Design Notes

October 01, 2010

Tonight’s Release is LIVE!

and far too much is going on that I am incapable of coming up with a clever, convenient subheader that would encompass everything that will be launched tonight and in the upcoming days.

Look at that. It’s October 1^st! Yaknow what that means?

Awww yeah! 2^nd Upholder! If you are already a Member and your Membership expires on or after November 3rd, 2010, then you are ALREADY a 2nd Upholder. Yaaay, congrats!

But if you help support AQW by buying ANY membership ANY TIME during the month of October (from today, October 1st to November 2nd) then you will become a 2nd Upholder! Your awesomeness will be displayed as a new badge on your Character Page, in your book of Lore, and it will unlock a super-special-uber-rare item: the Onyx Starsword! Help support your favorite MMO and in the process gain some serious bragging rights… and the epic everybody-wants-one Onyx Starsword (that is marked as an AC item, which means you can store that bad boy in your bank for FREE and FOREVER)!

So this means even if you buy a 1 Month Memebership today, you WILL become a 2nd Upholder =D

Since this blurbie is already going to be long enough, you can read more about 2^nd Upholders on Cysero’s pink-free Design Notes post!

Arcangrove Expanded: Mount Mafic

You have almost completed the Supreme Arcane Staff! Only one more piece to go… and the final part resides deep within the volcanic region of Mount Mafic.

As one of the most dangerous and powerful places on Lore, Mount Mafic is the plane between magic and natural phenomenon. Magma Golems, Scoria Serpents, Living Fires and Volcanic Maggots have thrived on the volcano since the dawn of time, protecting the FINAL piece of the Supreme Arcane Staff: the Chaos Focus Gem!

You and your buddies will have to solve the volcano’s tricky lava-bridge puzzle if you hope to obtain such a relic (and quite possibly have to fight the Boss when you get to the other side). The puzzle consists of 6 different Magic Orbs that require a distinct pattern in order to lower the bridges.

If you need help figuring it out (like I did… many times over…) the 4^th tunnel when you’re inside Mount Mafic has a floating green orb that you can click and it’ll give you much needed hints on how to solve this insane puzzle! A pencil and paper might be helpful as well ^____^

The monsters here are also loaded with an eruption of BRAND NEW items. And, clearly, since I haven’t given you enough to read already, it would be my honor to list them all for you!

• Magma Armor
• Lava Snake Pet
• Hot Head Helm
• Wings of Tephra
• Mafic Wings
• Axe of Holocene
• Dual Fumarolic Axes
• Vulcan’s Might
• Dacite Daggers
• Red Hot Flamberge
• And, of course, a Fire Extinguisher hidden in a secret place (and no, we didn’t tell Artix so there is NO CHANCE at him blabbing. Wahahha!)

Shaman Class and Spellbreaker Enhancements

Finally! A new NON-MEMBER Class! I did a great big DN post earlier this morning (actually it was really really late in the evening for me) that will enlighten you on the Shaman’s abilities and whatnot. But I didn’t have a picture of the Class since, well, we didn’t finish the art ‘til just now!

Color Customizable! Need I say more? …uh yeah!

Shammys require a Rank 10 Reputation with Arcangrove. Don’t have enough Rep? Mount Mafic offers 4 new quests that will help you reach Rank 10 Rep if you haven’t already maxed it out. You can get this new Class by speaking to Rayst, who is also offering Spellbreaker Enhancements.

This entire set of new enhancements increases your Intellect, Dexterity, Endurance, and Luck when applied to your Class, Cape, Helm, and Weapon. Since Shamans rely heavily on these four Stats, there’s a pretty good chance that you will want to invest in Spellbreaker Enhs.

But you don’t have to. Customizing your character with an array of different Enhancements is part of the fun! Play around with different Stat builds and see which one best works for you! (and then let me know about it so that I can copy you)

AQWorlds’ Second Birthday Bash—Next Week!

On the crazy date of 10/10/10, AQWorlds is turning 2 years old! Last year, the world was flipped on its head as millions of players became Undead and seized Liongfang's castle to save the AE Team… but that is all in the past. THIS YEAR, things will become even CrAzIeR as we do a weekend long special event with musical guests Paul & Storm and a special cameo appearance by Jonathan Coulton! Lore is going to flip inside-out as.... *mmfuufmfmmm* SORRY FOLKS! That part is a secret… for now… until Artix slips-up and unleashes the mightiest spoiler of all time….

Tacos Rule!

On Monday, October 4^th, we are celebrating National Taco Day! Artix was sooo excited about this, um, “holiday”, that Dage the Evil took it upon himself to make some totally taco-licious gear. So this Monday, there will be a giant Taco in Battleon selling the Tacobender Helm, Destructo-Tacos, Taco Admiral Helm (Male and Female versions), and the Tacomancer Armor, available for everyone who completes the giant Taco’s outrageous quest.

Yeah. We’re a little weird, just in case you haven’t figured that one out yet.

October 01, 2010

Oh yea, Shaman

A new Non-Member Class is finally here!

Yup. It’s pretty early in the morning where I’m from. Or rather, pretty late from the night before. And the new release is still hours and hours away from being launched… so what am I still doing awake?

Check out the title up there. Shaman. As in the new Non-Member Shaman Class. As in the new Non-Member Shaman Class being released tonight!

A whole bunch of my friends on Twitter asked if I could write a Class Guide for the Shaman (I did a few before on Defender, Guardian, Bard, StarCaptain, um…) and I just couldn’t say no. Even though we are all so slammed with this week’s release and next week’s massive AQWorlds 10/10/10  Birthday Event, I wanted you all to get a sneak peak at Lore’s newest Class!

Okay so, that’s not *exactly* what the Shaman Class looks like. To be honest… the art for the Class isn’t finished yet. To be even more honest… I have no idea what the Class is ganna look like. But hey. You see those wings on his back—those ARE arriving tonight, and yea, that really do look that cool (…or hot, since they’re from a volcano…) Hehehe!  

Alright, let’s get down to biz, Shamans… and Shawomans

Before swarming Rayst tonight when the servers come back up, you will need to have a Rank 10 Reputation with Arcangrove if you hope to take on the Shaman Class. So if you aren’t already there, I suggest taking the time now to make your way through the Arcangrove saga. (Don’t forget about the Dailys offered by Reens, Ewa, and that Paddylump fella if you need more Reputation)

Shamans are a Non-Member Arcangrove-inspired Class who share a deep connection with Lore's four main Elements. Commanding their primal instincts in battle leads these magic mavens to victory. Shamans regain mana when they strike an enemy in combat (with a more effective chance on criticals) and when they are struck by an enemy in combat.

As a Shammy, you get to master the following abilities:

• Ancestor’s Flame
  10 Mana, 4 second cooldown
  Deals moderate damage to up to three targets, and applies Scorched Spirit. Damage increased by Elemental Embrace.

• Hydrophobia
  15 mana, 4 second cooldown
  Deals moderate damage to up to three targets. Any damage caused to targets affected by Scorched Spirit will heal the shaman for a portion of the damage dealt. Healing increased by Elemental Embrace.

• Dry Lightning
  40 Mana, 16 second cooldown
  Deals heavy damage to the target. Damage increased by Elemental Embrace.

• Ancestral Teachings
  Passive Ability
  Intellect increased 15%

• Primal Fury
  Passive Ability
  Crit chance increased by 8%

• Elemental Embrace
  60 mana, 16 second coodown
  Deals light damage to target and applies Elemental Embrace, negating all target Evasion and Critical Strike chance. This effect also makes the Shaman’s spells more powerful, and gets stronger the more spells the Shaman casts against the target.

Shamans heavily rely on their Intellect, Dexterity, and Endurance… and it never hurts to have some Luck throw into the mix. Enhancing your gear with Wizard enhancements would fare nicely for the intrepid Shaman…

…but I’ve got something better.

Spellbreaker Enhancements!

Yup, along with offering you the Shaman Class, Rayst will have another new shop selling a new set of Enhancement Patterns: Spellbreaker! Ideal for Shamans, Spellbreaker Enhs increase Intellect, Dexterity, Endurance, and Luck. This helps out tremendously when increasing your Magic Power and Critical Strike chance, which are what Shammys rely the most on.

Spellbreaker Enhancements work well for many Caster-type Classes. But it’s always fun to play around with different combinations of Enhs when building your character. And I know you are going to have a blast with this new Class!

You just have to wait until tonight ^____^

September 29, 2010

Bad Badges

Just A Quick Update!

Some of you have noticed that, like last year, the 2nd Upholder Badge on the character page is there, but greyed out. It will go full color on Nov 3rd.

The rest of you have noticed that there are people who have never purchased a membership who have the grey badge and many of you who are members well into the next year don't have them.

For example, my AQW membership doesn't expire until 2020, but I don't have the badge on my CP.

Zhoom and Ai No Miko are working on this and expect to have it displaying properly as soon as they can.

Update: 13:26

Looks like the got it fixed! Badges should be displaying properly now! :)

Shaman Is Coming!

Minimal has finished an early version of the Arcangrove Class, Shaman! Dumoose, Stratos and I will start testing and balancing today (YAY! We get to play with fun new powers!). Shaman Class will be a NON-MEMBER class, but will require RANK 10 ARCANGROVE REP.

You'll have more of a chance to earn more Arcangrove reputation this Friday when we release the next area of Arcangrove, the very volcanic Mount Mafic. 

You'll also get the change to grab some of Dage's new volcanic themed weapons!

They're Hawt

Happy Birthday To All Of Us!

If you want to know how to beocme a 2nd Upholder, get the 2nd Upholder Achievement Badge and the once-in-a-lifetime Onyx Star Sword, READ MY LAST DESIGN NOTES POST!

Even if you can't become a 2nd Upholder, you're ALL invited to the AQw Birthday Event featuring the musical talents of the band Paul and Storm! It's going to be a BIG deal, and not an adventure that you can afford to miss.

See you there!