Back to Blade & Soul

When last I wrote about Blade & Soul, I had uninstalled the client with no expectation of returning. Black Desert was launching soon and while I enjoyed B&S I couldn’t see it competing for my time with everything else I was playing or planning to play.

Then they announced the Warlock class.

I had no idea there were more classes to the game, let alone how quickly they would be added to the NA version. Even with the launch of Black Desert officially starting this week I went ahead and added the Blade & Soul client back to my hard drive and gave the new class a try. I’m not going to write much on it yet since I’ve only played through the first 8 levels but so far my experience has been a good one.

For a ranged, caster class it plays really well in the action combat setting with knock backs, roots, and of course ranged, damage dealing spells. My only disappointment is that the pet is temporarily summoned and stationary like a turret. Maybe that will change when I unlock different abilities but if not it’s okay because the combat is still so satisfying.

Below are a few screenshots of my character. I forgot to take pictures of the pet as well so I’ll try to remember that for next time. I also failed when trying to get a screen shot of this over powered aoe ability on a long cool down called Dragon’s Call. The animation is great. It’s an elaborate cast during which you cannot move but as the Warlock completes the spell he turns his back to the enemy, raises his hand (to snap his fingers?) and then -BOOM- he one-shots just about everything in range.

The Warlock is a lot of fun and if you like ranged casters who use crowd control abilities to cripple and overpower their enemies I would recommend giving this class a try.

Goals for March 2016

I’m going to join Chestnut and Aywren on the fun of setting goals for the month and then seeing how I do at the end. Since Black Desert is still new to me and I’m learning systems as I go my goals for it will be a little generic this time around although I may change them later in the month. Most of my specific goals will have to do with The Secret World.

The Secret World

• Get to know my new Cabal better and participate in group events
• Finish Tokyo through Issue 11
• Obtain QL 10 custom purple gear for all slots
• Upgrade Head and Major Talismans to QL 10.4
• Complete all dungeons on Elite difficulty
• Get the last auxiliary weapon, the rocket launcher

Black Desert Online

• Learn how to fish (Yes, that’s one of my goals; don’t judge.)

• Figure out what I need to do to start a boat building workshop

• Determine best routes for fish trade and connect nodes

• Level the Tamer to 30(ish)

 

Blade and Soul

• Try the new Warlock class

Life is Strange

• Get through Chapter 1

 

I think that’s plenty to keep me busy for the month, especially with everything I want to accomplish in The Secret World and having to figure out a lot of systems and mechanics in Black Desert. Now that I have my PC’s performance issues figured out in Black Desert I’m starting to look forward to the game more. Nothing kills motivation to play a beautiful, action MMO like 9 fps. And then I’m also excited to finally be in a Cabal in The Secret World. I’m hoping this will open up a lot of opportunity to get to know new people and experience the game in new ways. There’s a lot to look forward to this month, let’s see what I’m able to accomplish!

Goodbye Blade and Soul, Hello The Secret World Issues

This past week I reached a couple of milestones in the MMOs I’ve been playing; in Blade and Soul I reached level 20 on my Kung Fu Master—the class I chose to continue progressing—and I finished the main, side, and story missions in The Secret World’s Transylvania zones with the exception of those labeled “Nightmare.” With Blade and Soul, that achievement came with the decision to sunset the game for now. I’m glad I gave it a try but knew from the onset it was temporary. By the time I reached level 20 I was skipping through quest text and growing disinterested with the combat system which was the main draw for me to the game. So I uninstalled the client, closing the door for now which is fine, as the Black Desert Beta test will start next week and my time in Blade & Soul would have come to a close anyway.

Only fools bring a sword when attending “the gun show.”

 

The Secret World is another matter. For the past 2-3 months my objectives have been clear— I would work my way through Solomon Isle, Egypt, and Transylvania completing all available missions. Now that I’ve completed that goal and have seen the close to that portion of the main story (which has left me with far more questions than answers) I’m unclear on what to work on next. I thought it would be simple; finish the three primary zones then work my way through the issues from five through thirteen. However once I finished Transylvania, I ported to Agartha which began a quest to the council of Venice. I have no idea what this is about, and only played long enough to find the Sunken Library and watch a cut scene. Now I’m supposed to pass a few trials but to what end, I do not know.

Once that’s completed, depending on where that leads me, I’d like to go back to Solomon Isle to see if I can solo any of the lairs, to possibly queue for the dungeons tied to that zone, and to begin Issue 5. I’m also at a point where I need to do a little more research on how to improve my gear so that I don’t waste any of the black bullion that I’ve accumulated. I received a QL10 epic weapon for completing the main story in Transylvania and went ahead and bought a second from a vendor at the council of Venice however I’m not sure if I should spend more on Talismans that they sell there or if I should wait. I also need to figure out glyphs and signets, as right now all I have are QL10 green glyphs and a handful of useless signets (as near as I can tell.)

Why do all my blind dates end up like this?

 

I’m not concerned or frustrated by the sudden onset of uncertainty, but I do want to find a guide of some kind to help me take the next steps. My main concern is that I obtain the gear I need to complete the issues in order, and that I do not waste Black Bullion by buying the wrong things. It takes long enough to accumulate that a mistake could set me back quite a bit. Other than that, I’m excited to explore the stories I have yet to play through with Issues 5-8, and I’m curious as to what I’ll find in Tokyo and where the story will go from there. There’s also the group content I’ve yet to try so plenty to keep me busy. I’m still greatly enjoying The Secret World and despite feeling a little disoriented I’m eager to take on whatever challenge comes next.