Version 1.0.2

Notes:

This patch contains substantial balance changes to Damage Over Time calculations. If problems are found, we'll follow up rapidly with hotfixes. Please be very careful when playing in the Hardcore or Nemesis leagues after patches of this size.

Major Content/Features:

Added a new intelligence skill - Storm Call : Sets a marker at a location. After a short duration, lightning strikes the marker, dealing damage around it. When this happens, it will also set off the lightning at any other markers you've cast.

: Sets a marker at a location. After a short duration, lightning strikes the marker, dealing damage around it. When this happens, it will also set off the lightning at any other markers you've cast. Storm Call is available to the Shadow, Witch and Templar from the "Breaking some Eggs" quest in Normal Difficulty.

Added four new Unique items, three of which were designed by supporters.

Added six new cosmetic microtransactions: Seraph Spectral Throw Effect, Lightning Bat Pet, Orange Portal Effect, Exile's Essentials Back Attachment and two Thanksgiving limited-time items: Pilgrim Hat and Ornate Pilgrim Hat.

Added two new achievements: Elemental Aegis and Dream Within a Dream.

One new vendor recipe has been added.

End-game Maps have been increased in size. Map mods that affect size have been removed. More details are provided in the balance section below.

Minor Content/Features:

You can now report whisper messages by right clicking on them.

Our system for rendering effects on game objects has been improved. Multiple effects on the same object can now co-exist without looking bad.

Several skills have had their effects updated to remove additional lights. This should result in fewer performance issues and frame rate drops when these skills are used.

A button to view the Path of Exile Credits has been added to the login screen. It doesn't play the awesome music, though.

Some skills now display average damage per skill use instead of DPS, as DPS would not make sense for them.

Hailrake now has a couple of new effects.

Added new visual effects to several unique items: Redbeak, Heartbreaker, Soul Taker, Nycta's Lantern, The Supreme Truth, alternate art Reaper's Pursuit and The Blood Reaper.

The Scion is now enabled on your account after killing Dominus, even if she has not been rescued from her cage.

Continued to incrementally improve the sound, art, effects and environments.

End-game Map Balance:

All maps have been increased in size. All maps will be similar to or larger than they would be if they previously had the Larger or Branchy map mods.

Removed "Massive" and "Labyrinthine" mods from maps. Existing maps with these mods will grant 20% quantity, but will not change the size of the map. This quantity won't show on the map, but will appear on the world area once it is made.

The following mods have been added: "of Lightning" (causes shocked ground), "Hexproof" (monsters are immune to curses), "Feral", "Demonic", "Bipedal" (these replace monsters with a specific type).

The "Villainous" mod has been removed.

The "Capricious" mod now grants more quantity and larger pack sizes.

The map mod "of Ice" now grants more quantity. "of Flames" grants less quantity.

Insect map packs have had their composition changed.

Added Vaal Fallen and Serpentine Constructs as the signature monsters for the Maze Map.

Removed Devourers as the signature monster in the Labyrinth Map.

Added additional large skeleton packs to the signature monsters for the Museum Map.

Added additional Vaal Construct packs to the signature monsters for the Vaal Pyramid Map.

The "of the Warlord" mod has been removed (Warlord's Mark Curse).

The additional quantity granted by the "of Hemomancy" mod has been increased to 25 from 15.

The "Fleet" mod has been increased from 20-25 attack speed, cast speed and movement speed to 25-35 attack speed, cast speed and movement speed.

Damage Over Time Balance:

Previously, modifiers to damage dealt applied only to damage on hits unless they specifically said otherwise (for example, Increased Burning Damage).

Generic modifiers to damage dealt will now apply to damage over time that your character causes. Damage over time is not spell damage, nor attack damage, so modifiers specific to those types will not apply. Non-specific "increased damage" modifiers will apply to damage over time. Type-specific modifiers will apply as well. For example, "increased fire damage" modifiers will apply to fire damage over time.

Modifiers based on how the damage is dealt will apply as appropriate - for example, increased area damage and increased projectile damage will both apply to the poison clouds from Poison Arrow, as it fills an area and is an effect of a projectile.

Viper Strike can be supported by Melee Splash, now that the damage penalty also applies.

Damage conversion does not apply to damage over time.

The changes in this patch apply to most damage over time in the game (i.e. both players and monsters).

One exception is that damage increases will not apply to damage over time that you cause on yourself. For example, having 100% increased damage won't make the chaos damage over time from Blood Rage more powerful.

Note: This is a functional change to Righteous Fire. Previously this skill did increase the burning damage on you by your increased burning damage modifiers. Increased burning damage will still affect the burning on enemies.

Magic, Rare and Unique monsters have a damage bonus built into their rarity - this will now also apply to any damage over time they cause.

On hit effects do not apply to damage over time.

The Ignite status ailment now deals only 20% of the original hit per second for 4 seconds. This has been reduced as it can be increased in more ways with the damage over time changes.

Several skills have had their scaling adjusted. As these skills now have many more things that can scale them up, their built-in progression has been reduced. They are potentially more powerful if you specialise in them.

General Balance:

Cast When Stunned now has a 250ms cooldown.

On the passive tree, the Deadly Draw and Heavy Draw bow group has been changed. It now only has one entry and has been made symmetric. The Heavy Draw arm offers life, while Deadly Draw offers more consistent critical bonuses.

General Gravicius' Molten Shell now has a 30 second cooldown in all difficulties.

The Devourer's Emerge skill has had its damage reduced.

The priorities of several vendor recipes have been reordered. Recipes with multiple components should now take priority over recipes with one component. Some higher value recipes have been moved up in priority relative to others.

The Endless Ledge now increments one monster level per area after monster level 30, until monster level 60. Areas repeat at level 60s. Only after 100 total Endless Ledge levels do you wrap back to the first area.

Bug Fixes:

The hybrid flask recipe now correctly gives rarity and itemlevel based on the component flasks and no longer provides quality. This is now consistent with other recipes.

Fixed a bug where initiating a trade with your stash open would cause the trade to cancel.

Fixed a bug where right clicking could close the stash panel.

Fixed a bug in the character selection screen where pressing escape with the options panel open would log out instead of closing the options panel.

Fixed bugs related to Dominus' charge attack.

Fixing a bug where flask-use sounds wouldn't play if you had reduced flask charges used.

Fixed a bug where shield crabs did not drop items in certain situations.

Fixed a bug where monster outlines disappeared when monsters were on low life.

Fixed a bug involving spectres and trigger supports.

Fixed a bug where Lightning Warp cast at the caster's feet would always default to casting in the same direction.

Fixed a bug where some Nemesis mods with casted effects would not work if the monster was hidden.

Fixed Cast on Death preventing curse application on hit, which is not a triggered cast.

Last edited by Qarl on Nov 29, 2013, 6:07:28 AM

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Qarl

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