10 Tips for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - A Hero's Mini-Guide [Update]
Posted on Tuesday, February 7 @ 08:50:00 Eastern by Nicholas Tan
For as little fanfare as there's been for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, it is surprisingly vast. Its intricately detailed world offers more than 100 hours of content with numerous side quests, dungeons, treasures, and environments. That's a lot of ground to cover. Luckily for you, Game Revolution's got your back. We've got several tips and tricks to get you through the opening hours of the game and accustomed to the particular hybrid of action-RPG gameplay of Reckoning. Once you've absorbed these ten pieces of advice, the world will be at your knees.
1. Change sprinting control scheme immediately.
Upon getting control of the main character, you should switch the control scheme for sprinting in the options menu. Pressing or holding down the X button to sprint doesn't make much sense when the right analog stick controls movement. So unless you have two right hands, consider switching to the "press L3" input for running. It will save you a lot of frustration.
2. Evasion and parrying is as important as attacking.
It may be your initial inclination to waltz into a pack of wolves and start swinging your hammer around, and though you'll might knock a few of them around, you'll also take some nasty hits. Quickly rolling away should be your first defense, as it will usually throw off enemies and interrupt their assaults. When that's not enough, though, blocking is your next best bet, particularly since it's almost instantaneous. Blocking at the right time will parry an attack altogether and give you a momentary opportunity to block.
3. Check the lake before going onward.
Immediately after the tutorial dungeon, you'll be thrust right into the world, in the middle of a lush forest with elk and wolves. But don't let the visual splendor make you miss the lake behind you, as it hides several treasures. In fact, nearly all bodies of water in the game usually have whirlpools along the surface where you can dive for extra goodies. This introductory lake also hides a tunnel behind the waterfall with giant rats and two lootable chests, one locked by key and the other by ward, serving as an introduction to lockpicking and dispelling.
4. Focus on a specific character build.
When you escape from the tutorial dungeon, you'll also have the chance to level up for the first time. Luckily, there isn't much pressure when choosing which skills and abilities to upgrade, since you can search out a fateweaver at any point in the game and reset all of your point allocations for a fee. Of course, you won't want to spend any gold you don't have to, so always keep in mind what build, you wish to make your character and look ahead to which skills and abilities make sense for that build. If you're not sure what build you want, you'll get a preview by seeing various "destinies", which you'll discover almost immediately after leaving the tutorial dungeon.
For more straightforward advice, you'll want to focus on damage output first and foremost, whether that's through daggers, arrows, swords, hammers, or magic. Expanding your moveset, as with Brutal Weaponry in the Might subsection, will also keep your combat options flexible. Putting a few skill points in each subsection (Might, Finesse, and Sorcery) is advisable, so that your character can make full use of melee, ranged, and magical combat, not leaving any resource behind. Remember, you still have mana even if you're a fighter; you might as well some of it.
5. Put at least two points into Alchemy.
Obtaining alchemic ingredients in Amalur isn't the same as it is in Skyrim. Finding a pickable flower, marked by a shimmering gold hue, doesn't mean you're successfully obtain it. Without several points in Alchemy, expect many attempts to result in "no reagents found". You'll certainly free to skip all the flora, but health potions are rather expensive and why bother paying for something you can get for free? By mixing 2 Black Cohosh and 1 Embereyes plant at an alchemy lab (first found in the potion shop in the first town), you'll receive a Minor Health Potion, which is enough to fill the majority (if not all) of your health at the beginning of the game.
|
[ Editor's Note: As Nick Olsen is a writer for Theory of Gaming, this won't be counted in the monthly Vox Pop prize. However, it is very much a worthy read. ]
By Nick Olsen
Co-founder, Theory of Gaming
In 1985 Nintendo started a revolution when it...
Chunibrow
Joined: Mar 2010
Imnickson
Joined: Jul 2006
213EDD
Joined: Sep 2007
Nick_Tan
Joined: Jul 2006
TurinAlexander
Joined: Sep 2006
drathbone
Joined: May 2011
tinymhg
Joined: Jun 2011
pennpsu
Joined: Sep 2010
stromie83
Joined: Sep 2012