And we’ll call it, this new land
The three new lands in ArcheAge may not have dinosaurs fighting on them but they could very well be the site of plenty of sudden but inevitable betrayals. That’s because on both Aegis Island and Whalesong Harbor there are world events that while technically PvE, are open to PvP as well. The factions can choose to murder each other instead of working together to complete the event. On Aegis Island, the event is triggered by killing the creatures of the land; once a certain threshold is reached, the zone is pushed into war for about 40 minutes, at which time the event also runs. The Whalesong Harbor battleground event, which also triggers when the zone goes to war, has players using turrets and mines to kill creatures. These creatures should pose a bit of a challenge as Kwai noted that they are the highest level creatures in Auroria, with the exception of inside the Library. The rewards for participating in these events are XP for the new Ancestral skills as well as crafting materials for the new Erenor tier of crafted gear.
The tour didn’t really touch on Whaleswell Strait, so one has to wonder what is special about that area. Strangely it makes me want to sneak over to there and explore even more!
Alternative progress with ancestral skills
Although the skill cap is remaining 55 with this update, that doesn’t mean players don’t have a way to progress. Kwai expounded on the ancestral skill system, which is where XP will go after players reach level 55. Currently, each of ArcheAge’s classes has three specific ancestral skills, with two augments (variations) per skill. That means there are 70 new variations of skills. Plans are for all of the class abilities to ultimately have ancestral skills, so the empty spots now on the ancestral skill interface will get filled in over time.
Kwai explained that ancestral skills augment or modify an existing ability, such as increasing the duration of a DoT, increasing the radius of affect, or adding a stun. Although I don’t know all of the ancestral skills, I already know that I am going to be going for the one that adds a lightning DoT onto Meteor Strike. However, the ice-based alternative also looks promising, which increases the snare component and deep freezes enemies. These skills, which have seven levels, “give you a variety of options to augment your base skills,” Kwai said. “There’s no real power creep there, it’s more just utility and variety of how you want to customize your class even further.”
A new way to trade
The content that looked like it would affect me the most personally is the new tradepack system, since I enjoy making and running tradepacks. The soon-to-be old way is that players can make a pack anywhere and then move it by land or by sea to other zones for gold or certain materials. That is all changing.
The new system involves large towers called trade outlets that have been erected in Austera, Lutesong Harbor, and Caenord on Haranya and Ezna, Cinderstone, and west of Cresent Throne on Nuia — basically all the places you traded overseas packs previously. For the first time, Auroria will be a part of the tradepack system; there will also be one tower for Nuians and one for Haranyans on the coastal base of Diamond Shores that players can access when faction bases reach the brand new rank 4.
All packs — whether general, specialty, or aged from a larder — on a continent will be transported only to those towers; no longer can they be turned in at any city. The tower gives the player gold then converts these packs to cargo packs at a specific ratio. This is the first phase.
Phase two involves grabbing cargo packs (which cost vocation badges for the ticket as well as gold) and transporting them to a trade tower across the sea. These packs are initially worth double the gold you paid but will depreciate in value over time (Kwai describes it as losing their freshness), so the longer you hold on to it the less it will be worth. Luckily, that will never go below 80% of the maximum value. The packs retain their six day timer upon being set down. In this phase, players can choose to take many packs and risk PvP or they can actually pay for safe passage on an NPC boat. Since the tower area is also a safe zone (except on Auroria), players who opt for this one-pack-at-a-time method are basically assured they will receive their gold for the journey. You might have noticed I said gold, because that is all you get upon turning in overseas. The charcoal stabilizers you used to earn are now a part of phase three. If you don’t want gold, you can transport and sell on Freedich Island for Dragon Essence Stabilizers (the crafting material for upper-tier gear), but there’s no safe passage there. The gold trader on Freedich however, is gone.
The third and final phase of this new trading system is collecting certified cargo from a tradepost (stuff that was shipped from across the sea) and carrying it to a local exchanger right on the continent. These NPCs are located in Gweonid Forest, Aubre Cradle, Hellswamp on Nuia, Falcorth Plains, Arcum Iris, Perinoor Ruins on Haranya, and in Golden Ruins on Auroria. Note: This is the only way to obtain charcoal stabilizers in game now except through other players.
Kwai explained this change. He said that it “distributes the resources and the rewards for turning in packs more naturally to the people who ultimately use those things.” For instance, PvPers don’t want charcoal stabilizers — they are often wanting gold for their plunder. Kwai continued, “A lot of the way that this is built is based on the way players actually inetract with the tradepack system, and it’s been modified to support their preferred methods of play.” He also noted that the emphasis is on running fewer packs for a higher reward.
The idea sounds interesting, and it does seem to give more options for how to run tradepacks. Those who like to ship overseas can focus on just that, and folks who prefer land runs can do that. People can get charcoal stabilizers without leaving their continent (or for more danger, try and do it on the opposing faction’s continent). How it will all play out, I am unsure. I am definitely going to be testing this system out though.
Crafting, clothes, and, cars
I admit that I didn’t bother with crafting too much in ArcheAge, as the RNG in the gear crafting system was just not worth it to me. Erenor Eternal actually takes that RNG out of the equation, making the idea of crafting more enticing . Now, crafters who make an illustrious item will actually choose the result they want when they are crafting instead of it being a random roll from four possibilities. Every version of these pieces can also be upgraded, so that RNG is also gone from there. Another crafting change is that the crafting tiers have been condensed from five down to two.
There is also a new top level of craftied gear: Erenor. Once a player equips the full set, there is a special visual effect, including wings. One difference with this gear is that none of it can be regraded — not the armor nor the weapons nor the accessories. Instead, players will feed each piece same-type items in order to improve it. Regarding gear, there is also a new eternal grade of gear added on top of mythic, so players can enhance their gear even farther.
Anyone looking forward to that sweet Rolls Royce-looking vehicle in the Korean version of the game will finally be able to drive around in luxury here! This Rampage S200 seats four and carries three tradepacks. Players can definitely drive around in style, however they should know that this vehicle is not as maneuverable as the other cars. The good news is that the materials needed to build it are exactly the same as the timber coup or apex squall.
Welcome back promotion
As with the other big updates, Trion is offering a welcome back promotion that grants goodies to both active and returning players. The ticket for a set of Soulsworn gear makes a return, so players can have gear better suited for higher-level content. Returning players can get the ticket to use as an alternate set of gear, put it on an alt, or choose something different entirely that would be more useful to them, like luna stones, Dune’s blessings, etc. There’s also a temporary costume that can be changed to permanent. SO if you’ve been wanting to poke back into ArcheAge to see how things are, the release of Erenor Eternal would be a good time to. (Also, at least on my server there is open land for claiming!)
