0.9.8 Patch Notes

Version 0.9.8
Notes:
  • Your passive skill points have not been reset by this patch.
  • The legacy migration has not occured at the same time as this patch. We expect to perform it sometime before the weekend. When this occurs, it will move all current Default and Hardcore characters to the Legacy and HC Legacy leagues respectively. Any stashed items will be added as extra “Remove only” tabs in your legacy stashes. Items cannot be placed in these new stash tabs.


Features:
  • We've added a Friends List to the Social panel. When you add someone to your friends list, it also sends them an invitation offering to add you to theirs.
  • You can now set your Account Status at the top of the Social panel. This status is broadcast to people who have you on their friends list.
  • Added a new player aura - Clarity: An aura that grants mana regeneration to you and your allies.
  • Added a new support gem - Culling Strike: Skills supported by this gem kill enemies reduced to 10% or less life.
  • Added a new support gem - Point Blank: Ranged attack skills supported by this gem deal more damage to very close targets and less damage to farther away targets.
  • Added a new support gem - Iron Grip: Ranged attack skills supported by this gem have the strength melee damage bonus applied to them.
  • Added a new support gem - Iron Will: Spells supported by this gem have the strength melee damage bonus applied to them.
  • Added a new support gem - Melee Damage on Full Life: While you're on full life, melee skills supported by this gem deal increased physical damage.
  • Added support for queues at the login server if there are too many players online.
  • Empty game instances now close earlier if they have no side areas that would cause you to return to them. The values are roughly 8 minutes for areas that don't have side areas and 15 minutes for areas that do.
  • Your starting weapon now spawns again in the first area if you're disconnected before picking it up.
  • Continued to incrementally improve the art, effects, environments and sound.


Balance:
  • All weapons have been revamped into new sequences that have better level progression and balance. These weapons are spread over three tiers that correspond to the three difficulty levels that will be available when the third act is released. Weapons in the third tier are balanced to not be strictly better than each other.
  • Rebalanced many item mods. Some will have changed levels, rendering certain items unusable if you don't meet the new level requirements.
  • Returned the defensive properties off armour pieces (that add Armour, Evasion or Energy Shield) to 0.9.6 values. We consider the 0.9.7 armour changes a failed experiment. Monster damage has been rebalanced slightly to accomodate this.
  • Most Unique weapons have had new levels and base types assigned to them. Mods have been rebalanced on many of them to take into account their new levels. Existing Unique items will not have had their stats or base types changed.
  • The default critical strike changes on weapons have less variance now. The high end ones are slightly lower than they were before.
  • The vendor recipe that used to yield 10 Jeweler's Orbs now only yields 7.
  • Items for sale in the vendors can now go up to one level above the player's level.
  • Reduced monster density in the Submerged Passage levels.
  • Increased the damage of Hailrake's Ice Spears on higher difficulties.
  • Reduced values of Item Quantity and Item Rarity mods and support gems.
  • Reduced the mana cost of Explosive Arrow.


Bug Fixes:
  • Fixed a bug where Goatmen using Leap Slam would slide at the end of their jump.
  • Fixed a bug where hovers of items were displaced if the game had been resized.
  • Fixed a bug where the melee damage bonus from strength didn't affect certain physical damage mods properly.
  • The Faster Casting support gem doesn't speed up the Haste aura any more.
  • Hidden monsters can no longer be targeted, attacked or damaged until they un-hide.
  • Fixed character creation errors so that they're not hard to read any more.
  • Fixed a problem where screenshots taken with the F8 key would look wrong.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause area transitions to fail rarely.
Lead Developer. Follow us on: Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Contact Support if you need help!
Appreciate the hard work guys, looking forward to trying the new patch!
"
Chris wrote:
  • Increased the damage of Hailrake's Ice Spears on higher difficulties.

omg no!! I already pee a little when fighting Hailrake before this change.



Righteous Fire get scrapped?
Nice. Always like seeing more support gems. Fills the game out more, distinguishing it more from the pack.
Available to mediate cross-league trades and mirror services. Send me a PM here or in-game.
IGN: SpudOfDoom | The Exiled - Path Of Exile's oldest clan
"
Lo4f wrote:
"
Chris wrote:
  • Increased the damage of Hailrake's Ice Spears on higher difficulties.

omg no!! I already pee a little when fighting Hailrake before this change.


The philosophy is that side areas are hard :)

"
Lo4f wrote:


Righteous Fire get scrapped?


Nope, just not fixed in time for this patch. It was only a week of development.
Lead Developer. Follow us on: Twitter | YouTube | Facebook | Contact Support if you need help!
"
Lo4f wrote:
"
Chris wrote:
  • Increased the damage of Hailrake's Ice Spears on higher difficulties.

omg no!! I already pee a little when fighting Hailrake before this change.


He honest to god is the only enemy that scares me. SO MANY ICE SPEARS, DON'T GET HIT ON MERICLESS.
"
Items for sale in the vendors can now go up to one level above the player's level.


Does this mean i no longer have to have my ass handed to me in chaos,in order to find a base a destroyer helm?Sweet!
Will we ever get "real" support gems in PoE? Just look at some rune effects in D3 and you will know what im talking about.

BTW. Is this new politic? Each keystone as a gem?

You have some great graphics and art in this game but most mechanic stuff (skills atc..) is so fukin generic and boring. :) And each new patch is worse in these mattert tbh (more generic supoort gems, more generic elemental skills, SUPER-GENERIC auras).

Why you add 10 genenric auras and XX generic supports when you must focus on creating interesting monsters, boss fights, Voiceovers and itemization (uniques are lacking in 90% cases)?

I really hope that future patches will be more creative (real/fun supports, monster behavior, etc..). BEcause current way of PoE development (throwing tons of generic content to produce pseudo-complexity) is dissapointing.

And if i may have my 2 cents - showing the game to vide audience on this stage is very big mistake. You will be bashed for boring monsters, no tutorials and sucky (no rewarding) drop rate - trust me. PPL will play for two days - they kill 23343 boring skeletons and bandits, if they will be extremely lucky they will have one unique drop and then they go to FB and write - "game is bleh".

Bottom line - the last patches was very dissapointing... this one is disapointing too. No because its content (i know its only a week) but because overall way of changes and progresion of the game.
Last edited by Kabraxis on Mar 29, 2012, 5:24:22 AM
"
Chris wrote:
The philosophy is that side areas are hard :)


He was quite strong at merciless already so cant understand why he need a buff? I was about 1.2k hp and 700 es with 75% cold resist and his spears took me to 400-500 hp in single hit.

Any news about weekend races?
Mirror of Kalandra?
Overall a great patch. But I somehow dislike the tendency to make a wide range of the keystones available as support gems, as it dilutes the difference between characters even further. Imho, Keystones should be seen as prestige-class like build opportunities for certain classes, and should not be available by using a mere support gem when you are miles away from the keystone with your passive skill distribution. Skilling a Keystone should not mean: "Yeah, now I have one more support-gem slot!"
Disregard witches, aquire currency.
Last edited by dust7 on Mar 29, 2012, 5:36:00 AM

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