Point Release 9: tomorrow on the server. Summary of changes.

Tomorrow, the MoonGate: Aria server will implement – currently finalized – Release Point 9 – which, in addition to the novelties already described, will introduce a number of changes and additions to the mechanics of the Legends of Aria world.

Below is a summary of the changes envisaged for implementation, from the most important to minor patches.

Militias 3.0

• Militia Keeps have been added to each of the Militia towns (Pyros, Eldeir, and Helm). Containing:
  • Militia leader NPC (you have to join the township to be able to enter)
  • Town flag capture location
  • Spiritwood Supply Cache – holds up to 10,000 spiritwood for use in repairing the keep door and constructing battering rams.
  • Destructible Keep Door – keeps anyone not belonging to the local township from entering
    • Militia keep automatically repairs the keep door if:
      • There is enough spiritwood in the supply cache
      • There are no living enemies inside the keep walls
    • It takes approximately one hour and 5000 spiritwood to fully repair a keep door.
    • A destroyed door must be fully repaired to 100% before it will close
• Militia Abilities – new abilities found on the militia window accessible via the button bar
  • Construct Battering Ram – Allows you to construct a ram at an enemy keep.
    • Battering Rams have 10,000 hit points and take damage over time when there are not enough players in range to operate.
    • 2 players must be in range of the ram for it to operate
    • It takes approximately 15 minutes to destroy a fully repaired keep door
    • It takes approximately 15 minutes of inactivity for the ram to be destroyed
  • Equip Militia Cloak – summons and equips your militia cloak. (Requires Copper Rank)
  • Summon Militia Mount – summons and mounts your militia mount (Requires Gold Rank)
• New Ranking System – Militia rank points are awarded for killing enemy militia members. The amount of points earned for a kill is based on the ranks of the victim and aggressor. Killing someone of a higher rank will give you more rank points for the kill. The victim loses ⅓ of the points that the aggressor gained.
  • New Ranks
    • Iron
    • Copper
    • Gold
    • Cobalt
    • Obsidian
  • Each rank has 10 tiers indicated by a roman numeral (I-X)
  • Season resets will no longer reset everyone back to 0. Instead the rank points of everyone in a militia will be adjusted on a curve. This curve will be determined at the end of the season when we see the final distribution of rank points.
  • Militia Cloaks – There are two militia cloaks which are earned at Copper and Cobalt and are summoned with the militia ability.
  • Militia Mounts – There are two militia mounts which are earned at Gold and Obsidian and are summoned with the militia ability.
  • Any militia with less than 30% of the population online will receive a “Militia Rally Bonus” of +30% rank points per kill.
• New Militia Artifacts
  • Talent rewards no longer have rank requirements to use.
  • Items purchased from the militia merchant can be freely traded and used by anyone.
  • Militia Artifacts are cursed but have a limited durability.
  • Militia Artifacts have a unique hue.
• Militia Event Changes
  • Capture the Flag (Town Control)
    • It now takes 15 seconds of standing still without taking damage to pick up a flag
    • You can only pick up the flag of the town you are attacking
    • If your home flag is missing (picked up) any other flags you control are automatically returned to their home.
    • You can not capture a flag at your keep unless you control your own flag.
  • King of the Hill
    • Talents are now earned by farming “Militia Event” mobs at the Valus Cemetary king of the hill location
    • Holding the Spiritwood Mill in the Black Forest grants Spiritwood to the militia over time. You earn 50 spiritwood per minute. You must hold the location for about two hours to gain enough spiritwood to repair a door or construct a battering ram.
• Talents are no longer earned from kills or participating in the capture the flag or king of the hill militia events
• Existing militia cloaks, mounts and godly bless scrolls have been replaced with the amount of talents it cost to purchase the item. If the item is equipped or in your inventory, the talents will be placed in your bank.
• Godly items have been converted into Durable items. They are no longer cursed but retain their custom name, double durability and can be equipped by anyone. Additionally, the talent cost for the scroll is placed at the location of the item. If the item is equipped or in your inventory, the talents will be placed in your bank.
• New militia season started
  • Ranks are reset
  • This season is much shorter than previous seasons (30 days) 

Ranked Arena Matches

• Ranked arena matches can be organized by talking with “Arena Master Vladimir” at the arena in Pyro’s Landing.
• Arena Restrictions;
  • Each match lasts 10 minutes.
    • If the match goes over the time limit the team with the most kills wins.
    • If both teams have equal kills the match is a draw and no rank is rewarded.
  • Each combatant can only use 5 potions per match (ie. heal, cure, mend, etc…)
  • Players that have active pets (ie. not stabled) will not be able to compete in the arena.
  • Players can not be resurrected by teammates when they die and will instead be resurrected and teleported to the Arena Master Vladimir.

Bazaar

• Bazaar NPC added to Eldier, Helm, Pyros Landing, Valus, Oasis, and Outpost.
  • Players can visit the NPC to search for items being sold on player owned merchants.
  • Purchasing items from the bazaar will place an icon on your mini-map showing where you can travel to collect your purchases.

League Quests

• All leagues have had their quests updated.
  • League favor rewarded per quest has been greatly increased.
• League of dungeoneers has moved their camp to the entrance of “Halls of Ruin”
• League purchasables have been updated for PR9. 
  • Purchases prices have been updated to reflect favor reward increases.

Dynamic Spawns

• Dynamic spawns have been re-written to ensure they are working as intended.
• Dynamic spawns now alert the player that they are in an area that can trigger a dynamic spawn event.
• Additional dynamic spawn events have been added (discoverable through league quests).

Scrolls of the Artificer

• Crafting orders have had the “Scroll of the Artificer” added to their rewards.
• When consumed the “Scroll of the Artificer” will allow the player a chance to craft artifact weapon and armor sets for a duration of time.
• Artifact set items have a small chance to be “cursed” when crafted; increasing the quality of resource used to craft the item gives a slight increase to this chance.
• Being the first player to craft a set gives that player credit for “Discovering” that set and attached their name as the discoverer each time that set is crafted in the future.
• 200+ item sets will be discoverable with the PR9 release.
• Artificer Artifacts have a unique hue.

Information HUD

• A bar has been added to the top of the screen that will serve as a information HUD for players.
  • Added button to HUD to toggle on/off display of enchantment mods and caps.
  • Added backpack weight display to HUD.
  • Buff/debuff icons appear in the center of the information HUD.
  • HUD will be expanded and customizable in a future release.

Constitution Changes

• Ruby jewelry now gives +health instead of +constitution. 
• Player STR has been updated to the highest of their previous STR/CON value.

Crafting Changes

• Harvesting Mission Dispatchers now offer Fabrication missions that give Cotton, Fluffy Cotton, Silk, Leather Hide, Beast Leather Hide, or Vile Leather Hide.
• Lumberjack missions given higher difficulties (minimum skill required to get Ash or Blightwood Missions).
• Cloth helms now offer armor ratings.

Manifestation Changes

• New spell Ward: Hidden added.
  • Casting this spell in a given area will cause one hidden player in that area/or who enters that area to be revealed. 
  • Lasts 10 minutes, each mage can only have one Ward: Hidden active at a time.
• Ward: Evil spell will now detect hidden players who entered it.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed issue with Void Guardian spawning multiples times during the same Catacombs instance.
• Charge ability has been replaced with “Relentless Hate” which teleports the attacker to the target, if within range and has line of sight, and stuns the target for 3 seconds.
• Master Rogue quest NPC moved from Valus to Oasis.
• Grandmaster Rogue quest moved to Black Forest.
• Padded helm, leggings, and tunic can now be dyed.
• If a guard is attacked and cannot find a valid path to the attacker they will kill the attacker with a bolt of lightning.
• Fixed issue with “Focus” ability which was causing excessive skill gains.
• Militia pets should no longer be attacked by town guards when attacking a member of the opposing militia when both the pet and the opposing player are flagged for militia conflict.
• Player pets should no longer be attacked by town guards when attacking their owners.
• Fixed issue where the hearth in an inn would not regenerate vitality correctly if a bard played music and then stopped.
• Fixed issue where crafting orders were not properly notifying players if rewarded stackable items they already had in their backpack.