Update 50 Release Notes

Update 50 Release Notes
Here are the Release Notes for Update 50: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, released on Wednesday, August 4th, 2021.

Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh
Unravel the mystery and rumors of strange happenings to save a remote seacoast town in Dungeons &amp; Dragons Online: Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh. Explore the marshlands and fight new enemies, brave a desolate, haunted mansion, and uncover the true secrets of Saltmarsh! Click here to learn more and purchase the mini-expansion! Includes ten dungeons and a wilderness adventure area. Quests are level 3 on Heroic difficulty and level 32 on Legendary difficulty. Get started by speaking with the NPC Val Arkalamnash in the Gatekeeper's Grove!

VIP Rewards!
VIPs who log in between now and Sunday, September 5th, 2021 at 11:59 PM Eastern (-4 GMT) will be flagged to receive a Saltmarsh VIP Elixir of Discovery! Your characters will receive claim tickets in their inventory which can be turned in with Gathalmor, an NPC in Saltmarsh. This NPC can be accessed as long as you own a Standard, Collector, or Ultimate Fan edition of Saltmarsh.

Characters

 * Poison Damage Resistance now properly reduces Poison Damage.
 * Druids now get Protection from Elements, Mass as a level 7 spell.

Combat

 * Changes have been made to the spellcasting system that make casting spells more reliable. This may prevent dry firing of spells in certain situations.
 * Hirelings will now cast their spells more reliably when directed to do so.
 * Fixed an issue where trying to swap out of a missile weapon into a melee weapon wouldn't queue properly.
 * Monster perception range is now slightly smaller (this may not apply to raid bosses or custom bosses).
 * Saving throws on all epic monsters on elite and hard have been reduced.
 * The Legendary II monster boosts have been removed.
 * Underwater combat has been adjusted for playability, and no longer adjusts what spells are able to be cast, penalize your movement or attack rates as severely, and instead makes fire spells deal 80% damage and electric spells deal 120% while underwater.

Enhancements

 * A new Universal Enhancement Tree called Horizon Walker is now available! Horizon Walker is available in the Collector's and Ultimate Editions of Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh, and will be available for DDO Points in February of 2022.
 * Horizon Walker is a hunter that traverses planes, hunting extraplanar enemies with a bow! They are rugged adventurers, prepared for any kind of danger on any number of planes, and are attuned enough to Planes that they can occasionally manipulate planar alignments to avoid danger.
 * Focuses of this tree include single-target bow damage, Dexterity, and avoidance defenses such as Dodge and Incorporeality.
 * Marking a Target: The first Core in this tree includes an active ability that leaves an effect on your targeted enemy, and after that the things that affect Marked Targets work on that enemy. Using Marked Target on another enemy while you have an existing, living Marked Target will clear it from them. Using Improved Precise Shot and hitting other enemies before/after your Marked Target on the bow attacks will do the attack's weapon damage to other enemies, and only do the Marked Target effects to your Marked Target, assuming they are hit by the attack.
 * Cores
 * Mark Target: +1 to Spot and Listen. You gain the ability to Mark one target at a time. Targets you Mark have -2 Armor Class. (Debuffs to Marked Targets from these Core abilities do not stack with other players' Marks - Only the highest set of debuffs will apply.) Cooldown: 4 Seconds. (1AP)
 * Improved Marking: Your Marked Targets get -10% Fortification. The AC penalty your Marked Targets take increases to -4. You also gain +3 to Maximum Dexterity Bonus while wearing Light armor. (1AP)
 * Greater Marking: Your Marked Targets get -2 to Saving Throws. Their Fortification penalty increases to -10%, and AC penalty increases to -6. In addition you gain Haste as a Spell Like Ability: 0 SP cost, 2 minute cooldown. (1AP)
 * Dauntless Marking: Your Marked Target's Saving Throw penalty increases to -4, Fortification penalty increases to -25%, and AC penalty increases to -10. You gain +3 Maximum Dodge. (1AP)
 * Dimension Door: Once per rest, you can cast Dimension Door as a Spell Like Ability. Activation Cost: 0 Spell Points. Cooldown: 10 Minutes. Passive: Your Marked Targets get -25% to movement speed. (1AP)
 * Horizon: +2 to all Ability Scores. You gain +2 Maximum Manyshot charges. You gain Favored Enemy: Marked Target: You always consider Marked Targets to be Favored Enemies, and deal extra damage against them. (1AP)
 * Tier 1
 * Eye for Accuracy: +1/2/3 to Attack with Weapons.
 * Opening Shot: +1/2/3[w] Bow Attack. Adds 1/2/3d6 Force damage on hit. This damage scales with Ranged Power. Cooldown: 6 seconds. (1AP/Rank)
 * Planar Dodge: +1/2/3 to Dodge.
 * Skills: +1/2/3 to Spot, Listen, and Search. (1AP/Rank)
 * Conjure Arrow: SLA, Activate to create a stack of returning +1 arrows. These arrows are destroyed when you log out for an extended period of time. (2AP)
 * Tier 2
 * Walker Training I: +1 to Attack and +1 to Damage with Longbows and Shortbows. (1AP)
 * Take the Opening: If Opening Shot hits a creature that is at 100% of their hit points, it deals an extra 1d10 Force damage per Character Level. This damage scales with 200% Ranged Power. Additionally, your Force damage from Opening Shot is now applied twice when used against Marked Targets. (2AP)
 * Protection from Evil and Good: Rank 1: You permanently gain +2 deflection bonus to Armor Class and a +2 resistance bonus to saves versus attacks from Evil creatures. Rank 2: You permanently gain this for Good creatures as well. Rank 3 (2AP): You are also warded from magical mental control and compulsions from both Evil and Good creatures.
 * Skilled Navigator: +2/4/6 to Saving Throws vs. Traps (1AP/Rank)
 * Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider Feat (1AP)
 * Tier 3
 * No Step Missed: Battle Trance. Cooldown: 20 Seconds. Anti-requisite: Other Trances. Charges: 5. Expend 1 Charge: You gain an Insight bonus to damage and the DC of tactical feats equal to 1/2 of your Dexterity modifier for [30/60/120] seconds. On a Vorpal weapon hit, have a chance to restore 1 Charge. (1AP/Rank)
 * Two Places At Once: When you use Manyshot or Scattershot, you gain Displacement for 12 seconds. (2AP)
 * Hunter's Focus: If Archer's Focus is enabled, remaining stationary for 6 seconds grants you 1d4+4 stacks of Archer's Focus. This can trigger once per time you remain stationary.
 * Tenacious Hunter: Against Extraplanar creatures and Marked Targets (regardless of whether or not they are extraplanar), you deal an additional +2/4/6 damage with Longbows and Shortbows. (1AP/Rank) (Tier Change. Was Tier 4 in preview 1)
 * Ability Score: Multiselector
 * Dexterity: +1 Dexterity (2AP)
 * Wisdom: +1 Wisdom (2AP)
 * Tier 4
 * Walker Training II: +2 to Attack and +2 to Damage with Longbows and Shortbows. (1AP)
 * Corner the Quarry: +2/3/4[w] Bow Attack. If this is used against your Marked Target, they must make a Reflex Save (d20+your Listen skill) or be immobilized for 12 seconds. On a Vorpal hit, the target is also Stunned with no save (20 second cooldown). On bosses, this does not immobilize or stun. (1AP/Rank)
 * Walker's Guidance: You and targeted ally gain Evasion, Improved Evasion, and +5 to Saving Throws vs. Traps for 12 seconds. 60 second cooldown. (1AP)
 * Scattershot: Ranged Bow Attack: Expend one charge to randomly select up to three different enemies at close range and shoot one arrow at each of them. Each of these shots can Doubleshot and have +1 Critical Threat Range and Multiplier. 2 second cooldown. This feat gives 3 charges; you regain 1 charge every 12 seconds you don't use Scattershot or Manyshot. (Requires a Longbow or Shortbow to use). Shares Charges and a Cooldown with Manyshot. (2AP)
 * Ability Score: Multiselector
 * Dexterity: +1 Dexterity (2AP)
 * Wisdom: +1 Wisdom (2AP)
 * Tier 5
 * Feywild Attunement: +1 Competence Bonus to Critical Threat Range and Multiplier with Longbows and Shortbows. You have a Base Attack Bonus equal to your Character Level while using Longbows and Shortbows. (Location Change) (1AP)
 * Banish the Quarry: If Corner the Quarry is used against a Marked Target, they take an additional 1d10 Force Damage per Character Level. This damage scales with Ranged Power. If the creature is Extraplanar, it must make a Will Save (d20+your Listen skill) or be Banished. (Bosses cannot be banished). (1AP)
 * Misty Step: Rush forward. You have +5 to Reflex Saves and 20% stacking incorporeality while Stepping. (Shares a cooldown with other abundant steps). 12 second cooldown. Additionally, when you tumble or use Misty Step, you gain Ranged Power equal to your Character Level for 12 seconds. 12 second cooldown.
 * Powershot: Whenever you Critically Hit an enemy with Manyshot or Scattershot, that enemy takes 1d10 Force Damage per Character Level that scales with 200% Ranged Power.
 * Improved Archer's Focus: Your Archer's Focus stance can now stack up to 25 times instead of 15. Passive: +10% Doubleshot. (2AP)
 * A few notes:
 * "Bow Attacks" in this tree require a Shortbow or Longbow.
 * Anyone gaining Evasion from Walker's Guidance still has to follow Evasion rules (no medium or heavy armor, for example) for Evasion to work.


 * Eldritch Knight's Item Defense (both versions) now give the listed amount of Item Defense.
 * Falconry: Meticulous Weaponry now anti-requisites with other forms of Item Defense.
 * Paladin: Knight of the Chalice: The Tier 3 ranged attack was sharing its name with a Tier 5 ability (both called "Avenging Shot"); it has had its name fixed to be "Exalted Shot", matching its melee counterpart.
 * The Aura of Courage buff from the Knight of the Chalice capstone now reliably applies to all party members
 * Rogue: Thief Acrobat: Sweeping Strikes now correctly factors in your Trip DC.
 * Henshin Mystic's SLAs now correctly factor in Stunning bonuses.
 * Inquisitive's Crossbow Style no longer claims it has a 2/3rds Doubleshot reduction instead of its actual 1/2 Doubleshot reduction.
 * Inquisitive's passive Dodge from Hit The Streets now functions properly.
 * Eldritch Rituals no longer sometimes place buggy visual effects onto your character in certain situations.
 * Nature Protector's third Core no longer erroneously grants the spell Great Maul, and it is now correctly granted in the 4th Core ability.
 * Radiant Servant has been updated: The primary healing tree for Clerics has been adjusted to improve its bang for your buck and improve lackluster abilities.
 * Pacifism is gone from Core 2, and has been replaced with a Cure Moderate Wounds Spell Like Ability: 4SP, 6 second cooldown.
 * Radiant Servant (6th Core) now grants +4 Wisdom instead of the +2 it granted before.
 * Many enhancements in this tree now cost 1AP per Rank that used to cost 2AP per rank:
 * Divine Cleansing now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Mighty Turning now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Bliss now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Divine Healing now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Intense Healing now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Endless Turning now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Incredible Healing now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Positive Energy Aura now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Cure Focus now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Reactive Heal now costs 1AP per Rank
 * Extra Turning and Improved Turning are now combined in Tier 2.
 * New Tier 1 enhancement: Divine Aid: +3% Positive Spell Critical Damage. 1AP.
 * New Tier 3 enhancement: Divine Aid: +3% Positive Spell Critical Damage. 1AP.
 * New Tier 4 enhancement: Divine Aid: +3% Positive Spell Critical Damage. 1AP.
 * When you have Mighty Turning, and attempt to Turn an Undead that is immune to Death effects, it will now attempt to Turn the creature..
 * Martyrdom is now 1 Rank (1AP) and does what the old Rank 3 version did. Martyrdom now also reliably heals nearby allies, damages nearby enemy Undead, and doesn't do anything to non-Undead enemies.
 * The prerequisite chain of Divine Healing, Martyrdom, and Reactive Heal has been disconnected.
 * New Tier 5 enhancement: Mass Resist Energy Spell Like Ability (75 SP).
 * New Tier 5 enhancement: Radiance: Activate: All allies in the dungeon (regardless of distance) gain the effects of the Greater Restoration spell, and purges Paralysis, Stun, and Knockdown/Trip. This can be used while Crowd Controlled. (Activation Cost: 30 Spell Points. Cooldown: 1 minute.)


 * The Shadar-Kai Iconic has been updated. Summary: They now get their first Chain Attack ability as an innate racial feat, and both Chain Attacks are now melee attacks requiring a light weapon in your Main hand.
 * The Changes:
 * All Shadar-Kai characters now get a free feat granted at level 1 called Spiked Chain Attack. The Description reads: Light Melee Weapon Attack: Using a Spiked Chain (but the stats from your main-hand weapon), perform 3 AOE melee attacks with +1[W], +1 Critical Threat Range, and +1 Critical Multiplier. Your Shadar-Kai Racial Enhancements may add to this attack. (12 second cooldown).
 * The Spiked Chain attack is now an innate feat all Shadar-kai get without needing to spend points in the tree. Existing Shadar-kai characters will have the feat versioned onto them upon login. It now also functions as a weapon attack using your main-hand weapon, but it must be a light melee weapon.
 * This uses the 3-swing animation the Tier 1 Chain Attack currently uses, but this version is faster than the current Live version at its base, and also scales with your Attack speed. It is longer than Cleave, but also hits three times.
 * Importantly, you can now move while using it, and cancel out of it early by tumbling. You won't get the remaining hits, and the attack will be on cooldown, but you can bail out if desired.
 * Vicious Chain has moved down from Tier 2 to Tier 1. Vicious Chain is otherwise unchanged, giving a 33% chance to Bleed on each hit of the Spiked Chain.
 * Forceful Chain has moved down from Tier 3 to Tier 2 and now reads: Your Spiked Chain Attack now has a 5% chance to knock non-boss enemies down with no save for 6 seconds. Every 2 seconds, they make a Balance save of (17 + DEX Mod + Trip DCs) to get up again.
 * Slashing Chain has been removed.
 * New Tier 3 enhancement: Ghastly Chain: When you use your Spiked Chain Attack, you gain 5% Dodge for 6 seconds. This ignores Dodge Cap.
 * New Tier 3 enhancement: Displacement SLA. 0 SP Cost.
 * Tier 4 Whirling Chain has changed to: Greater Spiked Chain Attack: Light Melee Weapon Attack: Using a Spiked Chain (but the stats from your main-hand weapon), perform 3 AOE melee attacks with +3[W], +2 Critical Threat Range, and +2 Critical Multiplier. All abilities that enhance Spiked Chain Attack also apply to this Enhancement. In addition, when you Vorpal with this attack, you knock enemies down with no save for 6 seconds. Every 2 seconds, they make a Balance save of (17 + DEX Mod + Trip DCs) to get up again. (18 second cooldown)
 * This now also uses the 3-swing animation that the base feat uses, with all the improvements that version got.
 * The advantage of this version is higher damage, the extra chance at knockdown, and being on a separate cooldown! Which is important to the last new addition:
 * New Tier 4: Assassin's Mark: Non-boss enemies caught in your Spiked Chain Attacks have a 33% gain a stack of Dizzying Spiked Chain on each of the three hits (-10% Damage per stack, -5% Attack speed per stack, -2 Concentration per stack, stacks up to 8 times. 20 second duration per stack)
 * This is the same debuff that Shadar-kai monsters throw around! But rebalanced slightly for the player version: Only a 33% chance of each hit applying a stack, and it can't apply to Bosses or Raid Bosses.

Favor

 * The 400 Gatekeeper Favor reward is now the Horizon Walker Universal Enhancement Tree, awarded on a per-character basis.
 * Patron Reward feats should now consistently remain on you through Lesser and Epic Reincarnations.

Feats

 * Burst of Glacial Wrath now works on everything, rather than erroneously excluding certain monsters.
 * Patron Reward feats should now consistently remain on you through Lesser and Epic Reincarnation.
 * Favored Enemy feats now have more accurate descriptions.

Hirelings

 * Permanent Gold Seal Hirelings, such as the Onyx Panther, Saltmarsh Bullywug Rogue, and Owlbear Defender are now Bound to Account.

Items

 * Scroll/Seal/Shard Loot System Update:
 * Update 50 includes a complete refactor of the Scroll/Seal/Shard crafting system. All Heroic and Epic items from the Scroll/Seal/Shard system will be revamped as part of this work, including items from the following Adventure Packs: Phiarlan Carnival, The Sands of Menectarun, Sentinels of Stormreach, The Chronoscope, The Red Fens, The Vault of Night, and Web of Chaos. Additionally, some of these items will get level 30 Legendary versions. Here is what you need to know:
 * Heroic items will continue to drop as-is. Epic items are obtained in the Altar of Epic Rituals with the following recipe: Heroic Item + 50 Pack Ingredients* (+5 Greater Tokens of the Twelve if the item is from a Raid).
 * Legendary items are obtained in a new Altar of Legendary Rituals, also located in The Twelve, with the following recipe: Epic Item + 100 Pack Ingredients + 5 Star Fragments** (+250 Threads of Fate if the item is from a Raid).
 * *Pack Ingredients will drop wherever Seals or Shards would drop in a moderate amount. It will likely take 2-3 runs of a quest to get enough of the material for 1 item. These ingredients are Pack Specific; for example the Pack Ingredient for the Chronoscope will be a Broken Sliver of Time. These ingredients are a guaranteed drop.
 * **s will be an uncommon drop from Legendary Saltmarsh to start, and will become more widely available in future updates as well.
 * You will deconstruct existing seals, scrolls, and shards down into Pack Ingredients of the appropriate type and quantity by speaking to Lahar in The Twelve.
 * Players with old Epic items can update them into a new version by placing them into the Legacy Altar of Rituals located in The Twelve [along with 50 Siberys Dragonshard Fragments]. NOTE: Please note that this process permanently consumes any Augments or Sentient Filigree on your old item. Make sure you have removed any and all Augments and Filigree you wish to keep prior to placing the item into the Legacy Altar of Rituals.
 * End Game Itemization Update:
 * With Update 50 we are making some adjustments to curtail power creep within DDO's end game, focusing specifically on the power level of items at the current level cap. These adjustments will change how you approach gearing, and will encompass both adjustments to player power in addition to content difficulty.
 * Background Information: We have steadily increased the amount of power available in itemization in order to provide a sense of progression as our end game has matured. This strategy has resulted in two long term challenges, both of which we are here to address:
 * Item power level increases over time as we release new content, and we progress beyond the item power level of older content at the same challenge level.
 * As we follow along this system of progression, we in turn increase the difficulty of content to provide challenge. This leads to a situation where content meant to be played at a certain character level ends up with a wide range of difficulty.
 * With those two challenges in mind, we are aiming to equalize and reduce the power level of items found in end game content, and adjust the power level of monsters at end game to match.


 * Solution Part 1: Itemization: Summary - Named Items found within Legendary content will be adjusted and normalized to values appropriate to their minimum level. This means that an item found within Ravenloft will match the power level of an item found within Sharn, or Feywild, or any of our other current Legendary content.
 * This adjustment pulls the item values to more reasonable levels across the board, resulting in a streamlined curve that extends upwards from 1 to 30 with fewer jumps, and tracks with both randomly-generated loot and Cannith crafted loot.
 * This does not affect anything other than the named items found within legendary content and Cannith Crafted Loot that used the "Minimum Levels 31-34 Shards". Random Loot, Augments (named or otherwise), Items found within events, or anything else other than named items found within Legendary content and Cannith Crafted Loot that used the "Minimum Levels 31-34 Shards" will be changing.
 * Items have been adjusted in place without any necessary intervention on the player's part, to prevent the situation where legacy versions of items are more powerful than newly found versions.
 * These items will continue to drop in the same place they currently do at the same drop rates.
 * Items with crafted components, such as Slavers Crafting, now have their crafted components adjusted just like the statically set effects found on non-crafted gear.
 * Set bonuses at endgame now have their numerical power adjusted to appropriate values to match our new goals for player power sourced from itemization at endgame.
 * The +W bonus from Keen has been adjusted to instead provide complete fortification bypass on a Natural 20.
 * Raid items and Minor Artifacts will retain their proportional power boosts to other items at the same level, and therefore will remain a step stronger than other items at the same level.
 * What this means is that the items you find at end game will be lower in item power than they were before, but are now evenly scaled across content packs. This means that an item found in Feywild will be equally as strong as an item found within Sharn or Ravenloft or the Dragonblood Prophecy, or any other Legendary content featuring level 29 items.


 * Solution Part 2: Monster Power - We have been increasing the power level of monsters found at the level cap as the power level of items increased over time, and since we are adjusting these items downwards, we will be adjusting monsters downwards to match. There are many layers to our monster adjustments, and certain adjustments will only affect certain monsters, so we have split out our changes into a few sections. These sections are additive - if a monster is in a Legendary Tier 2 dungeon, it will have all 3 sets of modifications as it is level 20+, level 30+, and in a Legendary Tier 2 dungeon.
 * Changes that affect all Monsters in all content that is level 20+ (Epic and Legendary):
 * -6 Saving Throws
 * Changes that affect all Monsters in all content that is level 30+ (Legendary):
 * -25% Maximum HP
 * -25% Armor Class
 * Changes that affect all monsters in all content from Sharn onwards (Legendary Tier 2)*:
 * -60 Attack Bonus
 * -4 AC
 * -10 Saving Throws
 * -35 Melee Power
 * -35 Ranged Power
 * -45 Universal Spell Power
 * -100% Fortification
 * -150% Fortification Bypass
 * -10 Spell Penetration
 * -5 Influence DCs (for things like Intimidate, Diplomacy, or Bluff)
 * -10 Physical Resistance Rating
 * *This buff scales slightly with your difficulty, values shown above are for Reaper difficulty Monsters on Normal/Hard/Elite will lose less because their bonuses were lower.
 * Furthermore, with this patch we are adjusting how Party Scaling functions in Epics. Party Strength is a value that each member of the party you are in contributes to as soon as they step within the dungeon. A lower Party Scaling value is better than a higher one. The lower the number, the greater the reduction in damage, maximum HP, and player-affecting-CC durations in your instance. Previously, all characters were considered party strength 1.5 in most of Epics, while in heroics most players are closer to 1 if not 1 exactly. We've changed this so that all players at level 21+ have a party strength of 1. The results are as follows**:
 * A 1 person party (party strength 1) will have monster hit points of at 62% of normal (compared to right now, which is 68% for a party scaling of 1.5)
 * A 2 person party (strength 2) will have monsters at 75% hit points instead of 87% (because they were strength 3 previously)
 * A 3 person party (strength 3) will have 87% (previously 100% because strength was 4.5 for 3 people)
 * A 4+ party will operate the same (because 4 is the maximum).
 * **Note that Party Scaling does not function in Reaper Mode or Raid Instances, so players will see non-party-scaled-monsters in those situations.
 * Short and Long Term Benefits
 * We are compelled to make these adjustments for a large number of reasons, including:
 * Content Pack Parity - This change will put all of the content packs at end game on the same item level scaling, which means that gear found within those content packs will be equally valuable numerically. This means that a large number of items that had previously been crunched out of viability are now able to be worked into gear sets without fear that you are settling for a subpar option.
 * Cannith Crafting Viability - This change means that if you have missing parts of your gear set, Cannith Crafting is now a more appealing way to fill those gaps, similar to its benefit at lower levels. It also means that we can dedicate more time to improving Cannith Crafting in the future, as its viability doesn't fall off as we approach end game.
 * Random Loot Viability - This change means that it is more likely that Random Loot will end up numerically viable for use at endgame. We don't generally expect established players to use Random Loot provided they have spent some time working on gear, but newer or less engaged players will now have more viable sources of power to select from.
 * Augment Scaling - This change means that our revamped Augments and Augment system are comparatively more valuable than they were before. Our Scaling augments (aka non-named Augments) currently stop at level 28, and will now represent a larger chunk of numerical power compared to their usage before this change.
 * Avoiding Difficulty Spikes - The adjustments of monsters at end game will help us avoid difficulty spikes, which in this case means content where there is no outward indication that it is more difficult than normal but in reality contains tougher enemies than in other quests at the same level. Our goal is to provide an end game in which everyone can contribute, but still encourage dedicated play and mastery, with a variety of options that reward a more challenging experience for those able to handle it.
 * Impact on Content Creation - Being able to use existing monster formulas without the need for additional and oftentimes lengthy one-off work makes it easier to stat monsters for dungeons, and that helps us spend more time polishing dungeons and doing cooler and better things.
 * Combat and Statistical Granularity – One of the game's greatest strengths is the granularity of numbers in its content, but working with larger numbers is generally more challenging than working with smaller numbers. We want to retain as much granularity as we can while making gear set math easier.
 * Smooth Leveling - Our long term goals with DDO involve providing a smooth and exciting leveling experience across all levels and difficulties, not just from 1 to 20. This change allows us to provide a smoother leveling curve by removing the large jump in power at level 29.
 * Future Proof Design - One of the biggest benefits of this change is how future proof it is. We will only need to do an endgame adjustment like this once, and then it's largely done and we can continue onwards into the future with a better end game.


 * Guild Augments have now been fully deprecated. You can no longer buy Guild Augments from Vendors and existing Guild Augments can no longer be slotted. They can be sold back to vendors for gold. Items that had Guild Augment slots now have a Colorless Augment Slot in its place. (Unless that item is, somehow, a Quiver, in which case it will not be replaced by anything, sorry). If you have an item with a Guild Augment currently in it, it will retain that Guild Augment until it expires, at which time the slot will be replaced by a Colorless Augment Slot. Please note that items in auction houses and account banks may not lose the Guild Augment Slot and gain the Colorless Augment Slot until they leave those spaces.
 * Siberys Spirit Cakes can now be used by raging players to resurrect their dead friends.
 * Lootgen Docents (and some other older Docents) should once more display their correct base appearance.
 * Docents with old armor potion kits applied should once more show their appearances.
 * Weapons that do non-mundane damage such as Flameblades or Celestia now correctly interact with DR and resistances.
 * Trap the Soul now requires a standalone special component called a Khyber Dragonshard that is found in shops wherever high quality spell components may be found. This component works for all variations of Trap the Soul.
 * (main hand) now works with Swashbuckling.
 * The Flamecleansed Fury set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Hruit's Influence set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Arcsteel Battlemage set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Arcsteel Battlemage set now properly gives +1 Intelligence as listed (was +2).
 * The Feywild Dreamer set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Legendary Flamecleansed Fury set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Legendary Hruit's Influence set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Legendary Arcsteel Battlemage set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Legendary Arcsteel Battlemage set now properly gives +3 Intelligence as listed (was +4).
 * The Legendary Feywild Dreamer set's Spell Crit Chance is now properly Artifact-typed.
 * The Glowing Eyes cosmetics now show elven ears correctly.

Monster Manual

 * A new Monster Manual is available to purchase (FREE to VIPs!). Monster Manual Volume 8 includes the following ten categories:
 * Griffon
 * Satyr
 * Goblin
 * Animated Objects
 * Living spells
 * Gnome
 * Harpy
 * Marilith
 * Forgewraith
 * Wight

Quests and Adventure Areas

 * Monsters will no longer cast persistent spells like Wall of Fire or crowd control spells like Soundburst in rapid succession.
 * Barovia is a dangerous place, and the Abbey of Saint Markovia is no exception. Those who seek safety may not always find it.
 * Removed some NPC's from Meridia that were not meant to be there.
 * Fix a scaling issue with the monster stats in the following quests:
 * Tower of Frost
 * Memory Lapse
 * Kind of a Big Deal
 * Another Man's Treasure


 * Zawabi now bestows and resolves Against the Demon Queen (the 6-player pre-raid) and Zawabi's Revenge (the 12-player raid) separately. You are now only required to complete Against the Demon Queen once per life in order to play Zawabi's Revenge; after that, Zawabi will allow you to choose which quest to speak to him about.
 * Against the Demon Queen is no longer restricted by Raid Timer.
 * es now work properly on Zawabi's Revenge.
 * Some spike da]]mage statting in Dryad and the Demigod, Legendary Lord of Blades, Legendary Master Artificer, Legendary Vision of Destruction, and Too Hot to Handle has been lowered.
 * Baba Lysaga now has more spell power.
 * The Age of Rage - Fred now has a better understanding of human clothing conventions and Halvro Tummelton now delivers his speech no matter what.
 * Members of the Sharn Syndicate have started wearing newer fashions from Sharn.
 * Talon Darsin in "Come Out and Slay" has had an interior decoration from Sharn give the furniture in his mansion a refresh.

Races

 * Half Elves have had a cosmetic update. Half-elven characters will automatically see their looks updated when they log into the game for the first time after Update 50 is released.
 * Half orc male run animations have been updated.

Spells

 * Evard's Black Tentacles has had its tooltip fixed.
 * The Alchemist spell Smoke Bomb's Invisibility no longer remains after you begin attacking.

UI

 * Icons for certain drow damage over time poisons have been set to actually look like poison.
 * When viewing a monster's hit points through selection (due to having the appropriate Monster Manual reward for that monster type), the percentage hit point of that monster will now be shown in parenthesis next to their current and max hit point total.
 * Formatting for the percentage hit points for your party members has been adjusted slightly to better take advantage of available space.
 * Launcher: The 64-bit game client is now the default choice for new installs. Updated the wording on the legacy client to indicate that it is no longer supported.
 * Many recipes that did not show a full item description now do so.