Bank of Arda Overhaul
The Bank of Arda store/merchant interface is now retired. It has served us well, but the merchant objects are limited & bloated when used for this purpose, and larger banks were causing noticeable performance issues and lag. It has now been replaced with a full NUI interface in the player journal:
- Much more performant & significantly reduces bank-related lag when players access their bank storage, exit the server, etc.
- Item storage capacity increased from 1,000 to 2,500 items per account.
- Added item icons & the ability to examine item descriptions directly from the player inventory & bank tabs in the journal.
- Identical items will typically group together in the same row, except when the stored items differ in stats, properties, etc.
- Forge requirements are highlighted in blue in both lists & marked "Forge Item" in the examine window.
- Plot items and empty bags/containers can now be stored via the journal.
- You must still remain near a Bank of Arda location to withdraw or deposit items & gold.
Player Journals
- Added a race filter to portrait selection.
- Now using scroll-based loading for improved performance for longer lists of data. E.g. inventory & bank items, bank transaction logs, lore entries, etc.
NUI Buff Status Bar & Quickslots
- Fixed several spells not appearing in the Buff Status Bar, including spells that have both beneficial & hostile effects.
- Active combat modes (expertise, power attack, rapid shot, etc.) now appear at the front of the Buff Status Bar with a gold border, & no longer flash in NUI Quickslots.
- Improved reliability of buffs appearing for equipped weapons, armor, etc.
- Improved reliability of custom quickslots updating remaining spell/item uses.
- Other fixes & performance improvements.
Items & Loot
- Corrected base-item descriptions for several weapon types to properly show custom Arda changes. E.g. proficiency, critical threat/range, damage types, etc.
- Bard instrument updates (these automatically apply to existing instruments, excluding legacy instruments):
- Effects now use the user's Bard level for dispel checks.
- Improved the descriptions of several instruments to provide more clarity on certain behavior/mechanics.
- Arkenstone Amulet now grants +3 Natural Armor AC.
- Existing amulets must be updated at the Altar to Aulë.
Advanced AI
- Gamia, Murnoc the Werewolf, and mob werewolves now use the Advanced AI.
- Improved primary spellcaster behavior, including ranged casting, target selection & pre-combat buffing.
- Reduced unnecessary creature summons from several monsters & bosses.
- Timestop removed from the Lassarauko mob.
- Amount of healing spells on Mordor clerics reduced.
- Other fixes, changes, and behavior improvements.
Spells
- Epic Spell: Dragon Knight: Increased duration from 2 turns to 5 turns.
- Epic Spell: Leech Field: Now affects only enemies and grants temporary HP based on health drained each round. Constructs grant none. Description fixed.
- Skull Trap: Now deals 1d6 negative damage per caster level, capped at 20d6, and detonates when approached or after 30 seconds. Fixed saving throws, spell resistance, reincarnate bonuses, and caster kill credit for XP. Description fixed.
- Meteor Swarm: Description fixed to reflect uncapped caster-level damage and the six-foot protected area around the caster.
- Shroud of Flames: Fixed missing splash damage and incorrect Reflex and spell resistance checks.
- Mordenkainen’s Force Missiles: Fixed progression to one missile per four caster levels, up to seven, and fixed Maximized damage.
- Ruby Ray of Reversal: Dispel strength now scales with caster level, up to +40. Replaced the misleading Time Stop visual with beam and dispel effects. Description fixed.
- Storm of Vengeance weather changes are less intense & transition more gradually.
Miscellaneous
- Sauron tweaks (applies to both versions):
- In addition to his usual end-of-round teleport tricks, Sauron now has a chance to use a new unique ability, one that may turn the strength of his enemies against them.
- Teleport-related attack penalty (interposing hand % chance) duration reduced slightly.
- Fixed the Moria door transition between the 2nd & 1st Great Halls of Khazad-dûm.
- Minimap fixes for the default rural, Forodwaith, and Mordor tilesets.
- Fixed several seamless transitions in Outer Mirkwood & Mûmakan.
- Slipping/falling messages now use private floating text, reducing chat clutter.
- Reduced the hit points of the Container of Arda.
- Fix for the recently added "XP bonus" effect icon displaying unreliably.
- Other minor fixes and improvements.