Rift: Planes of Telara

[Sky]

Or even have a window on the soul screen that keeps a running total of enhancements from the currently selected abilities. I think that was Draegan's idea in the very first beta, iirc.

[Draegan]

Don't get me started int he Buff UI, or Buffs/Debuffs in general.  It's a horrific system.  There are too many.  The good thing is they are slowly tweaking it so they know it's a problem.

Good rule of thumb:
If it's in your talent tree, it stacks.
If it's an effect that can sit in a debuff/buff frame it probably does not stack with other effects.

[Hawkbit]

I wasn't commenting so much as to stat stacking, that should be more obviously arranged.  Rather, my comment is more that it is okay if parts of the game happen behind the scenes.  "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain" and all that...

[kildorn]

Don't get me started int he Buff UI, or Buffs/Debuffs in general.  It's a horrific system.  There are too many.  The good thing is they are slowly tweaking it so they know it's a problem.

Good rule of thumb:
If it's in your talent tree, it stacks.
If it's an effect that can sit in a debuff/buff frame it probably does not stack with other effects.

There are far too many "stance" buffs for melee classes. It winds up taking a basic idea (are you in offensive/defensive/crit or support mode!) and turning my warrior's buff bar during combat into a 15 icon long list of crap (pacts, shields, the buffs that give me both of those, my 5% damage stance, my avatar of wind, my blade spell, what have you) and makes it impossible to know when something actually procced that I may want to use.

UI mods would do this game a world of good. I would KILL for power auras.

[ezrast]

Yeah, auras that actually affect your play reeeeally need to be separated out from hour-long self buffs and +1% damage crap. Especially for classes that use self-buffs as an extra resource, which are my favorite ones in the game so far - Void Knight and Justicar.

On that note, I rolled a justicar/inquisitor/purifier and holy shit. 12 points into Justicar for the mana return and all the low-hanging healing stuff, 0 into purifier for the self shield, and the rest into inquisitor for ranged life damage. You know how powerful bard healing is in warfronts? It's not *quite* that powerful... but it has good damage, survivability, and mobility, none of which the bard has. It's fantastic.

Also it has 6 self buffs to recast every time I die.

[kildorn]

If you don't have a pet, you can't really bitch about rebuffing on death imo <3

Seriously, why are the instant pet summons so far down for non necros, and why can't I just instant cast my pet for 10s after rezzing or something sane?

[sam, an eggplant]

PvP, I assume.

(ProTip: whenever something sucks, blame PvP.)

[Threash]

Uh actually pvp is why they need instant summons, pet classes have an extra 8 seconds of death penalty atm.

[kildorn]

Uh actually pvp is why they need instant summons, pet classes have an extra 8 seconds of death penalty atm.

This. When rezzing in pvp, pet classes need to sit there and channel for 8 seconds to be at full power again. Everyone else can insta-buff while running back.

[Lakov_Sanite]

Yeah I got number one in healing in the battleground i did with my bard, i was like "wtf?" i love playing them though, they feel really useful.

[kildorn]

I just got out of a Black Garden game where my RB/Reaver pulled 62,143 with 56 kills, 20 KBs and 3 deaths. Next up was 31,149.

Seriously, warriors are hilariously overdone at low levels right now, and it's almost entirely due to their souls that do primarily magic damage at range. Flame Spear is some kind of sick joke with a base damage twice that of any melee strike even before you care about the dot :P

[Bzalthek]

God damn it, I thought OB started on the 21st... Oh well, at least I managed to study for my test.

I'm just shocked that I've been playing for an hour and haven't had a complaint yet (aside from fucking my screen resolution on quitting!)

[Arinon]

Seriously, warriors are hilariously overdone at low levels right now, and it's almost entirely due to their souls that do primarily magic damage at range. Flame Spear is some kind of sick joke with a base damage twice that of any melee strike even before you care about the dot :P

Flamespear is pretty much the only thing that makes PvP on the warrior class viable before at least 30.  That said, it's so crazy overpowered they will have to change something.  Add a few points in Void Knight you can use Pact Conversion + Discharge and stay completely out of melee range.

[Threash]

I just got out of a Black Garden game where my RB/Reaver pulled 62,143 with 56 kills, 20 KBs and 3 deaths. Next up was 31,149.

Really? i don't really see any synergy at all between those two souls, why does it work so well?

[Ghambit]

I pulled the trigger on this game and have been purposely staying out of the later betas so I can at least be somewhat enthralled by the 'changes' made.
So my peoples.  Who's got the guild to join?  I'd like to dare to be different and go Guardian if possible.  Defiant, though cool, depresses me.  And the music is better in Guardian zones.

[Paelos]

I played some more on my Guardian warrior today. I got to do about 4 Rifts.

It's definitely WAR right down to the smallest detail. Especially the part where 30 lowbies steamrolled the stuff where I couldn't see it. 

I still have no idea what the hell is going on in the story or game world though.

[Pennilenko]

I still have no idea what the hell is going on in the story or game world though.

Did you watch the opening video for either side or read any of the quests or the first transitional video when you leave the earliest part of the game?

[Hawkbit]

I pulled the trigger on this game and have been purposely staying out of the later betas so I can at least be somewhat enthralled by the 'changes' made.
So my peoples.  Who's got the guild to join?  I'd like to dare to be different and go Guardian if possible.  Defiant, though cool, depresses me.  And the music is better in Guardian zones.

So far the only group that has stepped up is Morfiend's group.  I'm not entirely sure I want on a PvP server yet and I don't know which faction they chose.  We'll see; I have a week to decide I guess.

[Lakov_Sanite]

I still have no idea what the hell is going on in the story or game world though.

Did you watch the opening video for either side or read any of the quests or the first transitional video when you leave the earliest part of the game?

The game has a lot of good points worth defending, the story isn't one of them, it's shite.

[Draegan]

I still have no idea what the hell is going on in the story or game world though.

Did you watch the opening video for either side or read any of the quests or the first transitional video when you leave the earliest part of the game?

The game has a lot of good points worth defending, the story isn't one of them, it's shite.

I wouldn't call it shit, but it's on par with the rest of the industry, which means not great at all in any case.

[kildorn]

I just got out of a Black Garden game where my RB/Reaver pulled 62,143 with 56 kills, 20 KBs and 3 deaths. Next up was 31,149.

Really? i don't really see any synergy at all between those two souls, why does it work so well?

Your spike damage is Flame Spear/Fire Burst.

Reaver brings higher base HP, an the ability to instant ranged spread diseases to everyone in a 15 yard radius around your target (why is that skill 10 energy, low in the tree, and has a 10s cooldown?). Low damage, but useful (one increase miss chance by 5%, but is melee range to apply, the others are just damage and your life-leech for survival), and a 5% flat damage buff.

Riftblade/VK and Riftblade/Reaver are the total bullshit combinations in warfronts right now. Reavers in general are hilarious in pve, as they are iffy single pulling things, but scale to 1vN hilariously well. I've tanked invasions just via bard healing and my lifetap hitting 30 mobs.

Later, it gets some pretty hilarious burst finishers, too. Basically, your dots cause healer panic/puts everyone on the defensive right off, while you actually are just single targeting down some poor sap with flame spear.

edit: the lifeleech is funny. Opening a black garden game, since everyone runs for the fang, is me popping my AE disease buff, lifeleech, other ranged disease while running in, melee range disease some sap, then turn around and run away while spamming flame spear. The lifetap damage alone usually means I actually get away with running in, dotting everyone and probably killing someone with flame spear since mage hp is so low, and getting away with it.

[kildorn]

Seriously, warriors are hilariously overdone at low levels right now, and it's almost entirely due to their souls that do primarily magic damage at range. Flame Spear is some kind of sick joke with a base damage twice that of any melee strike even before you care about the dot :P

Flamespear is pretty much the only thing that makes PvP on the warrior class viable before at least 30.  That said, it's so crazy overpowered they will have to change something.  Add a few points in Void Knight you can use Pact Conversion + Discharge and stay completely out of melee range.

You never have to leave melee range anyways. Fire Burst or what have you (the first RB finisher) attaches to your next special attack, which includes Flame Spear. So FS, FS, FS, FB, FS puts out a ton of damage without ever getting near anyone. Oh, and you get a passive 10% runspeed and a 50% snare that can add 20% fire damage ;)

[March]

Seriously, warriors are hilariously overdone at low levels right now, and it's almost entirely due to their souls that do primarily magic damage at range. Flame Spear is some kind of sick joke with a base damage twice that of any melee strike even before you care about the dot :P

Flamespear is pretty much the only thing that makes PvP on the warrior class viable before at least 30.  That said, it's so crazy overpowered they will have to change something.  Add a few points in Void Knight you can use Pact Conversion + Discharge and stay completely out of melee range.

You never have to leave melee range anyways. Fire Burst or what have you (the first RB finisher) attaches to your next special attack, which includes Flame Spear. So FS, FS, FS, FB, FS puts out a ton of damage without ever getting near anyone. Oh, and you get a passive 10% runspeed and a 50% snare that can add 20% fire damage ;)

PvP will be the death of this game.

While WoW clone gets tossed around alot, what impresses me so far is that they are cloning not simply the "look," but, more importantly, the need to polish.  I wonder if the polish extends beyond level 20?

One of my early concerns with sluggish combat animations seems to have been most satisfactorily resolved... I'm not 100% sure, but I think it is mostly attached to sound effects... push a button - immediate gratification of some sort of zing, whomp or whoosh followed by animation.  Its the whomp that makes all the difference.

If there was some sort of metagame (both individual and collective), I'd say this one might just do more than live - thrive even... but if they clone the raid in order to gear in order to raid in order to gear aspect of WoW... then not so much.

[Nebu]

I have a serious question that is not meant to be a flame or sarcasm in any way.

- What level does this game get fun? 

I have been reading pages and pages about how wonderful this game is.  After playing for about 5 hours last night, I'm just not seeing it.  Kill quests, collection quests, talk to a guy quests, use an item quest etc.  Running feels slow.  My level 1 - 5 experience was 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 4 ...  After that, I got to add a couple of new numbers to the sequence.  The game fails cardinal sin #1 for me: It's not immediately attention grabbing. Side note: In my 5 hours of play, I never got a single useful item drop off a mob.  Is this a game that I have to grind to cap before I get to experience the fun?

For all of its faults, DCUO game me fast paced combat, fun travel powers (that included challenging races), and elaborate character customization.  I also got to hunt for ! (much like the ? in EQ2) when I got bored doing diku-inspired quests. 

I want to like this game.  I'm just not seeing anything that I haven't already done in another game.  Sadly, some of it isn't done nearly as well.  I'd forgive the fact that it's still beta, but the game is due to release soon.  What am I missing?

[Merusk]

Social quests ala Rifts/ Invasions was where I found all the fun.  The quests themselves were dire and boring and I only did them in between rifts showing up.   The PVP was pretty fun as well.

[Nebu]

What level can you start doing Rifts and why on Earth don't they have newbies doing a Rift immediately after creation to introduce them to the fun? 

[kildorn]

What level can you start doing Rifts and why on Earth don't they have newbies doing a Rift immediately after creation to introduce them to the fun? 

The intro zone ends in a fake rift (always the same, no rewards), guardian side you won't see another one for about 10-15 quests, defiant side they spawn right in the newbie area.

[Abelian75]

The game has a lot of good points worth defending, the story isn't one of them, it's shite.

I do not agree!  I am a nerd.

Though I don't disagree the presentation of it kinda sucks, especially initially.

[Merusk]

There's rifts all over the place after you get past the newb area.  (Sent to the past for Defiant, reborn in the future for Guardian.)    The problem is you don't see them on your map unless you've cleared that map area.  So if you go explore a bit, you'll start seeing them show up and can participate.   So, I'd say as early as level 4, depending on what level you get out of the newb area.

[Nebu]

There's rifts all over the place after you get past the newb area.  (Sent to the past for Defiant, reborn in the future for Guardian.)    The problem is you don't see them on your map unless you've cleared that map area.  So if you go explore a bit, you'll start seeing them show up and can participate.   So, I'd say as early as level 4, depending on what level you get out of the newb area.

I see my problem.  I'd play the newbie area or most of it and get bored.  I'd reroll another toon to see if that would make things more interesting... it didn't.  I guess I'll just have to finish up the newbie area with one of them and explore more.  I was starting to get annoyed with the fact that I'd clear an area to complete my quest and have to clear it again on the way back to the quest giver. 

Thanks for the info.  I'll give it more patience tonight.

[Paelos]

Rifts are fun. They are easy to group into with the public group, and they usually have some cool stuff. I'm not sure what planar whatever you get from them does.

As far as reading the story, the end of the video from the first section told me I'd closed a Rift and stopped a war between us and the undead. Then, I'm sent to where people with angel wings are wandering around in a forest telling me to put out fires. Literally.

[kildorn]

Rifts are fun. They are easy to group into with the public group, and they usually have some cool stuff. I'm not sure what planar whatever you get from them does.

As far as reading the story, the end of the video from the first section told me I'd closed a Rift and stopped a war between us and the undead. Then, I'm sent to where people with angel wings are wandering around in a forest telling me to put out fires. Literally.

You spend the planar whatever and shards (from bonus stages or zone boss events) on items at the planar goods vendors found somewhere in the zone. The rewards are usually ~blue from the highest level of the zone. I haven't looked at the item pricing in the later zones this patch, but last patch they were kinda silly (the best rewards needed 3 drops from the zone bosses, which is just entirely too much farming for a leveling zone you'll only be in for a day or two)

[Draegan]

The newbie area takes about 30 minutes if you've done it before.  Longer if you don't pick dps type souls.

The game starts after the tutorial.  The tutorial isn't an open world it's completely instanced.  I'm curious as to how you spent 5 hours of play time inside the newbie instance only.

[Hawkbit]

I had a serious complaint when levling in B1-B2 that I only got two Sourceshards from lvl 1-21, buying the purple tank pants on my way out the zone.  That wasn't fun and didn't feel like I got to use what I earned at all. 

Now in Stonefield, I've just obtained my third Sourceshard and I'm lvl 23.  It seems as if the rifts are more frequent or something, but either way its a lot better to actually be able to use the gear I earn in the zone I earned it. 

[Nebu]

I'm curious as to how you spent 5 hours of play time inside the newbie instance only.

It wasn't 5 continuous hours of gaming. I played while grading exams.  It was probably more like 90 continuous minutes.  I should have been more clear.