Modern Warfare 4 Perks – What’s Different?

Straight to the point, What is different in Modern Warfare 4 perks? The recent release of the latest installment of the groundbreaking action first-person shooter game of all time, which is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 has bring up that question afloat. Lots of player reported abuse and annoyance of players that abused the perks in the previous installment. The balance of the perks is questionable. The update in the latest installment is also questionable. Once again, what’s different in the Modern Warfare 4 perks? Let us see below.

Modern Warfare 4 Perks

Battlefield 3 Weapons List and Review

Today, we are going to take a look at Battlefield 3 weapons. There are types of Battlefield 3 weapons, which are: assault rifles, carbines, light machine guns, sniper rifles, handguns, personal defense weapons, shotguns, and gadgets. I will list the Battlefield 3 weapons with the specification, quick review, and tips for some Battlefield 3 weapons. I will also include the pros and cons. Let’s start the Battlefield 3 weapons list from Assault Rifles.

Battlefield 3 Weapons

Battlefield 3 weapons - Assault Rifle

Assault Rifle is the primary weapon of the medic class. It is versatile and an all-around weapon. Some have high fire rate to be deadly in close quarter combats and some trade fire rates for better accuracy at long range. There are 11 Battlefield 3 weapons - assault rifles, including 2 assault rifles from the Back to Karkand DLC.

M16A3
This M16 assault rifle variant is the default assault rifle for USMC. It can later be unlocked for Russian Ground Force. It is considered a balanced assault rifle. Moderate power, high accuracy, fast reload and fire rate, also manageable recoil. It has 2 fire modes, full-auto and semi-automatic. Good for shooting mid-long range target. This weapon is very reliable and recommended.

M16A4
M16A4 is the cousin of M16A3. Has the same specification and feel. The difference is just the fire mode. M16A4 can only be 3-round burst fired. Highly recommended for mid-long range shootouts, but it is not suitable for close quarter battles and will be easily beaten by F2000 and FAMAS. Attach suppressor and foregrip to boost the accuracy.

AK-74M
Russian Ground Force’s default assault rifle. It has slower fire rate compared to M16A3 and harder recoil handling when burst also lower accuracy. But, the firepower is monster. AK-74M recommended to equip with the underslung rail and heavy barrel. This weapon is deadly if you can master the recoil handling. It has 2 fire modes just like its counterpart, M16A3.

M416
M416 is the first unlockable assault rifle in the medic class. It has high accuracy and low recoil. Bursting with M416 is recommended because it reduces the bullet spread greatly. You can choose from 3 fire modes. This weapon is ideal to use in Operation Metro, Seine Crossing, and Grand Bazaar.

AN-94
AN-94 Abakan was my favorite weapon in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. It returns again among Battlefield 3 weapons with the same characteristics. 2-round burst fire mode, very powerful, slow fire rate, extremely high accuracy, and troublesome recoil. This weapon is hard to use due to its recoil and muzzle flash. This weapon is the best long-range assault rifle, even possible to counter snipers. At close range, this weapon is outclassed by others except if the target is wounded. Don’t use heavy barrel attachment because it is useless. Attach foregrip and laser sight instead.

F2000
F2000 was my killing machine before FAMAS came. Even though it is not as powerful as other Battlefield 3 weapons, the high accuracy, low recoil, and rapid fire rate make this weapon deadly at any range. I used to equip this weapon with silencer, foregrip, and IRNV scope. It has 2 fire mode, automatic and semi-automatic. Spray the bullets at close range to mid range, burst or use the semi-automatic fire mode at long range. The only downside is that F2000 cannot be attached with underslung rail.

AEK-971
This Russian-made assault rifle has higher fire rate than F2000, making it the most deadly assault rifle of Battlefield 3 weapons in close range. Due to its recoil caused by high fire rate, long range targets are hard to hit. To compensate that, AEK-971 has 3 fire modes. Attach the underslung rail with this weapon.

KH-2002
KH-2002 is moderately strong assault rifle. To unlock this weapon, you have to reach a certain amount of points in the co-op mode. It cannot be shot in automatic mode, only burst and semi-automatic mode are available. Great for mid and long range targets, but loses to other assault rifles at close range. Equipping the foregrip and heavy barrel greatly increase the accuracy, it is optional if you want to equip the suppressor. Underslung rail is unattachable.

G3A3
G3A3 is unlocked via co-op mode. Its ability is similar to the one in Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Only 20 rounds per magazine, slow fire rate, and extremely powerful for an assault rifle. G3A3 is very poor at close range battle because of its low rate of fire. But, G3A3 is proven to excel at longer range because it can maintain the accuracy and the damage output. You can attach the underslung rail although only the M26 MASS shotgun is attachable to the underslung rail. The underslung shotgun is useful for close quarter combats. This weapon is best used in larger maps like Sharqi Peninsula, Tehran Highway, or Damavand Peak.

FAMAS
My favorite weapon that is included in Back to Karkand DLC. FAMAS has 3 fire modes and considered a decent assault rifle. The good things are the power, fire rate, and accuracy. The downsides are bulky iron sight and crazy muzzle flash that blinds the user. Make sure to attach a scope and suppressor or muzzle suppressor. FAMAS kills at all ranges but sniper range.

L85A2
This one is famous because of its versatility and reliability. Very low recoil, decent fire rate, great accuracy, and moderate power. Attaching foregrip to this weapon makes it recoilless. Formidable at any ranges, but slightly outpowered by other assault rifles at close range. Equip this in small maps and you will pawn for sure. It is the second Battlefield 3 weapons in the Back to Karkand DLC pack.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Carbines

Carbines can only be used with engineer class. Carbines exchange range and power for high fire rate to combat enemies at close to mid range. Most of them have 3 fire modes. There are 8 of this Battlefield 3 weapons.

M4A1
M4A1 is USMC’s default engineer Battlefield 3 weapons. Small recoil and high fire rate to support close range battles. For longer range, you can switch it to semi-automatic mode. It is later unlockable to the Russian Ground Forces. Preferably attach foregrip and heavy barrel.

M4
It is the same variant as M4A1. Just like M16A3 and M16A4, the difference is slight. M4 can be burst-fired for better accuracy. They both have the same specification and attachments.

AKS-74u
This weapon is the Russian Ground Forces’ counterpart to M4A1. It is also unlockable to USMC later. Comparison of AKS-74u and M4A1 is generally the same comparison of AK-74M and M16A3. This one has greater recoil and more effective at close range. AKS-74u is very comfortable to use and I prefer the suppressor and foregrip as the attachments.

SCAR-H
SCAR-H is American-made carbine. It has high power and fire rate compared to other carbines. It takes time to adjust to the recoil and bullet spread. This weapon is preferred by pros. I suggest that you bring it with foregrip and laser sight. Can be fired automatically or semi-automatically.

A-91
My preferred carbine after SG553. A-91 has low recoil and decent power. It has longer fire range compared to other carbines. An all-around carbine, I suppose. Supports automatic and semi-automatic mode. Equip the foregrip and silencer to make this weapon greater than ever.

G36C
A powerful carbine that matches the assault rifles strength. The recoil is manageable. G36C is popular now because of its reliability. The bullet spread is not that wide, a decent hipfire weapon. It even has the unique 2-round burst mode. Like always, attach the foregrip and silencer or heavy barrel for better performance.

SG553
This is my favorite carbine. Unlock this weapon by reaching 120,000 points in co-op mode. Has a low recoil and moderate power, easy to use. This weapon can perform better at mid range compared to other carbines. I usually use this with holographic scope, foregrip, and laser sight.

HK53
A decent carbine among the nine Battlefield 3 weapons from the Back to Karkand DLC pack. Moderate recoil and fire rate, good performance at mid range. The initial 12x scope is very disturbing since it is poor at long range. Using the iron sight is better. My usual attachment for this weapon is PK-A scope with foregrip and tactical light.

QBZ-95B
This chinese carbine is an unlockable weapon and the second carbine among the other 7 Battlefield 3 weapons from Back to Karkand DLC pack. It has 3 fire modes that make it versatile. Equip ACOG or other 3-4x zoom scope with this weapon since it is quite deadly at mid range and loses to other carbines at close range. Attaching foregrip and laser sight is recommended.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Light Machine Gun

Support class uses LMG as the main Battlefield 3 weapons. High ammo count and magazine are the characteristic of LMGs. LMGs also have high recoil and poor moving accuracy. They are best to equip with the bipod or foregrip to reduce the recoil and thus increase the accuracy. Nine LMGs are available in the game.

M27 IAR
M27 IAR is the initial Battlefield 3 weapons for USMC’s support class. This LMG is more like an assault rifle with higher ammo count, but lower compared to other LMGs. The recoil, accuracy, and handling is similar to assault rifles. Reload time is faster than other LMGs, at par with RPK-74M. High fire rate and lower power than RPK. Suitable for frontline supports. Has 2 fire modes, which are automatic and semi-automatic.

RPK-74M
Russian Ground Forces’ counterpart to USMC’s M27 IAR. Better power in exchange for lower fire rate. Serve the sole purpose of offensive support and aggresive defender. RPK and M27 are the only LMG without the extended magazine attachment. Very reliable, can be unlocked for USMC.

M249
M249 is back again in Battlefield 3 weapons. It has high fire rate, big magazine size, and decent recoil. Just like M249 of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 with worse recoil. Can only be fired automatically. If you know how to control the long burst, this weapon is formidable. Be careful not to wildly spray the bullets because the bullet spread is just nasty.

PKP Pecheneg
This LMG is crazily powerful and also a massive recoil weapon. If you equip this with ACOG, you can feel the upward recoil. Don’t pull the trigger for long because the wild recoil can render your aim upward. Because of its relatively low fire rate, you can control the burst for better accuracy. Even better if you can deploy the bipod.

M240B
M240B makes an unbelievably effective LMG for defending and backline support. When you deploy the bipod with this weapon, it becomes insanely decimating. But don’t think use this weapon for run-and-gun assaults. It suffers greatly when shot while standing, very poor accuracy and performance. Remember to go prone when you are going to shoot with M240B.

M60E4
Considerably weak power but manageable recoil. M60 is better for supportive and defensive play. Equipping M60 with an extended mag proven to be quite useful so that you seldom reload. Don’t full-automatically shoot this weapon at mid range and beyond, you won’t hit your target. M60 is good for bursting from the backline and poor for offensive frontline playstyle.

Type 88 LMG
This LMG was actually an exclusive LMG only available through the Physical Warfare Pack pre-order. Now, you can freely download it from the PSN store. I think, T88 LMG is your average LMG. Nothing really catch my eye. Just equip the bipod and heavy barrel.

MG36
One of Battlefield 3 weapons from Back to Karkand DLC pack. Offers reliability at mid range and beyond. Well-balanced LMG, good for both defensive and offensive means. I recommend this weapon to be equipped with foregrip and surpressor.

QBB-95
The second LMG of Battlefield 3 weapons that comes from the Back to Karkand DLC. It has all fire modes, a noticable feature. The extended mag attachment don’t do well on this LMG, use laser sight or muzzle suppressor instead. Bipod deployment greatly increases performance.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Sniper Rifle

Primary Battlefield 3 weapons for recons. A long-range rifle that is capable of taking down a human target in 2 shots or even a shot. The scope varies, choose the one that matches your style of play. There are 9 sniper rifles available.

Mk11 Mod 0
Default sniper rifle for USMC’s recon. It is a semi-automatic sniper with 10-round magazine. Has high damage and capable of killing enemy with 2 shots to the head or 3 direct shots to the body. Recommended to shoot moving targets and suitable to be attached with ACOG for mid-range combat.

SVD
SVD is at the same level as Mk11. Has similar specification. The difference is only the initial scope. SVD uses 7x zoom scope as the first available scope. I personally prefer Mk11 than SVD because I think the scope’s crosshairs is more comfortable (at least for me). Use foregrip and laser sight to improve the overall performance.

SV-98
This bolt-action sniper rifle is capable of dropping enemies just by 2 shots. Headshot is of course instant kill. It has a 10-round magazine and slightly faster than other bolt-action sniper rifles. The downside is that SV-98 has high recoil, making quick snipes hard.

SKS
This semi-automatic sniper rifle has a big magazine size that can fit 20 rounds. However, in trade of the big magazine size and high rate of fire, SKS sacrifices its power. This sniper is suitable for mid range sniping. Equip the 7x or 8x zoom scope along with foregrip and laser sight for close combat.

M40A5
Similar to SV-98, with a slightly faster fire rate and higher bullet velocity. This one is better than SV-98 because it has lower and more controllable recoil, making it a good weapon for quick snipe sessions. Laser sight is essential for a backup and self-defense plan.

M98B
I oftenly use this rifle. This one is a true beast of extreme range sniping. It has a very high bullet velocity that causes lower bullet drop. The power is also extreme, instant kill when shot at close range. But, the downside is that M98B only has 5-round magazine and slow rate of fire, rendering it next to useless in close-mid range battles.

M39 EMR
It is an accurate semi-automatic rifle compared to SVD and Mk11. Even though they are at equal in strength, and has the same magazine size, M39 EMR has a slightly higher recoil. M93 EMR is unlocked through co-op mode.

L96A1
Included among the nine Battlefield 3 weapons of Back to Karkand DLC. Has the same power as SV-98 with faster reload and slower fire rate. But, this rifle has higher bullet velocity. Attached with Ballistic zoom scope, L96A1 is an ideal choice for advanced extreme range snipers.

QBU-88
This rifle is similar with T88 sniper rifle in BF:BC2. It has similar specification with other semi-automatic sniper rifles. It has more ammo count though.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Handgun

Handguns are the main sidearms in Battlefield 3 weapons. It is used when the main Battlefield 3 weapons are out of ammo, meeting enemy while reloading, or charging the frontlines as recon. Eight handguns are available and some has tactical and suppressed version. The tactical version has a tactical light mounted underneath it. Suppressed version adds a suppressor.

M9 (Tactical, Suppressed)
The first available handgun. Very useful for any class, intended for backup. The tactical version includes tactical light, while the suppressed version has a suppressor attached to its muzzle.

MP443 (Tactical, Suppressed)
Just like its appearances in previous Bad Company titles, it has high fire rate, moderate damage, and 17-round magazine. Two bullet to the head is enough to bring the enemy down in close range.

G17C (Suppressed)
The specification is similar to MP443. G17C is the one and only among Battlefield 3 weapons that can equip suppressor and laser sight at the same time. The regular version gets laser sight while the suppressed version gets both suppressor and laser sight.

M1911 (Tactical, Suppressed)
M1911 is exclusive sidearm only for EA Gun Club members or Battlefield Veterans. It has 8-round magazine and slower fire rate. But, it has the stopping power capable of killing by 3 shots at its effective range.

.44 Magnum (Scoped)
This magnum is extremely powerful. It only takes 2 shot to the body and 1 shot to the head to kill. However, it is only capable of firing a round per 1.5 seconds, making it not that useful if you are not a headshot maestro. The scoped version attaches a 3x zoom scope on top of the magnum.

MP412 REX
Only unlockable via co-op mode. It is slightly weaker than .44 and has similar performance with .44 at close range. Long range shootout and zooming the REX is not recommended because it seems to harden the user.

G18 (Suppressed)
This handgun has an extreme fire rates of 18 rounds per second when fully sprayed. G18 is very poor to use at distance, only use this sidearm at very close range, switch to burst fire mode for mid-range encounters.

93R
The overly underleveled gun of BF:BC2 strikes back, this time with better performance. It has 2 fire modes, 3-round burst and semi-automatic. Only use the burst at close range and use the semi-automatic mode at mid range

Battlefield 3 weapons - Personal Defense Weapon

Personal Defense Weapons are mainly SMGs utilized for close quarter combat and equippable Battlefield 3 weapons in any kit. They all have high fire rate in average. There are seven PDWs you can choose to use.

PP2000
PP2000 in Battlefield 3 weapons has lower fire rates than its predecessor in previous Battlefield titles. However, the power is increased to match the nerfed fire rates. Deadly at close range and it gets worse the further the target is.

UMP-45
This PDW is unstoppable and powerful. It has 25-round magazine and has the same fire rate as PP2000. This PDW is capable of dropping enemies in less than 9 direct shots. But, it is not compatible with extended magazine. It also has 3 fire modes.

PDW-R
PDW-R is indeeed deadly at close range because of its power and fire rate. Due to its recoil and accuracy, PDW-R is useless for long range shootouts. Equip the foregrip to stabilize it.

P90
P90 has 50-round magazine with very high rate of fire. This PDW is weaker compared to others, but it is quite menacing at close quarter battles because of its low hipfire bullet spread combined with other features of the gun.

MP7
MP7 is the most rapid PDW of all. Very high hipfire accuracy combined with extended mag and laser sight will make this weapon the ultimate run-and-gun weapon. But, because of its feeble power, a few missed bullets can leave the targets alive and kill you instead.

AS Val
The best all-around PDW. Has flat bullet trajectory and the most effective PDW for long range encounter. Equipping this weapon with a zoom scope and tactical light is very recommended.

PP-19
PDW that comes from Back to Karkand DLC pack. PP-19 is very effective at close range and good-for-nothing at long range. The reload animation is stylish too.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Shotgun

Shotguns are barrelled guns with big rounds and devastating spread for close quarter battles. It is equippable in any kit. You can choose from 7 shotguns available in the Battlefield 3 weapons.

870MCS
The longest range and strongest shotgun in the game. One shot kill upclose and 2-3 hits kill at mid range. It has 4-round magazine and considered the fastest pump-action shotgun. Attaching the tactical light along with foregrip is recommended.

M1014
Similar to 870MCS without the pump-action thing. It is semi-automatic shotgun with 4-round magazine and high recoil. Don’t use this weapon on longer encounter because of the small magazine size and heavy recoil.

Saiga 12K
This shotgun is often abused by players using the FRAG rounds. Similar to USAS with slower fire rate, higher recoil, and stronger.

DAO-12
Known as Striker Riot shotgun. It is a semi-automatic shotgun with 8-round revolver-like barrel. I personally don’t really like this weapon, the M1014 is simply better.

USAS-12
Close relative of SAIGA. It has faster fire rate and can be fired automatically and semi-automatically. Abusing the FRAG rounds with this shotgun is popular. Making it very dangerous for enemies at mid-long range and harmful for both enemy and user at close range.

MK3A1 Jackhammer
A shotgun included in the Back to Karkand DLC pack. The only shotgun that can be attached with suppressor. This automatic shotgun has problems with FRAG rounds and it eats ammo like crazy.

Battlefield 3 weapons - Gadget

There are various Battlefield 3 weapons gadget in the game such as launchers, underslung shotgun, and mortar. Maybe it is not important to explain the gadgets other than the launchers. For now, I will only explain the launchers. There are 7 launchers including rocket launchers, mortar, and grenade launchers. The rocket launchers consist of RPG-7V2 and SMAW for the default rocket launchers for each factions. The SA-18 IGLA and FIM-92 Stinger are vehicle-only lock-on rocket launchers. While the FGM-148 Javelin can be locked to ground vehicles and aerial vehicles (requires laser designating). The grenade launcher is usually the M203 that can be equipped with standard grenades, smoke grenades, or even buckshots. The underslung shotgun especially for medic kit is called the M26 MASS. Has various round types you can choose.
Phew, what a long list of Battlefield 3 weapons. See you in the next article!

Battlefield 3 Maps List

Battlefield 3 maps mainly take place in the Middle East and Europe. There are currently thirteen Battlefield 3 maps including the Back to Karkand DLC maps. There is one infantry-only map, which is Operation Metro; two light vehicle Battlefield 3 maps, which are Grand Bazaar and Seine Crossing; five moderate vehicle Battlefield 3 maps: Damavand Peak, Tehran Highway, Noshahr Canals, Sharqi Peninsula, and Strike at Karkand; and 5 heavy vehicle Battlefield 3 maps: Operation Firestorm, Caspian Border, Kharg Island, Gulf of Oman, and Wake Island 2014. All Battlefield 3 maps are playable in all modes.

Battlefield 3 Maps List

Operation Metro
Operation Metro is one of two Battlefield 3 maps that is located in Europe. Since it is an infantry-only map, engineer class is rarely used in this map. You can use any class you like, preferably medic and support. If you like sniper, you can quick-snipe here and don’t forget to place the T-UGS for security and the radio beacon for your squadmates. I love the battle in the subway, it is intense. It is recommended to equip the Tactical Light to blind the enemies.

Grand Bazaar
It is a map located in Tehran. The rush version has IFV for attacker while the conquest version has IFVs and Transpor Vehicles for both teams. The brutal shootout often happens in the tunnels and narrow corridors of the Grand Bazaar. It is fun to fight for the B Flag in Conquest mode. Use any class you want, preferably engineer.

Seine Crossing
It is the second map among the Battlefield 3 maps that is located in Paris, France. Seine is the name of the river that divides the 2 area. The rush mode features an IFV for the attacker. The conquest mode also has an MBT. Use any class you like, preferably engineer and medic with grenade launcher.

Damavand Peak
The rush version features a scout helicopter for defenders and a transport vehicle for attackers. Later, there will be tanks too. It also provides sniping points in the hill. Conquest mode features scout helicopters, transport vehicles, and MBTs. The crazy base jump after clearing the 2nd M-COM pair in rush mode is notable. Recommended to use engineer and sniper.

Tehran Highway
The one and only map that takes place in the night.This map is full with IFVs and MBTs. But, no jets. Use mortar when applicable, preferred to use engineer and support.

Noshahr Canals
Noshahr Canals attackers in rush mode have scout helicopter, transport helicopter, boats, and amphibious IFV. There is also a mobile AA for defenders. The key to defend is the mobile AA. The conquest mode has them all. It is better to use engineer and medic. If you cannot manually fire rockets to helicopters, equip the STINGER/IGLA. For attackers or the one that controls the Venom helicopter, make sure that you drive it right and have your teammate in the passenger seat to repair it because it is a valuable asset.

Sharqi Peninsula
Sharqi Peninsula has a classic look. TV station, hotels, roads, it is urban warfare. There are IFVs and transport vehicles in this map. Support and engineer are the recommended classes.

Strike at Karkand
Strike at Karkand features IFVs and transport vehicles, just like Sharqi Peninsula. There will be rooftops you can climb to via ladders. Use engineer and medic with grenade launcher here.

Operation Firestorm
Operation Firestorm is full with vehicles. From jeeps to jets. It is highly recommended to use engineer. There are sniper spots here up the hill and the pipe structures. Make sure that you can drive vehicles or let your friend do the driving. Without the taking advantage of the vehicles, you will absolutely lose. All sides will get jets and MBTs.

Caspian Border
This map is just plain crazy. Popular for dogfights. Use engineer all the time. Beware of the huge antenna tower, it can collapse.

Kharg Island
This is also crammed with vehicles like jets, IFVs, boats, jeeps, helicopters and MBTs. Engineers play a big role in the team’s standing. There is a sniper spot on top of the sand hill, place the laser designator to help your teammate and snipe all the way.

Gulf of Oman
I love this map. It reminds me of my childhood playing Battlefield 2. The F-35 is here. Use engineer and sniper to snipe from the tower.

Wake Island 2014
This map is just plain epic. A u-shaped island in the pacific. Has a hangar with attack helicopters, jets, MBTs, IFVs, jeeps, skid loaders, and mobile AA. I advise you to always be an engineer. Prepare for the worst since air-to-ground bullying is often to happen. The hunting place for pros.

I personally love Seine Crossing, Operation Metro, Gulf of Oman, and Grand Bazaar. Which Battlefield 3 maps that you like and which one do you loathe?

Multiplayer Battlefield 3 Vehicles List

Battlefield 3 vehicles are the main feature and trademark of this game. Battlefield 3 vehicles are the things that make Battlefield 3 stands out in the FPS genre. There are varieties of Battlefield 3 vehicles categorized according to their class, which are: Main Battle Tanks, Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Mobile Anti-Aircraft, Transport Vehicles, Scout Helicopters, Battle Helicopters, Jets, and Naval Crafts. I will list all available Battlefield 3 vehicles in the multiplayer mode and the short description about weapons and seats.

Battlefield 3 Vehicles

Main Battle Tanks

M1 Abrams
This MBT is really popular in the series. And M1 Abrams comes back in the Battlefield 3 vehicles list. This tank is US force’s main battle tank. It has 2 seats for driver and co-driver. The driver can shoot from the main cannon and can optionally equip coaxial LMG or HMG. Co-driver shoots with HMG.

T-90A
T-90A is Russian force’s tank, counterpart to M1 ABRAMS. Has the same ability with M1 ABRAMS, I just think that T-90’s camouflage is way cooler than ABRAMS’.

Infantry Fighting Vehicles

LAV-25
US force’s main IFV, has high top speed and capable of carrying 6 soldiers. The driver drives and shoots chain gun, co-driver shoots HMG, and the rest are passengers that can shoot from the sides via the Port Firing Weapons. It can be equipped with guided missile and anti-air missile for extra firepower.

BMP-2M
Counterpart ro LAV-25, this one is Russian Forces’. The same capability with LAV-25. Instead of using M2 Browning as its co-driver’s HMG, BMP-2M uses KORD HMG. Appears in medium to heavy vehicle battle maps. Can be “sprinted” by pressing the sprint button. Amphibious like LAV-25 and AMTRAC.

BTR-90
An IFV exclusive to Back to Karkand DLC maps. Appears in Russian Forces’ main bases. Looks like LAV-25.

Mobile Anti-Aircraft

LAV-AD
Anti-aircraft variant of LAV-25. It has only 1 seat for driver. LAV-AD uses 6-barreled machine gun to take down enemy aircrafts. The vehicle is not available in the main maps of console version, it only appears in Wake Island. While the PC version has it in Operation Firestorm and Noshahr Canals.

9K22 Tunguska-M
Before the update, Tunguska is a deadly vehicle in Noshahr Canals. It has the capability to destroy Transport Vehicles aside from its anti-aircraft purpose. Now, Tunguska holds the main key to defend the bases in Noshahr Canals rush since it has crazy fire rates. Other than taking down aircrafts, it is also useful to shoot at infantries and provide suppressive fire.

Transport Vehicles

AAV-7A1 AMTRAC
Transport Battlefield 3 vehicles are tactical vehicles to carry personnels. This one is an amphibious IFV that can “swim” across water. The driver just drives and the 2nd passenger can shoot grenades via the grenade launcher. The weapon for the second passenger can also be changed to HMG by pressing the change weapon button. Used by USMC in the Attacker side. It is categorized as transport vehicle due to its lack of firepower.

Growler ITV
ITV stands for Internally Transported Vehicle. It has three seats for players. One driver, one .50 cal machine gun operator, one passenger that can use his personal firearms. It is fast, but has minimal protection. The passengers can easily killed by small arms fire, two rocket or MBT’s main cannon hit will blow this vehicle to oblivion. Actually, one cannon shell direct hit to the Growler ITV is enough to decimate the passengers. USMC’s vehicle.

M1114 HMMWV
HMMWV has the same speed as Growler ITV and has 4 passenger seats. The machine gunner controls a remote-control-operated HMG. It is more armored that Growler ITV. Immune to any small arms fire, but explosions damage it.

VDV Buggy
VDV Buggy is Russian Forces’ counterpart to Growler ITV. The same specification.

GAZ-3937 Vodnik
Sworn enemy ofthe Humvee. Similar ability to M1114 HMMWV.

DPV Jeep
Exclusive Transport Vehicle that only appears in Back to Karkand maps. Very fast and reliable. Susceptible to small arms fire and explosions.

Skid Loader
This vehicle does not have any function for combat. No mounted guns, no protection from small arms fire, and slow. But, roadkilling an enemy with this will earn you a trophy/achievement.

Scout Helicopters

AH-6J Little Bird
Scout helicopters swift, fast, and lightly-armored. Little Bird is a 4-seater USMC Scout Helicopter. Equipped with machine guns to attack infantries and transport vehicles. Susceptible to small arms fire and explosions. Since it only has regular glass, you can simply kill the pilot with your guns and the helicopter will fall with no pilot.

Z-11W
Russian Forces’ counterpart to Little Bird. The same capabilities.

UH-1Y Venom
It is a 5-seater transport helicopter equipped with two mounted machine guns on the sides for two passengers to operate. It can become a “Flying Fortress” if there are two passengers that repair it from the fourth and fifth seat. You can headshot the driver or passengers to end the “Flying Fortress”

Attack Helicopters

AH-1Z Viper
The attack helicopters in Battlefield 3 vehicles are equipped with missiles for the pilot and gatling cannon for the co-pilot. A deadly anti-ground vehicle. This one is USMC’s.

Mi-28 Havoc
Counterpart to Viper. Swift and high maneuverability.

Ka-60 Kasatka
Russian Forces’ attack helicopter that can only be found in Operation Firestorm. Kasatka means Orca, it is in Russian.

Jets

F/A-18E Super Hornet
The jets play a huge role in Battlefield 3 vehicles maps. This jet is USMC’s. A fast jet. Equipped with machine gun for the default weapon that is effective to destroy other aircraft or ground vehicles. This kind of jet is effective for dog fights and decimating enemy aircrafts.

Su-35BM Flanker-E
Counterpart to Super Hornet.

A-10 Thunderbolt
This jet has slower top speed and no afterburner because it specialize in air-to-ground battles. It has stronger machine gun to penetrate MBTs’ armor.

Su-25
Russian counterpart of Thunderbolt.

F-35
Back to Karkand exclusive jet. This jet has a poor performance in dog fights. But, it has hover mode that is effective for air-to-ground attack, capturing flags in conquest, protecting M-COMs in rush. Just hold down the brake button to activate the hover mode.

Naval Crafts

RHIB
The one and only drivable naval vehicle among Battlefield 3 vehicles. Has 4 seats and a mounted machine gun.

That was the complete list of Battlefield 3 vehicles. There are sure a lot of Battlefield 3 vehicles, right?

December 27 1.0.1 SWTOR Patch Notes

Just a few days ago, BioWare released an update patch for SWTOR. Lots of player are searching for SWTOR patch notes. The update patch is version 1.0.1 and it was released worldwide on the 27th of December 2011 after hours of maintenance, just two days after Christmas. The SWTOR patch notes released shortly after. It fixes high-priority bugs like combat bugs and Flashpoint bugs, it also fixes performance issues in Taris that most player are experiencing. There are also small update that maybe you won’t notice like items, missions, PvP, and companion fix. Well, check this SWTOR patch notes out.

Let us start from the major changes and fixes. SWTOR patch notes from BioWare include Slicing nerfing. Slicing seems to be a fast credits-making gathering skill with no risk at all. According to the SWTOR patch notes, this crew skill is just unbalanced, you pay an amount of credits to your companion and your companion will be back with rare items and more credits than what you invested. BioWare nerfed the reward earned from sending companions in a Slicing mission to balance it with other crew skills. BioWare is making a clear point about risk and reward. With high risk, you will get high reward instead of with no risk you will get very high risk. Even though it is nerfed, Slicing still brings profit, but not as much as before the patch. When the players look at this SWTOR patch notes, some will think that nerfing Slicing is a bad idea since Slicing is only made to earn credits. But others think that it is a tremendously good idea to balance the game’s economy, which is right according to the SWTOR patch notes.

In this SWTOR patch notes, the second major update is the bug fix in Taris. Taris is a planet of massive performance drop and crash. A lot of people experience crashes and framerate drop and input lags in Taris while on a quest even though they are using an over-the-recommended-spec PC and a decent internet connection. Since it is a big issue that mostly everyone are ranting about, BioWare fixes this problem. And now, Taris seems to be whole a lot better place than before.

The pending mission reward bug is fixed too. Now, you don’t have to worry when you have completed a quest, but haven’t taken the reward yet. Sometimes, the gathering nodes are available but cannot be harvested because of the stupid bug. SWTOR patch notes also include this bug in the fixed bug list.

The Flashpoints and Operations bugs fixes listed in the SWTOR patch notes are notable too. In Mandalorian Raiders flashpoint, the crowd control immunity from some of the Enemy Boarding Party has been removed. The unable-to-mount-turrets bug in Colicoid War Game has also been fixed. And don’t worry that you won’t be receiving the flashpoint rewards, BioWare has made sure that you will receive your credit for completing your daily flashpoint missions. The stuck-in-door bug is well-fixed and won’t disturb your Operation attempt in Karagga’s Palace. In Eternity Vault flashpoint, the sudden instant-death bug and the loot bug are all fixed.

There are a lot of updates and fixes according to the SWTOR patch notes. Below is the official SWTOR patch notes from swtor.com:

1.0.1 SWTOR Patch Notes 12/27/2011

SWTOR Patch Notes - Classes and Combat

Combat Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that could cause the global cooldown to display incorrectly in the UI.
• Abilities that require Companion Characters now always correctly require a companion.
• NPCs no longer attempt to engage vanity pets in combat.

Imperial Agent

Operative

• The tooltip for Acid Blade now displays the correct information.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Companion Characters

Companions

Kira Carsen

• Fixed an issue that could cause Kira's affection progression to become blocked.

Bug Fixes

• Companion Character dialogue now plays at the correct volume.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Crew Skills

Gathering Skills

Slicing

• Rewards from Slicing have been reduced to bring them into balance with other skills.
• Adjusted incorrect values for medium slicing boxes.

Bug Fixes

• Corrected an issue that could cause some gathering nodes to appear as unharvestable.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Flashpoints and Operations

Flashpoints

Mandalorian Raiders

• Crowd control immunity has been removed from several members of the Enemy Boarding Party.

Colicoid War Game

• An issue that prevented some players from mounting turrets in this Flashpoint has been corrected.

The Red Reaper

• Darth Ikoral now uses his abilities correctly.

Directive 7

• Mentor now resets correctly if he defeats the player group.

Bug Fixes

• All players in a group who have a daily Flashpoint mission now get credit for completing that Flashpoint.

Operations

Eternity Vault

• Fixed an issue that could cause players to instantly die when affected by Soa's knockback.
• Turrets in Normal Mode no longer behave as turrets from Hard Mode.
• Players are now able to properly obtain loot from chests.
• The Ancient Pylons now spawn enemies at the correct intervals.

Karagga's Palace

• Players no longer need to reset this Operation if they do not defeat Bonethrasher.
• Corrected an issue that caused some players to become stuck at the throne room door.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Items

Bug Fixes

• PvP lockboxes can no longer be sold for credits.
• Fixed incorrect item rewards from PvP leveling lockboxes.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Missions and NPCs

Missions

Imperial

• A New Master: Defeating Teeno no longer causes him to surrender on top of Phyne, making him difficult to interact with.
• General Faraire: All of Khourlet's Elite Guards are now accessible by the player.
• Bug Fixes
• Fixed a mission-related issue that could cause poor performance and client crashes on Taris for some players.

NPCs

Bug Fixes

• Corrected several instances of non-interactive NPCs appearing and disappearing from the player's view.

SWTOR Patch Notes - PvP

Warzones

General

• Rewards for winning Warzones have been increased.
• Warzone completion rewards have been decreased.

Bug Fixes

Voidstar

• Corrected an issue that could prevent some players from entering the Voidstar.
• Made adjustments to prevent attacking players from reaching the doors in the reactor core before bridges are extended.

SWTOR Patch Notes - UI

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that could prevent players from accepting pending mission rewards.
• Targeting a friendly player no longer occasionally displays incorrect text for the character's name.
• Corrected an issue that could cause some auction expirations to behave incorrectly.
• The splash screen no longer displays longer than the "accept changes" dialogue when changing resolutions on some computers.
• Master Looter now works correctly for items being looted from chests.
• The server select screen no longer displays over the character select after being disconnected for being away.
• Corrected an issue that could cause mission mapnotes to disappear when a new mission is obtained.

SWTOR Patch Notes - Miscellaneous Bug Fixes

• Special characters no longer display incorrectly in the French credits.
• Remaining baby names have been added to the credits.
• Corrected a link that displayed in French and German versions when the servers are unavailable.

Even though there are still minor bugs here and there, this patch is proven to be a good attention from BioWare to the customers. I’m sure that BioWare will provide the next update with more fixes.

The official source of SWTOR Patch Notes: www.swtor.com

MapleStory Mercedes Skill Guide

MapleStory Mercedes is a new class included in the latest update of the game, Legend, along with Cannoneer and Demon Slayer. MapleStory Mercedes is an alternative to Archer class. MapleStory Mercedes is well known for her title, The Queen of Elluel Elves. MapleStory Mercedes is unique because it holds a new, exclusive weapon dubbed the Dual Blowgun. Even though the name is MapleStory Mercedes, you still can choose male for this character. But I think the word “male” does not suit him, I would rather call him “Pretty Boy” due to his girly appearance.

Of course there are a lot of reasons, why you should choose MapleStory Mercedes instead of other classes. First thing first, MapleStory Mercedes starts at level 10, unlike other heroes that start at level 1. She moves like crazy and she has linked skills that increase the exp earned by 10 percent. MapleStory Mercedes is undeniably unique; no arrow is needed to fire her Dual Blowgun, instead magic arrow is used. And this thing will absolutely convince you to create a MapleStory Mercedes, she has unicorns. I meant the horse with wings and a horn on its forehead! Sweet son of a gun!

MapleStory Mercedes

MapleStory Mercedes is not a perfect class. Instead of the level advantage that MapleStory Mercedes has, unlike archers that get extra 40 percent health points, MapleStory Mercedes only has around 3700 max health points. Period. There are still other problems, but I can’t see any problem more serious than this. Just be careful that malicious players tend to bully and discriminate MapleStory Mercedes because the class is considered to be over-powered. And prepare to be called gay by playing as a MapleStory Mercedes.

For the attributes, it is just like archers. The primary attribute is dexterity and the secondary is strength. It is advised to put 1 point to strength every 4 points spent on dexterity. Now, what skills to improve? From level 10 to 30, there are 2 recommended builds. But all of them will get the same final result, which is all skill at max.

Build A
Level 10 = Glide Blast + 4 [4], Swift Dual Shot + 1 [1]
Level 11-12 = Glide Blast + 3 [10 MAX]
Level 13-18 = Swift Dual Shot + 3 [18]
Level 19 = Swift Dual Shot + 2 [20 MAX], Sharp Aiming + 1 [1]
Level 20-25 = Sharp Aiming + 3 [18]
Level 26 = Sharp Aiming + 2 [20 MAX], Potential Power + 1 [1]
Level 27-30 = Potential Power + 3 [20 MAX]

Build B
Level 10 = Glide Blast + 4 [4], Swift Dual Shot + 1 [1]
Level 11-12 = Glide Blast + 3 [10 MAX]
Level 13-17 = Potential Power + 3 [15 MAX]
Level 18-23 = Sharp Aiming + 3 [18]
Level 24 = Sharp Aiming + 2 [20 MAX], Swift Dual Shot + 1 [2]
Level 25-30 = Swift Dual Shot +3 [20 MAX]

Now, for the second class advancement skills build. This build will get all your skills to max except for Piercing Storm since it will be replaced by a better skill on the next class advancement. This build will leave either Gust Dive or Unicorn Strike at level 16. Use Rushing Rush prior to the Final Attack for higher damage.

Level 30 = Piercing Storm + 1 [1]
Level 31 = Rising Rush + 1 [1], Parting Shot + 1 [1], Physical Training +1 [1]
Level 32-34 = Physical Training + 3 [10 MAX]
Level 35-39 = Spirit Surge + 3 [15 MAX]
Level 40 = Parting Shot + 3 [4]
Level 41 = Parting Shot + 1 [5 MAX], Dual Bowgun Mastery + 2 [2]
Level 42-47 = Dual Bowgun Mastery + 3 [20 MAX]
Level 47-51 = Rising Rush + 3 [13]
Level 52 = Rising Rush + 2 [15 MAX], Final Attack + 1 [1]
Level 53-58 = Final Attack + 3 [19]
Level 59 = Final Attack + 1 [20 MAX], Piercing Storm +2 [3]
Level 60-63 = Piercing Storm + 3 [15]
Level 64 = Piercing Storm + 1 [16], Dual Bowgun Booster + 2 [2]
Level 65-70 = Dual Bowgun Booster + 3 [20 MAX]

For the third class advancement recommended builds:
Level 70 = Stunning Strikes + 1 [1]
Level 71 = Gust Dive + 1 [1], Aerial Barrage + 1 [1], Leaf Tornado + 1 [1]
Level 72–77 = Ignis Roar + 3 [18]
Level 78 = Ignis Roar + 2 [20 MAX], Unicorn Spike + 1 [1]
Level 79-82 = Aerial Barrage + 3 [13]
Level 83 = Aerial Barrage + 2 [15 MAX], Stunning Strikes + 1 [2]
Level 84-89 = Stunning Strikes + 3 [20 MAX]
Level 90-95 = Water Shield + 3 [18]
Level 96 = Water Shield + 2 [20 MAX], Leaf Tornado + 1 [2]
Level 97-102= Leaf Tornado + 3 [20 MAX]
Level 103-108= Elemental Knight + 3 [18]
Level 109 = Elemental Knight + 2 [20 MAX], Gust Dive/Unicorn Strike +1 [2]
Level 110-115= Gust Dive/Unicorn Strike + 3[20 MAX]
Level 116-120= Gust Dive/Unicorn Strike + 3 [16]

Handy MapleStory Mercedes guide huh?


Source: MapleStory Mercedes - BasilMarket.com

SWTOR Talent Calculator is Essential?

SWTOR talent calculator is a very useful tool. Well, generally, a talent calculator is used to plan a build. This is not a rare tool for games, especially for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game that requires you to be careful in choosing skills and classes as it impacts your style of play greatly. In Star Wars: The Old Republic, there is indeed a respect feature, meaning, you can take back all your skill points spent at skill tree to re-spend them at other skill tree for a price. Respec cost will scale up each time you respect, so, to avoid further credits spent in vain, SWTOR talent calculator comes in handy.

There are a lot of websites that offer SWTOR talent calculator to help you plan your character final build that fits your style of play well. The tool usually has an option to embed it to your website, making it a great tool. But, to maintain its quality, every talent calculator developer has to update their calculator every time a new update is released. Every talent calculator is different in style and shape, but has the same general purpose. This is 3 out of many sites that offer SWTOR talent calculator along with the quick overview:

SWTOR Talent Calculator

Torhead
This is my favorite SWTOR talent calculator site. The design is stylish and simple and it is user-friendly. There is an option to reset skill points in a skill tree and even reset all. Tooltips are available for all skills, though the cooldown time is not included. To see the tooltips, just put the cursor over your chosen skill, and there you are. The link to share your build is always available in your browser’s address bar and always updated every time you spend a point on a skill to make it easier and simpler to share links. Your build can also be embedded to your site! The downside is that you cannot use the backward or forward feature of your browser because it breaks the calculator’s behavior.

R2-DB
R2-DB provides you with an exceptional talent calculator. This site’s calculator is similar to Torhead’s, but with different layouts. This one does not get behavior-break when the history traversal feature of a browser is used. The tooltip is underlined so that it will be easier and more comfortable to read. It has a big design. The downsides are, not all skill images are available and there are some uncompleted tooltip. R2-DB seems to have joined with Torhead.

Darth Hater DB
This is calculator has the same weakness as Torhead’s, history traversal with the backward or forward button will break its behavior. The URL will also be automatically updated in the address bar every time the user changes the skill point usage. It is also the only talent calculator with full tooltip information, including cooldown time. The layout is neat, mirror advanced classes are paired at the bottom of the page. But, there is a typo and wrong pairing. Like the Maruader which is supposed to be Marauder and the Jedi Sage/Sith Assassin pair that should have been Jedi Sage/Sith Sorcerer or Jedi Shadow/Sith Assassin. Embedding it to your website is possible.

Since SWTOR talent calculator is important, you got to choose the best site. Which one is your website of choice?

Small Egg WoW = Bags of Golds!

Small egg WoW is an item that is dropped mostly by bird-like monsters. Even though it is small, this item has a high reputation. Small egg WoW is one of the most searched items in the game especially in this kind of time, Winter Veil 2011. Because of that, you can take advantage of this situation to get as much profit as you can with this small egg WoW before the event ends.

Why it is pretty popular? Small egg is one of the ingredients needed to cook Egg Nog and Gingerbread Cookies. Those two foods are 2 out of 3 requirements for the legendary achievement, The Winter Veil Gourmet. And this achievement is needed to get the Merrymaker title, which is essential to get the Proto-Drake and 310% flying skill freebie. Other than that, Gingerbread Cookies are also the requirement in completing “Treats for Grandfather Winter” quest. Small egg WoW is highly-valued in the Winter Veil event.

Small Egg WoW

In order to complete the quest and the achievement, players are forced to farm or to buy it in the Auction House. Because the demand is much higher than the available stock, the price is “profitable”. There are two types of player regarding this problem. The lazy players, freebies lovers, and opportunity chasers. The lazy players are too lazy to move their ass out of the city. So, they rather spend their hard-earned coins to buy small eggs in a high price than going out in the wild fighting some guy over a small egg. Freebies lovers don’t want to spend their coins at all, so, they go kill under-leveled poor birds for their eggs and will stop hunting when the required amount of eggs is reached. The plan is to be the opportunity chaser. You will be getting eggs from birds with the best drop rates, and sell it in the auction house. If you are brave enough, you can be a monopolist of small egg WoW in the 12 days of Winter Veil.

First, you got to know where to look. Hunt the Dragonhawks in Eversong Wood just out of Silvermoon. Look for Feral Dragonhawk Hatchlings and Crazed Dragonhawks. They are only level 6 monsters and bound to drop small eggs. Don’t forget to clear some space in your bag because this will be an egg fiesta! The dragonhawks are usually found in packs and groups, they respawn relatively fast, and has the drop rate of small eggs at 100%! And sometimes, they even drop 3 small eggs at once! Your bag will be full of small eggs before you know it.

Now that you have got the things to sell, go sell it in the Auction House. Set the price in the average range, not too cheap and not too expensive. Sell them in a pack of five and one. The lazy players will of course buy the pack of five because that will fulfill their need instantly. While the lazy-freebies hybrid type of player will buy singles because they already got some in their inventory and cannot stand the boringness of farming. Voila! You will net a good amount of money, nice and neat! If you have lots of small eggs or the time for the end if Winter Veil is drawing close, you should set a wholesale price instead of average price.

So that was it. But if everyone is selling small egg WoW based on this guide, who will buy?

SWTOR Builds: Deceiver Sith Assassin

One of the most versatile classes that has the best SWTOR builds is the Sith Assassin, Sith Inquisitor’s advancement class. Assassin can be played as a tank, a stealth damage dealer, or unique SWTOR builds that combine melee and ranged attack. This article will tell you about the SWTOR builds of Deceiver Sith Assassin.

Deceiver Sith Assassin has the strongest damage dealer build among other mirror SWTOR builds. Stealth Sith Assassin focuses on the Deception skill set. Stealth Sith Assassin mainly utilize the skill Surging Charge to stealthly kill the opponent. It is a class made to serve the sole purpose of close-range battles because it does not have any good 30 meters ranged attack and no skill to quickly close the gap between players. In exchange, Deceiver Sith Assassin has the control in a battle and the strongest damage dealer among other Assassin-like specialization.

SWTOR Builds

There is 6 SWTOR builds that are best for this style of play. They are Chain Shock and Armor Piercing for PvE and Variant, PvP Chain Shock, PvP Armor-Piercing, and High Regeneration Backstab Spam build.

PvE Chain Shock (2/31/8)
This build uses the Shock and Thrash ability along with Induction, Maul, and Chain Shock. Hence, the name, this build will deplete the opponent’s health with chain of Shocks continued with Thrash and extra damage by using the skill Maul.

PvE Armor-Piercing (5/33/3)
Armor-piercing build is a build designed for stealth single-target kills. But, the build is unbelievably good at Area damage for a single-target playstyle. Using this build means you will be a backstabber a lot. With the Exploit Weakness plus Maul in the stealth mode or blackout, you will cause a catastrophic damage to your target of assassination.

PvP Armor-Piercing (5/33/3)
Armor-piercing for PvP is not bad. It is similar to the PvE SWTOR builds. For the first attack, you can use Maul, Voltaic Slash, or Spike for opener. Maul will hit your target really hard and you can start attacking your target with chain attack. With Spike, you can stun your enemy and plan your attack carefully. Voltaic Slash is the alternative of Maul, it inflicts a rather good damage with lower cost. Just remember to slow your target every time the skill is available because your area of slaughter is only 10 meters, beyond that and your victim is out of your reach for good. Also, you are possible to be a team player with this build. Use Mind Control when the enemies are frantically attacking your mates. This ability will weaken the victim’s damage by 30% for 6 seconds unless the victim attacks you. To prevent that, disappear into thin air by using the Force Cloak and you can continue Mauling you targets.

PvP Chain Shock (0/33/8)
Very similar to the PvE build. It is better for PvE, still outpowered by Armor-Piercing.

PvP Variant (11/30/0)
The system is similar with armor-piercing, but it sacrifices bursts in trade for speed.

PvP High Regeneration Backstab Spam (18/23/0)
This build works just like the name. Spam Backstabs with this build to humiliate your enemy and yourself. You will get extremely powerful damage output. But, your force points will regenerate far slower than other SWTOR builds, making Backstab Spam a short-time monster.

That was the SWTOR builds for Deceiver Sith Assassin. But, you can experiment with your own SWTOR builds if you want to!

Merry Winter Veil 2011!

This year’s WoW Christmas holiday event is called Winter Veil 2011. Winter Veil itself is an annual event in World of Warcraft in order to celebrate Christmas and New Year. Winter Veil 2011 will provide new silly quests, challenging and fun achievements, exclusive gifts, non-combat pets, and unique costumes. Even though it is an exclusive annual event, each year, the contents and features in a Winter Veil event are not always different and exclusive. Winter Veil 2011 started on Thursday, the 15th of December and will end on Monday, the second of January 2012.

World of Warcraft - Winter Veil 2011

Winter Veil 2011 is one of the holiday events of World of Warcraft that nets us the most benefits. Not only that it is fun and only appear once a year, it involves things that are possible to sell in the Auction House, like the Ice Cold Milk and Small Eggs, thus making it profitable. And the quests are not only for high-leveled player, every player over level 6 is possible to complete the quests to get items. This event changes the atmosphere of World of Warcraft.

Winter Veil 2011 holds one of the requirements to get the Violet Proto-Drake and free 310% flying skill, which is the Merrymaker title. Like always, to get the Merrymaker title, you have to complete all achievements required. The quests required to complete for the Merrymaker title in Winter Veil 2011 are not much different from last year’s:

On Metzen!
Last year, this poor reindeer named Metzen was abused by naughty little gnomes. And in Winter Veil 2011, the reindeer is back again with mad gnomes still whacking him. Heroic rescue is essential! You know what, the Reindeer name is based on Chris Metzen, the artist, voice actor, and game designer of World of Warcraft.

With a Little Helper from My Friends
This one is sort of fun. You have to kill 50 players of the opposing faction while in the form of a Winter Veil gnome. First, you gotta put the costume first from the one of the Winter Wondervolt Machines. This Winter Wondervolt Machines are located in big cities such as Orgrimmar, Undercity, Ironforge, Booty Bay, Dalaran, et cetera. Take note that the gnome costume won’t last forever. You will lose your disguise in an hour or upon death. If you died in a battle, just get another costume again and continue rock-’n-rolling in the Battlegrounds as long as Winter Veil 2011 is still happening.

Tis the Season
To complete this, you have to wear 3 pieces of winter clothing and chomp Graccu’s Mince Meat Fruitcake. But, it is not as easy as it sounds. While the Winter Clothes and pair of Winter Boots are not hard to get, the hats are all drops from high-level 5-men dungeon boss monsters. When you have the clothes, boots, and hat, now what you need is just Graccu’s juicy Mince Meat Fruitcake. You’ll get it in the Smokywood Pastures Extra-Special Gift that will be automatically delivered to you a few hours after saving the poor reindeer, Metzen. Now, you are Mr. Grandfather-Winter-wannabe chomping some disgusting fruitcake. Perfect.

Scrooge
Snowball time! You just need to throw a snowball either to Muradin Bronzebeard in Ironforge for Alliance or Baine Bloodhoof in Thunder Bluff for Horde. Where to get snowballs? You can buy it at Winter Veil NPCs just for 10 copper. Freebies lovers, don’t you worry! You can get your own snowball with no extra charge in Alterac Mountains, Winterspring, and Dun Morogh.

Simply Abominable
This achievement requires you to slay The Abominable Greench in Alterac Mountains and loot the Stolen Treats. Once you’ve got one, get back to the Winter Veil NPC that gave you the quest.

Let it Snow You have to search for other races to finish this achievement. The requirement is using a Handful of Snowflakes (get some from /kissing Winter Revelers) on certain races and class combinations which are: Human Warrior, Undead Rogue, Tauren Shaman, Orc Death Knight, Troll Hunter, Dwarf Paladin, Draenei Priest, Blood Elf Warlock, Night Elf Druid, and Gnome Mage. Good luck searching in Winter Veil 2011!

A Frosty Shake
Shake your frosty body with fellow frosty dancers in Dalaran! That’s the requirement. What you need is the disguise kit to become a snowman. A snowball is also essential. The kit is obtained from the quests in Simply Abominable achievement. Be sure to complete this one in the early time of Winter Veil 2011 because the number of dancing snowbuds will decrease gradually in time.

Fa-la-la-la-Ogri’la
You will need to complete the Bomb Them Again! quest while riding on flying Reindeer. Sweet! First, you will need to complete several quests to unlock Bomb Them Again!, after that, you gotta change your ride to a reindeer using Preserved Holly or Fresh Holly. Hollies can be obtained by /kissing Winter Revelers in Inns (random present) or you can buy it from holly machines. Now, enjoy the scenery while you drop bombs on the demon cannons from high up the sky on a flying badass reindeer.

The Winter Veil Gourmet
Cook all the way! Cook the Winter Veil Gourmet that consists of Egg Nog, Gingerbread Cookie, and Hot Apple Cider. Buy the recipes at Winter Veil NPC on Ironforge or Orgrimmar. If you have leveled up your cooking skill, this won’t be a problem. But if you haven’t, you need to train and level up your skill first because 325 cooking skill is needed to cook the cider. The ingredients can be easily bought from the Auction House if you are too lazy to look, and of course in a price. If you don’t have the money but you do have the time, buy 1 Ice Cold Milk at the Inns, Sparkling Apple Cider, 3 Holiday Spices, and 2 Holiday Spirits at Winter Veil NPCs. The last ingredients, 2 small eggs can be looted from Moonkins for Allience and Eversong Dragonhawks for Horde. Happy cooking!

Bros. Before Ho Ho Ho’s
Meet all the brothers! Don’t forget to use Mistletoe, get one from /kissing Winter Revelers. The Alliance’s brothers are: Karman in Theramore, Anton in Desolace, Kristof in Crusader’s Square, Wilhelm in Goldshire, and Nimetz in Stranglethorn Vale. There are only 3 bros for Horde: Durkot Wolfbrother in Warsong Hold, Malach in Undercity’s War Quarter, and Keltan in Orgrimm’s Hammer that patrols the northeastern part Icecrown.

He Knows if You’ve Been Naughty
This is the last achievement required to get the Merrymaker title in Winter Veil 2011. Very simple, just open one of the presents under the tree in Ironforge or Orgrimmar. The presents will start spawning on the Christmas day through holiday’s end.

That was the quick overview for each achievement required for Merrymaker title in Winter Veil 2011. Don’t miss it guys!

Romance with SWTOR Companions

SWTOR companions are available as a system that will help you in various conditions in the harsh world of MMORPG. They serve like minions that will do whatever you order them to do. SWTOR companions are the key in the crew skills system’s mechanic. You will be able to command them to do crafting, complete a mission, gather stockpiles and materials, and also help you in combat (only one companion is allowed to be taken out).

SWTOR companions aren’t give-and-take gifts from the developer. You will get a companion early in the game with no extra charge. But, to get other companions, you will have to put a good amount of efforts to look for them in the whole world since they are well-scattered. Like the rest of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series, there are moral choices, alignment, and affection. You can influence an evil companion into a lovely happy hippie or pervert your good, righteous SWTOR companions into a scary poker-faced villain that is capable of scaring children to death with pedo-smiles. So, your status and choices that you made will decide who will be your friendly SWTOR companions and who will be your greatest band of silly, hating SWTOR companions. You can also be friends with them. You can get one of them at a time to be your lover or simply your digital fantasy shagging partner (no gay relationship for now). It depends on what you do to them and how you treat them. You can give presents and talk about what they like to get positive affection points. For your info, you can see what the SWTOR companions like and dislike by going to the codex menu in the quest log and choose “Person of Note”. Further relationship with the SWTOR companions will get you unique rewards that cannot be obtained elsewhere. Other than that, you can also open new conversations and dialogs that can reveal the SWTOR companions dark secrets and past. Every companion has their storyline and secret quest if you can manage to make them tell you. Just what to expect from BioWare.

SWTOR Companions

There are total of 42 companions, half for the Empire and the other half for the Republic. Each job gets 5 companions with various default alignment and one default droid companion. Every SWTOR companion has their unique skill and crew skills bonus. They also has their own class and equipment. For example, one of the Sith Warrior companion, Broonmark, is a melee tank character that will give you +2 Bioanalysis critical and +10 Scavenging efficiency.

Bored looking at your companion in a form of blue-colored alien chick called Vette? You can recolor your favorite blue-colored alien chick into a yellow-colored alien chick with a tattoo. But, extreme body modification is impossible. BioWare has prevented it so that you can’t ruin the gorgeous Jaesa Willsaam into a bad, ill-smelled, obese girl with a goatee. You are limited to only modify the appearance and customize the battle tactic of a companion, for a price. It will cost you 12,500 credits for a modification tool at the Smugglers Corso Rigg’s!

Feeling like you need some company? Be sure to play around with your SWTOR companions!

SWTOR: Respec Time!

Okay, we are back again in a Star Wars: The Old Republic article, this time I want to talk about respec. So, Star Wars: The Old Republic is a new Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game based on the movie Star Wars and a single player Role-Playing Game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. This time, the third installment of the series is developed by BioWare, that is responsible for spawning the revolutionary breed of Third-Person Shooter and Role-Playing Game, the Mass Effect series. This is the first time BioWare is developing an MMORPG.

Respec - SWTOR

Star Wars: The Old Republic offers fresh idea for MMORPG. Like the companion and crew skills system, and also, respec. So, what does respec means? Respec comes from the word respecialization. Respec is the ability to reset your skills back to zero so that you can “reshape” your character or undo the mistakes that you have made. It is a common system these days, seen to be used in World of Warcraft, Massive Action Game (M.A.G. PS3 exclusive FPS), and other games.

Maybe this is the situation that you are in. You chose to be a Sith Inquisitor and advanced your class to Sith Assassin. You thought that playing ninja style and decapitating republic dogs from behind is fun so, you leveled up the Deception skill tree. And you finally found out that sneaking is not as easy as chewing bacon sandwiches. You figured out that tanking is your real way of life, and here’s where the respec feature comes in. You can respec your character and level up the Darkness skill set instead. After a few hours, you feel like tanking is uncool unline assassin. And well, the awesome respec can come again. But, it doesn’t mean that you can change your class advancement. Choose your class advancement carefully.

Respec seems to be too good to be true. You can switch back and forth and try another sub-class or skills how many times you want. Well, the first time you respec your character, you needn’t to pay anything, not even a single credit. But the second time, you have to pay a small amount of credits, and it becomes more and more expensive each time you respec because the it is not something that you should do over and over again. The most expensive cost that I have ever seen is about 36 kilocredits. Whoa, that means the guy is a respec addict!

How to Respec Your Character in SWTOR?

So, how to respec your character? If you think that it is done just by opening the talent menu and clicking a respec button, you are wrong. There is no button called the respec button in the game. Instead, you got to find an NPC to respec your character. You can find the NPC in the same room with the class trainers in the Fleet Station. It is in the combat training area. And there is another one in Coruscant behind trade stands down below the Senate entrance.

Respec is proven to be very useful. You can use respec to change your specialization when you are going to slay monsters in PvE server or wreak havoc in PvP server. For example, you are a Sith Sorcerer. You have planned your character to be a damage dealer. So, you leveled up the Lightning skill tree. One day, a friend asked you to help him and his guild to raid a dungeon. But, the guild is already full of damage dealers and in need of a healer. In this kind of situation, you can shift to a healer by doing the respec thing and level up the Corruption skill set. Just don’t forget that respec is not freebies.

Deciding to respec your character now?

Then I Took Skyrim 1.03 Patch in the Knee...

Skyrim is the fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series. A few days ago, Skyrim 1.03 patch was released and successfully took an arrow in the knee. No game is perfect (except Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriots :p), Skyrim was born and sent to the wild lacking sugar. Of course, to sweeten it and protect the dignity of her fifth son, Miss Bethesda has released a couple of patches to fix things here and there and add some low-calorie sugar so that the massive sweetness won’t kill anyone with diabetes. The newest Skyrim 1.03 patch was released to all platforms. But not on the same day since Microsoft and Sony need to “certify” it first before deciding to fetch Skyrim 1.03 “certified” patch to their hungry customers. The first Skyrim 1.03 patch release was for PC, on the 7th of December 2011. It was released in the Steam. Then, the Xbox 360 patch came on the 16th of December 2011, about more than a week after the initial PC release. Don’t want to lose to Microsoft, Sony decided to quickly “certify” the Skyrim 1.03 patch and released the PS3 version in the PSN just the next day. Thank God and Mr. Butler that it only took Sony about a week to get the patch certified. I can still clearly recall the infamous “Mass Effect 2 patch-certifying” nightmare I went through. It was too horrible and painful that I don’t want to talk about it. Even Mr. Butler will wet his pants if he remembers this.

Skyrim 1.03 patch is a divine gift and salvation from God for us, gamers. Skyrim 1.03 patch has repaired disturbing bugs in the game. So what has been fixed for good?

Skyrim 1.03 Patch

Ahoy #1 stability has been enstabled!
A more stable game means more hours per sitting!

Ahoy #2 Radiant Story incorrect roles-filling fixed!
Well, I honestly don’t understand which role is fixed. But what I know is, put a bucket at someone’s head, and Mr. Bucketman and Mrs. Bucketman won’t give a damn about what you are doing.

Ahoy #3 Book-placing to the bookshelves in purchased house issues fixed! What issues exactly? I haven’t tried placing books yet.

Ahoy #4 Y-input fixed to correctly scale the framerate!
Umm, Okay.

Ahoy #5 Magic resistance miscalculation fixed, yo!
Now this is crucial. Before Skyrim 1.03 patch was released, “homo-genocide” is possible. Spawn your Flames Atronach and punish her flaming body with flames and she will die. Summon the Frost Atronach and put her back to her sleep with Frost and she will surely sleep in no time. See? Flames burn flames, ices freeze ices, how is that even possible? But then, this awesome Skyrim 1.03 patch came and everyone wins. No more iced ices and burned flames. Win-win situation.

Ahoy #6 Core 2 Duo users, you are blessed!
Don’t really care, mine’s not a Core 2 Duo (troll mode)

Ahoy #7: The Last Ahoy, No more idiotic, backward-flying fire-breathing lump of meat!
The last patch, 1.02, sent dragons flying backward with one wing with the speed of light like some two-headed, one legged onion man, taking a sh*t inside a toilet in a burning space rocket made of bouncy giant green dried snot going in a suicide mission to the sun.

Aye aye, Miss Bethesda has fixed that with the Almighty Skyrim 1.03 patch. Now you can slay the dragon in the Battle at Bonestrewn Crest without the need to puke!

But speaking of which, the Skyrim 1.03 patch did not remove the “I used to be an adventurer like you, then I took an arrow in the knee..” just so you know.

I used to give a damn, then someone covered my head with a bucket...

SWTOR Inquisitor: Elegant Sith Class

SWTOR Inquisitor is one of the eight default classes and one of two Sith Empire classes that utilize Force. SWTOR Inquisitor seems to be a light-armored class similar to the Republic’s Jedi Consular. Sith Inquisitor uses the power of the Force along with lightsaber techniques. Inquisitors are fast, swift, and rather strong. SWTOR Inquisitor proves to be one of the strongest jobs in Star Wars: The Old Republic. Inquisitor is the type that can play all kinds of role. Be it a powerful assault caster, a party healer, or a tanker in a massive raid. Inquisitors harness the dark side of the Force to either crush their enemies or support their allies. SWTOR Inquisitor is a genius in force channeling and manipulation, and also has outstanding swordmanship. Inquisitors study the philosophy and dark past of the Force. Force Lightning is their well-known feared weapon.

SWTOR Sith Inquisitor

SWTOR Inquisitor has 5 companions, 4 of them are evil, and 1 of them has the good morality. They are Xalek, Khem Val, Talos Drellik, Ashara Zavros, and Andronikus Revel. Their starships are called “Fury”. There are 5 races available to choose: Human, Twi’lek, Sith Pureblood, Zabrak, and Rattataki.

Inquisitors use the double-bladed lightsaber with an unbelievable speed. Even though you are a bad guy here, you can rebel and be a hero instead. First, choose your style of play. You can be a frontline tanker with your extreme agility, making you a hard-to-hit decoy. A sneaky little venomous deadly snake with unrivaled stealth skill. If you want to be a supportive player, be a healer. And you can improve your Force to be a PvP Force-based Inquisitor.

There are 2 class advancements of SWTOR Inquisitor. They are Sith Assassin and Sith Sorcerer.

Sith Assassin focuses on the melee skill. Sith Assassins use double-edged lightsabers. They have super-fast speed and agility. There are 3 skill trees for Sith Assassin. Darkness, Madness, and Deception. Darkness skill tree is full of defensive abilities that will make you an excellent tanker. Madness offers Force ability to drain and corrupt enemies, but Madness is a shared skill. The last skill tree of Sith Assassin is Deception. Deception includes stealth skills to kill enemies without them even realizing. Force Lightning can be imbued into the double-edged lighsaber using the skill from Deception skill tree.

Sith Sorcerer is the last class advancement of SWTOR Inquisitor for now. Sorcerers harness the power of the dark Force to dispatch their foes without mercy. This class is Force-based. There are 3 skill trees, 1 of them is a shared skill, Madness. The other two are Lightning and Corruption. Lightning skill tree focuses on the Force Lightning. Choose it if you want to be an assault caster. You will get healing and support abilities if you improve the Corruption skill tree.

SWTOR Inquisitors are way too powerful that they are often hated by bullied players. So, overall, SWTOR Inquisitor is a deadly class, versatile, and handy in all kinds of condition. You love Darth Maul, you will surely love the Sith Inquisitor!

SWTOR Crafting – How to?

SWTOR crafting feature is exceptional. This kind of crafting system that involves NPC is rarely seen in other MMORPGs. SWTOR crafting allows players to craft various items like implants, guns, high-tech armors, lightsaber parts, and more. Crafting skill is included in the crew skills. Crafting is essential and important if you want to maximize your character’s potential.

First, I will introduce SWTOR crafting in general. Crafting can be done by either the player or NPCs called “companion”. Crafting is a special crew skill. Provided that you can only assign 1 crafting skill to the skill slot and leave the 2 other skill slots to other crew skills while you can use 3 gathering skills or mission skills at once. And if you change the crafting skill, it will be reset back to level 1 and you will lose all your hard-earned recipes.

SWTOR Crafting costs some time. While crafting low-level equipment only takes less than 10 minutes, high-level and sophisticated items will need more. That is where the NPCs come in. You can assign up to 5 companions to do crafting tasks. Each companion can only queue 5 crafting tasks. They will continue working when you are out doing some quest with your guild and even when you are offline. Your companions work tirelessly and will make sure that you sleep safe and sound when you are not in the game. Still, the companions don’t provide you 100 percent cashback guarantee. To prevent failures, you have to be good to your companions. It is recommended to give presents and talk whenever possible. Your companions will perform better SWTOR crafting with higher affection point.

SWTOR crafting is divided to 6. There are Armstech, Cybertech, Armormech, Biochem, Artifice, and Synthweaving. I’ll give you the quick short overview of each sub-profession. For non-Force user tanks, you should choose the Armormech since it mainly produces armors. Cybertech is a credits-making crafting skill. For any raiding guild member, you can get profit by selling potions and implants from the Biochem skill. Non-force users that choose to focus on crafting are best to choose Armstech since time is the essence to be able to construct good weapons. Force tanks is better to choose Synthweaving, the sub-profession is used to craft force armors. And aggresive non-tanks Force users are recommended to equip Artifice to make unique and special lightsaber parts.

Let’s get to the how to. First step....

SWTOR Crafting

1. Craft-learning
Learning is the key to success. That is what my teachers used to lecture me. In SWTOR crafting, learning is essential. Choose the suitable crafting skill for you. You learn it in your capital home city, just take a stroll around the storage area, auction house, and skill trainers. Remember that only 1 crafting skill can be learned per time. But you are free to learn another crafting skills by forgetting the one you learn now. Forgetting means you will lose all recipes and level of that SWTOR crafting skill.

2. Craft!
Open the crew skills menu (‘n’ is the shortcut). Give a click-click on the craft icon beside your companion. Then, you can choose what will your companion craft. The maximum queue is 5.

Bam! You (and your companion) have successfully crafted an item! Be sure to keep crafting since there are still a lot to uncover on SWTOR crafting.

SWTOR Server Status Overpopulated?

How is SWTOR server status doing now? Players that got no time to play must be wondering when they will play and whether they will get a seat in one of the servers or not. Even before the official release date, which is today, most of the servers were already swarmed.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is a Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game developed by BioWare and based on the epic space opera, Star Wars. The game is the latest installment of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic series. It takes place centuries after the events of SW:KotOR. Unlike the previous installment that was a singleplayer role-playing game, this one will surely satiate MMORPG lovers, especially the ones that played the previous games. To be able to play this game, players have to pay monthly subscription fees. A month subscription will cost you $14.99. While a 3 month subscription will cost you around $42 and even cheaper for the 6 month subscription, which is about $78. You won’t even believe that SWTOR has already attracted a lot of gamers attention. Try visiting the SWTOR server status page in the official website.

There are 4 types of server: PvE, PvP, RP-PvP, and RP-PvE. PvE stands for Player versus Enemy, meaning, no killing between players, only in some area and battleground. PvP = Player versus Player. Players can freely spar in this server. The RP in RP-PvP and RP-PvE is the same. RP is the abbreviation of role-playing, more like hardcore mode where everything is made as real as it can be. Statistics show that players love PvP more than any other server type. Now, does it also affect the SWTOR server status?

SWTOR Server Status

The SWTOR server status page in the official website of Star Wars: The Old Republic shows more than a hundred US servers and about 90 European servers. The SWTOR server status page shows extreme traffic in European servers. Most European servers are full and in heavy traffic, while US servers are not really that crowded. When you are trying to join a full server, you will be queued. The queues could take minutes or even hours. I saw my friend that queued in the Swiftsure server, a Player versus Player server, and he had to wait like nearly an hour. I am very sure that from day to day the amount of players will increase gradually. Is it gonna be a problem?

Nah, of course not! The players will surely increase, that’s not deniable. But, the players will be evenly distributed. Yesterday, there were only like 80 US servers and 60 European servers, but today, there are more. BioWare will open more day to day, so don’t worry.

And if you have a wordpress blog and you want to share the information about the server where you are currently playing at, you can keep track of the SWTOR server status and show it at your wordpress blog with the wordpress plugin. Even though the plugin is a first draft, it works well so far. The plugin will show the population, status, language, server type, and queue size.

Now, that SWTOR server status is not a problem anymore, you can buy the game without any doubt!