10/17/2017 - October 17 Release Notes

Living World

Halloween

Once again, the gates of the Mad Realm have opened and Kryta's most infamous monarch, Mad King Thorn, has returned to hold court in Lion's Arch! Loyal vassals of the king are strongly encouraged to enjoy the festivities: meet the denizens of the Mad Realm in events across Kryta, tour the Mad Realm itself in the Labyrinth and fearsome Clock Tower, attend to the king's whims in his notorious pastime of Mad King Says, or match wits and blades against royalty in Ascent to Madness. Completing sets of festival daily achievements will also earn progress toward displaying your holiday spirit in combat with the Haunted weapon set!

*Able-bodied adventurers are encouraged to meet with Magister Tassi of the Durmand Priory in Lion's Arch for an exciting research opportunity.

**The Lion's Arch Captain's Council wishes to remind its populace that they are not affiliated with the Krytan monarchy and cannot guarantee the safety of any citizens who choose to dabble in dangerous realms, mad or otherwise.

• Halloween achievements have been split into 3 categories: Halloween Rituals for repeatable achievements, Shadow of the Mad King for one-time achievements related to Magister Tassi's investigation of the Mad King's past, and Lunatic Wardrobe for one-time achievements related to the Lunatic Court's fashion. These achievements are intended to return in future years, so don't worry if you find any of them daunting—you'll be able to continue them during a later Halloween celebration with this year's progress intact.
• A Halloween Daily achievement category has been added to the daily group for festival daily achievements. Completing several of these achievements will earn players progress in the repeatable achievement Eve of the Mad King, which rewards weapons from the new Haunted set.
• The Mad King's Lunatic Court has provided a series of armor refitted to proudly display a wearer's allegiance to their king. Earn your choice of armor through achievements in the Lunatic Wardrobe category, or purchase crafting recipes from Halloween vendors to update your look at your leisure.
• A new race event has been added to the Mad King's Labyrinth. Visitors are encouraged to show their riding skills against a variety of local competitors and hostile vassals.
• The Mad King's steward has been tasked with collecting back revenue for the king's treasury at the center of the Mad King's Labyrinth. Visitors can now temporarily commission a variety of helpful services for a small fee, including a merchant, bank access, and complimentary refreshments.
• King Thorn has graciously deigned to allow gliding and mounts in his Labyrinth. Please do not glide, jump, float, teleport, or otherwise traverse over the maze walls in an attempt to cheat at the maze, damage the scenery, or harass the royal family—trespassers will be punished.
• Lunatic Inquisition has returned, with a number of bug fixes.
• New Halloween-themed guild decorations have been added. Note: spectral visitations and/or haunting are not covered under warranty.
• New Halloween daily achievements have been added, and their rotation has been updated.
• Event timing has been updated on the Halloween-door events in Kryta.
• Rare new miniatures can be found in Halloween champion bags, by completing the Clock Tower, and from Halloween vendors.

Halloween will be active until November 7. Your Mad King says: Have a happy Halloween!

World Polish

Desert Highlands

• Fixed a bug that was causing the portal-tear effects to not render for some players. Effects have been scaled up to make them easier to spot.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to attack mounted players near Highjump Ranch.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from finding Stablemaster Unja's necklace.

Elon Riverlands

• Lucius Anvilblade at Augury's Shadow has finished his prototype weapon, the Vlast Avenger. It's a rifle that uses Honed Slivers of Vlast ammo, which places stacks of Vlast Vengeance on targets. Adisa, in the Ustulate Barrens, has been honing the Slivers of Vlast that have been turned in. Bring enough honed slivers to Lucius, and he'll equip you with his latest invention.
• Lucius Anvilblade will not talk over himself anymore.
• Brand Battleshards are less likely to be obstructed by ranged attacks. Fixed the timing so the Broken Battleshards will always be revealed for players needing to complete Adisa's renown heart.
• Defectors can no longer be led beyond the event area in the "Guide defectors to the next oasis camp" events.
• Enemies in Erran's "storming the Deadhouse" event no longer display their emerging effects twice.
• Erran's dialog after destroying the outer gates is no longer cut off.
• The Deadhouse gates now display correctly for players who arrive after the gates have been destroyed.
• Fixed the announcement that informs players of who has been targeted by the doppelganger.
• Forgotten priests no longer guard the Flameseeker verses in Augury Rock.
• The Scroll 2 tablet at Augury Rock now correctly displays if verse 12 is encrypted.
• The warning announcement before the Brand retakes control of Augury Rock is messaged properly.
• Kaidenna no longer stands on the First Visage of Pellentia when leaving Augury Rock.
• Chikkchak will correctly drop Shadi's Boots for all players who attack him.
• Fixed a bug with the skritt workers event that could cause it to stall at 8 of 9 workers.

The Desolation

• Fixed a bug that could cause the Maws of Torment meta-event to advance before all demolitionist escorts have been completed.
• At the Lair of the Forgotten, added a missing transition back to the conversation start for the renown vendor.
• Corrected the model used for Agent Issa at the Lair of the Forgotten.
• The Order of Shadows demolitionists at the Ruptured Heart now have immunity to knockdown.

Ember Bay

• The Chalice of Tears jumping puzzle now displays visible effects to track which checkpoint you reached last.

Draconis Mons

• Greater Wardbough's Toxic Mushrooms skill no longer pulses damage immediately upon appearing.

Domain of Vabbi

• Fixed a bug that prevented players from restarting the mount race after being disqualified.
• Fixed a bug that prevented "Defeat the Legendary Forged Hounds" from being completed if the hounds were killed too quickly.
• Added an achievement for defeating the champion Branded Ley-Line Anomaly in Dzasha Uplands.
• Added an achievement for defeating the Serpents' Ire legendary boss event.
• Fixed the task-region markers above the heads of the Vehjin nobles involved in the renown heart and the worksite names, which weren't showing for all players.
• Fixed an issue where the Mastery-point djinn would lose their effects after being defeated.
• Made Vehjin chamber pots more likely to give renown.
• Made the invisible collision for potted trees in Vehjin actually invisible.
• The weaver elite specialization NPC has been relocated from the roof of Vehtendi Academy to one of the tunnels below.

Verdant Brink

• Fixed an issue that was causing Itzel Hunter events to start at inappropriate times.

Hero Panel

• A new Mounts tab has been added to the Hero panel. As with other panels, you can preview all of your mounts here as well as select mounts to ride.
• The Mounts panel contains a unique checkbox: Use Default Dyes. When checked, all mounts will be previewed with their original dyes rather than custom ones.

General

• Fixed a bug with the map/minimap in one of the final Path of Fire instances.
• Fixed a bug that was preventing the Insect Slayer achievement from tracking insect kills.
• Jump pads throughout Tyria and the Mists have been recalibrated to reduce auditory seismic impact.
• Consumables associated with the Thirst Slayer achievement now have "Consume All" functionality.
• Fixed a bug with full-screen status effects causing lines to appear on the screen in some display resolutions.
• 64-bit clients: Added support for DPI-aware UI scaling. There is now an option in graphics settings to enable/disable it.
• Updated cursor art to support DPI-aware UI scaling.
• Ley-infused sand and Eyes of Kormir have been added to Material Storage.
• Fixed a bug in which some Path of Fire™ reward skins were hidden in the wardrobe until they were earned.

Personal Story

• Fixed the Taimi/Scruffy portrait in Living World, Heart of Thorns™, and Path of Fire.
• Added a conversation option on the Lionguard Aircrew aboard the Phoenix Dawn in Lion's Arch to send players who have completed the "Sparking the Flame" chapter of Path of Fire to the Free City of Amnoon.
• "The Way Forward"
  • Fixed a possible stall when speed-running through the instance.
  • Sadizi no longer tries to follow you up for the jumping puzzle.
• "The Departing"
  • Added a repair forge to the Domain of the Lost.
  • Adjusted the position of the checkpoint during the Eater of Souls fight.
  • Fixed an exploit during the Eater of Souls fight.
  • Spirit Guardians are no longer immune to falling damage.
  • Spirit Guardian skills have been upgraded.
• "Enemy of My Enemy"—The opening boss fight has been slightly altered to better deal with parties.
• "Small Victory"—A box has been provided for asuran commanders to stand on for a key story moment.
• Choice-based NPC gadgets around Amnoon have been replaced with real NPCs, and they can now be seen actively defending the city from the Forged.
  • Some new ambient dialog has been added for one choice branch.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Order members Ihan and Hiroki from spawning in home instances for human characters.

Profession Skills

Guardian:

• Power of the Virtuous: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to apply an incorrect amount of reduction to Virtue of Justice, Spear of Justice, Virtue of Resolve, and Wings of Resolve.

Necromancer

• Manifest Sand Shade: Fixed a bug that allowed strikes from this skill to hit from multiple sand shades on the same target.
• Desert Shroud: Fixed a bug that was preventing this skill from processing Manifest Sand Shade upon casting.

Ranger

• Rock Gazelle—Kick: Strikes from this skill have been increased from 2 to 5. Damage per strike has been reduced by 53%. Vulnerability per strike has been changed from 3 stacks for 6 seconds to 1 stack for 8 seconds.
• Rock Gazelle—Charge: The damage from this skill has been reduced by 48%. Fixed a tooltip issue where the daze duration was showing 1 second rather than the actual 2 seconds. Fixed a tooltip issue where the number of targets affected by the skill was 5 instead of 3.

Structured Player vs. Player

• The Crystal Desert Reward Track has been changed. The Sunspear Weapon Box has been renamed the Elonian Weapon Box. Rather than giving skins, the box now gives rare weapons. The number of mystic clovers given out by the final box has been reduced to 2 on the repeatable version of the reward track.

World vs. World

• Ruin territories have been changed so that once a team earns bloodlust for that map, all territories will switch to being owned by that team. If a different team captures a territory, it will be owned by that team. If the capture point decays, it will now switch to the team that earned bloodlust.
• The wing effect on the Sublime Mistforged Triumphant Hero's chest armor can now be dyed.
• Certificates of Heroics can now be purchased with Testimonies of Heroics as well as Proofs of Heroics.
• The Crystal Desert Reward Track has been changed. The Sunspear Weapon Box has been renamed to the Elonian Weapon Box. Rather than giving skins, the box now gives rare weapons. The number of mystic clovers given out by the final box has been reduced to 2 on the repeatable version of the reward track.

BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE

New Items and Promotions

• A new Halloween package of spooky mounts is available for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 1,600 gems.
• Two additional bag slots may now be purchased from the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 400 gems each. Each character can now unlock up to 10 bag slots at this time.
• The Candy Corn Gobbler Pack returns for a limited time in the Toys category of the Gem Store for 300 gems. Each pack comes with a Candy Corn Gobbler and 15 pieces of candy corn.
• The Ghostly Outfit returns for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• The Vibrant Dye Kit returns for a limited time in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 125 gems.
• The Wizard's Hat returns for a limited time in the Style category of the Gem Store for 200 gems.

Improvements

• The Black Lion Chest has been updated to the Lunatic Court Chest and can be previewed for a full list of its contents.

  • The luxurious (or at least valuable) "The Evon Gnashblade Trick-or-Treat Bag" has been added as the new guaranteed item.
  • The new Mini Spooky Mounts Pack is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.
  • A new Fallen Balthazar Package with the Fallen Balthazar Outfit and the Fallen Balthazar Helm is available as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.
  • A new Endless Desert Mystery Tonic is available as rare drop.
  • The Hydra Staff and the Jackal Pup Backpack remain available as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.
  • The Grasping Phantom Glider returns as an uncommon drop for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.
  • The Improvised Weapon Collection is now available as a rare drop for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.
  • The Shadow of the Mad King weapon set and the Blood and Madness weapon set are now available as super-rare drops for the duration of the Lunatic Court Chest.

• For a limited time, the Scary Pets, Pact, and Outlaw Miniatures are available when using Black Lion Miniature Claim Tickets.

  • Scary Pets: Mini Spooky Ghost, Mini Spooky Skeleton, Mini Spooky Spider, Mini Mad King Head, Mini Assassin Trick-or-Treater, Mini Aviator Trick-or-Treater, Mini Quaggan Ghost Trick-or-Treater, Miniature Glowing Bat, and Mini Candy Corn Skritt
  • Pact Miniatures: Mini Priory Historian, Mini Vigil Marksman, Mini Whispers Creator, Mini Priory Explorer, Mini Priory Researcher, Mini Vigil Tactician, Mini Whispers Keeper, Mini Trahearne, Mini Forgal, Mini Sieran, Mini Tybalt, Mini Vigil Warmaster, and Mini Whispers Lightbringer
  • Outlaw Miniatures: Mini Aetherblade Elementalist, Mini Aetherblade Swashbuckler, Mini Bandit Cutpurse, Mini Bandit Scout, Mini Bandit Saboteur, Mini Bandit Bomber, Mini Bandit Bruiser, Mini Aetherblade Thug, Mini Aetherblade Taskmaster, and Mini Big Nose Ted

  MAC CLIENT

• App will now bounce in the Dock when maps finish loading, PvP queues pop, etc.

• The Ambient Occlusion issue, which was inadvertently causing a glow effect around the player in certain lighting, has been fixed.

• Ambient Occlusion no longer can get stuck and cause a copy of the occlusion effect to remain present on-screen.

• More full-screen resolutions are now available.

• Fixed a bug that was preventing the mouse cursor from showing in some circumstances in the crash handler.

Bug Fixes:

• Ended racer Nia's dreams of flight.
• Fixed a bug that allowed players to take falling damage from jump mushrooms and lava tubes.
• Launch pads in Central Tyria no longer require multiple interacts to properly function.
• Desert Highlands: Fixed a bug involving the purchase of Zunja's Necklace from Unja.
• Lunatic Inquisition: Fixed an issue that caused the last remaining villager to lose a fight.
• Elon Riverlands: Added a one-second cooldown to interacting with Forgotten Verse plaques.
• Fixed an issue with Rich Orichalcum Nodes in the Domain of Vabbi.
• Fixed a crash caused by previewing some offhand weapons.
• Fixed a server crash.
• Fixed a client crash.

10/17/2017 - Late Notes

General

• Modified the mount turning behavior for better control on ledges and other narrow spaces.
• Removed the forced cooldown of mounting skills after using the Dismount skill.
• Fixed some issues with the animations for the jackal and griffon mount miniatures.
• Limited the number of karma consumables that can be purchased with event and bounty trophies from renown merchants.
• The Funerary Scepter has been appropriately renamed.
• Fixed a bug that occurred when purchasing Zunja's Necklace in the Desert Highlands.
• Fixed a bug in which Banners of Dynastic Reckoning was not awarded to some players. If you completed the story for Path of Fire™ and did not receive the backpack, visit a Path of Fire map to receive a mail with the missing item.
• Increased the time limit for idling in Activity maps to reduce the amount of warning messages in activities with idle periods between rounds, such as Mad King's Clock Tower.
• The haresfoot herb node in Desert Highlands now provides additional herbs.

Profession Skills

Ranger:

• Tail Spin: While using Beastmode, this ability now has a new animation.
• Rock Gazelle: Fixed a bug in which this pet hit downed enemies multiple times with its Charge attack.

Necromancer:

• Manifest Sand Shade (WvW and PvP only): The spawn duration of sand shades has been reduced from 20 seconds to 10 seconds.
• Nefarious Favor (WvW and PvP only): The recharge time of this ability has been increased from 5 seconds to 8 seconds.

Warrior:

Full Counter: Fixed a bug in which this ability gained the damage bonus from Revenge Counter twice. The base damage of this ability has been reduced by 12.5% in PvP and WvW only.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Celestial Amulet is back with reduced stats.

World Polish

Desert Highlands:

• Replaced Yandra Stonetusk's model with the correct version.

Elon Riverlands:

• Fixed the Imposter Syndrome achievement so that it's now awarded for defeating any veteran or elite clone of yourself during the doppelganger event.

The Desolation:

• The conversation with the Order of Shadows Redeemer Kossan at Torment's Watch has been fixed to properly recognize player progress.

Bug Fixes

MAC CLIENT

• The target-selection circle now appears correctly.

Black Lion Trading Company

• The Mini Raptor Hatchling Reward Chest has a new icon and is now account bound.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a client crash.
• Fixed a server crash.

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed a bug that prevented some Path of Fire reward skins from showing up in the wardrobe.
• Fixed a bug in which Zunja's Necklace could not be equipped by some players.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Lunatic's Fashion achievement from progressing in the Heart of the Mists. Players who missed progress in this achievement can re-enter the Heart of the Mists to have it automatically repaired.
• Black Lion Trading Post: Fixed a minor art issue with the effects on the Spooky Mounts.

Bug Fixes:

• Players who have lost achievement progress for the story instance "Chapter 7: Facing the Truth" may now speak with Priestess Adhara at the Temple of Kormir to regain their lost progress. The total number of possible achievement points for this achievement has been updated.
• Fixed a bug that caused the space in Mr. Gum Drops' name to be invisible.
• Fixed an issue in which the scepter Antonina lacked an infusion slot.
• Fixed an issue in Lunatic Inquisition that caused Lunatic Courtiers to occasionally get stuck in collision.
• Fixed a crash involving system configurations and DPI scaling.