Legends of Aria Point Release 8 Brings Martial Abilities, New Macro System

In a recent update on the Legends of Aria site, Citadel Studios detailed their latest update coming to the Ultima-inspired MMORPG. Point Release 8 is coming, and with it a host of new abilities and systems to improve upon the Legends of Aria experience thus far.

In the blog post, the LoA team showcased a few features coming with PR8, specifically the new Martial Abilities. 

Martial abilities adopt many of the characteristics of mage casting, but unlike spells, martial abilities consume a new resource called Bloodlust. Bloodlust is generated through the use of Martial Shouts which operate similarly to a battle stance. An offensive shout allows for the generation of Bloodlust through damaging and killing opponents, whilst defensive shouts generate Bloodlust through damage taken. Only one shout may be in effect at any time.

Crucial to the new abilities is the introduction of Threat. Attacks and damage dealt by players will "now generate accurate threat levels which will bring fresh and strategic dynamics to PvE combat." The team showcased Defiance, and AoE taunt that generates high threat, and Intimidation, an AoE ability that generates threat and applies a debuff to nearby enemies. Finally Rage is a self buff that doesn't last very long but increases damage substantially - so long as you're willing to be mortally wounded during the duration of the ability. 

Legends of Aria is also introducing an update to the crafting order system. Because of the complexity involved in the crafting orders system, the system hasn't always been where they want it to be in terms of rewards and types of orders. The LoA team has laid out its goals for the new iteration on this system:

Goals of the newest iteration include:

1. Rewards should feel more appropriate to the difficulty and material investment of the order being filled.
2. Crafting orders and rewards can be fine tuned to adjust to the in-game economy with a greater level of control and detail.
3. Distribution of crafting orders should be more consistent and evenly balanced for skill level, recipe, and material types.
4. Loot tables for CO rewards have been completely rebalanced. Essences rewarded have been significantly increased.

The blog post also breaks down a new macro system, allowing players to easily set up macros within the game to aid them in their journey. Additionally, Runebooks will be arrive to Legends of Aria to allow players to store runes within the game. According to LoA this affords players the ability to compile "world locations for fast travel, to create rune libraries and serve as a safe place to store marked runes."

You can check out the full update on the Legends of Aria post. In the meantime, if you haven't checked it out yet, be sure to listen to our interview with Citadel Studios' Derek Brinkmann as we discuss LoA, MMOS and the gaming industry as a whole.

Full Disclosure: Legends of Aria is represented by Team Critical Hit, a games PR company co-founded by former MMORPG Managing Editor Bill Murphy.