Patch Notes: Version 1.12

Dark Age of Camelot Version 1.12 BETA Notes Sep 20, 2001

HIGHLIGHTS
This is a big new version with lots of goodies to test. For those naysayers who prophesied that we would never have Thief classes, we say, "neener neener".

Infiltrators, Shadowblades, and Nightshades make their debut in this version. They will require lots of testing.

Also, at long last, Theurgists have been revamped, almost totally. Please check their new features.

Also, two new dungeons, more tweaks to the Thane, and the ability to make more powerful siege weapons.

NEW FEATURES AND BUG FIXES

 * - Added screen icons for Guard, Protect, and Intercept.
 * - You should no longer get stuck on doors, because now you will not collide with a door that is opening or closing - For the color blind, you'll now see '-' and '+' after the monster name. If it is yellow to you, you'll see nothing. If its orange, red, or purple, you'll see +, ++, or +++. If its blue, green, gray, you'll see -, --, or ---.
 * - The blinking icon syndrome should be fixed. Please let us know if this fix takes care of the problems.
 * - Spell icons have been updated to reflect recent changes.
 * - The Albion scimitar has been changed slightly to make it look more saracen-esque.

THIEF CLASSES
Thief classes make their debut in this version of Camelot. Each Realm has one thief. Albion has the Infiltrator, Midgard has the Shadowblade, and Hibernia has the Nightshade.

Please note that the thief is not an easy class to play. It requires lots of strategy, and almost every combat will require some sort of planning.

The purpose of the thief is to be able to hide, sneak up on enemies, and execute deadly Critical Strikes that do a lot of damage. They then use a combination of normal combat and combat styles to finish off the enemy.

They can envenom their weapons to do more damage, and each has a ranged attack that they can use as well. All three get dual wield or left axe. All three are limited to leather armors.

Please note that climbing and disguise are not yet implemented.

Critical Strikes Thief special attacks are learned by specializing in a thief-only skill called "Critical Strikes". Specializing in this skill will teach the player special combat styles, the most basic of which is Backstab.

Critical Strike styles are all dependent on the player being hidden when they first initiate them; or are based on styles that require the player to be hidden. So to use a critical strike at all, the player must first be hidden.

Critical Strike Styles The number is the amount of specialization you have to have in Critical Strikes to learn the style. Ranged Attacks Poisons
 * All three thieves get basic ranged attacks to supplement their Critical Strikes and other combat styles. The Infiltrator can use crossbows, the Shadowblade can use throwing knives, and the Nightshade learns level-based direct damage spells.
 * All thieves learn the Envenom skill at level 5. This allows them to apply poisons to their weapons before going into battle.


 * Poison vendors have been set up around the world -- use them. They sell poisons that have different effects on your enemy -- some debuff, some apply a damage over time, etc. It is expected that a thief will always attack with an envenomed weapon, so make sure you stock up on poison before you head out hunting.


 * Please note that poisons are level-based, so you will not be able to apply some poisons until you put more spec points into Envenom. You will be able to gauge the relative power of a poison by its name in the store list.


 * Please note that low-level weapons will not be able to be envenomed by high-level poisons. You must use a level-appropriate poison on your weapon.


 * Please note that only your melee weapons can be poisoned.

Distractions Combat Strategy
 * In order to be able to hide better, thieves learn how to use "Distractions". They learn this ability by training in the Stealth specialization.
 * You can greatly increase your hiding chances if you approach a monster from behind - and distractions give you the opportunity to do this.
 * To distract a monster, first hide by using your stealth skill. Move towards the monster. Target an area where you want the monster to turn by using the "target area" function (F5 by default). Then click on the distract icon. If successful, the monster will turn and face that area.
 * Please note that the monster has a chance of turning around and immediately attacking you if you fail the distract roll. The higher you specialization in Stealth, the better your distracting will be.
 * Please note that you won't get Distraction until you have about five spec points in Stealth.
 * The soloing thief should first poison his weapon, then go into stealth mode. Using distract as needed, he should sneak behind his target, then execute backstab, and the styles that chain off of backstab. Afterwards he can use a mix of regular tactics and dual wield combat styles as needed until the monster is dead.

WORLD NOTES

 * Two new dungeons:

Spindlehalla
Background The arachites, sometimes referred to by the Norse as "spidermen," are a dark forest and underground dwelling race of spider- or scorpion-like creatures. There are many species of arachites, including the common arachite, icestriders, ekyps, deeplurks, and djupt.
 * Spindlehalla - Midgard dungeon - Myrkwood (full groups 30 - 40)

The common arachites are the most structured and civilized of the different species and are generally the ones found near the surface world. Because they dwell underground, they often compete for territory with the svartalfar and the dverge and will often hunt and/or enslave individuals from either of the two groups.

All Arachites lack the ability to spin their own webs, so they harvest the silk produced by spiders, which they also tend like prized sheep. With the silk produced by the spiders, particularly young spiders and "husks" (silkworms that are found near spiders), the arachite priests have devised a way that allows the arachites to produce a weblike substance that they can use.

Spraggon Den.
Background Adventurers seeking to rid the Silvermine Mts. of its excessive Spraggon population should seek out the Spraggon Den, a messy dungeon dug out of the earth and the remains of old silver mines that many spraggon call home. It is inhabited primarily by the spraggon, along with a few other creatures that make their home in the earth.
 * Spraggon Den - Hibernian dungeon - Silvermine Mts. (small groups 15 -22)

Other

 * - Upped the monsters in the Burial Mound (Midgard) by four to five levels each and modified the spawners so they'd work similar to the other dungeons. Players may have to fight their way back out, but it'll be consistent with the others. We apologize for the inconvenience.

poison shops added

 * Hibernia: -Deante and Mailor in Tir na Nog in warehouse by palace -Dorran at the tents in shannon estuary on way to lough gur... high level poisons -Kinney in Connla, lower level poisons -Kalla in Howth -- lower levels -Riber at Druim Ligen, higher levels -Lexie in Ardee lower levels -Borlai in Tir na mBeo higher levels -Sarena in Innis Carthaig higher levels -Lirla in Alainn Binn higher levels
 * Midgard: -Sissel and Svewn, Svasud Faste. Low and High level Poison -Jolpgier and Osk,Audliten, two story norse house. Low and High level Poison -Bersi and Helja, Fort Atla, inside the tavern, Low and High Level Poison -Ander and Oilibhear, Jordheim, nearest the Vasudheim enterance. Low and High level Poison
 * Albion: Camelot, 2nd floor of Fletching shop Kedoenad - low level poison Velmis - high level poison Cotswold, Inside Inn, back room Velmis - low level poison Humberton, Second level of Humberton Keep, north corner Nydomath - low level poison Camp Forest, Camp Station merchant area Linidd - low level poison Avalon Marsh, Avalon Marsh Station Wiceit - low level poison Avalon Marsh, Second level of Caer Witrin, north corner (high level poison) Etie - high level poison Black Mountains North, Second level of Swanton Keep, northwest corner Glaeric -high level poison Castle Sauvage, Courtyard Onyg - low level poison Melannon - high level poison

TRADE SKILL NOTES
- Arrows have been implemented for creation via the tradeskills. The different types will show up under the Fletching skill specifically. - Tradesmen can now make the pieces of siege weapons that they are responsible for. The starting skill that a tradesman needs to make the raw components is 500. So a 500 in tailoring, armorcrafting, weaponcrafting, or fletching. The merchant the sells said pieces will be removed sometime within the next week. - Siege Engines: It now takes much less wood overall to make the individual siege engines - hence less people - hence less time to lug it all into one spot. - Siege Engines Electric Boogaloo: You can tentatively make the level 2 and level 3 versions of the various siege engines, as well. These haven't been fully tweaked and balanced yet, so they may be over, or under, powered. The level 2 and level 3 versions will cost more to make, but they give you greater damage and a much longer firing range. Rams: Level 1 - Small Ram Level 2 - Ram Level 3 - Siege Ram Ballistae: Level 1 - Scorpion Level 2 - Ballista Level 3 - Palintone Catapults: Level 1 - Onager Level 2 - Catapult Level 3 - Trebuchet

Thane

 * Power costs on Thane spells have been reduced.

The... urg.... ist...

 * This class has been totally revamped. The Theurgist now uses a new pet dynamic that hasn't been introduced before.
 * Theurgist pet spells are now a form of directed damage, which require a target to be selected, a range check, facing, etc.
 * The elemental that is summoned cannot be controlled, and heads to the target selected at casting and attacks.
 * Since the player doesn't have his "controlled" slot taken up by the summoned creature, this means he can summon more elementals as long as he has power. This is balanced by the fact that the new elementals only survive for approximately 20 seconds, or until they are killed.
 * While the elementals have the flag set for reduced experience penalty, summoning multiple elementals adds all the damage done by them and counts it as if 1 giant elemental did all the damage.
 * So while it may be possible to take high level targets down, it still generally takes a lot of power and the elementals absorb a proportional amount of the experience.
 * Theurgists still have 3 elemental elementals in their spec lines, ice, air and earth. They each have different dynamics.
 * The air elemental is medium offense, low hit points, and has an evasion chance. The air elemental also has a chance of stunning its target when it attacks. It can be cast from the longest range, runs faster and should be effective at harrying opponents (in PvP and PvE). It doesn't do too much damage, however, so isn't a great taunter. The earth elemental is the simplest of the 3 elementals, a melee ground pounder with a self strength buff and bonus hit points and damage. Good for dealing initial damage and holding the target engaged. The speed reduction has been removed, so these guys will happily bound after anyone they can are cast at.
 * The ice elemental is actually more fragile than the air elemental, with greatly reduced hit points and offense. However, the ice elemental has a ranged cold direct damage spell that it will cast as long as the target is at range. Once the opponent gets into melee range, it will do its best to melee the target, but realistically its job is done at that point.
 * Since all elementals are very short in duration, all pet support spells have been removed from the Theurgist's spell lines.
 * They have been replaced by variations and reshufflings of old spell lines, and fleshed out a bit.
 * The new specialization and Path of Air lists are listed below under "General Magic changes".
 * Keep in mind that this style of gameplay is brand new. One known bug is that after summoning an elemental, it sometimes doesn't update its position on the client properly, and so it seems to stand there. On its first attack, it appears next to the target.
 * This is just a display bug we'll address in the near future. There also may be some game dynamics we haven't foreseen with this new style of pet, and we'll be looking for player input to tune things to maintain balance.

General Magic changes
0 Path of Earth - Elementalist Base List Self AF Buff
 * With the Theurgist revision, all the new Wizard and Theurgist spells have been renamed (and in the case of Theurgist, changed entirely). Here are the new lists:

Damage add

0 Calefaction Wizard Earth Spec List Dmg Shield Bolt

0 Abrasion Theurgist Earth Spec List Summon Earth Elem.

Absorb single hit

Attack speed debuff

0 Path of Ice Elementalist Base List  Direct damage

Root

0 Liquifaction Wizard Ice Spec LIst Point black area effect damage

Direct damage, reduces target's speed

0 Refrigeration Theurgist Ice Spec List Direct damage, reduces target's speed

Summon Ice Pet

Area effect root

0 Path of Fire Wizard List Direct Damage

Bolt

0 Pyromancy Wizard Fire Spec List Direct Damage

Area Effect Direct Dmg

0 Path of Air Theurgist List Attack speed buff

Group running speed increase

0 Vapormancy Theurgist Spec List Summon Air Pet

AE short mes

Direct Damage