01-15-2006, 05:56 AM
ima_nerd,Jan 15 2006, 02:52 AM Wrote:I never did much in GW. How's the end-game for it? I'm guessing it's mostly PvP but how's the end-game gear progression handled? With WoW being out of my life so to speak and ES IV not coming out till Marchish I need something to do besides DotA on WC3 :P
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Once you get about 4/5ths through the game, you have access to end-game quality gear.
If you choose to create a PvP-only character, they are provided with end-game quality gear (With the exception of upgrades, which you have to "Unlock" by finding in PvE, or "Buying" with faction that you get from doing PvP)
Come to think of it, that wasn't entirely accurate. Let me... Illustrate via a detailed overview.
Items come in three main categories in GW - Weapons, Armour, and Shields.
Weapons and Shields can be found as drops from monsters or chests, crafted at a NPC, or 'bought' from a "Collector NPC."
Armours can only be crafted at a NPC.
About 4/5ths of the way through the game's plotline... You'll get to a city, with NPCs who can craft top-of-the-line items (Collectors for similar items are scattered in the surrounding areas).
By the time you get there, if you were careful with your money (Sell everything that drops, don't spend all of it buying new skills, the like), you should be able to afford just about all of those things.
Now, those items can still increase in power, because...
Weapons and Armours can be "Upgraded."
Each weapon type has two possible upgrade components (Effectively, Diablo prefixes, and affixes). "Prefix" upgrade components can, for instance, make a sword do fire damage, or steal life. "Affix" upgrade components, can, on the other hand, increase your defense, or life pool. 'Perfect' upgrade components (such as a +30 health axe haft) are quite rare, and ridicilously expensive, if bought from players. On the other hand, anything that's not perfect (Such as a +26 health haft), can be bought from another player very, very cheaply.
Armours are upgraded by inserting "Runes" into them. Each armour piece only fits one. Most runes are restricted to a specific class, and tend to enahnce a specific attribute (Think of it as a... +1 to all fire skills). More powerful runes carry a health penalty associated with them. (So, you have to make quite the tradeoff between a 'Superior' and a 'Minor' rune - the former gives a bigger enhancement, but carries a heavy penalty) Minor runes are fairly common, Superior ones are quite rare.
Shields cannot be upgraded.
The jist of all that is, if you want a "Perfect" stat weapon, you'll have to dish out an arm and a leg. If you want a "near-perfect" item, you can get it, no problemo.
So, there you have it. The gear that "anyone" can get is roughly 98% as good as "Perfect" gear.
So, what's the point of all the end-game 'dungeons'?
Cosmetics. You see, the four 'difficult' end-game areas have unique-looking items that can only be found as monster or chest drops, when fighting in those areas. They don't drop all too often, the areas are fairly difficult, and to get a 'perfect' roll on all the attributes (Base damage and built-in modifier) is not easy. However, they do make you stand out.
Additionally, in two of those areas, special crafting components drop, that can be used to craft a ridicilously over-priced, and rather distinct, but equivalent, stat-wise set of armour.
But really, I think that there's little need to worry about 'perfect' or 'non-perfect' items. Unlike WoW, the skills that you bring to the fight, and player skill and coordination have an immesuarably bigger impact on the outcome of a battle then player level, or equipment. You don't need to do a half-dozen runs of Molten Core to get started on BWL, is what I'm trying to say.
"One day, o-n-e day..."