[Feedback] Covetous revamp *spoilers*

[G.v.P]

LEVEL 1

dazzled harpy
Harpies are kind of like what would have happened if the scorpions in Shame were slightly buffed and renamed. They don't aggro, have twice the normal HP.

vampire mongbat
The vampire mongbats seemingly go cannibal on the other vampire mongbats, harpies, and headless miners. They're odd. They also seem to snap back to a spawn location. They don't aggro, and aren't tameable.

headless miner
These are my favorite on the level. I don't mean to be full of myself, but I suggested the idea of habitual action in UO, and I can't help but wonder if when I asked for miner NPCs mining near Minoc a dev read that and smiled. Probably a coincidence, though! If you stand by them you'll hear mining sounds, and they have an orange-hued shovel as loot. They don't aggro.

a strange gazer
Only the strange gazers seem to aggro onto players. They are a regular gazer hue but they turn blue every so often. I'm not sure what that does. The interval seems similar to a Dark Wisp shield but hard to tell.

server coming down, will continue travelogue later

 

[G.v.P]

LEVEL 2

The second level is all about Cora's endless waves. It's kind of like a MOBA-style game, similar to the invasion of Britain but with an actual location you have to defend. The spawn seems to get a little better each "wave," featuring familiar foes like earth elementals and water elementals as well as new mobs, such as the venom elemental (poison ele), the vortex elemental (air ele), which, to my surprise, was an archer mage (arrows and everything), and a searing elemental (fire ele). The searing I lored had 125 wrestling!

The elemental-based spawn is only one possible spawn as well. The next spawn started with lesser onis, doppelgangers, demon mongbats, fire daemons, and gargoyle assassins. Who knows how many spawn types there are, but once the battle starts every wave is consistent with one type, or class of monsters.

The waves come from both the north and the south through red hued moongates (these pictures are from the Trammel side). The spawn marches towards the center of the level and seeks out the "Void Pool," the place you have to defend at all costs! I went one round with a few people and scored a measly 1,000 some odd points, which translated to 30-something points I could spend on the new arties. The system spit that information out to me as a system message after we lost the fight.

You can use the context menu to get more information about the battles, including your place on the leaderboard. The menu is very sharp looking and promising, even if you can't go back to where you were once you get to the rank pages.

 

[Tina Small]

Thank you very much for the pics and write-up. Good info!

 

[Adol]

Interesting... those scores, are they individual or team based, can you see? I am kind of hoping they are team, or at least that combined with the new loot code it would mean those who focus on healing, or crowd control via solid fields etc would be able to gain credit too, rather than just yet another example of everyone wailing away solo and greedily and arguing over kill-stealing and such.

And it's good to see that the dungeon overhauls are actually adding new mechanics; I wasn't hugely taken by Shame, as the new "boss fights" didn't feel qualitatively all that different, and you had to find them first of course! But a Last Stand fight always promises nailbiting moments of almost but then eventual defeat... Having the waves themed may make it a little too equipment swapping focused though, we'll see.

 

[G.v.P]

Interesting... those scores, are they individual or team based, can you see? I am kind of hoping they are team, or at least that combined with the new loot code it would mean those who focus on healing, or crowd control via solid fields etc would be able to gain credit too, rather than just yet another example of everyone wailing away solo and greedily and arguing over kill-stealing and such.

Individual score seems to only matter for leaderboard purposes, whereas each participant during the battle seems to end up with the same amount of turn-in points, if you will. I was photoshopping pictures and came in late to end a battle and ended up with the same amount of turn-in points as my friend. Have to test it out some more but seems like griefing won't be a problem as far as turn-in points go, whereas individual score is merely there for someone to boast, I killed the most! It's designed to be a team effort, and you seem to get rewarded as a team. I think people will have a lot of fun with this one.

 

[Storm]

Thanks for posting the pics and info

 

[slayer888]

Individual score seems to only matter for leaderboard purposes, whereas each participant during the battle seems to end up with the same amount of turn-in points, if you will. I was photoshopping pictures and came in late to end a battle and ended up with the same amount of turn-in points as my friend. Have to test it out some more but seems like griefing won't be a problem as far as turn-in points go, whereas individual score is merely there for someone to boast, I killed the most! It's designed to be a team effort, and you seem to get rewarded as a team. I think people will have a lot of fun with this one.

I am more interested to know what kind of rewards we could trade in Are you able to help? I ping over 500 there in TC and couldn't barely move to test... thanks

 

[Ron Silverbeard]

Looks cool...

 

[G.v.P]

I am more interested to know what kind of rewards we could trade in Are you able to help? I ping over 500 there in TC and couldn't barely move to test... thanks

The majority of turn-in items pertain to resource gathering, such as an item that changes ingots of one type into another, or one wood type into another, with a set amount of charges and one-day time limit on the item itself. Some items have an additional timer once activated, like a use-anywhere forge which lasts four hours from your backpack. I found the forge item odd, but that should sate ship miners a bit.

There are also talismans meant to help smelt success and the like, raise the possibility of wood types, and treasure maps which indicate the location of a large deposit of a particular ore/resource type. Then there are the listed artifacts, most of which mirror Gauntlet artifacts. These are all tagged with the mod "Ephemeral," as I recall, and I'm not sure what affect that mod has on the items. I logged my character in Minoc, where the NPC who offers the rewards resides. I'll check it a bit later if no one chimes in with what I missed.

The prices for most of the arties seemed to be around 250-650 if I recall, and I ended up with about 130 points I believe after two battles.

 

[Tina Small]

It sounds like the rewards are the items that were mentioned in the spoiler thread that was posted in UHall yesterday. I just hope that the addition of these reward items means that it will become even harder to find certain resources than it already is.

Do the monsters you kill as part of the waves have any kind of gold or useful loot on them, or is the idea to just keep killing them and help your teammates?

 

[Redxpanda]

Interesting indeed. Looks like a nice sized group can have a good time with this. I like the idea of points and a turn in system. This eliminates the need for looting and allows each character to choose the reward that they want instead of rolling or waiting for a drop that they may or may not be able to use.

 

[Sevin0oo0]

lesser onis look cool; vampire mongbats are a great change, headless miners just too funny
doesn't looked all spammed up or overpowered, just Hack & Slash fun, I'm soo there!

So, what's the downside? It's not the no loot, I never looted before
Awesome!

 

[Tina Small]

Vela is found in Minoc only a few steps away from the faction town sigil monolith and the faction town stone. I foresee that possibly being a problem if someone decides to be a jerk and surround her with enemy faction guards, since you have to stand right on top of her to see the gumps.

Seems like it makes a whole lot more sense and would eliminate some griefing potential if she were placed in a town that isn't also a faction town. Perhaps Cove?

 

[G.v.P]

It sounds like the rewards are the items that were mentioned in the spoiler thread that was posted in UHall yesterday. I just hope that the addition of these reward items means that it will become even harder to find certain resources than it already is.

Do the monsters you kill as part of the waves have any kind of gold or useful loot on them, or is the idea to just keep killing them and help your teammates?

I'm not sure how they'll work the large deposits, but sounds as if the maps will encourage people who aren't scripting to get more resources, because you'll need to read the map and figure out where to go.

I'm pretty sure you just kill and defend the Void Pool, no specific loot. If the monsters get close enough to the Pool they start to damage it, which is displayed by explosion spell animation. If they do enough damage, the battle ends.

Here's a full list of the given rewards from Vela:

Cauldron of Transmutation (Deed)
Deed lasts 24 hours, redeemed deed lasts four hours
100 pts--Bronze: 3:1 ratio, turn 7,500 bronze ingots into golden ingots (presumably resulting in 2,500 gold ingots)
200 pts--Golden: 3:1 ratio, turn 5,000 golden ingots into agapite ingots (presumably resulting in 1,666 agapite ingots)
500 pts--Agapite: 3:1 ratio, turn 3,000 agapite ingots into verite ingots (presumably resulting in 1,000 verite ingots)
1,000 pts--Verite: 3:1 ratio, turn 2,000 verite ingots into valorite ingots (presumably resulting in 666 valorite ingots)

100 pts--Ash: 3:1 ratio, turn 7,500 ash boards into yew boards (presumably resulting in 2,500 yew boards)
200 pts--Yew: 3:1 ratio, turn 5,000 yew boards into heartwood boards (presumably resulting in 1,666 heartwood boards)
500 pts--Heartwood: 3:1 ratio, turn 3,000 heartwood boards into bloodwood boards (presumably resulting in 1,000 bloodwood boards)
1,000 pts--Bloodwood: 3:1 ratio, turn 2,000 bloodwood boards into frostwood boards (presumably resulting in 666 frostwood boards)

Miner's Map
Map lasts 24 hours
250 pts--Golden: directions to Large Ore Deposit, Gold Ore
500 pts--Agapite: directions to Large Ore Deposit, Agapite Ore
1,000 pts--Verite: directions to Large Ore Deposit, Verite Ore
2,000 pts--Valorite: directions to Large Ore Deposit, Valorite Ore

Lumberjack's Map
Map lasts 24 hours
250 pts--Yew: directions to Source of Wood, Yew
500 pts--Heartwood: directions to Source of Wood, Heartwood
1,000 pts--Bloodwood: directions to Source of Wood, Bloodwood
2,000 pts--Frostwood: directions to Source of Wood, Frostwood

Smelter's Talisman
Talisman lasts 24 hours
50 pts--Golden: 100% success, 6,000 charges
100 pts--Agapite: 100% success, 3,000 charges
200 pts--Verite: 100% success, 1,500 charges
500 pts--Valorite: 100% success, 750 charges

Woodsman's Talisman
Talisman lasts 24 hours
50 pts--Yew: Bonus logs, 300
100 pts--Heartwood: Bonus logs, 250
200 pts--Bloodwood: Bonus logs, 200
500 pts--Frostwood: Bonus logs, 150

Temporary Forge (Deed)
Deed lasts 24 hours, redeemed deed lasts four hours
250 pts--Does not require house

Magical Fish Finder (spyglass)
Lasts four hours
250 pts--Find school of rare fish

Gauntlet-inspired Artifacts
Ephemeral, 250 durability
380-771 pts each (set of 18)

Full listing found here, with the exception of the Brightblade (Katana):
50 DI / 40 SSI / 1 FC / 3 Stam Regen / 100% Stam Leech

633 pts--Brightblade--Katana
455 pts--Bedlam's Mortar--War Mace
633 pts--Bracelet of Protection--Bracelet
771 pts--Breathless Sickle--Bone Harvester
445 pts--Savage Chieftan's Headdress--Tribal Mask (thorned)
733 pts--Blight of the Tundra--Bow
435 pts--Queen's Gloves--Ringmail Gloves
420 pts--Crown of Insight-- Plate Helm
425 pts--Champion's Breastplate--Plate Chest
575 pts--Void Walk--Chainmail Leggings
425 pts--Hephaestus--Heater Shield
610 pts--Inferno Tunic--Chainmail Tunic
528 pts--Plaguebringer--Warfork
560 pts--Fayaxion's Bane--Lance
450 pts--Mace of the Fanatic--Maul
600 pts--Reptile's Kiss--Kryss
380 pts--Headdress of Evil--Bone Helmet
500 pts--Thundrous Roar--Double Axe

There must be a catch to these artifacts. The ephemeral tag suggests they won't last long, which means maybe they have a lower threshold as far as incurring durability damage. No timer is suggested. I'll farm up some points and take a look.

 

[G.v.P]

PS--you do get 10th anny dungeon arties off LVL 2 spawn =)

And the mobs actually say "There is no loot on this corpse" if you dbl click their corpses

 

[Cetric]

Havign a harrower pop in cove with that spawn running seems like a waste of skulls

 

[SlayerofBunnys]

PS--you do get 10th anny dungeon arties off LVL 2 spawn =)

And the mobs actually say "There is no loot on this corpse" if you dbl click their corpses

I have gotten multiple 10th arties and I also got the Plaguebringer in my backpack on lvl 2.

I used some of my points for the Verite map. Similar to a t-map, you have to go the listed co-ordinates. There I got 225 verite ore and 1 Fire Ruby in consecutive hits before the vein changed to iron. Unfortunately the 5th shovel broke not long after, so I couldn't find out if the vein eventually ran dry.

 

[G.v.P]

I have gotten multiple 10th arties and I also got the Plaguebringer in my backpack on lvl 2.

I used some of my points for the Verite map. Similar to a t-map, you have to go the listed co-ordinates. There I got 225 verite ore and 1 Fire Ruby in consecutive hits before the vein changed to iron. Unfortunately the 5th shovel broke not long after, so I couldn't find out if the vein eventually ran dry.

That's pretty cool that you got a Plaguebringer. Interesting. And that's a hella lot of ore!

 

[Barok]

I used some of my points for the Verite map. Similar to a t-map, you have to go the listed co-ordinates. There I got 225 verite ore and 1 Fire Ruby in consecutive hits before the vein changed to iron. Unfortunately the 5th shovel broke not long after, so I couldn't find out if the vein eventually ran dry.

Someone needs to bring someone with them to find out if everyone who mines the spot gets the same ore once it is upgraded by the map.

 

[Lady Bleez]

Just curious but has anyone tried using a prospectors tool or gargoyle axe on a vein the map leads you to? Could some get a map for gold but turn it when they found it?

Also wondering about if everyone gets it or just the person who has the map..

 

[G.v.P]

Someone needs to bring someone with them to find out if everyone who mines the spot gets the same ore once it is upgraded by the map.

Also wondering about if everyone gets it or just the person who has the map..

You're supposed to have to hold the map in your backpack in order to use the vein. For example, if you do a T-Map, those outside of your party can't access the chest of loot. I would imagine this vein is like that, but I haven't tried yet myself.

 

[R Traveler]

You're supposed to have to hold the map in your backpack in order to use the vein. For example, if you do a T-Map, those outside of your party can't access the chest of loot. I would imagine this vein is like that, but I haven't tried yet myself.

Someone tried to hold verite map, level up spot using prosp tool and dig for valorite ?

 

[SlayerofBunnys]

Someone tried to hold verite map, level up spot using prosp tool and dig for valorite ?

I got the gold map, which said that 275 gold ore was available. I was glad that the map had co-ordinates printed on it, as it was the along the long stretch of mountainside east of Despise and the spot was not visually certain. On the first swing at the location, I realized that I had not reset my mining, so I got iron ore and the map now said 274 gold ore available. After resetting the mining and getting a golden ore, I used a prospector tool. Interestingly I got a message saying that bronze could be mined there. Every so often I would try prospecting again, but only got the already been done message. The map continued to count down the remaining available ore. After getting the 274 gold ore in consecutive hits (as well as 3 Fire, 3 Turqs, and 1 Dark), the vein switched to iron. I prospected again at that point and got a message that DC could be mined but got only iron while digging it empty (10 ore).

Before digging, I had put out a call for miners in general chat, but no volunteers answered to help . I had also wanted to see what would happen with the vein if a second miner was present - would they have gotten gold because of the map, copper because that was the vein, bronze because it had been prospected? Also would the mine have emptied for the second miner or would they have been able to mine the second type for as long as the map holder was present.

Edited at 8:55 EDT 06 May

 

[Arrgh]

Looks like fun, will suck for ppl on low population shards like LA and Legends perhaps.

 

[Viquire]

I had become rather morose and very disinterested. This looks like a heck of a lot of fun!