Grab Bag - May 16, 2008

Even a rainy evening won't stop the Grab Bag!


On the Herald news, the post about the doppleganger invasion says that "The quest-givers will remain after the event to redeem any current Doppelganger parts that players have, but the Doppelgangers will cease to spawn, in their current incarnation, in roughly a week". I took this to mean that I could still turn in parts and get credit for my characters that did not receive the cloak/heart as of yet. I have plenty of parts left and just figured I would turn them in when I logged into each character. The quest giver ignores me and does not accept my parts when I hand them to him. Was I wrong and I had to activate the quest first (although I did not do this for all but one of my characters, I just received 6 parts, and turned them into Theo in Camelot without ever having spoken to him prior to this)? If I would have known this, I would have got the quest from all of my characters first.

The Bearded Wonder explains : Yes, the quest is no longer given as the invasion is over. The NPC will honor the quest for those who have already started it.

Has there been any thought into allowing people to choose their own tri-stats? A complaint about the Shadowblade is using strength based weapons when strength is on the bottom of the list while other stealthers use dexterity based weapons when dexterity is on the top of the list. Allowing people to choose which order they go in could help with that, it might be interesting to see a fighter type who is slightly less strong but has a faster attack rate as well.

It's just an idea, and I am wondering if I am the first to bring it up? I have seen no talk of such an idea from anyone thus far.

When it comes to talking about stats, the Balancinator was the one to ask: We have had many suggestions about a character's rising stats. I do think this is the first time I have seen this idea mentioned. We are not looking into changing rising stats at this moment though. I will keep it in mind for future game changes.

I was wondering, if there is any difference between the proc rates on different chest pieces? I've heard that the Galladoria weapons and armors proc more often than the Dragonslayer gear.

Knowing all the ins and outs of armor procs The Lady of the Jewels says: Some armor pieces will have a higher chance to proc than others, even if they are the same type (i.e. both are chest pieces). Proc rate can vary based on the items armor factor, quality, and bonus level. The Dragonslayer armor, for example, has some of the highest proc rates because it is difficult to obtain and high in bonus level. I looked through several armor and weapon drops from Galladoria and compared their proc chance to the Dragonslayer weapons and armor sets. All the items I looked at had the same proc chance, so don't rule out Galladoria drops as being as viable just based on their proc rates.

The Master Level 3 Warlord ability 'Cowering Bellow' is no longer working as it should. When I use the ability now, it is no longer dismissing yellow and orange mobs, but instead attracting them immediately to me. Furthermore, in RvR, it is no longer repelling enemy realm pet classes like it used to. The pets keep attacking as normal. What is going on?

Frowning just a little bit, the Balancinator tested this issue multiple times: It drove off pets and monsters alike. I could not duplicate this issue. I am not sure of all the circumstances around your situation. If you experience it again, please fill out a bug report with as much detail as you can. It would help us a lot in duplicating this issue.

Can you tell me if the Ring of Satin Ribbon exists anymore? I've killed tons of Irewood Saplings, and no drop. According to a popular website, Irewood Saplings are supposed to drop it.

The Lady of the Jewels has some helpful advice: The Ring of Satin Ribbon is a very rare drop, but it does still drop none-the-less, just not from the irewoods I'm afraid. Try defeating hill hounds, mountain mephits, and gales instead, they seem to be the ones who possess this ring now.

While fighting a Realm Rank 3 Hero I noticed my spells which normally hit players on average for 633 were hitting him for 174 (-286). How might this be possible and what are the effects of the spell? IE: Did I cause any damage to him?

The Balancinator took a moment to ponder the negative amount and grinned: Your spell hit the target for 174 damage. The amount within the parentheses (-286) is the amount resisted by your target. The spell would have done 460 damage total before resists. There are a number of ways for a tank to get his/her resists. It can be achieved with good templating, resist buffs, and the realm ability "Avoidance of Magic". A heavy tank can also use the ability "Fury" that increases resistance to all forms of magic by 50%.

Is the Doppelganger quest coming back? If it's not you should make the doppelganger pieces sellable to a merchant.

Looking distantly at the wall in front of him, the Bearded Wonder smiled slyly: You never know. The doppelgangers might be back in some form or another in the future...

Can you respec the Dragonslayer weapons? If so, which NPC do I need to talk to and where are they located?

Smiling with delight The Lady of the Jewels knew this answer immediately: You can hand your Dragonslayer Weapon to the following NPCs to choose a new one:

Albion: Grogotos in Grimspound
Midgard: Raxnathor in Svarhamr
Hibernia: Azure Sonfinin in Tailtiu


If your class has more than eight weapon choices, you can also hand your weapon to the apprentice near the above mobs for some additional choices. These apprentices are:

Lamont, Stonecrush Apprentice
Geddsyn, Svartalf Apprentice
Aliona, Azure Apprentice

What's the value of the slow effect on the Level 39 Blades style "Spectrum Blade"? It's not listed on the Style Library.

After a quick check to be sure, The Balancinator answers short but sweet: It is a 30% slow. Happy hunting!

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Thank you to everyone who attended our Bethesda Road Trip stop, it's always such a pleasure to meet all of you in person. Our next Road Trip will be on July 26th in San Diego, California. If you are planning on attending, make sure to RSVP. Snacks and prizes await you there!

The New Server Type Poll will be coming to a close soon, so we need you to vote and remind others to vote as well. The response has been great so far, keep those votes coming in. If you haven't already, go on and vote now.

In the mood for some PvE this weekend? The players of the Gaheris server invite everyone to join them in their last in a series of Play on Gaheris weekends. The fun starts tonight, it's a great chance to see what Gaheris is all about.

The Ghost Keep event is in full swing this week. We posted a Guide to help explain the different phases of the quests available. There is also a very sweet reward at the end for all your ethereal efforts; a little something called the Ghostly Medal of Honor.

The March Team Lead Focus Question responses can now now be seen here. This week we also had the pleasure of announcing 3 new Team Leads. We still have some openings available, so if you think you have what it takes, send in your application today. I'm out of here for this week, see you out in the frontiers!