Friday Night Grab Bag

Ogrelin

Friday Night Grab Bag

Posted By: Sanya Thomas 2007-03-23 19:32:38

Q: When does 1.88 go live?

A: March 28th.

Q: I am currently working on leveling a Bainshee. I was planning on going full Ethereal Shriek specialization, however the current patch is altering archery dynamics and I was wondering how the Wraith's - (Shield, Barrier, Barricade) line of ranged physical ablative would be affected. Since the bow lines are being changed to be more like a spell line, will it no longer be effective and be changed to some other effect, or is it being adapted to the new system?

A: From the Redhead: “Your barrier should indeed work with the new archery system. We're working hard to ensure that abilities such as this, and the Valewalker's Nature's Shield, work correctly with the new system.”

Q: Will the Sojourner ML 6 ability (Gateway) change now that everyone has access to the personal bind stone? It seems quite redundant to have two of the same abilities. This is even more true when you consider that it is an ML 6 ability, rather than an ML 1 ability or something like that. (The ML 10 group transport will still be useful, since you can transport more than just yourself.)

A: Good point – there are several reasons why the ability is still of value, however. “Some people enjoy having two ports to bind, because of the lengthy reuse timers. As well, the Sojourner ability frees up a very valuable inventory slot, if you do not wish to carry the stone.”

Q: Since archers now have Falcon's Eye again, does this mean that we can no longer crit on poison / acid shots?

A: Poison/acid shots will not crit.

Q: Why does Power Shot have a long shot timer unmodifiable by dex? I tried out all the various shots last night, and Power Shot just doesn't seem to have any advantage over simply using Regular shot.

A: (Sanya here – this question continued with a ton of details coming from the player’s own testing, as well as comparative data. The Redhead’s answer took all of that into account, but I have snipped it for space reasons.)

From the Redhead: “Power Shot breaks bladeturn, and does high damage. With Pulsing bladeturns, timing rapid fire and switching between shots can be tricky. Power Shot is a guaranteed hit through bladeturn for high damage, at the expense of a very lengthy draw time. If you can produce better results with other shot combinations, that is excellent, but not everyone is as quick on the draw as you.”

Q: Are arrows thru the backs of our enemies getting put back in? I for one actually liked that feature on my non-archer toons, as it gave me an idea of where the archer is and I can quickly determine which direction I need to run if I choose not to engage said archer, for whatever reason.

A: We don’t know yet, but I sure hope so… for the same reasons you mention.

Q: End costs on most special shots seemed a bit high to me. Is this intentional?

A: Redhead: “You should still be able to fire off 25-30 of the most costly shots, in succession, before running out of endurance. We tried to balance a real cost in to archery, like styles and spells have, without creating a situation where you would either never run out of endurance or always be out of endurance.”

Q: Will archers be getting access to the Caster version of GoV? And if so could be get 18 Str on it instead of 18 Acuity?

A: The Item Minion strikes back: “Well I took a look at each version of the Guard of Valor that the various archers got and realized there was a bit of an imbalance with the latest changes. There is only one version of Guard of Valor for each realm per damage type. Because Bards use Reinforced armor just like Rangers do, the Guard of Valor version that Rangers received included +4% Spell Duration and Spell Range (which previously didn't matter to archers and therefore didn't create any imbalance). Only Scouts use Studded armor in Albion and no casters use Studded armor in Midgard, so the GoV that Scouts and Hunters received both only had melee bonuses. Though Spell Duration won't have a huge effect for archers (just longer lasting self-buffs), Spell Range most certainly will. So I added them both to the Scout and Hunter versions.

“Therefore, you can have your cake and eat it too. You get the caster bonuses AND 18 Strength (which all studded/reinforced versions already had).”

Q: When will the Luck of the Leprechaun event end?

A: Monday, March 26 - but the Lucky Charm will be rechargeable until Monday, April 2.

Q: I have a house in Old Sarum. I have been trying, unsuccessfully, for two weeks to place my guilds' emblems on my house. While I am certain that this is a bug, I am hoping to get it taken care of soon. Thanks for you time.

(BTW, I own other houses on two separate accounts, and both are having the same problem.)

A: This is an annoying bug we can’t duplicate, but we can fix by hand. I double-checked with CS, to make sure it was still those people that handled it – as opposed to a dev, which some hand-fixes require – and the lead replied “Absolutely. Have them appeal in game with their Name-Server, Lot Number, and a description of the trouble. We can correct the banners for them.”

Q: When I block an enemy player's pet with my shield, the reactive proc on my shield never fires. Why is this?

A: Redhead, taking a break from archer stuff: “Reactive shield procs do not fire in PVE by design. Because of the way monster AI works in combination with block rates and shield procs, there are a lot of very exploitable situations with allowing it to exist. Thus, no shield procs against NPCs.”

***

Edit: Silliness removed.

Got this in my email, and while normally, I encourage people to put this kind of announcement in “Guild News” (http://www.camelotherald.com/more/2979.shtml), it came too late for this week’s edition. So, with a bit of a heavy heart: “Our fellow GM of Guardians of the Round Table (Albion-Lancelot) and DAOC friend, Lomstrel/Lomaccc/Sweeper, passed away this morning, 21 Mar 07. Our alliance is holding a memorial service in his name on Saturday at 2pm EST at the church in Cammy. Please show your support and join us on SAT to remember a friend and loved one.”

On a happier note, don’t forget this weekend’s Road Trip! There are going to be ten developers running amok in Rockville. (Ah the benefits of being the Road Trip nearest the office!) http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/roadtrip/2007/March_07_dc.php While it is technically too late to RSVP, that does not mean you can’t stop in and meet the gang. It just means you may not get any nachos.

I am out next week, so no grab bag. Missy’s in charge!