Design Notes
January 05, 2024
Triple Artist Birthday Month
Celebrate Birthdays for Nulgath, Crulon, and Hikari and more!
This month, we're celebrating the new year and a host of AE team member birthdays! We kick off the gift-off with an all-new boss battle from Crulon, the Djinn Realm Guardian. Plus, find Nulgath, Hikari, Axeros, and more AQWorlds team members in the /eventhub. The adventures will continue all month long, so gear up and get ready to /SLAY! Whether you are a fan of light gear, dark adventures, or everything in-between, this week has something new for you to do!
New game release
- New Djinn Realm boss battle and treasure trove shop
- Quality of life updates in /tercessuinotlim
- Wrath of Nulgath upgrade bonus set
- January holiday events and NPC birthdays in /eventhub
Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts
- Server Boost: Double Rep boosts
- Resource Boost: Spirit Orbs
- Saturday: Sphinx's Secret Axe from the Chaos Sphinx in /sandcastle
- Sunday: Sky Splitter Scepter Mace from Sobekemsaph in /crocriver
Djeba's Treasures
Unlock a treasure trove of bright new rewards from Crulon in /crocriver by defeating the Lord of the Oasis, Sobekemsaph. Talk to Djeba for a merge shop full of golden artifacts and equippable items. Then check out the /eventhub to easily find all our January seasonal holiday + team member events and shops.
CrocRiver Merge Shop
- Sphinx Sentinel armor
- Sphinx Commander, Sentinel, and Desher Helms
- Sphinx Sentinel Cape and Blades
- Desert Black Moon Blade (single + dual-wield)
- Criosphinx Sun Sword (single + dual-wield)
- Noble Anubian Overseer armor
- Noble Anubian Helms
- Anubian Skyfall Spear + Resting Skyfall Spear
- Noble Anubian Tail, Keys of Life, and combined capes
- Oasis Storm Armblade (single + dual-wield)
CrocRiver Monster Drops
- Sobekemsaph Guard
- Sphinx Sentinel Helm
- Sheathed Black Moon Blades
- Sphinx Sentinel Cape
Guardian of the Djinn Realm: Dream Palace
A fabulous palace appeared in the Djinn Realm, as if from someone’s dream. Log in and explore /dreampalace to see what treasures it holds!
Great ready to...
- /join dreampalace and take down a series of all-new minibosses
- Continue battling until you their unique weapon drops then quest to level them up into even more mystical versions
- Create versions of the boss armor sets in Crulon's Dream Palace merge shop
- Battle Zahad to collect the Midnight Dream Palace house and a host of dreamy house items
- Find the DayDream Palace House in the /buyhouse map to get a daytime variant with a bank frame
Being a Djinn Guardian, you come across a LOT of mystical chests. Several years ago, Crulon found one locked with three magical seals. Decipher his riddles, locate the monsters, and fight to get the seals you need.
Talk to him in /djinn to begin his quests. Complete his Seal of Approval quest and to collect the pieces of the Serpent Knight gear. Find his Sandsea Enchanter set in his birthday shop or the Featured Gear shop in your game menu.
Nulgath Map and Quest Updates
Hello everyone, Immortal Joe here. Once again, Nulgath's birthday is upon us, and to kick things off, some big changes have been made to the /tercessuinotlim map and the way Essence of Nulgath is obtained! First, I'll go over the "what" in case you're short on time or eager to get into battle. Then I'll delve into the "why" for inquiring minds.
Major changes
- Two new quests to introduce heroes to Nulgath + reduce confusion
- Hiding NPCs until new heroes have explored the zone and talked to Nulgath
How to Unlock the Tercessuinotlim map + NPCs
- Complete the Grand Inquisitor's Penance quest from Murry in /citadel.
This allows you to access the portal room. If you've already completed this quest, you don't need to do it again. - Enter the portal room in /citadel. Complete the new quest that appears above the monster in this room.
This allows you to access the /tercessuinotlim map, and will let you use the /join command. - Find Nulgath in /tercessuinotlim and complete his new quest.
This unlocks access to all of the NPCs in the zone.
Note: These must be completed in order to access the Tercessuinotlim map and the NPCs within, even if you've been in the map before.
And now... the reason for the changes after so many years. One of the most notable changes is the inclusion of two new quests that serve as an introduction to Nulgath. With the introduction of additional NPCs to /tercessuinotlim over the years and the fact that Nulgath is located deep in the map, we found that most heroes would first encounter other NPCs before Nulgath and get confused as to what the objective of the area was.
This update aims to alleviate that confusion by adding a clearer direction on what to do upon entering the map. For starters, upon entering /tercessuinotlim for the first time, all NPCs except Oblivion are hidden until Nulgath is spoken to first, with Oblivion initially serving as a sort of guide that tells the hero to find Nulgath. Once Nulgath is found and spoken to, all NPCs become accessible as they were previously.
Nulgath Introduction Quests
The following quests have been added:
- Beyond the Portal: Defeat Death's Head to unlock the /tercessuinotlim map.
- Contract With the Abyss: Simply accept and turn in to unlock the /tercessuinotlim NPCs.
Citadel Updates
- The Grand Inquisitor's Penance quest now rewards a misc item that acts as a guide toward the portal room. This item serves no other purpose.
- In order to enter the portal room, the Grand Inquisitor's Penance quest from Murry now must be completed.
- Bone Dust is no longer required to enter the portal room.
- Death's Head has been added to the portal room and their HP and damage has been increased.
- Added a new quest called "Beyond the Portal" to Death's Head. Completing this quest unlocks access to the /tercessuinotlim map.
- Casparilla has been relocated to /tercessuinotlim.
- The Hologram of Polish NPC will no longer appear until the Contract With the Abyss quest has been completed.
Tercessuinotlim Updates
- The map can now be accessed with the /join command after completing the Beyond the Portal quest.
- Death's Head has been promoted to portal guard and has been replaced with a Dark Makai.
- Shadow of Nulgath has evolved (it's a late bloomer!), level reduced to 50.
- Oblivion has been moved (back) to the entrance and has been given new introductory dialogue.
- In the "maze of caves" section, the rocks on the ground have been rearranged to guide towards the correct path to Nulgath.
- Added introductory dialogue and explanation text to Nulgath.
- Added a new quest called "Contract With the Abyss" to Nulgath. Rewards x1 Unidentified 13 upon completion, can only be completed once.
- All NPCs in the map except Nulgath and Oblivion can't be interacted with until the Contract With the Abyss quest has been completed.
- Polish's dialogue boxes now mirror the ones they use in /cragglerock.
- NPCs that required progression in quest chains such as /lair and /dwarfhold in order to speak with them no longer require the completion of those quests.
- Some cave entrances now lead to different rooms.
- Casparilla has been moved to the room with Yin and Yang.
Essence of Nulgath and Totem of Nulgath
Several new ways to obtain Essence of Nulgath and Totem of Nulgath have been added!
- Essence of Nulgath now has a 5% chance to drop from the "The Assistant" quest.
- Essence of Nulgath now has a 10% chance to drop from the "Supplies to Spin the Wheel of Chance" quests.
- Essence of Nulgath now has a 20% chance to drop from the "Nulgath (Larvae)" quest.
- Nulgath now has a chance to drop Essence of Nulgath.
- Dark Makai are no longer aggressive when respawning in the /tercessuinotlim and /nulgath maps.
- Totem of Nulgath x1 can now be purchased from Swindle's Ripoff Emporium for Receipt of Swindle x3 and Unidentified 10 x50.
- Totem of Nulgath x2 is now available as a choice reward from the Wrong Turn at Voidbuquerque quest.
Enchanted Nulgath Nation House
- The house portal no longer takes the user to the /citadel bone room. Instead, it now opens a menu that allows the user to choose from a list of select /tercessuinotlim NPCs to directly teleport to (house owner only).
- The Nulgath NPC no longer appears in the house.
Nulgath Update Follow Up (January 9th)
Based on your feedback, some followup changes have been made in regards to the Nulgath update last week Notable changes include the readdition of the Nulgath NPC in the Enchanted Nulgath Nation House and an adjustment to the maze of caves in /tercessuinotlim. There may also be a couple more Nulgath related changes on Friday, so stay tuned!
Tercessuinotlim Updates
- The Lair quest requirements have been removed from Swindle Bilk.
- The Tainted Elemental has replaced the Dark Makai in the room with the Evil Elemental.
- Shadow of Nulgath has evolved (it's a late bloomer!), level reduced to 50.In the "maze of caves" section, the rocks on the ground have been removed so that the way forward is no longer obvious. Instead, taking the wrong path has now been made more apparent (he he he). This change should be more fitting for the mighty ArchFiend!
Houses
- In the regular Nulgath Nation House, Bone Dust is no longer required for the portal room.
- In the Enchanted Nulgath Nation house, the Nulgath NPC has been readded and updated to match the NPC in /tercessuinotlim.
- In the Enchanted Nulgath Nation house, a Nulgath House Guard has been added as a reward to the Void Destroyer Diamond Quest. Owners can click on it to travel directly to Nulgath in /tercessuinotlim.