July 2008

Bloodline Chronicles

stargrace July 18, 2008 1Comment

When SOE implemented the mini expansion packs that would come out mid way through the year (for a fee of $5) a lot of people were upset. Why are we paying for extra content was the cry from the general public. With the latest expansion, each of these adventure packs were included (for those who did not purchase them) and one of the best ones there aside from Fallen Dynasty (which is my number one favorite) is the Bloodline Chronicles which pits you against vampires and badies in the low 30’s to high 40’s range through a series of 11 quests.

The zones may seem drab after all this time, but the rewards are fun. Arysh (warden) is far too high for these quests, and I mowed through them fairly fast. Some coin, aa rewards (now that grey quests reward experience) and some cool appearance gear – as well as the charm that turns you into a vampire.

Why bother doing these quests at all? Well there’s also the vampire smite spell you get by the end – and who does not want to be able to smite those foes? Ever since Castle Mistmoore and the incidents there..

Last night I also came to the conclusion that, YES, you CAN have TOO many alts.

I know. Lets pause here to check for a pulse, I did indeed just say that. Me, with all the alts that I have.

So I’ve decided it’s time to cut down and focus. Now, why on earth would I ever say too many alts is bad? Let me mention here that crafting alts don’t fall under this category. I simply mean too many adventure alts is bad. Think of it this way, unless you can devote a LOT of time to each alt, how on earth will you manage to complete everything there is to complete in the game.

I have plenty of characters, and I’ve done a lot of content, but no one character has done all or even a majority of it. I’ve got one with claymore, another with prismatic 1.0 another with godking, two with their epics.

It’s all spread all over.

The same thing can be said about masters and upgrades. How can you afford to gear up and equip every one of those characters. I know people who have one definitive “main” who own every single M1 they can possibly own. Why? Because they have no alts to buy for.

Now, crafting alts are money makers, adornment providers and other random goodness. Those are different.

There’s a pretty good chance this whole experiment will backfire on me. I’ll get frustrated and end up creating ten alts to compensate for it. We’ll just have to see (I can hear everyone laughing in the background already). I won’t know unless I try!

Adventures? We’ve got Those!

stargrace July 17, 2008 0Comment

Screen shot is of the (neglected lately) monk, Ysandria, exploring through Steamfont. Since I spent her lower levels powerleveling her, skills were at an all time low. Having 85/185 deflection is not a good thing especially when those solo blue con mobs are eating you to little shreds. So for a little portion of the evening last night I worked on fixing that. I still have a ways to go yet, but for now Ysandria is not too bad. Along the way I also managed to ding level 38, and finished off a few quests for Steamfont that required me to kill random Kobold, Spiders, Lions, Tigers and Bears (oh my). Ok maybe not those last few, but it was fun none the less.

Kasul and I headed to Vault of Dust, as well as Scornfeathers Roost, both located in the Clefts of Rujark. It was a lot of fun, even though nothing of any note dropped. Kasul (as I spotted this morning) hit level 60, and is climbing steadily. I’m eager to team him up with Petites (my templar) so that he can do all the work while I sit and relax and get her some levels.

Last night Shadowgeist took a small group into KC for some epic updates, I tagged along with (also neglected) Stargrace, who finished off her quest to kill the named in the basement, and got herself some shoulder upgrades. She’s close to hitting 77, and I suppose maybe one day I should finish that off. Especially since she is a dps class and can do it with relative ease. Where as the templar… well. It’s slow. I’ve mentioned that I’m sure (as has everyone else).

I’m thinking of betraying the monk to a bruiser, apparently they’re better on the solo front, which is exactly what I have this character for. It’s not like I couldn’t switch back to a monk at a later date if I choose.

This week is busy with family stuff, so I won’t be around for portions of it, but should still find some time here and there. Next weekend is family stuff again, with random bits of real life interjecting here and there. I’m already eager for winter, and for this heat to end. Yesterday we got some wicked thunderstorms – too bad I’m mighty afraid of storms.

On the crafting front, Silhouette hit level 66 carpenter. I managed to grind out a few more levels before running completely out of vitality and calling it a day. Nostalgia also hit level 19, and a little portion into it. We’re inching up on 20 slowly but surely, and last but not least, there was an apparent Calreth sighting, but that may have been a halucination. Stay tuned for more news tomorrow!

Lesser Faydark Adventures

stargrace July 16, 2008 0Comment

With Kasul back in town, and Vlcan, and Mayadhros around, the guild was busy as ever last night. It was great to see. We’re a smidge away from level 19, and then it’s only one more level to go before we hit 20 and get those extra bank slots. I managed to grind my way to level 64 carpenter on Silhouette – and I do mean grind. The past few levels she’s only gotten three recipes each level, and they’re really ugly house items that I know I’ll never use, which makes it harder for me to feel inspired to level. I’m inching my way to level 70 though which is when I can start making the REALLY nice stuff, as well as the faction based recipes. I’m looking forward to it.

So anyhow, last night Kasul was off to Lesser Faydark to do a bit of leveling, and of course I asked if I could tag along with Misako, the 58 necromancer (since we’re both the same level). I had never even taken her to the zone before. My necromancer is an old character, and she was created before aa were released. While Kasul has edged past his 80th, Misako is barely into her low 40’s. I respec’d her to a tank pet line which seemed to work out pretty well. Though I did end up getting Kasul killed once, we had a named and two other fairy things on us that knocked him around pretty good. The fantastic things about necromancers though is that we can feign death (I did, in order to let my pet finish off the encounter) and we can also rez. Just doing the few quests around the shadowman area, and the greater faydark entrance, brought me to 60% experience. I was starting to feel tired, so we called it a night. I headed to East Freeport where I did a few cheap quick collections that dinged me the remainder I needed, and Misako is sitting comfortably at level 59 now. Won’t be too long before I’m smacking vampires around in New Tunaria.

Earlier on in the evening Growlius and I headed into Vanguard to kill more undead, but my heart just wasn’t into it and so after half way completing some quests we had, we called it early and we’ll pick it up another time. Not a big deal, just some times you don’t feel like playing a particular game that night. It happens!