13 April 2012 | |
Pherephassa
It’s been an exciting week here at LoreHound! PAX East happened last weekend, and I wish I could have gone with iTZKooPA. But he was busy stalking game developers while there, and brought back a bunch of interviews which are in the process of being smoothed out and put online for everyone to see. I’m obviously biased, but I think they’re some of the best video interviews I’ve seen and and I’ve really been enjoying watching them. I can’t wait for the rest of them to be finished up! Thanks everyone for bringing these interviews to all of us who were unable to attend!
Now that I have gotten my PAX excitement out of the way, welcome to my very first weekly recap! Every Friday, barring strange and unexpected circumstances – which will hopefully be few and far between – I’ll be summing up the week and providing links to the week’s events. So if it’s been particularly busy and things have been pushed off the front page too quickly, you can catch up here. I’ll do my best to keep my commentary short and to the point, although I’m not entirely certain how well I’ll succeed as I can be rather loquacious and pithy when left alone. But, on to the show!
11 April 2012 | |
Mike
We’re back with a second interview with Dungeons & Dragons Online Executive Producer, Fernando Paiz, from Pax East 2012, this time talking to him about the new Druid class.
DDO’s first expansion, Menance of the Underdark, is launching on June 25th and with it comes the new Druid class, which we got to see in action during our interview and learned a little more about it.
The Druid class has the Wild-Shape ability which allows for the character to take three basic forms, wolf (melee/DPS), bear (tank) and elemental form (fire or water), with each form having different versions of itself. For example as you level, you can open up “Winter Wolf” or “Dire Bear”, which provide different abilities or spells to the player. Each alternate version also has its own skill tree-line, with 6 lines all together to start, but possibly more versions down the road.
We also find out a little more about the new Epic Levels and Epic Destinies which allows players to level from 20 – 25, as well as complete multiple Epic Destinies, not just their class Destiny. Check out the full DDO Druid class interview below.
Continue Reading
10 April 2012 | |
Randy Denosha
The Dungeon Master is going to take a look at the fourth Adventure Pack for DDO, Tangleroot Gorge , a pack for characters between levels 3 and 7.
This pack consists of ten quests and includes a new wilderness area to play around in. The quests revolve around a plot line involving a friendly tribe of hobgoblins, who want the player’s help to get rid of another, not-so friendly, hobgoblin tribe that also inhabits Tangleroot. Every quest is located inside a base that the hobgoblins have called Splinterskull. In the start, the player will weed out the forces inside the fortress before finally confronting the boss, Chief Yarkuch.
The wilderness area has 9 rare spawns to kill, 8 different slayer bonuses and 13 explorable areas. Each giving a nice bonus experience. Continue Reading
8 April 2012 | |
LHStaff
The first Dungeons & Dragons Online expansion, Menance of the Underdark, is getting ready for its June 25th release and we were able to talk with Executive Producer, Fernando Paiz, at Pax East 2012 about it.
Menance of the Underdark is the games largest content update thus far and will send players into the Forgotten Realms where they’ll have to face the Queen of the Spiders, Lolth. It also introduces the new Druid class and will increase the level cap to 25 by introducing Epic Levels and Epic Destinies.
With this expansion, DDO will be stepping away from instances and steering more towards creating an open world, “We stopped short of making the world a full open world, but what we did was build it in a way you can see off in the distance the places that you’re going to and walk from place to place“, Mr. Paiz stated.
Players will also be able to get their hands on the expansion next month when the game launches into closed beta testing.
Check our the full DDO: Menance of the Underdark Pax East interview below.
Continue Reading
3 April 2012 | |
Randy Denosha
The Dungeon Master is going to take a look at the third Adventure Pack that crossed his desk, this being The Sharn Syndicate for DDO, a pack that is for characters around level 4.
This pack has six adventures in it, each revolving around the local crime organization The Sharn Syndicate. It starts off slow, with the player defending a bar from low-level thugs. The slow start is deceiving, leading one to believe it’ll be a run-of-the-mill adventure, but it ends in an all out warfare in the streets of Stormreach where the player will have a hard time getting away. Many players argue that the end rewards for this adventure pack are a must around level 4. I agree to that only if the player can actually use any of the weapons they give at the end. The weapons are, Greatsword, Heavy Mace, Kama, Longbow, Longsword, Scimitar and Shortsword and all of them have an energy type on them doing an extra 1d6 of damage. Continue Reading
29 February 2012 | |
Randy Denosha
Fans of Dungeons and Dragons Online will be very happy to hear that Turbine has announced the release date for the game’s first expansion, Menace of the Underdark, as June 25th. The announcement came hand-in-hand with their next content update: Web of Chaos, but that’s not all. Turbine also announced the details for pre-orders which unlock in-game items and account bonuses, some which players will receive now and others when the expansion arrives. We also have some screenshots of some of the items that are available with the pre-order and a screenshot of the new class, Druid (to the right).
Now let me get into a little bit more detail about the pre-orders that unlock items and bonuses. There are three different forms of pre-purchasing, each with their own benefits, the more expensive you go the more benefits you get. Pretty logical right? Well I have seen the items/specials you get and I am pretty happy with them, however many of the items are already available in the game and the specials are definitely available in the DDO store for purchase. There is but just one (two actually) items that I am not so sure about, which are the masks you get. At first glance I thought the masks provide only a different helmet appearance, but it turns out they also give a stat bonus to character skills and better resistance to poison. Now I don’t like that fact that players who pre-order the game will receive stated items, however if they’ll also be available via the DDO store then I’m fine with it since everyone can access it. Besides that point the pre-order items are good.
Continue below to read the full press release for the Menace of the Underdark expansion. Continue Reading
3 February 2012 | |
Randy Denosha
Fans of the Dungeon Master Column, Dungeons and Dragons and its online version can rejoice, the latest information is out on Update 13. Turbine has released some new media for the next update to Dungeons And Dragons Online. In addition, the company released some information about the next update which – in the words of Turbine – is going to be a prequel to the next expansion.
Players will be able to see some new quests that involve a cult called ‘The Lords Of Dust.’ Besides fighting this cult mob, the player will work their way up the chain, assaulting those in control of the hive mind, the cat-like Rakshasa. While this is new material for a F2P title, the three extra quests are free.
Pushing the F2P note further, the DDO store itself received an update. The virtual general store for adventurers will see new items lining its shelves, the Cloak of Resistance, an Amulet of Protection and a full suite of +1 Elemental Touch Weapons. Players with spellcaster avatars are bestowed a double dose, as Turbine is going to add two items for them; the Omnispell Stone and Omnispell Dust. Both are material components that can be used for any spell needing material components, freeing up player bag space. Last, but certainly not the least, a new veteran status, allowing players to start at level 7. The status can be earned by gaining enough favor or - of course - by buying it in the in-game store.
You can read the official update after the jump. And don’t forget the extra screenshots. Continue Reading
