DAOC - Grab Bags : DAOC News

A super-sized dose of Qs and As.

Q) I just recently respec'd my smite/rejuv cleric to enhance/smite to give "melee cleric" a go. I am CL10 so I am able to use slash weapons. I noticed however, even though I can not spec in any weapon line, my weapon skill drops by about 400 and my dmg is almost non-existant when I am using a weapon that does slash damage. The herald says strength "Affects the damage done by weapons for crushing and slashing damage types." So as far as I can tell my WS shouldn't drop when I go from using a slash weapon right? Is it just bugged because I can only use slash due to my CL's?

A) It also has to do with the inherent proficiency of a weapon type that is set up by each class. Clerics are set up to be slightly better at crush and staff than they are at the other weapon types.

Q) Does nearsight affect the radius of group heal/spreadheal spells or does it only affect spells that have a range listed for them rather than a radius?

A) It only affects the range, not radius.

Q) During a discussion the other day on new Dragonsworn armor and redoing templates to fit pieces in, the topic of what to alchemy onto the suit came up. Since the new crafting changes, all pieces have MP armor SC points. The armor, as far as I know, quality wise is for your AF. My question is does the quality of the armor affect the proc rate of ablatives and omni procs? Is there a difference between the amount a ablative will proc on a 99% piece and a MP piece? A few people I know were wondering this as crafting MP's can be expensive just for the extra 6 odd armor from 99% armor if ablative proc rate is not affected.

A) The quality of an item will not affect its proc rate, so you can go ahead and apply whatever proc you want to your 96% quality armor without feeling like you’re missing out. Note that charges are another matter entirely. When a charge tincture is applied to an item, the item’s quality will affect the number of charges it can hold. A 96% quality item can hold 4 charges. Each point of quality above that will add another charge, the exception being when you reach 100% when 3 are added, meaning a masterpiece item will get 10 charges.

In other words:
96% = 4
97% = 5
98% = 6
99% = 7
100% = 10

Q) I have been away from the game due to computer and life issues. I hope to have the computer back before the weekend. I bought the Epic box version just to reduce update time since I am on satellite ISP and I have lost my hard drive and have no back up in many months. My question is: I have two accounts and both were up to the Lab version. How can I get the Lab downloaded again without a new purchase?

A) Once you have the Epic box installed (effectively the Darkness Rising client), you can visit our LOTM download page http://darkageofcamelot.com/lotm/files/ to get any files you may be missing. Another link to use is http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/download.

Q) Quickness caps at 250 for melee combat speed right? So anything over 250 will not affect melee combat speed. But what about the evade skill would a higher quickness and dex make my Inf evade a lot more? If so, what is evade skill cap for PVE RVR etc? If quickness caps at 250 then why does an infiltrator dex raise as a primary stat per level, quickness as secondary and strength as tertiary?

A) Evade maintains the same cap, but the value is calculated as the average of quickness and dexterity, making it a more difficult cap to hit. Put another way, 275 dex is useful if you have 225 quickness, but going beyond that would not help the evade skill.

Q) I just recently came back to the game, so I’m not savvy on all the new items. But, it was my understanding, that unless an item actually said "Level 48 required" or something to that affect, then the item's bonuses could be received by a character lower than that. I say this, because on the Egregarious Ring of Nightmares, there is no level requirement in the delve, but my level 39 Molvik twink can not get the effects from it. I find it odd b/c there are other level 50 pieces of jewelry he can use, but not this one. Is the Ring of Nightmares bugged?

A) This is a common source of confusion among many players. The level of a jewelry item is not actually the determining factor in whether it will affect you or not. The level value you see is a number we manually assign, just to let you know the level player it is intended for as well as to determine how fast the item degrades relative to your own level.

What determines whether the item affects you or not is a hidden value automatically assigned based on the stats on the item called the Bonus Level. If the Bonus Level is higher than your level, the item won't affect you.

In the case of Peridas' Vigor, the Bonus Level is 28, so you have 4 more levels to go before it will affect you. The level 40 items you own have Bonus Levels of 24 or less.

This is intended as part of the way we balance items. The only time you should be concerned is if an item fails to affect you, even when your level matches the level of the item. In that case, either the stats were accidentally made too powerful, causing the Bonus Level to be too high, or the level value was accidentally set misleadingly low. If you should find such an item, please submit a bug report noting its name, its level, and your level.

When you see something along the lines of “Level 48 Required” on an item, that’s the level required to use the ability on it, not to benefit from its bonuses.

Q) Could you please explain on Grab bag DAOC and EA policy on hacked accounts where you lose money and or gear including house?

A) Account Security is the responsibility of the player, and this is one of the reasons why we’re very serious when we advise players to never give out their account information. Customer Service has no way to differentiate between multiple users of the same account. This would include both someone you gave your password to willingly or someone you did not grant access to your account.

Please make sure you are not downloading any keyloggers. Please make sure your password is difficult (long, not common words, uses letters and numbers, etc.), and do not share it with anyone. You do not know who your friend is going to share your password with, or if your friend will decide to take items/money from your account.

If you discover that you are missing items/money from a character, please first check the rest of the characters on the account. Make a list of each Character-Server, and each item or amount of money you feel is missing from each. Also, take note of when you last saw the items and money.

Once you have your list and timeframe, appeal in game as Emergency from the account missing the items/money. Please do so the moment your list is ready.

This is a time sensitive issue. We can only attempt to verify very recent trades/expenditures. The following format will cover all of the information we need, so we can assist you without having to ask for a new appeal with further information. If you are missing a lot of items or all of your items, you do not have to list all of them in the appeal. You will be asked for the full list when a CSR contacts you to gather further information, so be prepared:

“My character seems to be missing items/money. They were last seen on the account on . The items missing include: , , . The amount of money missing is . Please help!”

We will attempt to verify where your account traded or placed your items, and/or traded or spent your money. If your account traded the items/money to another player, and we can verify the trade, we will advise you of the character name they were traded to and when (including the trade of a house). If missing money turns out to be from a purchase and we can verify it, we will advise you what the money was spent on, and when.

This is all we can tell you about these transactions. We can not verify for you any trade that did not involve your account for privacy reasons. This means, we can not tell you where your items were traded to after your account traded them to someone, unless they were traded back to you in some fashion.

We can not reverse player trades or purchases, so the information we give to you on a trade and/or expenditure is the extent of the help we can extend to you.

Q) Quick question regarding savages and hand to hand styles. The Style Library on the Camelot Herald lists several of the styles hitting multiple opponents, but there is nothing about this in the delve for those styles in-game. Additionally, the Herald says that Kelgor's Claw gives an evasion bonus and, again, there is nothing in the in-game delves about this. Which is currently accurate, the Herald or the in-game delves?

A) The Herald speaks truth… mostly. The Herald is right about all those styles that hit multiple targets, however, some of the numbers it lists are wrong:

Tribal Assault does hit a total of 2 targets (i.e. whatever you have targeted along with something else within melee range).

Clan’s Might hits a total of 4 targets.

Totemic Wrath hits a total of 5 targets.

Totemic Sacrifice hits a total of 6 targets.

Note also that you have the same chance of multi-hitting against the additional targets that you have against your main target. As for Kelgor’s claw, it does indeed give an evasion bonus just as Kelgor’s Bane and Tribal Wrath grant a parry bonus.

Q) Realm rank 5 is commonly referred to as "level 51." Does realm rank add to the effective level of a character for purposes of resists? In other words, will a realm rank 4 character see a higher resist rate when casting against a realm rank 9 target compared to an equal realm rank 4 target?

A) No – realm ranks do not come into play when calculating resistance.

Q) Do focus levels on staves still work when it's at 70% con?

A) Focus is decreased with any level of con loss to your staff, however, even at 70% condition, it will still provide a significant benefit compared to not having the focus at all. For example, a Wizard casting Greater Conflagration (which is listed as costing 30 power) without a focus staff expends 36 power. With a 50 focus staff at 100% condition, the same Wizard casting the same spell will only use 24 power. With a 50 focus staff at 70% condition, the same wizard casting the same spell will use 27 power. So for the greatest power efficiency, you should always keep your staff repaired, however, if you don’t, you’re still better off than not using a focus staff at all.

Q) I have asked several of the other players who have been around a lot longer than I have but am still unable to find anyone who can tell me how to calculate the cap for Hit Points.

A) There is no explicit “cap” on a player’s max HP, but rather a complicated equation, which factors in many things. Unfortunately, this means there’s no simple answer. We will run through the logic here, but we have simplified the matter by removing the RealmAbility/item/etc. bonuses from the calculations, otherwise we’d be here all dayJ

First, there is a variable we shall call “myClassHPBonus,” which as the name would imply, is a bonus based upon the player’s class – here are the values for this variable for all the classes:

Classes with a 22-point bonus:
Albion: Armsman, Mercenary
Midgard: Warrior, Beserker, Savage
Hibernia: Blademaster, Hero, Vampiir

Classes with a 19-point bonus:
Albion: Paladin, Reaver
Midgard: Shadowblade, Valkyrie, Skald
Hibernia: Champion

Classes with an 18-point bonus:
Albion: Heretic, Scout, Minstrel, Cleric, Infiltrator, Friar
Midgard: Thane, Hunter, Healer, Shaman
Hibernia: Warden, Druid, Bard, Nightshade, Ranger, Valewalker
All Realms: Mauler

Classes with a 14-point bonus:
Albion: Theurgist, Wizard, Sorcerer, Necromancer, Cabalist
Midgard: Spritmaster, Runemaster, Bonedancer, Warlock
Hibernia: Bainshee, Eldritch, Enchanter, Mentalist, Animist, Warlock

Second is the Calculation using the bonuses above:

MAX_HP = 20 + [ ( ( myLevel * myClassHPBonus) + ( (myChampionLevel-1) * myClassHPBonus ) ) * 8 / 10 ]

So there you have your Max HP, without bonuses.

Q) I would like to know how to calculate the caps on CON, DEX, STR, and QUI. Also what is the max a toon can have for the various attributes, for example what is the max a Luri Ranger could have for the various attributes?

A) Your primary stat increases every level, your secondary stat every 2nd level, and your tertiary stat every 3rd level BEGINNING AT level 6.

This information, including each of the races’ starting stats and each of the classes’ primary/secondary/tertiary stats, is available here: http://www.camelotherald.com/article.php?id=74

Case in point, a Half Ogre Armsman has 90 strength from his race, and perhaps 10 points allocated into strength during character creation, for a baseline of 100 strength. If he is level 50, he gets +45 to his primary stat (strength), putting him at 145 base strength, plus items.

There is a relatively generic cap at 250 in terms of skill use, for example when using parrying, shields, evade, etc. If the skill uses more than one attribute, the cap will be applied to the average of the two (parrying uses just dexterity, whereas evade uses dexterity and quickness, for example).

Q) Somewhat curious, why can't we have Pendragon online while you patch so that way people have something to do while waiting for the live servers to come back up?

A) The reason we tend to keep Pendragon down is in case any issues crop up on the Live servers while we’re updating them. With Pendragon down, we can easily access it to pull data, conduct additional internal testing in a Live environment while isolating the Live servers from additional risk, etc.

Q) Ok I am very confused. I have been trying to find any type of information on how much dexterity is needed to cap archery damage. I was just told this evening that there is no damage cap. My scout has 101 dex, and after equipping the dexterity cap and stat Mythirian to get 109 dex, there was no change in damage. I also tried testing on Pendragon. My starting dex was 354 (aug dex 2) and after respeccing to aug dex 5 (390 dex total) my damage was the exact same as when dex was only at 354 (820 damage).

A) Just like spell damage, archery caps at its delve * 3 (note that bonus to magic damage% will always increase your damage, even beyond the cap). You can reach that cap however you want. Both stats and skills will contribute, so how much dex you would need to reach it depends on how much +archery you have. Bonuses to your dex stat cap from normal sources or the adroit Mythirian will help you raise your dex all the higher, but if the combination of your total dex and +archery already hit the cap, they’re not going to increase your damage. However, that being said, Dex does affect you're rate of fire. So while you won't see higher numbers, you will see them come a little faster.

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Have a great weekend everyone, and for you fellow dads out there, Happy Father's Day!