The last Grab Bag of 2008 has been posted, check it out:

Q. What is with the Ash demon and the lesser succubus in Lyonesse? They are a rare spawn around a demon summoning stone. I was curious as to what the point of them is since they never appeared before a patch long, long ago. However I've never come across a quest for them. Thanks!

A. Ready to solve your mystery the Lady of the Jewels says: These summoning stones and the demons that gather at them are part of the story line of Darkness Rising. Those found in Lyonesse are not involved with the main quest line like the ones in New Frontiers however.

Q. I was wondering if there is anyone in a starter guild that can use merit points for any buffing system. How would someone get promoted in a starter guild to be able to do this or do they just never get used?

A. The Lady of the Jewels has the scoop on the starter guilds: Players cannot be promoted in the starter guilds as everyone is the same guild rank, so the merit points are not used.

Q. Does the named svartalf Arild actually drop a cloak named Jade Moonshone Cloak? I have killed him a lot of times but he hasn’t dropped it yet. Am I just really unlucky?

A. The Equalizer has some bad news regarding your luck: Arild does not have a chance to drop this cloak. You should try killing the svartalf foisters if you want to have a chance at finding it.

Q. Are guild merit points no longer awarded for every level a character in the guild gains? I remember months ago leveling an Infiltrator and receiving merit points for the guild every time the Infiltrator gained a level but I am not seeing that now.

A. With a bit of research the Lady of the Jewels explains: Guild Merit Points are earned differently on the first character on an account on a server that achieves something then they are on any secondary character on that same account and server that achieve the same goal later on. From the article on Guild Merit Points found here: http://support.darkageofcamelot.com/kb/article.php?id=788

Rewards for the primary character of each area of achievement:

  - Levels 2-50: You get a certain number of guild merit points per level. (Value: These scale from 6 at level 2 to 253 at level 50.)
  - RR 2+: You get a certain number of guild merit points per RR. (Value: 3*(RR-1)^2.)
  - ML 1-10: You get a certain number of guild merit points per ML completed. (Value: 20*ML completed.)
  - Tradeskill 700, 800, 900, or 1000: You get a certain number of guild merit points per each of these levels. (Value: Tradeskill level -600.)

Rewards for all secondary characters of each area of achievement:
  - Levels 45-50: You get the same 45-50 reward as a primary guilded character, but no reward below 45.
  - RR2+: Same reward as a primary guilded character.
  - ML 1-10: Half the reward that the primary guilded character receives. (Value: 10* ML completed.)
-   Tradeskill 1000: 250 points.

Q. I have a question regarding pulsing spells on Theurgists. Is there a reason that the pulsing bladeturn spell (Skin of Stone lvl 35) and the pulsing speed spell (Lissome Wind lvl 36) are unable to both be cast and up at the same time? It's been a long time since I played this class but I don't seem to remember this happening before, though I know a lot of changes have happened, I was hoping you could provide the answer.

One other question on the pulsing bladeturn, is there a reason that the system constantly spams the message that "<insert group member name here> is covered in a sheath of earth" for every member of the group, on every group members UI window, with every pulse of the spell? That is beyond annoying! Don't you think? Thank you for the answers!

A. The Equalizer says Thank you for the questions but the answer to your first question is no: The way that our game is currently set up, characters can only currently have one pulsing effect active on them. This is done intentionally, to prevent players from being able to run 2 or more chants at once (and certain classes have access to many more than 2) and become overpoweringly buffed in RvR situations. While a certain amount of "twisting" is possible for certain classes, this functionality usually causes players to need to choose between their auras, bringing in a certain amount of tactics into RvR.

To address your second question, you can disable these messages in individual chat windows by turning off the "Spell Pulse" channel in your Messages & Channels settings. This will need to be done per chat tab, but will prevent you from seeing these pulsing spells applied every tick.

Q. While looking through templates for different characters, one item came up again and again: Agramon's Demon Soul Crafted Bracer. As far as I can tell, this is a one-time drop off of Lord Agramon, who to my knowledge is now only found in the Labyrinth. My question is, does he even appear on Agramon island anymore, or are the decayed lands doomed to be forever empty? If he does appear in the Decayed Lands, how does one make him appear? I have wandered Agramon Isle countless times, and never have seen Agramon there.

A. Knowing the answer immediately the Lady of the Jewels says: There is a Lord Agramon who lives in the Decayed Lands but he only exists on the Gaheris server. All other servers can only find Lord Agramon in the Labyrinth. Additionally, only the Lord Agramon who resides in the Labyrinth has the Agramon's Demon Soul Crafted Bracer one-time drop.

Q. I could have sworn that somewhere/sometime I read that higher quickness, faster staff speed, and celerity can reduce the time/chance of a caster being interrupted. Did I imagine this, or did it once exist? Does it still work that way if it did even exist?

A. After a some digging and a search on the Herald the Equalizer came up with this link from 2006: (http://www.camelotherald.com/news/news_article.php?storyid=2482 )

Q: Does quickness affect casters in any way, and if so, how?
 
A: The Equalizer chuckled and says: "Not at all unless you count "how fast you swing your staff in melee combat."

After then digging through the interrupt code, we verified that none of the other examples you provided affect the chance to be interrupted or the speed at which you recover after being interrupted. You will recover at the same speed with 0 quickness and a 10.0 speed staff. as you would with 400 quickness, a 1.0 speed staff, and celerity.

Q. Is the Medal of Honor going to be put in this year for the Christmas quests? I was hoping to be able to get it this year from those quests.

A: Knowing this question might of come up the Lady of the Jewels was ready: After some discussion, the team decided not to make the Midwinter Medal of Honor available this year. Since the Demonslayer Medal of Honor is currently available through the Doppelganger Invasion quests in Darkness Falls we didn't want to take away from that content.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Do you like web browser add ons? Well you might want to give DAoCxbar a chance. It's a great deal of fun and very handy. Complete with internet radio as well. All details on how to download it is available on their website.

The Holiday Bonuses started today! If you don't have time to experience them this weekend, well don't despair they will be on until January 5th, 2009. That's right, until next year. I hope you have a great time with those extras!

Well everyone, the holiday season is literally around the corner. There is snow on the ground in many places and those twinkley lights are well twinkling! This is the last Grab Bag of the year so I wanted to wish all of you a very safe and enjoyable holiday season. Spread some cheer and don't forget your RvR Gear! (Okay, that last bit was corny - even for me! Have a great holiday season all!)