Phoenix. Server merge

Some of you might know that soon some of our servers will be merged soon and our beloved Hindemith server will be merged with Gustin and that new server will be called Phoenix. The name came out from the forum voting poll so players chose that name. I personally prefer “Darion” as a server name, but…ah well…majority rules. So anyways I’ve decided to post some info from the official lineage2 message board about the upcoming merge. You can read it under the link below.

Since we opened server transfers in February this year, we’ve all seen a noticeable shift in what servers the Lineage II population is playing on. Many players transferred from some of the lower population servers to the higher population servers in the name of greater competition and more players, while others simply transferred to play with others in their region. All of these are very valid reasons and we’re happy to offer our players the choice to move to a server they would prefer.

The heart of Lineage II has always been its clans and highly competitive PVP, be it grand-scale castle and fortress sieges, or one-on-one combat. I think we can all agree that being a part of hundreds of players on a castle battle field is an incredible adventure that all should be able to partake in. We recognize that in order to offer the best experience equally for all of our players, some population balancing is needed.

In an effort to maintain the very highest quality Lineage II experience for all of our players, we will be combining several of our North American servers. We aim to make this as smooth and painless a transition as possible for our community and believe that the end result will be a more lively and thriving server community for all.

Over the next few weeks, we will be here to answer your questions and address your concerns. The Lineage II community is as strong as ever, and our players remain dedicated, enthusiastic, and active participants. Our goal is to balance the population to ensure the best possible competitive environment for all and, in turn, promote server growth. Please read on for all the details.

Server Merge Date

• July 8, 2008
  

Servers to Be Merged

The server merge plan is based upon current server population balancing needs and the physical locale of the server hardware. Servers 1 through 5 are located in North America on the West Coast and servers 6 through 8 are on the East Coast. As such, only servers in the same physical location are eligible to be merged. With that in mind, below is the server merge plan.

• Server 2 (Sieghardt) + Server 5 (Erica) = New Server A
  
• Server 3 (Kain) + Server 4 (Lionna) = New Server B
  
• Server 6 (Gustin) + Server 8 (Hindemith) = New Server C
  

*Please note that the new servers will not experience any latency issues as a result of two server populations being combined on them. The new populations will still be below our very highest population servers.

The new server names are yet to be determined. We will be requesting server name nominations and creating an official poll from the top picks. This will be done in each individual server forum on the official website. We will take nominations until June 19th at 5:00 PM Central time. The names will be voted upon and ultimately chosen by each of the server communities.

After the merges, the old server names will be deleted and not used again.

Servers 1 (Bartz), 7 (Devianne), 9 (Teon), 10 (Franz), and 11 (Luna) will not be involved in these merges.

Account Services *Updated*

In order to facilitate the smoothest possible merge, all account services will be turned off one week prior to the merge. We are also turning off all transfers to the affected servers on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 (after the regular weekly maintenance).

We will be turning on all account services again, including server transfers, on July 8th after the maintenance.

Characters

Characters will transfer over with all of their individual belongings, including all items and Adena in their private warehouse, inventory, and equipment slots. Individual character status and info, such as quest info and karma, will also transfer over intact with the exceptions of hero status and Olympiad points, which will be reset.

Dormant Character Deletion:

• In order to minimize duplicate character names, all characters that are level 10 or lower and have not logged in for more than one year will be deleted.
  
• To prevent the character deletion, that character simply needs to be logged in once prior to the server merge.
  

Character Name Conflict Rules *Updated*

• If a character name exists on both servers, a pop-up window will appear on your character selection screen and you must type in the name you want for that specific character. If the name you type in is already in use, you will get an error and be prompted to type in a different name.
  
• If a character name conflict occurs, you must type in a name for that specific character before you will be able to log into the game.
  

Character Slots

• If you have more than a total of seven characters between two servers that are being merged, the seven characters that have the most EXP will be kept—the rest will be deleted.
  
• If you have more than a total of seven characters between two servers that are being merged, and their EXP is the same, the older character(s) will be deleted.
  

Miscellaneous

• All characters will be moved to the nearest town.
  
• Character creation will be turned off on the merged server for one week after the merge.
  
• All unique colored names from Battle Tournament will be reset.
  

Clans & Alliances

• All alliances will be disbanded.
  
• Clan information and organization, such as Clan Warehouse, Reputation Points, Clan Skills, clan level, clan leadership and ranks, etc. will be transferred.
  
• The in-game clan community board and clan crest will be reset.
  
• All clan wars will be ended.
  

Clan Name Conflict Rules *Updated*

• If clans from the servers being merged share the same clan name, a number will be attached to each clan name. The clan name may be changed at the High Priest/Priestess in any village. The clan name change request will be applied during the following week’s regular maintenance (on Tuesdays). Please note that once the clan name change request is complete, it cannot be revised or changed.
  

Castles, Manor, & Clan Halls *Updated*

• All castles, manors, and clan halls will be reset.
  
• All clans that own a castle/siegeable clan hall prior to the merge will be reimbursed with clan reputation points (on July 8th).
  
• Castle Warehouse will be initialized and all items will be deleted.
  
• All clans that own an auctionable clan hall will be reimbursed with Adena (winning bid amount) on July 1st during maintenance, prior to the merge. The reimbursed Adena will appear in the Clan Warehouse. Clans who purchase an auctionable clan hall after July 1st will not be reimbursed.
  
• The manor system and all items associated with it, such as seeds, will be reset.
  
• All fortresses will be reset.
  
• The first castle siege time for a merged server is to be determined.
  

Olympiad

• Olympiad points will be reset.
  
• Hero status and associated hero weapons will be reset.

Miscellaneous

• Cursed weapons, Seven Signs Quest, and the in-game community board will be reset.
  
• Seal Stones and Ancient Adena will be transferred and deposited Seal Stones will be returned to your characters. Seal Stones that were contributed to the priest of each cabal will be converted into Ancient Adena and placed in your private warehouse prior to the server merge.
  
• The Hellbound stage unlocked will be set to the highest stage reached between the two servers being merged.
  
• Auction sales rewards will be deleted if you do not collect them prior to the merge.
  
• Pet names will be reset.
  
• Character’s in-game email will be deleted.
  
• Friend lists and ignore lists will be reset.
  
• Raid points will not be transferred.
  

Source: Official Lineage II Message Board

Alchemy 1-300 Guide

-This is a guide I used to level up my alchemy 1-300, I was not able find out the source or author. But Credits to the Author!

This guide will show you how to get your alchemy skill up from 0 to 300. The guide will only use recipe's available at a trainer until 265 and vendor available recipe's from 265 to 300.

This guide only uses recipes that require herbs and vendor bought material (vials).

This guide does not tell you how to get all the different recipe's from quests, vendors or drops. What you do once you hit 300 is entirely up to you. This guide will not tell you what to do with the potions you make either.

This guide is primarily aimed at those who want to switch profession at high level or have high level alts, friends or guildmembers.

Preparation

You are going to need a lot of herbs. Create an alt storage character to store these herbs and then farm (or have an alt farm) for the herbs needed. Use the ingame mail system to send the herbs to the storage character. Don't forget to send some gold to the storage character, so she can send the herbs back.

Once you have all the components collected, everything has to be send back to your main character. The mailbox only shows the first 50 items you have in the mail. It also puts the last item send to you on top. So to avoid complications send the components you need first last: i.e peacebloom and silverleaf are needed first, so these are the last to be send back to your main, after the briarthorn, mageroyal, etc.

The recipe's used require vendor bought components such as vials. These cost gold. To learn recipe's from a trainer also costs gold. The amount of gold needed is aproximately 40 to 50 gold if you farm all of the herbs. If you want to buy everything you need from the auction house expect to spend upwards to 225 gold. This does not include gold for recipe's from vendors or the auction house.

Below is a table that shows the amount of herbs needed. The minimum amount column shows the minimum amount needed if you would get a skill point every time you make something. However at some point a recipe will be yellow or even green when you make something so you won't allways get a skill point. The estimated amount column deals with this, so try to get the estimated amount of herbs on your storage character. If you are buying all the herbs you need from the auction house, I suggest getting the minimum amount and only buy more when needed.

Component Minimum Amount Estimated Amount

• Peacebloom 60 (3 stacks) 60 (3 stacks)
• Silverleaf 60 (3 stacks) 60 (3 stacks)
• Mageroyal 15 (1 stacks) 20 (1 stacks)
• Briarthorn 80 (4 stacks) 90 (5 stacks)
• Stranglekelp 40 (2 stacks) 50 (3 stacks)
• Bruiseweed 30 (2 stacks) 35 (2 stacks)
• Wild Steelbloom 5 (1 stacks) 10 (1 stacks)
• Kingsblood 30 (2 stacks) 40 (2 stacks)
• Liferoot 30 (2 stacks) 40 (2 stacks)
• Goldthorn 45 (3 stacks) 50 (2 stacks)
• Khadgar's Whisker 15 (1 stacks) 20 (1 stacks)
• Sungrass 60 (3 stacks) 70 (4 stacks)
• Blindweed 30 (2 stacks) 35 (2 stacks)
• Arthas' Tears 20 (1 stacks) 25 (2 stacks)
• Golden Sansam 40 (2 stacks) 60 (3 stacks)
• Mountain Silversage 20 (1 stacks) 30 (2 stacks)

Getting from 1 to 50

Getting from 1 to 50 is easy enough. Make 60 minor healing potions. This should get you to skill 60. You need at least skill 55 for the next step, so don't worry if you didn't get to 60. Keep the minor healing potions, you will need them later.
Once you hit 50 talk to the appropriate trainer to become Journeyman Alchemist. You have to be level 10 to become Journeyman Alchemist.
This table shows the different recipes used to get from 0 to 50.

Skill Item From - To

• 1 Minor Healing Potion 0 - 60 (60)

Getting from 50 to 125

Use the minor healing potions made earlier to make lesser healing potions to get to 110. If you didn't reach 110, make elixirs of wisdom until you do.

At 110 you can train the healing potion recipe. Make those until skill 125
Once you hit 125 talk to the appropriate trainer to become Expert Alchemist. You have to be level 20 to become Expert Alchemist.

This table shows the different recipes used to get from 50 to 125.

Skill Item From - To

• 55 Lesser Healing Potion 60 - 110 (50)
• 90 Elixir of Wisdom 105 - 110 (5)
• 110 Healing Potion 110 - 125 (15)

Getting from 125 to 200

Make some more healing potions to get to skill 140. Make lesser mana potions to get to 155, greater healing potions to get to 185 and elixirs of agility to get to 200.

Once you hit 200 talk to the appropriate trainer to become Artisan Alchemist. You have to be level 35 to become Artisan Alchemist.

This table shows the different recipes used to get from 125 to 200.

Skill Item From - To

110 Healing Potion 125 - 140 (15)

120 Lesser Mana Potion 140 - 155 (15)

155 Greater Healing Potion 155 - 185 (30)

185 Elixir of Agility 185 - 200 (15)

Getting from 200 to 265

Make some more elixirs of agility to get to 210. Make elixirs of greater defense until 215 and then make superior healing potions until 230. Make elixirs of detect undead to get to 250 and elixir of greater agility to get to 265.

This table shows the different recipes used to get from 200 to 265.

Skill Item From - To

• 185 Elixir of Agility 200 - 210 (10)
• 195 Elixir of Greater Defense 210 - 215 (5)
• 215 Superior Healing Potion 215 - 230 (15)
• 230 Elixir of Detect Undead 230 - 250 (20)
• 240 Elixir of Greater Agility 250 - 265 (15)
• Getting from 265 to 300

Although you can get to 300 using the elixir of detect demon recipe, the gromsblood needed is expensive when bought from the auction house so i decided to use vendor available recipe's to get from 265 to 300.

Get the superior mana potion recipe from Ulthir in Darnassus or Algernon in Undercity and the major healing potion recipe from Evie Whirlbrew in Everlook.

Make superior mana potion to get to skill 285 and major healing potions to get to 300.

Congratulations, you now have 300 skill in alchemy.

This table shows the different recipes that are avaible through vendors to get from 265 to 300.

Skill Item From - To

• 260 Superior Mana Potion 265 - 285 (20)
• 275 Major Healing Potion 280 - 300 (20)

This table shows who and where the different vendors are for the previously mentioned recipe's.

What Who Where

• Superior Mana Potion Ulthir (Alliance Faction)
• Algernon (Horde Faction) Darnassus
• Undercity
• Major Healing Potion Evie Whirlbrew (Neutral) Everlook in Winterspring
  

L2 Lineage 2 Beginners Guide

By Ryan

The backround fiction behind Lineage II is your typical Fantasy, three large kingdoms with ego problems and delusions of grandeur trip over their own feet to usurp power from one another. Gobs and gobs of internal strife complicate matters across the board, allowing the chance for all players to overthrow a few rulers and claim their own peice of the world.

Concept Art: Elf - Female

You won't be throwing anyone over in Lineage without a decent character, and Lineage II has plenty of options in that department. Five differnt fantasy races are available: Humans (Ok so there not fantasy, who cares!), Orcs, Elves, Dark Elves, and Dwarves. Newbie classes consist of little more than your basic warrior/mage. But you'll be able to pick more focused occupations later on. Each race and class combination has plenty of hairstyles and equipment textures which means the chance to dress up, or in more perverted cases, dress down, a female dark elf to your hearts content.

Doing battle with the games randomly spawned monsters nets you experience and spell points. There used to buy new skills and occupations, you start with a limited selection of skills. and new skills become available when you get addidtion professions (3 so far ^^, Starting, 2nd, and Final). Sadly, Dwarf characters draw the short stick when it comes to spellcasting (aka, they can't), but they do make up for it with their amazing ability to craft items. This yeilds some of the games better items, so the Dwarf community rules Lineages econemy with an iron pudgy fist.

Ruling and controlling is the name of the game in Lineage II, with much of the action being centered on player conflict. Not so fast, though, unprovoked attacks bring karma penalties, and too much negative karma will turn you into a bright cherry red target. Other players will then have an open license to finish you. Death brings experience loss(something very costly at high levels), along with a quick boot to the nearest town and the possible loss of a few precious items. Tread lightly, vicious Pkers (Player-Killers).

If you're looking for better gear, there are plenty of NPC quests to undertake. One noteworthy mission rewards Level 35+ players with a dragon egg, which hatches into a cuddly dragonling pet, and later incubated into a mountable two legged "Strider", and eventually, after much effort (owning a castle *laugh*) a badass flying wyrven.

Violence and NPC quests are just the tip of the iceberg and at its core, Lineage II is all about seige warfare.Setting seige on a castle results in a free-for-all, winner-takes-everything battle that anyone and everyone and can jump in on. Being lord of a castle grants you control over the local shopkeepers and castle defenses. Also considering, the longer you hold a castle, the harder it is to take. Fortunately, you can forge alliances and create many sub clans to help secure your holdings.

Note: Lineage II has new downloadable expansions approximately every six months, right now we are into Chronicle 1.

Newbie Tips:

• Do map quest right away, the map is the most valueable quest (not money wise) you'll always be lost without it, even if your pro.
• Always get weapon first! Never armor, Weapon first, armor last.
• Keep a few healing potions, they can be the reason you usually live when running, unless you dont mind losing valuable exp.
• Chat commands, ! shout, "(name) whisper, @ clan chat, # party chat, Theres also regular chat, thats nothing.
• Never and I mean Never, Hit someone unless you fully understand the consequences even if they hit you, even if red, its best you run until higher level.

How To Get a 10% experience bonus for one hour

By WoWGrrl

The Midsummer Fire Festival is here!

This entry is about one of the many neat things that have come along with this festival celebrating the arrival of Summer in the northern hemisphere.

How To Use This Special Event To Powerlevel Your Lowbies.

Any level of player can use some of the magic of this festival to gain a 10% premium to the experience they gain killing mobs, for a full hour!

You can easily use this to help power your lower level toons through levels a bit faster - but make use of it now before this bonus is removed!

How do you do it?

Simply find the Midsummer Festival Ribbon Pole near the Midsummer Bonfire major city in World of Warcraft (I did it in Undercity on my way to Scarlet Monestary with my 33 druid)…

Hovering over the pole’s top half will reveal a cog to click - when you click it, you’ll get a “ribbon” attached to you from the pole’s top, and as long as you don’t run too far away from the pole the ribbon will stay attached.

If you wish, you can run around the pole, but it’s not required. Just something to do to entertain yourself ;)

Here’s the pole you use during the Midsummer Fire Festival (June 21 to July 4 in 2008) in order to get “charged up” for earning an additional 10% experience on every mob kill you do. This buff lasts 1h as a maximum but is removed upon death :(

After a few moments of having the ribbon attached, your character will start to spin around and around in a squatted position with its arms extended, with the ribbon still attached. You can still run around, jump, do whatever, while this is going on, and it won’t disrupt it unless you go out of range of the Ribbon Pole.

Once you’ve been spinning for a little bit, you should be able to see a buff applied to your toon, displayed to the left of your minimap with the other buffs!

Unfortunately, this buff is removed upon death, so be careful - but charge up whenever you’re in a city!

During the Midsummer Fire Festival on World of Warcraft (June 21 to July 4 in 2008) leveling players might want to take advantage of the 10% bonus to experience-getting that one can get for up to an hour by doing the Ribbon Pole dance for long enough. It only takes about 30 seconds to get all charged up to go!

The Hunt for Illidan Preview: Nice Guys Finish First

By William Brinkman

What is the “most dangerous game?” What if, instead of hunting Spectral Tigers or UDE Legionnaires, you were on the hunt for one of the most notorious personalities in the Warcraft universe?

As the name of the new World of Warcraft TCG set says, we’re on a hunt for Illidan. If you’re gunning for the ruler of Outland and the most dangerous demonhunter around, you’ll need some help. Heck, even 25 of us level 70 mighty adventurers couldn’t take him down quickly. We’re talking about fighting someone who killed the dreadlord Tichondrius! For those who have vanquished the likes of Ragnaros, Onyxia, Nefarian, Lady Vashj, Kael’thas, Archimonde, and even the old god C’Thun, Illidan was a whole new beast. Luckily for us, there were a few other personalities in the Warcraft universe that wanted to see Illidan gone, too. We teamed up, and some of our MMO allies have gotten their own cards.

To play these cards, though, you have to be on the right team. All the cards today require a bit of loyalty. What is a person good for anyway if you can’t trust his or her word? All three cards say “Loyal Hero Required,” and that means no Traitors allowed. As long as your hero hasn’t gone down that dark, alternate path, these cards are your new best friends.

Sure, the powers granted by turning against friends and allies are great. (Fans of Lionar the Blood Cursed and Desecrator Stormclaw can tell you that.) On the other hand, the loyalists have some new buddies to bring players back into the fold and fighting for good. When was the last time that evil vanquished evil, other than one of those Darth Vader “I turned to the dark side but now I’ve seen the error of my ways and I’m going to throw this emperor guy down the shaft, man isn’t that Han Solo guy the coolest with his care-but-don’t-care attitude” moments? Good has to vanquish evil. A wise and famous man once said, “Evil will always triumph because good is dumb,” but Maiev Shadowsong and Akama beg to differ.

In the MMO, Akama helps you in the quest for the key to get into Illidan’s fortress. Akama’s card has been given stealth, as he helps you enter the Black Temple, Illidan’s fortress. He also swears to help you against Illidan, so he is given protector and makes all your other allies untargetable. To top it all off, Akama only pretends to hold allegiance to Illidan and betrays the betrayer, so no one trying to get on Akama’s good side can play his or her evil Traitor cards. He’s an 8-drop, but nearly all his powers are “turned on” as soon as he enters play.

He’s also quite versatile. As he attacks for 7 damage, Akama’s stealth is going to make sure that he smashes the opponent uncontested. Protector ensures that he can enter combat right away. Sure, Akama is targetable himself, but Sudden Death has nothing on him. Able to dance around King Magni Bronzebeard tokens and do battle with The Abominable Greench and come out alive, Akama trumps most current end-game win conditions. It’s good to have friends in high places.

When you first meet Akama for a secret meeting, he promises that you will have the assistance of him and his loyal Ashtongue Deathsworn, the servants of Illidan who will pull away from the demon. If you’re loyal to Akama’s cause, he’ll reward you with not just his character card, but also the nifty quest, Akama’s Promise. Since costs are paid at the time of announcement, if you have no cards in hand, you can use the chain and pair this up with Orders from Lady Vashj to draw three cards for 2 resources. Just don’t tell Akama or Lady Vashj that you’re using those cards together; they don’t get along.

Finally, if you can get far enough into the Illidan fight, Maiev Shadowsong helps you trap Illidan and finish him off. Without Maiev, Illidan would enrage and go nuts all over your tank. If Maiev is on your side, she entombs Illidan in ice, and you’re able to beat him down.

In the Warcraft universe, Maiev was Illidan’s jailer after he betrayed the night elves. He was set free to help against the Burning Legion, but Maiev is one of those characters that hold a grudge. She’s currently jailed by Akama’s Ashtongue Deathsworn, but she’s in on the plan to kill Illidan. Apparently she’s not a fan of imprisonment and life sentences.

Break out the reading glasses, because this ally has just about every power imaginable. She may only have 1 health, but how do you kill an ally that’s elusive, stealth, and untargetable? For 8 resources, you get a lot of power in a little 5 / 1 package. While that is the same resource cost as Akama’s, they’re not competing for spots in the same decks.

[Maiev Shadowsong] fits perfectly into the recursion theme that has been around since Chris McMurry bashed people with Lokholar the Ice Lord via Spirit Healer. Lately, people have drawn upon the power of Ripped through the Portal, but that’s a Traitor card, so players will have to find something else to use with Maiev. Cards like Resurrection and Redemption can bring back the demonhunter, or you can simply pay the 8 for her and smash face.

While Servants of the Betrayer was all about getting a taste of evil, The Hunt for Illidan brings you back to the good. Fighting the good fight against Illidan and his lieutenants gives someone that warm and fuzzy feeling inside . . . until you look into those glowing green eyes behind Illidan’s blindfold. You know, demonhunters carve out their eyes so that they can better sense demons and magic—that doesn’t sound like an attribute of someone you want to take on alone. Allied with Akama and Maiev, you might actually have a shot at tracking Outland’s big man, and defeating your real-life opponents, too. Get back on the right side with The Hunt for Illidan and take out the Traitors. It’s hunting season!