Shout Out!

Making a quick shout out post at Syp for linking to my Cultivation Guide on Da Bloody Twenty this week! Check it out on his awesome blog of WAAAGH!  He updates his blog a LOT and it’s all about Warhammer Online related stuffs!  So go on and read it already!

 

Note:  Tell him his female dwarf is attractive and he’ll love you for life.   Which is good, because you’ll burn in hell for lying.

I kid!  I kid!  I’m sure she has a great personality…

I’m Just Talkin’ Bout My C-c-c-cultivation!

Ahoy hoy!  Another quick Cultivation tip for you all!:

How to grow a few plants at a time

If you look at the default growing menu you’ll see the following image, more or less.

As you can see my Cultivation level was at least 50 at this point as I have 2 plots unlocked.  This is the first requirement.  Without multiple plots you can’t grow multiple plants, after all ^_^  So let’s take a look at the individual parts I labeled (I left the right side blank so you can compare easily what is being selected):

1.  This is the plant we are growing in this plot.  If we were growing a spore, it would look like a mushroom and have a blue shade in the background, not that it matters but I guess you *need* to know what’s what on the fly o.O  The picture also changes to match what growth cycle the plant is in, getting larger with each cycle.  The seconds remaining at the bottom of the plant is connected with the time remaining in the current growth cycle.

2.  This area shows the three ingredients we can add to our plants (from left to right) Dirt, Water, and a Nutrient.  As you can see the Dirt and Water icons are colored in, this means we added those ingredients correctly during each cycle.    Notice the green circle around the Water icon?  This is to show what cycle the plant is on, and a reminder on what item we should add.  The timer above this area, in the green highlighted “1″ section is connected to this, and it shows the time remaining in this cycle.

3.  This timer is to let you know the *total* time remaining until the plant is ready to harvest.  Helpful reminder, or in case you are one of those dark horses that throw care away with reckless abandon and don’t add any items to your plants, you’ll know exactly when the plant will be ready, as this will not change if you do not add any items.

4.  This number is directly over the Nutrient icon, which has a red circle around it and the icon is grayed out.  The red circle is to let you know the plant is not in this part of the cycle, and the grayed-out icon lets you know that you did not add that ingredient.  If you are on this part of the cycle and it’s gray, add the item.  If this was a previous cycle and it is gray, don’t forget to add it next time, mmmkay?

So what does this do?

When growing a few plants at a time, I keep this view up almost constantly.  It lets me see how long until my plants are done, if I was too busy killing to add the right ingredient yet, and how long I have left to add that ingredient if I didn’t already.  Like I said I keep this menu up a lot, even when fighting monsters I find it’s helpful.  I just spam attacks on my number keys via keyboard, and while I’m doing that I’m adding the right items to my plants.  I do not recommend doing this in densely populated areas, or when you are less than 50% health as it might get you killed.  In that case, don’t forget to carry extra health potions and to keep your “Flee!” skill handy hee hee  (Or you can keep the windows closed and wait for the text prompt of ‘you plant has reached the next stage’ to open it again, plop the item(s) in and close them once again, waiting for the next prompt.  Or some other variation you might think of!)

 

Also I got a comment by Kreture! (Great name, btw!)  She wanted to know if I use any Cultivation ingredients (dirt, etc.) that are *not* level 1 items you can buy from merchants.  In fact, no I do NOT!  I simply don’t have a supply of them to use!  If I did have a supply I’d definitely use them as I’m sure they increase the odds of getting bonus items and Critical Growths, at least way more than the ingredients I’m using now. 

If you have the option of using higher quality and/or level growing ingredients, use them!  I don’t see how they could hinder you in any way, minus their cost of course ^_^

I do plan on making another Order toon on this server (once my cousin gets the game and we can slaughter in unison *ahem*) that uses Scavenging, and I’ll mail my Cultivator the helpful items he plunders, but until then I’m sticking to merchant bought items.  I may check out the Auctioneers soon and see if there are a lot of them up for sale (and thus cheap), but for now it’s merchant only items for me.

Remember this game is to have fun, and this skill is just a small part of the game.  These are my thoughts and opinions, and are hardly set in stone.  Do whatever fits your playstyle, I’m just posting mine.  ^_^

Cultivation Invasion!

Well it didn’t take as long as I thought, so after I posted my Cultivation Guide, I got started on my own personal Cultivation Database, of sorts.  I didn’t get far, as it’s late now and I’ll update it tomorrow, but it’ll have all the seeds I grow listed by level.  I’d talk more about it, but again it’s late and I’d just be relaying what’s already there.   Go check it out!

You Want The Dirt? I Got The Dirt, On Cultivation!

Well, day 2 of WAR’s long and healthy crusade-filled life and I’ve got 100 Cultivation and 91 Apothecary.  It wasn’t the easiest thing…nor was it as fast as in Beta.  At least to me it took a lot longer to get to 100 Cultivation now than it did just a week ago.  But, at least I got the goods for all of you guys!  I’m gonna post something later (today or tomorrow, depending on how long it takes to re-remember how to do html tables) that’ll…well…show my attention to detail, I guess I could say.

Anyway, I give to you, for casuals and hardcore Herbologists alike:

 

The Cultivation Guide!

     A.   Beginning To Cultivate
     B.   Growing By Numbers
     C.   Sow What Now?
     D.   Easy Killer!
     E.   Dealing with Stalling Points
     F.   Who Drops What (Again)
     G.   Where Does Who Drop What?  (Because!)
     H.   Conclusion

 

A.   Beginning To Cultivate

Cultivation training is in Chapter 2, so kill and quest just as you normally would up to your Chapter 2 town.  I did not do any RvR at this point as I was too low (I wait till lvl 8 for morale abilities) and the queues were too long.  Nor did I do PQs more than the first stage as there just wasn’t enough people. 

Upon reaching the Chapter 2 town I had:

• 10 different species or ‘packets’ of seeds that were Cultivation level (Lv from now on) 1 required.  Total of 19 Lv1 seeds.
• 1 Lv15 (Darn you Goldweeds, ruining my lawn!) packet, total of 2 seeds
• 5 Lv25 packets, total of 7 seeds

A grand total of 28 seeds, just from doing natural progression to Chapter 2.  At this point I think I was level 5,  I think.   Run over to your Cultivation trainer and get trained already, we got work to do! (I mean that in the funnest sense of the word)

 

B.   Growing By Numbers

In case you are brand new to this thing called Cultivation, here’s a detailed picture:

 

1. Put your seed or spore here
2. Insert Dirt
3. Insert Watering Can
4. Insert Nutrients

    5.   I am Bender, please insert girder.

Note:  Part 1 is the only thing that *needs* to happen in order to get a plant.  Parts 2-4, especially Part 5, are completely optional.  Adding these ‘bonus’ items always decrease the time it takes to grow your current plant by about 50% if you add all three.  They also increase the odds of something good happening, like “Critical Success”es or the ever-rare “Special Moment”s.  (Ooo!  Ahhh!)  Don’t worry about using these until Lv25, earliest.

Note:  You can buy those ‘bonus’ items from a merchant in any town.  They’ll sell you the worst possible quality of each item for 15 copper a pop.  Don’t worry, these are the only items I use as I’m cheap like that hee hee

Arid Soil
Rusted Tin Watering Can
Clotted Gore

 

C.   Sow What Now?

Grab any Lv1 seed or spore and place it in the correct slot on your Cultivation window.  (That’d be the one I labeled “1″ above Bender).  Continue killing, questing, and gathering any level seeds until it is done.  You will know it is when you see “Cultivation Level Increased To Level 2″ or something similar on your screen.  If you haven’t noticed already, there are text updates in your chat that let you know when the plant has moved on to stage 2, stage 3, and when it is complete.  (They don’t label the stages, they just say it has moved on to the next one, like a loving parent trying to soothingly suggest to their child why Grandpa won’t be giving them a Christmas gift this year)  These are usually seen and forgotten quite fast, only good for reminders when growing several plants at once while also killing in a PQ.  But that’s ahead, how do we plant things to do stuff like that?  Tell me!  DO IT!  DO IT NOW!

 

D.   Easy Killer!

The leveling process is easy but slow.  The best and ‘fastest’ way to level, in my opinion would be to simply grow the highest level seed you can until you level up to the next ‘tier’ of seeds.  ‘Tiers’ being every 25 levels.

aaCultivation Lvaa	aaaSeed Lvaaa
1-20	1
20-25	1-15
25-50	25
50-75	50
75-100	75

Grow Lv1 seeds until Lv20 Cultivation, as they continue to level you up quickly until then, and you should have a lot to grow.  Save the Lv15 seeds, if you dare call those Goldweeds a plant, for level 25+.  Why?

Every seed levels you up easily to a certain point.  They level you up without any trouble at all but then *BAM* hit the wall and you noticeably stall out.  This is where the grind kicks in, as it comes down to luck.   In the beginning these are slight but easily spotted hurdles you can pass without much problem.  But, at least from what information I gathered as recent as last night, when you get into the higher levels the stalling point comes a lot sooner, and the odds of getting a level off the highest seed you can grow drastically drops.

aaaSeed Lvaaa	aStalling Pointa
1	25-29
25	41-43
50	60-64
75	86~

Lv1 seeds can get you to the ‘tier’ of 25 easily, and almost to Lv30.  At 29 I sold all my Lv1 seeds, and personally deleted every Lv15 Goldweed seed I had one at a time, as there is no option of setting them ablaze and using their ash as a Nutrient.  Maybe if I was a Bright Wizard…anyway from 29 to 50 you have to grow Lv25 seeds, and you’ll hit the Stalling Point at about Lv40.  That’s only 10 levels away from your next tier of seeds, but it’ll take you awhile.  Once you get to 50 grow Lv50 seeds to 75 and past the Stalling point at 60.  Notice it’s now 15 levels away from the next tier?  Also, I noticed that it will take you a lot more seeds to get a successful Cultivation level up.  If it took you (say) 30 seeds to get from 40 to 50 it will easily take twice that amount now, and the time it takes will start to grow a lot faster than your plants. 

Note:  These were things I noticed personally when my Cultivation level didn’t budge after more than 4 seeds in a row.  1-50 look about right, but the Lv75 one seems a bit off.  Either this earlier and longer Stalling Point was done purposely to make sure grown goods hold some sort of value when on auction, or I just had some nasty luck after 85.

Note:  Yes two notes!  Even though it is best to use the highest seed you can, you *can* still level up on lower level seeds but the odds are incredibly low.  In short, if you have seeds, grow them.  I only deleted my low level seeds to make room for the better ones I was getting, but if all you have are Lv1 seeds you might as well grow them until you find something better! In fact I hit 88 Cultivation on a Lv1 seed, I do believe.

 

E.   Dealing with Stalling Points

What to do with all this time?  Well first off I would start using those ‘bonus’ items I mentioned before.  They cut down the time it takes to grow, and at about level 50 you’ll start to notice more Critical Successes and the like.  I would *very strongly suggest* using Dirt, Watering Cans, and Nutrients past 25, and definitely after 50.  This is just my opinion, but you automatically cut the growing time basically in half using them, which is a must for me at this point.  Also you increase the odds of a Critical Success, which not only gives you the plant you were growing, but a seed back as well.  I believe Critical Successes if not out-right guarantee a level up, are definitely a safe bet on getting a level up.  In short you have, half the time growing, increased odds of getting seeds back, and chances for bonus items.  (And for anyone reading these guides as a series, I DID finally get a pigment last night and made a Scorched Brown Dye.  WOOT!)

 

F.   Who Drops What (Again)

Before I was even high enough to get to Chapter 2, I already had level 25 seeds.  I had mostly Lv1 seeds and a few of those damn Lv15 weed-seeds (Curse you, Goldweeds!), but I did notice the Lv25 seeds I had were all ‘green’ or Uncommon quality.  My Lv1-15 seeds were all white, why?   Monsters are supposed to drop a certain range of gear; white items of Common quality.  This is the average stuff.  But now and then they drop a good item, an item of higher quality, a green Uncommon item.  This is the game’s way of telling you “Hey, you’re getting a deal looting this, bub.”

The trick is not to kill a specific monster, it’s to kill a specific LEVEL of monster.  If you need Lv25 seeds and you regularly get a white Lv50 seed, you are killing things too high for your Cultivation level.  If you need Lv25 seeds and the monsters you are killing keep dropping green Lv25 seeds, you are killing things too low for your Cultivation level.   Match the white seed drops to the level of Cultivation you currently have for fastest results.

Also, think of how Mythic designed the gameplay.  Tier 1 is designed for you to level up from 1-10.  Tier 2 is designed to get you from 10-20.  There are four Tiers to break up the game into manageable parts.  There are also four Cultivation plots.  Notice a connection?  If you are supposed to get to Rank 10 before reaching Tier 2, then you are supposed to unlock your second Cultivation plot in Tier 1 as well, or Cultivation Lv50.  For the casual player this means you have a nice long time to reach that 50 skill levels per zone goal.  For the hardcore you’ll probably want exacts.  Level 10 and up monsters drop white Lv50 seeds and green Lv75.  These guys are all over the first PQ in Tier 2, further proving that the game was designed for you to hit Lv50 Cultivation in Tier 1.

 

G.   Where Does Who Drop What?  (Because!)

“Because” being Center Field…and farmers tend to grow things on…fields–anyway, I’m again going to glamorize PQs.  Experience, influence for excellent rewards (Tier 2 and up especially. Blues are the menu tonight, baby!), and chance to group up with people and help others have fun.  If they start to get a bit crowded, or you just get bored of grinding, do not forget to quest!  In fact I think I should listen to myself on this one.  I spent all day yesterday getting 100 Cultivation at level 12 in the same two PQs, and that got stale after a few hours.   If I simply leveled up and carried on questing vs grinding I might have had more fun doing it, but I don’t know if it would have gone any faster.  If you are in the mood to grind out some influence I highly recommend shopping at PQ-mart for you seed needs, but if you aren’t as masochistic as I, I heartily recommend questing naturally and growing along the way. 

Mind you I started out with that mentality but then I quickly got swept up in Cultivation…and kinda just stayed hooked on it >.>  So read this guide with that in mind, don’t have too much fun or you’ll be crazy like me, mwhahaha!

 

H.   Conclusion

I suppose I should wrap this up here then with a title like that, eh?  How to summarize this, now?  Hmm.  Level up Cultivation as you see fit, casually through questing with minor pit stops on PQs to get any annoying seeds that didn’t level you up yet to the next Lv25 seeds, OR grindtastically through quests till you find a good PQ you like to do and grind that baby long and hard till it’s influence is capped, all the while growing and hording seeds.  Again, be sure to note what white Common seeds the monsters drop for you, and make sure it’s on par with your Cultivation level.  Using those ‘bonus’ items on your plants are again optional, grow your plants however you like.  It’s really all up to how you play and what you enjoy.  This is just what I found out on my own, and it will hopefully help someone out there wondering what growing stuff is all about in a land filled with WAR. 

And in case you ARE that person wondering how a game like Warhammer Online, where they claim “War is everywhere” as much as Peter Parker says “With great power comes great responsibility” in every single Spider-Man movie combined, where, or WHERE could there possibly be War in Cultivation? 

Glinting Goldweed Seed

There’s your proof of hate incarnate, right there.  If there was a Chaos seed, that would be it.  Vile weed, I curse your NAME!

Warhammer Online Crafting: Cultivation Corner

Give fools their gold, and knaves their power;
Let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall;
Who sows a field, or trains a flower,
Or plants a tree, is more than all.
                                -John Greenleaf Whittier

So you still want to stick with Cultivation, might even want to dabble with Apothecary on the side?  That’s a serious decision, my friends, as Apothecary is not easy to spell.  The abbreviation will probably be “Apoth” to which people will either read with a terrible lisp, or subconsciously think to be a subcategory of Goth.  (Not even going to start with Cultivation obviously being cut down to Cult)  But even with all those hardships ahead of you, you want to grow some plants, so let’s dig in, shall we?

Giving you an overview in my last post I suppose a Cultivation guide would be helpful here.  Well, let’s see.  Cultivation is really at it’s core, the ability to change raw materials into ingredients to be used by Apothecary, which then further change those ingredients into finished products.  Because of this, I strongly suggest choosing Apothecary as a nice combo for Cultivation, as you are only allowed one gathering and one crafting skill per character and Cultivation does nothing directly for Talisman Making (that one requires Magical Salvaging).  Growing stuff is neat and all, but if I couldn’t experiment like a mad scientist and use ‘my creations’ with little vials in an imaginary lab to make potions and the like to use as I see fit, I think it would definitely limit the fun that is to be had with Cultivation.  Besides, if you grow seeds often you’ll always have a supply of things to advance your Apoth skills.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

 
Brief Bulleted Information…Bracket

-You can buy Cultivation training in your armies’ Chapter 2 town
-While you can’t grow seeds before training you can hold onto them until you do purchase it
-Access the Ability window and drag the Cultivation (and Apothecary) icon(s) to your hotbar, saves time (these are under the General tab)
-Merchants will sell you the most basic of items to help you get on your feet once you purchase the training

 
Your First Goal

Your first goal would be to hit level 50 Cultivation.  After hitting this mini-milestone you unlock the second plot/pot to grow in.  (And the third at 100, and fourth and final at 150, I’m assuming)  Luckily reaching this goal is pretty easy, but keep in mind that the higher you get the more likely a lower level seed will not increase your Cultivation skill.  I found this out the long way >.< At level 40 a level 1 seed is not gonna get you to 50 in any reasonable amount of time.  It might be possible, but it is a lot faster to do it the ‘right way’.

Everything in WAR promotes the war effort.  If you were hiding in town growing things for people that might help a little bit, but you’ll be dependant on others for seeds in a short amount of time.  If you were to go out and kill the enemies of your Army that would help the war effort a great deal more, and to top it off you get seeds off the fallen baddies you kill.  Furthermore you can even be growing seeds while getting more, and if you really want to get philosophical, the blood of the enemies you’ve slain would provide very fertile grounds to grow on, so get out there and kill, you blood-drunk WAAAGH-ior.

 
Reaching Your Goal

Your first goal being 50 Cultivation, the best way to reach this is to constantly get a fresh supply of higher and higher level seeds.  This is a gradual process, so don’t worry about running all over the place just to plant a better snapdragon.  The seeds merchants sell (level 1) are a great source if you can’t seem to get any seeds in the beginning, but these won’t help you forever (nor will you need them to do so, on every character I made I got a seed before my 10th kill, usually on my second).  As you get up to 25 they’ll help you increase levels less and less.  From then on, other than if you just enjoy growing things like I tend to do, you’ll need to hunt for seeds and spores.  For level 25 seeds I’d recommend running Chapter 3+ PQs.  In fact, PQs are probably one of the best ways to get seeds as you have to kill a good deal of enemies in one area, and you get influence for it as well to unlock better and better items as you progress through Chapters.

 
Who Drops What (And I Don’t Know’s On Third…)

On average I’d say level 1-4 enemies tend to drop 1-15 seeds while 5-9 mobs drop 15-25 seeds pretty well.  10-20 enemies seem to drop level 50 seeds at a good pace but these are at the end of Tier 1 and all over Tier 2, just to put things in perspective.  (Yes you can get them earlier from lucky drops but generally speaking these are who drop them regularly)

It is completely up to you on how you will get your seeds and how diligent you are about Cultivating.  Do you want to PQ them, quest them, grind them on enemies you particularly hate or want to get a Tome unlock from?  Perhaps do scenarios and just throw whatever seed you click on first into the pot to grow as you focus on getting Renown?  Keep in mind this skill is based on reality, it takes time.  If you rush head first only thinking about seeds and spores and get slaughtered by high levels while attempting to get good seeds you run the risk of a burn out.  Try to fill yourself with some Zen when you decimate your foes.  Be one with the plant, get some feng shui goin’ on.

 
In Summary

-You can’t max Cultivation on level 1 seeds, you need to get progressively higher level seeds to keep gaining Cultivation levels
-Once you hit 25 Cultivation, try to grow primarily lvl 25 seeds.  If all you have are level 1 seeds that’s fine, just don’t be surprised if the seed does not level your skill up when it grows
-If you reach the ’stalling point’ and want to level up Cultivation more quickly, kill higher level enemies for increased odds of getting higher seeds. 
-PQs and ‘vanilla’ questing are the best way to level Cultivation naturally.  You kill enemies to complete the objectives and every one you loot has a chance of giving you something to plant.  And if not, something to sell to buy Cultivation items.  Why would you need those? 

I’ll talk about that in my next post ^_^  (Like the hook there? What do you mean? It’s not a cliffhanger, it’s a hook!  A hook I say!)

Cultivation: The Silent Tiller

I can’t play Warhammer Online until Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a whale of a time telling YOU the reader these awesome Cultivation tips!  Consider this the primer on this wonderful crafting skill you’ll all GROW to love!

The basics you should already know by now, as it’s posted everywhere and generally this is all you’ve read about it before:

1.  You need something to grow.
2.  You need a place to grow it. 
3.  You need some form of time investment.

You need something to grow

Seeds and spores are what you are looking for here.  I’m pretty sure almost anyone can drop a seed, but humanoids dropped these very well for me in Tier 1 as a High Elf.  As a Dark Elf I didn’t have much trouble either as many of the things I was supposed to kill were humanoid or tree-like Tryants and Spites.  Dwarves and Orcs alike are surrounded by Squigs, which are made from a mushroom, I might add.  High odds of getting spores off them.  I don’t like Empire and Chaos isn’t a favorite so I’ll just pretend they being actual Humans should drop things other Humanoids do.

If you are ever running low on good seeds to grow, just do a few PQs.  The less people there the better actually, more mobs to loot in the same area.  PQs in Chapter 3 and beyond are ideal.  Killing some 70+ guys just to start the second stage of a PQ gives you plenty of killing room.

You can always get seeds off of other players, ones that use Scavenging especially, or check the Auction House, or whatever is WAR’s equivalent.

 
You need a place to grow it

This one is all up to you, as the higher your skill the more you can plant.  I persevered and hit 50 Cultivation and ding, a second plot opened up to me.  I later went on to hit 100 and the third plot opened for me as well, so I’m assuming at 150 the final plot opens.

In summary, the more you plant the more you can plant.  You are rewarded for doing something you like to do in the first place.  And if you don’t like it, bugger off you chuffin’ Talisman making bastard!  I’m making plants here!

 
You need some form of time investment

This is one of those “the more you put into it, the more you’ll get out of it” sort of thing.  If you want your plants to grow as fast as they can and increase the odds of them growing into Critical Successes (good thing) instead of Critical Failures (bad thing), you’ll want to add Dirt, Water, and a Nutrient to your seeds and spores.  If you just want to grow things on this side and focus on killing; be it in PQ, quest, scenario, or Keep Siege (successful or otherwise) you can easily just throw in your seeds and let them grow on their own.  They’ll grow their default time and return default results, which isn’t bad, it’s average.

Now, how to use those items to shorten growth times and increase your odds for a great result?  That’d be a great topic for my next Cultivation post ^_^

Where Oh Where Can My Beta Be?

Well, the beta has ended.  My character shall again be wiped, but before she was I did have a jolly good time and hit a few milestones with her I’m a bit proud of.  Such as I DID hit 50 Cultivation finally after learning the trick to it, and even got over 100 by nights end, woo!  I also got a lucky roll in a PQ and got a purple bow. 

Ooo, ahhhh.

I also crept up to the first real keep the High Elves can take over in Shadowlands.  I’ve only seen it dressed up like it was the Dark Elves’ as it’s always been owned by Destruction so I dunno if it actually looks High Elfy if/when Order takes it successfully.  Also, a note here for guilds that plan on doing RvR, such as the one that I did a warband with last night on Estalia.  *If* you are a guild that has a website and vent info, can you please continue your organization IN-GAME?  During the above keep ’siege’ (HA!) we ran through the entrance.

That is all.

We ran in, saw that there’s a curvy ramp going up to the second floor…and that’s all I know as they couldn’t even get up there.  (For the record, this was before any real Destruction players started getting in the way.  As time went on, on that marvelous ramp, more Destruction players showed up and then it became impossible with that…I’ll be nice and say group make-up) I took down the burning oil thing twice solo with my BOW and the best strategy against the first boss NPC in the middle of the second floor was avoiding it: “Everyone run after me up to the top and rez me when I die”.  Wow.  I can see why Order hasn’t controlled this keep any time I have checked the map.  Personally, if I was a tank I would have charged in and at least pulled ONE mob slightly down the ramp or just the lip of it so ranged dps could get a clear shot at him and still be safe.  Or maybe do a kamikaze pull and tell healers not to heal me to avoid getting in combat, and have another tank taunt one weaker NPC off me before I die and then the rest of the NPCs would reset so we can whittle them down one at a time.  Not these tanks.  They stood at the top of the ramp and…stood.

After that fail of a siege, which I chalked up to “random people in a guild screwing around in beta,” until I googled their guild name.  Turns out they DO have a website, and they DO have vent.  Hell they even had an interview on a podcast for some reason.  All I can do is hope, for their sake, is that the majority of people during this keep (death) run were not actual guild members, and just friends of members that wanted to be a part of this beta version of the guild. 

And that they were very low level for this place. 
And that they were not on vent at this time. 
And that this was their first and only attempt at taking a keep.

Luckily for Warhammer, as I’m sure this will happen a lot as the ‘Alliance Gene’ runs deep for many, many gamers, the game itself was still fun to play.  Even though I wasn’t in gaming bliss does not mean I wasn’t having a good time, but of course it would have been a lot better to see more than just the first 200 feet of this place.

The beta is over, and the earliest I can join in is on Tuesday.  Which is a good thing.  Maybe I can push forward with my writing again, kinda stalled out a bit for some reason.  Was planning on Cultivating and when the plants where growing I’d think about what should happen next in the story, only I forgot beta ended yesterday and I needed new sources of high level seeds in order to reach my goal for the night.  I was then forced (mostly by myself) to kill stuff to drop the seeds that grow the trees that tossed the dog that worried the cat that killed the rat that ate the malt that lay in the house that Jack built. 

That’s the ticket…dog throwing Chaos trees…yes…

Cultivation is-a Ch-ch-changin’!

To quote the patch notes directly:

“Cultivation

Soil, Nutrients, and Watering Cans all now reduce the time it takes to grow a plant. These “additives” also increase the chance of hybrids and other weird items being grown, as well as the chance that a seed will be returned as a product.

Players can now obtain dye Pigments when they cultivate. For example, Musty Elvish Parsley (used to make restoration potions) can be grown into a hybrid called Trenchant Elvish Parsley, which can be used to make healing potions. Sometimes when Trenchant Elvish Parlsey is grown, you will also get Honeycomb Extract as a bonus product (it rubbed off an insect). Honeycomb extract can be used by Apothecarists to create Yellow dye.

Stabilizing Apothecary ingredients can now appear as Cultivation bonus products.

Growth times have been reduced.”

Well then!  What’s this change?  According to the patch notes growth times are down, but much like the patch notes that claim the Book of Binding to be a spell and not a physical item, I haven’t noticed that happen yet.  I have many seeds from 1-25 Cultivation (still can’t use 50 ones yet, but I’m close >.>) and all but one require a 2 minute growing time.  Unless I join a scenario…then it jumps to five hours for some reason.   The one that takes longer (so far) is a  Short-Stemmed Elvish Parsley Seed which takes 9 minutes to grow, but so far has guaranteed an identical seed of the same name for me *and* a flower for alchemy.  Every time.  Without aid of adding anything.  So to me, this is a perfect forgetful person’s starting plant to use constantly.  Personally after I plop my seeds/spores in I either stare at them constantly until they pop and add items to them, or forget about them for a really long time and throw another one in, in it’s place.

I think I might do mini-WAR related posts just based on Cultivation, at least what I consider to be short posts anyway ^_^  I’ve done Alchemy which is ok, but I think the newness wore off…or I just felt rushed as I had no bag space even with the extra bag at hitting rank 10, so I just threw in whatever I had (IE almost ALL main ingredients) and mixed and matched randomly.  I didn’t really do it out of trying to learn from it like I did last time, but just to make use of the items I had before I sold them.  Right now my bags are no longer full of seeds, but potions.

Before 

Afterish (Few hours later)

I can attest to Soil and Water now working correctly as Nutrient has been and they all lower the time it takes to grow something, from 5-20 seconds each on a 2 minute seed, a minute on the Short-Stem above.  I still think you’re better off leaving the 2 minute ones grow without adding anything unless it’s a Green quality seed though.  Just a waste of time micromanaging that all, almost constantly as 2 minutes in MMOs are almost instant in the grand scheme of things.

I’m heading back into WAR and attempting to break the lvl 50 Cultivation barrier I’ve run into, seeing if that unlocks a second pot to grow in which would really aid in growing more of these seeds I keep getting, and last but most importantly, I’m going to attempt to get a pigment.

HELPFUL NOTE:  Be sure to either harvest a plant before entering a Scenario or plant a seed after you have joined one.  Lost two seeds and time this way already.

Warhammer Online: Putting the Cult Back in Cultivation

I really, really should be working on writing but I just gotta type about my WAR time yesterday, as it was glorious!

Let me start with Cultivation.  I do not know why, but ever since I’ve played a Harvest Moon game I love the idea of farming, at least in-game.  So I guess naturally I was drawn to Cultivation.  But the draw I have to use this simple harvesting device is just evil, hence the Cult like addiction and the joke in the title of this post. 

In the past few days I’ve gotten my skill over 40, which ain’t half bad if I do say so.  I’m also doing Alchemy so I literally have NO bag space left between all these seeds and plants.  The greatness of Cultivation is you really don’t need to worry about it.  Plop a seed in a plot in your backpack and you’re set.  I’ve tried actually adding items but to no real affect at this early into the game.  The only noticeable difference is that when I add the crap merchant Nutrient (clotted gore I believe) it does cut the growing down by 5-10 seconds.  But the other two items (dirt, water) don’t do anything.  Again, at least on the low level 2 minute growth items.  The longer they grow the more I’ll notice I’m sure, and I did get one 9 minute long one from a quest but I’ve only grown that one once as I’d rather build a lot of 2 minute ones in the same time and I only have 1 of the 4 plots unlocked.  But I do think the build time was cut about 30 seconds each from the ‘bad’ items I used, so if I used green ones or even just ‘bad’ higher-than-level-1 items I’d probably get a minute off each.

I’ve also dealt with Alchemy which is pretty cool.  I’m curious to try Talisman making on a different toon to see if items I get from PQs and random pickups change at all, as so far I have YET to get any talisman items yet when I was a scavenger during the first Preview Weekend I got talisman materials *constantly*.

I’ll close this with some screen shots I took yesterday that I liked.

This made me laugh. A decent set of armor great for RvR…for a Hammerer! They don’t even exist any more man!
 

This one is of my scores in a scenario I did last night.  We lost, but man was it a hell of ride.  Check out the score for Longshot, that’s me.  (Yeah I know someone else’s name is selected, about 2 hours into playing yesterday the UI on scenarios was bugged for me so I couldn’t change how the names were ordered.)  If you notice, yes I’m not the top with killing blows, but look at the kills I was involved in, 56 baby.  Four of which I solo’d completely, and did a grand total of 25,447 damage, ALL without dying once.  Though I will admit I got close, dots on me and falling damage got me down to exactly 2 hp before I made it back to base.  All the while not getting a heal of course >.>  And knocking people off STILL doesn’t give them any falling damage, bah!

Yes, that is a level 38 item. Let’s just say I found one hell of a bug. I reported it already, but look at the shinies! I won’t say where I got it from until they patch it out…but you can kill them, you wouldn’t expect them to drop it, and they are easily soloable at level 7. I also got a lvl 40 skullcap for something, it’s in the list of things I’ve sold on screen.  And get a load of all the seeds and plants I got in my bags, sheesh.  As for the high level items though, isn’t it funny how a lvl 38 item only sells for 24 silver?

And finally this one.  I just thought this looked really pretty.

That sounded kinda gay. Let me try again.  I…uh…I meant to say that I took this and instantly thought of my girlfriend. Yes, of course!  The brilliant sun symbolizing how much she brightens up my life, and the falling mists of the waterfall to show how many tears would fall from my face should we ever grow apart. And of course the trees are there to show just how potent my own manure is, for it can grow trees that large on the amount of crap I have crammed into this paragraph.

She’s going to hit me when she reads this now. But it’ll be worth it. The pain will sting briefly, but my smartassery shall endure.

Preview Weekend Plus Sinister Chicken for President!

Wow, whatever woes and fears I had about not being able to play WAR have been DASHED, my friends!  Mind you my computer still wants to cry whenever I alt+tab (I haven’t tried it on windowed mode yet…my computer started hobbling over to a box of Kleenex when I unchecked “full screen” so I haven’t dabbled too far with that) but at least the lag in game has drastically reduced.  As I only played Warhammer beta once I couldn’t really say anything but this just gave me proof, when Mythic says they’ll fix something they sure as hell fix it all right.  To quote the Comcast turtle: they fixed the lag.  Fixed it REAL GOOD!!  (Though if Mythic finds ways to even better fixify Warhammer, I shan’t complain)

But there appears to be a bit of a hubbub with the new patch on the servers that I thought sort of funny.  The things that bother me don’t appear to really bother anyone else.  My main one being debuffs for dying.  You took away item degradation…and then added *this*?  And a 15 minute one at at that, that STACKS?  What?!  But Syp, a great Warhammer blogger that I’ve been reading daily since June 12th was quite upset with the release of the Open RvR server rules.  He mentions several reasons, but the only one I’m gonna touch down on is:

“I am deeply concerned that restricting full-combat access to lower-tiered zones will make certain Tome unlocks impossible or near-impossible to attain.” He goes on to say, “Some hardcore players might poo-poo Tome unlocks as frivolous wastes of time, but I think — I know — they are going to be surprised how powerfully this sort of thing resonates with the majority of the gaming population. And to have anything threaten those potential achievements is a nerve-wracking thought.”

Syp got me thinking about this issue.  What started this whole thing?  The line of the patch that’s causing the bloggin’ drama is: “Players will be chickened when entering lower tiers of content.” 

Syp’s point of view is a valid one, namely it is a restriction put on the player and that the player might miss out on content because of the chickenification process.  Now, I will agree that the more restrictions put on the players, the less fun the game becomes, and if anything I say give players MORE freedom if only just to piss off Jack Thompson.  Many-a fun aspect of games have been hit with the nerf stick and instantly lost bonus points.  (Someone IS keeping track, just you wait.  Can’t Cow Level rush people in Diablo 2 any more, eh Blizzard?  That’s a 50 dkp minus.  If you get feared into the Whelp Cave you’ll lose 50 dkp again! )  But in this particular instance, I’m gonna have to go with that this change is actually a beneficial one. 

People can still fight but once they get strong enough for the next Tier of content they get a helpful and graphical nudge of chicken in the right direction.  This will actually help cure a lot of grieving, I think.  I hated getting ganked on PvP servers on WoW, though of course I loved ganking.  Some times I had fun.  Actually I think I had a great time leveling as a hunter (which some will claim to be the easy button right there) but only got him to 42 as by then my cousin wanted me to join him on Alliance and well…that’s where my gnome warrior’s two-handed tanking angst towards Blizzard began and my swooning over WAR began. 

::caressing Warhammer Online pre-order box lovingly::

Er, anyway.  To summarize my thoughts: Rules and restrictions = generally bad, but in this case good.  Open servers are designed as fighting servers first and a fun leveling experience second.  People won’t care about getting every unlock and set of gear possible as they will just be trying to get the best weapon to bash someone over the head with, or the best helmet to circumvent said head bashing.  If you want all the unlocks play on a normal, slightly less hazardous server.  Unless they are the niche “Collector-Killer” strand of gamers. 

Also the chicken-ray shall keep people from overly gankifiying.  Yes, that is a scientific term, thank-you.  By turning players into a chicken when they get too strong they will be denied the all too common: ”*gank* ::yawn:: ‘raped you! qq more n00b’ ” aspect and will be forced NOT to be a grieving ass.  Over time I believe the above douchebaggery instinct will dissipate and we might actually get thinking teammates in our scenarios.  No, not just scenarios, but guilds as well!  I feel a speech coming on…

…And the guilds will grow and level parallel with our capital city!  Free of asshats and n00bs spewing filth.  Free of grievers and tea-baggers.  Our cities will become so strong that the enemy will subconsciously lose the final stage of a city capture on purpose.  They will find the truth within themselves, and they will recognize that they never really wanted to capture the city in the first place.  To burn a city as great as ours would be a waste; an act of hate not just against our wondrous home but against every army known to Warhammer.  They will find that they just wanted to take part in our city’s beauty;  to run along its streets and bask in the greatness of its ambiance.  Dwarves will burn their books of grudges and flood their taverns with patronage, even more-so than usual.  The empire will stop reacting to outside influences like self-righteous white blood cells and they will find time to learn how to properly cut a man’s head of hair. I’ve made a few empire classes during beta, friends.  I know what I’m talking about.  Elves on both sides will unite and realize they are both equally stuck up and bi-curiously emo.  Chaos will…well they’ll still be Chaos but at least they will keep to themselves with their feather fetishes.

So there you have it.  The chicken will help spread peace among the armies.  Wait, that’s bad.  Damn you chicken!  You made me forget to include Orcs in the speech!  Will your plots of evil never end?!

/sinister *Bagawk!*