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Death Penalty

The Death Penalty debuff system has been removed from the game. Now, when a character dies, there is a chance that the character will be affected by the Shilen’s Breath debuff. There is a 100% chance of being affected by Shilen’s Breath if a character is killed by the following instanced dungeon raid bosses: Spezion, Teredor, Veridan, Kechi, Michaelo, Freya, Maliss, Isadora, Octavis, Istina, Balok, Baylor, the Fortuna boss, and Antharas.

Shilen’s Breath is a poisonous effect that Shilen inflicts on a character who passes through the realm of death, where her powers are strong. However, the adventurers of Aden are able to resist Shilen’s Breath to some degree.

Shilen’s Breath has five levels:

Level 1: The character resists the poison and gains a boost in HP recovery, which lasts 10 minutes.
Level 2: The character resists the poison. Resistance to Dark increases by 5, and the character gains a boost in XP rate and in HP recovery. These effects last 10 minutes.
Level 3: The character is poisoned and the character’s combat stats are reduced. These effects last 5 minutes.
Level 4: The character is poisoned and the character’s combat stats are reduced further than at level 3. These effects last 5 minutes.
Level 5: The character is poisoned and the character’s combat stats are reduced drastically. These effects last 5 minutes.

A character affected by Shilen’s Breath at levels 3, 4, or 5 can reduce the debuff to level 2 by speaking to an Adventurers’ Guide or Newbie Guide NPC in town.

Characters still lose experience points when they die, but they will not lose levels. For example, if a character dies at level 70 and 1% XP, that character will lose the 1% XP but will stay at level 70.

The amount of XP lost when a character dies while Chaotic has increased.

Although the general death penalty system has changed, a character who dies while on a battlefield still receives the Battlefield Death Syndrome debuff.

New Type of Clan Hall

Provisional Clan Halls have been added to the game. Unlike regular clan halls, Provisional Clan Halls are temporary and instanced. With the addition of over 200 Provisional Clan Halls, clans that don’t have permanent clan halls now have the chance to enjoy clan hall benefits. There are three models of Provisional Clan Halls:

Orchid Hall: Standard clan hall for clans of level 5 or above. Rental price: 20 million Adena. There are 180 of these on each server.
Ellia Hall: Deluxe clan hall for clans of level 5 or above. Rental price: 40 million Adena. There are 60 of these on each server.
Laurel Hall: Superior clan hall for clans of level 8 or above. Rental price: 50 million Adena. There are 60 of these on each server.

If your clan is level 5 or higher and you do not already own a clan hall, you can bid for a Provisional Clan Hall by speaking to the Auctioneer NPC in any town or village. The auction period lasts two weeks, during which time a clan leader can bid on one of the types of clan hall for which the clan is eligible. Costs for renting a Provisional Clan Hall are fixed, and there are no additional fees.
When your clan wins a Provisional Clan Hall, your clan owns it for 28 days. Members can enter their clan hall by speaking to the Provisional Clan Hall Gatekeeper found in any town or village, or by buying a Scroll of Escape: Clan Hall.

Clan Wars

Clan wars have been mitigated so that clans can no longer go to war indefinitely or without an outcome. All war information, including statistics such as Mutually Declared, Declared On, and Declared War, have been reset. Clan wars now proceed as follows:

Declaring War

War can be declared by clans of level 3 or higher that have at least 15 clan members. Clans declared on must also meet these requirements.
A clan can declare war on up to five clans at the same time. There is no limit on how many times a clan can be declared on by other clans.
Declaring war can be done by using the /DeclareWar [Clan Name] command, or by using the Declare War option in the Clan window.
After a clan declares war, there is a preparation period of three days (72 hours). The clan war starts automatically after three days, although if the opposing clan responses with a declaration of war as well, the clan war starts immediately.
Current clan war information can be checked by using the commands /DeclaredList, /DeclaredOnList, and /ClanWarList. War information can also be checked in the Clan Action window.
The declaring clan can retract a war declaration during the three-day preparation period.


Clan War Progress

A member of the clan that declared the clan war loses 100% XP if he or she is killed by an opposing clan member. Members of both clans lose 100% XP if killed during a mutually declared war.
During the three-day preparation period, regular PvP rules apply and Reputation is affected.
During a mutually declared clan war, killing a non-retaliating character who is not Chaotic has no effect on Reputation or PK count. However, PvP count increases.
Even during a clan war, attacking an opposing clan member requires a forced attack, which turns the attacker's name purple.
In the Clan Action window, under the War Information option, your clan’s current war situation is displayed as Dominating, Superior, Evenly Matched, Inferior, or Overwhelmed.
During a castle siege event, castle siege rules overrule clan war rules.


Discerning Friend from Foe

Each member of the declared-on clan displays an enemy mark, which is visible only to members of the declaring clan:

During the three-day preparation period, enemy characters display a declaration symbol, which looks like a sword, in the middle of their names.
When the clan war begins, enemy characters display a war symbol, which looks like two crossed swords, in the middle of their names.


Outcome and End of Clan War

A clan war ends automatically three weeks (21 days) after it starts, at which time the outcome is calculated.
The outcome of a clan war is determined by comparing the kill-counts and death-counts of clan members from both sides.
After a clan war ends, neither clan can declare war on the other for one week.
A clan can declare defeat to the opposing clan one week after the clan war starts. Declaring defeat can be done by using the /DeclareDefeat [Clan Name] command, or by using the Declare Defeat option in the Clan Action window.
A clan cannot declare war on a clan to which it has declared defeat within the last three weeks (21 days), and neither can war be declared upon it by the opposing clan.
When a clan declares defeat, the clan war ends and is recorded as a win for the opposing clan.

Character Creation Screens


The character selection screen, which you see after selecting a server, has a new background image. The background now shows the inside of the Museum in Talking Island Village, where new players start the game. The character selection screen now displays a character’s Reputation level instead of Karma level.

The character creation screen has been revamped to make it easier for players to quickly switch between the different race, class type, gender, and appearance options. The models have also been updated with R-grade armor and weapons. When you select a race and class type, information about your selection is displayed. There, you can read lore and characteristics about the race as well as information about the race's basic stats and class type combinations.

In addition, there is a Class Path button. When you click this button, a pop-up window opens that displays the entire class evolution tree of the race and class type you have selected. You can mouse over the class path steps to learn more about each.

The rotate and zoom functions for viewing the character model now move more smoothly. When you choose a name for your character, there is a new function that allows you to check to see if the name is available before you attempt to create the character.

Learn Skill Tab


New skills can now be learned through the Skill window, through a new tab called Learn Skill. When you level up, if there are new skills available for you to learn, an icon that looks like an open book will blink on your screen. Click the icon to go to the Learn Skill tab. There, you will see the following:

Skill to be newly learned (lists the skills that you are able to learn for the first time)
Skill to be leveled up (lists the skills that you already know but that can be upgraded)
Skill to be learned (lists the skills that you can learn when you reach a higher character level)

The list of skills you can learn also displays each skill’s level, MP cost, cast time, and reuse time. The skills that you cannot yet learn are grayed out, do not display this additional information, and cannot be selected, but their information can still be found in the mouse-over tool tip. In the Active skills tab, skills that you cannot use in your current condition are also grayed out.

When you click a skill to learn it, the Learn Skill window will open. It tells you basic information about what the skill does and how much SP it will cost to learn, as well as what skills must be deleted (if applicable) in exchange for the new skill. Not all skills require the deletion of another skill. Most skills that require you to delete other skills are the ones that you learn upon Awakening, when you trade in your old class’ skills for the new class’ revamped counterpart skills.

You can learn skills at any time and place through the Learn Skill tab. Because there is no longer a need for characters to return to town to learn skills, class trainer NPCs no longer have the skill training function.

Map Changes


You now have the option to display all teleport routes on the map. When you are viewing the map in full size, check the box at the bottom. When you are viewing the map in small size, click theTracking button. One-way and two-way teleports are shown in different colors. When the teleport routes display is turned on, the depictions of all peace zones are highlighted on the map for easy spotting.

A new type of mini-map has been added to the game that allows players to see the different levels of some zones. Each applicable zone is indicated on the main map as a purple zoom-in button. The zones that currently have this map type are Orbis Temple and Monastery of Silence. When viewing the mini-map, you can switch between different floor views through a drop-down menu at the top left.

As before, the map shows icons for Cursed swords when they are in-game, and gold map pins for steps in a quest. Now, these features have been improved with the addition of the tracking function. Click the Tracking button in the map window to see a new window open. There are tabs for Quests, Cursed Swords, and Raids. When you select something to track from one of these lists, your map will have a gold marker showing you where it is, and you will also see a compasslike ring around your character. The ring is helpful by not only guiding you easily to your quest destination, but also by keeping tabs on the location of a raid boss or Cursed sword while you are moving or fighting.

Museum


The Museum is a new system that keeps a constant record of the server’s overall statistics and of the statistics of every character on the server. The purpose of the Museum is to bring players closer together by letting them see where their characters stand among others and by promoting friendly competition.

The Museum includes both monthly and all-time records for a wide variety of topics. The monthly records are linked to the statue pedestals seen in towns and villages across Aden. Every month, the top character in each topic is depicted as a bronze statue on one of these pedestals.

The Museum's statistics are divided into five main categories: General, Hunting Field, Raid, PvP, and Clan. Within each of those are many sub-categories, for a total of 50 topics, some which are further divided by grade or class. There is fame to be found regardless of a character’s level or playstyle. The Museum keeps records for topics such as the Clan with the most Fame, the character with the highest PvP count, the highest damage to a monster, the most weapon enchant attempts per grade, and the character who has died most often.

The Museum interface can be accessed through the System menu on your screen, or by speaking to the Museum Keeper NPC inside the Museum building in Talking Island Village. In the Museum interface window, there is a View Server Record tab and a View My Record tab. The View My Record tab shows both your total and monthly rankings in all categories. The View Server Record tab shows the total and monthly rankings in all categories of all the server’s characters combined. When you view a server record, the list of rankings jumps to your placement on the list.

The system will begin recording statistics when the servers open after being updated to Goddess of Destruction.

Pet Window and More

Pet/Servitor Window

The Pet or Servitor Management window has been expanded and improved. For example, if a Wynn Summoner has four servitors summoned at the same time, all four are displayed in a new arrangement in the servitor interface window.

Situation Buttons on the Radar Map

There is a new icon on the radar map that opens bulletins. At the top right of the radar map is a Situation Information button. When you click this button, you can see the status UI for zone quests, campaigns, and PvP content such as Block Checkers, Aerial Cleft, Underground Coliseum, and Kratei's Cube. A maximum of seven situation information buttons can be displayed.

Inventory Expansion

You now have the option to expand the Inventory window horizontally. The capacity of your inventory has not changed, but the visual expansion allows you to more easily browse through your items.
Warehouse and Store Sorting

A new function has been added to warehouse and private store inventories that causes automatic sorting of the items displayed.

View a Target’s Buffs

You are now able to see a target's buffs and debuffs. If a target has a buff or debuff of any kind, it will be displayed to the right of the target window. You can see up to eight buffs or debuffs that you cast on the target, and up to 12 buffs or 24 debuffs that have been cast on the target by others, for a total of 32 effects that can be displayed. The effects are displayed in three rows.

Party Window

The Party window can now have up to seven members, and displays each party member's Vitality information. The layout has also been changed in order to reflect multiple summoned pets or servitors. A servitor's HP and MP information are no longer displayed in the Party window.

Party Tokens

Party leaders can now visually label targets by assigning tokens to them. In the Actions window, the party leader selects one of the four available token icons to apply to a target. Players can simply click the Target Token button in the Actions window in order to target the object with that token. This helps players target more easily during massive raid or PvP events.

Notification Icons

Various notification pop-ups have been added to the game to alert you when important things happen. For example, when a character levels up and can learn new skills, a small blinking open book icon will appear in a window on the screen. Click on the book to go directly to the Learn Skills tab. There are different notification icons for different events: a quest scroll for quest updates, a question mark for tutorial prompts, and so on.

System Menu and Options


The System menu has been expanded and reorganized for easier navigation.

Friend Manager

The Friend List interface has been revamped and renamed the Friend Manager, because it is much more than a list of your friends. Many new functions have been added to help you make friends, keep track of contacts, invite people to your clan, chat with friends, form parties with friends, and more.

The Friend Manager gives you faster access to social actions to perform with your friends:

Keep a friend list and block list.
Invite friends to your party.
Invite friends to your clan and invite clan mates to be friends.
Whisper friends or open one-on-one chat windows with them.
Send friends mail.
Know a friend's level, class, clan, alliance, creation day, and when your friend last logged in.
Write a memo about a friend.
See a record of all the characters with whom you played in an instance zone in the past week and invite them to be your friends.

The Friend Manager can be found in the System menu. With this change, the Friends tab in the Community window has been removed from the game.


Changes to Options

The Options window has been expanded and reorganized, and some technical terms have been replaced with simpler terms. The Basic Setting button has been added, which restores all settings to default. The Window Location Reset button has been added, which moves interface windows to their default locations.
Video tab

A new tab, Damage, has been added.
Gamma is now referred to as Brightness.
The Effect option has been added, which allows you to adjust the level of detail of visual effects such as skill animations and atmospheric effects.
The Texture Filter detail setting, which toggled between smoother or messier detail, has been removed because the smoother setting has been made permanent.

System/Audio tab

The Language setting has been removed.
The Tracking setting that is found in the Map window can also be found here.
The Close Help Window option has been removed.
The Hardware Cursor option has been added. This toggles your mouse cursor's appearance between <em>Lineage II</em> style and the default operating system style.
New sound volume controls have been added: Total Sound, Environmental, and NPC Voice.
The Tutorial Voice volume setting has been removed; it is now an on/off setting.

Game tab

The 3D Arrow setting has been renamed Tracking.
The Decline Trades and Refuse Friend Requests options have been added.
Settings for new screen status information have been added.
The option to view a target’s casting bar and debuff information has been added.


Screen Status Information

Various new settings have been added to the game in order to allow a player to receive game data in a more visual manner than before. Health gauges, casting gauges, and damage text are now available for display.

Players can now see health gauges above the heads of their own characters, enemies, servitors, and other players as a thin red line. This helps you see the health status of others without having to target them or be in a party with them.

There is also the option to display a casting gauge on screen when a character or a target is casting a skill. This helps with strategic timing in casting skills and in seeing what skills an enemy is casting on you. Settings for the gauges you wish to see displayed can be found in the Options window’s Game tab.

Damage text can now be displayed on-screen as a character fights. Numbers appear according to how much damage was done, heal or MP restored, XP gained, and so on. Font color indicates whether the number is related to a positive or negative effect. Some descriptions, such as Evaded or Critical, also appear. The placement of the text indicates what the description is and who it is affecting.

For your character, notifications and positive data are shown on your left: Evade, Parry, HP and MP recovery, XP and SP gain, and Critical hits you receive. Negative data is displayed on your right: damage and Critical Damage, and damage over time that you receive. Data on other characters is generally displayed above each character's avatar.

Damage text can be displayed for your character, your servitors or pets, and enemies. Settings for what and whose damage text you want displayed can be found in the Damage Text tab of the Options window.


Shortcut Key Reassignment

With the addition of various new interface panels, the list of default shortcut commands has been changed. Some changes of note are:

The ESC key now closes interface windows and cancels targets in order of the most recent action.
Alt + Y now opens the Friend Manager window instead of the MSN Messenger window.

In addition, the Shortcut window has been expanded for easier navigation through shortcut commands.


Video Recording

The Replay feature still exists, but a new video recording feature has been added to the game. Recorded videos are saved as .avi files and are stored in the Screenshots folder of the game installation on your hard drive. To begin recording, click the Start/End Recording button in the Actions window. You can choose what resolution you want your videos filmed in. The resolution you choose will determine the size of the .avi file. Available resolutions are Current, Half, 640x480, and 480x320. You can start and stop recording by using the appropriate button in the interface window. The recording window also has a folder button that takes you directly to your Screenshots folder without exiting the game, but will cause you to switch to windowed mode if you are in fullscreen mode.

Changes to Vitality and XP

Vitality

Previously, characters each had their own Vitality. Now, Vitality is shared across all characters on the same account and the same server. Regardless of what character you play, you will have a limited amount of Vitality each week.

Vitality will be refilled during every regular weekly maintenance. Vitality no longer increases while you are in a peace zone or are logged out of the game.

You may use five Vitality items per week. Vitality items affected by the weekly limit include Vitality maintaining, replenishing, and refilling potions, among others. Some special items, such as Birthday Cakes, are not affected by the weekly limit.

The four Vitality stages no longer exist. Now, when a character has any Vitality at all, that character's XP gain is 200%. Raid monsters no longer award Vitality. Vitality herbs have been removed from the game.

When hunting, while you have Vitality remaining, the chance of monsters dropping Weapon Pouches, Armor Pouches, and Enchant Pouches increases. When hunting in a party, the number of party members who have Vitality remaining further increases that chance.

The Recommendation system remains mostly the same as before. The only change is that your current Recommendation value now decreases by 5 recommendations per day instead of by 20.

The Nevit’s Blessing system has been removed from the game. The Nevit’s Blessing interface window is gone, and the Priest of Blessing no longer sells Nevit items. Any remaining Nevit items in a character’s possession will not be deleted, but their effects have been altered.

Nevit's Hourglass now gives a 50% XP bonus.
Nevit's Voice now increases a character’s Recommendation level by 10 and gives 100,000 Adena when used.


Changes to XP

The character level cap has increased from 85 to 99. The amount of XP necessary for characters of level 20 through 85 to level up has been reduced.

A character of level 84 or lower will not gain XP or SP from killing a monster that is 11 or more levels higher or lower than the character’s level. A character of level 85 or higher will receive an XP/SP penalty when hunting monsters that are three or more levels higher or lower than the character’s level. The penalty increases proportionally to the level difference.

Mentoring System


The Mentoring System is new to Lineage II. It is a system that rewards Awakened characters of level 84 or lower for sharing a contract as Mentor and Mentee. Characters in a Mentoring contract gain the most when both Mentor and Mentee are logged in at the same time.

Benefits

Both Mentor and Mentee automatically receive a useful buff when both characters are logged in:

Mentee's Cheer: The Mentor receives this buff when the Mentee logs in. Gives a 10% boost to XP and SP gain.
Mentor’s Rune: The Mentee receives this buff when the Mentor logs in. Gives a 200% boost to XP and SP gain, as well as the level 1 Melody buffs that are normally provided by Iss Enchanters. Please note that Mentees cannot receive this buff when they are playing a subclass.

Mentors can help Mentees level up and earn rewards at certain level-range milestones. Specifically, at level 40, then level 50, and then every level after that, Mentors receive a varying amount of Mentee’s Marks in their mailboxes. Mentors can use Mentee’s Marks to buy various items from the Mentoring Helper NPC.

Eligibility

To be eligible to become a Mentor, a character must be level 85 or higher and Awakened. Mentees are characters who are between levels 40 and 84 who have a Mentee Certificate, which they receive from the level 40 Exploration Pack that the Truly Free system delivers upon reaching level 40.

Mentoring Contracts

A Mentor can take on a maximum of three Mentees at the same time. A Mentee can only have one Mentor.
The Mentoring interface panel is in the Mentoring tab of the Friend Manager window. This tab is only visible to characters who are eligible to be Mentors, and to Mentees who are in a Mentoring contract.

To invite a character into a Mentoring contract, an eligible Mentor enters the name of the eligible character that he or she wishes to take on as a Mentee. Just as a Mentor chooses Mentees, a Mentee has the choice of whether or not to accept an offered Mentoring contract.

Both Mentor and Mentee are free to cancel the contract at any time. After a contract is canceled, the Mentor is unable to make a contract with a new Mentee for seven days. A Mentee receives no penalty for cancelling a contract; the Mentee can accept a new contract immediately.

Graduation

When a Mentee in a contract with a Mentor graduates to level 85 and Awakens, the contract is concluded. The recent Mentee is eligible to create a Mentoring contract five days after Awakening. Recent Mentees can exchange their Mentee Certificates for 40 Proofs of Graduation by speaking to Mentoring Helper NPCs, which can be found in all major towns. Proofs of Graduation are used to purchase R-grade items by speaking to a race master NPC.

Newbie Experience


The new player experience has been revamped to make it easier for new players to learn to play, level up, and receive weapons, armor and Adena up to level 40. This is done by guiding the character through a new quest series that includes a tutorial as well as an introduction to the story of Goddess of Destruction.

Newbie Guides remain in the game, but they no longer provide newbie items and can only be found in Talking Island Village, Gludin, and Gludio. To receive newbie buffs, you no longer need to talk to the Newbie Guide and ask for the buffs; now, you can simply walk up to Newbie Guides in town and they will buff you automatically when you are close enough.

When characters reach level 40, they receive a guidebook in their inventory. The guidebook recommends good XP locations and related daily quests (if any) for every level range up to 85. At level 85, characters receive another guidebook that gives information on the hunting zones appropriate for levels 85 through 99.

Seven Signs


In order to regain power by absorbing their blood, Shilen initiated the sacrifice of creatures inside Catacombs and Necropolises across Aden, leaving behind a deathly aura. King Amadeo ordered that the entrances to all Catacombs and Necropolises be shut, to keep adventurers out and to keep the deadly auras in. When these dungeons were shut down, the Seven Signs quest cycle ground to a halt and the following changes were made:

The effects of the Seals of Avarice, Gnosis, and Strife no longer apply.
The maximum tax rate of the castle is fixed at 15%.
Elite mercenaries can no longer be hired or posted with Seals of Strife.
The siege function management cost is no longer affected by Seals.
Characters can no longer enter the Festival of Darkness and the Dimensional Rift instances.
The Anakim and Lilith raids are no longer available.
Scrolls of Ancient Magic that could be obtained from Catacombs and Necropolis are now dropped by monsters in hunting fields.
The Blacksmith of Mammon and Merchants of Mammon now move randomly among the 11 villages.
The responsibilities and functions of Dusk Priestess and Priest of Dawn NPCs have been taken over by the Priest of Mammon, who offers different items for sale for Ancient Adena.
Functions that required Ancient Adena can now be carried out with regular Adena.
Red/Blue/Green Seal Stones currently in a character's possession can be exchanged for Ancient Adena with the Priest of Mammon.