EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

June 28, 2011

After all this waiting (as our fans have made abundantly clear, it’s been a long wait) we’re finally releasing EpicDuel Delta. Sometime on Wednesday, June 29th (what time? When it’s ready o’clock) we will be rolling live with the next stage of EpicDuel’s evolution!

Delta Gear

As a special thanks to our players who upgrade during the Delta stage, purchasers of the Epic Varium Package AFTER THE DELTA RELEASE GOES LIVE will receive the Delta Destroyer Weapon Pack! This includes 4 beautiful, rare weapons: the Delta Destroyer itself- which can be used by any class, the piercing Delta Daggers, the crushing Delta Maul, and the powerful Delta Staff.

But that's not all!  The Delta Destroyer weapons also include an added bonus -- a 13% chance to apply a unique curse effect on an enemy each time the weapon is used.  A cursed player is reduced in size and suffers a 20 point reduction in support!

Blllllllllleeeeeeeeaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh!!!! *cursed*

Titan isn't used to being the shortest guy in the room!

To commemorate this epic new development phase, everybody will be able to go to any Achievement vendor and pick up the FREE Delta Knight Achievement!

With the dawn of Delta, it does mean that the Gamma Gear and Gamma achievement will be going rare forever! So grab it before it’s gone for good!

New Classes

We’ve been tirelessly working on balancing the three new classes, shuffling skills around, etc. and you folks are really in for a treat! I know that many of you have seen my character page reading “_ Mercenary” (we ended up fixing that bug- go Titan!), but we have a bigger testing team than ever: Titan, Nightwraith, and Charfade of course, Dorumon, Rainaka, Wiseman, Omni, Ashari, Roshuno, me (Cinderella), and we even managed to steal Randor the Red. I want to take this opportunity to publicly thank everybody who helped us out with testing the Delta release.

These new classes should provide the player who loves a challenge with increased variety of skills and builds, and are available from any class change vendor. They will also be able to use the same weapons and armors as the three original classes.

Blood Mage is the more aggressive and violent version of the Tech Mage. After being hardened by battle, some of the mages developed a lust for blood, and a balance between magic and melee. As a Blood Mage, you will be able to use the devastating Plasma Cannon, which includes a 25% chance for critical strike and ignores 20% of your opponent’s resistance. Blood Mages will be able to wear Tech Mage armor and use  swords or staffs.

Cyber Hunter is a technologically advanced hunter. Some members of Baelius’s Shadow Guard started experimenting with the advanced technology available on the main continent, integrating some of that technology into their battle repertoire. As a Cyber Hunter, you will be able to use the Plasma Grenade, which explodes on contact- injuring your enemy with a 30% chance to stun! Cyber Hunters will be able to wear Bounty Hunter armor and use swords or wristblades.

Tactical Mercenary is an intellectual and crafty mercenary who uses tricks to defeat the enemy. When Baelius took over the planet, some of the more intellectual citizens were forced to work in the mines, and were able to create tactical weaponry from the mining tools- such as the Toxic Grenade which has an unblockable Damage Over Time effect. Tactical Mercenaries will be able to wear Mercenary armor and use swords or mauls.

To make class changes more accessible for everyone, we have reduced the price of Class Change to 900 VARIUM!  We are also introducing a credit-only class change option!  By Grabthar's Hammer, what a savings!

2 vs 1 Boss Battles!

 You asked for it, we built it! This is probably the feature we’re most excited about, honestly, and we’re really proud of what we came up with! Titan’s rigged it up so that you’ll be able to pick your partner from your buddy list. You select your buddy, then click on the icon that looks like a little chain. This requests an “Ally Link” with your buddy, which will change the icon next to your buddy from a green dot (indicating online) to a little chain, allowing you to team up for boss battles!

Step 1:  Select a buddy.  If you don't have any buddies, then it's time to socialize!

Step 2:  Click the link button on your buddy list (it looks like a little chain link)!  This will issue an ally request.  

Step 3:  After your buddy accepts, click the challenge button on the NPC.  The battle will begin after your ally joins.  Note that only certain NPCs can be challenged by 2 players.

Step 4:  FIGHT!  You'll need all the help you can get against this literal monster.  

(A BIG thank you to Rainaka for helping me demo this!)

You may have noticed that the first 2v1 boss you’ll be able to defeat is the Armor Hazard. To celebrate her return to Fortune City, Alydriah Descarl “commissioned” a pet from Fortune City’s Biological Researchers- in particular, a promising young scientist working on insects named Ella St. Alban (better known as Cinderella). She created this abomination created by transfecting a fetal BioHazard with a virus carrying genes of her beloved Armour Beetles. Cinderella barely survived delivering the thing to Descarl, but teaming together, two seasoned warriors may be able to defeat it. Cinderella says that the only way it can be killed, however, is to remove BOTH it's hearts...

New and Improved!

The New: Several new faces are showing up in Delta V- or just coming out of hiding.

Alydriah Descarl is the beautiful and cold architect of the destruction of Delta V. Her cruelty strikes fear into the hearts of even the most battle hardened soldiers of the Legion. Preferring public executions and flagellation to the soft punishments of the modern age, she earned a place at the head of the Legion. However, her main love is destruction, and her appetite for destruction leads her to fight not only against the surviving exiles, but her own former allies.

The Imperial Tech Mage is one of Baelius’s creations. The Imperial Tech Mages were an elite force of warrior mages. They were famous for their resilience due to the fact that  most of them did not survive the training process. After the Banishment- which imprisoned the vast majority of the population of Delta V between dimensions- some of the Imperial Tech Mages chose to follow Alydriah or Caden.

The Mystery of Alydriah and the masked mages can’t compare to another individual lurking somewhere in the dark underbelly of Fortune City. Could this Mysterious Individual be the one really masterminding the Revolution? To discover his aims and secrets and how they effect EpicDuel, you’ll first have to find him...

The Improved: Alydriah Descarl is not only a lover of destruction, but a lover of beauty. She’s commissioned the rebuilding of her beloved Fortune City. Players can expect a much more attractive visual experience.

As a bit of EpicDuel trivia, here is THE FIRST iteration of Fortune City from the pre-Alpha days.

What amatuer drew that, anyway? :p

Thank you to all of our dedicated staff and players for make this game what it is. Without your continued support, we wouldn’t be able to keep making the awesome happen.

Now back to the test server. Still work to be done!

Duel On!

Cinderella

Tags: Cinderella Delta alydriah 2v1 classes new Gamma Weapons