Update 1 Official

Release Notes: Update 1

Welcome to the Release Notes for Dungeons & Dragons Online! These release notes were posted Wednesday, October 28th, 2009.

News & Notes

The old Harbor area is open again after months of renovation. Experienced adventurers can travel there to investigate a mysterious organization called the Path of Inspiration. Stormreach’s battle-hardened veterans report that the adventures in Menechtarun can be even more Epic than before.

Of Special Note:

New Adventure Packs

The Path of Inspiration

When the Inspired from the distant city of Dar Qat offered to renovate Stormreach’s old Harbor they said they were interested only in trade and friendship. But are the Inspired a dream come true or a sinister nightmare? Explore five new dungeons that will take you beneath the Harbor, to a savage island, and into your own mind as you track down the Inspired’s terrible secret.

• Rescue a Coin Lord spy to receive vital information regarding the Path of Inspiration cult.
• Free the son of Coin Lord Graden Wylkes and others from their imprisonment before they can be brainwashed.
• Discover the fate of the Rogue Jeets Shimis after his time with the Path of Inspiration.
• Enter into the mind of a Stormreach hero, battle his inner Ego and release him from his mental captivity.
• Break into the Dar Qat trade mission to destroy the Dreaming Dark's secret weapon.

This level 17-19 adventure pack includes 5 hand-crafted adventures! Adventurers seeking to confront the Path of Inspiration should visit the lower harbor district. Available for purchase Friday, October 30th!

New Store Items & Features

Hair Reversal Tonics

We now offer Hair Reversal Tonics in the DDO Store! Using the tonics you may reverse your hair color to the original color your character had at character creation. These tonics can be found in the Cosmetics category of the DDO Store!

32 Point Character Creation

You may now unlock the ability to create a character who begins with 32 ability points instead of 28 by earning 1750 favor or with Turbine Points in the DDO Store! 32 Point Build Characters can be found in the Premium Items category of the DDO Store.

Epic Dungeons

Ever wished you could run one of your favorite mid-game dungeons at a higher level, have it be challenging, and receive awesome loot for it? With Epic Dungeons, now you can!

• For Update 1, the Demon Sands Adventure Pack has received the Epic treatment. Five adventures in the Menechtarun Desert (including the Queen Lailat raid) can now be played in Epic difficulty.
• Old favorite items that originated in these dungeons can be upgraded into powerful Epic versions by collecting rare scrolls, seals, and shards.
  • Epic rewards can be further customized with Epic Augment Crystals, permanently adding new effects to your items.
  • Epic dungeons and raids award special tokens that can be traded for Augment Crystals or True Reincarnation Tokens to use once Reincarnation is available! See Misty in the Tower of the Twelve for more details! Note: Please be sure to check the Known Issues for important information about Misty.
• All members of the party must be 20th level to enter on Epic difficulty.
• This difficulty will only be unlocked if you have completed the dungeon/raid on Elite

Veteran Status

Do you enjoy making new characters, but tire of running the low-level content over and over again? If so, you'll love Veteran Status! Players will be able to unlock the ability to create veteran characters which enter the game at level four.

• Veteran Status Characters will enter directly to the Marketplace rather than playing through the Korthos experience.
• Players must achieve 1000 favor to receive Veteran Status. If you already have a character who has more than 1000 favor, you must first enter the world with this character, and then return to the character creation screen. From then on, all characters you create will begin as veteran characters.
• Veteran characters begin as level 1 characters in character generation. Once you enter the world, your character will be aboard the Heart of Wind Airship. Speaking with the crew on the airship will allow your character to select their abilities for levels 2 through 4. Once you have completed the process and chosen your starting veteran gear, you will arrive in the Marketplace at the airship spire.
• You may choose to create a normal character by opting out of veteran status once you are on the ship. Opting out of veteran status is a per-character choice available each time you create a new character once you have veteran status.

Quest & Adventure Area Changes

The Grotto

• Fixed a rare condition that was sometimes causing the quest to break during the high priestess encounter.

Stopping the Sahuagin

• The control box is closer to the traps now and can more easily be detected by new players.

Cannith Aqueduct

• Fixed a typo that directed you to go "east" to find the quest when it should have said "north".

Misery's Peak

• Portions of Misery's Peak have been cut down and streamlined.

Cerulean Hills

• Kargoth the rare in the Cerulean Hills now appears with the appropriate frequency.
• The mapnotes for the Where There's Smoke... and The Captives dungeon entrances in the Cerulean Hills now display correctly.

Where There's Smoke...

• Now with 100% more smoke.
• There are slightly fewer orcs in the hills on hard difficulty (but still more than on normal).

Waterworks

• Private Jake now gives directions to Guard Tember and the kobold's lairs, for players who have already completed the Lost Seekers, in addition to giving directions while progressing through the quset the first time.

Kobold's New Ring Leader

• It's no longer possible to have x-ray vision through the walls to see some optional mini bosses.

Irestone Inlet

• After you make the ship go KABOOOOOOOOM.... it now looks more burnt, like it should.

Shan-To-Kor

• Wayfinder Dael and the quest journal now do a better job of explaining where to go for the Shan-To-Kor quest series.
• The mapnote for the Steam Tunnels now correctly shows that it is part of a premium adventure pack.

The Sacred Helm

• Greezix is no longer inside the Caverns of Shaagh. He bestows the Sacred Helm quest from inside the Steam Tunnels instead.

Caverns of Shaagh

• A chest has been added to the area where Greezix once was.
• Beat a rebellious door back into submission so it's no longer poking through the walls.

Bookbinder Rescue

• All traps now do appropriate damage for the challenge rating of the quest.

The Stormreaver Fresco

• The bank deposit boxes now have hidden things in them. You'll have to decide for yourself if it's worth sneaking into them or not.
• A treasure chest has been added to the end of the dungeon. House Kundarak won't arrest you for looting it.

Repossession

• The Jarility statue now makes its proper sound when destroyed.

Tangleroot Gorge

• The Hobgoblins have called an electrician to fix some traps that were failing to go off on intruders.

Three Barrel Cove

• The NPCs that take players into Three Barrel Cove now correctly identify it as a CR 5 to 7 area.

Gateway to Khyber

• Is a lot more like a gateway to the underworld now, and less like a porch.

The Ruins of Gianthold

• Xilic the Jarilith will now give credit to the ""rare"" story quest in giant hold appropriately.

Tomb of the Forbidden

• An issue with a sealing door trap was fixed to prevent players from getting permanently trapped.

Tomb of the Crimson Heart

• A broken lever has been fixed.

Necropolis Series Part 2

• New handwraps have been added.

Drow Monestary

• Noisy adventurers can trigger the magical barriers if they're not careful! It's best to proceed with caution and stealth to avoid getting caught.

Hall of the Third Legion

• Barnizdu, the Pit Fiend in the Hall of the Third Legion is now properly channeling his spell and can't be engaged during the first few seconds of the encounter.

Devil's Spine

• Fixed an issue with the bonus shrine in Devil's Spine, for those folks who like to kill prisoners while they talk to them.

General Quest Changes

• Arlos, Coyle and several other NPCs will follow the last player who spoke with them.

Hireling Changes

• Hirelings now express themselves when they or their master dies. Oh the humanity!

Skills, Feats, and Abilities

Monks

Updated some monk active abilities. The special attacks attached to the elemental stances are now:

• Air:
  • Storm Strike I
    • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of lightning. Your attack will deal 1d6 additional lightning damage.
  • Storm Strike II
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of lightning. Your attack will deal 2d6 additional lightning damage.
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of lightning. Your attack will deal 2d10 additional lightning damage.
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of lightning. Your attack will deal 2d20 additional lightning damage.
  • Storm Strike III
  • Storm Strike IV
• Earth:
• Strike of the Enduring I
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the strength of the earth. Your attack deals 4 additional damage.
• Strike of the Enduring II
• You strike an opponent, backed with the strength of the earth. Your attack deals 8 additional damage.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the strength of the earth. Your attack deals 12 additional damage, and 2d6 acid damage on critical hits.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the strength of the earth. Your attack deals 16 additional damage, and 2d10 acid damage on critical hits.
• Strike of the Enduring III
• Strike of the Enduring IV
• Fires of Purity I
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of flame. Your attack will deal 1d6 additional fire damage.
• Fires of Purity II
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of flame. Your attack will deal 2d6 additional fire damage.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of flame. Your attack will deal 2d10 additional fire damage.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of flame. Your attack will deal 2d20 additional fire damage.
• A cone of searing flame shoots forth, damaging targets in the area of the flames for 1d6 damage per Monk level. A successful Reflex save (DC 10 + Monk Level + Wisdom Modifier) reduces the damage by half.
• Fires of Purity III
• Fires of Purity IV
• Breath of the Fire Dragon:
• Flowing Water Strike I
  • You strike an opponent, backed with the power of the sea. Your attack will deal 1d6 additional cold damage.
• Flowing Water Strike II
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of the sea. Your attack will deal 2d6 additional cold damage.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of the sea. Your attack will deal 2d10 additional cold damage.
• You strike an opponent, backed with the power of the sea. Your attack will deal 2d20 additional cold damage.
• Increased the duration between repeated saves.
• Flowing Water Strike III
• Flowing Water Strike IV
• The Raging Sea:
• Fists of Darkness
  • You channel negative energy into your attack, dealing 2d10 additional damage against living creatures, and the rendering the target shaken. (A successful DC 10 + Monk Level + Wisdom Mod Will save negate the shaken effect.) On a vorpal strike (natural 20 followed by critical confirmation), you deal an additional 1d50 negative energy damage.
• Touch of Despair
• You strike your opponent down with a terrible curse, halving all positive energy healing done to the target, reducing its fortification and increasing its negative energy vulnerability by 25%. A successful Fortitude save negates this effect. (DC 10 + Monk Level + Wisdom mod) The target receives periodic saves to attempt to break free of this effect.
• Increased the duration between repeated saves.
• Increased the duration between repeated saves.
• Falling Star Strike:
• Eagle Claw Attack:
• Fists of Light
  • You channel positive energy into your attack, dealing 4d6 additional damage against undead, and applies a healing shield to your target which heals your allies that strike your target. On a vorpal strike (natural 20 followed by critical confirmation), you deal an additional 1d50 positive energy damage to undead.
• Grasp the Earth Dragon:
• Duration increased to match other XPX buffs.
• The bonus to will saves was mistakenly typed as a Morale bonus. It is now untyped, like the other bonuses from this effect.
• The local area has been cleansed of things that might make spellcasting difficult, reducing your spell point costs by 25%. (Previously was 10%)
• Walk of the Sun:
• Aligning the Heavens:
• Fire:
• Water:
• Dark:
• Light:

Spells

• Hezrou "allies" will no longer teleport blindly into rooms they cannot see.
• The Frost Lance spell can now be heightened.
• Mordenkainen's Disjunction can no longer be cast in Tavern Brawls.
• Implosion's aura no longer persists in antimagic areas.

Creatures

• Drow Scorpions now deal slashing damage with their claws (like regular scorpions) rather than piercing damage.
• Reverse gravity attacks made by certain persons will now "time out", if they exceed their intended length.
• Monsters (especially raid bosses) will no longer sometimes hate objects more than players. The Judge and the Jailer have been reprimanded for their insistence that the platforms were "out to get them".

Crafting

• The Twelve have discovered a new eldritch device that is so powerful it could only be described as "epic". Members of the Twelve are seeking adventurers who are willing to gather materials for researching this device.
• Because the keepers of the Twelve believe the device is relatively safe and probably won't explode, they have kindly pulled one of the Epic-level eldritch devices out from research storage and into the Twelve ward. The keepers of the Twelve aren't entirely sure that it won't explode, so they've placed it on an outcropping of rock outside of their tower and assigned someone trustworthy (i.e. expendable) to watch over it.

Items

• New handwraps have been added to Necropolis II.
• The Lorinthor's set bonus now functions as expected, dealing extra damage to evil outsiders instead of adding the Greater Evil Outsider Bane ability to monsters hit by a Knight of the Chalice wearing the entire set.
• Amara's Belt now has the Exorcist of the Silver Flame set bonus.
• Randomly generated transmuting handwraps now function. Really.
• Chances for drops of prestige enhancement specific gear, as well as other treasure, in Shavarath have been evened out (previously some items were not dropping at appropriate rates).
• Treasure from the grotto tutorial is now correctly labeled as "starter" equipment.
• Randomly generated Metalline items now have the appropriate item name prefix.
• Effects that had a chance on hit to negate ability score damage now function properly.
• Items whose maximum durability drops to zero or less by Mordenkainen's Disjunction's suppression of enhancement and wear bonuses will now become repairable when Disjunction wears off. Items that were previously rendered unrepairable by this bug have been retroactively fixed - they can once again be repaired normally.

Other Changes

• Giles Goodman was getting pretty worn out trying to run around all of Stormreach, so he hired some help to cover his turf
  • Rudolf Rightman has taken over Giles Goodman's Marketplace location
  • Leif Lightman now mans the House Kundarak area for Giles
• The collectors Goldscuttle, Ferrik, and Versigante now have dialogue more in keeping with their characters.
• Fixed an error causing some free players to have DDO Stormreach rather than DDO Unlimited chat and mail permissions.
• A prankster was caught inappropriately levitating objects on the Harbor dock, and has been reprimanded.
• Seasonal NPCs will now show on the map when they are in town, and not show on the map when they're no longer available.
• Kazhan Raynes no longer gives incorrect information about vendors.
• Brother Malden and Shir Clowenks now wait until dialogue is complete before offering quest rewards.
• Fixed Free Agents favor mail so it no longer refers to Gerald Goodblade. Lord Goodblade is busy elsewhere.
• Wandering NPCs under the Marketplace tent will no longer get themselves tangled in the decorative swaths of fabric beneath the tent.
• Several stone heads previously stored in the market were purchased by an anonymous buyer. The Stormreach Garden Club planted some shrubs in their place to spruce things up.
• An invisible speedbump has been removed from the Market.
• Fixed stuck spots in the following locations:
• The Marketplace
• Gianthold
• Cerulean Hills
• Clan Tunnelworm
• Reaver's Reach