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EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

Behind the scenes information about EpicDuel's development and releases, a real-time PVP MMO that you can play online in your web browser.
Nightwraith

March 23, 2019

Bunnyzooka Bunn-anza!

Spring is finally here! Can you believe it? Can you believe there's a brand new edition of the Bunnyzookas with pre-equipped cores? Can you believe HeroMart just restocked a truckload of EpicDuel merch? Believe!

 

Bunnyzooka Bunn-anza!

To refresh the classic Bunnyzookas, we've introduced the shiny new 2019 editions available at Brachylagus in the Biological Preserve Archives, complete with a new active core!

  • Bunnyzooka 2019
  • Energy Bunnyzooka 2019
  • Comes equipped with Shell-Shocker active core: Reduce defense/resistance 10% and reduces healing 25% for 3 turns. 85% damage.

 

New Cores

Available at Dage the Evil, these new active primary cores can make a huge different to the outcome of your duels!

  • Screaming Soul Spears: Summon a blade barrage to cause 25 points of energy/health loss for 4 turns. 85% damage. 
  • Crimson Offering: Sacrifice 80 Health for 300 Energy.
  • Spirit Well: Reduce and absorb enemy energy by 25% of normal strike damage.

 

Robot Change

The Bunny Bot has a sneaky special attack that has been underused for ages. To improve this, we've expanded the triggers for the Egg Rain attack to include regular sidearm and auxiliary attacks. Core attacks and skills are still exempt.

  • Ballstic and Electro Bunny Bot: Color blast now triggers when using a regular sidearm or auxiliary attack

 

Classic Core Unlocks

To encourage experimentation with some classic EpicDuel items, we've unlocked the cores on the Delta Gear. This was done as an experiment to see if it was something worth doing to other rare, locked gear. 

  • Delta Knight: Curse Aura unlocked 
  • Delta Destroyer, Delta Daggers, Delta Maul, Delta Staff: Curse unlocked

 

Balance

To increase the viability of Bounty Hunter Dexterity builds without making them overpowered, we've made the following changes:

  • Bounty Hunter
    • Multishot: Improves with Dexterity.
    • Reduced base damage by 20 per level
    • Adjusted scaling to improve with every .4 stats
  • Stun Grenade
    • Improves with every .5 stats

 

Heromart

An incredible bounty of loot is finally available from HeroMart, including new designs to complement the return of old classics!


This marvelous merch comes with new home items, weapons, achievements in EpicDuel and AQW! What other kinds of EpicDuel merch would you like to see created for HeroMart?

 

Coming Soon

Spring is officially here and Easter is right around to corner, so Bido and Deuce are hard at work crafting some awesome new sets worthy of your extensive collections!

Cut Content

Not among the new cores were a handful of new passives that were designed to give players a big advantage if their health dropped below critical levels. However, there were some problems in the battle engine that kept them from triggering properly at the health threshold, meaning they would be active the entire fight! I fought my own battle against the code for a bit but had to cut them for this update. Hopefully we can get them working as intended and in game in an upcoming update!

 

Status Report

One major project I've been planning to implement is the return of Passive skills to the skill trees. I'm very close to having the logistics ironed out for this project but I will need some programming advice to make sure nothing breaks. Changing Passive skills to Active skills was a major change that took a long time to implement so it shouldn't be surprising that reverting the change is taking longer than anticipated. Some of the Passives no longer exist so they must be recreated. Plus, modifying the skill trees is a complicated process that is very unforgiving. It's possible to break every character in the game with small mistake! No pressure, right? 

Next week, I will be traveling to visit family so I there are no updates planned for next week. I know that's a bummer, but I haven't taken a real break since...

Hmmm...

I don't remember. Anyway, I should return ready to tackle this major project to restore a bit of what you loved about the old battle engine. Hopefully, we don't prove the old saying true, "Be careful what you wish for..."

Now where did I put that Gamma.exe?

Another issue I'd like to address is the speculation of plans for EpicDuel's future. In the near term, I've been able to secure additional help with creating art assets to make meatier releases. The increased attention EpicDuel has received also motivated HeroMart to restock old merch and create new merch. I've noted people expressing fatigue with the weapon releases, but developing new or restoring old features is mostly beyond my capabilities alone. Many of the new features you've enjoyed have been due to snagging snippets of Titan's time for consultation or development. Larger features that require days or weeks are trickier as he has regular obligations to AQ3D. It's frustrating, but Titan's new role comes with less autonomy than he enjoyed as the EpicDuel lead. That's part of the tradeoff when you sign up to work for a company rather than running your own business. 

What about EpicDuel 2? ED2D? EDBR? I see people demanding these new projects enter the pipeline constantly, and I agree with you! You don't have to convince *me* that EpicDuel is awesome and deserves an awesome future. I don't need convincing, but I don't have the autonomy to greenlight a project. As I understand it, the plan is to use AQ2D as a basis for converting the Flash games to Unity. Why does AQ2D get preference? AQW is much, MUCH bigger than EpicDuel. Even at EpicDuel's peak, it was orders of magnitude larger by nearly every metric. For those of you clenching your fists like the Arthur meme, note I said bigger, not better. Big is big. If that weren't the case, why on earth would EpicDuel only have one dev? That said, EpicDuel's players are some of the most enthusiastic and devoted fans of all the games, and that doesn't go unnoticed. I love our humble little PvP game, but I understand the rationale, especially when working with limited resources. I can't build the game on my lonesome as I've tragically dumped all my stats into art and charisma (obviously). 

What I can do is continue building on EpicDuel, creating new releases, updating balance, and adding features whenever I can. It's in my interest, and AE's interest to see EpicDuel thrive, contrary to claims of sabotage I've seen. I've lashed myself to the mast of this project for over a decade and I really don't know what I'd do beyond it -- a scary thought that's kept me up many nights, but maybe that's a nudge toward better personal development. I'm 100%, full-time EpicDuel and plan to continue for as long as you'll allow it.

That's what I know at this current moment. That knowledge is always subject to change based on news I hear from on high, and I'll certainly update you all when that happens. I won't tease a project before it's 100% official. Thank you for your patience. If you're frustrated, know that it's mutual, but I aim to make the best of the present situation.

Duel On!

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

March 15, 2019

Dage Overload!

Dage Overload!

This week EpicDuel is overloaded with new Dage the Evil weapons available in class-specific varieties to let you craft a truly killer build! Also, production is still underway for EpicDuel's HeroMart bounty. The proof is in the proofs (printing humor) as the new posters arrive hot off the presses!

 

Balance:

To help Focus builds, some changes were made to the following skills:

  • Blood Mage
    • Fireball: 1 turn warmup
  • Cyber Hunter
    • Static Charge: Improves with Technology instead of Support
    • Improves with every 7 Technology instead of 5
  • Mercenary
    • Blood Commander: Lifesteal increased to 70% from 60%

 

Weapons -- Located on Dage the Evil

Dage wasn't done sharing his bounty with some glorious class-specific weapons for EpicDuel! Some of these are very low quantity, so the collectors will want to hurry to get them before they run out!

  • Swords
    • Legion Phantasm Blade P
    • Legion Phantasm Blade E
  • Mutating
    • Legion Overfiend Warlord P
    • Legion Overfiend Warlord E
    • Legion Rune Brawler P
    • Legion Rune Brawler E
  •  Blades
    • Wrath of the Legion Daggers P
    • Wrath of the Legion Daggers E
    • Legion Phantasm Daggers P
    • Legion Phantasm Daggers E
    • Legion Caladbolg Blades P
    • Legion Caladbolg Blades E
    • Legion Dark Reavers P
    • Legion Dark Reavers E
    • WarSeeker's Dual Blades P
    • WarSeeker's Dual Blades E
  • Clubs
    • Legion Caladbolg Axe P
    • Legion Caladbolg Axe E
    • Wrath of the Legion Axe P
    • Wrath of the Legion Axe E
    • Legion Phantasm Axe P
    • Legion Phantasm Axe E
    • Legion War Axe P
    • Legion War Axe E
    • WarSeeker's Axe P
    • WarSeeker's Axe E
  • Staffs
    • SpellCaster's Dark Staff P
    • SpellCaster's Dark Staff E
    • SpellCaster's Bright Staff P
    • SpellCaster's Bright Staff E
    • Legion Caladbolg Staff P
    • Legion Caladbolg Staff E
    • WarSeeker's Staff P
    • WarSeeker's Staff E
    • Legion Sigil Staff P
    • Legion Sigil Staff E

 

HeroMart

SOON!

 

Coming Soon

As I write this Bido and Deuce are hard at work on more Spring/Celtic/Easter content that should be hitting the game soon! Be sure to follow them on Twitter for updates!

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

March 08, 2019

Epic Merchandise!

Epic HeroMart Restock

Greetings! This week we have some very exciting news for those who have been hankering for a piece of EpicDuel merch, which have been out of stock for ages: HeroMart will soon be restocking sold out EpicDuel merchandise and selling brand new merch, which will include items in EpicDuel AND AQW! This should be great news for those of you who wanted another chance to get a piece of EpicDuel you can hold in your hand, hang on your wall, or cover your body! Be sure to follow HeroMart for the latest updates when these new products hit the shelves! We don't know how many they're producing, but we wouldn't sleep on it very long!  

 

Balance

  • Block Formula Adjustment: Block Dexterity rate 4 instead of 5 (block rate improves more quickly as Dexterity increases)
  • Block Max % increased to 40 from 35

 

Bug Fixes/ Changes

  • Change: Health and Energy Packs increased to +240 Health/Energy
  • Change: Health and Energy Boosters increased to +340 Health/Energy
    FIX: Depositing mission/misc items into Bank caused the client to hang
  • FIX: Dage travel forms now included in Dage Collector 2019 Achievement
  • FIX: The most recent War prize was incorrected coded as an NPC armor. This was intended to be a unique CC armor based on NPC armor. Update should be automatic

 

Hairstyle

  • Alydroid Hairstyle to complement the new war prize.


Achievements

These achievements will be available with codes from the upcoming new Heromart items!

  • Pride of the Exiles (this will be available with the Slayer vs. Harbinger Print)
  • Pride of the Legion (this will be available with the Pride of the Exiles Print)
  • Slayer Vs Harbinger (this will be available with the Pride of the Legion Print)

 

Weapons

These weapons will be available with codes from the upcoming new Heromart items!

  • Harbinger Battlegear P (this will be available with the Slayer vs. Harbinger Print)
  • Harbinger Battlegear E (this will be available with the Slayer vs. Harbinger Print)
  • Exile Pride Cleaver P (this will be available with the Pride of the Exiles Print)
  • Exile Pride Cleaver E (this will be available with the Pride of the Exiles Print)
  • Legion Pride Cleaver P (this will be available with the Pride of the Legion Print)
  • Legion Pride Cleaver E (this will be available with the Pride of the Legion Print)

 

Home Items

These items will be available with codes from the upcoming new Heromart items!

  • Slayer vs. Harbinger Poster (this will be available with the Slayer vs. Harbinger Print)
  • Pride of the Exiles Poster (this will be available with the Pride of the Exiles Print)
  • Pride of the Legion Poster (this will be available with the Pride of the Legion Print)

 

New Artist Arrives

We'd like to formally welcome Junny Osan to the EpicDuel Team. He'll be working with us, joining Bido and Deuce for some much-needed art assistance! 

Tags: Nightwraith


Nightwraith

March 01, 2019

EpicDuel and Dage's Birthday!

Dage the Evil

Today Dage the Evil and EpicDuel are both celebrating birthdays! Visit Dage the Evil in the Wasteland for an amazing armory of epic new undead wares! Also, today marks the 10th Anniversary of EpicDuel's Alpha Launch!

Weapons

Meet Dage the Evil at the base of the Wasteland Minetower to inspect his amazing inventory of new weapons. This is already an impressive arsenal, but there are many more weapons on the way (next week)! 

  • Paragon Spear P
  • Paragon Spear E
  • Paragon Fiend's Blade P
  • Paragon Fiend's Blade E
  • Legion Overfiend Blade P
  • Legion Overfiend Blade E
  • Wrath of the Legion Blade P
  • Wrath of the Legion Blade E
  • Enchanted Caster Scythe P
  • Enchanted Caster Scythe E
  • Legion Caladbolg Bow P
  • Legion Caladbolg Bow E
  • UltraWrath of the Legion P
  • UltraWrath of the Legion E
  • Legion Bright Scythe P
  • Legion Bright Scythe E
  • Legion Dark Scythe P
  • Legion Dark Scythe E
  • Legion Overfiend Warlord P
  • Legion Overfiend Warlord E
  • Paragon of Parity Blade P
  • Paragon of Parity Blade E
  • Paragon OverFiend's Blade P
  • Paragon OverFiend's Blade E
  • WarSeeker's Blade P
  • WarSeeker's Blade E

 

Travel Forms

Dage can gift you with the ability to warp your form into a new twisted abomination. Want to run throw Central Station as an undead horse? Now you can!

  • Dark Caster Skull
  • Knightmare War Horse
  • Knightmare Horse

 

Armors

Dage's Paragon armor has a new coat of bling. Those with heaps of Credits to spend couldn't ask for a more imposing way to show off their post-gifting wealth!

  • Dage’s Platinum Paragon (Epic Legendary Arsenal)

 

Styles

  • Dage’s Platinum Paragon Helm

 

Boss

Take on the ultimate challenge with a trusted ally. Regular Dage the Evil was already on of the most challenging bosses in the game. Will you be the first to defeat his Legendary form?

  • 2v1 Boss Legendary Dage the Evil

 

Achievements

Boost your rating score with 3 new achievements! That Legendary Dage Achievement is going to be tough to get!

  • Ten Year Alpha (Grab it for Free to commemorate the 10th anniversary of EpicDuel's Alpha!)
  • Dage Collector 2019 (Earn by buying 1 new Dage item)
  • Legendary Dage the Evil Achievement

 

Homes

Buy an underworld dwelling of your very own!

  • Paragon Fiend's Dome (3 room home)

 

Home Items

What would an underworld home be without plenty of Dage/Undead-themed decorations? If there's one thing all Dage fans can agree on, it's that you can never have too many skulls, bones, or blue fire!

  • Paragon Fiend's Helm Right
  • Paragon Fiend's Helm Left
  • Paragon Fiend's Wings
  • Paragon Fiend's Blade
  • Paragon Spear
  • Double-Edged Paragon Spear
  • Paragon's Famine Right
  • Paragon's Famine Left
  • Paragon's Knightmare Right
  • Paragon's Knightmare Left
  • WarSeeker's Skull Right
  • WarSeeker's Skull Left
  • Wings of the UnderWorld
  • Dark Runes of the UnderWorld
  • Bright Runes of the Underworld
  • Legion OverFiend Blade
  • Dark Caster Skull Right
  • Dark Caster Skull Left
  • Legion Sigil
  • Spikes of the Underworld
  • Dark Caster's Tome
  • WarSeeker's Blades Right
  • WarSeeker's Blades Left
  • WarSeeker's Horned Visor Right
  • WarSeeker's Horned Visor Left
  • WarSeeker's Mage Statue Right
  • WarSeeker's Mage Statue Left
  • Legion SpellCaster Statue Right
  • Legion SpellCaster Statue Left
  • WarSeeker's Knight Statue Right
  • WarSeeker's Knight Statue Left
  • Legion Mage Statue Right
  • Legion Mage Statue Left
  • Legion OverFiend Crest
  • Dark Rider Chest Bank Right
  • Dark Rider Chest Bank Left
  • Paragon Fiend Rider Right
  • Paragon Fiend Rider Left
  • Paragon Fiend Bobblehead Right
  • Paragon Fiend Bobblehead Left
  • Paragon of Parity Blade
  • Crossed Paragon Spears 


Balance:

To help improve the viability of Focus builds, we've buffed Cyber Hunter's EMP and Plasma grenade. To compensate for the buff, Stun grenade base damage was adjusted to match Plasma Grenade.

  • Cyber Hunter:
    • EMP: Energy cost reduced by 20
    • Plasma Grenade: Damage starts at 190 base and goes up by 20
  • Tactical Merc and Bounty Hunter:
    • Stun Grenade: Damage starts at 190 base and goes up by 20 for parity with Plasma Grenade

 

EpicDuel's 10 Year Anniversary!

Ten years? Where does the time go? When we first launched EpicDuel's public Alpha ten years ago, we never would have imagined that kind of longevity for the game. During those lean times, subsisting on bulk ramen and generic cereal, we would have been thrilled at the prospect of half that lifespan. Thanks to players like you, we've succeeded beyond our wildest expectations, hosting millions of PvP battles for players from all over the world. Although the player count isn't near our peak, we're still live and updating after ten years, which is not a boast many other MMOs can make. Whether you're an Alpha, Elite, Founder, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Omega, or brand new player, thank's for visiting Delta V!

Tags: Nightwraith

 

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