The Nightstar Zoo

...kicks ass.

Alright, it's kicked ass for about two years now, but now it's official.

Just thought you might want to know.

It was pretty uninspiring during their last open event.

Once you get past the shiny graphics (and indeed they are most shiny), there's barely a game to speak of.

_________________
delete this;

Al right, admitted, the writing leaves a lot to be desired. But it's extremely fun to play.

I really like that system of payment they're using though, where ya just buy the thing...

No monthly fees!

But I shall stay away from MMORPGs no matter how shiney they are, to keep a social life...

_________________
-Dark

It reminds me a lot of Dungeon Siege, without that irritating "use skill a million times to level up" process.

...of course, that's because it has been replaced with a "wander around aimlessly to find someone who can train you in new skills" process. But I'm having fun anyway. Eventually I might even get around to joining up with other people.

Yeah, the free netplay is the real reason I bought it in the first place. I don't have WOW money.

And I'm not a MMORPGer anyway. Basically I'm just treating this like a huge single-player game, and the beauty is, which all these huge environments devoid of other players, it really kinda can be.

Kinda makes you wonder why there wasn't a single-player mode available. Nothing complicated like transferring SP characters to online servers; just something that would let people play without a ready internet connection.

How far have you gotten with your characters? I'm sitting at level 7 with a Ranger/Mesmer, pre-Searing, and about ready to go across the wall, I think. I could've gone yesterday, but I was indulging my powergamer tendencies -- trying (and failing) to find more than two trainers for each profession...

Well, unfortunately, my computer isn't technically compatible with the game (my video card is too old), so until I get an upgrade I can only play it for about a half hour at a time. I have a ranger/monk who just hit level 3, and I've been mostly wandering around doing chores for random citizens.

Cool game.

Hard to find parties for quests and after a certain level henchmen are useless. Soloing in the Diessa Lowlands at level 10 is no fun.

_________________
CALL ME MINH DAMMIT.

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945), 1895

If you don't mind a bit of a walk, you can get level six henchmen at Fort Ranik or Serenity Temple.

I replaced my Ranger/Mesmer with a Mesmer/Monk, and I'm having a lot more fun, now. Chaos Storm and Symbol of Wrath are an absolutely devastating combination -- I used to hate getting mobbed; now it just makes me giggle fiendishly.

Oh, if you want to add me to your friends list, my character names are "Miles Invictus" (aforementioned Mesmer/Monk) and "Stygus Bloodletter" (Hell Knight -- Warrior/Necromancer).

I can't believe how easily I passed the Bloodfang quest. After many failures, after getting mobbed every time I came close... Eventually I found Bloodfang as he took a walk alone, away from his men. Probably to pee or something. He was dead before he knew what hit him.

_________________
CALL ME MINH DAMMIT.

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us.
Paul Valery (1871 - 1945), 1895

I must be getting way behind, 'cause I have no idea who Bloodfang is.

I actually like this part; it's Single Player when I want it to be, but I can quickly add other players to help on a quest. (or just jump in the arena for a random team battle)




I got my Mesmer/Ranger to 8 before going to the Academy. There should be 3 trainers per profession, as far as I know. There were definitely 3 Rangers and I'm sure I had 3 Mesmers.

Rangers:
-Aidan is by himself far south end of map (Wizards Folly) in a dead end area.
-Master Renke(?) is near a Rezz shrine and an Animal Trainer east of Wizards Folly, but south of Fort Ranik (area name escapes me)
-Final ranger is on a ridgeline south of Fort Ranik immediately east of a large bridge. (if you know where the healing fountain is, it's the 2d bridge when heading towards Ft. Ranik. Fountain is between the two Rangers

Mesmers:
-My first one was immediately outside the gate I believe. (near Gwen*)
-Lady Althea is just up the road from the gate next to the ampitheatre
-Vassar(?) is in Foibles Fair outpost at the edge of the snow line, south/southwest of Wizards Folly.

* Gwen unlocks quests if you let her follow you and will occaisionally heal you. You'll see her talk about Mack the bull (talk to Lady Althea) and also apples from Mary Malone (talk to Mary south of Fort Ranik)and I thought there was a third, but I can't think of it now.

_________________
~Cholma
"File from the left, column left," said the Sergeant. "How 'bout a 3 day pass?" said the Corporal. "Beer! Beer! Beer!" said the Private... - Army Cadence
Support our troops. Donate to the USO: http://www.uso.org/
I got tired of being the Anonymous Poster on Livejournal. Cheese help us all.

The only reason I want a dedicated SP-mode is because as it is, I can't play the game without an internet connection. I'm just paranoid enough to expect mine to fail when I want to play an online-only game.

After I played with my Ranger/Mesmer a while, I realized I was using the Mesmer skills almost exclusively, and restarted the character. Having Monk as a second profession gave me a couple of skills I actually find useful (Bane Signet and Symbol of Wrath aren't bad to start out with, and the Resurrection skills will be useful once I start delving into coop play).

So far I've done most of my playing with my Mesmer/Monk, lately finding Pockmark Flats and Serenity Temple. That opened up a few new quests and a few new skills, but nothing that makes me want to swap out what I currently employ. That'll probably change once I get to the third and fourth chapters.

I do hear you on the SP. Half-Life 2 seriously pissed me off REQUIRING Steam to play. Hell, you had to be online just to INSTALL the game. WTF?

Funny. With my Mesmer/Ranger, I'm using the Ranger skills more! I'm only level 9 right now, and I'm just using 2 or 3 mesmer skills. I forget the names, but the Hex that continually decreases the targets health is great. I have a pet, so that takes 2 Ranger skills (one to have it, and one for healing it) and I've found that the "Ignite Arrows" (24 seconds!) combined with Dual Arrows makes a very nice AoE attack, plus it does quad damage to the main target.

_________________
~Cholma
"File from the left, column left," said the Sergeant. "How 'bout a 3 day pass?" said the Corporal. "Beer! Beer! Beer!" said the Private... - Army Cadence
Support our troops. Donate to the USO: http://www.uso.org/
I got tired of being the Anonymous Poster on Livejournal. Cheese help us all.

Now, that is funny. I used those same Ranger skills, but the damage they did just didn't compare to the damage I was getting with my Mesmer skills. A few points in Domination magic went a lot further than trying to balance between Marksmanship and Expertise.

Of course, that might be because a Ranger/Mesmer doesn't get as much energy or energy regeneration. 25 points is enough for one preparation and two bow skills, which is not enough to quickly kill an opponent. A Mesmer/Ranger, on the other hand, has more energy to use, and thus the Ranger's rapidly-recharging bow skills can be used in rapid-fire sequence despite their high energy cost.

"Conjure Phantasm" is the health-sapping one...I thought that one was totally worthless before I actually tried it. Five seconds of degeneration takes about 20-30% health off of just about anything up to level nine or ten. This spell is the only reason I have any points in "Illusion Magic", but they're points well spent.

There are a lot of good Domination spells ("Backfire" is essential), but they have take so much energy that my options become limited. I prefer to unleash as many supplementary skills on a target as I can. "Energy Burn" is a good way to do some heavy damage, too.