Running Dungeons

[FoxBat]

Side note: would be nice if you could add people to your friends list without having to right-click their name.

I found out that you can.... type /friend [name]. Got you all on my list that way

Up to lvl 13 with my ranger and finally kicking butt with some decent greens. It's a rough start on a ranger, but they have enormous damage and can tank with plate and a few warrior skills, too.

[Roland]

Anyone else have a spare referral? I wouldn't mind giving this game a quick try.

[FoxBat]

Need an e-mail addy to send the invite to, roland. Doesn't help that you have PM and E-mail disabled here. (Maybe you can still send me a PM?)

[Roland]

Need an e-mail addy to send the invite to, roland. Doesn't help that you have PM and E-mail disabled here. (Maybe you can still send me a PM?)

Didn't know that they were disabled. Enabled now. I'll send you a PM anyway.

Thanks for telling me that. All this time it's been disabled, and I didn't even know about it. I usually allow PMs and e-mails by default, so I assumed that was the case here. Guess I was wrong.

[Roland]

Well fudge. It should be noted that, in order to install Dungeon Runners, you must ALSO install Microsoft's .NET Framework 2.0. If I had known this, I probably would have passed on the game. :P Since I've just spent the last TWO HOURS trying to get this cursed thing to download, I'm going to forgive this oversight on NC's part. For now, anyway.

I have always avoided installing anything by MS that I didn't absolutely need 100%, especially .NET. So much for that anymore. Well, I suppose I can always uninstall it, although I'll probably have to wipe the HD in order to really get rid of it. :P *sigh*

[Roland]

...this game is in serious need of improvement. The command response time is sluggish, combat maneuvering is nigh-impossible, not to mention how hard it is to switch targets. The game just lacks any sort of polish, or gaming interface accomplishments from the last half decade, for that matter.

Still, for free, it's fun, if you can get over the above gripes. And I must admit, the item names are more amusing than I thought. I was worried they'd get real old fast, but so far, I find it rathe refreshing.

Edit:
Ok, interface and mechanics aside, this game is fun. I'm still not willing to pay for it, given the issues it has, but that aside, it's just plain addictive fun. I'm actually surprised at how much I like it so far. The goofiness is actually refreshing. And they managed to nail the magic of games like Diablo and Guild Wars, that addictive almost arcade-quality gameplay.

I'm sure this game will run out of steam before long, given what I've seen and heard, but nonetheless, it looks to be a fun ride. I'm curious to see what they'll do in the future. I think this game could really polish up well, given enough time, so I'm going to keep my eye on it.

Any pointers for newbies, aside from "Kill everything"? I'm a Ranger, level 8.

[Green_Gloom]

Any pointers for newbies, aside from "Kill everything"? I'm a Ranger, level 8.

1) Gold becomes more plentiful as you level up, but save your gold for potions and skills. Potion cost rises as you level but is generally manageable, the same goes for skill cost.

2) Don't forget to check all three skill trainers, skills are not restricted by class. Righteous Stomp may be a much better skill for Rangers than Poison Gas.

3) Don't try to pull a single mob from a spawn, spawns are 99.9% of the time linked. Instead prepare to engage the entire spawn at the same time.

4) You'll need higher resistance as you level up to keep it effective, the 5 resistance skills help here.

[Lurker Wyrm]

5) It's probably a good idea to make use of the /ignoreworld command so you don't have to listen to all the global chat.

Either you guys play way more than I do or I'm missing something since it takes me forever to get level ups. My warrior is level 11 right now and wandering around Algernon level 5 (though he took a detour to do the infected forest/crpyt). For the most part I've been clearing levels completely before moving on, should I be just skipping and making my way as deep as I can as fast as I can?

[FoxBat]

It's probably because you are a warrior. They may be able to ignore using heal pots but their damage isn't great. It's no coincience that the highest-level characters at present are rangers and mages (with ranger being the first to 100) You might do better offering to tank for someone and let their DPS help you out.

One thing, be sure to dump all your level-up points into primary damage attribute (strength in your case). You can get enough endurance from blue gear. Also acidic blight from the ranger is an excellent skill for warriors, as is cleave. Dual-wielding is currently broken in that it doesn't have any benefit and the off-hand is not used in combat, though there are some weapons out there with more useful mods than shields.

I don't know that running ahead will gain you much because mobs/treasure scale to your level within limits probably given by the "recommended level" labels. I am a completionist and try to do every quest and even the repeatable quests once, and this sometimes involves not only full-clears but backtracking even, with the sometimes stupid quests. (Kill agrock the invincible... AGAIN?)

What Roland was complaining about: this game has limited client-predicition for character movement. Unlike most games, you don't see your character move on-screen until you recieve confirmation from the server, which makes for unresponsive-feeling although arguably "more accurate" controls. The game was made by 10 people and is mostly something out of 10 decades ago, which is simple and rough around the edges, but has it's own arcadey charm, and is priced accordingly. From reading some old posts, it seems like the transition from beta -> "invite-only release" was sudden and poorly communicated, and tons of features were promised but pushed back and not implemented into this current build. Currently the game is basically the most recent beta except you have to pay for member benefits. My thought, NCSoft wants to see statistics on what % of people are willing to pay before they plow more money into developer salaries.

[Roland]

Actually, I'm a Ranger. And boy did things get easier once I hit 9. I'm 13 now, flying up the levels, gaining a couple new skills (not that I ever use any :P), and just having a ball. Makes me want to play D2 more than anything, though. My God, the nostalgia...

Anyway, Foxbat touched on one of my gripes (well two), the biggest being the overall bit about it's really just a glorified beta. The interface is a little clunky (not GUI wise, but mechanics wise), and yes, there is MUCH delay sometimes that will cause you frustration - I'm learning to just shrug it off. It's nigh impossible to do anything while you're doing something else - i.e. drinking a potion or using a skill while actively attacking, but you learn how to adapt to that pretty quickly. It still bothers me, but not as much now that I've learned how to compensate. Also, small lag spikes are fairly common, and that throws timing off quite a bit, too. Not to mention the pathfinding is TERRIBLE (why is this so hard for people to get right?).

Combat interface is... eh, again, like all things, clunky. Click to move AND attack? Use keyboard to rotate camera and move? It's just not very... fluid. And certainly not the most intuitive. You get used to it, I suppose, but again, it's still a gripe I have. It just all feels rushed. The gameplay is fun as hell, addicting, arcade-like. The items are hilarious, quests are plentiful (albeit not as polished as WoW, including finding NPCs on the minimap), and gameplay is solid, so it's got a lot of potential. If they can iron out the bugs and take this thing seriously, I think they'll have a strong contender. It's certainly got the fun factor, and amazingly enough the fun alone has been enough for me to overlook most of the gripes, so I only smack my forehead in frustration about once or twice an hour.

Overall, I'd say a good start, but rough, and definitely not "release worthy", even for a freebie, let alone for money. Avoid paying, unless you want to be a paying beta tester, as you really can survive on the lesser gear, and that's really the only benefit to being a "Member" (aside from a Stash-like Bank).

Good time-waster, though. :D

Edit:
Oh, and Lurker, if you're ever on and need some company, I'd welcome a damage-sponge. :D I can tank well-enough to avoid dying most times, and I dish out plenty of damage to take out a couple mobs before they reach me, but kiting is nigh-impossible given the pathfinding and speed of the mobs (not to mention you can't backpedal and shoot, or at least not that I've noticed), so a tank to absorb damage would be a boon. I can kill most things in a few hits, which is good, because they can almost do the same to me.