Subject:  All the AoS features in a nutshell. |
Author:
Darkstone News
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Date Posted: Thu, Jan 30 2003, 10:49am
All the AoS features in a nutshell.
Taken from Gamestop.com
Ultima Online, the Internet's premiere RPG, unleashes its most aggressive expansion pack ever, Ultima Online: Age of Shadows. Experience vast new lands to settle, exciting new professions to master, a custom house building tool, the biggest UO dungeon ever, and much more! Explore the new huge landmass, Malas, and find a place to call your own.Then use the custom house design tool to create your dream abode. Find adventure in the largest dungeon in all of UO as you confront gruesome new monsters and subdue them with powerful spells you have never before cast. Your UO character can now become as individual and unique as his or her real life counterpart! Get ready for a new level of customization and personalization. Lead the life you were born to live! | | |  | | | |  |
 * The Paladin profession: The Paladin is a holy warrior who uses magic to aid fellow adventurers and fight against evil. This magic can heal wounds, cure disease, reverse poisonous affects, lift curses, and increase fighting prowess. Paladins can invoke powers in the heat of battle, even while carrying sword and shield.
Paladins also have:
* 10 Paladin abilities
* The chivalry skill
* Tithing points
* The Book of Chivalry
* The Necromancer profession: The Necromancer is an evil magician who gains control over the dead. He can summon pain, pestilence, cold, and vile curses to kill hapless foes-only to animate their lifeless corpses into horrifying undead that attack any creature, dead or alive. The Necromancer does not stop with raising the dead, for he can transform himself into some of these forms, gaining both their powers and weaknesses.
Necromancer attributes include:
* 16 evil spells
* 4 creature forms to assume
* Summon 5 different familiars
* Enhanced New Player Quests for the Necromancer and Paladin
* Customized House Design Tool - Place custom floors, walls, windows, stairs and other features wherever you like
* Over 1000 house design tiles to choose from
* Magic Item System - New magic properties can be arranged in different combinations and intensities on items to produce a near infinite variety of new magic items.
* 13 New Combat Attack Moves
* New 3D Avatar and Wearable Art
* Interface Enhancements
* Floating damage numbers
* Enhanced tool tips
* 3D Graphic Enhancements: Weapon trails, environments effect, advanced visual queues
* New Landmass - Malas - Largest land expansion in UO
* Space for an additional 40,000 house (across all shards)
* Over 40 Points of Interest in Malas
* New Dungeon - Doom - The biggest dungeon in UO
* New rare items spawning system
* 20 New Monsters for both 2D and 3D Clients
* 3 new boss-type monsters
* Battle Focus Skill: Regenerate stamina and Mana more quickly than normal during battle
* 10 New Weapons |
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Combat changes:
Combat is an intrinsic part of Ultima Online. Whether between monsters or fellow Britannians, battles ensue on a daily basis — the strongest claim victory, while the weak must wallow in defeat. And yet, this balance often shifts, so that those once defeated can rise up victorious on the battlefield. It takes skill, and sometimes a little luck, to outwit your foes.
 But imagine if your success was dependent on special abilities that allowed you to execute deadly attack moves, such as mortally wound your adversary so that they couldn't heal themselves for several moments, or an ability that would allow archers to shoot arrows while on the move. And imagine if you could wield or craft a weapon of ice or fire that could deal double the damage to those that lacked the resistance to such elements. In Age of Shadows, you'll be able to do exactly that... and much, much more. Get ready for the future of combat!
Damage Types:
Currently, Ultima Online supports four basic damage types: Physical, Poison, Fire, and Energy. Age of Shadows expands on these damage types, creating hundreds of new strategies for character design and combat tactics. In addition to fully supporting all damage types and resistances, a new damage class will debut in Age of Shadows: Cold.
 All creatures, players included, will gain four new resistance attributes: Poison, Energy, Fire, and Cold. Non-human creatures will have intrinsic resistances. For example, a Giant Ice Serpent may be practically immune to cold damage, but be very vulnerable to fire-based attacks. Humans (NPCs and players alike) will have some natural resistances, but their armor will provide additional resistance based on its type, the materials it is made from, and its magical properties. The classic Armor Rating (AR) value is transformed into Physical Resistance, and provides benefit against Physical attacks.
Here is a breakdown of the damage classes in Age of Shadows:
Physical - This is the standard damage type done by melee and ranged weapons.
Energy - The Energy Bolt and lightning-based spells deliver this jolt of electrical damage.
Fire - Burning damage delivered classically by the Fire Ball and Fire Field spells.
Cold - This is freezing damage, deliverable by magical effects like the Snow Elemental's deadly radiating cold.
Poison - Toxins delivered by the assassin's blade, or by magic spell are the classic ways to deal this insidious form of damage.
New for Craftsmen:
By making weapons from different materials, craftsmen will gain the ability to create weapons that deliver part of their damage as elemental effects. Armor will become more diverse as well; for example, insulating leather armor will provide superior protection versus energy and cold damage, but a heavy metal suit of platemail will still be the best defense against physical damage.
Special Moves:
For the first time in years, Age of Shadows will bring completely new combat tactics toUltima Online in the form of weapon special moves. Warriors will gain the ability to tap their Mana to perform devastating maneuvers with their weapons that can have a variety of unusual side-effects. (In a future spotlight here on the Age of Shadows site, you'll read about new item properties that can increase a warrior's mana, making these special attacks even more effective!) Each weapon type in the game (i.e.: long sword, spear, etc) will have a unique combination of a primary and a secondary special move. Warriors who have reached Expert skill level will be able to execute a weapon's primary special move. Once he or she has reached Master status in a weapon skill, the fighter may execute the secondary special move while wielding weapons of that skill — making them twice as deadly!
A new icon on the paperdoll will open a book that details each special move available to the warrior, based on his or her skill level and equipped weapon. Much like the icons in a spellbook, these canbe dragged from the book into the game window and double-clicked to activate the special move, as well as configured in macros for one-key activation. When activated, the special move icon highlights red, indicating the character is ready to perform the move. At the next opportunity, the special move is performed, and the icon returns to its un-highlighted state.
There are 13 special combat moves in total. Each different type of weapon in the game has a different combination of primary and secondary special moves, making each weapon truly unique! Here is a rundown of the combat special moves in Age of Shadows:
Moving Shot - Available on some crossbows, this special move allows archers to fire while on the move. This shot is somewhat less accurate than normal, but the ability to fire while running is a clear advantage.
Armor Ignore -This special move allows the skilled warrior to bypass his target's physical resistance, for one shot only. The Armor Ignore shot does slightly less damage than normal. Against a heavily armored opponent, this ability is a big win, but when used against a very lightly armored foe, it might be better to use a standard strike!
Dismount - Perfect for the foot-soldier, the Dismount special attack can unseat a mounted opponent. The fighter using this ability must be on his own two feet and not in the saddle of a steed (with one exception: players may use a lance to dismount other players while mounted). If it works, the target will be knocked off his own mount and will take some extra damage from the fall!
Mortal Strike - The assassin's friend. A successful Mortal Strike will render its victim unable to heal any damage for several seconds. Use a gruesome follow-up to finish off your foe.
Shadowstrike - This powerful ability requires secondary skills to activate. Successful use of Shadowstrike deals extra damage to the target — and renders the attacker invisible! Only those who are adept at the art of stealth will be able touse this ability.
Infectious Strike - This special move represents a significant change to the use of poisons in Age of Shadows. Now, only certain weapon types — those that have Infectious Strike as an available special move — will be able to be poisoned. Targets will no longer be poisoned at random when hit by poisoned weapons. Instead, the wielder must use this ability to deliver the venom. While no skill in Poisoning is directly required to use this ability, being knowledgeable in the application and use of toxins will allow a character to use Infectious Strike at reduced mana cost and with a chance to inflict more deadly poison on his victim. With this change, weapons will no longer be corroded by poison. Level 5 poison will be possible when using this special move.
Paralyzing Blow - A successful Paralyzing Blow will leave the targetstunned, unable to move, attack, or cast spells, for a few seconds.
Double Strike - The highly skilled warrior can use this special attackto make two quick swings in succession. Landing both blows would be devastating!
Bleed Attack - Make your opponent bleed profusely with this wicked use of your weapon. When successful, the target will bleed for several seconds, taking damage as time passes for up to ten seconds. The rate of damage slows down as time passes, and the blood loss can be completely staunched with the use of bandages.
Whirlwind Attack - A godsend to a warrior surrounded, the Whirlwind Attack allows the fighter to strike at all nearby targets in one mighty spinning swing.
Disarm - This attack allows you to disarm your foe. Now in Age of Shadows, a successful Disarm leaves the victim unable to re-arm another weapon for several seconds.
Crushing Blow - Also known as the Haymaker, this attack dramatically increases the damage done by a weapon reaching its mark.
Concussion Blow - This devastating strike is most effective against those who are in good health and whose reserves of mana are low, or vice versa.
Spell Changes:
There's a lot for Warriors, but don't think Wizards are being left out! Several changes to magic spells in Age of Shadows will assist Wizards on the battlefield by increasing the effectiveness of many of their low-level spells, such as Weakness and Clumsy. Wizards will also have more control over their powers in combat, since the damage dealt with each of their magical attacks will be, in general, less random. And to accommodate the new physical/elemental damage system, some spells will undergo larger changes. These, and various other spell changes, are listed below:
Reactive Armor - The reactive armor spell no longer reflects damage back on an attacker. Instead, this spell increases the caster's Physical Resistance and lowers his or her Elemental Resistances. Also, this spell now has indefinite duration. Oncecast, this spell's effect continues until the mage casts it again. The second casting of the spell cancels the effect.
Magic Reflection -Magic Reflection no longer has the ability to reflect spells back on their caster. Instead, it becomes a complement to Reactive Armor. Magic Reflection grants the caster increased elemental resistances at the cost of some of his physical resistance. Just like Reactive Armor, this spell has indefinite duration and casting it toggles the effect off and on for the caster.
Protection and Arch Protection - These spells afford the battle wizard complete security in casting other spells. While this protective shield is toggled on, the mage cannot be disrupted while casting spells. This freedom comes at a cost, however. While under its effect, a character's physical resistance stat and magic resistance skill are slightly reduced. Arch Protection only affects members of the caster's party who are within a small radius at the time of casting.
Reactive Armor/Magic Reflection/Protection - These spells will also be able to be used simultaneously. You'll no longer have to wait for one to wear off before casting another protection spell.
Lightning - In addition to dealing its damage in energy form, this spell now affects the target instantly when cast. Previously, there was always a short delay between the time the mage cast the spell and the time the damage was done to the victim.
Poison and Poison Field - These spells' power in the hands of a Grandmaster Mage/Grandmaster Poisoner is increased. In the hands of such a skilled user, they will always inflict Level 4 (or "deadly") poison on their victims.
Paralyze and Paralyze Field - The duration of these spells' freeze effect will be slightly tweaked, to make them more effective when cast by mages mastering the art of Evaluating Intelligence.
Mana Drain - For a short time, the target of this spell loses a potentially significant amount of mana. However, once the effect isterminated the lost mana will be restored.
Mana Vampire - This spell receives a significant change in power.
Wizards will also notice a change with their magic resistance skill, as it will now play a significant factor in the defense against spells like weaken, clumsy, feeblemind, curse, mana drain, paralyze, paralyze field, mana vampire, and various necromancy spells. However, rather than completely preventing these effects, the magic resistance skill will scale the effects down.
Archery:
Along with the special combat moves that will be introduced in Age of Shadows, a new ability will be available that is sure to ease the minds of Archers around Britannia: bows and crossbows will become repairable. You'll no longer have to worry about replacing your worn-out bows - a bowyer will be able to repair them in the same manner as blacksmiths repair other weapons! Archers will also be pleased to know that, just like other weapons, their bows will be able to be imbued with specialitem properties. More information on that will be released in a future spotlight on New Items and Item Properties.
10 New Weapons including Bladed Staff, Bone Harvester, Composite Bow, Crescent Blade, Double Bladed Staff, Lance, Pike, Repeating Crossbow, Scythe, and Scepter.
Combat Skill Changes:
In addition to new damage types, new special abilities, new weapons and weapon abilities, and new spells, we've made some significant improvements to a basic combat skill, Parrying, as well as adding a completely new skill, Battle Focus!
Parrying with weapons - You will be able to parry hits using a weapon. However, only half of your total Parry skill will be considered when determining the percentage chance of blocking the hit. For instance, if you have 100 in Parry and you're using a weapon (but no shield), you can still block hits, but the chance of that happening is based on your Parry skill at 50. So, the chance to block a hit with a weapon is half of what it would be witha shield.
Parry attack change - When a blow is parried, the action will no longer absorb a flat amount of damage from the hit-it will nowcompletely block the hit. In other words, if you parry a blow, it will be as if you were never hit at all. At 100 Parry, any equipped shield will have a 30% chance to block the hit.
Parrying and special moves - Parry can prevent a special move from being successful on a hit. If you successfully parry a special move, you will not receive any damage, but the move will still consume mana from the attacker.
Battle Focus will regenerate both Stamina and Mana, albeit more slowly than Meditation. This skill will not be affected by armor.
Item Insurance:
With new properties for weapons and armor and new opportunities for epic battles, we feel it's important for players to use their prized possessions without fear of losing them on the first day out. In Age of Shadows, you will have the ability to choose to keep certain items safe from being looted or stolen. Details on this will be released in a future spotlight on New Items and Item Properties!
Stat-loss Removal:
Stat-loss was added into Ultima Online years ago as one way to protect homeowners in Felucca from falling prey to frequent non-consensual PvP. But with the introduction of a vast new land for housing - Malas - that follows the same ruleset as the Trammel facet, homeowners will now have another choice as to where they wish to live, eliminating the need for stat loss. Whether you choose to adventure in the harsh and challenging environment of Felucca, where murderers and criminals roam free, or the relative safety of Trammel, Ilshenar or Malas, you'll be able to pick the location that is right for you. Age of Shadows will let life in Felucca return to its wild roots, and those that participate in the struggle between good and evil, or the weak and the strong, will be free and clear to follow their challenging lifestyle.
Felucca Dungeons and Lost Lands:
With the sweeping changes to combat coming in Age of Shadows, we decided to take another look at the rules in the Felucca dungeons and Lost Lands servers. After Age of Shadows, the rules of combat in these areas will be as follows:
Players that die in the Felucca dungeons/Lost Lands servers will lose any items that are not blessed or protected from loss in some fashion (see item insurance above).
Players who die in these areas will no longer be kicked out of the dungeon, and will have no time limit imposed before they can return.
Ghosts will be able to enter these areas.
Thieves will be able to steal any item they are eligible to steal that are not blessed or protected from loss in some fashion (see item insurance above).
New Status Window:
The status window in Age of Shadows has an entirely new look! With a new design, complemented by colorful graphics, the status gump will also introduce three new sections. Along with the familiar statistics (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Health, Stamina, Mana, Max Stats, Weight, Gold, and Followers), the new status gump will also show your Luck, Resistances, and Damage value for your character, taking into account the weapon you currently have equipped.
Luck - The higher this stat, the higher the quality of the magic items you'll find as loot (we'll discuss this more when we delve into the new magic item system).
Resistances - Along with Physical Resistance (AR), you'll also be able to have Fire Resistance, Cold Resistance, Poison Resistance, and Energy Resistance.
Damage - This tells you what your damage range is (against zero physical resistance) while using whatever weapon you currently have equipped
Fiction:
The Dark Facet:
In the original land of Britannia the shards of the Gem Of Immortality hold the worlds of Ultima Online. The following was written by a scholarly mage who made a detailed study of those shards…
Excerpt from Observations of The Shards, A Chronicle Of The Remains of the Gem Of Immortality
By Clainin
As a young mage I sometimes pondered the power that was lost when the Stranger shattered the Gem solong ago. Mondain was nightmarishly evil; he used the power of this artifact in its whole form and single-handedly captured all of Sosaria under his tyranny. Surely, in the hands of one who was good and virtuous of spirit, the Gem could have been used in a similar fashion to undo the evils of the world? I dreamed of a world where the Gem served mankind and the evils of Britannia vanished before prosperity. I regretted the shattering and wondered if another way could have been found to defeat Mondain and preserve the Gem. Over the course of my research I have learned that the dreams of a utopia I once entertained were the foolish fancies of a hopeful youth-for today I have seen the final piece of evidence I need to surmise that a dark evil resides within the Gem's remains.
As I have explained in past essays, the Gem of Immortality was linked to our world when it was broken. As a result, copies of Sosaria exist within each of the broken fragments. As previous essays suggest, itis possible that copies of actual people may exist and thrive in different lives within these alternative Sosarias (I sometimes wonder if I have a duplicate in these worlds and how he fares). Although these alternate Sosarias appear to us as small globes within the shards and a great deal of detail cannot be seen, we have learned much. We know that just as the shards themselves are not in the original shape as the Gem of Immortality, the worlds within the shards are also different. Each facet of each shard holds a different world altogether. Through the larger and more uniform of the facets a nearly identical copy of Britannia can be seen, although differences can be detected in the geography of the land within the facet and our own true Britannia. However through the smaller and more uneven facets there are worlds so changed and bent that they look nothing like our Britannia and clearly have a civilization unlike any known to us. In many of the shards one particular facet contains one single continent, wreathed in mountains and with a great white city that can be seen nestled in the center. Another facet contains an ancient looking land with swamps to the south and a desert to the north. I can only theorize that the imperfect and sometimes jagged shape of the facets formed these strange worlds from what was to be a copy of Britannia. As the vessel that held the world changed, all elements of space, time and magic would also have to adapt to fit the new form. It is entirely possible that within each facet the past, present and future changed drastically to accommodate the new shape of its facet, a sort of retroactive continuity. Who knows what strange new civilizations could have been created in the distant past or future of these worlds?
It also seems that travel between the facets has become possible for the inhabitants. Even though physical travel from one of these facets to another would seemingly be impossible within a shard, through magic or perhaps even moongates it is somehow being accomplished. Again, details are difficult to see from our bird's eye view outside of the shards, but there is visible evidence of change in some facets that could only be the result of mankind or some intelligent civilization arriving. Within one facet that I had thought empty of mankind, I suddenly noticed a castle of some sort had been rebuilt. Within others I have seen roads form and groves of forest cleared away. I previously found it confusing how these facets seemed to remain completely unpopulated for so long, then suddenly have clear signs of civilization. Now I believe I have found a clue, for a new piece of the puzzle has come to my attention.
Each shard possesses one facet remarkably different from the rest, one I have named the "dark facet". The dark facet seems to have a shadow cast over it, almost as ifit absorbs light. This facet also contains a world, but it is one unlike any I have ever dreamed. The land within appears to rest over a great void that seems to extend in all directions; it is as if a massive island rests on a dark sea of stars. Could it be that the laws of nature have become so bent in this facet that such a thing is possible? Did a great magic within the world create such a place? I may speculate for the rest of my life but the puzzle extends deeper still.
More than once I have witnessed catastrophe within the dark facet. Gradually the land itself has broken, as if great tremors have shaken sections of the earth loose and allowed them to fall into the nothingness below. Each time the dark facet experiences one of these disasters, it seems that all life inside of it is also destroyed; the usual signs of human progress cease and cities gradually fade into ruin. It is as if no trace of life remains yet eventually civilization will somehow return to the facet and the process of destruction is repeated anew. Now after a review of my past notes I have come to realize that every time the destruction strikes the dark facet, a different facet on the shard seems to begin teeming with life. I now must conclude that this great cataclysm within the dark facet has something to do with other facets connecting. Is it possible that some sort of barrier is being broken? I am also forced to wonder if the malevolent shadow within the dark facet is a reflection of Mondain's evil, perhaps just as twisted as the worlds within the facets.
I fear these are mysteries I may never solve, for I can think of no way to know for sure without being within one of the worlds inside the shards. Although I once longed to see the wonders of these curious realities, I now fear for the inhabitants, as it seems something dreadful hides within their world. | |
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