I've been thinking for a while about the feedback received in the community hub and today I'm deploying the nerf.
Dusk & Azroff Orcs in the final locations have a new hidden debuff which increases their likelihood to be afflicted by the following states:
- +5% to Blind, Silence, Stun, Slow, Poisonfear, Disable, Soulbroken, Soak, Air Current, Shear, Shear II, Shear III, Squall.
- +20% to Poison, Burn, Bleed, Bleed I, Bleed II, Bleed III, Bleed IV, Bleed V, Attack Break, Magick Break, Shield Break, Mind Break, Speed Break, Luck Break, Element Break.
- +50% to Warp I, Warp II, Warp III, Warp IV, Warp V.
- Additionally, 1000 barrier points will be lost at the end of every turn.
Then, analyzing where that put us - normal Dusk enemies have 10k barrier, Elite Dusk enemies have 30k barrier, Azroff Elite Raider Bowman and Necromancer have 30k barrier, Azroff Elite Guard Conjurer and Shaman have 75k barrier, and Azroff himself has 1M barrier. In practice, the barriers will dissolve on their own in 10, 30, 30, 75, and 1000 turns respectively without any damage applied or Warp effects.
It wasn't enough. So, aside from Azroff himself, all Dusk/Elite Dusk/Elite Azroff units had their HP and Barrier swapped. This makes most units have a greater barrier pool than HP pool allowing for Barrier Penetration or turtle strategies to flourish. Look for keywords "Piercing" "Bypass Barrier" or "Barrier Penetration" in the skill tooltip. Psychic and Soul abilities penetrate 25% through barriers even though the tooltip does not reflect this.
Other unfinished data may have been deployed with this update, but I won't be able to get a handle on what it was or where until a later date. School is almost over for the kiddos, so I'll be able to lock in on the final wave of updates soon.
Azroff is meant to be the most challenging enemy encountered along the main story. His enormous barrier pool is a challenge I know you have the tools to overcome - and there will be more tools deployed coming soon.
On the docket for Summer 2026:
In no particular order, my goals for CoA before moving to #2 are:
Non main-story questlines in the following locations: Lvell, Auria, Snowdrift, Scarlet Cavern, Hell's Gate, Den An'ura, Sha'ri Lighthouse, Auria Lighthouse, The Black Forest.
New enemies of various types spread throughout the world to be integrated in the leveling & crafting processes.
Major system change to how enemy typings are handled
Access to first area of Mwynn Isles (connected via Shoreline)
Terra Anatis opens
Shadowfrost Citadel opens
The Reservoir opens
Start of game rewards for end of game achievement detected
This collection internally is being referred to as 9.0.0.0 - Reawakened if it were to release all as a single update, which it more than likely will not.