Classes

Artillery fans in Europe waiting for World of Tank's update 8.6 can start enjoying the all the goodies that this patch brings today, from the new artillery units to the new Korean-based Sacred Valley battle arena. Other areas of the globe, however, will have a longer wait before they can participate in the patch; it will go live in Southeast Asia on June 20th, followed by the American release on June 25th, and then finally hit South Korea on July 4th.

Also included in this update are new SPGs that boost that line to Tier X and the A33 Excelsior, a new premium British tank. Take a look at the vehicles in the renderings, screenshots, and artwork in the gallery below. And in case you missed the teaser trailer for this update, we've tucked it behind the break for you!
[Source: Wargaming press release]

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When City of Steam threw open its browser-based beta doors to all players, certain classes and races were noticeably missing from the soirée. But some fan-favorites have finally gotten their invitation and will be rejoining the party when the 1.3 patch Tears of the Oracle hits next week; greenskins, dwarves, and Channelers will once again be available to play.

And that's not even the half of it! This next patch will also be raising the level cap, expanding questlines, and adding plenty of new things, including the Founder's Annex suburb, a PvP event, a collection system, rare mobs in dungeons, plenty of cosmetic items, and even a new crafting system. On top of that, levels one through nine can resurrect for free in dungeons and the salvage system got an overhaul. So get ready to get your goblin (or hobbe, or orc) on next week!

[Source: Mechanist Games press release]

Are you looking for a new character to play in Dark Vale's Forge PvP title? Look no further than Tinker, who is the game's next piece of free DLC.

Tinker is available in the live game starting today, and Dark Vale has posted some teaser info -- including three gameplay videos -- on Forge's official forums. You can also get a load of Tinker's cata pad, armored booth, barricade, buzz saw, turret, and more via the clips that we've embedded just past the break.

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Snail Games showcased two new MMOs today at E3: Black Gold and Age of Wushu. The two games have more than their parent in common; Black Gold utilizes the Age of Wushu engine. Set in a fantastical steampunk world, Black Gold is a mish-mash of colorful fantasy elements and grunge-ridden steampunk inventions, as we found in our hands-on with the game earlier today.

Each faction within Black Gold (fantasy or steam faction) has three races of its own. The steam faction holds humans, dwarves, and vampires (what steampunk MMO would be without vampires?), and on the fantasy side you'll find more humans, a cat-like race, and a shape-shifting barbarian race. It might be a little limited in race selection, but maybe character creation will be just as interesting for the players as it is in Age of Wushu.

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The folks over at Snail Games had several computers set up at E3 this year to allow the press to play their next MMO, Black Gold. The concept is simple but relatively uncommon: steampunk vs. fantasy. I guess you can say RIFT tried its hand at the trope with its Defiants and Guardians showdown, but it wasn't taken to such an extreme. Black Gold is more like Aztec elves with magic powers vs. an apocalyptic survivalist society that's living off of steam power even though they have telephone poles.

While the game has some really cool art and concepts, the pre-beta demo I got to try was sadly lacking in options. I spent about 20 minutes in the morning trying an Isenhorst human with a rifle, then spent the last hour of E3 day one with still more BG.

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WildStar's promising players the moon, but are gamers just star-struck? I know I personally wasn't paying too much attention to the game until the recent video about paths. I'm not against the graphics, I think themeparks can be fun, and I've put up with PvE vs. PvP stats for about a decade and a half, so what's another year? But... well, I just keep getting the feeling that there's a lot of hype and no substance. The path video and the scientist path hands-on preview got me excited though. No longer were these empty promises! Someone had seen some of them first-hand! But maybe this was my downfall.

For those who don't know, E3 isn't about playing any game you want any way you want. Sometimes devs just bring the live game and let you have at it, but I find that often these games don't have a lot of announcements to make and are mainly there to let... ah, "less informed" gaming journalists see the game. No, instead, you often have a developer leading you on a very strict path, if you're even allowed to play the game. Maybe they release you with a premade character into a specific dungeon that "ends" when the boss dies. Or, as with my hands on with Wildstar, you might be restricted to a few class/paths and have to do the newbie experience.

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The clock is ticking down, and the wait for Aion 4.0 is almost over. But eager Daevas don't have to sit and twiddle their wings until June 26th to see the new classes in action; NCsoft offered Massively a sneak peek with a new trailer depicting the Gunslinger toting guns galore (from pistols to aethercannons) and the Songweaver, who packs a mean treble clef and can heal mana. If you want to blast holes in your opponents or turn them into dancing penguins, this is the video for you.

Not interested in a new class? Then how about getting a gander at the new skills coming to the tried and true classes! There's something new for everyone as Daevas advance up to level 65. Take a look at those skills in the second video beyond the break.

[Source: NCsoft press release]

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How many gods are left in the universal pantheon for Hi-Rez Studios to exploit for SMITE? We guess at least one more because the team has patched in Athena, goddess of wisdom.

Athena is a melee tank who uses a bit of magic to help her allies and herself out in a fight. While she primarily relies on shield and spear, her passive ability gives her a ranged attack after using a skill. She also can dash up to (and through) enemies, taunt with a shockwave, summon ghost soldiers to form a shield wall, and teleport to an ally while protecting that ally from 50% of damage for a short time.

You can check out the Athena reveal, including her lore and abilities, in the video after the break!

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We still don't know exactly what the last two WildStar classes will look like, unless my speculation turns out to be true (and you'd better believe that I believe it). But as it happens, we don't know quite as much about one of the four we are aware of. Espers are a known quantity, but they've been... not hidden, precisely. But they're also not as visible as Spellslingers, Warriors, and Stalkers. Ironic, since they were one of the first classes we knew about.

Last week I was focused on unpacking paths from the recent preview event. This time, I want to talk about Espers. I also want to talk about leveling your character and dissecting some of the other information we've been getting about the title, while leaving out one crucial bit of WildStar discussion in anticipation of next week. Yes, I have plans. You'll figure it out or see it in the "next week" blurb. Either way.

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The Repopulation transitioned into its second alpha test last month, and the team has a quite detailed report about all of the tweaks and features that it added to the game during that period. While there's a lot of everything in the patch notes, Rogues got a big piece of the attention pie.

Above and Beyond Technologies reported that it improved the quality of life for Rogue characters through a number of changes. The thievery mechanic got an upgrade, pick-pocketing got several missions, and containers got stubbornly locked. As an aside, there are six stealthed Rogues in the above picture. See if you can spot them!

Other changes to the game for the second alpha test include mission chains, random missions, 70 new crafting recipes, two new generic den types, and an overhaul of the reputation system.

Square has released a brand-spanking new trailer for its Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn reboot. The three-minute clip centers on job actions, which is another way of saying three minutes of various classes standing in place showing off various attacks.

Let's see, there's the Paladin, the Warrior, the Monk, the White Mage, the Dragoon, and the Bard. Oh, and there's the Black Mage. Never forget the Black Mage. Also, don't forget that this is beta footage, according to the big disclaimer on the front-end of the video which you can see after the cut.

[Thanks Lauren!]

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The thing about Final Fantasy XIV's crafting is that it's always been an odd mixture of wonderful and terrible, much like the game as a whole. You had crazily interconnected crafts that could be frustrating to level, the simple difficulty of trying to find the items you need, and a minigame that made mass production maddeningly slow. But you also had a real sense of personal craftsmanship, and the complex interplay between quality, durability, and progress meant that your successes or failures were truly your own.

None of these elements has been removed from the beta phases, but each has been streamlined and largely improved. The test phases allowed us to explore the two crafting classes based in Gridania, Carpenter and Leatherworker, and so I got to really dive into the heart of working with wood and dead animal hides. It was a lot more fun than that summary might imply.

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Even as a mere mortal, Billy Batson stood up to injustice. And now, thanks to the powers granted him by the ancient wizard Shazam, Billy can turn into a mighty lightning-infused warrior to fight against injustice, evil... and whatever opponents happen to queue against him! Joining the pool of available champions in Turbine's upcoming MOBA Infinite Crisis, the superhero formerly known as Captain Marvel (name officially changed to Shazam in 2010) hails from the Prime Universe and brings the power of lightning front-and-center as a melee enforcer.

Want to catch of glimpse of Shazam's powers and abilities like Speed of Mercury, Power of Zeus, Lightning Field, and Mystic Power/Defense? Then watch the champion reveal video after the break.

[Source: Turbine press release]

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Dungeons and Dragons Online's second expansion will not be like the first. In fact, Shadowfell Conspiracy might even be seen as a pseudo-sequel to DDO, a game-within-a-game that's offering players a fresh start in a favorite land. When the expansion hits on August 19th, players will be able to ignore all of DDO's Eberron content to start a new character at level 15 in the Forgotten Realms. Between the Forgotten Realms content that Turbine's added to the game in the past year and the new missions coming with Shadowfell Conspiracy, players could conceivably level solely in this setting.

It's obvious that Turbine's a little Forgotten-Realms-mad right now, although that's not a bad thing. The setting is a favorite among D&D fans, and while Eberron has its supporters, the studio obviously sees the Forgotten Realms as the future of this long-running MMO. While the expansion is still a couple of months away, today's Update 18: Disciples of Shadow update will serve as a prologue so that players can get started on their journey through this fresh land.

We sat down with DDO's team to talk about Update 18, the new races coming with Shadowfell Conspiracy, and the pre-purchase program that promises to give you head start. Read on, or else the wrath of the owl bear will be upon thee!

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