Weekly Developer Activities - 2/18/08

[Quarion]

Weekly Development Activities

This week's edition is an extra meaty, double issue! Quarion will be out of town next week on business, so there will be no WDA next week. (BE NICE TO TOLERO!)

The following are items which are in development or QA testing for release in the Anniversary Update 6.1

• A "Report Harassment" button has been added to the mail UI. Selecting a letter and reporting it will also delete all mail from the sender.
• Clicking on a highlighted players name in the chat box will now open a context menu giving you the following options: Tell, Party Invite, Guild Invite, Add Friend, Squelch, Unsquelch, and Report Harassment.
• The minimum level requirement for using the green steel raid weapons has been increased to 12.
• The Deepwood Sniper enhancement no longer says can be used under water.
• Items placed in bags will now display their background along with the icon all of the time.
• New Spell: Panacea
  • Cleric, 4
    • Channels powerful positive energy into a target to wipe away afflictions, restores 1d8 hit points +1 per caster level (max +20), and removes temporary ability damage and the conditions blinded, confused, dazed, dazzled, deafened, diseased, exhausted, fatigued, feeble minded, insanity, nauseated, and poisoned. Against undead this spell will damage 1d8 hit points +1 per caster level (max +20) Undead who make a successful Will save reduce the damage by half.
• NEW The pvp matching UI will now close if you are in a party that is converted to a raid, or if you are invited into a raid group.
• NEW In the Vault of Night, Haywire's voice is no longer bound on acquire and will drop on death or leaving the dungeon.
• NEW Previously, when you leveled up while wearing an item that granted you the toughness feat (Minos Legens helm, for example), your HP gained from leveling would be reported incorrectly. This has been fixed.
• NEW Previously, getting hit repeatedly by the Black Abbot's "encase" ability would intermittently cause some other effects to be stuck on you permanently (staying through resting, death, etc, removable only by logout/login). This should no longer happen.
• NEW When your character has effects which increase your charisma active, logging out and then back in, will no longer change your remaining "Turn Undead Attempts".
• NEW There have been multiple improvements to Logitech G15 Keyboard support, including:
  • The LCD Display will no longer display SP for non-casters
  • It will now display temporary hit points
  • They will no longer display inaccuracies when your HP changes as a result of your con bonus changing.
• NEW The agents of the twelve who have been studying the shroud have recently report a shift in the 13th moon. They speculate the Moon of Death’s influence will wan in the northwest part of the valley.
• NEW Insightful Reflexes and Force of Personality feats previously required that you logout and login to take effect; now they take effect immediately.
• NEW Transmuting weapons should gain mithril damage in addition to magic damage.
• NEW The invading Shavarath portal keepers found in the shroud now function properly. Failing to kill a portal keeper quickly will result in quest failure. (Previously a Known Issue)
• NEW Vista players will no longer need to specify a port of 0 to work around chat problems.
• NEW The lesser Dragonmark of warding and the lesser Dragonmark of making had incorrect uses per day; they now start at two rather than three, as per the tooltip.
• NEW The following loading screen tips have been updated to reflect recent changes.

• "Tip #61: High level clerics can cast the Raise Dead spell, which will return you to life with a few hit points."
• "Tip #62: When you die on an adventure you can use a Resurrection shrine (marked with a flame symbol) to come back to life."
• "Tip #199: Using the /death command while you are at 1 or more hp will kill your character and immediately send your spirit to your bind point. If you are at less than 1 hit point, /death will kill your character but won't release you."
• "Tip #200: When you die, any non-stacking items you have equipped take some damage."
• "Tip #201: Dragonshard Fragments can be combined at a Stone of Change if you place a large enough number of them into the device."
• "Tip #202: Eldritch Devices usually require a power source. On failed recipe attempts, the power source is usually consumed but the rest of your materials will generally remain intact."
• "Tip #203: Death is a traumatizing experience. When you die, you will be affected by resurrection sickness that goes away over time."
• "Tip #204: Rest shrines reset five minutes after use on Solo difficulty, and fifteen minutes after use on Normal."
• "Tip #205: Bound items never take permanent damage when repairing. You can bind an item you own using Khyber Dragonshard Fragments at the Stone of Change at the base of the Twelve's tower or next to the bank in the Marketplace."
• "Tip #206: Devils are lawful evil and tend to dislike silver. Demons are chaotic evil and tend to dislike cold iron."

• NEW In Twilight Canyon, the way to the upper levels will now only open for players who speak to Paetus after he has been rescued.
• NEW The collectibles in The Shroud now have descriptions
• NEW The crimson foot spider shepherds and heralds have been fixed. They can now cast their full range of spells and can fight properly instead of just standing motionless and casting buff spells periodically.
• NEW In Ritiual Sacrifice, If you kill Ramak Orenah before the objective to do so appears, you won't break your quest anymore.
• NEW Removed a troublesome wraith from Ghost of Perdition that was having physics trouble with melee attacks.
• NEW You can now use potions of lesser restoration while raging.
• NEW The following green steel raid loot effects have been changed as follows. Any items that already have these effects will update to the new ones automatically:
  • Acid, Electricity, Fire, and Cold Absorption 5% now absorb 10%.
  • Acid, Electricity, Fire, and Cold Absorption 10% now absorb 15%.
  • Weapons with Good Burst, Evil Burst, Good Blast, and Evil Blast will now bypass appropriate damage reduction properly and will have the holy or unholy particle effects on them. In addition, the blasts now do damage on criticals and additional damage on natural 20's.
  • Acid Blast, Shocking Blast, Flaming Blast, and Icy Blast now have their proper elemental particle effects. In addition these effects now do damage on criticals and additional damage on natural 20's.
  • The Aspect of Water effect now allows you to cast the new cleric spell "Panacea".
• NEW Ring of Troll's Regeneration description has been updated to mention that it heals via positive energy.
• NEW It is no longer possible to break some quests by having a pet trigger a monster entry (example: triggering the Gatekeeper in Gianthold Tor).
• NEW Randomly generated treasure accessories (necklaces, bracers, boots, rings, cloaks, etc.) that have a plus equivalence of +6 (which typically require minlevel 13) should now get their increased durability and hardness. On average, they will have a hardness of 8 and a durability of 70. The items that have already been generated without the increases cannot get the increases retroactively, but can still get a boost to their hardness and durability by going through the adamantine ritual at the Stone of Change.
• NEW The General Vendor in Meridia, Belline Toulia, has learned the secrets required to repair dragonscale armor. She does not demand any special components to repair such armor, but does charge a premium for her repairs as though she were an expert smith.

The following are items which are in development or QA testing for release in Module 7.

General

• Monks have been added to the game as a new playable class!

Skills, Feats, & Abilities
New Feats

• The following iconic monk feats have been added to the game:
  • Purity of Body – You are immune to all forms of disease, including magical or supernatural diseases.
  • Wholeness of Body – Permits a monk to regain health over time.
  • Diamond Body – You have mastered your metabolism, and are immune to poison.
  • Timeless Body – Your body and soul are your own, and you do not create spawn effects should you fall in combat with the undead.

Enhancements
New Enhancements

• NEW Halfling Cunning IV
  • Cost: 4 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 14 Halfling, Halfling Cunning III, 48 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain an additional +1 bonus to attack rolls when flanking an enemy, bringing the total increase to 4.
• NEW Halfling Guile I
  • Cost: 1 Action Point
  • Prereqs: Level 3 Halfling, Halfling Cunning I, 7 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain +2 to your sneak attack damage and +1 to bluff.
• NEW Halfling Guile II
  • Cost: 2 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 7 Halfling, Halfling Cunning II, Halfling Guile I, 22 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain an additional +2 to your sneak attack damage, bringing the total increase to 4, and an additional +1 to bluff, bringing the total increase to 2.
• NEW Halfling Guile III
  • Cost: 3 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 11 Halfling, Halfling Cunning III, Halfling Guile II, 37 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain an additional +2 to your sneak attack damage, bringing the total increase to 6, and an additional +1 to bluff, bringing the total increase to 3.
• NEW Halfling Guile IV
  • Cost: 4 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 15 Halfling, Halfling Cunning IV, Halfling Guile III, 52 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain an additional +2 to your sneak attack damage, bringing the total increase to 8, and an additional +1 to bluff, bringing the total increase to 4.
• NEW Paladin Bulwark of Good IV:
  • Cost: 8 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 15 Paladin, Paladin Bulwark of Good III, 48 action points spent.
  • Benefit: Your aura of good provides an additional +4 Armor Class bonus.
• NEW Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy IV:
  • Cost: 4 Action Points
  • Prereqs: Level 14 Rogue, Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy III, 48 action points spent.
  • Benefit: You gain an additional +1 bonus to hit with your sneak attacks.

General Enhancement Changes

• Weapons conjured by the Holy Sword spell and arrows created by the Arcane Archer enhancement are no longer destroyed at the end of a dungeon. These items now persist until you have been logged out for half an hour or more.
• NEW The costs of Halfling Cunning I - III and Rogue Sneak Attack Accuracy I - III have been reduced to 1 action point per level.
• NEW The bonus granted by Rogue Sneak Attack Training has been increased to 3 points of sneak attack damage per level.
• NEW Rogue Way of the Assassin I now grants a passive +4 bonus to sneak attack damage in addition to its other effects.
• NEW The effect of Paladin Divine Righteousness I, Rogue Way of the Assassin I active abilities, and Rogue Way of the Thief-Acrobat I "Showtime" now lasts 60 seconds instead of 20 seconds.
• NEW Barbarian and Rogue Trap Sense enhancements now grant a +2 bonus to saves vs. traps per level instead of +1.

Items

• NEW Bursting weapons now continue to increase their damage if they "burst" on an attack that has greater than a x4 damage multiplier.
• NEW Several new chain shirt appearances have been added to the treasure tables.

7.1

[ChildrenofBodom]

First

VERY nice that you can use lesser restore pots while raging.

NICE JOB on the blasts! 4d6 on a 20 was definately not very good.

By chance could you tell us exactly how much damage it the blasts will do?

[*]NEW Bursting weapons now continue to increase their damage if they "burst" on an attack that has greater than a x4 damage multiplier.[*]NEW Several new chain shirt appearances have been added to the treasure tables.[/LIST]7.1

O_O Higher multiplier then x4?!

[Aspenor]

First

I would have been first....but I'm not a noob

[Gol]

Any word on getting favor for the Shroud, yet?

[rimble]

NEW Transmuting weapons should gain mithril damage in addition to magic damage.

Huh? Does anything have DR x/mithril? Mithril Defenders maybe?

[Wulf_Ratbane]

[*]NEW Several new chain shirt appearances have been added to the treasure tables.[/LIST]7.1

This is all pretty exciting, but I just wanted to say that the game is in such good shape now that THIS is probably my favorite entry!

[RavenStormclaw]

first...ninjaed...darn

8 ap for paladin bulwark of good 4...seems a bit steep.

[Cavalier]

[*]NEW Paladin Bulwark of Good IV:

• Cost: 8 Action Points
• Prereqs: Level 15 Paladin, Paladin Bulwark of Good III, 48 action points spent.
• Benefit: Your aura of good provides an additional +4 Armor Class bonus.

Um, by additional, do you mean it will stack with the +3 from Bulwark of Good III and grant +7 AC total or will it grant +4 total?

If the latter, 8 APs for a +1 to AC is ridiculous.

[Emanon67]

When is the projected release of Mod 7. I have been waiting since beginning to bring my p&p monk into DDO.

Other wise nice additions.

[Aeneas]

halfling sneak attacks just got obnoxiously better.

+8 from halfling guile, +8 for a +5 backstab weapon, and +12 from rogue sneak attack training = +26 per backstab before any dice are thrown - that's more than some classes do in total damage on a swing.

Happy day to you, Rameses.

[DareDelvis]

Amongst the stuff I like:

-Barbarians can finally use Lesser Retore Potions when raging!!
-The changes to Sneak attack training cost and damage
-Way of the assassin became more appealing as well

But:
No fix for the slippery mind/defensive roll

Still thanks!

[Montrose]

first...ninjaed...darn

8 ap for paladin bulwark of good 4...seems a bit steep.

"A bit steep" is an understatement. 8AP for +1AC places this into the "Never in a million years" category.

[dragnmoon]

Wow... the Rogue love for Mod 7.... I think I am going to feint

Now I wish my Rogue was a Halfling not Human.. DOH!!!!..Wow Sneak attack DMg is going to get crazy high....

[MysticTheurge]

Some nice bug fixes in here.

NEW The agents of the twelve who have been studying the shroud have recently report a shift in the 13th moon. They speculate the Moon of Death’s influence will wan in the northwest part of the valley.

Interesting... anyone have any speculations as to what this means?

NEW The lesser Dragonmark of warding and the lesser Dragonmark of making had incorrect uses per day; they now start at two rather than three, as per the tooltip.

Not that big a deal, I guess, but did the Mark of Warding really need to be down-tweaked?

NEW The collectibles in The Shroud now have descriptions

What about the crafting tutorial items?

Weapons with Good Burst, Evil Burst, Good Blast, and Evil Blast will now bypass appropriate damage reduction properly and will have the holy or unholy particle effects on them. In addition, the blasts now do damage on criticals and additional damage on natural 20's.

Is good burst going to be doing standard pure good damage on non-criticals? I thought that was the problem, not the on-critical effect. (Presumably Evil Burst is experiencing the same problems?)

The Aspect of Water effect now allows you to cast the new cleric spell "Panacea".

That makes much more sense.

The items that have already been generated without the increases cannot get the increases retroactively

That's a shame.

NEW The General Vendor in Meridia, Belline Toulia, has learned the secrets required to repair dragonscale armor. She does not demand any special components to repair such armor, but does charge a premium for her repairs as though she were an expert smith.

A nice compromise.

NEW Bursting weapons now continue to increase their damage if they "burst" on an attack that has greater than a x4 damage multiplier.

Is this even currently possible? If so, how?

[Coldin]

Nice changes to the Sneak Attack enhancements. I always thought the Accuracy enhancements were a little expensive at 2,4,6 progression considering they only worked when a rogue has sneak attack and not 24/7 like the racial bonuses. With the change in cost, I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up Accuracy III now which was always way too pricey to just really justify taking it.

It's nice that the Damage enhancements have been increased slightly, but they still feel a little low. I'm just not sure how much of a difference an extra +1 damage per enhancement will really boost sneak attack damage much. I have a feeling though that Halfling Way of the Assassin rogues will be dealing an absurd amount of sneak attack damage after Mod 7.

About the Blast effects change for the Shroud crafting...is that saying that Blast effects will damage on any crit plus damage from a bursting effect from a previous upgrade plus even more extra damage on a Crit?

[Mhykke]

Still waiting for paladin love news, and I'm guessing 8 ap points for +1 to ac isn't going to cut it.

[MysticTheurge]

Huh? Does anything have DR x/mithril? Mithril Defenders maybe?

I think it's just a "We should cover all our bases" thing.

I don't think anything in the game currently has DR /mithral. (I would hope not, since we don't get mithral weapons!)

[binnsr]

Some nice bug fixes in here.
Interesting... anyone have any speculations as to what this means?

Everyone /deaths to transport from the Twelve (northwest corner entrance to the vale) to Meridia .. My guess is that there'll be a transport or something just inside the Vale that'll take you to Meridia..

[juniorpfactors]

NEW The following green steel raid loot effects have been changed as follows. Any items that already have these effects will update to the new ones automatically:
Acid, Electricity, Fire, and Cold Absorption 5% now absorb 10%.
Acid, Electricity, Fire, and Cold Absorption 10% now absorb 15%.
Weapons with Good Burst, Evil Burst, Good Blast, and Evil Blast will now bypass appropriate damage reduction properly and will have the holy or unholy particle effects on them. In addition, the blasts now do damage on criticals and additional damage on natural 20's.
Acid Blast, Shocking Blast, Flaming Blast, and Icy Blast now have their proper elemental particle effects. In addition these effects now do damage on criticals and additional damage on natural 20's.


edit

[binnsr]

Is it the Rogue Love Mod, or the Halfling Rogue Love Mod?