Update 14 Expansion Beta 4 Release Notes

=Update 14 Expansion Beta 4 Release Notes= Welcome to the Update 14, Menace of the Underdark Expansion Beta Release Notes for Dungeons & Dragons Online! These release notes were posted on Wednesday, May 30th, 2012. These notes are subject to changes and additions.... lots and lots of additions and changes. Really can't stress that enough. Changes and additions. Tons. Be sure to check the available content list to see what is open and ready for testing!

Forgotten Realms Campaign

 * Players can now journey into the Forgotten Realms! Note that in this strange new land, familiar objects may appear differently than you're accustomed to!
 * The "Campaign System" can now be found in the Expansion content in addition to Korthos Island, to help Eberron immigrants arriving in Forgotten Realms learn where the basics are (particularly in cases where features they know and recognize in Eberron might look slightly different in Faerun).
 * NEW: Players can currently level up to Level 25
 * NEW: All Expansion quests and content are now available to try! The only exceptions are:
 * The Raid is currently closed until scheduled raid nights. Players may still flag characters for raid participation and we encourage players to attempt flagging during beta!
 * The quest "Worm Food" is currently unavailable.

Forgotten Realms Beta Changes

 * NEW (BETA ONLY): The prerequisites have been hooked up to several of the quests in the XPack. In some cases, quests that were previously immediately available via the Test Dojo may now require you to complete the required story quest first.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Elminster has taken on a form that is more familiar to his friends and fans.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Put clothing on the backs of more Eveningstar residents.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): There is now a Universal Challenge Token NPC in Eveningstar.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Skill needed to open the slave collars have been adjusted and the DCs now scale to the difficulty setting and CR of the dungeon where you encounter them.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Animated armor enemies no longer drop Eberron-themed collectibles in the Forgotten Realms.
 * Quest - Beyond the Rift
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Length of the quest has been slightly shortened
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): There is now a chance that Ozebaw the Unwholesome cannot be found
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Total number of spiders to fight are reduced
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): This quest now awards Silver Flame favor
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Overall length of the quest has been slightly shortened.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): In addition to having random chances to spawn, several bosses now have multiple locations they can randomly appear at as well.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): The Drow Outpost has been tweaked to be less punishing.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): A resurrection shrine has been added to one of the encounter rooms.
 * Quest - Belly of the Beast
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Added a set of shrines
 * Adventure Area - The King's Forest
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): "Light in the Darkness" and "Plotting with Portals" now properly function.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Pruned the roots of several unruly trees.
 * (BETA ONLY): The mysterious invisible forest critters in the King's Forest have been exterminated.
 * (BETA ONLY): Rare encounters in the King's Forest will now grant XP.
 * (BETA ONLY): Bear traps now snap onto your leg and stop movement for a time. Strength checks are made to shorten that time.

Introducing Epic Destinies!

 * Experience new Epic Destinies! Players can now take the following Epic Destinies in-game:
 * Legendary Dreadnought
 * Grandmaster of Flowers
 * Magister
 * Draconic Incarnation
 * Shiradi Champion
 * Fatesinger
 * Fury of the Wild
 * Exalted Angel
 * NEW Unyielding Sentinel
 * NEW Shadowdancer

BETA ONLY: Epic Destiny Changes

 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Various text fixes have been made in Epic Destinies, and tooltips have been made more clear.
 * BETA-ONLY: Fixed the icons for several Epic Destinies.
 * BETA-ONLY: Twists of Fate costs and tiers have been modified:
 * A newly unlocked Twist of Fate now can hold a first tier enhancement.
 * Each Twist of Fate now has three upgrades instead of two, each increasing the tier it can hold by one.
 * Costs to unlock and upgrade Twists of Fate have been modified:
 * First Twist: 1 Fate Point
 * Upgrade 1: 2 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 2: 3 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 3: 4 Fate Points
 * Second Twist: 2 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 1: 3 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 2: 4 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 3: 5 Fate Points
 * Third Twist: 3 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 1: 4 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 2: 5 Fate Points
 * Upgrade 3: 6 Fate Points
 * BETA-ONLY: All epic destiny ability score enhancements now correctly cost 2 AP.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Legendary Dreadnought
 * Cleave attacks now correctly interact with Legendary Dreadnought.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Grand Master of Flowers
 * Added a 3 minute cooldown to this destiny's Epic Moment
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Draconic Incarnation
 * Dragonhide now increases Natural Armor and Draconic Perception increases Reflex saves
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Exalted Angel
 * Made Astral Vibrance less annoying.
 * BETA-ONLY: Fatesinger
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Fatesinger effect icons and their tooltips now match the enhancements
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: All Fatesinger Songs require 1 min Perform to play
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Non-Bard Fatesingers can now sing entry level songs.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Bard levels now extend durations of Fatesinger songs.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: All Fatesinger Songs may now be cast while moving.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Fatesingers now gain 25 SP per lvl
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Fatesingers now properly advance Str and Cha bonuses.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Artful Misdirection has been replaced with "Reign". Reign grants 20/40/60 temp hitpoints, Cha base damage and a lightning stroke on vorpal hits.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Aria has been set to 5 min.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Repertoire icon now correctly displays as a passive icon
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: "Music of..." enhancements will now work with Intoxicating Presence
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: O Fortuna now works when Tailwind is also on the character.
 * Aria is now an action boost that instead costs a Song to activate.
 * Echoes of the Shadowdancer removes Blur and adds Lingering Shadows. Lingering Shadows adds a displacement effect and a +4 to hit, +4 damage for 8 seconds. On your next attack, the effect is removed.
 * BETA-ONLY: Shiradi Champion:
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Various abilities have been moved around the tree for balancing.
 * The following abilities have been moved to a higher tier: Stay Good, In The Weeds
 * The following abilities have been moved to a lower tier: Wild Strikes, Pin, Otto's Whistler Pin
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Otto's Whistler and Pin are now only two ranks and more damaging than before.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Removed some possible effects from Double Rainbow that could heal enemies, weighted more strongly towards AoE damage and CC effects.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Significantly increased damage of most 7% damage effects.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Prism Stance properly disables when you turn it off or switch into another Shiradi Stance.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Elemental Absorption fixed to be removed on rest now.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Track now stacks 3/6/10 times depending on rank.
 * Wild Shots damage increased at all ranks.
 * Fey Form now grants Low-Light vision with the third rank.
 * Healing Spring now properly heals more frequently at higher ranks.
 * Healing Spring no longer automatically gives you the benefits of Fey Spring and Illusion of Well Being.
 * Increased healing with Audience With The Queen.
 * Increased ability score damage with Prism.
 * Track duration changed to 5 seconds.
 * Shiradi Champions choosing to gain Wisdom no longer end up gaining Dexterity.
 * BETA-ONLY: Fury of the Wild
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Unbridled Fury now unleashed with 50 vorpal hits instead of 100 critical hits.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Adrenaline now gives a bonus to critical threat range and critical threat confirmation.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Epic Toughness renamed to Brawn.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Brawn and Adrenaline Overload give +1 base damage.
 * Resetting Fury of the Wild Epic enhancements no longer disables the STR/CON line.
 * Ward Against Weird SR increased at early ranks.
 * Tunnel Vision damage increased at early ranks and penalties have been reduced.
 * Boulder Toss damage increased.
 * Fast Healing rate increased.
 * Primal Scream fixed so that ranking it up actually increases the benefit.
 * Gird Against Demons grants your weapons Lesser Evil Outsider Bane.
 * Adrenaline starts with two uses.
 * Increased healing of Fury Made Placid.
 * Fast Healing fixed to increase healing with increased ranks.
 * Stay Good is now 3 ranks, giving Good to your weapons with the third rank.
 * BETA-ONLY: Unyielding Sentinel
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Stance cooldowns reduced to 20 seconds.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Various weapon bonuses based on alignment fixed.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Vigor of Battle grants more HP than before, 50 + 50 with Stalwart Guardian (Stalwart Guardian grants 50 hitpoints passively).
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Legendary Shield Mastery changed to 15 Physical Resistance Rating total.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Stand Against the Tide no longer gives 10,000% Fortification. Fortification bonus brought down to 5% per stack.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Bonus stacks actually go away when you move.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Spark of Life should show up now.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Smite Evil should have some activations even if you aren't a Paladin now.
 * NEW BETA-ONLY: Healing Hands properly grants +20 Positive Spell Power.

Introducing The Druid
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING DRUIDS IN BETA 4: Do not use Veteran status with Druid. Instead, select the option to be taken to Korthos Island. Taking a level of Druid via Veteran Status boat will irreparably break the character and prevent you from leveling as a Druid. Challenge the Drow of the Underdark as a Druid from the wilds of Eberron! Starting with Menace of the Underdark, DDO’s first shape-shifting class, the Druid, will be available as a premium playable class -- and free to all VIPs! Proficient with staves, daggers, clubs, sickles, and more; the Druid is a powerful caster who is able to fill a variety of party roles.


 * Take the Druidic oath and get closer to nature - Druids must avoid metal armors & shields in order to retain their nature-influenced powers.
 * Harness animal instincts to transform yourself into one of the Druidic wildshape forms!
 * Wolf
 * Bear
 * Fire Elemental
 * Water Elemental
 * Winter Wolf
 * Dire Bear
 * Each wild shape has its own specialized set of spells to cast!

Beta Specific Changes

 * NEW - Druids during Beta 4 may level to 25th level! Be sure to give feedback regarding your Druid experiences in the Druid feedback forum!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Dragontouched leather armor, outfits, robes, and docents no longer break the Druidic oath.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fixed a bug where Druids who True Reincarnate recieved the Cleric Past Life feat, instead of the Druid one.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Added the Druid capstone enhancements, Hierophant and Natural Adept.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fatal harrier buff duration increased from 8 seconds to 20 seconds.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fatal Harrier buff stacks up to 5 times, for a total of 25% enhancement bonus to attack speed.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): ReavingRroar sonic damage increased from 9d6 to 13d6
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Increased Aggravate's temporary DR bonus from 2/3/4/5 to 2/4/6/8 and clarified its duration in the enhancement descriptions.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Increased the Blood Moon Frenzy buff from 8 seconds to 15 seconds
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Increased Blood Moon Frenzy's bonuses from 7/15/22% movement speed to 20/30/40, and 4/8/12% attack speed to 10/15/20%.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fixed Season's Herald so that it now grants the sub-enhancements that allow it to work!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Druid Wildshape
 * Added text to the wildshape feats clarifying what the weapon damage is while in animal forms, and how it interacts with equipped weapons.
 * Fixed a bug where the Druid elemental forms' bonus to fortification was missing.
 * Clarified the poison immunity rules for elemental forms.
 * Reduced the caster level bonuses in elemental forms from +2 down to +1.
 * Reduced the caster level penalties in elemental forms from -5 to -3.
 * Removed the caster level penalties from animal forms.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY)ruid Spells:
 * Fixed a problem where a number of Druid spells, such as many of the buffs and the Tremor spell, were erroneously requiring you to face yuor target.
 * Body of the Sun cost was increased to 30SP, damage was dramatically increased to 1d6 per caster level, cooldown was increased to 5 seconds, and a fortitude save was added.
 * Added Hold Animal to the Druid spell list.
 * Fixed a bug with the icon for Creeping Cold.
 * Updated Season's Herald so that winter boosts earth spells.
 * Fixed various bugs with Druid spells having incorrect elemental types set.
 * Removed the save bonuses from Animal Growth.
 * Reduced the max buff from Pack Aptitude spells from +8 at level 12 to +6 at level 9.
 * Resistance bonus/penalties from Quench have been reduced down to 15/25/35.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY):* Updated all of the Unarmed feats - weapon specialization, weapon focus, etc., so that their text mentions that they work for Druids in animal form.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Druids in animal form will no longer throw thrown weapons and will properly perform unarmed attacks.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Added a new feat, "Natural Fighting". This feat requires Druid level 12 to take, and can be taken up to three times. Each time you take it you receive an additional 6% Double-strike chance while in animal forms. This feat is now visible in the list of feats when leveling up.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fixed a bug where various damage-over-time effects had incorrect scaling.
 * (BETA ONLY): Added Ram's Might to the Druid spell list at level 1.
 * (BETA ONLY): The level 1 Druid spell "Magic Stone" has been cut from the Druid spell list. Druid characters on the beta server who already have the spell might still have it.
 * (BETA ONLY): Fixed a bug where the Druid Nature's Warrior enhancements were granting 1d6/2d6 extra damage per character level, instead of 1d6/2d6 total, as intended
 * (BETA ONLY): Fixed an issue where Druids were unable to choose Empower Healing as a feat.
 * (BETA ONLY): Druids in wolf form now attack roughly 30% faster than a humanoid character wielding a sword and shield.
 * (BETA ONLY): Takedown now has a DC equal to 11 + Wisdom mod.
 * (BETA ONLY): Shred now has a DC equal to 13+ Wisdom mod.
 * (BETA ONLY): Snowslide now has a DC equal to 19 + Wisdom mod.
 * (BETA ONLY): Jaws of Winter now has a DC equal to 17 + Wisdom mod.
 * (BETA ONLY): Unyielding Pack now causes your pets and hirelings to intimidate nearby enemies when cast, in addition to it's other effects.
 * (BETA ONLY): Unyielding Pack and Shifting pack have been increased from 25% to 75% Bonus/penalty to threat generation.
 * (BETA ONLY): Unyielding Pack and Shifting pack icons were backwards - they now have the correct icons.
 * (BETA ONLY): Ursine Defense has been removed (although existing test druids that had it already will still have it). Bear form now has an innate +10% AC bonus, and Dire Bear form has a +15% bonus.
 * (BETA ONLY): The Druid's wolf used to start as a pup, and grow to enormous proportions. This has been mitigated.
 * (BETA ONLY): Wolves used to get packed in a crate on dismiss. Now they howl.

Stone of Experience Promo

 * NEW: Stone amounts have been set to the following:
 * Base edition will receive 2 Stones from the NPC
 * Standard edition will receive 3 Stones from the NPC
 * Collector's edition will receive 5 Stones from the NPC
 * NEW: You may now use the Stone on characters that have True Reincarnated.
 * NEW: The expiration on the Stones has been extended to Update 15, wording on the Stones has been updated to reflect this.
 * NEW: The Stone mechanics have been changed. To activate the Stone you must now
 * Drag the Stone to your hotbar
 * Target the recipient
 * Activate the Stone on your hotbar while targeting the recipient (or yourself if you have no target selected)
 * To use the Stone on your own level 8 - 15 character, pass the Stone to your alt using the Shared bank or the mail system, and then target yourself and activate the Stone.
 * The recipient will receive a confirmation box and will receive Experience and Gear after accepting the dialog.
 * You no longer need to hand them the Stone.
 * NEW: You will now receive the following awards for utilizing the Stone on other characters:
 * The first time you use the Stone on another character, an extra Stone will be sent to your character's mailbox.
 * The third time you use the Stone on another character, you will receive an exclusive Snow Panther Cub in your character's mailbox.
 * NEW: It is no longer possible or necessary to trade the Stone of Experience to other characters.
 * NEW: You may use the Stone on your own characters by passing them through the Shared bank or mailing them to your alt.
 * NEW: Stones may not be activated by accounts other than your own. To activate a Stone, target the intended character instead.
 * NEW: Fixed an issue where earning XP after activating a Stone of Experience before you had a chance to speak with your trainer would erase the Stone's XP grant.
 * NEW: Fixed an issue that was preventing the Snow Panther Cub from being awarded to generous tutors.

Questing
The questing panel has been redesigned to provide more clear guidance regarding your questing options.


 * Non-epic quests are now known as "Heroic" level quests. If a quest has Epic levels available, you can click the "Epic" tab to access them.
 * Epic quests now offer a range of difficulties, accessible by selecting the "Epic" tab in the Quest Panel. Note that during Beta 1, only "normal" Epic difficulty is currently available. Do not select other difficulties at this time.
 * You can now additionally access party-forming tools from inside the questing panel.
 * Feedback notifying you of your bravery streaks & eligibility has been improved.

Changes

 * NEW (BETA ONLY): In the Forgotten Realms, every third completion of a quest chain will now provide a reward list with a 50% chance to appear for each item that could have normally appeared in that list. Completions which are not the third or a subsequent multiple of three have a 25% chance for those items to appear.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): You will no longer get the Portal UI pop-up when going from a private instance to an adventure area.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Fixed a bug with the public LFM leadership alert appearing many more times than it should.
 * (BETA ONLY): When a new public LFM is posted, all appropriate choices made by the player who initiated it are now reflected in the automated posting. This includes the class selection, LFM note, and max party size. These are also now visible on the Quest Panel UI for active instances.

Challenges

 * (BETA ONLY): A new challenge is available in Eveningstar! \
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Mapnotes that were misbehaving during combat have been improved.
 * When a star objective is achieved, a party wide message occurs rather than only notifying the person who got the star.
 * Cannith challenge items only work in thier intended challenge. No more Kobolds wandering about the Cannith Enclave.

Creature Companions

 * Creature Companion Cosmetic items now work with all Companions.
 * Corrected descriptions on several Companions and their associated tricks.

Defense & Armor Class Changes
Several aspects of Defense and Armor Class combat have been updated for Menace of the Underdark: Armor Class Enhancements

Armor now occurs in tiers that give increased Armor Class (AC). Named armor that drops or is already owned by the player of an appropriate level (above 7) has been updated to be equalized with these changes. Armor tiers are as follows:

Code: AC     Max Dex      Level      Enhancement mod HEAVY ARMOR (Heavy Plates) Full Plate              8          1         1 to 7             5 Battle Plate            11         1         8 to 13            6 Magecraft Plate         16         1        14 to 19            6 Mountain Plate          20         1        20 to 24            7 Planeforged Plate       24         1           25               7 (Light Plates) Light Plate              7         2         1 to 7             5 Light Battle Plate       10        3         8 to 13            6 Light Magecraft Plate    15        4        14 to 19            6 Light Mountain Plate     18        5        20 to 24            7 Light Planeforged Plate  21        6            25              7 (Adamantine Body) Base Docent              8         1         1 to 7 Battle Docent            12        1         8 to 13 Magecrafted Docent       16        1        14 to 19 Quoriforged Docent       20        1        20 to 24 Planeforged Docent       24        1           25 MEDIUM ARMOR (Breastplates) Breastplate              6         3         1 to 7              5 Battle Breastplate       8         3         8 to 13             6 Magecraft Breastplate    11        4        14 to 19             6 Mountain Breastplate     15        5        20 to 24             7 Planeforged Breastplate  17        6           25                7 (Scalemail) Scalemail                6         3         1 to 7              5 Skirmish Scalemail       7         4         8 to 13             6 Feycraft Scalemail       10        5        14 to 19             6 Spiritcraft Scalemail    14        6        20 to 24             7 Celestial Scalemail      15        8           25                7 LIGHT ARMOR (Chainmail) Chainmail Shirt          4         5         1 to 7              5 Skirmish Chainmail       5         7         8 to 13             6 Feycraft Chainmail       7         9        14 to 19             6 Spiritcraft Chainmail    10        10       20 to 24             7 Celestial Chainmail      12        12          25                7 (Leathers) Leather Armor            3         8         1 to 7              5 Skirmish Leather         4         10        8 to 13             6 Feycraft Leather         5         12       14 to 19             6 Spiritcraft Leather      6         14       20 to 24             7 Celestial Leather        8         16          25                7 (Mithral Body) Base Docent              4         5         1 to 7 Battle Docent            5         5         8 to 13 Magecrafted Docent       7         5        14 to 19 Quoriforged Docent       9         5        20 to 24 Planeforged Docent       12        5           25 (Shields) Heavy Shield             2         0         1 to 7             5 Tower Shield             4         0         1 to 7             5 heavy dark wood          3         0         8 to 13            6 battle shield            6         0         8 to 13            6 heavy densewood          4         0        14 to 19            6 magecraft shield         8         0        14 to 19            6 heavy spiritcraft        5         0        20 to 24            7 mountain shield          10        0        20 to 24            7 celst shield             6         0           25               7 planeforged              12        0           25               7
 * (BETA-ONLY): Combat Training feats are no longer available or applicable.

"To Hit" Mechanics
Players and monsters now calculate how they hit differently: Monsters hitting players:


 * (Monster To Hit Bonus +10.5 / Player Target’s AC) /2 = X% chance of attack success, when then roll against that number.
 * Auto hits on 20s and auto misses on 1s still apply.
 * Players will now see an “average” defense chance from a level appropriate monster on normal now displayed on their character sheet under the AC tool tip.

Players hitting Monsters

 * A character's roll is the same as a Monster to-hit with two exceptions: an added "proficiency bonus”, and the attack is rounted to the d20:
 * (Player To Hit Bonus +10.5 / Monster Target’s AC) /2 = X% +25% If using a proficient weapon. The attack is then rounded to the nearest 5% in order to simulate the d20 roll seen in the UI.
 * +5/+10 Base Attack Bonus from BAB rotation still apply.
 * Players now perform a "Grazing Hit" on any roll but a 2.

For more information regarding to-hit changes, click here for developer Torc's latest updates!

Dodge

 * Dodge now provides a % miss chance. Many feats and items will now give dodge as a percentage. +3% dodge chance means the player will be missed 3% of the time by melee/missile attacks, and the word “dodge” will appear over the players head when it happens.
 * This new dodge percentage bonus is capped by the max armor class bonus on your armor. However the cap only applies to passive bonuses. Temporary buffs may break your cap on a case by case basis.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY) Dodge % is now properly capped by the dex bonus to AC value of the players armor.

Physical Resistances
Physical resistance is a new stat that lowers the damage from all slash/piercing/blunt sources. Your Physical Resistance Rating determines how much incoming damage is lowered. All sources of Physical Resistance stack - so any Physical Resistances you receive from your shield, armor, items, enhancements, feats, etc all stack with one another. With Physical Resistance, you will take a % less of damage based on your rating:

Rating Protection Provided 0.00% 10 6.22% 20 11.84% 30 16.92% 40 21.52% 50 25.67% 60 29.43% 70 32.84% 80 35.91% 90 38.69% 100 41.21% 110 43.48% 120 45.54% 130 47.40% 140 49.08% 150 50.61% 160 51.98% 170 53.23% 180 54.35% 190 55.37% 200 56.29% 210 57.12%

For example, a character with a Physical Resistance Rating of 50 will take 25.67% less physical damage. Someone with a rating of 100 would take 41.21% less physical damage. General Feat Adjustments for physical resistance include:


 * Two weapon defense should now grant 5 Physical Resistance.
 * Stalwart/Siberys stances should now grant 10/25/45 Physical Resistance and 10%/20%/40% AC bonuses.
 * Monk earth stance should grant 0/6/12/20 Physical Resistance and 5%/10%/15%/20% AC. These are likely also not working yet.
 * Druids get 7/11 physical resistance from Nature's Warrior I and II.

Other Combat Feat Changes

 * NEW: Frenzied Berserker Supreme Cleave now has a 6 second cooldown, and deals +2[W] additional damage.
 * NEW: Great Cleave now has a 7 second cooldown and deals +1[W] additional damage.
 * NEW: Whirlwind Attack now has a 9 second cooldown and deals +3[W] additional damage.
 * Combat Expertise: should now grant 15% bonus AC. Increases spell cooldowns to 3x normal.
 * Defensive Fighting: should now grant 5% AC bonus and a -5% to-hit penalty. Increases spell cooldowns to 3x normal.
 * Precision: +5% to hit. Increases spell cooldowns to 3x normal.
 * Resilience: to-hit penalty has been removed, should simply grant +4 to all saves now. Increases spell cooldowns to 3x normal.
 * Point Blank Shot: +5% to hit.
 * Power Critical: Provides +2 crit confirmation, and an additional +2 crit damage (similar to "Seeker +2", but as a feat).
 * Dodge: now grants 3% Dodge bonus.
 * Uncanny Dodge: passively grants +1% Dodge at levels 4/6/8/12/16/20. Active now grants 50% Dodge, has a longer cooldown, and no longer has a counter.
 * Improved Uncanny Dodge: passively grants +1% Dodge at levels 4/6/8/12/16/20. Active now grants 60% Dodge, has a longer cooldown, and no longer has a counter.
 * Mobility: now grants 2% Dodge bonus.
 * Spring Attack: now grants 2% Dodge bonus.
 * AC action boost: now grants 5/10/15/20/25 respectively.
 * Armor Proficiency: now gives the user a set amount of Physical Resistance based on that type when the armor is worn. This will eventually scale with the users BAB, but in Beta 1 it is a set amount as follows:
 * Light armor is 5
 * Medium armor is 10
 * Heavy armor is 15
 * Shield Mastery & Improved: Shield mastery and Improved have been reworked. They now give physical resistance.
 * Shield Mastery: -Now gives +3% double strike chance if you’re using a shield
 * Buckler Small: 3
 * Heavy: 5
 * Tower: 10
 * Shield Improved Shield Mastery: also includes +8% double strike chance if you’re using a shield
 * Buckler Small: 5
 * Heavy: 10
 * Tower 15

Note: on hit bonuses as % - this is a bonus to your proficiency modifier; it changes your chances of hitting before you roll. Example: 5% = if you were going to hit only on a roll of 12, now you would hit on a roll of 11. Other Changes


 * Fixed some debuffs improperly interrupting the charging of Runearms.
 * Corrected an issue where punching characters would slide, rather than run, across the ground.

DDO Store

 * Various fixes to description errors in Hireling contracts

Events

 * Crystal Cove will now show the right objective amount of 100, not 150.

Enhancements

 * (BETA ONLY): Removed a typo that placed the Eminence of Life enhancements under the "Spell Spell Amplification" header
 * Enhancement categories text no longer refer to "Damage Amplification", and correctly refer to Spellpower.

Hirelings

 * Maloren the hireling has yet again been retrained to cast healing spells.
 * (BETA ONLY): Activated ability icons for epic hirelings now match their tooltip icons.

Spell Power
The spell damage amplification system (including bonuses from items and enhancements) now uses a Spell Power rating to determine how much damage you deal with spells. In most cases, each point of Spell Power increases the base damage of your spell by 1%. (For example, casting a spell with 100 Spell Power will result in double damage.) Unlike the old damage amplification effects, Spell Power is not restricted by spell level, and bonuses to Spell Power of different types stack, following standard D&D stacking rules. (An Enhancement bonus and an Alchemical bonus will stack, but only the greater of two Enhancement bonuses will apply.) The bonus damage from Spell Power is not multiplied by metamagics such as Empower Spell or Maximize Spell. Items and enhancements that granted damage amplification to specific damage types will now provide a bonus to Spell Power with spells of that damage type. (For example, an old Combustion V item that used to grant +20% damage to level V or lower Fire spells will now grant a +48 Equipment bonus to Spell Power when casting any Fire spell.) Potency effects grant Spell Power with any spell, as expected, but generally have lower values than specific effects. Sources of Spell Power include:


 * Enhancements:
 * Enhancements such as Flame Manipulation or Pale Master now grant Spell Power to the appropriate spells equal to twice their old percentage values.
 * Items:
 * Items with old permanent damage amplification effects now grant an Equipment bonus to Spell Power.
 * Any weapon that has a Spell Power bonus also grants an Implement bonus equal to 3 times the enchantment bonus of the weapon. A +5 weapon will therefore grant a +15 Implement bonus to Spell Power with all spells. Any effect that increases the enchantment bonus of the weapon (such as an Artificer’s Enchant Weapon) will also increase the Implement bonus.
 * Any item with old temporary damage amplification effects now grant an Alchemical bonus to Spell Power when used (an Inferno item will now stack with a Combustion item).
 * The Xachosian Eardweller now grants a +25 Psionic bonus to Spell Power with all spells (it now stacks with all other effects instead of temporarily replacing them).

Other Item Changes

 * All collectibles and ingredients are now weightless.
 * Random treasure can now generate up to level 25.
 * The power of generated treasure at low levels has been increased to more closely match the level of the chest it comes from.
 * Many new prefix and suffix mutations can now appear. Go forth and discover them!
 * New rare mutations can appear. These rare mutations can include multiple effects on one prefix or suffix. Go forth and discover them too!
 * Equipment Icon Borders have been changed:
 * Randomly generated items now have green borders on their icons. Note that this color has been darkened since Beta 1 to be less obtrusive.
 * Some rarer random items with more powerful abilities will have a teal border.
 * Event and Challenge item rewards have a blue border.
 * Named items have a blue border.
 * Raid items have an orange border.
 * Epic named items have a purple border.
 * Epic raid items have a red border.
 * Newly purchased DDO Store Spirit Cakes will now resurrect all nearby hirelings within a radius of the one who consumes the cake.

Mail & Auctions

 * Players can now buyout on the Auction house while having the maximum number of bids.

Monsters

 * NEW (BETA ONLY): The devious glabrezu may look like a brute who wants to go toe-to-toe with its opponents using the giant pincers on its main arms, but that's only half the story. The glabrezu is second only to the succubus in its attempts to corrupt mortals, using telepathy to whisper offers of wealth and power. It is also known to be able to use stun spells and reverse gravity to keep opponents where it wants them.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Dretches and mud men throw dripping mud-looking stuff now... and it splatters!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Dretches' gas cloud spell is less annoying!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Goristro now smash you good!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Necromancers in the Forgotten Realms are no longer as sneaky. Additionally, Necromancers have a series of buffs they can utilize, the strength of which depending on the number of undead they control at the time.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Dragons have learned how to smash and head-butt better.
 * Yuan-ti:
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): It is now easier to tell male and female Yuan-ti apart without even needing to lift their tails.
 * (BETA ONLY): Now that the yuan-ti have had time to move in, they've taken the time to place chests around the dungeons.
 * (BETA ONLY): Adjustments made to yuan-ti size. Note that some yuan-ti may still be overly large and well fed.
 * Werewolves have arrived!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): werewolves are no longer on ice-skates.
 * The Blindness spell now kills floating eyeballs.

General Questing Changes

 * (BETA ONLY): Teleporting into a dungeon to join an in-progress group is now only allowed if you have not yet entered that instance.

Necropolis

 * Debuffs no longer persist after leaving the Litany of the Dead.

The Ruins of Gianthold

 * Drop rates for dragonscales in Gianthold Tor have been significantly increased.
 * The artisans in Gianthold who craft Dragonscale Armor have refined their craft. New versions of the Blue, Black, and White Dragonscale items are now available here.

The Sands of Menechtarun

 * Fixed an issue where Epic fragments were not dropping in Offering of Blood

Three Barrel Cove

 * Avast! New level 4-6 named treasures be dropping in the Three Barrel Cove fer yer plundering pleasure! Yar!

Secrets of the Artificers

 * Iron defenders have been removed from Schemes of the Enemy.

Free Quests

 * Hirelings no longer get stuck in some parts of the Butcher's Path.

Races

 * NEW (BETA ONLY): The current forms of Dark Vision and Low-light Vision have been disabled. They will return in the future in a different form. References to Dark Vision on abilities or items should be disregarded as these will also be changing.
 * Warforged Monks with the Perfect Self feat who become Lawful Outsiders no longer lose their Living Construct traits.

Reincarnation

 * Several Spells will no longer disappear upon reincarnation.
 * Extra Pre-purchase items are no longer being re-granted upon reincarnation.

Skills, Feats, & Abilities

 * The Construct Essence feat now functions correctly if you log in while dead.

Spells

 * NEW: Spike Growth
 * Damage was increased from "1d4" to "1d4 per caster level", to a maximum of 10d4.
 * Cost reduced to 12 SP.
 * Description now properly states that a reflex save halves the damage.
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Added Entangle, Animal Growth, Magic Fang, and Pass Without Trace to the Ranger spell list.
 * (BETA ONLY): Creeping Cold and Greater Creeping Cold have had their SP costs reduced, and their damage increased. They are now more in line with comparable spells of their level, such as Melf's Acid Arrow
 * (BETA ONLY): The Summon Nature's Ally spells for levels 5 and up should now function properly, and summon the correct monsters.
 * (BETA ONLY): The scimitars created by the Druid spell ""Flame Blade"" can now be used by a Monk without uncentering.
 * (BETA ONLY): When casting a Vigor or Regenerate spell on someone who already has that spell, the duration of the spell wil nowl be increased.
 * Numerous low-level spell buffs with a duration of 1/minute per caster level have had their durations changed: they are still 1/minute per caster level, but they now have a minimum of 5 minutes. This includes the animal stat buffs (such as Cat's Grace), Jump, Bless, Expeditious Retreat, nightshield, Protection from Evil, Ram's might, Shield, and Tumble.
 * The music of Otto's Irrisistable Dance has been made less "techno"-ish, and more appropriate for the time period.
 * Artificer spell Deadly Weapons now works on ranged weapons.
 * Spells no longer interrupt on autorun.

New

 * The game menu is now located in the lower left of the screen. Click the DDO dragon ampersand (&) to pull up the menu. You may shrink the menu to icon-only by clicking the eye symbol.
 * It is now possible to save your UI layout/options between different characters, accounts, computers, and monitor resolutions! As of Update 14, when you log in for the first time you will initially find all UI layouts back at their default positions and sizes. To create and save a custom layout:
 * Arrange your UI to your preferred layout and options for that character
 * Save those settings locally by using “/ui layout save [filename]” in the chat window.
 * Replace "[filename]" with an easy to remember name for that layout.
 * If you don’t specify a filename, then your layout will be saved under, or loaded from, the name Default_ .layout. For example, if you are running in 1440x900 resolution, your UI layout file will be "Default_1440_900.layout."
 * You may save as many layouts as you like for any of your characters. Be sure to use different names so as not to overwrite an existing layout.
 * To load a UI file, type "/ui layout load [filename]" in the chat window.
 * Your UI layout files save to your Dungeons & Dragons Online -> data -> ui -> layouts folder. You may copy your ui layout files from this folder into other computers if you like, though we recommend that you make a new layout if the monitor resolution between those computers differs.

Changes

 * NEW: Class levels are now listed following a character's total level on the Character Selection screen
 * Several changes have been made to the basic game UI, such as hotbars and focus orb.
 * Buff/Debuff icons can be left or right justified. The default is now LEFT justified.
 * Platinum bank deposit window will no longer disappear in the right or lower side of the screen

Other changes

 * For players with higher graphics settings, the rays of the sun will now shine down upon your character whenever your look towards it. Bask in the warm sunny glow!
 * NEW (BETA ONLY): Purged the Realms of some more "DNT TBDs".
 * (BETA ONLY): Smashed more string table errors. Disappointed when we didn't find any coins.
 * Arrow trails have returned to following arrows. Rumor has it they were following the Grateful Dead for a while.
 * House Cannith has done some remodeling on the Crafting Hall doors so that they no longer blind patrons with the light of a thousand burning Fireballs.
 * Audio & Sound
 * Talbron the Warforged has a new voice.
 * Ambient noises no longer follow you from area to area.
 * Several Eberron quests that were missing their musical scores have been tuned up.