EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

March 07, 2012

New Gear!

We need to lighten up the mood a little bit around here- after the tragic loss of Administrator 12 at the radioactive hands of Alydriah's lackey, I think we all need a little rest.

This week is going to be focused on the new gear as well as give us a chance to prepare for the next big story arc. In the weeks to come, expect more missions, features and unique NPCs as we explore Delta V's greenest zone.

Bionic Brigade!

With the Azrael pack going rare, we are introducing a new Spring Promotional Pack! This awesome assortment includes the Bionic Battlegear drawn by Nightwraith during his Livestream and the new bot: The BioBorg.

Bio Borg in action!

The Bionic Battlegear features a potent new skill: Thorn Assault. Each normal strike will offer the chance to unleash a flury of metal barbs against your foes!

The bot's special skill is a unique new buff called Thorns.

This potent buff reflects a large portion of damage dealt by a melee attack back at the attacker. This will make high damage dealers think twice before trying to deliver that knockout punch!

Along with being available for free with the largest Varium package as soon as our release goes live Friday, these promotional items will also be available in-game from your favorite squid-headed archival alien, Xraal in the BioDome!

Lucky You!

The Celtic Weapons with the special ability Lucky Strike, which increases your chance to connect a strike by 7% will be returning this week. They are replacing the Heartbreaker weapons, so if you want to grab one of the Heartbreaker weapons now is your last chance to do so this year.

Lagomorph Lagomorph Lagomorph

The Biological Preserve is not only home to plants and Hazards, but also cute little fuzzy lagomorphs- the Bunnies! However, some of the bunnies have chewed through their protective caging and have escaped to other areas of Delta V. Are they just adorable or have some master plan?

Adorable. Going with adorable. =:3

Tags: Cinderella Bionic Battalion Weapons Promotion Bot Bio Borg Admin 12 bunny Celtic

January 25, 2012

The end of the Frysteland saga, that is! As the War comes to a close, I want to congratulate each of you who participated and made the Frysteland war a success! Remember that your actions determined the outcome of the War for Frysteland, and influenced the storyline as a whole. I’ll be posting an addendum with the official announcement of the alignment winner, along with a description of the missions you’ll have to complete to discover how this arc concludes.

What's gonna happen to these little guys? You'll find out soon!!!

We’ll probably be revisiting these characters in a future arc, and I know some of you were interested in the mythology. Frysteland will remain open all year to visitors from all over Delta V, whether you're seeking conquest, information, or riches.

Since this marks the end of this particular story arc, we’ll be implementing the Aftermath missions, and making changes to the Frysteland screens to reflect the aftermath of the Frysteland conflict.

Also, all the seasonal rare frost weapons will be leaving for another year, possibly taken by the mysterious Titanfraggr for unknown reasons.

Traitors

I would like to confirm that an individual cannot have both the Legion’s Bane achievement and the Krampus Slayer achievement. Players who switched alignment to earn both achievements will lose the second achievement earned. So, if you killed 100 Krampus for the Krampus Slayer achievement, then switched to Exile to kill 100 Yeti and get the Legion’s Bane achievement, you would only get to keep the Krampus Slayer achievement.

This situation showed us that we need to overhaul the war system for the next epic war event to encourage loyalty, and punish treason more severely.

Broken Hearts

Following the Frysteland arc, we will be starting with the next EpicDuel story arc. As Alydriah was distracted by the conflict in Frysteland, the Exiles in Old Fortune City seized this opportunity to plan a counterattack at the Heart of Alydriah’s operations. Not much more I can tell you right now, except that this arc won’t hold back- it’s the darkest thing I’ve written for EpicDuel so far; I hope you are prepared for it!

With this story arc, we’ll be implementing a NEW Promotional pack to replace the Frost Destroyers. This promo which will be going live Friday will include Azrael Borg and Azrael's Curse. The Azrael Borg is a robotic wasp does that physical damage, and has the special ability to sting your enemy with it's unblockable serrated tail and deliver a Heart Attack!  Well, technically it's not a real heart attack, but it does drastically reduce the effectiveness of any applied buffs on your opponent.  It also has a physical primary attack in which it uses it's razor-sharp heart blades to give your opponents more than a broken heart!

The second part of the promo is the awesome mutating weapon, Azrael's Curse! This potent physical weapon forged as a warped marriage of technology and magic carries the Mark of Azrael, which offers a +5% chance to crit!

Tags: Cinderella balance Frysteland Yeti Azrael Curse Skill War Heartbreaker Valentine's Day Promotion Weapons

November 29, 2011

Welcome to another Design Notes, EpicDuelists! I hope all of you US players enjoyed your time with friends and family and got stuffed on turkey and ham (or tofurkey if you’re so inclined). Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s getting colder, and we’re introducing our Winter event.

Last chance for 11/11/11 and Delta Weapons

This week, the 11/11/11 cheevos, missions, and Nightwraith’s personal items will be going seasonal rare. This will also be the final week we will be offering the Delta set in the 10K varium package. What is its replacement? Keep reading!

The Christmas/Winter seasonal house items will be returning in this update as well.

Frysteland 

The mountainous continent to the North of the main continent of Delta V was called The Northlands by the colonists to the planet, but the indigenous people already had a name for it- Frysteland. Today, the area remains a strategic location for both Exile and Legion interests, and players will be able to ally with some famous faces in this battle.

One familiar face players will see in Frysteland will be jolly baker and weapons dealer Hank! Hank and Valestra prefer to spend the holiday season together in their Winter Abode, far from the stresses of city life, where Hank can bake Juloffenblotten cookies and Valestra can make delicious hot chocolate, and afterwards cozy by the fire, watching the yetis hunting rabbits outside. However, Hank’s gotten word that Arctic Commander Edgar Boothe is planning something big this Juloffenblotten... and it’s not a lute berry pudding.

Also making the journey from Fortune City to the Frozen Northlands is Alydriah Descarl. Since she’d begun to corrupt the wildlife, Descarl has planned to use these more powerful and violent animals to destroy anyone- human or otherwise- who would stand in her way.

Although this week is just an introduction to the storyline, we hope to make this future releases a full-fledged Winter event the likes of which you have never seen!  The idea is that players will be able to choose alignment specific quests to determine the outcome of the storyline!

What is this? Quests based on alignment? Yes! Members of both the Exiles and Legion will battle each other, as well as the corrupted Yetis to win over the allegiance of the Krampus people.

New Promo?

With the Delta Weapons going rare, they will be replaced with the Frost Destroyer mutating weapon AND the Frost Slayer broadsword! These beautiful and powerful mutating weapons will be available with the $50 10K varium package starting this Friday!

This set of amazing weapons will come with the ability called Frostbite, which is a chance to cause your opponent to "leak" energy for 3 turns.  If you have Baby Yeti and one of the new Frost Destroyer or Frost Slayer weapons equipped, your Yeti will also gain this ability!

En Espanol!

We've had Portuguese support for EpicDuel for a few weeks now and it has really helped us refine the localization system.  Now, we're ready to expand to new languages.  Starting this Friday, EpicDuel will also have support for Spanish language in game!

South for the Winter

It’s not just Hank who likes to be warm and cozy during the winter- many animals migrate, including the Monarch butterfly. Perhaps the most recognizable insect in North America, the bright orange butterfly will begin flying from North America toward Mexico and Central and South America, where they will overwinter in huge clusters, huddling together on a tree, often forming clusters that cover entire trees!

This migratory behavior is not noted in populations outside of continental North America, as populations in Australia do not migrate very far, and they do not migrate at all in Hawaii.

Also interesting is that Monarch butterflies are one of the few insects that are capable of crossing the Atlantic ocean, and they are becoming more common in areas like Bermuda, where the plant they consume as larvae- milkweed- is a common ornamental plant. The consumption of milkweed as cateripllars make the adults distasteful to predators.

Child’s Play Platinum Supporter

Thank you for your support! Thanks to you, players, ArtixEntertainment is once again able to be a Platinum Supporter of Child’s Play Charity! We cannot express how deeply grateful we are to be able to support such a wonderful institution in this way!

Tags: Child's Play Charity Promotion Juloffenblotten Frysteland Winter