January 2011 Istaria Update

Rihahn

Presenting Istaria's amazingly large first patch of 2011:

 

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January 2011 Content Update



Loot Revamp



With this major Content Update, the first of 2011, a total overhaul of the loot system within Istaria has been undertaken and completed. The goals of this change were to create more predictability from the treasure you loot, both from the Designer's perspective and from the player's. 

Key points about the Revamp: 

• 
  Monsters have been categorized: Animals, Insects, Elementals, Semi-Intelligents, Undead, Withered Aegis Constructs, Withered Aegis Animates, and Chests.
• 
  A new type of loot, Junk Loot, has been introduced to non-Withered Aegis monsters. Junk Loot is provided as loot for the sole purpose of being sold for coin, providing adventurers with a new source of income.
• 
  Technique components no longer drop from the Undead or Withered Aegis. Instead, if you want technique components seek out animals, elementals, insects, and the semi-intelligents (ogres, pygmies, and so forth).
• 
  Techniques no longer drop from your non-intelligent monsters, such as animals, insects and elementals. If you are looking for techniques you will want to hunt the Undead, the Withered Aegis, and the Semi-Intelligents.
• 
  A new type of loot has been created for all tiers, Broken Items. Broken Items are further described below.
• 
  Some types of techniques are only available as loot - Spells, Ability, Adventure, Dragon and Defense. The others are only sold by Quartermasters so you won't need to look for them as loot - Craft, Statistic and Dyes.
• 
  Formulas that are dropped as loot are no longer sold by Trainers, and vice versa.

Broken Items 



Broken Items are a new type of loot that has been made available to adventurers and crafters along with the Loot Revamp. Broken Items are looted as pieces of weapons or jewelry that must be re-assembled (repaired) in order to complete the final usable item. 

Key points about Broken Items: 

• 
  Not all weapons and jewelry are found as broken items.
• 
  Broken Dragon Scales will be coming in a future content update.
• 
  Formulas for repairing items can be purchased from the Weaponsmith, Fletcher, Tailor and Jewelry trainers. Master level formulas can be purchased from Finagle Biggletorque in Delgarath.

Additions 



Items

• 
  Lairshaper's Cogs (Dim through Radiant) can now be found throughout Istaria.
• 
  Scrolls will now be filtered on the "Usables" section of the Trade window
• 
  Enchanted Skeleton Key formulas can now be found in Istaria.
• 
  Geoff the Pawnbroker in New Trismus now sells the "Special: Jaunty Cap" and "Special: Spell: Boom!" formulas.
• 
  Iseru at the Nature Tower now sells Tier 5 Banner Techniques (of the Tempest and Volcano) as well as the Flag, Staff and Battle Standard formulas.
• 
  Jalthor Longbraid now sells an Aughundell Travel Token and the Expert Papyrus Sheet formula.
• 
  Talyshae now sells a Feladan Travel Token.
• 
  Revaan Nosfer now sells a Mahagra Travel Token and the Journeyman Papyrus Sheet formula.
• 
  Hubert Hufflebing now sells a New Rachival Travel Token and the Journeyman Papyrus Sheet formula.
• 
  Palaikis now sells a Kirasanct Travel Token.
• 
  Craft: Scribing I technique is now sold by Melli the Quartermaster in Sslanis.
• 
  Journeyman and Expert Travel Scroll formulas are now sold by Scholar Trainers in Feladan, New Rachival, Kirasanct, Mahagra and Aughundell.
• 
  Queriatia in Dralk now sells a Dralk Travel Token for use in Dralk Travel Scrolls.
• 
  All tiers of Scribing and Papermaking techniques are now sold by Quartermasters.

Monsters

• 
  A population explosion has occurred within the Stormy March! The Bhal'kuk have more than doubled their territory in a short period of time.
• 
  Blight Anchors have returned to Istaria! The Iron Guard has reported spotting Lesser Blight Anchors at locations across the Frontier, from as far north as Morning Light to as far south as South Gate.
• 
  Reports from explorers, though widely considered to be somewhat unreliable, have reported that the a Lost Pyramid has been spotted in the southwestern Barasavus Desert and that the area is crawling with scorpions.
• 
  Dangerous creatures known as Tomb Crawlers have been reported within the Tombs of Borannis and Crankenspank and adventurers are warned to beware their stunning attacks.
• 
  The Purple Tarantulas have expanded on the Islands of the Satyr. Breeders have been spotted amongst the tarantula populations, indicating that perhaps they are there to stay.

World

• 
  The Archbishop Aqua at the Cleric's Tower is increasingly concerned about the state of a long-lost tomb, the Tomb of Ashlander Vandus. He desires the assistance of those adventurers who have previously worked to protect the other Tombs on the Dalimond Peninsula. (A new mini-dungeon as well as nine new quests can be found on the Dalimond Peninsula and is available through the quest series "Plundered Tombs" which continues from Archbishop Tomas Aqua at the Cleric's Tower).
• 
  A forest, known as the Misted Forest, has grown west of Morning Light and has become populated with Yew, Ironsilk as well as dangerous beasts including the Feral Bloodsnout, Gloomwolf, and Soldier Flies.
• 
  Rhahool The Oddities Broker has setup shop in Bristugo. Rhahool has indicated that he is willing to purchase items that many across Istaria consider "junk" and that are found on many of the "lesser" creatures of Istaria.
• 
  Nadia the Gypsy has returned to Bristugo and is now exchanging obsolete Tiers 1 and 5 technique components for newer technique components.
• 
  Lady Kendra and the People of Kion have acquired a Gem-Cutting machine for Kion.
• 
  Steward Pratt McGrubben in New Trismus has acquired a Tinkering workbench and a Cauldron for New Trismus.

Changes 



Satyr Island of Alged 



The island of Alged was heavily altered, including a revamp of the spawn regions, spawn rates and even the types of monsters that spawn there. Alged is now solely populated by the Withered Aegis and Undead ranging in level from 81 to 85. Satyr Undead are the only type of undead now found on the island. Energized Kwellen, Enduring Fyakki, Red Vexator, Purple Tarantulas (and Breeders) and Grey Necrofly no longer spawn on the island. 



Items

• 
  Like potions, Scroll formulas now produce two scrolls instead of one.
• 
  Blighted Hound Hides are no longer attuned.
• 
  Flaming Weapon Tech Kit now attunes on install, has a chance to proc a damage effect and does 3-5 flame damage (non-scaling).
• 
  Bone Arrowhead tech kit now attunes on install and has a 25% chance (delay-adjusted) to do 3-5 pierce damage (non-scaling).
• 
  Calimir's Hide Grip and Dire Wolf Hide Grip now have a 10% chance to proc instead of 5%.
• 
  Fanged Arrow-Tip tech kit now attunes on install.
• 
  Tech Kits now contain more detail about what they do.
• 
  Ruxus Jaws have been renamed Ruxus Skulls, and quests updated accordingly.
• 
  Frozen Weapon technique once again fires 100% of the time and has pre-Delta190 values.
• 
  Rune of Flame tech kit now has a 25% chance (delay-adjusted) to do 9-17 flame damage (non-scaling).
• 
  Lore Tokens and IBMs have more coin value now.
• 
  Withered Bane is now known as "Weapon Tech Kit: Withered Bane", attunes on install, and contains a description of what it does.
• 
  Cursed, Tarnished and Blighted Trinkets (of all tiers) no longer drop as loot.
• 
  Blessed, Shiny and Ethereal Trinkets (of all tiers) no longer give negative effects, but have an expanded range of beneficial effects they can give.
• 
  Removed the worst of the blighted techniques from Tier 1 blighted items. This should dramatically improve their usefulness.
• 
  Tutorial Jaunty Cap formula is now known as "Special: Jaunty Cap" and also uses Flax Spools instead of Tutorial Flax Spools.
• 
  Tutorial Spell: Boom! formula is now known as "Special: Spell: Boom!" and also uses Sandstone Spell Shards instead of Tutorial Sandstone Spell Shards.
• 
  Items teched with Banner techniques are now attune-on-equip.
• 
  Socketing Techniques can now be applied post-creation as a Tech kit.
• 
  Symbols of Istara that are collected in the Holy Symbols quest series now have an icon.
• 
  Spiritual Matters tech kit now has an icon.
• 
  Demonskin Staff now requires 600 2-H Crush skill instead of 900.
• 
  Round shield formulas now have a hoard value.
• 
  Rune of Flame DoT from the Rune of Flame tech kit now lasts for 30 seconds and ticks every 6.
• 
  Flaming Weapon DoT from the Flaming Weapon tech kit now lasts for 20 seconds and ticks every 5.
• 
  Travel Scrolls to Sslanis, Dalimond and Chiconis are now only usable if you have already attuned to the travel gates.
• 
  Spirit Webbing is now classified as a Tier2 technique.
• 
  Round Shield formulas (all types and tiers) have been updated to use current technique components and to be consistent between formulas for skills required, component used, etc.
• 
  Cost of Travel Tokens has been reduced by 2/3.
• 
  Travel Scrolls now share a 50% timer instead of 100%.

Monsters

• 
  Spawn Rates of Monsters across Istaria have been adjusted and tweaked with this update. For the most part nearly every spawn has been touched, but below are listed some of the more specific:
• 
  Ogre Zombies in the Eastern Deadlands will now be more frequent and reliable.
• 
  Bright Wisps and skeletons in the Valley of Tolrath will now be more frequent and reliable.
• 
  Travertine Golems have been split, with Travertine Boulder Golems spawning further east than their non-Boulder (and lower level) cousins.
• 
  Galestorm can be found more frequently.
• 
  Shadow Spiders in the Rachival Outlands near Old Rachival no longer have overlapping spawns, making it more reliable and consistent to fight them.
• 
  The Forest Skulk Shaman no longer spawns incorrectly within the village near Central Valley. Forest Skulk Fishers now spawn there instead.
• 
  Tiny Grass Beetles are now found in more locations around New Trismus. Weaker beetles have been spotted very close to the New Trismus town itself, with ones slightly more challenging appearing in the grass across much of the island.
• 
  Arbotus spawns along the road into the Feladan Woods now spawn more reliably and in a more progressive manner (meaning the level increases as you move closer to the forest).
• 
  The quantity of Fiery Dire Wolves, Giant Flame Beetles and Giant Fire Beetles has been increased on the Isle of Fire.
• 
  Angry Gruok are now known as Brownsnouts and are scaled appropriate to their type.
• 
  Level ranges of Bloodskulk has changed dramatically - Bloodmages now only spawn from 96 to 100, Soothsayers from 91 to 95 and Spearfishers from 86 to 90.
• 
  Yew Treants are no longer aggressive, but some Massive Yew Treants have become enraged.
• 
  Enraged Shining Wisps have been spotted in some locations around Istaria.
• 
  Nah'guk Ogres are now known as Nah'guk Warriors.
• 
  Nah'guk Pygmies are now known as Nah'guk Gatherers.
• 
  Nah'guk Tribe members now have updated aggressiveness and social behavior.
• 
  Dwarf Skeleton Raiders and Sergeants in the Valley of Tolrath are now known as Risen Raiders and Risen Sergeants.
• 
  Marrow Guards within Valkor's Lair are now known as Valkor's Guards.
• 
  Unlinked some Dim Wisp spawns on Genevia Island and Lesser Aradoth.
• 
  Unlinked the Bright Wisp spawns in Feladan Forest.
• 
  Regular Radiant Wisps now have a chance to spawn amongst the Enraged Radiant Wisps near Harro.
• 
  Enraged Radiant Wisps can now be looted for regular Radiant Essence on death.
• 
  Red Tusks now has a faster respawn rate and no longer wanders around the western coast of New Trismus, but instead has a very small spawn area. Red Tusks no longer has friends with him.
• 
  Saris Skeleton Warriors on New Trismus near the Hillside Camp are no longer social and have a slightly greater aggro radius.
• 
  Raised the minimum spawn quantity for Granite Golems in the Valley of Moon.
• 
  Biting Necroflies are now known as Biting Flies.
• 
  Radiant Wisps no longer spawn throughout Istaria, but instead only spawn in the Frontier near Thornwood Trees.
• 
  Redrew the spawn regions outside of the New Trismus Deadlands containing Skeletal Patrollers and Skeletal Raiders. They aren't linked, don't overlap and spawn more regularly now.
• 
  Redrew the spawn regions on New Trismus containing Wild Grulets and Tiny Grass Beetles. They are no longer linked, don't overlap the road, and spawn more regularly now.
• 
  Updated the names of undead outside of the New Trismus Deadlands. They are now known as Skeletal Patrollers, Skeletal Raiders, and Skeletal Defenders.
• 
  Winter Gruoks and Grulets are now known as Palesnouts. Palesnout Sows now appear where the Palesnout Younglings do to protect them.
• 
  Winter Mountain Wolves are now known as Snowback Wolves.
• 
  Updated Dim Wisp spawns across Istaria, more Weakened and Enriched will spawn now and more Enraged will spawn across Lesser Aradoth.
• 
  Grumblegut will no longer auto-respawn

Quests

• 
  Updated "Avariatus' Quest: Slap Around Some Beetles With Tail Whip" to reflect new locations for tiny grass beetles.
• 
  Quest "Go Bag 5 Angry Gruok Tusks" is now known as "Go Bag 5 Brownsnout Tusks"
• 
  "Trials of the Gifted: Test of Knowledge" NPC's have been moved to the island of New Trismus. The quest provides updated directions to these NPC's.
• 
  Quest "Tradok: Disrupt the Attacks" no longer gives Corroded Transistors as a reward.
• 
  Reworked quest "Prove Gangaf Is Innocent" to track the looting of both the Automaton Core Circuitry and the Intact Mainboard since neither is a technique component any longer.
• 
  Updated the location for the Ogre Thieves in the quest "Attunement to Aedan".
• 
  Quest "Primal Mastery VIII: Prove Your Primal Power" now tracks the looting of a Pitted Abomination Skull instead of a now-obsolete technique component.
• 
  Quest "Drain Bolt VIII: The Spirit Within" now tracks the looting of a Marrow Guard Skull and removes it when the quest is completed.
• 
  Improved the directions in quest "The Lone Wolf of New Trismus"
• 
  Improved the directions in quest "Kill Red Tusks"
• 
  Improved the directions in quest "Cleric's Quest: Display your Clerical Skills!"
• 
  Improved the directions in quest "Cleric's Quest: Earn a new Healing Spell". The quest also now has you kill Skeletons instead of Maggots to recover Ishenar's Pendant.
• 
  Quest "The Withered Bane" contains better directions now.
• 
  Modified Brysmendrik's dialog at the end of the quest "Becoming an Adult Dragon: Choose Your Path" to clarify that Brysmendrik only has a quest for lairshapers, and pointing players to go back to Karane to start their Rite of Passage.
• 
  Quest "Go Bag 5 Winter Mountain Wolf Skulls" is now known as "Go Bag 5 Snowback Wolf Skulls".
• 
  Quest "ARoP - Gate of Embers: Harness the Energy for the Spell of Pathfinding" now has increased radius for triggering the capturing of energy at the four Satyr Crystals. Also, you can do the capturing of energy in any order you wish now.
• 
  "Wraith Master Ectoplasm" has been renamed to fit the more generalized name for the solution to the Hermit's Riddle in the Helian RoP quest.
• 
  Updated quest "Essence Harvesting Mastery I: Dim Essence" to track the gathering of Dim Essence and to contain better directions.
• 
  Updated quest "Mining Mastery I: Copper and Tin Ore" to track the gathering of the ore and to contain better directions.
• 
  "Joggler Snimms: Bonding the Blades" quest has been modified to now only require one to return with 5 Veteran Ghost Vapors rather than samples of multiple types of Ghost Vapor. Anyone on the quest will have a chance of receiving the vapors when hunting the appropriate level of ghosts (tier 5 in this case).
• 
  "The Ghostbuster" quest has been updated to provide anyone working on the quest with a chance to receive Veteran Ghost Vapors as loot when hunting the appropriate level of ghosts. The quest dialog has also been updated to point players to the "Veteran" Ghosts.
• 
  Quest "Drain Bolt IV: A Test of Spirit" will now allow you to loot a Greater Ghost Vapor from any Tier 3 Ghost while you are on the quest.
• 
  Quest "Drain Bolt VI: Performance Enhancement" will now allow you to loot a Greater Ghost Vapor from any Tier 3 Ghost and a Wraith Master Ectoplasm from any Wraith Master while you are on the quest.

Other

• 
  Dragons will now have head shapes matching their normal design when in khutit form.
• 
  Terry the Harro Guard is no longer an active guard.
• 
  Melli (Sslanis) now carries Craft and Socket techs for Tier 1.
• 
  Marcus (Kion) now carries Statistic and Dye techs for Tier 1.
• 
  Elmond (Dalimond) now carries Statistic techs for Tier 2.
• 
  Nalithess (Chiconis) now carries only Craft techs for Tier 2.
• 
  Holm Nestlaven now carries only Tier 3 Statistic techs.
• 
  Edison Maberly now carries only Tier 3 Craft techs.
• 
  Janner Cinderfall now carries only Tier 4 Statistic techs.
• 
  Azmedai in Kirasanct is now a Quartermaster.
• 
  Azmedai now carries Tier 4 Craft techs.
• 
  Grendan Stonemeld now carries only Tier 5 Craft and Statistic techs.
• 
  Aidan the Reasonable in Bristugo now accepts Techniques in addition to Technique Components. Also, due to Imperial subsidies he no longer charges a fee for consigning items.
• 
  CLIENT: Increased the number of available layers for the map window beyond the previously set 15.
• 
  Selia Addlebrock in New Rachival is now offering coin in exchange for Imperial Bounty Markers and Lore Tokens.
• 
  Lady Aida now operates like Sir Aidan, selling techniques as well as tech comps and charging no consignment fee.
• 
  Certain tutorials on New Trismus and the gate tutorials on Skalkaar and Spirit Isle will now be shown even if you chose to "skip tutorial" when you first logged in. This is to ensure that new players always see them even if they choose to skip the tutorial at the beginning.
• 
  Dragon Bite and Breath attacks are no longer linked.
• 
  Harle Aela the Pure at the Tower of Healing has undergone a dramatic change and is no longer the spitting image of Ryson Stormbringer.
• 
  Increased the damage of the Drain Bolt spell (average DPS increased by 25%).
• 
  Drain Percentage of the Drain Bolt spell now scales up from 20% to 45% as the level of the spell increases.
• 
  More Motherlode and Rich nodes spawn amongst the Cobalt now.
• 
  Increased the spawn rate and quantity of Violet Azulyte and Nightshade.
• 
  Increased the spawn rate and quantity of Stoneroot within the Aughundell Mines and Black Mountains.
• 
  Increased the spawn rate and quantity of Steelsilk, Porcelain, Sapphire, Ruby and Shadowstem.

Fixes



Items

• 
  All Trophies now have tints appropriate for their tier (Copper, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril, Adamantium).
• 
  Sovereign Cargo Flyers now attune on equip.
• 
  The following items have had their icon sizes corrected:
  • 
    Gem-Encrusted Ring (Sources of Power quest series)
  • 
    Goldem-Bloom (Tier 2 Resource)
  • 
    Silver Chalice (Sources of Power quest series)
  • 
    Map of the Dalimond Peninsula (Plundered Tombs quest series)
• 
  Quest Item "Assorted Grass Beetle Pincers" is now known as "Assorted Ulmus Beetle Princers" and are stackable and attuned.
• 
  Icy Tokens are no longer attuned and can be used once again to purchase formulas at the Tower of Magery.
• 
  Medallion of the Storms will now properly boost Nature skill.
• 
  Yew Longbow will now be properly created when someone uses the Customization options when creating this particular item.
• 
  Metal Bar formulas now give proper XP for alloy metal bars.
• 
  Fixed the description on Weapon Tech Kit: Calimir's HIde Grip (for non-rangers)
• 
  Side: Spaghetti ala Carbonara is now known as Side: Spaghetti a la Carbonara
• 
  Noncas' Bi-Directional Recording and Scanning Device will now show up in inventory with the proper icon.
• 
  Tier 1 Trophies have the proper tint (bronze).
• 
  Standard and Deluxe Travertine Cargo Disks are now attune-on-equip.
• 
  Fixed the skill requirements and XP awards on Banner Flag, Banner Staff and Battle Standard formulas
• 
  Fixed the hoard and coin value of Banner Flag, Banner Staff, and Battle Standard formulas
• 
  Dusky Bludgeoning Crystal which procs the Bludgeoning II effect will now do Crush damage instead of Blight.
• 
  Bright Glacius Crystal of Might will now do Ice damage instead of Nature.
• 
  Fixed XP and Skill Requirements in Nielenoss's Cargo Flyer formulas
• 
  Fixed Skill Requirements in Expert Focus Bracelet formula
• 
  Fixed the quantity required, XP and Skill Requirements for Hide Belts
• 
  Fixed the XP and Skill REquirements for Mithril Mining Picks in the Expert Metal Reaping Potion formula
• 
  Fixed the Glowing Tensile Suspension in the Master Tensile Suspension formula so that it no longer requires Purified Pale Essence Orbs in addition to the Purified Glowing Essence Orbs.
• 
  Fixed Skill Requirements in Shocking Blast formulas
• 
  Fixed Skill Requirements in Gust formulas
• 
  Fixed the minimum number of Marble Essence Siphons required in the Expert Essence Reaping Potion formula
• 
  Fixed Skill Requirements in Breeze formulas
• 
  Fixed the Skill Requirements and XP of Tailoring Recharge Kits.
• 
  Minimum skill requirement for Master Alchemical Metal Powder is now 1100 instead of 1200 and optimal is 1425 instead of 1500.
• 
  Fixed other skill requirements within Expert and Master level Alchemical Metal and Gem Powder formulas.
• 
  Minimum skill requirement for Master Alchemical Gem Powder is now 1000 instead of 1200 and optimal is 1325 instead of 1400.
• 
  Formula "Beginner Tech Kit: Withered Bane" now requires an Enraged Cedar Treant Mettle instead of a Blighted Bone.
• 
  Marble Power Tail Scale now requires you to be level 80 instead of 90.
• 
  Fixed the skill requirements, skill, and XP award for components and resources used in the Journeyman and Expert Heavy Round and Fine Heavy Round Shield formulas.
• 
  Formula Lycanthropy Ward Salve now properly uses Bright Cognitive Suspensions instead of Glowing.
• 
  Corrected the XP Award for making salve using the Lycanthropy Ward Salve formula.
• 
  Formula Anti-Lycanthropy Salve now properly uses Bright Kinetic Suspensions instead of Glowing.
• 
  Corrected the XP Award for making salve using the Anti-Lycanthropy Salve formula.
• 
  Incorporeal effect from Geleon's Master Scroll now applies to incoming Melee attacks as well as Spells.
• 
  Cask of Holding now uses a box icon.
• 
  Tremendous Sand Beetle Carapace now uses a carapace icon instead of a mandible icon.

Quests

• 
  Fixed quest "Vandus Confederation: Traitor in the Midst II" so that some steps don't show up that are meant to be hidden.
• 
  Quest "Dragon Instant Heal I: The Power of Healing" will now properly accept level 8 and 9 Garnet golems.
• 
  Quest "Vandus Confederation: Traitor in the Midst II" now requires you to kill 10 Henchmen instead of 1.
• 
  Quest "Jemmei's Late Delivery" now properly tracks the gathering of uncut Rose Quartz and Jemmei's dialog properly says four-hundred instead of five-hundred.
• 
  Quest "Vladtmordt's Replica Tempered Scale" now gives the player directions using Chiconis as its center-point instead of Dalimond.
• 
  Chat links in quest "Lunus Path 2: Acquire a Crystalline Vessel For Your Phylactery" have been fixed.
• 
  Quest "Biggletorque: The Archmage Darkstaff" now takes the Vandus Confederation storyline into account when speaking with NPCs in Dalimond.
• 
  Quest "Help Out Thanthor the Fisher" will no longer complete before returning to Thanthor with the Elemental Droplets.
• 
  Quests "Replace the Lost Mushrooms", "Deal with the Pesky Gruoks" and "Take care of the Wild Gruok Matriarch" now offer XP rewards in addition to coin.
• 
  Quest "Disgruntled Gnomes" no longer uses %name% but instead the proper form of %n%.
• 
  Quest "Sslanis Marshall Quest: The Confectioner Syndicate Part 3" no longer requires you to re-greet Ssoren to begin it.
• 
  Quest "Trandalar Attunement: Kir'Tis" now refers properly to Greater Nix Beetles.
• 
  Quest "Tooth and Claw: Adept" now has better directions to the Dead Pool, an improved description, and no longer refers to the undead in the Dead Pool as Weaker or Lesser undead.
• 
  Quest "Ranger: Hunting the Direst Wolves" given by Calimir in Feladan can now be obtained by Rangers or Elemental Archers.
• 
  Quest "Discover the Fate of Balit's Companion" now gives a proper XP award.
• 
  Quest "Assist Balit with his Research" now gives a proper XP award.
• 
  Quest "Gather Rare Components for Balit's Research" now gives a proper XP award.
• 
  Quest "Kill the Werewolf named Eyetooth" now gives a proper XP award.
• 
  Quest "Stoneworking Mastery I: Craft 70 Sandstone Bricks" no longer refers to Saphias but only Xarinnis.
• 
  Draak Attunement: The Lost Colony quest should now be offered to dragons whether they have "Lairshaper" or "Crafter" school active.
• 
  Quest "Scalecraft Mastery I: Bronze Bars" now refers to Xarinnis.
• 
  Quest "Trandalar Attunement: Aroah's Leap" (Tradeskill version) now properly mentions azulyte instead of cotton when you return to finish the quest.
• 
  Eggs can now be looted from Giant Chickens while you are on quest "Farmer Idamon's Chicken Troubles"
• 
  Quest "Attunement to Drakul" now properly directs players to go to the volcano in southern Dralk, rather than to Drakul itself, to gather ash for the quest.

Monsters

• 
  Dung Pile near Old Rachival will now spawn in its proper place instead of in the middle of the road.
• 
  Brecah the Marble Golem will now spawn anywhere within the Marble Quarry rather than only in the southwestern portion.
• 
  Mhedon the Mithril Golem is no longer tied to the spawns of other Mithril and Platinum Golems.
• 
  Gregory the Traitor no longer has "Henchman Captain" as his name.
• 
  Undead spawning in Copperton will now properly spawn south of Heart.
• 
  Eclipse, the Obsidian Boulder Golem, as well as a few friends, now will appear around the Katja Volcano on Trandalar.
• 
  Greater Blight Anchor outside of Delgarath will once again spawn monsters.
• 
  Enriched and Weakened Bright Wisps now give out proper amounts when harvested or looted.
• 
  Enriched Bright Wisps now give out the proper essence type while alive and dead.
• 
  Withered Scale and Undead Warrior schools now extend up to level 120. They also include armor, ethereral armor, and additional resistances.

NPCs

• 
  Guran the Blacksmith will now allow biped characters of all level ranges to join the Blacksmith school.
• 
  Noncas Fizzlebot will now properly join you to the Tinkerer school when you ask him to.
• 
  Maari Joest will now properly greet players who are currently in the Blacksmith school.
• 
  Kiva the Tailor Trainer now has a proper label beneath her name.
• 
  Mage, Warrior, Cleric and Scout Trainers will once again properly join players who are above level 15 to their respective schools.
• 
  Saphias no longer offers quest "Stoneworking Mastery I: Craft 70 Sandstone Bricks".
• 
  Estelwen now carries the Master Advanced confectioner formulas.
• 
  Kriegan the Tailor Trainer in Kirasacnt now has the proper title beneath her name.
• 
  Lantenal the Hermit will now correctly bind anyone with a Token of Esteem to the Peak of Storms portal when they greet him with the token in inventory. In addition, any dragon with the Helian or Lunus final Rite of Passage quest active who greets Lantenal will be given 5 additional Tokens of Esteem to give to friends.
• 
  Dreveon the Battlemage's chat link to display the School Requirements will now work.

Other

• 
  Breath of Acid now uses the updated dragon_breath_acid effect file and will no longer hit the Dragon using it.
• 
  Terrain clutter near the Blackhammer Farmstead will no longer show through the structures.
• 
  Neo-Druid will no longer show up as being able to use a Large Axe.
• 
  Waterlogged lair in Guild: Sakon community has been fixed.
• 
  Imperial and all Tiered Cauldrons will now have proper icons and associated ambient sounds.
• 
  CLIENT: Abilities which have no special effect associated with them will now still provide combat feedback to players. We believe this fixes all abilities (both abilities and spells) so that combat feedback will be seen. As such, we ask that you please report any ability which does not provide combat feedback.
• 
  CLIENT: /chatjoin should now work with passwords. To create a channel with a password, use /chatjoin channel password. To join an existing channel, use /chatjoin channel. If a password is required, you will be prompted. You can use /chatjoin channel password to skip the prompt. The password will be cached so you don't have to re-enter the password when logging in again. The password will be un-cached if you leave the channel, are kicked, or the channel's password has changed since you logged out.
• 
  CLIENT: Fixed a bug where names were not being properly appended to chat when someone used the /em prefix and when the "Emote" channel is the default channel for a window. Now custom emotes will always properly display the person who sent the emote.
• 
  The help button on the Item Creation Window now properly opens the tutorial for the window.
• 
  Moving to the portal on Skalkaar now triggers an expanded tutorial about portals instead of the old dragon gate tutorial.
• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

Rihahn

It was too big for a single post - here's the rest.

 

---

 

• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

• 
  Gate Tutorial on both Spirit Isle and Skalkaar now contains more details about attuning to destinations.
• 
  Updated the footprint for Jewelry Shops.
• 
  Previously some "Imperial" structures could not be activated once they were constructed. (For example, the Stoneworking Shelter outside Dalimond). These structures have been replaced and can now be rebuilt and activated by players correctly. (Note that any existing built structures at those locations will be removed when the delta is applied to be replaced by new ones.)
• 
  Non-tiered human houses and resource trees (apple, banana, apricot, etc) now properly use Level-of-Detail (LOD) models.

PhelimReagh

I'll confess that I understand very little of these changes, as I only played Istaria for a short while.

 

However, a great deal of work clearly went into this update for such a small studio.

 

Of course, I didn't notice "starter and low-level area quests no longer requires you to take on foes too high for your level". That was what stopped all my Istaria journeys early on: having to kill things that I could not possibly kill.

 

Good luck to the game, even if I could never get into it.

Rihahn

Originally posted by PhelimReagh

I'll confess that I understand very little of these changes, as I only played Istaria for a short while.

 

However, a great deal of work clearly went into this update for such a small studio.

 

Of course, I didn't notice "starter and low-level area quests no longer requires you to take on foes too high for your level". That was what stopped all my Istaria journeys early on: having to kill things that I could not possibly kill.

 

Good luck to the game, even if I could never get into it.

I think the big things to take away from that Mount Everest of a patch note is that not only is a lot of stuff fixed, they also added a heap of new content too...

 

What's really interesting is that, yes, it's a lot of work for Virtrium, but they did it all in like 6 months... It appears the pieces are in place for some for cool things in the near future.

 

As for the critters in the starting areas? They were fixed quite a while ago - It used to annoy me as well as there's just no way a fresh level one character in refurbished gear or trainer scales and claws stood a chance against a level 3-4 critter... Now I'm happy to say that up to level ten it's all fairly easy and therefore makes learning the mechanics of the game far less of a hassle.

 

After ten? Well, hopefully you've figured out that crafting also raises your stats and therefore makes you a much better adventurer, and that you can multi-class as a biped - because the local wildlife isn't going to baby you any more.

 

So now, rather than starting behind the power curve, a player is actually slightly more powerful than the mobs up to level ten. After ten the power curve between player and mob is pretty even - after 50 you start to get pretty heroic and begin contemplating the number of something you can take out versus if you can take it out.

 

Once you hit 100 it's all about group hunting named mobs and tactically solo hunting things for crafting drops, so it remains challenging though end-game... At least for me.

lilreap2k3

I really wanted to like this game. When it first was released I bought Horizons, and was having a great time. Many aspects of the game were really nice. I even remember the graphics being very good at that time. The problem I had back then was with really buggy mobs. Mobs would just disappear or not take damage from attacks every now and then. It got to the point where I just got really irritated and stopped playing. I came back to try the game again after it was renamed to Istaria and those bugs were still happening. I think I made it to level 20 or so, and really enjoyed the game up until then. Have those bugs been fixed yet?

On a side note; I can't believe they haven't made this game F2P or dropped the sub cost to like $5-10 by now.

japo

Originally posted by lilreap2k3

I really wanted to like this game. When it first was released I bought Horizons, and was having a great time. Many aspects of the game were really nice. I even remember the graphics being very good at that time. The problem I had back then was with really buggy mobs. Mobs would just disappear or not take damage from attacks every now and then. It got to the point where I just got really irritated and stopped playing. I came back to try the game again after it was renamed to Istaria and those bugs were still happening. I think I made it to level 20 or so, and really enjoyed the game up until then. Have those bugs been fixed yet?

On a side note; I can't believe they haven't made this game F2P or dropped the sub cost to like $5-10 by now.

The entire game is F2P as a human.

You can play any of the other races and have 3 character slots for $9.99.

For more money ($14.95 I think) you can have  plot of land and a few more character slots.

lilreap2k3

Oh wow, I don't remember hearing anything about that change. I thought it was still the same price as it was at release. Maybe I will just see the changes for myself. If the bugs have been fixed they may get me back. Thanks for the heads up.

aspekx

ya i just started playing and am now off the first starter isle and in new trismus. i basically did all of the crafting and adventuring schools for the tutorials and then left. so far im impressed with the game, despite its dated graphics.

i would like to see an easier means of switching classes though than switching schools at a trainer. but then again i know nothing about multiclassing so we shall see.

primarily, i was looking for a crafting intensive game where i could explore, harvest, and create.

im just wondering what other sandbox elements the game has besides housing and the ability to learn all the adventuring/crafting schools.