Folks can find a lot of VG info from fansites like<
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silkyvenom.com/<
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http://www.vanguardspheres.com/<
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Here is a thread on druids grove with details of a couple classes. See posts #1 and #4.<
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eq.forums.thedruidsgrove....hp?t=11801<
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Quote:<
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Classes: <
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There are a total of 5 classes currently playable in the beta. Warrior, Psionicist, Sorcerer, Ranger, and Cleric. Much of what I will say has already been released but there was so much information given I actually lost track of what’s new and what wasn’t.<
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Warrior. <
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Each warrior has abilities based on race and starting location. These abilities evolve and change as the warrior advances. What at level one is a simple stabbing motion may become a Stab, Stun, flurry attack at later levels. The cool part about that is that if 2 warriors from different areas (hence having different abilities) group up together and fight, they have the opportunity to learn skills from each other. <
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Warriors also have a lot more going on than they have in any previous game I have played. They have both offensive and defensive targets, they can intercept actions intended for other players, they have countermoves, and they can even queue up attacks leading to combo moves in certain cases. <
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I was talking to Jeff Butler and he made the statement “The days of autoattack are over. If you just hit autoattack and walk away at low levels you will be lucky to survive, you try it at high levels and it’s certain death.�<
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Psionicist. <
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Nothing really earth shattering released that I heard (although I am sure I missed a ton of stuff). When I played one the only thing I learned was that they make crappy tanks but then I was pretty sure of that going in.<
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Clerics. <
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Clerics are nothing like clerics in EQ. If you try to be nothing but a healbot your group might survive but they will definitely be wasting both time and opportunity. Clerics will be nuking, meleeing, healing, buffing, etc all during the fight. <
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I also noticed that the dual targeting system really shines while playing a cleric. The way it works is that the last group member you clicked on becomes your defensive target and the last mob becomes your offensive target. This means that I can cast both a nuke and a heal without worrying about changing targets. If I need to heal a different party member I just click them. The offensive target stays the same so my next nuke will hit as scheduled without me having to hit Alt/tab or some other key combination.<
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Ranger. <
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Brad only said they are in game now. I don’t think anyone actually made one. I know I never saw one.<
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Sorcerer. <
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This is where I spent most of my demo time. So I think I have a fairly good feel for the class, at low levels anyway.<
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The sorcerer is an elemental caster with spells and abilities based on the elements of air, earth, water and fire. Each element has its own stance called “Mindsets.� In order to cast an earth based spell, you have to be in the earth mindset.<
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You can also combine abilities. For example, Start an air spell, and as its casting switch to fire and begin another spell and the two combine and you end up with an effect from the realm of smoke. Since I only made it up to level 4, I never got to see this so this is from the devs not personal experience.<
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Druid Info<
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While I was here I got to sit down one on with both Talisker (Darrin Thomas) and Elidroth (Doug Cronkhite) and ask a few questions. I have an official interview I will be posting as soon as it’s all put together but here are the basics.<
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The Druid class is going to be a huge change from the usual “Jack of all Trades and Master of None" stereotype we are all familiar with. The concept the devs have is that of a Mighty Storm Wizard, commanding the elements and being a serious power of nature. Darrin also mentioned that their druid has a very “Stonehengy/Celtic� flavor to it. They have been officially removed from the Healer Archetype and join the Sorcerer as an arcane damage dealer effectively replacing Summoners which have been removed from the game.<
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Druids and sorcerers will share many of the same abilities/spells and will probably compete for group spots. I also got the impressions its more of a very serious nuker as opposed to dots but that’s not set in stone yet.<
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There will also be a few very cool new spell lines. One in particular I found interesting was a tornado spell. It’s ground targetable so you cast it where you want it to start spinning. The mobs near it begin to take damage and are possibly disoriented depending on how powerful the caster is. The ones farther away are also sucked closer and the closer they get the more detrimental the effects of the tornado.<
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I also specifically asked about indoor/outdoor limitations. Darrin said that while they will have several spells which are outdoors only they will definitely not be gimped indoors. One method they are looking at is possibly lowering the effectiveness of things like lightning spells indoors and maybe increasing a different spell line to compensate so that you will have to use different strategies when playing your druid inside as opposed to outside.<
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Inquisitor<
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This is a heavy plate class with psionic abilities. While not going into great detail, I was told that the class will most definitely kick some serious ass….especially up against magic users.<
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Rogue. <
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The first thing I was told was that they are not Ginsu warriors. They are going to be much stealthier as in sneak in without anyone knowing they are there, do massive damage and then disappear. Kind of like Ninjas although when I used the word ninja I was told that I could not refer to them that way because of the ongoing ninja vs. pirates’ debate. Secondary skills such as detecting traps, picking locks and pockets, etc are not yet implemented and may or may not make it for release although they are in the design document.<
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Paladin. <
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This is no longer a warrior/cleric hy
id. They don’t have heals (at least not big ones) and there is no Lay on hands ability. They do have several other abilities but none of them are finalized enough to talk about yet.<
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Summoner:<
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Pulled but may be added in with a later expansion.<
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The rest of the classes I either got inconclusive info or never managed to grab the dev who was responsible for it.<
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Magic system.<
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Magic has an underlying system to it. If multiple casters are in a group and they each cast a spell there is a chance for the spells to combine into a completely different effect based on who is casting what, their levels, and possibly environmental effects although that last part is still pretty iffy. There are also counter spells. If your perception is high enough you may be able to determine what the opposing caster is trying to do and be able to cast a counter spell to change or cancel the effect. Think along the lines of an enemy caster throwing a fireball at you and the party’s cleric having a chance to change it to an AOE heal.<
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You also have the ability to learn spells from enemy casters if you see them casting certain spells. There will be some spells that the only way you can learn them is to find and fight the NPC’s who will use them against you. I also noticed that when grouped with another caster I got skill ups when they cast spells that I passed a perception check on.<
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Melee combat and Damage.<
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Melee combat is just as involved as caster combat. Again, you have both offensive and defensive targets. You also have a list of the mobs that you “Perceive� along the right side. If you are currently fighting say 3 mobs and you notice a 4th mob decide to focus on the cleric you may have several options including but not limited to:<
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1) Ignoring it and continuing as you were doing.<
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2) Attacking the incoming mob<
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3) Attempting to shield your defensive target and thereby absorbing the damage he would have taken(while still beating on your primary target)<
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4) A counter move or chain effect that may have occurred based on what’s happening at that moment in the combat cycle.<
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Combat chains.<
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Melee fighters are allowed to queue up attacks. Certain attacks when queued up in the correct manner and at the correct time will lead to other attacks which may end up in a high damage finishing move.<
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Wounds.<
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Your character can have specific body parts wounded. Each part would affect the player in a different manner. For example, getting a head wound (concussion) currently slows mana regeneration and increases the chances of spell failure while a leg wound slows run speed. These wounds do not heal themselves and must be cured.<
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Resistances. {Removed Resistance Info. I confirmed just now that I had only heard part of the conversation and Environmental effects to resistance are most likely not in game}<
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Skill caps.<
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There are way too many skills to list here but they are all capped at (your level*10) +10. Currently under evaluation<
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Experience:<
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The game is currently set for experience debt but that again is under evaluation and may end up switching to exp loss.<
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In-game navigation.<
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In game you get waypoints entered into your journal. If you click that journal entry the waypoint is set in the form of a line on your compass. You go that direction and, eventually, you will end up at your destination…..of course there might be a chasm or mountain or 2 you have to navigate around.<
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In-game maps<
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Maps are currently a subject of intense discussion among the dev team. Brad says he favors letting you know where you are but not giving you spoilers. Something like a hand drawn map showing your location in relation to a few generic landmarks is what he is currently leaning towards.<
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Beta 1 start. <
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Brad stated that beta 1 is currently scheduled to begin sometime in September but thats not set in stone. <
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They gave away 10 beta 1 slots. Everyone else who went to the Fanguard was given an automatic Beta 2 slot.<
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As a final note I would like to thank the entire team at Sigil Games for a wonderful event. Yes there were a few problems *cough* like the hotel *cough* but overall it went great. The team was always open and friendly and willing to answer any questions we could come up with, no matter how many times they had been asked before. *cough* Xbox2 *cough*.<
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I would also like to thank the guys over at ATI for sponsoring the event and providing some awesome prizes <
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Last but not least I would like to thank all the other lunatics such as myself who flew thousands of miles across the country to show support to both the game and the dev team this far from launch.<
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