Sunday, August 19, 2012

Diablo 3 Wizard - Nightmare Notes on Bastion Keep and Heaven


I've seen statements that you should be able to end Nightmare Level at level 50, but I think this is true ONLY if you're using a toon that's very well geared (and it's more likely on Barbarian or Monk simply because they're the toughest characters.  Wizards have about all the durability of wet tissue paper.)

At Nightmare level in Diablo 3, wizards are very crunchy targets and apparently number one on the diet of every bad guy out there.  After surviving the interior keep, I was fairly certain that I could handle the battlefields -- they hadn't been THAT much more difficult in Normal mode, and by now I was level 49.  Just charge in, throw the Templar at them, and it'd be great.

Boy, was that the wrong assumption. 

I found that I needed to upgrade my gear (via auction house) AND the Templar's gear to at least level 45 to get through there without dying every two minutes -- instead, I died every three minutes.  Switching to Frost Build also helped.  After trying all three followers, I found that the Scoundrel seemed to work better for a lot of the battlements and the Enchantress worked better in the battlefields.  However, once we got to the "heart of sin" part of the quest, the Enchantress proved less than successful and the Templar turned out to be a better choice. 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Wizard in Diablo 3: Bastion Keep, Nightmare Level

Having zapped and fried my way through Caldeum, it was on to the Zoltun Kulle quests and Bastion Keep.  I don't know about you, but I found Kulle annoying the first time through.  The second time I had to do this, I got him started talking... and left.  The Escape key works, too.

Unless you've got really good gear, it's very hard to take down Belial before level 45.  I used Archon and Teleport with fractured images, had the Scoundrel out as my companion (highest DPS), and did a lot of dodging and running.  I had tried it with Diamond Skin, but that didn't hold up, so I switched to ice armor and teleport.  Of course (as is typical), I thought I was relatively indestructible after that and went to the Bastion Keep... where I promptly fell over dead on the first set of monsters.

I'm blaming it on the cold.


Friday, August 3, 2012

Surviving Caldeum at Nighmare Level with the Wizard (part 1).

It's all Fun and Games until you hit Nightmare Level

It isn't easy being green.  Or Arcane.  Or Frost, for that matter.   The first thing I found out that was once I hit the Nightmare level, Azumi folded like a cheap suit everytime ANYTHING came close to him.  I got through the first few quests with only a death or two, but after I hit the Cathedral, things changed.  I adjusted my build a bit more, and downed Magda.  I was feeling really confident when, as level 38, I set out for Caldeum.  I was confident with my play, confident in my gear, and ... just confident.

And once more, Azumi fell over dead within the first few mobs as soon as we hit Stinging Sands.  After some tries (and a lot of repair bills), I came up with a reasonable strategy.


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Diablo 3: It's all Fun and Games until you hit Nightmare Level

The title pretty much says it all.  I've been leveling one of each type of character (yes, I'm an altaholic) but given the limited amount of space in the stash, I'm now only leveling two characters.  The others are acting as extra storage space at the moment -- because you often find a piece of gear that would be Just Perfect for another class when you get around to that.  Right now, my Barbarian's level 44 and my Wizard is level 37 and both are in the Stinging Winds area.

I think my Wizard is plotting to have me eaten by a grue.

With equipment donated by his good friend (my Barbarian, who is level 45 and stuffs all the mage-y junk in the Stash chest), my mage blasted through the Normal levels and splatted Diablo to bits as he hit level 30.  The build I chose was effective but not perhaps the best, using Frost Nova (ice snap), hydra (Arcane), ice armor (Chiling Aura), Mirror Image (simulacrum), Magic Missle (charged blast), Ray of Frost (snow blast) on my casting bar.  Evocation, Astral Blast, and Blur for the passive skills.  It wasn't a very high-powered build.  My armor was 1088 and the official stats say my damage was 586.17 -- so not very high, actually.  Since I'd killed him once (after many tries) on my Barbarian, the experience I had on how to manage the fight actually made it possible to solo Diablo at a much lower level on the Wizard.

Well, that and the gold and knowing how to use the Auction House.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Defeating Diablo, Normal Mode (Wizard)

After playing around with the Barbarian (to Nightmare Mode level 45) I decided to toy with some of the ranged classes.  Although Demon Hunter is very popular, I decided to pick the Wizard.  I'm not sure why -- maybe I just liked his looks.

The Wizard leveled a lot faster than I figured he would.  My basic tactics were "gear up Templar, let HIM run in, and blast things from a distance."  I picked gear for overall DPS, figuring that the Wizard's job is to stay out of the way of things while someone else dies.  It worked quite well and he actually made it all the way up to Diablo (last boss) without dying -- even the icy battlefield didn't give him any trouble.  By the time he was level 30, I figured it was time to move onto the "let's get into Heaven and smush up the forces of evil."  The Barbarian (my first character) had trouble with the icy battlefields and I didn't get to heaven until she was level 34.

So what could go wrong with a Wizard character -- right?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Diablo 3 - Normal Barbarians (part 2)

(These notes are for NORMAL, not HARDCORE mode.  Not yet.  And on Normal difficulty.)

Okay -- you've gotten your character up to level 4 or so, you've picked your first skills, and you've even got some gear.  You're on your way to defeating the Big Bad Boss at the end of the game -- and unlocking the increasingly harder Nightmare, Hell, and Inferno difficulties.

Now -- let me add a note up front, here -- this is YOUR game.  I have some tactics that I use, but this should not be considered "set in stone."  I use "whirlwind" a lot, but you might prefer to have Seismic Slam or Hammer of the Ancients (both of which cost less energy) on your right mouse button.  I prefer to play with a shield but you might like the two-handed weapon best.

It's your game.  Set the game up however you like it.  Experiment with things -- that's what makes games fun!  If you have a group that you play with, then talk to them and ask them how they'd like you geared (the strategy may be for you to run in and take lots of damage while everyone stands at the edges and picks the little guys off and someone heals you, for instance.)  But if you're playing it solo, like I do, just make characters and have fun!

So... Barbarians...

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Diablo 3, starting a Barbarian (part 1)

This is a series of notes about Diablo3, written from the perspective of "I never played this game before but I think I'll try it out."  This isn't a deep statistical analysis.

So... you're new to the game and you've picked a Barbarian because it's one of the easier classes to play. There's some specialty gear that drops for each class (Barbarians get a lot of belts -- don't ask me why) and this particular class gets extra bonuses just for standing around and wearing armor.  Sounds good right?

A note on character designs -- the male Witch Doctor appears to have a bad case of Parkinson's disease and although I love the idea of having Black characters in the game, the constant twitching is a bit much.  Nor do I like the prancy-girly female Demon Hunter in her high heels with twin crossbows is a real visual turn-off. 

When you log in, you begin Act 1 -- to find the "fallen star" and kill a lot of monsters.  You have two attacks (right and left mouse buttons -- the right mouse button costs more energy than the left mouse button attack) and two large globes at the bottom of your screen.  The red one is your health.  If it goes away, so do you.  The right globe is your energy (rage) and you need certain amounts of it to do certain attacks that cause more damage.  As you level, you will get options (the sword icon at the bottom (next to the person icon (your inventory)) will blink and you'll be able to choose from a number of confusing looking options.

Never fear, grasshopper.  You'll get it sorted out after a bit.  Time to go adventuring.  Run down the hill and kill whatever gets in your way.  At the bottom of the hill is Captain Rumsford.  You'll talk with him and the fun will begin.

Once you've got all the zombies sorted out (and dead), the gate opens and you can enter New Tristam.  Quest givers have glowing exclamation marks, people who want to yak at you have blue-white asterisks, and if you get lost, the icon (bottom of your screen) that looks like a wine cup has your journal with tabs about what you just read (or should have) from manuscripts you picked up and what quest you're on. 

Notable NPC's:

Friday, July 20, 2012

Getting started in Diablo 3 (no, not an Android game this time)

I admit I was sort of "meh" about getting a copy of Diablo 3 with my year's subscription to Warcraft.  Warcraft does suit all my needs, and I'm not looking for other games.  But friends were playing it and so I decided to eventually try it out because it's a solo game and sometimes I want to fiddle with something while I'm writing something else.

But once I got into the game a little bit, I discovered that a) most of the info out there was the result of rewrites of the pre-release game (and two years old) and b) contained in threads in a discussion forum.  So you have to slog through page after page after page (after page) of comments just to find out what stats you should put on the Rogue who's following you around.

So -- I haven't played it up to the highest level, but here's the basics (this is just MY opinion.  Your mileage may vary):


Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Glorious time wasters: Fruit Roll


If you're into old video games, you'll find yourself right at home in this side scrolling platform game for Android devices.  This free game offers a very simple scenario -- you start out the game as a yellow fruit (which changes as you encounter other things) and the goal is to bounce and squish and roll as you grab stars (points) and weapons (fruit) through different levels.  The weapons (fruit choices) appear on the left hand side of the screen as you collect them; tapping on them allows you to change your character to get that fruit's powers.  But choose your fruit weapons wisely, because if you hit the enemy with the wrong fruit, you're going to lose the encounter.  Tapping (single, double, triple) give you different jump heights.  Time them carefully, because like any physics based game it's easy to misjudge distance.  I prefer the "feel" of this on my 7 inch Android tablet, though it's quite playable on my Android phone as well.

Certain fruits change the size of your character or the game speed and affects the gameplay in a drastic fashion as you hit the higher levels.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Glorious Time Wasters: Magma Mobile's "Galaxy"

Glorious Time Wasters:  Galaxy


Initial review:  Five stars -- deceptively easy for the first rounds.

Game category:  Puzzle games

Game type: Puzzle and timed puzzle

Recommended device size:  any device

Who'd enjoy it?  For everyone, really.

My tablet chimed softly as the game screen loaded.  My husband eyed the first screen:  run your finger over three lines to connect 3 stars in a triangle.  "Tough, huh?" he joked.  I gritted my teeth.  "I'm reviewing Android games for kids.  Parents always like to have recommendations for little free Android games suitable for children so that they can keep the young ones amused while they're waiting somewhere," I said as the screen flashed "good job." 

A four sided figure appeared.  "It's a Mom thing," I said.

He looked at me, amused. 

"It's supposed to be easy," I swooshed through the figure in two seconds.  "Good job!" the screen read.

More stars appeared, connected by lines.  The next diagram was no problem for an adult but might be challenging for a four year old learning to play connect the dots games.  However, by the time the game had gotten up to level 8, the difficulty level had crept up.  There were some "one way" connections and if you tried to go over a line a second time, it would erase the line.   By the time I hit level 13, it was taking longer than 3 seconds to get through and I was having to think about which moves would work best. 

That's typical of a lot of the Magma Mobile games.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Glorious Time Wasters: Godville

Who it's for:  Anyone
Rating:  Five REEEEALY weird stars

GODVILLE

I'm.. not sure whose time this android game is actually wasting, because technically it's not wasting your time.  This is an RPG game for android devices that you DON'T play.  It's sort of a social media thing with sort of guilds as well.  And actually, it's a little stranger than that, even.  It's a parody life, the universe, and  MMO games -- and best of all, you don't play it.



That's right.  You DON'T play this one.  It plays itself.

This is a text ...err... game -- or, rather, the diary of a luckless wannabe that YOU are godling over.  You create yourself a deity and a hero suddenly decides to find you.  Your godlike powers aren't terribly awesome -- but that's okay, because your hero isn't that awesome.  You can send your hero messages and encourage them (sometimes this means raining flower petals on them.)  You can also punish them and attempt to turn them to the Dark Side or become an outstanding do-gooder. 

Your hero does all sorts of things while you're not watching (which gives you a new perspective on how deities might see YOU.)  For instance, they will join a guild without your intervention.  This is a nice thing for those of you who deal with guilds on MMOs.  Less guild drama, more fun.


"Thought about writing in my diary, but then I changed my mind."

"Upon close inspection, this road seems to be paved with good intentions.  Huh.  I wonder where it leads.

"You know, Exalted One, I would have won that fight with the Wounder Man if that tree hadn't jumped out in front of me."

"Bunnies in burrows suddenly got suspiciously fussy."  (Yes you read that right.)

"Avoiding mudholes, monsters, and mimes"

If you get the game, DO make an account on the GodVille site.
http://godvillegame.com/

It's free.  Check it out at the link below:

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Glorious Little Apps: Relax And Sleep

There's an app for just about anything these days -- but this "Relax and Sleep" (a favorite free Android app of mine) is one I've recommended to friends who travel and find it hard to get to sleep when they're away from home.  Think of it as your own personal, free, environmental ambiance generator -- and so much more. 

Need a free white noise generator to help you doze off?  Yes, "Relax and Sleep" has an assortment of white noise type generators, inclluding "fan" and "washing machine."  I prefer to combine several sounds together (my favorite is rain and a cat purring, along with cricket frogs) to create a lovely soundscape as I drift off to sleep.  However, you can also use it to create a work-friendly soundscape to help you focus your attention and minimize distractions from the rest of your workspace.

Here's the link to the free version for the Android operating system -- BUT -- it's such a lovely little app that
I recommend paying the $3.00 and getting the paid version.

And happy napping!
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.mizusoft.relaxandsleep&hl=en

Monday, February 13, 2012

Glorious Time Wasters: Glu's Bonsai Blast Android Game

Initial review:  Five stars -- Nice little twist on a target shooting game
Game category:  Physics games
Game type: Arcade
Recommended device size:  any device
Who'd enjoy it?  For everyone, really.
http://www.glu.com/game/bonsai-blast

It's hard to come up with new concepts in a "shoot the target" game, but Glu has managed to create a very pleasant, simple, and playable game for all Android devices.  You're presented a screen with a path and a little "snake" of marbles that start moving along the path to another hole.  The object is to add colored marbles to a section until you match three of the same color, and that section of the line explodes and the marble "snake" shrinks.  Once you've mastered the basics of this game, you can start to get fancy by ricocheting your marbles off walls, using chutes to guide marbles, and swapping from one shooting spot to the next with a touch of your finger.  Each level brings some extra bonuses and treasures.

The game graphics are beautiful, and the play is smooth.  Although this doesn't involve chess-like strategy, it does require some quick thinking to place the marbles properly.  Best of all, for those with poorer eyesight, you touch the part of the marble snake where you want your next marble to land and it goes there -- no wild blasting all over the screen trying to get the game under control.

Great fun, great quick time waster, great stress buster.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Not so glorious time wasters -- A Knights Dawn

Android game: A Knight's Dawn

I tried hard to like this one because it had so much going for it --  a hybrid gamethat's a cross between a steampunkish roleplaying game and an arcade shooter.  It comes complete with a storyline that weaves through the levels and ties the scenarios together neatly.  It allowed flexibility with character choice, and once you figure out the mechanics (where to place ranged fighters (musketeers) and melee fighters (knights, axemen, etc)) it wasn't that hard to successfully complete a level.

But where it really went wrong for me was in the persistent microtransactions where you pay through Paypal or a credit card for equipment upgrades.  Yes, you can earn enough points to upgrade ONE of your characters -- if you play six rounds at one level.  It was far too easy to hit on one of the "download this and get THIS much XP" ads, and the constant commercials (along the lines of "just upgrade with XP and you won't LOSE this level!") were a total turnoff.  I don't mind ads and I do understand that developers need to be recompensed.  But I prefer the "upgrade payment" or "free but you've got ads" model to the "buy your way to heroics."

The best gaming experience for A Knight's Dawn is on larger tablets.  It was almost impossible to get through the first level on my phone, and the darkness of the graphics made it hard to locate my heroes on the 7 inch tablet.  Load time of the game itself was quite long -- I thought my machines had frozen.

And I just hate the constant microtransactions (pay money for gear) -- did I mention that?  Yeah.  I thought so.


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Glorious Time Wasters: Star Traders (a rant, a rememberance, a rave)

This is a rant, a rememberance, and a rave review

A long time ago (1984), on a Fidonet far, far away (Dallas) a computer game appeared that members embraced so enthusiastically that members donated cash so that equipment could be upgraded and we could play the latest version.  It was a "space traders" game where you visited planets, avoided bad guys, and moved around cash and goods and tried to make enough money to retire.  The graphics were simple, but that didn't stop us from playing it for hours on end. 

Then the game market changed and the Internet arrived, and the little game we loved was long gone.

I'm not sure what I was looking for a few months ago in Android Marketplace, but I tripped across a game called "Star Traders" in my search for -- something other than a game where you blew stuff up or threw things at other things.  The ad for Star Traders said that it was a "role playing game" for the Android; a phrase that intrigued me.   I like games that engage the brain.  I downloaded it on a whim and opened it -- and I was swept back to that wonderful time where an imaginative simulation game kept us all fascinated for hours.

It also avoided one of my biggest gripes with Android games -- developers who believe that only three types of people who play Android games:  Games For Children who need to be amused with sweetly fluffy games, Games For Guys with hot wimmin and bodily functions and rampaging things that must be blasted or squashed until until the screen bleeds red, and Games For Women With An IQ Slightly Higher Than Breakfast Toast who obsess over their looks when they're not doing word puzzles or trying to manage beauty shops or restaurants or farms (why do no games for women ever have us managing a dive team or an archaeological dig or a science lab?) 

As a player, I have an issue with some of the developers' philosophies.  Many release two versions of a game -- a free and a paid one, which is fine because I like to try before I buy.  However, some of the developers create games where the player must use in-game currency to acquire things and deliberately set the amount you can win at a very low figure.  If you want to progress in the game, you keep having to run back to the developing company and buy in-game currency through PayPal or other sources (Aquapets has recently become a worst case example of them and although I loved the game, I have joined the crowd of other folks who have erased it after becoming disgusted with their greedy manipulations.)

But occasionally you get an Android game like Star Traders, which is turn based, playable by anyone who can read English, isn't trying to suck your wallet dry, and treats the players like intelligent adults.  This particular review is of the free version of this Android game, but honestly, I liked it enough to fork over the $2 and buy the full version.   I'll add right now that the free version is satisfyingly complete -- you don't feel as though you were somehow tricked into buying a game you can only play for five levels before you have either solved it or it starts demanding money from you.  And (thank you, Cory and Andrew Trese) they don't have any way of buying currency.

The graphics are clean and readable even on a phone.  It doesn't require  a lot of finger dexterity or screen accuracy to play the game -- AND -- it's easy to turn off the soundtrack and game sounds.  I like my games quiet, thank you.

The scenario is interesting -- in a galaxy sector full of political conflicts, you become the captain of a star ship and take on assignments on behalf of your faction (or just for yourself.)  You can choose from a variety of roles (my favorite is Explorer, though military officer is interesting as well.)  Your job is to run errands for your faction, explore, trade, fight, spy, and survive as your faction brawls with other ruling factions or forms sudden alliances.  You may be headed for a port, only to have your clan decide to war with the planet you're approaching and end up being captured or searched for contraband or declared an "undesirable."

There's a nice variety of game levels, from "basic" to "impossible."  It IS possible to survive for at least 60 turns on "Impossible" -- you just have to be very good at understanding the game mechanics.

For someone who loves roleplaying, this game is ideal.  It's beautifully written, with text that deftly paints (without overpainting) the planets and star ports, from the misery of some of the overrun and conquered planets to the opulence of the clan centers.  Without a wall of text, you are free to imagine the glittering lights of Javat Prime from space, with ascending and descending ships trailing thin wires of fire as they come and go.

The naming choices are particularly charming (the planet, Notlach, and the ruler "Drewacious the Wide" along with "Prince Fire Clay" are some of my favorites) and the titles of the leaders (such as High Counsel) suggest a range of governments.  There's a nod to some familiar themes -- spice as a recreational drug (shades of Dune!) and to Star Wars, which makes the game even more fun.

Highly Recommended

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Glorious Time Wasters - Android Game Review of "Seven Little Words"

Glorious Time Wasters - "Seven Little Words"
Rating:  Everyone who reads well
Notes:  Great for the vocabulary.  You might have to hunt some things up!

We've all been there -- standing in the grocery line while the person in front of you unloads what seems to be a clown car onto the conveyor belt.  The checkout machine decides to not scan five items (based on some sort of random algorithm) and as you look around, you discover you ARE in the shortest line.  Ennui looms.   Tabloids hint at dark secrets.  Candy racks hint at high calorie satisfaction.

What to do... what to do?   Your fingers start to twitch...