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Video games => Other games => Fantasy and Sci-Fi => Topic started by: Fiach on February 10, 2012, 05:38:33 AM

Title: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 10, 2012, 05:38:33 AM
Kinda like the "supergroup" of games, story by RA Salvatore (Drizzt), game made by famous devs and art by Todd McFarlane (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_McFarlane), famous for Spawn, Darksiders etc. and some big a$$ US football player investor.

Its a fantasy setting kinda like Skyrim, but more colourful, kinda like a mix of Fable and World of Warcraft.

About 6 races with different classes that you can mix and match eg Rogue/Sorceror, Fighter/Mage.

The quests are pretty good, but your decisions on completion dont affect much, eg. go into a dungeon with a guy, collect an artifact, go to hand in the quest and say...."well, I think I'll just keep this instead of giving it to you".... to which the quest giver will say .."er...OK, seeya."

Anyway, its a fun romp, takes itself less seriously than Skyrim, kinda like Borderlands compared to Fallout.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: spaceboy on February 14, 2012, 08:25:29 AM
...the one thing I've seen that somehow turned me off a bit was all the colors.  (strangely enough) I love the look and feel of Skyrim, the "realistic" feel of it all.  Amular seemed to "fantastic" with the bright colors  - though I did like the look of one of the towns I saw in a screen shot.  My main reason for holding off is just the amount of unplayed content I have at home though...

Plus I'm planning on picking up a VITA which puts a small dent in gaming funds  :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 14, 2012, 08:51:13 AM
I've been playing this for about 30 hours across two characters. A pure mage and a pure rogue. The reason I say "pure", is because you can mix and match skills as you play or even wipe the slate clean if you feel you dont like a style, reset your points and start a totally new class and playstyle experience.

Before getting bogged down in the different classes, I just want to mention a bit about the game itself. Its a fantasy world with kobolds and trolls, but then again it is written by one of this centuarys best fantasy authors, RA Salvatore, famous for the dark elf character Drizzt, his series of books is highly recommended, if you wanted to have a cracking good adventure read.

I didnt pay a whole lot of attention to the story initially, due to the fact that I just did the intro bit, then just started doing quests, I'm still in the first area and STILL havent finished the feckin quests even though I have outlevelled them in terms of XP gain. But, as I was playing, I kept coming across these stone monoliths that, when activated, give (significant) XP. When activated, a voice will start speaking and I tended to just ignore them, comparing them to the drivel you get in the talking walls and gargoyles in Fable.

It wasnt until I was going through a dungeon later on, I realised that as I activated these stones, they were narrating a story based on the area that I was in, that particular one was about some Fae travellers that were going through the dungeon and being harried by packs of spiders and each stone that was activated, progressed the story a little bit further, until the final denoument. Then I noticed that in the outside areas, the stones also did a similar thing, relating the lore of the particular area, so what I thought was just disjointed ramblings were really immersing me in the lore of the area.

Its a strength of the game that, you can become as immersed as much or as little as you want, even with the dialogue wheel when talking to NPC's, you can just activate the quest related conversations, or click on other dialogue choices to flesh out the quest/lore structure.

I have played two characters as I mentioned. The mage is incredibly powerful from the start, but fragile enough to make you play carefully....on saying that, the game is quite easy, combat -wise, some even say it's too easy (and they have a fair point). The rogue is not as powerful and rely's on evasion initially and as I spent my points on skills, they were pretty underwhelming to begin with, but as I used them more strategically and the skills got upgraded, my rogue became a force to be reckoned with.

The mage has three weapons, a sceptre which is like a machinegun that uses mana, a chakram (like in Xena) for medium ranged combat and a staff for melee combat, they all come with elemental flavours to add a bit more oomph to the combat, plus they also get spells.

The rogue has three weapons,  Double Daggers, Fae Daggers and Longbows. These also come in different elemental flavours, plus they get skills like planting traps, throwing bombs, firing smoke into enemies faces then following up with a volley of throwing knives.

The combat is vigorous, with alot of dodging around, but the game uses an auto aim system, so you never lose track of your enemies, so, while it's easy, its never boring.

The sidequests are OK, they are no better/worse than any other I have come across, but some are quite interesting, Then you have Faction quests that up the ante, story and immersion-wise, then of course you have the main quest, which I havent done alot of, but it seems quite interesting, You were restored to life, because of this, you "fate" isn't set in stone, you get special fate weaving powers that are kinda like bullet time with some awesome special effects. You build up fate points as you kill enemies and when your meter is full, you can unleash some awesome powers on your foes...making boss battles kinda pointless sometimes as the fate powers are so strong.

You can also make your own gear and potions with Blacksmithing and Potions, there is also a thing called Sagecraft, where you can add gems to your gear and make its much more powerful. Now, I am about halfway through the Blacksmith training and I make REALLY powerful stuff, I find "Purple" equipment and just look at its stats and sneer at its inadequecy in comparison with the stuff I can make already. This has a slight downside, in that although you can buy material to make your gear, the best stuff you get is from "Salvaging" other equipment with that has "bonus" effects (eg. +9 Fire +10 health +10 Frost +5% Critical Chance), you have to "Save" your game before each Salvage, because there are times your Salvage will get you none or very few materials, so you will have to reload your game, you may have to do this several times before getting what you want, but when you do, it pays you back in spades.

Anyway, well worth checking out.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 14, 2012, 09:25:15 AM
Quote from: spaceboy on February 14, 2012, 08:25:29 AM
...the one thing I've seen that somehow turned me off a bit was all the colors.  (strangely enough) I love the look and feel of Skyrim, the "realistic" feel of it all.  Amular seemed to "fantastic" with the bright colors  - though I did like the look of one of the towns I saw in a screen shot. 


Well, I've only played the first area and I believe that there are different art styles in each area, but I do think that the art suits the tone/genre, I like the fact that there is a theme and in the first area, the scenary isnt cut and pasted, it looks organic and while sticking to the theme, does have a fair bit of variety within the theme itself, with villages, forests, old ruins, streams, stone bridges, rope bridges etc.

I understand what you mean by Skyrim looking more realistic, on saying that, I wouldnt praise one style over the other myself, Skyrim is set in a snowbound environment, so its colour pallette is going to be quite limited due to its geography.

But yeah, if you dont like the artwork, it would detract from your immersion I think.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 15, 2012, 12:47:41 PM
Well, I have progressed a little further map wise.

I found an area called The Sidhe, which is pretty cool, because it and a few other areas are very reminiscent of Irish Folklore, so it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

I did a run to the edge of the accessible map at my level and got to a town, where it had none of the fantasy trappings of the previous elv-ish type fantasy world, it was bright, crisp and clear and based on a kinda medieval english setting.

The main story I have also progressed a little further and it has had a pretty cool twist, but I have a freaking ton of quests to complete, so I'm going to just concentrate on one character until the end, because this game is pretty huge, twenty hours on this character and I'm still in the first area with a TON of stuff still to do.

Here is a video of the ingame combat and some fatalities, watch in HD if possible, its pretty cool :)

Kingdoms of Amalur - The Fatality (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17dAP88CkyY#ws)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: spaceboy on February 15, 2012, 07:22:10 PM
Quote from: Fiach on February 15, 2012, 12:47:41 PM
I found an area called The Sidhe, which is pretty cool, because it and a few other areas are very reminiscent of Irish Folklore, so it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

I did a run to the edge of the accessible map at my level and got to a town, where it had none of the fantasy trappings of the previous elv-ish type fantasy world, it was bright, crisp and clear and based on a kinda medieval english setting.

this sounds like my kind of setting.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: PZ on February 15, 2012, 07:24:52 PM
Nice!  :-X
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 19, 2012, 03:10:17 AM
Well, I'm 32 hours in, I have left the first area (still slightly uncompleted, due to having outlevelled the XP and the quests that are left, had no real appeal to me).

My "run" through to the next area awhile back caused an unforseen consequence....when you enter a new area, it "locks" to your level, so the outdoor mobs will be a tad easier to fight, but at least it seems that the dungeons will scale to your level when you enter them for quests.

Some people have raised a couple of concerns about the game, The difficulty or lack thereof and boring quests, the map isnt open world like Skyrim.

Well, the difficulty scales as I mentioned above, so I would guess they were racing through areas and locking the level with their lowbie characters, making it a cakewalk. I still find the combat mildly challenging, I have probably used 6/7 health potions since I started, but some of the fights have kept me on my toes.

The quests....well, it could be argued that there are just too many quests, causing you to out level an area long before you have cleared all the quests, so if you are OCD about clearing quests, this will be annoying.

As to the quality of the quests, I have to say that none of them were mind numbingly boring FedEx quests, more often than not, they were fairly interesting and had a "point" behind them, (eg Lore exposition or New areas to explore).

The game seems to have tiered the quests, Main Story arc, Faction quests, Exploration quests and standard mission quests, Like rescue people, find lost items, kill "X" amount of bandits, defeat mini bosses etc.

I have only completed one Faction quest so far (House of Ballads), due to its irish folklore connection. It was a VERY good questline and quite touching at the end, insofar as, it was hard to decide whether to kill the boss at the end as you could actually empathise with their plight. I dont know if this questline is mandatory, but later on, in the Main Quest, I opened up a new city and having done the House of Ballads questline, It gave me a greater appreciation of the cities background.

As regards the open map, I would say that KOAR is bigger than Skyrim but the maps are segmented into themed areas. This is a good thing because....you have so MANY collectibles and loot caches, that if there wasnt a structure, you would miss TONS of stuff!

Then of course, you have the visual variety and eye candy. I played a "Training" mission for a Sorceror Faction, (kinda like the VR missions in Metal Gear, but not with the green lines). It was all dull sepia, brown and black colours and immediately reminded me of the Skyrim dungeons, in a bad way.

Anyway, so far I'm having a ball, I'm level 23 and have maxed out Blacksmithing and Jewel Crafting (Sagecraft), I'm playing  a dagger/bow character and its been good fun.

Fiach : Enjoying games, so you dont have to.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: JRD on February 19, 2012, 07:17:03 AM
I see you are enjoying the game!  :-X

Since you are the RPG expert at OWG I assume this is a pretty good game! Have you finished Skyrim? I remember you were a bit frustrated with some quests or minor bugs!  ????

Keep us posted... nice read!
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 19, 2012, 07:59:50 AM
Yes Skyrim is good, but I think I'm gonna wait until they finish it first mate :) There were some major bugs with the main quest and I didnt want to risk either screwing up the game or playing so far that a patch would make my saves unusable (common in RPG's) and have to restart...again... :)

Amalur is very good, its not better than Skyrim, they are similar, but different in tone and feel. The major differences are graphics and combat, KOAR is more fantasy looking and the combat is very flashy, Skyrim is more like real life and combat feels like "actual" combat, more slog and effort (in a good way) compared to the colourful dashing and dodging in KOAR.

I havent heard of any bugs in KOAR so far, it feels very solid and polished....in fact, the game feels very like a MMORPG, so I would say it would be a big hit with the WoW crowd, where as Skyrim would appeal more to the "beardy" type of RPG fan....if that makes sense :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: JRD on February 20, 2012, 04:49:10 AM
Cool... I saw a few videos of both Skyrim and Amalur... Skyrim looks better imo, the kind of looks I like in a game whereas Amalus has, as you said, a more colorful look, which I find a bit annoying, kindda childish but not on a bad way.

Anyway, with so many games now to play and so many more to come in the near future (plus an issue with my graphics card associated with lack of cash) I don't think I'll be playing any of those for now, but it's always good to have a post to check your opinions!  :-X
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 20, 2012, 05:57:33 AM
Yeah those "Cash for GFX Card" deals kinda suck :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: JRD on February 20, 2012, 06:44:04 AM
Advantages of having a console... but let's not start a console vs PC war!  :-()
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 20, 2012, 07:41:25 AM
Yeah that can heat up pretty quickly :)

For the record, I'm playing the PC version on a pretty crap card :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 24, 2012, 10:07:55 AM
55 hours in, I'm still not nearly finished this feckin (in a good way :)) game!

I stopped doing sidequests awhile back, now I've stopped Faction quests and trying to steamroller to the end, so I can start again with my sorceror and just do side quests only.

The faction quests are as good as most main quests in other RPG's, so coupled with the main quest, this is definately one of the best RPG's I have ever played.

So far I have played some different maps and there is a nice variety, Forest, next a fantasy woodland with elves, then it changed to a kinda medieval england, then I went to a massive desert with sort of ghost town mines (nice money spinner there btw), then on to a castle defence, where you have to run through a castle, defending the battlments/towers etc. kinda like Helms Deep in LOTR, now I'm in a swamp, dunno what the next (and possibly last judging by the map) area is like, but it seems as big as two of the previous (pretty big they were as well) maps.

The main problems I have with the game would be...too many quests, there are so many, you can get bogged down in them and dilute the immediacy of the main story and faction quests. But they are optional and give good gear, but....

Blacksmithing makes such AWESOME gear that finding loot is kinda disappointing as the stats are nowhere nearly as good as what you can easily craft.

Now, as complaints go, regarding games, these are pretty minor, but in all honesty I cannot fault anything else with the game, combat is always fun, but when you get to the higher tiered skills, it just adds more awesomeness. On top of that, if you feel (dunno why you should) that combat is getting stale, you can reset your skills (like Borderlands) and try a different style, or mix of styles.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: PZ on February 24, 2012, 10:49:29 AM
Nice mini review, Fiach - you are definitely our resident RPG master!  :-X
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Art Blade on February 24, 2012, 12:18:27 PM
 :-D :-X
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on February 24, 2012, 01:36:35 PM
Aw shucks, twern't nuthin' :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Art Blade on February 24, 2012, 03:18:37 PM
 :-()
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 11, 2012, 11:43:16 AM
Quote from: Fiach on February 24, 2012, 01:36:35 PM
Aw shucks, twern't nuthin' :)

As usual I'm running behind on my games, but unlike Mass Effect & Fallout 3 which I owned for two years before playing, KoAR is only a few months late  :)

One correction to the OP> Shilling was a baseball player, also too bad 38 has bit the dust. Anyway, I'm at about level 23 (57 hours in). Started as a warrior but morphed into Jack of all trades 30+ might and 16 in the other two. Haven't maxed out any skill yet, but am close with 'detect hidden' and sagecrafting. I own 3 homes and a mine  :-X Only done one Faction quest so far and that was Warsworn....have both DLC's and plan to do those before anymore faction quests. Only main quest line started so far was helping Gen. Tilar get her weapon...

Anyway, I am having fun with it so here I am  :angel:
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 11, 2012, 02:16:47 PM
Just bought another copy today for 360.

My favourite mix of classes are Finesse and Sorceror.

Lay down traps, then use the sorc mark skill on the trapped enemies, then detonate it, then use the arrow aoe.

A really fun game.

I really loved the House of Ballads quest line, check it out, its very well put together.

I only played the Teeth DLC so far, it wasnt great as I was probably too high level for it, but it has pretty awesome lore.

Do you listen to the talking stones? Alot of people dont try to find them, they are well worth seeking out as they have tons of lore.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 11, 2012, 10:04:49 PM
Yea, I do listen to the lore stones. Shortly I will have 'detect hidden' maxed out and the stones will all show on the map. I think Battlemage would w@&k for me, although I do have some 'phase shift' potion that makes me invisible (supposed to, haven't tried it yet)<<sounds like something you'd use  :)

I've been selling 'rat meat' for 594, 10 rats makes a good hall and I don't eat at the Thirsty Wench anyway  :laugh:

You must be pretty good if you haven't used much health. I'm playing on easy, and when I took on 'The Widow' I emptied my arsenal and barely made it out. Got a house with a stash chest out of it though so it was worth the pain  :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 12, 2012, 12:18:55 AM
Well I've played it a few times at this stage, I dont know if you craft your own weapons, but I do, they would be twice as powerful as purple stuff. So maybe that would help.

Sorc is very easy as is Finesss, together they are just a big bag of fun, I tried melee and didnt really like it, all I can suggest is always keep on the move with dodge, buy attacks that w@&k after dodging.

I wouldnt bother with Detect Hidden after the one that lets you see traps (not see them on the map), I dont bother with Alchemy, Blacksmith is a must have, I dont use the Lockpick skill as I'm pretty used to doing it. I dont use Dispell, I have never found anything worthwhile with it. So by ignoring those skills, I have plenty to spend on crafting weapons.

Have you played Dungeon Siege 3? that can be a ton of fun once you get used to the camera.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 13, 2012, 03:25:23 PM
No DS type games ever as I usually played cross genre games like Deus Ex, Fallout & Mass Effect series.

Right now I'm a Crusader with 51 Might, 32 Sorcery and 0 Rogue. Have Blacksmith, Detect Hidden and Sage Crafting maxed out. Haven't been able to craft any weapons yet that would outdo some of my purple stuff ie the Mystic Hammer gives +25% damage vs Nicks. Have made some pretty good armor and am currently wearing a Mastercrafted robe.....need to find better components like ebony would probably help. I only have one 'Flawless' helm piece that I bought.

I'm kinda stuck on Naros since after finishing the main quest I got 'tasked' with finding some artifacts which seem to be on another planet  :laugh:

Since you like using the Bow, did you do the treasure puzzle in Nerotelos? That Deadshot bow has some pretty good specs.......I should probably change my handle to PackRat since my 2 backpacks and my stash chest are full and parting with anything is like pulling teeth  :) I'm terrible that way, and when I'm playing FO3 & FNV on the PC I use the console to set my carry weight to 50k   :angel:
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 13, 2012, 06:18:12 PM
Well if you "salvage" gear and you get crap components, keep reloading until you get good stuff, ie. if you salvage something with 30 Health and 30 Mana, then you should get a component with 30 HP and 30 mana among other stuff, I would have gear with 9/10 lines of augmentations.

Those quests dont ring a bell, but I havent played in a long while AFAIK I just did the main teeth quest in that dlc as I wasnt really getting any XP benefit, been playing Dogma for the last 100+ hours across 2 characters and I'm pretty much enjoying it, it may be a game you would like, being such a pack rat :) theres a demo for PS3 and 360.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 15, 2012, 10:56:28 AM
I haven't bothered reloading, but I do see plenty of 'bonus' things listed when I salvage gear with armor/utility slots. Been spending the last few days on the Dead Kel dlc, and it's quite fun. Only regret I have is starting this current quest (Gravehal Keep) so late. It's like a game within a game, so if/when you get around to playing Dead Kel do yourself a favor and find Padrig Dower and start the quest early.... :-X

I'm a level 5 Paragon right now and I'm thinking about going all Sorcery (have about 100 points)....

On the Nerotelos puzzle, you'd remember if you ever explored there. As soon as you enter and start down the stairs a cage drops down over the crypt in the room. On top of the crypt are the bow, a great sword and a crown and scattered around are scrolls from a previous treasure hunter......plenty of traps to navigate too  :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 15, 2012, 02:03:56 PM
I dont remember that quest, I have max detect hidden so traps arent a problem :)

As regards Sorcery, you will have more points than one class can accomadate, I mixed in Finesse, but some people I know use it with Might and love it too, horses for courses I guess :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 15, 2012, 04:05:25 PM
Not quite a quest on it's own, but you do get there via another quest. Plenty of tripwires, floor spikes and arrow traps to disarm...had no problem with those, it was those swinging blades and rotating floor knives I had to dodge since I never found a way to disable them...got bounced around plenty running the gauntlet  :-D

Have 105 in sorcery, and Archmage is 109. I'll probably go back to a split M/S when I get to 110; as that should allow Tier 6 (Champion) if I do an even split 55/55......

Oh, one thing I can never seem to get working is 'mark of flame'? Says to tap the button to mark a target, but which button? Believe me, I've tried all kinds of combos.....guess I'd better hit google  :)

EDIT: Ok, R2+y should do it. Guess I need to be quicker on the tap because I kept bringing up the bubble  :D
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 16, 2012, 11:04:16 AM
Well, that didn't w@&k either but I finally did get it going. Had to do a 'fate shift' and drop that bag of bones companion. I missed the sword play so I went back to a M/S split; only this time the points are divided 39/66.  :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 16, 2012, 12:00:14 PM
I think you tap the button first to set the targets alight, then I think you hold the button to detonate, its pretty awesome, I used to lay traps, then when enemies were stuck in the traps, I blow them up  >:D
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 17, 2012, 11:30:28 AM
Too many skills and not enough buttons  :'( All my buttons are mapped to Sorcery skills and the points I put into Might that require a button tap are wasted.  :D Still having fun with it though, and finished the Scholia Arcana faction quest last night. If the level cap is still 40 then I'll be there way before the end game.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 17, 2012, 05:27:20 PM
Yeah thats why I only did the main quest in the teeth dlc. My favourite quest line was house of ballads, I thought the theme of the cyclical birth/death/rebirth, then the poignancy of those one the losing end, condemned to always lose and their desire to escape the cycle to be a really neat moral dilemma.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 19, 2012, 10:40:59 AM
I've been meaning to do the Ballad's quest, just haven't got around to it yet. Ran across the House of Valor while exploring the desert so I did that one yesterday....my 'to do' list is shrinking a tad. Only have 'Breaking the siege' in main quest, about 3 in side and 9 tasks...completed 150+ so far.

Been making my own armor, except for the flawless helm, and have the DR at 1769....at least I think that figure is the DR, didn't see anywhere in the manual that explained it? My 'Robe' set is pretty good too at about 800....pretty sure it's all Spiritweave components. I think I can do even better once I start finding/buying more flawless parts :-X

I tried salvaging some 'gold' armor and found I could only salvage complete sets...my stash is full of purple & gold.....and jewelry (only purple, sell the rest) :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 19, 2012, 01:42:03 PM
I forget what DR means, I never made armour, I just made weapons, but they totally surpassed any purple weapons, so your armour must be pretty awesome :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 19, 2012, 11:41:59 PM
Got it up to 1875 now :) I'm pretty sure it's Defense (total). The set I made is all 'prismere' based. I took your advice on saving before salvage after I lost some prismere Chausses I was salvaging...good thing I had another set. The chest piece (cuirass) was a green Savant's, but because of the 332 rating I figured it was prismere so I 'saved'  :-X and broke it down/rebuilt and now have 478 rated cuirass. Would probably be higher if I had more 'flawless' parts.

Like you said, the prismere hammer I made beats any I've found in the wild, and it's red matches the armor :-D 
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 20, 2012, 12:05:20 AM
Thats cool mate, I dont think I would have enjoyed the game as much without the crafting, it added a really nice extra dimension to the game. :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on June 21, 2012, 05:10:32 PM
How to Map Abilities in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6PmwEl-5dY#ws) Well if that doesn't make me feel dumb, but at least now I know how to switch/remap abilities  :D

Put my main character(Varani male) on hold and started a new game on my other profile. Using an Almain female and trying your Rogue/Mage class; although the point spread 4/11/21 is leaning sorcery...of course the 4 points in might are in the longsword  :)

Currently working on the House of Ballads faction quest... :-X 
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on June 22, 2012, 05:37:54 AM
Quote from: KingRat on June 21, 2012, 05:10:32 PM
Well if that doesn't make me feel dumb, but at least now I know how to switch/remap abilities  :D
Currently working on the House of Ballads faction quest... :-X


....erm... no comment?  8-X  :laugh:
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 03, 2012, 12:30:23 PM
Quote from: Fiach on June 22, 2012, 05:37:54 AM

....erm... no comment?  8-X  :laugh:

That be me alright :(

Finally took #1 and finished the main quest line. I thought my character was overpowered with a DR of 2127 until I saw someone with a 4700  ???? During that main quest I switched from the M/S 61/62 build to a Universalist  M/F/S 41/41/41 build. This lowered my DR to 1850 but gave me +3 to all skills. Even at 1850 the Balor & Tirnoch bosses couldn't do any damage (normal), and the fights only lasted a couple minutes. The boss fight in the House of Sorrows faction quest was probably my toughest....

Found an armor set (Nightstone) that I like the looks of and spent a day farming ToN to get all the pieces. So then I go and switch to an F/S 63/60 setup and I can't use that armor  :laugh: So I'm currently using a Rogue set I made with my Dreadscale hood matched to some unique pieces...

Have almost 10,000,000 in reserve so changing destinies hasn't become to expensive. I've taken advantage of that Mel Senshire backpack exploit to up my capacity to 190....poor Illyan  ;)   
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 04, 2012, 09:27:24 AM
Dunno what the exploit is mate, but I think I had 100 or so spaces., I never farmed any sets of armour as they are too random for my taste, it would be one of my main complaints about the game.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 04, 2012, 10:56:55 AM
The exploit is, kill the vendor (Illyan Doldan) pay the fine sleep for 48 come back and he's back and restocked...grab the backpack rinse repeat :)

I know what you're saying about so many sets, and the randomness. The Nightstone caught my eye and that's why I farmed it. What's funny is after leaving Naros to do something else then on coming back the first Marauder I killed had the part I spent all day looking for :laugh:

Since you indicated you like the Rogue type, here is the unique set I'm currently using except I'm using my own crafted hood> Watcher's Hood, Huntmaster's Regalia, Dirgesinger Gloves, Bladedancer's Leggings and Reaper's Boots.... :-X

Might give 'Dogma' a try, but I've got a backup to clear out first... 
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 04, 2012, 04:56:15 PM
None of those names ring a bell, so I probably havent come across them, I havent a clue what I wore on characters, I did have some DLC armour sets, but I dont remember any of the other stuff that I wore, I doubt they were complete sets, I would just mix n match as I found stuff.

I bought the 360 version for the kids, since the devs went out of business, the price dropped to €17 here, so hopefully I'll get to play it on a widescreen soon :)

As regards dogma, its a bit of a time soak, I probably have 150+ hours at this stage and will probably get at least 50-100 more with farming Everfall and the Ur Dragon (a post game boss that can be fought online for uber gear, or offline for lesser drops), so clearing a backlog would be a good idea if you were considering starting it :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 04, 2012, 10:27:09 PM
I said 'unique set' when I meant individual unique 'purple' components....but you probably figured that out.  :)

If you get into Dead Kel look for the Privateer set pieces. I found all 5 and have my female ch wearing that all black rogue armor. I've got about 500 hrs into this game, split about 400/100  :angel:

I put DD on my Amazon wish list, but it might be a while before I hit the 'buy' button. Spec Ops: The Line arrived last week and is sitting on the shelf collecting dust. Also remembered I still have a character in Borderlands I wanted to finish up with before B2 releases  :-()
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 05, 2012, 01:16:34 AM
Spec Ops looks good, I read a few reviews, but like yourself, I'm a bit too swamped to play it at the moment, but at least by the time I get a chance it will have dropped a bit in price.

I'll keep an eye out for that dead kel stuff, I still have KoA on my PC, I love the game, cant understand why it gets dissed so much.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 06, 2012, 10:34:01 AM
Made a set of armor yesterday that turned my female from plain ninja into 'elegant' ninja  :) Found the last piece of Trollhide armor I needed to make a complete set so I salvaged and rebuilt using mostly master & flawless components.

Hey, it's your fault for turning me onto the 'smithy' stuff......thanks!  :-D Since you've done weapon builds I think you should give armor a go  :-X
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 06, 2012, 11:27:51 AM
Yes, its a game I will always play, so I will do armour when I get back to it.

I had a DLC ninja armour (Running Man?) and it looked crap, so that "elegant" look sounds interesting :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 06, 2012, 06:11:17 PM
Just wanted to say I thought Dead Kel was worth the $10, if just for the Capt. Brattigan npc. I'm pretty sure I got my monies worth in laughs alone  :laugh:

The only minor complaint I have about the game, well two actually. I think the leveling system was to easy or they should have added more with each DLC. I have no problem moving up 20 levels just with DK & ToN alone. My first play I had over 200 quests/tasks completed, and this time I'm at 32 with 86 completed. IDK, maybe they designed it to have the main quest be the focus then come back and pick up the rest??

Second compliant would be the camera being a little loose....
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 07, 2012, 01:41:35 AM
In fairness to the camera, the action is so fast and fun, I cant see any camera being perfect for it tbh.

The lack of a level cap increase is disappointing, Probably something they couldnt get around to as the money was running out on them. I would just do the factions and the DLC (I like the Sidhe with its irish connection, so I would do that too), other than those I guess I would not bother with anything else and just persue the main quest. its not like you need to be high level to finish it, you can just power through to the end.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 07, 2012, 04:55:04 PM
I guess my main complaint about the camera came during the Balor battle. I felt out of touch with my character; just trying to back up would cause the camera to drop through the floor texture. Once I saw that 'awesome' eye beam of Balors' wasn't doing any damage I just started throwing bolts, and hacking at him when I could....very weak boss IMO  :angel:

Just started ToN again, but this time I'll do like you and pass the side quests. I am a collector though so sometimes it's hard to pass opportunities  :) I've already made one trip back to load my stash chest  ;D
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 08, 2012, 10:03:00 AM
Out of curiosity do you use mouse and KB or a 360 controller, because I used a 360 controller and didnt really have any problems.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 08, 2012, 10:37:36 AM
I'm playing on the x360 w/ controller....heck, maybe there's a kill cam option I should change?  That might be a possibility because it will , sometimes, go into cinema mode while I'm still fighting...

I guess I'll stop fretting the level process. I'm at 35 now and I've only done the 2 DLC's and the HoB faction quest. Never done Travelers so I'm heading that way now....new dungeons to loot ya know  >:D
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 08, 2012, 02:40:17 PM
My kids have the 360 version with no problems, so I cant recommend anything sorry :(.

Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 09, 2012, 05:36:51 PM
Quote from: Fiach on July 08, 2012, 02:40:17 PM
My kids have the 360 version with no problems, so I cant recommend anything sorry :(.

NP  :)

The only camera option is sensitivity so I lowered that from default and it seems tighter. Just played 'Break the siege', and I felt more in control vs Balor. Took a little more damage this time because I went with lighter armor, and I switched destinies to F/S so heavy armor was out. Against Balor I just moved in close and hammered him (it) with lightning, ice and poison arrows  >:D
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 10, 2012, 12:15:30 AM
Actually you just reminded me, back when I started Amalur, I had to do something like that, I clean forgot as it was back at release, but, yeah, i did have a problem. :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 10, 2012, 12:26:10 PM
Hey, I'm closer to 70 than 60 so I have a built in excuse  :-D

Played the Travelers & Scholia Arcana quests the last 2 days. Smoked Sydanus this time, first go it was quite a battle. Either the level or my build made the difference, or possibly my custom prismere chakrams  :angel:
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 11, 2012, 03:30:12 PM
I never did the traveler quests, Are they good compared to eg The Ballads? The scholia was cool, but the apartment you get was too awkward to be of use compared to the place in webwood.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 11, 2012, 09:15:51 PM
I like the Travelers quest ok; it got me to use stealth more instead of my usual 'in your face' style. Has two options for the ending; I should have made 2 saves before going into the last dungeon.

I have a hard time comparing quests, especially those two because they're so different. I think Scholia is my favorite, except for the living quarters you get, but hey, I was really racking up the chicken kills in there  >:D

House of Valor and House of Sorrows are my least favorite, and might not get played this time through...
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 12, 2012, 02:21:26 PM
I have HoV, but I never bothered with it, iirc its kinda of horde mode or something stupid like that.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 12, 2012, 03:17:11 PM
Quote from: Fiach on July 12, 2012, 02:21:26 PM
I have HoV, but I never bothered with it, iirc its kinda of horde mode or something stupid like that.

It's ok to play once, but I can't see myself doing more. It's gladiator style and all takes place in the arena. You get put in charge of the Crows with one  from each M/F/S, and you only get to choose one of those to go against 5 (or more sometimes). Choose the partner that best fits what the opposing team brings, and there are some twists to the plot  :) Make up some 'fate potions' and focus on the bosses; that's what I didn't do the first time and the fights were real slug fests :-()
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 13, 2012, 06:07:14 AM
I figured thats what it would be like, I'm not a big fan of that kind of gameplay, I didnt like it in Borderlands or some other games either.
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: KingRat on July 13, 2012, 10:42:18 AM
On the positive side, you do get a recurring income stream like from the mine. Also, some good unique armor pieces from the guy betting on you  :)
Title: Re: Kingdoms of Amalur : Reckoning
Post by: Fiach on July 13, 2012, 02:38:37 PM
The armour sounds interesting I'll check it out, cheers :)