EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

May 01, 2012

Hi there EpicDuelists! It’s your friendly Neighborhood Cinderella here with your weekly dose of design notes!

Confounding Keys

As we noted last week, and many of you have noticed, we now have a new system for building your own promo pack, where instead of a set promotional item, you get “keys” with which you can use to unlock weapons, extra credits, and other goodies.

To clarify some things: all keys must be used at one go, you cannot stock up keys.  You can purchase multiple bonuses to use up your keys if you wish or use them all in one go.  Players who purchased packages prior to this system will not be receiving more keys.  The keys are simply a way to allow you to unlock more bonuses with higher tier Varium packs.  You cannot purchase keys independently from the Varium packages.

If you need some help figuring out how to purchase promos using the new system, Practel has helpfully made this video guide to purchasing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXuVB_TQQZM

Infernal Armaments

Our newest addition to the creative team, Disturbed, has been hard at work on some new weapons as a preview to our next war: the Infernal Infiltration War! Again, we are super-excited to have him around, and he’s going to start working on backgrounds and items for this saga.

I should have an outline turned in by the end of this week for the first part of the saga. As before, player action will have a profound effect on the outcome of the story and impact on the aftermath.

New Mods!

We’re proud to announce the selection of the new members of our moderation team!

In no particular order:

Fay Beee

Daimyo

G00NY

ORDER

Elf Priest Jzaanu

Digital X

Basicball

Practel

Congrats all! If you see them running around with a green name, be nice to them- they’re new!

I also realize that at least one of our selections comes with quite a bit of controversy. Practel has been a tester and a personal friend of the development team up to and including Artix himself for quite a while. While he is not quite of age, AE has made exception for exceptional teens in the past, and we have confidence in Practel that he will live up to our expectations.

Artix & Sepulchure Toys

Cysero of AQW has already done a great job describing the new action figures, so Imma just rip it and post here.  Riiiiiiiiiiiiiip :3

They are nearly here!

My sources (at least the reliable ones) tell me that they are on their way to the U.S. Toys R Us locations right now. They should arrive there a week or two before theyn reach us here and become availible on HeroMart.Com.

People often ask us why we can't get them to Toys R Us locations in other countries and that's mostly because there are different branches of the company and our relationship is so far only with the American branch of the company.

If our stuff keeps selling well in the American branch then we might be invited to start up a relationship with various other branches of Toys R Us... but that's really up to you guys.

Toys R Us gets to set their own price and we want the HeroMart price to be competative with the Toys R Us price so we have to wait and see what they set their prices at before we can set ours. If we decided early and went too high with the HJeroMart price, then we would be shooting ourselves in the foot and losing sales to Toys R Us. If we go to low, then we undercut Toys R Us and they might decide to cut ties with us which kills any future deals we might make with ANY branch.

SO... soon they will get theirs, we will find out what the decide for the price and then we will be able to tell you the HeroMart price whicl will be very close to the store price.

For the special Limited Edition BLACK version of the toys, I'm pretty sure that the price will be $50. It comes with the same in-game items as the normal versions but we made a LOT less of these and you will ONLY be able to get them from HeroMart. These are for hardcore collectors ONLY (or maybe people who want to resell them on E-bay for double price when they sell our and go rare).

More news on that as it arrises.

LiveStream Event with Dage the Evil

As you know, AQW has been inviting their artists to take part in live stream events in the game. The 5th and final artist participating in this particular event is Dage the Evil. I know many of our players are huge fans of Dage, so head on over to AQW around 4 PM EST/Server time.

Tents!

I was in the field a couple weeks ago and I had the opportunity to get up-close and personal with a web full of Eastern Tent caterpillars (Malacosoma americanum)- probably first instar. The tent was at eye level so I could see the caterpillars clearly. This species forms nests in woody roses including cherry, apple, and black cherry. The caterpillars are capable of consuming the cyanide compounds in these plants, but instead of sequestering the compounds in the hemolymph or fat, or metabolizing them, they keep the cyanide in the gut and vomit on would-be predators.

Of lepidopteran social behaviors, those of the Eastern Tent Caterpillars are among the most complex. Eggs are laid by the adults in spring or early summer, and the clutch contains 200-300 eggs. Upon hatching, the caterpillars construct a silk tent where they live communally, venturing outside the tend only to feed. They use vibratory and chemical signals to communicate with their siblings, and thrash as a group when the tent is attacked by a predator. 

They emerge as cute little fuzzy pink or brown moths.

Infernal Infiltration Preview Continued

This is another excerpt from the backstory for the upcoming war. Interstellar Marshalls John St. Alban and Silas Auer are investigating suspicious happenings on Delta V during their war for sovereignty. The two are separated, with Silas being guided by a Shadow Guard Commander, and Alydriah’s right-hand woman, Valestra Hitchens. Known throughout the galaxy as the “Angel of Death”, Valestra is an expert at hand-to-hand and ranged combat, a skilled sniper, and an accomplished poisoner.

They ventured into Fortune City's tenth district. A center for research and innovation, the district was marked by a large hospital, which Valestra explained is where she had learned pharmacology.

"There's someone I want you to meet. He isn't the administrator, but I think you'll like him."

Valestra led Silas to a back office in the basement where a lanky man wearing navy blue was working with his back turned.

"Ulysses!" 

The man turned. He was a man of about 30; tall and long all over, with a visage that seemed to be stuck in a perpetual wonder. His face was thin and wide gray eyes hid behind tinted goggles. A shock of unkempt dishwater blond hair perched awkwardly upon his head.

“Valestra! And is this a boyfriend?”

Valestra laughed. “Aww, Ulysses. You know I’m waiting for you.” She turned to Silas. “Ulysses is a Master Craftsman, brilliant engineer...”

“And a lover of beauty.” Ulysses extended a gloved hand to Valestra, took her hand, and kissed it. “If you’re not Val’s boyfriend...”

“He’s one of the Marshalls. Making sure we’re playing nice.”

“Oh! Well, Marshall, let me show you my latest project... I’m sorry what did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. It’s Auer. Silas Auer.”

“Auer. Like gold. Splendid!” He picked up a golden object. It was oblong and was carved with strange markings. “Do you know what this is?”

“No. What is it?”

“I have no idea!” He smiled broadly.

“Your project...” Valestra interjected.

“Yes, of course. Pygmalion. That’s the name I gave my creation. It’s a method for extracting the central nervous system of a sick or dying creature and placing it in this ingenious metal suit! So far I’ve only tried it on rabbits and squidlings, but it could revolutionize medicine as we know it!”

As he said this, Ulysses produced a cage containing a little robotic bunny. The cyborg rabbit sadly chewed upon a corncob, and looked despondent and confused. 

“He looks sad.” Silas blurted.

“The alternative was dying from his injuries. This little guy was run over by a ground vehicle,” he said defensively, replacing the rabbit cage. “Lovely to see you, Valestra, but I’m sure I don’t want to waste any more of the Marshall’s time.” Valestra and Silas turned to leave when Silas heard his communicator beep. He read the text message- “Do not trust Alydriah. There’s more than she’s telling you. Find the Delta Vault.”

“What was that?” asked Valestra.

“Spam.  Apparently, there are Fortune City singles who wish to speak with me.” He closed the communicator and smiled rakishly at Valestra, "Intriguing."

She laughed. “Your wife must be jealous.”

“You looked at my background. You know I’m unmarried.”

Valestra smiled to herself. “Come on, there’s more to see, cowboy.”

Tags: Cinderella Infernal Infiltration Delta Knight Keys Varium promotions Moderators Armor Weapons War Toys

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

February 01, 2012

Hey Fellas, Have You Heard the News?

If you haven’t, that’s what the Design Notes are for! The Frysteland Arc is coming to a close- and I’ll thank all of you a billion times for making EpicDuel’s first in-game War a success! Now, though, we’re moving on to the next arc, the Heartbreaker Saga. This will be a month-long story arc, and arguably the darkest thing I have ever written for EpicDuel, so I’m excited. Are you excited?

Dream Maker

This week marks the release of another Player Suggestion Shop. Once Nightwraith has them all drawn, I’ll post the names of all the players whose dreams have come true by having a design in EpicDuel.  Nightwraith promised to draw until his hands are withered claws, so we should have a hefty amount of items for all classes.

Remember, all players whose designs are implemented in game will receive their item (regardless of price, level, or item type), as well as the EpicArtist Achievement!

Epic Artists

The results are in!  The following is a list of contributors to this suggestion shop.  This was one of the best batches yet so keep up the good work!

Despair - VectosAE
Rust Runeblade - Shasonic1
Hero's Heart Broadsword - Reki
Hero's Heart Mutating weapon - Reki
Crysaliss - Reki
Dragon's Breath - Reki
Hazard Blaster - Reki
Caterpillar Bugzooka - vypie
Dark Varium Blaster - vypie
Surgical Slicer - vypie
Toxic Chompers -vypie
Energy Steering Device- vypie
Golden Draconic Axe - Ganzdemon
Spirit Scythe - theraplawyers
Spirit Pike - theraplawyers

If your suggestion didn't make it in this time, take this as an opportunity to improve and submit new designs for future suggestions shops. It's also possible that we really liked your idea, but didn't have time to include it in this release. Eithery way, the next suggestion shop can't come soon enough!

Lost and Found!

Ever wonder what’s the best weapon for your level, or wonder where your opponent got that cool item? Just ask the Finderbot! The Finderbot is programmed with statistics on all of the items in EpicDuel, and he’s sorted them by level and type, with numerous filter options, so you’ll be able to find the gear you need much faster!

Preview Missions

I’m still writing the first missions that will introduce the Heartbreaker Arc, but I can tell you that you’ll need to start out in Old Fortune City to receive your first orders from the Exile Soldier and Exile Leader. Watch my Twitter for more info about where to go for story missions this week!

Sweet Insect Facts

Recently, honeybee (Apis mellifera) colonies have been in decline worldwide. The odd syndrome (named Colony Collapse Disorder) causes the almost sudden disappearance of workers from the hive in a short amount of time- this is caused by the worker bees leaving the colony when they recognize that they are diseased.

The current hypothesis for the cause of Colony Collapse Disorder is that it it is caused by several simultaneous plagues afflicting the bees, and with international bee commerce (eg. purchase of royal jelly from hives in China, import and export of hives across continents) the plague has a much higher rate of infection. A good candidate for a viral plague is the Deformed Wing Virus, which is spread by parasitic mites, Varroa destructor, who prey upon apian pupae. The pesticides used to control mite populations may increase sensitivity to DWV, but treated hives are less likely to succumb to Colony Collapse Disorder.

Tags: Cinderella Finderbot Suggestion Shop Weapons Items Heartbreaker Missions

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

January 18, 2012

Winter Wrap-Up

We’re coming down to the end game for the Frysteland Conflict. Again, a BIG thanks to the thousands of you who supported us during this in-game war. Remember that the War for Frysteland will remain active until January 27th, at which point the winning side will be announced and the Aftermath ensue as planned.

We do want to hold off on announcing any rewards for being on the winning side due to the issues we’ve had with “turncoats”- we want to encourage you to support your side, even if you don’t end up victorious in the end, and we will be adding incentives toward that end. Also, I know that many players wanted us to extend the Frysteland War, but we have a lot planned for the Aftermath and the next storyline! After all, if a special event lasts too long, it's no longer a special event, is it?

The Aftermath

We’re stockpiling content for a big release next week, including the missions for the Aftermath. Implementing a war event is quite challenging, so removing one and transforming the world is also an ordeal. Legion and Exile are still battling, so we still must prepare for either outcome! I have quite a bit written already, including a bunch of new missions, but your actions can completely change what happens during the Aftermath. During this period and beyond, the Frysteland NPCs will behave as normal NPCs (with the exception of the Boss NPCs).

In addition, we’ll be adding a bunch of PERMANENT Frysteland weapons for your battling pleasure!

Factions Going on a Diet!

The War for Frysteland has given us a great opportunity to reflect on our Faction/Alignment system and its role in EpicDuel's gameplay.  We have concluded that Factions are great, but almost incomprehensibly confusing.  War Points, War Flags, Influence, War Kills, Token Donations, etc are mysteries to all but the most hardcore players. We really loved the simplicity of the War event being one number that goes up with all players being able to easily view their individual contribution. Thus, one of our goals for the new year is to retool and streamline Faction scoring to better integrate all the disparate systems into each other. We'll be posting more to clarify exactly what changes we're making and how they'll effect the Legion/Exile conflict, Factions, and individual players.

You’re a Heartbreaker

We’ll be bringing back the Heartbreaker weapons in anticipation of Valentine’s Day. We’re also hard at work preparing for our next Epic storyline! I’m really REALLY excited about this one, folks. So far, we’ve started dealing with some pretty interesting issues, including the nature of the identity of one of the characters you already know and love!

Challenging!

By popular request, and to halt the issue with dummying, challenge battles will no longer count toward your win record. This will also allow people to test builds against friends for fun, or to test builds. You will not receive credits, experience, or battle tokens for challenge battles, they will just be for fun or for completing challenge missions. Random battles will still count toward your battle record, as will normal NPC fights.

Where Are the Bots?

A lot of players have been asking about the lack of credit-only bots, and the simple answer is that adding bots with the current system is extremely difficult. All the bots do not work like regular weapons -- they use custom code that is very complex and inefficient. Bots are an amazing feature and we would love to fill the game with tons of unique bots with crazy skills and attacks, so this is a frustrating situation for us as well as they players.  One of the programming team's short-term goals is to streamline the code for bots to make them easier to add. Once this happens, we can increase the quantity and quality of bots to provide both Varium and credit-only players with equal opportunities to acquire powerful bots.

Alydriah Descarl Opposes Free Expression!

In his Design Notes post, Cysero established that ArtixEntertainment is against SOPA/PIPA. These are bills introduced in the US legislature that seek to prevent online piracy, but represent a gross abuse of power by the United States Government. These bills, if passed, would give the US government the power to take down websites suspected of hosting copyrighted material without due process. For example, Twitter could be taken down because of one user using a comic book character (like, say, Batman or Deadpool). Individual web users face serious consequences as well, with performance of a copyrighted work (eg. a video of yourself covering a popular song) becoming a felony with punishments up to 5 years in federal prison. Even works that fall under Fair Use or Satire or derivative works face serious legal consequences.

This could spell doom for a company like ArtixEntertainment, because- while we do not support piracy or distribution of materials to which you do not own the copyright- our games are filled with popular culture references. Games like HeroSmash and Pony vs. Pony are just one big pop culture reference! EpicDuel is not immune- we have several references to other media (eg. the “Cake” achievement references Portal, Banana armor and Too Big! reference Don Hertzfeldt, The Lawman shares his name with a Motorhead song and is a dead ringer for Lemmy Killmister). Also, you could face legal penalties for recording yourself battling in EpicDuel, adding a song to the background, and posting it on YouTube. This is a serious issue, and I hope that, if you’re in the US, you will urge your congressperson to vote AGAINST SOPA and PIPA. You can learn more on Americancensorship.org 

If we don't defeat SOPA and PIPA, the Internet will become a much smaller, less interesting, and ultimately less useful place.

Tags: Cinderella SOPA PIPA Freedom Frysteland War bots turncoats aftermath Missions Weapons Items

October 13, 2011

Boo!

Hi there, EpicDuelists! Hope I didn’t scare you! With Halloween just around the corner, we have some scary and sweet things in store for all you players! This Harvest Festival (which will involve several updates) should be full of yummy treats for players (and only a few tricks ;3 ).

First, some Treats!

If you’ve been following me on Twitter or the ArtixEntertainment forums, you know that, due to my wide creative streak, my talent for wordsmithing, or (most likely) my willingness to work a full-time job for no money (seriously, guys, you can at least subsidize my caffeine habit), I have inherited the storyline of EpicDuel. We haven’t had a designated writer for the game in quite a while, and having a writer means that things like story arcs, plot lines, and missions will be coming out at a faster rate.

My first assignment was to write a few missions for EpicDuel's Harvest Festival, and players will be able to complete several new quests, with unique attributes and special rewards!

Most of these quests have to do with the Candy Harvest. An amalgamation of harvest tradition from the colonists’ home planets, young citizens of Delta V were encouraged to wear masks and collect candy from their friends and neighbors. The giving of sweets represents the sharing of joys in life, the masks represent generosity to all, regardless of who they are to you, and prosperity. All players, including low level players, will be able to visit Steve 1.0 in Central Station to earn a unique achievement, or visit Brunson outside the Mine Tower to collect some ingredients for his Mama’s Pumpkin Pie.

There are sweet treats for our higher-level players as well! Collect some candy from several shopkeepers for Naomi Page in exchange for a handsome sum of Battle Tokens!

But not all is light and sweetness. The indigenous people of Delta V celebrate the Harvest Festival very differently- as the Harvest of Souls. Delta V’s native people believe that the souls of the dead can only enter the Afterlife one day a year. The living collect and display bones and all other things dark and distressing, along with brightly-colored flowers, rich clothes and delicious food. This juxtaposition of the frightening with the familiar is both to celebrate the lives of those who passed during the year as well as to ease the dead into the Afterlife.

The weapons dealer beneath the Mine Tower is a member of Delta V’s native people, and hides his identity behind a mask depicting the indigenous War God, Snortivit, from whom he takes the name “Snork”. In exchange for a certain amount of won battles, Snork may be convinced to part with one of his special designs, a valuable and rare weapon, exclusively available from this quest!

I’m super excited to get started on some longer story arcs, fleshing out the world’s mythos, and working with Nightwraith to bring the characters to life!

Stay tuned for more supernaturally awesome quests next week!

Tricksy Playerses...

In addition to all of those things listed above, you’ll be able to trick your friends by hiding behind one of 30 (!) new hairstyles!  There are credit only and credit + Varium styles!

Also, Hudelf has something in his bag of tricks for you- the retrain revamp is HOPEFULLY being released! I know many of the players were getting impatient, but it ended up needing a little more care.  We'll see if the EpicDuel programming team can work some miracles tomorrow!

We’ll be continuing with balance updates, including a slight revamp to the Tactical Mercenary skill tree in the coming weeks. I know many of our players were upset by the addition of requirements to the Tactical Mercenary skill tree, but when 40% of high level players are playing as one class, and defenses of the class reveal that there are only a handful of highly-specific builds that can defeat one build of the class (while being completely weak to any other build the class can put together), there’s something wrong with the class. Which class one choses should not determine the winner before the battle has even begun.

As for the revamp of Feld Medic, we determined that support and Field Medic were being abused to a point which was frustrating and painfully unfair to other builds. However, we are going to look at the speed at which the skill improves with level, and see if we need to make it improve faster.

With the new adjustments, we’ll also be reexamining the level range for Juggernaut battles for future releases.

*** Stay tuned for more Harvest releases as we move into the month of October! ***

They Might be Giants in AQW

To celebrate AQW’s third birthday, AQW is running a special event with special guests They Might be Giants! On October 14th, Join Us for a very special two-week event “The Collector”. The Collector collects special people before their greatest moments, from not only Lore but other worlds as well (maybe someone from Delta V?) Read more about it on the Event Page and the AQW Design Notes!

They Call Me Doctor Worm

Good Morning! How are you? I’m Doctor Worm!

Insects and worms are often studied together (being abundant invertebrates), so this week, we’ll be talking about Earthworms! Earthworms belong to the class Oligochaeta in phylum Annelida (round, segmented worms). Their bodies mainly consist of a tubular digestive system surrounded by a muscular outer body formed of segments. They move by means of waves of muscular contractions to shorten and lengthen the body. They are covered with tiny bristles that act as claws, allowing them to tunnel through soil- which, along with decaying plant matter, make up their diet. Worms have a variable number of “hearts” (technically aortic arches) which pump blood through their simple closed circulatory system. They do not have separate sexes, and baby worms reach adulthood within one year. Worms live for 4-8 years in the wild.

An interesting attribute about worms is their ability to regenerate lost segments, and it is theoretically possible to grow two whole worms from a worm cut in half. 

Tags: Cinderella TMBG retrain balance styles Halloween harvest Missions Achievements Weapons

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