Vindictus: Difference between revisions

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[[File:Vindictus_Logo_19.jpg|frame]]

 

While set in the same world, this is a [[Darker and Edgier|darker]] and [[Bloodier and Gorier|bloodier]] version, using [[Valve]]'s Source [[Game Engine|engine]]. Although it maintains some of the original's skill-based system and titles, gameplay is far more combat-oriented -- it is being promoted as an "Action RPG" -- and the game mechanics are simplified. The gameplay is like a mix of [[Dynasty Warriors]] and ''[[Monster Hunter]]'', with just a pinch of ''[[Demon's Souls]]''. Also differing from ''Mabinogi''; ''Vindictus'' is far more story-driven; and at least half of the missions advance the main story. There is almost none of the [[Wide Open Sandbox]] quality that dominated the original game; and most of the side missions are in some way related to the main storyline, typically providing more detail, character development, or a different perspective.

Unlike the first game, and most [[MMORPG|MMORPGs]] for that matter, there are few common areas outside of towns; and no common combat areas. All fighting takes place in instanced dungeons that allow only small player parties of 1-4 to enter (though there are also raid instances such as the White Tyrant mission in Hoarfrost Hollow that allow for parties of up to 6-10 people).

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* [[The Alcoholic]]: Fergus. There is an entire side quest revolving around his heavy drinking. This actually goes a long way toward explaining his character in [[Mabinogi Fantasy Life|the original game]].

* [[All Your Powers Combined]]: Craftsman Colru takes on the abilities of the four smaller golems that make him.

* [[Animated Armor]]: Knights in Ortel Castle. Quite a few players have trouble fighting them in groups.

* [[Anti-Hero]]: Due to the setting's [[Black and Grey Morality]], player characters are definitely anti- rather than traditional heroes. At early levels, they appear to be somewhere around Type III; but as the story progresses, it's quite clear that they're much more Type IV, and leaning toward Type V. Most of the NPCs range from Type III (Kirstie) to Type V.

** The ability point system also discourages extended grinding, at least at low levels. The number of ability points received from completing missions is reduced each time the mission is completed -- to zero for the Perilous Ruins beginner missions, five for the lowest-level post-beginner missions, and continuing upward as the mission level increases. Early on, players obtain a skill called Meditation, which awards ability points after a certain amount of time. At the starting level, this is 1 point every real-time hour (the time interval can be reduced by levelling the skill, though this could be considered [[Awesome but Impractical]] as ranking it is extremely AP-intensive. Rank A would take a little over a year to pay off.).

* [[Anyone Can Die]]: Late-game story is really starting to veer this way.

** Paladin and Dark Knight have been nerfed with the coming of Karok, but [[Awesome Yet Practical]] is still in effect. Taken [[Up to Eleven]] with the Second Forms (called ''White Knight'' and ''Black Knight'' respectively) which not only makes you look more impressive, but gives you access to even more devastating skills that look even cooler.

* [[Bag of Sharing]]: A minor form in the basic loot drops, known in-game as 'evil cores', which will not disappear until every party member has had their chance to grab from it. Cash shop users who buy items which increase their Luck will have a chance to get 'lucky cores' which are white as opposed to black and are only accessible to the person who triggered the drop (excluding bosses).

* [[Barrier Maiden]]: Tieve is initially set up to be this. After all, she is an oracle maiden from the starting town who greets you after passing out, and is worried about the fact that she has never heard the goddess's voice. However, in Chapter 7, we learn that another oracle by the name of Seanna is supposed to be the chosen maiden, who we rescue from the [[Absurdly Spacious Sewers]]. {{spoiler|This is a [[Double Subversion]], as it seems the clergy are working against the prophesy. If they actually achieve the prophesy, they won't be needed any more and will no longer have the power they have now.}}

* [[BFS]]: While none of the characters available at this time have one as a default weapon, some bosses do use them, and drop them when killed, allowing characters to pick up and play with them. Karok the Giant wields a massive [[Telephone Polearm]] as his default weapon.

* [[Difficult but Awesome]]: A few examples of this trope exist.

** Spear-using Lann characters can use the "3960 Hurricane" skill; becoming a whirling dervish of death, and gaining the highest DPS in the game. The skill is highly effective at clearing a room of mooks, but against challenging bosses that aren't easily stunned, the skill is considerably less effective.

*** It should be noted that the charge time can be reduced to about half of the norm by letting go of the charge button when the bar flashes and pressing it again. You can reach level 3 Focus in about a second and a half that way, then use Ice Spear to freeze whatever is bothering you long enough to charge up Blind Arrow.

* {{spoiler|[[Doomed Hometown]]: Colhen gets destroyed in Episode 6}}.

** "Appearance of a Small Bear" in Hoarfrost Depths pits the players against ''two'' (albeit smaller) bears, plus a Kobold boss.

*** With the Armies of Colhen update, Stribog has entered the fray in a 24 player raid.

** Advancing a transformation skill (Paladin or Dark Knight) uses an odd mechanic. Every real time hour, you are allowed one transformation. Upon exiting your transformation, you get 75 EXP for your Path Skill and 1 EXP, up to 25, for every 1000 damage you deal. To level up a Path Skill once, you need 2000 EXP. So since it's possible to get a maximum of 100 Path EXP per hour, it takes 20 hours minimum to level up your transformation once.

** Crafting skills (known as "Expertise" in-game) use a similar mechanic. Aside from the grinding required to earn sufficient experience and [[Randomly Drops|randomly dropped items]] to level the skill; certain special items are required for the final "test" crafting. These items are available only from a specific NPC, who will provide a maximum of 2 per real-time day, and only in exchange for a number of quest items. 20 of these special items are required for the first level alone; with higher levels requiring more.

** Tieve's Oracle dress in the prologue also seems designed to be this.

* [[Five-Man Band]]: Deconstructed. There are five very different hero characters to select from, but very little personality is known about them. Aside from Karok being [[The Strong Man]] and Evie being either [[The Chick]] or [[The Smart Guy]], the other three characters don't fit the classic 5 man band definition. Plus, most boats only take 4 players at a time.

** Fiona's Shield Charge also does this.

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: Lann starts out as the [[Glass Cannon]] version of this, having the highest DPS in the game; but he relies almost entirely on his dodge skill for defense, as he only gets [[With a Herring|weak cloth armour]]. He can develop the ability to wear heavier armour fairly quickly, becoming more resilient; but still remaining fairly fragile. With the right skill build; can develop into a [[Lightning Bruiser]] at high levels.

** Not only that, sometimes the gnolls themselves drop gnoll leather armor; meaning they wear their own defeated enemies as protection too.

** The conflict between the Formors and the Humans? {{spoiler|Explained as a divine mandated war of genocide initiated by the humans in order to access heaven.}} The one who tells you this? {{spoiler|Tieve, the cute prophetess who believes this blindly even though she admits to not even knowing if the goddess gives a rat's ass about humans.}} Puts everything in the game into a new perspective when you realize that {{spoiler|you are the bad guy}}.

**** {{spoiler|Actually, if you take into account the storyline of Vindictus' prequel Mabinogi, then the previous view is in fact correct. To summarize: the Goddess who promised you paradise? She's the one who actually started the war that's been raging between your race and the enemy's for generations. She promised humans paradise to manipulate them into wiping out the Fomors, who she was once allied with but betrayed after they became too powerful for her liking. After certain revelations in Mabinogi, it seems that the promise was mostly a lie. Additionally, neither side is really evil, once you take another look at their motivations. They're both fighting for survival and there are relatively good and bad individuals on both sides. There are definitely large amounts of [[Gray and Gray Morality]] involved here, but the Goddess Morrighan is a deeper shade of gray.}}

**** {{spoiler|Ingkells finds out, which sends him across the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and leads him to transform himself (and his subordinates) into powerful Fomors in order to go out with some measure of meaning. And as part of his dying words, "Not even if you kill us all..."}}

** Taken [[Up to Eleven]] in Ep.10 where you get to fight three of them. At the same time.

* [[Glowing Eyes of Doom]]: The final main boss of Ainle, the Blood Prince, has these. And if you craft a specific piece of equipment, your character can as well!

** When you transform into a Dark Knight, you get them as well.

** The White Tyrant, mentioned above, has a single [[Glowing Eyes of Doom|Glowing Eye of Doom.]] ([[Eye Scream|Which you can poke out]] and craft into a ring.)

* [[Grievous Harm with a Body]]: You pretty much can pick up the the [[Taken for Granite|petrified corpses]] of your fallen enemies and use them as a weapon against other enemies if you don't feel like your current weapon or magic is doing enough.

* [[Griping About Gremlins]]: One of the major monster types in the Fomorian Base region. Gremlins are far more technologically sophisticated than any other group, including humans, and are most likely the source of the game's [[Schizo-Tech]]. Bosses in particular, as most of them carry [[Improbable Weapon User|bizarre weapons]] that can [[Blow You Away|shoot tornadoes]], poison gas, [[Kill It with Fire|streams of fire]], and [[Shock and Awe|bolts of electricity]].

* [[Improbable Weapon User]]: Evie develops the ability to wield increasingly large and elaborate scythes as her primary weapon. Karok starts out wielding a club [[Telephone Polearm|the size of a tree trunk]], with some versions nearly as tall as he is, and/or covered with lots of spiky bits.

* [[Improvised Weapon]]: Pretty much every object can be picked up and used as a weapon to beat your opponents with, including brooms, [[Grievous Bottley Harm|amphorae]], pitchforks, barrels, and chunks of stone columns. They also stun bosses quite easily, a very unique ability in terms of skill.

* [[Item Crafting]]: Since gold dropped from enemies is negligible compared to loot drops and quest rewards, the vast majority of weapon and equipment aquisition revolves around giving your hard-earned leather and ores to [[NPC|NPCs]]. As of the Labyrinth expansion, players can craft their own equipment. The cost (in items and gold) to craft individual pieces is lower than for NPC-crafted gear; but takes a whole lot more of both to improve crafting skills enough to make higher-level gear, making it more expensive in the long run. Player-crafted gear does have the advantage of being higher quality (better durability and stats), so YMMV whether it's worth the effort.

* [[It Got Worse]]: As the Vindictus storyline goes on, this is one of those things you can very much count on, especially later on.

** As the story progresses, other NPCs start calling Gallagher on his [[Jerkass]] behaviour, and effectively start treating him as [[The Scrappy]] in-universe, to the point that {{spoiler|your choice to become a Dark Knight or a Paladin depends on whether or not you choose to kill him (Dark Knight) or spare him (Paladin) (either way, you don't actually kill him.)}}.

* [[Jerk with a Heart of Gold]]: Brynn. He comes off as aloof and always asks why you insist on bothering him all the time. However, according to Tieve he's kind and gentle and once when she accidentally used salt instead of sugar when baking cookies he ate the entire plate without letting her have one so she wouldn't realize and be embarrassed by her mistake.

* [[Late Arrival Spoiler]]: The Episode 6 patch was known as {{spoiler|"Colhen in Flames"}}, thus spoiling the playerbase before they even had a chance to play it.

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: [[Wolfpack Boss]] Black Breeze in Perilous Ruins is the first example of this, although he and his buddies can be easily stunned with spears or [[Improvised Weapon|Improvised Weapons]]. The first really nasty example is the Blood Lord in Ainle; who is not only very fast, but also [[Teleport Spam|teleports constantly]] as well.

** Evie's quick evasion skill, [[Deflector Shields|magic shield]], slow-but-powerful ranged magic attack, and healing ability make her the strongest starting character against the early game's [[Mighty Glacier]] bosses. Later, once [[Lightning Bruiser]] bosses begin to dominate, the slow casting time of her more powerful skills becomes a major handicap, as does her inability to wear heavy armour when faced with bosses who can destroy half or more of her magic shield in a single blow. She does have some skills to compensate; but they're tricky to use, and cost a huge amount of stamina.

** By contrast, defensive characters Fiona and Karok are harder to solo with at low levels, particularly once bosses start using powerful "smash" attacks. Once they've had time to gain and level-up their defense and counter-attack skills; they can stand up to later game bosses much more easily than Evie; and Karok's special attacks can cause massive amounts of damage. Lann is pretty much the only linear character in the game.

* [[One-Hit Polykill]]: Heaving a big rock at a cluster of low-level mooks. Nearly all of Evie's magic attacks can do this; and at higher levels, some can take out large groups of more powerful mooks. One of Karok's smash attacks can do this.

* [[Only Sane Man|Only Sane Woman]]: Shayla is a definite Type 3; being the only one who truly understands what's going on; and isn't obsessed with politics, religion, conspiracies, personal issues, or booze. Rather than fighting to change things, she just sits back and uses the situation to her own financial advantage.

** In Ainle, they're weak and rather slow. In the Fomorian base, they're fairly quick and tough. Being enslaved by vampires probably weakens you.

* [[Our Vampires Are Different]]: Certainly not your typical vampires. They're basically animated skeletons with small horns and fangs.

* [[The Promised Land]]: Erinn, Mabinogi's original setting, is this to the people of this particular setting. It's a Type C cynical example though, because of the war against the Fomors in order to reach it.

* [[Psycho Serum]]: Two kinds. Night Shade is an herb that can be distilled into a potion to make whoever drinks it [[Feel No Pain]]. There's also a more potent variant called [[The Power of Blood|Bloody Shade]], which some of the bosses eat to [[Turns Red|significantly upgrade all of their attacks until it wears off]]. You get to test out the stuff yourself at one point; using it doubles your attack power, letting you plow through enemies like no tomorrow...[[Awesome but Impractical|until you bleed out from the constant hemorrhage it inflicts on you.]] And that's not the worst of it: in Episode 8 you end up fighting {{spoiler|Ingkells and his men, who [[Power Incontinence|overdosed on Bloody Shade]] and [[Body Horror|mutated into berserk, mindless monsters.]]}} The Bloody Shade plant itself also qualifies as nightmarish: it's grown by watering Night Shade with [[Alien Blood|Fomorian blood]], looks like a misshapen fetus [[Eyes Do Not Belong There|with one eye]], and [[High-Pressure Blood|bursts into a blood-like liquid at the slightest touch.]]

* [[Rainbow Pimp Gear]]: Unlike ''Mabinogi'', there is no function for choosing colours for equips during crafting. All colours are generated randomly. There is a dye function that uses in-game currency; but it's also completely random, and gets very expensive to use for higher-level gear. Fortunately, there are limits on available colours for any particular equip, combined with [[Real Is Brown]] as noted below; which means you won't end up looking ''too'' clownish.

** As of the Titan expansion, [[Revenue Enhancing Devices|cash shop]] "dye ampoules" have been added. These provide a semi-random selection of colours, and include far more vibrant colour than the dye shop; partially averting [[Real Is Brown]]. One side effect of the brighter colours is that players can now deliberately create seriously clownish-looking [[Rainbow Pimp Gear]].

** As noted above, the new dye options allow for much brighter colours; making some characters look almost cartoonish against the gritty background.

* [[Red Baron]]: All the vampire bosses seem to be named this way, like [[Hunting the Most Dangerous Game|the Red Bearer]], [[Blood Knight|The Knight]] and [[Psycho Electro|The Flicker]].

** {{spoiler|Sebohim, after he turns into a Fomor}}

* [[Schizo-Tech]]: The entire world seems to be in a pre-medieval state; except for quite a number of suspicious examples, below. Possibly justified as [[A Wizard Did It]] and/or [[Magitek]]. [[Lampshaded]], as the player is given several quests to investigate the various out-of-place technologies.

** Some of the Gremlin bosses are armed with weapons like [[Incendiary Exponent|a flamethrower]], [[Shock and Awe|a stun gun]], a chemical sprayer, or even ''[[Blow You Away|a miniature tornado maker]]''

** Evie's mana pistol wavers between this and a magic turret.

** As of the "Labyrinth" release, her magical shield was made into a passive skill which can be levelled, dramatically improving her defense at higher levels; but still leaving her weaker than other characters, due to her reliance on cloth armour for stat boosts.

* [[Stupidity Is the Only Option]]: So, what does the main character do after Gwynn bans him/her from going to {{spoiler|Ainle}}? Why, go there with reckless abandon, of course! {{spoiler|1=It gets one of the important NPCs killed}}. And what happens when Gwynn bans us AGAIN from going to the Prairie? Well, take a wild guess!

* [[Taken for Granite]]: Dead enemies are turned to stone a short time after expiring. Also, one of the Paladin's Path Skills can do this to your enemies. Naturally, it doesn't work on bosses, but it can effectively tip a battle further in the favor of the Paladin.

* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: Gallagher is fond of giving these to the player character. More than one NPC gives one to Gallagher later on, as he increases his [[Jerkass]] behaviour.

* [[Unusable Enemy Equipment]]: A whole hell of a lot of it. Only a tiny handful of enemy equipment drops are actually usable; and those are commonly weaker than similar-level crafted equipment. However, enemy equipment drops are necessary for crafting new player equipment.

** When an enemy is defeated, their weapon can sometimes be picked up and used as an [[Improvised Weapon]]. The weapon will disappear after a while, though.

** As of the Episode 5 update, we have the Irukul raid boss. It's notable for being the first boss where you genuinely NEED a strategy in order to complete the battle. Otherwise, even if you have unlimited revival items, you very possibly won't be able to deal enough damage before the time runs out. Even if you use a strategy an average run takes [[Marathon Boss|around half an hour,]] whereas previous boss battles could be wrapped up in 10-15 minutes. Also qualifies as [[That One Boss]].

* [[Wham! Episode]]: Episode 3 has the firm real wham moment which the battle appropriately called "Wake Up Call": {{spoiler|Ellis dies in a cut-scene just before fighting the final boss.}} This is a Wham moment for Gwynn, too, who deals with the fallout of this later.

** Both halves of Episode 8 offer Wham moments, but for different reasons. In part 1, {{spoiler|the allies you met in Episode 5.5 have turned into fomors, and are two of the bosses for this area.}} Part 2 ends with {{spoiler|Gwynn dying to protect Keaghan, and both Keaghan and the hero leaving the Royal Army. Considering that Gwynn had been an important recurring character from the start right up to this point, this could be a real blow to the player losing the character.}}

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Cute?]]: Subverted with the Guardian Spider in the prologue; and Tieve's love for spiders in general. There is even a quest to aquire a spider egg for Tieve to hatch and raise as a pet.

* [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?]]: Played brutally straight. The goddess Morrigan has apparently mandated the genocide of all non-human sentient races, in order to bring about her version of Paradise. This causes quite a bit of angst for several NPCs, including the Oracle of the goddess, who don't understand why she would command such a thing (or even if she really did).

* [[Wolfpack Boss]]: Most notably, the "Revenge" mission from Perilous Ruins; which involves fighting two bosses, one melee and one ranged, at the same time. Another unlockable mission in that region has you battling Black Breeze and his two buddies, who are [[Lightning Bruiser]] werewolves that define [[That One Boss]].

** Also, the Red Sentinels, a pack of ''four'' gnoll archers that attack you at once. They all appear identical, making it difficult to focus on one for any extended amount of time.

** A few armour and clothing sets noticibly enhance female characters' bustlines, most infamously the "Homebound" clothing set; putting them within reach of this trope. Most of these are uncommon, however, as they're essentially low-level gear that can only be aquired with high-level crafting skills or by paying exhorbitant amounts of gold in the marketplace.

* [[You Are Already Dead]]: A Scythe-using Evie's two most powerful special attacks, Death Spike and Invisible Loom, can tag multiple monsters with Mark of Death and Bloody Thread, respectively, that allow Evie to then snap her fingers later and deal a huge amount of damage to everything that was tagged. If done while standing still, she will take a regal pose and lift up her left hand to snap her fingers with her eyes closed. Mark of Death is weaker and can only tag 3 enemies of the same type, while Bloody Thread is [[More Dakka|at least twice as powerful and can tag 4 enemies of any type]].

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* Game site: http://vindictus.nexon.net/

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Nexon]]

[[Category:Hack and Slash]]