Game updates/2014-03-18

March 18, 2014

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Update - March 18, 2014

Living World

Battle for Lion's Arch: Aftermath

Word of Scarlet's demise has spread like wildfire throughout the wards of the city. With renewed vigor, the heroes of Lion's Arch, the Lionguard, and Order forces have driven out the remainder of Scarlet's armies, their morale and ranks shattered. Cheers and celebrations erupted at the refugee camps and nigh across all of Tyria. All the while, the Breachmaker—the enormous airship looming over Sanctum Harbor—continues to drill uncontrollably. As the city fires wane and smolder, the question that arises now is what will become of the once great city of Lion's Arch?

Lion's Arch

Upon entering the game, players who are level 30 and above will view a short cinematic based in the city. The smoking ruins of Lion's Arch can be found where the city once stood. While Lionguard attempt to secure the remains, refugees take shelter at the relief camps at Vigil Keep, the Durmand Priory, and Stormbluff Isle. Vigil Keep remains as the temporary hub of services and asura gates. Three makeshift bulletin boards now list the following:

• The heroes who defended the city (at the former Gate Hub Plaza).
• Those who are missing (just west of the Grand Piazza).
• Those who lost their lives (at a new graveyard at White Crane Terrace).

At this time, the prospects of the city recovering from this devastating attack are uncertain at best.

Dead End Bar

Players will also receive mail from Lady Kasmeer inviting them to attend a gathering at the Dead End, the bar nestled in the Eastern Commons of Divinity's Reach. Inside, players can join her and Marjory—as well as Rox, Braham, and Taimi—to discuss the ramifications of Scarlet's attack as everyone takes a hard-earned rest over some drinks.

Trading

Rumors tell of a merchant interested in items from major events in Tyria's recent history, including Blade Shards. Players are encouraged to hold on to these items if they are interested in trading with her when she appears.

New Features And Content

Structured Player vs. Player

• Added small, medium, and large rank-up chests based on rank achieved.
• Added the PvP-specific back pieces to the glory reward vendor.
• Rank points have been increased across all Custom, Solo, and Team Arenas.
• Rank points gained from win chests at the end of Solo and Team Arenas have been moved.
  • The rank points will now be completely rewarded at the end of the match.

World vs. World

• Introducing WvW Spring Tournament 2014!
  • North America and Europe have been split into three leagues each: gold, silver, and bronze.
  • Starting March 28 and running through May 30, the worlds in each league will be matched up against one another.
  • The results of those matchups will contribute to each world's Spring Tournament 2014 score.
  • Matchups will be determined based on performance during the tournament, with the higher-performing worlds matched against one another.
  • At the conclusion of the tournament, players who have completed the WvW Spring Tournament 2014 meta-achievement will receive a reward based on their world's placement within their league.
  • A player's world is considered the world on which they were most active during the tournament.
  • A new achievement category has been added to the Achievements panel for WvW tournament achievements.
    • Eighteen achievements have been added.
    • Completing 10 of the achievements will award players the WvW Spring Tournament 2014 Veteran meta-achievement, a title, and a chest of rewards for their world at the conclusion of the tournament.
    • Each reward chest will have a number of WvW tournament tickets based on the performance of the world during the tournament.
    • Every achievement has a reward chest containing a variety of items, including ascended crafting materials.
  • Transferring worlds during a tournament will prevent players from entering the Mist War for the duration of their current matchup and the following WvW matchup.
    • Players are still able to play in the Edge of the Mists during this period.
  • All spent World Ability Points will be refunded to all characters.

Balance, Bug-Fixing, Polish

World Polish

Triple Trouble

• Fixed an issue that was causing the Wurm Demolitionist achievement to stall out and prevent the meta-achievement from progressing correctly. The meta-achievement should repair itself when players log in if they meet the criteria for completion.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the event to stall out and fail if all three Wurms were decapitated at the exact same time.

Fractals of the Mists

• Changes have been made to the daily reward chests for fractals of the Mists to improve ascended armor and weapon rewards.
  • Ascended armor and weapons now drop more often from all levels of fractals, particularly as the fractal level increases.
  • Ascended armor pieces will drop more often than ascended weapons.
  • Ascended armor pieces will now drop in the form of boxes that contain a selection of stat combinations for a single gear slot.
    • Example: Defender's Chest of Ascended Boots contains a choice of one pair of boots from the following sets: Angchu, Beigarth's, Leftpaw's, Wei Qi's, Zintl, or Wupwup.

Profession Skills

Thief

• Trickery II—  Instinctual Response: Fixed a bug that caused this trait to grant fury and vigor while on cooldown.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Rank-up rewards have been changed.
  • Removed the PvP armor/weapon chests.
• Glory boosters have been removed, and the ability to gain glory has been turned off.
• Removed the chest rewards given at the end of competitive game modes (Solo and Team Arena).

World vs. World

• The Commander buff is now only displayed to friendly players.
• Added a requirement for players to attain a rank of 14 in order to purchase the Gift of Battle.
  • Added a new NPC, the Battle Master, to sell the gift to players.
• Added new Battle Historian NPCs to every WvW map to tell players their world's status in current and future WvW tournaments.
• Applied Strength and Applied Fortitude buffs are no longer removed on down, but they are still removed on death.
• Updated the Burning Oil Mastery text to be more consistent.
• Attacking the back inner gate of the Garrison on all the Borderlands maps will now start the repel events and contest the Garrison.
• The back inner gate of the Garrison has had an increase in defense on all Borderlands maps.
• Structural vulnerability is now correctly applied to the back inner gate of the Garrison on all Borderlands maps.
• World bonuses obtained in WvW will once again apply in PvE. Additionally, they will now apply in overflows and while guesting (based on the player's world).
• Fixed an issue that caused a visual discrepancy in the map UI and the score UI.
• Edge of the Mists:
  • Updated the team colors for each of the major regions. Overgrowth is now green; Frostreach is now blue; Badlands is now red.
  • Updated the art for the loading screen.
  • Reduced the spawn rate of Aetherblade pirates.
  • Fixed an issue that would sometimes allow Aetherblades to be worth double WXP.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing the Statuary boss—the Grawl Stoneworker—from gaining Righteous Indignation.
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing one of the gates at Thunder Hollow from being repaired.
  • The Grawl Shaman will now use Swirling Winds totems slightly less often.
  • The max target cap has been increased on many boss skills.
  • Fixed an issue in which supply depots would sometimes appear to have supply when they were actually empty.
  • Fixed a Frostreach bell that wasn't summoning a Spirit of Koda.
  • Mechanical devourers summoned by the Charr Mechanic will no longer grant experience or loot when killed.
  • Reduced the gold cost to start breakout events.
• Eternal Battlegrounds:
  • Fixed the text for the Rogue's Quarry point of interest.
  • Fixed incorrect interaction text on one of Veloka Tower's walls.
  • Polished various markers and capture points for breakout events.
• Borderlands:
  • The dolyak caravan traveling from the Lowlands camp to the Hills keep will now travel down the center of bridges, rather than along the railings.
  • Fixed an issue in which it was possible to teleport through the reinforced gate at Sunnyhill Tower.
  • Fixed some spawn inconsistencies between the Red World Borderlands and the Blue World and Green World Borderlands.

Black Lion Trading Company Gem Store

New Items and Promotions

• Three new hairstyles have been added for every race and gender, and they are available exclusively in Total Makeover Kits and Self-Style Hair Kits, which can be purchased from the Services category of the Gem Store.
• Collection Expanders can now be used up to 5 times per account, increasing the stack size in the Bank Collections tab to 1500! Collection Expanders can be found in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 800 gems each.
• Minis 3-Pack (Set 3) is now available! Forty-nine all-new miniatures are available in random packs of 3 from the Toys category of the Gem Store for 300 gems per pack.
• This is the last week to pick up the Thresher-Sickle 5000, a golem harvesting tool. Players can find it in the Special category of the Gem Store for 1000 gems.

Improvements

• Drop rates for Mini Marjory Delaqua and Mini Mai Trin from Black Lion Chests have been reduced to maintain rarity.

Bug Fixes

• Made a slight change to the Zodiac armor skins to make normal maps less defined on the chest portion.

Guild Wars 2 Wiki Notes

• The icons for the Assault Knight Power Cores have been updated.
• The Champion Icebrood Troll in Honor of the Waves Path 1 is potentially bugged. It is said to be the same Troll from Ascalonian Catacombs. This is because it drops a loot bag and AC related loot.
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