Dungeons & Dragons Online Update 31 Released

Umber Hulks have officially reared their mandible-sporting heads in Dungeons & Dragons Online, as Turbine has released Update 31: Gnomework for the venerable MMORPG and ushered in the classic creature (within The Temple of Elemental Evil, no less), a handful of new quests, and a few other notable gameplay tweaks. I’ll quote things directly from the release notes, while also sending you to the item list:

Of Special Note:

Free Quests!

• Search and Rescue – An adventurer in Eveningstar learns the hard way to “never split the party!” While exploring an ancient tomb, her group get separated, and she needs your help to find them. However, it turns out the tomb is just the beginning. The problems here are much deeper and bigger than they first seem.
• Memoirs of an Illusory Larcener – A DDO take on the classic choose-your-own adventure story. A Gnome Illusionist in the Harbor has a tale to tell, and brings the story to life using the power of his illusory magic. As the tale unfolds, your choices will affect the outcome. Is his story just for good ol’ amusement – or does he have something else up his sleeve?
• Good Intentions – Find out why good intentions can lead to bad results! A mysterious enchanter’s greatest invention creates an instant workforce to repair damaged sections of Stormreach, and you are there to see its debut. What could possibly go wrong?

Fighter Kensei

The Fighter Kensei enhancement line has been updated. See the full details below in the Release Notes.
News and Notes: Daily Dice

• The Daily Dice reward tables have been updated. No items have been removed, and Invisible Stalker Creature Companion Certificates, Treasure Hunter’s Elixirs, and Bigby’s Pointing Fingers have been added to both the Silver and Gold tables.

DDO Store

• Fixed an issue that could cause the DDO Store to crash when being opened.

Enhancements

• Fixed an issue with the DC of Vanguard’s Shield Charge.
• The Fighter Kensei has been updated:
  • ‘‹Core Abilities:
    • ‘‹Strike With No Thought: Gain a +1 competence bonus to critical multiplier.
    • Power Surge now gains a +8 Psionic bonus to all attributes for 60 seconds. If you possess the ability to generate Ki, you gain on hit +2 Ki.
    • Alacrity now provides a +2 to all ability scores, and the additional action boosts have been increased to four.
  • ‘‹Tier One:
    • ‘‹Action Boost’s Attack Boost now adds +4/6/8 to hit and damage for 20 seconds.
    • Haste Boost’s third tier no longer erroneously lists its duration as 30 seconds, and now states its proper 20 seconds.
    • Reed in the Wind’s cooldown is reduced to 15 seconds, and now does +1/2/3[W].
  • ‘‹Tier Two:
    • ‘‹Improved Dodge’s AP cost has been changed to 1/1/1.
    • Improved Dodge now has a multiselector.
    • Weapon Meditation has been removed.
    • Ascetic Training’s AP cost has been reduced to 1/1/1.
    • Conditioning has been changed to +1/2/3 Fortitude saving throws, +5/10/15 hit points, and +5/10/15 Fortification.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +3 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ‘‹Tier Three:
    • ‘‹Critical Accuracy has been changed to Critical Mastery: +1/2/3 bonus to critical damage and to confirm critical hits.
    • Improved Mobility has been removed and replaced with Athletic Mastery: +1/2/3 Maximum Dexterity Bonus and Dodge Cap, -1/2/3 Armor Check Penalty. Works in any armor. Cost: 1/1/1
    • Shattering Strike’s cooldown has been reduced to 10 seconds. Fortification loss no longer has a saving throw, and no longer requires Weapon Mediation.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +4 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ‘‹Tier Four:
    • ‘‹Critical Damage has been removed and combined into Tier Three’s Critical Mastery.
    • Weapon Group Specialization: Gain +1 to hit and +2 damage with one handed weapons and repeating crossbows, and +1 to hit and +4 damage with two-handed weapons and non-repeating crossbows.
  • ‘‹Tier Five:
    • ‘‹A Good Death: Cooldown has been reduced to 15 seconds. Extra damage now activates if the target is below 30% health. Extra damage scales with 400% Melee or Ranged Power. Requirements have been removed.
    • One with the Blade: Passive: Gain +20 Melee and Ranged Power. Requirements have been removed.
    • Deadly Shot/Strike: No longer requires an action boost. Cooldown reduced to 20 seconds. Change the vorpal ability to cause an extra 500 damage which scales with Melee or Ranged Power.
    • Weapon Master: You gain +3 to hit and damage with all weapons.
    • NOTE: We expect to add two additional enhancement options in the fourth tier of Kensei soon.

Items

• Fixed an issue where equipped quivers were not automatically gathering items correctly.
• Fixed some end reward lists that could still have +0 items appear in them.
• Fixed some item properties that could still appear with a +0 benefit.

Quests and Adventure Areas

• Temple of Elemental Evil
  • ‘‹Flying Griffons and Umber Hulks can now be found in this dungeon.

‘‹Races

• Two new hairstyles are now available for human male characters.
• Six new beards are now available for gnomes.
• Several new beards are now available for human male characters.
• Fixed an issue where the projectile offset was incorrect for gnomes.
• Deep Gnome Iconic tattoos now display correctly.

UI

• A Default Group Volume preference has been added to the Voice section of the Audio options UI. This volume slider sets the default voice volume level of new group members.
• The default group volume slider and party UI slider is now 75% by default.