Lanterns in the Mist Event - Preview 2

[Torc]

Alright this is the 2nd pass on the lantern event!

What has changed from preview 1...

1. Lanterns now use the cosmetic shield slot.
2. Lanterns no longer have any "combat stats" since they occupy a cosmetic slot (no death block or mrr) however their shine the light ability still functions.
3. Mist Stalkers will no longer appear in the tutorial dungeon (sorry Cellimas, less things to smite)
4. Fixed an issue where iconics who agree to be set to level 1 for a hardcore run get their xp back when they lesser reincarnate
5. Fixed an issue with some double Mist Stalker spawns
6. Fixed an issue with the hardcore reaper lantern (lantern of the order) not advancing on reaper when fighting higher tier Mist Stalkers
7. Mist Stalker casters will use less cloud/persistent AOE effects
8. Mist Stalkers should be better about aggro'ing on the lantern owner who revealed them
9. People dying with a hardcore lantern equipped will now announce their deaths (like on a typical hardcore server)
10. There is new audio and story stuff in this build to be found when hunting Mist Stalkers
11. Some Mist Stalkers have new special abilities
12. Tuned some of the Mist Stalker abilities (dot damage is less aggressive)
13. Intro Quest has been tweaked, now has audio, and shows off the mount.
14. Lantern progress is now effected by XP bonuses (such as Experience Elixirs, VIP, Voice of the master, etc.)

For people just joining us here are the event details....

Overview: The Mists of Ravenloft have begun to appear with greater frequency across the planes. Further more, there are reports of mysterious whispering shapes appearing in those mists. Some appear humanoid, others snake-like with rumors of a great serpent sometimes being seen. No one is safe at night. People are beginning to disappear from Faerun to Eberron, falling prey to these Mist Stalkers as they are soon named.

Shortly after these disappearances begin a group of strangers appear from the mists bearing curious magical lanterns. They call themselves the Order of the Guardians, and they claim they have a solution to this new threat...

General Mechanics:

1. The event begins by playing a short story dungeon. The quest is a free level 1 solo, but is designed to be played by characters of any level. This story will dove tail into new content coming next year.
   
   
2. Players will be able to acquire a variety of lanterns from the Order in the Hall of Heroes. These are magical items which slot into your cosmetic shield slot which allow the player to detect Mist Stalkers and fight them better. There are two sets of 5 lanterns. More on that later.
   
   
3. Players can hunt Mist Stalkers in any content they choose outside of raids. They can appear nearly everywhere but only if a player has a lantern equipped in their cosmetic shield slot while the event is on.
   
   
4. As players kill/resolve Mist Stalkers their equipped lantern's durability (which starts at 1) will increase. Once the lantern is full it can be turn into the guardians for various cosmetic rewards which are flagged to your account. (like a hardcore season, earn it for all your characters, all servers)
   
   
5. Regular Lanterns. These lanterns are bind to character and can be banked, but not shared bank, traded, auctioned or mailed.
   1. Lantern of the Pledge - Easy to Fill. Reward - Cosmetic Half Cloak of the Order of the Guardian
      
      
   2. Lantern of the Order - Long to Fill. Only Advances on Reaper Difficulty. Reward - Cosmetic Full Cloak of the Order of the Guardian
      
      
   3. Lantern of the Shield - Medium length to fill. Reward - Cosmetic Shield of the Order
      
      
   4. Lantern of the Seeker - Very Long to Fill. Reward - Mist Stalker Sabertooth Mount
      
      
   5. Lantern of the Keepers - Medium length to fill. Reward - Magical Lantern Cosmetic Pet

6. Skull Lanterns (Hardcore). There is a skull version of each lantern acquired from the "hardcore" guardian vendor in the Hall of Heroes. These lanterns work pretty much like the lanterns above with a few differences:

a. Skull Lanterns are destroyed on player death (regardless if they are equipped or not.)​

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b. Skull Lanterns can only be acquired at level 1. If you play an Iconic you can go get one if you forgo training but your XP will be set to level 1 rank 1. (True reincarnating to level 1 works to)​

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c. Skull Lanterns cannot be banked.​

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d. Skull Lanterns are turned in for "Skull badged" versions of the rewards above.​

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7. Some General Rules and considerations about Lanterns...

a. The amount of Lantern progress rewarded for killing a Mist Stalker is relative to the quest's difficulty and the type of Mist Stalker that spawned. In this build we don't add more for additional Reaper skulls, but that may change.​

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b. No progress will be rewarded if the character's level is 3 levels above the dungeon's base level.​

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c. Mist Stalkers only attack if someone in the party has a lantern equipped, and will typically only attack a player's group once per quest. If your running really short quests Mist Stalkers will be rarer and may not appear at all.​

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d. All Lanterns have the ability "Shine the light" with 3 charges per rest. This ability can CC most Mist Stalkers and also cure/remove certain effects Mist Stalkers apply to the player. Using this ability can be vital for defeating the more difficult Mist Stalkers.​

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e. Lanterns may stop progressing if the player character's level doesn't keep up with the lanterns power level as it gains durability. If the player levels up to that threshold they will resume progress. You can see what level is required by looking at the lantern.​

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f. When a Mist Stalker is killed only lanterns within 45 meters will benefit.​

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g. Some Mist Stalkers have disposable minions, they do not count for lantern rewards, the actually Mist Stalkers will always have a title saying Mist Stalker.​

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h. Lanterns and their progress will carry through all types of reincarnation with the player​

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Known Issues:
1. Using an offering to Onatar might make your lantern appear to be repaired briefly (but it's not!)

-Torc

 

[Mornyngstar]

Just a few questions: Does the Lantern in the Shield Cosmetic slot have a visual effect that can be seen? If not, is that going to be added or not? If not, then will quit asking about it.

Really like # 1, 5, 7, 8, 13. for the changes.

 

[saekee]

Great stuff! Any cosmetic previews?

 

[Gizmo]

nice Improvements , number 5 was painful. but some kind of cosmetic would be nice for the lantern. some way to let others know a party member is using a lantern.

 

[FR0GG3R]

Ummm, cosmetics can't have stats????

 

[PurpleSerpent]

Great stuff! Any cosmetic previews?

Every cosmetic available can be previewed by completing The Curse of the Five Fangs - the two Order of the Guardians NPCs are modelling them. (According to the notes the Mount is now also visible at the end of that quest.)

I'll try and get some images when Cormyr opens.

 

[Torrun McScaly]

Should of put the lantern in the quiver slot and kept the stats. Kind of already made the quiver slot a flexible slot with the flametouched fiddle. The quiver slot should really be a bonus item slot. Other than Quiver of Alacrity quivers give no benefits to most classes and is a throw away slot. Even classes that do use arrows or bolts have ways of making their own and not even using the base arrows that go in the quivers. Could make a whole new list of item types that benefit more classes. Like sheaths/scabbards for melee, focus items for casters, battle standards. Always seemed unfair range characters for the most part are the only characters that benefit from that slot.

 

[Torc]

Just a few questions: Does the Lantern in the Shield Cosmetic slot have a visual effect that can be seen? If not, is that going to be added or not? If not, then will quit asking about it.

Really like # 1, 5, 7, 8, 13. for the changes.

Not like a cosmetic item that is there all the time, but the lantern will appear in a variety of situations based on the mechanics of the event to give you feedback when you have it equipped.

 

[Natashaelle]

Lanterns now use the cosmetic shield slot.

I'm starting to think that the Lanterns should be pets, not cosmetics.

Also, that pets should be renamed in the game as Familiars, for D&D lore purposes.

 

[PurpleSerpent]

I'm starting to think that the Lanterns should be pets, not cosmetics.

Also, that pets should be renamed in the game as Familiars, for D&D lore purposes.

DDO is definitely not coded for a Creature Companion to gain durability points, so this would require a pretty massive overhaul of how the event works for, frankly, very limited benefit. (Quite possibly a loss - more people own a creature companion than a cosmetic shield.)

(This said, the cosmetic Lantern you can unlock as a reward is a Creature Companion, so there's that.)

As for Creature Companions versus Familiars, this would also probably be better off kept as it is - Familiars in D&D lore are meant to be pets of spellcasters, and provide benefits to their summoners. While both of these are true for the Familiars from Feydark Illusionist, they do not apply to Creature Companions, which provide no benefit and can be summoned by anyone.

 

[Natashaelle]

Familiars in D&D lore are meant to be pets of spellcasters, and provide benefits to their summoners.

Exactly my point.

 

[PurpleSerpent]

Exactly my point.

But neither of these are true of Creature Companions in general, only the Familiars from Feydark Illusionist, and those are already called Familiars.

 

[Nissebror2]

The event begins by playing a short story dungeon. The quest is a free level 1 solo, --> that start in Hall of Heroes

 

[Mornyngstar]

The event begins by playing a short story dungeon. The quest is a free level 1 solo, --> that start in Hall of Heroes

As someone pointed out to me, there is also an enterance to the quest in Korthos. It is about across from Boarderlands transport guy.

 

[PurpleSerpent]

As someone pointed out to me, there is also an enterance to the quest in Korthos. It is about across from Boarderlands transport guy.

I haven't tested this, but I believe there's also one in the Ball and Chain Garret for Iconics?

 

[Mornyngstar]

I haven't tested this, but I believe there's also one in the Ball and Chain Garret for Iconics?

I didn't have a chance this preview but is there still the one on the ship for making lv 4 or 7 toons? I know there was an issue that if you did the Lantern Quest from the boat you couldn't get the Groto items.

 

[Arthuvin]

It's very thrilling mechanic that one of hiding in the bushes as a perfect hiding spot, while using sneak.

I had the oportunity of playing a dungeon with a lantern and a skeleton serpent spawned to fight me.

Btw, no lag in the encounter. It went smooth.

 

[TroggyTrog]

Hopefully, we'll get some very good screenshots/images of all the rewards and iterations of them, yes??? Cordovan didn't take enough time on the livestream to feature them all.

 

[G.W.]

Ummm, cosmetics can't have stats????

Those are exploits - you shouldn't have been able to add those to cosmetics.
But there are cosmetics that have stats - there's a few in the DDO store, and a couple from expansion packs.

 

[Positive thinking]

Those are exploits - you shouldn't have been able to add those to cosmetics.
But there are cosmetics that have stats - there's a few in the DDO store, and a couple from expansion packs.

That is just your opinion, these have been there since the beginning of the stone of change, if they were exploits they would have fixed them like the level altering that use to happen when doing icy burst weapons. Devs fided those because they were an exploit, this is not an exploit.