Module 8 Patch 2

=DDO Release Notes: Module 8 Patch 2=

Welcome to the Release Notes for Dungeons & Dragons Online! These release notes were posted Wednesday, December 10th 2008.

Hirelings
Hirelings will be arriving in Stormreach this week with many important changes! Be sure to read the updated Hireling guide, as well as the changes listed here in the release notes!

Festivult
The Festival of the Twelve Moons, or Festivult, has returned to Stormreach! This year's festival features the following new additions:
 * Once again the planes, being vast and mysterious, have shifted alignments this year. The planes of Shavarath and Risia are said to be in strong alignment. Who knows what strange effects this will have on the jellycakes!
 * The Jester of the Festivult has stocked his goodie sacks with more treats this year, including the following new additions:
 * Sun Flasks! Celebrate with friends as you drive away the Darkness of Mabar with these festive flasks!
 * Enjoy the latest dangerously tasty creations from the Bakers of House Cannith:
 * Xyzzy, the Hound of Xoriat Cookie
 * Arraetrikos, Pit Fiend General of Shavarath Cookie
 * Suulomades, the Horned Devil General of Shavarath Cookie
 * With all the changes to the Harbor, Marketplace, and so forth, the Jester decided he needed a better view of the city. This year you can find the Jester perched high above his surroundings. Can you climb the Jester's Jumping Puzzles to reach him and exchange your coins for goodies? The Jester and his jumping puzzles can be found in the following locations:
 * The Harbor at the Leaky Dingy
 * The Marketplace near the ruins of the Bazaar Tent
 * The House Jorasco near the front gate
 * The House Phiarlan in the outdoor Livewood Theater
 * The House Deneith at the spire
 * The House Kundarak near the mailbox
 * The Jester isn't heartless though, and for those who don't have the skill to best his jumping challenge, the Harbor and Marketplace both offer easier means of getting up to him.

Buy Back Returns
The buyback system will be re-enabled with a new limit of 40 items, rather than previous 100.

An important message regarding Buyback

Remember, buyback items are still eligible for deletion after 24 hours of being on the list. When you log into the game, you may see more than 40 items in your buyback list. When you sell or destroy something, the list will be cut down to the new maximum of 40. If there is anything in the buyback list that you would like to purchase, please do so prior to selling or destroying any items. If you do clear your buyback list, in-game support will not be able to assist you with reclaiming those items.

Improved Performance

 * A number of performance changes with in game mail and the buy back system were made.
 * A number of changes were made to help improve AI performance across the board.

General Hireling Changes

 * Hireling contract prices have been significantly reduced. Hiring your own personal cohort is now more affordable than ever!
 * Hireling contracts no longer work on a timer
 * All Hireling contracts are now one-use. After you call your Hireling they will still stay with you until you enter a public area.
 * You may still only summon a single hireling into your service at a time and at most you may call any hireling once per rest
 * Hirelings now support a "Defensive" command, in addition to "Aggressive" and "Passive" commands.
 * In "Defensive" state, Hirelings will only attack once they or their master's have been attacked by enemies
 * "Defensive" is now the default starting state for all Hirelings.
 * Hireling vendors are now available in more locations:
 * For level 11-13 Hirelings, you can also see Dibber Malone in the Marketplace near the waterfall
 * For level 14-16 Hirelings, you can also see Crimson Annja in the Marketplace at Falconer's Spire
 * Cleric hirelings will be more aggressive in healing both themselves and you. They will also be more responsive to explicit Healing commands.
 * Various Hireling icon bugs have been addressed.
 * After returning from a disconnect the Hireling UI bar will appear as expected if you still have a Hireling in your party.
 * Leaving a dungeon when questing alone with a Hireling will no longer reset your instance. NOTE: In some cases when attempting to re-enter an quest you recently exited with a hireling, the quest UI will not indicate that the instance is active, though it really is.
 * Having a Hireling in your party will no longer prevent you from “gathering your party members at the exit” of Clan Gnashtooth and similar quests.
 * Hirelings will no longer prevent monsters (especially undead) from spawning.
 * Area of Effect buffs cast by Hirelings will no longer affect enemies.
 * The Talenta plains are on Eberron. The Talanta plains are not. Zeran Hamsterherder's contract description has been changed to reflect this fact.
 * Tome the Warforged Hireling has been to counseling and his identity crisis is solved. He no longer believes he is a halfling, and will attempt to repair himself.

UI Improvements

 * The quest Objective panel no longer has a mind of its own, and will now stay where you put it.
 * Hiding the UI on the Shipwreck Shore will now hide the entire UI.
 * The "Finish" button now appears properly when completing quests after running The Grotto.

General Path Changes

 * Elementalist Wizards will no longer need to choose a spell at level 2.

General Spell Changes

 * Stalwart Pact is no longer affected by Extend Spell.
 * Protection from Elements and Protection from Elements Mass are no longer affected by Extend Spell.

General Changes

 * Mysteriously people from House Orien, the Mark of Passage House, have reported that they can now teleport to Meridia in the Vale of Twilight if they have been there previously.

General Changes

 * The description for the Set Bonus for the Arcane Goggles has been updated to match the intended effect.

Mount Reysalon

 * In the Rescue the Duergar encounter, you must actually rescue them before being rewarded.

Aussircaex's Valley

 * Fixed a stuck spot

The Subterrane

 * Garamol's 'Reverse Gravity' effect will always go away after some time has passed.

Prey on the Hunter

 * Ice walls and Ice floors can be more reliably broken.
 * Ice walls should no longer respawn.
 * Adjusted DM voice where the dragon is telling a joke.
 * You should now be able to see and hear the fireball bursting through the ice when starting the quest.
 * You'll need to reach the Dragon and Giants in order to engage in the fray by navigating the maze.
 * The magical barrier between the players and the chest should no longer respawn, keeping players from getting their rightful reward.

Enter The Kobold

 * The kobolds will actually flee now when you are told the kobolds are fleeing.
 * The objective "Clear the nest" is now optional.
 * Fixed a particularly troublesome stuck spot.
 * A particularly difficult jump spot has also been made easier.

The Shroud

 * The Shroud is now open once again for questing!
 * The Lieutenants of Shavarath believe that Eberron adventurers pose a serious threat to their plans, and will patrol more regularly now.

Sorjek's Lair

 * A warning message will appear if you are not on the appropriate stage of the quest.
 * Sor'jek has added a foyer to his humble lair.

Accursed Ascension

 * Corrected an error that caused players to become stuck when recalling with the phase tile goggles on.

Tempest Spine

 * Talf Halfspear will only turn the puzzle on once, and will no longer turn it off.

Redemption

 * Players can no longer become stuck in a strange dungeon section that seemed to be missing the "water" part of "underwater".

Other Changes

 * All subscribers should be able to create 10 characters. If you have 10 or more characters, you will need to delete down to 9 in order to create a 10th.
 * Corrected an issue where players would get put into the wrong Korthos Village after running Misery's Peak. This also corrects issues where players would enter public zones from time to time (like House Deneith or the Necropolis) and lose their buffs.
 * On Korthos Island, Rinar d'Thuranni is less obscure about what players need to do to get to Stormreach after completing Misery's Peak.
 * Baldar the Bold has elbowed his neighboring NPCs a bit so that his map icon is now easier to find.
 * Corrected typos in several quests and NPC dialogue boxes including
 * Valeria Sinderwind's dialogue
 * The Cannith Crystal DM text
 * Talbron the Warforged's dialogue
 * The Stormreaver is learning a thing or two from the kobolds about grammar during his stay in the Refuge.