--From the Sony boards - posted by Grumbuk--

TEST SERVER CODE UPDATE 11/8/04
Please remember that all changes on Test are subject to change and may not make it to Live servers depending on the results of testing.
Thanks for playing on Test!
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- The /autofire command should work for non-GM clients now and various bugs related to it have been fixed.
- Added code to check and validate specialization skills. If the values are not legal, the player informed why they are not legal and they are reset.
- Added popup confirmation dialog when you attempt to give an augmented item to an NPC.
- Added chat message when submitting a /bug as feedback to let you know if it was submitted or cancelled.
- No-rent containers no longer poof on login if they contain items. They instead change into an unenchanted container with the same number of slots, and a chat message notifies the player.
- The Tradeskill window will now allow up to 500 total favorites (up from 100) across all tradeskills.
- Added optional parameters to /book command -- /book open, /book close
- Fixed a bug with haste items and haste augments. Their effects were stacking when they shouldn't have. It will now only take the greatest haste effect from the item including augments.
- Fixed bug where a player that has over 2 million plat in his inventory was unable to purchase anything from a vendor or trader.
- /yell messages are no longer displayed if the yelling player is in your ignore list
- /Melody should now be working properly.
- Some models that were scaled dramatically could cause the collision system to fail, resulting in warps to ceiling and other strange side effects. In particular the vases in dranikcatacombsa at 1000,-1011, 0.
- Players standing on the lip of an edge should now slide off them more smoothly. This should dramatically reduce how often players experience 20k fall bug (which is still being looked into) and also make it much easier to get out of the water in many situations.
- There have been some optimizations to the collision system. You may see improved performance in zones with very large stationary objects (potimea, bloodfields, etc).
- Fixed problem with the Beastlord AA Bestial Alignment where if you had maxed buffs this AA would not reset if it did not take.
- Duration enhancement focuses and AAs should now increase the duration of pet buffs.
- The spell Nature's Blight was not increasing the damage as stated and should be working as intended now.

Thats sad if its going to stay as is. It just doesn't make any sense towards the quest and just doesn't fit the bill in my book.

http://lucy.allakhazam.com/spell.html?id=6237&source=Test

I dont' complain to much but this one I must complain about.

numhits = 10 (i.e. 10 hits till it wears off) still too...

Cant yell at Grumbuk, he's just fixing it to be what was originally intended. Too bad what was intended, um, sucks rather badly.

/agree Sobe

The whole thing is just sad. I have absolutely no motivation to do epic 1.5 as it stands.

You ever wonder why the druid epic 1.5, which is all about restoring nature's balance, has an effect called "nature's blight"? =\

What!??! We have an epic 1.5?? I hadn't noticed..

- The spell Nature's Blight was not increasing the damage as stated and should be working as intended now.

Who the "$&%"$% wants its dmg increased, give us a completely NEW effect that is worth it. Sometimes i really think the designer are on crack when designing some items pfft.

Seems like they are closing in on blowing a great opportunity to appease so many of us with a small gesture.
1. Improve our healing abilities
2. 1.5 Epic Effect Not that issue #1 could be completely alleviated with a cool healing epic effect, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction.

I can appreciate the uniqueness of the epic effect as is, but uniqueness at a high cost of utility is just blah.

I think it was appropriate for them to fix Nature's Blight so it would at least work as described. In the meantime, I hope they are still reevaluating all epic effects as they said they were doing; it won't take much evaluation to realize NB is worthless compared to the effects other class epics received.

Here are the issues with Nature's Blight as I see them:

1. At only 5% increased damage, NB has no virtually no impact in a group setting; and even in a raid setting can potentially yield no impact (see 2-5).
2. Being limited to Direct Damage spells, NB can only provide a noticable (but still trivial) benefit if we assume other high-damage nukers are present; essentially, those playing three of the sixteen classes.
3. Fading after 10 DD spells, means that NB can be wasted quickly on lesser nukes (e.g. DD spells of hybrids, partially resisted nukes, wizard concussion nukes, etc.) and further wasted on minor DD spell procs from weapons and pets because the effect has no "minimum allowable damage" rule to determine which DDs count against the 10 nuke limit.
4. Having a mere -50 modifier on a save versus magic, NB is far too easily resisted by mobs, meaning the effect will often be wasted entirely, resulting in no benefit whatsoever for the duration of its 10 minute recast delay.
(Note: the OLD epic's effect had a -100 modifier and no recast delay)

And most importantly...
5. Having no healing or curing attributes, NB isn't very appropriate for a pure priest class who, in order to get this epic, engaged in a lengthy quest which from its very beginning was about aiding NPCs who wished to rid the land of a new disease.
(It also is not very consistent with the game's ongoing trend of marginalizing the utility and dps aspects of the druid class to push us more towards a healing role.)

So yeah, after waiting for over a month, I sure hope SOE has made some progress in their stated plan to reevaluate all epics -- and hope that wasn't just another campaign promise which roughly translates to "Give yourselves a few months to get used to having no worthwhile epic effect."

~Firemynd

It sucks. nuff said.

/sarcasm on
but hey! we got extended enhancement 5 on our OoW armor.
those poor SKs got stuck with ID5 and BA5
/sarcasm off

All of the problems Firemynd mentioned plus 1 more: 100 range is too low. Nearly every other spell we cast on mobs has twice as much range. On 100-200 range AE fights, why do we have to stop casting, get within range of the nasty AEs and then move out of range again to use our epic?

Nicely put, Firemynd. And yeah, range sucks on NB =\

It sounds like we got the epic effect meant for Wizards not that I'd wish this sucktastic effect on them.

I've completed like 90% of the epic, but this effect is the reason why I have 0 motivation to finish.

The only time I used to use epic effect is when I was bored and suddenly remembered it had an effect ... might as well click it.

Its utterly useless.

Well, our whole epic is about getting rid of a disease and maybe looking for a new cure. So why cant the epic effect be something that gives the grp a SotW/G type effect with cure disease/poison? Id like that on a 10 min refresher.

O you mean simialiar to the clerics effect on their shield. /nod

I will probably continue to never use the clickie once it's fixed, it's just not that useful in raids for the reasons above and with the recast time is just stupid for group use.

It does not fit with our class... the quest... or the other priest epics, most notably the lovely, but fairly easy to get shaman epic.

Speaking of which, I read elsewhere that some mobs (dont know which) for the Shaman and Necro epic 1.5's were buffed up on Test...

Tarlang was a helluva fight. There are a few other mobs earlier in the necro quest that should probably be a little more difficult, but sure hope that NC kyv is *not* one of the mobs they buffed up ... /shudder

~Firemynd

Why do they hate druids so bad?

What about a potent recourse effect?

Mana 200-400 a tic for a minute
HP 300-500 a tic for a minutes
focus Mana Pres Detrimental of like 60% for a minute
Rune that like 3 to 5k that lasts for a minute

I've done everything but the raids so far for the epic. The ONLY reason I want to finish the quest is because it's a massive improvement as far as stats go for my primary slot. The epic clicky effect, NB, is of course crap... I'll probably never use it.

As everyone else basicly stated, it goes against the theme of our class to date. If they spent so much time shifting our focus from damage to healers in the past, why the heck take the time to give us a useless effect like this?

I'd be much happier with some form of a right click beneficial effect. Perhaps a right click full party cure, with a short but noticable regen. Something USEFUL.

What about a potent recourse effect?

Mana 200-400 a tic for a minute
HP 300-500 a tic for a minutes
focus Mana Pres Detrimental of like 60% for a minute
Rune that like 3 to 5k that lasts for a minute
Yeah! any of these, too!

/sigh/

Things like this are why I started my Bard, who I play just as much as the druid now =/...

Gheesh ! Sombody get a mop !

.............................. He he ....... Didn't see !

Ok so took what 2 months for them to even acknowledge that it wasnt working WTF!!!!! I think they really dont care cause they know that eq is just about done for but it really bites that I waisted my time and effort not to mention the help i received from my guild and friends to get a totally useless (even if it worked) peice of crap epic......Thanks again SOE for making eq a miserable game......

Nerf Wars
Episode IIX : Sony Strike Again

Part 3 of the Druid campain....


But Really the Effect sucks .. as well as being wasted on smaller nukes.. it will also be wasted on Melee procs... My SK hast 2 Wepon Procs, 1 Permante Innate Procs, 1 Imbuled Proc and hes always casting 2+ Fast casting DD's and 1 lifetap.. i Proc about 7-10 times a min, and cast 3-4 DD's in the same time ...

Another point is ... Check Vs Magic -50 is a joke.. Festering Darkness (60 SK Snare/Dot) is same and it's resisted ALOT about 60% of the time or more in OOW

IMO if thay wanna keep it like this thay need to make it a static 3-6min duration and +10%dmg

i totaly disagree on us needing better healing abilities, the healing abilities atm, are more then enouth, those druids of you that have been around a long time, would know that when you made your druid the healing spells where nothing compared to what they are now, a druids healing is closest to if not a cleric. and i dont see the need for more, or a healing focus on our epic.
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Originally Posted by corlathist
What about a potent recourse effect?

Mana 200-400 a tic for a minute
HP 300-500 a tic for a minutes
focus Mana Pres Detrimental of like 60% for a minute
Rune that like 3 to 5k that lasts for a minute
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we have oken guard allready , we dont need a rune, and the other 3 are just going overboard...

would know that when you made your druid the healing spells where nothing compared to what they are now,
Yup, with the exception of CH, we healed nearly identically to clerics for most of our careers, and sometimes better. That hasnt been the case in a long long time, and is so far from the truth these days, it's laughable.