EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

November 29, 2018

Everyone from Fortune City to the Dread Plains is talking about the return of EpicDuel's Gifting Season! This year, celebrate 36 days to gifts with incredible prizes for the top 15 most generous gifters! When gifting begins after a short update, you can choose to power up with the Epic Supporter 2018 Varium package or the fearsome Omega Wolf Package!

This is also your last chance for the 35,000 Legendary Epic Supporter Varium pack and Ghoulish Gear packages as they're leaving after the update tomorrow!

Gifting

The 2018 season of gifting will go live as soon as we update EpicDuel servers Friday November 30th. We hope this is sooner in the day than later, but we don't want to have any emergency reboots for last minute fixes, kicking everyone out, so we won't launch until we're 100% ready. Gifting will last until the end January 4th, 2019. 

This year gifting cost has been reduced to 325 from 375.

Prize/Wish Addendum Concerning Founder Armor

Since the announcement of the prizes for this year's gifting event, there's been some controversy of the parameters of the Epic Wish. We mentioned that players can wish for "nearly any item" and some longtime players were upset that that could put Founder Armor on the menu for up to 15 players. At first we thought, "A wish is a wish," but the outcry from Founders has be notable. Obviously, with the community as tight as it is, it would not be a good idea to upset our most experienced players. As a compromise, we've decided to exclude Founder Armor from the potential wish items for all but the #1 gifter (#1 spot gets a wish and a custom item). This was a tough decision, but we had a feeling an issue like this might come up, hence the "nearly any" language. We're sorry if you were told in chat or on Twitter this would be a valid prize choice, but that was before the weight of this issue was brought to our attention. We hope this doesn't dampen your gifting cheer too much, as there are still hundreds of other items to choose from, as well as wish ideas that don't involve an item at all.

Since there was additional confusion, we'd also like to clarify that "nearly any item" means one item and doesn't include entire promotional packages. Mutating armors and weapons do count as one item, though.

Further Addendum: If you have the Founder Achievement, but not the Founder Armor, and you're in the top 15 of the gifting event, you may wish for Founder Armor.

Omega Wolf Pack

The gifting update will also see the introduction of the Omega Wolf Pack, which will come locked and loaded with 9 new items complete with cores!

• Omega Wolf Blaster P/E (sidearm)
• Omega Wolf Rifle P/E (auxiliary)
• Omega Wolf Fang P/E (sword)
• Omega Wolf Bloodletter/Souleater (mutating)
• Omega Wolf Rider (non-CC vehicle)

Cores

• Tactical Reload (Sidearm): Get a free reload of your sidearm, bypassing cooldown.
• Icy Overkill (Aux): Overload your auxiliary, ignoring 35% of target's defense. Is unusable for rest of battle.
• Wolf’s Fury (Primary): While low on health, unleash an unblockable attack with a 25% crit/stun chance and 100% energy conversion. Also does 26% attack damage to target’s energy.

Epic Supporter 2018

The 15,000 Varium package is back with a new twist of the achievement. Each time this package or the Omega Wolf Pack is purchased, the achievement will level up (up to 10)! 

Quality of Life

• /dnd command activates Do Not Disturb mode that blocks PMs, jumps, ally links, and sonar. Still shows green “online” light on buddy list so not completely invisible. Type it again to turn this mode off.
• /openallgifts receives all gifts currently in your mail.
• Since there will be a lot of congestion in gifting areas, the AFK timer now disconnects after 15 minutes of idle time. If you want those gifts, you'll have to be active!

Mission Changes

• Removed mission chains for Nightwraith. Congratulations to everyone who received Nightwraith's personal armor! The missions will return next year to give you all another chance to level and plan your strategy!
  • Party Business
  • OneX6 Retrieval
  • A Bold Bounty

Balance

• Cyber Hunter
  • Massacre: Improves with every 12 Tech instead of ever 8

Arcade

• Increased value of prize tiers -- resale should be higher as well. This is not a retroactive change.
  • Gold - 2000
  • Silver - 300
  • Bronze - 40

Maps

• Added extra-large gifting arenas to the right and left of Edgar Boothe. We tried making players even smaller, but it breaks character movement badly. It's hilarious to see, but probably too frustrating if you really want to focus on claiming your gifts. If people like this addition enough, we can add more to other regions of Delta V!
• Room cap increased to 150! Remember to turn down all the graphics to the lowest settings if you have an older PC unless you like slideshows!

Achievements

• 12 tiers of the Good Gifter 2018 Achievement
• 2 tiers of the Yeti for Winter 2018 Achievement
• 10 tiers of the Epic Supporter 2018 Achievement
• Achievement changes
  • Dage achievement value raised to 4000
  • Legendary Titan achievement value raised to 4000
  • Gamma achievement value raised to 4500
  • Collector achievements should be tagged as Ultra Rare
  • Archivist achievements should be tagged as General since it’s not rare at all
  • Archivist achievements all bumped in value by 500 since the tiers are harder to get

Wow! That's a truckload of content and we're just getting started! We'll be periodically updating gifting throughout December with new content and items to add to gifting pool so it'll only get better as the event goes on! Thank you all for making an update like this possible! Duel On and Gift On!

Tags: Titan

November 21, 2018

Get ready for gifting! The 35,000 Varium package is now LIVE in-game for 20,000 APs! This is by far the best value we've ever offered so if you want to stock up before gifting without having to reload in December, now is the best time to do it! This package also comes with the Ultra-Rare Legendary Epic Supporter 2018 Achievement, and it will only be available for a limited time. This incredible deal will leave the game just as gifting arrives sometime on November 30th, to be replaced by the still-awesome Epic Supporter package and Omega Wolf Pack (yes, we changed the name based on the amazing new concept art from Charfade!).

The image above only represents concepts and the package may not include all items or they may differ from the final versions. We'll publish the final versions as soon as they're ready!

Special thanks to Titan and Charfade for tagging to help out with this update! It feels good to have them back, even if it's for a little while. Now where's Rabble?

New Treasure Hunters!

As mentioned last week, we've cleared the old rarity point leaderboard to make way for a new system with a new calculation that excludes duplicate items. Those who had at least 100,000 rarity points on the old board should have receive a Collector achievement based on their old score. Those participating in the new board, which should update when the daily cycle refreshes, will receive an evolving Archivist achievement. You will need to visit Charfade to re-appraise your gear to participate! Remember, to climb the new board will require possessing a wide range of rare, not just 100 copies of one. Good luck, and happy hunting!

Wish Upon a Star

The design notes post last week really set the EpicDuel community on fire with discussion about the possibilities of the new top 10 prize, Epic Wishes. As I expected, some of the ideas went a bit off the rails, and others went off into another galaxy. In order to keep the idea creep contained and make sure I'm not spending all of 2019 fulfilling wishes, we've narrowed the parameters of the wishes. In doing so, we've also expanded the number of winners from the top 10, to the top 15! If you were just out the running last year, this is your big chance!

Examples of things you can wish for:

• Nearly any item in game (possibly other AE games with the blessing of their staff)
• A small statue of your character (bust), sign, insignia or graffiti permanently place on the game world
• A unique badge achievement just for your character
• A unique hairstyle
• A personalized sketch from Nightwraith
• A custom version of an existing item (small alteration, like a recolor)
• An item with another item's core (must be the same category of item)

This list isn't necessarily all-encompassing, and if you have a creative idea that can be done within a reasonable deadline, we're open to it!

Things that you can't wish for:

• Currency
• Refunds
• Stuff in other AE games
• More wishes (duh)
• Wish transfers
• Immunity from moderation
• Unbanning accounts
• Reactivating disabled accounts
• Any other player's account
• Ability to cheat
• EpicDuel's source code
• To be game staff (that includes mod tools, colored name, etc...)
• To change game staff (i.e. Fire So-and-So and hire Such-and-Such!)
• Altered battle record
• Unearned achievements (1v1 champ, 2v2 champ, etc...)
• Rare achievements (Infernal War Hero, Frysteland War Hero, etc...)
• Unique Skills (for balance reasons)
• Features (this is better left to suggestions)
• Promotional packs to return
• Development phases returning
• Generally, anything that effects large numbers of players beyond the wisher will not be feasible. This wish is for you!
• Anything deemed illegal, unreasonable, offensive, or too complicated to fulfill within a reasonable timeframe.

Hopefully this list will help you make your decision easier without being too restrictive. We'll work with the winners to make sure their wishes are fulfilled to their satisfaction within the parameters established above. If any winner is found to have cheated, they will not be eligible for a wish and will likely have their account disabled. Stay clean, stay safe, have fun!

2019 Calendar Pre-Order!

The 2019 Calendar Epic Villains of Lore is LIVE! Under the influence of all the villains, this year Corrupted Chronomancer is ready to cause some serious damage. The Collector's Edition includes the Corrupted Chronomancer Armor with the physical and energy Chrono Cluster Swords in EpicDuel! PRE-ORDER NOW!

Other Changes

• Nightmare Nightwraith's achievement raised from 3500 to 4500 rating points
• Clash of Legends reward raised from 15,000 to 35,000 credits. Those who've already completed the mission will be compensated. Please allow some time for this as it is a holiday weekend.
• Ghoul Cannon 2018 and Spectral Blaster 2018 tagged as Rare as they will be replaced by the 2019 editions next year

Tags: Titan

November 15, 2018

A familiar chill fills the air as an eagerly anticipated event approaches Delta V once again. For veteran players, it's a familiar tradition marked by excitement, boundless generosity, and intense competition. That's right, Gifting 2018 is nearly here! This year, gifting will officially go online Friday November 30 and last until January 4, 2019, but this year we're bringing a few new twists in addition to those already mentioned like cheaper gifting cost, bigger room capacity (with a few larger gifting rooms!), and higher gifter achievement tiers.

Unfortunately, there will be no release this Friday as Titan and I work to restore gifting and complete the new features coming very soon!

Varium Mega-Pack

Many of you have requested it so Wednesday November 21, we're delivering a massive mega-pack of 35,000 Varium for 20,000 Artix Points. Those who purchase this pack will also be awarded a one-time Legendary Epic Supporter 2018 achievement! This is an incredible value, but it will only be around for a limited time: the promotion will officially end when gifting beings on November 30!

Epic Supporter 2018

Once the mega-pack promotion ends, it will be replaced by not one, but two new promotional packages! The first is the holiday 15,000 Varium package, which is still a good value. Since we've found that players who choose this package, tend to purchase it multiple times throughout the gifting event, this year the Epic Supporter 2018 achievement that is automatically awarded will be an evolving achievement!

Omega Overkill Package

It wouldn't be a true holiday event without new gear! The Omega Overkill package which is still in progress will also be offered alongside the 15,000 Varium package. Those who purchase this package will also receive the Epic Supporter 2018 achievement. More details on the cores/gear types will be available as gifting approaches. This promo pack with include 10,000 Varium.

The Prize

But what is it all for? Generosity? Love for fellow players? Fame? Those are all great, but that prize! This year, the top 10 finishers will each receive one Epic Wish. What's that? Some examples of possible wishes to spur your imagination are: 

• Nearly any item in the game from any phase of development (tagged as "Wish")
• Immortal status on a screen as a statue or graffiti
• Alteration of an existing item (take a core from one item and put on another)

Those are just some examples of possible wishes the winners can pick from. The winners won't receive ALL of these wishes but must each pick one, so ponder them carefully! Restrictions do apply. You can't wish for more wishes or wish for more Varium or credits. You also can't wish for a 1-shot kill core or something that would break the balance of the game. We'll work with the winners to determine the viability of all the rewards.

The grand prize winner will receive the mightiest gift of all: a custom item. This can be any type of item currently available in game (sword, bike, armor, etc...), created from scratch with the winner's guidance and approval. The winner will also receive 20 codes to give out replicas for that item to their friends if they wish. Again, restrictions apply. The prize can't be something that is inappropriate or violates copyright law, as much as some may want a keyblade in-game.

MOAR!

Gifting is close, but there're still a few more features we can squeeze in. We'll keep you updated as development continues.

Treasure Hunters

Wednesday November 21 we're making a major change to the way the appraisal leaderboards work. For those who don't know, you can visit certain NPCs like Charfade to appraise your gear for it's rarity. Your inventory is assessed and assigned a score based on the rarity type and investment through upgrades. Currently, it's possible to stockpile massive amounts of seasonal rares to achieve extremely high scores, especially through gifting when motivated players can receive hundreds of free items.

When the change goes live, we will no longer count duplicate items towards the rarity score -- only rarity type and upgrade amount will be factored in the score once per item. To give players a chance to assess their rarity score minus duplicates, we will also clear the current rarity leaderboard. However, those epic collectors will not be forgotten, as they will all receive new Treasure Hunter achievements based on their rarity scores. Going forward, players who receive new appraisals will be eligible to earn a new evolving Archivist achievement! The key to dominating the new leaderboard will be building a collection of many different items rather than dozens of the same item.

Nightwraith Annihilators

Congratulations to all of you who thoroughly demolished Nightwraith in all his various forms to claim Nightwraith's armor. You're part of a very exclusive list! If you haven't been able to defeat him, take heart -- you have until the start of gifting on November 30th to claim the armor before it disappears for another year. It's still tagged as normal rare rather than seasonal because, although the opportunity to claim it will return, very few players are able to earn it. Legendary and Nightmare Nightwraith will remain in game for you to hone your skills against them when the armor is available again!

Also Leaving

These last few days before gifting will also be your last chance to get the Ghoulish Gear for the season! The Ghoul Cannon 2018 and Spectral Blaster 2018 will go permanently rare, but the sidearms and bots will return. The 2018 versions of Omega Gear will remain until the end of gifting on January 4, 2019.

Tags: Titan

November 09, 2018

So far Legendary Nightwraith stands undefeated, so we're rolling back the challenge a tiny (TINY) bit. However, for those duelists who crave pain, a new challenge has emerged: NIGHTMARE NIGHTWRAITH! Who will be the first to overcome this incredible new challenge? Will it be you? Will it be your cool cousin? Will it be your uncle who works at Nintendo? You'll need to summon all your dueling knowledge to have a shot and claim the ultimate prize!

Balance 

• Blood Mage
  • Fireball: Strength scaling adjusted; Improve with every 2.8 Strength

Core Adjustments

• Armor:
  • Overshield: +5%
  • Deflection Shield: +7%
  • Nanosteel Armor: +5%
• Gun
  • Aim Assist: +8%
  • Laser Sights: +5%
  • Gun Mastery: +5%
• Auxiliary
  • Aim assist: +8%
  • Laser Sights: +5%
  • Auxiliary Mastery: +5%
• Primary
  • Mark of Azrael: +6%
  • Primary Master: +5%

Missions

• A Bold Bounty
  • Sowing Discord
  • Petty Tyranny
  • Both Sides!
  • Impostor Syndrome
  • Derpy Despot
  • Surveillance State
  • Quickduel
  • Clash of Legends
  • Red Dead Nightmare
    Nightwraith Annihilator

Achievements

• Nightmare Nightwraith
• Nightwraith Annihilator

Bosses

• Legendary Nightwraith Nerf
  • Reduced level on Berzerker
  • Less damage on Sidearm and Aux
• Nightmare Nightwraith (new 2v1 boss!)

Weapons

• Nightmare Kurz Elite P
  
• Nightmare Kurz Elite E

Armor

• ???

Tags: Nightwraith

November 02, 2018

Nightwraith has a challenge for you. Think you can handle it? I assure you, it will be Legendary...

This is the first of several updates to introduce new Nightwraith and Harvest-themed missions, weapons, and gear as Delta V's Harvest celebration continues!

Missions

• Returning Party Business Mission Group with new final mission “34”
• New OneX6 Retrieval mission in case you sold the OneX6 key yet again

Balance

Smoke Screen: Improves with every 3.5 points of Tech; Level 6 to 10 buffed +5 per level
Bounty Hunter/Cyber Hunter: Shadow Arts - New Progression

• Level 1 20
• Level 2 22
• Level 3 24
• Level 4 26
• Level 5 28
• Level 6 29
• Level 7 30
• Level 8 31
• Level 9 32
• Level 10 33

2019 Calendar Items

These items are only available with purchase of the 2019 AE Calendar (Release date TBD).

• Chrono Cluster Sword P
• Chrono Cluster Sword E
• Corrupted Chronomancer Armor

Cores

• Unlimited versions of Boost cores available on VendBots
  • Strength Boost
  • Dexterity Boost
  • Technology Boost
  • Support Boost
• Limited Versions of Boost cores buffed to +8

Achievements

• Legendary Nightwraith

We've also done a major update to legacy development phase achievements (Beta, Gamma, and Delta). If you created a character during one of these phases, that character will receive the appropriate achievement if they never claimed it. This was done because the system of claiming achievements was confusing for new players, especially those who weren't familiar with English. If you have an old Beta, Gamma, or Delta character you feel like dusting off that was lost due to forgotten login information, please use the password recovery forms or contact the Artix Help Team -- they may be able to help you recover it. However, if you lost the account due to account sharing, fraudulent payments, or excessive rule-breaking, or other serious offenses, your chances are much lower.

Bosses

Legendary Nightwraith

Weapons

• Elite Big 50 P (Name changed to be consistent with new Aux)
• Elite Big 50 E
• Wraith Cannon E (Name changed to be consistent with new Aux)
• Wraith Cannon P

Misc

• Regular war drop rate boosted to 35%

New Testers

After an exhaustive search, we've finalized our testers. We're very pleased to welcome the following new members to our testing team. Please offer a kind congratulations if you see them in game, or a least a humble bow.

Serkan

Tank

 F L O K I

ArMaGeDoN1000

Again, if you applied but were not chosen, please respect our decision and the new testers. Taking this decision poorly would definitely hurt your chances of being selected in the future. 

Tags: Nightwraith