Gracia Part 1
The start of The 2nd Throne: Vitality, Fame and Kamaloka
Gracia Part 1 is the first part of The 2nd Throne: Gracia chronicle, released on August 12, 2008. It brought the Vitality system, personal Fame, the Kamaloka instance zone, transformations for tanks and healers, an alternative path to the second class and help for newcomers, and it reworked combat, PvP, items and quest rewards.
The data is compiled from the l2db.ru chronicle overview and translations of the Korean update notes; some names in those notes were preliminary and are given as they appear in the source.
Key additions
- A newbie helper system was introduced: characters up to level 62 (below 63) can receive newbie buffs from helpers.
- An alternative way to obtain the second class was added.
- The recommendation system was renamed the endorsement system (Eval -> Endorse System); it works the same way.
- Characters below level 40 use Gatekeeper teleports for free.
- Characters created in the Kamael village can get extra starting bonuses from a special NPC.
- New herbs were introduced for different classes to make hunting more efficient; the instant herbs (2-5 minutes) include ones with Vampiric Rage and Deadly Strike effects.
- A social action system was added.
Vitality system
The Vitality gauge under the CP, HP and MP bars
Vitality gives an experience bonus when hunting monsters. The Vitality gauge is shown in the character status window.
- Vitality points accumulate when hunting raid bosses and are spent when hunting regular monsters.
- The higher the Vitality level, the more bonus experience the character gets.
| Vitality level | Experience gained |
|---|---|
| 1 | 150% |
| 2 | 200% |
| 3 | 250% |
| 4 | 300% |
Fame and PvP
Personal Fame
- Characters of level 40 and above who have their second class have Fame.
- It is earned in PvP: clan wars, castle and fortress sieges, the Olympiad, the Underground Coliseum, the Festival of Darkness and so on. In the Coliseum, the corresponding NPC hosts fights for Fame.
- Fame is spent at the Fame Guide in Rune and Aden: on special properties for PvP weapons and armor (such items cannot be traded or dropped) and on reducing or clearing your PK count. Through the Olympiad Guide, Fame can buy a Noblesse Gate Pass.
Battlefield rules
- Characters properly registered for a battle do not suffer the death penalty, but after dying their combat stats may be reduced for a while.
- Charm of Courage now resurrects the character automatically on the battlefield.
- The name of the character who attacked you is automatically targeted and kept for 120 seconds. If no more damage is dealt during the last 20 seconds of that period, the target is cleared.
Clans
- Every week, during maintenance, raid points are converted into clan reputation points (CRP).
- The monthly clan hall fee in CRP was cut roughly in half.
- Rewards for clan reputation quests were increased.
Combat system
- Songs and dances were moved to a separate effect line (protection from overbuffing).
- Melee damage was increased; damage now depends on the relative position of the target and the character.
- Bow and crossbow damage depends on the distance to the target.
- Poison and bleeding damage was increased.
- A target's resistance to a debuff decreases the longer it stays under it.
- Accuracy (the ratio of hits to misses) was noticeably increased.
- Magic damage now varies between a minimum and a maximum, like physical attacks, and depends on the weapon type.
- Magic critical: the base chance was increased tenfold, the damage multiplier lowered from 4x to 3x, and the maximum chance capped at 20%.
Transformations for tanks and healers
- Vanguard (tanks, level 43). While transformed you can use both one-handed swords and two-handed weapons; only transformation skills are available, and the set depends on the transformation rank. Skills: Power Divide, Full Swing, Double Strike, Blade Hurricane. According to the update notes, Full Swing is a circular two-handed strike that ignores shields; there is also a circular dual-weapon attack and a powerful piercing sword strike, both ignoring shields.
- Inquisitor (healers, level 44). Attack spells are available while transformed, and the set depends on the transformation rank: Divine Punishment (an attack against the undead, power 57), Divine Flash (a beam of holy light, power 90), Surrender to the Holy (lowers the target's holy resistance and raises its dark resistance) and Divine Curse (the target cannot be healed and keeps losing HP).
New class skills
| Class | Skill (name from the notes) | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abyss Walker | Avoid Stun | 74 | 2 levels; chance to resist stun |
| Plainswalker | Avoid Fatal | 74 | 2 levels; chance to resist critical hits |
| Treasure Hunter | Avoid Speed | 74 | 2 levels; chance to gain speed when taking damage |
| All dagger classes | Shadow Inclusion | 72 | 2 levels; chance to remove some debuffs |
| Prophet | Steel Mind | 44 | Chance to restore MP when taking damage |
| All Kamael | - | 43 | Increases CP/HP/MP recovery speed |
| Berserker | Body Restoration | 52 | Fully restores your HP, consumes 5 souls |
| Berserker | Blood Concentration | 55 | Increases HP recovery speed and the party's maximum healing, consumes 10 souls |
| Soul Breaker | Networking Soul | 62 | Lowers the target's movement speed, consumes 5 souls |
| Arbalester | Seed of Chaos | 68 | Prevents skill use, consumes "dark seeds" |
| Arbalester | Oblivion Trap | 64 | When triggered, has a chance to drop the target |
| Soul Breaker, Inspector | Painkiller | 58 | Brief invincibility followed by reduced stats |
| Soul Breaker, Inspector | Extreme Magic | 40 | Shortens skill reuse and increases casting speed |
The level 74 dagger skills are learned by double-clicking a book.
Warsmith skills
| Skill | Level | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Repair Golem | 40 | Restores the golem |
| Armor Plate | 40 | Increases P. Def. and maximum HP |
| Attack Power | 43 | Increases attack speed and P. Atk. |
| Sharp Blade | 49 | Increases weapon power and critical rate |
| Spike | 49 | Increases blunt weapon power |
| Bow String | 49 | Increases ranged weapon power (bows, crossbows) |
| Heavy armor buff | 46 | Increases defense in heavy armor |
| Defensive buff | 46 | Increases defensive stats |
| Oracle's Will | 46 | Increases MP recovery depending on armor type |
| Summon Merchant Golem | 52 | Consumes 5 D-grade crystals; the golem stays in place and can open a shop anywhere in the world |
Sharp Blade, Spike and Bow String are 10-minute party buffs that cover three weapon types at once. Only one of the three level 46 defensive buffs can be active at a time; they are also 10-minute party buffs.
Returned skills
- Warsmith, Bounty Hunter - Fatal Strike.
- Phantom Summoner - Death Spike, Servitor Cure Poison, Cure Poison.
- The Abyss Walker got back one of its old skills.
Skill changes
- Melee physical skills got more power and lower MP consumption, and "power strike" skills now use overheating.
- MP consumption was increased for the toggle skills Parry Stance, War Frenzy, Accuracy, Silent Move, Guard Stance, Hard March, Soul Guard, Vicious Stance, Shield Fortress, Fortitude, True Berserker, Strike Back and Soul Cry.
- Many Kamael skills now work without absorbing souls, and their power grows with the number of absorbed souls. The number of souls needed to activate skills was changed; the maximum soul count was increased by 40.
- Deflect Arrow now also reduces crossbow damage.
- Real Target: range increased to 900, skill damage increased, damage when using a bow decreased, and a chance to remove the enemy's buffs was added.
- Bleed now also lowers speed.
- Clan Soul's effect on Kamael was revised.
- Shield Mastery: the shield bonus and block chance were increased, as was the overall P. Def. in heavy armor.
- Armor Mastery for fighters and the matching Kamael passive now increase MP recovery.
- Unicorn Merrow's Hydro Blast is limited in the number of targets; the summon cost of the servitor called "soulles" in the notes was lowered; Pure Soul's evasion penalty was reduced.
- Each invincibility skill you receive can become a positive buff.
- Protection of Rune, Elemental and Divine Protection increase M. Def. and elemental defense; Archer's Will and Fighter's Will increase critical rate and skill power.
- The clan skills against Raid Curse and Fatal Poison got a protective debuff.
- Wild Magic (buff and item) and Dance of Siren raise the magic critical chance more.
- Casting time was reduced for Scroll of Escape, Poison Recovery and Cure Bleeding.
- The duration of Dodge Attack and Counter Attack was cut from 10 to 5 seconds.
Items
- NPC shop prices for weapons, armor and accessories were lowered.
- All C-grade items are sold in shops, and starting B-grade items in Luxor. B-grade items can be exchanged at the Blacksmith of Mammon.
- Chance-based crafting of very rare items (Kamael weapons, transformations and so on) was added; to use them you need to consult the Blacksmith of Mammon.
- New general-purpose weapons, armor and accessories were introduced; they can be bought in shops or dropped by monsters. Items sold in shops no longer drop from monsters.
- Accessories with M. Def. (rings, necklaces, earrings) and some head accessories became available.
- The names of some castle-related items are shown in a different color.
Pets and servitors
- M. Def. items for pets and armor for improved baby pets (fits both regular and improved baby pets) were added.
- The time during which a dead pet can be resurrected was extended to 24 hours.
- Servitor combat stats were changed (HP, P. Def./M. Def., P. Atk./M. Atk.).
- Level 56 servitors got buffs: Feline Queen - Bless the Body, Bless the Soul, Haste; Seraphim the Unicorn - Acumen, Clarity, Empower, Wild Magic; Nightshade - Death Whisper, Guidance, Focus.
Monsters and hunting grounds
- Monsters in the Dimensional Rift and the Seven Signs catacombs (except those below level 75) use soulshots/spiritshots and a protection skill against ranged attacks; their rewards were increased.
- Raid boss rewards were increased; they can drop complete items.
- Drops from regular monsters were increased for characters of level 56 and above; monsters drop new weapons, armor and accessories.
- Monsters in the catacombs move further from their spawn before returning; the return behavior was improved.
- Breka's Stronghold, the Garden of Beasts and the Forest of Outlaws were improved.
Kamaloka
The Kamaloka instance zone (Hall of the Abyss) was added for raid boss hunting.
- Entry via the NPC Guard Captain; party of 2-6 players; 30 minutes; one entry per day, reset at 6:30 AM.
| Town | NPC | Levels |
|---|---|---|
| Gludio | Bathis | 18-31 |
| Dion | Lucas | 28-41 |
| Heine | Gosta | 38-51 |
| Oren | Mouen | 48-61 |
| Schuttgart | Vishotsky | 58-71 |
| Rune | Mathias | 68-78 |
The Korean notes described three Kamaloka zones; one of them (the labyrinth) was temporarily closed for testing. Entry to it was planned through Pathfinder agents by level: Gludio 20-35, Dion 20-40, Hunters Village 30-50, Oren 35-60, Schuttgart 45-70, Rune 55-80. The third zone required 3,000 points in addition to the Guard Captain NPC.
Quests
New quests
| Quest | Level | Description |
|---|---|---|
| A Special Order | 40 | Reward - Mystical Cube |
| Good Work's Reward | 39 | A simplified path to the second class; not available to Kamael |
| Traces of Evil | 15 | Repeatable quest in the Orc village |
| Invention Ambition | 18 | Repeatable quest in the Dwarven village |
| Path to Hellbound | - | Opens access to Hellbound through the Warp Gate; becomes available after the previous quest in the chain |
Characters who already completed the earlier quest for access to Hellbound do not need Path to Hellbound; the NPC requirements were changed accordingly.
Changes to existing quests
- First and second class change quest rewards were increased. In the second class quests, quest items drop more often and fewer are required.
- Master Toma no longer changes location.
- The level of Merciless Avenger was lowered from 12 to 10.
- Rewards for most one-time and repeatable quests were increased.
- The Garden of Beasts quest was revised.
- The tutorial quest explains in more detail how newcomers get their first class.
Interface
- Personal chat filter: drag an unwanted word into a special trash bin.
- A buff can be removed with Alt + left click on its icon.
- A button to reset all custom shortcut settings was added.