The much anticipated Warden rework is finally here alongside many midgame progression adjustments and some endgame tweaks. We're expecting many bugs this patch to be honest with the amount of things happening and some stuff brewing the backend so please report them as you find them, thanks!

We're

[PvE] Midgame Progression

We're still seeing a lot of newer players getting stuck in midgame, and as mentioned in the previous patch notes we're adjusting the role and amount of running of Rune Dragon Nest (normal and HC) to be much less of a cockblock to newer players

Beginner's Luck

This buff was far too strong which made the gap between having it and not having it enormous. These changes should make it more fair.
  • 50% FD --> 10% FD
  • 20% Crit/Crit Dmg --> 10%
  • The nests where it applied to were significantly nerfed to compensate

Rune Dragon Nest

Mid-game rework to make it easier to progress through the Rune Dragon Nest stage for new players.
This phase of progression is FAR shorter and you only need to clear Rune Dragon Nest around 10 ish times (if you manage to clear it completely) to obtain all the Starlight Cell/Clusters you need to +20 (you'll still need plates from SdC)
  • Rune Dragon Normal and Hardcore have been merged together into a single Rune Dragon Nest (still has 4 man and 8 man versions)
  • Clearing each boss now rewards players with a chest with rewards inside, see drop changes below
  • Clear through boss 2 to obtain Starlight Cells to take their equipment to +10
  • Clear boss 4 to obtain Starlight Clusters to take their equipment to +20

4-man Drops

All drops are bound unless specified otherwise
  • Boss 1:
    • Sealed Omega Expedition Plate 1x
    • Reinforced Plate 3x
    • Fleeting Energy 2x
  • Boss 2:
    • Starlight Cell 7x (Bound) & 1-2x (Rollable)
    • Reinforced Plate 11x
    • Fleeting Energy 2x
  • Boss 3:
    • Random Sinister Calamity Accessories 2x (Bound) & 3x (Rollable)
    • High Grade Reinforced Plate 1x
  • Boss 4:
    • Starlight Cluster 7x (Bound) & 1-2x (Rollable)
    • Spatial Mass 3x
    • High Grade Reinforced Plate 2x
    • Void Essence 60x
    • Superb Wellspring 2x

8-man Drops

All drops are bound unless specified otherwise
  • Boss 1:
    • Sealed Omega Expedition Plate 1x
    • Reinforced Plate 3x
    • Fleeting Energy 2x
  • Boss 2:
    • Starlight Cell 7x (Bound) & 7x (Rollable)
    • Reinforced Plate 11x
    • Fleeting Energy 2x
  • Boss 3:
    • Random Sinister Calamity Accessories 2x (Bound) & 5x (Rollable)
    • High Grade Reinforced Plate 1x
  • Boss 4:
    • Starlight Cluster 8x (Bound) & 8x (Rollable)
    • Spatial Mass 4x
    • High Grade Reinforced Plate 2x
    • Void Essence 60x
    • Superb Wellspring 2x
  • The old Rune Dragon Nests have been removed from the social credit, daily tasks, and weekly tasks
  • The new Rune Dragon Nest has been added to the social credit and weekly tasks
  • Significantly improved FPS at the final boss/dragon arena

Astral Extinction Equipment

Adjustment due to the new crafting/enhancing system
  • Astral Extinction Equipment no longer requires Spatial Mass to craft

Accessories

Accessories were moved to MANTOC, RuDN, and SdC to spread them out and reduce the material sink
Accessories given the same potential lines as EXP5 accessories but with weaker stats to introduce players to accessory potential lines
  • Calamity, Sinister Calamity, Covetous Calamity accessories can no longer be crafted at Belin (now acquired from Storm Manticore and Apocalypse nests, see below)
  • Calamity, Sinister Calamity, Covetous Calamity accessories sell price increased to: 20g, 40g, 80g, respectively
  • Calamity, Sinister Calamity, Covetous Calamity accessories now all have new potential lines similar to those of the Terra accessory lines but weaker stats (so the low/mid/high roll crit/cdmg etc)

Mellow Past (Void Dungeons)

  • NEW: 30% chance to drop Sealed Astral Crests and Sealed Extinction Talismans on clear

Storm Manticore & Apocalypse Nests

  • HP nerfed significantly and slightly reduction in damage dealt
  • NEW: 1x Random Bound Calamity Accessory and 1x Rollable Random Calamity Accessory
  • Sealed Astral Crest & Sealed Extinction Talisman drop rate increased: 1 --> 2

Snowdrift Citadel

As part of the above Rune Dragon changes, Snowdrift Citadel now grants many more High-Grade Plates so its the premiere plate farming place once you're done gathering Starlight materials
  • No longer drops Reinforced Plate
  • NEW: 6x Bound High Grade Reinforced Plate and 5x Rollable High Grade Reinforced Plate
  • NEW: 1x Random Bound Covetous Calamity Accessory and 1x Rollable Random Covetous Calamity Accessory
  • Sealed Astral Crest & Sealed Extinction Talisman drop rate increased: 1 --> 2
  • Terminus Extract increased: 30-40 --> 50-60

[PvE] Endgame Farming

Brynhildr and Treasure Nest Drops

We're swapping BN and TN after some players suggested that we do so since current endgame farming (for crests) is just slogging BN over and over and over again. So we're bringing TN up to snuff and making it the crest grind spot so things are a little more fresh.
Also some more incentive to clear the extra boss
  • The final optional boss of Brynhildr and Treasure Nest (Abyss) drops increased: Gold: 2000 --> 3000 Crest/Accessory: 1 --> 2
  • Brynhildr and Treasure Nest main drops swapped Brynhildr Crest Focused --> Accessory Focused Treasure Accessory Focused --> Crest Focused

Treasure Nest

Lots of improvements to bring this nest up to par with Brynhildr on enjoyability and grindability since we've swapped their grind reasons
  • Treasure Nest boss 2 (Nadine/Gaia) cutscenes shortened significantly (more than halved)
  • Treasure Nest boss 3 elemental swap detonate is now iframable and parryable for those of you that are gamers, also has a more obvious warning before it happens
  • Added steroid reward buff to several TN mechanics if cleared successfully/without being hit
  • Treasure Nest boss 3's first phase (the one with the 5 hydras) is now just the one hydra
  • Significantly improved FPS in the nest

[PvE] Class Changes

Blurb text

/\c30\Warden

Warden suffered from a lot of static gameplay. The old gameplay loop was incredibly short, simple, uninspiring, and boring. Just hit skills, get lots of bubbles and mash Fatal Guided Missiles/Fatal Cannonade. The class also had the issue of playing like a constant DPS class but has Sylph's Aid which promoted burst gameplay which left it in a weird limbo state.

New Warden introduces many new mechanics and intricacies to make you actually think about what you're doing and how to manage your bubbles and stacks effectively.

[Magic Arrow Bubble System]

  • REMOVED (this means no FGM, no FC)

[Frag Arrow EX]

  • Optionally cast holding [S] to move backward, can no longer [LMB] to instantly fire

  • Shoots an arrow in front of you that fragments into shards with glass effects

  • NEW: Gain 1 Trace per hit

  • NEW: Press [RMB] when you have at least 50 Trace to shoot another arrow that explodes and leaves behind a Core that sticks onto enemies, only one core can be active at a time

  • NEW: While the Core is active, [Magic Arrow], [Frag Arrow], [Swift Shot], [Guided Missiles], and [Cannonade] are enhanced: see each skill’s respective section on the Core active version for more details. Core Versions of skills DO NOT share cooldown with the original skill.

  • Core Version: Arrows no longer scatter but instead move forward, shooting 4 arrows in rapid succession

    • Damage: 1070% per shot

    • Cooldown: 5s

[Awakened Swift Shot]

  • REMOVED: old [S] input action

  • NEW: Press [W/A/S/D] while casting to dodge in that direction before casting the original animation (can still cast the original animation if you don’t hold a directional key)

  • NEW: Each hit implants a Shard onto enemies

  • NEW: Press [LMB] after firing arrows around you to chain into [Vault] (see below)

  • Press [RMB] after firing arrows around you to dodge backward (old [LMB] animation)

  • Damage: 1450% per arrow

  • Cooldown: 10s

  • Core Version: Arrows originate from the core’s location rather than the caster and four additional arrows are fired instead

    • Damage: 1205% per arrow

    • Cooldown: 14s

[Guided Missiles]

  • Animation adjusted to shoot arrows out over time rather than all at once

  • Damage: 800% per arrow

  • Cooldown reduced: 11s

  • NEW: Can be cast in the air

  • No longer automatically homes-in at the nearest target, instead shoots arrows in a cone in front of you

  • Core Version: Arrows target the main boss and explode

    • Damage: 1056% per arrow

    • Cooldown: 14s

  • NEW: Each hit implants a Shard onto enemies

[Class Mastery II]

  • MATK passive: 0% → 30%

  • REMOVED: old bubble interaction

  • NEW: [Stunning Shot] is permanently enhanced to [Shattering Shot]

  • NEW: [Shattering Shot] fires an arrow that explodes on contact and shatters into several arrows that automatically track the nearest enemy

    • NEW: Each hit implants a Shard onto enemies

    • Damage: 6100%

    • Cooldown: 10s

  • NEW: When [Shattering Shot] hits, the cooldown of [Frag Arrow] is reset

[Class Mastery III]

  • REMOVED: No longer causes [Guided Missiles] to shoot faster if cast consecutively

  • [Magic Arrow] cooldown decreased by 1.5s

  • [Magic Arrow] grants 1 Trace per hit up to 2 max per cast

  • Core Version: Magic Arrow’s damage is increased and additionally rains down arrows on the core’s location on cast dealing additional damage

    • Damage: 1465%

    • Cooldown: 7s

[Detonating Arrow EX]

  • NEW: Animation changed to no longer fire off 3 arrows. Now releases one powerful arrow, condensing the power of 3 detonating arrows. The arrow latches onto the first target struck, exploding after a short delay

  • Cooldown: 10s

  • Press [RMB] to consume 50 Trace and detonate all Shards implanted on enemies in a large area around the caster. Damage dealt by the detonation increases based on the number of Shards implanted on enemies. The shard count and damage% cap at 120 and 50000% respectively.

[Cyclone Harpoon] → [Vault]

  • REMOVED: Harpoon throw (LMFAOOOOO)

  • NEW: Leap into the arrow and fire multiple arrows quickly.

  • [Vault] hits enemies, gain 3 Trace per hit

  • NEW: Leap into the air backward in a chosen direction [A/S/D] shooting a volley of arrows

  • Can be cast in the air to skip the jump

  • Damage: 1760% per arrow

  • Cooldown: 5s

[Cannonade]

  • Damage: 5310% per volley

  • Cooldown: 16s

  • Core Version: Spin around and snap, quickly dealing damage in an area at the Core’s location

    • Damage: 16332%

    • Cooldown: 9s

[Awakened Hawk Balista]

  • REMOVED: No longer reduces the cooldown of [Hawk Balista] when bubbles reach 19

  • No longer pierces enemies

  • NEW: Fire a powerful piercing arrow that calls upon the spirits to rain down magical arrows devastating enemies in the arrow’s path

  • NEW: When skills that implant Shards hit enemies, [Hawk Balista]’s cooldown is reduced by 1s

[Awakened Passive Magic Arrow] → [Awakened Passive Magic Trace]

  • REMOVED: Everything old

  • When [Rapid Shot] hits enemies, gain Trace up to a maximum of 15 per cast

  • When [Vault] hits enemies, gain Trace up to a maximum of 12 per cast

  • When [Frag Arrow] hits enemies, gain 1 Trace per hit

  • When [Magic Arrow] hits enemies, gain 1 Trace per hit up to a maximum of 2 per cast

  • Additionally awakens [Rapid Shot] & [Guided Missiles]

    • [Awakened Rapid Shot]

      • Cooldown is reduced: 11s → 9.5s

    • [Guided Missiles]

      • See above

[Awakened Passive Extension Core] → [Awakened Sylph’s Core]

  • [Awakened Sylph’s Aid]

    • Action speed reduced: 25% → 0%

    • MATK increase: 50% → 15%

    • Cooldown decreased: 45s → 5s

    • Duration: 25s → 900s

/\c81\Silver Hunter

Small adjustments to follow up to our previous ones
  • [Arrow Storm] now fires in a shotgun spread (damage overall unchanged)
  • [Razor Wind] projectile now pierces targets (no longer explodes on contact), deals normal damage on contact with the damage. However, if it times out in the air, it will explode dealing 40% additional damage
  • [Class Mastery II] Tornado Shot Instant now additionally reduces the cooldown of [Blast Zone] by 7 seconds
  • [Blast Zone] damage increased: 25200% --> 32000%
  • [Insight] now has an aircast version that drops you to the ground smoothly, dealing damage. Can additionally press [Regular Attack Button] to chain into [Tornado Shot Instant]

/\c50\Adept

INTRODUCING GACHA PITY AFTER YOU LOSE THE 20/80 5 TIMES IN A ROW

[Elemental Flair] now guaranteed resets if you fail the proc 5 times in a row (proccing the CD reset with the 20% chance will restart this counter)

/\c73\Dragoon

Finally you can run multiple Dragoons in the same party and not steal each other's marks. Since Warden rework added/uses this ownership technology, we figured Dragoon might appreciate it too
Note that due to how burns, electrocutions, and freeze work (or rather, how prevalent they are) we cannot do this for Pyro, Inquisitor, and Ice Witch (yet)

[Weak Points] now have ownership per player (meaning you cannot steal Weak Points from other Dragoons in your party, you can only see and detonate your own)

⚠️
If you have the weak point mod, it will still show the visual effect. You will need to look at the presence/absence of the HUD countdown indicator to determine if its yours or not

/\c78\Defensio

This is an adjustment that goes with the bugfix, see the bugfix section below
Yes I'm just copying Chris's yapping directly here

The (bugfix) chain has also been added after a successful [Awakened Parry] back flip not only just on a successful [Awakened Parry] counter attack and on [Cycle Kick] as it was not there previously. Yes chaining [Awakened Beyond the Wall] out of any of the abilities listed will be faster than using it stock from jumping and then pressing [Awakened Beyond the Wall].

[PvP]

Roey here!!!!!!!
Mostly some bug fixes for now... Nothing "new" balance wise...
After this patch, I plan on getting to a lot of proposed pvp changes to shake things up....

Struck by Lightning PvP version will now be used after Charitable Zap (non ex) and Goddess Relic (non ex) instead of the PvE version.

Armor Break's Internal Damage Values were fixed (not sure how they broke).

PvP version of VP's Manic will now be used after right-clicking after Repression instead of the PvE version.

Ground Zero EX's lingering magma's damage fixed to apply the correct EX multiplier damage for PVP.

Summon Slime should maybe not disappear right away when you don't aim the summon at your feet.

Vandar PVP shops now have some items in them (instead of defaulting to the Machina PVP shops). The item's icons might be messed up but, I don't really care!!!
Vandar's Ghoul PVP mode weapons were imported into the game now too?

Oh yeah, and since this was requested, Duck Colosseum, Forest Dragon, and Ice Dragon PVP maps now allow for 20 players to join a room at once... However, the UI does not really support that and it might break things but, we wanted to try it out for the next pvp event...

Misc

  • Status effects that stack now show their stacks at the top of the buff instead of next to the duration
  • Improved the reliability of parrying/blocking on all parry-type skills, parrying at the last moment should succeed more often now (for those of you that were struggling with Guardian's CM1 Stance of Faith, this should feel MUCH better now)
  • Assassins that have already class specialized can now redeem the Rai/Jotunn unlock stones at Zeke without having to create a new assassin (NOTE: unlocking Rai/Jotunn via the trials still requires an unspecialized assassin)
  • You can now select server region at the portal window (no need to create a party if youre solo to change regions; parties will be default set to the party region)
  • Lost Ducklings removed from nest drops

Bugfixes

  • Fixed Force Shield skill crest not mentioning Flux
  • Fixed room crash when a player reconnects to Brynhildr Nest stage 3/4
  • Fixed a bug where the block and add friend dialogs capped out at 14 characters, is now 16
  • Fixed several costumes not being server storagable
  • Fixed several weapons not being able to be purchased because they required a skill but did not allow you to select one
  • Sylph's Aid, Hellfire, and Shadow Euphoria buffs now apply immediately on cast (fixes desync buff fizzling)
  • Fixed a bug that kept Zephyr drops at 2-3 instead of 4-5
  • Fixed execution effects not working when damage is applied by projectiles (e.g. Checkmate artifact)
  • Fixed an issue in Treasure Nest stage 1/2 where FPS would significantly decrease if you looked in the direction of the starting area after the cave collapses
  • Fixed an issue where chaining Defensio's [Awakened Beyond the Wall] out of [Awakened Parry], [Trick], and [Cycle Kick] would sometimes use the non chain version of [Awakened Beyond the Wall]. This should make using beyond the wall out of these skills feel way smoother and more consistent. Please do notice that chained [Awakened Beyond the Wall] does 5 hits instead of 7 but does roughly the same damage.

Pride Event

Just a reminder that the Pride Event will end on July 7th, so be sure to get your Gay Dragon Nest runs in! As usual the reward shop will remain open for a patch after that, so be sure to spend your tokens soon.