Weekly Development Activities

July 24, 2006

Check out the latest updates to the "Weekly Development Activities."
The goal for this feature is to give solid expectations on what you can
expect to see in future updates.

In QA

These items are in QA and should be a part of the next scheduled update.



Performance

• NEW - We are making some changes to the
  Twilight Forge to improve performance.

General

• Loot messages from other players will be tagged as loot messages
  and can be filtered out.
• Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders.

Monsters

• Improved the dragon's spellcasting AI and line
  of sight recognition. For more information on possible changes to the
  dragon, please read href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=51101" target="_blank">this
  thread.
• NEW
  - Melee oriented Troglodytes will move closer to their targets - they
  should no longer attempt to make melee attacks from out of range.

Combat

• NEW - The critical threat range will no
  longer be doubled on the 4th swing in a combo.
• NEW - The feeblemind bestowed by wildmen
  will be curable by restoration.

Items

• Vorpal weapons will behead monsters as per the
  Players Handbook - you must roll a natural 20 and confirm a crit to
  vorpal your target.
• NEW - Niac's Cold Ray and Knock scrolls
  will be available at Lorna Wyrmtouched, Arcane Scroll Vendor in the
  marketplace tent.
• NEW
  - Items that cast Featherfall are getting an upgrade in usability.
  These items will be fast-casting and use a self-only version of
  Featherfall.
• NEW - The "of
  Destruction" weapon effect is a much weaker effect than intended. To
  make the effect worthy of its cost, "of Destruction" will reduce the
  target's AC by 4 the first time it hits. There is no saving throw for
  this effect.
• NEW - We are changing the
  names for Seeker +1, Seeker +2, Seeker +3 etc. items. These effects are
  being renamed to be consistent with other effect naming conventions -
  they will be named to match the bonus they give (Seeker +2, Seeker+4,
  Seeker +6 etc.)
• NEW - Laina the Excoriated will close
  her shop window properly.
• MOVED UP FROM "UNDER DEVELOPMENT"
  - The Freedom of Movement effect on the Kundarak Delving Boots will
  ward the movement effects of Storm Giant weather control. It will no
  longer ward the Beholder's petrify eye beam or the Mummy's Despair
  ability.

Spells

• NEW – We are fixing a
  long-standing issue with dispel effects that causes dispels from the
  Dispel Magic spell to be much harder than they should normally be.

Quests

• NEW - Gnarl's Tomb
  • Old
    Gnarl's ghost will open his door after a fight if he dispatches any
    would-be thieves. This will allow parties to attempt him again without
    resetting the dungeon.
• NEW - Restless Isles
  • The Runetusk Commander will no longer speak to you after he
    dies.
  • Several encounters are displaying their DM text repeatedly.
    This will be fixed.

Under Development

These items are currently in development and are scheduled for some
time after the next update.



Performance

• Overall bandwidth of the game will be reduced
  another 1-3%, and certain problematic dungeons and laggy areas will be
  significantly improved by 20-50% (when your client gets flooded with
  information about objects in your local area).

General

• We are pleased to announce the addition of the /showhelmet |="" off=""> command which can be used to hide your helmet graphic.
• We
  are improving the combat/damage feedback mechanism. This will not only
  eliminate "false" hits where the target would flinch but no attack roll
  would take place, but also give better feedback as to the strength of
  the hit.

Monsters

• Widow type spiders will once again shoot functional webs.
• Elemental Empathy will work properly on Earth Elementals that
  have used their Earthgrab ability.
• We
  are fixing an issue with the death animations of Arcane Skeletons. They
  will no longer "eat collectables" they should be creating.

Items

• EDITED - We are also working on
  exempting Kundarak Delving Boots from the movement restrictions of
  Sleetstorm and IceStorm.

Spells

• EDITED & MOVED -
  Please disregard the previous entry regarding the Fragment of the
  Silver Flame. Protection from Evil is being worked on to bring it in
  line with D&D rules.

To discuss the weekly development activities visit the official target="_blank" href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52585">DDO
Forums.

href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47816">