Avatar’s Update #425: Play Release 90 Now! Imbued Gems & Jewels! Balance Work! UI Improvements! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

Release 90 is upon us! Imbued Gems! Imbued Jewels! Combat balance improvements! User Interface improvements! MANY bug fixes and quality of life improvements! Log in to check out this amazing update! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 90 Patch Notes!

Below are a list of updates that are live as of Release 90 (R90) in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R90 is a polish, improvement and bug fixes month. New content, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R91 next month! We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 90!

Crafting, Decoration, & Inventory Item Changes:

Approximately 77 Imbued Gems and Jewels can now be salvaged from many artifacts, and 18 others can be crafted using recipes found throughout New Britannia. Also, 4 new gem/jewel socketing recipes have been added to the game!
- Imbued Gems and Jewels can only be socketed into crafted gear.
- Not all artifacts have a chance (yet) to yield a special gem or jewel upon salvage, so please take note! This spreadsheet, which will be maintained as we continue to expand the system, lists all available Imbued Gems and Jewels and their source, whether it be from crafting or from salvage of artifacts. Essentially, neither the non-tiered artifacts nor the crafting artifacts will yield Imbued Gems or Jewels, which is slated for R91 and R92.
- Here are the chances of success for receiving an Imbued Gem or Jewel by salvaging an eligible artifact as indicated in the spreadsheet:
  - Common: 10% Chance, 1 Gem or Jewel
  - Uncommon: 50% Chance, 1 Gem or Jewel
  - Rare: 100% Chance, 1 Gem or Jewel
  - Legendary: 100% Chance, 2 Gems or Jewels
  - Epic: 100% Chance, 3 Gems or Jewels
  - Salvaging an applicable chest piece, a weapon, or an offhand will yield a gem, while salvaging all other gear items from other slots will yield jewels.
- The magical attunement gem and jewel recipes drop as loot from the following sources:
  - Imbued Atenism Gem: Phoenix
  - Imbued Chaos Gem: Obsidian Panopticon
  - Imbued Gaiaism Gem: Green Dragons
  - Imbued Lunaism Gem: Shadow Creatures
  - Imbued Necromancy Gem: Cabalists
  - Imbued Sorcery Gem: Lord British’s Castle
  - Imbued Tempestry Gem: High Tier Water and Ice Elementals
  - Imbued Thaumaturgy Gem: Automatons, Clockwork Dragons
  - Imbued Theurgy Gem: Well of Aldur
  - Imbued Jewels: Supply Bundles
- The 4 new socketing recipes can be looted in the new Episode 2 location known as the Obsidian Panopticon, with the greatest chances coming from the Obsidian Watch Commander.
- The new Chaos Gems/Jewels (6 varieties) now provide extra enchanting options if a chaos gem is socketed into applicable gear.
  - Chest armor has a chance to provide Magic Resistance, Tabula Rasa Range, or Torpid Torment Range bonuses.
  - Weapons have a chance to provide Chaos Bolt Damage or Torpid Torment Focus Damage Rate bonuses.
  - Jewelry has a chance to provide Summon Daemon Power bonuses.
- Imbued Gems or Jewels which relate to a particular school of magic will provide the extra enchanting options related to that school of magic (if the gem or jewel is placed into the gear item prior to enchanting).
- Imbued Gems or Jewels which are not related to a particular school of magic will not yield special enchanting bonuses.
- Legacy epic artifacts and all new version artifacts indicated in the spreadsheet will yield (or have the chance to yield) Imbued Gems or Jewels. Legacy common through legendary artifacts will first salvage into low durability versions of the new version artifacts, just in case players wish to use them in upgrade recipes.
- Here’s a list of all the available Imbued Gems and Jewels, which are also easily viewable in this spreadsheet as mentioned earlier. The source from which to obtain the gem or jewel is listed in parenthesis, indicating either the artifact required to salvage the item or whether it’s a crafted gem or jewel:
  - Imbued Atenism Gem: +25 Sun Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Chaos Gem: +25 Chaos Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Gaiaism Gem: +25 Earth Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Lunaism Gem: +25 Moon Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Necromancy Gem: +25 Death Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Sorcery Gem: +25 Fire Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Tempestry Gem: +25 Water Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Thaumaturgy Gem: +25 Life Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Theurgy Gem: +25 Air Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Atenism Jewel: +12 Sun Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Chaos Jewel: +12 Chaos Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Gaiaism Jewel: +12 Earth Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Lunaism Jewel: +12 Moon Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Necromancy Jewel: +12 Death Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Sorcery Jewel: +12 Fire Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Tempestry Jewel: +12 Water Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Thaumaturgy Jewel: +12 Life Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Theurgy Jewel: +12 Air Attunement (Crafted)
  - Imbued Gem of Focus: +150 Focus (Acara’s Plate Chest of Defiance)
  - Imbued Gem of Polearm Combat: +10 Polearm Combat (Halberd of the Sun)
  - Imbued Gem of Ranged Combat: +10 Ranged Combat (Crossbow of Accuracy)
  - Imbued Gem of Rending: +20% Rend Damage (Sword of Speed)
  - Imbued Gem of Renewed Focus: +1.5 Focus Per Second (Ankh of Sacrifice)
  - Imbued Gem of the Air Summoner: +20 Summon Air Elemental Power (Suutak’s Bluster)
  - Imbued Gem of Bladed Combat: +10 Bladed Combat (Two-Handed Sword of Elf Slaying)
  - Imbued Gem of the Bludgeon Combat: +10 Bludgeon Combat (Two-handed Mace of Elemental Slaying)
  - Imbued Gem of the Chaos Summoner: +20 Summon Daemon Power (Heart of Vrul)
  - Imbued Gem of the Deadly Bandit: +7.5% Base Weapon Damage (Leather Bandit Chest Armor)
  - Imbued Gem of the Death Summoner: +20 Summon Lich/Skeleton Power (Anapa’s Favor)
  - Imbued Gem of the Earth Summoner: +20 Summon Earth Elemental Power (Gaia’s Heart)
  - Imbued Gem of the Fire Summoner: +20 Summon Fire Elemental Power (Vexlyn’s Spark)
  - Imbued Gem of the Moon Summoner: +20 Summon Wisp Power (Aether Orb)
  - Imbued Gem of the Ringmaster: +10 Tame Level Bonus (Ringmaster’s Vest)
  - Imbued Gem of the Stalwart Shield: +15% Shield Durability Effectiveness (Shield of Attraction)
  - Imbued Gem of the Sun Summoner: +20 Summon Phoenix Power (Ankh of Wala)
  - Imbued Gem of the Swashbuckler: +7.5% Attack From Behind Damage Bonus (Cutlass of the Swashbuckler)
  - Imbued Gem of the Unconfused: +20% Confusion Resistance (Daemon Trident)
  - Imbued Gem of the Unrooted: -20% Rooted (Staff of Xen)
  - Imbued Gem of the Water Summoner: +20 Summon Ice/Water Elemental Power (Frozen Tear of Titans)
  - Imbued Gem of the Wicked Caster: -0.15 Cast Time Multiplier (Shield of the Wicked King)
  - Imbued Gem of Volatile Embers: +7.5% Fire Speed (Wand of Undying Embers)
  - Imbued Gem of Wild Lightning: +1 Wild Lightning (Wand of Static Discharge)
  - Imbued Jewel of Avoidance: +10 Damage Avoidance (Acara’s Plate Greaves of Defiance)
  - Imbued Jewel of Blinding Jealousy: +15% Blinding Shot Damage (Leather Quiver of Jealousy)
  - Imbued Jewel of Blindness: +10% Blind Power (Ring of the Sun)
  - Imbued Jewel of Bludgeoning Stun: +15% Bludgeon Stun Effectiveness (Leather Bandit Leggings)
  - Imbued Jewel of Civility: +50 Health/Focus (Necklace of Civility)
  - Imbued Jewel of Control: +5% Taming Specialization Bonus (Gloves of Control)
  - Imbued Jewel of Death Touch: +15% Death Touch Damage (Ring of Death)
  - Imbued Jewel of Dexterity: +6 Dexterity (Necklace of Cautious Precision)
  - Imbued Jewel of Dodging: +10 Combat Dodge Modifier (Acara’s Plate Boots of Defiance)
  - Imbued Jewel of Focus: +75 Focus (Focus Battery Necklace)
  - Imbued Jewel of Glancing: +10% Glancing Blow Power and Duration (Ring of the Gambler)
  - Imbued Jewel of Gust: +15% Gust Chance (Ring of Air)
  - Imbued Jewel of Intelligence: +6 Intelligence (Ring of Wisdom)
  - Imbued Jewel of Magic Resistance: +5% Magic Resistance (Obsidian Band)
  - Imbued Jewel of Poison: +15% Poison Effectiveness Bonus (Leather Bandit Gloves)
  - Imbued Jewel of Rapid Fire: +15% Rapid Fire Damage (Slipshod Shooter’s Sash)
  - Imbued Jewel of Riding: +.02 Mounted Speed (Supple Gloves of Riding)
  - Imbued Jewel of Shadow Form: +150% Shadow Form Length (Shard of Night)
  - Imbued Jewel of Strength: +6 Strength (Ring of Brittle Brawn)
  - Imbued Jewel of Swiftness: +5% Attack Speed (Savage Sash of Swiftness)
  - Imbued Jewel of Tamed Precision: +0.15 Tame Attack Precision (Belt of Control)
  - Imbued Jewel of Taunting: +20% Aggro Boost (Belt of the Dedicated)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Bear: +20 Tame Taunt Power (Helm of the Bear Spirit)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Cat: +50 Safe Fall Modifier (Ring of Cat’s Grace)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Cuttlekin: +0.5 Jump Strength, +2 Dexterity (Ring of the Cuttlekin)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Deep Woods: +8 Earth Attunement, +4 Life Attunement, +3 Moon Attunement, (Ring of the Deep Woods)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Energetic Tamer: +0.2 Tame Move Speed (Boots of the Energetic Tamer)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Flame Fist: +15% Flame Fist Damage (Ring of Fire)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Frogkin: +0.5 Jump Strength, +2 Combat Dodge Modifier (Ring of the Frogkin)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Giant Pirate: +5% Player Scale (Pirate Tricorn Hat of the Cap’n)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Healer: +15% Life Range and Radius (Ring of Life)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Ice Fist: +15% Ice Fist Damage (Ring of Water)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Lagomorph: +3% Move Rate (Lavalliere of the Lagomorph)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Lich Kind: +15% Death Field Power (Ring of the Lich Kind)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Mouse: -20% Aggro Boost (Ring of the Mouse)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Ox: +50% Encumbrance Capacity (Belt of the Ox)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Ringmaster: +6 Tame Level Bonus (Ring of the Ringmaster)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Sage: -10% Magic Glyph Focus Cost (Sage’s Sash)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Silent Bandit: +100% Silent Movement Duration Bonus (Leather Bandit Boots)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Spurred: +3% Mounted Sprint Speed (Spurred Boots)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Stag: +1% Tame Chance Bonus (Helm of the Stag Spirit)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Stone Fist: +15% Stone Fist Damage (Ring of Earth)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Storm: +3% Air Damage (Acara’s Plate Helm of Defiance)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Tiny Bandit: -5% Player Scale (Leather Bandit Helm)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Unrooted: -10% Rooted (Spider Silk Belt)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Wolf: +10 Tame Creature Strength (Helm of the Wolf Spirit)
  - Imbued Jewel of the Zombie: +10% Death Summon Life Drain (Belt of Zombie Skin)
  - Imbued Jewel of Waning Fizzle: -5% Magic Fizzle Chance (Acara’s Plate Gauntlets of Defiance)
An additional round of artifact balance has been implemented. A spreadsheet has been prepared to show the specific stat changes (if any) for each artifact. This spreadsheet will be maintained to serve as a reference for players. Crafting artifacts have not received balance passes yet, and likely will receive their work for R91. Non-tiered artifacts will become tiered with potential stat changes for R91 and R92. These artifact balance changes help to correct many issues with artifacts being far more powerful than their crafted counterparts:
- Helms of the Bear, Stag, and Wolf Spirits now feature reduced Tame Level bonuses. Base stats such as Damage Resistance values for all three animal spirit helmets have also been reduced/normalized with leather helmet crafted gear items.
- Wand of Static Discharge has been renamed to the Wand of Wild Lightning. The Static Discharge Bonus present on this wand was also renamed to Wild Lightning and has received extra functionality to boost various aspects of Discharge, Lightning, and Chain Lightning.
- Ring of the Mouse now has a reduced Aggro bonus, scales more evenly between tiers, and dual wear restrictions for this ring have been removed.
- Ring of the Lich Kind now has significantly less Death Attunement bonus, and the Life Attunement/Healing Modifier penalties have been reduced greatly. Also, two Rings of the Lich Kind can now be equipped at the same time. The Ring of the Lich Kind has also received a very small bonus for Death Field Damage which scales by tier from 1% to 3%.
- Ring of the Ringmaster now has reduced Tame Level bonuses.
- Gloves of Control now have reduced Taming Specialization bonuses.
- Belt of Control now has reduced Tame Level bonuses.
- Obsidian Band now has reduced Magic Resistance bonuses and reduced fizzle penalty.
- Two-Handed Mace of Unsummoning now has an increased range (from 3 to 4), a slightly decreased critical damage bonus, a slightly increased damage from strength bonus, and a slightly increased critical hit chance to better match standard bonuses for two-handed maces. The weapon damage was increased significantly at lower tiers yet lowered slightly at upper tiers. The Two-Handed Mace of Unsummoning has also been renamed to the Two-Handed Mace of Elemental Slaying.
- Sword of Speed has been adjusted significantly. The base weapon damage bonus has been reduced and scales evenly between tiers, the strength modifier has been slightly reduced to match that of other swords, its range has been increased from 2.5 to 3 to match one-handed swords, and the critical hit chance has been greatly increased to match that of crafted swords. Also, a Rend bonus ranging from 2% to 10% has been added.
- Xen Penetrator bow has received significant updates. The Glyph Focus Cost penalty has been removed. The base damage for the weapon has been reduced slightly. The bonus from strength has been reduced to be equal to that of crafted bows, and the free attack clicks have been increased from 6 to 8 to match crafted bows.
- Warlock’s Chain has received significant changes. The attunement bonuses have been slightly lowered, and now all scale from 2 to 10 based on tier of the chain. Intelligence bonuses have been reduced and scale evenly between tiers from 3 to 15. Magic Resistance bonuses have been reduced and scale evenly between tiers from 2 to 10. The Adventure Level bonus now scales evenly between tiers. The spell reagent consumption penalty has been greatly reduced and now scales between tiers from 25% to 125% instead of 200% for all tiers.
- Staff of Xen now has reduced Rooted, Moon Attunement, and Earth Attunement, which now also scale evenly between tiers. All 3 penalties (Magic Glyph Focus Cost, the Sun Attunement, and the Skill Learning Speed) have been removed.
- Spider Silk Belt now features reduced Rooted and Dexterity bonuses. The Rooted and Attack Speed bonuses now scale evenly between tiers, and the Glyph Focus Cost penalty has been reduced and now scales between tiers.
- Shield of the Wicked King has received significant changes. Combat Block values have now been greatly reduced across all tiers to scale from 1 to 5, which is lower than the standard shield Combat Block value of 8. Draw Speed Bonuses have been normalized across all tiers, now scaling between 0.1 and 0.5. Cast Time Multiplier bonuses are now a flat bonus at 0.1 across all tiers. Strength bonuses across all tiers have been greatly reduced. The Focus Damage Rate penalty now scales evenly between tiers from 0.1 to 0.5. The Combat Health/Sec penalty now scales evenly between tiers from -1 to -5.
- Shield of Attraction now features reduced Combat Block values and now has the same fizzle chance penalty of 10% like other shields. This shield has retained its extra Durability Multiplier of 400% and still has a much higher chance to be hit for durability damage as other equipment items (to act as a durability damage sink).
- Shard of Night no longer has a Dexterity bonus or fizzle reduction. The base weapon stats are now equal to a basic dagger across all tiers. The Sun Magic penalty has been removed. Moon Attunement bonuses have been reduced slightly at Epic, but now scale from Common to Epic evenly by increments of 5. The Lunar Hours bonus now scales evenly from 1 to 2 across the tiers.
- Savage Sash of Swiftness now has reduced Attack Speed and Move Speed bonuses.
- Sage’s Sash now has a smaller Intelligence bonus across all tiers, and now features scaled penalties throughout the tiers which increases the penalty for Legendary and Epic versions, yet lowers the penalty for Common and Uncommon versions.
- Ring of Wisdom’s bonus for Intelligence has been reduced greatly, and the Strength and Dexterity penalties have been increased significantly.
- Ring of the Gambler now has a reduced Dexterity bonus, and the critical damage penalty has been greatly reduced.
- Ring of the Frogkin now features a reduced Jump Strength bonus, scaling from 0.2 to 1.0 between tiers, but the dual wear restrictions have been removed.
- Ring of the Cuttlekin now features a reduced Jump Strength bonus, scaling from 0.2 to 1.0 between tiers, but the dual wear restrictions have been removed. The ring now also features a reduced Dexterity bonus.
- Ring of the Brittle Brawn bonuses for Strength have been greatly reduced.
- Pirate Tricorn Hat of the Cap’n now features a reduced Move Rate bonus, and this bonus now scales evenly between tiers from 2% to 10%. This hat now also has reduced Magic Resistance bonuses.
- Necklace of Cautious Precision now has a reduced Dexterity bonus, but also features a smaller movement penalty.
- Leather Quiver of Jealousy now has reduced Blinding Shot Damage and Chaos Attunement bonuses. Also, the Draw Speed bonus is now 0.1 across all tiers, meaning a reduction in tiers Uncommon through Epic.
- Leather Bandit Armor Set has received significant changes:
  - The Epic Leather Bandit Boots now have 8 Dexterity instead of 9.
  - The Leather Bandit Chest pieces now have greatly reduced weapon damage bonuses.
  - The Leather Bandit Gloves now have Dexterity bonuses that evenly scale by tier, the poison effectiveness bonus has been reduced, and the fizzle penalty is now at 4% instead of 2% to match crafted leather gloves.
  - The Epic Leather Bandit Helm now has improved Light Armor Skill Focus Cost reduction, but the tame level bonus has been reduced from 9 to 8.
  - The Leather Bandit Leggings now feature improved Dexterity scaling between tiers, a reduced Bludgeon Stun Effectiveness, and reduced Attack From Behind bonuses.
- Lavalliere of the Lagomorph now features reduced Movement and Attack Speed bonuses. Also, the Strength penalty has been removed.
- Halberd of the Sun has received significant updates to its base weapon stats so that it more closely matches base stat values with crafted halberds. Range has increased to 4 from 3.5, base weapon damage has decreased at upper tiers, critical damage bonus has been slightly reduced, bonus from strength has been slightly reduced, critical hit chance has increased significantly, and free attack ticks have increased by 1.
- Daemon Trident has been significantly adjusted to feature standard crafted trident base values. Range has slightly increased, base damage has been greatly lowered, base critical damage has increased significantly. Also, bonus from strength has been normalized which will show a slight reduction at higher tiers yet an increase at lower tiers. Base critical chance now matches crafted counterparts and has been lowered, and number of free attack ticks has been increased to 5 to match crafted tridents as well. The amount of chaos attunement provided has been significantly decreased to max at 30 with Epic versions, and push/pull bonuses are now normalized at 10% like crafted tridents. Also, the Daemon Trident now features a Confusion Resistance bonus.
- Cutlass of the Swashbuckler has received significant modifications. The range has been increased from 2.5 to 3 to match crafted 1-Handed Swords, and the base damage has been greatly reduced, but is still higher than crafted 1-Handed Swords. Bonus from strength was slightly lowered, but the base chance for critical hit was greatly increased to match crafted swords. Also, an Attack From Behind Damage bonus was added which scales with tier from 1.5% to 7.5%, and the Pick Pocket and Sneak Attack bonuses now scale with tier from 5% to 25%.
- Crossbow of Accuracy has received significant changes. The range has been lowered to be normalized with crafted crossbows. The base damage of the lower tiers has been increased, and the base damage for the Epic version has been slightly reduced, but still exceeds crafted crossbows slightly. Critical Damage bonuses have been lowered to match that of crafted crossbows, and bonus from strength has been raised to be normalized with crafted crossbows. The free attack clicks have been reduced to 10, which is still 2 greater than crafted crossbows.
- Boots of the Energetic Tamer have received reduced Move Speed bonuses, and the Tame Move Speed bonuses at higher tiers have been increased yet slightly lowered at lower tiers to improve scaling. The Legendary Focus bonus is now set at 80 instead of 70 to fix a scaling issue, and the fizzle penalty now scales between 1% and 5%, increasing the penalty for Rare, Legendary, and Epic versions.
- Belt of the Zombie Skin now feature reduced Death Attunement and Death Summon Life Drain bonuses, and fire and sun resistance penalties have been added.
- The Belt of the Dedicated now features greatly reduced Strength and Damage Avoidance bonuses, and a slightly reduced Aggro Boost bonus. Also, the belt’s fizzle penalty is now greatly reduced.
- Ancient Two-Handed Sword was received the same benefits as recent changes to crafted Two-Handed swords in regards to base stats. In this regard, this sword’s range, critical hit bonus, and free attack ticks have been increased. The base weapon damage has been reduced slightly. Also, the sword has been renamed to the Two-Handed Sword of Elf Slaying.
- Ancient Staff of Death has received significant changes. Its attunement now scales evenly between tiers, and all penalties have been removed. Undead Mastery has been removed. Summon Undead Effectiveness now scales with tier. Summon Decay Speed now scales with tier and caps slightly higher.
- Ancient Staff of Anarchy has also received significant changes. Its Chaos Attunement now scales evenly with tiers, and the Magic Resistance penalty has been converted to a magic resistance bonus scaling between 2% and 10%. The Chaotic Feedback bonus now scales evenly with tiers.
- The Acara armor set has received significant adjustments:
  - The boots now feature a reduced Combat Dodge Modifier.
  - The chest now features more Focus.
  - The greaves now feature reduced Damage Avoidance.
  - The gauntlets and helm now feature reduced Air Attunement.
  - The shield now features less Air Stun Effectiveness and this stat is now tied into the set bonus so that it scales with number of items worn within the set.
  - For all of the pieces of the Acara set, instead of scaling from low fizzle penalty to a near-zero penalty, they scale from the fizzle penalty expected from plate armor down to the fizzle penalty of chain armor.
  - Each piece has received a flat rate +2% Air Damage which is not affected by the set bonus.
Chaos and Chaos Warding Gem and Jewel recipes are added to appropriate alchemy merchants.
Various rugs have been added to crafting recipes available for the Textile Crafting Station and removed from decoration merchants.
Crafted rings and necklaces have improved base stats to help them be more competitive with artifacts:
- Copper: +4 Dexterity
- Bronze: +4 Dexterity,+2 Strength
- Constantan: +4 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence
- Iron: +4 Strength
- Meteoric Iron: +4 Strength, +2 Dexterity
- White Iron: +4 Strength, +2 Intelligence
- Gold: +5 Intelligence
- Silver: +1 Intelligence, +5 Magic Resistance
Base stats for crafted belts have increased to help make them more competitive with artifacts.
- Cloth: +6 Intelligence
- Leather: +6 Dexterity
- Heavy: +6 Strength
Old versions of crafted weapons and armor have received durability increases to account for recent increases to the standardized durability for those slots. The changes are as follows:
- Bone Legs: +10
- Bone Feet, Bone Hands, Other Legs: +25
- Chests, Bows: +20
- Helms, Hands, Feet, Backs, Shields, 1H Melee Weapons, Necks, Rings: +15
- 2H Melee Weapons: +40
- Belts: +65
The Practice Dummy should now respawn properly after 5 seconds. Also, an issue was fixed which prevented respawn.
Black Cutworm Cupcake now only requires 3 cutworms instead of 5 to make 5 cupcakes
The Acara Guantlets are now Acara Gauntlets, fixing a typo on all 10 versions.
All crafted jewelry items now provide item effects in their name. For instance, a crafted ring that’s been socketed with an Imbued Chaos Gem would be called a Ring of Greater Chaos.
Fixed the Thimble of Evelyn’s tooltip description.
The Yoke description has been corrected to indicate the blacksmith station instead of carpentry station.
Gustball Insignia’s now sell at large quantities at crafting merchants to mirror amounts available for like items.
The Shrines of Life, Water, and Air now require new version artifacts to be crafted instead of the old legacy versions.
Warlock Chain recipe now utilizes the new version of the Heart of Vrul, not the legacy version.
The Chain of Mystic and Elemental Power recipes now accept the new versions of the ring artifacts.
The Lute String recipe now requires 3 Leather and 9 Wax and yields 8 Lute Strings instead of 1.
The Kobold Distillation Device can now have decorations placed upon it, and it can now also be placed on other decorations such as castle walls and blocks.
The old/legacy version of the Ringmaster’s Vest (all tiers) can now be socketed with gems
Crafted cloth and leather belts can now be masterworked.
All casks can now be placed as POT decorations, and they now have more flexibility in placement which allows for staggered stacking.
Small, Medium, and Large Stone Ruins can now be placed in basements in dungeons.
The Ladybug Backpack can now be opened when placed as a decoration.
Daggers and short swords can now be reshaped.
The GM Potion timescale option is now capped at 2X. Be on the look out for upcoming “training party” potions are being created that will give lasting buff circle that grants a large training speed boost for those hosting training parties!
The Small Fancy Pavilion can be placed as a decoration once again.

Combat & Skill Changes:

Critical hit chances for about a dozen spells are now calculated correctly, which includes all touch and fist spells.
All bows not receiving the damage bonus from the Ranged Combat bonus from food and the new Imbued Gems have been fixed.
The green dragon’s stun can now only be applied one time and at a shorter duration.
Chain Lightning’s base damage has been increased by about 20%. Additionally, it can no longer be blocked by shields and the max number of jumps it will make has been increased from 4 to 6 targets or 8 targets with Wild Lightning boost.
The base damage for Lightning has been increased by about 20% and shields no longer offer any protection from this attack.
Ice Fist now includes a stacking Dexterity debuff.
Chaos Bolt will now be 4 times more likely to do one of the simple damage bolts rather than one of the other effects. Damage has also been increased.
Undead creatures now have much less resistance to Death Magic.
Pets can now receive teleport and sit commands during combat.
Crossbows will no longer bypass protection from shields.
Shield of Crystal now gives extra health scaling per level and an additional Armor Effectiveness bonus if specialized in Earth Magic.
Shield of Ice now gives extra spell critical hit damage.
Many caster mobs will use Blink, Confusion, and Ring of Fire less frequently.
The damage-over-time effect from the creature casted Fireball spell now scales with creature difficulty.
The damage from Atonal Aria has been decreased by 20% to 40%.
The Fire Speed effect in the Fire Speed innate skill will now grant 0.3% per point instead of 0.3125%.
A bug that allowed for instant casting of bard songs has been fixed.
Root effects should now overwrite instead of stacking.
Ghosts will now drain focus rather than add focus on special attacks.
The ghost focus drain effect has been dramatically decreased.
The ghost debuff strength skill now lasts 30 seconds instead of 1030 seconds.
Performance issues caused by NPC casters have been fixed.
The cold damage on the upper edge of the Obsidian Panopticon now only affects players.
Ghosts and Episode 2 Ghost Corpions should now correctly increase in resistance to non-life/sun magic as they get higher in level.
Shield of Air now requires 70% less focus to cast.
High level enemy mages will now cast Torpid Torment less often.
A global fix has been implemented for effects with negative duration never expiring. This was causing many low level roots/slows on players to last until you logged out.
The new Ranged Defense shield skill is now available at the trainer.

User Interface & Lua Changes:

The character inventory window now features a “Sort Recent Loot” checkbox to place recently looted or refreshed item stacks to the top of your inventory.
Crafting components providing item effects to gear now show their provided stat(s) in the tooltip during mouseover.
The decoration palette window now has a new column indicating the coordinate location for each decoration. This new column is visible if you have appropriate access to the property lot or Player-Owned Town.
Buff information now shows in real time in the tooltips during mouseover.
The bank window can now be resized horizontally and diagonally.
A cancel button has been added to the crafting station windows that allows players to cancel a queued item while in progress without closing the window.
In-game maps have been added for the following scenes:
- Blood River Massacre
- Westend
- Sequanna Colossus
- Ulfheim
- Nightshade Pass
- East Sanctus Forest
Improvements have been made to the Hidden Vale in-game map.
The splash screen displaying the Shroud of the Avatar logo has been removed, and the logo has been added to the main menu.
Four new Lua functions for accessing buff information have been added:
- ShroudGetBuffCount
- ShroudGetBuffName(int)
- ShroudGetBuffDescription(int)
- ShroudGetBuffTimeRemaining(int)
Added two new Lua hooks (ShroudForceGC and ForceAssetCleanup) to force garbage collection and freeing up assets. These new hooks are primarily for testing purposes.
The journal window no longer displays task difficulties after the task has been completed.
The journal no longer shows active tasks in the completed section.
The lot listing window can no longer be opened while in the Overworld.
The lot listing window can now be accessed from the window selection menu.

Player Economy, Rewards, & Loot Changes:

Black Cutworm now has a chance to drop from Tier 1 through Tier 3 cotton nodes.
The Legacy version of the Ring of Jones no longer drops in sacks and has been appropriately replaced by the newer version.
Maps no longer drop excessively in certain loot tables.

World, Quests, and Miscellaneous Changes:

Spectral Mines: The Archlapin is dormant once again.
Northern Grunvald Barrens and Desert Encounter: The Luminous Atavist has returned.
Aether Creatures: Reactivated these creatures in all the usual places.
The VFX for explosive objects in adventure scenes should now properly disappear after the item explodes.
Calico and tabby cats can now be tamed and killed.
Owl’s Head: Nob (and all horse trade specialists) will now only accept non-wooden taming necklaces when players have both non-wooden and wooden taming necklaces. Players who want to trade wooden taming necklaces should store any other necklaces in a safe place then return to the horse specialist for trade.
Owl’s Head: Adjusted Todd’s data so that Myra’s name is spelled correctly when the two of them are chatting.
Sequanna Colossus: Fixed an issue where some ladders teleported players into world objects or away from the ground level.
Solace Bridge: Updated the collision on a large rockface, to better allow ore mining.
Crafting Tutorial: Updated Edwin in Soltown, Gilda Metcalfe in Aerie, and Bledig deCani in Resolute with improved logic for accepting a leather helm.
Devotional Caretakers: Improved the “Visit Devotional Shrines” quest so that players get their reward when achieving their last visit (rather than saying “banner” after the last visit).
Ulfheim: Updated a cliff wall to ensure players don’t float along the edges.
Well of Aldur: Fixed collision issues with several large rocks.
Overworlds: Added one-time UI tips to Novia, Hidden Vale, and Mistrendur to let players know which overworld they have entered.
Exit Archways: Added one-time UI hint about approaching the exit to the overworld.
Necropolis Barrens: Fixed a typo in the “Give Another Dead Body to Davropos” journal.
Tanglemire: Fixed a typo in Frida’s “job” response.
Libris Ruins: Updated some props and the path grid to better accommodate the Redthorn Flowers.
Kas Ruins: Reviewed all buildings and added collision where it was needed.
K’rul: Added a door in the clockwork dragon room that automatically closes when the dragon approaches it.
Solace Bridge Outskirts: Added a hint about the ladder related to the missing scouts. Added a platform with ladder on the northeastern side of the bivouac (near the bridge). Added tip/journal to many ladders/roots/vines for how to use them.
Aerie: Added an update to Belana’s Loan Forgiveness Note to ensure only players at the correct quest stage can collect it, and that the task properly archives.
South Drachvald Spur: Improved the compass markers for the Lucky Leather quest.
Snow Mountains Road Encounter/Naughty Brats: Added one or two “Naughty Mimics” (tier 8 mimic chests) to appear in high-threat wave during months when Krampus isn’t available.
Blood River Outskirts: Improved compass markers, responses, and journal text related to Alberic’s tasks to get evidence. The vigilante camp gates now use interactive locks to operate the external switches.
Blood River Outskirts: Improved compass markers and journal entries for Alberic’s early “get evidence” tasks.
Noreach: Sigrunn’s “Ask About Northern Curse” should clear after checking in with Pendro of Yew. If it doesn’t, it should auto-archive after changing scenes. If that fails, say “northern curse” to Sigrunn or Pendro to clear that task.
Lost Vale: Improved the quest rewards from the skeleton and Anais.
Lamech’s Bazaar and South Midmaer Way: Added collision to the rope bridge that leads to the airship in each scene.
Master Trainers: The titles of all master trainers now follow the pattern of “Master <Skill> Trainer.”
Obsidian Panopticon: Adjusted some NPCs on the top ring of the panopticon.
Obsidian Panopticon: Both switches in an elevator pair will now properly reset.
Obsidian Panopticon: Updated the middleman’s package delivery quest to better accommodate delayed package deliveries.
Obsidian Panopticon: Added follow-up journal entry after completing the middleman’s original package delivery.
Obsidian Panopticon: The blacksmith station now faces the correct direction.
Obsidian Panopticon: Avatars without lockpicks may take a lockpick from a friendly prisoner no more than once a day.
Obsidian Panopticon: Fixed an issue where a cliffside boulder had no underside.
Obsidian Panopticon: Fixed several stuck spots.
Obsidian Panopticon: Returning to the middleman with a prisoner note for a daily reward now shows a text label on the associated compass marker.
Yew: Improved how Pendro clears the “Ask About Northern Curse” task.
Braemar: Bridget Helvig now only provides a reward after the player reveals Veimor’s status.
Braemar: Removed a invisible blocker that prevented players from approaching an exit archway.
Crypt of the Avatar: Eris should now always recognize when players have the report she desires.
Soltown: Numerous improvements have been made to Soltown to provide a better experience for new players.
Stats for the Tier 15 Ice Elemental have been corrected.
Blood River Outskirts: Adjusted the spawners for fungal enemies near Gus, including a reduction to their leash ranges.
The Rise: The new areas of The Rise have received some improved visuals.
The Rise: Several performance issues have been fixed.
The bird population of Soltown has been reduced.

Player-Owned Town Changes:

Arlia: Upgraded to City.
Kookie Land: Added new village near Kiln in Novia.
Lightbringer Isle: Upgraded to Teralopolis.
Rampage Island: Added new Holdfast to Novia.
Silent Ascent: Moved to Hidden Vale, north of Braemar.
The Time Tunnel: Moved to Hidden Vale, near Kingsroad.
Verat Chaos Decimus: Added Holdfast near Lord British’s Castle in Mistrendur.

Bonus EXP! Crown, Hamlet, and Flash Sales!

In observance of Memorial Day, bonus EXP and various sales have begun and will last until Tuesday, June 1st at Noon CT:

+50% Adventure and Crafting EXP
Holdfast POTs 20% Off!
2-Hour Flash Sales!
Crowns 20% Off!

Be sure to watch your clocks, Avatars! A new batch of 9 flash sale items will rotate into the in-game Crown Store every 2 hours! Happy shopping, Avatars!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

The weekly Community Livestream is Friday, May 28th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other members of the development team for a community 1-hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “spring makes my heart sing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website Add-On store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Atos and other members of the Shroud of the Avatar development team go live very frequently on twitch.tv/shroudoftheavatar — be sure to get these channels on follow for notifications so you can join us right as we go live! Also, if you’ve missed our latest streams, check out our archive of content at our YouTube Channel. Like! Follow! Subscribe! Prizes!!!

Don’t forget to also join the Shroud of the Avatar team and community over at all our social media venues:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShroudoftheAvatar/
Catnip Games Twitter: https://twitter.com/catnipgames
Shroud of the Avatar Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShroudofAvatar
Shroud of the Avatar Discord: https://discord.gg/GuBXakQ

Crown Store: Baroque Furniture, Summer Seasonal, Darkstarr Items & More!

Many new and returning store items are coming your way in the month ahead! Keep an eye out each week as the following items become available in the Crown Store. Available today on May 27th, a new Baroque Furniture Set! Each item in the set is also sold separately:

Baroque Armchair
Baroque Round-Backed Armchair
Baroque Console
Baroque End Table
Baroque Oval Glass Top Coffee Table
Baroque Sofa
Baroque Furniture Set

Becoming available on June 4th, new Alchemical Bottle and Alembic 5-Packs! Also, the Arrow, Flame, and Spike Traps are now regularly featured items on the store:

Alchemical Bottle 5-Pack
Alchemical Alembic 5-Pack
Arrow Trap
Flame Trap
Spike Trap

Becoming available on June 11th, a new Crumbling Stone Staircase Ruins which will go perfectly with more stone ruins decorations coming in R91! Also, the Fire Elemental Statue has become a regularly featured item on the store:

Crumbling Stone Staircase Ruins
Fire Elemental Statue

Becoming available on June 18th, more amazing chandeliers for lighting up your home:

Long Chain Royal Sun Crystal Chandelier
Great Hall Royal Sun Crystal Chandelier
Long Chain Great Hall Royal Sun Crystal Chandelier

The Summer Seasonal store items are now available! These rare summer items will remain on the store until September 25th and will appear in the Summer Seasonal section of the store:

Hula Emote
Fire Dance Emote
Fire Dance Cross Emote
Flame Stained Glass Table Lamp 3-Pack
Flaming Bagpipes
Island Spear
Flame Scimitar
Island Flower Crown
Island Dress
Flame Shield
Firedancer Outfit

Happy belated birthday, Darkstarr! The season of the Lord of Chaos is upon us once again, Avatars! These items will be available in the Crown Store until May 31st:

Darkstarr Basement Entrance Eternal Pattern
Darkstarr Fur Collared Cloak
Darkstarr Shield
Darkstarr Shield Pattern Pack
Lord British vs. Darkstarr Battle Banner
Darkstarr Clock Tower
Darkstarr Clock Tower (Reverse Colors)
Darkstarr Pavers
Darkstarr Chaos Throne
Darkstarr Chaos Throne (Reverse Colors)
Mosh Emote

To see a full listing of all the items which rotate through the Vault, we have prepared a forum post showing all items which could appear throughout the year!

June Login Reward: Gothic Tall Vanity!

Log in during the month of June, and you’ll receive a Gothic Tall Vanity! This furniture item is perfect for a dressing room or foyer!

Release 90 Subscriber Login Rewards: Xenossian Greaves, Marble Console, Crystal Chandelier!

Avatars! Rewards Program login items for Release 90 are a must have — don’t miss out! Reward Program members must login during Release 90 to receive these special login items:

Ancient Xenossian Greaves & Sandals
Baroque Gilded Marble Top Console
Royal Sun Crystal Chandelier

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month
Monthly Login Reward Items (about 3 per month)
Exclusive Title every 3 months
- 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
- 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
- 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
- 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
- 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
- 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
- 21 Months: Keeper of the Bond
- 24 Months: Keeper of the Promise
- 27 Months: Keeper of the Covenant
Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
- Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
- Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
- Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
- Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
- Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
- Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

Updates to the Streamer Rewards Program!

Several months ago, a program was proposed for the Streamers of Shroud of the Avatar. The ultimate goal being to showcase Shroud of the Avatar while giving SotA streamers a reward for their efforts. The program is currently in Phase I, with Phase II technology currently being discussed and worked internally. So, let’s talk Phase I!

Phase I:
Streamers who wish to be included in the Streamer Program must contact Laney via in-game mail or in a private message on the forums with their Character Name and Twitch Channel information. If you have already signed up for the program in the past, fear not, you’re on the list, and you don’t need to reapply.

Streaming Rewards Program participants must adhere to our Terms of Service (TOS) and Community Rules while Streaming Shroud of the Avatar.
Streaming Rewards Program participants must stream at least 10 hours of Shroud of the Avatar ACTIVE game play to remain in the program with reward accrual.

Streamers will receive a one-time digital reward of in-game items after meeting the program’s requirements: Streamer’s Cloak, Streamer’s Camera, and a brand-new LIVESTREAMING title. Future incremental rewards will occur at 6-month intervals. (More information to come).

Rules:

To qualify for Streamer Rewards, each streamer must continue to meet the minimum requirements for 60 days after application.
To accrue additional rewards, Streamers must stream SotA a minimum of 10 hours per month, tallied on the 1^st day of each month, to remain in the program.
Streamers must be actively playing the game during their streams. Being away from the keyboard (AFK) for short periods is acceptable. If Twitch indicates the streamer is playing SotA but they are streaming other content or a timeout/login screen, they risk being removed from the program.

Items of Note:

SotAbot: Streamers in the program will be included in the SotAbot StreamPop function, appearing in the player-streaming channel in Discord.
Graphics & Overlays: An optional “Streamers Kit” is available to the participating streamers as well as all players of Shroud of the Avatar, which includes graphics, overlays and other material.

Watch the forums for more information, coming soon, regarding Titles, future rewards and for info on Phase II of the program. We love our Streamers, so get out to Twitch and follow them, watch them, and support them!

Bug Brigade & Testing Directives!

The Bug Brigade was established to improve how the community and the development team work together to improve the game. Since the Brigade’s inception, the program has gone through a number of changes and was eventually placed on hold. The stability of the game is as important to the development team as it is to the players, therefore the program was revamped and was recently relaunched.

The Brigade has been up and running for two months now, and the volunteers are getting into a good rhythm for verifying and submitting bugs to the developers. If you have reported a bug that has not yet been addressed, please be patient while the backlog is being worked. The Brigade is working diligently to cleanup the backlog of bug reports posted by players on the forums.

As was recently announced on a Twitter post by Chris “Atos” Spears, the upcoming development time for Release 84 will be primarily spent working many of the verified bugs which have been submitted to the team by the Bug Brigade. This focused effort on bug fixes would not be possible without the recent efforts of the Bug Brigade. Please take the time to thank these bug hunting aficionados when you encounter them in your travels!

In turn, the development team would like to express a big thank you to the Bug Hunters! These community members are doing a fantastic job bringing so many bug reports to the team, and they’re doing it in a way which makes the process smooth and efficient. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Already, much improvement has been noticed by the development team, and we’re so very excited to see the program successfully back in action!

The development team would also like to thank all of those who took time out to participate in the QA Testing Directive for the upcoming Mount System. Thanks to your hard work and dedication, many issues and bugs were identified and fixed prior to the system going to the Live Server! Keep up the great work! For those that wish to participate in future bug hunting endeavors, please check the forums regularly for upcoming QA Testing Directives.

Also, the Bug Brigade would like to welcome its newest Bug Moderator, Echondas! Please congratulate him the next time you see him in-game or on the forums. This new member expands the Bug Moderator team to: Alley Oop, Echondas, and Justyn. Thank you Moderators! Your efforts are highly valued by the development team!

Don’t forget, the Bug Brigade is open to all players in good standing, and the bug rewards are back! And they are SWEET! They will be awarded on a monthly progression basis with only minimal requirements to qualify. The available rewards to receive in progression via qualifying participation are as follows:

Antennae Head Gear and Forum Title 1: “Bug Hunter”
Single Ant Cloak
Lady Bug Backpack
Bug Painting A and In-Game Title 2: “Associate of Aphids”
Ant Farm
Insect Leg Table
Many Ants Cloak and In-Game Title 3: “Bachelor of Beetles”
Bug Painting B
Bug Sprayer
Bug Painting C and In-Game Title 4: “Master of Moths”
Butterfly Chair
Corpion Chair (Pictured Below)
Yellow Fireflies VFX and In-Game Title 5: “Doctor of Dragonflies”
Hacked Oracle Flyer
Giant Blue Butterfly Pet
Butterfly Mask
Dragonfly pet
Fairy Wings
Monarch Butterfly Pet
Dragonfly Wings
Hacked Oracle Crawler
Blue Butterfly VFX
Orange Fireflies VFX
Orange Butterfly VFX

If you’ve come to think of Shroud of the Avatar as your home, signup and help make New Britannia a better place to live! To learn more about joining the Bug Brigade, please read the announcement thread by Ravolox in the main Bug/Feedback forums.

Upcoming Release Dates

Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums. The upcoming 2021 Release Schedule is as follows:

Release 90 – May 27 (Polish)
Release 91 – Jun 24 (Content)
Release 92 – Jul 29 (Polish)
Release 93 – Aug 26 (Content)
Release 94 – Sep 30 (Polish)
Release 95 – Oct 28 (Content)

Community Updates & Resources

Greetings event holders and event attendees! So many fun and exciting events are available in the upcoming weeks. Be sure to get out there and participate, make some new friends, perhaps make some great emote, recipe, or gear trades, or get some adventuring and role-playing into your mix! Here are spotlighted events or updated community resources that we’ve noticed popping up lately on the official forums:

Catnip Games Contests:

Catnip Games Monthly Fishing Tourney: Greetings Anglers! The monthly Catnip Games Fishing Tourney is live! Join in on the fun! SO many prizes available for the anglers of New Britannia!
Catnip Games Monthly Screenshot/Video Contest: Avatars! For those of you skilled with the camera or screenshot key binding, a monthly screenshot and video contest is underway which features a large number of valuable prizes. The focus will be for players to submit creative or informative screenshots and videos of content introduced to the game during the latest 3 monthly releases.
Catnip Games Monthly Treasure Hunting Contest: Want to go hunting for rare items? Want to see if you can beat other players in this quest for treasure? Well join in on the monthly treasure hunting contest, Avatars!

Special Announcements:

The New Britannia Theater Troupe Needs YOU: If you would like to join this band of merry story writers and voice actors, give Asclepius a reply on the forums or send him a PM. Already there is a very rich selection of past work written and performed by the troupe which is available in audio form here at the Caverns.net.

One-Time Events:

Trash to Treasure: Look through your treasure, adventurers! From now until May 25th, Coswald Dirthmire is having a contest to see how many players find crafted items that are currently present throughout the loot system. Happy treasure hunting!
Lightbringer Isle Fishing Contest: Why not earn some extra prizes during Release 89 and participate in Lightbringer Isle’s spin-off tourney? Lots of fantastic prizes to include a POT Town Lot Deed — don’t miss out!

Recurring Events:

Mad Splatter Tea Party: The Mad Splatter Tea Party takes place in Lily Byrd’s back garden in Jade Valley. This month’s episode will be held on Sunday, June 13th at 3PM CT. There are drinks and eats, there is sometimes music, there are often party games with prizes, and sometimes attendees just sit and talk about life in Novia. Get your role-playing hats on and come on over!
Beran’s Reach New Player Welcome Event: New players seeking a town to live might want to give Beran’s Reach a gander. They’re offering nice welcome packages to those players who simply visit their town! Head on over and receive 10K Gold for your efforts by simply following a simple set of instructions to notify their leaders of your visit!
Combat & Crafting Sunday School: Head on over to Immortal City every Sunday from 7PM to 9PM CT to learn the tricks of the trade in combat and crafting!
500 Crown Fishy Prize: If you’re ever worried there isn’t an active fishing contest going on, well worry no longer! Sonja Solar and friends are running a continuous fishing contest in Brittany Fort “Now and Forever for All Eternity” which has wonderful prizes and objectives. Be sure to watch the video indicated in the “bagged” link provided to see the full explanation of the contest rules.
RHEC Traveling Pop Up Fishing Contest: Keep an eye out in universe chat, trade chat, and the forums! Asmodi M’hul will routinely announces at least one pop up fishing contest every week for those anglers out there anxious for extra prizes and fun!
Lightbringer Isle Auction: Ladies and gentlemen! The Citizens of Lightbringer Isle welcome you to the weekly auctions! The auctions are about bringing together people from all corners of the community, with the Lightbringer Isle’s market being the perfect place to do so! Join us every Sunday at 2PM CT!

New Fan Fiction:

New Short Stories at TheCaverns.net: Asclepius has narrated another 3 short stories, Avatars! These works are all by Womby and Fetid SirDidy, which are titled: The Graveyard, Interview with a Ghost, and Bluster. Check these out as well as other fantastical fan fiction Podcasts at TheCaverns.Net!
Mingo’s White Raven Inn: Join Mingo and friends for an ongoing forum role-play session. Flex those creative muscles, Avatars!

New Community Resources:

Guide to Naming Housing Lots: The Guide Making Extraordinaire has stuck again! Anpu has made this fantastic guide for helping players rename their lots so the customized names can show on the new Lot Listing functionality. Read, learn, and give this Knight of New Britannia a thank you!
New Skill Information at SotALore.com: A new section has been added to SotALore.com, and it’s a fantastic way to determine EXP required for achieving certain levels of skills by cost factor, and most certainly a great way to visual skill leveling in the game. Enjoy and thank you Gravidy!

Community Calendars:

Avatars-Virtue Radio Calendar: Just when are all those talented DJ’s and streamers broadcasting? Don’t just guess, check out there very helpful calendar! Never again will you wonder when’s the best time to tune in!
SotA Event Calendar: Event participants, take heed! Thoryk Omara has done a wondrous job creating a community event calendar which is available to all players of Shroud of the Avatar. Please make an effort to support this new calendar. The more resources players have at their disposable for event notifications, the better!

Community Event Resources: Here are some fantastic resources for tracking down community events or posting your own events. Become involved! Create! Explore! Make friends! But most of all, have fun!

One-Time Community Events Forum: Sometimes events happen only a single time, so you’ll not want to miss out on these events as they occur. Check out the forums routinely to spot these!
Recurring Community Events Forum: Some events occur on weekly or monthly schedules which are a great way to routinely meet up with friends and to make new ones. Be sure to check this forum frequently for new events or time changes to existing ones.
Game Master (GM) Potion Request Procedures: Shroud of the Avatar has an amazing in-game consumable for player event holders — the Potion of Temporary GM Powers! Players wishing to enhance their in-game community event by having GM Powers at their disposal need to simply follow the procedures outlined in this forum thread.
Player Event Trophies and Special Item Requests: Would you like to request a special trophy or renamed item for a player event you’ve created? Head on over to this thread to see what’s available and to obtain more information about request procedures.
Player Radio Station Forum: If you want to check out the latest and greatest from our in-game radio stations, go to the radio stations forum! If you’re a DJ, be sure to advertise your time slot and venue in this forum.
Player Livestreams & Videos Forum: If you’re searching for a Shroud Streamer to watch, head on over to the streamer forum! If you are a live streamer for Shroud of the Avatar, be sure to advertise your Shroud stream by posting in this forum.
Town Directory Forum: Want to find a town to live in or get your town listed in the directory, head over to the forums and check it out!
Guild Directory Forum: Looking for a guild or want to get yours posted in the guild directory? Head on over to the forums and check it out!
Fire Lotus Tavern: This wondrous role-playing and story writing forum is the spot to be if you love fan fiction and role-play.
Community Resources: Looking for links to community and official resources for Shroud of the Avatar? Well look no further. On this page you’ll find links to a plethora of helpful resources created by the dev team or the community.

SO many options to stay tuned-in with fellow community members. Please take advantage of all these wonderful options. Happy adventures, Avatars!

Project to Support: Shard RPG

Shard Studios invites you to enter the fantastic world Dárdünah, the vast shard of a shattered realm, as presented in the colorful pages of the SHARD RPG! Many years in the making, this system allows players to choose from a wide variety of animal people who are the main cast of the many adventures this otherworldly setting offers. Skyships glide through shimmering clouds past majestic crystal peaks. Giant insects prowl alien jungles or lurk in the sparkling emerald seas. Warriors with blades of diamond and amber duel across crimson sands. And mystics chant in shadowy chambers as their spirits wander abroad.

Intro Sheet: For a quick glimpse into the world of Dárdünah, be sure to download the intro pdf! It’s packed with great information and features beautiful artwork, not unlike the artwork found throughout the many pages of this gaming system’s gorgeously designed manuals.
Core System Manuals: It’s easier than ever to delve into Dárdünah, World of the False Dawn, with the Core Books Bundle! If you’ve never had the opportunity to experience this unique gaming system and setting, now’s your chance! This bundle includes two beautifully illustrated, full-color, hardcover books: the original Basic Compendium and the Magic and Martial Arts book! They contain everything you need to begin your adventures, and include instructions for the ritual magic and martial arts combat systems. These manuals also include 90 new Animal Templates upon which to base your character!
Other Shard RPG Products: So many more manuals and gaming materials are available! Everything an avid tabletop role-player and game master needs to delve into the world of Dárdünah!

So if you’re ready to experience a gaming world like no other, check out what Shard Studios has created for tabletop role-players on the Shard RPG official website! You’ll most certainly be immersed and amazed by the offerings of the Shard RPG!

Project to Support: Shadow of Valhalla

Shadow of Valhalla is a visceral physics-based VR combat game with dynamic RPG elements, set within an ancient realm of Viking lore and mystic powers! Early Access beta includes “endless horde mode” featuring a variety of enemies with progressive difficulty. Also, players can discover many magic spells to unlock! So much more is coming!

Finn Staber with Chicken Waffle, will join the Shroud of the Avatar team on Twitch during their Friday the 28th livestream to showoff this new Early Access game! Also, here is a teaser video on YouTube:

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The development team is working hard to create additional environments and new quests! Shadow of Valhalla is available on Steam as Early Access. Additional features coming to the game:

More Enemies!
More Environments!
More Magic Spells!
RPG Quests!
Weapon Forging and Crafting!
Much, much more!

If you would like to learn more about Shadow of Valhalla, be sure to stop by the main webpage for the game as more news becomes available!

Project to Support: Dragon Fight

Darkstarr has also been hard at work with the team for Dragon Fight VR which recently went live on Steam! Dragon Fight VR is an internal experiment to capture the “essence” of a dragon fight, the classic penultimate experience of every fantasy story. We wanted to create a short visceral, realistic experience stripped of user interface, lobbies, scores, levels, and other visual intrusions that might distract. There were some key elements of fighting a dragon that we wanted to capture and we felt VR was uniquely qualified to convey:

Face to face with a large scale hostile creature trying to kill you
Using a sword and a shield
Fire!
Nowhere to run!

This started out as an internal experiment to learn some things about VR’s capabilities, be reductionist in our designs, etc. We felt that the experiment was successful enough to release as a free experience to share. Enjoy! Available for free on Steam!

Project to Support: Avatar Express

[Forum post by Vladamir Begemot]

I’m pleased to report that The Avatar Express is clacking away furiously. News is being delivered and we have established systems to deliver it directly to your brain. You can use one of those systems by following us on Twitter at @avatar_express. Even more reliable due to its fully automated nature is joining us on the Discord server. News items are posted there via RSS. Or you can subscribe to RSS directly on the site.

If you run an event, quests, etc, please consider helping out by self reporting. The Shroud community is big, and many things are happening that are never seen by others. With 10k monthly users, we would need a full time staff to track down everything that is happening.

You can fill out the contributor form, message @that_shawn_guy here or post in the Discord server that you would like to help. There is no commitment once signed up, you can post as much or little as you like.

Writing up your own events has several benefits beyond the immediate exposure. It serves as a record for others to see the history of New Britannia as we create it, in an attractive format. Publishing in the Express also has a higher chance than the forums of being seen by search engines and random readers, thus bringing more eyeballs and new players to the game.

It will even make posting in the forums easier! You can upload images to your news item, and then link to those images in your forum post. No more need for 3rd party image hosts!

So if you have something going on in your guild or town, or want to be a Reporter, Cartographer or Historian, please join us!

Resources: Players Helping Players

The official SotA New Player Welcome Forum and the Player Created Resources Forum have the best player created resources for Shroud of the Avatar, whether it’s a Player Written Guide, a Video Walk-through, or a Wiki-type Website.

Visit the official Community Resources page for a complete listing of all things community.

Inuphet