EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

February 28, 2013

We are already on the cusp of the second week of the Golden Yeti Tournament and the competition is extremely fierce! There is still one more week to go so don't give up yet! Any breaks the leaders take is a chance for latecomers to swoop in a snatch one of the top 100 spots!

Do you see your name up there? Congratulations! But be afraid! Those top positions may be difficult to secure as the tournament continues!

New Cores!

Need some diversity in your build? Gear up with 3 new cores this Friday!

Nanosteel Armor: Critical hits getting you down? This passive armor core effectively reduces the damage reduction of all critical hits inflicted on your character!

*Dead Battery: Applies a curse to an enemy that causes that target's remaining energy to go to you if the enemy is defeated while the curse is active. This means that if you apply the curse to an enemy, and they still have 20 energy after dying, that energy is added to your own pool!* This works even if your ally is the one to defeat the target.

*Dead Battery still requires some more testing, but we do not wish to push the release any later. We will continue testing this core after the release and hopefully make it available next week!

Plasma Meteor: Meteor shower just got an energy damage based equivalent!

Sneaky, Sneaky Azrael

For those that missed it last week, we introduced two new Azrael Scythes last week on the Alydroid. These were limited quantity, so of course they sold out very quickly. This Friday, we will restock twice (depending on demand). Once at 10 AM EST, and again at 5 PM EST. We will also restock the Dage rares at these times. We will only restock if the quantities are depleted.

EpicDuel Turns Four!

It’s hard to believe that four years ago EpicDuel had just launched it’s first public Alpha. It’s even harder to comprehend how the game has changed since this momentous event. In that time, we’ve joined with Artix Entertainment, gone through four development phases, released thousands of weapons, developed countless features, and hosted over 100 million battles. Now we are in the midst of the most exciting evolution in EpicDuel’s history: Omega!

Mod Application Deadline

The application deadline is almost upon us, but it's not too late to submit! Please send your COMPLETE application before 12 P.M. E.S.T. this Friday (March 1st) to: EDCallForMods@artix.com

Lycus and Cinderella are still hard at work narrowing down the list of qualified applicants, but unfortunately, due to the volume of mail, we will not be able to respond to all of you to explain why you were not selected. 

Balance and Bugs

To round out the release, we're making some adjustments to balance, targeting the rise in power of Support builds and some more tweaks to help classes that are underperforming. We have some larger changes in mind to help with balance, but we don't want to do anything too drastic while the Tournament is still live.

There will also be a number of crucial bug fixes. For a complete, detailed list of the fixes and changes, check Rabble's patch notes shortly after the release goes live!

Coming Soon!

This guy.

Tags: Nightwraith Azrael Tournament Yeti Leaderboard Cores Omega LQS balance Bug Fixes Endless Moderators

February 22, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• The Golden Yeti Tournament is now live!
• New Limited Quantity swords available on the Alydroid in Frysteland
  
  • Azrael's Reaper (Physical)
  • Azrael's Spirit (Energy)
  • Both include the Mark of Azrael core (+5% Crit Chance)
• A huge number of names on old characters have been opened for use, if there's a name you've wanted, check and see if it's now available!
• Rusted Assault Bot
  • Now the Assault Bot P (energy version now Assault Bot E)
  • Equipped to Overlord Guard
  • Damage is now equivalent to Assault Bot E
• Players can now earn up to 7 Blue Stars
• Dropped initial language file load by ~25%

BALANCE CHANGES:

• Each point of damage now requires 4.5 point of Strength, up from 4
• Defense and Resistance now scale at the same rate (previously you would get more Resistance per Technology than Defense per Dexterity)
• Smoke Screen requirement changed from 14-41 to 15-33
• Stun Grenade energy cost lowered by 3
• Hybrid Armor now requires Support instead of Dexterity
• First Strike overhaul:
  • Old formula overly confusing and scaled poorly
  • New formula = From a base of 50%, gain +1.5% chance to go first for each point of Support you have over your opponent, and +5% for each level under your opponent.
  • Example: Level 21 with 28 Supp VS Level 20 with 30 Supp. Level 20 player gains 5% for being one level lower, and 3% for having 2 more Support, for a 58% chance to go first.

BUGS FIXED:

• Infernal Android special cooldown was incorrectly set to 3 turns (should have been 4)
• Assimilation could grant more energy than intended if the target was nearly out of energy
• Reistance buffs were not stacking correctly (Ex: Blood Shield and Energy Shield)
• Sellback values were always rounding down, instead of to the nearest integer
• Concussion Shot and Pyro Fly could disable a skill the target did not own
• Armor stats were not properly being used in certain battle calculations
• Attacks with multiple hits could show the wrong damage if the attack did the minimum possible damage
• Certain gear was not showing up properly on Character Pages

Tags: RabbleFroth Patch Notes

February 19, 2013

The time has come for the Golden Yeti Tournament to begin (almost)! Along with another balance update, this week we are poised to finally begin the tournament! The event will begin as soon as we go live with the 1.5.3 update on Friday. We're not quite ready to give a specific time, but we will keep you updated on our progress.

Participants in the tournament must own the Omega Ticket, which they would have received through preorders. Owning more than one will not confer any special bonuses. Points in the tournment can be earned through PvP victories. 2v2 and Juggernaut fights are worth more than 1v1 fights.

Again, if you own the Omega Ticket, you don't need to do anything further to participate. Visit one of the Golden Yeti statues to track your progress and climb your way to victory!

Scheduled for Deletion

This Friday we will also be doing a database sweep, cleaning out thousands of characters that are over a year old, level 1, and never upgraded. We cannot reserve a name for anyone in advance so be ready to login Friday as soon as the release goes live to claim your name!

Moderator Submission Deadline

To date, we've received hundreds of applications for Moderators and Testers! It's great that so many of you are interested in helping us (whether you meet the qualifications or not). However, the cutoff for submissions is drawing near. Please send your COMPLETE application before 12 P.M. E.S.T. next Friday (March 1st) to: EDCallForMods@artix.com

Lycus and Cinderella are hard at work narrowing down the list of qualified applicants, but unfortunately, due to the volume of mail, we will not be able to respond to all of you to explain why you were not selected. 

"Parker! Get me pictures of Omega!"

A new contest has appeared in the BattleOn Forums! As some of you may know, the screenshot section of the EpicDuel website is overdue for an update. We really want to update the website with some amazing new screenshots to show a brighter and much more updated side of the game. In order to do this we want the coolest, most kick-butt screenshots you have! Anything from a funny moment in the game to a full on battle would be great! You can even use screenshots showcasing some of the new features of Omega, like cores and stat editing. This contest is going to be a little bit different from past contests, however. Instead of having a set deadline, this contest will be on-going and you can submit as many screenshots as you want. Some of you may be wondering what the rewards are if your screenshot gets used, so here they are:

• If one of your screenshots gets used you will receive: 100 Varium, 1000 credits, and a first tier achievement. 
• If five of your screenshots get used you will receive 2500 credits and a second tier achievement.
• If ten of your screenshots get used you will receive 3500 credits and a third tier achievement.

The contest will run from Tuesday, February 19th until whenever the developers and I see fit. Awards will be handed out periodically when we have gathered a nice crop of new screenshots. We have no set limit of winners. The rules and guidelines are short and to the point, but we advise you to follow them otherwise your entry will be disqualified. 

• Your screenshot must be of EpicDuel post Omega.
• Your screenshot must be taken by you and no one else.
• You cannot edit your screenshot with a photo editing program such as Photoshop or Gimp. 
• You can submit as many screenshots as you want throughout the contest!
• Make sure that you provide a VALID URL to your photo. Try using a reliable photo uploader like Photobucket, TinyPic or Twitpic. Do NOT use [IMG] tags, use the method above.
• Must use highest quality in-game. Please save in a crisp, clear, digital format (high-quality JPG or PNG)!
• Screenshots of inappropriate content will be disqualified
• Pre-cropping the image to conform to the 900x600 game window is ideal!
• Please post all entries in the BattleOn Forums. We will not accept entries posted on Facebook, Twitter, email or any other social network.
• The contest will not end till we feel we have enough screenshots, so keep em’ coming! 

Have fun and good luck to everyone!

Tags: Nightwraith

February 15, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• New Azrael Promo now available:
  • Azrael's Anguish gun
    • Azrael's Will active core: Charms an enemy, forcing them to strike you on their next turn
  • Azrael's Annihilator auxiliary
    • Azrael's Torment active core: Shoots your enemy, reducing 65% of all buff effects on an enemy
• Alydroid now has Seasonal Rare Heartbreaker gear
• Missions Removed:
  • Lepus' New Friends!
  • Seasons in the Abyss
  • EXFOLIATE
  • Easy Bein' Green
  • Shattered by a White Hare
  • Set Us Up the Noms
  • Dance, Puppets! Dance!
• Starter Kit promo items relocated to the Junker
• Tactical Battlegear promo items relocated to Mirv
• Advanced Battlegear promo items relocated to Overlord Guard
• Veteran Battlegear promo items relocated to Hank
• Marauder now drops the mission item for "Point A to Point B" 100% of the time (up from 18%)
• Oz now drops the mission item for "Access Denied" 25% of the time (up from 11%)
• Added an "Edit Item Stats" button to inventory items
• You may again buy items that your class cannot equip once you are level 9 and higher
• The "Infernal Spirit" core is no longer locked on items and can be replaced
• The "Exoskeleton" core is no longer locked on items and can be replaced
• Meteor Shower, Thorns Assault, and Jack O Fire descriptions now correctly state that the damage increase is based on your weapon’s damage, not total damage

BALANCE CHANGES:

SKILLS
Note: These are not the only changes we plan on making to Strength-based skills. We wanted to make these changes first to make sure we aren't over-tuning other skills or classes at the same time.

• Meteor Shower core
  • Now has a 1 turn warm up
• Double Strike
  • Damage lowered by 8% at all levels
• Berzerker
  • Damage lowered by 10% at all level
• Massacre
  • Damage lowered by 5% at all levels
• Bludgeon
  • Damage lowered by 5% at all levels
• Field Medic
  • Base heal increased at early levels from 11-38 to 14-38
• Bunker Buster
  • Base damage lowered at later levels from 22-40 to 22-35
  • Damage now increases by 2 as you approach level 35

CLASSES
Note: These changes are primarily designed to adjust class balance at very early levels (1-5)

• Mercenary
  • Base Health lowered from 57 to 55
  • Base Energy increased from 53 to 54
• Tech Mage
  • Base Health increased from 54 to 55
  • Base Strength increased from 18 to 20
  • Base Technology lowered from 24 to 22
• Cyber Hunter
  • Base Health increased from 53 to 55
  • Base Energy lowered from 57 to 56
• Tactical Mercenary
  • Base Health lowered from 57 to 55
  • Base Energy increased from 53 to 54
• Blood Mage
  • Base Health lowered from 56 to 55
  • Base Energy increased from 54 to 55

BUGS FIXED:

• Buffs and debuffs affecting the same stat were not stacking properly
• Several skills would freeze the client if the target dropped during the animation
• Rage could be gained by the blocker of an attack
• Rage was capable of exceeding 100%, causing rage reductions to sometimes appear incorrectly
• Chairman's Fury was returning more Rage than intended
• Mutating weapons could show incorrect damage type in shops
• Advanced and Veteran gear were incorrectly flagged as Rare
• Ylwa's "Battle Bruised" mission incorrectly required a Baby Yeti Warrior
• Hulnas' "Battle Born" mission now requires a Baby Yeti to begin
• Arctic Trainer's "Warming Up" now requires a Dark Yeti to begin
• Added items to Valestra's Shop (She and Hank share suppliers)
• "Rotten" weapons are now labeled similarly to "Rusted" weapons in the Item Finder

Tags: RabbleFroth

February 14, 2013

...or eat them!

This week, celebrate Valentine's Day, EpicDuel style! In addition to returning Heartbreaker seasonal rares at the Alydroid (now relocated to Frysteland), we are introducing a new Varium package with 4 new Azrael weapons: a physical and energy version of Azrael's Anguish (sidearm) and Azrael's Annihilator (auxiliary). Crafted by otherworldly engineers, these devastating weapons of warfare come equipped with new active skill cores.

The sidearms come with Azrael's Will, which overwhelms the target with an uncontrollable urge to strike with a normal attack. This gives the owner of the sidearm an opportunity to block and avoids guaranteed unblockable damage from skills and weapons.

The auxiliaries come with Azrael's Torment, which devastates opponents with a blast of corrupting energy that diminishes the effectiveness of buffs.

These weapons are only available with the 10k Varium package.

Again, the old rares will be returning (along with some new additions!) to the Alydroid relocated to Alydriah's Spire in Frysteland.

Rare Proposal

With the new promo package we will be trying a new rarity/availability paradigm. Starting with the Azrael gear, promotional package items will only be available through the 10k Varium package upon their introduction to the game. However, they would be tagged and seasonal and be available in game the next time that season comes around. This means that the new Azrael gear will only be available with the new promotional package this year, but next year it will appear in game as a seasonal rare.

Development phase promotions would be exempt from this paradigm since development phases are not seasonal. This means that the Omega gear will never be available in-game.

Compensation Clarification

As mentioned in previous Design Notes, those with enhancements on items in their inventory prior to Omega received 30% of their spent enhancement Varium and 10% of their spent enhancement Credits. However, we did not make it clear that your enhanced weapons would retain their original resale value as if they still had enhancements equipped at the normal 15% sellback rate.

Mathematically, this means if you spent 1000 Varium purchasing an item and 1000 Varium enhancing it, your total Varium sellback would be 300 rather than 150 Varium.

AQW Alpha Omega

The Omega release was so big, it has spilled into AQW. Become a PvP champion and tear the toughest monsters asunder with the mighty Alpha Omega class. Look for a complete writeup soon in the AQW Design Notes!

More to Come

Also, we are adding a plethora of bug fixes and balance adjustments which will be covered in detail in the patch notes!

Tags: Nightwraith

February 12, 2013

Hey there, EpicDuelists! As you may know (if you don't, then...well I can't help you) Omega is live, but testing is far from over! We are once again looking to expand our team! If you are interested in helping us, please read the official note from Lycus below. We don't have his avatar in yet, so I'm ghost posting for him (shhhhh!).

We are currently in need of a few more people to help out in keeping our game safe and helping with bringing our releases out faster and with fewer bugs! We pride ourselves on making the game with you and for you – many of the AE Staff began as regular players, some even very high up now, now is your chance to join our ranks!

Say what now!?

Due to the increase of players, the loss of a few members of staff and the fact we are still growing, we have need of some more hands to help with the responsibility of keeping the game safe for all players, old and new. We also need more help with the Testing our releases for bugs and helping out in the process of making sure everything is ready to go live!

A few of you may be wondering ‘Do Moderators not test releases?’ – yes Moderators previously have tested releases and some still will – however to up efficiency we have decided to split the team so everyone knows their core position and can concentrate on it as such. A few of you may also now be wondering what each position will entitle and I will gladly tell you:

Testers are a team of dedicated volunteers led by myself who play through releases before they are released, on the development server, helping to find any bugs, suggest changes and make sure the release is ready to go live! They are expected to be online on Thursday and Fridays mainly, but potentially other days, depending on when releases are due to release. This role requires less time to be committed over the week, but more specific times (Preferably 3pm-7pm EST on Thursday/Friday).

Moderators are a team of dedicated volunteers led Cinderella and I who help with in-game issues,  deal with people who break the Terms of Service agreement and others of such! In short, they make the game safer and much more fun for everyone.  This entitles a position that will expect you to be on most days of the week for a fair amount of time dealing with reports and other things. 

Note: Both positions involve a lot of responsibility, if you do not feel you can handle that, and then these posts are not for you. Becoming a Mod or Tester is not as easy or fun as it may seem, it comes with work! However it will look great on your CV (Resume) if you are looking for work experience, and it is always nice to help out a game you enjoy playing so much!

Interested in this Opportunity?

Firstly, I would like to stress how important it is that you are OVER 18.  If you are under 18, do not include your age in your application or you start off ‘I am not 18 yet, however…’ you will not even be considered. If you lie about your age, you will be blacklisted from any future Mod application processes regardless of your age then. So if you are under 18, wait, chances will come in the future, do not worry!

What you NEED to include in your email:

1. Your real name, age and country of residence.
2. What position you would prefer (Moderator or Tester)
3. Your EpicDuel in-game name
4. Artix Entertainment Master Account name and Email (What you use to login to EpicDuel)
5. Forum account name and email (Not required to have one, but please include if you do)
6. Your CV (Resume) in English. You may indicate if you speak other languages, but you must speak English fluently to be considered.
7. A cover letter describing yourself, why you want to be a Moderator or Tester and what you feel the position means.

Please send your COMPLETE application to: EDCallForMods@artix.com

If you have not included all the above and your application is not complete, you will not be considered. Cinderella and myself will read all applications, so please only send ONE in - we also sadly will not be able to reply to every single email, sorry if you do not hear from us.

If we decide to take you through to an interview we will contact you on the email you sent the email from, so please do try to keep an eye out. We will keep you all updated here on how the search is going and when it is going to end!

***Special Addendum from Charfade and the EpicDuel Youtube Team***

Those of you who have been following our Official EpicDuel Youtube Channel may know that the primary contributors are Moderators. If you would like to be a Moderator or Tester AND would also like to contribute to the Youtube Channel, please address any of the the following attributes in your CV:

• Knowledge in video/audio/recoding editing software. (i.e. Adobe Premiere, Windows movie Maker, Final Cut, Sony Vegas Pro, Camtasia, Audacity, Fraps ) 
• Ability to upload videos in high resolution 720min 1024max to Youtube with no black letter box. 
• Ability to add your own commentary to the video (all videos are required to have commentary) 
• Ability to upload and transfer large project files. (i.e. personal FTP, DropBox, google drive) 
• Ability to met deadlines, 2-4 day turn around when project is assigned. 
• Ability to collaborate ideas with the team as well as ask and accept constructive criticism. 
• Has to have good communication skills and able to organize content for videos, then present information in a clear manner. 
• Please link us to a sample of your work. We will not allow you to assist with the Youtube channel without previous video experience!

The video portion of the application process is entirely optional, but since those creating videos are privy to a great deal of behind-the-scenes development information, we require you pass through the same screening process as those who wish to moderator or test exclusively.

Good luck to you all! 

Tags: Nightwraith Lycus Cinderella Moderators Testers Application CV

February 08, 2013

NEW CHANGES/FEATURES:

• Lowered character retrain cost from 20 Credits per level (500 max) to 10 Credits per level (250 max)
• Lowered item retrain cost from 250 Credits to 100 Credits
• Vendbots have finally learned how to buy items from you
• Veteran and Advanced Battlegear are now Rare Promo items
• Mutating armors are now labeled as such in inventories
• Added a resale value to Bacon drops from Titan

BALANCE CHANGES:

NOTE: These are far from the only changes we plan on making. We wanted to make these encompassing changes first to make sure we aren't over-tuning other skills or classes at the same time.

• Health and Energy now grows by 1 point every even level (So level 35 players will have an extra 17 health)
• Juggernauts now match with players 6-10 levels lower (Changed from 3-8 levels lower)

BUGS FIXED:

• Missions would stop counting wins past 255
• Items with no resale value (Grenades and Chairman Bux) now have their proper resale value
• Missions rewards will now come with appropriate weapon damage instead of 0
• Missions that require rusted weapons have been updated to require different weapons
• NPCs would sometimes fail to drop mission items
• Changing worlds very rapidly could result in a server kick
• Leaving a battle early would still grant battle rewards
• The item finder now supports apostrophes (') in search
• Awarded missing Enhancer achievements to players that were supposed to receive it
• NPC fights no longer show a visual loss during battle
• Renamed duplicate mission "A Frosty Redux"
• Poison/Frostbite damage now update your bottom-left HP/EP bars
• Field Commander and Blood Commander were able to be cast on top of each other
• Chairman's Fury is now properly a one-time use
• Thorn Assault is now properly a one-time use

Tags: Patch Notes Titan

February 08, 2013

Last Tuesday, we finally said a final goodbye to Delta and launched our highly-anticipated Omega phase! Many of you loved the new features and battle dynamics added by cores, while some have voiced concerns about the new balance of power in the game. Those of you who have been with EpicDuel or any other Artix Entertainment game know that these games are constantly evolving. This last release will not be the final release, not by a longshot, and we are already hard at work fixing bugs and making key adjustments to the balance. There is only so much a small team can do, and sometimes it takes 1000s of players to uncover issues.

See? You're helping! Continue to help us with your feedback here!

Omega Gratitude

I would like to extend a nice hearty EpicDuel "Thank You" to all of our moderator and testers (many of whom pulled double duty) who made this release possible. Many of you were plugging away with use, finding critical bugs and making helpful suggestions into the wee hours of the night, going above and beyond the job description. You have done extraordinarily well, and we salute you!

Also worthy of praise is our forum crew, who have helped keep the forums sane leading up to the release and will continue to assist us in gathering feedback and identifying bug reports as we dive headlong into Omega.

I would also like to thank the crew at the EpicDuel Wiki, who work tirelessly and astonishingly fast update all of the new Omega content. We blew up stats and requirements for nearly 1400 of your item entries. Sorry about that!

We can't forget the other teams at Artix Entertainment who have helped us promote Omega and believed in our goals, even through the extended development time. Special thanks go to the Help Team, who help make sure our players' accounts are secure and their owners are happy.

Lastly, but surely not least-ly, I would like to thank our dedicated players. You stuck with us through over 2 months without a release, and I sincerely hope you think Omega was worth the wait. Obviously, it's not perfect, but I can guarantee that it will grow and evolve from here. We're in a better position than ever to deliver exciting new content and change gameplay in ways that were simply impossible before. Thank you for being a part of the best development phase yet!

Yeti Guide

Many of you have been asking how to upgrade your yeti. I will admit that it can be a bit complicated, so I've created a handy guide to help you train your Yeti into a beastly Omega Yeti! Regardless of which Yet you choose, your journey will begin in Frysteland's interior, just beyond the Frysteland sign.

You will take two different paths depending on which Yeti you wish to upgrade. For Baby Yetis, please see Hulnas the Tamer. For Dark Yetis, you'll want to speak with the Arctic Trainer. There is no way to skip ahead to an Omega Yeti. You must train to a Yeti Warrior before you can train into an Omega Yeti. You cannot undo the process and devolve your Yeti back into a Baby or Dark Yeti so consider your actions carefully!

Baby Yeti:

Speak with Hulnas the Tamer. He will offer a series of missions to train your Baby Yeti into a Baby Yeti Warrior! If you do not wish to purchase a Yeti Serum outright, you may choose to start with "Armored to the Teeth" and work your way to "Beast Versus Boss", which will earn you a free Yeti Serum!  You may then complete the final mission to upgrade your Baby Yeti.

If you wish to take the quicker route, you can ignore the first three missions and buy a Yeti Serum from the Tamer and accept and complete the "Juvenalia" mission to morph your Baby Yeti into a Baby Yeti Warrior.

To upgrade your Baby Yeti Warrior into an Omega Baby Yeti, visit Ylwa and start with "Battle Bruised" and work your way to "If It Bacons..." which will reward you with the Omega Serum. You can then complete the process by finishing "Beast's Burden."

As with the upgrade process from Baby to Warrior, you can bypass the first three missions by purchasing an Omega Serum and completing "Beast's Burden. "

Enjoy your Omega Baby Yeti!

Take a look at this handy visual guide form Charfade!

Dark Yeti:

Speak with the Arctic Trainer. He will offer a series of missions to train your Dark Yeti into a Dark Yeti Warrior! If you do not wish to purchase a Yeti Serum outright, you may choose to start with "Warming Up" and work your way to "Is Your Baby Yeti?", which will earn you a free Yeti Serum!  You may then complete the final mission to upgrade your Dark Yeti.

If you wish to take the quicker route, you can ignore the first three missions and buy  a Yeti Serum from the Trainer and accept and complete the "Abominable? Adorable" mission to morph your Dark Yeti into a Dark Yeti Warrior.

To upgrade your Dark Yeti Warrior into a Omega Dark Yeti, visit Captain Murdoc and start with "The Yetikiller" and work your way to "Frying Flesh" which will reward you with the Omega Serum. You can then complete the process by finishing "Ultimate Baby Yeti."

As with the upgrade process from Dark Yeti to Warrior, you can bypass the first three missions by purchasing an Omega Serum and completing "Ultimate Baby Yeti. "

Enjoy your Omega Dark Yeti!

Take a look at this handy visual guide form Charfade!

Beyond Omega

Now that Omega is live, what is left for EpicDuel? Besides bug fixes and balance polish, where can we go from here?  The whole point of Omega was to extent the longevity and excitement of EpicDuel. We felt we were running into a rut by pushing the boundaries of power creep. Anything we released below level 35 was swiftly ignored by hardcore players, and items without "ideal" stat configuration were similarly neglected.

Omega will allow us to increase the depth of the battle engine through interesting choices rather than forcing players to adopt the "right" build with the "right" gear. As we add more cores, it will become increasingly harder for one build to rule them all. By creating ever-evolving battle dynamics, we believe EpicDuel can continue to grow in popularity and quality for years to come!

In the short term, after the dust has settled from the initial launch and balance is in a good place, we will being the Golden Yeti Tournament. We realize the structure is more of competition than a bracketed tournament, but we hope to evolve this concept into a fully-realized tournament feature.

After the Tournament, we will be concluding the Frysteland storyline, with an epic confrontation with Alydriah in her winter palace! Hang onto those Summoning Stones, because it will take a cosmic force of unimaginable power to unseat the tyrant from her icy throne!

Oh yeah, and there's actually a holiday coming up next week -- that means the return of a familiar angel of death! But what new abilities will these creations bring from the great beyond? Stay tuned to find out!

Tags: Nightwraith

February 05, 2013

The day you've all been waiting for is finally here: Omega Day! Join us for the play-by-play. Also follow us on our Twitter accounts for the latest Omega updates. Once we begin the updating process, the game will likely be offline for up to 5 hours while we make drastic database changes and update millions of character records. However, we will still be posting here to give you the latest progress updates.

10:19 A.M. E.S.T.: First Omega update. Good job, Nightwraith. We're still waiting for Rabble and Charfade. Testing is mostly completed. All that remains is to review the updating procedures to make sure we don't turn everyone into a health pack accidentally.

10:24 A.M. E.S.T.: Rabble has arrived.

10:35 A.M. E.S.T.: Charfade has arrived.

10:54 A.M. E.S.T.: Morning Omega meeting in which we outlay the massive task ahead of us.

12:05 P.M. E.S.T.: Meeting still underway. Clarifying additional uncertainties about the release. There's very little margine for error here. I wish I understood more about code, but it all sounds very scary and complicated. I think Imma draw stuff and test map screens while they're at it.

1:00 P.M. E.S.T.: First 5-Hour Energy of the day. I'm surprised I made it this long. Resolving minor last minute bugs brought up by testers.

1:15 P.M. E.S.T.: I would like to take this opportunity to announce that we will be restocking the Limited Quantity Shops as soon as Omega goes live. Also, a TON of content is leaving when the update is complete. Haven't killed the Dragonoid Brain? Never defeated Chairman Platinum? Don't have the Slayer's Armor? Hop to it!

1:15 P.M. E.S.T.:  The To Do Post-It wall is nearly bare...

...while the borders of Doneland runneth over.

*Doneland is nearly 3 layers deep.

2:52 P.M. E.S.T.:  EpicDuel is shutting down to install Omega updates. Players are gathered by the dozens in Oz world 7 to bid Delta a final goodbye!

3:03 P.M. E.S.T.: Uploaded nearly 800 new or modified swfs. We haven't even touched the database yet. D:

3:05 P.M. E.S.T.: A group of yetis carried away the servers! Now, we'll have to venture on an epic journey to recover them! Hobbit-style!

3:06 P.M. E.S.T.: Bribed Yeti's with cheeseburgers. Not quite so epic.

3:30 P.M. E.S.T.: Attempting to clear the CDN cache so you can see all the new assets. "Purge All?" Seems legit. *Push* 

3:46 P.M. E.S.T.: Testing new character creation. New armors -- online. New hairstyles -- online. Silly name --online.

3:54 P.M. E.S.T.: Awarding Varium, credits and achievements to enhancers.

4:14 P.M. E.S.T.: Running scripts to map all the items in game in every player's inventory to the new Omega system. Million of records being updated. Some serious math, yo!

5:00 P.M. E.S.T.: Sorting out some bugs with the update scripts. We're working as fast as we can, but we don't want to make any careless mistakes!

5:22 P.M. E.S.T.: Testing live character creation. Success!

6:12 P.M. E.S.T.: Bringing testers to Live server for final testing!

7:17 P.M. E.S.T.: Only minor issues so far! Easily fixed. For best results be sure to clear your cache before logging into Omega!

8:06 P.M. E.S.T.: Bugs are nearly smashed. Almost time to open the Omega floodgates!

8:41 P.M. E.S.T.: OMEGA IS LIVE epicduel.artix.com/play-now/

Tags: Nightwraith

February 04, 2013

The time has finally come! Omega is nearly upon us and this is your last chance to be an Omega Founder and obtain the Golden Omega Ticket!

In addition to giving the Omega Onslaughter (mutating physical), Omega Obliterator (mutating energy), Omega Slayer (energy sword), Omega Impaler (physical sword), Dark Yeti (energy bot), and Baby Yeti (physical bot), the ticket also entitles you to a slot in the Golden Yeti Tournament!

This preorder ticket is the ONLY way to participate in this event and will disappear forever as soon as Omega goes live!

We are in the final testing phases and should be ready to roll tomorrow. Time is quickly running out to take advantage of this amazing offer! Are you yeti for Omega? We are!

Tags: Titan