Final PAX Impressions - Your Moment of Zen
This is a bit of a ramble across a few topics, giving impressions and information. Some of the stuff I grabbed I had Kilrathi film.
Please note: Not only is the game in Alpha, but this build is a few back from the build Trion is actually working with. Not only will things change, some of them already have changed.
Warrior Trees:
Like I said, I had Kilrathi film me looking through all of the Warrior soul trees, but I can give a quick rundown of the basics of each.
Beastmaster - The Warrior Pet class, nothing more to say here.
Champion - This is the straight DPS warrior, with the charge move, Bull Rush, being in this tree.
Paladin - This is the first Warrior tank spec, focusing on blocking techniques using a shield.
Paragon - The best way to put this would be Warrior/Rogue. The flavor text has a 'Monk' feel to it, but it mentions weapons so I'm not seeing it as an unarmed class. Lots of focus on Dodge, Parry, and Dexerity.
Reaver- The second tank spec is focused on threat generating DoTs and has a good AOE focus if specced in a certain way.
Riftblade - I didn't focus much on this one, wait for the video.
Void Knight - The third tank class I noted. Anti-magic and some resistances.
Warlord- This is the Warrior buff class. Alot of buffs for your party, both active and passive. I'm viewing this as something a tank or dps would drop a couple of points in to give the group a helping hand in both PVE and PVP.
Of the souls I got to mess with in-depth (Champion, Reaver, Paladin, and Void Knight) most of them had a basic strike that varied slightly, a second strike with more variation (the tanks' second strike usually had extra threat gen built-in), a two-three person Cleave, a strike that used the Warrior's combo point, and some sort of aura dependent on which soul you were in.
For example, the Reaver's auras were called 'Binding of' and you received different ones as you moved further into the tree. Now, for the multiclassers, these auras stack. I could only use one Reaver Binding at a time, but I was also specced into Paladin so I could use the Paladin aura I had on top of that. Quite fun.
Dungeon Run 1 - Darkening Deeps
This was the first of my dungeon runs, and the one that I did with Kilrathi and Starseeker (unsure if either filmed this). My girlfriend was also in, playing a Mage. I tanked. Now the first issue was the premade I recieved was a Champion/Void Knight. With only a few points in Void Knight. This left me with no abilties that generated additional threat, other than my Void Knight secondary strike and Combo point user. Both of which were single target. So, tanking a bit annoying. On the bright side, one of the Rogues (i think Kilrathi was playing) was a decent offtank.
Darkening Deeps is a city filled with some sort of goblin race. It's the one shown in this trailer here.
For some of you classic fans, this first run took us a little around 2 hours. This is what the staff at Trion had alotted for most of the dungeon runs they set up.
I'll leave content specific stuff out, as I personally believe that something you should experience for yourself. The only reall issue we had other than mobs occasionally running before I could grab aggro was the second boss. We walked up, and he hit me with cone attack that dropped half my life, at which point he two-shot me for the rest.
The problem here was I wasn't specced to tank really, and the healer was specced for HoTs only. It could've been done with a tank centric spec and a HoTs healer, or a DPS spec and a direct healer, but not both of the lower end together. So speccing failures can and will happen in groups. I know this makes some of you happy.
The other issue was my girlfriend's mage, which was a Pyromancer soul. The mana regen on the beta build was a bit low, with only one ability on a coolodown increasing the regen rate. It was told to us that the mage was possibly being reworked a bit to allow mana regen through more active abilities.
We did complete the instance though. The instance itself was drop dead gorgeous, but I felt the trash might be able to use a little more razzmatazz. Bosses were quite cool, especially the second boss who wiped our group a couple of times. All in all, it was fun, as evidenced by the fact that I didn't realize we had burned 2 hours until we were done.
Dungeon Run 2 - Deepstrike Mines
This time I got to spec my own character, which is an intensely rewarding experience over playing a level-boosted premade. This time I ran as a Reaver/Paladin. Spreading DoTs + Shield Blocking + Two different warrior auras = Great stuff. Far more control than my previous attempt, including two taunts, both of which forced mobs to attack me for 3 seconds. This is in the tooltip, so I'm not sure how this will affect PVP, but be warned.
Deepstrike Mines is full of suspended platforms and if you're not paying attention, you can fall off and kill yourself. In fact, one boss has a knockback attack on his platform to take advantage of this. A couple of deaths came from fall damage. You also have to jump at certain points to clear gaps to continue on.
The mobs in this instance were undead of various types.
We cleared this one in about an hour and a half, with various fall deaths and a couple of wipes on the instance's final boss.
As previously mentioned on the forums, most of these dungeons had a gate at the end of them. This gate will open if you return at higher levels, allowing you to progress even deeper.
Invasion
I witnessed the full invasion mechanic as well. When the invasion is incoming, their target point will be highlighted on the area map. At this target point is a ward crystal (I believe this is what it was called). The invasion is centered around a powerful single mob with an entourage. A sort of 'instant plane' follows the lead mob, bringing the dynamic rift effect with him as he goes.
Defeating the leader and his entourage spawns a champion and some guards. We were told the champion and guard spawn will allow solo players the chance to take invasions on. The champion, once spawned, will actually lead you to the next invasion spot, where the plane will have it's version of a ward crystal. Knock that out, and the invasion stops if that was the only one in the area. If not, the Champion will lead you onto the next one until you've cleaned it all up.
Seeing the rift effect follow the lead invasion mobs is cool as ****.
Misc
As stated elsewhere, the customization is low because the devs are worried about what I'm calling the Oblivion Effect. Essentially the larger number of sliders would allow you create horribly ugly characters. Trion's artists have put alot of hard work into their art assets and allowing you to create Snoop Dogg Reaver is not in the cards. So more is apparently coming customization-wise, but don't expect the world at this point.
I asked about variable mob AI, as many of the mobs in the demo are leashed. I was told that they have a robust AI system, and mobs who roamed or never stop chasing you (for you train lovers) may be coming in future.
There was another playable dungeon mentioned outside of Deepstrike, Darkening Deeps, and Iron Tomb, but the name is slipping my mind.
Mounts cannot be summoned in dungeons.
You spec into skills and abilities, but only the Rank 1 version. Higher versions must be learned from trainers. Random tangent, trainers are logically stronger than other NPCs, so they'll survive longer in a invasion scenario if it gets that bad.
I'm sure there's more, but it's late and sleep beckons.
Originally Posted by ddOer 
life isn't fair sometimes.
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