1000 hours of Warframe

Having definitely secured its place as my most played game in my Steam library, I thought I'd just put a quick summary of where I'm at as a free to player: Mastery Rank 22 "Dragon", and have played all regular frames so far apart from Gyre which I'm still working on, and the soon to be released Voruna.

My primeframe collection is growing too, with Chroma and Octavia joining the Inaros Prime which was my first. Zephyr and Harrow Prime are also sitting in the foundry waiting for parts and space. As I've gotten all I wanted from the Void Raider mission I'll probably be ditching Inaros soon. Chroma too since he can't seem to do anything well. Maybe Chroma goes first actually.

Boss wise, there are only a few I have left to find, fight and defeat. The last two Eidolons on Earth, the infested alien thing from a star event which hasn't happened for awhile, and the Corpus hero John Prodman in the Index. Favourite boss fight so far is against Nihil who is somewhat hidden in Nightwave offerings. Anyway, super cool game. Just also super addictive. :P

Warframe: Baruuk and Octavia

The monk and the bard.

Baruuk

All of Baruuk's pieces are gated behind a few ranks of the Vox Solaris syndicate which by default means maxing out your standing in Solaris United before hand. This monk is worth it though as his abilities include evading projectiles as long as he's not attacking (this is his only skill that drains continuous energy), an AoE sleep fart, and to summon a bunch of daggers that both mitigate damage (10% PER dagger) and shoot out to permanently disarm enemies in range. In my build of him I have 17 daggers and the daggers can also be given to your allies, so yes he can be pretty tanky.

The strangest thing is, Baruuk is a try-hard pacifist but each of those already mentioned abilities reduces his "constraint" gauge and when you unleash him using his ultimate, he goes into exalted kung-fu mode which further mitigates damage AND is very impressive to use but requires the augment mod if you plan on actually killing things in the steel path instead of just knocking them down. Fun frame, but its another one that needs warm up before having his full abilities ready (not as bad as Nidus though).

Octavia

Designated as the best Warframe available currently, Octavia's main blueprint comes from the Octavia's Anthem quest. For her other parts you'll be doing the capture mission on Lua to find all the caches and music room puzzle and the super annoying 20 minute survival on Deimos (pray to RNG). That said, she is pretty awesome! As all her abilities stem from music, she comes with a step-sequencer in which you can compose your own stuff (or steal other pop songs) and anytime Octavia uses a skill she regenerates energy (slowly) for herself and allies nearby.

She can summon a ball that distracts enemies, create a damage zone to hammer enemies (or put it on the aforementioned ball so this zone moves, and create a zone that increases all allied damage based on the noise level. The louder the party, the more the enemies will die! Her most complicated ability is the "metronome" which gives you different buffs depending on what you do in time with your music:

Jumping to the beat gives a speed buff, crouching gives invisibility, shooting buffs shooting damage and meleeing buffs melee damage. It takes some getting used to! That invisibility seems mandatory for survivability though so get your crouch practice in.

Warframe: Inaros Prime and the Void Raider

Woo, my first prime warframe! I'm not really doing reviews on Primeframes as other than being shinier and a little tougher than their original counterparts, they are pretty much the same so "Inaros Prime" is just Inaros: but with one key difference - he has a unique and somewhat hidden quest tied to him!

Much like how you get unique voice lines if using Yareli while talking to the Vent-Kids (who view her as a surfing goddess), the Void Trader Baro-Kiteer views Inaros Prime (and only the Prime version) as his "God King". Every two weeks, when he appears at a relay he offers a single quest key to Inaros Prime users to do the Void Raider quest - which is a 10 wave solo only defense in the void where you must defend Baro Kiteer himself AS Inaros Prime to get some nice rewards. Personally I use specters to help with that.

Just thought I'd post this more as an FYI because it's one of those things that's easily missed!

Warframe: Nidus and Styanax

The infested and the hoplite.

Nidus

While the component blueprints of Nidus are just behind a grindy RNG mission, his main blueprint is only rewarded at the end of the Glast Gambit quest which involves numerous games of "the Index", easiest described as grid iron but with coins, guns, warframes, and lots of violence. It also demands hundreds of thousands of credits per game which you will default if and of your games ends in a loss. Prep well before attempting, or bring friends (but they too must risk their own credits). I left this mission alone till after New War.

Once you build this infested mass that parades around as a warframe you will notice he has no shields, but that's ok because he is freakishly tough regardless and all his powers grow the more mutation "stacks" he accumulates and at 15 stacks, he can ignore death (once). He can use ranged tendrils to pull enemies to one spot, stomp to increase stacks based on number of enemies he hits, link himself to an ally to strengthen them or to an enemy so that they take any damage he would instead and lastly he can summon a swarm of maggots to eat everything. Lovely. Let's not forget that contact with a Nidus also spreads those Helminth cyst things to other warframes - easily cured but worth pointing out.

Yep, he can be very strong BUT this is very reliant on him "warming up" those mutation stacks of his which work best in a defense type situation. It is also reliant on your allies letting you infect enemies to power up. This is what killed it for me, as most other frames are "drop in and kick ass". Here it feels like I need five minutes of stretching before doing anything, so ... nope to Nidus for me.

Styanax

As of this post the Styanax is the latest warframe introduced into the game and if you logged in on his release you'd have gotten him for free. If not, its ok - just do the Veilbreaker quests and challenges to earn the currency needed to buy his parts. With a good amount of shields and armor this warrior kicks ass right away. He can taunt the enemy while letting all friendlies regenerate energy and shields, he can throw his physical shield(s) to repel baddies and armor strip them which also heals him, throw a spear to impale an enemy on terrain - which then creates a black hole that pulls other baddies close before exploding, or my favourite - throw multiple barrages of javelins from the air to absolutely deck anything unlucky enough to get in your way.

You can move and aim while doing that last one, and its better airborne where you really feel like you are unleashing missile hell on those below. It looks really pretty from a spectators viewpoint too. Alas, "warrior" is a role pretty much most of the other frames already fill so while there's nothing really wrong with the Styanax, he's really more just a matter of preference - and I ultimately preferred frames that I've been using for a longer time.

Warframe: Harrow and Mesa

The priest and the gunslinger.

Harrow

Only available after completing the "Chains of Harrow" quest (after which you might need to grind a little for some of h8s other parts), this clergy like warframe has a strong focus on shields and teamwork - enjoying a double capacity over shield (shield on top of a shield) and starting each mission with full energy.

He can shield the entire team, throw out a corridor of chains that give him more shields for each enemy he tangles up, flagellate himself to remove all shields to buff the entire squad based on how how much shields he lost, and wave some incense around to help everyone regenerate energy (so that he can use all those abilities again). His power loop is a pretty straight forward one and provided he doesn't tangle with any toxin type enemies (because toxin goes directly for health and ignores shields) this makes him super durable - but not as durable as the Revenant. Because of that and because I'm not into team focused powers, this priest is worm food.

Mesa

This gunslinger is locked behind the mutalist Alad V assassination mission (avoid that collar) which you'll need to craft keys for. On the plus side, you'll probably get a Nyx from all that key building. As expected all of Mesa's abilities are gun (mainly pistol) focused, and she gets benefits for not being armed with melee. She can jam enemy guns, briefly shield herself from bullets, re-apply stored gun damage with the next shot and lastly become a stationary (or slow moving) turret of doom for as long as her energy allows.

While she might be one of the higher DPS frames currently available she suffers from being not too sturdy. That bullet shield lasts mere seconds, enough time to get to the next cover I suppose but against melee hordes (hello infested) she'd be in trouble "turret" form or not. Might be one I'd like more if I got her earlier in the campaign when I still played it like a shooter all those years ago, but after seeing how quickly Steel Path grunts can shred through unprotected warframes I don't think she'll last in my arsenal for very long.

Warframe: Solo Thermia Fractures

Here's a decent way to solo the thermia fractures event on Venus. I'm using a firewalking and perma invis Loki but I'm sure any warframe will do as long as you have an archwing launcher and some strong weapons to deal with level 70 Corpus in mid to close quarters.

Step 1: Set your game mode to friends only or solo

Step 2: Head to Orb Vallis with no quest

Step 3: Use the telepad to warp to the top left of the map next to the Temple of Profit

Step 4: Archwing further North up the mountain to find the Exploiter Orb mother. It's a giant invulnerable robot spider that will try to shoot you if it sees you.

Step 5: Little coolant spiders trail the big one, kill four without engaging the Exploiter. Each will drop a coolant pod.

Step 6: Ferry four coolants back to the Fortuna telepad using the warp. You can pick them up while in archwing mode and you can drop them by switching weapons. Just make sure they don't roll off anywhere and don't press middle mouse while holding one as that makes you chuck it and it explodes.

Step 7: From the air, find the closest thermia fracture to Fortuna which looks like a firey lava vent. Enemies in the Orb get stronger the further you are from Fortuna so ideally find the closest one by flying in lazy circles until you spot one. Mark it with "G" to help your navigation.

Step 8: Ferry all four canisters to the fracture without starting it yet, and drop them as close to the thermia start point as possible. Once that's done you can finally start!

Step 9: Plug all four canisters into the fracture in quick succession as soon as you begin and then defend as Corpus start warping in. Do your thing and fight well until you've filled up the timer gauge. Note the fracture itself will occasionally screw with your abilities.

Step 10: If you've won collect the reward canister which should net you one diluted thermia (it won't if you put less than four coolants into the fracture, you'll have to do more with that canister to get it), then go back into Fortuna. Why? So that the Exploiter Orb resets position and that new fractures near Fortuna might spawn.

Update: For all the parts that I suggest teleporting, you can actually just hold down M to bring up the map and select where you want to warp to. You don't need to be standing at a warp pad to warp! Thanks to Juris for letting me know! :)

Warframe: Archons of the New War

Having just completed The New War, I thought I'd try do a not too spoilerish post for some possible troublesome foes in it. Ok, maybe only I had trouble with them but whatever. :P 

I found the random school tests to be fun!

First up, before you can even think of doing the New War you need to own a railjack and a necramech and be up to date on the main story (unlocked and played through Prelude to War). Now for tips on the some of the big baddies namely Owl, Wolf and Snake - and the order you fight them in is totally up to you. Just don't try melee whichever you pick as the first two.

Owl floats about, firing lasers, creating streams of electricity or going in a shield to heal (which you can walk into to shoot him and stop that process). I picked him first, found him really annoying, literally quit the mission and left him for last. And I'm glad I did because you are in a better position to beat whoever is last.

Wolf is all about being close and tearing you up, so he will charge and leap and deploy fire for some reason. He's pretty simple, just stay far away and dodge when you see him winding up to leap or charge etc. He is also a Narutard and summons clones while he hides and heals. Shoot the real one (the only one holding weapons) to stop that process. You can also quickly find the real him by using your #3 gifted ability to spot his arrow on the mini map.

Snake pretends to be scary with that giant head which occasionally turns you into stone so if you see the eyes light up, look away and if she starts charging a large glowy red sphere around herself, take cover because that's an AoE. Otherwise her attacks go in straight lines that do not track, which makes her simpler than Wolf. I stayed close and just ran circles around her while shooting and "dodging". That is in quotes because simply by running in a circle means she can't hit you with her other attacks.

I feel like that's enough info to get anyone through them. Really cool quest line, and pretty long too. Worth noting that for the entire duration Warframe becomes a single player game until you can finish it though so plan accordingly.

Neverwinter Online: Faster Weeklies in Barovia

Repetitive tasks get old quick, and while Barovia is quite a nice place here are some pointers to get you through some of the weeklies quicker.

1) Do the Yesterhill BHE earlier during the week cycle. More people trying to do it means more chances for you to get it done.

2) After doing the Pack of Lies instance, you get a weekly that covers the same ground. If you aren't hunting cards then you can skip most of the early combat in the repeating weekly thusly:

-After examining first body, mount up and ride on before spawning wolves catch you.

-After examining 2nd body ride on all the way to the mouth of the cave. If your mount is fast enough, you can avoid all exterior combat. Jump up and Spam F to enter the cave and bypass the wolf man right outside.

-Inside the cave, you must kill the group in the tunnel, then you can run past everything else without aggroing them by running through the lake. Fight the Alpha and run out the same way you came in.

-Once you get out, mount up and circle to your right to flank the pack leaders. Range attack them to lure them to you and then just focus on hurting one till they flee. Note: you will need to pull back after your first attack or your companion will charge and aggro everything. After this point, you'll need to kill everything else.

3) Bypassing enemies in the Old Bonegrinder instance is easier:

- Run past most of the spiders, kill the set at the dead end and kill the witch.

- While mounted, stick to the right side of the forest (hug the mist) when triggering the next cut scene then escape (ESC) out of it as soon as you can and run past the initial scarecrows. If you then hug the left side while crossing the farm you can avoid all those scarecrows too.

- Lure the second witch a little bit and kill her and her summon. If you go too far away she'll call you a coward and reset position/HP. Note: Let the summon aggro you from line of sight. If you range attack, all the field scarecrows will wake up.

- Afterwards, if you are fast enough you might be able to rush and spam F to get into the basement but that only has worked for me when wolves guard the door and not shadow demons. After this point, you'll need to kill everything else.

That's it from me, hope it's been of some help to you!

Neverwinter Online: Arcane Reservoir Challenge

For those who want quests that aren't in the game. :P

It's been awhile since I made a challenge post, but I thought I'd do one for the Sharandar Weekly in Neverwinter Online. Most people fly through it these days (myself included), literally just running past everything to murder the boss and leave. Well, if you want to mix things up here's the task for you:

Get all four of the NPC Reservoir Guards to the final room.
 

This is the finish line.

Note that they will vanish when you hit the boss cut scene but that's fine, if all four of them made it there alive you win. As your gear score improves you also might want to add a few extra options like:

Complete the quest solo
Complete the quest in under 3 minutes

Shouldn't be that tough and if at first you don't succeed, don't worry too much since you'll probably be doing this quest every week at some point. :)

Neverwinter Online: Vigilance Quest Guide

With Module 6: Elemental Evil came a whole bunch of repetitive "Vigilance" quests and now that I've gone through the whole lot twice I thought I might make a little guide to help clear your 16 (tasks) x 3 (areas) x 4 (zones) quests as efficiently as possible. In subsequent posts I'll be going into each zone by detail, but for now just some general info.

• You can "properly" start Elemental Evil upon reaching level 60. Talk to Sgt. Knox.
• I suggest doing the first three intro quests with Minsc as it introduces you to the new mobs.
• You can only carry 4 vigilance tasks at one time.
• In theory you can finish a set of 16 tasks by doing the same quest 16 times but that isn't a good use of time.
• If you have finished quests and are near the quest givers, go back and hand them in / pick up new ones.
• Each area has 16 vigilance tasks available but only in batches of 8 which switch over each hour.
• Each area offers an instanced dungeon. Only go in if you have the two dungeon quests (one before the hour and one after).
• Personally, I try skip the instanced dungeons (if solo) as you can get more done outside them.
• It is faster and easier to clear quests in an organized team (carrying the same quests).
• Reaching level 70 gives you an artifact off hand weapon. Talk to Sgt. Knox. (thanks Shintar!)
• Finishing the Vigilance cycles of Spinward Rise (last area) gives you an artifact main hand weapon.
• It is possible just to level up to 70 elsewhere and charge Spinward Rise directly, skipping the other zones.
• Don't forget to buy potions and sell loot during down times when there are no (decent) quests available.

Clear as mud? Next up, we'll start looking at each zone in detail. :)

Drowned Shore Vigilance Guide
Reclamation Rock Vigilance Guide
Fiery Pit Vigilance Guide
Spinward Rise Vigilance Guide 

MMO Design: Vindictus Quest Structure

[Part of my MMO Design folder.]

Most MMO's I've played have the quest structured similar to this:

• NPC Person has Obvious Marker (?/!) that they have a quest for you
• Talk to NPC Person to pick up quest
• Do something which 80% of the time involves fighting
• Return to NPC Person and get monetary / XP rewards
• With enough XP your Stats might go up

While Vindictus also has that, there are extra and somewhat hidden quests (mentioned only once during the tutorial phase and never again) you can undertake in the form of Equipment Sets which serve as both a gold drain and time wall. How it works is this:

• Find NPC Person in town (no obvious mark)
• Purchase a Story scroll from them and read it to begin Quest
• Quest is often a combination of collection, crafting and luck
• When complete, you gain some "title"
• Each title you earn boosts stats (STR/DEX etc)

It's the first time I've seen a "Pay for Quest" structure that gives out permanent Stat bonuses as a reward but I think it's pretty clever as it really rewards those who play the game longer (to go after those quests). Two of the same character with the same gear at the same level can still vastly differ in power levels due to the title system, and I for one would actually like to see this system in more games. Properly implemented with a few tweaks I think it could even replace the old XP and level structure that everyone is used to.

What do you think?

Firefall: First Impressions

[Post #19 of the Blaugust Challenge!]

Future Earth is being corrupted and invaded by another dimension in this Free to Play MMO which I've just started trying out, so while I don't have a full grasp on everything that's going on I do have a whole bunch of first impressions, most of which are negative. Let's look at what I think is -good- first: Most of the voice acting, background music and the bits of the world I've seen get a thumbs up (level 18 only so far).  Having drop ships and glider pads that let you fly about is also good. Using cover does increase your lifespan. Dynamic world events and random invasions are also cool.

Seems I'm the only one that rides the air bus.

And now for the bad. There is no melee. Your secondary weapon (which for me switches between an SMG or grenade launcher) never runs out of ammo. Outside the tutorial I also haven't been able to -not- use a battle frame. They are the mandatory dress code. Jump jets are cool, but this made it lazy for them design wise as there are pretty much no lifts and very few staircases in game, instead forcing you to use this "feature".

There is no way to change your chat channel without knowing the typed commands to do so. The speech bubbles over characters heads look clunky, as does the inventory screen. I'm quite used to having my "pack" open at all times so for me, having an inventory screen that eats up a third of your window is quite annoying. There is also no way to find out what instance of the map you or your friends are on. Instead, after partying up, you have to again know the typed command to get everyone in the same map channel or you will never see each other despite standing in the same spot.

When partied up, only the leader can accept quests. You can also only have one main quest and one optional quest active. This makes for A LOT time wasting travel back and forth travel to quest hubs. I can see that some are meant to be done sequentially which is fine, but there are many others that should be able to be picked up simultaneously. Also the quest locations are randomized which sounds good on paper. In practice the place where I hunt the bandit leader, escort some civilians to a picnic, hunt a nest of spiders, search through garbage, tag a nest of birds, and deliver cookies to girl scouts is all the exact same spot.

Items also have level restrictions. This is somewhat more passable in say, Diablo where your character might actually not be strong enough to wield a sword effectively enough or lack the magical knowledge to operate a staff. Here, where everyone is basically walking in powered exoskeleton armor a level 10 player can't use a level 11 shotgun because...? The trigger is too heavy?

Despite all that the explorer in me wants to unlock all the SIN towers at the very least so I'll keep at it a bit more, just to see more of New Eden.

Blaugust Bonus: I prefer my MMO's to be medieval fantasy. This is partly because I like linking the same character throughout all the worlds I visit and it makes it difficult to do that when suddenly there are laser blasters everywhere. Also I don't really get the same epic feel. Facing down a horde of angry enemies with a blood stained sword is more intense and rewarding if you survive as opposed to facing the same horde with a gatling gun and jump jets. It basically becomes a "meh".

NWO: Rebel Incursion

Woohoo! My second foundry creation in Neverwinter Online is finally done. It didn't take long because it was difficult, it just took long because I haven't worked on it for awhile. Crunching down the quests to 15-20 minutes play time has really impacted my story telling ability though so instead of still trying to go for the story I had planned I'm scrapping the campaign entirely and just making stand alone type quests (that may or may not link together later).

Hopefully since it has such a short play time it will attract more reviews, and it certainly is easier/faster for me to play through and test as well. To all those who play NWO I humbly invite you to give it a try and hopefully leave a review! If you don't know how to get to it just do the following:

1- Log into Neverwinter Online
2- Press L
3- Halfway down is "The Foundry" section. Press the "More" button next to it.
4- Go to the "Best" Tab.
5- Search for "Rebel Incursion" (without the double quotes), it should come up on the right hand pane and the author should be @josephskyrim.
6- Accept the Quest
7- To start it, you'll need to get to an exit and find the Residential District on the overworld map.

You are welcome to try my other quest too, though that one takes a bit longer. ;)

Quest List so far:
Rebel Incursion [NW-DFHLFGNQY] (15-20 minutes)
One Step to Darkness [NW-DNJC9SK7A]  (1 hour running time)

The Forge of Winter

Current Foundry Rank: Artifex (Level 6)
Current Scribes' Enclave Rank: Member-Scribe

Decided to post this little tracker to let people know how I'm going with my quests being constructed in the Neverwinter Online Foundry, along with any notes I've found while using it and mistakes I make. Hopefully it proves useful to some others.

All the below are stand-alone and solo friendly.

One Step to Darkness [NW-DNJC9SK7A]  (1 hr story focus)
Rebel Incursion [NW-DFHLFGNQY] (15-20 min combat focus)
Dirty Rats [NW-DGLB37WLW] (15-25 min combat focus)
Spiders of the Glade [NW-DUWK7BEE7] (15-25 min combat focus)
Arroway Manor [NW-DP3GLWRDP] (8-15 min stealth focus)
Coeden [NW-DM719BCQ5] (15-20 min combat focus)
A Measure of Character [NW-DKJKPQKH8] (15-45 min story focus)

Notes:

1. Given that people can still find/play individual quests out of order I'm not really fussed on releasing each one as they complete.
2. So far, it's taken awhile to even complete one quest mainly due to the (not so bad, but still there) learning curve.
3. Also spent sometime just writing in a notebook about how things will play out for the whole campaign.
4. CTRL+S will save you if the editor hangs when you are dragging an item to the playing area.
5. Don't duplicate maps after you put dialogue. Do it before.
6. Don't add things to a map after putting dialogue or you'll need to add it in copied maps manually (argh).
7. You can rig a timer by making guards fight monsters in a separate room.
8. The Foundry Forums are a good source of info.
9. People don't like running around. Tried to cut this down (Q1) but still ended up on the heavy side. I'm guessing especially the final part. Them tomb halls are huge. :P
10. Dungeon prefabs don't always gel well together and cause odd graphic issues. To combat this I've put walls to try hide those missing textures.
11. Knock backs can break a module if a monster falls to an unreachable zone and doesn't die. The players will then forever be in combat and cannot interact with stuff. With this in mind I paved over all the big holes I had (Q1) so it wouldn't happen.
12. Getting reviews and plays is actually the hardest part it seems. Hopefully I can count on my guildies to get my content through the review phase (must get 5 reviews and 20 plays).
13. Apparently it's common for new patch releases to break modules, according to Star Trek Online (another Cryptic game) foundry users. The only way to beat it is eternal vigilance. 
14. After raging a bit I decided to have another crack at this, modifying my planned quests to be even simpler to better cater for the audience and more importantly, to work around the weaknesses of the editor.
15. Having decided to switch to quick 15-20 minute quests I've realized it will be too cumbersome to try tell the story I had originally planned. Because of this I've scrapped my original campaign plan and have decided just to make a bunch of stand alone things that may or may not link together.
16. Just as a note as of Febuary 2014 my quest and campaign limit has been bumped up from 10 to 15. Not sure if that was a global thing.
17. Put up my current foundry rank. Totally aiming for level 10! Or.. 9... or 8... :P
18. Joined the Scribes' Enclave to see what they are all about. They are bloody amazing. I strongly others to join too. Non-authors will be able to find some really fantastic hidden works in here as well. Unfortunately the Enclave has closed due to lack of activity.
19. When posting for reviews on the Foundry Forums, always offer to trade. People are more likely to play your maps if they get some much needed plays and reviews themselves. 
20. Join competitions. Especially silly ones since it will up your skill in things like decor and costume design! :P