VG - Vanguard Test Server Build 1807 & 1808 Patch Notes : Vanguard News

Friday's test server patch notes contain both build 1807 and 1808. Enjoy!


Vanguard Build 1808 Patch Notes 4/13/2007 – TEST SERVER

GAMEPLAY NOTES
- Hitting escape will no longer immediately drop you out of PVP combat so you won't be able to hit out of combat abilities repeatedly.
- Many abilities intended to get a damage bonus undead and procs on undead were working against anything. This has been fixed and they now only work on undead enemies.
- Large heals are no longer as likely to be interrupted. The cast time is no longer restarted for these abilities but follows rules much more similar to normal interruption. The time added to the cast from a partial interrupt is slightly larger than other abilities. This will make large heals easier to cast when being hit and when being hit by multiple enemies. However, they are still intended to be a challenge to cast in bad situations and players are encourage to use their quick heals at those times.
- Players can now use their mounts in outdoor areas all throughout New Targonor. Indoor and covered areas, however, are still mount-restricted. Bet you didn’t know your horse was claustrophobic did you.

ADVENTURING NOTES
- Bard – Mellarian’s Requiem of War now increases damage by a flat amount, fixing the stacking issues it had with Anthem of War.
- Bard – Improved the scaling values of Mellarian’s Anthem of War and increased the damage bonus to 15%, up from 10%.
- Bard – All Mellarian’s songs have had an improvement in the flat damage bonus portion of the song
- Bard – Irion’s Tune of Warding now increases AC by the correct amount
- Bard – The power of Tynen's Melody of Acceleration has been increased to 1%
- Bard – The power of Tynen's Strain of the Swift has been increased by 1%
- Bard – The power of Tynen's Coda of Velocity has been decreased by 2%
- Bard – Waterdance 4 now increases parry by the normal correct amount.
- Bard – The refresh timer on Fence has been removed.
- Bard – All of Cirel’s health regen components have been increased in power and have been given clearer descriptions
- Bard – All of Cirel’s mana regen components have had a slight increase in power and have been given clearer descriptions
- Bard – Gamael’s Song components are now more clear as to how much damage they do.
- Bard – The effects of Gamael’s are now visually indicated by a floating number.
- Bard – Gamael’s song components are now more easily identified in the combat text.
- Blood Mage – Physical Transmutation has had its conversion ratio increased by a large amount.
- Blood Mage – Physical Transmutation now has a 45 seconds refresh timer
- Blood Mage – Physical Transmutation now has a 10 second 25% damage debuff that applies on the caster when used.
- Blood Mage – Conduct (The ability granted by Conducive Symbiote) now has a 45 seconds refresh, down form 5 minutes)
- Blood Mage – Increased the healing effectiveness of Conduct.
- Blood Mage – Quickening Jolt (the ability granted by Quickening Symbiote) now lasts 8 seconds, up from 6 seconds.
- Blood Mage – Increased the regeneration rate of Vitalizing Symbiote.
- Blood Mage – Increased the regeneration rate of Renewing Symbiote.
- Blood Mage – Increased the healing amount on Ritual of Gelenia.
- Blood Mage – Increased the gains per level of Blood Union on Ritual of Gelenia.
- Blood Mage – Added upgrades to Mental Transmutation.
- Blood Mage – Sheltering Rune now protects against 100% arcane and Physical damage for 6 seconds.
- Blood Mage – Sheltering Rune now has a 120 second refresh timer with 120 second diminishing returns.
- Blood Mage – Life Husk now increases its duration as you get upgrades.
- Blood Mage – Added new ability line Cerebral Graft at level 30. Please visit your trainers for this super sweet buff.
- Blood Mage – Union of Blood can now trigger chains.
- Blood Mage – Scarlet Ritual can now trigger chains.
- Blood Mage – Blood Letting Ritual can now trigger chains.
- Blood Mage – Severing Ritual can now trigger chains.
- Blood Mage – Added new ability Exsanguinate to trainers at level 30.
- Blood Mage – Added new ability Flesh Rend to trainers at level 22.
- Dread Knight- Armor of Darkness no longer lowers your damage.
- Dread Knight – Shadow Meld now increases resistances.
- Dread Knight – Shadow Meld now grants a chance for your attacks to add Dreadful Countenance.
- Monk – Lowered the mitigation penalty of the Storm Dragon Stances
- Monk – Lowered the melee slow of the Stone Dragon Stances
- Monk – Drunken Fist Stance has been altered. The damage bonus has been slightly increased, 5% parry chance and a mitigation penalty have been added. The increased hate generation has been removed.
- Monk – Drunken Sway has been altered. Dodge and Parry are both increased. The overall dodge/parry chance has increased. While in this stance you will slap all who attack you, dealing minor damage
- Monk – The refresh timer on Swaying Step has been removed.
- Monk – Reed in the Wind has had the intended refresh timer of 2 minutes added to it.
- Monk – Tiger Stance has had its endurance penalty progressively lowered. When Legendary Tiger Stance is earned the penalty is 40%.
- Monk – Stone Dragon Stance now adds the appropriate cold and fire rune (30, 40, 50%).
- Monk – All steps in the Exploding Heart Technique have been increased in power significantly.
- Monk – Added a 5 minute refresh timer to all steps of the Exploding Heart Technique
- Monk – All finishing attacks that were previously 2 minutes are now 1 minute.
- Monk – Reduced the Refresh timer on Secret of Celerity to 15 minutes.
- Monk – Increased the power of Ignore Pain, with the most power being gained at the final version.
- Monk – Iron Hand now lasts for 5 minutes and costs 5 Jin to activate.
- Monk – Secret of Flame now lasts for 40 seconds, has a 90s refresh timer and has an increased chance to apply the DoT portion. The damage is clearly marked in the description.
- Monk – Secret of Ice now lasts for 40 seconds, has a 90s refresh timer and has an increased chance to apply the stun portion. The damage is clearly marked in the description.
- Monk – Errant Strikes can now be used every 15 minutes and lasts for 30 seconds.
- Monk – Staggering Punch now deals 75% weapon damage plus an additional amount that increases over time…and thus it was that the clone wars came to an end.
- Monk – The damage of Dragon’s Breath has been greatly increased.
- Monk - Increased the damage of Divine Tsunami and Divine Avalanche to make a better, more gradual scale.
- Monk – Increased the damage and the endurance cost of Dragon Rakes its Claw
- Monk – Trapping Mantis Claw and Cloud Dragon’s Ruse have been lowered in refresh time to 2 minutes.
- Monk – Lurching Feint has had a refresh of 2 minutes added to it. This was not the intended refresh.
- Rogue – The refresh timer on Deter has been removed.

CRAFTING NOTES
- Specialization titles are now available at the crafting advisor. If you are missing your specialization title, ask the crafting advisor about titles.
- Fixed a bug that may give you Grade A destroyed material for artificer practice charms.
- Rahkane is now removed from your inventory upon abandoning the quest “Legendary Fiend Hunter’s Weapon.”
- Ship construction tables now provide the proper complications.
- Corrected the names of some Qalian Floor Mattresses.
- You can now store items in the Medium Prime Kojani Chest
- Crafted Tier 5 Outfitter Light Armor has had it’s appearances updated.
- The ability description for the Society of Invention’s Mental Conductor now better describes its effects.
- The Cabal has stolen a valuable item from the Society of Invention. The Merchant’s Guild seeks to make a profit from the upcoming struggle. See the organization leader of the Ahgram crafting faction you are a member of to participate.
- The Imperial Trade Organization has acquiesced one of their buildings to the New Targonor Bank in exchange for tax cuts. Saori Kendall and her guard have moved into the building next door with the rest of her team.
- Correct the spelling of some furniture items.
- Taskmaster pause time and wander radius has been adjusted further.
- The quest recipes for the Ahgram crafting faction level 35 quests have had their levels increased to better reflect the level of the quest.
- The quest recipes for the New Targonor crafting faction level 35 quests have had their levels reduced slightly to better reflect the intended difficulty of the recipe.
- You can now switch crafting premier factions in Ahgram and New Targonor. Approach the leader of the faction you wish to join, tell them you wish to join, and confirm. Keep in mind doing this will remove any recipes related to the group you left, and you will lose a significant amount of faction with the other two organizations in that city. Please use caution when switching organizations.
- Varanjar outfitters must now actually assemble the improved needle to finish the tutorial.
- The Pristine Horseshoes special work order recipe now has the proper amount of charges attached.
- An issue preventing completion of the Qalian Journeyman Blacksmith quest has been fixed.
- Crafting organization work orders have received the following adjustments: Continental crafting faction loss/gain has been decreased, city crafting faction loss/gain has been decreased, crafting organization faction gain has been increased, and opposing crafting organization faction loss has been increased.

DIPLOMACY NOTES
- The First Scholar NPCs in Tanvu are no longer playing hard to get. They will properly display how much presence you need before they will talk to you.
- The NPCs for the Khal writs will no longer play hide and seek. They will now show up correctly.
- Konarthi Point no longer has independent Civic Diplomacy levers – it now shares its levers with Halgarad. Players engaging in Civic there affect Halgarad levers and vice versa.
- The Refugee Camp in Jharuu Flats now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Khal. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Khal are now active here as well.
- Wardship of the Sleeping Moon in Shaman’s Glade now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Leth Nurae. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Leth Nurae are now active here as well.
- Fisher’s Pen in Ocean Watch now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Tursh. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Tursh are now active here as well.
- Southwatch now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Bordinar’s Cleft. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Bordinar’s Cleft are now active here as well.
- Dragon’s Backbone now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Lomshir. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Lomshir are now active here as well.
- Infineum Plateau now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Hathor Zhi. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Hathor Zhi are now active here as well.
- Tar Janashir now shares Civic Diplomacy levers with Mekalia. Any buffs active through Civic Diplomacy in Hathor Zhi are now active here as well.
- Problems with parleying with Khaathur resulting from doing the Qalian horse quest out of order have been resolved.
- Ambassadors Weeds, given out in New Targonor by House Remniol, now give academic presence.
- Renton Keep now has fixed Civic Diplomacy radii.
- Mekalia has altered Civic Diplomacy radii.
- Hathor Zhi has altered Civic Diplomacy radii.
- The NPCs Raster Calren and Robart Corrin have decided to seek out a new way of life and have converted to the occupation of Domestic from Outsider. They have stopped running from the law.
- Skragg, a crew member of the Bloodied Sword in Tawar Galan, no longer runs around like a chicken with his head cut off and instead stays put. This fixes the problem of people being unable to complete or begin quests with him.
- Ort, the Muck King, near Veskal’s Exchange, now properly reverts to his relaxed state after being prodded by sticks.
- The Writ from Leth Nurae to Bordinar’s Cleft, “An Unexpected Alliance” has been renamed to “An Unlikely Alliance”. Also, your New Targonor and Thestran Watch faction is only adjusted once now instead of twice.

WORLD POPULATION NOTES
- Afrit – With appropriate faction, Grand Provisioner Teravin now offers a adventurers the opportunity to acquire the prison of a merchant djinn.
- Ahgram – Smelly Cat will no longer attack innocent bystanders, even if he thinks they’re going to steal his fish.
- Elani - Upon a successful chance to spawn, Infusium Cores will now spawn in groups of six. Only the members of the party responsible for slaying the associated Cliffwalker Golem will be able to interact with one of the cores.
- Elani - The Cliffwalker Golem corpses no longer instantly despawn if there is no loot on the corpse and will obey the default despawn timer.
- Gorgalog Swamp – Faction hit for slaying Savage Tree elves bordering on the Ichtakhta capital has been increased.
- Marsh of Peril - Added a new quest in the Marsh of Peril, “Hounds of the Wetlands.”
- Martok - The Tamed Ghostfang Okami will now despawn for 10 seconds after becoming enraged and forcibly obeying the player.
- Martok - Orcs and Goblins will now be granted the title "of Martok" upon their first visit into their home city.
- Mekalia – The journal location for “Hepca’s Plan, Part II” now correctly points to the Southern Menagerie. Gnomes cheer while the Chasm Lizards die a little inside.
- Northern Highlands – Players can no longer loot spirit necklaces from Torsheim Protectors for the quest ‘Roll the Bones’.
- Northern Highlands - Several NPC types in the Northern Highlands of Thestra are no longer aggressive
- NPCs - The spawn rate of Exaen Reet has been sped up considerably.
- Nusibe Necropolis – The crypt flyers no longer silence.
- Quests – Hard Preparations: The paracloacal glands will drop at a more rapid rate.
- Quests - The quests offered by Guard Captain Rexmal now have appropriate waypoints.
- Quests - Replenishing Supplies - The number of mushrooms required for this quest has been lowered, and the respawn rate for the mushrooms has been increased
- Quests - We Must Rebuild - The number of mushrooms required for this quest has been lowered, and the respawn rate for the mushrooms has been increased
- Quests - Mushroom Surprise has had its requirement reduced to 10 mushrooms
- Quests - Ebonwings Ebonwords has had its requirement reduce to 15 kills
- Quests - Guard Turroza in Trengal Watch now offers a repeatable version of her beetle money making scheme quest
- Quests - The Hunter’s League quests are now enabled. Adventurers in Eastern Qalia (Qa Riverbank, Ksaravi Gulch, Upside Defense Garrison and Skawlra Rock) now have additional class based armor/weapon reward quests to complete. Speak to your local Hunter’s League representative for more information. Please note: If you do not meet the requirements for the representative in your area, you may have to complete the requirements of another member of the Hunter’s League before progressing.
- Rahz Inkur – Zullbane Serum now has a cooldown attached.
- Rahz Inkur – The final encounter in the helm quest line will now reliably spawn the final turn-in NPC and drop the final required item.
- Renton Keep – The quests for The Sisters should give more clear directions to the Hethepool and Nightspring. Travel Journal Entries have also been added.
- Renton Keep - Sisters – Fixed a logic issue where players could get bugged and unable to continue the quest line past step 5.
- Southwatch – NPCs at the Red Sparrow Encampment no longer share a linked respawn.
- Southwatch - The quest "Slay the Silvertalon Pride" has been re-enabled and is now completeable by players. This quest is the continuation of the quest "Leather for Beldra" and begins at Beldra Goldhammer.
- Tawar Galan - A Banker and Broker have been added to Tawar Galan
- Tehatamani Empire – 2 dot pyramid mod density has been increased, and respawn rate has been increased
- Tehatamani Empire – Large pyramid npc difficulty and assist radius have been tweaked
- Temple of Dailuk - The Pod Swarmers and Podlings have been scaled down in difficulty.
- Vsurog Moor - Adjusted the difficulty of Tishra the Bloodpriest, and Silidoth the Destroyer. Also increased the availability of both encounters as well as the potential chance for multiple loot drops.
- Vsurog Moor - More quests have been added to this area for solo and small group play.
- Zaraj Arena - Repair bots in the Zaraj Arena now cost 10 coins, down from 100.

Items
- The Aor’Ahn Cloak is now equippable by all classes.
- Ancient Ksaravi Ulak now deals Hand-to-Hand damage rather than Blunt damage.
- Ancient Ksaravi Ulak now renders in-game as an ulak model.
- Ancient Ksaravi Ulak’s proc rate has been reduced slightly.
- Ancient Ksaravi Ulak’s proc effect has been changed. The new proc effect increases the wielder’s chance to dodge by 100% for 3 seconds while increasing the wielder’s defensive target’s chance to parry by 50% for 3 seconds. The parry portion will not affect the wielder if the wielder is also the defensive target. This effect will also not dissipate after dealing a melee attack.
- The ability on the Soul Siphon Hoop has been adjusted.

CODING NOTES
- There will be some additional hitching the first time you see new materials in game while your system recompiles and caches the programmable shaders. These caches will correctly load when you start up the game in the future. Overall, you should experience less hitching in the long run.
- You can now search for multiple classes simultaneously in the Class dropdown of the Social Find window.


~The Vanguard Team