Release 70 Instructions

Avatars,

Please read this entire message, as well as the linked Player Guide and Known Issues. 

Release 70 of Shroud of the Avatar goes live this Thursday, September 26, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (15:30 UTC). Release 70 includes lots of exciting updates including the return of Pumpkin Head, Ulfheim scene rework, Nightmares (new creature), new decorations, Spooky recurring items, new skills, and more! 

I want to express a huge amount of gratitude to the players who tested the items listed below on our QA server. They found many bugs and also provided editorial feedback on this post so that it is easy to read and actually matches what is in the game.

Before offering feedback and/or reporting a bug, we kindly ask that you read this whole message and the linked Player Guide and Known Issues to get up to date on the current game state. To keep up to date, please check out the Patch Notes.

By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and effort can be focused on new “unanswered” questions and addressing critical issues that impact each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Also, remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is also working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check the schedule for player-run events (via the player-run websites: NBNN Community Calendar & Avatars Circle). You can also get the latest official events on the Main Website.

Without further ado, here is a list of what you can expect to see in RELEASE 70, September 26, 2019.

 Story and Scenes: 

• Ulfheim: Ulfheim is now a completely original Tier 8+ scene (i.e. no longer a clone of another scene with slightly different enemies)! It is now a proper home for the barbarians (like New Britannians have Brittany, Norgarders have Valhold, and plunderers have Penmawr Island). They have got living spaces, crafting areas, tree houses, and even a full village with viking-style buildings. There are three multi-stage wave battles designed for repeat play by high-end players. Enterprising players may discover the “side activities” that can change some of the enemies in the “boss fight,” and increase the number of enemies on the way to that final battle. As a bonus, all the special enemies from the classic Ulfheim are there including high tier wolves, bears, boars, wyverns, and the Reapers. Additionally, it has all the same resources plus additional resource types (such as crystals) and nodes. 
• Pumpkin Head and his Minions Return: Pumpkin Head returns! Each harvest season, Novians warn their children not to go into the fields at night because of Pumpkin Head! Kinga or Ronin in Castle Brittany have two quests: slay Pumpkin Head and steal a pumpkin head item from him or his foot soldiers. This heinous villain and his minions are rumored to dwell in a pumpkin patch in East Vauban Foothills. Slay Pumpkin Head and you might gain a powerful Skull Staff artifact.
• Luminous Atavist in Hiding: The Atavists of Purity have put their leader, the Luminous Atavist, into hiding after repeated successful assassinations by Outlanders.
• Nightmares: Arriving just in time for Halloween, these new rare boss level equines are full of fire and death! Beware unwary Avatars, for your doom may await! You’ll find these rare enemies in some random encounters in Novia and Hidden Vale.

Combat: 

• Taming Frenzy (new skill): This is a new active skill in the Taming skill tree. Using it gives your pet a short combat buff.
• Solar Flare (new skill): The Sun Magic School was lacking a second attack of any type until now. Solar Flare is a new Area of Effect cone attack spell in the Sun Magic School.
• Rainbow Blast Combo (new combo): This is a new combo created from Solar Flare and Douse. It has effects similar to the Unicorn’s rainbow attack.
• Combo Attunement: Combos previously ignored attunement. They will now use the higher attunement of the two spells used to create it.
• Summoned Will-o-Wisp Balance: The Will-o-Wisp in the Moon Magic School was sorely lacking in usefulness. For Release 70, it gains the ability to hit enemies with a critical hit damage debuff similar to the “Fireflies” spell and also a longer mesmerize effect.​
• Summoned Phoenix Balance: The Phoenix in the Sun Magic School received some much needed balance. An additional Damage over Time effect has been added to the Phoenix’s primary attack. Additionally, the Phoenix’s death explosion effect has been more than doubled in strength.
• Warp Spiders: This creature variant that was added last release now has unique visuals.
• /point: This emote will no longer face players flagged as PvP. 
• Teleporters: By default, you can no longer use teleporters and ladders while in combat.
• Attenuation and Experience Bugs: We fixed some issues with how experience and attenuation were being calculated. 
• Gust Bugs: We fixed some issues with the Gust spell with range checking and where it was sometimes moving the caster.

Crafting and Economy: 

• Nightmare Trophy: Craft the head of the Nightmare (assuming you are able to kill the powerful beast) into an amazing trophy!
• Dungeon Stone to Ancient Stone Dungeon Transition Recipe: At the request of players we have added this much needed transition piece recipe for Player Owned Dungeons. It can be found on Decoration Merchants in the Midmaer region. 
• Fruit, Vegetable and Seed Supplies: The numbers of Fruit, Vegetable and Seed Supplies on NPC Merchants has been increased to 100,000 each at the request of players. The end of scarcity will be celebrated for years to come!

Player Towns and Player Housing: 

• POT Water Type Changers: At the request of players, we are adding the ability to change the type of water used when fishing in your Player-Owned Town by placing (and then using) a Saltwater or Fetid Water statue (all POTs are Freshwater by default). These two statues are available in the Crown Shop. Sorry, no switching to lava!
• Global Limit For Containers: There is now one global container limit for properties instead of separate limits for interior and exterior containers. Container placement is no longer restricted based on location, so property owners are free to place all of their containers wherever they like!
• Bats and Bugs Decorations: Inspired by the recent additions of Butterfly and Fog decorations, we have added Bats and Bugs decorations to the Crown Shop, just in time for decorating your Haunted house!
• Colored Light Fixtures: We have added a huge variety of light fixtures that cast colored light to the Crown Shop! They come in three colors (Blue, Yellow, and Red) and five types (Wall, Ceiling, Floor, Street, and Table). We plan to create more light colors in the future.
• Double Sized Ornate Gustball Field: At the request of players we have added a double sized Ornate Gustball field to the Crown Shop! NOTE: This was patched into Release 69.
• Obsidian Order Decorations: There are five new Obsidian Order themed items in the Crown Shop. Since many of these items were used in The Epitaph they are perfect for decorating your own Player Dungeon! NOTE: This was patched into Release 69.
  • Obsidian Plinth
  • Obsidian Round Dais
  • Obsidian Megalith
  • Obsidian Dragon Sentinel Statue
  • Obsidian Ornate Round Dais
• Small Campfire & Bonfire: A small campfire and a large Bonfire are now available in the Crown Shop for warming yourself on cold nights. Don’t forget the marshmallows! NOTE: This was patched into Release 69.
• Updated Player Owned Towns:
  • Arigatou: Changed biome to Forest 01a.
  • Dragons Watch: Changed to non-PvP.
  • Saint Mary’s Island: Renamed from Borderland.

Performance: 

• Unity Upgrade: The team has moved to a much newer version of Unity. This should include minor performance and stability updates.
• Stability Work: A handful of users still struggle with stability issues. To try and address these, a few optimizations for load time were removed. This will add a small amount of additional load time but should improve overall stability.

Spooky Seasonal Recurring Items & Reward Program Items:

• Spooky Seasonal Recurring Items: With Halloween coming up we have brought back all of the Spooky Seasonal Recurring items to the Crown Shop for a limited time! Get them before they expire on November 8, when they will go into hiding again until next year!​
  • Undead Specimen Vats 
  • Giant Lich Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance 
  • Giant Grim Reaper Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance 
  • Ornate Giant Grim Reaper Statue with Magic Portal Dungeon Entrance 
  • Ornate Scythe & Pattern Pack 
  • Dead Tree with Spider Webs 6-Pack 
  • Day of the Dead Masks
  • Spooky Emotes: Breathe Spiders, Rain Spiders, Puke Blood, etc.
  • Woven Spider Web Cloak 
  • Spider Web Cloak 
  • Ornate Spider Legs (back slot wearable)
  • Zombie Pets
• Release 70 Rewards Program Items: To receive these exclusive rewards, all you need to do is join the Rewards Program during Release 70 and login to the game during Release 70. NOTE: The rewards delivery is tied to the start of your billing cycle.
  • Obsidian Order Altar 
  • Executioner’s Mask 
  • Baby Black and Orange Spider Pet

Character: 

• Skull Mask (October Login Reward): To celebrate Halloween every player who logs in during the month of October will receive a unique Skull Mask! To receive the rewards simply login to the game before the end of October and check your rewards tab!
• Flaming Skull Mask: This Flaming Skull Mask will be sure to haunt the dreams of any who behold your visage. It can be found in the Crown Shop.
• Dyeable Flower Hairpiece: This Dyeable version of the Flower Hairpiece is the perfect complement to any hairstyle. It can be found in the Crown Shop.
• Round Heraldry Shield: We have added a new Round Heraldry Shield to the Crown Shop that you can use to display your custom heraldry. 
• Colored Gustballs: For the first time ever gustballs are available in a variety of eye-catching colors! NOTE: This was patched into Release 69.
• Dragon Bow Bug: We fixed an issue with alignment on the Dragon Bow.
• Paper Doll Issues: We fixed various issues with the Paper Doll / Character Sheet including some equipment not being visible and the sheet looking very dark.

Thank you so much for reading all the way here to the end! 

The rest of 2019 will continue to be an amazing year for Shroud of the Avatar players! More loot improvements, better boss fights and more. 

Join us for Episode 2 which will have a new story, new lands, a revamp of the Quest and Journal system, a Theater System, Treasure Hunting with treasure maps that show up as loot, Item Affinity, Taming system expansions, Customizable NPCs, and expanded permissions for containers and doors!

As a reminder, here are links to Player Instructions and Known Issues. Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you.

Sincerely,

Starr Long
aka Darkstarr
Executive Producer