You can figure out what is or isn’t worth using or having in your rotation, and it may vary by stats, play style, spec etc. Getting a repeating shot rotation isn’t as important as simply figuring which of your shots are worth using. ie. Does your group do enough damage to warrant using “Not So Fast” or not? The -60 Initiative will give your team about 4.614% chance to crit on a rank 40 mob. You can figure this in as ~2.312% damage as crits are 1.5x damage. It lasts for 10 seconds, and the shot replaces a plink, while costing slightly less AP, but does several hundred less damage. You’d have to be prettymuch alone with low Ballistic Skill for it not to be worth casting, but this is just a way to start thinking about how to evaluate a skills value.

Figuring out which buffs/debuffs you really want to keep up on a boss or your group is the most important part. Precise execution of a shot rotation might help avoid downtime of skill effects, but can make for a bit more work. (This can also be a way to stay awake during some of the less interesting fights in which you are simply standing and shooting.)

After you figure out what shots you want on, sometimes it can help to visually think about what that rotation would look like. (This doesn’t just apply to SH, this could apply to any class.)
I would strongly encourage anyone who plays the game to take time to consider which abilities of theirs are worth using, what they really gain from buffs/debuffs they have, as cutting abilities that aren’t worth using. This will help you a lot in PvP, and PvE. Keep in mind which abilities become more useful as more players are on your side, and more useful as there are more enemies, and make yourself a mental short list of situations in which each ability is useful. (If you havn’t already done this of course. :-p)

Below is what a basic shot rotation including just Yer Bleedin’, Not So Fast, and Plink.

Pink = Plink Damage
Teal = Yer Bleedin’ Effect Duration
Red = Not So Fast Effect Duration
Light Orange = Effective Global Cooldown*
Dark Orange = Ineffective Global Cooldown*
Yellow = Cast Time

This is generally a simpler way to think about a rotation than in text format:
In short:
Not So Fast, Yer Bleedin’, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Not So Fast, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Yer Bleedin’, Plink, Plink, Plink, Not So Fast, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink, Plink

Another way to think about it:
Not So Fast
Yer Bleedin’
Plink x8
Not So Fast
Plink x5
Yer Bleedin’
Plink x3
Not So Fast
Plink x9

Now, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that a rotation like that will be followed to the letter, I’m just suggesting keeping in mind which abilities you want to keep up, and trying to keep track of them.

*As many of you have probably notticed, the 1.5s global cooldown actually allows for casting in the last 0.5 seconds. The change was made to allow for skills with real cooldowns to be cast in the last half a second while on cooldown, but appears to have effected even the GCD, making for an effective 1s GCD.

As far as RTS games go, DoW is visually appealing, offers great balance, a great amount of customization (as far as RTSs go,) and a lot of room to strategize and micro manage.

The game being based off squads, that the player reinforced from the unit selected, purchasing additional squad members, weapons, and leader units, gives the fast player great advantages, even when macro-managing armies to Attack-Move to the back of their enemies base.

Morale of each squad affecting their combat effectiveness gives the intimidating presence of giant war machines on the battlefield, and one-sided battles the added level of humiliation to forces being crushed by them.

Introduction of flying units in Soulstorm makes for a little bit of a mix up for the DoW veterans, but not all liked the change.

Each of the races is very diverse, both from one another, and within each army, your options are always open to try different combat units, tactics, mixes of different squads to maximize your destructive capability.

The campaign mode manages to be quite enjoyable, and makes for a good way to get started on learning how the game plays. With progressive campaigns on a RISK style board, play through many skirmishes, and specific scenario’s to take computer opponents territories, and ultimately conquer the planet, region, system, planets (Depending on which game you are playing.) Your commander will get war gear, making your commander stronger, other bonuses are also gained from taking specific regions, making for a really enjoyable learning curve.

Overall:
If you enjoy Real Time Strategy games, I would suggest it to anyone that can afford it. The games are stand-alone, allowing you to just pick up Soulstorm and play that if you wished. Definatly keep in mind Starcraft 2, and Dawn of War 2 will be coming out before too long however, so if you are on a tight budget and have other games to keep you busy, buying the whole series might not be a great idea.

Question: hey whats the diff between the realm types like core and the others?

Answer: It’s primarily about how the flagging system works on the open field.

On a Core server, the player remains unflagged until they enter an RvR lake in their tier, join a scenario, or voulentarily flag themselves. if a player is flagged for RvR in a tier below them, they will be turned into a chicken, that will be one-shot by any other player. Upon entering a RvR lake, players below the Bolster level will gain a buff, bolstering their stats, gear, and effective level to that tiers equalization level.

Tier 1 is Rank 1-11 ( Bolster level 8 ) Lockout 12
Tier 2 is Rank 8-21 ( Bolster level 18 ) Lockout 22
Tier 3 is Rank 18-31 ( Bolster level 28 ) Lockout 32
Tier 4 is Rank 28-40 ( Bolster level 36 ) No Lockout

On an Open RvR server, you are flagged from character creation prettymuch. Capital Cities, and Chapter 1 Quest hubs are safe, but otherwise you will be flagged, and can be ganked by players 2 or fewer tiers above you. There is no bolster effect in RvR lakes.

Tier 1 is Rank 1-11 Lockout 32+
Tier 2 is Rank 8-21 No Lockout
Tier 3 is Rank 18-31 No Lockout
Tier 4 is Rank 28-40 No Lockout

This means in open, a player ranked 18-31 could go into Tier 1 and eat lowbies, but a player rank 32+ would become a chicken. Otherwise, it’s prettymuch open season. At the lockout level, a player will be turned into a chicken.

An RP server is ruleswise, a Core server, but requires naming conventions and everything that comes along with role playing rules from traditional MMO standards.

Pink: Path of Big Shootin’
2 second cast.
0 second cooldown.
348 tooltip damage.
40 AP.

So, unspecced (other thank being rank 40 from path of big shootin’):
In 6 seconds, Plink will do 1152 unmitigated damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 6 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 120 Action Points.
(9.6 Damage per AP)

In 6 seconds, Lots o’ Arrers will do 1568 damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 6 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 180 Action points.
(8.7 Damage per AP)

Alright, so Lots o’ Arrers with 0 Ballistic wins assuming nothing is hitting you, but at a higher AP/damage ratio, an acceptable tradeoff when going for a burst, but given that most squig herders have more than 0 Ballistic, lets continue.

My Squig Herder has 900 Ballistic skill with gear and everything. This is where Plink pulls ahead a little bit, as it gains 25% more from Ballistic Skill than Lots o’ Arrers does. 900 Ballistic will earn us 180 Ability DPS, giving plink an extra 360 damage per shot, and giving Lots o’ Arrers an extra 270 damage per cast. (Mind you Lots o’ Arrers cannot actually be spammed in this fashion.)

Ballistic 900:
Lots o’ Arrers: Path of Big Shootin’
Instant cast
7 second cooldown.
3 second channel 151 damage.
30 AP/Second.

Pink: Path of Big Shootin’
2 second cast.
0 second cooldown.
744 damage.
40 AP.

So, unspecced with Ballistic Skill(other thank being rank 40 from path of big shootin’):
In 6 seconds, Plink will do 2232 unmitigated damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 6 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 120 Action Points.
(18.6 Damage per AP)

In 6 seconds, Lots o’ Arrers will do 2114 damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 6 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 180 Action points.
(11.7 Damage per AP)

A bit closer, but already plink takes a substantial lead when you consider the 33% fewer action points being spent. Lets assume that if you are using either of these skills that you are specced in any decent way into the path of big shootin’, and apply the tactics.

Ballistic 900 Big Shootin Specced (Aimin’ Quickly, and Clever Shootin’ tactics now applied):
Lots o’ Arrers: Path of Big Shootin’
Instant cast
7 second cooldown.
3 second channel 151 damage.
20 AP/Second.

Pink: Path of Big Shootin’
1 second cast. (2 second bonus still)
0 second cooldown.
744 damage.
26 AP.

So, specced with Ballistic Skill:
In 6 seconds, Plink will do 2976 unmitigated damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 4 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 104 Action Points.
(4 casts) (28.6 Damage per AP)

In 6 seconds, Lots o’ Arrers will do 2114 damage with 0 Ballistic Skill. With a 6 second window for spell knockback and interruption, at the cost of 120 Action points.
(2 casts) (17.6 Damage per AP)

Now not only is plink cheaper, and more damaging, it allows for .5 seconds between casts for minor movement, and gives the opponent considerably less time to interrupt you, reducing the chance of that happening.

That, is why I laugh, it is why I cry, and why when I see squig herders using Lots o’ Arrers. If you read this, and see a squig herder using this skill, please consider sending him/her here, or at least mentioning it. Most squig herders I have encountered stopped using it in Tier 2 or 3, shortly after getting the skill, as they could, even then feel the difference in being out of AP, and not having done as much damage as they’d like.

Make sure to click “Watch in high quality.”

You know it’s going to be decent when you start at 2:00AM.
Video completed at about 7:30AM.
Uploaded at 8:00AM.

Video with clips of ORvR, Scenario’s, Lost Vale first boss, Lost Vale last boss trash… super-fast AoE montage…. It’s kinda like a more in-depth class summary that I did at rank 9…

I don’t even know if people read these, so I’m not going to worry too much about making this a long post.

This is a huge step up from past attempts, as the server stayed up through the entire combat.

After Riekwald fell, forces of Destruction moved to Dragonwake, promptly hitting 81% of the needed VP to flip that zone. However, no additional VP was gained for some time, many assumed it was in some way bugged, so we moved to Black Craag, as Order currently held Thunder Mountain. Over the course of about 3 hours, both Black Craag and Thunder Mountain were under Destruction control.

In Kadrin Valley, the fight became prolongued as more and more people were logging off on both sides. The overnight decay bonus was breaking even with VP gains made by Destruction, and many started getting discouraged, and many more left.

No city combat took place, but I think it would be hard to call last night a failure. Capping a fortress for the first time on the server, and pushing across 3 other zones in a pretty short period of time is not something that I was expecting logging in yesterday. Well done everyone!

Honestly, I found this game to be aweful. I was very glad I picked it up used for three dollars in the used bin at the local gamestop.

The game is filled with cutscenes that most would consider to be mediocre at best.

The plot, although forced by the IP was poorly told.

Gameplay, while not in a cutscene, was very scripted, and repetative.

Even as a fan of the Matrix movies, I found myself loathing every second of this game from start to finish.

The graphics are sub-par, even for its time, likely due to the game being released on almost every console out at the time.

I’m expecting this game to show up once the Angry Video Game Nerd gets to the xbox as he slowly gets more modern.

Overall:
Don’t spend money on this game. If you are a Matrix merchandise collector, and you need it to complete your set, I imagine you can find one dirt cheap used, or in a landfill somewhere.

Astounding aerial annihilation, and amusing antics allow me to give this flight combat action game two thumbs up.

Although not a flight simulator, Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge has some of the smoothest, and best feeling air-to-air and air-to-ground combat I have experienced on a console.

Set in an alternative reality for the 30′s, you play (in campaign) as Nathan Zachary, an archetypal scoundral, gambler, pirate type. The game starts after a bad night of poker, in which you lost your zepplin, and your plane, but in hollywood style both are remedied before long, as you begin your path. I don’t want to give away much plot, because it is actually pretty decent.

The combat is good, you have to lead your targets with most weapons, as you might expect. You have ‘primary and ‘secondary’ weapons, primary being your machine guns, or autocannons. Secondary is generally missles, but sometimes something else. The game discourages holding down your machine guns by having a heat mechanic seen in other games, that is to say, you shoot for very long, and they overheat, and will stop firing for a little.

The inclusion of turrets, ground targets, and zepplins makes for a nice mix, forcing the player to think about how best to approach a non-moving target.

The plane design is imaginitive, while remaining functional, and diverse.

The planes each bring a different variation of speed, firepower, durability, manueverability, bringing far more variation in play style than most other vehicular combat games.

Player interaction with terrain is great, restrictive areas like caves, and cityscapes is great, the controls allow for safe, but elegant flight very close to terrain. This for some however is a weak point the game has, as they were rather generous with collision damage, hitting the terrain will not kill you, it’ll do some damage, but you’ll live. Hitting another plane however, will result in a spin-out, loss of control, and often collision with terrain shortly there after, which tends to be enough to kill you.

Makes for a great party game, as multiplayer is amazingly fun, and system link/xbox live is a great way to kick some ass and take some names.

If/when you buy it, log online and get all the downloadable content.

Overall:
Pick it up if you’ve got some money to spend. If you are on a tight budget, or not a fan of vehicular combat, I’d encourage trying it, but might not be for everyone. If you like flight combat, buy it. Period.

For its time, a pretty good looking game, given diverse gameplay options through different characters. Best played as a 4 player co-op on one system, the campaign leads you across six planets in 18 missions, as a sci-fi commando team for the Confederation.

The squad is made up by 4 members-

Tex, heavy weapons guy, who uses only medium and heavy weapons, and is capible of poping “Berserker” mode, where he’ll pull his sidearm off his back, and Dual weild any two weapons, destroying everything in an area with relative ease. He is the ‘leader’ of the squad, and starts the game rather biggoted, which we learn as Bratton (Operation managment figure) introduces the characters over the first few missions as you gather the team. during gathering, auxilery players play as confederation marines, (Corporal Stout, Sgt. Gonzales, Private Cogburn,) which have an air strike as their special ability, but are otherwise rather generic grunts.

Brutus, mixed combat, and only alien on the team, uses heavy and medium weapons again, with a large health pool. Overall survivability and a “Spirit of Vengar” mode, that changes your vision to black and white, with any living thing a glowing orange, and regenerates your health makes for a durable and deadly package. While in spirit of vengar, you can run into an enemy, mauling, and killing them. This will deplete special bar instantly. Brutus is the second squad member, and will join the team a little less than halfway through the second mission.

Hawk, stealther, and only real women on the team, uses only light to medium weapons, and has a small health pool. Her “Cloak” allows her to pass by enemies, sneak around them, or just buy her a few seconds to duck behind something. Hawk has a invintory item, a “power blade” that does significant damage in melee. You can use weapons while stealthed without breaking cloak, which can help clear small areas effectively and safely. Hawk makes for a good scout if you don’t know what is ahead, and you don’t feel like charging in blind. Hawk is introduced at the begining of the fourth level.

Flint, sniper, and a cyborg, uses medium weapons, and an exclusive sniper weapon. ‘She’ has a standard health pool, that’ll leave her durable enough for most combat, but is best used at very long range, avoiding damage entirely. Her “Advanced Targeting” mode makes medium range combat rather easy, but is ineffective if you are really sniping. What it does is replace your reticle with two, very wde brackets, that will close in on a target once it is inside them, at this point firing will land a hit on the torso of that target. Flint is introduced

Each mission has objectives, some optional, that you will complete, and earn “Cash” each kill will also earn you “Cash” that is spent whenever a squad member dies. This is to re-clone the operative, and lends itself to very OCD gameplay as each mission will tell you how much cash you missed out on. There are also DNA canisters in more remote areas on missions, that will unlock playable characters for multiplayer, these include some of the enemies from the main game, that do not use weapons, which makes for a pretty fun multiplayer environment.

Whenever somebody dies, you lose cash to replace them, but some of this cash can be re-earned by picking up their ‘data’ which will float over their dead body.

The enemies are very limited in type, some are just variations in color, or armament.

The levels are pretty linear, but with different options of how you approach a fight, it has some replay value.

The weapons although not limited in number, feel repetative as many have small, medium, large eqivalents.

 
Overall:
The game is definatly fun if you have some friends to play with. It is far less interesting on your own, but still alright. I’d pick it up if you can find it used.

Key:
ArmorType: Damage (+DamageFromWeaponSkill) (StatNeededToEqualizeWeaponSkill TimeCast)

Light Light: 800
Light: 1000
Light Heavy: 1200
Medium Light: 1800
Medium: 2000
Medium Heavy: 2200
Heavy Light 2800
Heavy: 3000
Heavy Heavy: 3200

Weapon Skill: 0 (0% Armor Reduction)
LL: 441(+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
L: 420 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
LH: 393 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
ML: 323 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
M: 296 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
MH: 269 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
HL: 199 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
H: 172 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)
HH: 147 (+0) (+0 BS/STR 1s) (+0 BS/STR 1.5s) (+0 BS/STR 2s) (+0 BS/STR 3s)

Weapon Skill: 210 (15% Armor Reduction)
LL: 453 (+12) (+70 BS/STR 1s) (+47 BS/STR 1.5s) (+35 BS/STR 2s) (+24 BS/STR 3s)
L: 434 (+15) (+90 BS/STR 1s) (+60 BS/STR 1.5s) (+45 BS/STR 2s) (+30 BS/STR 3s)
LH: 413 (+21) (+130 BS/STR 1s) (+88 BS/STR 1.5s) (+65 BS/STR 2s) (+44 BS/STR 3s)
ML: 351 (+29) (+196 BS/STR 1s) (+131 BS/STR 1.5s) (+98 BS/STR 2s) (+66 BS/STR 3s)
M: 330 (+34) (+236 BS/STR 1s) (+158 BS/STR 1.5s) (+118 BS/STR 2s) (+79 BS/STR 3s)
MH: 309 (+40) (+285 BS/STR 1s) (+190 BS/STR 1.5s) (+143 BS/STR 2s) (+95 BS/STR 3s)
HL: 248 (+48) (+370 BS/STR 1s) (+247 BS/STR 1.5s) (+185 BS/STR 2s) (+124 BS/STR 3s)
H: 226 (+54) (+426 BS/STR 1s) (+285 BS/STR 1.5s) (+214 BS/STR 2s) (+143 BS/STR 3s)
HH: 206 (+58) (+470 BS/STR 1s) (+313 BS/STR 1.5s) (+235 BS/STR 2s) (+157 BS/STR 3s)

Weapon Skill: 280 (20% Armor Reduction)
LL: 460 (+19) (+109 BS/STR 1s) (+73 BS/STR 1.5s) (+55 BS/STR 2s) (+37 BS/STR 3s)
L: 440 (+20) (+119 BS/STR 1s) (+79 BS/STR 1.5s) (+60 BS/STR 2s) (+40 BS/STR 3s)
LH: 421 (+28) (+171 BS/STR 1s) (+114 BS/STR 1.5s) (+86 BS/STR 2s) (+57 BS/STR 3s)
ML: 416 (+39) (+259 BS/STR 1s) (+173 BS/STR 1.5s) (+130 BS/STR 2s) (+87 BS/STR 3s)
M: 342 (+46) (+314 BS/STR 1s) (+210 BS/STR 1.5s) (+157 BS/STR 2s) (+105 BS/STR 3s)
MH: 323 (+54) (+378 BS/STR 1s) (+252 BS/STR 1.5s) (+189 BS/STR 2s) (+126 BS/STR 3s)
HL: 264 (+65) (+491 BS/STR 1s) (+327 BS/STR 1.5s) (+246 BS/STR 2s) (+164 BS/STR 3s)
H: 245 (+73) (+564 BS/STR 1s) (+376 BS/STR 1.5s) (+282 BS/STR 2s) (+188 BS/STR 3s)
HH: 225 (+79) (+625 BS/STR 1s) (+417 BS/STR 1.5s) (+313 BS/STR 2s) (+209 BS/STR 3s)

Weapon Skill: 350 (25% Armor Reduction)
LL: 465 (+24) (+137 BS/STR 1s) (+91 BS/STR 1.5s) (+68 BS/STR 2s) (+45 BS/STR 3s)
L: 447 (+28) (+166 BS/STR 1s) (+111 BS/STR 1.5s) (+83 BS/STR 2s) (+56 BS/STR 3s)
LH: 428 (+35) (+214 BS/STR 1s) (+143 BS/STR 1.5s) (+107 BS/STR 2s) (+72 BS/STR 3s)
ML: 373 (+50) (+332 BS/STR 1s) (+222 BS/STR 1.5s) (+166 BS/STR 2s) (+111 BS/STR 3s)
M: 355 (+59) (+403 BS/STR 1s) (+269 BS/STR 1.5s) (+202 BS/STR 2s) (+135 BS/STR 3s)
MH: 336 (+67) (+469 BS/STR 1s) (+313 BS/STR 1.5s) (+235 BS/STR 2s) (+157 BS/STR 3s)
HL: 281 (+82) (+619 BS/STR 1s) (+412 BS/STR 1.5s) (+310 BS/STR 2s) (+207 BS/STR 3s)
H: 263 (+91) (+703 BS/STR 1s) (+469 BS/STR 1.5s) (+352 BS/STR 2s) (+235 BS/STR 3s)
HH: 245 (+98) (+776 BS/STR 1s) (+517 BS/STR 1.5s) (+388 BS/STR 2s) (+259 BS/STR 3s)

Weapon Skill: 420 (30% Armor Reduction)
LL: 470 (+29) (+164 BS/STR 1s) (+109 BS/STR 1.5s) (+82 BS/STR 2s) (+55 BS/STR 3s)
L: 453 (+33) (+192 BS/STR 1s) (+128 BS/STR 1.5s) (+96 BS/STR 2s) (+64 BS/STR 3s)
LH: 441 (+48) (+286 BS/STR 1s) (+191 BS/STR 1.5s) (+143 BS/STR 2s) (+96 BS/STR 3s)
ML: 384 (+61) (+393 BS/STR 1s) (+262 BS/STR 1.5s) (+197 BS/STR 2s) (+131 BS/STR 3s)
M: 367 (+71) (+468 BS/STR 1s) (+312 BS/STR 1.5s) (+234 BS/STR 2s) (+156 BS/STR 3s)
MH: 350 (+81) (+547 BS/STR 1s) (+365 BS/STR 1.5s) (+274 BS/STR 2s) (+183 BS/STR 3s)
HL: 299 (+100) (+723 BS/STR 1s) (+482 BS/STR 1.5s) (+362 BS/STR 2s) (+241 BS/STR 3s)
H: 281 (+109) (+805 BS/STR 1s) (+537 BS/STR 1.5s) (+403 BS/STR 2s) (+269 BS/STR 3s)
HH: 264 (+118) (+891 BS/STR 1s) (+594 BS/STR 1.5s) (+446 BS/STR 2s) (+297 BS/STR 3s)

 These ‘tables’ are meant to help illustrate how Weapon Skill scales up, inside the parenthesis, is the amount of Strength or Ballistic skill that would be needed to replace the Weapon Skill present.

The number before the s inside each parenthesis is the cast time of the spell, 1.5s being the global cooldown assigned to any instant cast spells. This shows how cast time improves the value of your output stats.