More Shrouded Isles Info

[old.Wildfire]

GameSpy have put up their preview of DAoC:SA so I thought I'd save you all the bother of going to their website, by copying all the relevant bits into here. All I've cut out is the chaff, the meaty info that could affect you is below. Please note that there is naturally some crossover between this and my last info post about DAoC:SA, but this one has more detailed information.

In Hibernia, the new island is called Hy Brasil, a wooded paradise, home of the plant-like Sylvan race. They are tall and slender creatures with bark-like skin and hair colors that match the leaves about their surroundings. Other races focus on nature magic, but this race has a specific affinity for plants; Sylvans are part of nature (and as one can see from their physical appearance), not merely masters of it. New classes for this race are the Animist, a plant mage with good casting abilities for direct damage, and the Valewalker, a mage / melee hybrid class that can only wear cloth armor, but can carry a scythe.

For members of Albion, the land of Avalon is finally revealed. Long ago it was invaded by half-man, half-dragon creatures (called Drakoran) who turned Avalon city into a smoking ruin. Players in this realm get the Inconnu (French for "unknown" or "mysterious") class, small albino humanoids with white skin, pale eyes, and a hair colors including blue, red, and blond. They also have a series of facial tattoos to differentiate one from another. Living underground, they exist to serve Arawn, the "old world" Lord of the Underworld. The scenario for players in Avalon is to retake the island (with the help of the Britons) that has been taken over by the forces of the Necromancer Morgana.

The new classes for the Inconnu are the Necromancer, a chain mail wearing cleric that specializes in one-handed weapons. He will be accompanied by undead pets and a fellow Necromancer named the Reaver, a melee hybrid class that specializes in destructuve chants.

Midgardians get to game on the new island of Aegir, the land of trolls and kobolds. In the past Aegir was invaded by Morvaltars who wiped-out the Troll fathers. Players in this realm get the domesticated version of the Morvaltars -- the Valkyns, a prehistoric, sinewy and dexterous humanoid race that worships the "Earth Mother." Players on this island need to liberate Trollheim.

The new classes for the Valkyn include the bone animator, aptly named the Bone Dancer, and the Savage, a light tank that utilizes hand-to-hand combat and can attach claws, brass knuckles, and similar weapons.

Though these new lands are understandably geared for more experienced players, even relatively new players will benefit from the technical aspects of the expansion. The expansion upgrades the game to the NetImmerse 4.1 Engine and gives it the following new features:

• Faster framerates.
• More detailed spell effects with great new eye candy.
• Smoother animation for creature and character models.
• Double sized textures.
• Improved tree models.
• More varied and graphically interesting terrain (in the new isles).
• Reflective surfaces including ice and mirrors.
• Realistic water effects including ripples, reflections, and currents.
• Shadows for character models (and possibly creatures).

Currently, The Strike Team (Mythic's elite team of developers) is focusing on four areas to improve: its PvP server (Mordred), spell crafting (current estimates say that this will be enabled by August), housing, and minor fixes and tweaks. One of the major targets of their attention is trying to improve siege craft. This is an area that should be a major feature of Dark Ages of Camelot, but it wasn't properly implemented at launch so many players simply ignore it. The Strike Team is determined to change this. The other three points are specific projects and each should be finished about a month apart starting with the PvP server, now in open beta.

The biggest enhancement Shrouded Isles will implement is housing. This element should bring about a new dynamic for the game as players may start congregating around the cities more and developing new social patterns.

Four levels of housing will be available, each costing a different amount to maintain, and featuring different upgradeable areas including porches, vaults, tapestries, carpets, smiths, enchanters, healers, rechargers, and consignment merchants who can sell items on behalf of the player. Each house can feature guild banners / shields / emblems on the door and will be customizable by trim color, roof type, and material (wood, stone, etc.). Other upgrade options include bindstones, crafting tools such as forges, lathes and looms, and chests for storage.

When you click on a house, you will be able to determine its owner, and more importantly, if you can enter it or not. Once inside the house, owners will be able to hang weapons and objects on the walls and place furniture, such as tables and chairs. Obviously, the amount of stuff that the house can hold depends on what level it is; a level one house can only hold a small amount of goods, while a level four house can pack it in.

 

[old.Im pac man!!]

DROOL , when are we getting those houses?

 

[old.Galieran]

OMG, this sounds too cool to be true.

I have two questions tho;
Does anyone know if the "old" DAoC and Shrouded Island are connected or is it a whole new set of realms in a way. Can I walk/swim from Camelot to Avalon? Or am I missing something.

Furthermore, is the housing thingie only in these Shrouded Islands or also in the "old" realms?

 

[Herbal Remedy]

a cleric that specs in weapons omg lvling monster

 

[Vireb]

necromancer sounds like a skald
and the new cleric sounds kinda like a friar cept chain which a 44 enh friar has goit ne way

 

[--xion--]

erm wel im guessing the houses will be a guild house fairly expensive but there are laods of guilds,,where will the land for all the houses be?

 

[old.LandShark]

Given that there will be a huge wave of the new classes, when we get this expansion, I only hope to god that said classes are balanced.... =)

Houses: rah.

To be quite honest, none of the expansion stuff seems as good to me as the spellcrafting alchemy that's soon going into the base game. But hey, it's all fun

 

[Graknak]

Nice to hear that we finally get some extra storage....... for a price
Also a Thrust specced "Cleric" with raise dead abilities...... hmmmmmmm sounds interesting (but i gues it's more a "Charm" undead then a raise undead)

Oh well now all we have to do is wait......forever!!!!!! hmm i think it wil be about 2 years before we get it and if GOA needs to implement a whole new isle during translations i think we gonna have a mighty big problem.

 

[old.Wildfire]

Would be nice if the necro could raise a number of undead similar to the way cabalists/enchanters/spiritmasters summon their current pets.