Essential PVP gear - mouthpice

Sometimes my real world and my MMO world will cross over. Remember my MMO wedding? I sure don't, I was drunk off my ass.

Anyway I have always had very healthy teeth until just a couple years ago my dentists informed me that I am "kinda wearing down my teeth by grinding them". I though "ok no biggie". That was until recently my dentist said "fuck dude, you are REALLY grinding your teeth". So we tried to find the cause of this problem which could be either stress or strenuous activity.

My job can be stressful at times, but I couldn't recall grinding my teeth at any time so we could cross that one out.

Strenuous activity? Well I have been involved with weight lifting for several years now (bodybuilding at first, P90X as of late) and it's very common for people to clinch their jaws while lifting weights. So I have taken extra care to be self aware while trening to see if there is any excessive teeth grinding. Nope, I tend to bite my lower lip, but my teeth are fine.

Then it hit me: Age of Conan PVP *facepalm*.

I am grinding my teeth during PVP when I am trying to get that last second kill before dieing myself. Quite common for assassin class. There is no denying that, I know this, I have seen myself done it. First time the dentist mentioned this issue was when? When I picked up AOC back in 2008. 

Of course I have told my dentist that "yeh bro, this teeth griding? That's from lifting sick weights, dog!". What else could I have told him, that it's from playing PVP?????

Now how to address this issue? Simply knowing that I am doing IT while PVPing won't solve the problem by itself.

As stupid and geeky it might seem I am using underarmor mouthpice to protect my teeht .... during PVP.

Ironically this is the product that I actually would have been using if my sport activity was the source of the problem.

Which brings me to the second issue: explaining it to my wife my the hell I am wearing this high end sports gear while sitting my ass in front of computer and NOT while I am actually working out?

"I am uh....molding it".

Yeah, that excuse is already getting old -_-/

Sand and Jagged Rocks ep.4 - upcoming content

 I am here to bring you the latest and grates info on what is coming down the pipe:

The Coils of Ubah Kan dungeon looks like live ready (almost) and it is already itemized. Since I know that is all you care about here are some fresh screenies of epics and blues:

Assassin mask. I am not big fan of SDS armor design, but it beats HOC and Fort for sure.

Epics!

Assassin epic legs

More lootie

Let's look at new epic legs stats compared to the most commonly used Blades leggings of the hidden tomb 

Chaos pants

8 more armor

9 less const

468 cr + 25 dex = 468 +75 Combat Rating = 543 = 24 more combat rating

7 more hit rating

no difference in critical and critical damage ratings

So....seems like new Chaos legs are veeeeeerrrrrrrrry minor upgrade to Tomb legs.

The difference in health is +72 HP and whatever stamina loss from constitution is mitigated by +25 dex.

But we are talking here about +0.67 DPS difference, but still an upgrade and a way to gear up faster than "kill & pray" Yag runs.

The dungeon has several bosses and looks neat.

More so there is now a new quest in SDS that will reward you good blue pots for killing the bosses. I don't know if this will be an incentive alone to go into dungeons, but it's good that the Devs even thought about offering a little more than in Khitai.

What else do we know?

CirithGorgor Senior Designer

Hi, again thanks to everyone for the feedback, I'll take a look at the Unknown and make sure there are some changes done before this hits live. A quick note on the loot; there should be at least 1 guaranteed epic drop per dungeon run which can come from any of the sets, as well as a smaller chance of picking up epics elsewhere in the dungeon (including a possibility of from the trash (albeit very slim)). There is also a new quest you can pick up outside Coils of Ubah Kan and Sepulcher of the Wyrm, which will provide a consumable stat potion reward for completing it. We do realize that the itemization of the last few releases has not provided sufficient incentive to do the content (long term) and therefore your feedback is particularly appreciated in this regard for the Coils of Ubah Kan patch (including the repeatable quest).

This is great news, not only epic drops are guaranteed, but also clearing up trash can get you extra drops (like epic hands from Wyrm dungeon). Seems like Funcom decided to that Wyrm won't be re-designed (too bad IMO), but people will still be able to get it's loot via trash mobs in Coils (source).

But the exciting news keep on coming:

07-15-2013, 02:21 PM

#13

CirithGorgor Senior Designer

The final version of the Coils of Ubah Kan dungeon is now on the Test Live servers, this includes all the loot for the dungeon (including an additional quest with loot to complete both dungeons in the Dragon's Spine playfield). This version will be staying on Test Live so that we are able to get feedback particularly on the itemization, because as we realize the itemization of some of our last releases has not provided sufficient incentive to go there; we really want to buck that trend with this dungeon (without making it better than T4 of course). Therefore any feedback on the dungeon loot is particularly appreciated and important to us. As mentioned in the last GD letter we are looking at longer term solutions for itemization for later releases. What it does mean is that the dungeon will be on testlive for a couple of weeks so that we can acquire sufficient feedback; while I do understand it can be frustrating that the content does not go live when its so close to being finished I do think it will provide a better experience in the long term if we do take the time to get the loot right first and really provide something polished and balanced. Of course this does not mean we are just sitting around doing nothing while this dungeon is on testlive. Other content is in production at the same time and while you may not see the immediate benefits of that it should mean we can get the next batch of content (revamped & unchained versions of Halls of Eternal Frost, the Scorpion Caves and The Caravan Raiders Hideout) onto test live not too long after Coils goes live. (This is in addition to other unannounced content which is being worked on too). and FYI I'm not taking any vacation this summer, nor do I spend my time on TSW (I'm dedicated to this project).

We get to learn a lot from this post:

1. Funcom is aware of itemization problem.
2. Funcom is working on new content that we don't know anything about yet! I can't imagine that it is PVE content (with so so soooooooooo many dungeons coming) so it might just be....*gasp* ARENA SYSTEM???
3. At least 1 Funcom Dev is dedicated to Age of Conan only and he doesn't slack during summer (wow, just WOW!).

(source).

What about the mergers? According to this thread paid server character transfers are as of now disabled because of pending merge. This was supposedly confirmed my a GM.

Mergers in September? Could be!
There you have it. I think there is a lot to be looking forward to.

Sand and Jagged Rocks ep.3 - changes are needed

I have been thinking a lot lately about Dragon's Spine (because I have nothing else going in  my life, obviously :D) trying to nail what is really wrong with this content. Although I am not a big fan of deserts DS looks very fine. But with all this eye candy comes very little content and whatever we have now gets topped easily by ROGS expansions which is still "go-to" zone for lvl80 characters.

What I do like about DS is that it is a harsh, unforgiving land with tough mobs. I got the same vibe from Kara Korum (back in the days of wearing blue items :X) and I like to be challenged by the environment rather than walking over whatever inhabitants of the zone I can get my daggers into. The second thing is overall design of the zone which feels very much hand-crafted with a lot of attention to the details. Nothing seems randomly generated. Sadly, that is about it.

Dragon's Spine is simply thin on content. Yes there is "epic" chain of quests, but apart from well written, Kull based stor,y DS can be "beaten" in one sitting and pretty much there is no reason to return to the zone. EVER.

What can be done about this?

MOA rewards and bags - with recent changes on TL quests in DS got MOA rewards and caravan bags. That is a step in the right direction, but far from what is needed to make the DS a destination for veteran players. Right now DS is offering few repetable quests that are on par with Chosain and Paikang so that is pretty good, right? Wrong. Not only questing in Chosain and Paikang is easier (quests givers and quest objectives are close to each other), but also you can level up you factions at the same time. More so in Paikang you can also hunt nightmare bubbles while questing and get a rare token for it. Simply jacking up MOA value per quest in DS is not the way to go so it has to be that second factor that is making ROGS more interesting: factions.

Factions - Lack of factions in DS is simply staggering. Faction game play doesn't have to be as elaborate as in ROGS, but many players enjoy the progression that comes from leveling faction (access to new items, quests and story). What factions we could have in DS? Expedition Guards faction and Bandits. Expedition Guards quests are ready as we could have whatever is now in DS. Bandits are also present in DS zone, but the current story doesn't even mentions them. Expedition Guards would give "protect" type of missions and Bandits would give "raid" type of missions. Rewards? Take whatever social armors you have crammed into Wyrm (there are 3 or 4 dropping there I think) and make them faction rewards bought with few rares. Add a buy-able camel mount (there is no in-game one currently) and a guard/bandit combat pet that deals some damage (like wolf/tiger) and gives a minor buff (like Kappa). Funcom doesn't need to give players more power via armor sets, but at the same time people like me are sitting on hundreds of rare tokens with NOTHING to spend them on. Give us stuff to buy.

Rare spawns - I have always enjoyed the thrill of killing a rare spawn monster that can drop blue/epic loot. Adding a random spawns to DS would make questing in DS more exciting, just like hunting for nightmare bubbles in Paikang.

Dig sites - ROGS had hidden treasures that you could dig up with a shovel. The problem was that those treasures were bags that gave us crap items. Take the same concept in DS, but at the same time upgrade the rewards so the searching for lost treasures is worthwhile. C'mon, this is ancient dig site, there is bound to be some cool crap laying around.

This zone has a lot of potential, but it needs some work to bring it up to speed. For the love of Mitra DON'T LEAVE IT AS IT IS because it will be a huge waste. The current version of DS offers so little value to the players that you can't even justify it being a premium content.

You can support those suggestions in this thread on TL.

See what I´ve become - Assassin solo gameplay

One of the greatest things that you can find on teh internetz when trying to decide your class in MMO are videos. Youtube is full of them (duh). However what I think people are really interested in is seeing how their class of choice will be performing in day-to-day playing sessions and not necessarily in high end dungeons and raids.

This is why I have prepared video showcasing assassin gameplay along with, what I think are, somewhat helpful descriptions and commentaries so the viewer can at least have basic understanding of "what the fuck is going on (TM)"

As a bonus I have my two old old videos from 1.4 and 1.5 eras. See what I´ve become? I haven't become better at editing videos that is for sure :X Make sure to switch to 480p in video quality settings.

Assassin solo gameplay in 1.4 patch - Hybrid build

Assassin solo gameplay in 1.5 patch - Lotus build (at that time Hybrid was heavily nerfed)

Assassin solo gameplay in 4.0 patch - Hybrid build

Suggestion box: Lotus Overload, Lotus Tainted Blood, Arcane Backlash and Corrupted Body

Since the devs are back into saddle on TL it is time to crack out some suggestions about changes to the assassin class. First on the chopping block is the Lotus Overload which is a subject of a heated debate. Lotus Overload grants 95% immunity (might as well calll it 100%) to spells if assassin gets crited.

Spell immunity means also that assassin can't be affected by those CCs that are non-combo based. LO should only work on hostile spell crits but it is KNOWN to go off on friendly heals crits. Not working as intended. LO also seems to be not having a cooldown as it can proc super often in pvp. 

Cloth armor makes assassin extremely vulnerable to any non-magic based attack, so simply nerfing down anti-magic capabilities of assassin would make him just a gimped rogue. At the same time LO is available very early on so pretty much any Hybrid build can take advantage of LO. Pretty much it's a powerful ability that needs very little investment.

I think there are some changed needed in the Lotus tree itself. First of all Lotus Overload switches it's place with Arcane Backlash. Arcane Backlash is not nearly powerful enough to be soo deep in Lotus tree and it would make acquiring LO a more conscious decision for Lotus dedicated builds. 

Second thing is Lotus Tainted Blood which should be merged with Corrupted Body. On it's own those feats are not all that great for 3/3 investment, but combined they would provide good anti-magic support for Hybrid builds. 

Lotus Overload should become an active feat. It's a powerful ability so it should take skill to be able to use it at the right time. Pretty much the core mechanic should remain: when assassin get spell-crited he should get a buff called "energized blood" for 10s with visible particle to indicate that the buff is present. During this time frame assassin can use Lotus Overload to get 95%  spell immunity for 5s. Lotus Overload should have 30s cooldown and should go on cooldown if used without "energized blood" buff being present (this would prevent LO from being spammed all the time). 

I think this would be a significant change that would allow skilled players to use LO in more conscious way while not nerfing LO to the ground. Switching around the feats doesn't make Hybrid builds awkward all the sudden while encouraging playing around with Lotus focused builds.

If you like this suggestion then go to this thread on TL forum and give your feedback to the devs.

[Guide] crafting the Spine of Dagon dagger

With crafting revamp being right around the corner (sorta of, it's more like few more months to go) this might be your last chance to acquire the legendary Spine of Dagon, a Tier 3 raiding crafted dagger.

Post crafting revamp you won't be able to craft this dagger, but every crafted weapon will stay in game and become a legacy item with both sentimental value and great stats.

SOD has not only awesome, raw DPS alone, but also it can be gemmed with Bel's Mirth which can proc spell penetration, making detonation truly DA BOMB.

Getting this dagger is no easy task, but it's within a reach of any dedicated player provided that he has both the time and the patience to get it.

In this guide I will simply assume that you want to get the materials necessary to get this project going. Actual crafting (it happens in T3 raid) is a whole different topic.You need a T3 raiding guild for that.

To craft the dagger you will need:

Spine of Dagon = 1 Cromite Ingot, 1 Eventide Ingot, 1 Well-Honed Spire, 100 Superior Hilt Piece 

Well-honed Spire is actually a simple, blue crafted dagger. You can craft it yourself or get it off the trader for cheap.

Well Honed Spire (blue dagger)
6 Sourmetal Salts, 4 Tussah Silk, 6 Iron, 3 coal oil, 5 superior hilt piece, 4 plain hilt piece 

100 Superior Hilt Piece and 4 plain hilt pice  - you can buy this from crafting materials NPC. 

Now here comes the hard part: you will need materials for  Strange Malleable Alloy

Strange Malleable Alloy
10 Shards of the Exiled God 
10 Black Gold; - to craft you will need 50 Black Silver, 50 Gold 
10 Darksteel; - to craft you will need10 Tin, 40 Duskmetal 
10 Purlwire;- to craft you will need 10 Magnetite Powder , 10 Copper, 60 Silver, 20 Duskmetal 
10 Royal Gold;- to craft you will need 60 Illustrium, 20 Silver, 20 Gold 
10 Tumbaga; - to craft you will need10 Illustrium , 50 Copper, 40 Gold 
10 Zhemrian Bronze; - to craft you will need30 Black Silver, 10 Tin, 30 Copper, 30 Gold 
10 Aqua Regia; Humanoid drop 
20 Crystalline Flux; Bought at 15 Silver per CF 

You will need to craft 2 of Alloys.  Here is the list of all materials for two Alloys:

Black Silver - 50 + 30 = 80 x 2 = 160

Gold - 50 + 20 + 40 + 30 = 140 x 2 = 280

Tin - 10 + 10 = 20 x 2 = 40

Duskmetal - 40 + 20 = 60 x 2 = 120

Magnetite Powder - 10 = 10 x 2 = 20

Copper - 10 + 50 + 30 = 90 x 2 = 180

Silver - 60 + 20 = 80 x 2 = 160

Illustrium - 60 + 10 = 70 x 2 =140

Aqua Regia - 10 = 10 x 2 = 20

Crystaline Flux - 20 = 20 x 2 = 40

The most important part of crafting is getting the two Ingots. Ingots are items that are archetype specifics

Priest = Atlantium Ingot
Mage = Eventide Ingot
Rogue = Chromite Ingot
Soldier = Acheronian Steel Ingot

For Spine of Dagon you will need 1 Cromite Ingot and 1 Eventide Ingot.

So to sum it up here is the complete breakdown of every single base material that is needed to craft and gem up the Spine of Dagon:

Name	Need
Shards of the Exiled God	20
Superior Hilt Piece	105
Plain hilt piece	4
Sourmetal Salts	6
Tussah Silk	4
Iron	6
Coal oil	3
Black Silver	160
Gold	280
Tin	40
Magnetite Powder	20
Copper	180
Silver	160
Duskmetal	120
Illustrium	140
Aqua Regia	20
Crystaline Flux	40
Thrusting Marquise Peridot	1
Moonstone of Bel's Mirth	1
Brutal Brilliant Royal Onyx	1

Some tips:
- look for bargain offers on trader, anything under 20g per 1 shard of Exiled God is a good offer.
- farming the rare mats like Black Silver yourself would take forever. Look for cheap mats on trader or buy crafted materials like Royal Gold straight from trader.
- need Tussah silk? Cannibal cave mobs drop it.
- need Sourmetal Salts? lvl 70 caster can drop a cache with it. Purple Lotus Swamp is generally the best for it, but there are other places, like Khesh with lvl 70 casters.
- want to craft everything yourself? Here is the recipe list:

Recipe Name	Ingredients	Batch Yield	Last Known Drop Location
Black Gold	5 Black Silver 5 Gold	5	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress
Royal Gold	2 SIlver 6 Illustrium 2 Gold	8	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress
Darksteel	2 Tin 8 Duskmetal	2	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress
Zhemrian Bronze	3 Copper 1 Tin 3 Black Silver 3 Gold	4	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress
Tumbaga	5 Copper 4 Gold 1 Illustruim	2	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress
Purlwire	1 Copper 6 Silver 2 Duskmetal 1 Magnetite Powder	1	Brokk the Smith at Atzel's Fortress

I have researched this guide as best as I could, but if you found a mistake please let me know in the comments!

Five years of Age of Conan - anniversary event

Look, I don't want to oversell this event so I will be blunt: Joel Bylos is godlike and the event was best thing that happened to AOC. Oh, too soon? The event matched the player base expectations which were so low that we would be quiet about another vanity cloak. But no, Joel had to bring in the big guns and he delivered one hell of a event. This is the first thing that I want to give notice to: Mr. Bylos proved himself to be very competent which gives me A LOT hope for the future. Honestly, for a while after the restructuring I was fearful that AOC will be Funcom's bastard child and such is just not the case.

Let's get down to what the event was actually about:

It very much felt like someone read all my posts on previous events and decided to change everything I have complained about. This event had epic feeling, great rewards and replayability. Pretty much everything that, until now, sucked about the events.

Remember the first anniversary? You can check it out here. Or just watch the video below, it sums it up nicely.

Now the video from the recent event:
See the difference?

In a nutshell: everyday new boss spawned in different location of Hyboria. Furthermore the bosses from previous days would re-spawn stronger and stronger as the day went by. You had to be close to the boss to get a quest from killing it, so this way you could have brought your lvl20 alt and still get the goodies. After killing the monster you would go to the Old Tarantia where new NPC would accept your quest and reward you with a box with rewards. First major surprise was that NPC had a voice over!! Remember those? Game Director promised that those will be back (TSW voice artists are doing AOC stuff now) but no one expected for it to be so soon. Now the rewards themselves: the box could give either random crap like Halloween consumables (blood, brain juice etc.), epic mastery pots (like in HOC), unique vanity gear or..... T2 armor and weapons!!

Best thing is that you could do the bosses over and over and get a blast out of it. On the last days the bosses were spawning in different places so whole raids of people would jump from Old Tarantia to the Dragon's Spine only to be storming Khemi a couple minutes later. It did wonders for the server's population and morale because seeing so many active players in one place really gave hopes for the game's future.

If I really HAD to complain about anything it would be a lack of story. Sure there was SOME story, but pretty much it was: "thanks for killing teh dragonz0rz, here is ur epix0rz!". I think giving people small quest chain few days before the event would have been awesome. We didn't really get any explanation WHY there was a dragon and Tarantia and Kraken in Khemi and these quests would have builded up the anticipation. But it was all well designed and executed (Mitra knows we didn't have THOSE kind of updates in recent years..). 

Best thing that came out of this event? The bosses are here to stay and the GMs will spawn then randomly for the player's amusement.

Here is to another 5 years!! Cheers!

Unique vanity set

Bone Rattle

Worm

Basilisk

Kraken getting creamed!