U48.4 Preview 2: Raid Loot

[Rosze]

Rune Lodestone Necklace
Minimum Level: 29

Sight Beyond Sight You can see through all veils, piercing magical and mundane defenses alike. +5% Enhancement bonus to Dodge Bypass.
Eversight You benefit from the spell True Seeing and are Immune to Blindness.
Pierce Cold Iron Provides the Pierce Cold Iron feat, allowing your equipped weapons to break Cold Iron DR.
Spell Saves +17
Blue Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot
Yellow Augment Slot
Set Bonuses Eminence of Winter




Is this an artifact ? ( with the three augment slots)

Hopefully not as it has so much more uses if it’s not. Also hopefully they keep the augment slot as I’m definitely running out of augment slots atm.

[SirValentine]

Rune Lodestone Necklace
...
Blue Augment Slot
Green Augment Slot
Yellow Augment Slot
...
Is this an artifact ? ( with the three augment slots)

If they didn't mark it as such, no reason it should be. There's at least 4 other non-artifact items with 3 slots already in the game.

[DrawingGuy]

Some issues I've come across:

- Valorius, the Flameblade: This weapon currently uncenters monks and needs to be fixed.

- The Magmatic Reaver: As someone has already screenshotted, this axe is currently held backwards in hand. This any race that I've tried.

- Feareater: This one is difficult to tell since I can't see monster HP on Lam, but something feels off on this. Only seen one proc out of all my testing despite multiple vorpals, and saw no force damage numbers in logs to indicate failed procs on my vorpal hits.


I do like the new elemental weapons, and pulling them out so that we can use and actually make them sentient. Wouldn't mind seeing more of this - such as handwraps called "Monkey Paws" that do straight Evil damage? That aside, I do have one main suggestion:

- Changestone: Allow the ability to use Threads of Fate to crunch this item and create a new random version of it. This will help alleviate some of the frustration of extreme doubled up RNG as a randomized raid loot drop, as well as being very fitting to the name. I feel that 50 threads would be a good crunch price, though whatever thread or rune price you decide, I think this change would be appreciated. The only item of concern here is to either not allow the crunch when augments are equipped, or ensure augments are preserved through a change.

Have a few more things to add:

- Valorius, the Flameblade: Did more testing, and it seems that my initial issue was that you had to have Scimitar training to be able to use. With this, I was able to use centered. As an extension of will weapon, would be nice if that came as part of the package.

- Aspect of the Wild Hunt: This is only applying to animal forms, and not wild shapes like Druid Elemental Wild Shapes or Shifter.

[Emerslochingvyrr]

Aerania, the Boltbow Long Bow (Henceforth AB)
Minimum Level: 29
Damage Dice: 7[1d8+3]
Critical Profile: 19-20/x3
Enhancement Bonus: +15
Alchemical Air Attunement Attacks and offensive spells have a small chance to deal massive electric damage.
Keen V
Elasticity This bow is strung with special fibers that cause it to occasionally launch arrows with shocking force. When rolling a 19 or 20 on a ranged attack, your critical multiplier is increased by +1.
Ranged Alacrity 25%
Red Augment Slot
Purple Augment Slot

Legendary twisted willow (henceforth TW): 7[1d8+2] 19-20 x3
Keen 5, Elasticity, 9d6 poison, armor piercing 33 [red]

Chaosbow (henceforth CB):5[1d8+3] 20 x3
Elasticity, 25% alacrity, 9d6 chaos, Fetters [up to 20% bonus Vuln damage if noone else in party has it] [red, orange]

Legendary Hunter of Wilds (henceforth HoW):7[1d6+2] 19-20 x3
Keen 5, elasticity, 9d6 chaos, Heartseeker [extra damage on crit], Trace of madness [outdated, some mild use] [red]


I'm noticing a formulaic trend to bow development atm. It is either a damage type themed bow that scales its own vulnerability to that damage [Inferno Sniper, Void] or this dps oriented crit/speed formula that is evidenced above.

The new raid bow offers Keen, Elasticity, Speed, and an unreliable random effect. In general, there is nothing new about this bow. If you were looking to free up a feat slot, the legendary twisted willow or even legendary hunter of the wilds are both quest bows that are very comparable to both Aerania and Chaosbow [ASSUMING some one else in the party has a way to stack vulnerability. Then chaosbow's Fetters starts pulling ahead]. This new item as designed doesn't foster any changes to longbow user's build designs, and is a flat/slight crit power increase to power level from the previous bows. Which is fair, I assume that is by intent given the past sets of added items since Ravenloft. Mathematically, AB will have higher critical hit damage [82.5 base scaling vs CB 67.5, HoW 64.5, TW 73.5 (anarchic/poison does not scale with crits)]*. These types of bows help out DPS bow users, and crit builds will likely enjoy the new bow's higher critical damage for their Fury/hunt's End. Assuming Ranger, these bows/builds are likely going to favor deepwood builds. The aforementioned Void, Inferno sniper, these bows seem to be synergized to scale with the elemental damage from Arcane Archer.

But all of the above is to say longbows to the current game design are supposed to be Crit DPS weapons. There is a half of an enhancement tree that is ignored by this paradigm, the DC Arcane Archers. I bring it up in this particular Feywild update because of all the updates to add a bow that would help out Enchantment Based CC Archers, the trickery of the Feywild is very well themed for it. It also breaks out of the DPS mold that every bow for a long time has been using.

New items updated from DDO are always exciting because they force choices for the players that require a lot of deliberation on what we find important for our own characters. There's new combinations to try and new 'bests' to be found. And it is most fun when the meta of one person is different from the meta of the others. The new choice offered by this bow as written currently is 'What new feat do I want to try out at level 12', noting as already mentioned it will likely just end up being a feat swap at level 28/29(though I would likely just keep that feat because swapping bows can be very useful). Making a bow more favoring the other arcane archer stances would be very new, and helpful to a branch of builds that is rather ignored by the player base atm.

Even a previously made enchantment caster item as a bow would be super cool. Some examples of spell school themed weapons: Deep Demise (Illusion), Legendary wild flame [Fire Evocation], the Sharn Conduit quarterstaffs [Evocation/Conjuration].

Dreamspitter made into a level 28 longbow would be a good example too.

But that's just my soap box. I hope I made my points well. Thank you for having a new longbow for me to consider, it is very appreciated!

*Numbers assume common archery oriented feat, Combat Archery is taken. Different weapon dice scale the effect of this feat differently and it was easy enough to include. Most archers are most likely to take this feat at some point.

[Eme]

If they didn't mark it as such, no reason it should be. There's at least 4 other non-artifact items with 3 slots already in the game.

...it was also the other uber rare only on this item ability that would indicate to me it's an artifact but not marked as such

[SierraSilverfox]

These all look nice, but, can we get a new raid Rapier? Currently the only options are literally the universal ones, or the raid rapier from Curse of Strahd. There has been no new rapiers in Sharn for raids, and there is none in Feywild so far. Most weapons have one or many choices, some are less fortunate than others, but there is literally no other rapiers, and if you're focusing on boosting up SWF, that's one of the more primary weapons for that style, not the only one obviously, but still. Currently it seems as if the weapon was completely forgotten about. >.<

[Nammmmmmm]

Base damage of the longsword matches that of a light mace.

https://i.postimg.cc/RVxQYSzf/The-Bi...-Longsword.png



Also, some of the raid weapons use weird modifiers for to-hit and damage without specifically saying so, even overwritting STR modifiers if it is higher

https://i.postimg.cc/YqcKyW93/Esper.png



https://i.postimg.cc/WbSF7Tps/Raellia.png

https://i.postimg.cc/t4xb4NM8/Valorius.png

Next image of the stats I had to confirm this

https://i.postimg.cc/SxvGDWQQ/Stats-For-Reference.png

[Arkai]

These all look nice, but, can we get a new raid Rapier? Currently the only options are literally the universal ones, or the raid rapier from Curse of Strahd. There has been no new rapiers in Sharn for raids, and there is none in Feywild so far. Most weapons have one or many choices, some are less fortunate than others, but there is literally no other rapiers, and if you're focusing on boosting up SWF, that's one of the more primary weapons for that style, not the only one obviously, but still. Currently it seems as if the weapon was completely forgotten about. >.<

Totally agree. Best option so far is getting the new hand axe and putting a glammered Balizarde over it and call it a day =)

[Lokeal_The_Flame]

Aspect of the Wild Hunt Helmet
Minimum Level: 29

• Teeth of Bone While in any Wild Shape or Shift, your weapons gain Piercing damage bypass and +1W.
• Constitution +21
• Insightful Doublestrike +11%
• Elemental Resistance +45
• Green Augment Slot
  
• Yellow Augment Slot
• Set Bonuses Eminence of Summer

I know this is a bit late to request but,

As an item that will be made into a cosmetic this will be highly sought after but I have one request!

If someone is a tiefling, please modify the appearance to not show the ears of the helm but instead the horns of the tiefling even if they take on a wildshape form!

[SirValentine]

So anyone have any scoops on what's changed between the preview and live?

[Smokewolf]

Just what we all needed, more gear bloat near Epic cap. Never mind that in levels 20-27 there is nothing solid to replace the Heroic Sharn sets with!

Case in point...

At level 21 there are 46 named items: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Mi...level_21_items
At level 22 there are only 3 named items: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Mi...level_22_items
At level 23 there are only 3 named items: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Mi...level_23_items

Even with those items, none of it is on-par or better than than Sharn sets. Furthermore, it’s mostly stuff like, rings, bracers, belts, boots but nothing with set bonuses. Thus we’re running with gear that’s far under our current level, until we reach 28th!

Sure, new content is “nice” to have but not if major issues much as the gear-gap are allowed persist. Only justification I can think of is that this was done deliberately to slow player progression.

-Smoke

[SirValentine]

At level 23 there are only 3 named items: https://ddowiki.com/page/Category:Mi...level_23_items

What? You're claiming there's only 3, when you link to a page listing 40+ such items?

[Smokewolf]

Lvl 21 has 40+ but all of them need updating. Now as for the other links, this apparently a wiki-filter issue on my end.

Despite this I maintain that what passes as named loot between levels 20-27 is garbage. None of it is suitable as a replacement for any of the Sharn sets.

Edit: What I don’t understand is that rather that simply saying that, yes there is a gearing-gap but your links don’t match up. Your first instinct is to basically discredit everything that’s written by inst-trolling what amounts to a wiki-filter error. Would of though that a player counsel member would try to be impartial and constructive in their reply’s. Their-by at least giving the illusion that you give a dam.

[SirValentine]

Your first instinct is to basically discredit everything that’s written by inst-trolling
...
Would of though that a player counsel member would try to be impartial and constructive in their reply’s.

You posted a factual error. I'm not sure how I can possibly get more constructive or impartial than pointing that out. I'm not sure how you can expect to have any constructive discussion without correct and accurate facts.

I neither agreed nor disagreed with your other comments, nor even about other gear levels, just level 23. Why do you feel a factual correction to one specific thing somehow discredits everything else you wrote that I didn't even comment on?

Maybe you could try, "Ah, thanks, it wasn't showing up right for me" instead of accusing me of being troll.

(For another factual correction, I am not a member of the Player's Council. I formerly was, but that was quite a few years ago now.)