Warning: you may do more damage than before. We apologize for the convenience.

 

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I only have 4 melees, and of those, two of them are 2handed toons. The other two are my tink/trade mule and my primary tradebot, so most of the melee weapon changes really didn't affect me personally. (Everyone's Mule switched from UA to Light weapons, and Kachiko Kaiu from Axe to Heavy Weapons, but both of them might fight once every 2 weeks in the insatiable vault, so meh. )

They did away with the racial abilities in their old form... Gharus are "gharuined" no more. And the mastery system... well, a bit more damage is not something I'm going to bitch about. I also like the 5% damage boost to most war spells.

The skill credit cap has been increased to 70. War/Meleed/Life spec is possible now.

If you return... one, I hope that you hadn't invested heavily in foolproof salvage prior to this patch, or else your hoard is going to be worth quite a bit less than formerly. Two, you should go avail yourself of the goodies in Arwic.

 

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hi harry

People who play end game content like it. People who wish they could play the old AC hate it. It's dumb, patch diminishes character variation, melee weapon categorization is completely arbitrary (heavy daggers? light/finesse maces?). end of story.

 

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wow, didn't realize my post resonated with so many people.

 

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I love the "patch diminishes character variation" line. I have played melee toons since 1999. Started with a sword toon. Made an axe toon. Made a dagger toon when they were the rage. Made a staff/life spec toon when they were in fashion. Made a UA toon (two actually although one was trained bow and wound up using bow more than UA).


The only variation was each was gimped in access to a damage type (except UA). My sword toon sucked against bugs...no bludgeon. My Staff toon generally sucked becasue of crappy damage, but really sucked in eaters with no slash. Etc...


Beyond the graphical difference of "Oh look I am holding a different looking weapon" there was NO DIFFERENCE in playstyle. Weapon in right hand, shield in left, atack until dead, heal if you take more than a third of your health in damage. Done...NO VARIATION...unless you count UA using fast attack vs. everyone else using high power.


Once the cap was lifted past 126 there was no benefit to going with a lower skill cost and less effective melee weapon, since even sword could get every skill it needed. Saving 4 credits by taking mace instead got you nothing.


Fast forward to now...you have dual wield options( do i go dual for max damage or do I need the shield for this fight), recklessness options (which mean decisions during combat with regards to turning on the damage bonus and accepting more damage in return). Dirty fighting which makes attack height have some implications. At least a few things to think about during combat other than is it time to heal yet.


So what is all this wonderful variation of the "good old days". People missing the glory days of the spear toon and the staff toon? LOL, no one played the variations...you couldn't GIVE a max damage epic bloodthirst spear away before the patch.


So please help me understand all the variety of the old ways. I guess I just missed something along the way.

 

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I still play the old AC, in a very real way. To me, the old ways were... well, of magic. And blood, death, and determination. Camraderie and lils, and xp and loot and blasting the mortal hell out of everything! A calculator, a clipboard, and dinners that have long since gone cold. An endless haze of tobacco smoke. Sick jokes, strange days, endless nights, and copy of Neitzsche's Genealogy of Morals, your place in it carefully marked with a rectangle of discarded foil from a pack of cigarettes. Brimming ashtrays and empty pop cans that have started sharing functions with one another.

The brawls on the boards, the brawls in the game, the flashpoint of temper when you have had your topmost fill of bulls***, and your fist hammers down on the desk accompanied by a vitriolic rl tirade the likes of which would dissolve metal, peel paint, and shatter minds. Wondering why the hell you feel like you're freezing to death, even though the thermostat says it's 72 degrees in the house... and belatedly realizing it's because you're running on caffeine, nicotine, and raw will, and have been leading fellow in this s***hole for over 24 hours straight. Counting time by the rising and setting of the sun outside your window, and how much time is left on Adja's Blessing.

Wondering what the hell's wrong with you, that you do this. Wondering what the hell's wrong with other people, that they don't. Not feeling compelled to waste your energy pretending to be someone you're not in order to "keep the peace". Laying aside the cowardly thespianism one ordinarily feels compelled to do and just being yourself, instead of stressing yourself out in some asinine attempt to "fit in". To be able to fully focus your mind and will on something that actually f***ing matters to you, while surrounded by people who feel the same as you do, who accept you for who you are, and who you feel a kinship towards...!

The first time I ever experienced all of these variables unified together, it was 2003. I was 26 years old, drunk, and leading fellow for the first time in Tusker Holding. It had not previously dawned on me how deeply alienated I was from most of the human race until that point, for the same reason a rabbit wouldn't realize that its burrow is dark inside.

Ten dollars a month... thirteen now. But really, can you put a price on that? Is it even possible?

That is what the old days of AC mean to me, and that I no longer have Staff trained is irrelevant in my eyes. Frankly, I always hated meleeing anyway. It is an ungainly, distasteful business even in the best of times, and I've never enjoyed it.

What I'm trying to say is this -- The color of paint might have changed over the years and a few additions might have been built on, but it's still the same house. Enjoy it.

 

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Hi coffee.


@Hazel, nah, I didnt have any FP. What goodies in arwic?

 

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Taken from a patch summary I wrote elsewhere:

14) And now, onto what you really want to know! The Swap Coins, the Free Quest Weapon Vendor, and the Rare Weapons Exhanger of Arwic!

Six new NPCs have appeared in Arwic, in the formerly empty villa near the town lifestone. They stand in pairs, a glowing Asheron's Emissary and a golem, one in the living room, one in the large room upstairs, and one in the smaller room upstairs.

Swap Coins - Of the pair of npcs in the smaller room upstairs, the Emissary distributes 6 free swap coins to every character who was 15 days old or older on the date of the patch (February 21, 2012). Each of these coins can be exchanged by the nearby golem for any foolproof weapon imbue salvage (Black Opal, Sunstone, Fire Opal, Aquamarine, Black Garnet, Emerald, Imperial Topaz, Jet, Red Garnet, or White Sapphire), slayer gems (Skeleton, Undead, Mukkir, A'nekshay), and other weapon augmentations (the Spectral Force gem, the +0.5 MagicD gem, the MissileD gem, and the Lucky White Rabbit's Foot!)

What's more, these coins are giveable! If you have characters on other servers, be certain to take advantage of the cross server trading opportunities this provides.

Free Quest Weapons - Two handed weapons and casting implements have not been changed, but one handed melee weapons have. It is quite possible that you will no longer be able to wield the one handed quest weapons you might have had previously. So, the pair of npc's in the living room are giving out one free one handed melee quest weapon. The Emissary gives a token, and the Golem exchanges the token for a weapon. Any character that was 15 days old or older on the date of the patch can take advantage of this. These weapons are the exact same weapons you'd get if you ran the quest and picked up the weapon in the ordinary fashion. (They are attuned, in other words.) Types to choose from include the Silifi of Crimson Night, Soulbound weapons, Phantom weapons, Weeping weapons, PoQ weapons, Ultimate Singularity weapons, and Shadowfire weapons. The only irritating thing is this does not include wands or 2h, only one handed melee weapons.

Rare Weapon Exchanger - The pair in the large room upstairs will exchange a rare one handed melee weapon for any other rare one handed melee weapon. (I believe any levels previously gained by your current rare weapon will be lost in the exchange, however.)

See you in Dereth, and remember, exploit early, exploit often! >

-- Elistra
There's no rest for the wicked.

 

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I can't find a way to pay for my sub, they made it nearly impossible to resub.