DDO: Update 8 Test Patch Notes – The Siege of Stormreach

Keeping up the rapid updating that we’ve seen since Dungeons went Free To Play, Update 8 has just hit the Lamannia test server. Lets take a looksee!

New Adventure Pack: Siege of Stormreach

The continuing saga of the siege on Lordsmarch Palace in Stormreach continues as the plot expands to include the powerful green Hag, a primary leader from Droaam, the kingdom of monsters. Four adventures launching from the Lordsmarch plaza will send players to over, under and around Stormreach eventually leading to an ancient giants ruin where monstrous deeds are underway.

  • Defend against waves of attackers to help protect a city ward!
  • Go on a covert mission to stop a Droaam navy blockade!
  • Beat back a surprise attack beneath the city!
  • Infiltrate abandoned Giant ruins to confront the powerful and deadly leader of the Droaam invasion

This level 13 adventure pack includes 4 hand crafted adventures! Available to VIPs for preview on Lamannia! Visit the Lords March Plaza to begin your adventures!

As an Adventure Pack this is going to be bought with Turbine Points, unlike the three level 12 ones released as free content last month that lead into them. I enjoyed those (and the loot was pretty great too!), so I’m looking forward to continuing the defense against the Droaam horde. I hope there’s not too many Medusa in it though. I’m still stiff after the last one! Green Hags are pretty unpleasant though. At least it’s just the one hag, as when combined in a covey with an Annis Hag and a Night Hag, their power can be truly off the scale. I imagine this one will give us a run for our money though!


Cosmetic Armor Preview

New cosmetic armors are coming to the DDO Store! Tired of the same old armor? Looking for something with a little more flair? New Cosmetic Armor is the answer! Like cosmetic hats, cosmetic armor attaches to existing armor sets so you don’t lose the benefits of your real armor. Cosmetic armor can be found in treasure, sold at the auction house, or purchased in the DDO Store! Not sure that the robe you are eyeing is exactly what you are looking for? No worries! You can sample cosmetic sets in designated trial zones prior to purchasing a permanent application. Cosmetic armor can be toggled on and off in case you feel like changing to the old look of your armor, but it is not removable.

Two new sets of cosmetic armor are available for preview on Lamannia! Each set will have variations, color options, and each color option has unique accessories attached.

Neat. I’m not sure why they’re not re-using the LOTRO appearance armour system though, rather this method. Still, it sounds fun, and I’m glad to see that it can be found in game in addition to being in the point store.

Introducing Cookie Jars!

Are you overflowing with Festivult treats? There’s a new type of storage container available in the DDO Store: cookie jars! These jars can help you store and track your Festivult cake and cookie collection. These jars can hold the following types of edible Festivult items:

  • Cookies
  • Jelly cakes
  • Cupcakes

Available in both small and large sizes for all your holiday treat tracking needs!

At last! I have a confession. My cookies and cellycakes are looked after by Mr Klaustein Cakewatcher who lives on a second account I mostly use for storage. Getting them from him is a bit of a fiddly process though, and it’ll be far more useful to able to carry them on on me.

Now we just need potion bags and scroll cases!

New: Rogue Hirelings

We’re pleased to introduce the newest line of Hirelings: rogues! These hirelings can help you find and disarm traps, and more! Rogue hirelings offer excellent damage with their sneak attacks, and can be commanded to stealth through dangerous places! Some can even assassinate your enemies! Rogue hirelings are making their debut exclusively in the DDO Store!

I’m not so sure about this one. Til now, hirelings have mostly taken on roles that did not suffer from having more than one person in that role. you can never have too make healers or damage dealers. However, you tend to only need one trapper. While I can see that for non-rogue characters, being able to take a rogue henchman would be really useful, I hope it does not impact on rogue players ability to find groups.

General Hireling Changes

  • Hirelings are now better at detecting traps (and secret doors) before their master runs into (or past) them.
  • Hirelings get a little more chatty when they go incap, die, get resurrected, or see you taking loot (maybe?).
  • Hirelings now pay attention to speed boosts and should have an easier time keeping up with players.
  • Hirelings should fall into pit traps much less often in the Rainbow in the Dark quest.

A set of AI fixes that I’ve been longing for. It has been all to easy to accidentally leave your henchman behind, only to discover this absence at the worst possible moment!

UI Improvements

General Changes

  • During character generation, Races will now list all racial feats in the Stats panel to give players a better understanding of the differences between the races when creating their character (when they select a premade path).
  • A visual effect now players when switching between characters.
  • The "sell junk" icon has been updated to be more clear.
  • Values are now left aligned in the Inventory UI.
  • Shadows will no longer flicker when objects appear in the distance under DirectX 10.
  • Device Workstations have improved UI elements to make them more friendly to aspiring rogues.

Combat

  • Missiles fired (including spells that fire missiles) will now hit player targets from all ranges, no longer going through the target player when at close range.

Crafting

  • Trapmaking recipes now yield increased results. Recipes that used to give 10 items now give 25, and recipes that used to give 5 now give 15. Grenade recipes now require 25 vials. Spell Trap recipes now require only one scroll.

Trap-making has been too ingredient hungry to make heavy use til now. This should let us be far more carefree with it’s use, and makes me feel a little safer in the face of the henchman competition!

Items

  • Bracelet of Friends and Greater Bracelet of Friends have been fixed to function as advertised now.
  • Epic Scrolls are now immediately given to a random party member instead of being a (ninja) lootable bag.
  • Half-orcs should see fewer seams in their armor.

Crafting

  • Returning Throwing weapons can now be used in the stone of change like all other weapons.

Monsters

  • Duergar now occasionally carry the spoils of their mining for the enjoyment of aspiring gemologists.
  • Earth elementals will no longer move forward while earth grabbing.
  • Maruts will spam stun and blind effects a little less frequently after they rage out.

Quest & Adventure Area Changes

General Quest Changes

  • Added color blindness support to many of the puzzle wheels in the game, as well as the ancient Doomsday Device in the Stormreaver raid.
  • Trap boxs will no longer replay their discovered fxs when players re-approach them if they’ve already disabled. They will continue to do so if they have not yet been disabled.
  • Fixed stuck spots in the following quests:
    • Bargain of Blood
    • A Small Problem
    • Stealer of Souls
  • Grammar lessons have been given to NPCs in the following quests and locations:
    • The Grotto
    • The Chronoscope
    • Vault of Night
    • The Airship Showroom
    • Gianthold

Depths of Doom

  • Moved the boxes slightly so their loot doesn’t get lost in the dirt pile.

Three Barrel Cove
Two-Toed Tobias

  • Fixed a blocked ladder.

Red Fens

  • Grounded some fences that were trying to fly away in the landscape.

Devils of Shavarath

The Chronoscope

  • Veheer now bestows all his buffs at once.

Deception in Stormreach

Eyes of Stone

  • Exploding barrels will no longer leave strange graphical effects in the air after they explode.

Skills, Feats, and Abilities

Spells

General Spell Changes

  • Sound Burst now functions again when soft targeted or untargeted.

Enhancements

New Racial Enhancements

  • New Enhancements tied to the Half-Elf Dilettante feats have been added:
    • Barbarian:
      • Half-Elf Improved Damage Reduction I
        • Prereqs: Level 5, Half-Elf Barbarian Dilettante, 14 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: You gain an additional point of damage reduction, improving your existing damage reduction by 1/-.
      • Half-Elf Improved Damage Reduction II
        • Prereqs: Level 11, Half-Elf Barbarian Dilettante, Half-Elf Improved Damage Reduction I, 36 AP Spent
        • Cost: 4 AP
        • Benefit: You gain an additional point of damage reduction, improving your existing damage reduction by 1/-.
      • Half-Elf Barbarian Toughness I
        • Prereqs: Level 3, Half-Elf Barbarian Dilettante, Toughness, 7 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Grants you 10 additional hit points if you have the Toughness feat.
      • Half-Elf Barbarian Toughness II
        • Prereqs: Level 8, Half-Elf Barbarian Dilettante, Toughness, Half-Elf Barbarian Toughness I, 26 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants you 10 additional hit points if you have the Toughness feat, bringing the total increase to 20 hit points.
      • Half-Elf Barbarian Constitution I
        • Prereqs: Level 9, Half-Elf Barbarian Dilettante, 30 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 increase to your Constitution score. This counts as a class based ability score enhancement.
    • Bard:
      • Improved Bard Dilettante I
        • Prereqs: Level 5, Half-Elf Bard Dilettante, 15 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 2, so you are now treated as a third level bard instead of first level.
      • Improved Bard Dilettante II
        • Prereqs: Level 10, Half-Elf Bard Dilettante, Improved Bard Dilettante I, 34 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 3, so you are now treated as a sixth level bard instead of third level.
      • Improved Bard Dilettante III
        • Prereqs: Level 15, Half-Elf Bard Dilettante, Improved Bard Dilettante II, 53 AP Spent
        • Cost: 3 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 4, so you are now treated as a tenth level bard instead of sixth level.
      • Half-Elf Bard Charisma I
        • Prereqs: Level 9, Half-Elf Bard Dilettante, 30 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 increase to your Charisma score. This counts as a class based ability score enhancement.
    • Cleric:
      • Improved Cleric Dilettante I
        • Prereqs: Level 5, Half-Elf Cleric Dilettante, 15 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 2, so you are now treated as a third level cleric instead of first level.
      • Improved Cleric Dilettante II
        • Prereqs: Level 10, Half-Elf Cleric Dilettante, Improved Cleric Dilettante I, 34 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 3, so you are now treated as a sixth level cleric instead of third level.
      • Improved Cleric Dilettante III
        • Prereqs: Level 15, Half-Elf Cleric Dilettante, Improved Cleric Dilettante II, 53 AP Spent
        • Cost: 3 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 4, so you are now treated as a tenth level cleric instead of sixth level.
      • Half-Elf Cleric Wisdom I
        • Prereqs: Level 9, Half-Elf Cleric Dilettante, 30 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 increase to your Wisdom score. This counts as a class based ability score enhancement.
    • Favored Soul:
      • Improved Favored Soul Dilettante I
        • Prereqs: Level 5, Half-Elf Favored Soul Dilettante, 15 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 2, so you are now treated as a third level favored soul instead of first level.
      • Improved Favored Soul Dilettante II
        • Prereqs: Level 10, Half-Elf Favored Soul Dilettante, Improved Favored Soul Dilettante I, 34 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 3, so you are now treated as a sixth level favored soul instead of third level.
      • Improved Favored Soul Dilettante III
        • Prereqs: Level 15, Half-Elf Favored Soul Dilettante, Improved Favored Soul Dilettante II, 53 AP Spent
        • Cost: 3 AP
        • Benefit: Increases your caster level in your dilettante class by 4, so you are now treated as a tenth level favored soul instead of sixth level.
      • Half-Elf Favored Soul Charisma I
        • Prereqs: Level 9, Half-Elf Favored Soul Dilettante, 30 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 increase to your Charisma score. This counts as a class based ability score enhancement.
    • Fighter:
      • Half-Elf Armor Mastery I
        • Prereqs: Level 5, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, 14 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Gives you the ability to move better in armor, increasing the Maximum Dexterity Bonus on your armor by +1. You may still be restricted by your tower shield’s max Dex bonus.
      • Half-Elf Armor Mastery II
        • Prereqs: Level 11, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, Half-Elf Armor Mastery I, 36 AP Spent
        • Cost: 4 AP
        • Benefit: Gives you the ability to move better in armor, increasing the Maximum Dexterity Bonus on your armor by an additional +1. You may still be restricted by your tower shield’s max Dex bonus.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Trip) I
        • Prereqs: Level 3, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, 7 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 bonus to the DC of your Trip and Improved Trip feats.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Trip) II
        • Prereqs: Level 8, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, Half-Elf Strategy (Trip) I, 26 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants an additional +1 bonus on the DC of your Trip and Improved Trip feats, bringing the total increase to 2.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Stunning Blow) I
        • Prereqs: Level 3, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, Stunning Blow, 7 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 bonus to the DC of your Stunning Blow feat.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Stunning Blow) II
        • Prereqs: Level 8, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, Stunning Blow, Half-Elf Strategy (Stunning Blow) I, 26 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants an additional +1 bonus on the DC of your Stunning Blow feat, bringing the total increase to 2.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Sunder) I
        • Prereqs: Level 3, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, 7 AP Spent
        • Cost: 1 AP
        • Benefit: Grants a +1 bonus to the DC of your Sunder and Improved Sunder feats.
      • Half-Elf Strategy (Sunder) II
        • Prereqs: Level 8, Half-Elf Fighter Dilettante, Half-Elf Strategy (Sunder) I, 26 AP Spent
        • Cost: 2 AP
        • Benefit: Grants an additional +1 bonus on the DC of your Sund

Half-Elf Dilettante feats already seemed really powerful to me. Many folks take splash of a spellcasting class purely to be able to use the wands of that class, but a dilettante feat is a far more efficient way to get that benefit. I’m not entirely certain how the enhancements that raise your caster level in a dilettante class actually achieve much, but being able to buy an extra stat point for 2 enhancement points certainly is useful. I’m not sure whether the races are entirely balanced as things currently stand. Also, I still want gnomes.

General Enhancement Changes

  • The Drow Spell Resistance line of enhancements has been removed. Drow will now inherently possess Spell Resistance equal to 10 + Character Level.
  • The Drow Ranged Attack and Damage lines of enhancements have been removed. Shuriken have been added to the Drow Melee lines, which have been renamed "Drow Racial Weapon Attack" and "Drow Racial Weapon Damage".

This’ll give Drow a few more enhancement points to play with. Bah, there’s elf-love all over in this patch. What about the dwarves!!!!

Sound Updates

  • The Master Volume control in the Options panel under Audio can be used to affect overall volume.
  • The Persistent Sound checkbox in the Options panel under Audio can now be checked to allow sounds to continue to play if the game focus is lost or minimized.
  • Half-orcs have discovered the joy of laughter.

Other changes

  • The spectral dragon in the Mabar Festival of Endless Night Summoning Chamber will no longer become unresponsive and unkillable.
  • Veteran status chracters who opt to go to Korthos beach will no longer be bound to the Marketplace when on the beach (they will be bound to Korthos like everyone else).
  • Grounded a floating door, unearthed a submerged ladder, and busted through some invisible walls in the Market.
  • Several half-orc hairstyles have been adjusted so they fit more properly on their heads.
  • The Coinlords used the money they earn from Auction fees to commission new flags to fly in and around the Lordsmarch Plaza.
  • The Favored Soul trainer in Jorasco no longer nervously paces away while you try to speak with him. but is very sad that Keeper took away his coffee stash.
  • The Vampire infestation has been addressed: you can now see your character in mirrors when in first-person mode.

Apart from my concerns regarding rogue henchmen, this is yet another solid-looking performance from the DDO live team. Keep ’em coming!

2 comments to DDO: Update 8 Test Patch Notes – The Siege of Stormreach

  • thespankster83

    the increased casting level in the half elf dill enhancements will allow the use of scrolls. yes it does come relatively late game, but with the cleric and fvs dill ench a player will be able to cast raise dead at 100% and heal scrolls at 95% for clerics and 90% for fvs. will also allow the use of arcane scrolls in a similar manner