We’re excited to see the overwhelming interest in Horizon's Call and we want to take this moment to thank you for your continued support and trust! To better illustrate the enthusiasm for our first Expansion, since August 9th, our players have completed 200,000 Aether Rifts, translating to an average of 14,285 Rifts per day! The popularity of the new systems introduced is a great sign, showing that with this strong foundation, we can confidently expand and develop the game world with even more exciting features in the future.
The time following Horizon's Call's release has been one of intense effort for our team, and we've worked diligently to address bugs and prevent possible issues through Hotfixes. Moving forward, we'll provide a continuously updated list of Hotfixes in a separate post on our website, making it easier for you to stay informed.
So, click here to view all the Hotfixes that have been introduced since the Expansion's release.
Today’s Update is focused primarily on refining the newly added systems and eliminating as many bugs as possible. Key among these improvements are changes to the Aether Rifts and Aether Echoes systems. Remember, this is just the start of significant improvements ahead, we have many more improvements already in development but we wanted to get these in first as they are ready from implementation while we work diligently to finish the others instead of holding these changes as we feel the sooner they’re implemented the better.
In addition, today’s Update includes important changes to the Attribute Balance and Threat System, along with descriptions of how different Skills influence Threat Generation. Our commitment to providing exciting and balanced gameplay remains as strong as ever!
We also invite you to participate in two new website polls to help us shape the future of the game together:
- First poll is whether Warforged Shards, which are currently an exclusive reward from Guild Wars and necessary for progressing with late-game Warforged Weapons, should also be obtainable through PvE activities.
- Second poll asks whether we should cap the effects of RavenCards in Aether Rifts to Rare Quality.
Now, let’s delve into the changes brought by Update 2.0.1:
We’ve been closely reviewing the extensive feedback from the community regarding Aether Echoes and Aether Rifts. It's clear that many players strongly desire to separate these PvE and PvP systems to avoid forcing PvP gameplay on those who prefer teaming up to fight bosses rather than other players.
With this update, we aim to implement this separation while still preserving the excitement and rewards of competing within Aether Rifts. Let's break down these significant changes into three key areas:
Supplybags
- Added Aether Echo Scrolls to Luxury Supplybags. This means that Aether Echo Scrolls can now be obtained from both Luxury and Legendary Bags.
- Slightly reduced the drop rate of Simple Moa Treats from Luxury Supplybags to accommodate the Aether Echo Scrolls.
This change was implemented to ensure a more equitable chance for all players to obtain Aether Echo Scrolls. Casual players can generally expect to earn around one scroll daily, while very active players may acquire 3-4 scrolls per day, or even more.
Aether Rifts
- Aether Rift Charges obtained from completing tasks on the Adventurer's Board are now account-based, meaning they can only be earned by one character per day ー The first character to complete a task will receive a Charge and can earn up to two more by completing all the tasks. However, any other characters on the same account will not gain additional Charges.
- Added a new effect to Aether Rifts called "Severed Link" ー For every minute spent inside an Aether Rift, players will receive a stacking 5% penalty to Healing received, up to a maximum of 10 stacks. This effect cannot be removed by any means, however it can be mitigated by killing Abominations. Each time a player kills an Aether Abomination, 4 stacks of “Severed Link” are removed. In Duo Rifts, this applies to both players.
With this addition, we anticipate smoother PvP battles and a broader opportunity for more builds to shine, while addressing the existing problem of healing based builds being overpowered in Rifts.
- Infusions obtained from the Boss Chest are now Soulbound.
- Removed Aether Echo Scrolls as a reward from Aether Rifts.
- Reduced the overall amount of obtained Dawn Essence, Experience, Infusions and Treasure rewards from the Aether Boss Chest.
- Reduced the overall chance to obtain Trophies from Aether Rifts to account for more openings being made.
- Applied adjustments to the Aether Rift Treasure Rewards:
- Increased the worth and quantity of Treasures dropped by Rift Boss.
- Increased the worth of Treasures dropped by Elite Rift Monsters.
- Reduced the amount of Treasures dropped by Common Rift Monsters.
With the removal of Aether Echo Scrolls from Aether Rifts, players who prefer not to engage in PvP will no longer be gated from progression, while those who enjoy exploring Rifts will still be fairly rewarded for the risks they take.
Although Aether Echo Scrolls can no longer be obtained directly from Aether Rifts, players can still acquire them from Supplybags dropped during Rift engagements.
Aether Echoes
- Patrons who complete 3 Adventurer's Board tasks in a single day will now receive 1 random Aether Echo Scroll. This reward can only be earned once per account each day, by the first character to complete all the tasks. This resets daily.
- Players who enter Aether Echoes will now fall into two distinct reward categories:
- Scroll Bearers ー These are the players who sacrifice their scroll to summon an Aether Echo. As the only player required to give up an item to initiate this content, they will receive significantly greater rewards.
- Aides ー These players join the Scroll Bearer in battling the Aether Echo. To ensure fair compensation, we’ve revised their rewards, offering adequate returns, though not as substantial as those awarded to the Scroll Bearer.
In light of these two categories, most reward values and percentages have been overhauled. Key changes include:
- Infusions obtained are now Soulbound.
- Supplybag drops have been removed from Aether Echoes.
- Cosmetic Material rewards are now exclusive to Scroll Bearers.
- Guaranteed Binding Aether is now only awarded to Scroll Bearers.
- Aides can only receive a Trophy when participating in Hard or Madness difficulty Aether Echo fights.
- The overall amount of rewards from Aether Echoes has been reduced to increase the replayability of this content.
These changes aim to significantly enhance the value of using your Scroll and prevent the exploitation of new players, while improving accessibility and replayability. Additionally, these adjustments better balance the cost-reward ratio, addressing the previous issue where all players received equal rewards despite one player making the greater sacrifice to summon an Aether Echo.
To truly earn glory, one must face challenges worthy of greatness. With this update, we've made significant changes to how Glory Shards are acquired during creature hunts, better reflecting the valor required to earn them.
The drop rates for Glory Shards are now more dynamic, scaling with the strength of the creatures you hunt:
- Hunting large swarms of weaker creatures, like Fox Cubs, will now generally yield fewer Glory Shards.
- In contrast, taking on more formidable creatures that appear in smaller numbers, such as Drakes, Demons, or Gazers, will now significantly increase your chances of receiving Glory Shards.
These changes aim to enhance the sense of accomplishment from taking on greater risks and seeking out more dangerous foes. Remember: no guts, no glory!
We've been actively gathering feedback and closely monitoring how everyone is engaging with the new Aggro System. Effective threat management is a crucial skill for any team, and based on our observations, we've made some necessary additions and adjustments to enhance the system as a whole. The key changes are as follows:
- Initial Threat Generation ー Introduced passive Flat Threat Generation for creatures, which determines the initial amount of Threat and their target when a player first engages in combat.
- Flat Threat Generation ー Introduced Flat Threat Generation for creatures, which determines the initial amount of Threat when a player first engages in combat. This change also affects certain skills that previously didn't fit into existing categories.
- Increased Threat for Damage Skills ー Several damage-dealing skills have received increases in Threat generation, particularly skills like Smiting Smash and Fissure. These adjustments should help tanks more easily maintain AoE Threat.
- Healing Skill Rebalancing ー Many healing skills have been rebalanced, with some receiving increases and others adjustments to achieve their intended values, addressing the issue of certain builds generating negligible Threat.
- Taunt and Threat Reduction Tweaks ー Taunt and Threat reduction skills have been fine-tuned for improved performance.
- Power Scaling Adjustments ー Power scaling skills like Berserk have been adjusted to make it easier to maintain a Threat lock on creatures.
- Skill Descriptions ー Applied adjustments to the skill descriptions and added indicators where Threat generation or reduction is significant. These descriptions now include clearer and more consistent notes regarding the impact of these skills in battle, located just below the main body of the skill's text.
Here is a full list of skills affected in this Update:
- Damage Skills ー Smiting Smash, Blessed Earth, Fissure, Bladestorm, Shadowstrike, Quick Fire, Shackles of Pain and Pyroblast;
- Healing Skills ー Spirits Resolve, Healing Air Sphere, Regenerate, Party Recovery, Flash Heal, Mend, Devotion, Generous Influence, Circle of Light and Dawn's Apotheosis;
- Taunt Skills ー Provoke;
- Threat Reduction Skills ー Unbreakable, Pummel, Concussive Shot, Disengage and Coldblast;
- Player Power Scaling Abilities ー Berserk, Bullrush, Spiked Chains, Fierce Leap and Shadowbind;
- Flat Aggro Abilities ー Barrier, Air Aura and Force Push;
Check out Archetype Trees to see how different skills affect Threat Generation!
As part of our ongoing efforts to enhance PvP and build upon the balance changes introduced with Horizon's Call, we are making adjustments to the benefits provided by several Primary Attributes:
1 point of Might now increases:
- Weapon Power by 0.5 ー Unchanged;
- Weapon Defense by 0.125 ー Unchanged;
- Health Regeneration by 0.2 ー Newly added;
With the addition of Health Regeneration to Might, we aim to give physical builds greater sustain, improving their durability in prolonged battles.
1 point of Intelligence now increases:
- Spell Power by 0.5 ー Unchanged;
- Healing Power by 0.10 ー Reduced (previous value: 0.35);
- Spell Defense by 0.125 ー Newly added;
- Mana Regeneration by 0.15 ー Newly added;
The introduction of Spell Defense and Mana Regeneration is intended to bring Intelligence builds more in line with Might builds. We've also adjusted Healing Power to a more balanced level, allowing dedicated healers to shine while reducing the versatility of self-sufficient mage-healer-tanks.
1 point of Wisdom now increases:
- Healing Power by 0.75 ー Increased (previous value: 0.55);
- Max Mana by 10 ー Unchanged;
- Mana Regeneration by 0.5 ー Unchanged;
- Spell Defense by 0.25 ー Unchanged;
Wisdom has received a significant boost to its Healing Power, ensuring that dedicated healers are well-equipped to contribute to their team's survival and their own.
With these changes, we anticipate a reduction in the current dominance of Intelligence-focused builds and an increase in build diversity. We’re excited to see the community’s innovations and how the meta evolves!
Gameplay
- Added new Rangers Company tasks for the high-level respawn areas introduced in Horizon's Call, specifically targeting Warhogs, Trunks, and Chainwraiths. Additionally, we've introduced a new intermediate-level task for Warhogs and corrected the level range on ten other tasks for level 70+ players to prevent situations where tasks require killing grey-level creatures.
- Applied adjustments to the Entry Fee System for Plunder Channels ー Players will now only be required to pay the fee again if they die in the channel. If a player switches channels without dying and returns to the Plunder Channel, the fee will not be charged again.
- Removed the Soulbound status from the item "Attachment Feather", providing more convenience for Alchemists.
- Removed the recipe that creates "Purified Alcohol" from potatoes ー Instead, added three new Cooking recipes and three new Alchemy recipe. Cooks will craft Fermented Potato Pulp, Fermented Corn Pulp, and Fermented Wheat Pulp, which Alchemists can transform into 3 new recipe variations of the Purified Alcohol.
- Increased Oversupply tax limit from 500% to 5000%.
Guilds
- Using the Legacy Skills ''Eye of the Storm'' and ''Dawn's Apotheosis'' when carrying the Golden Flag inside the Arena (Guild Wars) will now automatically drop it.
- Vice-Leaders are now able to place bids for Strongholds ー The rank tooltip has been updated to reflect this change.
- Swapping channels through the Friends List is no longer possible when the friend is in an instanced area, such as Rifts or the Guild Wars Arena.
- "Initiates" will become "Members" after 72 hours once again, retroactively ー This time period will be reverted back to 7 days on Sunday, August 25th.
With the release of Update 2.0.0, the transition time for an "Initiate" to become a "Member" in a Guild was increased from 3 to 7 days. Unfortunately, this change was omitted from the previous Update Notes due to an oversight. To ensure fair participation in tomorrow's Guild Wars, we have temporarily reverted the transition time back to 3 days, and this adjustment will be applied retroactively. Moving forward, we plan to enforce a 7-day transition period to prevent Guild switching between Guild Wars.
Ocean
- Added a series of small islands and rock formations to the oceans.
Though unfit for docking, these newly discovered landmarks are already being used by seasoned captains to plot trade routes. Sail with caution and be mindful of these new obstacles dotting the sea, or you may find yourself at the bottom of the ocean! - The number of creatures near docks has been decreased by approximately 30%, while in some areas away from sea routes, their numbers have increased by about 10%.
- Applied adjustments to the following creatures:
- Piranha Swarm ー Decreased Health from 1800 to 1500 and decreased Speed from 250 to 170;
- Anglerfish ー Decreased Health from 2200 to 1850 and decreased Speed from 200 to 170;
- Shark ー Decreased Health from 2800 to 2200 and decreased Speed from 225 to 200;
- Giant Jellyfish ー Decreased Health from 2000 to 1700, decreased Speed from 200 to 170 and reduced the range of all skills from 10 to 5;
Quality of Life
- Added the possibility to add 2 additional Action Bars in the HUD.
- Added filters for the new Fishing Baits in the Marketplace.
- Added a new category for Aether Trophies in the Marketplace.
- Added PT-BR translation to crop and animal interactions in the Farm.
- Added a prompt message to notify players when they have unassigned Attribute Points.
- Added an option to hide skill tooltips when hovering over the Action Bar for a cleaner interface.
- Added a confirmation dialogue for removing a friend from your Friend List to prevent accidental removals.
- Added background music for Aether Echoes boss encounters ー The music is tailored to the difficulty level.
- Added new sound effects for Guild Wars actions involving Flags and Towers to enhance the battle experience.
- Players can now automatically categorize items in their main Inventory or any Backpack by holding the 'CTRL' key while using the Sort button ー The items will be moved to their respective Backpacks and Vaults based on their categories.
General
- Players can no longer ride Moas inside Zorian caves in Gilead.
- Players can now properly perform skills while standing in doorways on Glaceforde.
- Fixed an issue with the Quest ''A Revenge for Old Debts'' where the NPC Ferman was missing a default dialogue, leading to players not being able to interact with other NPCs.
- Medium Tradepack Container skill is now working as intended and will no longer grant double the speed boost to all hull types when a player drops a Tradepack.
Combat and Items
- The item Necktail is now working as intended.
- The Warforged Sword skill now has the status effect applied under players' Health bar.
- Dying with the trinket Bolin's Protection Powder no longer decreases players' total Health.
- The trinket Waterless Poppy Blossoms no longer applies PK Status to Party Members walking over the flower.
- The RavenCard Captain Boone (Disengage) is now properly reducing the cooldown of Precision Shot when the RavenCard Iceforge Hunter is equipped.
- The trinkets Musty Liquid, Suspicious Milk and Ships Glue Leftovers are no longer using players' stats to calculate their damage.
- Diplomatic Exaltation now causes creatures to become aggressive only if the player deals damage to them; it no longer causes instant aggression.
- Fixed the description of Warforging Hammer, Warforging Dagger, and Warforging Axe skills in the Portuguese version.
Guild Wars
- Guild Leaders are now able to properly claim Forts.
- The skill Sins of the Many is no longer stacking more than 5 times inside the Arena.
- Carrying the Golden Flag into Peace Zones (Guild Wars Arena) is no longer possible.
- Guild Wars notifications are now correctly applied to the specific Wars instead of being sent globally.
- Fixed an issue where crops could be placed inside Forts.
- Fixed an issue where players could walk on water after being teleported to the Arena.
- Fixed a typo that incorrectly displayed Guild Wars as starting on Sunday instead of Saturday.
Creatures
- The skill Feasting Bite, from Serafine, now has the correct animation ー Serafine will no longer bug during the transformation to the second phase.
- The skills Widow Ambush and Widow Brooding, from Widow Queen are now properly working as intended.
- Transparency effects from Intangibility skills used by creatures are now properly removed when dispelling the visual effect.
- Fixed Djinns of the same Level as the player becoming aggressive towards the player even when the trinket Bracelet of Quorras was equipped.
Interface
- The first Build Preset slot is now displaying the correct price.
- Players can no longer drag and remove Moa skills from the Action Bar.
- Rangers Company Charges are now being properly displayed as rounded numbers.
- The Effective Level value is now updating correctly in the Character Interface after a Level Sync.
- Players can now properly navigate between pages in the Inbox if they have more than one page of items.
- Information from the Map will no longer vanish when players open it after participating in Aether Rifts.
- Fixed a visual issue where some interruptible casts were being displayed as "Uninterruptible."
- Fixed a visual issue in the Infusion UI where Infusions used during the process were not updating correctly when selected from the Bank or Storage.
Customizable Inventory & Bank Tabs
- Infusions are now being properly categorized inside Backpacks and Vaults.
- Items moved from Equipment slots to the Inventory are now properly respecting their assigned categories.
- Items moved from the Bank to the Inventory are now respecting their assigned categories.
- Fixed a bug where some slots from the main Inventory were not being displayed correctly.
Last but not least… 👀
Ready, aim... soon!
Our next Archetype is gearing up, and trust us—you won’t want to miss the mark on this one!
Stay tuned!