Category Archives: Update of the Avatar

Avatar’s Update #400: Play Release 82 Now! New Adventure Scene: Lord British’s Castle! Food & Drink System Update! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings players of Shroud of the Avatar a new adventure scene! Now, adventurers can delve into Lord British’s Castle, the newest Episode 2 scene to be released! Among other amazing updates, the food system got a very significant improvements! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Adventure Scene: Lord British’s Castle!Master world builder Keith “Sannio” Quinn has done it again! His latest adventure masterpiece is Lord British’s Castle and is now on the live server for players of Shroud of the Avatar! The gorgeous gardens, theater, and décor would be quite inviting to guests under normal circumstances, but alas, these are not normal times, Avatars! Something is amiss at Lord British’s Castle in Mistrendur, and only Episode 2 Access holders can to rally to our ruler’s aid!

  • Challenge yourself! Progress through the castle while fighting waves of progressively-harder enemies (similar to the Compendium of Pain and Suffering)
  • Explore! After clearing out the whole castle, explore new areas that weren’t accessible while invaders were around, including Lord British’s vault (but only if you want your virtuous reputation tarnished!).
  • Quests! Talk to the guards by the entrance to learn a little backstory and get 2 new repeatable quests.

“Lord British’s Castle! Frequently under assault by those who want to slay the ruler of New Britannia or pillage the vast fortune rumored to exist within his private vault. Even now, deadly enemies have breached its walls and overrun the stronghold’s hallowed halls. Your reasons to venture to Mistrendur and into Lord British’s home will be your own, but know that each room will throw you against waves of the toughest enemies you have ever faced!”

These words from Sannio should inspire caution amongst the intrepid. Those first to storm the gates of Lord British’s Castle will soon learn that the waves of enemies within will continue to grow in power such that even the greatest of New Britannia’s warriors will eventually fail. How far into the castle will your band of companions venture? What treasures could be within? A challenge unlike no other awaits thee!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, September 25th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “a September to remember” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Food & Drink System Update!

Avatars! Eat! Drink! Be Merry! A long-awaited round of love to the Food and Drink Systems is upon us! In the past, players could imbibe 2 foods regardless of which was eaten. Now, all foods and drinks have been assigned a numerical value from 1 to 3 which indicates how many food buff slots are utilized when eating and drinking that item. Up to 6 food channels are possible, so if a character eats 6 single point foods, they can fill up all 6 food channels. If the character eats 2 foods which have 3 points each, all 6 food channels are also filled.

This new concept as well as a revisit/balancing to all food recipes should greatly increase the versatility of the food system and make a larger range of recipes desirable for use and consumption. Here are some examples of food recipe tooltips which show the buff slots as well as revised effects:

Also, players can now feed their pets with newly added recipes! Pet food allows for 3 channels of food in a point system entirely separate from the 6 food channels available for characters. The newly added pet foods are as follows:

  • Bear Bites
  • Dragon Kibbles
  • Fishy Nibblers
  • Rabbit Pate
  • Venison Jerky

Even after these changes patch onto the live server, the system will continue to be tweaked and each food recipe scrutinized. Ultimately we hope players of Shroud of the Avatar enjoy the revamped system. So many more amazing game updates are just around the corner, so stay tuned!

Agriculture Trophies: Pumpkins & Jack O’Lanterns!

Gardeners of New Britannia, take heed! A strange occurrence has permanently altered pumpkins throughout the lands causing them to grow larger than ever before! Now, gardeners growing pumpkins through use of the Agriculture System have rare chances to harvest Trophy Pumpkins! Take those pumpkins to your crafting tables to convert them into Jack O’Lantern Trophies! The recipe for creating the Jack O’Lantern Trophies is for sale on Cooking Merchants.

Sometime in the near future and before the expiration of this year’s appearance of Pumpkin Head, players can expect certain size ranges of Trophy Pumpkins to drop as loot from the spooky seasonal boss and his minions. Of note, the Agriculture System will likely produce the largest pumpkins available.

Players can expect a considerable size range in available trophies, and the image above does NOT show the largest sizes! That’s for the players of Shroud of the Avatar to discover! Happy gardening, Avatars!

Maps and More Maps!

Mini-map creation in Shroud of the Avatar has resumed! The development team is hard at work adding additional maps so that players can find their way in the enormous world of New Brittania. As adventurers explore, they’ll encounter these additional maps added for Release 82:

  • Celestis
  • City of Yew
  • East Perennial Trail
  • East Veiled Swamp
  • Eastreach Gap
  • North Brightbone Woods
  • Restless Forest
  • South Brightbone Woods
  • South Celestial Wetlands
  • Spindelskog
  • Tanglemire
  • West Veiled Swamp
  • Whiteguard Foothills

More maps will be added with every monthly release, so gear up and get out there, explorers!

Player Dungeon Creature Spawner!

The Mysterious Swamp and Upper Tears are two adventure scenes amuck with the ever living… the lingering… those who should have passed on to their next lives but have not. The high level lich fighters in both of those scenes now have a small chance to drop a recipe for a Lich Fighter Spawner Statue! Once crafted, players can place these statues in their dungeons whilst in Design Mode. This marks the spawn point for a lich fighter. Once the dungeon is placed into Adventure Mode, the statue comes to life and is replaced by a Tier 15 Lich Fighter!

Meant solely as a method to add “roaming monster immersion” into player dungeons, these lich spawners will not generate loot nor experience since they can only be placed in non-encounter rooms where decorating is possible. Expect a larger variety of spawners to become available in the future as the dungeon system continues to evolve. The majority of these spawners will become available as crafting recipes, with focus placed upon requiring underutilized crafting materials such as Aortic Thrombi and Ancient Essences.

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #399: Crafting Station Decoration Surfaces! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings crafters and decorators of Shroud of the Avatar wondrous news! Now, players can decorate the surfaces of all 4 categories of crafting stations. For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Crafting Station Decoration Surfaces!

Avatars and decorators of New Britannia! Get some decorations ready to place upon your crafting stations, because those decoration surfaces will be functional when Release 82 hits! All 40 or so crafting stations were verified as working, as you can see in the picture above. Each station has a Lord of the Isle crown placed upon a decoration surface. These categories of crafting stations are affected by this change:

  • Crafting stations on in-game gold merchants
  • Expert crafting stations on the Crown Store
  • Founder crafting stations
  • Benefactor crafting stations

The stations affected from each category are as follows:

  • Alchemy
  • Blacksmithing
  • Butchering
  • Carpentry
  • Cooking
  • Milling
  • Smelting
  • Tailoring
  • Tanning
  • Textiles

So get to your crafting stations, Avatars! They’ll be awaiting your decoration efforts in Release 82!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, September 18th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “a September to remember” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Castle Wall Decoration Surfaces!

Of note, as we progress into further enhancement of existing decoration items, Castle Wall sets will soon receive significant updates on the QA server. The decoration surfaces on Castle Walls have been enabled! For any players wishing to help test the castle wall sets on QA, please see the testing directives thread on the main forums for further information. And for those wishing to assist with this and other Bug Brigade efforts, here’s more information to help you get involved. Happy decorating and testing Avatars!

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, September 24th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for one week, and then the next, etc.

  • Black Clockwork Raven Decoration Pet
  • Adobe 2-Store Village Home
  • Shogun Five-Story City Home
  • Ornate Obsidian Sarcophagus
  • Black Ice Sword
  • Admiral’s Hat
  • Ladies’ Riding Outfit
  • Dragonfly Wings
  • Virtue Dirndl Outfit

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #398: The Well of Aldur Sneak Peek! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings players of Shroud of the Avatar a small sneak peek at an upcoming new scene known as “The Well of Aldur!” For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

The Well of Aldur Sneak Peek!

New Britannians! Rumors of a mystical and mysterious locale are spreading throughout the lands. “The Well of Aldur” is an upcoming new adventure scene for Episode 2 Access holders which will feature a variety of activities to challenge even the most stalwart of Avatars! Still very early in design, the image above is a small example of the wondrously ethereal ambience which this new scene will exhibit.

“High above the mountain peaks of Mistrendur floats the crumbling remains of a civilization whose origins are lost to time. Only the greatest adventurers will decipher the secrets, survive the threats, and discover the true nature of the Well of Aldur.”

Amongst other challenges, players can expect a jump puzzle to tackle with a reward upon reaching its end. More objectives will be available at this locale, so stay tuned for more previews of this astonishing new scene as it continues to develop!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, September 11th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “a September to remember” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, September 17th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for one week, and then the next, etc.

  • Brass Mini Automaton Decoration Pet
  • Magic Sigil Cloak
  • Ornate Norgard Axe
  • Ornate Tansu Chest
  • Elven Keep Village Home
  • Ornate Viking Short Sword
  • Dragon Polearm
  • Candle Helmet
  • Oracle Eye Throne

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #397: Decorative Wall Update! Public Garden Blossoms! New Store Items: Round Setees & More! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings players of Shroud of the Avatar some changes to the craftable stone walls with more updates soon coming to other wall and fence varieties! The Public Garden Player-Owned Town decoration has been revamped to feature decorative flowers! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Decorative Wall Update!

Builders of New Britannia! A round of love for fencing and wall sets has begun! Demonstrated in the image above, this style of craftable stone wall can be stacked so players can build taller walls. The wall set also allows for significant overhang to encourage more interesting/creative wall structures. Decorators will be able to scale these wall objects from .5 to 1.3. That particular scaling change was also recently applied to all the building block packs. And for those decorators wanting to use these for indoor walls and partitions, go right ahead! Now, these walls can be placed indoors, in basements, and in dungeons!

Expect these changes to patch in shortly, but many more changes are coming your way for fences and walls in the near future. Other varieties of these sets will receive similar changes listed above in the upcoming month, but additional decoration surfaces placed on these fence and wall assets are also on the horizon!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, September 4th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “a September to remember” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Public Garden Blossoms!

Governors and stewards of New Britannia have become accustomed to having a particular non-functional Player-Owned Town (POT) asset known as the Public Garden. The original intent of this item was to allow players without property to still have a means to grow crops in the agriculture system, but with the advent of Free-to-Play concepts in the game, continued design of these gardens was postponed. Now, since all players receive two free property deeds allowing use of the agriculture system, the original public garden functionality was no longer required yet a need to polish the asset in a decorative sense still remained.

In a recent effort to improve the Public Garden, the partially designed agriculture functionality has been removed, and the planting beds have blossomed with a plethora of flowering plants! For any governors and stewards wanting additional Public Garden decorations, the garden will soon be added to the Crown Store. Happy decorating, Avatars!

New Store Additions: Ornate Round Settees, Golden Oracle Guardian Statue & More!

A new furniture style has been introduced and added to the Crown Store — round settees! Each settee allows for 4 occupants and is a must have for anyone with a reading room in their house! The settees feature two dye layers and a decoration surface behind the occupant’s head (the pictured lamp does not come with the settees, but is there to demonstrate the decoration surface provided). Also, a giant Golden Oracle Guardian Statue has been added to the store and two new plants are available to enhance your gardens!

  • Ornate Red Floral Round Settee
  • Ornate White & Gold Round Settee
  • Golden Oracle Guardian Statue
  • Potted Giant Banana Tree
  • Potted Elderberry Tree

Also, we’re scouring the realm for items that have long been missing from the store. Many items are being loaded into the Vault and will rotate in periodically which are announced each week as they go live, but here’s a small number of additional items becoming permanently available on the Crown Store:

  • Glowing Jewel Cube 3-Packs (Blue, Green, Orange, Purple, Red, Yellow)
  • Display Camera

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, September 10th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.

  • Virtue Flame Armor Set
  • Red Fez Hat
  • Tiny Airship Pet
  • Ornate Katana
  • Ornate Katana Pattern Pack
  • Elven Elder Archer Armor
  • Kobold Masks Set 1
  • Gentleman’s Admiral Outfit
  • Black Ice Shield

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #396: Play Release 81 Now! New Town Scene: Tanglemire! Guest Speaker Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings players of Shroud of the Avatar a new town scene for Episode 2 Access holders! Tanglemire is located on the new continent of Mistrendur! Four new species of lava fish have been added, and many more lava fishing locations have also been added! Additionally, a sneak peek on the upcoming rideable mounts has been revealed, and building blocks now have a much more flexible behavior as decorations! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Town Scene: Tanglemire!

Tanglemire is now available to Episode 2 Access holders! Inhabited by a deeply superstitious Norgardian-style populace, the people of Tanglemire protect their borders with Spirit Warders that impede the incursion of creatures from Spindelskog.

The shadow-like beasts from within that nearby darkened wood infect their weary minds with crippling dread. The people of Tanglemire are ruled by a group of “elders” struggling to preserve their village, but how long can they delay the inevitable demise of their beleaguered settlement? What aid might an Avatar bring to a people so burdened by doubt and fear?

“Life is a never-ending struggle for Tanglemire, a fading outpost in the north of Mistrendur virtually abandoned by the Norgard Empire. Surrounded by freezing cold, deadly swamps, and a haunted wood, it’s no wonder that the desperate locals have turned to unusual means for protection. But how long will their decaying “spirit warders” keep them safe from the untold horrors that threaten these peaceful people?”

The outskirts of Tanglemire, in similar fashion to Valhold, features a variety of enemies to defeat and challenges to overcome. Much of the Tanglemire content will ultimately land somewhere in the middle of the Mistrendur storyline, but for this initial release, Tanglemire features two repeatable quests. Additional quests will be added as more Episode 2 content is released in the time ahead.

Guest Speaker Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 28th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

This week, we have a special guest! Finn Staber will be speaking about Shadow of Valhalla, a new project to support!

To enter the prize drawings, type “wishing I was fishing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Four New Species of Lava Fish!

Brave lava anglers throughout the lands have discovered four entirely new species of lava fish swimming deep within the molten hot magma pools of New Britannia! Will you dare to cast your lines into the lava, Avatars? These beasts are enormous! So be sure not to be pulled into the scorching lava. Once caught, take these denizens of depths to your crafting table and create display trophies to marvel all of your visitors and friends. The following trophies and recipes are now available:

  • Plesiosaurus (Ground and Hanging Versions)
  • Ichthyosaurus
  • Coelacanth
  • Trilobite

But that is not all, anglers! You can scour the lands for additional fishable magma flows, thanks to many more containing lava fish! Some scenes received more expansive lava fishing spots, but other scenes were added as entirely new lava fishing locations. Be sure to have a lava fishing pole equipped and gemmed lures on your hot bars, for these gigantic creatures will only nibble upon gem stones! Here’s a list of all the lava fishing locations now available:

    • Blackblade Foothills
    • Blackblade Passage
    • Bunker C
    • Etceter Crag Mines
    • K’rawl
    • K’rul
    • Northwest Blackblade Mountains
    • Oracle Colossus
    • Quel Passage
    • Spectral Mines
    • Sunless Barrens
    • Verdantis Mines

Rideable Mounts Sneak Peek!


It’s been some time since Avatars have returned to New Britannia, and with their arrival came otherworldly tales of men and women riding upon beasts. The peoples of New Britannia have taken these tales to heart and have labored tirelessly to discover the art of riding for themselves. As you can see from this sneak peek video, their labors were fruitful! Soon, all players of Shroud of the Avatar will be able to dash across the lands upon rideable mounts. More news about the upcoming mount system and many other exciting new features are just around the corner!

Flexible Building Block Placement!

Builders of New Britannia, prepare to stack your building blocks like you’ve never stacked them before! As of Release 81, every piece of every building block set allows for much more flexible placement while decorating. In the image above, you can see that blocks now allow for a very significant amount of overhang. Also, larger blocks can now be placed on top of smaller blocks. With these changes as well as the recent scaling update allowing blocks to scale from sizes 0.5 to 1.3, builders will have a much wider variety of capabilities at their disposal. Happy block stacking, Avatars!

Of note, there were some slight design aberrations with the particular blocks shown in the above picture. The original versions of these blocks flipped along a different axis than their counterparts in other block sets. All Crown Store entries now sell updated replacement blocks, but any player who’s purchased any of the affected block sets in the past 3 months will receive replacement blocks (applicable pieces listed below) sent to them via the in-game mail system in the coming weeks ahead. The blocks affected were as follows:

  • Players who’ve purchased the new block sets (Polished Wood, Iron, Fallow Granite, Polished Granite, Black Marble, White Marble) would have received 15 of the 2x1x1 blocks. They will receive an additional 15 1x1x2 blocks via in-game mail.
  • Players who’ve purchased the Black Ice and Ice block sets would have received 20 of the 2x1x2 blocks. They will receive an additional 20 2x2x1 blocks via in-game mail.

If players already have the 1x1x2 blocks or the 2x2x1 blocks within these block sets, those are the newer versions so they’re good to go! Deliveries of blocks will begin sometime in the coming week, so please be patient as we work through the deliveries.

Screenshot/Video Contest!

With the holidays quickly approaching, it’s time for all New Britannians to partake in the festivities! Labor Day is right around the corner and within the game world, the in-game calendar is about to hit 600 P.C. for a new year and new century!  To celebrate, it’s time for a screenshot/video contest!

Theme: Fireworks show! All screenshots and videos for this contest must be of a choreographed fireworks show launched from the Overworld map or from in-game towns and adventure scenes. Get your guild/team together to compete in this world wide fireworks competition!

Screenshot Requirements: 

  • Resolution: Minimum of 1920×1080, and always in 16:9 aspect ratio (cropping allowed).
  • Quality: Use in-game settings to their maximum, no post-screenshot alterations allowed other than labels, overlays, or watermarks to promote your guild/team. Overlay holiday messages are also allowed.
  • Time of Day: Nighttime shows only, no night vision please.
  • Hide the UI: Please toggle off the UI using the default key F9.

Video Requirements: 

  • Resolution: Minimum of 720p.
  • Quality: Use in-game settings to their maximum, no post-screenshot alterations allowed other than labels, overlays, or watermarks to promote your guild/team. Overlay holiday messages are also allowed.
  • Time of Day: Nighttime shows only, no night vision please.
  • Hide the UI: Please toggle off the UI using the default key F9.
  • Duration: 30 seconds minimum, 60 seconds maximum. Anything occurring after the 60 second mark will not be considered for judging.

Guild/Team Requirements:

  • Captain: Each guild/team must select a team captain.
  • 12 Players Max per Team: Each team, to include the team captain, can have a maximum of 12 players.

Submission Requirements: 

  • # of Entries Per Team: 1 screenshot and 1 video entry per guild/team maximum.
  • Submission Location: Submissions must be placed as a reply into the main thread for this contest on the official forums by the guild/team captain.
  • Post in Forums: In the submission post, the guild/team captain must post the screenshot as a viewable image and/or the embedded video.
  • Participant List: The captain must list out all participants of their team (max of 12 players) in their submission post. The participant list must include the proper spelling of each character. If proper spelling and character names are not provided, prize delivery will be negatively affected.
  • Deadline: All submissions must be posted by 6AM CT on Monday September 21st.
  • OPTIONAL: Please post these on our Twitter and/or Facebook pages to help spread the word about the contest.

Best Screenshot Prizes:

  • 1st Place: 10,000 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).
  • 2nd Place: 5000 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).
  • 3rd Place: 2500 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).

Best Video Prizes:

  • 1st Place: 10,000 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).
  • 2nd Place: 5000 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).
  • 3rd Place: 2500 Crowns (delivered to team captain), Title: Master Artist (delivered to all team members).

Prize Rules:

  • Crowns will be delivered to team captain only. The team captain will determine how to split the Crowns amongst their team.
  • Please ensure your team member list has accurate spellings of character names, or titles cannot be delivered.
  • Each team can win once in the screenshot and once in the video categories.
  • Players can only represent a single team.

The Catnip Games team members will pick the winners based on aesthetic and creative qualities of the screenshots and videos. Winners will be announced during the community livestream 1 to 2 weeks after the contest’s deadline! Good luck, Avatars!

Crowns, Deed Upgrades, & Two-Hour Flash Sales!

In celebration of Labor Day as well as the 600 P.C. in-game calendar event, various sales will begin on Friday and extend throughout the holiday. Crowns will be on sale for 20% off. Deed Upgrades will also be 20% off! To upgrade a deed, place the deed into your inventory, then right-click the deed to reveal upgrade options. But that’s not all! Two-Hour Flash Sales will also commence on Friday morning! So watch your clocks, Avatars! A new batch of 9 sale items will rotate into the in-game Crown Store every 2 hours!

Players have until Monday, September 7th at 1PM CT to take advantage of these great discounts, at which time all 3 sales events expire. Happy shopping, Avatars!

September Login Reward: Dyeable Fishing Rod!

Anglers rejoice! September’s login reward is an indestructible dyeable fishing rod! Featuring both primary and secondary dye layers, anglers will really be able to show off their style whilst casting a line into the waters of New Britannia! Simply log in during the month of September, and this dyeable fishing rod will become available in the Rewards Window.

Release 81 Reward Program Login Reward Items: Lord British & Farming Items!

Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 81 are Lord British and farming themed! Reward Program members must login during Release 81 to receive these login items:

    • Lord British Plate Leggings
    • Large Haystack
    • Small Haystack
    • Strawbox
    • Box Hay Bale 5-Pack
    • Hay Pile
    • Hay Drying Rack
    • Hay Cart

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Monthly Login Reward Items (~ 3 per month)
  • Exclusive Title every 3 months
    • 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
    • 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
    • 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
    • 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
    • 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
    • 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
  • Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
  • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
    • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
    • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
    • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
    • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
    • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
    • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

The Bug Brigade Rides Again!

The Bug Brigade was established to assist the community and the development team to work together to improve the game. Since then the program has gone through a number of changes and was eventually placed on hold. The stability of the game is as important to the development team as it is to the player-base, and for that reason the program has been revamped and is being relaunched.

The program is now open to all players in good standing and bug rewards are back! They will awarded be on a progression basis monthly with only a minimal requirement to be filled to qualify.

We are bringing the bug forums current and will make every effort to have triage and intake for each validated bug. To assist in doing this we have asked Alley Oop, Justyn, and Tazar to take on a moderator role within the bug and feedback forums. Please congratulate them the next time you see them in the game or on the forums!

The Bug Brigade will be open to all. If you feel the game is your home, sign up and assist us in making it a better place to live! To sign up, read the post “Bug Brigade Rides Again!” in the main Bug/Feedback forums for both the Live or Player Test areas in the official forums. If you have trouble finding them, please ask a Hospitaller, or one of the Moderators via PM in the forums or in Discord.

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #395: New Player-Owned Town Signpost Functionality! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings details new functionality for the recently created Player-Owned Town Signposts! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Player-Owned Town Signpost Functionality!

Governors and stewards! Even more teleporter love is coming your way! Soon, players will be able to experience additional functionality for the Player-Owned Town (POT) Signposts that were recently added to the store. Functionality for these signposts includes a lot of amazing customization options already, but another feature has just been added:

  • NEW! Town Spawn Locations: In an upcoming patch, any player attempting to enter a POT with Player-Owned Town Signposts placed will see those destinations amongst the list of spawn options. This is a fantastic way for players to immediately travel to the parts of the town that’s been marked with signposts. Governors and stewards can mark favorite locations such as shops, theaters, fishing areas, Oracle Confirmatories, banks — the list goes on! No limit has currently been placed on the amount of custom signposts a town can utilize. Please keep in mind, changes to your signpost locations, names, or amounts will appear instantly for people already inside of your town, but visitors arriving to your town from other locations will not see these spawn locations as options until approximately a day after a signpost was added or changed.
  • Custom Names: Signposts can be named while in your inventory. Right click the signpost, use the rename option, then place the signpost as a decoration in your town. Once placed, any signpost in the town will feature that newly placed signpost as a destination option.
  • Custom Colors: Signposts can be dyed with primary and secondary dyes! What better way to make that signpost more noticeable than to use vibrant colors!
  • Decoration Surface: The signposts base allows for decorations, so if players want to place books, notes, lights, or other decorations at the base, go for it!

This new signpost functionality is just one example of the wondrous things coming to town governors, stewards, and residents this year! Be on the lookout for more exciting changes on the horizon. Release 81 will be packed with game updates, so stay tuned for next week’s announcement on Thursday, August 27th!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 21st at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “wishing I was fishing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Vault Round!

  • Vintage Blue Velvet with Nailheads Furniture Set
  • Oracle Cloak
  • Aether Two-Handed Mace
  • Tansu Chest
  • Ornate Elven Longbow Pattern Pack
  • Ornate Elven Wardrobe
  • Shogun Four-Story Town Home
  • Viking Brynhildr Shield
  • Elven Mage Outfit

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #394: Property Deed Price Reduction! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings players some wonderful news about deed prices! They’re being reduced! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

Property Deed Price Reduction!

Avatars! In celebration of the upcoming 600th New Year of the New Britannian calendar, incredible new Crown Store discounts are coming your way! Since the Lord British birthday celebration, deed upgrades have been on sale for 20% off. This 20% off price is now the new normal! Any future sales for deed upgrades will be calculated from this new base price.

The in-game Crown Store will also receive a permanent price reduction related to deeds! All 11 varieties of available deeds will receive permanent price reductions of 30%! This means any future occurrences these deeds are randomly flagged for a 20% off sale, the sale price calculation will be applied to the new base price for the deeds. These 30% price reductions will be applied in-game soon with an upcoming patch.

For around 2 years now, players have greatly enjoyed being able to obtain a free Player-Owned Town Row Lot Deed and a free Player-Owned Town Village Lot Deed as a Free-To-Play player through start and completion of the main Episode 1 storyline. Now, players wishing to upgrade or obtain additional deeds as they expand their enterprises and activities within the game, will find supporting Shroud of the Avatar through additional deed purchases to be far more affordable.

As we continue to update our store items for price balancing and normalization, players can expect many store adjustments going forward which will make vanity and convenience purchases far more affordable and accessible to new and existing players. Store price reductions are just one of the many exciting changes to come your way this year. Stay tuned for more content, mechanics, and store updates as each week unfolds!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 14th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “wishing I was fishing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Vault Round!

  • Ornate Flamberge
  • Ornate Vile Mace Pattern Pack
  • Elven Elder Mage Robe
  • Elven Elder Mage Robe Pattern Pack
  • Elven Wardrobe
  • Viking Tyr Shield Pattern Pack
  • Elven Archer Armor
  • Virtue Aeronaut Helmet
  • Hot Air Balloon

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #393: New Lava Fish Preview! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update brings us a preview of new Lava Fish which are soon to arrive to molten hot pools of magma near you! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Lava Fish Preview!

Anglers of New Britannia! Gather your gemmed lures and lava fishing poles, for new lava fish will soon be added to molten hot magma pools near you! Pictured above is the elusive Coelacanth, but we have four new varieties of lava fish inbound. These new fish will be available to all lava anglers in Novia, Hidden Vale, and Mistrendur:

  • Coelacanth
  • Trilobite
  • Ichthyosaurus
  • Plesiosaurus

Albeit Mistrendur will receive new lava fishing locations as Episode 2 content is revealed, new or improved lava fishing locations are also coming to Episode 1 locations:

  • Blackblade Passage
  • Bunker C
  • Etceter Crag Mines
  • K’rawl
  • K’rul
  • NW Blackblade Mountains
  • Quel Passage
  • Sunless Barrens
  • Verdantis Mines

The new lava fish and improved lava fishing locations are just some of the many new features to arrive in Shroud of the Avatar this year. Stay tuned as we reveal more of the models for the new lava fish in the near future!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, August 7th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “wishing I was fishing” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Store Additions: Leather Flame Armor Set, 6 Building Block 110-Packs & More!

For those wanting a more rustic version of the Virtue Flame Armor Set, the Leather Flame Armor Set is now available! Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies whilst wearing these dauntingly wicked leather armor pieces!

Seven new building block sets have been added to your arsenal of construction materials! These new blocks come in the same 110-packs and size variants as the previous block sets. The new AND old sets can now be placed as Player-Owned Town decoration. All block sets can now scale from .5 to 1.3!

New Block Letters and Numbers Sets have arrived! These sets have primary and secondary dye layers and can scale from .5 to 2.0!

Additional items recently added to the store are the new Player-Owned Town Property Markers Set and the Player-Owned Town Wagons, Boats, Balloons Hatches and Signposts!

  • Leather Flame Armor Set
  • White Marble Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Black Marble Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Polished Granite Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Fallow Granite Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Polished Wood Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Iron Building Blocks 110-Pack
  • Block Letters Set A-Z (Dyable, 5 Punctuation Types Included)
  • Block Numbers Set 0-9 (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Property Markers Set
  • Player-Owned Town Wagon (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Boat (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Balloon (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Hatch (Dyable)
  • Player-Owned Town Signpost (Dyable)

Also, we’re scouring the realm for items that have long been missing from the store. Many items are being loaded into the Vault and will rotate in periodically which are announced each week as they go live, but here’s a small number of additional items becoming permanently available on the Crown Store:

  • Jester Staff
  • Jester Wand
  • Construction Crane
  • Construction Scaffolding
  • Construction Planks
  • Construction Stone Cart
  • Construction Ropes
  • Construction Barricade

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, August 13th at 1PM CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.

  • Brindle Greyhound Decoration Pet
  • Druid Town Home
  • Elven Four-Story City Home
  • Viking Brynhildr Shield Pattern Pack
  • Aether Sword
  • Ladies’ Admiral Outfit
  • Black Ice Wings
  • Oracle Eye Mirror
  • Spike Trap

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #392: Play Release 80 Now! New Player-Owned Town Teleporters! New Building Blocks Preview! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update reveals all the new Player-Owned Town teleporters! In addition to wagons, governors and stewards will also be able acquire and place teleportation Balloons, Hatches, Boats and Signposts! Also, seven new building block sets are currently in design and will become available soon! For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

New Player-Owned Town Teleporters!

As of Release 80, governors and stewards are now able to acquire and place Player-Owned Town (POT) interconnection teleporters as well as Player-Owned Town teleportation signposts! The interconnection teleporters allow for teleportation to another Player-Owned Town. Teleportation signposts allow for teleportation within the same Player-Owned Town.

The new interconnection teleporters can be placed anywhere in a town which permits land decoration, but the boat can only be placed on water. The governor or steward can then right-click the teleporter and select “Change Destination” which reveals a filterable list of all the available Player-Owned Towns present in the game. The teleporter can be directed to any Player-Owned Town regardless of proximity.

Once the destination is selected, the steward or governor then selects “Teleport” to assign the new destination to the teleporter. The teleporter is then ready for use, and any player utilizing the teleporter will zone to the designated location. The interconnection teleporter can be relocated and the destination reassigned as many times as the governor or stewards desire.

The new signpost teleporters can also be placed anywhere in a town which permits land decoration. Once placed, players can then activate the signpost to be presented with a list of teleport options within the town.

Locations selectable are typical to the static signposts already present in POTs, such as: Central, Town Boundary 1-4, Docks (if applicable) and the Town Crier. If a player renames the signpost then places it, that signpost name shows up as an available option for all signpost teleporters in their town. Selecting any of these locations does not cause the player to experience a load screen, the player will simply teleport straight to the new location instantly. The signpost teleporters can be relocated as often as the governor or stewards desire.

Also, these new teleporters will greatly reduce the number of manual adjustments developers are required to perform from service vouchers. The less time spent adjusting towns manually means developers will have more time to spend working on game improvements.

With the introduction of these teleporters, vouchers can no longer be utilized for new developer created POT interconnections, but players can still request interconnections to NPC towns using service vouchers until the NPC town teleporters become available. Novia and Hidden Vale POTs must be within close proximity to NPC towns to request an interconnection. Mistrendur towns are still waived from the NPC town proximity requirement since Episode 2 content on Mistrendur is still very much in design. All existing developer created POT interconnections are still valid and will not be affected by the addition of these new teleporter types.

These new teleporters have been carefully designed to offer some wonderful customization options. In addition to the aforementioned flexible placement option, all of the teleporters can also be dyed with primary and secondary colors. The teleporters also feature decoration surfaces! In the future, be on the lookout for Heraldry POT Teleporters and NPC Town Teleporters!

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, July 31st at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “happy birthday Lord British” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

New Building Blocks Preview!

Builders of New Britannia! Seven new building block sets will be added to your arsenal of construction materials very soon! These new blocks will come in the same 110-packs and size variants as previous block sets. These new AND old sets will no longer be limited to just property decoration. Going forward, ALL block sets will be permitted as Player-Owned Town decoration. Six of these new sets will arrive on the Crown Store, and one set will be reserved for crafters only. Pictured above, the displayed blocks are 4x2x2. From left to right, the new sets are as follows:

  • White Marble
  • Black Marble
  • Polished Granite
  • Fallow Granite
  • Rough Wood (Crafted)
  • Polished Wood
  • Iron

These new building block sets are just some of the amazing items coming to decorators in Shroud of the Avatar this year! Stay tuned for more great decorations in the months ahead!

August Login Reward: Potted Giant Sunflower!

Gardening time, Avatars! Now, with this wondrous Potted Giant Sunflower, players can enhance their gardens even further! Simply log in during the month of August, and this potted sunflower will become available in the Rewards Window.

Release 80 Reward Program Login Reward Items: Lord British & Flame Items!

Avatars! Rewards Program login reward items for Release 80 are Lord British and flame themed! Reward Program members must login during Release 80 to receive these login items:

  • Lord British Plate Gauntlets
  • Flame Trident
  • Flame Cloak

The Shroud of the Avatar Rewards Program lets you earn the best rate on purchasing Crowns, AND receive monthly reward items! For the low price of $9 USD per month you will receive the following:

  • 900 Crowns of the Obsidians every month
  • Monthly Login Reward Items (3 per month)
  • Exclusive Title every 3 months
    • 3 Months: Keeper of the Faith
    • 6 Months: Keeper of the Word
    • 9 Months: Keeper of the Vow
    • 12 Months: Keeper of the Flame
    • 15 Months: Keeper of the Oath
    • 18 Months: Keeper of the Pledge
  • Pick any Dye 12-Pack every 6 months
  • Pick any three of the 7 Obsidian Potions every month, including:
    • Potion of Capacity: Increases carrying capacity
    • Potion of Conservation: Reduces reagent use chance
    • Potion of Expedience: Swift gathering on all gathering skills
    • Potion of Precision: Increases Meticulous Collection to all gathering skills
    • Potion of Preservation: Reduces armor and weapon damage
    • Potion of Reclamation: Increases Salvage and Repair to all production skills

Read more…


Avatar’s Update #391: PvP Queue System Sneak Peek! Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Greetings Fellow Avatars!

This week’s update gives us a quick look at what’s coming our way for the PvP Queue System. For those wishing to participate in any community activities, upcoming one-time and recurring community events have been announced! Be sure to also review the Players Guide and Known Issues list for additional information on recent changes and upcoming fixes. Now, let’s see what we have for you in this week’s edition of Update of the Avatar:

News Announcements

Community Updates

PvP Queue System Sneak Peek!

Developers are currently hard at work designing a PvP Queue System which will greatly aid players in PvP matchmaking. The system will be designed to provide fair match-ups as well as ease of gameplay. Albeit some of these items could change significantly as the system continues to develop, here are some of the initially planned components to the system currently in design:

  • Players will be able to view a list of other players looking for PvP.
  • The list of available queued players will display within brackets relative the player’s level viewing the list.
  • The planned brackets (approximate) will be as follows:
    • 20+ Levels Below
    • 10-20 Levels Below
    • +/- 10 Levels
    • 10-20 Levels Above
    • 20+ Levels Above
  • Players will receive a warning that credit will not be received for any competitions which are 20 levels below their own level.
  • Initial versions will feature a simple “JOIN” button, but later versions will include the following:
    • Map Selection: Players will be able to select from a list of possible maps.
    • Level Limits: Players will be able toggle exclusion from any competitions 20 above or below their level.
    • Competition Type: Players will be able to select whether the fight is to be ranked or practice.
  • When challenging a player, the following dialog boxes will appear:
    • Player acknowledging the challenge will be presented with a dialogue box, “Waiting for player to accept…”
    • Player receiving the acknowledgement will be presented with the dialogue box, “Your challenge has been accepted! Click “Engage” to begin, or click “Retreat” to decline…”
  • When a player accepts the competition by clicking “Engage” in the dialog box, both players will transport to the chosen scene or a random scene if none were chosen. Initially, only a single scene will be available, but more scene options will be added in the future.
  • Competing players will zone to random spawn locations within the selected scene, at which time the battle will begin.
  • The battle scene will continue until one player dies or leaves the scene. Results for each match will be collected to populate win/loss metrics.
  • Once a player leaves, logs out, or dies, both players will zone back to either their previous location or a hub type scene, depending up their previous location.
  • Initially, players will utilize the existing PvP leaderboards, but a robust PvP ranking system will be soon to follow.
  • Some maps may feature timed mechanics which force players into battle such as rising lava or a shrinking death field.

This new PvP Queue System is just one of the amazing new features coming your way this year. Stay tuned for future announcements as the PvP Queue System design continues to progress.

Latest News Q&A Friday Livestream!

Another weekly Community Livestream is this Friday, July 24th at 4PM CT on Twitch! Join Chris “Atos” Spears and other development team members for a community 1 hour livestream!

To enter the prize drawings, type “happy birthday Lord British” into any in-game chat channel OR make a purchase on the website add-on store. Please submit questions into Twitch Chat by inserting !question at the beginning of your text. Watch on Twitch, Friday at 4 PM CT!

Double EXP Continues!

Head out into the lands of New Britannia and charge headlong into the dangers therein, Avatars! For the near future, Shroud of the Avatar players will receive double experience points (EXP) for their endeavors in Adventure and Crafting! Please take advantage of the extra experience points! Stay home, stay safe and explore New Britannia!

New Vault Round!

The current round of Vault items are available until Thursday, July 30th at Noon CT. At that time, the next round of 9 items will be available for two weeks, and then the next, etc.

  • Kobold Masks Set 2
  • Viking Chest
  • Elven Elder Archer Armor Pattern Pack
  • Blackened Metal Baby Clockwork Dragon
  • Brown Nomad Hat
  • Ornate Flamberge Pattern Pack
  • Kobold 4-Story Great Hall City Home
  • Metal Crossbow
  • Elven Cloak


Read more…