Category: aRPG

Torchlight 2 Mod: “Essentials”

Like Diablo 2 with the Zyel mod (a collation of other mods + an awesome crafting mod), we’ve been waiting for a definitive collation of good mods for Torchlight 2 and here it is in “Torchlight Essentials.” The issue with mods is 1) which to get, 2) making your friends get the same ones, 3) getting games where everyone has the same mod. Collections of mods in one package,in my opinion, are essential to reduce the insanity. We tried it out Friday night and it was superlative.

New Pets!
New Pets!

The mod has a new class that mixes the mage and a close in fighter, the official 8 player muiltiplayer mod, the two mods (Blanks and Extra Chunky) from the Runic developers and a host of other vetted mods.  Highly Recommended.

Subscribe to the mod here: http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=138228035

Finished a game- Torchlight 2

The look at the end game.
The look at the end game.

Ah a rare thing, actually finishing a game…I finally beat TL2 on elite (not hardcore) vanilla. It took over 60 hours with a single character to win it… that was with just a bit of help from sensless with a couple of items that I could only use at the end of the game. Elite was very very difficult– I died about 500 times and probably could have died a lot more but just wanted to get it done. I know I could have farmed at lower difficulties or with other characters, but this was about being almost pure with Elite– going through the whole game from start to finish with nearly zero help. I finished the game at level 52 and I can say that most of my gear was about 10 levels lower, so I definitely hadn’t farmed up enough to really run the end game comfortably.

The next time I go through I can farm up with a higher level character and pass items down, potions, spells, everything because the elite hair on the chest has been grown…

The build
I used a berserker and focused on Shadow Dash/Wolfstrike with Frenzy Mastery and Blood Hunger as primary skills. All of this is for survivability rather than damage output. Essentially she would heal whenever she landed a critical and could shadow dash for insta heal and escape when she got in trouble. The key path is to stay on the edge of a mob and use your normal attacks to build your frenzy meter since when you are frenzied it’s all (well almost all) criticals. Once frenzied, you can stand toe to toe with any boss that cannot one shot you (which aren’t many!). For my primary weapon, I used a large mace that I placed the rift ember in (+10 Mana steal on hit) for max amount of DPS for my AOE’s (Wolfstrike/Shadow Dash) and then switched to two rather lackluster claw weapons when I was frenzied for any bosses– increasing my attack speed by triple or more.  I just could never find any better claws by the time I finished the game.

Big Death
Big Death

In addition to the skills above, the berserker extra pet (via Wolf Shad) was huge and I maxed points whenever I could.  The summon gives damage output increases, attacks stuff itself for mass damage and heals you when it does damage. I would say it’s the best skill in the game.  However, I have this feeling that there was an XP drop when wolf was on the screen…like very little XP at all.

There’s a lot more to explore with the berserker, but I won’t be doing it on Elite unless it’s my Hardcore character who is the sole survivor of our early days hardcore elite group.  With him I use very different tactics (sword and shield and a lot less gung ho).  The end bosses of TL2 look extremely difficult on Hardcore elite so the farm up will be necessary.  If I was to do it again, I would have started on Normal, finished the game and then passed items up to a character on Veteran who then passed items up to a character on Elite.  This is tough to do on Hardcore since, well, your characters get croaked.

Mount & Blade: Banner Lord

Oh yeah.  September gave us the announcement of a new Mount & Blade (and one without fucking guns in it) — and it’s an update to the Warbands version, which is going to be open-ass awesome.  It still amazes me that a game made by just a couple guys has turned into such an exemplary  series (except for the one with guns that is).

Stuff (mostly Dark Souls)

So last night I continued the Dark Souls addiction and beat the GAPING DRAGON which is one of the scariest mofo’s in the game (so far)– an absolute fucking triumph of monster design by any measure. I had my bonfire Kindled (10 health potions), I’m in human form (not for long!) and I had upgraded my armor as much as I can possibly afford at the moment (all the shit around the first bell church drop titanite BTW), I bought 2 Uncurse stones in case I ran afoul of the cursing frog things on the way to the boss, AND to cover my ass, I spent my 10K souls I had lying around on leveling up (you do not need to level up much in the game from what I’ve read) so if I get killed my soul-pile will be small.  I also switched out my chain leggings for some leather pants so I can move quicker.  With some of the bosses you can’t block their attacks effectively so there’s no reason to go in there armoured up.  It took me three tries to beat him.  The first one I just got sloppy and got killed, the second one I was running away from his acid spill attack and fell off a cliff (embarrassing) and  for the last one I had help from another human player instead of one of the CPU phantoms you can grab (only available when human, not hollowed).

It’s taken me a long while to get this far and I think this is the point where you get into the meat of the game.

That said, there are other things going on!

First, there will be an ipad blood bowl game! Cyanide is continuing their BB license usage and coming out with an iPad version of blood bowl this year called Blood Bowl Star Coach. Looks more top down than the current PC version, but still has 3d Models. Should be a blast, though I don’t get ANY iPad time normally at home, I may have to steal it away from the crying children for this.

Dogs

Second, Mouth let me know that while Confrontation is DEAD (and AT-43 for that matter, sniff), the spirit survives  at Cyanide with their acquired license from now defunct Rackham.  While the Confrontation game wasn’t too good, Dogs of War looks like a game where you have a perpetual warband of monstrosities and they gain experience over time– much like Mordheim, Necromunda, Chaos Warbands from the old Realm of Chaos Books.  Looking like something to watch.  Ironically it was the Dogs of War expansion to Confrontation 3 that made me not want to play C3 any more…

Torchlight 2: I still haven’t finished ELITE mode with my Berserker which is sad (but it’s really, really hard on Act 3) but in the news recently is that Runic is still pursuing the MAC version of the game– but there is no timeline and no release date.  While I love the game and it is superior in every way to Diablo 3 (except the sound which in D3 is amazing) if I pre-purchased it on MAC I would be pretty fucking cheesed off by now (matt).

 

And there goes the RMAH

LordLobo
http://www.shacknews.com/article/81172/diablo-3…

bahahahaasfhahahahwghagagaag
littlemute
why would they do that?
LordLobo
I have no idea

dumb

dumb

dumb
littlemute
dude they are so full of shit

a secure place for trades?

that’s why they made it? bullshit

why take a cut then?
LordLobo
well, it’s more secure than chinese gold farmers – but everything they did was so dumb

not fun
littlemute
dude they reduced good item drops based on the number of items of X type that were in the auction house
Maurice B.
ha D3 is fucking crumbling under it’s on FATGUNT
littlemute
crafting will still suck

Maurice B.
fucking horrible foundation issues D3 has, and the fattalanch
littlemute
hitlag will still ruin the game

and there will still be gear checks just like that guy said
sociopath
i think i set the console demo to DL

never checked back

haha
littlemute
worth looking at the demo to see the controls if you have time
LordLobo
seems like the console one would be fun with people – but then it’s still d3
littlemute
it’s not torchlight 2
LordLobo
yep
littlemute
or Diablo 2
sociopath
then maybe d3 expansion on console with frengs
littlemute
I would rather just play Zyel or Midian/Eastern Sun
LordLobo
I’d sit on a couch and play console tl2
sociopath
cuz the new class looks kinda fun
littlemute
Mods

no fucking mods

it’s a dead game
LordLobo
yeah

alas
sociopath
i don’t really mod like i used to
littlemute
Well you have to wait
sociopath
i’ve got some loaded for skyrim pc
Maurice B.
i played the xbox 360 d3 demo
littlemute
in like 6 months there will be a TL2 mod that takes it to the next level
LordLobo
I wonder if anyone’s made a mod that will let you play tl2 with 4 people on gamepads…
sociopath
tried to get something going for gta4 pc
Maurice B.
FUCKING HIT LAG IS THERE OR WORSE THEN PC
sociopath
never could get it working well
Maurice B.
fucking HIT LAG ON MY LOCAL XBOX 360

WTF

it’s fucking BUILT THE FUCK IT[in]
LordLobo
wow
sociopath
we get it bro
littlemute
it’s meant to be that way man
Maurice B.
you can’t dodge SHIT
littlemute
DESIGNED to be that way

you can’t dodge shit per DESIGN
Maurice B.
a pissfromspace

fucking JAY
sociopath
you’ve been screaming about hit lag since the beta
Maurice B.
taht asshole fucked d3 so badly

and then LEFT!
littlemute
but now we know WHY the hit lag is there

for the gear checks
Maurice B.
because they DONT WANT YOU TO BE SO POWERFUL YOU CAN WIN IN 10MIN

they dont want that shit

THE SHIT THAT MAKES THE GAME GREAT!
littlemute
no, they want to gear check you at points so you buy
Maurice B.
they REMOVED it form the game

yes exactly

fuckinghorriblenessinfinity
littlemute
if you can dodge or use skill to get through areas without gear, they don’t make their money

littlemute
so naked hardcore runs are not possible in D3
Maurice B.
yes. i will not buy anymore blizzard games

period

fuckthemforever
littlemute
dude what about their online CCG?
Maurice B.
even if it’s my loss
LordLobo
the last one I will buy is the Protoss sc2 expansion and that’s it
Maurice B.
and i cant play some “great” new blizzard game

fuckthem
littlemute
warcraft 4
Maurice B.
no more money for how hard they pissed on diablo

NO
littlemute
I can wait until then
Maurice B.
to my detriment
LordLobo
wc4 isn’t happening
Maurice B.
to the grave

fuckitall
littlemute
starcraft 2 is boring but that’s likely just me
sociopath
chumpo jimmies: ☑ rustled ❑ unrustled
Maurice B.
ahahahaha
littlemute
no WC4, no money
LordLobo
it’s more I want to finish the story of sc2

though the zerg sp game wasn’t very memorable
Maurice B.
dude mute

they are making a fucking DOTA!

there will be no WC4 RTS
LordLobo
LATE
Maurice B.
and if they do make WC4, and you buy it, you have no one but yourself to blame when it is spacepiss
LordLobo
I don’t think blizz’s dota will ever see the light of day
Maurice B.
because?

they are taking their ball home and doubling down on WoW?

i hope so
LordLobo
they won’t get enough interest from the other MOBA camps

well
Maurice B.
and you think they are seeing that

i mean they SHOULD be able to see
LordLobo
you can bet on a new WoW expansion announcement at Blizzcon in october
Maurice B.
but will they admit that to themselves

Maurice B.
can they admit they are past their prime, is that the real issue.
LordLobo
probably not
Maurice B.
they are in a time of decline and there is just a long way down from here
LordLobo
WoW has to be nearly hemmoraging money at this point
Maurice B.
isn’t activation wanting to sell blizzard or some shit?
LordLobo
activision wants to buy out of Vivendi
Maurice B.
ah right
LordLobo
which might actually be good for them
Maurice B.
because they want all their COD money
LordLobo
right
littlemute
They won’t be able to top LOL or DOTA 2
LordLobo
also Vivendi is a shithole company
littlemute
they are just too fucking refined at this point
LordLobo
consider this
Maurice B.
right and they spent how much already trying to make DOTA and they will just walk away from it

fucking idiots
littlemute
they could have HIRED Icefrog and those guys in 2005
LordLobo
HoN is older than either LoL or DOTA2 and has a tiny fraction of the audience

yep

then valve scooped them up
Maurice B.
they tried to make a full game out of a mod for WC3 instead of MAKING SOMETHING FUCKING NEW THAT COULD TAKE THEM SOMEWHERE!
LordLobo
they scraped that ‘titan’ project which was rumored to be their next MMO
littlemute
uhhh what the fuck?
Maurice B.
think of the MILLIONS of dollars blizzard has wasted
LordLobo
with their insane 12-year dev cycles that seems pretty dumb
littlemute
CCG
Maurice B.
AGAIN and AGAIN we see what money does to movies/video games
littlemute
won’t that save them?
Maurice B.
money fucked starwar[s]e

money fucked diablo 3

Beat this dead horse…

Maurice!Bastard posted this link about Diablo 3 and I think this concisely expresses what a lot of people (people that played the game a shitload more than I did) feel about Diablo 3’s failure as a game and I don’t know if this dude coined the phrase originally, but I think the term “Gear Check” game is something we’ll be able to use going forward forever to refer to what Diablo 3 and games like it are (sort of like calling people Nazi’s– everyone understands what you mean).

If this is in the TL:DR region, skip to the bottom part about “Diablo 3’s Fake Difficulty.”

As boring as Starcraft 2 is (to me at least) and terrible as Diablo 3 is, I think Blizzard should stop making games entirely.  Doing a crappy online CCG is just another indication that they have no idea what players want (outside of the MMO space– but what normal people would ever play an MMO in the first place?).

And of course, likely there will be no MAC port of Torchlight 2 any time soon, which is sad but when your player base on a platform is less than 5% of sales, it’s tough to justify a big expense there.  A far better game it is for everyone.

DOTA 2 inspired arts

Most fan art is, well, fan art. Sometimes you find an artist that’s able to take it beyond the source material. Click the image for more of the dude’s work.

dota2sproik

DOTA 2- down the fucking rabbit hole (again)

there was a time when I was blissfully unaware of what this means.
there was a time when I was blissfully unaware of what this meant.

I got into the beta of DOTA2 awhile back and after installing my only experience with it was waiting for a match to start and then quitting after about 2 minutes.  Given that I played the early versions of DOTA as part of my (and everyone else’s) Warcraft 3 addiction, I didn’t think I was missing much.  How good could it be? It’s a bunch of WC3 heroes fighting each other on the same map over and over and over again and I’d done that before.  Plus,  I remember it being pretty boring compared to a straight up WC3 match– you do only control one hero after all.

However, I’m eating a bit of crow meat now–I’ve played some handful of matches here and there and am largely hooked– every time I win one of those boxes, I buy a 2$ key (the game was free after all so I feel I owe them something!).  So my few and dear readers, I will likely post a terrible amount of DOTA stuff in the next gaggle of months until the addiction passes.  The realization that I liked it hit me last night when I actually called it the Cosmic Encounter (the best board game ever made) of video games– in that the basic premise is very simple and easily understood, but the sheer asymmetry of the number of heroes turns it into something completely different every single time.  What’s more, even if you suck really bad, you can still contribute to your team if you have a basic understanding.  Going into a server assuming you will be THE carry in the game is setting yourself up for disaster, but pushing lanes, support and ganking are doable with just a bit of practice.

Please note the most popular video game on the planet is effectively a DOTA clone (League of Legends) so the addictive qualities speak for themselves.