The District Nudists

[Torgas Prim]

I thought they would have figured that out on their own
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Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Striken7]

[Torgas Prim]

Ohhh my fave!!!!

* Guild Battle NPCs now respawn at regular intervals until the Guild Lord is slain.
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Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Torgas Prim]

Well it seems the promised storage expansion is now costing $$

Grrr

http://www.guildwars.com/community/events/contentupdates/4thanniversary/
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Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Galadriel Diamante]

Of course! They don't want to invest in REAL improvements in gameplay (ie. GW2 or new content to make money) so must get it any way they can. Sad really.......
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Gala Shadowstalker Go Granny Go
Galadriel Diamante Eowin Shieldmaiden
Gala The Gray
Blame The Fairy
Earths Angel
Mehlandrus Princess

[Torgas Prim]

http://www.guildwars.com/products/extras/storage/free_storage_pane.php
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Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Striken7]

Update - Thursday, April 23

Fourth Anniversary Update: Major Content and Feature Additions

Our goal for the Fourth Anniversary Update is to deepen and enhance replayability of the game with a variety of features aimed at satisfying the full spectrum of Guild Wars players. For example, we wanted to give new purpose and rewards to existing content, so we added a new system of cycling Zaishen Challenge Quests and the Traveler to encourage players to experience the different types of available content in a whole new light. We've also designed an elaborate unlocking system for every pet in the game, making it possible for you to accumulate unlocked pets and swap them out for different builds and gameplay types. As the demand on inventory space increases with all the new content being added to the game since our last storage update, we have increased your storage potential with the creation of Equipment Packs and additional Xunlai Storage panes available in the In-Game and NCsoft Stores. In the same vein, the Hall of Monuments has been made account-based to make the accumulation of titles and other accomplishments more smoothly available to multiple characters on an account. As you play these characters more and more, you might be looking for a way to freshen up their look beyond just getting a new set of armor, so we have added a whole new way to do this with Makeover Credits that have been added to the In-Game and NCsoft Stores. These Credits are redeemable at a [Stylist] NPC who deepens your ability to truly customize a character by allowing you to mix aesthetic features from ALL campaigns, something which is not possible through character creation.

The Live Team has been working nonstop to make these new features a reality, and we're incredibly happy to finally reveal everything we've done. Instead of releasing a typical Developer Update article, we're explaining all the exciting new content in a series of detailed gameplay web pages. You can find the links to those pages in the update notes below, as well as a summary of each updated game feature.

Read on for more information!


Equipment Pack
Each character has been given a 5th bag slot reserved for the Equipment Pack. These new bags will save you oodles of storage space and give you a way to keep your weapons and armor divided from your other loot. These bags:

Hold only weapons and armor.
Come in four sizes:
5-slot bags are available in Pre-Searing Ascalon in exchange for a treat for Professor Yakkington, for a nominal fee of gold at various merchants across all campaigns, or for Zaishen Coins at a new Zaishen Rewards NPC in Great Temple of Balthazar.
10, 15, and 20-slot bags are available in exchange for Zaishen Coins at a Zaishen Rewards NPC in Great Temple of Balthazar.
See the gameplay article for more details.


Xunlai Storage
To provide you with access to even more storage space, Xunlai Storage Panes are now available for purchase in the In-Game Store and the NCsoft Store.

Xunlai Storage Panes each add an additional 20 slots of storage space to your Xunlai Chest. These panes can be used by any character on your account that has access to your storage chest.
You can now purchase up to 4 additional panes of storage from the In-Game Store and the NCsoft Store.
See the Storage FAQ for more details.


Zaishen Challenge Quests
Every day, we challenge you with different objectives from all over the world, running the gamut from missions to bounties to PvP. Each day, these quests have you play in a specific area for each of the three formats. We believe this will encourage players to group up with those in the area attempting to complete this common goal of getting rewarded for that day's Challenge Quest. Zaishen Challenge Quests have a variety of rewards, including the new Zaishen Coins, a new form of currency taken by Zaishen Rewards NPCs.

Pick up your Zaishen Challenge Quests in the Great Temple of Balthazar.
Your Quest Log can only hold three of each type of Zaishen Challenge Quests.
Three quest types are offered each day:
Mission completion. Finish storyline missions for the Zaishen.
Bounties. Hunt down and kill evil bosses from around the world!
Combat. Battle it out in different arenas and triumph over other players.
Each quest has one Base Objective, which is required to complete the quest and rewards you with experience, gold, faction, title points, and Zaishen Coins. Quests may also have one or more optional Bonus Objectives, which reward extra Zaishen Coins.
Zaishen Coins:
Come in copper, silver, and gold denominations.
Are only awarded for completing Zaishen Challenge Quests.
Are not tradeable to other players, but can be passed to other characters on your account through the Xunlai Storage Vault.
Can be used to buy items like the Equipment Packs from Zaishen Rewards NPCs in the Great Temple of Balthazar.
Can be used to unlock pets for your Zaishen Menagerie collection.
See the gameplay article for more details about Zaishen Challenge Quests and Coins.


Zaishen Menagerie
Arcane Mages of the Zaishen Order have been hard at work on the island of the Heroes' Ascent volcano. Terraforming magics learned from the hedge wizards of Vabbi have allowed the Zaishen to create a sanctuary and breeding ground for many of the charmable animals from around the world. They fund the sanctuary and their study of these animals by allowing adventurers to build their own collection of charmable animals to be cared for in the Menagerie Grounds. By unlocking a pet for your collection, you will then be able to recharm that tier of animal any time you wish by visiting the Zaishen Menagerie Grounds. As part of this service, the Zaishen Trainers have developed evolutions of certain rare animals that have never been seen in the wild, and they've even recovered a small amount of extremely rare Moss Spider eggs to be trained as a charmable pet for the first time. The Moss Spider is best known for being native to Ascalon before the Searing, and until now was believed to be extinct.

The Zaishen Menagerie is an outpost, located in the Battle Isles next to Heroes' Ascent. Speak with Gate Guard Hirvela to enter the Menagerie Grounds.
All characters on your account share a Menagerie collection.
Unlock seven different tiers of level and evolution for every charmable animal in the game.
Unlock a pet by bringing your charmed animals to Emryd the Tamer, or visit Helena [Zaishen Keeper] to unlock them with Balthazar Faction or Zaishen Coins.
Only charmable animals from campaigns you own are unlockable via the Zaishen Keeper.
The menagerie is your own area--only you and your Heroes can enter.
Once you've unlocked a pet, you'll see charmable level 5 versions of that pet roaming the grounds. Higher-level versions and special evolutions of your pets are also available from Wynn [Zaishen Training Captain].
Purchase an unlock pack from our In-Game Store or the NCsoft Store. The unlock pack adds the non-prestige pets from all campaigns to your collection.
See the gameplay article for more details.


Nicholas The Traveler
The rumors aren't true, Nicholas Sandford survived the Searing! He may look a little aged since the last time you saw him, but Nicholas and his trusty companion, Professor Yakkington, are finally coming out of hiding. Having dropped his last name in favor of the moniker "the Traveler," Nicholas has mourned in seclusion over the loss of his family, friends, and beloved Mary Malone long enough. He has traveled the globe, gathering up a hefty supply of exotic and unique new items to put in his Gift of the Traveler, which he trades for materials, trophies, and other items he desires. Each week, Nicholas and the Professor will change location to a different explorable area in Tyria, Cantha, or Elona. In each location he will want something different for one of his Gifts. He is out there in the world right now; do you have the stamina to find him?

The Traveler changes location at the end of each weekend.
Each account can get up to 5 Gifts of the Traveler each week.
The Traveler gives his Gifts in exchange for the items he desires that week. The item he seeks will change depending on his location in the world.
Gifts of the Traveler hold many new and exclusive items, but you'll just have to open one to see what they are.
See the gameplay article for more details.


Hall of Monuments: Now Account-Wide
Our previously announced plans for the Hall of Monuments to be an account-wide feature have come to fruition, and then some!

Switch between your Character and Account views by speaking with Kimmes the Historian in the Hall of Monuments.
Added the ability to specify the displayed achievements for each monument.
Added the ability to replay the cinematic view of a monument.
Accomplishments will automatically be added to your account the next time you log in with any character that has a displayed an achievement in the Hall of Monuments.

See the gameplay article for more details.


New Character Customizations
The ability to change a character's look once created is a luxury we've never had. Now you will not only be able to freshen up the look of a character you have been staring at for years, but you'll actually be able to mix and match aesthetic features from all campaigns, giving you a multitude of new combinations that aren't available during character creation! To prepare for this new feature, we've had to reorganize the way characters' appearance data is stored. As such, the first time you view your characters at the character selection screen, they won't look the way you remember them. Never fear! To update your character selection screen's display, you need only log in on each character, and they will be viewed correctly from here on out.

Preview your new look! Speak with Anatomical Engineer Llye [Stylist] in the Great Temple of Balthazar to check out all the options for redoing your character.
The Stylist allows you to mix and match aesthetic features from different campaigns, creating hundreds of combinations which are not available at character creation.
Change your character's hair style, hair color, face, skin color, and/or body scale with Makeover Credits, or all of those plus gender with Extreme Makeover Credits, at the Stylist.
Buy your Makeover Credits and Extreme Makeover Credits at the In-Game Store and the NCsoft Store. Makeover Credits are sold in packs of 5, and Extreme Makeover Credits are sold individually.
Each Makeover Credit allows you to change one character's hair style, hair color, face, skin color, and/or body scale.
Each Extreme Makeover Credit allows you to change one character's gender, as well as the Makeover options of hair style, hair color, face, skin color, and/or body scale.
Character Name Changes are now available at the In-Game Store and the NCsoft Store.
See the gameplay article for more details.


Bug Fixes

Fixed description for Piercing Trap so it no longer refers to Cracked Armor as "Cracked Armored".
Fixed description for Weapon of Warding [PvE] so it no longer inaccurately states that the skill ends if target ally attacks.
Fixed a bug that allowed players to bypass the 5 Gift account limit per day from Nicholas Sandford in Pre-Searing.
Fixed a bug which caused Red Iris Flowers to drop in Pre-Searing Ascalon with much less frequency than originally intended.

Miscellaneous

The Miniature Greased Lightning is now Green Rarity.
Charm Animal: changed functionality to "Charm target animal. Once charmed, your animal companion will travel with you whenever you have Charm Animal equipped. (Cannot charm animals 4 or more levels higher than you.)"
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GuildWiki
Striken's Page
Proud Member of The District Nudists

"I am Melandru, the Mother of earth and nature. Henceforth I bind ye to these lands. When they suffer, so shall ye suffer."

[Torgas Prim]

Developer Update - August 2009 PvE and PvP Skill Balances


For our previous skill update we chose two professions, Paragon and Ritualist, and tried to address attributes and play styles that were underpowered. This month, we're applying that same approach to more professions, trying to identify not just individual skills to improve, but also larger issues to address. Here are some of the major themes we're tackling with this update:

The Assassin's focus on fighting single targets isn't ideal when in a party and battling groups of enemies. There are two reasons for this: First, with focused attacks from the party, an Assassin's target may die before an entire attack combo can be completed. Second, when facing numerous enemies, the Assassin's single-target damage usually isn't efficient. To address this, we've tried to make it easier to get into combos faster and added a few new area-of-effect options.


Against higher-level creatures in PvE, Ranger pets have always felt fragile defensively and weak offensively. Further, splitting eight skill slots between skills for the Ranger, skills for the pet, Charm Animal, and a Resurrection Signet is tough. Because Rangers with pets can be quite powerful in PvP as things stand, our changes are for PvE only: not requiring Charm Animal to bring your pet into a map (as long as you have Comfort Animal), adding inherent offensive and defensive bonuses for pets, and improving many pet-related skills.


Dervishes are meant to be in the thick of things, attacking hordes of enemies in melee, but they can be very vulnerable when not in an Avatar form. This created an interesting ebb-and-flow in PvP, but it doesn't mesh as well with the more continuous pace of PvE. With that in mind, we looked for opportunities to provide increased armor and rebalanced some of their healing skills. While adding these options for increasing survivability, we also tried to simplify complex skills where we could.


For Elementalists, we wanted to balance out the attribute lines a bit more. Air Magic has long had a place in PvP, but it felt inferior to Fire Magic in PvE. We've improved area-of-effect options for Air Magic to balance things out. Earth Magic has long been a staple of solo Elementalist builds in PvE, but it has only played a support role in PvP. We've adjusted a few skills to make Earth Magic offense more viable.



In addition to the above, we've improved a few skills for other professions and made a handful of changes to address balance issues in GvG and HA.

PvP Balance Issues

Melandru's Shot: increased recharge to 12 seconds.


After an extended period in which many different Ranger elite skills were all seeing play, our last change to Melandru's Shot gave it too much of an edge over the other Ranger elites. Any time we nerf a skill for PvP-related reasons, we consider whether or not to create a separate PvP-only version of the skill. In this case, we did not think this change would affect PvE play enough to justify splitting the skill.

Dwayna's Touch: increased recharge to 5 seconds.

Finale of Restoration: increased recharge to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 10..35 seconds, the next 5 times that a chant or shout ends on target non-spirit ally, that ally is healed for 15..75 Health."


Overpowered healing is generally not good for PvP. We've made adjustments to two skills that have seemed a little too powerful. Dwayna's Touch had a very low recharge for a healing skill of its potency. We've bumped that up a bit to be more in line with other such healing skills. As an Echo skill (which triggers whenever a Shout or Chant ends), Finale of Restoration had the potential to put out massive amounts of healing with no set cap. Teams were able to capitalize on this, using it in GvG to indefinitely take up residence in the enemy base without fear of pressure from the defending NPCs. In response to this tactic, we have limited the number of times Finale of Restoration can trigger its healing and increased its recharge a bit. Again, we did not think these changes merited splitting these skills into separate PvP and PvE versions.

Aegis (PvP): now must target a party member.



In May, Aegis was redesigned as an anti-spike skill. Heroes' Ascent players realized, however, that its duration and ability to stop targeted spells was perfectly suited to keep Ghostly Heroes from being interrupted while using the Claim Resource skill. This has been detracting from the basic strategies in many of the HA maps and made Aegis a required skill. Now restricted to targeting party members, it can no longer be used in this way.


Assassin

Black Mantis Thrust: decreased activation time to 1/2 second.

Fox Fangs: decreased recharge to 3; increased damage to 10..35.

Jagged Strike: decreased activation time to 1/2 second.



Black Mantis Thrust and Jagged Strike were given shorter activation times to help players get through an attack chain using these skills a little faster. Fox Fangs already had a short activation time, but its longer recharge made it difficult to chain repeatedly, making it inferior to Wild Strike in nearly every way. Reducing its recharge brings those two skills more into line and allows an Assassin to chain from Black Mantis Thrust or Jagged Strike into Fox Fangs with both attacks activating quickly.

Black Lotus Strike: decreased recharge to 6 seconds; decreased Energy gain to 5..13.

Golden Lotus Strike: decreased recharge to 5 seconds; decreased Energy gain to 5..8.



Black Lotus Strike and Golden Lotus Strike were reasonably powerful skills, but they had high enough recharge that a PvE Assassin could not bring them without an alternate way to enter his combo. By dropping their recharge, we hope to make them more practical and free up more slots on the Assassin's skill bar for other skills. The Energy gain they provide has been decreased since you can use them more often now.

Golden Phoenix Strike: functionality changed to: "If you are not under the effects of an Enchantment, this skill misses. If it hits, Golden Phoenix Strike deals +10..30 damage and all adjacent foes take 10..30 damage."

Jungle Strike: functionality changed to: "Must follow a lead attack. If it hits, Jungle Strike strikes target foe for +10..25 damage. If it hits a foe that was Crippled, that foe and all adjacent foes take +1..31 damage."



These two skills now provide options for area-of-effect damage when using an Off-Hand Attack. Along with Death Blossom, these should give Assassins better ways to deal damage when fighting large numbers of creatures.

Sharpen Daggers: functionality changed to: "For 5..30 seconds, your dagger attacks cause Bleeding for 5..15 seconds."

Signet of Deadly Corruption (PvE): no longer follows a dual attack.



It's hard for a creature to survive long enough in PvE for skills that must follow a Dual Attack. Removing this requirement makes Signet of Deadly Corruption much easier to use in a group setting. Since it is a powerful spike skill in PvP, however, we're only making this change in PvE. The PvP version of this skill will still require a Dual Attack.

Shroud of Distress (PvE): functionality changed to: "For 30..60 seconds, if you are below 50% Health, you have +3..8 Health regeneration and a 75% chance to block attacks.

Unseen Fury (PvE): decreased recharge to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "All adjacent foes are Blinded for 3..10 seconds. For 10..30 seconds, you cannot be blocked by Blinded foes."



Since we were adding a few more options for Assassins to run into the thick of things in PvE, we looked for a couple of underpowered defensive skills to adjust. Now providing Health regeneration when you are hurt, the long-lasting Shroud of Distress should make an Assassin fairly durable against moderate amounts of damage. With space always at a premium on an Assassin's skill bar, we've adjusted Unseen Fury to combo with itself and provide both offensive and defensive functions. Both of these changes are for PvE only.


Dervish

Conviction (PvE): functionality changed to: "For 10..35 seconds, you have +24 armor. If you are enchanted, you also have a 50% chance to block.

Vow of Piety: increased Energy cost to 15; reduced casting time to 0; increased recharge to 45 seconds. Functionality changed to: "Stance. For 20 seconds, you have +24 armor and +1..4 Health regeneration. Vow of Piety renews whenever an enchantment on you ends."

Armor of Sanctity: functionality changed to: "All adjacent foes suffer from Weakness for 5..15 seconds. For 10 seconds, you take 5..20 less damage from foes suffering from a condition."



In order to help Dervishes survive when surrounded by enemies, we've provided two different stances that give increased armor: Conviction and Vow of Piety. While we were at it, we removed some of the complexity from these skills, both of which used to give different bonuses depending on whether or not you were enchanted. Now they both just provide additional bonuses if you are enchanted. Armor of Sanctity was an interesting but often impractical defensive skill. By applying the Weakness condition to adjacent foes when it is first used, it ensures that the damage reduction will have some effect.

Meditation: increased recharge to 12 seconds. Functionality changed to: "You gain 20..125 Health. If you are not enchanted, you also gain 3..8 Energy."

Natural Healing: functionality changed to: "You are healed for 40..100 Health and an additional 40..80 Health if you are not enchanted."

Pious Restoration: increased recharge to 8 seconds; increased casting time to 1 second. Functionality changed to: "You gain 80..150 Health and lose 1 enchantment. If an enchantment was removed in this way, you also lose 1..3 hexes."



These healing skills were all too complicated or difficult to use. Meditation now always heals, rather than only healing if you were not enchanted. Natural Healing now provides additional healing if you are not enchanted, rather than causing you to lose Energy if you are enchanted. Pious Restoration now causes you to lose hexes if you had a single enchantment up when you cast it, rather than requiring that you have two or more enchantments in order for it to take effect. Because this made it more practical as a hex removal skill, we raised its recharge to be more in line with other such skills.

Aura Slicer: functionality changed to: "If this attack hits, you deal +10..25 damage. If you are enchanted or this attack hits an enchanted foe, that foe begins Bleeding for 5..15 seconds."

Sand Shards: functionality changed to: "For 30 seconds, Sand Shards ends early if you use an attack skill. When Sand Shards ends, it creates a sand storm at your location that deals 10..20 damage each second for 10 seconds to nearby foes."

Winds of Disenchantment: moved to the Wind Prayers attribute. Functionality changed to: "Lose 1 enchantment. If an enchantment was removed in this way, all nearby foes lose 1 enchantment and take 20..80 cold damage."



All three of these skills were awkward to use. Additionally, because Enchantment removal does not play as fundamental a role in PvE as it does in PvP, Aura Slicer and Winds of Disenchantment were not generally useful. Aura Slicer has been redesigned to provide Bleeding. It no longer has any conditional bonus based on Cracked Armor. Winds of Disenchantment now deals damage as well as removing enchantments and no longer has any randomness to which enchantments it removes. In order to scale its damage based on an attribute, it is now tied to Wind Prayers rather than being associated with no attribute. With Sand Shards, we decided to introduce something new and different. This skill now lets a Dervish create a static AoE damage area. It is also the first Dervish enchantment that ends if the caster uses an attack skill. This should allow a Dervish to use it strategically even without bringing a skill that drops enchantments.


Elementalist

Chain Lightning: reduced casting time to 2 seconds; now only causes Exhaustion if not enchanted.

Invoke Lightning: reduced recharge to 10 seconds.



These skills were improved to make it more practical to deal area-of-effect damage with Air Magic.

Ebon Hawk: reduced casting time to 1 second; reduced damage to 10..85. Functionality changed to: "Send a projectile that strikes for 10..85 earth damage and causes Weakness for 5..15 seconds if it hits."

Earthen Shackles: reduced casting time to 1 second; decreased slow effect to 66%; now effects target and all adjacent foes.

Elemental Flame: functionality changed to: "For 5..20 seconds, whenever an Elemental hex is applied to target foe, that foe is set on fire for 3..5 seconds."



The key for many Earth Magic skill combinations is the initial application of Weakness. We've adjusted Ebon Hawk to be much more practical to use, reducing its damage a bit to fit its quicker casting time. We've also improved the Earthen Shackles-Elemental Flame combination by reducing Earthen Shackles' impractical 2 second casting time and allowing Elemental Flame to trigger when a hex is applied instead of when a hex ends. Since these would have been overpowered with Earthen Shackles' previous slow effect of 90%, we've reduced that to 66%.

Lava Arrows: No longer half-range.

Slippery Ground: increased recharge to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "If target foe is Blind or moving, that foe is knocked down. (50% failure chance with Water Magic 4 or less.)"

Windborne Speed: reduced casting time to 3/4 seconds.

Winter's Embrace: functionality changed to: "For 2..6 seconds, target foe moves 66% slower and takes 5..15 damage while moving."



These skills were all simply underpowered. Lava Arrows is an inexpensive, fast-recharge, multi-target damage skill that did not have enough utility or battle-changing effect to justify it being half range. Slippery Ground requiring the target to be blind was too niche a condition. It now also works on moving targets but has had its recharge increased accordingly. Windborne Speed has had its casting time reduced slightly to match some of the other speed-buff skills available to an Elementalist.


Mesmer

Wastrel's Demise: decreased casting time to 1/4 second. Functionality changed to: "Hex Spell: Target foe takes 5..40 damage. If that foe was not using a skill, that foe suffers -1..3 Health degeneration for 10 seconds."

Confusing Images: increased Energy cost to 10; increased casting time to 2 seconds; increased recharge to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 2..10 seconds, target foe takes twice as long to activate non-attack skills.

Illusion of Pain: increased recharge to 8 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 10 seconds, target foe has -3..10 Health degeneration and takes 3..10 damage each second. After 10 seconds, that foe is healed for 45..150."



For Mesmer, we selected a few skills that never quite found their place and made adjustments. Slowing the casting time of a single spell, Confusing Images wasn't practical. We've changed it to be a more widely applicable Arcane Conundrum, affecting skills as well as spells. We've adjusted some of its numbers accordingly. Illusion of Pain has been given additional damage to make it more effective at actually killing something. We've also changed how much it heals and how that works in order to enable more interesting skill combinations and to make it more useful against characters with hex removal. Wastrel's Demise was in a difficult spot, from a balance standpoint. Previously based on the number of equipped spells your target had, its bonus damage was too inconsistent in PvP and too consistently bad in PvE. In order to increase the damage without creating an unreasonable spike skill in PvP, we changed the conditional damage to be Health degeneration. We also simplified the conditions for getting bonus damage to make the skill more universally useful.


Monk

Shielding Hands: functionality changed to: "For 8 seconds, damage received by target ally is reduced by 3..18. When Shielding Hands ends, that ally is healed for 5..50 Health."

Divine Boon: decreased Energy loss to 1; now only provides healing when you cast Protection Prayers or Divine Prayers spells.



Over the last year or so, we've tended to nerf skills that were too good at bogging down PvP matches. This has left Protection Prayers feeling slightly weaker than Healing Prayers. To give protection a small boost without reintroducing this problem, we've adjusted a couple of skills to put a bit more healing into that attribute. Now providing a heal when it ends, Shielding Hands can serve as a more complete skill. Divine Boon, once a staple of protection Monk skill bars, became impractical to use when we raised its Energy loss to 2. We've lowered it to 1 again, but limited the skill to providing healing when you use Protection Prayers or Divine Prayers to limit its usefulness for smiters.

Selfless Spirit: reduced recharge to 15 seconds; decreased Energy reduction to 3. Functionality changed to: "For 15..20 seconds, spells you cast that target another ally cost 3 less Energy."

Seed of Life: decreased recharge to 20 seconds.



Both of these Monk PvE-Only skills felt weak compared to the other profession-specific PvE-Only skills. With a very long recharge compared to its duration and a condition that could cause it to end prematurely, Selfless Spirit wasn't worth the skill slot for most Monks. We've reduced the recharge and removed the early end condition to make it more consistently useful. To keep the skill from being overpowered, we have lowered the Energy cost reduction it provides by a couple of points. Seed of Life is an interesting spell that has a powerful effect if used at just the right time on just the right target. We've lowered its recharge a little bit to improve the skill without fundamentally changing how it plays.


Necromancer

Masochism (PvE): functionality changed to: "For 10..40 seconds, you have +2 to your Death Magic and Soul Reaping attributes and sacrifice 5..3% of your maximum Health when you cast a spell."

Poisoned Heart: functionality changed to: "You and all adjacent foes are Poisoned for 5..15 seconds."



A while back, we dramatically reduced the Energy costs of Health-sacrifice skills. This undercut the usefulness of Masochism's old functionality of providing Energy when you sacrifice Health. We decided to rework the skill as a Death Magic and Soul Reaping equivalent of Awaken the Blood. We altered Poisoned Heart to combo better with the Necromancer's ability to transfer conditions to foes.


Ranger Pets in PvE

Pets in PvE now have an inherent 33% damage reduction and +33% damage.



Because PvE often involves fighting higher-level creatures with armor and damage, pets needed some statistical bonuses in PvE.

Comfort Animal (PvE): decreased Energy cost to 5. Functionality changed to: "You heal your animal companion for 20..104 Health. If your companion is dead, it is resurrected with 10..58% Health. If you have Comfort Animal equipped, your animal companion will travel with you."



The other major issue with bringing a pet is the number of skill slots this takes up. To address this, we've changed Comfort Animal in PvE so that having it on your skill bar means your pet will come with you in PvE. This means you won't need to bring Charm Animal once you've charmed your pet. This change does not apply to PvP, where having another character on your side is a major benefit and the limitations on free skill slots are an important part of the playbalance.

Call of Haste (PvE): increased movement and attack speed to 33%.

Enraged Lunge (PvE): functionality changed to: "Your animal companion attempts an Enraged Lunge that applies a Deep Wound to target foe for 5..20 seconds and deals +10..50 damage."

Melandru's Assault (PvE): functionality changed to: "Your animal companion attempts a Melandru's Assault that deals +5..20 damage to all nearby foes."

Predatory Bond (PvE): functionality changed to: "For 5..20 seconds, your animal companion attacks 25% faster and heals you for 1..31 Health with each attack."



We've also improved a number of pet skills in order to make them more exciting and also to reduce skill-bar pressure further. Again, these changes are for PvE only. Predatory Bond and Call of Haste now have dual functions, adding an attack speed boost to complement their other effects. Melandru's Assault is no longer conditional and should be much more practical to use.
_________________
Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Torgas Prim]

Update - Thursday, November 19, 2009
Underworld
Dhuum stirs within the Hall of Judgment.

AI Updates
The AI will now choose targets more intelligently when using Blurred Vision.
Adjusted the conditions under which the AI will use Forked Arrow.
The AI will now use "Go for the Eyes!" more frequently.
The AI will now choose targets more intelligently when using Shock.
Adjusted the timing for the AI's use of Wastrel's Collapse.

Automated Tournaments
Updated Automated Tournament map rotations.

Henchmen
Changed the name of one of the Guild Battle henchmen.

Miscellaneous
Added support for the Henchman Skill Bar Contest rewards.

Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug that prevented the Mesmer's Ancient Mask from displaying on the Resilience monument in the Hall of Monuments.
_________________
Founding Member of The District Nudists

[Torgas Prim]

Developer Update - June 2010 GvG Balances

We have a few large balance projects underway right now. Because today's update is not directly related to any of these large balance projects, we want to clarify what's in the works:

* Guild battles. We are currently working with the Test Krewe on major possible changes to GvG. This is our top priority, but we expect it to require months to fully test, tune, and compare the changes we are exploring. Today's update is not related to any of the major changes we are testing, but it should address a few of the issues currently seen in GvG.

* Dervish balance. We are also working on changes to the Dervish, with both PvE and PvP in mind. This is our second priority, and it may or may not be ready at the same time as the GvG changes.

* Other issues. As always, we have a number of other projects that we are considering based on community feedback. Similar to the changes in today's update, some of these projects may be small enough in scope to be completed and released before the major GvG update. Others will need to wait until the GvG and Dervish updates are finished. We'll keep you updated as things develop.


Today's Update

Against an equally skilled opponent, it can be risky to launch an actual attack against the enemy guild hall. This sometimes leads guilds to employ an excessively cautious, defensive strategy focused on taking advantage of the tiebreaker mechanic rather than killing the enemy Guild Lord. Typically this strategy involves bringing a team equipped to stall out the match along with a character who can "plink" the opposing Guild Lord from a safe spot. Today's changes reduce the effectiveness of this style of play.

* Adjusted the Guild Lord and NPC positions on Druid's Isle, Frozen Isle, Imperial Isle, Isle of Jade, and Isle of Meditation to better protect the Guild Lord.

* Oath of Protection: changed functionality to: "While the Bodyguard is alive, the Guild Lord takes no more than 30 damage from each attack or spell and takes 30 less damage each second."


The position changes should prevent a character from ignoring the NPCs meant to defend the Guild Lord. We've started by updating the maps featured in the upcoming Monthly Automated Tournament, but we will likely extend this to other maps in a future update. As before, Oath of Protection automatically protects the Guild Lord while his Bodyguard is alive. Its exact effects have been adjusted, however, to encourage teams to bring more attackers and/or to kill the Bodyguard first when attacking the Guild Lord.

Defy Pain (PvP): split for PvP; changed skill type to stance; removed damage reduction.

Extreme, uncounterable survivability for characters does not make for fun, balanced PvP. We've significantly weakened Defy Pain in PvP, decreasing the survivability it provides and making it vulnerable to stance-removal skills. This should remove it from builds designed solely to grief opponents and stall out matches.
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