July 13th, 1999
The Test Server will be down between the hours of 6pm and 6am PDT for internal testing purposes. This schedule for the Test Server will only occur for approximately 1 week, after that the Test Server will remain on-line 24 hours a day.
UUnet will be performing maintenance at 3:00 AM, on July the 13th, which will result in players losing connection to the servers. Since this maintenance will be taking place, we have moved our regularly scheduled update time from 7:00am to 3:00am for tomorrow only. UUnet has given us an approximate downtime of 3 hours. A list of game play enhancements is listed below.
Root spells will now overwrite spells with both positive and negative movement components in a more consistent pattern.
Banish Undead and Banish Summoned (LVL 49 CLERIC, NECROMANCER, MAGICIAN, DRUID, etc.) have been changed from All or Nothing saving throws to a regular saving throws. This will make them easier to use against high level creatures.
Magician summoning spells that produce multiple items have been changed to summon more items as the Magician's level increases.
All Poison and Disease DOT spells have received tuning.
Druid DOT's (stinging swarm series) has been adjusted to do more damage over a shorter period of time.
Immolate (DRUID) now does more damage, but has a shorter duration.
Mesmerization (ENCHANTER) has been changed to a straight AOE radius spell - it will no longer hang in the area. The AOE radius has been increased, as has the range.
Ice (LVL 49 DRUID) has been changed from an AOE spell to a single target DD spell.
Rage (SHAMAN) has been upgraded to a LVL 49 spell - Fury remains level 34.
Invisibility spells (Invisibility, Gather Shadows, Camouflage, etc.) will now blink before they wears off.
Hitting F1 twice, or /pet target will now target your pet.The Duration on Pack Regeneration (DRUID) has been increased.
Shield of Lava (MAGICIAN) has had its mana cost reduced.
The Research entries for Intensify Death and Hungry Earth (NECROMANCER) have been updated.
New high level Necromancer spells have been added to vendors.
A new Wizard spell Chill Sight has been added to the Wizard vendors.
The Magician's Summon Heatstone and Summon Coldstone spells will now work as long as the Stone is held or worn (the spell effect will never wear off).
The Insight spell (ENCHANTER) now adds Wisdom, not Intelligence. Brilliance still adds Intelligence.
The Tashan series (ENCHANTER) has had the recasting time reduced.
Research for higher level spells has been made a bit easier.
Spells that Add HP now work better on pets.
The Necromancer's replacement spell for Charm (Screaming Terror) is on the vendors. Play with this spell - it is different from any other spell of this type that you have ever seen.
Shrink (SHAMAN) has been put in to the game. It is a Level 19 spell, and available in all Shaman starting cities. This spell will only be castable in dungeons. It will not leave an icon on your screen - Shrink will last until you zone.
High level Bard song (LVL 40+) will be slightly easier to sing (less missed notes).