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As we all know, NCsoft has released a demo version of Blade & Soul at G-Star 2010. Participants will experience this fairly large demo playing through nearly an hour of content, from breathtaking cut scenes to unbelievable gameplay. If you were to attend G-Star 2010, what would you need to know in order to get the best experience from playing the demo? Thisisgame.com has prepared a guide loaded with tips and much more on how to play this beauty.
Most of us here, if not all, wont get the chance to try the demo, so why are we posting this article? Well, it gives us detailed information on the games controls and how to use them. There's a good chance that most of the demos controls will bleed into the final product. Keep in mind though, Blade & Soul still has quite a bit of development left, some of these controls may change over the months.
This article was translated by BlkNoiz and Yuan.
Basic Flow and Controls of the Game
The Blade & Soul demo is designed in such a way that the first half of the demo is a tutorial and the second half is the application of learned materials. If cut-scenes in the demo are not skipped, you'll only get about 20 minutes of gameplay. With the intro video skipped, the total time a participant gets to control their character is about 30 to 40 minutes.
The basic flow of the demo is simple: Receive a quest from NPC's and complete it in order to progress to the next stage. They figured that the participants would be able to learn the most with such a simple introductory flow.
Blade & Soul's key assignments are quite similar to other MMO's currently on the market, there will obviously be just a few subtle differences. Keys like [W] and [S] will cause your character to move forward and backwards, while the [Q] and [E] buttons will be used to strafe to the sides. [A] and [D] will be used for right/left camera control but will also cause your character to turn right/left at the same time. Here's a detailed picture of the keybinds currently used to play the Blade & Soul demo.
It is unknown whether or not you will be able to reassign these keys.
It is recommended that you use both a keyboard and a mouse at the same time, but if one wishes, they can play on just the keyboard.
Pay Attention to the Minimap
All the locations for Blade & Soul's quests are going to be marked on the minimap. If you were ordered to meet an NPC, they will be marked with a yellow arrow on the minimap, while the region inhabited by the mobs of interest will be marked with a red circle. Just go ahead and look at the minimap if you so happen to get lost.
It's impossible to get lost if you check up on the minimap regularly.
The Do-It-All Magic Key [F]
The key that is used most often in Blade & Soul is the action key, [F]. This key allows the user to interact with a variety of things such as speaking to an NPC, using a specific object or carrying something. It also allows you to skip to the next dialogue during a conversation with an NPC.
The [F] key is used to hold up/carry objects, or interact with a specific target.
Qing Gong and Descension
You can use Qing Gong in Blade & Soul by pressing a direction button twice. Hitting [Q], [W], [E] or [S] twice will cause you character to sprint in the direction specified, activating Qing Gong. If you hit the [Space] bar while using Qing Gong your character will soar up into the air, hit [Space] bar again and you will begin to descend in a gliding state slowly. In order to keep descending, you must hold down the [Space] bar.
Qing Gong will allow you to move at extremely fast speeds and to reach unusually high locations. You'll have a variety of hard to reach places in Blade & Soul that are only reachable through Qing Gong.
Remember, Qing Gong will slowly use up the Qing Gong meter, so you won't be able to use this ability all the time. The meter can be found directly under your characters status bars (Health/Power).
Even if you fall to the ground during Descension, you will not be hurt.
The Intros End is Only the Beginning
As mentioned above, Blade & Soul's Demo consists of two parts. The first part is a tutorial-like segment of gameplay, teaching you how to play the game. The second is where you actually get to put the staff you've just learned from the first part to the test. There's a small flaw in the demo. The first part is actually quite long (30-40 minutes) and ends with a satisfying climactic machinima cinematic, making the player believe the demo has actually ended, causing him to get up and leave when he actually has another 20-30 minutes of the demo left!
So, be patient and don't be tricked by the ending, stick around and wait for something else to happen. You went all the way to the Bexco in Busan, Korea and paid precious money to be there! You have to get the full experience out of this bad boy.
Just because there is ending credits doesn't mean it's actually over! This is only the ending of the first part!
If You're Dead, Don't Panic!
Just because you health reached 0 and your character dropped to the floor doesn't mean you're actually dead! We've covered the death mechanic multiple times in other articles here but let's just go through it again to be safe!
When your health reaches 0 in Blade & Soul your character will fall to the floor and will be placed in the "Worn Out" state, allowing you to crawl away to safety. Once in a safe location you can then use "Chi Meditation" which will recover your characters health slowly, you can teleport to a town as well during the "Worn Out" state if you so choose. If an enemy catches you while using "Chi Meditation" and hits you once your character will actually die, forcing you to teleport to the nearest town.
Note: Using "Chi Meditation" in the worn out state works quite well in a PvE situation, but I'm sure we can't say the same for PvP. You'll probably want to teleport to the nearest town if you're killed in a PvP fight and you were alone. If you have friends in a PvP battle you may be able to pull "Chi Meditation" off if you're lucky.
Don't go back to town just because your HP is zero, just look for a safe area first!
Don't Be Stingy With Potions
Blade & Soul's demo starts off with a full potion set. Potions are given out quite frequently throughout the demo so don't be afraid to use them! No need to save them for those desperate times where your character is about to eat dirt.
Potions in Blade & Soul are quite typical. Like all RPG's out there they immediately restore your characters health and power supply (mana/rage/etc), allowing you character to fight on longer! There's also food in Blade & Soul. Food refills your characters HP gradually.
Blade & Soul's UI has a convenient spot to place your potions and food.
Don't Fire that Cannon!
Yeah that's right! Don't fire that damn cannon if you get a chance to play this demo! The demo will end once you fire the cannon, but not before a beautiful display of burning wood and sinking masses appear before you eyes.
So, when there comes a situation during a quest that requires you to fire a cannon, don't! We know how tempting it is to blast a cannon in a video game, try your hardest not to click it! Until the staff around the booth give you a nudge or a glare, enjoy the game in full length, and then some more!
Don't do it, man! This demo is just too good to let it end!
For a compiled set of screenshots from Blade & Soul's G-Star 2010 playable demo, visit this thread and enjoy!
Stay tuned for detailed descriptions of 4 of the 5 revealed playable classes, the Blade Master, Kung-Fu Master, Force Master and the Destroyer. Will include descriptions of the skills found in the demo and how to effectively use them.
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How on earth are they going to fit all THAT onto a controller that can only be mapped for 16 buttons!
