11 Sep 2025Developer post

New Bestiary Tracking, Elite Monsters, Many New Quests, Loot Improvements

Check out our Bestiary and new loot changes! Our journal has many new features, be sure to give some feedback. CHANGELOG GUILDS BESTIARY The journal will now track your monster sightings and kills. When you defeat monsters you'll unlock combat hints, and earn unique titles. We ar

Check out our Bestiary and new loot changes! Our journal has many new features, be sure to give some feedback.

CHANGELOG

GUILDS

BESTIARY

The journal will now track your monster sightings and kills. When you defeat monsters you'll unlock combat hints, and earn unique titles. We are still reviewing feedback with this, so please let us know your thoughts.

ELITE MONSTERS

Elite monsters now roam the land and may appear in place of normal creatures. They are stronger, but defeating them yields greater rewards. Look for the golden outline to spot these fearsome foes. Bosses cannot spawn as elite creatures.

LOOT

We've made significant changes to creature loot, especially for higher-level monsters that are frequently farmed. Most of these creatures now drop a specific rare item unique to them, giving players more variety and control when hunting for specific gear. We've also reviewed the most sought-after items in the game and redistributed them to creatures we feel are a better thematic or game play fit. Overall creature/loot value, unless specified, remains the same.

Archenaid
- Reduced loot bloat.
- Warrior Helmet removed.
- Kite Shield removed.
- Bronze Shield removed.
- Broadsword removed.
- Barbarian Axe removed.
- Warrior Leggings removed.

Ceggadys
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Seer set.
Mordrir
- Increased loot value.
Ferorn
- Increased loot value.
Shrachlor
- Increased loot value.
Mountain Giant
- Added new rare items.
Skaldar
- Added new rare items.
Witch Rosice
- Removed loot bloat.
- Increased chance of rares.
- No longer drops Windsinger Bow.
- No longer drops Shield of the Deep.
Witch Freia
- Increased loot value.
- No longer drops Windsinger Bow.
Witch Keka
- Increased loot value.
Volent
- Increased chance of rares.
Dwarf Thunderer
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Silver Ring.
- No longer drops Shrunken Skull Pendant.
- No longer drops Musket.
Dwarf Artificer
- Removed loot bloat.
- Now drops Silver Ring.
Dwarf Steelclad
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Dwarven Broadhammer.
Thordrak Firebeard
- Removed loot bloat.
- Increased rare drop chance.
- No longer drops Defender ring.
- Added new rare items.
Quasit
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Everwatch Cuirass.
Babau
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Everwatch Cuirass.
- No longer drops Demonbone Scythe.
Gath'Moth
- Removed loot bloat.
- No longer drops Everwatch Cuirass.
- No longer drops Demonbone Scythe.
- No longer drops Demon Shield.
- No longer drops Winged Boots.
Bar'gura
- Removed loot bloat.
- Significantly increased rare drop chance.
- No longer drops Everwatch Cuirass.
- No longer drops Seer set.
Hill Giant
- Removed loot bloat.
Azure Golem
- New rare added.

Mithril now has its own loot category, meaning it is no longer shared with other rare items, this change affects the following creatures:
- All Dwarves
- All Golems (ND)
- Aegyskerim
- Thordrak

ITEM

Description of many items have been updated.
Frostberries now causes a strong DOT when picked up, price increased to 75cc.
Fern Plate Skirt NPC sell price increased from 5cc => 130cc.
Skullcrusher Warhammer: Added melee +4%.
Hellish BattleAxe stats: ATK 40 => 38, DEF 8 => 9, ASPD 1.6 => 1.5.
Silver hammer: Added protection skill.
Mogrash's black blade: Removed movement speed malus.
Mogrash's black axe: Removed movement speed malus.
Renamed Phantasm Amulet to Amethyst Amulet.
Protectorate Amulet: Magic Def 20 => 25.
Thellweave dirk: Added nature +16%.
Demonbone sceptre: Destruction 15% => 17%.
Double Blunderbuss: ASPD 3.5 => 3.0.
Silver ring: Hit chance 20% => 15%, added ranged damage +3%.
Waveblade: Added support +8%, defense 4 => 6.

BOWS: were adjusted to provide a smoother and more consistent sense of progression.
- Self bow: ATK 21 => 17.
- Reflex bow: ATK 22 => 21,
- Hunting bow: ATK 28 => 24.
- Recurve bow: ATK 30 => 27.
- Deluthien recurve bow: ATK 34 => 33.
- Warsong compositive bow: ATK 39 => 40.

MAP

A new book about Fundy's inventions can be found in Mirai.
Added rats and maggots in Empo Sar sewers.
A bunch of items and more added to Timari sewers.
Added a new bridge connecting Timari/Rhoburn.
Old areas were slightly revamped, some now requires levers pulled and have hidden entrances added.

MONSTERS

Minimum monster experience (after level-based reduction applied) is now 50%, matching loot reduction.

Reverted goblin sprites.
Fixed an issue with Mountain Giant targeting.
Fixed an issue with Hill Giant targeting.
Fixed an issue with Outlaw Hunter movement and targeting.
Lucenfly
- Reduced base damage.
- Added new telegraph.
Ferorn Morphis
- HP increased 1300 => 1500.

QUESTS: New quests added!

Blôvur, the chef in Tâgileim now assists with cooking big chunks of meat found in Urgnarrak.
An Emposian investigator has been tasked with uncovering criminal activity in the mines north of Aylestone.
Kirstin Melock fears for Timari due to the increased numbers of greenskins coming from Rhoburn.,
Halius Gosaer wants to protect Timari against the trows in Greenwood.
Captain Samuel in Yethil needs a quick assistance with delivering a letter.
An alarming growth of spiders has been spotted north-west of Yethil, the warden of the forest may know more about it.
Terra Baerin has begun her research into the undead and seeks brave adventurers willing to gather rare essences for her studies.
Eva Lovell lost her bag while gathering berries in Greenwood. If someone kind-hearted comes across it, she’d be most grateful.
Thieves caused a commotion at the Dice and Fiddle Tavern, making off with a prized heirloom. Locals say the barkeep, Austin Tyrell, is still fuming.
Captain Connor at Eirim's Keep need volunteers loyal to the crown to help investigate Cirastil Keep.,
New beginner quests added to Timari sewers.
Many new chest quests scattered across the world, meant for low-mid level characters.

BOOKS

Changed the goblin language

UI/UX

While hovering your mouse over a conversation it won't disappear.
Incremented view buffer (client only), lighting is now less likely to pop-out.
Fixed issue when cancelling connecting during login.
Fixed issue with saving/loading certain hotkeys.
Changed journal filter/sorting to better handle different topics.
Fix client crash when opening too many containers.
Also moved screenshot & logs folder location to appData.
Only show < and > buttons in the outfit window when you have more than 1 outfit available.
Fixed issue with some unusable buttons in the widescreen mode.
Party panel now opens on the right if the left panel is full.
Phobos.game (map cloud data) & Phobos.config (settings) is now being stored in AppData folder to prevent data loss. (access via Run > AppData > Roaming > Phobos ).
Loot containers prioritize auto-loot for the hotkey slots stackables. (this feature can be turned off in the settings).

SERVER RULES

Discord server rules have been updated

Original post

07 May 2025Developer post

Guilds, Rested Bonus, New Resistance Potions, Overhaul of Loot System

Guilds are now forming in the lands of Erasan! Form powerful alliances with other players — gather, strategize, and conquer together. Guild chat is now live to support teamwork and coordination. We have also introduced rested bonus for standing/logging-out in a house now provides

Guilds are now forming in the lands of Erasan! Form powerful alliances with other players — gather, strategize, and conquer together. Guild chat is now live to support teamwork and coordination. We have also introduced rested bonus for standing/logging-out in a house now provides an out-of-combat move speed buff and a regen bonus. New resistant potions have been added, to help reduce potion "chug" and improve game play techniques. Finally our loot system has been completely redesigned to allow a more dynamic drop system.

CHANGELOG

GUILDS

Guild chat, and group objectives are now live to support teamwork and coordination.
Nobles can speak with Ella Baerin in Empo Sar Castle to officially register a guild.
Guild halls are not available yet, but groundwork is being laid. Stay tuned!

HOUSES

The rested bonus for standing/logging-out in a house now provides an out-of-combat move speed buff (+15%) and a regen bonus (+2/s). This change follows concern from players about providing exp/skill/loot bonuses when rested, whilst still providing a meaningful benefit for house ownership. This also aligns with our longer-term goal to replace the existing exp/loot reduction system.

ITEMS

New resistance potions have been added. Some of these provide resistance to DOT effects, others provide physical/magical defense bonuses. The effects from potions do not stack. Instead the greatest current active resistance of any given type will be used. The purpose of these new potions is to help reduce potion 'chug', without too dramatically removing potions as a gold sink.
Antidote elixir has been replaced with a poison resistance potion and now has a new sprite. Existing antidote elixirs in player inventories will be updated automatically.
Books only display their titles if you're within 1 tile.
Books now display their title when examined.
Keys only display their descriptions/hints if you're within 1 tile.
Frostberry sell price reduced to 3 copper.
Ostren egg buy/sell price adjusted. 280/140.

MAP

Added new farms around Empo Sar and removed redundant areas west of it. If you are stuck, please contact one of our team members to help you.
Shifted Bar-gura spawns around, while adding one new spawn.
Christmas related content removed until next year.

COMBAT

DOT effects (e.g. burning) now stacks. Diminishing returns applies to stacking DOT effects according to a 'diminishing-2' scaling rule. This means that the total applied DOT damage in any given tick can never exceed 2× the highest individual DOT damage entry for that tick. Different DOT effects (poison, burning, etc.) diminish separately. All previous monster DOT damage has been adjusted to account for this change.

ABILITIES

Fixed bug where Multishot was bypassing target validation, allowing avatars to be attacked after leaving PVP regions.
Fixed issue with Doom spell.

UX/UI

Improved UX for new journal entries.
Improved UX for journal sorting.
Journal topic sorting (by name, order, ascend, descend).
Improved UX with extended use of highlighting items - now it includes all usables and signs, blackboards, etc...
Improved UX for using doors: locked doors will show pop-up on use to notify the player.
Improved UX for notifications at the bottom (removed the line "You cannot walk there", adding dark background for remaining notification for readability).
Improved left-click auto-walk when going down stairs; you can now also click on the stair.
Fix small issue with RMB on channel button when names are too long. Now showing full name instead of cut-off name.
Fixed some issues with left/right panels when they had no space.
You can now add someone to your friendlist via the players context menu.
Channel button colors are added to better distinguish DM, Guild & Party channels.
Smileys disabled for info channel.
Guild benefits mentioned in Store.
Small improvement in input fields.
Channel button colors are added to better distinguish DM, Guild & Party channels.
Updated world map.

MONSTERS

Some minor tweaks have been made to monster auto-healing when idle. In most cases this should not be noticeable.
Frog attributes changed, as its stats accordingly Level 8 => 12
Outlaws changed, as their stats accordingly, Thief Level 21 => 14 Removed thief's cloak drop, Bandit Level 25 => 16, Hunter Level 28 => 18.
Dwarf Artificer- Reduced magic shield potency. This change should reduce the artificer's durability and shield output.
Fastfoot Rufus- Bleeding chance increased to make up for the slower DOT damage.
Zombie fiend behavior changed, more suitable to its level.

LOOT

Loot has been completely redesigned to use the new model.

QUESTS

It's rumored that a rare and magically resonant gem has recently been unearthed from a forgotten vein in the mines of Hilafo.
The black flag of a pirate ship has been sighted in the seas south of Empo Sar.
Renowned researcher Marias Peraphil is said to have left Empo Sar after dispute with the crown, and hasn't been seen since.
Mithril requirement for the Armora Ward quest reduced. 100 => 50.

Original post

22 Dec 2024Developer post

Christmas Presents, Weather in Erasan, Housing Bonus, Loot Table Changes!

We have seen the return of Christmas, please visit Emperor Tâgfrik, of Tâgileim for presents. Weather has come to Erasan, with snow and rain in many regions. Potions can now be brewed in larger quantities. Players that own a house can now benefit from a resting bonus. Loot table

We have seen the return of Christmas, please visit Emperor Tâgfrik, of Tâgileim for presents. Weather has come to Erasan, with snow and rain in many regions. Potions can now be brewed in larger quantities. Players that own a house can now benefit from a resting bonus. Loot table changes, that improves the hunting experience. Thank you all for a great year!

CHANGELOG

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Emperor Tâgfrik, of Tâgileim, has decreed that it is time for the holiday spirit! Be sure to wish him a "Merry Christmas" next time you're nearby.
The Duzmukm dwarves, who trespass still on the northern-most parts of the Tâgileim mines, have long shunned these seasonal festivities. This year they went as far as to steal a whole shipment of candy canes! Emperor Tâgfrik is offering special gifts in exchange for the un-nibbled return of the candy canes.

WEATHER

Weather has come to Erasan. A festive sign, say those in the northern regions, as the snow falls.

BREWING

Potions can now be brewed in much larger quantities at a time (up to 1000).
The brewing window bottle slot now requires that bottle(s) be inside it to brew successfully.

ITEMS

Slightly increased the frequency of mithril ore drop rates.
Demonskin Robe had its stats increased.
Demonskin Boots nature bonus re-added.
Removed Elosia Leaf from the NPC Ross Banum.
Added description to archery ammunition to show whether it's for bow or crossbow.
Item types now all have similar formatting.

MAP

PVP has been enabled in all boss content areas, this will help resolve camping or blocking spawns. Please let us know if a certain area needs to be further addressed.
Environmental fire damage now stacks. Total damage is unchanged; this simply brings these into line with how other environmental effects are set up.
The standard death penalty now applies in PVP areas, including the new boss areas, but not in the arena.

JOURNAL

"Death to All Krungr!", Entry fixed.
"Mycologist Munin's Parchment", EXP Added/New Entry.
"Goblin's Stash", EXP Added/New Entry.
"Dwarven Chest", EXP Added/New Entry.
"Diary of Dulin Ironfist", EXP Added/New Entry.
Demonskin Boots nature bonus re-added.
"The House of Fundy Whitemoon", New Entry.

UI/UX

Hover on markers now also works in the minimap.
Fixed shop related crashing bug - when walking away from shop with the action window open.
Added a loot channel to show loot data without being in a party.
Client crashing bug caused by (multi) targeting.
Targeting cursor when using with, now properly using windows default.
Add setting to hide item types.
Closing loot channel no longer kicks you the game.
Minimap close button no longer overlays hover tooltip.
Added 'Create up to 20 characters' to the stated list of Noble account benefits.

MONSTERS

Adjusted dwarves defenses to be more in line of their level range.
Various performance optimizations on monster behavior.
Bargura now heals a little if its only target is inaccessible and not in line of sight (as it did already when it has no target).

LOOT

We recently added support for a different way to handle monster loot. Previously, every item in a monster's loot table could theoretically drop from the same monster; but equally, nothing might drop. The aim with the new system is to reduce the 'RNG factor' here. We are still trialing this system.

HOUSING

Being inside a house now grants very fast HP/MP regen.
Being inside a house now gradually grants a 'rested' bonus (when online and offline), lasting up to a maximum of 2 hours.
When rested, loot reduction based on monster level no longer applies.
Our intention with this feature is that it'll eventually provide a flat % bonus (e.g. to experience/loot).
Fixed players logged out in a house for 25 days or more could no longer log in due to a bug in the rested buff (hotfixed: 2024-11-01).

PVP

Allow pushing (but not swapping) in all PVP-enabled areas.

ART

Mayhem set graphics updated.

CLERIC

Smite no longer heals enemies in PVP.

NPCS

Fixed various minor NPC bugs, trailing spaces, and missing responses.

Original post

11 Jul 2024Developer post

Monster Details, New Minor Quests and Entrance to Dûzmûkm

We are still fine tuning some bosses based on feedback. Players can now find new minor quests and entrance to Dûzmûkm area in Northern Dawn. Ferry access has been added to Misty Tor, We have also increased the kill quest reward experience! CHANGELOG MONSTERS Ceggadys loot value i

08 Jun 2024Developer post

Boss Monster Tuning

We are tuning some bosses levels based on feedback, that will not affect their loot value, only experience. We enjoy players gathering and putting their differences aside to conquer the challenges and bosses we have to offer. With that said, we're increasing the loot value of all

16 Mar 2024Developer post

Server Migration to New York!

We are pleased to announce the successful migration of our server from Amsterdam to New York. This move is set to notably enhance the gaming experience for our North and South American users by significantly reducing latency. We are also committed to maintaining reasonable latenc

We are pleased to announce the successful migration of our server from Amsterdam to New York. This move is set to notably enhance the gaming experience for our North and South American users by significantly reducing latency. We are also committed to maintaining reasonable latency for our European community, ensuring a seamless gaming experience for all. For now we're testing, please inform us on your latency changes.

CHANGELOG

SERVER

Disabled packet aggregation to improve latency issues for all players.

UI

Fixed a few quests objectives being out of order.

JOURNAL

Added entry in goblin fortress with experience.
Added entry in dwarven mines.
Fixed typos.

UX

Text at the bottom of the screen is now also hidden when making screenshots.
Fix issue with remaining HUD when making screenshot.
Fixed crashing issue with Thror talking about giants.
Fixed crashing issue minimizing client after logging out.
'roll X' console command (rolls a dice of X); usable for party loot distribution, events or perhaps lotteries? (surprise us)
When party leader dies, the leadership is transferred (at random) to any of the remaining members.
NPCs don't longer move while you are trading with them (so they won't walk out of distance).
Quests with counters only highlight the journal button when finished.
Updated rendered world map to reflect changes.
Logging per channel (via RMB on channel button), Logs are now saved in sub folders based on the channel name. (This is now removed from settings).
Integrated hiding/showing of menu buttons in the context menu (RMB) of the panel. (This is now removed from the settings).
Removed 'show markers' from settings menu (already integrated in context menu).
Removed 'hide offline friends' from settings menu (alreadt integrated in context menu).
Integrated 'inverse scroll' for the world map in context menu.
OS cursors are now supported via 'miscellaneous' settings.

MONSTERS

BAR-GURA- Adjusted Bar-gura behavior to prevent stair-hop bug.
SKALDAR- Cleft no longer requires Skaldar to be next to a target.
Fixed targeting script, previously Skaldar would never change targets due to a bug.

ABILITIES

Taunted monsters and avatars now deal reduced damage (-10%) to enemies that aren't the taunter.
Updated taunt description to: "Force all monsters within 2 sqm to target you for a few seconds. Taunted creatures deal reduced damage (-10%) to enemies that aren't the taunter. Not staying close to a taunted monster may cause the effect to wear off."
Fixed glitch in magic shield on-hit animation.

ITEMS

Fixed issue with potion MP/HP stacks (may fix 'perma potion regen' bug)

Original post

26 Feb 2024Developer post

Urgnarrak, The Giant Settlement.

The Northern Dawn mountains hold many beauties, Emposians records describes the mountains as the majestic creation of Ormur. They probably learned that from the dwarves themselves, since they describe the mountains as the finest jewel of all the north. Regardless of the truth beh

01 Jan 2024Developer post

Website Restyle

The newly restyled Phobos website branding now matches the client, and has been built so that it can be updated alongside the client with relative ease in the future. In addition, this rework has allowed us to connect the website to Steam news, and to integrate our Discord teaser

25 Dec 2023Developer post

Blessings and Christmas Presents, plus new Quests

We have added blessings to Phobos, be sure to visit the temples of Mirai or Tâgileim to buy a blessing at a cost of 300cc per level. Blessings can only be purchased by Noble account users. It's Christmas in Tâgileim, or at least for Emperor Tâgfrik! Be sure to pay him a visit! CH

03 Dec 2023Developer post

Rings Buffed, New Quests, Boss Changes!

We have buffed Northern Dawn rings to help tackle many of the new boss fights. Players will find new quests spread throughout Northern Dawn. Throwing items are now reasonably priced for hunting. UX fixes will improve the playing experience and you should not longer experience any

05 Nov 2023Developer post

Journal and Quests plus new Item Hotkeys

Phobos adventurers have always had trouble trying to remember where they left off in their last quest or exploration. The journal will now record all the important parts of quests as well as record all of your treasures and bounties! Discovering a new area will also grant experie

Phobos adventurers have always had trouble trying to remember where they left off in their last quest or exploration. The journal will now record all the important parts of quests as well as record all of your treasures and bounties!

Discovering a new area will also grant experience as well as create a log in your journal. Places of interest will be marked on your map once discovered as well.
You will also notice three new hotkeys, which will help the user experience while exploring the world of Erasan. You can assign any usable item to these hotkeys. This update also includes many other user interface fixes including stacking up to 1000 and a simplified currency update.
We have also included many updated stats to gear and some buffs to a few classes and monsters. Share your thoughts and suggestions in our discord channel!

CHANGELOG

JOURNAL

Journal markers are now interlinked with the journal. By right clicking on the marker you can quickly go to the journal entry.
Journal filtering and selection is now saved for convenience on re-opening.
You can now also hide/show journal markers & town names on the map.
Journal will open on the newly added entry (if there is any).

MAP

New corpse/treasure quests spread around ND and Erasan.
New books added.
Added weight values to various items.
Gloptoad vomit animation updated.
Quests and discoveries will now grant experience.

Gameplay

Prevent avatar logout while in combat. This does not affect force-closing the app, nor disconnections.
Ability cool downs are now saved when logging out and reloaded when logging back in.
Increased respawn delay of bosses to 6 minutes

UI/UX

3 new hotkey slots under your equipment HUD. You can assign any items to them. The keys can be changed in the settings menu.
Items can now stack up to 1000.
Fix party inviting issue.
Fix encoding names in channel.
Fix for several windows that have a list.
Boss HUD smoother fade/in out.
Fix for context menu issue on NPC.
Removed 'bulk' button when selling an item from your inventory.
Auction window is now movable/draggable.
Disabled auto-screenshot for strength, dexterity and wisdom.
Fix issue with spell aiming; where aiming a spell a slot would use it.
Disabled auto-screenshot for strength, dexterity and wisdom.
Fix for stair movement flickering for people who have high latency.
Items now get an outline on hover in containers, equipment, shops and bank.
Fix for journal crashing bug when an entry gets reset (Shrachlor's Lair).
Fix for keys getting captured when the window is not focus.
Fix for some remaining movement crashing issues.
Fixed a small font issue in journal.

GRAPHICS

Conjurer Set sprites updated.
Bardiche sprite updated.
Twin battleaxe sprite updated.
Warrior helmet sprite updated.
Malieran Battle set sprites updated.
Dragonskull Hammer sprite updated.
Cranked Crossbow sprite updated.
Quiver sprite updated.
Ancient Dwarven Shield sprite updated.
Lantern of Nieanah sprite updated.

ANIMATIONS

Updated creature animations- Thanks Andre.
Wyvern
Dwarf Steelclad
Thordrak Firebeard
Wirathistle
Golem projectiles

ITEMS

Currency update: silver coin value 50 => 100 So 1 silver coin is now 100 copper coins, 1 gold coin is 10 silver coins (previously 20). All silver coins owned by players have been changed to half coins that are still worth 50cc. You can keep using them as currency or simply exchange them for the 100 value coins at the bank. All silver coin amounts in monster loot, quest rewards and most field spawns have been halved.
Added item descriptions to more rare items.
Updated prices of new creature products.
Schrachlor's carapace melee, ranged and destruction bonus removed, it now provides more nature bonus (6).
Dragonscale armor stats significantly reduced, it now functions as a mirror to Schrachlor's carapace, adding melee and destruction bonus (6/6).
Dragonhide armor slightly nerfed to reflect the other armor changes.
Reduced short bracer ranged damage bonus from 10 => 8.
Added light to Incubal Sword & Dagger.
Adjusted Incubal Sword stats (Atk 31 => 36, Def 6 => 9, added hit chance 5%, sell price: 2400 => 4500).
Adjusted Demon boots stats (Mdef 5 => 7, Nature bonus 5 => 7, added move speed malus of -5).
Adjusted Demon leggings stats (Destruction 5 => 7, added Nature bonus of 7).
Adjusted Frost wand stats (Nature 15 => 18, Support 15 => 18).
Adjusted Demon shield stats (Def 44 => 55, Mdef 18 => 22).
Adjusted Dragon shield stats (Def 55 => 56, Mdef 14 => 16, added Support bonus of 5).
Adjusted Dagger of Cerissa stats (Def 6 => 9, added Dexterity bonus of 10).
Adjusted Dwarven Revolver stats (Speed 2.2 => 2, Atk 35 => 37).
Adjusted Dwarven war hammer stats (is now two-handed, Atk 71 => 82, Def 10 => 12, Speed 1.9 => 2, added Melee damage bonus of 3).
Dwarven war helmet defense 11 => 12, magic defense 2 => 3, support 0 => 3, protection removed.
Dwarven war skirt support => 3, protection removed.
Dwarven noble leggings protection 2 =>3, support => 3.
Silver ring hit chance 10 => 20.
Serpentine band now grants +18 dexterity bonus.

SORCERER

Lightning bomb damage increased +7%.
Meteor damaged increase by +5%.
Pillar of Fire burning damage increased by +8%.

WIZARD

Condemn on-move damage no longer scales with target HP
Condemn damage increase by ~8%
Condemn mana cost reduced from 80 => 60
Absorb shield % accumulation now slightly slower than before

MONSTERS

Monsters may now target avatars without requiring a path to them.
Summons can no longer have their own summons.
ND creatures loot updated.
Increase Mogrash's health. 2500 => 3100
Mogrash loot updated
Adjusted Freya (55 => 52) and Rosice (59 => 54) levels to match their difficulty. Both had an increase of 400 health.
Soil Golem defense reduced 195 => 185, gained a new telegraph.
Soil Golem, level 19 => 18, xp 170 => 160
Wiralof loot updated.
Skeleton Archer loot updated.
Mountain Troll loot updated.
Blow Bug level 25 => 24, xp 110 => 100.
Gloptoad level 36 => 35, xp 370 => 355.
Wiralof, level 40 => 41, xp 420 => 430.
Increased copper coin drops for Zombie Plaguebearer, Mountain Troll, Skeleton Archer, Rioter (19), Orc Savage.
Reduced copper coin drops from Gloptoads.
Adjusted loot reduction formula to be a lot more generous. New formula: 1 - 0.05 * (playerLevel - monsterLevel - (5 + FLOOR(playerLevel / 10))) (still capped between 0.5 and 1).
Increased the chance to drop rare from bosses by ~20%.
Quasit fire DoT damage reduced by ~10%.
Bar-gura physical damage reduced by ~15% & Firewave damage ~10% | Magic defense slightly reduced | Level 65 => 62.
Reduced Ceggadys summon quantity when Enraged.
Adjusted Thunderer's targeting, preferring closer targets.
Adjusted Mountain Giant's targeting, preferring closer targets.
Giant level 58 => 56.
Mountain giant level 62 => 60.

Original post

10 Jun 2023Developer post

Northern Dawn

Winds from the bitter-cold north bring regular snow to the jagged peaks of the Northern Dawn mountains. Wrap up warm, adventurer, because this land is not your friend. The skies here are criss-crossed by stalking wyvern. Giants roam the icey mountain paths, and gem-encrusted gole

Winds from the bitter-cold north bring regular snow to the jagged peaks of the Northern Dawn mountains. Wrap up warm, adventurer, because this land is not your friend.

The skies here are criss-crossed by stalking wyvern. Giants roam the icey mountain paths, and gem-encrusted golems of the earth slumber below.

The only solice for our kind can be found in the city of Tâgileim. Warbles of ages long gone still echo around the huge underground cathedrals of the greatest dwarven city ever built. Ancient treasures, ornate carvings, and tapestries of gold adorn every wall; whilst their picks and hammers resound a metalic melody in the mines below.

But be not careless in the dark. For in the deepest tunnels—deeper than even dwarves like to dwell—the earth broils into liquid magma as the mountains’ volcanic underbelly churns. And here be demons.

CHANGELOG

MAP

New area: Northern Dawn mountains
New city: Tâgileim

NOBLE FEATURES

Increase avatar limit from 10 to 20 for Nobles
House auction timer reduced from 7 days to 2 days

MOVEMENT

Improved left-click auto walk with some support for multi-layers
Smooth stair movement on layer transitions
Smooth light transitions on layer transition
Creature names fade/in out on layer transitions
Added a left-click marker to indicate where you are auto-walking towards.
Following players now supports going up/down layers

PERFORMANCE

Fixed issue with frame drops; this solution will also have general performance improvements
Fixed an issue with invalid creature names
Fixed an issue with the client crashing when moving an item while the item disappears

COMBAT/LOOTING

When opening containers on the floor, the container now opens at the corpse location for quick loot access
New UI visualisations that appear when in boss fights
Added option for an attack per second being logged to the console

PARTY/FRIEND/TRADE MANAGEMENT

Added in-screen accept/reject window appears on invite
New party-channel
Party loot displayed to all in party when first opening a corpse
Added context interactions in the window
Support for adding people by name via your friendliest or a pop-up
Added support for transferring leadership
Added support for leader to kick avatars from a party
Show online friends first
Fix for party handshake
Revamped shop window
Player trade in-screen accept/reject window on invite
Added context menu for interactions in the window
You can now mute your annoying friends (but they can mute you back)

INTERFACES & VISUALS

Position of containers is now properly saved per avatar. This applies on yourself, other players, creatures, items, etc. Includes multi-use logic (e.g. to pick between using a ladder or attacking a creatures standing on the same tile)
Abilities/spells are now sorted alphabetically
Added some extra information on examining abilities and in the spell book
Added many new status icons to notify player of states, i.e. hungry.
Added support for over 100 markers on the map
Fixed issue with being able to drop items directly into main backpack
Added support for moving the console to the bottom (widescreen mode)
Added edit marker support
Fixed issue with transparent tiles that help with layer fading but also seemed to block interacting with things
Improved movement rendering by adding framerate correction
Containers no longer open larger than needed. For example when it holds 5 items it will only open 2 rows.
The duration that the examine window is shown is now based on the contents
Added support for clearing the contents of a channel
Fixed hotkey ‘default’ button
Extended the in-field options of the RMB context menu
Avatar window is now movable
Added option for automatically take screenshots on significant events (skills, levels, death)
Added comma-separator for improved readability when buying/selling in bulk (e.g.: 10,000)
Shops no longer close on pressing 'Enter'
Channels can now be closed via RMB context menu
New chat bubbles to improve readability
New splash screen
Fixed issue when making a screenshot while dead

OTHER FEATURES

When login location of an avatar has no walkable ground, the avatar will now login at the temple of the last town they visited
Closing doors (and similar world objects) may now push avatars/monsters, with preference given to the facing direction
Various largely unexciting maintenence updates
Added option for disabling steam-access via the config file

SORCERER

Lightning Bomb Targets hit by a triggered lightning bomb are now slowed by -25% for 3s. This will help sorcerers when trying to kite, as well as making the ability more useful from a PVP perspective, without giving the sorcerer any more instance damage
Meteor +5% increase in damage on outer tiles of effect. This will make near-misses slightly less punishing for the caster
Pillar of Fire +5 Slight increase in instant damage and burning damage over time

MONSTERS

Monsters may now spawn on levels above/below you, when you can't see them
Protectorate Knight Remove ritual dagger from loot
Volent Brod Remove ritual dagger from loot
Witch Reduce ritual dagger loot drop chance
Witch Keka Reduce ritual dagger loot drop chance

ITEMS

Ritual dagger Reduce attack 26 => 25
Thellweave dirk Add +8% support Reduce attack 27 => 25, but increase attack speed 1.0 => 0.9 APS
Dagger of Cerissa Increase attack 25 => 28 Reduce attack speed 0.9 => 1.0
Paladin helmet Increase protection magic bonus from 4% => 5%
Paladin armor Add +3% protection magic bonus
Paladin leggings Add +2% protection magic bonus
Warlord leggings Increase DEF from 7 => 8
Warlord battle armor Increase DEF from 32 => 33
Helmet of the Skies Increase MDEF from 6 => 7 Add +5% support
Golden battle helmet Reduce DEF from 16 => 15
Malieran battle robe leggings Reduce defense from 6 => 5 Increase melee damage bonus from 3% => 4%
Shrachlor's helmet Remove support bonus
Shrachlor's carapace Remove support bonus Reduce DEF from 29 => 28 Reduce MDEF from 14 => 13
Shrachlor's leggings Increase melee bonus from 1% => 2% Remove support bonus
Beer Now makes you drunk No longer gives you a speed bonus

Original post

28 Mar 2023Developer post

2023 Roadmap

Our over-promising in roadmaps is a little infamous at this point. So we'd just like to talk through the 3 big things that we have locked-in to be released this year. 2023 is going to be an exciting year for Phobos. Our over-promising in roadmaps is a little infamous at this poin

Our over-promising in roadmaps is a little infamous at this point. So we'd just like to talk through the 3 big things that we have locked-in to be released this year.

2023 is going to be an exciting year for Phobos. Our over-promising in roadmaps is a little infamous at this point. So I won't dwell on the small features that we're hoping to get done in 2023, except to say that you can expect the (already teased) quest log, new hotkeys, better ability descriptions, and an overhaul of equipment stats and availability.

Instead, what I'd like to do here is take a few minutes to talk about 3 big things that we have locked in to be released this year.

1. NORTHERN DAWN

It's been a long, LONG time since the last content update. Northern Dawn will provide that much needed new content: a huge new area, new monsters, items, quests; all that good stuff. A few older areas of the map will also be getting changes (some minor, some major), but we'll let you discover those on your own.

We now have more people working on content (more than one, that is!). Thor is focused mostly on Tâgileim city, whilst Lans and me (Rob) are spending most of our time on the other surrounding areas. Here is a sneak peek at some of what is to come:

The entrance to the great dwarven city of Tâgileim

The ancient temple of Tâgileim

The Waker's Rift in the mines of Tâgileim

Misty Tor, home to frost wyverns and golems

2. MULTIPLE SERVERS

No online RPG can be successful when more than half its playerbase is connecting to a server over 5000 km away. Adding a server in North America was on the roadmap way back when we released Phobos on Steam. We're delighted to announce that in the last few months we have finally made real progress here.

Phobos wouldn't be much without a community. So, for the betterment of the game, our priority must be to avoid splitting up our small community as much as possible. This means that those players who have been holding out for a fresh start will be disappointed here. We understand that there have been concerns in the past about exploited/cheated player wealth. We do have tools to help us find suspicious accounts, and these have been used to delete almost 30 accounts in the last year. But we know the work isn't done here, and we'll continue to keep one eye on this. And of course, if future player numbers are ever enough to support a third server, then we will be happy to seriously consider making it isolated.

So, what will it actually be like? Well, the system we're building will rely on partly synchronising the new and old servers with one another. The most obvious place this will be done is in towns. So when you visit a town, you will be able to meet with players on the other server, as well as your own. But as soon as you leave the town, the world will collapse back into your single region 'instance' of the server. Noble account users will be able to transfer between servers at temples, and some other special locations. But other users will be effectively locked to the region they chose on avatar creation. Some chat channels will also be synchronised between servers, again to limit how much we split the community.

3. CLASS SHAKEUP & EARLY/MID-GAME RESTRUCTURING

When our class system was first introduced, the primary goals were to provide players with early-game progression, and a mechanically-simple introduction to Phobos gameplay. These are essential goals. And whilst this was partly successful, the system has also caused issues. And has ultimately resulted in an early-game experience that—by modern standards—is slow, boring, and confusing for many new players.

Regretably, this isn't a trivial thing to fix with our existing class progression system; abilities are shared, which makes it difficult to adjust the citizen, page, apprentice classes without side effects for the final classes. Overall we have decided that the problems outweigh the benefits. So, we have decided to remove the tier 1 and tier 2 classes: citizen, page, apprentice.

Instead, class will be chosen at avatar creation, with new UI and a small training area where players may try out the different classes before making this important first decision. This will also allow us to provide new players with a more targeted introduction to basic game mechanics.

Citizen, page, and apprentice class abilities will be removed; every class will get new class-specific abilities to replace the old ones. We will also tweak many remaining abilities so that classes feel more distinct, and to improve class synergy. Altogether, this will allow us to front-load new avatars with a few abilities that are specific to their class, and that are relevant to those classes early on.

These changes will require us to restructure the whole early-game experience. At the same time, we will be looking to solve one of the biggest issues with progression in the game: life after leaving Timar. The exit from Timar will be entirely remapped to better transition players into the rest of the world. And Hilafo and the area around Empo Sar will be given updates too, to help solve the lack of direction and the huge amount of empty space.

Finally, we will be taking a critical look at equipment; both the stats and how easily it's found. The biggest priority here being the need for more armor 6 leggings. We know this is something that players wanted us to look at last year, but as usual, you'll have to be patient with us. Rest assured: we know there are issues, and we are going to fix them.

Yours

Original post

02 Apr 2022Developer post

SPRING UPDATE 2022

Have you ever had your intrepid explorations into the wilderness cut short by hopeless frustration at not knowing where you are? No longer! Introducing: the new in-game world map! As you'd expect, your position on the map is displayed, and as you explore new areas, the 'fog of wa

Have you ever had your intrepid explorations into the wilderness cut short by hopeless frustration at not knowing where you are? No longer! Introducing: the new in-game world map!

As you'd expect, your position on the map is displayed, and as you explore new areas, the 'fog of war' will clear around you.

This update will also tackle many of the common 'quality of life' criticisms of Phobos from players. These are the problems that on their own may be a little annoying, but all together, make the game feel like a chore.

For example, we have rewritten the auto-attack timers to fix an issue that was—uh—lovingly referred to by players as the "immortal rabbit issue". In which a monster (e.g. rabbit) running away from a low-level/high-ping player was impossible to hit.

Other changes include being able to pin panels on either side of the client, ability to add 'foes' to your friendlist, RMB context menus on panels, and many more. Please see the changelog for full details.

Finally, we made some bulk changes to monster HP and defense (physical and magical). Specifically, the range of defense values has been narrowed so that it will be rare for any monster to have a def or mdef value less than 100 or more than 200. This has been balanced as much as possible with increases in monster HP, such that this shouldn't have a major affect on balance in most cases. The aim here is that it will help players to feel like they are progressing as they gain levels and skills.

A big thank-you to the player testers who took the time to try these things out over the last few weeks, and provided the feedback to help us improve them.

CHANGELOG

IN-GAME MAP

In-game world map
- Open via shortcut (default: CTRL + E), or by right-clicking minimap
- Zoom in/out
- Tracks current position on map
- Shows town names
- Add/remove markers
- Setting/option: hide all markers
- Fog will slowly clear when discovering the world
- Fog/game data is saved per account
- Note: world map will not help you in dungeons
Small minimap in UI
- Fixed position; auto-tracking current location
- Zoom in/out
- Optional display of markers

COMBAT

Fixed the 'immortal rabbit' issue
- The auto-attack (AA) combat delay now applies after a successful AA, instead of being applied before an AA
- The AA combat delay is no longer reset on a failed AA (e.g. due to target being out of range)
- When chasing a target, some leeway has been added in the melee AA distance check, so that if you target something and just before your AA hits they start moving away, then the AA may still hit

CLIENT QOL

UI elements (containers, friendlist, equipment, etc.) can now be pinned/unpinned and moved between panels using RMB context menu
UI element layout is now saved & loaded on login (per client, not per player)
- Size & location of containers is not included in this, but this is also on our todo
Friendlist reworked
- Support for marking people as a 'foe', with
- RMB context menu functionalities added
RMB context menu in channel/chatbox for PM, also support for left click for PM
Fixed issues with private messaging which caused messages to be lost sometimes
When dragging items you now see a translucent version to know where you'll drop it
Setting added to enable/disable holding RMB for continuous movement towards cursor
Info channel now logs gained experience
Fixed bad formatting on house info window 'Due Date'
Fix context menu for guide window
Fix to prevent opening multiple character/help/map windows
Fixed issue where clicking on an invisible tile ignores any input
Fixed issue where you couldn't attack creatures under the widescreen chatbox
Fixed centering of skull on death of party member
Added support for proper mouse scroll speed input
Fixed an issue with setting item count when buying items
Disabled feature for using ladders in the top-left square
Fixed report channel bug in widescreen
Fix for the way that some third-party programs 'steal' the cursor
Disabled 'elastic camera' as a standard config option
Added new widescreen display setting which is a combination of classic and widescreen modes; get the widescreen UI layout without losing any view distance

MONSTERS

Monster physical (def) and magic defense (mdef) has been significantly reduced on almost all monsters. More specifically, the range of defense values has been narrowed so that it will be rare for any monster to have a def or mdef value less than 100 or more than 200. This has been balanced with increases in monster HP, such that this shouldn't have a major affect on balance. The aim here is that it will help players to feel like they are progressing as they gain levels and skills.
Improved quality of monster scripts. You shouldn't actually notice this in-game at all, but it will help us longer-term.
There are also several other changes included here that *will* affect balance. And, in general, these adjustments will favour the physical combat classes.
Archenaid
- HP 1700 => 2500
- DEF 300 => 190
- MDEF 280 => 200
Badger
- HP 40 => 50
- DEF 130 => 120
Beetle
- HP 35 => 50
- DEF 180 => 145
- MDEF 170 => 145
Boar
- DEF 115 => 110
Brown Bear
- HP 155 => 190
- DEF 190 => 150
- MDEF 160 => 135
Cave Troll
- HP 1200 => 1600
- DEF 240 => 175
- MDEF 180 => 145
Chicken
- DEF 75 => 85
- MDEF 75 => 85
Ferorn Morphis
- HP 900 => 1300
- DEF 260 => 185
- MDEF 300 => 200
Forest Imp
- HP 90 => 130
- MDEF 150 => 130
Frog
- HP 50 => 55
- DEF 120 => 115
- MDEF 120 => 115
Gloptoad
- HP 500 => 590
- DEF 150 => 130
- MDEF 160 => 135
Goat
- HP 32 => 50
- DEF 125 => 120
Goblin
- HP 85 => 90
Goblin Summoner
- HP 340 => 410
- DEF 115 => 110
- MDEF 220 => 165
Goblin Witchmaster
- HP 290 => 300
- MDEF 190 => 150
Goose
- DEF 85 => 95
Grorus
- HP 2200 => 3000
- DEF 270 => 185
- MDEF 210 => 160
Helina Floretty
- HP 560 => 800
- DEF 270 => 185
- MDEF 245 => 175
Hill Giant
- HP 3000 => 4300
- DEF 280 => 190
- MDEF 240 => 175
Huntsman
- HP 75 => 90
- DEF 140 => 120
- MDEF 120 => 130
Lord Volent
- HP 1200 => 2000
- DEF 320 => 200
- MDEF 220 => 165
- Increased loot value by +15%
Lucenfly
- HP 150 => 180
- DEF 150 => 130
- MDEF 140 => 125
Maggot
- DEF 80 => 90
- MDEF 90 => 95
Maned Trow
- HP 90 => 100
- DEF 160 => 135
- MDEF 140 => 125
Mordrir
- HP 8000 => 13000
- DEF 350 => 220
- MDEF 350 => 220
Mountain Troll
- HP 1300 => 1750
- DEF 250 => 180
- MDEF 200 => 155
Nysandra Celistriel
- HP 1100 => 1800
- DEF 250 => 160
- MDEF 270 => 185
Orc Beastmaster
- HP 480 => 600
- DEF 200 => 155
- MDEF 170 => 140
Orc Bowman
- HP 150 => 200
- DEF 160 => 135
- MDEF 130 => 120
Orc Brute
- HP 180 => 200
- DEF 140 => 125
- MDEF 120 => 115
Orc Hunter
- HP 480 => 580
- DEF 170 => 140
- MDEF 150 => 130
Orc Legionnaire
- HP 550 => 740
- DEF 260 => 185
- MDEF 190 => 150
Orc Magus
- HP 440 => 520
- DEF 140 => 125
- MDEF 170 => 140
Orc Savage
- HP 1050 => 1250
- DEF 190 => 150
- MDEF 160 => 135
Ostren
- HP 130 => 170
- DEF 180 => 145
- MDEF 150 => 130
Outlaw Bandit
- HP 450 => 500
- DEF 210 => 160
- MDEF 160 => 135
Outlaw Hunter
- HP 350 => 400
- DEF 165 => 140
- MDEF 135 => 125
Outlaw Thief
- HP 250 => 260
- DEF 130 => 120
Pisaura
- HP 410 => 560
- DEF 230 => 165
- MDEF 230 => 175
Predator
- HP 900 => 1250
- DEF 240 => 165
- MDEF 240 => 180
Protectorate Knight
- HP 900 => 1300
- DEF 300 => 200
- MDEF 230 => 170
Quagwyrm
- HP 380 => 420
- DEF 160 => 135
Rabbit
- DEF 90 => 95
Rhodosus
- HP 240 => 320
- DEF 260 => 185
- MDEF 190 => 150
Rioter
- HP 260 => 280
- DEF 150 => 130
Rioter
- HP 260 => 350
- DEF 180 => 140
- MDEF 160 => 130
Rioter
- HP 390 => 500
- DEF 190 => 150
- MDEF 150 => 130
Rooster
- DEF 75 => 85
- MDEF 75 => 85
Sal Cotton
- HP 350 => 500
- DEF 230 => 170
- MDEF 190 => 150
Shrachlor
- HP 10000 => 14500
- DEF 275 => 190
- MDEF 250 => 190
Sirl Imparo
- HP 1200 => 2000
- DEF 320 => 180
- MDEF 300 => 200
Sirl Imparo (Dummy)
- HP 200 => 200
- DEF 320 => 180
- MDEF 300 => 200
Skeleton
- HP 120 => 130
- DEF 150 => 125
Skeleton Archer
- HP 175 => 200
- DEF 180 => 140
- MDEF 150 => 140
Skeleton Warrior
- HP 250 => 380
- DEF 240 => 165
- MDEF 190 => 165
Snake
- DEF 90 => 95
- MDEF 100 => 105
Soil Golem
- HP 200 => 300
- DEF 290 => 195
- MDEF 230 => 170
Spiderling
- MDEF 100 => 110
Squirrel
- HP 27 => 25
- DEF 80 => 90
- MDEF 90 => 95
Swamp Troll
- HP 1100 => 1400
- DEF 230 => 170
- MDEF 170 => 140
- Fixed telegraph ability damage pattern
Toad
- HP 190 => 230
- DEF 140 => 125
- MDEF 180 => 145
Trow
- HP 90 => 100
- DEF 130 => 120
- MDEF 115 => 110
Warg
- HP 350 => 440
- DEF 220 => 165
- MDEF 160 => 135
Webweaver
- DEF 115 => 110
- MDEF 110 => 115
Wiralof
- HP 650 => 800
- DEF 200 => 150
- MDEF 170 => 160
Wirathistle
- HP 800 => 930
- DEF 150 => 130
- MDEF 150 => 130
Witch
- HP 900 => 1200
- DEF 180 => 140
- MDEF 210 => 160
- Lightning beam ability is now able to bend around projectile-blocking objects (+/- 1 sqm)
- Lightning beam ability now has some randomness in its path (+/- 1 sqm)
- Lightning beam base damage reduced by -12%
- Lightning beam damage no longer increases with distance
Witch Freia
- HP 1200 => 1700
- DEF 220 => 160
- MDEF 260 => 190
Witch Keka
- HP 1000 => 1200
- DEF 160 => 135
- MDEF 220 => 165
Witch Rosice
- HP 1300 => 2000
- DEF 250 => 170
- MDEF 240 => 180
Wolf
- HP 80 => 90
- DEF 170 => 140
- MDEF 130 => 120
Wyvern
- HP 1000 => 1400
- DEF 170 => 140
- MDEF 180 => 145
Zombie
- HP 220 => 210
- DEF 90 => 95
- MDEF 90 => 95

ROGUE

Disembowel
- Reduced on-hit damage by -6%
- Base bleed damage reduced by -30%. However, bleed damage is now increased with every caster auto-attack for first 6s of ability. This stacking of bleed damage is now applied with diminishing returns based on the base (starting) bleeding damage. Specifically, every increase in bleed damage is half that of the previous increase. Like so: 1 + 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + 1/16 + [...]. The result is that the maximum bleed damage per tick is 2x the base bleed damage.
- Bleed minimum duration reduced from 4s to 3s. However, this duration is now reset to 3s on any attack against the target within 6s of the ability being cast. This reset can now be triggered by any source (previously it was only auto-attacks from the caster), with the exception of timed damage effects (e.g. poison).
- Updated description: "Inflict melee damage on a single target, followed by severe bleeding for 3s. For 6s, attacks against the target reset the bleed duration, and caster auto-attacks against the target increase the bleed damage (max: 2x base, diminishing). [Cooldown: 12s]"

SHAMAN

Harvest
- Reduced base and scaling of shield/HP/MP regen to balance this ability somewhat with monster HP/def/mdef changes
- Increased speed that shield degenerates by +6%
Virulence
- Reduced damage based on target HP to balance this ability somewhat with monster HP/def/mdef changes

MAP

Various minor map bug fixes

OTHER

Added visual effect on avatars on login/logout

Original post

23 Oct 2021Developer post

Housing Update (and beyond)

Housing became such a big set of features to add and test, that we made the decision to hold off with public updates until it was done. This is why so many other changes have been included in this patch, including some that we would really have liked to have included months ago.

Housing became such a big set of features to add and test, that we made the decision to hold off with public updates until it was done. This is why so many other changes have been included in this patch, including some that we would really have liked to have included months ago. Rest assured that from now on, we intend to release with smaller, but much more frequent patches.

We invite you to read the enormous changelog below, but we'd like to draw your attention to a few specific points as well.

QUALITY OF LIFE IMPROVEMENTS

One thing that we have dedicated a particular amount of time and effort into is adding more quality of life features into the client. Many UX features that players have requested are now available. For instance, you can now check your skill progress from the character info window. And instead of spending your time sorting your backpacks, there is now an auto-stacking feature that you may access by right-clicking the top of any container. Ever found NPC chats hard to follow? Now there's a channel that displays only NPC conversations to help you keep track.

These are just a few of many tweaks to the UX that we hope will make a big difference to players. And we hope you're as excited as we are with the direction things are going.

PARTY EXPERIENCE BONUS

An online RPG isn't much without parties. And after popular demand, we have now added bonus experience for parties; the larger the party's size, the greater the total experience granted from killing a monster. ADding more party-friendly hunting spots is something that is going to be on our mind a lot over the next few months as we work on the next content patch.

OPEN PVP

The whole region of Eastebb is now designated as PVP-enabled. This is the first area that we're allowing open PVP; consider it a bit of an experiment.

CLASS BALANCING

This update also brings various class balancing tweaks. With special focus to making Knights tankier, giving Rogues more sustain, and dialing back some of the Wizard's power. We do have some big changes planned here that we are looking forward to sharing with you soon. But for now, this will help even the playing field a little between the classes.

ELIXIRS

Previously, chugging elixirs constantly was so essential that there was barely time to do anything else when under heavy attack. To help solve this, we've now increased the HP/MP restored from elixirs, but also increased the cooldown on drinking them.

In other elixir news, an antidote elixir has now been added. This should open up some areas to non-magic classes in particular, that simply weren't viable for them to hunt in.

MONSTERS

The big change here is that monsters now have 'telegraphed' abilities. These are high-hitting abilities that the player is given a brief warning about beforehand. This gives you an opportunity to mitigate damage by dodging, or blocking it using some ability. There have been a variety of minor tweaks made here too; with balancing, clarity, and more interesting combat being the key goals here.

For the full list of changes, please see the changelog below.

CHANGELOG

UI/UX

Added skill progress bars to character stats
Casting tile-aimed spells now ignores above layers (e.g. treetops)
The contents of containers may now be stacked/sorted automatically via the context menu at the top of a container (or CTRL-R)
Added auto 'select all' on count when opening split stack window
Added NPC channel to channel list. This channel isolates your conversations with NPCs, so it's easier to follow the conversation. Note that this is not intended to be a private channel with NPCs; all NPC inputs/outputs are still shown to other players in the main channel
Fixed selecting text (widescreen only)
Moved chat input closer to chat bar (widescreen only)
Removed green highlight of 'Info' channel (widescreen only)
Fixed bug when rendering screenshots with certain settings (widescreen only)
Fixed client discord link
Fixed negative numbers on bidding
Fixed bug caused by players using the same name as an existing channel
Increased width of avatar selection list to allow for longer character names
Fixed issue with pressing 'enter' in a window (e.g. split stack window)
Added an option to keep chats visible for those who want to keep track of channels while hunting (widescreen only)
Added optional display of HP/MP bars over your in-game avatar (classic client only; widescreen already had this)
Added optional display of status icons over your in-game avatar
Allow toggling the HUD display of individual status icons (RMB on a status icon with the show status indicators on HUD setting enabled)
Added new smilies
Added support for logging the contents of the Info channel, this occurs automatically after you turn it on in settings > console
Move single stackable item holding shift (currently only works if you hold shift after you start dragging)
Added support for displaying a dropdown/context menu with RMB
Can no longer follow monsters
CTRL + ALT + LMB on an avatar to open private message channel with them
Improve on-hover highlighting outline rendering so that it's clearer when obstructed
Made top panel buttons hide/show possible while playing
Added 'Wiki' and 'Discord' buttons/links to 'how to guide'
Fixed opening channels when switching between screen-modes
Fixed long player names in outfit window
Fixed crashing bug when using certain items from bank
Added HP/MP HUD bars for parties
Added multi-language support for 'How to guide'. Portuguese has been added as the first non-English language
Added 'Housing'-section to 'How to guide'
Fixed random appearance of the red targeting circle on monsters
Fixed some minor visual/rendering issues
Various minor UI tweaks & improvements
Various changes to info and console channels

COMBAT, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLS

Experience reduction by level is now more generous, allowing a difference in 5 levels before applying any reduction
Party experience should no longer be 'lost' when a party member is not there to be awarded it
Party experience is now adjusted according to party size (applying to party members that were on-screen of the killed creature or dealt damage to that creature) - Formula: 2.2 - 1.7 * EXP(-0.35 * validGroupMembers.Count) - Enable the console combat report to display this information whilst in combat
Magic defense calculation adjustments, making magic defense a much more valuable item stat - Magic defense from items is no longer modified by * 0.25 before being added to the total mdef value - Removed armor from mdef calculation - Removed shield 'defense' stat from mdef calculation - WIS effect on magic defense reduced from 1.0 => 0.6 - DEX effect on magic defense reduced from 0.25 => 0.2 - Formula: totalMagicDefense = 100 + DefenderDexterityStat * 0.2 + DefenderWisdomStat * 0.6 + DefenderDefenseSkill * 0.25 + DefenderItemMagicDefense
Made combat dodge/block formulas more consistent
Fixed issue with server & client disagreeing about which direction a creature is facing after moving diagonally north-east or south-west
Offensive spells no longer damage fellow party members when in PVP-enabled regions
Ranged ammo no longer taken in the PVP arena
Added status icon to display when your avatar has recently been in combat
Added status icon to display when on a tile that allows PVP

PAGE

Quickshot - Fixed bug preventing casting when only one target
Overdraw - Projectile now used up on successful shot
Berserk - No longer blocks ranged auto-attacks when active - Active on-hit splash damage and attack speed bonus no longer applies with unarmed combat

KNIGHT

Enrage - Stack accumulation duration increased 4s => 5s
Armament - Cooldown reduced from 35s => 25s - HP regeneration now based on damage taken over duration
Charge - Damage bonus is now lower initially, but increases with tiles moved - On-hit slow now increases with tiles moved
Taunt - Now specifically triggers a monster to try to change target when applied AND when removed - Re-added taunt duration combat text on player request - Increased range that taunter has to stay from tauntee from 2.5 sqm to 3.5 sqm. NOTE: This does not affect the initial range that you must be from a monster to taunt it - Description updated: "Force all monsters within 2 sqm to target you for a few seconds. Not staying close to a taunted monster may cause the effect to wear off."

MARKSMAN

Acute Frenzy - Stacks now accumulate for the first 7 seconds, with each stack lasting 4 seconds - Max attack speed bonus is now capped at x5 - Stacks are no longer reset on changing target

ROGUE

Flurry - Mana cost reduced from 50 => 40
Disembowel - Mana cost reduced from 60 => 50 MP - Bleed amount calculation now takes into account equipment melee bonuses
Impale - Mana cost reduced from 50 => 40 MP
Bloodlust - HP base regen per stack increased from 0 => 1 - Increased bonus HP regen rate by +15% - Regen calculation now supports decimals, with the final value calculated by rounding up/down based on that decimal. Actual effect of this will be an average of -0.5 bonus MP regen per tick - NOTE: Combined regen changes here is equal to a regen bonus increase of +17-21% - Cooldown reduced from 20s => 18s - Added combat text to display max regen per stack - Increased regen bonus by +8%

RANGER

Glacial Imbue - Now cancels automatically when caster runs out of mana

CLERIC

Restoration - Instant self-healing is no longer applied when ability is cast on self
Mirror Shield - Fixed facing direction when diagonal

WIZARD

Retribution - Slow increased from -20% to -25% - Slow no longer stacks
Orb Pulse - Increase orb pulse range - Removed orb destroy-on-hit logic - Reduced orb multi-hit damage bonus from +50% to +10% - Slow effect is now also affected by multi-hit bonus - Fixed bug with training
Channel Energy - Distance from target effect on damage reduced such that less damage is done between 0-2.5 sqm and slightly more damage is dealt at further distances
Condemn - On-move damage from target HP reduced by 10-15% - On-move base damage increased from 0 => 2 - Final damage from target HP reduced by -10%
Absorb - Shield initial value reduced from 20% => 10% - Initial shield accumulation increased but with considerable diminishing returns - Formula: currentShieldValue + (0.01 / currentShieldValue) - By extension, this will mean that accumulated shield has a much lesser effect on final damage - Default combat calculation effect on damage increased by +100% - Regen amount now supports decimals, with the final value calculated by rounding up/down based on that decimal. Actual effect of this will be an average of -0.5 bonus MP regen per tick

SHAMAN

Virulence - Converted calculation of damage based on target health from a simple multiplication to an exponential, such that HP now contributes slightly less against high HP mobs
Doom - Re-applied an older change (2020 December 11th) that was mistakenly rolled back - Reduced base percentage debuff from 20% to 10%

SORCERER

Flash Frost - Now blocks movement for 2s from start of ability (after 150ms delay)

ITEMS

Added antidote elixir
Elixir restore/price adjustments - Vial HP/MP restore amount increased from 40 => 70 - Vial HP/MP cost increased from 25 => 40 cc - Flask HP/MP restore amount increased from 67 => 126 - Flask HP/MP cost increased from 50 => 80 cc - Bottle HP/MP restore amount increased from 110 => 169 - Bottle HP/MP cost increased from 100 => 120 cc
Elixirs now restore a more consistent amount of HP/MP (within 7% of the average)
Elixir cooldown increased from 0.5 => 1.0s
Player inventories have been updated to reflect the above changes, with counts reduced appropriately
Added small animation when drinking an elixir
Bullet NPC sell price reduced from 1cc => 0.2cc
Throwing knife NPC sell price reduced from 10 => 2 cc
Equipment move speed modifiers are now displayed correctly when inspected
Food nutrition values are now displayed when inspected, the value is equal to the number of seconds that the item may provide your character with natural regen when eaten
Fireweed seed - NPC sell price reduced from 50 => 40cc
Fireweed flower - NPC sell price reduced from 25 => 16 cc
Xilis mushroom - NPC sell price increased from 20 => 45 cc - NPC buy price increased from 5 => 9 cc
Woodsorrel flower (ooo I wonder why this was changed, what a mystery) - NPC sell price reduced from 16 => 12 cc
Green substance added weight and updated description to help communicate that it has value
Fixed a few minor item/object bugs
Fixed garbled symbols on signs/descriptions

CONSOLE

Combat report now displays experience to next skill level whenever skills are trained
Added new 'calculate' console commands which prints out the relevant combat report
Added new variable to accurately report item magic defense
Fixed distance combat report typo
Combat report now hides some irrelevant stats & decimals formatted for better readability
Melee attack calculation command no longer works when unarmed
Added missing calculation logging to monster ranged attacks
Console errors are now printed to console instead of info channel
Combat report for mdef no longer refers to "armor"
Combat report now lists a separate value from item mdef

MAP

The region of Eastebb is now PVP-enabled (with the exception of the town of Driftop)
Brewing tutorial area improved - Cap on foraged plants is now ingredient-specific - Fixed misleading hints on some plants when trying to forage in wrong order - Added cauldron hints in same style as plants - Corrected mentions of health 'draft'
Adjusted inaccessible web/spider alcoves in Shrachlor's lair so that she that can't hide in them
Moved Eastebb North Cape boat teleport destination on top of the non-PVP hill with the NPC
Replaced redundant map PVP warnings
Arena now has a periodic block to rejoining the arena (on a simple timer: 30s on, 30s off). This is a slightly lazy way to provide what players have been asking for with restricting rejoining the arena after death
Fixed various minor map bugs

NPCS

Fixed various minor NPC bugs
Added new auctioneer NPCs
Added new NPCs to Brookton, Aylestone, and Driftop

MONSTERS

Fixed various bugs and odd behaviours
Adjusted monster talk colors
Added monster ability visual feedback in the form of animations and 'talks' on/before casting
Archenaid - Increased walk around rate slightly - Can now attack multiple times per turn - Decreased base damage
Bear - May now charge at its targets
Boar - Charge ability now deals bonus damage, and resets when > 2 sqm away from target
Cave Troll - Increased chance and minimum damage from ranged attacks - Rocks now slightly slow players - Defense debuff when under 20% HP - Defense modifier on low HP reduced from *0.66% => *0.75
Ferorn Morphis - Healing is now on a minimum cooldown of 6s
Giant - Physical defense reduced by -7% - Added warning to ground smash - Abilities adjusted - Increased telegraph damage - Loot adjusted (no items removed)
Gloptoad - Can now poison
Helina - Gained a new bleed-causing ability
Knight of the Protectorate - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - Reduced telegraph damage - Fixed telegraph aim - Added new AOE frontal attack which affects the facing tile after a warning
Maned Trow - Now throws pebbles when at range
Mordrir - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - Pathing behaviour adjusted - Firestorm ability now affects avatars even when stacked on the same tile - Firestorm ability damage reduced by -20% - Haste increased - Slow increased
Mountain Troll - Experience corrected 455 => 480
Nysandra - Adjusted poison tick
Orc Legionnaire - Reduced chance of shield block triggering
Orc Savage - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - Enters rage when under 33% HP - Fixed cleave ability trigger - Defense debuff nerfed
Orc Legionnaire - Now has a double hit ability
Outlaw Archer - Gained a new ability
Outlaw Bandit - Gained a new ability
Outlaw Thief - Gained a new ability
Predator - Reduced walk around rate slightly - Can now attack multiple times per turn - Decreased base damage
Rhodosus - Now has a cooldown on it's charge
Sal Cotton - Can now cause bleeding to players - Increased base damage - Reduced default melee damage - Old poison effect is now a bleed
Shrachlor - Healing cooldown increased by +1s at all health levels - Added combat delay after heal by draining to give blockers a chance against the no-counterplay instadeath that would likely occur if another attack hit straight after - Damage bonus when very low HP reduced by -13% - Fixed LOS movement issue when target is at a certain distance
Skeleton - Gained a moderate crit ability
Skeleton Archer - Archer can cast Double Shot - Increased base damage
Skeleton Warrior - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - Increased base damage - Reduced telegraph damage - Telegraph now only hits frontal sqm - Animation for frenzy added
Soil Golem - Increased base damage - Increased damage output slightly - Added an occasional crit with a warning
Swamp Troll - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability
Volent Brod - Added new AOE frontal attack with warning - Increased telegraph damage
Warg - Can now cause bleeding to players - Heavily slow down players
Wirathistle - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability
Wiralof - Added minor slow on melee damage - Bleeding damage reduced - Pounce speed increased
Witch - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - Fixed pathing when in rage mode
Witch Keka - Gained a new 'telegraphed' ability - AOE poison damage increased
Wolf - Can slow down players
Wyvern - Ability adjusted

OTHER

Adjusted tile preference when going up/down stairs/ladders/holes according to the direction of the stair/ladder/hole
Tile preference now specifically considered other stairs/holes, so you should never land on a stair or hole
Tile preference may cause you to be placed on top of movement-blocking objects (if there are no other preferable tiles)
Tile preference is now influenced by creatures (as a secondary concern over movement-blocking objects)
Server now rejects new avatar names which match certain disallowed terms
The system also supports partial-matching with these terms, but these will only be flagged up to us as suspicious (for manual review), rather than rejected outright

Original post

23 Oct 2021Developer post

Housing Update

At last! The housing update is here. Get a house today to show off your most glorious treasures, invite your friends over to plan your next adventure, or just put your feet up and relax after a long hunt. AUCTIONS Seek out the local auctioneer NPC to start a new auction or to bid

At last! The housing update is here. Get a house today to show off your most glorious treasures, invite your friends over to plan your next adventure, or just put your feet up and relax after a long hunt.

AUCTIONS

Seek out the local auctioneer NPC to start a new auction or to bid on an existing one. The leading bidder in an auction will be the winner after 7 days. Keep in mind that you may only hold the leading bid on one auction at a time, so be sure to visit the house before you bid; anybody can enter vacant houses to look around.

Be sure that you have enough money in your bank to pay for the auction AND the first month's rent! If you don't, and you win the auction, you will be temporarily banned from taking part in other auctions for 14 days.

RENT

Rent payments are taken from your bank at the start of the rent period, every 28 days. Not having enough money in your bank to pay rent will cause you to lose your house. To help you know whether this is the case or not, your bank now displays the current total money value that is stored inside.

House rent is determined by house size, and location:

Empo Sar (200 / sqm)
Aylestone (250 / sqm)
Yethil (250 / sqm)
Mirai (300 / sqm)
Driftop (300 / sqm)

MOVING OUT

When a house is vacated, all items in the house are sent to the owner's bank.

RESTRICTIONS

Auctioneers are judgemental people, so they will only rent houses out to Noble account holders. If your Noble account is going to run out before the next rental payment is due, be sure to top-up your account with more Noble account time to ensure that you don't lose your house.

HOUSE MANAGEMENT

Access the house management window via the "House" button in the top—left of the client. Here you may add and remove invitees. But be aware that invitees can use, pick up, and take any items from your house that they want! So only invite players that your trust into your house.

OTHER CHANGES

A whole bunch of other changes have been made with this update. But these will be covered in a separate announcement here.

Yours

Original post

24 Jan 2021Developer post

A Little Bit of Everything

STABILITY Fixed crash caused by having dexterity lower than 0 Fixed crash relating to friend list not updating correctly on death CLIENT Added setting to not prompt to split a stack when moving it Added option to auto-loot items into your main container on holding space and click

STABILITY

Fixed crash caused by having dexterity lower than 0
Fixed crash relating to friend list not updating correctly on death

CLIENT

Added setting to not prompt to split a stack when moving it
Added option to auto-loot items into your main container on holding space and clicking LMB
Added support for container auto-open height to be adjustable in the config file
Fixed special characters in PM & public channels
Added extra details on the relevant coin values on buying & selling items
Fixed rendering bug in idle animations
Optimised elastic camera

TIMARI BREWING TUTORIAL

Added a basic brewing tutorial to the hill on the north-west side of town
Moved potion/wand seller to the hill to the north-west of the market (old Apprentice Guild location)
Moved Page/Apprentice guilds so that they're now next to one another, and placed between the temple and market

PVP ARENA

Replaced the two team win levels with a single win level in the middle of the map
Centred arena to allow for fair win lever placement and cleaner lobby area
Moved the SE/SW capture points further north and more central
Overall this should help to direct combat into a smallers area, making it more appealing for smaller teams

ABILITIES: KNIGHT

New ability: Taunt
- Forces all monsters within 2sqm to target the caster for a few seconds
- Monster retargeting may take between 0-2s after the ability is cast due to the way that monster retargeting works
- Duration scales with support skill: [Duration (ms) = (SupportAttackValue * 3.0) + 4000]
- Effect is ignored (but modifier not specifically removed) if is caster: is not within 2sqm of taunted monster; is not on same map level as taunted monster; is not in line-of-sight of taunted monster; is not attackable by taunted monster.

CAPACITY TESTING

Added a console command to show your current/max capacity: show capacity. This is intended for feedback/testing purposes only
Maximum capacity is based on strength and level [MaximumCapacity = 20000 + (level * 2000) + (strength * 1000)]

PVP PUSHING/SWAPPING

Pushing is no longer possible if the destination tile is a PVP region
Swapping is no longer possible if either the source or destination tile is a PVP region

MOVEMENT SPEED

Increased base move speed by +8%
Reduced scaling by level and dexterity to compensate for the above change; high level characters will not notice any difference in their move speed

STAIRS

Adjusted stair behaviour to never place players on top of other stairs or stairholes

MONSTERS

Shrachlor
- Healing rate from damage dealt reduced by 50%
Mordrir
- Fixed bug that prevented healing ability from ever going on cooldown
Giant
- Physical defense reduced by -8%
- Loot adjusted

NPCS

Kurt feather quest bug fixed
Marik long text on greeting shortened
Hannah typo fixed

GRAPHICS

Butcher NPC idle outfit mask fixed
Flash Frost animation overlay parameters corrected
Kettle decorative object stack parameter fixed
Auto-close door color inconsistencies fixed

MISC

Deflect ability description typo fixed
Apple trees now also give leaves on taking apples

Original post

07 Jan 2021Developer post

2021 Roadmap

There have been a lot of changes in the past few weeks since release. But we're only just getting started. Let's talk about 2021. Please note that the order here is just to give a very rough idea of our current priorities with the biggest features. And since most of these require

There have been a lot of changes in the past few weeks since release. But we're only just getting started. Let's talk about 2021.

Please note that the order here is just to give a very rough idea of our current priorities with the biggest features. And since most of these require input from multiple people, the actual release order of these features will not be exactly as stated here.

PLAYER HOUSING

Bringing more value to the Noble account is essential if Phobos is going to continue and grow. We also need to implement features which help to build community. Housing helps in both these areas; it gives you somewhere of your own to relax with your friends, and to show off your finest hunting trophies. It will also help to make towns feel a little less empty.

So far, we've added basic editor, server and client support for owning houses, and managing invitees. What remains is an auction system, and persistence (i.e. saving and loading items placed in a house). Needless to say, this will need extensive testing before going live, since issues here may lead to item dupe/loss bugs. It will also take some time to go around all houses on the map and define their layouts and dimensions. This is why we're working on this before other high-priority features; to give us time to fully test it properly before rolling it out.

SECOND SERVER IN AMERICA

To all those of you who live across the Atlantic and have struggled with almost unplayable latency, we hear your pain. A second server in America is on the way. There have been concerns raised that a second server with our small player-base will split the community. And with this is mind, when we add a second server, our plan is that players will be able to login to either server, whenever they like. This still splits the community, but in the softest way we can. It is likely that being able to hop between different servers will later become a Noble-only feature. But to begin with, it will be available to all.

Because of the need to be able to hop from one server to another, we're going to have to adjust the way that we handle certain things, such as connections and saving/loading avatars. So this will probably be done hand-in-hand with other changes that are necessary for another important feature: preventing logout whilst in combat.

TIMARI

As the starting town, Timari isn't very friendly for new players, especially those completely new to the genre. Map, NPC, and tutorial changes are coming here, for sure. We have also been looking into providing a roughly drawn map for new players to help guide them on their first few steps through Timar.

DISCONNECTIONS

Before Christmas, we fixed some of the issues with client disconnections. However, we're still getting a lot of similar server logs now. It may be just one issue, or it may be several. What we really need is more information. So please do report any apparently random disconnections that you suffer as they happen in the #bug-reporting channel on Discord, just by saying "Disconnected". We'll use the timestamps in there to compare with our logs, and may privately message some users for more information.

BALANCING

Balancing is an ongoing challenge for any online multiplayer game. As new items, new abilities, new monsters, and new features are added, it affects different classes in different ways. However, the key thing we're going to be looking into next here is that most classes are still lacking an ability. Knight needs a taunt; Rogue needs a lunge and another throwing ability, Shaman needs summons, Wizard needs... reworking.

SKIN TONES

This has been in the pipeline for quite a while. Erasan shouldn't be a world where heroes, dragons, and magic exists, but people of color do not. It's not a huge feature to add on it's own, but it does require coordinated changes for almost every department: graphics, client, server, database, and map editor.

CAPACITY

We originally had this much higher up on our priority list as a post-release feature. However, it's clear to us that other things are more important. We're also aware that implementing this without some feedback will lead to a lot of annoyance for players. So when we do first implement this system, there's won't be any negative effects associated with carrying too much weight. Instead, your current carried weight and maximum capacity will be displayed in the client. This way we'll be able to collect player feedback on the capacity calculations to adjust them as necessary, before we implement slowed movement/encumberment effect for players carrying too much.

DEATH LOSS REWORK

If you're hoping for a much kinder death loss penalty, then this might not be for you. The missing feature here is item loss on death. When we come to implement this, we'll probably also take a look at level/skill loss, and adjust it as necessary. But death should have consequences.

Loss of items is an important thing to add. It acts as a gold sink, which is crucial for the in-game economy, and tends to disproportionately affect wealthier players. It is also likely that we will implement some way for Noble accounts to insure items from loss (for a hefty fee, of course). This doesn't completely remove the role of death as a gold sink, but should make it less frustrating, as you can be sure that you're not going to lose some prized item.

CLANS

Community is everything, and clans are a big part of that. Clans will provide a way to group with like-minded people: for conversation, for quests, for hunting, and if necessary, for war. Only Nobles will be able to create clans, but anybody may be invited and join them.

OPEN PVP

It wouldn't be a good move for us to enable PVP without looking more closely at class balance in PVP. There have been some major changes since release, and it's important to factor those in as much as possible. To encourage this, we intend to be work with players to organize some PVP arena events over the new few months. The more people we get involved, the more information we get, and hopefully, the more fun you have too. We will of course also be making some adjustments to the basic layout of the PVP arena to make objective-based gameplay more viable.

The longer-term plan here is that some regions of the world will be open-PVP, and others not. With some areas always remaining non-PVP, for obvious reasons. We're also considering handing over control of the PVP status of a region to the clans that control that region; with 'control' being determined by the ownership of clanhall(s) there. However clanhalls probably won't work exactly like houses, with any clan being able to buy one. But the details of this are yet to be decided.

MONSTER BEHAVIOUR IMPROVEMENTS

Along with the ongoing balancing efforts, we're planning several improvements for monsters.

We recently tweaked how some monsters move around. Some of these tweaks will be rolled out for all monsters, especially those which helped monsters escape when 'trapped' against a flat wall.

New monster abilities are also on the way, especially for low/mid-level monsters. We want to make combat with lower level creatures a bit more interesting. And to use low level monsters to teach players about certain cues that are useful in late-game. These cues are also something that we're looking to improve in higher level monsters. Since many creatures have these abilities, but only a few currently give players any chance to counterplay.

More variety in monster abilities is also on the cards. Stackable status effects will be a big part of this, including poison (after we add an antidote elixir), bleeding, defense debuffs, and more. Moreover, monsters should be able to summon other monsters.

CLIENT USER EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS

Improving the usability of the client is going to be a key goal of ours over the next few months.

Firstly, we need to improve customisation of the positioning of in-game windows, such as equipment, containers, friend list, party list, and spellbar.

Secondly, visual improvements and polish would go a long way to improving things here. For example, coin exchanges and ability shops shouldn't look the same as a general store. Different layouts and background images will help distinguish these different shop types, and make them more intuitive to interact with. Adding in-game polish is important too. For instance, smoothing of the transition when moving between floors via stairs.

Finally, some tasks, such as sorting and looting items aren't fun, and aren't engaging for players. You may have already tried out the auto-combining of container contents that we added a few patches ago. We intend to add more little quality of life features like these to improve the overall game experience for new and old players alike.

STATUS ICON IMPROVEMENTS

Many of the icons and associated descriptions are misleading (I'm looking at you, 'sedative'). And for abilities that rely on generating stacks, there is currently no visual communication of how many stacks you currently have.

NORTHERN DAWN AREA UPDATE

This has been mentioned before as the next major area update. It's found to the north of Eastebb, and is home to dwarfs, golems, demons, and worse. As you can imagine, this will be an area mainly designed for higher levels. So this will serve to help a little with the current scarcity of high-level and teamhunt-friendly spawns.

Content for this area has only just started. But we'll provide teasers over the next few months as things progress.

BREWING

The current brewing system is neither very intuitive nor rewarding, and there's no variety in the potions that can be created.

Right now, elixirs can be brewed only if you use a selection of ingredients that exactly matches a recipe. This allows for no creativity or variety in the potions that can be brewed. To change this, we're going to be moving the logic from a recipes-based system, to one where the individual ingredients define the potion's outcome. A healing ingredient will heal, a hasting ingredient will haste, a poisoning ingredient will poison. If you—for some reason—put them together into one potion, then you'd get an elixir that heals, hastes, and poisons. This will save us a lot of time in the long-run, since adding a new ingredient will automatically add new brewing options.

This will be balanced by allowing ingredients to cancel out different effects. Lore-wise, this is essentially how the existing recipes are designed anyway. Take the current healing elixir for example: fireweed heals, but also causes burning, cerulean mint soothes burning. Put them together, and the negative effects of fireweed are cancelled out by the mint. Tadah! A healing elixir.

We are also away that ingredient availability is patchy, and that brewing isn't properly taught in-game. These issues are on our radar, and we'll be improving them too in time.

OUTFIT ADDONS

Having a set base outfit for each class gives nearby players useful information about their allies and their enemies in PVP. However, we understand that customising your avatar is important.

So, along with the changes required for character skin tones, Alenius is also hard at work adding hairstyles and beards. On top of this, extra addons items will be purchasable via microtransactions. These include addons to the head, to each shoulder, and to the back. Addons below the waist are more problematic because we need to consider how to fix problems with them clipping through chairs when sitting down. So if we go that route sometime, it will be in the more distant future.

SUMMARY

If you've made it this far, wow! Top marks for commitment! If you're not with us on Discord already, please do join us.

Of course, there are a lot of small tweaks and improvements that we're planning, which weren't specifically mentioned here. But we can't mention everything in a post like this.

Yours

Original post

01 Jan 2021Developer post

Performance, balancing, and some nice-to-haves

Happy New Year! We'll be posting a lot over the next few days regarding our plans for Phobos in 2021. But for now, here's our first patch of 2021. A SMALL THANK-YOU TO OUR OLDEST PLAYERS Some of you have been with us for over a decade. Many of you also supported us early on with

Happy New Year! We'll be posting a lot over the next few days regarding our plans for Phobos in 2021. But for now, here's our first patch of 2021.

A SMALL THANK-YOU TO OUR OLDEST PLAYERS

NOTE: This was done by checking for in-game accounts associated with supporter and closed beta email addresses. There was no level restrictions for supporters, but closed beta accounts had to have a level 10 or above on the account to qualify. If you were part of the closed beta, and think that you've been missed out. Please DM Rob in Discord.

PERFORMANCE

Reduced the heal spam of various monsters when they have no target. Previously this could occur as much as 20 times a second. Now monsters only heal like this once a second, but at a higher rate. This shouldn't change their behaviour, but will slightly improve performance.

BUGS

Fixed bug in Arian feather quest that caused him to repeatedly ask for feathers even after the players brought him some

COIN PRIORITY

Lower value coins are now taken first when trading/exchanging (copper > silver > gold)

STAIRS

Stairs now specifically reject teleporting players onto other stairs or stairholes
Adjusted offset of ladders slightly to allow for outline to surround it completely

MONSTERS

Several more monsters now self heal when they have no target:
- Archenaid
- Giant
- Grorus
- Lucenfly (because they weren't annoying enough already)
- Orc Savage
- Sal Cotton
- Wiralof
Giant (Tomb of Vril)
- Giants in the Tomb of Vril no longer give any loot
Shrachlor
- AoE damage to heal ability now also affects players (previously it only affected other monsters)
- Ranged missile attack damage reduced by -20%
Mordrir
- Reduced the cooldown reduction when taking damage from 1s/damage => 0.5s/damage
- Increased fireball damage by +7%
Blowbug
- Experience reduced from 225 => 110 (level unchanged)
Idle animations re-added to certain monsters
- Wirathistle
- Quagwyrm
- Lucenfly

MAP

Short bridge added between Timari and Greenwood to prevent luring of higher-level creatures into town

ITEMS: WAND STAT REDUCTIONS

All wand stats have been reduced significantly. Historically, giving newly-promoted mages a single item that increases their magical damage by between 10-20% made sense, because magical skills increased much more slowly than physical combat stats, and there were as many items with magical stats. However, we now have more magical items (e.g. Boots of Nieanah, Magician's Gloves, Dragonskull Shield, Dragontooth Ring, Stormwitch Ring, Stormwitch Talisman, etc.), and magic skill learning rates have been increased considerably since then, and it is clear that the high stats on wands are a significant factor that contribute to the overpowered damage of low-level mages. Overall, this will mean a real-world damage reduction of 10-20% for low-level mages (who initially rely on the wand for almost all their damage buffs), and a reduction of 5-10% for higher levels (who have access to better gear with other magic stats).
Base stats on all wands reduced from +10% => +5% (i.e. whenever an item had +10% before, it probably has +5% now)
Low level wand stats reduced by -50%
High-level wand stats reduced by -33%
All new wand stats:
- Spellcaster's wand: N5, D5, P5, S5
- Sapling wand: N10, D5, P5, S5
- Ember wand: N5, D10, P5, S5
- Ram totem wand: N11, D5, P5, S8
- Amethyst wand: N9, D9, P9, S9
- Viper wand: N13, D5, P5, S5
- Skull wand: N5, D11, P5, S8
- Soulfire wand: N5, D12, P5, S5
- Winged death wand: N5, D14, P5, S5
- Cobra wand: N15, D5, P5, S5
- Whistling wand: N14, D5, P12, S5
- Wildwood wand: N14, D5, P5, S12
- Necromantic wand: N5, D14, P5, S14
- Dragonbreath wand: N5, D16, P9, S5
- Stormwitch Lantern: N14, D14, P5, S5
- Plague wand: N18, D5, P5, S5
- Vehement wand: N5, D18, P5, S5
- Stemsoul wand: N16, D16, P5, S5
- Tempest Lantern: N18, D16, P5, S5
- Havoc wand: N5, D20, P5, S5
- Maelstrom wand: N20, D5, P5, S5
- Lantern of Nieanah: N17, D19, P5, S5
- For the 2 players who own another wand that isn't currently on the wiki, and so has not been included here: check your backpack!

ITEMS: MISC

Fixed missing names for a few in-game decorative items
Dragonscale Armor
- Description typo fixed
Malieran Battle Robe Leggings
- Magic defense reduced from 4 => 3
- Ranged damage buff reduced from 3% => 2%
Malieran Battle Robe
- Physical defense reduced from 22 => 21
- Magic defense reduced from 10 => 8
- Melee damage reduced from 7% => 5%
- Ranged damage reduced from 7% => 4%
Shrachlor's Leggings
- Fixed bug with it not being pickup-able
Shrachlor's Helmet
- Fixed bug with it not being pickup-able
Felhur's Dreadhammer
- Attack reduced 80 => 77
Witherfear warhammer
- Attack increased 78 => 79

SKILLS

Knight Defense skill learning formula base value reduced from 1.137 => 1.135 (faster skill learning)
Rogue Dagger skill learning formula base value reduced from 1.152 => 1.15 (faster skill learning)
Rogue Throwing skill learning formula base value reduced from 1.152 => 1.15 (faster skill learning)

ABILITIES: SHAMAN

Swarm
- Reduced damage scaling curve slightly. Peak damage is unchanged, but the build up/down is now slightly slower
Virulence
- Target damage output debuff now scales with caster's stats
- Slowed down last few damage ticks so that ability now lasts
- Updated description to clarify that the 'damage based on target HP' is actually only part of the damage calculation
Harvest
- Increased regen scaling by stats by +20%
- Reduced base regen/shield scaling based on damage by -50%
- NOTE: Overall this is a big nerf, and increases the need for players to use support equipment to make full use of the ability

ABILITIES: KNIGHT

Armament
- Increased scaling of defense debuff based on stats
- Mana cost reduced from 90MP => 70MP
- Cooldown reduced from 40s => 35s

Riposte
- Reflected damage total is now capped based on caster's defense stats (calculated defense value * 0.2)

ABILITIES: ROGUE

Barbarous Throw
- Mana cost reduced from 50MP => 40MP
Disembowel
- Mana cost reduced from 75 MP => 60MP
Impale
- Mana cost reduced from 60MP => 50MP

ABILITIES: RANGER

Glacial Imbue
- Attack animation no longer displays when the target is not within LOS

ABILITIES: WIZARD

Absorb
- Delay between timeout warning animation and effect being removed increased 1600ms => 2400ms

Original post

15 Dec 2020Developer post

Disconnections discontinued (part 1)

DISCONNECTIONS Fixed a bug that caused some of the client disconnection issues that many players have suffered from We are aware of one other cause of this PUSHING It's no longer possible to push players into stairs or stairholes. Note: it is still possible to push people into 'g

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