September 06, 2024 Jaguar Warrior ArcadeEpicDuel is back with a new addition to its ArcadeBots: Jaguar Warrior! Will you be the first to claim all the new gear and reach the top of the Arcade's leaderboard?
NEW Jaguar Warrior Arcade Seek out your nearest ArcadeBot (many are concentrated in Valestra's shop in Fortune City) to play the latest Arcade game: Jaguar Warrior! Use your Arcade Tokens to win the 20 new prizes!
Since this is a new Arcade game, it also comes with a new evolving achievement. Spend those Tokens to max out the new achievement to level 20! As you accumulate more rating points, you'll creep ever closer to the 10 new rating tiers!
Jaguar Warrior StylesTo complement the new Jaguar Warrior gear, we've added styles 805 - 810 to the style shop! Check them out to complete your look! Tags: Nightwraith | |
August 28, 2024 Epic JusticeThis post is a blunt reminder of the new consequences of cheating, plus an important message about the 2023 Gifting perks and account security.
Updated Consequences of CheatingAwhile ago, EpicDuel implemented a policy of resetting wins as a punishment for repeat offenders who attempt to cheat to boost their wins. Apparently, that policy was not nearly severe enough because we still saw repeat offenders who continue to cheat even after a reset. To escalate the penalty for multiple infractions of cheating, effective immediately, in addition to having wins reset in the battle mode in which the cheating occurred, there will be 3 additional punishments.
This may seem severe, but that is precisely the intention! Hopefully these additional consequences will give pause to anyone considering cheating in the future. Again, these new punishments are in effect immediately.
Gifting Perk CutoffOne of the perks of this past year's Gifting event was awarding prizes to a select group of friends. Generously, or perhaps foolishly, I did not establish a limit on either the number of friends or how long this offer would remain open. I have noticed an uptick in reports about people attempting to scam Gifters by abusing this offer so I feel it is now necessary for a hard deadline. Friday, September 20th will be the final day for awarding Gifting prizes to friends for this past Gifting season. If you don't read or care about Design Notes posts, but still ask about sharing items after the cutoff, your request will be politely denied.
Scam AlertAs the holidays approach, this is also a good space to remind you all about account safety and protecting yourself from scams. If you don't remember when you last changed your password, now is a great time to do so. Also, make sure you are the sole owner of your account. A common way to lose control of your account is account sharing. Not only is it against the Terms of Service, but it also puts your account at great risk of being stolen and eventually disabled. If you use a public or shared computer to play EpicDuel, always fully close the launcher or browser window the game is being played on, and avoid using the "save login info" feature. Protecting your account can be as simple as following a few rules: DO NOT share your password. DO NOT share your account. DO NOT try to sell accounts or items outside the game. The classic advice still applies: If someone offers you something that seems too good to be true, it probably is! Tags: Nightwraith | |
August 23, 2024 Righteous Gemstones Part 2Extra Achievement UpdateThis latest update features new tiers for some existing achievements, plus a new evolving achievement to complement the new gem achievements added last week. Those who already meet or exceed the new tiers will be updated manually. To update your Archivist achievement, you will simply need to have your gear re-appraised by an NPC that offers this service such as Charfade.
New Legendary Rank LeaderboardBy popular request, we have added a new Leaderboard to track All-Time Legendary Ranks.
Character Page ChangesThe Character Pages have been updated to correct an error that was causing some items to not load correctly on the character. This bug mainly affected players with extremely large inventories. This is because the query that loads the items on the character was written back when the inventory cap was much, much smaller than it is today. To help clean up the Character Page and accommodate the added items, Home Items and Missions Completed have been removed from the page.
Balance Changes
Jaguar Warrior Arcade PreviewAcatriel is cooking up some awesome new art for an upcoming Jaguar Warrior Arcade game that will be available within the next few weeks! Tags: Nightwraith | |
August 16, 2024 Righteous GemstonesNew Evolving Gemstone AchievementsTo help players invest their excess Credits accumulated over the years, we've introduced 6 new evolving achievements, each upgradeable to level 20. This amounts to thousands of Rating Points. A fair trade for a few million Credits!
We may need some extra rating star levels after these are maxed out!
NPC-Only CoresWith this update we are introducing new NPC-only cores. These cores, while mostly identical to the correspondingly-named cores already in-game, can only be used in NPC-only battle modes. These modes include 1v1 NPC, 1v1 Boss, 2v1 Boss, and Simulation. Unlike their PvP counterparts, these cores are multi-use with 4-turn cooldowns:
If you struggled against EpicDuel's toughest bosses in the past, these new cores might be just what you need to take them down! Note: These cores will still be disabled in PvP battle modes even if your opponent is an NPC! For example, if you are matched with an NPC in 1v1 automatch mode, the cores will still be disabled.
New Bido CoreThis update also introduces a new core available at Bido!
This core could be useful for countering heavy poison builds. Note: This core will not block poison attacks from NPCs. Tags: Nightwraith | |
August 09, 2024 Bido's Birthday Showcase 2024Bido's Birthday GearWe've finally adding a long-awaited update to EpicDuel artist Bido's Birthday shop! We know we're later than usual, but better late than never! Pay Bido a visit in his Afterlife perch to browse his latest limited-quantity rares.
We've also re-added the Bido weapons to the PvP drop pool that are necessary for completing his collection missions.
New AchievementsThis update is also bringing several new NFTeaser Achievements. Remember NFTs? Such a time capsule of 2020-2021, which, to my mind, feels like it was simultaneously 5 months ago and 50 years ago. Anyway, these new themed achievements should provide a quick boost of the big Credit spenders out there. This isn't the last batch of Credit sink achievements so don't spend them all in one place!
Tags: Nightwraith | |
August 01, 2024 August Coming AttractionsThere's no update this week, but we do have a quick rundown of what is currently being worked on this month!
Kaiju Slayer Battlepass PreviewThe Nanotech Nightmare Showcase is barely a week old, but the next Battlepass is already underway. This new showcase developed by Acatriel is inspired by a particularly famous radioactive movie monster. This Battlepass is expected to go live by the end of September or early October, and we plan to add in-game text with an exact release date when the update is locked-in so nobody forgets to claim their prizes.
Bido's Birthday ShopAQW and EpicDuel artist Bido is currently working on a new birthday set to bolster his current shop. It's been lonely on his perch in the Afterlife and he'd love some more people to stop by to help him celebrate!
New Evolving AchievementsIn addition to the next Battlepass, we're also working on an assortment of new evolving achievements to allow those with massive Credit surpluses to boost their ratings while adding to their extensive achievement collections.
PvE-Only SkillsOne challenge with balancing skill cores is that a skill that's extremely effective against bosses might also be incredibly overpowered against human opponents. We're currently working on a way for skills to be flagged for PvE-only, meaning they would only be active against bosses and 1v1 NPC challenge battles. The PvE skills would still be disabled in regular PvP modes like 1v1/2v2 automatch and Juggernaut, even if the matched opponent(s) happens to be an NPC. This could theoretically be reversed to make certain skills PvP-only, but that's an addition to consider later when the PvE cores are finally integrated. Tags: Nightwraith | |
July 26, 2024 Nanotech Nightmare Battlepass Now LiveThe Nanotech Nightmare Showcase Battlepass is NOW LIVE! Login now to earn the latest collection of nanotech and casual weapons, armors, vehicles, morphs, bots, and more crafted with care by Acatriel and Mihuri! Good luck and happy dueling to reach level 60 of EpicDuel's latest Battlepass season! So you all know what you're getting into with the new bots available in this season, the skill descriptions are listed below:
Character Animation OptimizationThe optimization of the character animation timeline is still underway so there may still be some jank in certain animations. This means that certain armors in certain poses may not look right. In some cases, it might be better to change the armor rather than the animation, but this will be handled in time. Many animations have been consolidated, cleaned up, and shortened (especially the hit/block animations) to improve the flow of battle. Despite all the work already done, with over 8000 total frames, there's still plenty of room for improvements in the future. Tags: Nightwraith | |
July 18, 2024 EpicDuel Progress ReportProgress ReportThe upcoming Battlepass, Nanotech Nightmare, is still in progress.This update features some new armors which will require a few changes to the character animation timeline. These changes are minor, but there are 8,000+ frames in the timeline, so the update is taking more time than expected. Everything else is going smoothly so the update is expected to go live next week! We didn't want you to go too long without any updates so we're implementing a few small changes while you wait!
Balance Changes
Achievement Updates
Tags: Nightwraith | |
July 03, 2024 Independence Day 2024Independence Day ArsenalVisit the Overlord Guard in the Overlord Facility to browse his shop of new seasonal rares created by Bido! These rares are limited quantity so you'll need to act quickly if you want to collect them all!
New MissionsIn addition to new seasonal rares, the Overlord Guard is offering a new mission chain, starting with "Dawn of Destiny." This new chain will allow players to turn in new Starlight Shards, earned from PvP wins, to claim the new rares: Dawn of Destiny and Starlight of Destiny.
New AchievementThe Independence Day 6 Achievement has been added to the seasonal section of the achievement shop.
Juggernaut Battle CapTo combat the exploitation by botters, as of this update we've implemented a cap on Juggernaut wins. After 300 Juggernaut wins, Juggernaut battles will stop offering credits, experience, war drops, and PvP drops. This was done to remove the incentive to use bots accumulate way more wins than any human could possibly achieve. Tags: Nightwraith | |
June 28, 2024 Classy AchievementsNew Class Win Tracker AchievementsNew achievements have been added to track wins for each class in each PvP battle mode (1v1, 2v2, and Juggernaut). These achievements are not retroactive so everyone will start at 0 for all Classes and battle modes. They will start tracking as soon as you win any PvP battle mode with any class.
Balance Changes
BuyBack BoostNew items will be added for people who have the following promotional items:
Owners of these items will receive the corresponding P (physical damage) variants. If you already sold your original promotional weapon, you can find the new items in the BuyBack shop.
Botters' BaneEvery only game suffers from bots, hackers, cheaters, and jerks of all degrees, but that doesn't mean we can just rest on our hands while exploits are used. Most players play the game legitimately, but some are clearly using sophisticated bots to take advantage of blind spots in our bot flagging system, particularly in Juggernaut mode. I've never understood why someone would put so much effort into *not* playing a game, but clearly, as revealed by the popularity of generative AI, there's a market for pathetic people who want to reap rewards in exchange for minimal effort. With this update, we've modified the bot flag parameters to throttle rewards for those who accumulate more wins than would be possible for a human player. Some players are hardcore and can play for hours, but no human can play 24/7 without rest. The ultimate reward for botters is an empty game with all human players driven out with numbers going up perpetually to the acclaim of nobody. Maybe that's what they want? Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but that doesn't seem fun to me. Tags: Nightwraith | |
June 21, 2024 Epic Legendary ArsenalNew Legendary GearThe Legendary Shops of Titan's Peak have been stocked with loads of luxurious new items! User your excess Credits to boost your rating score and show off your stylish new swords! For new-ish players: These shops are only accessible if you have achieved level 40+. If you're under level 40, you'll need to level up before you can access the shops.
Balance AddendumAs per the last Design Notes, there was supposed to be balance changes for this update, but those have been delayed, unfortunately. I didn't want to hold onto the content for any longer so I decided it was better to update with the new items than nothing at all for another week! Balance changes are still being considered and will be pushed to live as soon as they are ready. Tags: Nightwraith | |
June 14, 2024 Optimization OdysseyOptimization OdysseyThis week was a challenging one as a great deal of time was spent on optimizing the file that contains all the skill icons in the game. Every icon is stored in one FLA (the raw file format used by Flash) and compiled at runtime. The problem was that the file had become to large and would take 15 minutes or more to publish if it did at all. This can happen when FLAs become too large. This can sometimes be addressed by splitting the one massive file into several, but in this case, the only way forward was to make the file smaller by merging duplicate assets and removing unused ones. The end result was a file ten megabytes leaner (20% reduction) that could reliable publish! There was still more optimization work to be done, but it is good enough for the time being. This will not be the last time optimization work will be needed as EpicDuel is ancient by game standards -- that long lifespan means plenty of time for redundant assets to accumulate that bloat files and hinder development. The rest of the time this week was spent making dozens of new weapons for release in the Legendary shops. I ended up making progress, but not nearly enough weapons for a substantial update so I'll continue work into next week to make sure all weapons are thoroughly polished and tested. Since there will be no update this week, I've included some previews of content to expect for next week and the weeks to come.
Golden Regal ArmoryFor those who have been itching for something use their accumulated Credits on, we'll soon be introducing new weapons with to the Legendary Shops. To make sure the update is substantial, we're also planning to include several balance changes with the next update!
New Battlepass Already?The Eldritch Battlepass just launched last week, but Lodrian has been one and a half steps ahead of our schedule by delivering the next Battlepass: Nanotech Nightmare! Here's a small preview of the new gear that will be available with the next showcase! If you just started leveling Eldritch Onslaught, don't worry! This will not release for a few weeks so you'll have plenty of time to complete the current Battlepass. Tags: Nightwraith | |
June 07, 2024 Eldritch Onslaught Battlepass NOW LIVEThe Eldritch Onslaught Showcase Battlepass is NOW LIVE! Login now to earn the latest collection of Lovecraftian-themed weapons, armors, vehicles, morphs, bots, and more crafted with care by Acatriel and Bido! Good luck and happy dueling to reach level 60 of EpicDuel's latest Battlepass season! So you all know what you're getting into with the new bots available in this season, the skill descriptions are listed below:
Balance Changes
Tags: Nightwraith | |
May 24, 2024 War Drop Update and New Battlepass PreviewThis update covers some miscellaneous categories, mainly focusing on war drop balance with some additional information on the next Battlepass!
War Drops RebalancingLast week we introduced some substantial changes to war drop rates, including increased drop rates for super war drops. One major downside of this change is it tilted the incentive to bot heavily, especially in Juggernaut mode. To address this, the following changes have been made and will be in effect for the next War.
Drop rates are always difficulty to evaluate as sometimes an item drop might "feel" like it's dropping more or less than it should based on a limited data set. Generally, we'd prefer to be more generous than stingy so we're open to reevaluating the percentages when the next War is underway.
Cyber Wolf Collection CompleteWith this update the final Cyber Wolf Collection items have been distributed. I'm sorry this obligation took so long to fulfill, but I wanted to make sure all the items were as high quality as we could make them. Over 175,000 score
Over 250,000 score
This collection was a collaboration between myself, Tomcat, Acatriel, and Charfade, with a bit of inspiration from Dage thrown in for good measure. I hope you all enjoy the rewards as much as we did crafting them!
Balance ChangesThis small round of balance changes mainly address the new promo cores, but fortunately, they're mostly buffs!
Bug Fixes
Eldritch Onslaught BattlepassThe final item on this post is a preview for the upcoming Eldritch Onslaught Battlepass! This will replace the current Azrael-themed Battlepass soon so your time to collect the last few levels of rewards is running out! Tags: Nightwraith | |
May 18, 2024 Infernal Guardian Gear Now Live!New Infernal Guardian Gear Promo PackFor the first time in too long, we're introducing a new promotional package featuring new, exclusive armors, weapons, and cores!
For this latest promotional package, we're doing something experimental. We'll be offering a 10,000 AP and a 4,000 AP version of the package. The 10,000 AP version will include 15,000 Varium and addition spare cores. The 4,000 AP package will be gear-only and not offer Varium or spare cores. It will still include cores pre-equipped to the items. Both packages will award the Infernal Guardian Crest Achievement, but only the 10,000 AP package will reward the Epic Supporter Achievement. Please review the package descriptions carefully in the in-game Varium shop to avoid accidentally purchasing the wrong package.
| |