Game updates/2019 April Fools

World Polish

• Updated audio for sitting in chairs. Chair-based audio can be adjusted using the Unique Audio drop-downs in the Options menu.
• Cloud movement in Shaemoor has been corrected to match Tyrian wind patterns.
• Fixed a visual bug in which some dredge did not appear to be ghosts in Dredgehaunt Cliffs.
• The commander's communicator has been upgraded to include a virtual assistant. Use voice command "Dessa!" to get started. For example, "Dessa! Play 'Fear Not This Night.'"
• Players found to be in violation of the "No Mounts" zone within Amnoon will be fined.
• To address immersion complaints, all charr character names have had the word "charr" replaced with "kitten."
• Cats in the player's home instance that are not kept entertained will now begin destroying gathering nodes and scenery at a set rate per day.

Fractals

• Mistlock instabilities have been renamed "fractal birds" for clarity.
• To fix the problem of "bad days," fractal birds are now based on player profession rather than randomly generated each day. Corresponding birds will be applied to all party members based on their profession. Check the Profession Skills section of the release notes for the first season's birds!

Raids

• Raised the water level in Hall of Chains to facilitate the use of underwater skills in the final encounter.

Personal Story

• The Personal Story has been renamed Professional Story to reflect that this is your character's job.

Items

• Fixed a typo that caused the Gift of Dedication to require chak eggs instead of chak egg sacs.
• Stonemist Castle can now be crafted as a decoration for guild halls.

Profession Skills

General

• Alacrity now speeds up the wait time for the daily reset.
• Confusion now randomizes your key bindings when it is applied, in addition to its previous effects.
• Movement speed now scales with boot rarity.

Elementalist

• Entering water attunement now temporarily removes the dehydration condition.
• Entering fire attunement now temporarily removes the frostbite condition.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: We Bleed Birds.

Engineer

• Reduced scrap acquisition rate of scrappers to pre-Heart of Thorns™ levels.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Bird Vindicators.

Guardian

• Increased depth of symbolism on all guardian symbols by 25%.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Bird Overload.

Mesmer

• Changed Signet of Inspiration by 33%.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Bird Convergence.

Necromancer

• Axe skill damage increased by 5.999% repeating.
• Reduced the number of scourge shades scourged when a scourge shade scourges shades.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Toxic Birds.

Ranger

• Pets commanded to fight members of their own species will instead turn hostile and attack the ranger.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Social Birds.

Revenant

• Replacing the previous energy cost, revenant skills now consume spirit shards.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Outbirded.

Thief

• Reduced the amount of gold gained when Steal is used on friendly NPCs.
• Thief initiative is now reset when the thief enters combat, with the starting amount randomly determined from 1 to 20.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Last Birds.

Warrior

• Increased the cost of entering Berserk mode from 30 adrenaline to 35 adrenaline.
• Players can now prevent adrenaline loss between encounters by using attack skills, even if they don't hit anything.
• Seasonal Fractal Bird: Slippery Birds.

Structured Player vs. Player

• Fractal birds have been introduced to PvP. The greater the lead a team has over the enemy team, the more birds they will have applied.

World vs. World

General

• When the outnumbered effect is applied, autobalancing will immediately take effect.
• Added new mount race events featuring the warclaw to all WvW maps. Please show good sportsmanship and don't attack players who are waiting for the race to start.

Eternal Battlegrounds

• Added a new environmental hazard to the Eternal Battlegrounds. Roving bands of feral warclaws sweep through the map, dealing high damage to players caught outside of a gradually shrinking circle centered on Stonemist Keep.

Alpine Borderlands

• Added a new environmental hazard to the Alpine Borderlands. Players in the cold, high-altitude, low-oxygen environment of the snowy north will have the new frostbite condition applied to them. This condition periodically inflicts chilled and confusion.

Desert Borderlands

• Added a new environmental hazard to the Desert Borderlands. Players who spend longer than 10 minutes outdoors in the Desert Borderlands will have the new dehydration condition applied to them. This condition periodically inflicts crippled and torment and will be accompanied by hallucinations of enemy mirages.