Into the Fray Patch 7
New Victory Emotes
This patch brings six new Victory Emotes to the game, which can be equipped via the Appearance menu:
Other Changes and Improvements
Arcane Staffs
The recent Arcane Staff rework made them very popular, but also created a few issues. Firstly, their damage output in 5v5 was too high, so to tone this down consecutive jumps of Chain Missile now deal significantly less damage. This also offers more counter play through body-blocking the projectile to reduce damage to the backline. Its damage in 1v1 is unchanged. Enigma Blade was still providing a bit too much value on a W-slot ability, so its damage output was toned down a bit. Great Arcane provides a lot of utility in ZvZ and is especially strong as a defensive weapon. The main intended counter to this is to bait the Time Freeze out before committing fully to an attack - however, the short invulnerability window allowed Time Freeze to be chained quite frequently in a large-scale fight. To make a baited Time Freeze more impactful, players are now invulnerable to a further Time Freeze for a significantly longer time. Finally, Dark Sphere’s recent buffs made it much more reliable, but this reliability made its slow too oppressive. The strength of its slow has now been reduced accordingly.
With players having adapted to the new playstyle of the reworked Grudge, its damage output was somewhat too high. This has now been toned down. Damage output of Anguished Soul was also a bit high, considering its utility with the Fear effect.
Throwing Blades’ Damage Increase stacking made it very powerful in large-scale fights where it is easy to reach max stacks. To reduce the possible synergies with stacking damage buffs for one-shotting builds, its Damage Increase will be reduced. The raw damage of the Throwing Blade itself has been slightly increased to soften the damage reduction effects in small-scale combat.
Fire Bolt was dealing damage too quickly in 2v2 Hellgates. To make it less oppressive its cast time was increased, but to make the ability more attractive in other content its cast range was also increased. Additionally the damage of Flame Pillar was reduced a bit, though it still has a very high burst damage potential on a potential very low cooldown.
Frozen Surge was still very underused after the recent rework. This Q was meant to sacrifice some damage output for its kiting and slowing potential. However its previous damage was likely still too low to make it work, so its damage has been increased a bit to see if it gets played more.
Generous Heal was outshone by Holy Flash in most PvP situations. To make it a more competitive option, its cast time has been reduced and it is now more energy efficient. Great Holy offered too much utility and sustain in 2v2 Hellgates so, to give other Healing Staffs a chance to shine in this content, the sustain of Holy Explosion has been reduced. Lifetouch was underrepresented in 2v2 Hellgates, so its healing output has been increased to make it more competitive here. Redemption Staff was also somewhat underrepresented, so its energy cost has been reduced to make it a more attractive option.
Mystic Rocks is a strong heal denial with the downside that the caster themself does not receive healing. However, since pre-applied HoTs could circumvent this downside to a degree, activating the ability will now remove all HoTs on the caster. Quarterstaff is currently underused, so its range and cast time have been improved to make it hit enemies more reliably and provide more utility.
Cleanse Heal is an extremely powerful ability for its raw healing output. Since its Cleanse already provides a lot of value, the healing output of Cleanse Heal has been reduced.
With so many kidnap and knock up abilities in the game, Knight Helmet has been improved as a counter. Increased range and max targets make it easier to apply, and large groups will need fewer Knight Helmets, allowing some players to free up their helmet slot.
Everlasting Spirit is an extremely powerful ability that is very commonly used on a lot of builds. To make other Robe abilities more attractive in comparison, its energy cost on activation has been increased.
Some shoe abilities are currently underused, despite having an interesting core design and identity. Therefore the following improvements have been made:
Following the change to Everlasting Spirit, Crab Omelettes have been improved as a potential option to deal with the higher energy costs for very energy-dependent builds.
With the latest changes, Diminishing Returns ramp up faster and make the mechanic much more effective in disincentivizing trying to stun-lock enemies. However with the long duration it also punished tanks for using their large stun off cooldown, by diminishing their own stun. To have less negative impact on solo tanks, the max duration of Diminishing Returns was reduced so it falls off a bit faster.
In 2v2 Hellgates, teams employing a healer have generally stood much higher chances against teams without a healer. Having 2v2 Hellgates so reliant on healers has limited the amount of players that can enjoy this content, so to open up the possibilities of more comps without healers the overall Healing Output in 2v2 Hellgates has been reduced. Note that, as shields scale with Healing, this change also reduces the impact of other sustain comps that rely on shielding.
New Victory Emotes
This patch brings six new Victory Emotes to the game, which can be equipped via the Appearance menu:
- Hellgate
- Sword
- Hammer
- Mobile Banner
- Desktop Banner
- Controller Banner
Other Changes and Improvements
- The Claim Rewards UI has been reworked, with paging and scrolling added alongside other visual improvements
- Custom Matches can now be initiated by a third party player. That player can act as an organizer who invites two teams, without taking part in the fight.
- Removed obsolete / outdated Castle Season Point Breakdown information from UIs
- Guild Estates UI now shows HQ Qualification and Booster information for guilds who already have a Headquarters Hideout
- Furniture can no longer be placed on top of loot bags
- [MOBILE] Increased auto-target maximum range
Arcane Staffs
The recent Arcane Staff rework made them very popular, but also created a few issues. Firstly, their damage output in 5v5 was too high, so to tone this down consecutive jumps of Chain Missile now deal significantly less damage. This also offers more counter play through body-blocking the projectile to reduce damage to the backline. Its damage in 1v1 is unchanged. Enigma Blade was still providing a bit too much value on a W-slot ability, so its damage output was toned down a bit. Great Arcane provides a lot of utility in ZvZ and is especially strong as a defensive weapon. The main intended counter to this is to bait the Time Freeze out before committing fully to an attack - however, the short invulnerability window allowed Time Freeze to be chained quite frequently in a large-scale fight. To make a baited Time Freeze more impactful, players are now invulnerable to a further Time Freeze for a significantly longer time. Finally, Dark Sphere’s recent buffs made it much more reliable, but this reliability made its slow too oppressive. The strength of its slow has now been reduced accordingly.
- Chain Missile (all Arcane Staffs):
- Arcane Charge Duration: 6s → 3s
- Projectile Bounce Range: 8m → 7m
- Damage for each bounce after the first: 121 → 60 (The first target hit still takes 121 damage)
- Arcane Charge Duration: 6s → 3s
- Enigma Blade (all Arcane Staffs):
- Damage: 180 → 165
- Damage: 180 → 165
- Time Freeze (Great Arcane):
- Cooldown increased by 10s
- Player Immunity after a Player Freeze: 5s → 15s
- The Time Freeze Immunity is now displayed as a visual buff on players
- Cooldown increased by 10s
- Dark Sphere (Evensong):
- Slow Strength: 25% → 15%
- Slow Strength: 25% → 15%
With players having adapted to the new playstyle of the reworked Grudge, its damage output was somewhat too high. This has now been toned down. Damage output of Anguished Soul was also a bit high, considering its utility with the Fear effect.
- Grudge (all Cursed Staffs):
- 0 Stack Damage: 20 → 18
- 1 Stack Damage: 25 → 22.5
- 2 Stack Damage: 60 → 54
- 3 Stack Damage: 100 → 90
- 4 Stack Damage: 150 → 135
- 0 Stack Damage: 20 → 18
- Anguished Soul (Demonic Staff)
- Damage: 175 → 160
- Damage: 175 → 160
Throwing Blades’ Damage Increase stacking made it very powerful in large-scale fights where it is easy to reach max stacks. To reduce the possible synergies with stacking damage buffs for one-shotting builds, its Damage Increase will be reduced. The raw damage of the Throwing Blade itself has been slightly increased to soften the damage reduction effects in small-scale combat.
- Throwing Blades (all Daggers):
- Damage Increase per Stack: 15% → 10%
- Damage per Hit: 35 → 45
- Damage Increase per Stack: 15% → 10%
Fire Bolt was dealing damage too quickly in 2v2 Hellgates. To make it less oppressive its cast time was increased, but to make the ability more attractive in other content its cast range was also increased. Additionally the damage of Flame Pillar was reduced a bit, though it still has a very high burst damage potential on a potential very low cooldown.
- Fire Bolt (all Fire Staffs)
- Cast time: 0.7s → 0.8s
- Cast Range: 11m → 12m
- Cast time: 0.7s → 0.8s
- Flame Pillar (Great Fire Staff)
- Damage: 200 → 190
- Damage: 200 → 190
Frozen Surge was still very underused after the recent rework. This Q was meant to sacrifice some damage output for its kiting and slowing potential. However its previous damage was likely still too low to make it work, so its damage has been increased a bit to see if it gets played more.
- Frozen Surge (all Frost Staffs)
- Damage: 80 → 90
- Damage: 80 → 90
Generous Heal was outshone by Holy Flash in most PvP situations. To make it a more competitive option, its cast time has been reduced and it is now more energy efficient. Great Holy offered too much utility and sustain in 2v2 Hellgates so, to give other Healing Staffs a chance to shine in this content, the sustain of Holy Explosion has been reduced. Lifetouch was underrepresented in 2v2 Hellgates, so its healing output has been increased to make it more competitive here. Redemption Staff was also somewhat underrepresented, so its energy cost has been reduced to make it a more attractive option.
- Generous Heal (all Holy Staffs):
- Cast Time: 0.7s → 0.6s
- Energy Cost: 7 → 6.2
- Cast Time: 0.7s → 0.6s
- Holy Explosion (Great Holy Staff):
- Resistance Increase: 0.2 → 0.12
- Resistance Increase: 0.2 → 0.12
- Holy Touch (Lifetouch Staff):
- Heal per Tick: 59 → 64
- Heal per Tick: 59 → 64
- Celestial Sphere (Redemption Staff):
- Energy Cost: 20 → 16
- Energy Cost: 20 → 16
Mystic Rocks is a strong heal denial with the downside that the caster themself does not receive healing. However, since pre-applied HoTs could circumvent this downside to a degree, activating the ability will now remove all HoTs on the caster. Quarterstaff is currently underused, so its range and cast time have been improved to make it hit enemies more reliably and provide more utility.
- Vault Leap (Regular Quarterstaff):
- Cast Range: 13m → 15m
- Cast Time: 0.7s → 0.6s
- Cast Range: 13m → 15m
- Mystic Rocks (Staff of Balance):
- Activating the ability now removes all HoTs on the caster
- Activating the ability now removes all HoTs on the caster
Cleanse Heal is an extremely powerful ability for its raw healing output. Since its Cleanse already provides a lot of value, the healing output of Cleanse Heal has been reduced.
- Cleanse Heal (all Nature Staffs):
- 0 stack Heal: 70 → 55
- 1 stack Heal: 90 → 70
- 2 stack Heal: 115 → 90
- 3 stack Heal: 150 → 120
- 0 stack Heal: 70 → 55
With so many kidnap and knock up abilities in the game, Knight Helmet has been improved as a counter. Increased range and max targets make it easier to apply, and large groups will need fewer Knight Helmets, allowing some players to free up their helmet slot.
- Displacement Immunity (Knight Helmet):
- Max Targets: 5 → 10
- Radius: 4m → 5m
- Max Targets: 5 → 10
Everlasting Spirit is an extremely powerful ability that is very commonly used on a lot of builds. To make other Robe abilities more attractive in comparison, its energy cost on activation has been increased.
- Everlasting Spirit (Cleric Robe):
- Energy Cost : 15 → 20% Max energy
- Energy Cost : 15 → 20% Max energy
Some shoe abilities are currently underused, despite having an interesting core design and identity. Therefore the following improvements have been made:
- Battle Frenzy (Graveguard Boots):
- Movement Speed Increase: 40% → 55%
- Duration: 6s → 5s
- Movement Speed Increase: 40% → 55%
- Energetic Sprint (all Cloth Sandals):
- Energy per Tick: 4 → 5
- Energy per Tick: 4 → 5
- Frost Walk (Druid Sandals):
- Move Speed Increase: 45% → 55%
- Move Speed Increase: 45% → 55%
- Premonition (Boots of Valor):
- First Buff Duration: 2s → 3s
- Movement Speed Increase: 20% → 45%
- First Buff Duration: 2s → 3s
Following the change to Everlasting Spirit, Crab Omelettes have been improved as a potential option to deal with the higher energy costs for very energy-dependent builds.
- Crab Omelets:
- Energy Cost Reduction Factor: 0.05 → 0.06
- (example T7 Crab Omelette 9.5% → 11.3%
- Energy Cost Reduction Factor: 0.05 → 0.06
With the latest changes, Diminishing Returns ramp up faster and make the mechanic much more effective in disincentivizing trying to stun-lock enemies. However with the long duration it also punished tanks for using their large stun off cooldown, by diminishing their own stun. To have less negative impact on solo tanks, the max duration of Diminishing Returns was reduced so it falls off a bit faster.
- Max Diminishing Return Duration: 20s → 15s
In 2v2 Hellgates, teams employing a healer have generally stood much higher chances against teams without a healer. Having 2v2 Hellgates so reliant on healers has limited the amount of players that can enjoy this content, so to open up the possibilities of more comps without healers the overall Healing Output in 2v2 Hellgates has been reduced. Note that, as shields scale with Healing, this change also reduces the impact of other sustain comps that rely on shielding.
- 2v2 Hellgates:
- Healing Reduction: 10% → 20%
- Healing Reduction: 10% → 20%
- Guild Finder Fixes:
- Fixed issue where adjusting the language filter in the Guild Finder could cause empty pages to generate
- Attempting to rejoin a guild via the Guild Finder within the cooldown period now displays the correct error message
- Fixed issue where adjusting the language filter in the Guild Finder could cause empty pages to generate
- Spell fixes:
- The shield of Blessed Aurora (Oathkeepers) can now be removed by shield-breaking abilities, as intended
- Fixed issue where players affected by Time Freeze (Arcane Staffs) could still reflect damage
- Fixed issue where overlapping aura spells would sometimes not update correctly, causing Dark Sphere stacks to behave inconsistently
- The shield of Blessed Aurora (Oathkeepers) can now be removed by shield-breaking abilities, as intended
- Fixed issue where when inside a Corrupted Dungeon, the entrance would incorrectly show an exit tooltip
- Fixed an issue where the Exit Dungeon spell would sometimes not work in Hellgates
- Fixed issue where Alliance UI remained stuck in a default view after creating an alliance
- [MOBILE] Fixed an issue where zooming on a map would also zoom the ingame camera
- [CONTROLLER] Fixed an issue where it was not possible to open loot chests with a Dynamic Action
- Various additional graphical, UI, terrain, animation, audio, and localization fixes
