Proving Grounds, Patch notes

Hello Paxians,

Pax Dei’s first major content update, Proving Grounds, is now live! You can find all the information about what’s been changed and added in the articles below:

• Wipe FAQ - available in English, French and German
• Spotlight - Combat changes
• Spotlight - The Journal
• Spotlight - World Changes
• Spotlight - Additional Changes

In addition, we’ve just updated the patch notes:

Patch Notes

Wipe Support

• Due to the world’s topography change, we have wiped the worlds/shards by releasing all plots - see below.
• We have reduced the number of worlds/shards but saved your characters. When you log in after the update, your old characters will not belong to any world, and you will choose a new one and a new starting location from the characters' lobby - you won’t be able to change a character’s server region.
• A ‘Redeeming queue’ has been added for you to claim the items reimbursed from before the wipe. These items are all the materials used for building pieces, all the props, and all the items placed in the containers on your plots on a given shard.
• The complete FAQ is on our support site : Proving Grounds Wipe - General information

World Update

Terrain update

• We adjusted the terrain to have a more open and natural feel of the world and encourage exploration and travel.
• Removed several steep cliffs;
• Added several mountain passes to go from one area to another;
• Added some paths to prevent players from blocking off some areas from other players;
• Some mountain ranges have been lowered to make the valley more open;
• Added new elements to the home valleys to make them more unique;
• Added rock formations to some home valleys to facilitate building cliff castles;
• Cliff meshes are better aligned with the terrain so that the landscape looks more pleasing and less noisy;
• Improved puddles;
• Tuned down some excessive rock clutter in some biomes (notably in Grasslands/Rolling Hills and the Lands of Stone);
• Added some trees on cliffs and steep slopes;
• Made the tree sizes more consistent;
• Added new types of roads to increase visual variety.

Biomes

• Redistributed biomes for a more logical progression, making wildlands and home valleys more distinct. The home valleys now host three base biomes and two additional, more advanced biomes. The advanced biomes differ between home valleys, while the base biomes are always the same.
• A new demonic-inspired biome, the Corrupted Plains, has been added and will welcome some high-end enemies.
• Removed the gaps areas between the biomes.
• Wildlife distribution has been reviewed to fit more the biome and zone difficulty.
• Various biomes updates:
  • Some ‘ancient trees’ appear in enchanted forests;
  • Demonic weird growths appear in demonic biomes;
  • Eerie Pine Forest got a new look for the trees;
  • Forest biomes should feel less uniform;
  • Improved tree clustering in non-forest biomes;
  • Most biomes have had their names reviewed to reflect better their atmosphere (normal, demonic, haunted, or enchanted).

Player Map

• New enemy camp icons to show which faction occupies a ruin/point of interest.
• Updated the legend of the map.
• More icons were added to the map markers list.
• Slight cosmetic update.

Crafting/Building

General

• Added ability to allow players to set permissions based on clan roles.
• Taking damage now cancels crafting.
• An option to move item stacks from inventory to container and vice versa has been added.
• Revamped the recipe unlocks system that will now rely more on skill threshold than item discovery.
• Update the resource distribution based on the progression of new professions' material.
• Modified profession’s progression and XP scaling.
• Added a new skinning skill that determines the quality of the hides you can loot.
• Rebalanced all regular open-world wildlife to make skinning progression easier for solo players.

Gathering improvements

• The no-spawn area around plots has been reduced.
• A one-button woodchopping/mining feature has been added. Press the button once to start, and the action continues until your character runs out of stamina or the action is finished.
• Gathering (wood/ore) is now target-assisted to reduce the likelihood of players missing the resource node and performing an attack instead.
• Wood Cutting and Mining skills now provide a ‘resource damage’ bonus when leveled.

Journal

• The Journal can be opened by pressing “J” on your keyboard or clicking the Journal Tab in the character menu (TAB).
• The skills lists are now part of the Journal.
• The Journal lists all the recipes a character has unlocked, including the ingredients and crafter they need.
• The Journal lists all the ingredients picked up or used in an unlocked recipe.
• Ingredients of recipes listed in the Journal can be clicked to open more information.

Building

• New building piece variants: curved beams, new street signs, new doors, grapevine facade pieces, and a few miscellaneous pieces have been added - or readded.
• Some of the largest crafters are now easier to place on a plot.
• The character fades out from in front of the camera if the camera gets too close to the character. This improves situations where players build in a tight area and the character model obstructs the view.
• Players can now zoom in/out when holding the construction hammer.
• Players can now zoom in/out while in building mode by holding CTRL and using the mouse wheel.

Combat

General

• Shields' durability has been increased.
• Added loot permissions to prevent ‘ninja looting’:
  • When an NPC dies, the system determines which player or party of players will have access to the loot. After a specific time (the timer is visible on the corpse), the loot will be accessible to everybody.

• Active Combat Mode is when the character is considered ‘in combat’:
  • Active Combat Mode blocks players from using the teleport to Home Shrine and the spell Breath of Life (new spell).
  • Active Combat Mode is displayed on the HUD as a crossed swords icon when active;
  • Active Combat Mode is activated by:
    • Harming an opponent;
    • An opponent harmed your character;
    • Casting beneficial effects on someone who is already in combat.

  • Active combat mode persists when the opponents are alive and near you:
    • Killing all opponents ends the combat mode immediately;
    • Being within enough distance from all opponents allows the combat mode to be exited after a certain time.

  
  
• Equipping was improved to work more consistently and responsively by removing limitations and making the animations faster.
  
• Many enemies got their attack animations revisited, allowing more anticipation/telegraphing before an attack is performed.
  

PvE

• Ennemies' progression has been reviewed, with the addition of more ‘easy-to-take’ camps inside the Home Valleys and a better progression through the biomes. In the Home Valleys, the enemies are weaker than in the Wildlands.
  • Note that caves have yet to get a similar treatment and remain unchanged for now.

• The inquisitors' and lost souls' looks are being heavily worked on. They have not been finalized yet, but you will see the work in progress in the patch.
  
• The props in the camps and ruins have been updated to reflect the faction that occupies the place.
  

Locomotion

• The character now runs by default. Walk can be toggled with a separate input (default: Alt). The old method can be reenabled in the game options.
• Running and Sprinting were reduced slightly to improve the overall combat experience when moving.
• The sprinting cost has been reduced to compensate for its speed change.
• Jumping stamina cost was reduced.
• Swimming stamina cost was reduced slightly.
• The falling damage system has been reworked for more consistent and predictable results.
• The characters' feet now react to slopes in the environment and correctly place their feet up and down to reflect the height of the terrain.

Blocking

• Blocking now forces players to walk locomotion - you can’t run or sprint while blocking.
• Stamina no longer regenerates during active blocking.
• Running out of stamina when blocking penalizes the blocker with a short stun.
• Blocking stops negative effects from being applied by melee attacks when the incoming damage is mitigated by 50% or more.
• Strafing while blocking should no longer rotate the character.

Melee attacks / Weapons

• Melee system - improvements on performing attacks while moving and makes it easier to hit an opponent:
  • The system now picks the melee target based on the melee direction;
  • The character will slightly move towards the target and try to keep up with the moving targets;
  • The system will rotate the character to keep it aligned with the target during a melee attack.

• Melee attacks can be aimed up / down to be able to hit enemies above or below the character
  • This is automatically adjusted when a suitable target is in range.

• Melee hit detection was reworked to represent the weapon’s path during an attack more accurately.
  • This allows spears to do line-shaped damage zones that hit fewer opponents and great axes to do big circular swings that hit enemies in a radius.

• Combat responsiveness was improved by introducing animation cancels into melee attacks. This can only be done during the attack's beginning and ending phases. Players are forced to commit to an attack just before the damage is dealt.
  • Melee attack can be canceled by:
    • Casting a spell;
    • Blocking;
    • Jumping;
    • Special melee attacks.

  
  
• Special melee attacks now cause increased stamina damage to blocking targets.
  
• Damaging an opponent with melee causes them to be unable to sprint for a short duration.
  
• All weapon animations were re-timed, and their mobility was adjusted to work with the new melee system.
  
• All weapons are rebalanced, and their damage is distributed to be weighted to the end of the weapon attack combo.
  
• All weapon special attacks were rebalanced.
  
• Blaze and Viper special effects (procs) were reworked to apply buildup on every hit but will cause less damage.
  
• Various fixes for special effects (procs) and other status effects to make them trigger more reliably.
  
• Bows now correctly scale the damage based on the bow draw length.
  
• Due to the work on melee, some weapons have been temporarily removed from the game. It includes:
  • All one-handed combat axes and most greatswords;
  • All the weapons with Ira Bene, The Slug, or Mosquito special effects (procs).

Spell casting

• Spell targeting has been reworked to be much more accurate. The target is also displayed for the duration of the cast to increase combat readability.
• Spell casting can now be canceled by:
  • New movement input;
  • Jumping;
  • Special melee attack;
  • Blocking.

Spells

• Added new spells:
  • Breath of Life: Channeling self-only healing spell that can be used when out of combat.
  • Breath of Balance: Replenishes 60 stamina of you and the targeted player.
  • Breath of Joy: Increases movement speed for a short duration. Sprinting consumes no stamina and is immune to movement-impairing effects for its duration.

• The Mesmerize spell had its cooldown and cost rebalanced.
  
• The mesmerize now correctly breaks when the affected target is being damaged by damage over time effects.
  
• Pacify 1/2/3 were rebalanced to provide a more straightforward progression through the spell ranks.
  
• The stamina cost of most spells was increased.
  
• The cooldown on The Haunting Memories spell has been extended.
  

UI

• Nameplates are updated for improved readability and additional information
  • Hovered enemy will display their nameplate for a duration;
  • Any damage on the enemy will display the nameplate for a duration;
  • Nameplates fade in / out based on distance (as long as they are within line of sight);
  • The color reflects the current ‘relation’ with the character:
    • Gray: Neutral;
    • Red: Aggressive NPC or Player in PvP;
    • Green: Party member;
    • Blue: Clan member.

  • The level number of the enemy is displayed next to the nameplate to allow players to evaluate the difficulty of an opponent.
    
  
  
• Spell-casting bars to communicate spell-casting progress
  • The casting bar appears on spell casts on the player HUD and the Nameplates (on others)
  • The spell-casting bar is red for offensive/harmful spells and blue for defensive/neutral spells;
  • When a spell is interrupted, the casting bar flashes red and displays ‘INTERRUPTED.’

• Healing numbers are displayed when a character is being healed. This does not apply to Heal over time effects.
  

Camera improvements

• Camera collision events have been smoothed out and should reduce camera ‘jumpiness.’
• New camera smoothing has been added as the melee update will add more sudden movements to the player character.

Audio improvements

• Improved the overall mix.
• Music has been updated to be unique for most biomes and times of day.
• NPC Health will now affect the grunt types more.
• Added more variations for the Zebian and Inquisitor grunt personality types.
• Added subtle grunts for chained and combo attacks.
• Wood chopping cone attenuation and listener are fixed.
• Level up a skill now has its unique audio per skill and level.
• Added UI sounds.
• Added audible indication of trying to perform actions when no stamina is available.
• Added better visual and audio feedback when blocking attacks.
• A sound effect was added when equipping a shield.
• A new sound is played when a character tries to collect an item while their inventory is full.
• Doors and chests now have sound effects when interacted with.

Other Updates

• Most of the emotes are now played until the player interrupts them.
• Updated our Unreal Engine to version 5.3.

Bug Fixes

• Auto-crafting at a crafting station no longer logs the player out due to inactivity.
• Fixed an issue that caused Stone Pillar Foundations and Short Stone Walls to have lower-than-intended integrity values.
• Clan member icons now appear in the correct location on the map.
• You can now invite avatars from different provinces to parties and clans.
• Fixed an issue where some sliders in settings showed a different value after restarting the title.
• Fixed an issue where players do not always see other players' moves correctly during attacks.
• Temporarily removed the FSR3 upscaling method to resolve stability issues when it's used.
• Fixed an issue that would cause players to be returned to the main lobby after logging in with a character for the first time.
• Fixed an issue that could cause plots not to be released immediately when deleted.
• Increased Tin drop rates from Tin deposits.
• Porcini mushrooms were removed, as they were a duplicate of the Penny Buns. They were replaced by Bay Boletes.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Settings menu to appear when loading in or out of dungeons.
• Fixed an issue with the level-up notifications not appearing.
• Added the option to close the game menu using the mouse beside the ESC button.
• Fixed an issue that caused the "Primitive Longbow" to be duplicated in the crafting menu.
• Fixed an issue where crafting some Charcuterie recipes with insufficient inventory space would not grant all the items.
• Fixed an issue with some avatar arms appearing disfigured when wearing layers of armor.
• Fixed issue where walls in caves are missing due to low streaming distance.
• Fixed the size and shape of pauldrons that adapted to multiple layers of clothing in an awkward manner.
• The Drowning Well inside The Farm dungeon is no longer an illusion and allows characters to swim.
• Chests of deleted avatars should no longer display the character's debug ID.
• Fixed an issue where the recipes filter blocked the ability to repair items.
• Fixed an issue where excessive Short Log Beams could cause FPS drops for all nearby players.
• Fixed an issue that could allow players to select a region that is in maintenance mode when creating a new character.
• Fixed an issue where opening doors while standing close to them would cause a sudden camera zoom.
• Resolved an issue where the player had no feedback regarding the unstuck option.
• Fixed an issue where the Clan Heraldry would not be displayed at creation or after a change while in-game.
• Fixed an issue where the Left-sided Door would not snap to doorways.
• Fixed an issue where building decay was not present on released plots.
• Added more visual effects to corrupted NPCs.
• Fixed an issue where specific shields would clip into the player’s avatar when equipped.
• Fixed an issue where it was possible to hold two offhand items simultaneously.
• Fixed an issue that would cause the equipment menu camera to stop working when a building piece or world object obscured the player.

Items removed from the game with the deployment of Proving Grounds

Several will make their comeback at a point.

Food & potions

• Golden Brew
• Mustard Tea
• Lemongrass Tea
• Red Currant Spirits
• Red Apple Spirits
• Grape Spirits
• Plum Spirits
• Pear Spirits
• Hops Mead
• Blackberry Mead
• Elderberry Mead
• Grape Syrup
• Rosehip Syrup
• Lovely Porridge
• Sweet Porridge
• Fine Venison Stew
• Nice Bear Stew
• Alpine Juniper Berry
• Gooseberry
• Hawthorne
• Pineberry
• Chlorine Lepidella
• Porcini
• Pear
• Plum

Crafter

• Distillery

Items

• Conditioned Ale with Intense Flavor
• Conditioned Beer with Intense Flavor
• Conditioned Beer with Strong Body
• Red Apple Distillation
• Cloudberry Distillation
• Grape Distillation
• Pear Distillation
• Plum Distillation
• Red Currant Distillation
• Conditioned Red Wine from Cloudy Base
• Conditioned Red Wine with Intense Flavor
• Conditioned Red Wine with Strong Body
• Conditioned White Wine with Strong Body
• Wolfsbane's Seeds

Weapons

• Axe of the Fiery Eye
• Axe of the Empty Shadow
• Imp Feeders Steel Axe
• The Withering Wilds
• Tempered Battleaxe
• Crude Hatchet
• Crude Axe
• Rugged Hatchet
• Crude Hatchet
• Impish Apparition Battleaxe
• Willsapper
• The Guard of Guardians
• Battleaxe of the Lost
• Torturer's Easy Axe
• Bulimix's Axe
• Axe of the Pura's
• Demoncaller's Engraved Axe
• Echo of Nago
• Messenger's Heavy Stick
• Priests Knuckle Crusher
• Modified Shovel
• Amabelle's Life Balance
• Mothers Gift
• Bon's Radiant Pike
• The Great Tranquilizer
• Tainted Spiral Pike
• Spear of the Mighty Boar
• Manflayer's Spear
• Sword of the Pound
• Fetid Zweihander
• Poisoner's Clean Cutter
• The Sting of Pellipis's Eye
• Torturer's Broadsword
• The Prize of Corruption
• Tick's Prickler
• Brutal Steel Zweihander
• Fine Bastard Sword
• Archdukes Brand of Fury
• Blood Curators Fare
• Sword of Peter deSalias
• Toxic Zweihander
• Pyrrhocoris' Longsword
• Will of the Giant Boar
• Cold Dark Arming Sword

A few last words

Are you still looking for companions to join you on your journey through Gallia?

• Join our Discord to access the recruitment channel
• Starting November 12, we’ll have a new promotion, so it will be a good time to have your friends join you!

Our teams are working on the next update already, and we’ll post some details on the next round of content updates soon.

Pax vobiscum,
The Mainframe Team