Patch Notes: NW.60.20160410a.3

Highlights

Power Balance Changes: April 2016

We've made some balance changes for a few classes and items. The notes below describe only the changes, not the intents. If you'd like to read more about the design decisions and process behind these changes, this thread is your go-to places:

Informational Thread: Upcoming Powers/Balance Changes

If you had any of the Lostmauth's set items (Lostmauth's Horn of Blasting, Lostmauth's Hoard Necklace, or Golden Belt of Puissance), you may choose to turn them in to the Antiquities Scholar next to the Rewards Claim Agent for a pack of that quality. The pack includes a corresponding item in the following sets:

Shard of Valindra's Crown / Amulet of Valindra's Favor / Belt of Valindra's Guard

Tiamat's Orb of Majesty / Amulet of Tiamat's Demise / Tiamat Sash

Emblem of the Seldarine / Cloak of the Seldarine / Greater Belt of the Seldarine

Eye of Lathander / Lathander's Cloak / Greater Lathander's Belt

Rod of Imperial Restraint / Imperial Dragon Cloak / Greater Imperial Waistband of Honor

Black Ice Beholder / Cloak of Black Ice / Greater Belt of Black Ice

Note that the item chosen from the pack will be at the first rank of that quality. For instance, a Rare quality Artifact will be Rank 30, even if the player turned in Lostmauth's Horn of Blasting at Rank 35.

Known issue: Items with Armor Reinforcement Kits applied (e.g. Greater Action Point Jewel) cannot currently be traded in. We are working on a solution and will address the issue in a future update. The exchange store will not go away until this issue is fixed.

Elemental Evil Campaign Changes

We've made the Elemental Evil storyline more directed and removed the walls blocking players' progress. Now players can run straight through the Elemental Evil storyline without waiting for Vigilance Quests, and they can progress through an all-new campaign in the process! Players who already completed this content can still benefit by choosing from a new set of Boons.

If you'd like to read more about these changes, this thread is your go-to place:

Informational Thread: Improving the Level 60-70 Experience

Release Notes

Content and Environment

Elemental Evil

The Elemental Evil zones have been updated, providing for a much smoother Level 60-70 experience.

The experience gained by killing enemies level 60 and above has been significantly increased.

General

Demonic Heroic Encounters: Demonic Closure: Demons now properly leash when dragged too far from the encounter.

Dread Ring: Sergeant Knox now accurately states the rewards given by the player's choice of instance.

Dread Ring: The contests "The Mighty Fallen," "Sight Unseen," "Infernal Racket," "Unstoppable Force," and "Last March" have been removed. These are meant to be replaced by the Demonic Heroic Encounters in the zone.

Portobello's Game: Artificer's Workshop: Players must now interact with the doors to get past them.

Portobello's Game: Target Dummies in the Burrow Dawn Inn no longer drop loot when using the Wanderer's Fortune insignia bonus or other "item finding" effects.

The Mantol-Derith overhead map has been updated.

Lostmauth's Hoard Exchange

Players may now visit the Antiquities Scholar, Sarrah Raqel, next to the Reward Claims Agent in Protector's Enclave.

Sarrah allows players to trade in Lostmauth's Horn of Blasting, Lostmauth's Hoard Necklace, or Golden Belt of Puissance, and receive a pack of the corresponding item slot and quality in return. A character can turn in one of each, separately.

This pack contains a choice of a corresponding item in the following sets: Shard of Valindra's Crown / Amulet of Valindra's Favor / Belt of Valindra's Guard Tiamat's Orb of Majesty / Amulet of Tiamat's Demise / Tiamat Sash Emblem of the Seldarine / Cloak of the Seldarine / Greater Belt of the Seldarine Eye of Lathander / Lathander's Cloak / Greater Lathander's Belt Rod of Imperial Restraint / Imperial Dragon Cloak / Greater Imperial Waistband of Honor Black Ice Beholder / Cloak of Black Ice / Greater Belt of Black Ice

Note that the item chosen from the pack will be at the first rank of that quality. For instance, a Rare quality Artifact will be Rank 30, even if the player turned in Lostmauth's Horn of Blasting at Rank 35.

Combat and Powers

Classes and Balance

Devoted Cleric Devoted Clerics have been granted a Feat Respec. Feats: Gift of Haste: Now grants AP over 5 seconds, instead of instantly. If you are already affected by Gift of Haste, having it applied to you again will refresh the duration. Feats: Gift of Haste: Now places a buff icon on the recipient, instead of popping up combat floating text with every application. Feats: Gift of Haste: When casting Healing Word, Gift of Haste no longers fail to apply to the caster in certain circumstances. Hastening Light: All 4 ranks of this power now work once again. Healing Word: The targeting of this power is now more reliable on angled terrain. Healing Word: Buff tooltip now accurately reflects what the power does when applied in Divinity mode. Healing Word: This power now consistently generates the same amount of AP, regardless of the number of targets hit. Previously, it granted considerably more AP than intended when hitting multiple targets. Base AP generated by this power has been increased by 20%. Divine Glow: Modified tooltip wording slightly to be more succinct. Also added tooltip text to the buffs and debuffs. Divine Glow: No longer incorrectly states that the effect stacks 3 times when cast in Divinity mode.

Guardian Fighter Guardian Fighters will no longer receive a 20% damage buff for 1 second every 20 seconds. Mark: No longer roots the user in place when activated. Can now be activated while blocking. Animation changed to work with this new functionality. Aggravating Strike & Shield Slam: The scaling on these powers was not updated when we added the 4rd rank of powers. This has been updated, resulting in a slight damage increase for these 2 abilities. Aggravating Strike: Activation time reduced from 1.2s to 1s. This has increased the DPS of this power by ~20%. Note that this also means each individual hit generates slightly less AP, but the average AP generated over time is still roughly the same. Shield Slam: Activation time reduced from 1s to 0.9s. Damage increased ~14%. The combination of these 2 changes has increased the DPS of this power by ~27%. Note that this also means each individual hit generates slightly fewer Action Points, but the average AP generated over time is still roughly the same. Crushing Surge: Decreased the activation time of each of the 3 attacks in the combo. This has increased the DPS of the combo by ~16%. Note that this also means each individual hit generates slightly fewer Action Points, but the average AP generated over time is still roughly the same. Crushing Surge: Now heals on every swing of the attack. The first swing heals for 1/4 the amount of the final swing, and the second swing heals for 1/2 the amount of the final swing. Ranking this power up now also increases the healing value. Cleave: Decreased overall activation time of the combo from 2.41s to 2.25s. Increased the damage of the third hit by ~33%. The combination of these 2 changes has increased the DPS of this combo by ~20%. Note that this also means each individual hit generates slightly fewer Action Points, but the average AP generated over time is still roughly the same. Cleave: This power now has a cone area of effect, instead of a short cylinder. In addition, it no longer forces you to face a valid target, allowing you greater control over what you can hit with the power. Tide of Iron: Activation time reduced from 1.125s to 1s. This has increased the DPS of this power by ~12%. Note that this also means each individual hit generates slightly fewer Action Points, but the average AP generated over time is still roughly the same. Indomitable Strength: Now lowers the damage the target deals by 10% for 5s. Each rank increases this duration by 1s.

Hunter Ranger Forest Meditation: The camera-affecting aspect of this power's visual effect now only affects the player using the power.

Oathbound Paladin Oathbound Paladins have been granted a Full Respec. Oathbound Paladins will no longer receive a 20% damage buff for 1 second every 20 seconds. Divine Protector: Duration reduced to 3 seconds plus 1 second per additional rank (6 second max, down from 20 second max). Divine Protector: Now reduces all damage you take while active by 50%, down from 80%. Heroism: Duration reduced to 4 seconds plus 2 seconds per additional rank (10 second max, down from 20 second max). Shield of Faith: Duration reduced to 6 seconds plus 2 seconds per additional rank (12 second max, down from 24 second max). Shield of Faith: Now decreases incoming damage by 30% (down from 50%) and increases healing taken by 30% (up from 20%). Aura of Vengeance: The damage proc from this Class Feature no longer counts as At-Will damage. Binding Oath: Modified tooltip wording slightly to be more succinct and understandable. Binding Oath: The damage dealt to other targets at the end of the duration can no longer exceed the Max HP of the Paladin. Feats: Echoes of Light: This effect can now only occur once every 15 seconds. The proc chance no longer secretly increases if you are hitting multiple targets. The proc chance has been increased from 1/2/3/4/5% to 2/4/6/8/10%.

Scourge Warlock Harrowstorm: This power is no longer capable of proccing Lostmauth's Vengeance on every tick. It still can proc Lostmauth's Vengeance on the initial hit. Harrowstorm: Now hits all targets on the first tick, instead of just the main target.

Trickster Rogue Courage Breaker: The camera-affecting aspect of this power's visual effect now only affects the player using the power.



Companions

Shadow Demon: This companion's Active Companion Bonus no longer periodically causes its owner to enter combat.

Enemies

Castle Never: Orcus now waits a few seconds after the fight starts before being able to cast Finger of Death.

Item Powers

Lostmauth's Hoard: The damage dealt by the set bonus, Lostmauth's Vengeance, no longer scales with damage bonuses. It now properly deals Weapon Damage, as stated in the tooltip.

Control Wizard Templar set bonus: Changed the tooltip to read more clearly.

Items and Economy

General

Beacon of Simril: Building six stacks of the Lantern Catcher buff now properly grants the full amount of Power stated in the artifact's tooltip.

Black Ice Shaping: During Double Professions, there is now a half-price "Upgrade Black Ice Forge" task to increase from Rank 4 to Rank 5.

Blood Crystal Raven Skull: The tooltip of this item has been updated to reflect that it now creates a Shield instead of Temp HP.

Stronghold Siege: This PvP mode now properly awards a Seal of Triumph if it is your first PvP win of the day.

The Bounty Master in the Dread Ring now properly exchanges Vanguard Scrips for Onyx Fragments.

The Seal of Triumph tooltip now properly states that it can be gained from the first PvP win of the day.

Enchantments

Dread Now properly reduces the damage resistance of critters as well. The debuff also uses the correct icon now. The debuff and DoT applied by this power now both last 4 seconds as stated, instead of 3 seconds. The DoT caused by this power no longer stacks. Instead, the damage per tick has been doubled. Reapplying this DoT will keep the same tick timer but extend the duration. The additional 4% damage resistance reduction that is supposed to be applied by Ranks 11 and 12 now works. Tooltip heavily reworked to better reflect how this Enchantment works.

Shadowclad Now properly resets stacks when you successfully Deflect an attack. Each time you gain a stack it now refreshes the duration of the entire stack. The Stealth provided by rank 12 now properly respects its 30 second cooldown.



Mounts, Insignias, and Insignia Bonuses

Amphail Fancy Horse: This mount now properly remains named "Amphail Fancy Horse" when the player binds it to themselves.

Flail Snail: The active power of this mount now properly states how much damage it deals.

Protector's Camaraderie/Friendship: The tooltip now properly displays the amount of Power & Defense you gain when your companion attacks. In addition, additional stacks no longer provides bonus Power based on the bonus Power this ability has already granted.

Shepherd's Devotion: Now properly states "When you use a Daily Power" instead of "When you use an Artifact" in the shortened version of the tooltip in the Stable.

Professions

Explorers' Nodes now give twice the Masterwork resources during Double Professions events.

Leadership: Astral Diamonds are no longer part of the rewards for the following rare profession tasks: Follow Map to an Unknown Location, Assault Enemy Stronghold, and Recover Large Mineral Claim.

User Interface

Contacts

Non-repeatable quests with campaign requirements, such as the fourth chapter of the Maze Engine campaign, now properly have gray titles rather than yellow.

Players over level 20 now see exclamation marks for quests that are up to 10 levels below them, increased from 5 levels.

Mounts

When clicking on the Insignia Slotting dropdown button with no valid insignias to slot, the text now accurately describes where Insignias may be found.

Queues

Queue Groups that have the "Keep queue group together" option selected can now properly join queued instances.

When a player is waiting in a queue that then becomes invalid before it pops (e.g. Demogorgon or Tiamat), the queue's checkbox now unchecks more quickly.

When the queue list is particularly long, the queue UI no longer shows double scroll bars.

Refinement

The Ward slot now shows how many of the slotted Ward a player has in their inventory.

When refining an item without a ward slotted, the prompt now includes red text to differentiate it from the "with ward slotted" upgrade prompt.

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