Design Notes

May 17, 2019

Shadows of War: Teja the Pirate Queen

Quest to Ally with the Pirate Queen

The War of Shadows is far from over. Malgor, the leader of the ShadowFlame Army, brought an army to your world. He said YOU were responsible for the Queen of Monsters's death. He sees you as a threat, and was ready to imprison you if you did not agree to help him. All of these facts point to one thing... Shadowlord Malgor cannot be trusted. 

After all of the chaos the Queen of Monsters wreaked, it is clear that you cannot sit back and deal with smaller threats to the world. That means we need to start gathering two things NOW: allies and power.

You have already added Varga, Goddess of War, to your party, and reawakened a small part of your power again. But you will need to hone it further before you will be able to reach all of the people we need. Some of them are quite far from us in time, or in space, or both.

This week, we start close to home. Varga has tasked you with a quest: to recruit Teja, the Pirate Queen of the southern seas. 

• She is known for being fearless, and loyal to her crew.
• She put out her own eye, and had it alchemically transformed into an enchanted gemstone orb that turns people to stone.
• Malgor is wants her to be his ally... which means there must be a VERY good reason to prevent that.

This week, you'll need to fight to earn the trust of Teja the Pirate Queen and avoid becoming HER captive.

BlackSea Booty

Battle through tonight's story update in Granite Cove to unlock the pieces of the BlackSea Pirate, BlackSea Captain, and BloodSea Captain armor sets!

• Blacksea Pirate set drops from monsters in this week's zone
• Blacksea Captain set drops from this week's boss monster
• Bloodsea Captain set and Blacksea Pirate Disguise are available from a shop after completing the story

Teja's Story Continues...

Before you met her, Shadowlord Malgor convinced Teja the Pirate Queen that it was in her best interest to capture you. That allying with him was the only way she could guarantee clear skies and safe sailing for her crew. Next week, log in and fight to understand WHY Shadowlord Malgor wanted Pirate Queen Teja on his side.

May 17, 2019

New: Void Pirate Armor Sets

Available in the Wheel of Doom merge shop!

The Wheel of Doom spins round and round... and this week, as we quest to gain our first ally against Malgor the ShadowLord, we have an all-new set for the Wheel of Doom: the Void Pirate armors! 

Find the gear in the Wheel of Doom merge shop! 

• Void Pirate Destroyer armor
• Void Pirate armor
• Void Pirate's Hood
• Void Pirate's Dagger
• Void Pirate's Cutlass
• Void Pirate's Anchor cape
• Void Destroyer's Blade

Get your Free Spins

Everyone loves to get prizes... and that's why we brought back back free spins for the Wheel of Doom!

• Members get one free spin a day while their upgrade is active
• All players get one free spin a week. 

See the Free Spins Design Notes for more details.

Platinum Item of Donated Awesomeness

We've gotten a lot of really positive feedback after introducing the free spins... but also a lot of you who wanted 1) a way to make sure you got an Item of Donated Awesomeness and 2) kept spinning in a quest to get the Epic Item of Donated Awesomeness to drop from the Wheel... and then not didn't get it.

That's why we introduced the Platinum Item of Donated Awesomeness. This item is available from the Doom Merge Shop, so even if you don't receive the EIoDA as a bonus prize, you can save up your Treasure Potions and get the PIoDA.

Important Points

• The PIoDA will be a Wheel of Doom merge shop exclusive. 
• Cost: 1,000 Treasure Potions. 
• You can get both the EIoDA (from the Wheel) and the PIoDA (from the merge shop)
• The PIoDA currently stacks up to x5. We are currently planning to raise the cap later this year.

At a cost of 1,000 Treasure Potions, that means a member who ONLY uses their one free spin per day/week will need to log in every day for about 2.5 years to get it... but they WILL get it eventually. 

* Exceptions include staff personal items, custom weapon contest prizes, HeroMart items, etc

Infernal Shadow Lord set changes

Earlier this year, we added the Infernal Shadow Lord armor set into the Wheel of Doom. Due to an issue with the armor's set-up, duplicate versions of it were dropping for a short time. We have removed the entire set from the Wheel of Doom. It is now only available through the Wheel of Doom merge shop.

May 10, 2019

Tonight: A Game of Groans

Arena Battles are Coming...

This weekend, we celebrate Mother's Day... and the next episode of Game of Thrones. The Mother of Dragons (Danaerys) is about to unleash a reign of fire on an icy world. We're doing our part to combat the cold by bringing you a host of cool farming items, parody gear, and new battles to keep your blade (and wits) sharp.

This weekend, log in and head to /snowmore, a region deep in the Northlands. Find Wher'ya Dark, an Assassin of the Silent Sisterhood. She waits for you with more information about the BlightStalkers, a race of magical, icy creatures that can twist any warm-blooded animal (or human) into a mindless fright. Battle captive 'stalkers and their frights inside the arena to earn faction house banners, pets, and other icy gear.

Faction House Banners

In the Northlands (like much of the rest of Lore), everyone belongs to a family, a clan, a house, or a guild, and shows their allegiance with house banners. It pays to surround yourself with people you can trust. If you’d like to represent your faction, slay the monsters in the arena, and Wher'ya will help you craft your own.

New: Crypto Creator Farming Set

What happens when you combine the efforts of a wicked-talented artist (Noire) and Artix's crazy-creative video editor (Zarat)? We get a super-charged, futurist armor set available in /thespan for a limited time only! Starting tonight, find Zarat the Crypto Commander and complete his quests to unlock the Crypto Creator armor set.

Featured Gear Shop: BlightSlayer + Mother's Day

The BlightSlayer armor set will keep you warm in the winter, safe in battle, and looking way cooler than the hero next to you as you chill in Yulgar's Inn swapping victory stories. Find all the set pieces in your Featured Gear Shop until May 31st.

Also available in the Featured Gear Shop -- our seasonal Mother's Day items return! Show your mom how much you love her by doing something nice for her in real life (then giving her a few minutes of peace by logging into AQWorlds and checking out the gear shop).

Tier 2 Dark Caster Class: Member-only Test

Back in March, we announced a Tier 2 version of the Dark Caster Class. Since then, Pisces and the class balancec team have been hard at work crafting a class worthy of the Undead Legion (among all of their other balance, testing, and planning contributions). The Legion Revenant Class is dark, powerful, and fit for the Legion's most loyal and mighty warriors. 

If you have an upgraded account, you can try out the skills RIGHT NOW and let Pisces (our lead class designer) know what you think! The skills may change based on player feedback... so if you want to have a hand in fine-tuning our newest class, now's your chance!

Find the class in the Featured Gear Shop!

Get all the class details in the Design Notes here: Class Skills Post then log in and find a Double Class Points boost all weekend long! This boost will be available for everyone, but will help all you members rank up the class faster.

May 06, 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:

• Removed random spawns from /moonyardb.
• Fixed the drops off the Hollow Wraiths for the quest ‘A Gesture Of Evil’.
• Lightning Strikes added to Garek’s Seasonal Shop

Art Fixes:

• Shadow Void Shogun helms darkened to match the armour.

Extras:

The Chromium Canister and Titanium Trove have been removed from the Book of Lore shops.  After considering player feedback, we have decided to get these items out of the free items shop. If you have the badge for either the Void ChronoKnight Set or the Northlands Royalty set, you can now see new buttons with Vinara in /curio.  These buttons will allow you to purchase the Chromium Canister or the Titanium Trove for 6,000 ACs and allow you access to the tier 2 shops.

May 05, 2019

Account Spam Update

We are working on a fix for this issue

Over the last few weeks, some of you may have received random whispers from accounts with strange usernames, or seen odd messages in chat.

Our programmers, security testers, and bug hunters have already been hard at work releasing fixes (which stopped the issue for a time), but are now putting together and testing additional fixes as new spam accounts are created.

Programmers are working on deeper, fuller changes to the server, with a current ETA for launch tomorrow.

In the short-term, if you see these accounts in-game, please /ignore and report them and an admin will remove them.

May 03, 2019

Shadows of War: When Dragons Rage

The War for the Queen of Monsters is NOT over

Last week, we faced Malgor the ShadowLord's army as we fought to storm the Queen of Monsters' castle. What happened after the war was explosive. And if you have been following the Queen's Saga, very unexpected. Now, after refusing to ally with the ShadowLord, we face an eternity imprisoned by his shadows... unless we can escape!

This weekend, battle alongside Varga the WarFury as you attempt to escape Malgor's army and his newly-conquered castle.

... Who is Varga, the WarFury?

She is Varga, Goddess of War.* Though this is the first time we have met her, she has known your hero since you they were born. Your drive to fight in defense of Lore is a gift from her... indeed, all of this world’s greatest warriors have felt her divine inspiration.

The Queen's Finale is only the beginning 

This war will change the course of history, and the fate of our world. And you. As the Eternal Dragon of Time, you hold a greater power than most of the beings in this Universe. There are others out there with powers to match yours, and you will encounter some of them over the course of this saga. But not today.

Today, you must fight to reach the Queen of Monsters. We are leading up to a pivotal point in time, where we discover her fate... and yours. Only by entering her throne room can the story REALLY begin. 

And, as we've come to expect with the Queen of Monsters... things are getting a liiiiiittle Chaotic. Because we're really starting at the end. As you battle through the chapters of the Queen of Monsters' finale saga that take place over the coming months, you will...

• Fight to learn more about the Queen of Monsters' ultimate fate
• Unlock the powers you've lost, and some you've yet to discover
• Uncover the truth about the Queen's newest adversary

The allies you'll meet, new gods you'll encounter, and the enemies you face -- everything that happens from this moment on will lead you towards your destiny. Towards a decision only YOU can make.

The future is now. It is Time for the Queen of Monsters' Finale Saga to begin. 

AQWorlds Shakes Up Cinco de Mayo!

Break some skulls and SHAKE your way to victory! Grab your maracas and straighten your sombreros because the sweetest fiesta-filled fantasy game to play on Cinco de Mayo is AQWorlds... and we're getting the party started right now with the return of all our best Batalla gear. And a /shake of the maracas to AQW community artist PP2 for creating this festive new set and Mariachi Memet pet!

Northlands Royalty + Void ChronoCommander Note

Next week, the Chromium Canister and Titanium Trove (which unlock the Tier 2 armor sets from our December/January packs) will move out of the badge shops into the Curio Shop in battleontown. More details will follow next week.