AoC News: Patch notes for July 16

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The Quality Assurance lead of Funcom has released the July 16 test live server patch notes for Age of Conan.

Many issues have been resolved in this patch, including stealth immunity for spells and attack animation speed. As always, there's been a quite extensive look on quests and the result can be seen in the notes below. Discussing all the details of this test version is something we won't do, its better you check them out by yourself instead.

Just remember, they are absolutely subject to change.

General

A new levelup animation with sound should now occur for all players who level, while in or out of combat.
Lootbags and other non-moving objects will no longer affect how many NPCs/players are visible in the vicinity.
Fixed several causes of crashes and instability.
Particle effects will no longer be played on the character selection screen.
Returning to non-combat state from a PvP fight will now take 10 seconds (instead of 5). Mana and health regen will only start then.
Mobs will now become unlocked to a player after 90 seconds, once the locked attacker stops attacking. This will allow other attackers to benefit from killing the mob.
The loot bag target bar should no longer become 'stuck' onscreen.
Clients with 'No Gore' selected will now have the same general fatality animations as the 'Gore' enabled clients, without the presence of actual decapitations and dismemberment.
You will no longer lose your helmet when fatalitied.
The looting need-greed duration was increased to 1 minute.
Gemmed items should now work as intended and give their effect after teleports.
Team buffs should now only refresh when necessary, and be properly canceled for members who leave.
Leaving sneak or crouch will not slide your character around anymore.

Combat

Combos and all other actions will be aborted when you start to charge.
The combo chain will now be stopped when you begin a charge.
You can no longer start combos in the middle of a charge.
Dismembering fatalities should now show appropriate visual effects.
You can now abort multihit combos without all the damage being rolled back.
Aborting multihit combos will not make the target's health become desynced from the client/server anymore.
Fizzle and immunity rolls have been moved to the end of your spellcast. If your target becomes immune after you start your spellcast but before it deals damage, your target will resist the spell.
Stealth is checked again at the end of your spellcast. If your target hides before you land the spell, your spellcast will fail.
The distance to your target while casting a spell is checked again at the end of your spellcast, with a 25% bonus to your range.
Line of sight to your target is checked again at the end of your spellcast.
Combo finishers (the last attack in the combo chain) now have 25% extra range, making them easier to land in PvP.
Mobs will keep you in combat from further away now.
Aborting unarmed attacks (using a knockback, for example) will now properly cause the damage not to be dealt.
Active Blocking now displays a buff in the debuff GUI indicating the effect.
Active Blocking now has an initial stamina cost upon activation.
Active Blocking has been modified to increase the player's shielding bonus rather than evade chance.
Attacks and heals performed while in Active Blocking will now have reduced effect.
Clickable abilities with instant effects will not be queued after your attack anymore, but executed right away.
You cannot use abilities while jumping or falling anymore.
Dying while knockbacking NPCs will not cause the npc to become stuck in combat mode anymore.
For each attack in the combo chain that you do without a valid target, your end damage (on the combo finisher) is reduced 15% per miss.
Attack animation speed should be more balanced between genders (note: this does not yet include the combo animations).
Combat music has been tweaked so that tension music will be area specific, rather than random.

GUI

An emote gui has been added. Press Y to access this window.
An option to disable on-screen messages has been introduced. It can be found in Options > Interface > HUD.
A chat command that allows reloading the GUI was added. The command is '/reloadui'
Attackable players should now always have a red nametag, regardless of their level. Players that were 8 levels or more below the player previously had a gray nametag.
Combo-triggered flying texts should no longer appear for combos that are not caused or directed at the client character any more.
Defensive flying texts (i.e. parry) should now always appear above the correct character - the defender (not the attacker).
Players should now be able to open the main options menu using "F10" while the rez window is up.
Right-clicking inside active GUI elements should not reorient your character any more.
Fixed a case of a stuck command progress bar.
Effects that replenish stamina should now produce correctly signed flying texts (+XX Stamina).
Added a visual and textual notification for attacks that are completely absorbed.
Nametags should now be visible even if the character meshes have not completed loading.
Spell damage to destructibles will now appear in the combat log.
The mouse pointer will now always default to the arrow.
Mousing over an NPC's corpse will not produce the sword icon any more.
The Power session indicator and tooltip will now only appear when applicable, i.e. after level 5.
Shift-clicking on a lootbag to autoloot everything should clear the target correctly once finished.
Ranged combos will now appear red on your shortcutbar when your target is out of range, similar to spells.
When attempting to share a quest, you will get feedback stating how many players in your team were too far away to receive it (if any).
The quest journal will now show the money rewards divided by each type of currency.
The Friends/Guild Members window has been changed. It now works with tabs that sort friends by type: Guild Members, Friends, Offline members, and Ignored characters.
Floating/movable character portraits were added. They can be enabled from Interface > HUD options menu.
The tooltip for spellweaving will no longer go outside of the screen.
Fixed a GUI related crash.
Implemented GUI Modifications on the skill window as support for the upcoming PvP Consequence System. PvE skills will be listed separate from PvP skills.
Clicking on the active tab on the Friends View should now move the window. Clicking on disable tabs should also move the window.
The healing modifier debuff for Active Blocking should now display correctly as -50%
Made the middle action button (between Q and E) mappable. It is called Action Button 12. E is now called Action Button 13.
Quest indicators should no longer appear on the ground.
Added a PvP xp bar to the bottom of the screen as support for upcoming PvP changes. This will be enabled and disabled via the Interface options > HUD menu.
The item links on the chat window will now show the proper item 'level color' (blue, green, etc).

Quests

(Atzel's Approach) Kidnapping and Torture ; Diversionary Tactics Inner West - It should now be possible to ignite all palisades.
(Atzel's Approach) Revenge of the Ape God - Location of this quest is now marked in the journal.
(Black Ring Citadel) Bowls of Set, The Hunt - Quest will now complete when you speak to Kalanthes about it.
(Conall's Valley) An Impending Attack - The location marker for Torin has been changed.
(Field of the Dead) The Honored Dead - This is now a solo quest.
(Kheshatta) Den of Evil Perversions - Has been fixed. Go find the Onyx Chambers, retrieve Hakar Tep's head, then return it to Zane. **If you currently have this quest, you MUST delete the quest and go pick it up again from Zane.***
(Kheshatta) Mouth Of Darkness - Journal text has been updated. The Marker Rune is found near the entrance, rather than within it.
(Kheshatta) Markers of the Lost Tomb - A goal marker has been added for the third objective.
(Khopshef) Yipping Hyenas - Changed quest waypoint radius, to cover a larger area and more hyenas.
(Khopshef) Usurping the Power - Now marked as a group quest.
(Khopshef) Emerald Eyes - It should no longer be possible to walk through the door to the Emerald Guardians without first getting the quest.
(Khopshef) Trapped by Lions - Timer has been changed to 10 minutes, instead of 10 hours.
(Khopshef) The Swindler's Game, Shedding Torment, Stygian Superstitions, The Forgotten Temple, Fascinating Faces, Conflicting Interests - An item reward has been added to these quests.
(Khopshef) Lusts of the Flesh - Alekeep in Caravansrai will now ask you for tin, not copper.
(Tarantia Noble) Paetus & The Nemedian Crown - Coordinates have been updated within the Villa. The map item will now have a particle effect when you have the quest.
(Tarantia Noble) Rahim and Lord Camillus - Rahim's dialog should now work properly when you tell him "Then this madman must be stopped". Player will receive a quest.
(Tarantia Noble) Obtaining the Arena Key - Tweaked to make it more completable.
Several typos corrected in many quests worldwide.

NPCs / Mobs

Charmed NPCs will now be able to attack and perform actions while charmed.
More NPCs should now be visible in the vicinity for several raid dungeons.
NPCs wielding two handed weapons will now attack correctly.
Knockback animations (the landing-animations in particular) will now be smoother for many creatures.
Raid bosses should now be visible from further away, in most cases.
Black Ring Citadel: Incubus and Succubus are now strong enough to knockback all players. Swamp demon's swamp has become increasingly more dangerous.
Black Ring Citadel: Seruha will wait a little before closing the door.
Conall's Valley: Wounded Vanir in Conall's Valley will no longer execute the same identical movements at the same time.
Field of the Dead: Lieutenant Rhor has learned some new skills, and should no longer be so easy to defeat.
Field of the Dead: The Lupine Superior boss has lost his floating wig. He will also spawn minions in a more correct manner.
Khemi: Rhino name-plates should now be displayed properly and will no longer clip into the rhino.
Kheshatta: Scorpion Archers should now attack more consistently at range.
Kheshatta: Several NPCs with equipped weapons have been corrected.
Tarantia Noble: Astrologer will no longer send you into a dialog loop.
Tortage: Renton should no longer make strange sounds during the Destiny Mage quest.
Underhalls: Litharia's patrol has been adjusted a bit, to end her walking through walls or pillars.
Vistrix: All players that participate in the fight against Vistrix should now get his tooth.
White Sands: Thrall Warrior armor has been tweaked so as to not clip anymore.
Wild Lands: Oris should no longer send you into a dialog loop.

Player Character

Dead team members will now get quest kill credit if they are within range.
You now only prohibited from entering stealth mode if team members are in combat nearby.
All your team members and their pets will now get the fatality buff when a team member performs a fatality.
The mentor and apprentice will see an onscreen message regarding confirmation or declining of pending apprenticeship requests.
Mesh effects during spellweaving should no longer rotate with the character.
Characters will now display a smooth transition from standing to lying when using the 'prone' emote
Shield of the Risen will only display particle effects on hidden players if they are on your team.
Animations for the 'grin', 'laugh' and 'laughheartily' emotes have been tweaked for both male and female characters.
Emote 'squirm_on_ground' has been renamed to 'lounge', to better fit the animation.

Classes

Assassin
- The following abilities now have new effects: Cat's Paw, Opportunistic Strike, Kidney Shots, Avatar of Death, Lotus Overdose, Necrotic Leech, Corrupting Strikes, and Lunge.
Barbarian
- Feats "Eyes of Madness", "Rampaging Horde", "Welcoming Death", and "Too Many To Count" now have visuals associated with them.
Demonologist
- Earth Recharge ability will have a better visual indicator of activation.
- Let Them Burn should now have the correct cooldown.
- Let Them Burn will now properly increase in damage the longer it is channeled.
- Shockblast (Rank 1) and Inferno of Amher (Rank 1) will now scale correctly when compared to Rank 2. The additional splash damage of Shockblast now scales correctly, as it dealt more damage than intended previously.
Necromancer
- Frostblast now has a visual cone of frost.
- Ice Shackle spell is now less invasive and more optimized.
- The tooltip for Malefic Chant now shows up as intended.
- Night of the Harvester should now correctly increase the effect of the Harvester mana/stamina heal by 15/30%.
- To offset the change to Void causing the pet no longer to be rooted, the drain effect of Void has been reduced and now scales more consistantly based on level.
- Spell "Siphon Unlife" now has visuals and sound.
- The casting time of Set's Ruin, Set's Cold Hatred, and Blasphemy have been reduced from 4 seconds to 2 seconds.
- Parasitic Soul Swarm is now less invasive and should take up less screenspace.
Priest of Mitra
- The Spellweaving animation has been tweaked.
Ranger
- The ranger's tracking list should now be sortable with distance.
- Dead NPCs and players will now longer appear when using the tracking ability.
Tempest of Set
- Set's Life Spark should now trigger a resurrection prompt instantly after dying.
- Puppets of Set should now draw the attention of nearby NPCs if you attempt to cast it on a group of NPCs.

Items

The special offer from Venes Venele, the Custom-made Saddle, is now unveiled and for sale!
'Bind on Equip' has been added to some items.
The names of some sets of armor have been changed to be easier to discern what class they are intended for. Some visual looks of these armor sets have been tweaked.
The Heart of the Earth weapon will now work for 2 handed blunt combos.
Handguards of Ardent Fire now give 2handed Edge bonuses.
Fine Steelsilk Leggings should now display its name properly
Non-casters should now be able to see the effect of mana potions, even though they can't use them.
Girdle of Clawing Might now properly gives Max Health and Max Stamina, as intended, instead of Max Health twice.

Mounts

Disabled ability to mount while charging.
The tooltip for horses will no longer say "CANNOT USE" when the horse is usable.

Instancing/Zoning

Removed the shift-right click "Enter heroic version" option from doors.

PvP

Massive PvP: Mercenary players in a team with a guild member should no longer be hostile-flagged during battle.
You will no longer be able to attack guild members on PvP servers.
The Massive PVP gui will show up on a separate tab than Minigame PvP.
If your pet does the most damage to a target in a minigame, you will now get credited for the kill instead of the pet.
Ground targeting AOEs should now only be allowed if the player has line of sight to the target.
The siege camps will now give a message when they are clicked on and the city is not vulnerable.
You should no longer be able to damage your raid members on Culture PvP servers.

Tradepost/Banks

You can now sort items for sale on the Tradepost by "Show Can Use Only" and "Show Can Buy Only".
Powerful items (blue and green) for sale on the Tradepost will now list in color text.
Items of a level you cannot use will be listed in red.
It should now be possible to search for necklaces, rings, gems, and consumables.

Tradeskills

Cotton and Cottonwisp have been fixed, and will be the correct level.
Any player who speaks to a crafter trainer and doesn't get the quest because he has a full quest journal will now be able to speak to the trainer again and get the quests at a later stage.
Resource harvesting animations have been tweaked for consistency.
The items you hand in to the Crafter Trainers will from now on be returned to you. This change applies to the Weaponsmith, Armorsmith, Alchemist, and Architect classes.
Trainer dialog was updated to reflect current names of buildings in Architect quest line.
The Weaponsmith Trainer's dialog no longer references Glaive, but Awl Pike.

World Design

Various visual fixes and improvements made in Khemi and Kheshatta.
Adjusted several areas with added collision, where players previously could become stuck on terrain.
Pyramid of Lord Atum-Keket: Door collision has been adjusted here.
Underhalls: The rez point in the "Uptown Sewer" should now be fully visible.
Underhalls: The upper climbing point on the right ladder for the Harbor entrance has been tweaked.
Underhalls: The zone called "Askia" is now renamed "Askia's Domain".
Underhalls: The lost jewel is now placed on the ground, and the respawn timer has changed from 60 to 30 seconds.
Wild Lands of Zelata: Collision on the stairs inside the Mayor's building has been adjusted.