Announcements - 2005/03 - Alliance in Arms
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Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=333
March Teaser: Alliances in Arms
"Anything on that one?" Secilia asked. Her friend Belthor, still kneeling by the creature's blood-streaked corpse, let out an excited yip. "I'll take that as a yes," she replied with a wry grin.
Abandoning the remains, he jumped to his feet. "Yes, yes!" Belthor said, wiping his grimy hands on his tunic. "What is that, the third one?"
"Let's see...." Secilia paused as she began counting them off on one hand. "One in the Armoredillo's lair... one guarded by that accursed Olthoi... and another from the Reedsharks. Not too bad!"
"Not too bad," Belthor agreed. "We've been lucky!" He paused to peer intently at the item. "Here, take a look at it."
Secilia moved in close, examining the rough orb in Belthor's hand. He wiped a bit of muck off its surface with his sleeve as she examined it. "It looks to be a pretty high-quality one," she finally said with a smile.
Belthor grinned even more widely. "I think I'll use it on my sword. Which smith should I go to? Who has the most experience with these lodestones?"
"Hmm, what about Bolifest?" Secilia suggested. "He imbued Kikauri's drum, and Kikauri seems pleased with his work."
"Alright, sounds good," Belthor nodded. Then he yawned. Looking to the sky, he exclaimed, "Whew, would you look at the time? It's already moonrise! We'd better... head back...." His voice trailed off into a low-pitched growl.
"What?" Secilia's said, alarmed. "What is it Belthor?"
"Look!" Belthor pointed to the moon, "The lights! The lights have returned!"
Nalicana stood on a balcony overlooking the campus of the Lyceum, enjoying the quiet scene below. Students in the sea-colored robes of the Lyceum milled about in the courtyard, exchanging greetings and sharing thoughts. A few sat beneath the trees that lined the winding paths, their noses buried in books or sheaves of notes. Others stood admiring the fountain or the view offered by the Lycaeum's broad plateau. She smiled as she saw one couple standing together in the middle of one path, far too wrapped-up in each other to notice the scene around them.
As she looked west, she could barely make out the docks that served the Lyceum. A skyship gracefully settled into one of the berths, and small specks -- Servitors, no doubt -- rushed forward to grab the ship's mooring ropes. Closer by, the students' dormitories lay silent, most of their residents still at work or play, while to the north, the Observatory glowed with potent magic as it probed the heavens above.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" a voice behind Nalicana said.
She turned smoothly to appraise the figure behind her, smiled and nodded. Then she returned to her idle watching. Nalicana's attention was briefly drawn by a small dark point, far on the horizon, but then she lost it again.
"My family led the Lyceum for several generations," the speaker continued. "While it was a tiny, fledgling school, this was not questioned. But as the Lyceum grew, and grew powerful, more questions were asked. And when my mother designated me to take her place at the Lyceum, a good many eyebrows were raised. Some said the time for nepotism had passed."
Nalicana tried to listen to these recollections, but the dark point she'd noticed earlier had returned. It had grown, and was still growing.
"While few criticisms were said to my face, many tales of corruption and folly were whispered behind my back. They eventually reached my ears."
The dot had now spread across the horizon, forming a thin black line. It darkened and lengthened, and now it was a thin expanding crescent. Nalicana thought she could hear a distant, buzzing noise. A few students stopped what they were doing, staring at the approaching darkness. Then everyone was looking and pointing, their mouths gaping with surprise.
"He is too reckless, they said. Too eager to expand his domain. Too confident in his own abilities."
Nearly all of the eastern sky was now black. The buzzing sound had grown into a deafening, shapeless noise that set Nalicana's nerves on edge. Yet over it, Nalicana still heard the voice.
"I ignored them. I thought they were jealous of my family or my skill. Or that they simply craved those powers with which only I could be trusted."
The darkness now occluded the sun. Suddenly, a winged, insect-like creature swooped down from the skies above. The students scattered in all directions, screaming, and Nalicana saw the young lovers she'd seen before running hand-in-hand toward the building she was standing in. In their mad dash, the girl tripped and fell to the ground. Nalicana tried to gather her thoughts, to think of a spell that would help the poor students. But she could not focus on anything. She felt only a growing horror that her world was about to be shattered, and would never again be whole.
"But I was lying to myself. Even though my enemies were often liars, and small-minded, I too was dishonest. I was struggling against my own doubts. It is unfortunate that I succeeded for so long."
Feeling her hand torn from his, the young woman's lover skidded to a stop and ran back to help her. The creature dove forward toward him. In the blink of an eye it was upon them, impaling the young man's chest with a long, wicked pincer. Protruding from his back, its tip shone black with his blood.
Why couldn't she respond? Why wasn't the man behind her wielding his powers? But he, too, seemed absorbed by the catastrophe. He only murmured, "Look, Nalicana. Look at what my lies wrought."
More creatures began swooping down from the skies. Others clawed their way over the rim of the plateau. More of the students were pierced and mutilated by the creatures' cruel pincers and claws. A few tried to stand and fight, but their battle-spells were simply ignored by the vast enemy. It was like throwing rocks into the sea.
"Even when I knew myself to be wrong, utterly wrong, I could not face the truth. For years I blamed Kellin for what happened. Later I blamed it on the Empyrean race. We had become corrupt, I thought. Decadent. Liars without, and liars within."
The scene continued to unfold before her. She was unable to tear her gaze away. Suddenly, one of the flying creatures, the one that had pierced the young lover through the chest, turned toward her. She didn't know how she recognized it. She only knew it had chosen its next victim.
"I sent my people away. Again, I lied to myself, and said they had been saved -- but they had been imprisoned, too. Afterwards, when I was the only one left, my heart grew bitter and resentful. I thought that my people did not deserve to return. They could never pay their debt to the world -- to all the worlds. Why should they be allowed to try?"
The creature launched itself into the air and flew toward the balcony.
"Gaerlan's vile actions only confirmed my growing disgust with my kind. With myself. But then, one of my scrying spells unexpectedly revealed you. And you, dear one, renewed my faith. My faith in all of us."
The creature hovered before the balcony, staring impassively through soulless eyes. Then it dove forward, its pincer drawn back to slash across her face and neck. And still she could not move or speak.
"Child, do not wallow in despair. Do not mourn the warriors who fell -- or the warrior who stopped falling. You saved me once, but there are others yet to be redeemed. They will need you. Help them."
The pincer sliced forwards, and she could not even flinch....
...and suddenly Nalicana awoke with a gasp. She blinked and shuddered as her fear drained away. It was still the middle of the night; outside her chamber, the moon's glow lit the landscape more brightly than her pitch-black room. Slowly she sat up, wiping the sweat away from her brow. The nightmare had been intense, unlike any she had known. What could it have meant? She felt it was important, but the details of her dream were already slipping away.
Knowing that sleep would not soon return, Nalicana got up from her bed and made her way to the study. That room was well-lit by the moonlight streaming in through the broad window on the west wall. She picked her way around the books and scrolls she had left strewn on the floor -- relics of her earlier research into the mysterious note -- and looked out the window.
The town of Cragstone was peaceful, asleep. Her gaze wandered to the bright moon... and she was stunned, as if she had been physically struck. It was impossible! And suddenly, the words from her dream returned to her...
Rollout Article
Original Link (now dead) - http://ac2.turbine.com/index.php?page_id=332
March Guide: Alliances in Arms
For additional details about March content, see Citan's Letter to the Players.
SYSTEM CHANGES
Monster Categories
It has been discovered that all of Dereth's monsters seem to fit into one of the following fundamental categories:
- Decay (evil or undead)
- Arcane (magical, or derived from energy)
- Martial (weapon-wielding)
- Nature (plant or animal)
This information, paired with the newly discovered Lodestones, has led to the crafting of Harmonic Weapons, weapons capable of adapting to be more effective against the type of monster they are most often used against.
UI CHANGES
Pet Command Panel
Pets will now be accompanied by a new GUI window that appears whenever you have pets active. One of the new features of the Pet Command Panel allows you to set the AI mode for each pet, to dictate the pet's behavior mode. The options for pet mode are:
- Aggressive: Pet attacks any monster it sees. Default mode for turrets and loot-generated pets such as the Sangog Brothers
- Opportunistic: Pet will attack any monster that it sees, preferring weaker targets over stronger ones
- Courageous: Pet will attack any monster that it sees, preferring stronger targets over weaker ones
- Protective: Pet will only respond to foes that threaten its master
- Cooperative: Pet will attack targets that its master attacks, but will also freely defend itself
- Assisting: Pet will attack targets that its master attacks, and will respond to foes that threaten its master
- Defensive: Pet will defend against threats to itself or its master
- Supportive: Pet will only attack targets that its master attacks first. Default mode for most class-based pets such as the lasher, sand fiend, and shreth
- Idle: Pet will not get involved in any combat. Default mode for the Tumerok Invoker's Spirit Pets
The Pet Command Panel also has "Quick Command" buttons that let you order your pets to attack, return, heal you, or buff you as applicable. These buttons override the pet's mode setting, so you can always get control of your pet no matter what situation arises.
CRAFTING CHANGES
For more details about the March Crafting changes, see Citan's Letter to the Players
Durability
Durability has been removed from all crafted weapons and armor (crafting tools still posess durability)
Bind on First Use
Crafted items are now Bind on First Use. The first time an item is equipped and used in combat (either hitting or being hit), the item becomes bound to that character. The names of binding items that have not yet become bound to a player will appear in green. Binding items can be sold in shops until they are bound to a player, and items that have been bound will contain a warning message in their description.
NOTE: If you are wearing crafted armor and log in on patch day, and are subsequently smacked by any passing monster, the armor will bind to you.
Lodestones
Lodestones are special magical spheres containing ancient energies. Miners have a small percentage chance of finding a lodestone each time they mine. Monster corpses, too, may contain Lodestones if the monster is no more than one level lower than the player who killed it. The Shaper's Guild has been instrumental in helping to find several uses for these strange objects:
- Each of the 5 mining skills has a new recipe to craft Lodestones into Delving Stones, which will summon a mine for the user.
- Spellbinders have a new recipe to craft Lodestones into Harmonic Stones, which will allow players to turn their weapons into Harmonic Weapons.
- Other crafters may be able to transform the mysterious energies of the Lodestone into enhanced knowledge of their craft
Harmonic Weapons
Using the newly discovered Lodestones, weapons can now be created which "learn" to do more damage against monster types they are used against repeatedly over time. Only crafted weapons can become Harmonic.
Trait Mines
The Guild of Shapers has discovered massive underground resource caches. Keys may now be obtained that will grant you and your fellowship temporary access to one of these underground mazes. Move quickly, these mines are unstable!
MISCELLANEOUS CHANGES & FIXES
(includes fixes from March 16th update)
- As part of performance optimization, we've reduced the radar radius at which the "V" key will identify the names of players, monsters, and items
- Crafted Human Helmets that are dyed light green no longer show as dark-green
- The Lugian Juggernaut’s Brimming Heart is no longer overridden by other healing effects
- Shop vendors now list the number of items available in each category
- Totems that weren't in their correct categories should now be categorized correctly
- Totems can now be searched by "Target Level" and "Target Lore"
- Tools should now be sorting by their required craft skill
- Some minor fixes and improvements to pet pathing
Letter to the Players
Original Link (now dead) - http://forums.ac2.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=13561
March Update Details
The March Update
Because Legions will be shipping a little later than we had originally expected, we will be doing an interim update in late March. This update won’t have any epic quests in it, but it will have:
- Dozens of new “quick quests.” These quests are scattered in towns across all three continents. These provide quick, directed content for those who have limited play time (nearly all these quests are solo quests that take less than an hour to complete). They also make the towns of AC2 a bit more interesting to visit.
- The new Pet Commands Panel. This is a GUI window that appears whenever you have pets active. It allows you to set the AI mode for each pet. These new modes let you to tune exactly how you want each pet to behave. The modes are:
- Aggressive: An aggressive pet will attack any monster that it sees. This is the default mode for turrets, as well as some loot-generated pets, like the Sangog Brothers.
- Opportunistic: An opportunistic pet will attack any monster that it sees, preferring weaker targets over stronger ones.
- Courageous: A courageous pet will attack any monster that it sees, preferring stronger targets over weaker ones.
- Protective: A protective pet will only respond to foes that threaten its master.
- Cooperative: A cooperative pet will attack targets that its master attacks, but will also freely defend itself.
- Assisting: An assisting pet will attack targets that its master attacks, and will respond to foes that threaten its master.
- Defensive: A defensive pet will defend against threats to itself or to its master.
- Supporting: A supporting pet will only attack targets that its master attacks first. This is the default for most class-based pets, like lashers, sand fiends, and shreths.
- Idle: An idle pet will not get involved in any combat. This is the default for the Invoker’s Spirit pets.
The pet panel also has Quick Command Buttons that let you order your pets to attack, return, heal you, or buff you (if the pet has those abilities). These buttons override the pet’s mode AI, so you can always quickly get control of your pet no matter what situation arises.
In addition, the pet UI allows you to more easily name your pets.
Letter to the Players 2
Original Link (now dead) - http://forums.ac2.turbinegames.com/showthread.php?t=13362
Legions Letter #2: Crafting Changes
Welcome to Legions Letter #2: Crafting Changes. We were going to talk about the other Empyrean classes first, but we decided to jump ahead to the crafting changes, because we are providing these early, in the March update, along with some other content and features. (You can read about the other March update content here)
Crafting Changes for AC2: Legions
During the development of AC2: Legions, we’ve addressed many aspects of game play. Most of these are related to the hero levels of play, but some of the changes permeate all levels. The changes to crafting are a good example. We have decided to back-port the AC2: Legions Crafting changes into the March update, so you will receive these changes even before the expansion ships.
Durability… no more
As I mentioned months ago, we were planning to address the “durability issue” in Legions. Players feel that any weapon with durability is vastly inferior to a permanent weapon. Since not every item in the game has durability, crafted items are automatically treated as second-tier items.
Our original plan was to add an Item Repair system. This would allow crafters to repair weapons and armor for other players. After the item was repaired, it would be forever attuned to the owner – that way, crafted items could not be handed down to other players. However, after we implemented this system and played with it, we found it was too bulky, and not fun enough.
So we went back to the drawing board, and took another look at what we were trying to accomplish, and the best way to get there. Our objectives were:
- give crafted items a sense of permanence
- keep crafted items from being handed down forever, so that crafters have a steady flow of customers
- give crafters a new mechanism with which to interact with other players
So what is the easiest way to make crafted items have a sense of permanence? We simply removed Durability from all crafted weapons and armor. (Crafted tools still have durability, however.) This solves the problem in the method that most players prefer.
And to keep crafted items from being handed down forever, they are now Bind On First Use. When someone uses a crafted weapon or armor into battle, the weapon becomes linked to that player forever. They can still mule the weapon if they want – it isn’t attuned to them. But it can never be wielded by anybody except the first user.
The Bind-On-First-Use system has various safety checks built in. When you equip an item that will become bound when you use it, a warning message is displayed so that you know what’s happening. And an item that’s already been bound has another warning message in examination. Items that are Bind-On-First-Use but have not yet bound will have their names appear in green. Bind-On-First-Use items can be sold in shops until they become bound to a player, after which they will not be accepted by the vendor.
So what does this mean to you?
- All crafted weapons and armor will become Bind-On-First-Use. The next time someone uses that item in combat, the item will be bound to that person forever.
- All crafted weapons and armor will become durability-free. Crafted tools will still have durability, as will yellow-text Incomparable treasure items.
- Treasure items that have been spellbound will also become durability-free. They will be Bind-On-First-Use as well, so that only one owner will ever be able to use the item. These items will bind to the next person who uses them in battle. This will be applied retroactively to all existing spellbound items, as well as to new spellbound items.
We also added some brand new game systems that give crafters new roles in the economy. These new features revolve around a new type of item called Lodestones.
Lodestones
A strange new type of stone has started popping up in the most unusual places. Miners occasionally find them as they are working a mine, and hunters also find them on the corpses of their enemies. Dubbed “lodestones,” these are special magical spheres that contain ancient energies. The Shaper’s Guild has been instrumental in helping to find several different uses for these strange objects.
How Lodestones are Found
Miners have a small percentage chance of finding a lodestone each time they mine. Monster corpses, too, can have Lodestones on them, as long as the monster is no more than one level lower than the player's level. (This keeps high-level players from farming low-level monsters for lodestones.)
The quality level of the lodestone you find will be based on your player level:
Code:
| Player Level | Condition of lodestone |
|---|---|
| 15-29 | Crumbling |
| 30-44 | Brittle |
| 45-59 | Rough |
| 60-74 | Smooth |
| 75+ | Shining |
The quality of the lodestone determines how potent it is. But what do they actually do? That depends on what Type they are. They come in five types: Rusty, Clouded, Translucent, Marbled, and Mossy. So a level 30 player might find a Brittle Marbled Lodestone, or perhaps a Brittle Rusty Lodestone. A level 60 player might find a Smooth Translucent Lodestone or a Smooth Mossy Lodestone. When taken off of monster corpses, any of the five types can be found on any type of monster. While mining, only one type of lodestone can be found from each type of mine. Iron mines only ever yield Rusty Lodestones, Silver mines only yield Clouded Lodestones, Wood mines yield Mossy, Stone yields Marbled, and Crystal yields Translucent Lodestones.
The simplest use of the lodestone is to create a Delving Stone.
Delving Stones
Each of the five mining skills will have a new recipe which takes a lodestone as its only ingredient. The recipe always succeeds (there is no chance for failure). The result is a Delving Stone. These powerful stones will summon a mine right in front of the user. The mine will have the usual three uses. The quality of the lodestone will determine how many times the crafted Delving Stone can be used to summon a mine. The type of the lodestone determines the type of mine that is created.
Code:
| Lodestone Type | Mine Type |
|---|---|
| Rusty | Iron Mine |
| Clouded | Silver |
| Mossy | Wood |
| Marbled | Stone |
| Translucent | Crystal |
Harmonic Stones
Spellbinders will have a different recipe for Lodestones. They can turn a Lodestone into a Harmonic Stone. A Harmonic Stone can be used on any crafted weapon to turn it into a Harmonic Weapon (see below). The recipes for Harmonic Stones require purchased trait, like Coal, but no mined or butchered trait. The recipes are not automatically successful – they can fail. The quality of the lodestone determines the difficulty of the crafting process – higher-quality lodestones are more difficult to turn into Harmonic Stones. Upon success, these recipes grant Craft Experience to the crafter.
Harmonic Stones have a level requirement based on their quality.
Code:
| Lodestone Quality | Harmonic Stone Level Range |
|---|---|
| Crumbling | 15-24 |
| Brittle | 25-39 |
| Rough | 40-54 |
| Smooth | 55-69 |
| Shining | 70+ |
The type of the Lodestone determines the Damage type of the Harmonic Stone:
Code:
| Lodestone Type | Harmonic Stone Type |
|---|---|
| Rusty | Decay Harmonic Stone |
| Clouded | Arcane Harmonic Stone |
| Translucent | Neutral Harmonic Stone |
| Marbled | Martial Harmonic Stone |
| Mossy | Nature Harmonic Stone |
A Harmonic Stone can be used by a player of the appropriate level to turn their crafted weapon into a Harmonic Weapon. Let’s talk about Harmonic Weapons.
Harmonic Weapons
All monsters have been assigned a category: Decay (evil or undead), Arcane (magical or made of energy), Martial (tool using races), or Nature (plants or animals). Harmonic Weapons are attuned to one of these types of monster, and do more damage against them.
At first, the extra damage is very small, but through repeated use against the appropriate type of monster, the Harmonic Weapon will “learn” to do more damage against its particular type of foe. After a week or so of play, you could train a Harmonic Weapon to do an extra 10% damage against its foe type. Further gains are possible if you keep using the weapon –up to a maximum of 40% bonus damage – but it takes longer and longer to train the weapon as it reaches the higher percentages, so actually reaching the 40% cap would take many months of play.
You may have noticed that Translucent Lodestones make Neutral Harmonic Stones. These stones are not attuned to any one particular damage type – they can learn to do more damage to ANY type of monster. However, they learn at a much slower rate, and they are capped at 20% extra damage for any particular type of monster.
Only crafted weapons can be made into Harmonic Weapons.
Although this system only applies to weapons right now, we will be adding Harmonic Armor at a later date.
So How Does This Harmonic Weapon Stuff All Fit Together?
Here’s an example of how Harmonic Stones get used. Let’s imagine Bob, a level 50 warrior, has a nice crafted sword. He decides he wants his sword to do more damage to Decay creatures, so he seeks out a Rusty Lodestone of his level. For his level, he would need a Rough stone. He could find it on a monster, but he’s a busy guy, so he goes and buys it at a consignment vendor. Next, he finds a crafter who turns his Rough Rusty Lodestone into a Stone Harmonized to Decay, and he uses this stone on his weapon. Ta da! His weapon has become Harmonic, and has the capacity to deal more damage to Decay creatures through use.
Lodestones as Devices of Knowledge
Lodestones are not simply energy, they are encapsulated knowledge as well. There is a process where weaponcrafters, armorcrafters, and toolmakers can unlock this knowledge and combine it with their own knowledge to create intricate symbols of their craft. These devices are prized by many, crafters and non-crafters alike. Like Harmonic Stones, the recipes to create Devices can fail, but they grant Craft Experience upon success. Since these recipes are bestowed by quests in the March update, we won’t go into too much detail here. Suffice it to say that Lodestones have many uses, and there will doubtless be even more in the future.
Trait Mines
There’s a new way to get trait. The Guild of Shapers have uncovered massive underground resource caches. However, accessing these caches is difficult and dangerous. There are keys which will grant you and your fellowship temporary access to one of these underground mazes chock full of trait mines. But due to the instabilities of these caches, you and your fellowship will only be able to stay in the cache for a few minutes. Work with your friends to mine as much trait as you can in the time allotted. When the time runs out, you will be teleported back out of the dungeon.
There are five caches on each of the three continents (one cache per type of trait per continent). You can enter each dungeon only once per week. The keys for these caches can be a bit tricky to find – you will have to figure that out for yourselves!
The trait caches are intended to be a fun additional way to get trait. We don’t expect them to replace traditional mining – just to augment it.
