PATCH NOTES 1.03

Patch 1.03

Equipment Enhancements

To follow up on the changes we made to equipment, there are now special effects that smiths and tailors alike can add to equipment so long as they meet the requirements and they have the proper materials. To enhance an item, a smithing skill must be above the required skill to make the item. For example, in order to enhance an e-level 1 weapon or armor, the smith must have weaponsmithing level of 11 or higher.

Furthermore, each effect is only available at certain levels. The * (asterisk) beside each effect denotes the tens place. In order to put a enhancement effect on an e-level 2 item, a smith would need 21. For an e-level 3 item, the smith would need 31, and so on.

5 Enhancements are now available for weapon smithing and they can be seen here.

*1- Specialization- By crafting the blade in a fashion meant for killing a certain race of monsters, the smith can make a specialized weapon. Adds the prefix <<(Monster Race) Slayer>> to the weapon. (For every 100 levels of smithing, the weapon will do 20% more damage to the particular race for a total of 200% bonus damage at level 1000.)

*3-Debilitation- By customizing the blade to have a more menacing design, the smith creates a weapon focused on inflicting status effects. Adds the prefix <<Debilitating>> to the weapon. (For every 100 levels of smithing, the weapon will be 5% more likely to inflict a status effect when using a sword art with an effect for a total of 50% more likely at level 1000.)

*5-Sharpness- By refining the blade (or head if using a bludgeoning weapon), the smith can make a weapon more dangerous. Adds the prefix <<Sharpened>> to the weapon. (Can add +5% damage to the weapon for every 100 levels of smithing for a total of +50% damage at level 1000. This does not enhance sword art damage.)

*7-Defense Penetration- By refining the blade, a smith is able to make a weapon capable of piercing an adversary’s defenses. Adds the prefix <<Rending>>, <<Piercing>>, or <<Crushing>> to the weapon. (Can decrease the foe’s defensive capabilities by 2.5% for every 100 levels for a total of 25% decrease at level 1000. This debuff allows EVERYONE in the group to do more damage. This effect has diminishing returns if others in your group have the same effect.)

*9- Elegance- By refining the blade, a smith is able to make the weapon easier to wield for the warrior and thus allows the warrior to perform Sword Arts more efficiently. Adds the prefix <<Elegant>> to the weapon. (For every 100 levels of smithing this grants 5% to either power or speed for a total of 50% at level 1000. Must be designated what the weapon enhances when forged.)

5 enhancements are now available for armor as well:

*1-Auxiliary-FOR HEAD+HAND+FEET SLOTS- A crafter is able to craft certain armor pieces to boost players’ supplementary skills. Prefix will be based on the supplementary skill enhanced and will be assigned by the mod upon creation of the piece. (For every 100 levels of smithing, this grants +5 to the desired skill for a total of +50 at level 1000)
Head: Appraisal, Disguise, Diving, Eavesdropping, Hiding, Infrared Vision, Interface Stealth, Labeling, Linguistics, Luring, Navigation, Night Vision, Perception, Tracking, Trade Negotiation, Ventriloquism, Water Breathing
Hands: Arts Stealth, Digging, Fishing, Herbalism, Lockpicking, Metallurgy, Performing, Phantom Ensemble, Sleight, Stitchwork, Thrown Weapons, Trapping, Trap Disbaling
Feet: Acrobatics, Air Step, Fall Defense, Mounting, Sneaking, Spint, Stable Footing, Swimming

*3-Resistance- FOR CHEST+BACK- A crafter is able to enhance armor to make it more resistant to status effects. He can either make the piece resistant to all effects OR specifically design the piece to be especially resistant to a single effect. The prefix <<Resistant>> is added to the piece. For specializations, the prefix will be <<(Specific Effect) Resistant>>. (For every 100 levels of smithing this grants 2.5% universal resistance or 5% specific resistance for a total of 25% and 50% respectively at level 1000. This effect stacks if both chest and back pieces are modified.)

*5-Durable- FOR OFFHAND- A crafter is able to make a shield or offhand weapon so sturdy the player won’t even feel damage some of the time when blocking. Adds the prefix <<Durable>> to the item. (For every 100 levels of smithing this grants a 5% chance to completely negate all damage when blocking for a total of 50% at level 1000.)

*7-Special-HEAD+WRIST+LEGS- A crafter is able to customize certain parts of armor to enhance a players’ extra skill. Prefix will be based on the extra skill enhanced and will be assigned by the mod upon creation of the piece. (For every 100 levels of smithing, this grants +5 to the desired skill for a total of +50 at level 1000)
Head: Battle Thirst, Foresight, Howl, Meditation, Victory Cry
Wrists: Acupuncture, Beast Taming, Crystallization, Discord, Mining, Salvaging, Weapon Specialization
Legs: Battle Healing, Extended Weight Limit, Fighting Spirit, Shade, Spike

*9-Reinforcement-FOR CHEST+BACK- A crafter is able to reinforce certain armor parts to decrease the amount of damage a player takes. This will add the prefix <<Reinforced>> to the item. (For every 100 levels of smithing, this grants 1.5% physical damage resistance for a total of 15% at level 1000. This effect stacks.)

To upgrade your equipment you must acquire a "Monster's Tear", a new item put in the game. Monster's Tear can be purchased in the bazaar but are costly. Check the drop list for Monsters that have a chance of dropping Monster's Tears as well.

FLOOR GUIDELINES

We are readjusting the C-LEVEL guidelines previously released. Please refer to the chart below to see the levels of monsters available on each floor.

floor 1 - 1-9
floor 2 - 10-18
floor 3 - 19-27
floor 4 - 28-36

Happy Venturing.

Skills

We've had to make a few tweaks to skills and skill descriptions. We found that Martial Arts in particular has been misunderstood by many members and needed clarification, as well as set rules.

UNIQUE WEAPONS.
For the use of exotic weaponry such as knuckledusters, hand wrappings, and bo staffs. Unique Weapons is a diverse skill allowing the use of a variety of weapons. The mastery of these weapons rely heavily upon inner strength, vitality, and nimbleness.

As you can see, this skill does not encompass unarmed combat. This may have been unclear before as we have seen several instances where Martial Arts is used to supplement another weapon skill. To avoid future confusion, we have renamed the skill. To take advantage of the Unique Weapons skill, one must have the related equipment equipped. This also does not allow for kicking but only use of the weapon.

TRAPPING and TRAP DISABLING have been merged into:

TRAPPING.
A skill utilizing items from the user’s inventory as an indirect form of offense against enemies.The user will be able to use items such as string or rope to trip, nets to capture, or even bear traps to hinder. Also allows the user to detect traps, whether part of the environment or set by another player, more easily. If the player should somehow activate the trap, then there will be a greater chance to deactivate it. As the level of the skill increases, so does the complexity of the traps the trapper is able to lay or disarm.

MEDITATION has been scrapped from the Extra skill list and will be replaced with the following:

FOCUS.
A skill that allows the user to shrug off the effects of a status ailment for a short time. This can create unexpected opportunities and allow the player to catch his enemies off guard. Initially, the player will ignore the effect of a status ailment for 1 post before feeling the effects. For every 100 levels put into this skill, the player is able to shrug off a status ailment for additional post. There is supposedly a monk on the 4th and 6th floor who can teach this ability to you.

Lastly, we have a new extra skill:

MARTIAL ARTS.
This skill allows the player to fight unarmed. This skill also enables the player to use Sword Arts that require no weapons. This includes bare fists, kicks, and grapples. Players can not use any other weapon during unarmed combat. It is treated as an extra offensive skill and can not be merged with any other form of combat. It is said there is a wandering Pugilist on floor 2 that is willing to take on pupils if one wishes to acquire this skill.

Those who currently have the <<MARTIAL ARTS>> skill will have to choose another core skill to replace it with. That can be done HERE

Sword Arts

We have added specific guidelines for Sword Art specials regarding status effects! The description of range extension specials have also been modified slightly. Make sure to check out the changes here.

In addition, we have replaced the "Tumble" status effect with the following:

KNOCKBACK, Knockback effects have the potential to knock an enemy away from the player and may cause them to lose their footing. The chance varies in likelihood depending on the composite level between the two targets.
EXAMPLE:

The player Sora wants to use the E-Ranked Sword Art REQUIEM upon a Kobold Taskmaster. Sora's Curved Dagger skill is 5, while the Kobold Taskmaster's c-Level is 2. Sora's REQUIEM also has a chance to knockback the target. However, because the Kobold Taskmaster's c-Level is 2, she has less of a chance to tumble the target.
However, if Sora were to use the same ability on a Kobold Peon (c-Level 1), she would have MORE of a chance to knockback the target.

Freeform, Quests, and You

We were finding that normal members and staff members alike were not keeping a unified interest in the quest system. People come and go a little too quickly, and although the quest system seems like fun at first, it can be tiring trying to always fight to keep up and turn in quests asap to reap rewards and try again. It was turning into a never-ending battle. This has been repeated before, but this is an RP based off of an MMO. Not just an MMO.

We put up a poll. You voted (well, maybe not some of you newer members). We heard. We delivered.

The forum has now gone (semi) freeform! For every post you submit in character, you will gain 200 EXP. That is correct, 200 EXP per post. In order to gain COL, however, members will need to finish quests and have them graded by moderators. For every post in a quest, players will be awarded 100 col. Skill and Extra Skill quests remain the same and need to be reviewed before skills can be unlocked. Items are no longer a normal part of the rewards. We believe this system will allow players to level at a much more suitable pace without losing interest.

The staff will monitor the progression of players as we continue working towards clearing Aincrad and freeing our characters from the clutches of Kayaba. As the difficulty ramps up, so will the amount of EXP and COL awarded.

Quest Goals are a perk we have added to the quest system. These are goals you can have your character make and earn bonus rewards in the process. The rewards are all rather small but can range between bonus EXP, COL, items, and possibly even equipment. We hope you enjoy them. There is a whole list of them available for most of the major landmarks on every floor. These quests will need a quest log when they are finished but you do not need to make a quest only to fulfill this goal. Make sure to fill out the template and state which goal you completed when you add it to the review request queue. The goal must be stated in the NOTES section of your quest log.

You can check out the list HERE.

The word count minimum is now set to 200. Please be sure each of your posts contain substance necessary to the completion of quests.

Solo Quests are limited to 2 total posts. In order to turn in a Solo Quest for rewards, the quest must exceed 1000 words. Rewards will be dependent upon quality and content of the quest. The limit for Solo Quests still stands at 2 per week. If a solo quest is not finished within the week it was started, it carries over to the limit for the next week.

Items

Items will now be bought in the bazaar! We know it’s not always possible, but please try to buy at least a few items at a time. In order to keep the number of posts down, you can only make two posted in the NPC/Item Shop per day. You can buy as much or as little as you want, but please don’t spam the board with multiple posts.

Most of the items available in the NPC shop are common or uncommon. Only a handful of rare items can be purchased in the shop but they come at a hefty cost. Your best bet to receive these rare or exotic items is to receive them from monster drops during any of our staff-moderated events and/or quests.

Summary

Well, that was quite a whirlwind. It is with much regret that we inform you Arcelia and Bunny will be taking a leave of absence. The forum will still be running just as planned, so no need to stress. We hope this patch has added another layer of depth to your SAO role-playing experience. We look forward to continually improving the community and systems of this forum for you.

As always, let us know what you think of the latest patch notes or what you would like to see in the next patch notes HERE. 'til next time boys and girls.