Author Topic: The Secret World/Secret World Legends  (Read 156474 times)

Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #400 on: September 22, 2017, 06:15:06 AM »
I'm with you on liking the new version much better. I got bored in Scorched Desert on the original but have 3 alts up to Tokyo on the new one (though I'm on a break for a while, didn't want to completely burn out on the game yet with more content coming). I can definitely understand those who really liked the original being upset though.

saipaman

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #401 on: September 22, 2017, 12:33:15 PM »
Crafting is definitely much improved.

Blondeshell

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #402 on: September 24, 2017, 12:47:59 AM »
Crafting is definitely much improved.

That's where I stopped in TSW. Once it started being important to keep track of talismans (?) and such, the crafting system was confusing enough that I decided it was more effort than I wanted to make.

BTW, how exactly are we supposed to still be able to play TSW if we want to? Every time I start the old launcher it asks me about doing a minimal download for SWL. I thought I had the newest version of the launcher from the Funcom site, but maybe I don't?

Angel Phoenix77

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #403 on: September 24, 2017, 04:33:00 PM »
That's where I stopped in TSW. Once it started being important to keep track of talismans (?) and such, the crafting system was confusing enough that I decided it was more effort than I wanted to make.

BTW, how exactly are we supposed to still be able to play TSW if we want to? Every time I start the old launcher it asks me about doing a minimal download for SWL. I thought I had the newest version of the launcher from the Funcom site, but maybe I don't?
There are a few ways to dl the original patcher, from your TSW/L account or at the bottom of the tsl launcher. What you want to do is when it scans your computer do not patch it. It will say the TSL patcher is still visible, then it will go through the motions of trying to update. Once done you can play the original game. This is the way I get on.
The other way is a bit more complicated. :(
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Tahquitz

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #404 on: October 25, 2017, 05:53:20 AM »
So, after some weeks playing this regularly, I can come up with the following advice:

SP/AP Gained from Regular Play (Levelling Up, Dungeons, Mission Bonuses, etc.)
Doesn't matter how you spend it, as long as you put it in your current weapons, you'll be fine. SWL has taken freeform ability purchases out of the game, as every AP Ability requires the according weapon to be equipped.  Think of SWL's layout like Champions Online's Archetypes.  You really can't go wrong unlocking everything you get your hands on with AP and SP on your current weapons.

Aurum for Cosmetic Items/Services 
As long as you see that costume purchases in Aurum tend to be overpriced in general, then you can pick and choose better what you want your character to have.

Costume Parts:
Costume Set in Champions Online: 450 ZEN (Approx $4.50) Once bought, you can recolor and retexture as you like.
Costume part in Secret World Legends (Let's say a shirt): 700-1000 Aurum ($7-10.00.)  And once you buy it, the color you picked is all you get.  Other colors of the same costume part cost the same price.  So, make damn sure you got what you want -- as with any other Microtransactions out on the Internet, no refunds or do overs.

Sprints:
Motorcycles, mopeds, and horses are available, but the sprints do not exceed your Sprint Running speed (Levels 1-4 purchaseable with Marks of Favor. Level 5 and 6, Aurum only.)  So, keep that in mind.  Buying a motorcycle or horse will not make you faster than your current Sprint speed, which is not how mounts work in other games.

Also: Aurum is held per account, but purchases made with it are character specific only.  Buying a costume part, sprint, or item on one toon does NOT buy it for another.

Character Slots:
Probably one of the saner priced services in SWL, because it's the same as other titles.  A Character Slot is 1000 Aurum ($10.00).

So, for cosmetic gains, unless something is really perfect for your character... it's easier to earn costume parts from Achievements, Accolades, and Lore, which are all free.  Sprints up to Level 4 can be earned from regular gameplay to earn Marks of Favor.  But if you're Free-to-Play and didn't have TSW (Legacy Transfer) to give you three Character Slots, the $10 is worth it to avoid making a throwaway email address to create a second account to gain another character (which does work if cash will never come your way for the game, or you're adamant on not paying in any way.)

Marks of Favor Conversion:
The last thing Aurum can do is convert to Marks of Favor.  But even then, it's not great: 1) the price to convert is free-market, so it can go up or down at a whim (generally around 160 MOF = 1 Aurum.)  2) MOF is granted for free daily (around 4K of it on average, up to 10K if on Patron and you finish the bonuses) if you complete the Daily and Bonus Challenges  Takes a few hours in a level-appropriate area... takes 20 minutes for a Patron at Level 50 stomping around Kingsmouth.  Free always beats paid, even if a timesink is attached.

Aurum for Character Advancement
AP/SP Gain: 
Unlike most games, SWL lets you pay to advance your character directly.  But the rate of points to buy is pretty harsh.  Every single point of AP and SP is worth 100 Aurum. ($1.)  Want 100 AP?  10000 Aurum.  ($100)  Personally, I don't recommend going this route at all.  You can gain 100 AP/SP in 4-6 full days of play (6-8 hour sessions a day).  If you're a Patron, 2-3 days.  That and $100 can feed one person for a week if used well.

I'd purchase AP/SP only if you have a balance of Aurum left from a purchase for something else and it's burning a hole in your pocket for some reason.  (And converting the remaining Aurum total to Marks of Favor isn't a better option for some reason.)

Cache Keys: 
This is where Aurum has some efficacy.  Spending $10 for Aurum yields about 7 keys at 150 Aurum a piece to unlock Item Caches (Lockboxes.)  Every Cache you open has at least two distillates (free upgrades for weapons, talismans, glyphs and signets, etc.) and a small amount of Third Age Fragments (similar to Drifter Salvage, Lobi, and Tarmalune Bars in the Cryptic games.) for a total of three items.  A lucky use of a Cache Key may yield four items: the fourth being either extra distillate, a weapon or talisman, a costume piece (specific to the box in question), or the most common 'bonus': Anima Essence, which is a 30 minute stat boost.  The distillates are the real advantage to the lockboxes: they're all epic quality or better (small chance for Mythic).  That means the following:

Standard Item (Green Border): One Distillate = Instant Level 20 (Max Rank for Standard Items only).
Superior Item (Blue Border): One Distillate = 33% to Level 25 (Max Rank for everything else).
Epic Item (Pink Border): One Distillate = 10% to Level 30.
Mythic Item (Orange Border): One Distillate = 1% to Level 50.
I'm not going to try to postulate Legendary Items (Red Border).  Mainly because I haven't got my hands on one yet.  And Level 70... Just damn.

So, if you want to boost your Item Power in-game to something around 250 in a hurry, using Cache gained Distillates are the fastest way to go.  But even then, there's a wall: after reaching Epic in all of your talismans and weapons, continued purchase of Cache Keys to unlock distillates are diminished returns at that point. 

Again, as with buying AP/SP, this is why Pay to Win really doesn't work:

For the sake of argument, we'll ignore item progression using similar type weapons to upgrade for Anima Shards, but we'll assume you can get from Standard to Superior on your own without Distillates by Level 50 or so.

It'll take 12 Distillates on an Epic Item to make it Mythic, and 25 to make a Mythic Item into Legendary.  Doing the math:

Superior to Epic: 3 Distillates Needed = 450 Aurum. ($4.50)
Epic to Mythic: 12 Distillates Needed = 1800 Aurum. ($18.00)
Mythic to Legendary: 30 Distillates Needed = 4500 Aurum. ($45.00)

Doesn't sound like much, except this: this is per Talisman and Weapon individually.  All 7 Talismans and both Weapons:

Superior to Epic: 27 Distillates Needed = 4050 Aurum. ($40.50)
Epic to Mythic: 108 Distillates Needed = 16200 Aurum. ($162.00)
Mythic to Legendary: 270 Distillates Needed = 40500 Aurum. ($405.50)

And bear in mind, this is to get items to max level.  This is NOT to make the second item to fuse the next tier up.

Superior to Epic Including a Second Copy to Fuse on each Item: 54 Distillates Needed = 8100 Aurum. ($81.00)
Epic to Mythic Including a Second Copy to Fuse on each Item: 216 Distillates Needed = 32400 Aurum. ($324.00)
Mythic to Legendary Including a Second Copy to Fuse on each Item: 540 Distillates Needed = 81000 Aurum. ($810.00)

And for one character, costs are CUMULATIVE.  To go from Superior Items to Legendary on cash alone has a grand total of 121,500 Aurum.  810 Distillates.  That's $1,215 in US Dollars. 

It gets worse.  That's still assuming that Caches give out the exact Distillates (Weapon and Talisman) you need every single time (they won't).  This total is a minimum.  Realistically, you're looking closer at $1,500 if Glyph and Signet Distillates are granted too often.  $2,000 if your luck is really bad.

What's a better strategy?  If you want to go from whatever Item Power you are at Level 50 (assuming you play through everything you'll wind up around 90-100) to around 250, Cache Distillates are the fastest way to go without breaking too much of the bank... and there's a way to get Cache Keys at a discount.  Keep reading...

Subscribe to be a Patron
Seriously.  It's $12.99 a month.  But this is why it's a good idea if you want to go the above route:

Cache Keys as a Patron*: $12.99 for 30 keys.
Cache Keys under Aurum: $45.00 for 30 keys.

*: Only one key is available per day, with the clock triggering at midnight Pacific Time.  If you forget to login during a day, the key is lost.  Only one character can claim the daily key, along with the "Login Reward" that all players get free daily.

If you have the patience to get one key per day (can be done in minutes), and even if you miss a couple of days, you can kit out a character from Standard to Epic in a little under two months with a combination of regular upgrades (consume lower power weapon/talisman drops to Item XP) and Cache Keys under the Patron program to get Epic Distillates to speed progression up.

This is in addition to the other perks: Free Anima Leaps (Map and Zone Teleports are free, but still has cooldown timers), carrying up to 6 Potions to recover HP and 50% off on refills, double the AP/SP gathering (2 Points per Next AP/SP mark on the XP Bar instead of 1 point), 10% more XP to go from Level 1-50, extra Marks of Favor in missions, challenges and dungeons, extra keys for Dungeons, Scenarios, etc.

The downside to the Subscription to the Patron program: you need a US Debit Card or Credit Card to subscribe.  Prepaid and Gift Cards won't work.  (US Law prohibits Gift Card/Prepaid Card use with International Vendors, and Funcom is based in Oslo, Norway.)  And you can sign up on the in-game interface, but to cancel, you need to login to the Secret World Legends website.  (Useful if you're taking a hiatus and don't login at all.)

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I hope this info helps folks to make informed decisions in Secret World Legends.

EDIT: Didn't know what the Max Levels for Epic, Mythic, and Legendary were.  Thanks DJ Nexus!
« Last Edit: October 29, 2017, 08:41:56 PM by Tahquitz »
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Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #405 on: November 14, 2017, 05:22:32 PM »
QOL changes in the new patch are pretty....pretty....pretty good. Dumping the matching role requirements for bonus talisman exp will really help with the grind. It's almost enough to make me want to go back to playing heavy for another month, but I think i need to keep my hiatus going a while longer so I don't completely burn out.

Oh and I was on for 5 minutes today and there was of course a healzor raging that they wasted all that effort on 2 sets of gear and now you can switch role easily with a slider. Those legendarily selfless healers...

Tahquitz

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #406 on: November 16, 2017, 06:07:15 PM »
It's no different than Star Trek Online.  You can change power levels on a ship the same way out of combat to tweak how it works.

The only thing that's different is the efficacy of Glyphs and Signets, but there's a discount on removal that makes it easy to replant everything how you like.  Otherwise, increasing stats still has value.  If anything, Anima Allocation makes Build Planning a little easier as you don't have to worry as much about Talisman placement.
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Sakura Tenshi

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #407 on: November 18, 2017, 01:40:35 AM »
I've been playing this a lot lately and recently finished Tokyo on my Shotgun/AR guy SniperJoe.

Hoooo-leee cow, that was a hell of a ride. Ended up Marathoning Orochi tower with my usual running partner, I wonder if that was sort of like how SAO must have felt like to the characters in-universe.

Thank god we didn't need to ascend all god only knows how many stories.

Also, during some dungeon runs, I found out my guy could solo dungeon bosses on his own. Not even just ones twenty levels below him, I mean level 50 bosses.

Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #408 on: November 30, 2017, 09:51:07 PM »
RNGesus has smiled on me for 5 intricate fierce in 3 days. Radiant generalist's belt is still an urban legend though.

Angel Phoenix77

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #409 on: March 05, 2018, 08:40:14 PM »
Sorry for the late reply. The doff system invades swl. An added plus, you only get one "agent" to gain more you ether have to spend money on booster packs, you are not guaranteed to get one. The next way is, you can try and earn one replaying missions from savage coast and onward. The last way is paying an over inflated price on the market.

This could have been a fun addition to an otherwise rehash of a once great game. But they pulled a funcom and only thought of how to squeeze more money out of its players.
One day the Phoenix will rise again.

Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #410 on: March 05, 2018, 09:34:56 PM »
It gives me a reason to log in twice a day to reset agent mishes instead of just once for daily reward. Still no reason to actually play, but y'know. I did get a good chuckle at the aurum costs to expedite missions though.

Angel Phoenix77

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #411 on: March 09, 2018, 08:52:04 AM »
I ran two Transylvania dungeons and afterward, I went to sc and started my run for dossiers. After doing four missions I finally got my first. Then when I went to the school and ran what's her faces first mission I got my second one. :)
One day the Phoenix will rise again.

Angel Phoenix77

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #412 on: March 14, 2018, 08:01:52 AM »
Season 2 is just right around the corner.
One day the Phoenix will rise again.

Tahquitz

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #413 on: March 14, 2018, 07:31:20 PM »
Yup.  New zone is in South Africa. 

It's like Egypt with less whimsy and more run down cars.  (Not a dig on South Africa, that's just how the zone looks in game.)

https://www.secretworldlegends.com/2018/03/13/dawn-of-the-morninglight/
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Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #414 on: March 14, 2018, 07:47:38 PM »
That awkward period between being able to complain about no new content and being able to complain about the new content.

Angel Phoenix77

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #415 on: March 15, 2018, 11:56:19 PM »
That awkward period between being able to complain about no new content and being able to complain about the new content.

True, but when I complain about something in swl. It is due to wanting to see it succeed. And I see them wasting that chance. They made some very foolish changes, then there are something I absolutely love. That enhances the gameplay.

I really hope season 2 turns out good. I need to hurry up, I have four of the major contacts left alongside the main story missions in Tokyo. :)
One day the Phoenix will rise again.

Vee

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Re: The Secret World/Secret World Legends
« Reply #416 on: March 16, 2018, 12:29:22 AM »
I've got one character sitting waiting for the new stuff. The others are in no rush to do some of those annoying tokyo mishes. I learned my lesson the last time though when i came back too fast so I'll stay on my break well past April.

I hope the new stuff keeps the game going strong.

frazier

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Re: The Secret World
« Reply #417 on: July 06, 2019, 10:01:56 PM »
Kurrent where are you????
I MISS YOU!!!!!

We are up again and on Excelsior server. We need you and Tink!!!!!!!

Fraz

I loved The Secret World.

And now I'm done with it.  I hate reticle targeting, and having to redo everything we've built from the ground up is not my thing any more.  Plus it seems like Funcom is deliberately trying to drive people away from this IP, with the terrible way they've handled this for the last year, all the way up to the buggy launch, the huge leap backward in character customization and the currency bugs at launch.  I understand that they're trying to target a newer demographic and target audience, but there was a way they could have done it without infuriating a huge chunk of their loyal veteran players.  And now this deal with them forcibly updating the patcher to lock us out of TSW and make us launch into SWL was just insult upon injury for me.  It's my final straw, so I'm walking away from Funcom before I get more frustrated.

For those you still fighting the Secret War, stay safe.  I wish you all the best!

K


Nika Rousseau (Dragon DPS)