Emperium 1.3
Even though Emperium 1.2 just released I'm working hard on 1.3 (though I am taking a couple days off for the new year) The 1.3 update is titled "Into the Dark" and is something I've been outlining and planning for a long time now.
The update is the first one that takes place on a new landmass outside of Emperium where the first 5 zones are. The Isle of Umbra is a massive island and is home to many dangers, the largest being the Nightsworn as the island is their base of operations, and of course what would an Emperium update be without new raid content.
In the Heart of the Isle of Umbra rests the Citadel of Night. A 9 boss raid Instance that will feature a more detailed raid environment when compared to previous raids in Emperium.
The Isle of Umbra zone is not like any other zone in the game, as it not only much larger but also contains its own unique system for spawning world bosses. Unlike the mainland, where world bosses are on a set rotation each week. The world bosses on the Isle of Umbra have their own timers and spawn conditions that are to be discovered in game and are integral to progression in 1.3. The zone itself is massive like I said before, it's so big in fact that it has 3 Aether Tablets
Moving onto the raid, its at the heart, The Citadel of Night is the beginning of the end in regards to the first story arc in Emperium. By the time you finish Chapter 20 you will know what the raid boss is going to be in 1.4. Just a preview of the raid environment;
The whole thing has this castle aesthetic with the first half of the raid has you going through the different sections of the castle, with the end boss being at its pinnacle. Almost all the bosses in this raid have had some appearance in the MSQ which is something new and is really only possible in a raid like this that ties together all the story threads so far.
Overall This patch is shaping up to be nice, I'm excited for the Hunting system as an experiment and plan to expand it further if it turns out well. I can't give a release date or time frame for the patch because it is so early on.
In other news I do plan on an Emperium 1 year anniversary update coming in April. That will be out independently of 1.3 so if 1.3 is not out by then the anniversary will still be there.