Last week, I had the opportunity to chat with developers at Trion to find out about Update 3.5 which arrived on June 7th on your servers.
Zones
We started our presentation by exploring new areas, the Aegis Island and the Port of Chantebaleine, located to the west of Auroria. The Port of Chantebaleine is connected to the Golden Ruins by a path to the west, while Aegis Island stands in the new maritime area of the Straits of the Jubarte.
These two areas can enter a state of war thanks to the conflict system (which accelerates according to the number of PvP victims, the completion of quests or the number of slain monsters), causing an event to be triggered:
- the siege of Chantebaleine : Players from each player faction and nation defend their Containment Towers. Quests are to be taken from the Crimson Guard in the south, completing the 3 daily quests allows you to obtain an additional quest which grants Remnants of Cursed Armor and honor points.
- Aegis Island Seal Defense : Players defend their faction's seal against Anthalon's minions, or even against other players. During the fight, it is possible to count on the help of spirits of the ancient heroes of Ipnans. At the end of the fight, a boss, the Ultimate Seal Breaker, must be killed to finish the event and obtain the rewards. You can pick up quests from the Crimson Guard Camp just north of the Torch of Ipnas.
In order to obtain Erenor's equipment, it will be necessary to collect ipnan blessings. Each blessing requires 200 Acid Shards from Aegis Island to create a Vial of Acid, and 200 Scraps of Cursed Armor from Whale Song Harbor to create an entire Cursed Armor. It is therefore necessary to participate in both events if this equipment interests you.
Housing
For the first time in a long time, 60x60 homes are getting an upgrade. These are the first houses, often the first contact players have with the ArcheAge housing system. And often the only one besides, because it is not always easy to create a bigger house or simply to find a bigger land.
With this update, it will no longer be necessary to move to have a bigger house, just a little patience to gather the necessary materials. Nothing insurmountable though if you have already managed to afford this house in the first place. A preview system shows improvements before they are applied so you won't regret the changes made at home later.
Beyond 55
Level 55 is no longer an end, there are now beyond the ancestral levels. Once the Arts level 5, you can continue to accumulate experience and Medallions of Ancestral Warriors to climb the ranks.
Progression grid
- Ancestral Level 1 - 3 experience points & 777 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 2 - 1 experience points & 531 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 3 - 1 experience points & 531 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 4 - 1 experience points & 531 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 5 - 1 experience points & 914 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 6 - 1 experience points & 914 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
- Ancestral Level 7 - 1 experience points & 914 Ancestral Warrior Medallions
At Ancestral Levels 1, 4, and 7, some abilities can be increased with one of eight elements: Lightning, Earthy, Waves, Burst, Life, Mist, Stone, and Flame.
- Triple Slash + Lightning Element: Increases attack speed but reduces its effectiveness to a single target.
- Triple Slash + Ley Element: 3m area attack, but slows attack speed.
Parcel system
The delivery of parcels, or in English the famous Trade Packs, has been completely changed and now takes place in three phases:
- creation of a specialty package (general, merchant made with Place de la Confrérie or refined made with a cupboard), then delivery to a Trading Point on the player's continent (if the Trading point is not full) , but in a different area than the place of manufacture:
- Nuia: Solzreed Peninsula, Two Crowns, Ashstone Moor.
- Haranya: Cap de Solis, Villanelle, Ynystere.
- Auroria: Diamond Shores, when your faction base reaches the new Rank 4.
- Once enough specialty packages have been delivered to a Trading Point, shipments are created that can be purchased by any player at least level 30 who has not brought the specialty packages himself for gold and cargo certification (300 Mastery Badges in the Mastery Store). The cargo must be delivered:
- in another Trading Point on another continent for cash (the faster the cargo is delivered, the greater the profit)
- in Herren on Liberation Island for Dragon Essence Stabilizers
- a cargo delivered to a Trading Point becomes certified and must be brought back to a Cargo Exchanger on the same continent to obtain Coal Stabilizers:
- Nuia: Gweonid Forest, Aubre Cradle, Infernal Swamp
- Haranya: Plains of Falcorth, Arcum Iris, Ruins of Perinore
- Auroria: Golden Ruins
It will therefore be up to each player to make his choice, to take risks or to stay on the same continent, with different profits!
craft
In order to make it easier for new players to access, the low level Craftsman, Maker and Conqueror tiers have been removed. But if you have one of these items, don't worry, they can still be upgraded. At the same time, a new item grade is added above Mythic, the Eternal.
There will now be much less randomness in the creation of items, something quite frustrating for many players.
- crafted items are now veiled
- recycling no longer generates mana wisps as wisps are completely removed from the game (converted to Archeum Crystals in update)
- the in-game re-leveling window displays the odds of success for any given rank
All the details regarding the craft can be found on the blog post.
Mounts and pets
A new car is added to the game, the Rampage B200 which accommodates 6 players like the other cars in the game. It plays the radio, with the possibility of putting on personalized music. It requires the same materials as the current cars but will also be present in the new packs which arrive with the 3.5.
Other mounts and pets are also added!
Feedback from former players
For players who have stopped playing and decide to revert to 3.5, you will get armor with a 4K score back. And all players old and new alike will get a free costume!
