safe haven

Exploring Ruin Falls (Level 44)

stargrace June 1, 2009 2Comments

One thing Vanguard does not do for you, is hold your hand as you adventure. If you want to figure out where to go after being away for a while, it can be difficult. Especially if you’ve already turned in all of those rift seeker quests that rewarded you with pies that give bonus experience. Those quests used to tell you where to head for level appropriate areas. I spent a lot of yesterday spending money and flying around from place to place trying to figure out where I should be. At level 44 I’m too small for a lot of the higher places, and to big for a lot of the lower. I could head back to the Harbor but I’d already spent so much time there, it was time for a change.

Growlius suggested we head to Ruin Falls, which is located in the southern portion of Thestra. I’d been there once just flying through but had not completed any of the quests yet, so I found a rift stone and off I went.

There were only three or four quests that we could obtain right away but that was fine by me. We set off to kill some frogs first as we eased our way into the game and learned how to play together again. I’ve always loved the blood mage (there’s a reason why she’s my only level 44+ character) and they make a perfect duo with a dreadknight.

The area is all swamp land and we spent a lot of time slaying disgusting hag like creatures that looked like deformed trees with pus, I kid you not. Channels were actually quiet, although there was word of a Tipa sighting!

Most of the mobs we had to kill for the starter quests were only two dot (solo) mobs, but they came three at a time. Eventually as we progressed the quests we had to kill a few three dot mobs. When they hang out in bunches it’s hard to solo and we teamed up with a shaman who happened to be adventuring at the same time.

Once we’d completed the first few quests it was time to turn them in and prepare for the guild meeting that Safe Haven would be having. I tried to stay online for the meeting but alas about 20 minutes before it was due to start I was called away by real life and had to log off. Next time perhaps!

I’m still finding my footing in game, and still learning good areas to hang out. It’s difficult when I’ve been (semi) away for a length of time now, I would prefer to solo but rarely know of any good locations. I know they’re out there, it’s just a matter of me learning where to go once again.

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend no matter where you spent your time, and here’s hoping this is the beginning of another wonderful week! Safe travels!

Gaming

Right where I Left It

stargrace May 31, 2009 1Comment

If your Vanguard account has been closed for two months or more, you may find yourself with a free month currently. Until July 1st all VG accounts (that have been closed for 2+ months) have been re-activated, allowing players to experience some of the wonderful changes in game. If you were at maximum level, you’ll find that they’ve been extended by 5, with new places to explore, new loot, and new spells. If you’re of a lower level and never had the opportunity to explore the Isle of Dawn (which is a very pretty beginner zone) why not take the chance.

I met up with Growlius in game, a good friend and guildmate of mine. We didn’t go exploring but hung out in one of the major cities of Qalia which was just as much fun. Getting used to keys and controls is pretty simple because it follows EQ2 in many regards (at least my personal keybindings do) and the main difference is that you keep both offensive and defensive targets at the same time.

The guild I belong to on Vanguard is huge, I’ve spoken about them before (they have an EQ2 branch as well on Antonia Bayle) called Safe Haven. Yesterday was no exception to the rule as 10-20 people were around leveling, crafting, questing and just talking. It was great to see. They’ve picked up quite a few new applicants over the last weeks as well which is always wonderful to hear.

I spent some time wandering around the city marveling at performance since I’ve gotten the new video card. I had no issues whatso ever, no crashes, no lag. It was very nice. I’ve always been a big supporter of VG even during the rough times, and I doubt that will change any time soon.

I haven’t noticed the RMT that was implemented in game at all. From what I understand the majority of players do not even use it, preferring to do things ‘the good ‘ol way’ which is through a lot of hard work. The craft channel was bustling, and people seemed to be in a general good mood. I still think the community atmosphere of VG is the best out there, right along side EQ’s community. I quickly glanced through my quest journal getting familiar with the tasks that I had been on so long ago. Maybe I’ll finally inch my way to level 45 so I can begin working on some swam armor. We’ll see!

Gaming

Fishing, Guild Meetings, and Adventuring

stargrace December 8, 2008 1Comment

Spent some time in Vanguard yesterday afternoon, between doing groceries, cleaning the house, and writing those blasted Beckett articles (for Vanguard, it counts as research, right?) that proved to be harder then I thought they would. Growlius decided to reactivate his account, and I was VERY happy. I leveled up my blood mage with his Deathknight pretty much from 20+ and it was always a goal of ours to hit level 50 some time. It took a little while for him to go through his quest journal and figure out what buttons did what (it’s been a few months) but before too long we were on our way back to Plains of Anguish to smite undead and save the town,

He also got the /claim item that included the pack camel and the wand that transforms you into a cute illusion (or deadly, depending on what you get morphed into). The ferocious cat on the left side is me, and the little pixi looking creature on the right is him. The sword he’s holding is actually bigger then him, and the grass covers us when we’re standing around, we’re just that short. It’s hard to fight that way, with everything looming (quite literally) over top, so we quickly changed back to normal and headed off to the Graveyard and then to a small village to kill some Forsaken Scholars, knights, and steeds.

Since my Beckett article is about the changes in Vanguard, I headed over to the test server to take a peek at a few of the changes they’re implementing. One of them is a big one. Well, two of them. The one that interested me the most though was of course FISHING!

That’s right, after a LONG two year wait, fishing is finally being put into the game. It’s not like EQ2 fishing either. Or WoW fishing. You go through a tutorial in Tanvu, pick up your rod and reel, and some bait. Then you learn the fishing skill while Tien teaches you the basics. You learn that fish are elusive creatures in Vanguard, and fishing itself is quite complex. You have to cast out your line, stop it at a particular section of water and be sure not to cast too close to the fish or they scatter. Once the line has been cast you wait around for a fish to take notice of it. When you’ve got one on your line, it tugs in a WASD direction (or arrow keys if you prefer) and you have to move in the same direction using your keys. Follow the fish properly enough times (fish moves to the left, hit the left arrow key type of deal) and you’ll automatically reel it in.

That’s not all there is to this skill though. If you happen to hook a particular fish, you can unlock combos that you have to key really fast, each combo relates to a specific species of fish. Once you’ve unlocked combos for fish types you can master the species (their words not mine). Fish have particular habits as well. Some are around more in the day then the night. Some can only be reached by galleons (that’s right, I said it!) and have to be fished deep in the sea waters. There’s all kinds of particular bait and while it doesn’t really matter which you use, some is better for situations then others.

After wandering around on test it was time to head back to the live servers for a guild meeting. Safe Haven meets once a month to go over any concerns members may have, bring up events, go over any new policies (like the new dues system we have since we now own a guild hall and it costs 50g a week in upkeep). Over 20 people showed up, and it was a great way to meet everyone. Even Kasul and Growlius managed to come. The guild is fairly active with a good number of people but of course everyone has their real lives and most people play other games aside from Vanguard, so things can get strained at times. Finding groups to accomplish what you need to get done.

Hopefully, with all of the great changes that are due, the player base swells a little. We’ll just have to see. In the mean time, I’m having a blast.

Gaming

Boats move, and Faction in Tehatamani Harbor

stargrace December 3, 2008 1Comment

Just hours after I made this post yesterday about how someone had parked their boat right on top of the riftway and I found it frustrating, I came back to the harbor to find that they had moved their boat (or someone had moved it for them, either way)! It made me giggle and I just had to get a screen shot of it.

I did the first two quests in Tehatamani Harbor, turned them in and got two shards. Right clicked the necklace I had also gotten from the Lucent Circle and it upgraded the piece for me. Went to a new NPC, picked up two more quests. These quests only reward coin, and they appear to be repeatable tasks. One makes you kill 100 creatures around the pyramids, and the other makes you collect 50 vials of liquid from these same creatures. As a blood mage I’m primarily a healer, but it’s basically a necromancer healer. You heal via life taps off of mobs. If I’m not damaging mobs, I’m not healing. The mobs are level 46 or so around this area, at level 43 that’s red. Still, they’re two dots and can be taken down, it just means that my spells don’t always land, and the fights tend to be a little drawn out. I killed the first 100 mobs and gathered my 50 vials in about an hour and a half, maybe slightly more. Went back to the NPC who gave me my 5 silver (ew, repairs were 9 silver) and gave me the exact same quests.

Double ew. I wasn’t sure why they were just giving me the same quests over again, so I checked online and it looks like I need level 44 in order to move up in the ranks.

That’s alright. I headed off next to Vsurog Moor, which is where I’ll be living pretty much from 45-50. At level 45 I can begin to work on faction for the swamp armor that everyone talks about. I’ll be going into more detail about this when I get there. It’s pretty nice armor, and should keep me fairly busy. Rumor has it that Growlius (Dreadknight partner in crime) may be coming back to the game this weekend. That would totally rock, I may put out some nice dps some times but I can’t actually tank, being a cloth wearer and all. For the odd person out there who IS playing VG (I know the numbers may be few) if you’re looking for a friendly guild with a very active player base, check out Safe Haven on the Seradon server.

Safe Haven has branches in multiple games (like a lot of guilds do these days) and have been established for quite a long time. In Vanguard there are over 585 members (as of today, yesterday someone deleted a few alts if you recall it being at 588!) and there is typically anywhere from 7-20 people on every night. I’d like to say ‘most’ people are PST, but there are a good amount in other time zones too. They’re friendly, organize guild events, and have a guild hall. They also have the trophies that get placed in halls, giving members some awesome buffs. You can either group up and hang out, or just do your own thing and have a social network, either way it’s fantastic. Just be careful, I hear Joodah bites.

After the few brief quests I did yesterday along with the killing, I’m 40% into level 43. I can’t complain that’s a pretty good portion into the level. I know 40-50 takes the longest, but I’m confident that before too long I’ll be there.

Gaming

Ding, 43 Bloodmage!

stargrace November 29, 2008 0Comment

I spent most of the evening yesterday in Vanguard once I’d completed the daily tradeskill on my tailor in EQ2 (and dinged level 60 might I add, nice accomplishment there!) it’s common for me to bounce between multiple games, and station access is letting me bounce between a few without feeling too bad about the cost. It was a pretty exciting day.

My goal was to hit level 43, which was pretty lofty because I just hit level 42 yesterday. What I decided to do was give up the sand in the underwear zones for a bit and head back to Thestra. I noticed there were a lot of green quests in Beranid Hills, all of them solo. Looking at my meagre collection of a whole 10% experience, I figured even if most of the encounters were grey (which they were) I could use a potion and gain 50% on top of whatever the quests would rewards with me. I probably picked up at least 20 quests and one at a time spent the evening clearing them out. By the time I’d killed everything I needed, explored some druid stones, located some dead dogs for some poor old lady, found someones dead daughter (the Beranid Hills are filled with dead things or undead as the case is) I headed back to camp and turned them all in. I was at 14% experience from kills, and after using the potion and turning what I had over to the npc’s I was at 77% experience. Very worth while.

After getting so close to my goal of 43 I couldn’t just give up, so I headed back to Razad, the land of sand in uncomfortable places. I ran around completing the last few quests I had in that area, and before too long DING 43! This is a big level for me. Number one, it means I can now group with level 50’s and gain experience and credit for quests. Huge plus. Number two, I’ve had a robe on me for the past 15 levels. It’s crafted by tailors and it’s level is red. That’s pretty much the equivalent of fabled gear back in T5 for EQ2 before raids were really popular. There’s purple gear (basically mythical) but aside from my craft bag I’ve never seen any. This robe is VERY nice for me and I’m sure I’ll be wearing it for a long time to come.

Besides the leveling, I also found myself a home again in Vanguard. I returned to Safe Haven, which is a guild filled with amazing people. They span across multiple games (including an EQ2 branch on Antonia Bayle) and much like nostalgia in EQ1 and EQ2 I could not ask for a better bunch of people. They’re simply amazing. It was nice to be welcomed back in – and learn that they now have a proper guild hall. This thing is MASSIVE. Screen shot above is me standing in some sort of ceremonial room. We do have a small amount of dues that we pay once a month (I think for my level it’s 5g a month) but it’s well worth it, especially because our guild hall houses our guild trophies. These are statues within the hall that place buffs (three of them, one for each sphere) permanently on guild members.

It’s nice to be back, if for no other reason then to have others to talk to. We had 10-15 people on tonight, which is about what I remember. The guild also organizes events, and I’m looking forward to partaking in a few of those over time. We’ll see how it goes.

Now, onwards to 50!

Exploring Ruin Falls (Level 44)

Right where I Left It

Fishing, Guild Meetings, and Adventuring

Boats move, and Faction in Tehatamani Harbor

Ding, 43 Bloodmage!

You Missed

Keeping Organized (Bookmarks)

Why a Nullsec Bloc Just Wasn’t For Me

Expensive (To Me) Skills

My Biggest Exploration Holy Grail