Tired of waiting till patch day to see what's going to happen in this month's update? Every month the developers post dozens of messages on fansites dropping hints, and giving out little bits of information on what's to be expected in the future. Every month the Letter to the Players and Teaser are posted adding new insight in to what's to come. Here I've combined all that information and more as well as a few idea of my own into a monthly Pre-Patch Build Notes.

Note: Everything on here has a reason for being there, none of this is just wild speculation or stuff I thought would be cool. However I do add my take on some of the items.

However if you enjoy a suprise on Patch day I suggest you steer clear of these notes.

Despite whether its a - or ** it'll probably make its way in game sometime.

Symbols Used
	means confirmed for this month and will without a doubt be in effect this patch
	means there's a very good chance of it happening this patch but it may not
	means there's just a chance but don't be disappointed when it doesn't happen this month. Trends are in this category.

Monday, May 8, 2006 - May's Pre-Patch Build Notes

College is done and I suddenly have very few RL entanglements so I might as well start up the old PP notes. Now the notes purpose has diminished since the release of ToD but I have the time to spare so enjoy whatever little info I can scrounge up. Looks like allegiance changes are the major point to this update. Patch Name: The Price of Loyalty Patch Date: TBA Here we go: Allegiance improvements (-) Allegiances can now have offical names in game. The monarch or allegiance officer of certain rank can change the name using the command: @allegiance name set . The name can be changed every 24 hours and can only include alphabetic characters, spaces, and punctuation (the same as what can be used for character names). When you identify some one the allegiance name will appear above all the usual patron, monarch, fishing skill, ect. information. (-) New monarch/officer powers Allegiance Chat Gag: Temporarily prevents a member of the allegiance from using the allegiance chat channel. The gag lasts 5 minutes but can be ended by command earlier. Allegiance Lock: When a monarch or officer with the power locks an allegiance only the monarch or an officer may add a character to the allegiance. (-) Allegiances will now have the ability to designate certain characters as officers. There are 3 tiers with certain powers. There maybe 12 officers of any kind (5 tier 1's and 7 tier 3's for example). Each tier has a default title but monarchs and officers can create custom titles for the officer tiers. Tier 1 Officers Default Title: Speaker Powers: Allegiance chat kick. Allegiance chat gag. Allegiance broadcast. Set/clear the MOTD. Tier 2 Officers Default Title: Seneschal Powers: Promote/demote members under own rank (i.e. can promote/demote speakers). Allegiance boot. Allegiance ban. Access allegiance info. Lock/unlock the allegiance. Tier 3 Officers Defult Title: Castellan Powers: Promote/demote members to any rank, including other Castellans. Change officer titles. Set/clear the allegiance name. Set allegiance bind stone. Change mansion allegiance access/storage permissions. Bypass allegiance lock with own vassals. Bypass allegiance lock by approving particular vassals. The characters that were allegiance officers before the May patch will immediately become Seneschals (tier 2). Frelorn's Weekly Update 5/1 At least one shadow spire will appear on the Caul island. Not sure of the location but its not located in the center for sure (unless there are more than one around). I would expect a dungeon or static spawn to be found underneath it. The rewards for whatever quest is associated with the spire appear to be black and red colored shield, helm, and sword (possibly a choice of weapon or device?). From a Teaser Image from Frelorn A new tier of loot generated cast-on-strike weapons may be added like the ones added in April. The current tier was meant for level 100+ characters so not sure how many tiers they're planning on having. From the April LttP Nuhmidura's School may be completed. Quote from Reawakening: "Nuhmudira nodded. “Very good, very good.” She rose. “I will see you in Arwic, perhaps. That is where I shall build my school. Though it will take me much time to gather the necessary materials.” She bowed her head, and smiled weakly. She looked about the table one last time. “I wish you all—well.”" Ok I seriously think they've forgotten... Arwic NPC quotes and http://ac.turbinegames.com/index.php?page_id=151> Reawakening, Part Nine Fixes/Minor Details: The bug that prevented monster wielded quest items from dropping as loot will be fixed. This will fix such quests as SoLL and Noir Assassination. Comments by Lupus Argenteus The augmentation gem timer maybe lowered to 28 or perhaps 21 days down from 30. Comments by Frelorn

Friday, December 16, 2005 - December's Pre-Patch Build Notes

Happy Holidays. Nothing extraordinary going on in Dereth but some interesting devlops nonethess (rebuilding Yanshi). At least I won't need to worry about my studies getting in the way of patch day exploration (or maybe that should be the other way around...) seeing as I'm on break now. Patch Name: Through Sacrifice, Strength Patch Date: Tuesday, December 20th Here we go: The town of Yanshi will be rebuilt near the festival grounds there. Expect it to be a walled town and a memorial to Antius Blackmoor will stand in the center (so people can still get their 1% xp). From the the LttP Glenden Wood will no longer be occupied by Viamontians but they will remain outside the city. Obviously this will alter the miltia quests there in some way but it sounds like they will remain (maybe even a new mission will arise?). From the the LttP The timers for the untrain, specialize, and attribute gems will be changed. Untrain 1st-4th gems: Instant 5th-8th gems: 1 week timer 9th-16th gems: 2 week timer 17th and above: 3 week timer Specialization 1st-2nd gems: Instant 3rd-4th gems: 1 week timer 5th-8th gems: 2 week timer 9th and above: 3 week timer Attribute 1st-18th: Instant 19th-36th gems: 1 week timer 37th and above: 2 week timer Also Tesserae will now have a two week timer. From the the LttP Winter has arrived meaning the scarecrows are replaced with snowmen and Dereth landscape textures will be white. Expect some holiday themed content (ex. the snowman village from 2 years ago). Also the pumpkin golems will no longer be spawning but I'm unsure if the majestic pumpkin NPC near GW will be removed or not. From the the LttP A new shadow/Grael related dungeon will be opened. Probably the Viamontians will have a presence in the dungeon if not the main monster type inside. Also a new quest axe may be the reward at the end of the dungeon. From AC Vualt's Exclusive Teaser Image and From Warcry's Exclusive Teaser Image A new Viamontian Garrison style dungeon will be opened. The monsters look to be high level MOBs like Tribunes, ravenous eaters, and royal mages. From Maggie's Exclusive Teaser Image and From Mystic's Exclusive Teaser Image Several old dungeons/points of interest will likely be updated. Most likely with viamontians in them. Recent Trends Nuhmidura's School may be completed. Quote from Reawakening: "Nuhmudira nodded. “Very good, very good.” She rose. “I will see you in Arwic, perhaps. That is where I shall build my school. Though it will take me much time to gather the necessary materials.” She bowed her head, and smiled weakly. She looked about the table one last time. “I wish you all—well.”" Ok I seriously think they've forgotten... Arwic NPC quotes and Reawakening, Part Nine Fixes/Minor Details: The hot key bug that caused players to use their hot key configurations has been fixed From the the LttP Players will be able to turn their Glenden Wood recall orbs in for a spell with the same effect. From the the LttP Moarsmuck and Tusker Spit will now be stackable. Comments by Frelorn The spawn rate for fallen creatures maybe increased. Comment by Frelorn

Saturday, November 12, 2005 - November's Pre-Patch Build Notes

Well I didn't get to the October Pre-Patch Notes last month. There wasn't much to miss though and on top of that the lead up articles were posted only a couple days before the patch itself. Also college has kind of pushed these notes to the back of my mind. Anyway November looks to be getting things back to normal. No new functionality but lots of storyline content with the viamontians and that wierd mukkir guy. I'll be able to spend my Thanksgiving vacation behind the computer yet again. Patch Name: Ashes and Dust Patch Date: Wednesday, November 16th Here we go: Glenden Wood looks like it will be falling to the Viamontians this month. Turbine suggests that you don't log off there. Warcry's Image of a road blockade near Glenden Wood AC Vault's Image of a ruins in Glenden Wood (not sure if this means the whole town is in the same shape or not) From the the LttP Meeting Halls will also be having some kind of trouble (viamontian related or otherwise). Again Turbine suggests that you don't log off in one. From the the LttP A new dungeon full of high level viamontians will be added. The boss will be a commander with a special sword called "heartbreaker". From the the Teaser and Maggie's Exclusive Teaser Image Several old dungeons will be updated. Most likely with viamontians in them. (-) It looks like Knorr has gotten an update and/or addition. Probably just the viamontians looking for more information. The Occultus Caretaker title on the golem makes me think its related to the whole Mukkir business. From a Teaser Image distributed to all the Fan Sites From the the LttP The Sword of the Lost Light may be getting an upgrade and also Antius's black and gold olthoi armor may become available to all players. From one of Turbine's Teaser Images Nuhmidura's School may be completed. Quote from Reawakening: "Nuhmudira nodded. “Very good, very good.” She rose. “I will see you in Arwic, perhaps. That is where I shall build my school. Though it will take me much time to gather the necessary materials.” She bowed her head, and smiled weakly. She looked about the table one last time. “I wish you all—well.”" The waiting is the hardest part... Arwic NPC quotes and Reawakening, Part Nine Fixes/Minor Details: The festival season is over (-) Town criers will no longer wear costumes (-) Ulgrim will move out of Glenden to a new location (-) The pumpkin buffer will be gone (-) Masks and guises will remain in game for another month though From the the LttP Pack remorans will now no longer be backwards when hooked. From the the LttP