Release 104

RELEASE 104, July 28, 2022
Release 104 goes live July 28th at 10:30 AM CDT.

Welcome! The Catnip Games development team marks this monthly release of Shroud of the Avatar with new content and improvements. For Release 104 (R104), we offer a host of bug fixes and a couple of notes from our developers.

Below are a list of the updates that are live as of Release 104 in the game of Shroud of the Avatar! R104 is a polish month. Polish, additional improvements, and bug fixes are inbound for R105 next month. We hope you enjoy the changes that are live today as of Release 104!

Unity 2021 Upgrade Status
We’ve been working hard to get Unity to the current 2021 LTS version and it’s finally completed and coming! After this release is out, we are going to put the new version on QA for players to test for the next month. Why are we waiting another release? Because we want to get things right. A lot of things have changed in Unity since 2018 and here are a few things to expect:


 * Better overall performance
 * The newest hardware and software will be better-supported
 * Terrain shaders have been updated and are faster. Some terrain settings have been refined to increase performance. These two changes in performance should affect RTX card users that previously had problems while looking at certain parts of the terrain after playing a while.
 * Shader changes to use D3D11 more efficiently
 * Loading time between scenes should have decreased by a few seconds
 * We now have access to better tools to expand the game with greater visual effects, like shader graph and the new terrains tool
 * The Unity 2021 editor is way more performant than the 2018 one, which is very good for us devs!

On a sad note, this new update to Unity took so much of our time this release that other planned projects were completely on hold for the month, but don’t despair: the best is yet to come!

With this said, we are hoping to see you in QA to test this with us!

– Devilcult

Ravalox’s Upcoming Plans
With Unity 2021 going to the QA testing phase, I will be concentrating on the long-overdue Lord of the Isle outstanding deliverables including the basement and working with Richard to hasten the silver rings to completion (based on his schedule, of course.) I will also be working on player dungeon bugs and, if all goes well, new rooms. Finally, I will also be getting back to working on the missing scene maps.

As we head into Q4, I want to coordinate with Devilcult in expanding the Lua API to better support players who want to coordinate events and run contests. This effort may include a basic Lua Add-on event sign-up tool that can be used as a springboard for our community Lua scripters. This is still at the drawing-board stage, so be patient while we make things better!

As we continue to sweep the website and improve the functionality some exciting changes will be coming including the elimination of the new-player paywall meant to prevent spammers from accessing the forums. Changes need to be made in the way accounts are created to implement this, so please be patient as we update the structure.

– Ravalox

Portalarium Reference Replacement
Mail IconA pass has been made on changing references to Portalarium to either Shroud of the Avatar or Catnip Games, as appropriate, on the website, in the End User License Agreement and the Terms of Service, in game, in player reference documents, and (most importantly to note) in the support email address.

Customer Service can now be contacted at support@shroudoftheavatar.com. Mail sent to the old Portalarium address will continue to be received for a period of time to be determined as needed, but please change your address books now!

Crafting, Decoration, & Inventory Item Changes:

 * Fixed rotation issues with several recent pieces of liturgical furniture. This will mean that ones currently placed, and anything that may be placed on them, may need to be adjusted. SOTA-70576
 * Fixed recipe categories for Potion of Distilled Light Unicorn Blood and Restoration Potion, Imbued. SOTA-70649
 * Fixed incorrect names on Forest Mangler upgrade recipes. SOTA-70519
 * Fixed misspelling of Arapaima. SOTA-70648
 * Fixed name inconsistency with decorative grape vines. SOTA-70646
 * Fixed incorrect light position on Tall Candle Stand.
 * Fixed visual issues with Dinner Bench deco preview. SOTA-70415
 * Removed incorrect description from Wooden Trough. SOTA-70516

Combat & Skill Changes:

 * The skill combo Splintering Strike will now do purely physical damage that is not mitigated by the magic resistance of the target.
 * The emotes Bird Trick and Golden Bird Trick should now display correctly. SOTA-70650

User Interface, Store Information, & Lua Changes:

 * Minimaps should now work correctly while in dungeons (that have maps) and not snap to center when the player stops moving.

World and Quest Changes:



 * The Luminous Atavist has gone into hiding and Pumpkin Head has resumed terrorizing Drachvald. SOTA-69360
 * Added ‘Return to Previous Location’ boats to the Player-Run Towns that are not islands, but do have docks, such as Port Titan.
 * Battle of Solace Bridge: Moved “Use the Z key…” tip to before the first zombie (prior to the first bridge). SOTA-70668
 * Blood River Outskirts: Accepting Alberic’s “Poison Vigilante Food Supply” task will now properly clear the “Poison Elven Food or Tell Alberic” compass markers. SOTA-70666
 * Castle Atos: Adjusted the distance for sound effects from flies that were reaching into nearby rooms. SOTA-70680
 * Castle Atos: Fixed two 1-way ladders to now be used as 2-way ladders. SOTA-70675
 * East Longfall Wetland: Added additional ankhs.
 * Grusk Factory: Underdwellers will now have “Pale One” in their display names. Tougher ones will be named “Enduring Pale One.”
 * Grusk Factory: Fixed pathfinding issues in the processing (wave battle) room. SOTA-70653
 * Grusk Factory: Added additional z-fighting fixes for the ceiling of the rooms with gears under the floor. SOTA-70640
 * Grusk Factory: Created new “Lesser Magic Empowerment” rune effect. Fixed and improved magic attunement field gimmick. SOTA-70637
 * Highvale Outskirts: The quest from Marissa the Crafting Trainer to find resources now has her wave her hands with blue sparkles and has proper compass markers. SOTA-70667
 * Jotungrund: Fixed bad grammar in one of Wymond’s responses.
 * Kingsport: Nahche no longer has multiple simultaneous responses when you tell him your name. SOTA-65271
 * Owl’s Head: Updated some titles and responses for several NPCs, including John the Doorman. SOTA-70673
 * Plains Encounter: Fixed an issue where both the default dragon set and Aether dragon set were spawning, where it should have only been one or the other. SOTA-70679
 * Resolute: Adjusted the actions of Janet Kallen the gate guard to help ensure she opens her gate the first and every time. SOTA-70656
 * The Rise: Corrected naming inconsistencies with all common elf enemies. Added special “Obsidian” name variants for Obsidian Elves. In the “Gallery” library, the Tier 16 elf caster is now named “Obsidian Archivist” and has some unique barks. Also, updated the spawning of the elves in the gallery to be dynamic instead of static (meaning instead of respawning individually after a set time, they now begin repopulating as a dynamic set). SOTA-70677
 * Solace Bridge Outskirts: Fixed typos in responses for Corporal Heloise.
 * Ulfheim: Fixed the scaling of many oversized ore nodes. SOTA-70678
 * Valhold Palace: Updated the barks for Mara and Essen that happen while escorting them to work better with the timing of their respective escorts. SOTA-70655

Player-Owned Town Changes:

 * Argent Aspis: Changed biome to Snowy Mountains 01.
 * Crafters Town: Upgraded to Metropolis.
 * Lained: Upgraded to Hamlet.
 * Pumpkinville: Upgraded to Hamlet, removed PvP.
 * Rajazel: Upgraded to Metropolis.
 * Silver Springs Market: Upgraded to Hamlet.
 * Umbra Regnum: Renamed from Regnum. Change biome to Forest 01a from Mountain 01. Moved to near Soltown in Novia.

Release 104 Subscriber Login Rewards
Have a friend help you keep cool! The Rewards Program login items for Release 104 are a Miniature Water Elemental decoration pet and a Metal Coat of Arms for dressing up a wall.



Subscribers to the Rewards Program must log in during Release 104 to receive these special login items.

August Login Reward


Each account that logs in during the month of August will receive a one-time gift of a pair of Small Nightstands.

Crown Store Updates
On August 1st, the length of sales in the crown store will be adjusted from two hours to eight, to hopefully find a sweet spot between quick enough to be draw regular interest but slow enough to let people have a good chance of catching them.

New in the crown store for August 19th:

The Lord British store items are available until Friday August 5th:
 * Miniature Water Elemental


 * 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

The Summer Seasonal store items are available until Sunday September 25th:


 * 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 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 109 – December 15 (Polish)

Additional Information

 * Release 104 Instructions
 * Release 104 Known Issues
 * Quick Reference Card