[2022] PTR: Tuning and Balance Update: Release Notes

Please note that this list is not all encompassing and is intended as an early look into a number of changes included within the most recent PTR build. This change list will be regularly updated, up through retail release of the game version.

World Experience

Notable Fixes

• Fixed an issue where the loading screen was being dismissed prematurely — while the world was still loading in — when fast traveling to an owned homestead.
• NPC Gregory Jones is no longer standing inside a barrel in an upgraded Trading Post in Everfall settlement
• Fixed an issue which could result in no AI spawning at a Corrupted Portal event.
• Fixed a rare client crash when loading into the game.

Expeditions

General

• Fixed an issue allowing players to body block certain expedition bosses, preventing them from transitioning to a new phase.
• Fixes bugs dealing with users disconnecting or leaving dungeons in the middle of the boss fight, causing dungeon bosses not to reset.
• Within expeditions, fixed an issue where the respawn point “Expedition Entrance” would be appear untranslated in other languages.

Lazarus Instrumentality

• Fixes an issue where dying before entering an expedition could cause failure to progress at different stages in a expedition.
• Made some lighting adjustments in Lazarus Well expedition to minimize flashing lights in certain areas

Tempest’s Heart

• Fixed an issue where Ekheke could die prematurely.
• Fixed the spawn animation for Uzret during the encounter to destroy the Corrupted Monolith.
• Myrkard Musketeers will award points when defeated in the mutated version of the expedition.
• Adjusted the amount of gold players receive from bosses to align with other expeditions.

Global Mutators

• Fixed boss final animation not happening on party wipe

Quests

• The darkness veils located in caves on the starting beaches have had their health significantly reduced. Fighting the veil should be tough, but not that tough — especially in starting zones!
• The artificer quest which requires new players to craft a sword in the starting zones has been adjusted to also accept named weapons for the final step, if the player happens to be lucky enough to craft one.
• Fixed the name fields of four items rewarded from various quests in Reekwater, which were pointing at weapons for other zones. This change affects the rewards for the quests “Seek and Hide”, “A Plan’s Deconstruction”, “The Queen is Dead (Elite)”, and “The Eternal Pool (Elite)”. The weapons affected are: Occult’s Razor, Switcher’s Revenge, Bow of Navarona, and Demon’s Claw.
• Update the “Covenant Initiation” quest in Windsward to ensure players are tasked with collecting the proper items.
• Fixed a bug where faction missions acquired from a non-settlement territories (Edengrove, Great Cleave, Shattered Mountain) may be unable to be turned in after a patch.
  • The first time a player logs in after this change, any in-progress faction missions from a non-settlement territory will be automatically abandoned while missions ready to turn in will get completed with expected rewards issued.

Exploration

• Rafflebones will only spawn at level 66 in zones that go 60+ in order to allow players to get weapons that can be upgraded.
• Small-sized flint objects no longer have player collision. No more tripping over rocks!

Combat/AI

General

• Fixed an issue where buffered attack inputs would not be cleared by weapon swapping if pressed at the end of an attack.
• Fixed an issue where status effects applied by equipping weapons could become permanently stuck when traversing across regional boundaries.
• Fixed a slight stutter/desync when moving and casting spells.
• Fixed an issue where players can become stuck in the knockback reaction animation.

Perks

• Fixed an issue with Great Axe Weapon Perk Insatiable Gravity Well that caused inconsistent activation and no VFX. Removed an unintended 1 second root applied to targets next to caster when perk procs.
• Several Blackguard’s Weapons rolled with a “Plagued Heavy Strikes” perk. This has been changed to “Plagued Crits” on the Blackguard’s Bow and Blunderbuss, and “Refreshing Evasion” on the Blackguard’s Fire Staff, Void Gauntlet, and Ice Gauntlet.

Weapons

Bow

• Removed Input Buffering when exiting ADS to avoid Hip Fire from unintentionally activating.

Blunderbuss

• Fixed an occasional character stutter/desync when using the Blunderbuss “Blast Shot” ability.
• Fixed an issue that caused ammo to be consumed incorrectly if the player was using primary fire and abilities at the same time.

Great Axe

• Fixed an occasional character stutter/desync when using the Great Axe “Reap” ability.

Ice Gauntlet

• Fixed an issue where using Ice Spike when during movement could cause a server/client desync.

Musket

• Fixed and issue where Shooter’s Stance camera could get stuck if jumping while activating the ability.
• Fixed issue where the musket Scent of Blood upgrade was applying to all roots
• Fixed an issue when using ADS and Shooter’s Stance at the same time sometimes can get camera stuck in ADS and slow player movement.

Rapier

• Fixed issue where the Keenly Jagged perk’s bleed was able to trigger Evade’s passive Cresendo’s cooldown reduction.

Spear

• Fixed an issue where the spear would become invisible if you were interrupted immediately after throwing it.
• Fixed an issue where players could throw spears over the fort boundary during the War Preparation phase.

Sword & Shield

• Fixed a desync when swinging the camera quickly at the start of the Whirling Blade ability.
• Fixed an issue where shield attribute bonuses were only applied when the sword and shield were unsheathed. Note that you still need to have a sword equipped in order to gain shield bonuses.

Expeditions

• Fixed an issue allowing boss navigation to be blocked by players, preventing them from transitioning phases
• Alluvium Marl will no longer be able to jump backwards and land outside of the Caretaker’s Arena.
• Fixed an issue where Cilla will not reset properly if Players log off while on that same platform as her.

Game Modes

Arenas

• Fixed an issue where World Arena Bosses would sometimes not aggro non-combatant targets.

Outpost Rush

• Fixed an issue where player could aggro friendly Outpost Rush minions with projectile attacks.

War

• Fixed an issue where companies could declare war solely based on previous influence race participation and not on participation from only the current and active influence race.

Economy/Progression

Notable Fixes

• Fixed an issue where players could exceed the 500 inventory item limit.
• Gem VFX applied to the Isabella Great Axe now display correctly.
• Fixed mesh clipping around neck area for equipment pieces Wizened, Sagacious, and Tactician’s Hat.

Items

• Fixed a bug where the Azoth Attuned bag perk would not stack its effect with multiple bags with the same perk.
• Hidden Stashes can now only be collected from gatherable items that require tools. Thus, hidden stashes will no longer drop from bushes, bullrush, nuts, etc.

Crafting

• Replicas of named items from the Tempest’s Heart expedition can now be crafted at the appropriate crafting stations.
• Fixed an issue that could cause the Crafting Screen to close unexpectedly while using it.

Gathering

• Fixed a bug where gatherables would no longer work if gathering was cancelled part way through.
• Fixed an issue that caused the icon for an active gathering tool in the quick slot to disappear while gathering.

UX/UI/Social

Notable Fixes

• The inventory category “Alchemy and Arcana" has been renamed to simply “Arcana” for simplicity.
• Removed the text “Remaining XP” for Level-up in the XP Bar tooltip when at max level.
• Fixed an issue where if the same type of ammo is equipped and at the max limit is selected to be equipped again from the inventory, both ammo stacks will be unequipped.
• Addressed an issue where text overflowed in the Journal Objectives tasks list.
• The Pin Quest button should no longer disappear when restarting the game client.
• Fixed an issue that caused aptitude banners to display when entering or exiting instances, such as expeditions.
• Fixed an issue causing player achievements to load incorrectly at start of a new game session.
• Fixed a tile of the world map not rendering at certain zoom levels.
• Fixing an issue where a player experiencing network instability while trading may receive a “Trade Canceled” message when the trade actually completed successfully.
• Fixed a bug where compass objective pins from the open world could still show up while inside the Dynasty Shipyard expedition.

Translations

• Added missing translations to the “Locked” message prompt within an expedition when approaching a door that cannot yet be entered.
• Provided missing translations for several housing-related messages.
• Fixed an issue with unlocalized Weapon Mastery tool tip descriptions.
• Adjusted certain translations within the Outfitting crafting station UI to address text truncation.
• The Main Story Quest acceptance banner is now localized in all languages.
• Main Story Quest and Skill Progression Quest type header boxes in the map are now localized in all languages.
• Added missing translations for loading screen gameplay tips within the Dynasty Shipyard expedition.
• Fixed broken Spirit Shrine icons displayed within the journal on non-English language clients.

Quality of Life

• When entering a settlement or outpost, opening the map will automatically zoom in.
• Update quest icons on items to represent whether they are complete or in progress
• Unequipped items now show the correct total damage.
• Players are now able to drop multiple items during a single inventory session while moving.
• Disabled the “Withdraw from Company Wallet” button if your personal wallet is full.
• Named crafted items that are crafted at Epic rarity but can gain a 5th perk when upgraded to Legendary now show the final perk as disabled on the crafting screen, so that you know that it will be available in the future, but will not be available when crafted.
• Updated the position of the quest marker for items in the crafting menu so that it obscures less of the item’s image.
• Removed tax information from the banner that appears when entering a town.
• Updated the Objectives panel in the map screen with additional functionality:
  • UI panel renamed to “Manage Objectives”
  • Added key-bind to open the map with the objectives tab open — default hotkey is [I].
  • Clicking “View in Map” from the Journal and “View in Map” from the HUD now opens the map with the Objectives panel open.
• Updated the order of tabs in the map. The new order is: Manage Objectives, Territory Standings, Upcoming Wars, Resource Locations, Filters.
• The Territory Standing icon in the map panel now properly changes color when territory points are available.
• Tax information has been removed from the “entering settlement” UI banner to help declutter.

Chat

• Increase legibility of System messages and Faction messages in chat.

In-Game Store

• Fixed preview not working if certain items are equipped.
• Store Region is properly displayed in the Confirmation popup.

Combat/AI

War

• Fixed an issue that could cause a war to not occur if the defending company was abandoned prior to the war. Wars should now proceed as usual and the attacking company will have a chance to become the new owner.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players who are removed from a War/Invasion to re-signup for the wrong side.
• Fixed bug that prevented players from sometimes being unable to signup for a War/Invasion from the world map (as opposed to using a territory War Board).
• Opening the scoreboard during the respawn screen can now be closed with the top right close button.

Outpost Rush

• Fixed a situation where attempting to place equipped bound items into Outpost Rush storage could potentially result in the item being permanently destroyed.

Damage Formulas

• Weapon damage tooltips now ensure an accounting for elemental perk attribute scaling.

Perks

• Fixed issue that allowed the “Shirking Fortification” perk to stack multiple times, allowing up to a 50% Fortify.
• Fixed a bug where swapping bags with the same weight reduction perk could result in weights being continuously reduced.
• “Refreshing Move” was deemed overpowered on a blunderbuss. As such, faction-issued Blunderbusses and the “Troublemaker” and “Troublemaker 9000” now have “Refreshing” instead with “Pirate’s Piece (T5)” now having “Vicious” instead.
• Fixed an issue where a perk added when upgrading items to 600 GS was not activated until the player’s next play session.

Weapons

Fire Staff

• Fixed a slight desync when using the Fire Staff “Meteor Shower” ability.

Rapier

• Fixed issue where Riposting players were obtaining status effects that could not harm the player from several attacks while in the riposte defensive stance.

Economy/Progression

Gear/Items

• Fixed an issue causing some named blunderbusses to use musket appearances.
• Fixed an issue where the Chef’s armor set was not providing the correct Additional Items bonus for Recovery Foods in the Cooking station.
• Fixed an issue where consumables or ammo could become unusable after picking them up off the ground.

Rewards/Loot

• Fixed an issue that was causing Tempestuous caches to sometimes not reward an item and not be consumed.
• There are some early quest items that will have their rarity classifications changed due to odd interactions with other systems. Although the rarity for these items is changing with this update, they will not lose any perks, attributes, or gems. Only the color rarity will be downgraded. The items will return to “green” rarity in a future update.
  • The impacted items are:
    • Watcher’s Warding Charm
    • Constable’s Boar Spear
    • Naval Medicine Chest
    • Silken Gloves
    • Traveler’s Tabard
    • Scorched Breastplate

Gathering

• Changed the minimum and maximum efficiency for a number of gathering tool tiers:
  • Raised the base efficiency of the T1 gathering tools from 100% to 200%
  • Raised the minimum base efficiency of T2 gathering tools from 125% → 200%
  • Raised the maximum base efficiency of T2 gathering tools from 225% → 350%
  • Raised the minimum base efficiency of T3 gathering tools from 250% → 350%
  • Raised the maximum base efficiency of T3 gathering tools from 350% → 450%
  • Raised the minimum base efficiency of T4 gathering tools from 400% → 450%
  • Raised the maximum base efficiency of T4 gathering tools from 550% → 625%
  • T5 gathering base efficiency has remained the same at 625% and above

UX/UI/Social

General

• Crafting menus have been updated to display the cooldown timer for recipes that have an active cooldown.
• Disabled the ability to drag Umbral Shards, Gems, and Repair Kits directly from Storage onto equipped items. This should prevent instances where upgrading shows you the wrong amount of available shards in certain instances.
• Added AFK timer warnings before players get AFK kicked in all circumstances.

Translations

• Fixed an issue with Tempest Heart Replica crafting categories displaying placeholder names in non-English languages.
• Fixed an issue with the names and tooltips of “Desecrated Flesh” and “Madness Incarnate” items appearing untranslated.
• Fixed an issue where speaking to NPC Heloise Saville again for a brief summary after accepting the MSQ quest “Encroaching Corruption” did not display text in non-English languages.

Notable Fixes

• Fixed an issue at start of a new game session where player achievements did not load properly
• Fixed an issue where players could move while accessing Storage.
• Fixed an issue in the Achievement menu where text overlapped in some languages.
• Fixed an issue with dropped item bags where items were sometimes deleted after choosing the Take All.
• Fixed an issue with dropped loot bags where items were sometimes deleted after attempting to move quickslot items into them.
• Fixed an issue with the Inventory and dropped item loot bags where Schematics played a dropped stone sound effect when moving between them.
• Fixed an issue where being interrupted while interacting with a corrupted pylon would cause the player to be unable to open their Inventory until they relogged.
• Fixed an issue with the Map where player were offered to sign up for an Invasion before they are allowed.
• Fixed an issue in the Inventory where the upgrading with Umbral Shards didn’t show the expertise requirement and the player’s current expertise level.
• Fixed an issue with the Covenant Corruption Breach faction mission where the text was incorrect.

World Experience

Expeditions

Tempest’s Heart

• Return to the Tempest’s Heart and face a brand new challenge for end game rewards! Tempest’s Heart is now part of the weekly Expedition Mutator rotation.
• Made changes to ensure players are not able to enter the arena of the final Isabella boss fight after it locks to new participants.
• Fixed an additional location where it was possible to avoid damage from Neishatun by going prone.
• Fixed issue where healing effects could be gained outside of boss encounter arenas.
• Fixed an issue that caused drops for Tempest’s Heart bosses to not include expedition gear. You should now see expedition gear dropping from bosses.
• Fixed an issue causing Tempest’s Heart expedition loot to roll on the wrong perk buckets. You should now see higher rarity loot more frequently with improved perk spread.

Quests

• When players are on “The Dryad Promenade” quest, they will now be able to pick up the Protector’s Tuning Orb on defeating the targeted Pride of the Trees AI.
• Updated the “Covenant Initiation Quest” in Windsward to ensure players are tasked with collecting the proper items.
• We now keep the quest marker on screen instead of disappearing once the player reaches the Genesis of Spite for the quest “A Stock of Ironwood”. This will contribute to less confusion if a player dies or leaves the area, since the location marker will now remain persistent.

Notable Fixes

• Fixed missing collision on a number of housing furniture.
• Fixed an edge case where if a player left an expedition at the same time their open world server was crashing, the entire party would unintentionally be ejected from the instance.