Announcement: Sacrifice Updates

Category: Development
Subject: Sacrifice Updates
Author: GS4-THANDIWE
Date: 2025-12-07

SACRIFICE

Thagoria revealed a more powerful SACRIFICE method to sorcerers at Lake Eonak.

• A successful sacrifice now yields a shadow essence to be used later.  Shadow essence does not expire.  A character can hold a maximum of five shadow essence.
• Shadow essence is used to power the skills that were already available via SACRIFICE (MANA, CHANNEL, and INFEST).
• Shadow essence is also used for two new abilities.  SHIFT performs a chalkless cast of Planar Shift (spell 740), usable while stunned, webbed, or immobile, or rooted, usable a limited number of times per day.  FATE provides a Curse of the Stars buff for four hours.
• SHIFT requires 40 demonology ranks for one use per day.  50 ranks provides two uses per day.  125 ranks provides three uses per day.  200 ranks provides four uses per day.
• It is possible to use up to five shadow essence at once with SACRIFICE MANA, given sufficient mana control ranks, to receive more mana.  All other uses of shadow essence consume a single shadow essence.
• CHANNEL is now available with 50 necromancy ranks, rather than 60.
• INFEST now immediately infests the target creature, and all other creatures of the same type in the area.  It will continue to infest creatures that spawn in the area, up to the same total number as before.
• All uses of shadow essence have their own (i.e. not shared) base ten minute cooldown.  This is reduced by sorcerer lore ranks, 2 seconds for the first 100 ranks and 1 second for all additional ranks.
  • CHANNEL and INFEST use necomancy ranks
  • SHIFT and FATE use demonology ranks
  • MANA uses the sum of demonology and necromancy
• The sacrifice formula has been reworked to be less onerous, especially against creatures that are at a higher level than the caster.  There is a bonus to success for a stunned, webbed, immobile, unconscious, or rooted target, and all of those bonuses stack.  Necromancy and Demonology ranks now contribute to success.  Health loss remains the primary success factor.
• It is now possible to sacrifice the undead, as well as creatures that are not already stunned.
• The hard roundtime for a sacrifice attempt has been reduced from 10 seconds to 3 seconds.
• Attempts to SACRIFICE a target under the effect of Tenebrous Tether (spell 706) give a +15 bonus to success, and do not break concentration on that spell.  This bonus applies on top of the bonus for a rooted target.  It works only for the sorcerer who cast Tenebrous Tether on the target.
• ASSESS now gives a rough idea of how hard it will be to sacrifice a creature in its current state.
• RESOURCE now shows the amount of shadow essence stored.

Any SACRIFICE mechanic not mentioned above is unchanged.

Sorcerers attempting to sacrifice a creature under the effect of Tenebrous Tether (706) now receive a +15 bonus to their attempt, provided they are the one who cast Tenebrous Tether on the target.  This is in addition to the bonus against a rooted target.

tldr

Sorcerer's Rejoice!