We have a new update on The Future of the Penny Arcade Forums.
[The Secret World] Come play Pretty Princess Dress Up!
Axen
My avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
My avatar is Excalibur.Yes, the sword.Registered User regular
UPDATE
Free to play (after you buy the game) without restriction or penalty. Though keeping a subscription nets you the following bonuses:
Time Accelerator (Clickable item which increases experience gain for defeating monsters by 100% for 1 hour, 16 hour cool-down – only usable by Members and Grand Masters)
$10 worth of Bonus Points (given out every month)
Item-of-the-month gift (given out every month)
10% discount to everything in the in-game store
Once in game type, /chat join PA Wang to join in on shenanigans!
Also, we are rebuilding the Cabals! Just get in the PA chat channel and ask for an invite!
New players may wish to check out this newbie friendly guide!
Also for your consideration: Sephora's Closet. It's like Vogue only with more gasmasks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WDWa9Aqu-g
The end of all things is nigh! Hallelujah!
What is this?
For those not in the know The Secret World is Funcom's latest MMO from the mind of Ragnar Tørnquist (Anarchy Online, The Longest Journey).
Set in the modern world and drawing heavily from Lovecraftian horror, urban legends, old world folk lore, ancient cults, and just about everything in the X-Files (minus aliens) The Secret World puts you in the shoes of a newly magically endowed civilian who must join one of three secret orders and do battle with nightmarish terrors to keep the rest of the world safe and sound.
Conspiracies, occult mysteries, ancient myths, and terrors from beyond the void abound!
Okay, sounds good. How does it play?
I'll just quote a snippet from Yokai (Guide writing savant)
You should note that you can have two "weapons" equipped at a time. However, you can spend your points in all of the weapon skills if you so desire. Though I wouldn't recommend it and suggest you focus on just two at first.
When you spend Ability Points in a particular skill you will unlock Active Abilities or Passive Abilities for your character. At any time your character can only have 7 Active Abilities (attacks, debuffs, buffs, heals, so on) and 7 Passive Abilities (+ATK DMG, +Heal power, so on) equipped on your hotbar. Even though your character may have 20+ Active/Passive skills unlocked. This leads to a pretty sweet "deck" building feel as all your different Active and Passive skills work really well off one another. In fact just changing your current Skill loadout can drastically change the way you play the game.
If that all seems a bit confusing to you don't worry Funcom has you covered.
In your Ability Wheel you have the option of choosing build templates designed by Funcom called "Decks". These decks cover a wide range of skill combos and will guide you on what abilities to take. As a bonus you can unlock special Outfits themed after what the name of the Deck is called for your character to wear.
This is your Ability Wheel. It is civilization.
Well that all sounds cool, but what were those factions you mentioned?
Ah yes, the Secret Societies. Three in total that you can join.
"They lost me at 'Harmony'. Harmony is terribly boring."- Mary Stuart
A whisper of a rumour of a shadow, this Asian group is the most secretive of societies. With no fixed territory or structure, the Dragon have dissolved and reformed throughout history. They believe that a closed, controlled society is a sick society. Only through collapse and rebuilding, the natural chaos of life, can the world be in harmony. Recently, they have taken root in a nameless district of Seoul, Korea. To an outsider, their strategies are incomprehensible. Fractal patterns, chaos theory, random numbers, unrelated events. The Dragon understand that there is no pattern, only acts of great change to be committed. From a whisper to an explosion, they divine that an incident here, a disappearance there, can change the course of everything; acupuncture applied to a paralysed planet. In the order of the Dragon, you are given the entire cosmos in potential. They have practiced martial and mental arts attuned to the true harmony of the world. The most dangerous and unpredictable of magics bend to the wills of those who are dangerous and unpredictable. In the approaching dark times, things will never be the same again. You are in the Dragon's element.
"The Roman Empire II: Rome Harder."- Mary Stuart
The Illuminati may have ancient roots, but they remain forever young and hungry. In every growing empire they have played for it all. And they play for keeps. Stealing the Americas from under the Templars' noses, they grew with the United States to become a shadow superpower. Their corporate headquarters, the Labyrinth, is in an undisclosed location beneath Brooklyn, New York. Acting silently, unless the occasion calls for a gunshot, the Illuminati push for a New World Order. It will be empowering and ruthless. Failure is not an option. Complacency is worse than not an option. Their arsenal is the ambition of a new media startup, the rhetoric of a congressman and a mogul's business sense. Working hard, playing hard and fighting dirty. The Illuminati's golden agents enjoy power, money and glamour – but the real power they offer you goes beyond that. Information worked from every civilian, government and clandestine organisation in the world. Advances in modern magics, in the 'New Magic', that the secret world has never seen. They can give you everything...and they can take it all away.
"The noble art of 'Gotta Catch 'em All'."- Mary Stuart
Proudly tracing their royal lineage back to Babylon, the Templars are the lions of the secret world. When they roar, everyone listens. Old Europe is theirs, and the Templars' marble hall dominates the old London borough of Ealdwic - historic capital of the secret world. It's not just a show of strength. Nothing is just for show with the Templars. At the forefront of the war against darkness, they decide for themselves what counts as darkness. Never backing down from a fight. Never forgetting a grudge. They have tradition to uphold. For thousands of years they have been single-minded in their mission to obliterate evil in all its forms. Where angels fear to tread, the Templars kick down doors. As a soldier of the Templars, you will benefit from their military might. They have hoarded vast occult libraries and the hard-won knowledge of battles throughout time. Their traditional magics, the old mysticism of sorcerers and priests, of life and death, are powerful still. And the loyalty between Templars may be old-fashioned, but it is absolute. You will not stand alone.
A pretty sweet thing about the faction system. It does not limit who you can group with. Players from all factions can group up and quest with each other. The only thing it prevents you from doing is joining the same side in PvP (duh) and stopping you from being able to join the same Cabal (Guild).
SO PICK WHICHEVER FACTION YOU LIKE THE MOST!
Wait there is PvP?
Oh right, forgot to mention that.
Don't fret if PvP isn't your thing. There are no PvP servers and there is no open PvP. PvP is strictly located in either Fight Clubs (arenas), Battlefield (think WoW), or in a Warzone (which I liken to fast paced DAoC).
Fight Clubs
Fight Clubs are one of the most basic PvP forms available in TSW. Basically, there are 3 clubs, one in each of the major cities (New York, London and Seoul). Within these areas you can play in matches setup to your liking. This means there are no guidelines you have to follow and you can have anything from a 1 v 1 to 2 v2 to even a 10 v 10 battle. Whatever you want. You can even join in Fight Clubs that are for your adversary societies to kick their asses if you like.
Battlefields
Battlefields are one of the 2 PvP types that have a goal. In these PvP matches your end goal is to earn the right to control ancient relics and locations across the TSW world. There are two battlefields:
El Dorado
Stonehenge
Each location has a different set of rules that apply. In El Dorado, for example, the max amount of players allowed on field is 10 whereas in Stonehenge the max is only 5. There are also different objectives for each one.
In El Dorado you are fighting to gain the possession of 4 legendary relics. The longer you have possession of a relic, the more points your team receives. The game is over if a faction has possession of all relics for 2 minutes. In order to get a relic you have to either pick it up from the ground or kill the opponent carrying it. Placing a relic on the ground will give your teammates within close proximity special benefits.
In Stonehenge you are fighting to rule the actual Stonehenge location. In order to earn points for your faction you must hold control over the Stonehenge area. You can also get points by killing off your opponents. The faction with the most points at the end of the round wins. Or which ever faction reaches the score cap first.
The terrain of either battlefield is quite unique. There are high spots, low areas, coverings, etc. You can literally use any type of build – ranged, melee, dps, support – and have a solid run if your faction works well as a team. It is recommended, however, that you have a moderate rank, mid to high damage attacks and good quality level gear to ensure victory.
Warzones
Warzones are insanely unique and challenging. They are open PvP playing fields that can be joined at any time, all day long. In these areas you and your faction will fight for possession of strategic locations. Currently the only Warzone available is one called The Fusang Project. In order to succeed you will have to seize control of 4 different buildings.
To seize control you must first get through a series of defense mechanisms located outside of the facilities. Then, once you get into the actual facility, you have to fight an enemy known as the Anima Guardian. He is tough and doesn’t want you in the facility. He is also indestructible. But, after taking enough damage, he will cease attacking and you will earn control over the building. Once you do this the Guardian will fight for you, not against you.
On top of having to do all this you have hundredss of other players roaming about the Warzone that can attack you at any point. All 3 societies are allowed a set number of players and they will all work together to gain control of the facilities. It makes for a very interesting, addictive and fun PvP match.
When in a PvP match you wear a uniform to represent your faction. There are 3 different uniforms to pick from which reflect what your build is (DPS, Healer, Tank).
You can gain AP/SP while PvPing and should gain it at about the same rate as a PvEer.
Okay cool, what about quests?
There are Story Missions, Main Missions, Sabotage Missions, Investigation Missions, Dungeon Missions, and Side Missions. You are only allowed to have 1 Story Mission, 1 Main, Sabotage, or Investigation Mission, 1 Dungeon Mission, and 3 side Missions at any given time (for a grand total of 6 active missions allowed). Unlike other MMOs you do not go to a "quest hub" to stock up on quests. No sir! Here the missions are more scattered. Exploring the zone will reward you with new quests that you would not have known were even there. However, each quest is usually designed in such a way that where ever it ends, usually within at least 200m there is something to start a new quest.
Story Missions (blue)
Story Missions deal with the main plot of the Region and your character. Story missions have tons of voice acting and cut scenes. The difficulty of each story mission can range from super easy to "RAGGHAHAJHHAjfkjkdfgjdfklj" at times.
Main Missions (red)
These missions are like bite sized Story Missions that usually deal with what is going on in the immediate area. Quite often you may uncover just that much more of the mystery of the region. Main Missions can be fairly long at times, but will be your mainstay mission type throughout the game.
Sabotage Missions (yellow)
Sabotage Missions take up the same slot as a Main Mission (and Investigation Mission) so you can only be doing one or the other at any given time. These missions require a but of "stealth" and patience as they normally have you breaking in to a facility, navigating boobytraps, trying to find your way through a maze, and so on. Normally these are not too heavy on the fighting, but expect at least some sort of "boss" at the end.
Investigation Missions (green)
Ah, the famous Investigation Missions! The pride and joy of Funcom and TSW! These missions play out pretty much no different then the stuff you find in point-and-click adventure games. In fact the people who made The Secret World also made The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, so they have a fair amount of experience when it comes to these kinds of things. Don't expect to be able to knock out an Investigation Mission as fast as the others. Oh no. In fact it might not be a bad idea to set some time away to do these. Depending on how clever you are these missions may last you an hour or a day (or more!).
Dungeon Missions (purple)
Dungeon Missions are the mission for a Dungeon. Each dungeon has a Mission tied to it, but you can only have one Dungeon Mission active at a time.
Side Missions (teal? I guess, I don't really know colors)
Side missions can range from "take this to here" or "find and kill this" or "solve a short puzzle". They really are quite varied, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are pretty short and easy to complete. You can have three of these active at any time. Protip: Side Missions are literally scattered freaking everywhere! No other quest types rewards exploration as much as Side Missions.
Apart from Side Missions all other mission types are delivered through an often great, fully voiced cut scene. I dare you to not fall in love with the NPCs of The Secret World! It can't be done!
Well, what else should I know?
Probably a lot, which is why I will post some useful links and helpful info!
PAers play on the Arcadia (RP) Dimension.
We also have three Cabals (Guilds). One for each faction;
(Update: Slowly, but surely, these Cabals are being given new life!)
The Six Mouths, for the Dragon.
We Are Nice Guys, for the Illuminati.
The Last Christmas, for the Templars.
We also have a custom chat channel so all of us can talk with each other.
/chat join PA Wang (remember you need to do this every time you log in!)
Just hop in to the chat channel and ask for an invite to your faction's Cabal. Should be someone who can hook you up.
All factions are really for is determining what side you are on if you wish to PvP, otherwise you can group/quest with people from any faction no fuss no muss. So feel free to pick whichever faction you like the most and rest assured that you will still be able to adventure with your fellow PAers!
Useful Links
Deck Builder. Easy way to put together decks!
Yokai's guide to build mechanics and build philosophy. While it may be a bit outdated now I still STRONGLY encourage everyone to READ IT!
A detailed guide to crafting!
A detailed list of all the crafting patterns!
The Secret World Wiki
Character Viewer
SecretUI mod hosting site From the guys who brought you (insert MMO)UI addon websites bring us one for TSW.
Illuminati Deck Outfits
Templer Deck Outfits
Dragon Deck Outfits
Creating Auto Login for Custom Chat Channels
1) Find your Secret World install directory, this is typically “C:\Program Files\Funcom\The Secret World”.
2) If you do not already have a scripts directory, create one aka “Scripts”.
3) Inside the “C:\Program Files\Funcom\The Secret World\Scripts” directory, create two new files: “auto_login” and “auto_teleport” with no extensions.
4) Edit each file so that it contains the following line:
/chat join PA Wang
5) Rejoice!
Mods
Topbar Information Overload Adds a number of handy things to the top bar.
No Intro Movies. It gets you to the login screen that much faster. Not super important, but I know for sure there are people who would find this useful.
Bag Sort. Sweet merciful Mother! Thank you baby Jesus!
They Come and They Go. This mods puts a message on screen telling you when Friends or Cabal members come online.
Available Missions. This mod sounds kind of neat. As you roam through the world, nearby missions that you have not yet completed will automatically be added to this section so that you will not forget to complete them. They will be removed once they are completed.
Rangekino. This mod simply tells you the distance to your target. Kind of nice to have.
Catagorical's Enhanced TeamGUI. Switches up the UI and makes it more easy to use.
So what is new since launch?
A very sexy question. In short, a bunch! Here are links to the last few major content additions.
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
tl;dr version;
New York Raid is live.
Barbers/Plastic surgeon added.
Auxillary weapons added (Rocket Launcher, Chainsaw, Quantum Brace).
Plethora of new missions, including several hair pulling Investigation missions.
Fuck-ton of bug fixes.
Auction houses.
Metric ton of new clothing added to both in-game stores and cash-shop.
PvP changes too numerous to mention.
Added cross-faction "Starter Decks" to help new players plot a solid build.
And uh, I dunno, a bunch of things... look it is a really long list to read through. Cut me some slack.
Free to play (after you buy the game) without restriction or penalty. Though keeping a subscription nets you the following bonuses:
Time Accelerator (Clickable item which increases experience gain for defeating monsters by 100% for 1 hour, 16 hour cool-down – only usable by Members and Grand Masters)
$10 worth of Bonus Points (given out every month)
Item-of-the-month gift (given out every month)
10% discount to everything in the in-game store
Once in game type, /chat join PA Wang to join in on shenanigans!
Also, we are rebuilding the Cabals! Just get in the PA chat channel and ask for an invite!
New players may wish to check out this newbie friendly guide!
Also for your consideration: Sephora's Closet. It's like Vogue only with more gasmasks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WDWa9Aqu-gThe end of all things is nigh! Hallelujah!
What is this?
For those not in the know The Secret World is Funcom's latest MMO from the mind of Ragnar Tørnquist (Anarchy Online, The Longest Journey).
Set in the modern world and drawing heavily from Lovecraftian horror, urban legends, old world folk lore, ancient cults, and just about everything in the X-Files (minus aliens) The Secret World puts you in the shoes of a newly magically endowed civilian who must join one of three secret orders and do battle with nightmarish terrors to keep the rest of the world safe and sound.
Conspiracies, occult mysteries, ancient myths, and terrors from beyond the void abound!
Okay, sounds good. How does it play?
I'll just quote a snippet from Yokai (Guide writing savant)
Combat and build mechanics are the deepest, most complex I've ever seen. It will take a while to wrap your head around it. At first, it seems simplistic. Until you play it for a while and get into the second zone and realize: "holy shit—there are so many subtle decisions to make in every fight". I am never bored in combat, unlike in so many MMOs. It is not a tab-target, stand there and bang out the same skill rotation every time type of game. You are *constantly* having to move, maintain environmental awareness and shift between melee and range, and adaptively modify your skill combinations. DEEP. If you played the first two Open Beta weekends, you got only a very small taste of this complexity in the first zone (Kingsmouth). If in the 3rd and 4th beta weekends you make it to the second zone (Savage Coast), you will only then get to see this complexity in action.
No classes. No levels. You can roll up just one character and do it all. Everything. There's no "skill resets" though, so you might need to experiment a bit before you find the right weapon combos and initial 7/7 build that you feel confident playing well. The game itself will test you at every step and show you if you haven't yet found a strong enough "deck" to push further into the content. It does this through various solo instances where you must fight alone, both in some standalone action missions and in some of the main storyline missions. You might do some of these for the first time and think "OMG this is totally impossible. There is no way I can beat this."
But eventually you'll figure out why that mission seems so impossible, and you'll try something different (maybe a different build or mixture of gear, maybe just a different approach to the combat itself, maybe just realizing that more stealth and less combat is the best plan). Regardless, nothing is wasted and sooner or later you can make use of all the skills and abilities you've unlocked so far, even if the main thing you learned from beating such tough "gatekeeper" missions is that you had a terrible build beforehand.
And you cannot get stuck playing only one build and one playstyle. The game will force you to adapt to different situations and swap your builds (decks) and playstyle very often to deal with specific mob types, bosses, and general encounters. For example, you'll eventually encounter foes (even normal mobs) that might literally be impossible to beat with the one general-purpose build you've been using so far. You'll need to step out of your comfort zone and try different weapons and abilities and entire build focused to beat them.
The end game starts the moment you step into the first zone. Literally. The entire game is end game. There is zero "rush to max level" drive in this game. There is zero sense of "the fun starts later". If you are rushing to max level, you are missing the entire point of this game's design. There is no hurry to get anywhere, or to leave the starter zone (Kingsmouth) as soon as possible. Instead, you are far better served to find and beat every single mission you can find in a zone at least once before moving on. To explore every zone's nooks and crannies to acquire every possible lore item hidden around.
There is both a vertical progression and horizontal progression in this game (similar in respects to Guild Wars 1), and like Guild Wars 1, the vertical progression is steep at first and over quickly. Again, this means there is no "rush to get anywhere". Max strength comes quickly and organically while you are just enjoying the game.
You should note that you can have two "weapons" equipped at a time. However, you can spend your points in all of the weapon skills if you so desire. Though I wouldn't recommend it and suggest you focus on just two at first.
When you spend Ability Points in a particular skill you will unlock Active Abilities or Passive Abilities for your character. At any time your character can only have 7 Active Abilities (attacks, debuffs, buffs, heals, so on) and 7 Passive Abilities (+ATK DMG, +Heal power, so on) equipped on your hotbar. Even though your character may have 20+ Active/Passive skills unlocked. This leads to a pretty sweet "deck" building feel as all your different Active and Passive skills work really well off one another. In fact just changing your current Skill loadout can drastically change the way you play the game.
If that all seems a bit confusing to you don't worry Funcom has you covered.
In your Ability Wheel you have the option of choosing build templates designed by Funcom called "Decks". These decks cover a wide range of skill combos and will guide you on what abilities to take. As a bonus you can unlock special Outfits themed after what the name of the Deck is called for your character to wear.
This is your Ability Wheel. It is civilization.
Well that all sounds cool, but what were those factions you mentioned?
Ah yes, the Secret Societies. Three in total that you can join.
"They lost me at 'Harmony'. Harmony is terribly boring."- Mary Stuart
A whisper of a rumour of a shadow, this Asian group is the most secretive of societies. With no fixed territory or structure, the Dragon have dissolved and reformed throughout history. They believe that a closed, controlled society is a sick society. Only through collapse and rebuilding, the natural chaos of life, can the world be in harmony. Recently, they have taken root in a nameless district of Seoul, Korea. To an outsider, their strategies are incomprehensible. Fractal patterns, chaos theory, random numbers, unrelated events. The Dragon understand that there is no pattern, only acts of great change to be committed. From a whisper to an explosion, they divine that an incident here, a disappearance there, can change the course of everything; acupuncture applied to a paralysed planet. In the order of the Dragon, you are given the entire cosmos in potential. They have practiced martial and mental arts attuned to the true harmony of the world. The most dangerous and unpredictable of magics bend to the wills of those who are dangerous and unpredictable. In the approaching dark times, things will never be the same again. You are in the Dragon's element.
"The Roman Empire II: Rome Harder."- Mary Stuart
The Illuminati may have ancient roots, but they remain forever young and hungry. In every growing empire they have played for it all. And they play for keeps. Stealing the Americas from under the Templars' noses, they grew with the United States to become a shadow superpower. Their corporate headquarters, the Labyrinth, is in an undisclosed location beneath Brooklyn, New York. Acting silently, unless the occasion calls for a gunshot, the Illuminati push for a New World Order. It will be empowering and ruthless. Failure is not an option. Complacency is worse than not an option. Their arsenal is the ambition of a new media startup, the rhetoric of a congressman and a mogul's business sense. Working hard, playing hard and fighting dirty. The Illuminati's golden agents enjoy power, money and glamour – but the real power they offer you goes beyond that. Information worked from every civilian, government and clandestine organisation in the world. Advances in modern magics, in the 'New Magic', that the secret world has never seen. They can give you everything...and they can take it all away.
"The noble art of 'Gotta Catch 'em All'."- Mary Stuart
Proudly tracing their royal lineage back to Babylon, the Templars are the lions of the secret world. When they roar, everyone listens. Old Europe is theirs, and the Templars' marble hall dominates the old London borough of Ealdwic - historic capital of the secret world. It's not just a show of strength. Nothing is just for show with the Templars. At the forefront of the war against darkness, they decide for themselves what counts as darkness. Never backing down from a fight. Never forgetting a grudge. They have tradition to uphold. For thousands of years they have been single-minded in their mission to obliterate evil in all its forms. Where angels fear to tread, the Templars kick down doors. As a soldier of the Templars, you will benefit from their military might. They have hoarded vast occult libraries and the hard-won knowledge of battles throughout time. Their traditional magics, the old mysticism of sorcerers and priests, of life and death, are powerful still. And the loyalty between Templars may be old-fashioned, but it is absolute. You will not stand alone.
A pretty sweet thing about the faction system. It does not limit who you can group with. Players from all factions can group up and quest with each other. The only thing it prevents you from doing is joining the same side in PvP (duh) and stopping you from being able to join the same Cabal (Guild).
SO PICK WHICHEVER FACTION YOU LIKE THE MOST!
Wait there is PvP?
Oh right, forgot to mention that.
Don't fret if PvP isn't your thing. There are no PvP servers and there is no open PvP. PvP is strictly located in either Fight Clubs (arenas), Battlefield (think WoW), or in a Warzone (which I liken to fast paced DAoC).
Fight Clubs
Fight Clubs are one of the most basic PvP forms available in TSW. Basically, there are 3 clubs, one in each of the major cities (New York, London and Seoul). Within these areas you can play in matches setup to your liking. This means there are no guidelines you have to follow and you can have anything from a 1 v 1 to 2 v2 to even a 10 v 10 battle. Whatever you want. You can even join in Fight Clubs that are for your adversary societies to kick their asses if you like.
Battlefields
Battlefields are one of the 2 PvP types that have a goal. In these PvP matches your end goal is to earn the right to control ancient relics and locations across the TSW world. There are two battlefields:
El Dorado
Stonehenge
Each location has a different set of rules that apply. In El Dorado, for example, the max amount of players allowed on field is 10 whereas in Stonehenge the max is only 5. There are also different objectives for each one.
In El Dorado you are fighting to gain the possession of 4 legendary relics. The longer you have possession of a relic, the more points your team receives. The game is over if a faction has possession of all relics for 2 minutes. In order to get a relic you have to either pick it up from the ground or kill the opponent carrying it. Placing a relic on the ground will give your teammates within close proximity special benefits.
In Stonehenge you are fighting to rule the actual Stonehenge location. In order to earn points for your faction you must hold control over the Stonehenge area. You can also get points by killing off your opponents. The faction with the most points at the end of the round wins. Or which ever faction reaches the score cap first.
The terrain of either battlefield is quite unique. There are high spots, low areas, coverings, etc. You can literally use any type of build – ranged, melee, dps, support – and have a solid run if your faction works well as a team. It is recommended, however, that you have a moderate rank, mid to high damage attacks and good quality level gear to ensure victory.
Warzones
Warzones are insanely unique and challenging. They are open PvP playing fields that can be joined at any time, all day long. In these areas you and your faction will fight for possession of strategic locations. Currently the only Warzone available is one called The Fusang Project. In order to succeed you will have to seize control of 4 different buildings.
To seize control you must first get through a series of defense mechanisms located outside of the facilities. Then, once you get into the actual facility, you have to fight an enemy known as the Anima Guardian. He is tough and doesn’t want you in the facility. He is also indestructible. But, after taking enough damage, he will cease attacking and you will earn control over the building. Once you do this the Guardian will fight for you, not against you.
On top of having to do all this you have hundredss of other players roaming about the Warzone that can attack you at any point. All 3 societies are allowed a set number of players and they will all work together to gain control of the facilities. It makes for a very interesting, addictive and fun PvP match.
When in a PvP match you wear a uniform to represent your faction. There are 3 different uniforms to pick from which reflect what your build is (DPS, Healer, Tank).
You can gain AP/SP while PvPing and should gain it at about the same rate as a PvEer.
Okay cool, what about quests?
There are Story Missions, Main Missions, Sabotage Missions, Investigation Missions, Dungeon Missions, and Side Missions. You are only allowed to have 1 Story Mission, 1 Main, Sabotage, or Investigation Mission, 1 Dungeon Mission, and 3 side Missions at any given time (for a grand total of 6 active missions allowed). Unlike other MMOs you do not go to a "quest hub" to stock up on quests. No sir! Here the missions are more scattered. Exploring the zone will reward you with new quests that you would not have known were even there. However, each quest is usually designed in such a way that where ever it ends, usually within at least 200m there is something to start a new quest.
Story Missions (blue)
Story Missions deal with the main plot of the Region and your character. Story missions have tons of voice acting and cut scenes. The difficulty of each story mission can range from super easy to "RAGGHAHAJHHAjfkjkdfgjdfklj" at times.
Main Missions (red)
These missions are like bite sized Story Missions that usually deal with what is going on in the immediate area. Quite often you may uncover just that much more of the mystery of the region. Main Missions can be fairly long at times, but will be your mainstay mission type throughout the game.
Sabotage Missions (yellow)
Sabotage Missions take up the same slot as a Main Mission (and Investigation Mission) so you can only be doing one or the other at any given time. These missions require a but of "stealth" and patience as they normally have you breaking in to a facility, navigating boobytraps, trying to find your way through a maze, and so on. Normally these are not too heavy on the fighting, but expect at least some sort of "boss" at the end.
Investigation Missions (green)
Ah, the famous Investigation Missions! The pride and joy of Funcom and TSW! These missions play out pretty much no different then the stuff you find in point-and-click adventure games. In fact the people who made The Secret World also made The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, so they have a fair amount of experience when it comes to these kinds of things. Don't expect to be able to knock out an Investigation Mission as fast as the others. Oh no. In fact it might not be a bad idea to set some time away to do these. Depending on how clever you are these missions may last you an hour or a day (or more!).
Dungeon Missions (purple)
Dungeon Missions are the mission for a Dungeon. Each dungeon has a Mission tied to it, but you can only have one Dungeon Mission active at a time.
Side Missions (teal? I guess, I don't really know colors)
Side missions can range from "take this to here" or "find and kill this" or "solve a short puzzle". They really are quite varied, but the one thing they all have in common is that they are pretty short and easy to complete. You can have three of these active at any time. Protip: Side Missions are literally scattered freaking everywhere! No other quest types rewards exploration as much as Side Missions.
Apart from Side Missions all other mission types are delivered through an often great, fully voiced cut scene. I dare you to not fall in love with the NPCs of The Secret World! It can't be done!
Well, what else should I know?
Probably a lot, which is why I will post some useful links and helpful info!
PAers play on the Arcadia (RP) Dimension.
We also have three Cabals (Guilds). One for each faction;
(Update: Slowly, but surely, these Cabals are being given new life!)
The Six Mouths, for the Dragon.
We Are Nice Guys, for the Illuminati.
The Last Christmas, for the Templars.
We also have a custom chat channel so all of us can talk with each other.
/chat join PA Wang (remember you need to do this every time you log in!)
Just hop in to the chat channel and ask for an invite to your faction's Cabal. Should be someone who can hook you up.
All factions are really for is determining what side you are on if you wish to PvP, otherwise you can group/quest with people from any faction no fuss no muss. So feel free to pick whichever faction you like the most and rest assured that you will still be able to adventure with your fellow PAers!
Useful Links
Deck Builder. Easy way to put together decks!
Yokai's guide to build mechanics and build philosophy. While it may be a bit outdated now I still STRONGLY encourage everyone to READ IT!
A detailed guide to crafting!
A detailed list of all the crafting patterns!
The Secret World Wiki
Character Viewer
SecretUI mod hosting site From the guys who brought you (insert MMO)UI addon websites bring us one for TSW.
Illuminati Deck Outfits
Templer Deck Outfits
Dragon Deck Outfits
Creating Auto Login for Custom Chat Channels
1) Find your Secret World install directory, this is typically “C:\Program Files\Funcom\The Secret World”.
2) If you do not already have a scripts directory, create one aka “Scripts”.
3) Inside the “C:\Program Files\Funcom\The Secret World\Scripts” directory, create two new files: “auto_login” and “auto_teleport” with no extensions.
4) Edit each file so that it contains the following line:
/chat join PA Wang
5) Rejoice!
Mods
Topbar Information Overload Adds a number of handy things to the top bar.
No Intro Movies. It gets you to the login screen that much faster. Not super important, but I know for sure there are people who would find this useful.
Bag Sort. Sweet merciful Mother! Thank you baby Jesus!
They Come and They Go. This mods puts a message on screen telling you when Friends or Cabal members come online.
Available Missions. This mod sounds kind of neat. As you roam through the world, nearby missions that you have not yet completed will automatically be added to this section so that you will not forget to complete them. They will be removed once they are completed.
Rangekino. This mod simply tells you the distance to your target. Kind of nice to have.
Catagorical's Enhanced TeamGUI. Switches up the UI and makes it more easy to use.
So what is new since launch?
A very sexy question. In short, a bunch! Here are links to the last few major content additions.
Issue #1
Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
tl;dr version;
New York Raid is live.
Barbers/Plastic surgeon added.
Auxillary weapons added (Rocket Launcher, Chainsaw, Quantum Brace).
Plethora of new missions, including several hair pulling Investigation missions.
Fuck-ton of bug fixes.
Auction houses.
Metric ton of new clothing added to both in-game stores and cash-shop.
PvP changes too numerous to mention.
Added cross-faction "Starter Decks" to help new players plot a solid build.
And uh, I dunno, a bunch of things... look it is a really long list to read through. Cut me some slack.
A Capellan's favorite sheath for any blade is your back.
Axen on
+3
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Oh, and it does not deal with Nightmare modes and Raids. Just normal quest progressions.
Solo
Any weapon can do this and it is, IMHO, the easiest sort of Deck to create. Your actual Deck may vary a bit depending on your particular play style. Most Solo builds are generally DPS heavy, with a small helping of Tanking and Heals. However, that is not to say that you cannot have a Healing or Tanking focused Solo build. Those work fine too, but I think it is fair to say that most Soloers are DPS reliant.
Some examples are;
Elemental and Assault Rifle DPS Build
Chaos and Assault Rifle Survival Build
Hammer and Chaos Impair Build
Fist and Blade AoE Build
Tank
Blade, Chaos, and Hammers are the go to weapons for a tanking build. For anyone wanting to go real indepth in to tanking you will need to spend a bit more AP then your average soloer or DPSer. The upside is people always need Tanks for dungeons or Lairs and with most people having a DPS focused character, Tanks are often in short supply. The general opinion seems to be to stack Evade until you hit diminishing returns. The reason behind this line of thought is that it is better to not be hit at all then to be hit and mitigate some damage. Still, probably best not to forget the other defensive stats if you ask me.
Some examples are;
Blade and Chaos Offensive Tank
Blade and Elemental Glance Tank
Blood and Chaos Heal Tank
Hammer and Chaos Agro/Mitigation Tank
DPS
Much like the Solo builds minus some of the survivability (since you have a tank and a healer with you). Pretty much any weapon will do though some people may say otherwise, but I disagree. IMHO DPS builds have the largest amount of variation. Some builds can be pretty straight forward while other DPS builds are finely tuned machines (and a sight to behold in action!). Downside to being a DPSer for dungeons is that everyone and their mother is DPS. Even though your DPS build may be a fantastically crafted deck that borders on Art, there is really no way for a group looking for members to know that. All they know is that you are 1 of a million billion DPSers that they can pick from.
Some examples are;
Hammer and Shotgun AoE/Weakness Build
Assault Rifle and Shotgun Single Target Build
Blood and Elemental Burst DPS Build
Assault Rifle and Elemental All Around DPS Build
Healer
Fists, Assault Rifles, and Blood are the order of the day here. While many people may have access to a few healing abilities (usually for Soloing) few people go that extra mile to be a righteously kickass Healer. So, like Tanks, you'll probably spend 0.32 seconds looking for a group. Healing actually takes on many forms in TSW. From the "leech" healing ARs (damage you do is converted to health for your defensive target), to Blood Magic's shields (which usually heals for a small amount as well as places a damage absorb shield on your defensive target), to Fists that revel in healing over time. The one drawback is that unlike most of the other builds you are required to have one of these three weapons to fill this role. As such Healer decks probably have the least amount of variation (not that there isn't any!).
Some examples are;
Fist and Pistol Main Healer Build
Fist and Blood Burst Healer Build
Fist and Assault Rifle Healer Build
Assault Rifle and Blood Healer Build
Please note that the examples I listed are literally just examples and not the end all be all builds. I just wanted to show how varied the skills and play style of a particular role could be.
edit- and one extra random thing:
If the Tank dies, it is the Healer's fault.
If the Healer dies, it is the Tank's fault.
If the DPS dies, it is their own fault.
edit 2-
Bonus Deck Role!
Duo
While not an actual role, if you do routinely play with a partner you two should consider putting your heads together and design each of your builds to work off one another. In effect, instead of synergizing 7/7 abilities you will be synergizing 14/14. Think of the possibilities! Now granted, you and your partner can easily, easily go through the game with each of you using a Solo build, but the level of power and destruction that you could bring with two people working in sync would be breath taking.
Double Bonus! Since I seem to be in a rather jovial mode today:
TSW Fanart, actually all done by the same person who is really quite good.
@Kay wrote up what I feel is a fairly honest post on TSW and what to expect.
I will probably still be playing, but at a much reduced amount. I have been cram-playing this past week because I am beginning a hell semester of grad school (four courses at the graduate level, thesis proposal due, two manuscripts to work on, and have to get all my samples ready to go to japan in june, and each one takes two weeks or so if nothing fucks up).
edit: damn arch, good luck with all that!
I am letting aesthetics drive me to dumping like 750 AP in a build that I don't really like the look of mechanically.
I needs my hoodie ninjas
chaos/fist should work, especially if you focus on burst attacks.
Only purple. Feels good man.
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
HA!
I am currently doing the same thing. I was rolling all AR all the time, but then i was informed that only have one resource was going to seriously impact my ability to play after Soloman Island, and since I don't like the look of swinging around the weapons every time, I am completely redoing my character as Ele/Blood. So many SP and AP wasted.
Do you have a purple tank, DPS, and healing set?
If so, the next thing is to replace all those poopy tens with 10.1 and better. I never got to the point of all 10.4s before I got tired of pugs, maybe if there are enough PAers around I'll do that soon.
Working on it though. Then the .1-.4 climb begins.
White FC: 0819 3350 1787
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
Dude just go AR/Elemental
It works pretty well, from what I understand. The two inner circles both play off of Hindering the target- combust gets cheaper, and when you apply hindered your next attack can't be evaded.
Build resources with Trigger happy, Hinder with either molten earth or slow the advance (both of which proc afflicted if you passive it correctly) then toss out combusts which won't miss after you hinder, and auto-crit if you put up the self-buff from elemental.
Plus you get a bit of heals from AR. And you don't swing a weapon around, and just at most have a little sparkplug doll or something on your hip.
Like this
This is obviously a starting point, but would work well. You could also swap out Combust for Thor's Hammer, which looks AMAZING and does HUGE damage.
You literally summon a giant hammer from the sky and crash it on someone.
And this is all from the first two rings of each.
You could also add a bit of support for yourself with this.
You would actually build NO elemental resources, but that doesn't matter. Every 45 seconds you get a free, insta-crit thor's hammer that can't miss if you hinder the target first. Hindering also puts a DoT on your target, and you get a grenade resource consumer in the meantime.
If I could make the elemental attacks while still holding the AR I would totally do that. But since I can't I can just switch it up to Elemental/Blood which is just a change in how my character stands.
Plus it gives me more reason to play pretty princess dress up, as now the outfit doesn't really need to be functional because Magic.
Choosing a nickname
you are not a hoodie ninja
The Charge ability (heal) cannot be self-targeted. It wasn't that clear to me when reading the description, but oh well- I'm using it for healing in dungeons anyway. /shrug
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak
I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
They all can be. Quantum Brace has one heal ability.
It is one too many!
For real though. If I had read the abilities I would have gone rocket because of rocket jumping.
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable? ~ Mario Novak
I never fear death or dyin', I only fear never trying.
Once I have Assassin, I'm getting Ninja. Or working on my Fistol build to smooth it out some.
@Arch - It's the highest number of available Impairs on a melee build (three, I think) and tanks well, mainly because Chaos has two solid 'oh shit' defensive clicks if you need them.. You can throw in some Blade passives if you want for passive self heals, though it's not needed with a dedicated healer.
Also, Chaos/Fist is the most survivable build I've played solo. Ask @Makidai, he tried my solo build recently!
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
It's not the most survivable build I've seen. My solo build, before I quit, was basically just my dungeon DPS build. I had 1970 hp and no defence or healing, and I was soloing carpathian missions without dying because I was killing everything before it could hurt me.
Because seriously, I don't think that counts.
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
But seriously, it was so much fun, because everything happened so fast, but if I messed up I was entirely fragile and could easily die. A glass cannon build that let me solo lairs, yummy.
I've linked it a few times! Here it is again. (It's my current build showing on Chronicle.)
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
This is mainly because there's no Weaken On Burst passive, I spent a while looking. That's basically a self-buff and constant self-heal deck. Run Rampant (builder) boosts your evasion whenever it's used, any burst attack (and it is all bursts) gives you Minor Ward, and any burst attack procs Healing Sparks which can proc Empowerment and you gear for Crit Rating. Surgical Steel is a decent heal consumer if you need it, Illusion gives you breathing space if you need it (and I rarely do), Gore is there because none of the other elites really just offer straight up damage, and the mobility between groups is nice. And Muzzle is in there because it's just the best Impair in the game, hands down. Cooldown click, twice the range of Anaesthesia (unless they changed it) and the same damage as other Impairs. You could use Go for the Throat instead of Gore, but I like leaping into a new group and going to town.
Cutting Thoughts can be switched out for just about anything else, it's just in there 'cause I liked the graphic and the extra damage was nice.
As for Hit Rating versus Major Hit Chance - would Hysteria (Hit Rating any time you use a Frenzy attack) or Fever Pitch (10% chance of gaining 'Major Hit Chance' when attacking a weakened target, which reduces Glance chance by 50% for 12 seconds) be better in an Escalation/Weakness deck?
3DS FCode: 1993-7512-8991
And @Kay- I am trying a little different build atm. I changed Call Your Shots with Ferocity, and Cutting Thoughts with One in the Chamber. My current gear lets me crit rather regularly, so I think OitC > CT for me.
If you really want a Hit rate buffer, try Sharp Shooter.
Also, thanks for the link, it is a fairly awesome build. Let me beat The Wild Hunt solo.
Got QL4 major talismans. Just need to either craft or buy some QL 4 rings and bracers.
Then I'll probably try to force myself into Savage coast because F them.
I find it kind of dumb that quest difficulty (and XP) scales off of SP spent honestly. Why can't they do it off of the SP spent on weapons and talismans currently equipped. Would make a tad more sense and not punish someone for trying to take advantage of an advertised feature of the game (that there are no classes).
EDIT: I guess soldier would work as well but it looks dull as compared to Paladin. Is it really that hard to make an MMO where melee DPS aren't gimped?