Re-entry: Excuses and Bewilderment

Hello,

It has been a while since I've posted, and it could be a while before I post again. I'd like to be able to say I'm back, but honestly, I don't know if I'll be able to stick around. I've been gone for so long, when I got back into the game a couple nights ago, the first 4 mounts I saw weren't even in the shop when I was playing.

Here are things I'm trying to do....

Finish Zafaria. It's a short list.

Honestly, I don't know what about this place that drives me away, but I guess I got over the whole tropical world thing with Krokotopia and Celestia.

Although I must say I approve of some of the bosses here. Belloq took me 5 tries, solo.

May be back.

Stormthief out.

PS: First time I saw a Hydra mount,  I thought somebody was having a battle in the middle of Ravenwood. You Balance wizards must be thrilled :).

PPS The hydra's still got nothing on the Bone Dragon mount, tho :)

Theorycrafting: Conformity and Deviations in the Schools of Magic

Hey, readers;


Thanks for putting up with my absence, I realize I haven't posted in months, and I'd give you an excuse for that, but I'd much rather give you a post. As usual, I am not the first to post about new content, and still I haven't started my "It's a Jungle Out There" series for Zafaria. This post is a more of an attempt to imitate Kevin Battleblood's scholarly take on the Spiral; unfortunately, I have neither Kevin's command over technology, nor his ability to simplify the intricacies of W101, so you'll have to put up with a lay man's look at the lay of the land. (Sorry about the alliteration, AP Language and Comp is getting into my head).


Conformity and Deviation in the Schools of Magic


An MMO is different from a single player game in that in a single player game, the player  can be as powerful as the game's designer allows him or her to be, with no boundaries aside from the difficulty level of the game (think; Super Mario). But in an MMO, the social aspect of the game (read: the fact that player play alongside other people) requires that a player's avatar (what we would call our characters) have differentiated abilities (characters can do different things). This variation in ability gives us our class system... in our case, the Schools of Magic.


Now, in order to give each player sense of identity, Kingsisle created the Schools for us to give us reason to play with other people; a Storm wizard wouldn't need a Theurgist on a Chancel run if he could heal as well as the Life wizard could. By alloting strengths and weaknesses to each class, KI . Taking a look at the first fifty levels of the game, it's easy to see that

• Life was meant for healing; AoE and Single Target (Rebirth, Unicorn, Fairy, Satyr)
• Storm and Fire were both handed the damage roles, with Storm handicapped accuracy-wise, and Fire cut short magnitude wise. 
• Ice was given the best defenses in the game; shields and counter shields (Tower Shield and Steal Ward).
• Myth was given a more tactical role, it could call in fire support and backup with its Minion spells, break through shields with Minotaur and Orthrus, and stun with Medusa.
• Death and Balance were intended as the optimal soloing classes, with an even mix of all four roles mixed into the schools and received debuffs early on (Weakness and Plague).

However, these Schools have deviated, or changed, from what we see as their original roles; Life, Ice, and Death were all given powerful AoE damage spells with the release of the Lvl 48 or 58 spells, and suddenly, everyone can AoE Damage, even the Life wizard. 


How some of them have changed: and how they might change in the future....

• Death now has replaced Fire as having the highest DoT; Bone Dragon. As death and decay go hand-in-creepy-hand, I could see Necromancers rising to the top of the DoT damage charts.. (There are no actual charts.... It's just the author trying out cliches
  Blaze's Guess: DoT Life-Drain
• Fire seems to be taking on a debuffing role; nothing kills a fully buffed and bladed Bone Dragon like the debuff from an Efreet. I could see the School of Fire taking on a more DPS+Debuffing role, or, given its most recent spell, AoE damage...
  Blaze's Guess: AoE damage that lowers accuracy of all spells by 40%
• Life has undergone the most change, perhaps; with spells like Forest Lord and Garden Gnomes turning what was once one of the game's most difficult classes to solo quest and/or PvP with into one of the most difficult opponents one could run into in the Arena. (2 hours in the Arena with a Triage and Satyr spamming Theurgist does not make for a happy Necromancer. And... Forest Lord packs a punch, ST or AoE...)
  Blaze's Guess: Single Target Hit, AoE Team Heal. (Think opposite of Crow)
• Ice has gone from being everyone's friendly dps-challenged meat shield to everyone's friend dps-dealing meat shield with the creepy spell (Snow Angel... somehow manages to unnerve a Death wizard. That says something, doesn't it? ....No, Brandy, it doesn't say I need some liquid courage..... go to your room.)
  Blaze's Guess: AOE damage, applies absorb soaking up 500.
• Storm seems to have developed into a Single Target Damage school; with spells like Leviathan and Insane Bolt showing off the flashy damage that comes with enrolling as  a Diviner....
  Blaze's Guess: Big Single Target, Removes all Blades.
• Balance seems to be, well, balanced..... Hey! Enough of the rotten fruit, I know my puns are worth punishment..... but Balance does seem to be sticking to "one blade fits all".
  Blaze's Guess: Astral Hydra
• Myth also seems to remain unchanged in its support and cover fire roles (Medusa puts an enemy spellcaster out of the action for 2 rounds, and Talos is very distracting.)
  Blaze's Guess: Temporary minion, Enemies are forced to attack for 1 round.

It's obvious that Kingsisle will continue tweaking with the classes, and the predictions of a humble Death wizard have no bearing on the decisions of the devs, so a little harmless theorycrafting can't hurt, right? Feel free to read over the ideas I just put forth for your School or others and comment below.

Stormthief out.

Soon to come...

Yes, I am back from Romania, yes, it was awesome (if you think your soccer games are rough, you've obviously never been elbow-tackled by a determined Romaneste), and yes, I got great pictures. Yes, I may post them, and Yes, you should expect me to post as soon as I complete Zafaria on live.

Expect more.... soon.

Stormthief out

Death PvP Guide Part II Section 2: The Astral Magics

Hey there, Readers;

I've had a busy month, and by now, you've all heard my excuses. Honestly, there have been more important things in my life than W101; but I think you guys should know I think posting at long intervals is better than no posting at all. It's about time that I gave you guys a good read, and I hope not to disappoint.

Last August, I decided to throw my casual efforts into what I hope will be the most comprehensive Death PvP guide around for a while. Here's what I call comprehensive:

1. Training Points a la Stormthief
• Section 1: The Ravenwood Schools
• Section 2: The Astral Magics
• Section 3: Special Purpose Spells
2. Death on the Attack (The Way of the Wraith- my personal method)
3. Deathfense (split into several posts)
1. Holding against the Storm
2. Playing with Fire
3. Balancing the Odds
4. Breaking the Ice
5. Life and Death Situations
6. Mything the Point 
7. Defying Death
4. Endgame Tactics
5. Spellbook: A Rundown of All Death's Spells, and their use in PvP Combat
6. Special Article: "DoT or Health-stealers?"
7. The Final Word

This installment is the The Astral Magics; and their uses in PvP. The Astral Schools neither send your opponent scrambling for his heals (Well, the Storm Polymorphs are an exception; if a player turns into a shady looking kitty or weird water spirit/cyborg thing, I usually discard the nonessentials from my hand and pull my Tower Shield TCs and wave bye bye to my health globe), nor do they magically raise the dead (But if anyone starts looking like Broccoli, alarm bells start wailing. They're like Balrogs for Death wizards. Well, big, squishy Balrogs; love that Death damage boost.).

The Astral Schools have different roles, but really, they're support spells. While they didn't rock the Spiral like the Critical did (Doubling the damage of your spell is no joke; today; the opening squeak of my fully-bladed Bone Dragone hit for over 1500, and the next tap was double that. Yeah, sorry about the overkill there, Mr Fire Wizard.), 

The Sun School

Is the School I really really really wish I'd trained in. Based around Enchantments; boosting your cards to do higher base damage is deadly. In fact, if I had my way; the "blade-spirit blade-critical boost aura-Gargantuaned Bone Dragon" may just be the deadliest damage set up in the arena. From what I hear, those tough cookies we call Ice Wizards even wobble their heads when they meet Bone Bone on steroids (Paraphrasing and elaborating a quote from the deadly Thaumaturgess herself, Sabrina Frostshard. Now, that's one scary scary wizzy.).

Ok, the point of that ramble was: if you like an extra oomph with your spells; a Gargantuaned Vampire is probably more affordable than an Elucidated Wraith. Final Recommendation: If ya like killing, get all the Damage Boost Enchantments.

The Moon School

Is an ok School PvP wise. I keep the Gobbler and Treant in my deck in case I ever need to beat a sudden retreat to heal and regroup. 

The Gobbler Poly turns you into a very smelly Gobbler, who knew. And as much as that might cramp your style; your Death-symboled Elegant hat doesn't scream cocky defiance very well when its spinning like a top. Aside from giving you access to Tower Shield and Steal Ward, the Gobbler is also kind enough to include an absolutely decent heal with an exquisite combat animation. Plus: The Resist All with the awesome health and shields means that you shouldn't be too scared when you're looking down the barrel of a well buffed Judgement.

The Treant is an ok Spell.... Ouch! Why are you throwing things at me? ok, I like dressing up as the Life School mascot as much as you do, but as I said... wait, what are you doing with Brandy? ... Just bring him back before midnight with a full tank of Wraith-food. Well, the Treant is good, but not good enough to get just for PvP.

Final Recommendation: Maybe get Gobbler (First one, easy point), but don't get Treant just for PvP.

The Star School

Fortify, Amplify, and Vengeance make for decent investments, but the only one I use is Vengeance. Vengeance goes two ways; it can double incoming healing or outgoing damage. Amplify is nice, but really, I don't need to be hit any harder before I get the healing. Fortify is very nice against Fire Wizards. 

I've heard good things about Conviction, but I don't see particular use for it in my default deck. Maybe in an anti-Myth wizard deck, those Conjurers can be very tough, took a drubbing from one today (put up a good fight though; the fight lasted over an hour.). 

Final Recommendation: Have Vengeance and maybe Amplify, but as a Death Wizard, Critical should be your favorite word. 

So concludes Section 2 of Part II. The Astral spells aren't really critical to your survival, but they could be critical to your opponent's fate. 

Stormthief out.

PS Next time, expect pictures from my trip to Romania. The country is really beautiful, and the people are friendly. Just watch your wallet if you should choose to stop by

Wysteria Lane..

No, readers, this post won't be about the lives of bored housewives; sorry to disappoint you. Rather, about the world Wysteria, and how many pig jokes I can make without driving all of you screaming from your computers. I'd make less, but the inhabitants of what should be called Pig-sty-eria certainly don't skimp on the Ravenwood jokes. Sorry, but I'm totally neck-deep in this whole school rivalry thing, as usual. You can bet that I'd dye my robes Ravenwood colors... if we had them, and if my Waterworks robe-stitched to-Dragonrider's thing could be dyed anything other than black-and-gold....

Anyhow, here's my first day of fun in Wysteria. Yes, regulars, screenshots with Stormthief commentary.




Other magic schools? Wait, you mean I could have gone to a magic school where teachers didn't try to have me expelled just because they didn't like the way I carried their laundry? Oh hi, Professor Drake. Since when did this become your office too? Could I get a transfer form?


All this trouble for a Cup.... Merle, why can't you just settle for a nice mug? This one says "Spiral's 2nd Best Headmaster".... it even comes with a swirly-straw!



I guess that means I don't need to show up for Drake's class, right? Or Falmea's, right? My eyebrows haven't quite grown back yet. Do I get a nice Ravenwood hoodie? Cuz I look good in black.



Why Pigswick? I mean, it's like you're just asking for a lot of bacon jokes...




Well, I bet Drake went along with it happily, right? I feel so special. Do I get a day off from class? Cuz I've just about had enough with the Helephants, and giant Minotaurs..



Well it's no hoodie, but it'll do, bird, it'll do. (Babe 1995, anyone?)


Now that's just asking for it to be stolen...





Thanks? So, you're like the Pigswick version of Mr. Lincoln.... And correct me if I'm wrong, my semi-modern Asian history is a bit rusty, isn't the Dowager the lady who staged a coup against her 2 year old grandson and threw his mother down a well.... Sorry, guys, still just kinda uncomfortable with the whole rival school thing :). I'm sure Ms. Dowager is a perfectly nice dragon lady. I'm sorry, I mean, pig lady. Or do you guys prefer porcine? Pig it is.






Call me paranoid, but isn't that foreshadowing?


Yep, "build a sense of community". Which is what my coach said at the fencing match before encouraging us to beat our opponents into the ground, to show no mercy, to show those other schools ... for the sense of community :), of course.



Benedict Glendemning.... nice first name, right?





And if I don't pass? Suppose that will be exciting too.

Well, this is rather exciting, actually. Walked down a hallway...

And found this...

Look at that, Merle Ambrose in his salad ears. Turns out the robe and monocle weren't new.... He doesn't look too happy, does he?

And this...

Well, would you look at that; the un-ruined version of the Ruined Painting. Sorry about the whole, you know, defeating you ten thousand times thing. Just had to have that robe of yours, you know how we wizards are sticklers for fashion. And by the way, could I borrow that staff of yous, ex-Prof? Malistaire didn't seem to change with time, assuming whatever business he had at Pigswick was a while ago.... (Guest lecturers don't usually get portraits in places of honor, and Malistaire appears to have been teaching at Ravenwood for a long time).


So... hi there, Diego. I'm pretty sure you never came here in the Mini-Game...

So.... what's the story here? I don't quite understand why 3 note-worthy Ravenwood professors have their portraits next to Pigswick faculty (see the pouting pig in the pictures). I don't know if they taught here or something, and I'm probably over analyzing this (as usual)... But what I do know is that I hope these portraits drop. Cuz Malistaire would go great between Dogs Playing Cards and Two Trees, and Diego looks like he belongs between the pair of Hanging Sai I have. And Ambrose? Sticking him next to the Laugh'o'dills, cuz he looks like he needs a laugh.


Greatest prize in all the Spiral, eh? So... you think if I grab it and run, anyone will notice? Or will it have to be more Thomas Crown Affair..


Nice to meet you too, Benny.


Wow, extra points for humility there, Benny Glenny.


So, if they're not fair, they aren't final? Let me get my lawyer on stand-by.


Save your sympathy for yourself when I'm done with you... Alright, sorry, forgot I was on a blog. But seriously, watch your tongue, bro. (No, in this case, don't be like Blaze.


Chamber of the Basilisk? Alright, but if I don't come out in five, come in and look for me. (Bonus points to whoever got the complicated joke :P)


mmhmm.






"There is no shame in defeat."  "Perhaps next year, no?" :)


What? No, I'm not smirking, this is my normal face.  :)


Oh, you too, Ms. Dowager?



So, more arguments over whether or not "My blade is longer than yours",  "My school is cooler than yours", and "Our A-strip is better than yours"... wait, sorry, this isn't a fencing regionals, my bad.


Kisai Shugenja? Now that rolls right off the tongue, doesn't it?



Alright, I guess  by now, you've all had enough of me comparing the competition to one of my fencing matches; it's about time I actually gave this post some actual substance. First; Wysteria is a game-changer. It may just be a tiny break from the copy-paste quests of Marleybone (I know a lot of you loved MB, but really; it was a really long world for me, what with the lack of sidewalks and flight-risk witnesses), but this tiny break opens up a lot of things for the Spiral. See bullets below;

• We are not alone... Apparently, Ravenwood isn't the only place where one can learn to wave a wand and make things go boom; there's Pigswick, and Weirwood, and more, i think. So... where were you guys when our guy Mally rage-quit and tried to bring the Spiral with him, eh?
  
  
• We are not the best... Pigswick is doing a good job of making us look bad; the fact that they all openly dismiss us Ravenwood students, and with some reason; someone explain why the Spiral Cup practically belongs to Pigswick.
  
  Yes, I was again tempted to revert to Muggle combat with this glorified pork-belly.

And one of the most interesting things for me was this;

Now, I realize Kingsisle has played out the whole "desert mysticism" thing; but  this scimitar-wielding spell-weaver has me intrigued; is Mirage a future world? 

Who knows? But that will have to wait, I'm about to leave for a humanitarian aid trip to Romania. We'll be helping special needs kids, and orphans in the town of ***CENSORED***. Wish us luck!

Blaze Stormthief

Death Student Walks into Arena....

Heya, readers;

As usual, I return after a lengthy hiatus, with an excuse, of course, but you don't need to hear it. I've been known to dabble a bit in PvP, never really rising above Sergeant (I've always been more of the "in the trenches" type of guy :) ). I've fought plenty of matches, obviously, not as many as KBB, or Cass Dragonheart; and I did take a break, but I've picked it up again.

Of course, a constant feature of the Arena is the expatriate population of Trolls, the very un-lovable inhabitants of what is now becoming the focus of my activity on Blaze. Trolls are the bane of the Arena; driving off older players frustrated by their inane prattling, while younger players are upset by the insults they fling about so carelessly. Right now, I'm at a point in life where I'm too old for any of their "LOL  NOOB YO" taunts to get under my skin, so PvP becomes more of an amusement as I watch trolls bend over backwards to insult you.

I've come to enjoy the near misses; during several tough bouts, I've survived Efreets and Leviathans to come out at less than 100 health, placed shields and debuffs that have saved lives.... (my own).  And, I may or may not enjoy the angry outburst from the opposition whenever a heal or a shield stops an all-out offensive in its tracks... you know you're doing something right when your opponent is so dismayed by a move he bursts into hysterics about the total "noobishness" of your move.

Now, as I can't really shovel out PvP observations en masse-, that would be boring, and if I wanted to be boring, I'd take a job as a Chem teacher (har har, kidding. Some Chem teachers just take twenty minutes to define "spontaneous reaction", while others don't. Mine did.) So, I'll try to relate each tidbit with how I learned it; a description of the PvP match. Knowing how much you guys like hearing about Blaze Stormthief getting knocked around the Arena, I'm hoping you guys will enjoy this series... :)

I'll start the paragraphs off with a bang; or rather, a burn. Or the lack of it. I've drawn quite a few Fire wizards recently, and the fact that my dry cleaners isn't yelling at me about the burns in my robes is cause for concern. It seems that the go-to spell for you Pyros is Efreet, a direct damage spell that applies the largest debuff in the game upon impact-- great for PvP. And as much as I like don't like seeing that Genie, it's become far to easy to spot the pending arrival of the lamp; the Pyro lays down a trap, usually Feint, after the standard Blade set-up. By the time said Fire wizard has finished the prep for the big guy, I've already countered, with a Volcanic Shield, or a Tower Shield, or a Virulent Plague; the possibilities are many. Which is why no one traps in PvP; Feint has disappeared from my set-up, and I just use it as a sign a big direct-damage spell is coming, and shield up. It's amazing that Fire wizards are the ones whining about shields, the School of Fire is the School with the second largest immunity to shields; DoTs spells cut right through them. And Fire is not short on the DoTs: Scald, Link, and Dragon all lay out the Damage over Time very well; but most Fire wizards seem to weigh too much on the hit from Efreet. In fact, I think I've used more DoT spells than the Fire students I've faced in the arena.... Which may be why I'm getting used to seeing pyromancers with their heads wobbling.

During a recent bout, I fought a Storm wizard who seemed to attack each turn; straight out of the timer, he hurled Insane Bolt at me.  Said Bolt was followed by a Wild Bolt, and while I Sacrificed, he began the prep for a Leviathan. I spent most of the time alternating between shielding and healing, waiting for the cards needed for a big Bone Dragon to show themselves when, suddenly, the end-of-match display popped up, displaying a victory for me... as much as I liked the Rank Up, and the deposit of Arena Tickets, I wondered why. After tracking down my opponent, who stood with his head wobbling for no apparent reason at the other side of the duel ring, I asked why, and apparently, he'd run out of cards. Knowing the volatility of most Storm spells, it kinda made sense; a short deck would allow a Storm wizard to get the cards they need. But really, Storm wizards can rely lay out the damage; and it's sad that a Storm wizard ended up losing because he ran out of cards.... So, long deck, anyone?

Stormthief out

The Change in Pace

Have you ever ridden a bicycle down a rather steep slope? Well, I have. And let me say that the feeling of pure exhilaration as you soar on rubber wings over asphalt waves, accelerating to the point where you realize you've lost all control is.... both frightening, and somewhat fulfilling. In my case, the ride ended in a near-death experience involving the appearance of a very large Volvo, a last-second sharp swerve, and a mouthful of bark from a rather abrupt introduction to a very inedible oak tree. The point I'm trying to make here is that while we all love the ride, it's wise to make sure your "ride" doesn't stop in a place with facial scars, stitches, and a great story for dinner parties.

Now, while I hope you all enjoyed the lovely mental images conjured by that paragraph, I'm trying to make a point here. Life is easy during the ride, but when you meet a roadblock...

Like the horrible garlic breath of a certain Death student's Bone Dragon, don't give up and die like Strykar there did.


Despite this post being more of a joke than a quality Word post; I do have to apologize for my lack of presence in this blog and the community. I haven't been posting much lately, and the reason is simple: I'm just really busy. As summer comes, I'll have more time to post, but for now fencing, finals, and friends are making my life complicated, which means that come summer, Blaze Stormthief will be back...

But for now,

Stormthief out