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Vanguard: Something About Heroes and Sagas
s3rial one
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes
To anyone unaware, Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is the latest MMO from Sigil games; the team responsible for the original EverQuest. It comes out tomorrow. There was apparently enough interest to generate 20-some pages of people playing to level 4 and declaring it a WoW clone in G&T, so hopefully, there's enough interest to, you know, actually play it now that it's being released.
PA Players
PA players are gathering on Flamehammer.
Tal - Trissa - Dark Elf - Dread Knight - 10
Shortass - Frindor - ? - Psionicist - 10?
mantis23 - Esarios - Raki - Psionicist - 10?
Fellhand - Eledridan - "asian" - Psionicist -
GimpyBoy - Anarra
Tremor - Aelgan - Raki - Disciple
Snapp69 - Suqata - Mordebi - Rogue - 5?
Foomy - Foomy - Goblin - Bloodmage
Handgimp - Vishni - Vulmane - Dread Knight
Draeven - kregnok - Orc - Warrior - 12
Liquid Ghost - Raivotar - Vulmane - Dread Knight
ElectricBoogaloo - Poppen - Gnome - Necromancer
Littleboots - Littleboots - Vulmane - Dread Knight
Strato - Drodei - Wood Elf - Druid
What's the game like?
While the early levels are the usual faire - packed full of newbie-coddling and rat-bashing - the ultimate goal of Vanguard is to make a game that is similar to a modern Everquest. That is to say, a more difficult, less forgiving, more demanding, more group-based MMO.
What can I play?
Vanguard has no dearth of playable characters. As it is now, there are a total of 19 different races spread across three factions and 15 different classes (with two more coming post-release).
What are the system requirements?
Official FAQ wrote:MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
• Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
• 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible computer
• 100% DirectX compatible keyboard or input device
• Processor 2.4 GHz Intel processor or 2400+ or higher model AMD processor
• 512 MB RAM
• Vertex and Pixel shader 2.0 compatible hardware with 128MB of texture memory
• 100%DirectX compatible sound card
• 56K + Internet Connection
• 16X Speed DVD-ROM
• 20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Space
RECOMMENDED SPECS
• Windows® 2000/XP/Vista
• 100% DirectX 9.0c compatible computer
• 100% DirectX compatible keyboard or input device
• Processor 3.0 GHz Intel or 3500+ AMD processor
• 2 GB RAM
• Vertex and Pixel shader 2.0 compatible hardware with 256MB of texture memory
• DirectSound compatible audio hardware
• Broadband Internet Connection
• 16X Speed DVD-ROM
• 20 Gigabytes Hard Drive Space
Factions
Each faction in Telon (that's the world's name) has unique geography and racial variants. Thestra is largely European in feel, and is closest to what would be standard fantasy fair. Qalia is more Middle-Eastern, and Kojan is Asian.
Races: The following - except the descriptions - is basically ripped out of SilkyVenom's Vanguard Wiki. I take no credit.
Eeeeeeeeeeevvvvvuuuuuuuuullllllll. Seriously, this is your EverQuest dark elf. The only thing they like more than magic is kicking puppies.
Faction: Qalia
Classes: Dread Knight, Rogue, Monk, Bard, Cleric, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Dwarf
Nothing particularly surprising here. Dwarves are short, stocky, tough, and favor the sort of classes that punch monsters in the face and make a *clank* noise when they walk.
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, Cleric, Sorcerer
Gnome
Vanguard's gnomes are smart, quick-witted tinkerers who favor magic classes and whose cool, nonchalant exterior belies their burning desire to fiercely hump your leg.
Faction: Qalia
Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Cleric, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Goblin
They're tough little buggers with a predisposition towards magic. They're also evil, and bear a strong resemblence to Gremlins.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Warrior, Rogue, Monk, Shaman, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Half-Elf
hay guyz i m haf humen and haf efl!!1
...yeah that description sucks, but what else is there to say? They're balanced in stats and class selection, and... not particularly interesting. I'm fairly sure they don't hump your leg like those little gnome perverts, though. Fairly.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Bard, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Druid, Psionicist, Necromancer
Halfling
I think that's a chick.
If you tip them over, they also have a sticker. It reads: "Warning: May attempt to steal lucky charms."
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Bard, Cleric, Druid
High Elf
What they didn't tell you in the book or the movie is that Legolas and Gandalf made sweet man-love and produced these guys. They like magic as much as they like telling you how superior they are.
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Paladin, Ranger, Bard, Cleric, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist
Kojani
The Kojan variant of humans. They're well-balanced, like all the other humans.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Dread Knight, Rogue, Monk, Bard, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Kurashasa
Yeah, these guys will be popular. They look badass. They have good stats. Their racial is quite nice. The only down side is that they're evil, and to start they're KoS to just about everything.
Faction: Qalia
Classes: Warrior, Dread Knight, Ranger, Rogue, Disciple, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Lesser Giant
THUD SMASH!
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Warrior, Dread Knight, Shaman, Druid
Mordebi
The Mordebi are the Qalian take on humans. They're well balanced as you'd expect.
Faction: Qalia
Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Bard, Cleric, Shaman, Disciple, Sorcerer, Druid, Psionicist
Orc
In Vanguard, Orcs camp you!
I apologize, that was horrible. Basically, those guys you old EQ players used to pick on in EC are playable, now.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Warrior, Dread Knight, Ranger, Monk, Shaman, Disciple
Qaliathari
It's like Sigil made an entire race of creepy uncles.
The Qaliathari are yet another human variant, and hence, well-balanced.
Faction: Qalia
Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Dread Knight, Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Bard, Cleric, Disciple, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist, Necromancer
Raki
Fox people. They're short, and they're rather magical in nature.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Monk, Disciple, Sorcerer, Psionicist
Thestran
Another take on humans, this time from Thestra. Well balanced, yada yada yada.
Faction: Thestra
Classes:Warrior, Paladin, Dread Knight, Ranger, Rogue, Bard, Cleric, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Druid, Psionicist, Necromancer
Varanjar
A race of barbarians from Thestra. They're like humans, but bigger. Not quite as brutish as the Lesser Giants, they nonetheless enjoy smashing.
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Warrior, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Druid
Varanthari
Another barbarian race, this time from Qalia.
Faction: Qalia
Classes:Warrior, Ranger, Shaman, Druid
Vulmane
Wolf people. These guys are damned cool. They make great tanks.
Faction: Thestra
Classes: Warrior, Dread Knight, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Druid
Wood Elf
We end with another elf variant. These guys are just like the Wood Elves from EQ, or the Night Elves from WoW. They're a bunch of granola-eating, tree-hugging, Birkenstock-clad proto-hippies. But you'll be less likely to want to bitch slap one than the other elves in the game.
Faction: Kojan
Classes: Warrior, Ranger, Bard, Shaman, Druid
s3rial one on
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Posts
Protective Fighters: Protective fighters are your tanks. They take damage, manage agro, and function as the backbone of the game's crowd control. As melee combatants, they have a ton of reactive abilities and attack chains at their disposal.[list:5d1b3242d1]
Dread Knight: Dread Knights are similar to the Shadowknights from EQ, but... better. They still focus on debuffing, but one of the key differences is their new passive ability, Dreadful Countenance. Dread Knights debuff everything they hit. And no, not some shitty stat debuff; the increase the mob's chance to be critically hit (by everyone), reduce resistances, reduce mitigation... they're awesome debuffs that benefit the whole team for free.
Inquisitor: Inquisitors aren't actually in the game yet; they're one of the two classes still under development. The idea behind them is that they'll function as anti-magic tanks. If the paladin is a warrior-cleric hybrid, the inquisitor is a warrior-psionicist hybrid.
Paladin: Paladins make a return in Vanguard, but are a whole lot meaner this time. In EQ, they were half-assed tanks with hopelessly outdated healing magic. In Vanguard, they skew more towards the WoW-style paladin; lots of buffs and support abilities, auras, and some extremely powerful heals (which are on timers, preventing them from stepping on the healers' toes).
Warrior: Warriors are your standard defensive fighter. They're definitely a no-nonsense class. They put on heavy armor and hit stuff with big sharp things, and occaisionally big blunt things. Hard. Warriors deal the most damage of the protective fighters.
Offensive Fighters: Offensive fighters are melee DPS (for the most part). They often provide buffs and have other ancillary effects that make them useful to groups, but have no doubt: these guys are really about beating the living crap out of everything in reach.
Bard: Back from EQ, but changed. No more twisting. Bards can now create their own songs, and have multiple effects within a song. They also do some serious melee damage, but as before, can concentrate on buffing their group by using instruments if they choose to do so.
Berserker: Along with inquisitors, this is one of the upcoming classes. They aren't available yet. People seem to expect something along the lines of the DAoC berserker.
Monk: Monks are a martial arts-oriented melee class. They have what are perhaps the most involved combat chains in the game. Also, each monk can specialize in a combat style: dragon (AoE damage, magic), harmonious (redirection, debuffing), drunken (evasion, counterattack).
Ranger: While not an archery class per se, the ranger is the game's premier bow user. They have some natural magic, stealth skills, and heavy melee damage as well.
Rogue: These guys are more WoW rogue than EQ rogue, but otherwise what you'd expect; stealth, backstabbing, posions. One interesting twist is how rogues work well together; they have a system similar to WoW's combo points, but it's shared amongst all rogues on the same target. The class designer at Sigil has been quoted as saying "It will take a higher level of class knowledge and skill to fully utilize the capabilities of the Rogue.â€
Healers: This is pretty self-explanitory.
Blood Mage: The blood mage is a pretty different kind of healer. One part necromancer, one part WoW rogue, one part cleric. Blood mages use a lot of lifetaps and drains, and build combo points (of sorts) on their targets, which they can use to make certain spells more powerful, and use special abilities.
Cleric: Clerics are exactly what you think they are: heavily-armored healers. They have one really cool ability, though: the ability to recover energy by meleeing. It leads to some pretty epic fights.
Disciple: Another interesting healing class. Disciples are a sort of monk-healer hybrid, and they heal by dealing melee damage (they do have direct heals, but that's only a small part of their abilities). The closest class I can think of would be DAoC's friar.
Shaman: Shaman are similar to EQ's implimentation; hybrid healer-buffer types with some nice DoTs and decent direct damage. At level 15, they choose a patron spirit; a wolf, bear, or phoenix. The spirit determines their spell progression for the rest of the game, with the bear granting melee abilities and buffs, as well as a bear pet (very soloable). The wolf offers some stealth, and buffs that are geared towards offensive fighter buffs, as well as a pet wolf, and the phoenix is a nuking pet; not very soloable, but they have some good caster buffs.
Arcane Casters: These guys use magic to blow shit up. Some have some utility, but mostly they're about big, flashy explosions, impaling people with flaming spears, and so on.
Druid: Druid are back, and they're full-blown nukers, now. They also heal, but don't rez. Yes, they still have SoW. They also have abilities called calamities and wonders; rarely-usable uber-abilities that are said to be able to turn the tide of any battle. Never seen one, though.
Necromancers: If you played EQ: they're baaaaaaack. If you played WoW, think Warlock. If you played DAoC, think Cabalist/Spiritmaster. For anyone else, they're a debuffing, DoTing pet class.
Psionicist: Imagine someone took the EQ enchanter, and made it a badass damage class with fewer crowd control spells. That's what the psionicist is. They're a true blue nuker with mana recovery buffs (sure to be popular) and some nasty, nasty attacks. Psionicists also have access to the only global chat channel in the game. Whether or not this is a good thing I leave up to you, but it's interesting fluff, nonetheless.
Sorcerer: The sorcerer is your typical magic nuker; fire, ice, magic force. They blow shit up. They're the premier AoE nukers, and still have wicked single target damage output. Not quite as soloable as a psionicist, though.[/list:u:5d1b3242d1]
<more to come>
Also, don't Psionicist have access to the only global chat in the game?
I am a freaking nerd.
Looking forward to giving it a shot.
Fuck.
Fuck.
I am a freaking nerd.
Anyone here who actually followed the game though beta 4 and 5? Did they fix the game, or is it still Vanguard: Saga of Sellouts?
I've got a couple friends that are hopping on, but if anyone wants to put forth the effort in trying to assemble a PA guild I'd be willing to hop on board.
*poke fartacus* Whats the guild?
I am a freaking nerd.
Or maybe it's all EQ style and you gotta betray.
I think its more EQ1 style (on the non-pvp servers). You are KOS to the NPCs for those villages (although most of them I can be fixed with faction grinding) but you need to be high enough level to get out and travel to the other continents. Someone correct me if I am misunderstanding this.
I am a freaking nerd.
It's called War Force. My character name is Galon, send me a /tell and you'll get an invite if one of the guild officers is on.
I'm sure everyone can team up, but it'll be rather difficult if you choose a race that starts on a different continent. I'm on Thestra, and I think Locke is too.
I am, although I'm a human because the wolf guys can't be bards. Character name is Weerean.
I am a freaking nerd.
I am a freaking nerd.
How does this game relate to those who feel they've moved past the play level of WoW that want something both rewarding and new in an MMORPG experience?
I'm quite curious about this game, but i just haven't been able to find the kind of information i want about it. Thanks for any help or advice offered.
Rather, the game began by letting anyone log in an play. But then started checking for subscriptions... and Sony's store crashed. Now, when you try to log in, it says that you don't have a subscription, prompts you to create one, and then pops up a browser window that never does anything. Can't log in to the store from station.com, either.
Way to go, Sony. Game's barely been on shelves for 12 hours, and you've already dropped the fucking ball.
EDIT: servers are back up, login and account creation is working as intended. Made a major update to the first post race section, with screenshots of racial bonuses and abilities instead of the wiki's outdated text.
I've been playing since I got home from work today without a single problem. I mean I hate SOE as much as the next guy for what they did to SWG and I almost didn't get this after I saw the SOE logo on it. However, I got it and its working and I'm having a blast with the diplomacy game.
The rewards don't seem to be functioning though, /claim says claim is not supported until release hehe.
I am a freaking nerd.
Anyways, major update to the first post.
Outside of that, I am happy that things were ripped off from WoW, so that I could get right to learning content and not control. I had a couple hours, got to level 5 and played the diplomacy training which was really neat.
So far so good.
Heh, you an' everyone else. Just in case the bug has resurfaced, there's actually three you have to beat, though the second/middle one is by far the hardest. It took me, no shit, about 50 tries to beat him. Here was my strategy:
Hand:
Flurry of Arguments
Snippet of Wisdom
Blunt Evaluation
Itemized Comparison
Enticing Whisper
Now, the order the NPC plays things in seems fixed by both the cards in your hand and the order you play them in (i.e. have ABCDE in your hand, play B, NPC willl always play G on first turn). However, it may vary from player to player, so my exact play order might not work.
On the first turn, play Snippet. He should play something to even the count to zero. Next turn, just listen. If you're lucky, he'll play something that'll give you 1 demand expression. Play Blunt Eval, then Flurry. Snippet again. By this time, hopefully, he will have played stuff that gives you reason and flattery, so you can play those two cards. You should be able to take it from there, assuming he doesn't do something unexpected.
It's not really fair that the NPC can see the cards in your hand before you play them, but usually their own decks aren't strong enough for them to take advantage of it. In the strategy above, if you play Blunt on your second turn instead of listening, the NPC will refuse to play the card which gives you 1 Demand IF you have Flurry in your hand (it requires 3 Dem). However, it will play that card if you instead have Aggressive Statement in your hand, since that only requires 2 Dem and it giving you 1 won't help you much.
Edit: This is bullshit, the game's supposed to have been live for more than 24 hours now, and their account servers are *still* down and not letting me log in.
Aside from my few hours running around playing Diplomacy, I really like Dread Knight so far. I also like Disciple, except that NO ONE on the "T" continent can be one, argh!
Tank plus DoT? Yes please.
I am a freaking nerd.
I just picked this up at lunch, and If I didn't have to work right now I'd just look this stuff up, but a couple of questions..
1. One of the best parts of FFXI for me was the skillchain system. I've heard that Vangaurd has something like that. Can anyone elaborate?
2. Any suggestions for a class that would be sought after for groups that is not a healer? I took a priest to 60 in WoW and I just don't want to be a heal bot anymore, but don't want to have a problem finding groups either. A Bard perhaps?
Thanks, see in game tonight hopefully.
The class design in Vanguard is really good. Really good. Every class brings something useful to the table. Just pick one.
If you're looking for the more utility-oriented classes, though, I'd check out psionicists, druids, shamans, and bards. Psionicists are primarily single target nukers with some crowd control and some really nice buffs such as energy regeneration and haste. Druids are general purpose offensive casters, with a few heals up their sleaves as well. Shamans are healers, but probably one of the most soloable classes in the game, and have a decent amount of offense and some amazing buffs. Bards are pretty much a melee DPS class that can trade their swords for instruments and focus on buffing if they like (no, they don't need instruments, their buffs are just more effective with them).
1. There aren't any huge chains unless you're playing a monk (and then your skills chain with each other). Other than that, certain moves will inflict certain status effects on enemies (i.e. weakened, staggered, off-balance, etc.), and certain other moves will require that an enemy have that effect before the move will work. So yes, there is some benefit to partnering with people who can get the mobs right where you need them to be. Also, there are chain and finishing moves, and these have to be done after openers. For example, I have a creeping doom DoT effect that's a finisher, and requires somebody else to use an opener/chain on a mob first before I can use it.
2. The class system is actually quite balanced. The standard tank/dps/healer/(de)buffer rule still applies, but most classes can actually do 2 or 3 of the 4 if they focus on just using specific skills. As a necro, for example, I can use my pet to tank, my DoTs and direct damage spells for DPS, and my various debuffs to weaken enemies. What this means, to answer your question, is that none of the classes have problems finding groups. If you want to avoid having to buff and heal people, I'd suggest something other than Shaman, Cleric, or Druid.