Developer's Notes for 2024 Phase 1

Greetings everyone, this is the ArcheAge dev team.

We would like to share the details about the first update preview for this year.

In this update preview, we would like to provide detailed information on the Phase 1 update that we revealed through the New Year's roadmap.

* The below contents are currently in development and can be subject to change upon actual release.

Akasch Invasion Revamp

The "Akasch Invasion," originally developed to promote cooperation among factions to resist the invading Akasch faction at Ipnya Ridge, has deviated from its intended plan. It is currently being exploited to hinder the growth of opposing factions, with activities like deliberately releasing equipment and intentionally losing to the Akasch faction.

The development team made continuous efforts but concluded that simply modifying some content will not lead to overall improvement.

Therefore, in the upcoming March update, we plan to undergo a comprehensive overhaul of this content to transform it into a format where cooperation and competition between factions can be enjoyed together.

1. While the invasion battle process remains the same, we have reduced its duration and adjusted the difficulty to relieve the burden of combating the Akasch faction.
2. After the competition with the Akasch faction, a higher grade Akasch who heeds the call of "Akasch Queen Kina" will appear in Erenor.
3. Depending on the victory or defeat of the player faction, the raid boss that appears subsequently will change, and better rewards, such as the "Ipnysh Ring," can be obtained when the player faction wins.
4. Improved Ipnysh Protection buff, which used to strengthen the raid boss after the Invasion battle defeat, will be removed. This change ensures no impact on raid progression after the invasion battle.
(Image) New raid boss (Left) Grand General Allu (Upon player faction's victory) / (Right) Elder Nergal (Upon player faction's defeat)  

Removal of Faction Points, and Introduction of Free Exile System

ArcheAge has been a prominent RvR game since its launch, but it has grappled consistently with the challenge of "faction imbalance." Despite the development team's persistent efforts to find systemic solutions, previous improvements fell short of fully resolving the issue of "faction imbalance." The faction scores, designed to assist the disadvantaged faction based on systemic evaluations, could not accurately reflect the actual situation. Furthermore, the exile system, where member capacity was determined by faction strength, was inconvenient and worsened the faction imbalance. To address these concerns, the upcoming March update will streamline the faction limitation system and allow players the freedom to choose their factions based on their own will.  

1. Removal of Faction Points

All faction points to assess the faction activities will be removed. It will eliminate the faction advantage/disadvantage assessments, and discontinue support for disadvantaged factions. The following systems will be removed.
• "Don't Give Up" buff granted to the disadvantaged faction
• Faction Statue's "War Time" buff
• Mobilization Order Flag's [War Preparations] buff
• Advantage/disadvantage information from the Community > Alliance Info tab
• Removal of Alliance System
 

2. Removal of Systematic Exile, and Freedom of Exile Through Alliance Exile Scroll Purchase

With the removal of advantage/disadvantage assessments, the system limitation on the number of exiles will be lifted. Starting from the March update, players can purchase Alliance Exile Scroll from the NPC "Exile Broker" in Freedich Island. Please note that Alliance Exile Scroll can be purchased once a week using Honor Points, and it will expire after 6 hours.   After use, it cannot be used again for 7 days. The reuse cooldown applies to other faction scrolls as well. (Image) Exile Broker's Location in Freedich Island
• 1: Nuia Alliance Exile Scroll Purchase Location
• 2: Haranya Alliance Exile Scroll Purchase Location
• 3: Pirate Faction Exile Scroll Purchase Location
 

Addition of High Grade Raid Equipment

In the March update, higher grade equipment that many of our players have been anticipating will be introduced. Higher grade equipment can be acquired by awakening lower grade equipment of the same type. Awakening not only increases the basic ability but also adds one more synthesis effect. The synthesis effects will also be upgraded, so we hope you will be able to experience more powerful raid equipment with stronger abilities.

Category	Equipment Type	Lower Grade Equipment	New Equipment
Nehliya	Greatsword	Eminent Soulslake Edge	Annihilating Soulslake Edge
Nehliya	Katana	Eminent Soulslake Razor	Annihilating Soulslake Razor
Nehliya	Greataxe	Eminent Soulslake Cleaver	Annihilating Soulslake Cleaver
Nehliya	Scepter	Eminent Soulslake Leech	Annihilating Soulslake Leech
Nehliya	Shield	Eminent Soulslake Bulwark	Annihilating Soulslake Bulwark
Nehliya	Rifle	Eminent Soulslake Bullet	Annihilating Soulslake Bullet
Black Dragon	Sword	Ferocious Black Dragon Tail-Reaper	Bellowing Black Dragon Tail-Reaper
Black Dragon	Shield	Ferocious Black Dragon Fireguard	Bellowing Black Dragon Fireguard
Black Dragon	Bow	Ferocious Black Dragon Eyesplitter	Bellowing Black Dragon Eyesplitter
Black Dragon	Nodachi	Ferocious Black Dragon Wing-Reaper	Bellowing Black Dragon Wing-Reaper
Black Dragon	Staff	Ferocious Black Dragon Roar	Bellowing Black Dragon Roar
Black Dragon	Club	Ferocious Black Dragon Silencer	Bellowing Black Dragon Silencer
Black Dragon	Rifle	Ferocious Black Dragon's Bite	Bellowing Black Dragon's Breath
Anthalon	Head	Nefarious Dread Necromancer's Hood	Cruel Necromancer Hood
Anthalon	Top	Nefarious Dread Necromancer's Shirt	Cruel Necromancer Armor
Anthalon	Gloves	Nefarious Dread Necromancer's Gloves	Cruel Necromancer Gloves
Anthalon	Pants	Nefarious Dread Necromancer's Pants	Cruel Necromancer Pants
Anthalon	Shoes	Nefarious Dread Necromancer's Shoes	Cruel Necromancer Shoes
Leviathan	Head	Resolute Hermit's Glare	Pale Sea Glare
Leviathan	Top	Resolute Hermit's Heart	Pale Sea Heart
Leviathan	Gloves	Resolute Hermit's Touch	Pale Sea Touch
Leviathan	Pants	Resolute Hermit's Will	Pale Sea Will
Leviathan	Shoes	Resolute Hermit's Footprints	Pale Sea Footprints
Charybdis	Head	Termisia's Merciless Thoughts	Chilled Cap
Charybdis	Top	Termisia's Merciless Soul	Chilled Jerkin
Charybdis	Gloves	Termisia's Merciless Grasp	Chilled Gloves
Charybdis	Pants	Termisia's Merciless Resolve	Chilled Breeches
Charybdis	Shoes	Termisia's Merciless Path	Chilled Boots

 

Reduced Difficulty in Acquiring Crafted Equipment

The current Crafted Equipment starts with the Illustrious equipment and develops through many stages in the following order: Magnificent > Epherium > Delphinad > Ayanad > Erenor > Awakened Erenor > Brilliant Erenor. The cost burden of acquiring upper-tier equipment is very high. The difficulty level will be adjusted to help players enhance their strength by utilizing Crafted Equipment. Illustrious and Magnificent grades, the lower grades of crafted equipment, will be removed. Players will be able to obtain Epherium or higher-grade equipment to proceed with growth.

1. Epherium equipment will be available for purchase from Weapon/Armor Merchant.
2. The paths to obtain Existing Illustrious and Magnificent equipment will be eliminated.
3. Existing Illustrious and Magnificent gear can still be used, and "Salvage Forge" on Mirage Isle will allow players to create awakening materials for higher grade equipment.
4. You can obtain crafting equipment and awakening materials by defeating the Delphinad Ghost Ship.
 

2nd Collection Achievement System: Awakened Andelph Drakora

A considerable time has passed since the first collection achievements were introduced. As many players have already completed the collection achievements, the excitement and purpose of collecting have stagnated. In response to this, we plan to introduce a new set of second collection achievements to rekindle the interest and goals of players for the collecting content. Upon achieving the final goal of the second collection achievements, you will obtain an item that allows you to awaken the "Andelph Drakora," and upon awakening, you will gain "Awakened Andelph Drakora" with increased basic performance and a new skill that releases a strong condensed current. (image) Awakened Andelph Drakora  

Other

1. Loot Rewards Boost

• Hiram Rift
  • The chances to obtain Ipnysh Accessories upon defeating monsters in Hiram Rift will increase.
• Delphinad Ghost Ship
  • The chances to obtain Haunted Chest, Epherium Equipment Awakening Materials, and Delphinad Equipment upon defeating Delphinad Ghost Ship will increase.
  • The quantity of Relic Trade Packs created upon defeating Delphinad Ghost Ship will increase. 

2. Instance Team Recruit System Revamp

• Pre-Team Recruit/Search Support
  • To enhance user convenience, the "Recruit/Search" button will now be active 10 minutes before the instance starts, allowing participants to prepare for team recruitment in advance.
  • Applied Instances
    • Faction War: Golden Plains Battle, Skyfin War
    • Raid: Red Dragon's Keep, Kadum
• Team Recruit Edit Feature Added
  • Players can now click the "Edit Team" button to easily modify the required level, equipment points, and information, eliminating the need to disband the team when trying to change the content and details after creating a recruitment post.
(image) Edit Team Button (image) Team Recruit Edit Screen  

3. Improvements To Kick System of Inactive Participants

During an Instance, Raid General will be able to directly kick the inactive player without a vote. A reuse time of 1 minute will be applied after usage, and it will not be applied to the Instance Kick Vote cooldown.  

4. Expansion of Collection Sources for Guild Prestige

A new individual guild mission in which you can obtain Guild Prestige through item donations will be added. We hope this will relieve your burden of obtaining Guild Prestige.  

Lastly

In 2024, our development team will focus on your continuous growth while aiming to lower gameplay barriers and address inconveniences. Alongside the details shared through this notice, please look forward to updates that will enhance convenience and ease gameplay difficulties. We appreciate your love and support. Thank you all for your love and support for ArcheAge. We will be back with the March update soon. Thank you.