A little short today, due to early check in for the Fan Gathering starting in two hours, but it's still sweet. Realm rank point totals, further explanation of dexterity and casting speed, and Ground Targeting 101.
Q: What are the points you need to raise your realm rank?
A: The whole list is pretty long, since each rank is subdivided into ten! I’ll put the quick and dirty version here:
You start at Rank 1.
To rise to Rank 2, you need 7125 realm points.
Rank 3 = 61750
Rank 4 = 213875
Rank 5 = 513500
Rank 6 = 1010625
Rank 7 = 1755250
Rank 8 = 2797375
Rank 9 = 4187000
Rank 10 = 5974125
Q: Sometimes I get a message saying a player was not worth any realm points to me, but I know for a fact that his timer was up. Is this a bug?
A. Nope. There are some circumstances under which you will not be rewarded for repeatedly killing another player, that have nothing to do with his timer. This is primarily an anti-farming measure.
Q: Got a set of PVP server rules I can look at?
A: We have the most recent version on the sidebar to the left of this article. Check it out!
Q: Would you please give more detail as to how dex affects a caster? For instance, I understand that when I have my dex maxed I will cast 25% faster. How does this work incrementally? And will a lurikeen be able to cast faster in the end than another race?
A: From a dex of 50 to a dex of 250, the formula lets you cast 1% faster for each ten points. From a dex of 250 to the maximum possible (which as you know depends on your starting total), your speed increases 1% for every twenty points. So, as you can see, a lurikeen may be able to cast A VERY TINY AMOUNT faster than another race, but just barely, and even then depending on the starting stat.
By the way, this same explanation works for the quickness stat for weapon users.
Q: (Insert question here on ground targets)
A: We’ve been getting a lot of bug reports, and the problem isn’t a bug, it’s bad documentation on our part. Here’s our attempt at making that better, guest written for the grab bag by a member of the Strike Team. Everyone say hi to James, one of the people who reads every single bug appeal that is sent. Here’s his essay:
Ground Targeting 101
To have the ability to use the new Runemaster and Eldritch Ground Target Area of Effect (GTAoE) Spells one must first be able to select a ground target since the spells will not work if they are just targeted on a Mob. So how do you select a piece of ground to target? There are two variations of Ground Targeting (GT) one is for players that use mouse look and the other is for those players that move around with their arrow keys. Since these are so different each will be covered separately. First we will cover mouse look then keyboard.
The first thing to do in Ground Targeting is to find out what key is mapped to the Ground Target function. The defaults for this are F5 in FPS style and SHFT-T in RPG style. If neither of these seem to work then use the /keyboard command to find out what key Ground Target has been remapped to. If you are using the RPG default keyboard I suggest that you remap the Ground Target function to something other than SHFT-T or any other SHFT+key since using the SHFT key with some of the keys that move the Ground Target Indicator around can lead to confusion and unexpected difficulties. Once you have found out which key brings up the Ground Target hold it down for a few seconds and you will see a set of arrows with an inverted pyramid in the middle appear at your feet. This is the indicator that you will move to where you want the spell to fire.
If you are using mouse look then all you need to do to move the indicator is click and hold your right mouse button while holding down the assigned ground target key, i.e. F5, to move the indicator away from you. The left mouse button brings it back towards you. Moving the mouse from side to side will move the indicator around you in a circle. If you lose sight of the indicator over a rise or in the grass you can rotate your mouse wheel forward to raise the center pyramid. This allows you to see where the indicator is even if you cannot see it because of intervening terrain or bodies. To bring the center pyramid again to ground level simply rotate the mouse wheel back towards you. Once you have the indicator where you want the spell to fire simply release the Ground Target key and cast the spell. If you lose the indicator or leave it somewhere then all you need to do is hold down the Ground Target key again for a few seconds and the indicator will again appear at your feet.
If you use the keyboard to predominately move around the world of Camelot then Ground Targeting for you is only a little different than the mouse look description above. You still need to hold down the key assigned to Ground Target and you will have the arrows at your feet in a few seconds. The difference is in how you move the indicator around. To move the indicator away from you press the forward arrow while holding the Ground Target key. The back arrow key moves the indicator back towards you. The left and right arrows move the indicator around you in a circle. To raise or lower the center pyramid use the Page Up and Page Down keys. Again once you have the Ground Target Indicator where you want the spell to fire release the Ground Target key and cast the spell. Again if you lose the indicator simply hold the Ground Target key for a few seconds again and the Indicator will appear at your feet.
This sounds a whole lot more complicated than it actually is in practice and that is exactly what it takes to get proficient at Ground Targeting, practice, practice, practice. The most important thing to remember is to keep the Ground target key pressed while you move the Indicator around. Once you have it where you want it you will not need to move it very often. If you do need to move it just press the Ground Target key and the Indicator will appear where you have targeted. Hold the Ground target key a couple more seconds without moving the Indicator and it will move to a location relevant to you and the indicator's initial placement. A few seconds more and it will reappear at your feet.
This is the same method used to Ground Target with catapults and trebuchets.
By the way, everyone - we received a threat from a friendly neighborhood hacker, threatening to send out spam mail with a message such as "Want to speed up DAOC on your machine? Go to the command line on your PC and type this code."
If you get an email that sounds like this, or see a post along those lines, please let me know. The command our little friend says he'll put in the letter will erase your hard drive.
Be safe, and have fun, gang!
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