Design Notes
January 29, 2016
Brightoak Grove Finale Rewards
TONS of New Gear to Celebrate the Finale
To celebrate the finale of the latest Queen of Monsters Saga, we've got a TON of new gear for you to buy, unlock, or farm for! Check out the new StoneCrusher Class, new gear in the Brightoak Rep and Gear shops, plus permanent and rare monster drops from this weekend's boss monsters!
Ravinos' Brightoak Rep Shop Update!
Ravinos in Brightoak is so grateful for all the help you've given that he's stocked up the Rep Shop with a backpack full of new gear for you to unlock!
- Brightoak Poison Sword and Pike
- Tainted Druid armor set
- Mystical Wand
- Corrupt Forest Fairy armor set*
- Earth Titan Pet
- Rep versions of the Arcane StoneCrusher armor set
*This is the first gear done by our newest assistant artist, Neihi! /cheer
Lapis' Brightoak Gear Shop Update!
Lapis in Brightoak has some sweet NEW gear for you, even though her home is up in flames (she is so dedicated)! In addition to the AC version of the StoneCrusher Class, she's also got:
- AdventureCoin versions of the Arcane StoneCrusher armor set
- Wand of Patronum
- Helms of Patronum
- Brightoak Raven Sword
Rare Boss Drops
- Nevanna Armor and Helms
- Brightoak Raven Scythe
- Brightoak Raven Armblades
Permanent monster drops:
- The member-only General Nevanna armor and helms drop from the General Nevanna boss.
- The 0 AC Earth Titan pet drops from the Gaiazor boss.
- Wisterrora's Reach and Claw polearms drop from Wisterrora
These items will NOT go rare, so if you don't get it right away, fear not! You'll have all the time you need to battle for it.
Class Merge Shop
You can unlock the StoneCrusher Class immediately for 2000 ACs from the Class Shop in your game menu or by talking to Lapis in Brightoak! If you want to EARN the class, you can unlock the rep version from the class Merge Shop at Ravinos.
To unlock it, combine the Earth's Song Token (requires rank 10 Mythsong) with the Shaman Armor (requires Rank 10 Arcangrove). To equip the class, you'll need Rank 10 Brightoak!
January 28, 2016
The StoneCrusher Class Arrives Friday
CRUSH Your Enemies with the Brightoak Grove Saga Class!
The Brightoak Saga is rockin' towards its finale tomorrow, and with this weekend's story release, we ALSO have the new zone Class: StoneCrusher! Designed by Pisces, this magic-using, monster-smashing class is pretty wicked, and its strength is something you will NOT want to take for granite!
StoneCrushers: Brightoak's Strongest Defenders!
Infuse the natural magic of the Shaman class with the power of mother earth herself, apply the tried and tested support aspects of Bard, and you have the ultimate class passed down through BrightOak Grove-- StoneCrusher. You’ll often find yourself heavily supporting the party, but anyone that thinks this class can’t pack a punch will find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Wizard enhancements work best, as most damage this class deals is magical; Spellbreaker could be used for more survivability, Healer is a good middle ground for survivability and damage, and Luck is always an option if you’d like your auto attack to crit more.
Read the full Class Skills Writeup here!
January 26, 2016
2.5.15: Carnaval + Yokai New Year DOUBLE Release
When two festivals collide, it'll be up to you to save the /party!
Laken - one of AQW's most wickedly-Good artists - just sent me the concept art for next week's boss monster!* The Oni is floating up from behind the host (man, I would NOT want to have him looking over my shoulder!), and will attack with infernal ferociousness NEXT Friday as we launch the first-ever DOUBLE Carnaval / Yokai New Year holiday release**!
* All in favor of making the floating Oni an equippable cape, /cheer!
** Almost the entire art team will be working on this release! Written by the combo-team of Memet and Ergotth with art from J6, Blade, Tana, and Neihi... this will be TWO festivals to remember!
January 25, 2016
Evolve the Silver Blade of Victory
The AQ3D Backer Quest Reward... IS READY!
Back in November, we asked you to share our AQ3D Kickstarter announcement post on Facebook and retweet Artix's AQ3D Kickstarter announcement tweet. The reward for completing this quest was to unlock a FREE SWORD from Dage the Evil for EVERYONE in AdventureQuest Worlds, AdventureQuest, and DragonFable. The more we surpassed the goal, the BIGGER the reward would get!
You guys WAY outdid yourselves! We knew you could beat the quest, but you BLASTED through the challenge -- so Dage put stylus to monitor and gave you a great reward to unlock... then made it better... then made it darker AND brighter... then made it EVEN DARKER AND EVEN BRIGHTER!
Now the choice is yours: log in to AQWorlds to grab Silver Victory Blade from the treasure chest in Battleon, then begin questing to evolve it! The Blade is also available NOW in AdventureQuest, and will release in DragonFable later this week!
How to level up the Silver Blade of Victory
- Get a free Silver Victory Blade from the Chest in Battleon.
- Complete the "Blade Enchantment Quest" to get Enchantment Rune.
- Combine the Silver Victory Blade and Enchantment Rune to unlock Enchanted Victory Blade.
- Complete the "Alignment Quest: Light or Dark?" quest to choose a Dark Aura Gem or Bright Aura Gem.
- Combine either the Dark Aura Gem or Bright Aura Gem with the Enchanted Victory Blade to unlock the "Enchanted Shadow Blade" or "Enchanted Mana Blade."
- Complete the "Choose: Despair... or Glory?" quest to unlock the Amulet of Despair or the Amulet of Glory.
- Combine Amulet of Despaire with Enchanted Shadow Blade to unlock the Shadow Blade of Despair or combine the Amulet of Glory with the Enchanted Mana Blade to unlock the Arcane Blade of Glory.
January 25, 2016
The Final Battle For Brightoak
The Queen of Monsters' Brightoak Saga Finale Starts Friday!
The final battle to defeat General Nevanna and save Brightoak from Gaiazor is here… The Queen’s corruption has completely infected the Grove, but it may not be too late for its people… or the Mana core! It’s up to you to save the day… and the world!
The Story so Far...
If you haven't begun the Queen of Monsters Saga in Brightoak Grove, now's your chance to get caught up!
/Join Brightoak and talk to Ravinos to discover the threat that is attacking the Heart of the Grove... and what you can do to stop it!
Then head to Rivensylth to discover more about the General attacking the forest!
Then battle through Elfhame to see what happens when General Nevanna raises an ancient forest guardian and commands it to attack!
As we race to the finish in /Darkheart, take on Nevanna's army to prevent the rise of the ancient Earth Titan, Gaiazor!
/Cheer for All our January Birthdays
Today is Stratos and Captain Rhubarb's birthdays! /cheer! Find some pretty awesome birthday gear for them in the January Holiday Shop in your game menu until next Friday! And a little undead parrot told me AQWorlds' favorite Gypsy Goth Pirate musician, Voltaire, ALSO has a birthday this month! Happiest of birthdays to all of our other team members, heroes, robots, and organic lifeforms not otherwise specified with January birthdays/creation dates!
January 22, 2016
The Hunt for Greased Lightning... BEGINS!
Valencia the Treasure Hunter Needs you to Return to the Crash Site!
Valencia has heard whispers of an ancient time traveler's spaceship that crashed long ago on the old continent. Rumor says that the ship's captain collected valuable relics from throughout Lore's history, which Valencia hopes to find.
In particular, the ship is said to have carried the legendary Enchanted Rod of Greased Lightning, an artifact that increases the speed and dexterity of whoever holds it. Past explorers may have failed to find this magical relic, but Valencia won't – not with you at her side!
Once you've finished the release, check out Dwobo's Merge Shop! Battle to get Dwobo Coins and trade them in for sweet gear he's "borrowed" from the time-traveler's ship! Or get the Dwobo Bank pet right away for 2000 AdventureCoins!
Return to the Dwakel Crash Site
To begin tonight's NEW release, you'll need to journey back to an OLD fan-favorite map, the Dwakel Crash Site! /Join Crashsite to start the adventure and, if you've been with us for a while, enjoy reliving the memories!
The RustBucket, Protosartorium, and Enforcer CLASSES now have Armor versions, too! You'll find the armor version of the Rustbucket in Dwobo's merge shop in /crashruins. The armor versions of Protosartorium and Enforcer drop off their respective boss monsters.
Nulgath Birthday Quest Changes
We have been listening to your feedback on the Nulgath birthday farming quests since last Friday, and tonight we've updated several of them!
- The 1v1 PVP Trophy Requirement on "Flow Like Blood" has been cut in half - it requires 10 now instead of 20.
- The Evolved Blood Orb pet quests have had their missing "Platinum Coin of Nulgath" requirements added on.
These quests were intended to release with the coins, but their absence was missed last week. We've added them in to keep them (and the rewards they give) in line with the original items. I apologize for the oversight; to make it up to everyone who's farmed the requirements for them already, keep an eye on Nulgath's merge shop. We'll be creating a pet which will require the same items, so you'll be able to get THAT pretty easily!
January 20, 2016
BioBeasts is LIVE
Our newest mobile game is now available on iOS and Android App Stores!
After many months of planning, development, blood, sweat, tears, coffee, and coffee tears, BioBeasts is LIVE on Android and iOS! Download and start smashing some bots NOW:
Artix Entertainment and the BioBeasts team needs your support at this moment more than we ever have before! If you download and like the game (and we hope you do!), please help us spread the word and give us a 5-star rating on the Google Play and Apple App stores.
What Comes Next?
BioBeasts is live, but there’s still more to come! There are several features we hope to add to BioBeasts post-launch, and our Beta testers have done a great job offering up fresh ideas everyday in the tester G+ community. Here are some ideas we've heard from the community that we're considering for future BioBeasts updates:
-
NEW Beasts
-
NEW Mutations
-
NEW Enemy Types
-
Beast Challenges
-
Beast Upgrades
-
Endless Mode
-
Social Leaderboards
Like BioBeasts? Want to know more?
Following our development blog for the latest BioBeasts news:
Follow @BioBeasts on Twitter:
Become a fan of BioBeasts on Facebook:
Watch our latest development videos:
Join us on Google+:
January 18, 2016
BioBeasts Launch Date
After several months of rigorous development, BioBeasts is finally ready to erupt from its containment cell at the Underground Lab and escape to the iOS and Android App stores! We’re extremely excited and proud to officially announce the launch date:
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 20, 2016
Woah! Woah! What is this Bye-Oh-Beasts? I’m glad you asked! If you don't want to read the whole FAQ, BioBeasts a challenging new free single-player action game for Android and iOS! You are a powerful mutant beast battling through a terrifying laboratory run by merciless mechanical guards. Defend yourself against endless hordes of robots, lab defenses, and hulking bosses as you claw, bite, blast, and bash your way to freedom! Unlock new beasts with unique powers, and upgrade potent mutations to experiment with for endless variety!
Meet the Team
BioBeasts was created mainly by the EpicDuel Team, but nearly everyone at Artix Entertainment had a hand in the project, whether it was contributing artwork, Unity expertise, testing, or simply helping us spread awareness!
Why BioBeasts?
BioBeasts is nearly ready to launch, but we need your help for it to succeed! When we first started BioBeasts, we wanted a way to learn the ropes in Unity and mobile development while incorporating some familiar EpicDuel elements. We knew a huge multiplayer game was out of scope for such a project so we narrowed the focus of the project to an intense, challenging action game with surprising depth.
Our goal with BioBeasts was to create a game that was a counterpoint to the current trend in mobile games that harkens back to a time when games focused on skill and reflexes. BioBeasts captures that classic feel of intense, old-school arcade games that could be understood in seconds, but took days to master. With BioBeasts, there aren’t any timers or energy systems or social gimmicks to interrupt or limit your play that have become so common in the mobile gaming generation. You can play as much as you want, whenever you want!
Bring the THUNDER!
One of the biggest challenges new mobile games face is simply getting the word out! Fortunately, we have many tools at our disposal to extend our reach as far as possible. Did you know you can dedicate your own social media reach to support the BioBeasts game launch? It's super simple and 100% FREE:
Check out the Help Share BioBeasts campaign on ThunderClap
Select which social platforms you want to dedicate to the BioBeasts launch:
When the game is ready, we'll smash the GO button and our message will reach tons of players!
Like BioBeasts? Want to know more?
Following our development blog for the latest BioBeasts news:
Follow @BioBeasts on Twitter:
Become a fan of BioBeasts on Facebook:
Watch our latest development videos:
Join us on Google+:
January 15, 2016
Answer Nulgath's Call This Weekend
Nulgath the ArchFiend Has Been Waiting for this Day...
Nulgath the ArchFiend’s birthday is HERE, and to celebrate we’re releasing a full event with a new story, monsters, rewards, and rare gear! The dimensional planes of Lore and the Oversoul are approaching alignment! Will you battle to aid the ArchFiend in his newest plot this weekend?
Nulgath the ArchFiend - the very first artist to work on AdventureQuest Worlds - is leveling up in real life this week, so this week's update is ALL about him! It was inspired by two of your fellow heroes - Balor and Dragmanguy BloodHunter! Recently they sent us a release they'd put together and we loved it so much, we used it as the inspired for this week's new release!
And don't miss Nulgath's Birthday rares shop -- in your game menu until February 8th!
Read on for more details about tonight's Nulgath the ArchFiend release!
January 13, 2016
Coming Soon: BioBeasts!
Did you know you can dedicate your social media reach to support the BioBeasts game launch? It's super simple:
- Check out the Help Share BioBeasts campaign on ThunderClap
- Select which social platforms you want to dedicate to the BioBeasts launch:
- When the game is ready, we'll smash the GO button and our message will reach tons of players!
Join our ThunderClap campaign now:
BioBeasts? Is that a new game?
You're absolutely right! BioBeasts is a new arcade-survival mobile game from the Epicduel team, coming soon to iOS and Android devices! Control, unlock, and mutate your beasts as you battle to break out of the robot-controlled laboratory. You can keep up to date with all the release news and previews on their website here!
What is ThunderClap?
Thunderclap is a crowd-speaking platform that can help BioBeasts be discovered by thousands of people. For every person that dedicates their social reach to our campaign, when we press the GO button, ThunderClap will blast out a Twitter, Facebook, or Tumblr post from all of us, at the same time, creating a massive wave of attention!
Here's to an incredible 2016!
January 13, 2016
Nulgath's Birthday Rares Arrive Friday!
Fiendishly Cool Presents are headed your way...
Not only are we celebrating Nulgath the ArchFiend's birthday with a new story, monsters, and merge shop (for you hardcore farmers!), but we've also got an all-new Rares Shop PACKED with gear!
The shop will include items created by Zee (a guest artist from AdventureQuest) to honor the ArchFiend:
- Oblivion Bank Pet
- Evolved Warlord of Nulgath Armor
- 3 different Evolved Warlord Capes
- 2 Evolved Warlord Helms
- Evolved Warlord of Nulgath Spear, Hammer, and Axe weapons
- Evolved Warlord Orb Pet
- Scorching Orb Staff and Polearm
- Evolved Soulreaper Bow
- Rogue Fiend Armor
- 7 Rogue Fiend Helms
- 2 Rogue Fiend Capes
- Rogue Fiend Katana, dual katana, and daggers
Nulgath's Birthday Rares shop will be available from your game menu until February 5th, 2016. The story release will include many of the other rewards you've seen previewed on Facebook and Twitter, as well!*
* The Evolved DarkBlood of Nulgath gear will release in February!
** Correction: earlier the Design Notes listed 7 Warlord helms; there are 2 Warlord helms and 7 Rogue Fiend helms.
January 11, 2016
Nulgath's Birthday: The Nation Rises
Nulgath the ArchFiend Has Been Waiting for this Day...
Nulgath the ArchFiend’s birthday is coming up, and to celebrate we’re releasing a full event with a new story, monsters, rewards, and rare gear! Will you battle to aid the ArchFiend in his newest plot on January 15th?
Nulgath the ArchFiend: Call to Arms
This week's update is ALL about Nulgath the ArchFiend... and was inspired by two of your fellow heroes - Balor and Dragmanguy BloodHunter! Recently they sent us a release they'd put together and we loved it so much, we used it as the inspired for this week's new release!
"The nostalgia is real! Back in 2009/2010 when I saw this shadow figure around Citadel...well played, well played..." -fellow AQW player, CaesarisAE
This Friday, log in and prepare to battle, becuase... the dimensional planes of Lore and the Oversoul are approaching alignment! Answer the ArchFiend’s call to strengthen the link between dimensions and battle to claim your rewards! The story map merge shop will have the Shadow Legacy of Nulgath, 3 new Evolved Orb pets WITH quests for the Evolved Blood, Hex, and Shadow armors... and more!
Watch for tomorrow's Design Notes all about the Nulgath Rares Birthday shop coming this Friday!
January 09, 2016
AQ3D Alpha Test Ends Tuesday
"The end is nigh!" + Party!
AdventureQuest 3D testers... party like it is the last weekend of Alpha Testing. Because... it is! This is the exciting end of the game's infancy... and the first steps towards the next exciting phase of game development! Your Alpha Knight gear will be waiting for you when the servers come back up later that week for the official start of PRE-BETA!
Alpha testing will officially conclude early in the morning on the Tuesday, January 12th, 2016.
Read the rest of the post on the AQ3D Design notes!
January 08, 2016
Join the Tournament of Evil this weekend!
The Armies of Evil are Recruiting... and they want YOU to join!
You are summoned to the Tournament of Evil this Friday on the Isle of Sierra Umbra! Battle members of the Undead Legion, Nulgath Nation, or Shadowscythe at the ShadowBlast Arena to test your skills and see if YOU have what it takes to join them. The Shadowspire Arena is neutral territory - you'll come not to make war, but to revel in the power of DARKNESS!
/join Shadowblast and choose any of the three factions to begin questing. After completing the first 4 quests, you'll unlock a cutscene and TWO farming quests. One is for existing members of each faction, and will give merge shop AND faction items (like the Dark Crystal Shard or Legion Tokens). The other is for heroes who have not joined the faction, but may want to in the future.
January 08, 2016
Upgrade to Become a Knight Commander
Unlock our New January Upgrade Package Bonus Items this Friday!
Starting tonight, January 8th at 6 PM EST, gear up for a new year of epic battles with the Dark and Crimson Knight Commander sets! Buy any AdventureCoin or Membership package of $10 USD or more to unlock your exclusive January upgrade bonus items! (That's the 2000, 5000, or 12000 AdventureCoin packages and the 3, 6, and 12 month membership packages.)
12000 AC or 12 month membership packages: 8 items + Boosts
Get double the items and save more of your real-world gold with our largest upgrade packages! Unlock the following gear with our 12000 AdventureCoin or 12 month membership packages:
- Both the Dark and Crimson Knight Commander armors!*
- 4 Helms
- 2 Axes
- 2 Capes
- 7 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory
* Crimson Knight Commander gear is exclusively available in this package
2000 and 5000 AC or 3 and 6 month membership package: 4 items + Boosts
- Armor
- 2 Helms
- Cape
- Axe
- 5 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory
All packages will also come with the Knigth Commander character page badge, so you can show off your battle prowess!
January 05, 2016
Last Chance for Frostval LQS Gear
Frostval Limited Quantity Packages Leave January 7th!
Head to our Limited Quantity Package page to grab some holiday rares and cheer! Only a few heroes in AQWorlds will ever be able to equip them, which means once the quantities run out, they become instant status symbols for you rare hunters. Each package also comes with a unique badge in your Book of Lore!
January Event Calendar
- January 7: Frostval LQS gear goes perma-rare
- January 8: Frostval event and Quibble leave
- January 15: Nulgath's birthday shop and story release arrive
- January 22: Assassin's Creed limited time shop arrives
- January 25: Stratos and Captain Rhubarb's birthday gear
- January 29: New Year's Rare gear leaves
January 04, 2016
Honorable Hero and Frostval AC Awards are LIVE!
915,000,000 Free AdventureCoins have been awarded!
Last month, we told all our heroes to log in 15 times during the month of December to get their free 300 Frostval AdventureCoins. Those ACs have been added to 31,000 heroes! (That is 9.3 MILLION AdventureCoins handed out. WOW!!!!)
THEN we also gave out over 915,000,000 additional FREE AdventureCoins to more than 1,830,000 Honorable Heroes! These heroes did not get a mute or ban longer than 24 hours in 2015***. You guys are what true in-game heroes and role models are!
That's a total of 915,240,500 FREE AdventureCoins given out as Frostval gifts or to our Honorable Heroes. If you didn't get free ACs this time around, there's always this December!
All you need to do to get your gifts is log into AdventureQuest Worlds and enjoy!
*Please note, the Badge and ACs will not appear until you log in!
** This will be a new character page badge for 2015 Honorable Heroes.
*** To get the Honorable Hero ACs and badge, you need to meet the following requirements:
- Did not receive a 24 hour or longer in-game mute or ban in 2015
- Logged in between January 1st, 2015 and December 31st, 2015
- Are level 11 or higher
- Created your account before January 1st 2016
January 04, 2016
Last Chance for Cryostorm Wolf Rider Gear
Cryostorm Wolf Rider Gear Leaves Friday!
This is your last chance to battle from the back of a Cryostorm Wolf! Untill this Friday at 6 PM EST, unlock the Cryostorm Wolf Rider gear starting when you buy any AdventureCoin or Membership upgrade worth $10 USD or more! (That's the 2000, 5000, or 12000 AdventureCoin packages and the 3, 6, and 12 month membership packages)!
12000 AC or 12 month membership packages: 8 items + Boosts
Get double the items and save more of your real-world gold with our largest upgrade packages! Unlock the following gear with our 12000 AdventureCoin or 12 month membership packages:
- Both mount and warrior armors
- 2 Helms
- Sword and Daggers
- The Northlands Dire Wolf pet and battlepet*
- 7 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory
* Exclusively available in this package
2000 and 5000 AC or 3 and 6 month membership package: 4 items + Boosts
- Armor
- Helm
- Sword
- Pet
- 5 Rep/XP/Gold/Class Points boosts added straight to your inventory
All packages also come with the Wolf Rider character page badge, so you can show off your beast taming abilities!
Unlock our New January Upgrade Package Bonus Items this Friday!
Starting this Friday, January 8th at 6 PM EST, gear up for a new year of epic battles with the Dark and Crimson Knight Commander sets! Buy any AdventureCoin or Membership package of $10 USD or more to unlock your exclusive January upgrade bonus items!
January 03, 2016
ShadowBlast Arena: Tournament of EVIL
Friday: The Armies of Evil are Recruiting... and they want YOU to join!
You are summoned to the Tournament of Evil this Friday on the Isle of Sierra Umbra! Battle members of the Undead Legion, Nulgath Nation, or Shadowscythe at the ShadowBlast Arena to test your skills and see if YOU have what it takes to join them. The Shadowspire Arena is neutral territory - you'll come not to make war, but to revel in the power of DARKNESS!
If you walk in the shadows or ally with Evil, this is your chance to prove to all where your true allegiance lies: with Good, Chaos*, or… Evil!
For Heroes who have believe in the paths of Good or Chaos, a separate annex has been set up for you to train in... however - the Evil warriors, mages, rogues, and miscreants may try to sway you to their side. This IS a recruitment drive, and we expect only the most noble, pure, or chaotic will be able to withstand the temptation of the dark side!**
Read the full post for more details!
* The team is still working on the next Queen of Monsters Saga, so we will return to that later in January. Since Nulgath's birthday is this month and Dage's is in March, this is a perfect time to introduce all our newest heroes to the Nation and Legion the darkest battle showcase ever!
** I hear they have cookies.
AQ3D
BattleGems
BioBeasts
Dragons
Undead Assault