Update Notes: April 20, 2005

[Martrae]

*** Headlines ***



- Entrance areas to many dungeons now more fun for small groups!

- Command your minion with our improved Pet window!

- Experience smoother griffin rides!

- New guild writs now available for Level 45-50 adventurers!

- Earn guild status points for defeating epic encounters!

- Get the benefits of illusion spells without changing your appearance!





*** Griffin Rides ***



- We've made significant improvements to the griffin rides. You will notice that the routes are more scenic, takeoffs are smoother, and the flight will be much more enjoyable.





*** Improved Pet Controls ***



- The Pet window has been redesigned with toggled buttons that allow Summoners to clearly control their pet's actions and behavior. When a behavior is active, the button has a glowing border.

- There are seven buttons on the Pet window:

- Attack: Tells your pet to attack your current target.

- Back Off: Your pet will stop attacking the target and will not respond to hostile acts against it or you.

- Protect Me: Your pet will attack anything that attacks its master.

- Protect Yourself: The pet will attack anything that attacks it.

- Follow: Your pet will follow wherever you lead if it hasn't already been told to take a hostile action.

- Stay: The pet will remain in place when it isn't responding to a hostile action.

- Dismiss: Sends your pet away.

- Pets no longer give verbal responses to commands. Emote text now indicates its response to your orders.

- You can no longer issue commands by right-clicking on your pet.

- Pets will not change targets of their own volition. When commanded to attack a specific target, your pet will continue to attack that target regardless of who or what is attacking it or you. Once the current target is dead, your pet will react based on the behaviors you have set for it. That is, if you've told it to "Protect Me," it will switch to a target that has attacked you. If the pet is in "Protect Yourself" mode, it will switch to a target that has attacked it. If neither of those behaviors are selected, the pet will wait for a command from its master before taking further action.

- The Back Off command causes the pet to stop attacking and turns off both protect behaviors. You'll find your pet to be much more obedient than it has been in the past. This will allow you reliably give your pet orders, such as commanding it to flee with you. Better yet, you can use these commands to pull enemies back to your location.





*** New Writs for Level 45-50 Adventurers ***



- New Freeport and Qeynos city writs have been added for adventure levels 45-50.

- The following NPCs will offer these new city writs to guilded characters: Preservationist Reynolds of The Tunarian Alliance (The Elddar Grove), Partisan Keladerouo of the Celestial Watch (North Qeynos), Knight-Captain Steelgaze of The Qeynos Guard (North Qeynos), Exalted Milanthroo of The Concordium (South Qeynos), Corsair G'kex of The Seafury Buccaneers (South Freeport), Forbidden Lore of The Dismal Rage (North Freeport), Viscount Gelvonius of The Freeport Militia (West Freeport), and Thaumaturge Ranollious of The Arcane Scientists (North Freeport).





*** Status Point Rewards for Epic Encounters ***



- Guild status points are now awarded when you defeat the following epic encounters: Vaz'Gok The Cursed, Anguis, Ladon, Coldtooth, Acrimoniad, Agelidaes, N'Kzak, The Krathuk, King Zatan, Solusek's Fist, Asphyxia, Grumzod, Borxx, Alangria, Knubed, Venekor, Xiggalg, Lord Nagalik, Hand of the Caldera, Archlich Udalan, Rognog the Angler, King Zalak the Ancient, Overlord Oxulius, Tremblar the Behemoth, The Vision of Vox, Vanudozalon the Elusive, Niscanith, Trenda'loz the Caller, Darathar, King Drayek, Spirit of Vox, Element of Vox, and The Fragments of Vox.





*** The Bloodline Chronicles ***



- Lureclaw the Angler and the Obdurate Parasite will be seen more frequently.





*** Gameplay ***



- Population in the entrance areas of many dungeons has been adjusted to be better suited for small group play. This affects entrance lobbies only, and is meant to provide adventurers with targets to hunt while forming larger groups to venture deeper into the dungeon. High-level dungeons such as The Temple of Cazic-Thule, Permafrost, and Solusek's Eye are not being adjusted.

- NPCs now do their auto-attack damage slightly more often but hit for less damage, making each hit less lethal. Because player characters will be hit a bit more often, we have increased the effectiveness of the Channeling skill.

- Attacking an inanimate object (such as a supply crate or a breakable wall) will no longer lock players into an encounter with that object. More than one player or group can attack the same object, and the group that lands the final blow will get credit for destroying it.

- Characters that go linkdead should now be more likely to return to their normal spot in their group when logging back in.

- Aggro NPCs will now stop chasing you much sooner if you haven't attacked them. When they give up, they will be invulnerable to attack until they return to the spot where they became aggro.

- You can no longer hail targets while invisible.





*** Zones and Population ***



- Chests should be less likely to disappear in Nektropos Castle: The Return.

- Treasure keys on boss encounters in Nektropos Castle: The Return will now drop more frequently. The Sisters, Lord Everling, and the Thexian Overlord are now more challenging to compensate for the increased drop rates.

- All instanced zones that are accessed via a dropped item, such as A Treatise for Treasure in the Thundering Steppes, now allow shard recovery at the entrance. Only one group member needs to have access in order to bring the whole party into the zone.

- The Far Seas Trading Company has reported increased Orc activity in Zek, the Orcish Wastes.

- Maltus Everling should now be attackable even if he is hailed before combat begins.

- Scholar Alquylar in Antonica can be seen more frequently.

- Tilberbus no longer dwells in Nektulos Forest. His close relative, Tilberbous, can still be found there.

- Garanel Rucksif now looks like the ghost he truly is.

- Holly Windstalker now looks appropriately ghostly.

- The skeleton captain in The Cove of Decay will now attack properly.





*** Epic Encounters ***



- Level 30+ epic encounters now do slightly less damage with their spells and combat arts.

- Epic encounters had their melee mitigation lowered, which means you can hit them for more damage.

- King Zalak now heals himself rather than summon additional patriarchs if there are already enough patriarchs around to aid him.

- Solusek's Fist no longer resists Slashing damage, but has gained resistance to Poison. It will also now call out a warning to indicate who it is about to immolate.

- Adventurers are now less likely to mitigate damage from the breath of Venekor and Tremblar the Behemoth.

- The Iron Guardian off the Feerrott will now summon help less often.

- The Vision of Vox had various fixes applied to her encounter.

- The Krathuk now summons tempests to aid him less often.





*** Quests ***



- The rewards for Deputy Hopple's quests in Enchanted Lands are no longer No Trade.

- Defeating Maltus Everling now gives you the "Putting Maltena to Rest" quest. You no longer have only one day after killing Maltus Everling to initiate the quest for Nektropos Castle: The Return.

- The "Fresh Samples" and "A Gift from the Serpent's Mouth" quests in The Serpent Sewer should no longer interfere with each other's completion.

- The "Learning About Nightbloods the Hard Way" quest in Rivervale will now include a medium armor reward.

- Gawar the Bad should no longer spawn for you after you have already completed the Orcish Wastes access quest.

- You can now find Steamfont Spices on field cooks for the "A Spicy Mission" quest regardless of your level.

- The quest "Dispatch Some Orcs" in The Orcish Wastes can now be completed.

- Those who finished the Dusty Blue Stone quest and opted not to continue on with the Ghoulbane heritage quest can now speak to Toranim in North Qeynos. After making the proper offering, the quest will once again be offered.

- The quest to obtain the Shield of the Conscript should now work properly.





*** Items ***



- The furniture version of a heritage item can now be sold for the same price as the equippable one.

- The furniture version of the Stein of Moggok can now be purchased back from the Shady Swashbuckler.

- Many poisons and potions should now display the correct number of charges.

- Imbued Cestii and Cestus should now behave as their non-imbued counterparts. Cestii will do slashing damage and cestus will do piercing damage. Both will use Crushing as the skill they check for successful strikes.

- Trying to use an unattuned potion will no longer give an error message.

- The Glowing Black Stone heritage item can now be mounted and placed in your home.

- The Curn Eye Necklace, Ikro Eye Necklace, Rem Eye Necklace, and Vihr Eye Necklace can now be used by high-level characters.

- Bone Razor, Blood Fire, Monsoon, Staff of Undead Legions, and Withered Totem of Widdershins can now be used by characters level 44 and above.

- The Glyph of Strength should now proc correctly.

- Great Hammers should no longer appear as Mauls.

- The Glyph of Soothing now has an increased healing effect.

- Poison: Translucent Relentless Vertigo now works properly.

- Totem of the Bear should now give you different illusions as you level.

- The underwater breathing effect will no long drop from the Totem of the Otter during combat.

- Dugath the Axe of Hopelessness and Argath the Axe of Abandonment have been given more beneficial effects.





*** Spells and Combat Arts ***



- You can now only cast spells on breakable objects if it makes sense to do so (such as if you want to make them go boom).

- Charm spells will no longer cause an encounter to break when they wear off.



Assassin changes:

- Massacre's AoE melee effect should now cast correctly.



Berserker changes:

- Darkmoore's Protective Advance now takes only one point of concentration.

- Tides of War's effects will now be placed on more than just the caster.

- Bloodlust will now upgrade more naturally from Apprentice IV to Adept I.



Brawler changes:

- Thundering Fists will proc more often as it is upgraded.



Brigand changes:

- Snarl will now improve as it is upgraded.

- Burgle now takes one second to cast.

- Stealthy Burglary now takes one second to cast.



Cleric changes:

- Daring now increases the maximum health and power of the caster.



Coercer changes:

- Perplexity can no longer be interrupted and its casting time has been reduced.

- The Power of Suggestion line of spells no longer stacks with Gift of the Magi, as they are upgrades to this spell.



Conjurer changes:

- Stoneskin will now improve as the spell is upgraded.

- Illusion: Water Elemental no longer expires.

- Rockslide will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Ganla's Whipping Wind will now appear in the maintained spells window.



Defiler changes:

- Baleful Countenance will no longer show items or hair on the character.

- Ruinous Imprecation will now appear in the maintained spells window. Its icon has also been changed to match the spell it is an upgrade to.

- Vile Imprecation will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Dire Effluence's initial ward amount has been increased.



Dirge changes:

- Daro's Sorrowful Dirge will now improve as it is upgraded.

- Verlien's Keen of Woe will now increase the amount of Wisdom, Agility, and Run Speed that is debuffed as it is upgraded.



Fury changes:

- Peerless Predator will now use either the male or female lion illusion depending on the gender of the character.

- Predatory Salve will now use either the male or female lion illusion depending on the gender of the caster.

- Primeval Awakening is now an enhanced version of Fierce Rousing.

- Nemar's Blinding Swarm will now appear in the maintained spells window.



Guardian changes:

- Desperate Rush should now upgrade more consistently.

- Guardian's Call will now upgrade properly between Apprentice IV and Adept I.

- Bury's icon background is now more appropriate.

- Taunting Challenge, Slate's Invigorating Threat, and Vengeful Strike should now increase hate by the correct amount at level 50.

- Call of Battle will now upgrade properly between Apprentice IV and Adept I.

- Call of Protection will now upgrade properly between Apprentice IV and Adept I.



Illusionist changes:

- Alacrity should now improve as it upgraded.



Inquisitor changes:

- Unholy Fear will now work on group members. It also has a more fearsome visual effect.



Monk changes:

- Dragon Stance's skill increases now scale up as the art is upgraded.

- Winter's Talon's scrolls now have the correct name for this art.

- Diving Phoenix will now deal heat damage.



Mystic changes:

- Slithering Form of the Serpent's icon background has been changed to indicate that it is a self buff.

- Wards of Shadow should now work correctly.

- Keening Haze and Howling Haze now weaken the skills of the target by a lesser amount.



Necromancer changes:

- Nlyph's Ghost Form is now a zombie illusion instead of a ghost illusion.

- Favor of the Fallen will now apply its buffs to your pet without requiring you to zone.



Paladin changes:

- Unwavering Faith will now increase avoidance from Apprentice IV to Adept I.

- Blessed Rush will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Divine Wrath should now heal the group appropriately.



Predator changes:

- Survival Instinct now provides a defense enhancement.



Ranger changes:

- Natural Instinct now lasts for 15 minutes instead of 5.

- Adroit/Feral Instinct/Dance of Leaves now allow their agility buffs to stack.

- Take Aim/Steady Aim now last 4 minutes with a 5 minutes reuse.

- Pouncing Attack will now cast the stealth effect .1 seconds after the spell takes effect.



Rogue changes:

- Smuggle now has a 1-second cast time.



Scout changes:

- Evade will now provide additional hate decrease as you upgrade the quality of the spell.

- Sneak Attack no longer has a maintained effect.



Shadowknight changes:

- Grafe's Malevolent Anguish will now apply increased disease resistance to the target, the proc will now cast correctly, and the icon's background has been changed to indicate that you can cast it on other group members. Also, it's flavor text better matches the spell.

- Cursed Caress will now proc more often as it is upgraded.

- Doom Judgment no longer shares a reuse group with any other spell.

- Ulraz's Horrid Curse no longer has a reuse timer.

- Swarming Spirits is no longer a maintained spell.



Shaman changes:

- Umbral Trap will provide flavor text when the spell wears off.



Sorcerer changes:

- Frozen Manacles's root effect will now show up in the maintained window.



Swashbuckler changes:

- Hamstring now uses the Swashbuckling skill instead of Skullduggery.

- Disable now shows up as maintained.

- Feigned Bravado & False Bravado now have the correct icon background.



Templar changes:

- Call of Glory is now toggleable and can only be cast on one target.

- Jusagta's Rune of Just will no longer expire and now has a 0 second reuse.



Troubador changes:

- Bria's Entrancing Sonnet's icon background color has been adjusted to reflect its use.

- Walt's Thirsting Thrust now allows the caster to gain the haste benefit of the spell.

- Minstrel's Fortune will no longer expire and has a 6-second reuse.

- Cassindra's Psalm of Replenishment will no longer expire.

- Elegant Blade now deals one Mental Damage attack instead of two.



Warden changes:

- Untamed and its upgrades no longer have a reuse timer.



Warlock changes:

- The Warlock entertainment familiars no longer require concentration.

- The Warlock entertainment illusions no longer have a 10-minute recast timer.

- Nullification will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Dooly's Choking Fog will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Paralyzing Fear/Respin's Crippling Cowardice/Cower now have a chance to trigger a fear effect on the target when the root portion of the spell terminates. The fear portion now lasts a maximum of 7.5 seconds.

- Dark Emanations will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Null Absolution will now appear in the maintained spells window.



Wizard changes:

- Tether will no longer break as easily.

- Truss will no longer break as easily.

- The Wizard entertainment familiars no longer require concentration.

- Westfend's Ice Spear now has a more ice-based icon.

- Prismatic Pulse will now appear in the maintained spells window.

- Fiery Pulse will now share a reuse timer with Scorching Pulse and Lightning Flash rather than Inferno.

- Icy Coil can now be used to complete Heroic Opportunities in situations where Blazing Intimidation could be used, and vice versa. This makes it easier to complete Wizard Heroic Opportunities without using an AoE spell.

- Icy Coil will now indicate that it is a targetable nuke rather than a group spell.

- Pyre's description now indicates that it decreases Intelligence instead of Stamina.





*** Tradeskills ***



- Imbued weapons can no longer cause other weapons that are equipped to proc.

- Attribute buffs for food will now appear in the examine window for each food item.

- Artisan Components volumes 5 and 6 should now contain the Copper Sheet recipe.

- The Wholesaler Task that requires you to harvest Golden Cichlid should now update properly.

? The recipes in Provisioner Essentials Volume 23 now match the level at which the book is scribed.

- The third quality level of cardamom is now inedible like the other quality levels.

- Advanced recipe books now drop for Apothecary, Geomancy, Weaving, and Timbercraft.

- The stats on Cedar Wands have been adjusted as follows:

- Crude: 9int, 4agi, 5str, 5wis, 33 health, 36 power

- Shaped: 10int, 4agi, 5str, 5wis, 33 health, 36 power

- Worked: 11int, 4agi, 5str, 5wis, 33 health, 36 power

- Pristine: 12int, 4agi, 5str, 5wis, 33 health, 36 power





*** Controls, Commands, and User Interface ***



- You can now use the /hide_illusions command to disable illusion spell effects on your character. If illusions are disabled on your character, other players will not see the illusion either.

- The Quest Journal will now update its quest con colors when you gain a level.

- Skill increase messages can now be filtered correctly.

- Messages announcing when a character loots an artifact will now broadcast correctly if that character is not in a guild.

- Spell examine information, reuse timers, and duration timers now display hours and minutes instead of only seconds.

- It is once again possible to center the camera view in first-person mode by hitting the 5 key on the number pad.

- Mousing over an item in your inventory will now show its weight, which slot it goes in, who made it.

- Mitigation percentages will now appear when mousing over Resistances in the Persona window.

- There is now a shadow on text that appears within the Quest Helper to make it easier to read when the background is transparent.

- No Trade items now have a blue backdrop like Attuned items.

- You can search for items of a specific quality level when browsing the market by using the Tier filter.

- You will no longer get an error message when trying to examine items in your house vault.

- Coin earned through offline sales will now appear in the "coin gain this session" and "coin gain all time" fields.





*** Art ***



- Characters in illusion form or on mounts will look better when standing on uneven ground.

- Particle effects that seemed to slow down after the last update should now play at normal speed.





*** Audio ***



- You will no longer hear fizzle, immune, and resist sounds from other characters.





*** UI Files Updated ***



eq2ui_hud_choice.xml

eq2ui_tooltipstyles.xml

eq2ui_journals_active.xml

eq2ui_journals_quest.xml

[Martrae]

Tidbit that was missed....Obsid is no longer killable.