What's New in Shrouded Isles?

          Info taken from www.darkageofcamelot.com

New Continents

Three new Island continents debut in Dark Age of Camelot:
Shrouded Isles - one per Realm. These areas use the newest cutting
edge graphical effects to display water, cliffs, canyons, and
other advanced features to make the most realistic landscape
possible.

All the continents have loads of new monsters, areas to explore,
cool treasure to find, dungeons to clear, ruined cities, and much
more. The content is aimed primarily at higher-level characters,
although there will be some low-and-mid level areas as well.

Realm of Albion:  Avalon

Albion has long been plagued by the evil forces led by Morgana in
her bid to achieve domination over all of Arthur's former land.
Her dark magic has called back the corpses and skeletons of
long-dead Roman soldiers, who serve as foot soldiers in her army.
Now, she's gone one step further and forged an alliance with the
Drakoran, a race of dragon-men. The Drakoran, rumored to be led by
a real dragon of fearsome size and strength, have laid waste to
the island of Avalon, ruining its beautiful capitol city - the
center of learning for all of Albion - and forcing its population
to run in fear.

Arawn, lord of the underworld, has long simmered in frustration at
Morgana stealing his minions by returning them as walking corpses
to the surface world. This frustration has grown to concern
because of the new power wielded by her in light of her recent
alliance with the Drakoran. Faced with this dangerous situation,
Arawn has decided to aid the forces of Albion in their joint quest
to force the Drakoran from Avalon and rid the Realm of Morgana's
evil presence once and for all. Arawn's help comes in the form of
the Inconnu, his personal slave race, who offer their services to
Albion. The Albion-Inconnu alliance is sworn to defeat the
Drakoran and Morgana.

Realm of Hibernia:  HyBrasil

In Hibernia, the island of HyBrasil was generally considered to be
a long-lost myth enclosed in the depths of time. For generations,
myths told around the campfires of the Realm spoke of the
beautiful wooded paradise of HyBrasil, homeland to the Sylvan, the
protectors of the ancient woodlands. These same legends described
how the Celts and Firbolg were taught both the love of nature as
well as the use of nature as the source of their druidic magic.
Campfire tales such as these were thought to be legend only -
until the Hibernian Council was visited one day by an emissary of
the Sylvan, a creature directly from the pages of myth.

The Sylvan emissary brought with him a tale of great woe -
HyBrasil, their home, was being invaded by a race of creatures
focuses on destroying the very land itself. These evil monsters,
called Fomorians, seemed to have a purpose to their actions - they
seemed to seek out the Sylvan and their most treasured natural
areas, and destroy them, taking delight in the wanton destruction
of both Sylvan and tree alike. The Sylvan have no recourse but to
ally with the Hibernians to drive the Fomorians out of HyBrasil.

Realm of Midgard:  Aegir

Troll and Kobold myths tell of the Troll Fathers, a race of
ancient and wise creatures who were the precursors to both of
these underground races. The Troll Fathers of legend lived on an
island called Aegir in their formidable underground city,
Trollheim.  Young Trolls and Kobolds were told these stories of
the Troll Fathers, especially about their legendary wisdom and
power.

Then one day, out of the pages of myth, a lone Troll Father came
to Jordheim, bringing with him disturbing news. A race of
prehistoric savages, the Morvalt, swept across Aegir, destroying
all in their path. Trollheim held out for a time, and resistance
still continues, but most of the island has come under the
domination of these savage beasts. The Troll Fathers have been
successful in taming some of the savages, though. This tamed
group, known as the Valkyn, have adapted to Midgard ways, accepted
their god as one of the Norse pantheon, and has joined forces with
the Troll Fathers and the Norse to cleanse Aegir and Trollheim of
the Morvaltar.

New Races

Three new races make their debut in Dark Age of Camelot:  Shrouded
Isles; one per Realm.

Realm of Albion: Inconnu

The Inconnu are small pale humanoids - white-ish skin, pale hair
and extremely large dark eyes. They live underground, and exist to
serve Arawn, the "old world" Lord of the Underworld.

The Inconnu want to ally with the Britons to retake the lost
Island of Avalon, which has been overrun by the forces of Morgana.
Morgana has been stirring things in the underworld with her
Necromancy, and Arawn wants to put a stop to it - so he has
instructed the Inconnu to ally with the forces of Albion to put a
stop to Morgana.

Realm of Hibernia: Sylvan

Dryad-type creatures that have a faint resemblance to the trees in
which they inhabit. Sylvan are part of the natural fabric of
HyBrasil in much the same way as the wolves and badgers that
inhabit that wooded land of Hibernia. They have allied with the
races of Hibernia to combat the threat of the Fomorians, who are
ever-encroaching on HyBrasil.

Sylvans are humanoid, with bark-like skin and long, slender
appendages. They have leaf-like hair that is colored in
appropriately leafy colors: red, green, yellow, and orange.

Realm of Midgard: Valkyn

A pre-historic race of humanoids, the Valkyn are a domesticated
splinter group of the Morvalt, the race that has taken over Aegir,
the mythological land of the Troll Fathers. The Valkyn have allied
with Midgard and the Troll Fathers to liberate Aegir from the
Morvalt.

Valkyn are hunched, lithe, muscular creatures that are tribal in
nature. They follow their own set of gods, who have been accepted
by the Norse pantheon, so long as the Valkyn continue to aid them
in their quest to eradicate the Morvalt from Aegir.

New Classes

With Dark Age of Camelot: Shrouded Isles comes six new character
classes, 2 per Realm. In general, they provide a "different" play
and roleplay style than the game's original character classes.

Realm of Albion

Necromancer

The Necromancer is a new type of class in Dark Age of Camelot - a
pet caster who does all of his actions through his pet. Unlike
other traditional pet casters such as Enchanters and Cabalists,
who wield a mix of magic with pet assistance, the Necromancer is
powerless without his pet.

Necromancers are a cloth robe wearing/staff wielding spellcasting
class that are the priest class of Arawn, lord of the underworld,
and can summon dead bodies and command them to do their bidding.
Given their power by Arawn, Necromancers are not necessarily the
most popular people in the realm, but their spellcasting and pet
prowess are definitely welcomed by the rest of Albion.

The first thing a Necromancer must do when they plan on
adventuring is to summon a pet. All their spells are cast through
their pet, once one is summoned. They may heal the pet, command it
to cast spells on enemies, command it to attack enemies, etc. When
controlling a pet, Necromancers enter "shade mode" and are
referred to as "shades". A shade cannot be targeted or damaged by
melee or spells. In order to kill a Necromancer, you must first
kill his pet, which forces the Necromancer to become visible,
where he can then be targeted and killed. While a shade, the Necro
is displayed as a translucent shadowy floating ghost.

When the pet is killed or released, the Necromancer has his health
reduced to a percentage of the pet's health. So, if the pet is at
full health and is released, the Necro comes back from shade mode
at full health. If the pet is damaged and released, or killed, the
Necro comes back from shade mode at a percentage of the pet's
health when it was released (obviously zero if killed).  This
cannot kill the caster, but reduces him to a minimum of 1 hp.  The
intent of this is to make it so as long as the pet is alive, the
Necro is at full health, but when his pet dies, the Necro is
extremely damaged, weak and vulnerable.

Via their pets, Necromancers have damage spells, pet
healing/buffing spells, powertaps and power transfers (NOTE:
these are new to the game for this class). Necromancers have the
ability to do damage, and the pain it inflicts brings them a surge
of power. They don't drain power directly from their target, but
they receive a portion of damage back into their power pools.

Disciples become Necromancers by joining a new guild, the Temple
of Arawn. Britons, Inconnu, and Saracens can become Disciples.

Reaver

Reavers are hybrid Necromancer/Fighters with chain armor and a
variety of Albion weapon skills. They are the fighting class that
protects Arawn, lord of the underworld. Reavers are hybrid
caster/tanks, related in spirit more to the Thane and Champion
than the Paladin - they have some debuffs, like the Champion, and
some direct damage/lifetap, like the Thane. They also can
specialize in a variety of melee skills including all the 1 handed
weapon specs, shields, and parry. Their spells are a variety of
debuffs and lifedrains which are intended to augment their damage
in combat.

Reavers can specialize in one new weapon type: Flexible Weapons,
which includes whips, flails, morningstars, chains, and the like.
The Flexible Weapons have different damage types for the different
types of FWs - Chains are be crushing, whips slashing, etc.

A new spell function has been added to the Reaver: the "proccing"
life drain duration buff - which, when active, gives a chance to
heal the Reaver while he damages his enemies.

Fighters become Reavers by joining the Temple of Arawn.  Britons,
Saracens, and Inconnu can become Reavers.

Realm of Hibernia

Animist

Animists are a Hibernian primary spellcasting class that has an
affinity with plants. They are able to animate plant life and
other natural phenomena (phosphorescence, etc.) and use it to
craft spells that damage their opponents.

Animists are a pure spellcasting pet class that has pets that
perform specific tasks in different ways. For example, they have
"bomber" pets that are generated, run quickly to their target, and
then explode. They also have "turrets", which are stationary pets
that cast different damaging spells on any enemy that comes into
range. Animists can have several turrets simultaneously, depending
on their level.

To become an Animist, Sylvan, Firbolg, and Celt characters must
first choose a new "Way" - the Way of the Grove" - and become a
Forester. Then, Foresters join a new path, that of Affinity.
Affinity classes strive to become one with nature. This differs
from other Hibernian nature classes (Bard, Warden, Druid), in that
those classes feel they need to protect nature, while those on the
Path of Affinity try to BECOME nature.

Valewalker

Valewalkers are cloth-wearing Hibernian mages who are given the
ability to wield a large Scythe as a weapon. They are the strong
arm of the Sylvan community - they are the primary fighters of
this natural magic-using people. Valewalkers wear i mage-like
cloth robes, which they can augment by casting armor- absorption
and armor factor self-buffing spells. They also can evade and
parry attacks.

Valewalker combat styles center around their magical nature, and
augment their scythe's damage with magical effects.

To become a Valewalker, Sylvan, Firbolg, and Celt characters must
first choose a new "Way" - the Way of the Grove" - and become a
Forester. Then, Foresters join a new path, that of Affinity. Both
Valewalkers and Animists share the path of Affinity.

Realm of Midgard

Bonedancer

The Bonedancer is a Midgard pet caster who follows the Valkyn
ancient pre-Norse god Bogdar. Bogdar has been accepted by the
Norse gods when the Valkyn race became civilized and integrated
with the Trolls, Kobolds, Dwarves, and human Norse.  Bogdar is the
Valkyn god of the dead - because Valkyn are staunch believers in
reincarnation, Bogdar's job is to evaluate each dead soul and
determine its next life. As the soul is reincarnated, its old body
is discarded and eventually is returned to the Earth Mother
through decomposition. Bogdar grants Bonedancers the power to
re-animate the skeletal remains of discarded bodies as creatures
that will obey commands.

The heart of this new class is that they are a pet caster who can
summon more than one pet at a time, at higher levels. However,
they control only one pet directly, the commander - all the other
minions are controlled by the commander. If a commander is killed,
all the minions are immediately released, hence it is imperative
that the Bonedancer keep his commander alive. By extremely high
levels, the Bonedancer can have up to three different minions
under his commander's control (four pets total).

At low levels, they can summon only an undead commander, and act
much like a normal pet class up until about level 15. From then
on, they can mix and match several combinations of minions:
archers, buffers, debuffers, nukers, and melee tanks in addition
to their commander.

Please note that we are still testing the Bonedancer, and some of
this information will probably change. Also please note that
originally he was to control animal skeletons, however, since many
of his pets can use weapons, we changed the class to use human
skeletons.

Bonedancers start out as Mystics, and share the Mystic Darkness
and Suppression base lines. Mystics become Bonedancers by joining
the House of Bogdar. Kobolds, Trolls, and Valkyn can become
Bonedancers. And yes, this means that Trolls can become Mystics,
but their only choice at 5th level is to join the House of Bogdar.

Savage

The Savage is a studded-armor wearing fighter who disdains normal
weapons in favor of hand-to-hand combat. Savages aren't interested
in mastering the art of complicated weapons - instead they affix
simple sharp or blunt weapons to their hands and swing away.

Savages follow the Valkyn god of war, Kelgor, who represents
bloodlust and the battlefield. Kelgor has been adopted by the
Norse gods, especially Modi and Odin, as a brother-in-arms so long
as the Valkyn continue assisting the Norse in their fight against
the Morvaltar.

The Savage receives a new weapon skill called "Hand to Hand".  In
general, the Savage's hand to hand weapons attach to his hands and
can deal out slashing or thrusting damage. H2H is a dual-weapon
skill, in that it allows the Savage to wield two weapons at the
same time. However, it is set up differently from the dual
wield/left axe skills that are currently in the game. H2H will
always attack with the right hand by default. When the skill
"fires", then the Savage will hit with both hands in that round.
Please note that at higher levels, Savages have the chance of
hitting more than twice per round.

The Savage learns special H2H combat styles as he specs up in the
H2H spec - some of these combat styles allow the Savage to attack
more than one enemy in the same round. The Savage also can
specialize in a set of combat abilities called "Savagery", which
allow the Savage to modify his combat chances, such as chance to
evade, parry, buff attack speed or DPS, and also convert hit
points to endurance. All Savagery abilities take a percentage of
your base hitpoints when they wear off or are refreshed.

Valkyn, Norse, Troll, Dwarf, and Kobold Vikings become Savages by
joining the House of Kelgor.








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