Category Archives: Update of the Avatar

Avatar’s Update #367: Release 74 Livestream Today! Combat Balance & LOTI Mansion Tour!

February 7, 2020

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Lord of the Isle Mansions!

As we step deeper into 2020, more and more exciting features will become part of our gaming world, to include the introduction of an entirely new architecture concept. The first lot size to receive this new architecture is the castle-sized lots for the Lord of the Isle supporters. As time progresses throughout the year, homes of this style will become available for other lot sizes. Be sure to pop on over to Hometown and check out this truly spectacular new home. This is just one of the many fantastic additions coming to the game this year. Read more about what’s on the horizon in the Shroud 2020 Vision post by Chris Spears!

Combat Balance & Lord of the Isle Mansion Tour Livestream Today!

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday February 7, at 3 PM CT on Twitch! Ravalox and friends will be giving a role-played tour of a decorated Lord of the Isle Mansion in Hometown which are in-game and soon to be distributed to Lord of the Isle supporters. Also, Chris will be diving into combat balance discussions and Q&A with the community.

As usual we will be giving out prizes! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store OR log into the game and type “Love makes the world go round” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

3 PM: Introductions and Q&A
3:30 PM: Lord of the Isle Mansion Tour
4:00 PM: Combat Balance and Q&A
5 PM: Ending Announcements

We will be answering questions throughout the livestream, so submit them in Twitch Chat during the livestream and insert !question at the beginning of your text.

Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 3 PM CDT!

Bard Skills Updates

Hail musically inclined Avatars! We’ve all been anxiously awaiting the addition of the Bard skill tree into the game, and portions of it will be patched in shortly. Already, master artist Damon has created art for the new skills, and here are just a few to whet your appetites. Many more skills are yet to be revealed in the Bard skill tree, so stay “tuned” Avatars! This, plus so much more is coming to you in 2020! This is going to be a fantastic year for Shroud of the Avatar. Be sure to check out the Shroud 2020 Vision, Bards are just the beginning!

Anthem of Alacrity: a new buff for your entire adventure party!

Atonal Aria: Causes AOE damage and boosts aggro!

Bard Innate Ability: what passive bonuses might this ability reveal?

Concussive Canticle: this musical ability is a damaging area-of-effect attack!

Ditty of Detection: this melody reveals hidden entities surrounding the bard!

Mastery: this ability is reserved for only the most talented of minstrels!

Melody of Mending: this soothing tune heals surrounding party members!

Avatar’s Update #366: Play Release 74 Now! Exploring The Clink Livestream Today!

January 31, 2020

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 74 is Live!

Greetings Avatars!

Release 74 includes lots of exciting updates including the return of Envy Angel, revamp of the Upper Tears wave battle, updates to The Clink, new tamable creatures, a new player scripted NPC Dialogue System, 8 new artifacts, and many combat balance measures. These are just SOME of the changes and additions coming in R74. Be sure to read below to find out more!

These are just some of the many exciting items coming your way this year. If you missed out on what’s on the horizon, be sure to check out the 2020 Vision Post by Chris Spears.

Exploring The Clink Livestream Today!

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday January 31, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! Sannio and Elgarion will be demonstrating the wondrous new changes to “The Clink” adventure scene today — this time on the stream will be on the secondary Community Channel. Chris is feeling a bit under the weather, so let’s wish him well!

As usual we will be giving out prizes at 4:15 and 4:45! To be eligible all you need to do is either make any purchase in the store or log into the game and type “The weather outside is frightful” in the chat window (no purchase necessary).

Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT!

Story and Scenes Changes

Envy Angel Returns: The envious witch has somehow managed to miss “Sequanna’s Day” yet again and now she’s especially mad! Poor Hyun the Courier did not learn from last year’s folly and once again has attempted to cut through her territory, and wouldn’t you have guessed it? She stole his letters… again! Avatars, steer FAR clear of the Necropolis Barrens. Hyun indicates she might have another trick or two up her sleeve, or she might even have a new artifact on her person. Also, don’t forget — you can aid Hyun on a daily basis even after Envy Angel departs for the season!

Krampus Goes Dormant: Now that the dark winter is ending, Krampus sleeps once again. Beware Avatars, the naughty brats still roam the lands!

Upper Tears Reborn: For R74, many changes occurred with the Upper Tears adventure scene to make it more balanced and enjoyable. For a full explanation about combat balancing in 2020 to include reasoning behind the redesign of Upper Tears, check out the post by Chris Spears on the forums. Here is a summary of these changes:
- Liches have always been one of the weakest creatures in the entire game in regards to risk versus reward. Their stats have been improved and more importantly, their level has been increased and more abilities have been added. High level lich mages will now push players out of melee range, and lich fighters will now pull players into melee range. Liches of melee variety can also enrage, and lich casters have several new damage type spells in their arsenal.
- The Upper Tears wave events now require a minimum time to elapse before the next new wave type spawns. Before, waves would instantly respawn if you defeated the prior wave. A new timer has been added between respawns. Early waves have an 8 second timer which will grow upwards of 15 seconds for the later more difficult waves.
- A mysterious obsidian shard of power spawns in the middle of the chamber and emanates a strong magical buff onto surrounding enemies. This stone is on a separate respawn timer causing it to appear at different times than the minion wave event spawn times.
- Two additional waves have been added at the end of the wave cycles which are more challenging. These new waves generate less experience per hour but have more desirable loot chances.

Updates to The Clink: The famous prison under Owl’s Head is enjoying a good number of improvements to its layout in R74. Changes include improved guard dialogue, adjusted hallways, more “airlock” gate systems, a mess hall for the prisoners, and even a kitchen (complete with sewage pipe exit)! When checking out these changes, be careful how you enter. The prisoners are always rioting if you use the main entrance, but the prisoners are calm when entering through the pipe that leads to the kitchen (unlocked after acquiring Colman’s quest). There is an even chance of rioting when entering from the guard headquarters.
- When a riot is active, new “high threat” prisoners and guards will actively attack strangers, including players!
- When the prisoners are calm, security is heightened in the cell blocks. If you get too close to a guard, they’ll force you into a conversation. If you don’t have proper authorization, you might get thrown into a cell!
- Speaking of authorization, a Red Sash Forger has been seen across the bridge from young Colman. When you take on Colman’s quest, he puts in a good word with the forger on your behalf allowing you to purchase authorization papers to help you schmooze your way past the Clink guards.
- Be warned! Sneaking into the Clink through the sewage pipe is an option that helps avoid combat, but the Oracle may consider avoiding combat as having a negative impact on your Courage standings.
The Fall: The Fall just got a LOT more dangerous! The bridge spawns were previously 5.5 minute spawns of 2 tier 6 Ebon Dawn humans. Now, the spawns will be 3.5 minute spawns of 3 tier 10 Ebon Dawn humans. Those hunting in The Fall will earn roughly 6 times more experience!
Tartarus: If you haven’t been to Tartarus this month, you might not have noticed the decorations and spawning updates! Many tunnels, rooms, and even the maze have had fantastic layout improvements. Also, scattered around the scene are crates, tables, books, lanterns, rubble, and many props that help tell the “story” of this exciting underground labyrinth. Finally, most enemies within these caverns have better patrols and interactions with their revised environment. (Patched in during R73)

Avatar’s Update #365: Upper Tears Reborn & Livestream Today!

January 24, 2020

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Upper Tears Reborn

Greetings Avatars!

Word has spread throughout the land that new dangers await adventurers in Upper Tears! The undead which inhabit this territory have sent word to their masters that their rest has been disturbed–many times! Over and over! In fact, they were being grinded for experience, with only the magical powers of Experience Attenuation holding adventurers at bay. Take caution Avatars! Reinforcements have arrived! The denizens lurking behind the waterfall of Upper Tears will now have much greater power at their disposal! Enemies that Charge! Enemies with Chain Lightning!

These changes as well some combat balance and attenuation changes are now patched into QA and should patch into the live server soon! These are just some of the many exciting items coming your way this year. If you missed out on what’s on the horizon, be sure to check out the 2020 Vision Post by Chris Spears.

Upper Tears Reborn Livestream Today!

Another content packed weekly Community Livestream is this Friday January 24, at 4 PM CT on Twitch! Chris Spears will demonstrate the changes to Upper Tears, Combat Balance and Attenuation!

Watch on Twitch today, Friday at 4 PM CDT!

FLASH SALE: Crowns of the Obsidian 20% Off All Weekend!

Attention Avatars! For those who missed out on the holiday Crown of the Obsidian sale, worry not! For it has returned for a short weekend Holiday Sale Revival! Crowns will be on sale for the entire weekend. You might just need it after seeing what’s up on the vault this round. Enjoy!

Avatar’s Update #364: Shroud 2020 Vision Livestream Today!

January 10, 2020

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Shroud 2020 Vision

[Forum Post by Chris “Atos” Spears]

Greetings Avatars!

As a team, we try to remain as flexible as possible to work on what feels most important at any given time. With that said, we wanted to give players some insight into what our focus will be as we head into 2020.

It is important to note that this is not intended to be some kind of binding contract where we promise we will hit each and every item mentioned. Rather this is just intended to be a vision of where we believe we are headed for the next year. Items will move around, sometimes slip, or sometimes move earlier in the schedule, In some cases we might decide that an item no longer makes sense once we start digging into to it and we might remove it.

The obvious elephant in the room that needs to be discussed first is Episode 2; what that means and when it will arrive. How to deliver it is the really big question. We have some people who are angry we are not currently creating content. At the same time we have other people who say they want us to hold all of Episode 2 until it is 100% done and not trickle it out to people. There is some logic to each of these views and where we will end up is likely somewhere in the middle.

Our goal will be to roll out some new content on a continuous basis, roughly one new scene per release. Simultaneously we want to keep the Episode 2 story held back until we have full confidence in our new quest system. The current plan is that once we have confidence in the new quest system we will start rolling out the main Episode 2 quest line on QA only. Additionally, at least once each release we will migrate data from Live to QA and effectively reset your progress on the main quest line on QA.

New Episode 2 content in the form of new maps, items, creatures, and skills will roll out monthly. Our goal will be to average roughly one new scene a release starting with the February release. Long term our goal would be to get to two scenes per month in the second half of the year. Read more…

Avatar’s Update #363: Release 73 Livestream Today! Lot Upgrades and Crown Sales!

December 20, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 73 Livestream Today!

The Release 73 Livestream is set for this Friday, December 20, at 3 PM Central Time! All Avatars from around the world are welcome to join us in the livestream activities.

Avatar’s Update #362: Play Release 73 Now! Sneak Peeks Livestream Today! Lot Upgrades and Crown Sales!

December 13, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Play Release 73 Now!

Release 73 launched Thursday, December 12, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Player Game Master Tools Phase 1
Lua Phase 1.1
Scene Polish: Tartarus, Soltown
R73 Rewards Program Items: Winter Theme
Snow Pavers
January Login Reward: Krampus Statue
Performance Improvements
More Bug Fixes
and more!

Check out the Release 73 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

If you have not downloaded the game yet, go to www.shroudoftheavatar.com and click the “Play Now” button. The game is also available on Steam.

Release 73 Player Instructions

Release 73 Known Issues

Avatar’s Update #361: R73 on QA! Player GM Tools Livestream Today! Lot Upgrades and Crown Sales!

December 6, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 73 on QA (Live next week)

An early version of Release 73 is on the QA server! Release 73 has some fun updates like Player GM Tools! An early version of the Release 73 Instructions is also available for review. We could really use everyone’s help to test all of this amazing content before it goes live next week!

Player Game Master Tools Phase 1
Lua Phase 1.1
Scene Polish: Tartarus, Soltown
R73 Rewards Program Items: Winter Theme
Snow Pavers
January Login Reward: Krampus Statue
Performance Improvements
More Bug Fixes
and more!

Avatar’s Update #360: Lot Upgrades and Crown Sales! December Login Reward!

November 29, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Lot Deed Upgrades & Crown Sale!

Greetings Avatars,

To celebrate the winter holidays Crowns and Lot Deed Upgrades are on sale for 20% off through the end of the year! Also you have one week left to get the first set of this year’s Winter and Yule themed Vault items, including some of the very first Yule themed items we ever created!

Lot Deed Type and Size Upgrading with Crowns Sale: Upgrading Lot Deed Type and Size in-game with Crowns is on sale for 20% through the end of the year! Originally patched into Release 62, you can upgrade your deed “type” and size for Crowns in-game via right-click. This means, for example, you can upgrade from a Taxable Player Owned Town Village Lot Deed to a Taxable Player Owned Town Water Village Lot Deed, adding the ability to claim a water lot. You could also upgrade from a Village Lot Deed to a Town Lot Deed. This was previously available in the Game Services store but can now be done directly with Crowns. You can also upgrade from Taxable to Tax-Free deeds, with the exception that other types of deeds cannot be upgraded to Founder deeds. NOTE: you can only upgrade types, not downgrade, so you cannot go from a Tax Free deed to a Taxable deed, for example. Also you cannot upgrade to Tax Free Founder Keep or Castle, or Tax Free Keep or Castle (these were pledge exclusives). You can still upgrade to all other Keep/Castle types, including Tax Free Player Owned Town Keep, for example.
The Vault: Current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, December 5 at 10:30 AM Central Time. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc2017 Yule Card 5-Pack
- Ice Wings
- 2016 Winter Holiday – Wax Cylinders
- Winter Lynx Pet
- 2015 Holiday Wreath
- 2015 Yule Hat
- 2015 Yule Tree
- Yule Velvet Bodice Ensemble
- Viking Stronghold

Avatar’s Update #359: Crown Sale! Play Release 72 Now! R72 Livestream Today!

November 22, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Play Release 72 Now!

Release 72 successfully launched Thursday, November 21, with thousands of backers downloading, patching, and logging in to check out the changes! There’s lots of new content to explore, including:

Krampus Returns
LUA Integration (Phase 1)
Reagent Agriculture Balance
Unicorn Stew Recipes
Grilled Wyvern Chops Recipe
Fish Sticks Recipe
R72 Rewards Program Items: Fall Theme (2nd Round)!
December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers
Performance Improvements
More Bug Fixes
and more!

Check out the Release 72 Instructions update for detailed information about all the new content.

If you have not downloaded the game yet, go to www.shroudoftheavatar.com and click the “Play Now” button. The game is also available on Steam.

Release 72 Player Instructions

Release 72 Known Issues

Avatar’s Update #358: R72 on QA! LUA Livestream Today!

November 15, 2019

Greetings Fellow Avatars! Here’s what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Release 72 on QA (Live next week)

An early version of Release 72 is on the QA server! Release 72 is full of new content and fixes. An early version of the Release 72 Instructions is also available for review. We could really use everyone’s help to test all of this amazing content before it goes live next week!

Krampus Returns
LUA Integration (Phase 1)
Reagent Agriculture Balance
Unicorn Stew Recipes
Grilled Wyvern Chops Recipe
Fish Sticks Recipe
R72 Rewards Program Items: Fall Theme (2nd Round)!
December Login Reward: Holly Wreath Hat with Sparklers
Performance Improvements
More Bug Fixes
and more!

Mondravis