Today on QA (R88)

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Coswald_Dirthmire, Apr 23, 2021.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Some of us were playing around on QA today and I thought it would be nice to share some of what we learned, then I figured why not make a thread that I can keep updating throughout the release, and to which other folks can contribute as well.

    I know there are dedicated QA forums and sections, and I've been posting to those as well (bug reports, feedback, etc) and encourage others to do the same. I'm hoping that this thread can just cover some bullet points for anyone that wants a quick update without diving through all that material, and I hope General Discussion's a good place for that.

    QA Build 1174:

    New artifacts featuring increased durability are in and can be looted from mobs.
    Anpu's screencap of the Legacy Artifact description: https://i.imgur.com/rIdollq.png
    Short video on it:


    Bear Headdresses now have 145 durability (instead of 130), and a durability multiplier of 150% instead of 100%. Would be well worth checking other items for similar changes. Two handed melee weapons have 220 durability instead of 200. (This was an announced change)


    Exceptional crafts of gear are still giving +50 durability. Likely the system just isn't completed yet, as the function of an exceptional craft is slated to change.
    Even shorter video:


    Crafted Belts can be enchanted (tested with cloth belt) and will light up the Masterwork button on the tailoring table, but clicking it causes one to leave the table. (leather/metal belts not tested). Masterwork button doesn't light up for artifact belts.




    Edit: P.S.: Is there a way to post youtube links without it making the giant embeded thumbnail?
    P.P.S.: Thanks for the spoiler tag tip Violet, that's much less obnoxious!
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2021
  2. Joe Zhudarak

    Joe Zhudarak Avatar

    Messages:
    366
    Likes Received:
    666
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Gender:
    Male
    Thanks for sharing coswald
     
  3. Violet Ronso

    Violet Ronso Avatar

    Messages:
    2,632
    Likes Received:
    5,108
    Trophy Points:
    153
    My trick is to hide them in spoilers :p

    Also, thank you very much for these, very nice to see these changes in action in video form!
     
    Time Lord and Coswald_Dirthmire like this.
  4. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

    Messages:
    3,223
    Likes Received:
    9,292
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Awesome you spotted some new stuff :) All durabilities are standardized coming forward to include the old exceptional bonus baked into the gear item, so for all artifacts (new variants): helms should be 130, chests 200, gloves 130, legs 175, boots 130, belts 150 (big boost), backs 150, rings 130 (extra 30 for a good number of rings), necklaces 130, 1H Melee 150, 2H Melee 220, Bows/Crossbow 200, Shield 150, and Off-Hand 150. Then if it's crafted gear, it should be an extra 10% or so durability baked in rounded to the nearest 5. Bone got a bit of extra love.

    This applied to ALL crafted gear items, even clothing. Artifacts were placed fully into the Durability Damage Multipier system so many got proper leather, or plate treatment if not already applied, but all artifacts now have 10% less durability multipliers than crafted gear. So artifacts look like 0.9, 1.3, 1.8, 2.7 based on material type or slot, and crafted retain the 1, 1.5, 2, 3.

    Yes, sorry it's still there. That change might not have made it in yet, buto that extra 50 durability is going away. Instead it'll be additional Armor, Weapon, and Shield Durability Effectiveness (instead of the announced Damage Multiplier bonus).

    There's a current problem with the belts atm, and Bzus is hard at work tackling that one, and it's his magic that will come in to alter the exceptional bonus, which will be in by R89.

    I'll try to talk this up a bit on the stream today as well as chat about some other things related.

    Thanks or playing on QA Coswald -- ping me if you spot any weird aberrations. :)
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2021
  5. AzazelReborn

    AzazelReborn Avatar

    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    274
    Trophy Points:
    18
    @Elgarion Can this be documented for those whom will not have a chance to watch the stream please?

    A few question if you currently have an Epic Ring after the change will the stats stay the same?

    Am I right that it's only durability that is the difference in the new changes and stronger stats (additional Armor, Weapon, and Shield Durability Effectiveness (instead of the announced Damage Multiplier bonus) when new Arties are exceptional?

    If the above is the case is there any real reason for someone to attempt to convert their current Epic downwards to get the new Arties apart if they want more durability and a chance of exceptional stats?

    Can we get information earlier than usual i.e. more than than a week before release as this is a major change to the way of life in terms of gearing?
     
    Time Lord and FrostII like this.
  6. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

    Messages:
    3,223
    Likes Received:
    9,292
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    If you miss the stream, you can also watch it after the fact. It'll be fully described in the release notes coming up next Thursday, things that actually went in, and previews of things just on the horizon as well that further this work. I'll try to be as detailed as possible. We'll be listening to feedback closely as well.

    "My DPS is lower" is not really the feedback we're looking for, it'll be "this artifact is now useless compared to the crafted competitor". We'll pass through these adjustments and fine tune them continually going forward and pay close attention to these feedback items in the future.

    Your epic ring will stay exactly the same in regards to durability and enhancements you've placed on the item, though balance work is coming and will hit MANY artifacts. Old Epics will not salvage into low dura versions of the new artifacts since they're not used in upgrade recipes. Those will simply salvage as they have already (into essences and in the future, into unique components).

    Artifact balance work is also in the works and is needed desperately to remove these crazy aberrations which destroy the need for crafted items in many cases for many gear slots, but likely will not make it to QA until right after R89.

    So there will be some very significant stat reductions with many artifacts, but some have received some improvement and perhaps a tad bit of extra durability, depending on the item to get it to the new standardized durabilities. And with their upcoming use in salvage, ultimately if someone wants to upgrade to new crafted items that are more powerful, they can still salvage their artifacts into these new components to use in crafted gear. Ultimately crafted gear is becoming more powerful, artifacts are becoming weaker so they can meet somewhere in the middle so we're not adding too much power creep to accomplish this.

    As we continually do balance passes, the changes will be less broad stroke and more refined. Ultimately the goal will to make artifacts wanted/desired and useful in salvage, recipes, and actual use, but balanced well with crafted gear (when using the new components from artifacts) so there aren't nearly so many best-in-slot concerns where it's amuck with the need for Epic artifacts.

    No, no reason to convert your Epic to the new Epic as the stats will be the same (unless you didn't get an exceptional making that Epic, which then it would still have it's lower durability. We're not giving existing items exceptionals retro-actively). So there is no extra salvage step to for old Epics to get to the essences or upcoming components.

    As a helpful hint, I'd hold off salvaging or upgrading artifacts until some of the changes are coming, so you won't have to worry about non-exceptionals or not getting one of the upcoming new crafting components from salvage.
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2021
    Vaiden Luro, Sole, Time Lord and 7 others like this.
  7. AzazelReborn

    AzazelReborn Avatar

    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    274
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Just to finally confirm in order to transfers legacy artifacts to the new artifact variant they cannot be higher than Legendary. So Legendary or below is this correct?
     
  8. Elgarion

    Elgarion Dev Emeritus Dev Emeritus

    Messages:
    3,223
    Likes Received:
    9,292
    Trophy Points:
    153
    Gender:
    Male
    Correct, since Epics aren't used in upgrade recipes, there is no need to convert them. The reason only to convert to new versions of Common through Legendary is so they can be used in upgrade recipes. If you salvage them a second time, you'll get your essences (and eventually new components, so be sure to hold these for a bit if the plan is to salvage.)

    Do keep in mind, some new variant artifacts have received some additional durability love, depending on the slot and standardized durability for that slot. So that's an improvement that is applied to newly looted or crafted artifacts only.
     
  9. AzazelReborn

    AzazelReborn Avatar

    Messages:
    210
    Likes Received:
    274
    Trophy Points:
    18
    @Elgarion One more question

    After the Artifact changes will we still be able to combine legacy Artifact?
     
    Elgarion likes this.
  10. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    You can't combine them directly. You salvage them and they turn into the new versions (though with less durability) and you combine those.

    If you'd rather purely salvage them you salvage them once to make the new version, then salvage that new version to make essences.
     
    Sean Silverfoot, FBohler and Elgarion like this.
  11. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    QA Build 1175:


    Tested the new night vision effect and I think it's a huge improvement.


    Also played around with some bone armor, with thanks to Christoph Reis for helping out with the trials. It looks like in addition to the bonus durability on crafted gear (as opposed to artifact pieces), bone armor will have a further bonus as it did before.
    Chest = 250 durability (30 more than other crafted chests)
    Legs = 210 durability (10 more than other crafted legs)
    Helms = 150 durability (5 more than other crafted helms)
    Gloves = 150 durability (5 more than other crafted gloves)
    Boots = 150 durability (5 more than other crafted boots)


    The watering indicators seem unchanged, though there was mention the propagation time on them might decrease, which I think would be a nice improvement if performance allows. Using the hotkey to toggle them on/off instead of having to hold the hotkey might also be nice.


    Tested but unchanged since Build 1174 are artifact salvage/combine and belt masterworking.


    It's worth noting again that armor pieces which get an exceptional roll are still receiving +50 durability on top of the new higher durability, and it's seems essential that such a thing is not allowed to hit the live server, for risk of grandfathering in sets of super high durability gear.
     
    Last edited: Apr 24, 2021
  12. Boobles

    Boobles Avatar

    Messages:
    13
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Are artifacts that weren't combinable before like Envy Longbow and Cabalist hoods/weapons combinable now?
     
  13. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    There's no way to test them until the salvage is working for them, since old versions don't combine (envy bow can't be harvested right now, harvesting 4 of the same hood would be a bit much on QA), but Elgarion has stated that this is still on his to-do list, so might get patched in in R89 or perhaps more likely we'll see it in R90 or even R91.

    I'm not sure what the hood stats will look like after the arty balance pass, but if the legacy Dolus still has +20 int I'm hoping it's at least a rare, possibly a legendary.
     
    Sean Silverfoot and Boobles like this.
  14. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    QA Build 1177:

    Salvage of old artifacts is working (mostly), and so is the new durability effectiveness that we get from exceptional crafts. There are some quirks still, but we also got an insight into the new artifact balance.

    I showed the stats on a number of artifacts in the video, but these are the ones I immediately noticed as different:
    • Attunement rings give 6 attunement at uncommon, 9-rare, 12-legendary, 15-epic.
    • Vex Wand is now 15 fire attunement, 4 int

    There's also a new autofill feature for quest turn-ins. It's not to 100% yet but it looks to be very convenient.


    One of the new features/hotkeys we received is the ability to pop up the town crier's lot list any time any place. This coupled with the new lot name column will be fantastic, especially in market towns!
     
  15. DukeUconn

    DukeUconn Avatar

    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    3
    So the added attunement we get from food is now being taken away via the gear?
     
    FBohler likes this.
  16. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Yes and no I suppose. All schools can get an extra 45 attunement via their foods and shrine, but as per Elgarion the idea is to bring the power of artifacts down, while raising the power of crafted gear. Artifacts will eventually (R90 or R91 it sounds like) be mostly used to salvage for a special component that can be added to crafted gear. It sounds like when the dust settles we'll be using artifacts mostly as ingredients in crafted gear, and that gear will leave most builds slightly more powerful than we were before.
     
  17. DukeUconn

    DukeUconn Avatar

    Messages:
    19
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    3
    That sounds REALLY REALLY nice....let's hope that's what happens :)
     
    FBohler likes this.
  18. FBohler

    FBohler Avatar

    Messages:
    1,213
    Likes Received:
    1,264
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I don't believe this is happening.
    I'm pretty sure @Elgarion said crafted gear and artifacts will meet in the middle ground.
    I believe most medium-high level builds are artifact based, so they're getting effectively weaker.

    But don't get me wrong, lower level players normally use only crafted gear, so this is a good addition that will make min-maxers less OP while boosting new players.
     
  19. Xee

    Xee Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    2,199
    Likes Received:
    2,993
    Trophy Points:
    153
    @Coswald_Dirthmire great work on test server, great to see of the the changes discussed here.
     
  20. Coswald_Dirthmire

    Coswald_Dirthmire Bug Hunter

    Messages:
    713
    Likes Received:
    1,755
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Oh man!

    QA Build 1179:


    A bunch of us ran around for several hours today checking out the new Obsidian Panopticon zone, as well as some of the new content in the Rise, and had an absolute blast. We were lucky enough to have several devs drop in the stream (thank you!) and share some info on the new content, design philosophies and the game in general. We started in the Rise, then went to the Panopticon, then back to the Rise to look more at the new secrets. There's a ton to cover so I will probably miss a lot, but you can also check out the full stream with chat if you'd like: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1002907155

    Anyone worried about spoilers for upcoming content, puzzles, and potentially quests should stop reading here!


    Obsidian Panopticon:

    This is a great looking zone, and seems like it's going to be a great grind spot, with more variety than most. The T15 elves drop great base loot, (got up to 6 essences off of one, and many bundles), there are Polar and Lupine destroyers, and mining nodes that give 15K or more on meticulous collection.
    • Tier 12+ zone in Episode 2 with T12 and T15 elves, and a T16 boss elf.
    • Lockpicks currently bugged and do not function
    • Some shenanigans can be done with blink to get around more easily
    • Respawn rates are generous, and the zone should lend itself well to farming, interested in seeing people's routes
    • The Ice elementals I checked dropped 4-6 snowballs each. Gwendolyn mentioned that ice ellies in Troll's Bridge also drop a few at a time now
    • Some quest NPCs are in, but their quests are still to come
    • Explorers and mountain climbers will be rewarded with bonus nodes and faster routes
    Check out the QA testing directive post for more info: https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...-the-obsidian-panopticon.168208/#post-1318751


    The Rise Expansion:
    The entrance to this section is in the Lich Room at the top of the rise. We cheated up to it with blink which will soon be fixed, but an appropriate method of entering it will also be added. A lot of its content was pulled out for the moment, or locked behind puzzles our group didn't solve.
    • Clearing a room of enemies will remove the floor and drop you to a lower level, starting with a practice dummy.
    • Some rooms have barricaded doors that can be opened (as per Chris) but we didn't find out how
    • The lowest floor (at time of our testing) has an invisible walkway along the wall that leads up to the second door.
    • Maybe don't kill the chicken? I dunno.
    • If there's a dev around, look our for random dragon spawns!
    • Lower level has T15 elves
     
    Last edited: Apr 27, 2021
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.