Update 23 for DDO – The Mark of Death Release Notes

The 23rd update for Dungeons & Dragons online has been released, The Mark of Death.

In this release the developers of Dungeons & Dragons online have made a pass over the Orchard of the Macabre giving it an epic option.

Along with the epic pass to some areas they have also taken a shot at mechanics with melee characters.

All in all there is not a lot of new content, but they have certainly done a lot to polish some of the existing Dungeons & Dragons Online game.

The Mark of Death Release Notes

Of Special Note:

News & Notes

• A new amenity is available called Guild Storage! The amenity is available in several tiers, and offers a general chest in addition to a chest that can only be used by guild officers and leaders.
• Three Finger Thad’s General Vendor now has spell components for Druid.
• Teleporting is now possible from an airship.
• Class pets (such as an Artificer’s Iron Defender) can now get buffs on Airships using the Amenity Bar.

• Numerous changes are being made to increase the power of melee-focused characters, and bring increased balance between melee, ranged, and spellcasting in the game:
  • Physical Resistance Rating: This attribute mitigates physical damage of all types. The new formula for PRR is 100/(100+Rating), meaning that if your character has a PRR of 20, and you would take 100 points of damage, the formula would be (100/(100+20)=100/120=.83333, meaning that your character with 20 PRR would take 83 damage.
  • Magical Resistance Rating: This new attribute is the magical equivalent of Physical Resistance Rating. It can be increased by wearing armor, gearing up Sheltering effects, and through certain enhancements. This rating works on most magical effects, but will not reduce force, bane, and some other special effects. The formula for this rating is the same as PRR: 100/(100+Rating). For example, if a character with 20 MRR is hit by a spell that does 100 damage, they would actually sustain 83 damage (100/(100+20)=.83333).
  • Melee Power: This new attribute is similar in effect to Spell Power, and increases straight weapon damage in addition to certain static effects from enhancements. Melee Power is gained from certain enhancements, some melee Epic Destinies, some feats, and future loot. This rating increases melee attacks by the following formula: (100+Rating)/100. Example, A character with 20 melee power that does 100 damage with a weapon will do a total of 120 damage. Melee Power is applied to Sneak Attack damage.
  • Ranged Power: This new attribute is the ranged version of Melee Power, and increases missile damage by the following formula: (100+Rating)/100. This rating is not being used much in Update 23, but is a tool that will be used in the future.

• Wearing armor will now provide bonus mitigation by increasing your Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resistance Rating:
  • Robes or Outfits: No PRR, no MRR
  • Light Armor: 15 PRR, 15 MRR if armor has enchantments. This is in addition to the current PRR bonus of 2+(Base Attack Bonus)/2).
  • Medium Armor: 30 PRR, 30 MRR if armor has enchantments. This is in addition to the current PRR bonus of 4+(Base Attack Bonus)/1.5).
  • Heavy Armor: 45 PRR, 45 MRR if armor has enchantments. This is in addtion to the current PRR bonus of 6+Base Attack Bonus).
  • NOTE: Warforged attain their PRR and MRR armored benefits through the selection of their body feat.
• Shields will give additional PRR and, if enchanted, MRR:
  • Buckler: None
  • Light Shield: 5 PRR, 5 MRR if shield has enchantments.
  • Heavy Shield: 10 PRR, 10 MRR if shield has enchantments.
  • Tower Shield: 15 PRR, 15 MRR if shield has enchantments.
• Characters who are proficient with shields can now use larger shields for defense against magical attacks that would normally require a Reflex Saving Throw. Instead of using your Reflex Saving Throw to mitigate the damage, you can deflect the damage off of your shield. Physical and Magical Resistance Rating multipliers against magical attacks that normally allow a Reflex Saving Throw are as follows:
  • Buckler: No additional mitigation
  • Light Shield: No additional Mitigation
  • Heavy Shield: 2.0
  • Tower Shield: 2.0
• Evasion will no longer function for characters who have Heavy and Tower Shields equipped.
• Certain types of armor now have a cap on them for the purposes of attaining a higher Magical Resistance Rating:
  • Robes or Outfits: 50
  • Light Armor: 100
  • Medium Armor: no cap
  • Heavy Armor: no cap
• Magical Resistance Rating will appear on existing and future items with the Sheltering effect. All items with the Sheltering effect will give an amount of MRR equal to the PRR of that effect.

• Each epic level (levels 21+) now grants the feat Epic Power, which gives +3 Melee Power.
• Fixed an issue that could cause druids in animal form to stack mutations from thrown weapons.

Combat

• Glancing Blows now work while moving if a character has the Two Handed Fighting feat.
• Shield Bash procs now work while moving.
• Some monster weapons and effects will no longer disappear on death when they should not have.
• Performance improvements have been made to liches, beholders, and several raid bosses related to how they select a target.

• The Swashbuckling Outfit now has a preview function in the DDO Store.
• The Cyan Gelatinous Cube and Snow Panther Creature Companion Certificates are no longer bound.
• The Scroll of Heal x10 has been renamed to Gold Seal Scroll of Heal x10 to clarify that it proves a better benefit than a regular Scroll of Heal.

• Knight of the Chalice has been improved. The enhancement tree now reads as follows:
  • Innate Abilities
    • 1 AP: Slayer of Evil I: You gain +1 to hit evil and undead creatures. Your attacks deal 1d4 additional Light damage. You resist evil influences particularly well, gaining a +2 bonus to saves against spells and effects produced by evil creatures. All Light damage from core abilities scale with 100% Melee Power.
    • 5 AP, Pal3: Courage of Heaven: Your Aura of Courage grants an additional +2 Sacred bonus to saves against Fear and now also grants a +2 Sacred bonus to saves against Enchantment. You gain +1 to hit for all attacks. Your attacks now deal 1d8 additional Light damage.
    • 10 AP, Pal6: Slayer of Evil II: You now gain +2 to hit evil and undead creatures. Your attacks now deal 2d6 additional Light damage. All your attacks are considered to be Ghost Touch. You resist evil influences particularly well, gaining a +3 bonus to saves against spells and effects produced by evil creatures.
    • 20 AP, Pal12: Improved Courage of Heaven: Increases the Aura bonuses granted by Courage of Heaven by an additional +2. You now gain +2 to hit for all attacks. Your attacks now deal 3d6 additional Light damage.
    • 30 AP, Pal18: Slayer of Evil III: You now gain +3 to hit evil and undead creatures. Your attacks now deal 5d6 additional Light damage. You resist evil influences particularly well, gaining a +4 bonus to saves against spells and effects produced by evil creatures. Your vorpal hits against undead do an additional 500 damage.
    • 41 AP, Pal20: Champion of Good: You gain +4 Charisma and 10 Melee Power. The bonuses granted by Courage of Heaven are increased by an additional +2. Your attacks now deal 7d6 additional Light damage. Any weapon you wield is considered Good aligned for purposes of bypassing damage reduction.
  • Tier One (0 AP Required)
    • Extra Turning: +(1/2/3) Turn Attempts per rest.
    • Divine Light: Your Turn Undead ability now also deals 6d6/12d6/18d6 light damage to nearby undead. Scales with 200% Melee Power.
    • Extra Remove Disease: +(2/4/6) Remove Disease uses per rest.
    • Exalted Smite: You gain 2/4 additional use of Smite Evil per rest.
    • Action Boost: Attack: Activate to gain a +(4/6/8) Action Boost bonus to hit for 20 seconds.
  • Tier Two (5 AP Required)
    • Improved Turning: You count as (1/2/3) levels higher when turning undead, and add (2/4/6) to the number of hit dice turned.
    • Divine Might: Channel Divinity: Channel Divinity: You gain an Insight bonus to Strength equal to your Charisma modifier for 30/60/120 seconds. (Cooldown 20 seconds)
    • Rally: Channel Divinity: Remove fear from nearby allies. You and the affected allies gain a +2/+4/+6 Moral Bonus to Will Saves vs. Fear effects and a +1/+2/+3 Morale Bonus to Attack and Damage for 60 seconds. (Coodown: 3 miniutes)
    • Exalted Cleave: “Make a sweeping weapon attack against all nearby enemies for +1(W) damage. Shares its cooldown with the Cleave feat.”
    • Action Boost: Damage: Activate to gain a (+10/+20/+30)% Action Boost bonus to Melee Power for 20 seconds. (Cooldown: 30 Seconds)
  • Tier Three (10 AP Required)
    • Improved Restoration: Your Paladin Remove Disease ability now also applies a (Lesser Restoration / Restoration / Greater Restoration) effect.
    • Divine Sacrifice: Giving up some of your life force to win the battle, you empower your next blow against your foe. This attack deals an additional (5/7/9)d6 Light damage and increases the critical multiplier of your weapon by 1 against evil opponents, but costs you 5 hp and 1 sp, whether or not the attack is successful. Light damage scales with 100% Melee Power.
    • Vigor of Life: Your Positive Healing Amplification is increased by (5/10)%, and you take (5/10)% less damage from Negative Energy.
    • Exalted Smite: Active: An improved smite that adds +1/+1/+2 to your weapon’s critical damage multiplier and 0/+1/+2 to your weapon’s critical threat range.
    • Str or Cha: +1 Strength or Charisma
  • Tier Four (20 AP Required)
    • Censure Demons: You gain On Vorpal: Stuns Chaotic Evil outsiders for 3 seconds.
    • Passion: Your Divine Sacrifice ability gains: On Damage: Gain (5/10/15) temporary spell points if you strike an evil creature with this attack.
    • Vigor of Life: Your Positive Healing Amplification is increased by (5/10)%, and you take (5/10)% less damage from Negative Energy.
    • Empowered Smite: Your Smite Evil and Exalted Smite abilities now grant a buff that increases Melee Power by 5 for 10 seconds.
    • Str or Cha: +1 Strength or Charisma
  • Tier Five (30 AP Required)
    • Censure Outsiders: Your Censure Demons ability now applies to all Chaotic or Evil outsiders. You also gain 5 Melee Power.
    • Vigor of Life: Your Positive Healing Amplification is increased by (5/10)%, and you take (5/10)% less damage from Negative Energy.
    • Holy Retribution: Melee Channel Divinity: Executes a powerful holy strike against the target that deals +1/+3/+5[W] damage. On Damage: Evil creatures with less than 1,000 HP have a 50%/75%/100% chance to be forced to make a WIll save (DC 10 + Paladin Level + Charisma Mod) or be destroyed. On a successful save, the affected creature takes 100 holy damage from this attack as well as -6 to all ability scores for ten seconds. (Cooldown: 6 seconds) This ability also recharges one Smite Evil.
    • Sealed Life: You are immune to Energy Drain.
    • Avenging Cleave: “Make a sweeping weapon attack against all nearby enemies for +1(W) damage. Damaged enemies gains one stack of Vulnerability. Shares its cooldown with the Greate Cleave feat. Vulnerability: You take 1% more damage for 3 seconds. This effect stacks up to 20 times, and loses one stack on expiration.”
• Sacred Defender has been improved. The enhancement tree now reads as follows:
  • Innate Abilities
    • 1 AP: Holy Bastion: You gain +1 Hit Point and 1 Positive Energy Spell Power for each action point you spend in this tree. Each Sacred Defender Core Ability you possess grants +2% Fortification.
    • 5 AP, Pal3: Sacred Defense: Defensive Stance: You gain 10 Physical Resistance and Magical Resistance and a 50% bonus to threat generation. The movement penalty has been removed. Sacred Defender stances now work with Two Weapon Fighting (the stance requires either a shield, or medium/heavy armor.)
    • 10 AP, Pal6: Divine Righteousness: Channel Divinity: You gain temporary hit points equal to your Charisma score and a 100% Sacred bonus to threat generation for 60 seconds.
    • 20 AP, Pal12: Redemption: The following spells are added to the Paladin spell list: Level 2: Raise Dead Level 3: Resurrection Level 4: True Resurrection. Passive: You gain 5 Physical Resist Rating and 5 Magical Resist Rating.
    • 30 AP, Pal18: Glorious Stand: Channel Divinity: For a short duration you gain DR 20/epic, take reduced damage from elemental and negative energy, receive double healing from positive energy, and are immune to secondary effects of attacks such as ‘wounding’ or ‘vorpal’. Passive: You gain 5 Physical Resist Rating and 5 Magical Resist Rating.
    • 41 AP, Pal20: Eternal Defender: Passive: You gain +2 Charisma and +2 Constitution, and grants a Sacred bonus that increases your range of unconsciousness by your Charisma score. (This bonus updates once per minute.) Toggle: While Eternal Defender is active, if you drop below 0 hit points, two uses of Lay on Hands and Turn Undead are immediately expended and you receive a reactive heal for 250 points of Positive Energy healing. Passive: You gain 10 Physical Resist Rating and 10 Magical Resist Rating.
  • Tier One (0 AP Required)
    • Item Defense: You have a (25/50/75)% chance to negate potential item wear.
    • Extra Lay on Hands: You gain +(1/2/3) uses of Lay on Hands.
    • Improved Sacred Defense: Multiselector:
    • Resilient Defense: While in Sacred Defense, you gain a +(1/2/3) Sacred bonus to all Saving Throws.
    • Durable Defense: While in Sacred Defense, you gain a +(5/10/15) Sacred bonus to Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resist Rating.
    • Inciting Defense: While in Sacred Defense, you gain a (25/50/75)% Sacred bonus to melee threat generation.
    • Sacred Armor Mastery: +(1/2/3) Armor Class and (+1/2/3) Maximum Dexterity Bonus when wearing Armor.
    • Saves Boost: Activate to gain a (+2/+4/+6) Action Boost bonus to all Saving Throws for 20 seconds. While under this effect you do not automatically fail saving throws on a roll of a natural 1.
  • Tier Two (5 AP Required)
    • Instinctive Defense: You take 5% less extra damage when struck while helpless.
    • Bulwark Aura: Your Aura now grants +(1/3/5) Armor Class.
    • Improved Sacred Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • Sacred Shield Mastery: +(5%/10%/15%) Shield Armor Class and (+1/2/3) Tower Shield Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
    • Defense Boost: Activate to gain a (+5/+10/+15) Action Boost bonus to Armor Class, Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resistance Rating for 20 seconds.
  • Tier Three (10 AP Required)
    • Resistance Aura: Your Aura now grants +(1/2/3) to Saving Throws.
    • Improved Sacred Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • Greater Sacred Defense: Multiselector:
    • Strong Defense: Sacred Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(2/4/6) Sacred bonus to Strength.
    • Hardy Defense: Sacred Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(2/4/6) Sacred bonus to Constitution.
    • Tenacious Defense: Sacred Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(10/15/20)% Sacred bonus to maximum hit points.
    • +1 Con or Cha: +1 Constitution or Charisma
  • Tier Four (20 AP Required)
    • Reinforced Defense: Improves the Armor Class bonuses you receive from shields or armor. Choose One:
      • Reinforced Armor: The Armor Class bonus you gain from armor or docents is increased by 15%/30%/50%.
      • Reinforced Shield: The Armor Class bonus you gain from using a shield is increased by 15%/30%/50%.
    • Spellshield Aura: Your Aura now grants a +(2/4/6) Sacred bonus to Spell Resistance.
    • Swift Defense: Sacred Defense grants you a 10% sacred bonus to movement speed.
    • Greater Sacred Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • +1 Con or Cha: +1 Constitution or Charisma
  • Tier Five (30 AP Required)
    • Reprisal: On Attacked: Your next attack gains +1 damage. This effect stacks (3/6/10) times.
    • Reinforced Defense: Improves the Armor Class bonuses you receive from shields or armor. Choose the option you didn’t choose at Tier 4.
    • Harbored By Light: You gain +10/+15/+25 Physical Resist Rating and Magical Resist Rating. You gain 1/2/3 uses of Lay On Hands.* In addition, while you are actively blocking with a shield, enemies that attack you will take 3d4/4d4/5d4 Light Damage.
    • Greater Sacred Defense: Further improves your Sacred Defense stance. Pick the third option left.
• Stalwart Defender has been improved. The enhancement tree now reads as follows:
  • Innate Abilities:
    • 1 AP: Toughness: You gain +1 Hit Point for each action point you spend in this tree. Each Innate Ability you possess from this tree grants +3% Fortification.
    • 5 AP, Ftr3: Stalwart Defense: Defensive Stance: You gain 10 Physical Resistance, 10 Magical Resistance, a 50% bonus to threat generation, and are immune to rage effects. Sacred Defender stances now work with Two Weapon Fighting (the stance requires either a shield or medium/heavy armor.)
    • 10 AP, Ftr6: Overbalance: Your shields gain On Vorpal: Knock an opponent to the ground.
    • 20 AP, Ftr12: Stand Fast: (No longer requires a shield.) Action Boost: You gain a +20 bonus to Balance and saves vs. Fear for 20 seconds. This ability can be used while feared or knocked down to end these effects. (Cooldown: 30 seconds.)
    • 30 AP, Ftr18: Defensive Sweep: (No longer requires a shield.) Action Boost: You generate +50% threat and your basic attacks strike two targets per swing instead of one for 20 seconds. (Cooldown: 30 seconds.)
    • 41 AP, Ftr20: Last Stand: Passive: You gain +4 Constitution and +2 to the DCs of all Tactical Feats. (No longer requires a shield.) Action Boost: Gain +100% Maximum hit points and +50 Physical and Magical Resistance Rating for 20 seconds. This Action Boost does not share a cooldown with other Action Boost abilities, and can be used while helpless. (Cooldown: 3 minutes.)
  • Tier One (0 AP Required)
    • Item Defense: You have a (25/50/75)% chance to negate potential item wear.
    • Improved Stalwart Defense: Multiselector:
      • Resilient Defense: While in Stalwart Defense, you gain a +(1/2/3) Competence bonus to all Saving Throws.
      • Durable Defense: While in Stalwart Defense, you gain a +(5/10/15) Competence bonus to Physical and Magical Resistance Rating.
      • Inciting Defense: While in Stalwart Defense, you gain a (25/50/75)% Competence bonus to melee threat generation.
    • Stalwart Defensive Mastery: +(1/2/3) Armor Class and Amor Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
    • Defense Boost: Activate to gain a (+5/+10/+15) Action Boost bonus to Armor Class and Physical and Magical Resistance Rating for 20 seconds.
    • Threatening Countenance: +(1/2/3) Haggle and Intimidate, +(5/10/15)% melee threat generation
  • Tier Two (5 AP Required)
    • Shield Striking has been removed.
    • Improved Stalwart Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • Stalwart Shield Mastery: +(5%/10%/15%) Shield Armor Class and (+1/2/3) Tower Shield Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
    • Armor Expertise: Armor you equip gains a +(1/2/3) bonus to its Enhancement bonus.
    • Instinctive Defense: You take (5%/10%/15%) less extra damage when struck while helpless. (Additional damage while helpless varies by difficulty setting from 5% to 25%.)
  • Tier Three (10 AP Required)
    • Improved Stalwart Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • Greater Stalwart Defense: Multiselector:
    • Strong Defense: Stalwart Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(2/4/6) Competence bonus to Strength
    • Hardy Defense: Stalwart Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(2/4/6) Competence bonus to Constitution
    • Tenacious Defense: Stalwart Defense: While wearing medium or heavy armor or wielding a shield you gain a +(10/15/20)% Competence bonus to maximum hit points.
    • Shield Expertise: Weapons and Shields you equip gain a +(1/2/3) Competence bonus to their Enhancement bonus.
    • +1 Str or Con: +1 Strength or Constitution
  • Tier Four (20 AP Required)
    • Counterattack: Action Boost: You gain On Shield Block: Your next attack within 3 seconds gains +1[W]. This stacks (1/2/3) times.
    • Swift Defense: Stalwart Defense grants +10% Movement.
    • Greater Stalwart Defense: See tier one. (Pick one you don’t have.)
    • Reinforced Defenses: Multiselector:
      • Reinforced Armor: The Armor Class bonus you gain from armor or docents is increased by (15/30/50)%.
      • Reinforced Shield: The Armor Class bonus you gain from using a shield is increased by (15/30/50)%.
    • +1 Str or Con: +1 Strength or Constitution
  • Tier Five (30 AP Required)
    • Reprisal: On Attacked: Your next attack gains +1 damage. This effect stacks (3/6/10) times. (No longer requires shield)
    • Block and Cut: Melee Attack: Performs a melee attack with your main hand weapon that deals (+1/+2/+3)[W]. On Damage: You gain a (10/15/25)% Morale bonus to melee doublestrike for 10 seconds. (No longer requires shield)
    • Greater Stalwart Defense: Further improves your Stalwart Defense stance. Choose the option you didn’t chose at Tier 3 or 4.
    • Reinforced Defenses: See tier four. (Pick one you don’t have.)
• Vanguard: A new tree is now available for Fighters and Paladins! The enhancement tree is as follows:
  • Innate (Core) Abilities
    • 1 AP: To the Fore: While you have a shield equipped, gain +1 to hit and damage with your main hand weapon and with your shield bash attacks.
    • 5 AP, Class Level 3: Shield Combat I: +10% chance to make a secondary shield bash.
    • 10 AP, Class Level 6: Vicious Shield: +10% chance to make a secondary shield bash. While you have a shield equipped, +5% Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed.
    • 20 AP, Class Level 12: Shield Combat II: +10% chance to make a secondary shield bash. While you have a shield equipped, +5% Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed. Your shield gains +1(W).
    • 30 AP, Class Level 18: Vicious Shield II: Your shield gains +1 critical threat range, +1 critical multiplier, and +1(W). While you have a shield equipped, +5% Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed.
    • 40 AP, Class Level 20: Shield Champion: While you have a shield equipped, gain +2 attack, +2 damage, +5% Doublestrike, +5% Combat Style bonus to Melee Attack Speed. Your shield gains +1(W). Your shield bashes stun enemies 5% of the time. DC(10 + 1/2 Character Level + Strength Mod + Stunning Bonuses).
  • Tier One (0 AP Required)
    • Shield Specialization: While you have a shield equipped, gain +1 to hit, damage, and armor class. Passive
    • No Weakness: +1/+2/+3 Fortitude Saving Throw. Passive
    • Unbalancing Shove: When you shield bash, damaged enemies get -1 to Saving Throws for 2/4/6 seconds.
    • Shield Smash: While you have a shield equipped, Activate: Melee attack with your shield for +1/2/3(W) damage. On damage, your PRR and MRR are increased by 2/4/6 for 12 seconds. Cooldown is 16/12/8 seconds.
    • Armor Training: +1/2/3 to Balance, Intimidate, Jump. Reduce skills penalties for armor and shield by 1/2/3. Passive
  • Tier Two (5 AP Required)
    • Shield Specialization: While you have a shield equipped, gain +1 to hit, damage, and armor class.
    • Brutality: +1/+2/+3 to the DC of stunning abilities.
    • Stunning Shield: While you have a shield equipped, Activate: Melee shield bash attack with your shield for +1/2/3[W] attack. This attack stuns enemies unless they make a Fortitude saving throw vs DC(10 + Highest Ability Score Modifier + Character Level + Stunning Bonus). Cooldown 60/45/30 seconds. Stun duration 6 seconds.
    • Action Boost: Melee Power: +10/20/30% Action Boost bonus to Melee Power for 20 seconds. Usable 5 times per rest.
    • Missile Shield: While you have a shield equipped, gain the benefits of the Deflect Arrows feat, knocking aside one incoming projectile that would have struck you every 6/4/2 seconds. (Antireq Tempest or Swashbuckler Deflect Arrows) Passive
  • Tier Three
    • Shield Specialization: While you have a shield equipped, gain +1 to hit, damage, and armor class.
    • Follow Up: When you hit an enemy with certain activated stunning abilities (Stunning Blow, Stunning Shield) your melee power is increased by 3/6/9 for 12 seconds whether the stun works or not.
    • Fatal Bulwark: Your shield gains +1 critical threat range.
    • Shield Riposte: When missed in melee while wearing a shield: Deals 1d4/1d6/1d8 bludgeoning damage to your attacker. Scales with melee power.
    • STR/DEX
  • Tier Four
    • Shield Specialization: While you have a shield equipped, gain +1 to hit, damage, and armor class.
    • Shield Charge: While you have a shield equipped, Activate: Rush forward up to 30 feet to your selected opponent and deliver a shield attack that hits everything in an area around you. Each opponent takes a shield bash attack for +1/2/3[W] damage. Ranks improve cooldown
    • Myrmidon’s Edge: Passive +1/2/3 to attack rolls to confirm critical hits and damage on critical hits (before weapon multipliers.)
    • Vanguard Armor Mastery: +1/2/3 Armor Class and Armor Maximum Dexterity Bonus.
    • STR/DEX
  • Tier Five
    • Shield Rush: While you have a shield equipped, Activate: Move forward in a line, delivering a shield bash attack to every creature hit. This shield bash does +2/4/6[W] damage and knocks down enemies who fail a saving throw of 20 + Highest Attribute Mod + Class Level + bonuses to trip attacks. Rank improves cooldown
    • Disorienting Smash: When you shield bash, damaged enemies gain 1 stack of Vulnerability. This can occur at most once every 3/2/1 seconds.
    • Vulnerability: You take 1% more damage for 3 seconds. This effect stacks up to 20 times, and loses one stack on expiration.
    • Shield To The Face: +10% chance to make a secondary shield bash.
    • Armored Strength: +10 Melee Power
• Harper – A new enhancement tree is now available to all classes! The Harper tree is free to VIPs, and is also available for purchase in the DDO Store. The tree is as follows:
  • Innate Abilities
    • 1 AP, character level 1: Agent of Good I: +1 to hit versus evil, +1 Universal Spell Power.
    • 5 AP, class level 3: Harper Training I: Int or Cha or Dex.
    • 10 AP, character level 6: Agent of Good II: +2 to hit and damage versus evil, +5 Universal Spell Power.
    • 20 AP, class level 12: Harper Training II: Int or Cha or Dex.
    • 30 AP, class level 18: Agent of Good III: +3 to hit and damage versus evil, +10 Universal Spell Power.
    • 41 AP, class level 20: Harper’s Freedom: Dispel most detrimental effects from you and add +10 to all saving throws for 12 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.
  • Tier One (0 AP Required)
    • Weathered Traveler: +1/2/3 Energy Resistance
    • Harper Enchantment I: Your weapon gains an additional +1 to its Enhancement bonus. You gain +20 to your maximum Spell Points.
    • Traveler’s Toughness: +5/+10/+15 maximum hit points.
    • Awareness: +1/+2/+3 to Listen, Search, and Spot. Rank 3: +1 save versus traps.
    • Strategic Combat I: You can use your Intelligence modifier to hit with Melee and Missile weapons.
  • Tier Two (5 AP Required)
    • Heroic Companion: Anti-requisite with the Halfing race version:
      • Action Boost: Grants an ally +0.25[W] and +2 to hit and saving throws. Usable five times per rest.
      • Action Boost: Grants an ally +0.5[W], +4 to hit and saving throws, and +2% Dodge. Usable five times per rest.
      • Action Boost: Grants an ally +1[W], +6 to hit and saving throws, +4% Dodge, and +10 Physical Resistance Rating. Usable five times per rest.
    • Magical Endurance: +30/+60/+100 maximum Spell Points.
    • Versatile Adept I: +1/+2/+3 to Melee Power, Ranged Power, and Universal Spell Power.
    • Know the Angles: Antirequisite: Divine Might. You gain an Insight bonus to damage and the DC of tactical feats equal to ½ your Intelligence Modifier for 30 seconds. (Activation Cost: 21/18/15 spell points. Cooldown: 20 seconds)
    • Harper’s Leadership: Your hirelings, summoned, and charmed creatures gain +2/3/4 to all ability scores.
  • Tier Three (10 AP Required)
    • Highly Skilled: +1/2/3 on all skills.
    • Know Your Foe: Multiselector: Gain a Favored Enemy.
    • Versatile Adept II: +1/+2/+3 to Melee Power, Ranged Power, and Universal Spell Power.
    • Int or Dex: +1 Intelligence or Dexterity
    • Strategic Combat II: You can use your Intelligence modifier for damage with Melee and Missile weapons.
  • Tier Four (20 AP Required)
    • Throat Dagger: Damages an enemy from afar for 1d4+4 Piercing damage per character level. Damaged non-boss enemies can’t cast spells for 6 seconds. (This Spell Like Ability can be Quickened or Enlarged for no extra cost, if you have those feats.) Higher ranks reduce the small spell point cost and reduce the cooldown.
    • Versatile Adept III: +1/+2/+3 to Melee Power, Ranged Power, and Universal Spell Power.
    • Vigor of Life: +10 Positive Healing Amplification. -10% less damage from Negative Energy.
    • Magic of Austerity: Like Eschew Materials, your spells no longer need common material components. This does not increase their Spell Point cost.
    • Int or Dex: +1 Intelligence or Dexterity
  • Tier Five (30 AP Required)
    • Versatile Adept IV: +2/+4/+6 to Melee Power, Ranged Power, and Universal Spell Power.
    • Vigor of Life: +10 Positive Healing Amplification. -10% less damage from Negative Energy.
    • Moment of Clarity: For the next 12 seconds the DC of your spells and your tactical feats is increased by +10. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Passive: Add +1 to the DC of your spells.
    • Magic of Patience: Your spells benefit from the Extend Spell metamagic feat. This does not increase their Spell Point cost. Does not stack with Extend metamagic itself.
    • Multiselector:
      • Harper Enchantment of Deception: Your weapon gains an additional +1 to its Enhancement bonus and Improved Deception.
      • Harper Enchantment of Righteousness: Your weapon gains an additional +3 to its Enhancement bonus and Righteousness.
      • Harper Enchantment of Magic: Your weapon gains a +10 Harper bonus to Universal Spell Power.
• Assassin
  • Venomed Blades now scales with 200% Melee Power.
  • Shadow Dagger now scales with 200% Melee Power. The DC now uses Rogue level rather than 1/2 Rogue level.
• Battle Engineer
  • The Core three and five Infused Armor enhancements now properly reduce Arcane Spell Failure on docents.
• Swashbuckler:
  • Thread the Needle no longer disappears when zoning.
  • Tavern Shanties no longer displays a “Do Not Use” icon.
  • Coup de Grace now properly requires twelve character levels.
• Tempest
  • Dance of Death now has a 15 second cooldown. The duration has been increased to 10 seconds.
  • The Growing Storm now has a 30 second cooldown. The stackable -2 AC penalty has been removed.

• Divine Crusader
  • Zeal of the Righteous has been converted from a straight damage boost to give Melee Power and Ranged Power.
  • Divine Crusader now grants +2 Melee Power per Innate Ability.
• Fury of the Wild and Legendary Dreadnought grants +3 Melee Power per Innate Ability.
• Fatesinger, Grandmaster of Flowers, Primal Avatar, Shadowdancer, and Unyielding Sentinel now grant +4 Melee Power per Innate Ability.
• Exalted Angel’s Sun Bolt now has its correct icon.
• Fury of the Wild
  • Adrenaline has been converted from a straight damage boost to instead give Melee Power and Ranged Power. It now reads as follows:
    • Adrenaline: You gain Druid and Ranger caster levels equal to your Fury of the Wild level if you have any levels in those classes. Gain 2 Adrenaline uses per rest.  Consume 1 Adrenaline: Your next attack has +300 Melee Power and Ranged Power, and has +2 critical threat range and confirmation of critical hits.  You are considered Raged until your next attack. \\n\\nYou gain +1 melee Damage and +3 Melee Power per level of Fury of the Wild, including this one.
    • Adrenaline II: Gain +1 Adrenaline use per rest.  Consume 1 Adrenaline: Your next attack has +300 Melee Power and Ranged Power, and has +4 critical threat range and confirmation of critical hits.  You are considered Raged until your next attack.
    • Adrenaline III: Gain +1 Adrenaline use per rest.  Consume 1 Adrenaline: Your next attack has +300 Melee Power and Ranged Power, and has +8 critical threat range and confirmation of critical hits.  You are considered Raged until your next attack.
    • Adrenaline Overload: +1 damage.  Gain 1 Adrenaline use per rest.  Consume 1 Adrenaline: Your next attack has +400 Melee Power and Ranged Power, and has +16 critical threat range and confirmation of critical hits.  You are considered Raged until your next attack.
• Legendary Dreadnaught:
  • Master’s Blitz is now a multi-selector, which allows a character to choose the Dodge version, which caps as it always has, or a new version that adds 30 PRR and MRR when it builds up.
  • The requirement of using 50 tactical abilities to activate Master’s Blitz has been removed.
  • When activated, the ability builds as enemies are hit.
  • Master’s Blitz now builds up +7 Melee Power and Ranged Power through charges.
• Shadowdancer:
  • Dark Imbuement no longer displays a “Do Not Use” icon.

• Overwhelming Critical no longer requires Great Cleave, and no longer has a Strength requirement.
• The Weapon Fighting feats have been adjusted as follows:
  • Two Handed Fighting: Increases the damage of glancing blow attacks when wielding a two-handed weapon by 10% (from a base of 20% normal weapon damage.) This feat also grants a 3% chance for weapon effects to trigger on glancing blows. While fighting with a two-handed weapon you gain a +3 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power.
  • Improved Two Handed Fighting: Increases the damage of glancing blow attacks when wielding a two-handed weapon by an additional 10%, for a total of 40%. Also increases the chance for weapon effects to trigger on glancing blows by an additional 3% for a total of 6%. Your Combat Style bonus to Melee Power is increased by +3.
  • Greater Two Handed Fighting: The Greater Two Handed Fighting feat adds a glancing blow to your attack sequence, and increases the damage of glancing blow attacks when wielding a two-handed weapon by an additional 10% for a total of 50%. Also increases the chance for weapon effects to trigger on glancing blows by an additional 3% for a total of 9%. Your Combat Style bonus to Melee Power is increased by +4 to a total of +10.
  • Single Weapon Fighting:While Single-Weapon Fighting, you gain +10% Combat Style bonus to attack speed and +3 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power. Requires fighting with a single one-handed weapon, and wielding only an orb, runearm, or nothing in your offhand.
  • Improved Single Weapon Fighting: Your Single-Weapon Fighting bonus is increased to a +20% Combat Style bonus to attack speed and an additional +3 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power. You now apply 25% more of your appropriate ability score modifier to your damage instead of just your modifier (for instance, you add 1.25 times your Strength modifier as damage, similar to Two-Handed Fighting.)
  • Greater Single Weapon Fighting: Your Single-Weapon Fighting bonus is increased to a +30% Combat Style bonus to attack speed and an additional +4 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power, for a total of +10 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power. You now apply 50% more of your appropriate ability score to your damage.
• The Shield Mastery and Improved Shield Mastery feats have been adjusted as follows:
  • Shield Mastery: You are skilled with the use of a shield, and your physical resistance is increased by 3 when using a buckler or small shield, 5 when using a large shield, or 10 when using a tower shield. You gain 3% doublestrike while using a shield. While fighting with a shield you gain a +5 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power.
  • Improved Shield Mastery: You are exceptionally skilled with the use of a shield, and your physical resistance is increased by 5 when using a buckler or small shield, 10 when using a large shield, or 15 when using a tower shield. Your doublestrike chance while using a shield is increased by 8%. Your Combat Style bonus to Melee Power is increased by +5 to +10.

• Right-clicking on your hireling’s command bar portrait now brings up a menu allowing you to set various options, including the ability to toggle various actions.
• Stand Your Ground will now make a hireling only perform ranged attacks (if the hireling has a ranged attack.)
• Hirelings will now follow their masters better after combat ends.
• Luna is now less likely to run towards enemies instead of healing.
• Hirelings (and class pets) stand still for a few seconds if their master gets hit by a trap and is not in combat, so they no longer follow their master into the trap.
• Hirelings and pets will attempt to use nearby rest shrines if not in combat, not passive, and low on either health of spell points.
• Hirelings and pets are now willing to go further from their master when ordered to become active (aggressive.)
• Hirelings will no longer engage enemies at all if ordered to stay and be passive.
• Hirelings (and class pets) should respond better to party members being attacked.
• A Hireling and class pet’s “Come to Me” button now teleports the hireling or pet to your character.
• Pressing Control+Click Attack/Use button will make all hirelings attack/use/defend the target.
• Pressing hireling action bar buttons now causes less client “hitching.”
• Hireling abilities can also be disabled by right-clicking on them and then clicking “disable”.
• There is a new hotbar key to have all of your summoned hirelings interact with the target.
• Hirelings will no longer engage enemies that are leashing, and will stop fighting them.

• Eldritch Card Crunchers can no longer be put into the Classic D&D Anniversary Bag, but can be placed into banks.
• Items which are not bankable can no longer be placed into bags.
• Remaining unconsumed Saga XP gems (and other items that should be automatically consumed, such as Guild Renown and Astral Shard purchases) will automatically be consumed when a character with them in their inventory first logs in.
• Combat Mastery and Exceptional Combat Mastery effects on items have been renamed to Insightful Combat Mastery to better reflect what they do. This is a text change only, as these effects were already Insight bonuses.
• The Devotion benefit now consistently states that it gives Positive Spell Power.
• Fixed an issue with some Khopeshes where the sweeping animation that follows a weapon being swung appeared above the character’s head instead of behind the weapon.
• The Glass Cannon and St. Mu’Ray’s Fire rune arms can no longer improperly have their minimum levels reduced.
• Rogue trapmaking parts can no longer be exchanged for Cannith Crafting Essences.
• Thunder-Forged Handwraps are no longer Bound to Character on Equip across all tiers; they now follow the same binding rules as other Thunder-Forged items.
• Scrolls of Conjure Bolts now actually conjures bolts.
• The special effects on the Shadowfell Regalia no longer vanish when transitioning from one area to another.
• The Shield of Morning is now a light shield, and now offers the following benefits:
  • Shield of Morning 17(Heroic Normal): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 1d6, +3 Enhancement, Solar Guard III, Lesser Sunburst, Random Effect III, Blue and Red Augment Slot
  • Shield of Morning 18 (Heroic Hard): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 1d6, +4 Enhancement, Solar Guard III, Lesser Sunburst, Random Effect IV, Blue and Red Augment Slot
  • Shield of Morning 19 (Heroic Elite): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 1d6, +5 Enhancement, Solar Guard IV, Lesser Sunburst, Random Effect IV, Blue and Red Augment Slot
  • Shield of Morning 26 (Epic Normal): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 2[1d6], +6 Enhancement, Solar Guard VI, Greater Sunburst, Random Effect VII, Blue and Red Augment Slot
  • Shield of Morning 27 (Epic Hard): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 2[1d6], +7 Enhancement, Solar Guard VI, Greater Sunburst, Random Effect VII, Blue and Red Augment Slot
  • Shield of Morning 28 (Epic Elite): +5 shield, 4/0/0, base damage 2[1d6], +8 Enhancement, Solar Guard VII, Greater Sunburst, Random Effect VII, Purple and Red Augment Slot
  • Old versions of the Shield of Morning can be turned in at the Stone of Change for new versions.
• Shadow Under Thunderholme Guest Passes no longer display an incorrect minimum level in your inventory.
• The Cannith Propulsion Boots now share a cooldown with Abundant Step and Leap of Faith.
• Intercession Ward and Minimum-Level-Reducing effects such as Masterful Craftsmanship are no longer considered Magic effects for the purpose of Disjunction.
• Trap Parts and Vials can no longer be used to craft Cannith Crafting shards.

• Monster AI has been improved to make them more efficient at filtering out things that they are not interested in to improve performance in densely populated areas.
• Beholders now have the ability to use a “refined” antimagic field, which only removes beneficial effects. This is currently only being used in the new Update 23 raid.
• Werewolves now have a howling animation.
• Improved the particle effects on Quells to be less performance-intensive.
• Flesh Golems are now less resistant to magic.
• Some performance improvements have been made to Maruts. Regular non-boss maruts now have cooldowns on their thunder and lightning punch abilities. Maruts now search for characters and do wild swings if they lose sight of their enemies.
• Quells can now suppress Divine Spell-Like Abilities. The following are now susceptible to being blocked by a Quell’s Intercession:
  • Cleric spells and spell-like abilities
  • Favored Soul spells and spell-like abilities
  • Paladin spells and spell-like abilities
  • Ranger spells and spell-like abilities
  • Druid spells and spell-like abilities
  • Divine Crusader spells and spell-like abilities
  • Unyielding Sentinel spells and spell-like abilities
  • Exalted Angel spells and spell-like abilities
  • Bladeforged racial spells and spell-like abilities
  • Morninglord racial spells and spell-like abilities
• Archmage SLA’s are no longer blocked by Intercession effects, and are now a lot more intelligent about who and what Intercession affects.

Monster Manual

• The following monsters have had their entries corrected or added to the Monster Manual: Wheloon Elder (Elf), Wheloon Elder (Human), Wheloon Native, Granite Gargoyle, Cellar Spider, Cellar Spirit, Captain Grim

• Nyx Durandimion no longer displays an overhead quest chalice if he has no quest to give.
• Jeets will no longer go “brain dead” if a player tells Jeets to lead the way and then quickly tells Jeets to either continue with the Korthos quest arc or skip the tutorial and go to The Harbor.

Quests and Adventure Areas

• The XP Bonus for disarming traps has been increased to 10/20/30%.
• Any character level 20 or above can now receive any level 20 or above quest, and enter any dungeon with a base CR of 20 or higher. This removes previous conditions that could prevent a lower-level Epic-level character from entering a much higher-level Epic dungeon, for example.
• Crystal Cove
  • Euphonia’s Barter Box now has recipes to exchange one type of Doubloon for another. The exchange is seven to one in any direction.
  • New gems have been added to allow for the creation of new items. Opals and Malachites can appear in CR 24+ instances of the mining challenge.
  • Level 24 versions of Crystal Cove items are now available! The items also have up to three tiers of upgrades.
  • Fixed several string table errors.
• Gianthold
  • Epic The Crucible
    • Daggertooth can now be tricked into approaching the poisoned treasure.
• King’s Forest
  • Fixed a string table error in Veraxiena’s dialogue.
  • The Hag’s Prize random encounter no longer incorrectly displays a failure message when successfully completed.
• Menace of the Underdark
  • Murder By Night
    • Fixed issues that could cause priestesses and wolves to get stuck in walls.
• Midwinter Festival
  • Brace Bullhorns now properly closes his dialogue window when starting an ice race.
• The Necropolis
  • Orchard of the Macabre
    • There is now a more direct route from the heroic Orchard of the Macabre quest givers to the Orchard entrance.
    • There is now a guide inside the Orchard of the Macabre that will teleport your character to the quest entrance, provided that the character has completed the quest previously.
    • Additional rest shrines have been added to the Orchard; one shrine is set near the Doomsphere’s Haunt, while the second is near the Desecrated Temple of Vol.
  • Inferno of the Damned
    • There is now an additional rest and resurrection shrine in this quest (both on Heroic and Epic difficulty.)
  • Ghosts of Perdition
    • NPCs should no longer slide around instead of walking.
• Ruins of Threnal
  • Entering the Gate Chamber
    • The base XP of the quest has been increased by 2240 XP.
  • Escort the Expedition
    • The base XP of the quest has been lowered by 1699 XP.
  • Gate Chamber
    • The base XP of the quest has been lowered by 420 XP.
  • Hold for Reinforcements
    • This quest no longer has a failure condition. Coyle now only suffers incapacitating damage once he is below zero hit points. Players are now awarded optional XP for completing the dungeon without Coyle being incapacitated.
    • The base XP of the quest has been increased by 1216 XP. The new optional objective is worth 50% of the base.
  • Missing Expedition
    • The base XP of the quest has been increased by 1280 XP.
• Sentinels of Stormreach
  • Storm the Beaches
    • Monsters can no longer operate multiple ballistas at once. Each ballista now requires its own operator.
• Shadow Under Thunderholme
  • Temple of the Deathwyrm and Fire on Thunder Peak have had some adjustments made to improve performance.
  • +5 Tomes have been removed from the end chest drop list on Epic Elite. They have been replaced with +5 to +6 Upgrade Tomes. The chances of getting a +6 Tome when tomes drop in these Epic Elite raids have also been increased.
• Three Barrel Cove
• The Pirates of the Thunder Sea heroic saga is now repeatable, and on a three-day raid timer.
  • Precious Cargo
    • The DM voice stating that a monster is stealing from a chest no longer repeats when the monster dies.
  • Thunderholme
    • Fire on Thunder Peak
      • The last surviving dragon should no longer get stuck at zero hit points without dying.
• Web of Chaos
  • Servants of the Overlord
    • Some of the landscape in the final battle area has been re-designed, and some monsters have been given new spawn locations.

Reincarnation

• The Life-Shaper now properly offers the option to re-take prior Druid class levels.

• Holy Sword has been changed, and now reads:
  • Holy SwordEvocation (Good spells)
  • Paladin 4
  • Components: Verbal, Somatic
  • Metamagic: Quicken
  • Range: Touch
  • Target: Self
  • Duration: 1 minute per caster level
  • Saving Throw: None
  • Spell Resistance: No
  • Cooldown: 3 seconds
  • Channels holy power to increase the effectiveness of your weapons. Any weapon you are wielding gains an additional +2 holy bonus to its enhancement value and +1[W]. The spell also gives a +1 Competence bonus to the threat range, and critical weapon multiplier of the weapon. Now adds +1(W). The spell now enhances the equipped weapon of the Paladin, and lasts one minute per level of Paladin.
• Zeal now has a duration of one minute per Paladin level.
• The targeting for Implosion will no longer try to target allies.
• Spells with a summoned component like Mind Fog or Sunburst now copy the spell’s level onto the effect. This allows spells to bypass Globe of Invulnerability (or not, depending on spell level.)
• Flame Arrow now conjures 500 arrows.

• Enhancement class trees can now be dragged and dropped into other spaces that are unlocked in the enhancement UI.
• The tool-tip pop-up for Enhancements now provides the upgrade information as well.
• The Campaign System should now longer automatically bestow an event objective if the event is no longer available.
• The Campaign System now has proper completion text in the Korthos quest journal for the “Have a Meal” and “To Stormreach” objectives.
• The map note for Sagas is now an orange chalice.
• Bags and bank UIs are no longer exclusionary.
• Caught in the Web and Fall of Truth are now correctly listed as raids in the Adventure Compendium.
• There is now an icon that displays above a character’s head when the character has negative levels.
• The nonexistent quest “It Came From the Desert” no longer appears in the Adventure Compendium.

• The DDO game launcher now has the option to “preload” the client_gamelogic.dat files, which can speed up initial game load and resolve an issue that could cause players to face an initial dis-connection to the game world upon first log in. Players currently utilizing third-party tools should no longer need to use them. This functionality is enabled by default if you have more than 2 Gigabytes of memory on your computer, and can be disabled in the game launcher options (under the heading Pre-cache gamelogic.)
• If you have the “Ask before downloading new updates” option checked in the launcher, when there are new updates, and the dialog shows up, if you click “Yes” before the main window of the launcher shows up, the launcher will no longer exit.
• The OSX game launcher no longer shows a transparent border around the promotion displayed on the left.
• The scroll bars on the launcher’s EULA and Tems of Service are now easier to see.
• The launcher will now request elevation from Windows in order to download files if installed into UAC-protected directories (rather than silently fail.)
• The Who list will now load the first time you select the tab, rather than during character log in.
• Effects that are meant to be removed upon exiting a dungeon now do so more reliably.

Take the time to take in all the changes if you have one of the characters that is targeted in the character balance update. Depending on what you are playing your Dungeons & Dragons Online character may have changed significantly.