Arch Server New Reset - Jun 9, 2020

General announcements for the community to read.
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Laanders
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Arch Server New Reset - Jun 9, 2020

Post by Laanders » Jun 07th 2020 00:12

Arch Server will restart at Tue Jun 9 18:00:00 2020.
Armageddon is scheduled to begin at Sat Jul 25 08:00:00 2020.

Changes from previous set

Changes:
  • Archangel ranged attack resistance increased to 70% (was 65%)
  • Djinni changes:
    • Primary AP increased to 8000 (was 5000)
    • Secondary AP increased to 12000 (was 10000)
    • Magic attack resistance increased to 50% (was 40%)
    • Ranged attack resistance increased to 95% (was 90%)
    • Holy attack resistance increased to 50% (was 40%)
  • Chimera hit points increased to 2200 (was 2000)
  • Red Dragon (MF only) given racial enemy boost against ELF units
  • Werebear given PIERCING ability
  • Treefolk upkeep changes:
    • Treant mana upkeep decreased to 1.26 (was 1.80)
    • Venus Flytrap mana upkeep decreased to 0.69 (was 0.82)
    • Venus Flytrap gold upkeep decreased to 2.40 (was 2.85)
    • Mandrake mana upkeep decreased to 0.42 (was 0.60)
    • Mandrake gold upkeep decreased to 0.42 (was 0.48)
    • Creeping Vines mana upkeep decreased to 0.06 (was 0.08)
    • Creeping Vines gold upkeep decreased to 2.00 (was 2.40)
  • Locate Artifact changes:
    • On-colour cast always gives at least one item
    • On-colour chance of additional items increases with spell level
    • Off-colour cast always gives exactly one item
    • Legendary Artificer no longer affects yields
  • Fixed a long time bug which caused the attdef/racial enemy ability of Dwarven Warriors and Dwarven Elites against ORC units not to work
Last edited by Laanders on Jun 09th 2020 13:42, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Changes
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User avatar
Laanders
Head Designer, Dev etc
Posts: 8460
31Rank Halls 3Guild Halls
Location: Malmö, Sweden

Re: Arch Server New Reset - Jun 9, 2020

Post by Laanders » Jun 09th 2020 13:42

The primary driver for all above changes is to reduce the number of minor differences between servers. As such, all of these changes remove quirks in units or spells that today exist only on arch. This helps players transition between servers more easily, but also helps us in the game staff maintain the game in a more robust fashion. This is a gradual process, and quite a few differences between servers remain. Some will be removed later, some will remain. We have different servers for a reason and they will remain distinct, but we prefer to have these distinctions consist of a more manageable list of significant characteristics, rather than a large number of details that taken together probably have relatively minor impact on the game. This is overall true for all the listed changes.

Some specific notes:

The changes to flyers, notably djinni and AA, undo nerfs that were added around a decade ago. At the time it was a design goal to reduce the efficiency of all-flying, particularly mono flyer stacks, on arch. Over time other changes have also addressed this, to the extent it's still desirable, so these distinctions can be removed.

The treefolk upkeep reductions may stand out as significant. They are, but they are also overdue. Back in September last year, arch received the version of Plant Growth that increases the upkeep of treefolk units, but the reduction of the base upkeep on the affected units that should have been linked with that change was overlooked. With these adjustments, treefolk units and Plant Growth should be identical on arch and other servers (except that Venus Flytraps don't exist on most servers, for now.)

Locate Artifact is yet another case where arch has had an older mechanic, which was slightly less effective in its unboosted form, but could be greatly boosted with the LA skill. The "new" version will always give at least one item and is boosted (less dramatically) by SL, while the LA skill as stated no longer has an effect. There's been some debate which of these versions is actually preferable, but if we're changing it again, we can change it on all servers rather than drag another little difference along on a single server for another number of years.

Feel free to offer feedback or questions on these changes in the forums. Thanks.
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