The Vindictus mage love edition

Vindictus, the free-to-play hack-and-slash MMO from Nexon, recently came out of beta and introduced its third character class, Evie the Mage. I’ve been waiting for this class to become available ever since I saw some of the attacks it can pull off. On top of the usual pyrotechnics you expect of a mage class, she can  lift up her enemies in a kind of anti-gravity field and slam them down on to the ground. She can also summon a golem by pulling together the destructible debris in the dungeon to form an animated giant pet to command. Higher levels grant you the ability to forgo magic in favor of becoming a scythe wielding death machine or to fill the role of group healer. Fun stuff. Can’t wait until the fourth and fifth classes become available.

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Aion 1 year anniversary pet and Daeva’s Days

NCSoft’s PvEvP MMORPG Aion celebrates its first anniversary this month for the North American debut. Aion’s Lance Stile issued a state of the game address that covered all of the improvements made tot he game in the past year. He also announced those players who have been with the game for a year will receive a new in-game pet, the Aqua Griffo. Also, the in-game limited event Daeva’s Day has kicked off. Players can earn fireworks, funny hats and other RP items. It ends Wednesday, October 6, 2010.

EverQuest’s 17th expansion House of Thule announced preorder special

EverQuest just keeps on keepin’ on. In preparation for it’s 17th expansion, House of Thule, SOE has released a video showing off the new zones and encounters. Preorders have started and include special mounts, mercenaries, a 20-slot bag and more. There is a collector’s edition and a standard edition, but all of these appear to be digital download only offers. The preorder offer ends Monday, October 11, 2010, the day before the expansion goes live.

  • EverQuest

Vindictus grappling move in glorious video action

Nexon’s upcoming free-to-play action MMORPG Vindictus has a lot of visceral action to offer players. One of the most brutal move available to players is the grapple: grabbing the opponent by the neck and smashing them down. This move can even be used to bowl over other opponents as well. Trust me, this one never gets old. Video of the move below.

  • Vindictus status
    • Early access Open Beta (key required): In progress
    • Full Open Beta: Wednesday, October 6, 2010
    • Launch: Unannounced

LotRO Vol 3 Book 2 Patch 1 notes hit the test server

This month’s free-to-play conversion for Turbine’s Lord of the Rings Online brought a boatload of changes to the game, both functional and behind the scenes. It’s no surprise the first patch afterwards, Vol3 Book2 Patch 1 is more of a list of bug fixes than new game content. This new patch is currently on Bullroarer, LotRO’s public test server.

  • LotRO Status:
    • Vol 3 Book 2: LotRO went Free To Play on September 10, 2010.
    • Vol 3 Book 2 Patch 1: Bug fixes, on the public test server, no live date announced.
    • Next expansion: Isengard (via PC Gamer)

LotRO Release Notes – Volume III, Book 2, Patch 1 (BULLROARER ONLY)

The following release notes apply only to the Bullroarer Test Server. All changes and updates listed are subject to change before being released to the live servers.

Release Notes

General

  • Several references to the Lorebook within the game have been updated to read “MyLOTRO” instead of “Lorebook”. Clicking on the “MyLotro” button on the start menu or radar ring will now take you to your MyLOTRO page and provide access to all Community Sites from directly within the game.
  • Players who last logged out while in the Fornost or Great Barrow instances before Volume III, Book 2 went live can now log in again.
  • You should no longer see an interior map from an area you have left while out in the world.
  • Players in the Archet and Ered Luin starting areas can now transfer to the same layer as your fellowship leader.
  • Teleporting between Housing areas and Dynamic Layers now works properly.

Captain

  • The Captain’s Armaments for the Man-at-arms, the Squire and the Pilgrim will now allow the summoning of Heralds of Hope and Victory instead of always summoning Heralds of War.

Champion

  • The Champion legacy that increases Critical Damage magnitude will now affect the second and third attacks for all skills.

Skirmishes

  • All daily quests have had their minimum bestowal levels correctly set.

The Ettenmoors (PvMP)

  • Tomes of Deed Acceleration no longer advance monster play kill deeds.

Raids & Instances

  • Leave Instance now works correctly for session players.
  • In certain cases the instance, ”Rise of the Fallen Son” could not be completed. This has been corrected.
  • The Blind One, Zholuga, and Nornan somehow opened up the cabinet with the bag of extra-steroid-infused Monster Chow. We’ve installed child-proof locks on the cabinet, so the Blind One, Zholuga, and Nornan are back to their old selves. Or, to put it another way:
    • Reduced the Damage-over-Time effects in the Turtle Raid to their previous values.
    • Reduced the effects “Virulent Contagion” & “Paralyzing Contagion” in Dar Narbugud to their previous values.
  • Haudh Iarcith
    • The door to the epic area now requires a minimum level of 45 to open.
      Westernesse protection has been removed from several monsters.
      Addressed an incorrect loot assignment.
      Spawn timers on the bosses have been dramatically reduced.
  • Great Barrow: Thadur
    • Removed some adds from the boss fight.
    • The Challenge quest should now work properly.
  • Great Barrow: Sambrog
    • Adds will now correctly clear when the boss resets.
  • Great Barrow: Maze
    • The challenge quest now correctly fails when the fight is reset.
  • Helegrod: Drake Wing
    • Deeds will now correctly update while you are in a raid.
  • Helegrod: Spider Wing
    • Deeds will now correctly update while you are in a raid.
    • The deed, “Zaudru’s Brood” now requires 100 kills.

Items

  • The set bonus on the level 65 Armour of the Aurochs Hunter set has been fixed to properly reduce the cooldown of “Penetrating Shot” when all 6 pieces are equipped.
  • The level 65 Annúminas armor will no longer accept dyes as the armor does not support them.
  • “Map to Thorin’s Hall” will no longer play a cinematic when used.
  • The deed “Helegrod — Drake Wing” no longer advertises the deed acceleration item. This deed cannot be accelerated.
  • Novice’s Mark will no longer conflict with the run speed perks purchased from the Destiny Panel or the LOTRO Store.
  • Fixed some auto-consumed skill-granting items that were not setup to auto-consume if the player was mounted when purchasing them from the LOTRO store.
  • The “Veteran Esquire’s Heavy Mail” had its name accidentally changed to “Veteran Recruit’s Heavy Mail” and its level reduced to 27. This item now has the correct name and its level increased to 37.
  • “Comagol”, “Rangers of Esteldin” kindred rep sword, now has “Rangers of Esteldin” faction requirement instead of “Wardens of Annúminas”

Town Services

  • Vendors that sell steeds no longer repair items.

Wardrobe

  • Items with unique color palettes can now be cosmetically equipped from the wardrobe correctly.

Quests

  • In Volume I, Book 1 Chapter 11, you are no longer able to interrupt the scene with Sambrog while he’s talking.
  • In Volume I, Book 3 Chapter 5, you will no longer see the message, “Drukordh has been defeated!”, until you’ve actually defeated him.

DCUO Cinematic trailer releases Director’s Cut version

SOE released the beautifully crafted DC Universe Online Cinematic at San Diego Comic Con this summer. It sets the stage for the lore of the upcoming superhero MMORPG. In this new cut, Jim Lee and the company that created the cinematic go over the trailer scene by scene explaining the thought process behind it all.

  • DCUO Status:
    • Closed beta: In progress
    • Open beta: Unannounced
    • Launch date: Tuesday, November 2, 2010

The I heart Vindictus open beta Edition

Having played more MMOs than I can count over the past 11 years, I have to say I haven’t come across one with the visceral pleasure of Nexon’s upcoming free-to-play, action MMO, Vindictus. There’s no laundry list of abilities to juggle, just combos built out of right and left-clicking the mouse. Using these combos, you and your closest online friends hack and slash your way through randomized dungeons with a boss at the end. You can build combos to culminate in AE attacks, knockdowns, stuns and more. The open beta only has the tank and melee dps class available to play, but video of the mage class looks like fun as well. If you want more info, read my write-up on the title from my hands on at San Diego Comic Con earlier in the summer.

I will start having more Vindictus news up here at Danomatic as it gets closer to launch.

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SWTOR Smuggler video premieres

Bioware releases another video highlighting a SWTOR class, this time the Han Solo-inspired Smuggler class. This support role looks like it can do a little bit of everything, including emergency heal. Nice jack-of-all-trades class for those who like to do it all.

FFXIV open beta closed, preorders and early access begin

Square Enix has announced the end to the open beta in advance of the September 30, 2010 launch. However, preorders of the collector’s edition has begun and grants you not only the usual CE goodies, but also early access to the game starting September 21, 2010.

PAX 2010: SWTOR closed beta class abilities list at Darth Hater

The Darth Hater SWTOR fan site was at PAX 2010 and managed to write down the skill list for many of the playable classes in the current closed beta. While this doesn’t include Advanced Abilities, it’s still a good overview of General Abilities for the Bounty Hunter, Imperial Agent, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Trooper and Smuggler. Check out, Force Choke at level 8 for the Sith Warrior, the Bounty Hunter’s Thermal Detonation skill and more fun abilities. Sith Warrior video from this summer embedded below.