Announcement Post about Chests

Macavity

ANNOUNCE NEWS #2201

Date: 12/15/2013 at 1:19

From: Razmael, the Synthesist

To  : Everyone

Subj: Ironbeard and chests

At long last, Ironbeard is here!

Ironbeard will be running for two weeks, ending on the 29th of December.

We will also be changing up our cryptic chest goodies on the 20th of this month. Several things 

will be retiring, and new items will be added.

Changes to the chest prizes will include:

* Removal of these minipets:

   - Tengu, Armadilleon, Basilisk, Hydra

   - Syll, Jackalope, Rojalli, Amphisbaena

* Removal of ALL current set artifact items.

* Adding in new set artifact items to replace the old ones.

Enjoy!

 

Penned by my hand on the 21st of Slyphian, in the year 407 MA.

Macavity

Figured I would open a new thread here to save the mods from having to pull it from the Rage one..

OMG!!  Worse decision EVER!!  Do you, @Razmael, know how much time and money I have spent trying to put these items together!!!   And whats going to happen to the pieces we have left over that do not get put together?  We wont be able to sell them as they will be useless, more so if the other pieces are not in the game to gather!  And taking them away without some compensation is going to be really bad too!

Moirean

I'm pretty bummed. I was hoping to slowly gather one via raiding when that eventually comes out. Maybe they could drop from the bosses there?

Maghak

It's worth noting that the idea behind cycling content is to keep things fresh and interesting, not to remove items entirely from the game. I recommend patience while you wait for the next opportunity to acquire the bracer items rather than leaping to the conclusion that you have been cheated out of time and money.

Ezalor

I would sure hope so. There are many people, myself included, that have spent a bunch accumulating these items. If they were suddenly discontinued and we were never able to finish off the items, I would hope at the very least we could trade each piece in for cryptic chests or something.

Daskalos

Yea, why would anyone even buy chests for the next 6 days because if you don't complete the bracer, you're going to lose all the stuff you paid for. The risk far outweighs the rewards at that point.

Oleis

You're not losing a thing. What an unusual conclusion to draw. We wouldn't permanently discontinue something like that without a great deal of notice, if ever. The idea is that you're inclined to try chests again because you're not rolling the same three items. Similarly, having them readily available forever would devalue the shiny that results when you finally get all the pieces.

Patience!

Alexina

The post and this thread is making me all excited and full of anticipation. If the new chests will have anything of the quality like the bracer, I'll be inclined to have another look at them.

Daskalos

@Oleis - Might want to clarify the announce post then.

* Removal of ALL current set artifact items.

The ALL made it seem like current ones would just disappear.

Macavity

I agree with @Daskalos....did I just say that??  OMG!   Anyways... The items in the chests are such a low drop rate anyways, who to say that the new items will encourage us to buy more chests after??  More so if they are of the same drop rate and only a select few are able to afford the price of them, either buying a TON of chests or buying from someone who happened to get lucky!

Oleis

Yes, they ARE being removed from chest rotation. That's not a typo. But they're not being removed from the game and probably not even from chests permanently. We'd have to be crazy. If we start feeding you pieces of something, we'll make sure there are enough pieces to -eventually- complete.

Daskalos

Cool.  I was having nightmares about all these chest items I have now disappearing forevers.

Alexina

ANNOUNCE NEWS #2206
Date: 12/20/2013 at 15:51
From: Razmael, the Synthesist
To  : Everyone
Subj: Cryptic chests update

Hello all!

As recently mentioned in Announce Post #2201, we are changing up the contents of our cryptic chests.

The following minipets have been removed from the list of possible minipets obtained from the chest:
   - Tengu, Armadilleon, Basilisk, Hydra
   - Syll, Jackalope, Rojalli, Amphisbaena

All of the old set artifact items (except the chest pieces) have been removed from the list of chest rewards. But don't panic, these aren't going anywhere and may return one day. They are just being rotated out of the chests.

And without further ado, here are the new set artifact items obtainable through the chests:


A four-pointed star of the Priesthood
--------------------------------------
* 1x a length of brass chain
* 1x wa ooden circle etched with sacraments
* 1x four-pointed wooden star
* 1x a gem of spirit

When someone breaks your magical shield (via hammer, raze, etc), you will be healed for a small portion of your health. Does not work when your shield is stripped by a skill that strips defences randomly, unless it always strips shield first).

An abdalite glove
-----------------
* 1x an icewyrm glove
* 1x a focusing gem
* 1x a glass feedback reservoir
* 1x a strand of pure earth essence

Allows you to do CLENCH GLOVE which summons (temporary) rubble across all exits. Usuable once per Howling.

A hunter's handbook
-------------------
* 4x doppleganger-skin parchment

Allows you to view a mob's maximum hitpoints when using the EVALUATE command.

A hunter's horn
---------------
* 1x a silver mouthpiece
* 1x a silver flange
* 1x a broken hunter's horn
* 1x a leather carrying strap

BLOW HORN will cause mobs in the room to attack slower for the next ten seconds, however they will do more damage. This can only be done once every five minutes.

A hunter's knife
----------------
* 1x a knife blade
* 1x a ivory knife handle
* 1x a set of leather grips
* 1x a leather knife sheathe

Any mob you kill while the hunter's knife is in your inventory will respawn 10% faster than normal.

A set of hunter's tools
-----------------------
* A hunter's handbook
* A hunter's horn
* A hunter's knife
NOTE: Unlike other set item artifacts, all of those artifacts need to belong to you.

This artifact contains all the powers of its set items, with bonuses! Bonuses are as follows:

Book:  You will now also see the mob's current hitpoints.
Horn:  The effect will now last for 15 seconds, and will not increase the mob's damage.
Knife: You can PLANT KNIFE IN GROUND once per Howling, and it will reset most mobs for that area. Does not work on instances.
 
Penned by my hand on the 6th of Chakros, in the year 408 MA.

Demarcus

Question on the hunter's knife, will they stop respawning 10% faster if you offer them to a Divine? Or is it a Kill -> Hits your Inventory -> Check for Knife -> If yes, reduce timer by 10%

Alexina

H:5023 M:6269 E:30900 W:26430 B:100% XP:0% [c eb]
Hissing, Carthenian launches himself at you slamming into your shield. Enraged, he strikes it repeatedly, shattering it into a million translucent pieces.
Your shielded defence has been stripped.
As your shield shatters, a four-pointed star of the Priesthood absorbs the residual energy and heals you.
Health Gain: 155
H:5178 M:6269 E:30900 W:26430 B:100% XP:0% [c eb]


Yeah. If I'd known this artifact only heals for 155 health, I probably wouldn't have bothered getting the artifact. Gathering four different set pieces and ugh.

/disappointed

Demarcus

Demarcus said:

Question on the hunter's knife, will they stop respawning 10% faster if you offer them to a Divine? Or is it a Kill -> Hits your Inventory -> Check for Knife -> If yes, reduce timer by 10%

Answered my own question by reading the description. Sounds like upon death if the knife is in your inventory, respawn reduced by 10%. Groovy for those winning Great Hunts to win by 10% more!

Macavity

I am taking that as the whole area respawns for anyone who happens to come across it, and not for the individual that has the knife.  So if there happens to be a lot of these created, the spawn rate for a lot of areas will be faster for the whole population and not just those that hold it.

Demarcus

Macavity said:

I am taking that as the whole area respawns for anyone who happens to come across it, and not for the individual that has the knife.  So if there happens to be a lot of these created, the spawn rate for a lot of areas will be faster for the whole population and not just those that hold it.

On one hand I see what you're saying, but SuperhunterX and MegabasherY are going to know what the spawn timers are for various mobs/areas (think LoL when you take down Dragon or Baron... or Blue Buff...) and then they can shave 10% off of that, when everyone else might think that it is at the full 100% spawn time? They'll get an extra jump on it, for sure. Not to mention the super respawn. Not saying it is a bad thing, I'll just need to somehow get one if I ever want to compete in a Great Hunt.

Alexina

You've seriously overestimated the knife if you think it'll actually make a significant and noticeable difference in Great Hunts, particularly when mobs already were made to respawn 50% faster during the event. No, nothing really comes close to the Compendium deathsense as far as utility goes, and no one has ever really even mentioned that in regards to the Great Hunt.

Demarcus

I suppose the folks that are actually competing already have scores in the trillions. What's a few extra million points? (I don't actually pay attention to the number of significant figures. I just go "Wow, that is a lot of Great Hunt points.")

10% is 10%. Even more so, knowing what the timer is, especially if it is early, is huge. I've been on both ends of the scenario during the Quest EXP Week last January. When you knew what time you last did a quest and when it would be available again, you could be there waiting and do it again before anyone else. If everything was quested out you were hopelessly lost trying to figure out where else you can go to at least be making some progress.