Nightfall

[Lurker Wyrm]

If you haven't already done so, take a gander at the upcoming expansion, Nightfall. From the looks of things, the game looks to play more with the religion of Guild Wars, so we might finally be seeing a new Ascended dungeon (which god will get the new FoW/UW, I wonder) and the PvE storyline will probably focus on some new revelations about the gods and how they interact with the world.

Some stuff in the article I find interesting:
The new classes will be the Paragon (awesome name) and the Dervish (wtf?).

Paragons are going to use Spears and probably be a mid-range melee fighter (spears make me think they'll be standing behind the warriors but still able to hit the baddies) and give. They'll also have battlefield enhancements (something similar to shouts?) to help people cope with hexes and conditions, etc. so that makes me think they could have potential as a frontline monk or something (guessing they'll have 70AL max, or 60 and a ton of boosters). I must say though, I like the look of the Paragon's armor, almost a half-way between warrior and elementalist, with a pretty decent color scheme.

The Dervish class is going to be the next melee character, only this time using scythes. That's right, scythes. While the look and idea of using a scythe in battle sounds awesome, I have to wonder if they'll be any different from axes. I also saw this pretty interesting snippet in the article:

The profession's most powerful ability, however, is to temporarily transform into the physical embodiment of a god.

So a transformation class, eh? Well, hopefully there will be enough difference between this and the Druids from D2, WC3 and WoW. We'll see though. Also saw this:

Since the profession is part warrior and part priest, dervishes are clad in robes rather than armor.

Another frontliner with crappy armor? We'll see. Right now, though, their armor makes them look a lot like ritualists.

Also, there's going to be a PvP preview event for the new chapter this weekend, for which I'm hoping they learned their lesson from the Factions event (i.e. actually letting us make custom builds without having to grind out faction). In any case, I'm saving up my Bal faction for the weekend. According to the GW site:

In addition to testing out the new professions and arenas, players will also be able to compete for items that will be exchangeable for a variety of rewards throughout the weekend event.

Is anyone else thinking that this might be their way of making up for the lackluster Dragon Festival events? Well, I guess we'll find out this weekend.

Well, there you have it. Thoughts, opinions? Will this next expansion deliver or be strike 2 (or, for some people, strike 3)? Will this be enough to get some RBers that have moved on back into the game? How many more words will we be able to spell with the new class name abbreviations?

[Zed-F]

The impression that I got was that Paragons use throwing spears (javelins etc.), not melee range spears. Though they might have a mix of melee and throwing attacks. Hard to say without seeing them in action. They have metal armour so 70 AL base seems like a good bet.

Dervishes -- well they did say they have some protective skills and so forth. Hopefully better/more appealing protective skills than the assassin, at any rate.

If you liked GW well enough to buy it so far (and don't expect infinite replayability out of it) then you'll probably like this chapter well enough. If you weren't happy enough with Prophecies to want to keep paying for more content, then Nightfall probably won't change your mind. I don't get the sense there's going to be any radical changes here. Just more content of similar sorts to what we've seen previously.

[Lurker Wyrm]

The impression that I got was that Paragons use throwing spears (javelins etc.), not melee range spears.

Now that you mention it, I do remember skimming past something about that. Guess we'll find out in a day or so. Anyways... that makes me wonder how their range is going to work out: will it be staff-like (all shoot same distance, no height modifiers) or bow-like (varying range and speed of arrows/refire)? I'm thinking more like a bow, since if they were going to be staff-like, then the devs probably wouldn't have bothered coming up with a new weapon type.

I don't get the sense there's going to be any radical changes here. Just more content of similar sorts to what we've seen previously.

I get the same impression. Someone said a while ago (I think it was Fox) that buying a GW expansion is going to be more about which new classes you want to use than whether the added content will be worth it.

[KingOfPain]

I have to wonder if they'll be any different from axes.

GameSpot: These holy warriors are capable of striking at multiple targets simultaneously with their wicked scythes.

The first three words in the GS quote is misleading

KoP

[Zed-F]

Historically, IIRC dervishes were religiously motivated, so calling them 'holy' warriors probably draws upon the RL inspiration for them. Also if they are supposed to be able to take on aspects of a god, then that would similarily imply some form of holiness... though perhaps not holy to the existing Tyrian gods, if their transformations aren't based on them.

[Lurker Wyrm]

there's going to be a PvP preview event for the new chapter this weekend

Scratch/change that. This weekend is just the double faction weekend, next weekend is the preview event. The site I checked (Guru) had the dates mixed up and I was continuing the misread when I checked the official site. Whoopsie. I might still be around a bit this weekend to get some extra faction and stuff.

[Lurker Wyrm]

There's been some new information surfacing about Nightfall: this was found on the EB Games site.

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?c...ct%5Fid=646706


When a corrupt ruler summons the power of an outcast god and infects the land with a creeping darkness, it will take a band of heroes to save Elona. Guild Wars Nightfall is the roleplaying game gamers have been waiting for – an intimate, heroic experience where your decisions shape your personal game experience and your customizable party becomes an extension of your character. In this third campaign in the award-winning Guild Wars® universe, this is Guild Wars® like you've never seen before. With more than two million copies sold worldwide, Guild Wars® is the award-winning epic roleplaying game that revolutionized online gaming with its free gameplay.


• Customizable Heroes (party NPCs) that level up with the player, follow player instructions in combat, and use armor, weapons, and skills of the player’s choice.

• A new game type, Hero vs. Hero Battles will allow a single player to participate in PvP with hero NPCs.

• Two new professions: The Dervish, a scythe-wielding holy warrior and The Paragon, the guardian angels of the Elonian people.

• 4 new guild halls.

• 300 new skills.

• 250 Quests, 55 explorable areas, 20 new Story Missions, and three new Challenge Missions.

• Peerless online RPG action with no monthly fees!

The biggest new piece of information I see here is the henchman update. Theoretically, this means they'll do what we tell them to finally. If this is a Nightfall only update (which it probably will be to help bolster sales) then it might be worth it to get Nightfall just for the sanity. Finally being able to give henches skills that don't stink (i.e. give the warriors a few adrenal attacks) sounds like a dream come true.

The storyline doesn't leave me all that impressed since it sounds like more of the same from what we've already had, but the listed amount of quests (250) makes me think skill quests are gonna be coming back, which is nice (and my stash is overjoyed).

[Zed-F]

I like the look of the Hero vs. Hero battles as well, as another exercise to help people get more familiar with PvP play. But I agree that any news concerning improved henchmen is good news.

[WarBlade]

It's been a long time coming.

I've lamented the lack of "wingman orders" in Diablo II and now also Guild Wars enough times already. I'm glad to see A/Net waking up to the need.

WarBlade: "HOLD POSITION!"
Alesia: "SIR! YES SIR!"

Let's hope we can adjust behaviour on the little sods before mission entry (a la Unreal Tournament) and have them obey in-combat hotkey combo orders (a la MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries & the X-Wing games)

[Lurker Wyrm]

Let's hope we can adjust behaviour on the little sods before mission entry (a la Unreal Tournament) and have them obey in-combat hotkey combo orders (a la MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries & the X-Wing games)

From the description so far, I'm guessing it's going to be a couple hotkeys with simple commands like "attack anything in aggro" and "retreat," since those two seem to be the biggest downfalls of hench ai (just standing there and doing nothing as long as you're not attacking, no matter what the enemy is doing; and staying in a fight a lot longer than they should). Really, I'd be surprised if it was anything different than what you normally get in an RTS game. A "stay here" command would be great for pulling, but I don't want to get my hopes up; there have been a few upgrades that sounded great when they were announced but left a feeling of "big whoop" when they were implemented (the recent stash upgrade, for example).

What's got my interest is the first part of the thing: the customizable henches that level with the player. I wonder if this means each person gets their own set of henches that will stay with them throughout the game, levelling with them simlarly to pets.