Design Notes

March 31, 2012

Something Weird is Going On

The Lab is Quiet... A Little Too Quiet

Which makes sense because it's Saturday night at nearly midnight, but still...

... something doesn't feel right. My guts are telling me that there's a storm coming and my guts are almost always right.

I guess I'm writing this to try and

Greetings Minions

Sorry to interrupt Cysero but I'm an important person and I have something to say.

I am Chairman Platinum, CEO of EBILCORP, the new owner of AdventureQuest Worlds... or should I say EBILQuest Worlds.

The face of your new leader. Get used to it.

EBILCORP has acquired EBILQuest Worlds and the former Artix Entertainment "Secret" Underground Lab in a very hostile take over.

I'm pleased to announce that the days of argument over non-member versus Member are over. The game's new center will be on profit at the expense of you, the little guy. All you new minions will be treated equally and you can expect to be charged more money for less game. We don't have time to do weekly releases so releases will be moved to a yearly schedule.

This is only the first phase of my master plan to infiltrate your lives, take what I want and leave you in the dust.

The best part is that it's already happened, and there's nothing you Cysero, Alina or even Artix can do about it.

Enjoy EBILQuest Worlds, Phase I and Happy EBIL Fools Day.... you fools!

haven't found me. hid inside giant AE coffee maker. hacked the site. don't worry. won't let this happen to you. play along and stay safe until resistance is set up. will contact you soon. Battle on! -C

March 31, 2012

Limited Quantity Shop is Live

Mount up, Hero! It's ZARD-riding time!

Battle your way to /battleon RIGHT NOW for the first Limited Quantity Shop of 2012! Khuddar has epically awesome armors and items this time around, including the Zard Rider and Dragon Rider Armors, as well as the Dragon on your Back Cape! Quantities are limited, so get your gear while it's still here!

First things first: Zard Riders /dance2 conga line. Go!

And if you haven't been with us for a Limited Quantity Shop before, here's what's happening:
We have opened up a Limited Quantity Shop in Battleon. The items listed below will all be in the shop with the stated prices and quantities.

Tame a dragon... or ride one!

Once that item is sold out, it is never coming back. Ever. If you see something you like, then you're going to want to make sure you're awake and have the gold or ACs on hand to buy your chosen equips!

Here's a handy online time zone converter to make logging in at just the right moment a little easier!

Armors

• Zard Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Dragon Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer - 800 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Toxica Armor - 725 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• Solrac Legacy - 38,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

Get ready to /spar while riding a dragon. Epic!

Helms

• Zard Rider Hat - 85 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Toxic Horns - 85 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer Hood - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• WyrmTamer Helm - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Legacy Locks - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Shorn Legacy Hair - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

MUCH better than a monkey on your back!

Weapons

• Toxica Scythe - 200 ACs - 5,000 quantity
• SolarEdge Armblades - 35,000 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Toxic Smasher - 35,000 free gold - 20,000 quantity

Members can utilize cyborg power in Solrac's Legacy armor!

Capes

• Dragon-back Cape - 500 ACs - 8,000 quantity
• Sol-Wrap Cape - 10,000 free gold - 12,000 quantity

Toxica Armor, Horns, and Smasher!

And once you're done browsing Khuddar's shop, make sure to /join poisonforest to play the latest release!

As we said on artix.com, this weekend you'll see that Good and Evil aren't always what they seem to be! The question is: what are YOU willing to sacrifice to save a life? Lions and poisons and burning, oh my! Members of the Alliance rally and two NPCs decide to battle side by side for the rest of their lives!

Play through the storyline to get your very own invitation to attend the in-game wedding of Rolith and Alina on AQW's fourth birthday on October 12, 2012!

March 30, 2012

When Good Becomes Evil

The time has come for BATTLE!

Blood in the air and lions on the prowl! When both Rolith the Knight-Captain and many of the Pactoganol Knights go missing, Alina decides that the time to sit back and watch others fight has passed; it's time to decide whether being Evil in the service of saving lives is worth it. Enter the Battle PoisonMistress!

He'll want to take the Knight off after that.

Battle through a /poisonforest full of loyal knights put to the flame and traitorous deserters to reach the Lionfort! Let the battlerage consume you as Alina poisons her way through a forest of enemies to reach the captives!

Things are heating up now!

As Alina comes to terms with what she is willing to do in the name of Good, YOU will need to make your own choice to determine the fate of this week's villain. Be careful, because once you learn his identity, you'll understand the far-reaching consequences of this decision!

Thanks to Hizu for his work on the Traitorous Lieutenant monster and to Samba for pushing through a crashing Flash (9 crashes in one day) to rock out the cutscenes! Check out Alina's Armory shop, it's got some great new gear from Jemini for members and free player gold!

Limited Quantity Shop: Saturday at 10AM EST

Don't forget, tomorrow morning at 10AM server time - the first Limited Quantity Shop of 2012 releases! With epic equips like Zard Rider, Dragon Rider, and the Toxica set, you'll want to make sure to get in line before they're gone! To find out what time 10AM is in YOUR region of earth, check out this timezone converter!

 Who knew Zard Riders could /samba in sync?

For pictures of the items, check out yesterday's Design Notes! Here's a reminder of the shop's items and their prices/quantities: 

Armors

• Zard Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Dragon Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer - 800 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Toxica Armor - 725 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• Solrac Legacy - 38,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

Helms

• Zard Rider Hat - 85 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Toxic Horns - 85 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer Hood - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• WyrmTamer Helm - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Legacy Locks - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Shorn Legacy Hair - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

Weapons

• Toxica Scythe - 200 ACs - 5,000 quantity
• SolarEdge Armblades - 35,000 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Toxic Smasher - 35,000 free gold - 20,000 quantity

I herd u like dragons, so I put a dragon on your dragon.

Capes

• Dragon-back Cape - 500 ACs - 8,000 quantity
• Sol-Wrap Cape - 10,000 free gold - 12,000 quantity

Coming Next Week:

• Grenwog!
• Player Suggestion Shop update!
• Treasure Chest loot update!
• Update on the winner of I Can Has Mod winner IF they reply!

That's it for this weekend, guys, but we think that's quite a lot for one weekend! Enjoy the releases!

March 29, 2012

Limited Quantity Shop Details

Mount up, Hero! It's ZARD-riding time!

Battle your way to /battleon this Saturday at 10AM EST (server time) for the first Limited Quantity Shop of 2012! Khuddar has epically awesome armors and items this time around, including the Zard Rider and Dragon Rider Armors, as well as the Dragon on your Back Cape! Quantities are limited, so get your gear while it's still here!

First things first: Zard Riders /dance2 conga line. Go!

And if you haven't been with us for a Limited Quantity Shop before, here's what's going to happen:
At 10 AM server time on Saturday, March 31st (that's THIS Saturday!), we will open up a Limited Quantity Shop in Battleon. The items listed below will all be in the shop with the stated prices and quantities.

Tame a dragon... or ride one!

Once that item is sold out, it is never coming back. Ever. If you see something you like, then you're going to want to make sure you're awake and have the gold or ACs on hand to buy your chosen equips!

Here's a handy online time zone converter to make logging in at just the right moment a little easier!

Armors

• Zard Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Dragon Rider - 1,000 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer - 800 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Toxica Armor - 725 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• Solrac Legacy - 38,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

Get ready to /spar while riding a dragon. Epic!

Helms

• Zard Rider Hat - 85 ACs - 9,000 quantity
• Toxic Horns - 85 ACs - 6,000 quantity
• WyrmTamer Hood - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• WyrmTamer Helm - 75 ACs - 7,500 quantity
• Legacy Locks - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Shorn Legacy Hair - 16,500 member gold - 10,000 quantity

MUCH better than a monkey on your back!

Weapons

• Toxica Scythe - 200 ACs - 5,000 quantity
• SolarEdge Armblades - 35,000 member gold - 10,000 quantity
• Toxic Smasher - 35,000 free gold - 20,000 quantity

Members can utilize cyborg power in Solrac's Legacy armor!

Capes

• Dragon-back Cape - 500 ACs - 8,000 quantity
• Sol-Wrap Cape - 10,000 free gold - 12,000 quantity

Toxica Armor, Horns, and Smasher!

And once you're done browsing Khuddar's shop, make sure to /join poisonforest to play the latest release!

As we said on artix.com, this weekend you'll see that Good and Evil aren't always what they seem to be! The question is: what are YOU willing to sacrifice to save a life? Lions and poisons and burning, oh my! Members of the Alliance rally and two NPCs decide to battle side by side for the rest of their lives!

Play through the storyline to get your very own invitation to attend the in-game wedding of Rolith and Alina on AQW's fourth birthday on October 12, 2012!

March 28, 2012

Blood Ancient Class

Embrace Your Vampire Side

As I mentioned in yesterday's Design Notes, I have said before that I doubted that we would ever have time to create a class for the Mid-Week Mini-releases as they take a lot of resources and time and the Mid-Weeks roll out with a skeleton of 3 to 4 people, depending on the week.

BUT so many loyal AQW Members were asking for it that we decided to try and make it happen for you guys and it looks like we did. The Blood Ancient Class is the focus of this week's Mid-Week MEMBER ONLY release!

NOTE: You will need to do the Darkovia storyline quests until you reach Safiria's castle to complete this Mid-Week Release.

Unlock The Secrets Of The Blood Ancient

Orlok is Queen Safiria's Vampire Loremaster.

One of his primary functions is to uncover ancient secrets of the vampire race (yes, they are a race thanks to the transformations brought on by the vampire magi-virus). This week Orlok needs your help to uncover the secrets of an ancient ritual that was said to be able to give all the powers of a vampire to ANY creature but spare them any of the weaknesses.

And let's face it, Vampires are pretty weak. They can be hurt or killed by sunlight, crosses, wood, silver, fire, magic, beheading, holy water, and garlic... they can't cross running water, can't fix their hair in a mirror, can't even enter a house without being invited. My 2 year old son can walk into someone's house without being invited (and often does). Frankly, it's amazing that this Darwinian failure of a race has made it this far.

BUT, there are definite advantages. Immortality, being one step up on the food chain, improved strength and speed, very enviable mental powers, shape shifting powers, a certain undeniable appeal to the ladies and in some rare instances the ability to sparkle (Which I do consider a plus. Sparkles are pretty).

Imagine how powerful a creature would be with all of the strengths but none of the weaknesses...

One very clever vampire mage imagined just that and the idea of the Blood Ancient was born. Sadly the ritual was lost without ever being tested.

Now Orlok has gathered stories and rumors and followed the trail to Safiria's own castle. If you are able to complete all of his tasks, you will become the first BLOOD ANCIENT!

Now let's talk about the class.

BLOOD ANCIENT CLASS SKILL SET

This class is a warrior based soloing machine based on a vampire theme. As it is Warrior based, I suggest FIGHTER Enhancements. I haven't tried a lucky CRIT build but maybe you'll want to.

Mana should not be a problem for you which might, in itself, be a problem when you unlock the Regeneration Skill.

This class is very straightforward. It is designed to be a solo class, with good survivability and a LOT of damage potential but no AoEs at all so not the best for farming.

AUTO ATTACK

2 second cooldown

A basic attack, taught to all adventurers.

Smack and repeat.

HEMOPHILIAC

25 mana, 8 second cooldown

Does moderate damage applies the and both weakens and slows your opponent for 4 seconds.

This class starts with a very decent attack. It says Moderate damage but you'll feel strong just using this one power, plus it also slows your target AND reduces their damage. It's a little expensive but balances with the cooldown and mana regen so it's not bad.

DRAW BLOOD

25 mana, 10 second cooldown

Causes a moderate open wound on your foe. Smelling their blood increases your STRENGTH and SPEED for 6 seconds.

Once you draw blood, your new vampire senses kick in increasing your strength stat and your haste. So this skill not only does MORE base damage than the previous skill but also buffs your damage potential. An even stronger attack then the first one with the additional bonus of a very healthy buff for you.

REGENERATION

5 mana, 15 second cooldown

Steals some of your opponents life and causes you to heal over time. The less mana you have the stronger the Heal Over Time is.

Classic camp stuff going on here. a weak attack that also heals you over time. It's a pretty beefy heal and you can keep it going most of the time but here's where the mana regen comes in. The HoT (heal over time) gets STRONGER the less mana you have but it's really pretty easy to keep your mana up in this class so you have to time it against when you need the heal and when it will be the biggest heal possible. No real reason not to spam this skill as soon as it comes up, but to use it WELL takes skill.

POTENT BLOOD & ALACRITY

Rank 4 passives

Increase STR by 10%

Increase Haste by 10%

Very fitting passives here. As you master the class you get stronger and faster... like ya do, you know,  when you're a child of the night.

SOUL GRIP

30 mana, 40 second cooldown

Causes HIGH damage and stuns your opponent for 1 to 10 seconds!

Here's an interesting one. A High Damage power, which is great, but it also stuns every time. The only drawback is that it could stun for 1 second, or could stun for 10. The chances of getting a long stun are slim and the chances of a short one are great but a stun is a stun. This one is a mana pig so it's a good idea to use this before using Regen to get the most out of the heal.

ASPECT OF MIST

Rank 10 passive

Rarely, your body takes the form of a hazy fog which reduced the amount of damage that you take to nearly 0 for 10 seconds!

Some vampires can take the form of mist or fog and you are apparently one of them. Sometimes, your form will take on the aspect of mist. It will not appear different but swords and arrows will pass right through you doing little or no damage for a full 10 seconds.

The Big Picture

You can see with the solo damage abilities, self-buff, targeted debuff, self HoT and rank 10 passive which increases survivability that this class we designed to take on stronger foes with a lot more HP than most players can handle.

It will take a little farming to buy it from Orlok's Merge Shop once you complete his quests but far less than getting a reputation to Rank 10, or you can always take the easy path and buy it off Itzachi for ACs. But considering that it only takes a little patience and hard work I would save the ACs for this Saturday's LQS.

Hope you guys like it and happy Mid-Week!

Artix and Sepulchure Collectible Action Figure Toys Coming Soon!

This is more or less a repeat of what I said in Yesterday's Design Notes, but a lot more people read Skill Breakdown Design Notes so maybe more people will see this and it will answer some of your questions about the upcoming Artix and Sepulchure Toys.,

You can get Artix and/or Sepulchure! Each figures comes with their own weapon. There are rare BLACK variants of each toy (which look pretty awesome).

Artix (normal or black variant) figures come with:

1. Paladin's Castle In-game House
2. Paladin High Lord Class
3. Palaldin High Lord Armor
4. Artix's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. High Lord's Battleaxe of Destiny
6. Paladin High Lord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Seppy's toy's cards)

Sepulchure (normal or black variant) figures come with:

1. DoomKnight's Fortress In-game House
2. DoomKnight Overlord Class
3. DoomKnight Overlord Armor
4. Sepulchure's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. Overlord's DoomBlade
6. DoomKnight Overlord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Artix toy's cards)

These will be available in Toys R Us in the United States and on HeroMart shortly after that. I'm sad to say that I STILL have no fixed release date for you, but I keep getting told "Late April, Early May".

268 days until Just Another Day

March 27, 2012

Mid-Week Member Class

Become a Blood Ancient!

Vampires are a VERY old race on Lore and with society full of immortals they don't really have much need of records. If you want to learn a spell that was created 2000 years ago, just go talk to the guy who made it.

But accidents, battles and wars can claim the unlives of even the most powerful vampires. Powerful secrets of vampire lore are lost get lost in the pages of history. That is where Orlok comes in.

Orlok is Queen Safiria's Vampire Loremaster and his job is to search what records there are and use his keen intellect to rediscover lost vampire secrets. Recently he has come upon one such secret and if you help him complete his research you might become Lore's first BLOOD ANCIENT!

Tomorrow, the Mid-week will take place in the Safiria map, where you will find Orlok standing outside Safiria's castle. Complete his tasks to unlock a single farming quest which will allow you to purchase the first Mid-week CLASS, the vampire based Blood Ancient!

Blood Ancient Class, armor and helms designed by Solrac.

I will be doing another Design Notes tomorrow with the skills breakdown but I will tell you that it is warrior based, good for solo-ing and PvP and, like all Mid-Week Releases, MEMBER ONLY!

Earning the class will NOT require any reputation. All you have to do is complete the Mid-Week quests and farm for the merge items necessary to buy the class (and either or both of the helm hairstyles shown above). It will take some time to earn it but far less time than grinding a Reputation to Rank 10.

For those of you who don't have the time for the Mid-Weeks and don't want to wait until the weekend to put in the time to earn it, a 2000 AC version will be available from Itzachi (class only, no helms). The 2000 AC version will ALSO be MEMBER ONLY. This class is part of a mid-week release and mid-week releases are intended to be Member Perks. 

Both versions of Blood Ancient as well as the both helms will be tagged as AC items so you can store them all for free.

I know that I said over Twitter time and time again that we would probably never have time to do a class in a mid-week considering the time and effort that it takes to create one and the skeleton crew that contribute to the mid-weeks, but considering how many of you have asked and that everyone who asked MUST all be Members, it became a priority for me to try and make it happen.

Come back tomorrow for the Skills Breakdown!

Limited Quantity Shop Reminder

10:00 AM Server Time on Saturday.

The die has spoken. Be there or don't.

Artix and Sepulchure Collectible Action Figure Toys Coming Soon!

I know that is a mouth full but some people don't know what Action Figures are. Just calling them toys doesn't do them justice considering the quality with which they seem to be made and the fact that they are in-game swag pinatas.

You can get Artix and/or Sepulchure! Each figures comes with their own weapon. There are rare BLACK variants of each toy (which look pretty awesome.

Artix figures come with:

1. Paladin's Castle In-game House
2. Paladin High Lord Class
3. Palaldin High Lord Armor
4. Artix's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. High Lord's Battleaxe of Destiny
6. Paladin High Lord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Seppy's toy's cards)

Sepulchure figures come with:

1. DoomKnight's Fortress In-game House
2. DoomKnight Overlord Class
3. DoomKnight Overlord Armor
4. Sepulchure's Helm (Legendary item!)
5. Overlord's DoomBlade
6. DoomKnight Overlord Character Page Achievement
7. FIVE original cards to modify your AQW Battle Card deck! (different from Artix toy's cards)

These will be available in Toys R Us in the United States and on HeroMart shortly after that. I'm sad to say that I STILL have no fixed release date for you, but I keep getting told "Late April, Early May".

I CAN HAS MOD - LAST ROUND DRAWING

The final I CAN HAS MOD contest is coming to a close and the drawing will be held on Friday. Then, as usual, we will contact the winner through the e-mail that the character has provided to us. Remember that if you don't check your e-mail then you can't win.

Also remember that for every month of Membership you get one extra chance to win and with the new class coming it might be the right time to Upgrade (shameless plug). You can also get one extra entry for every AEXtra that you complete on the AEXtras offers page.

See you guys tomorrow for the Mid-Week mini-release and the skills breakdown.

March 26, 2012

Poison, Member Class, LQS!

Poison: Good or Evil?

Death. Life. All contained within a single vial - the power of poison. To harm or heal, cure or kill... to be Good or Evil... all contained in a single drop. We all must make choices, and we must all grow into our decisions. Life is not black and white and, as we've seen, neither are alignments. Even the most toxic poison can sometimes cure*.

Lion lion, metal-bright, will we
do what you think is right?

Return to the Potionmaker storyline this Friday as Alina decides whether to remain passively making potions or take up her poisoned blade to save a life... and change her future! To begin the Potionmaker storyline, head to Swordhaven castle and take a right when you reach the drawbridge. You'll find Alina with a tale to tell and potions to sell!

* That also means the most potent medicine can kill.

Mid-week Member-only release: BloodAncient Class!

We didn't think it could be done, but it looks like we WILL be able to release a member-only class during one of Cysero's mid-week releases! To that end, prepare yourselves for the BloodAncient Class! With skills like Draw Blood, Soul Grip, and Aspect of Mist, you'll find the battlefields left bloody in your wake!

You will be able to earn this Class just by playing this week's mid-week release in Darkovia OR by purchasing it from Itzachi in Battleon for Adventure Coins! (But ONLY members will be able to use ACs to buy the class.)

Limited Quantity Shop: Saturday, March 31st at 10 AM!

For epic rare items galore, you'll want to log in this Saturday at 10 AM EST, no foolin'! The Spring Limited Quantity Shop will feature awesome armors, wicked weapons, and amazing accessories from your favorite AQWorlds artists! Check out our first art preview from Solrac, Solrac's Legacy:

His legacy is Cyborg technology.

Watch the Design Notes for more art previews throughout the week, and make sure you know when the shop opens for YOU with this timezone converter!

I Can Haz Mod Contest!

Remember, the last I Can Haz Mod contest ends THIS FRIDAY, March 30! So if you haven't purchased your Last Golden Cheezburger from Cleric Joy in Battleon, hurry! The winner will be granted one selfless wish AND get to spend 2 hours with their favorite AQW dev or mod, AND get temporary modship (and all attendant privileges) for 2 hours!

Coming up!

• Look for a skill breakdown for Blood Ancient Class to come this week!
• Next week: Treasure Chest loot update!
• Next week: Suggestion Shop update!
• Next week: Grenwog returns!
• Artist Livestream Week! 1 AQW artist a day will stream live in-game to show how art for AQW is created!

March 23, 2012

The Magic Thief: Chaos in your Veins

Sarah Prineas’ The Magic Thief characters guest star!

Join us for a fantastical AQWorlds in-game special event with magical literary guest-star, Sarah Prineas. Meet magicians, thieves, nobility, and misery-monsters as her characters cause Chaos! The ley lines which contain Lore’s magic are vulnerable to infection by Chaos.

When Drakath uses the nefarious wizard, Pettivox, to infect them, it will be up to you and Conn – a pickpocket turned mage – to save all of the magic (and mages) on Lore! Log into AQWorlds on March 23rd 2012, at sundown for the most magically, massively, manipulative event yet!

AQWorlds' first guest author event!

On behalf of the entire AQWorlds team, we want to thank Sarah Prineas for being a part of this special event! She has generously spent her time and energy helping to make our first guest author event so monumentally magical!

If you’ve enjoyed meeting Conn and the rest of the cast of characters that live in Wellmet, we recommend you check out her Young Adult novels! Fun for readers of all ages, the fantastical world she’s created will put you in Conn’s place as you adventure in a land of magic, mystery, and massive mayhem!

• Explore the land and people of Wellmet on her publisher’s website!
• Buy your own copy of The Magic Thief and let the adventure begin!
• Visit Sarah Prineas’ website to see more of her current and upcoming work!

Event Rewards!

You'll have TWO separate shops - an event rares shop and a permanent event rewards shop - quest rewards and monster drops! Be sure to check all of the shops for the gear you're searching for and if it's not there, get to battling!

Good luck during the event!

May the fates favor your swords and spells when you confront Pettivox to save magic from Chaos! The future of Lore’s magic rests in your hands, Hero!

March 22, 2012

Magic Lesson #4

Focus on the Locus Magicalicus

Power. Magic. LIFE. Coursing through your mind, heart, and soul. Mages might wield mighty power, but that comes at a price, and it is not always easy. It takes great control, both of the mind and the will. In our world and the universe of Sarah Prineas' The Magic Thief, mages use aids to focus their concentration and power. That was one of the reasons our universes blended so well.

With that as an introduction, let's move on to magic lesson #4:

Focus stones, a primer:

Each mage in AQWorlds has a focus, usually made of stone*.  These stones allow the mage to hook into the ley lines and nexuses of magic which transverse the planet, and can guide them to the lines and reservoirs of magic across the world.

One of 6 member-only Focus Stone Clusters

With practice and a stone for which they feel an affinity, a mage may also use the focus stone to enhance, to boost, their power. The crystalline structure of many stones allows it to hold the focused power mages channel through them.

As an example, think of a small tendril of a mage's power being funneled into a gemstone. That small jot of power bounces off the facets inside of the stone, gaining energy as it rebounds off the planes. That extra energy boosts power, increasing the strength of the magical working.

One of 5 AC Mana Surge Stones

With the proper focus and will, a mage may find their strength greatly enhanced, the power of their spells increased manyfold. Of course, that is for normal mages. With the... unique... magic found in Cysero and Warlic, who knows? These two rare mages have not allowed a proper study of themselves to be made.

The Emerald Mana Surge

* For example: Cysero with his stone hammer, Warlic with his gemmed staff, Alina with the stones she uses in her potions.

Magical Event Rare Rewards!

This Friday set your sites on a store full of mystical, magical, awesome armors, accessories, and weapons! From the enticing member-only Embero Spell armors as quest rewards to the powerful Aether Blade in the AC Rares shop, all the way to the Obsidian Athame free players will find dropping from Deorysa, there are rewards for everyone to collect and covet!

Mystical Blades in the AC Rares shop!

Member-only gilded athames

Mystic NightStalker, AC Rares shop

Dage the Evil's Death-day Shop Leaves Friday!

Dage returns to the Underworld tomorrow, taking his shop of rare birthday (birthweeks?) items with him! They will NEVER be available again, and that's one of the reasons the shop stayed so long. If you haven't battled your blade-edge off farming for the Paragon pet, get your armor in gear and get moving!

The Magic Thief event will be available for the foreseeable future, but the event rares will leave after a week, so get this massively-magical gear while the shop's still in-game! And be sure to check out The Magic Thief event page here!

March 21, 2012

Magic Lesson #3

The nexus next to us

Exploring a world's backstory - its history, lore, and all of the little details which flesh out a land - makes a game richer and allows you to immerse yourself in your character. We don't always have enough time to do that in AQW, which is why I'm so excited about getting to share some of these details with you!

With that said, let the next magic lesson* begin!

Nexuses as Portals:

Nexuses, formed where two or more ley lines cross, do not only act as reservoirs of magic on Lore; they can also be portals to the para-elemental plane of magic. On rare occasions, mages can directly transport themselves to the plane through the manipulation of these portals.

Two of the 4 member-only
Embero Spell** armor rewards!

You may have encountered one of these portals in-game already. If you're a mage and you haven't, then you haven't been paying close enough attention to the pull of your focus stone.*** Legend has it that if a mages looks inside themself and follows the pull of their stone, they will be led towards the nearest nexus. In that respect, it is both focus stone and lodestone.

Event AC rares: Nexus Rift Blade and
Fade Tome and Staff Armaments!

While ley lines are fine for everyday magical needs, if the spell you are attempting requires massive amounts of magic, it would be wise to situate yourself near a nexus. The availability of extra power could mean the difference between life and death. IF you're strong enough to channel it all!

Mana Thief Armor - available in the Event AC Rares shop!

* All magic lessons will be placed in Arcangrove's magical tome after the event is over.
** The Embero Spell transforms a Hero into the form of the creature they most resemble inside!
*** More on focus stones tomorrow!

Misery-loving Magical Monsters

There are many monsters in the world of Sarah Prineas' The Magic Thief, but I was most intrigued by the idea of the misery eels. A monster that is attracted to pain and suffering has so much potential, and allows for so many opportunities to completely upset and overturn expectations!

Cysero teaches a baby misery eel the joys of playtime!****

In the event, Cysero studies the misery eels and, as you can see above, one young eel decides to study HIM in turn!

*** Everybody needs a biscuit to wind a piece of string around.

Action Figures On the Way!

We are SO excited about introducing the first-ever Artix Entertainment action figures! They are coming soon and we don't have an exact date for their Heromart and Toys R Us releases yet, but we could not wait to show you how AWESOME they are!

Artix and Sepulchure action figures!

There will ALSO be a limited number of variant figures in Black versions of the armor. Pay attention to these, because DoomWood: Part 2 "Reforging the Blinding Light of Destiny" is starting soon. They will exclusively be available at HeroMart for our craziest players.

Have a great night and don't forget to check out the event page for The Magic Thief: Chaos in Your Veins!

March 20, 2012

Magic Lesson #2

The more you know...

The more you can EXPLODE! (With your magic.) As The Magic Thief event draws closer, the AQW team is hard at work creating, crafting, and concocting all the components necessary to make this the most magically-massive guest author event ever!

To inspire all you mage and wizard-wannabe's out there, we're giving a lesson a day about the nature of Magic on Lore*! Up next is...

Drawing from Ley Lines and Nexuses:

The largest nexus is the core of the planet; it contains the most pure magic available, and is centered where the Verix overlaps the Horix. There is no mage strong enough to tap into this nexus, except perhaps Warlic or Cysero, and they will neither confirm or deny their ability to utilize it. Normal nexuses and ley lines can be tapped into and drawn from safely, in controlled amounts.

Artist rendition of the normally-invisible ley lines which criss-cross Lore.

As yet, no regular mage has been known to draw directly from the Core. Doing so would be like tapping a person’s heart to draw blood: the pressure of the flow of blood/magic escaping would be overwhelming.

The magician would be flooded with pure magic, overcome in a deluge of power which would burn through their physical, mental, and magical veins. Their stores of mana – magical will and stamina – would be destroyed.  They would be “burnt out” and lose the ability to perform magic... and their lives.

The Infinity Orb, one of Friday's rewards!

Severing another mage's connection to the ley lines IS possible, but dangerous. The potential for lashback - which would negatively affect the severing mage - is enormous. Most choose not to risk it.

* All magic lessons will be placed in Arcangrove's magical tome after the event is over.

Mid-Week Member Release Delayed!

Cysero's swamped with work, but that work isn't the mid-week member-only release. They will resume in the near future. In the meantime, why not send Cysero some ideas for where you'd like to see the next expansion take place? There are so many possibilities; pick your favorites and let him know!

Look fly like a J6 with HeroMart's newest t-shirt!

Head to Heromart, Artix Entertainment's real-life loot store and snag your very own J6-style shirt! These fly off the shelves faster than the speed of light, so if you want to look like a bounty hunter* as you battle through life, this is the shirt for you!

And any bounty hunter worth their guns wants to score the critical fashion hit they'll get when they equip the epic promotional rewards that come with purchase - the J6 Helmet and the J6 Cowboy Armor!

Send J6 to outerspace... he's almost there!

AQWorlds' lead artist, J6, is astronomically talented! So who better to be Artix Entertainment's ambassador to the galaxy? He has a chance to win a contest to go on the ultimate quest - into space! And YOU can help send him up there, where he belongs!

As of this writing, J6 has 24,949 votes! Keep it up and soon we may have an AQW artist who has seen the stars firsthand! Thank you ALL for helping him work to achieve his dream!

March 19, 2012

Magic Thief Event This Friday!

Chaos in Your Veins... and in Lore's Magic!

Magic, malice, and mayhem... and Chaos! When a corrupted mage in the duchy of Wellmet gets Chaorrupted, the most powerful mages on Lore go missing, but no one knows why. Not until the stars of author Sarah Prineas' series The Magic Thief gets involved!*

Chaorrupt ALL the magic!

* Check out her website here!

Join Conn, Rowan, and the rest of The Magic Thief cast along with Cysero and Warlic as you journey to a new land to save the lifeblood of your home - Lore's magic! Rescue the missing mages and sever Pettivox's connection to the magic of Lore... or NO one will be able to use ANY magic again without being tainted by Chaos!

The Rysa are servants created from pure magic
combined with Pettivox's blood.

We are incredibly excited that she has allowed us to tell a whole new story set in Lore with the characters and land that so many of her fantasy-fanatical fans know and love! We've been in talks about this event since November, and work began in earnest this past January. Since then, I've read and re-read The Magic Thief in preparation for the event, and can't wait to begin the next books in the series!

No mage is safe from Pettivox and Drakath's plotting!

The magic of The Magic Thief universe is surprisingly similar to that of Lore, and so is the rest of its world. Populated by monsters, villains, and more than a few mages, Wellmet is a town where you will feel right at home! (Unless your home is in the slums of the Twilight. Then you'll probably want to move across the river.)

The Sunrise Palace it ain't, but the Twilight slums are
home to many of Wellmet's citizens.

In the Magic Thief event, you'll get a chance to learn about how magic in AQWorlds operates: ley lines, nexuses, and focus stones are all crucial if the mages of Lore are to guide and guard the home they love! Look for a new piece of information on Lore's magic each day until we reach Friday and the event kicks off with a magical BLAST of Chaorrupted insanity!

The Magic Thief Cast of Characters!

Meet the cast of The Magic Thief series and AQWorlds event! Thieves, mages, and nobility... they fit right in with the rest of the characters in Lore!

Magic on Lore: Lesson One**

Magic on Lore is contained in ley lines, which run across and through the planet like haphazardly-placed latitude and longitude lines. Where these ley lines intersect, there are nexuses of magic which act as reservoirs. There are two central ley lines: the Verix, running North-South, and the Horix, running East-West. To perform feats of magic, a mage must draw on the magic contained in one of Lore's ley lines or nexuses.

** All magic lessons will be placed in Arcangrove's magical tome after the event is over.

March 16, 2012

Lucky Day, Rockin' Fair!

Do ya feel LUK-y, Hero?

Gold, games, and green gear galore! It MUST be Lucky Day, and that means the Shamrock Fair is back in town! Join Mog O'Rahilly, Ringo, and all the other Fair-folk for a month* of LUK, leprechauns, and lots and LOTS of loot!

ShamROCK!

Toss your hat into the ring with our newest game - Ring Toss! Just head north of the Tower of Strength in the /luck map and you'll meet Ringo, the newest Shamrock Sneevil! If you trust in your LUK, then grab a ring and let'er rip! You could win a bountiful hand of golden tickets!

Let Lucky Day ring!

* The Fair will stay in-game until April 13, so get your game on while you can!

Lucky Day Rewards and Rares!

It's your LUK-y Day, because we've got loads of lucky rares and rewards for you to earn! Talk to Mog O'Rahilly in the /luck map and he'll tell you how to earn these sweet seasonal rares! We'll also have some AC rare-rares, too!

The McLuck-iest member-only Lucky Day rewards!

• Scrooge McLuck 12 Armor, Sword, Helm, and Cape set! (member-only)
• Fortune's Blade 12 (member-only)
• Lucky Mercenary (AC rare)
• Lucky O'Daggers (AC rare)
• Sack O'Coins mace (AC rare)
• Lucky Charm 12
• Celtic Paddle of Pain 12
• Lucky Emerald Cutter 12
• Leprechaun's Curse 12
• Lucky Knight 12
• Lucky Knight's Helm 12

Evolved Leprechaun Class!

Luck o' the Leprechaun Class to ye, me lads and lassies! And we mean, it, too. The Evolved Leprechaun Class is loaded with LUK; you'll be crackin' crits all over the place when you battle baddies with this beastly class!

Read Cysero's Design Notes
for details on Evolved Leprechaun Class!

Some shops leave and some shops stay!

You'll notice the Spring Limited Time Shop and the Australia Day shop have both left Battleon. But the Dage Deathday shop is still there, so never fear, Legion fans! If you haven't had a chance to earn the requirements for your favorite rare Legion item, you'll have ONE MORE WEEK in which to get them!

(Due to so many people asking nicely for the shop to stay, and because we had an issue with one of our payment sites, we wanted to make sure everyone who wanted to got the chance to get these epic items.)

J6 in SPAAAAAACE!

J6, AQW's Lead Artist, has a chance to win a contest go into outerspace. For real, in real life. No joke. And YOU can help send him up there, where he belongs! All you have to do is head to this site and click the button. You can vote once per day, EVERY day until the contest ends. So if you haven't voted yet, get your rocketboosters in gear and go go go!

Space. J6 belongs among the stars.
Help us send him there!

As of this writing, J6 has 14,939 votes, and 99% of that is YOU guys helping to send him there. It's amazing what the power of a community of individuals can do when they band together. Nothing is out of reach, not even the moon!

So whether or not J6 wins the contest, gets shot into space, and draws the first extra-orbital AQWorlds item, you guys made a difference in helping one artist realize a life-long dream. For that, thank you. :)

Magic Thief Guest Author Event!

Join us for a fantastical AQWorlds in-game special event with magical literary guest-star, Sarah Prineas. Meet magicians, thieves, nobility, and misery-monsters as her characters cause Chaos! She's graciously allowed us to write her characters into an all-new story that takes place on Lore.

Meet Pettivox, Bennett, Conn, Rowan, and the Duchess!

What will happen when they arrive, you ask? Warlic, Cysero, Conn – a pickpocket turned wizard – and your Hero will discover that the ley lines which contain Lore’s magic are vulnerable to infection by Chaos. When Drakath uses the nefarious wizard, Pettivox, to infect them, it will be up to you and Conn to save all of the magic (and mages) on Lore!

These are misery eels. They feed on your sadness.

Join us NEXT WEEK for the most magically - and massively - manipulative event yet!

March 15, 2012

The Astronaut & The Leprechaun

Let's Get Rid Of J6

At least for a while. The Metro news group and SXC (Space Expedition Curacao) are currently running a contest and the winner will win a trip to SPACE!

We all want to send J6 where he belongs and if they let him bring a pencil we've asked him to do a drawing for us while he's up there. He would be the first video game developer to go into space and when he gets back we could give everyone this item that he creates while floating above the Earth!

We're asking EVERYONE to help and it's really easy.

1. Click on THIS LINK.
2. Click the little VOTE BUTTON that looks like this.
   
   

That's it! Right now it appears that he is in 2nd place (you can check how well "Send J6 Where He Belongs" is going right HERE). Feel free to post this on your FaceBook and Twitter and tell everyone that you know.

NOTE: You can vote once PER DAY so be sure to vote for him every day until the voting is closed!

I want to emphasize that this is NOT an in-game event. If we pull this off, it will happen IN REAL LIFE! The actual Lead Artist for AQW will be actually going into actual space!

Together, we can lift J6 up amongst the stars.

For around an hour.

EVOLVED LEPRECHAUN CLASS SKILL SET

Lucky Day arrives this weekend and the Shamrock Fair will be in town. The fair will have all the fun fair games and seasonal rares from last year plus a few new rares this year. We are also adding the new Evolved Leprechaun Class to the game.

Before I get into the skills, let me answer a few questions that are being asked about this class.

• Will this class be rare? It will be a SEASONAL RARE (but with no tag) so it will return every year, much like the Evolved Clawsuit Class.
  
  
• Do I have to have the original Leprechaun Class to get this class? No. For those of you who DID grab the original class back in 2009, it will make getting the new class much simpler but it's isn't necessary.
  
  
• How will I get the class? There are three ways that you will be able to get the class...
  
  
  1. You will be able to purchase the class for ACs from Mog O'Rahilly in the Shamrock Fair or from Itzachi in Battleon, but only until the Shamrock Fair closes.
     
     
  2. You will be able to EARN it with a combination of Golden Tickets earned from Fair games and some farming quests which Mog O'Rahilly will give you. It won't be easy but if you're dedicated then you will be able to earn the class before the Fair closes.
     
     
  3. If you already have the original Leprechaun class from back in 2009, you will be able to earn it much faster using special quests designed just for you long time players, rare collectors and class fans. Don't worry, the original will only unlock these easier farming quests for you... you will NOT have to trade in your original Leppy.
     
     
• What do I need to do to earn the class? If you want to earn the class, it should be fairly simple compared to the reputation classes but still pretty challenging to do before the Shamrock Fair closes. (it will be up until April 16th, more than a month from Friday)
  
  You will need 2000 Golden Tickets from fair games, 20 Rainbow Shards and 12 Lucky Clovers. the Shards and Clovers you will earn from farming quests that Mog O'Rahilly gives.
  
  You will be able to earn the Tickets and Shards as quickly as you want but the Lucky Clovers you will only be able to earn by doing daily quests. Most people will be able to earn 1 a day but people with the original Leprechaun will earn 3 a day. They will also be able to earn the Shards at a much faster rate.
  
  Remember that ANYONE can earn tickets twice as fast by buying the Lucky hat from the sprites outside the fair.

Now, let's talk about this new and improved Leprechaun.

The class will be using the Evolved Leprechaun Armor art because... duh.

Again, we tried something new with this class. First off, it's on a rogue mana regen model which means it gets mana from every hit that connects and every dodge that you pull off. You will also get healed a little if you dodge but you won't be dodging a lot so don't count on that.

This class is specially designed to work with LUCKY Enhancements which I sell from the bathtub in Yulgar's inn. Every point of luck that you have ads more to your critical rating AND your damage modifier

The last thing that you should know about this is that it is DESIGNED to get critical hits often (as someone lucky would do). It has fairly low survivability with no heal and only one solid damage mitigation skill, but it can deal a TON of damage in a very short time. The idea is to do as much damage as you can as fast as you can, before you die.

If you don't want to die, find a healer or get some potions.

It's not great for farming as it has no AoE skills, and it's pretty decent at soloing because of the damage output but it's a beast in PvP. Petrify or no petrify, smart Vindicators will be running from you.

Another really nice thing about this class is, due to the fact that it does large damage consistently, rather than HUGE burst DPS occasionally, it's like a piranha chewing relentlessly through your opponent. And like a piranha, the more of you there are, the more deadly you are.

AMAS

2 second cooldown

A basic attack, taught to all adventurers.

The idea is to raise your crit and since your AA is your fastest skill, THIS skill will be your damage dealer. Once you add all your Crit buffs, you should see 600, 700, 800, 1200, 700, 800, 1000 floating off your enemies every 2 seconds.

SOILSIGH

20 mana, 20 second cooldown

Instantly cause 50% weapon damage, also applies Keen to you which increases your Crit Damage by 5% for 12 seconds.

Notice that it is not your Crit CHANCE but your Crit DAMAGE that gets buffed here. That means higher damage crits at your normal rate which should be pretty high if you have Lucky enh slotted.

AMHARACH

10 mana, 12 second cooldown

Deals damage based on how much time is left on Keen (less time means more damage) and reduces all incoming damage by 40% for 6 seconds

Here is a nice damage skill, faithful to the original Leprechaun Class design with an added damage mitigation bonus. You will have to decide if you want the higher damage from attacking when Keen is about to wear off or the 40% Damage reduction. In my experience the damage reduction was more worth it by far but when it's your class, it will be your call.

Swing and a miss!

TRODAI

20 mana, 20 second cooldown

Deals moderate damage, Also applies Stalic for 12 seconds which causes all attacks to do 110% damage, increases Crit Chance and Crit Damage by an additional 7% each.

This is where things start to get crazy. Once again you have the ability to increase your Crit Damage but also your chance to crit by 7% each. On top of that, it's a decent attack. When you unlock this skill, the fun really starts.

GASTA & GEARAIGH

Rank 4 passives

Increase Haste by 10%

Increase Crit by 10%

Even more crit chance and this one doesn't fade, plus an overall haste buff which you will appreciate as this class has some LONG cooldowns.

SLANAITHEOIR

30 mana, 40 second cooldown

Increases LUCK stat, haste, dodge, Crit Chance and Crit Damage for 15 seconds.

Once more, calling back to the original Leprechaun Class but with more suitable effects. Remember that this is a LUCK based class which affects Crit chance as well as overall damage so increasing your LUCK serves 2 purposes. On top of that you get ANOTHER boost to Crit chance as well as Crit Damage, an increase to Haste and to Dodge. This is a serious buff.

EIRINN GO BRASCH

Rank 10 passive

Rarely, your astounding luck allows you to do QUADRUPLE damage on all crits for 10 seconds.

 By now you will be feeling the power of the crit. Now imagine 10 full seconds of 4X crits on top of the fact that you're critting 90% of the time AND already doing extra crit damage if you apply your buffs right!

Summary

I think you'll have a LOT of fun with this class. It might make going back to other classes a little dull after seeing all those big, tasty, orange crit numbers flying around. It's also only the second time that we've had a Luck based class in-game but a lot of people really like playing a lucky warrior build for the crits. You people will enjoy this especially.

281 days until Just Another Day

March 14, 2012

Mid-Week Market!

It's Been YEARS In The Making.... Sort Of

Back in July of 2009, we first introduced Dwarfhold and since that time there has been a small nook of just inside the mountain that was once the Dwarven market but had been closed for repairs.

Finally, after nearly 3 years of waiting, this week's Mid-Week release gives you the chance to help in the clean-up efforts and open the Dwarven market again!

All you have to do (if you have completed the storyline up to this point) is enter the mountain and speak to Hartok Darksoil, Armorer and owner of the "Dwarven Defense" Armor Shop. Or at least the pile of rubble that was once the "Dwarven Defense" Armor Shop.

Once you help them clean up the entrance, you will find Domi, Hartok and Nathrae each have quests for you to help them build up their shops once more. As you complete their quests you will unlock all the items in Domi's weapon shop, both Armors...

and all the helms and all new Dwarf and Drow hairstyles from Nathrae the Drow Hair Stylist!

A sample sheet with some of Nathrae's hair options

As I mentioned on Monday, there is no Lore-shattering crisis to solve this week. Just helping to war torn people get back on their feet. Sometimes, that's all you can do and it takes a real hero to do it.

J6 Shirts Back In Stock!

Just letting you guys know that we got a few more J6 Shirts back in stock in HeroMart!

This shirt comes with a Character Page Badge and gives you access to J6's Helm and Outfit. If we are already out of your size, don't worry. This is only the first shipment to come and we will be getting more in stock as soon as they arrive from the printer!

282 days until Just Another Day

March 12, 2012

Is it your Lucky Week?

Everyone Can Use A Little More Luck!

Happy Monday, happy peoples!

Just a quick Design Notes to let you know what we're working on this week for both the mid-week and the big Friday release.

Back To Dwarfhold!

For the mid-week we are finally going to open the Dwarfhold Market!

It's been a LONG time since we have visited this area and if you walk to the area pictured above it has ready "Dwarven Market closed pending repairs" for FAR TOO LONG!

This Wednesday, you will get the chance to help make those repairs and get the Dwarven market up and running again!

No deep and dangerous plots this week. Sometimes a hero just needs to take care of business to either help the people out of a jam or serve their own needs. There's nothing wrong about getting your hands dirty doing a little hard work. It won't be easy but that is why they call it HARD WORK.

You will be able to re-open a weapon shop, a dwarven armorer and a hair shop all of which will have new items to sell you (not merge items, just plain old gold shops. Dwarves LOVE them some gold). As always, the mid-week and all of the shops and items unlocked are for AQW Members Only!

This IS one of the locked areas in the Vath storyline so if you have not yet been to the Pines to visit the Inn-ternet or Donna Charmer the llama farmer, then you will need to do those quests first before you head beneath the mountain.

Friday: LUCKY DAY!

It's almost Lucky Day again and that means that the Shamrock Fair is coming to town!

As we do every year we will be adding a brand new fair game to the Shamrock Fair this year, which means another way to earn Golden Tickets to redeem for awesome seasonal rares! AS it is tradition, we will also be adding one or two AC Rares as well that you will never see again.

We are also working on the long awaited Evolved Leprechaun Class. We released Evolved Leprechaun Armor last year (and we will again this year) and the Class will LOOK identical but will operate very differently.

Like the original Leprechaun class this class will also be for everyone, Non-Members and Members alike,.

There will be THREE ways to get the class:

1. You will be able to purchase the class for ACs from Mog O'Rahilly in the Shamrock Fair or from Itzachi in Battleon, but only until the Shamrock Fair closes.
   
   
2. You will be able to EARN it with a combination of Golden Tickets earned from Fair games and some farming quests which Mog O'Rahilly will give you. It won't be easy but if you're dedicated then you will be able to earn the class before the Fair closes.
   
   
3. If you already have the original Leprechaun class from back in 2009, you will be able to earn it much faster using special quests designed just for you long time players, rare collectors and class fans. Don't worry, the original will only unlock these easier farming quests for you... you will NOT have to trade in your original Leppy.

Please note that this class will be a SEASONAL RARE, it will return every Lucky Day.

I will tell you guys a lot more about this class when I do the Skill Breakdown a little later this week but Evolved Leprechaun is a CRIT based class with lots of skills to buff your Crit CHANCE, as well as some all new skills which will raise your Crit DAMAGE. Rather than doing double damage, your crits might do triple or even quadruple damage and you will be criting often.

It's based on the original class to some degree but each skill is new designed just for this new class. It will work best with LUCK Enh (as it should) and like all modern classes it will have a rank 10 passive.

So, get out your shamrocks, green shirts, horse shoes, rabbit's feet (Ampy, run for yo life) and lucky pennies! It's time to go to the fair!

284 days until Just Another Day

March 09, 2012

Questions and Xanswers

The Insane Pyromancer Returns to AQW!

One of the AE Community's favorite villains returns to AQW this week. XAN is back!

If you have never played Dragonfable then you might not know who this guy is. I suggest you talk to Warlic at the top of the volcano map. He can fill you in on some backstory.

If you missed out on the first Xan release then you will need to make your way to the top of the volcano before continuing into the town of Basani which Xan has attacked.

The parents of Basani have been separated from their children and now their burning town swarming with fire monsters and the insane pyromancer himself separate them from each other.

You will need to take a little extra care in Basani as the monsters will attack you on sight! Be prepared to rest between spawns before you get to face Xan himself.

Fighting fire with fire using the new Elemental Dracomancer class!

You will be able to get the same monster drops from the Volcano or farm Xan for a bunch of brand new Member and non-member gear, such as the Molten Dragon Set!

It's been a while since we've seen Xan but hopefully we won't wait so long next time before we continue his story.

Spring Has (Nearly) Sprung!

Daylight Savings Time is coming up on Sunday. That is when we (well, some of us) turn our clocks ahead one hour (and lose an hour of sleep). To celebrate we will be having a Limited Time Shop (Button in Battleon) where you will be able to get some really nice spring themed rares all crafted by Solrac! SPRING into action before the clock counts down to 0!

New Treasure Chest Items!

It's been so long since we have added new treasure chest items so we've added a few this week and we will try to find the time to add more in coming weeks! This week you can expect to find these new items:

• Diviner of Power Armor
• Blood Spirit Staff
• Golden Spirit Rod
• Dual Blood Spirit Staves
• Dual Golden Spirit Rods

Remember, you can get more Treasure Chest Keys from Twilly in Battleon, or just sell the unopened chests for a little extra gold if you don't want to see what is inside!

Dage's Legion Shop Update!

Following close on the heels of Dage's Birthday Shop, Dage has decided to update his Legion Shop in Shadowfall with new items!

• Legion Titan (armor) which will cost you 1 Undead Legend Armor and 1 Essence of the Undead Legend.
   
  
• Legion Titan Crown which will cost you 200 Legion Tokens and 1 Undead Legend Crown.
  
   
• Legion Titan Cloak which will only cost you 150 Legion Token.

And speaking of Dage's Birthday Shop we have a LOT of Legionaries who are saying that they would like to see Dage stay in Battleon and celebrate his deathday for a little while longer so we've extended the shop just for you. It will be here until next Friday unless there is another round of demands to extend it. That is one long birthday party!

I CAN HAS MOD -  Final Round!

The semi-disastrous I CAN HAS MOD contest has now begun its last round. You can pick up the Last Cheezburger Deluxe from Cleric Joy in Battleon to get 1 CHANCE to win but remember that you get 1 EXTRA CHANCE to win for every month of Membership you have left on your account at the time of the drawing and 1 EXTRA CHANCE for every AExtra that you complete.

The drawing will be held on March 30th. We will then try to contact the winner and get their wish. Make sure that your AQW e-mail is an ACTIVE one that you check often. Or at least on the 31st.

Our last winner did unlock a new WISH RULE (by wishing for another class) so I'll list the updated rules...

Wish List Rules

#1: Unknown

#2: In the event that a wish will break fundamental game play, upset a player or group of players, or in any way result in problems or complications for the staff or game... a Genie Lawyer will be summoned from the forbidden plane of litigious wishes. If the wish was made with good intentions, the Genie will begin to negotiate a wish that will benefit the wish maker. If the wish was made out of spite, hate, greed or bad intentions, the Genie is allowed to use their powers of “wish legalese” to re-interpret the wish. If the genie is “unclear” on a certain part of the wish… even if it makes perfect sense to everyone else, the Genie is allowed to ask random players online questions and replace parts of the original wish with their answer.

#3: Any wish for an item will turn ALL Golden Cheezburgers in the game into the item that was wished for. 

#4: Unknown

#5: If a wish is made for something that does not exist, it will be created as long as it is original. If it is a selfless wish, it will be created with love and care. If it is a greedy or hurtful wish, another randomly selected player will be chosen to make a counter wish, which may produce unexpected and unfortunately results upon the original wisher. 

#6: Unknown

#7: Unknown

#8: Unknown

#9: Any wish that requires a lot of coding and might break the AQW programming team or make said team cry (i.e. Class, Entire Zone, All New Functionality) can only be wished for once per calendar year. Once that item has been wished for another items in this category cannot be wished for again until one year from the granting of the previous wish as elapsed.

#10: Unknown, and oh man, this one is 100% insane. Please never unlock it.

Remember that each of these rules can only be unlocked by people using wishes that attempt to break that unseen rule.

Once again, the reason that we're closing the contest down is that the last wish met with an insane amount of complaints even before the wish came out about receiving several completely free gifts. It's building unrealistic expectations, seems to bring out the worst in the community and takes up a lot of our time and resources. It's simply not worth running it again after this.

The contest may arise again in some other form with new limitations and restrictions, but then again it may not.

To those of you who have kept a positive attitude, thank you. We have been REALLY lucky so far and gotten several kind, selfless and very thoughtful winners and I can only hope that this last one is just as great as the others have been.

287 days until Just Another Day

March 07, 2012

Artix Entertainment Goes 3D

AE enters the third dimension!

3D gaming is about to get Artixized! (Yeah, it's a verb now.) If you haven't heard the news yet, Artix Entertainment has begun work on a brand new 3D MMO! We're all very excited about this game, and hope you guys will be, too!

Put your best face forward!

And best of all, if you've EVER supported ANY of Artix Entertainment's games (AQW, DF, MQ, AQ Classic, HS, or ED) then YOU can pre-register an account to reserve your name!* Secure your character's identity before anyone else!**

Camp your character name

The AQ3D team has both male and female models, a monster, and the forest modeled and textured. Next up: the first dungeon!

Better stock up heal potions for THIS dungeon!

Everyone at the Lab is insanely excited to see what we've made so far, and we're all thinking up ideas on what the AQ3D team can make up next! And if YOU want to get in on the brainstorming fun, head to Twitter and send your ideas to @artixkrieger! (Make sure to include the #AQ3D hashtag so he can search for it!)

I know I want to Battle On through this gorgeous forest!

To see all the behind-the-scenes previews and sneak peeks of production before the game goes live, head to Artix.com, where Artix is blogging about the team's work on our newest, unnamed game.

Join us as we begin the most challenging quest in AE history - battling through a whole new dimension in videogaming!

* We already had someone try to take Dage's name. Plot foiled by Zhoom's mighty code-skills.
** And if you've already pre-registered but want to change your name, then now's the time! Name changes are free during pre-registration!

March 06, 2012

What Goes Into a Release?

Chaos isn't just a part of the game!

Making a videogame that releases each Friday is the ULTIMATE quest! Recently, players have been asking on Twitter to see just what goes into getting an AQW release from concept to playable in one week.*

So we'd like to invite you to /party up with us and take a closer look at a week in the life of the AQWorlds team (the ones that work out of the Secret Underground Lab. The rest work in dark, mysterious, far-off lands and keep their own schedules):

Sunday

• Plan out the release for the week, send out the to-do list to the team
• Begin writing the week's cutscenes, mail to Samba

Monday

• Monday morning meeting for Cysero and Alina, discuss release plans with other game leads and Artix and Galanoth, divide up team members onto Friday and mid-week projects
• Beleen works on the content pages which will turn into an on-site AQW knowledge base
• Samba sketches monsters, roughs out art for new ones

Samba's sketch of the Deorysa for a future event

• Dage's Art warm-up, sketching new armors and items, dodging nerf bullets in the artist's room
• Yorumi is fixing bugs from the weekend, optimizing the game, working on side projects until release is ready for coding  
  
• Cysero continues production on mid-week release. The mid-week release schedule is shifted; it's on a Wednesday to Wednesday schedule
• Alina meets with in-Lab and off-site team members to go over more details of Friday release requirements

Tuesday

• Alina writes up detailed outline of Friday's release (quest requirements, cutscene order, NPCs required) for Yorumi and "Guest Lecturer," send J6 descriptions for NEXT week's map and NPCs, get backgrounds for current week's release from J6

The map for Cysero's Xan release this Friday!

• Cysero pushes full steam ahead on production of mid-week release (art production, map building), review Solrac's mid-week reward art, database work for release
• Dage keeps on making more release art, work on art for future projects.
• Samba makes monsters dance: monster art and animation, research movement and art, get feedback on monsters, brainstorm new ideas
• Yorumi works on bug fixes with Reens, database improvement, administrative issues, begin any special release coding required (like classes or boss fights requiring engine changes)
• All artists continue sketching, vectoring, and coloring item/monster/NPC art for release

Wednesday

• Write intro/outro text for the NPCs pop-up boxes. Work on special projects: plan upcoming events and holidays, fit them into the 2012 schedule. Review new in-game music. 
• Mid-week member-only release day! The Chaos starts early and ends late.
• Begin cutscene animation.  /samba /samba /samba!
• Yorumi helps with map coding necessary, start coding the release map for Friday, work on side projects (like redesigning classes in the database)
• Artists keep pushing out more release rewards! Work on side projects for future release

Don't drop these weapons like they're hot.

Thursday

• Write newsletter, create new Battleon file, get in all the new item art, upload and database new art, finsh any miscellaneous writing for release, answer design questions on the map and cutscenes
• Start planning out the next mid-week release, work on future projects and with outside artists, help with any art/animation the Friday release needs
• Animation in progress! Breaks for pet or boss monster animation
• More art! Finishing armors, moving onto weapons, sketching concepts for future pieces.
• Release coding, changing the engine to accommodate release requirements, other release content (coding/balancing classes)

Friday

It's Friday, it's Friday, gotta release on Friday! Everybody's looking forward to the weekend, weekend. /Party'ing /Party'ing, dodge! /Party'ing /Party'ing, CRIT! Fun fun fun fun, gaming through the entire weekend.

ALL HANDS ON DECK! Fridays are a mix of silence, focus, and intense effort at high speed. A flood of items get put into the database, items, quests and cutscenes get tested, Samba goes into the zone and knocks out the final cutscenes. Design Notes and homepage updates get written.

As the day wears into the afternoon and it becomes clear that the release IS going to happen, the team gets looser, relaxs, and the jokes start to flow... until about 5pm.

Then things kick up into high gear again until, in a frenzy of testing and re-testing, fixing and re-fixing, the release is made live.

Things that happen every day

A lot of the work of running a game involves activity you never see, but that we tackle every day:

• Twitter, Facebook, and forum time:
  Keeping track of feedback, making announcements, and interacting with players happens throughout the day Monday through Friday. It's an important part of the job; we need to know what you like and don't so that we can design future releases.
• Meetings:
  Planning meetings with the other game leads, meetings with individual AQW team members about side and future projects, marketing and business meetings... They're vital to improving maintaining AQWorlds (and there are a LOT of them), but they do take time away from making the release for you guys.
• Design Notes:
  Building up excitement for new releases is a big part of the week. We're always excited about what we're doing, and want you to be, too!
• Database work and File uploading:
  The database is where ALL of the information about your character, inventory, factions and achievements are stored. It also has a list of ALL the items in-game. And every new item needs to be put into the database. And every piece of art you see needs to be uploaded onto the servers. If that doesn't happen, maps don't load. It's an important step.
• Brainstorming:
  Possibly one of the funnest parts of the day. Teams sit around long tables to work, promoting spontaneous idea generation. Find an interesting article online? Share it with the table! You'd be surprised what this has spawned inside AQW. (Or maybe you wouldn't be. Anyone remember the Honeybadger pet of the month?)

Only at the Secret Underground Lab

• Get AWESOME swag from amazing players across the world! 
• Make sure you don't grab the wrong soft drink!

• Star in videos (have you seen the one where we're all zombies singing Happy Birthday?).
• Discover EbilCorp ninjas have infiltrated the Lab, spend the day locking up valuable items.
• Hope the Creepy Clown isn't moved into your office.

This was moved into the artists' room. Luckily, it hasn't moved again.

Critical Hits and Failures

It seems like almost everyday we'll get an word of something that needs immediate attention. HeroMart surprises, website going down, badges that WERE working suddenly disappearing...
But then we get awesome surprises - guests visiting the lab, awesome swag from Australia or Japan, shipments of new HeroMart items to check out... seems like no day is ever the same!

This is a VERY brief look at some of the things we do during the week. Listing all of them would triple the length of the Design Notes, and we want to avoid that. But you asked for a sample of what goes into a typical AQW release, and this is that. Making videogames is a lot different from playing videogames.

So much of what makes the release happen is never visible on your monitor, but without the coffee, crits, and carpal tunnel that goes into them, it'd be all Chaos and no-one Battling On!

* Future videogame designers: it can be a lot more fun than the following list sounds... most of the time. But it's also a lot more work than many people think. It's good to know what you're getting into before you jump into a new career.

March 05, 2012

Desoloth War: Evil Wins!

Desoloth the Final Battle

In the all-out battle against Desoloth the Final, heroes chose to fight for Good or Evil... or betrayed their compatriots and joined sides WITH Desoloth! In AQW's first 3-way war, Evil has prevailed!* The overwhelmingly Evil nature of so many of Lore's champions has determined Desoloth's fate. Now it's up to YOU to see it through to the final death!

Not only a dragon dies this day.

After your battle, Desoloth will be nothing more than a pile of bones resting inside the Cor Draconis. At least, as far as YOU know! But things aren't always what they seem on Lore, and Desoloth's final battle may NOT be his last!

* And we were so SURE that Desoloth's side would win!

A Prime Engine Change

Yorumi made some awesome changes to the game's engine for this boss battle! We won't go into the dry coding details, but know that in this battle, the Primes will be with you and they will aid you in your fight!

The Fire Prime's aid will increase your damage!

As you reduce Desoloth's health, each Prime will aid you in some way. We've never before been able to have art directly affect your character's stats before, so this is a really fun change that we can use again in the future!

Alignment notes

 Your choices WILL matter! In the pre-boss battle, you'll be able to choose between Good, Evil or Desoloth. That will set the tone for your boss battle. AFTER the battle, you'll be able to choose again. Choose carefully, because how you answer Hs'Sakar's last question will change the way the Etherstorm NPCs view you after you've completed their storyline!

The Final War Rewards!

There's a LOT of corpse to loot after this boss battle. (A big boss means big loot!) Desoloth has a chance to drop the member-only Elemental Dissonance armor and helm (goes great with the Horned Crown of Dissonance in the Rares shop!) as well Desoloth's Bane, a wicked weapon forged by Dage the Evil!

Will YOU adopt one Omom's babies?

And don't forget to look for an Omom's Babies pet while looting the boss! (Omom's Youngest, the cape, can be found in the War Rares shop!**) You won't want to abandon them after seeing the cutscene! Non-members can look forward to the cunningly crafted Crimson Dragoon armor and helm!

Which do YOU prefer: Dragoon or Dragon?

MAN you guys finished this war FAST! We couldn't believe it was over on Sunday. We had all three endings planned out, but didn't want to animate one until we saw which side was going to win. And when it became clear that EVIL was going to be the winner, we had to create a MAJOR new piece of art! J6 really rocked it out; you'll know it when you see it, and THIS creature will appear in the final battle against Chaos!

NOTE: More design notes will be coming in a bit. Right now, we want to release the boss fight and cutscenes!

What to Expect This Week in AQW!

• Xan returns! Look for this hot-headed pyromancer to really heat things up for some poor, unsuspecting townspeople!
• Dage's shop will remain until next Monday!
• Limited Time Shop: Spring Theme!
• Treasure Chest hoard update!
• The next I Can Has Mod contest starts this week!
• J6 t-shirts are sold out but we ARE ordering more, so keep an eye on HeroMart's website! 

More details of this Friday's release will come throughout the week! And thanks to multiple players on Twitter (like Bladebrawl and 1023404), tomorrow's Design Notes will see a more in-depth look into what we do to make a week's release happen. There's a lot of little things you guys never see, and more Chaos involved than ever makes it in-game!

March 02, 2012

War in Etherstorm Wastes

Who will YOU fight for?

Fire, Water, Wind and Earth… and Desoloth! War has come to Etherstorm and the DragonPlane! Choose a side; fight for Good, Evil or Desoloth in AQW’s first 3-sided war and battle to decide a whole realm’s destiny. The winning side will determine Desoloth’s fate… and affect the end of the Chaos storyline!

The Cor Draconis is the heart of the DragonPlane.

Make sure you’re up to date in the Etherstorm storyline to understand everything that’s happening, but if you aren’t caught up, you’ll still be able to battle. (You’ll just be a bit confused at some of the life-altering events that have happened to the characters!)

What did you do to make Omom so ANGRY?!

The choice is yours, Hero! Will you fight for Good, Evil or Desoloth? Only ONE side can win this war, and whichever one does will determine Desoloth’s fate… and will have an impact on the end of the Chaos storyline in the future!

The positively Evil Paragon Pet!

Australia Day Items!

March 01, 2012

Elemental Dracomancer

UPDATE!!!

AQ3D Name Camping Is OPEN!
 

If you were not aware, you can now go to ARTIX.COM and pre-registern your character name for our next big game which is now called AQ3D!

You need a few things if you want to grab YOUR character name before anyone else!

1. You need to have supported any AE game by PURCHASING SOMETHING.
   
2. You need to have that game account tied to your AE MASTER ACCOUNT!
3. You need the Unity 3D Web Player plug-in! (it's just a plug-in like Flash Player which lets you play AQW)

Note that the intro fly-through is done in the game engine and what you're looking at will be very close to what the game itself looks like when it's ready for launch!

Good luck!

CAMP YOUR AQ3D NAME NOW!

www.ARTIX.com

The Long Awaited (But Not Nearly Long Awaited As Grenadier Was) Etherstorm Class Arrives Tomorrow!

Before I say anything else about this class, I'd like to mention that THIS IS NOT the Dracomancer Class from AQ Classic. If that's what you're expecting, look elsewhere.

AQW is a different game with different art and different artists. Sometimes (like with the Battle Tested Axe Master armor) we strive to get as close as we can to the original but this is NOT one of those times.

This is the ELEMENTAL DRACOMANCER! Like all Dracomancers, it is bound in spirit and power to the ancient dragon race, but unlike standard Dracomancers, it is also tied to the four new Elemental Prime Dragons of Fire, Water, Earth and Wind.

ELEMENTAL DRACOMANCER CLASS SKILL SET

We've done a few new things with and for this class.

First, you are able to click on the HEAD, FOREARMS and CHEST STRAPS of the class and each will set on a transformation bringing you closer and closer to dragonkind.

• Click the Head: Your face alters and transforms into the head of a dragon! Its skin color is the same as your own and it's lower jaw will match your eye color. It looks a little funny with some of the hairs which stay loaded but we had to add it.
  
  
• Click the Forearms: Your hands transform into deadly dragon claws!
  
  
• Click the Chest Straps and you will sprout color custom dragon wings from your back. These will load on top of whatever back item you have but will not replace it so keep that in mind.

Next, we added some special skill animations for this class. The coolest of which is the fire breath animation!

A Dracomancer is a caster class, built on the mage mana regen which regains mana based on hits and crits and varied depending on your current HP. Like most caster classes you will want to load up on WIZARD Enhancements to get the most bang for your gold.

This class is REALLY straightforward. It is designed to be a solo class, with good survivability and a LOT of damage potential but no self-heal at all. But that's what potions are for.

AUTO ATTACK

2 second cooldown

A basic attack, taught to all adventurers.

Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack. Whack.

SSIKARI'S BREATH

25 mana, 4 second cooldown

Breathes fire on your target causing moderate and applying the DragonBurn state to them for Damage Over Time.

Yup, that's me puking a fountain of flame onto Wolfwing in testing. The animation makes this really fun to use but it's a pretty basic attack. Initial blast of flame causes moderate damage, DoT causes more. VERY short cooldown.

LLIATH'S TORRENT

25 mana, 6 second cooldown

Summon the Water Prime's power and hit your foe with a crushing jet of water which has a slight chance to stun your target.

This is another fairly basic attack with a new animation. It does half again as much damage as the last power with a slightly longer cooldown and has a chance to stun your target. Since it's not something you can count on, it's more of a nice bonus when it does happen.

DURADUN'S SCALES

-30 mana, 12 second cooldown

Gathers mana from nearby ley lines and increases your damage resistance by 70% for 6 seconds.

This is where things get interesting. Notice that the mana cost is not 30 mana, it's -30 mana. You RECEIEVE mana for using this skill. It doesn't do any damage at all but it provides 75% Damage reduction! Dragon's scales are the stuff of legend. They are able to withstand the worst punishment imaginable and for 6 seconds... so can you.

You will want to use this a LOT. There's no reason not to. It feeds you mana and makes you touch as nails! If you spam it every 12 seconds, then half the time you're fighting, you are only taking a quarter damage, even if you're stunned or petrified.

DRAGON'S KNOWLEDGE & DRAGON'S SPEED

Rank 4 passives

Increase Int by 10%

Increase Haste by 10%

Very fitting passives here. You get a passive INT buff which means more damage for you AND you can dish it out faster.

ASTIALO'S WINGS

50 mana, 15 second cooldown

You gain the speed of a flying dragon, causing moderate damage to your target. This power also DOUBLES your attack speed and cuts all mana costs in half for 8 seconds.

Another decent damage ability, but the buff is really what you want here. By doubling your haste and halving your mana cost, you are attacking at 2x speed but still using the same mana as you would if you were attacking normally. It's a little costly but this is one class where mana management is NOT a problem.

This class we DESIGNED so that at rank 10, you CAN click all the powers as fast as they pop. In fact, you SHOULD. With no heals, your only recourse is powering through enemies as fast as you can. I even recommend using the number keys instead of clicking the powers.

PRIMAL POWER

Rank 10 passive

Rarely, you get in touch with the united power of Desoloth and ALL of your attacks are crits for a short time.

You can't embrace the Primals without accepting that Desoloth is also an elemental dragon. You get in touch with the source of his nearly limitless power and EVERYTHING you do for a short time is a critical success.

The Big Picture

Let's look at the entire class, as a whole. No heals, great defenses and AMAZING potential for carnage. This class requires no finesse AT ALL. You don't need to watch your life unless you have potions to heal you. You don't need to watch your mana unless you are just amazingly bad at this class. There are no multis to concern you with when you should use a certain power.

This class was not designed as a mutli-purpose or PvP class like Grenadier. It was not designed for farmers like Darkside. This was designed with the solo player in mind.

Tomorrow you will be able to get this class from any of the Dravix Priests in Etherstorm in the Etherstorm Rep Shop or you can get it from Itzachi (along with the Member Only Skyguard Grenadier) in Battleon for 2000 ACs.

Tomorrow also marks the start of the Etherstorm War against (or for) Desoloth, the arrival of the Australia Day NPC and items wished for by the last ICHM winner and Dage The Evil's Birthday with lots of Dage-made goodies.

295 days until Just Another Day