Game updates/20080702

Dragon Festival 2008

 * Decorated Shing Jea Monastery and Kaineng Center in preparation for the Dragon Festival.
 * Beginning at Noon Pacific (-7 GMT) on Thursday, July 3, 2008, the Shing Jea Boardwalk, Dragon Arena, and Rollerbeetle Racing will be opened for the duration of the weekend.
 * Captain Rujiyo will be gathering adventurers in Shing Jea Monastery for special festival missions at various times throughout the day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
 * For the final events on Sunday July 6, Emperor Kisu will visit Shing Jea Monastery every two hours, with the first event starting at 2:00 AM Pacific (-7 GMT) and the last event starting at 11:59 PM Pacific (-7 GMT).
 * Imperial Supply Master Kagno will appear in Shing Jea Monastery as the event comes to a close at 11:59 AM Pacific (-7 GMT) on Monday, July 7. He will remain there for one week to exchange 250 Victory Tokens for the new mask in case anyone misses the exchange with Emperor Kisu.
 * For the full mission and event schedule, please see the Dragon Festival 2008 event page.

PvE Changes
Back in May, Shadow Form had its duration increased and emerged as a key part of several highly efficient farming builds. To lower the efficiency of Shadow Form farming without removing it as an option, we are changing both the skill and some creatures in the Underworld.

Assassin

 * Shadow Form: the caster of this skill now does 50% less damage while it is active.

Underworld

 * Added Hex Breaker to the Mindblade Specters [sic] in the Underworld.
 * Several Banished Dream Riders in the Chaos Plains region of the Underworld have been replaced with Cursed Dream Riders.
 * When Cursed Dream Riders are killed, they cause Mindflay Specters to spawn. Mindflay Specters have Signet of Disenchantment instead of Hex Breaker.

For more information on these changes visit the Developer Updates page.

Bug Fixes

 * Fixed a bug that caused the Elementalist skill Steam to deal fire damage instead of cold damage for its conditional damage.
 * Fixed a bug that caused Sunspear Rebirth Signet to aggro mobs near the target.
 * Fixed a bug that caused the Ranger skill Conflagration to affect spears.

Miscellaneous

 * Added dialogue to the Xunai Tournament Agent to remind players to register their account.
 * Changed Guardsman Zingpah’s dialogue in Kaineng Center to reduce confusion.
 * Improved Hero AI to use skills such as Conjure Flame and Ebon Dust Aura based on their weapon’s current damage type when effects changing the damage (such as Winter or Staggering Force) are active.
 * Improved Hero AI for the Assassin skill Shattering Assault. Heroes will now use this skill if the target is not enchanted.
 * Improved Hero response to a player manually ordering them to use a skill. Heroes should now respond faster to orders.
 * Improved Hero AI for the Dervish skill Pious Assault. Heroes will now use this skill even if they are not enchanted.
 * Improved Hero AI for the Assassin skill Disrupting Dagger. Heroes will now use this skill to interrupt spellcasting enemies rather than use it frequently against non-casting targets.
 * Improved Hero AI for the Dervish skill Conviction. Heroes will now use this skill even if they are not enchanted.