AC2:Announcements - 2003/08 - Resurrection

Teaser

Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=73

August Episode: "Resurrection"

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The infestation grows and spreads... An ancient crypt is revealed... The way is nearly opened...

For months, the Archons have struggled to amass vast power and arcane knowledge. Now they will take the last steps on the path that they hope will destroy their sleeping master, Geraine, and establish a new Kingdom under their command. All will be welcome in this new Kingdom...as long as they accept the Archons' benevolent rule.

Elsewhere, a threat that mortals haven't faced in hundreds of years continues to spread...

 

Rollout Article

Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=72

August Guide: "Resurrection"

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posted on 31-Aug-2003

The infestation grows and spreads... An ancient crypt is revealed... The way is nearly opened...

For months, the Archons have struggled to amass vast power and arcane knowledge. Now they will take the last steps on the path that they hope will destroy their sleeping master, Geraine, and establish a new Kingdom under their command. All will be welcome in this new Kingdom...as long as they accept the Archons' benevolent rule.

Elsewhere, a threat that mortals haven't faced in hundreds of years continues to spread...

SKILL CHANGES

We've made only a few changes to skills in our August episode. All characters will have an optional skill reset that they can use at any time during the August episode, due to the upcoming world consolidation, which should be happening sometime before the September episode. This August skill reset would overwrite any unused skill resets from July, so each character will only have one optional skill reset in August. In addition to this optional skill reset, two character classes will be reset when they are first logged in. The classes receiving a forced skill reset are:

• Any character that has trained Nurture, the introductory Lugian Sage skill.
• Any character that has trained Burgeoning Will, found in the Lugian Melee tree.

The skill resets in August still work as they have in previous months—reset characters will be able to use the "/skills reset" command repeatedly for one hour after logging in or using the command to correct any mistakes made in distributing experience and skill credits. Please note that at this time we are not planning any optional or forced skill resets at all for September.

The specific changes made to skills in August follow. If a skill is not mentioned in the list below, its functionality was not changed.

Human Magic

• Inner Calm - This skill now restores 200 to 600 Vigor, costs 160 Vigor to cast, has a 40-meter range, and has a 7-second reset timer. It can be used on both the caster and other characters.

Human Enchanter

• Bladeskin - We've fixed a bug that was causing this skill's effect to be overwritten by Encase and Shield Wall.

Lugian Melee

• Wellspring - This skill has been moved down the tree and can now be bought by characters at level 8. In addition, it now restores 200-600 Vigor, costs 160 Vigor to cast, and has a 40 meter range and a 7-second reset timer. It can be used on both the caster and other characters. Note that the wind-up animation for Wellspring now matches the speed of the Vigor heal skills found in the Human and Tumerok skill trees.

• Burgeoning Will - This skill has been moved in the skill tree. It now sits where Wellspring used to sit in the Lugian Melee tree.

Lugian Sage

Lugian Sage Revised Tree

• Nurture - Nurture now restores 4 to 400 health to the target, costs 220 Vigor to use, and has a 2-second reset timer.

• Bolster Metabolism - This is a new skill that gives the Sage a Vigor regeneration buff. When not in combat, it increases the Sage's Vigor regeneration by 150% to 300%. While in combat, it causes the Sage to regenerate Vigor at 10% of his unbuffed peaceful rate. The skill effect lasts 10 to 30 minutes.

• Heartrend - This is a 40-meter line-of-sight attack that does 12 to 260 points of damage. It has a 5-second reset timer and costs 230 Vigor to use.

• Restore Will - This skill gives others 200 to 600 Vigor, costs 280 Vigor to cast, and has a 4-second reset timer. Note that this skill can only be used on others, Sages cannot use it on themselves.

• Cure Wounds - This is a targeted heal that gives the target 60 to 600 health. It costs 340 Vigor, has a 4-second reset timer, and can be used on targets 40 meters away.

• Bolster Will - This skill restores 100 to 450 Vigor to everyone in the fellowship, but does not restore Vigor to the Sage. This skill costs 300 Vigor to cast and has a 10-second reset timer.

• Cure Disease - This new skill removes all disease effects from everyone in the fellowship who is within 20 meters of the Sage. It also grants a 10 to 80 second immunity to future disease effects. The skill costs 400 Vigor to cast, has a 7-second reset timer and costs 3 skill credits to purchase.

• Saving Graces - This skill will give 300 to 800 points of health to everyone in the fellowship. It costs 400 Vigor to use, has a 30-second reset timer and costs 3 skill credits to purchase.

• Recurrent Ministrations - This skill costs 2 skill credits to purchase.

• Hypnosis - This skill costs 3 skill credits to purchase.

• Insight - This new skill grants 100 to 400 Vigor to the Sage. It cannot be used on other targets. It costs 1 Vigor point, and has a 60-second reset timer.

• Fester - This skill reduces the target's in-combat health regeneration by 10% to 30%. In addition, it disables out-of-combat health regeneration by 50% to 100% for 30 to 75 seconds. The skill costs 280 Vigor to use and has a 7-second reset timer. It can be used on targets 40 meters away.

Tumerok Magic

• Revitalize - This skill now restores 200 to 600 Vigor, costs 160 Vigor to cast, and has a 40-meter range and a 7-second reset timer. It can be used on both the caster and other characters.

Vigor Cost Reduction

• The Vigor cost of a number of skills has changed—in all cases but one, these costs have been reduced. The list of new costs compared to old costs follows:
• Human Enchanter
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Blood Loather 400 130
• Confuse 340 130
• Mesmerize 460 300
• Tangle Foot 400 250
• Tattercoat 400 180

• Human Sorcerer
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Ataxia 340 230
• Decrepitude 200 170
• Gossamer Flesh 400 260
• Palsy 400 210
• Still Water 280 240
• Vacuum 400 250

• Human Bounty Hunter
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Anemia 280 180
• Feign Death 340 200
• Nettle 340 80
• Puncture 230 170
• Ruse 230 170

• Human Defender
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Expulse 200 110
• Mighty Blow 455 450
• Righteous Fury 260 200

• Human Alchemist
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Concussion Grenade 230 150
• Dizzying Fumes 200 150
• Everlasting Fire 260 200
• Explosive Concoction 200 170
• Extinguish Blaze 280 200
• Festering Wounds 170 150
• Furor 200 140
• Oxidize 280 180
• Stink Bomb 340 240
• Thin Air 220 190

• Human Ranger
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Assassin's Kiss 200 110
• Rabies 400 200
• Toughen Hide 460 200

• Lugian Elementalist
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Elemental Reconstr 340 300
• Enrage Elemental 460 300

• Lugian Juggernaut
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Blinding Serum 400 200
• Cataclysm 230 180
• Cripple 260 140
• Decapitate 260 230
• Shatter 200 150
• Tectonic Shift 200 150

• Lugian Raider
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Fulminating Throw 290 280
• Localized Destruction 260 170
• Sidearm 170 140

• Tumerok Feral Intendant
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Rampage 170 110
• Sanguine Orders 260 160
• Soft Underbelly 100 230 (increase)
• Tenderize 260 160

• Tumerok Zealot
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Blur 200 110
• Icy Grasp 200 170
• Onslaught 140 110
• Shred Hope 140 80

• Tumerok Clawbearer
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Addle Wits 350 190
• Claw Storm 200 170
• Hail Storm 350 210
• Headshot 340 210

• Tumerok Hivekeeper
• Skill Name* Old Vigor Cost New Vigor Cost
• Barbed Stingers 340 300
• Buzzing Cloud 460 250
• Creeping Horde 340 130
• Impregnate 520 400
• Protect the Queen 400 240

MONSTER CHANGES

We have made the three Monster changes we previously announced for this episode. The most significant change relates to the attack and defense skills of all monsters. Players should see the following changes when they attack monsters in August:

• Monsters level 13-26 should be easier to hit and evade.
• Monsters level 33-38 should be slightly easier to hit and evade.
• Monsters level 45-52 should be harder to hit and evade.
• Monsters level 53+ should be easier to hit and evade.

Other changes we've made to monsters in August are:

• All monster attacks have had their damage reduced by 12%.
• We've reduced the wander radius of all monsters from 80 meters to 25 meters. This should reduce the chance of a monster wandering into a fight it has no business being in.
• We've reduced the number of Fetich Spawns and Hunter Shreths appearing in the Naderu area of Omishan.
• We've reduced the average number of generators in the Ariaki, Nepeth, and Gevoth areas of the game world from 8 to 6 generators per landblock. (A landblock is a square 160 meters on each side.)
• We've removed the Armoredillos' armor buff skill, since they now have increased armor due to our monster armor changes in June.
• Armoredillos will now only use their bite and spin animation for normal attacks. Their slower tail attack animation has been reserved for special attacks.
• We've given all Armoredillos a new "Tail Swipe" skill. This skill does normal damage to all targets within 2 meters of the Armoredillo. In addition, Linvak Massif Armoredillos have another new skill, "Tail Smash." In addition to doing damage to all targets within 2 meters of the Armoredillo, this skill applies a 3- to 10-second stun to all affected targets.
• A few of the Gigurath's special attack skills were not working correctly and have been fixed. Since these revised skills now make the Gigurath a more deadly opponent, the frequency at which it chooses to use those skills has been reduced.
• Lesser Bloodstones, Bloodstones, and Greater Bloodstones have been given solo monster stats.
• Group Bloodstones will no longer be appearing in solo hunting grounds on Linvak Massif. Note that Solo Bloodstones may still occasionally show up in group hunting grounds.
• While all Gurog skills still damage the target, the knock-back effect applied by some of them has been removed. Other monsters with knock-back attacks, such as the Monouga and Warath, still have those effects.

COMBAT AND PETS

• The effects applied by items and skills that reduce a skill's Vigor cost cannot reduce it more than 50% of the normal skill cost.
• The AOE attacks used by some managed pets will no longer hurt members of the master's fellowship in free-for-all and conflict areas. Managed pets are those that follow their master around and respond to most pet commands. Unmanaged or detached pets, such as Turrets and Ranger traps, will not be affected by this change.
• Pets can no longer open any doors, locked or otherwise.
• Lugian Tactician Walls and all Lugian Elementalist summoned stationary pets can no longer be knocked back.

TREASURE SYSTEM CHANGES

We have a series of new weapon and jewelry effects for the August episode. The list of these effects and what they do is found below:

New Weapon Effects Name Description Effects Keen-Edge Weapon's damage variance is reduced. The minimum damage of standard weapons is 25% of their maximum damage. This effect tightens that damage variance by 2% to 5%. Sharpened Edge Weapon's damage variance is greatly reduced. The weapon's damage variance is tightened by 6% to 9%. Burning Edge Weapon's damage variance is reduced. There is a 10% chance the target will catch on fire for 60 seconds. The weapon's damage variance is tightened by 2% to 5%. The Fire damage over time effect can do 1 to 4 points of damage per second for 60 seconds.

Stasis Target cannot naturally regenerate health or vigor during combat for 60 seconds. With each hit, this weapon has a 10% chance of applying the effect to the target.

New Jewelry Effects Name Description Effects Life Spout During combat, your health is slowly regenerated at the expense of vigor. The character's combat health regeneration rate is increased by 7%, while their Vigor combat regeneration is reduced by 3%. This does not stack with skills. Essence Spout During combat, your vigor is slowly regenerated at the expense of health. The character's combat Vigor regeneration rate is increased by 7%, while their health combat regeneration is reduced by 3%. This does not stack with skills. Major Life Spout During combat, your health is slowly regenerated without the expense of vigor. The character's combat health regeneration is increased by 6%. This does not stack with skills. Major Essence Spout During combat, your vigor is slowly regenerated without the expense of health. The character's combat Vigor regeneration is increased by 6%. This does not stack with skills. Scales Your skin is covered in scales, increasing your natural armor. The character's natural armor is increased by 6 to 10 points.

Other Changes

• All newly created and existing Sorcerer armor will require that the character has Quickening trained instead of Turnblade trained.

TWEAKS AND FIXES

• For the month of August, we are removing the Kingdom switching fee and the two-week timer between changing Kingdoms. Players will be able to change their Kingdom for free, and there will be a 24-hour reset timer between changing Kingdoms. The previous fee and timer will be reinstituted at some point in the future, either in our September or October episodes.
• We've fixed a bug that prevented items dropped on the ground from being cleaned up by the server. Previously, items dropped were cleaned up and deleted only when a land block unloaded (i.e. there were no players in the area).
• The light cast by the "Light of Alb'arel" quest ring now disappears when the ring is unequipped.
• We've slightly reduced the number of monsters in the Yokketh Bell Tower dungeon, and reduced the perception radius of those monsters slightly as well. In addition, the "Keeper of Lost Souls" boss has been tweaked not to use his special attack skills as often.
• We've removed a portal restriction from a portal found in the "Salvation in Artefon" quest. This will allow players to complete the quest more than once.
• We've thinned the monster spawns in the Artefon Catacombs dungeon and around the Ulkas Mines.
• The Gurog Confessor is once again dropping the key needed to complete the Winterhollows Vault.
• The character selection screen in the game client has been modified to list more than 8 characters.