Grab Bag - April 25, 2008

It's never too early for the Grab Bag:


I have noticed there is a distinct lack of Granite Giant Oracles when doing the History of Stone quest. There are any number of Stonelords and Pounders but the lack of Oracles is very noticeable and the spawn rate takes a very long time. Should there be more Oracles because of the numbers that do this quest?

The Lady of the Jewels looked deeply into the crystal ball: The oracles are not really any rarer than the other giants. There is a random chance when you kill any of the giants in that area that an oracle will show up to replace them. It's just that a Stonelord or a Pounder has an equal chance to appear instead. It has to do with the way random spawns are set up. The location given as the waypoint is only one place in Dartmoor where you can find these mobs. If you are not having much luck getting the oracles to show up at that location, try checking some of the other hills and valleys around central Dartmoor.

In the meantime, we will look into having an additional waypoint added for this quest that will show players another location where the oracles can be found. Thanks for the report!

There is a rumor that's been floating amongst Enchanters for a while which I have not actively tested which goes like this: You put up a casted damage shield, say the Aura of Global Feedback (the level 44 Hibernian base caster damage shield, then put up a focus shield on the same pet, the presence of the Aura of Global Feedback reduces the damage of the focus shield, (most people who believe say it cuts it in half) this seems a little odd to me but I'd appreciate clarification on this matter..

After a few moments of pondering and checking into the spells the Balancinator says: No, the spell "Aura of Global Feedback" does not decrease the damage done by your pet only damage shield.

I was recently working out a template for my Nightshade and was wondering if there were any plans on making player crafted accessories (IE: belts, jewels, rings, etc...) so that one would be able to put Spellcrafting on accessories instead of armor?

Looking up from the plate in front of him, the Bearded Wonder had this to say: No there are no current plans for something like this. It's a nice idea, but at the moment, we have a few other cool things on our platter.

My extremely wrong friend and I were debating the order of defense. He claims that Block comes before Parry, and I claim that the order is miss, Bladeturn, Parry, Block, and then Evade. Can you enlighten us as to the actual order of potential defense?

Knowing he had seen a question like this before the Balancinator gleefully exclaimed: I searched far and wide for this answer. I found it in a prior Grab Bag:

Is the correct Order of Resolution in combat definitely Evade, Parry, Block (Shield), Guard, Hit/Miss, and then Bladeturn?

Yes.

My friends and I were buffing our characters and noticed something. Using yellow base Dex and yellow Dex/Quick with a Shaman we only received +150 to Dex. Now when we did this in Albion we received +155 with yellow Dex and yellow Dex/Quick. I made sure we had only 25% to buff bonus and that we had the same into enhance on both Midgard and Albion. Is this a bug or is that supposed to be that way for a reason??

The Balancinator had these words of wisdom: No, it is not a bug. The Shaman and Cleric receive their yellow con buffs at different levels. The Shaman receives their yellow con buffs at lower levels and the values are lower because of it. This is the reason behind not seeing capped stats from shaman buffing. Why is it that way? The spells were designed years ago and nobody could predict that one day this situation would arise.

If I craft a piece of Sigil armor with a particular bonus in the 5th slot, can I also insert a gem in 1 of the 4 slots where the gem has the same bonus, and do they both add together?

For example, say I craft the following:

Sigil Stamped Lamellar Boots (+3 Archery in 5th slot):
Imbue: 37.5/32 (Quality: 100)
Archery: 2
Stealth: 5
Constitution: 28
Quickness: 16
Archery: 3


What do I end up with for an effective Archery bonus, +3 or +5?

Recovering from an 'accident' at the Alchemy table which involved the table attacking her, The Lady of the Jewels was a little embarrassed but certain: I tested this exactly as the player described. I even used the same gems for the imbue. When imbued, the boots give +5 to Archery.

Is damage by Polearms affected in any way by slash, crush or thrust spec?

With a resounding YES! The Balancinator say: The polearm and two handed weapon damage variance is directly affected by your slash/crush/thrust skill. Any two-handed weapon / polearm that does slash damage uses the slash skill, thrust damage uses thrust skill and crush damage uses crush skill to tighten the damage range.

Please Help. The Spell Library on the Herald says that the Mauler Spell, 'Demand of Supremacy' (Level 33) is a 60% casting speed decrease. My Delve says it's only 33% decrease. Which is correct? I was really looking forward to the level 40 - 80% decrease. That is a big difference.

The Balancinator had a look at this for you: It seems these spells are reporting the level of the spell instead of the effect. We're working on a fix for this issue.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Many of you have been wondering when /charcopy will become available on Pendragon, so that you can test out the spiffy changes in 1.94a. The team is working like crazy to get the upgrades to the account system done. We do not have a date yet, but as soon as I know, I will let all of you know.

The Team Lead Program is looking for a few good Team Leads! If you have ever said to yourself, 'I want to be a Team Lead.' Then now is the time, our open positions include the PvE Ruleset, Bonedancer, Wizard, Valewalker and Thane. If you think you have what it takes, send in your application today!

The folks of Gaheris are hosting their first of three Play on Gaheris Weekends that starts tonight and they invite you to join them for all the critter stompin' fun. Bring a new character or your Level 50s, it's a great time for new and old to head to the PvE Ruleset!

Yippee! The Road Trip in Bethesda, Maryland is almost here. Come join us on May 10th at 7:00pm EDT for all the excitement. I'll be there along with the Bearded Wonder and the Balancinator to answer your questions. We'll have free snacks, prizes and just a great time. Don't forget to RSVP.

This week seemed to go by so quickly that I can hardly believe it is Friday. See y'all on Monday!