Post by FunkySwerve on Jul 31, 2011 10:40:10 GMT
UPDATE 2009-05-28
=================
- New area: the Elemental Planes! The four base elemental planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) can now be accessed. Each plane has three layers: Shallow, Middle, and Deep. The Shallow layer of each plane is for characters around level 45; the Middle layer for characters around level 50, and the Deep layer for characters around level 55. Like the Feywild, these areas have scaling encounters, drop loot, and no plot. These areas may be accessed by using a Gem of Planar Travel in the location where it is normally used.
- Two new survival mechanisms have been added: Passwall and Firewalk. Rings granting these survival mechanisms can be found in the pre-LL world. A few subraces have gained these survival mechanisms as well. Borian has more information on where to get the rings, and will also exchange them for rare 35 weapons as with the levitation and water breathing rings.
-- The quest to earn the Ring of Firewalking is capped at level 20.
-- The quest to earn the Ring of Passwall is capped at level 25.
- We recommend you run the HGE or CEP updater and be sure to update to the latest CEP revision for the best visual experience and performance in the Elemental Planes. If you run HG Enhanced, you will need to update or you will see 'Bad Strref' on the Rings of Firewalking. This is harmless.
- Creatures in the Feywild may now drop alchemical ingredients which can be used by the Alchemist to brew potions. In addition to the ingredients, the Alchemist requires a modest payment in gold for each potion made, which can be decreased by Appraise skill. In addition, the price is discounted when brewing larger stacks of ingredients.
- Harper Scouts can now craft 10-packs of potions in No PVP areas.
- New SIMTools command: !alarm. This allows you to set timers to deliver a message to yourself.
- New SIMTools command: !list autocast. This will list the spells in your autocaster.
- Shadow Shield's negative immunity no longer stacks with Negative Energy Protection.
- Bug, exploit, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-05-17
=================
- New area: the Feywild! A certain enterprising halfling has discovered a method to reach the fairy realm, designed for level 40-45 characters. The Feywild has no plot and no boss, and encounters scale for soloers all the way through full parties of 10.
- New guild halls for Tymora's Mercenaries and Red Shield.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2009-05-12
=================
- New area: Locathah Depths! This underwater area is designed for parties of level 48-53 adventurers. Location hint: ledger!
- Elysium has received an additional set loot drop.
- Some additional set loot possibilities have been added to the existing set loot drops in the Hive and the Catacombs of Dulvuroth.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-04-28
=================
- New area: the Toyshop! This area is designed for smaller parties of level 45-50 adventurers. Location hint: scarecrows!
- New area: Catacombs of Dulvuroth! This area is designed for smaller parties of level 50-55 adventurers. Location hint: blocked stairs!
- New area: the Hive! This area is designed for parties of level 52-57 adventurers. Location hint: bloody zombies!
- The (Base AC + Dex modifier) limit for medium armor has been raised from 13 to 14.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-03-28
=================
- Higher Ground has moved! You can use the '!portal' command to easily transition between servers, or the '!list servers' command to get a list of active servers.
- Forsaken Sorcerers can now learn epic spells.
- All Pedestals of the Planar Traveler now give 10 charges.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-01-31
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to CEP v2.2c. Please ensure you have the latest version of CEP.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 22. If you are using HG Enhanced, you must update. You can download HG Enhanced from wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/HG_Enhanced
- The Priest in town will now be clearer when you cannot afford to delevel.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-01-15
=================
- The Rowan Tree no longer has the blinding glow, due to some people having graphics crash issues with it.
- Artifacts will no longer explode when banking, but rather be forced back into the chest. Also, you can no longer reclaim artifacts during reincarnation while you have one in your inventory.
- Hotpatch rollup:
-- Character breathing bubbles are now silent in underwater areas for people with HG Enhanced.
-- Several antiexploits have been adjusted to ensure PCs are not accidentally struck by them.
-- The color of Hardcore Death messages has been adjusted to remove any confusion with Global DM messages.
-- The Crucible of Moliation should now function properly on all items it is intended to upgrade; more upgradeable items will be added in the future.
-- Grease will no longer re-knockdown targets who are already knocked down.
-- Shifter legendary foci now grant +3 DC to shifter abilities rather than +2. The Basilisk has been lowered from Rank 8 to Rank 6.
-- The Shifter protection auras now cure the effects they protect against.
-- The Sage will now tell you how many charges your ring went from and to, and should no longer have occasional cases of not charging it.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-12-14
=================
- New SIMTools command: !password. You may now set a password on your CD key. You will have to enter the password the first time you log in a character on a server each reset, and again if your IP address changes between logins. The Higher Ground team strongly recommends using a password to protect your characters.
-- Your password is encrypted and the Higher Ground staff will not have access to it if you lose or forget it. If you do lose or forget it, you will need to post on the forums to have your password cleared.
- If you are immortal, you will now be informed the first time you enter an area where you can fugue or limbo. Not all areas support this feature yet.
- Bug fixes.
UPDATE 2008-12-13
=================
- New area: Pit of Moliation! Inhabited by foul yugoloths hailing from the plane of Hades, this area is intended for legendary characters of level 52-58.
- Many shifter abilities have been adjusted or bugfixed. See your journal for details.
- Server 7 has been moved to the PW Action category on Gamespy to give Higher Ground more exposure.
- Server 8 has become a Roleplay server. Please consult your journal for details on Higher Ground Roleplay.
- Being deafened will now halve your effective Listen skill (after all other calculations, including the Blind Fight feat). This applies to both players and monsters.
- The Ring of the Planewalker, Quaternary Exotica, the Crest of Vile Darkness, the Signet of the Nine, Silver Nimbus, the Mantelet of Repulsion, the Bastion of the Fallen Lord, and the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus have been tagged as 'ego items'. You may only wear one ego item at a time. Existing Ruby Rods have been unbound from their owners along with this update, but will be rebound if used again (the four rings listed were already effectively ego items).
-- Support for relics has been added. Relics are similar to ego items but will allow themselves to be worn with other relics of the same relic category (but not with other relics or with ego items); for example, you could wear three relics of Sune but not a relic of Sune and a relic of Waukeen together. There are no relics in game at this time.
-- Support for set items has been added. Set items will grant additional bonuses as multiple items from the set are equipped. There are no set items in game at this time.
- A few externally imposed magical debuffs (e.g. Bigby's Interposing Hand) can no longer be cured by Restoration but must be dispelled.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-11-24
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 21. You can get it from HGWiki or via WorldGate. HG Enhanced Beta 21 supports additional quickchats which can be bound with the !voicebind command. Visit the HG Enhanced page on HGWiki for details. This is a mandatory update if you use HG Enhanced.
- Updated all areas of the mod with current CEP content.
- Added well over one hundred new secrets. Don't ask how many. It's a secret.
- Shifters have been reworked. Please check your journal for details.
- Rakshasa in the Hells have had their area-effect Mords reworked slightly.
- You can now use '!action abort' to clear your action queue.
- You can now use '!list spknown' to list known spells or '!list spmem' to list memorized spells.
- Added Guild Realms Marshals and Guild Red Shield.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-28
=================
- The !count demi SIMTools command has been added to see the number of demi iterations which affected the last spawn in your current area.
- The 'server' option has been added to the !who SIMTools command to provide more unified player lists when possible.
- The Imperial Bank has been taken over by the priesthood of Waukeen. The !wallet SIMTools command has been added to replace the old system.
-- Personal and transfer accounts have been merged. Personal account balances will transfer into your new account when you log characters in.
-- Hardcore characters on a CD key now share their own transfer account.
-- Documentation on the !wallet command can be found in your journal. The system includes full journaling and history of all transactions for 30 days.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-18
=================
- The !assist SIMTools command has been replaced with the !role command. Please read your journal for details. Also, the arguments to the !action and !lock SIMTools commands have changed slightly to allow more flexibility with roles.
- The 'aso' !action has been added to Assist Other.
- Crumble and Stone Shatter can now kill petrified targets in addition to constructs.
- The exchange offer for Scintillating Scarves and Shrouds of the Earth Mother has ended.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-16
=================
- Using the Player Tool 2 power from your Special Abilities menu will allow you to assist comrades. A future version of HG Enhanced will give this a custom name and icon. You may have to relog to see the power in your special abilities menu, and it will show up under your first class.
-- Currently, assisting others will help them stand up if they have been knocked down. Other forms of assistance may be added later.
- Restoring slagged, ruined, or otherwise damaged weapons should now bring any modifications back as well. Modified weapons still cannot be stored in the bank.
- Restoring slagged, ruined, or otherwised damaged armor should now restore any previous crafting.
- Bug, exploit, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-13
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 20. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
-- HG Enhanced beta 20 fixes the minimization crash in the Workshop, Nessus, and other areas with Scrying Orbs.
- You will no longer be booted when taking a legendary level at the Altar of Legends.
- If you log out with unsaved items in your bank chest, the game will attempt to force-save your items to the 'force-save' bankchest. You will be unable to access other bank chests until you empty the 'force-save' chest. Items which cannot be stored will be lost.
- New Area: Depths of Shuzantuhal! In waters deep beneath the Underdark, a gateway has opened to the Far Realm and a city inhabited by horrors from outside of time. This area is a post-Hells area and is intended for level 55 to 60 characters.
-- The Hand of Vecna can now be found in Shuzantuhal and no longer drops as a BUR.
- You may notice many ability tokens update. No changes have been made; the update is simply for internal cleanup and organization.
- The maximum Dexterity bonus for heavy armor has been increased by 2 points, but the AC bonus on the Pentavite Shield, Shield of the Sayarten, Agium Eragus, Slag, and Undying Flame shields has been reduced by 2 points each.
- Breach and Mord immunity items have been redone to reduce lag. Please report any problems. In addition, items that say they will grant Dispel immunity now function.
- The Illithid Exo-array now grants immunity to Confusion.
- The Snowshoes of Stygia now properly grant immunity to Druid and Bard Ice Storm, but no longer have immunity to level 4 and below spells.
- To Reign in Hell can now cast UEF only 5x/day rather than an unlimited number of times.
- Added new BURs: 4 rings, 3 large shields, 2 small shields, 2 medium armors, 2 light armor. Added one new UR medium armor.
- Added five new set items to Elysium, including the Coronet of Mnemosyne, Threads of Life, and the Circlet of Ahralira Silverpaws. In addition, several pieces have received small upgrades.
- Cloud spells (e.g. Grease, Incendiary Cloud, etc) have been reworked slightly to reduce lag. Please report any strange behavior.
- Cure and Inflict spells now increase to d10s at CL21 and d12s at CL41 when used for healing.
- Cleric Aura vs Alignment now protects specifically from Stun, Daze, and Sleep.
- Champion of Torm mind immunity now protects specifically from Stun, Daze, Charm, and Confuse.
- Water breathing has been reworked. You will now have a short time before you drown.
- Using the '!stuck' SIMTools command will attempt to unstick you if you get stuck in geometry. You may need to use the command multiple times to unstick yourself; in addition, try holding down a movement key after using it.
- The '!opt whisper' SIMTools command has been added to allow you to redirect whispers to the guild or meta channels.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-08-20
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 19. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Many cloaks now have appearances. In addition, several monsters have had their appearance upgraded.
- The guild portals which required immortality to use have been fixed, so non-immortals can leave those guilds.
- The Hells Skull can now be used to see which layers you can access.
- Kro'Waole's Hide and the Amorian Drape now have their Heal and Restoration abilities as swift actions, with 10 charges per day. Kro'Waole's Hide will no longer bind when used.
- White half-dragons who become Bloodfire Mages will lose their innate cold immunity.
- Barbarian Shapestrong Rage has been reworked; you will now possess only one token, which any Barbarian can use to change size. Your appearance will not change when your size does. See your journal for more information.
- The Healing Circle spell now only has its regeneration aura power. However, for those without HG Enhanced to cast the Mass Cure spells, the !opt healcircle SIMTools command toggles it between the regeneration aura and a Large-radius Mass Cure Moderate Wounds.
- Some creatures have acquired resistance to the Disintegrate spell which requires a certain number of caster levels to overcome.
- Lesser Mind Blank and Mind Blank now only grant their one-shot immunity to Hells-type mind effects at CL41 and higher.
- The Light spell now gets much brighter at CL41 for those with HG Enhanced.
- Many enemies in legendary levels have had their immunity to the Inflict series of spells removed. Also, immunity to Implosion, Drown, and Disintegrate have been fully separated; immunity to Implosion no longer grants automatic immunity to the other two spells.
- Battletide, Bestow Curse, Heal, Harm, Cure, Inflict, Slay Living, Ghoul Touch, and Vampiric Touch spells will now use half the caster's Strength modifier as the feat bonus to Spell Penetration if this would exceed the caster's normal bonus from Spell Penetration feats (the Battletide bonus was already in). This does not affect Mass variants.
- Bards can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Gembomb (5), Illusory Pit (5), Know Vulnerabilities (2), Lesser Mind Blank (5), Mass Cure Light Wounds (4), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (6), Needle Point (3), Rainbow Pattern (4).
- Clerics can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Mass Cure Light Wounds (4), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (6), Mass Cure Critical Wounds (7), Mass Inflict Light Wounds (4), Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Inflict Serious Wounds (6), Mass Inflict Critical Wounds (7).
- Druids can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Desert Sirocco (2), Mass Cure Light Wounds (5), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (6), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (7), Mass Cure Critical Wounds (8).
- Paladins can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Light (1).
- Rangers can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Foebane (4).
- Sorcerers and Wizards can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Needle Point (3), Rainbow Pattern (4), Weapon of Impact (3).
- Legendary Wizards can now acquire new spells by visiting the Spells Pedestal and trading in Arcane Research Crystals. Arcane Research Crystals can result from appraising any unappraised gem which would be able to produce a 2d12 gem. Legendary Pale Masters who know Energy Drain as a Wizard spell may also learn spells using Arcane Research Crystals.
- Trap Makers can now be upgraded by using Jewels of Mask on them. Jewels of Mask can result from appraising any unappraised gem which would be able to produce a 2d12 gem.
- The fallback escape tree from the Forested Grove for One with the Land should now be fixed; in addition, client crashes from using the statue from the Parallel Pocket Dimension should also be fixed.
- Universal Dye Kits sold by the alchemist now have a Virtue power, which when used on an item will tell you what was used to craft it. If you have a Universal Dye Kit, you may need to purchase a new one.
- The !action SIMTools command has been added to allow easier queueing/hotkeying/voicebinding of actions. See your journal for details.
- The !assist and !lock SIMTools commands have been added to allow easier targeting and group cohesion. See your journal for details.
- The 'Enemies Sighted' and 'Flee' voice chats can now be bound with !voicebind.
- The !echo SIMTools command has been added. This will echo a message to your combat log.
- Damage immunity from equipment and spells has been added to !list imm.
- You may notice six new damage types appearing in the game, in special attacks:
-- Ectoplasmic damage is damage done by incorporeal entities.
-- Psionic damage is direct mental damage.
-- Sacred damage is the raw power of Good.
-- Vile damage is evil, corrupting power that twists and destroys.
-- Internal damage is damage from internal injuries, such as persistent wounds.
-- Subdual damage is damage that can stun you or knock you out. Subdual damage does not actually lower your hit points, but rather accumulates in a separate pool. At this time there are no attacks which do subdual damage; a way to view your subdual pool and more information will be available once the system is completed.
- Accursed Pariahs, Bane Knights, and Dwarven Warchanters may change their spells once at level 60 using the Spells Pedestal in the docks if their control class is not Bard or Sorcerer.
- Dirge of the Deathless has been reworked. The Bard and allies within the Medium radius circle (the smallest aura size) are completely immune to critical hits; allies further outside that range receive the benefit of having 127 Parry, halving all damage from critical hits.
- Unbowed Unbent Unbroken has been reworked. The Bard and allies within the Medium radius circle (the smallest aura size) are completely immune to knockdown and will stand up if knocked down; allies further outside that range receive +4 to +8 to ability checks (and twice that to skill checks) against immunity-ignoring knockdown, with the additional caveat that if they normally had a chance to fail the check, they will still fail it on a natural 1.
- Gazra no longer drops a guaranteed +16 gem.
- Pelor's stock in the Gnomish Gem Mining Corporation has paid dividends and he has invested them in a Pedestal of the Planar Traveler, as well as new carpeting for his den.
- Bug, documentation, exploit, and lag fixes. Note that one important exploit fix means new characters will have their starting equipment deleted on entering Higher Ground for the first time. New characters will now receive 500 GP on entering rather than the paltry previous 150.
UPDATE 2008-08-02
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to NWN 1.69! We STRONGLY recommend upgrading using the NWN 1.69 Critical Rebuild rather than the in-game updater. Visit www.hgweb.org/169.html for more information.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 18. This is a mandatory update; you may corrupt your character if you attempt to use an older version of HG Enhanced. Please get the new version from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Treasure Scent now improves the quality of loot by (Lore skill / 40)%, with a minimum increase of 1% (basing it off Cha modifier was causing Dex bards to be excluded from parties based solely on this spell).
- Bugs? Exploits? What are those?
UPDATE 2008-07-31
=================
- Helms no longer need to be removed to be made invisible; simply use the !opt invishelm SIMTools command to activate this feature. If you already had them enabled before, you will need to re-enable them.
- Bug and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-30
=================
- Adjusted the following items: Cloak of the Elements, Scintillating Scarf, Chain of Solidarity, Ygrette's Evanescent Locket, Heavenly Haunt's Necklace, Divine Intervention, Nature's Squirming Coil, Pendant of the Seer, Spectre's Necklace, Abyssal Helm, Crown of Uncanny Stability, Godly Helm of Balance, Visor of Vigilance, Helm of Zeal, Zendarfil's Feint, Bastion of the Fallen Lord, Folds of Fury, Silver Nimbus, Gauntlets of Transposed Energy, Belt of Eternal Preservation, Gauntlets of Gehenna, Leather of Betar Underhill, Chainmail of the Weave.
- You may ask a DM to let you exchange your Scintillating Scarf for a Helm of Zeal.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-29
=================
- The Ranger's Skin and the Shroud of the Earth Mother are now light armor to be usable by rangers. You may speak to a DM to trade in a Shroud of the Earth Mother for a random set of BUR robes (the DM will roll !d6 and give you Dim Maks on 1-3 or the new Panoply of Lliira on 4-6).
- Added new BURs: Panoply of Lliira.
- Adjusted the following items: Amulet of Unbroken Balance, Robes of the Dim Mak Master, Plate of the Legendary Master, Mail of Cruril Norhorn, Empyrean Lenses, Cloak of the Elements, Corruption, Cloak of the Unjust.
- Druid spell slots moved from the Mail of Cruril Norhorn to the Hide of Adoril Arcanscape.
- Strongheart can no longer be worn unless your base Strength is higher than your base Dexterity.
- Rank 2 paragons are now Superior instead of Elite, and the chance of +16 gems dropping from rank 3 paragons has been tripled. Gazra and Plag will now always drop a +16 gem.
- You are no longer blocked from gaining xp when you have a levelup pending. Instead, xp is awarded as if you had taken the level, meaning that there's no longer any incentive to hold off taking levels in the first place.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-24
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to CEP 2.1 and will be updating to NWN 1.69 on Saturday August 2, 2008.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 17. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- You may now see high-DC Tumble checks when you are knocked down by an immunity-ignoring knockdown attack. If you successfully make the check, the duration of the knockdown will be shortened. Base durations have not been changed.
- The Mind Blank and Lesser Mind Blank spells can now protect from a single application of an immunity-ignoring attack. For example, if you fail the check against being stunned by a cornugon and have an active Mind Blank spell, the spell will be dispelled but you will not be stunned. Also, area-effect Mind Blank is now able to properly cure confusion, and will not free creatures dominated by party members.
- Wizard specialization from the pedestal in the Docks should be fixed.
- Fireball, Fire Storm, and Flame Strike are now able to destroy trees in the canopy in Rona (but not in the Forest Floor or the Temple of Tsanje).
- The Alchemist can now customize damage types on random weapons, Dustbone weapons, Dispater weapons, and Hells set weapons. You will need to find customization gems to do this, which generally drop as uncommon random loot. The highest tier of gems only drop from elite paragons in the Hells and Solars in Elysium.
- Arcane Archer bows now scale their damage by AA level (including legendary levels), and the damage is integrated. In addition, at Arcane Archer 30 (not including LLs), any shortbow or longbow wielded by an AA receives the Keen property.
- When using Malbolgion, Imbue Arrow now does sonic strikes.
- At Weapon Master 29, Legendary Weapon Focus grants an additional attack rather than a LBAB bonus.
- Assassin Mortal Strike DC has been rescaled to be significantly better at lower levels and slightly less effective at high legendary levels. See the Assassin documents in your journal for details.
- Ranger Called Shot DC has been rescaled to be more ability-dependent. See the Ranger documents in your journal for details.
- Ranger Wisdom AC has been rescaled. See the Ranger documents in your journal for details.
- Druids now receive (Wis modifier * 2/3) Wisdom AC rather than (Wis modifier - 3).
- Accursed Pariahs no longer add their Spell Penetration feats when using the Rage boost to Spell Penetration.
- Stone Bones now grants 50% reduction to critical hit damage to Accursed Pariahs rather than full critical immunity, as if they had 127 Parry.
- Improved Heroism now grants Fighter LBAB at caster level 41 and higher when cast by a bard on himself.
- Large shields now have a maximum Dexterity bonus of (18 - armor base AC). Tower shields now have a maximum Dexterity bonus of (11 - armor base AC). See your journal for more information.
- One piece of BUR medium armor added.
- The !list ac command now shows anything that may be limiting your maximum Dexterity bonus.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-13
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 16. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- New area: Elysium! A path to the plane of Good has been opened, and legendary adventurers who lack strong moral fiber can seek glory and treasure - if they can find a boat.
- Guilds Shinkicker and Dark Templars added.
- One new BUR added, to replace the Lock of Sune Firehair's Hair, which can now be found in Elysium.
- Maiming Touch gloves have been modified slightly to differentiate them from the Dis monk gloves.
- You must have at least one Blackguard level to Turn good creatures.
- Specialist wizards now count as having an extra rank of Spell Focus when casting spells. This means that, for example, a specialist Enchanter can cast +15 GMW.
- Extant specialist wizards have been de-specialized, and to specialize, you must visit the Spells Pedestal in the docks. Specialization now follows the 3.5 rules where you select one specialized school and two barred schools. Barring schools no longer precludes you from using general-use items of that school (e.g. barring Conjuration does not prevent you from using Rez Packs).
- Hells parties with many demigod iterations may now encounter Elite Paragons, which are the equivalent of Rank 2 or Rank 3 paragons in the Hellgate arena. Elite Paragons drop higher-quality loot than normal paragons.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-06-15
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 15. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Bigby's Clenched Fist has been scaled back somewhat in damage. Enemies with higher concealment receive more glancing blows.
- The on-level-up HP maxer has been reworked. You should no longer need to relog to maximize your hit points.
- If you have at least one Paladin level, you may remove the Eye of Vecna by speaking to the Rowan Guardian.
- The RDD fear aura should be more reliable now.
- Wizards can now reorder their spellbook with the '!sb wizswap' SIMTools command. See your journal for more information.
- You can now list the rarities in a container with the '!list contents' SIMTools command. See your journal for more information.
- Curse Song no longer lowers enemy spell resistance.
- If you delete or reincarnate a character, that character's name will be blocked on all servers for 24 hours.
- New spells with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn Energy Immunity (6), Shout (4), Stone Shatter (4), Treasure Scent (3), Wail of Doom (5).
-- Clerics may now learn Corona of Cold (3), Energy Immunity (6), Foundation of Stone (1), Heartbane (4), Mass Greater Sanctuary (9), Mass Restoration (7).
-- Druids may now learn Call of Stone (4), Cast in Stone (9), Energy Immunity (6), Foundation of Stone (1).
-- Paladins may now learn Lionheart (1).
-- Rangers may now learn Inquisitive Eye (1).
-- Sorcerers and Wizards may now learn Disintegrate (6), Energy Immunity (7), Eyebite (6), Shout (5), Soul Bind (9). Soul Bind requires 10 levels of Pale Master to cast. Wizards with HG Enhanced and 10 levels of Pale Master may click the Spell Pedestal in the docks to learn Soul Bind if they know Energy Drain.
- Bug, exploit, documentation, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-05-18
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 14. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Traps and trap makers have been reworked to scale better up to and through LLs. The Hells trap kits should now function properly. Two more Hells trap kits have been added as well.
- The death zones from Hells bosses have been made more visible.
- Negative Energy Protection and Undeath's Eternal Foe now provide immunity to ability drain from undead.
- The Eye of Vecna now properly makes the user evil again without affecting the alignment of party members.
- All swift actions now properly use the same swift action timer. Activating bard epics (but not canceling them) is now a swift action.
- You will now receive !tells when you win an auction, when one of your marketed items is purchased, when you are outbid in an auction, and when one of your auctioned items expires without bids.
- Legendary Bards and Sorcerers no longer change spells using the Altar of Legends when they gain a legendary level. Instead, they need to speak to the Spells Pedestal at the northern end of the Docks. They are still restricted to changing spells at most once per legendary level. Level 60 Bards and Sorcerers may use the pedestal to change spells one time only as of this update. The pedestal will likely be unlocked again as future spells are added.
- Some spells are now swift actions: True Strike, Lesser Restoration, and Restoration.
- Hold Person is now a swift spell when cast by a Cleric, and casts Command; the target will be immobilized for one round with no saving throw (Spell Resistance still applies, and some targets are immune).
- Expanded spell access with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn True Strike (1), Deafening Clang (2), Endure Elements (2), Shadow Conjuration (4), Greater Shadow Conjuration (5), Phantasmal Killer (5), and Shades (6).
-- Druids may now learn Cat's Grace (2), Endurance (2), Owl's Wisdom (2), and Restoration (5).
-- Paladins may now learn Endurance (2), Lesser Restoration (2), Remove Curse (3), and Restoration (4).
-- Rangers may now learn Barkskin (2), Bull's Strength (2), Endurance (2), and Lesser Restoration (3).
- New spells with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn Allegro (3), Appraising Touch (1), Heroism (2), Improved Heroism (5), Insidious Rhythm (1), Joyful Noise (1), Least Spell Mantle (6), Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (6), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Fox's Cunning (6), Mass Owl's Wisdom (6), Serene Visage (1), Shock and Awe (1), and Sticky Fingers (1).
-- Clerics may now learn Conviction (1), Least Spell Mantle (4), Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Conviction (4), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Endurance (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
-- Druids may now learn Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Endurance (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
- Sorcerers and Wizards may now learn Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Endurance (6), Mass Fox's Cunning (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
- If you do not have HG Enhanced, you may not see all casting graphics from the new spells, and your combat log will not show the caster casting (you will instead see a blank line). We are working on a fix for this.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-23
=================
- The auction bug with bids being lost or overwriting higher bids should now be fixed.
- Due to issues with the old implementation, the elf Able Learner ability in legendary levels has been reworked. The new system works as follows:
- At level 41 and higher, elves may raise any cross-class skill to 31 ranks (the normal level 60 maximum) for the normal 2 points per rank.
- Once a cross-class skill is at 31 ranks or higher, if it is a class skill for one of an elf's non-control classes, it may be raised to the normal class skill limit for 3 points per rank. This is a net reduction in the total skill points spent to achieve the maximum of 63 ranks at level 60.
- Medium armor drops have been added to the Furrow and Illithids to match the heavy/light armor drops there.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-19
=================
- Ability and level drain immunity have been split on items. When you see an item say it grants immunity to level and ability drain, it actually grants immunity only to level drain. Items will say specifically if they grant immunity to ability decrease. If you have HG Enhanced, the immunities on items will be displayed correctly. There are also now items in game which grant additional specific immunities, such as Stun or Confuse.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 13. Please visit the Higher Ground Forums or HGWiki to update.
- Many areas now have skyboxes when viewed with HG Enhanced.
- Some critters have acquired alternate, improved appearances when viewed with HG Enhanced.
- You can now take Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats on Pale Master levels with HG Enhanced.
- Assassins can now take Great Strength feats as epic bonus feats directly with HG Enhanced.
- Shadowdancers can now take Great Dexterity feats as epic bonus feats directly with HG Enhanced.
- The !list rarities SIMTools command has been added to list the rarities of items in your inventory. In addition, it will list items acquired during the current reset on the server you are logged in to separately.
- All MoaD weapons have been cleaned up and should now work properly with Mortal Strike and other weapon buffs.
- Ssithrak, Myconid, and Uroboros melee weapons have been improved. Each now does extremely high damage of a single elemental type, which is integrated with standard damage (and hence goes up on a crit).
- The Muumuu of House Jadon, the Shimmering Robes of the Silvermoon, the Hammer of Akura, Universal Contumacy, Zendarfil's Feint, and many Uroboros and Myconid items have been improved.
- A new UR caster bard belt and fashion accessory have been added.
- Four more light and medium armors have been added to Rona.
- Mortal Strike should now work properly in all cases with CEP weapons, and no longer requires you to Keen your weapon before using the scabbard.
- Rogue feat bonuses should now work properly with morningstars.
- Speaking to the pillar of light in the Docks will now tell you how long you have until you can reincarnate again.
- The Negative Energy Protection part of Undeath's Eternal Foe is now actually a Negative Energy Protection effect, meaning it will not stack with NEP and can be breached off. The unique bonuses of UEF (Dodge AC and the other immunities) remain unbreachable.
- Added Guild Brotherhood.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-03
=================
- The Touch of Vecna now has the same immunity requirements as Greater Ruin, and will not be wasted if you miss the touch attack.
- New SIMTools commands: !afk, !autocast, !pcscry, !unafk, and !voicebind. See your journal for details.
- You can no longer PP players who are not within 6 levels of you.
- Hardcore item limits are now relaxed at level 41. Once you reach level 41 as a hardcore character, you can use any hardcore item.
- Documentation, bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-03-29
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 12. Please visit the Higher Ground forums or HGWiki to download it.
- Added new SIMTools commands: !combine, !count inv, !list inv, !list eq, !whoami, !whereami.
- Added concealment display to !list ac.
- Documentation updates.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-03-18
=================
- We have begun preparing many of our major systems and server modifications for NWN 1.69. Please keep a close eye out for unusual bugs. This includes both normal users and users of HG Enhanced.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 11. If you are using HG Enhanced, you must download the new version.
- Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White half-dragons now need one less Epic Toughness feat to qualify for RDD advancement.
- Lifethreading heal multiplier now increases with cleric levels, and lifethreading spells are drained from the end of your spellbook to the beginning.
- Divine Shield now grants +(Cha modifier / 2) Shield AC if your control class is blackguard or paladin, you have no monk levels, and you do not belong to a quasiclass.
- Mammon's Wrath should no longer split Mammon's Tears.
- The maximum stack size on many stackable items (e.g. potions and scrolls) has been increased.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-25
=================
- Experience has been improved in more areas for level-appropriate parties. Base experience was increased by 1% per character level, up to a cap of 40% increase for levels 40 and above.
- Documentation updates.
- Added '!list quests' SIMTools command.
- Sorcerer channeling with '!mm channel' now shows a visual effect when active.
- You can now shackle down to level 42 at the Rowan Guardian.
- Hells/Shackling DC penalty bugfixes.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-22
=================
- New area: Uroboros Peak! This mountain in the Northern Wastes is home to the mighty dragon Uroboros. It is intended for parties of level 47 to 53.
- Casters can now use '!cancel aoe' and '!cancel maze' to cancel area of effect and Maze spells they have cast.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-15
=================
- New area: Myconid Depths! These irradiated caverns are home to a group of ancient and powerful mushroom-men. The area is intended for parties of level 42 to 48.
- Legendary characters who wish to party with lower-level legendary characters may now speak to the Rowan Guardian to temporarily shackle their power. The Rowan Guardian can shackle you to level 45, 48, 51, 54, or 57.
- Experience has been adjusted for many pre-legendary areas. The process is still ongoing. Please contribute your experiences and comments on the forums.
- There are now a few more caster weapons for small-size characters.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-09
=================
- You can now upgrade to secret subraces by bringing the item or items you would normally use to acquire that subrace to the Reincarnation Thingy.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-06
===========
- Servers 117 and 118 are now available! Player limit per server has been reduced to 24, to spread the load more. They are temporarily at 27 until Server 110 arrives as well (which will give us a total of 9 Higher Ground servers).
- Random and paragon spawns in the Hells now have a chance to drop loot after the first map of each layer. The rarity of the loot increases for larger parties and the deeper your parties get in the Hells, with a very significant increase in Nessus.
- Several LL areas have had CRs rebalanced to increase rewards significantly for level-appropriate parties.
- The new XP formula has been adjusted somewhat to reduce issues for pre-legendary characters.
- When there are less than 81 players on Higher Ground (across all servers), experience, loot, and legendary party experience range will be increased for players. For every 20 players or fraction thereof less than 81 players, a 'phantom member' will be added to all parties (including soloers). These phantom members will increase experience and loot earned. In addition, the highest level character in a party will count as 2 levels lower per phantom member (but never below the level of the lowest level in the party). Best of all, phantom members need not be compensated in loot splits.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-05
===========
- Death and respawning have been reworked to prevent the logout when dead exploit. Now, when a character logs out dead, a skeleton avatar appears in their place, and remains while their respawn timer is running. If the avatar is 'resurrected' during the time the character is logged out, they will be alive when they log in, with 1 hit point. If the respawn timer runs out while the character is logged out, the avatar disappears, and the character will respawn when they next login. The item to be lost, if any, is determined on logout, and lost on next login the next time the character logs in, or uses their vault, if vaulted.
- Experience earned for defeating foes has been reworked so that rewards are more commensurate with risk. Experience handouts for parties in level appropriate areas are similar, and even increased in many cases. The main change is that base xp is now calculated based on the highest-level character in the party, instead of the average party level. The further away a character is from the highest level, the less experience they will recieve. The dropoff is small within 6 levels, and drops off more sharply after that point.
- Reincarnation is back for good, with some limitations. Look for it next to the lighthouse in the Docks, where more information is available.
- Hardcore character can no longer use items that have been held by a character more than 6 levels higher than them. They can use the !itemlevel command to tell what the lowest level a character is able to use the item at. Items that are too high level for the acquiring HC character will be destroyed.
- The !render command has been reworked and should hopefully function better now.
- Malebranches have been adjusted so Dex meleers can actually do damage to them.
- Curse Song now lowers Spell Resistance for all bards, but the SR reduction is capped at (modified Charisma / 10).
- Delayed Blast Fireball, Glyph of Warding, and Vine Mine now receive +(3 * Abjuration foci) SP if they remain set for at least one round before triggering.
- Bestow Curse is now considered a Necromancy spell when cast by a Pale Master.
- Temporary caster levels (e.g. from Energy Drain and the Sigil of Mystra) now grant additional +1 DC per temporary caster level in addition to the caster level and spell penetration bonuses.
- Sorcerers can now use the '!mm channel' command to channel additional power into their spells, at the cost of additional spell slots. See your journal for details.
- The target in Encumbria will no longer delete undroppable potions.
- Spell and feat tracking has been reworked and should now be much more accurate. Clerics should no longer lose spells below level 5 when logging out.
- Breach Balls are now purchased and found as 10-packs of grenades. If you have an existing Breach Ball (which will be an unstackable 2x2 in your inventory), talk to a DM to have it replaced with a 10-stack.
- Turn Destruction DC is now 10 + (turner level / 4) + (Cha modifier) + (2 within Medium radius or 1 within Huge radius).
- Documentation updates.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-22
===========
- The Rona run now has a stopping point halfway through, and may be resumed with the Grodk.
- Cania and Nessus now have interlude areas after the second and before the final area. If you elect to stop, you will be unable to play the stopped character until you continue or terminate the run.
- Bank chests are again limited to 50 items each. However, you now have an unlimited number of named bank chests, accessible with the '!bankchest' SIMTools command. The '!list bankchests' SIMTools command will list your named chests.
- Journal documentation has received some additional updates.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-19
===========
- HG Enhanced has been upgraded to beta 10. Please visit the Higher Ground forums or HGWiki for details on HG Enhanced.
- Added Hardcore and Softcore modes of play. Information is available from a book in the item shop.
- The Autocaster and Combat Autocaster have been combined. Using the 'talk to' option on your autocaster will begin the autocaster conversation, and using the 'unique power' will begin autocasting.
- Dwarves now receive the Bullheaded feat at level 1. Derrzagon no longer receive the Keen Senses feat.
- Elves now receive the ability to raise cross-class skills higher in legendary levels. See your journal for details.
- Gnomes now receive 2 additional skill points per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Also, gnomes with any levels in Bard now substitute Bard for Wizard as their base favored class.
- Half-elves now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. In addition, they can now acquire Legendary Skill Affinity Spot or Listen in legendary levels.
- Half-orcs now receive the Blooded and Toughness feats for free at level 1. Juggernauts no longer receive the Iron Will feat. Juggernaut critical immunity is now capped at 90%.
- Halflings now qualify for Legendary Luck without the Luck of Heroes feat.
- The Kender subrace now receives +2 INT, -2 WIS, and the ability to acquire Legendary Skill Affinity Taunt in legendary levels.
- The Ghostwise Halfling subrace now receives +2 INT, -3 CHA.
- The Drider subrace now receives +2 WIS and instead of receiving a bonus feat from drinking dragon blood, it has its vulnerabilities ameliorated.
- The Derzzagon subrace no longer gets Keen Sense now that dwarves get bullheaded.
- New subraces: Aleithian Dwarf, Fire Gnome, Whisper Gnome, Half-Eladrin, Nobarian, Wemic, Pharlan, Brownie. Check your journal for details.
- Many subraces now have favored classes. Check your journal for details.
- Barbarians now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Existing characters will receive any skill points they would have earned upon login.
- Bards now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Existing characters will receive any skill points they would have earned upon login.
- Bard epics have been reworked and are now open to all bards. See the book from the Item Shop for details.
- Rangers with a level of monk now only suffer a flat -3 penalty to dualing ac.
- Updated the following items: Frozen Tear of Cania, Pristine Way, Glory of Toril, Silks of the Arachill, Dance of Blades, Obi of the Geisha, Nightmare Hooves, Embrace of the Unicorn, Legendary Boots of Absorption, Deafening Greaves, Legendary Boots of Defense, Inspiration, Belt of Legendary Resiliance, Barbezu's Wrap, Erinyes' Stole, Kyton's Cover, Ice Reaver's Carapace, Murkfiend's Molt, Rakshasa's Hide, Trickery's Friend, Torch of the Unwary, Torch of Absorption, Shroud of Sune Firehair, Masterwork Plate of Manus, Silks of the Iridescent, Echoes of Creation, A Position of Strength, Nature's Embanking Palisade.
- Pedestals of the Planar Traveler in the Hells now grant 12 charges on rings. The Workshop now grants 10 charges.
- Scrolls and potions can now only be multi-crafted in town and the Workshop.
- Assassin Dagger was modifed to 17-20/x1, but now disallows Weapon of Choice on it (no ass dagger WMs).
- Aura and cloud effects should no longer apply only every other round.
- Divine Favor now lasts 2 turns at CL40 and 3 turns at CL60.
- At 40 base Strength, Battletide now has a Huge radius, grants bonus unresistable positive damage to the caster, and uses half the caster's Strength modifier as spell penetration bonus instead of feats if the Strength value would be higher.
- Bane Knights receive (Str modifier / 2) + (Evo foci * 1) AB to Bigby's Clenched Fist if that would be better than what they would receive for Evocation foci alone.
- The Life Transference Rod is now instant use and does not require line of sight, and can be used even if you are disabled, as long as you are not dead.
- It should no longer be possible to fugue from Limbo. Additional logging has been added as well to track this bug down.
- Fixed a bug causing the paragon dc increases to be twice what they should have been on some monsters.
- Upped the accomplishment cap on the Shadow Pontiff to 35.
- Boosted xp and loot level in the Morgue of Darkness.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-11
===========
-Changes to turning:
o Lowest TR and closest critters are turned first.
o Creatures that cannot be destroyed have a limit as to how many you may have turned at one time.
o Turning now adds LLs to turn power, instead of cleric levels over 40, halving the splash penalty.
o Kocrachons and advespas are now turned as vermin rather than outsiders.
-Added simtools !reply command.
- Added '!tell . <message>' will send a tell to the last person you sent a tell to.
-Hells tagging was reworked so that you must be alive when both Belial and Fierna are slain to get the tag.
-Biorejuvenators now have a 5 minute cooldown timer before you can use another.
-The druid epic Immutable Force now has a 2 minute cooldown timer before it can be cast again, which is not reset by rest.
-Many pharlans had critical immunity removed and some parry added.
-The bank is now able to store charged and stackable items.
-Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-09
===========
-Hells store added! Finally something to do with that wad of gold sitting in your vault! The store offers 24 different items, some new, some old, none presently purchasable.
-Hells random useable loot added! Half of Hells rare random loot spawns are now powerful useable items instead. There are 26 new useables at present.
-Hells secret loot added! You'll need a maxed search skill and a lot of patience to find them all. You can find 31 new items this way.
-CEP weapons added! There are now cep versions of all 4 tiers of random weapons, as well as MoaD, Dustbone, Dispater, and Hells Set weapons. All are currently useable with feats, using the club proficiency. Weapon-specific feats will be coming soon, at which time you'll be able to trade your club feats for specific feats. 14 new weapon types, 112 new weapons in all.
-Monster difficulty setting 0 added to arena.
-More improvements to the bank.
-You can no longer gain tags by porting in at the end of Hell runs. You must have joined the party by the second map.
-Bugfixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-05
===========
-The Bank has been updated with enhanced security and working unstick levers.
-Bugfixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-01
===========
-Added Guilds Unknown Elements and Ancient Warriors.
-You may now get a token from Zerial even if the portal in his workshop has been opened.
-Tweaked hell boss difficulty. Watch out for new tricks!
-Bugfixes.
=================
- New area: the Elemental Planes! The four base elemental planes (Air, Earth, Fire, and Water) can now be accessed. Each plane has three layers: Shallow, Middle, and Deep. The Shallow layer of each plane is for characters around level 45; the Middle layer for characters around level 50, and the Deep layer for characters around level 55. Like the Feywild, these areas have scaling encounters, drop loot, and no plot. These areas may be accessed by using a Gem of Planar Travel in the location where it is normally used.
- Two new survival mechanisms have been added: Passwall and Firewalk. Rings granting these survival mechanisms can be found in the pre-LL world. A few subraces have gained these survival mechanisms as well. Borian has more information on where to get the rings, and will also exchange them for rare 35 weapons as with the levitation and water breathing rings.
-- The quest to earn the Ring of Firewalking is capped at level 20.
-- The quest to earn the Ring of Passwall is capped at level 25.
- We recommend you run the HGE or CEP updater and be sure to update to the latest CEP revision for the best visual experience and performance in the Elemental Planes. If you run HG Enhanced, you will need to update or you will see 'Bad Strref' on the Rings of Firewalking. This is harmless.
- Creatures in the Feywild may now drop alchemical ingredients which can be used by the Alchemist to brew potions. In addition to the ingredients, the Alchemist requires a modest payment in gold for each potion made, which can be decreased by Appraise skill. In addition, the price is discounted when brewing larger stacks of ingredients.
- Harper Scouts can now craft 10-packs of potions in No PVP areas.
- New SIMTools command: !alarm. This allows you to set timers to deliver a message to yourself.
- New SIMTools command: !list autocast. This will list the spells in your autocaster.
- Shadow Shield's negative immunity no longer stacks with Negative Energy Protection.
- Bug, exploit, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-05-17
=================
- New area: the Feywild! A certain enterprising halfling has discovered a method to reach the fairy realm, designed for level 40-45 characters. The Feywild has no plot and no boss, and encounters scale for soloers all the way through full parties of 10.
- New guild halls for Tymora's Mercenaries and Red Shield.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2009-05-12
=================
- New area: Locathah Depths! This underwater area is designed for parties of level 48-53 adventurers. Location hint: ledger!
- Elysium has received an additional set loot drop.
- Some additional set loot possibilities have been added to the existing set loot drops in the Hive and the Catacombs of Dulvuroth.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-04-28
=================
- New area: the Toyshop! This area is designed for smaller parties of level 45-50 adventurers. Location hint: scarecrows!
- New area: Catacombs of Dulvuroth! This area is designed for smaller parties of level 50-55 adventurers. Location hint: blocked stairs!
- New area: the Hive! This area is designed for parties of level 52-57 adventurers. Location hint: bloody zombies!
- The (Base AC + Dex modifier) limit for medium armor has been raised from 13 to 14.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-03-28
=================
- Higher Ground has moved! You can use the '!portal' command to easily transition between servers, or the '!list servers' command to get a list of active servers.
- Forsaken Sorcerers can now learn epic spells.
- All Pedestals of the Planar Traveler now give 10 charges.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-01-31
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to CEP v2.2c. Please ensure you have the latest version of CEP.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 22. If you are using HG Enhanced, you must update. You can download HG Enhanced from wiki.hgweb.org/wiki/HG_Enhanced
- The Priest in town will now be clearer when you cannot afford to delevel.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2009-01-15
=================
- The Rowan Tree no longer has the blinding glow, due to some people having graphics crash issues with it.
- Artifacts will no longer explode when banking, but rather be forced back into the chest. Also, you can no longer reclaim artifacts during reincarnation while you have one in your inventory.
- Hotpatch rollup:
-- Character breathing bubbles are now silent in underwater areas for people with HG Enhanced.
-- Several antiexploits have been adjusted to ensure PCs are not accidentally struck by them.
-- The color of Hardcore Death messages has been adjusted to remove any confusion with Global DM messages.
-- The Crucible of Moliation should now function properly on all items it is intended to upgrade; more upgradeable items will be added in the future.
-- Grease will no longer re-knockdown targets who are already knocked down.
-- Shifter legendary foci now grant +3 DC to shifter abilities rather than +2. The Basilisk has been lowered from Rank 8 to Rank 6.
-- The Shifter protection auras now cure the effects they protect against.
-- The Sage will now tell you how many charges your ring went from and to, and should no longer have occasional cases of not charging it.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-12-14
=================
- New SIMTools command: !password. You may now set a password on your CD key. You will have to enter the password the first time you log in a character on a server each reset, and again if your IP address changes between logins. The Higher Ground team strongly recommends using a password to protect your characters.
-- Your password is encrypted and the Higher Ground staff will not have access to it if you lose or forget it. If you do lose or forget it, you will need to post on the forums to have your password cleared.
- If you are immortal, you will now be informed the first time you enter an area where you can fugue or limbo. Not all areas support this feature yet.
- Bug fixes.
UPDATE 2008-12-13
=================
- New area: Pit of Moliation! Inhabited by foul yugoloths hailing from the plane of Hades, this area is intended for legendary characters of level 52-58.
- Many shifter abilities have been adjusted or bugfixed. See your journal for details.
- Server 7 has been moved to the PW Action category on Gamespy to give Higher Ground more exposure.
- Server 8 has become a Roleplay server. Please consult your journal for details on Higher Ground Roleplay.
- Being deafened will now halve your effective Listen skill (after all other calculations, including the Blind Fight feat). This applies to both players and monsters.
- The Ring of the Planewalker, Quaternary Exotica, the Crest of Vile Darkness, the Signet of the Nine, Silver Nimbus, the Mantelet of Repulsion, the Bastion of the Fallen Lord, and the Ruby Rod of Asmodeus have been tagged as 'ego items'. You may only wear one ego item at a time. Existing Ruby Rods have been unbound from their owners along with this update, but will be rebound if used again (the four rings listed were already effectively ego items).
-- Support for relics has been added. Relics are similar to ego items but will allow themselves to be worn with other relics of the same relic category (but not with other relics or with ego items); for example, you could wear three relics of Sune but not a relic of Sune and a relic of Waukeen together. There are no relics in game at this time.
-- Support for set items has been added. Set items will grant additional bonuses as multiple items from the set are equipped. There are no set items in game at this time.
- A few externally imposed magical debuffs (e.g. Bigby's Interposing Hand) can no longer be cured by Restoration but must be dispelled.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-11-24
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 21. You can get it from HGWiki or via WorldGate. HG Enhanced Beta 21 supports additional quickchats which can be bound with the !voicebind command. Visit the HG Enhanced page on HGWiki for details. This is a mandatory update if you use HG Enhanced.
- Updated all areas of the mod with current CEP content.
- Added well over one hundred new secrets. Don't ask how many. It's a secret.
- Shifters have been reworked. Please check your journal for details.
- Rakshasa in the Hells have had their area-effect Mords reworked slightly.
- You can now use '!action abort' to clear your action queue.
- You can now use '!list spknown' to list known spells or '!list spmem' to list memorized spells.
- Added Guild Realms Marshals and Guild Red Shield.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-28
=================
- The !count demi SIMTools command has been added to see the number of demi iterations which affected the last spawn in your current area.
- The 'server' option has been added to the !who SIMTools command to provide more unified player lists when possible.
- The Imperial Bank has been taken over by the priesthood of Waukeen. The !wallet SIMTools command has been added to replace the old system.
-- Personal and transfer accounts have been merged. Personal account balances will transfer into your new account when you log characters in.
-- Hardcore characters on a CD key now share their own transfer account.
-- Documentation on the !wallet command can be found in your journal. The system includes full journaling and history of all transactions for 30 days.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-18
=================
- The !assist SIMTools command has been replaced with the !role command. Please read your journal for details. Also, the arguments to the !action and !lock SIMTools commands have changed slightly to allow more flexibility with roles.
- The 'aso' !action has been added to Assist Other.
- Crumble and Stone Shatter can now kill petrified targets in addition to constructs.
- The exchange offer for Scintillating Scarves and Shrouds of the Earth Mother has ended.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-16
=================
- Using the Player Tool 2 power from your Special Abilities menu will allow you to assist comrades. A future version of HG Enhanced will give this a custom name and icon. You may have to relog to see the power in your special abilities menu, and it will show up under your first class.
-- Currently, assisting others will help them stand up if they have been knocked down. Other forms of assistance may be added later.
- Restoring slagged, ruined, or otherwise damaged weapons should now bring any modifications back as well. Modified weapons still cannot be stored in the bank.
- Restoring slagged, ruined, or otherwised damaged armor should now restore any previous crafting.
- Bug, exploit, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-09-13
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 20. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
-- HG Enhanced beta 20 fixes the minimization crash in the Workshop, Nessus, and other areas with Scrying Orbs.
- You will no longer be booted when taking a legendary level at the Altar of Legends.
- If you log out with unsaved items in your bank chest, the game will attempt to force-save your items to the 'force-save' bankchest. You will be unable to access other bank chests until you empty the 'force-save' chest. Items which cannot be stored will be lost.
- New Area: Depths of Shuzantuhal! In waters deep beneath the Underdark, a gateway has opened to the Far Realm and a city inhabited by horrors from outside of time. This area is a post-Hells area and is intended for level 55 to 60 characters.
-- The Hand of Vecna can now be found in Shuzantuhal and no longer drops as a BUR.
- You may notice many ability tokens update. No changes have been made; the update is simply for internal cleanup and organization.
- The maximum Dexterity bonus for heavy armor has been increased by 2 points, but the AC bonus on the Pentavite Shield, Shield of the Sayarten, Agium Eragus, Slag, and Undying Flame shields has been reduced by 2 points each.
- Breach and Mord immunity items have been redone to reduce lag. Please report any problems. In addition, items that say they will grant Dispel immunity now function.
- The Illithid Exo-array now grants immunity to Confusion.
- The Snowshoes of Stygia now properly grant immunity to Druid and Bard Ice Storm, but no longer have immunity to level 4 and below spells.
- To Reign in Hell can now cast UEF only 5x/day rather than an unlimited number of times.
- Added new BURs: 4 rings, 3 large shields, 2 small shields, 2 medium armors, 2 light armor. Added one new UR medium armor.
- Added five new set items to Elysium, including the Coronet of Mnemosyne, Threads of Life, and the Circlet of Ahralira Silverpaws. In addition, several pieces have received small upgrades.
- Cloud spells (e.g. Grease, Incendiary Cloud, etc) have been reworked slightly to reduce lag. Please report any strange behavior.
- Cure and Inflict spells now increase to d10s at CL21 and d12s at CL41 when used for healing.
- Cleric Aura vs Alignment now protects specifically from Stun, Daze, and Sleep.
- Champion of Torm mind immunity now protects specifically from Stun, Daze, Charm, and Confuse.
- Water breathing has been reworked. You will now have a short time before you drown.
- Using the '!stuck' SIMTools command will attempt to unstick you if you get stuck in geometry. You may need to use the command multiple times to unstick yourself; in addition, try holding down a movement key after using it.
- The '!opt whisper' SIMTools command has been added to allow you to redirect whispers to the guild or meta channels.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-08-20
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 19. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Many cloaks now have appearances. In addition, several monsters have had their appearance upgraded.
- The guild portals which required immortality to use have been fixed, so non-immortals can leave those guilds.
- The Hells Skull can now be used to see which layers you can access.
- Kro'Waole's Hide and the Amorian Drape now have their Heal and Restoration abilities as swift actions, with 10 charges per day. Kro'Waole's Hide will no longer bind when used.
- White half-dragons who become Bloodfire Mages will lose their innate cold immunity.
- Barbarian Shapestrong Rage has been reworked; you will now possess only one token, which any Barbarian can use to change size. Your appearance will not change when your size does. See your journal for more information.
- The Healing Circle spell now only has its regeneration aura power. However, for those without HG Enhanced to cast the Mass Cure spells, the !opt healcircle SIMTools command toggles it between the regeneration aura and a Large-radius Mass Cure Moderate Wounds.
- Some creatures have acquired resistance to the Disintegrate spell which requires a certain number of caster levels to overcome.
- Lesser Mind Blank and Mind Blank now only grant their one-shot immunity to Hells-type mind effects at CL41 and higher.
- The Light spell now gets much brighter at CL41 for those with HG Enhanced.
- Many enemies in legendary levels have had their immunity to the Inflict series of spells removed. Also, immunity to Implosion, Drown, and Disintegrate have been fully separated; immunity to Implosion no longer grants automatic immunity to the other two spells.
- Battletide, Bestow Curse, Heal, Harm, Cure, Inflict, Slay Living, Ghoul Touch, and Vampiric Touch spells will now use half the caster's Strength modifier as the feat bonus to Spell Penetration if this would exceed the caster's normal bonus from Spell Penetration feats (the Battletide bonus was already in). This does not affect Mass variants.
- Bards can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Gembomb (5), Illusory Pit (5), Know Vulnerabilities (2), Lesser Mind Blank (5), Mass Cure Light Wounds (4), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (6), Needle Point (3), Rainbow Pattern (4).
- Clerics can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Mass Cure Light Wounds (4), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (6), Mass Cure Critical Wounds (7), Mass Inflict Light Wounds (4), Mass Inflict Moderate Wounds (5), Mass Inflict Serious Wounds (6), Mass Inflict Critical Wounds (7).
- Druids can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Desert Sirocco (2), Mass Cure Light Wounds (5), Mass Cure Moderate Wounds (6), Mass Cure Serious Wounds (7), Mass Cure Critical Wounds (8).
- Paladins can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Light (1).
- Rangers can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Foebane (4).
- Sorcerers and Wizards can now learn the following spells with HG Enhanced: Needle Point (3), Rainbow Pattern (4), Weapon of Impact (3).
- Legendary Wizards can now acquire new spells by visiting the Spells Pedestal and trading in Arcane Research Crystals. Arcane Research Crystals can result from appraising any unappraised gem which would be able to produce a 2d12 gem. Legendary Pale Masters who know Energy Drain as a Wizard spell may also learn spells using Arcane Research Crystals.
- Trap Makers can now be upgraded by using Jewels of Mask on them. Jewels of Mask can result from appraising any unappraised gem which would be able to produce a 2d12 gem.
- The fallback escape tree from the Forested Grove for One with the Land should now be fixed; in addition, client crashes from using the statue from the Parallel Pocket Dimension should also be fixed.
- Universal Dye Kits sold by the alchemist now have a Virtue power, which when used on an item will tell you what was used to craft it. If you have a Universal Dye Kit, you may need to purchase a new one.
- The !action SIMTools command has been added to allow easier queueing/hotkeying/voicebinding of actions. See your journal for details.
- The !assist and !lock SIMTools commands have been added to allow easier targeting and group cohesion. See your journal for details.
- The 'Enemies Sighted' and 'Flee' voice chats can now be bound with !voicebind.
- The !echo SIMTools command has been added. This will echo a message to your combat log.
- Damage immunity from equipment and spells has been added to !list imm.
- You may notice six new damage types appearing in the game, in special attacks:
-- Ectoplasmic damage is damage done by incorporeal entities.
-- Psionic damage is direct mental damage.
-- Sacred damage is the raw power of Good.
-- Vile damage is evil, corrupting power that twists and destroys.
-- Internal damage is damage from internal injuries, such as persistent wounds.
-- Subdual damage is damage that can stun you or knock you out. Subdual damage does not actually lower your hit points, but rather accumulates in a separate pool. At this time there are no attacks which do subdual damage; a way to view your subdual pool and more information will be available once the system is completed.
- Accursed Pariahs, Bane Knights, and Dwarven Warchanters may change their spells once at level 60 using the Spells Pedestal in the docks if their control class is not Bard or Sorcerer.
- Dirge of the Deathless has been reworked. The Bard and allies within the Medium radius circle (the smallest aura size) are completely immune to critical hits; allies further outside that range receive the benefit of having 127 Parry, halving all damage from critical hits.
- Unbowed Unbent Unbroken has been reworked. The Bard and allies within the Medium radius circle (the smallest aura size) are completely immune to knockdown and will stand up if knocked down; allies further outside that range receive +4 to +8 to ability checks (and twice that to skill checks) against immunity-ignoring knockdown, with the additional caveat that if they normally had a chance to fail the check, they will still fail it on a natural 1.
- Gazra no longer drops a guaranteed +16 gem.
- Pelor's stock in the Gnomish Gem Mining Corporation has paid dividends and he has invested them in a Pedestal of the Planar Traveler, as well as new carpeting for his den.
- Bug, documentation, exploit, and lag fixes. Note that one important exploit fix means new characters will have their starting equipment deleted on entering Higher Ground for the first time. New characters will now receive 500 GP on entering rather than the paltry previous 150.
UPDATE 2008-08-02
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to NWN 1.69! We STRONGLY recommend upgrading using the NWN 1.69 Critical Rebuild rather than the in-game updater. Visit www.hgweb.org/169.html for more information.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 18. This is a mandatory update; you may corrupt your character if you attempt to use an older version of HG Enhanced. Please get the new version from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Treasure Scent now improves the quality of loot by (Lore skill / 40)%, with a minimum increase of 1% (basing it off Cha modifier was causing Dex bards to be excluded from parties based solely on this spell).
- Bugs? Exploits? What are those?
UPDATE 2008-07-31
=================
- Helms no longer need to be removed to be made invisible; simply use the !opt invishelm SIMTools command to activate this feature. If you already had them enabled before, you will need to re-enable them.
- Bug and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-30
=================
- Adjusted the following items: Cloak of the Elements, Scintillating Scarf, Chain of Solidarity, Ygrette's Evanescent Locket, Heavenly Haunt's Necklace, Divine Intervention, Nature's Squirming Coil, Pendant of the Seer, Spectre's Necklace, Abyssal Helm, Crown of Uncanny Stability, Godly Helm of Balance, Visor of Vigilance, Helm of Zeal, Zendarfil's Feint, Bastion of the Fallen Lord, Folds of Fury, Silver Nimbus, Gauntlets of Transposed Energy, Belt of Eternal Preservation, Gauntlets of Gehenna, Leather of Betar Underhill, Chainmail of the Weave.
- You may ask a DM to let you exchange your Scintillating Scarf for a Helm of Zeal.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-29
=================
- The Ranger's Skin and the Shroud of the Earth Mother are now light armor to be usable by rangers. You may speak to a DM to trade in a Shroud of the Earth Mother for a random set of BUR robes (the DM will roll !d6 and give you Dim Maks on 1-3 or the new Panoply of Lliira on 4-6).
- Added new BURs: Panoply of Lliira.
- Adjusted the following items: Amulet of Unbroken Balance, Robes of the Dim Mak Master, Plate of the Legendary Master, Mail of Cruril Norhorn, Empyrean Lenses, Cloak of the Elements, Corruption, Cloak of the Unjust.
- Druid spell slots moved from the Mail of Cruril Norhorn to the Hide of Adoril Arcanscape.
- Strongheart can no longer be worn unless your base Strength is higher than your base Dexterity.
- Rank 2 paragons are now Superior instead of Elite, and the chance of +16 gems dropping from rank 3 paragons has been tripled. Gazra and Plag will now always drop a +16 gem.
- You are no longer blocked from gaining xp when you have a levelup pending. Instead, xp is awarded as if you had taken the level, meaning that there's no longer any incentive to hold off taking levels in the first place.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-24
=================
- Higher Ground has updated to CEP 2.1 and will be updating to NWN 1.69 on Saturday August 2, 2008.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 17. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- You may now see high-DC Tumble checks when you are knocked down by an immunity-ignoring knockdown attack. If you successfully make the check, the duration of the knockdown will be shortened. Base durations have not been changed.
- The Mind Blank and Lesser Mind Blank spells can now protect from a single application of an immunity-ignoring attack. For example, if you fail the check against being stunned by a cornugon and have an active Mind Blank spell, the spell will be dispelled but you will not be stunned. Also, area-effect Mind Blank is now able to properly cure confusion, and will not free creatures dominated by party members.
- Wizard specialization from the pedestal in the Docks should be fixed.
- Fireball, Fire Storm, and Flame Strike are now able to destroy trees in the canopy in Rona (but not in the Forest Floor or the Temple of Tsanje).
- The Alchemist can now customize damage types on random weapons, Dustbone weapons, Dispater weapons, and Hells set weapons. You will need to find customization gems to do this, which generally drop as uncommon random loot. The highest tier of gems only drop from elite paragons in the Hells and Solars in Elysium.
- Arcane Archer bows now scale their damage by AA level (including legendary levels), and the damage is integrated. In addition, at Arcane Archer 30 (not including LLs), any shortbow or longbow wielded by an AA receives the Keen property.
- When using Malbolgion, Imbue Arrow now does sonic strikes.
- At Weapon Master 29, Legendary Weapon Focus grants an additional attack rather than a LBAB bonus.
- Assassin Mortal Strike DC has been rescaled to be significantly better at lower levels and slightly less effective at high legendary levels. See the Assassin documents in your journal for details.
- Ranger Called Shot DC has been rescaled to be more ability-dependent. See the Ranger documents in your journal for details.
- Ranger Wisdom AC has been rescaled. See the Ranger documents in your journal for details.
- Druids now receive (Wis modifier * 2/3) Wisdom AC rather than (Wis modifier - 3).
- Accursed Pariahs no longer add their Spell Penetration feats when using the Rage boost to Spell Penetration.
- Stone Bones now grants 50% reduction to critical hit damage to Accursed Pariahs rather than full critical immunity, as if they had 127 Parry.
- Improved Heroism now grants Fighter LBAB at caster level 41 and higher when cast by a bard on himself.
- Large shields now have a maximum Dexterity bonus of (18 - armor base AC). Tower shields now have a maximum Dexterity bonus of (11 - armor base AC). See your journal for more information.
- One piece of BUR medium armor added.
- The !list ac command now shows anything that may be limiting your maximum Dexterity bonus.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-07-13
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 16. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- New area: Elysium! A path to the plane of Good has been opened, and legendary adventurers who lack strong moral fiber can seek glory and treasure - if they can find a boat.
- Guilds Shinkicker and Dark Templars added.
- One new BUR added, to replace the Lock of Sune Firehair's Hair, which can now be found in Elysium.
- Maiming Touch gloves have been modified slightly to differentiate them from the Dis monk gloves.
- You must have at least one Blackguard level to Turn good creatures.
- Specialist wizards now count as having an extra rank of Spell Focus when casting spells. This means that, for example, a specialist Enchanter can cast +15 GMW.
- Extant specialist wizards have been de-specialized, and to specialize, you must visit the Spells Pedestal in the docks. Specialization now follows the 3.5 rules where you select one specialized school and two barred schools. Barring schools no longer precludes you from using general-use items of that school (e.g. barring Conjuration does not prevent you from using Rez Packs).
- Hells parties with many demigod iterations may now encounter Elite Paragons, which are the equivalent of Rank 2 or Rank 3 paragons in the Hellgate arena. Elite Paragons drop higher-quality loot than normal paragons.
- Bug, exploit, lag, and documentation fixes.
UPDATE 2008-06-15
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 15. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Bigby's Clenched Fist has been scaled back somewhat in damage. Enemies with higher concealment receive more glancing blows.
- The on-level-up HP maxer has been reworked. You should no longer need to relog to maximize your hit points.
- If you have at least one Paladin level, you may remove the Eye of Vecna by speaking to the Rowan Guardian.
- The RDD fear aura should be more reliable now.
- Wizards can now reorder their spellbook with the '!sb wizswap' SIMTools command. See your journal for more information.
- You can now list the rarities in a container with the '!list contents' SIMTools command. See your journal for more information.
- Curse Song no longer lowers enemy spell resistance.
- If you delete or reincarnate a character, that character's name will be blocked on all servers for 24 hours.
- New spells with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn Energy Immunity (6), Shout (4), Stone Shatter (4), Treasure Scent (3), Wail of Doom (5).
-- Clerics may now learn Corona of Cold (3), Energy Immunity (6), Foundation of Stone (1), Heartbane (4), Mass Greater Sanctuary (9), Mass Restoration (7).
-- Druids may now learn Call of Stone (4), Cast in Stone (9), Energy Immunity (6), Foundation of Stone (1).
-- Paladins may now learn Lionheart (1).
-- Rangers may now learn Inquisitive Eye (1).
-- Sorcerers and Wizards may now learn Disintegrate (6), Energy Immunity (7), Eyebite (6), Shout (5), Soul Bind (9). Soul Bind requires 10 levels of Pale Master to cast. Wizards with HG Enhanced and 10 levels of Pale Master may click the Spell Pedestal in the docks to learn Soul Bind if they know Energy Drain.
- Bug, exploit, documentation, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-05-18
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 14. Please download it from HGWiki or via WorldGate.
- Traps and trap makers have been reworked to scale better up to and through LLs. The Hells trap kits should now function properly. Two more Hells trap kits have been added as well.
- The death zones from Hells bosses have been made more visible.
- Negative Energy Protection and Undeath's Eternal Foe now provide immunity to ability drain from undead.
- The Eye of Vecna now properly makes the user evil again without affecting the alignment of party members.
- All swift actions now properly use the same swift action timer. Activating bard epics (but not canceling them) is now a swift action.
- You will now receive !tells when you win an auction, when one of your marketed items is purchased, when you are outbid in an auction, and when one of your auctioned items expires without bids.
- Legendary Bards and Sorcerers no longer change spells using the Altar of Legends when they gain a legendary level. Instead, they need to speak to the Spells Pedestal at the northern end of the Docks. They are still restricted to changing spells at most once per legendary level. Level 60 Bards and Sorcerers may use the pedestal to change spells one time only as of this update. The pedestal will likely be unlocked again as future spells are added.
- Some spells are now swift actions: True Strike, Lesser Restoration, and Restoration.
- Hold Person is now a swift spell when cast by a Cleric, and casts Command; the target will be immobilized for one round with no saving throw (Spell Resistance still applies, and some targets are immune).
- Expanded spell access with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn True Strike (1), Deafening Clang (2), Endure Elements (2), Shadow Conjuration (4), Greater Shadow Conjuration (5), Phantasmal Killer (5), and Shades (6).
-- Druids may now learn Cat's Grace (2), Endurance (2), Owl's Wisdom (2), and Restoration (5).
-- Paladins may now learn Endurance (2), Lesser Restoration (2), Remove Curse (3), and Restoration (4).
-- Rangers may now learn Barkskin (2), Bull's Strength (2), Endurance (2), and Lesser Restoration (3).
- New spells with HG Enhanced:
-- Bards may now learn Allegro (3), Appraising Touch (1), Heroism (2), Improved Heroism (5), Insidious Rhythm (1), Joyful Noise (1), Least Spell Mantle (6), Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Clairaudience/Clairvoyance (6), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Fox's Cunning (6), Mass Owl's Wisdom (6), Serene Visage (1), Shock and Awe (1), and Sticky Fingers (1).
-- Clerics may now learn Conviction (1), Least Spell Mantle (4), Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Conviction (4), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Endurance (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
-- Druids may now learn Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Endurance (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
- Sorcerers and Wizards may now learn Mass Bull's Strength (6), Mass Cat's Grace (6), Mass Eagle's Splendor (6), Mass Endurance (6), Mass Fox's Cunning (6), and Mass Owl's Wisdom (6).
- If you do not have HG Enhanced, you may not see all casting graphics from the new spells, and your combat log will not show the caster casting (you will instead see a blank line). We are working on a fix for this.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-23
=================
- The auction bug with bids being lost or overwriting higher bids should now be fixed.
- Due to issues with the old implementation, the elf Able Learner ability in legendary levels has been reworked. The new system works as follows:
- At level 41 and higher, elves may raise any cross-class skill to 31 ranks (the normal level 60 maximum) for the normal 2 points per rank.
- Once a cross-class skill is at 31 ranks or higher, if it is a class skill for one of an elf's non-control classes, it may be raised to the normal class skill limit for 3 points per rank. This is a net reduction in the total skill points spent to achieve the maximum of 63 ranks at level 60.
- Medium armor drops have been added to the Furrow and Illithids to match the heavy/light armor drops there.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-19
=================
- Ability and level drain immunity have been split on items. When you see an item say it grants immunity to level and ability drain, it actually grants immunity only to level drain. Items will say specifically if they grant immunity to ability decrease. If you have HG Enhanced, the immunities on items will be displayed correctly. There are also now items in game which grant additional specific immunities, such as Stun or Confuse.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 13. Please visit the Higher Ground Forums or HGWiki to update.
- Many areas now have skyboxes when viewed with HG Enhanced.
- Some critters have acquired alternate, improved appearances when viewed with HG Enhanced.
- You can now take Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus feats on Pale Master levels with HG Enhanced.
- Assassins can now take Great Strength feats as epic bonus feats directly with HG Enhanced.
- Shadowdancers can now take Great Dexterity feats as epic bonus feats directly with HG Enhanced.
- The !list rarities SIMTools command has been added to list the rarities of items in your inventory. In addition, it will list items acquired during the current reset on the server you are logged in to separately.
- All MoaD weapons have been cleaned up and should now work properly with Mortal Strike and other weapon buffs.
- Ssithrak, Myconid, and Uroboros melee weapons have been improved. Each now does extremely high damage of a single elemental type, which is integrated with standard damage (and hence goes up on a crit).
- The Muumuu of House Jadon, the Shimmering Robes of the Silvermoon, the Hammer of Akura, Universal Contumacy, Zendarfil's Feint, and many Uroboros and Myconid items have been improved.
- A new UR caster bard belt and fashion accessory have been added.
- Four more light and medium armors have been added to Rona.
- Mortal Strike should now work properly in all cases with CEP weapons, and no longer requires you to Keen your weapon before using the scabbard.
- Rogue feat bonuses should now work properly with morningstars.
- Speaking to the pillar of light in the Docks will now tell you how long you have until you can reincarnate again.
- The Negative Energy Protection part of Undeath's Eternal Foe is now actually a Negative Energy Protection effect, meaning it will not stack with NEP and can be breached off. The unique bonuses of UEF (Dodge AC and the other immunities) remain unbreachable.
- Added Guild Brotherhood.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-04-03
=================
- The Touch of Vecna now has the same immunity requirements as Greater Ruin, and will not be wasted if you miss the touch attack.
- New SIMTools commands: !afk, !autocast, !pcscry, !unafk, and !voicebind. See your journal for details.
- You can no longer PP players who are not within 6 levels of you.
- Hardcore item limits are now relaxed at level 41. Once you reach level 41 as a hardcore character, you can use any hardcore item.
- Documentation, bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-03-29
=================
- HG Enhanced has been updated to Beta 12. Please visit the Higher Ground forums or HGWiki to download it.
- Added new SIMTools commands: !combine, !count inv, !list inv, !list eq, !whoami, !whereami.
- Added concealment display to !list ac.
- Documentation updates.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-03-18
=================
- We have begun preparing many of our major systems and server modifications for NWN 1.69. Please keep a close eye out for unusual bugs. This includes both normal users and users of HG Enhanced.
- HG Enhanced has been updated to beta 11. If you are using HG Enhanced, you must download the new version.
- Black, Blue, Green, Red, and White half-dragons now need one less Epic Toughness feat to qualify for RDD advancement.
- Lifethreading heal multiplier now increases with cleric levels, and lifethreading spells are drained from the end of your spellbook to the beginning.
- Divine Shield now grants +(Cha modifier / 2) Shield AC if your control class is blackguard or paladin, you have no monk levels, and you do not belong to a quasiclass.
- Mammon's Wrath should no longer split Mammon's Tears.
- The maximum stack size on many stackable items (e.g. potions and scrolls) has been increased.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-25
=================
- Experience has been improved in more areas for level-appropriate parties. Base experience was increased by 1% per character level, up to a cap of 40% increase for levels 40 and above.
- Documentation updates.
- Added '!list quests' SIMTools command.
- Sorcerer channeling with '!mm channel' now shows a visual effect when active.
- You can now shackle down to level 42 at the Rowan Guardian.
- Hells/Shackling DC penalty bugfixes.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-22
=================
- New area: Uroboros Peak! This mountain in the Northern Wastes is home to the mighty dragon Uroboros. It is intended for parties of level 47 to 53.
- Casters can now use '!cancel aoe' and '!cancel maze' to cancel area of effect and Maze spells they have cast.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-15
=================
- New area: Myconid Depths! These irradiated caverns are home to a group of ancient and powerful mushroom-men. The area is intended for parties of level 42 to 48.
- Legendary characters who wish to party with lower-level legendary characters may now speak to the Rowan Guardian to temporarily shackle their power. The Rowan Guardian can shackle you to level 45, 48, 51, 54, or 57.
- Experience has been adjusted for many pre-legendary areas. The process is still ongoing. Please contribute your experiences and comments on the forums.
- There are now a few more caster weapons for small-size characters.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-09
=================
- You can now upgrade to secret subraces by bringing the item or items you would normally use to acquire that subrace to the Reincarnation Thingy.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-06
===========
- Servers 117 and 118 are now available! Player limit per server has been reduced to 24, to spread the load more. They are temporarily at 27 until Server 110 arrives as well (which will give us a total of 9 Higher Ground servers).
- Random and paragon spawns in the Hells now have a chance to drop loot after the first map of each layer. The rarity of the loot increases for larger parties and the deeper your parties get in the Hells, with a very significant increase in Nessus.
- Several LL areas have had CRs rebalanced to increase rewards significantly for level-appropriate parties.
- The new XP formula has been adjusted somewhat to reduce issues for pre-legendary characters.
- When there are less than 81 players on Higher Ground (across all servers), experience, loot, and legendary party experience range will be increased for players. For every 20 players or fraction thereof less than 81 players, a 'phantom member' will be added to all parties (including soloers). These phantom members will increase experience and loot earned. In addition, the highest level character in a party will count as 2 levels lower per phantom member (but never below the level of the lowest level in the party). Best of all, phantom members need not be compensated in loot splits.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-02-05
===========
- Death and respawning have been reworked to prevent the logout when dead exploit. Now, when a character logs out dead, a skeleton avatar appears in their place, and remains while their respawn timer is running. If the avatar is 'resurrected' during the time the character is logged out, they will be alive when they log in, with 1 hit point. If the respawn timer runs out while the character is logged out, the avatar disappears, and the character will respawn when they next login. The item to be lost, if any, is determined on logout, and lost on next login the next time the character logs in, or uses their vault, if vaulted.
- Experience earned for defeating foes has been reworked so that rewards are more commensurate with risk. Experience handouts for parties in level appropriate areas are similar, and even increased in many cases. The main change is that base xp is now calculated based on the highest-level character in the party, instead of the average party level. The further away a character is from the highest level, the less experience they will recieve. The dropoff is small within 6 levels, and drops off more sharply after that point.
- Reincarnation is back for good, with some limitations. Look for it next to the lighthouse in the Docks, where more information is available.
- Hardcore character can no longer use items that have been held by a character more than 6 levels higher than them. They can use the !itemlevel command to tell what the lowest level a character is able to use the item at. Items that are too high level for the acquiring HC character will be destroyed.
- The !render command has been reworked and should hopefully function better now.
- Malebranches have been adjusted so Dex meleers can actually do damage to them.
- Curse Song now lowers Spell Resistance for all bards, but the SR reduction is capped at (modified Charisma / 10).
- Delayed Blast Fireball, Glyph of Warding, and Vine Mine now receive +(3 * Abjuration foci) SP if they remain set for at least one round before triggering.
- Bestow Curse is now considered a Necromancy spell when cast by a Pale Master.
- Temporary caster levels (e.g. from Energy Drain and the Sigil of Mystra) now grant additional +1 DC per temporary caster level in addition to the caster level and spell penetration bonuses.
- Sorcerers can now use the '!mm channel' command to channel additional power into their spells, at the cost of additional spell slots. See your journal for details.
- The target in Encumbria will no longer delete undroppable potions.
- Spell and feat tracking has been reworked and should now be much more accurate. Clerics should no longer lose spells below level 5 when logging out.
- Breach Balls are now purchased and found as 10-packs of grenades. If you have an existing Breach Ball (which will be an unstackable 2x2 in your inventory), talk to a DM to have it replaced with a 10-stack.
- Turn Destruction DC is now 10 + (turner level / 4) + (Cha modifier) + (2 within Medium radius or 1 within Huge radius).
- Documentation updates.
- Bug, exploit, and lag fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-22
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- The Rona run now has a stopping point halfway through, and may be resumed with the Grodk.
- Cania and Nessus now have interlude areas after the second and before the final area. If you elect to stop, you will be unable to play the stopped character until you continue or terminate the run.
- Bank chests are again limited to 50 items each. However, you now have an unlimited number of named bank chests, accessible with the '!bankchest' SIMTools command. The '!list bankchests' SIMTools command will list your named chests.
- Journal documentation has received some additional updates.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-19
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- HG Enhanced has been upgraded to beta 10. Please visit the Higher Ground forums or HGWiki for details on HG Enhanced.
- Added Hardcore and Softcore modes of play. Information is available from a book in the item shop.
- The Autocaster and Combat Autocaster have been combined. Using the 'talk to' option on your autocaster will begin the autocaster conversation, and using the 'unique power' will begin autocasting.
- Dwarves now receive the Bullheaded feat at level 1. Derrzagon no longer receive the Keen Senses feat.
- Elves now receive the ability to raise cross-class skills higher in legendary levels. See your journal for details.
- Gnomes now receive 2 additional skill points per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Also, gnomes with any levels in Bard now substitute Bard for Wizard as their base favored class.
- Half-elves now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. In addition, they can now acquire Legendary Skill Affinity Spot or Listen in legendary levels.
- Half-orcs now receive the Blooded and Toughness feats for free at level 1. Juggernauts no longer receive the Iron Will feat. Juggernaut critical immunity is now capped at 90%.
- Halflings now qualify for Legendary Luck without the Luck of Heroes feat.
- The Kender subrace now receives +2 INT, -2 WIS, and the ability to acquire Legendary Skill Affinity Taunt in legendary levels.
- The Ghostwise Halfling subrace now receives +2 INT, -3 CHA.
- The Drider subrace now receives +2 WIS and instead of receiving a bonus feat from drinking dragon blood, it has its vulnerabilities ameliorated.
- The Derzzagon subrace no longer gets Keen Sense now that dwarves get bullheaded.
- New subraces: Aleithian Dwarf, Fire Gnome, Whisper Gnome, Half-Eladrin, Nobarian, Wemic, Pharlan, Brownie. Check your journal for details.
- Many subraces now have favored classes. Check your journal for details.
- Barbarians now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Existing characters will receive any skill points they would have earned upon login.
- Bards now receive 1 additional skill point per level. Skill points for levels prior to 41 will be granted at level 41. Existing characters will receive any skill points they would have earned upon login.
- Bard epics have been reworked and are now open to all bards. See the book from the Item Shop for details.
- Rangers with a level of monk now only suffer a flat -3 penalty to dualing ac.
- Updated the following items: Frozen Tear of Cania, Pristine Way, Glory of Toril, Silks of the Arachill, Dance of Blades, Obi of the Geisha, Nightmare Hooves, Embrace of the Unicorn, Legendary Boots of Absorption, Deafening Greaves, Legendary Boots of Defense, Inspiration, Belt of Legendary Resiliance, Barbezu's Wrap, Erinyes' Stole, Kyton's Cover, Ice Reaver's Carapace, Murkfiend's Molt, Rakshasa's Hide, Trickery's Friend, Torch of the Unwary, Torch of Absorption, Shroud of Sune Firehair, Masterwork Plate of Manus, Silks of the Iridescent, Echoes of Creation, A Position of Strength, Nature's Embanking Palisade.
- Pedestals of the Planar Traveler in the Hells now grant 12 charges on rings. The Workshop now grants 10 charges.
- Scrolls and potions can now only be multi-crafted in town and the Workshop.
- Assassin Dagger was modifed to 17-20/x1, but now disallows Weapon of Choice on it (no ass dagger WMs).
- Aura and cloud effects should no longer apply only every other round.
- Divine Favor now lasts 2 turns at CL40 and 3 turns at CL60.
- At 40 base Strength, Battletide now has a Huge radius, grants bonus unresistable positive damage to the caster, and uses half the caster's Strength modifier as spell penetration bonus instead of feats if the Strength value would be higher.
- Bane Knights receive (Str modifier / 2) + (Evo foci * 1) AB to Bigby's Clenched Fist if that would be better than what they would receive for Evocation foci alone.
- The Life Transference Rod is now instant use and does not require line of sight, and can be used even if you are disabled, as long as you are not dead.
- It should no longer be possible to fugue from Limbo. Additional logging has been added as well to track this bug down.
- Fixed a bug causing the paragon dc increases to be twice what they should have been on some monsters.
- Upped the accomplishment cap on the Shadow Pontiff to 35.
- Boosted xp and loot level in the Morgue of Darkness.
- Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-11
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-Changes to turning:
o Lowest TR and closest critters are turned first.
o Creatures that cannot be destroyed have a limit as to how many you may have turned at one time.
o Turning now adds LLs to turn power, instead of cleric levels over 40, halving the splash penalty.
o Kocrachons and advespas are now turned as vermin rather than outsiders.
-Added simtools !reply command.
- Added '!tell . <message>' will send a tell to the last person you sent a tell to.
-Hells tagging was reworked so that you must be alive when both Belial and Fierna are slain to get the tag.
-Biorejuvenators now have a 5 minute cooldown timer before you can use another.
-The druid epic Immutable Force now has a 2 minute cooldown timer before it can be cast again, which is not reset by rest.
-Many pharlans had critical immunity removed and some parry added.
-The bank is now able to store charged and stackable items.
-Bug and exploit fixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-09
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-Hells store added! Finally something to do with that wad of gold sitting in your vault! The store offers 24 different items, some new, some old, none presently purchasable.
-Hells random useable loot added! Half of Hells rare random loot spawns are now powerful useable items instead. There are 26 new useables at present.
-Hells secret loot added! You'll need a maxed search skill and a lot of patience to find them all. You can find 31 new items this way.
-CEP weapons added! There are now cep versions of all 4 tiers of random weapons, as well as MoaD, Dustbone, Dispater, and Hells Set weapons. All are currently useable with feats, using the club proficiency. Weapon-specific feats will be coming soon, at which time you'll be able to trade your club feats for specific feats. 14 new weapon types, 112 new weapons in all.
-Monster difficulty setting 0 added to arena.
-More improvements to the bank.
-You can no longer gain tags by porting in at the end of Hell runs. You must have joined the party by the second map.
-Bugfixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-05
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-The Bank has been updated with enhanced security and working unstick levers.
-Bugfixes.
UPDATE 2008-01-01
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-Added Guilds Unknown Elements and Ancient Warriors.
-You may now get a token from Zerial even if the portal in his workshop has been opened.
-Tweaked hell boss difficulty. Watch out for new tricks!
-Bugfixes.