Anyone reading last week may have noticed this Beastlord gameplay preview already uploaded. A small number of you may have even read it the first time around. Long story short, during my call with Amelia Lukiman and Dave Georgeson, news of EverQuest II’s new free-to-play business model also came with some juicy tidbits about the new class to debut with the release blade soul gold of the Age of Discovery expansion: Beastlord. In a strange turn of events, it seems as though MMOsite ate my original article, and it is now and forever gone in the sands of mystery.
So, instead of ventuing in on a long and tedious preamble, we’re going to try one more time and jump right back in. Here is what we know of the new class to appear in EverQuest II and how its style of play is very different from every other class in EverQuest II.
First of all, behold the Beastlord.
This charming figure stands side-by-side with one of its warders. What is a warder? Why, that’s what a monster becomes when a Beastlord tames it!
Beastlords are going to come with an ability called “Beastlord Sight”, which is going to be the centerpiece to Beastlord gameplay. In short, Beastlord Sight is an ability that players use to examine a mob and see if it can be tamed. If it can be, Beastlord Sight will be blade and soul gold integral to helping budding Beastlords gain new buddies. Once a monster is tamed, they will be unlocked as a warder, which means that players will be able to use these monsters for combat. Unlocking one mob of a certain type will unlock others of the same creature type, so it will be important for Beastlords to grab as many warders as they can!
After that, it’s all about the fighting. Beastlord combat is very active and will require the player’s attention constantly, because it’s all about the Beastlord’s abilities and the abilities of whatever warder they have active, and the fact that both are constantly changing as a battle progresses. As a Beastlord begins a fight, they will begin to fill their savagery bar with each action taken in combat. As this savagery bar fills, Beastlords will begin to notice weaknesses in the enemy that they’re fighting. Taking note of these weaknesses will then allow a warder to use certain primals and inflict different damages. Primals, of course, are special abilities that are based on the warder being used.
There are two sides to using primals and the savagery bar. On one hand, when a Beastlord notices an enemy weakness, they’ll only have a limited amount of time to use a certain primal geared directly towards exploiting a creature’s weakness. On the other hand, the higher a Beastlord’s savagery bar fills, the more effective a warder’s primals will be. Using a warder to target a certain weakpoint will deplete the savagery bar as needed, but the more the savagery bar builds, the greater the weaknesses spotted will be — thus making primals almost exponentially more powerful. As Dave Georgeson commented on the phone, “It’s an exercise in willpower — how long can you keep from hitting that button?”
Beastlords can only have one warder active at a time, but they can store potential warders and carry them around as they adventure. Moreover, switching warders is as easy as dismissing one and summoning the next. No fuss, no muss! As for the potential warder types themselves, Gerogeson has said that they are currently limited to insects, “themed monsters”, and intelligent creatures. Of course, Mr. Georgeson had commented that the system is still being fine-tuned, so any of this may change by the time the game is released.
With the latest expansion to EverQuest II anticipated for release very soon, we here at Quest! will be bringing you a very special beta hands-on for the upcoming Age of Discovery, in which we will be bringing you new screenshots and new details about the expansion in general — and hopefully this hands-on will come with some first-hand gameplay experience with the Beastlord. Expect news of this hands-on and guided tour to come sometime next week.
