Another level, and I am back :)

Well that was quite the break, but I am back playing AoC again. Due to my vacation and long work hours I haven't been able to play much at all.

I am hoping to enjoy a few more hours of AoC starting today.

I have noticed a lot of complaints and whining about AoC lately, but I am happy to report that I still enjoy the game, and I find that there are plenty of quests, content, and groups for me thus far. I have yet to feel 'the grind' of leveling. What people need to realize is that most MMOs in this day and age will ship a bit half baked. This is due to pressure created by a long development cycle, and investors/publishers wanting to cash in. Unless you are a giant in the gaming industry and you can afford to fund (multiple years of) development on your own this won't change. Add to this the fact that it is the most ambiguous MMos that get funding, and these are also the ones that tend to promise too much in order to get the capital, and being forced to cut back when the investors get impatient. Just check all the recent news about Warhammer Online cutting back their content significantly.

Alright enough about boring stuff, let's get back to leveling in AoC.

One important factor to keep in mind when playing AoC is that each zone is intended for a specific level range. And if you enter a zone before your 'target level' you will run out of quests at some point. I.e. I see a lot of people complaining that they ran out of quests in the Eiglophian Mountains at level 57 or so. Well, if you enter the Eiglophian Mountains before level 50 you probably will run out of quests in that area in your late fifties. I have leveled from 55 to 58 in the Villas and finishing up most of the Main System quests. I am now headed back to the Eiglophian Mountains to continue some of the White Hand quest lines.

Also, I am happy to report that the latest AoC patch improved my frame rate by 15 or so. I rarely ever dip below 30 now on max settings.

Vacation

I am going to have to take break from AoC as I am going on vacation.

I will be camping and hiking my way towards the American West and I don't suspect that I will be 'connected' frequently.

So until July 10th, 2008 there won't be (m)any updates. Good Luck in Hyboria, and we'll see you in a few weeks.

--Kacyn level 55 Bear Shaman on Dagoth

Level 55!

Still not a whole lot of playing for me, but I reached level 55 yesterday. I also discovered something new in the process...

There are a bunch of quests in the Noble District that are repeatable, and they scale based on your level. I.e. if you do them at level 40 the mobs will be level 40, but if you do them at level 54 the mobs are level 54.

These quests are all inside the ‘Villa mini instances’. Such as Villa Camillus and Villa Lentulus. The quests appear to be on a 4-8 hour timer (meaning you can repeat them multiple times per day) and most result in 70K+ exp and some decent loot. So when I don't have a lot of time to play I will park myself in the Noble District, and spend 20 minutes or so on one of the Villa quests. It is a great way to do something worthwhile even if you cannot play for a long time.

In case you didn't notice, I am also starting to link to the Conan Armory whenever I talk about an area in the game. This should make it easier for you to locate the specific playfield that I am referencing.

Age of Conan leveling from 49+

I haven’t been able to play much as of late, but I did manage to hit level 54 yesterday, and I am still enjoying the game immensely.

I am continuing to quest mostly in Cimmeria, with some trips back to Aquilonia and the Noble District in Old Tarantia.

You can read my previous leveling guides part 1, part 2, and part 3 to see how I progressed from 1 to 49.

I spent most of my forties in Fields of the Dead (FotD) finishing up with the quests in the Haunted Forest. There is a long quest chain where you end up collecting medallions and placing them all over FotD. This quest line gives great experience points, and it also gives a nice blue level 50 weapon upon completion. This quest chain start a few tick northwest of the Steambridge resurrection point.

Once I reached level 49 the quests in FotD really slowed down, and I was not strong enough to complete the quests in Toirdealbach's Tomb (northwest corner) so I headed to the next zone. This is a zone called the Eiglophian Mountains. It is a winter clad landscape with tall mountains and great views. I leveled very quickly here doing some of the lower level quests and some of the ’wanted poster’ quests killing cannibals. I still have many quests left in this area, and I suspect I’ll be here until my high fifties. I will also head back to FotD and complete Toirdealbach's Tomb before I reach 60. Note: Today's patch note from Funcom had the following line --> Toirdealbach should now be a more fun and playable encounter.

At level 53 I did make a trip back to the Noble District to complete the arena quests/challenge in the Armsman's Tavern as well as running the Cistern/Main systems instance and related quests (the entrance is right behind Armsman's Tavern). You can start the arena challenge in your forties, but you have to be 54 to complete the last challenge. That challenge gives you an Epic weapon/shield and you also get many nice blue items on the way to the last challenge. The last 2 challenges require a good group with both a healer and tank in their mid to upper fifties.

I did receive an in-game message last night that my leveling guides/narratives are appreciated so I’ll keep on posting these. (The picture is my bear shaman at level 40)

Age of Conan video card tests

The folks over at HardOCP has done some testing of Age of Conan (AoC) performance w/ diferent video cards. Is price the best indicator for how well your card will perform?

Is the $500 GeForce 9800 GX2 worth the money over the $200 8800GT?

Check out for yourself at HardOCP

I have long been a fan of the nVidia 8800 series and I think that the test done by HardOCP confirms that my video card recommendation is pretty accurate.

What's going on with Age of Conan?

Well, I am still having so much fun that I am neglecting to update my blog.

I reached level 49 today, and I am still questing in Fields of the Dead (FotD). This area is great from level 40 to 50. The one letdown in this area is the instance. The 'Toirdealbach's Tomb' instance only has 2 bosses, and lots of trash mobs. The Sanctum was more fun and had a lot better loot comparatively.

Once I reach level 50 I will probably leave FotD, although I am not sure where I am headed yet. I think that I might try the 'Catacombs' instance in Tarantia Noble District. I have heard that once you get to the mid 50s the quests are more repetitive and boring. However, until I check for myself I'll hold off on the judgement.

So far at level 49 I haven't really spent any money, or used the auction house at all. My current balance is about 1 gold and 25 Silver + change.

3 gold is needed to buy a horse.

Age of Conan leveling from 40+ continued

While the Noble District in Old Tarantia is great for the low 40s, the next good questing area is Fields of the Dead (FOTD).

There are a lot of quests here, and most are fun, and quick. Making for a great experience points per hour ratio (if you care about things like that). FOTD is located in the far South East corner of Conall's Valley (see map above). It is a bit of a hike to get there, but it is well worth it. I leveled from 40-42 in the Noble District, but some of the quests in that area were cumbersome and bugged at times. I am enjoying FOTD questing a lot more. I also prefer the landscapes, trees, waterfalls, and scenery in FOTD compared to the Noble District cityscape.

Still having a blast, look me up if you are on Dagoth (Kacyn).