Game Update #38 September 12, 2007 9/12/2007
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*** Highlights ***
- Rumors have it that Bristlebane has returned. Is this just another joke, or has
another deity returned to Norrath?
- The dual wield designation has been removed and replaced with a system that will
allow for more variety.
- There is a new Appearance tab in the Inventory window. Items worn here will not
convey benefits, but will override what people see on your character.
- The Estate of Unrest is now a persistent instance.
*** Dual Wield Changes ***
- To allow for a better selection of weapons for all classes, the Dual Wield
designation on weapons has been removed. These weapons are now either One Handed,
Main Hand, or Off Hand.
- The damage on these weapons has increased, bringing them in line with
pre-existing One Handed weapons. While wielding two weapons, the base delay of
your melee weapons will be increased by 33%, yielding a small net gain in damage
compared to what existed with Dual Wield weapons. For example: A 3 second delay
weapon will instead act every 4 seconds while you are dual wielding. These
weapons will also use the longer delay when determining whether or not to proc
any special effects on them, gaining a more beneficial proc rate.
- The damage rating on Two-Handed has also been raised slightly to ensure that
Two-Handed weapons remain appealing.
- All Dual Wield weapons are now One Handed, Main Hand, or Off Hand.
- While wielding two weapons, the base delay is increased by 33%.
- Two handed weapons now do slightly more damage.
- A few, powerful weapons will be flagged Main Hand but the majority will be
useable in either hand if your class can dual wield.
*** Bristlebane Returns ***
- Do you consider yourself a practitioner of pranks, a student of the silly, or
even a fan of the funny? Does the idea of pulling a practical joke over on someone
sound like your idea of a good time? If so, you might make an excellent follower
of Fizzlethorpe Bristlebane, the Grand Prankster. Recently scores of puckish
jesters, fanciful bards and quick-witted thieves have all been spreading rumors
about the imminent return of their favorite Sire of Shenanigans.
- If Bristlebane has truly arrived and resumed his place aside the other gods who
have also returned to Norrath, why has he waited until now? What sort of
mischievous plans does the Royal Trickster have in store for his faithful
followers? What about the other gods who have yet to reveal themselves since their
departure? The answers to these questions are undoubtedly wrapped within a riddle
only Bristlebane himself can solve.
- Those interested in devoting themselves to the Master of Mischief should speak
with Tobel Patadash, the self-declared Prophet of Bristlebane at the docks of The
Enchanted Lands. Be advised, however, that the Gigglegibber Goblins have their
own nonsensical opinion of who they believe the real Prophet of Bristlebane is as
well!
*** Appearance ***
- Upon reaching level 20, you'll be able to access new appearance item slots on
the inventory window.
- Items worn in the appropriate slots in the Appearance tab will override the
outward appearance of your character.
- Items worn in the Appearance tab will not convey any of their benefits to the
character wearing them.
- Some clothing items, such as city rewards will be wearable by everyone.
*** Grouping / Raiding ***
- When a player joins or leaves a raid, other members in the raid receive
notification in the raid channel.
- Moving or swapping players between groups should not display any
notifications.
- Players in the same group as the new member joining/leaving will receive 2
notifications, one in the raid channel and one in the group channel. This is by
design so log parsers can track players joining and leaving.
*** Gameplay ***
- Like Estate of Unrest, but just don't have the time? Well now you can get both
rest and Unrest, as the Estate of Unrest is now persistent!
- Adventurers of all levels who believe their sea legs are ready to see service
should see Admiral Marc Grenich in Qeynos Harbor and recruiter Livia Montelius
in Freeport East. Glory awaits those who wish to explore the presence of
mysterious Iskar within our waters. What lies beyond the horizon? Join up to
see!
- Trivial Loot no longer includes Quest items, so Quest items will drop on gray
encounters.
- Harvestable shrubs in level 1-9 zones now appear more shrub-like.
- Strafing with autorun on will actually cause you to strafe instead of turning
your character.
- NPC encounters will more reliably avoid attacking a mezzed player than
before.
*** Items ***
- In efforts to clean up examination windows, the following effects now appear
as attributes instead of as added effects, and have had their text description
size reduced:
- Damage Per Second
- Flowing Thought
- Health Regeneration
- Melee/Ranged/Spell/Healing Criticals
- Melee Double Attack
- Ranged Double Attack
- +Healing
- +Spell Damage
- +Spell Damage and Healing
- The Scroll of the Fire Seeds is no longer flagged Lore.
- Gnomish Gent's Mechanized Façade no longer needs to be equipped for the
illusion to persist.
- Ranged weapons will no longer trigger procs on weapons equipped in the
primary or secondary slot.
- +damage and +heal items have been changed. Instead of normalizing by casting
time you will get the full benefit on non AoE spells if the casting time is
greater than .5 seconds and the reuse time is greater than 2 seconds.
- AoE spells gain 1/3 of the amount per target as do triggered reactive
spells.
- Lifetaps continue to function the same. Also, damage is applied up front based
on the amount of damage/healing the spell will do over time.
- Combat art damage has also been added to the system and the Bruiser Brutality
line will buff this raid wide.
- There is now a 2-second usage delay for using most widgets in the world (i.e.
quest widgets).
- Menders will now repair items in general inventory slots when you use the
"Repair All" option on the mender window.
*** Guild Status Items ***
- When selling guild status items, guilds now only advance via sales of
level-appropriate items. Members of higher level guilds can still sell lower
level items for personal status gain.
- There is now a text description at the bottom of status items that tell you
what level guild will gain advancement from selling those items. Generally,
items found in the nearest 10 level range will continue to advance your guild.
(E.g. A level 50 guild will be able to gain advancement from level 51 items and
higher, which drop from T6 creatures and above.)
- If you go to an NPC who will buy your status item and your guild is too high
level, you will see the status points in YELLOW instead of the normal teal.
Those are the items that will only grant you personal status.
*** Quests ***
- The Gnome Observatrons now show the Quest that requires them.
- The Disk of Bylze now shows the Quest that it offers in its
tooltip.
- Completing the Bloodline Chronicles Quest line now adds Vampires to your
Master Strike.
*** Tradeskills ***
- Crafters who respec their tradeskill class from now on will be able to
complete their new class's tradeskill quest in the Isle of Mara. Crafters who
respec'd previously are still able to exchange their crafting tools by
speaking to Rai Faela Nurwin near the brokers.
- Pristine crafted chain and plate armor appearances are now more
consistent.
- Level 20+ crafters can speak to a grandmaster crafter at their local
tradeskill society headquarters to assist with a few tasks and earn a small
reward.
- Tradeskill recipe book merchants have begun stocking all the essentials books
up to volume 70.
- Tradeskill faction merchants in Neriak and Kelethin have begun stocking some
new furniture items.
- Rare harvestable icons are once more available, now with extra
sparkle!
- Condemning Smite Adept III now producing byproduct flickering dust.
*** Achievements ***
Paladin Changes:
- Smite Evil should now work on evil pets.
- Group Armament achievement renamed Raid Armament: Affects
all non-fighters in the entire raid.
- Doom Judgment - Damage bonus increased from 5% to 7% per rank.
Ranger Changes:
- Fettering Poison now correctly increases snare amount.
Guardian Changes:
- Unyielding Will - Adjusted reuse speed bonus from 180 seconds to 75
seconds per rank.
Shadowknight Changes:
- Doom Judgment - Reuse speed bonus adjusted from 20 to 8 seconds per
rank.
*** Spells and Combat Arts ***
- Spell lines from the Bloodlines Chronicles have been tuned to become more
comparable in desirability relative to other spell lines.
- The following Fighter group buffs now affect all raid allies:
- Berserker: Screaming Rage
- Bruiser: Brutality
- Guardian: Call of Command
- Monk: Swiftness
- Paladin: Vigor of Trust
- Shadowknight: Contract of Shadows
Bard Changes:
- Resistance Chorus Songs: Now affect the entire raid.
Brawler Changes:
- Devastation Fist - Improved reuse speed from 5 to 3 minutes. Can be
used against all NPC opponents, but damage varies depending on the difficulty
of the opponent. Self-stifle duration set to 10 seconds. NPCs that are still
alive gain a 30s immunity timer to further Devastation Fists.
Bruiser Changes:
- The Brutality Line now grants +combat art damage instead of dps.
Crusader Changes:
- Doom Judgment - Improved reuse speed from 5 minutes to 2
minutes.
Cleric Changes:
- Symbol of Corruption - Reduced resistibility, reduced power cost,
increased damage.
Dirge Changes:
- Death's Door: Triggered damage can occur anytime the Dirge receives
damage instead of only when struck in melee combat. Its chance to trigger no
longer uses spell or weapon normalization, allowing it to trigger more
often.
Enchanter Changes:
- Mana Cloak - Removed power cost. Improved reuse speed from 15 to 3
minutes. Reduced duration from 3 minutes to 30 seconds. Increased trigger chance
to 100%. Maximum of 3 triggers per person in the group.
Fighters Changes:
- Intercept: If the ally is lower than 50% health when this ability is
cast, the Fighter can absorb two hits instead of one.
Ranger Changes:
- The Miracle shot line now requires the ranger to acquire the target with line
of sight. The actual shot does not require it though.
Shaman Changes:
- Umbral Trap - Is now an area effect. Improved reuse speed from 3 to
2 minutes.
Sorcerer Changes:
- Iceflame - Increased range from 12 to 35 meters.
Troubador Changes:
- Performer's Talent: Triggered damage can occur anytime the Troubador
receives damage instead of only when struck in melee combat. Its chance to
trigger no longer uses spell or weapon normalization, allowing it to trigger
more often.
- Requiem of Reflection: triggered effect can occur for any hostile
spell type cast on group members, not just when taking damage.
Warrior Changes:
- Unyielding Will - Improved reuse speed from 30 to 15 minutes. It now
toggles.
*** Player vs. Player ***
- The tinkered charm and magnetized generator can no longer be used against
players.
- If a player cons red to you then hostile spells will no longer use the
improved chance for the spell to hit.
*** User Interface ***
- You can now sort the quest journal by quest level.
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