<<Bosses, Skills & Enhancements Update>>
SAO-RPG Patch 2.6

Teleport Crystals (Clarification):

• Teleport Crystals take a post action to use, at which point they immediately teleport the player [out of combat] to the specified area/settlement, in the same turn. The previous ruling, in which the player did not teleport away until the start of their next turn is incorrect. Our apologies for any confusion regarding this mechanic!

General Rule Changes:

• Labyrinth Scouting rules have been revamped.
  • Searching for the labyrinth is now a group effort, and no longer relies on a singular roll. Scouting parties will now total their LD in a pool that persists throughout the scouting thread until a total is reached.
  • Searching can be rolled starting on the 20th post, on a cooldown of 5 personal posts (3 with the Reveal mod).
  • Scouting parties are limited to a max of 4 players in a thread, which must declare those participating. Using a Blank Dungeon Map increases this limit to 6.
  • "Field Boss" has largely been changed to "Labyrinth Guardian".
  • Labyrinth Guardians are fought in a separate thread, facilitated by staff. If multiple parties succeed in finding the Labyrinth, other players are permitted to join the battle.
  • Scouting bonuses have been adjusted to +2 SP for the player who contributed the highest LD total in a Scouting thread and +1 SP for the player who contributed the second highest LD total. Guardians will award bonus rewards for all those who participate.
  • Players who participated in the previous floor boss receive a head-start of 48 hours for creating threads on the new floor.
• Boss Raid Rotations have changed:
  • A rotation will consist of a single boss post followed by each player taking their own actions. Party rules still apply for certain actions, and the boss will typically take action against each party during its turns.
  • Boss raid rotation time limits have been increased from 48 hours to 72 hours.
• Post Actions (In Combat):
  • Trading a single item to a player while in combat is now a free action. Trading more than one item still requires a full post action, but doing so allows for multiple items to be handed off to multiple people in a single turn.

Sword Art Changes:

• Katana:
  • [Rank 1]: Ukifune has been increased to a [2x Stun] (5 Energy), from a [1x Stun] (4 Energy).
  • [Rank 5]: San Gae has been increased to a [15x] (15 Energy), from a [14x] (14 Energy).
  • [Rank 5]: Iai has been increased to a [x11 Stun] (14 Energy), from a [x9 Stun] (12 Energy).
  • [Rank 5]: Amatsu no Homura has been decreased to a [x8 AoE] (8+ Energy), from a [x9 AoE] (9+ Energy).

Skill Changes:

• Hiding
  • Now has additional effects at Rank 3/4/5 when attacking from stealth:
    • Increases base DMG by +1 Rank 3
    • Increases the duration of DoT effects by 1 turn at Rank 4
    • Increases base DMG by +1 at Rank 5
• Searching Mod: Reveal
  • Adjusted the affect on searching for a Labyrinth. Now reduces the personal post cooldown between searches from 5 to 3, instead of reducing the interval of total posts in the thread.
• First Aid Mod: Purify
  • Removed the healing done by Purify.
  • Increased the removal of status conditions from 1 to "All".
• First Aid Mod: Field Medic
  • Cooldown reduced to 2 Turns, from 3 Turns.
  • Energy cost adjusted to 12 EN + 3 EN per player healed (excluding the user), instead of 20% of the user's total EN.
• First Aid Mod: Barrier
  • Reworked into a 3-rank mod available at the 3rd Rank of First Aid.
  • SP cost adjusted to 2/3/5 instead of 10.
  • Energy Cost adjusted to (6/8/10 EN) + 2 EN per player affected (excluding the user), instead of 12 EN.
  • Cooldown increased to 2 Turns, from 1 Turn.
  • Effect now reduces final damage from all sources done to the party by 5% per rank for one turn.
• Howl
  • Reduced hate generation to 2, from 3.
  • Reduced energy cost to 8, from 10.
• Howl Mod: Focused Howl
  • Reduced hate generation to 4, from 5.
  • Reduced energy cost to 6, from 8.
• Meditation
  • Increased energy recovery to (5*Tier) or (3*Tier) when interrupted, from (3*Tier) or (2*Tier) when interrupted.
  • Reduced cooldown to 3 Turns, from 5 Turns.
• Disguise*
  • Effect has been changed. Now grants +1 EVA for one turn as a free action.
  • Cooldown reduced to 3 Turns, from 5 Turns.
• Concentration*
  • Removed target restrictions.
  • Effect must now be declared during the roll.
  • Cooldown reduced to 3 Turns, from 5 Turns.
• Weapon Mod: Quick Change
  • Has been changed to a skill, from a Weapon Mod.
  • Effect has been changed. Now allows the user to instantly equip, unequip or swap an item in their battle ready inventory.
  • Clarification: Quick Change can be used to swap a two-handed weapon for a one-handed weapon and a shield in a single use.
• New Skill: Extended Mod Limit
  • 3 Ranks
  • Cost:
    • [Unskilled] -> Rank 1 - Novice = 2 SP
    • [Novice] -> Rank 2 - Expert = 3 SP
    • [Expert] -> Rank 3 - Grandmaster = 5 SP
    • It takes a total of 10 SP to Grandmaster this mod.
  • Passive
  • Effect: Increases the number of active mods available by 1 per rank.

*Players that currently have Disguise or Concentration as of this patch [12/12/2018] are allowed to change from one to the other, one time only by submitting a request in their own Evaluation thread, to be approved by a PST.

Loot Changes:

• In addition to loot-parameter monsters dropping (HP * 3) col when killed, they also cumulative bonus col/materials depending on the natural LD and CD of the Loot Roll result:
  • LD even = (HP*2) additional bonus col
  • LD odd = (2) bonus materials
  • CD even = (HP*2) additional bonus col
  • CD odd = (2) bonus materials
• The Item Drop Table has been reworked:

Enhancement Changes:
Enhancement changes in this patch do not require existing items to be re-evaluated.

• Safeguard:
  • Removed
• Taunt:
  • Also applicable to Heavy Armor
  • Added to the Tailor enhancement list
• Keen:
  • Added to the Tailor enhancement list
• Paralytic Immunity:
  • Also applicable to Trinkets
• Never Freeze:
  • Renamed to Antifreeze
• Flame Thorns:
  • Also made applicable to Heavy Armor
• Flame Aura:
  • Also made applicable to Light Armor
• New Enhancement: Frost Thorns
  • Cost: 1 Slot
    Cap: 2 Slots
    Effect: Successful attacks against you deal (7 per slot * Tier) unmitigated damage to the attacking enemy. Successful critical attacks against you deal an additional (2 per slot * Tier) unmitigated Frost damage each enemy turn for 2 turns.
    Applicable to: Heavy Armor, Shields
• New Enhancement: Frost Aura
  • Cost: 1 Slot
    Cap: 2 Slots
    Effect: Prevent (6 per slot * Tier) damage per slot from successful attacks against you. Successful non-critical attacks against you deal (5 per slot * Tier) unmitigated Frost damage to the attacking enemy.
    Applicable to: Light Armor, Heavy Armor, Shields
• New Enhancement: Fireproof
  • Cost: 1 Slot
    Cap: 1 Slot
    Effect: Grants immunity to Burn effects.
    Applicable to: Heavy Armor, Light Armor, Shields, Trinkets, Jewelry

Profession Changes:

• Tailors:
  • Can now craft Keen & Taunt on Weapons (handwraps)
• Cooks:
  • Reduced the crafting cost of Feasts by 1 item. Feasts now require 2 identical items (quality/tier/type/enhancement) along with 2 materials of the same Tier to create.
• Merchants:
  • Adjusted the Regular Enhancement Loot Die Result Chart:

*When identifying consumables, apply the enhancement up to the enhancement's cap (refer to the Enhancement List). If the consumable identified is a higher rarity than the enhancement cap, it stops at the cap and the item's quality is adjusted (ex. a Perfect Consumable identified to have 2 ACC becomes a Rare Consumable).

• Merchants:
  • Adjusted the Unique Enhancement Loot Die Result Chart:

*When Identifying a consumable and a Unique ID combination is rolled, still refer to the Regular Enhancement LD Result Chart. In addition, the Merchant can declare the item as a Crystal, or Feast:

• Crystal: Does not take a post action to use. Follows normal Crystal-use rules.
• Feast: Can be used to feed a party of up to 6 players. Follows normal Feast-use rules.