Quick look at Cauldron of Sora Katra (item combiner for Droaam)

[Junts]

Lesser Vampirism on handwraps is very powerful.

Its true, that effect is a particularly strong combination, and stone prison could be better on other weapontypes (though in general with these options its going to continue to be a vorpal with a dc where you have to hit mobs another 2-5 times afterwords, which isn't super strong).

[Chaosprism]

Except that it will possibly 'stone' some things that vorpal wont get to.

[BananaHat]

I also recognize that the Gnollish War Bow is not necessarily the ideal choice for a ranged specialist, but that's why I made the Wind Howler Bracers as I did. I wanted to create items that would be helpful both for characters who specialize in ranged and those who use it more as a secondary tool - in short, giving options to characters who use ranged combat for any reason, regardless of specialization. That said, because this longbow is more for those who haven't already invested in ranged combat significantly, you can expect a longbow soon that will cater more towards specialists.

I can't wait for all the exotic weapons that grant proficiency in their use and also grant bonuses to their main fighting style. Here we come +5 Metalline Khopesh of Pure Good that grants proficiency in itself and greater two-weapon fighting! Ok, maybe the exotic weapon is a bit much, how about just a greataxe that grants proficiency and has greater two-handed fighting on it.

You know... for kids!

Seriously though, I'm glad to hear there is something coming up in the works. I'm hoping whenever the mystical ranged pass happens that it alleviates alot of the negative associations with ranged combat. It has been coming a long time now, since the attack speed was dropped waaaaaaaay back in beta testing. It may be hard to imagine for some new comers, but there was a time when everyone was using ranged weapons because they *gasp* attacked at the same speed as melee weapons. It was so ridiculous that ranged attack speed was dropped significantly. Of course, that was with a level cap of 10 and you could kill things with ranged weapons before they got to you. Now, they just teleport behind you.

[Wraithkin]

I may be alone in this, but I would rather see Rocksplitter made into a light pick and Finesse-able. I'm getting really sick of seeing poisons on epic level gear since they don't affect epic mobs. I'll never use the Epic Venom set because the poison is not usable in the content level I play with.

[Backley]

From the updated release notes:

NEW: The Blade of Fury can now be split into two shortwords instead of a single greatsword when upgraded in the Cauldron of Sora Katra.

Anyone tried that? Need mote specifics! Finesseable weapons!

[Backley]

I added the Update 8 crafting to the wiki at http://ddowiki.com/page/Cauldron_of_Sora_Katra

Please help edit that.

[oweieie]

And no, they won't be getting Stunning +10 - I think +6 is reasonable especially when there's still the 3% chance to stun the foe - but it seems like Stone Prison could at least use a boost to its DC. I've heard various degrees of feedback about it but for the most part it seems it's not petrifying enemies in this level range half the time that it goes off (which is the intention).

Stunning is a powerful effect, not only is it a huge DPS boost, but it also shuts down the enemies damage. Anyone that wants to stun things will shun anything that isn't +10. The +6 may as well be +0.

[Angelus_dead]

The +6 may as well be +0.

Do you have some reasoning for that?

[markusthelion]

I swear the devs hate dwarves. Give me an epic dwarven war axe been waiting for one for years.

Second that. /Hi5

[Jaid314]

Stunning is a powerful effect, not only is it a huge DPS boost, but it also shuts down the enemies damage. Anyone that wants to stun things will shun anything that isn't +10. The +6 may as well be +0.

that depends. if you have enough DC, you don't really need more. a strongly wis-focused monk may already have sufficient DC to stun reliably anyways.

[redgod]

that depends. if you have enough DC, you don't really need more. a strongly wis-focused monk may already have sufficient DC to stun reliably anyways.

this is true with my +10's i have a 44dc if the wraps are worth the -4 stun for a sizable boost in dps than a 40 dc is still respectable.

[DarkFlash]

this is true with my +10's i have a 44dc if the wraps are worth the -4 stun for a sizable boost in dps than a 40 dc is still respectable.

Say that to a monk that only runs epic quests

[jingseng]

keep in mind that when stunned, mobs
1) don't attack back (less damage taken = more healing sp conserved = more efficiency [true measure of dps])
2) are automatically crit (base damage as well as additional effects such as shocking burst) + sneak attack by the entire group

[vengfarga]

As a completely f2p player (not by choice - live in a country where turbine/pp don't like our bank cards) these new items are awesome! My mechanic will be donning the new bracers as soon as I get some - who cares he doesn't use a long or short bow - the other powers are as good as there are out there - even at lvl 15. And the new 2 handers - upgraded or not have my lvl 10 bbn like a kid in a candy store! Cool, imaginative, new weapons, with stuff you can do to 'em, dropping from cool, new, imaginative missions. DDO boys are earning their (in my case free ) keep pretty **** well right now I think.
Are they the tastiest possible weapons in the game point for point? Who cares? They are new, different and good for many - surely that's a big win?

[Backley]

As a completely f2p player these new items are awesome!

Update 8 is p2p. The new quests are a new adventure pack called "Attack on Stormreach"

[Thrudh]

It does not stack with jidz teka so it maxes out at 2d14

Does it not stack, or does monk damage max out?

I mean it doesn't help on a level 20 monk, but what about 12 monk/splash? Would the 12th level monk see two increases to wrap damage with both items or just one?

[Indoran]

Shields should give more AC than they do already as well as offer other defensive/offensive benefits, passive DR, passive deflection of attacks, offhand automatic shieldbash hooks etc.

Not sure about the extra AC, but definitely some extra moves / feats. that make S&B more attractive. Look at Dragon Age S&B is not only useful, it's cool! There are some feats in the D&D 3.5 supplements that could be introduced to make S&B something besides I block and hide behind my movable wall and intimidate... lol

[Aloro]

I think this is sound reasoning, Solar, particularly in the case that we are proccing an effect only on natural 20s. And many other players have agreed on that, so I've bumped up the DC of Stone Prison (but not Stone Prison Guard, don't worry) to 27, based on a +10 increase over the averages of the fort saves of the Droaam monsters. I think it will give the Stonedust Handwraps a bit more of an edge against traditional +10 stunners, and it should make some of the possible weapon combinations of this system more desirable as well.

That sounds quite reasonable to me for a vorpal effect. I'm looking forward to using those wraps; they've been sitting in my bank until they got a bit of love. They really do seem like a nifty idea - with a functional stun and a Stone Prison DC that will actually work sometimes, I'm excited. No sarcasm there, this is very good news. Thanks Genasi!

We need to upgrade them in the Cauldron of Sora Katra to "fix" the old broken stun, correct? What about the new DC for Stone Prison? I assume we need to upgrade or get new wraps to apply this fix, but it'd be nice to get confirmation.

[Aloro]

You know... for kids!

+1 for the Hudsucker Proxy reference.

[kcavan]

all that is cool but how do you actually make a mark it shows 5 of some kind of jewel