Two more weeks of bonus fun!

We've received an overwhelming positive response from our players about the Camelot 7th Anniversary Celebration. This sentiment of excitement and revelry was only made more apparent to us at the Chicago Road Trip this past weekend. As such, we have decided to extend these bonuses until Monday, November 3rd. So go out there and fight for your realm and be sure to pick up your special anniversary pet from the Royal Accountant!

All the way from Chicago, it's the Friday night Grab Bag :

Q. I'm farming Fire Elemental Spirits in Muspelheim on my Berserker and I noticed that killing them decreases my faction with the Chaotic Constructs and increases it with the Drakoran Legion. If I'm not mistaken, those are Albion Shrouded Isles mobs, so what's the point?

A. The Lady of the Jewels spent some time out in Muspelheim studying the fire elementals there and aside from third degree burns she came up an answer: It seems at some point they decided to ally themselves with a couple Albion monster factions. We will address their allegiances in a future patch cycle. Thank you for reporting this!

Q. My level 50 Shadowblade has a mysterious item called 'Blood Rage' listed on his skill list; I can't find any information on what it is or what it does, and the CSR I spoke with on another issue thought this would be the perfect place to ask, and share the results with others who might be curious. What does it do? Thanks in advance!

A. With a quick check of a very thick book the Equalizer says: The Blood Rage ability gives the Shadowblade a 25% Stealth Movement Speed bonus for 60 seconds after they have killed an enemy in RvR Combat. This will only be applied if the Shadowblade caused the deathblow of their target.

In celebration of the seventh anniversary of Dark Age of Camelot, a long list of zone bonuses will be in effect until Oct. 21. These include 200% bonuses to XP, BP and RP in a bunch of zones, dungeons and cities.

Also, players of any level may now speak to the Royal Accountant to receive a special gift, which is only available for a limited time.

A full list of zone bonuses can be found here or after the jump.

Keep your wits about you while adventuring in the frontiers, it may save your life and gain you realm points!

Unrelenting, the doppelganger forces are now summoning more creatures from the depths of the Darkness Falls to their aid. Adventurers are being warned to tread carefully in the Frontiers regions of Pennine Mountains, Jamtland Mountains, and Breifine. The invasion has taken a strange turn, and the Scholars believe they are on the verge of a breakthrough. Whatever demonic entity is behind these happenings, they cannot hide forever.

- The doppelgangers once again have increased the amount of realm points they are worth when killed.

- The quest Further Analysis will now grant another increase in bounty points per completion.

Applicable taxes are now being applied to Dark Age of Camelot subscriptions and transactions. This change was supposed to take affect last week, but was disabled due to unforseen circumstances. Now that the new system is up and running, any applicable taxes that your state/province requires will be added to the transaction the next time you renew your subscription.

The Dark Age of Camelot team has supplied a list of frequently asked questions. They can be viewed at The Camelot Herald or in full below.

The weekly Grab Bag is here, and with it comes a bit of clarification about this weeks announcement concerning applicable taxes:

Q. About the new applicable taxes you announced this week. If my state does not require you to collect sales tax on online subscriptions, do you anyway? If so, how do you report/pay this?

A. You will only be charged the taxes if your state/province has mandated that you must pay them.

Q. Hi, I don't understand why the offensive and defensive proc for the Warden class aren't castable if you are targeting a Thane. Is this a bug?

A. The Equalizer took some time to explain about what indeed is a bug: This actually isn't specific to targeting Thanes - there currently is a bug in the game that will prevent you from being able to cast any offensive or defensive proc spell on yourself if your current target has an offensive or defensive proc cast on them. This is in our tracker, and is awaiting a fix. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.

Have you had questions concerning shield blocking after the 1.96a patch notes? Then check out tonight's Grab Bag , where it is a topic of some discussion, along with: art work for bounty point cloaks, runed demon seal fragments, the quest 'Grave Honor' lvl, a bashful Dob among other things. Read on to learn more:

Q. I remember in the past, the Midwinter Medal of Honor quest was available below Level 50. The new quest is a Level 50 only quest so I can't make temps for Cathal Valley that included this necklace. Is there any chance the level of the quest will be lowered and, if not, when can I hope to see another chance to get this necklace below level 50?

A. Smiling joyfully the Lady of the Jewels has some great news for you: The quest 'Grave Honor' can now be completed at Level 49. This was changed during this past week in a hot fix. Enjoy!

Q. In a recent Grab Bag it was stated that the change to shield block rates in the 1.96a Pendragon Patch Notes "only affects the RvR block cap". Does this change affect block caps on the PvP ruleset and when dueling realm-mates?

A. The Equalizer while gazing up at the ceiling was ready to clarify this: RvR, or Realm versus Realm, is the term that we use to refer to any combat between two players, rather than combat between a player and a monster. As such, this change to the blocking cap affects all combat between two players, including duels and combat on Mordred.

The Dark Age of Camelot team is celebrating the game's seventh anniversary with a road trip to Dave & Busters in Chicago, Ill. on Oct. 18. Developers will be on hand to answer questions from curious players. Those who attend can also compete in contests for prizes, as well as receive an in-game item. And, since it is a party, snacks will be available.

For full details, check out the official event announcement or keep reading below.

Test Version 1.96a Release Notes are up and running on the Pendragon server:

CLASS CHANGES AND FIXES

Shield Changes
- Shield Block Cap has been lowered to 60%.

Enchanters

- An AOE Damage and Debuff spell has been added to the Bedazzling Specialization line.

Level 9 - "Field of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 20s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 25 Damage (Heat) / 10% Heat Resist Debuff - 7 power
Level 19 - "Array of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 20s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 53 Damage (Heat) / 10% Heat Resist Debuff - 15 power
Level 30 - "Sea of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 25s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 85 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 24 power
Level 40 - "Sky of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 25s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 113 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 32 power
Level 50 - "Galaxy of Rapture" - 3.0s cast / 30s duration - 1500 range / 350 radius - 141 Damage (Heat) / 15% Heat Resist Debuff - 40 power

Patch 1.95 is up and running on the live servers, check it out :

The Camelot Team is pleased to bring you Version 1.95. In this version, we introduced class changes in all three realms, added flight and updated horse routes in the classic areas. There have also been several behind the scenes additions and changes in preparation for the upcoming Origins server. In addition, we have begun making adjustments to the Shrouded Isles treasure tables; a process which will continue into future patches.

Earlier this month, we broached the subject of making changes to the realm timers. Upon further evaluation, we have decided to postpone the realm timer changes to a later patch cycle. As always, we welcome all feedback from our players on this matter.

NEW THINGS AND BUG FIXES

- All players have been granted a Mythic respec.

- Despite his best efforts to save some of his equipment, Galaris Pritchard's high-end armor has been confiscated by Hadreth Luudan and is available for level 40 characters in Camelot. Galaris also appears to have found a stash of high-end weapons, and is discreetly handing them out to adventurers of level 40.