Lineage II/Current Status of the Game

Lineage II North America (NA) is currently in Chronicle 4: Scions of Destiny, released on February 8, 2006.

GameGuard Inclusion
NCsoft implemented GameGuard for Lineage II between Chronicle 2 and Chronicle 3. Officially, this is to combat third-party software that exploits the game, giving unfair advantages to those using such software.

There are many voiced concerns with regards to privacy and in general GameGuard was not received with open arms. There are questions whether GameGuard really does prevent third-party software; the continual existence of third-party software does suggest GameGuard does not prevent the usage of such software (but perhaps log the usage for future use, further complicating the privacy issues). NCsoft compounds the issue even further by not being forthcoming with information, perhaps with some unknown reasons at the moment.

In addition to the privacy issues, there has been known compatibility issues; some software cannot be ran with GameGuard active, and some of these have nothing to do with Lineage II at all.

Known software that has issues with GameGuard:
 * MBM5 (Software that is meant to track system status such as system and CPU temperature, fan rotation, etc.)
 * SpeedFan (A system fan speed tracking software.)
 * MATLAB (numerical computing environment and programming language)
 * {To be Updated}

Chronicle 3 Changes (Implemented on 10 May 2005)

 * New areas are created for players to explore:
 * Dungeons in various locations primarily to serve the Dawn and Dusk storyline.


 * Animation changes
 * Different Grades of Soulshots now have different animation effects.
 * Drain Life and Shield Stun now has new animation effects implemented.


 * Game Mechanism changes
 * The Dawn and Dusk alliances are created and various supporting activities are put into place for them.


 * Item Changes
 * A-grade weapons and armour are made available, including a quest to create a A-grade weapon.
 * A-grade sets are now available.
 * More abilities are made available for A-grade and C-grade weapons.
 * Changes are made to fine-tune existing weapon abilities.
 * MP consumption for bows have been reduced.
 * More two-handed weapons are added.
 * Duals have their abilities improved. Duals can now be safely enchanted to +4.
 * Enchant Weapons scroll have their effects changed for Duals, Fists, two-handed weapons and bows; generally speaking, each scroll will add more attack power than previously.
 * Reinforced Mithril Boots is now a C-grade item.
 * Pet armour/ weapons prices have been adjusted.
 * Healing potions have been adjusted to better suit solo play.
 * Crafting Duals now requires Crystals.
 * Recipes for Compressed Packages have been changed slightly.
 * Recipes are now colour coded for grade.
 * Many new miscellaneous items added, including SP scrolls, CP scrolls, etc.


 * Castle Related changes
 * Manor System has been updated with more seed types and various details have been fine-tuned.
 * Taxes are made more variable now, instead of the fixed 0%, 5%, 10% or 15% previously.
 * HP of castle doors and walls are adjusted to about 80% of previous.
 * Siege alliances are fine-tuned to make it easier for players to fight during sieges.


 * Clan Halls
 * More Clan Halls are made available.
 * Clan Halls are now graded.
 * Decorations, HP/ MP recovery bonuses, Improved resurrections, buffs, teleports and item creation are made available.
 * Cost of Clan Halls have been adjusted.


 * PvE/ General Combat Changes
 * Shields now have a critical chance to block all damage.
 * Green mobs are adjusted to give better XP to players, especially solo players.
 * XP bonuses to parties are increased, primarily to smaller parties.


 * PvP Changes
 * New statistic (Combat Point) implemented to add more spice to PvP.
 * Reds with a PK count of less than 5 will no longer drop equipment on death.


 * Skills Changes
 * New skills and quests are added.
 * Many fine-tuning changes to existing spells.
 * SP for skills are changed due to the above changes.


 * Summoning Changes
 * Wyverns are made available to castle owners.
 * Summoning costs in crystals are now changed to be gradual consumption over time rather than upfront consumption on summoning.
 * Pets now take penalties according to its own levels rather than according to its master's.
 * Pets now eat food automatically when hungry.


 * Others
 * Weight penalties for 80+% overloading has been reduced.
 * Maximum XP at Level 75 is now set at 100%.

Chronicle 2 Changes (Implemented around 12 December 2004)

 * New areas are created for players to explore:
 * Innadril Castle and its accompany town, Heine
 * Tower of Insolence is opened for exploration
 * A Monster Derby area is opened for use
 * A PvP Coliseum is opened for use
 * Starter villages now have maps that shows the parts of the town; Guide NPC will also help PCs to locate specific NPC if asked.
 * Broadcast Towers are added to all towns to allow PCs to view events in other locations.


 * Items, Texture and Animation changes
 * New Textures are added for some weapons/ armour.
 * Some new weapons/ armour are added. In particular, Compressed Shots Packages are added.


 * Game Mechanism changes
 * Skills are adjusted and added, mainly for higher level characters.
 * New quests are added
 * Two new type of game-mobs -- Chests and Mimics -- are introduced.
 * Magic Spells is adjusted to have a chance to cause criticals.
 * A quest is made available for Dragon Hatchling pets to become Dragon Striders.
 * Private stores now have slight interface changes that is supposed to assist identifying scams.
 * Artisans can now set up crafting stores
 * A Lottery is introduced.
 * Dice can now be bought in stores.
 * A in-game calculator is made available (and is really nice. :)
 * C-Grade weapons can now be customized (somewhat).
 * Tattoos are now available to customize a character (somewhat).
 * The Manor system, in which a Castle-controlling PC can set up a special store to trade special commodities with other PCs, is made available.
 * Yet MORE changes were made to the PvP system to balance things out.
 * A Macro creation system is added.
 * Clan Leader can now delegate some tasks to other clan members.
 * An evaluation/ recommendation mechanism is introduced.
 * Artisans/ Warsmiths can obtain a Recipe book that would hold 50 recipes.

Chronicle 1 Changes (Implemented around 27 June 2004)

 * New areas are created for players to explore:
 * Antharas' Lair is added.
 * Aden castle and its surrounding areas are opened for exploration.
 * Tower of Insolence is created but not open for exploration (if memory serves).
 * Two PvP Arenas were opened for use, one in Gludin and one in Giran.
 * Bandit's Stronghold is opened in the Oren area.


 * Items, Texture and Animation changes
 * New Textures are added for some weapons/ armour.
 * Some skills received new animation.
 * More emotions animations are added.


 * Game Mechanisms changes
 * PvP flagging system is changed to adjust for griefers and PK-ers.
 * Mob Drops for deep blue mobs (mobs > 5 levels below the PC) is eliminated.
 * A 15-second active period after user logout is imposed to adjust for exploit.
 * Weights for many items are readjusted. The Weight/ Encumberance system is adjusted.
 * Hatchling pets are added. Various pets/ summons rules are changed.
 * New skills and quests are made available.