February 2009 Content Patch

[Chalrok]

Eee, great patch and an inspiring amount of content fixed and added! Props and much thanks. :'D

(Off topic from the discussion but wanted to slip in a word >> )

[SinOfSuns]

Spirit damage is VERY effective against beetles. Just need to get a spirit striking claw. You can argue that it's not easy for lowbies to get one ; I disagree. I know someone who's been trying to sell blighted stuff, and some were good ones, for low levels. Just, noone bought them. *shrugs*

Darn straight! D:

Actually, if I recall, I don't have any really low-level claws. The lowest level is about 25, if I recall. I mean, sure, I can go farm the New Trismus dead lands and have about 3 claws and 10 different blighted scales for people in a few hours, but nobody wants to buy the stuff I do add, so why bother?

Now if people actually gave me orders for stuff...

[Death-knell]

But that just it people are saying hatchlings suck at killing beetles so it is not a 100 Dragon or a duel or tri-schooled Biped but a single class biped we would be talking about here.

possibly but doubtful.

[Solitaire]

can anyone show me a screenshot of the new dragon sitting? thanks very much

As Takora said just below your post, it actually is the same animation but modified. I was investigating something else and just happened to open that file randomly. Realizing how much I disliked it, I got distracted and started to play with it. I slowed it down a lot and gave it a new tail swish. I worked with the eye blink a little bit too, but I could not figure out why a nice and smooth animation in Maya gets weird when exported out. Something that I will have to examine later.

[Guaran]

Spirit damage is VERY effective against beetles. Just need to get a spirit striking claw. You can argue that it's not easy for lowbies to get one ; I disagree. I know someone who's been trying to sell blighted stuff, and some were good ones, for low levels. Just, noone bought them. *shrugs*

This is true.

The reason is before there wasn't much use for spirit striking claws, or blight striking, etc. Only a few mobs so far are say highly vulnerable to one damage type while resisting alot of others.

Once players learn what damage types work well aganist some of their prey, it will not be all that difficult to adapt. I think it will make for more interesting hunting. Now those blighted claws will sell, or be saved for younger guildies when someone comes across one.

(I've been saving every single damage conversion claw I've found since they started dropping. Originally to be sneaky when fighting a biped in the arena who thinks he can win by going up against me in a slash resist/ward outfit )

[Zexoin]

I agree ! I like that change.

Funny thing is, the spirit striking claw is the only one I decided to keep, I don't know why. I'm glad it's become useful now !

[Guaran]

I agree ! I like that change.

Funny thing is, the spirit striking claw is the only one I decided to keep, I don't know why. I'm glad it's become useful now !

I have (blighted claws):
Crush striking
Pierce Striking
Blight Striking
Primal Striking
Flame Striking
Energy Striking
Ice Striking
Silver Striking
Spirit Striking
Mind Striking

"slash" striking ones get deconned or hoarded. I may possibly have a Nature striking, but don't know for sure. This version may not exist.

[Zexoin]

No life-striking one ? I heard those are great against Valkor.

[Dragonboy]

I'm prolly going to regret saying this I imagine, but those beetles arn't that hard. I mean adapt. Physical attacks from dragons arn't as useful so why not use magic. I took one out the other day with just improved prime bolt, and no buffs, and did fine. I was in lair scales to boot.

That being said the only thing that irritated me in the patch was the once again drop only through all teirs new dragon spell. Otherwise lots of neat things were added.

And you are a spell caster I imagine? Because the beetle laughs at me when I throw an Improved Primebolt at it...

As far as I am concerned this is the last post I make about this subject.

I really do not care about the beetles !!
What I do care about is the fact that as a hatchling I had to kill about 10-20 mobs for 1 dented bell and even as adult I had to raise my hoard from 250k to 4.5m with nothing but self crafted scales and the occasional hoardstuff I could buy at Kion conny.
I was happy to see that after my prolonged absence (mostly due to unfixed bugs which GN was not interested in fixing) this had finally been changed and then the only mob that drops a decent hoard, forms and tech gets made a whole lot more resistent to damage that I produce to it so that instead of doing 1 per 10-20 seconds it now takes 1 per 1-2 minute(s).

The change was made to follow lore... Maybe thats true, but let me tell you 1 thing about following lore. If an adult or ancient dragon was to sit on a beetle its still flat and not even hardened scale will help it then...

Maybe a nice suggestion for a following patch...
(Serious suggestion, not ranting or sarcasme)
If the devs really want to change things so we play more acording to lore or at least the story line remove ALL forms, hoard, tech from the beasty mobs (or at least let it drop a whole lot less, would also increase droprate for tech components) and drop them on the Withered Aegis (T1-T6) preferably with the same drop rate the Giant Ice Beetles have now. Sure they are more difficult to kill, but it does follow the stand point that we are all fighting the real so called enemy instead of only bothering them when we need tech components. Another suggestion might be Bloodskulk's (T5 I believe).

[Velea]

Rvlion, I have a suggestion for you. Serious suggestion, not sarcasm.

Please try to actually play the game after we've made changes as major as this before you begin ranting. Go in and spend a few weeks playing and seeing exactly what happened to the loot tables, in this case, for those creatures that we have listed as having cleaned up their tables. You might just find that we, as designers, are much more capable of making intelligent, thought out decisions, than you seem to be giving us credit for.

[Valornyx]

Okay - so I thought I'd go out and see how tough these beetlies are since giant ice beetles have been a favorite place for me to try to get new forms and pick up shiny hoard.

To put everything on the table, Valornyx is an old lunus ancient with good conventional gear - but almost nothing special such as DCoM or anything like that. Everything I took out with me was standard stuff anyone can get in-game presently. Triple teched dragon tech scales (VVV / VVE / EEE etc) stayed in the vault. Took the VDGW and Misty crystals out of my claw and put in ones that everyone can still acquire. Did not take epic claws or scales such as Demonclaw, Ceremonial scale etc.

Spells all T5 teched out.

Prior to the battle I had fulll TPs in strength and half each TnC and health, but needed to transfer an extra 60 points over from strength to Primal to allow the 1030 base Primal to use my fully teched spells.

Triple socketed health chest and foreleg scales with appropriate crystals (radiant if I had them shining where I didn't). Other scales Armor with slash resist/ward/strength because those are ones I had. Except wings - teched velocity/speed/strength because I never use anything else.

Made a point of not using Shield of Gold although I think that dragons who do not use their whole bag of tricks where warranted are handicapping themselves.

Biped buffs: Gift of health/alacrity/dexterity/strength. If you can't get these off someone, you're not trying - but I did not ask for them they were just cast in passing - else I'd have gone with more caster-centric ones like focus and power.

So - I went out to Drakul to see what the beetles would be like. And in short had no problem dispatching groups of 9, 8 , 9 and 9 respectively. Did not even have to use Primal heal or Instant heal.

Start off with spiked scales, refreshing breeze, and sprint to round them up. Cast debuffs, BoFB, wiped them out with AoE spells and embers, then a GR here or silver strike there to polish off the 1 or 2 stragglers.

So a Lunus ancient with minimum points in primal, standard but good gear and teched out spells has no problem against a group of 9 giant ice beetles without using heals (other than ref breeze) or Shield of Gold. I would have tried more but 9 was the largest group I could find.

Relying on GR as the (next-to) sole form of damage is a one-dimensional dragon - and that never did any justice against beetles with their harden shell ability. Personally, I have always used spells against groups of mobs (especially beetles) since you do more damage per second a lot of the time that way. BoFB just makes it easier to whack larger numbers.

At lower levels - well - all mobs are not created equal - if you can get other-damage striking claws to help then you'd be limiting yourself not to use them. Else pick on something that suits the type of damage that you do best. This is true though of bipeds too. As a ranger, Valdaar has no problem with bloodskulks, but in most other classes they can put the hurt out.

Pick your wars, and get the best gear you can to fight them. If dragons are not using the best spells they can wih the best techs even as a melee Lunus, then they are short-changing their fighting ability.

If you are looking for hoard - then using spells is certainly the best way of going about it in my experience - since you can do the damage without using any hoard to acquire it.

[Chasing]

I may possibly have a Nature striking, but don't know for sure. This version may not exist.

I have a T4 nature striking claw, havent seen a T5 version as of yet.

[Deth]

I really do not care about the beetles !!
What I do care about is the fact that as a hatchling I had to kill about 10-20 mobs for 1 dented bell and even as adult I had to raise my hoard from 250k to 4.5m with nothing but self crafted scales and the occasional hoardstuff I could buy at Kion conny.
I was happy to see that after my prolonged absence (mostly due to unfixed bugs which GN was not interested in fixing) this had finally been changed and then the only mob that drops a decent hoard, forms and tech gets made a whole lot more resistent to damage that I produce to it so that instead of doing 1 per 10-20 seconds it now takes 1 per 1-2 minute(s).

AS Velea said play the game before you rant. I have fought a lot of T5 Gem golems, needed for quest, and they drop at least as good as the Giant Ice Beetles did. Maybe if you got off the forums and went into the game you might really be surprised.

[Guaran]

No life-striking one ? I heard those are great against Valkor.

Oh yeah I have one of those too, forgot to list it.

[Frith-Rae]

So a Lunus ancient with minimum points in primal,

Ugg, I remember the ranting about this in the day -

Is 'minimal" still half?? At one point you had to put half your points in Primal to be able to use the teched out spells at max level. And I've been building my physical fighter lunus this way ever since - in order to be able to take full advantage of what is given me.

But if I don't have to distribute half my TP from TnC to Primal to hit the number..then someone please tell me!

If I do - I still think this should be fixed...

[Zexoin]

I think the max primal skill required to scribe a teched spell is 1070.

[LaughingOtter]

Ugg, I remember the ranting about this in the day

Long time past, Frithy. Dragons who do all their mastery quests wind up with 10/level base in Primal & T&C.

[Deth]

Ugg, I remember the ranting about this in the day -

Is 'minimal" still half?? At one point you had to put half your points in Primal to be able to use the teched out spells at max level. And I've been building my physical fighter lunus this way ever since - in order to be able to take full advantage of what is given me.

But if I don't have to distribute half my TP from TnC to Primal to hit the number..then someone please tell me!

If I do - I still think this should be fixed...

AS Laughing said you do not have to anymore. In fact I am doing the last 3 T&C quest so i can remove the points I had to put in the bloody waste of a skill T&C. So that I could use my Ceremonial Scale.

In other words get your scalely tail on line and look me up before I have to reboot again and I will take you out hunting to do the last 3 Primal Quest. Though looking you might have to put a few points in to get a triple teched spell but not sure.

[Sigi]

Oh, I have to say
I'm so very very pleased with the return of the wisps at the isle of wisps!!!

[Valornyx]

Prior to the battle I had fulll TPs in strength and half each TnC and health, but needed to transfer an extra 60 points over from strength to Primal to allow the 1030 base Primal to use my fully teched spells.

I needed an extra 60 points - however I am not always the most diligent in getting all the quests done - so it may well be less than this for some people.

Additionally, if you dropped off one tech and took the two best ones, you'd probably not lose too much from the spell, but bring the requirements down even more.

The point I was trying to make was that I was still using TPs and gear (and biped buffs) that were all really still geared towards fighting melee. I was not tricking myself out as a caster. I even have power primal teched scales - but I did not use them here - or increase Primal in TPs above the minimum I needed to get the spells off.