Patrick Mackey
- Columnist -
Although he enjoys unwinding in PvE and roleplaying, Patrick's first gaming love is competition and the nuance of gaming mechanics that comes with playing games at the most intense levels. A regional tournament champion, Patrick takes his gaming seriously, whether it is MMO PvP or an intense match of Street Fighter 4.
He is an ardent pursuer of the intrinsic satisfaction of deep game knowledge; he balks when other gamers insist that "games are for fun."
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The Summoner's Guidebook: Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters
Once upon a time (OK, a few weeks ago), I was playing an ARAM as Diana. I had a fairly bad score (I'm passive and don't chase kills), and we lost. One of my teammates blamed me, claiming my item build was awful. It was largely because I didn't build Rabadon's Deathcap. Deathcap is one of the ...
The Art of Wushu: Learning the basics of combat
Many readers balked when I said Age of Wushu had the best combat in an MMO ever back when I did my first impressions piece. I admit, it was a bold claim. However, even after playing Guild Wars 2, TERA, and numerous other games with "deep MMO combat," I stand by what I said back then. Age of Wushu's ...
The Summoner's Guidebook: Teaching ourselves LoL matchups
I'm always looking for things to teach players in the Summoner's Guidebook. We have, however, covered a lot of the low hanging fruit in one way or another. In League of Legends, and virtually every other asymmetric competitive game, matchup knowledge comprises the huge bulk of information that is ...
The Summoner's Guidebook: How do assassins work in League of Legends?
In case you didn't notice, the title of this week's column is a question. It's not because I know the answer; it's because I've been thinking a lot about it lately and don't have a really good answer. Assassins are in a strange state when it comes to teamfights. In League of Legends, there's a ...
The Art of Wushu: Understanding the Meridian System
Age of Wushu is not the most accessible game. It is full of confusing systems that are hard to decipher, and a large part of the "skill" in the game is being able to wade through the mess of gameplay elements and produce an optimized character. Meridians are one more extremely confusing system ...
The Summoner's Guidebook: Playing LoL's new ARAM mode
Many of you already know what ARAM is -- it's a phenomenon that is hardly exclusive to League of Legends, and even in MOBAs where there isn't a map built for it, ARAM matches are played. Before the 3.6 patch, I tended to play ARAM matches either before or after my normal play sessions. I typically ...
The Summoner's Guidebook: Support in League of Legends doesn't mean healing
Out of all the roles in League of Legends, support is the most misunderstood. People expect supports to be similar to healing classes in other games, the kinds of characters who knit sweaters and cook dinner while the real warriors go out and fight on the front lines. When people first learn ...
The Art of Wushu: The war for server time [Updated]
Scheduled events are a huge part of Age of Wushu. While each player has the option of enjoying the game at his own pace, scheduled events mark the major ways people can have an impact on the world at large. Because these events have to occur at a specific time, their placement will always be ...
The Summoner's Guidebook: It takes skill to right-click stuff in League of Legends
I've mentioned in passing that my favorite role on Summoner's Rift is ADC, otherwise known as "AD Carry" or "ranged DPS." This might be a bit of a surprise for some of you. Typically in League of Legends, the jungler is the playmaker, and if not, the support is. The playmaker roles seem like more ...
The Age of Wushu team on what's coming after launch
A week ago, we asked Snail Games some questions pertaining to Age of Wushu and its launch in the west. Just in time for launch, the studio got back to us with some answers. Sometimes, good things come to those who wait. We pulled no punches with our questions, asking Snail about the recent ...
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The Summoner's Guidebook: Why you shouldn't always buy Deathcap on LoL casters
Posted on May 23rd 2013 9:00PM
