Monthly Archives: August 2015

Upcoming WildStar Maintenance!

CRB_Sunshine has just posted over on the official forums, that there are a couple different maintenances about to hit WildStar, and/or it’s website.

Hello Everyone –

There will be a scheduled website maintenance period tomorrow, Monday/Tuesday, August 17/18, 2015 from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM PDT. Website, new account creation, forums, store, and store purchases will be unavailable for 7 hours.

Game login will be affected and players will not be able to log into the game from 10:00 PM until 12:00 AM PDT.

Additionally, all megaservers will be down for maintenance from 12AM PDT until 3:45 PDT for hardware maintenance and no update will be deployed.

Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks,
Team WildStar

So, hurry up and get your fix in now, since it looks like new game logins will be blocked a couple hours before the servers actually go down.  What are we supposed to do without the forums overnight though?!!?!?  Sleep?

 

 

Update:  Looks like there is some incoming PTR maintenance too:

Hello Everyone –

On Tuesday, August 18th, at 10:00AM PDT / 12:00PM CDT / 1:00PM EDT / 5:00PM UTC we are going to deploy a update to the test server.

This update includes the following fixes:

Classes
Combat

  • The diminishing returns constants on defensive stats have been adjusted. In general defensive stats were too potent and have had their return per rating reduced.
  • Armor now softcaps at 0%, this means it is always subject to diminishing returns, accordingly the return per rating has been increased.
  • Deflect Chance now softcaps at 30%, the return per rating has been reduced and the diminishing returns are now less steep.
  • Glance Chance now softcaps at 30%, the return per rating has been reduced and the diminishing returns are now less steep.
  • Glance Mitigation now softcaps at 75%, the return per rating has been reduced and the diminishing returns are now less steep.
  • Critical Mitigation now softcaps at 150%, the return per rating has been reduced and the diminishing returns are now less steep.
  • Creature Critical Severity now scales at a reduced rate accordingly.
  • CC Resilience now softcaps at 25%, the return per rating has been increased and the diminishing returns are now less steep.
  • The return per rating for Health has been reduced.
  • Creatures no longer have their damage mitigation split between Armor and Resist Ratings.
  • Creatures now gain all of their base mitigation from Armor Rating, similar to players.

Engineer

Feedback

  • T8 now correctly reduces all incoming damage types (was only reducing physical)

Stalker

Whiplash

  • Fixed an issue where the T8 Invigorate was lasting longer than intended.

Estimated downtime for this update will be 3hrs 45min, however, we will update this thread should it be longer.

Thanks,
Team WildStar

Deep Dive: Discoveries

This morning, Carbine released a nice little Deep Dive covering the changes to Discoveries as part of Drop 6.

The biggest changes to the Discoveries (besides there being a LOT more of them), are the pets, and costumes you can find.  Here’s the relevant snippets from Caydiem’s article:

 

If gameplay boosts aren’t motivation enough to chase down Discoveries, how about some exclusive companion pets?

Starting at level 6, each zone in the game will feature a unique pet that can only be found through Discoveries. Ever want a Red Garr, a Purple Ravenok, or a Strain-Corrupted Chompacabra? You can find them hiding in a Discovery! Only the most dedicated of pet lovers will collect them all.

Good-looking pets demand good-looking pet owners, so we added nine costumes you can find via Discoveries. Want to dress like a Bloodfire Draken or sport a classy space helmet? How about a full hazmat suit or a pair of sporty goggles? Citizens of Nexus, engage your style engines!

 

I’ve been playing on the PTR almost exclusively for the last week (minus a couple of veteran ship hands run with my son), and it’s easy to tell that the frequency of Discoveries has been cranked up to 11 on the dial.  In Algoroc, I could easily find 2 or 3 Discoveries over a 5 minute span – just while doing my normal questing, I wasn’t specifically going out and looking for them.

I’ve yet to find any of the pets or costumes, but, since I know they’re out there… I’m stopping at each, and every Discovery I find – and fully exploring every Zone’s map.  This is something I don’t currently do on live, where the Discoveries are there, and if it’s convenient (i.e, right next to another quest objective) I’ll grab the Discovery.

So, for me at least, the Discovery changes are having the desired effect.. I’m actively seeking them out.  I haven’t found a ‘bad’ buff yet, and it seems the frequency of ‘non-buff’ Discoveries has been upped as well, since I’ve ran into quite a few of those.  I’m a fan of the Discovery change..and I hope the current PTR version, is what makes it to live.

 

Head over to WildStar’s site, and read the full Deep Dive.  Don’t forget to sign up for the Beta while you’re there…and jump in and help test the new goodies in Drop 6!

 

PTR – Crafting tutorial changes

WildStar crafting is getting some big changes on the PTR as well, streamlining, removing some patterns, etc.. but, one of the changes I haven’t seen talked about yet.. is to the tutorial that pops up when you first pick up a new tradeskill.

Now, the first time you go to craft an item, you’ll get a 6 ‘page’ pop up tutorial, that covers power cores, over charging, under charging, failure, and pretty much everything you need to know to craft something.

Power Cores:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.31.00

The overall quantity of power cores has been greatly reduced (no more multiple variants of the same type of core – don’t worry.. all your old cores will get converted to the new core for that item level as part of the Drop 6 upgrade).  This tutorial page explains how power core power level relates to item level, and that you can’t ‘overpower’ your item, by using a level 50 core, in a level 10 item schematic.

Next up, is the individual sockets on the crafting board:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.34.03

 

Here, we get told that the socket determines which stats will end up on the final item, and that some sockets can be swapped, without a penalty.

Socket Charging:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.36.17

This is our over/under charging page… Overcharging means higher stats… but that comes with the risk of higher failure.  Undercharging, lower stats, but safer!  (who wants safe.. OVERCHARGE ALL THE THINGS!).  I’ve yet to run into an instance where undercharging was needed, I suppose if you’re doing some of the “Craft X of Y item” quests, undercharging might not be bad, as it would ensure no failures (and therefor, wasted mats) while cranking out the required crafts for the quests.

 

Assault vs Support Power:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.39.09

 

New for Drop 6, and, this is the crafting change I really dig the most so far.. you can now specify whether you want the final item to be more Assault-y, or more Support-y, by adjusting this slider.  Previously, it’s been more random (at least, I’ve never found a way to guarantee one or the other primary stat came out on top), which meant crafting multiple items to hope RNG gave you the primary stat you wanted.. now.. it’s PROTOSTAR easy… just flip the slider!

The last two pages of the tutorial are all about failure, how to fail, and what happens if you do fail:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.41.43

Failure comes from overcharging beyond a certain percent.  On live currently, I never overcharge beyond a 5% failure chance.  I figure that gets me my slight boost, without too big of a risk of losing all my mats.  One of the Signature account benefits post-Drop 6/F2P conversion is -15% Overcharge failure rate.. Which should mean Signature Account crafters should be able to overcharge by 15%, and still be at a 0% failure rate.. which means, slightly more powerful gear being available from Signature crafters.

So, don’t be this guy:

Screen Shot 2015-08-14 at 12.45.39Don’t overcharge too high, fail, and lose all your mats.. no one wants to be this guy.

Also, I do need to say “Good Job” to Carbine on this particular tutorial change.. it’s very well done, and I think it explains how to craft, overcharge, and fail, quickly enough that people will understand.

 

CBT Phase Clarification

In case you missed CRB_Bardic’s post today over on the official forums (here), she clarified some stuff regarding the ongoing CBT/PTR testing, with regards to the store, and how ‘funny money’ is going to be handled.

Here’s her post, along with a mini-FAQ she included:

Hi all,

I’d like to make sure everyone is aware of how to test the store throughout our Free-to-Play Closed Beta Test (CBT)! Please pass this on if you see other folks asking in-game. Now, here are the details:

CBT Phases

WildStar’s Free-to-Play Closed Beta is structured in two phases:

Phase I

Players will be issued a test-only currency, called PTR NCoin, each week during this phase.

  • This distribution is planned to be run every Thursday, starting today (8/13/2015), barring unforeseen issues.
  • The distribution will be to all players with active subscriptions (or paid time) and any (new or lapsed) player that has redeemed their beta code from an invitation email.
    What this means for you: If you’ve been invited via email, try to redeem your code before Thursdays! If you miss it, you won’t get your NCoin until the next week’s distribution.

Phase II

Phase II is to help us test the real world purchase flow of NCoin.

When we start Phase II, all in-game store purchases, the free PTR NCoin you received in Phase I, OmniBits earned, loyalty points, and loyalty reward tracts will be wiped. We will also be wiping characters.

At this point, you can acquire PTR NCoin via:

  • Purchasing real NCoin bundles on the NCSOFT web store
  • Purchasing real NCoin bundles using our in-game store UI on the CBT realm (more info soon).

Starting in Phase II, when you buy real NCoin on the NCSOFT website you’ll receive an identical amount of PTR NCoin to spend in the Closed Beta realm. So, for example, if you purchase the 400 NCoin bundle, you’ll also get 400 PTR NCoin. Your real NCoin will be stockpiled on your account, to either spend in an existing NCSOFT product, or it’ll be waiting for you at WildStar’s Free to Play launch!

There will be more details coming on how to purchase in Phase II. Please also take a look at our FAQ in the support knowledge base for more details on Closed Beta.

What Phase Are We In Now?
We just started Phase I, when we announced Closed Beta on 8/11!

Phase I: How Much PTR NCoin Will I Get?
This section will be updated to give you the plan for the current week’s distribution and the status on that distribution.

8/13 – 800 PTR NCoin to be delivered to current beta participants – Completed!

Phase I: I Need More NCoin!
We’re intentionally metering out the spending currency to help us properly monitor testing of the store, while also reviewing transaction information and analytics. We don’t have a set amount of NCoin distribution per week because we may adjust week to week over the course of Phase I.

Phase II: If I already have NCoin on my account when Phase II goes live, will I get the equivalent amount of PTR NCoin automatically?
PTR NCoin can only be issued from new NCoin bundle purchases from the start of Closed Beta Phase II.

Phase II: How Do I Use The In-Game UI To Buy NCoin?
Come back soon, I’ll have extreme amounts of detail here!

Phase II: When Does Closed Beta Phase II Start?
We will provide this date as we get closer. For now, please enjoy your PTR NCoin and explore the store!

So there you have it!  All your Funny Money questions answered (except, when we should flood CRB_Bardic’s twitter feed with #funnymoney).

The descriptions of the phases, make it sound like invites to people other than current subscribers have either started going out, or will be going out soon.. so, if you signed up for the beta (by going here), keep an eye on your email for your invite, and if you get it.. get everything squared away by Wednesday night, so you don’t miss your funny money allowance for the week!

 

PTR – Support Training – Tank Version

Just took a quick run through the new level 6 Support Training Instance being added in Drop 6.  This time, I did it with an Engineer, so I could see the tanking side (see here for the Healer POV).

Same basic principle, but I’ve got a few issues with this one that I think Carbine needs to tweak before it goes live.

The first ‘phase’ of this as a tank, requires you to taunt the holo-enemy off the M.A.Cs.

The problem with this?  They shuffled around Engineer skills at level up, so you don’t get BruiserBot (your tank Bot – with TAUNT) until level 12.

Additionally, none of the tooltips for the skills you do have unlocked by level 6, specifically mention TAUNT in them.  This means that a new player will not know which support skill they need to use on the first phase.

Assuming a new player can figure out to use Hyperwave, they’ll be able to successfully complete phase one.  As you can see in the video, it took me a couple tries to get the right skill to.

Phase two, requires you to generate enough threat to pull the holo-enemy, but not to taunt them.  This is a little easier for new players to understand, since most abilities on the support tree generate extra threat.  The main issue I ran into here.. is that I killed the holo-enemy before they were pulled off by my threat generation.  I think the Holograms need their health buffed a bit, or the threat done by the M.A.Cs needs to be tuned down a smidge.

Overall, I still think this new support training instance is a very good addition to the game, especially since Carbine is targeting it at people who are new to MMOs in general.