We have deployed v1.8.8, a major structural campaign and multiplayer synchronization update. This patch introduces shared objective kill credit for private co-op parties, implements an atomic visual recovery system for quest NPCs, and completely eliminates progression lockouts when returning to towns after key quest milestones.
Shared Co-Op Quest Kill Credit
- Party-Wide Objective Tracking: fixed a critical multiplayer progression bug inside DeathPayload.cs where only the player dealing the lethal blow received quest credit. Defeating a unique campaign boss (such as the Wretched Mother) will now cleanly grant objective credit to all active party members in the session.
- Isolated Progress Protection: the shared credit distributor evaluates each player's individual quest requirements independently. Credit is strictly awarded only to party members who actively need that specific kill, ensuring players advance their personal milestones without skipping story chapters.
Atomic NPC Interactivity & Visibility Recovery
- Eradication of Invisible Quest Givers: resolved a systemic engine limitation where town NPCs required for dialogue objectives remained hidden or out of mission range after a player utilized a Town Portal. Injected a master visibility un-lockout routine directly into the QUEST_MARKER_FORCE_REVEAL pipeline inside the QuestManager.
- Global InteractiveNPC Hardening: when the server tracks and selects an InteractiveNPC as your next active objective target, it automatically forces its hidden and visibility states to true (Hidden = false, Visible = true). This universal fix permanently repairs missing talking indicators and un-clickable artisans across all acts without affecting monster layouts or world doors.
- Step 54 Blacksmith Resolution: successfully patched the specific progression roadblock in the "A Shattered Crown" questline (Quest 72221). Recovering the crown and returning to New Tristram now guarantees that Haedrig (_pt_blacksmith) materializes instantly with his proper yellow quest icon, removing the dead-end stall.
Expected gameplay impact
- Flawless Private Co-Op Play: clear campaign objectives, kill unique bosses, and progress alongside your friends in private parties without locking teammates out of completion credits.
- Seamless Town Returns: returning to towns or main hubs after long dungeon crawls guarantees that your target NPCs are fully visible, interactive, and ready to advance the story.
- Reliable Interface Synchronizations: persistent quest recovery timers (+0.6s, 1.8s, and 3.2s) automatically audit and repair local actor layouts on world loading screens.
If you notice instability, please report hero name, zone, UTC time, and whether .offline was active in Support.
- Zethrone Team
