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Conjunctions and monsterplay
Daymoose
Member Posts: 16
I've been playing MMORPGs for 7 years and hit AC, AC2, DAoC, AO, WoW, CoH etc in the process, for background.
Gameplay:
I've heard a lot of people saying it's kind of bland.. well in the first few levels it is quite bland, but that changes a lot as you level up. At 22 as a burglar, I have 2 bars full of skills that I use pretty frequently. I still only use maybe a few more than I would on WoW, but an important difference in gameplay for me that I rarely hear mentioned would be:
Conjunctions. As mentioned, I play a burglar, and this is something that is unique to the class (in the sense that they can happen randomly, but burglars can perform them on demand). It brings up a panel with 4 circle- red/yellow/blue/green (as pictured: i16.tinypic.com/2mqjhbm.jpg)
Red is direct damage, yellow is damage over time, blue is power renew and green is morale renew. The system at lower levels is pretty basic. Everyone hammers yellow if it's over 50%, red if under, and green or blue if needed. However, if you want, you can try to perform moves like "the wheel" which end up with results far surpassing the simpler ones, which is done as such:
Person 1: Blue
Person 2: Red
Person 3: Green
Person 4: Yellow
Person 5: Blue
Person 6: Red
This all takes quite a bit of coordination to start with, but when these combinations get pulled off, it's worth it. Here's a screenshot of a simple red/yellow combination (with the animation):
i18.tinypic.com/4fu9jlc.jpg
It makes grouping a little more interesting than tank and spank, even at the lower levels.
The other thing I wanted to touch on was monster play. It's gotten sort of a bad rep for being PvE by some and ridiculous by others.. but it was a way for them to stay true to the lore of LOTR while allowing some world PvP objectives. It does have it's downside that early on it's nothing but monsters, as none of the players have reached 50 yet, but as the game grows a little older, it balances out. The problem of course is that with players being able to switch easily between both sides, it makes balance very unpredictable.
However, besides that, I find the flavor of the quests (if you die, you fail half your quests), skills (crack the whip is a morale heal for orcs), and actual pvp to be quite enjoyable. There's an obvious advantage to the players who have a wider variety of skills from which to choose, but the battles end up closer than you would think. Not to mention, you acquire a lot of destiny points which can be used to buy rested xp for your free peoples character (4-5 sets of 3-4 bars to start with, and when that is out, you accrue another set of 3-4 bars every 24 hours maxing at 5, which is about an entire level. I've not seen it fade, and it is very cheap).
If this is all very old news, I apologize, but I don't see these things mentioned often.
edit: links
Gameplay:
I've heard a lot of people saying it's kind of bland.. well in the first few levels it is quite bland, but that changes a lot as you level up. At 22 as a burglar, I have 2 bars full of skills that I use pretty frequently. I still only use maybe a few more than I would on WoW, but an important difference in gameplay for me that I rarely hear mentioned would be:
Conjunctions. As mentioned, I play a burglar, and this is something that is unique to the class (in the sense that they can happen randomly, but burglars can perform them on demand). It brings up a panel with 4 circle- red/yellow/blue/green (as pictured: i16.tinypic.com/2mqjhbm.jpg)
Red is direct damage, yellow is damage over time, blue is power renew and green is morale renew. The system at lower levels is pretty basic. Everyone hammers yellow if it's over 50%, red if under, and green or blue if needed. However, if you want, you can try to perform moves like "the wheel" which end up with results far surpassing the simpler ones, which is done as such:
Person 1: Blue
Person 2: Red
Person 3: Green
Person 4: Yellow
Person 5: Blue
Person 6: Red
This all takes quite a bit of coordination to start with, but when these combinations get pulled off, it's worth it. Here's a screenshot of a simple red/yellow combination (with the animation):
i18.tinypic.com/4fu9jlc.jpg
It makes grouping a little more interesting than tank and spank, even at the lower levels.
The other thing I wanted to touch on was monster play. It's gotten sort of a bad rep for being PvE by some and ridiculous by others.. but it was a way for them to stay true to the lore of LOTR while allowing some world PvP objectives. It does have it's downside that early on it's nothing but monsters, as none of the players have reached 50 yet, but as the game grows a little older, it balances out. The problem of course is that with players being able to switch easily between both sides, it makes balance very unpredictable.
However, besides that, I find the flavor of the quests (if you die, you fail half your quests), skills (crack the whip is a morale heal for orcs), and actual pvp to be quite enjoyable. There's an obvious advantage to the players who have a wider variety of skills from which to choose, but the battles end up closer than you would think. Not to mention, you acquire a lot of destiny points which can be used to buy rested xp for your free peoples character (4-5 sets of 3-4 bars to start with, and when that is out, you accrue another set of 3-4 bars every 24 hours maxing at 5, which is about an entire level. I've not seen it fade, and it is very cheap).
If this is all very old news, I apologize, but I don't see these things mentioned often.
edit: links
Comments
Rites of the Four Horsemen
http://www.rotfh.com
However, they can also pop up randomly if you "break through defenses" (as seen on the second picture), the problem with those is that they happen randomly, and that kind of damage when a monster only has maybe 5% health left or is a random non-elite add doesn't help much.
The Burglar's allure is that they can start one the very second you initiate a boss or a tough group of creatures to make the encounter a bit easier if you're coordinated.
edit: Forgot to address the second part of your question. They're sort of randomized I think in how they add up, so I might have to spend some time discovering new orders if I can find a fellowship that follows it well. However, the simple method works decently if you can't get that coordination of just using yellow if they're above 50 and red if they're below.
So in LOTRO, have they just made it where the scout (buglar only) starts the combo or "group move" ? I never grouped with a burglar this past weekend, so I never saw the wheel you are showing.... more info please...
EDIT: nvm... you are answering my question while I was posting...
There are definitely some interesting features in LotRO. At first, when testing, I thought it seemed pretty similar to World of Warcraft, but I haven't advanced far in level, and I heard that the more you see of the game, the better it gets. I am looking forward to the Open Beta, and hopefully I can tear myself away from Vanguard long enough to really check out LotRO.
One great thing about it is the pre-order deal for Founders. I am already planning on pre-ordering just to get the discounted subscription rate, but from what I've seen and heard, the game will be worth it.
Very fun class. Also the least played, and sought after for groups.