Developer Discussion: Big Changes in Delta 120

[Hasai]

The “Path of the Helian� and “Path of the Lunus� abilities will no longer stack.

Well, that never made any sense to start with, IMO.

Iron Body will now overwrite True Grit.

Hey! . . . .What's "Iron Body?"

Recast timers on spells are now linked within each spell line so that they work as intended.

Even stuff like Blast? Well, there goes my "Resource Fields Cleared While You Wait!" business....

Nadia’s prices have returned to normal.

Wow; does that mean we can now get hold of the nearly-impossible-to-get stuff again?

Elsa the Tazoon Bank Manager will now offer a Vault upgrade to level VII for qualified applicants.

Um, what are the qualifications?

....Lairshapers throughout Istaria can now construct corridors and chambers with fewer resources than before....

Oh, goodie! Aside from the fact I finished most of my lair months ago, this is a good thing!

Purple Necroflies have become increasingly hostile and agitated and may now swarm their enemies.

I told them, "Keep picking on those bugs, and they're gonna get mean!" But does anyone listen to me? Noooooo....

Snowballs will no longer drop as loot from Icy Dire Wolves.

Maybe reconsider on this one? I mean, it was such a nice pun: Icy Dire Wolves, snow balls.... (cough)

Hethsa the Patient will now patiently remind hatchlings to take the Phylactery and Statue with them on their journey to the Peak of Storms.

Aw, you're no fun. I really enjoyed all the Arrrrrggggghhhhhh!s when the little hatchies realized they'd have to go all the way back down the mountain, through the portal, and across most of Dralk then back again with their stuff.
.

[Zexoin]

PS. I wonder if we could have an event prior to this delta where we get to beat up Nadia so that we have a "Roleplay" reason to have here lower her prices?

I would LOVE that :P

[Amerelium]

...hmm, hope u haven't made the lairs TOO easy to dig out now...

Next I'd like THE ORIGINAL ANCIENT MODELS

[Peaches]

all I can say is WOW!


Nice work!


FINALLY! A live DELTA!!!!!

[Hasai]

I would LOVE that :P

I as well.

Remember the time when one of our more patient people laborously lured Shadow Dragon all the way to Bristugo and turned him loose on the Vielo? Wow; the look on Nadia's face when that big galoot started tearing up the place was priceless.

.

[Ivy]

omg patchnotes .. I have missed to read patchnotes and those patchnotes sound lovely !

omg Ild love to play now =( can I have my dragon back on chaos or order or whatever else ? please please ? I so miss my lovely ivy ..

[Landowyn]

...hmm, hope u haven't made the lairs TOO easy to dig out now...

Next I'd like THE ORIGINAL ANCIENT MODELS

What? So even bigger lard butt dragons can go AFK on the Bristugo landing pad?

I am a bit concerned about the nature damage thing. Seems like a third of Istaria's creatures are immune to my druid/ranger/guardian damage already. Do I have to become a battle mage to adventure?

[Hasai]

What? So even bigger lard butt dragons can go AFK on the Bristugo landing pad?....

Hee-hee-hee.... But, there's one thing that may interest you: As I recall, the original Ancient designs were big enough that bipeds other than half-giants could stand or walk under them without having their vision blocked.

And hey, fellow dragons, do the little ones a favor and fly through the portals rather than walk. It actually works better, IMO, and less bad karma is generated.
.

[Landowyn]

Dragons can fly. I think it is reasonable that maybe they should be forbidden from using portals.

Ewww ... did I say that?

[Ivy]

Ild be all for the original ancient models too - or if you dont want to make us that big, a BIT more taller atleast ? it would be nice to have a more severe difference from an adult to an ancient, just so everyone can tell from the first sigh if its an ancient or not.

But nothing of it feels more importent then having my dragon ivy back right now Iam sure I mentioned it already --

I miss my ivy
I miss her so much *cries*

[Peaches]

Heh, dragons have every right to use portals, as do all characters.

[pevil2000]

Yay patch! *hugs all round* now gimme my draggy back

[Varraven]

Recast timers on spells are now linked within each spell line so that they work as intended. What this means is that spells such as Numbing Haze 5 are now linked to previous Numbing Haze spells so that when one is cast, all spells in that line are not useable until the recast timer is done.

The only thing I became worried about when seeing this is spells like Binding Crystals. I'm not sure about any other "linked" spells, but this spell in particular was one that was already adjusted due to being non-linked, and the damage absorption before breaking was reduced on all the tiers in order to decompensate (if that even makes sense). So, maybe, if this spell alone could be returned to how it was before the previous changs were made, things would be a bit better, although I rely on using all tiers of BC at the moment the way it is on live currently.

[Arietna]

*sigh of relief and amazement*

you guys are soooo good to us

Love the patch notes..

(Unity characters please!)

[T-Sar-Goth]

Sadly, that was nearly the only real advantage to be a pure Dragon spellcaster compared to a melee based one. Now that is gone, we don't have much left. *grinds teeth*
I hope they will remember we still exist by adding Gold Burst for example. But I won't hold my breath on this one.

However, it's a nice patch (Nadia prices!).

Agreed. Pure dragon casters will be hurt by this. Here's to hoping for Gold Burst

[Durand]

Does the spell change apply to healing spells as well? (No more heal V and heal IV)?

[Drevar]

Been waiting for the linked timers for a LONG time, but my hope was that at the same time some schools would get a better definition of thier role and adjusted to suit that role.

Nature, with its full compliment of roots and stuns makes it an obvious choice for crowd control. With the linked timers this puts a serious damper on that play style. I would propose adding Root and Stun abilities to Druid, similar to how Sorcerer has mezzes to compliment the Mind and Ice school. It would also be nice to make Thunder Cloud available as a Formula once again. If CC is not the intended role for Nature, then the damage associated with the spells needs to be boosted and Druid needs its power stat per level boosted tremendously. I am also concerned about the imbalaced number of Nature immune creatures, particulary bosses.

Dragons who have chosen a caster path are going to be seriously hit by this change. If you have chosen this path, you have essentially chosen an AoE spam strategy, because no other spells are as remotely effective as the T&C path. The unlinked timers were all that could make up for slow delays and recycles on the spells. Unless you are clearing a field of sandstone golems, there is little use for the AoEs now, leaving only the bolt, buffs, and debuffs, half of which are for T&C anyway. That is a lot of points spent for minimal damage gains on very slow spells. Unless damage on these spells or damage gains from Primal and Power are tweaked Gold Burst is no longer an option to look at, it is a necessity.

Drev

[RuneDragoon]

The other big change is for Lairshaping. We’ve lowered the construction requirements for all lair chambers and corridors, with the exception of Halls (including the Grand Hall). These changes are significant and are meant to spur construction, rather than stifling it like the previous requirements did. In particular, the changes are meant to make it far easier for players to construct storage chambers and corridors so that they can more easily build the rest of their lair.

I feel tears of joy welling forth reading this. I'm certainly feeling the love, and I love you too.

[Royal]

I think helian Really needs a little boost now, to keep up with Lunus....

[Sibbe]

Yay, patch!

on the spell linking, maybe give the cast spell a full timer and the linked spells a half timer (like with the ability timers), so lower tires of spells are still kind of usefull