[ExReey]

Anyone using Shotgun and/or Elementalism can suggest me some good abilities for tanking? I have collected a nice tanking set of talismans, but don't know which abilities to choose..

[Team Vernia]

Anyone using Shotgun and/or Elementalism can suggest me some good abilities for tanking? I have collected a nice tanking set of talismans, but don't know which abilities to choose..

Have to use a mix of Sword/Chaos/Hammers for tanking pretty much. You can mix in other weapons if you want to explore synergies, but you need at least 1 of those 3 to be viable tank.

[Kikarian]

What is the balancing like on this game? Is there a lot of people on the Illuminati side?

I've seen most people who have the game say that they have chose Illuminati. Is there a big increase in the number of players in Illuminati?

[derFeef]

What is the balancing like on this game? Is there a lot of people on the Illuminati side? I've seen most people who have the game say that they have chose Illuminati. Is there a big increase in the number of players in Illuminati?

I believe there are more Templars overall, but that totally depends on the Dimension. I am always having the world buff so I guess that means there are a lot of Templar players on Arcadia ;D

"Gamers" tend to prefer Illuminati because of their style and attitude.
I like the Templars because of history, military ranks and order (and stuff).

[INDIGO_CYCLOPS]

I am really looking forward to getting back into the game. Vacation was great but once Friday rolls around I'll be damn near itching to log back in. Soon enough new content as well: )

[kurahador]

You guys should try roll a Dragon.

This faction is way too weird and different compared to Templars and Illuminati.

[derFeef]

Saïd best character/NPC? Yep.

[CcrooK]

Have to use a mix of Sword/Chaos/Hammers for tanking pretty much. You can mix in other weapons if you want to explore synergies, but you need at least 1 of those 3 to be viable tank.

Shotgun/chaos works pretty well.

[derFeef]

Shotgun/choas works pretty well.

Well, he's right then :)
edit: damn ninja ;)

[CcrooK]

Well, he's right then :) edit: damn ninja ;)

I don't read very well :(

[vaelic]

You guys should try roll a Dragon. This faction is way too weird and different compared to Templars and Illuminati.

whats so different? I just may.....

btw, are all Dragons Asian in the character creation?

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Interesting post by Ragnar about the upcoming auxillary weapon making its debut in 1.1:

The first auxiliary weapon is coming soon, and that will add more options to your decks. Without saying TOO much...you will be able to augment existing decks, and diversify without compromising the way you currently play. Of course, the first auxiliary weapon is just the FIRST auxiliary weapon, and if that one doesn't light your fire, the next one might. Or the next one. Yep, we have a whole bunch planned (I just looked at the final list of the first five auxiliary weapons twenty minutes ago, and I'm very excited!) and that's just the start. The combat system will continue to grow and evolve on an ongoing basis -- it won't remain what it is today for very long -- and the content will do the same. Hopefully we can keep you guys happy and engaged and playing for a VERY, very long time!

[syko de4d]

maybe new skillslots from 8-10 for the new weapons (skill 1-7 the 2 primary Weapons + 8-10 for the auxiliary weapon)? Would be really really great.

[Whoompthereitis]

Been playing this for a couple of days now, and I dig it. Not a big MMO guy, but occasionally I'll try one out. Usually I last 10-20 hours and then move on. I've tried WoW, The Bioware Star Wars Game, Tera and now this. This one's my favorite....

Wish it had controller support though. I know there are ways (xpadder, etc) but I'm such an idiot that I can never get those things to work. Anyone that can help- I really suck at shit like this.

Still, having a ton of fun with the game. Using pistols and blades.

[derFeef]

Interesting post by Ragnar about the upcoming auxillary weapon making its debut in 1.1:

I remember saying him it will be a slow but explosive weapon. So either rocket launcher or greneade launcher, which I don't really like the idea of. Also there are a lot of similar abilities for your weapon in the outer rings where only a state or cooldown changes, some really feel like filler abilities.

I hope they don't add too much confusion with that.

[vaelic]

IGN reviews TSW. 7.0

Rating Description out of 10 Click here for ratings guide 8 Presentation Each zone is a lovingly crafted ode to everything from Lovecraftian horror to all sorts of urban legends, and the story's got just the right amount of quirk and camp to accompany its long-winded monologues. 7 Graphics Locations and creature designs generally have a very nice gothy look to them, but character models range from mediocre to downright ugly. Animations aren't much to write home about either. 7 Sound The music's fairly forgettable ambient fare, but background sounds and enemies' horrifying howls really steal the show. This is the first MMO that's made me feel more than a little unsettled while simply wandering around a zone. 7 Gameplay While investigations are completely unlike anything else in the genre and dungeons contain some seriously creative encounters, everything else comes up a bit flat. Nothing's bad by any means, but combat and combat-centric quests, especially, end up drenched in deja vu. 6 Lasting Appeal TSW starts off extremely strong and then slowly but surely loses steam. Later characters and quests simply aren't as interesting, and the endgame's currently composed of no-frills PVP and re-runs of old dungeons. Promised monthly content updates might be worth sticking around for.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/...t-world-review

[Team Vernia]

IGN reviews TSW. 7.0 http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/...t-world-review

Weird. The scores don't match the text. It's a pretty fair review, though. I still get the feeling the major websites are approaching the game with a console gamer mindset, though.

[dubq]

I really can't take any review sites seriously anymore. I usually use a combination or word of mouth and let's play videos on helping me to make my decision of whether or not to get a game (if I'm unsure, that is).

[TheYanger]

Nothing's bad by any means, but combat and combat-centric quests, especially, end up drenched in deja vu.

And yet they gave SWTOR a 9. A game that LITERALLY is wow from 7 years ago. Yeah, great job IGN.

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

Doing Darkness War would be awesome. Also a general GAF meetup needs to happen, at the Wabanaki camp ;D I guess Saturday may be the best day?

I gave Darkness War a shot yesterday and found it pretty difficult. The second boss has an unavoidable DOT that ticks 1000-2000 health every 2 seconds and his other big attacks hit even harder if you don't avoid them. I had Martial Discipline and the passive which provides 125HP per tick for 10 seconds (1000+), and Turn the Tables, a 625 HP instant heal, on top of several passives that heal for about 50-100 HP every single time I attack and it still wasn't enough! I also had passives and abilities that weaken the boss, increase my defense, and reduce the amount of damage he does by 7.5%.

We all had full QL5-QL6 gear, but as a tank, it looks like I need about 5-6K HP and as a healer, Loreza needs about 1200 or more +Healing stat to make it through the second boss. At the time I think I had around 3900 HP and she had about 600-700 healing stat.

A Saturday meet up for Darkness War would be great. It's a brutal dungeon and I think it is going to require a bit of trial and error. I'll try to be on before 12:00 PM EDT.

[derFeef]

Sounds great. Our first dungeon run was so much fun to me because of trial and error!
I am now mostly pistol and hammer, they have some good off-heals and supportive skills for increasing healrate, clear states, and small hot's for passive targets. I was never a big numbers-counter in mmo's so I am not sure if those really help in a dungeon. My hammer still hits hard though ;D

[Team Vernia]

I gave Darkness War a shot yesterday and found it pretty difficult. The second boss has an unavoidable DOT that ticks 1000-2000 health every 2 seconds and his other big attacks hit even harder if you don't avoid them. I had Martial Discipline and the passive which provides 125HP per tick for 10 seconds (1000+), and Turn the Tables, a 625 HP instant heal, on top of several passives that heal for about 50-100 HP every single time I attack and it still wasn't enough! I also had passives and abilities that weaken the boss, increase my defense, and reduce the amount of damage he does by 7.5%. We all had full QL5-QL6 gear, but as a tank, it looks like I need about 5-6K HP and as a healer, Loreza needs about 1200 or more +Healing stat to make it through the second boss. At the time I think I had around 3900 HP and she had about 600-700 healing stat. A Saturday meet up for Darkness War would be great. It's a brutal dungeon and I think it is going to require a bit of trial and error. I'll try to be on before 12:00 PM EDT.

You have to kill all the adds so the boss doesn't drain their power and enrage and hit you so hard. 1000 per tick is pretty easy to get through, but 2000 catches up to you. Also, try to get closer to 7000 hp as I didn't have a problem at that amount. I also find that stacking defense (for glancing and self heals) helps a lot in this game. I know the popular thing is to go more towards evasion and weakening, but if you have a support class debuffing the boss you can take more of the healing/glancing abilities in swords. Personally I think Escalation is ruining the game for tanks. I hear people will kick you out of PUGs if you don't have it, which is stupid because a Sword/Hammer combo is so survivable.

[HiddenWings]

I gave Darkness War a shot yesterday and found it pretty difficult. The second boss has an unavoidable DOT that ticks 1000-2000 health every 2 seconds and his other big attacks hit even harder if you don't avoid them. I had Martial Discipline and the passive which provides 125HP per tick for 10 seconds (1000+), and Turn the Tables, a 625 HP instant heal, on top of several passives that heal for about 50-100 HP every single time I attack and it still wasn't enough! I also had passives and abilities that weaken the boss, increase my defense, and reduce the amount of damage he does by 7.5%. We all had full QL5-QL6 gear, but as a tank, it looks like I need about 5-6K HP and as a healer, Loreza needs about 1200 or more +Healing stat to make it through the second boss. At the time I think I had around 3900 HP and she had about 600-700 healing stat. A Saturday meet up for Darkness War would be great. It's a brutal dungeon and I think it is going to require a bit of trial and error. I'll try to be on before 12:00 PM EDT.

The second boss is the big wolf thing? His damage depends on the speed at which you clear the mobs in front of him. Also, his ground dot seems to bug at times. I found it relatively hard in a random group, but pretty easy when I went in with some friends.

That said, there are some things later on that are quite brutal when at the intended gear level.

[Team Vernia]

Sounds great. Our first dungeon run was so much fun to me because of trial and error! I am now mostly pistol and hammer, they have some good off-heals and supportive skills for increasing healrate, clear states, and small hot's for passive targets. I was never a big numbers-counter in mmo's so I am not sure if those really help in a dungeon. My hammer still hits hard though ;D

If we do some dungeons this weekend I'll track the combat logs if you like. I'm a big min-maxer at end-game in these games. It helps so much and it's pretty easy to do honestly. Most people use ACT but I like Guildstats.net since it's easier to use and gives you more than enough data.

[vaelic]

more ingame Alienware t-shirt keys are being given out

3,000 left

http://www.alienwarearena.com/giveaw...hirt-giveaway/

[StickSoldier]

Well I got this game for me an a buddy, ready to give it a try. I've been itchin for a mmo other than wow, so hopefully this will be it.

[dubq]

EDIT: n/m I answered my own questions, lol. Google FTW! :P

Anyway, I added myself to the spreadsheet, hoping to group with some fellow GAFers in the coming days/weeks! :D

[birdcity]

Sounds great. Our first dungeon run was so much fun to me because of trial and error! I am now mostly pistol and hammer, they have some good off-heals and supportive skills for increasing healrate, clear states, and small hot's for passive targets. I was never a big numbers-counter in mmo's so I am not sure if those really help in a dungeon. My hammer still hits hard though ;D

Pistols and Hammers is what I've been running since the beginning and it works REALLY well. Lots of skills that complement each other. I basically debuff the shit out of any enemy. Within the first 5-10 attacks on an enemy they are hindered, weakened, corrupted, and I have a large block rating, increased crit chance and critical damage buff.

[bakeray]

I know it's basically common knowledge that ign is trash these days but they gave SWTOR a 9 and this a 7? HAHAHAHAHA what a joke. this game blows SWTOR out of the water.

[dubq]

I have to agree and I loved SWTOR for the most part (well mostly because I'm a Star Wars mark). TSW just has it ALL for me. The style of progression, the story and presentation, it's just an awesome game from top to bottom.

[ROBOKITTYZILLA]

And yet they gave SWTOR a 9. A game that LITERALLY is wow from 7 years ago. Yeah, great job IGN.

IGN is almost as bad as G4TV.

I have seen a lot of unfair scores for this game but generally the reviews have been good and the user reviews have been exceptionally higher than most editorial reviews.

The inconsistency is what really gets me. Secret World scoring lower than games like SWTOR and TERA is just WRONG (and I really like TERA).

I blame Guild Wars 2 hype.

[Team Vernia]

IGN is almost as bad as G4TV. I have seen a lot of unfair scores for this game but generally the reviews have been good and the user reviews have been exceptionally higher than most editorial reviews. The inconsistency is what really gets me. Secret World scoring lower than games like SWTOR and TERA is just WRONG (and I really like TERA). I blame Guild Wars 2 hype.

I blame the "coolness" factor of gaming journalists bashing Funcom. It's been going on ever since the Anarchy Online launch fiasco. Only Joystiq is letting them slide and viewing the game for what it is (brilliant), but even they were skeptical at first.

[derFeef]

The low interest of gaf really bums me out :(
I know it's not a mainstream mmo, but then gaf always wants something different and fresh. Sad to see comments about about storys in mmo's and that they always suck, some really don't know about this game I think. Bummer.

[CcrooK]

If I had to gripe something about this game, it's the sound design. Why must my weapon always sound the same. Sure it's minor but c'mooon.

[Carcetti]

The low interest of gaf really bums me out :( I know it's not a mainstream mmo, but then gaf always wants something different and fresh. Sad to see comments about about storys in mmo's and that they always suck, some really don't know about this game I think. Bummer.

Gamers always go on about wanting something different, but they'll always only buy the same old stuff and sequels. Sad fact.

[Team Vernia]

Gamers always go on about wanting something different, but they'll always only buy the same old stuff and sequels. Sad fact.

^^^^^ This, though the recent Elder Scrolls Online backlash gives me hope.

[dubq]

Isn't most of that backlash coming from people who were expecting it to be multiplayer Skyim?

[HiddenWings]

Isn't most of that backlash coming from people who were expecting it to be multiplayer Skyim?

Yes. It seems a bit premature for a game that we know very little about.

Anyway, I "finished" the story mission earlier this week. Suffice it to say that I'm eagerly awaiting whatever they have planned for the end of the month.

[Carcetti]

Well, I tanked Darkness War dungeon just now. Have to say I'm pretty impressed. Lots of story and hard content (only 1 person knew the fights beforehand). The amount of dodging you have to do to survive is on a real hardcore level when it comes to modern MMOs.

[derFeef]

1.1 is shaping up niceley on the testserver, good stuff and lot's of fixes again.
The new missions are also playable, but I will not do that ;)

Also there is now an interaction interface. Basically it pops up everytime you stand in front of something you can click (Lore, doors, etc.) - "Press (U) to pick up Lore" - it's pretty handy and I guess some might prefer it over the pixelhunting you have to do sometimes.

[Bru]

Doing Darkness War would be awesome. Also a general GAF meetup needs to happen, at the Wabanaki camp ;D I guess Saturday may be the best day? I can invite you later today to the Templar cabal, or Indigoo, or someone ;)

I'll be there, ready to kick a.... er... die loads and enjoy every second of it!

[vaelic]

The low interest of gaf really bums me out :( I know it's not a mainstream mmo, but then gaf always wants something different and fresh. Sad to see comments about about storys in mmo's and that they always suck, some really don't know about this game I think. Bummer.

It's. It's not a dude bro game

[Vlodril]

If I had to gripe something about this game, it's the sound design. Why must my weapon always sound the same. Sure it's minor but c'mooon.

Yes. I was just commenting to by group just that yesterday. We did the first part of Egypt dungeon and i got some awesome looking pistols. Was fuck yea. Then i shot with them...

Its too bad. I don't know how they could fix it though it would probably take alot of work. They could at least put 5-10 different sounds and add them to the weapons close as they get to what the appear.

[birdcity]

Anyone want to run Darkness War today? I'm free all day and will be in and out of game. Just post here and we can meet up.

[derFeef]

Dev stream sarting in some minutes!
http://www.twitch.tv/thesecretworld

edit: ohh announcements.

Anyone want to run Darkness War today? I'm free all day and will be in and out of game. Just post here and we can meet up.

Hmm maybe a bit later, but I planned to do it tomorrow for sure.

edit: some infos as they come in.
*snip*

[Ethics Gradient]

Anyone want to run Darkness War today? I'm free all day and will be in and out of game. Just post here and we can meet up.

I'm down. I ran this yesterday and I'm pretty sure that my group carried me. Running pistols for dps/support, and my dps is a bit low. QL5/6 gear pretty much, but I have to say that was the most fun I've had in a dungeon in a long time. I still haven't run Polaris/Inferno.

[MedIC86]

you guys think this is legit? http://www.worldofcdkeys.com/en/the-secret-world/
i really want to try the game, but not at full price. but the discounted price seem pretty good.

[derFeef]

So some new infos from the stream:

• New weapon sounds coming with patches, sounds modeled to the look of the weapons.
• Custodian (atomatrons in Agartha) investigation mission in upcoming update.
• Combat pets (maybe).
• Stuff like the new interaction menu is a hint to some big change coming in the future (change of control scheme?).
• Draug speaking Islandic, lol.
• The Secret World playable for free for everyone the next weekend! (who created an account once, or may create an account prior to the next weekend)
  There will be events, partys and competitions ingame, basically they try to brake the game ;)

[Heavy]

So some new infos from the stream: New weapon sounds coming with patches, sounds modeled to the look of the weapons. Custodian (atomatrons in Agartha) investigation mission in upcoming update. Combat pets (maybe). Stuff like the new interaction menu is a hint to some big change coming in the future (change of control scheme?). Draug speaking Islandic, lol. The Secret World playable for free for everyone the next weekend! (who created an account once, or may create an account prior to the next weekend) There will be events, partys and competitions ingame, basically they try to brake the game ;)

Good stuff! thanks for the summary

[Vlodril]

So some new infos from the stream: New weapon sounds coming with patches, sounds modeled to the look of the weapons. Custodian (atomatrons in Agartha) investigation mission in upcoming update. Combat pets (maybe). Stuff like the new interaction menu is a hint to some big change coming in the future (change of control scheme?). Draug speaking Islandic, lol. The Secret World playable for free for everyone the next weekend! (who created an account once, or may create an account prior to the next weekend) There will be events, partys and competitions ingame, basically they try to brake the game ;)

Bam. That was fast :P