Alpha Two Update Notes - November 14, 2024

Vaknar · November 15

Here is what's changed for Alpha Two since last weekend's test. As a reminder, if you come across bugs during this test, please report them to us in-game using /bug

StevenSharif wrote:

Happy Friday Glorious Testers,

This weekend is a larger release than the previous 3 weekends. We had a lot of changes that came up from our lower development streams. As a result, it is entirely possible and likely that some new bugs have been introduced, and some systems may have regressed. We have caught a majority of them this week during our PTR testing.

Remember as you test this weekend, to file bug reports so we can react to the ones we deem most urgent/severe. You have all been doing a wonderful job, and week after week the Intrepid team has been kicking butt. Forward and onward! 💪🙏❤️

Highlights

To help new characters, we’ve added an opt-in to PvP safety option. This is available to non-combatants that are level 5 or lower, in the starting areas
Added a one-minute PVP protection option for characters resurrecting at an Emberspring
Looting other characters' non-corrupted corpses will now flag you as a combatant. The looting window has been updated to make the potentially dangerous action more clear
Guards will now attack characters flagged for PvP. This includes both Combatant (purple) and Corrupted (red) characters
The map will now display quest numbers corresponding to a character’s quest tracker

General Character Changes

Dodge will now be able to cancel other abilities when used
Guard will now be able canceled when other abilities are used
Self buffs will now be removed when respeccing your Skill Tree
Reduced Evasive Maneuver duration from 2 seconds to 1
Fixed issues with characters getting stuck inside of each other while loading into the game
Unstuck has now been changed to add a cast time
Gold maximum capacity is now set to 200
Changed it so when a character dies, they always lose some durability
Overall equipment durability has been increased
Added automatic target selection when you attack an enemy and have no target selected
Auto attacks now stop if the target dies or changes to a non-combatant
Food buff items no longer provide regeneration while eating
Increased the base rate in which characters will regen health and mana while out of combat and while sitting
Rations have increased health and mana regen
Separated the buffs for drinks and food, so characters can have both. We’re working on adding more food and drink in future updates
Updated visual effects for Stagger, Volatile, and death animations
Fixed a bug indicating that Chilled could stack
Fixed missing player footsteps
Fixed a visual bug causing the cast bar animation to not play correctly
Resolved numerous visual clipping issues with weapons and armor
Fixed targeting effects not displaying for certain abilities
Fixed a bug allowing climbing and mantling on non-walkable surfaces
Fixed a bug causing damage numbers to be delayed
Fixed a bug preventing characters from equipping purchased Harvesting tools
Improved the visuals of some cloaks for Vek characters
Improved player movement

Bard
Quick Wit

Increased base damage
Reduced passive fire damage slightly
The Fierce Wit passive now has a conditional tripped interaction with Quick Wit
Renamed Monologue to "Endless Jest"
Increased the charge count of Endless Jest
Endless Jest now adds the Pep buff to Quick Wit
Added optional skills, Jest and Mock (halves of Quick Wit) which have a shared cooldown for players who prefer separate buttons

Resonant Weapon

Automatically granted at level 5
No longer a free weapon combo finisher
Casting any non-Melody type ability now grants a stack of Resonance
Resonance stacks up to 10 times:
- Your next weapon combo finisher will consume up to 4 stacks for a scaling effect.

Shielding Dance

Shielding Dance from multiple Bards no longer stack
Reduced base shield slightly
Added Shielding Dance passive that boosts shield amount and allows fully absorbed shields to grant resonance stacks

Maddening Dance

Slightly increased damage
Changed Maddening Dance so it no longer interacts with Humiliation
Added a passive that will stagger and potentially stun nearby enemies

Hymn of the Mind

Increased turn rate of projectiles

Lovely Serenade

Slightly reduced base healing
Added a passive with interactions for single-target and AOE versions of Lovely Serenade
- Single Target: Grants shield and damage mitigation buff
- AOE: Increases healing and provides Glee if targets are below 50% health

Chilling Lament

Adjusted the debuff duration for single target and AOE versions
Now applies Weakened instead of Frozen

Marionette

Now applies Humiliated status after Fragile Stunned expires

Dark Lullaby

Corrected tooltip to show a 4-second stun instead of 6

Glee

Reduced healing
Added small damage mitigation bonus
Added passive that slightly increases damage mitigation bonus and provides a chance for Glee to bounce to nearby allies

Pep

Reduced base duration to 4 seconds
Added passive that increases duration to 5 seconds and causes nearby allies to gain Pep after Flourish
Fixed a bug causing Bard's drumsticks to be turned the wrong way
Fixed a bug causing Maddening Dance and Nimble Dance to not properly dispel

Mage

Updated visual effects on Imbue Weapon to show elemental weapon trails
Updated visual effects on the wand finisher’s beam
Updated visual effects for Magma Field
Fixed a bug causing Frostbolt, Fireball, and Lightning Strike to instantly cast after using Accelerative Blink
Fixed VFX bugs with Resplendent Beam and Chain Lightning
Fixed a visual issue with Magma Field and Blizzard when cast near a wall

Ranger

Updated visual effects on Ammo imbues to reflect the type of ammo imbued
Improved visual fidelity of Camouflage
Fixed a bug where parts of the Ranger’s body would remain camouflaged after exiting Camouflage
Fixed a bug causing Thorns to not flag its owner as a combatant when dealing damage

Tank

Added collision to Tank Walls
Major visual effects update for Tank abilities

Cleric

Resurrect will now be granted automatically to Clerics when they reach level 6
Changed the cooldown of Cleric Resurrect to 30 seconds
Updated visual effects for Chains of Restraint

Mounts

Mounts now despawn if they are 100 meters away from their owners
Mounts will now share their owner’s PVP status
Improved mount movement
Increased base HP of mounts
Fixed a bug causing mounts to flicker
Fixed a bug causing mount ability cooldowns to display incorrectly
Fixed a bug causing mount cooldown timers to be longer than intended
Fixed a bug causing mount special actions to not play for other players

Caravans

Added the ability to recover Caravans. When you’re close to a Caravan you can recover, you should see an option in-game to allow for caravan recovery
Fixed a bug allowing Caravan recovery outside of the intended area
Added messaging for the second stage of defending a Caravan
Reduced the health regeneration of Caravans from 0.1% to 0.01% of max health
Added an unstuck ability to Caravans
Fixed a bug preventing dismounting from a Caravan in raft configuration
Fixed a bug preventing walking on Caravan docks
Fixed a bug causing the Caravan’s turn-in radius to remain after dismounting
Fixed a bug causing Caravan turn-ins to display incorrectly
Fixed a bug that caused looted cargo to remain interactable
Fixed a bug showing purchased Caravans as unavailable
Fixed an exploit that allowed for Commodities to be duplicated

Environment

Improved the visual fidelity and lighting in many areas across Verra
Improved the visual fidelity of night
Enabled lightning storm weather
Added clouds that cast shadows from the sun and moon
Wind now varies in intensity and direction
Changed the visual impact of wind on clouds, trees, and tents to be less
Enhanced visual fidelity of fog
Improved road generation for a more seamless appearance
General updates to cliffs, mountain ranges, rivers, and shorelines
Updated the appearance of bridges across Verra
Improved lighting fidelity and performance for low graphics settings
Enhanced performance for cliffs and forests
Improved asset loading around Carphin
Fixed a bug causing distant water to not appear
Fixed multiple issues causing objects to pop in close to the player
Reworked collision for Metalworking Stations, Braziers, Rocks, and Node building roofs

Character Creator

Vek and Empyrean characters can now properly utilize tattoos
Added the Blessed Sandal to available tattoos
Fixed a bug causing skin to show when transitioning between archetypes in the character creator

Rewards and Loot

Enemies in the Tower of Carphin have had item drop rates and type of drops adjusted
Fishing rewards will now properly give items with a variety of rarities, and Certification experience
Adjusted the drop rate of items from named enemies
Giants are in the game and have reward tables
Fixed Carphin loot sources
Creatures now drop more Droppings
When Droppings drop, the chance to drop at rarity has been increased to be more in line with other raw material drops

Artisanship

Updated the user experience for Processing Stations and Fast Crafting menus
Processing stations will now be able to yield more than one item
Fixed a bug that could make Processing stations non-interactable
Fixed a bug with Artisanship station locations in areas with flat layouts
Replaced Mulch requirement in all Tier 1 farming recipes with Droppings
Fish can now be used as fuel
Fixed some resources that were set as fuel, but didn’t have their fuel value specified
Fixed a bug causing recipes for bags to have a fuel requirement and a longer than expected crafting time
Fixed a bug with the Buzhbud robe recipe requiring incorrect components
Fixed issues with tier 1 recipes that were requiring tier 3 resources
Fixed a number of tanning recipes that unintentionally required a gryphon carcass
Added more sources to get Cooking recipes
Fixed a bug causing the Tanning station to produce incorrect items
Huntable animals now have variable respawn times
Made changes to the tree population in the eastern mountain ranges
Fixed an issue with some plants and trees respawning much faster than intended
Fixed a visual bug displaying placeholder text on artisanship screens

User Interface

Reworked the User Interface (UI), and updated many icons and windows across the UI
Updated UI customization functionality
Updated the quest delivery window
Corrupted or combatant status now shows in the target window, target of target window, party, and raid interfaces
Added "Report a Bug" functionality to the escape menu
Added an option to adjust the display range for NPC and player nameplates
Removed the “Invite to Party” option for non-party leaders
Renamed City chat to Citizen chat
Fixed a visual bug causing the scrollbar to not always appear in dialogue
Fixed a bug causing crashes while scrolling in menus
Fixed a visual bug causing death location to not always display on the world map
Fixed a visual bug causing icons in the nameplate to not always disappear
Fixed a visual bug causing secondary and tertiary quest objectives to not appear after logging out
Fixed a visual bug causing chat text to sometimes turn purple
Fixed a bug with the skill tree reset location button
Fixed a bug causing party invites to not be received

Audio

Updated the distance at which some audio can be heard
Updated the sounds around Samia’s Hope
Updated audio for Tank, Ranger and Mage abilities
Added audio to Crystal Golems
Updated the sounds of different resources being mined
Fixed a bug causing Node music to not play
Fixed audio bugs with several NPCs
Fixed a bug causing unlit fires to sound like lit fires
Added more cowbell

Nodes

Characters will now be informed about the consequences when they go to renounce their citizenship
Node Buy Orders now allow characters to contribute a lower minimum number of items. NOTE: This applies to new Buy Orders. Any existing Buy Orders will have the old values
Updated the interface of several services in Nodes
Added dialogue to all Node Guards to inform non-citizens of the node’s activities
Rearranged marketplace location and placement so that all nodes have a consistent pattern
Updated the positioning of Mercenary NPCs in level 1 Nodes
Adjusted the text and description to make Node War and Territory War events more clear
Mayoral Commissions have had character contribution requirements reduced
Fixes for some NPCs so they’re no longer standing on top of buildings
Removed equipment from the list of what Mayor Vendors were selling
Removed rusty sword from the Guild Creation vendor
Added a variety of ambient NPCs such as a lute player and a crate loader
Node Summary now displays the tax
Non-citizen menu now displays a list of nearby nodes
Improved service building construction animation
Made changes to how vendor tax is displayed
Added citizen voting to service building demolition
Fixed a bug causing the tax payment popup to incorrectly show after paying taxes
Fixed a bug causing the Master Guard in Lionhold to have Node-related dialogue
Fixed a bug causing fake Crafting station icons to appear in Miraleth
Fixed a bug causing notification spam during a Node war
Fixed a bug causing newly registered citizens to not be participants in an active Node war
Fixed a bug allowing the daily contribution limit to be bypassed by logging in and out
Fixed a bug causing items and materials to be lost or duplicated in the storage warehouse
Fixed a visual bug causing the Node currency reward display to be too large
Fixed a visual bug causing node war guards to incorrectly display as 5-star elites
Updated some placeholder icons

Guild Wars

Fixed UI bugs with Guild War Declarations
Fixed a bug causing the Guild War UI to not display the current score in an active war

Commissions, Quests, and Events

Fixed a bug with incorrect resource spawning for the Sweat of Your Brow quest in south Lionhold
Updated Commissions to better align with their corresponding locations
Moved the Commissions quest giver in Samia’s Hope to be next to the commission board
Updated Cargo delivery quests to better align with their corresponding locations
Updated instructions for multiple Commissions to better indicate direction and completion objectives
Updated Fishing Commission objectives to more clearly identify requirements
Commissions have had font changes in the UI
The Goblin Counterattack event now provides rewards
The Sillasin Scale plunder quest has been updated to be level 23
Fixed a bug with the kill credit in the The “Kill Teddie” commission
Fixed bugs in the "Bonebinder Kill" commission
Fixed a variety of typos in Commissions and Quests
Fixed a visual bug causing quest markers and events to not appear on the map or minimap
Fixed a bug preventing characters from completing certain quests
Added a dialogue path to retrieve discarded quest items without abandoning the quest
The Woe of Xander - Fixed broken interactions and adjusted Broken Gravemarkers
The Marching Mausoleum - Fixed how objective completion displays, and loot phase issues
The Angry Harvest - Increased event area marker
Foul Presence - Inspection of the quest item is now an optional step
Horns of Betrayal - Updated the event radius to better reflect objective areas, and added rewards
The Wreckless Crew - Added loot required to progress the quest
Strategic Denial - Added slate and wyrdstone
The Blood Hunt - Added rewards
The Bloom Event - Fixed a bug causing the event tooltip to display an incorrect number of participants
The Outlaw’s End - Fixed a bug causing repeated dialogues
Proper Burial - Fixed quest marker locations
Justice and Redemption - Goblin Scavengers now properly drop the quest item
Banned of Brothers - Fixed quest marker locations
The Dig - Can now be completed
The Pests - Fixed an issue causing tracks to not be present
Burnt Ends - Fixed a bug with a missing interact
Treasure Hunt - Fixed a bug preventing quest completion
Lost Its Howl - Fixed incorrect quest dialogue, and added an objective
Rain of Rocks - Fixed a bug preventing quest completion
Territory Control Event - Event notification now provides more information on the start time and state of PVP, and XP debt accumulation has been turned off for a wider area around the event
Added new Bloom Bridge Blockade quest
Removed Mayor’s "Declare a War" starting quest
Removed Mayor’s "Build a Service Building Expansion" starting quest
Added new Invasive Species event near Samia’s Hope
Added new Ancient Epitaphs quest in Samia’s Hope
Fixed a bug causing town guards to incorrectly display a quest icon
Treasure maps will now grant a random treasure map quest on activation
Adjusted hidden cache rewards

Enemy NPCs

Updated the NPC enemy population in the following areas: South Lionhold, North Lionhold, The Tower of Carphin, The Church of Seven Stars, Hall of Judication, Western Beach of the Riverlands, The Second Sword’s Outpost, Scholar’s Academy Caravan Camp, The Rosewater Tower Event, Sandsquall Desert, and the Vandagar Tropics
Increased the aggro radius for Tumok, Firebrand, and Skla’Risha
Firebrand can now spawn in multiple locations
Tumok’s patrol speed has been adjusted
Adjusted Giants to be more difficult and increased how far they can wander
Fixed a bug causing the Bonebinder Shaman to permanently reduce a character’s physical mitigation
Updated the visual effects and sound effects for many enemy NPCs
Enchanting recipes now drop from humanoid enemies
Wolves will now sleep
Giant spiders now spawn spiderlings upon death
Updated enemy leashing behavior
Updated NPC navigation behavior
Adjusted the behavior of Spiders and Goblin Flayers
Fixed a bug causing dead NPCs to play the Tripped animation
Fixed a bug causing dead enemies to incorrectly cause nearby enemies to aggro
Fixed a bug preventing NPCs from spawning correctly on the ground
Fixed a bug preventing NPC projectiles from spawning
Fixed a bug causing some bears to instantly respawn
Fixed a bug with NPCs that would make them friendly to you, when they should be hostile
Fixed a bug preventing Cultists from properly applying the Rotten Blood debuff
Fixed a bug that was causing enemies to have a higher rate of HP regeneration than intended

Additional Updates

Removed Cargo storage in Lionhold
Fixed a bug causing players who sold Glint at the Hunter’s Lodge to lose all gold
Fixed an exploit allowing the duplication of inventory and storage items
Made changes to the NPC population leading to Samia’s Hope
Added voiceover for NPCs in Samia’s Hope
Made changes to the NPC population in western New Aela
Fixed several typos in item descriptions
Lighting related client performance improvements
Fixed a variety of server crashes
Fixed a variety of client crashes