chest, pull a beating heart out & eat it for health and is one of the best animations in the game.

[CeeKay]

after doing some digging I guess my old toons are on Set (which is where toons from the ERP Derketo ended up).  I'll have to see if I can find my old game discs to save myself a bigger download time.

[Razgon]

after doing some digging I guess my old toons are on Set (which is where toons from the ERP Derketo ended up).  I'll have to see if I can find my old game discs to save myself a bigger download time.

its far far faster to download the latest client from the account page than to patch your old discs

[Fez]

I got this reinstalled for the re-eval, but I have no idea what I'm doing.  Got a few characters in the 20s, but I figure it would be more fun to try out the new areas.  Oh, and how might I get access to the Khitan race?

[Razgon]

I got this reinstalled for the re-eval, but I have no idea what I'm doing.  Got a few characters in the 20s, but I figure it would be more fun to try out the new areas.  Oh, and how might I get access to the Khitan race?

after lvl 20, or rather, after tortage, anyone can go to Khitain - just go to eh..the egypt land, swim across the canal to the caraven there

[Blackjack]

IGN has a pretty complimentary review. On 2nd glance, it's very *SPOILER-ISH* so I've put the URL in SPOILERs...

Despite a touch of monotony, Age of Conan's atmospheric first expansion is an absolute delight.

Spoiler for Hiden:

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/ageofconanriseofthegodslayer/review.html

The Good
    * The new areas are gorgeous and well realized  
    * Excellent new dungeons and boss fights  
    * Great quest writing gets you involved  
    * Awesome new music  
    * Flexible alternate advancement system.

The Bad
    * Gaining faction favor can be a grind  
    * Meaningful rewards are slow to come  
    * Not much for players between levels 40 and 80. [Maybe he means 40-79? My understanding is there's a lot to do at the level cap]

I've been wiped out this week and, egads falling asleep at reasonable hours. I hope some of you guys can get a character to L70 or so, and we can group (I have an L73 Conq) before July 15 rolls around.  

[Blackjack]

I've had some difficulty getting my geographical bearings in the game. How would my L22 Ranger get over to this new, ballyhooed L20-L40 content?

She's currently in the, uh... maybe it's Connal Valley? It's that loooooong zone that has a large stream running down the middle of it, and tall hills and mountain sides on the side of it. I guess I could always backtrack to the starting zone (place you start when you finish with Tortage), so if someone might suggest where to go from there.

[Razgon]

I've had some difficulty getting my geographical bearings in the game. How would my L22 Ranger get over to this new, ballyhooed L20-L40 content?

She's currently in the, uh... maybe it's Connal Valley? It's that loooooong zone that has a large stream running down the middle of it, and tall hills and mountain sides on the side of it. I guess I could always backtrack to the starting zone (place you start when you finish with Tortage), so if someone might suggest where to go from there.

I got this reinstalled for the re-eval, but I have no idea what I'm doing.  Got a few characters in the 20s, but I figure it would be more fun to try out the new areas.  Oh, and how might I get access to the Khitan race?

after lvl 20, or rather, after tortage, anyone can go to Khitain - just go to eh..the egypt land, swim across the canal to the caraven there

[Fez]

I take it that I actually have to buy something to have access to the Khitan race?

[Destructor]

I take it that I actually have to buy something to have access to the Khitan race?

The expansion (Rise of the Godslayer), yes.

[CeeKay]

I take it that I actually have to buy something to have access to the Khitan race?

The expansion (Rise of the Godslayer), yes.

if you don't have the base game it's also included in the expansion.

[ydejin]

I've had some difficulty getting my geographical bearings in the game. How would my L22 Ranger get over to this new, ballyhooed L20-L40 content?

She's currently in the, uh... maybe it's Connal Valley? It's that loooooong zone that has a large stream running down the middle of it, and tall hills and mountain sides on the side of it. I guess I could always backtrack to the starting zone (place you start when you finish with Tortage), so if someone might suggest where to go from there.

I got this reinstalled for the re-eval, but I have no idea what I'm doing.  Got a few characters in the 20s, but I figure it would be more fun to try out the new areas.  Oh, and how might I get access to the Khitan race?

after lvl 20, or rather, after tortage, anyone can go to Khitain - just go to eh..the egypt land, swim across the canal to the caraven there

This seemed like a very strange quest design.  You run into the same thing in Khopal Province -- there are quests on Pashtun Island, and as far as I can tell the only way to get there is to swim.  I spent a lot of time running about looking for boats.  Maybe I was just primed to look for a boat, since that's how you got to White Sands Island.

Anyway, don't want to sound overly critical of AoC.  I am enjoying it.  Some of the earlier quests (post Tortage) weren't very interesting but a lot of the later quests have gotten meatier and are appropriately "Conan-ey".

[Blackjack]

Guess I'll dig up Borwen (even though I don't much like playing as a Ranger), and check the 20-40 stuff. Look me up on Set if youz guys are around. I'm heading in now, server snafus allowing.

[Blackjack]

Is the "canal" mentioned earlier in Tortage, or in Tarantia? I'm still not quite understanding how to reach it. I don't understand about 90% of the game anymore in fact. Amazing how much you forget in a year. 

[ydejin]

Is the "canal" mentioned earlier in Tortage, or in Tarantia? I'm still not quite understanding how to reach it. I don't understand about 90% of the game anymore in fact. Amazing how much you forget in a year. 

I think it's in Khemi (the Stygian starter city), but I haven't tried going there.

[ydejin]

Is the "canal" mentioned earlier in Tortage, or in Tarantia? I'm still not quite understanding how to reach it. I don't understand about 90% of the game anymore in fact. Amazing how much you forget in a year.  

Okay, I can confirm that the way to Khitai is to jump into the harbor in Khemi and swim across the bay.  There is a local travel option that you can pay for to get across instead of swimming.  I don't know if I missed a similar option to get to Pashtun island.  No idea how much it costs, but the wagon maps are way too expensive for me even at lvl 48.

[Blackjack]

I just yammered in global chat and finally got the explanation, thanks though.

[LoneStarSpur]

I finally got to play some this weekend on my HOX. Made it all the way to 19.

I sure do die a lot, though. 

[Gryndyl]

Is the "canal" mentioned earlier in Tortage, or in Tarantia? I'm still not quite understanding how to reach it. I don't understand about 90% of the game anymore in fact. Amazing how much you forget in a year.  

Okay, I can confirm that the way to Khitai is to jump into the harbor in Khemi and swim across the bay.  There is a local travel option that you can pay for to get across instead of swimming.  I don't know if I missed a similar option to get to Pashtun island.  No idea how much it costs, but the wagon maps are way too expensive for me even at lvl 48.

If the wagon maps are too expensive for you then you need to pay more attention to the trader

Be sure and train at least skinning at level 20. Even the lowest level leather sells for 10 silver a pop and you don't have to do anything special to get it-has a chance to drop from critters you're killing anyway.

Take a look in the resource tab on your inventory. All of the stuff in there can be sold to crafter types; some of it for lotsa money. Sulfur, for instance, will sell for 50 silver each as will mother of pearl. Do villa quests in noble district that have a lot of caster opponents. They will often drop bags of trade resources. You can come out of one villa run with a gold or so worth of materials to sell.

At level 48 I was wandering around with 12 gold or so making wagon maps a pretty reasonable expense

[Roguetad]

I finally got to play some this weekend on my HOX. Made it all the way to 19.

I sure do die a lot, though. 

HoX gets better and better as you level up.  It's a ridiculously fun class.  I'd recommend feating the instacast hellfire breath in the possession tree immediately (if you haven't already), and then do whatever you want after that.  I like staying in demon form, so I've been working towards the bottom of the avatar tree.  It may get a little frustrating at times, but once you get the higher level hell strikes, it's awesome.
 
I tried playing more as a mage doing all of the cool possession feats, but I just prefer getting in close and melting baddies and lopping their heads off.  You can pick up some feats to help stay alive longer.  I like Blood Pit because of the really nice health regen, and it seems to spawn often enough to be useful, particularly in big fights.  I also spent 10 points in the general tree to get to and max out the +armor feat.

HoX is one of the few classes that I will pause to watch other people play.  I generally stay away from the long cast combos like molten steel and burn to death, unless I’m fighting a boss.  I like cycling through 2 levels of hell strikes, using hell fire breath between combos, and throwing in occasional pillars of fire or fire lance when available (as needed).  That’s pretty much all it takes.  At level 50 my HoX is crazy fun.  The only thing that bugs me are knockdowns now.