Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (February 2012)

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by RaijinUT

For those who are interested, here is a trailer for the Kingdoms of Amalur mmo that killed the studio.

http://kotaku.com/5924410/the-traile...ull-never-play

Oh, what could have been......

Prior to DC Universe Online, I had little to no interest in MMORPGs, largely because of the monthly subscription fees, but after investing so much time into the standalone KOA release, I would have reconsidered my stance, just to see how far I could take my character. Some have commented that the world of Amalur is unremarkable and indistinct from other MMOs, and I think I would have felt the same if I hadn't played KOA:R, but there's just something about this world that I gravitated to, so to see this trailer as the final curtain call is disheartening for me. It's too bad that Epic Games has no interest in developing an MMO (with all of the ex-employees hired) because I would have liked to see someone (with resources and deep pockets) pursue this.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

This happened to me as well; what I don't know was whether this was attributed to my current level or my point investment in the Blacksmithing skill. Not going to complain though: using one repair kit beats spending a few thousand.

I haven't put anything into smithing yet. I think I've trained once and read a book. So, I don't think smithing level is related to repair ability. Not sure about overall level though. I'd swear when I first started repairing stuff, one repair kit was enough. Then it wasn't. Now it is again. Either I didn't realize it wasn't fully repairing the items when I was at a lower level or I had some curse or effect on me for the duration that I noticed single kits weren't fully repairing stuff. Or maybe I've got some piece of gear or something that's allowing me to repair better now.

At some point, you'll have more money than options you can spend it on (it feels nice to be part of the 1%, even if it's in Amalur ). You could spend it on really overpriced armour and weapons (there are a few at over 1/2 million gold each), but the truth is that you can craft better equipment on your own once you're past level 30.

Already there. Spent over 1 million gold already on training, curses, and some super expensive gear, and still have over 700,000 gold in my pocket. I bought a set of prismere armor last night, just to find out I can't even wear it until I level up Might to 40, which will take me at least 3 more levels, assuming I don't allocate any points to Finesse or Sorcery.

I don't really need the armor anyway; nothing seems to be able to touch me still. I just crossed the water and fought that giant thing, which was suspiciously like the giant beast fight in The Force Unleashed 2. Still not needing to use healing potions or reconning mode against even boss-level opponents, like I was when I first started the game. It was the same way in Skyrim, only I had to work a lot harder for it there. I think it took me to level 40 or 50 to become virtually invincible. In Amalur I got there before level 15. I'm level 23 now.

[MoulinBlu]

Finally got killed again yesterday: found myself surrounded in a dungeon by a boss-level mage, several other tuatha mages and about a half dozen other tuatha. It could have been avoided, but I had grown so used to my seeming invulnerability, I got careless. Got my might up to 40 now and using pristine gems on top, so we'll see if it can happen again. Even on the old armor, I faced a couple giant niskaru, but they were extremely easy to beat. It's funny how you beat some giant monster like it was nothing, but then you get surrounded by a few tiny gnome mages, and while still not a serious threat, they're a lot harder to beat.

Just to vent a little: I finished the "long overdue?" quest - which isn't even a full side quest, it's only a "task" - yesterday, and only got rewarded a measly 200 and some gold. What a rippoff! That's one quest I wish I had skipped. You start it at practically the beginning of the game and, with limited inventory, have to lug around up to 10 books until you've practically explored the entire map, as the last book is near the bottom of the second island. They really should have grouped or bagged the books or something like they do some supplies, instead of making you dedicate valuable space for so long, especially when you can't remove any of the books until the quest is complete, and there are SO many similar quests where you've got to find multiple items too. It would have been fine if every item for a specific quest were found in the same cave or region. But I expected a MUCH bigger payoff for something that takes you from the beginning of the game, practically to the end. More gold wouldn't have done it though, as that's plentiful already; the reward should have been some cool trinket or something. As is the only real incentive to complete the quest is to free up your inventory.

For that matter, I don't get why up to 99 lockpicks count as only 1 item, but for repair kits, which are equally needed, if not more so, are only 10 per slot. You've got to devote 10 item slots to carry the same amount of repair kits. I assume somebody had the brain fart that repair kits are bigger, so they should take more space, as if it that matters in games like this. My character couldn't practically lug around 1/10th of his inventory, not to mention millions of gold coins that don't even count as a single item.

While a lot of the interiors (caves, inns, houses) are a little too redundant, I'm really liking the geographic diversity. Skyrim did a better job than any RPG I've played with making interiors seem unique. But as massive as the game was, the exteriors all reflected the same geographic region. Different areas in Amalur offer completely different scenary that helps keep the game feeling more fresh than it's interiors.

I think Skyrims ambition was to make just a massive free-roam with as few limitations as possible. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of playability to some extent, as if the game was bigger than what the tech was capable of. Amalur's ambition seems to be to offer the illusion of such massive free-roam, which the game is huge, but with the performance of more linear games. I've experienced a few (very few) slight hesitations, but nowhere near the degree of lag of Skyrim, not a single freeze or bug so far. It's got somewhat limited (yet voluminous) rpg questing, but with the game mechanics of a pure fighter, rather than the basic hack and slash of most rpgs.

[Havok83]

Picked this up for $10 at BB today. Not sure if I will keep it but did lock in $19 TIV at Amazin just in case

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Havok83

Picked this up for $10 at BB today. Not sure if I will keep it but did lock in $19 TIV at Amazin just in case

For $10, it's a steal...

[ratandjmt]

Originally Posted by Havok83

Picked this up for $10 at BB today. Not sure if I will keep it but did lock in $19 TIV at Amazin just in case

I got mine this morning as well. Don't know why I didn't pick it up earlier but for $10 it was a no brainer.

[MoulinBlu]

Got the persuasion trophy last night at level 32. Still got a ton of things to do. So, knowing you need to prioritize leveling your persuasion skill and attempt every persuasion option that comes up, it seems to be a piece of cake to win 50 for the trophy. None of them failed for me, even one I had that was only 60% chance of success. All but a very few had a 95% success rate.

I had another book quest yesterday too, this time all were located in the same city, huge city as it was. It was funny, I spent about an hour running around from building to building collecting the books and my final reward was a skill book in persuasion, which usually I would have preferred a skill book over just about any other reward, but in this case I had already maxed out persuasion. Now that I've got the trophy, I wonder if it's safe to re-allocate my persuasion to other skills or if I might still need it for certain quests.

I came across another side quest that was a complete waste of time too: some cult where you've got to fill a vial, discredit some unbeliever (an easy 3 persuasions) and then pay out 100k of your own money (assuming you don't have an epic gem or don't want to part with your experience points) with no seeming reward other than clearing the quest.

BTW, can the traveller's tasks of collecting iron and peasant clothes actually be cleared? I've already taken them I don't know how many items, but either it's still not enough or it's a permanent task for extra money.

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Got the persuasion trophy last night at level 32. Still got a ton of things to do. So, knowing you need to prioritize leveling your persuasion skill and attempt every persuasion option that comes up, it seems to be a piece of cake to win 50 for the trophy. None of them failed for me, even one I had that was only 60% chance of success. All but a very few had a 95% success rate.

I had another book quest yesterday too, this time all were located in the same city, huge city as it was. It was funny, I spent about an hour running around from building to building collecting the books and my final reward was a skill book in persuasion, which usually I would have preferred a skill book over just about any other reward, but in this case I had already maxed out persuasion. Now that I've got the trophy, I wonder if it's safe to re-allocate my persuasion to other skills or if I might still need it for certain quests.

I came across another side quest that was a complete waste of time too: some cult where you've got to fill a vial, discredit some unbeliever (an easy 3 persuasions) and then pay out 100k of your own money (assuming you don't have an epic gem or don't want to part with your experience points) with no seeming reward other than clearing the quest.

BTW, can the traveller's tasks of collecting iron and peasant clothes actually be cleared? I've already taken them I don't know how many items, but either it's still not enough or it's a permanent task for extra money.

Point 1: Yes it's now safe to re-allocate those skill points to other more useful skills i.e. Blacksmithing or Sagecraft!

Point 2: I hated that side quest as well but as I needed the cash I gave up some EXP which was easily regained.

Point 3: Some side quests i.e. the one you mentioned are never ending and will stay in your incompleted quest log

Hope that helps?

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by GeneticMutation

Point 1: Yes it's now safe to re-allocate those skill points to other more useful skills i.e. Blacksmithing or Sagecraft!

Point 2: I hated that side quest as well but as I needed the cash I gave up some EXP which was easily regained.

Point 3: Some side quests i.e. the one you mentioned are never ending and will stay in your incompleted quest log

Hope that helps?

It does. Thanks!

I'll stop wasting time on iron and peasant clothes then. I haven't completed one or two trophies from the main quest yet, based on the number of trophies that are still hidden, and have only done the warsworn and travelers faction quests, so I was concerned having a high persuasion skill might still be useful. My sagecraft is already about maxed, but my steaI do need to do some work on alchemy and smithing. Mercantile is still in the beginning range too, but I don't see much point in pursuing it. 100k wasn't anything to me at this point in the game. It was just a lot of trouble for no reward that I saw. Clearing the quest isn't reward enough, especially when it's the type of quest where there aren't any spoils to be found during the journey. Maybe I got some kind of blessing for finishing it that'll help during the game, but I didn't notice anything other than a quest completed notice.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Got the persuasion trophy last night at level 32. Still got a ton of things to do. So, knowing you need to prioritize leveling your persuasion skill and attempt every persuasion option that comes up, it seems to be a piece of cake to win 50 for the trophy. None of them failed for me, even one I had that was only 60% chance of success. All but a very few had a 95% success rate.

Congrats on getting this trophy (I'm sure I'll get mine eventually, if I can just break away from DC Universe Online at the moment; maybe when my first character hits level 30...)

I had another book quest yesterday too, this time all were located in the same city, huge city as it was. It was funny, I spent about an hour running around from building to building collecting the books and my final reward was a skill book in persuasion, which usually I would have preferred a skill book over just about any other reward, but in this case I had already maxed out persuasion. Now that I've got the trophy, I wonder if it's safe to re-allocate my persuasion to other skills or if I might still need it for certain quests.

Honestly, I don't think it's that important or worthwhile holding onto Persuasion skill points after you've earned your trophy. There will be additional interactions in future quests (main and side) involving conversations, but at that point, getting someone to see you way doesn't really matter: you either fight them or you don't, right? None of the other trophies are affected by Persuasion, so I would recommend finding a Fateweaver and reassigning those Persuasion points into something else.

I came across another side quest that was a complete waste of time too: some cult where you've got to fill a vial, discredit some unbeliever (an easy 3 persuasions) and then pay out 100k of your own money (assuming you don't have an epic gem or don't want to part with your experience points) with no seeming reward other than clearing the quest.

I remember doing this side quest, but I don't remember the specifics (that's bound to happen after you've done 180, right? ) Anywho, I should have mentioned in the beginning that Tasks are pointless and should be avoided whenever possible, i.e. if something shows up as a Task rather than a Side Quest, just revert to a previous save so that it won't show up on your to-do list every time you open your menu. I think there may be one or two exceptions (I *think* one of the Tasks are tied to building the interiors of one of your houses, but I'm not positive), but Tasks are the equivalent of a herpes sore: you know it's there, but you can't get rid of them.

BTW, can the traveller's tasks of collecting iron and peasant clothes actually be cleared? I've already taken them I don't know how many items, but either it's still not enough or it's a permanent task for extra money.

If I remember correctly, this is a Task and those never disappear, i.e. you can do these for eternity and it will never disappear from your menu (hence my advice above for not pursuing Tasks). It's no different than filling vials or collecting reagents for someone to make potions; it took me a long time to realize this, even though I was getting paid.

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by PrivatePixel

Congrats on getting this trophy (I'm sure I'll get mine eventually, if I can just break away from DC Universe Online at the moment; maybe when my first character hits level 30...)


Honestly, I don't think it's that important or worthwhile holding onto Persuasion skill points after you've earned your trophy. There will be additional interactions in future quests (main and side) involving conversations, but at that point, getting someone to see you way doesn't really matter: you either fight them or you don't, right? None of the other trophies are affected by Persuasion, so I would recommend finding a Fateweaver and reassigning those Persuasion points into something else.


I remember doing this side quest, but I don't remember the specifics (that's bound to happen after you've done 180, right? ) Anywho, I should have mentioned in the beginning that Tasks are pointless and should be avoided whenever possible, i.e. if something shows up as a Task rather than a Side Quest, just revert to a previous save so that it won't show up on your to-do list every time you open your menu. I think there may be one or two exceptions (I *think* one of the Tasks are tied to building the interiors of one of your houses, but I'm not positive), but Tasks are the equivalent of a herpes sore: you know it's there, but you can't get rid of them.


If I remember correctly, this is a Task and those never disappear, i.e. you can do these for eternity and it will never disappear from your menu (hence my advice above for not pursuing Tasks). It's no different than filling vials or collecting reagents for someone to make potions; it took me a long time to realize this, even though I was getting paid.

Thanks again. Some tasks will clear. Actually, I think all I've done (at least10-20, maybe more) have cleared, just not those two. I think you're right about improving your house/office/mine or whatever being considered a task. I think re-staffing seaside castle (not sure on the name, something to do with the sea) was a side quest though. The reward for tasks seemed OK early in the game. I'm not so sure it's worth it now. Even if it were to pay a few thousand gold, that's pocket change compared to selling your spoils for 60k and up. Already, I've returned from a couple side quests with nearly 200k worth of goods in my packs. I hate to sell some of them, especially the name weapons because they look much cooler than what I've got, but what I've got will be much stronger.

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Thanks again. Some tasks will clear. Actually, I think all I've done (at least10-20, maybe more) have cleared, just not those two. I think you're right about improving your house/office/mine or whatever being considered a task. I think re-staffing seaside castle (not sure on the name, something to do with the sea) was a side quest though. The reward for tasks seemed OK early in the game. I'm not so sure it's worth it now. Even if it were to pay a few thousand gold, that's pocket change compared to selling your spoils for 60k and up. Already, I've returned from a couple side quests with nearly 200k worth of goods in my packs. I hate to sell some of them, especially the name weapons because they look much cooler than what I've got, but what I've got will be much stronger.

I'm sure some of the Tasks (e.g. collect 10 books) will clear and thus disappear from your menu, but others will linger forever. If you've earned over a million gold, unless you're really bored and out of side quests to do (if that's even possible), then Tasks might be worth pursuing, but the effort::reward ratio isn't there. Like you said, in most cases, you get maybe a few hundred / thousand gold for your troubles which, in the grand scheme of things, just aren't a motivating factor, not when you can earn this after a single fight.

If you haven't seen them (Prismere weapons) as yet, they're easily the ugliest things in the game, and crafting new ones will make them more potent, but there's no getting around that heinous red colour. If you're lucky, you might come across an Infrequent or Rare weapon(s) whose attributes are almost on par with some of the Prismere weapons, and you can keep those as part of your personal arsenal over some of the standard Prismere weapons (which is what I did).

[KVM]

I should have known better than to start on 'normal' difficulty. Got about 3.5 hours in, realized I needed to play on HARD for the trophy, did some easy trophy requirements that I could, then recreated my character in a new game. Got back to where I was in short order too. Died in one dungeon while not paying attention to mob (multiple attack) avoidance.

I guess I can save a file and pay to re-spec to get the dual/triple role trophies then reload my save file. I think I am on track for a might-sorcery build, but not quite sure just yet.

[Omegaice]

Originally Posted by Hungryman

I should have known better than to start on 'normal' difficulty. Got about 3.5 hours in, realized I needed to play on HARD for the trophy, did some easy trophy requirements that I could, then recreated my character in a new game. Got back to where I was in short order too. Died in one dungeon while not paying attention to mob (multiple attack) avoidance.

I guess I can save a file and pay to re-spec to get the dual/triple role trophies then reload my save file. I think I am on track for a might-sorcery build, but not quite sure just yet.

You need to be getting up in this MW3 craziness!

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by Hungryman

I should have known better than to start on 'normal' difficulty. Got about 3.5 hours in, realized I needed to play on HARD for the trophy, did some easy trophy requirements that I could, then recreated my character in a new game. Got back to where I was in short order too. Died in one dungeon while not paying attention to mob (multiple attack) avoidance.

I guess I can save a file and pay to re-spec to get the dual/triple role trophies then reload my save file. I think I am on track for a might-sorcery build, but not quite sure just yet.

I did the same thing, though I was farther along when I found out about needing to do it on hard for the plat. If all we've got to do is the main storyline over, it shouldn't be too bad. As main stories go, this one seems pretty short, based on the number of hidden trophies, though I've still got a couple left, so I could be mistaken.

That said, I'm taking a break from the game to play Capt Am. It's starting to get a little too redundant, or annoying with the tediously predictable obstacles. The sorrows quest the other night took me 5 hours to complete, not because the quest itself was that long, but because everywhere you went, around every bend there were 3 giants of one variety or another you had to go through. It really got to be a bit much, WAY much. At one point I was fighting 9 of them, because they were so close together.

It's bad enough when they're little annoyances. But these big annoyances take forever to kill, especially when you get cornered because the stupid game is designed as such that the giant two rows back can still hit you through the other two standing in its way. My armor and health is built up enough that my health never dropped below 2/3, but I did go through some repair kits. I have a hammer rated for 249 pts damage, but when you're surrounded like that you can barely get to your feet, much less use abilities.

Right after finishing that faction quest, I failed a sidequest - the first I failed, which just compounded my aggravation. It was some witch king quest, which was easy as could be, but the girl that does the quest with you kept getting killed as she won't stay out of the way while you do the fighting (you can't tell her to stay while you go ahead and clear the room like you can in Skyrim, Fallout 3, etc). I must have tried it 6 times, got her to the final chamber, even dropped the difficulty down to casual in the final chamber and a giant just bumps her with his stomach a couple times and she's dead again. I'd already used up my reckoning energy in the previous chamber. Though, now that I think about it, I probably could go back outside and build it up again, or go on with the game, build up my level where that area is as easy as the first level is now (one hit kills) and finish the quest later. I looked online to see if the quest is worth all the trouble and couldn't find anything, so I moved on with the witch king dead, but her dead as well.

Anyway, I'm a bit frustrated with the game right now, so I'm taking a break from it. I'd probably go ahead and restart it on hard (upon my return after Capt Am), if I knew my current game wouldn't be overwritten.

[MoulinBlu]

BTW, what's up with the abilities trophies? According to my stats, I've killed almost 2000 creatures so far, most of which I've used abilities at some point during the fight and the 100 kills with abilities hasn't even popped yet, much less the 500 kills. Assuming my concept of abilities is correct: holding down the attack button, to power it up for extra damage. I've probably killed 500 that way with the bow alone.

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

BTW, what's up with the abilities trophies? According to my stats, I've killed almost 2000 creatures so far, most of which I've used abilities at some point during the fight and the 100 kills with abilities hasn't even popped yet, much less the 500 kills. Assuming my concept of abilities is correct: holding down the attack button, to power it up for extra damage. I've probably killed 500 that way with the bow alone.

No no no my friend, abilities are your spells! Just constantly use them in battle!

I just went back to the first area when I was at level cap and battered anything and everything until the trophy popped!

Hope that helps!

[Show spoiler]Oh and it's FRIDAY

[MoulinBlu]

Originally Posted by GeneticMutation

No no no my friend, abilities are your spells! Just constantly use them in battle!

I just went back to the first area when I was at level cap and battered anything and everything until the trophy popped!

Hope that helps!

[Show spoiler]Oh and it's FRIDAY

Ah. That explains it. Thanks!. I haven't done much with magic yet. Got the kill 50 with traps trophy. Other than that, about all I've done with it is charge that green vapor a few times for added poison damage to expedite taking down some of the large groups of giants. Do those count as abilities? Even if they do, I can see why I wouldn't be at 100 yet. Guess I need to stop selling all my mana potions, and focus my leveling a little more on sorcery.

[GeneticMutation]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Ah. That explains it. Thanks!. I haven't done much with magic yet. Got the kill 50 with traps trophy. Other than that, about all I've done with it is charge that green vapor a few times for added poison damage to expedite taking down some of the large groups of giants. Do those count as abilities? Even if they do, I can see why I wouldn't be at 100 yet. Guess I need to stop selling all my mana potions, and focus my leveling a little more on sorcery.

I was a warrior all the way through the game and sold all my mana potions because I never needed them due to mana regen and never using abilities lol!

Just got back to the first area and grind a few one hit enemies and it'll pop!

[PrivatePixel]

Originally Posted by MoulinBlu

Ah. That explains it. Thanks!. I haven't done much with magic yet. Got the kill 50 with traps trophy. Other than that, about all I've done with it is charge that green vapor a few times for added poison damage to expedite taking down some of the large groups of giants. Do those count as abilities? Even if they do, I can see why I wouldn't be at 100 yet. Guess I need to stop selling all my mana potions, and focus my leveling a little more on sorcery.

I don't remember if that green vapour was potent enough to kill, but there's a quicker way to earn that trophy: if you have the funds, find a Fateweaver and invest all available points into Sorcery. Once you have that Meteor ability, that trophy will pop in under 1 1/2 hours, guaranteed.

Keep in mind that this trophy can be earned at any time, so what I did was complete the game before approaching a Fateweaver. Generate a new file save after you've converted into Sorcery, so that you can keep using this for other trophies (Sorcery abilities in this game are ridiculously overpowering against all opposition).