We are now in the month of March, and finally we bring you a new fresh update of what has been transpiring behind the scenes, and we begin discussing the future of the Aetherion server.

RPG Mechanics

As very important feature that we have been working on during the last week is the RPG system. This is obviously going to be an integral part of the server and our vision for the adventure world we are building. But exatly does this mean for your character?

Leveling, Base Stats and Survival Stats

As you battle your way through the different zones, you will begin gaining XP by killing the many hostile mobs of Aetherion. The harder the mob, the more XP you will get. XP can also be gained by completing dungeons and special events, including the upcoming horde update.

As you gain XP, you go up in levels and each level gives you 5 ability points, which you can assign to base stats... but what exatly are base stats and survival stats? 

Base Stats

There are 5 base stats, and each one will directly impact your overall character in a number of ways. Strength for example will impact your health as well as your damage, and even your stamina.

Strength - Strength is a stat primarily used for tanks and melee DPS. They help keep melee fighters alive longer and able to swing more often.

Vitality - Also an important stat for Tanks, but also players who are more survival-focused. Vitality makes players durable without giving them damage bonuses.

Dexterity - An important stat for ranged DPS, rogues and mobile fighters. Dexterity fuels a fast, agile playstyle with burst/crit builds.

Intelligence - Mages and healers alike will focus a lot on intelligence as it is an important stat for any caster. Intelligence will strongly reward spellcasters by increasing their overall mana.

Charisma - Charisma is a social stat and does not have a direct impact on combat balance. It is primarily designed to rewards heavy PvE players by giving better quest outcomes, better shop prices, better NPC interaction and dialog and in some cases... even better rewards.

Survival Stats 

These are the base stats of the Hytale game, which range from Health, Stamina, Mana, Oxygen as well as Stamin Regeneration and Consumption. These can be modified by your base stats, as well as gear. 

• Health - Your overall health.
• Mana - Your mana, but this is still being heavily developed by the Hytale team.
• Stamina - Your overall stamina.
• Oxygen - Used primairly when breathing underwater.
• Damage -  For now, mostly physical damage. We still dont know how magical damage will work.
• Critical damage - How often can you land critical hits on mobs.
• Stamina regeneration delay - How long does it take for your stamina to regenerate.
• Stamina consumption - How much stamina is consumed overall.

Profession Stats

An integral part of our vision, is to reward individuals who focus on specific professions. This includes resource collection with mining, gathering and woodcutting... as well as secondary professions like potion crafting, leather working and much more. This is still a heavy works in progress, but more information will be released at a later date.

Should you wish to learn more about the above stats, and how zones and levels have been redistributed, please check out https://www.thelastsanctum.com/rpg-framework.

Bug Fixes and General updates

The following are further bug fixes deployed during the last week...

• Fixed an issue where player's health was being refreshed when switching worlds.
• Fixed an issue where the new player hud was showing the wrong zone information when in the everbuild expanse.
• Fixed an issue where a Klop Merchant was spawning in the Central Nexus plaza.
• Fixed the portal area leading to the survival worlds, so it can hold 2 portals. (One for the Everbuild Expanse and one for the Shattered Vein)
• Added a notice board within the starting area in the central nexus.
• Added a welcoming tavern to the everbuild expanse with some base workbenches to help players get started. Added some basic notifications to help guide players to the world they are in.
• Fixed an issue where the zone shown on your level bar did not match the zone you are actually in.
• Added a new random teleport facility for players who wish to be transported somewhere in the world they are in at some random location.
• Modified the weather in the shattered expanse so its always dusk and the weather is stormy. This way we add to the overall feel of a fractured dimension.
• Added the new RPG UI for players, which can be accessed via the /rp player command. As you level up, each level will give a player up to 2 ability points that can be assigned to a base stat of your choice. It can also be used to plan and view how your base stats will impact your survival stats.
• Humanoid mobs, such as skeletons and goblins, will now drop gold when killed. The harder the mob, the more gold you will get.
• Neutral mobs like rabbits, deer etc will give no XP rewards, but will still give their regular rewards like hide, meat, etc. 
• Began implementing a proper voting system to begin rewarding players in the future.
• Player nametags will now show the level of each player. Useful in PvP situations, since fighting higher level players can turn messy, and killing low level players will reap no XP reward or tokens.
• Added new 3rd party mods - The diagonal beams and table top games.
• Added nametags on all NPCs, including critters and instance mobs.
• PvP kills on players close to your level will now reward a Champion Mark per kill.
• All neutral or friendly NPCs are at max level 50, so killing them would be unwise.
• All critter mobs like rabbits, deer etc are at level 1 and will remain so. You get resources but no XP is rewarded for killing such mobs.
• Implemented general performance updates on the RPG and Economy framework, and added further logging and debbuging.