News



09/03/08
- Psionicists can no longer range detonate.
- Eastern UC has obtained a new dock.
- A few issues in Trakkia were fixed, so zone should be more doable.
- Hemp rope can now be bought in WH.
- The auction house in mist has been removed, added on to Alatorin.
- Drow dodge should work a little better at higher levels.

08/31/08
- Illithids can no longer ether warp to non-illithids lower than level 51.

08/25/08
- You can now rename at Grudat again.

08/24/08
- You no longer have to kill Chernovog as part of the Ravenloft entry
  quest.  Madam Eva can give you the key.
- Springleap size checks were not checking for mounts when computing
  the size of the victim.  This has been corrected.

08/22/08
- You can now use most all transportation spells to get off of ocean rooms.
- Sunsword (old Sunblade) has been added to Ravenloft.
- Cost of a certain healing potion has been raised.
- Moonstone spell now works.  Target the moonwell spell to yourself to
  aim at the moonstone.
- Cleave damage has been tweaked, will do less damage now.
- Trakkia has been given an epic stone.
- Encrust has been reworked.  A new encrustable stone has been added as
  well.
- Craft has been reworked.
- Kimordril now shouts for assistance when attacked.

08/19/08
- Call of the grave has been reworked, see help file for more details.
- The undead of lower levels fear and revere Liches of a high level.
  See help undead fealty for more information.
- Call of the grave pets have been upgraded some.  Lich race has gained
  call of the grave as an innate.

08/16/08
- Death's proc in HoA will instantly kill NPC's.

08/12/08
- Avengers (not Paladins) may reascend to their desired spec at the
  appropriate altar.  Note, you will be charged the same epic cost
  as ascending for the first time.  You will however maintain your
  current level.
- Elohim will hence forth be known as Agathinon.
- Revenant Crown and Dragonlord Platemail will now set your age to
  the best appropriate age when you switch to and from the races.

08/11/08
- Ogre pulse has been improved.
- More tweaks to evil damage.
- Inferno sword from Kossuth is now magic.

08/09/08
- Kharne regrettably informs that he will be resigning from his
  position as a Duris administrator.  He notes that, believe it or
  not, he quite enjoyed helping you all (for the most part) during
  the last 7-8 months.  He only asks that you take it easy on the
  remaining staff who are doing what they can with their limited
  resources and time to enhance your gaming experience.
- Smite evil no longer hits good racewar races.
- The Illithid race is striving to make a comeback.  For now
  only one has been spotted.  (Don't ask to have one made please,
  it is not open right now)

08/08/08
- Paladins who ascend will now remort as an Elohim.  See the
  help files for more information.
- A couple issues with age have been fixed.  You can go above 1000
  again as a Lich.  In addition help lifespan has been updated.

08/07/08
- Evils damage modifiers have been raised slightly, and group caps
  have been dropped to 11.

08/05/08
- You can now terse and battle alert an archers arrows.  Be warned
  this is no excuse that you didn't see your inventory getting full.
- Storm giants can now wield tree trunks like ogres.
- You can enter the locker in winterhaven, even when alarm bells go
  off.

08/03/08
- Undead no longer leave blood when hurt.
- Healing salve should now unmort you.

08/02/08
- Exp gains have been doubled permanently for both racewars.
- Elementals stats have been reworked to make them more diversified.
- Lich stats have been reworked a bit.
- When fixing or enchanting and object and failing, if the condition
  of the object is damaged too much, the item will be destroyed.
- A new stat pool now loads in Hall of the Ancients.

07/30/08
- Immolate damage has been tweaked upwards.
- Updated the info on the score back end.  You might notice some new
  things showing up here and there, where appropriate.

07/29/08
- Fixed crash bug with gather, and quivers should not disappear when
  using gather any more.
- A few rooms in Hall of the Ancients were campable.  This oversight
  has been corrected.
- The gates to Castle Ravenloft is now a part of the ravenloft zone.
  This means the gate will not close and lock when Barovia 2 resets.
- Negative shield now overrides soulshield.

07/28/08
- You can now feed your artifact from PVP situations without it
  being bound.
- Lance charge now auto changes back to your main weapon again.
- A reorientation duration has been applied to lance charge when
  a player flees.
- Lances will not take as much damage.
- The mounts of cavaliers and demonic riders have been buffed up
  so as to help their survivability in a zone.
- Liches have gained the eyeless and protection from cold innates.
- Due to the fact Assassins don't have riposte, I gave two_daggers
  innate to thieves instead.
- The enchant arrows effect that adds your name to the arrow has
  been revised slightly.  As you may know, this adds your name to the
  object keyword.  Now it will add an 'a' in front of that.  So if
  your name is bob, the keyword will be "abob".
- A new command has been created for picking up your arrows.  See
  help gather for more information.
- Fixed an issue with the fire command and weight.
- You may now rent in Winterhaven when alarm bells are going off.
- Undead hometown now has an inn and locker.
- Charcoal Palace has undergone a complete revamp.  It should create
  a more realistic challenge to obtain the artifact than previously.
  New twists were added as well as more rewards.  More to come
  regarding this zone.

07/26/08
- Some more archer tuning, the amount of arrows fired per volley has
  been reduced.
- Enchant arrows has been reworked to use its own magical effects.
- Random objects now observe the a/an grammar rules.
- Swashbucklers are now a thing of legend, and no longer available.
  Grey Elf's were given shadow archers as a replacement spec.
- Assassins have gained two_daggers innate.
- Camping and renting is no longer effective in causing your artifact
  to merge faster.
- Some Inn's around the realm are now protected by detect illusion mobs.
- Githzerai Stronghold was reviewed and changed to reduce the time
  required to complete it.  A small quest was added to a mob that was
  otherwise pointless, and a key is now much easier to obtain(even
  several times).
- The donation well will accept multiple random drop items.
- Berserker NPC damage was reviewed and toned down some.

07/23/08
- Shadow archers have gained two new skills: shadow archery and arc.
  See the help files for more details.
- Base lag on firing has been raised slightly.
- Deceptive flee has been reworked to only display the player leaving
  multiple directions when the player actually flees.  Go figure.

07/21/08
- Images will no longer leave a corpse under certain circumstances.
  If you still notice them generating corpses, please notify staff.
- Hopefully have solved another crash bug.
- Obscuring mist is no longer dependent on the caster being at the
  top of the room.
- Token of water in Divine Home zone will no longer sink.
- The sneak affect of suppress sound is now dependent upon the size
  of your group.

07/18/08
- Feeding in zones has be re-added, but at half the level.
- Feeding from frags is increased.
- The message from disintegrate hitting equipment, but not
  destroying it, was removed.  Goodbye spam.
- Illesarus proc damage type has been fixed.  Also, made the
  weapon magic.
- Couple crash bugs fixed, hopefully.
- Gave shadow archers enchant arrows skill a couple new effects.
- Goodie exp eased a good amount in this last week.
- Trophy system eased up some.
- You can now see how many people out of max are in your group
  via the group display.

07/15/08
- The amount of feed received from a frag was changed back to
  the way it's original state (this is a change that was
  unrecorded earlier, so stating it now).
- The effects of indomitable rage now save vs. no fear targets.
- A bug with induce tupor and arcane whirlwind has been fixed.
- As undeads absorb negative type spells, they should not be
  hit with the affects of the spells either.  In accordance
  with this, disintegrate will no longer hurt an undead's
  equipment.
- A quest in Torg with the weapons master never worked
  properly.  It does now.
- Squashed a bug with berserk casting crashing the MUD.
- Cenobites can now use the flaming sabre they can create.
- Bearhug damage has been adjusted to be affected by strength
  and will not be so insane at low levels.
- In an effort to assist our newer crowed, the rate of random
  equipment drops at the lower levels has been increased.

07/06/08
- The lag experienced when firing ranged weapons has been
  reduced somewhat.  It is not also based partially on
  combat pulse.  Expect more changes like this in the near
  future as we revitalize the Shadow Archer spec.
- The minimum threshold required to feed and gain epics from
  fragging was reverted back to 0.10 (you can feed/gain epics
  in a 10 man group).  This will be reviewed and possibly
  changed in the future to encourage more small group pvp. The
  increased epics earned from fragging was reverted as well
  since it's now once again possible to gain epics from pvp in
  a large group.

07/05/08
Duris:  Age of the Frag

- Artifacts and uniques are now fed _only_ by fragging
- The feed benefit from fragging has doubled
- The number of epics earned from fragging has doubled
- The threshold required to earn epics from fragging has
  doubled.  This means you only get epics from fragging
  in a group of 5 instead of a group of 10. One can still
  feed an arti in a group of 10 however.
- Because of this rather significant change, all artifacts
  will be fully fed.
- All of this is subject to change upon careful review.
  Remember, artifacts are a privilege, not an entitlement.
  Enjoy, and happy fragging :)

7/04/08
- The platemail of the dragonlords now has use restrictions
  that make sense for platemail armor

7/03/08
- One can put items in the donation well only with the
  'donate' command
- Paranoid after gaining his new epic power, the Baron
  of Bloodstone Keep has made a royal proclamation:
  All subjects of Bloodstone Keep barony are obligated to
  assist any royalty who they may hear crying for help.  
  Rumor is that the Baron has instructed his mistress to
  shout for aid the moment she feels threatened.

7/01/08
- Waterbreath no longer interferes with Song of Protection
- Donation well interactions (taking or donating) are now
  logged
- Adventurers recently discovered the entrance to the long
  lost Hall of Ancients in the Underdark deep in the
  roper dens and north of the myconids!  The treasure
  contained within the Hall is thought to be immense, with
  dangers only the most powerful of adventurers can hope to
  survive against
- Over a half dozen associations were deleted for not meeting
  the minimum member requirement.  See "help association"
  for information on how to keep your association active.

6/28/08
- Invader code for Winterhaven has been tightened up and made
  to work more consistently.
- The bloody hearts in Aravne shouldn't be as hoardable anymore
- The max permitted group size to touch the epic stone in Aravne
  has increased. Also, the zone now automatically repops at lifespan,
  not only when empty.

6/24/08
- Earth spike now has a chance to go through globe (provided caster
  is in a favourable terrain)
- Forest druids get a new spell at 8th circle -- Spore Cloud
- A bug with expeditious retreat was fixed (it should be more
  deceptive now)
- Illithid mobs now can use mind blast, look out!
- The way berserk affects casting minotaurs was changed.  The lag
  introduced several days ago has been removed.  Instead, minotaurs
  who cast while berserked have a chance to misfire and hit the
  wrong target.  Now all minotaur casters (sorcerers and shamans)
  may cast while berserk.
- A bug with advanced meditation was fixed.  It now causes mana
  users to regen mana at a faster rate.
- Dreadlords now have notably higher base hitpoints.  But everyone
  is still going to target you first in battle :)

Substantial change to fire damage
- Recently, a long-standing bug with fire damage was discovered.
  Whoever coded "ironwood" mistakenly made the fire vulnerability
  stemming from the spell apply to _everyone_, regardless if
  affected by the spell or not.  With this bug fixed, this means
  fire spells overall will be doing considerably less damage (Bring
  out your trolls).
- With fire damage now fixed, this has created new balancing
  considerations as some spells were previously balanced around this
  bug.  Sunray, for instance, has had its base damage adjusted (it
  won't be doing 80% less damage than it does at present).
- Sunray does 10% less damage indoors, and its blind effect is
  now varied, level dependent, and overall shorter.

6/23/08
- Bloodstone Keep now has an epic zone component -- slay the
  baron to release the region from his stranglehold.
- Githyanki/Githzerai can no longer be banished when in a no teleport
  room.
- Detonate does double damage against plant race
- Temple of Earth's Eligoth's proc was fixed -- the rift he drops is
  now takeable

6/21/08
- Thregamar of the Shaughin Settlement now pays out the rewards
  for completing his quests correctly.  However, what he requires
  has changed slightly (ask him for more information)
- Way of the Snake no longer stacks the slowness effect
- Maul lag for Mauler spec has increased slightly
- Minotaur sorcerers have developed the will needed to cast spells
  while berserked.  However, maintaining this focus means a aubstantial
  penalty to the speed at which a spell is invoked.

Githzerai
- Githzerai gain shift prime at level 1, and shift astral at level 45
- Githzerai now have a chance to be banished to the astral plane by
  an unholy word
- Githzerai shrug chance has somewhat decreased

6/20/08
- Sick of being slain repeatedly, Demogorgon has learned a few
  new tricks to keep those pesky adventurers at bay...
- The succubi in the Astral Plane have agreed to assist each
  other when under attack.

6/17/08
- The spell penetration epic skill is less awesome now
- The pit fiend in The Valley of Snow Ogres is a little less
  insanely godly powerful
- Many more beasts in The Valley of Snow Ogres now track.  The
  epic zone now pays out considerably more epics as well.

6/15/08
- The days of easy cheese exp from parasite raced mobs is ending;
  parasites learned a new "trick" and will learn a few more in
  upcoming days.
- Ethermancers gained a new low circle spell, "static discharge"
- Insects and parasites no longer kick; they bite instead

6/13/08
- The perm invis earring in The Scorched Valley was far too easy
  to get and had to have its properties altered
- Two crash bugs were fixed; thanks secret invis imm!

6/11/08
Was away for a few days (Kharne) -- excuse the delayed update:

- fixed incorrect values for two bows [were using old speed/range
  values range - one bow in tentro, one in gibberlings]
- winterhaven janitors should now sometimes bring items into the
  welfare well
- elemental aura can not be casted on non-elemental terrain
- necromancers lost magic missile spell. Instead, they received a
  new lvl1 spell - slashing darkness
- damaged items should be now priced correctly, and should be sold
  according to their correct pricing [ages old bug now fixed)
- some skills (e.g. dragonpunch) can be used much easier on
  disabled opponents
- subterfuge was lacking message to the rogue that it worked - fixed now
- pets can now be ordered around on ship bridge
- ship cannons should give a warning when firing their last round of ammo
- silverleaf potion now costs more to obtain
- bodyslam checks for guard now
- some more banks around the world (Aravne/Verspin)opened their offices
- Tchan is slightly more difficult to get to
- grapple damage is now affected by elemental shields
- yuan-ti zone is now harder to do while remaining unnoticed
- sorcerer type mobs can use power word kill more freely now
- Krizzix the dragon's rewards have increased considerably... but
  his power has increased as well!
- All of the denizens of Bronze Citadel have become easier to kill
- We now have a new unique -- see arti list

6/06/08
- A ton of typos were fixed (yes, we read the player input submitted
  through the typo command -- keep it coming!)
- Beginning goblin clerics now actually load with useful equipment
- a gold tablet entitled "The Holy Code of Honor" is no
  longer an artifact.  If you want your own, ask the 'death howler
  knight' in Tharnadian Ruin for one (apparently he's a jerk though).
- The formula to Warcallers Fury was reworked to deemphasize the
  importance of level for the orog that has this innate -- it's
  now based primarily on number of group members and whether or
  not other orogs are in the group, just as described in the
  helpfile.

6/05/08
- Goods now have good race spec teachers that wander the maps.
- The Troll Caves (originally located near Sarmiz) are now located
  next to Moregeeth/Ghore
- A connection between Thur'Gurax and Malchor'Ganl was fixed (now
  connected via its old north exit).
- The berserker class now hits somewhat harder
- Instead of receiving 10% extra damage from spells, while berserked,
  one receives a damage reduction (similar to the existing melee
  damage reduction)
- Berserker base hitpoints were slightly increased
- Berserkers are premised on the ability to cause damage though
  fast and multiple hits.  Oddly, however, berserkers, when raged, have
  their swings per round capped.  This cap has been removed.
- Note:  The berserker class will be reviewed over the next few weeks
  to ensure they are up to speed and reasonably improved.
- Warning:  The death vipers in the Shaughin Settlement have decided
  to live up to their name.

- A new zone by Fotenak, Castle Ravenloft, has been connected.  The
  rewards in this zone are great, but the danger is as well.  This
  place is only for the most experienced of adventurers.  Completion
  of this zone grants epic level 56.

6/01/08
- To preserve the integrity of the zone-based trophy system in place,
  when a player brings a mob across zone boundaries (for instance, if
  the mob is mountable, riding it out of the zone), the xp reward
  paid out by the mob is now tremendously reduced.

5/29/08
- Zone location and other world map changes:
  - Battlefield was moved from north KK to eastern KK (near Aravne)
  - Straathor - Valley of Storm Giants (new this wipe) was attached to
    where BF used to be
  - Temple of Lizizania (rarely visited) was moved to where Kobold
    Village was on EC
  - moved Kobold Village to forest right NW of Moregeeth
  - attached the lava tubes in Mt. Skelenak wilderness to the lava
    room in the mountains on GC
  - Mosswood was moved from next to the Ruins of Tharnadia on GC to
    KK, south of the Thri-kreen hometown
  - Straathor was revised to make it more of a midlevel exp zone then a
    good-aligned hometown.
  - added a few signs to the intersections nearest to Winterhaven roads

- The behemoth herders had a variety of minor changes done to make
  it thematically correct, including balancing changes.  Primarily,
  this means making the undead behemoths actual undead races, and
  upping the price of the level 56 bard instruments tremendously.
  There might be another change in the near future, but efforts are
  being made to keep it a highly desirable place to explore.

5/28/08
- The next time you mistakenly drop an item in a lake, try
  searching the Sea Kingdom -- odds are it will end up in
  this center of the aquatic world...
- The way primary and secondary associations gain/lose
  prestige was changed considerably.  See "help alliance"
- Tentro2 was updated; a lot of missing flags fixed, and
  with a few items upgraded, including the earring at
  the end.  Check it out!

5/27/08
- The cave worms under the Thri-Kreen hometown are now
  considerably more aggressive.  You've been warned!

5/25/08
- The mud's event system was redesigned to make it run in a
  considerably more efficient manner.  Thanks to Xanadin for
  this one.  Shouldn't be a problem, but let us know at
  kharne@durismud.com if you notice wackiness -- if affects
  last too long/too short, time of day doesn't happen as it
  should, and so on

5/24/08
- You can no longer shut the door behind you in Pit of Dragons
  (that made you unraidable which was unintended)
- All prestige gains now increase in 100 point increments in
  preparation for a change that will improve the alliance
  system

5/23/08
Lots of changes today:

- Some of the guards in the Shipyards have abandoned their posts!
- An immense magic power (likely invoked by Lrethlamn Soel)
  has been cast over the Prison of Carthapia, Battlefield, and
  the Caverns of Armageddon rendering magical travel all but
  impossible in most areas.
- Warhorses no longer stampede on their own when trained
- Transfer wellness no longer causes wackiness when the caster
  strains himself/herself to the point of death
- Tired of all the assaults upon his lair, the King of Aravne
  has ordered construction of an unbreakable door to his throne
  room.  Rumor is that Anesenthe the Dryad knows how to gain
  access, but she won't help anyone so unless they
  perform a few tasks for her...
- The runestone in the Forest City of Aravne pays out more epics
- The quests in the Forest City of Aravne now pay out experience
  as well
- Barbarians are slightly less agile
- Trolls have become considerably more agile and dextrous.  Their
  constitution has increased, and their trollskin has become
  even more durable against physical attack.
- Berserker spell damage penalty and melee reduction bonuses have
  been adjusted -- while berserked, one takes 10% additional
  damage from spells, and 10% less damage from melee, in addition
  to the pulse reduction bonus, etc, already in effect.  

  Reminder for berserkers:  You receive a considerable bonus
  to combat pulse only when you 'rage'.  The berserk skill itself
  does not give a combat pulse bonus (that pulse bonus is always
  in effect, regardless if you are berserked).

- Various zone tweaks:  A "broken" area in Mt Skelenak (hydra area)
  was adjusted, many items in the Ruins of Undermountain were
  adjusted and increased in strength, and the Undermountain
  treasure vault was fixed. Tribal forest and Volheru Castle
  had a variety of bugs fixed, including some property changes
  to its items.

- Thieves:  Thieves have two new skills -- see help file

5/22/08
- Wild mages have a new spell.  See "help chaos shield"
- The vambraces named "ebb" have weakened in power
- Thorl the Mercenary (of Winterhaven) added a new hireling
  to his ranks (of interest to newbies only)

5/21/08
- The bug with shapechange mentioned in the previous news entry
  should be fixed.  Use bug command if you still notice problems.
- A few items in The Realm of Barovia Continued were increased
  in power.

5/20/08
- Note: Currently there is a bug with shapechange that may
  cause you to instantly die if you take a new shape with less
  than full hits.  Use this ability at your own risk until it's
  fixed -- no reimbs.

5/17/08
- The Sarmiz'Duul staff of power's proc was fixed to work as intended

5/16/08
- Goblins have become slightly more dextrous, quick little beasts that
  they are...
- Artifacts and artifact uniques worn attached to belt now give the
  wearer the stats the item has.  Non-arti/unique items still do not
  give stats however, as intended.
- The Old Quarter of the Ruins of Tharnadia now gives epic level 50
- Goblins can now select the rogue class and specialize as thief

Kingdoms -- Part 2 of 3

- In a manner similar to a certain other MMORPG, one association may
  swear allegiance to another.  Once the agreement is made, the
  "subordinate" association may use the guildhall, share guild chatter,
  etc, of the primary association.  

  In return, however, the subordinate association's prestige is frozen
  -- it cannot earn or lose prestige.  Any prestige it would have
  normally gained is assigned to the primary association.  This "stunted"
  growth is the price paid for sharing in the resources of the primary
  association (which may be considerable once Kingdoms are complete).

  See "help alliance" for more information.

5/15/08
- The "backdoor" to Khildarak was recently reinforced by another score
  of soldiers
- When groundfighting, barbarian dodge is now considerably less effective
- Tempest terrain no longer works indoors or in hometowns.

5/14/08
- The Orog racial innate, "Warcallers Fury" never actually existed in
  game... until now.  It now works as intended (see the help file).
- Orogs have worked on some deficient areas in their heritage, at the
  expense of others.
- Retreat now notches in skill more easily.

5/13/08
- You can no longer give artifacts/uniques to those on the other side of
  the racewar
- Mines now load in the Tharnadian Rifts
- Water plane was cleaned up a bit, and the Orb of the Sea will no longer
  banish victims to "trap rooms"

5/12/08
- NPC's now have a hard damage cap: they will not do more than 800 damage
  in a single blow or spell.

5/11/08
- NOTE: Artifacts and uniques now must "bind to your soul" before they
  can feed.  If you give your artifact or unique to a friend, it takes 2
  hours before it will bind to anyone.  If you received the artifact
  from the corpse of an enemy, however, you will receive a 30 minute
  repreive before the 2 hour delay comes into effect.  This is all
  designed to prevent "arti feed sharing" that many of you are aware of,
  and is a bug fix that is long overdue.  Thanks to Venthix for this one.

5/09/08
- The donation well in Winterhaven will now retain items after reboots and
  crashes.  The 'get all well' command doesn't work on the well either --
  this is intended to deter hoarding and maximize access to those who
  truly need its contents.
- Groundfighting now works as intended (see help groundfighting)
- Morted fire elementals now unmort when healed by fire spells
- We've received a fair number of reports that Orogs do not appear to
  detect sneaking individuals properly.  Some may not realize that detecting
  sneak is also partly based on int, and Orogs are dumb as dirt.  The
  poor ability of Orogs to see sneaking players is as intended.
- The Prisons of Carthapia runestone now pays out more epics.
- "sort ac" is now a locker sort option
- The beasts in the Valley of the Snow Ogres won't be so quick to pursue
  their prey and run into ambushes anymore.

5/06/08
- The Valley of the Snow Ogres was increased in difficulty considerably, and
  the properties of some of its objects have changed
- Goblins can summon totems without risking losing their ships
- Alver taught "quadruped" horses how to stampede.  Look out!
- One cannot move in the ocean while mounted anymore
- Gnome botanists recently discovered a mysterious corpse located below the
  Kobold Village.  On an oddly related note, the kobold blacksmith in the
  Village recently learned to make eyeglasses.
- The runestone at Nakral's Crypt now pays out more epics.

5/05/08
- Blind spells/abilities are of no effect if the victim is already suffering
  from the blind effect.

4/29/08
- Evils can no longer use the home command.  This was always intended as a
  temporary ability until the implementation of guildhalls.
- Surprise should be working as intended (for sure this time!)
- Nyneth monolith now works properly
- Goods can no longer home in evil race hometowns
- A new contingent of soldiers has been added to the Khildarak guard,
  increasing their numbers considerably
- Ships can now be renamed using more than one word
- Ny'neth the Dark has a new trick up his sleeve -- his wife.  Look out!

4/26/08
  Guildhalls
- After a long wait, they are finally ready! If your association has reached
  the Guild stage (>2000 prestige points), ask a god to create a guildhall for
  you. They cost 100,000 platinum, and are now found inside of the hometowns.
  Goodie guildhalls can be placed in one of the vacant rooms south of the
  Celestial Bazaar in Winterhaven and evil guildhalls in one of the lost clans
  in Khildarak. After the guildhall is created, you can use the 'construct' command
  to personalize it/buff it up. For the time being, outposts are not implemented,
  but they will be replaced by something else that is coming soon.

4/25/08
- Drow scouts recently uncovered a settlement of Shaughin elves
  within the third level of the Underdark.  It's rumored that their
  settlement provides efficient passage from one level of the Underdark
  to another, provided one has the cunning to avoid the many dangerous
  beasts in the maze of twisting caverns.

  (Many thanks go out to Dravin for making this zone!)

- A human outpost located in the Undead Continent was recently discovered.
  Adventurers be warned, as it is infested with evil.

4/20/08
- A certain unintentional "trans-continental" passage was removed.
- Mobs will no longer steal items from the donation well in Winterhaven.
- Weapons no longer damage as easily.
- Wizard eye has been changed to work in a manner similar to dimension
  door on the world map, but with a longer range.
- A "popular" move regen item in Bandit Camp had its load chance
  reduced considerably.
- A move regen item was added to the Old Quarter of Tharnadia.

4/16/08
- Tree huggers and gardeners beware.  Plant race mobs are stronger and
  larger than before, and will toss players around more frequently.
- Two weapon fighting now works properly with Thri-Kreens
- Casting mirror image no longer interferes with an enemy from an
  opposite race war side's ability to cast mirror image as well.
- Anyone who has a pet will no longer have the problem of that pet
  not leaving with them when they leave a zone.
- The flaming axe of the Azer had its properties change
- Having vicious toggled off now works properly when a druid
  entangles an opponent
- It's no longer possible to cheese kill someone using the surprise
  skill in a single file room, nor can it be "spammed".

4/14/08
- Winterhaven now has a donation well at the city center (the fountain)!
- Rogues can now disguise as orogs.

- Reminder:
  
  Given recent events, we would like to remind everyone that the
  rules stated under "help raid" apply to same side racewar
  fighting as well.  These rules will be enforced to the best
  of the ability of the Duris admin staff at all times.

4/11/08
- Some of the items in The Ruins of Tharnadia's Old Quarter had
  their properties improved.
- The Old Quarter now has a chance at additional epic point rewards.
  There is a good chance of receiving 3 bonus points, all the way down to
  a very low chance of receiving 15 bonus points.  Thanks again to all
  players who provided constructive feedback -- think we're finally done
  here!

4/09/08
- Epic stones in random zones should now work properly.
- Several quests have been updated to pay out a bit more.
- The number of guards protecting the Orog Encampment has increased.

4/06/08
- The Ruins of Tharnadia's Old Quarter epic zone had its difficulty
  increased in some areas.  Also, there are now random eq rewards in the
  final room where the epic stone resides.
- Davril and Kzantha's quests have been clarified -- see the signs posted
  in their shops.  (Didn't know they had quests? We don't blame you!)

4/03/08
- The teacher of Infuse Magical Device has been moved to a non-aggressive
  mob in the same zone.
- Zealot god call has been tweaked. The duration of the effect is now
  longer, to further match the timer on the innate refresh. Simply put,
  the duration for zealot god call is now level / 7 minutes, and the timer
  refresh for the innate is 8 minutes.
- Pets no longer count towards the group cap, but still towards the misfire
  cap (which is 16 for all those out there who did not know).
- The Githyanki special weapon proc (the free weapon for level 50) was
  broken, but it is now fixed.
- Natures Touch should now have some messages for the caster and room.
- A multitude of zone fixes have been submitted, keep the ideas and bugs
  coming!
- To keep the masses placated while we _try_ to find the time to finish
  guildhalls, evils can now home in any hometown similar to goodies, but
  for a slightly higher price.
- The Temple of Tikitzopl door to the master of arms is now bashable from
  both sides.
- Parlay should now be a bit less nerfed, but quite a bit more realistic in
  it's operation. Feedback (rational) is welcomed.

3/31/08
- Some of the bosses in The Jade Empire aren't so epic anymore.

3/30/08
- The 'Circle' skill has gotten a significant facelift; it now works much like
  the 'flank' ability. Try it out!
- Berserkers now tend to inflict more damage the lower their hitpoints become.
- Archery experience should be much less insane crazy.

3/29/08
- The Old Quarter of the Ruin of Tharnadia is now an epic zone.  Speak
  with the expeditionary force leader to find out how you can help him get
  inside.
- The epic stone in Nakral's Crypt has moved.  Some of the items in this
  zone were boosted slightly as well.
- Ships now have restrictions on how many weapons are allowed in each
  position (fore/port/starboard/aft). A few other small ship bugs were fixed.
- Frigates are now a bit smaller.
- Dalvik sells cargo again.
- Lance charge shouldn't damage lances so often anymore.


3/28/08
- Berserk has been adjusted slightly once more- it should show a bit more of a gain for
  Warrior types using it, granting them slightly faster speed in combat, and increasing
  their mental power somewhat.
- A new epic skill has been added, read help epic skills for details.
- The spell penetration epic skill has been tweaked slightly, in a positive fashion.
- Tiamat's treasure vault now contains treasure!
- The Mentenozan Shade in the Arachdrathos Guilds has a new trick
  up his sleeve...
- Parlay has been adjusted slightly, it now lags the user slightly more.
- Increased spell damage on berserk has been toned down a bit, roughly 5 percent.

3/27/08
- Ship hulls can now be downgraded
- Reaver hitpoints were reduced slightly, and their gain from "Eshablas Vitality" was
  increased a fair amount. This should move them in a direction to become more dependent
  on their spells/enchantments to survive.
- "Living" and "Undead" should now appear under the "Protected From" information on
  your score sheet (if you have the apropriate enchantments active).
- The god call timer for specialized clerics has gotten shorter (can use it more often)
- Bounty hunter spec mercenaries' track now caps at 100.
- Berserk has been changed slightly. Now, whenever a player is berserked, they will take
  slightly more damage vs spells, but slightly less damage vs melee based damage. This
  is subject to tweaking in the coming days.
- Assassins have gained a new 56 skill.
- Psionicists have gained the unarmed combat ability, with a fairly low cap.
- Maul should be slightly less prone to failure.
- Various bug fixes, for instance: A bug causing innate
  invisibility not to work in the Underdark map was fixed.  
  Please keep reporting bugs with the bug command --
  we really do read that log!

3/26/08
- The elite mobs in The Jade Empire no longer let
  themselves die so easily
- The mystical warhammer artifact is now usable by Mountain
  Dwarves, complete with its own unique set of procs for that
  race

3/23/08
- Some of the guards in the Orog Encampment can now see invisible
  foes.  Gate guard reinforcements now won't tend to repop all at one
  gate either.

3/22/08
- The Shady Grove gate guards have increased in number somewhat
- The newly introduced lag on failed maul attempts has been toned
  down

3/21/08
- Centaur warriors can now specialize as Swordsmen
- The innate god call timer for clerics is now the same for spec'd
  and non-spec'd clerics
- Shady Grove gate guards have developed new tactics; they will
  no longer repop reinforcements at a single city entrance when
  goods raid

3/17/08
- Maul no longer works as well on sitting/prone victims and may cause
  the berserker to fall flat on his face or to his knees after an
  unsuccessful attempt

3/13/08
- You can now board/disembark frigates while undocked like other ships.

3/5/08
- Gnome scientists recently discovered that years of natural
  selection (accelerated by adventurers-in-training looking for
  target practice) has caused the worms in the Sarmiz'Duul tunnels
  to become much stronger than they were previously.
- Ships can now be renamed at a cost based on the type of ship.  Note
  that offensive ship names are now being replaced.

3/4/08
- Avengers have gained a new skill. Check help files for details.
- Paladins have slightly more hitpoints.
- Githzerai have become slightly wiser.

3/3/08
- Scan now works much more effectively than it did before.
- The inter-dimensional rift that had inadvertently been delivering an
  arcane power beyond all reason to the evil spec teachers inhabiting EC
  has closed, and the teachers have returned to having their normal strength.
- Each portal in The Twin Keeps of Devastated Tharnadia now has an epic stone.
- Tchan, the high priest of Storm Port can no longer remove spill blood tasks.

3/2/08
- As the recurrent power of the Good races grows in their bastion of
  Winterhaven, gnome scientists have discovered long-lost lore for piercing
  the darkness further than ever before, and have taught all of their good
  race allies how to see a little bit further in the pitch-black darkness
  of the Underdark.

- Demoralized by recent raids from Winterhaven, some of the guards in
  Shady Grove have abandoned their posts.

- Bugfix: the temporary loss in speed after gaining ship frags has been fixed.

2/29/08
- Braddistock Mansion had a round of changes done to it -- upgrades to some
  of the equipment, and with some quest rewards changed.  For those who
  haven't explored it before, Braddistock was changed this wipe to be a
  challenging zone intended for players levels 40 and up.  Experienced
  players skilled at avoiding being swarmed by mobs will find it to have good
  xp opportunities as well.

- The artifact unique, "a gold tablet entitled "The Holy Code of Honor"
  had its stats changed considerably.  But the beast that guards it is now
  stronger than ever before -- better bring some tough friends for this one.

2/27/08
- Bugfix:  If you attack or are hit by ranged weapons, you are now
  considered to be in an active pvp situation and can no longer immediately
  rent out
- The "eternity" longbow unique is now wieldable only and unusable by priest
  and caster classes

2/24/08
- The score command now shows the name of the person you are consenting to.
- "who lfg" now shows all players who are seeking groups

2/22/08
- Ethermancers can now train the Devotion epic skill.
- The stun duration on maul should be slightly less for the victim.
- The flame blade and wind blade spells have been slightly improved, and will
  increase the power of the weapon they summon as the caster levels.
- Githzerai can now be clerics, and Orogs can now be mercenaries.
- Half-Elves can no longer be clerics.
- Restoration should now also cure debuff ailments, like slowness and snailspeed.
- Avengers should see a bit larger improvement from the "divine power" spell.

2/21/08
- Githzerai shrug was increased substantially
- Barbarian hitpoints and damage output were increased
- Orogs have become slightly slower
- Kobe Chi, of the Jade Empire, has recently acquired a unique object.

2/20/08
- Air Magus and Wizard specializations are now available to Githzerai

2/19/08
- A few wandering mobs on the surface have had their quests enhanced.
- Epic zones increase in value over time slightly faster now.
- Zone trophy will fade over time slightly faster.

2/18/08
- The surprise skill should no longer be cheesable.

Note: According to the updated rules for this wipe, you are
      NOT allowed to abuse bugs, even if you have reported
      them. We will be lenient if you accidentally triggered a bug,
      but if it is clear that you have abused it on purpose, even
      if you have reported it, you will be liable for disciplinary
      action.

2/14/08
  New server!
- We are now live on a new server in the same data center, but with dual processors
  and a super fast hard drive. Hopefully the mud will be more responsive and won't
  slow down at peak times. Feedback is appreciated!

2/11/08
- The sorcerer Ny'Neth has simultaneously mastered all the arcane paths of
  magic. You have been warned!

2/7/08
- Psycheporter specialized psionicists can no longer stack the 'displacement' spell.
- Shield punch should no longer hit victims outside its size range.
- Shadow archers have gained the 'Evasion' innate at 41.
- Shadow Archers lag after firing a volley of arrows is reduced.
- The Bard/Illusionist multiclass has gotten some new ansi.
- Air Magi have a new spell. Check helpfiles for details.
- The effects of the avenger spells 'Atonement' and 'Divine Power' have been
  slightly increased.

2/4/08
- Mercenaries' entrapment ability (prevents fleeing) has a much lower chance of
  succeeding now, since you can stack the effect with multiple mercenaries in
  the group.

2/2/08
- Tsunami, the trident of storms, is no longer permanent coldshield. The vitality
  it grants is also slightly more potent.
- Some innate skills can be used slightly more often now, try them out!
- Necromancers have gotten a new spell, vitalize undead. Check helpfiles for details.
- Avengers have been heavily redone, lost a few skills, but are now a semi-caster
  class. Check helpfiles for details.
- Avenger damage mod has been lowered slightly.
- Dreadlords now have the disarm skill, and they are also immune to the effects
  of fear inducing spells and abilities.

2/1/08
- Frigates, being primarily warships, now have a considerably lower cargo capacity.
- The shipfrag penalty for being fragged is now the same as the shipfrags the
  fragger gains (it should have always been this way).
- Diabolus spec Necromancers now have the 'mummify' innate at 41.
- Some of the royal guards in Aravne have become a bit tougher. Beware!
- Ethereal/Astral planes should now be twilight.

1/29/08
- Druid mobs have gotten smarter. Watch out!
- Elemental swarm elementals have gotten slightly weaker.
- The 'healing salve' spell now has the potential to heal a bit more.
- Watch out when 'killing' ghost mobs; they might suck a bit of your living force away.
- Kharne wants you to know that Jexni fixed alot of typos.
- Arrows and bows should show a bit more information when you use the 'identify'
  spell on them.
- Duergar rogues can now also specialize as Thieves.
- If you are sneaking, it will now show on your score.
- The globe of shadows artifact has been changed significantly. It is now a
  major artifact, and it's new abilities can be found in help artifact_globeofshadows
  
  Thief Changes: First Round
- Thieves lost innate sneak, but no longer lag when actively using the sneak skill.
- Expert thieves no longer show up on the maps when sneaking.
- Expert thieves can hide with no lag now.
- Thieves gain evade at 46 instead of 56.
- This is just the first round of thief changes; we're going to continue to update
  the class in the next few weeks. In general, thieves are moving towards a traditional
  "D&D" style thief - more emphasis on stealth rather than on stealing. Thieves
  will probably keep some form of steal, but that will not be their major focus.

1/28/08
- Vampiric touch (the spell) now gives a slight hitroll bonus for necros.
- Heal undead now heals for slightly more than before.
- Protect undead stacks once more, but only on the caster and his/her pets.
- Necromancer mobs have gotten much, much, much smarter.
- Necromancer pet spectres and wraiths should no longer fudge things up with their procs.
- Dreadlords should now have spec options once more.
- Exp grouplimts have been changed: evils group limit is now 6, and goodies
  is now 10.

1/26/08
- A new shaman spell has been added for the Elementalist spec, check the helpfiles
  for details.
- Ethermancer mobs now have an AI associated with them, beware!
- Each Ethermancer spec now has a 56 spell, read helpfiles for details.
- Rescue should now lag the rescuee much less than before.
- You can now multiclass at level 46 instead of 50, with the same epic requirements.
- Experience should be a fair amount easier across the board.

1/24/08
- A new necromancer spell, 'Knock', has been added. Check helpfiles for details.
- Paladins/Antipaladins can now remort (ascend/descend, respectively) at level
  46. The 50 epic prerequisite still remains.
- Flame and Shock reaver have gained a few new low level spells. Check helpfiles
  for details.
- Myrabolus now has a working bank.
- The Desert City of Venan'trut's inhabitants have gotten a bit tougher.
- Bashing things is slightly more difficult than before.

1/23/08
- We are now accepting donations from the website to help us pay for our
  ongoing server costs. Please go to http://www.durismud.com/donate for more
  information.
- The poor pupae deep in the Maggot Caves have evolved some protectors
  to prevent them from being so easily slaughtered so often.
- Arachnids' buggy webwrap proc has been fixed.
- It's been this way for awhile, but just fyi: if you already have more than 20
  frags, you won't gain any more frags unless your victims are 40+

1/22/08
- Poison now has an upper timelimit, so it's not possible to stay poisoned
  for hours (although it still lasts a few minutes).
- Bandaging now has a chance of healing poison as well, based on your skill
  level.
- Several mobs in Venan'Trut have buffed themselves up commensurate with
  the equipment they carry.
- Sootfoot in Winterhaven now sells mining picks and forging hammers.
- Abbadon and Maverick have joined the ranks of the elite.

1/21/08
- Mercenaries' entrapment skill is now not as likely to happen.
- Several zones have been rearranged slightly to fit with their descriptions.
- A few mobs and items here and there have been tweaked.
- Illusionists can now learn the summon familiar epic skill as well.

1/19/08
- Headbutt damage is now more level+skill dependent.
- Necropets now have slightly more hitpoints.
- The world realized that four-leaf clovers really can't make you see
  in the dark.
- The issues with the epic stone in the Swamp should be fixed now.
- A few pieces of equipment have had their stats altered, and a few mobs
  and items are now rareload.
- Good-raced players no longer lose experience on death until level 30.

1/18/08
- The threshold number of epic points required to gain association prestige
  has been raised slightly.

1/17/08
- The infamous bug with Orogs and Githzerai not gaining prestige points as
  normal has been squashed.
- The staircase near the Stargazer temple in Aravne should no longer have
  the equivalent of a 100 car pile-up residing in it's rooms.
- The dirk dubbed 'Extinction' is now merc/rogue/bard only.
- Goblin innate flurry should work as intended now, before the casting
  pulse bonus it inferred was less than haste, and didn't even stack
  with haste. It is also less laggy to use this innate.
- The lifebane mask has lost it's invoke invisibility, and had it replaced
  with some more fitting stats.
- The dawndale DI monocle has also had it's stats adjusted, losing DI in
  favor of more realistic stats.
- Purple worms should now disintegrate (leave no corpse) once you kill them.
- Folks without the 'Parlay' skill will no longer be able to use it.
- Parlay now has very slight lag after it's use.
- Attempting to parlay with Elite mobs is alot tougher, you have been warned!
- The epics on the Swamp Troll King and his equipment should be fixed.
  Report any bugginess.
- A new spell has been added for the wildmage spec. 'Help Wildmage' for details.
- The 'Rage' ability for berserkers has been changed slightly. Instead of
  statically setting the pulse of the character very low, it now sets the
  characters pulse to a percentage of his or her previous pulse.
- The Ragelord lower lag on rage was somehow being applied to both specs,
  this has been corrected.

1/16/08
- Necromancers cannot cast Protect Undead on themselves unless they are
  tranced (change goes along with heal undead a few days ago).
- Energy Drain once again goes through globe.
- A few items in Jade Empire have had their stats adjusted.
- A rather "quick" dagger has realized that only certain classes can use it.

1/15/08
- The lockers in the Orog Encampment are now ready for business.

1/14/08
- Quietus Quay now has a shipyard and quest bartender. Hurray.
- Duergars have had their racial agility slightly increased.
- Several items throughout the world have had their stats adjusted.
- All permanent invisibility equipment has been re-evaluated. Instead
  of allowing the wearer to remain invisible permanently, it requires
  the user to invoke the invisibility affect, with a slight cooldown.
- Githzerai shrug has been increased slightly.
- PVP exp has been increased slightly once more.
- Disarm should notch a bit more easily now.
- Necromancers can no longer heal undead themselves unless they are tranced.
- Necromancer pets are now slightly more durable.

1/12/08
- An underground spring has breached the parched surface of the Calimshan Desert,
  creating an oasis.

1/11/08
- Elite mobs under level 50 no longer reward the group with 3 epics.
- All elite mobs now reward the group/killer with a higher experience mod
  for all types of experience gained while fighting the mob.
- More typos and bugfixes have been done. Keep em coming!
- Grappler combat has been changed slightly. Bearhug is only usable on same
  size +1 larger, headlock is only usable on same size, +1 up, +1 down,
  leglock is only usable on same size and +1 up, and groundslam is only
  usable on same size and 1 down.
- Necromancers can now get skeleton pets from animate dead, this was disabled
  before for some reason.
- A new zone has been connected on kk, east of the minotaur hometown.
- You should be able to do commerce in Woodseer again.
- Epics and skill points now display in your score upon hitting level 20.

1/10/08
- Alot of the items in the Winterhaven shops were misflagged, this has been fixed.
- A couple new items have been added to Morgeeth and Winterhaven shops.
- Ghost and other subtypes of mobs that were constantly aging people have had
  said aging procs toned down significantly.
- Arcane cold based spells now have a message when the victim fails save vs them.
- Knocked out folks should no longer be able to dodge kicks.
- Grappler combat doesn't work so well versus mounted opponents now.
- Duergars have gained miners sight at level 46.
- Several typos and map bugs have been fixed. Please contine to report them and
  we will continue squashing them!
- There is now a mob in Shady Grove and Winterhaven that can sell you an elixer
  that restores youth, for a price.
- Summon Horde shouldn't bug out when the Orc trying to summon has Orc Players
  following him.
- Quietus Quay inn now work like...an inn.
- All mounts in the game have gotten a significant boost in movement regen.

1/9/08
- Orogs and Githzerai now have their own fraglists.
- Zombie disease is now commensurate with their level.
- The Orog encampment now has a bank and some shops.
- Several speed improvements went in, hopefully the mud should be faster than
  it has been the last few days.
- Some of the guards defending Woodseer have deserted their posts.
- Low-level shaman spells have been scaled in damage similar to the way other magic
  spells were, give them a try!

1/7/08
- Winterhaven now has a moneychanger and a bank.
- You can now earn a bit more experience in a zone before it becomes boring,
  and it won't become quite so worthless so quickly now.
- Goblins now have higher constitution.
- Githzerai now have slightly higher constitution.
- Several mobs in the Underdark have been tweaked. Some track when they didn't
  before, and vice versa.

Overview of New Wipe Changes:
==============================
- The playing rules of Duris have been clarified and WILL be enforced!
- Immortals that are active as players can only have Immortal Rank.
- Brand new maps. Time to explore!
- New main good hometown: Winterhaven. All good races can start there.
- Several new zones are added, both epic zones and others.
- 40+ new NPC races, LOTS of brand new NPC unique procs.
- Two new PC races: Githzerai for goodies, Orog for evils.
- Harpies are no longer a PC race, other races can be Ethermancer.
- Humans now start with 85 in all stats.
- Innates are now gained as you gain levels.
- Minotaurs can be Sorcerer.
- Barbarians are large, Duergar medium, Ogre/Minotaur huge size.
- Necromancers can now remort into Lich if they have enough epics.
- The guild system has been restructured.
  Basically it is more advanced, you build your guild based on
  guild prestige points. Can become a kingdom and war other
  guilds and much more. Help file coming as soon as possible!

- Experience has been changed some.
  PVP kills are actually worth it now, happy hunting!

- Zone trophy system. Which means that the trophy is calculated
  on how much exp you have gained in the zone, opposed to how
  many mobs you have killed.

- Experience is now split among the group, so the bigger the
  group is the less exp you get from each kill. But the smaller
  the group is the faster you trophy out on mobs and have to
  move around more.

* Evil experience group cap = 4
* Good experience group cap = 8

- Class specs are more restricted.
  Basically there are more restrictions in which class/spec the
  different races can become. This is to create diversity in
  what race/class combinations people play. Some spec spells
  have also been re-arranged. Type help speclist in game.

We hope you all enjoy this new wipe and that there will be lots of action!