Editing AC2:Announcements - 2003/02 - Ambuscade (section)

== Dev Notes ==
{{AC2 Article
 |  Link = microsoftgamesinsider.com/AC2/FebDevNotes.htm?nc=1
 | Title ="Ambuscade"<br>Developer Notes 
 |  Text = 

Although the majority of our gameplay changes are detailed in this month's [[AC2:Announcements - 2003/02 - Ambuscade#Letter to the Players|Letter to the Players]], there are a few more things we want to tell you about now that our "Ambuscade" episode has launched. Some of these changes were implemented after this month's Letter was released. Others are game exploits that we didn't want to make worse by pointing them out until fixes were in place.

* '''Skill Effect Precedence'''—There was a bug in which the last buff-skill used on a player "overwrote" a similar buff-skill, even if the first buff-skill had a bigger effect. We've fixed this for February, so now the level of the skill used determines which buff-skill stays on the character, with higher level skills trumping lower level versions. However, there are still possible issues with two different skills that do the same effect, such as Encase and Shield Wall. A higher level Encase would "overwrite" a lower level Shield Wall, even though the Shield Wall skill possibly has a greater boost to your armor. In most situations, though, this difference should be negligible.
* '''Blowing up Other People's Turrets!''' —You can no longer use beneficial skill-buffs on a Pet unless you are the owner of the Pet.  This removes griefing tactics such casting Single Barrel on someone's Turret that has Double Barrel, or casting Self-Destruct Sequence on someone's Turret.
* '''More Anti-Exploit Code'''—If you receive the "that wasn't a fair fight" message when fighting a monster, the monster will no longer drop loot on death or grant any special death effects on characters. This includes creatures such as Guardians, so if they are unable to defend themselves against attack, they will not change Kingdom, nor will the ownership of the landblock they defend change.
* '''Portal Restrictions'''—All ringway and gateway portals on Omishan and Linvak Massif now have level restrictions appropriate to the level of the continent. For Omishan, this change restricts portals to character levels 15 or greater, while Linvak Massif portals are restricted to level 30 or greater. Any player-summoned portals will have these restrictions as well.  For the March episode, we will offer more convenient ways for players of different levels to quickly meet with one another.
* '''Shrethbane Coat'''—We did not intend for the additional damage provided by the "Shrethbane Coat" recipe to be added to a weapon more than once. Weapons with multiple applications will be reduced to one application of the recipe, and characters will be refunded 11,000 gold for each recipe application that was removed from their weapons.
* '''"Jump Casting" Addressed'''—To address the "Jump Casting" exploit, all character skills can no longer be used in mid-air.
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