ZOMG there IS a game! (Conan)

[Hoax]

Welcome to the very first Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures newsletter! Being in the launch year of one of the worlds most anticipated online RPG's, Funcom is very happy to finally unveil the entire class tree in Conan. For have you ever played Lotus master, Waylayer, Herald of Xotli, Scion of set or a Priest of Mitra? And not to speak about Barbarian, Dark templar or Scourge of Derketo? This is but a small taste of all the brutal glory to be found in Conan, and it's all revealed in this newsletter. So read further, and learn how Conan will bring you brutal experiences as you have never seen in an online RPG before. 

We also strongly advise you to check out our great and including community portal, your one-stop resource for anything related to Age of Conan. Packed with interviews, exclusives, previews and media, this site is something every player should bookmark to keep up to date on lots of exclusive news. We already have a great group of player who frequent the official forums, so make sure you sign up to join all the others in the Conan family. The developer are there as well, so if you want to have a say in the final direction of the game this is that chance!


Class Tree Revealed


To mark this first newsletter we wanted to have something special to tell you all about so today sees the release of the archetype and class tree for Age of Conan.

You can find the entire tree here: http://community.ageofconan.com/wsp/conan/frontend.cgi?func=publish.show&template=content&func_id=1180&sort=PRIORITY&table=CONTENT

This shows all the archetypes and classes that players will be able to play in Age of Conan. You can also find more details on how the class system in the game works in today's article on our community site!


Featured Fansite


Our first newsletter wouldn't be complete without mentioning the great community that we are delighted to see building up around the game. At the front of the pack is Conan.ch run by Tarib.

Tarib actually had the site up and running when the project was merely rumours and still under wraps! Featuring a great resource of developer quotes as well as all the latest news and updates on the game!

You can find the site here so make sure you check it out!


http://www.conan.ch/conanonline/news.htm

[Nija]

So Conan was a level 7 thief at one point in time?

C'mon.

edit: 4 mage classes, two of which are exactly the same thing. lich and necromancer? Yeah they won't have similar skills.

[vex]

I don't know if those screenies are new but the climbing on rooftops is definitely intriguing.

[schild]

Yea, the thief tree is damned bothersome. And frankly, straight out, I'll say it:

That sort of class system sucks. Though different from EQ2's, it's still a terrible system.

[Riggswolfe]

edit: 4 mage classes, two of which are exactly the same thing. lich and necromancer? Yeah they won't have similar skills.

Actually they aren't the same thing. a lich is an undead mage whose soul is stored in some kind of magic jar which is well hidden. A necromancer typically raises undead armies as his specialty.

That said, they'll probably have some overlap but not as much as you might think.

[Soln]

combat may be the most unique thing in this game if it gets out.  Supposed to be twitch but with tactical choice (i.e. torse shot and bonuses/penalties for being hit in the same spot repeatedly).  Had hoped for this but DDO.

[Venkman]

From what I've read, Conan seems to be a bit of PS meets DDO (prior to DDO, I'd have said "PS with more rules"). Not sure if that's a good thing in the end, but I'm eager to find out.

But come on, archetypes and sub-choices again?! Doesn't anyone learn? People need to alt. Nobody knows their character at launch. Nobody is going to know their effectiveness based on reading about it. And very few people like going through the same shit numerous times just to unlock alternatives.

This is what I hated about EQ2 from the moment they mentioned archetypes. It's what kept me away from the game from beta to Publish 19. It's why they changed it (well, not for me specifically, but because people alt and don't want to redo 20 levels of content just to try a different system).

Worse, iirc, Conan isn't an MMO until level 20, with the first 19 levels being soloable/tutorial stuff. I can't recall, nor can be bothered to research, whether that level 20+ means PvP+ too, but regardless, it's 19 levels of soloing to experience a brand new class at the same point you encounter other people for the first time.

Doesn't seem like a good mix. Respeccing or not, it's not fun to repeat stuff.

[Hoax]

I agree with you there, it will be telling whether or not Funcom is capable of giving out some useful class information to new players or if we will be giong in blind like people were in AO.  Hell some of the classes in AO (Martial Artist) were sort of b0rked at launch to begin with.

There is no fucking reason whatsoever for Devs to hide the actual numbers on class abilities, all it does is make all the casuals end up with gimped characters they need to re-roll or who do not fit their playstyle while the catass' just roll 5 classes and find the build that works best.

[HaemishM]

What Darniaq said. Going through twenty fucking levels as "Generic Archtype 1 of 4" is asstastic. It was only being able to choose class at the beginning after publish 19 that made me consider trying EQ2. I'd never made it past 12 before that. Unless the levels fly by, there's just no good to be had from it, especially as you make your second character. I hope they offer some way to skip those 20 levels and just pick a goddamn class.

[Modern Angel]

So Conan was a level 7 thief at one point in time?

C'mon.

edit: 4 mage classes, two of which are exactly the same thing. lich and necromancer? Yeah they won't have similar skills.

Yep, he totally was in the old novels. Left Cimmeria and wandered around as a petty thief for a good while.

[Fargull]

Well... if it takes five minutes to get to level 5, maybe those next fifteen take fifteen minutes.  Holy shit will that be a bad move if not.

[Engels]

  Hell some of the classes in AO (Martial Artist) were sort of b0rked at launch to begin with.

That game was entirely borked to begin with. AO set the bar as high as it would go for broken releases. It took ages to fix too.  Don't get me wrong, I have many fond memories of months of AO play. For a while there, AO had the potential to be one of the greats. I've gone back, from time to time, but the 'je ne sais quoi' has gone from it, probably from catering to the ubers.

[Strazos]

They made their own NWN persistent module? That's....interesting. I might have to load my Diamond edition back up at some point.

[Venkman]

Well... if it takes five minutes to get to level 5, maybe those next fifteen take fifteen minutes.  Holy shit will that be a bad move if not.

The pull of Diku is too strong. I'll fall over dead away if I ever play a game where any succeeding level takes exactly the same amount of time as the ones prior.

(and Title_No_One's_Played with 3,000 levels don't count)

[Hoax]

I think that early early posts from the Devs stated that the single player portion was expected to take 2-4 hours.  But that was before there was a game so who knows.

[Strazos]

I can accept 2 hour....4 hours may be pushing it, but hey....most games take a day or two for that many levels.

[schild]

I hope it's 15 hours and really fucking hard. That way most people will never get to play online. That'd be great.

[Strazos]

Well, Simutronics is doing this, right?

[HaemishM]

  Hell some of the classes in AO (Martial Artist) were sort of b0rked at launch to begin with.

That game was entirely borked to begin with. AO set the bar as high as it would go for broken releases.

And then WWII Online vaulted that bar and launched itself into the stratosphere.

In a tank.

[Nija]

I can accept 2 hour....4 hours may be pushing it, but hey....most games take a day or two for that many levels.

Well maybe the game actually does begin at level 20. Doing heroic shit from the "multiplayer version of the game"'s first level.

No bonk 4 orcs on the head with a blackjack and report back stuff, straight to assaulting goblin villages and burning people at the stake or whatever.

If that's the case, then requiring that everyone play and learn with that class for 4 hours isn't too bad.

[Hoax]

But the complaints stem from the fact that obviously that is not the case considering you will be a lvl1 <blank> when you reach the multiplayer world, having just picked your REAL class.  This is the obvious mistake, I'm all for an offline part, where the lore can be more pervasive you do some really cool quests and the class choices are presented in a meaningfull interesting lore-integrated way.

But instead it will go something like:

Grind through X hours of offline stupid linear treadmill.
Pick class at random based on short description that was out of date 6 months ago to actual gameplay of said class.
Grind through X days of online newbie hell.
Find out the class isn't what you want to play at all.

/cancel sub

I've got hope, the game is on my signature list and all, but by hope I really just mean I have an absence of dread when I think about this title.  Compared to say Vanguard, LTRO or Star Trek Online which fill me with a level of terror most reserve for dreams of being drowned while burning alive or something.

[Krakrok]

I don't know if those screenies are new but the climbing on rooftops is definitely intriguing.

Maybe one day they will let characters climb trees in games too.

[Miscreant]

The archetypes are Mage, Warrior, Thief and Cleric? 

Finally.

[Hoax]

BUT NOW THEY HAVE BEEN TAKEN TO THE BRUTAL X-TREME!!!!

[Venkman]

But the complaints stem from the fact that obviously that is not the case considering you will be a lvl1 <blank> when you reach the multiplayer world, having just picked your REAL class.

No, the complaint is that players are some nebulous proto-character for 19 levels before they are actually even become a class. Multiplayer is a secondary complaint. The only way this could possibly be even passably fun is if levels 1-19 were entirely different single player games each time you ran the gamut, including and especially if you make the same base and first-sub-class choice again. And I'm not talking shades-of-the-same-thing 1-whatever that is WoW, or worse, the 1-19 that was almost exactly the same content sequence that was pre-Pub19 EQ2. Real, honest, truly different story lines and quest objectives. It worked in DAoC because, well, we all gave Mythic a lot of credit for launching something that played on day 1.

Maybe if they stick their heads out of development for a few days, read some of the stuff going around about MMOGs, they'll go back and rethink this. I truly hope they do or whatever innovations their combat system is could get lost to obscurity through non-emulation (much like some of the stuff CoH and PS have tried).

[Velorath]

So Conan was a level 7 thief at one point in time?

C'mon.

I'd say he was more like a lv. 20 thief given that he was able to pull off thefts that people who were thieves for a living couldn't succeed at.  He was able to move fairly silently (apparently learned for hunting since he was young), was a quick cllimber, and had good night vision.  He's been a pirate also.

[Modern Angel]

And a cossack, too.

[Llava]

And a NINJA!

[Strazos]

And a NINJA!

But could he rap?

[Murgos]

And a NINJA!

But could he rap?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4410930480579851012&q=conan  :-D

[HaemishM]

And a NINJA!

But could he rap?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4410930480579851012&q=conan  :-D

WOULD YOU LIKE TO MAKING FUCK
BER-SERRRR-KERRR!!!

Did he just say "making fuck?"

[Velorath]

Brief descriptions of some of the Mage and Warrior classes:

Mage:

Herald of Xotli
Some demonologists are either too weak minded or venture too far down the path of demonology to remain untainted. The Heralds are those that bargained with the demon god Xotli and paid the ultimate price, becoming a host to true demonic powers. In battle, the Herald transforms into a demon, preferring to melee opponents and feel the enemy's flesh tear rather than rely on spells, although they retain a fearsome arsenal of spells to call upon as needed.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed edged weapons, summon weapons, demon form

Demonologist
The Demonologist bargains with demons for power, binding them to his will. While able to use certain magic without the aid of demonic powers, the Demonologist is not as studied as other mages, having a need to make blood pacts to reach full potential. Still, the Demonologist is powerful enough to bring demons to this realm and bind them to service.

Specialties: fire or electrical Direct Damage, demon pet, short duration buff to increase casting abilities

Necromancer
The master of unholy magic, the Necromancer animates the dead and corrupts the living. Looking down on the Demonologist for needing to strike bargains for power, the Necromancer needs no such crutch, relying on his own master of death of kill his enemies.

Specialties: Cold or Unholy Direct Damage, undead pets, lifetap

Lich
Where the Necromancer animates the dead, the Lich embraces and joins the dead, if only for a period of time. By fusing with the bones of the dead, the Lich gains impressive physical strength and resilience. In this form the Lich prefers to wade into battle and club enemies to death, although retains access to their full array of spells.

Specialties: melee mage, two handed blunt weapons, summon weapons, undead form

Warrior:

Guardian
Encased in the heaviest armor and carrying around a shield, the Guardian focuses on powerful directional attacks that temporarily damage armor and protection, increasing the amount of damage the enemy takes.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), shield, one handed edged, directional damage mod

Halberdier
Encased in the heaviest armor, the Halberdier specializes in pole arms, trusting in evasion to avoid enemy attacks, rather than a shield to block them. Although limited in the amount of damage they can inflict, the Halberdier does focus on inflicting multiple hits in rapid succession in an area of effect.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (including full plate), pole arm, multihit Area of Effect

Conqueror
With a standard strapped to their back, the Conqueror leads the charge into battle. Wearing heavy armor and using 2-handed weapons, the Conqueror relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. The standard being carrier around provides a boost the Conqueror team, typically increasing damage. In times of need, the Conqueror is able to take the standard and plant it into the ground in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), two handed edged, two handed blunt, banner for one group buff.

Liberator
While the standards the Conqueror uses typically increase damage, the standards of the Liberator renew and augment the team in other ways. Wearing heavy armor and dual wielding, the Liberator relies upon evasion to avoid enemy attacks. In times of need, the Liberator is able to take the standard and throw it in a devastating attack.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, one handed blunt, dual wield, banner for one group buff

Crusader
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blunt weapon, the Crusader has a small amount of priestly ability. Able to augment the team with a single aura, the Crusader is the only class not in the priest class that has healing spells.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed blunt, aura for one group buff, team heal

Dark Templar
Wearing heavy armor and carrying a shield and blade, the Dark Templar drains the life from enemies while attacking. Like the Crusader, the Dark Templar is able to augment the team with a single aura. While able to transfer life to the team, the Dark Templar suffers for this, although with life draining abilities this is rarely a problem. However, the Dark Templar is susceptible to soul corruption effects more than most other classes because of powers they traffic with.

Specialties: tank, heavy armor (not full plate), one handed edged, aura for one group buff, team life transfer, lifetap

[HaemishM]

The warrior classes sound like the typical melee/hybrid classes from Dikus.

[Modern Angel]

Yeah but some of those mage clases sounds cool. Given that there aren't really any "good" mages in the Conan universe, the fact that all of them bargained with things best left alone to get their power fits.

[Hoax]

At least they only have 2 fireball tossing mage classes that should make somebody happy right?  While the melee classes do sound like the same old same old. I have been advocating for more cone-shaped melee aoe attacks for I dont know how long.  Giving melee more pbaoe/directional aoe attacks can only help to increase the strategy in autoattack+hotkey combat to a level that may even exceed the current "jump in circles around target" era of warfare.