Monthly Archives: February 2012

Wargame 1942

Wargame 1942 is a browser-based kingdom management RTS featuring a gritty militaristic World War 2 theme. Intelligently manage resources and reinvest them into building up an unstoppable conqueror nation.

Business Model: Free to Play

Microtransactions: Yes, the premium currency, gems, can be used to speed up certain actions.

Key Features:

Command and Conquer: Lead your country as commander-in-chief making the decisions that will decide the fate of your legacy.

It’s All Mine: Discover the right times to push your borders and claim an enemy’s resources for your own.

Economic Mastery: Utilize materials to construct additional buildings and train up an army of elite troops.

Heavy Armor: Roll out tanks to take the ground, sink the submarines to rule the sea, and rev up plane engines to dominate the skies.

Battle of Wits: Hire spies to steal vital information from your enemies.

Yesterday’s Enemies, Today’s Friends: Team up with other players and form unbreakable alliances.

 

Edgeworld Online

Zoom forward to the future, in the year 2711, and take command of your own space station in Edgeworld. As the Galactic Union breaks apart over the colonization of the mysterious Cerulea IV, you must rise to the challenge and stake your own claim on this world. Build a base, research technology, train troops, and race for power in space.

 

Features

Command Base: Utilize your command base to build a variety of buildings, gather resources, research, and train troops.

Battle at Home: Place your defenses on base, and prepare for invasions directly in your base – no separate battlefield required.

Epic Sci-Fi Technology: You may only start with space marines, but soon you can build war machines, mech, and epic soldiers who are ready to conquer space in your name.

Dragon Saga Celebrates Valentine’s Day

Dragon Saga Celebrates Valentine’s Day

 

 

WarpPortal began their Valentine’s Day celebration this week, as hints begin to drop of the “Jump into the Action” Event coming soon, for its popular action MMORPG, Dragon Saga.

 

 

Dragon Saga Trouble in the Cookie Factory

 

In this year’s Valentine’s Day Event, Trouble in the Cookie Factory, two gangs have taken over the Cookie Factory and are preventing their world famous chocolate from being made. Players will have to make their way through this cookie factory themed instances and monsters to save the day. This event offers two all new instanced mission maps (F6 & F7), 12 New Quests, 4 New Recipes, New Costumes, and Valentine’s themed pets.

 

 

In preparation for the Jump into the Action Event, WarpPortal has also extended their A Call to Arms Event. This event grants a bonus for all users between level 1-40, that play on Channel 1. These Bonuses include:

 

 

Physical/Magical Defense +100%,
HP 100%, MP +100%, EXP +100%
Upon Character Creation: 1x +10[Normal] Darksoul weapon & +10 Underground Graveyard armors Top/Bottom

 

 

These bonuses will aid players in reaching the level 40 required for the Jump into the Action Event.

 

 

The Jump into the Action Event, coming February 22nd 2012, will allow players to create a new character on their account which begins play at level 40, with a full set of Anukus Armor(Lv32) and Dark Soul Weapon (Lv20~40). This character comes fully equipped and ready for battle. Jump into the Action will give players a chance to experience an all new class at mid-level or recreate their favorite class without having to start from 1. Account must have at least 1 character level 40 or higher during the event period to qualify. More details to be released 2/15.

E-Sports @ OnRPG: February 14th Report

E-Sports @OnRPG: February 14th – Special Interview with Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson!

By Umar Farooq (Kluey), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

This week I had the pleasure of getting an interview done with one of my all time favourite North American players; Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson. Geoff is an aspiring player that has been around since day one. He was an extremely good player in Broodwar and has now shifted that talent over to Starcraft II. Geoff is currently part of team EG and plays the Protoss race. His primary goal as of right now is to attend and do well at tournaments in 2012.

 

 

1. Hello, please introduce yourself to our readers and tell us a little bit about what you do for a living?


Can you tell us a little bit about how you came to be a pro-gamer? Do you ever regret your decision especially on those days where nothing is going right for you?


Hi, my name is Geoff “iNcontroL” Robinson and I play SC2 professionally for team Evil Geniuses. I was a competitive SCBW player for over 10 years and when SC2 was on the horizon EG came around wanting to start a SC2 squad based on strong BW players.. I was lucky enough to be asked! No, I don’t regret it.. I wake up each day “commute” down to my computer and play the game I love for a living. I travel the world, meet awesome people and do what I love for money.. what is there to regret?

 

2. What are the hardest things about being a pro-gamer, and the most amazing events you’ve had happen? What’re some highlights in your career that you will forever remember? Many people consider you the voice of E-Sports or at least the voice of foreigner’s in Starcraft 2. Did you strive to achieve this title or did it just happen? Do you see this as a positive thing or negative? How have you adapted to the notion of always representing someone whenever you speak and not being able to say what you really feel at times?

 

Ups and downs come and go. Being loved for what I do has had its highs like meeting awesome fans, traveling around the world and working with companies I believe in. Low points are there as well. Nobody likes losing and it sucks when you lose a lot for a period of time.

 

I have always been a bit of a natural leader. I am honored to have people look to hear what I say.. it’s what I feel I am capable of doing and to have the backing of people I care about means a lot to me. Did I strive for this? No, I “never asked for this.”  I will always do my best to lead and do better for those around me.. whether people want to come along is up to them. This is of course a huge part of my enjoyment and I rely on it to feel fulfilled. That said, sure I sometimes don’t get to say exactly what I want to but you know what? Those who have the attention of the public eye don’t always get to be as liberal as they want and that comes with the territory.

 

3. Let’s talk a little bit about foreigners in Starcraft 2. How do the foreigners compare to the Koreans? In the future, do you expect this to change or go the same route as it did in Starcraft 1: Broodwar?


Non-Koreans are enjoying an amazing period of time where a LOT of the attention via streaming and public attention is focused on them. In BW it was the opposite by a large margin.. that was because the story of the pro-gamer in Korea was told with a lot more romance. Now that the money is outside of Korea and the competition in terms of tourneys exceeds that of Korea we get more of an opportunity to glorify the non-Korean EVEN if they aren’t as good as their Korean counterparts. What the future holds is any man’s guess but I would presume a lot of the big Koreans go abroad to international teams so that they can still have a Korean presence while reaping the benefits of the non-Korean scene. Koreans will probably always be better but I’d like to think the non-Koreans can keep up as much as possible.

 

4. Over the past months I’ve noticed that foreign sponsors and teams have been gaining more and more Korean players. EG, for example, has two Korean players. Can you talk a little bit about this? Why are foreign teams recruiting Koreans as the language barriers and expensive flights are very taxing?



Korean players are better for the most part. If you want to recruit a dedicated, professional, top of the line gamer a Korean is a safe bet. They also add a really nice dynamic to your organization as they broaden the reach of your brand. If EG is mostly American then a lot of our attention is American based.. if we field Koreans then the Korean scene and international scene at large has more interest.

 

 

5. In say 5-10 years when your hands slow down and motivation to practice 10 hours a day fades, what do you see yourself doing career-wise? Many people consider pro-gaming as a huge risk where only the top few will make a living out of it and the rest will end up regretting every moment of it. How do you feel about this? 


I would like to be in eSports so maybe casting, running a team or working for one of the companies I have gotten to know through my experience. As for other pro-gamers I don’t know.. depends on their interest. Most will move on and do regular jobs.. a lot will get an education (only older) and some will stick around. Who knows? Nobody should become a pro-gamer to make a fortune or work a stable safe life-long job.

 

6. Who do you think is an upcoming player that we should all be on the lookout for?


Hmm great question. There are a lot of young players who are cutting a name for themselves.. Illusion from Vile, State from Vile, Boyo the kid from the NE that is so young and already pretty good.. then you have some EU underdogs like Snuts, Titan, DBS and others.. any or none could make it. If I had to bet I’d say State becomes a household name in 2012.

 

 

7. Thank you Geoff, any last shout outs you’d like to give? Where can fans find you and which tournament should be looking for you at in the near future?


Thanks! Shout outs to the usual suspects: my team EG, my sponsors Intel, Steelseries, Monster, Kingston, Beyond Gaming and Saphire. People can find me on twitter @ EGiNcontroL, Twitch.tv iNcontroLTV and I have a facebook fan page just search for “iNcontroL”

 

 

 

MLG European Qualifiers

The MLG European Qualifiers were very unsuccessful in my opinion. I had expected over 20,000 viewers to tune in for a few reasons. Firstly, it is the debut of the new MLG format.  How things will look, how things will run and how good the games will be is something everyone was wondering. Secondly, it is an MLG. I cannot remember the last time people did not look forward to an MLG. And lastly, the player line up was stacked. You can take say, a Dreamhack player pool and this player pool and it would be hard to tell which has more talent. With all these reasons in mind, why did more people not show up? I cannot say for sure but it definitely has to do with the time zones being taxing on the European community. Here’s a tip MLG: Don’t run a European tournament at a strictly North American time.

 

 

Now, all bad things aside, the games were epic and the results were even better. Aside from the fact that they all were leaked a few days before, the games were awesome. If you have not watched the qualifiers, watch them. Even if you watch only your favourite players, watch them! Some of my favourites were SaSe, Grubby and ThorZaIN.

 

 

Overall, the qualifiers need to be worked on. You cannot be the leading foreign tournament and have crappy qualifiers. People checking player profiles and visiting the match history constantly leak the results (as I am typing this up, turns out the NA qualifiers and KR qualifiers were both leaked). Be it Blizzard’s fault, MLG has to work around this. There needs to be rebroadcasts for NA, EU and KR if they cannot find a time suitable for everyone. I certainly hope the final event will be huge, as things are looking grim for MLG now.

TERA Online Early Access Impressions

Tera Online Early Access Impressions

By Jason Harper (Hhean), OnRPG Journalist

 

 

Tera Online is gorgeous.

You’d hardly think this needs pointing out, given the already stunning images that are no doubt encircling my prose as you read this, but I really can’t get over how good it all looks in motion. Every single race and creature has their own animation sets, not simply reused stock animations carried across multiple rigs, but unique movements that lend personality to all the various creatures found in the game. Everything seems to fit perfectly together in this really over the top world. When I’m essentially saying that a giant rock demon guy looks perfectly natural standing next to a miniature cat girl, that really is something worth drawing attention to. A game that can make my ridiculous looking character, a ferret wearing KISS inspired face paint and a nappy, still look good is worthy of praise. I don’t usually go for the kind of aesthetics that Asian MMOs feature, but I have to say that Tera is going to have to be the exception to that rule.

Little touches on the camera are small but welcome additions that show the care and attention the game has been given. The game encompasses the camera style of a third person action title with the way that as you zoom the game centres the camera on you from very far away, then shifts very slightly to the right as your view gets too close. As you zoom in further, rather than burrowing into your characters head, it first switches to a full frontal shot of your character, perfect for checking out gear or making screenshots. When making use of the game’s flying transportation system, the camera pitches as the creatures wheel in the sky, giving a real sense of momentum as they move.

They say beauty is more than skin deep, and Tera certainly is no brainless bimbo. You’re still going to be jumping through hoops for static NPCs, and crafting is still an uninteresting bar watching exercise, but there’s much to be said about the game’s combat. While the game doesn’t break the MMO formula in the wider sense, the game’s combat is a breath of fresh air.

TERA’s quest structure is well paced for the most part, encountering few roadblocks and an even progression across most areas. The text though seems to vary quite a bit in terms of quality. Some of it is humorous, and most of it gives enough of a context for why you’re going to go out and beat the living tar out of everything you meet. That said, the game does seem to have a few odd relics left from the game’s translation process. As a prime example, there’s an early quest to kill a bunch of enemies and take their “ovaries”. I’m really hoping that was some kind of magical doodad and not…. something else.

There isn’t too much variety in what you’ll be doing in these quests, unfortunately. There are some fetch quests, some (not so horrible) escort quests and a few interesting ‘wave defense’ style quests that I frankly wish there were more of. Most quests, however, are simple “Kill X of Y” affairs, so if you don’t find fighting these varied creatures fun, you’re going to have serious issues with the game.

This is why the game’s combat is simply going to make or break the game for most people, and is the main thing that differentiates the game from its competition. The combat itself is not as action oriented as something like Vindictus, but it still has a focus on reactive and positional play not often found in MMOs.

Due to the lack of any sort of auto targeting, the game allows a player to dash out of the way of incoming attacks, with a trade off that works well for some characters, but not not so much with others. When moving you simply cannot attack. This feels great when playing a melee character, as you really have to choose your openings to attack wisely or you’ll be stuck in mid-swing and unable to dodge when a giant tree body slams you. Melee characters also have access to either a dodge or blocking mechanic dependent on their class, so you have plenty of strategic decisions in terms of how you wish to avoid taking hits while dishing out damage. The sheer number of ways you can go about taking on the same monster makes the kill x of y quests seem like much less of a grind.

As a ranged character though this restrained movement feels very clunky. There are benefits to this limitation, despite its ‘stop and start’ playstyle. This movement mechanic balances out the game from a PvP perspective, preventing ranged characters from being able to endlessly kite their foes around the battlefield. This limitation also lingers as a question hanging in the back of your mind, “Do I take one last shot, or make a run for it before that guy gets in range?”, which is a satisfying gamble to make. The problem though is that while these things provide tactical decision making, the moment to moment play of the game’s ranged combat flows about as well as a Resident Evil title. When your game draws comparisons to a dated survival horror series, ‘action’ is not quite the first word that springs to mind.

To be more specific with my own experiences, I played in the tests as both a Warrior and a Mystic, with some slight dabbling in other classes. The former was very fun, but quite challenging, a class that was part acrobat and part humanoid blender. The latter was much, much easier to play, but unfortunately was less entertaining as a result. The mystic is a pet class with a bunch of high damage, low range abilities that allows you to rapidly shotgun everything to the face, which sounds great until you realize you are so powerful against NPC mobs that the game simply loses any semblance of challenge.

Difficulty overall is something the game seems to struggle with, unfortunately. Tera is at its best when it is slamming down on you with full force, as attacks that could scythe off over half your health whirl past you with little time to react. It allows for some breathless moments of unadulterated satisfaction at overcoming some truly brutal foes. Unfortunately though, the game’s early levels are almost insultingly easy, allowing very long periods of time to react to enemy attacks, and even if you don’t react in time, you suffer very little damage for your errors. On my warrior I didn’t suffer any damage at all for a number of levels, and on my mystic I never dropped to below 90% of my health for the entire period of time I played him. There’s even a five man dungeon at the end of the tutorial area, The Isle of Dawn, that most players simply solo because it offers so little challenge if you actually go in with backup.

When the game chooses to ramp things up though, like when taking on the five man boss on your lonesome, it can be a highly entertaining experience. Its satisfying to learn the abilities and ‘tells’ of enemies as you fight them, learning to preempt the attacks of your foes, giving a sense of mastery that’s rarely experienced in other MMOs. While there are a number of more generic foes to club to death, they are interspersed with a variety of enemies with some more interesting attack patterns. If anything, I think the combat feels more like a MOBA than any sort of action title, where timing, spacing and planning are more important than combos and fast reactions. Coming from an unrepentant League of Legends addict, I hope that comparison can only be shown as the highest of praise.

While some of my issues with the combat are nitpicks at best, small problems in what I found to be an enjoyable experience, the game does have, as of the current version of this beta, some major issues that I’m hoping will get addressed before launch.

The most noticeable of these, and also unfortunately the least likely to be fixed, is that the game seems to have no spawn adjustment system in place. In most modern MMOs, how fast foes appear is dependent on the number of players in a given area, but this isn’t so in Tera. This can make quests to kill a specific named enemy a complete slog as over twenty people all crowd around the creature’s spawn point and try to be the first one to get a hit in. One quest in particular had me cry out in frustration after spending over half an hour desperately trying to get a hit in before the crowd around me could nuke the enemy down. This was even with support from a five man group to try and increase our chances of tagging the enemy, and it still resulted in a lengthy struggle against the masses.

The other issue is that the main city of Velika currently suffers from ‘lagforge’ syndrome, where large numbers of players in the area will really hurt the game’s performance. Large lag spikes, texture popping and a chugging frame rate are all common problems in the city, making it a thoroughly unpleasant place to visit. This is hopefully more of a server side issue though, and will be sorted at the game’s launch. Hopefully. In the meantime a variety of options exist that can automatically reduce the graphical rendering of your surroundings to help you get by.

The one thing I’ve been struggling to find though are bugs. For a title that is so far away from launch, I’ve never experienced a game so free of the minor glitches that usually plague games in this genre. The western version of the game is certainly benefiting from the delay between its eastern and western release, and hopefully will result in a very smooth launch.

Despite having a few flaws, and a weaker ranged combat system, I’ve enjoyed my time with Tera immensely. When you’re struggling to write about a game because you simply cannot stop playing said game, you know you’re on to something good. I’m eager to get to grips with some of the game’s higher level content, either in future previews, or in the game’s upcoming launch, as the greater challenges presented there will likely show off the game at its absolute best.

Ankama Reveals an Extensive New Quest for Wakfu

Ankama Reveals an Extensive New Quest for Wakfu

 

 

Ankama announces details about Wakfu‘s main quest: conquer Ogrest. This ogre is responsible for the flood that destroyed the World of Twelve.

 

WAKFU Ogrest

 

 

Overcoming Ogrest and restoring balance to the world: WAKFU’s main quest


Very early in the game, after playing through the tutorial area(Incarnam), players can meet the terrifying Ogrest, who has been sitting at the top of Mount Zinit crying his heart out ever since his girlfriend left him. His tears, which are magnified by the 6 magical Dofus eggs in his possession, are what caused the great deluge. And now, in the Wakfu Era, Ogrest continues to create chaos and disrupt the ecosystem. Players will have to try to incapacitate this ogre so that the World of Twelve can be rebuilt.

 

WAKFU Mount Zinit

 

 

Mount Zinit, a new gaming experience in the WAKFU MMORPG


Mount Zinit, the game’s main quest, offers a completely new gaming experience. Alone or in groups, players will be able to progress gradually through the quest’s storyline. While climbing Mount Zinit, the player will discover quests, monsters, bosses, and unique areas – all filled with danger and adventure.

 

 

Players will have free access to the first chapter of Mount Zinit when the new patch is live on 15th February, 2012.

 

 

Mount Zinit, which is a key element in the story of WAKFU and its transmedia universe, can be seen at the end of the first season of the WAKFU animated series and also in the Xbox Live Arcade game Islands of Wakfu.

 

WAKFU Chaos Plants

 

 

Ogrest’s Chaos regularly disrupts the territories of the world


So long as Ogrest is up on Mount Zinit, Chaos will descend regularly on the world’s territories, disrupting the ecosystem and destroying various interactive elements (such as workshops). When Ogrest’s Chaos hits, every nation will suffer at the same time (one randomly-selected territory in each nation will be affected). Each time these Chaos events take place, acommunity challenge will be triggered, asking players to unite in order to end the disaster by fighting against the Chaos plants and monsters. The latter can attack resources or monster seeds in the area, and when players defeat them, they will receive experience and may even drop exclusive items. Once the challenge has been completed, the Chaos will stop wreaking havoc, but a certain amount of damage will have been done. Then, it will be up to the citizens to band together and supply the resources needed to restore the damaged areas. This collaborative response to disaster helps to reinforce the community aspect of the game.

Heroes of Newerth Community Member Smashes Guinness World Record

Heroes of Newerth Community Member Smashes Guinness World Record

 

 

History was made this year when pro-gamer Sam “Milkfat” Braithwaite finished a 76-hour marathon run of Heroes of Newerth, the session-based, multiplayer, action-RPG title, developed by S2 Games – breaking the former World Record of 52 hours for Longest Strategy Game Marathon. The World Record breaking attempt lasted 4 days from January 26-29th at Howie’s Game Shack in Mission Viejo, CA. S2 Games’ Marketing Team was on location to sponsor and support Sam throughout the entire event. GUNNAR Optiks was also in attendance supporting Sam and ensuring his eyes were well protected for the long haul.

 

“I’ve been training for this for months,” said an exhausted Sam after breaking the record without sleep for the first 52 hours, “Even at the hardest times, I felt like I had to keep going for the charity and accomplish what I had set out to do.” Sam’s goal for the event, in addition to setting a World Record, was to promote Doctors Without Borders, a medical humanitarian organization providing independent, impartial aid in more than 60 countries to people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe. Sam helped raise over $3,700 in donations during the event, which will be matched by S2 Games.  Sam will also donate all ad revenue generated from his twitch.tv stream during the event to the charity.
The World Record attempt was streamed in its entirety through Sam’s personal www.twitch.tv/milkfat stream, which garnered over 1.5 million views over the weekend.  Footage of the event is currently being processed into DVD format for submission to Guinness, who will validate the world record run.  The validation efforts will not only verify time spent playing, but will also maintain that a conditional rule set designed specifically for a World Record marathon of HoN, was followed at all times.

 

 

“Sam’s commitment to his World Record goal has been extremely inspirational,” said Laura Baker, Director of Marketing at S2 Games.  “When Sam approached us with this idea and told us about the Doctors Without Boarders charity, we immediately knew we wanted to support his efforts. It’s amazing to have devoted community members such as Sam.”

 

S2 Games is a video game publisher and developer with a mission to identify, develop, evolve and unleash the future of online multiplayer games. Since its inception in 2003, S2 has been focused on driving innovation into the global online game space, through identifying and solving industry issues, listening closely to its passionate gamer base and incorporating features that gamers truly want.

 

Active in sponsoring and helping drive many global tournaments, S2 is focused on providing the best online and multiplayer gaming experience, and opportunities for its fans to shine.

 

About Sam Braithwaite:

Sam “Milkfat” Braithwaite is a pro-gamer and longtime veteran of the session-based Action-RTS genre.  Having started his pro gaming career through the enormously popular Warcraft 3 mod, Defense of The Ancients (DOTA), Sam’s sense of community growth and commitment have become a mainstay to the way he plays games professionally.  Since finishing his longtime commitment to DOTA, Sam has turned to S2 Games’ HoN as his game of choice.  Sam’s newest endeavor, Clan Milk, is an e-Sport community whose focus is connecting pro-gamers and creating a greater gaming community.

HoN: My Love for You is Like a Truck

Heroes of Newerth: My Love for You is Like a Truck

By Mohammad Abubakr, OnRPG Journalist

 

Welcome to a new series starting at OnRPG which will look over new changes or additions made in Heroes of Newerth‘s biweekly patch. This series will mainly focus on the release of the new heroes but will also cover balance changes and any other big changes. Feel free to leave suggestions in our newly added comment box below!

 

Heroes of Newerth’s latest patch, version 2.5.9, included many bug fixes and the addition of a new hero; Berzerker. However, before we get into this patch, I would like to go over some of the balance changes in version 2.5.8.

 

Version 2.5.8 was a very long awaited balance patch which included some much needed changes. The changes that stuck out were a revamped Helm of the Black Legion and Monarch and Gemini nerfs.

 

Before this patch, picking up an early Helm of the Black Legion would basically make a hero unkillable. This would cause the already farmed hero to snowball even more by allowing easy free farm because they have no fear of death. Instead of nerfing the item to the ground or completely getting rid of it, S2 added a new charge system to the item.

 

The Helm is now able to hold a maximum of 20 charges which will be used to deflect damage. These charges decrease by a certain amount based on the attacker and automatically replenish over time (once every 400 milliseconds). This may seem like a massive nerf in some peoples’ eyes but I still feel the item is very viable even though it does not make you unkillable.

 

Jungling heroes should be happy with this change because the chance to deflect damage has been removed with the addition of charges. Also, since the Helm only loses one charge from a creep hit, junglers are easily able to maintain a fully charged helmet with the fast refresh rate on charges.

Berzerker vs. Devourer

Before this patch Gemini was considered to be very overpowered and was basically banned in all competitive matches. The problem with Gemini was that players could simply stack stat items which made Gemini very tanky but still able to deal a lot of damage. Gemini’s ultimate ability allowed her to split into two which meant each wolf also had the insane amount of health and damage. To make it even worse, if one wolf was about to die Gemini would simply morph into one wolf with its HP set to the higher of the two wolves. The cool down of the ultimate ability kept on ticking even if Gemini was already in the ultimate! So Gemini players would simply cast her ultimate again to split once more and repeat the process. Oh and did I mention that players did not need boots because her ultimate would already provide very high move speed?

 

One of the main problems was that Gemini could basically burst down heroes the instant she hit level six. Now her two wolves do not get full stats until the ultimate is maxed and their move speeds are set to Gemini’s. She also cannot combine the two wolves if either are stunned. While the nerfs may not sound like much, they really helped to balance Gemini while still allowing her to be viable.

 

I think an alternative to these changes could have been to simply not count down the ultimate while Gemini is still in her dual wolf form. However, these changes did a great job at tweaking Gemini while still allowing her to be viable.

 

Monarch also received some nerfs to put her on the level of the other support heroes. The problem with Monarch was that she could cast her crowd control spells with little risk of getting caught in the fray. Simple range and move speed nerfs helped to solve this problem.

 

I really love how S2 does not mess with the numbers too much. They tweak them very little which leads to balanced but still viable heroes.

 

Now let’s move on to version 2.5.9 in which a new hero, Berzerker, joined Newerth.

 

Berzerker is a tanky damage dealing hero that rewards players willing to take risks. His first ability, Chain Spike, attaches a chain to his target for up to five seconds while dealing damage and applying a tapering move speed slow. This ability can be activated again to deal additional damage and immobilize the target. If it is not cast again it will automatically activate after five seconds or break at 850 distance.

Stats page on Berzerker

This is a great ability to allow Berzerker to get in range for a kill. It deals good damage which means it can be used to easily kill squishy heroes. This ability can also be used defensively to save yourself or an ally. Apart from his ultimate, this will be the main ability used on enemy heroes.

 

His second ability, Strength Sap, steals one strength from every nearby enemy hero while healing himself every 0.5 seconds for the duration of the buff. It also deals magic damage to nearby creeps which allows Berzerker to farm easily alongside his quick attack animation for last hits.

 

This ability should be maxed right after Chain Spike as it provides great survivability. Since Berzerker is a strength type hero, it will also provide additional damage. When I first started playing Berzerker I neglected this ability and maxed it out later on. However, I realized that was a mistake. This ability has lead to many kills and avoided many deaths. Do not underestimate Strength Sap.

 

His third ability, Mark for Death, makes it very difficult for enemies to get away. Heroes facing towards the marked target gain bonus move and attack speed as well as unit walking. It also grants vision on the target which makes it near impossible for them to juke their pursuer. My favourite part about this ability is that it refreshes cool down on kills or assists which allows you to pick off targets one by one.

 

Finally, his ultimate, Carnage, provides Berzerker with debuff and stun reduction and bonus physical damage based on 8% of your maximum health. To keep to the theme of the hero, you take 20% bonus damage while under this effect. This ability provides massive amounts of physical damage and should not be underestimated. It can easily burst down heroes very fast in the early game.

 

As mentioned above, your skills should be leveled in this order: Carnage > Chain Spike > Strength Sap > Mark for Death. Be sure to grab at least one level in Mark for Death early on.

Getting ready to begin laning phase

Now items are where you can get creative. One of HoN’s greatest strengths is the sheer number of viable item builds you can create on each hero.

 

I start off the game with runes, a buckler and a hatchet and prefer to lane top or middle. These items allow Berzerker to easily gain some gold towards his next core item, Helm of the Black Legion. Since Berzerker is a melee DPS hero, he needs some survivability to allow him to beat on his opponents without getting burst down.

 

As for boots I love getting Steam Boots. I have seen some players build Ghost Marchers but I do not think this is wise because Mark for Death already provides bonus move speed and unit walking. Steams Boots provide great stats which really make a big difference throughout the game. It also provides great utility such as if you are low on mana simply switch to intelligence boots and cast the spell.

 

The final core item is Elder Parasite. If used alongside your ultimate ability, Berzerker deals ridiculous amounts of damage. However, you need to be careful as you will be taking a lot of bonus damage.

 

 

After these items your remaining build is dependent on the current state of the game. Some of my favourite items on Berzerker include Insanitarius, Beast Heart and Daemonic Breastplate. Always itemize towards more HP to feed into his ultimate’s scaling. This means that Beast Heart is basically built every single game and tanky items are favored over damage items.

 

In conclusion, Berzerker is a very powerful and fun to play hero. His skills do not offer completely new mechanics but are interesting enough to be considered creative. I would highly recommend checking him out. Let’s hope the next hero is as fun as Berzerker!

Lime Odyssey Dev Blog 3: Music

Lime Odyssey Dev Blog 3: Music

By Pm Anex, Aeria Games Representative

 

Hey guys, we have a special treat for you this week featuring some tunes straight from Lime Odyssey composer Yasunori Mitsuda. Check out the OnRPG blog for more details and three of the awesome tunes you can expect at launch!

 

http://www.onrpgblog.com/2012/02/10/lime-odyssey-composer-spotlight/

Brawl Busters Reveals Twisted Valentines Outfits

Brawl Busters Reveals Twisted Valentines Outfits

 

 

Rock Hippo Productions announced today its Valentine Day’s plans for the popular free-to-play online multiplayer action game, Brawl Busters.  Starting today players can don amorous outfits to lovingly beat up their opponents, and they will find a smoother gaming experience, when they do, with the all-new game servers!

 

 

February 14th is a day to show your love, and what better way to do so than to Brawl with your significant other?  Do it up in style with new Evil Cutie Costumes as well as never-seen-before stat-altering Accessories.

 

 

“Brawl Busters redefines how to celebrate Valentine’s Day for both, the singles out there and the numerous couples who play BB together,” said Howard He, President and CEO of Rock Hippo Productions.  “The new Costumes alongside improved network stability means you can Brawl in ways you’ve only dreamed of!”

 

 

Brawl Busters was also recently nominated for the 2011 MMOSITE Reader’s Choice Awards and won in several categories. Brawl Busters took first place in both, ‘Best Graphics’ and ‘Best Music’ categories. The game also placed second in ‘Favorite Action and Casual MMO’ and ‘Best New MMO’ categories. More than 4 million votes were cast for the Awards.