Throne of Destiny
Home Page at Turbine

Download the Throne of Destiny Presentation from Turbines Site - Click Here

AC1 Expansion Pack "Throne of Destiny" Titbits from Turbine Nation;

New ToD Full (High Quality) Trailer - Click Here
New ToD FAQ - Click Here
2 New Screen Shots - Click Here
New ToD Retail and Pre-Order FAQ - Click Here
New ToD Screenshots - Click Here
Before and After ToD Screenshots - Click Here
February Letter from the Team - Click Here
Turbine Nation and ACPL 2004 Pic's at Warcry's COD - Click Here
Expansion Pack Slide Show at Warcry's COD - Click Here
Turbine Nation 2004 Coverage at ACVault (Part 1) - Click Here
Turbine Nation 2004 Coverage at ACVault (Part 2) - Click Here
Turbine Nation 2004 Coverage at ACVault (Part 3) - Click Here
Turbine Nation 2004 Pic's at ACVault - Click Here

Index -
New Maximum Level - Augmentation Gems - New Playable Race - New Island Archipelago -
Graphics Update - Throne of Destiny Screen Shots -  New/Updated Critters - No Elder Game Land Control - Rare Drops - Other Notes.

New Maximum Level;
The maximum level is being raised to 275!!

All 126+ characters will have their current level recalculated based upon their spent and unspent experience. So basically you should be whatever level TreeStats says you are.

You will receive skill points for those 126+ levels. The ratio will not remain "1 point / 5 levels", it is still being discussed.

The caps for attributes, vitals and skills are not being raised (so max base strength is still 290 for example.)

Augmentation Gems;
After reaching 126 you can opt to get Augmentation Gems. No word on whether these are crafted, looted, quested, etc.

However once you have one you can activate it by spending xp and it will give various affects, some mentioned:
- Extra Pack Slot.
- Elysa's Bangle -- Coordination Self VII, Major Coordination, Bow Mastery Self VII, Major Bow,
  Invulnerability Self VII, Major Invulnerability.
- Lose Fewer Death Items.
- Bonus Salvage.
Branith's Dreadful Wand -- +20% damage with Fire spells, Spirit Drinker VII, Major Spirit Drinker.
 

New Playable Race - The Viamontian;
A fourth PC race will be added, the Viamont. In addition Viamontian NPC's will be the villains of the expansion pack.

- The Viamont's will have their own racial weapon, they have decided what it is, but will not announce it.
- A form of racial armor (wearable by all races) will be introduced. It looks like a covenant/plate mix - it looks awesome!
- The NPC's are bad-asses and don't like anyone including other Viamontian's.
- The Viamont culture is being modeled on a middle ages French/Italian theme.

The Viamont History Article at Turbine "The Origins and Current Disposition of Viamont"

The Ruschk	Viamontian Knight	Viamontian Dwelling	Viamontian NPC Shop	Viamontian Fountain
Click on Image for Larger Pic of it

New Viamontian Island Archipelago "Halaetan Islands";
The Viamontian will be based on a new Archipelago of 6 islands to the NE of Marae Lassel called the Halaetan Islands. There will be a starter town within these islands called Sanamar which will be located on the isle of Corcosi, the southern most island in the Halaetan Archipelago.

The Halaetan Article at Turbine "A Primer on Halaetan Geography"

The Halaetan Islands

Click on Image for Larger Picture of it

Graphics Update;
- The graphics update will move from 16-bit to 32-bit texture buffers and move from
   DirectX 7 to DirectX 9.
- Software mode will no longer be supported. A 16MB video card will be required, 32 MB recommended.
  CPU requirements are not determined yet but should not be high.
- They are redoing 6000 textures.
- Doubling the size of quite a few textures to increase visual impact.
- What you should see is marked difference in sharpness and quality.

The Viamont Knight Article at Turbine "The Viamontian Knight"

How Updated Armor May Look	Viamontian Player Armor (Concept Artwork)	Viamontian Player Armor (Lightwave Render)	Asheron's Face Before/After
Click on Image for Larger Picture of it

Throne of Destiny (ToD) Screen Shots;
The Teaser Image Article at Asheron's Call Vault "Teaser Images"

Glenden Wood - Before and After
Current AC Client (1280x895)	Throne of Destiny AC Client (1280x895)

Side by Side Comparison (1024x358)

Click on Image for Larger Picture of it

Sawato - Before and After
Current AC Client (1280x895)	Throne of Destiny AC Client (1280x895)

Side by Side Comparison (1024x358)

Click on Image for Larger Picture of it

New/Updated Critters;
- Make a monster winner, best described as a walking mushroom
- Some humanoid race that uses weapons made of ice.
- The Eaters, considered the Viamont's 'pets', sort of a walking mouth.
 

The Eater	ReedShark's Before/After
Click on Image for Larger Pic of it

No Elder Game Land Control;
Due to the lukewarm reaction to the land control aspect initially announced, it was shelved.

It will be developed after the expansion pack as a downloaded 'booster' that will be automatically given to everyone with the expansion pack. Slated to be done Fall 2005.

Rare Drops;
The previously discussed rare drops will be incorporated into the expansion pack, and only be available to players that have purchased it.

There will be 5 tiers. Drop rate will be roughly 1000/month for Tier 1 and 1/month for Tier 5.

Frequency of Rare Items;

Note that this is the expected drop rate ACROSS ALL SERVERS. And those are the estimated drop rate not exact.

EVERY creature will have an equal chance of dropping a rare upon death. So a Tier 5 item is just as likely to be found on a Drudge Skulker as a Drudge Seraph Mystic. Since the drop is only a % chance there will be some months when 0 drop and some months when 3 drop.

What wasn't as clear was the exact procedure for when the rare generation is checked. They seem to indicate upon death, so if the corpse is not checked then that super-rare Tier 5 item may not even be found.

All rares will have an icon to indicate they are rare.

A couple of examples of rare items:
 - A healing kit with 5 uses that is +500 skill and 10x healing rate.
 - Infinite and Infallible Dye Pots.
 - Infinite Deadly Arrowheads.
 - Elsya's Bangle that gives the following spells:
       Bow Mastery Self VII, Major Bow,  Coordination Self VII, Major Coordination,
       Invulnerability Self VII, Major Invulnerability.

I'm guessing that last one there is a Tier 5. Remember the drop rate will be such that after a year only 12 items like this should exist ACROSS ALL SERVERS!

All rares will have no wield or activation requirements. So that Elysa's bow item will be usable by a level 1 noob.

Other Notes;
20+ new quests, including stuff for lower level Viamont re-rolls.
12 new dungeons.
New Face and Hair Styles.
More Character Titles.
Hundreds of New Inventory Items.
Caveat - I may have those numbers on the dungeons/quests swapped.
Town lovin' - some changes to cause towns to become popular again are being coordinated between the live team and expansion pack team.

Here are a couple of minor items from the AC1 Dev Q&A.

Mansion lovin' should be here sooner rather than later. They will look into removing the buy caps in all towns to make the bindstones in all towns useful.

More to come ...