The MMO Notebook

Posts Tagged ‘ra’jin’

My adventures on the Kojan continent continues with more things to do from the quest log. The first of which is to assault a Ra’Jin Stronghold and complete a few missions within. The first quest that led me to the stronghold wanted me to kill six Ra’Jin Senshi warriors. This was done easily enough right outside the stronghold. Later quests wanted me to go inside the stronghold and kill other types of Ra’Jin warriors and also find an abducted woman.

I easily made my way into the stronghold by myself, clearing the way of Ra’Jin as I went. I started to hear the abducted woman call out for help, so I continued deeper into the stronghold. The way grew more difficult and I succumbed to a roamer one time and to an accidental multiple pull another time. It was then that I teamed up with another person playing a rogue and things went smoother.

The rogue is neat because it can “stealth” its way around. I could still see the outline of the rogue, but the enemy could not. This lead to a problem when I was following the rogue around a corner. The rogue, used to not having to worry about aggro, ran past several enemies that can’t be seen until you go around the corner. This, of course, led to my demise yet again. We regrouped, and waited for the abducted woman to appear again. When she appeared, I hailed her, and got quite a surprise. She turned into a mean Ra’Jin warrior that I could not have defeated solo. It was touch and go, but between my nuking as fast as I could and the rogues melee, we defeated him and completed the quest. After that, the rogue and I parted ways, and I went searching for more adventure.

I was sent to a remote Lao’Jin outpost to a man named Toak, who is a Disciple of Shaof. Toak told me that this is a retreat where the inhabitants have given up their bodies to live in harmony with Jin. I am to clear the way so that others can safely get to the retreat. I was given the quests named The Hills Are Alive and Objects For Study.

The Hills Are Alive quest had me go out to the surrounding countryside and kill Enraged Undergrowth’s, which are sort of like a bundle of tree roots that have grown legs and walk around. Objects For Study was similar in that it wanted me to slay a few different types of mobs so that the Lao’Jin could study them and find out why they are evil.

After completing those quests, I was sent off to find a man named Pao Min, located not far from a place called the Magi Hold. Magi Hold, I am told, is the home of imperial enemies. Once I located Pao Min, I decided to call it a night. It was another productive night that ended with me halfway through level 12 and enough money to buy all my spells.

–Wolfen

My last post detailed a few of my first night’s experiences in Vanguard: Saga of Heroes. After the initial graphical and crash to desktop problems, things went surprisingly smooth. Before I make further posts on my gaming adventures, I want to go into a little more detail about how the game runs, plays, and looks.

Even though I consider my first night playing the game smoother than anticipated, the game does have some glaring flaws and glitches. The first of which is unless you have a decent gaming computer with a good video card, you will not get the best gaming experience out of Vanguard. The game has been greatly optimized since beta, but it still has a long way to go.

The game still stutters and hitches, even with my Nvidia 8800GT card with 512mb of video RAM. It is very smooth when I’m out in the country by myself, but it really slows down when you get nearer the cities. This is with the base options set to High. Vanguard’s graphic design is based on realism, and you pay a heavy price for making things look as real as possible. I prefer this style of graphics, so the occasional hitch or stutter doesn’t bother me at all. There is a wide range of graphical options, so it would be easy to lower the settings to make it play better on slower machines.

My half-elf druid started on the Kojan continent, which is a series of islands. The culture is Asian-based and leans heavily towards a Samurai style. The inhabitants worship a way of life known as “Jin” that permeates everything they do. There is a “good” Jin known as Lao’Jin, and an “evil” Jin known as Ra’jin. The two Jins are at war with one another, each trying to become the dominant way of life.

Most quests during these early levels almost always have something to do with Jin. In fact, as I continued to gain levels, the Jin quest line became more and more heavy-handed. I am now level 11 and I can say that I am completely tired of the subject of Jin. I hope a new type of quest line starts soon, because I need a new subject to keep my attention.

With that said about the long Jin quest line, the bad also comes with some good. There is a wealth of quests and I never lacked for something to do. I still have many quests in my quest log at level 11. I just wish they all didn’t have something to do with Jin.

My druid plays like a cross between a wizard and a standard druid. I have big nukes and powerful damage over time spells. I can root and snare, which allows for solo kiting. Small heals help if I get beat on. So far, I really enjoy this style of character. It seems to have the best of both worlds. Time will tell if it stays this way as I level up.

The world is massive, beautiful, and fun. It is also very under-populated. Even with just four servers, it is obvious that most players gave this game a wide berth. I also average two crashes to the desktop each night, so the developers still have much to do.

My next postings will get back to my gaming adventures. I will detail the good along with the bad, of which I have encountered plenty of both. You will get the true opinion of a so-called “veteran noob,” so that the average player can get an idea of what to expect when playing this game.

–Wolfen