EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

August 31, 2022

A new tournament is nearly upon us! Visit Captain Shoggoth in the West Naval Yard purchase a Typhoon Terror Ticket to guarantee participation in Delta V's latest test of might and endurance! This final tournament in our tourney trilogy will have a similar duration to the previous tournament, lasting from Tuesday September 13 at 4:00 PM (EST) to Friday September 16 at 4:00 PM (EST). The scoring per victory will be as follows:

• 1v1: 10 points
• 2v2: 20 points
• Juggernaut: 4 points

For a complete list of prizes, read on:

ALL participants will receive the following items at the end of the tournament:

• Typhoon Terror Lance P (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Lance E (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Razor P (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Razor E (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Spear P (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Spear E (Sword)
• Leviathan Morph (Travel Form)

BRONZE

Those who finish the tournament with the Bronze tier achievement will receive:

• Typhoon Vanguard Armor (Armor)
• Typhoon Vanguard Armor CC (Armor)
• Typhoon Terror Sword P (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Sword E (Sword)
• Typhoon Tyrant P (Bot)
• Typhoon Tyrant E (Bot)

Bronze tier finalists will also receive the participation rewards.

SILVER

Those who finish the tournament with the Silver tier achievement will receive:

• Typhoon Terror Toxifier P
• Typhoon Terror Toxifier E
• Typhoon Terror Tusk P
• Typhoon Terror Tusk E

Silver tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

 GOLD

Those who finish the tournament with the Gold tier achievement will receive:

• Typhoon Commander Armor (Armor)
• Typhoon Commander Armor CC (Armor)
• Typhoon Terror Terminator P (Mutating)
• Typhoon Terror Terminator E (Mutating)

Gold tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

PLATINUM

The hardcore duelist who finishes the tournament with the Platinum tier achievement will receive:

• Typhoon Terror Toxifier P CC
• Typhoon Terror Toxifier E CC
• Typhoon Terror Tusk P CC
• Typhoon Terror Tusk E CC
• Leviathan Morph CC (Travel Form)
• Typhoon Terror Sword CC P (Sword)
• Typhoon Terror Sword CC E (Sword)

The Platinum tier finalist will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

Multi-logging and Rule Refresher

Since enforcement is stronger and more vigilant around tournament time, and relatively new features like 2v2 linking have left some with questions about the official rules governing such features, I'm resharing this link to the official rules and guidelines from the Artix Entertainment site and the following passage concerning those rules:

Game Rules

1. Do not bot, cheat/hack, exploit, phish, or attack the servers in any way.
   This includes:
   1. Using trainers
   2. Shop / quest loaders
   3. Third-party programs
      For EpicDuel
   4. Create 'Dummy' characters to play the game
   5. Multiple characters in a faction
   6. No multi-logging: you can only login to one account at a time per game session

If you link with yourself in 2v2, you will be banned. If you fight accounts owned by yourself for free wins in 1v1, you will be banned. You may get away with it for a time, but you have to wonder if racking up some easy wins is really worth losing your main account when you eventually get caught.

This finally leaves the question of multi-logging against bosses. While multi-logging is against the rules as seen above, PvP violations will still be prioritized vs. PvE. A consequence in this case is we won't celebrate players who defeat bosses by multi-logging, thereby encouraging the practice.

Secret Package Patch

For a long time after gifting, the game was still announcing an end of day award for Titan, who apparently won the daily gifting challenge, even though gifting had been deactivated. This was corrected, but apparently the game was still spawning Secret and Silver Secret packages for various players seemingly at random. During today's update, we cleared out all the outstanding Packages. Since it wouldn't be fair to those who gifted their hearts out during gifting to award folks with the package prizes, we're instead replacing the removed packages with 100,000 Credits each or 500,000 for those who were lucky enough to have the Secret Packages. This error has been present in the game possibly since gifting ended, and today's update will hopefully settle the issue for good.

Friday Changes:

This Friday the Flesh Demigod Promotional Package will be removed from the Varium Shop so you only have a few more days to collect these powerful cores and unique weapons.

In addition to the shop change, seasonal rares will be reverted to their usual order. 

Other Changes:

• Style Shop: 6 new Typhoon Terror Styles 

• Yeti Hulk NPC (Level 30, 1650 HP): Berzerker level reduced to 6 from 7
• Yeti Hulk NPC (Level 30, 1650 HP): Strength reduced to 300 from 350; Berzerker level reduced to 6 from 7

Tags: Nightwraith

August 26, 2022

Shoggoth's Showdown Tournament has officially ended! Visit Captain Shoggoth to view the final leaderboard and the final winners of this latest test of endurance and skill! All prizes, including the prizes for all participants have been distributed. If you do not see a prize item, you may need to log out then back in again.

What's Next?

To allow some time for rest and recovery after a grueling dueling session, the final event in our tournament trilogy, Typhoon Terror, will begin Friday September 9 and last through Monday September 12  Tuesday September 13 and last through to Friday September 16. Not interested in tournaments? There will be more exclusive content to enjoy during the tournament downtime!

We've updated the planned tournament time to better accommodate the schedules of EpicDuel's team. Weekend tournaments are fun, but they're much harder to moderate with more limited developer availability. We apologize for this sudden change of plans and any inconvenience it may have caused. Tickets will be available in-game Wednesday August 31 so you can plan accordingly.

Tags: Nightwraith

August 19, 2022

A new tournament is nearly upon us! Visit Captain Shoggoth in the West Naval Yard purchase a Shoggoth's Showdown Ticket to guarantee participation in Delta V's latest test of might and endurance! This tournament will also have a similar duration to the last tournament, but it will start earlier in the week, lasting from Tuesday August 23 at 4:00 PM (EST) to Friday August 26 at 4:00 PM (EST). Due to feedback, the scoring per victory will be as follows:

• 1v1: 10 points
• 2v2: 20 points
• Juggernaut: 4 points

For a complete list of prizes, read on:

ALL participants will receive the following items at the end of the tournament:

• Nightmare Seeker Slasher P (Sword)
• Nightmare Seeker Slasher E (Sword)
• Nightmare Seeker Slaughterer P (Sword)
• Nightmare Seeker Slaughterer E (Sword)

BRONZE

Those who finish the tournament with the Bronze tier achievement will receive:

• Nightmare Seeker Shell (Armor)
• Nightmare Seeker Shell CC (Armor)
• Nightmare Seeker Slayer P (Sword)
• Nightmare Seeker Slayer E (Sword)

Bronze tier finalists will also receive the participation rewards.

SILVER

Those who finish the tournament with the Silver tier achievement will receive:

• Nightmare Seeker Piercer P (Sidearm)
• Nightmare Seeker Piercer E (Sidearm)
• Nightmare Seeker Cannon P (Auxiliary)
• Nightmare Seeker Cannon E (Auxiliary)

Silver tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

 GOLD

Those who finish the tournament with the Gold tier achievement will receive:

• Nightmare Seeker Souldrinker P (Mutating Weapon)
• Nightmare Seeker Souldrinker E (Mutating Weapon)
• Winged Nightmare Seeker Shell (Armor)
• Winged Nightmare Seeker Shell CC (Armor)

Gold tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

PLATINUM

The hardcore duelist who finishes the tournament with the Platinum tier achievement will receive:

• Ascended Nightmare Seeker Shell (Armor)
• Ascended Nightmare Seeker Shell CC (Armor)
• Nightmare Seeker Slayer CC P (Sword)
• Nightmare Seeker Slayer CC E (Sword)

The Platinum tier finalist will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

Hellfire Havoc Winners

Earlier this week, we end the latest EpicDuel Tournament, Hellfire Havoc, and honored the champions with a great bounty of prizes, including rare armors and weapons! Congratulations to all the participants on your hard-fought victories! Special thanks to Acatriel, Mihuri, and Archidamos who helped craft this most recent pool of amazing prizes!

Balance Changes

• Mercenary
  • Static Smash: 120% damage.
  • Hybrid Armor: Increase highest stat by a % along with Def and Res.

• Bounty Hunter
  • Shadow Arts: Remove the damage reduction effect.

• Blood Mage
  • Terrify Revamp: Reduce % of the opponent's base stats for 3 turns; removed improvement factors
    
    • OLD Base Values: 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26
    • New Base Values: 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
  • Brutal Strike: 30% life steal added.

• Tech Mage
  • Assimilation: Reduced Dexterity scale factor from 1.25 to 1.5; steal value reduced 50% but gain increased to 150%.
    • OLD Base Values: 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 160
    •  NEW Base Values: 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80

• Cores
  • Lionhart Claw: Calls in your Robot to attack your enemy and reduce 25% of their Rage!
  • Lionhart Roar: Grants 60% Rage to all allies.
  • Sea King's Spirit: Increased cooldown to 5 from 4.

• General
  • Changed the divisors for the top 2 tiers of Primary weapon damage to reduce the potency of Strength builds.
  • Values changed from 0.60, 0.75  to  0.65, 0.85

Tags: Nightwraith

August 12, 2022

The Hellfire Havoc Tournament is about to begin! At 6:00 PM (EST) the tournament will activate and the duels will begin! This tournament will run until Monday August 15 at 12:00 PM (EST). Winning achievement and prizes will be awarded shortly after the tournament concludes. Good luck to all participants, and duel on!

Changes / Fixes

• Acatriel and Azrael Boss fight music can now be muted using the in-game Settings.
• Acatriel's boss music added to the Level 40 version of the NPC.
• Music disabled in Azrael's layer as it was conflicting with the boss music track.
• New Achievement: Nightmare Acatriel Master awarded to those who defeated Nightmare Acatriel before yesterday's nerf.

Tags: Nightwraith

August 11, 2022

The Hellfire Havoc Tournament has nearly begun but we still have at least one more update before the battles begin! 

New Styles!

In preparation for the newest tournament, we're adding 18 new Darkeater and Hellfire Havoc-themed credit and Varium styles to choose from in the style change shop.

Tournament Points Changes:

After some more thought we determined that the Juggernaut point value needed to be adjusted again to be more in balance vs. the 1v1 and 2v2 point values.

• Juggernaut: 3 points instead of 5.

Core Changes:

Additional changes have been made to certain cores that were allowing nearly infinite heal loops to artificially extend duels.

• Tranquility: Reduced max heal from 650 to 525, 4 turn cooldown, 100 Energy cost.
• Sea King's Spirit:  4 turn cooldown.

Bug Fixes:

Nightmare Acatriel: Taunt skills cannot be used when out of energy or disabled the by the Pyro Fly special.

Tags: Nightwraith

August 08, 2022

The Darkeater Collection!

Finally, a new promo package arrives -- the Darkeater Collection! This new promo is absolutely stuffed with new content!

Those who purchase this achievement will receive the commemorative Darkeater's Crest achievement.

Armors:

• Darkeater Armor A
• Darkeater Armor B
• Glorified Darkeater Armor A
• Glorified Darkeater Armor B
• Darkeater Armor A CC
• Darkeater Armor B CC
• Glorified Darkeater Armor A CC
• Glorified Darkeater Armor B CC

Swords:

• Darkeater Katana P
• Darkeater Katana E
• Darkeater Greatsword P
• Darkeater Greatsword E

Mutating:

• Darkeater Devourer P
• Darkeater Devourer E

Sidearms:

• Darkeater Breaker P
• Darkeater Breaker E

Auxiliaries:

• Darkeater Consumer P
• Darkeater Consumer E

Vehicles/Morphs

• Darkeater Drifter
• Darkeater Drifter CC
• Shadowlord Morph M
• Shadowlord Morph F
• Shadowlord Morph M CC
• Shadowlord Morph F CC

Bots

• Shadowlord's Avatar P
• Shadowlord's Avatar E 

Bot Abilities

• Shadowlord's Slash P: Attack with a barrage of slashes, dealing physical damage.
• Shadowlord's Severance P: Bypass 40% target's defense with a barrage of physical slashes.
• Shadowlord's Slash E: Attack with a barrage of slashes, dealing energy damage.
• Shadowlord's Severance E: Bypass 40% target's defense with a barrage of energy slashes.

Cores:

• Darkeater's Adjudication: Converging blades, lowering target's Rage gain by 85% for 5 turns.
• Darkeater's Overcharge: Spend HP to mini-Rage, destroying target's armor for 2 turns.
• Darkeater's Edge: Deal 95% unblockable Primary damage, increasing by 5% per round, (135% max).
• Darkeater's Defiance: Lower attacker's energy by 50% melee or ranged damage.
• Darkeater's Stun Blast: Adds a 10% chance to stun the enemy when firing your auxiliary.
• Darkeater's Insanity: Increases target's Rage while lowering Strength/Support 50%
• Darkeater's Impaler: Summon a blade barrage to cause 40 points of HP/MP loss for 3 turns.

This pack will be the perfect power-up you need to get a head start in the upcoming tournament!

*All items in this package aside from the weapon/armor cores are now flagged as RARE, meaning they will not be available for sale in-game at a future date.*

Since it's relatively short notice, the Flesh Demigod Promotional Package will remain online for another few weeks to give new and returning players coming to play the tournament a change to gear up.

Hellfire Havoc Begins!

A new tournament is nearly upon us! Visit the Slayer in the Barrens to purchase a Hellfire Havoc Ticket to guarantee participation in Delta V's latest test of might and endurance! For this latest tournament we're trying something a bit different. The cost of entry will be the lowest yet, but the prize pool will also be smaller. The tournament will also have a shorter duration, lasting from Friday August 12 at 6:00 PM (EST) to Monday August 15 at noon (EST). As usual, at the tournament's conclusion, the server will restart briefly to award some prizes manually. As of Monday August 8, the scoring per victory will be as follows:

• 1v1: 10 points
• 2v2: 20 points
• Juggernaut: 5 points

For a complete list of prizes, read on:

ALL participants will receive the following items at the end of the tournament:

• Hellfire Havoc Scimitar P
• Hellfire Havoc Scimitar E
• Hellfire Havoc Lance P
• Hellfire Havoc Lance E

BRONZE

Those who finish the tournament with the Bronze tier achievement will receive:

• Hellfire Havoc Armor
• Hellfire Havoc Armor CC
• Hellfire Havoc Sword P
• Hellfire Havoc Sword E

Bronze tier finalists will also receive the participation rewards.

SILVER

Those who finish the tournament with the Silver tier achievement will receive:

• Hellfire Havoc Heater P
• Hellfire Havoc Heater E
• Hellfire Havoc Harbinger P
• Hellfire Havoc Harbinger E

Silver tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

 GOLD

Those who finish the tournament with the Gold tier achievement will receive:

• Hellfire Havoc Harrower P
• Hellfire Havoc Harrower E
• Winged Hellfire Havoc Armor
• Winged Hellfire Havoc Armor CC

Gold tier finalists will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

PLATINUM

The hardcore duelist who finishes the tournament with the Platinum tier achievement will receive:

• Ascended Hellfire Havoc Armor
• Ascended Hellfire Havoc Armor CC
• Hellfire Havoc Sword P CC
• Hellfire Havoc Sword E CC

The Platinum tier finalist will also receive the rewards from lower tiers.

Upcoming Tournaments

Shortly after Hellfire Havoc concludes, we will be launching a new tournament, Shoggoth's Showdown, featuring new achievements and prizes with a similar duration. We'll follow that up with Typhoon Terror to conclude this tournament trilogy. This is a bit of an experiment to see if shorter more frequent tournaments can be more successful than longer tournaments spaced months apart. We hope you enjoy them!  In the meantime, gear up and duel on!

Tags: Nightwraith