Cluster
10th April 2008, 19:12
Leaked beta patch notes as of today :)
They are updating these every week....
Make's some great reading.
Producer’s Letter
Welcome back,
First off, I must once again say thank you to everyone for the great testing and feedback you’ve provided us so far. Your feedback continues to be invaluable to us as we push on to make WAR into an exciting, entertaining, and innovative MMO. Now on to Tier 3 for Empire versus Chaos!
The next few weeks of testing will focus on the ongoing war between the forces of the Empire and Chaos. This time around their Elven allies have heeded the call for aid. We’ll be starting everyone out with Rank 20 templated characters which will get you right into the action at the beginning of Tier 3. You’ll have access to all 12 previously available careers that are currently open, and four races. It should certainly make things interesting!
The story for this racial pairing continues from the battles that had spilled over into Ostland and Troll Country. This time around, you will find yourselves in the war-torn areas of Talabecland and High Pass. The conflict between Order and Destruction nears a crescendo as we approach WAR's climax in Tier 4.
Can the mortal army of Tzeentch push the forces of Empire all the way back to the gates of Altdorf? Will they manage to siege and then sack Altdorf itself? The outcome rests on your shoulders in the third phase of this Focus Segment, when Tier 4 opens up, allowing you to test out the overall Campaign and battle it out back and forth from fortress to fortress.
We’ll have additional information on the Forums as far as what the specific plans are for testing out Altdorf. You will experience the city while it is being Contested, and Captured. Allowing you to test out all of content Altdorf currently has to offer –including a battle with Karl Franz himself! We will be testing out the Peaceful version of Altdorf in a later Focus Segment.
Another exciting addition to this phase of testing is the first version of our in-game mail system. This is a very rough version of the system but is representative of the additional social functionality that we’ll be continuing to add to WAR as we march toward launch.
This Focus Test offers an abundance of new features never before experienced. As always, your feedback is crucial to this process and we look forward to hearing your reactions to siege, the campaign, Altdorf and beyond.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Quote:
This phase of beta will include:
- Empire and Chaos Tiers Three and Four
- Twelve careers open, with Career Mastery
Order
High Elf: Swordmaster, Archmage, Shadow Warrior
Empire: Witch Hunter, Bright Wizard, Warrior Priest<lb>
Destruction
Dark Elf: Disciple of Khaine, Witch Elf, Sorceress
Chaos: Chosen, Zealot, Marauder
- In-Game Mail
- Siege Testing
- Campaign Testing
- Fortresses
- Altdorf!
Similar to the High Elf versus Dark Elf testing that just ended, this phase of beta will be divided into two parts:
Part One will focus on updated PvE content and careers. While new Open World RvR areas will be implemented and available we really want to hammer away at the new career mechanics and ensure that WAR is truly everywhere. Everyone will start in Tier Three with Rank 20 templated characters.
Part Two will focus on the testing of the contested and captured versions of Altdorf!. We’ll open up with Rank 40 templated characters. We will have a very specific schedule for the various days for testing Altdorf. You will need to be close attention to the BETA forums during this time frame for the testing schedule.
Part Three will focus on the testing of the overall campaign itself. We’ll open up Tier Four as well as continue with the Rank 40 templated characters. We will have a very specific schedule for the various days for testing Open World RvR, Fortresses, and Keeps. We will be testing out how the ebb and flow of the Campaign actually plays out.
Combat & Careers
General
* Setbacks now have diminishing returns on them; after the fifth setback during the same cast, further attacks will not be able to setback that cast any longer.
* Individual ticks of DoTs will no longer setback an ability (the first tick, or 'landing', of a DoT will cause a setback chance). Channeled abilities should generally cause a setback chance each tick of damage.
* Melee range has been increased to 5 feet. This removes the dead zone between when a melee attack can be used vs when a ranged attack can be used.
* The four healer careers, Warrior Priest, Zealot, Disciple and Archmage, have seen significant changes for this round of Beta. An overview of what these entail can be found on the forums.
Renown Abilities
* The Bane series of tactics now requires a single tactic slot.
* Opportunist, Sure Shot, Focused Power and Natural fighter rewards will no longer display a buff icon after they have been purchased.
Bright Wizard
* Explosive Shielding Tactic – Flame shield will now activate against all attack types instead of just melee.
* Flame Shield will now base its damage on the caster's rank and mastery, but will be credited to the effect holder.
* Flames of Rhuin will now base its damage on the caster's rank and mastery, but will be credited to the effect holder.
* Choking Smoke has been rebalanced.
* Burning Iron has had its cast time increased and cool down increased.
Chosen
* Fixed many tooltip errors on Chosen abilities.
* Trembling Weakness will now properly upgrade its effect as the Chosen increases in rank.
* Warping Embrace will no longer be affected by stats or critical hits.
* Gushing Wound (Tactic) now does: Seeping Wound gains a 25% chance to snare targets by 40% for 3s.
Marauder
* Fixed tool tip description on Corrupted Edge. It now correctly states that it increase Strength instead of Weapon Skill.
* Fixed tool tip description on Hulking Brute; this tactic actually modifies Toughness, not Weapon Skill and Initiative.
* Feeding on Fear now displays a tactic Buff icon after it procs. In addition, crits made during the buff will no longer reset the timer back to 5 seconds.
Shadow Warrior
* Spiral Fletched Arrow will now deal the same damage from any distance.
* Removed the stance requirement text from the main body of the ability descriptions.
* Opportunistic Strike damage and cooldown have been increased.
* The cost of Throat Shot has been reduced, but the cooldown has increased.
* Glass Arrow and Acid Arrow have been redesigned.
* General damage and AP cost adjustments have been made on many of the Shadow Warrior abilities.
Sorcerer
* If the initial target of Shadow Knives breaks Line of Sight to the caster or goes out of range, Shadow Knives will be interrupted.
* Shadow Knives now pulses its damage slower, but does more damage per tick to make the total damage done by the ability stay the same.
* Stricken Limbs has been rebalanced.
* Stricken Voices has had its reuse time increased.
* Hand of Ruin has a shorter maximum duration and will always be setback by attacks.
* Word of Pain can only be stacked a maximum of 3 times, and the damage per counter has been increased.
Swordmaster
* Redirecting force now requires a block before being used. This ability has been changed to an opener.
* Gryphon's Lash has been moved from mastery to core at rank 8.
* Sapping Strike has been moved from core to mastery at 5 points in Path Of Khaine.
* Crashing Wave has been moved to level 18
* Dazzling Strike has been moved to level 35
* Wall of Darting Steel has been moved to level 40
* Graceful Precision applies its effect to Gryphon’s Lash instead of Graceful Strike.
* Graceful Precision has been renamed Gryphon’s Precision.
Witch Elf
* Treacherous Assault no longer provides a damage buff.
* Shadow Prowler now has a brief build time, and will be interrupted by any hit.
* Shadow Prowler's effectiveness has been slightly reduced.
* Shadow Prowler now costs slightly more APs per second , has an increased cooldown and the maximum duration of Stealth has been lowered to 30s.
* Kiss of Death will no longer stack multiple copies from the same caster on the target.
* The damage from Kiss of Death will now be distributed in a shorter amount of time (the damage is unchanged).
* Kiss of Betrayal has had its toughness debuff reduced slightly, but duration extended.
* Envenomed Blade will now only raise the chance to proc a poison to a maximum of 50%, instead of a flat 50% add on whatever else is already there.
* Enthrall has been removed.
* A new ability, Feinted Positioning, has been added to the Witch Elf in place of Enthrall.
* Agonizing Wound has had its cost changed to 45 AP, its damage increased and it will now ignore armor from the rear position.
* Throat Slitter has had its positional requirement removed, and will now only deal damage from the rear position.
* Ruthless Assault now costs 25 AP/second. Its damage will now increase based upon the number of combo points.
* Elixir of the Cauldron’s increased critical chance will now only work from behind the target.
* Heart Seeker’s damage has been increased and now requires rear position.
* Sacrificial Stab’s damage has been increased and now requires rear position.
Witch Hunter
* Fervor is now part of the Path of Cleansing, and deals less damage over more time.
* Sudden Accusation no longer provides an AP regeneration buff.
* Incognito now has a brief build time, and will be interrupted by any hit.
* Slightly reduced Incognito's effectiveness has been reduced slightly.
* Incognito now costs slightly more AP/s, has an increased cooldown and the maximum duration of Stealth has been lowered to 30s.
* A bug has been fixed in which Burn Away Lies was incorrectly labeled as a ranged attack.
* The ability Powder Shot has been removed and replaced by a new ability: Feinted Positioning.
* Torment has had its positional requirement removed, its damage increased and will now ignore armor from the rear.
* Pistol Whip has had its damage increased, and now has a rear-positional requirement.
* Silence the Heretic has been changed. It now requires a rear-positional rather than a front positional.
* Burn Away Lies now deals increased damage and has a rear positional requirement.
Community Systems
Battlegroups
* Battlegroups have undergone some modifications since their initial implementation. Battlegroups were renamed to Warbands. To form a Warband, the party leader can right click on any party member and select the Form Warband option.
* Warband management options (inviting and kicking) are handled inside the Warband management window, which is accessed from the player portrait. The invite and kick options also have associated slash commands which are /invite or /inv and /kick. Players can chat in a Warband using /wb, /bc, or /ra.
* The HUD display for Warband members was updated as well, but please note that the art for the Warband management window is a placeholder, and additional layout modifications are planned for the Warband interface.
Appeal Interface
An initial appeal interface has been added to the Main Menu. Players can now select the File Appeal option to bring up a text entry window. Upon entering the appeal text, select the Submit option to submit the appeal or Cancel option to cancel the appeal. At this point, this option should be used for reporting harassment or other types of game violations only. During this stage of Beta, please note that Customer Service can not guarantee a response to any appeal entered, though all appeals will be reviewed by our Customer Service Department. The Appeal Interface should not be used to report game bugs. Also, please note that this is only a first pass at the appeal interface. We will modify this window in upcoming patches with new functionality and UI assets.
In-Game Mail
Communication with your realmmates has just gotten a lot easier! We are proud to introduce in-game mail to the Beta. By interacting with convenient mailboxes placed around the cities and in the warcamps, you may now send messages, money and even items to anyone in your realm, logged on or not.
* You can send messages to guildmates and friends with convenient menu options in addition to being able to send to anyone by just typing in their name.
* Many of the common email options you are used to are available to you. Try it out!
* Sending mail does have a minimal postage cost.
* Messages have an expiration—Read messages expire (are deleted) in 15 days. Unread messages expire in 30 days.
* You can send items by opening up your inventory and the mail window and Right-Clicking the inventory item slot containing the item.
* Please note that it is the item slot that is linked to the mail you are sending. Whatever item (or lack thereof) is in that slot when you click “Send” is what will be sent—Item changes are not currently displayed in the mail window.
* You can send money by clicking on the increment/decrement buttons as well as by typing in the numbers.
* Currently, the system cannot “make change” (i.e. if you have 1 G, 0 S in your inventory, you cannot send 1 S.)
* Please note that the UI art is still at a first pass stage and will be getting much cleaner and more refined.
Bug Fixes
* Scenario groups have been updated since the last patch. Scenario groups are now called scenario parties, and the scenario party window has undergone some cosmetic changes to make it more user-friendly. Additionally, players may queue for a scenario as a party and be placed into the same scenario party automatically upon entering the scenario.
* The player and target windows' art have been streamlined and updated with new UI assets for easier viewing.
* Player trades and merchant transactions are now logged in the chat window.
* The renown bonus for capturing keeps and battlefield objectives is now displayed in the chat log whenever a player gains renown.
* Players will now be notified in the chat window when they have been flagged for RvR.
* Player error messages such as disrupts, target too far away, not enough Action points, etc will now display correctly in the chat window.
* Guild profile information will no longer be erased during server resets.
Content
Gamewide Content Changes
* In response to analysis of our most recent phase of Beta, we have adjusted the level of difficulty for our standard PQs to be easier to complete. Now, two of the three public quests in each chapter have been revised to require only six to nine players to complete. The third public quest in each chapter is harder and requires two or three groups (at least twelve players) to complete.
* We have adjusted the item and influence rewards of harder PQs to be greater than the rewards for standard difficulty PQs. We will continue to adjust loot, influence, and experience as needed in the future, and we are also planning on adding a UI element in a future Beta version to identify PQs that are hard difficulty. For this particular release, the following PQs are Hard: Chaos Ruins, Lake of the Damned, Bitterschaum Swamp, Unterbaum Cemetary, Mud Flats, Serpent's Fang, Bitterspring, Village Vermin, Tempest Horn, and Tower of the Elves. All other PQs you will encounter should be the easier Standard level of difficulty.
* The overall requirements for basic, advanced, and elite influence rewards have been reduced for each chapter of the game. This reduction was not applied to the starting chapters as the numbers there are already in alignment with this newest change. We expect this reduction to provide greater opportunities for you to access each chapter’s influence rewards.
* Tier Three Empire and Chaos Content: The zones of High Pass and Talabecland are ready for questing and exploration when a break is needed from the intense action of RvR battle.
* Tier Four Empire and Chaos Content: The RvR Campaign rages all the way from the heart of the Empire in Reikland, through the war ravaged city of Praag, to the forbidding Chaos Wastes, and these zones will be opened in order to allow you to fight the RvR campaign there. When venturing into these zones, please keep in mind that the non-RvR quests and content there has only been roughed in, and is not fully ready for play. There’s a war raging in the RvR areas, and your realm needs you there!
* We have resolved an issue where monsters would continue to bring friends, even when group members were not within visual range (yes, even lowly snotlings have friends). Monsters should now only BAF when group members are nearby.
* To better support the war, Warcamp trainers and Renown merchants have relocated their shops to the RvR Keeps. You will find 3 merchants and one trainer on the third floor of each keep when it is captured. Please make them feel welcomed, especially if you are of an opposing realm.
* In response to community feedback, Special con enemies have been renamed to the more IP appropriate Champions. This category name change does not affect their abilities or anything else about these dangerous foes.
Tier Three Empire vs Chaos
* The inhospitable wilds of High Pass are home to barbarians and madmen. Only the fiercest survive the unrelenting winds and constant snows to defend their primitive homes. It is here in Order-forsaken wilderness that the Order of the Griffon faces its toughest test yet: the Shrine of Tzeentch. In the northernmost passes the Raven Host uncovers a secret the High Elves have kept for years beyond count: the Luminous Vale.
* The gentle rolling hills of Talabecland have lost the calm of peace as Order of the Griffon moves to strike down those responsible for the spread of the plague. Bandits roam the countryside in the absence of law and order, and the corruptive taint of Chaos begins to find footholds in the minds of both rich and poor.
* PQs, Quests, encounters, and epicenters have been polished overall, taking into account your feedback and suggestions.
* Travel-weary adventurers have no fear, Roadsigns are now in place!
* Trainers have been placed in each chapter hub and removed from the warcamps.
* Developers have managed to convince some monsters that dressing alike is not the correct way to honor their gods. Welcome to more diverse looks among both monsters and NPCs!
* PQ Boss Fights have been revised, shined, shot out of cannons, taken to the realms of Chaos and generally pumped full of awesome.
* PQ Boss monsters have been blessed by their patron deities with new abilities.
* PQ Loot should now be spawning in set locations within each PQ. Look for the golden chests blazing with holy light.
* Quest journal instructions have been clarified.
* Quest reaffirm dialogues have been revamped to include dialogue on both quest givers and finishers.
* Quest items have been bludgeoned into obedience and have agreed to stay in the quest inventory.
* Quests targeting scenarios have been added to the first and second chapter in every tier 2, 3, and 4 zone.
* Quests targeting battlefield objectives no longer require interacting with said battlefield objective, and can be satisfied just by getting close to the objective.
Crafting
The Apothecary and Cultivation trainers have had their stores consolidated and moved to a nearby NPC. Players will clearly be able to tell which is the trainer and which is the merchant by their overhead icons.
When a player drags an Apothecary ingredient into the Apothecary interface, the dragged item will “grey out” in the player’s backpack.
The Apothecary and Cultivation skill buttons (found in the crafting tab) can now be dragged to, and fired from, the hotbar.
Potions can now be dragged to, and fired from, the hotbar.
Potion types have been split into the following families:
* Dominating potions: Strength, Ballistic Skill, Intelligence. These are primary stat- increasing potions that increase a player’s offensive power.
* Warding Potions: Toughness. These are primary stat-increasing potions that increase a player’s defensive power.
* Shielding Potions: Corporeal Resist, Elemental Resist, Spirit Resist, Thorns, Armor. These are potions that shield the player, either defensively or offensively.
* Assault Potions: Napalm, Molotov, Fire Breath, Snare. These are potions that cause immediate damage or negative effects on another player or mob.
* Intervention Potions: Healing, Restoration, Damage Absorb. These are potions that grant an immediate boon to the player. Some may also have a prolonged effect.
* Action Potions: AP Restore. These are potions which restore action points to the player.
Each potion family has its own cooldown timer. If a player uses a potion from a particular family, that player will not be able to use a second potion from that family until that family’s cooldown timer has expired.
Renown Items
* Renown items have had their Renown requirements lowered by three levels. For example, if a Renown item has a level requirement of level 15, its Renown-rank requirement is now level 12.
* Renown stores have been moved to the keeps (they’re on the third floor). Your realm must control the keep in order for you to have access to the Renown merchants.
Gathering
The butchering/scavenging progress bar will now not fire if a monster corpse is beyond the player’s skill level.
Items
Players will now be able to dye their armor.
* Right click on a dye item in your backpack and then drag it to the item you want to dye. Then left click to apply the dye.
* You will then be prompted to choose which area you want to dye.
* When the choice has been made, the player’s avatar will show what the item will look like dyed.
* The player will then be asked whether they still want to dye the item.
* Answering NO will step the dialog back to the “choosing an area” screen.
* Note that Belts are not dyeable.
Known Issue: Currently, players are always given a choice to dye the “first area” or the “second area”. For some armors, only one “area” may be currently dyeable. Players can “back out” of any dye application if the wrong area has been chosen. As a visual guide, the player’s avatar will update during the application to show what the armor will look like when dyed.
Dye stores have been created and placed on merchants in each chapter 2 area. For now, dyes are free. In the future, some dyes will still be available from merchants, other rarer dyes will be crafted, while some will only be available by completing hard PQs.
Tinting
A
* ll the armors in the game have been pre-tinted.
* Known Issue: This is the first pass of our new tints. Some awarded armor items may have strange color combinations. Note that all armor will also be dyeable and that dyes will be free, for now.
RVR
Keeps
* The Keep Lord Guards will now defend the Keep Lord when he or she is attacked.
* Broadcasts will be sent to the RvR area by the victor when a Keep changes hands.
* Renown Merchants and Trainers have taken up residence in keeps. These NPCs can be attacked and slain.
* Keep Lords and Keep Guards now have appropriate abilities and tethers.
* Keep and Gatehouse Doors have had their hitpoints increased based on Tier.
* Players now properly receive Renown when taking over a Keep
Battlefield Objectives
* Tier 3 and 4 Empire vs. Chaos commanders will give a buff to friendly players. The type of buff will be displayed on the map on Mouseover.
* A variety of Obstacles / Palisades / props have been added to help define the controlling realm and to reduce visual redundancy.
* Battlefield Sergeants and Guards now have appropriate abilities and tethers.
Scenarios
Tier 3: Talabec Dam
Talabec Dam is a 12 vs.12 or 18 vs.18 Scenario in Tier 3 Chaos vs. Empire. Anyone between levels 18 and 40 can hop in this Scenario and duke it out.
This is one of our bomb run scenarios which features a single bomb that both Realms have to deliver to their intended bomb targets. In this case, Order is trying to blow up a large Chaos Sigil that is infecting Talabec Dam, and Destruction is trying to blow up a Windmill that is a major production engine for a local town off of Talabec River.
Siege Weapons
Siege weapons are being introduced in this beta phase on a limited basis. The following weapons will be available for use in Tier 3:
* Dark Elf Ballista
* High Elf Ballista
* Empire Hell Cannon
* Greenskin Orcapult
* Empire Boiling Oil
* Empire Ram
The Empire Boiling Oil and Empire Ram will be available to Destruction players for the time being as placeholder weapons until art is finalized for their weapons.
Keeps and surrounding areas will have several locations where Siege weapons can be deployed and used by players after interacting with the Siege pads. Some siege weapons will simply work by interacting with them for a period of time and then pre-determined targets (such as a door) will be damaged. Other Siege weapons, like a ballista, will have a mini-game that determines the weapon’s potency.
There are four types of Siege Weapons:
* Ram: Rams are only useful against Keep Doors or other pre-selected targets.
* Ballista: Ballistae will fire against individual players or other Siege Weapons. Ballistae deal single-target damage.
* Cannon/Trebuchet: Cannons/Trebuchets will fire on an area and deal splash damage to players or other Siege Weapons.
* Boiling Oil: Boiling Oil does massive damage against players directly beneath the gatehouses and breakable doors on Keeps.
* Damage from all siege weapons will follow the combat damage formula. This means that players who have high armor ratings will be able to withstand Siege weapon attacks better than players with little to no armor.
* Siege weapons will be linked to Siege Pads in the landscape or on Keeps. Large slabs of concrete, slate, or otherwise engraved “pads” will designate where Siege can be built. These are the only locations players can create/deploy Siege Weapons. Furthermore, Siege Weapons cannot be moved once placed, although they can rotate.
* Siege will not require a tradeskill to build. Anyone can deploy Siege Weapons.
* Siege Weapons are purchased at Warcamps from the appropriate NPC. Once purchased, a
* Siege Weapon will take up a single inventory space. These items have no weight and can be carried and traded by anyone. The number of Deployed Siege weapons is gated by the Siege Pads.
* Players can carry as many Siege weapons as they want, as long as they have space in their inventory. When a player deploys a Siege weapon, the item will disappear from the player’s inventory.
* A Siege weapon purchased in a higher Tier cannot be placed in a lower tier Siege Pad. Only one Siege Weapon can be on a Siege Pad.
* Siege Weapons decay to 0 hitpoints after 10 minutes if not repaired, or until destroyed once they are deployed.
Siege “Pads”
* Siege Pads are the locations which Siege Weapons can be placed. These will be physically represented in the world as large slabs of concrete, slate, or otherwise engraved “pads” as noted above.
* Keeps will have one Siege pad per destructible door for placing Rams.
* Keeps will have several Siege pads for Ballista or Cannons/Trebuchets on the Bastions.
* The Surrounding area of a keep will have several locations in the surrounding area to place ranged weapons. More or less Pads will be placed depending upon Game-play testing and terrain.
* Only 1 person can interact with the Siege Pad at a time.
* To place Siege on a Siege Pad, players must simply right click on their Siege Pad to bring up an interface window. This window will display the available Siege weapons that players can place on that pad.
* The window will display all of the weapons available. As such it will populate or highlight which weapons the player can actually build based on inventory checks. For example, if a player has a Catapult in their backpack, the Catapult listing in the UI window will be highlighted. Next to each listing is a Build button. Players will be able to place a weapon by clicking a Build button.
* Only tier-appropriate Siege weapons can be deployed on Siege Pads. Tier 1 Siege pads cannot house Tier 2, 3, or 4 Siege weapons.
* Siege Pads can be destroyed by Ballista, Cannon/Catapult fire, or by beating on them with weapons and spells.
* Siege Pads have very few hit points but respawn after 5 minutes.
* Building the Siege weapon will remove any of the items in the player’s inventory that are required to build 1 Siege weapon as selected.
Siege Weapon Control
* To gain control of a Siege Weapon, right click on the Siege Weapon once it has been built. Interacting with the Siege Weapon will give one player control of the weapon. This interaction to control the Siege Weapon is instant.
* To release control of a Siege Weapon, move away from the weapon, or simply close the UI.
* Each Siege Weapon will be operated by one player, except for Rams which can be operated by up to four players.
Rams
* Rams are large Siege engines used to batter down a Door. Up to four players can be seated on a Ram.
* When you control a Ram, you are seated on the Ram itself. Players operating a Ram no longer have control of their walking movement unless they release their control of the Ram by right clicking on it or clicking the Release or close button on the UI.
* If a player right clicks on the Ram when another player has control, they will either board the Ram with the existing players or receive the message: “This Ram is full and cannot be operated by any more players.”
* In the future, Rams will also have various mechanics added which included an updated firing mechanism, increased Ram power for multiple users, and provide cover for players operating the Ram. The more players you have operating a Ram, the more damage it will do (roughly 25% more damage per player operating it).
Ballistae (Direct Fire)
* Ballistae are large bolt throwers used to skewer an enemy player or destroy Siege Weapons.
* Ballistae are mounted on rotating platforms on the Siege Pads so when it’s aimed it will face its relative target. This Siege Weapon is target based that inflicts massive damage to a single target.
* When using a Ballista, players will go into a “sniper mode” screen which functions similar to a rifle scope. Controlling where the reticule aims is done simply by moving the mouse (note that camera controls on the Y axis are inverted). When a legitimate target is available, the reticule will turn red and begin to draw inward.
* Currently in this Beta, all damage from Ballistae will be at their maximum amount of damage possible, which is offset by an extended reload time.
* Moving the aiming reticule will cause the crosshairs to snap outward, reducing accuracy and damage in the future.
Catapults & Cannons (Indirect fire)
* Catapults and Cannons are the third type of Siege Weapons. These types of Siege weapons will use a very simple UI at this time for firing and aiming.
* Catapults and Cannons are controlled by one player. When a Catapult or Cannon is created, it will be placed on a rotating platform so it can turn to face its relative target.
* Right clicking on a Catapult or Cannon will give the player control over the Siege Weapon and will bring up the UI element to repair, fire and aim.
* If a player right clicks on the Catapult when another player has control, that player will get a message stating: “Player X has control of this Siege Weapon.”
* Clicking on an enemy player will target that player. Once the target is set, the Catapult/Cannon will track that target and only fire at that target.
* In the future, Indirect weapons will have an improved firing mechanic that is very similar to actual cannon fire physics and mechanics. Players will select an angle and how much velocity is put on the projectile to determine its landing location. Wind and various other factors will play into where the projectile lands and obliterates the enemy.
Boiling Oil
* Boiling oil is used to defend the Keeps critical locations: Doors.
* Boiling Oil will only hit players directly beneath it and in close proximity to Keep Doors.
* Controlling and deploying Oil is just as simple as all other Siege weapons however you simply target the enemy below and click Fire to cover them in boiling oil.
Altdorf RvR (Contested Altdorf)
When the City goes into a contested state, it will become an instance. Players inside the City when this occurs will be given a message asking them to either stay and fight, or go to safe ground.
Players choosing to stay and fight will be placed in the Warquarters of Altdorf. Players choosing to go to safety will be placed at a blackmarket in Reikwald (the Fortress Zone).
Any players not in the City will gain entry into the contested version of Altdorf by going through the main gate or alternate gates.
Once inside the City, players will be in a safe spawn location behind three gates. Simply right click the gate to be teleported to the other side, and begin your assault or defense of the City’s Warquarters.
Control over the City is determined by battling over seven objectives in the WarQuarters of Altdorf. Gaining control over these objectives will work via population disparity mechanics. The more players you have in the area of a capture location, the faster you will capture it (similar to the Nordenwatch Scenario).
Each Capture location will contribute points over time to a “Meta Pool” of points which is tallied across all instances of the City. Population ratios have been put in place to ensure that instances with possibly imbalanced numbers will contribute differently than instances with even numbers.
Please note that simply getting control over the seven objectives in your instance will not result in winning. Players must maintain control and continue feeding the “Meta Pool” until the predetermined amount of points which result in winning control over the City is met.
The Zone Control Bar will display how well your Realm is doing as a race toward the center of the Control Bar.
If the forces of Order defend the City, the City will remain in its contested state for two hours before resetting back to the standard Altdorf. Once this occurs, the Campaign will reset. Players wanting to leave the contested city may simply click on the portal gate within their safe spawn location.
If the forces of Destruction take the City, a message will indicate such and the City will then be open for pillaging!
Items of Interest
What can I do in a city that is under attack?
* Players will battle against each other in the War Quarters, one side trying to gain access to the city while the other side attempts to defend. Should the invader win, the city gates will fall and the pillaging begins.
* Players may destroy objects, burn objects, smash open interior doors and kill citizens!
* Players may participate in “invader quests” that will present rewards to the player along with increasing their capital city rating value
* The enemy may participate in any available content that is in the city. For further clarification, if a certain dungeon is only available during city rating 4 and the enemy so happens to invade the city when it is at a city rating of 4, the dungeon is open to the enemy to explore!
* Players may attack and capture the enemy’s King!
* By gaining ownership of a city, the enemy will have forced players to use outside resources to perform their banking, auctioneering and other utilities, but at a higher price!
Pillaging the City
* In an earlier section we mentioned city rating. Not only can players increase the rating of your home capital city through normal means, but players also have the opportunity to increase the rating of their home capital city by invading an enemy city.
* Each object a player destroys and burns will increase the city rating point of that player’s capital city. This includes the player statues!
* Each citizen and creature killed will increase the city rating point of the player’s capital city. Yes, this means you can kill the cows and sheep!
* Each quest players successfully complete in an enemy city will increase the city rating point of their own capital city.
* Defeating the King will increase the city rating point of your capital city.
Within an enemy city, players will have the opportunity to attack the King. To access the King encounter, the following must be completed:
A city will contain two sub bosses that must be defeated in order to unlock the King encounter. In the case of Altdorf: the Temple of Sigmar boss, Grand Theoginist Volkmar and The Bright Wizard’s College boss, Thyrus Gorman. Once these two sub bosses have been defeated, a message will be sent to players alerting them of their victory and opening the gate that leads to the King’s palace. Each sub boss encounter is meant to support up to 60 players. The sub boss encounters will not be instanced. The King encounter is meant for a Warband (24 players) and will be in an instance so each player invading the city has an opportunity to fight the King.
Tome of Knowledge
* More achievements have been added to the Tome of Knowledge (ToK)
* Experience rewards have been increased across the entire ToK.
* Altdorf has been added to the War Story section.
* General cleanup and improvements have been made to ToK unlocks in the Empire and Chaos zones.
User Interface
* Scenario Lobby – The ability has been added to join or leave the instance at will after you have selected to "Wait."
* New looks have been added for the Quest Tracker, Healer Window, and Item Enhancement Window.
* User Settings are now accessible from the Character Select Screen.
* The player arrow on the mini-map and main map now aligns with the player's head.
* Buttons on the Hot Bar now show their ‘pressed’ state when using hotkeys on the keyboard
* Changes to the XP Bar now reflect a player’s Rest XP states.
* Quest Waypoints on the mini-map will now be scaled to match their size on the world map.
* Maps – more zones, more color, more scenarios, and more map points have been added.
General Changes and Bug Fixes:
* Numerous bug fixes and improvements.
* Improved target selection for moving monsters and players. This should make it much easier and more accurate to target monsters and players running across your screen.
* General performance improvements across a range of game systems. We're continuing to improve the game's overall performance characteristics, and this Beta sees our next round of enhancements to make the game run smoother and faster.
* Upgraded the animation system and fixed a number of bugs that were causing glitches to appear during playback
And Much, Much More!
They are updating these every week....
Make's some great reading.
Producer’s Letter
Welcome back,
First off, I must once again say thank you to everyone for the great testing and feedback you’ve provided us so far. Your feedback continues to be invaluable to us as we push on to make WAR into an exciting, entertaining, and innovative MMO. Now on to Tier 3 for Empire versus Chaos!
The next few weeks of testing will focus on the ongoing war between the forces of the Empire and Chaos. This time around their Elven allies have heeded the call for aid. We’ll be starting everyone out with Rank 20 templated characters which will get you right into the action at the beginning of Tier 3. You’ll have access to all 12 previously available careers that are currently open, and four races. It should certainly make things interesting!
The story for this racial pairing continues from the battles that had spilled over into Ostland and Troll Country. This time around, you will find yourselves in the war-torn areas of Talabecland and High Pass. The conflict between Order and Destruction nears a crescendo as we approach WAR's climax in Tier 4.
Can the mortal army of Tzeentch push the forces of Empire all the way back to the gates of Altdorf? Will they manage to siege and then sack Altdorf itself? The outcome rests on your shoulders in the third phase of this Focus Segment, when Tier 4 opens up, allowing you to test out the overall Campaign and battle it out back and forth from fortress to fortress.
We’ll have additional information on the Forums as far as what the specific plans are for testing out Altdorf. You will experience the city while it is being Contested, and Captured. Allowing you to test out all of content Altdorf currently has to offer –including a battle with Karl Franz himself! We will be testing out the Peaceful version of Altdorf in a later Focus Segment.
Another exciting addition to this phase of testing is the first version of our in-game mail system. This is a very rough version of the system but is representative of the additional social functionality that we’ll be continuing to add to WAR as we march toward launch.
This Focus Test offers an abundance of new features never before experienced. As always, your feedback is crucial to this process and we look forward to hearing your reactions to siege, the campaign, Altdorf and beyond.
Good Luck and Happy Hunting!
Quote:
This phase of beta will include:
- Empire and Chaos Tiers Three and Four
- Twelve careers open, with Career Mastery
Order
High Elf: Swordmaster, Archmage, Shadow Warrior
Empire: Witch Hunter, Bright Wizard, Warrior Priest<lb>
Destruction
Dark Elf: Disciple of Khaine, Witch Elf, Sorceress
Chaos: Chosen, Zealot, Marauder
- In-Game Mail
- Siege Testing
- Campaign Testing
- Fortresses
- Altdorf!
Similar to the High Elf versus Dark Elf testing that just ended, this phase of beta will be divided into two parts:
Part One will focus on updated PvE content and careers. While new Open World RvR areas will be implemented and available we really want to hammer away at the new career mechanics and ensure that WAR is truly everywhere. Everyone will start in Tier Three with Rank 20 templated characters.
Part Two will focus on the testing of the contested and captured versions of Altdorf!. We’ll open up with Rank 40 templated characters. We will have a very specific schedule for the various days for testing Altdorf. You will need to be close attention to the BETA forums during this time frame for the testing schedule.
Part Three will focus on the testing of the overall campaign itself. We’ll open up Tier Four as well as continue with the Rank 40 templated characters. We will have a very specific schedule for the various days for testing Open World RvR, Fortresses, and Keeps. We will be testing out how the ebb and flow of the Campaign actually plays out.
Combat & Careers
General
* Setbacks now have diminishing returns on them; after the fifth setback during the same cast, further attacks will not be able to setback that cast any longer.
* Individual ticks of DoTs will no longer setback an ability (the first tick, or 'landing', of a DoT will cause a setback chance). Channeled abilities should generally cause a setback chance each tick of damage.
* Melee range has been increased to 5 feet. This removes the dead zone between when a melee attack can be used vs when a ranged attack can be used.
* The four healer careers, Warrior Priest, Zealot, Disciple and Archmage, have seen significant changes for this round of Beta. An overview of what these entail can be found on the forums.
Renown Abilities
* The Bane series of tactics now requires a single tactic slot.
* Opportunist, Sure Shot, Focused Power and Natural fighter rewards will no longer display a buff icon after they have been purchased.
Bright Wizard
* Explosive Shielding Tactic – Flame shield will now activate against all attack types instead of just melee.
* Flame Shield will now base its damage on the caster's rank and mastery, but will be credited to the effect holder.
* Flames of Rhuin will now base its damage on the caster's rank and mastery, but will be credited to the effect holder.
* Choking Smoke has been rebalanced.
* Burning Iron has had its cast time increased and cool down increased.
Chosen
* Fixed many tooltip errors on Chosen abilities.
* Trembling Weakness will now properly upgrade its effect as the Chosen increases in rank.
* Warping Embrace will no longer be affected by stats or critical hits.
* Gushing Wound (Tactic) now does: Seeping Wound gains a 25% chance to snare targets by 40% for 3s.
Marauder
* Fixed tool tip description on Corrupted Edge. It now correctly states that it increase Strength instead of Weapon Skill.
* Fixed tool tip description on Hulking Brute; this tactic actually modifies Toughness, not Weapon Skill and Initiative.
* Feeding on Fear now displays a tactic Buff icon after it procs. In addition, crits made during the buff will no longer reset the timer back to 5 seconds.
Shadow Warrior
* Spiral Fletched Arrow will now deal the same damage from any distance.
* Removed the stance requirement text from the main body of the ability descriptions.
* Opportunistic Strike damage and cooldown have been increased.
* The cost of Throat Shot has been reduced, but the cooldown has increased.
* Glass Arrow and Acid Arrow have been redesigned.
* General damage and AP cost adjustments have been made on many of the Shadow Warrior abilities.
Sorcerer
* If the initial target of Shadow Knives breaks Line of Sight to the caster or goes out of range, Shadow Knives will be interrupted.
* Shadow Knives now pulses its damage slower, but does more damage per tick to make the total damage done by the ability stay the same.
* Stricken Limbs has been rebalanced.
* Stricken Voices has had its reuse time increased.
* Hand of Ruin has a shorter maximum duration and will always be setback by attacks.
* Word of Pain can only be stacked a maximum of 3 times, and the damage per counter has been increased.
Swordmaster
* Redirecting force now requires a block before being used. This ability has been changed to an opener.
* Gryphon's Lash has been moved from mastery to core at rank 8.
* Sapping Strike has been moved from core to mastery at 5 points in Path Of Khaine.
* Crashing Wave has been moved to level 18
* Dazzling Strike has been moved to level 35
* Wall of Darting Steel has been moved to level 40
* Graceful Precision applies its effect to Gryphon’s Lash instead of Graceful Strike.
* Graceful Precision has been renamed Gryphon’s Precision.
Witch Elf
* Treacherous Assault no longer provides a damage buff.
* Shadow Prowler now has a brief build time, and will be interrupted by any hit.
* Shadow Prowler's effectiveness has been slightly reduced.
* Shadow Prowler now costs slightly more APs per second , has an increased cooldown and the maximum duration of Stealth has been lowered to 30s.
* Kiss of Death will no longer stack multiple copies from the same caster on the target.
* The damage from Kiss of Death will now be distributed in a shorter amount of time (the damage is unchanged).
* Kiss of Betrayal has had its toughness debuff reduced slightly, but duration extended.
* Envenomed Blade will now only raise the chance to proc a poison to a maximum of 50%, instead of a flat 50% add on whatever else is already there.
* Enthrall has been removed.
* A new ability, Feinted Positioning, has been added to the Witch Elf in place of Enthrall.
* Agonizing Wound has had its cost changed to 45 AP, its damage increased and it will now ignore armor from the rear position.
* Throat Slitter has had its positional requirement removed, and will now only deal damage from the rear position.
* Ruthless Assault now costs 25 AP/second. Its damage will now increase based upon the number of combo points.
* Elixir of the Cauldron’s increased critical chance will now only work from behind the target.
* Heart Seeker’s damage has been increased and now requires rear position.
* Sacrificial Stab’s damage has been increased and now requires rear position.
Witch Hunter
* Fervor is now part of the Path of Cleansing, and deals less damage over more time.
* Sudden Accusation no longer provides an AP regeneration buff.
* Incognito now has a brief build time, and will be interrupted by any hit.
* Slightly reduced Incognito's effectiveness has been reduced slightly.
* Incognito now costs slightly more AP/s, has an increased cooldown and the maximum duration of Stealth has been lowered to 30s.
* A bug has been fixed in which Burn Away Lies was incorrectly labeled as a ranged attack.
* The ability Powder Shot has been removed and replaced by a new ability: Feinted Positioning.
* Torment has had its positional requirement removed, its damage increased and will now ignore armor from the rear.
* Pistol Whip has had its damage increased, and now has a rear-positional requirement.
* Silence the Heretic has been changed. It now requires a rear-positional rather than a front positional.
* Burn Away Lies now deals increased damage and has a rear positional requirement.
Community Systems
Battlegroups
* Battlegroups have undergone some modifications since their initial implementation. Battlegroups were renamed to Warbands. To form a Warband, the party leader can right click on any party member and select the Form Warband option.
* Warband management options (inviting and kicking) are handled inside the Warband management window, which is accessed from the player portrait. The invite and kick options also have associated slash commands which are /invite or /inv and /kick. Players can chat in a Warband using /wb, /bc, or /ra.
* The HUD display for Warband members was updated as well, but please note that the art for the Warband management window is a placeholder, and additional layout modifications are planned for the Warband interface.
Appeal Interface
An initial appeal interface has been added to the Main Menu. Players can now select the File Appeal option to bring up a text entry window. Upon entering the appeal text, select the Submit option to submit the appeal or Cancel option to cancel the appeal. At this point, this option should be used for reporting harassment or other types of game violations only. During this stage of Beta, please note that Customer Service can not guarantee a response to any appeal entered, though all appeals will be reviewed by our Customer Service Department. The Appeal Interface should not be used to report game bugs. Also, please note that this is only a first pass at the appeal interface. We will modify this window in upcoming patches with new functionality and UI assets.
In-Game Mail
Communication with your realmmates has just gotten a lot easier! We are proud to introduce in-game mail to the Beta. By interacting with convenient mailboxes placed around the cities and in the warcamps, you may now send messages, money and even items to anyone in your realm, logged on or not.
* You can send messages to guildmates and friends with convenient menu options in addition to being able to send to anyone by just typing in their name.
* Many of the common email options you are used to are available to you. Try it out!
* Sending mail does have a minimal postage cost.
* Messages have an expiration—Read messages expire (are deleted) in 15 days. Unread messages expire in 30 days.
* You can send items by opening up your inventory and the mail window and Right-Clicking the inventory item slot containing the item.
* Please note that it is the item slot that is linked to the mail you are sending. Whatever item (or lack thereof) is in that slot when you click “Send” is what will be sent—Item changes are not currently displayed in the mail window.
* You can send money by clicking on the increment/decrement buttons as well as by typing in the numbers.
* Currently, the system cannot “make change” (i.e. if you have 1 G, 0 S in your inventory, you cannot send 1 S.)
* Please note that the UI art is still at a first pass stage and will be getting much cleaner and more refined.
Bug Fixes
* Scenario groups have been updated since the last patch. Scenario groups are now called scenario parties, and the scenario party window has undergone some cosmetic changes to make it more user-friendly. Additionally, players may queue for a scenario as a party and be placed into the same scenario party automatically upon entering the scenario.
* The player and target windows' art have been streamlined and updated with new UI assets for easier viewing.
* Player trades and merchant transactions are now logged in the chat window.
* The renown bonus for capturing keeps and battlefield objectives is now displayed in the chat log whenever a player gains renown.
* Players will now be notified in the chat window when they have been flagged for RvR.
* Player error messages such as disrupts, target too far away, not enough Action points, etc will now display correctly in the chat window.
* Guild profile information will no longer be erased during server resets.
Content
Gamewide Content Changes
* In response to analysis of our most recent phase of Beta, we have adjusted the level of difficulty for our standard PQs to be easier to complete. Now, two of the three public quests in each chapter have been revised to require only six to nine players to complete. The third public quest in each chapter is harder and requires two or three groups (at least twelve players) to complete.
* We have adjusted the item and influence rewards of harder PQs to be greater than the rewards for standard difficulty PQs. We will continue to adjust loot, influence, and experience as needed in the future, and we are also planning on adding a UI element in a future Beta version to identify PQs that are hard difficulty. For this particular release, the following PQs are Hard: Chaos Ruins, Lake of the Damned, Bitterschaum Swamp, Unterbaum Cemetary, Mud Flats, Serpent's Fang, Bitterspring, Village Vermin, Tempest Horn, and Tower of the Elves. All other PQs you will encounter should be the easier Standard level of difficulty.
* The overall requirements for basic, advanced, and elite influence rewards have been reduced for each chapter of the game. This reduction was not applied to the starting chapters as the numbers there are already in alignment with this newest change. We expect this reduction to provide greater opportunities for you to access each chapter’s influence rewards.
* Tier Three Empire and Chaos Content: The zones of High Pass and Talabecland are ready for questing and exploration when a break is needed from the intense action of RvR battle.
* Tier Four Empire and Chaos Content: The RvR Campaign rages all the way from the heart of the Empire in Reikland, through the war ravaged city of Praag, to the forbidding Chaos Wastes, and these zones will be opened in order to allow you to fight the RvR campaign there. When venturing into these zones, please keep in mind that the non-RvR quests and content there has only been roughed in, and is not fully ready for play. There’s a war raging in the RvR areas, and your realm needs you there!
* We have resolved an issue where monsters would continue to bring friends, even when group members were not within visual range (yes, even lowly snotlings have friends). Monsters should now only BAF when group members are nearby.
* To better support the war, Warcamp trainers and Renown merchants have relocated their shops to the RvR Keeps. You will find 3 merchants and one trainer on the third floor of each keep when it is captured. Please make them feel welcomed, especially if you are of an opposing realm.
* In response to community feedback, Special con enemies have been renamed to the more IP appropriate Champions. This category name change does not affect their abilities or anything else about these dangerous foes.
Tier Three Empire vs Chaos
* The inhospitable wilds of High Pass are home to barbarians and madmen. Only the fiercest survive the unrelenting winds and constant snows to defend their primitive homes. It is here in Order-forsaken wilderness that the Order of the Griffon faces its toughest test yet: the Shrine of Tzeentch. In the northernmost passes the Raven Host uncovers a secret the High Elves have kept for years beyond count: the Luminous Vale.
* The gentle rolling hills of Talabecland have lost the calm of peace as Order of the Griffon moves to strike down those responsible for the spread of the plague. Bandits roam the countryside in the absence of law and order, and the corruptive taint of Chaos begins to find footholds in the minds of both rich and poor.
* PQs, Quests, encounters, and epicenters have been polished overall, taking into account your feedback and suggestions.
* Travel-weary adventurers have no fear, Roadsigns are now in place!
* Trainers have been placed in each chapter hub and removed from the warcamps.
* Developers have managed to convince some monsters that dressing alike is not the correct way to honor their gods. Welcome to more diverse looks among both monsters and NPCs!
* PQ Boss Fights have been revised, shined, shot out of cannons, taken to the realms of Chaos and generally pumped full of awesome.
* PQ Boss monsters have been blessed by their patron deities with new abilities.
* PQ Loot should now be spawning in set locations within each PQ. Look for the golden chests blazing with holy light.
* Quest journal instructions have been clarified.
* Quest reaffirm dialogues have been revamped to include dialogue on both quest givers and finishers.
* Quest items have been bludgeoned into obedience and have agreed to stay in the quest inventory.
* Quests targeting scenarios have been added to the first and second chapter in every tier 2, 3, and 4 zone.
* Quests targeting battlefield objectives no longer require interacting with said battlefield objective, and can be satisfied just by getting close to the objective.
Crafting
The Apothecary and Cultivation trainers have had their stores consolidated and moved to a nearby NPC. Players will clearly be able to tell which is the trainer and which is the merchant by their overhead icons.
When a player drags an Apothecary ingredient into the Apothecary interface, the dragged item will “grey out” in the player’s backpack.
The Apothecary and Cultivation skill buttons (found in the crafting tab) can now be dragged to, and fired from, the hotbar.
Potions can now be dragged to, and fired from, the hotbar.
Potion types have been split into the following families:
* Dominating potions: Strength, Ballistic Skill, Intelligence. These are primary stat- increasing potions that increase a player’s offensive power.
* Warding Potions: Toughness. These are primary stat-increasing potions that increase a player’s defensive power.
* Shielding Potions: Corporeal Resist, Elemental Resist, Spirit Resist, Thorns, Armor. These are potions that shield the player, either defensively or offensively.
* Assault Potions: Napalm, Molotov, Fire Breath, Snare. These are potions that cause immediate damage or negative effects on another player or mob.
* Intervention Potions: Healing, Restoration, Damage Absorb. These are potions that grant an immediate boon to the player. Some may also have a prolonged effect.
* Action Potions: AP Restore. These are potions which restore action points to the player.
Each potion family has its own cooldown timer. If a player uses a potion from a particular family, that player will not be able to use a second potion from that family until that family’s cooldown timer has expired.
Renown Items
* Renown items have had their Renown requirements lowered by three levels. For example, if a Renown item has a level requirement of level 15, its Renown-rank requirement is now level 12.
* Renown stores have been moved to the keeps (they’re on the third floor). Your realm must control the keep in order for you to have access to the Renown merchants.
Gathering
The butchering/scavenging progress bar will now not fire if a monster corpse is beyond the player’s skill level.
Items
Players will now be able to dye their armor.
* Right click on a dye item in your backpack and then drag it to the item you want to dye. Then left click to apply the dye.
* You will then be prompted to choose which area you want to dye.
* When the choice has been made, the player’s avatar will show what the item will look like dyed.
* The player will then be asked whether they still want to dye the item.
* Answering NO will step the dialog back to the “choosing an area” screen.
* Note that Belts are not dyeable.
Known Issue: Currently, players are always given a choice to dye the “first area” or the “second area”. For some armors, only one “area” may be currently dyeable. Players can “back out” of any dye application if the wrong area has been chosen. As a visual guide, the player’s avatar will update during the application to show what the armor will look like when dyed.
Dye stores have been created and placed on merchants in each chapter 2 area. For now, dyes are free. In the future, some dyes will still be available from merchants, other rarer dyes will be crafted, while some will only be available by completing hard PQs.
Tinting
A
* ll the armors in the game have been pre-tinted.
* Known Issue: This is the first pass of our new tints. Some awarded armor items may have strange color combinations. Note that all armor will also be dyeable and that dyes will be free, for now.
RVR
Keeps
* The Keep Lord Guards will now defend the Keep Lord when he or she is attacked.
* Broadcasts will be sent to the RvR area by the victor when a Keep changes hands.
* Renown Merchants and Trainers have taken up residence in keeps. These NPCs can be attacked and slain.
* Keep Lords and Keep Guards now have appropriate abilities and tethers.
* Keep and Gatehouse Doors have had their hitpoints increased based on Tier.
* Players now properly receive Renown when taking over a Keep
Battlefield Objectives
* Tier 3 and 4 Empire vs. Chaos commanders will give a buff to friendly players. The type of buff will be displayed on the map on Mouseover.
* A variety of Obstacles / Palisades / props have been added to help define the controlling realm and to reduce visual redundancy.
* Battlefield Sergeants and Guards now have appropriate abilities and tethers.
Scenarios
Tier 3: Talabec Dam
Talabec Dam is a 12 vs.12 or 18 vs.18 Scenario in Tier 3 Chaos vs. Empire. Anyone between levels 18 and 40 can hop in this Scenario and duke it out.
This is one of our bomb run scenarios which features a single bomb that both Realms have to deliver to their intended bomb targets. In this case, Order is trying to blow up a large Chaos Sigil that is infecting Talabec Dam, and Destruction is trying to blow up a Windmill that is a major production engine for a local town off of Talabec River.
Siege Weapons
Siege weapons are being introduced in this beta phase on a limited basis. The following weapons will be available for use in Tier 3:
* Dark Elf Ballista
* High Elf Ballista
* Empire Hell Cannon
* Greenskin Orcapult
* Empire Boiling Oil
* Empire Ram
The Empire Boiling Oil and Empire Ram will be available to Destruction players for the time being as placeholder weapons until art is finalized for their weapons.
Keeps and surrounding areas will have several locations where Siege weapons can be deployed and used by players after interacting with the Siege pads. Some siege weapons will simply work by interacting with them for a period of time and then pre-determined targets (such as a door) will be damaged. Other Siege weapons, like a ballista, will have a mini-game that determines the weapon’s potency.
There are four types of Siege Weapons:
* Ram: Rams are only useful against Keep Doors or other pre-selected targets.
* Ballista: Ballistae will fire against individual players or other Siege Weapons. Ballistae deal single-target damage.
* Cannon/Trebuchet: Cannons/Trebuchets will fire on an area and deal splash damage to players or other Siege Weapons.
* Boiling Oil: Boiling Oil does massive damage against players directly beneath the gatehouses and breakable doors on Keeps.
* Damage from all siege weapons will follow the combat damage formula. This means that players who have high armor ratings will be able to withstand Siege weapon attacks better than players with little to no armor.
* Siege weapons will be linked to Siege Pads in the landscape or on Keeps. Large slabs of concrete, slate, or otherwise engraved “pads” will designate where Siege can be built. These are the only locations players can create/deploy Siege Weapons. Furthermore, Siege Weapons cannot be moved once placed, although they can rotate.
* Siege will not require a tradeskill to build. Anyone can deploy Siege Weapons.
* Siege Weapons are purchased at Warcamps from the appropriate NPC. Once purchased, a
* Siege Weapon will take up a single inventory space. These items have no weight and can be carried and traded by anyone. The number of Deployed Siege weapons is gated by the Siege Pads.
* Players can carry as many Siege weapons as they want, as long as they have space in their inventory. When a player deploys a Siege weapon, the item will disappear from the player’s inventory.
* A Siege weapon purchased in a higher Tier cannot be placed in a lower tier Siege Pad. Only one Siege Weapon can be on a Siege Pad.
* Siege Weapons decay to 0 hitpoints after 10 minutes if not repaired, or until destroyed once they are deployed.
Siege “Pads”
* Siege Pads are the locations which Siege Weapons can be placed. These will be physically represented in the world as large slabs of concrete, slate, or otherwise engraved “pads” as noted above.
* Keeps will have one Siege pad per destructible door for placing Rams.
* Keeps will have several Siege pads for Ballista or Cannons/Trebuchets on the Bastions.
* The Surrounding area of a keep will have several locations in the surrounding area to place ranged weapons. More or less Pads will be placed depending upon Game-play testing and terrain.
* Only 1 person can interact with the Siege Pad at a time.
* To place Siege on a Siege Pad, players must simply right click on their Siege Pad to bring up an interface window. This window will display the available Siege weapons that players can place on that pad.
* The window will display all of the weapons available. As such it will populate or highlight which weapons the player can actually build based on inventory checks. For example, if a player has a Catapult in their backpack, the Catapult listing in the UI window will be highlighted. Next to each listing is a Build button. Players will be able to place a weapon by clicking a Build button.
* Only tier-appropriate Siege weapons can be deployed on Siege Pads. Tier 1 Siege pads cannot house Tier 2, 3, or 4 Siege weapons.
* Siege Pads can be destroyed by Ballista, Cannon/Catapult fire, or by beating on them with weapons and spells.
* Siege Pads have very few hit points but respawn after 5 minutes.
* Building the Siege weapon will remove any of the items in the player’s inventory that are required to build 1 Siege weapon as selected.
Siege Weapon Control
* To gain control of a Siege Weapon, right click on the Siege Weapon once it has been built. Interacting with the Siege Weapon will give one player control of the weapon. This interaction to control the Siege Weapon is instant.
* To release control of a Siege Weapon, move away from the weapon, or simply close the UI.
* Each Siege Weapon will be operated by one player, except for Rams which can be operated by up to four players.
Rams
* Rams are large Siege engines used to batter down a Door. Up to four players can be seated on a Ram.
* When you control a Ram, you are seated on the Ram itself. Players operating a Ram no longer have control of their walking movement unless they release their control of the Ram by right clicking on it or clicking the Release or close button on the UI.
* If a player right clicks on the Ram when another player has control, they will either board the Ram with the existing players or receive the message: “This Ram is full and cannot be operated by any more players.”
* In the future, Rams will also have various mechanics added which included an updated firing mechanism, increased Ram power for multiple users, and provide cover for players operating the Ram. The more players you have operating a Ram, the more damage it will do (roughly 25% more damage per player operating it).
Ballistae (Direct Fire)
* Ballistae are large bolt throwers used to skewer an enemy player or destroy Siege Weapons.
* Ballistae are mounted on rotating platforms on the Siege Pads so when it’s aimed it will face its relative target. This Siege Weapon is target based that inflicts massive damage to a single target.
* When using a Ballista, players will go into a “sniper mode” screen which functions similar to a rifle scope. Controlling where the reticule aims is done simply by moving the mouse (note that camera controls on the Y axis are inverted). When a legitimate target is available, the reticule will turn red and begin to draw inward.
* Currently in this Beta, all damage from Ballistae will be at their maximum amount of damage possible, which is offset by an extended reload time.
* Moving the aiming reticule will cause the crosshairs to snap outward, reducing accuracy and damage in the future.
Catapults & Cannons (Indirect fire)
* Catapults and Cannons are the third type of Siege Weapons. These types of Siege weapons will use a very simple UI at this time for firing and aiming.
* Catapults and Cannons are controlled by one player. When a Catapult or Cannon is created, it will be placed on a rotating platform so it can turn to face its relative target.
* Right clicking on a Catapult or Cannon will give the player control over the Siege Weapon and will bring up the UI element to repair, fire and aim.
* If a player right clicks on the Catapult when another player has control, that player will get a message stating: “Player X has control of this Siege Weapon.”
* Clicking on an enemy player will target that player. Once the target is set, the Catapult/Cannon will track that target and only fire at that target.
* In the future, Indirect weapons will have an improved firing mechanic that is very similar to actual cannon fire physics and mechanics. Players will select an angle and how much velocity is put on the projectile to determine its landing location. Wind and various other factors will play into where the projectile lands and obliterates the enemy.
Boiling Oil
* Boiling oil is used to defend the Keeps critical locations: Doors.
* Boiling Oil will only hit players directly beneath it and in close proximity to Keep Doors.
* Controlling and deploying Oil is just as simple as all other Siege weapons however you simply target the enemy below and click Fire to cover them in boiling oil.
Altdorf RvR (Contested Altdorf)
When the City goes into a contested state, it will become an instance. Players inside the City when this occurs will be given a message asking them to either stay and fight, or go to safe ground.
Players choosing to stay and fight will be placed in the Warquarters of Altdorf. Players choosing to go to safety will be placed at a blackmarket in Reikwald (the Fortress Zone).
Any players not in the City will gain entry into the contested version of Altdorf by going through the main gate or alternate gates.
Once inside the City, players will be in a safe spawn location behind three gates. Simply right click the gate to be teleported to the other side, and begin your assault or defense of the City’s Warquarters.
Control over the City is determined by battling over seven objectives in the WarQuarters of Altdorf. Gaining control over these objectives will work via population disparity mechanics. The more players you have in the area of a capture location, the faster you will capture it (similar to the Nordenwatch Scenario).
Each Capture location will contribute points over time to a “Meta Pool” of points which is tallied across all instances of the City. Population ratios have been put in place to ensure that instances with possibly imbalanced numbers will contribute differently than instances with even numbers.
Please note that simply getting control over the seven objectives in your instance will not result in winning. Players must maintain control and continue feeding the “Meta Pool” until the predetermined amount of points which result in winning control over the City is met.
The Zone Control Bar will display how well your Realm is doing as a race toward the center of the Control Bar.
If the forces of Order defend the City, the City will remain in its contested state for two hours before resetting back to the standard Altdorf. Once this occurs, the Campaign will reset. Players wanting to leave the contested city may simply click on the portal gate within their safe spawn location.
If the forces of Destruction take the City, a message will indicate such and the City will then be open for pillaging!
Items of Interest
What can I do in a city that is under attack?
* Players will battle against each other in the War Quarters, one side trying to gain access to the city while the other side attempts to defend. Should the invader win, the city gates will fall and the pillaging begins.
* Players may destroy objects, burn objects, smash open interior doors and kill citizens!
* Players may participate in “invader quests” that will present rewards to the player along with increasing their capital city rating value
* The enemy may participate in any available content that is in the city. For further clarification, if a certain dungeon is only available during city rating 4 and the enemy so happens to invade the city when it is at a city rating of 4, the dungeon is open to the enemy to explore!
* Players may attack and capture the enemy’s King!
* By gaining ownership of a city, the enemy will have forced players to use outside resources to perform their banking, auctioneering and other utilities, but at a higher price!
Pillaging the City
* In an earlier section we mentioned city rating. Not only can players increase the rating of your home capital city through normal means, but players also have the opportunity to increase the rating of their home capital city by invading an enemy city.
* Each object a player destroys and burns will increase the city rating point of that player’s capital city. This includes the player statues!
* Each citizen and creature killed will increase the city rating point of the player’s capital city. Yes, this means you can kill the cows and sheep!
* Each quest players successfully complete in an enemy city will increase the city rating point of their own capital city.
* Defeating the King will increase the city rating point of your capital city.
Within an enemy city, players will have the opportunity to attack the King. To access the King encounter, the following must be completed:
A city will contain two sub bosses that must be defeated in order to unlock the King encounter. In the case of Altdorf: the Temple of Sigmar boss, Grand Theoginist Volkmar and The Bright Wizard’s College boss, Thyrus Gorman. Once these two sub bosses have been defeated, a message will be sent to players alerting them of their victory and opening the gate that leads to the King’s palace. Each sub boss encounter is meant to support up to 60 players. The sub boss encounters will not be instanced. The King encounter is meant for a Warband (24 players) and will be in an instance so each player invading the city has an opportunity to fight the King.
Tome of Knowledge
* More achievements have been added to the Tome of Knowledge (ToK)
* Experience rewards have been increased across the entire ToK.
* Altdorf has been added to the War Story section.
* General cleanup and improvements have been made to ToK unlocks in the Empire and Chaos zones.
User Interface
* Scenario Lobby – The ability has been added to join or leave the instance at will after you have selected to "Wait."
* New looks have been added for the Quest Tracker, Healer Window, and Item Enhancement Window.
* User Settings are now accessible from the Character Select Screen.
* The player arrow on the mini-map and main map now aligns with the player's head.
* Buttons on the Hot Bar now show their ‘pressed’ state when using hotkeys on the keyboard
* Changes to the XP Bar now reflect a player’s Rest XP states.
* Quest Waypoints on the mini-map will now be scaled to match their size on the world map.
* Maps – more zones, more color, more scenarios, and more map points have been added.
General Changes and Bug Fixes:
* Numerous bug fixes and improvements.
* Improved target selection for moving monsters and players. This should make it much easier and more accurate to target monsters and players running across your screen.
* General performance improvements across a range of game systems. We're continuing to improve the game's overall performance characteristics, and this Beta sees our next round of enhancements to make the game run smoother and faster.
* Upgraded the animation system and fixed a number of bugs that were causing glitches to appear during playback
And Much, Much More!