The Ongoing Saga

Last month, a number of old enemies attacked Dereth - from the renegade Tumeroks and Lugians besieging Fort Tethana, to the deep holes beneath Martine's Retreat dug by the minions of Aerbax, to the terrifying invasion of Asheron's Island by the Olthoi. No, this is not a safe time to be a human in Dereth, and the dangers continue to multiply. Most recently, the power that rests below Yanshi has stirred - and thus come to the attention of two major powers, Nuhmudira and Aerbax. Both seek it for their own purposes, and it has brought them into conflict with each other. But this power is not easily harnessed, even by the likes of these two....

While all of this rages on, some Derethians are turning to older sources of power in the hopes that these may prove to be more useful than previously thought.[/blockquote][/i]
The Sword of Lost Light

The August update includes a number of changes to the quest for the Sword of Lost Light, one of the original signature quests in the game. The basic flow of the quest has not changed, but there are a number of changes to the swords themselves that deserve some comment. For instance, it's important to note that only new Swords of Lost Light, obtained after the August update, will be significantly different. Pre-existing swords are no longer attuned (which means they can be given and hooked), but they just aren't as good as the new swords. The new swords are also not attuned, but infusing a new Sword of Lost Light not only improves it, but it also causes the sword to be wieldable only by the player who infused it. Note that the infusions themselves are still attuned.

Both the new Sword of Lost Light and the new Sword of Lost Hope have some other special properties, but you'll have to discover those yourself.

New Alchemy Effects

Good news! The enterprising alchemists at the Arcanum have discovered a new use for their skills. Starting with the August update, alchemists will be able to craft gems that cast a beneficial spell on the user. Gems can be created to cast the full suite of life magic protections (including Armor), as well as Regeneration, Rejuvenation, and Mana Renewal spells. The strength of the gems ranges from a level 3 spell to a level 6 spell; experienced alchemists will find it fairly easy to create the lower gems, but the higher gems will be challenging for all but master alchemists. These alchemy gems can be sold or traded, but be warned - one of the most important ingredients is not available in stores.

Alchemists should visit the Arcanum settlement near Xarabydun for more information.

"Your movement disrupted healing!"

Some time ago, we countered an animation exploit by enforcing a limit on how far a player could move during spellcasting and healing. If you moved too far while attempting either of these actions, you would get the message, "Your movement disrupted spellcasting!" or "Your movement disrupted healing!" and the action would fail.

After listening to your feedback and examining the system, we've made two small changes. First, Non-Player Killers are no longer affected by this restriction at all. As the exploit was primarily used during PK fights, we felt that the limit was unnecessary in NPK play.

In addition, we have increased the allowable radius for Player Killers slightly. This should still prevent the exploit while reducing some of the frustration that players feel when lag or other issues cause them to fail their actions due to movement.

Item Enchantment Changes

Starting with the August update, we've made two small changes to the way players use Item Enchantment - casting spells on your opponent's weapons, and casting spells on individual ammunition.

Enchanting Wielded Objects

In the past, casting Blood Loather on an enemy's sword or Brittlemail on an enemy's shield was quite easy. If the item had no inherent magic resistance-and as long as you could target the object and cast the spell-you didn't have to worry about being resisted. Unfortunately, this had the side effect of making high levels of Item Enchantment skill less valuable than high levels of other magic schools, as there was no resistance that you needed to overcome.

Starting this month, however, wielded objects that do not have their own inherent magic resistance will now be able to benefit from the Magic Defense of their wielder. This will only affect negative spells cast by an outside agent, not beneficial spells or any spells innate to the object. In addition, if an item is unenchantable, it remains unenchantable.

Enchanting Ammunition

Previously, it was possible to cast Item Enchantment spells on a single arrow, bolt, or atlatl dart. This led to situations where, with proper preparation, players could cause large amounts of damage with single shots. This was unfortunately causing some difficulties with balancing quest monsters, so starting with the August update, ammunition is no longer a valid target for Item Enchantment spells.

Bugs Stomped

We're very pleased to announce that we've tracked down and (we believe) fixed a number of long-standing bugs. Although we would normally save this type of announcement for the Build Notes, these particular bugs have caused us more than enough grief, and we are very excited to see the end of them.

[li]Coordinates should no longer disappear from below the radar when it is in the 3D part of the screen.
[li]If you start to open a corpse or container, and then change your mind, you will no longer be forced to run back to it the next time you go into combat mode.
[li]Sometimes players would have difficulty IDing an object - they would find that for some reason the game simply wouldn't display any details about the object. This could be fixed temporarily by IDing a different object and then returning to the first. We believe we have fixed this issue. (As a side effect of this fix, you may notice the ID panel closing more frequently. For example if you ID an object in a container and then close the container, the ID panel will now close as well, although before it would sometimes remain open.)
[li]In addition, you can also now ID objects that are in packs even when the packs are in another container, such as housing storage.

As many of you know, the Renegade Bow and Renegade Crossbow initially came into the game with incorrect wield requirements. Our July hotfix adjusted these requirements, but if you had wielded one of these weapons before the hotfix, it was possible to continue wielding it even if you did not meet the new requirements.

The first time that you enter the game after the August event, these weapons will check to make sure that you can legitimately wield them. If you do not meet the wield requirements, the weapon will be removed from your hand and a message will be displayed on your screen. If you have room in your main pack, the weapon will be placed there. If you do not have room in your main pack, however, the weapon will drop on the ground in front of you. We suggest that if you are currently wielding one of these weapons, and you no longer meet the wield requirements, that you unwield the weapon now in order to avoid being surprised after the update.

Those are the most important updates for this month. Of course, in addition to the changes mentioned here, you can expect plenty of exciting new content and the continuation of our ongoing storyline. See you in Dereth!