A Beta
Preview for the Gnomish Cleric
Levels 1-10 in Qalia
by Zinn
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style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(204, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">DISCLAIMER
style="font-style: italic;">: The information reported in
this guide is from Vanguard's beta 3. Things such as ability and spell
names, the levels when they are received, etc. are in flux and subject
to change prior to release. This article is intended to give you a
snapshot of where Vanguard: Saga of Heroes is at this point in
development. This article has been approved by Sigil for public release.
I.
Introduction
This is a Gnome Cleric beta journal where I hope to walk you
through the first 10 levels of playing a Cleric, starting in Mekalia
and
working our way all the way to Natmeg’s outpost.
style=""> Not only do I want to tell you how
to level
but I want to describe to you what you will see along this journey.
style="">
The Gnome city of Mekalia, located in the northeast region of
Qalia, is entirely
underground and
consists of five distinct areas: the Transient Curator Unit; Menagerie
of
Telon; Uebatix’s Institute of Wizardry; Sanctum of the
Deepdark; Loyalists of
the Underking; and Thetaton Sqaure.
II. Character Creation
1.
style="font-weight: bold;">Classes:
Warrior, Rogue, Cleric, Blood Mage, Sorcerer, Psionicist and
Necromancer.
2.
Race: Gnome
only in Mekalia.
generation
because my main concern is to get into the game as href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=vtth-screenshots&id=Gnome_highlevelmageplate1&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php">
alt="Gnome" title="Gnome (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/Gnome_highlevelmageplate1.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2">quickly as possible.
The end
result of this is in most games my first character’s
appearance is less than
desirable. In Vanguard beta you
can customize your character’s appearance at any time, not
just at
creation. If your
character is level 2,
15, 20 or whatever level, you can go to character select, hit the
customize
button and change her appearance. For
a player like me who values immediate
levels over taking the time to experiment with customizing my character
this is
a wonderful feature. [ style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Editor's Note style="font-style: italic;">: The re-customization feature
may not be available at launch.]
III.
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">
Areas of Interest in Mekalia
style="font-weight: bold;">1. Transient Curator Unit- Levels 1-4
New characters start at the
Transient Curator Unit which is
separated from downtown Mekalia by a few minutes walk and many monsters.
style=""> You are given 11 starter
quests which will
take you to around level 4.5 (Note that experience is constantly being
tweaked in beta and will likely change by launch).
The starter quests teach you about the
game. They teach you how to
kill
monsters, how to interact with objects, how to train your skills, how
to use
merchants, use temporary pets and more.
The first thing a new character should learn is
targeting. A player will have
an
offensive target and a defensive target. If
he casts a heal or a buff it will got to his defensive target and any
use of combat abilities will be directed towards your offensive target.
style=""> (But beware that targeting and
accidentally attacking a quest NPC or guard will quickly send
you to an altar). When you or
your group
are engaged in combat you will see a list of all offensive targets
aggroed on the group and their
distance from you. Clicking
the mob's name on the UI targets it. Clicking your group member's names
on the UI has the same effect. You can (and probably should) also
create an assist macro key to assist your defensive target.
style=""> The
UI for targeting and switching targets is very well done.
style=""> Possibly the best I have seen in any
game.
of Note: Hepca
Tesononom. As a young Gnome
its hard not
to look up to Hepca Tesononom even if he was shorter than me. style=""> Hepca seems to know everything and
everyone
in Mekalia.
Cleric Spells and Abilities level 1-4
Anathema I ( Level 1)
– Attacks
the target’s spirit doing moderate damage.
Healing Touch I ( Level 1) – The
spell heals an ally for a small amount of health.
Hand of Censure ( Level
1) –
Melee attack that deals additional damage and spirit damage over time.
This attack does increased damage vs. undead targets. Opening attack.
Resolution I ( Level 2) – Single
(used to be a group buff until last patch) target Buff that boosts an
ally’s
potential hitpoints and grants a large bonus to armor class.
style=""> Lasts 60 minutes.
Gift of Ardor( Level 2) – Group
buff that increases group’s accuracy and damage for a short
period of
time. Lasts 60 minutes.
Endowment of Fervor ( Level 4) –
Group Buff that raises the groups Dexterity and Constitution.
Ward Shield ( Level 4) –
Protects the Cleric from the next two incoming attacks.
Power of Reprisal (
Level 4) –
Cleric only buff. Adds a
chance for the
Cleric’s spirit attacks to do additional damage.
B.
Leveling from 1-4
Playing a Cleric is quite simple at
this point. Level 1-4 mainly
involves
chain casting Anathema over and over. This
part of the game does not involve much strategy but rather it is
about learning how to play the game.
The level 1-4 quests should take
you about 30-40 minutes to complete. The
fighting here takes little thought but the atmosphere and quests are
quite
fun. Once you are finished
with the
Transient Curator Unit you should head to the Menagerie of Telon.
2. Menagerie of Telon
massive buildings
connected together on their upper floors. I
can’t say for certain what the purpose of this area is, but
by the
number of exotic creatures flying around this area it indicates that it
is
dedicated to the study of primitive species.
I did not happen to see any captive Dark Elves on display,
but it’s
possible the Gnome scientists have determined they simply do not make
good
pets.
While here you should
visit Nenetcria
Noxy. She will give you an
introduction
letter to meet Mekalia’s Crafting, Harvesting and Diplomacy
Instructors as well
as an introduction to meet Yoma Gavua at the Skyside Bunker when you
are ready
to resume your adventuring development.To get to this building take the
southeast passage out of Thetaton Square.
NPCs of Note:
Nenetcria Noxy
3. Uebatix’s
Institute of Wizadry
The Psionicist, Necromancer, Sorcerer
trainers, and
Harvesting instructor are housed in Uebatix’s w:st="on">Institute
of Wizadry. style=""> The institute is a somewhat creepy
looking
building with Gargoyles, lots of fog and an aura of mystery. To get to
this
building take the east passage out of w:st="on">Thetaton Square.
NPCs of Note:
style=""> Arcane
Caster Trainers.
Sanctum of the Deepdark
This building is home to the healer trainers.
The building is set off by itself and the
area appears to be much colder than the rest of Mekalia as the edging
of the
pathway and landscape leading to the building is covered in snow and
ice. How they get snow
indoors is an interesting
question. To get to this
building take
the north passage out of
NPC’s of Note:
style=""> Healer
trainers.
to the
Warrior trainer and the Gnome intelligence agency known as 14. style=""> To get to this building take either
of the
two west passageways out of w:st="on">Thetaton Square. style=""> The
Loyalist of the Underking building is a huge stone building with
creaking metal
gates. You should take note
of these
gates. They make a low
whining sound
that one may misinterpret as a cat meowing. Many
of the diplomacy quests are located in this building.
While doing these quests I kept hearing this
faint meow that sounded like a cat requesting help.
I ended up searching my entire house, front
yard, backyard and even was beginning to consider taking a look in the
crawl
space below the house before I realized the sound was coming from the
echo of
the metal doors opening and closing. style="">The
lesson to be learned
here is if you hear sounds that seem to be coming from your house
ignore
them. You can head west from
the
Loyalist of the Underking to the outside world or take the stairs in
this
building to the mountain top.
NPCs of Note:
style=""> Warrior
Trainer and Diplomat Trainer, Commisioner Adnomid Epgar 14 instructor.
Sqaure
(with
mailbox), the crafting and diplomacy instructors, all the crafting
stations and
may important NPCs. Thetaton
Sqaure is
located in the center of Mekalia and has five passageways leading out
from it
to the four other areas on interest in the city.
NPCs of Note:
style=""> Crafting Mastere Kabil Maynox,
Dilpomacy Master Egat Reburley, Crafting
Instructors, Banker, and various vendors.
A.
Crafting
craft as there not a lot of people and it's all self-contained in
a small area. We have already
covered
crafting in a previous journal. For
more information please see href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=436"
target="_blank">Ten Ton Hammer Crafting Guide .
B.
Diplomacy
[
style="font-weight: bold;">Editor's Note: This
section contains some minor quest spoilers.
href="#IV._Leaving_the_City">Click here if you
would rather skip them!]
the mechanics of Diplomacy. It
has been
a topic covered in depth. Rather
than
repeat all of that I would rather discuss the storyline that Diplomacy
brings
to Mekalia. The story is
excellent.
When you engage in a Diplomacy
parlay you open a separate dialogue window where you learn news,
gossip, a
storyline, lore and
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style="border: 0px solid ; width: 150px; height: 120px; float: right;"
alt="Gnome" title="Gnome (click to enlarge)"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/vtth-screenshots/Gnome_highlevelmageplate2.thumb.jpg"
hspace="4" vspace="2"> more.
style=""> There are no
levels in diplomacy, rather you gain skill.
Presently the roughly 36 or so Mekalia diplomacy quests
will take you up
to skill level 40 (500 is the maximum skill).
Civic Diplomacy has not been put into Mekalia yet and to
advance further
you will have to go to the Varathari village of Lomshir.
When you begin your Diplomacy
career in Mekalia you are
assigned to
the undercover intelligence force known as 14.
You quickly undergo intensive training in undercover work
and through
much hard work and effort you can earn your 14 badge.
But it is not advisable to wear this badge as
much of your diplomacy work is undercover. Although
there are times when it is more effective to wear the badge of
authority when speaking with an NPC.
Quite early in your diplomatic
career you learn that the Gnome inventors are working on a secret
weapon project
for the Underking. The weapon is so powerful it could blow up an area
as big as
Mekalia. Many of the
inventors working
on the project have gone missing and are feared dead or kidnapped.
style=""> It is your job to go undercover and
question
the inventors, townspeople, local constables and other NPCs of interest
to
discover why the inventors have going missing.
There are many possible answers to this mystery including
kidnapping,
attempts by Ulabenian Gnomes to steal the weapon, pacifist inventors
possibly
trying to prevent such a weapon from being made, Gnomes possibly coming
back
from the future to change the course of history, or other competing
Telon
agency involvement and much more.
The story is quite good and
fun. Sigil has truly done a
wonderful
job with the storyline and diplomacy in Mekalia.
The story has lots of intrigue and twists and
turns. I was not a big fan of Diplomacy before doing these quests and I
am not
sure I will be engaging in diplomacy very much in Vanguard but I loved
these
quests and I loved the story.
IV. style=""> Leaving the City
There are two ways to leave the city. One
is taking the staircase in the Loyalists
of the Underking building all the way to the top of the mountain.
style=""> The other, while not as scenic, is
simply to
follow the passageway west from the Loyalists of the Underking.
V.
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">
Skyside Bunker Levels 4-10
Just outside Mekalia is the outpost the Skyside Bunker.
There are presently (by my count) 13 quests
here that will take you up to level 10 and to Natmeg’s
outpost. The Skyside Bunker
has various areas of
interest and areas to hunt including the Excavation Pit, the Library
dungeon,
the Excavation Trench and the docks area
game
especially at low levels. You
can quest
from level one to fifty. You
can also
grind without questing. Both
play
options are supported. Compared
to other
starting areas the quests here are a bit lacking in number and
experience (although this is likely to change by launch).
Presently to get to level 10, unlike Qalia’s other starting
areas, you have to
grind a little bit (although Sigil has since upped the experience for
low level
quests and things like these are being tweaked in beta).
Although the Skyside Bunker may
not be complete yet. There
are some
unpopulated buildings south to southwest of the Library dungeon that
look as though they may
eventually have additional quests.
The Skyside bunker area is a desert setting and the animals
in the area seem consistent with the terrain.
There are snakes, lizards, hyenas, vultures and crocodiles
in the
surrounding areas as well as Ulabenian Excavators and their assistants.
VI.
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">
Skyside Bunker area of interest
1. Excavation Pit
Hyenas and
animal bones. It is located
adjacent to
the Skyside Bunker and it’s Heyneas are level 5 and 6.
2. The Library
Every starter area has a starter
dungeon or cave. Many of the
early caves and dungeons are
quite linear. The library is
not linear
as it has many turns, passageways and levels.
The library is both a cave and a dungeon.
The monsters here range from level 5 to
10. Doing the quests here
should taken
you from level 6 to 8.
Vanguard
caves and dungeons it is not what we are used to in modern games. style=""> There are many MOBs and it is quite
easy to
die. One of the defining
features of
Vanguard dungeons is that the margin of error is much smaller. style=""> One mistake by a group member adding
extra
agro will most likely result in a wipe. To
succeed in Vanguard dungeons it is imperative that every group member
plays well. Good tank play is
essential
and it is also essential that players let the tank lead. style=""> Mages looking around corners or
wandering
around normally means a group wipe. But
don’t fear that margin of error is much bigger in the starter
dungeons. Most of the starter
dungeons, including the
library, unlike the level 10+ dungeons, can be soloed or done with 2
people. The Library is a good
taste of
what to expect and helps acclimate new players to Vanguard’s
style of play.
3. The Excavation Trench
populated by
level 8 Hyenas, Ulabenian Excavators and Ulabenian Excavators
Assistants. The Excavation
Trench is a bigger version of
the Excavation Pit.
4. The Docks
There are two quests at the Docks that should get you to
level 9 and then a third quest which will send you to
Natmeg’s Outpost and the
Hive dungeon. This area is
populated by
Crocodiles and Vultures.
VII. Natmeg’s
Outpost
There are two main areas of advancement past level 10. One
beginning in western Qalia at the Dark Horse Racetrack near Lomshir and
the
other at Natmeg’s outpost. The
Racetrack
has three starter areas feeding into Lomshir, the Kurashasa stater area
and the
Dark elf starter area of Hathor Zhi. Natmeg’s
outpost has the Mekalia starting area and the Ghlegad starting
areas feeding into it. When
you arrive
at Natmeg’s Outpost you may want to consider doing some of
the Ghlegad line of
quests by following the road west to Raia.
Now that we know the terrain and our options let’s talk
about leveling the Cleric we started. Below
is our new Cleric guide.
VII.
style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">
Leveling your Gnome
Outside Mekalia
1. Levels
4-6.
There is one level appropriate quest for this level in the
Excavation pit. I recommend
grinding by killing the hyenas around the edge of the pit until you are
level 6 or 7. Experience is
quite fast.
2. Levels 6-8
You now have your first chain attack and you can put it to
good use in the Library. But
Anathema is
till your main attack. You
can solo
through all but the last quests in the library if you pay attention and
watch
your agro. When fighting be
sure to loot
the MOBs as a quest starter drops from one of the mobs inside the
library. You will need a
group to do the final
quest. Once finished with the
Library
you can do the higher level Hyena quest.
This should get you well into level 8.
3. Levels 8-10
At level 8 you will get one of your class defining
abilities, Replenishing Attack. This
attack uses endurance and restores energy (mana).
While you will not use it much now you will
love this ability once you begin to group. For
level 8-10 I would recommend doing the Docks quests first then the
Excavation Trench quest last as that Excavation area has a lot of aggro
MOBs
and the aggro radius is determined by the players level.
style=""> These quests should get you to level
9. I would recommend grinding
on vultures until
level 10 and then heading to Natmeg’s outpost.
Level 10 plus
This is when the game comes alive.
style="">While solo vs. group experience is
still being balanced in beta, I would recommend not worrying
about experience--start venturing
immediately to dungeons. There
are many
dungeons and caves in Qalia for this level;
crawling through them is
very fun and good practice for later levels.
I can’t describe how much I have enjoyed the
dungeons. What I have enjoyed
most about them is that it
takes good teamwork and good play by everyone in your group to advance
through
a dungeon.
At level 10 you can either experience on the east side of
Qalia or move over to the Dark Horse Racetrack area which has some very
well
done quests. There are lots
of
possibilities and even at this stage of beta there is lots of
content. Considering there
will be three
continents at release it becomes quite apparent that one will only be
able to
experience a small amount of the content at release.
I am generally a player that tries to level as fast as he
can. I find my self not
worrying about
leveling in Vanguard but rather wanting to slow my leveling down to
experience
as much of the world as I can.
VIII. Summary
The Gnome area is a very well done starting area.
The landscape and architecture are beautiful,
engaging and adds a great deal of atmosphere to the area.
style=""> The quests are well done although
there are
not as many quests as contained in the other starting areas and one
cannot
level only on quests without having to grind for experience.
adding a storyline,
lore and humor to the world. I loved just about everything about the
Gnome area
and it is one of my favorite starting areas in the game.
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