WAR - Destruction Day 2

WAR - Destruction Day 2

So yeah, I re-rolled a new pair: Rahl, a Chosen with Jennsen, a Zealot.

Rahl is a reference to House of Rahl, and Richard Rahl, Master of Dhara from Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth series. The name Kahlan was taken, so I took Jennsen who is a half-sister to Richard and is immune to direct magic. I could not think of any good combo names, and I did not want to use Sanctume + Spiritstone combo again--maybe later on alternate characters.

I work late on Tuesdays so I did not have much time to play, but I managed to get to Rank 6 before I logged out for the night. I think my /played time was 5 hours and new to the starting area.

The Chosen plays similarly with the Ironbreaker but his damage is more Spirit Based by debuffing the enemy of magical resistance which then leaves the target vulnerable for more spell damage from the group.

The Ironbreaker can strip the target's armor so more melee damage can happen.

The Zealot plays the same as the Rune Priest.

The knowledge and experience I gained playing the Ironbreaker and Rune Priest was very useful as I am tackling the content more aggressively than just sword and board + healing style.

I use a 2H weapon when dealing with PvE content, and only switch to one-hander and Shield for tougher Champion and Hero npc.

In PvP, I use the 2H on skirmishes, and 1H+Shield when defending objective, or meeting a zerg.

My 2nd computer crashed to desktop twice last night, it seems like it crashes after 2 hours playing. There's no wait queue to enter Drakwald server. The scenario wait for Tier 1 is more than 5 minutes, but I was able to focus on grinding PvE content for influence points and experience points, so the queue times was ok.

When queue times are faster, it is better to just hang around the warcamp so that I can complete the scenario quest and kill enemy quest.

I hope to get to Rank 10 before Friday, and try to get Rank 20 before next week.

WAR - Destruction Day 1

WAR - Destruction Day 1

All servers were down last night just before Pacific Standard Time prime time, and the guild decided to not put up with the server queue for Skull Throne.

So, we all re-rolled Destruction in Drakwald server, which was a Medium Order / Medium Destruction last night.

The scenario queue was a bit longer than what I was use to, about 5+ minutes. And it was 30+ minutes after prime time.

I quickly rolled a Black Orc and a Shaman up to Rank 7. But I realize I am not liking the combo chains on the Black Orc. So I will re-roll a Chosen with a Zealot tonight.

At least there will not be a server wait queue.

WAR - Weekend 1

WAR - Weekend 1

Previously, "I ended the evening with Ironbreaker R12 RR8, and Runepriest R11 RR8."

Results
09.21.2008 Sanctume, Ironbreaker R18 RR14
09.21.2008 Spiritstone, Rune Priest R17 RR12

I have over 2 days 4 hours /played on Sanctume with definite /afks since it sucks to be in a wait queue for 5-30 minutes in Skull Throne server.

There's an Armory type page called Realm Wars, click the link above for mine.

Friday night

My immediate goal was to get to Rank 14 so that I can get a weapon upgrade for the Ironbreaker.

And also for some of the cool abilities such as Knock Down, Knock Away, and the Prayer of Mending type healing--a heal that automatically jumps to those needing it.

I queued up for Mourkain Temple (Dwarf vs Greenskin) Tier 2 Scenario while I did the quests in the Dwarf zone, Marshes of Madness. I also had to adjust a few hotkeys so that I can strafe left and right on both computers.

In the T2 scenario, the Order side wins and loses about half the time. Whoever gets the artifact first eventually wins. When a rank 20 mounts up from the start, this indicates that my wide will most likely win. I would put my Oathfriend and Guard on that player; and have the Rune Priest set his defensive target.

The server queue is so bad that I kept my toons logged in and asked my daughter to press the Space Bar once in a while--while I spent about 30 minutes cooking dinner in the kitchen.

I hit Rank 14 at the end of Friday Night.

Saturday

I have moved to Barak Var, the 2nd area of the Dwarf T2 zone. Questing and queue for scenarios.

We had people on the queue, so we did the Troll Crossing scenario. I dropped Spiritstone and let my son play his Archmage solo for a bit.

The scenario was great exp, and I also did some grinding for the "Kill NPC" who gives some flat exp for every specific mob I kill.

After the guild scenario was done, I was near Rank 15 while Spiritstone was still in Rank 14.

I had several crash to desktop on one machine but seldom both. I would play scenario on the Rune Priest while the Ironbreaker is in the server wait queue.

I think I hit Rank 16 and R15 at the end of my Saturday gamign sesison.

Sunday

The server wait queue are the same 5 to 20 minutes long. With some crash to desktop. I even crashed loading Altdorf on one machine that costed me 15 minutes. I was ran out of quest in Barak Var so I I wondered if I can do the sewers in Altdorf--NOPE, a bunch of R 14 Champions, and multi-mob pulls.

I dumped my apothecary stuff in the Bank and went back to Shadowlands -- Chapter 5/6/7 Highelf zone.

The leveling has definitely slowed. I consumed all the PvE content for Tier 2 Dwarf and I'm only Rank 16 into Tier 2--with some scenarios played.

This is becoming a slow level grind.

I've played more Phenix Gate scenarion on Sunday. It is similar to Warsong Gulch. Cap flags. First 500 point wins. Whoever has more point after 15 minutes, scenario ends.

There's a bug that the Destruction side exploit.. They cap our flag, and they can run up to their starting area. The problem here is there are Rank 50 guard that can one shot any T2 player.

There's also an area on the Order side that is not climbable by the Destruction. In this hilltop, there's a Repeater Balista that an 1 player can man constant shooting whoever gets in range in middle and part of the Order flag area. The only setback here is as I tried manning with a R16, I got lousy exp and RR because most battles happen elsewhere other than the middle.

Next Goal

Elyrion is the next zone for Chapter 8/9/10 I think. I hope to hit Rank 20 after finishing Elyrion. If not, then I will just grind scenarios and kill quests.

Buy a mount (mini-copter) at Rank 20 for 15 gold. I think I have 22 gold on the Ironbreaker, and 17 gold on the Rune Priest.

WAR - Day 1

The Skull Throne server has its usual wait queue to enter around 20 minutes during prime time.

My Rune Priest crashed to desktop and so I played my Ironbreaker while the RP was in queue. When my Ironbreaker crashed to desktop (WAR.exe error), I queued and took a break.

I ended the evening with Ironbreaker R12 RR8, and Runepriest R11 RR8.

I was doing quests in Chapter 5 and 6 and I have a few completed quest that I can turn in, but I am not sure which town/area to go and turn them in. I hate the running between towns without Flight Path.

Instead, I just keep doing Tier 2 scenarios and repeat that with the kill 25 enemy quests. The scenario goes fast within 2 minutes that I don't have time to get to the other quest before I am queued in.

PvP in Tier 2 - Dwarf vs Greenskin Scenario
I see a lot of Witch Elves stealth and attack the back ranks of healer and caster.

Since I was low level 11, I moved front and back with the IB without staying too long. I build enough Grudge to snare and knockdown targets that one of the higher level tanks focuses on. My IB switched Oathfriend and Guard often.

When the RP is under attack, I reset Oathbound and Guard, and the Rune Priest can stay up even when there's 2 higher level enemies (level 15/16s Black Orcs/Chosen) on the RP.

The RP has the non-interrupt bubble and the big heal and a decent Hot. With Taunt + Detaunt, and my IB's shield knock downs, I buy enough time for the allies to kill that targets.

I also observe that a lot of cross healing happening when there's a tank that tries to slow down the enemies in the back ranks.

The /assist key throws me off still because it does not work switching to that player that needs healing. I needed to add an /aid hotkey so RP can have a target to heal other than the IB.

What's the next goal?

I can't wait to get Rank 14. I think there are blue gear from the keeps that would be decent upgrades.

Then from Rank 15 to 20, I plan to grind PQ for gold to buy mounts at Rank 20.

Rank 14 will also have some decent ability combo for the IB and RP:

Ironbreaker "Away With Ye" is a 30 grudge knock back. I've seen this used effectively when knocking enemy front line tanks into my team, putting distance from the enemy's healers, and into my teams focus fire.

The Rune Priest "Rune of Serenity" is a heal that jumps to the next ally. This is similar to WOW's Prayer of Mending. It's a fire and forget heal.

WAR - Last Day of Head Start

This got to be the shittiest gaming session.

I only leveled from 8 to 10, with 2 scenario RvR in the beginning. After I got booted off a scenario to character selection screen and a 2 minute queue, my 2-box did not get in any RvR anymore.

My UI says I'm in the queue, but I never got in for the rest of the night.
I end up doing most of Chapter 3, 4, and 5 Dwarf area PvE quests. I also did a few PQ which I thought was a waste of my time.

Obsinius (guildie) said it best, WAR fails without RvR. PvE is ok some of the time, but not all the time.

Anyway, I pushed my Ironbreaker with mostly Renown Gear at Rank 8 killing mobs Rank 7 to 9. At Rank 10, I was killing mobs Rank 9 to 12. I pull 3 to 4 mobs and see how many AoE I can handle them when clearing quest objectives. My only AoE is some shield move the minor cone damage, while the Rune Priest have an AoE Dot. AoE becomes micro-managing the Snare Dot Grudge move, with the RP assist dotting each target. Then it's a matter using shield bash when it's up.

The RP uses the small insta heal every shield bash the IB does, and the RP casts HOT every snare move the IB does.

NPC Champions and Hero are easy too with the IB's Taunt, and the RP's Detaunt combo. I would then cycle to grudge moves that give buffs: Toughness, Armor, and Strength. I also started using hotkeys to use up the RP's Rune Nuke, and the Morale abilities when the come up.

I was hoping I hit Rank 14 last night, but I'm satisfied to be able to access Tier 2 at least.

I'm R10 RR8. I will probably grind RR exp as 11 IB + 11 RP in the Tier1 scenario and play more out 2-boxing in a pvp environment.

I got sick of PvE last night that I took a 15 minute break and rolled 2 Engineers, named them [b]Locken and Load[/b]. Oddly enough, they got in a couple of RvR scenarios, I wondered why my IB/RP could not get in--but it was too late as I was in a Tier 2 camp at R9 at the time, I could not queue for the Tier2 scenario yet.

As fro the 2 Engineers, I wonder if they have good burst damage as a duo, without the weakness of 2 Bright Wizards.

WAR - SE Head Start - Day 1

WAR - SE Head Start - Day 1

4:30 - 5:30 am
I was able to get to Rank 2 early in the morning from from 4:45 to 5:15 or so.
I only did the initial area quests, but did not do any scenario RvR.
My key mapping and macro are still intact from open beta.

7:00 - 7:25 pm PST - prime time
After another quick WAR.exe patch download, my wait queue for Skull Throne server was 364 of 364, estimated wait time was 40 minutes.
I got into vent and talked with the guildies. The highest level in the guild was Rank 14.

In the 25 minute wait queue, I managed to do some house chores and some bite to eat, add a few more keys in my script.txt for HotKeyNet, and read up on various message forums.

7:30 am - 1:00 am.
I played an Ironbreaker (IB), and Rune Priest (RP). I queued to a scenario right away.
Then I ran to the Chapter 2 town to pick up Scavenging for the IB, and Magical Salvaging for the RP.
I recalled back to the starting area to do more quest until Rank 4. I think I got in a scenario within 5 minutes.

By the time I was ready to bind in the Chapter 2 Town, I ran to the first Warcamp (not far).
I totally forgot to use my Renown Training points, 1 each Rank.
I was Rank 5 by the time I got to the Warcamp. I bought some Renown Rank (RR) Gear.
I used my RR training to get:
2 points in 5% EXP in RvR
2 points in 5% more gold from RvR loot
1 points in Toughness +3

In the WarCamp
This is an awkward place to be in because I want to maximize Rank xp and RR xp by doing scenarios.
There is a repeatable quest that you turn in, win or lose, by participating the RvR Scenario. I think I get 1400 xp for tuning in the quest.
This quest can be turned in the WarCamp, or any Chapter 2, or some Public Quest area where the NPC gives the RvR scenario quest.

The awkward part is, there is a "Kill 10 Enemy players" repeatable quest available only in the WarCamp.
Being in an RvR scenario, that 10 kill credit can come fast. On losing scenarios, I sometimes only get 3 or 7 kills.
But that quest is usually completed after the 2nd scenario queue.

So, I try to finish quests in the Chapter 2 area while I queue for the scenario.

By Rank 2, I managed to "solo 2-Box" a Chapter 2 Public Quest (PQ) inside the mines. Well, there's a 3rd person who prefer to solo.
After I completed the PQ objective, with 100% damage/healing on the last part. The 3rd person was still able to "roll" for the PQ Chest Loot.
My IB was last in the roll, my RP was the first, and the 3rd ungrouped solo person was 2nd.
I got a decent Body armor from it, so it was all good.

2-Boxing in an RvR Scenario.
I only played on the Dwarf area scneario. Capture 3 flag area. Whoever side gets 500 points first wins.

When the enemy don't bother attacking the healers in the back, my Ironbreaker was fighting 3 equal level enemies without a problem.
My RP was spamming 2 second cast nukes more than healing early on. I mostly rely on a instant HOT that heals 1500 health over 15 seconds.

By Rank 8, my RP has a variety of keys that coincides with the IB keys.
Key: IB -- RP ability hotkeys:
T: Taunt -- Detaunt
1: Normal Melee attack that builds Grudge -- 2 sec cast Nuke
2: Throw -- Insta cast DOT.
3: Vengeful Strike dmg + Toughness to both -- Insta nuke 5 sec cool down
4. Grudge Attack dmg + Armor to both -- Assist Key
5: Shield Slam Knockdown attack -- Insta Heal small
6: Snare attack + DOT -- Insta HOT
7. none -- Damage reduction bubble
8. Shield Cone AoE attack -- AoE DOT
9. Oath Friend Buff -- RP Buff str/int I htink.
0. Flee -- Flee
-. Grudge to Action Points -- not key mapped.
=. Heal Potion -- not key mapped.

U: none -- Insta Heal
I: none -- Target RP
F: /follow -- /follow IB
G: none -- /target IB, /follow

So based on this, I can press "I" and use any healing on the RP from the IB's controllingn keyboard.
I + U: heal RP
I + 6: hot RP
I + 7: bubble RP

I usually smash my "4" key for assist.
4 + T is the best opener. Taunt on IB give 30% more damage. Detaut from RP makes the target do less damage.

I also spam G + F, or G + G to set auto follow.

I am having trouble passing "H" as Strafe Left for both IB and RP.
I wanted to use it to stop auto follow and give distance between my RP from the front lines.

When the enemy goes for the RP, the RP has some tools to help survive.
Detaunt + Bubble + Hot + spamm small heals.
By this time, I manually use MOUSE CLICKS on the IB if it's only 1v2 or 2v2.
Using mouse clicks at this point enables me to just spam 5, 6, 6 so the RP does not attack the enemy which breaks Detaunt.

I use the mouse clicks on hotkey 1, 2, 3, 4, and 8. I might start using J, K and L for those attack purpose that dont pass keys for the RP's keyboard.

Ahh, that's all for now.

I ended my night parked at the WarCamp with 2 quests left in the Chapter 2 area.
Both my Ironbreaker and Rune Priest were Rank 8 at 5 hours + x minutes /played.

WAR - Head Start

I needed to activate my EA/Mythic account using the 2nd key for Head Start that was in my Pre-Order Open Beta keys.

I only managed to get Rank 2.

I am 2-boxing an Ironbreaker and a Rune Priest.