AC2:Announcements - 2005/05 - Legions

May 2005: Legions

Teaser

Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=342

Release

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The last Empyrean breathed slowly, trying to calm her fears. There could be no danger in this place that she had avoided for so long. It was one of the best-hidden, best-protected centers of power on Auberean. Any invader with evil intent would be assailed by defenses more potent than Nalicana's own spells -- and she felt sure those defenses would have alerted her to any intrusion. The Tower's master had held her in high esteem. Higher, she knew, than she had ever deserved.

She turned the crude key over and over in her hands. Its dull color was something like iron and something like lead, with no luster at all. And it was strangely heavy, almost uncomfortable to hold. Were these natural properties of whatever stuff Asheron had used to fashion the key? Or was it enchanted to seem worthless to casual observers?

Nalicana thought of the insects that disguised themselves as sticks and leaves to hide themselves from predators. The Tower and the key were both disguised, she knew. She had always assumed this was meant to hide them from the Olthoi or the Shadow. As she cast her eyes towards the top of the Tower -- even now shimmering in her vision, so that it was a stony outcropping, and then a massive tree, and once again a blank-faced turret without doors or windows -- she did not feel like a predator. She felt like a stick-bug, praying that the Tower would not see through her own disguise. But what did she have to hide? She was only here to fulfill the Tower's purpose.

Grasping the key tightly, she spoke a word of transport. And then, whether predator or prey, she was inside.

* * *

Shi Honauri would not weep for Aun Tanua. While Tanua's breath had lingered, Honauri had been unashamed of his tears. The great warrior could neither see nor hear them. But now? Now, Tanua might inhabit any blade of grass, any stray breeze, any drop of rain. Now, Honauri would not offend the master's sensibilities with unwanted grief.

And there was still one duty to perform before Honauri set out on his own final quest. In his bones, Honauri knew his slow life in this backwater had burned away on Tanua's pyre. Honauri felt the call of the animae again, just as he had been called in his youth. But how could an old and broken Tumerok answer such a call? Only by traveling to the same place Tanua had gone. Honauri would seek the great spirits one last time, but he felt sure he would not meet them in this world.

He would die on his last journey. And for that, he was grateful. Better to depart this world softly and soundlessly, before its kings and charlatans could try to turn you into a hero.

But not yet. Not until Tanua's ashes were scattered. Honauri hobbled out of the old farmhouse, which before Tanua's battle had seemed haunted, and now was merely empty. Could these blasted fields ever bear fruit again, Honauri wondered? Had Tanua's sacrifice consecrated the land, or had the kemeroi's touch left it forever poisoned? The question was moot. No peasant family would dare to re-inhabit this homestead until its story had faded from local legend. By that time, the field would be a forest.

Shi Honauri took up the weather-worn rake that leant against the farmhouse. Swallowing the last of his grief, he began clearing away the evidence of Aun Tanua's passing.

* * *

Nalicana thought the Tower's interior would be lightless and suffocating. She imagined that even the rats must have died long ago, had any remained inside when Asheron sealed the Tower away from the world.

It was a shock to regain awareness at the Tower's peak and find the place bright and... alive? No, not alive, but sleeping. Breathing. And there were webs in the corners and tracks in the dust. So there must be cracks in the walls or in the foundation; some breach into which life could creep, ignoring all spells of illusion, as animals often did. Surprising, but not as surprising as the Tower's still-burning lights. Had the Servitors tended them across the silent years? She passed a few inert automatons as she descended into the Tower's core, but they did not acknowledge her presence.

Was that because she intended no harm? That must be it, she decided. The Tower's defenses did not care about her. She was only here to do what must be done: to set the key in its ethereal lock, to turn it, and probably to end this age of the world. For nothing would ever be the same, once Asheron's most incredible deed -- the salvation and imprisonment of his race -- had been undone.

And wasn't that for the best? Surely Asheron had not meant for the Sundering to last forever. If he had, why leave behind the Tower, the gate and the key? Why put to sleep what might better be left to die? Sticky webs clung to Nalicana's face as she descended past empty rooms, but she didn't notice them. Her thoughts were torn between her present fears of the strange, brutal, not-quite-Falatacot invaders on Knorr, and of her own memories of the past.

The Seaborne Empire of Yalain had been founded on the bones of the Falatacot. It had won dominion over Auberean by wresting it from the Undead, who were the misbegotten half-children of Falatacot blood magic. Without the Falatacot blasphemies, there would have been no Firstborn and no Geraine. And the Falatacot witches had been the first to cry out to the Shadow with welcoming voices -- a cry which Ilservian Palacost repeated in later days, and which transformed him into Bael'Zharon the Destroyer. If you traced Auberean's darkest monsters to their roots, too often you found the Falatacot witches and their lust for the dark. If the Falatacot had returned, the Empyreans must also rise again.

But hadn't Maila Realadain used a forbidden spell to save her son Asheron's life from Bael'Zharon's first doom? Had that, too, been an act of evil? Nalicana suddenly realized that Asheron had thought so. He'd always blamed himself for the Sundering and for everything that followed. He had never forgiven himself for surviving the blast that killed his mother and the noble Council. And he had never believed that the disaster of the Olthoi had been beyond his power to prevent.

Nalicana stood before the gate. She brandished the dull key and opened her mouth to recite the simple cantrip that would unite key, gate and Tower. The Sundered Lands would open themselves to Auberean, and the survivors of Yalain would sleep no more. Nalicana would be the last Empyrean no longer.

In a flash of insight, she knew it was all wrong.

Asheron had left the Empyreans caged because he had finally grasped the depths of their failure. They should have embodied perfection and Light. Instead, they had degenerated into inquisitors, emperors, merchants and fools. Asheron might have been Yalain's great protector, but his weakness had allowed the Olthoi to lay his people low. There was no place for such failures in the new world that Asheron had helped create, the world of the Humans, the Tumeroks and the Lugians. That was why Asheron had never released his people from bondage. And that was why Nalicana would never turn this key.

It was a simple thing to reverse the key, to hold it high above her head. Without hesitation, she began to chant a more potent spell, a spell of destruction. Raw force surged through her arms and hands. She channeled her energies into the ugly relic until it began to glow, to shiver, and to fracture....

And Nalicana's vision blazed as lightning leapt from half a dozen points around the gate, coursing into her unprotected body. The terrible assault blasted away everything that was not pain. Nalicana fell screaming to the ground, the key and her intentions forgotten. As her robes smoldered and burned, a corner of her disciplined mind warned that her heart and lungs were cooking within the Tower's terrible wrath, and that her brain would soon follow. Asheron's old defenses had seen through her disguise and found her purpose. She was an enemy of the Tower. It would kill her to save itself.

A dark shape flowed smoothly into the room. Ignoring Nalicana's writhing body, it swept up the heavy key and thrust it towards the gate. A harsh and grating voice intoned the words that Nalicana had refused to speak. A long-isolated bubble in portalspace shifted, distorted, and made contact with the surface of Auberean's reality. And nothing would ever be the same again.

* * *

Shi Honauri crouched on his haunches, staring at the terrible thing in the ashes.

It was... not merely beautiful. It was perfect. Every rivet glittered like diamond, every strap glowed with the suppleness of strong leather. Where a deep crater had once welled with the life's-blood of immortal Tanua, there was nothing but proud and shining metal. Where it caught and reflected the dawn's light, it was brighter than the sun.

Shi Honauri reached out slowly, knowing and hating the loss of peace that must follow. But the animae would not let him flee into the forest, as he willed himself to do. Instead, he brushed the metal lightly with his fingertips.

And the breastplate of Aun Tanua sang to him. It sang of hope and resolve and power. It sang of regret and loss and despair. The armor's song was of a true heart, bound always to the struggle and glory of life.

There was no decision to be made. There were only a few more moments to savor the cool breeze, the rustling of the withered corn, and the first drops of an early-morning rain.

* * *

Nalicana could not stay awake for long. Her pain was too great, her strength nearly spent. But one question would not wait for healing. She whispered through cracked lips, "Why did you turn the key?"

"We cannot refuse our destinies," Isin Dule replied, cloaked as always in half-shadow. "That is what I have learned from my long journey. Again and again, I have tried to stop chasing my lost soul. I have sought to embrace darkness, I have sought to flee from darkness, I have sought to bargain with darkness. But darkness is not my destiny. My destiny is my own. And so my search continues."

"What is my destiny, then?"

"Your people must be reborn. They will need you, Nalicana. Help them."

Letter to the Players #1

Original Link (now dead) - http://forums.ac2.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=13132

Legions Letter #7: Details of Hero 2.0

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Welcome to the first of many Legions Letters! These letters will detail game systems changes that are included in AC2: Legions. The first three letters will be about the three Empyrean classes.

While we’re providing all the numbers on the skills so that you can see how they'll work, please understand that even now, the numbers are still subject to change. We have a new batch of players trying out the classes now, and we will likely make some final tweaks to the classes based on their feedback.

We have omitted Empyrean Hero information for now -- we’ll discuss the Hero Powers of Empyreans, and which skills can be raised past level 50, in a later update. But now, let’s talk about...

The Empyreans

They fled the Olthoi centuries ago. Now, guided back by an unknown hand, the Empyreans have returned to Auberean. But this is not the Auberean they knew. The Seaborne Empire is gone without a trace, and the last shreds of hope for the world are in peril – threatened by an enemy even deadlier than the Olthoi. Where there was once peace, now there is only strife.

A handful of primitive races – Humans, Tumeroks, Lugians – have taken up the banner of the Heroes of Dereth. These Heroes will rise to challenge the new foe, but they cannot win alone. It is time for the Empyreans to put aside their differences, and fight alongside these brash young allies to reclaim their lost world.

The Empyreans are no strangers to the ways of battle, slaying their enemies with exotic melee techniques, ancient spells of power, or the raw force of the perfectly-disciplined mind. Today we present their melee skills, which lead to the more-advanced skills of the Templar at higher levels.

Empyrean Melee

Most Empyreans learn to use a sword very early in life. They have devised an elegant, graceful combat system which lacks the physical brutality of other races, but makes up for it in agility and a touch of potent magic.

Skill Tree Code:

23                Draw Blood    Perfect Light
              ___/     |              |
             /         |              |
18 Death Blow     Demoralize      Salvation             Unfettered Fury
             \_____    |    \______   |    \___                |
                   \   |           \  |        \               |
13	            Deceive         Purge     Brilliance   Maiming Blow
                       |              |            |   ___/
                       |              |            |  /
8                   Engage          Stun         Feint
                          \________   |            |
                                   \  |            |      
3                                  Fleche        Soothe 
                                      |       __/
                                      |      /          
2                              Jugular Thrust
                                      |
                                      |
1                                  Thrust

Skills in Detail

Thrust
This skill does significantly more damage when the target is vulnerable.
Credits: 0
Vigor Cost: 32
Recovery: 1 second
Range: 1 meter
Damage: Weapon Only Notes: this is the free skill that all Empyreans get at level 1. It cannot be raised.

Jugular Thrust
A melee attack. This skill does significantly more damage when the target is vulnerable.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 32
Recovery: 1 second
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50) Notes: the melee-tree "vuln-taker" skill.

Fleche
A melee attack.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 50
Recovery: 2 second
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50)

Soothe
Improves the user’s health regeneration.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 300 seconds
Duration: 120 seconds
Range: Self
Effect: 3 (L1) – 15 (L50) percent increase.

Engage
A melee attack that taunts the monster to attack the user.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 30
Recovery: 3 second
Range: 1 meter Taunt: 5 (L1) – 10 (L50) percent.

Stun
A shield attack that stuns the target.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 160
Recovery: 7 seconds
Duration: 3 (L1) – 10 (L50) seconds.
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50)
Effect: stuns target for 3 (L1) – 10 (L50) seconds

Feint
A melee attack. This attack will apply a bleed effect to the target.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 120
Recovery: 7 seconds
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50)
Effect: 2 (L1) – 8 (L50) damage per second.

Deceive
A melee attack that attempts to get the monster to stop attacking the user in favor of someone else.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 80
Recovery: 5 seconds
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50) Detaunt: 10 (L1) – 15 (L50) percent.

Purge
A user centered area-of-effect attack.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 150
Recovery: 5 seconds
Range: 8 meters
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50)

Brilliance
A self-targeted skill that reflects a portion of damage back to the attacker.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 300 seconds
Duration: 120 seconds Damage Reflected: 8 (L1) – 35 (L50) percent

Maiming Blow
A shield attack. If executed after Feint, this attack will lower the targets offensive masteries.
Credits: 1
Vigor Cost: 120
Recovery: 5 seconds
Range: 8 meters
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50) Successful Combo: 10 (L1) – 100 (L50) offensive mastery lost.

Death Blow
A powerful attack that has increased bonuses to critical strikes.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 110
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 1 meters
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50).
Effect: attack has a 20% chance to critically-hit for double damage. (This is the same bonus as other critical-strike attacks such as Critical Throw or Betrayal.)

Demoralize
A melee attack that drains some of the target’s vigor and gives it to the user.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 140
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50)
Effect: Drains 50 (L1) – 250 (L50) vigor from the target and gives 150% back to the user.

Salvation
A self-targeted emergency Vigor heal.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 300 seconds Vigor Healed: 20 (L1) – 250 (L50)

Unfettered Fury
A double-strike melee attack.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 140
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 2 meters
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50)

Draw Blood
A melee attack that drains some of the target’s health and gives it to the user.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 200
Recovery: 4 seconds
Range: 2 meter
Damage: 3 (L1) – 75 (L50)
Effect: Drains 10 (L1) – 100 (L50) health from the target and gives 300% back to the user.

Perfect Light
A powerful melee attack that sets the target on fire.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 300
Recovery: 5 seconds
Duration: 30 seconds
Range: 1 meter
Damage: 12 (L1) – 260 (L50)
Effect: Drains 2 (L1) – 10 (L50) damage per second

Empyrean Templar

Starting at level 15, an Empyrean can choose to become a Templar. The Templar is a tank class. With sword and shield at the ready, a Templar uses his considerable defenses to keep others alive. The Templar thrives on hardship – indeed, he is empowered by it – and this feeling of “Giving Oneself for Others” permeates the Templar’s skill set.

As the Templar takes damage, they gain Valor. After a Templar has taken enough damage (roughly 1/4th of their total health), they reach
Valor Level 1 – their body emits a bright light. Further damage will increase this to
Valor Level 2 and then
Valor Level 3, at which point they will be glowing with energy.

Certain skills in the Templar tree are more effective when used while the Templar has
Valor Levels. Once one of these skills is used, the Templar’s
Valor Level resets to zero. The rate at which a Templar gains Valor from damage is determined by their level in Sigil of Valor, and can be further increased by the Righteousness skill.

Skill Tree

Code:

40                          Inspiration
                                 |
                                 |
35 Blade of    Blood Bind    Atonement    Compassion
   Conviction            \____   |    ___/       
      |                       \  |   /                 
30 Blade of                   Gift of    Righteousness
   Judgment                  Devotion   _/            \_            
            \____                |     /                \          
25               Scorn       Au’s Grace                  Sacrificial
                      \_____     |     \___           __/  Boon              
                            \    |         \         /                  
20                           Blindside     Affliction
                                 |   _____/     
                                 |  /      
15                         Sigil Of Valor

Skills in Detail

Sigil Of Valor
Grants the Templar the ability to accrue Valor when taking damage. Also bestows health and armor to the Templar. This is a toggle skill; it can be turned on and off at will.
Credits: 5
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 4 seconds
Duration: Toggle
Range: Self Effect: 70 (L1) - 100 (L50) percent of incoming damage is counted towards increasing your
Valor Level. Also, bestows 1 (L1) – 100 (L50) additional armor and 20 (L1) – 600 (L50) max health.

Blindside
A shield attack that stuns the target.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 110
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 2 meter
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50) Effect: stuns target for 3 (L1) – 10 (L50) seconds

Affliction
A bloodletting attack. This skill is improved if the Templar has
Valor Levels.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 120
Recovery: 7 second
Range: 2 meter
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50)
Valor Level 1: 180 Damage over 15 seconds.
Valor Level 2: 300 Damage over 15 seconds. Valor Level 3: 480 Damage over 15 seconds.

Scorn
A melee attack that taunts the monster to attack the user.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 170
Recovery: 5 seconds
Range: 2 meters Taunt: 15%

Au’s Grace
A self targeted heal.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 220
Recovery: 4 seconds
Range: Self Heal: 50 (L1) – 500 (L50)

Sacrificial Boon
Grants the Templar’s fellows health over time, while causing the Templar to lose health over time. This skill is a toggle buff; it can be turned on and off at will. If this skill would lower health so much that the Templar would die, the skill turns itself off instead.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 4 seconds
Duration: Toggle
Range: Aura
Fellow Effect: 2 (L1) – 20 (L50) health per second restored
Templar Effect: 2 (L1) – 20 (L50) health per second lost. Notes: losing health isn’t a terrible thing for a Templar – they can gain Valor from this damage just as if they had been attacked by a monster. In fact, this skill has many tactical uses. For instance, it is handy for giving the Templar
Valor Level 1 before they ever enter combat.

Blade of Judgment
A melee attack that does additional damage, regardless of the target’s armor.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 200
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 2 meter
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50) Additional Damage: 50 (L1) – 150 (L50) through armor damage.

Gift of Devotion
Negates some of the damage that the Templar and his fellows suffer.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 300 seconds
Duration: 120 seconds Damage Negated: 10 (L1) – 30 (L50) percent.

Righteousness
Increases the Templar’s ability to accrue Valor.
Credits: 2
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 300 seconds
Duration: 120 seconds
Effect: When the Templar is attacked, the damage they receive counts towards their
Valor Level at an increased rate. The rate is increased by 1% (L1) – 50% (L50).

Blade of Conviction
A powerful melee attack. This skill is more effective if the Templar has
Valor Levels.
Credits: 3
Vigor Cost: 180
Recovery: 7 seconds
Damage: 7 (L1) – 200 (L50)
Valor Level 1: Additional 10 (L1) – 100 (L50) damage attack.
Valor Level 2: Two Additional 10 (L1) – 100 (L50) damage attacks.
Valor Level 3: Three Additional 10 (L1) – 100 (L50) damage attacks.

Bloodbind
Places a protective ward over the Templar’s fellows. While active, this ward will reflect damage inflicted upon the Templar’s fellows onto the Templar. This is a toggle skill; it can be turned on and off at will.
Credits: 3
Vigor Cost: 1
Recovery: 4 seconds
Duration: Toggle
Effect: 10 (L1) - 30 (L50) percent of damage inflicted on the Templar's fellowship is negated. 80% of the damage negated is inflicted directly onto the Templar. Notes: assuming that Sigil of Valor is enabled, the Templar gains Valor for the damage they receive from this skill.

Atonement
A melee attack that takes health from both the user and the target.
Credits: 3
Vigor Cost: 200
Recovery: 12 seconds
Range: 2 meters Damage Bonus: 12 (L1) – 260 (L50) Target
Damage: 30 (L1) – 300 (L50) Templar
Damage: 25 (L1) – 250 (L50) Notes: assuming that Sigil of Valor is enabled, the Templar gains Valor for the damage they receive from this skill.

Compassion
A heal that affects the Templar's fellows. This skill is more effective if the Templar has
Valor Levels.
Credits: 3
Vigor Cost: 400
Recovery: 7 seconds
Range: 20 meter
Effect: Heals 25 (L1) – 250 (L50) Damage.
Valor Level 1: Heals 50 (L1) – 400 (L50) Damage instead.
Valor Level 2: Heals 100 (L1) – 600 (L50) Damage instead.
Valor Level 3: Heals 150 (L1) – 900 (L50) Damage instead.

Inspiration
Restores the vigor of the Templar's fellows. Does not restore the vigor of the Templar. This skill is more effective if the Templar has Valor Levels.
Credits: 3
Vigor Cost: 280
Recovery: 10 seconds
Range: 20 meters
Effect: Heals 20 (L1) – 200 (L50) Vigor.
Valor Level 1: Heals 50 (L1) – 350 (L50) Vigor instead.
Valor Level 2: Heals 100 (L1) – 500 (L50) Vigor instead.

Valor Level 3: Heals 150 (L1) – 700 (L50) Vigor instead.

Letter to the Players #7

Original Link (now dead) - http://forums.ac2.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=15108

Legions Letter #1: Empyrean Melee and The Templar

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Hero 2.0

In the September 2003 update we released the original Heroes of Dereth system. We’ve played a lot of AC2 since then, and have found many places we wanted to improve the system. And now, finally, we are ready to reveal our vision for a better post-50 game. Let’s talk about the changes, why we made them, and what the ramifications are.

But first, note that this is the letter that explains the vast details. It’s for players who want to know all the nitty gritty parts, and it’s very, very long. If you’re looking for an overview, see here:

http://forums.ac2.turbinegames.com/...ead.php?t=13790

To help you find your way through this very long letter, we’ve broken it up into sections. Each section discusses an issue we had with the original system, and then presents our solution to that problem.

Citan

Issue 1: Archetypes Growing Ever Further Apart

The original Hero system is not especially solo-friendly. This is not surprising based on how the game developed up to that point -- the content in the 30s and 40s was intended to wean players away from the solo-oriented gameplay and into grouping gameplay. This is a classic problem with many MMOs, old and new. Changing the gameplay mid-stream causes player unhappiness, whether it’s a soloing game that turns into a grouping game, a grouping game that turns into a raiding game, or a PvE game that turns into a PvP game. Some players will come along for the new ride, but others will not. In our case, we seemed split pretty evenly between soloers and those who enjoyed grouping. So a while ago we took a step back and attempted to infuse the game with a more even blend of solo and group content, and that’s what we’re doing to this day. AC2: Legions has a great mixture of solo and group content, and the bimonthly updates will follow this trend of providing lots of solo content along with exciting group content. We can have the best of both worlds.

But the original Heroes of Dereth system is not intended to encourage soloing. In fact, quite the opposite. The Hero 1 game systems reinforce grouping to ever greater amounts as you level up. One way it does this is by overpowering different archetypes towards their intended grouping behavior. The effect isn’t terribly noticeable in the 50s, but becomes much more pronounced as you ascend in level. A tank at level 50 is very hard to kill, but that’s nothing compared to a level 80 tank, who is nearly impossible to kill. However, tanks at level 80 have a hard time killing anything themselves… they’re expected to have a damage-dealer along. And in the opposite extreme, damage-dealers become ever better at hurting creatures, yet ever more frail and killable. The intention here was to reinforce the need for a tank and a healer. This extremist view of classes doesn’t allow for much soloing content at the very high levels. The only classes that can solo well at those levels are damage dealers, because they are able to deal enough damage to kill the solo creature before it kills them. We needed to address the issue before the majority of players reached this level range.

In Hero 2.0, we’ve kept the different class roles alive and well, but not to the same extremes as in the old system. The different class archetypes are quite alive and well, but not to such extents that they are unable to solo.

Citan

New Passives

The main reason that the different class archetypes grew further and further out of control was because of the passive skills such as Major Bonus Damage and Major Max Health Increase. These skills have been changed, and sometimes removed.

We also noted that when we presented sub-par options to players (such as offering the weaker Damage Boost passive to tanks), we weren’t really giving them a viable option. The weaker versions of the passives were generally too weak to be worth spending XP on. So we’ve removed the weaker versions of passives. Instead, we simply GIVE players the effects of these weaker passives automatically. The passive descriptions will give more details.

We also redid the XP curves for the altered passives. In general, they are significantly cheaper than in the Hero 1 system. For instance, it is possible to buy 10-15 points of Health Increase for the same cost as 7-8 points in the old system.

Health Increase: this passive is available only to tank classes. It increases health by 3 per point. This passive is cheaper than the old Health Passive, so you can buy more points of it with the same amount of XP. In addition, ALL players automatically gain 30 health every level above 50, whether they are a tank class or not.

Vigor Increase: this passive is available only to healers and sages. It increases vigor by 3 per point. This passive is cheaper than the old Health Passive, so you can buy more points of it with the same amount of XP. In addition, ALL players automatically gain 10 vigor every level above 50, whether they are a healer class or not.

Damage Pool: this is the default passive, given to all classes who don’t get Health Increase or Vigor Increase. Tanks and Healers do NOT get this passive.

The Damage Pool is a new game mechanic. For each point of skill purchased, the Damage Pool increases by 1. The Damage Pool has a percentage chance to be added to an attack. Different attacks have a different percentage chance to apply the Damage Pool, but they generally follow this system:

Auto-attacks: 10% chance to add the Damage Pool to their damage. Weak attacks (which do 75 damage at level 50): 40% chance to add the Damage Pool to their damage. Medium attacks (which do 200 damage at level 50): 60% chance to add the Damage Pool to their damage. Strong attacks (which do 260 damage at level 50): 80% chance to add the Damage Pool to their damage. Hero attacks (which do 340 damage at level 50): 90% chance to add the Damage Pool to their damage. (More on Hero Skills later in this document.)

Other skills which fall in between these numbers have appropriate percentage chances. For instance, the Berserker skill Avalanche, which does 100 damage at level 50, has a 45% chance to add the Damage Pool to its damage.

Note that the Damage Pool only gets added once per attack. So a multi-hit attack will only add the Damage Pool to at most one of the hits. However, if the first hit in a multi-hit attack doesn’t add the Damage Pool, each subsequent hit has a chance to add the Damage Pool, until one of the hits succeeds in adding the Damage Pool.

Damage Pool is cheaper than Major Damage Boost was, so you can buy more points of it with the same amount of XP.

Let’s look at an example. Say a Zealot raises their Damage Pool passive to 100. Now if he uses Shred Hope, the first attack has a 40% chance to add 100 extra damage to the roll. (This is done before the weapon’s variance is taken into account, much like the old Bonus Damage passive was, so in effect the result is likely to be less than 100 exactly.) Now, because Shred Hope has two swings, if the first swing doesn’t get the Damage Pool added to it, the second attack also has a 40% chance to get the 100 extra damage.

Damage Pool is not as potent as the old Major Damage Boost passive. However, passives are not the only way to increase your damage output. It is now more profitable to raise individual skills past 50. (This applies to all skills that scale past 50, including the skills of tanks and damage dealers.) In general, skills scaled like so:

Old Damage at level 150: New Damage at level 150: 300 500 600 1000 780 1300

Arcane Lore: this passive is unchanged. It costs the same as before and has the same effectiveness.

Heroic Mastery: this new passive allows you to increase your accuracy and evasion. Each point purchases improves accuracy and evasion by 1 point. It covers all three damage types (melee, missile, and magic). All classes have this passive.

Note that you NO LONGER receive automatic accuracy and evasion points just by leveling up. The only accuracy and evasion points you receive are from the Heroic Mastery passive. Monsters have been reduced so that they receive fewer points per level. The result is that players can still hit things their level by the same amount (assuming they buy the appropriate amount of Heroic Mastery), but because the difference in evasion scores between levels has decreased, it is now easier for players to hit monsters that are higher level than they are. This change also has positive results for PvP, because it reduces somewhat the importance of level when two players are fighting.

Heroic Mastery is the cheapest of the passive skills; keeping your accuracy at the same level as it was in the old Hero system is easy, and it is not difficult to increase it much higher than before.

We expect players to purchase at least 10 to 15 points of Heroic Mastery per level. Players will be able to get a feel for how effective this passive is because the game now displays your percentage chance to hit a given target in the examination panel.

Max Focus: The passive that granted Focus has been removed. It is no longer possible to increase your maximum Focus, except through Perks. (See below.)

The changes to the passives dramatically alter how the game is played at higher levels. Because all players now receive additional health, vigor, and damage (by raising skills) at higher levels, classes are less divergent. This is further compounded because the passives that allow specialization are less potent than in Hero 1. In the end, we still have strongly defined classes: tanks are still near-unkillable, damage-dealers are whirling death, etc., but these class specializations are no longer taken to excesses that limit soloability.

Citan

Monster Changes

Of course, players were not the only ones who changed in Hero 2. Monsters have been rebalanced and adjusted as well.

Solo monsters have changed the most. Instead of having one-size-fits-all solo monsters, there are now several types of creatures. So-called “Protector” monsters are heavily armored but weak-hitting, while “Conqueror” monsters have very little armor, but deal high damage. There are also various creatures in between these ranges, as well.

Several AI bugs and glitches were fixed, and many monsters have new powers, plus better logic that lets them use their powers at the right moment.

In addition, all monsters affected are now worth more XP – at least 10% more, and often much more than that.

These changes affect monsters on Linvak, Arramora, and Knorr. Monsters on Osteth and Omishan have not been changed (except for some bug fixes).

All classes can now solo high-level creatures of at least their level (and usually at least 3 levels above them). However, you have to pick your battles a bit more carefully, especially when fighting monsters far above your level. Since there are now more differences between monsters, there are certain creatures that will be easy for a given template, while other creatures of the same level might be much harder for the same template.

One other change is worth noting – all monster debuffs now use Magic Accuracy, even if they are melee or missile-oriented creatures. This means that mage classes have a better chance to avoid these debuffs compared to other classes.

Citan AC2 Live Producer

Issue 2: Focus System Not Exciting

In the original Hero system, the Focus bar suffered from several problems. Most hero skills were not worth spending Focus on, so players tended to collect a vast amount of Focus and only use it occasionally (such as in PvP). On the other hand, a few classes had skills that were extremely powerful and also very cheap, so that Focus management was rarely an issue – they could essentially use their skills whenever they wanted. In either case, it was very rare to even look at your Focus bar before entering a fight. Focus was a very minor bookkeeping issue as opposed to a key gameplay factor. We wanted to dramatically increase the importance of Focus.

Citan AC2 Live Producer

New Focus

The Focus bar now has a maximum size of 100, rather than 1000. This change helps to underscore that the new Focus rules are very different than the old ones! Easy come, easy go: that’s the motto for the new Focus bar. Because it only goes to 100, it’s very easy to fill up on Focus, and any additional Focus you gain is lost. So naturally, this means you will want to use your Hero Skills more often.

Focus is easier to find than ever before. All solo monsters that are no more than 4 levels below your level will give 20 Focus on death, while group monsters no more than 4 levels below your level will give 100 Focus (divided amongst the fellowship). You can also regain your Focus just by logging off for the night: you regain a point of Focus for every ten minutes of time spent offline. This lets you log in ready-to-go each game session.

The Focus costs for Hero Skills have been adjusted dramatically downward. Hero Attacks tend to cost 25 to 40 Focus per use, meaning that you can use them every couple of fights. Hero Buffs tend to cost 50 to 80 Focus, meaning you can use them every three or four fights.

Citan AC2 Live Producer

Issue 3: Lack of Choices for Development

One of the major motivators for writing Hero 2.0 was to offer more than the cookie-cutter options available to players in the original system. Because skills were given to players automatically, every player of an individual class was essentially the same, with only minor variations in Arcane Lore or other passives. Cookie-cutter classes aren’t fun. Worse, the original system had too few skills to look forward to. We needed a system that provided additional options for growth.

Citan AC2 Live Producer

Hero Credits

In order to provide Heroes with additional options for advancement, we needed a new currency for buy skills. Thus was born the Hero Credit. Unlike regular Skill Credits, Hero Credits are used in bulk. A typical hero active skill costs 300 or 400 hero credits! You earn 100 Hero Credits per level that you are eligible to be a hero. So you earn 100 hero credits at level 45, another 100 at level 46, and so on. If you become a hero later in life (say at level 50), you retroactively earn all the hero credits you would have earned in the earlier levels.

But there is another way to earn Hero Credits, too. Monsters now occasionally drop Tesserae, tradable objects that grant a Hero Credit when used. Tesserae can increase your Hero Credit count, up to a certain limit based on your level. For instance, at level 50, a player will have automatically earned 600 hero credits, but they may have earned up to 150 more by using Tesserae. (If a player reaches the maximum number of Hero Credits, and they find another Tessera, they can either hold on to the Tessera until they level up, or they can trade or sell it to others.)

The following table shows how many credits you are given automatically, plus the maximum number of theoretical Tessserae you could find at your level. However, this is a very fanciful number, at least for the lower levels – because Tesserae are hard to come by, it is very difficult for a level 50 player to have found 150 Tesserae (though they may be able to purchase that many from others…). It is also extremely unlikely that a level 60 player will have found 650 Tesserae through the course of playing. (Though again, perhaps they are given extra Tesserae from vassals and friends…) In general, it is only very late in the game, say level 100+, when levels take much longer to complete, that the cap on max. Tesserae per level might come into play.

Code:

Player  Total Automatic     Max Possible       Max THEORETICAL
Level     Hero Credits      Tesserae Used    Possible Hero Credits
45            100                 25                  125
46            200                 50                  250
47            300                 75                  375
48            400                 100                 500
49            500                 125                 625
50            600                 150                 750
51            700                 200                 900
52            800                 250                 1050
53            900                 300                 1200
54            1000                350                 1350
55            1100                400                 1500
56            1200                450                 1650
57            1300                500                 1800
58            1400                550                 1950
59            1500                600                 2100
60            1600                650                 2250
61            1700                725                 2425
62            1800                800                 2600
63            1900                875                 2775
64            2000                950                 2950
65            2100                1025                3125
66            2200                1100                3300
67            2300                1175                3475
68            2400                1250                3650
69            2500                1325                3825
70            2600                1400                4000
71            2700                1500                4200
72            2800                1600                4400
73            2900                1700                4600
74            3000                1800                4800
75            3100                1900                5000
76            3200                2000                5200
77            3300                2100                5400
78            3400                2200                5600
79            3500                2300                5800
80            3600                2400                6000
81            3700                2500                6200
82            3800                2600                6400
83            3900                2700                6600
84            4000                2800                6800
85            4100                2900                7000
86            4200                3000                7200
87            4300                3100                7400
88            4400                3200                7600
89            4500                3300                7800
90            4600                3400                8000
91            4700                3525                8225
92            4800                3650                8450
93            4900                3775                8675
94            5000                3900                8900
95            5100                4025                9125
96            5200                4150                9350
97            5300                4275                9575
98            5400                4400                9800
99            5500                4525                10025
100           5600                4650                10250
101           5700                4775                10475
102           5800                4900                10700
103           5900                5025                10925
104           6000                5150                11150
105           6100                5275                11375
106           6200                5400                11600
107           6300                5525                11825
108           6400                5650                12050
109           6500                5775                12275
110           6600                5900                12500
111           6700                6050                12750
112           6800                6200                13000
113           6900                6350                13250
114           7000                6500                13500
115           7100                6650                13750
116           7200                6800                14000
117           7300                6950                14250
118           7400                7100                14500
119           7500                7250                14750
120           7600                7400                15000
121           7700                7550                15250
122           7800                7700                15500
123           7900                7850                15750
124           8000                8000                16000
125           8100                8150                16250
126           8200                8300                16500
127           8300                8450                16750
128           8400                8600                17000
129           8500                8750                17250
130           8600                8900                17500
131           8700                9075                17775
132           8800                9250                18050
133           8900                9425                18325
134           9000                9600                18600
135           9100                9775                18875
136           9200                9950                19150
137           9300                10125               19425
138           9400                10300               19700
139           9500                10475               19975
140           9600                10650               20250
141           9700                10825               20525
142           9800                11000               20800
143           9900                11175               21075
144           10000               11350               21350
145           10100               11525               21625
146           10200               11725               21925
147           10300               11925               22225
148           10400               12125               22525
149           10500               12325               22825
150           10600               13400               24000

Again, it’s important to reiterate that you should not expect to find 25 Tesserae during the course of hunting at level 45. They appear on corpses about as often as Lodestones do now. There are additional ways to earn them, however -- you can receive them as rewards from quests, though the Tesserae earned from questing cannot be traded. And it is even possible to find Tesserae while mining, though the chances are slim, and they can only be found by players who are level 45 or higher.

Tesserae are a bonus reward mechanism. They are NEVER mandatory. The Hero Credits that you earn automatically by leveling will be enough to keep your character viable and interesting. The credits you are granted by level 50 will give your character power similar to what they had in the previous system, and by level 60, the automatic hero credits will make your character much more powerful than existing level 60 characters. Tesserae can make your character even more powerful over time.

So… what can you spend your Hero Credits on?

EDIT: The passive skills listed above cost Hero Credits now... but only 75 hero credits each. The vast majority of your Hero Credits will go towards active skills and perks, as described below.

EDIT: The original Tesserae cap chart was wrong. The chart above is correct, and has also been expanded to go all the way to 150.

Citan AC2 Live Producer

Class-Unique Active Skills

First off, there are skills unique to each class. These are the skills from Hero 1, with some alterations and additions. These Hero Skills are still more powerful than regular skills, but they are less powerful than their old forms. This keeps them from being game-breaking (especially in PvP), but allows them to be used much more often.

Another change worth noting: the Vigor costs of hero skills are very low. The average Hero Skill now costs 80 Vigor to cast. Let’s look at the skills in detail next.

Juggernaut:

Catastrophe A self-centered area-of-effect attack that lowers all targets' attack skills. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 30 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10sec
Range: 30m self-centered
Damage: 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1300 (L150)
Effect: reduces melee, magic, and missile attack by 10 (L1) to 200 (L50+) for 30 (L1) to 60 (L150) seconds.

Devastating Arc Juggernaut throws his weapon and hits the enemy, possibly for percentage damage. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 5sec
Range: 60m single target projectile
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150) plus chance of doing percentage
Damage: 20% chance of doing 8% (L1) to 12% (L150) of the monster's health. (The percentage attack is capped by skill level, much like the spec tree skill Decapitate.)

Sunder An attack that reduces the target's armor. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) - 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 60sec
Range: melee single target
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150) Armor Reduction: target's armor is reduced by 15 (L1) to 150 (L50) to 250 (L150) for 30 seconds.

Lugian Berserker:

Wrathful Perseverance Max health is increased. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 50 (L1) to 60 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 120sec
Range: self
Duration: 60 seconds
Effect: Berserker's max health increases by 100 (L1) to 500 (L50) to 1500 (L100); Berserker also gains 100 (L1) to 500 (L50) to 1500 (L100) health immediately.

Raging Charge The Berserker runs at extreme speeds, and has Damage Absorption. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 50 (L1) to 70 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 120 seconds
Range: self
Effect: Berserker runs at 1.5x (L1) to 3.0x (L100) normal speed, and absorbs 1% (L1) to 25% (L100) of incoming damage. Duration is 30 seconds. The run speed effect stacks with other run speed increases. The damage absorption does NOT stack with other damage absorption effects.

Torrent of Destruction Only usable after Avalanche or Vortex of Pain. This single-target attack sends the Berserker into a flurry of attacks, hitting the target eight or more times (determined randomly). Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 40 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 20 seconds
Range: melee single target
Damage: 10 (L1) - 80 (L50) - 200 (L150) per hit

Lugian Tactician:

Siege Cannon A spinning cannon appears on the Tactician's arm for a moment; it fires a powerful line-of-sight energy bolt that bypasses some armor, and then disappears. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 30 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 5sec
Range: 60m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150), bypasses 25% of armor.

Crystal Wall Creates a Crystal Wall. This wall doesn't have a strong attack, but it has inherent damage reflection built into it. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 60seconds
Range: self

Overdrive Turret The Tactician imbues a turret with their most volatile of engineering knowledge, bestowing it with the ability to fire a super charged bolt. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 30 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 7 seconds
Range: 40 m (targeted turret); 60 m (turret can overdrive 60m) Turret
Damage: 50 (L1) to 750 (L50) to 2500 (L150)

Lugian Raider:

Living Rock The Raider throws a rock as normal, but when if it hits, it subsequently becomes a living pet. The pet rock can be controlled as an ordinary pet monster. The pet rock has a moderate heal that it can bestow upon its master. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10seconds
Range: 80m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)

Hollow Boulder This attack bypasses ALL of the target's armor. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150) Minimum Level: 60
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10sec
Range: 70m
Damage: 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1200 (L150). Bypasses 100% of armor.

Bring Down the Mountain The Raider throws a slew of boulders at the target. This is a multi-hit attack. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 30seconds
Range: 70m
Damage: 5 hits at 10 (L1) - 120 (L50) - 600 (L150).

Lugian Elementalist:

Tidal Wave A large area-effect water attack. All enemies in the area take damage and have their attack speed reduced. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 30 (L1) to 40 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10sec
Range: 20m AoE, 40m ranged LOS attack
Damage: 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1300 (L150)
Effect: slows combat speed by 1% (L1) to 30% (L50+) for 30 seconds

Sand Goliath Summons a Sand Goliath. This pet does NOT count towards the maximum of two Elementalist sand pets. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 60 (L1) to 80 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 300 sec
Range: self

Pyroclastic Flow A moving wall of superheated rock and gas. This is a five-hit projectile attack. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 30sec
Range: 40m
Damage: 5 hits at 10 (L1) - 120 (L50) - 600 (L150)

Lugian Sage:

Breath of Life People who have died recently and are still at the "You have died, press Resurrect to resurrect" screen can be recovered. The Sage can cast this spell on their corpse and they will reappear before the Sage. Note that this skill’s Focus cost goes DOWN as experience is spent on it. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 80 (L1) to 40 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 10 seconds
Range: 40m Focus Retained: Normally a player is dropped to 10% of their max focus on death (in Hero 2). When resurrected, however, they are capped at a higher number: 1% (L1) - 20% (L100) higher, to be exact. Thus, when someone is resurrected by a L100 resurrect, they are reduced to 30% of their max Focus.

Sanctuary of the Mind The target's skills cost abundantly more, but they gain a strong HoT for the duration, plus an immediate heal. This can be cast on fellowship members or the Sage. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 30 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 15 sec
Range: 40m
Duration: 15sec
Effect: Heals 10 (L1) to 350 (L50) 700 (L100). Health over time healing of 1 (L1) to 100 (L100) per second. Vigor cost of target’s skills increase by 300.

Psyche Twist The target's mind is clouded with pain. It takes damage and becomes unable to move for a short while. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 60 seconds
Range: 40 meters
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: root for 10 (L1) to 30 (L150) seconds

Feral Intendant:

Feral Rage The Feral Intendant gains extra speed and extra armor. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self
Duration: 60 seconds
Effect: 1% - 30% - 50% combat-speed increase, 10 - 50 - 120 armor increase. These effects stack with existing spec tree skills.

Primal Howl The Tumerok lets loose a terrible howl which hurts and weakens all around it in a 20m radius. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10seconds
Range: 20m self-targeted
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: reduce nearby enemy's damage by 10 to 100 to 300 for each attack the enemy makes in the next 30 seconds.

Evolution The Feral Intendant's pet becomes deadlier and more indestructible. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 22 (all levels) - skill goes to 100
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 120 seconds
Range: 40meters
Duration: 30 seconds (L1) to 60 seconds (L50)
Effect: Pet armor is increased by 10 (L1) to 500 (L100). Pet damage increased by 1 (L1) to 100 (L100).

Zealot:

Defile The Unbeliever A six-hit melee attack. There is also a small chance that an additional bloodletting attack will be automatically applied to the target. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 40 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10sec
Range: melee
Damage: 6 hits, each hit 10 (L1) to 80 (L50) to 200 (L150)
Effect: chance of applying a percentage bleed effect; chance is 1% (L1) to 40% (L150). Bleed is identical to other Zealot bleeds.

Arrow Breaker The Zealot becomes so attuned to his surroundings that he can evade attacks more sucessfully. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 55 (all levels)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 120 seconds
Range: self
Effect: for 7 (L1) to 60 (L100) seconds, Zealot gains a 150 point bonus to evasion vs. missile, magic, and melee attacks.

Fanaticism The Zealot's auto-attacks become stronger for a time. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self
Duration: 60 seconds
Effect: Zealot's hands glow. Auto-attacks do an additional 7 (L1) to 100 (L50) to 200 (L100) damage.

Tumerok Clawbearer:

Tar Mines The Clawbearer flings a bunch of bombs at a target; the projectiles land around the target. Some will go off instantly; the others will go off if the target or another enemy moves nearby. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 14 seconds
Range: 70m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: on successful hit, creates 4 tar grenades around the target. Tar grenades root with an AoE effect for ten seconds and does minor damage.

Sandstorm The Clawbearer scoops up sand and forms a huge cloud around them. This is a self-targeted AoE defense debuff. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 35 (L1) to 50 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 14sec
Range: 40m self-targeted AoE
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: reduces missile, magic, and melee defenses by 10 (L1) to 200 (L150).
Duration: 60 seconds.

Fatal Flaw An attack that causes the target to become vulnerable. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 22 (any level)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 60sec
Range: 60m
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: target begins to glow with "vulnerability particles." The next skill that indicates it does more damage to vulnerable targets will do an additional 500 armor-bypassing damage to the target. This Fatal Flaw lasts on the target until someone uses a vuln skill on them, or 12 seconds, whichever comes first.

Tumerok Hivekeeper:

The Queen's Defender Creates a very large, very nasty wasp which attacks the selected target. The wasp disappears when killed or when it kills the target, whichever comes first. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 30sec
Range: 60m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)

Master Hive A large nest appears on the ground and summons wasps on all nearby targets. The Master Hive lasts for 5 minutes or until it is destroyed. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 40 (L1) to 60 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 300seconds
Range: self

Tormenting Swarms The Hivekeeper summons a swarm of stinging insects for each member of the fellowship. Each fellowship member can control their swarm as a pet. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 40 (L1) - 60 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 300 seconds

Tumerok Invoker:

Ancestral Fury A line-of-sight attack that causes three spirits to fly up from underneath the target's feet, covering them in spirits for a moment. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12 sec
Range: 40m
Damage: 3 hits, each for 7 (L1) to 200 (L50) to 1000 (L150)

The Pure Spirit Summons an erobal pet. This pet does not count against the max number of Invoker pets a player can have. The pure spirit disappears on its own after 20 minutes if it has not been killed by that time. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 60 (L1) to 80 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 300seconds
Range: self

Spectral Form The Invoker becomes transparent and ghost like. In this state, a percentage of incoming attacks do no damage. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 22 (any level)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self
Duration: 10 (L1) - 120 (L100) seconds
Effect: the Invoker takes no damage from attacks 20% of the time

Tumerok Healer:

Tanua's Gift People who have died recently and are still at the "You have died, press Resurrect to resurrect" screen can be recoverable. The Healer can cast Tanua’s Gift on their corpse and they will reappear before the Healer. Note that this skill’s Focus cost goes DOWN as experience is spent on it. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 80 (L1) to 40 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 10 seconds
Range: 40m Focus Retained: Normally a player is dropped to 10% of their max focus on death. When resurrected, they are capped at a higher number: 1% (L1) - 20% (L100) higher, to be exact. Thus, when someone is resurrected by a L100 resurrect, they are reduced to 30% of their max Focus.

Curse of Peace The target's skills cost abundantly more, but they gain a strong HoT for the duration. This can be cast on fellowship members or the healer. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 30 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 15 sec
Range: 40m
Duration: 15sec
Effect: Heals 10 (L1) to 350 (L50) 700 (L100). Health over time healing of 1 (L1) to 100 (L100) per second. Vigor cost of target’s skills increase by 300.

Drums of Immunity The Healer casts a powerful ward on himself and all of his nearby fellows that negates many attacks. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 35 (L1) to 50 (L100) Power Up Time: 3 seconds
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 900 seconds
Range: 20m self-centered
Duration: 15 sec (L1) to 45 sec (L100)
Effect: All fellowship members get an effect similar to the Zealot skill Screen. Any incoming negative effect has a 30% (L1) to 70% (L100) chance of being cancelled and not applying to the target.

Human Bounty Hunter:

Assassin's Strike An attack that does extra damage if done from behind the target. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 8 sec
Range: melee
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: attacks from behind deal 50% extra damage.

Treacherous Blades A nasty 4-strike attack; each attack has an increased chance to perform a critical hit. (Usable only while the Bounty Hunter is dual-wielding.) Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 12sec
Range: melee
Damage: each attack does 10 (L1) to 120 (L50) to 600 (L150) with 20% chance to crit for 200% damage.

Wisdom of the Land The Bounty Hunter offers his insights to nearby fellows, causing them to critically hit more often and be more lucky at avoiding death. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 55 (any level)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self
Duration: 30 (L1) to 120 (L150) seconds
Effect: affected fellows gain +1% (L1) to +5% (L50+) chance to critically hit, and the equivalent of Fate’s Forgiveness (when a normal attack hook would kill them, it has a chance of doing 0 damage instead).

Human Defender:

Cragstone's Rebuke Defender tosses his shield 40m; target is stunned and severely taunted. Has improved chance to critically hit. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12sec
Range: 40m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150).
Effect: Target is stunned for 8 (L1) - 10 (L150) seconds. (obeys normal stun immunity rules - that is, can't be stunned more than once per minute). Also, taunts monster equivalent to 25% (L1) to 100% (L150) of the monster's health. This skill has a 20% chance to critical-hit for double damage.

Aegis A floating reflective shield appears in front of everyone in the fellowship; a percentage of all incoming damage is reflected back to the attacker. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 45 (L1) to 55 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 60 sec
Range: 20m self-centered fellowship propagated
Duration: 30sec (L1) to 60sec (L100)
Effect: incoming attacks are reflected back at the attacker; they do 10% (L1) to 50% (L100) of the damage to the attacker. In addition, a portion of the damage is absorbed and does not harm the target. 1% (L1) to 15% (L100) of the incoming damage is not applied to the target.

Reprisal The Defender performs a shield attack on the target and at the same time casts a group heal on nearby fellowship members (including himself). Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 30 (L1) to 40 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 15sec
Range: melee
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: casts a healing spell at same time; heals for 100 (L1) to 250 (L50) to 750 (L150)

Human Ranger:

Rain of Arrows A simple, elegant, and deadly five-arrow attack on a single target. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 35 (L1) to 45 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 9 sec
Range: 80m
Damage: each arrow, 10 (L1) to 120 (L50) to 600 (L150)

Bird of Prey The Ranger points at a target. This is a line-of-sight attack. If it hits, a falcon swoops down and attacks the target. It continues to attack the target for the duration, at intervals. It is not a pet, but rather a damage-over-time effect. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 10 seconds
Range: 80m
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: Falcon-over-time bleed, 20 (L1) to 60 (L150) damage for 30 seconds

Firebirds The Ranger points at a target. This is a line-of-sight attack. If it hits, the ranger summons a flock of Firebirds to attack all monsters within the radius of the target. These are not pets, but rather damage-over-time effects on the targets. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 12 seconds
Range: 80m, 20m AoE
Damage: AoE: 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1300 (L150)
Effect: Flaming-Falcon-over-time bleed, 10 (L1) to 40 (L150) damage for 30 seconds

Human Alchemist:

Elixir of Life People who have died recently and are still at the "You have died, press Resurrect to resurrect" screen can be recovered. The Alchemist can use this skill on their corpse and they will reappear before the Alchemist. Note that this skill’s Focus cost goes DOWN as experience is spent on it. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 80 (L1) to 40 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 10 seconds
Range: 40m Focus Retained: Normally a player is dropped to 10% of their max focus on death. When resurrected, they are capped at a higher number: 1% (L1) - 20% (L100) higher, to be exact. Thus, when someone is resurrected by a L100 resurrect, they are reduced to 30% of their max Focus.

Caustic Breath The Alchemist spits acid on the target. This is a melee-range attack. This effect works in both human mode and Darkside mode. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 7sec
Range: melee
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: acid damage, does 10 (L1) to 20 (L150) health and vigor damage per second for 30 (L1) to 45 (L100) seconds.

Immolation The Alchemist is set brightly ablaze. His auto-attacks become flamethrower-like fire bursts. In addition, the Alchemist is immune to fire attacks for the duration of the skill. In Darkside mode, the attacks are melee range; in normal mode, the attacks have a twenty meter range. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300seconds
Range: self
Duration: 30 (L1) to 90 (L100) seconds
Effect: Alchemist's auto-attacks do an additional 10 (L1) to 80 (L50) to 160 (L100) damage plus apply a fire effect of 8 dmg (L1) to 20 dmg (L100) per sec for 15 seconds. Alchemist is immune to fire damage while Immolated.

Human Enchanter:

Execution A giant sword falls on a target chosen by the Enchanter. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12
Range: 40m
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: bleed damage, 10 (L1) to 30 (L150) for 30 seconds

Living Armor A suit of armor builds itself into the shape of a person. It attacks the target. This is a pet that follows pet orders. It has a weak punch attack, but it has very strong armor and a potent taunt. Living Armor lasts for 20 minutes or until it is killed. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self

Enchanted Arms The Enchanter summons a deadly blade that fights alongside the caster. This is a pet that follows pet orders. It is relative easy to kill but has strong damage attacks. The sword pet cannot be used at the same time as the Living Armor pet. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 22 (all levels) - to 150
Vigor Cost: 300 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self

Human Sorcerer:

Geomantic Alignment The Sorcerer harnesses the power of the ley lines of Dereth to tap into extra vigor. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self only
Duration: 60 (L1) to 120 (L100) seconds
Effect: For the duration, all of the Sorcerer's spells cost 1 (L1) to 80 (L50) to 150 (L100) less vigor to cast. This effect follows the normal 50% rule: skills that would be reduced more than 50% by this effect are instead reduced to exactly 50% of their normal cost. This effect does stack with Esprit. Also, for the duration, the Sorcerer's in-combat vigor regeneration is increased by 1% (L1) - 35% (L100).

Blighting Gaze A deadly attack that causes the target to be less receptive to heals. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 8
Range: 40m
Damage: 40 (L1) to 400 (L50) to 2000 (L150)
Effect: reduces the power of healing effects by 10% (L1) to 50% (L150). This affects healing spells, health-over-time effects, reaps, and potions. Does NOT affect health regeneration.
Duration: 60 seconds

Rez'arel's Ruin Shards of the ruined moon rain down upon the target. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 30 (L1) to 40 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 12
Range: 60m
Damage: 7 (L1) to 200 (L50) to 1000 (L150), three hits
Effect: bleed damage of 1 (L1) to 30 (L150) for 30 seconds

Empyrean Hieromancer:

Mortal Coil A deadly burst of energy encompasses the target. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12sec
Damage: two hits, each 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1300 (L150)

Symbol of Eternity The caster avoids death when they would otherwise die, and instead gains health. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300sec
Effect: Upon a hit or effect that would otherwise kill you, you instead live, and are given 100 (L1) to 500 (L50) to 1250 (L100) health. Effect lasts for 120 seconds or until used.

Gesture of Frailty A gesture that damages the target and lowers their ability to inflict damage. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 60sec
Damage: 30 (L1) - 320 (L50) - 1600 (L150)
Effect: Decreases the targets damage output by 10 (L1) - 100 (L50) - 250 (L150)
Duration: 30 seconds

Empyrean Mentalist:

Phantasm A dangerous mind-game that causes great pain to the target, and has a chance to perform a percentage-damage bleed. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 12seconds
Range: 40m
Damage: 30 (L1) to 320 (L50) to 1600 (L150)
Effect: bleed damage of 1% (L1) to 10% (L150) over 30 seconds. Chance of firing is 17% (L1) to 40 (L150)

Mental Breakdown Usable only after Mental Onslaught or Volatility, this is a five-hit attack. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12seconds
Range: 40m
Damage: 10 (L1) to 120 (L50) to 600 (L150), five hits

Temporal Distortion Summoning all their mental powers, the Mentalist damages the timeline of enemies in the near area. This is a self-centered 20m AoE that does damage and inflicts a runspeed/combat speed slow on all enemies. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12seconds
Range: 40m
Damage: 12 (L1) to 260 (L50) to 1300 (L150).
Effect: run speed reduced by 10% (L1) to 30% (L50) to 50% (L150). Combat speed reduced 10% (L1) to 35% (L50) to 60% (L150).
Duration: 30 seconds.

Empyrean Templar:

Call to Duty The Templar bestows protective and offensive energies upon himself and the rest of the fellowship. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 120 seconds
Range: self
Effect: 1% (L1) - 10% (L50) - 30% (L100) damage buff, 10 - 50 - 200 armor increase. STACKS with existing spec tree skills. Duration is 30 seconds.

Gaze of Oblivion The Templar’s stoic gaze pierces the heart of the enemy. This skill does more damage if the target can see the Templar when cast. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 12 seconds
Range: 40m
Damage: 30 (L1) - 320 (L50) - 1600 (L150) bonus damage. Damage is multiplied by x1.5 if the monster is facing the Templar when spell is cast. (within a 180 degree arc)

Courage in Arms The Templar’s auto-attacks do a small amount of additional damage. They also perform a taunt on each successful hit. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 45 (L1) to 55 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 300 seconds
Range: self
Effect: auto-attacks gain extra damage of 4 (L1) to 50 (L50) to 100 (L100). Each hit also taunts the monster for 5x the amount of damage done.
Duration: 60 seconds

Drudge:

Vengeful Assault A five-hit attack. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 45 Focus Cost: 25 (L1) to 35 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 80 Reset Time: 20 seconds
Range: melee
Damage: each of 5 hits, 10 (L1) - 120 (L50) - 600 (L150)

Bigger Board with Nail A Drudge enchantment that enhances a weapon’s damage. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 60 Focus Cost: 55 (L1) to 65 (L100)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 60 seconds
Range: any selected weapon
Effect: raises weapon damage by 10 (L1) - 100 (L50) - 200 (L150).
Duration: 60 seconds

Feast of Flesh The Drudge calls upon his brothers for aid against a single target. Summons five Drudge Assassins. The Drudges attack one target until either it or they die. Hero Credit Cost: 400 Minimum Level: 70 Focus Cost: 35 (L1) to 45 (L150)
Vigor Cost: 160 Reset Time: 30 seconds
Range: 40m

Citan AC2 Live Producer

More Hero Skills

In addition to the skills which are unique to each individual class, there are also skills which are available to any class. These skills scale from 0 to 10 by spending XP on them. This unusual level cap was chosen so that each level of skill would be very significant. When you buy these skills, they start at 0 -- meaning they can't be used at all until you spend XP in them. This is a measure intended to prevent min/maxing behavior.

Because these skills are intended to be useful at all play levels above 50, the higher points of the 10-point curve cost a LOT of XP. In general, it is only practical to buy one or two points of each skill for every ten levels above 50.

These skills appear on the main Hero Skills Page for each class (we’ve separated the Hero Skills from the regular class skills, for cleanliness). Let’s go over each skill:

Hero Portal Recall This is like the common skill “Portal Recall,” except it costs Hero Credits instead of regular credits to buy, and uses Focus to cast. The Focus cost decreases as the level of the skill is raised. Minimum Level: 45 Hero Credit Cost: 300 Focus Cost: 70 (L1) - 1 (L10)

Hero Summon Lifestone This is like the common skill “Summon Lifestone,” except it costs Hero Credits instead of regular credits to buy, and uses Focus to cast. The Focus cost decreases as the level of the skill is raised. Minimum Level: 60 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 70 (L1) - 1 (L10)

Hero Summon Portal This is like the common skill “Summon Portal,” except it costs Hero Credits instead of regular credits to buy, and uses Focus to cast. The Focus cost decreases as the level of the skill is raised. Minimum Level: 60 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 70 (L1) - 1 (L10)

Health Burst An emergency burst of health is bestowed on the caster. This skill has a very long reset timer. Minimum Level: 45 Hero Credit Cost: 200 Reset Time: 15 minutes (900 secs) Focus Cost: 15 (L1) - 20 (L10) Health Restored: 500 (L1) - 1500 (L10)

Vigor Burst An emergency burst of vigor is bestowed on the caster. This skill has a very long reset timer. Minimum Level: 45 Hero Credit Cost: 200 Reset Time: 15 minutes (900 secs) Focus Cost: 15 (L1) - 20 (L10) Health Restored: 500 (L1) - 1500 (L10)

Health Chant Grants health over time to the fellowship for as long as it is active. This is a toggle-skill, meaning it can be turned on and off by the caster. Unlike other toggle-skills, however, it costs Focus to keep active. If the user runs out of Focus the skill automatically turns off.

The user can only use a single Chant skill at a time. However, other fellowship members can use the other Chant skill, allowing the fellowship to have the effects of both Health and Vigor Chant active at once. Chants follow normal stacking rules (i.e. a level 4 Health Chant will overwrite a level 2 Health Chant, not stack with it). This effect stacks with different kinds of health-over-time skills, such as Benevolent Leader. Minimum Level: 60 Hero Credit Cost: 200 Focus Cost: 10 focus to start, plus 1 (L1) to 3 (L10) focus/sec Health Restored: 12 health/sec (L1) - 58 health/sec (L10)

Vigor Chant Grants vigor over time to the fellowship for as long as it is active. This is a toggle-skill, meaning it can be turned on and off by the caster. Unlike other toggle-skills, however, it costs Focus to keep active. If the user runs out of Focus the skill automatically turns off.

The user can only use a single Chant skill at a time. However, other fellowship members can use the other Chant skill, allowing the fellowship to have the effects of both Health and Vigor Chant active at once. Chants follow normal stacking rules (i.e. a level 4 Vigor Chant will overwrite a level 2 Vigor Chant, not stack with it). This effect stacks with different kinds of vigor-over-time skills, such as Recoup. Minimum Level: 60 Hero Credit Cost: 250 Focus Cost: 10 focus to start, plus 1 focus/sec (L1) to 3 focus/sec (L10) Vigor Restored: 8 vigor/sec (L1) - 33 vigor/sec (L10)

Armor Force Grants additional armor to the caster. This is a toggle-skill, meaning it can be turned on and off by the caster. Unlike other toggle-skills, however, the player loses Focus whenever they are hit while this skill is enabled. If the user runs out of Focus the skill automatically turns off. The user can only have one Force on at a time. Minimum Level: 70 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 10 focus to start, plus 2 (L1) - 10 (L10) focus/attack incoming Armor Added: 10 (L1) - 100 (L10)

Reflection Force While this skill is active, a portion of incoming damage is reflected back at the attacker. This is a toggle-skill, meaning it can be turned on and off by the caster. Unlike other toggle-skills, however, the player loses Focus whenever they are hit while this skill is enabled. If the user runs out of Focus the skill automatically turns off. The user can only have one Force on at a time. Minimum Level: 70 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 10 focus to start, plus 1 (L1) - 5 (L10) focus/attack incoming Damage Reflected: 8% (L1) - 40% (L10)

Taunting Force While this skill is active, each incoming monster attack causes the monster to be automatically taunted by the user. This is a toggle-skill, meaning it can be turned on and off by the caster. Unlike other toggle-skills, however, the player loses Focus whenever they are hit while this skill is enabled. If the user runs out of Focus the skill automatically turns off. The user can only have one Force on at a time. Minimum Level: 70 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 10 focus to start, plus 1 (L1) - 5 (L10) focus/attack incoming Taunt Given: 1% of monster's max health (L1) - 5% of max health (L10)

Fickle Fate When the user spends Focus on this skill, a potent effect is added to them (and their fellowship) at random. The vast majority of the skill’s effects are beneficial, though there are occasional negative effects. As the skill is raised in level, the potency of the beneficial effects goes up, while the potency of the negative effects goes down. Minimum Level: 70 Hero Credit Cost: 400 Focus Cost: 35 (L1) - 45 (L10)
Duration: 5 Minutes (Negative Effects), 15 Minutes (Positive Effects)
Effect: a random effect, such as a damage boost, increase to earned XP, max. health boost, etc. Citan is offline Reply With Quote Old 04-20-2005, 02:14 PM #11 Citan AC2 Live Producer

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Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 446

Hero Skill Tree This is what the Hero page of each classes skill tree looks like. The T1, T2, and T3 Hero Skills are placeholders for the individual classes’ unique hero skills. Note that most of the skills in the tree do not have parent skills. This means you can simply buy them when you are the appropriate level; for instance, you do not have to buy the T1 Hero Skill before you can buy the T2 Hero Skill.

Code:

Armor Reflection Taunting Fickle T3 Hero L70 Force Force Force Fate Skill Summon Summon Health Vigor T2 Hero L60 Portal Lifestone Chant Chant Skill