Cleric On Line

2.7 Maces

2011-10-06T14:18:00.001+02:00

I am still ~~a bit~~ confused on the new maces arriving in patch 2.7. Here is the info i have discovered so far:

There will be a new level 55 Eternal Mace.
It will be a PvP mace, ie it will have PvP Attack.
You will buy it from Crucible, using a combination of both kinds of crucible insignias (the one we already have, and the pvp crucible insignias which will be added in 2.7).

The source of the info above is:

1. The korean site, translated to english with google.
2. 9kohorta.com which presents only the bonus and conditioning effects.

google translation - dont expect much

Interesting to note:

Mace has casting speed (8%), instead of attack speed (19%) that existing weapons have.
The M.Boost is very low (700), when Stormwing's and Archon BG's base is 820.

All bonuses have been added, including conditioning level 2.

Best PvP Gloves

2011-10-03T14:27:00.002+02:00

I got gloves, i got gloves, i got gloooooooooooves! PvP gloves! Awesome gloves! They rulez!

It took me lots of days to make the right choice. Here are the PvP options for a 55lvl cleric:

Now guess! Which one did I get?

Fossils T-Shirt

2011-09-15T18:56:00.001+02:00

Update: As the Anonymous (silent, kind, resourceful, exquisite, enchanting, gentle) friend remarked, you can also get Animal Fossils by trading in Plant Fossils. So you don't really need so many runs. Thanx for the input, Anonymous <3

I've just run into this guy!! Today - and let me remind you that today is (only) the 15th of September!

This t-shirt, also known as "I Can Hear Only U", is one of the Fossil Event award.

In order to get this t-shirt, you need 20 Animal Fossils.
Each group gets 1 Animal Fossil from the last boss of each instance.

And now for the maths:

Assuming that this guy is as lucky as anyone, he will get one Animal Fossil, every six runs.
Thus in order to get 20 of those, you need 120 runs.
Allowing for Eso, which can be 3maned, we can even be optimistic and deduce that you need 100 runs to gather 20 fossils.

The event has started on September the 7th, ie 8 days ago. Even if we assume that on the 14th, because of the maintenance, you can do the same run twice, it is still difficult to understand..

HOW ON EARTH DID HE MANAGE TO DO 100 INSTANCES IN 8 DAYS??

Online life attacks real life

2011-09-06T10:09:00.000+02:00

So much on-line drama, sneaking into real life. And that makes me stressed in both my lives! Maybe all three of them (well we have real life, virtual life A' and virtual life B' - so three lives in total).

A co-player summarised it well:

"Less QQ - More pew pew"

In Wings Over Atreia there is a related article published, analysing the different kinds of emotional battles arising everyday in our online world. There is of course the obvious breaking up stuff, but my favourite one is the Custody Battle!

"Custody battle: So when a Templar and a Cleric part gaming ways, who gets to keep the Chanter?"

Corollary: When a Templar and a Cleric part gaming ways, how should they treat the kid? And how will they protect him from the awkward position of having to choose one over the other?

The past days I am really sad and anxious because a game-friend, who has become a real-life friend even if we have never met face to face, is in hospital after being hit by a car. Or so we are told. By a cousin who logs into his skype account. We called the hospital, he is not there. We searched the local news, he is not there. Where is he?

Money for nothin'

2011-09-01T12:08:00.000+02:00

There has recently been a lot of discussion on the new item which will be featured at the NCSoft store:

Manastone supplements which guarantee 100% socketing rate. Bought with real life money ($$$).

According to Nyx's announcement:

Yes, it is true that we will be running a promotion in late September to sell the supplements [..] offered on a limited time basis, and then we will evaluate whether they are items that we want to offer permanently based on player feedback and sales.

It is interesting to note that this announcement follows Blizzard's announcement about Diablo 3 which offers a similar 'legal' way to trade items from one player to the other, with real life money.

Comic from nerfnow.com

I am not going to argue if this is a positive or not move for Aion. What I do want to discuss, is how one handles the situation. Especially one who can afford paying and at the same time does not play as much as others.

The obvious choice? Buy supplements and take advantage of them.

Second thought? This way you encourage the pay-2-win model - i am against that. Do not buy supplements!

Is this one of those cases that acting by the rules of the system (legally buy) is against the system (ruins game balance)?! I do not know what to do in these cases ><

Comic from pvponline.com (when Diablo 2 was announced - a long time ago). Btw it seems that i might classify as generation X - damn! I always felt Y!

Stupid Bacon!

2011-08-27T18:51:00.000+02:00

I am talking to you, Poppy!

After having fed you the most delicious snack, you gave me 10 lesser elemental stones. Not even major elemental stones. Not even 15! You eat the snack and your produce the stupid-iest gift.

Do you know how easy it is, to turn you from Poppy-on-the-Run to Poppy-on-the-Grill???

2011-08-24T22:36:00.000+02:00

Dear male friends,

Please allow me to point out that the chances of a girl looking like this on a swimming suite

are roughly the same with the chances of a man looking like that on his swimming suite

.. or at least this is what NCSoft developers believe.

No wait. Or at least that's what NCSoft developers believe that you believe.

What others see - what we see

2011-08-19T11:36:00.000+02:00

What others see..

What we see..

Naughty naught naughty

2011-08-17T15:16:00.004+02:00

I see all those beautiful clothes/skins we get ingame - armours, dresses and gowns!

Some design art for the next patch (2.7) demonstrates what to expect - check what my cleric will be getting.

2.7 Chain Set (Concept Art)

I love changing my look, don't you? , So many new dresses and gowns and leathers and straps. Leathers.. straps.. I think there is a twist from the usual over-sexified style towards BDSM - but then again it might just be me.

Powerful

Check these girls here - I am sure you know them, they are all famous Disney princesses.

Now let's see how they would look if we allowed them to skin their armours to better looking designs.

"Naughty Princesses" by Kyriazis

So beware dear friends out there. I see new gloves (see below) and belts (see below) coming up soon.

I will not get into the preferences eastern people seem to have. I trust NC to keep the looks of the game close to our .. aesthetics!

Runaway New Pet

2011-07-18T10:47:00.005+02:00

Note: This article has been corrected - August 10th

A new pet, The Runaway Poppy, will allow its owners to gain extra Platinum Medals.

That's at patch 2.6, starting August 3rd.

There is a small chance of obtaining Platinum Medals from the gifts that the pet gives in response to feeding.

It eats snacks that drop in Crucible Challenge, when you successfully complete stage 2 (bonus round). Each time you will get either "Snack Food" or "Tasty Snack Food" or "Nutritious Snack Pet Food". These will you give a minor, normal or major bundle respectively.

You only have to feed your pet one poppy treat. There is a chance to get a platinum medal each time you feed it a poppy treat. There is a maximum of 40 times you may feed the pet before having to buy another runaway poppy, which costs around 2010 Crucible Insignia.

... now does this mean that people with good gear will start joining us for EC? Please? o:-)

Moods

2011-07-08T15:18:00.006+02:00

Today I borrowed some images from another favourite comic, called Looking For Group, to help demonstrate my mood(s).

That's the initial strip (click on the picture to enlarge it):

Now check how is everything included:

Most of the time: "I will see, I will learn, what no other scholar has ever dreamed of."
Rarely: "I'll be able to get them off my back."
When I am happy: "I will fulfill my true destiny."

Based on same comic, here is a visualisation of the basic cleric mechanism:

OK maybe sometimes other thoughts and feelings are there as well :)

However there are few days, very special days, like today, that..

You didn't know I like to kill things? Seriously?

StDev(friends) = 11

2011-07-05T13:11:00.003+02:00

You two gentlemen are too young to be my friends!

Hmmm most of you are too young to be my friends!

..and yet you are. Good friends.

Playing MMOs for some years, I found out that a/s/l* is not that important in game cooperation. Yesterday I realised that my closest Aion friends are quite younger than me. Except one who is older. I should have expected that, since I am myself older than the average player. But it made me feel like a cougar!

Being a scientist, I calculated the average age of my closest aion friends (16 ppl) and the standard deviation (σ) of their ages. The results were expected:

Average age: a bit over 30
Standard deviation: 11

In case you are wondering what "standard deviation" means - it is a measure of how much the data varies from the average. In the graph above, it varies a lot.

Well after all this extensive statistical analysis, it is now possible to deduce one result:
I don't care about your age. It's you I want.

* a/s/l stands for age / sex / location. Used primarily as a question in chat rooms and other virtual environments, to request info from the other person.

Resistance Is Futile

2011-06-22T13:36:00.001+02:00

I keep moaning about not having enough time to play. So many things I need to do online!

Do Empyrean Crucible daily (done)
Go places with my friends (never enough)
Do dredgion, farm abyss points and platinum medals, dailies, gather (pending)
Learn to hunt asmos (ludicrous emm pending)

So how many hours a day? Because the two hours I play every day are definitely not adequate.

But then I look at my tank. He plays long hours. He plays so many hours, that by the end, there is no real stimulation. He does all those every day and many more. He has full Stormwing, he has tons of AP and medals, in short he has almost everything. And you know what happens? He is bored. Disappointed. He sometimes considers leaving the game.

So how many hours a day? Because the long hours he plays every day are definitely not adequate.

Some very capable legion members have already moved to different games, seeking the challenge of new goals. Is there really a point?

The comic above, from Nerfnow.com, really summarises my concluding thoughts better than any post could. Check the site, I think most of this guy's strips are really funny.

New Character Design UI

2011-06-21T04:22:00.000+02:00

OK mate, you are strange and you are creeping me out!

Easy To Please Online

2011-06-17T15:31:00.002+02:00

Some time ago I read yet another comic of the Thenoobcomic series.

While I was reading it, I couldn't help but smiling to the poor wanna-be forum moderator idiots depicted there.

As if anyone would want to become a forum moderator! As if there is anything special (or desired) in that title! Of course not.

Only an idiot would care for forum power, and I am no idiot!

But.. wait.. Community people are nice people, no?

Today I received a message from

saying

This means that I get my own "title" in official aiononline forums, and it comes in colour! It also means that effort is recognised - I hope. Not to mention recognition of how mature, friendly, and the other, I am.

I realised that I love the recognition - even if it only comes as a colourful name label. Or fangs.

Dyes and dies

2011-06-09T11:25:00.000+02:00

New blog colours!! Cool or what!

Needing a refreshed approach to on line life, I tweaked with the design of this page. If this doesn't work to cheer me up, I will buy those!

Same approach in game. You can change skins, or if you prefer a lighter approach, you can just change the colour of the armour. For that, you need dyes.

Or dies.

Some non-native english speakers get confused with the spelling, and more than once I heard them asking about black or red die. I cann't help it, I smile each and every time!

I know, i know, on line lingo can accept a lot of those, it is not after all possible to have all those people speak the same.. each language has it's own origin.

How many hours a day?

2011-06-08T14:05:00.001+02:00

A good friend of mine is temporarily giving up Aion. Two reasons led to this decision:

financial issues (scary, no?)
time issues

the latter reason (=time) being more important. He told me:

"After I stopped playing Aion, my day got 8 hours longer."

But this makes no sense, I thought. He did not really play 8 hours a day.

Oh wait..

He might not play, but he was connected for quite a lot every day.. After all, each day he had to:

craft two heliotrops
log with each toon, visit trader to sell items
do daily quest
do other daily quest
craft potions or food or scrolls

And it is not just him, we all have to do those as often as possible.

And of course some of the days you have to:

do Abyssal Splinter quest run
do weekly quests

Yet those are "complementary" activities, none of them is *really* playing. Because when you "really" play, you will do an instance, dredgion, or some kind of legion activity. Time starts to stretch.

When you want to do an instance like Esoterrace or Besh, you need to:

wait for group to complete
wait for random-group-member-1 to eat before you start
wait for random-group-member-2 to re-connect after dc

Ok this is getting serious - too much auxiliary time, lost time, noise, for each "real" activity.

As I think of the "to-do" list, the list keeps getting longer. I am worried.

Xkcd demonstrates one way to make it.

Important considerations

2011-06-06T15:58:00.003+02:00

The 2.5 patch has been up for a while, and a lot of things are in my mind - so many important decisions to make in game!

How should I use the plastic surgery ticket?

I think my hair colour needs a re-vamp. At the same time, this ticket might be my opportunity to get a bit taller/older. Cool.

One thing that scares me though: the character creation and modification engine has no "undo" button. What happens if I make a change that I do not like? How do I get back to my usual self?

What should I buy first with the Empyrean Crucible Insignias?

I was going for the loot-pet, but my adult side asks for weapon or armour.

Which means I need to do a comparative study of prospects and stats, in order to target the optimal choice. Or hire a consultant to do the study for me, feed him the desired outcome, and use his presentation to persuade all the conflicting inner voices.

Do I want to do Beshmundir Temple again?

Oh, that's an easy one. No, i dont! I am not sure though if I ought to though..

Where should I look for the new lolita costumes?

I meant the student ones. Imagine me having a halo, a lollipop and a short plaided skirt! Sooo shallow!

If this costume/skin is available as a present, I do not want to buy it myself. I wish someone else buys it for me.. A handsome guy preferably!

Who do I choose and how do I make him realise that he wants to offer me a gift?

So many things in my mind.. It's a tough on-line life after all!

Mini-event: double drops

2011-05-06T16:51:00.002+02:00

Today a series of mini events was announced, including an increase of drop rates from May 18th to May 25th.

I got so excited!! Increased rate of orange drops in Beshmundir Temple! I might even get my full set at last!

Picture from angrycritter

Then I realised. Even if they double or triple the drop rate..

We usually get 0 orange items.
For 7 days, we will be getting 2x0 orange items.

Aha.. now I see..

Game Related News

2011-05-05T15:31:00.004+02:00

A plethora of news regarding Aion game is currently out. Presented here in shortest possible form :)

Version 2.5 coming live (EU/NA servers) at 25 May 2011.

Starting today 5/5/10, we can download the PTS client for the 2.5 version. The PTServer will not be available per se until May 12th.

The official name for 2.5 is "Empyrean Calling", stop calling it "The Patch".
Notes (for european version) were released today.

Lineage I, II and Aion will get an in-game music player, at least in their Korean client. NCSoft cooperates with an online music company, 24hz, and the paid service started on May 3rd [source].

China's online -game market means business!

The country's online game market will reach 6 bil doll by 2010, accounting for half the global market, according to newly released report from Cnzz.com, a chinease data analysis firm.
Country has 338 million web users
2/3 of these 338 milions, play online games (does this happen where you live??)
Most games are free-to-play.

The new interface for aiononline.com is trying to be funny. See the message produced when you try to access a non-existing web page [try]. "Fallen Into A Rift - The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request".

Click Pic to Enlarge

Cool pic found online [source]. Zerg Inc!

Click Pic to Enlarge

5 Tips 4 Better Healing

2011-04-18T14:15:00.003+02:00

An open letter to all new clerics - includes hints and tips for better healing!

Dear friend,

Welcome to the order. Here are some advices to help you get started.

1. Each of your (healing) skills mentions how much it heals.
Just hover your cursor over the skill's icon. For example "Radiant Cure I" says "heals a target by 925 hp".
This "925hp" mentioned is the base and minimum result.

2. Your healing is affected by your level.
In levels 10, 25, 40, 49 you (automatically) get a passive skill called "Boost Healing" which increases the base result. Thus you heal more than the base result, ie what the skill description mentions.

3. You heal better when you fly.
You heal 10% more hp when you fly. This is because of another passive skill called "Winged Recovery".

4. Your healing is not affected by your character stats, nor your magic boost.
No matter how high or low your base character stats (e.g. knowledge) are, they do not affect your healing. Thus stacking magic boost manastones will only help in damage dealing, not healing. The only number that does affect your healing is "healing boost" (not a base stat).

5. Your healing is affected by your healing boost.
Healing Boost (HB) is an attribute found in chain armour. The more HB you have, the better you heal. Some skills can temporarily augment your HB. Details:

For every 10 HB, heals increase by 1% of the base result. This means 1000 HB doubles the base healing amount.
Excellent HB FAQ by Kaden.
So far (4/2011) there are no manastones to increase HB and no cap has been reached.

Lots of studying is also required!

Tip to stay in Silentera

2011-04-08T09:32:00.001+02:00

You have rushed into Silentera (place) before the sieges start, thus making sure you will be able to access Beshmundir Temple (instance). However you want to go to dredgion too.. but that means you will end up, after dredgion, to your home town.

Problem: If you do go to dredgion, you might loose your Besh run.

Solution: Kill your Aion client when viewing dredgion results. This will return you to your original location.

Explanation: It seems that you are transfered to town after pressing the "OK" button in dredgion results. By killing the client, you avoid that step. You still get your AP, but when you relog, the game only remembers the last place you were - in this case Silentera - and re-locates you there.

I am not sure it was a good idea revealing this bug.

Now my friends will go even more often to dredgion. Darn!

Retrieved Halo

2011-04-07T10:34:00.001+02:00

Believe it or not, my halo (= golden Besh cleric hairpin, with a halo skin) is back!

Yesterday, when selling the drops from a quick lower udas run, I discovered my halo re-instantiated in my inventory. Quickly I put it on, and added a lot of glue, so I will never never loose it again.

I would like to thank the kind gods who listened to my prayer and put it back in my inventory.

Lost Halo

2011-04-05T10:15:00.001+02:00

Oh, my halo is no more. Lost, lost for ever! I am devastated.

It was a lovely golden beshmundir cleric hairpin.

For the time being, I wear an older Jotun Hat. But I need to go back to Flare again and again, until my hat drops again. If it ever does. Usually flare gives us blue belts - I doubt that he will be nice enough to offer me a second chance to my hat. So disappointed by ..me!

Rusted Halo

2011-04-04T11:03:00.003+02:00

OMG my brand new halo got rusted in just few days after I started wearing it.

Cleaned it, but now my corroded accessory has a funny bluish colour. Not bad though.

And yes, you can dye your halo.

And yes, I re-dyed armour and shield to match.

About legion

2011-03-30T10:36:00.000+02:00

This post is about legions and team-mates. We spend so many hours together, getting gear, leveling up our toons, hunting down enemies, arguing, talking about the smallest and the most important things in our lives.

It's family.

Of course some times the going gets tough and there are some quarrels - just to make things interesting.

Other people call it teamwork - I call it family. And like every family, we have our dark secrets and inside jokes. I guess each legion has it's own collective personality. Some are conscientious, others are military, few are happy. Our legion is welcoming, caring and ..dysfunctional!! For example:

People might get oppressed, but they stay.
Others get mad, but they stay.
Some are supportive and caring one moment, strange and alienated the next. And yes, they stay.

but..

More often than not we have fun, joking and laughing. You can let yourself go with those guys, you can be silly, they know, they accept you, they understand, they know your strong points and your sensitive spots - and they still accept you (!).

Advanced SW HM rez loci

2011-02-16T15:36:00.004+01:00

In this post we explore the dynamics of having the chanter killed first, before anyone else attacks. This advanced technique allows for a highly deterministic outcome; group members follow a strict procedure that allows little room for chance factors to influence the result.

This is an advanced course on killing Stormwing (Besh) in hard mode, using rez loci. The main/basic technique is described in a previous blog post entitled Stormwing HM with rez loci.

Preparation:

Group members (except cleric) remove their defensive buffs and any armour, jewel or shield that could make them evade or sustain SW's attack (*4).
Group members (except cleric) duel each other, to lower their HP below 50%.

First Attack:

All group members (except cleric) stand close to each other. Cleric stands 18m away.
Chanter attacks SW until he (or SW) dies. During this time, cleric makes sure he is standing 18m away from SW.
The remaining group members (except cleric) attack SW without moving from their position.
SW kills the remaining group, except cleric who stands 18m away.

Cycle of Attacks:
Note: SW usually does two normal attacks and then an AoE. Rarely, he does three.

The cleric starts casting rez loci when the 2nd person dies (ie after the second normal attack), because that’s when SW will do his AoE. However, if SW attacks a 3rd person with a normal, non-aoe attack, then the cleric should cancel the casting and start again – this will be the case that SW does three normal attacks before the AoE.
Group members accept rez loci as soon as possible (*4). When at least one member is up, the cleric moves 18m away from SW.
The chanter casts WoI and attacks as soon as he/she gets up (*1). While the chanter is attacking, the rest of the group does nothing (*2). They wait until the chanter dies.
The rest of the group attacks (except cleric), immediately after chanter’s death. If they start attacking too early, then they mess SW’s routine and the whole strategy fails. If they start too late, SW kills the healer and the strategy fails again.
Back to step 1.

Baby Stormwing

Notes:

*1 Since the chanter will be the first to die, he will see all the necessary animations before the rest of the group, thus he will be able to get up faster than the others.

*2 While the group members (except cleric) await chanter to die, they can spam jumps (keep pressing the jump button), to break the invincibility effect. OK, I am not sure this is helpful, but it is definitely fun.

*3 If SW emits a blue colour on the floor around him and starts saying something like "My Powers..", then the cleric should slightly delay his casting. The reason is that SW will do some animation that takes about 1.5 sec before he lifts up for the aoe.

*4 If someone sustains or evades SW AoE, then there will be tornados (which will result in wipe) because suddenly there will be attacking members in two points. However there is a workaround: The rest of the group should not accept rez loci, until the remaining member dies as well.

How to treat your cleric

2011-02-10T14:17:00.005+01:00

The cleric is a sensitive creature who thrives on making others feeling healthier/happier in exchange of appreciation. Gianna, creator of TheNoob comic, puts it well: the cleric is a "co-dependent" personality - at least 9 times out of 10.

Click Pic to Enlarge

Dictionary definition of "codependent" is: A person who is unfulfilled, constantly in relationships, is indirect, unassertive when they have a need; the person will also exhibit symptoms such as controlling behavior, intimacy problems and is a caretaker of others.

Wikipedia definition of "codependency": Codependency is a tendency to behave in overly passive or excessively caretaking ways that negatively impact one's relationships and quality of life. It also often involves putting one's needs at a lower priority than others while being excessively preoccupied with the needs of others. Codependency can occur in any type of relationship, including in families, at work, in friendships, and also in romantic, peer or community relationships.

For best results, keep your clerics out of direct
sunlight and hand wash them with lukewarm water.

The definitions above do sound like the average cleric. As the comic implies, the cleric:

is insecure and needs recognition,
will avoid direct confrontation,
needs a group to lvl,
prefers praise over loots,
is a caretaker of others.

One of the rare care labels delivered with each new cleric.

4 ways to make your cleric happy (and train him to follow you):

Reward him with a praise, each time he does something you like.
Do not shout at him, especially in the midst of the battle - chances are it will have a negative impact on his moral and consecutively on his performance. In general, he is easily hurt by disapproval.
Make him feel useful and needed. Give him an endless supply of problems to solve. Prefer problems pertaining to you, friends, legion. Let him help you. Be truthful, he will know if you do not mean it. Make sure you spell out, often enough, that he is needed.
Offer him love and support. Since your cleric values love and support, he will appreciate your gesture. He won't ask you to prove any of those, so you can easily fool him.

Caution: the cleric is not an idiot, nor a masochism. Although usually his loyalty towards friends and legion is increased, he will eventually move on to a new environment if his needs are not met, if he thinks you are taking advantage of him, or simply if he is not having a good time with you.

Information on co-dependence:

Codependency article in wikipedia
Narcissists article in wikipedia NB: Narcissists are a natural magnet for codependents.
Codependence article in About.com Health's Disease and Condition
Dependent personality disorder in NIH's Medline. NB: A codependent person does not necessarily have a dependent personality disorder.
'Cluster C Personality Disorders', in: Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV, Washington: American Psychiatric Association, 4th ed. 1994, ISBN 0-89042-062-9, 662-673.
'Schema Therapy, A Practitioner's Guide', by J. Young, J. Klosko, M. Eishaar, Guilford Press 2006, ISBN 978-1593853723

Killing Bollvig with a bat

2011-02-08T10:33:00.004+01:00

Bollvig Blackheart is a legendary lvl 50 boss in Heiron, friendly to Asmodians, with excellent drops. It takes an alliance of lvl 50 players to kill him. There are multiple strategies, including line of sight for the aoe and heavy healing.

Bollvig does an awful sleep skill, that disables your clerics. Usually one of the clerics stays at a distance, to dispel the other clerics (who in turn will dispel the rest of the players).

Getting to lvl 55, acquiring last stigma and better gear, makes the kill much easier. The tanks have much more damage resistance, the healers have much more healing power, the damage dealers have much more cocky attitude. The only remaining problem, is Bollvig's sleep skill.

Unless you have a bat.

No no, not that kind of bat.

Nop, not that kind either.

This is what you need:

Bat - regular mob found flying around Bollvig.

Yeap, a real (= nocturnal mouselike mammal with forelimbs modified to form membranous wings and anatomical adaptations for echolocation) bat. A plain mob, which will be your life insurance.

Strategy:

Get a group of 55ers.
Clean area, however let 2-3 bats alive.
Have the cleric build aggro with a bat, without killing it. The bat will keep hitting the cleric throughout the fight, however the damage is low.
Start killing the boss.

Trick:

When Bollvig casts his sleep, the cleric will be dispelled by the bat's hits.

Caution:

If for some unfortunate reason the bat is killed, the cleric should immediately get a new one.
If one of the DDs has enmity boost gear, the bat might leave the cleric.

That's it really, you can easily kill Bollvig with just one group. For a quest, for the loots, or just because you hate him for having you wipe in the past so many times.

Legion

2011-01-28T13:22:00.004+01:00

Having a quick break in Besh, we took a photo. Let me explain who is who!

Click Pic to Enlarge

Remember - as far as anyone knows, we are a nice normal legion.

Stormwing HM with rez loci

2011-01-09T02:03:00.018+01:00

Detailed instructions on how to kill Stormwing (Besh) in hard mode, using rez loci from cleric.

Stormwing is the final boss in Beshmundir Temple. If you are doing a hard mode (HM) run, this boss is really hard to kill. To achieve it, you can use the "rez loci" method:

All group members (except cleric) stand close to each other and attack the boss as hard as they can without moving.
Stormwing kills the group - except cleric who is standing 19m away.
The cleric casts rez loci, a skill that resurrects all group members from a distance and transfers them where the cleric is.
Group members get up as soon as they can and attack the boss to get the aggro again. The cleric moves away.
Back to step 2.

This cycle is repeated as many times as needed. The actual number of cycles depends on the dps the group can deliver in the few seconds it is alive each time.

This is not an exploit, so use it freely. You will need to pay a lot of money on soul healing.

There are many videos on HM Stormwing, the best being by Panatheus.

Caution! The cleric should not move, until at least one of the group members has been resurrected! Otherwise the boss will reset.

Chanter's tip:

Cast Word of Inspiration as soon as you get up. This will help you and the other group members get the aggro.
Do not bother buffing your group each time you rez.
Do not bother healing either. Unless you are a pro Chanter, in which case you can drop a heal on the cleric when he needs it.

Tank's tip:

Try to aggro as soon as possible.
You might need to remove your shield and other gear items, in order to ensure that you will die when the boss casts his aoe, together with the rest of your group.

Note: It's generally a good idea to duel the members with lots of hp, before starting the process. As far as resisting/evading, some groups have all the members strip. Some others have everyone with full gear. I would suggest having the tank and the glad remove some items. But you will have to work out what is best for you.

DDs:

Cast DoTs if you have (Damage over Time), which will keep running even when you die.
Try to die together with the rest of the group, please! This might mean you might have to remove some of your armour (e.g. helmet) to avoid evading or resisting the aoe. As a rule of thumb, get your magic defense below 1000.
Accept rez as soon as possible. Lowering your graphic settings might help, since this semi-grey graphics used when dead can really delay the process.

Cleric's tips:

Stand 18m-20m away from Stormwing. Not less. Not more.
Do not use heal on yourself, since it will only draw aggro on you. Use pots.
Do not use any skill, except rez loci and maybe tranquility.
Target the first group member to die. Start casting rez loci when Stormwing flies up - this is usually when he starts casting his AoE ("threshing wind"). Caution - you might need to cancel your casting!
Use of casting speed and running scrolls is suggested. Also any kind of wind resist.
Have Stormwing branded and create a shortcut for you to target him easily. You will need to target him, in order to keep the required distance.
If Stormwing emits a blue colour on the floor around him and starts saying something like "My Powers..", then you should slightly delay his casting. The reason is that SW will do some animation that takes about 1.5 sec, before he lifts up for the aoe.

Cleric's Hint:

Start casting rez loci when:

Stormwing flies up, or
When you see him starting to cast threshing wind, or
When you hear him announcing the AoE (you will recognise it, don't worry).

Supposedly all those (fly, cast, announce) should happen each time, but I found out they do not. Any of those however is a clue for you to start casting.

Alternative presentation of the same method ("rez loci") at aion-guide.

Comic TheNoob by Gianna Maseti

MMOs are good for you

2010-12-30T11:03:00.004+01:00

You know that MMOs are good for you. I know it too. But how can I persuade a teenager's mom?

More often than not, I have people trying to persuade me that gaming is bad for my mental (and physical!) health. Although I have found ways to deal with these people, there will still be the argument that young gamers, ie 15-18 year olds, are in danger, "destroying themselves", in an addiction "worse than drugs". On top of that, there are pseudo-scientific articles, describing this new disease and urging parents to guard their offsprings.

Well I think that MMOs are beneficial for a teenager. And I want to spread the word. Could you help me write down the arguments in favour of gaming? Please mail me your ideas.

Some thoughts to start with (in no particular order):

Functioning in groups. Learn to follow, collaborate, lead, organise, talk.
Every-day english, including slang expressions and terms.
Controlled environment, no drugs or viruses - child at home.
Group-therapy.
Friends, friends, friends.
Multi-culture environment.
Gender equality.
Discover information on the internet.
Statistics and scientific methodology.

That is a really interesting subject..

Click Pic to Enlarge. Comic by pvponline.com

Guest contribution: Assmos

2010-12-29T12:35:00.002+01:00

Another contribution arrived today by e-mail. Since I chuckled while reading it, I have to post it - although it does not necessarily fit the rest of the blog.

Click Pic to Enlarge. Sent by reader who wishes to remain anonymous.

This comic is by gai-on (i think), and more material can be found at aiononline forum, published by LucifelKS.

Purring in sieges

2010-12-27T16:22:00.000+01:00

Continuing on previous post, I will try to attend today's siege.

Us (Elyos) will be defending the Inggison forts against the black-clad enemy (a.k.a. Asmos) pouring out of of the skies and attacking our castle gates.

Many thanx to Winternight (no server specified) for sending the pic.

Actually the battles are not that bad. I quite enjoy them - albeit i can not see much, because of the unbelievable lag. But I learnt to move blindly to pre-defined points, and heal or attack the (equally blind - i am sure) enemy.

4 New Year Resolutions

2010-12-23T15:23:00.006+01:00

Dear Solorius,

I promise I have been really naughty and really nice throughout the year! I will try my best to fulfill my new year resolutions (of 2010) during the remaining 7 days. I have also written down my new new-year resolutions (for 2011):

1. I will make my own potions.
No more buying of the trader. Or at least I will gather the materials, buy the NPC items, and ask a friend to craft my potions for me. Worst case hypothesis, I will morph the necessary hintera and beg for mp pots. Yes, the past year MyTank has been kind enough to craft my pots. Maybe it's time to repay him, maybe with some actual kinah?

2. I will increase my aether gathering skill.
At least up to the stage needed to gather the magical aether, which is necessary for all this morphing required (see point 1). But, dear Solorius, this will have to wait until a double-gathering-exp weekend, because - as you very well know - I am no good in flying. And Storm Circle is still a dangerous place!

3. I will try to attend at least a siege a week.
Not for the AP. Nor for the medals. Not even for my legion. But I must do it, in order to be with my friends (in game) and understand what they talk about (in real life).

4. No more QQ-ing.
I can be the best dama-queen ever. I can out-drama you. But I usually avoid it. So that's it - no more QQ-ing will be *accepted*. I promise to ignore (and if this is not possible, i will try to avoid) all those melodramatic people who think that their life is important and their wings spread further.

But, dear Solorius,

You need to do few things for us too.
Remember what massively wrote in the article "All I want for Solorius is.."? Well check them out - pretty darn good ideas all of them. My requests?

Ease tension in North vs South.
If this is not possible, try China vs US - the same thing really, but easier to identify. See, they don't enjoy fighting like we do with Asmos. They have no rez stones (!), no clerics above lvl 1 and - believe it or not - they can not bind to any of the obelisks there.

Make Miragent easier to craft.
You could add the option of exchanging 3 or 5 or even 10 "plain" hearts with 1 "crit" heart of magic. I understand this might be difficult to do, so let's just stick to miragent this year and if it succeeds you could do the same thing next year for Fenris too!

Chain +15 [humor]

2010-12-07T10:21:00.000+01:00

I was sent this picture from a reader of the blog. The mail text read:

"Chain Mail: +15 physical attack against male opponents, +15 magical attack against female opponents, +16 evasion against all enemies"

Many thanx to Annil for the contribution. You can also send yours, as long as it related, fun, and relatively decent :-P

Click Pic to Enlarge

Hands-on-Boobies

2010-12-06T15:33:00.004+01:00

Having to constantly wear chain, makes a woman's life difficult - have you tried finding something sexy in chain?

Cloth wearers have it easy - check the Asmodian skin! It's sexy, although the "hands-on-boobies" feature might be too much for me. I am pretty sure the fingers change depending on the toon's stance!

Standing toon: Bone fingers about to grab.

Grey patch added to protect toons' identity - since it's irrelevant to the current post.

Sitting toon: Bone fingers making the "success" gesture, implying they have already grabbed.

I am sooo getting shouted for publishing those!
At least she has changed her armour since these pictures were taken.

Meanwhile, in a dungeon far far away:

Image from Komikino's Lineage II comics, series "Stabby McStoo".

Click Pic to Enlarge

Epilogue: I know that not everyone is enjoying changing skins and colours - I do however enjoy the change while I am training, hands-on, for the next instance.

Gearing Spree (or "About Cleric Armor")

2010-11-30T12:59:00.004+01:00

The past few days have been an endless gearing spree for all players. Check the picture below, named "i want one of those", short for "things that you do not need, but you really really want". But we do need them - really!

Adventurer 2.1

For the first time in my Atreian life, I have a choice among alternative armor sets, thus I composed a detailed analysis of the different stats.

The table above is just a pic, but you can find the detailed data, per item, in a (google)

spreadsheet here. Feel free to copy, paste and use for your own calculations.

NB Important difference that no numbers can mirror: The Forsaken Temple chain set is sexy!

I have highlighted the stats that are most important for my game style. In short, I will go for the Udas Set, but until I have all the pieces, I will happily enjoy my increased PDef, given by a crafted blue top.

Click Pic To Enlarge. The Pic.

Thanx Gods of Dungeons Past!

2010-11-25T15:32:00.012+01:00

It was only two days ago that I was moaning on-blog about the infinite improbability which had me stuck with a horrendous xeno weapon (what an embarrassment!) at lvl 55.

The Weapon

Yesterday a proper, golden, level 52, golden - did I already say that?- mace dropped!

Debilkarim's Hammer

Compared to my previous weapon? Lots!

Magic Boost +123!
HP +225!
M Acc +51!
Parry +216!
And of course +19% attack speed! (i really look forward to trying that today)

DPS increase will be much more than +16.67 since my

damage depends on magic boost and not plain attack.

It also has the silliest face on its end, actually two of those, one on each side of the hammer. But I hope not many people will be able to distinguish or notice it.

The Story

We were doing a fast Lower Udas. Killed Debilkarim at 02:00am, quite tired. The chanter was picking up, decent enough not to even suggest rolling, he just exclaimed "niiice!" when he linked the loot.

TheTank said "need", as well as I did.

Tell me, what would you do in this case?

TheTank is a close friend. Yes, ofc I wanted to change my xeno weapon! And true, that's one of the best possible weapons for my cleric. But then again, he is one of the best possible game-mates for me and my cleric too..

Author's Note: At that point, I had no idea if this weapon was best suited for him or me. How much it would improve his toon or how much it would improve mine.

I offered to pass, if he needed the mace. He suggested we both roll, something that I did not want (no sense - hypothetically we both want the mace given to he or she who needs it more).

The chanter picked up. I passed. He passed. In a very short time (that I did not understand because I was too happy), the mace was traded to me.

Now I have a new weapon. A goooooooold, lvl 52, excellent, mace. Plus my friend passed for me.

Click Pic To Enlarge

Take a chance on me

2010-11-23T11:45:00.010+01:00

It's only a week that the drop rates have dramatically increased - or so they say. It's true that there was a significant change which has yet to be liquidated in nice golden gear.

Click Pic to Enlarge

Yesterday there were some excellent drops in Udas upper/lower but the chanter and the sorc rolled higher so no gear update so far.

I wonder how "korean random" is translated in percentages and chances.. Being the person who has failed the miragent heart nine times (so far), I think I would rather invest in a quest-giving weapon where no percentages or chances or any of those stupid stochastic algorithms is involved.

I am seriously considering the green Siel weapon from Talocs, which can be upgraded with ingots from udas and besh, to gold. I have already collected some ingots!

However there is a slight problem.

.. I am sure you can guess.

.... The green Siel weapon has not yet dropped %-)

Click Pic to Enlarge

Yeap, I am pretty sure maths, probabilities and statistics are laughing at our puny hopes.

NCSoft developers (and genes!) are laughing too.

God does not play dice with the universe: He plays an ineffable game of His own devising, which might be compared, from the perspective of any of the other players [i.e. everybody], to being involved in an obscure and complex variant of poker in a pitch-dark room, with blank cards, for infinite stakes, with a Dealer who won't tell you the rules, and who *smiles all the time*.

-- (Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman, Good Omens)

Pumpkin event

2010-10-29T09:46:00.003+02:00

I am sorry I can not blog write now, I am too busy doing the event quests will all my characters. Oh and creating new characters, getting them to level 10, to do the quests. Go go go, you should be doing the same. And the quest is per-kill, so you can group with your friends for more fun and less effort.

Instructions:

Go to main city of your faction
Find pumpkin-head NPC (at Exalted Path for Elyos, Vifrost Bridge for Asmodians)
Get and complete the 2 quests, this will open a repeatable quest
Get repeatable quest, complete it 10 times
Acquire excellent rewards!

Change to another char, repeat cycle from step 1.

Click on Pic to Enlarge.

NB: You *can* do the quest naked - especially if you have a beautiful

toon. And let's face it, almost all toons are beautiful in this game. So..

You will get excellent enchantment stones (>lvl 70), even from your lvl 10 toons, lodas amulets and more.

If you are still bored to try it, suffice to says that Elyos have to visit Verteron and kill some shulacks for the repeatable (you do 1hp damage per hit). It's a group quest, so even if one in the group is active, all characters get the kills and complete the quest. Com'on!

Breaking Up

2010-10-26T12:57:00.003+02:00

Well it's over. I thought it would work, I was quite positive actually, I have even given it a good prediction in a previous post. But it did not.

They are both good players, they are in the same legion (at least they were), they fell in love for the past months. She is a ranger from Sweden, he is a sin from Greece. She promised she would travel to meet him, he promised he would do anything, really anything, for her.

And then?

He found out that she was not what she said she was. She was not the person in the photographs. She was flirting with another player too. She did not really plan to visit him. And many more lies..

He is now sad and lonely. Pretending he is not sad, nor lonely.

Being female, I cann' t help but wonder how she feels now. Does she miss him? Does she want him? Will she ever try to make up with him? But he would never accept.

Being human (or at least a close resemblance to humanoid), I cann't help but wonder what went wrong. If any. Was it his or her mistake? Did they both fall in love with an imaginary persona, that never existed? Would it be different if ..?

Instance gets harder!

2010-10-18T14:14:00.001+02:00

It was the first time I went into Taloc's Hollow, after the last update. It was so much harder!!

Event: The mobs started hitting faster and harder and my HP bar went lower and lower. Note however that the HP bar of my NPC tank-helper (being a cleric myself, i always get the templar to assist me) did not go down - at least not faster than usual.

Conclusion: I understood that NcSoft did some serious changes during this update and made the instance harder to complete. I called my friends, asked about their experience (they have not been in there yet, after the patch), and told them to be really really careful when they do go in.

Analysis: The HP bar of my char did go low - that can be explained by the harder hits the mob did. However how did I manage to get the bar up again? At the time, I didn't think about it - I just assumed that being a cleric has its advantages. Like healing yourself.

Waiiiiiit: Something is wrong. Well yes, heal yourself. But that much?! Bear in mind that the tree has 95.000 hp, how could I possibly heal 45.000 hp (half the tree's life) with one skill cast? Probably I could not.

Epiphany: I am not a tree. More specifically, I forgot to transform to a tree! How stupid can I be?! I have done two of the instance bosses without having transformed. O.M.G. Talk about forgetfulness! That is why it was so hard.

"To be natural is such a very difficult pose to keep up",

Oscar Wilde says. On the plus side, for the interested reader, the item-skills (AoE and Nuke) do work fine, even like that.

So.. remember.. Do not be yourself. It is a major mistake. Make sure you change to the adequate form each time, in order to handle each situation appropriately.

Where is Udas Temple Entrance?

2010-10-07T16:14:00.002+02:00

Just in case some more people have the same question I did, I am posting here some summarised info about entering mid and low Udas Temple.

Draft Version

Notes:

There is an entrance to Udas Temple in both Inggison (Elyos) and Gelmaros (Asmodians).
You reach both mid and low Udas from the same temple-like entrance at a specific map point (where 2 caves appear, marking the entrance to 2 instances). After entering, you can choose which of the two instances you want.
The waiting time to reenter the ’Udas Temple’ dungeon is 6 hours.

Elyos/Inggison:
The temple-like entrace is in the pit where the Dragonbound are. There's a temple-ish looking entrance, guarded by alot of elites. Once you are Lv 52, you can receive the Udas Temple entry quest. Honeus gives the quest and can be found in the Undirborg Observation Post. The quest name is “Goal of the Dragonbound.”

1. Fly from Inggison Illusion Fortress to Undiborg Observation Post (aka "north fly point").

2. Walk few steps on the green-covered rock.

3. Glide towards the map point, avoiding the wind tunnel. Don't worry, you do not need much flight time. Or take the wind tunnel (some people prefer it) but exit as soon as you are above the map point.

Click Pic to Enlarge

4. When you are reaching the map point, you will see a deep whole in the ground, with a gigantic ~~phallic symbol~~ tower in the middle. That's the design you see on your Inggison map too.

5. Glide towards the temple-like entrance, on the lowest level. Glide towards there and land as close as possible. Be careful of all those elites patrolling. If you are having problems with your gliding like I do, aim for the wall above the entrance and then slide down.

6. Enter the Temple-like entrance, it's safe for few (10-20) meters, until you come to a large room.

7a. Walk straight ahead for Lower Udas.
7b. Walk straight for half the room, turn left, walk to the end of the corridor, go behind the statue there, for Mid Udas.
Do not worry, it is easy to avoid the mobs.

Image from Aion PowerWiki

8. Use the instance entrance.

Asmodians / Gelkmaros
Asmodians can also receive the entry quest for Udas Temple once they reach Lv 52. The entry quest is named "Secret of the Dragonbound" and you can get it from Aglauros, who is in the Marayas Wilds.

1. Move towards the point marked (sorry, don't know how)

2. Glide towards the entrance, which is found below a ledge. Glide towards there and land as close as possible. Be careful of all those elites patrolling.

3. Enter the Temple-like entrance, it's safe for few (10-20) meters, until you come to a large room.

4a. Walk straight ahead for Lower Udas.
4b. Walk straight for half the room, turn left, walk to the end of the corridor, go behind the statue there, for Mid Udas.
Do not worry, it is easy to avoid the mobs.

Image from Aion PowerWiki

5. Use the instance entrance.

Try the instance - it's new, fun and .. oh well, you just have to, it has so many quests!

Click Pic To Enlarge

More info:

Aion PowerWiki Getting To Udas (excellent step-by-step guide for both factions)
Aiononline forums (elyos)
Yellowgremlin map (elyos), map (asmo)
List of Udas Temple guides

Love is in the air (part II)

2010-10-04T10:26:00.001+02:00

Wow, that was unexpected! After the last post, "Love is in the air", I received some emails about additional cases (and none about taloc's guide.. guys do you prefer that kind of posts?!)

Here is a table summarising all cases so far.

#	Man			Woman			Status
	country	class	age	country	class	age	Flirt	Met	InLove
1	uk	sin	17	sweden	cleric	23	yes	yes	yes
2	sweden	gladi	24	denmark	cleric	24	yes	no	no
3	greece	sin	38	sweden	ranger	29	yes	scheduled	yes
4	uk	templar	28	uk	cleric	28	yes	yes	yes
5	norway	sin	22	germany	chanter	25	yes	yes	yes
6	uk	gladi	28	germany	ranger	26	yes	yes	yes

Many thanx to Ariel, LTK, Anonymous for their kind input.

Click Pic to Enlarge

Observations:

All (100%) males flirting in game play fighting classes.
Most (66%) females play support classes.
In all cases (100%) meeting of the couple had a positive result.
All (100%) females are from northern european countries.
Age does not seem significant. Males were older than females in as many cases (30%) as females were older than males (30%).
All (100%) of cases was reported by females.

Corollary:

Guys: get online, create a fighter, join a legion, go after the female players of northern countries, start with clerics and chanters, then move on to rangers.

Love is in the air

2010-10-01T17:23:00.007+02:00

Is it the season? So much flirting going around - at least considering the infinite improbability of meeting your 'significant other' in an .. MMO (!).

Click Pic to Enlarge

So here they are, my three favorite cases among my friends!

Case #1: Britain calling Sweden.
Young man of 17 y.o., extremely clever (i'm sure he is a prodigy!) meets sweet, happy, exciting woman of 23. Most males who even listen to her voice on ts/vent/skype instantly fall in love. She travels to him, they meet, they get along, now he prepares his visit to her.
Chances of being together after 6 months: 90%

Case #2: Sweeden to Danmark.
Persian fighter in Sweeden, 24 y.o., meets same-age cleric from Danmark. He approaches her online, and some time later her in-game description reads he is the man of her life! Yet he is not persuaded to visit her - although he seems genuinely interested.
Chances of being together after 6 months: 8%

Case #3: Greece to Sweden.
Musician from Greece, 38 y.o., role-playing the assassin, falls in love with cute little ranger from Sweden of 29 y.o. She has already planned visiting him in November for a week and then again in x-mas time for a forthnight. Ah - l'amour!
Chances of being together after 6 months: If they survive the first meeting: 99%.

Click Pic to Enlarge

NB1: In 100% of the cases, man and woman are in the same legion.
NB2: Pictures of #2 and #3 show extremely beautiful women.

Corollary: Get online, join a legion, check female players from northern european countries.

Taloc's Hollow FAQ (version 2)

2010-09-08T13:25:00.010+02:00

Thanx to TheTank, Chryssa and online guides for the info.

What's Taloc's Hollow?
A solo instance, for players 51 - 55 level.

Is it for Elyos or Asmodeans?
Both.

Why is this "Taloc's Hollow" of interest?
Because it has drops, quests, exp, gather. One of the quests unlocks stigma slot. You get jewels, godstones, armor and even weapon. Rumors have it that even gold weapons drop!

One of the drops you can (realistically) hope

to get - that or the equivalent for melee classes.

When can I enter Taloc's Hollow?
Should be lvl 51 to 55. Should have traveled to Balaurea (needs quests).

Elyos need to start quest Friends For Life. Obtained automatically as campaign quests progress.
Asmodians need to start quest The Aether Must Flow.

BTW these two quests give excellent blue lvl 51 greaves.

Where is Taloc's Hollow?
South West Inggison (Taloc's Forest). Need to use a very short air-draft to approach Taloc's Forest.

Elyos talk to NPC Lothas
Asmodians talk to NPC Taloc's Guardian

How often can I enter the instance?
There is a cooldown of 46 hours.

How does it look, inside?
Check the image below. For a far better map, go to yellowgremlins.

If I die, where do I get up?
Kisk. Use a kisk before you enter the first time. Otherwise you will get up wherever you are bound.

How long does it take?
You can stay as long as you like, estimate around 2 hours.

What quests are there for Elyos?
A Hard Seed to Crack (5 suspicious yellow sacks, 2.1m exp),
The Wounds of Change (1.8m exp), With Friends Like These (),
Death to the Queen (6 mithril coins, 2.3m exp),
Mysterious Seed (5 mithril coins, 2.1m exp).
Some of them are repeatable. Some others have a time limit - if you don't make it you get less coins as a reward.

What quests are there for Asmos?
A Hard Seed to Crack (),
Soiled Soil (1.1m exp),
The Lost Tome (),
The Struggle Within (2.7m),
Mysterious Seed (5 mithril coins, 2.3m exp),
Spawning the Sap Suckers (6 mithril coins, 2.3m exp).
Some of them are repeatable. Some others have a time limit - if you don't make it you get less coins as a reward.

What can I gather?
Voluspar (440), Tinga (430), Kuvano (420), Gossam (410).
Magical Aether on the floor (400, 425, 450).

Where is the shulack NPC trader;
Hidden in a cave, behind the waterfall, very close and at the same lvl (height) with the NPC that you will save from a spider. The entrance to the cave is covered with plants, you will need a special item to get in (dorkin's knife - drops from saved NPC). From this trader you can purchase a special item to open-up the egg behind him. You can also purchase the fertiliser needed for another quest, so if it is your first time in the instance, be sure to buy it.

Where will I find the journal/booklet I need for my quest?
When you kill the final boss, before talking to Taloc to exit the instance, look among the midst, on the floor of the boss room. There is a small item (the book!), which you can use if you have the quest.

Where are the 6 "contaminated soil"? Where is "core"?
Check the map that Chryssa made (6+1 points marked).

What will I do in there??
Check the walk-through below.

WaLkThRoUgH

Talk to Taloc and enter the instance. Once inside, you see him again, this time you get quests and some items.
One item transforms you into a tree-man with 95k (or more) HP and 54k MP. Second item gives you an AoE attack of 2.5k damage.

In the next room, the enemies start - almost all of them elites lvl 51-52. One of the first ones you face, the bigger spider, will drop another useful item which does a 7k damage ranged attack.

As you move along, keep an eye out for "piles", they have items needed for one of the quests. Also check for the "fountains" which regen your HP and MP.

Continue up the ramp to the next room, where you will find three cocoons. You can release one captive, who will be your (NPC) helper. One is a cleric, second is a tank, third is empty. Rumors have it that the cleric is not very helpful, he heals only when HP too low, and most people prefer the tank. I will take the tank anyway, being a healer.

Proceed up to the left and you will come up to the entrance to a room on the right (entrance full of webs). In there you will find a mini RB which drops the next helpful item with a shielding effect.

Fight..fight..fight..

First boss: Clear the space around the boss (especially in front) before engaging him. Heed Taloc's advice (from the cutscene) on how to fight him.

Proceed up the trail of the tree-truck, fighting the mobs. At some point you will have to pass between some tentacles without getting hit (another Mario-inspired idea?). Keep going, another big spider will drop a helpful item which does mass sleep skill.

Somewhere there, you can help an NPC attacked by a mob. If you do, you get a gift plus a small knife. This allows entrance to the secret trader room. The entrance of this room is very close to the place the NPC is, behind the waterfall (same level as the NPC).

Second boss: Heed Taloc's advice from the cutscene. Follow the boss and kill all mobs in the area (they are non-elites, so you can AoE each group). Then engage the RB. Adds are better killed before they grow up, while still eggs, by AoE attack. If u don't deal with them, they will attack you.

Finding the final boss: Break the giant egg in the center of the room, while facing the way you came. Get in the mist and hit your space bar to open your wings. This way you will float up. There you will find groups of elites which you will need to AoE. Looking towards the direction you came (although in another level), you should be looking at the final RB room. Hack and slash to get there..

Final boss: Lots of grabs, jerks and stuns (like telepathy controller). It takes a long time to kill, because it has lots of hp (but so do you). Use the items' skills as much as possible. You can ignore the adds, they disappear after a while.

When you manage to kill the final boss, Taloc appears again. Hand in the quests and he teleports you outside with all your drops rewards!

More info:

Nightflower's walkthrough from the PTS
Poweriki's synopsis of the instance
Guide in Hungarian (cannt understand anything - but look at the drop list!)

5 questions while waiting for Aion 2.0

2010-09-07T14:25:00.003+02:00

Well it's time.

The servers are down and we are all being magically transfered to an alternative parallel universe where the Balaurea continent ..exists.

And it's not version 2.0. It is version 2.0.2 already!

I wonder:

Will the new content be interesting?
Will I be able to successfully complete the 51 solo instance?
Will the weapon drop rate increase in DP and Theo Lab?
How many roads must a man walk down? [answer]
Will the price of stains go down?

Need to wait for the answers..

Click Pic to Enlarge (worth reading the text)

+ 2cm for SINs

2010-09-06T12:04:00.005+02:00

As a cleric, I have witnessed repeatedly the joy of assassins when they get the aggro from the tank.

It's assassins specifically. Rangers for example, do not share this feeling of pride and they don't gloat in similar occasions. It is as if a special kind of people chooses to become assassins (SINs). And this kind of people acts like that - a funny behaviour, to say the least. So what's their problem?

The best answer came from an old gamer:

+ 2 cm

It's that simple. They gain two centimeters each time they get the aggro. Do the maths..

Click Pic to Enlarge

Life is beautiful (on the PTS)

2010-08-31T11:26:00.008+02:00

Well yes, I tried Aion 2.0 on the PTS. /blush

But it's a secret, don't tell anyone, ok?

Click Pic To Enlarge

Comic from Scott Kurtz, creator of PvPOnline

No, not seeking knowledge or excitement, not dying to know the little secrets which will make me level faster on the 7th of September, when Aion 2.0 launches. No, I did it for another reason:

Fun.

I have to admit, it's fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun leveling on the PTS. Something like playing bombjack (ancient arcade game) with 99 lives, or like playing civilization II after you have taken up all resources from the enemies. Plain cheating, yet.. fulfilling.

Examples include:

Lots exp from each mob (the multiplier must be something like x3?)
Tons exp from each gather (the multiplier must be something like x10?)
Plethora of drops (x5?)

I know, i know, that's not the point (see pic below).

Click Pic To Enlarge

Comic from Scott Kurtz, creator of PvPOnline

But contrary to any game mechanics and urban believes - I do enjoy it! La vie est belle (on the PTS).

Shopping funny t-shirts

2010-08-27T14:04:00.006+02:00

Today I decided to spend some money on one funny, game-related, t-shirt. The advantage of such shopping is that you can do it anywhere, without anyone knowing, and it always makes you feel better!

So I searched for MMO-RPG related shirts. Some are not exactly funny, like the exclamation mark, but they do send a message to all other followers of the cult.

I guess the best "generic" one for me would be .. "Gaming Goddess - You may bow before me"!

Well ok, maybe not a goddess.. But I do definitely save myself ! "This princess saves herself".

Alternatively I could concentrate on cleric and healing specific t-shirts. "Cleric - I rez dead ppl" and "No, I will not rez you".

But browsing through the previous one, I found an even better one - "If you can read this, rez me!" written upside-down.

Back to the misc-RPG ones (click any picture to enlarge it):
- I Stab Shit
- I went AFK for this?? <--- WTB
- Non-Player Character

There was one Aion-specific that I liked!
The shugo one :-)
"nyerk, nyerk!"

Some sexier references are also found - check the comic about a girl, at the end of the post (click to enlarge the pic - you need to read the caption)!

Click Pic to Enlarge

Comic from Abstruse Goose

WTB Katana

2010-08-26T13:38:00.006+02:00

WTB Katana

I would fall on my sword, but then again I have no sword, only a mace, and you know falling on a mace is no quick death!

But let me explain how I got to this point..

Once upon a time, I was in a small legion with some real life friends. We were adopted in a larger legion, but most of my friends took no active role in the new legion. I soon though felt at home. Some disturbances in the leadership and - out of the blue - one of my alts is temporarily appointed brigade general. My goal? just stopping the legion from disintegrating until a proper leader found.

WTB Katana

My real life friends decide to join a stronger legion, in order to get medals from fortresses. I am asked to go too, but I prefer to stay behind. They leave without even saying goodbye to the other legionmates, or leave a message at the fora, or .. something.

WTB Katana for Seppuku

So, there I am, ashamed from their behavior. At the same time, my goal of keeping the legion from disintegrating and finding a proper leader is also failing.

So, as I said, WTB Katana. A really really good Katana.

Click Pic to Enlarge

Fight on the Right Side

2010-08-25T10:05:00.002+02:00

Drive on the Left Side!

Click Pic to Enlarge

Essencetapping the world

2010-08-23T14:21:00.004+02:00

OMG OMG OMG yes yes yes Dooooooooooone it!

Today I found the third necessary item (the diamond actually) in order to complete the Expert Essencetapping Quest. For those of you who do not know - this quest requires you to keep harvesting diamonds, rubies and sapphires, wearing a specific ring, until an ultra-rare item appears. After (only!) 600++ diamonds, I got the (@#$* "Starry Diamond".

Click Pic to Enlarge

Next time I log on, I will be delivering the quest. I will get a new hat too, which displays ground gatherables on radar (yay!)

Click Pic to Enlarge

Streaming demo of Aion 2.0

2010-08-19T11:48:00.006+02:00

Go. NOW! Live Stream has started.

http://eu.ncsoft.com/en-gb/events/gamescom.html#live-stream

Soon Jiho Lee & Seungwuk Baek, members of Aion's development team in Korea, will talk about Aion and answer questions. You can pose your questions by twitting to @aion_ayase, using #aion and #gc2010, join Aion on facebook, or just visit the expo :-)

NCSoft Live Stream from Gamescom 2010

2010-08-18T12:17:00.004+02:00

Just a quick note - NCSoft West is transmitting live from Germany right now. It's the press release @GamesCom 2010.

NB Sound quality is low.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/ncsoft-west

Faction Imbalance

2010-08-13T12:36:00.007+02:00

I have heard many arguments why Elyos [or Asmodean] side is favored. Examples include:

Pro-Elyos:

Elyos have Jeshuchi and Zapiel, dropping uber-weapons.

Pro-Asmodean:

BB Stains (an item needed for miragent armor) are easier to farm.

Naively, I was imagining that life is fair, men are kind, and factions are balanced, no matter the arguments.

Click Pic To Enlarge

Comic from PvPonline

Recently I read a very interesting post on the subject, at yetanotheraionblog (check it, it's worth reading). In this post, Mojeaux first summarises the feelings we all have regarding server merges and free transfers:

There aren’t any Asmos left to fight! Thanks NcSoft… once again you’ve managed to not only screw yourselves over, but also your dwindling die hard supporters.

Then he goes on explaining that the two factions are not balanced, giving the entrance to FT requirements, as an example.

It’s pretty much a given fact that being Elyos is the way to go because the developers favor them.

That made me think that no matter the pro or con arguments on the subject, truth is that given enough time, Elyos do dominate any server. That's the end result. According to statistics, even if we incorporate 'avalanche effect' in our calculations, this can not be a random outcome. Thus I will have to agree that Elyos are (so far) easier to play.

3 Good Excuses for 1 Bad Night

2010-08-11T16:25:00.008+02:00

Yeap, it was bad. Being a healer is all about keeping the group alive, and when the group wipes, at the final boss, of a simple B-rank DB run.. well, probably you are having a bad ~~day~~ night (*).

You need a hug. A big hug. And a kiss.

(*) The explanation of "having a bad night" is only valid if you usually do better. In the unlike event of this being a regular night, then you are probably a bad healer. And under-geared. And you suck. Better stop gaming.

Still though, since this can happen, here are some ready-made excuses for you to use:

1. The dps was low.
Yeap, it does make sense.
Low dps => A long time fighting => No skill reuse, mana depletion.
It's only natural that your healing gets worse as time passes. You use all your "tricks" (skills) and so do all group members. So you can not repeat your DP skill, you can not do the 6m cooldown groovy heal, the ranger/sin can not escape any more attacks, the tank has no other armor to use. Thus the same healer, who does very well with a high dps group that kills in few minutes, might fail when the dps is not enough. Same goes for mana - sometimes all the pots of the world are not enough, you even get a crystal, and yet..

2. You (or the tank, or someone else) lagged.
Well that needs no explaining. Obviously if you lag, you are reacting late and probably wrong.

3. You had a pug/noob/new group member.
You can blame him or her for everything! Examples include:
- No armor (e.g." the ranger took a lot of damage in each hit, he would die if you didnt spare him a heal")
- Bad gameplay (e.g. "the ranger did not know to avoid hits/reflects/*")
- No weapon (e.g. "the ranger did not do any damage, what the heck?")
- Lots of dying (e.g. "the ranger died 5 times - the sorc lost so much time rezing him and i had to heal at least once - we better leave him dead next time")

So there you go - you have some suitable, fit-all, ready-made excuses ;-)

I dont want to PvP! .. do I?

2010-07-16T11:55:00.003+02:00

See, I'm no-use in PvP. I do suck bigtimes. And hating too. Especially if the other person is peacefully doing his quest. I have only killed in mass PvP (by mistake, probably) or defending myself (oh well, they did deserve that! trying to kill a cleric.. tsk tsk).

The CanadianRainwater comic describes it pretty well - I couldn't possibly kill a noob of the other faction!

Click on Picture to Enlarge

Still though, yesterday I found myself in Asmodae with a buddy. It was quite fun! Assaulting Asmos, trying to get them killed, devising strategies(*) to win. And these Asmos were expecting us (after the 2nd or 3rd time we attacked them, they ought to be expecting us!), so I dont consider it .. wrong. Just playful!

It has just been announced that Aion 2.0: Assault on Balaurea is on its way (coming on Sept 7th). Could this possibly mean a temporary truce in order to attack the Balaurs? And - equally important - will we get any stains? :) :)

(*) Wishful thinking.

Do you want to date my avatar?

2010-07-14T16:02:00.001+02:00

Since we are all waiting for the servers to come up again, here's a suggestion for you!

Have a look at the latest episode of The Guild, a webseries about all us MMORPG players. For those of you who don't know what The Guild is (omg!), better start with the first episode of the first series (noobs!). For a detailed explanation of characters and plot, check The Guild at wikipedia.

The same people have produced "Do You Want To Date My Avatar?" a super awesome videoclip :)

What's in a name?

2010-07-09T14:59:00.009+02:00

Hakuna Matata! What a wonderful phrase
Hakuna Matata! Ain't no passing craze

I'm a sensitive soul though I seem thick-skinned
And it hurt that my friends never stood downwind
And oh, the shame {Timon: He was ashamed}
Thought of changin' my name {Timon: Oh! What's in a name?}
And I got downhearted {Timon: How did ya feel?}

That's from Hakuna Matata, the main song of Lion King. Remember?

Well yes, i thought of changin' my name! No, not MY name, just one of my alts.. Let me explain the reasoning:

1. Our server will soon (14/7) merge with another server.
2. I hate this @*($WR(*(@R* tank called Nodar.

thus...

I will create a character named Nodar on the server which

will be merged with ours (an Elyos actually, as is Nodar).

Can you imagine what will happen?

When the servers merge, there will be a name conflict (ofc). Thus both "Nodar"s will be renamed, and we will both get a name change ticket. Whoever manages to change his name back to Nodar first, wins. Guess who this will be :-)

There are evil-ier scenaria! Note a pri-existing conflict (mm tell me, is there an "Ayase"?) and use the name ticket to change your name to that. LoL. All that thanx to the brilliant elf who pointed the hole to NC's algorithm.

Let me get my plan to work.. The last days have been pretty awful, I'd better do that than commit suicide.

Rifting and Rescuing

2010-07-07T12:43:00.010+02:00

Yesterday we went to Draupnir Cave. It's an awsome instance in Beluslan, available to both Asmodians and Elyos.

The Rifting Part

1. We use the Indratu rift (= no 7) to infliltrate, which ports you some distance from the instance entrance.

2. We avoid and dodge the mobs, which works pretty well until there are some spike lags.

2. It was a matter of seconds to have my screen frozen, loose control of my toon, die miserably and dc. And you know what happens when you dc? You are revived back to your bind point - for crying out loud!

3. So scroll to Heiron, use waterfall, run from bridge to rift (shields, heals, prays and scrolls) and ta-dam back to Beluslan. Meanwhile my friends have started on the instance - after all it's much safer *inside* Draupnir Cave for an Elyos.

4. Running like hell (shields, heals and scrolls)(no time for prays this time), I come close to the entrance, but there is a 50 Asmodian with full Abyss 50 gear, looking at me with a sardonic smile. And lots of damage. I am lucky to have all my shielding up, still though my hp is dropping fast as I run.

The Rescuing Part

1. That's when you need a hero, isnt it? When you are run down, hit and about to die.

He has to be strong and he has to be fast,  

and he has to be fresh from the fight!

2. Here comes my savior, running from Draupnir Cave, towards the Asmo, passing by me and taking the aggro. It's the British and dearest tank - and boy was I glad to see him! Rescued! I owe him bigtimes!!

3. The rest of the group appears, my friends, hunting down the enemy, who now flys away wounded.

Thank you!

An acceptable decision

2010-06-17T15:08:00.000+02:00

Well, there is the blog back to "acceptable" design, no more color-spree.

I still think the happy orange lunime petals were better though.

Jeshuchi, Zapiel and some invisible bridges

2010-06-15T14:55:00.015+02:00

You know about the invisible bridges, hanging in the empty space, going from one island to the other? Well you need to climb on those if you want to kill some pretty-awesome RBs like Jeshuchi and Zapiel.

To get there:

1. Port to Heiron
2. Either run to Kishar Camp or fly directly from heiron
3. Use the waterfall (need Hokuna Matata for that)
4. Appear on rock bridge
5. Glide to the rock opposite
6. Get out of the hole -grrr
7. Walk around the rock that looks like a bone (that's a left turn)
8. Walk forward to get to the chain
9. Walk upwards on the chain, till the n-1 point (on the last one, you fall down).

10. Take a deep breath.

11. Aim to the [right of the] tree you can see towards the islands (on your right).
12. Land on the hill
13. Walk to the cliff that is closer to the 2 mobs guarding the (invisible) bridge
14. Glide towards the 2 mobs
15. While you glide, the moment you get an updraft, do a 90 degrees turn to the right, and aim between the pillars sticking out from Jeshuchi island against you
16. You should land on the bridge to Jesuchi.

Well, i cann't really do that. I want to help my friends, the few times i have time, but I rarely make it. Usually i fall in any of these steps. And as if that's not enough, usually half the legion plus some more people are there, watching you fail miserably.

I really really need to improve my gliding and flying skills!
Click to Enlarge Pic

Lumine petals applied

2010-06-14T16:30:00.004+02:00

Well yes, exp is important, raids and kinah too, but right now I am too busy applying lunime petals to both my armor and my blog! What do you think?

Wait, better not answer that. I will change the blog (at least!) back to something more "appropriate" soon - just for now though, few days of color-spree!

Click Pic to Enlarge

What the F*@$&??

2010-06-07T17:14:00.006+02:00

Oh gosh, i guess game-friends can be as silly as rl-friends!

Now if the same person is both game-friend *and* rl-friend.. endless potential!

Yesterday we wanted to do Azoturan Fortress (remember where you did Fragments of Memory 3? same place). BTW it got much easier after the 1.9 patch! There drops a shield I want, and lovely rings for everyone. The so-nice elf and the dearest british thought of the idea, especially since they know how much i need a shield.

However 3 ppl are not enough for the fortress. We spoke to legionmates, even asked one of them to repeat our call in vent. A group was formed, and we farmed the 2 bosses multiple times (yay!!).

Just after the 2nd time, I receive a whisper from a close legion-mate, rl-friend and ofc game-friend:

"You are so "LOL" all of you, going there to farm the fortress in utter silence and secrecy -were you afraid we will steal your loots?"

What the f@()$* - why did he say that?! True, i didnt explicitly ask him to join us - but that's only because he would probably say no. Why on earth he was so rude?

"What's up with you, why are you so rude, is it something i did?" --me

After some heated discussion, he admitted he "didnt mean it like that" etc etc. Oh yeah? how did you mean it then?

"Oh, how did you mean it then?", I asked

He responded something about "just saying so" and "playful" and "joking".

I am not sure I believe him though :-( I think he is still angry with all of us. Pittttty! :-(

The chosen comic demonstrates how a complex relationship can indeed form online, be it a friendly or a romantic one. Oh and it's funny too!

Crowd Control please!

2010-06-02T11:44:00.002+02:00

Tooo many mobs around! Too many players too! CC urgently needed!

And let's say we can handle the mobs. Actually this is the easy part - hack and slash, rinse, repeat, done!

But the players? How can we possibly handle all these ppl?

Oh I don't want to control anyone (well.. let's say I don't, for the argument's sake).

I don't even want to manage anyone.

I would like to.. mmm.. let's say encourage people towards the right direction, or at least what I perceive to be the right direction. Oh don't be hasty to judge. Told you, no control 1984-style - just making sure they all know the advantages of the option presented in a Brave-New-World -style.

Current problem pertains to legion members collaboration, group formation algorithm, balance. I guess you have already seen this kind of problems:

few chanters, few clerics
two groups (e.g. for DP) forming concurrently
person X wants to go with Y but not with Z; while Y wants to go with Z, doesn't care if K joins, but Z waits for K and L because last time L helped him and anyway she is nice. Perfect sense, no?

So.. nope. No-one went to DP. Gosh!

4 reasons game friends are [not?] real friends

2010-05-28T14:37:00.005+02:00

I was pondering for days the simple yet quite important question:

Are game friends, real friends?

What would you answer, do you feel your game friends close? Close enough to consider them "real" friends?

Reasons for NO:

1. It's possible you have never met a game friend in person.
2. You might not even know his name / age / gender / location.
3. You don't go out together, you don't exchange xmas cards and you don't invite each other in social events (oh wait - sometimes you do!)

Reasons for YES:

1. You spend more time chatting with game friends than other ppl in real life.
2. You had a fight with your game friend (because he was bossy about what to do, or you were careless and he died, or .. ooh many reasons to fight!) and yet your relationship survived and got even better.
3. You do care about his everyday mundane things and you know he cares too.

You choose - are they? real friends?

Best Reason for YES:

As far as I am concerned,
4. Friends are the people you can count on. Who count on you, too. Who will pick you up, when you are down. Game or no game.

What to do?

2010-05-20T23:45:00.006+02:00

There are rules, and rules are important.

And there is the group, and The Group is important.

The rules might differ a bit, depending on where you come from or what you are doing at the moment, but they follow a more-or-less steady pattern:

stay close, heal,
debuff, heal,
dispel, heal,
dont aggro mobs, heal,
buff, heal,
preserve mana, heal

Then there are priorities:

tank over ranger
sorcerer over spiritmaster

Even harder?

preserve yourself - you must not die

..even if this means that someone else will be left to die.

I follow rules. Was trained for years to follow rules. It's easy to follow rules. Ppl like you better if you follow rules.

It's just that sometimes the lines are unclear. Or the moment too short to decide. Then you save the person you want, maybe dieing in the act, but you did save him, and that's so more important.

Way across town.. where your rules curve.

And you are ..?

2010-05-20T10:17:00.002+02:00

How do you like your in-game friends call you when you chat? Using your real life name or your game-name?

I am not comfortable with my game-name. Not this game-name at least. So I asked my friends to use my real name (when chatting at ventrilo). My newest-and-very-promising young friend (the elf!!!) keeps using the game name. I thought he did it in order to impose a distance (barrier?), especially since he has not yet disclosed his real life name.

However he told me himself, that even with his closest friend, the one they have been playing together a long time, he uses his game name. So maybe it's not a barrier thing, but just a preference..? Preference for what though? Not maintaining two identification strings for the same person? (<--- that's only for the computer geeks to understand). I dont quite get it, but at least I dont mind now.

A successful failure

2010-05-10T15:22:00.010+02:00

You get a group and sent them off to Theobomo Lab. They wipe again and again and again, and after more than 4 hours, they give up - just before the final boss.

Fail?

Well yes, they did fail the raid, but I can give you 5 reasons this was a successful evening!

Background:

Group was mostly 50s, one cleric 47, one gladiator 47.
Only half of the group had experience on this dungeon.
Group members from 2 close-collaborating legions, first time together though.

Facts:

Group wiped twice in the first room.
Drops more-or-less compromised players for soul healing required.
Communication was ventrilo - based (some ppl had to install client).

Beneficial Outcome - 5 Reasons:

Players of 2nd legion had to install and learn vent.
Players entering the Lab for the first time, learned related small secrets.
All players proved their devotion to the group by staying there up to the last moment.
The two legions came closer together. That's important, since we are trying to make these two legions unite - but it needs to be done when everybody agrees.

A wise group once said:

Always look on the bright side of life! (worst things happen at sea you know!) [VID]

Last but not least, I had the selfish pleasure of feeling valuable :-) "If I were there, things could have been better" etc. Not only because I am 50 and their cleric was 47, but also because my friends said I do play better. It's not necessarily true, but I like thinking it is. Or my friends are really nice, which is even better!

He is shy

2010-05-07T17:03:00.002+02:00

I have met him before, the slim blond elf with the pointy hat and the blue trousers. Always kind, always nice, never talking.

My british friend (see previous posts) officially introduced us yesterday, and the elf came to my help together with my friend - although I had never asked! We were at a group - the british, the elf, a suicidal legionmate, and I. It was not before long, that we all joined vent.

I tried asking the elf's name, but he didn't reply.

I tried asking his job, but he didn't reply.

I tried asking where he is from, and .. there it was, an answer. That was all the info I got yesterday about his personal data.

But he did tell me a lot, albeit not in words:

He told me he is kind.

He cares about other people.

He keeps to himself with new acquaintances.

And that it will take some time to make him trust us.

Having realised all that, I now feel bad for my attitude yesterday, attacking him with questions. Whenever he is ready, if we ever gain his trust, he will talk to us.

PS I am sure you can guess his class. What class do your most interesting friends choose?