Update Notes 2.2 - 4th of May

TWO NEW LEVEL 80 GROUP INSTANCES IN PAIKANG

The Ai District and the T’ian’an District are now available in the imperial city of Paikang. The two new instances, complete with daily quests, take the form of two separate outdoor districts of Paikang and offer a challenging experience for groups of players. The districts have been affected by the corruption and evil that has been spreading throughout Khitai in very different ways so the pace and style of gameplay vary between the two areas.
The entrance to Ai and T'ian'an can be found in the sewers right next to the Insurrection camp in Paikang.

Read this article to learn more about the two new group instances.


IMPROVED FACTION PROGRESSION

Following up from the recent addition of new faction progression veteran items, Update 2.2 now brings major restructuring of the Faction progression. The intention here was two fold. Firstly to help smooth out and significantly improve the speed of faction progression, and then, just as important, to open things up, increase the rewards, and allow you to do more different things, rather than repeat the same thing again and again. These changes combined should mean that faction progression and armor acquisition in Khitai is now substantially easier.

With the current amount of repeatable quests you can potentially get access to more than 50 quests per day. If you are out of repeatable quests, join a new faction. In most cases you will get rank 1 once you have completed all the rank 0 quests.

For a full list of Faction Progression changes check the update notes below.


CROWD CONTROL REVAMP

We have looked at all Crowd Control abilities and feats of all classes and made substantial changes to balance out their effects. The crowd control abilities have been reworked to improve the flow and balance of combat, in particular for PVP, and to try and make the combat more tactical and make the timing of these attacks more important. This is intended to open up PVP combat somewhat, while still allowing these abilities to be important in combat without them being too influential as we felt they had become.

Tweaks were made where necessary to duration, cast time, range, immunities or max targets of each CC ability. These changes also include an additional step for most combos which has been added to the starter step.

For a full list of Crowd Control and related combat and feat changes check the update notes below.



FACTION PROGRESSION CHANGES

• Faction given from quests has been increased substantially. The amount you can obtain from repeatable quests per rank should be more balanced. This should even out the previous differences between different factions.
• All repeatable faction quests now have a 20 hour cooldown. This means that in most cases the repeatable quests can be done once per day.
• New repeatable quests have been added :
  
  • Northern Grasslands, Rank 0 (must have joined the faction), Shadows of Jade, Gore in the Grasslands
  • Northern Grasslands, Rank 0 (must have joined the faction), Yellow Priests of Yun, War on the Children
  • Northern Grasslands, Rank 0 (must have joined the faction), Children of Yag-kosha, Rectoral Retribution
  • Chosain, Brittle Blade, Rank 1, Bloodshed in the Shadows
  • Chosain, Shadows of Jade, Rank 1, Carnage in Chosain
  • Kara Korum, Shadows of Jade, Rank 2, Revenge on the Jiang Shi
  • Paikang, Brittle Blade, Rank 3, A Balanced Blade
  • Paikang, Shadows of Jade, Rank 3, A Shadowed Victory
• Some non-repeatable quests have changed into repeatables, again to even out progression.
• The amount of faction gained from killing sided NPCs has been doubled (from 60 to 120).
• Significant changes to Marks of Acclaim rewards were made. All faction quests now give the following token values :
  
  • Northern Grasslands : 10-18 tokens
  • Chosain Province : 12-20 tokens
  • Kara Korum : 14-22 tokens
  • Paikang : 16-24 tokens

CROWD CONTROL AND COMBAT CHANGES

General

• Knockbacks will now use a resistance based system to behave like other crowd control effects. Some feats and items have been changed in this regard. This means that the worn armor type of the target no longer matters. Spells and abilities that would previously silently make the player immune to knockbacks now gives 100% resistance to knockbacks.
• Some abilities and spells that purely gives resistances have been changed to be hostile so they are visible to enemies. These are: Stand your Ground, Running Shot, Excellent Balance and Ursine Bond.
• Most abilities (Abilities tab) should no longer be affected by silence. Spells will still be affected as they always have been.
• Priest and Mage classes will now also gain resistance to silence while under the effect of Recently Impaired.
• Targets affected by fear will now also have slow movement.
• The maximum Snare effect is now 60% Hinder Movement from a crowd control spell. Any additional effect will still stack on top of this.
• You can no longer be Staggered while affected by a Snare.
• All Root and Silence combos and spell will now grant the target a Recently Impaired buff.
• The stagger debuff now has a unique icon.
• Players that are feared while sprinting will no longer lose stamina as if sprinting under the fear effect.
• Enslaving Fire should now break on 50% damage.
• Column spells should now work properly in PvP
• Replaced the general AA feat 'Charm Resistance with 'Stagger Resistance'.
• Ranged combos now have a line of sight check at the end of the execution time. If your target has moved out of line of sight, since starting the combo, no damage will be inflicted.
• Combo openers will now have a max cooldown of 10 seconds if the combo is aborted.
• Most mobs, that are not tied to a group encounter, should now also apply immunities on players when using spells or abilities that include crowd control effects.

Mage Archetype

• The middle tier AA Feat 'Charm Immunity' has been replaced with 'Silence Immunity'.
• The AA Feat 'Transcendence' now also reduces the duration of Silence effects.
• The CC breaker 'Ethereal Escape' in the AA tree now also includes Silence effects.

Priest Archetype

• The middle tier AA Feat 'Charm Immunity' has been replaced with 'Silence Immunity'.
• The AA Feat 'Divine Luster' now also reduces the duration of Silence effects.
• The CC breaker 'Deliverance' in the AA tree now also includes Silence effects.

Assassin

• Curse of the Lotus is now classified as a fear.
• Vampyric Nature is now classified as a stun.
• The animations for Grim Corruption ranks I to IV are now all equally long.
• Added an extra attack direction to Snap Kick - UP. The finisher direction is now UP.
• The debuff effect of Impede Life will no longer stop the Natural Stamina and Mana regeneration on targets for up to 30 seconds.
• Avatar of Death will now give 100% resistance to knockbacks.

Barbarian

• Additional ranks in the Scatter Foes feat will now cause the Scatter foes combo to knock the target further away from the Barbarian.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Clobber - LR. The finisher direction is now UP.
• Added an extra attack direction to Earth Shatter - UP. The finisher direction is now UR.
• Added an extra attack direction to Scatter Foes - UP. The finisher direction is now LR.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Stunning Punch - UR. The finisher direction is now UL.
• Ranks I to IV of Clobber now all use the animation from Clobber I.
• Ranks I to IV of Stunning Punch now all use the animation from Stunning Punch III.
• Redesigned the Berserker feat Paralysis: 'Augments the Clobber combo by battering the target's armor, increasing the damage the target takes from physical attacks'.

Bear Shaman

• The AA Feat ' Ursine Bond' now also give you Silence immunity.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Ferocious Smack - LR.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Hinder Movement - UR.
• Rank I of Hinder Movement now uses the animation from rank II.
• The animations for Ferocious Smack ranks I to IV are now all equally long.

Conqueror

• Added an extra attack direction to Batter Aside - UR. The finisher direction is now UL.
• Added an extra attack direction to rank 6 of Overwhelm - UP. The finisher direction is now UL.
• Removed one step from the rank 4 and 5 Overwhelm combo.
• Ranks I to V of Overwhelm now all use the animation from rank V.
• The animations for Batter Aside ranks I to IV are now all equally long.
• The 'Overcome the Odds' ability will now also apply a visible buff icon on the Conqueror
• The Lumbering Hulk ability will again remove existing snare effects when used.
• Tweaked how Burst of Aggression works: "Empowers the conqueror's next melee attack based on their stance. In Frenzy Stance the attacks will knock enemies backwards. In Defensive Stance the ability becomes instant and the attacks will generate 10% more hate. When there is no stance running, the ability grants the conqueror both effects but with a minor delay."
• Added Stagger Immunity as a source for increasing the damage output from 'One Last Push'.

Dark Templar

• Shadowed Soul is now an ability, it can now properly remove any fear running on Dark Templar.
• Added an extra attack direction to Dooming Presence - UL. The finisher direction is now LL.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Mind Shatter - UP. The finisher direction is now UP.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Mind Wrack - UR. The finisher direction is now LR.
• The feated 'Invulnerable Soul' buff should no longer disappear when casting 'Covenant of Invulnerability'.
• Clarified perk description for Void of Madness.

Demonologist

• Replaced the Crowd Control effect of 'Hands of the Underworld' with a long duration Snare. Lowered the reuse time to 60 seconds.
• Further ranks in the Wicked Bolts feat will now increase the distance the target is knocked back
• Tweaked down fear and stun resistance values gained from Demon Heart of Chatha feats and cleaned up the Regen tooltip values of Demonic Heart.

Herald of Xotli

• Roots of Hell will now add 20/30/50% resistance against knockbacks while any polymorph is activ
• Thundering Flames now have a chance of also interrupting any combo being performed.
• Resolved an issue related to loading graphics when a Herald of Xotli was executing a transformation.

Guardian

• Overwhelming Shout will no longer have a separate snare.
• Stand Your Ground will now make the guardian and their team more resistant to knockback effets. Also while active the Shield Sweep combo will fling targets further away.
• Added an extra attack direction to Shield Strike - LR. The finisher direction is now UP.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Skewer - UP. The finisher direction is now LL.
• Added an extra attack direction to all ranks of Stagger - UR. The finisher direction is now UP.
• The animations for Shield Sweep ranks I to IV are now all equally long.
• The animations for Stagger ranks I to IV are now all equally long.
• Rank IV of Shield Sweep now uses the animation from rank III.
• Added an extra combo-step (UL - starter) to all ranks of Shield Sweep. The finisher direction is now UP.
• Prime Initiative now has a 0.1 second cast time, and its cooldown has been increased to 30 seconds.
• Damage of Prime Initiative has been reduced by 16%.
• Reckoning will now only be available at the end of the finisher of Disable IV.

Necromancer

• Unholy Hands have been changed. This is now a Targeted AoE spell causing up to 6 targets to become rooted.
• 3rd rank of Quick Steps will now cost Prowess Points and not Mastery Points, as intended
• Dismissing Necrotic Bombs should no longer cause them to trigger Necrotic Pustule. Pets killed in combat or by the Necrotic Detonation will still trigger the effect.

Priest of Mitra

• Exorcism is now an ability, it can now in addition to removing fears and silences from team members be used to remove any fears or silences running on the Priest.
• Empowered Repulse (Divinity) will now increase the distance any target is knocked back.
• Lowered the Mana Cost of Condemn, Inclusion, Avert Thine Eyes, Eye of Judgment and Repudiate spells.
• The Divinity Feat 'Spiritual Warding' now grants the priest Silence resistance instead of Charm resistance.
• Holy Accession will now proc off any blue heal (Wave of Life/Blood Flow/Life of Set) running on the Priest of Mitra.
• Added Condemnation and Mitra's Searing Eye to the list of spells triggering Divine Blessing and updated Divine Halo's feat description.
• You can no longer stack up Divine Blessing without hitting any targets.
• Revivication will now also trigger Emanation of Life while other green heals are running on the Priest of Mitra.

Ranger

• Additional ranks in the Ability - Booby Trap feat will now increase the distance the target is knocked back.
• Upper Attack Bonus will now increase the distance any target of the Linebreaker combo is knocked back.
• If the attack is aborted, the animation is stopped, no damages are dealt, and visual effects on the target are canceled.
• Ranger Traps will now have a 1 second delay on the ground before they become active.

Tempest of Set

• All ranks of 'Quicksand' are now Hostile Self Centred Area Spells
• Rousing Shock is now an ability, it can now in addition to removing stuns from team members be used to remove stuns running on the Tempest.
• Puppets of Set is now classified as a stun.
• The Spell 'Brain Spasms' in the Lightning tree now also has a significant chance to break Silence effects.
• Eye of the Storm now grants the Tempest of Set 25% Bonus Armor for the duration of the spell.
• Replaced the Lightning feat 'Visions of Hatred' with the new feat 'Empowered Wisdom': 'Increases the tempest's Constitution based on their Wisdom.'
• Thundering Voice now also have a chance of interrupting any combo being performed.

RAIDS AND GROUP ENCOUNTERS

Refuge of the Apostate

• The progress bar when interacting with Tian-bai's Notes now have the following caption: "Retrieving Notes".
• The Maze gate now closes shortly after being opened.

PVP

Minigames

• Fixed an issue that would prevent classes from getting balanced correctly in some cases.
• Fixed an issue where class balancing would sometimes favour people that signed up for a shorter duration than others.

QUESTS

• Replaced incorrect ammo item in the quest The Venomous South
• Fixed an issue that prevented the completion of the quest: The Chosain Conflict.

ITEMS

• Lowered the esteem token prices of green armor sold by merchants in Khitai by approximately 50%.
• The Potent Lodestone will now give the user a 20% resistance against being knocked back.
• The Repellant Lodestone will now give the user a chance of negating a targets resistance against being knocked back. Spells with 100% resistance to knockbacks will not be affected by this item.
• Simple Trophy Vessels dropped in dungeons are now blue quality items, like all other Simple Trophy items.
• Trader of Fortunes: Decreased the sell price for Flask of Completion from 32 to 20 Mark of Acclaim.
• Trader of Fortunes: Increased the sell price for the Receptacles of Simple Trophies based on the increased Mark of Acclaim income.
• Boosted epic loot- count and drop rate for all Trial of the Godslayer events.
• Brigand's Belt of the Howling Moon' is now correctly priced in Simple Trophy I's.

GENERAL

• Guild city decorations will now properly appear again for new cities.
• When you using the Postal Service, you will no longer receive the message "Unknown Recipient" when adding a space at the end of the recipient's name.
• Fixed an issue where players using Hide and Path of Asura at the exact same time could get stuck, unable to move.
• The AA feats Boil Blood and Unleash the Underworld should again be properly trainable.
• Added the Icon for the "Enervating Equilibrium" stamina potion blocking hostile debuff.
• NPC Moon Child pets now give XP and no longer receive crowd control immunities.