Long this week - but we've got a lot to cover!

Q:  Can CS clear a quest for me? I don't want to do this old one, I want to do these champion quests!

A:  I know regular Herald readers already know this, so if you all could please spread the word and tell them to check the story I posted here: http://www.camelotherald.com/more/2223.shtml, I'd surely appreciate it.

Q: Do AE dots, from shaman and bonedancer for example, stack with the AE dots from champion levels? And the same question for singletarget dots.

A: The Code Warrior looked it up, logged in to double check, and replied "The single target DoTs from the Seer champion level line is treated as a spec-line single target DoT for purposes of stacking, so bonedancers could use their base DoT and the champion level DoT, but Bone Army spec bonedancers would be better suited to using their spec line DoT.

"The area effect DoT from the Seer champion level line does in fact stack with the Bone Army spec area effect DoT."

Q: Friar staff damage is 100% dexterity based. Is caster staff damage 100% dexterity as well? If so am I correct in assuming then that it affects the damage from champion line styles?

A: CW again: "Correct, champion caster staves are treated as a weapon of the Staff class, which is set to use Dexterity as their skill for purposes of damage calculation. However since a caster will have a specialization of 0 in staves, the variance involved in calculating damage will make it difficult to see any benefit."

Q: Do instant debuffs from casters stack with the same type of casted debuff from champion levels?

A: CW: "No, the stronger debuff (which will almost always be the caster's debuff) will overwrite the weaker one. They work the same way as other debuffs in this fashion."

Q: Could you update the slash command list this century?

A: Now that we've got a decent DR guide up there (under "guides" on the Herald left sidebar), the Herald team (and by team, I mean Kunou, who said he didn't have enough to do, the silly man) is in the process of putting every slash command up. I'll announce it when it's done.

Q: How many kills does it take to move from champion level to champion level?

A: I can't answer that. Not because it's a big honking secret, but because it varies. Here's the Content Queen: "Players need 32000 points of Champion experience for each Champion Level. Players earn more Champion experience from PvP kills than they do from PvE kills so I can't provide a number of kills needed."

In approximately four seconds, someone will design a custom UI showing you in points how far you have to go. Assuming it hasn't already been done by a beta tester who applied reverse engineering. And speaking of UIs, I am hoping to have the information you need for updating those shortly. The same person who does the UI stuff is responsible for major systems as well, so he's got other issues at the moment.

Q: Is there a slash command to see your current Champion Level XP?

A: Nope.

Q: Some items have "requirement: vs. all" on them. That seems sort of weird. Doesn't that mean it works in PVE and PVP? Why post it in the delve at all if it works versus everything?

A: The Content Minion: ""Requirement: vs. all" does indeed mean everything; PvE, RvR, etc.  The reason some things have it that way and others simply have no requirement posted is because some items types HAVE to have a Requirement set to work.  They simply won't work without a requirement set, and setting it to all is the easiest way to do it." Even if it seems a little silly.

Q: Why did you turn house rent back on?

A: We had said we would turn it back on when we launched DR. We had a long talk about perhaps delaying the return of rent, in light of the things we'd seen and read about. Things are still pretty rough in a lot of areas.

At the same time, most of our customers were not affected - and most of those who were affected are back online. Obviously, I'm not suggesting that EVERYONE is resettled. But after looking into the records, and discussing it thoroughly, we decided to turn the system back on. A one way housing economy isn't very good for the game for a lot of reasons. Also, since we suspended rent when we did, the odds are there is still gold in the rent account and money on the CM. But if you know one of the few people who still cannot get back online, please help them out and drop a few gold on their house or CM.

Q: The King's Chamber instance on Mordred is not a safe zone like the rest of the city. Is that intentional?

A:  Yes - as with all instances on Mordred, it is set to PVP. However there's something more at work here. The Content Queen told me "There is an encounter in the throne room, so players must be able to engage in combat there and summon pets  The need for that means it can’t be a “city” zone."

Q: I know you have to install Catacombs before installing Darkness Rising but, on a clean install of DAoC with Darkness Rising; does it include all of the art updates as well as the Tutorial Patch? Can you install Catacombs and then immediately install Darkness Rising or do you have to update Catacombs before installing Darkness Rising?

A: The Lord of the Underworld, aka Andrew, put it this way: "All deltas are made from the base product.  So a base install of Catacombs can have the DR update applied to it.  An updated Catacombs can also have the update applied, but the most efficient steps from a fresh install (least downloading) are:

1) Install Catacombs

2) Install Catacombs -> DR upgrade

3) Start the game and patch.

So the answer is no, you dont need to update catacombs before installing DR :)"

Q: I got my new horse, and see slots in the saddlebags for items, but I can't put anything in there.  What gives?

A:  From the Old Man of CS: "Each saddlebag on the horse has a Champion Level requirement to use it. CL2 for the left-front saddlebag, then CL3 for the right-front, then CL4 for the left-rear, then CL5 for the right-rear.  Each of which unlocks four items slots on the mount.  This information can be found in the delve of each of these items."

Q: I had pre-ordered for DR, and I was also in the beta.  After I placed my pre-order, I logged into the beta client to check out some of the horse features.  I got the pre-order armor there on Pendragon. I can't seem to get it on live. My question is, since I got the free armor on the beta client, did the system flag me as already having received my free horse armor when I logged in the live version of DR?

A: Not at all. Please feel free to appeal - assuming you've already gone to the quartermaster and, with him targeted, typed /say boon.

Q: My question is in regards to the champion levels.  Now, it was stated that at CL 3, everyone can use main weapons of the class. Does that include casters? And if so, what about focus?  Could I as a caster put a focus gem on a sword, and still have the same effect as a focus gem on a staff, or does focus only work on staves?

A: This one zipped off to the Content Minion: "At Champ level 3, you are able to wield the basic weapons of your realm and a small shield. You cannot use a two handed or larger version of those weapons; only the one handed versions.  You as a caster can put focus on a shield and sword if you wish, however, it currently does not translate over to a player. Only staves function like that."

Q: I recently read that savages may not get two champion weapons.

Can you please look into this for Hand to Hand savages?

A: The design decision basically came down to fairness, and what we could deliver. One of the designers told me: "Many long hours and discussions occurred during the Champion Weapon creation process regarding who should get what, and whether or not we had the resources to do everything suggested equally across all classes.  It boiled down to not giving two weapon users two weapons - because to be fair we would have to create the shields for shield users as well. We did not have the resources to do that. In light of fairness to all classes in terms of champion weapon access, it was determined that only one champion weapon per class would be obtainable."

I know that some of you will disagree, and if you send feedback it will be tallied and reported. I'm posting this answer mainly because it is the answer to the question, however unwanted the answer may be.

Q: Hiyas! I really really would LOVE to buy the new expansion but...I would really feel better about it if I could buy it on cd, as I tend to re-format the computers around here quite a bit. Will this be possible in the near future without me having to buy the Epic version of DAoC that is now out?

A: I feel the same way. I took the files home from work on CD myself. I announced it yesterday, but it doesn't hurt to reprint the story link: http://www.camelotherald.com/more/2225.shtml - for the cost of shipping and handling, we've hired a third party to mail CDs to anyone who wants them. You only need one set in a household, of course.

Q: Why can't I, as a proud citizen of (insert country that is not the USA), win prizes in your anniversary sweepstakes?

A: Because there is no world empire led by a galactic overlord. You think I'm kidding. No, really, every country has their own set of rules about sweepstakes, random drawings, and prizes. We know we're compliant with the rules in the US, but we've been advised that we are not necessarily covered in a legal sense anywhere else in the world.

From the Overlord of Marketing, AKA Eugene: "Unfortunately if we opened up the sweepstakes beyond the US we would have to comply with the complicated and varied laws and rules for contests in every country. We can't do that at this time. Don't worry, there will be plenty of opportunities for overseas players to win as we run other contests with international partners, etc. In some of those cases players from the US will not be able to enter for the exact same reason. We hope to give everyone plenty of chances to win Warhammer beta accounts before the release of Warhammer in 2007."

Q: Can we go ahead and uninstall the other expansion folders from our hard drives now that we've got DR?

A: Yes, assuming you're not one of the people who switches between clients for different reasons.

I don't recommend just deleting, BTW - use the Uninstall feature on your machine to get rid of all the folder besides DR.

 ***

If you missed my earlier link, Camelot Stratics is back up and running with exclusive screenshots, and a Roundtable story from the editor.(http://www.stratics.com/content/portals/camelot/content/exclusives/) The forums are also back and running full tilt, so check 'em out.

Please check out the notes on Pendragon. We had to decide between taking down the servers and bringing them live today, or waiting until Tuesday. It was a tough call, but in the interests of not having more downtime this week, we decided to leave things be. You may wish to avoid the noted items until Tuesday morning's patch.

One of the items with a note is in regards to selling your horse. From CS: "It is currently possible to sell your horse with all barding and armor; if you do so, you will lose that barding and armor.  Please do not sell your horse unless you remove these items." We're going to fix it so you can't do this at all, but until then, be careful!

Oklahoma is the place for me! The winning city of the Come to My Town contest was Oklahoma City, so we'll be there January 20, 2006. And we'll actually be IN the city, too, tentatively some place called the Spaghetti Factory. I'm excited! We'll be in Austin, Texas on October 26, and on November 12 we'll be in Seattle, Washington. If you live anywhere near those three cities, mark your calendars - these free events are great fun.

LAST CALL FOR ALC… uh, the Calendar Contest. Artists! Fantasy fans! People with a gift to share! http://www.darkageofcamelot.com/calendar/ There's no reason not to give this a shot, because the prize is fame and glory. This really is the last call, because the deadline is technically today. I suspect, however, that if you manage to sneak it in over the weekend… well, we'll check our email first thing Monday morning.

And on that note - y'all have a great weekend. See you in Darkness Rising!