[2023] Game Update Notes: October 17, 2023

10/17/2023—October 17 Release Notes Halloween The gates to the Mad Realm have opened once again, and Kryta's most infamous monarch, Mad King Thorn, has returned to hold court in Lion's Arch! Loyal vassals of the king are strongly encouraged to enjoy the festivities: meet the denizens of the Mad Realm in events across Kryta; tour the Mad Realm itself in the Mad King's Labyrinth and fearsome Mad King's Clock Tower jumping puzzle; compete with your fellow mortals in Lunatic Inquisition, Reaper's Rumble, and the Mad King's Raceway; attend to the king's whims in his notorious Mad King Says game; or match wits and blades against royalty in Ascent to Madness. The Lion's Arch Captain's Council wishes to remind citizens that they are not affiliated with the Krytan monarchy and cannot guarantee the safety of any individuals who choose to dabble in dangerous realms, mad or otherwise. A new variant of the long-feared Mad King's Clock Tower has appeared! Normally unavailable to visitors during maintenance, guests are now welcome to enter the Stopped Clock Tower, an incarnation of the tower's daunting climb with less time pressure. Existing achievements have been updated to reflect which version of the tower they can be completed in, and new achievements have been added for players conquering each variant. The Annual Halloween Rituals meta-achievement has been updated with a fashionable new reward, the Clawing Shadow Greaves! Earn this spooky new armor piece by completing a variety of Halloween activities, and show your allegiance to the Mad King's court with pride. Last year's meta-achievement reward, the Clawing Shadow Gloves, can now be purchased from Halloween vendors if you missed it. The new Grim Machine weapon set is now available. You'll receive your choice of a weapon by progressing the annual Halloween Rituals meta-achievement or the weekly Halloween Festivities achievement. Four makeshift Paper Bag Helm Skins are now available for heroes to show their Halloween spirit on a budget. To earn these helms, you'll need to bring your materials to a mysterious craftsraven atop the Stopped Clock Tower. Three new weapons are now available in the Courtly Weapon Chest, which can be rarely found by opening Trick-or-Treat Bags. They can also be purchased from Sparking Stone in Lion's Arch. The long-awaited Mini Derlitz the Candy Raven is now available from Halloween vendors. New Halloween-themed guild decorations have been added. Many small issues have been addressed to ensure a more polished festival experience for all visitors to the Mad Realm. The gates to the Mad Realm will be open for three weeks, from October 17 until November 7. Have a happy Halloween! World Polish Added a proper name for one of the Legendary Ley-Line Anomaly's attacks. Fixed an issue that could prevent the Legendary Bandit Executioner's orbiting projectile from correctly following the bandit. Fixed a scaling issue in the "Defeat the giant Destroyer troll" event in Timberline Falls. Fixed an issue that could cause the instance owner to be stuck behind a door during the Silence story mission. Fixed a stalling issue that could occur during the story mission The Battle for Cragstead. Fixed a stalling issue that could occur when reaching the Eye of the North while replaying the Voice in the Deep story mission. Fixed an issue that caused a looping conversation with Hal the Hermit. Removed an invalid interaction prompt in Seitung Province. Fixed an issue that caused the Jahai Bluffs Griffon Expert achievement to be awarded when completing other adventures. Items Fixed an issue that caused chickens to be slightly embedded in the ground when viewing a preview of the Endless Mystery Fowl Tonic. Trick-or-Treat bags have an extremely rare chance to drop Enchanted Music Boxes. Fixed an issue that prevented the Gentle Garden Swing Chair animations from being displayed to other players. Fixed an issue that caused the Pocket Jade Armor to disappear earlier than intended. Profession Skills General Relic of Leadership: Fixed an issue that caused this relic to convert more conditions than intended. Mesmer Chronomancer Split Second: Reduced the total power coefficient from 1.33/2.132/2.8 based on number of active clones to 1.0/1.65/2.3 based on number of active clones in PvP only. Necromancer Death Nova: Increased the minion summoning interval from 3 seconds to 15 seconds in WvW only. Reduced the power coefficient from 0.6 to 0.3 in WvW only. Summon Madness: Reduced the number of minions summoned from 8 to 4 in WvW only. Reaper "Rise!": Reduced the maximum number of targets from 2 to 1 in WvW only. Ranger Signet of the Hunt: Increased cooldown from 25 seconds to 30 seconds in PvP only. Soulbeast One Wolf Pack: Reduced the duration from 8 seconds to 6 seconds in WvW only. Increased the strike interval from 0.25 seconds to 0.5 seconds in WvW only. Reduced the power coefficient from 0.63 to 0.5 in WvW only. Untamed Natural Fortitude: Reduced life siphon damage from 1,764 to 1,000 in PvP only. Let Loose: This trait no longer grants fury in PvP and WvW. Multishot: Fixed a bug that allowed this skill to be fired behind the user. Revenant Mist Swing: Reduced the maximum number of targets from 5 to 3. Mist Slash: Reduced the maximum number of targets from 5 to 3. Arcing Mists: Reduced the maximum number of targets from 5 to 3. True Strike: Reduced the power coefficient per block stack from 0.3 to 0.05 in WvW only. Thief Swindler's Equilibrium: Fixed an issue that prevented this trait from properly reducing the recharge of Steal. Specter Endless Night: Reduced the slow duration from 0.5 seconds to 0.25 seconds in PvP only. Reduced the torment duration from 6 seconds to 5 seconds in PvP only. Warrior Berserker Savage Instinct: Reduced the duration from 2 seconds to 1 second in PvP only. Blood Reaction: Reduced the precision-to-ferocity conversion from 10% to 5% in WvW only. Fatal Frenzy: Reduced the power bonus from 300 to 150 in WvW only. Eternal Champion: Reduced the stability duration from 3 seconds to 2 seconds in PvP only. Sundering Leap: Increased the cooldown from 15 seconds to 18 seconds in PvP only. Bladesworn Unshakable Mountain: Reduced base barrier from 1,003 to 800 in PvP only. Combat Stimulant: Reduced base healing from 3,260 to 2,760 in PvP only. Stim State: Reduced base healing from 3,580 to 3,080 in PvP only. Gunstinger: Increased the ammunition recharge from 15 seconds to 18 seconds in PvP only. World vs. World Added an exotic back item and heavy, medium, and light aquatic headgear to the TEID-07 Unified Vendor System vendor in WvW.

10/17/2023—Late Notes General Fixed a rare client crash that occurred when returning to the character selection screen. World vs. World Fixed an issue that could cause incorrect map queue numbers to be displayed. Fixed an issue that caused "Queue is ready" pop-ups to disappear after loading screens. Fixed an issue that caused queue slots to be held longer than expected after players selected Reenter Queue or Leave Queue.

Bug Fixes: Scan for Rift: Fixed an issue that allowed this skill to incorrectly put players in combat. The Mysterious Craftsraven's item costs have been changed from Walnuts in Bulk to Peaches in Bulk. Arc Divider: Reduced the power coefficient from 1.8 to 1.5 in WvW only.

Bug Fixes: Fixed a bug that could prevent Magister Tassi from offering players her Stopped Clock Tower miniquest if they had previously completed a Daily Fractal during Halloween. To ensure stuck players can talk to Tassi, miniquest progress will be reset for all players, but achievement progress will be preserved. Fixed a client crash in the Ascent to Madness dungeon when shader quality was set to Low.

Bug Fix: Consumable Halloween foods will no longer transform players during combat.

Bug Fix: Fixed an issue that would have caused the current Guild Wars 2: Secrets of the Obscure Wizard's Vault season to end earlier than intended.