Initial thoughts

[ckorik]

When starting an artificer perhaps a suggestion that conjure bolt is a *really* good idea to take. I knew this going in but I was *still* unprepared for the massive amount of bolts used. A new player would ditch a crossbow in a heartbeat if they didn't take that spell. It's such a big deal that if you expect someone new to the game to use a crossbow I'd almost say make conjure bolts an automatically picked spell at lvl 1.

Rune arm at low levels is nice for the weapon buff - but otherwise seems... meh.

I know the PRE isn't in yet - but you alluded to a '1 handed path for bastard swords/dwarven axes' - this implies that you would expect someone to invest in the THF feat line to get the glancing blow damage - I think these feats should be in the 'bonus' feat list if this is the case.

Pets -

Now is where I have real complaints - why on earth did you use the old 'Frenzy' AI on the pet? Seriously I have to watch my pet run after boxes through traps and mobs because he saw a crate at max visible distance? I see him running into a gate (behind witch are barrels) that I can't open (this is in redemption FYI - there is a gate before the traps that you can't open - has barrels I assume for flavor - and the pet just runs at them).

Pets seem to get bugged out if you command them to use an ability and they fail. Trip Fido - fail - now the dog will stand next to you and do nothing even when you are attacked. Press Trip again and they will attack *that* target - then do nothing. It seems that once he can complete the action and *trip* something he comes back to life.

On that note.... GIVE US A PET ATTACK COMMAND. I should be able to tell my pet *which* npc to attack - it should not be random if I'm willing to micro manage my pet. If I tell it to attack a specific MOB - then it should stick to that mob until it's dead before running around.

When on 'guard mode' and not being micro'd I should expect my pet to stay next to me unless I am attacked by something within ... lets say the same area affect as the Favored Soul 'aura' ability. I shouldn't expect the pet to run after an archer on the other side of the Misery's Peak canyon while 5 guys jump me. I would also expect my pet to stay by my side when I'm not under attack even if it sees a crate or box!

This would avoid the 'run through a trap and die' effect - especially when it sees a crate/box on the other side of a trap you don't even have a spot notice for yet.

There should be some tooltips on how to rename your pet. Big tooltips - like maybe even print up the pet window the first time you summon Fido to show you the pet stat screen and how to rename/equip them. #1 FAQ last night.... How do I rename my pet. Last night it was fine - for a new player it's just something they may not even realize they can do when they first start the game.

Pet 'intimidate' action button also seems totally bugged - I didn't see it cause my pet to do anything once - but it could be that it was trying and it just never worked. The intim 'head graphic' would appear but never when I pressed the action button - and it seemed random when the dog would decide to intim.

[Kurukaze]

I found the class awesome, very much like monk in the power level of the class so far. There are a few things with the pet UI that would be nice, a quick way to select it for repair would be swank. Also I hope there will be a way outside of leveling and luck to find some infusions.

[Arnhelm]

My initial thought on building and playing an Artificer was... WoW.

[Letrii]

Conjure bolts is one the recommended infusions on one of the character creation screens.

[ckorik]

Conjure bolts is one the recommended infusions on one of the character creation screens.

Yes but to someone new to the game the downside of *not* taking it is huge.

I actually had a blast playing the character - but the things I noted were where I broke the fun.

Having to dump the pet and re-summon because it is stuck wasn't fun.

Having the pet run into traps because it saw a deadly barrel - was not fun.

Having a pet is awesome - tweaking it so that the pet feels like an extension of your character is (IMO) something that would make the pet feel like an important part of your build - instead of an afterthought.

One more thing while I'm thinking about it - it would be nice to see current weapon infusions in the buff bar. The only way you can see what is active on a weapon is by hovering over it, and the popup windows for descriptions are not always so reliable (in terms of staying visible).

I also was disappointed that the infusions would go away if a did a weapon swap - which means that they are going to be not so useful in many cases.