Patch 1.95 is going live Wednesday :

We will be bringing all servers down this Wednesday, August 20th at 6:00am EDT so that we can bring you version 1.95. We estimate that the servers will be back up by 6:00pm EDT. As always please stay tuned to the Herald for updates!

Friday night is here, so that means it is time for the weekly Friday Grab Bag ! Check out this weeks edition below:

Q. Hello, I’m an former player with no active account however I still keep track on the Herald. I was just curious as to how Darkness Falls will work on Origins. I enjoy playing assassins and I hunt inside Darkness Falls more then anywhere. When I saw a grief rule I was upset. Will Darkness Falls still function the same with a free for all rule?

A. The Lady of the Jewels has the info about Darkness Falls on Origins: It will be treated just like the Frontiers zones. At this time we plan to include grief protection there as well; however, players will still be able to track down assassins and griefers around their own level and fight them.

Q. At what point does Dexterity stop effecting casting speed? I'm at 390 dex with Aug Dex 3 and need a way to know if spending points and increasing my Dex further will benefit me. Thank you in advance.

A. The Equalizer took a moment to explain: There currently is a cap on Dexterity affecting casting speed, once the player has reached 390 dexterity. After this point, dexterity will no longer provide any noticeable benefit to the casting speed of your spells - while they are still getting faster, it's in the order of a thousandth of a second per point of dexterity. As such, improving dexterity beyond 390 will not provide any benefit to your character.

A "royal"hot fix :

- There is now a Royal Accountant located on the Frontiers side of Castle Sauvage, Svasud Faste, and Druim Ligen. These new NPCs will function just the same as their capital city counterparts, but in a more convenient location for those turning in the Ancient Doppelganger Coin.

It was fun while it lasted:

The additional zone bonuses that have been running over the weekend have been turned off. We now return you to your regular bonus programming.

You can see the current zone bonuses here: http://www.camelotherald.com/section.php?id=42

Hip, Hip, Hooray, zone bonuses are back!

We've decided to implement the following Zone Bonuses through this weekend:

On Classic or Normal Ruleset servers, the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to XP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in all NF zones.

On the PVP ruleset server the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to BP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in all NF zones.

On the PVE ruleset server the following bonuses have been added:
200% bonus to XP in all classic zones and dungeons.
200% bonus to BP in the capital cities.

Please note: The bonuses above will last through Monday 8/11/08.

Friday is here, and so is the weekly Grab Bag !

Q. I have a question concerning Armor Factor. According to an old patch note (Patch 1.79) Armor Factor does increase your blocking rate. Many people have been telling me it doesn’t help in blocking at all. Could you clear this matter up for us please?

A. After some searching for the 1.79 notes the Balancinator quotes: Item-based AF bonuses now actually increase your AF, block damage, and report as such on your character sheet. - From the 1.79 patch notes on 2005-09-13 13:19:27

I believe you are referring to this line in the 1.79 patch notes. The term "block damage" is confusing. It refers to your armor factor "blocking" or "reducing" the damage, you receive from being hit. Your armor factor does not help your block rate.

Q. When on my Friar (Level 39) and I have a dragonsworn accommodation buckler equipped with a 5% enhancements stat cap. The bonus doesn’t show up when I look at my /bonuses, and it doesn’t make a difference when I buff my self. Is it bugged?

Second part of my question is; I buff myself with a vestshieldweapon that all have a bonus to stat enhancement on them, and than switch to my normal vestweapon will those stats stay on me since I buffed using my concentration?

A. After a few minutes of looking into this, The Equalizer states: The bonus on the item is not affecting your character for one of two possible reasons. First, the bonus in question is a fifth-slot bonus on a crafted item, and these bonuses will only affect the player if the item has been fully spellcrafted with four other bonuses. Second, this bonus doesn't increase the cap on buff effectiveness, but instead just provides an additional 5% bonus. Since buff effectiveness caps at 25%, your character may already be capped on buff bonus.

Head's up for those of you planning to play Monday morning:

On Monday, August 4th we will be performing updates to our login servers from 7:00am to 11:00am EDT. Because of this, the login servers and account systems will be unavailable during this time. Once the updates have started, players will be unable to log into their accounts until the login servers are available again. Players that are already logged into the game at the time that the updates begin can continue playing uninterrupted as long as they don't log out. Please keep an eye on the Herald for any updates. We'll try to get the login servers up as soon as we can!

A wee tweak for the Doppelganger's:

- The doppelganger lords that have been wandering around disguised as Shrouded Isles denizens will now drop an Ancient Doppelganger Coin when killed. These coins can be turned in to the Royal Treasurer for bounty points and champion experience at level 50 and for a large chunk of experience at levels below 50. These monsters are now also worth Master Level experience.

Note: Due to the powerful magic emanating from these coins, players can only have one of these items in their packs at a time. Be sure to turn them in frequently.

'Lil hot fix today:

- Fixed a display issue that was causing a cloak reward to appear as an Optional Reward for the quest A New Threat in an Old Form.

A couple of hot fixes today:

The Doppelgangers who have been seen in the guise of the Shrouded Isle’s most feared inhabitants have come to realize that they have underestimated the forces of the great realms. In retaliation, these monsters appear to have grown in strength even further, becoming even more fearsome over just the past few hours.

Hot Fix Notes:

- Fixed an issue that was causing players who are on the A New Threat in an Old Form quest not to properly receive a piece of heart when killing the boss doppelgangers.

- The boss doppelgangers can no longer be pulled far away from their spawn locations.