Updates/2008-12-16

Deployment 15.7: 12/13/2008

Maps and Missions

 * A new instance map, "The Empire Sector," is available for players. Access to this special new map is restricted to level 50 players, who must also meet a specific Logos requirement. AFS personnel should report to Archaeologist Wynne Topper at the Twin Pillars Outpost on Concordia Wilderness for further instructions or, report to General Thadeus T. Bailey if you have already completed Wynne Topper's mission "A Mystery Unearthed".
 * Two new level 50 missions are available for "The Empire Sector" instance:
 * Mission: "Welcome Home Soldiers!" - report to Captain Pauly "The Boot" Seminario inside "The Empire Sector"
 * Repeatable Mission: "Rapture" - report to General Frank E. Murphy inside "The Empire Sector". Players must complete the mission "Welcome Home Soldiers!" in order to acquire the repeatable mission.
 * "Rapture" includes a new control point battle inside the instance and has bonus objectives that can be completed for extra rewards.< li>Additional rewards have been added to the repeatable Earth mission, "Rapture". Players can now work towards collecting the entire AFS Shocktrooper Suit, a brand new suit of Motor Assist with high armor values and unique modules. These modules can not be removed or modified, but players can integrate traditional armor modules through the modification system. The rewards players can now choose from are:
 * AFS Shocktrooper Boots: +10% to Movement
 * AFS Shocktrooper Gloves: +10% to Ability Damage
 * AFS Shocktrooper Helmet: +5% to Critical Hit Chance
 * AFS Shocktrooper Legs: +10% to Melee Damage
 * AFS Shocktrooper Vest: +10% to Ranged Damage
 * 2500 Mimeomech
 * Epic Caretakers, Technicians, Soldiers, and Grenadiers now drop three times the credits
 * Epic Caretakers, Technicians, Soldiers, and Grenadiers now have twice the chance to drop random and set equipment.
 * Epic Boss Hunter, Kael, Predators and Seekers now drop twice the credits
 * Epic Boss Hunter, Kael, Predators, and Seekers now have a 100% chance to drop 2 pieces of random equipment and 2 set pieces/progressive weapons.
 * Concordia Wilderness: Overhead map and radar maps have been updated to reflect excavations at Twin Pillars Outpost.
 * Concordia Wilderness: AFS seismologists have detected a minor disturbance in the deepest sections of Enigma Cave.
 * CELLAR Arena: Location has been expanded, with an entrance to the Edmund Range wargame map at the north end.
 * The Epic Caves of Donn are now accessible via the CELLAR.
 * Festive Seasonal Holiday Observance Flora and decorations have been distributed to AFS Outposts and Bases. Players may receive their AFS Approved Holiday Headgear and Festive Footwear at any of the following secularly-oriented locations.
 * Concordia Wilderness: Twin Pillars Outpost
 * Concordia Divide: Foreas Base
 * Concordia Palisades: New Cumbria
 * Torden Plains: Irendas Colony
 * Torden Incline: Plains Post
 * Torden Mires: Baylor Base
 * Valverde Plateau: Fort Defiance
 * Valverde Pools: Snake Pit
 * Valverde Marshes: Paludos
 * Ligo Crucible: Fort Intrepid
 * Ligo Thunderhead: Thunderhead Base
 * Ligo Ashen Desert: Shadow's Edge Post
 * Torden Abyss: Tantalus Base
 * Valverde Descent: Fort Virgil
 * Valverde Howling Maw: Gangus Outpost
 * CELLAR Arena
 * Ammo stack size limits have been increased from 5000 to 50000
 * Mimeomech stack size limits have been increased from 5000 to 50000
 * Fireworks stack size limits have been increased from 50 to 1000
 * Additional treasure crates (a.k.a. chests) have been added to Howling Maw. Many of these chests will bring forth a response from enemy monsters, either when approaching the chest, when opening the chest, or both. Some responses are heavier than others. Players should be on their guard when approaching and interacting with these crates and chests. These crates and chests will often be hidden from view, and some of them are locked.
 * Additional treasure crates have been added to Incline. A few of these chests will bring a response from monsters. Several chests are hidden.
 * PTS ONLY - Mimeomech has been added to the level 50 PTS Vendor in Alia Das, Wilderness. It sells for 1 credit per 1 Mimeomech.
 * Audio has been added to the Eloh Logos Conduit object. These are objects located at Trinity Bridge on Valverde Plateau, as well as at Twin Pillars on Concordia Wilderness.
 * The Bane are stirring up something big. After their recent failed attacks on AFS strongholds, they're apparently reorganizing their ranks, and pulling a lot of their heavy hitter troops out of several combat zones. There is much speculation with the think tanks at HQ about what the Bane may be up to, but for now it seems like their reorganization efforts are only focused on the consistently contested Control Points on Wilderness, Divide, Palisades, Plains and Incline.

Game Mechanics

 * The animation for the Staff's ranged attack has been changed to eliminate several bugs.
 * Strider Master Thorq and Vulcanus on Howling Maw were not correctly set as bosses. The difficulty of these creatures has been raised and the quality and quantity of loot drops have been increased to match.
 * Regular Striders will now drop junk loot periodically.
 * The icon for Mimeomech has been changed.
 * Combat information for Clones, Bots, and spotters has been added to the combat log.
 * Spotters, Clones, and Bots summoned during a duel can attack and be attacked again.
 * Epic mobs will now look different and have different UI indicators from their Non-Epic counter parts.
 * The Engineer's bots now have a death sound effect.
 * Torque shell rifles level 38 and above will now have a basic scope view. The scope view can be opened by pressing mouse button 3.
 * Series 3 Rocket Launcher will now drop off certain boss creatures. This weapon will fire two rockets; one EMP the other Physical.Players will also have access to a basic scope view for this weapon. The scope view can be opened by pressing mouse button 3.
 * The Grenadier Skill Sacrifice has been changed to help the Grenadier also fill the tank roll within a group. The skill will now offer different damage, resistance, and threat modifiers per skill level. The power cost and cool down have been adjusted to match the new functionality.
 * The Guardian Skill Reflection is now a self only buff.
 * Resistance has been changed to be a toggled self-buff that extends to party members within a radius via a periodic pulse. Once Resistance has been used, using the same pump level toggles it off; using a different pump level replaces it. All party members within a radius get the benefits of the Resistance effect unless a party member has used the Resistance ability on themselves or they are under the effects of a higher pump level of Resistance from another party member.

PVP CP's

 * The PvP Wargame Edmund Range is now online - This is a level 45-50 PvP map in which both the Red and Blue team attempt to capture and hold three control points, complete with scoreboard.
 * Accessed via the CELLAR Arena
 * Requires at least 1 player on each team to start the map
 * Map runs for up to 20 minutes, at which point the team which controls the most CPs wins. If after 10 minutes has passed either team controls all 3 control points at once the match will end.
 * The winning team will be transported to the victory area
 * The loosing team will be transported to the staging area.
 * Killing opposing team members now awards prestige
 * Prestige has been reworked to be more player friendly. IE: You will no longer steal a players prestige.
 * New armor sets have been added to the Edmund Range Victory area
 * Bot Construction: Shield Bot / Multi Bot Have had their forcefield hued to a neutral white color.
 * Personal Waypoints can now be destroyed by enemy players and NPCs.

Framework and Tools

 * FPS camera mode officially in the game!
 * Bug fixes for FPS camera view
 * FPS no longer accessed via click-zoom
 * Added new key-binding for cycling between camera modes (FPS,Shoulder,Normal)
 * Default keys are Shift-9 and Shift-0
 * Click-zooming causes camera to go into over-shoulder zoom mode unless a weapon scope or special zoom mode exists, then it will go to that camera mode.
 * Polymorphing currently does not support FPS mode and will take you to a 3rd person camera.

-Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, [Patch Notes]