This evening I'll be releasing the updated version of Mark of Arhat in Prime for testing. Although it's the same spell at the very core, it has undergone a lot of changes that should make it much more user-friendly (not to mention more lethal).

1. The spell's damage will be increased to a level more consistent with its status as a 4th-tier spell.

2. The minimum prep of the spell will be reduced from 10 to 5, and the amount of mana needed to cause damage will be reduced from 10 to 5.

3. The spell will require the minimum amount of harnessed mana to cause damage (5). Anything less than that will result in no damage.

4. The spell will drain 100% of harnessed mana per pulse, rather than a high percentage.

5. The time between pulses will be increased slightly.

6. The spell's power will be determined by TM spell formulas, rather than held mana spell formulas.

7. A difficulty check for each pulse will be added. This will duplicate the difficulty check when the spell is initially cast. Harnessing more mana than you would normally be able to cast the spell at will cause the mark to fail. (Previously the spell's difficulty meant nothing, since no more than the minimum mana was required to cast the spell and there was no difficulty check for each pulse.)

8. The mark will no longer necessarily fail if the caster does not hold the minimum amount of required mana (5). Instead, if the caster passes a skill check the mark will be maintained, albeit in a 'dormant' state that causes no damage. The mark can be maintained on victims even if they are not in the same room with the caster, though is it greatly more difficult to do so. It will also grow more difficult to maintain the mark the longer it is held.

9. Marks will fade from the victim if he retreats to a 'safe' room or one where no magic is possible. If the caster enters such a room, each mark that pulses while in the room will fade.

10. The RELEASE verb will be updated with functionality enabling the caster to release marks he is holding.

11. There will be a cap on the number of marks a caster can maintain at one time. This cap is skill-based, with a maximum of five marks possible.

12. The current fixes in the spell are also present in this new version. This includes fixing the shield-blockability of the spell (pulses should not be blocked by shields) and allowing partial shield deflections of the initial cast to still mark the victim.

If the release is bug-free, Platinum and The Fallen should see the update in a few days.


- GM Wythor

The plain and simple truth is that the truth is rarely plain and never simple.