Release 103

RELEASE 103, June 30, 2022
Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 103 (R103), we offer a new underground scene, Grusk Factory, and the return of the Make a Difference store.

New Scene: Grusk Factory
Grusk is a bustling community tended by countless automatons in a variety of roles. The continuous demand for them, locally as well as for export, is met by the underground Grusk Factory: the largest clockwork manufacturing facility in the world! Business is booming and new caverns are being bored even now to expand the growing workspace.

Unfortunately, the Factory has suspended tours during its blasting operations for the safety of the crew. Outlanders with Episode 2 access attempting to tour the Factory will be treated as intruders. Should you and your party plan a self-guided visit to this tier 8+ scene from the Factory yard in Grusk, be aware: with so many moving parts, there’s bound to be some dangers. Visitors to the Factory should wear suitable protective gear and be mindful of tricky hazards. Finally, engineers crawling back from the newest tunnels have babbled about unspeakable horrors! …but such things would be in the newest tunnels, far from the production floors any Avatar would be interested in seeing.

The Return of the Make a Difference Store
Charity items are returning to the web store starting July 1st (the first day of the year’s third quarter). Each quarter, 20% of the proceeds from these items will be donated to the relevant charities. The few charity items that were in the in-game Crown store have been moved to the web store. When it’s active, the store can be reached here.

List of Make a Difference store items:


 * Autism Awareness Charity
 * Breast Cancer Charity
 * Children & Family Charities
 * Movember
 * Nature Charity
 * Safe Water and Sanitation Charity

Release 103 Patch Notes
Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 103 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R103 is a content month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R104 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 103!

Crafting, Decoration, & Inventory Item Changes:


 * Added food recipes for the recently-added fetid fish: Barramundi, Tigerfish, and Araipama. SOTA-70565
 * Set Bottle of Wine deco to be stackable. SOTA-70596
 * Adjusted the 2022 cupcakes to also have slight learning speed bonus.
 * Added instructions in the descriptions of Recall and Teleport scrolls.
 * Reduced size of fishing dead zones and and changed dead zone depth to relate to fishing skill.
 * Adjusted cost of Altar Lockbox recipe: increased iron bindings cost and tier of wood. SOTA-70599
 * Made Acara’s Shield legacy version placeable as deco. SOTA-70032
 * Fixed incorrect regeneration bonus on confection eggs.
 * Fixed incorrect channel weight for Oyster Potpie. SOTA-69775

Combat & Skill Changes:


 * Changed some summons’ stats/skills to balance them with other, stronger summons:
 * Daemon – Chaos bolt damage has been increased. Attunements and fire damage over time sub-effects will now scale with chaos mastery. Strength of daemon has been slightly reduced. Movement speed has slightly increased.
 * Fire Elemental – Added a chance to add fire damage over time with fire elemental attack. Dexterity increased.
 * Air Elemental – Air elemental attack will now have a chance to stun their opponent. Strength, intelligence, and dexterity have also been increased.
 * Phoenix – Damage has been significantly increased and the phoenix will now have a chance to blind enemies, reducing their damage avoidance. Strength, dexterity, and intelligence have been increased.
 * Ice Elemental – Range of attack has been reduced from 2 to 1 so elemental will move closer to enemies when hitting. The ice elemental now has a chance to add a slow movement debuff to their opponents.


 * A pass has been done on tamed pets. The high critical damage of tamed pet has been reduced. To compensate for the lost damage, tamed pets will now have their critical damage multiplier scale with taming mastery and the tamed pet’s adventure level. The strength of pets has also been increased and scaled, which gives more base damage. Note that this only affects tamed pets, not summoned creatures.
 * More changes will be coming in the next patch for tames and summons to complete this work.
 * The pet damage bonus from the pet gear component “iron studded strip” would previously give about 15 damage each strip, so would give a total of 45 damage per piece of gear. This has been significantly reduced to give about 15 damage for each piece of gear. Meanwhile, bronze studded strip’s critical hit damage multiplier has been significantly increased from 2% to 10% for each strip, so goes from 6% a piece to 30% per piece of gear. This affects both tamed pets and summoned creatures.
 * Renamed “Tame Attack Precision” which was found on some taming equipment to “Tame Critical Hit Chance.”
 * Increased pet perma-death timer so it’s not the same as the player resurrection timer. SOTA-70526
 * Encumbrance will no longer affect players in PvP battlegrounds.
 * Fixed a visual issue with using items that scale character height while mounted.

User Interface, Store Information, & Lua Changes:


 * Added a loading tip about placing Recall Scrolls in your toolbar.
 * Added a scrollbar to the text area of the post-game feedback form and a checkbox to hide the form in the future.
 * Added links in the feedback form to the bug forum and to Discord.
 * Fixed a rare null exception that prevented the character sheet from being filled upon loading a scene.
 * Fixed journal UI when completing a task.
 * Added ShroudIsSoundPlaying function to Lua.
 * Fixed the volume setting of a sound when played with Lua.
 * The creation date of certain items like fish will now show NBT time like in game.
 * Fixed exceptions related to claiming rewards in offline mode.
 * Salt will now show as Salt Deposit in scene information pop-ups. SOTA-70521
 * Vendors that have no name set by the player (use the default name) will now show a compass marker when using the Get Directions button in the zone vendor listings. SOTA-70577
 * Fixed a typo in the virtue balloon’s store listing. SOTA-70523

World and Quest Changes:


 * Placed fireworks for Lord British’s birthday on the overworld over many of the major cities and automated them to always display during the first weekend of July.This should be a fun time for the 3-5 player's that still play.
 * Novia and Mistrendur: Improved some ambient sounds. SOTA-70547
 * Added some additional songs to some scenes.
 * Created new kobold banners and added them to the major kobold communities.
 * Removed extra Altar Lockbox recipe from merchants.
 * Updated Town Crier conversation to explain binding and improved the associated yes/no phrases.
 * Updated some of the Helpful Automatons’ keywords and responses.
 * Aerie: Added a compass marker for Bunker T. SOTA-70605
 * Aerie: Fixed typos in responses of Oakie Lawrence.
 * Blood River Outskirts: Updated journal and tasks related to Alberic’s task to help refugees, including adding specifics to mention “help” to NPCs. Added tips to mention “help” to NPCs on a loading screen and in the Player Guide. SOTA-70568
 * Blood River Outskirts: Corrected a bandit name to “Vigilante.” SOTA-70594
 * Blood River Outskirts: Fixed a stuck spot in the wilderness. SOTA-70593
 * Castle Atos: Created new banners and added new decorations for special events. Added pennants in preparation for Lord British’s birthday. Changed celebration decorations to be automated “Timed Events.”
 * Caverns of Skrekk: Updated Korabar’s and Krishach’s conversations to help clear the “Speak with Krishach” task. Improved the tasks and compass markers related to Korabar’s ‘finale.’ Players with a lingering “Speak with Krishach” task should be able to speak with the “after” version of Korabar to clear it. SOTA-70548
 * Caverns of Skrekk: Fixed a typo in one of Korabar’s required responses.
 * Desolis: Updated compass marker used for the Loreley’s Sketchbook tasks. SOTA-70601
 * Elysium Mines: Added a milling station and coal to the scene.
 * Elysium Mines: Fixed pathing on a silver ore node. SOTA-70554
 * Grusk: Added a compass marker for the Grusk Factory entrance.
 * Grusk: Fixed multiple ladders that had lower targets which were below the ground. SOTA-70592
 * Grusk Factory: Removed “Factory Steward” title from enemy mushrooms. SOTA-70608
 * Grusk Factory: Added a switch to help exit the ‘two-person’ room. SOTA-70602
 * Grusk Factory: Adjusted a doorway that was too low for tall characters. SOTA-70607
 * Grusk Factory: Blocked a stuck spot behind a wooden platform. SOTA-70612
 * Grusk Factory: Closed a gap in the tunnel wall. SOTA-70610
 * Grusk Factory: Fixed z-fighting on a wall in the processing room. SOTA-70611
 * Highvale Outskirts: Updated the compass marker for returning an obsidian elf bow to Horatio to be “Give Bow to Horatio.” SOTA-70590
 * Highvale Outskirts: Updated the quest compass markers for Sven’s magical copper ore quest. SOTA-70595
 * Highvale Outskirts: Fixed several typos in journal entries. SOTA-70591
 * Hills Encounter: Activated Aether Dragons.
 * Kingsport Sewers: Fixed several prison doors and their switches that had shifted. SOTA-70553
 * Kobold Expeditionary Camp: Fixed an issue where players would prematurely get a task by killing Mongo when not in the proper quest stage. SOTA-70545
 * Lamech’s Bazaar and South Midmaer Way: Moved lanterns from atop destructable objects to solid platforms. SOTA-70575
 * Lord British’s Castle: Fixed an occlusion issue so some windows can be seen through.
 * Lord British’s Castle: Updated loading screen image.
 * Midmaer Passage: Fixed issues with the water visuals. SOTA-70546
 * Necropolis Barrens: Cotton nodes are now correctly set for Tier 5. Fixed an unharvestable letter node. SOTA-70559, SOTA-70555
 * Norgard Fens: Improved the collision and path grid within a kobold room to prevent NPCs being pushed through the walls. SOTA-70556
 * Norgard Fens: Moved a floating tree to the ground and improved some of the pathing in the kobold outpost. SOTA-70589
 * Northwood: Smoothed the material transition on terrain near a certain housing lot to remove a visible line. SOTA-70551
 * Resolute: Godbert should no longer give players the “Get Report from Cyannis” task if they already have the report or have already turned it in. Also, updated the task so that if it lingers in the UI it has a better chance to automatically archive itself when the avatar changes scenes. SOTA-70573
 * Ruins of Ravensmoor: Fixed an issue with spiders getting stuck on rubble. SOTA-70558
 * Solace Bridge Outskirts: Approaching the shack near the swamp now pops up a message warning the avatar to exit combat before they approach to avoid accidentally attacking the resident. The message can appear only once each day. The associated task completes when you talk to Hartley or stand next to the shack.
 * Solace Bridge Outskirts: Fixed a black pearl node so it can be harvested. SOTA-70557
 * Solania Catacombs: Added combat barks and loot to Mistress Valdis. SOTA-70606
 * Tanglemire: Updated loading screen image.
 * The Obsidian Trials: Fixed small errors in the responses from the trader NPC.
 * Ulfheim: Updated the colors used by Banamathr the dragon.
 * Valhold Palace: Moved a camera target used by Grannus to stop his conversation from being blocked. SOTA-70552
 * Valhold Palace: Removed “line of sight” requirement for Grannus’ conversations. SOTA-70552

Player-Owned Town Changes:


 * Fet City: Removed POT from game.
 * Pumpkinville: Changed name from Bodega of Blood. Changed biome to Tropical Island 01.
 * Shearwater Island: Upgraded to Town from Crossroads Village.

Sales and Bonus Events
To commemorate the birth of Lord British:


 * Double XP will be turned on until end-of-day July 4th. It will also be turned on for the extended livestream with Lord British on July 15th, lasting through end-of-day July 18th.
 * Crowns of the Obsidians will be 20% off through July 18th.
 * Crown store items and deed upgrades will be 30% off for the whole of Release 103.
 * Player Owned Town upgrades for Crowns of the Obsidians will be 20% off for the whole of Release 103. These upgrades may only be initiated by an email to Support.

Also watch for specific sales happening each weekend!

Release 103 Subscriber Login Rewards
Subscribers, sate yourself on storage, sugar, and shine. The Rewards Program login items for Release 103 include a Redwood Display Table (with container), 2 Long Candlesticks, 2 Small Candlesticks, and a set of 2022 Cupcakes.

Subscribers to the Rewards Program must log in during Release 103 to receive these special login items.

July Login Reward
In honor of Lord British’s Birthday, each account that logs in during the month of July will receive a one-time gift of half a dozen slices of Lord British Birthday Cake and half a dozen Fireworks (Red-White-Blue Missiles).

Crown Store Updates
New in the crown store for release day:


 * Replenishing Lord British Birthday Cake 2022 (HINT: His fat ass wife ate the first cake.)
 * Red Rottweiler
 * Indestructible Lava Fishing Rod
 * Grass and Tree Removers Pack (to be added in an early patch)

Arriving July 19th:


 * Redwood Display Table
 * Small Candlestick 4-Pack
 * Long Candlestick 4-Pack

The Lord British store items are available until Friday August 5th:

The Summer Seasonal store items are available until Sunday September 25th:
 * 2014 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2016 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2017 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2018 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2019 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2020 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2021 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * 2022 Lord British Replenishing Birthday Cake
 * Lord British Basement Entrance Eternal Pattern
 * Lord British Cloak
 * Lord British Fur Collared Cloak
 * Lord British Moondial
 * Lord British Pavers
 * Lord British Round Table
 * Lord British Salute Emote
 * Lord British Shield
 * Lord British Shield Pattern Pack
 * Lord British sex change Kit.
 * Lord British I make shitty games then walk out in the middle of development Emote


 * Firedancer Outfit
 * Fire Dance Emote
 * Fire Dance Cross Emote
 * Flame Scimitar
 * Flame Shield
 * Flame Stained Glass Table Lamp 3-Pack
 * Flaming Bagpipes
 * Hula Emote
 * Island Spear
 * Island Flower Crown
 * Island Dress

Upcoming Release Dates
Be sure to check out the Upcoming Events page for spotlighted events plus links to various areas to post or find events on our forums. The upcoming 2022 Release Schedule is as follows:


 * This Release 103 – June 30 (Content)
 * Release 104 – July 28 (Polish)
 * Release 105 – August 25 (Polish)
 * Release 106 – September 29 (Content)
 * Release 107 – October 27 (Polish)
 * Release 108 – November 17 (Polish)
 * Release 102 – December 15 (Polish)

Additional Information

 * Release 103 Instructions
 * Release 103 Known Issues
 * Quick Reference Card