The Undead Are Rising

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October 27th, 2008 - By Dalmarus

Halloween festivals are getting ready to kick off throughout the country, so it's no surprise to see such an event going on in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes this week. Aside from the excitement of the Halloween festival going on, there are a number of new 6-dot monsters roaming the land as well. Rangers got some love this week in the form of a new pet along with the ability to finally specialize in melee or ranged combat. As if this weren't enough, new content has been added to the Shores of Darkness in the form of new quests, monsters, and more.

I would love to tell you all about the new content to be found on the Shores of Darkness, but there's just one tiny little problem I didn't foresee when I heard this was coming down the pipe. The content appears to be all for level 50 characters, and level 50 only. Even though I've played since release, I still don't have a level 50 character. I know, I know. Take a deep breath and try to contain your shock. I have a 46 Necromancer, but that's apparently not quite high enough to get in the area since the mobs are level 53. One day, I'll have my level 50, but since that day hasn't arrived, if you'd like to see anything from the Shores posted here on Ten Ton Hammer, feel free to send me an email.

Rather than go off on some rant about the new content being made for only level 50 characters, I'm actually happy about it, even though I'm as of yet unable to see it. With the addition of repeatable quests, this may mark a small beginning to fixing the problem of player retention. Level 50's really need more to do, plain and simple. Last week, I talked about the game's desperate need for the addition of an AA (Alternate Advancement) system. I still think it should be an item put near the top of the development team's list of priorities, but in the meantime, I think this is a reasonable interim idea. Since I can't give you descriptions of it though, let's move on.

"They're Friendlier Than They Look"

The original "Vision" of Vanguard, Brad McQuaid was a bit of a Ranger freak among other things we won't go into here. As such, some surmised that he wanted the class to be able to do it all. The problem in this approach is that you'd end up with one of two scenarios. Either the class would be overpowered in both ranged and melee combat, or they'd be too weak in both to make the class truly viable. The success or failure of the end result could be argued either way, but thanks to the recent changes by the development team, it looks like Rangers may finally be able to play the class they always wanted to.

The easiest way to explain the new change to the Ranger class is to look to movies/books for the type of Ranger players want to be. Do they want to be a master of melee combat in touch with nature, such as R.A. Salvatore’s Drizzt Do'Urden dark elf character from the Forgotten Realms series of books? Maybe they see themselves as a master of the bow, such as J.R.R. Tolkien's Legolas character from the Lord of the Rings books, brought to life in a recent set of movies? For the longest time, they were unable to be either, but now, Rangers can finally choose a specialization and play the character they felt they were always meant to.

What's the big news of the week though (for those of us under level 50)? The Halloween festival has started! Just across the road from the New Targanor riftway lies a tent filled with various representatives of the undead. Fortunately for you, they appear to be friendly enough so get into the tent to begin your quests. The first quest will grant you a miniature vampire bat for a pet along with 3 Ancient Platinum Coins which can be used to get yourself that racial mount you've been after for awhile now. It's a nice alternative to camping named mobs for eternity on end. It won't get you all the way, but anything certainly helps. What other holiday events does the team have in mind for this year? Personally, I'm hoping for a live event such as the one we had last year. I'm still hoping for a little more advanced notice on this one.

While you're out running around in the next week or so, be sure to keep your eyes open for some new 6-dot mobs roaming around out there. Even if you're used to a particular chunk being filled with mobs that have no chance to touch you, you may be in for a surprise. While I was out running around in Silverlake this afternoon, I stumbled up the Acolyte of Terror. Check back later this week for a Monster Project on this bad boy. Needless to say, I have no idea what he drops, but I did get a great screenshot before he killed my level 40 Dreadknight with one blow.


What do you think? Leave a comment here!

Have you missed any of Dalmarus' Vanguard Chronicles? Check out The Archives to get caught up!

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Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Ten Ton Hammer network or staff.

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