May Beta News Letter Out

[Aadwen]

Here is the link to the May Beta news letter. Other sites have posted it, but if you want too please delete it It has some great info on the Paladin class. There is one "feature" I was hoping would not be in Vanguard that they talk about in the news letter. Quest NPCs having symbols over there head o well.

http://www.vanguardsoh.com/Newslette.../main/may.html

Enjoy

Aadwen

[Greymain]

But ...but .. however would we know they had a quest without a big neon sign hovering above their heads????

Bit like that great big glowing ring that tells me who I am attacking.

I do hope we get a choice whether we want these features active or at least options on the symbols displayed.

In a way I hope that is the complete list of Paladin skills, I really dont think I could cope with many more than 32.

Whenever I read the specs of any class I wonder how anyone will be able to solo without the wide range of buffs you get in groups.

[Xanoth]

Originally Posted by Aadwen

HThere is one "feature" I was hoping would not be in Vanguard that they talk about in the news letter. Quest NPCs having symbols over there head o well.

i remember being assured by brad or someone that these symbols are only for initial "getting started" quests that ease players into the game and the world. in the later parts you have to go out there and play the game to find out what quessts are where...

or as with all games these days, go find a spoiler site where someones done the work for you.

[Taronn Anvilmarr]

Originally Posted by Xanoth

or as with all games these days, go find a spoiler site where someones done the work for you.

yep love ogaming - makes life so much easier

hope their consolidation doesnt ruin it for my research efforts

[Aredhel]

hmm...it says that the particles are "currently on." I wonder if that means that they can be switched off?? That would be really cool!

[Aadwen]

I was thinking about something...Scary I know...we have been getting one featured class per monthly beta news letter, and we have 15 classes, or so, in the game. There are 3 beta letters out so far. Does that mean we have 12 more months to go in Beta?



I'm sure they will start putting 2+ classes per beta letter when it gets closer to the end, but you never know.

Aadwen

[Greymain]

Well lets just hope they don't announce any more classes.

[Melchizedek]

I love this new letter. The Pali looks so awesome. And as someone who will wear a dress, that rescue deal is SWEET!

Yeah, I am gonna be a Psi, errr Chanter, err Psi

[Nil]

I don't suppose anyone would be willing to post what it says for those of us with silly firewalls at work (designed to keep us from surfing the web, of course...)

[Coinspinner]

From the other thread nobody is posting on:

Originally Posted by Aredhel

For any of you that can't break into the site, here it is...sans screenshots, but, hey...it's all good and you're going to see what it is that Sigil is doing to the game everyone is anticipating! And, if they really let the testers take screenshots that they can post, then...WHOOT! I can't wait to see what they come up with, can you?

I'm also anxious to see what you all think! Some are already commenting, but don't be afraid to add your 2cp!! After all, everyone has an opinion and hope!

Ok, that's nuff...on with the GOOD stuff!

"May Newsletter, 2006:

It's been a big month for Vanguard. We switched publishers, appeared on the cover of Computer Games Magazine, went to E3 and are continuing with phase 2.5 of beta. We very much appreciate the support and kind words everyone here has offered us through the past few weeks, regarding both the SOE switch and our showing at E3. Here's to another great month!

New Co-Publishing Deal with Sony Online Entertainment

We are sure you have all heard by now that we are changing the publishing structure for Vanguard. Sigil will now be a co-publisher with Sony Online Entertainment, replacing our partnership with Microsoft, which allows us to be key decision makers for every aspect of developing the game and getting it to you. We are excited about what this means for the future of the game. While transition times are often met with uncertainties here and there, your role as a beta tester is, as always, crucial for the success of our game. We are doing everything we can to ensure that the transition goes smoothly and that the impact on beta testing time is minimal. We have been getting questions from many of you about when a switch will happen, using a Station Pass to beta test, continuing to use Fileplanet, etc. Frankly, we don’t have a lot of answers quite yet but hammering out those details is top on our list of priorities. In the meantime, our team is still quite busy making a great game and your feedback is just as important. As soon as we know how beta testing will be affected, we will let all of you know. So, please keep testing and letting us know what you think. We greatly appreciate the time you put into helping us make Vanguard a fantastic game.

Screenshots

Many folks have asked us over the past few months if we had any plans to release player-taken screenshots. Initially, we had not – however, after taking a close look at some of the shots that have been submitted to us we have decided to give a try! From here on out, if you’ve taken a screenshot you think is great and would like to share it, please send it to screenshots@sigilgames.com


We do ask that you follow a few guidelines when submitting though:

- Shots must be in 1600x1200 resolution
- Make sure you “/rend q 5” before taking the shot
- Screenshots should generally include a character or NPC
- Screenshots must not violate NDA (i.e. no character names)
- Dark screenshots are much less likely to be used.

We’re looking forward to see what everyone comes up with!




Featured Class: Paladin

Combat Forms
The Paladin has combined the Combat Forms with their Auras. Having them separate before seemed a bit cumbersome in general.

Aura of Divine Power - This aura gives you and those around you increased melee damage and accuracy. While slightly less than the Warrior's offensive form bonus, you also do not pay the mitigation penalty the Warrior must endure.

Aura of Shielding - This aura increases mitigation for you and those around you. When combined with the Swell of Conviction (detailed below), this adds an addition 25% damage rune. This aura rivals the Warrior's defensive form for mitigation.

Aura of Replenishment - This aura increases regeneration of major expendables for you and those around you. This includes health, mana, power, and psionic points.

Aura of Radiance - This aura makes you immune to undead based magical attacks. This aura also cleanses you and your group of undead related effects such as poison and disease. Any undead in the aura's area of influence take minor damage.


Melee Attacks
The melee style of the Paladin has also changed a great deal. In the past, the Paladin had unique attacks for all phases of chains. Now, each of your attacks can be used as both a bridge or a finish attack, and each takes on different properties when used as such.

Blessing of Steel - This attack delivers moderate damage and grants increased defensive capability for a short time. When used as a bridge attack, these defensive capabilities are passed along to your group members, and when used as a finishing attack, these defensive capabilities increase in both power and duration.

Hammer of Judgment - This attack is relatively low damage initially, but generates substantial hatred in your enemy, and receives significant increases to both damage and hate when used from a frontal position, or in conjunction with an ally. When used as a bridge, this attack also feeds your muscles with increased endurance, and used as a finisher, heals both life and endurance for you and your group members in range.

Sentinel's Might - This attack inflicts moderate damage and infuses you with increased offensive capability for a short time. When used as a bridge, this offensive power is granted to your group members, and used as a finish, these offensive bonuses grow in both power and duration.


Rescues
The Paladin is the premier class when it comes to sacrifice. Taking the damage for another and rescuing them from certain death is the Paladin's Forte. And woe be to the adversary that continues to press the attack. If the Paladin rescues the same friendly a second time in rapid succession, significant harm is visited upon the enemy.

Argent Guardian - This rescue fends off a great deal of damage and strikes back at your enemy for minor damage. When used a second time, this defensive attack completely blocks incoming damage, delivers massive damage in return, and stuns the enemy for a long duration.

Shattered Will - This rescue fends off moderate damage when successful, and slightly lowers the damage capability of your enemy. If used a second time on the same enemy, this completely blocks incoming damage and severely cripples that target's ability to attack your group for 60 seconds.

Contention - This rescue stops an enemy from hitting a friendly target, and locks your enemy in a stalemate for a period of time leaving them unable to attack anyone else.


Spells
Let's not forget that the Paladin is a spellcasting tank. A hybrid if you will between magic and melee. This however does not take away from the primary job of the Paladin, that being to take damage. In fact, these spells augment their ability greatly. One major change is how you acquire these spells as you grow. No longer do you need to visit a trainer. All spells are now learned when available through the Prayer of Enlightenment.

Gifts of Virtue
Gifts of virtue are powerful special abilities. The Paladin gains the ability to perform a limited amount of gifts per day. The paladin may choose which of his available gifts to use, but he cannot perform more than his daily allotment.

Lay on Hands - The classic healing touch of the Paladin. This spell allows you to deliver mighty healing power instantly at a simple touch and may be used on anyone, however this consumes Virtue Points when used upon another Paladin (including yourself).

Mass Shield - This spell allows you to project the shielding powers to your group members for 2 attacks.

Shining Beacon - This spell casts a divine light upon you radiating to your group giving immunity to fear based effects. This light also generates an intense hatred towards you in undead creatures.

Sun Burst - This spell calls down a ray of sunlight to sear the decaying flesh off your undead foes. This light is so powerful, any summoned undead enemies are utterly destroyed.

Zeal - This spell causes your attacks to strike twice for a period of time.

Paragon - This spell greatly bolsters your power in combat for a period of time. Constitution, Dexterity, Agility, Accuracy, and Damage are all increased.

Final Stand - This spell gives all players in your group who are below 25% health an extra life boost for 30 seconds. This boost is lost when the spell expires and players can die if not careful.


Regular Spells
These spells consume power and may be used as often as your power permits.

Barrier of Faith - You extend your shielding powers to a single friendly target, granting invulnerability for 5 seconds.

Blood Oath - You swear a blood oath to destroy your target giving increased ability until you switch enemies.

Courage - This spell increases your health points and armor class.

Healing Touch - This spell allows you to heal your target or yourself for a moderate amount.

Anointed Blade - You anoint your blade, giving increased damage against the undead for five minutes. You cannot have more than one blessing upon your blade at a time.

Blessed Blade - You bless your blade, increasing your ability to do damage for five minutes. You cannot have more than one blessing upon your blade at a time.

Prayer of Life - This spell revives the dead.

Sanctify Corpse - This spell sactifies the corpse of your dead enemy preventing them from being raised by a necromancer.

Summon Holy Water - This spell summons a vial of holy water, which when thrown burns the undead as it strikes them.

Swell of Conviction - This ability causes all of your auras to become more powerful at a substantial power cost.

Righteous Command - This spell instills great hatred towards you in your enemy, and can influence enemies around you as well.

Rallying Cry - This war cry emboldens you and your allies, greatly increasing your accuracy and ability to do damage for two attacks.

Cry of Inspiration - This war cry heals endurance and mana to small extent for yourself and your groupmates.

Cry of Relief - This war cry heals a small amount of health.

Game Updates

Cleric Spells:
The Penance line of cleric spells has been tweaked. Penance is now gained at level 1, Malediction at level 10, Doom at level 28 and Anathema at level 46. The spell line’s refresh timer has also been reduced significantly (from 6 seconds to 2 seconds).

Audio:
Frequently used sound effects files (such as combat and spell sounds) are now preloaded at client start up. This should improve performance for people that were having performance issues with sound enabled, so if you are one of those people that has disabled sound, please try re-enabling it to see what your performance is like now with it on.

Quests:
The quest particles over NPC heads have been changed. Particles for quests you will be able to get soon, are available now, are currently on, and complete show and are all sphere independent.

Diplomacy:
We have added on screen alerts with sound to parley wins and losses so they are more noticeable with the new dialog window behavior. However, the diplomacy system is undergoing a large number of improvements. Until these updates are completely implemented in beta players should expect many issues and problems when attempting to test diplomacy. Please focus your testing in other areas for the time being – there will be an announcement when the new and improved diplomacy system is ready."

*edited out the html that didn't want to show up....Aredhel