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2019-05-15T05:52:05Z

Undo revision 2638699 by Nycella (Talk)

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== Update - Wednesday October 25 ==

=== New Features of Guild Wars Nightfall ===
Today we are publishing the new features of [[Guild Wars Nightfall]] in anticipation of the campaign's release this Friday, October 27 at 12:01 am PDT. Players won't be able to acquire [[Hero]]es or participate in [[Hero Battle]]s until they can play through the Nightfall campaign, but many of the other features of Nightfall are available today as free updates.

==== Skills and Attributes ====
* [[Skill]] selection, [[attribute]] adjustment, and [[secondary profession]] selection are now centralized on the new Skills and Attributes panel.
* Your characters can now change their secondary professions whenever they are standing in a town or outpost. [[PvP character]]s can change to any secondary profession, while [[Roleplaying character]]s can change to any profession that character has previously learned.
* You can now save and load [[template]]s containing Skill Bar setup, attributes, and professions. This allows you to switch a character between different roles quickly, and to share your strategies with your friends.
* To save a Skill Template, click the disk icon inside the Skills and Attributes panel, then click “Save to Template.” The template will be saved to a small file in the Templates/Skills folder below the Guild Wars installation directory. You can copy this file to other computers, share it with your friends, or post it on the Internet.
* To load a Skill Template, click the disk icon, then click “Load from Template.” You can load any template that matches your character’s primary profession.
* If your character doesn't have as many [[attribute point]]s as the character who saved the template, the attribute levels will automatically be adjusted down for you.
* If your character doesn't have access to skills that were saved in the template, those skills will appear grayed out.

==== Equipment Templates ====
* PvP characters can now save and load Equipment Templates containing a complete set of armor and weapon selections.
* To save an Equipment Template, click the disk icon inside the Inventory panel, then click “Save to Template.” The template will be saved to a small file in the Templates/Equipment folder below the Guild Wars installation directory.
* To load an Equipment Template, click the disk icon, then click “Load from Template.” You can load any template that matches your character’s primary profession.
* Loading a template will replace your character’s current weapons and armor, unless your character is using weapons or armor that were acquired through roleplaying.
* If you load a template that uses item upgrades that are not currently available on your account, the items that require those upgrades will not be created.

==== Equipment Builder ====
* Equipment can be made for any PvP character, including PvP Heroes, using the new PvP Equipment panel.
* You can open the PvP Equipment panel whenever your PvP character is standing in a town or outpost by clicking on the PvP Equipment button within the Inventory panel or by pressing “J” on your keyboard.
* To create an item, click on the portrait of the character you would like to build the item for, then select the tab for the type of item you would like to create. Choose the item, upgrade components, and color from the list of available selections.
* If you would like the item to be equipped immediately, select the “Equip Immediately” option before clicking “Create.” The new item will be placed onto your character, and the old item that your character was previously wearing will be destroyed. If you choose not to equip immediately, the new item will be placed into your character’s inventory instead.
* Items created with the PvP Equipment panel cannot be upgraded or salvaged.

==== Armor Insignias ====
* New armor crafted in Elona or through the PvP Equipment panel can contain swappable [[insignia]]s, which provide the same types of bonuses that previously were permanent parts of the armor, plus new bonuses that are being introduced with Nightfall.
* With the use of armor insignias, you can now mix and match different armor bonuses with different armor appearances. Additionally, the use of insignias simplifies the process of creating armor with the PvP Equipment panel because you can choose the armor appearance and bonus separately.
* Outside of the PvP Equipment panel, you can only place an insignia on a piece of armor if that armor has a blank [[insignia slot]]. Certain types of armor crafted in Elona include blank insignia slots.
* Like other types of armor upgrades, insignias must be unlocked on your account before you can use them in the PvP Equipment panel. Because some insignias are replacements for bonuses that used to be inherent properties of PvP armor, those insignias are already unlocked on your account.
* Because insignias allow you to place bonuses on certain types of headgear that could not receive bonuses in the past, some existing high-end headgear from Tyria and Cantha is being updated with this build to include new bonuses.

==== Weapon Inscriptions ====
* New weapons found in Elona or created through the PvP Equipment panel can contain swappable [[inscription]]s, which provide a variety of weapon bonuses and enhancements.
* Like armor insignias, weapon inscriptions allow you to swap bonuses between different items you acquire by playing through the roleplaying content, and they simplify the process of creating items with the PvP Equipment panel by enabling you to choose the base weapon and the weapon bonuses separately.
* You can only place an inscription in a weapon if that weapon has a blank [[inscribable|inscription slot]]. Inscriptions and inscription slots are sometimes found on rare weapons dropped by monsters in Elona.
* Inscriptions must be unlocked on your account before you can use them in the PvP Equipment panel. Inscriptions that provide bonuses that were previously inherent bonuses of PvP weapons are already unlocked on your account.

==== New Item Upgrades ====
* [[Shield]]s, [[wand]]s, and [[focus item]]s created through the PvP Equipment panel or found in Elona can now have upgrades applied to them.
* Shields can have a [[Shield Handle]] upgrade plus one inscription.
* Wands can have a [[Wand Wrapping]] upgrade plus one inscription.
* Focus items can have a [[Focus Core]] upgrade plus one inscription.
* These new upgrades are equivalent in power to inherent item bonuses that were found in previous campaigns.

==== New Salvage/Upgrade System ====
* [[salvage|Salvaging]] an item with upgrade components now gives you the ability to pick which item you would like to salvage.
* If you salvage an item to extract a magical component, there is now a 50 percent chance that the base item will not be destroyed.
* When you upgrade an item with an upgrade component, you now see a preview of what that item will look like after the upgrade.

==== New Dye System ====
* The new [[dye]] system improves the appearance of base dye colors and mixed dye colors. The new system is used when you newly apply dye to an item. Existing item colors are not affected.
* Newly crafted armor now starts out gray. If you dye it to another color and then later want to restore it to its original appearance, just dye it gray. Vendors now sell gray dye instead of dye remover.
* White and brown dye colors are now available as loot drops.
* Silver is now an equipment color option during character creation.
* A new [[Dye Preview]] panel lets you preview the effect of dye color combinations on your items before applying the dye.

==== New Damage Interface ====
* The new [[Damage Monitor]] panel shows all skills that your opponents have recently used against you. You can hover the mouse over any skill icon to get a tooltip explaining that skill.
* The numbers that float above characters’ heads are now bigger, and use different animations to help distinguish between damage, healing, and experience.
* When an enemy uses a skill against you, the skill icon will display next to the damage number. The Options panel allows you to switch from displaying skill icons to displaying skill names.

==== PvP-Only Character Creation ====
* The PvP character creation process has been simplified. During character creation, you now choose only the character's primary profession, character appearance, and name.
* Newly created PvP characters start off with a set of equipment and six basic skills for their primary profession, so you can start playing immediately.
* To outfit your PvP character with other skills and equipment, you can use the new Skill and Equipment Templates systems.
* So that your PvP characters have immediate access to skill and equipment swapping, new PvP characters you create now start in the Great Temple of Balthazar once you have unlocked Random Arenas on your account.
* You can still access Zaishen Basic Training by walking from the [[Great Temple of Balthazar|Great Temple]] back into the [[Isle of the Nameless]] and talking with the [[Master of Paths]].
* First-time PvP players must complete Zaishen Basic Training to gain access to the [[Random Arena]]s and to gain the ability to purchase unlocks from the [[Priest of Balthazar]].

==== Balthazar's Faction ====
* The rate of [[Balthazar faction|Balthazar's faction]] has been doubled for all types of PvP!
* In high-level arenas, players now earn 40 faction per unique kill, 50 faction for winning, 50 faction for a flawless victory, and 50 faction for a five-game winning streak.
* In [[Heroes' Ascent]], players now earn 40 faction per unique kill, 200–800 faction for winning (depending on the map), and 200 faction for a flawless victory.
* In Guild Combat, players now earn 40 faction per unique kill, 1,000–4,000 faction for winning (depending on their guild rating), and 200–800 faction for a flawless victory (depending on their guild rating).
* In [[Alliance Battle]]s and [[Competitive Mission]]s, players now earn 6 faction per kill.

==== Henchmen Controls ====
* [[Henchmen]] controls are now available on the [[Compass]]. To direct your henchmen, click the Henchmen button on the Compass, then click anywhere on the Compass or in the world to select where you’d like your henchmen to go.

==== Improved Hero/Henchmen AI ====
* Heroes and Henchmen now take into account [[Condition]]s and [[Exhaustion]] when choosing which skills to cast. They also consider attribute levels for stolen skills, and combo states for [[Assassin skills]].
* They have improved combo awareness for some important skill combinations.
* They have improved knowledge of skills, so that they make smarter decisions about which skills to cast.
* They manage their [[Energy]] better.
* They are better at kiting opponents.
* They are better at getting out and staying out of [[AoE]] damage spells.
* They move in formation around their leader, with melee characters in front and ranged or casting characters in back.
* They follow their leader whenever they haven't been specifically directed to move to a point. The leader for Heroes is the player who owns the Hero, and the leader for henchmen is the party leader.
* They also know how to have fun.

==== Improved Monster AI ====
* Monsters no longer run from AoE damage when they are very healthy, or when they think they're very close to killing their opponent.
* Melee monsters are more intelligent about keeping themselves spread out, so that they don't put themselves into a position where they're highly susceptible to AoE attacks.

==== Gameplay Changes ====
* The rarity of items within locked chests is now properly randomized.
* Armor swapping is now disabled during PvP games.
* Certain situations that caused players to get stuck and not be able to move have been fixed, and a new command “/stuck” has been introduced to help players free their characters if they become stuck.

==== Title System Changes ====
* The [[Treasure Hunter]] and [[Seeker of Wisdom]] [[title]]s now confer a benefit to players who earn them. For each rank of either title earned, the chance of an item not being destroyed when salvaging a magical upgrade component is increased by 3 percent from a base of 50 percent.
* The [[Hero (title)|Hero]], [[Gladiator]], and [[Champion]] titles now confer a benefit to players who earn them. Gaining ranks in these titles increases the maximum cap of unspent Balthazar's faction. The cap increases by 2,000 faction points for each of the first five ranks of the Hero title and 5,000 faction points for each subsequent rank, and the cap increases by 5,000 faction points for each rank of the Gladiator and Champion titles earned.

==== Materials Storage ====
* The Materials [[Storage]] panel, which was previously a feature of Guild Wars Factions, is now available to all players.

==== User Interface Improvements ====
* While forming a party, you can now control+click on your [[Skill Bar]] to announce your skill setup to your party members.
* Called targets now remain active for up to 30 seconds after being attacked by their caller, and do not go away when the caller changes targets.
* During Guild Combat, a countdown timer now displays the amount of time remaining until the team that holds the shrine will gain a morale boost.
* In all types of PvP, the new score screen option “Team Status” shows a summary of the Health and morale of your entire team, including allied NPCs.
* A new option “Hide UI” on the login screen allows you to use the login screen as a screensaver. The client continues to download game assets in the background while in screensaver mode.
* The text and audio languages can now be independently selected in the Options panel.
* Other new options enable you to keep windows open when pressing escape, to disable tooltips on Skill Bars, and to disable tooltips on effect monitors.

==== Equipment Balance Changes ====
* Reduced the cost of all [[armor]] sets found on [[Shing Jea Island]].
* Updated the [[Henge of Denravi]] Axe to have +5 inherent Energy instead of +25 inherent [[Health]].
* Updated the Henge of Denravi Bow to have +5 inherent Energy instead of +10 inherent armor.
* Updated some [[Fiery Flame Spitter]]s that had a 15% recharge chance instead of the normal 10% chance.
* Green item [[staff]]s, crafted staffs, and [[collector]] staffs with any sort of [[recharge]] bonus have been updated to reduce the recharge time of all spells with a chance of 20% instead of the attribute-specific bonuses they had previously.
* Updated a [[sword]] received from a [[quest]] in [[Ascalon (pre-Searing)|pre-Searing Ascalon]] to remove the inherent +5 armor while enchanted bonus. It now deals an additional 15% damage while Health is above 50.
* Updated the Warrior’s [[Dreadnought Insignia|Dreadnought]] and Dragon armor suits to +10 vs. elemental to match how the armor bonus works under the new insignia system.
* Updated the Warrior’s [[Sentinel's Insignia|Sentinel]] armor suit to +20 vs. elemental (req. 13 [[Strength]]) to match how the armor bonus works under the new insignia system.
* Updated the Necromancer’s [[Tormentor's Insignia|Tormentor]] armor suit to add 6 holy damage on the chest, 4 on the leggings, and 2 on all other pieces. It was previously 5 damage for all pieces.
* Updated the Assassin’s [[Saboteur's Insignia|Saboteur]], [[Infiltrator's Insignia|Infiltrator]], and [[Vanguard's Insignia|Vanguard]] armor suits to have +10 armor vs. all physical damage and an additional +10 armor vs. a specific type of physical damage. The Condition reduction bonuses were removed to match how the bonuses work under the new insignia system.
* Updated all instances of [[Stonefist Insignia|Stonefist Gauntlets]] to remove the -5 armor penalty to match how the bonus works under the new insignia system.
* Updated all instances of the [[Lieutenant's Insignia|Lieutenant's Helm]] to remove the -10 armor vs. physical penalty to match how the bonus works under the new insignia system.
* Updated maximum level headgear found in Prophecies and Factions with a +1 Energy bonus to equalize it with possibilities found in Nightfall and at the new PvP Equipment panel. Warrior headgear that already had built-in armor bonuses will remain unaffected.

=== Skill Balance Changes ===

==== Assassin ====
* {{skill icon|Black Lotus Strike}}: reduced recharge time 12 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Enduring Toxin}}: increased duration to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Expose Defenses}}: increased duration to 5..20 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Impale}}: increased damage to 25..100. This skill must now follow a dual attack.
* {{skill icon|Mirrored Stance}}: decreased casting time to .25seconds.
* {{skill icon|Moebius Strike}}: reduced recharge time to 2 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Shameful Fear}}: reduced recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Siphon Strength}}: removed touch requirement.
* {{skill icon|Way of the Lotus}}: changed this skill so that it is now an Enchantment.

==== Elementalist ====
* {{skill icon|Armor of Frost}}: this skill no longer reduces your armor against fire.
* {{skill icon|Ash Blast}}: increased damage to 20..55, increased Blindness duration to 3..15 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Conjure Flame}}: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds, increased damage to 1..21.
* {{skill icon|Conjure Frost}}: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds, increased damage to 1..21
* {{skill icon|Conjure Lightning}}: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds, increased damage to 1..21
* {{skill icon|Double Dragon}}: this spell no longer causes Exhaustion.
* {{skill icon|Eruption}}: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Fire Attunement}}, {{skill icon|Water Attunement}}, {{skill icon|Air Attunement|Air}}, {{skill icon|Earth Attunement}}: each of these skills now return 1 Energy plus 30% of that spell’s cost.
* {{skill icon|Glimmering Mark}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds, increased duration to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Glyph of Concentration}}: changed this Glyph to work on the next two spells, increased recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Glyph of Elemental Power}}: increased recharge time to 15 seconds. This Glyph now works on the next 5 spells.
* {{skill icon|Glyph of Lesser Energy}}: this Glyph now works on the next 2 spells.
* {{skill icon|Glyph of Energy}}: increased Energy reduction to 25.
* {{skill icon|Grasping Earth}}: decreased recharge time to 12 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Gust}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Inferno}}: decreased recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Lava Arrows}}: increased damage to 10..40.
* {{skill icon|Lava Font}}: increased damage to 5..50.
* {{skill icon|Lightning Javelin}}: decreased Energy cost to 5.
* {{skill icon|Lightning Surge}}: no longer causes Exhaustion, increased Energy cost to 15.
* {{skill icon|Lightning Touch}}: decreased Energy cost to 5.
* {{skill icon|Mark of Rodgort}}: decreased Energy to 15. This skill now affects all adjacent foes.
* {{skill icon|Phoenix}}: decreased recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Searing Heat}}: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Shatterstone}}: increased damage to 25..100, increased conditional damage to 25..100.
* {{skill icon|Shock Arrow}}: increased damage to 5..45.
* {{skill icon|Smoldering Embers}}: increased damage to 15..75.
* {{skill icon|Swirling Aura}}: decreased recharge time to 45 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Teinai's Heat}}: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Vapor Blade}}: increased damage to 15..135.

==== Mesmer ====
* {{skill icon|Arcane Languor}}: increased duration to 1..10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Distortion}}: duration now scales with attribute, and you now only lose 2 Energy when this skill triggers.
* {{skill icon|Drain Enchantment}}: increased recharge time to 30 seconds, decreased Energy gained to 5..20.
* {{skill icon|Echo}}: increased duration to 30 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Empathy}}: decreased duration to 5..15 seconds, increased damage to 15..45.
* {{skill icon|Energy Drain}}: decreased Energy stolen to 2..9.
* {{skill icon|Epidemic}}: decreased Energy cost to 5 Energy.
* {{skill icon|Ether Signet}}: decreased recharge time to 60 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Ethereal Burden}} / {{skill icon|Kitah's Burden}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Illusion of Pain}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Inspired Hex}} / {{skill icon|Revealed Hex}}: decreased Energy gained to 4..10.
* {{skill icon|Keystone Signet}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Mantra of Recall}}: decreased Energy gained to 10..25.
* {{skill icon|Overload}}: decreased recharge time to 3 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Panic}}: decreased casting time to .25 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Power Return}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Psychic Instability}}: decreased recharge time to 10 seconds.

==== Monk ====
* {{skill icon|Bane Signet}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Peace and Harmony}}: decreased recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Ray of Judgment}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Smite}}: this skill is now a spell instead of an attack.
* {{skill icon|Spirit Bond}}: expires after 10 attacks or Spells.
* {{skill icon|Succor}}: decreased Energy cost to 5.
* {{skill icon|Watchful Spirit}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Zealot's Fire}}: decreased casting time to .25 seconds, decreased recharge time to 30 seconds. You now lose 1 Energy whenever this skill triggers.

==== Necromancer ====
* {{skill icon|Barbs}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Blood Bond}}: you lose 3 pips of Health regeneration, and your ally gains 1..6 pips of Health regeneration.
* {{skill icon|Icy Veins}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Insidious Parasite}}: increased life steal to 15..45.
* {{skill icon|Life Transfer}}: decreased Energy cost to 5 Energy, decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Lingering Curse}}: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Malign Intervention}}: decreased recharge time to 12 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Mark of Pain}}: decreased casting time to 1 second.
* {{skill icon|Rising Bile}}: decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Spoil Victor}}: increased damage to 25..100.
* {{skill icon|Suffering}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Unholy Feast}}: decreased recharge time to 12 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Vile Miasma}}: now falls under the Death Magic attribute.

==== Ranger ====
* {{skill icon|Archer's Signet}}: increased number of bow attacks affected to 1..7.
* {{skill icon|Call of Protection}}: increased damage reduction to 5..20.
* {{skill icon|Concussion Shot}}: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Debilitating Shot}}: reduced Energy reduction to -1..10. This skill now falls under the Marksmanship attribute.
* {{skill icon|Dual Shot}}: increased recharge time to 10 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Heal as One}}: decreased recharge time to 10 seconds. This skill now resurrects your pet.
* {{skill icon|Marksman's Wager}}: increased duration to 18 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Run as One}}: decreased recharge time to 25 seconds.
* [[Expertise]]: For each rank of Expertise, the Energy cost of all of your attacks, Rituals, touch skills, and Rangers skills are decreased by 4%. Several skills, especially those related to Energy costs and skill recharge times, become more effective with higher Expertise.

==== Warrior ====
* {{skill icon|"Victory Is Mine!"}}: this skill is now a targeted Shout that returns 3..7 Energy per Condition.
* {{skill icon|"You Will Die!"}}: decreased recharge time to 15 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Berserker Stance}}: increased adrenaline gain to 50%.
* {{skill icon|Deadly Riposte}}: increased damage to 15..90.
* {{skill icon|Disciplined Stance}}: decreased Energy cost to 5.
* {{skill icon|Dwarven Battle Stance}}: increased attack speed to 25%.
* {{skill icon|Furious Axe}}: this skill is now an Energy skill with 5 Energy and a recharge time of 6 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Lacerating Chop}}: reduced adrenaline cost to 5 swings.
* {{skill icon|Protector's Defense}}: decreased recharge time to 30 seconds.
* {{skill icon|Skull Crack}}: this skill now interrupts the target’s action but only causes the Dazed Condition if it interrupts a spell.

=== Start of Halloween Event ===

:When the moon shines down on the Elon
:Like the eye of a ravenous drake
:Keep a lantern close by and the darkness at bay
:For on this holiday night, they say
:A spirit returns, pumpkin on head
:Wicked deeds (and bad jokes) will abound
:He'll bluster and shout
:Spread chaos about
:'till a banishment for his mischief be found
:Heed my tale, ye brave heroes
:From lands north and south
:Listen wherefore I say:
:Bind your sanity close, lest you lose what you love most
:When the monarch of madness appears. <noinclude>
[[Category:October 2006 updates]] [[Category:Balance updates]] [[Category:Feature addition updates]] [[Category:Event updates]]</noinclude>

Game updates/20061025 - Revision history

self>Steve1: Undo revision 2638699 by Nycella (Talk)