Blade and Soul

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ogqnbx-u4TE

Why can't GW2 have graphics like these NCSOFT!?! ;_;

anyways I heard of this game today... it looks really cool but damn I don't have a lot of time for so many games anymore. The movement looks awesome though.

http://kotaku.com/movement-in-blade-soul-is-extremely-cool-1753780395?rev=1453224351438&utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

Oh screw that, pay and still long queues? Guess that comes with a new game (new to NA, I heard it's 4 years old)

https://www.reddit.com/r/bladeandsoul/comments/41ris9/na_can_anyone_share_their_server_queue_times/

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I saw some clips and it is impressive looking. Those servers tho.. holy crap. For a game that is already been out for years in other countries you'd think they'd know what they'd be doing with the back end of the game. This game would never play on my laptop. lol.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I guess they didn't think it had a big of following as it did. The gold sellers are killing the map chat from what I saw in another post. GW2 getting its props.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I'm almost done downloading the game but I dont know if I will get to play it. I'm having some indigestion that made me pass on HP rush tonight, and I just read that all the servers are practically overflowing and NCSoft will be creating more in the next 48 hours. Going from 2 overflowing servers to all of them is a good start for this game. I just want to see how it runs on my PC and try some combat. I'm probably going to be a Yin Blademaster. I noticed each profession has a difficulty to master meter on the website. The Destroyer looks fun, and will be my back up in case I don't like blademaster.

EDIT: I shouldn't be up this late, but I had to play... quick notes

1. The customization is amazing for character creation

2. I'm going to have to get use to these controls... they are like GW2's action cam... attacking with the mouse buttons is awkward for me. I'm going to have to rebind all the keys when I have time. There is a gamepad option too, I might try that out as well.

3. The game is beautiful and runs well on my PC

4. I paid $5 for 7 days of premium. I waited mere seconds in queue as opposed to being #647 in line when I initially tired to join in game.

5. The combat is smooth and fast. Feels really good. Healing is based on consumables. You heal very slowly out of combat. Blade master has blocks, so I feel right at home with her.

6. Map chat is useless right now. Endless gold selling spam. These bots are taking up server space while people wait. When they put the AFC kick timer in I doubt it will help kick these bots. There probably running against a wall somewhere.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

What server did you get on? I'm making an account sometime later today to see how it plays on my pc. That action camera mode in GW2 isn't all that comfortable to me, but I'm sure its something you get used to.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Old Man Cho is the server I joined.

The action camera works for the style of combat. It's not 100 percent like it, it's just that you have to use the mouse to control the direction your going and you're always facing foward. You have to hold alt to move activate the mouse cursor to move across the screen or else it will just move the cam. Right mouse is your auto attack and left mouse does a powerful attack that uses the meter of blue bubbles you've seen between your hp and stamina. Tab does another powerful strike, and for blade master 1 blocks while 2-4 does other skills I haven't tried yet since I unlocked them before I forced myself to quit. 5-8 are consumables.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Meh, so I decided to dl it and try it since the game is getting overly hyped by a lot of youtubers and Twitch streamers. Honestly the game is alright but I just can't help too think that NCSoft looked at Tera (another Korean MMO) and just copied the combat system (there are differences but they're small), sprinkled in somewhat different classes (Destroyers are freaking Berserkers (Tera's equivalent) with somewhat different abilities), and took out the healing classes. Hell the weapon evolution/refinement systems is damn near a copy as is the difficulty ratings for classes. None of this is a bad thing though since I liked it in Tera and it works well for this game it's just I can't shake the feeling that NCSoft just took En Masse/Blue Hole's idea and tried to run in a different direction with it. Only thing I think Tera does better is their attack strings/combos are a hell of a lot longer and strung together better.

 

Still though this game is fun and I just blew 2 1/2 hours without even realizing it. I'm on Old Man Cho as well and will probably continue playing it throughout the weekend to check out the Assassin class (rolled one just haven't started playing her).

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I just realized there are classic controls, but I'll stick with the default. I'm having a blast, even though the quests are cheesy and the voice acting is very meh.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I wouldn't say the voice acting is meh, I'd go more with dull as fuck. Learned one thing though, playing this game for long stretches of time gives me a killer headache.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

The gold seller spam is insane. I got through a good stretch with a clean chat the other day and then BAM! They must have all got in from queue at once. Never played an MMO close after launch so I don't know if that's the norm. They said they are working on it on reddit, but they should implement a chat suppression like on GW2 where if you type similar things too many times it shuts you down for 10 min or so. I tend to block them off chat, but the report system seems flawed... you cant report them directly from the chat.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

It depends on the game really. Some launch with about the same amount of currency spam and some don't, it all really depends on the game and in this case how long the game has been out (you know most of those spammers are Korean players who migrated over from the Korean version). When you're porting/localizing a foreign MMO you're bound to have a crap ton of spam like this (I know Perfect World was bad back in closed beta (a Chinese MMO), I haven't played since it's official release over here so I don't know if it's improved or not) because all the farmers are looking to expand their markets.

 

I don't even look at chat while I'm playing since you can't read shit (then again I rarely, if ever, look at chat in MMO's) so I honestly haven't noticed how bad the spam is.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Ah. In 1600 hours of GW2 Ive seen 5-8 gold spammers ever. Its non existent, and when it rarely happens its a whisper because you can't spam map chat with the same or very similar messages or you'll get suppressed for a good 10 min after you stop. So bots that keep spamming wouldn't get more than 3 messages out. I guess I'm use to using map chat a lot, since its useful for coordinating full map meta events. People call for help or say when events are up linking locations and what not.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I guess it depends on the game really. In FFXIV I constantly watch side chat all the time because I'm generally that guy who will run and help anyone who needs it plus side chat in FF is freaking hilarious sometimes (my server is full of nutjobs I swear). Plus side chat isn't spammed in FF, it's whispers you gotta watch out for (and you can fix that by placing your status as busy, however this prevents anyone else who may need to whisper you from doing so as you don't receive whispers when busy).

 

Games like this that are new I generally always ignore side chat till I've at least gotten to a point where I understand the combat and the strengths/weaknesses of the current class I'm playing (especially in the case of a game that has this control set-up, it took me 30 some odd levels to master Tera's battle system so I generally ignored side chat). Hell I still ignore side chat in STO and I have 1 max level character and 3 high lvl characters (unless I'm not busy, I'll peruse the chat because it's interesting and I learn more about Star Trek everyday I do so). I even ignore side chat in TOR, mostly because the game was set-up for solo play and the only reason to pay attention to chat is when you're actually looking to do heroic quests.

 

Plus I've never played an MMO that has events like GW2 (until I played GW2). Events like that are pretty much non-existent in every other MMO currently on the market (FATE's in FF have a similar feeling but they're honestly not as epic as the ones you guys face (though some are a bitch to complete with a group of randoms trying to do their own thing)) and is one thing I actually found interesting and fun in my little stint on the game (yea I need to get back to playing it again but my time is pretty much being eaten up by R6S (the game is fucking addicting and it gets my adrenaline pumping), TOR (trying to level all classes to 50 so I can get Legendary status), FF (when I decide to get on for raids), and STO again due to the 6th anniversary event starting on Tuesday). Blade and Soul has been a nice little distraction to allow me a short break from all of that (well not R6S, I play the hell out of that on my weekends) and I might keep it up because after trying out the Assassin today I finally found something to love about this game (my god is it fun, this games controls were practically made for this class).

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

The combat is my favorite thing about this game. I love Blade Master's mix of evades, CC, block breakers, and fast attacks. I soloed a daily boss today that was being left alone for some reason. Normally everyone is tearing them up as they spawn. What I don't like, and that's probably because I'm spoiled by GW2, is the lack resource sharing and kill sharing. It's frustrating to have 6 people around a enemy spawn because it's required for the main quest. Who ever gets first hit gets credit. I know this is common, but they could at least make things that are quest required to be kill shared like daily bosses. THE CODING IS THERE? I can deal with the asshat summoners that spam their AoE attacks to reserve all the kills for themselves in side quests that make you kill x amount of enemy type. But the 1 target main quest item is dumb.

I did my first dungeon today and it's probably the best content this game has. It was a blast. The bidding for rare loot was annoying but at least we all got a purple chest at the end. I saved all my money for the end when I knew the sword I needed to evolve my weapon would drop would... then I rolled it from my end chest.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I dont know much about Tera so I'm just going off what B&S is, by comparison to GW2 and SWTOR.

There is no doubt this game is super casual. I frequently solo Green 2 star daily dungeons, and I assume a lot of people do as well, because I rarely see them pop in LFG. It's not hard for a competent player to achieve this. I've set my build to where I quickly regain health through damage. Unless I get stun comboed with multiple crits my HP never drops below 85%. Even in heroic 6 man dungeons I'm generally the one with the most HP at all times, and the one that doesn't expend a dragonblood. (An insta-revive or extra HP bar how ever you want to describe it). That being said, I still see those, whom I assume are the GW2 ultra casuals that cry in the official GW2 forum about stuff being hard, getting rekted by daily bosses because they stand in an AoE like a jackass and wonder why they got killed. I can guess these are GW2 players, because of how much it comes up in the side chat.

Anyways enough about that. I'm about to hit 30, and I have to say I really enjoy the gear stat grind. Leveling bares little to no effect on your HP, and other stats... you're completely reliant on your gear as you evolve it. By the time I hit 25, I was still using my capped lvl11 gear. When I hit the zone I am in now, It became apparent I needed to upgrade fast, as I couldn't take hits very well, and it was taking more strings of combos to kill basic enemies. While your main weapon and trinkets are the ones you stick with... not every drop is for sacrificing to your current gear. The soul shield aspect is where the bulk of your stats come from, and piecing a full set of 8 together gives you 3 tiers of stats.

I'm also enjoying this RnG game on the wheel of fate because of that. I sat there for 2 hours endlessly killing the "world boss" (There are no GW2 style world bosses in this game) for tokens to spin the wheel. These wheels are in different areas of the world... they randomly give weapon chests, soul shield 3-5pks, and a low chance at a new outfit. I need to go back to the early level one to get the outfit it can drop. After grinding all that time I managed to get a new complete soul shield, and outfit, and the prereq's for evolving my jewelry... fun stuff.

BTW Strider my user account name is BIGHARSHNESS.... if there are suppose to be numbers after that I'll have to get them later because I never have looked to see. My character name is Scarlet Eternity. I haven't even looked how to add friends yet. Let me know how that Assassin is, I watched some gameplay and it looks like a blast to play.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

I believe my account name is UnhallowedDeceit (not sure, I'd have to look it up) and my characters are Aylanis (Destroyer) and Aikoko (Assassin). I didn't look how to add friends while I was on for a bit tonight, will have to do so on Wednesday when I get back on (tomorrow is raid day in FFXIV so I won't be getting on). I got Aikoko to level 10 on Saturday and in that short amount of time I fell in love with the Assassin. Not only is the class built to hit like a truck it's quick as well. Plus, unlike Aylanis, she crits constantly which is nice when you can 2 shot an enemy that might take most people 4-5 hits to kill. I'll have to give a full break down once I get her higher in level (I'm focusing on Aylanis right now as she just hit 17 tonight and I plan on getting her to max level first).

 

The combat is almost a carbon copy of Tera like I said before but it has it's unique features. However, Tera combos are a lot longer then B&S so I'm not feeling as powerful on my Destroyer as I did on my Berserker in Tera (my skill combo at 17 in Tera was roughly 6 skills with situationals depending on status of the enemy. I'll tell you this much my Reaper in Tera has a 9-10 skill combo that's freaking ridiculous and awesome to behold and that's her base combo). The weapon evolution system is a lot different though. In Tera you build what they call an Artifact weapon every 10 levels or so that can be upgraded 9 times by picking up fragments of, what I believe, was once a powerful weapon. Once you get enough pieces you can build the weapon and then upgrade it with any uncommon or above weapons/armor/accessories or with more fragments you might pick up (plus a special crafting item that you pick up loads of throughout leveling). I like the weapon refinement system in this game more as you get 12 levels of refinement (I think or was it 11) and then you get another weapon and use it to evolve it to its next form (yea I'm skipping the Breakthrough step but its added in to that 12 levels) with various other weapons/stones (or accessories for you other items). Still waiting to get my Blight Axe so I can evolve my Hongmoon Axe but I'm not high enough level wise to do the required dungeon

 

I honestly don't find this game that difficult. I mean I did solo two daily dungeons tonight and while the boss was a chore it's easily doable as long as you use your class effectively. Tera is more difficult in my opinion as base monsters can wipe the floor with you if you don't understand how your class mitigates damage (Berserker's did it by using their axe to block my right-clicking, Warriors dodged attacks by right clicking, Reapers counter-attack when you right click, etc). I never did do dungeons in Tera so I can't comment on their difficulty.

 

The Wheel of Fate is a nice little touch to the game. I got the outfits on the first one you encountered on both my characters the first time I used it and the full soul shield for both as well. I also like how it's a nice way to get enough weapons to fully upgrade your weapon well before I'm sure you're supposed too.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I've needed 2 evolve material weapons that required a dungeon drop, the rest of them have needed merchant purchases and daily boss drops. Although I did have one breakthrough weapon that was a drop in a daily dungeon. Most of them can be bought, but its not worth losing the silver over being lazy. If I don't have a class specific key, I do the dungeon and recoup the losses on selling the the weapon to a class that needs it. I did a level 36 dungeon today for the most recent evolve weapon drop. If you get lucky enough to get one of those keys that unlock a class specific weapon, save them for these types of chests... purple weapons can't be bought on the market, so you're stuck with getting lucky, overpaying in a bidding war, or constantly farming until you get it if you're not lucky. Fashion is definitely the hot commodity. One came up on a bid, and I almost would have blown half my cash if I wouldn't have backed out... lucky for them it was a head piece... if it was an outfit I would have tried to dropped my whole bank on it. I'm digging the dungeon community on this game... it not like GW2 pre-nerf where it as full of speed run elitists and guilds that kicked you for a guild mate. We had two level 30s with us but they held their own surprisingly, and this dungeon was a lot more difficult than the last. I look forward to the dungeons that are going to come out down the road.... they are on the list, but cant be selected yet.

 

The marketplace is interesting. If you need 1 of a crafting material, you're screwed unless you get really lucky. people sell them in bulk that adds up to insane prices most can't afford. This of course lets me price gouge a little bit on a singular item. I'll generally sell it for 1.5x what the bulk sellers are going "per each". It always sells within seconds.

 

I got the stinger outfit today, which is really nice. It comes from a wheel of fate that takes currency from a giant scorpion boss. The boss has actual mechanics, so it takes a bit longer to defeat it and it only gives 1 token. Lucky for me I rolled it on try 3. 

 

I think I got the best soul shield I can get in open world... I won a bid on a purple soul shield piece from the dungeon, so I'm going to keep running it until I get the other 7 pieces. its not even close how much better it is than my blue tier shield.

 

Oh, the one thing I dislike about the game is the UI.... its a damn mess. Here is my further butchering of it to get everything out of the middle of the screen.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

Nice thigh gap.

 

That sword looks awesome.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

I picked up where I left off. The population has pretty much died on my server for lower level stuff... which is pretty bad if you want to level up another character seeing as you basically have to do the story over again. My main gripe is that no one is doing the daily bosses anymore, and while I could have soloed some back when I was playing heavily, I've lost a lot of skill since because I can't remember a lot of my combos. Its coming back to me slowly tho. The good news is that I'll be able to easily complete solo quests without fighting for kill credit or gathering sources. I really want to finish the story because it's pretty good. I just hope I have enough means to keep upgrading my weapons and jewelry.