Game Update Notes – April 19, 2016

04/19/16 – April 19 Release Notes

HEART OF MAGUUMA—REWARDS AND EXPERIENCE
The rewards in the Heart of Thorns™ maps have had a significant rebalance focused on providing more frequent rewards while playing through all content on these maps. Many of these changes were made in concert with the map event structure changes, but general changes were also made that will make exploration and solo play in the map more rewarding. Finally, some new rewards were added for both veteran and new explorers of Maguuma.

• Experience from killing creatures has been increased by 50%.
• Events in the Heart of Thorns maps are no longer subject to diminishing returns for their rewards.
• In the portions of the Heart of Thorns maps that no longer use the map-wide progress bar (“Securing Verdant Brink,” “Defending Tarir,” “Advancing Across Tangled Roots”) have had rewards added to the individual events. These give experience points, map currencies, keys to map chests, and other goodies.
• Rewards that now come from individual events have been rebalanced and consolidated into a smaller number of bags, reducing the number of inventory slots that players’ loot takes up during these event chains.
• All maps should give more of their appropriate currencies and keys for completing event chains, and new chests will appear while completing an event chain.
• New items have been added for defeating map bosses, offering players a choice of items including ascended crafting materials, currencies for collections, and other valuable goods.
• Mastery vendors across the maps have acquired new souvenirs for heroes to purchase. Players can now take home their own Exalted Chest, Crystallized Supply Cache, and Airship Cargo into their home instances. These can be opened once per day and come with 3 keys.
• Adventures are easier to access, easier to complete, and have increased experience rewards.

HEART OF MAGUUMA—MAP CHANGES
We revamped map event rewards, splitting rewards out of many meta-event chains into their individual events to free players from feeling trapped by map cycles or by the progression state of the map they’re placed in. We revisited the events and rewards in the Maguuma Jungle maps to allow for greater single-player accessibility and progression while still allowing for key bigger moments in which players can join up and work together toward map-wide objectives. Players will now be rewarded more often from events as they explore the jungle, and they should find it easier to complete the map-wide events with organization.
Verdant Brink

• Events
  • The daytime map reward structure has changed. Rewards during this phase will be given out incrementally through events instead of through a map-wide progress bar.
  • All waypoints during the “Night and the Enemy” meta-event will be available by default. Previously, the number of waypoints available depended on the progression of each hub during the daytime period.
  • Completing the nighttime phase at the highest security level will now award the player their choice of equipment from the Bladed armor set.
  • Reduced the number of items required to complete the “Salvage damaged armaments to build bombs” event, and the number of items required now scales based on the number of participants.
  • Reduced the number of items required to complete the “Salvage supplies from the Ordnance Corps airship wreckage” event, and the number of items required now scales based on the number of participants.
  • Replaced the enemies that would leave the event area and become difficult to find in the “Escort rescued nobles to the Pact crash site” event.
  • Reduced the number of items required to complete the “Salvage scrap from the crashed Pact airship for Bongo to reinforce the outpost” event, and the number of items required now scales based on the number of participants.
  • Increased the speed at which Skybreaker plants bombs in the “Keep enemies away from Skybreaker while she plants explosives” event.
  • The champions in the “Kill the rampaging Mordrem” nighttime events have been changed to veterans.
  • The “Clear hostiles from the nobles’ crash site” event no longer begins if the map initializes at night. This event also now fails at night.
  • The “Clear hostiles from the Ordnance Corps outpost” event no longer begins if the map initializes at night. This event also now fails at night.
  • The “Destroy the Mordrem breachers to cut off enemy reinforcements” event no longer begins if the map initializes at night. This event also now fails at night.
  • Laranthir and the Pale Reavers are removed at dawn.
  • The “Defeat the Mordrem invaders to clear the village” event no longer begins if the map initializes at night. This event also now fails at night.
  • The “Clear the Pact Camp of Mordrem” event no longer begins if the map initializes at night. This event also now fails at night.
  • Added repeatable veteran Mordrem kill events to the Jaka Itzel and Pact Encampment outposts.
  • Itzel hunt events are now set to repeat after the outpost is completed.
  • Added repeatable survivor-rescue events to the Pact Encampment outpost after the outpost is completed.
  • Added repeatable corrupted tendril events to the Pact Encampment outpost after the outpost is completed.
  • Added veteran events around the Noble Ledges area.
  • Added veteran events around the Broken Bluffs area.
  • Added veteran events around the Dry Step Mesas area.
  • Reduced warm-up timers on repeatable events around the Broken Bluffs area.
• Waypoints
  • Jaka Itzel Waypoint will no longer become contested at any point. It has been moved to a safer spot in the Itzel village to accommodate this change.
  • Faren’s Flyer Waypoint will no longer become contested at any point. It has been moved very slightly to accommodate this change.
  • Mellaggan’s Valor Waypoint will now only become contested when events pass through its area.
  • Shrouded Ruins Waypoint will now only become contested when events pass through its area.
• General
  • Decreased enemy spawns in a few choke-point areas that line up with some of the more heavily traveled roads.
  • Chests awarded by bosses defeated in canopy events have had their models changed and no longer require crowbars.
  • Adjusted the distribution of Airship Cargo for changes to the meta-event cycle.
  • Added NPCs near the two Itzel mastery vendors to show off the Bladed armor set.
  • Added an NPC near the Nuhoch mastery vendor to show off the Chak weapon set.
• Hero Challenges
  • Coztic Itzel Belongings: Adjusted the Precision Strike skill so that the third hit does not do enough damage to down a lightly armored character.
  • Coztic Itzel Belongings: Adjusted the Spread Shot skill so that all five projectiles cannot hit a single person.
  • Security Console: Fixed an issue with the Launch Fist skill that caused the targeted players to be pulled regardless of where they were in relation to the fist. This skill now only pulls players in the area the fist travels in front of the golem.
• Bug
  • Fixed a bug that prevented Axemaster Gwyllion’s stealth effect from being removed if his defiance bar was broken.

Auric Basin

• Events
  • When the “Trial by Fire” meta-event begins, Exalted Armor Challenges now always start at the maximum number of armors available. Exalted Armor Challenges will not start if a new map starts during this time.
  • Participating in the Exalted Armor Challenges during the “Trial by Fire” meta-event now awards personal participation toward the global map progress.
  • The following events now give an increased amount of player participation toward the map:
    • The “Destroy the vines blocking Tarir’s entrance” event
    • The “Defeat the mustering Mordrem before the attack on Tarir begins” event
    • The “Slay the octovine!” event
  • Event rewards for slaying the octovine are now given all at once instead of individually. Participating in one “Slay the octovine!” event now gives improved rewards, but players will only be eligible for this reward once.
  • The “Defending Tarir” event reward structure has changed. Rewards during this phase will now be given out incrementally through events. Small Exalted Chests can now be found near outposts and pylons after they’ve been activated.
  • Patrolling vinetooth events have been added near Northwatch Descent, Westwatch Patch, Bristleback Chasm, and Southwatch Creep.
  • Added twelve spring-purification events to Maguuma Shallows, Weeping Glade, and the Falls.
    • The Maguuma Guardian effect is now a duration effect that increases three minutes for each Maguuma spring cleansed. The three springs in the “Destroy the vinewraths and their Mordrem infestation so Scholar Keenwit can complete the druid ritual” event in the Maguuma Shallows also count toward the effect duration.
  • Added “Defeat the mustering Mordrem before the attack on Tarir begins” events outside each city gate during the “Trial by Fire” meta-event.
    • Any veteran Mordrem Guard who survive these events will then move to join the guards at city gates for the “Battle in Tarir” meta-event.
  • Added three stealth target events near the Falls, Burnisher Quarry, and Bristleback Chasm.
  • The “Destroy the vines blocking Tarir’s north/south/east/west entrance” events are now correctly marked as group events.
  • The event creature scaling has been toned down for the “Protect skritt foragers as they return with supplies from the jungle” event.
• Waypoints
  • Northwatch Waypoint, Westwatch Waypoint, and Southwatch Waypoint have been moved slightly and will now remain uncontested.
• General
  • Adjusted the Inner Chamber point of interest so it can now be discovered from outside the entry door.
  • The AFK timer for enchanted armors now will not begin until the “Battle in Tarir” meta-event has started.
    • The boundary for enchanted armor around Northwatch Descent has been extended to include the road leading down by the Suspicious Orichalcum Node Hero Challenge.
    • Added a warning message to help instruct players in enchanted armor to turn back once they’ve reached a boundary.
  • The Inner Chamber can now be accessed by anyone who has completed the Exalted Markings Mastery training.
  • Added NPCs near the Itzel mastery vendor to show off the Bladed armor set.
  • Added an NPC near the Nuhoch mastery vendor to show off the Chak weapon set.
  • Added 12 hidden chests, bringing the total to 24 in the map.
• Hero Challenges
  • “Hero Challenge: Defeat the Tarnished Sage” has been moved into an open room beneath Tarir.
• Bugs
  • Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the failure message to appear when the “Battle in Tarir” meta-event was completed successfully.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the mushroom transform to be removed when players were hit by the octovine’s poison attack.
  • Fixed an overabundance of pocket raptors near Maguuma Shallows.
  • Fixed hidden chests to spawn correctly at Griffonfall, Burnisher Quarry, and Weeping Glade.
  • Fixed a visual seam in the world map along the south edge of Auric Basin in the zoomed-out view of the Tyria (Surface) level.

Tangled Depths

• Events
  • Changed the “King of the Jungle” meta-event reward structure (during the build-up period to the chak gerent). Rewards during this phase will be given out incrementally through events instead of through a map-wide progress bar.
  • Decoupled the chak gerent lanes from the building phases and removed the corresponding bonuses, with the exception of the jumping mushrooms in the Nuhoch Lane and the bonus eggs in the Ogre Lane.
  • Revisited participation awards for the chak gerent fight to reflect overall changes to the map-wide progress structure. Players who have participated from the start of the chak gerent phase will now reach the 100% goal, and the potential of lane hopping to boost players’ participation percentage has been removed.
  • The chak gerent now takes increased damage when its defiance bar is broken.
  • Adjusted the difficulty of events in the chak gerent lanes to account for the lack of lane bonuses.
  • Added several new events after the outpost building phase for more solo content.
  • Adjusted the balance of the “Protect the newly hatched beetle larvae until they reach a stable population” event.
  • Adjusted the balance of the “Defend the beetle larvae as they search for a place to metamorphose” event.
  • Revisited the flow of the champion events after building phases.
  • Fixed a bug in the “Draw the shielded golem’s fire while Agent Zildi reprograms it” event that awarded participation to anyone nearby even when the event wasn’t active.
  • Fixed the scaling of the chak in the “Join Shrael Backstab on his recon mission” event.
  • Adjusted the requirements for the event participation thresholds (bronze, silver, gold) for the “Join Shrael Backstab on his recon mission” event.
  • Fixed a scaling issue with the “Kill nearby mushrooms to provide the Nuhoch’s beetles with food” event.
  • Fixed a scaling issue with the “Lure the beetles near mushrooms to calm them by releasing spores from nodules” event. More bait sticks have also been added to this event.
  • Adjusted how players receive participation as well as the requirements for the event participation thresholds (bronze, silver, and gold) for the “Protect Zildi while she hacks the defense matrix” event.
  • Changed the range at which the “Collect spore samples and turn them in to Kott’s Assistant” event broadcasts. The timer on this event has also been increased.
• General
  • Chak goop now no longer affects player speed if that player has the Nuhoch Alchemy Mastery.
  • Added NPCs near the Itzel mastery vendor to show off the Bladed armor set.
  • Added NPCs near the two Nuhoch mastery vendors to show off the Chak weapon set.
  • Fixed some hostility issues with the natural creatures.
  • Doubled the number of Crystallized Supply Caches on the map.
  • Changed the lane defender achievements to award achievements without regard to which stage the gerent was killed in.
• Bugs
  • Fixed several vistas to properly display on the upper level of the world map.
  • Added an icon to the chak gerent boss chest.
  • Fixed a bug that would sometimes remove the visual cues for the chak gerent’s skill effects.
  • Fixed a bug that prevented the bonus chest for the “Collect chak eggs so the ogres can research them” event from appearing.

Dragon’s Stand

• Events
  • Increased the timer after victory from 15 to 25 minutes.
  • A new reward item, available once per day, has been added to Mordremoth’s cache.
• General
  • The Juvenile Electric Wyvern pet is now available from the Wyvern Nest after players take control of the Central Advance Camp.
  • The Juvenile Tiger is no longer hidden in an area that can only be accessed once the Mouth of Mordremoth has been defeated.
  • Noxious pods now have a glow that is visible through terrain.
  • All areas the Blighting Trees previously blocked until the boss’s defeat are now unlocked.
  • The Whispers Keeper at the Pact Base Camp now has access to the full services that his counterpart on Mordremoth’s Vantage has.
  • The Whispers Keepers now also sell boxes for each of the Leystone armor pieces in exchange for Ley-Line Crystals, Piles of Auric Dust, Airship Parts, and Crystalline Ore.
  • Added NPCs near the map currency vendor to show off the Leystone armor set.
  • Noxious pods now spawn near the forward camps and advance camps when they are captured by allied forces. Additional pods will become available for each additional group of allies that the players obtain.

HEART OF MAGUUMA—ADVENTURES
Adventures are now unlocked more often. They have more forgiving time limits and allow players to more easily reach bronze, silver, and gold completion. They also give more experience for reaching those completion tiers.

Unlocking and Accessing Adventures

• The Tendril Torchers and Salvage Pit adventures in Verdant Brink have both been altered to stay unlocked during the entire daytime period.
• The Shooting Gallery adventure in Verdant Brink has been altered to be unlocked during most of the day, except when the following events move through the space:
  • The “Defend the Pact encampment against hylek attacks” event
  • The “Salvage scrap from the crashed Pact airship for Bongo to reinforce the outpost” event
  • The “Help Faren train to be a swordsmaster” event
• All adventures in Auric Basin will now remain unlocked except during the “Battle in Tarir” meta-event.
• The Beetle Feast and Scrap Rifle Field Test adventures in Tangled Depths will now remain available when the chak gerent isn’t present.

Time Limits

• Bugs in the Branches: Added 5 seconds to the time limit.
• Shooting Gallery: Added 30 seconds to the time limit.
• Fallen Masks: Added 15 seconds to the time limit.
• On Wings of Gold: Added an updraft near Northgate to make it easier to reach the adventure.
• A Fungus Among Us: Changed the time required to achieve a gold ranking to 1 minute and 25 seconds.
• The Floor Is Lava?: Added 15 seconds to the time limit.
• Haywire Punch-o-Matic Battle: Added 5 seconds to the time limit. Also added a world-map marker in Tangled Depths.
• Sanctum Scramble: Changed the time required to achieve a gold ranking to 2 minutes and 35 seconds.
• Scrap Rifle Field Test: Added a world-map marker in Tangled Depths.

Rewards

• Adventures now give increased experience in their daily bronze, silver, and gold rewards.

ACHIEVEMENTS
We overhauled daily achievements, adding new, specific Heart of Thorns dailies for those who own the expansion, plus new jumping puzzle, minidungeon, and dungeon path dailies to the regular rotation. These changes—plus the addition of a new flat gold reward for completing the Daily Completionist achievement—should encourage players to explore a wider variety of content.

• Completing the daily meta-achievement now additionally rewards players with 2 gold.
• New daily achievements have been added to the rotation:
  • Heart of Thorns Dailies: Specific dailies for Heart of Thorns will only appear in a player’s rotation if they own the expansion. The following dailies have a chance to replace similar dailies currently in the rotation:
    • Daily Verdant Brink Event Completer
    • Daily Auric Basin Event Completer
    • Daily Tangled Depths Event Completer
    • Daily Dragon’s Stand Event Completer
    • Daily Heart of Maguuma Miner
    • Daily Heart of Maguuma Lumberer
    • Daily Heart of Maguuma Forager
    • Daily Heart of Maguuma Vista Viewer
    • Earn bronze or better in these adventures:
      • A Fungus Among Us
      • Beetle Feast
      • Bugs in the Branches
      • Drone Race
      • Fallen Masks
      • Flying Circus
      • Haywire Punch-o-Matic Battle
      • On Wings of Gold
      • Sanctum Scramble
      • Scrap Rifle Field Test
      • Shooting Gallery
      • Tendril Torchers
      • The Floor Is Lava?
      • The Ley-Line Run
  • Complete daily jumping-puzzle achievements:
    • Antre of Adjournment
    • Behem Gauntlet
    • Branded Mine
    • Buried Archives
    • Chaos Crystal Cavern
    • Coddler’s Cove
    • Conundrum Cubed
    • Crash Site
    • Craze’s Folly
    • Crimson Plateau
    • Dark Reverie
    • Demongrub Pits
    • Fawcett’s Bounty
    • Goemm’s Lab
    • Grendich Gamble
    • Griffonrook Run
    • Hexfoundry
    • Hidden Garden
    • King Jalis’s Refuge
    • Loreclaw Expanse
    • Morgan’s Leap
    • Only Zuhl
    • Pig Iron Quarry
    • Professor Portmatt’s Lab
    • Scavenger’s Chasm
    • Shaman’s Rookery
    • Shattered Ice Ruins
    • Skipping Stones
    • Spekk’s Lab
    • Spelunker’s Delve
    • Swashbuckler’s Cove
    • The Collapsed Observatory
    • Tribulation Caverns
    • Tribulation Rift
    • Under New Management
    • Urmaug’s Secret
    • Vizier’s Tower
    • Wall Breach Blitz
    • Weyandt’s Revenge
  • Complete daily minidungeon achievements:
    • Bad Neighborhood
    • Don’t Touch the Shiny
    • Forgotten Stream
    • Forsaken Fortune
    • Goff’s Loot
    • Grounded
    • Magellan’s Memento
    • Rebel’s Seclusion
    • Ship of Sorrows
    • Tears of Itlaocol
    • The Long Way Around
    • Vexa’s Lab
    • Windy Cave
  • Complete 1 explorable path from a dungeon:
    • Ascalonian Catacombs
    • Caudecus’s Manor
    • Twilight Arbor
    • Sorrow’s Embrace
    • Citadel of Flame
    • Honor of the Waves
    • Crucible of Eternity
    • The Ruined City of Arah
• Collections for the unique weapons for each specialization now require bronze in the requisite adventure instead of silver.
• A new repeatable dungeon achievement has been added. See the Dungeons section below.

DUNGEONS
We increased dungeon rewards, including both gold and tokens. We chose to use a repeatable achievement to deliver gold rewards, as it encourages completing multiple dungeon paths while allowing dungeon runners to play as many dungeons as they like when it’s convenient for them, rather than tying players to a daily reset.

• Added a new repeatable achievement for completing 8 unique dungeon paths. Completing this achievement will award players with 5 gold and 150 tokens from the dungeon of their choice.
• Dungeon tokens given in the daily bonus chest awarded the first time each dungeon path is completed have been increased from 40 to 80 tokens.
• All Aetherblade weapons now drop much more frequently from the chest that is awarded after defeating the Clockheart boss at the end of the Aetherblade path of the Twilight Arbor explorable-mode dungeon.

FRACTALS OF THE MISTS
Ad Infinitum
Players are now able to complete the quest to obtain Ad Infinitum, the legendary backpack! Once they have crafted Unbound, they can speak to Kelvei to unlock the fourth collection and start the last part of the journey.
Fractal Tiers
We are changing the way that we break up fractal scales into tiers.

• Casual tier has been renamed Initiate tier.
• Core tier has been renamed Adept tier.
• Elite tier has been split into Expert tier and Master tier.
• Initiate tier now covers scales 1 – 25, Adept tier covers scales 26 – 50, Expert tier covers scales 51 – 75, and Master tier covers scales 76 – 100.
• Tiers in the Looking for Group UI have been updated to reflect these changes.

Achievements
We have created a new set of daily achievements inside of fractals that will replace the old dailies. These new daily achievements are designed to encourage players to complete fractals appropriate to their skill level by giving them cumulative rewards for completing fractals at higher scales.

Each day there will be 3 recommended islands given to players, with each island having daily achievements for completing it at or above scale 1, at or above scale 26, at or above scale 51, and at or above scale 76. Players will be awarded the daily achievement for that recommended island when completing it at that scale or higher. As an example, if one of the recommended islands is Uncategorized, players can complete Uncategorized at scale 62 to attain the achievements for completing it at or above scale 1, 26, and 51 in a single run. The achievement for scale 76 or above will remain locked unless players complete Uncategorized at either scale 79 or 91. The following changes were made to fractal achievements:

• Retired the existing Daily Fractal Adept, Veteran, and Champion achievements.
• Created new Initiate, Adept, Expert, and Master daily island achievement tiers.
  • Completing a high-tier daily island achievement will also award players the corresponding lower tier achievements.
  • Adjusted the drop rates of the daily achievement chests.
    • Preexisting Veteran Chests of the Mists and Champion Chests of the Mists have retained their old drop rates as the drop rates of the new chests are radically different.
• Renamed the Elite Veteran Fractal Hero and Elite Master Fractal Hero achievements for scales 51 – 75 and 76 – 100 to Fractal Expert and Fractal Master.
• Retired the existing Core Fractal Hero and Casual Fractal Hero achievements for scales 1 – 20 and 21 – 50.
• Created new Fractal Initiate and Fractal Adept achievements for scales 1 – 25 and 26 – 50.

UI
We have made some quality-of-life improvements to several fractal UI elements.

• The Fractals of the Mists UI’s scale selection is now a drop-down list that includes the fractal scale, name, and suggested agony resistance.
• The Fractal Transit Query UI from the Mistlock Observatory now has a “Yes” and “No” option.

Mistlock Instabilities
At higher fractal scales, players suffer from Mistlock Instabilities—effects that increase the challenge of a given fractal. Unfortunately, many of the current instabilities are frustrating rather than fun, so we’re making several balance changes to remove the biggest pain points when playing with these instabilities.

• Boon Fumbler: This instability has been replaced with Lethargic, which reduces endurance regeneration by 50%.
• No Pain, No Gain: This instability now grants a specific set of boons when enemies are hit, and it has a 20-second cooldown. The boons applied are protection, 3 stacks of stability, and 10 stacks of might, each with a duration of 20 seconds.
• Last Laugh: Improved the visibility of the warning circle that appears before the explosion.
• Afflicted: This instability now only applies damaging conditions (bleeding, burning, torment, confusion, and poison). The duration of the applied conditions has been adjusted for balance.
• Boon Thieves: Enemies now steal up to 5 boons at once. This instability has a 20-second cooldown.
• Social Awkwardness: This instability is now only active while in combat.

Aetherblade

• Added gadget markers to trap disablers.
• Fixed several blocking issues that could prevent the fractal from progressing.

Aetherblade Boss

• Fixed a bug that prevented First Mate Horrik from properly vocalizing “Aye, aye, Captain” when given orders.

Aquatic Ruins

• Fixed an issue with bosses resetting before the party was defeated.

Cliffside
Cliffside has long been one of the more lengthy fractals, so a prime focus of this update was to rework it to have better pacing while also changing some of the mechanics to be more engaging or less unfair at higher scales. With this release, Cliffside should be less tedious and include improvements on the things that make it unique.

Pacing Changes
One of the more notable changes is that we have removed the boss fight at the beginning—because why fight the Archdiviner twice? We have also changed the layout of the map so that players can ascend to the top faster. In addition, the wind and explosive traps can now be disabled, much like the traps in the Aetherblade fractal, and the checkpoints are more forgiving. The various seal events will also progress faster now?—particularly the arm seal event, which was notoriously difficult at higher scales. We made the following changes to Cliffside’s pacing:

• Replaced the first Archdiviner fight with a simple kill event.
• Created new, shorter paths through the fractal.
• Reduced the number of hits required for the chest seal to 5 and changed the mechanics to promote movement.
• Added the ability to disable wind and explosive traps.
• Added another hammer-giving NPC after the wind traps.
• Reworked checkpoints to reduce the time players spent running after defeats.
• Removed the superfluous fifth strike from the last seal.
• Made a change so that there are always 5 chanters for the arms event instead of scaling with the fractal scale.
• The hammer now inflicts 40% damage to seal health instead of 35% for the arms event.
• Made a change so that falling off of a trap does 75% health damage instead of 100%.
• Missing with the hammer’s Seal Breaker skill no longer consumes the skill.

Archdiviner Boss Rework
Before now, as players increased in fractal scale, the combat mechanics for the Archdiviner remained about the same. Enemies gain more health and do more damage, but fundamentally fighting the boss at scale 7 was no different from fighting him at scale 94 if we ignore instabilities. This kind of difficulty progression is rather dull and is not what we envision for fractals.
For this reason, the final fight with the Archdiviner has received a major rework. He has had his health greatly reduced, and he now has new abilities that enable or increase in difficulty at higher scales. For instance, he has a new cone area-of-effect attack that can be broken, which gives players less time to stun him as the scale increases. We also improved some of his old abilities, such as changing his cage ability to be a delayed area-of-effect attack that increases in radius with scale. This makes the fight much more engaging and requires both melee and ranged players to pay attention and dodge effectively, particularly at the highest scales. The Archdiviner is merely the first boss to receive a rework, and we plan to extend this sort of difficulty scaling to more fractal bosses in the future. We’ve made the following change to the Archdiviner boss fight:

• Greatly reduced the Archdiviner’s health.
• Difficulty now increases at higher scales via harder mechanics.
• Added a conic hammer slam attack that scales in speed at higher difficulties.
• Made the defiance bar only active during the conic attack and Corrupted Ground area-of-effect attack.
• Added a rush/teleport attack at scales 25 – 100 that is active throughout the fight.
• Added a projectile-blocking wall (which reflects at scales 51 – 100) that is active for the first 50% of health.
• At scales 51 – 100, the Backbreaker heavy attack replaces the basic attack for the last 50% of health.
• At or above scale 76, the Archdiver turns into a demon avatar at 25% health, an alternate form of the revenant’s Embrace the Darkness legendary demon stance.
• Added a permanent protection effect at 50% health to partially compensate for his reduced health.
• Added a permanent swiftness effect at 25% heath.
• Reduced the seal stun time from 5 seconds to 1 second.
• Reduced the difficulty of the second cultist wave after missing with the cultist’s hammer.
• The Archdiviner now also joins the fight if players attack the initial four cultists.
• Changed the cage attack to create an area-of-effect circle that can be dodged so players can avoid being caged.
• Removed the Nova bright area blast attack that applied reflect.
• Increased the pull attack’s projectile damage.
• The cages now apply torment.

Miscellaneous Changes
Another big problem point is that the cultist hammer’s mechanic was quite confusing to many players, who would avoid the hammer because they didn’t understand how it worked. Now the hammer will display a marker over the head of any player who picks it up, which will change color and blink as the hammer corrupts them. This allows all players to visually see the danger of the hammer without watching effect bars, and it also makes it easy for the party to tell who has the hammer. We made several miscellaneous changes:

• Added a blinking hammer marker when the player is holding the hammer.
• Added a pick-up marker to the hammer.
• Removed point animation from some NPCs.
• Added a map marker indicating the direction to the “Destroy the final seal” event after the “Break the arm seals” event is completed.
• Changed the hammer corruption so that it constantly increases while the hammer is equipped and constantly decreases when it’s not equipped.
• Braziers now apply constant burning that can be cleared.
• Renamed Novice to Fanatic.
• Fixed the reset for the arm seal event.
• The cages during the boss fight have had their health increased but now take damage from conditions and critical hits.
• Changed the audio for the seal bubble shields.

Molten Boss

• The Champion Molten Effigy is no longer immune to certain control effects and now has a slightly tougher defiance bar to compensate.

Molten Furnace

• The thermal core has had its health increased but now takes damage from conditions and critical hits.
• Invisible gadgets in the drill tunnel can no longer be attacked.

Snowblind

• Increased the visibility of the lightning strike locations during the ice elemental encounter.

Solid Ocean

• Added a checkpoint and made player recovery after falling off platforms more forgiving.
• Removed the 30-second wait at the end of the fractal.

Swampland

• Bloomhunger is no longer immune to certain control effects.
• Increased the Mossman’s size by 25%.
• Fixed a bug in which the Mossman’s basic cleave attack would miss players who were standing above him.

Thaumanova Reactor

• Reduced the number of portals that appear.
• The portals and dormitory gates have had their health increased but now take damage from conditions and critical hits.
• Fixed the vomit ability to correctly show the vomit effect in the fire room.
• Added markers over the cooling rods to prevent them from being lost.
• The final chest can now be autolooted.
• Added a checkpoint near the walkway console.

Uncategorized

• The power source has had its health increased but now takes damage from conditions and critical hits.
• Added a defiance bar to Old Tom.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Old Tom from dropping loot.

Underground Facility

• The Dredge Power Suit and Rampaging Ice Elemental bosses now take additional condition damage while superheated.
• The Superheated skill now prevents the bosses from clearing conditions when they attempt to heal.
• Rabsovich can no longer be damaged before he appears.
• Players no longer have to target the Reinforced Door to damage it with the Dredge Mining Cannons.

Urban Battleground

• Siege weapons have had their health increased but now take damage from conditions and critical hits.

Volcanic

• The molten boulders that appear in this fractal can no longer be targeted.
• Renamed the molten boulders’ attacks from “Slick Shoes” to “Fire Trail” and “Crush.”
• Fixed a bug that caused the grawl shaman to be immune to control effects.
• The bonus chest for saving all four prisoners from the grawl shaman can now be autolooted.

General Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented the Mist Offensive Potion from increasing outgoing condition damage.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Mist Defensive Potion from reducing incoming condition damage.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Anguished Tear of Alba to only apply its effects for 30 minutes instead of 1 hour.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Anguished Tear of Alba to apply a stack of the Mist Defensive Potion effect.

LEGENDARY JOURNEY—CHUKA AND CHAMPAWAT
Every true hunter is responsible for the lives they take. Embark on a hunt for the two great tigers Chuka and Champawat and build the legendary short bow that bears their names.

A new legendary journey is now available:

• Speak to Grandmaster Craftsman Hobbs in Lion’s Arch to begin a great hunt for a pair of legendary tigers rampaging through Tyria.
• Completing this journey will reward the short-bow precursor Tigris and the ability to create the legendary short bow Chuka and Champawat.
• A new achievement has been added to the exploration category—Spirit of the Tiger. Seek out tiger dens throughout Tyria and earn the Mini Tiger Spirit.
  • The Mini Tiger Spirit is required to complete this legendary journey, but the Spirit of the Tiger achievement is available to everyone.

LEVEL-80 BOOST
A new Level-80 Boost consumable has been added to the game for all players who have purchased or will purchase Heart of Thorns. All Heart of Thorns owners will receive a Level-80 Boost consumable. In addition, this item will automatically be delivered in a one-time, free Shared Inventory Slot, which will not count toward the Gem Store limit of shared inventory slot purchases. Because so much of our Heart of Thorns content is for level-80 players, we want everyone to be able to experience this content as soon as possible. Furthermore, we want players to be able to experiment at their own pace and make sure the character they are boosting is the one they really want to permanently boost to level 80. With this in mind, we have included a trial mode in the Level-80 Boost that players can use on any character below level 80.

For any characters that are not yet level 80 that players would like to try the Level-80 Boost on, they can simply double-click the Level-80 Boost item in their inventory to receive the option to enter the trial mode for the Level-80 Boost. Upon beginning the trial, players’ characters will be placed in the Silverwastes, where they will be able to interact with other level-80 players and join them in the Silverwastes meta-events and exploration for an unlimited amount of time! Until a player commits to being level 80 permanently on any character, removes the boost, or attempts to leave the Silverwastes, they will be able to play as long as they desire while they decide if they enjoy how their profession plays at level 80.

We want this consumable to be convenient and fun for players, and we’ve made it so players can use the item as many times as they want until they find the character they’re are happiest with and commit to making it permanently level 80. Players who make new characters for this boost will be able to use it the moment they finish the tutorial for their race. Players who have been leveling but haven’t reached level 80 yet can use this boost immediately! For those who are level 80 already who may not want another max-level character, there will be no trial, but instead they will have the option to consume the boost to receive the Level-80 Boost Package and equipment.

If a player should decide to undo the Level-80 Boost and leave the trial mode, their character will be returned to its original level with its previous gear equipped. Any specializations, skills, and utilities reset to their former selections and the player will be teleported to their home city. If they should decide to make the boost permanent, any restrictions they faced while in the trial will be instantly lifted, the Level-80 Boost item will be consumed, their trial equipment will be replaced by a permanent set of exotic equipment that shares the same qualities as their trial gear, and a Level-80 Boost Package filled with rewards will be placed in their inventory. They will now be able to take full advantage of Heart of Thorns as a level-80 character. Any characters still in the Level-80 Boost trial when the boost is made permanent on another character will be returned to their home city with the character’s original gear and equipment when they log in with the characters still in trial mode.

Receiving the Level-80 Boost Item

• The Level-80 Boost item will be automatically granted to all current Heart of Thorns owners and to any future players who upgrade to Heart of Thorns as part of their purchase.
• The Level-80 Boost item delivered to Heart of Thorns owners will be delivered directly to a new, one-time, free Shared Inventory Slot.
  • The Level-80 Boost item for Heart of Thorns owners cannot be moved from the free Shared Inventory Slot it was delivered in until it has been consumed by the player, making the boost permanent.
  • This shared inventory slot does not count toward a player’s allowed purchase limit of Shared Inventory Slots from the Gem Store.

Using the Level-80 Boost Item on Characters below Level 80

• Players can double-click the Level-80 Boost item to select the option to begin the Level-80 trial for the active character.
• Players can use the boost to begin the level-80 trial on any character under level 80.
• Players cannot use the Level-80 Boost item while they are in the tutorial for their race.

Using the Level-80 Boost Item on Characters Already at Level 80

• Level-80 characters who use this item will not be able to enter the Level-80 trial but will instead be given the option to consume the Level-80 Boost to instantly be granted the permanent rewards.
  • These are the same rewards given to those who use the trial option and then make the boost permanent (see “Making the Level-80 Boost Permanent” below).

Boosting Multiple Characters with the Level-80 Boost

• A single Level-80 Boost item can be used to put any number of the player’s characters into a level-80 trial, but only one character can consume the item and make the boost permanent.
• When the player logs in to one of their other characters that is in a level-80 trial after consuming the item, that character will be reverted and teleported to their home city per the effects of undoing the boost (see “Undoing the Level-80 Boost Trial” below).

During the Level-80 Boost Trial

• Once the Level-80 Boost trial is activated, the character will be sent to the Silverwastes and will begin a conversation with Quartermaster Criswell, who has been assigned the task of guiding those undergoing the Level-80 Boost trial.
  • Quartermaster Criswell has been coached to provide the player with assistance with the Level-80 Boost trial.
  • Quartermaster Criswell has been authorized to replace players’ trial equipment if they delete it.
    • Quartermaster Criswell will only offer this service to those who are active in the trial.
  • Quartermaster Criswell has been authorized to assist players in obtaining a level-80 build balanced for survivability and damage.
    • Quartermaster Criswell will provide this service to all Heart of Thornsadventurers in the Silverwastes—regardless of whether they have used a Level-80 Boost—provided they already have their basic trait and skill lines unlocked.
• Equipment held by the character prior to the boost trial will be placed in a Package of Old Equipment for safekeeping until the player undoes the boost or commits to making the boost permanent.
• There is no time limit on the trial; players will be able to play in the Silverwastes until the Level-80 Boost item has been consumed and the player has committed to making the boost permanent.
• Characters using the Level-80 Boost trial will have certain restrictions that will only exist while the trial is active:
  • They will not gain level experience.
  • They will not be able to activate Hero Challenges.
  • They will not be able to access their Story Journal.
  • They will not be able to apply transmutations to their armor.
  • They will not be able to travel to or queue for WvW or sPvP without making the boost permanent for their character.
  • They will not be able to use items to teleport out of the Silverwastes without making the boost permanent for their character.
  • They will not be able to leave the Silverwastes without making the boost permanent for their character.

Undoing the Level-80 Boost Trial

• Characters who enter the Level-80 Boost trial can undo the boost by double-clicking on the Level-80 Boost item in their inventory and selecting the option “Undo Boost.” They can also access this prompt by attempting to leave the Silverwastes. This will only affect the currently active character. The following occurs when a player undoes the Level-80 Boost trial:
  • All equipment granted by the Level-80 Boost trial will be removed.
  • They will be restored to the level and build they had prior to activating the Level-80 Boost trial on that character.
  • All of their prior equipment will be automatically reequipped.
  • They will be returned to their home city.
  • They will keep any equipment and/or items they have collected during the trial.
  • Characters will retain any waypoints, vistas, and points of interest they have unlocked.

Making the Level-80 Boost Permanent

• Players in the Level-80 Boost trial who double-click on the Level-80 Boost item and select the option to consume it will be given the choice to make the boost permanent. They can also access this prompt by attempting to leave the Silverwastes. Players who make the Level-80 Boost permanent receive the following benefits:
  • Waypoints on their character will be unlocked for Gate Hub Plaza (Lion’s Arch), Dry Top Entry (Dry Top), Arundon (Frostgorge Sound), and Fort Trinity (Straits of Devastation) if they haven’t unlocked them previously.
  • The equipment provided during the trial will be transformed into a full set of permanent equipment.
  • They will be granted a Level-80 Boost Package, which will replace the Level-80 Boost item in their inventory (see “The Level-80 Boost Package” below).

The Level-80 Boost Package

• The Level-80 Boost Package chest can be moved freely around the player’s inventory.
• The Level-80 Boost Package chest grants the player several items to help on the journey through Tyria and beyond:
  • 4 15-slot Leather Bags
  • An Orichalcum Harvesting Sickle
  • An Orichalcum Logging Axe
  • An Orichalcum Mining Pick
  • A Mystic Salvage Kit
  • 5 Teleport to Friend consumables
  • 1 Celebratory Dye Pack
  • 1 Dye Pack
  • 1 Celebration Booster
  • A stack of 25 food and 25 utility consumables
  • 2 Gold

LOOKING FOR GROUP
The Looking for Group (LFG) tool has been updated to handle groups larger than five members and to be better equipped to respond to the ever-evolving needs of players. Efforts were made to support current player use cases as well as make it more clear which of the broad categories is most appropriate to list an advertisement under. Additionally, players can rely on description searches to help more postings get exposure. Moving forward, we are open to the idea of more granular subcategories and will continue to monitor LFG use.

• Added many new categories and subcategories in the Looking for Group tool.
  • Open World:
    • Central Tyria—Parties
    • Central Tyria—Squads
    • World Bosses
    • Verdant Brink
    • Auric Basin
    • Tangled Depths
    • Dragon’s Stand
  • Achievements:
    • Achievement Hunters Central
  • Story Journal:
    • My Story
    • Heart of Thorns
    • Living World
  • Mentoring:
    • Adventurer’s Guild
  • World vs. World:
    • Squad Play
    • Party Play
  • Raids:
    • Forsaken Thicket (Looking for Group)
    • Forsaken Thicket (Looking for More)
  • Role-Play:
    • Fountain of Rurikton
  • Player vs. Player, Fractals of the Mists, and Dungeon LFG categories are unchanged.
• Squads can now be advertised in LFG.
  • Squads can be merged with other squads. Be aware that merging a squad with another already-listed squad will relinquish any leadership rights players have over their current squad.
  • Only the commander of a squad can list, merge, and invite from the LFG tool. If a player is in a squad lacking a commander, all members can list, merge, and invite from the LFG tool.
  • Parties can be invited to squads. Party members who join the squad will leave their party.
• Players must select a subcategory before advertising or searching.
• Subcategory icons have been added to differentiate the type of LFG postings.
• While advertising, players may now look through other LFG category listings. For example, while advertising in Achievement Hunters Central, players can check the listings in Adventurer’s Guild.
• The following table shows the results of various joining options:

	Advertising Party	Advertising Squad
User Joining	User joins party.	User joins squad.
Party Joining	Party joins party (if there is room).	Party joins squad (if there is room).
Squad Joining	Squad leader (and members with permission) invites the party members to the squad.	Squad joins squad (if there is room, and with proper permissions).

Parties

• A new party icon has been added so individuals in single-person parties can tell that they are in a party.

Squads

• Subgroup members will now sort by commander first, then lieutenants, then profession, with their local tile taking the highest precedence of the aforementioned sort orders.
• Squad-member tool tips will now behave as party-member tool tips do, giving full information about the member.

PvP
Our primary goal for this off-season was to update existing Conquest maps, most notably Spirit Watch and Skyhammer. We’re releasing these two maps with “Beta” tags, as we felt that the changes to these maps were substantial enough to change their overall gameplay, and we would like the community to play a role in evaluating these changes before we decide to keep any or all of the updates for next season.

Existing Map Changes
We had a different set of goals and updates for each map, so let’s go through each of them individually.

Spirit Watch

Goal: Make Spirit Watch a more viable competitive map.

With the help of our most competitive players, as well as the rest of the PvP community (many of whom have expressed that Spirit Watch is actually quite close to be “Ranked Ready”), we determined that we could potentially make Spirit Watch a more viable Ranked map by making some adjustments to its secondary mechanic, the Spirit Orb.

Secondary Mechanic Changes: The Spirit Orb

We’ve made a change to the first orb spawn time so that it happens much later than the current Spirit Watch timings, and we’ve also changed how fast the orb respawns once it’s successfully captured. These changes bring the orb more in line with some of our other secondary map mechanics, as part of the reason for these changes is to place further emphasis on the main focus of the map—capture-point combat. Since the number of times the orb will spawn has been reduced, we also wanted to make sure that it had the potential to act more like a periodic swing mechanic. As such, we’ve also increased the number of points that the orb is worth. We also wanted to establish consistency for all professions that carry the orb so that no one profession is better at running it than others. Certain professions have had an unfair advantage as orb carriers in the past, while other professions have had no clear skill advantages when holding the orb whatsoever. Therefore, we’ve added some restrictions to the orb to put all carriers on an equal playing field. This will also place a heavier emphasis on relying on allies to protect and support the orb runner in order to make a successful capture.

Change Summary

• Changed the initial spawn time of the Spirit Orb from 10 seconds to 2 minutes.
• Changed the Spirit Orb respawn time from 10 seconds to 2 minutes after every successful capture.
• Changed the amount of points that the Spirit Orb awards from 15 points to 25 points for a capture point that your team doesn’t control and from 30 points to 50 points for a capture point that your team does control.
• Added a transform to the Spirit Orb that locks out profession skills for the orb carrier.
• Added superspeed to the list of effects that cannot be applied to an orb carrier.

Skyhammer

Goal: Address problems with map layout and rework the secondary mechanic.

Skyhammer has long been subject to several frustrating elements and a rather unfairly omnipresent secondary mechanic. With the help of player feedback, we’ve identified the areas that could use some improvement, so we’ve also made a number of changes to Skyhammer this off-season to try to fix some of the more glaring issues with the map.

Layout Changes

While allowing players to fall or be knocked off of the edge of the map was originally intended to be a strategic element of gameplay on Skyhammer, in reality it ended up doing a much better job of forcing players to spend a large portion of the match at the bottom of the canyon with the sand wurms. Several professions have traditionally been better suited than others at forcing players in uncontrollable directions, so matches on Skyhammer have typically been decided not by player skill or coordination but by which team simply had more control effects at their disposal. As such, we’ve ultimately decided to make changes that prevent players from being able to fall off the map (except on the Skyhammer platform, so players should still watch their step up there).

Secondary Mechanic Changes: The Skyhammer Platform

One of the other problem areas of Skyhammer was the Skyhammer mechanic itself. The platform was hard to control unless players played a specific build, it was very easy to use once players owned it, and it was also present throughout the entire duration of the match. We really wanted to address the problem of the Skyhammer mechanic being a persistent threat by turning it instead into a temporary event that happens periodically throughout the match. This allows us to bring the Skyhammer in line with other more balanced secondary Conquest mechanics. Rather than feeling obligated to deal with the Skyhammer at all times, players can decide to address it when it _actually _becomes available and then return to focusing on capture points once the event ends.

Change Summary

• Created a barrier around the edge of the map to prevent players from falling or being knocked off.
• Removed many of the destructible ground panels on the map.
• Removed the majority of jump pads from the map and rearranged several remaining ones to key locations.
• Adjusted the environment and pathways around Point B.
• Reworked the Skyhammer secondary mechanic:
  • The Skyhammer now becomes available at specific intervals—3 minutes into the match, 6 minutes in, 9 minutes in, and 12 minutes in.
  • The Skyhammer platform has been redesigned and fitted with several breakable objects that provide temporary cover.
  • The Skyhammer is now acquirable by capture points, not by gadget interactions.
  • Upon a successful capture, the Skyhammer will fire once on all three capture points for the capturing team and then become unavailable for a while, damaging any enemies in the blast and neutralizing any capture points that that team doesn’t already own.
  • Skyhammer blasts can still be dodged by players.

Legacy of the Foefire

Goal: Reduce the effectiveness of “lord rushing.”

We believe that the lords on Foefire have been a bit too effortless as a secondary mechanic in Conquest, so we wanted to adjust the difficulty of attacking an enemy lord in order to make it more challenging.

Secondary Mechanic Changes: Guild Lords

We’ve made several changes to increase guild-lord survivability and give defending teams a better chance of stopping lord rushes. This makes it so that lords can’t simply be soloed or killed instantly by large groups and also ensures that attackers will need to use a finisher on the lord or bleed them out to finish the job. It also gives the defending team a chance to use resurrection skills to get the lord back into the fight. Additionally, we’ve made it so that you’ll no longer be able to pull a single guard without also pulling the entire lord room.

Change Summary

• Added a defiance bar for both lord NPCs (stunning a lord now requires breaking the defiance bar).
• Added a downed state for both lord NPCs.
• Added an area-of-effect knockback skill for lords in the downed state.
• Changed the hate table for NPCs in the lord room so that they all respond when one is attacked.

Forest of Niflhel

Goal: Make minor improvements to the secondary mechanic.

The goals for Forest are relatively minor, as Forest is one of our more well-received maps at the moment.

Secondary Mechanic Changes: Chieftain Utahein and Svanir

We’ve changed the times for when Svanir and Chieftain Utahein first appear on the map to encourage teams to focus more on capture points during the early parts of the match.

Change Summary

• Changed the initial time before Chieftain Utahein and Svanir appear from 10 seconds to 1 minute.

Build Diversity
During the last off-season, we made several changes to PvP equipment, including removing some amulets and runes as well as adding a handful of new ones. This off-season, we’re also adding a couple of new four-stat amulets to the PvP Build panel (for free).

Change Summary

• Sigil of Nullification:
  • Reduced the internal cooldown from 10 seconds to 5 seconds.
• Added two new amulets:
  • Destroyer:
    • 1050 Power
    • 1050 Precision
    • 560 Ferocity
    • 560 Condition Damage
  • Demolisher:
    • 1050 Power
    • 1050 Precision
    • 560 Ferocity
    • 560 Toughness