Release 75

RELEASE 75, February 27, 2020

Release 75 of Shroud of the Avatar goes live this Thursday, February 27, at 10:30 AM US Central Time (16:30 UTC).

We want to express a huge amount of gratitude to the players who tested the items listed below on our QA server. They found many bugs and also provided editorial feedback on this post so that it is easy to read and actually matches what is in the game. Keep the input coming, and again — thank you!

Before offering feedback and/or reporting a bug, we kindly ask that you read this whole message and the linked Player Guide and Known Issues to get up to date on the current game state. To keep up to date, please check out the Patch Notes.

By taking a few moments to read through this information, a great deal of our time and effort can be focused on new unanswered questions and addressing critical issues that impact each release. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to review this post and for all the truly valuable feedback you continue to provide.

Remember that while we are providing new content with each release, our community is also working overtime to make new events for you to enjoy. Be sure to check the schedule for player-run events in the Community Events Forums. You can also get the latest official events on the Main Website.

Here is a list of what you can expect to see in RELEASE 75, February 27, 2020.

• World & UI Changes: Many updates that affected the game world or aspects of the user interface (UI) were patched in during R74 or went live for R75:

• Mistrendur: New Episode 2 continent was patched in during R74 and will receive constant updates in preparation for the upcoming land rush. Changes have included the addition of a galleon to Novia as well as rowboats from/to each island. Additional location markers are being added to assist with player land rush decisions. Ambient sounds, discoveries, Episode 2 tier markers were added. POT placeholders were adjusted to be centered in their hexes and some slight terrain change follow-ups occurred. Collision was regenerated and the navmesh was rebaked.

• Land Rush Update!: By royal decree, the process details for the Mistrendur land rush has been issued to the peoples of New Britannia! Players made reservations to add or move towns to Mistrendur some time ago, and the time to begin selecting locations draws very close!
  Recently, we delayed the start date for the land rush by 2 weeks to ensure future settlers of Mistrendur have more time to prepare, and so the developers could provide a better land rush experience to the players. We’ll soon be providing an improved map (the prototype is shown below) and include MANY more location indicators on the Mistrendur overworld to ensure you can make a well informed decision. Also, the official announcement thread will continuously be updated as we draw closer to the land rush, so be sure to keep apprised of any new information as it comes to light.

• The site selections will be made in the sequence the reservation vouchers were purchased.
• The first bracket of players will commence with their selections on Saturday, March 14, Noon CDT.
• For more information, please read the official announcement in the forums.

This new land mass is just one exciting new feature arriving this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in Shroud of the Avatar’s 2020 Vision!

• Ruined Keep: This scene now allows for full open multi-play. It had previously been restricted to Party and Solo modes.
• Galleon Updates: Below is the full list of “Cross-Continent Galleons” that will be available in R75 across the three overworld maps. Using one will bring up a list of all the others, in a manner similar to the lists available at POT signpost teleporters.

• Aerie (New!)
• Ardoris (New!)
• Brittany
• Jaanaford (New!)
• Kingsport
• Noreach (New-ish!)
• Mistrendur (New-ish!)

• Skrekk: Extra dialogue was added to Kobolds.
• Aether Creatures: Have left New Britannia after having long overstayed their welcome.
• Adventuring Trainers: “Bypass conversations with merchants” can no longer be skipped with adventuring trainers unless you have a specific “training” flag that relates to that trainer. This ensures players are less likely to bypass receiving advanced attack techniques and advanced deck options.
• Goti: This town has received a boat to Novia.
• POT Decorations: These items can now be placed as POT decorations but were formerly only allowed as housing decoration.

• Crafting Stations
• Printing Press
• Flat Basket
• Hand Basket
• Bucket
• Tent
• Small Campfire
• Bedroll
• Barn Stall
• Thin Barn Stall
• Aether Vibration Amplifier Console
• Blue Toadstool
• Green Toadstool
• Red Toadstool
• Sturdy Bench
• Gnome Miner
• Gnome Couple
• Ornate Dual Wax Amplifier
• Basic Chess/Checker Board (and pieces)
• Writeable Paper
• Digging Shovel
• Flat Shovel (Blacksmith)
• Flat Shovel (Viking)
• Pickaxe
• Pitchfork
• Plant (Dracaena)
• Plant (Laurentii)
• Plant (Pink Brush)
• Plow
• Simple Wooden Stick Torch
• Square Shovel
• Bench
• Iron Lantern
• Barrel
• Crate

• Water Well: Now allows for placement in Player Dungeons.
• Torture Rack and Table: These items now have decoration surfaces.
• Lord of the Isle Mansion: Added a secret room to the Lord of the Isle Mansion.
• Property Manager: Cooldown time for utilizing the magic movers/property manager interface has been lowered from 300 to 30 seconds.

• 'Crafting & Economy Changes: Many fantastic changes to the player economy and crafting were patched in during R74 or went live for R75:

• Dyable Gustball Uniforms: These non-heraldry gustball uniforms can be crafted by players! These will patch in and the recipes will be available on tailor merchants during R75.
• Fishing: The river has been deepened in Crooked Shank for swimming/fishing.
• Recall/Teleport Scrolls: Using these scrolls will now only take 5 seconds.
• Cupid Bow: Now has an associated eternal pattern from salvaging this item.
• Printing Press: Added the standard Printing Press to deco merchant.
• Necklaces: Durability of necklaces have been increased.
• Belts: Durability of belts have been increased.
• Wyvern Heads: Several wyverns now have increased head drop rates (Note: These are still SUPER rare).
• Spell Components: Banish Undead, Fireball, Ring of Fire, and Solar Flare all received tweaks to reagent consumption to make them consume more player grown reagents and fewer merchant purchased reagents.
• Artifact Enhancement: Acara plate, the Tricorn of the Cap’n, and the Quiver of Jealousy can now all be upgraded. The Heart of V’rul, Gaia’s Heart, and Frozen Tear can now all be socketed.
• Ink NPC Conversationalists: These new types of NPC’s that allow for player customizable dialogue scripts have all received a sizable boost well beyond the original 1000 character limit.
• Fishing Book Pattern: This pattern made special for the anglers of New Britannia has been added to book merchants.

• Combat Balance: As part of the SotA 2020 Vision Post, Atos indicates combat balancing efforts will be a big part of changes coming to Shroud of the Avatar this year. Read what we’ve got brewing for combat balance changes and his reasoning behind it. Here are just a small number of the balance items that were patched in during R74 or went live for R75:

• Simultaneous Use of Identical Artifacts: These changes didn’t quite make it for R74, but coming in with R75, expect a wide range of artifacts to no longer allow simultaneous use. For instance, your character will no longer be able to use dual wands, ankhs or even rings of the exact same variety in each hand or ring slot.
• Simultaneous Use of Related Artifacts: Also not making it for R74, and to be pushed in sometime during R75, players should expect a variety of similar artifacts to be prohibited for simultaneous use. Examples will vary, but Rings of the Frogkin will not be allowed with Rings of the Cuttlekin, and Vexlyn Wands with Wands of Undying Embers.
• Attunement: The power coefficient for Attunement calculations was changed from 0.67 to 0.66 only for damage spells.
• Control Point Kobolds: Balance tweaks have been performed on Kobolds which spawn at control points.
• Vauban Pass: Risk vs reward adjusted to be more in line with other control points.
• Undead: Previous versions of undead had a 2X penalty to their Life and Sun magic resistances. This has been reduced to a 1X penalty. Several tweaks to zombies and skeletons were also made throughout the entire game.
• Fireball: Has been changed so that the DoT now only affects a maximum of 5 targets. The initial blast still hits 10 targets.
• Purify and Purify Burst: These two spells now remove confusion effects from players.
• Banish Undead: The base focus cost of this skill has been increased from 8 to 24 and it’s cooldown increased from 10 to 15 seconds.
• Stonefist: Now stun targets as originally intended.

• Universal Broadcast Orb Transformed!: To celebrate the upcoming 2nd anniversary of Shroud of the Avatar’s official launch, a major enhancement has been made to the Free-to-Play (FTP) experience. The Universal Broadcast Orb was formerly a $2 Add-On Store item which gated FTP players from having initial access to the global chat channels. This feature offered some level of spam protection to our in-game chat, but it also inadvertently stifled communication for new FTP players wanting to participate in our community. Well now the FTP players will be heard! As of R75, the Universal Broadcast Orb will no longer be required to utilize Universal nor Trade chat channels. This item has been removed from the Add-On Store, and for those already having one in their possession? Those users have received a stunning orb decoration as a replacement. The new decoration version of the Universal Broadcast Orb also emits light and counts as a light source.
  This enhancement to the FTP player experience is just one of the exciting new features to arrive this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud of the Avatar 2020 Vision!
• New Store Items: Dyable Heraldry Gustball Uniforms and More!: New to the CotO Store for Release 75 are the Dyable Heraldry Gustball Uniforms. Let the more stylin’ Gustball tourneys begin! Also, a Dirt Path Pavers Set is now available on the store! And better late than never, patching in during R75, a Fancy Kitchen Sink and Fancy Wash Basin Set will arrive on the store! Lots of great decoration items were patched in throughout R74, such as the 8 amazing non-player characters (NPC) readied for the player created dialogue scripting system! These new type of NPC’s are known as Conversationalists. Other items added to the game recently were a variety of stone/boulder packs, crystal chandeliers, goofy fish trophies, and even a new variety of VFX decoration — Fireflies!

• Dyable Heraldry Gustball Uniforms
• Dirt Path Pavers Set
• Fancy Kitchen Sink (will patch in during R75)
• Fancy Wash Basin Set (will patch in during R75)
• Conversationalist (Female, 4 Varieties)
• Conversationalist (Male, 4 Varieties)
• Boulders (4, 6 and 10 Packs)
• Fireflies (Blue, Green, Orange and Yellow)
• Crystal Chandelier (Several Varieties)
• Goofy Fish Trophies

• March Login Reward: Leprechaun Hat!:Just in time for Saint Patty’s Day, Avatars! Be sure to log in sometime between March 1st and 31st to receive this special and festive Leprechaun Hat! This clover sporting gem of green headwear is a must have for any would-be celebrator this season. Enjoy!
• Release 75 Reward Program Exclusive Login Reward Items: Saint Patrick’s Day Theme!: It’s time for all things green, Avatars! So don’t get pinched! Rewards Program exclusive login reward items for Release 75 are St. Patrick’s Day themed! Reward Program members will receive these exclusive items immediately upon logging in during Release 75!

• Clover Pavers
• Leprechaun Statue
• Pot o’ Gold with Rainbow Effects

NOTE: You must login during the release to receive each release’s exclusive rewards.

• Bard Skills in Player Test Environment (QA)!: The bard skill tree now has many skills available for testing on the Player Test Environment (QA) server. We’re hard at work adding visual and audio effects, but players can now experiment with many of these new abilities and provide crucial feedback to the development team on the Player Test Environment (QA) forums. Here’s a list of 5 additional abilities, but keep in mind a total of 16 will be added:

• Savage Sonata: AoE enrage ability
• Chorus of Conservation: AoE focus cost reduction for party members
• Rhythmic Readiness: Passive skill that reduces ability casting time
• Resounding Reach: Passive skill which increases range of abilities
• Musical Fortitude: Passive skill which increases duration of abilities

• Updated Player-Owned Towns

• Bard’s Rest: Now nested within Novia Market. Upgraded to City. Added interconnection with Silverdale Market.
• Saint Mary’s Island: Changed biome to Desert 01b.
• Shadowwood Forest: Size upgrade from Crossroads Village to City.
• Woodhaven: Added new Holdfast nested in Beran’s Reach.

• Bug Fixes: Albeit many bug fixes were patched in during R74 or will patch in for R75’s release, here are some of the highlights!

• Fixes for vendor and overworld font issues.
• Spelling and typo fixes in numerous quests and UI elements.
• Snowy Mountains Road Encounter: Fixed an issue where players were unable to enter the Troll variant of this encounter.
• Fixed holes in POT template terrain (desert_metropolis_01b_template).
• Brittany Graveyard: All players given Owen’s key for the Serpent’s Spine Foothills should be able to use it on his secret treasure chest.
• Leprechaun deco and washbasin stand deco can no longer be flipped.
• Obsidian Plate Leggings once again should appear correctly instead of having bright green highlights. Acara Plate should now also appear correctly.
• Fix for Skrekk crash was implemented.
• Fix for collision issues in Blood River Forest Pit traps was implemented.
• Fire attunement loss now working properly for Magic Warding.
• Owl’s Head: Players will now properly unlock Guard Winslow’s name.
• Ravensmoor: Moved floating rocks to the ground and rebuilt the navmesh.
• Devotional Caretakers: fixed an issue where the devotional caretakers were stating the player had been to Jaanaford even when they hadn’t.
• Fixed store tags for rock and boulder packs.
• Adjusted lights on Fireflies VFX decorations.
• Blood River: The two guards named “Robert Townsend” are now named “Rob Townsend” and “Bob Townsend” (and they’re cousins).
• LOD performance work was performed for many decorations.
• Piano: Female Avatar’s name plate now moves to the right place when playing.
• Fixed an issue where the camera would not follow the character correctly when traveling on elevators.
• Ardoris: Updated the “boy in the attic” journal and responses from The Boy and Captain Cugel, including adding compass markers.
• Resolute: Added “bandit head” responses to Godbert’s “hello” responses which better match his “help” responses.
• Resolute: All the knights/guards now can respond to the “godbert” keyword.
• Battle of Solace Bridge: Updated the auto-switch that opens the “magically locked” gate to better account for grandfathered characters from before the BoSB revision.
• Fix for potential mail message overflow when mailing a lot of heavily crafted items.
• Summoned Wisps can now vanish after being slain.
• Visual and nav mesh fixes for the Snowy Mountain Road Encounter were implemented.
• Lord of the Isle decoration surface fixes, graphics fixes, and performance work were implemented.
• Marissa in Highvale Outskirts will now properly remember player names.
• Plains Road Encounter has had several balance and AI fixes.
• Prosperity tools will now show the correct stat bonuses.
• Fixed rain leaking through several popular houses.
• Fixed visuals when lutes are being used by female characters.
• Fixed quests dealing with Micsere in South Majestic Forest.
• Imbued Restoration potions will now restore the proper amount of health.
• Fixed Saddle bags being used as decorations.
• Fix for player bouncing in various situations was implemented but reversed due to side effects.
• Fixes for seams between head and torso on the pale male model were implemented.
• Fixed a problem that could cause messages from unrelated NPCs to be shown in the NPC chat window.
• IMPORTANT FIX: Eggs are once again place-able on walls! We are sorry we made these behave according to the laws of physics and regret our decision to change them.
• Fixed an issue causing the Bard Skill tree to prematurely appear on the live server. Bard skill tree items are still available in the Player Test Enironment (QA).
• Numerous visual fixes for The Clink including fixes for floating spider webs, floating torch, and other small visual glitches.
• Fixed conversations for Clink NPCs and Hidden Vale.
• Fixed new toilet and sink. They can now be used as POT decos.
• Fixed NPC dialogue editor. The scroll bars now work properly.
• Fixed scaling for some wolves.
• Alpha Wolf in Solace Bridge Outskirts no longer has a messed up looking snout.
• Women’s version of the Dark Starr boots are no longer tilted upwards.
• Fixed Godbert’s quest in Ardoris. Conversation responses have also been improved.
• Blue battle banner now has a bluer light.
• Vermilion lens quest in Hilt Fortress has been fixed.
• Fixed Unicorn skill issues.
• Problem with Decoration Palette causing unusual decoration aberrations has been fixed.
• Gates in Solace Bridge operate more effectively for grandfathered players completing it after the Solace Bridge revision.
• Sheep are no longer trapped inside of a Kingsport building.
• Fixed a floating trash pile in Brittany Alleys.
• Fixed Edvard’s ability to spell Ardoris.
• Using the boat to Estgard in Novia will no longer advance the Courage storyline unless the player has Brigid’s amulet.

As you can see, there are so many more exciting features and improvements coming to players of Shroud of the Avatar this year, and R75 is just the beginning! The Shroud 2020 Vision Post by Chris Spears outlines a wondrous schedule of features coming our way. If you’d like to follow a day-by-day play-by-play posting of Chris’ activities, check out the Official Catnip Games Twitter Feed to get the most up-to-date information! And just because something didn’t make it into the 2020 Vision Post, no worries! There’ll be many new features that sneak in throughout the year as each release unfolds.

Episode 2 features are in-bound which includes new story, new lands, a revamp of the Quest and Journal system, a Theater System, Treasure Hunting with treasure maps that show up as loot, Item Affinity, Taming system expansions, Customizable NPCs, and expanded permissions for containers and doors!

As a reminder, here are links to Player Instructions and Known Issues. Also, a list of helpful links is available on our New Player Welcome Forum pinned right at the top! Thank you again for your continued support. This is truly the most amazing community we have ever worked with, and we are proud to be on this journey with you.

Sincerely,
Shroud of the Avatar Development Team

Additional Information

• Release 75 Instructions
• Release 75 Known Issues
• Quick Reference Card

See Also

• Release Dates
• Release 74
• Release 76
• Release 77

References

• Avatar’s Update #370: Play Release 75 Now! Universal Broadcast Orb Transformed! Land Rush Q&A Livestream! – 2020.28.02