Design Notes

November 29, 2024

New Black Friday Rares

Our Black Friday 2024 Collection Levels Up

Our Black Friday 2024 Collection, featuring a backpack FULL of new Black Friday and Cyber Monday rares, is now available in Battleon! Find over 200 dark variants of your favorite gear in Quibble's shop right now. If you're a collector or rare hunter, pick up the Black Friday Collection Chest to get ALL of the event rares and a character page badge for 10,000 AdventureCoins!

New to the Rares Shop and Collection this week:

• Obsidian Celestial Guardian armor + accessories*
• Cyber Hamster Server armor
• Cyber EbilCorp's Muscles armor
• Cyber Dragon Warrior armor + accessories 
• Anti-Kaiju Agent armor + accessories 
• Apocalypse Mecha OMGZilla pet (color-custom + calls animated FX)
• Apocalypse Mecha OMGZilla Battle Pet (color-custom)
• Multiverse Overdrive Traveller armor + accessories
• Reality Breaker armor + accessories

Check out Quibble's Black Friday Rares Shop to find:

• Exclusive Black Friday 2024 Collection Chest cape to unlock the full collection shop
• Cyber Assassin of Shadows set
• Fiendish Cyber Shinobi set
• Dark Crystallis Delinquent set
• Obsidian Dragon Ronin of OverSoul
• Cyber ShadowMage Assassin set
• Cyber DeathRider (Mount + Walking armors)
• Cyber Necro Snake armor
• Dark Doomwood DragonKnight set
• Dark Monday King armor, helm, and weapon
• Dark Priest of the Ignited Ones
• Umbral Constantine Bank pet
• Neon DrAEgon Bank pet
• Obsidian Void Dragon pet
• Cyber Matrix of Revontheus
• Cyber Shadow Assassin's Puppeteer an Blade
• Dark DragonKnight Guard floor item
• Parked Cyber DeathRider Bike floor item
• Obsidian Darkblood of Nulgath items
• Obsidian Paladin Commander items 
• Shadow Centaur Lord set
• Dark Glaceran Warlord Class, armor, and items
• Queen Iona's Funery Attire armor + helm
• floating Shadowed Iona Companion Bank pet
• Cyber + Shadow General Neesha sets
• Dark Doctor What + Onyx Unicorn Crooner armors

This is the final update to the Black Friday Collection Chest. Earlier in the month, several sets were shown by NCS which have not released (including the Cyber Drakath Prime and Empyrean Void), but those have been shifted to next year, as we needed to make additional changes to the art.

* Obsidian Celestial Protector armor file crashed yesterday. It will be remade and released ASAP.

And don't miss what we've got planned for the rest of the collection update! 

New Party Star Set!

Parties are where everyone can forget the stress of the real world and just... /DANCE. Get your /rave on together with Despera's RBG-inspired Party Star set. Rare variants in Quibble's shop & collection chest. 0 AC drops from Twilly's Chest and Doom Merge shop.

The set includes:

• Party Night Star Armor
• Party Night Morph & Visage
• Party Night Beret (male + female) 
• Rave Crystal cape
• Iridescent Star Tail
• Neon Stage ground rune
• Iridescent Party Flames 

Just want a couple of the items listed above? Apart from the exclusive pets, all of the gear contained inside the Black Friday Collection Chest shop will also be available to buy individually in Quibble's Event shop.

Black Friday 2024 Collection Notes

Read on for important notes about this year's collection.

• All of this year's event rare items are available individually from the Black Friday Shop in your game menu until the event leaves December 10th.
• The Hollowborn Collection Chest is a seasonal item and will not be included in the Black Friday Collection Chest.
• If you purchased the Centaur Lord or Darkblood of Nulgath Upgrade Packs you will find the Obsidian variants for free in your Book of Lore shop once they arrive in the collection later this month. 
• Additional items will arrive next week as reward drops alongside our Black Friday update.

HollowBorn Collection Chest Returns

The Hollowborn Evoker set, created for Black Friday by AQW Community artist, Yo Lae, is a Black Friday seasonal collection chest. Unlock a TON of dark, deadly items for 5,000 AdventureCoins when you get the Hollowborn Chest pet (items available in the pet's shop).

The Hollowborn Collection includes:

• Hollowborn Collection chest pet (has shop for all the gear)
• Hollowborn Lightning pet (with quest for character page badge)

The Hollowborn Chest is seasonal, and will return every Black Friday. (Please note, the Hollowborn Chest does not receive new items each year.)

November 29, 2024

Phantom Chronomancer Class

Reap Your Rewards

Introducing the Phantom Chronomancer class, the newest addition to AdventureQuest Worlds! Unlock the class, armor set, and character page badge when you get the 2025 Poster calendar. You can pre-order your 2025 Calendar NOW from HeroMart. A version will be added to the in-game HeroMart map in the later half of 2025 for HeroPoints or AdventureCoins.

This year's calendar class combines time and death to create a dodge based calendar class that can dish out large amounts of damage.

Phantom Chronomancer Details

Description
Recommended enhancement: Wizard. When a Chronomancer refuses to die a natural death, a Phantom Chronomancer pays them a visit, carrying out their execution by draining them of their temporal powers.

Stat Model
Power Caster

Mana Regen
The Phantom Chronomancer gains mana when they:

• Strike an enemy in combat (more effective on crits)
• Are struck by an enemy in combat

Combat Skills

The Clock is Ticking

Rank needed: 1 / Auto Attack
Target: Enemy
Max Targets: 1
Type: 40% - 280% Magical as Physical, static
Range: Medium
Cooldown: 1.8 seconds

Swing your scythe at your opponent, dealing unavoidable damage while applying No Escape From Death, reducing their Dodge by 30%, outgoing damage by 20%, and Crit Chance by 15% for 20 seconds. Damage dealt is based on the number of Seconds to Midnight stacks you have. 

An Auto Attack, but with a Scythe (and some hefty target debuffs)!

Reaping Rift

Rank needed: 1
Target: Enemy
Max Targets: 1
Type: 40% Magical
Range: Medium
Mana Cost: 4
Cooldown: 3 seconds

Harvest your opponent's time to use against them. Applies Temporal Rift for 10 seconds, which stacks to 4 and is used by your other abilities.

If Death Sentence is active, it's consumed to apply Guillotine, reducing your opponent's Physical and Magical Resistance by 45% for 12 seconds.

The calendar class special, Temporal Rift. Stack this up, and you'll be doing lots of damage in no time. This skill also has an added effect of debuffing your target's resistance stats when certain conditions are met.

The Clock Strikes at Midnight

Rank needed: 2
Target: Enemy
Max Targets: 1
Type: 55% - 385% Magical, static
Range: Long
Mana Cost: 10
Cooldown: 3 seconds

Begin the countdown to your opponent's demise. Applies Seconds to Midnight for 12 seconds, increasing the damage of each successive hit of this skill, up to 4 times. 

If Death Sentence is active, it's consumed to apply Impalement, increasing your outgoing damage by 20% for 12 seconds.

A fairly straightforward skill. The more you use it, the more damage it deals to contribute to your rift collapse skill. If Death Sentence is up, you'll also receive a nice boost to your damage output!

Final Hours

Rank needed: 3
Target: Enemy
Max Targets: 1
Type: 290% Physical as Magical, static
Range: Long
Mana Cost: 45
Cooldown: 3 seconds

An unavoidable attack that signals the end for your opponent. If you don't have Temporal Rift, you Enshroud your presence, increasing your Dodge by 40% while healing you over time for 10 seconds.

If you have 4 stacks of Seconds to Midnight, applies Death Sentence, increasing your Crit Chance by 30% for 3 seconds.

A very expensive skill mana cost wise, but arguably your most important one. Firstly, using this skill while you don't have Temporal Rift grants you 40% Dodge, which is enough to max out your Dodge when paired with certain enhancement traits, and an HoT which is this class' only source of healing. Secondly, when you have 4 stacks of Seconds to Midnight and use this skill, you'll get the Death Sentence aura, which can either be used to increase the likelihood of your rift collapse skill critting, or can be consumed with Reaping Rift or Seconds to Midnight to apply a powerful effect, allowing for even more damage to be done. If you have enough mana to spare, you can benefit from multiple effects at the same time! 

Time of Death

Rank needed: 5
Target: Enemy
Max Targets: 1
Type: 8% - 24% recorded damage as Magical
Range: Long
Mana Cost: 0
Cooldown: 12 seconds

Carry out your opponent's execution, dealing damage based on the amount you've dealt in the last 10 seconds while Temporal Rift was active. Damage scales with each stack of Temporal Rift and consumes those stacks. Removes Seconds to Midnight and Death Sentence.

Last but not least, the rift collapse skill. The more damage you deal while under the effect of Temporal Rift, the more damage this skill does. When you use this skill, it consumes your Temporal Rift and Seconds to Midnight stacks, so if you want to want to balance your Dodge chance upkeep with your damage output, you might want to use this skill sooner than later.

Passive Skills

Sharpened Scythe 

Rank needed: 4
Type: Passive
Hit Chance and Crit Chance increased by 10%.

A Swift Death

Rank needed: 4
Type: Passive
Haste and Dodge increased by 20%.

Harvested Time

Rank needed: 10
Type: Passive
Outgoing magic damage increased by 25%.

Conclusion

Phantom Chronomancer has a fairly straightforward playstyle that involves balancing your dodge upkeep with your damage output. When you max out your Temporal Rift and Seconds to Midnight stacks, you can use Time of Death out the door to deal a fair amount of damage and refresh your Dodge buff reliably, or you can build your Time of Death damage even higher by applying your Guillotine and Impalement auras first, but at a severe cost to mana while also risking your dodge upkeep.

November 29, 2024

Black Friday 2024: OMG UPDATE

Dark New Rewards, Hollowborn Boss, & Doom Merge

It's the darkest time of the year, and that means new Black Friday rewards are here! All heroes can battle monsters in /blackfridaywar for new rewards. For heroes eager to test their might... we've got new a new boss battle ready for you: take on the Hollowborn DragonLord. Read on for more details or charge into battle now!

New game release

Live at Midnight:

• Reward drops from the DealBot 2.0 and Executive Vordred monsters in /blackfridaywar 
• Reward drops from the Ebil Mech Dragon in /ebilmech
• Dark ArchFiend Cloak of Nulgath in the Diamond Merge Shop

Now Available:

• Hollowborn DragonLord boss in /hbchallenge (level 65+ recommended)
• Shadow Raider drops from the DealBot 2.0 in /blackfridaywar
• Party Night Star set from Quibble's Shop / Chest, Twilly's Treasure Chest, and the Wheel of Doom Merge Shop
• Black Friday 2024 Collection update: 60+ new items
• Frostval 2024 Gifting Event Opt-in Quest

Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts

• Server Boost: double Rep, Class Points, Gold, XP
• Saturday: rare Dawk Pet from the BOGODrone Prime and Dark Dragon statues from /hbchallenge
• Sunday: Dawn Sanctum house items from Gramiel in /dawnsanctum

Hollowborn Rewards

New trials await, born from blood and darkness and insanity. Talk to Akaries, the Hollowborn Dragon, and aid him in bringing his DragonLord back to the battle companion he knew so well. Help him, and your rewards will be mighty enough to grace any dragon's hoard. 

Nameless DragonLord Drops:

• Drake Stingers
• Drake Flamberge
• DragonKnight Armet
• DragonBerserker Helm + Visor
• DragonLord Cloak
• DragonBlood Blade

Akaries's Merge Shop:

• Hollowborn WyvernSlayer armor
• Noble Hollowborn DragonKnight armor
• Noble Hollowborn Dragonlord armor
• Hollowborn DragonBerserker armor
• Hollowborn DragonBulwark armor
• Plumed + Noble Hollowborn Dragonknight Armets
• Hollowborn DragonBerserker Helms: Noble, Plumed, Fury, Plated, and Rage Helms
• Hollowborn Dragon's Curse
• Hollowborn Drake Halberd
• Hollowborn DragonLord Masterblade

These rewards are permanently available, so if you need to level up to take these evil opponents down, never fear... you've got time!

Post-Update Fixes and Additions

In the craziness of the short week, getting the midnight update live, and preparing to leave again for another family-related trip, I left a few things off the team's list to add into tonight's release. 

1) Adding two new houses to the Centaur 21 shop - DONE
2) Adding Party Star set to Quibble's Shop, Chest, and Twilly's Treasure Chest - DONE
3) Adding missing Obsidian Capes and helms to the collection chest + Quibble's shop - DONE
4) Armor fixes for Shadow Raider (released) + Obsidian Celestial Protector (not released yet) - In progress

Dark Holiday AdventureCoin Bonus

If you're gearing up for the holidays, this is the best time to check out our Holiday AC bonus so you don't miss a thing. Get 50% more FREE bonus AdventureCoins with any AC or Membership pack.

November 29, 2024

Chilly's 2024 Frostval Gifting Event

The Event begins December 6th. Signup Quest Now Available.

Chilly wants to help you and ALL the heroes of Lore have the merriest Frostval EVER, and he's back in Battleon NOW! Complete his Gifting Participation quest so your character can give or receive AdventureCoins from other heroes once our Holiday AdventureCoin Gifting event begins this Friday. The seasonal Generosity Coin merge shop is ALSO back, for anyone looking to spend last year's coins now. Read on for more news about what the event is, how it works, and what to expect.

One of the best parts of our videogame community is seeing heroes helping each other. Some help new players in-game, and many others will host activities, scavenger hunts, or do Artix Point giveaways on social media. We want to help bring that spirit of giving in-game.

How to Participate

1. Complete Chilly's quest to participate in the event

Choose which of your accounts can receive donations by having them complete Chilly's Quest (or not). 

Quest Requirements:

• Account is level 30+
• Confirm your email address 

Need help confirming your email address? Check out the Support Page for more exact steps.

2. Log in and talk to Chilly

Once the event begins on December 6th, your character will be ready to give or receive AdventureCoins!

Frostval Gifting FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

What are the requirements to donate a gift?

• Complete opt-in quest

What are the requirements to receive a gift?

• Account at least 2 weeks old OR donate ACs
• Online in last 24 hours
• Verified email
• Complete opt-in quest

How much can I donate per day? 
There is no limit to how many times you can donate each day. (There is a limit on how many upgrade packs an account can buy each day.)

How much can I win each day? 
There is no limit to how many times in a day you can receive a random AC gift.

Can I choose who gets my donation? 

Nope! In the spirit of the season, your gift will go to a random eligible hero. Make someone's day bright... even if you don't know who they are!

Can staff accounts get on the leaderboard or give to players? 
Nope! Team members' staff accounts can only give to other staff accounts. They will not appear on the public leaderboard. Team members' normal (regular player) accounts can give to other players and may appear on the leaderboard.

How will I be notified if I get a gift? 
You'll see a message when you login if you've received a gift since your last login note

What are the reward tiers? Will they go rare?
Find more details on the reward tiers this Friday! Tier rewards will go rare, while the generosity shop gear is seasonal. New gear will be added this year.

Notes about this year's rewards and tiers:

How long will this be available? 
Through January 7th, prizes to be awarded on Jan 8th.

Does the amount of AC donated affect your merge coins received per donation? 
You can get a max of 1 Generosity Coin per day, awarded the first time you donate for the day. Every donation you make will contribute to your reward milestones total.

So, is this REALLY totally random? 
It really is! The game will look for any eligible account on any server and will randomly choose who to give your prize to. You cannot specify which character will get your ACs.

What if I'm offline? 
The game will look for any account that was logged in within the last 24 hours. If you aren't online when you get a gift, it will still be added to your account the next time you log in.

When do I get notified? 
There are currently a few ways of being notified you received a gift: when doing battles or switching maps in-game, or when you log in. 

What if I make a mistake and donate the wrong amount? 
The game will ask you each time if you’re sure you want to donate that amount. We cannot give refunds for incorrect donations, so please check and double-check before you hit the donate button and before you confirm the donation amount.

What if I pick the wrong item in the Generosity Shop? Can I get my Generosity Coin back? 
We cannot give refunds for Generosity Coin shop purchases, so please check and double-check before you spend a GC on an item in the merge shop. 

Can I see how much I've donated, or how much I've received? 
Yes! Log in to your account manager to see your gifts and what you've given.

November 26, 2024

Player Housing Spotlight: Showcasing Your Amazing Creations

Celebrating the Creativity of our Community 

Player housing is much more than just a fan-favorite feature in Artix Entertainment games – it’s an infinite canvas for creativity and storytelling! From cozy cottages to sprawling cities to crazy cars made entirely out of couches (yup, that exists in AQ3D), our players have built incredible homes that reflect their personalities and passions and… probably some secret obsession of stacking chairs in ridiculous ways. This is why we are thrilled to launch our Player Housing Spotlight, a new initiative to shine a light on the best and most unique player-built spaces in AQ3D, AQW, and ED.

But this isn’t a contest per se – it’s a celebration of the amazing imagination and hard work from our fantastic family of gamers from all around the world! So if you’ve crafted a house you’re proud of – oooor just want any excuse to show off your masterpiece, be it majestic or meme-worthy or mystifyingly bonkers – this is ~your~ moment to shine!

What We're Looking For

We want to see your most incredible housing creations! Whether it’s a seasonal-themed manor, a seaside mansion, a house with a serious Moglin infestation, a dragon made entirely of teddy bears, a floating castle that rains gold coins, a house shaped like a teapot, a house that looks like a sandwich, a sandwich that looks like a house, a home filled with memes, a home MADE of memes, a dungeon disco aka a Knightclub, or really truly any place that tells a story, we’re here to see ~and~ celebrate your creativity!

Submissions should include:​

• 🔢 At least 4 screenshots of your house or housing creation
• 👑 Your character name
• 🪧 Your house name
• 🐲 Your server (if applicable)
• 🗓️ The year your house was built
• 💁‍♀️ Did anyone help build your house with you? Shoutout to your friends!
• 📚 A short story about your creation. What inspired it? Did something funny or unexpected happen while building it? Is there any lore / story around your build, or are you just a mad lad with big brain energy unable to control your boundless imagination?!
• 📝 Any other fun facts you’d like to share? Such as, “this took me 100 hours!” or “I used 5000 items and nearly broke the game!” etc, etc.

📸 Already have screenshots of your humble abodes or heroic architecture? Awesome – send them our way! Or take new ones to showcase your latest masterpiece. Or hecc, why not both!!

Where to Enter?

Discord 👾 or in the comments on Artix.com 🐲 

The Grand Prize? Community Recognition!

The real reward here is having your imaginative house featured on the Design Notes for the whole world to see! (so long as they see my shoutout on Twitter, ofc.) Being spotlighted on the DNs and Socials isn’t about winning; it’s about celebrating the incredible creativity of our players. Seeing your house on the Design Notes is a badge of honor that shows our spectacular community – and unsuspecting onlookers – what makes you and your creation so special.

The Player Housing Spotlight is all about showcasing the talent and passion of our wonderful players. You all NEVER cease to amaze us! We cannot wait to see your builds and hear the stories behind them! From hilarious mishaps to heartfelt inspirations, every house tells a tale, and we’re here to share it all with the world.

Ready to show off your home? Send us your screenshots and details for a chance to be featured on the Design Notes! 

What are you waiting for? Let’s build something amazing together!

…and by that I mean, YOU build something amazing, and I’ll post about it on the DNs :p

Battle on!
Beleen and the Artix Entertainment team

👾 Housing Spotlight Discord channel here

~or~

Upload your screenies & story to this Artix.com DN post

November 22, 2024

This Weekend: Hollowborn Saga Update

Chapter 3.5: Dawn Sanctum's Light

This weekend, your inevitable confrontation with Gramiel, the insane zealot, is almost upon you. His Dawn Vindicator army fights to prove the supremacy of humans, to destroy evil spawned in the wake of monsters, and in the name of... a Hollowborn Minx?! This weekend, fight to discover the truth of the Shadow Fiend. All will be revealed when the light of the heavens goes dark.

New Game Update

• New Story: chapter 3.5 of the Hollowborn Saga in the Dawn Sanctum
• Rewards: new Vindicator rewards... in shadow 
• Twilly's Treasure Chest: Black Light Party armor
• New Rares: Quibble Coinbiter's 2024 Black Friday shop update

Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts

• Server Boost: Get double EXP / Gold / Rep /Class Points until Monday!
• Saturday: Celebrate Wolfenoot with the Galactic Wolf pet, battle pet & house guard until December 14th!
• Sunday: Battle the boss in the Shadow Realm for the rare Shadow of Vengeance house guard* until December 31st!

For the Dawn Vindicators seek to purge beasts of all forms from Lore in the name of our Master's lost love. When the last of the fiend's fall, the world will finally become the sacred garden it was meant to be. A garden for the human race. - Genevieve, Dawn Vindicator Flag Bearer

Dawn Vindicator Gear

Whether you live in the light or prefer to fight through the shadows... we've got a host of new reward gear for you! If you've completed chapters 1, 2, and head to the /DawnSanctum map. Complete the story update, then battle monsters to collect drops and merge shop resources to make 6 new armor sets! 

New DawnSanctum Merge Shop Sets

New NeoTower Drops

The Hollowborn Saga

Chapter 1: Dawn vs Shadow 

 Explore the background Lae, First of the Hollowborn. He needs your help to save the villagers of a town where many of his brethren lived, died, and were reborn. The threat? A group of knights investigating rumors of a young girl possessed by a malicious spirit. The Dawn Vindicators dedicated to rooting out the evil and spreading their truth... at any cost.

Begin the adventure in /trygve.

Chapter 2: Vindication of Light 

 Your mission: infiltrate the Dawn Vindicator's fortress to villagers kidnapped by Lord Gramiel's soldiers. Keep to the shadows to avoid detection, search for the villagers, and get out alive. Be wary, Hero... something is not right here. There is darkness hidden inside the light.

Continue the adventure in /neofortress.

Have you explored the Hollowborn Faction yet?

A faction of warriors (or creatures?... or both?!) exists among the shadows of that dark realm. Known only as the Hollowborn, they appear to be lead by man named Lae. We do not know much about him... Yet. If you aren't familiar with them, find Kaselbel in the /shadowrealm and complete her quests to earn Hollowborn Rep and to unlock dark rewards in the merge shop. 

• Hollowborn Thunderlord armor set
• Hollowborn Vampire armor set
• and more gear to come in the future

Once you find the enigmatic Lae, if you can convince him to talk, he'll tell you of a deep, dark fortress. Travel there and you'll find a series of quests that only the highest leveled heroes should begin. Complete them to unlock the exclusive Hollowborn Paladin armor set.

Stay up to date with new release plans and boosts on the Artix Calendar and see what the latest Bug Fixes and Balance Changes are in their patch notes.