Tides of Fate
When we started working on AE in 2018, our goal was to brush off the dust, fix a few things, and present it as is; however, once we got started doing that, we found it hard to leave it ‘as is.’ For one thing, it was a lot of fun to discover/rediscover and fix things that had been off/broken/left on the side. We also found that we wanted to make AE the best we could. In that spirit, since 2018, we have taken one section of the game at a time and improved it – making sure there is gear, checking leveling progression, fixing bugs, adding QoL features when the client allows it. We started with Mainlands, then worked on TR, SoC, and in spring of 2024 we shipped the Construction patch. ToF is the last piece of this project. And let’s not forget Steam! Today’s patch marks the end of 5 years of a lot of updates and 7 years of work which we have not charged for - this was something we did because we love the game and want it to be enjoyed for many years to come.
Today’s patch marks the end of this major undertaking. We thank you for your enthusiasm in 2020, your support since then, your suggestions (they were all read and considered), your kind words of support, and the fun times. This isn’t the end of those things, though we will be looking towards what can we do to put a “bow” on top of AE. I hope a new client is part of that, but certainly we have a lot of great ideas for that (perhaps final) chapter.
We thank you for your patience as we prepared this patch to improve the Tides of Fate expansion. A majority of our efforts were spent addressing progression for Sailing and Boat Combat gameplay (additional creatures, updated spawn maps, reorganized and improved treasure drops, added routes for obtaining necessary equipment and skill exp). As always, we also spent some time updating other aspects of the game.
And so. We give you our ToF update. Internally, “Holy Ships!”
NOTE: Please see Discord patch notes for specific details on all changes!
BOAT RELATED UPDATES FIRST
There is a lot to read here. In general, our goal was to make the boat portion of AE more enjoyable. Ocean creature stats, spawns, drops were all adjusted. Combat was adjusted. Ammo loading auto balances. New boat slots were added as well as new ammo/weapons. We added several new boats including 2 crafted boats - huge shout out to Ryakari for the tremendous job on the art! Shout outs also to Err and Jerod for their backpack art! One big addition to the game is new currency shops that let you buy things with currency other than gold. These drop from sea creatures and can be turned into their vendors, all located on the Housing Layer. We also added three kinds of Sea Chests full of goodies, including some very rare things, as well as floating ship wrecks. There are new quest chains, mostly tailored to those levelling Navigation skills, including 6 scroll quests. Most Dynamic Quests in TOF towns give good boat repair and sailing xp. New boat healing items should also make it more enjoyable. New sets of Whirlpool tele-portals, docks, and teleport backpack items to take the sting out of travel, as well.
Aquatic Creatures
- New Creatures: Carnivorous Kelp, Valinor Bootleggers, Shallow Sea Scallywags, Banded Krait, Slaver’s Barge, Smuggler’s Sloop, Ghostly Sea Hag, Ice Wyvern, Goblin Speeder, Frenzied Shark, Goblin Galleon, Goblin Warship, Deep Wurm, Goba Powderblast, Greater Water Elemental, Scalo’s Flanker, Air Elemental, Scalo’s Scuttlers, Ghostly Squid, Scalo’s Armada, 5Scalo’s Revenge
- All Sea Creature Treasure tables were reworked
Ocean Spawn Adjusts
- Complete re-work of all ocean areas (including buoys) to build progression
Boats & Equipment
- Reduced Boat Costs from Shipyard (in gold):
- NEW Boats: Ghostly War Junk, Caravel, Goblin Frigate, Ghostly Ironclad Frigate, Karve
- Craftable Ships using NPC “quest” (just materials); repeatable
- Cannon Ammo is now specific to types of guns being used
- Cannon Damage shows damage type per cannon
- Max # of Cannons now 8 (was 4); with that a rebalance of existing ship stats
- Ability to craft more boat ammo
- Added Bilge Pumps and Cannon Ammo to ToF shipyards (new repair kits must be crafted)
- Adjusted Sail speeds
- Doubled inventory slots on cannon, cannon ball, and sail chests
- Navigation Skill Bonuses on New/Existing Player Equipment
Boat Repair Items & Changes
- Lesser Boat Repair Kit 5 Finewood Planks, 45 Skill Carpentry
- Boat Repair Kit 4 Heartwood Planks, 70 Skill
- Superior Boat Repair Kit 5 Greater Heartwood Planks, 90 Skill
- Bilge Pumps 20 Wood Planks, 30 Skill
- Increases base heal by 150% / 200% / 250% resp.
- No stasis when healing boats (cooldown applied after)
Boat Travel
- NEW Docks: 2 in TR, 1 on Krythan, 1 somewhere >>> of Parian
- NEW Whirlpool Portals added Must have 500 HP on boat to enter, cannot be criminal/wanted
- Mist Stone will take you back to last used portal; Cannot be criminal/wanted
- NEW Dock Lantern will take you back to last used dock (while on boat and to a water tile)
- Cooldown is shared on some of these boat travel methods so be careful!
- Boat Wakes will help you not feel sea-sick, like Greg Grapple, and also let enemies trail you somewhat, PVPers be aware…
- Added Dransik Defender guard type boats near most good/neutral towns with docks of any considerable size (random/one off docks not protected)
- Wanted players must wait 15 sec to enter boat or leave boat; move interrupts
Ocean Quests
- Expanded “Chalice” quest with more Sailing/Boat Repair quests; check Roycroft, Royale, and Newtown
- Expanded the Intro to Sailing Quest: Starts with Captain Rictor at Valmond Docks (sail reward)
- Junk Deed rewarded for killing Goba Longblade at end of Roycroft Warehouse quest chain; if you already did it, tough nuggets!
- NEW Sailing Quest and reward item: Speak with Chella in Roycroft; must hate turtles
- NEW Cringey Sailing Quest Full of Awful Jokes and Immature References: See Greg Grapple at Newtown’s tavern
- NEW Sailing "Book" Quests:
- Looted Dry (Sea Turtles drop this riveting tale of new player woe)
- How Do They Do It (Squids are suckers for quests, and carry these scrolls)
- Sink the Slavers (We didn’t have any shrieking eels to deliver this message, Banded Kraits had to do)
- Save Our Ships (Dark Water Lads were a poor choice to be envoys for this cause)
- Jaws of Thunder (the next title for Sharknado Movie VI; North Star Pirates have a bootleg version of this cult classic)
- Goblish Ingenuity (Giant Killer Whales carry this missive; alternate title: Take a polecat and stuff that in a possum)
END OF BOAT CONTENT
Non Boat Content Server Gameplay Fixes, Adjusts, Changes etc
Events
- The Gauntlet Event was repaired and now ready to roll
- Gauntlet reward Adventurer's pack given drop protection
- Christmas Event spawn encounters updated
- Christmas Gifts updated
- Hell Siege Wicked Dice tables updated
- Hell Siege vendor options updated; new vendor NPC
- Totem of Siege cool down should show accurate numbers
- Shops can now trade in currencies other than gold. This will help us avoid wall-of-text quest or event reward NPC dialogues, and gives us more options to help ease the sting of bad RNG which tend to plague unfortunate players like Mage Merlin. We will gradually expand this for our events and other times that it necessitates.
- VIP RESALE LOCK: Due to the above awesome change, and since we can only set one cost per any type in game at this time, you could sell a hard to acquire item you bought with event currency to any npc for a paltry amount of gold; please use new VIP RESALE LOCK item which can be purchased at the VIP Vendor in LSP (10000 gold for 100 uses). Use this item to lock or unlock an item for sale at vendors.
Creatures
* New Creature in Kuthos Dungeon: Harbinger of Kuthos
* New Mini-Boss (for events): Shadow of Chaos
* New Creature in Dwarven Mine Fortress, above & below ground: Diamond Golem
* New Creature in Savanna: Alpha Lion
* Ethereal Guards given better stats
* Berserker effects will be tougher (monster berserks)
* Removed horned archer from taming table, too stronk
* Removed HP regen on Frump the Cook.
* Removed SOLO tag from almost every mob that still had it except the two cats, bc cats
* Removed caiman follower from hunter's handbook entries
* Moldy Mummy changed to disease damage
* Drops of Ancient Crystal Wyverns adjusted; not a one-stop-shop anymore. Treasures spread throughout ToF end game creatures and bosses
* Faldon the Dwarf King now throws dynamite while dancing
* Adjust to Valekar’s Fortress mob levels and stats and spawns; was a mixed bag of levels and confusing for newer players
* Shadow spiders moved from VF to a new cave area SE of Josody. Spider eggs added.
* Orc Renegades (all kinds) were adjusted and made consistent difficulty/lvl range; Orc Camps added as well – north of Krog/newbie orc lands.
* All crab creature types now VERMIN instead of SEA CREATURE
* NPC resistance adjustments (See Discord for Details)
Map
- Removed some more master map guides
- New Teleport Stones: Dunmarrow, Arda, Hothbra, Ethera (ocean chest drops)
- Fixed dark mage NPC in Meroven (removed; added replacement evil night elf mage)
- Fixed Rahura mill; git grindin’
- Painted music in Dungeon level map that was missing sound (Dragon caves, plus some other areas that were missing music nearby)
- Additional area added in Kuthos Dungeon
- Fix for various dungeon entrances that had to be clicked to enter, and would delete followers upon leaving: Silvest dungeon entrance, Mack Mack dungeon entrance, SGV cave to TR
- A few NPCs for flavor in Dawat, Arda, Ethera, Parian
- Added several signs between Dawat/Parian/Ethera with directions at each intersection
- Added two docks to Silvest; one >> of NK, one at the lone cottage of Identification << of NK
- Ladder to dragon caves on West side of GDI now gated for Dragon quest
- Added signpost outside of LSP portal near Valmond with basic directions
- Small adjustments to Berg's room to reduce exploitative play.
- If you’re still reading this, you get...a banana sticker!
Tradeskills
* Ingredients use same sleep time when adding to mixing bowl
* Fertilizer hint message appears before selecting target
* Casting net has chance to give garbage
* Numinous rune crafting tool marked non-collectable
* Sinister Cauldron gives extra experience when used to brew potions etc
* Identification xp reduced by 1/3; was too generous; identification points boosted
* Dolas Ferns in resource valley fixed, now (probably mostly) harvestable
* NEW Scrolls of Experience; these are no drop one time use scrolls that give skill xp
* NEW Mystic Orbs of Baking, Brewing
* Lots of hearthwood/GHW chunks added to housing map >> of elf town
* Added alchemy buff to tradesman cloak
* New material to farm, spin, weave, and sew: Hemp! Seeds drop rarely from sea chests
* Salvaging will adjust based on tools, equipment, player stats now. Was not using equipment bonus to skill.
Spawns
* Upped Triddle spawn around Silvest; reduced chance for spiders. Added more spawn chunks.
* Removed cyclops from the Roycroft island where they overlap with level 40/50 mobs
* Big adjust of spawns in mid-newbie level areas; orc renegades, krythan crypt, astari assassins/spies/inquisitors, area between Varg/Hothbra
* Dalvon Miner spawn adjusts (dedicated spawns added)
* Between Chlera and Abbey is level ~35-55ish. Adjusting mobs to compensate, removing/reducing some split spawns.
* Adjusted undead spawns between Samad and Chlera; added solo fright spawn, reduced chance for mummies a bit
* Added solo mummy spawn to ruins south of chlera
* Removed ancient ogres from Chlera - does not make sense, too difficult (just giant finger now)
* Added spawn encounters for Nightmares and Wretched ones in Tserith lair.
* Faster respawn of following mobs: Wvyern nestlings, NFGs, Crystal Golems, Greater Wyvern, Frost Giant
* Crystal Wvyerns added near NFGI portal/spire
* Shades added to mountain N of Silvest
Housing
* Destroying an item placed with a Blueprint will now return a Blueprint to your player (note: will only return 1)
* Small x,y sprite adjustment to werewolf trophy to make it hang better on walls
* Couple new trophies to hunt: Jelly Cubes, Ants
* Hearthstone takes you to your home (you can have Soulstone at an inn, and hearthstone at home); get this from sea chests
Items
* A few new things to hunt for from Dwarves, Illithids, Carbonites, Lions
* A lot of existing item rebalance changes; see Discord for Details
Spells
* Degrade & Exposure - should be able to stack both spells on a target now, since they apply different effects.
* “Prayer Cards” Formerly spell scrolls, these are sold by vendor and have 1 charge, cost is 500K. Other scrolls remain same and will be dropped from certain creatures/events etc and no longer sold (issue with people reselling them).
* Stam from scrolls now stacks with other stam regen effects/bonuses.
* Light spell can now be cast in safe areas.
* Fixed an issue with stacking of spells.
Quests
* Dynamic Quest system was given a thorough review now that we have tools to test them; Much of the content remains the same, though removed a few quests that were cringey, and added more descriptive directions/details for players in newer areas. Moved location of many chests to be on N or W walls and not S/E for visibility. Expanded rewards and skill exp rewards to be more worthwhile. This is still primarily a levelling tool for low/mid level players (<50). Purpose of these is to take them ‘a la carte’ while working on other objectives. you will likely get bored if you focus on them.
* Fix for Salty Dog quest stage of Fishing Quest – was not counting/completing properly. Sorry! Double sorry!
* Added exp reward for between stages of pure energy quest line: 5K, 10K, 25K, 50K, 75K, 100K, 125K, 150K
* Warlord quest line exp rewards were there but not given due to me being dumb; fixed and made them consistent also at 300K (final stage)
* Fishing quest where player kills cyclops for a banana leaf will now notify them if they fail to get a leaf
* Newbie tailor trainer quest was looking for silk not string
* Improved chances at getting treasure map from bottle IF entire fishing quest is completed
* Fixed issue with bottle fishing quests; was to give map at 5, but was still looking for 7.
* Adjusted chance of fishing salty dogs up
* Sea Creature DTMs now give sailing xp with caps
* Added sailing/cannoneering exp into the Enterprising Gentleman quest at Orca stage and at Demon blood stage.
* Fail Confirmation for Eliza scissor quest stage 2 - killing giant cave rats
* Added 20000 Sailing Exp to Eva's quest
The Junk Drawer
* HELP menu was reviewed and expanded; it should be much more helpful now! Please read it!
* Tooltip on zerk pot updated to use correct duration of 15 seconds
* Expanded dragon login check to include a small section of gold level that was sticking out on the << x plane
* Unbaked Knoll's Lemon Meringue can be re-used with U key
* Hunter’s Handbook creatures were reviewed for accuracy/ability to complete
* Removed unnecessary safe zone at 215/3280 in SOC
* Fortune Teller was reviewed; some things added and changed with it; it is up to you to discover what they do!
* Fortune Teller “Pocket Portal” takes you to fortune teller from anywhere (purchase from Ocean vendor)
* Lucky Fortune Item can be acquired from sailing that is a free “fortune” ala Fortune Teller
* Dead parrot now fits in alchemy chest, you weirdo
* Updated color of dark gray printed messages in player chat to a lighter color, for summoned creature has died messaging, spell failure messaging, so you know when to be disappointed.
* Fixed alignment of Captain Rictor to match town alignment
* Fixed door on ship yard in Valmond (was ancient door players couldn't open)
* Fixed desert lighting issue in SoC 808,3891 across the chunk type.
* Weights of basic cooked foods should be less than raw versions now (not more) b/c physics or something blah blah blah
* Crystal Ball flava flave; just for fun and roleplaying! No physics! Just metaphysics!
* Can store things in desks, bottle shelves now in your house, such as books or bottles or dead parrots, you weirdo
* Bonfires & Burning logs will work like campfires now (bonus stam regen)
* Potion of Immaculate Restoration cooldown reduced to 25 seconds (from 40 seconds). Crayon eaters rejoice!
* Because we are big fans of flava flave, added more dialogue to random NPCs in Roycroft, Valmond, Ethera.
* Potential issue with Alinus the seedy alignment fixer in Parian; if he was not working for you please try again
* A fellow in the Josody farm shop will buy your unwanted fish or fishing junk and give you a buff in return (better chance to fish up a bottle and any garbage you need for a quest)
* Caiman Scale Totem explicitly tells player leadership lvl req now (50)
* Better return for getting ID points for hunter handbook when turning in an LK
* Added print/info/tooltips to various objects that didn’t have them; when you use them incorrectly it will inform you how to use them etc
* Eating slop barrel will clear player food buffs.
* Speaking of eating, new base and mid level tavern offerings to spice up new/low/mid level player experience and give a few more options for people who don’t want to cook.
* Gated off Guild Arena entrance portal due to wanted player teleportation exploit.
* Oil of Restoration can’t be used by someone who is too low level compared to the player they are trying to help (20 levels)
FIN