First Look Release Notes - Module 3:
The Demon Sands

October 23, 2006

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The Demon Sands



The sprawling dunes of Menechtarun hide deadly secrets and are home to
powerful new enemies. Beware – despite these new monsters your most
dangerous enemy might now be another adventurer….

Battle
other players in tavern free-for-all brawls, compete to Capture the
Flag, or fight team vs. team and player vs. player in Death Matches
with the new PVP system. Learn amazing new spells, enhancements, and feats with the level
cap increase to Level 12 (Rank 60). A new desert adventure with a massive landscape and 12 new high
level dungeons. Visit the Auction House to buy and sell the magical treasures of
Xen'drik with other players. Enjoy new favor rewards. Trade feats you no longer want with the new Feat Respec System. Benefit from improvements to the shop interface and treasure
system.

Level Cap Increase to Level 12



Take your character even further! New spells, feats, and enhancements
await! But just as you have gained in power the enemies of Stormreach
have gained as well. Prepare to push yourself to the limit to see just
what you can do. It's time to slay the Titan…



Favor Cap Increase



Along with the increase in level cap there has been an increase in the
favor cap as well. When a character reaches 1750 total favor they will
receive a +2 tome of their choice from Nyx. They will also gain access
to a 7th character slot and the ability to create new characters using
a 32-point buy instead of the normal 28-point buy (non-Drow only). In
addition, players will find that a new favor rank has opened up with
the Free Agents.



New Adventure Area: The Sands of Menechtarun




Menechtarun

The Menechtarun is a vast desert that sprawls across the western
reaches of Xen'drik. In ancient times, the Menechtarun was ruled by a
tyrannical Wizard-King and his demonic servants. Today, these lands are
home to rugged settlers, barbaric gnoll tribes and a sect of fanatical
drow and scorrow called the Vulkoorim, or the "Chosen of Vulkoor." The
Wizard-King himself is long dead, but his ageless servants have
flourished, giving rise to another name for this region -- the Demon
Sands.



Points of Interest:

Zawabi's Refuge - An oasis to
the north of the Scavenger Wastes. Named after the djinni who rules the
oasis, Zawabi's Refuge is a bastion against gnoll and scorrow raiders
that prey on lost travelers and ill-protected caravans. Many refugees
come to the Refuge seeking the djinni's protection, as do adventurers,
traders, outcasts and other questionable characters from far-off lands.
Zawabi is bound to the oasis by a powerful spell and cannot leave his
circle, but within the Refuge, his power is supreme. The Scavenger Wastes
- Hyena packs roam these lands, as do their bipedal cousins, the
gnolls. The magically-guarded entrance to Zawabi's Refuge is located
here. Windlasher Canyon - The harsh desert winds of the
Menechtarun carved out this canyon long ago. Now it serves as home for
the Windlasher tribe of gnolls, who are marginally less aggressive than
the Firebrands but no less deadly in combat. Valley of the False Tombs
- This valley is rumored to be the final resting place of Raiyum the
Wizard-King and his malefic servants, Kourush and Rahmat. Raiyum's tomb
is supposedly rife with traps and decoy tombs, serving to conceal the
true burial chamber of the legendary tyrant. Burning Mountain
- The Burning Mountain dominates the territory of the Firebrand gnolls.
Few explorers manage to evade the patrols along its dangerous ledges
and twisting trails, and even fewer sneak past its guarded gates. These
lucky survivors report the existence of a massive fortress-like city
within the mountain's volcanic interior, where countless slaves toil
without hope of release. Serpent's Pass - Deep in
Firebrand territory lies the valley known as Serpent's Pass. The
origins of this name are unclear; the Pass may have been named for its
serpentine bends, or for its many opportunities for treachery and
ambush. The Firebrand gnolls often use this place as a staging area for
their raids against the Vulkoorim. Others who enter Serpent's Pass
rarely leave alive. The Scar - A deep fissure in the
desert that stretches for miles, the Scar is a natural bulwark
separating the gnoll tribes from the Vulkoorim scorrow and their drow
worshippers. Several treacherous paths and a pair of stone bridges are
the only ways to cross the Scar, and the scorrow keep a close watch on
these points of entry. Unwary travelers who venture across the Scar
often end up as unwilling guests in the bloody rituals of the Vulkoor
Spiral. The Vulkoor Spiral - A holy shrine for the
Vulkoorim and their worshippers, the Vulkoor Spiral is an underground
network of caverns that echoes with the screams of the slain. Here, the
Vulkoorim offer fervent prayers and bloody sacrifices to all three
aspects of the scorpion god Vulkoor, although Vulkoor the Wrathful is
the form most revered by this dark and violent cult.

Many of the monsters who live in the Sands of Menechtarun drop Antique
Bronze tokens when they die. Adventurers should save these tokens for
Masei Mkembe of Masei's Imports in Zawabi's Refuge who collects these
tokens and will trade with you for them.



Changes to the Harbor



The steady stream of new adventurers arriving in Stormreach has become
one of the city's greatest assets. Embracing these new arrivals, the
Coin Lords have simplified the process for gaining entry to Stormreach.
New arrivals have more freedom than ever before! Click href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70812" target="_blank">here
to read the full article.



New Solo Quests!



We are spreading the Solo gaming experience in Dungeons & Dragons
Online: Stormreach even further! Several quests in the Stormreach
Market and House Deneith can now be completed in solo mode. These
quests are:

Redfang the Unruled The Foul Chambers The Sunken Sewers The Deneith Sewers: The Depths of Despair The Depths of Darkness The Depths of Discord The Depths of Doom

Player vs. Player Combat



One of the most exciting new features for Module 3: Demon Sands is the
introduction of Player vs. Player (PvP) combat which allows two or more
adventurers to test their skills in battle directly against one
another. PvP combat can only occur in PvP arenas located throughout the
world. Please note: some spells and special abilities will function
differently in PVP combat than they do in dungeons, in order to
preserve balance.



There are several different modes of PvP battle, including:

Death Match. Two teams are matched up, and the team that
scores the most points wins. Capture the Flag.
Two teams defend their base and some valuable objects, and the team
that brings their opponent's flag back to their base or has the object
the most wins. Tavern Brawls. Fight in designated areas in taverns.

PvP
play is purely optional and you won't be penalized for dying (nor will
you gain experience). So why would you want to participate in PvP? For
fun, for a change of pace, and for bragging rights – our newly
relaunched website (www.ddo.com)
includes an extensive PvP Leaderboard! Track your progress and examine
the competition in your pursuit of fame and glory.



Character Display in the DDO.com Forums



You can now show up to three of your characters in your forum
signature. In order to enable this feature, click the “User CP” link in
the forums menu bar and then click the “Character Display” link in the
Control Panel. Please note that character info can take up to 48 hours
to update on the forums, and that existing characters will not be
available for the Character Display until you log in and log back out
of the game with them.



Combat Changes – Ranged & Melee



One of the most exciting components of Module 3 is the changes we are
making to combat - both ranged and melee:



Ranged

A new reloading mechanic: reloading can no longer be interrupted
by movement or shooting too early. Shot on the Run: firing while moving will incur a penalty of -4
unless you have shot on the run. Bow
speed improvements: as you level up, you will become faster with ranged
weapons, making ranged combat more consistent with melee combat. When you equip a ranged weapon, you must now wait the time a
standard reload would take before you can fire. In
untargeted attack mode, ranged weapons now accurately hit where the
targeting reticule is. Previously, there were slight errors based on
race. A new feat: Precise Shot. Another new feat: Improved Precise Shot Many shot: when you reach base attack bonus of 11, you will get a
third arrow to fire during a many shot burst. Repeating crossbow speeds have been adjusted at lower levels. Target correction – when you have an invalid target selected, the
bow will now perform an untargeted shot. Haste now affects ranged attacks.

Melee

You can now map your mouse buttons more flexibly! Active combat feats have been greatly improved The combat delay at the end of combo chains has been removed. Performing non-combat actions will now cause a small delay. Action boosts will no longer get interrupted by movement Tumbling will no longer break your combat chain. Moving attacks have been slowed down slightly. Dual-wielding has been improved. You may now perform melee attacks while you are in the air. Sap has been fixed! The artificial delay has been removed from auto-attack Just for Bards The amount of time it takes for Bard's song effects to kick
in has been reduced. Movement will no longer interrupt Bard songs.

For a more detailed look into these changes please read the full href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63376" target="_blank">changes
to ranged combat article and the full href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64984" target="_blank">changes
to melee combat article.



New Mouse Mapping Options



To make our user interface a little more friendly, we have added some
new options for mouse button mapping:

Single Attack - Takes the weapon in your hand and
swings/fires it at your target or untargeted. Select Target - Take the current target under your mouse
cursor or if in mouselook the target under your reticule. DDO Classic Interact - Single click selects the target,
double click interacts with the target. MMO Interact - With a single click on the target, it
selects and interacts with the target. If the target is a foe, it
engages autoattack. Action Interact
- With a single click on the target, it selects and interacts with the
target. If the target is a foe, it simply selects the target.

Each
of these potential mappings has the option for camera orbit (where the
camera swings around the avatar while that mouse button is held) or
steering (where the avatar turns to face where the camera is points).



The default mapping is what players are used to:



Left mouse button - DDO Classic Interact / Steer

Right mouse button - Single Attack



To create a standard MMO mouse configuration akin to World of Warcraft,
players should choose the following settings:



Left mouse button - Select Target / Orbit

Right mouse button - MMO Interact / Steer



Feats



With Module 3: Demon Sands we are introducing a number of new feats to
the game, as well as some significant changes to old favorites. For
more detail on the new and changed feats please href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=69296" target="_blank">read
this article.

As a compliment to these changes to feats we are also introducing a
feat respec system. For complete details please href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=68875" target="_blank">click
here.



Spells



Acid Rain, Blade Barrier, Chain Lightning, Cometfall, Create Undead,
Force Missiles, and Undeath to Death are just some of the new spells
that we've added for this module. To read the complete lists of new
spells please click href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70325" target="_blank">here
and target="_blank">here.



Treasure Table Revisions



"I killed a billion CR 23 monsters and all I got was this lousy
potion of cure light wounds."



Potions and scrolls are being moved to a separate consumables table and
therefore can no longer take the place of your +5 Mithral Full Plate
etc. The higher level treasure tables will now also have a chance to
drop multiple potions.



"No self-respecting vampire would have +1 garbage in his treasure
chest."



We have changed the treasure tables so that you are more likely to get
a higher quality weapon. We did this by narrowing the range of possible
item quality per treasure level, especially at higher levels, which
removed lower quality items from each level's treasure table while
increasing the probability of better quality items. We are offsetting
this change by reducing the total number of items that can drop from a
single chest. In short, players will see fewer total, yet receive
higher quality items per chest.



"Where are all the bracers, rings, helms, boots, belts etc.?"



The chance for random chests to drop these miscellaneous magic items
has been greatly increased (by up to five times).



"Why don't more Bastard Swords, Dwarven Axes, and Full Plate Armor
drop?"



The percentage chances for each weapon and armor type to drop have been
modified to more closely match the percentages in the Dungeon Master's
Guide. The result of this is that many more of the most desired weapon
and armor types will begin dropping in random loot.



Static Storyquest Treasure



There has been a great deal of player commentary on the static lists of
named items that players are allowed to select from when completing
long story quest arcs. The two main complaints we've seen are 1)
everyone ends up having the same equipment and 2) after completing a
story quest arc more than a few times you already have all the possible
items. On the other hand, many players like being able to plan their
gear. They like knowing which quests they have to complete in order to
get a specific item.



We have tried to make some changes to the static rewards system that
addresses the complaints while preserving the better aspects. Now, when
players complete a story quest arc a list of items will be generated
for the player to choose from. Each of the named items that were
previously on the list will have a chance to still appear. If the named
item does not appear, a randomly generated item of the same type will
appear in the list instead. These random items are approximately the
same quality of the named item. All items on these story quest reward
lists will still be bind-on-acquire since these items generally have
lower Minimum Required levels.



The new system will still allow you to have the chance to obtain the
named item while adding an element of variety. It might take you longer
to obtain the named item you had your heart set on, but who knows what
other exciting items you might gain access to?



Auction Houses



The Coin Lords are pleased to announce that they have teamed with House
Kundarak and House Orien to open several auction houses in Stormreach!
Auction Houses will allow you to both put items you no longer want up
for sale and purchase items you desire. Sellers will be able to set an
opening bid and an optional buyout price for their items, and will also
be allowed to cancel an auction if they see fit. Buyers will be able to
browse through items using the Auction House user interface and place
bids on items that they wish to purchase. Items will be sent via mail
to the highest bidder and the money will be sent via mail to the
seller. Branches of the Auction Houses will be located in every ward of
Stormreach, although all of the auctioneers draw from the same
inventory list.



To read the full article on how Auction Houses will function please href="http://www.ddo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64283" target="_blank">click
here.



Inventory & Shop Improvements



Shopping Carts



The days of accidentally buying or selling an item you didn't want are
gone forever! Shopping carts will provide you a way to double check
that you are buying and selling the intended items. This will eliminate
quickly double-clicking on items to buy/sell and getting or selling the
wrong thing because the inventory shifted. Also, items that cannot be
sold (collectables and locked items) will no longer appear in the sell
window, so if you want to do a bulk "add all" you will only add those
items that can be sold and haven't been protected.



Item-Lock Down



We are thrilled to introduce the "lock" button! Located on your
inventory panel, this new button can be used to quickly secure (and
un-secure) your items. When you secure an item a small lock will appear
in the lower left-corner of the item's icon. A locked item cannot be
sold, traded, or dropped (destroyed) by the player. Please note:
secured items can still be destroyed through normal use (i.e., using a
scroll), and by wear.



General

Fixed an issue where
going link-dead/disconnecting during teleportation into a dungeon could
prevent you from getting XP from that dungeon. Fixed an issue which prevented your XP panel from refreshing
after returning from link-death into a dungeon. If
your party completes an adventure, and you miss it (link dead, or
healing in a tavern), the adventure will now complete when you reenter
the dungeon. This way, you won't miss out on your XP, or miss out on
advancing your quest. NEW - In some
rare cases, some players were not receiving proper favor for the
adventures they completed. This problem has been fixed. The adventure
compendium will now give players proper credit for all adventures. This
fix should also retroactively award players favor who finished an
adventure in the past, but did not get credit for it. You will now slowly regenerate Hit Points and Spell Points while
walking around the city and not just in taverns. Previously
when players used a stat-enhancing tome (such as the Manual of Bodily
Health) the increase in ability score from the tomes were not being
considered as part of your "base ability." This means that they were
not being counted for purposes of advancement. This has been fixed.
Players who have used tomes in the past will see the correct behavior
in the future. If you used the "Tome of Clear Thought" you will receive
the correct number of skill points when you advance in the future, but
will not receive retroactive skill points. A number of new emotes have been added to the game:
/beckon
/hug
/flex
/groan
/grovel
/kiss
/no
/poke
/sigh
/taunt
/yes
/cheer2
/dance2
/show (allows you to /show off your right-hand weapon). The
Silver Flame has recognized that the brothers stationed in Taverns have
been casting an inferior version of Restoration. From now on, the spell
cast in taverns will remove 1 negative level in addition to all the
other Restoration effects. Raid parties for the Dragon or the
Warforged Titan will now have the option of setting the raid loot
shards to go to a random member of the party rather than to the leader.
The leader can switch the shard designation by right clicking on the
party health-bars (in the same place he/she clicked for
"convert-to-raid"). All members of the party will be notified in party
chat when this happens, and later arrivals will be notified when they
join the party. Once the party has been switched to "random loot", it
cannot be switched back. Shards will be randomly assigned to any member
of the party who is alive and still in the dungeon as soon as someone
attempts to pick up the shard. Fixed a bug which prevented the player's encumbrance from being
updated when sending an item through the mail. Some
new Tips have been added to the game that will be displayed when
loading a new area. Special thanks to ddo.com forum members apollojuly,
Berjik, Chardros, Denomicon, DeusMortis, DrAwkward, Drogon,
DuckOfDeath, Elurian, Fu-Inator, Furee, oronisi, patnodewf, Squeg,
Thanatos, Thistle, tihocan, toddfox2, tr0tsky, Ustice, Volund, whysper,
winsom, and Worg2k6 for the new helpful tips! Players will no longer get stuck while dismounting from ladders. Freedom
of movement items and spells will now allow you to ignore the effects
of slippery surfaces (i.e. grease and sleetstorm areas). We are
pleased to announce the addition of the /showhelmet <on | 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. When you successfully swap a spell, you will now get an alert
telling you that it worked. Poison
dart and poison grenade traps will now actually poison you instead of
doing poison hp damage. In addition, we have fixed several broken traps
throughout the world. Soulstones are now ethereal to almost everything which means
they'll fall properly if you die in mid-air, over water, etc. The barkeeps of Stormreach have started carrying and increased
variety of items. Lava Cam! When your camera is in lava, it now looks more like
it's in lava, as opposed to water. Made
some small tweaks to our avatar animations. For example, human female's
wrists won't twist in the dual weapon combo attack, dwarven arms won't
over-extend when they use an axe to cleave, etc. Clarified a number of tooltips and descriptions, fixed several
incorrect icons and focus orb images.

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). These changes will be most noticeable for modem users. The
landscape renderer has been overhauled to provide better performance
(especially load times). In addition, the new landscape engine enables
huge draw distances that were not possible before. The overall frame rate has been improved and ‘hitching' reduced. Avatars
and monsters are now a bit brighter than other objects (the intensity
depends upon the environment and lighting conditions).

UI Improvements

The text on the
XP bar has been clarified to make it more obvious that you have not
lost the XP you were accruing toward your bonus AP when you die and get
an XP debt while you are working toward bonus action points. Race and Alignment requirements to equip items will now be shown
in RED text. We've
added a new button to the focus orb! The new "tell" icon appears next
to the "invite" button when you have another player selected. Mail The "New Mail" icon will now appear on the Focus Orb even if
it is minimized. The "New Mail" icon will now vanish from the Focus Orb when
the last new letter in your mailbox has been opened. NEW - Players will be able to read
the entire subject line from mail they receive. The "To" and "Subject" line of the Compose Mail UI no longer
accept carriage returns. It
is no longer possible to compose new mail while your mailbox is full.
The Mail Box is considered full when it has fifty or more letters
inside of it. It is no longer possible to put too much text into the
Compose Mail' "To," "Subject," and "Message" fields. The
options panel now provides the choice to reset the chat windows back to
their default window configuration (General, Party, Guild, Combat). All
other windows will be removed. /retell can now be used with the alias /rt as well. When
you type in "/r " the chat box will automatically replace that text
with "/tell X," This works with "/r", "/reply", ";r", and ";reply".
This functionality has also been added to the /retell command and
should help eliminate mistells. Guild Officers should now see their own chat message appear in
the Guild chat tab. The spell swap window will no longer get stuck closed if you
close it by backing away from the trainer. The
affordability status will now update when you acquire currency (i.e.,
from selling things) while the shop panel is still open. Mummy
rot and mummy curse have new alert icons which look different from one
another. Also, the alert icons for when players get hit by monsters
using the feats stunning blow, sunder, and bewildering blow have been
replaced with clearer ones which better depict the effect or feat
rather than the exclamation point icon. In an effort to help clear up some confusion Ranks will now start
at 1 instead of 0. ALT-Z will now hide/show the main UI. You will now see the dice rolls for dispelling. When
using something other than the mouse to move the mouse cursor (for
example, an Xbox 360 controller), the mouse cursor will not be allowed
to move outside the game window.

Monsters

A few old familiar
spellcasters have discovered some of the same new spells that players
have discovered and have added them to their spellbooks and
repertoires, in some cases replacing older spells. While the difficulty
of these spellcasters may change slightly (up or down) as a result of
these additions, overall difficulty should not change by a significant
amount. Many human enemies have had their alignments updated or
corrected. For example, Agents of the Emerald Claw are now Chaotic
Evil; Warriors of the Emerald Claw are now Neutral Evil; the
necromancer Gerti is now Chaotic Evil; all Blackguards are now Evil,
and many are Lawful Evil; City Guards are now Lawful Neutral; and
several misaligned thieves and rogues are now Chaotic Neutral. Monsters can no longer remain stealthed/invisible when they are
casting harmful spells on you. Adjusted
some monster sneak attacks to function properly – some were not being
blocked by fortification, while others were not triggering in situation
where they should have (for example, with a blinded target). Monsters will now deal properly when hit with multiple behavior
states (for example, mesmerized while dancing). The
behavior of monsters that cannot reach their target because other
creatures are in the way has been improved. Preventing a monster from
reaching its target is now an effective way to gain the creature's
attention. Summoned monsters now appear at the spellcaster's location. UPDATED
– Some monsters (primarily on large landscape areas) will no longer
follow opponents indefinitely. Now, when they get too far away from
their home base they will turn around and run back home. While a
monster is returning to its home camp it will heal itself, will be
invulnerable to spells and normal attacks, and will run at a faster
speed than normal. If a monster can't find a path home, it will
teleport. A pass was made for consistency on breath weapons of
monsters. Several of these attacks were being applied incorrectly,
preventing Protection from Energy or Resist Energy from functioning
against them. Several bow wielding enemies will now shoot
various energy arrows like flaming arrows or cold arrows. These will do
the typical piercing damage (1d6 and up) in addition to various amounts
of energy damage. Several resourceful enemies have begun using
various alchemical substances in battle. In most cases, these will
affect players as energy damage over time. Warforged Titan
When knocked over, the WFT will stay down longer. The laser can be moved more times before the power runs out. A crystal will keep the laser powered longer. The WFT's claw attack now makes less attacks per round. The WFT now fires less small shots per round. Reduced the damage on the WFT's small shots. Reduced the flight speed of the WFT's small shots. The detect boxes of falling pillars has been increased
(watch out below!) The detect box of the laser has been increased (do not shine
directly into your friends' eyes).
Troglodytes
Troglodyte
Stench is no longer called 'nausea' but is instead properly called
'Troglodyte Stench' and flagged as a sickness. The functionality of the
stench has not been otherwise changed. Most named troglodytes have been given more hp on the hard
and elite settings. Liches
Liches
can no longer be affected by command undead, halt undead, the undead
fear portion of the chill touch spell, or control undead (not in game
yet). NEW – We have made some visual
changes to the Lich's Mantle of Invulnerability spell. This is a visual
change only – no change has been made to functionality. Mephits now fly faster. Some wraiths can now cast spells. Trolls should no longer attempt to make melee attacks from out of
range. Wight priests now cast attack spells with greater frequency. Ghouls
now properly apply the Sickened condition on opponents rather than the
Slow effect. Sickened creatures have a -2 penalty to attack rolls,
weapon damage rolls, skill checks, and saving throws. Effects that
remove or protect against poison function on sickness. UPDATED
– Iron golems' immunity to electricity has been reduced slightly to
allow players to slow them with electric attacks. Iron golems can now
be slowed for a short time by electric attacks which do at least 1
point of damage. When iron golems are hit by fire, they are now healed
by 1/3 of the amount of damage rather than the full amount. Fire damage
will also cancel out the electricity induced slow effect if present. Fixed
a bug that was preventing spiders and dwarven enemies from being
affected by the Slow spell and similar effects that reduced their
movement. Spiders Some mid- and high-level (mostly CR 7 and up) spiders have
new stronger poisons. Most
spiders on the hard and elite settings have had their attack damage
reduced significantly, particularly those on the elite setting. Widow type spiders will once again shoot functional webs. Redfang
– Redfang has been eating her Wheaties - her difficulty has been
increased slightly to put her in line with other boss monsters. Whisperdoom
- Players should follow Ungurz's advice and not attempt to slay her –
there is something in the air near Splinterskull that makes her
practically invincible. The mind flayer and vampire's dominate abilities no longer dispel
protection from evil. Vampires
Vampires no longer cast shadows. Vampiric Domination is now properly "Dominate Person" rather
than "Dominate Monster" (Celestial Dogs and Warforged rejoice!)
Undead bosses can no longer be affected by turn undead fear. Some ogres have been eating their veggies and will be able to see
and hear better than they could before. Earth Elementals
Elemental Empathy will work properly on Earth Elementals that
have used their Earthgrab ability. All earth elementals will now react appropriately to
creatures they cannot reach.
Flesh to Stone has been updated to only affect creatures that
have flesh. As such, beholders will no longer petrify Warforged. Fire Elementals will no longer get stuck dancing at times. Mummies
Mummy spellcasting AI updated. More
powerful versions of Mummy Rot are now labeled accordingly: Pernicious
Mummy Rot is more dangerous than regular Mummy Rot, and Virulent Mummy
Rot is even more lethal. It is no longer possible to have more
than one type of mummy rot on you at a time (if you were fighting a
normal and elite mummy simultaneously). NEW
- The Venerated Mummies in the Tomb of the Ancients now have a special
ward that makes them immune to the blade barrier spell. They will no
longer be quickly killed by enemies casting blade barrier while you try
in vain to keep them alive.
Brother Salasso
and other creatures capable of going gaseous, ethereal, or otherwise
incorporeal, should no longer have a chance of becoming permanently
stuck in a half-ethereal state where they can affect you but you cannot
affect them. Adran ir'Karsmore relies less on natural AC and more on his
clerical buffs to provide him enough AC. General
Xanti'lar - His fireshield now protects him from cold and does fire
damage to attackers, more like the regular fireshield spell, the
difference being that his fireshield gives him immunity to cold instead
of half damage from cold. Additionally, his caster level has been
brought up to the normal level instead of being improperly set low. Female humanoid villains will no longer charge into melee range
if armed with spells or bows. Mind flayers no longer reappear after being killed by a fiery
death. Fixed an issue with the death animations of Arcane Skeletons.
They will no longer "eat collectables" they should be creating. Humanoid monsters will no longer throw weapons from their feet.

Combat

All enemy trips and
knockdowns now have dual saves (an initial save and a secondary save).
Most give you an ability modifier check for the initial save to
determine whether or not you fall. This will be your Strength or
Dexterity modifier, whichever is greater on your character. Some
knockdowns like grease give a reflex save as the initial save. Once you
fall down, your secondary save checks will occur every two seconds and
are versus your balance skill to determine when you stand back up. Player level no longer adds to DCs to resist your feats (trip,
sap etc). Bard
songs can no longer be interrupted by people hitting you. Cleric
enhancements that use turn-undead charges can no longer be interrupted
by people hitting you. Turning on action boosts can no longer be
interrupted by people hitting you. All Construct Bane weapons now affect Warforged. Vermin Empathy and Elemental Empathy will now properly deduct
from your Wild Empathy uses per day. Rangers
can now choose Favored Enemy: Gnoll as one of their favored enemies,
either during advancement or by using a feat respec. Favored Enemy: Construct now works on warforged opponents. Smiting weapons and other death effects now give better combat
feedback in your chat box. Boss monsters will now give better feedback on spells that they
are immune to. Critical
confirmation rolls are now shown in the chat log. Victims of sneak
attacks and crits will now get clearer messages about it.

Spells

Spell Changes

We have optimized and polished many of the
spell effects, so don't be alarmed if your favorite spell doesn't look
exactly like it did before.. The valid arc for casting spells on a target has been increased
from a forward 90 degree arc to a forward 120 degree arc. Resist
Energy is now available for clerics, paladins, rangers, and wizards.
Protection from Energy is now available to Rangers, Wizards, and
Clerics. This change allows these classes to cast Protection From
Energy and Resist Energy the same way a sorcerer can, by memorizing a
single spell and then choosing which damage type to ward against. The
days of memorizing several Resist Energy: (Element) are no more! A
special Thank You goes to the forum posters for their valuable feedback
on this issue. Spell crits were not working properly on some
AOE spells; now they will properly register the crit when casting and
then apply the extra damage to all targets for the full duration of the
spell. Spell crits will now also work properly on burning hands and
cone of cold. Protection from Evil has been fixed to work
correctly. It no longer protects against *all* charms and compulsions
(including Otto's, command, hold monster/person, etc). Rather, it only
protects against charms and compulsions that give ongoing mental
control, such as the vampire's dominate ability. Also, as per D&D
rules, it no longer protects against mental control from just evil
creatures, but ALL mental control, regardless of the target's alignment. Break enchantment now removes all petrification effects (such as
from the beholder). Since the Heal spell is now available for players, Restoration no
longer removes Feeblemind. Phantasmal Killer is now a fear effect. Phantasmal Killer damage on a successful save is no longer
negative energy damage, but rather untyped damage. Sleep
spells (Sleep and Deep Slumber) now have recurring saves every minute
that the spell is active. This allows players who have been affected by
sleep to have a chance to break free of it before the full duration has
elapsed without significantly impacting its usefulness in combat
situations. Players will now be immune to charm spells. Players will no
longer be immune to command and suggestion spells. Dispel Magic now correctly bypasses Spell Resistance. Stinking Cloud is now properly considered a 'nausea' effect. Holy smite will now damage spiders. The
Teleport spell no longer has a Somatic casting component so players
will not suffer an arcane spell failure chance for Teleport while
wearing armor. The Dispel Magic spell (for bards, clerics,
paladins, sorcerers, and wizards) no longer requires a material
component to cast (as per D&D rules). Niac's cold ray now uses the proper ray cast animation. Mind Blast now affects all enemies within the area of effect. The
flame arrow spell now allows the caster to choose what type of ammo
he/she would like to add the "flame" property to. Choices include
Arrows, Bolts, Throwing Daggers, Throwing Axes, Darts, and Shuriken.
Each requires 1 base unmodified type of that ammo (so Flame Shuriken
requires 1 plain shuriken) and produces a stack of 50. All players and
items that can cast flame arrow will now cast the "new" version. Stoneskin
and Protection from Energy spells now work as per PHB - they have a
total amount of damage that they protect you from, after which they
will vanish. Ice storm no longer creates a slippery surface on
the ground that causes players or monsters to fall. Instead it slows
the land movement speed of enemy monsters for a very short time while
in the storm area. When blind, you will no longer see the names
floating above the head of named friends/foes. In an update sometime
after Module 3 we will be restoring the ability to see friend's names. Casting/Cooldown
Slightly reduced the cooldown timer of all level 5 spells. Significantly
sped up the casting time of Command, Dimension Door, Flame Strike, and
Spell Resistance to be in line with other spells of their level. The 'projectile' portion of Fireball and Ball Lightning have
been sped up slightly. The Flaming Sphere ball of fire has been sped up slightly. Significantly increased the cooldown timer of the sorcerer's
Suggestion spell to be in line with other Suggestion spells. Made
several minor tweaks to casting times and cooldown timers of other
spells to bring them in line with similar spells of the same level.
The
cloud spells Acid Fog, Cloudkill, Fog Cloud, Glitterdust, Mind Fog,
Obscuring Mist, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud, and Solid Fog have had
their FX altered slightly. Now, if you or an ally cast any of these
spells you will see the particle effects only, and not the obstructive
visual overlay. Cloud spells cast by enemy spellcasters will still
display screen overlays on any target that didn't resist the spell. Stinking
Cloud, Obscuring Mist, and Fog Cloud no longer blind players. Instead,
Stinking Cloud, Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud, Solid Fog, Acid Fog, and
Cloudkill now give a 20% concealment miss chance to enemy attackers due
to the obscuring of sight. Players in sleet storm, however, are still
considered to be blinded. Obscuring mist, fog cloud, and sleet storm
effects can no longer be avoided with blindness ward items. Changes to Web
The
vast majority of monsters that had previously been flagged as immune to
web now can save against it normally. This includes both per-genus
immunities (like giants) and immunities based on hit dice (which was
causing many monsters on hard and elite settings to suddenly become
immune to web). The monsters that will continue to be immune to
web are incorporeal creatures, spiders, oozes, fire elementals, other
creatures largely comprised of fire, and bosses. In other words,
incorporeal creatures can pass through webs, spiders are spiders, oozes
squish through webs, and creatures that look like they're on fire can
burn through the webs. Spiders now properly display an 'immune' message when hit
with a web spell. Spider webs now have recurring str checks and hold players
the same way the web spell does. Ghouls and wights can no longer run through webs freely (they
were missing their entangled animations). To
compensate for the removal of many of the immunities to web, web now
has recurring saves. Any monster that fails the initial reflex save can
attempt to make a strength check to break out of the web. After
succeeding on a save the monster cannot be affected by a web again for
the rest of the round (~3 seconds). The area of webs effect has shrunk slightly to better fit the
physical appearance of the web. Area
of Effect fire spells, both friendly and harmful, now properly burn
through webs (previously they were burning the web itself, but leaving
creatures that were already caught entangled, now all creatures that
are entangled when the web is destroyed will be freed). Players caught in webs cast by enemy monsters can no longer
move freely. Obscuring Mist can now be burned away with fire spells (like the
Web spell - as per D&D rules). Glitterdust's penalty to hide is no longer resistible with a Will
Save. Bards now get feather fall as an optional level 1 spell. Beneficial
AOE spells, such as haste or remove fear, will now center on the caster
rather than some distance in front of the caster when cast without a
target selected (or with a monster target selected). These spells when
cast with a friendly player targeted will still center around that
target. Fiery Inferno, Burning Touch, Thaarak Hound Breath, and
Scorch will now be stopped by the appropriate Resist Energy spells and
items, and not by physical DR. The visual for the Grease spell now matches more closely the area
of effect. The teleport spell now uses the correct particle FX. You will now get chat feedback in the combat window when you hit
someone with a non-damaging spell (like fear or slow). The
delay between when some AOE offensive and defensive (buff) spells are
cast and when the spells actually applies their effects has been
shortened. This makes these spells easier to land on moving creatures
and make it slightly less likely that the party barbarian will keep
running out of range of haste before it lands. The radius of Sleep, Deep Slumber, and Feather Fall have all been
increased to "standard" AOE radii. Fixed
a problem with the Dismissal spell wasn't adding the spell level (4 for
clerics, 5 for sorc/wiz) to the spell's save DC, making it much harder
to land than it otherwise would be. Protection from Energy and Resist Energy selector spells now all
share the same cooldown timer across all versions.

Metamagic Fixes

Characters using the Quicken feat will find their spellcasting
greatly improved. Dismissal no longer consumes extra spell points while the
Maximize or Empower spell feats are active. Eschew Materials
The spell point cost of using your Eschew Materials metamagic
feat has been reduced. Resistance, Restoration, Raise Dead and See Invisibility
spells can now be used with the Eschew Materials feat.
Enlarge Spell
The
enlarge spell metamagic feat no longer consumes additional spellpoints
when used on the self-only spells Find Traps, Divine Favor, Divine
Power, Detect Secret Doors, Expeditious Retreat, and False Life The enlarge spell metamagic feat now works properly with Wall
of Fire.
Extend
Feeblemind and Waves of Fatigue no longer consume extra spell
points while the Extend Spell feat is active. Wall of Fire can now be used with the Extend Spell feat.
Heighten Spell
Find
Traps, Ice Storm, Magic Missile, Scorching Ray, Sleet Storm, Wall of
Fire, Solid Fog, Grease, Melf's Acid Arrow, and Searing Light no longer
consume additional spellpoints while the Heighten Spell feat is active. Holy Smite, Ray of Exhaustion, Shocking Grasp, and Niac's
Cold Ray can now be used with the Heighten Spell feat.

Spell Description Updates

(these are just text changes, not changes to spell functionality)

Spell descriptions now use color for greater readability! Player
spells will now state in their descriptions if the spell has a saving
throw to resist, and if so, the results of a successful save. Niac's Cold Ray now properly includes max damage (please note:
there has been no functional change to this spell). Ray
of Enfeeblement description fixed, it had been indicating an extraneous
+1 STR damage that it did not do, and was missing max caster level
information. Hold spells have been updated to state that they have a save
interval. Player spells that have a max Hit Dice cap should now state this
in their description. Melf's Acid Arrow description has been updated to list the
correct interval. Wall of Fire description now been updated to include damage
amounts. Scorching Ray description now includes information about
additional rays and their levels. Updated
Solid Fog description to remove reference to blocking missile attacks
(which did not work) and added information about melee attack and
damage penalties. There has been no functional change to the spell. We have corrected several other spell descriptions as well.

Skills, Feats, & Abilities

Trained-only skills now require a full rank, not half a rank, to
use. Resolved an issue where only the first person to walk near a
secret door would make a spot check to see it. The
magnitude of the bonus provided by Action Boost: Attack and Action
Boost: Skills have been reduced at the higher level enhancements. Bards
can now activate their singing abilities while moving! The activation
time on their singing abilities has been reduced significantly as well.
An animation glitch has also been fixed! At level 6, Drow
erroneously received the option to purchase an Elven ranged combat
enhancement intended for high elves only. Drow can no longer select
this enhancement. The description for the Paladin's Lay on
Hands ability has been corrected to better describe the amount of
healing/damage that the ability does. Fixed a bug with some AOE
abilities and spells. Formerly, if you had a dead monster targeted,
Turn Undead would fail. Now, it will work, but will be centered on you
since your selected target is dead. The same is true of other feats,
skills (Intimidate, etc.), and spells (Burning Hands, etc.), for which
the default behavior on an invalid target should be "happen, centered
on me", or "happen, aiming directly forward". The Bard Inspire
Competence ability is now correctly flagged as a 'competence' bonus to
skills, not a 'morale' bonus as it was.

Enhancements

Warforged who take
the fighter's armor mastery enhancements will now see it affect the max
dex bonus from their armored body feat. The Divine Healing enhancement now affects warforged characters
equally effectively as non-warforged characters. The Human Improved Recovery Enhancements now will properly
increase the value of heals cast on you.

Items

When you attack most
creatures, the chance that your weapon will be damaged is now
significantly less (on average). Weapon damage chance after hitting
oozes and rust monsters has not changed. The prohibition the
Coin Lords had placed on the sale of handaxes in Stormreach has been
lifted. Handaxes now for sale in fine weapon shops near you. Docents should now always appear properly both on your screen and
on everyone else's. Removed a bug causing equipment to be generated with race
restrictions, but without setting the UMD difficulty on the item. Tomes
and Manuals that grant statistic increases can no longer be destroyed
by monster attacks. They will instead become broken and can be repaired. Stacks of higher level Resist Energy potions now list the energy
resistance gained (either 20 or 30 points). Superior
[ENERGY] Lore item effect descriptions now match the actual bonuses
given by these items, a 15% chance to critical for 1.5x damage when
casting a spell of the correct [ENERGY] type. There is a new
weapon effect "Vicious". This effect causes the weapon to do an
additional 2d6 of damage to the target, but also does 1d6 of damage to
the wielder. Generic Masterwork and +1 items sold in various shops around
Stormreach are no longer bind on acquire. The Grease Scroll now has the appropriate caster level for a
level 1 spell. Fixed
an issue with Bane weapons where they were not getting the proper +N
bonus to damage their specified enemy (they were getting the +d6, just
not the +1 on lesser/+2 on normal/+4 on greater). Bolts of X
Bane have had their minimum required level reduced to match Arrows of X
Bane. This change is not retroactive, but all new bane bolts found will
have the new minimum required level. Corrected a treasure issue
where some slashing weapons were generated without an intended effect.
The affected weapons will not suddenly gain a new effect but they will
retain their inflated monetary value for sale to vendors. Steel Bucklers will now have steel hardness. The
following bane weapons will now have the appropriate attack bonus. At
the moment there is not a retroactive fix for older copies of the
weapons that do not have the bonus but we are working on one.
Kelmar's Justice
Sword of the Giant Slave-Masters
Giant Stalker's Knife
Spider Spike
Spiked Mace of the Elements
Darkleaf
Banded Mail will now actually be made out of Darkleaf. This benefits of
Darkleaf include; +1 to max dex bonus, armor skill check penalty
reduced by 2, arcane spell failure reduced by 5%, and armor is
non-metallic (which matters if a rust monster bites you). Any
new Roguebane Breastplates from Gwylan's Stand will now have a minimum
required level of 4 as well as having a higher value and durability. The
Star of Irian that drops in Tempest's Spine is getting a makeover. All
existing and new Stars of Irian will have the Righteous effect work as
described (+2 to-hit/damage vs. Evil creatures). It will no longer do
an additional 1d10 damage on critical hits. Newly created Star's of
Irian will have increased durability and hardness as well as an
increased minimum level requirement. The durability change will not
affect already existing Stars. Crests will now sparkle to make them easier to see. Thrown
weapons (axes, daggers, darts, and shuriken) will now rotate
appropriately when thrown. Thrown daggers and axes now also have
streaks as they spin through the air. Elemental weapon particle FX have been toned down. The
"Protection from Chaos" effect found on the Planar Gird and the
Chaosgarde has been renamed "Chaosguard". This is to prevent confusion
with the D&D rules Protection from Chaos which includes a ward
against mental control. Our effect was never intended to include that
ward (and never has). There is no change in the actual benefits of
these items.

NPCs

Wandering NPCs (such as Altan Eguilan) should no longer slide
away while talking to players. Petra Pollister the Potion Peddler in the Portable Hole has a new
potpourri of puissant potions. Summoned and charmed monsters should no longer attack Derward
Ironhill. Guard Joalam in the marketplace is no longer suicidal. Durk the Deranged has noticed that his friend Loghan is no longer
in the Leaky Dinghy.

PVP

Sneak attack works as follows: If the target player is helpless, sneak attack applies. If the target player is blinded, sneak attack applies. If the target player is asleep, sneak attack applies. If the target player is stunned, sneak attack applies. If the target player is bluffed, sneak attack applies. If the target player is dazed, sneak attack applies. If the target player is flanked, sneak attack applies. In PvP arenas only, inflict wounds spells can be used to heal
friendly undead.

Quests

NEW - The following quests now have a
"solo" mode:
Redfang's Foul Chambers Sunken Sewers Deneith Sewers
It should no longer be possible to find an empty chest in a low
level adventure in solo mode. Fixed a problem where some floor puzzle tiles weren't lighting up
when they should have. NEW
- Fixed a bug where several quest items that were "drop on exit" were
being erroneously deleted if the person who had been holding them was
out of the instance for too long. Now these items will be available as
long as the instance is open. NEW - The following quest objects now
have the Neutral Evil alignment:
The Totem Pole in Splinterskull. The Idol of the Fury in Sorrowdusk. Any evil altars such as Altars of the Dragon Below and Altars
of the Dark Six.
Arzag-Khor Sewers Several
new champions of the Arzag-Khor have joined them in their sewers. These
are powerful warriors who have the potential to be guarding new special
equipment.
Black Anvil Mines
Duergar survey crew should no longer respawn.
The Butchers Path
A secret door that wasn't so secret has been fixed - players
will now need to use the search skill to locate the secret door.
The Catacombs
The final fight in the Catacombs has been made more
challenging.
Delera's Tomb
Charmed monsters should no longer prevent progression through
the dungeon.
Den of the Kobold Brothers
Balanced
the treasure tables on the chests in the Den of the Kobold Brothers to
be more in line with dungeons of similar length and difficulty.
Haunted Library
The floor puzzle in the Haunted Library now requires that all
4 runes be lit at the same time in order to open the door.
Hidden Chapel The experience granted for completing "Purge the Heretics"
has been increased. Irestone Inlet
If you use a tar keg and don't have a powder keg, the tar keg
will remain useable.
NEW - Keeper's Sanctuary
This
quest is now bestowed by Menos Xuekaine's new apprentice, Archin
Muriose. Archin requires that you have completed his master's quest,
"Haunted Library," once, but only once. You can find Archin at his
master's table in the tavern.
Osgood's Basement
Some breakables in this dungeon were not counting towards the
XP bonus for number of breakables smashed. This has been fixed.
The Pit
The experience granted for this dungeon has been raised
dramatically. A
powerful and well equipped conjurer is rumored to have been killed in
the Pit. Wonder if the slimes have left any of her equipment intact… The third furnace room is now more friendly to players. Made some changes to the Pit's instruction manual - Step 9 is
a little bit different since the final objective has changed.
Redfang's Nesting Ground
More spikes are now disabled by the control panel in the
spike-trapped room, creating a wider "safe path" for travel.
Ruins of Threnal Adventure Area
Gate of the Black Moon The
chest at the end of the Gate of the Black Moon has been re-added. Also,
the door that Kharvos Valadan opens at the end of the Southern Threnal
Ruins quest will close after a time and will not reopen.
The Southern Ruins NEW
– Adventurers should try to keep the party together when facing the
Elder Beholder – as soon as the Beholder aggros on you, the door to his
room will now close. Threnal Ruins We've
made some changes to the giant caves in the Ruins of Threnal adventure
area to balance and spread out the loot across all 3 of the caves. Each
cave will now have 1 chest at the end of it which will give level
appropriate loot. It is no longer possible to "miss" the first giant
encounter in the Threnal Ruins.
Sharpwood's Warehouse
The enemies will no longer respawn. Shrouded Vale
Shrouded Vale now properly acts as an adventure area and not
an individual quest. The cart will now take you back to Phiarlan.
Sorrowdusk Island Adventure Area
Grey Moon Den
The Rest Shrine in Grey Moon Den is open for business
again.
Cult of the Six
After
players complete "Cult of the Six" by speaking to Lord Hragg, they can
revisit Bruku the Elder to repeat the "Cult of the Six" quest without
also repeating "Grey Moon Waning." The chests at the very end
of the Cult of Six quest series will now only spawn after both the Fire
Reaver and the Idol have been destroyed. Fane of the Six
The puzzle wheels at the end of the Fane of the Six
now work correctly.
Sorrowdusk Temple
The 2 floor puzzles in Sorrowdusk Temple now require
that all 3 of their runes be lit at the same time to complete the
puzzle.
The Temple Outpost
You can now carry the Libram of the Six out of the
dungeon and Hragg will take it from you.
The Sunken Sewer
Reworked the final encounter in this dungeon to prevent
players from getting stuck while fighting the boss.
Tangleroot Gorge Adventure Area
Splinterskull
Chief Ungurz will now offer an option to repeat the
Splinterskull quest arc.
Tempest Spine
The
"Bridge to the Inevitable" gate trap will now open after 3 minutes to
prevent parties from getting stuck should someone run ahead, trigger
the trap, and then die.
Three Barrel Cove Adventure Area
Aboard the "Sea Witch"
Previously,
Lars Riflee would behave as if you had already done his quest before if
you had done the Sunken Sewer quest, not his. This has been fixed.
Garl's Tomb
Old Grey Garl will no longer fall through his hatch while
fighting you.
Troglodyte Clutch
More XP will be awarded for the optional objectives of
Freshen the Air. The
Troglodyte Shamans were not getting along with each other. Some have
left the clutch entirely while others simply put some distance between
themselves and their brethren. As a consequence, Harven Gralak now
requires fewer Troglodyte Shaman to be killed. When the shamans left, the troglodyte tribe enlisted the aid
of some kobolds to fill in the gaps in their ranks. Adventurers
weary from battle with the Troglodytes now have a place to rest, but
the clock's still ticking, so they shouldn't dawdle! The
Troglodytes have cleared a hallway and expanded their lair to include
room for their breeding grounds. Rumor has it that an especially rank
Troglodyte, Matriarch Sishliss, has taken up residence there, fiercely
guarding her eggs and treasure. Doggart now requires
adventurers to meet him at the exit before he will declare the job
done, and he won't let you leave without clearing both the vents and
the source of the troglodyte infestation.
Twilight Forge Adventure Area
Cartamon's Shipping Warehouse Fixed an issue with unintentional respawns in the end
room of "Hiding in Plain Sight." Ghola-Fan's Compound
The
chest in the Iron Golem training room inside Ghola-Fan's Compound will
no longer pickable to help prevent quest completion issues. The
ogres under the instruction of Master Tar-Lom will now attack those who
seek to rain missiles down on them from above, instead of sitting
around wondering what to do. Restless Isles
We have added another encounter. The locked gates in the tunnels beneath the isles can now
be picked with a high enough dc roll.
Twilight Forge The dogs in the boss fight will now stop respawning after
the mind flayer boss is killed. Made the locked chest in Twilight Forge easier to open. Vault of Night Adventure Area
Plane of Night
It should no longer be possible to fall through the
intact bridges in the Plane of Night dragon encounter.
Prison of the Mind
Monsters should no longer fall off Prison of the Mind.
A rest shrine has been added to Prison of the Mind. Vault of Night Rest shrines have been added to this dungeon to help
weary travelers.
The Waterworks
Guard
Branson's dialog now correctly indicates that there is a level
requirement not a favor requirement to get the "Invasion" storyquest.
Wavecrest Tavern
Kobolds will no longer attack you through doors in the
basement.

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