Welcome to our first update of 2024! Today we say farewell to the Ri Shin celebration, and hello to a host of improvements, changes, fixes... and a new high level dungeon.

Boss Gauntlet 2

First, about the original Gauntlet: at the end of 2022 we released "Boss Gauntlet '22", which was intended to be a temporary super-hard encounter that would be removed later on. Then we remembered how we hate throwing good content away. So now it's permanent! (Yes, you predicted this back in '22. Shush.) The 20 original bosses of Boss Gauntlet '22 are now called "Boss Gauntlet 1". These bosses have had their level raised to the new maximum of 95, and some of the encounters have been beefed up a little based on feedback. We're excited to introduce Boss Gauntlet 2, with even more bosses and even crazier scenarios for your group to deal with. You can enter Boss Gauntlet 2 by completing the first one -- a door will open and let you in. Alternatively, there's a portal machine in the beginning of Boss Gauntlet 1. Using this machine will let you jump directly to the new gauntlet. It costs Hubris to activate the portal. Completing Boss Gauntlet 2 for the first time will net you 25 Live Event Credits, same as the first Gauntlet. (A note for those who ran the original Gauntlet '22: there used to be five hidden bosses; these have been taken from their hidden rooms and added to Gauntlet 2.) Most of our group-play content is intended to be enjoyable with pick-up groups, where you join up with whoever you happen to meet in the dungeon. But Boss Gauntlets are intended for a dedicated group, typically a guild, who want a very difficult challenge to overcome. If our usual group content is more your style, there's good news: we're hard at work on the final portion of Errruka's Cave, which will be a level 95 group experience. Coming soon!

Monster Changes

Elite and Boss monsters now have a bit more health and armor. The amount varies by monster tier and level, but to give some generalizations:

• A typical level 80 Elite now has 12% more Max Health and Max Armor.
• A typical level 80 boss now has 20% more Max Health and Max Armor.
• The hardest tier of bosses now have 25% more Max Health and Max Armor.

We've also buffed the "tough solo" monsters. These are typically named monsters that are intended to be soloable, such as Salmpo, the Mauler, or the named creatures in desert War Caches. These creatures gained about 12% more Max Health and Max Armor by level 80. In addition, we revised monster self-buff reaction abilities:

• These abilities previously stunned the monster that used them for 5 seconds and then applied a buff.
• Now, the monster stands still (but not stunned!) for 5 seconds, then uses the ability.
• If the monster is killed, stunned, mesmerized, feared, or knocked back during those 5 seconds, the buff is aborted.
• Important Bugfix: Monsters no longer consider dead allies when calculating whether they have enough friends to perform a self-buff.

Other Monster Changes

• Tornados have faster cooldown on their lightning bolt attack.
• "Turret Crystals" -- those crystal enemies that shoot beams at you -- have faster attack speed.
• Gazluk Healing-Suit Tester is weaker (receives less healing from nearby crystals).
• Orcs' Electricity Sigils are a bit more potent.
• Ranalon Guardians of all levels have a bit more Max Health.
• Tornado Spiders can fly (although they still prefer walking).
• Mantis Teachers in Mope's dungeon are a bit tougher.

Aktaari Event Adjustments

• The "Aktaari Queen" event now starts at the same time each game day, at 9am (game time), rather than starting at whatever game-time the first player showed up. This should help players plan better.
• Elite Aktaari (guardians and bosses) are now a bit tougher, and are marked as "no-lock", meaning that their loot is available to all players that help kill it (instead of just the first hunting group that attacked it, as before).
• Moved a teleport destination in Aktaari caves to an earlier point in the cave -- after the giant blocks but before the acid pit rather than after the acid pit.
• Fixed "air tube" type apparatus in several dungeons, including Aktaari caves. They were using testing values that caused the air to refill in 10 seconds instead of the intended reset of 2-3 minutes (depending on the dungeon).

Glamour Changes

In this update, we've made some changes to the way glamouring works. Glamours allow you to change the look of your equipment. (Other games often call this transmogrification.) Previously, you used items -- Glamour Gourds or Glamour Berries -- to do this. Now when you use a Glamour Berry or Glamour Gourd, you receive 1 "Glamour", which is a new pseudo-currency stored in your character. (If you have any, you can see it in the Persona window, under Currencies and Pseudo-Currencies). The Glamour recipe now costs 1 Glamour to use, instead of directly using berries or gourds. This has two benefits: first, you don't have to store unwieldy gourds anymore! Just consume the items to get the Glamours out, and then spend the Glamours whenever you want. Second, this makes it easier for us to give VIP players free Glamours every month, without saddling them with a ton of gourds.

Cargo Suits

We've added "cargo suits" explicitly for mule characters. The crafting recipes can be found on the usual tailoring trainers. These garments give you lots of extra inventory similar to having a perfect set of "pocket gear". Crafting them costs the same amount of resources as full pocket gear. The big benefit is that these suits have no equip requirements, and never will, so they can be worn by any character. In a future update we'll be adding Endurance requirements to high level gear that doesn't have any other requirements. Don't worry, there'll be plenty of info and warning about this change in the future -- we'll be making this transition as painless as possible. We wanted to release these now to help you prepare. Long story short: if you're planning to make a "mule" character, we recommend using these garments rather than crafting "no reqs" max-pocket gear.

Other Tweaks & Bug Fixes

Combaty Stuff

• Hammer: new treasure effect: (Head, Off Hand): "Hammer attacks that kill an enemy via direct damage restore 46 Power to you."
• Hammer: new treasure effect: (Ring): "Direct Electricity Damage, Direct Fire Damage, and Direct Cold Damage +20% while Hammer skill active"
• Knockdowns are now separate from Stuns for purposes of diminishing returns. This means you can Stun, then Knockdown an enemy, and have full duration from both.
• Weak slow effects no longer affect diminishing returns for subsequent strong slows/roots.
• Bugfix: Some sources of indirect damage did not reduce monster regeneration as intended.
• Bugfix: Unarmed treasure effects that absorb damage and redirect it into your attacks were bugged: they stopped working when you logged out or switched areas, and wouldn't work again until you re-equipped the item.
• Bugfix: "Raise Skeletal Ratkin Mage 7" raised the same level of pet as "Raise Skeletal Ratkin Mage 6".

Other Stuff

• Emoting (such as watering plants or waving) should no longer interrupt music playing.
• Stephie Blackhammer in Povus no longer offers barters; instead she has daily crafting quests
• When each phase of the Povus nightly event is completed, any leftover monsters from that phase de-spawn much more quickly
• An augment's associated skill could clash with the skills of the mods already on the item, causing the transmutation system to think no mods were available due to skill incompatibility. This will no longer occur.
• Crafting Electric Cyan Dye now requires real ingredients instead of just Masterwork Metal Slabs.
• Crafting Caravan: Added level 90 tasks to all applicable Caravan NPCs.
• Crafting Caravan: Changed the required items on two tasks to bring them in-line with their level range.
• Fixed a bug causing hard-core broken gear to not display properly when horse-equipped gear also breaks.
• When selecting a title in the GUI list, tooltips explain how that title was earned.
• Fixed tooltip display issue with damage from Bun-Fu Kick's delayed damage.
• Using some Fireworks and Confetti Bombs now triggers an appropriate emote. (Except for Small Confetti Bombs; those are just too quick to look right.)
• Restored some info to various sources JSONs.
• VIPs: Don't forget to check your redemptions! (It's the little gift box icon at the bottom of the Persona panel, which you can find on the right-hand sidebar - third button from the bottom. Or just type /redeem in chat.)

Update: January 12, 2024 - Part 2

A quick update to fix some bugs:

• Revised both versions of the "Healing Suit Tester" encounter in various ways (but making them easier overall).
• Fixed an exploitable bug with a Finishing Blow treasure effect that incorrectly boosted indirect damage. This is fixed on the server, but tooltips can still be wrong in-game until the next client update.

[ 2024-01-12 21:27:05 CET ] [ Original post ]