The moment is finally here! After weeks of hard work by the staff and players the PvP patch is ready and will be applied this Sunday. We’ve worked hard to create new diversity, faster action and better balance all whilst maintaining the Sphere .51a fighting style. We hope the new system will be more fun, more complex and will reward good reactions, good judgement and good strategy.
Suggestions and ideas were taken from many different places, and we have done our best to please as many play styles as possible. Regretfully it is not always possible to give everyone exactly what they want, but we hope the new system is something that everybody can enjoy if they try it!
Among the many new features and tweaks you will find:
- Casting is now faster paced, most offensive spells hit harder and healing spells heal more damage. This should help PvP feel faster and more rewarding for those with good reactions and quick timing.
- Many previously unused spells have been repurposed and given uses in PvP (such as Harm, Mind Blast, Mana Drain and Fireball). We hope to see more diversity in spell casting and new tactical approaches to combat.
- High dexterity now benefits bandage healing and increases weapon swing rate even above 100 Dex. With any luck this will help to make warrior-style combat more viable for those who enjoy it.
- Passive mana regeneration now functions. This should help ease the need to constantly drink mana potions in combat and open up the options to drink other potion types or simply to PvP a little more cheaply.
- A number of scrolls have been matched to the spell book version of their spell. This will help to alleviate the burden of requiring many types of scroll for PvP and make PvPing a little more convenient for all.
- Low AR is now punished in a number of ways, primarily through AR-dependent damage spells. We hope to see a lot more armour use in PvP, after all, everybody likes to get good loot! The system is designed such that mid-range AR should suffice for good PvP performance but using high AR will give an appropriate benefit for the additional risk of loss.
- A number of potion delays have changed, and mana potions give less mana, this should balance the benefit of potion drinking between different types adding complexity to potion use which will reward those who have the best judgement.
- Poison now has a detrimental effect on healing spells. This adds a whole new dimension to healing, especially in group PvP.
- Only one-handed bladed weapons can now be poisoned. To balance this a number of other weapons (axes and spears) have had slight improvements such as increases in minimum damage.
- Walls of stone will no longer stack on top of each other; rather they will only renew the decay timer on wall sections which overlap.
For more details and other changes feel free to either ask on the forum or check the threads relating to PvP testing by GM Loki.
We hope these latest changes are more fun for everybody, lead to a more dynamic PvP system and inspire more people to take join in and take part in PvP here!