Immortals!
The focus of the previous major update that added Nightmares and Invasion Atlas was to improve seasonal and high end game play.
While it was mainly aimed at experienced users playing in the current season, the topic of the next patch will give everyone something to be excited about. It's focused on character development.
Let's start with a short summary.
Stronghold will be removed
The Might invested into it will be distributed between the Cathedral and the Tower of Knowledge. The cards in the Hall of Trophies associated with the Stronghold will also be removed, and the Victor's Medals will be refunded to their owners.
Might will be removed from equipment.
Accessories will grant only Superiority. Their effect on bonus rank will be increased, and the number of available bonus ranks will increase as well.
New mechanics will be added to the Cathedral and the Tower of Knowledge
Every season, you can unlock additional ranks for the structures by performing a series of feats. These ranks will grant increased Might.
These changes will take effect with the beginning of the next invasion.
We are removing redundant bits and adding more variety. Scissors can easily be the logo for this update. Are you interested? Let's see.
Removing the Stronghold
How is it done?
After installing the update, you will no longer see the Stronghold in the capital, but if it was more developed than the other structures, you will notice that the development indicators of the Cathedral and the Tower of Knowledge have increased.
The Might from the Stronghold will be distributed among the remaining structures. Our task is to make sure that after the update, you remain as powerful as you were before we made any changes.
Why is this necessary?
Developing the structures in the capital is not the most exciting part of the gameplay, and we'd like to make it smaller. But how? Of all the structures in Aelinar, it's the Stronghold that requires the most attention: you can't get the resources for it by engaging in different activities (unlike credits and Knowledge of Enemies). So the Stronghold had to go. Once this structure is removed, you can spend the time that went into developing it on something more interesting!
What about the Hall of Trophies?
The cards in the Hall of Trophies associated with the Stronghold will also be removed, and the Victor's Medals will be refunded to the characters.
Changes to equipment
How is it done?
Aside from their regular properties, jewelry and Stones of Power will only grant Superiority. Might will be removed. In relics for adepts, Might will also be replaced with Superiority. So the maximum number of available bonus ranks will be greater than 50.
Since the Cathedral and Tower of Knowledge will be the sources of all Might and not a half of it, as before, we will be forced to cut the bonuses of the Hall of Trophies in half. If we don't do that, the effect of the Hall of Trophies on the character's power will be twice as strong.
So we will have less Might? What about monsters?
The strength of monsters is calculated based on the stats of an average character of the corresponding rank. So when the characters' Might gets lower, the monsters' strength will change accordingly. The balance of power will remain the same, and some players may even notice a slight increase in their character's strength.
If there is no Might on equipment, does it mean we can stop upgrading it?
It depends on your preferred activities in the game. Completing the tenth Nightmare without mythical equipment will be difficult. But you can still defeat a training avatar or test your skills on the first levels of Nightmare difficulty with epic items, as before.
Why is this necessary?
Might and Superiority (like the main and bonus ranks) have fundamentally different roles: Might is permanent, Superiority is temporary. We intend to develop this scheme, so as our first step, we want to remove the only aspect that contradicts it.
At this time, the equipment that needs to be replaced every one or two seasons gives a bonus to a permanent stat, Might. It's not consistent with the idea behind this stat. After the changes, the structures in the capital will be the only sources of Might. And there will be various seasonal sources of Superiority. This change will make the system easier to understand for new players and those who haven't played for a while.
Changes to the Cathedral and Tower of Knowledge
How is it done?
There will be temporary limits on the current ranks of the Cathedral and the Tower of Knowledge. For example, initially the tower of knowledge can be developed to rank 8, and in order to continue, you will have to perform a series of feats and earn 20 points of seasonal challenges from the corresponding category. Once this condition is met, the limit will be removed, and the player will be able to unlock 2 more ranks. The last two ranks of the Tower of Knowledge will grant an increased amount of Might.
A series of feats will remove the temporary limit in both structures at once. It will only affect new ranks - if you can't remove the limit in the current season, in the next season the limit will be moved 10 ranks forward.
But I cannot perform so many feats, why are you locking me out of Might?
A valid question - why make players complete difficult challenges to get the Might that was easily accessible before?
Feats require you to kill strong bosses - distortion generals and avatars, and to complete adventures on higher difficulties. Players that do not engage in these activities have no need for extra Might - the rest of the tasks can be easily accomplished without it. These ranks are intended for those who want to gain an advantage over particularly strong monsters and have an easier time fighting them.
We are certain that when you reach the temporary limit and decide to remove it, you will succeed!
Why is this necessary?
Now that the Cathedral and Tower of Knowledge are the only sources of Might, the effort required to reach the limit of development should also increase. While your equipment requires various resources from different sources, you only need credits and Knowledge of Enemies to develop the structures in the capital. The temporary limit will allow us to increase the value of Might and will serve as additional motivation for performing feats.
Summing up
The update will bring major changes with it. Of course, this is a stressful situation for everyone who is used to the current conditions. However, the game needs to improve and evolve. These changes are meant to make character development more straightforward and reasonable for new and returning players, and to add some variety for those who have been with us for a long time. A few more updates are currently planned: new players will be able to catch up much faster, and there will be extra bonuses in the structures, but we will talk about that later.