On Beta: Game Update 66 Notes

Logo Mockup by EQ2Wire

In addition to the new content in Game Update 66, which hits Beta today and will go live on April 30th, there are numerous class tweaks. But instead of class balance (although there is some of that), the overriding theme of the class improvements in this update could best be summed up as “What Bugs Your Class Most?” All those things about your class that drive you crazy, like having to be directly behind the mob to use your biggest hits as a Dirge, or having to be exactly 5 meters from the mob to do both your Melee and Ranged CAs as a Ranger.

Read over the notes and give us your take. Are these great, long overdue changes, or does it almost go too far, making things a little too convenient? As a Ranger, I’m excited about the changes, but will I become even lazier now that I can stand pretty much anywhere in the room and do my maximum DPS? I certainly applaud a number of the changes which were things that “didn’t make sense” which have now been fixed.

After the jump, Game Update 66’s Beta Notes…

SCARS OF THE AWAKENED

Ever vigilant, Norrathians march united under the banner of the New Combine army, deeper into the perilous continent of Velious.

Finally, the army breaches the borders of a region known as Cobalt Scar – a majestic, lush, but tormented region. And from within dark passages in the surrounding mountains, the inhabitants of Sirens Grotto beckon to all.

The first news heard from Cobalt Scar concerns tribes of Othmir that succumbed to an unfortunate fate that now threatens everyone. Further examination into the area will reveal a foreboding presence of the Awakened Legion, a force of evil that decimated dragonkind in the legendary city ofSkyshrine.

Nearby, in the watery depths of Sirens Grotto – unseen by landwalkers for the ages – it is said that the caverns hold secrets of their own. And the beguiling siren coven known as the Darkwater Sisters will not give up those secrets easily.

All the while, the Ages End Prophecy looms with its promise to see Kerafyrm – Norrath’s most evil, powerful dragon – bring a violent end to the world. Heroes from every corner of Norrath are called to explore this new land in Velious and fight for a future for all.

Features:

• New overland zone, Cobalt Scar — includes a new story quest line and new collections
• New dungeon, Siren’s Grotto — includes Solo, Group, and Raid challenges
• New Tradeskill quest line
• New Tradeskill Apprentice daily tasks
• Class updates based on feedback
• PvP reward updates

To reach Cobalt Scar, hail the Combine griffin tamer located in The Withered Lands!

GENERAL

• Fixed a bug where expired missions were not removing themselves.

POPULATION / ZONE PROGRESSION
Scale Yard: Scalebreak

• You can now revive properly in this instance.

Lavastorm

• The class restrictions on what armor is purchasable from Assilus Poisonbolt have been eased up.

Harrow’s End [Raid]

• Drinal should no longer have a chance to cast more than one curse on the raid force at the same time.
• Drinal should no longer drop hate on targets in the first half of his encounter.
• Spiritual Exhaustion should no longer hit the entire raid 4 times. Instead the person in group that has to react will affect only their specific group with the damage. This damage has been made unable to be AE blocked.
• Drinal should no longer occasionally cast spells on dead players.

ACHIEVEMENTS
Temple of the Faceless [Heroic]

• When defeating Venekor in challenge mode you should now receive the Sense of Urgency and Flawless achievements.

GUILD ACHIEVEMENTS

• Generals Aakita, Utehk, and Zevitus in Tallon’s Stronghold should now award a guild medal in both normal and challenge modes.
• Hand of Vallon should now award both normal and challenge mode Guild medals.
• Ancient Sentinel should now award both normal and challenge mode Guild medals.

AMENITIES

• The Guild Chronomage now costs less upkeep.
• The Guild Prophet now costs less upkeep.

TRADESKILLS

• Help the New Combine sort out their logistic woes by talking to Acting Supplymaster Grant in the Supply Camp.
• Tradeskill Apprentices are hard at work preparing new recipes from materials discovered in the new Velious zones. Assist your apprentices in their daily toils to begin creating the required materials.
• Tailors can now make t10 throwing pouches and scout cloaks.
• Ice Comet II now requires t8 components to craft instead of t7.
• Matoppie & Banyan Hex Doll recipes now use Matoppie Roots as build components instead of Thick Bear Pelts.
• Level 91-95 Essential and Advanced recipe books can now be purchased without completing any prerequisite quests.

ABILITIES / ALTERNATE ADVANCEMENT
General

• Summon Pet spells can now be cast while moving.
• Incremental Death Blow abilities no longer drop when someone leaves the group or when a pet dies.
• Weapon Skills and Spell Skills now increase minimum damage up to a cap of 40% at 5475 skill.
• Taunt and Detaunt values are now modified by your primary attribute.
• Prestige Enhancements that trigger reuse clears can no longer trigger more than once per cast.

Heroic Opportunities

• Arcane Chalance now restores 40% power. It can no longer crit.
• Ancient’s Crucible now restores 40% power and health instantly and ever update. It can no longer crit.
• Fervent Quickening now restores 20% power. It can no longer crit.
• Arcane Enlightenment now restores 20% power instantly and 40% power when the mage takes damage for a total of 8 triggers. It can no longer crit.
• Blessing of Faith now restores 30% power instantly and every update. It can no longer crit.

Assassin

• Massacre is now a point blank area effect ability instead of a frontal cone.

Bard

• Disheartening Descant now has a 0.5 second cast time.
• Zander’s Choral Rebuff now has a 0.5 second cast time.

Beastlord

• Beastlords can no longer use specific specialty poisons.
• Northwind Barrier now casts instantly and can be used while casting other abilities.
• Adrenal Flow now properly enables when killing a target with a combat art and doesn’t prevent the gain of savagery. It now displays that it cancels when the beastlord uses an ability or attacks.
• Savage Howl is now a point blank area effect damage combat art with a positional detaunt component. The second rank increases the positional detaunt. The damage is about double Rank 4 of U’lla’s Spinning Bite.
• Sharpened Claws now interrupts the target.
• Shrink Warder now applies to the beastlord and persists through death. It applies its effects to the warder automatically.

Berserker

• Lost Adrenaline now drains 1.5% power instantly and per tick. Shot of Adrenaline now reduces the power drain of Lost Adrenaline by 0.1% per rank, down to 1% at Rank 5.
• Empowering Rage now applies 25 Weapon Damage Bonus to the berserker’s group when it reaches 50 increments in addition to removing the cast time of the berserker’s Area of Effect combat arts.
• Overall ability damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Brawler

• Pressure Point can now trigger procs.
• Overall ability damage in PVP combat has been increased.

Brigand

• Strongarm now hits harder than Shenanigans VII (Master).
• Boot Dagger can now trigger Thug’s Poison.
• Havoc’s Treachery now properly applies its debuff enhancements to the brigand’s mitigation debuffs.

Bruiser

• Wild Beatings now acts as a Combat Art instead of a spell.
• Rock Skin now reduces Weapon Damage Bonus by 50 and snares the bruiser by 50% at master instead of dazing and rooting.
• Stone Deaf now has a minimum damage threshold of 30% on its stoneskin triggers.
• Martial Leap can now be cast on fighters, however the intercede does not apply.
• Martial Leap now makes all non-fighter allies close to the target invalid targets for enemy attacks for 0.5 seconds.
• Drag is now incurable in PVP combat and updates more often.

Cleric

• Wondrous Distraction now follows PVP duration rules in PVP combat.
• Odyssey now costs substantially less power to use.
• Potent Protector now grants the cleric additional potency based on their potency.

Coercer

• Charm no longer costs concentration.
• Possession no longer costs concentration.
• Mind’s Eye now lasts until cancelled and persists through death.
• Possess Essence now copies the coercer if there is no target or the target is invalid.
• Siren’s Gift now increases the maximum health of the coercer’s Possess Essence by 25% instead of removing the concentration cost.

Conjuror

• Najena’s Essence Summoning now uses 40% power instead of 80%.
• Master’s Intervention now cures the conjuror’s pet when it triggers.
• Conjuror’s Pact, Defensive Haven and Antagnonize all now apply to the conjuror and persist through death. They apply their effects to the conjuror’s pet automatically.
• Bubble is now passive.
• Soulburn can now be cast while Plane Shift is active.
• Winds of Velious now interrupts the target.
• Defensive Haven no longer reduces the pet’s intelligence.
• Antagonize increases potency of the pet by a small amount instead of intelligence.

Crusader

• Crusader abilities can now be cast while moving.
• Overall ability damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Defiler

• Cannibalize now restores 25% power. It can no longer crit.
• Soul Cannibalize now has a 1 second cast time.
• Curseweaving now makes the defiler immune to interrupts for one cast following the use of a curse spell.
• Critical Channeling now grants the defiler additional crit bonus from their crit bonus.
• Absolute Corruption now interrupts the target encounter.

Dirge

• Echoing Power now lasts for two minutes.
• Gravitas no longer has an immunity timer.
• Enhance: Elegy at Death’s Door now also improves the range of Elegy at Death’s Door by 1 meter per rank.
• Clara’s Chaotic Cacophony now has a 0.5 second cast time.
• Daro’s Sorrowful Dirge now has a 0.5 second cast time.
• Overall combat art damage in PVP combat has been increased.

Druid

• Tunare’s Protection no longer critically applies or gets potency.
• Rebirth is now an ability the caster uses while they are dead to revive themselves instead of an auto-resurrection.
• Potent Restorer now grants the druid additional potency from their potency.

Enchanter

• Mana Flow now restores 40% power. It can no longer crit.
• Manasoul’s regeneration no longer degrades as the enchanter’s health drops.
• Overall spell damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Fury

• Force of Nature should no longer generate threat when Aura of Defense or Protective Aura is enabled.
• Animal Form now triggers power restoration from any attack, instead of just melee attacks.
• Critical Mastery now grants the fury additional crit bonus from their crit bonus.
• Stormbearer’s Fury now has a 45 second reuse at rank 3 and the damage has been increased to compensate.
• Repeated Lightning’s damage has been increased to compensate for Stormbearer’s Fury’s new reuse time.
• Stormbarrier now has a 60 second duration and will also increase the fury’s potency by 5% per rank.
• Control the Storm now reduces incoming damage to the non-fighter members of the fury’s group for a short duration following the use of Stormbearer’s Fury.
• Stormlord now reduces the cast time of Starnova while Energy Vortex is active. While active, Energy Vortex also removes the power cost of Starnova, and casting it will restore power to the fury per target hit.
• Feast now also reduces the power cost of the group’s spells.

Guardian

• Taunting Assault now has a 0.5 second cast time.
• Sentinel is now a small chance to trigger a stoneskin on the target when taking physical damage. The stoneskin only absorbs physical damage and lasts for ten seconds.

Illusionist

• Personae Reflection no longer costs concentration.
• Illuminate now applies as a modification to Flash of Brilliance.
• Mirage Mastery now increases the maximum health of the illusionist’s Personae Reflection by 25% instead of removing the concentration cost.
• Personae Mastery now increases the maximum health of the illusionist’s Personae Reflection VII by 25% instead of removing the concentration cost.
• Destructive Rampage is now passively applied when casting Peace of Mind.
• Time Rampage now has a chance to reset Time Warp when Peace of Mind is cast.

Inquisitor

• Damage Mastery now grants the inquisitor additional crit bonus from damage per second.
• Inquisition now radiates from the inquisitor and uses the inquisitor’s stats. The duration is now 16 seconds and it only has two distances that it checks. It can now be cast while moving. It does not apply its heal to inquisitors.
• Pure Fanaticism now properly applies its increased damage to the group.

Mage

• Overall combat art damage in PVP combat has been increased.

Mystic

• Multi-Attack Mastery now grants the mystic Crit Bonus from their Multi Attack Chance.
• Echoes of the Ancient now interrupts the target encounter.

Necromancer

• Lich now restores 6.4% power per tick at master. It can no longer crit.
• Miragul’s Dark Heart Summoning now uses 40% power instead of 80%.
• Dooming Darkness III now scales with the necromancer’s level.
• Undead Horde no longer requires corpses.
• Siphoning of Souls now grants three charges of the spell it draws. All versions of Siphoning of Souls grant the same soul spells and they scale with the necromancer’s level.
• Dooming Darkness now interrupts the target.
• Grisly Protection, Howl of the Damned, Rending and Necromantic Pact all now apply to the necromancer and persist through death. They apply their effects to the necromancer’s pet automatically.
• Focus: Rending is now Focus: Minion’s Health and passively increases the necromancer’s pet’s health by 10%.
• Grisly Protection no longer reduces the pet’s intelligence.

Predator

• Ranged Combat Arts can now be cast while moving.
• Spinning Spear now has a 10 meter radius.
• Hilt Strike now has a 10 meter range and interrupts the target.
• Bladed Opening now has a 10 meter range.
• Point Blank Shot now has a 10 meter range.
• Placating Strike now has a 10 meter range.
• Poison Combination now has a 10 meter range.
• Overall ability damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Priest

• Priest class detaunts now also have a threat position reduction and have a 10 meter radius.

Ranger

• Rangers no longer have a minimum range on bows and combat arts.
• Arrow Rip now has a 10 meter range.
• Emberstrike now has a 10 meter range.
• Lightning Strike now has a 10 meter range.
• Double Arrow now enhances Searing Shot to reduce maximum health of the target by 5% for 30 seconds.

Rogue

• Shadow Slip now has a 0.1 second duration like predator Stalk.
• Overall ability damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Scouts

• All attacks that were only useable from behind the target can now be used from flanking as well.
• Cerebral Ebb now also reduces ability modifier.

Shadowknight

• Grim Reaper now applies 40 Potency to the shadowknight’s group when it reaches 50 increments in addition to removing the cast time of the shadowknight’s Area of Effect abilities.

Shaman

• Summon Spirit Companion now has substantially more health.
• Potent Medium now grants the shaman additional potency from their potency.
• Shrink Servant now applies to the shaman and persists through death. It applies its effects to the companion automatically.

Sorcerer

• Enhance: Thunderclap now applies the additional damage if the target is within 25 and 15 meters of the sorcerer.
• Concussive Blast can now trigger procs.
• Overall spell damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Summoner

• Cabalistic Conservation now persists through death.
• Reanimate now cures the summoner’s pet when it triggers.
• Dimensional Storage now persists through death.
• Shrink Servant, Symbiosis and Minion’s Intent now apply to the summoner and persist through death. They apply their effects to the conjuror’s pet automatically.
• Unflinching Servant now has a 2 second cast time.
• Dimensional Storage now requires a pet active to cast.
• Overall spell damage in PVP combat has been slightly reduced.

Swashbuckler

• Storm of Steel is now an area effect ranged combat art. It has a 60 second reuse, a 2 second casting time and inflicts damage similar to Dashing Swathe.
• Pirate’s Fancy now affects Storm of Steel.
• Enhance: Storm of Steel is now 3% damage increase per rank.

Templar

• Smite Wrath no longer disables when casting beneficial spells and now applies to all spells instead of just a few.
• Critical Invoker now grants the templar additional crit bonus from their crit bonus.
• Sanctuary II is now granted at level 95. This version does not dispel when taking damage or receiving hostile actions.
• Divinity’s Punishment now properly gets modified by potency.
• Divine Mana is now 1% power to the group per rank.
• Reverence is now an until cancelled buff.
• Rebuke now interrupts the target.

Troubador

• Uplifting Uproar now lasts for two minutes.
• Demoralizing Processional now has a 0.5 second cast time.
• Sonic Interference now has a 0.5 second cast time.

Warden

• Regenerating Spores should no longer generate threat.
• Haste Mastery now grants the warden additional crit bonus from their attack speed.
• Undergrowth now interrupts the target encounter.

Warlock

• Grasp of Bertoxxulous can now trigger on ranged attacks.
• Vacuum Field now lasts 36 seconds.
• Toxic Aura now lasts 120 seconds.
• Toxic Assault and Caustic Detonation now require 36 increments of Toxic Aura to cast. They now gain additional damage for every 36 increments.
• Dark Incubation can no longer trigger from Dark Aggravation and cause a false positive.

Wizard

• Mystical Heat now restores 1.5% power per tick per rank. It can no longer crit.
• Ro’s Blade now can trigger on ranged attacks.
• Auroranow roots the wizard instead of mesmerizes them.
• Fusion now has a 90 degree arc and a 10 meter radius.
• Spell Reach now also increases spell radius by 25%.
• Frozen Solid now lasts 120 seconds and maxes at 150 increments.
• Frozen Rain and Frozen Detonation now require 30 increments of Frozen Solid to cast. They now gain additional damage for every 30 increments. The damage has been slightly reduced due to only needing 150 increments.
• Iced Anger is now 0.18% threat reduction per rank per increment.
• Velium Chill now applies its effects at 30, 60, 90, 120 and 150 increments of Frozen Solid. Instead of modifying Hail Storm, it modifies E’Ci’s Frozen Blast.
• Incineration now increments to a maximum of 3 stacks and triggers at 33%, 66% and 100% chances by rank. The damage has been increased to match the lower max increments. It can no longer be cured.
• Fire Chains now applies at 3 increments of Incineration.
• Mystical Heat now applies at 3 increments of Incineration.
• Hellfire now applies three hits that deal more damage. It now has a 30 second reuse. If it hits a target with three increments of Incineration, the wizard will gain 50,000 ability mod for their next attack.

QUESTS

• To Capture a Dream – updated the quest update icons.
• If I Had A Hammer – Minimap locations have been updated.
• On Shades of Drinal: Skies of Red, the step that asks you to enter the Throne of Fear and seek out the Fear Gate should update more reliably now.
• On The Shadow Odyssey, Chapter 5: Breaking the chains, the Staff of Theer is now Treasured, and may be used by all members.
• On Is It Good News? the NPC Hroar should no longer occasionally spawn beneath the tower.
• The quest “Not Him Again” is now able to be repeated when reentering the zone.
• The quest “Mirror, Mirror” is now able to be repeated when reentering the zone.
• A Crusade to Faydwer – Collecting rhyms is now very reliable.
• Pay Dearly For Their Crime – You can speak to Overseer Vrek to repeat this quest.
• The Word of Fear, The Call of Fear, The Path of Fear – The quest journal now properly identifies the zone as the losttempleofCabilis.
• Elements of a Ritual – The Drawing Ray is now removed upon completion of this quest.
• A Strange Mix – The icon for Geldrani’s Vile now appears in the quest helper window.
• Blip Marrsquire, in Eidolon Jungle, will now acknowledge players who have helped him.
• Daliva Selumas, in Eidolon, will now acknowledge players who have helped her.
• On All Sides: Corrected a typo in Gladithae Sioniel’s dialogue.
• Worldly Possessions: Corrected a typo in Daliva Selumas’ dialogue.
• Reverence for Unlife now has more accurate quest helpers.
• Skills of the Char`Gin now has more accurate quest helpers.
• Loosening Their Grip – The spears for this quest should be easier to see from a distance.
• The Root of Rage – The map POI for “The Embrace of Luclin” has been corrected.
• On Fulgation Sightings, Watchman Fleep will now offer you a new !Fluffy if you destroy yours during the quest.
• On Get Them Steamed, Plinka Fiddle will now offer you a new geobot if you destroy yours during the quest.
• All Withered Lands tradeskill quest recipes will now be automatically scribed into your recipe book.
• A Rat’s a Rat’s a Rat – You can only capture one rat for the Sir Gnawser Chow disguise. If you delete the disguise while on this quest, you can then capture another rat for a new disguise.
• Undoing the Damage – You can now endear yourself to ogre Brokenskull wenches while in the Sir Gnawser Chow disguise
• Arcane Repercussions Unknown, Gehein Some, Lose Some, Soiled Soil – Many instances of teleportation are now spelled correctly.
• Taming of the Tuatara – Many instances of bridle are now spelled correctly.
• Book: The Loss in Western Wastes – Kael Drakkel is now spelled correctly.
• Come and Get It! – now gives better feedback when the traps are filled.
• Increased the success chance of getting the harvested pyrorock dust for the Mystic epic quest.

ITEMS
General

• Beastlords can now use most items that are equippable by other scouts.
• Praetor’s Imperial Drape now has an appearance.
• TSO raid armor merchants now sell their goods to a wider range of classes.
• Rhenium & Tungsten claws are now beastlord usable.
• Bottled Intellect and Intellectual Regeneration now restore 60% power. They can no longer crit.
• Unreliable Gnomish Pacemakers now restore 40% health and power. The heal and power can no longer crit or be modified.
• “Reliable” Gnomish Pacemakers now restore 80% health and power. The heal and power can no longer crit or be modified.
• Overclocked Gnomish Pacemakers now restore 100% health and power. The heal and power can no longer crit or be modified.
• Cry of the Battlepriest proc now works.
• Fallen Gate: Many trash drop items in Fallen Gate have been upgraded.
• “Bootstrutter’s Field Guide to the Misty Thicket,” rewarded from the quest, “Mapping the Vale,” can now be placed in your house and read.
• Sleeper’s Tomb: Arbiter Hardmode Charms: Fixed a bug that was causing Temporal Magnate to get stats improperly. The trigger chance and base values have been increased.
• The passive effect “Eternal Damnation” no longer stacks Crit Bonus.
• Nocturnal Aggression and Nox Incessit can no longer apply multiple times from the same caster.

PvP General

• Chaos Bringer PVP gear is now available for purchase in Champion’s Respite!
• Havoc Marks now stack to 20,000 outside of the currency window.
• Gnomish Net Launcher’s root now follows PVP duration rules in PVP combat.
• Mis-calibrated Manastones now restore 30% power and 15% power in PVP. They can no longer crit.
• Calibrated Manastones now restore 35% power and 17.5% power in PVP. They can no longer crit.
• Overclocked Manastones now restore 40% power and 20% power in PVP. They can no longer crit.

The following procs no longer function in PVP combat:

• Arcane Fear
• Ascent of Yael
• Relentless Will
• Fragmentation
• Earth Drink
• Flux
• Toxic Tempest
• Aether Soldier
• Sacred Territory
• Runic Absorption
• Tranquil Backlash
• Ancient Invigoration
• Runic Deflection
• Immaculate Perception
• Immaterial Barrier
• Purifying Presence
• Purifying Persistence
• Consuming Auras
• Blood Nourishment
• Displacement
• Transposition
• Dark Squall

WARFILEDS

• Outer tower guardian spawn times are now closer to the inner tower guardian spawn times.
• Tower Guardians now have 95% Damage Reduction and 10% of their former HP.

BATTLEGROUNDS
General

• If you get near the enemy’s main spawn area you will now get a debuff called “Divine Sunder”. Divine Sunder does increasing percentage health damage over time.

Battlefield of Ganak

• You must now be slightly closer to the flag to pick it up.
• If you bring the enemy flag near your spawn area it will reset.