Design Notes

October 21, 2019

AQWorlds Patch Notes

Check the list of bug fixes to see what the team has addressed

Reens, Cemaros and the AQW Bug Hunter team are busy squashing the bugs you submit each week to the Bug Tracker at www.Artix.com/bugs.

Please do not send non-release bugs on Twitter.  They will get lost.  Make sure you send bug report forms!

Check back weekly to see if the bug you reported has been addressed.  Please remember that not all bugs are "easy fixes" so some reported and confirmed bugs from each week may not be on the fixed list as they will require more time or a different person to fix them.

If you would like to know how the reports go from you to fixed, check this page:
http://www.aq.com/lore/guides/BugReportFAQ

Bug Fixes:

• Some updates to the Fire War map.  See if you can spot them all!
• Envy to Seraph map now working properly on travel map.
• Too many typos and rarity issues to list by the each.

Art Fixes:

• Hard Rocker female fixed for bad arm.
• Shamanic Summoner Helm and Dark Druid Horned-helms now understand they cannot run around imitating each other.
• Legion DoomKnight NPC in /underworld got his real hat back from the cleaners now.
• JD's Outfit male has pants under the kilt now.
• Amberheart Battle-Mage non-CC spot fixed.
• Guardian's Blade of Light has a new and improved kung pao grip.
• Tombstone Armor updated so the joints are where joints go.
• Infernal Cyber Doomblade upsized.
• 13th Naval Commander coat tail sewed on with stronger fishing line now.
• Enchanted Kitsune Katana/ Dual Enchanted Kitsune Katana now CC to eye colour.
• Shadow Hanzo Katana Cape blade handles now the right colour too.
• Twisted EldritchSlayer's Locks shadow now goes where shadows go.
• Lightovian Lycan Castle lightned up some.
• Cursed Overlord's Wings de-runed on run.
• Mirror Drakath's Hair (and variants) now have CC ears.
  

Extras:

• Courage Tonic removed from Nulgath Nation House - it’s an 11th Bday present from Asuka! See!
  

October 18, 2019

Enter the Dark Masquerade this Weekend

The Sheevra's Dark Masquerade Story Continues

This weekend, we return to the world of the otherworldly elves, the Sheevra. Battle alongside Sora to Hoshi, Beleen, and Samba as we invade the Dark Masquerade to rescue our kidnapped companion, LoreMaster Barb!

This weekend, log in and /join MystcroftForest to begin the adventure alongside Sora to Hoshi, Beleen, Samba, and LoreMaster Barb as you investigate a tale hinting at a legendary race of creatures and a mystical celebration... the Sheevra!

Bramblebite, the Puckish Pixie, will help you navigate this dark Otherworld. But beware... he may not be QUITE as trustworthy as he seems.

• Find your kidnapped friend, LoreMaster Barb
• Earn Bramblebite's trust, and his "help"
• Battle the Sheevra attending the Masquerade
• Break the spell imprisoning Barb

Mogloween 2019: New event begins next week!

Flashback to December, 2017... Deep underneath the frozen Northlands, the darkness rumbles. Aboveground, human, yeti, and moglin children play, excited for the coming holiday. Faint sounds of laughter and music filter down through rocks and snow, and an ancient horror stirs. It wakes knowing only one thing… HUNGER. 

Almost two years ago, an ancient horror lured the children of ColdWind Valley down to his frozen lair. But your hero revealed Jalnar the Deceiver’s true nature, and you were able to reunite the human, moglin, and yeti families before Frostval morning dawned!

But the people of MystCroft have begun reporting a strange feeling... as if someone is watching them... If you don't have a bad feeling about this yet, now would be a good time to start.

October 18, 2019

Quibble's Golden Collection Chest

Quibble Coinbiter + the Golden Collection Chest

It's AQWorlds Golden Anniversary (the 11th Anniversary celebrated on October 11th), so we're celebrating with an all-new, incredibly bright holiday event rare collection chest!Talk to Quibble in Battleon to check out his shop full of 11th Anniversary rare items. And if you're a collector or rare hunter, pick up the Golden Collection Chest to get ALL of the event rares, plus the Lord of Order Class, 2 houses, and a character page badge for 10,000 AdventureCoins (that is over 22,000 ACs worth of gear)!

All of this year's Quibble's 11th Anniversary items will be available individually from his shop in Battleon until the event leaves November 4th, or you can unlock all 45+ items from the Cursed Collection Chest.

• Arcane LightCaster set
• Arcane LightCaster's Throne cape
• Arcane LightCaster's Throne bank pet
• Infernal Revenger armor set
• Bright Champion Quibble Pet (with shop for the full Prime Chamion of Order set)
• Ascended, High, and Unchained VoidCaster armor sets (color-customizable)
• Ascended VoidCaster weapons (single and dual-wield)
• Lord of Order Class and armor set
• Bright Warlord of Nulgath armor set
• Legion Lycan armor set
• Shadow-Wrapped Sepulchure Pet and Cape
• Darkovian and Lightovian Lycan Castle Houses + house items
• and more!

The Legion Lycan armor set is also available in the Undead Legion Merge Shop for Legion Tokens. (The Legion Lycan Scythe is available exclusively for Legion Tokens.)

The Ascended OverFiend Blade of Nulgath (weapon and cape), plus the Bright Warlord of Nulgath Polearm and Ascended VoidCaster's Morph are also available in Nulgath's Diamond Merge Shop. (The Ascended VoidCaster Morph helm is available exclusively for Diamonds.)

Golden Collection Chest: Unlock all 75+ items

Rare collectors, take note! The Golden Collection Chest will be available for 10,000 ACs and contains ALL of Quibble Coinbiter's 11th Anniversary shop items (over 32,000 ACs worth of gear). 

Golden Collection Chest pet: 10,000 ACs

• Arcane LightCaster set
• Arcane LightCaster's Throne cape
• Arcane LightCaster's Throne bank pet
• Infernal Revenger armor set
• Bright Champion Quibble Pet (with shop for the full Prime Chamion of Order set)
• Ascended, High, and Unchained VoidCaster armor sets (color-customizable)
• Ascended VoidCaster weapons (single and dual-wield)
• Lord of Order Class and armor set
• Bright Warlord of Nulgath armor set
• Legion Lycan armor set
• Shadow-Wrapped Sepulchure Pet w/ quest for exclusive character page badge and house items

Read on for important information

A few important tips to remember:

• All of this year's event rare items will be available individually from Quibble's shop in Battleon until the event leaves in early November.
• In order to prevent shop abuse, the Golden Collection Chest, Bright Champion Quibble Pet, and ShadowW-Wrapped Sepulchure pets cannot be sold.

October 18, 2019

Lord Of Order Class

Log in to find our 11th Anniversary Class!

Happy birthday AQW! The class team has ironed out the new birthday class, Lord of Order. As the Mirror Realm counterpart to Chaos Lords, Lords of Order buff multiple allies with stat increases and a modest heal, but also have an additional unique trick-- the ability to INVERT enemy damage using their final skill!

How to Unlock the Class

There are three ways to unlock the Lord of Order Class:

1. Talk to Mirror Drakath in /Battleoff to begin his class daily quests. Each quest will reward pieces of the Lord of Order armor set. Unlock the full class after completing the 10th quest.
2. Talk to Quibble Coinbiter in Battleon to find his shop. Immediately unlock the class for 2,000 AdventureCoins, or buy individual pieces of the Lord of Order set.
3. Talk to Quibble Coinbiter in Battleon to find his 11th anniversary collection chest for 10,000 AdventureCoins. Immediately unlock 75+ event items and rares, plus the Class and armor set

Mana Regeneration

Lords of Order gain mana from all hits landed in combat, and especially on crits. The amount depends on damage relative to *their own* HP total.

Strike of Order
Attack with an enchanted weapon, dealing damage based on both attack and spell power.
Type: Physical/Magical
MP: 0 
Cooldown 2 seconds

Harmony
Heighten the inner peace within you and up to 5 allies, strengthening the foundations of your combat style. Applies Empowerment to all targets, increasing Strength, Intellect, Endurance, Dexterity, Wisdom, and Luck by 20% for 10 seconds. 
Type: Physical/Magical
MP: 20
Cooldown: 8 seconds                

Ordinance
Purge corruption from yourself and up to 5 allies, healing everyone for a small amount. You return to battle with new strength-- applies Resurgence, which increases all outgoing damage and reduces all incoming damage by 30% for 12 seconds.
Type: Magical
MP: 20
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Axiom
Cast a veil of magic that greatly heightens the focus of yourself and up to 5 allies. Applies Clarity, which increases haste by 30%, and hit chance and critical hit damage by 40% for all targets for 8 seconds.               
Type: Magical
MP: 20
Cooldown: 8 seconds 

Blessing of Order
Bestow the unrestrained power of order onto your enemy. Applies Quixotic for 4 seconds, causing enemy attacks to heal instead of dealing damage, and Stability for 25 seconds, which prevents Quixotic from applying. Also applies one stack of Order for 15 seconds, which decreases enemy outgoing damage by 8% and stacks to 5.
Type: Magical
MP: 30
Cooldown: 8 seconds

Passives

Servitude: Increases Haste by 20%
Resilience: Decreases incoming physical and magical damage by 15%
Oath of Order: Starting at rank 1, all attacks result in critical hits and can never miss.

Class Design and Use

This class was designed with the primary goal of supporting allies in mind, similar to classes like Bard and StoneCrusher. Its most notable buff is a +30% haste boost for the entire party, something only StoneCrusher could previously do. Lord of Order can also be used in conjunction with existing support classes with minimal buff overlap, as few classes provide group hit chance and critical hit damage buffs. When combined with classes that have high critical hit modifiers or classes that boost critical hit chance, the results can be devastating.

Additionally, this class occupies a sparsely-populated niche in PvP as an anti-dodge tank-- because its auto attack and final skill always result in critical hits that cannot miss, it ignores dodge boosts from classes like Great Thief, Chrono Assassin, Horc Evader, and the rare Blademaster series. When the aura Quixotic is applied to an enemy from the final skill, all their outgoing damage will heal enemies for four seconds-- when combined with its haste boost and low-cooldown heal, this class can outsustain many classes that fail to deal significant damage or carelessly use their strongest skills while affected by Quixotic (hint: in a group PvP where combat is ALREADY chaotic, your enemies may not realize you applied Quixotic until it’s too late). One drawback to Lord of Order in 1v1 is its mana sustainability, so stock up on mana potions if you’d like to increase your chances of winning!

October 16, 2019

Next Week: 2019 Achievement Tracker Rewards

The more you play, the more rewards you'll unlock!

Every time you log into AQWorlds, you've got some goal: meeting up with friends, ranking your newest class, or farming for the Blinding Light of Destiny. The sense of satisfaction when you accomplish that goal is one of the best things about playing AQW! But we want to give you even MORE rewards for playing... and that's where the Achievement Tracker comes in.

After 10 years of increasingly epic items (from pets to armor sets to map-sized houses and last year's exclusive class variant), when it came time to plan this year's Achievement Tracker rewards, we wanted to do something new. Something bigger. Something that we knew you guys would want.

Something that would let you choose your own reward. So this year, for the 11 years played achievement, we decided to give the gift of AdventureCoins... 1,000 AdventureCoins!

After yesterday's announcement, however, we realized we missed the mark, and hadn't given you what you really wanted. Based on many of your messages across our community platforms, we realize that, rather than AdventureCoins (which are useful but invisible) you're after a more tangible symbol of your time on Lore.

So, as of today, in addition to the 1,000 AdventureCoins you'll receive for unlocking the 11 Years Played Achievement, you'll also receive the Blades of Honor cape and weapon. 

A ring of bright swords will surround you while you battle, proclaiming to everyone who sees you in-game that YOU are among the elite of Lore.

NEW Achievement Tracker Rewards for 2019

• 10 years membership: Golden Item of Donated Awesomeness
• 750,000 ACs: Golden Item of Donated Awesomeness
• 11 years played: 1,000 AdventureCoins + Blades of Honor Cape and Sword (color-custom + bonus damage to all monsters)

How to unlock your rewards

The Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness entitles the owner to choose one free rare item from a prize pool, just like if you received it as a drop from the Wheel of Doom. Once you've unlocked the achievement, you'll find a badge shop in your Book of Lore with a free pet. Complete the pet's quest to unlock your free EIoDA and claim your prize.

The 1,000 free AdventureCoins will be automatically added to your account once you are eligible.

More NostalgiaQuest Gear Coming Soon

Keep an eye on next week's Design Notse for news about more items being added to the NostalgiaQuest zone. NostalgiaQuest is available to all players with the 8 years played achievement badge, and each year will get several new, very nostalgic items added to the zone.

What IS the Achievement Tracker?

If you're just hearing about the Achievement Tracker, it is one of the ways we reward you for staying, playing, and supporting AdventureQuest Worlds!

• Time Played Badges track how old your account is (1 week, 1 year, 5 years, etc)
• Sagas Completed Badges track which of the main storyline sagas you've finished
• Loyalty Badges tracks the support our Legends and AC buyers have contributed

Some of these rewards may take a while to unlock, but don't worry... they will never leave, so you can keep battling towards your goal!

• 3 different achievement categories: Sagas completed, Time Played, Loyalty
• 60+ badges and 200+ items
• 3 of the badges are NEW this year: 11 years played, 10 years membership, and 750,000 ACs
• 200+ permanent reward items for you to unlock, including the NEW gear below! 

And the best news: ALL of the progress you've ever made count towards the Achievement Tracker! 

How to unlock your rewards:

1. Once you see an achievement unlocked on your Tracker, head in-game
2. Open up your Book of Lore and go into the Achievements tab
3. Scroll through your badges until you find your new badge and its shop
4. Open the shop and get all the gear (0 ACs for free storage!)

Sagas Completed

Keep track of the main sagas in the 13 Lords of Chaos that you've completed! Grey badges mean you have yet to unlock the shop. Colored badges mean you can head in-game and find the reward shop in your Book of Lore!

• Prologue: Ascended Avatar's Blade
• Shadowfall: Shadow's Fang Gear
• Chiral Valley: Phoenix Hunter Set
• Dwarfhold: Mountain's Heart Gear
• Yokai: Amethyst Enchantment Gear
• Darkovia: Sapphire Enchantment Gear
• Mythsong: Rockstar Armor
• Arcangrove: Arcana Invoker
• Sandsea: Sun's Tear Gear
• Bloodtusk: Horcs Master Phoenix Hunter Set
• Bloodtusk: TrollsElite Phoenix Hunter Set
• The Span: Ruler of the Deep Set
• Thunderforge: Blood Summoner Set
• Swordhaven: Cyber Ruler Set
• Mirror Realm: Mirror Daimyo Pet
• Chaos Realm: Lore's Champion Set

Time Played 

Keep track of how old your account is... the longer you've been with us, the more rewards you get! Grey badges mean you have yet to unlock the shop. Colored badges mean you can head in-game and find the reward shop in your Book of Lore!

Time Played

• 1 week: Ornate Blade of Light
• 1 month: Hunter's Gear
• 3 months: Vasalkar's Champion Set
• 6 months: Emerald Emperor's General Set
• 12 months: Beastmaster Ravager 
• 15 months: DoomKnight Battlemage Set
• 2 years: Doomknight Shadowmage Set
• 3 years: Prismatic Laser Set
• 4 years: Bright Amadis Set
• 5 years: Cyber Dreadhaven General Set
• 6 years: Gravelyn's Champion Set
• 7 years: Light Mage armor set
• 8 years: NostalgiaQuest zone
• 9 years: Shadowfall Fortress House
• 10 years: Color-Custom Pirate class variant + set
• 11 years: 1,000 AdventureCoins + Blades of Honor items

Loyalty 

The heroes who support the game by purchasing memberships and AdventureCoins are the lifeblood of AQWorlds! Without them, we could not keep the servers running or so much of the game available to anyone who wants to sign up and play. To thank them, we have several inventories' full of exclusive gear!

Each of the items in the Loyalty Achievement category come with a bonus, special item animation... or both as our way of saying THANKS! 

What counts for the totals?

• Each month of membership you've purchased (total time purchased, not used)
• ACs included in membership packages you've purchased
• The 5k bonus AC add-on you can choose to add to membership packages
• Any regular AC packages you've purchased
• ACs earned through doing AExtras offers

• 1 month: Gandolphin Pet
• 2 months: Ultimate Flame Katana
• 3 months: Celestial Paladin Set
• 6 months: Illusionist Set 
• 9 months: Phoenix Armor
• 12 months: Elite Asgardian Set
• 15 months: Bitterblade Rogue Set
• 2 years: Chaos Watcher Armor
• 3 years: DragonSlayer Inquisitor Set
• 4 years: Jade Dragon Mage Set
• 5 years: Toxic Flame Biker Morph and house item
• 6 years: Nulgath Evolution set
• 7 years: Light Mage armor set
• 8 years: Swordhaven Castle house
• 9 years: Evolved Grenadier class variant + set
• 10 years: Bonus item of Donated Awesomeness

• 500 ACs: Floating Matrix Conduit Katana pet
• 2000 ACs: Blazing Chaos Gear
• 12000 ACs: Overclocked Techsuit Set
• 25000 ACs: Noxious Symbiote Armor
• 50000 ACs: Toxic Symbiote Armor
• 100,000 ACs: Necromancer Rising Set
• 200,000 ACs: Platinum GryphonRider Set
• 300,000 ACs: Swordhaven Mansion house
• 500,000 ACs: Brightfall Fortress House
• 750,000 ACs: Bonus Item of Donated Awesomeness

Achievement Tracker Rewards: The Whys and Whats

A "reward" is, by definition, something that must be earned. It's given in return for service, merit, hardship, etc.

• For players who unlock the "Time Played" badges, the achievement tracker gear is a reward for their dedication and stamina, for staying with our community.
• For players who unlock the "Sagas Completed" badges, the achievement tracker gear is a reward for their skill and drive to complete the many in-game sagas.
• For players who unlock the "Loyalty" badges, the achievement tracker gear is a reward for having the desire and ability to financially support the development of the game.

Achievement tracker gear is a bonus, an extra bit of "oomph" to make the act of reaching the goals even more awesome!

For those of you unlocking new achievements this year, I hope you enjoy your bonuses! For those of you who are SO CLOSE to beating that saga or reaching that anniversary, keep at it! For those of you who have helped allow us to continue updating each week, thank you for your support! 

Remember: none of the achievement tracker rewards go rare. If you can't get the thing you want today, it will still be here tomorrow, next month, and next year!

October 11, 2019

11th Birthday Mirror Realm Event

Battle to save Lycan Queen Safiria

For the AQWorlds Golden Anniversary (the 11th Anniversary celebrated on October 11th) this year, we've returned to the fan-favorite zone, the Mirror Realm! Where everything you know is reversed.* Log in this weekend and battle through the Shadow Void. Your goal: to find the trapped Lycan Queen Safiria, who was imprisoned by the Queen of Monsters during the last Mirror Realm birthday event. With Vampire Queen Safiria back in OUR world, the Lycan Queen must be returned to stabilize the realms.

* At this point, it's tradition to do a Mirror Realm birthday event every couple of years.

Mirror Realm Rewards

All-new farmable rewards are headed your way this weekend as we launch our 11th Anniversary story event in the Mirror Realm! Battle through the story and take down the bosses to unlock these bright (and dark) rewards! These items and the maps are permanently available.

Golden Birthday Hero Badge

Unlock the Golden Birthday Hero character page badge by logging in any time until November 1st, 2019!** We're celebrating our 11th anniversary all month long with free gifts, shiny rewards and new stories. Thank you for being a part of this special event. We couldn't make our games without your love and support.

Anniversary Gift: AdventureCoins and Slots

Last Friday, we started giving out the first of our 11th anniversary gifts: 500 Free AdventureCoins to all our active heroes!* Log in and you'll find your ACs added directly to your account. That means we are giving away over 190,000,000 free AdventureCoins!

Plus, this weekend you'll be able to unlock your FREE inventory, bank, and house inventory spaces!**

• 10 free Item Inventory spaces, 10 free Bank spaces, and 10 free House Inventory spaces
• The max number of buyable slots available will increase to: 260 Item Inventory spaces, 310 Bank spaces, 135 House Inventory spaces

* Note: accounts must have logged in within the last 3 months to get the free spaces.
** Note 2: the Golden Hero character page badge and free slots will be awarded on your first login of the day. If you logged into AQWorlds before the release tonight, you will receive your slots the next time you log in, starting tomorrow.