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The Check's in the Mail

Players can now send items and coin via mail in Mythos.

Among the many changes to Mythos in the recent release is the introduction to the mail system. Just like in most other MMOGs, players can use mail in Mythos to send notes, items, and coin. You don't need to find a mailbox in the current build, but you can't send items from the clearings outside dungeons. You have to be in a major town.

Opening the mail menu automatically opens up your inventory and character sheet, too, so finding the item you need to mail is a snap. You'll pay a minimal fee to ship your item, but it's nothing that will make you hesitate to send a useful rare or crafting recipe to a buddy.

It's in the Bag
With crafting components dropping from enemies and coming from harvestable trees and nodes of ore, Flagship Studios knew players would need a better way to sort their inventories. To that end, they've added an ingredients tab to the inventory screen. Now weapons, armor, potions, and maps go to the primary inventory screen while crafting ingredients automatically go to the ingredients screen.

From my limited testing, it looks as though there are dozens of different ingredient types. Maybe too many. My bag had something in half its slots after running one overland area and one dungeon. I had no clue which ones I need because I did not have any recipes yet, and mousing over the item did not provide any information about which type of crafting the item aids.

UI Changes
The UI in Mythos received some major changes with the latest release. Probably the biggest of those is the camera controls. Instead of a fixed camera looking down from a 3/4 perspective, I was able to free up the camera to follow my character. I found I could also rotate the camera without going to the Vanity Cam mode, which was nice. Finally, players who need to be able to use WASD controls can now do so, though I don't know that it's very useful for me in this style of game. Having options is always appreciated, though.

Ralsu didn't die...this time.

Another change I noticed was that the health and life orbs have changed to cylinders and have been separated. Instead of both being on the left of the HUD, they are now on opposite ends. I don't have a strong opinion about the placement, but I do like the look of the cylinders better than the orbs used prior to this release. Finally, the screen now gets a red glow around its edges when your character is about to die. Coupled with the heartbeat sound effect, it adds some sense of urgency to the situation.

Shadowlands and PvP
It would be remiss of me to not mention the player-vs.-player (PvP) changes implemented with the new Mythos release. At character creation, players can now flag their characters as Shadowlands only. This designation means that PvP combat can erupt in any town, dungeon, overland map, or clearing. No place is safe! Players who lose a PvP battle are subjected to the humiliation of having their corpse looted of any one item. Thus, the skilled PvPers can just slaughter you to take your better equipment and get even stronger.

Don't worry if PvP is not your thing. Without the Shadowlands designation, players must consent to PvP. And Flagship Studios has introduced an Anarchy statistic to characters to keep people honest. Players who pick on the weak, killing characters well below their level will find their Anarchy score suffers and that when they die in PvP, the victor will be able to loot more than one item from their corpse.

Parting Thoughts
Mythos has undergone some major changes in the last week. Flagship Studios is really working hard to get things ready for open beta. I won't be surprised if open beta starts by the end of April. I also expect to see some tweaking of crafting, racial traits, and skill bonuses. I also hope itemization gets a full pass. I love that I am actually getting legendary items to drop now, but the drop rate for items in general seems a bit high.

A few weeks in, and I am still having a blast. I can't wait to see what comes next!

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