Howdy.
Updated After Patch July 2nd
There is currently an issue with certain skills. Certain skill SP costs were changed but the change was not reflected in game.
When players attempt to buy these skills for their new cost they are told they do not have enough SP.
This has been bugged and sent to the developers.
Please make a list on the official bug report thread of any skills that are problematic.
http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=138184
Updated July 2nd
The patch is now live.
I have provided you with all of the information I was given by the developers. I hope that it has been helpful having it in advance.
Overall this patch includes
1) Evasion Changes
2) New Skills
3) Monster Combo Dungeon
4) Last Chaos Ball
5) Fourth of July Event
Note: Skill Point text costs were changed right before the patch. I made this change below.
Thank you to all the game sages that helped get this thing together.
Patch Notes can be found here
http://forums.aeriagames.com/viewtopic.php?t=71080&start=15
Bug Alert
1) Monster Combo Accessories don't have their affects listed. (this will be changed. I will post their statistics tomorrow)
2) The moon stone golem does not work. It was not meant to work in this patch and will be functional as a later date.
Post 7
Updated July 1st
The skill point costs have been lowered! All of the recommended changes have been implemented into the patch. This means there will be no need for us to patch and change the skill costs at a later date.
They will be implemented in tomorrows patch.
Edit July 2nd The text for the SP costs was changed before the patch. Everything should be working fine.
We have bugged this. But since the actual costs have been lowered it has been put off until after the patch launches.
[b]For a full list of SP cost changes please see:
http://www.geocities.com/shiningflower/Page.htm
The "Recommended Changes" are what the SP costs will be when the skills are implemented tomorrow.
I have also completed the list of new skills, what they do, how much MP they are etc.
New Skills
http://www.geocities.com/shiningflower/Page3.htm
New Skills Continued
http://www.geocities.com/shiningflower/Page4.htm
MP/Duration Increases
http://www.geocities.com/shiningflower/Page2.htm
Post 6
Updated June 30th
The patch will tentatively be implemented on Weds July 2nd
Note this has been changed from Tuesday July 1st.
The reason for this is to implement the skill point cost changes into the patch before launch.
Currently the CEO of Aeria games is speaking with the developers, in an attempt to get the SP cost changes implemented into a patch tonight, and put on the test server tomorrow.
This is a good thing, and would potentially mean that no future SP cost patches would need to be implemented.
Post 5
It will include everything that I have stated below.
The patch is quite large and we have done several things in an attempt to lower the amount of download time for the players. This includes partitioning the patch, and using a new type of patch server, that is supposedly faster than our previous. This does not mean long download times will not occur. It is definitely possible they will, so consider yourselves warned.
All of the new content is being added in an effort to improve certain areas of the game. All of the information I have given you is from the developers description of the content. This means that there are certain areas that may have been missed while testing. I will have a bug thread set up for the patch, so that players may post any new bugs they find. We will review them and attempt to get them fixed as soon as possible.
It is going to be an interesting day for LC. But I am positive that the patch guarantees some really great improvements to the game.
Post 4
Updated June 25th
I would like to first say, that the changes to evasion and hit rate are very noticeable. Players with full evasion gear will no longer be invulnerable. The game dynamic has changed so that grouping will become more important at mid to higher levels. Soloing is still possible, but players should definitely expect to be burning through Hp stealers and Healing potions.
Monster difficulty has been lessened. The monsters are now easier to kill and have lower overall attack ratings and hit points. However some monsters have been changed to elite status (watch out in Velpist temple). So their difficulty is on par with what they were before the change.
It is very important that all high level and mid level players understand that this patch will change PVE and PvP. Players are no longer going to be able to train 8 monsters at once.
Now, it is possible that if players are just absolutely getting crushed in the new dungeons, we can see about getting monster aggro turned off. This is a possibility, but if the changes are fully hated game wide, it is an option we can explore.
Overall this patch will bring some excellent new features to our game. But some of the changes are going to take getting used to. I have no doubt that many of you will not like them at first, but I ask that you give them some time.
So here we go.
Evasion/ Hit Rate Changes
(The following descriptions of changes are directly from the developers documentation given to Aeria games, and have only been altered slightly by me...to make them...readable)
Old System of Evasion:
The standard rate of Evasion was calculated
100 - Monster Hit Rate and Character level, class, dex (melee) or int (magic)
Evasion rate was added to by player armor options.
When the dex/int of the character was inadequate the effects gained by the items was way too advanced. (AKA no player should be invulnerable to attacks, at any level)
New System of Evasion
Statistics
Hit Rate
1 Dexterity point = +1 Short,Long Hit Rate
1 Intelligence point = +1 Short, Long Magical Hit Rate
Evasion
1 Dexterity point = +1 Short, Long range Evasion
1 Intelligence point = +1 Short, Long range Magic Evasion
Armor Options
Hit Rate
18 Short Range Hit Rate points = +1% increase in Short range hit rate
18 Long Distance Hit Rate points = +1% in Long Range hit rate
18 Hit Rate points = 1% hit rate
5 Magic Hit Rate points = 1% magic hit rate
Evasion Changes
11 short range evasion points = 1% Short range evasion
11 long range evasion points = 1% Long range evasion
11 Evasion points = 1% evasion
5 magic evasion points = 1% magic evasion
In combat the hit and evade system will work as follows
1) A random selection of values from the attackers numerical value of hit, and a random choice of value from the defenders numerical value of evasion will be placed against one another
2) The higher value will determine if a hit is placed
Example: If the total numerical value of evasion for a Rogue is 1000 and the numerical value of hit for a Monster is 300, then at the time of the attack the value of the rogues evasion will be 700.
If the value of Monsters hit rate is 300 then the rogue will
evade the monsters attack since 700 (Rogues evasion) > 300 (Monster Hit Rate)
Preemptive questions and answers
Q: GMAracton will armor and weapons be made obsolete by the new patch?
A: No Johnny. While the effects of armor options concerning evasion and hit rate have been lowered, it does not make them obsolete. The more evasion and hit rate you have the higher your percentages will increase.
Q: GMAracton what about the monster aggro in places like the tower? Wont it be hard to level if I get aggrod by 9 monsters at a time, and repeatedly die horrible deaths?
A: Well Johnny thats a fine question. While I will not sit here and pretend that aggro wont be a problem. It is definitely possible to kill monsters faster than before. So if you and Suzy-Jane decide to go into the tower and lay the pwnage down on some baddies you should be okay. As a soloer though I would not expect to wade through 5-8 monsters at once. But you know what they say Johnny, its always better with two people.
Q: GMAracton how will PvP be affected by this change. I have a mage and have been totally owning everyone, because they can't hit me. HAHAHA silly melee classes.
A: Johnny you silly little tart. Mages will no longer be able to pwn uncontended in PvP. The evasion changes make it so that PvP is actually a bit more fun. Skill has definitely become more of a factor, and with the new skills being impervious to merchant potions, it will be interesting to see how everything plays out. PvP will definitely be more fast paced, and it will be interesting to see if some of the former invulnerable top dawgs can hold there own against lower level players that can actually hit them now.
Q: GMAracton, why are you so cool?
A: Because I eat my wheaties Johnny. Also, when I was born my mother smacked me hard in the face so I wouldn't grow up to be a crappy human being.
Monster Changes
Monsters lvl 63 and above have been changed as follows
1) Monster Attack Power and Defensive power has decreased
2) Monster Hit Points, HP Regen have been changed
3) Monsters have GAINED skills such as blind, slow, MP steal, and are generally more nasty in this regard.
Lower Level Drop Rate
1) The lower level drop rate in Velpist Temple and Prokion Temple has been increased to 20%
Thats all for now. I will let it digest.
Post 3
Updated June 23rd
Currently some of the new skills that have been placed on test have absolutely astronomical Skill Point costs.
As I mentioned in my earlier post we will not let this abide.
So here is what is being done about it.
The skill point costs of all of the new skills will be reduced based upon GM and GS suggestion to the developers.
Currently I have the game sages going through the new skills and giving recommended SP costs for each one.
I believe that this should ease the majority of players that were up in arms about the reported costs of skills, and it will also make the effects of the skills more palatable.
Bottom Line: Skill Point Costs for the new skills will be changed
"But GMAracton, why cnt u jus chng the ski11 eff3cts d3wd?"
My original intention was to increase the effects for each skill. This would have made the cost of each skill bearable since players would have gotten a super powerful attack, or buff for the SP. This was deemed to be not feasible by the developers as changing the effects would take far too much development time, and is a very complicated and frustrating process. We must take into consideration that they have been working on these changes for several months, and to have them change the effects would literally erase all of their hard work (yes they do have feelings, and do occasionally work hard).
Now it is important for you to know the following.
The skill point cost changes will not take place before the patch is put live. They will be implemented after in future patches (sooner rather than later)
The reason for this is that there are legitimate bugs with the current patch that the developers must take the next week to fix before we can put the patch live.
This is good news guys, so all of you out there worried about SP costs for the new skills, can just chill and go back to hating Dratan Castle Siege, the tomb of theos, puppies, orange tang, and GM's.
Issue # 2
Evasion is still broken...more information when it gets fixed (it will be this week)
Second Post Thread
Updated June 20th
Here is what we know so far.
1) New skills have been added to the test server.
Issues:
Many of these new skills have a poor SP Cost to Effect ratio.
For example:
Temple Offense Lvl 6 costs 874 Skill Points for only +5 physical attack.
This is horrible, and we know it.
Important Note: While some of the SP costs or the effects of skills will be changed, it is important to remember that the reason the SP costs more is because these skills are for the higher levels. I truly believe there should be some work involved while improving your character. Before you go apepoo however, I also believe that that work should be rewarded with a skill effect that is actually useful, and we will do our best to deliver just that.
What are we doing about it?
A) Currently the Game Sages are testing the crap out of the skills. They are providing detailed information what they feel needs to have there cost reduced, or there effect increased.
B) I have basically told the developers that these skill effects or SP ratios need to be lowered, or the effect increased.
C) The GM's are working very hard to test all skills thoroughly and document the testing on a spreadsheet, so we know exactly what has changed.
2) The Monster Combo System has been added.
A) This monster combo system is a cool group instance that is comprised of various stages. Players actually get to choose what monsters they fight in the dungeon, and they receive tokens for the completion of stages, which can then be turned in for some cool new accessories.
Issues:
1) Some of the accessories given for the system don't have any statistics on them
2) Occasionally (not often) players who fail to complete a stage are sent back to the waiting area, but there is no NPC available to port them back into the dungeon...essentially leaving them trapped forever...
What we are doing about it
A) Both of the above bugs have been documented and will be sent in for fixing next week.
The main issue with this patch is that the developers have added things without telling us. There are many changes we are finding completely by accident because we have not been informed of their existence.
For example:
High level monsters now use skills against players.
While this is a fun and exciting twist on combat, it would have been nice to friggin know that a nivas can now blind you while kicking you in the butt. I found out the hard way...
Now I know you all are wondering about the biggest changes of all. The Evasion, and Hit Rate. Currently we have little information on these changes and are gathering more. As far as I can tell its broken, and this matter has been brought to the dev's attention via a long winded rant by me. Until they fix it, we cannot test it properly. So more than likely you will have to wait until next week to hear about these changes.
Bottom Line: This new patch has many good features which I think players are going to enjoy. Of course there will be some issues, and not everyone will be happy, but if we can get all the major problems with skills , and evasion fixed then I think this patch will add some really awesome end game content, and provide a more enjoyable play experience overall.
More information as I get it!
Original Post
Today we received a patch from the developers.
This patch is incredibly vast in scope and includes several changes to Last Chaos game play. Right now we are still sorting through the information given to us by T-Ent, so no details can be given.
However, I will keep you informed over the next few weeks about exactly what is on the patch, and what we are doing in terms of testing it.
We have already organized the Game Sages into a test team, and they will be let loose on this patch tomorrow.
I will say, from what I can tell about this patch from a surface test, is that many of the changes will be good. We will do our best to test the living caca out of it, and with the Game Sages help, will hopefully be able to bring you content that will not make you want to go insane and club a baby seal.
This content includes a new instanced group dungeon (sort of. more info as I get it), and of course additions to skills in game (which have not been tested, so I have no info for you on these yet). It also includes other changes which aren't documented very well, and I will be doing my best to obtain this documentation by the weekend.
Important Note: Please do not ask the game sages about the contents of these patches, as they cannot tell you, and risk being banned from the live server temporarily if they do.
All of your information on this patch will come directly from me.
Thanks!