Invasion

Usually on weeknights, I don't play much in the evening.  Last night I made an exception and logged in for some WAR.  I really had no agenda and just went on to see if anything was happening.  One member of my guild was putting together an Invasion (Purge) group for the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. I joined up and we were off to the Land of the Dead.

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Rising through the ranks

Leveling a character in WAR has never been easier.  Over the weekend I played a bit on my Rune Priest, which was Rank 17.  I saw one of my fellow CoW's was online (Hi Tzu!), who was rank 40.  Seemed like a great time to try out the Apprentice/Mentor system.

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Open the Gates

When the Land of the Dead was released, it required many more resources in order to open it to your realm.  The only practical way to do it was to flip two zones.  Not too long ago, they lowered the amounts so turn-ins were more meaningful.  Now, in combination with the frequency of city sieges,  control of the zone changes hands pretty regularly.

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Opening Day Impressions

Yesterday the Land of the Dead opened in WAR. On Badlands, Order won the race and was granted access for a day. I won't be saying that the LotD is good or bad for the game, as it is way too early to tell. I know some people on my server proclaimed it to be awful for the game a few minutes after logging in. Others enjoyed it quite a bit.

When Order is away, Destro will play. Destruction took advantage of Orders armies being away and launched an invasion of Altdorf. A few of us decided to defend rather than stay in the LotD. We put up a valiant fortress defense, but only bought us a little time.

The city defense went pretty well. In our instance there was a lot of fighting until Destruction left with about 20 minutes left. This allowed us access to the PQ. In the end I walked away with a good amount of renown and 4 Invader Crests.

I was also able to get my Ironbreaker to 25 yesterday. He immediately hopped on the first airship to Zandri. Being bolstered to 36 is really nice as I could hold my own. I participated in a few PQ's and got two purple bags. Sadly, the items can't be used until I hit level 31. It was fun and I made some decent experience.

I almost feel bad for the denizens of Zandri. Order was down there in force. PQ bosses were dropping like flies to the massive zergs. This is only temporary of course. Once the newness wears off you will see less people there at a time.

This morning around 11am EDT is when the early access wears off so we will see how the purge mechanics work. Overall, I had a fun day yesterday between the city defense and the LotD. That is what this new zone is about for me, options.

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The Land of the Dead Opens

Today Warhammer Online's new zone, The Land of the Dead, opens. The winner of the Rise of the Tomb Kings will get a full days access before being able to be purged by their enemy. I'm not really sure what time the new zone opens, but the Herald message makes it seem like this morning.

Sadly, I did not make my goal of having my Ironbreaker ready before its launch. He is rank 24 with 75% more to go. I will of course be hitting up the new zone with Tirew, so Hoplon will have to wait. On Badlands, Order has the lead as of this morning. It isn't a large lead, so who knows if we will still be ahead when the zone opens.

Be ready for the complaints about no one being in the old world once the zone launches. Its something new, so everyone will be all over it. I am going to wait a few weeks to judge how the expansion was for the game. I won't spend all of my time in the new zone, as PvE isn't my thing. Once the newness wears off, I'll need some real competition and head back to the Old World.

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You just lost a refinery!

Yesterday was Patch Day in WAR and overall it went pretty smooth. I had some patcher issues, but it was all resolved ones the server came back up. I logged in and got to work exploring the new content.

The first thing I did was setup my Auto-Roll. Maybe it's just me, but I find it fun to see what I got after a big fight. So far it has been mostly green's with some Officer Medallions, but still it is nice not to have windows popping up.

Then I headed down to the Lucky Lady PQ in Aldorf. There was only a couple of us to start and we failed during the second stage. The airship blew up and Order lost the war. The second try we completed it with the help of a few more people. I won a gold bag but the only choice in it was the Shroud which I received for helping out on PTS.

After that I went and did the Iron Eagle quest line. I loved that movie as a kid. Fighter Jets and Twisted Sister, how can you go wrong? The sequels were awful though. The quest itself was pretty good and it paid well.

Then it was into the RvR lakes where the real fun started. I could only play during the afternoon but there was plenty of action. We went back and forth over the Airship Cargo crates in small group action (12 vs 12). I even won an Invader Crest with the help of the warcamp guards.

Mixed in we played Reikland Factory. That scenario is a nice change of pace from the normal rotation. My FPS did take a beating in there though, wonder if it needs some optimizations. The scenario was popping with pretty good frequency. Between the crates and the Factory, it was almost nonstop action.

As of this morning, the score on Badlands is 725,000 to 690,000 in favor of Destruction. The event lasts until the 23rd, so I expect these numbers to get pretty large. I have not completed all 10 tasks yet as I still need the blueprints and two more fuel tanks from the factory.

The event has been great fun so far. I do think the event lasts a bit longer than it should. I'm sure many will tire of fighting over the crates and the same scenario for a week. Mythic does have to accommodate a lot of people, so there may not be much they can do. I hope Tier 3 is busier with the event, could be a great time to level my IB to 25.

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Rise of the Tomb Kings Task List

The Live Event, Rise of the Tomb Kings, has started! Here is the full task list for the event.


Completing the tasks contributes toward your realms total score. A good bit of them are RvR too, so it should make for some interesting times.

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It has begun

The Land of the Dead expansion and patch 1.3 go live, today! It starts with the Rise of the Tomb Kings event and culminates with one realm getting full access to Zandri for a day. I expect the RvR to be fast and furious as both sides compete for the prize. The new patch contains many improvements, read the notes here.

Land of the Dead. I've talked about it quite a bit already, so enough said.

Auto-Roll. This system allows you to set roll preferences for loot. It worked very nicely on PTS. It is very granular so you won't have to ever see a loot window again if you so choose.

Lifelines. Regis not included. If you get disconnected in a dungeon and scenario, you will be able to reconnect and be where you were. I really hope this applies to fortresses too.

Deadbolt. A new Keep Upgrade has been added, Deadbolt, which allows you to look the back door of the inner keep. This should stop those pesky ninja's.

Bag Space. Is more bag space the one thing that no gamer ever complains about? Seems like some sort of universal constant. Well, you get more with 1.3.

Sigils. Get your wards by the armor you have, killing players, killing bosses and other ways. More options == good.

Scenario Fixes. Many scenarios have been adjusted. The dreaded Black Fire Basin looks a lot more fun now.

Rewards. Tokens for Keep defenders, tokens for keep/BO defense quests, more bags for attackers if it is a larger fight. Upgraded keeps yield more rewards.

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Stuff to get in the Land of the Dead

With the Land of the Dead fast approaching, you may be wondering what is down there that you would want. Gold will not go very far with the risen dead, but scarabs will. With these tokens there are a number of items you can trade them in for, in addition to the plunder from our gracious hosts.

Tyrant gear is the highest end loot in the zone. You can trade in tokens for the Gloves and the belt. The rest of it will be from drops in the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. The loot system is a bit different than other dungeons though as pieces will drop per archetype rather than class. Mythic has said that these drops will be very rare though, so don't go in here with the idea of farming your Tyrant set. The image below is probably not accurate state wise anymore.


Souls are a new type of talisman used in vessel weapons. These can be bought for tokens or looted off many of the denizens of the zone. The longest duration soul I have seen is 8 hours. As they are quite useful (and you'll probably need 3 or 4 at a time) it should be some incentive to keep coming back to the zone.

There are several new crafting goods to buy with tokens. I suspect these will be popular, especially the run speed talisman (thanks Radishlaw!). These can only be found within the Land of the Dead.

Jewelery and accessories also play a big part of the rewards in the new zone. Many new 2 piece jewelry sets have been added which can be traded for with tokens. In the Tomb you can also get a 5 piece jewelery set (1 piece is available through tokens). Cloaks are also included in the sets. According to the devs, these are meant to compliment your Lost Vale and Invader gear.


A new item type has been added to the game that allows you to summon NPC help. Four of these items can be purchased with tokens from a vendor. I never did get to try them out on PTS but they look very interesting. I wonder if they will work back in the Old World?

There are also trophies that you can buy with tokens and who knows what else. I wouldn't be surprised to see a mount in there at some point. It looks like there is a lot to keep most players busy fighting over the zone for a while.

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Clip Show Friday!

It's been a busy week here on Werit. That means you get a clip show!

On Werit...

Bones for Werit - A package from Mythic!

Crafting in the Land of the Dead - What's new with crafting down south?

Tomb of the Vulture Lord Footage - Small peak into the latest dungeon.

Land of the Dead - In Action - A trailer with Land of the Dead action footage.

Aion, Not feeling it - Is Werit immune to the Aion hype?

Vessel Weapons - Details on how these new LotD weapons work.

Land of the Dead Scenery Trailer - A look at the scenery in the Land of the Dead.

Elsewhere...

Warhammer Alliance is ground zero for the Bone Blog Challenge.

Druchii Journal has compiled the Diary of Doom for your reading pleasure.

Massively talks about the new vessel weapons.

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Bones for Werit

UPS dropped off a package for me today... from Mythic. It is a part of the Rise of the Tomb Kings Blog Challenge and contains a number of things. First, a nice jawbone...





Here we have Day 4 for of the Diary of Doom.


And the Map...

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Crafting in the Land of the Dead

Crafting received some additions in Warhammer Online's upcoming Land of the Dead expansion. When you venture to the new zone, you will find several new ingredients that can be purchased from vendors for scarabs. Apothecary and Talisman Making both got two new types of additions.

Let's look at Apothecary first, as my character on PTS is trained in that field. There are actually 6 new ingredients, 3 potency levels for each of the new potions. As I was short on scarabs, I chose the cheapest ingredients. A few minutes later I had an Elixr of Ptra and an Elixr of Tahoth. These are their effects when consumed.



I was able to test the Elixir of Ptra by letting a carrion beat on me. When I had low health it healed me for 1,500. The bird kept attacking and I eventually died, so it doesn't trigger all of the time. Remember, this was the cheapest version.

Like Apothecary, Talisman Making has 6 new ingredients, 3 levels for each new talisman. I couldn't make any, but here are the described benefits.



Both of them sound quite nice. I wonder if speed means attack speed or movement speed? Draining energy sounds like a nice addition for a tank.

I have heard that there are new items to salvage and such too, as a cultivator I was not able to verify. PQ bags still drop crafting materials as well. I really hope some new seeds are available in the zone.

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Tomb of the Vulture Lord Footage

Last night, the Tomb of the Vulture Lord was opened for testing on the PTS. I managed to find a group and ventured into the new dungeon. The video does not really spoil anything for a couple reasons. One, I hate spoiling content before it even hits the live servers. Two, I was not on long enough to get very far.

At no extra charge, this footage contains an experimental new technology, PopUp Werit. That's right, yours truly will guide you through the video!



Direct Link.

The Warhammer Blog Times also has a video up.

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Land of the Dead - In Action

I put together another Land of the Dead trailer, this time with more action oriented video. I hoped to get some Destruction players in it, but such are the pitfalls of filming on PTS.



Direct Link.

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Vessel Weapons

One of the new features that the Land of the Dead will be bringing us is Vessel Weapons. These are weapons that are less powerful by default but offer more in the way of customization than other weapons in the game. They come with a dps value, a single stat and multiple Talisman/Soul slots. Here you can see two vessel weapons I won in blue bags. NOTE: This information if off of PTS so it is subject to change.



Basic (blue quality) vessel weapons can also be purchased off of a vendor in your warcamp. They have versions for Rank 31 and Rank 40 available.

One handed weapons get 2 Soul/Talisman slots while Two handed weapons get 3. Before you slot a soul in a two hander, you must convert it to a large soul. This will normalize the power of the soul to take into account that dual wielders will get an extra soul slot.

A soul is basically a souped up talisman. Much like stars that burn bright, a soul will usually last a shorter time than a talisman. They also offer different benefits. For example, souls can add proc effects to your weapon. You can obtain souls from vendors using scarabs or from loot drops throughout the Land of the Dead. You can place old world talismans into these slots as well. However, you cannot place souls in old world weapons.

I cashed in some scarabs and got a lucky loot drop (the epic soul) to get the following talismans.


You cannot place 2 proc souls in the same vessel weapons just like you cannot place multiple +strength ones too. That means I will have to put a +toughness soul in each weapon. These are placed just like normal talismans, so the result is:

There are numerous souls to choose from, so you do have a nice amount of options. This adds some nice customization aspects thanks to the proc souls. This should also keep the Land of the Dead relevant for a long time to come as players need to replace souls. I wonder if we will see this system applied to armor sometime?

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Land of the Dead Fan Trailer

To continue this weeks video trend, I put together a Land of the Dead (on PTS) trailer. This is my first attempt at such a thing but I think it worked out well enough. Not much action in this one, maybe next time.



Direct link.

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The Glyph Bar

There have been a few questions about a bar of blocks that appear in your Land of the Dead interface. It is your Glyph bar and the star of a new video!



Direct link.

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Through the Looking Glass

I am in a video mood today. Here is another quickie showing a new way of getting around the Land of the Dead (PTS).



That Elf creeps me out.

Direct link here.

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Land of the Dead Footage

Werit took his camcorder along with him to the Land of the Dead. Be sure to play it in HD.




The original can be found here.

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Werit enters the Land of the Dead

Last night was the Land of the Dead opening on the Public Test Server. It got off to a rough start as most people had no idea what was going on or what to do. Eventually Order unlocked the Land of the Dead.

As you can see from the snapshot below, a few people were interested and taking a trip down south.


This is the first view you get when you arrive.


Just outside of the warcamp is a nice look at a couple of PQ areas.


Near the entrance to the pyramid. That statue looks like it is watching me. What am I worried about, it's just stone right? ;)


Here is a nice look at the pyramid. The enviornment in the new zone is very nice. The artists outdid themselves.


I tried out a PQ and won a bag! The PQ itself involved lots of snakes. The mechanic here seems to have been killing a creatures friends before it would take damage.


Now Mythic, we need to talk. What real use is this spanner that I won? How important do you think Strength is to an Engineer? The 2 Talisman slots are nice, but you can see my current hammer there which is pretty low ranked in comparison. Why would I switch?


That's when I called it a night as it was getting late. My character is logged off somewhere in the Land of the Dead ready to surprise some Destro.

The only major problem of the night was that animations were broken on npc's in the new zone. They were a bit stiff.... ha? It was a fun time, but I will be saving most of the new content for when it hits live.

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