Final Fantasy XIV - A Realm Reborn

Final Fantasy

If you play games then you should recognize this name. The Final Fantasy series is THE series for RPG gamers. If you like RPGs, then you have played a Final Fantasy game, and if you haven't then go and play one. If you are a fan of the series then you've probably heard of Final Fantasy XIV. And if you've heard of Final Fantasy XIV then you should know that it had the worst release in franchise history. It was bad enough for Square Enix to apologize, and begin working on a completely revised version of the game: Final Fantaxy XIV - A Realm Reborn. But before I talk about it, Let me inform you on what happened with the FFXIV release.

Final Fantasy XIV was supposed to be the second Final Fantasy MMO, after FFXI. The think is, FFXI wasn't too bad. In fact, the game is actually pretty decent especially with its expansions. But when FFXIV was released, it received negative reviews. Complaints ranged from numerous bug and glitches, horrid interface, and overall feeling like an incomplete game. This cause Square Enix to apologize and begin       redeveloping the game from scratch. The plan on incorporating a new client, graphics engine, a revamped interface, more gameplay variations and more! Alpha testing for A Real Reborn began in October and the Closed Beta began last month. I got accepted into the closed beta, but I'm not allowed to tell you guys anything that's going on in the beta but I can tell you what Square Enix has posted on the main site. For now, I'll talk about the classes and jobs.

The classes in FFXIVAAR are split into 2 groups: Disciples of War and Disciples of Magic. When a player reaches a certain mastery level in a certain class, they can further specialize into its respective job. For example, a gladiator class specializes into the paladin job. There are 5 Disciples of War and 3 Disciples of Magic.

Gladiators
The specialize in utilizing one handed blades. These include, but not limited to, swords, dagger, and longswords. This class is capable of drawing monster attacks to itself and defending itself with its shield, combining strong offence with a powerful defense. Gladiators specialize into Paladins.

Pugilist
Pugilists utilize powerful fist weapons and tradition techniques of hand-to-hand combat. They can deal massive damage up close and their light armor allows them to remain quite mobile. Pugilists specialize into Monks.

Marauder
The Marauders utilize large great axes to deal terrifying amounts of damage with each swing. Their strong defenses allow them to take a lot of punishment while dealing it. Marauders specialize into Warriors.

Lancer
Lancers use polearms and spears. Lancers are capable of unleashing an endless barrage of slashes and thrusts, dealing a lot of damage. Lancers specialize into the almighty Dragoons.

Archer
The good ol' archer is armed with his trusty old bow allowing him or her to fire an endless stream of arrows from a distance. Archers specialize into Bards.

Conjurers
Conjurers utilize the elements Wind, Earth, and Water to create powerful spells that can heal and buff allies and also deal damage to enemies. Conjurers specialize into White Mages.

Thaumaturge
Thaumaturges focus on utilizing powerful destruction spells to wreak havoc on the battlefield. Thaumaturges specialize into the powerful Black Mages.

Arcanist
Arcanists are able to summon the familiar Carbuncle to do their bidding. Arcanists specialize into Summoners.

That's enough of Final Fantasy XIV for now. If Square Enix posts any new info or decides to let the beta testers to discuss the game outside of the forums, them I'll be sure to let you guys now. Until next time ^^

TPA themed Skins O.O

As you might have guessed from my League-themed posts, I'm a fan of League of Legends. I have been playing for about a year (started in Pre-Season 2) and I really enjoy it. I most play mid since I absolutely love AP champions. My main is Anivia because I like how she's an ice phoenix and she also does TONS OF DAMAGE. I also play a bunch of other mid champions such as Orianna, Ryze, Annie, and Evelyn.

Anyway this post isn't about why I like League; it's about the new themed skins that are coming out soon.

If you've been following what has been happening in the competitive League scene, then you should know about the Season 2 World Championships that happened last October. It featured teams from North America, Europe, and Asia. One of the teams that competed was Taipei Assassins (TPA). When I first started watching the championships, I paid attention to CLG.EU and Froggen, and Azubu Frost and Rapidstar, mostly because these 2 players were known for playing Anivia exceptionally well. I had no idea who TPA was at the time, and I only found out how good they were when they defeated Moscow 5, the team that people expected to win.

Soon the finals came along and it was TPA versus Azubu Frost. I expected Azubu Frost to win, until I woke up the next morning to see that TPA has won. I was quite surprised to see that since I still had no idea who TPA was. So I decided to look up some information on the team, specifically for info on Toyz, their AP mid. I found out he was really good as Orianna. Now, Orianna isn't my favourite, but I really enjoy playing as her even though I'm not that good as her than with Anivia. So I decided to watch the replays of the championship and videos of Toyz playing Orianna, and dear God, this man is amazing! He's the one who made me pick up Orianna again and helped me play her a lot better.

So you may be wondering, why am I talking about Toyz and TPA? Well, Riot has announced that they will be releasing new themed skins soon. The theme: Taipei Assassins!

Now I can get an Orianna skin that based around my favourite Orianna player (who also happens to be the only Orianna okayer I watch). The champions that are getting the skins are the champions that TPA used in their winning lineup: Orianna, Nunu, Shen, Ezreal, and Dr. Mundo.

I'm looking forward to when these skins get released and I'm definitely going to by the Orianna one since it was Toyz who got be to play Orianna again :)

Still don't know exactly when these skins will be released, but when they are, expect to see me on the Fields of Justice playing as Orianna!

Dragon Nest - Assassin is a girl?

Recently on the Korean Dragon Nest website, a new piece of artwork has been released. When looking at the picture, you may think it's an outline of the assassin class, but when you download and read the file name, it reads this:

assassin_girfriend_with sword.jpg

There's a 99% chance that the picture is related to the assassin, but the file name suggests that it's only related and not the actual class. We can assume this because earlier this year (don'y know exactly when), someone from Nexon confirmed that the next class will be male since we got 2 female classes in a row. Thus, this picture was quite a surprise to most people.

However, even though we are expecting a male assassin, there's a small chance that the assassin will be female. Or perhaps we may finally be able to choose between both genders :D

 Don't worry though, because the assassin class is pretty much confirmed right now. The v157 client has information on the assassin, including job information, weapons, and skill names!

Info from http://forum.mmosite.com/thread/2/217/20130218/New_Class_Assassin_Skill_Names_Revealed-5123021a7ad98be13-1.html


Job Description:
- Hunter who inherits ancient assassination technique; good at tracking enemies and assassinate them in an instant.
- Death messenger and reaper, uses chain and darts to track and kill enemies
- Stealthy marauder who lurks in darkness, kills enemies before they even turn their head.

Sounds like a mobile high-burst damage class which can fight at numerous ranges. Being able to use a chain sounds awesome!


Weapons:
Glaive
Short Sword
Crook (曲柄杖, not sure what is the right english word for this)


I made a post about the weapons already but I didn't know that the assassin will use a Glaive and Short Sword. I'm going to assume that the Glaive will be for 1 subclass and the Sword and Crook will be for the other since the Glaive is the only 2-handed weapon unless the Crook is one as well.


Skill Names:
Forceful Kick
Dirty Tricks
Piercing Star
Fan Blade
Shadow Hand
Triple Edge
Shadow Activate
Shadow Fade
Scud Kick
Swipe
Arc Collision
Leap
Smoke
Deceitful Clock
Aerial Evasion

Leading Edge
Applaud
Rake
Rain Drop
Punishment
Terminate
Shift Strike
Mortal Strike
Camouflage
Blade Rush
Thunderous Crash
Cripple Punisher
Receive Edge
Fade
Illusion Step
Chain Burst
Annihilation
Mark of Crow
Mark of Werewolf

Umbra
Crocodile King Trap
Leading Edge EX
Applaud EX
Rake EX
Rain Drop EX

Arsonist
Cruelty
Shift Strike EX
Mortal Strike EX
Camouflage EX
Blade Rush EX

It seems like the assassin will be released with both its sublasses and specializations! There's already enough skill names for a beginner skill tree, 2 subclass trees, and 2 sets of EX skills. I'm thinking most of these skills will focus on high damage while a few skills will be debuffs or buffs to allow even more damage. Definitely looking forward to this class.

There's still no released date available but I'm going to assume it will be released in Korea in a month and in China shortly after. Once it comes to China, I'm gonna hop back onto the Chinese server and check it out :)

Dragon Nest - Liverwort Liberators Update

Been awhile since I made a post about Dragon Nest :P

So today there's was an update for Dragon Nest which added some new content. The update is called Liverwort Liberators and includes:

• Green Dragon Nest - Hell Mode
• More Lotus Marsh dungeons
• 3rd Suffixes
• Active Mission System
• Halloween Costumes are back for a limited time (kinda random)
• Military Style Costumes
• Dragon Egg update
• Crafting UI update
• Title Book UI update
• PvP menu and shop update
• Events UI update
• Balance changes
• Even more UI changes XD
• Bug fixes

Green Dragon Nest Hell Mode

You know the drill. Hell mode is just a harder version of the original nest. Not only does beating it make you a boss, but you're also able to get the new level 50 Legendary armors, weapons, accessories, and sparks! You can enter Hell Mode by using an entry pass that you get form clearing normal mode.

Lotus Marsh and 3rd Suffix

There are 2 more dungeons in Lotus Marsh:

Valled of the Blind

Queen's Garden

These are the only dungeons where you can get the essence's for the 3rd suffix, so it's safe to assume that these dungeons are pretty difficult :P However, it seems like the 3rd suffix only increases the chance of the suffix effect from happening, and no other stats are increased :(

UI Updates

Several menus have had their UI's updated. The crafting UI has been updated to look better and to be a lot easier to navigate.

As you can see, the recipes are organized according to what you're trying to craft: actual gear, adding a suffix, creating tech rings, and general good which includes lusters and waters. You can also have a Craft Helper which adds the recipe to your quest helper, allowing you to keep track of materials as you go through dungeons :) This is gonna make life a lot easier when crafting suffixes.

PvP Updates

Aside from the small UI changes, the one thing people really looked at was the shop changes. The shop now features EXP capsules, which increases arena EXP in exchange for medals, and they even sell this beautiful trinket:

That's right, you can now get the Blessed Stone from the Arena Elite Shop, but you need to be a Champion or higher. So there are now 2 ways to get the Blessed Stone: Get lucky while clearing dungeons, or grind for arena medals.

There's also 1 more thing added to the arena shop that you might like. Level 50 Unique ladder weapons are now available! So you can now spend your ladder points on something useful instead of splurging on pouches :D

There's some more to cover in this patch, but I'll do that when I blog about my swordmaster.

'Till then, cya ^^

Yugioh - Dark World

So I recently got back into Yugioh thanks to my friends -.- So this post will be about my main deck, Dark World.

The Dark world deck focuses on discarding Dark World monsters form your hand in order to activate their effects. These effects include special summoning them, drawing cards, and even destroying cards on the field. These effects only activate when discarded by an effect, not a cost. So cards like Lightning Vortex won't trigger Dark World effects.

What makes Dark World so strong is that they are capable of swarming the field while destroying your opponents field. The deck's main boss monster, "Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World", is able to continuously special summon itself from the graveyard. All you need to do is send a Dark world monster from the field to your hand. This means you will always have a powerful front-line, provided that you have monsters to send to your hand.

The other Dark world monsters are also powerful themselves. Beige, Goldd, and Silva get special summoned whenever they're discarded from your hand. This makes it easy to flood the field and also allows for easy Grapha summons. Broww let's you draw cards, giving you a hand advantage, and Snoww allows you to search your deck for a Dark World card.

If you ever want to make use of some powerful synchro monsters, then Fabled Raven is what you want. Its effect allows you to discard you Dark World cards and Raven gets stronger in the process! So even if you don't use Raven to synchro, he will still be crazy powerful on his own.

You can also use Appropriate and Forced requisition to create an ridiculous hand advantage. Whenever you use Dark World Dealings, you're essentially drawing 3 cards and your opponent is discarding 2 cards XD

Another powerful card for the deck is Skill Drain. Since Dark world cards use their effects in the graveyard and not the field, Skill Drain won't do anything to you! This allows you to counter a lot of the common meta decks since they won't be able to use their effects. Just remember that Fabled Raven and a lot of synchros won't be able to use their effects either, so be careful when you use it.

Does your opponent's backrow scare you? No worries, just stack your deck with some Eradicator Epidemic Viruses and you'll be fine. You can use Grapha as a tribute and then bring him right back! You can also use Deck Devastation virus to completely eat away at your opponents cards. And since the viruses let's you see their hand, you can then use Mind Crush to pick off and powerful cards that they may still have. Even if you guess wrong, you'll be forced to discard, allowing you to activate even more effects!

This deck also has it's weaknesses. Any deck that relies on banishing completely destroys Dark World. Dimensional fissure, Macro Cosmos etc.. prevents you from doing anything at all since you are unable to discard to the graveyard. Thus, it's a good idea to carry around a Heavy Storm and a few Mystical Space Typhoons. Cards that prevent special summoning will also prove to be an issue, although Skill Drain could prevent this somewhat. Just remember to keep your side deck stocked with cards that target your opponent's backrow and you'll be fine. Also remember to carry around staples with you. Some good staple cards include Mirror Force and Dark Hole. Even though they won't be that useful, they can be powerful against certain decks (Example: Mirror force against Six Samurais).

Just like with every other Yugioh deck, using Dark World well requires you to know what you can and cannot do. Don't do any stupid plays and take advantage of your side deck. Even if you lose one duel, you can win the next one as long as your  side deck is good.

Let's Survive - Devil Survivor 2 The Animation

Today was a good day for me. Firstly, I didn't go to school because of a badminton tournament, and secondly, the first episode of the Devil Survivor 2 anime was released :D :D :D :D

The first episode was titled "Sunday's Melancholy". The episode went over what happened when Hibiki, Daichi, and Io first encountered the demons, and it also included the battle with Dubhe :P The episode itself went through the events pretty quickly but managed to make each scene feel epic.

Characters introduced - Hibiki Kuze (Protagonist), Daichi Shijima, Io Nitta, Makoto Sako

Characters who made an appearance (outside of the opening) - Yamato Hotsuin

The episode starts off the same as the game. Hibiki and Daichi finished writing a practice exam and are about to head home. On their way there, Daichi mentions Nicaea to Hibiki and registers him. When he registers, he ends up getting the female Tico XD

Things start picking up once they get to the subway. They see Io Nitta and they get a message of Nicaea. The message contains a video of everyone in the subway getting killed by a train that derails. And just like in the game, the video comes true, but the right before Hibiki dies, his cellphone turns on and Nicaea downloads the Demon Summoning App onto his phone. Hibiki, Daichi, and Io then get attacked by 3 Kobolds. This is when Io summons her demon, Ogre. Daichi also summons is demon, Poltergeist. The 2 demons manage to fight the Kobolds long enough for the 3 teens to escape.

Upon leaving the subway, they find out that Japan got hit by a powerful earthquake and that all subway lines are unavailable. All of Japan then loses all power, leaving everyone with no way of communicating with their families. Hibiki, Daichi, and Io decide to take Io to here home since Hibiki and Daichi can't get to their homes. On their way to her home, the run into the first Septentrion: Dubhe. Daichi manages to escape and Io summons Ogre to protect them. However, he wasn't strong enough to take down Dubhe and gets killed. Daichi then drives in with a truck and crashes right into Dubhe and explodes in the process. Thinking Daichi is dead, Hibiki summons his demon, the powerful Byakko. Since Hibiki and Byakko are awesome and overpowered, Dubhe gets completely destroyed by Byakko. It is also revealed that Daichi was saved by Io's second demon, Pixie.

The episode ends with Makoto and the JPs capturing the 3 teens and with the Anguished One making a quick appearance (I love his voice btw).

Overall, the episode was pretty good. It was a bit rushed at some parts but it's still good. It doesn't explain everything yet so you may feel a bit lost. The battle with Dubhe was exciting to watch, mostly because Hibiki was such a boss. The opening and ending themes were amazing (I ended up listening to the opening theme for 10 minutes straight). This was a solid first episode and I look forward to next week's episode. The voice actors were good as well. Tico sounds annoying (as expected), but everyone else sound great.

I have high expectations for this series, probably since I loved the game so much. I can't wait to see Jungo and Joe XD

Let's Survive

Lissandra, The Ice Witch, Revealed!

League of Legends' next champion has been revealed! Lissandra, The Ice Witch, is designed to be an incredibly mana-efficient mage that focuses on applying tons of crowd control while being able to kite very well with her mobility.

We don't now any of her base stats or any of the numbers on her skills at the moment. So try not to decide whether she's OP or UP right now. So all I can do right now is discuss her skills based on their descriptions.

Lissandra's passive is Iceborn. After a brief cooldown, Lissandra's next ability costs no mana. Hitting an enemy with movement impairing abilities reduces Iceborn's cooldown. This seems to be what allows Lissandra to be mana-efficient. This passive seems to be very useful but it will depend on the length of the cooldown and the mana costs of the rest of her abilities. Careful management with this passive would allow you to stay in lane for a long time.

Lissandra's Q is Ice Shard. Lissandra throws a spear of ice that shatters on contact with the first enemy struck, dealing damage and slowing their movement speed for a short duration. Enemies behind the struck target also take damage. This skills seems to be her main source of damage and her main farming ability. According to the description, only the first person hit gets slowed, so this could help if you get ganked, but won't do much in a teamfight in terms of CC. The cooldown and strength of the slow may change my mind.

Lissandra's W is Ring of Frost.  Lissandra freezes the area around her, dealing damage to nearby enemies and rooting them for a short duration. This seems to be Lissandra's "Get the hell away from me" skill. This makes it pretty hard to gank Lissandra unless you are a ranged champion, but which good junglers are ranged?

Her E is Glacial Path. Lissandra casts a slow-moving, long-range ice claw in a line, dealing damage to all enemies in its path. Re-activating Glacial Path teleports Lissandra to the claw's current location. This seems to be Lissandra's main mobility skill. The skill's teleport function pretty much makes Lissandra impossible to gank. For poking, her Q might be a better choice since the term "slow-moving" implies that this skill is easy to dodge.

Her ultimate is Frozen Tomb.

On enemy cast: Lissandra freezes an enemy champion, damaging and stunning them briefly. Dark Ice emanates from the target, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies.
On self-cast: Lissandra encases herself in ice, rooting herself in place briefly and becoming untargetable and invulnerable. Dark Ice emanates from Lissandra, dealing damage and slowing nearby enemies.

This skill can pretty much shutdown the enemy AD carry. Not only does this skill stun, but enemies around the target are slowed and take damage. This skill can be used to takedown the enemy Carry quickly, or disable the tank so your team can have an easier time focusing the weaker champions.

When casted on herself, Lissandra pretty much gets a free Zhonya's Hourglass that does AOE damage. This punished any one who manages to get close to her, and if they're still close to her after the effect ends, she can use her W and walk away :P

Overall, I really like the design of this champion. Being able to apply tons of CC from a safe distance sounds like fun and I can't wait to try her out ^-^

There isn't really much else to say about her, so I'll end of this post with her lore.


Lissandra’s magic twists the pure power of ice into something dark and terrible. With the force of her black ice, she does more than freeze – she impales and crushes those who oppose her. To the terrified denizens of the north, she is known only as “The Ice Witch.” The truth is much more sinister: Lissandra is a corruptor of nature who plots to unleash an ice age on the world.

Centuries ago, Lissandra betrayed her tribe to evil creatures, known as the Frozen Watchers, in return for power. That was the last day that warm blood ran through her veins. With her corrupted tribesmen and the strength of the Watchers, she swept across the land like a terrible blizzard. As her empire spread, the world grew colder and ice choked the land. When the Watchers were defeated by ancient heroes, Lissandra did not lose faith and swore to prepare the world for their return.

Lissandra worked to purge all knowledge of the Watchers from the world. Using magic to take human form, she masqueraded as numerous seers and elders. Over the course of generations, she rewrote the stories of the Freljord, and so the history of its people changed. Today the fragmented retellings of the Watchers are seen as children’s tales. But this deception wasn’t enough – Lissandra also needed an army.

She set her sights on the noble Frostguard tribe. Lissandra knew corrupting the Frostguard would take centuries, and so she launched her greatest deception. She murdered and stole the identity of the Frostguard leader. Then she slowly began to warp the tribe’s proud traditions. When her human form grew old, she faked her own death and then murdered her successor to steal her identity. With each generation, the Frostguard grew more insular, cruel and twisted. Today, the world still sees them as a noble and peaceful tribe that guards against evil creatures like the Ice Witch. In truth, they now serve the witch and long for the glorious return of the Watchers.

Lissandra knows that on that day nations will fall and the world will be reborn in ice.

“Close your eyes and let the cold take you.” - Lissandra