Design Notes
March 25, 2024
Game News: March 25 - 31
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Tuesday, March 26: Cursed Treasure Hunt
Our Tuesday Treasure Hunt is live! This week's Tuesday release adds a new quest onto Angelina Rayder in the /LegionCrypt map. Talk to her to begin battling to collect the pieces of the 0 AC Cursed Sorceror's Underworld Staff.
Rewards include:
- Cursed Sorceror's Underworld Staff
This item reward and the quest for it will be permanently available.
Note: all players can start this quest regardless of how far they are in the Seraphic Saga. Darkon, the NPC next to Angelina Rayder, will tell you to leave... but you don't want to talk to him anyway. Angelina Rayder’s quest and merge shop are fully accessible.
Wednesday, March 27: Info Updates
Hollowborn Caladbolg Changes
We've heard your feedback on the requirements for the the Pay Homage to Caladbolg (Again) quest to create the Hollowborn Caladbolg. Yesterday, the team and I reviewed what the community concerns were and discussed how we could address them:
1) Some players aren't happy the original Caladbolg is needed to begin the quest.
They want the requirement removed.
2) Some players bought the Altar of Caladbolg specifically so they could get the Caladbolg to begin the quest. They do not want the requirement removed.
3) Other players feel like the rewards aren't enough after how hard it is to complete the Counterblow quest. They want boosts added.
The Hollowborn Caladbolg quest and rewards are permanently available, so for any players who do not currently have the original Caladbolg... you have time to get it; there is no need to hurry! But I apologize that the information was not made available prior to release. Although it's shown as a quest requirement in-game, I understand the impact of the unexpected surprise and additional barrier.
Because there are many players who bought the Altar of Caladbolg so they could get the sword to begin the quest, we cannot simply remove it as a requirement. That wouldn't be fair to them. And we hear all of the players asking for boosts. So here's what the team and I landed on, as the best way to make as many people happy as possible (which is always the goal for all our releases).
1) A new quest is being added to create the Lesser Hollowborn Caldbolg.
This quest will not require either the original Caladbolg or Lesser Caladbolg swords.
2) The requirements to begin the Pay Homage to Caladbolg (Again) quest will not change.
The original Caladbolg Sword + Altar of the Hollowborn Caladbolg will remain.
3) OMG so many boosts are being added this weekend! Read on for specific updates.
HOORAY! The Empowered Caladbolg weapons are on their way.
- Hollowborn Caladbolg weapons: 45% boost to ALL Damage added*
- Hollowborn Lich King: 40% Boost to Human monsters added
- Hollowborn Lich King's Pride: 50% Boost to Human monsters added
- Shadow of the Legion cape: boost increasing to 50% Rep
- How Much For One Rib? quest will be added to create the Lesser Hollowborn Caladbolg** and will also award 250 Hollow Souls
- Hollowborn Paragon pet quests will get x1 Hollow Soul added to their quest rewards
* These can be merged with the Empowered Caladbolg to get a 51% boost to ALL Damage.
** The set-up and difficulty will be similar to the A Single Rib quest to get the original Lesser Caladbolg blade.
Mirror Caladbolg of Cheer blade Update
The Mirror Caladbolg of Cheer blade was announced as part of our December Limited Quantity Package. This was not originally planned for release, but was added to the list player requests. Due to real life illness and a near-unceasing amount of chaotic real-life misadventures, the sword has been delayed... but not forgotten. It will be added to its respective Book of Lore badge shop automatically once finished.
Thursday, March 28: Void Aura Boost
Get double rewards as you battle to create the Necrotic Sword of Doom until April 3rd.
Quests:
- Retrieve Void Auras
- Gathering Unstable Essences
- Commanding Shadow Essences
Get x10, x12, or x14 Void Auras while the boost is on!
(Regular reward quantity: x5, x6, or x7)
Friday, March 29th: Update Details
This is a standard Friday update. Nothing unusual about the art or NPCs. Do not question what you think you see. Do not attempt to track anything out of the ordinary.
New Event: There is a new event.
Rewards: There are rewards.
Featured Gear Shop: There are rare items.
Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts
Server Boost: Double Gold, Rep, Class Points, EXP
Resource Boost: Void Auras
Saturday: A rare item will drop from a monster in a /map
Sunday: A rare item will drop from a monster in a /map
Leaving Soon
Events & Shops
- March 29: March Event Hub
- March 31: Legion Warseeker + Darkness Chronomancer sets
- April 5: Dage's Birthday + Lucky Day events, Dark Treasure Hunt rewards
- April 9: Dark AdventureCoin Bonus ends
- April 12: Dage's 2024 Birthday Rares
Daily Login Gifts Leaving March 31st
- Dragon's Diamond Hoard from Zakhvatchik in /hakuwar
- Holographic Futuristic Laken + Shogun Guards from Legionator in /futurelegion
- SoulEater Scythe from Frost Fang in the /eventhub
- Battleon Barbae Outfit from Heart Elemental in /beleensdream
- Underworld Sacrificer Helms + Enchained Oneiros cape from Legion Knight in /legionbarracks
- Overdriven Knight set from Overdriven Knight in /cocytusbarracks
- Underworld Chandalier Maces + Ivory Penitent Statue from Underworld Chest in /eventhub
March 22, 2024
2024 Dark Birthday Rares + Collection
Dage's Immortal Lich King Birthday Gear is HERE
Celebrate darkness, destruction, and Dage the Evil's birthday this weekend! For all you real-life rare hunters, this is the weekend you've been waiting for: Dage's 2024 Birthday gear is here. Log in now and check out the shop in Battleon to buy individual items. Get the Immortal Lich King Collection Chest to unlock ALL of the event rares and a character page badge for 10,000 AdventureCoins!
- Get the full collection for 10,000 ACs or
- Buy individual items from Nibble's Rares shop in Battleon
Available March 8th
- Exclusive Immortal Lich King 2024 Collection Pet (unlocks the full collection shop)
- Immortal Lich King armors
- Immortal Lich King helms + capes
- Ecliptica Kingdom Blade (single + dual-wield)
- Immortal + Underworld Sacrificer armors
- Black Sun Headdress helms
- Underworld Sacrificer Wraiths cape
- Deathly Prophecy Altar cape
- Immortal Bloodletter Deity cape
- Immortal Summoner + Forsaken Invoker armors
- Malignant Death companion cape (animated)
- Underworld Samurai armor set
- Mystical Samurai Blaze & Flame capes
- Underworld Eminence Titan armor set
- Immortal Lich Paragon pet (with quest for exclusive character page badge)
- And more!
Available March 15th
- Underworld Spirit Summoner armor
- Underworld Spirit Host armor
- Corvus Moriorum Sword and Dagger
- Underworld Raven's Fury set
- Immortal LionSlayer armor
- LionSlayer's Soul Whip
- Nemean Soul Cape
- Immortal Sacrificial Skull pet (with quest for wall mural house item)
- and more!
Available March 22nd
- Hollowborn Paragon armor, helms, and capes
- Imperial Lich Lord armor, helms, and capes
- Nekyia Rite weapons
- Relentless Pursuit Ground Rune + cape
- Relentless Pursuer Companion pet + battlepet*
- Underworld Conquest weapons
- Hollowborn Raven armor set
- Underworld Stealth Ops armors
- Underworld Stealth Ops accessories
- Hollowborn Paragon Bank Pet
- Hollowborn Paragon Quest Pet
Birthday Shop Items Notes
Undead Legion Member Special Gift
Get the exclusive, rare Legion Sacrificer armor + select set items from the Merge shop in /legionbarracks.
Relentless Pursuer BattlePet
The member-only battlepet is available for 750 ACs in the Birthday Rares Shop. The version in the collection chest is non-member 0 ACs.
Immortal Bloodletter Deity Cape Variants March 23 Update
A teal variant of the Immortal Bloodletter Deity cape will be released for HeroPoints when Dage's Birthday Bundle arrives later this month. A color-custom version of the Immortal Bloodletter Deity cape that released in Dage's birthday shop + collection will be added to the collection chest and to Dage's Birthday Shop.
Late Friday night update from Stryche, our head of HeroMart: the bundle should be available soon! The color-custom cape will be added into the collection chest once the HeroPoints variant is available in-game.
Didn't the Hollowborn Paragon Set already release?!
It sure did! Back in November, we announced that it would also arrive this month, because we have both Dage and Hollowborn events on the schedule and were not able to finish all of the Hollowborn Paragon gear we had initially planned. This is the best of both worlds... especially for heroes who were not able to get the items back in November.
Hollowborn Paragon Quest Pets
This pet is available for ACs, in the Collection Chest, and as a craftable pet for Legion Tokens + Hollowsouls. Each version of the pet lets you access the "Time for Some Spring Cleaning" and "Taking a Boat Trip" quests.
Just want a couple of the items listed above? Apart from the exclusive Dage's Immortal Lich King Collection Chest and Paragon Quest pet, all of the gear contained inside the Collection shop will also be available individually in his Birthday Shop.
March 22, 2024
Hollowborn x Legion Rewards
Embrace the Dark Art(ists) This Weekend
Our Month of Evil continues this week as we shine a (black)light on wicked artwork of team and community artists! We’ve got Hollowborn sets, even more rares and rewards for Dage’s birthday, the Hollowborn Caladbolg, and… the LAST chance to get the rare Hollowborn Paragon set!
New game release
- HollowDeep Expansion: Hollowborn x Legion quests
- ShadowRealm Expansion: Hollowborn LoveCaster set
- Dage's Birthday Gear: monster drops + merge shop rewards
- Dage's Collection Chest: Hollowborn Paragon, Ravager of Souls, and more
Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts
- Server Boost: Dark Spirit Orbs
- Resource Boost: Double Reputation
- Saturday: Dark House Guards from the Hollowborn Judge in /hbchallenge
- Sunday: Hollowborn Raven's Beacon Lanterns from the Sentient Hollow in /hbchallenge
Hollowborn x Legion Rewards
Talk to Lae in the Eventhub to learn more, or if you're at least level 45, you can head straight to Hollowdeep to begin the quests to craft his dark new Undead Legion gear. Hollowborn Legionnaires are a rare breed, so be prepared for many, many battles if you're looking to craft all these dark and deadly rewards.
Draftless Quest
requires Undead Champion + Lae's Hardcore Contract
Rewards
- Hollowborn Undead Warrior
- Hollowborn Underworld Legacy Horns + Helm
Flow Stress Quest
requires Lae's Hardcore Contract
- Hollowborn Legion Champion
- Hollowborn Legion Champion Crest
- Hollowborn Soul Eater Blade
- Hollowborn Undead Legacy Horns + Helm
- Lich King Fragment
Heat Treatment Quest
requires Ultimate Lich King armor, helmet, and Lae's Hardcore Contract
- Hollowborn Lich King armor
- Hollowborn Lich King Horns + Hood
- Hollowborn Lich King Cloak
Counterblow Quest
requires level 95
- Hollowborn Lich King's Pride
- Shadow of the Hollowborn Legion
- Hollowborn Lich King's Morph + Flaming Skull
- Hollowborn Apocalypse Flame (single + dual-wield)
- Hollowborn Soul Eater Blades (dual-wield)
- Altar of the Hollowborn Caladbolg
And while you're battling through Hollowdeep and HBChallenge, don't miss these other wicked equips.
ShadowSlayer D's Merge Shop:
- Hollowborn Vampire Knight set
- Hollowborn Lycan set
- Hollowborn Vampire Lord
- Hollowborn ShadowSlayer set
These rewards are permanently available, so if you need to level up to take these evil opponents down, never fear... you've got time!
NEW Dark Birthday Rewards
Whether you embrace the Darkness or choose to fight it and reap the rewards... battles lie ahead of you this weekend. All players can battle Dage the Evil in the /dage map to collect new reward drops, and members of the Undead Legion will find a hoard of new drops in the Undead Legion Merge Shop.
Dage the Evil Boss Drops in /dage:
- Eminence Helmet of the Legion
- Horned Legion Eminence Helmet
- Death's Requiem Axe (single + dual-wield)
- Undeath Dominion Corona
- Pale Fae Skull Bangle (single + dual-wield)
Grrrberus in /dagefortress:
- Bough of the Underworld staff
Legion Merge Additions:
- Ultimate Lich King cape
- Ultimate Lich King flaming skull
- Underworld Dark Ops, Armed Underworld Dark Ops, Underworld Dark Breach Ops armors
- Underworld Dark Ops Helm, Morph, Mask helms
- Dark Ops Briefcase + Dark Ops Tactical Gear
- Dark Ops Ghost Drone pet
- Dark Ops Cold Steel Kukri
- Underworld Dark Ops Rifle
- Hollowborn Paragon Quest Buddy*
NCS's LoveCaster Set
LoveCasters wield the most powerful magic of all: LOVE! It can affect even most stubborn of heroes. And when you combine its power shadow magic… Hollowborn LoveCasters can conquer anyone, anywhere, at any time… especially if they do not expect it.
This weekend is the real-life birthday for NCS, one of our artists + long-time players! As a faithful member of the Hollowborn AND Undead Legion, he's crafted a dark but lovely set for you.
Talk to him in the /shadowrealm to unlock the Hollowborn LoveCaster armor + Top Hat in the AC shop OR by completing a regular + daily quest to save up the merge resources.
* Quest pet lets you access the "Time for Some Spring Cleaning" and "Taking a Boat Trip" quests.
Legion and Hollowborn Balance Updates
Read on to see what we've updated, what's been fixed, and stay up to date in our ongoing Balance Patch Notes! The latest changes are listed below.
Item Updates
Increased the stack amounts for the following items:
- Legion Token: 25,000 > 50,000
- Bone Dust: 5,100 > 10,000
- Dark Token: 600 > 10,000
- Seraphic Medals: 5 > 600
- Mega Seraphic Medals: 5 > 600
- Seraphic Commander's Slain: 6 > 200
- Ada Defeated: 1 > 20
Changed the damage range of the following weapons to static:
- Dual Blinding Light of Destiny
- Ultimate Blinding Light of Destiny
- Obsidian Light of Destiny
- Hollowborn Shadow of Fate
- Dual Hollowborn Shadows of Fate
- Void Light of Destiny
- Cyber Void Light of Destiny
- Dual Necrotic Swords of Doom
- Necrotic Blade of the Underworld
- Burning Sword of Doom
- Hollowborn Sword of Doom
Changed the damage range of the following weapons to unstable:
- Ascended Light of Destiny
Item Updates
- Added Soul Sand x1 as a reward to the Daily Exercise 5: God of the Depths quest.
- Added Soul Sand x2 as a reward to the Daily Exercise 6: Dage the Dark Lord quest.
Miscellaneous
- Added a "The Beast teleport button" to Virgil in /sevencircleswar.
Like what you see? Want to share your thoughts with the team? Send a message to the Class Balance team and Alina_AE on Twitter or in our official Discord server.
March 21, 2024
Battleon Barbae Contest Winners!
Announcing the Winners of our #NationalBarbieDay Screenshot Contest
Happiest of days, heroes! We had over 100 amaaaaazing entries in our “Battleon Barbae” Screenshot Contest to celebrate #NationalBarbieDay. Each entry showcased creativity, style, and a true passion for fashion, so it was hard narrowing down our winners. Luckily, “narrowing down” means we could ONLY choose like 40+ players 🤣
Since we have so many winners, head on over to the Battleon Barbae Contest Winners design notes post on Artix.com to see all the winning screenshots! Fair warning though: slow page load speeds ahead 🐌
Barbae on,
Beleen, the judges, and the AQW team :D
March 18, 2024
Game News: March 18 - 24
Read on for the latest news and information
Our Month of Evil continues this week with new rewards, rares, and much-needed maintenance updates. Get the latest details on this week's news, Treasure Hunt, Boosts, find out more about this weekend's new update.
March 19: Server Maintenance DONE
Heads up for you Monday night marathon gamers... AQWorlds and the Artix Entertainment Portal site will go offline shortly after midnight tonight (also known as very, very early Tuesday morning). Current estimates put the downtime at about an hour. We apologize for the inconvenience!
1 AM USA Eastern Time
- AQ.COM web site Offline
- AQW Game Servers Offline
- Account Web Site Offline
- Portal web site Offline
- Bug Tracker Offline
3 AM USA Eastern Time
- Estimated time for everything back online
Tuesday, March 19: Dark Viking Quest
Talk to the Legion Recruiter in /battleontown begin this week's bonus adventure. He'll send you on a quest to learn the story of Tyrnjal, one of the Undead Legion's greatest Vikings. Recover all the memories to unlock a dark new 0 AC reward.
Details:
- Level 50 required
- 1 Star Adventure
- Permanently available
Rewards include:
- Legion Viking Horn Mace
- Legion Vikin Horn Daggers
Thursday, March 21: Dark Spirit Orbs Boost
Get triple rewards as you battle to create Sepulchure's DoomKnight Armor until March 27th.
Dark Spirit Orb Quests:
- Dark Spirit Orbs
- Penny For Your Fought quests
Get x15, x30, x45 or x60 Dark Spirit Orbs while the boost is on!
(Regular reward quantity: x5, x10, x15, or x20)
Friday, March 22: Update Details
Get a first look at what's coming in this weekend's upcoming game release!
HollowDeep Expansion: Hollowborn x Legion quests*
ShadowRealm Expansion: Hollowborn LoveCaster set
Dage's Birthday Gear: monster drops + merge shop rewards**
Dage's Collection Chest: Hollowborn Paragon, Ravager of Souls, and more
Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts
Server Boost: Dark Spirit Orbs
Resource Boost: Double Reputation
Saturday: Hollowborn Paragon House Guards from the Hollowborn Judge in /hbchallenge
Sunday: Hollowborn Raven's Beacon Lanterns from the Sentient Hollow in /hbchallenge
Leaving Soon
Events & Shops
- March 29: March Event Hub
- March 31: Legion Warseeker + Darkness Chronomancer sets
- April 5: Dage's Birthday + Lucky Day events, Dark Treasure Hunt rewards
- April 9: Dark AdventureCoin Bonus ends
- April 12: Dage's 2024 Birthday Rares
Daily Login Gifts Leaving March 31st
- Dragon's Diamond Hoard from Zakhvatchik in /hakuwar
- Holographic Futuristic Laken + Shogun Guards from Legionator in /futurelegion
- SoulEater Scythe from Frost Fang in the /eventhub
- Battleon Barbae Outfit from Heart Elemental in /beleensdream
- Underworld Sacrificer Helms + Enchained Oneiros cape from Legion Knight in /legionbarracks
- Overdriven Knight set from Overdriven Knight in /cocytusbarracks
- Underworld Chandalier Maces + Ivory Penitent Statue from Underworld Chest in /eventhub
Note: the release of the Draw Your Weapon Contest winner weapons announced for today has been delayed.
* Requires Undead Legion membership
** Rewards available for all players
March 15, 2024
Dark Birthday x Spring AC Bonus
Get 50% more ACs with any Membership or AC Pack
Your luck is in! To help you celebrate Dage the Evil's real-life birthday today and make the most of all our March and Spring holiday events, for a limited time, get 50% more FREE bonus AdventureCoins with any AdventureCoin or Membership package you buy during our Dark Birthday x Spring AdventureCoin bonus!
Get 60,000 ACs while our Spring Bonus is on!
During our 2024 Spring AdventureCoin bonus, get 60,000 ACs for $99.95 (that's 20,000 ACs more than normal!) and unlock your choice of upgrade bonus pack, 15x Rep, Gold, Class Points, and XP server boosts, and the Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness (IoDA).
Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness?!
The Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness (or MIoDA for short) is a miscellaneous item you will get by purchasing the 40k AdventureCoin pakage. Like the other IoDA items, it allows you to choose any item in the game when you redeem it through your Account Manager.
How to Claim your MIoDA Prize
Make sure you have a confirmed email address attached to your game account, and then follow these steps:
- Decide on the item you want
- Log into your Account Manager
- Click on the "Awesome Prizes" link on the sidebar
- You'll see a list of the IoDA tokens you have available
- Choose from a list of ALL the eligible item rewards
- You'll be taken to a verification page to confirm your choice
Wait...AdventureCoin Bonus?!
That's right! Several times each year, we have bonus AdventureCoin offers, where we'll increase the amount of ACs you get with each pack. (example: Summer, Back to School, and during the holidays). Bonus amounts and dates may change from year to year, so keep an eye on the Design Notes and social media for more news of future bonuses.