July 30, 2010

Exploring Brotherhoods in Vanguard

stargrace July 30, 2010 0Comment

Brotherhoods are a fantastic feature in Vanguard that I’ve taken advantage of off and on during the times I’ve played and this round is no different. Basically you set it up with 2+ people and any experience you earn on any character gets split between however many people are in the brotherhood. This may sound like a negative, but it ensures a few things. First of all, while Vanguard DOES have mentoring the system is a little.. lacking. It doesn’t work like EQ2 where you can access all your skills and spells and they simply level down. In Vanguard you have access to only the spells and skills you would have at the new mentored level. A brotherhood is great if you play with friends or a significant other and want to stay within level range. Do you play more often then your friend and are concerned about out leveling them? Then put together a brotherhood.

I also use it for another reason. I use it to level up an alt at the same time as my ‘main’. I am playing my shaman, but my bard is in the brotherhood and earns experience at the same time. The person earning the xp gets a slightly increased amount compared to the person who is off line, but it’s better then nothing. When I get bored of the shaman I can switch to the bard and earn xp that way. In order to invite my own alts to the brotherhood I have to use a second person. Me and them form a brotherhood, then I relog to an alt, and they invite the alt – remember you must be within 5 levels of all members in the brotherhood and be in line of sight.

One other handy ‘feature’ of a brotherhood is that through this method it will take you longer to level (since experience is being split). I’ve always found myself out leveling the content in Vanguard. There’s just so many places to go, especially at the lower levels. When I reach the 40’s I may want to leave the brotherhood but in the mean time there is a LOT of content (solo content) for me to explore, and if I can level up two characters at the same time while exploring everything I want, why not!

It probably comes as no surprise but I’ve started up a guild, as well. There are a few bloggers who have expressed interest as well as a few non blogging friends and I’m pretty excited about it. I’ve set up my personal home as the guild hall (the upkeep and building of an actual guild hall is a massive undertaking that we’re simply not prepared for at this time) and I’ve placed one of the three trophies that come from the collector’s edition in the make shift hall. Of course I picked the crafting trophy, which offers all our guild members a passive buff. I don’t expect the guild to amount to too much but it gives friends of mine a place to call ‘home’ while they explore the world of Telon. It’s always nice having one extra gate.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend, no matter where you find yourself. I’ll see you in Telon!

Visiting the Isle of Dawn (Again)

stargrace July 30, 2010 0Comment

There are two main reasons I know of for starting over in a game. One, you’ve been away for so dang long you just don’t remember what you were doing or how to play any more, and two, you’ve got a friend who is going to start playing the game and instead of leaving them to wander on their own you decide to jump in and make sure the experience is at least a memorable one.My reasons for being on the Isle of Dawn last night happened to be the later, as a friend decided to return to Vanguard – though their reasons for starting on the Isle were because of the first one I mentioned, they had no idea how to play or what they were doing any more.

The Isle of Dawn had over 100 players on it, and it was really hard not to notice that. The entire game went down once for a few minutes (not long) and then for the rest of the evening we spent more time combating the lag then the mobs. If you happen to be leveling your way through the Isle of Dawn I implore you to stick it out through the lag. There is some lag once you get off the Island but it’s not nearly as bad as what you’ll experience while you’re there. Yes, Vanguard has bugs – but if you’re willing to see PAST those, you’ll be able to see the game for the gem it is. Don’t let them discourage you from playing.

I created a shaman, one of two healer classes that I’ve never played before (the second one being a cleric). Teamed with a monk (which is a dps class in Vanguard and not a tank class) we battled our way through every encounter and then finally made it to level 10 where we’re allowed to leave. I decided to stick around for a little while longer to work on my harvesting skills as well as crafting and diplomacy. The gear you get from these quests is really quite nice, not to mention there’s that mount I’d like from diplomacy.

Over all it was an alright evening. Pretty frustrating but I’ve played for long enough now that these things don’t actually phase me. I still enjoy Vanguard as much as I always have and I’m glad to add (yet another) alt to my army. I think I’m up to 8 characters now.

• 50 Psionicist – Leatherworker
• 51 Rogue – Armorer
• 50 Disciple – Tailor
• 47 Blood Mage – Mineralogist
• 16 Bard – Carpenter
• 18 Warrior – Weaponsmith
• 15 Paladin
• 10 Shaman

The psionicist is still my favorite character by far, and as you can see I have 1 of each crafter, though I’m debating also leveling up the paladin and the shaman as crafters, we’ll just have to see. There’s really no need for any more but I do love my crafting!

Happy gaming no matter where you find yourself. I’ll see you in Telon!