This update also has bugfixes including some important stability improvements. Finally, it includes a bunch of nerfs because we want to get all the nerfs out of the way before launching new systems in Statehelm (Very Soon (TM)). Even more finally, it includes a revision to monster looting rules.
Boss Monster Loot Changes
Most named "boss" monsters have a 3 hour "loot timer", meaning that if you kill the monster again within 3 hours, you get much lower-quality loot. In this update we're expanding the timer to also change how loot permissions work.
Attacks by a player that has already looted the monster recently no longer "group-lock" the monster to that player's hunting group. (Other players in the hunting group can still lock the monster by attacking, provided they haven't looted it recently.)
In cases where the monster dies without any group locking it, the old behavior was that the person who did the most damage gets first dibs on loot. That's still the rule, but with the extra caveat that players who have already looted the monster recently are never chosen over players who haven't.
The intent of this rule is to reduce friction in places where multiple groups are hunting the same boss monster. It's still "first come first served" for groups who haven't killed it yet, but hopefully this will prevent the same group from needlessly re-tagging the boss. This change also makes it safe for players to stick around and help later groups kill the boss without danger of screwing up looting permissions.
Bug Fixes
- More fixes for audio panel related to in-game voice chat features
- graphical performance improvements mainly to help users with low-end graphics cards
- Reinstall the out-of-bounds barrier in Serbule
- Adjust sunlight brightness in multiple areas
- Fix bug preventing the following augment from dropping: "Look At My Hammer causes your next ability to deal double direct damage"
- Fix "Word of Power: Elemental Immunity"
- Reduce visual clutter of trees in Kur Mountains
- Fix bug causing item rafflers to permanently affect your deployed count when they disappear before being configured
- Pulse of Life no longer deals damage to the target
- bugfix: loot generation: Sword skill is now compatible with Druid skill
- Upgrade Unity version to fix a Unity exploit
- A new "bad network" icon is displayed in the effect bar when your connection to the server is poor enough to impact gameplay. The intent is to give players more info about what's going on when weird things are happening. This in turn can help us understand reported issues
- fix issues with pet follow logic, especially when their master is flying or standing in inaccessible locations
- Portal Summoning Device - Nightmare Caves now drops you at the true beginning of the Nightmare Caves
- Beginners Buttermilk and Black Soup are now stackable to 5 (previously 1)
Nerfs!
We've nerfed some systems and treasure effects that are too problematic to work around. Nerfs are always cases where we the devs messed up we couldn't find a fix aside from nerfing. I apologize for these mistakes and the impact they'll have on you. The bright side is that the nerfs below are all the planned nerfs prior to the game leaving Early Access.
Nerfs In the Future?
In the past couple of years of development, we've settled onto a pattern of only nerfing things after observing their impact on the game for a long time -- at least six months. This has the upside of showing us that most things we initially want to nerf don't really need nerfing. But the downside is that when we do end up nerfing things, they've been in the game a long time and are commonly used.
Going forward the plan is to have six-month "Nerf Updates". These biannual updates will include any necessary nerfs. These updates will also be when we make major changes to combat skills, ones that require players to revise their characters. The hope is that by bundling big changes into these semi-annual updates we can provide more predictability and less FUD.
Changes to "When X Skill Active" Treasure
When a treasure effect says that it buffs an attribute while a particular skill is active, that previously just meant that the skill was one of your two active combat skills. In this update, "active" also means "usable":
- Warden gear requires you to be in an animal form
- animal-form combat skill gear requires you to be in that specific animal form
- gear for a weapon skill requires you to be wielding that weapon
- gear for Priest and Necromancy check that there aren't any disallowed items equipped
Psychology
- Psychology treasure effect: (Hands, Feet) - "Mock deals +125% damage, taunts +500, and hits all targets within 20 meters, but reuse timer is +1.5 seconds" => "Mock hits all enemies within 20 meters and taunts +1000, but damage is halved and reuse timer is +1.5 seconds"
- This effect was previously available on Hands and Feet; it is now only available on Hands. Feet-slot items that have this effect have become Legacy items. You can use Transmutation to remove this effect and un-Legacy-ify the item. Alternatively you can visit the Legacy Item Helper golem in Serbule for a random replacement item.
- New psychology power: (Feet): "Bonus Taunt to All Attacks +2180 while Psychology skill active"
We realize this is a major change for some players and apologize for the annoyance of having to revise your character. To facilitate this, Psychology transmutation is set to be cheaper this month.
Crossbow
- Crossbow treasure effect: (MainHand, OffHand, Ring): "Crossbow Ability Reuse Time -12 seconds" => "Crossbow Ability Reuse Time -5.75 seconds and Damage +240"
Changes to 'Teleport Alts'
- if a player uses Elmetaph's newbie quest to teleport to a spot deep inside the dungeon, their bind point is now at the entrance to that dungeon. (This mostly affects spots deep inside Errruka's Cave.)
Rebalance to Foretold Item Boosts
We're also going to refactor the potency of Foretold/Mastercrafted specific boost recipes. This change was planned for this update, but we've postponed it because we found a way to implement it that is less obtrusive and annoying -- we'll be able to just alter the items in-place. This will happen in the next update.
Coming Soon...
We're working furiously on a bunch of big updates that will arrive in the coming weeks, including a major character-art revision. Next week we'll have a way for you to help us test those changes before they go live. Stay tuned for more info, and happy Halloween.
