DCUO Beta

[Scrib]

Thanks to both of you for the feedback.

My point is that even if you're not rushing, level 30 comes really darn fast. I'm used to a lot more grinding, I guess. Honestly I don't miss the grinding, I'm just concerned about what there is to do at level 30 once you have no more power points, and your skill trees are capped.

Obviously this is what I'm wondering about, but...

I fully agree with concerns that this game may play out fast.  But then I think I'm okay with that.  Of all the games I played for just a short while and didn't continue, City of Heroes is the only one I have fond memories of.  It was hella fun.  Got old fast, but so what?  Good memories are still good memories.

Val makes a good point. I didn't play City of Heroes, but I did enjoy playing the single player offline Marvel game, Ultimate Alliance or something.
If the game does play out fast, it'll save me a lot of monthly subs!
Then I can move on to Rifts or SW:ToR, and later to The Secret World. 

[Vilidius]

@Namae - Yeah, my point wasn't about capping your primary weapon skill though.  You'll do that on leveling skill points alone.  My point was that it weapon skill points translate into more HP, more Power, more % crit chance, etc.  You can never have too much (or even enough) of that, right?  So heck, yes.  You spend into a second, third, and fourth weapon skill.  Just for the bonuses.

I'm not saying you have to, necessarily.  But for those of us who want the best character possible ... yeah, it's motivating.  =)

[Alirrin]

I've been in the beta, too. I love the graphics and the feel, but the console-converted-to-mouse combat physically hurts.  I developed pain in my elbow from the rapid left and right clicking tonget combo moves.  It might be better with a controller.

So far I haven't encountered any group content, or seen how one forms groups or "guilds". I have no idea if it will have the social aspect of any of the fantasy MMOs, but it is an entertaining game.

[Namae Nai]

Can I suggest Rifles Quince? They're it's more click and hold, and you only let go when you want to move to a new target. If you have a neato game pad dealie, you can even have it automatically hold until you click again. You still would have to click your powers, but at least the auto attack stuff can be taken care of.

Had an insight from the Beta forums and it really helped me to understand the game. Combat in DCUO is basically paper/rock/scissors.

• Melee attacks, charges and stun damage are beaten by blocking. Literally! The NPCs don't block much, but when they do, your melee damage and stuns actually reflect onto you. This happens a LOT in PvP, and you can take advantage of it when tanking big bads in PvE since they are almost without exception melee heavy. You would be surprised what you can survive and annihilate if you watch your enemy and block the bigger attacks.


• Blocks can be beaten by special ranged attacks called Block Breakers. If one of these attacks connect on someone that's blocking, there's a stun and massive damage inflicted. So if someone starts Blocking like crazy, you should back up and start your Block Breaker attack. Every weapon set has a Block Breaker in it.


• Block Breaking Ranged attacks have a weakness as well.. they take a moment to cast and can be interrupted. That's where the melee charge and stun comes in. While you are getting a ranged attack off, you're wide open for a stun.

So the trick in DCUO seems to be to figure out what kind of maneuver your enemy will be using and pick the maneuver that defeats it. Until today I dreaded going into Tank mode in DCUO because it meant I got all the damage. But now that I know how useful Block actually is, and when I need to roll back away and use a Block Breaker it's actually a lot of fun.