Design Notes

April 29, 2016

The Time War STARTS NOW

Throne of Darkness: The Time War

Portals have opened up all over Battleon, and mysterious beasts are pouring out! Kairos, the High Chronolord, has arrived from the future to aid you in driving these scavengers from the timestream BACK to where they came from. It's time to get your Battle On!

• Take out the Timestream Scavengers
• Unlock predictions... and consequences as the war meter rises
• Farm for resources to unlock rare and permanent exclusive gear in the War Rewards shop!

We've been getting a TON of great feedback on the Throne of Darkness Saga, and I'm really glad to hear everyone's enjoying it! This week's Time War is a bit of a prologue for next week's "Xeven's Story," which was originally slated to release this week. In order to get her story JUST RIGHT, though, Artix needed more time. And time is exactly what we gave him! 

You'll see Kairos next week, as well as the Time Wraiths... and the warning remains - BEWARE PORTALS! 

Kairos the High Chronolord Foresees Success... Maybe!

Kairos the High Chronolord is scrying into the future to show you what is to come in this war. Use his guidance to drive you onwards!

• 10% Prediction: The world feels the timestream changing… failing… drive back the invaders and all Lore’s heroes will reap a golden reward!

• 20% Prediction: When the time streams are crossed (don’t cross the streams!), a new danger will arrive on our world!

• 30% Prediction: The world knows you as a mighty Hero, but if you battle valiantly, you will see your fame rewarded more brightly than ever before!

• 40% Prediction: If the time stream’s decay is not halted, no one will be safe from its unpredictable effects! Even the mightiest will become no stronger than a child.

• 50% Prediction: Every journey we take makes us wiser, just as every battle you fight will make you stronger. (Many fortune cookies crumbled to inspire this fore-telling.)

• 60% Prediction: Warriors, Mages, Rogues, Healers… all shall be called to the battle, and all shall know the taste of victory. This MAY come to pass. Perhaps.

• 70% Prediction: The trials of war are not without rewards… I see you gaining even more than ever before… IF there is still a world at all.

• 80% Prediction: The longer the war rages, the closer the source of the disturbance will be… and the greater the flood of creatures pouring into our world!

• 90% Prediction: I see an… item… light glints off a sharp edge. I see you wielding this during the final charge as you drive back the last of the scavengers. This, I hope, will come to pass.

War, and Class, and Buy Back - OH MY!

What a crazy, crazy week it's been! We've got a LOT for you to do this week! In addition to all THOSE things, the Earth Day event has returned! /join pollution to begin our annual Earth Day celebration!

April 29, 2016

Abyssal Angel Class Skills!

Join the Nation as an Abyssal Angel!

First Nulgath Class in 3 years, get ahold of Abyssal Angel! This Class is GOING RARE so don’t miss this Class and support the Nation!

How to get this Class:

• Find the Abyssal Angel in the shop in your game menu for 2000 AdventureCoins!

For the Nation!

Heya guys, it’s Sync. I like to thank Arklen (get used to this) for making my dream come true. Make a Class for the Nation! This Class was the largest production Class I made and took a lot of time, now I would to share my dream with you all. Abyssal Angel is a SpellBreaker, excelling fighting more opponents, using Arrows Nulgath Forged himself, and trained by the great Revontheus to spawn crystal weaponry! Bow and Arrow is your weapon of choice, now soar the skies as an Abyssal Angel!

Abyssal Angel Skill Breakdown!

Mana Regeneration: Abyssal Angel’s Mana Regen is like all other Rogues, gaining mana when they dodge. (Also restores HP as well) This grants the TRUE SpellBreaker feel, being an Evasive Caster. High amount of Wisdom and Evasion will lead you to great success.

Stats: This Class is a SpellBreaker, Wisdom sources the most out of the Class, giving it Higher Hit Chance, Crit Chance, and Evasion within the Class. Intellect helps a lot too giving it raw power to your skills, auto attacks, and your DoT.

Auto Attack:  Sinned Arrow

2 Second Cooldown

Fires a long range bolt infused with Void Energy dealing Moderate Damage hitting up to 3 targets enhanced by your Spell Power. Each bolt exposes their deepest sins, dealing a Minor DoT for 3 seconds. Stacks to 6.

This isn’t your normal auto attack, in fact, this is your main damaging skill. Enhanced by your SpellPower, your Autos will do a constant Magic damage influenced by Intellect. The added DoT is for more DPS while you’re going through your rotation of skills.

Rank 1:  Flight

15 Mana, 8 Second Cooldown

Spreads it's wings and takes flight. Applies Vantage Point, increasing Hit Chance and Dodge by 15% for 6 seconds. Also allows you to focus all your fire on one target, empowering your arrows increasing your overall DoT Damage by 50% for the duration as well.

This skill decides whether you want to continue a barrage of damage, or focus all your damage and attention to one target. While giving you some nice stats, you’re able to 1 up your target with nimble movements while also empowering your arrows for extra damage.

Rank 2:  Aphotic Overdrive

26 Mana, 12 Second Cooldown

If Vantage Point is in play, sends shadow images striking up to 4 targets for Moderately Strong Damage. Applies Aghast, stunning the opponents for 3 seconds. If Vantage Point is not in play, applies Catalyst, siphoning their Haste, lowering it by 20% while doubling your Haste for 8 seconds.

This is by far my favorite skill on the Class. This is what makes or breaks and give the Class a lot of variety. You can either do an AoE stun to hinder your opponents movements and to reset your position of fire, or you can siphon their haste, slowing them down while you max yours for a constant DPS of damage. Not just damage, your other sustain and buffing skills to maximize your playability.

Rank 3:  Fallen’s Judgement

18 Mana, 30 Second Cooldown

Suppresses your inner Void Energy to temporarily put you in a stasis granting you a High HoT and dramatically Doubling your Endurance for 10 seconds. However, your auto attack can’t apply Sinned Arrow for the duration.

This is your sustain skill on the Class. Not only giving you a solid heal, it also DOUBLES your Endurance for the duration. Meaning it officially doubles your HP for short time which can be huge in certain situations. However, you lose the ability to cast Sinned Arrow from your autos for the duration, only the DoT part, thus losing a good chunk of DPS for god-tier sustain.

Rank 4:  Inscribed Arrows & Master Tactician

Increases DoT Damage by 12% & Increases Wisdom and Dodge by 18%

The DoT increase helps overall with the Class to keep it’ DPS steady, you will really see this shine when paired up with Flight. Increasing your Dodge and Wisdom gives the Class the overall SpellBreaker feel, making it fairly hard to hit while you’re being consistent with your arrows dealing damage from afar.

Rank 5:  Crystallis Veil

32 Mana, 13 Second Cooldown

Spawns Crystals from the void on your wings to increase 25% Damage Resistance for 8 seconds. Also applies Clean Cut, increasing your Crit Chance by 25% for 6 seconds.

Bring out the inner Revontheus I say, this gives you a sturdy Damage Resistance, giving you a bit of a tanky side while increasing your Crit Chance to better your DPS. The Mana cost is quite hefty so use this when needed or you’ll drain your mana down quite fast.

Rank 10:  Always Hit their Mark...

Increases Hit Chance by 10% and Critical Strike Damage by 15%

To get the max abilities from the Class, you MUST get it to rank 10. Increasing your overall Hit Chance gives you the consistency while you kite your opponents. The overall Crit Damage buff compliments your Wisdom and your Crit Stat from Crystallis Veil, increasing your Crits further in damage.

Enhancements

I recommend SpellBreaker and Wizard enchants for this Class. This Class is truly a SpellBreaker guys so the more Wisdom allows you to increase your Secondary Stats (Hit, Haste,Crit, Evasion) by at on to be nimble but effect while your arrows do the damage. You can go Wizard to maximize your Damage but you sacrifice a lot of your utility within the Class.

SpellBreaker: Wisdom sources the most to the Class and SpellBreaker enchant gives the most than any other enchant. Granting you Hit Chance, Evasion, and Crit Chance basically making you an Evasive Caster which is what the Class is built for.

Wizard: Intellect gives the Class raw power to drastically increase your Damage, HoT, and Damage over Time. However it trades off for tons of utility making you easier to hit, and you can miss more often as well as crit less.Take that into consideration.

Overall Summary

In conclusion, this Class is a very nimble Caster. From kiting your foes in PvP, all the way to sustaining against multiple strong monsters as you farm, this Class can do it all. With multiple ways and combos to improve and adjust to your playstyle, you can never get enough of Abyssal Angel. Use Vantage Point if you’re going against someone one on one to make harder to hit while making you more consistent while your DoT intensifies. Aphotic Overdrive can drastically change a fight in seconds, literally doubling your DPS while lowering theirs is something huge in all aspects of the game. You can also stun your targets to give you a bit of breathing room in between rotations.

Fallen’s Judgement allows you to trade damage for sustain, making you basically a raid boss for a short amount of time. Crystallis Veil is an optional skill to improve your weak spot at the cost of a good amount of mana for a short period of time, use this at perfect times to lower your opponent's burst while increasing yours to triumph in fights with ease.

This was my dream to release a Nulgath Class ever since I started making Classes. Please Contact me on Twitter, I want to know your thoughts on the Class. https://twitter.com/Sync_AE. :)

BONUS Class Update from Pisces: Paladin

Because so many players have asked us to go back and buff older classes, we decided to revisit one of Artix Entertainment's most iconic classes: Paladin!

The class art, skill icons, and animations haven't been changed in order to preserve the original creator's classic vision of how the class ought to be represented, but we did add (and remove) a few effects from the skills.

The first thing that we changed was the mana regen model; instead of needing Zeal applied to recover mana, you'll recover mana whenever you deal and receive damage. Zeal was instead replaced with an effect called Abolish, which decreases incoming damage by 5% and stacks up to 10 times. Healing Word now heals 3 people, which adds extra utility to Paladin in large boss fights, and Blinding Light now decreases enemy hit chance by 50% for extra mitigation.

And to top off the list of changes, Exorcise had its damage significantly increased and can now hit up to three additional targets. For fans of the original Paladin class, we'll be releasing an additional class with the original skills-- and we may have another surprise involving Paladin class in the future. Keep checking the design notes for more updates!

April 29, 2016

Buy Back Shop

The AC Item Buy Back Shop is Open!

Since 2008, we've had people asking for the ability to buy back gear they've sold or deleted... and for the last two years, we've been telling everyone that we would need to wait until after the server rewrite was complete to begin working on that.

But behind the scenes, we've been working on a web-based version... which means we can launch it NOW! Testers have been hitting the new system hard, but now we want a real-time, LIVE test, and that's where our members come in!

Buy Back Shop Details

What: A way for AQWorlds heroes to buy back AC items they owned in the past, but sold or deleted

Who: ALL players

When: RIGHT NOW!

Where: The AQWorlds account manager web site

Why: This is something tens of thousands of players have asked for since the game began... and now we can DO it!

How to Buy your AC items back

1. Log in to your Account Manager
2. Go to the "Buyback Shop" tab on the left-hand Menu
3. Scroll through your items to see which ones you'd like to buy back
4. When you find one, hit the "Buy" button!

Frequently Asked Questions (we anticipate)

• What items qualify?
  Any AdventureCoin item you've purchased in game is available in the Buy Back shop! If you paid ACs for an item and sold it back, there is a 99.99% chance of it being available for Buy Back.*
• What about LQS items? These will NOT show up in the Buy Back Shop, but you can still get your purchased LQS items in game using the shops in your Book of Lore!
• How much will it cost to buy the items back?
  You will need to pay the full, original price of the item in order to buy it back. This prevents potential exploits. 
• How long will it take until items I've sold/lost appear in the buyback shop?
  Immediately!
• Why did members get to live test first?
  Because we needed to try this out on live servers with a bigger group of testers, and one of the perks of upgrading your account is to get to preview new functionality.
• What about AC-tagged monster drops?
  Since monster drops are received after battle, not purchased, these are not eligible in the Buy Back shop.
• What about Wheel of Doom items?
  Most of the wheel AC item drops were tracked in our system, and available for Buy-Back.
• How many of my items does the Buy Back Shop store/display?
  The Buy Back Shop will show ALL of the AdventureCoin items you've EVER purchased, all the way back to your account creation date.
• Why are you bringing back RARE ITEMS?!!?
  Never fear, we are NOT bringing back rare items! The only items people can get from the Buy Back Shop are ones they previously bought (then sold or deleted).
• Why do you not see ALL the items you used to have?
  Some items, like quest Monster drops, were not tracked as being "purchased" and since they were Zero AC cost items, were not tracked as being "sold".  These types of items we can not provide for buy-back.  We apologize for not being able to have everything available for buy-back.

April 26, 2016

Server Rewrite: Final Phases in progress

MORE Testing Needed! 

Hi, guys! It's been a while since our last update on the server rewrite progress... and it's time to fix that! The biggest hurdle we face NOW is getting enough testing to make sure we're launching a solid, stable new server.

Usually with these, I add a "XX% complete" note at the top of the post, but I'm not doing that today. We're at a point where we need to pin down as MANY of the bugs as possible to know EXACTLY what we've got left to focus on. We're in the ~9X% area -- we are CLOSE... but we've got to CRUSH THE BUGS before we can say exactly where we're at, and give a more solid idea of what the rewrite will release.

Getting that testing is going to come in two parts, and if you want to be a part of helping us make AQWorlds history, I'd like you to be a part of both! 

1) Pre-data save testing

Right now, on the testing servers, no player data is saved, because we have been testing the core game engine and fixing the issues you and the testers report. You can log in and test, and nothing you do will save on your account. Before we can move forward, we need more testing by a much larger group of testers (that's you!).

2) Final LIVE player testing

Once we are confident that the server is good and ready, we'll implement player data saving. THEN... we'll have mega boosts and some pretty wicked incentives (example: 0 AC Matrix Sir Ver bank pet to everyone who logs on and tests) to reward everyone who logs in and helps us test.

Here's how to help test!

1) Log onto either Testing Server or Testing Server 2 at www.AQ.com

2) Keep your handy, dandy "New Server Testing Checklist" (shown below) next to you as you play so you know what to do. Test out as many things as you can from the list

3) Report any issues you find HERE

4) Log back in and FIND MORE BUGS! /cheer

New Server Testing Checklist

Maps:

• Joining Maps, does this ever fail?
• Joining instance(/join name-#####)
• Are new instances properly generated? Are new instances destroyed?
• Do monsters load properly? 
• Do monsters respawn properly?
• Do clickable items for quests appear and disappear as they are supposed to?
• Do all special functions work? (Think wars, clickable items, unique effects, etc)
• Do players appear/disappear from the map properly? 

Chat:

• Test all chat channels (say, whisper, party, guild)

Combat:

• Test skills, effects, buffs, debuffs.
• Do monsters fight back, drop gold, exp, cp.
• Do items drop and get added to inventory? 

Player Saving:

• Check that your player's data saves properly after completing quests/killing monsters, etc (it will not save after you log off the testing server...YET) 
• Check that your items, gold, exp, etc are what they should be each time you kill a monster, complete a quest
• Do items equip and unequip properly? 
• Do Factions get added, and do points properly save?

Guild:

• Check that all commands work: add, remove, promote, demote

Party:

• Check that all party functionality works
• Check that players are removed from list when logging out

Quest:

• Do quests display properly?
• Check description, rewards, end text
• Check to make sure your Quest progress is saved as you complete stories/quets 
• Check to make sure story quests are completable

Shops:

• Test both shop types: regular and merge. 
• Check to see that Gold/ACs are gained/lost in correct amounts
• Check to see if items added to inventory
• Check to see if merge requirements removed. 
• Are Shop location checks working?

Inventory:

• Items display properly including preview (name, desc, enhancement, etc).
• Items can be equipped and unequipped properly.
• Items sort into the correct tabs
• Regular items can be removed 
• AC items should prevent deletion

Bank:

• Items show in bank correctly
• Items sort to correct bank tabs
• Items can be moved between bank and inventory. 
• Add to bank, add to inventory, and swap two items work
• Items are recognized as in bank when dropping.

Thank you so much to everyone who has, is, and will help us test! We say that we build our games for and with you, and it's TRUE! We could not create AdventureQuest Worlds' weekly updates or its server rewrite without you, and I'm so excited that we are all building this together.

TEST ON!

April 25, 2016

Friday: The Time War BEGINS!

Message from Kairos, the High Chronolord

I have come, and not a moment too soon! The coded message from your Chronomancers arrived two years too late, but I could sense the turbulence in this point in the time stream as I drew closer… I sense Paradox Portal energy coalescing, and worse -- Creatures from deep within the timestream are massing to invade.

I need you and your fellow heroes to drive them back. Buy me the time I need to discover the cause of this invasion! And remember...

BEWARE THE PORTALS!

April 22, 2016

The TimeStream is Falling Apart...

And the Scavengers that feed on its power are coming...

BEWARE THE PORTALS!

April 22, 2016

Skull Towers of Silver and Gold

Upgrade to unlock the member-only zone and class!

Members: unlock the exclusive Skull Towers of Silver and Gold NOW! Battle to discover the backstory of the Castle Of Bone's "The Butcher" monster, battle to create the Silver and Gold DeathKnight Lord armor sets, and more!

Memet had a BLAST writing and designing this release! Though Artix is the main architect of the Throne of Darkness Saga, Memet (AQW's assistant game lead, artist, and now release designer) is helping him fill out the many quests and areas the Saga contains. PLUS, she is also writing and designing the Saga's member-only and bonus content!

While Artix was writing last week's release, he kept going back and forth choosing a name for what we'd ultimately call "The Butcher" -- before, the monster's name was Chef Ramskull. Memet built this entire character around the idea of what an undead Gordon Ramsay would be/sound like, and could not stop laughing. 

Unlock the Silver, Gold, and DeathKnight Lord armors

Get ready to get battling, members! If you want Vaden's DeathKnight Lord armor, you've got a trek ahead of you! 

• Quest to create the Silver DeathKnight Lord armor (requires level 15)
• Quest to create the Gold DeathKnight Lord armor (requires Silver DeathKnight Lord and level 30)
• Quest to create the DeathKnight Lord armor (requires Gold DeathKnight Lord and level 45)

Once you have all of this... then, oh then, you will be able to intimidate ALL your opponents! 

Why a Member-only Zone? Because We <3 our members!

Not so, random hero! Exclusive zones, classes, and other content are our way of thanking AdventureQuest Worlds members -- their support lets us keep AQW free to play for everyone! Without the support of Members, we could not make ANY of AdventureQuest Worlds available... but since we CAN, we've added the Royal DeathKnight armor set to the merge shop in /bonecastle for you to unlock this weekend! The Castle of Bone house is also available for 2000 AdventureCoins!

Not a member but really want the Class or to help support AdventureQuest Worlds? Upgrade your account and unlock this week's Class, zone, and all the other exclusive perks!

Birthday Gear!

TWO of the Artix Entertainment team contributors have had birthdays this week, and we're excited to celebrate them! Eonaleth, one of our web testers, had a birthday earlier this week. You can find her King Altemog pet in the April Rares shop in your game menu!

Tendou, an AQW quest designer, tester, Forum ArchKnight, and HUGE Nulgath fan also had a birthday this week! Talk to Skew in /tercessuinotlim to begin the Eternal Rest quest! You'll get the Void Avenger Scythe AND 5 Blood Gems as your prize!

PS: the Lore Day event (aka Earth Day) has been moved to next week. The event maps and seasonal gear will return then!

April 22, 2016

DeathKnight Lord Class Skills!

Unlock DeathKnight Lord Class This Weekened!

AQWorlds Members can become just like Vaden to crush your foes while gathering their bones as resources. 

How to get the Class 

• Spend AdventureCoins: Until May 1st, the AC version of the Class is 20% off! That means you will only need to spend 1600 ACs to buy it. On May 1st, the price will increase to the regular 2000 ACs.
• Spend Time: Complete the "Slithering Shadows" daily quest in Shadowfall to get 30 Shadowed Skulls. Then turn those in to the Merge Shop in /bonecastle to create the 0 AC version of the Class.

No matter which way you unlock the Class, BOTH versions will be non-member AC, so you can use it forever once your membership expires! 

Note: the Armor version of the art and all the accessories will ALSO be available as rewards from this week's exclusive member zone in the Skull Towers!

Crush your enemies!

Heya guys, it’s Sync. Note that this is not my Class and I’m not the Designer of it. This is Arklen’s Class, he’s been working very hard with other designs and coding so I’ll be here to explain Death Knight Lord to you all. DeathKnight Lord is a tanky AoE DoT Based Class that’s designed to hold aggro for your allies while they put down the hard DPS. Don’t get it wrong though, this Class still puts out a lot of damage for it’s purpose. With constant DoT rolling on the opponent, you also apply AoE debuffs and have a very reliable sustain in the midst of all of this.

DeathKnight Lord Skill Breakdown!

Mana Regeneration: This Class has a very unique Mana Regeneration. It’s the same as DeathKnight, ALL Damage you do will be compensated into your mana regen, so more damage, more mana. 
Stats: This Class is a Fighter, so very High Endurance and Strength will be your two main sources of your Damage and Tankiness.

Auto Attack 
2 Second Cooldown A basic attack, taught to all adventurers. The description explains itself.

Harvest Bone
8 Mana
3.5 Second Cooldown

Strengthen your Gauntlet by harvesting the bones of your enemies. Bone Harvested causes more damage over time with each stack and improves the power of your gauntlet, which buffs other abilities. Stacks up to 10 times and hits up to 3 enemies and lasts for 16 seconds if not restacked.

This is your bread and butter to help you become the massive wall you lead up to be. Always use this whenever this is up, constantly applying a stacking DoT and to further improve your other skills abilities.

Curse of Grimskull
15 Mana
6 Second Cooldown

Curse up to 3 foes with the burden of Grimskull and inflict a damage over time and also slows your foes haste and forces them to attack you. Enemy's haste reduce more with more stacks of Bone Harvested.
This is your aggro move. Pull strong monsters off your allies immediately with this skill. Does a good amount of damage and lowers their haste so you can tank more hits by getting hit less. (funny right) Sync this with Harvest Bone to maximize the debuff.

Bone Gauntlet
25 Mana
15 Second Cooldown

Strike with your Bone Gauntlet and Deathgrasp your enemies. Up to three foes feeling their life slowly crushed causing damage over time and reducing their damage output. Enemy's damage reduced more with more stacks of Bone Harvested. Has a small chance to give you a Calcium Rush, buffs your Haste by 30% for 6 seconds.

This is somewhat a nuke, the original DeathKnight was known to hit very hard with this skill but not hit up to 3 people! Reduces their damage further based on the stacks of Bone Harvested. You have a 10% chance to apply Calcium Rush, if you do, you become this unstoppable wall with massive DPS for 6 seconds. It’s very rewarding.

Bone Armor & Massive Gauntlet
Increases Damage Resistance & Hit Chance by 20%

This improves your overall tankiness and consistency within the Class, you need to make sure you pull aggro and can take hits for your allies.

Cerement
20 Mana
20 Second Cooldown

You tap into the power of Death to pull your form back together. Heals you a moderate amount, and significantly increases your Damage Resistance for 10 seconds, increased by stacks of Bone Harvested. Also applies Tainted Marrow which reduces your Damage Output and Crit Chance for 6 seconds.
Here’s where the tankiness lies, compared to DeathKnight, this heal is godly. (if you used DeathKnight you would know.)

Also you apply a HUGE Damage Resistance buff on yourself only gets stronger with Harvest Bone.At the cose of this skill you lower your damage output and crit chance for the duration. It’s not so bad while you rely on your constant DoT while you tank tank for you allies.

Final Word
Rank 10 Passive

Rarely, a frozen wave explodes out of you smiting your foe with all of the finality of death itself. What can I say? POW!

Enhancements

I recommend Fighter and Luck for this class all the way. You need the raw Strength and Endurance to be as beefy as possible to be a wall for your allies, or be an unstoppable force to your enemies. 

Fighter: While the Class sources it’s damage and tankiness from the Strength and Endurance, it’s the best enchant for it. Overall Strength gives you raw damage and Crit Chance. Endurance completely sources to your overall Hit Points to to absorb more hits.

Luck: Honestly luck does this class very well, when you apply Calcium Rush, the high Crit Chance and Damage already coming off of the Luck stat itself will make you a temporarily DPS monster critting very hard and often. It’s not bad with the amount of Aoe this Class comes with as well as making your Heal have a higher Chance to Crit and Crit higher.

Overall Summary

In conclusion, DeathKnight Lord was a fresh restart to all the tank Classes in AQW. This gives a new era for tanks starting with this Class in my opinion. With a reliable and mediocre DPS from your DoT and Gauntlet, you can face tank multiple enemies for your allies or if you’re just by yourself. Use Harvest Bone as often as possible, to increase your DPS and your other skills effects to maximize the gameplay. Curse of Grimskull and Bone Gauntlet source from your Harvest Bone to improve your tankiness while making you a very annoying person to deal with. In PvP these two skills will be your best friends, putting out solid damage while debuffing multiple enemies. Cerement when you’re taking too much damage to sacrifice damage for sustain briefly. Note all skills on the Class are AoE so be careful or you might pull the wrong monster to you. (Ex -Random Nulgath Crit)

April 20, 2016

Reminder: Clear your cache

Bugs, Reports, Cache & Flash

Hello from the land of crazy bug people again!  Cemaros, AQW Bug Squasher Extraordinaire, here with a few more reminders for everyone.  So let’s just jump right in and start with the big one.

CLEAR YOUR CACHE!  

Then clear it again.  Then clear it one more time to make sure you actually cleared it.  I recommend clearing about 3 times a week if you play daily. It only takes a few seconds and saves you many hours of frustration.

Yes, I keep reminding everyone about this one because this is the cause of about 90% of the reports we get. A "stuffed cache" not only causes issues with the game, but it will slow your entire browser performance down.

I especially want to remind folks to clear your cache since the Flash 20 update.  We’ve been getting some new types of reports in, and when investigating them, every single one of them has been because of a ….

Guess? Stuffed cache!

For a list of some of the common causes of a stuffed cache, see here: Cache Reminder Design Notes 

Artix Entertainment has nothing to do with the making of Flash, as most of you know.  Our programmers do everything they can to make sure things run smooth, but we can’t actually fix Flash itself.  But YOU can prevent a lot of issues by keeping your cache cleared out regularly. Which brings me to my next reminder.  

Fill out the report form

Every single bug report filed is read. I promise you that.  (I can, since I’m one of two people who reads and sorts them!) However, if you don’t fill out the bug reports entirely, we simply do not have enough information to work with. If you send in a report that looks like this...

There isn’t a single thing we can do with it.  Please!  Fill the forms out completely.  While I do reply to a great many of the reports sent, I can’t reply if I don’t even know what is being reported, right?

Please report from the device and browser you are having the issue on.  The bug report form gathers data about your browser (no personal info!).  In many cases, I need this data to figure out the problem.  So if you play on your Windows laptop on Firefox browser, but you report it from your iPhone, I don’t have correct data.  
So! Everyone is going to clear their cache and fully fill out the forms now, right?  RIGHT!

Below is a list of the most popular browsers and how to clear the cache on each of them.  This guide provides links to the homepages of the various browsers. 

"What's a stuffed cache?" you ask? GOOD question! 

A cache is a place on your computer where the browser (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari) keeps things you've downloaded in case they're needed again - like the logo on a website or information about your AQW character. That way, it doesn't need to be downloaded each time you visit the page; as long as the same logo is displayed, your computer already knows what to look for.

Caches have a limit of how big they can be. When a cache gets full, the items in it that haven't been used in a while are discarded to make room for whatever new items you're looking at now.

And it’s all transparent to you... until something breaks! (Like with this bug.) But that's when you need to "clear your cache."

If you have any other issues, please remember to report them to the Bug Tracker! I send emails to the developers every week, and they fix as many as they have time for (starting with the highest priority issues first)!

Thanks!!  ~Cem

Clearing your browser's cache gives you the latest version of the game

When we release BIG new features or fix important bugs, we want you to get the latest version of the game client, which means your browser's cache needs to be emptied of all its current files. Emptying your cache is called "clearing your cache." That lets it get all the new, most up-to-date files so your game works right.

Chrome

Internet Explorer

Firefox

Alternative method: Press down Ctrl+Shift+Delete to open up a browser settings menu.

Opera

• Click "Tools." 
• Select "Delete Private Data..." 
• Click the "Detailed Options" button. 
• Uncheck everything except "Clear Entire Cache." 
• Click "Delete," and restart. 

Safari 6

• Safari -> Preferences -> Privacy -> Details 
• Select site to remove cookies from -> Remove or Remove All 
• Restart Safari 

Safari 6.0.3 (Mac Mini)

• Located Develop option on Toolbar 
• Click Develop 
• Click Empty Caches on list (not the delete caches option) 

Firefox for Mac

• Click "Firefox -> Preferences." 
• Click "Advanced" and select the "Network" tab. 
• Under the "Cashed Web Content" section, click "Clear Now." 
• Restart Firefox. 

Note: If you do not see your browser's version listed here, it is strongly recommended that you upgrade your browser. The latest browsers typically have more features and improved security. 

Be sure to also restart your web browser. So the game page fully reloads, and not just the content files.

Thanks to the Archknights and Moderators on our forum for compiling and updating the guide!

April 20, 2016

The DeathKnight Lords are waiting...

Members: battle through the Skull Towers of Silver and Gold

Screams rip through the darkness surrounding the Castle of Bone, but the Skull Towers of Silver and Gold stand silent, eternal guardians. Waiting at the top of each is the shadow of a DeathKnight Lord...

These two former rulers of the Castle of Bone were not strong enough to hold on to their power, not after Vaden arrived. But they were strong enough to rule for many, MANY years. And now they stand, waiting, ready to slay any who survive the battle through their tower's lower floors.

The Butcher stands outside the door to the towers... waiting for YOU. And he is very, VERY angry. You don't know why. Yet. But he needs your help. And you are the only way he can get what he's waited so long for... Revenge.

April 20, 2016

Event and Gear Leaving Soon

Grenwog Event and Seasonal Rares Leave Friday!

It's almost time for Cabdury, his egg hunt, and the Grenwog to depart for another year. This is your last chance to battle through the Grenwog's origin story until next year, and to get your gauntlets on the egg-citing seasonal rewards!

Quibble's Shop Leaves Friday!

Quibble's Evil shop will be availlable in your game menu until this Friday's release! After that, his gear will be gone for GOOD!  He's selling most of his gear for AdventureCoins, but has a few things for everyone... if you can meet his price! 

ALL of Quibble's gear leaves Friday, April 22nd, including:

• Laken's ExoSkeletal Warrior Set
• Memet's Spiders & Sorcery Set
• Goddess' Esoteric Anarchist Set
• Mort et Quibble Bank Pet
• Blade's Dread Scythe
• the Unfluffy Trophy Tail Cape
• the Crimson Shadows Blade

April 19, 2016

Coming Soon: Abyssal Angel Class

New Rare Class Available for a Limited Time!

Nulgath Nation fans, you've been asking for new classes for a while now, and we're listening! The new Abyssal Angel class was inspired by look of Revonthus, Nulgath's apprentice, and this new, rare class will be available in-game very soon! 

April 18, 2016

Unlock the DeathKnight Lord CLASS

DeathKnight Lord Class: A new variant of DeathKnight Arrives Friday!

MAN, is it a great week to be a member! We are making some of the coolest, darkest gear from the Throne of Darkness: Castle of Bone chapter exclusively for you as a way to say "thanks" - your support lets us make AdventureQuest Worlds free to play for EVERYONE, all the time! 

Starting this weekend, you can battle to unlock an all-new variant of the DeathKnight Class: Vaden's DeathKnight Lord Class! OR, if you're short on time (or don't like farming), you can get it immediately with 2000 AdventureCoins! 

The quests will not be difficult (I am pretty sure you can slay level 3 skeletons preeeeetty fast by now!), but it WILL take time to craft the class... 30 days, to be precise! 

* This class is based on the original DeathKnight Class... which our class designers are working on buffing! That might come out next week, but the DKL class is planned for this Friday!

Friday: Skull Tower of Silver and Gold!

Upgrading your account is the only way to unlock Vaden's DeathKnight ARMOR inside this Friday's new zone... but you'll need to craft the silver and gold versions FIRST! This weekend, the Throne of Darkness: Skull Towers of Silver and Gold member-only expansion will release... giving you more information about one of last week's minibosses: The Butcher!

Both the Class and the Armor will be 0 ACs for free storage, and so you can use them... FOREVER! Not a member but really want the Class or to help support AdventureQuest Worlds? Upgrade your account and unlock this week's Class, zone, and all the other exclusive perks!

April 18, 2016

Throne of Darkness is a HIT!

AQWorld's Throne of Darkness Saga is getting rave 10/10 reviews!

Like & Share our post on Facebook if you agree and want more of awesome story-focused gameplay like this! Play the first installment of AdventureQuest Worlds' new main storyline at www.AQ.com to experience the all-new cast of villains, and remember: you know you're a legend when the bad guys meet to plot your downfall!

Some comments from Artix von Krieger's Twitter Feed. 

"I had a total blast playing through it and only God knows how excited I am for the next part of the Throne of Darkness saga. High quality of a release, 10/10!!" - Akashi the Hunter

"Guys, this release was awesomely hilarious! Congratulations! We've been waiting for this kind of release for so long" - Azaveyr

"I just wanted to say a huge thumbs up the throne of darkness loving it so far so great we can tell you made it by the puns" - @HeyHarry321 

"This one of the best update! Thank you @ArtixKrieger for this! made a good laugh for this XD" - Staz

"ARTIX KRIEGER YOU MAD GENIOUS OF A PALADIN I LOVE THIS!!!! SKULLS, BONES, DEATH EVERYWHERE!!! Make this a house, Plez..." - Deadlord Eraisuthon

"BEST evil jokes in all over games ever had made xD" - Sly Dumb Fox

"That event was AWESOME! I loved your writing, really great to see some truly interesting story. Thanks Artix!" - Renegade - 

"This involves a lot of environment interactions. I like it lol" - Fearless Brawler

"$%&! the cutscenes are actually funny, i like this way of telling the story. good job @ArtixKrieger @Alina_AE and other credible people" - Yazo 

"Great release, very well designed and fun, but I especially love the varying difficulties. Hyped for this storyline." - Braxem 

"For some reason I didnt skip cutscene , and the cutscene was pretty funny. 10/10 Nice release." - Degenerate Ivan 

"Great music and nice event, it's perfect!!" - Kaylessa 

"Pen did the castle of bones story and watch the whole thing again, the story just too fun! pink/10 *pen love it*" - Penolia 

"I loved this release @ArtixKrieger all the puns and Game of Thrones references made it amazing!" - Angelic Warrior Gb1

"The release is really awesome and funny" - Wak

"@ArtixKrieger and his development team did an amazing job with AQW's new saga. Congrats to them on this new release, and good luck with AQ3D" - QueQue the Tech guy

"I was really impressed with the event smile emoticon got me so hype for what is to come next in Aqw, been a while since I felt like that" - Blue Leopord

April 15, 2016

Throne of Darkness is Here!

Enter the Castle of Bone

The moment we have been waiting for is finally here, a brand new main storyline for AdventureQuest Worlds has just begun... and you, if you are reading this, you are going to be a part of this from the very start.

As our new story opens, a rogue's gallery of powerful villains have gathered for a secret and terrible purpose...

Our first adventure is told by the DeathKnight Vaden. He hails from a castle that is completely made of bone. Legend has it that any hero who ventures into the castle and perishes will either become an undead servant OF the castle or WORSE... part of the castle of bone itself!

YOU have ventured into this place... this dungeon of horror... and we know this because Vaden is telling the story about it in-game RIGHT NOW!

Bonus Member Dungeons Coming Next Week!

We have been listening to you and it has going to be quite some while before we do any fillers, musical guests, or releases that draw away from the main story. Because it will take a minimum of TWO WEEKS to create all of the art, animation... and monsters... and items... and NPCs... and quests... 

We will be doing special bonus releases, giving MORE backstory into specific areas and sub-bosses from Throne of Darkness. The majority of these releases will be member only, which will satisfy a long-time desire for more content for the players who are making these releases possible.

Thank you for making this story a reality. If you read my previous Design Notes, you know that this story is incredibly important to me... it has one of the things I have been saving for so long. And to see it happening, well, let's just say you can see misty eyes through giant skull helmets.

I really, truly hope that you enjoy the unique way in which this story is structured, and that the twists and turns that you'll experience from these seven incredible villains will leave you smiling...
sometimes angry...
sometimes crying... 
sometimes banging your head repeatedly on the table over and over and over saying "why, why, why, Artix why,"... and most importantly... laughing.

Thank you. 

The Throne of Darkness has begun...

BATTLE ON!

PS- oh, and if you'd like the score for this week's music track "Death has a name," I'd be happy to put them ALL up for you! Let me know what you think. (And please, subscribe to our Youtube channel while you're there!)

April 15, 2016

BattleGems Founder Leaving Soon

Unlocks the exclusive DragonKnight set inside AQWorlds!

This is your very last chance to get Founder in BattleGems, our mobile RPG Puzzle Game. Considering that you had.. oh wow, nearly two years now, it is finally time to make BattleGems Founder go perma rare!

Rolith and his team have upgraded BattleGems to the newest version of Unity improving the game's speed and giving it 64 bit support. Along with this release, we will be removing the Founder package which basically gives you ulimited turns, unlimited keys, special in game armor set, special AQWorlds armor set, well... EVERYTHING for a single in-app purchase of $10. Founders will be pretty proud of that they got it, because after the new patch goes live, the armor will be perma rare and will have to pay double to get the upgrades and perks.

So if you have been wanting the DragonKnight armor from BattleGems in AQWorlds and BattleGems... this is your final chance to get it on the Apple iOS or Android versions of the mobile game!

April 15, 2016

NEW Gear in the April Rares Shop

Wish Goddess a Happy Birthday!

Assistant AdventureQuest Worlds artist, Goddess, leveled up in real life this week, and to help you all celebrate, she's crafted some remarkable, color-customizable raven-themed gear! There's something for everyone in the April Rares shop, but it will not be here long... the shop leaves April 29th!

If you have a Twitter account, wish her a Happy Birthday!

April 15, 2016

New Treasure Map Gear

Decipher the Clue to Find the Shop!

TreasureHunters, assemble! Head in-game and pick up a Treasure Map from the AC Gear shop in your game menu... then begin the hunt to find the Treasure Chest in-game! It's in a dark, spoooooooky place, but once you find it, you'll unlock ALL the gear inside the chest!

Wait... How Does This Work?

Talk to Cleric Joy in Battleon or Valencia in BattleonTown to buy the Treasure Map for a one-time cost of 2000 AventureCoins, then use the clue it gives in the item description to find a shop hidden in-game full of 0 AC gear only YOU can access!

Things to know:

• You cannot open the Treasure Map Shop unless you have purchased the Treasure Map.
• Purchasing the Treasure Map unlocks the shop forever (as long as you have it in your inventory) and the shop will be updated regularly!
• The gear in the shop costs 0 AdventureCoins so you can take advantage of the free storage!
• You only need to buy the map once AND keep it to access all future shop updates!
• The clue will change each time the shop updates! (It wouldn't be a very good treasure hunt if it didn't!)

So... What will be in the Shop?

The NEW gear coming to the Treasure Map shop will be the Darkblood Berserker and Seraphic Dragoon sets!

• Seraphic Dragoon Armor
• Seraphic Dragoon Visor
• Seraphic Dragoon Crest
• Seraphic Dragoon Wings
• Seraphic Dragoon Bow
• Arc of Seraphim Sword
• Darkblood Berserker Armor

Returning gear will be the Shadow Commander and Nameless Warrior sets!

• Dragon Priest and Priestess Armors
• Dragon Devotee Helms
• Dragon's Flame Katana
• Dual Dragon's Flame Katanas

• Shadow Commander Armor
• Hood of the Fallen
• Nameless Warrior
• Anonymous Drone Helm
• Terror of the Undead Blade
• Slasher of the Undead Mace

April 14, 2016

Calling all Heroes: Begin the Odyssey

Blacksea Odyssey Mobile Game... Now Available on Steam!

Earlier this month, we shared news about Blacksea Odyssey, a violent, top-down, rogue-like space RPG created by friends of Artix Entertainment... and if you haven't checked it out yet, you really should!  

If you're like most of the gamers here at the lab, battling aliens, piloting spaceships, and triggering explosions make up some of your favorite gaming memories. Blacksea Odyssey is updated weekly (just like Artix Entertainment games), and is available on Steam now! 

Blacksea Odyssey: Features

• Rip Apart Enemies Piece by Piece
• Fully Destructible Everything
• Twitch based Action-Packed Combat
• Hardcore Rogue-like Elements
• Massive Bosses
• Expansive Customization System

Learn more about Team Blacksea Odyssey's story in our earlier post and follow them online to get news about coming updates:

• Website
• Facebook
• Youtube
• Twitter

If you love the game, make sure to let me (on Twitter @alina_AE) and Team Blacksea Odyssey (on Twitter @BlackseaOdyssey) know... and send us screenshots of your adventures for retweeting and posting on Facebook!

April 14, 2016

Your Lair or mine?

Upcoming Dungeons of Throne of Darkness

The Throne of Darkness begins this Friday… a brand new main storyline for AdventureQuest Worlds. There are 7 villains in this story, each will unlock a new major dungeon. I like using the term dungeon… even when describing an outside area like a forest or clouds you can walk on. To get a flying eyeballs view of the land we shall soon explore together, let us sent forth our scout… Jimmy the Eye!

Jimmy the Eye is a flying eyeball. 

He is blue. 

As he flies North, he thinks to himself… why is so little known about the North?

It starts to rain. 

The rain blurs his vision, and every clap of thunder makes him jump. 

The red eerie glow of the setting sun silhouettes a castle…

The castle appears to be growing… the castle appears to be made of bone…

He flaps harder against the turbulence or tornados…

They seem to be coming from a series of portals. 

Is it a rip in time and space?

Or perhaps it is… WHAT THE!?!?!

The sun has gone black and he obsesses on an indescribable twisted shape of triangles. 

Perhaps the rumors of the 4th Dimensional Pyramid were true?

If that is true then… but before there is time for another thought, he hears weapons clashing and screams. The Death Pit Arena… a half-Dragon General stands watch as gladiators do battle.

The flying eyeball tries to look away but is blinded by what he sees next…

A Tower...

A tower made entirely of mirrors. He notices a parade of young girls being led into the tower… 

No less strange than what he thought he had seen in the clouds just moments before.

But if he ever said what he thought he saw up on those clouds... with all its bacon and cats they would just call him crazy.

So he flies on to his final destination...

It is a secret place. 

A place where THE COUNCIL used to meet...

Meet to scheme and solve their "problems."

That place, without question… was the THRONE OF DARKNESS. 

April 13, 2016

Story Time (of Darkness)!

The “Insider Secret” story behind Throne of Darkness

This Friday, our new saga Throne of Darkness begins in AdventureQuest Worlds. If you have been following me on my Artix Krieger Facebook or Twitter, then you have probably seen the posts from when I started writing it. But the truth is… I wrote the original concept for this story way BEFORE the creation of the original AdventureQuest.

Ready for this? I originally wrote this when I was 13 years old. Did you ever come up with an idea so incredible that you held onto it like your most carefully guarded secret? Except I cannot keep secrets... so I have been telling the AE Team about this concept (over and over) for as long as they have known me. Previous it was called “The Table Story” or “The original plot of ArchKnight.”

Due to the unusual way the adventure is told, I always expected it to be used for a new, stand alone game. See, in normal adventures you play it from your point of view. But The Throne of Darkness is from the Villain’s point of view. Instead of happening in real time, the Bad Guys are sitting around are telling stories about you… so everything you do, have already, technically… already happened. This is a lot of fun, because you can do things in the past, that can actually change the Villains at the table here in the present.

You will see what I mean in the opening adventure “The Castle of Bone” which features Vaden the Death Knight. It is so crazy… little did I know, so many years ago, way back then when I first came up with this story… that it would be about you.

A new cast of villains

If you went back in time and saw my childhood sketches and ideas from The Throne of Darkness, you would be surprised to find you recognized the villains sitting around the table-- Xan, Sepulchure, The Mysterious Necromancer, Drakath, and the Vampire Queen (later named Safiria.) Yup, we have secretly been using parts of this story for years. So if you have liked the 13 Lords of Chaos and other things I have written in the past... You are probably really going to enjoy this too.

To avoid using the same characters again, I wrote new a fresh new rogues gallery of villains. If you see any subtle similarities between the new villains and previous ones… you can probably take a good guess who they are taking the place of. And that is a fun thing that you will understand, and most people will not get.

I have tried not to mix any of the existing stuff into this new plotline, but every time I see clever posts from players on Twitter you make me want to break the rules. Take Vaden the DeathKnight for instance. Some players think he might be related to Vordred, or there might be a link because it sounds like Valen (Sepulchure’s original name), or that is might actually be Artix’s son (because Aidan and Vaden sound similar.) -- I am not going to rule anything out. The ink is not dry yet. 

Check in tomorrow for a sneak peak at the dungeons that Throne of Darkness will open up on the map. There are 7 Villains seated at the table… each with a lair more dangerous and crazy than the last. Battle on!

April 12, 2016

Throne of Darkness

New AdventureQuest Worlds Main Storyline!

Greetings friends! Artix here. Be prepared...  Throne of Darkness starts this Friday. WHAT!? Yes, it is an entirely new main storyline for AdventureQuest Worlds which will open up a new area of the main continent. This story will be told in a unique way that we have never attempted… until now. If you have been wanting us to focus on story, create new major characters, and to explore interesting and bizarre new places… then you are going to love this Saga. At least I hope you do! That is why I personally wrote this saga for you O_O. Check back for tomorrow’s special “insider secret” design notes where this new saga actually came from. Oh, and if you are not already, be sure to follow me on my Artix Krieger Twitter & Facebook for random stuffs!

Watch the Throne of Darkness trailer on YouTube

April 11, 2016

This Friday: Conquer the Bone Castle

The Throne of Darkness Saga begins this week!

Begin Artix's Throne of Darkness Saga this Friday as you battle your way through the Bone Castle to take on Vaden, the DeathKnight!

The battles will be difficult... enter at your own risk!  The Darkness is Coming.

April 08, 2016

Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands

LIVE at Yulgar's Inn: Crystal Bright & the Silver Hands!

A mysterious carnival is on its way to town, and with it, the famed Illusionist Musician, Crystal Bright!  Together with her band, the Silver Hands, she is renowned for music that transports all who hear it into a world crafted from their own dreams!

Join them in Yulgar's Inn or head over to the carnival to see what's going on!

Also this week: The April Rares Shop has arrived!  Check in to pick up the first set of gear available only for this month!

Coming Soon: The Bone Castle!

The Darkness is coming... Conquer the Bone Castle next Friday, 4.15.16

Become a Void Caster!

 Buy any AdventureCoin or Membership package of $10 USD or more to unlock your exclusive April upgrade bonus items!

New this week:  Stripeless Void Caster Armor available in the Tier 1 and 2 Shop!

For more information: Check here!

Reminder:

Quibble Coinbiter's shop leaves the game on 4.22.16.  Get your items while you still can!

April 05, 2016

Bans, Server Rewrite, and Class Update

So many things are happening right now!

Pull up a chair and get ready to scroll, becaues we've got a LOT going on, and it's time for a weekly run-down of what has, is, and will happen in AdventureQuest Worlds!

Shop Loading Ban Update

Yesterday, we ran a query to ban a number of accounts who had shoploaded the VoidCaster Tier 2 shop. However...

Due to a typo in the query, we also caught some people who should NOT have been banned. We reversed the ban on THEIR accounts a few hours later, and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience (and scare)! If you were one of those who was accidentally banned, never fear - the ban was removed from your record, and will not affect your Honorable Hero 2016 eligibility.

Server Rewrite Testing Update

Right now, one of the BIGGEST hurdles to getting the server rewrite live is... we need MORE TESTING! I understand that there's not a really great incentive right now to go and battle through the game on our PTR Testing Servers 1 and 2. That's why this week, Yorumi is working to get the player data saving enabled on them* - once it is, we'll turn on some MEGA boosts, just on those servers, as a way to immediately reward you all for helping test.

Any time you're on the testing servers, please do the following:

• Play the game as you normally would, and see if you encounter any issues 
• Check ALL the parts of the game: using inventory, using shops, guilds, battling monsters, etc
• Keep an eye out for strange bugs, and report them on the forum in the testing thread!

Break ALL the things to help us test the new server! The sooner we are confident in the thoroughness of our testing, the sooner we can release the updated code on ALL the servers!

* Once it is, you will no longer be able to equip items you don't own.

Note: We are only planning to go live with 1 of the 3 existing tradeskills. Fishing is just fine, but based on feedback from you guys AND our team mmbers, we want to completely revamp both Alchemy and Spell-crafting to make them much more fun, easy to use, and rewarding!

Ultra OmniKnight Class Update

Sometimes, in order to make things better, you need to radically change what you are working with. And sometimes, when you introduce new systems, parts of the old one just do not work the same... like the Ultra OmniKnight Class.

Right now, some of its most iconic and useful skills are not functioning as intended, and will not function that way on the new server. If you are using the Class and experiencing issues with it, this is why that's happening to you.

But rather than bemoan what WAS, we are looking at this as an opportunity to make the class even COOLER! Its power level won't change, and we'll want to keep the feel of the class is possible, but the current skills will not remain exactly the same. If you've got ideas about what you'd like to see change in the class, why not post here? Class discussion thread!