Rise of the Godslayer expansion launches May 11th

[Falconeer]

And looks and smell very good.

Seems to me it's digital download only. Should be about 25$ or €

[Xuri]

There will be both retail and digital download versions. Retail version includes original game as well, I believe.

[Famine]

There will be both retail and digital download versions. Retail version includes original game as well, I believe.

Correct, retail will include both the original game and the expansion. You can also purchase the collectors edition digitally as well.

[Falconeer]

So really Famine, no new class? No martial artists?

[Famine]

So really Famine, no new class? No martial artists?

Yep, one new race and one new progression system for all classes. We added more abilities to the game than what we did with the original classes. This includes new trees for each class and new functionality. I would call it a re-branding of the existing classes instead of just giving one new class that everyone and their mother would play on launch day of the expansion. Therefore, you have new abilities without a level increase that makes every class contain something new rather than just giving one new class all the good stuff.

[Cheddar]

Will DX10 finally work well?  Serious question.

[Nija]

DX10 is working pretty well for me on my older machine. It's a C2D lightly overclocked, 8 gigs ram, gtx260.

I had to flip a couple of switches to get performance where I wanted - i can't remember if it was one of the lighting or one of the water reflection ones, but a single switch somewhere doubled my framerate.

[Falconeer]

Yeah DX10 is working fine for me too.

[Cheddar]

DX10 is working pretty well for me on my older machine. It's a C2D lightly overclocked, 8 gigs ram, gtx260.

I had to flip a couple of switches to get performance where I wanted - i can't remember if it was one of the lighting or one of the water reflection ones, but a single switch somewhere doubled my framerate.

hmmm.  If you remember please let us know.  I might give this a try after my FFH2 mod obsession is over.

[Brogarn]

Bought the expansion yesterday and resubbed. I've got a handful of characters on Wiccana and one on Crimm. Started up a new Necro on Wiccana so i can figure out what the fuck I'm doing. Don't know yet if I'll play on Crimm for the full PvP experience.

I've had more fun in one night of PvE Tortage that I had in most of my last 2 weeks of WAR. Here's hoping it continues.

[Nebu]

I've had more fun in one night of PvE Tortage that I had in most of my last 2 weeks of WAR. Here's hoping it continues.

I really enjoyed tortage.  After that, not so much. 

Let me know what your experience is.  I'm looking for a game to dabble with.

[Falconeer]

There's a whole new lot of stuff to do after Tortage, as the new "race" has completely new zones to level 20 to 80. If anything, it's worth the exploring. But well, I love the game so I am totally biased.

[Ollie]

20 to 80, really? I was under the impression it was from 20 to 40, and then from 70 to cap. I thought you still had to do Fields of the Dead, Eiglophian mountains and Atzel's Approach / Thunder River with no alternative new zones in the 40 to 70 range? I might be easily mistaken though, I haven't really paid close attention to the expansion.

If you're right, I might actually consider popping back for a spell. I played my bear shammy to cap back when the game launched and ran Kyllikki / Vistrix / Yakhmar a few times, but never really got over how small the world was. With no alternative zones to level an alt through, it sort of felt like I had already seen everything the first time around. This might make me reconsider.

[Falconeer]

Mmm I am trying to check my facts but I can't find anything useful. I guess I went by memory, reading who knows where about the whole new leveling experience. I am more inclined to believe your version now that I can't find anything to prove mine, but a clarification from Famine would be appreciated.

[Xuri]

There's one new 20-40 outdoor region, and four new 80 regions.

Don't forget Ymir's Pass in the 40 to 70 range, Ollie.

[Ollie]

Good catch, forgot about that one. I haven't seen the Pass, nor Tarantia Commons, apparently. That would make it five new outdoor zones with the expansion, plus the two released previously, as well as a bunch of new instanced dungeon content.

Oddly tempting. I think I'll give AoC a second look once the dust from the expansion settles.

[Nija]

So if there are new 70-80 zones, does that mean that I should spend my free levels in the 60s to get to them quicker? I was going to save up and go from 70-80 via free levels, but now I'm not sure.

[Falconeer]

Xuri said "four new 80 regions", not 70-80. Now that is confusing, but my take is that with offline progression getting to 80 is easier than ever. Hence, their interest is to strengthen the level 80 game, focusing on horizontal progression (Alternate Advancements) instead of vertical progression (levels). Characters spend much more time at the level cap (80) than in the 1-79 bracket, so it's not a bad idea to throw (almost) all your new content in that area.

So Nija, if the new zones are 70-80, seems to me you are right, it's best to spend them in the 60s. If instead the new zones are just level 80, then best to save the free levels for the last, hard stretch (70-79).

Personally, I plan to level up a new Kithai char and to use a free level every now and then, every time I hit the grind to just move to the next bunch of quests.

All thngs considered, the more I think about Offline Progression and this "a level every four days" and the more I am convinced is a stroke of genius.

[Xuri]

All the new zones - apart from the single new 20-40 one - are lvl 80-specific, yes.

[Falconeer]

A few days old, but new trailer is out and I think it's pretty cool.

[Brogarn]

Level 28 and still enjoying myself. Playing on a PvP server has added some excitement along with running into inter-guild politics for some interesting head scratching and "ah crap, how did I get into the middle of this?" moments. There's still that wiffle ball bat to the skull when you get out of Tortage that reminds you you're playing an MMO. Takes some time to adjust to that but I managed. Fun will probably increase even more once I actually stop being solo anti-social necro guy and find a guild and all that.

Still a bit early, though, to say "Ya... kick ass game! Everyone come play!"  because I haven't gotten any farther along, really, than I did last time. It's more stable, though, so there's that. Well, when I'm not trying out DX10. Gave the client fits.

Population on both Wiccana (PvE) and Cimmeria seems healthy. No shortage of folks in the starting areas and plenty in Old Tarantia on both servers. Khopshef is rather quiet on Cimmeria, but I think that has something to do with where folks go to PvP or whatever. I'm predicting things will be very busy tomorrow with the new expansion. No clue how long that'll hold out, but hopefully it does for some time. I like the game and plan on playing for a couple months at least.

[Draegan]

Can you share a link to what has been specifically added/changed for each class?

[Falwell]

We've had a bunch of our guys back in there for about a week or two now and I'm pretty damn impressed with the improvements.

The engine is a FAR cry from the launch version. Considering the looks : performance aspect, they MIGHT have the best in the business atm. This being the DX9 version, the DX10 still needs some work but it's pretty serviceable with decent hardware.

AoC combat is still AoC combat. Either you liked it or you didn't and it's changed fairly little from the getgo. The RPG system changes, however, were a huge boost and they alone have made it a far more enjoyable game.

If you guys want a group to run with The Grubs are on Wiccana. Our T1 city principle buildings are fully complete and we're doing 6 mans / scenario groups almost nightly. Sanctum, BC, CoD etc. as we're all leveling new toons or picking up where we left off at launch. That spot being, of course, the brick wall of zero content at the 55ish range which has thankfully been rectified.

Give Falwell a yell for an invite or just let any of the other cats know you're from f13 if I'm not on.

[Soln]

guys at work are playing this and saying good things (and they're old and jaded).

Any reason not to try it out? 

[Draegan]

We've had a bunch of our guys back in there for about a week or two now and I'm pretty damn impressed with the improvements.

The engine is a FAR cry from the launch version. Considering the looks : performance aspect, they MIGHT have the best in the business atm. This being the DX9 version, the DX10 still needs some work but it's pretty serviceable with decent hardware.

AoC combat is still AoC combat. Either you liked it or you didn't and it's changed fairly little from the getgo. The RPG system changes, however, were a huge boost and they alone have made it a far more enjoyable game.

If you guys want a group to run with The Grubs are on Wiccana. Our T1 city principle buildings are fully complete and we're doing 6 mans / scenario groups almost nightly. Sanctum, BC, CoD etc. as we're all leveling new toons or picking up where we left off at launch. That spot being, of course, the brick wall of zero content at the 55ish range which has thankfully been rectified.

Give Falwell a yell for an invite or just let any of the other cats know you're from f13 if I'm not on.

I might take you up on that offer later in the week/next week.

[Ollie]

guys at work are playing this and saying good things (and they're old and jaded).

Any reason not to try it out? 

Depends on the reasons you left in the first place. Some things have changed for the better, others not so much. Unless, of course, you're trying AoC for the first time, in which case the only reason would be that it's Funcom. Prepare for naughty touching.

[Falconeer]

Well, seriously, reasons NOT to try it out? Zero.

Reasons not to stick with it? I guess plenty. Apparently, despite it being very solo friendly, many lose interest in going around alone pretty soon. Works better with a group of friends or an active guild, especially now that all the dungeons have been revamped and the loot is finally meaningful.

EDIT to add, after reading Ollie's comment: Call me a Funcom fanboi if you want, but to me FC is one of the very few MMO Western developers that has always tried to think out of the box, or at least to add something to it, for good or bad. To me Funcom is always good news, a promise of something fresh. Yes, even with all the fuckups. And yes, I was in AO and AoC since launch.

[Draegan]

So there is no place to look at all the changes to classes (minus the AAs) for the expansion?  I'm curious what the changed.

[Falconeer]

Not that I know of Draegan. First of all, classes has been tweaked SO MUCH since launch it would be very hard to list all the changes, on top of the ones that affected all classes. Second, they are gonna change so much more due to today's expansion and Alternate Advancements that whatever has been written is probably gonna be obsolete in a few hours.

[Draegan]

I'm just talking about the additions they've made with the expansion, not the content patching over the last year.  I thought I read that instead of adding classes they've added new stuff to each class. (or is that AA?)

[Lantyssa]

EDIT to add, after reading Ollie's comment: Call me a Funcom fanboi if you want, ...

I think it's because you like naughty touching.

[Falconeer]

Haha!

Anyway, here's the Conan 2.0 (Rise of the Godslayer) patch notes.

‘Rise of the Godslayer’ – The Gates to Khitai open!

Players who purchased the first expansion for Age of Conan can start their journey to the empire of Khitai today! Explore many new world regions such as the level 80 playfields Northern Grasslands, Paikang, Kara Korum and Chosain Province or the level 20 to 40 playfield Gateway to Khitai. This new land offers ample opportunities to explore vast landscapes such as mountains, jungles, plains, and even some areas that defy all laws of nature.



How to get to Khitai

Existing characters can start their travel to the lands of Khitai by going to Khemi in Stygia and talking to the new available caravan master. You can either pay for your journey and be a passenger on the caravan to the Gateway to Khitai region. Or you choose to save the coin and be hired as a caravan guard. But the journey is long and as a guard you will have to deal with any dangers that the caravan might encounter on the way!

Or you start with a new Khitan character and fight your way through Tortage before heading to Khitai and continue your adventures there. The Gateway to Khitai playfield will provide players of level 20 to 40 with tons of adventure and content to explore.



New Playfields, Raids and Dungeons!

Khitai is a massive new location with five sweeping new playfield region and twelve new team dungeons as well as the start of the fourth tier of raid gameplay!
The Gateway to Khitai (Levels 20-40)
Northern Grasslands (level 80+)
Chosain Province (Level 80+)
Kara Korum (Level 80+)
Pai Kang (Level 80+)



Dungeons, Raids and Encounter
The Kang Pagoda (6 man Dungeon in Northern Grasslands)
The first group encounter you will find in your journey to Khitai pits you against an Obese and corrupt governor. His Pagoda towers above the courtyard immediately inside the Great Wall

The Warmonk Monastery (Three 6 man encounters in Northern Grasslands)
Reliquary of Flame
Vortex of the Storm
Coppice of the Heart
In the South West of the Grasslands the Warmonk Monastery looms tall from its perch high in the Mountains above the Grasslands. Here you will find three instanced encounters are you explore the story of the ancient warmonks!

Pillars of Heaven (6 Player Dungeon in Northern Grasslands)
This massive and majestic dungeon location offers a true dungeon crawl taking place in this ancient temple built high above the escarpment. Battle your way through a host of great new boss encounters as you attempt to climb to the peak of the Pillars of Heaven!

The Mines of Chosain (Three 6 Player encounters in Chosain)
The Jade Dugout
Den of the Crowmen
Abyss of Kun Whu
Explore the dangerous Chosain mines, from the Jade dugout through the Den of the strange creatures known as the Children of Jil to the mysteries of the Abyss.

Palace of Yun Rau (6 Player encounter in Chosain Province)
Pit yourself against a local warlord in Chosain in this team instance

The Kara Korum Crater (Three 6 Player encounters in Kara Korum)
The Cavern of Malice
The Celestial Necropolis
The Enigmata of Yag
The strange crater in Kara Korum plays host to the hardest of the single team challenges in Khitai. Those who travel here will seek to get to the heart of the corruption that taints Khitai!

The Jade Citadel (Two Raid encounters Tier Four)
The bravest of souls can dare to challenge the emperor’s army itself! These encounters mark the start of the fourth tier of Raid progression! Approach with caution!


Pick your side

An all-new faction system has been introduced, allowing players to join one of many warring factions in Khitai. Take on jobs for them, rise in their ranks and collect the rewards. And maybe you will betray them in the end as you swear allegiance to their enemies?

This article provides more information on the different factions.



Ride the Tiger and the Wolf

Acquire the Wolf and the Tiger, two new mounts available in the expansion! But that is not an easy task, for you must train them and nurture them as they grow from being a cub and into being a powerful battle companion.

More about the two new mounts can be found in this article.



Alternate Advancement System

You can now take your character even further by exploring the all-new alternate advancement system. Acquire new powers and abilities, and even progress while your character is logged out. The new system will take your character further than ever before!

Read more about the Alternate Advancement System here.



New content, new experiences

You can now start out as a Khitan character and head straight to Khitai after your time on Tortage Island is over. Experience content across several level ranges, and unlock a vast number of fantastic new armor pieces, incredible weapons, and numerous other exclusive rewards.



Additonal Updates

Together with the launch of the ‘Rise of the Godslayer’ expansion, there are also improvements and changes to the original game being deployed to the live servers.


CLASSES

Assassin
The Lotus Overdose effect can now only be triggered once every 10 seconds.
Dark Templar
Drain Strength will now have a chance to be applied when using Mind Wrack, Mind Shatter, Warped Dread, and Dooming Presence.
Sadistic Soul has been changed to a toggleable ability. When on, area damage will pulse from the Dark Templar every 15 seconds, and this damage will no longer require a full 10-stack of Sadism, but will rather scale the damage based on the amount of Sadism.
Necromancer
Updated the description of the Death's Channel effect to be more clear.
The particle effect of the Mutilator’s spell now follows the target instead of lingering in the air.
Ranger
Traps can no longer be placed while the Ranger is affected by crowd control.

GUILD RENOWN
Fixed the recipes for the Soldier’s Haversack and the Commander’s Haversack so they will now give the correct bag when being crafted.
The Farmer NPC should now always offer his goods when a player interacts with him.

GUI
Fixed an issue with Group Invites which sometimes didn’t show the invitation accept window to a player.
Texture Quality and Audio Quality in the launcher options now have text descriptions.
Fixed an issue that made it impossible to rename/delete custom map waypoints that didn't have a name.
Removed a wrong yellow travel point marker from the Khopshef Province map.
The ‘Main System’ and ‘Villa Lentulus’ in the Tarantia Noble Districts now correctly show on the map.

GUILDS
There is now a cooldown of 24 hours on a reinvite after leaving a guild.

PVP

Massive PvP
A friendly mercenary should no longer have a red nametag during a siege.

NPCs/MOBS
Instead of two, there is now only one Watch Captain Falco standing around in Tarantia Noble District.
Catus from the ‘Nobles of Tarantia’ quest can again be found in the Tarantia Noble District.
Fixed an issue where mobs that run faster than a player would follow a running player around without attacking.
Both smugglers in Purple Lotus Swamp and Kheshatta do now offer to bring you to Khemi.
The smuggler in Poitain now offers to bring you to Old Tarantia.
The Scorpion Abomination in Scorpion Cave will no longer reset at improper times.
The Essence of Winter in the Pyramid of the Ancients now should show its particle effect correctly at all times.
A feared Ravenous Crocodile Follower in the Slaughterhouse Cellar will now correctly attack you after the fear spell has run out.

ITEMS
The Putrid Hand generic item is no longer bound on pickup.

GENERAL
Changed the idle animations of some character faces to make them look more lively.

[Draegan]

I think I may buy this to see the new content after Tortage, and for $25.00 it's not that bad of a price point.

I'll just have to pick a class though.  Not sure what to play.

I've got a 70 something assassin and 50-60 something Demo from release and I leveled a DT into the 40s I think when F13 went back for a month.

Hmmmmm. I always wanted to try out a HoX or a Ranger.  Last I played Rangers were meh after level 30 or so and HoX's were always awesome.

Edit: Or I could play easy mode and make a Necro which I always wanted to do but never did!.

[Ollie]

Call me a Funcom fanboi if you want, but to me FC is one of the very few MMO Western developers that has always tried to think out of the box, or at least to add something to it, for good or bad. To me Funcom is always good news, a promise of something fresh. Yes, even with all the fuckups. And yes, I was in AO and AoC since launch.

Oh, I'm not really as against Funcom as it might seem, I was just making the obligatory snide remark. And you're absolutely right about their willingness to push the envelope, which is far too rare a trait in this age of design by committee and carbon-copy Dikus.

Still, Funcom does make for an easy target for ridicule with its perennial inability to get its technical shit together. If they could up their game with the Secret World and launch with the kind of performance we're now seeing in AoC, they might actually have a title with healthy retention.

[Falconeer]

Alternate Advancements.

The alternate advancement system gives anyone from level 20 to 80 new ways of progressing or earning new combos, powers and abilities.

Earning Alternate Advancement
The new system features three new 'trees' for all classes, totaling a lot of new abilities available to players, with most of these abilities having five ranks. Players will be able to buy abilities using points earned through the alternate advancement system. The general tree is available to characters at level 20, while the archetype and class trees become available at level 80. The abilities in the general tree will scale with the player's level and means that lower level characters can also benefit from these new trees.

Players can purchase abilities using alternate advancement points. These points come in three different varieties: Prowess, Mastery and Expertise. Prowess points are earned through PvP, mastery represents PvE and expertise points are awarded alongside prowess and mastery at a fixed ratio. For example, if a player earns 10 prowess or mastery points, he will also be rewarded a certain number of expertise points. As the player progresses through content in the expansion, they will be awarded alternate advancement points after accumulating enough alternate advancement XP, the variety of which depending on whether it is PvP or PvE content.

"Alternate advancement XP may be gained both in the expansion, and in the live game. It was important to us that existing live content is continued to be supported," explains Dave Williams, the Lead Systems Designer for the expansion, "although because expansion content will inherently be more challenging for a player new to that content, it will reward alternate advancement XP to an appropriate degree which reflects this."

Feats and Perks
There are two types of purchase-able abilities players may obtain in the alternate advancement system. These are called Feats and Perks.

Feats in the System are passive abilities which are "always active." When a player purchases a feat, it is effectively treated as an innate boost to his overall character power. Some of these feats, while considered passives in the tree, may still enable a new ability or spell - it just means that the player always have the option of using that ability in combat.

Perks on the other hand are something new altogether. These are special abilities which must be equipped on a new Perk Bar in order to be active and/or useable. Perks are deadly and dangerous abilities that become formidable tools on the battlefield. The new Perk bar though has a finite set of spaces available for active perks. This means that players must make the strategic choice of which perks they want active for any given fight.

Perks are subdivided into Major Perks and Minor Perks. Minor Perks take up one slot on the perk bar. Major Perks are extra-powerful class-specific abilities that take up two slots on the Perk Bar which represents just how greatly they can swing the tide of battle.

We really want the players to have some real tactical choices. This means that unlike the previous feat builds (which of course remain intact) and combos where you simply accrue more of them, the perk system will force you to make key, strategic choices about which abilities you bring into battle. It will also add the additional tactical layer that you will never quite be sure what abilities your opponent might be using, and even allow players of the same class to specialize into very different roles should they choose to. Ultimately it will also allow players to adapt and change their possible role on the battlefield depending on their needs. As they earn more alternate advancement perks they will be opening up more choices and opportunities for themselves.

Over Time Mechanic
The alternate advancement System will also have an over-time mechanic, available online or offline. This is a straight conversion of points-to-time. A player will be able to select the Perk or Feat he wants to train, and as the clock ticks away AA points will trickle in to that Perk or Feat. The gain of course will be far less than what one would get by actively playing the content which generates points. This is intended to reward subscribers but also casual gamers, and will also give an additional method for PvP players to pick up desired feats in the PvE tree and vice-versa.

With the introduction of the alternate advancement system, players all the way from level 20 to 80 have access to a mass of new opportunities. Combined with the fantastic new gameplay of the expansion, the alternate advancement system means there has never been a better time to play Age of Conan, both for new and experienced players.

New Horizons
Overall we really wanted this system to be about choice. While some players will for sure be able to master all the options over time, this system ensures that they always have to make a choice as to which abilities they bring to a fight. They get to choose how to specialize their character, they get to choose what order in which they wish to progress, they get to choose whether they aim for mastering one area before another, or choose to focus on a broad range of skills and abilities, but take longer to master them all.So with this system we really feel that we will be providing players with an in-depth experience that will allow them to tailor their character to their personal preferences and create a meaningful and interesting set of progression choices for each and every player.