Posted by PrintsKaspian 1 year ago

Into the Fray Update

Features

Magic Staff Overhaul

Into the Fray kicks off a complete overhaul and rework of the Magic Staffs line, to bring their overall visuals, readability, animations, audio, and gameplay experience to a whole new level.

• Fully reworked player animations for staffs: one- and two-handed Staffs have greater variance in appearance and feel while casting, and animations are now more varied for different ability types
  
• New and improved VFX, audio, and readability cues specifically designed for each Staff line – for example, Cursed Staff spells use aggressive red and black colors with shadowy skull shapes, while Nature Staff spells use pleasing shapes and colors and calming sounds
  
• Each Staff line has a distinct color associated with it for combat readability
  
• Numerous reworked and updated abilities, such as:
  
  • Fire Staffs:
    
    • Pyroblast is now a channeled skillshot that rewards positioning and timing. Ignite has been replaced with a new ability: Flame Blast; Infernal Staff's Contagious Fire has been replaced with Combustion, which ignites an enemy leaving a flaming trail behind that silences
      
  • Holy Staffs:
    
    • Smite has been reworked to make a more enjoyable solo PvE & PvP experience, and it is now possible to move while channeling Holy Beam
      
  • Cursed Staffs:
    
    • For Demonic Staffs, Field of Death has been replaced with Anguished Soul, which summons a ghostly creature that fears enemies; an entirely new Q-slot Ability, Cursed Tar, has been added
      
  • Nature Staffs:
    
    • Improved solo PvE & PvP experience, with a reworked Thorns spell and a new Bramble Seed spell that knocks enemies airborne; new Rejuvenating Flower multi-part spell grows a flower that can be thrown to a specific spot
      
• Numerous changes and improvements to mechanics to give Staff users more gameplay options while keeping them balanced in the overall meta
  
• Fire, Holy, Cursed, and Nature Staffs will be fully reworked in this update; Arcane and Frost Staffs will receive similar treatments in later patches
  
• For a full list of new and changed abilities, see the "Combat Balance Changes" section below
  

Portal Towns
Portal Towns replace the former Outlands portal zones. These extensions of the corresponding Royal City make entry into the Outlands accessible for newer players and convenient for veterans, while reducing overcrowding in Royal Cities.

• Each Portal Town shares its Bank and Marketplace with its corresponding Royal City
  
• Towns include invisibility shrines (with fully reworked visuals) and entry protection bubbles
  
• Towns can serve as standard respawn points
  
• Towns also contain Travel Planners, Repair Stations, Energy Manipulators, and Artifact Foundries
  

NOTE: As existing portal zones will be removed, players in those zones when the update goes live will be moved to the nearest Portal Town.

Castle / Castle Outpost Improvements
This update brings big changes to Castles and Castle Outposts:

• Improved Castle layouts and graphics to encourage fighting on multiple fronts simultaneously, create more space for defenders, and give the visuals a more polished look
  
• There are now two separate castle layouts, depending on the biome:
  
  • Layout A: Highlands, Mountain
    
  • Layout B: Forest, Steppe, Swamp
    
• Castles and Outposts no longer generate passive Season Points
  
• Instead, opening Castle and Outpost chests now grants Might to all players from the guild in vicinity to the objective
  
• Castle and Castle Outpost also have a new Might Level in the Conqueror’s Challenge, which is the way these objectives now generate Season Points.
  
• Castle and Castle Outpost Treasure spawn times are adjusted. Chests now have varying rarity levels, which are pre-announced on the world map and spawn at the same time, meaning groups can choose which rarity they feel confident contesting. Castle Chests now also spawn frequently during the week to promote opportunities for large-scale fights throughout the week.
  
  • Chests unlock (i.e. can be opened) at the following times: 1:30 UTC, 4:30 UTC, 7:30 UTC, 13:30 UTC, 16:30 UTC, 19:30 UTC, 22:30 UTC
    
  • Each time slot there is a 67% chance that a Castle Outpost spawns a chest and a 40% chance that a Castle spawns a chest
    
  • Each chest has a random rarity of Common, Uncommon, or Rare
    
  • Chests spawn one hour before they unlock, and are globally pre-announced on the world map along with rarity level
    
  • On the weekend, guaranteed Legendary chests unlock in all Castles and Outposts on Saturdays at 13:30 UTC and 19:30 UTC, and Sundays at 1:30 UTC
    
• Castles now also have Castle Mortar NPCs, which assist with defense
  
• Removed the wait time between castle guard waves, and Elite Guards will now also spawn when breaching a gate into the Castle Lord room
  
• After defeating the Castle Lord, players must stand in a capture circle to claim the Castle or Outpost – this prevents enemies from stealing the objective by sniping the Castle Lord at the last moment
  
• Chests spawn regardless of owner status, but can only be looted by the Castle owner
  

NOTE: As this change involves terrain updates, players in zones with Castles / Outposts when the update goes live will be moved to the nearest exit.

NOTE: A new zone-wide Might buff for Outpost owners was originally considered and appeared in the first deployment of this update on the Staging server. However, after further testing and consideration, this buff has been removed.

Activities Overview / Daily Events
A new Activities Overview UI gives a streamlined overview of active challenges, as well as progress towards specific milestones and rewards. These also include new Daily Events:

• Daily Events change every 2-3 days, and offer bonuses for certain activities for their duration
  
  • Events can be anything from additional loot and Fame in Hellgates, to additional Faction Points from Faction Warfare, to bonus yields while gathering specific resources
    
  • The initial pool of events provides a solid baseline to available gameplay, which can be expanded in the future to include rare, higher-value events
    
• Local Production Bonuses also change daily, offering bonuses for crafting specific items
  

Victory Emotes
Victory Emotes allow players to mark kills with vanity-only visual spells:

• Players can collect Victory Emote charges
  
• Every time an active emote plays, it consumes one charge
  
• Once all charges are depleted, the spell no longer triggers
  
• To prevent too many emotes spawning during large battles, the amount that can be triggered in close proximity is limited
  
• Victory Emotes always appear for your own kills, and can be turned on or off for kills by others in the Settings menu
  
• Victory Emotes can optionally be activated for knockdowns as well
  
• Victory Emotes can be acquired with Gold or via new Twitch Drops (see below)
  

Twitch Drops

• Players can unlock items by watching Albion Content Creators, earning valuable rewards while supporting the community
  
• In addition to Victory Emotes, players can receive Wardrobe Skins, Mount Skins, and Community Tokens (which can be crafted into emotes and skins)
  
• More info on specific channels offering Twitch Drops will be posted after the update goes live
  

Arena Rework and Crystal Arena
A new ranked mode, the Crystal Arena, has been added alongside the existing unranked Arena:
Crystal Arena:

• Uses Crystal League match rules, but matches are non-lethal
  
• Players can sign up with a party of 1, 2, 3, or 5 members and will be merged into teams of five when the match starts
  
• Arena Seasons begin with each Guild Season, and continue through the offseason
  
• All players start at "Iron 1" rank with zero Rank Points
  
• Rankings are reset at the beginning of each season
  
• Players who don’t play their role can now be temporarily banned from the Arena
  
• Soft IP Cap: 900
  
• Scaling Factor above Softcap: 20%
  

Crystal Arena Rewards:

• Players gain Arena Rank Points, plus loot including Silver, Fame, Sigils, and Crystal League Tokens, for winning
  
• Losing participants receive smaller consolation prizes
  
• Match Rewards are now split into a daily limited reward and an unlimited reward:
  
• Limited Reward: New “Sealed Royal Sigil" – can be opened to receive a Royal Sigil of a random tier
  
• Unlimited Rewards: Silver, Fame and occasional vanity items (untradeable) or Arena Sigils (untradeable, info below)
  
• Win and Loss Rewards scale depending on player rank – the higher the rank, the better the rewards
  
• Players also earn rewards for ranking up
  
• Rewards for reaching each rank can only be earned once per season
  
• New "Arena Sigils " can be used to purchase new Arena Gladiator Wardrobe pieces and already existing Arena Vanity Items
  
  • The new Arena Sigils, as well as any vanity items bought with them, are untradeable
    
  • Old Sigils are designated "legacy", and can be used to purchase old skins for a limited time
    
  • Legacy Sigils already in the game, as well as vanity items bought with them, remain tradeable
    

Original Arena:

• Queue now also allows teams of 1-5 to sign up and automatically creates 5-person teams
  
• Soft IP Cap: 700
  
• Scaling Factor above Softcap: 20% → 5%
  

Non-Lethal 5v5 Crystal League Added
A knockdown-rules 5v5 Crystal League now runs alongside the full-loot League:

• Uses current Crystal League system but changes all matches to knockdown rules
  
• Rewards are reduced accordingly from the full-loot League, but still sufficiently reward progress
  
• Season Point cap is shared with the full-loot League
  
• Players can qualify for the Crystal League Championship through the non-lethal League
  
• Matches happen at different times than the full-loot League so players can participate in both
  

New Crystal League Skin Available

• A new Crystal Gladiator Wardrobe Skin can be won in all Crystal League matches:
  
  • Wardrobe pieces are non-tradeable
    
  • Winner chests have a rare chance of dropping the pieces – the higher the level, the higher the drop rate
    

5v5 Crystal League Changes

• 5v5 Crystal Realm map adjusted:
  
  • East and west capture points moved slightly northwards
    
  • Objects added to the map for additional choke points and structure
    
• New mechanic added to 5v5 matches, the Double Healer Penalty:
  
  • Teams with two healing Staffs get an additional healing reduction debuff, even if the two healers are not healing the same target
    
  • Double Healer Penalty applies in all 5v5 matches, including Arena and Crystal Arena
    
• Level 1 Tokens can be bought from the Energy Manipulator, Level 4+ Tokens are untradeable
  
• Level 1 matches for the standard League are now full-loot, due to the introduction of the Non-Lethal League
  

20v20 Crystal League Changes

• Match Adjustments:
  
  • Base Respawn time: 10s → 15s
    
  • Runestone Channel Time: 10s → 7.5s
    
  • Points per Death: 2 → 3
    
• The goal of these changes is to make the match more accessible. Shorter channeling time of Runestones, makes it easier to take an objective. Higher Respawn times and points per death should reduce the number of deaths per match, reducing the lost gear cost. Additionally this makes mass strategies where you sacrifice a massive amount of players to secure Runestones in non-full loot matches less successful.
  
• Consolidated time slots:
  
  • 20v20 matches are now scheduled across fewer time slots, with more teams playing simultaneously, to reduce the number of no-shows
    

Updated Resource Graphics
Graphics for all static resources (Stone, Ore, Wood, Fiber) updated and improved:

• Visuals of each resource updated to make them more appealing to gather and easier to distinguish from each other and their surroundings
  
• Higher-level resources now look more valuable and consistently increase in size
  
• Treasure Versions of higher-tier resources updated visually to show the greater resources they contain
  
• Enchantment effects updated for readability and overall attractiveness
  

Post-Tutorial Improvements
Updates have been made to the zones near Starter Towns to help ease new players into the world of Albion:

• Immediate access to both T2 and T3 resources (previously these were split across the zone)
  
• New Heretic Group Dungeon added to T3 zones near Starter Towns, replacing the existing Solo Dungeons and encouraging new players to form parties
  

In addition, new tutorial messages now appear after the first instance of various occurrences.
NOTE: As this change involves terrain updates, players in any T3 zone (including dungeons in these zones) when the update goes live will be moved to the nearest zone exit.

Quality-of-Life UI Improvements
Lost Equipment Loadouts
Loadouts are now automatically created on death, which allows for easier regearing:

• Like all Loadouts, these can either be filled from chests or at the Marketplace
  
• The Loadout is created upon death for equipped items; empty slots remain empty
  
• Inventory items are ignored, with the exception of tools (stack size always 1)
  
• If the Loadout would be empty (e.g. if the player dies naked), the previous Lost Equipment Loadout is kept
  
• Quality, enchantment, and tier settings are "equal or lower" by default
  
• Lost Equipment Loadouts are not listed in the personal Loadout list, but instead appear at the bottom of the Loadout UI
  

Loadout "Buy and Equip" Option
For the Quick Purchase Loadout UI, a "Buy and Equip" option has been added alongside "Buy":

• As long as only one Loadout (i.e. quantity 1 of each item in the Loadout) is purchased, this button buys all items and equips them directly, bypassing the "Purchased Items" tab
  
• Any equipped items that would block slots for Loadout items are moved to the inventory, along with inventory items in the Loadout (gathering tools, etc.)
  

Search / Filters for Crafting UIs
To streamline long lists of crafting recipes, crafting and refining stations with more than 5 recipes now have search and filter options. The list of recipes can quickly be shortened with various pre-set filters, and specific recipes can be located by typing a search term.

Party UI Improvements
Opening details of the Party UI now gives new quick options:

• "Small View" toggle reduces party view to "Raid" sizing
  
• "Sort by Role" button groups members by role
  
• "Show Target Markers" adds pre-set target symbols to all players
  
• "Show Mount Health" adds mount health (yellow) bar to displays
  
• "Hide Party" hides entire party display
  
• These settings can be further customized in the Settings menu
  

Custom Match UI
Custom Matches (formerly Training Matches) can now be initiated via the Arena signup UI. These matches allow you to challenge other teams risk-free, and include the following options:

• Info button: shows basic rules of Custom Matches
  
• Maximum Team Size: Defines the maximum size of a team; participating with a smaller team is still allowed
  
• Item Power Soft Cap: Defines the Item Power Threshold from which scaling is applied
  
• Item Power Soft Cap Scaling: The scaling (0-100 %) of Item Power above the Soft Cap
  
• Map: Offers a selection of maps for the match
  
• Opponent: Define a member of the enemy party you want to challenge
  

Muted Players UI
A new tab has been added to the Social UI alongside the existing Friends tab to show muted players. The list allows easy scrolling, with the option to unmute any player by clicking a button.

New Spell Icons

• All Boots - Dodge
  
• Heavy Mace E Ability - Battle Howl
  
• Tombhammer E Ability - Grasp of the Undead
  
• Grovekeeper E Ability - Ground Pound
  
• Carving Sword E Ability - Fearless Strike
  
• Light Crossbow E Ability - Exploding Shot
  
• Bow of Badon E Ability - Raging Storm
  
• Whispering Bow E Ability - Undead Arrows
  
• Bear Paws E Ability - Razor Cut
  
• Dual Swords E Ability - Spinning Blades
  
• Galatine Pair E Ability - Soulless Stream
  
• Malevolent Locus E Ability - The Void
  

Journey Back Ability
The Journey Back ability allows for fast travel in limited cases, to reduce tedious travel times without affecting Albion's trade and transport economy. This ability lets players fast travel to the last Hideout or City visited, with the following conditions:

• Journey Back is a mount spell on all non-battle mounts
  
• Requires a 15s channel which gets interrupted upon taking damage, and has a 60s cooldown
  
• Costs Silver based on:
  
  • Number of zones the player would travel through
    
    • Capped at 10 zones
      
    • Teleporting into or out of the Roads always assumes the cap of 10
      
  • Zone type (Blue, Yellow, Red, Black)
    
  • Item Value of all equipped and inventory items
    
• Can only be used in the open world or the Roads of Avalon
  
• The ability gets disabled until the player enters a Hideout or City again if:
  
  • They trade with another player
    
  • They retrieve items from an Outland Bank
    
  • They lose access to the Hideout they were bound to
    
  • The Hideout they were bound to is destroyed
    
• The ability is temporarily disabled if:
  
  • Player exceeds 100% carry capacity
    
    • Dropping below 100% re-enables the ability
      
  • Player tries to use it within a Zerg bubble (the red bubble on the minimap)
    
    • Re-enabled after leaving the bubble (checked every 10s)
      
  • Player has the "Disarray" debuff active
    
    • Re-enabled when debuff ends
      
  • Player has insufficient Silver to pay the fee
    
    • Re-enabled when player has enough Silver
      
  • Player has the Outlaw debuff
    
    • Re-enabled when debuff ends
      
  • Player is returning from a Faction trade mission
    
    • Re-enabled when mission is finished / abandoned / failed
      
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Gathering Tomes

• These Tomes drop on rare occasions while gathering
  
• Offer Gathering Fame when used, for the node of the designated Tier and resource type regardless of current equipment
  
• Available for every resource type from T4-T8
  
• Tradable on the Marketplace, shares new “Tomes” subcategory with Tomes of Insight
  

Controller Support
Mobile Controller Support Added

• With the launch of Into the Fray, controller support has been added for mobile devices. Please note that both PC and mobile controller support are still in active development, and further changes and improvements will be made over the coming months.
  

General Controller Improvements and Fixes

• Fixed an issue where furniture chests would not trigger a dynamic interaction state in the UI while still accepting the interaction input if the player did not have access rights
  
• Changed default controller scheme to Right Stick Target Selection with Left Stick Spell Targeting
  
• Tooltips now show in the world near exits and portals when approaching them using controllers
  
• Fixed an issue where hover tooltips could persist when using a controller
  
• Fixed an issue where target selection would not be closed on release if left trigger was pressed
  
• Added missing icon for the loot mode selection radial menu entry
  
• Added an input hint icon the target radial menu when an eligible target selected
  
• Controller radial menu now defaults to player target view on open if a player is selected
  
• Fixed an issue where the controller radial menu could show in target player mode on an ineligible target when switched from an eligible target
  
• Fixed an issue where selecting "Back" in the Emotes radial context menu closed the menu
  
• Fixed an issue where controller cursor style would not immediately update after changing cursor styles
  
• Fixed an issue where some furniture would not show dynamic action hints
  
• Fixed an issue where the zone map UI border would overlay controller cursors
  
• Fixed an issue where switching the application focus could allow character controls to activate while a full-screen UI was open
  

Controller UI Navigation Fixes and Improvements

• When navigating between UI windows, each UI will now remember its last selected element
  
• UI navigation can now be held down to navigate more quickly
  
• UI can now be navigated via the left stick when not in a context where moving your character is allowed
  
• Improved auto-scrolling when navigating scrolling UI
  
• Fixed an issue where initial inventory UI selections could be set on the wrong element
  
• Fixed issues with cycling through tabs in some UIs
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Back" button would sometimes close UIs that were not the actively selected UI
  
• Fixed a missing window highlight in Repair Kit UI
  
• Fixed an issue where the "Move" item button hint would not show or persist when it should
  
• Fixed an issue where the offhand equipment slot item would not show a "Move" or "Equip" button hint
  
• Fixed an issue where equipped items did not show an "Unequip" button hint
  

Training Dummies on Islands

• Training Dummies are now available for Player and Guild Islands, in both "Friend" and "Foe" versions:
  
  • These allow players to practice healing/support and damage abilities respectively
    
  • Unlocked at Personal Island Level 1 and Guild Island Level 3
    
  • Islands with dummies unlocked now have additional space in which to place them (exception: on Level 6 Guild Islands, the training arena itself is extended)
    

New Map Tooltips Added
Mouse-over Tooltips have been added to zone and dungeon exits to indicate where the exit leads (zone name, type, etc.). Tooltips have also been added to the following world objects to help identify them and give additional info:

• Corrupted Dungeons
  
• Hellgates
  
• Solo Dungeons
  
• Group Dungeons
  
• Elite Dungeons
  

Other Changes and Improvements

• Demolition Hammers in a player's inventory are now used automatically (like gathering tools) when interacting with hostile structures such as Castle gates
  
• 12 new guild symbols added for custom guild logo creation
  
• 5 new Achievements added related to new content
  
• When an invisibility shrine is clicked while mounted, players will now dismount automatically and use the shrine
  
• Adjusted the respawning of Faction Outposts so that intentionally blocking a respawn is much less effective if the area is subsequently abandoned
  
• Rarity levels of Loot Chests are no longer known to the game client until they visually display their rarity, and thus cannot be read from memory or network traffic
  
• Slightly reduced the resource yield from salvaging
  
• Added Silence icon to Arcane Orb spells and Invisibility Shrine Buff
  
• Moved Grizzly Bear's "Intimidating Aura" Spell from armor slot to third weapon slot (Hotkey: E)
  

Combat Balance Changes
For the full list of Combat Balance Changes coming with this update, please see this forum post: Balance Changes - Into The Fray

Fixes

• UI fixes:
  
  • Fixed a bug where clicking ESC in party invitation UI did not properly decline the invite
    
  • Fixed an issue where the window would "bounce" while scrolling the in-game mail UI
    
  • Fixed an issue where multiple messages could overlap in the in-game mail UI
    
  • Fixed an issue where the overhead message did not correctly reflect picking up more than 1 farmable at a time
    
  • Fixed an issue where double-clicking "Claim Territory" button would throw an error
    
  • Fixed an issue where clicking ESC during the Arena did not open the Settings menu as intended
    
  • Fixed an issue where double-clicking a Point of Interest on the world map to open zone map made all other Points of Interest open with a single click
    
  • Fixed an issue where scrolling the Visible Channels menu within Social settings scrolled the entire Social tab
    
  • Fixed an issue where the "Your Buy Orders" UI was difficult to scroll
    
  • Fixed an issue where font icons would sometimes disappear after being typed in chat
    
• Spell fixes:
  
  • Purifying Combo (Fists of Avalon) now always purges the target before applying damage
    
  • Mark of Sacrifice (Hellion Shoes) now also increases magical spell damage as intended
    
  • Fixed an issue where ability cooldowns could be reset by mounting up in rare cases
    
• Resolved an issue that sometimes caused players to receive lower amounts of Fame when studying high-tier items at low specializations
  
• Fixed a bug where Snappers weren't considered in the Focus cost calculation of fish-based foods, which increases the following Focus costs:
  
  • Roasted Whitefog Snapper: 70 → 77 (+7)
    
  • Roasted Clearhaze Snapper: 210 → 225 (+15)
    
  • Roasted Puremist Snapper: 630 → 652 (+22)
    
• Fixed an issue where guild banner symbols would not change during character selection
  
• Added collision blocker behind chests in Hellgates to prevent players dying there and being inaccessible to looting
  
• Fixed a bug where some Fishing Fame sources did not progress Fisherman and Fishing Specialist nodes
  
• [MOBILE] Fixed an issue where the chat channel selection button could sometimes not be pressed
  
• Numerous additional graphical, animation, terrain, audio, UI, and localization fixes