Joe Majewski » MMORPG

Dragonica | What are Hidden Scrolls and Chaos Maps?

Joe Majewski — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:57:00 +0000

Hidden scrolls allow you to warp to a special map. Within these maps, the monsters give more experience points than usual, and they also have an extremely high drop rate for items and equipment. Best of all, Armor Enchantment Powders drop constantly in these maps. What’s not to like?

Not only can you grind enemies quickly in these maps due to the high experience yield, but you will also find dozens of equipment pieces. Doing a rough estimate, I would say that each enemy has a 5% chance to drop an equipment piece. Prior to entering these maps, make sure your equipment inventory is empty, unless you intend on disassembling them for souls, which is usually what I decide to do.

Hidden maps also house boss monsters, which respawn about every two to three hours. It’s a good idea to move to a low population channel before going to a hidden map just so that the bosses are more likely to be there. They spawn in random locations within the map, and they have good experience and drops. The bosses that I’m referring to are the bosses of mission maps that you’ve previously beaten; Captain Hookah, Atoo, Alvida, Night Lord, Sungka, Kungka, etcetera.

Another unique item that can only be found within these hidden maps are called Devil’s Soul Stones. Roughly ten percent of monsters will drop a Devil’s Soul Stone, and they are the most important thing for you to farm in the hidden map. Since you are able to spend as much time as you like within these maps, it’s best to make sure to get at least 30 or 40 of them before deciding to leave. Be aware that if you die in these maps, you will have to use another hidden scroll to get back.

By now you are probably wondering where you can find these hidden scrolls. They are not all that difficult to get, actually. Upon defeating the boss of a mission map with an F3 or F4 difficulty level, the boss will always drop a single hidden scroll, so if you are in a party of four, only one person will be able to grab it.

Now that you know how to get hidden scrolls, and the benefits of grinding enemies within these maps, it’s time to discuss what those mysterious Devil’s Soul Stones can be used for. Each town has a portal with a dragon-looking being hovering above it. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. Enter one of the dens and talk to the dragon on the right, who goes by the name of Elga. Elga will give you Chaos scrolls in exchange for the Devil’s Soul Stones that you collected. Before you can use a Chaos scroll, you need to purchase a Shield of the Void, which is an item that allows you to damage enemies in Chaos maps. It has a two-hour duration, and they cost 20 Devil’s Soul Stones a pop.

Upon using a Chaos Scroll, make sure you immediately use the Shield of the Void, or you will be doing just one damage point to enemies per attack. Chaos maps are similar to the areas in Dragonica that you’ve already been to, such as Hero’s Pass, Canyon of Oblivion, Traitor’s Ridge, etcetera, but the difference is that it is now dark outside, and the monsters are about 10 levels higher than usual, so make sure you take that into account when choosing the map you wish to explore. Much like the hidden maps, the experience and drop rates are much higher. One difference is that rather than getting Armor Enchantment Powders, you will get Weapon Enchantment Powders instead, which is even better.

Chaos maps also have Mission Maps within them, which are much like the ones found in their respective non-chaos maps, but the enemies are ten levels higher, so they are TOUGH. Be prepared to take a beating. The items you get for beating the Chaos Mission Maps are fantastic, but keep in mind that you only have two hours before your buff wears off and you stop dealing damage to enemies, so you’re on the clock.

If you farm enough Devil’s Soul Stones in the hidden maps, it would be a good idea to purchase two Shield’s of the Void, prolonging the time that you can spend farming experience, gear, and Weapon Enchantment Powders.

Any questions? Anything you’d like to contribute? Leave a comment below; I would really appreciate it!

Surprise! Arena 2.0 is in Development

Joe Majewski — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 00:22:12 +0000

Here’s to a new project in the works, which many are sure to be excited about. I can’t reveal too much information right now, but this installment will be written from the ground up and will be very different from the Arena that many readers are familiar with.

Click to Enlarge

- – -

I’m will not be the sole creator of this game. It is being designed by Jon Hemstreet, a co-worker of mine, and programmed by yours truly. I will provide much more information in the coming weeks as things develop, but I wanted to drop this bomb to remind you that Arena is NOT over.

Questions, comments, inquiries? Leave a comment below.

Dragonica Online Review ( THQ*ICE )

Joe Majewski — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:36:15 +0000

This isn’t a typical blog post like the informative ones that I usually write, but as a programmer and web designer, I have a niche for videogames. In particular, I always like to have an RPG to play, whether it be an offline console game or an online MMO. I would say that I appreciate RPGs because I like numbers, and RPGs tend to rely on them heavily. Playing games also helps me develop ideas of my own for the games that I write myself.

Dragonica Online was launched a few months back in North America by the Publisher THQ*ICE, and it reminds me of a blend between World of Warcraft and Maple Story. Unlike most MMOs, Dragonica has a storyline that doesn’t put players to sleep. During my experience thus far, I have seen over a dozen real-time cut-scenes. Although there is no voice-acting, the text isn’t very cumbersome and is also rather humorous at times.

The graphical style is more cartoonish than it is realistic, but the developers really pulled it off. It is unique in that the environments are 3D, but it is also a sidescroller at the same time. You don’t explore the 3D worlds in the way you would traditionally expect to, but instead you move sideways through the areas, while are limited in your capacity to move “up” and “down”; this reminds of the movement styles of hack and slash games like the classic Streets of Rage series from the Sega Genesis.

Your character begins as either an archer, thief, warrior, or mage. Each class has it’s own unique set of skills which can be attained from earning skill points after leveling up. Each class has an associated skill tree which you use to gain your core abilities. This is very similar to World of Warcraft in that respect.

Upon reaching level 20, your character advances to the next job. You also get to choose a new job depending on your class; for example, a thief can choose to become either an assassin or a trickster after the job advancement. With your new job advancement comes a whole new skill tree, and a skill reset item that can be used to empty your skill trees and gain all of your skill points back (which can be very helpful in the event that you misplaced some of your skill points).

Equipment is a huge part of the game; so much so that a character that is level 25 may be able to out-damage a character that’s level 35 by having the right gear. Gear can be enhanced in two critical ways; enchanting and soulcrafting.

Each piece of gear has it’s own unique soul force value. Thus, two pieces of the same equipment may not have the same stats due to their soul force being different. In general, higher soul force means higher stat bonuses. Soulcrafting consumes “souls” in return for a chance to upgrade your gear’s soul force. You attain “soul” by disenchanting your gear, which consumes your gear in return for a variable amount of soul, which is determined by it’s soul force.

When soulcrafting, you place your gear of choice into a slot. Depending upon it’s current soul force, it will cost a certain amount of soul to upgrade the item. If successful, your item becomes stronger; if it fails, you have a small chance that your gear gets destroyed.

Enchanting your gear is similar to soulcrafting, except that instead of using soul to upgrade it’s stats, you use weapon or armor enchantment powder (which can be found in a variety of ways). The amount of powder that you need increases after each successful enchantment.

Moving on to the battle system, which is my favorite aspect of the game. The battle system is very rewarding, where the experience you earn can be boosted by your combo count, which keeps track of how many hits that you have made on enemies in a row (after a few seconds, this combo count gets erased back to zero). The battle system takes a lot more skill than most RPGs that I’ve played, and feels very rewarding to attain large combos.

Questing is also a large part of the game, where there are hero quests and adventure quests. Hero quests are quests that pertain to the storyline of the game. In order to execute your job advancement, you must first complete all hero quests to that point. Adventure quests are entirely option, but reward players with useful items and experience. Hero quests grant much higher rewards but are also generally more difficult or lengthier to accomplish. There are hundreds and hundreds of quests in the game, keeping players from being forced to grind through levels.

Mission maps are instanced environments where players can group up and go through a series of rooms that ultimately lead to a boss fight. Each mission map has five levels of difficulty. The first four (F1, F2, F3, F4) can be repeatable, but F5 can only be completed once per person, unless you are repeating it with someone else who has not done so yet. The boss fights are fantastic, and from my experience thus far, I have been in battles that have taken upwards of 10, or possibly 15 minutes of fighting.

After winning the mission map, you are a given a grade depending on how well your group performed. The higher your grade, the more items that you will be rewarded. Up to four bonus items can be rewarded at the end of a mission map, and this is generally where most of your gear will be found. Besides gear, rewards consist of enchantment powders, bags filled with money, and experience potions, which instantly grant your character experience points depending upon it’s grade (1 to 4 stars).

The experience curve for leveling up is one of my major complaints. Most games are rather linear, where each level will take a bit longer than the previous level. In Dragonica, the amount needed is linear at times, but then out-of-nowhere jumps to astounding levels, which can be very discouraging when you see yourself gaining .08% from a kill to .04% from a kill after gaining a single level. This is largely due to the level cap currently being at 65 for the North American version of the game, so I could only imagine that after more content is released and the cap is increased that this experience curve will be fixed to make leveling up more “fun” for players, rather than a hassle.

The economy is nice, and whenever you find yourself inside of a town, you can instantly access the “Market”, which is basically like an auction house where players can purchase and sell items from and to other players.

The world map is also very linear, which is something I never see in games like this. When viewing the map, there is a series of areas that move from left to right, which means that you almost never encounter players that are many levels higher than you are, due to the higher leveled areas being completely out of reach. This is neither a good thing or a bad thing, but rather the preference of the player. I can’t really complain about it, as it keeps things simple, where players know exactly where to go and never get lost.

Overall, Dragonica is a fun game that I recommend giving a shot if you are looking for a new and free MMO. It doesn’t take very long to learn how to play, and it’s fun and rewarding. Once again, my only major complaint is the leveling curve, which can be a hassle at times. There is only one server open in the North American version of the game at this time of writing, so if you decide to play, I may very well meet you in-game.

If I had to be a critic, I would give this game an 8.5 out of 10, but I’m not a critic. I just play games, and make them, too.