Vanguard: New Patch (and other stuff)

Well, my old layout was causing me some problems, so I switched it up. New VG banner and everything!

Speaking of Vanguard, the latest 140ish mb patch dorpped last night, here are the notes:
Vanguard Build 01694 Patch Notes 1/19/2006

GAMEPLAY
– NPCs that you have very low faction with (Kill on Sight) will no longer respond to hails, and will not act as merchants, trainers, or recipe trainers.
– Items on merchants will now display their true damage numbers.
– Balance: Fast weapons (daggers, hand wraps, etc) have had a significant damage increase.
– Balance: PC damage of time spells (DoTs) have had a significant boost in damage and cost.
– Balance: Direct damage spells have had their damage significantly increased across the board. This applies to all cast times.
– Balance: Challenge level 2 NPCs have had their damage growth rate slightly increased from level 10 upwards.
– Balance: NPC hit points have been adjust down for the different level blocks as part of combat speed tuning. All level ranges above 10 were affected by varying degrees.
– Staves – Many staff items have been updated to work now.
– NPC leashing has been modified to allow more flexibility to those fighting. When you are actively fighting an NPC it will have a much larger hard leash radius.

– Characters:

The races in Vanguard have new attribute bonuses!

Starting at level 10 characters start to gain racial attributes. The following table illustrates the attribute bonus attribute points that a character will receive. All characters receive one point in every attribute each level in addition to the bonus points.

Race STR CON DEX VIT WIS INT
Varanjar 1 2 0 0 1 0
Varanthari 2 1 0 0 1 0
Dwarf 0 3 0 0 1 0
Dark Elf 0 0 1 0 1 2
High Elf 0 0 0 0 3 1
Wood Elf 0 0 2 2 0 0
Gnome 0 1 0 0 0 3
Goblin 0 0 0 3 0 1
Half Elf 0 0 2 1 1 0
Lesser Giant 3 1 0 0 0 0
Halfling 0 0 3 0 1 0
Kojani 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mordebi 0 0 0 0 0 0
Qaliathari 0 0 0 0 0 0
Thestran 0 0 0 0 0 0
Kurashasa 0 2 0 0 0 2
Orc 2 2 0 0 0 0
Raki 0 0 1 2 0 1
Vulmane 1 0 1 0 2 0

In addition to the bonus points each race with the exception of the four human races (Kokani, Mordebi, Qaliathari and Thestran) earns 10 attribute customization points per level. The non-human races may spend up to 4 attribute points in each attribute per level. They do not all have to be spent at the same time. At level 11 a character could have spent 8 points total in any one attribute. The human races gain 14 attribute customization points per level and may spend 5 points in a single attribute per level.

There is no longer attribute gain associated with your class.

ADVENTURING
– Druid, Psionicists and Sorcerer damage over time spells (DoTs) have had their strength increased. The primary factor between class damage over time potential remains the number of Dots they have to stack and pets.
– Paladin, Warrior, Dread Knight, Ranger, Cleric, Sorcerer, Shaman – New particles and animations have been added.
– Bard – Cirel’s Counterpoint of Clarity is now available at level 50
– Bard – Energizing Embellishment is now available at level 18
– Bard – Cirel’s Soothing Substitution is now available at level 9
– Bard – Cirel’s Healing Harmony is now available at level 36
– Bard – Suann’s Entrancing Trill now lasts 9 seconds.
– Blood Mage – The Blood Mage has had the strength of his damage of time spells slightly increased.
– Blood Mage – Serak’s Mantle should now have the correct energy cost.
– Blood Mage – Recovering Burst should now be healing for the correct amount.
– Blood Mage – Added new ability line Reanimate at level 22
– Blood Mage – Summon Sanguine Shard now costs a little less health to cast
– Blood Mage – Mortal Calling now costs a little less health to cast
– Disciple – Chains should now require crits to happen.
– Dread Knight – Shadowy Veil now grants a run speed buff as well as invisibility
– Dread Knight – Moved weaknesses from Wrack to Malice.
– Dread Knight – Increased the flanking bonus from Malice.
– Disciple – Wisdom of the Grasshopper should work now, no matter what level you are.
– Disciple – Bonds now all have different icons
– Disciple – Adjusted the Resurrection spells. You should now get them at the correct levels and there is a difference between them.
– Monk – Aums should now teach you abilities as intended
– Monk – The North Wind chain should now actually trigger
– Monk – Storm Stride now has a 15 second refresh.
– Necromancer – While in undead form, most undead will ignore you as you are invisible to them. Undead that can see invisibility will see you and recognize that you do indeed have brains that they can eat. Brains, it’s what’s for dinner.
– Necromancer – Entomb is now called Soul Trap. It works exactly as it did, but no longer transforms its target into a spectral zombie.
– Paladin – Added the ability to exploit weaknesses to several of your abilities.
– Paladin – Increased the damage on both Hammer of Valus and Blade of Vol Anari since both are finishing attacks.
– Psionicist – Mirage now works correctly. Invis away!
– Psionicist – Psychic Schism will now deal damage as intended.
– Psionicist – New particles and animations have been added for many powers
– Ranger – Nature’s Guise has been moved to level 1
– Ranger – Lowered the cast time of Entangling Webs to 1 second, down from 2
– Ranger – Increased duration of Poison Shot
– Ranger – Cripple now lasts 15 seconds, up from 3 to 4 attacks.
– Ranger – Converted Barbshroud to the new damage system, you should notice damage and feedback changes
– Ranger – Lowered refresh time on Blade of Summer to 10 seconds, down from 30 seconds.
– Ranger – Lowered damage on Windsong
– Ranger – Added 60 second refresh to Windsong
– Ranger – Increased the chance consecutive hits will occur with Windsong
– Ranger – Added new ability line Fleetblade at level 22, it upgrades from there
– Ranger – Lowered the cost of Windsong to 10, down from 24
– Ranger – Grasp of Earth now has a solid duration with a % chance to break on hit.
– Ranger – Added new ability line Envenomed Blade at level 26
– Ranger – Added a flanking bonus to Blade of Summer.
– Ranger – Added Freeze. Please experiment with your abilities to find it.
– Ranger – Changed the icon for Cripple
– Ranger – Added Swelter. Please experiment with your abilities to find it.
– Ranger – Added Whisper of the Wind. Please experiment with your abilities to find it.
– Ranger – Removed refresh from Regress
– Shaman – Added the ability to exploit weaknesses to several of your abilities.
– Shaman – The Patron Spirit quest lines have been revamped for Tuurgin and Rakurr and are ready to go for all patrons. Any player who is having problems with their patron should reset their progress and start again. It even works now!
– Shaman – All Patron Spirit abilities including spiritwalk will now be stripped from your character when you complete the reset process.
– Warrior – Power Attack’s energy cost over time has increased.
– Warrior – All of your counter attacks are now free.
– Warrior – No versions of Brutal Strike can be used in Defensive form any longer.
– Warrior – Leap Attack now has proper costing
– Warrior – Fixed a naming conflict with Smash III and Smash IV. Previously Smash IV was named Smash III which conflicted with the name of Smash III which is Smash III. Smash III is still Smash III and the old Smash III that was actually Smash IV is no longer Smash III and has been renamed Smash IV. Now when you execute Smash III it will not try to launch Smash IV (because it used to be named Smash III).

CRAFTING
– Added Ranged Accuracy, Damage, and Critical dusts to artificer work orders between 10 and 20 for new Bow/Crossbow
– Leth Nurae taskmasters pause longer while they’re walking around.
– A smelter has been added near the forge in Three Rivers.
– Issue with WOs giving wrong enhancements
– Removed utilities from tables that were not used by the trade
– Fixed description issue with some outfitter work orders
– Removed legacy toosl from work order reward tables
– Joining a crafting organization now gives you the proper title.
– Empty bag bug should be fixed now please post if you find anymore
– Inability to get work orders for some people we believe has been resolved please try a new character and see if you can reproduce the issue
– The Qalian Apprentice Outfitter recipe now takes stiff bundles.
– All basic and outpost recipe instructors have had their recipe listings cleaned up and polished with new recipes added to all.
– Added bow recipes to artificer instructors. Additional elemental choices can be obtained through quests.
– Reduced power of progress complications a bit
– Reduced hit points of complications a bit
– Should be able to fit all refined items in utility pouch
– Initiate Quest for Blacksmiths have the proper ingredient action in the recipe now.
– Crafting tutorial rewards have been updated.
– Lower level work order rewards have been increased in cash value.
– New Targonor and Bordinar’s Cleft taskmasters pause more often in their routes.
– Crafters above level 10 can rent horses for free from finishing taskmasters at cities and outposts to travel between them.
– Failing certain crafting faction quests now incurs a faction penalty.

Known Crafting Issues:
There is a known issue with Crafting Tutorial quests in all cities during the first time assembly phase. When you get to that part using a crafting table, the assembly recipe drop down is not populated. Logging out and back in will fix this issue. This affects all crafting spheres and should only happen to brand new crafters doing the tutorial.

DIPLOMACY
– Wrap Up with the Heartsworn should now finish properly.
– Implemented quests in the following areas with cards as quest rewards. All require 40 skill and a variety of presence values: Martok, Tursh, Khal, and Ca’ial Brael
– The second half of “Undermine the Port Authority” in Khal should now be available with Rahebjah Sabet
– Renton Keep now has Civic Diplomacy levers. Enjoy.
– Renton Keep’s Civic levers have been adjusted to the proper Presence levels. Oh, and we gave them names, too.
– Bordinar’s Cleft Civic Lever – “Clergy Incite” is now working properly.
– Theindal, god of Beauty, found the cries of noobs who can’t do the horse quests to be ugly, so he has prevailed upon Kaerellun the Silver-Tongued to ease up on the difficulty. In other words, horse quests now have much easier decks to defeat.
– Tanvu human newbie line now has a wider selection of evaluations available to players.
– Tanvu half-elf line is ready for testing! Speak with Aran Riverbend in the house next to the House of Whispers.
– The Civic Diplomacy benefit “Lost Arcana” no longer spams casting and injury messages. It just quietly exists like the other cards you get through Civic.
– The tutorial has gotten another revamp, and should be complete-able by the vast majority of players. Please give it a shot and feedback to us.
– “Rallying the Students” in the Tursh newbie line can now be completed.
– Varanjar Newbie Line: Fixed quest that was open to everyone that shouldn’t be.
– Varanjar Newbie Line: End of the line reward now includes a prefix title!
– There are now more brokers available on all continents. And they will now buy both Crude and Significant information. Look for Plot Brokers in Bordinar’s Cleft, Khal, and Tanvu; Arcana Brokers in Ca’ial Brael, Mekalia, Hathor Zhi (and Leth Nurae of course); Blackmail Brokers in Halgarad, Hathor Zhi, and Martok; and Trends Brokers in Tawar Galan, Lomshir, Mekalia, and Rindol Field.
– Noble Gossip and Crafter Gossip now each grant a new Diplomacy card when they are activated in a city. These cards are “Grace and Courtesy” and “Crucible of Words.” Clever players will have to determine which card goes with which lever.
– A number of minor bug fixes with decks.
– There is now at least one Blackmail, Plots, Trends, and Arcana broker on each continent. They should all now take Crude Hearsay and Significant Hearsay.
– The first Civic Diplomacy Tutorial quest is now available in Tursh – speak with Stevvan Remniol in the center of the village. The only requirement for this tutorial is 40 Diplomacy skill. Most cities with a Diplomacy newbie experience will have this quest series soon!
– Icho Sho has awoken (again!) from his slumber and will agree to fight the Ulvari Dream Infiltrators in Harmonious Action.

WORLD POPULATION
– Players should no longer find hundreds of unattackable Vaelwyn Runners outside of Whitefawn Retreat.
– All of the Martok Islands have seen an itemization pass, excluding the Sacellum of Ghalnn.
– The following Thestran areas have seen an itemization pass: Vault of Heroes dungeon, all overland and dungeons within Veskal’s Exchange and some Kaon’s Rush overland NPCs
– Most Kojanese Weapons and Shields should be sporting new models now; as a result, the forums will now be sporting arguments as to whether size really does matter.
– Right-click abilities on Greatstaffs and Wands should all be fixed; Focus items, which do not have the dmg/dly that Wands do, are still in flux. Yes, it is confusing, which is why they are “in flux.”
– World Loot drop percentages have been slightly increased in the level 11-25 range.
– The following areas have seen an itemization pass: Leth Nurae, Dahknarg, Cave of the Urugog and Broken Fang Slave Camp
– Podlings and Toxitors in Caverns of Noztgha have had their difficulty adjusted.
– The missive quests that require you to kill a set number of NPCs, but were not allowing players to turn in, should now automatically complete the quest when you kill the last required NPC. If you are already on one of these quests, you will need to abandon and restart it.
– Hafeez al’Azzimat is looking for brave adventurers to enter the Haekemish Excavation mines and face the source of the caravan attackers. He is not looking for anyone but those who prove capable. Are you worthy enough? Note: The Haekemish Excavation mines is a full group dungeon for levels 10-15. Speak to Hafeez in Temple of Dailuk at the Beacon of Hafeez al’Azzimat.
– The following areas have received an itemization pass: Ra’Jin Stronghold, Magi Hold, Wailing Wind Asylum, Tomb of Lord Tsang and the overland content in those chunks.
– Additional delivery quests have been added throughout Qalia and Thestra.
– The Razing Beetle Carapace should now sell for a nice chunk of change.
– Adjusted the location at which you port into the ‘Utaalk’ portal (Ouellette of Ulvari Master Xaoxin) in Riftseeker’s Torrent. Please bug it if you are still ported into Maplelynn Wood.
– General: Fixed over 125 stuck NPCs in Leth Nurae, Dahknarg and Halgarad
– Dahknarg: Prove Your Strength – This quest will no longer complete automatically.
– Dahknarg: Proving Clan Devotion – You should now get credit for killing Gnakel
– Dahnkarg: Proving Clan Devotion – Corrected the Journal location of the Bloodhowler Prisoner (Gnakel)
– Dahknarg: Paint – Increased the number of Kalou plant spawns
– Halgarad: Fixed directions in quest: Defensive Stance: The Runt of the Litter” and the travel journal entry that wasn’t showing up
– Halgarad: The bug causing Hillshadow to never respawn after being killed has been fixed. He will now respawn fairly rapidly after being killed.
– Halgarad: King Rotham in the quest, “Trial of Courage” had been incorrectly flagged as a non-attackable Town NPC. This has been corrected and you can now kill him.
– Halgarad: King Rotham in the quest, “Trial of Courage” has been set to spawn for the individual/group that spawns him ONLY. This is to prevent griefing.
– Jharru Flats: A new level 12-15 mini-dungeon: Karrus Fahrel is open in Jharru Flats
– Karibasa Village: Nahina Sabbari of Karibasa Village should no longer appear on the top of the canopy.
– Khal: Nillia Janeth in Khal (Wayfarer’s Embassy) should no longer appear without forearms or feet. The surgery was a success!
– Leth Nurae: Fixed several broken travel journal entries and cleaned up some newer quests in the area.
– Leth Nurae: The quest, “Dance of Lights” is now fixed so that you actually get to keep the lantern when she says “Keep it”.
– Leth Nurae: Fixed drop of “Intact Bear Femur” on quest “Making Beautiful Music” – should only get 1 now.
– Leth Nurae: Fixed broken TJE for “Malatuar the Cannibal”
– Leth Nurae: Removed the Quest “Quickfinger” from Ranger Shyath since Quickfinger has no quests to give and he wants to complete Shyath’s quests
– Leth Nurae: Fixed broken TJE for “Into the Den”
– Leth Nurae: Fixed the appearance of the “Corrupted Elf Sorcerer”. He’s no longer a disembodied head with arms
– Leth Nurae: Seriously retooled the spawn times on numerous intro-level NPCs in Leth Nurae (needed to be drastically reduced). Getting through quests in the starting areas should be a lot smoother now
– Leth Nurae: Added TJE and brought quest directions/instructions up to standards for a number of quests in Leth Nurae
– Martok: All quests within Martok have been appropriately itemized.
– Martok: Leash range for denizens within the Gardens of Xia’Liu has been increased.
– Martok: Respawn time for denizens within the Gardens of Xia’Liu has been increased.
– Martok: Added Laxx Harbixk, a ranged weapon vendor to the main city of Martok.
– Martok: Zelka Harbixk at Grimsea Watch decided to hang up her weapon vendor hat and sell general goods once again
– Martok: Mailboxes have been added to Veenax Garrison, Gaxston Village, Gwarn’s Boundary, Khenvor, and Gulkar’s Encampment
– Tanvu: Fixed Quest: “The Sick Recruit” in Kojan. Now Elder Berry bushes should drop Elder Berries and not Infected Blood.
– Tanvu: The quest, “The Sick Recruit” has been re-tooled. In order to clarify what needs to be done, the quest has been split in to three parts. This means that if you are attempting to finish this quest, you will need to abandon it and re-take it after this patch. If you don’t abandon it and re-take it, it will appear to be broken when it is, in fact, working just fine.
– Temple of Dailuk: Overland population in Temple of Dailuk has been adjusted so it does not look like a warzone. Certain NPCs will now fight back if attacked by other NPCs.
– Temple of Dailuk: The missives board in Temple of Dailuk should now be working properly. You will find this missive board just out front of the tower at the Beacon of Hafeez al’Azzimat. Note: These tasks are for players level 8 to 16 for the Temple of Dailuk chunk, though players over level 16 may still receive the higher end tasks.
– Temple of Dailuk: A few more quests have been added to the low end tasks on the Temple of Dailuk missives board.
– Temple of Dailuk: Added sign posts to the crossroads in Temple of Dailuk chunk
– Ulvari: The final stage of the quest, “Weapons of Tsang: Unlocking the Power Within” has been fixed. Apparently players were unable to interact with the final object required to enable the last upgrade of their weapon. This has been corrected.

– The following areas have received a faction pass:
– Dargun’s Tomb
– Leth Nurae, all surrounding camps, all surrounding dungeons
– Veskals Exchange, all surrounding camps, all surrounding dungeons
– Fallen Lyceum, all surrounding outposts, all surrounding camps
– Vault of Heroes, outposts, all surrounding camps
– KoS to player race factions are still not turned on for these, but you can begin earning faction now. Please report any strange NPC behavior

– Light Armor rewards on the following quests have been tweaked
– Infiltrating the Rats
– Port Authority Documentation
– Soldier Rescue
– Ksaravi Kidnappers
– Goods of Raia
– Village Scouting
– Aukfruit Shamblers
– Aukfruit Lure

Bug Fixes:
– Players should now get quest credit for killing exhausted brilliant oasis wisps.
– Players should no longer have trouble figuring out which skeletons to kill in Trengal Keep.
– Deli Jahanpur should now have something to say.
– Players should now be able to find Rusten’s Locket and Soul’s Essences in the Rindol Storehouse.

GUI
– ‘C’ should now open/close the character sheet even if you changed to a different tab.
– Racial attributes are now visible as part of character creation.

CODING
– A profanity filter has been added. It defaults to ON. You can turn it off via the Settings window, Interface tab.
– Fix for incorrect class abbreviations coloring green in item examine popups. For example, BER will no longer light up for Psionicists.

~The Vanguard Team

-Radical