Game updates/20050929

Update - Thursday September 29, 2005

Balance Changes

• Capped attack speed adjustments at 133% of normal attack speed, down from 150% previously.
• Changed Enchantments so that if you cast an Enchantment with an upkeep cost and you already have -10 Energy regeneration, you will now lose the last maintained Enchantment you cast.

Mesmer

• Epidemic: decreased casting time to .25 seconds.
• Guilt: decreased Energy cost to 5.
• Hex Breaker: increased recharge time to 15 seconds.
• Soothing Images: increased Energy cost to 15.
• Energy Drain: Skill reworked. New description: “Target foe loses 4..10 Energy. You then gain 2 Energy for each point of Energy target foe lost.” Also increased recharge to 30 seconds.
• Energy Tap: Skill reworked. New description: “Target foe loses 4..7 Energy. You then gain 2 Energy for each point of Energy target foe lost.” Also increased recharge to 30 seconds.
• Diversion: increased casting time to 3; Increased recharge to 10 seconds.
• Ether Feast: decreased Energy stolen to 3, increased Health gained per Energy stolen to 17..47
• Signet of Weariness: increased casting time to 2.
• Fragility: decreased Energy cost to 10; decreased recharge to 5; decreased damage to 5..20.
• Mantra of Persistence: decreased duration to 30 seconds. Decreased recharge to 15 seconds.

Necromancer

• Necrotic Traversal: removed delay before teleport.
• Order of Pain: only affects party members within radar.
• Order of the Vampire: only affects party members within radar.
• Dark Fury: only affects party members within radar.
• Unholy Feast: now steals 5..50 Health from up to 1..5 foes.
• Insidious Parasite: decreased casting time to 1 second.
• Dark Bond: decreased Energy cost to 5, decreased recharge to 20.
• Infuse Condition: decreased Energy cost to 5, decreased recharge to 20.
• Vile Touch: increased damage to 20..65.
• Desecrate Enchantments: decreased Energy to 10.
• Aura of the Lich: decreased Energy to 10; decreased casting time to 2 seconds; decreased recharge to 20; decreased duration to 15..45; removed “half healing” from description.
• Rend Enchantments: now removes 5..9 Enchantments and you lose 55..25 Health for each.
• Grenth's Balance: decreased recharge to 10 seconds.
• Vampiric Touch: decreased recharge to 2 seconds.
• Blood Renewal: decreased sacrifice cost to 25%.
• Plague Signet: decreased casting time to 1 second.
• Faintheartedness: increased recharge to 8 seconds.

Elementalist

• Ether Renewal: decreased duration to 7 seconds; decreased the amount of Energy you gain to 1..3 per Enchantment.
• Ward Against Foes: increased Energy cost to 15.
• Whirlwind: decreased recharge to 10 seconds.
• Kinetic Armor: increased armor gained to 20..80.
• Magnetic Aura: decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased casting time to .25; increased duration to 5..20.
• Ether Prodigy: decreased duration to 5..20 seconds; increased Energy regeneration to 6.
• Incendiary Bonds: increased damage to 20..80.
• Searing Heat: removed Exhaustion.
• Glyph of Sacrifice: increased duration to 15 seconds.
• Glyph of Renewal: now instantly recharges next spell.
• Rust: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds.
• Mind Freeze: increased slow to 90%.
• Frozen Burst: increased damage to 20..110.
• Ice Spear: increased damage to 5..65.
• Lightning Touch: increased damage to 10..60.
• Deep Freeze: increased slow to 66% and increased radius to all foes in the location.
• Windborne Speed: increased duration to 5..11.
• Ice Spikes, Frozen Burst, Shard Storm, Deep Freeze, and Ice Prison: fixed a bug that prevented these spells from slowing more than 50%.
• Rodgort's Invocation: decreased casting time to 3.

Monk

• Smite: increased conditional damage to 5..35.
• Divine Intervention: decreased Energy cost to 5.
• Shield of Deflection: decreased Energy cost to 10; decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased duration to 6.
• Pacifism: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
• Amity: decreased recharge time to 45 seconds.
• Mark of Protection: decreased Energy to 10.
• Divine Healing: decreased recharge to 30 seconds.
• Vital Blessing: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased recharge to 2.
• Live Vicariously: decreased Energy cost to 5.
• Divine Spirit: increased duration to 1..14 seconds.
• Holy Strike: increased conditional damage to 10..55.
• Draw Conditions: increased recharge to 2 seconds.
• Aegis: increased casting time to 2 seconds.
• Holy Veil: decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased casting time to 1 second; increased recharge to 10; added additional effect of removing a Hex when it expires.
• Balthazar's Aura: increased casting time to 2 seconds; increased recharge to 25.
• Zealot's Fire: decreased damage to 5..35.

Warrior

• Cleave: increased damage to 10..30.
• Endure Pain: increased duration to 7..18 seconds.
• Belly Smash: decreased swing time to 1 second.
• Earth Shaker: lowered adrenaline to 8 strikes.
• Dolyak Signet: increased armor to 10..40.
• Shield Bash: decreased recharge to 20 seconds.
• Warrior's Endurance: increased Energy maximum to 5..25.
• Riposte: increased damage to 15..60.
• Deadly Riposte: increased damage to 5..50.
• Defy Pain: increased duration to 12 seconds.
• Skull Crack: lowered adrenaline to 9 strikes.
• "Fear Me!": decreased area of effect to all nearby foes.

Ranger

• Pet Attacks: each attack functions just like a Shout.
• Debilitating Shot: increased recharge to 10 seconds.
• Called Shot: decreased Energy to 5 and recharge to 3 seconds.
• Point Blank Shot: increased damage to 10..25.
• Read the Wind: increased duration to 24 seconds.
• Escape: decreased recharge to 30 seconds.
• Lightning Reflexes: decreased recharge to 45 seconds.
• Dust Trap: decreased damage to 10..25; now pulses 5 times.
• Dodge: duration now scales 5..11 seconds.
• Distracting Shot: added a delay after skill is used before another can be used.
• Savage Shot: added a delay after skill is used before another can be used.
• Concussion Shot: added a delay after skill is used before another can be used.
• Punishing Shot: added a delay after skill is used before another can be used.

Changes to Ladders and Matchmaking

• Removed option for rated challenges with selected (named) opponent.
• Removed the boost that previously caused guild ratings to rise and fall more quickly during the first 30 rated games played.
• Updated guild matchmaking so that the system attempts to match guilds that are close in rankings for a longer period of time before falling back to matching two guilds farther apart in ranking.

Skill Monitor Improvements

• The skill monitor now displays skill warm-up using a progress bar.
• The skill monitor can now display two skills being cast simultaneously, such as a Stance or Shout plus a normal skill.
• The skill monitor now uses animations to indicate when a skill completes successfully or is interrupted during casting.
• When you select a new character, you now immediately see which skill that character is currently casting.
• You can now control+click on the skill monitor to announce the skill being cast to your team.

Display Improvements

• When you cast a Hex or Enchantment that stays on a character and deals damage or performs healing, you can now see floating numbers showing the result of that damage or healing.
• When your pet damages another character, you can now see floating numbers showing that damage.
• When you cast a spell that boosts or drains the Energy of another character, you can now see floating numbers showing the Energy change.
• The "Drop Item" button and the skill warm-up progress bar are now customizable UI elements.
• The regional groups in the Quest Log will now remember their open/closed state between viewings of the Quest Log.
• The "(Completed)" tag in the Quest Log now displays correctly when viewed in French, Italian, German, and Spanish.

Miscellaneous

• You can now remove your pet's name by typing "/petname" and not providing a name.
• Shift now disables click-to-walk, making it easier to select targets without accidentally running.
• Clicking on the ground while auto-running now works properly.
• Removed old-style chests from Riverside Province and Gates of Kryta.
• Healer henchmen now prioritize healing party allies whose death would result in mission failure.
• Fixed a problem with the "Wrenches in the Gears" quest in Sorrow's Furnace where the Spirit Keepers could be killed prior to the player arriving.
• Fixed problems with the "Wisdom of the Druids" and "Trouble in the Woods" quests.
• Fixed pathing problems in Grenth's Footprint, D'Alessio Arena, and the Warrior's Isle guild hall.
• Fixed display glitch in Score window that appeared when first opening the window.
• Fixed orphaned scrollbar buttons that would appear on the login screen while changing languages.
• Updated skill descriptions to more accurately describe their effects.
• Expanded in-game music.
• Fixed miscellaneous rare crash bugs.