Game updates

From GuildWiki

The following is a list of the most recent updates to Guild Wars, as listed on the official updates info page, with GuildWiki comments.

Check the month by month archives on the right for older updates.

A 0...15 attribute level progression range is used for skills in the update notes. GuildWiki uses the same 0...12 attribute level progression range as the tooltips when displaying skill information. Title-based skills are also listed with progression ranges different from those used in the tooltips.

[edit] Update - Thursday, July 2, 2009

[edit] Dragon Festival 2009

• Decorated Shing Jea Monastery and Kaineng Center in preparation for the Dragon Festival.
• Beginning at Noon Pacific (-7 GMT) on Thursday, July 2, 2009, the Shing Jea Boardwalk, Dragon Arena, and Rollerbeetle Racing will be opened for the duration of the weekend.
• Captain Rujiyo will be gathering adventurers in Shing Jea Monastery for special festival missions at various times throughout the day on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
• For the final events on Sunday, July 5, Emperor Kisu will visit Shing Jea Monastery every two hours, with the first event starting at 2:00 AM Pacific (-7 GMT) and the last event starting at 11:59 PM Pacific (-7 GMT).
• Imperial Supply Master Kagno will appear in Shing Jea Monastery as the event comes to a close at 11:59 AM Pacific (-7 GMT) on Monday, July 6. He will remain there for one week to exchange 250 Victory Tokens for the new mask in case anyone misses the exchange with Emperor Kisu.
• For the full mission and event schedule, please see the Dragon Festival 2009 event page.

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused Signet of Creation to affect non-Binding Ritual spells.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Signet of Creation from applying to certain Binding Rituals.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Junundu skill Choking Breath from interrupting some enemies.
• Updated Soothing, Vampirism, and Preservation to use the correct casting animations.

[edit] Update - Monday, June 22

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused Xinrae's Weapon, Vengeful Weapon, Nightmare Weapon, and Weapon of Remedy to heal the caster rather than the target.
• Fixed a bug that caused Spirit Siphon to appear twice on the skill list when interacting with a Priest of Balthazar.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the Guild Versus Guild Zaishen Combat Quest from properly updating.

[edit] Update - Friday, June 19

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused "We Shall Return!" to bypass Frozen Soil.
• Fixed a bug that caused the Flux Matrix to damage party members.
• Fixed a crash bug associated with "Brace Yourself!"
• Fixed a bug that caused Order of the Vampire to give stolen health to the caster rather than the party member that was attacking.
• Fixed the recharge time on Signet of Spirits by increasing it to the intended 20 seconds.
• Fixed a bug when using Signet of Binding that prevented a spirit's defensive effects from applying properly.
• Fixed a bug that prevented some players from turning in their Random Arena Zaishen Combat quests.
• Updated the inaccurate descriptions for Well of Blood, Well of Power, Well of Suffering, Well of the Profane, and "Incoming!" (PvP).

[edit] Update 2 - Thursday, June 18, 2009

[edit] Bug Fix

• Fixed a bug with Hero and NPC AI which would prevent them from effectively utilizing minion skills.

[edit] GuildWiki notes

• After this update, many players are experiencing frequent lag spike.

[edit] Update - Thursday, June 18, 2009

[edit] Skill Updates

For more information on these changes, please see the Developer Updates page.

[edit] PvE and PvP

Assassin

• Palm Strike: increased recharge time to 7 seconds.

Elementalist

• Ether Prism: increased recharge time to 20 seconds.

Mesmer

• Visions of Regret: functionality changed to: "For 10 seconds, target foe and adjacent foes take 15..45 damage whenever they use a skill and 5..50 damage if not under the effects of another Mesmer hex."

Necromancer

• Lingering Curse: increased Energy cost to 15.
• Suffering: increased recharge time to 10 seconds.
• Weaken Knees: decreased duration to 1..16 seconds; decreased Health degeneration to -1..4; decreased damage to 5..10.

Ritualist

• Brutal Weapon: decreased duration to 10..40 seconds.
• Guided Weapon: decreased duration to 4..10 seconds.
• Resilient Weapon: decreased duration to 5..15 seconds.
• Signet of Binding: functionality changed to: "You lose 200..50 Health. Gain control of target spirit."
• Spawning Power: increased effect on Weapon Spells to 4% per rank.
• Spiritleech Aura: functionality changed to: "Skill. For 5..20 seconds, all of your spirits within earshot deal 5..20 less damage and steal 5..20 Health when they attack."
• Spirit Siphon: functionality changed to: "The spirit nearest you loses all Energy. You gain 15..50% of that Energy."
• Vital Weapon: decreased duration to 5..30 seconds.
• Wailing Weapon: decreased duration to 3..9 seconds.
• Warmonger's Weapon: decreased duration to 3..13 seconds.
• Weapon of Shadow: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds.
• Weapon of Warding: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds.

[edit] PvP Only

Elementalist

• Savannah Heat (PvP): increased Energy cost to 15.

Paragon

• "Help Me!" (PvP): functionality changed to: "For 1..10 seconds, you gain 5..50 Health and other allies' spells targeting you cast 50% faster."

[edit] PvE Only

Sunspear

• Cry of Pain: functionality changed to: "Interrupt target foe's skill. If that foe was suffering from a Mesmer Hex, that foe and all foes in the area take 25...50 damage and -3..5 Health degeneration for 10 seconds."
• Vampirism: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 4..14.

Ritualist

• Agony: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Anguish: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; decreased Energy cost to 15; increased spirit level to 1..11.
• Armor of Unfeeling: decreased Energy cost to 5. Functionality changed to: "For 10..35 seconds, your spirits takes 50% less damage and are immune to critical attacks."
• Bloodsong: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Destruction: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Disenchantment: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased Energy cost to 15; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Displacement: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Dissonance: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Earthbind: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Empowerment: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Gaze of Fury: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Life: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Pain: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Preservation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Recovery: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Recuperation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Rejuvenation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..20.
• Restoration: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14.
• Shadowsong: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..10.
• Shelter: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Signet of Creation: increased recharge time to 30 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 5..30 seconds, your next 1..3 Binding Rituals cast instantly."
• Signet of Spirits: increased recharge time to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "Create three level 1..12 spirits. These spirits deal 5..30 damage with attacks. These spirits die after 60 seconds."
• Soothing: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased Energy cost to 15; decreased recharge time to 45 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Union: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Wanderlust: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12.
• Weapon of Warding: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds.

Paragon

• "Brace Yourself!": functionality changed to: "For 5..12 seconds, the next time target other ally would be knocked down, all nearby foes take 15..75 damage instead."
• "Can't Touch This!": functionality changed to: "For 20 seconds, the next 1..5 touch skills used against allies within earshot fail."
• "Fall Back!": decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
• "Find Their Weakness!": functionality changed to: "For 5..20 seconds, the next time target ally attacks, that ally also inflicts a Deep Wound and does 5..50 additional damage for 5..20 seconds."
• "Go for the Eyes!": decreased recharge time to 0 seconds; increased chance to land a critical hit to 30..100%.
• "Help Me!": decreased recharge time to 10 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 1..10 seconds, you gain 15..90 Health and other allies' spells targeting you cast 50% faster."
• "Incoming!": decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
• "Never Give Up!": decreased recharge time to 15 seconds.
• "Never Surrender!": decreased recharge time to 15 seconds.
• "Stand Your Ground!": decreased Energy cost to 10; decreased recharge time to 20 seconds.
• "We Shall Return!": increased Energy cost to 25; increased recharge time to 30 seconds. Functionality changed to: "All party members in earshot are resurrected with 25..50% Health and 5..20% Energy."
• Anthem of Disruption: decreased casting time to 1 second.
• Bladeturn Refrain: functionality changed to: "For 20 seconds, target non-spirit ally has a 5..20% chance to block incoming attacks. This Echo is reapplied every time a Chant or Shout ends on that ally."
• Blazing Finale: increased Burning duration to 1..7 seconds.
• Defensive Anthem: decreased Energy cost to 10.
• Signet of Return: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.

[edit] AI Updates

The following AI updates apply to Heroes and Hard Mode NPCs.

Assassin

• Heroes are more likely to use offensive Shadow Step skills before their Health reaches 50%.
• Heroes will now use Black Lotus Strike against non-hexed foes when appropriate.

Dervish

• Heroes are more likely to use Attacker's Insight during combat.

Elementalist

• Heroes are more likely to use attunement skills during combat.

Mesmer

• Heroes will now more appropriately use hex spells that require an interrupt to take effect.
• Heroes will now maintain Mantra of Inscriptions both in and out of combat.

Monk

• Heroes are more likely to scatter appropriately when affected by Ray of Judgment.
• Heroes will now use Life Sheath to remove conditions out of combat.
• Heroes will now use Boon Signet more frequently.
• Heroes are now more likely to use Spotless Mind and Spotless Soul in conjunction with other hex and condition removal skills.
• Heroes are now more likely to use Restore Condition if their target is suffering from multiple conditions.
• Heroes will now use Dwayna's Kiss more frequently when hexes and enchantments are present on the target.
• Heroes will now use Words of Comfort more frequently on characters suffering from conditions.
• Fixed a bug where the AI only used Healing Burst as a self-targeting spell.
• Fixed a bug where the AI did not recognize Unyielding Aura as a hard resurrection skill.

Necromancer

• Heroes can now cast Lingering Curse off-target.
• Heroes will now use Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on casters holding bundle items.
• Heroes will now maintain Aura of the Lich in and out of combat.

Paragon

• Heroes will now check if Angelic Bond is active on all party members before using the skill.
• Heroes will only activate Angelic Bond if a party member is under 50% Health.
• Heroes are more likely to use "Incoming!" outside of combat.
• Heroes will only use Chest Thumper against foes that are suffering from Cracked Armor.
• Heroes will now use "Never Surrender!" both in and out of combat.

Ritualist

• Heroes will now use Resilient Weapon, Spirit Light Weapon, and Weapon of Warding to overwrite non-defensive weapon spells when the target's Health is at critical levels.
• Heroes will now use Offering of Spirit more frequently and will now use it out of combat.
• Heroes will now use Mending Grip as a self-targeting spell.
• Heroes will now only use Brutal Weapon on targets who are engaged in combat.
• Heroes will now cast Weapon of Quickening on spell-casting classes regardless of weapon type equipped.
• Fixed a bug where the AI would not use Renewing Memories while holding a bundle item.

Warrior

• Heroes are more likely to use Defy Pain at 95% Health to make better use of its damage-reduction feature.
• Heroes will use "For Great Justice!" as is appropriate for their weapon type.
• Heroes are less likely to overwrite Rush with other stances.
• Heroes are less likely to overwrite Frenzy with other stances unless Health is low.

[edit] General

• Fixed a bug where Heroes would not use zero-Energy skills when low on Energy.

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that would cause GvG matches to end in a tie if a Guild Lord died when the tiebreaker triggered. All Guild Lords will now become non-combatants when the match ends after 28 minutes according to the server clock. Note that this time may differ slightly from your client's timer.
• Fixed a bug that prevented Depravity and Ether Phantom from displaying Energy loss.
• Fixed a bug that caused Depravity to affect all nearby foes.
• Fixed a bug that caused the following Ritualist skills to use an incorrect casting animation: Agony, Anguish, Empowerment, Gaze of Fury, Recovery, and Rejuvenation.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the May tournament. These agents can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.
• Reduced the amount of wins needed for the base objective and second bonus objective on the Random Arenas Zaishen quest.
• Increased the Zaishen Coin rewards for all Zaishen Mission quests and Zaishen Bounty quests.

[edit] GuildWiki notes

• Many players have received fewer tournament reward points from the Xunlai Tournament House than they were supposed to.

[edit] Update - Thursday, June 11, 2009

[edit] Updated Zaishen Rewards

• Updated the Zaishen Chest drops to replace the Phantasmal Tonic with the Automatonic for the month of June. More information on Zaishen Rewards can be found here.

[edit] Automated Tournaments

• Updated Automated Tournament map rotations.

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed players to have multiple copies of the Heroes' Ascent Zaishen Combat Quest.
• Fixed a bug that caused effects that are conditional upon critical hits to trigger even if critical hits were prevented with a skill.
• Fixed a bug that caused "We Shall Return!" to affect allies instead of party members.
• Fixed a bug that caused Res Orbs to resurrect dead NPCs in Alliance Battles.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Budger Blackpowder will now wait a few seconds between dispensing Powder Kegs in Explorable Areas.
• The Merchants in the Great Temple of Balthazar now offer late-game items.
• Added a confirmation box for Name Changes.
• Removed festival decorations from Kaineng Center and Shing Jea Monastery.
• The Treasure Hunter and Wisdom title tracks now count toward Favor of the Gods.
• Reduced the Zaishen Coin reward for the Hero Battles Zaishen Combat quest.

[edit] GuildWiki notes

• This update changed the current Zaishen Quests for June 11th, 2009, resulting in two quests of each type being offered that day.

[edit] Update - Wednesday, June 10, 2009

[edit] Korea Service Migration

• Migrated Korean accounts to the North American servers.

[edit] Update 2 - Thursday, May 14, 2009

[edit] Bug Fix

• Fixed a crash bug.

[edit] Update - Thursday, May 14, 2009

[edit] Skill Updates

[edit] PvE and PvP

Assassin

• Heart of Shadow: functionality changed to: "You are healed for 30..150, and you Shadow Step to a nearby location directly away from your target."
• Shadow Fang: added an after-cast delay.
• Viper's Defense: functionality changed to: "All adjacent foes are Poisoned for 5..20 seconds, and you Shadow Step to a nearby location, directly away from your target."

Elementalist

• Mirror of Ice: functionality changed to: "For 5 seconds, plus 3 additional seconds for every rank of Energy Storage, you deal an additional 5..35 cold damage whenever you cast a Water Magic hex."
• Steam: functionality changed to: "Target foe is struck for 5..50 cold damage. If target foe is on fire, Steam Blinds that foe for 5..10 seconds."

Mesmer

• Illusionary Weaponry: decreased Energy cost to 5.

Monk

• Castigation Signet: increased recharge to 20 seconds.
• Peace and Harmony: decreased duration to 1..3 seconds; increased recharge to 12 seconds.
• Word of Healing: decreased non-conditional healing to 5..100; increased conditional healing to 30..115.

Necromancer

• Foul Feast: increased recharge to 5 seconds.
• Lingering Curse: decreased healing reduction to 20%.

Ranger

• Hunter's Shot: functionality changed to: "If this attack hits, your target bleeds for 3..25 seconds."
• Melandru's Shot: functionality change to: "If this attack hits, your target bleeds for 5..25 seconds. If it hits a foe that is moving or knocked down, that foe takes +10..25 damage and is crippled for +5..15 seconds."
• Keen Arrow: decreased conditional damage to 5..25.

Ritualist

• Protective Was Kaolai: increased recharge to 25 seconds.

[edit] PvP

Monk

• Strength of Honor (PvP): decreased damage to 1..5.
• Aegis (PvP): reduced casting time to .25. Functionality changed to: "For 1..3 seconds, hostile spells and attacks against 'target other ally' fail."

Warrior

• Warrior's Endurance (PvP): this skill is now a stance.

[edit] PvE

Dwarf

• Low Blow: functionality changed to: "Strike target foe for 45..70 damage. If target foe is knocked down, that foe takes an additional 30..50 damage and suffers from Cracked Armor for 14..20 seconds."

Faction Skills

• Elemental Lord: functionality changed to: "For 40..60 seconds, your elemental attributes are boosted by 1, you gain 1 Energy for every 10 ranks of Energy Storage, and you are healed for 100..300% of the Energy cost each time you cast a spell."
• Summon Spirits: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds.

Mesmer

• Fragility: this skill now also affects adjacent foes.

Monk

• Strength of Honor: increased damage to 5..25.

Vanguard

• Tryptophan Signet: this skill no longer requires touch range.

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented pet names from displaying properly in some languages.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Master Architect Gunther in Fort Aspenwood now destroys any masterless Minions within earshot.
• A Xunlai Agent and Chest has arrived in the Zaishen Menagerie.
• Ai Tei [Merchant] has arrived in the Great Temple of Balthazar.
• Moss Spiders and Black Moas now grow appropriately as they evolve.
• Adjusted the amount of dishonor points given out by the Dishonorable Combatant System.

[edit] Update - Thursday, May 7, 2009

[edit] Xunlai Tournament House 2.0

• The Xunlai Tournament House has received a variety of exciting improvements!
  • Players will now log in to the Xunlai Tournament House with their Guild Wars username and password.
  • The interface and functionality of the Xunlai Tournament House has been greatly improved. To read about the changes, see this article.

[edit] Updated Zaishen Rewards

• Updated the Zaishen Chest drops to replace the Unseen Tonic with the Phantasmal Tonic for the month of May. More information on Zaishen Rewards can be found here.

[edit] Automated Tournaments

• Updated Automated Tournament map rotations.

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that prevented some players from turning in collectible items to Nicholas Sandford.
• Fixed a bug that allowed some pets to evolve at level 14.
• Fixed a bug that prevented some pets from being added to the Fellowship monument.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the April tournament. These agents can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.
• Zaishen Combat Quests are now repeatable.
• When multiple quests have been completed, players are now able to select which quest they would like to turn in.
• Reduced the cost of Zaishen Summoning Stones from 5 Silver Zaishen Coins to 3.

[edit] GuildWiki Notes

• Removed Rainbow Phoenix pets from heroes which had charmed them.

[edit] Update - Friday, May 1, 2009

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that incorrectly awarded credit for a Zaishen Combat Quest.

[edit] Update - Tuesday, April 28, 2009

[edit] Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that allowed Heroes to charm the Rainbow Phoenix.
• Fixed a bug that prevented players from placing Zaishen Coins in storage.
• Fixed a bug that prevented the icon art for the Keg of Aged Hunter's Ale from displaying properly.

[edit] Miscellaneous

• The "/roll" command can no longer be used on PvP maps.

[edit] GuildWiki Notes

• The bug that prevented players from placing the Golem User Manual in storage was also fixed.