Raid Beta Schedule Update, Server Maintenance Friday the 26th at 8 AM

Announcements
#1

Recently (past 2 months) we have been experiencing some random server stability problems. We have had 2 unplanned server restarts in the last month, along with 2 login issues inside of the last 2 weeks. This is something that is a high priority to us on the team to ensure proper server stability. We have identified a few of the problem areas and will be working the next few weeks on solving these stability issues.

With working on server stability the next few weeks, we will be pushing the Hard Mode Citadel Raid back from the April 6th patch, to a patch on April 27th barring any other major setbacks while fixing the bugs. I apologize for this, as I know players have been anticipating and excited for this end game content release, but believe that getting these server issues fixed as quickly as possible will be best for the game and the community overall. With working on the server issues (Black screen on logging in, unplanned server restarts) we also have a solid lead into what is causing the invisible player/ invisible monster bug, are able to replicate it reliably on our developer server, and are hoping that we can get this elusive bug fixed within the time period also.

We will still be having the April 6th patch (minus the hard mode raid), with the bard mechanic fixes, as well as the Highsteppe Farms addition. The reasoning behind removing only the Hardmode Raid is that our lead programmer is now working on the server side errors, instead of the final few raid boss mechanics, as well as we want to ensure that their full attention can be on the Raid beta when released to fix any bugs/ balancing changes that need to happen. And before anyone asks, yes the sheep will still be coming with the April 6th patch.

This brings me to the tentative April 27th patch. It will now contain the Hardmode raid, and we also plan to have the Healer/Tank/Support balance pass come out with this patch or shortly after as we will begin working on the balance pass this month. Again, I apologize for pushing the Raid back, but doing so will allow us to fix some newer server errors, along with hopefully squashing the invisible bug, plus will make the raid and balance pass line up closer.

One final note, with the server fixes we are working on, we will also be preforming server maintenance that will have the server offline for around 30 minutes on Friday (3/26/2021) starting at 8 AM CST. This will allow us to do maintenance to the server that we can’t do normally while players are online. Once the server is back online, we will activate all 3 server wide bombs as a small token of appreciation for the community’s continued support and understanding.

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#2

Will the 27th patch be a beta still?

#3

Yes we are still planning on a 1 week beta to ensure major bugs are caught and correct balancing before dropping any gear.

#4

Can we have a lore fact to make up for the push back on the raid?

#5

I am excited for the balance passes on tanks and healers, I’m ready to give my input for warriors.

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#6

There are some issues we are still figuring out during this downtime, so it is taking longer than expected. Sorry for the delay!

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#7

Server should be live!

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#8

Sorry, had a hiccup and needed to restart the server again quick.

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#9

This is great news! And it’s coming soon in 11 days!

I really appreciate that the team is focusing first and foremost on critical bugs and quality of life features because it has gotten quite bad with the going-invisible, losing shards and chests, players in floors, desyncs, quest app freezes and black screens. It’s a really good game, but not if one needs to restart the app every few minutes mid-combat.

I’m also hopeful for the balance pass, hoping that the aggro calculation would correlate more with participation in combat and much less with just flat dps/hps, especially when most classes are bound by some resource to be managed (i.e. pips) and others are just spam-based. The toxic “My aggro!” culture is getting old; It can be a source of entertainment for a minute or two amongst a tight-knit set of friends, but within the rest of the community that have to interact with randoms, it doesn’t seem to be working out. Whenever I do dungeon queues on my lowbie alt; as soon as I see a level 30 mixed together with a fresh “dungeon-ready” tank, I already know it’d turn into an interesting disaster. At times it’s just as amusing as watching the Jerry Springer show. -An old woman berating and yelling at a kid playing a level 16 pally for not holding aggro as she pointlessly bounces her 30++ musky cure wounds and shield orbs amidst a party with full hp… It’s hillarious, but also quite sad to see people interact that way over an equation that doesn’t quite balance out accordingly and work with the random group compositions as is currently designed.

Anyway, about the bard fixes; will bards soon be able to heal paladins through aggressive, weakened temple 15 bosses just as muskets are able to breeze through them? Will bards no longer be either excluded from content such as certain higher shards or be shunned for having picked such class?

I’m curious to know if we are merely talking about the broken, underused instruments such as the instruments of defense and protection, or whether the bard heals’ availability or heal amounts would be adjusted and appropriated for the content available --such that it is actually playable through and through without needing to switch to musky…

Any chance we could replace the instrument of defense (causes enemy projectile attacks to deal [5%?] less damage) with something more useful? I know certain players love taking bolts to the face more than others, but under normal circumstances the whole point is to avoid projectile damage altogether. Also pistoler scavs have really terrible aim on inclines and in general anyway so there really isn’t much of a use case for this instrument’s measly 5% mitigation.

Thanks again for the update; I’m excitedly looking forward to what’s coming soon!

#10

The upcoming Bard patch, from what I’ve been told, is solely fixing what’s not working: Upbeat, Protection and Defense (the passives don’t function at all in PvE, and in reverse in PvP), and then they’ll rebalance once they’ve gotten more data from whatever new meta emerges.

I’m really hoping for a Defense/Protection to be a shielding instrument, as Song Shield is currently worthless (Mana Shield is comparable, Warrior Horn shields your allies for more and even Shaman’s Shield Totem is over 4x as effective) and only gets used when we use Crescendos…which is an AWFUL time to use a shield :laughing:

#11

Oh, then meh. It’s not much to look forward to then if that were the case; It’s gonna be more of the same meta of keeping those bard sticks unequipped and tucked into the last page of the inventory. No one’s gonna rock the instrument of Protection since it’s common practice for mages to de-curse easily or for muskies to just quickly bounce a decurse orb on infection weeks. No one likes sitting through poisons and dots throughout its duration to begin with. Same story for Protection; all it will do is give paladins less pips when they deliberately shield bolts for pips.

Yeah, I agree with your idea. Definitely need another decent and useful support instrument like melee damage mitigation passive / shield crescendo.

Let’s see. I’m still hoping for a miracle… I just thought that when they said they’d fixed what was not working (and it can be argued that bard isn’t working) that the viability of the class in relation to other classes was going to be looked into properly…

#12

Upbeat alone is 10% faster Crescendo charge, so that’s fairly nice and should make a decent difference. Protection’s Crescendo is definitely not in a good place because it doesn’t come up as often as enemy poisons, and Decurse for Mages have no cooldown, while Musketeer Decurse comes up fast enough to get rid of Poison EVERY TIME. If Defense/Protection is the 5% I think it is, then ya, nobody’s gonna use it still lol.

The miracle I’m hoping for: Two talent trees: One for DPS increase, and one for Healing increase. Instruments that increase Strength, Intel, Vitality, Defense, Crit, Luck (just like all the potions! If we can do it for Wisdom, we can do it for the others :slight_smile: ).

But ya, at least having Upbeat working increases healing output :slight_smile:

#13

Mm, 10% faster crescendos on a specific talent exactly as originally advertised… Yea, I guess… :smile:

Love the luck buff suggestion! Gives a reason to take a bard with you on shards. :+1:

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#14

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