Last night I hopped on the the beta server and decided to live stream a bit (the NDA is removed if you recall) and share the warsteed tutorial and some basics on how using a warsteed works. I did not share any of the quests or events leading up to earning the steed in this video – I’m leaving that for you to discover.
I thought it may be interesting to some to see controlling the warsteed through the tutorial. I didn’t do a great job running the course but I think I did well enough to let you see how it will take some practice. Hopefully you seeing it beforehand will enable you to do better than I did on my first try (this was not my first try just so you know)!
After playing with things a bit, the warsteed controls will make sense and you’ll be about to get around much easier. It’ll feel weird if you pull out one of your old travel mounts after playing with your warsteed for a while.
This was recorded August 30th on the Bullroarer Beta Server on Beta Build 4. Note that Bullroarer is beta and all this can change before Riders of Rohan releases on October 15th!
Let it be known that I, Goldenstar, did all this recording by myself. No instruction, no idea really what I’m doing. I swear I will get better at this but for now, you’re stuck with me and my training wheels. I had to cut the video about a minute short as all of a sudden everything started echoing with the audio (badly enough that it was incomprehensible) so that is why it has such an abrupt end!
August 31, 2012 at 8:27 am
I’m going to wait till it opens to take a peek at anything, for me beta-ing isengard kinda ruined the excitement of it when it went live. but thanks for all the work to put it out there for others to enjoy
August 31, 2012 at 9:19 am
I watched the stream last night, and yeah it got pretty bad at the end with the echoing, but I still managed to make out most of what you were saying. Regardless, I think it was pretty instructive to see how the warsteed is controlled, thanks to the video I think I’ll be able to get used to it in less than half an hour, the plains of Rohan are pretty open after all.
August 31, 2012 at 9:32 am
I had no real problem with the tutorial, but I wish there was more info on how to really deal with moving targets. A lot of them just chase you and trying to run back and forth to build up speed quickly got confusing for me.
I’d definitely like to see one of someone handling mobs “right” with a horse. I’m not convinced I am lol
August 31, 2012 at 6:40 pm
For some players it will go smoother than with others. Normally it won’t be too hard. You target the enemy first, then select a skill to use in advance, then the skill is used automatically if you’re in range. Melee skills are harder as you’ve got to get relatively close to the target, ranged skills are easier as they can fire from farther away. Ranged classes will definitely have an advantage if they have troubles moving while fighting.
In any event you’re usually not chasing the enemy so much. If you’re soloing the enemy will be trying to run towards you or else will be circling around. Get the skill queued up and just aim for the incoming asteroid.
It helps to use “tab” key for this which I think will be simpler than try to click on an enemy while moving. You can see Goldenstar clicking the (small) targets with the mouse which slowed things down. Players who normally do things that way may find it frustrating to keep stopping or slowing down.
Depending on your coordination there are different ways to handle this. I turn on the option to slow down automatically when I lift my finger off of the “w” key. But I can also hold down “w” while pressing “1″, “2″, “3″ or whatever skill to use, or use the mouse for some skills. But by default you keep moving at a constant speed and have to manually slow down or stop, which allows you to just steer with the mouse while hunting for skills with your keyboard hand. I’ve also tried moving with just the mouse, with both buttons down moving you forward and lift up off a button to slow. Players will probably need to find what style works best for them.
You don’t actually have to do this all on the fly. You can stop and click the skill to use and then start moving again to a higher speed. You can even stay stopped and wait for the enemy to come to you, though with multiple enemies this isn’t as safe.
I think the players who “kite” enemies a lot may have a big advantage here. Players who like to turn with the keyboard and use mouse just for clicking skills may find this more frustrating.
September 1, 2012 at 9:16 pm
“Players who like to turn with the keyboard and use mouse just for clicking skills may find this more frustrating.”
*wince*
gulp.
September 4, 2012 at 10:43 pm
As a player who primarily keyboard turns and clicks his skills roughly half of the time, I’d say that it’s not as much of an issue as they make it out to be.
August 31, 2012 at 10:00 am
I like how the tutorial is coming along.
They have put quite a bit of effort into getting someone “fresh from the farm” onto that intricate Steed (and yes – that Steed takes alot of getting used to. Very different from what we have been riding thus far).
The beauty in my mind is that the tutorial is repeatable, which gives players a chance to practice while being guided by an NPC. That & having the basic course available at all times players should be able to get into the thick of battle in no time.
Where I agree that having moving targets may be helpful in the learning process, there are quite a few of them to work on outside the tutorial.
Every class has it’s own set of skills, and IMHO cannot be effectivly taught in a tutorial setting. Just got to do it. (FYI: I play all classes except the Burg. & have tested them).
AND ANYONE who says that LOTRO/Turbine HATES HUNTERS should just see the love they gave between Hunters and the War Steed .. they are a match made in Heaven (AND Rohan).
Thanks for putting this together, keep up the good work!
See You all sometime, somewhere in the Riddermark.
Wyllo – Leader
Middle Earth Pest Control
August 31, 2012 at 10:53 am
You people are making me want to get Rohan really badly XD I’m going to have to wait until my main lvls up a few tens of times though (and until I can afford it
)
August 31, 2012 at 1:02 pm
I am just glad they took out the infamous timed jousting runs in an earlier beta build. It made the warsteed tutorial impossible for some people.
August 31, 2012 at 3:12 pm
They took it out?! [happy dance]
Was doable but very tricky to get the hang of it. Half the time I couldn’t quick enough and ended outside the fences and have to start over
August 31, 2012 at 1:34 pm
I’m around in beta as well, and i don’t really like mounted combat for a melee class
August 31, 2012 at 3:11 pm
Very Mount & Blade-ish
August 31, 2012 at 3:22 pm
New warband icons look much much nicer than the pink zits on the map from before.
August 31, 2012 at 10:35 pm
Amen! Now, what about the pink Moors armour set my toons are running around in…don’t mind the stats (on the two that are not as geared on live at least…my Minstrel is sad in comparison…very sad…very pathetic…but good enough to to the testing I guess). Ok, so maybe it’s technically considered ‘salmon’ in color…but it’s still PINK!
(btw, its lvl 88 gear or something like that…
September 5, 2012 at 1:27 pm
will it keep it’s HP(morale) or will it be step down?