Are the World versus World patch notes, leaked this week, real? No one knows but having had a look over them and having been part of many closed testing groups, they certainly look legitimate. Due to speed and the need to get information out quickly, internal notes are often casual and a little rough around the edges. These look on the money and seem to align with many rumours that have been doing the rounds. The biggest change is probably the reduction in servers, with many pairing off to become giant hubs of activity (i.e Yak’s Bend & Anvil Rock or Sea of Sorrows & Gate of Madness). There's also a Desert Borderland Rework, Tier 1 WvW armor and changes to Stability. On top of this there is word over on the forums that Desert Borderland Camp Guards will be getting adjusted. For the leaked patch notes, take a look below or hit the link.
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April 19th patch changes
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Balance: Stability change – only 1 stack can be removed per second.
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Balance: Unlimited target spells like Static Field get a 10 target cap.
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Balance: Several more specific skill adjustments to address WvW concerns.
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[11:40]
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NEW AOE CAP??
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[11:41]
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-Final World Links-
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NA
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Now: 12 Worlds – 4 Tiers
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Before: 24 Worlds – 8 Tiers
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For simplicity sake, we just took the current top 12 worlds to use as host worlds, and then we reversed the bottom 12 to create the pairings. Using just population metrics gave us slightly different results, but not different enough to merit the additional player confusion.
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Yak’s Bend & Anvil Rock
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Blackgate & Eredon Terrace
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Jade Quarry & Isle of Janthir
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Tarnished Coast & Devona’s Rest
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Dragonbrand & Sanctum of Rall
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Fort Aspenwood & Borlis Pass
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Sea of Sorrows & Gate of Madness
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Maguuma & Kaineng
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Stormbluff Isle & Crystal Desert
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Darkhaven & Ferguson’s Crossing
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Henge of Denravi & Sorrow’s Furnace
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Northern Shiverpeaks & Ehmry Bay
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[11:43]
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April 19th
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WvW Reward Tracks & Participation System (Beta)
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World Linking (Beta – Population Balance)
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Provisions Master Ability Line
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Desert BL Layout Rework
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Proofs of Heroics (Currency)
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Tier 1 WvW Armor
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Cultural Armor Vendor
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18/20 Slot Bags for badges
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Removal of experience gain in WvW
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Addition of Tomes of Knowledge to Rankup
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Increased cooldowns on all Guild Tactics by 5-10 minutes. This effects things like Chilling Fog, Airship Defense and Emergency Waypoint.
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Objective Map Markers display current upgrade level as silver pips.
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Shield Generator skill cooldowns slightly increased.
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Balance: Stability change – only 1 stack can be removed per second.
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Balance: Unlimited target spells like Static Field get a 10 target cap.
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Balance: Several more specific skill adjustments to address WvW concerns.
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Likely 2 Weeks Later
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Alpine BL rotated back in
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[11:43]
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The new plan is to let the community more directly influence our priorities than they have in the past. We’d still like to do the scoring update next, and then the seasons/battlegroup stuff, but if it turns out those aren’t community priorities then we’ll strongly consider postponing them to work on whatever ends up being the #1 thing the community voted for.
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List of changes that were made to DBL. You’ve noticed most of them, but I’ll list it for others. Oh and Alpine is identical to it’s original state, but with HoT updates (resource nodes are all located inside objectives, support for auto-upgrades and guild claiming).
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Fire Keep
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Lord Room
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Less Gargoyle Turrets
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Front half of lava is covered
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Added two additional bridges into the lord room
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Outer Gates
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[11:43]
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Wider Fighting spaces
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Lava has been reshaped and is often covered by grates or larger platforms
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Dolyak routes have slightly changed, this is especially true for the south side
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It’s easier to walk around the outside of the keep from the south side to the north side (less backtracking)
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Upper Dunes
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Half of the dunes are gone, it’s easy to see into the fire keep from above
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There’s a new faster path into the fire keep from the south side.
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Less spawns up here, since there is less space for them.
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Veteran Sand Wurm event moved slightly.
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Oasis
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There’s a new smoothed path into the SE side of the keep.
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North Shrine
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Got rid of the huge random stone wall
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Shrine is now atop a metal grate over lava
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Air Keep
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Lord Room
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Less Bird Turrets
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[11:44]
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More staircases leading up to room
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Outer Gates
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Wider bridges
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No Bird turrets on bridges
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Less Jump pads everywhere (these are now staircases or ramps)
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It’s easier to walk around the outside of the keep from the south side to the north side (less backtracking)
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South Shrine
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Staircase leading up to SE Camp instead of jump pads
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Less bamboo bridges, these are more straightforward
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No river, elevation of the floor has been raised
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Oasis
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Jump pads removed, new regular path leading into keep area
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Earth Keep
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Lord Room
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More routes leading up to platform
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Canyons
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Wider fighting space
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Less big rocks
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Less Teleporters
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Overall
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Barricades Removed
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~12 Hay Bales scattered about. These are no fall damage locations.
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[11:44]
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Phase 2: Scoring Update (QTR 4ish)
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One of the next big features the WvW team is planning on tackling is making improvements to our Scoring system. This will also come with some additional rewards improvements that we were holding off on. The update is currently projected to take at least 3 months to implement, and could easily go longer. (Fair warning, this post is really long and detailed)
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Overview
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As part of WvW 2.0 we plan to update the way WvW matches are scored.
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We are doing this for a few big reasons:
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Reduce the need for 24 hour coverage by reducing the effects of off hour capping (night capping)
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Losing while your team is asleep is no fun
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Reduce the number of runaway matches
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The feeling of hopelessness when your team is down 100,000 points after a single day
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Give players a real opportunity to make a comeback
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Matches are often decided in the first
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[11:44]
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Placement
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Points for 1st – 3/6/9
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Points for 2nd – 2/4/6
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Points for 3rd – 1/2/3
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Action Level
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Time of day (Time Band) determines the minimum Action Level for the skirmish, but if the Action Level from actual map participation is higher, that will be the value used.
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This is to mitigate the effects of nightcapping without strictly saying that 12am – 8am is simply a lower scoring time period.
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Prime Hours
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Action Level 3 (Cannot be increased)
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4 PM – 10 PM
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Subprime Hours
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Action Level 2
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10 PM – 4 AM
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10 AM – 4 PM
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Off Hours
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Action Level 1
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4 AM – 10 AM
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Similar to the participation calculation for an individual player in the Rewards Update, but at the full cross-map level.
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Each map calculates it’s action level separately and then sent to the server at the beginning of each 2 hour skirmish.
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[11:47]
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The map action level is a weighted average of the points generated by each of the three teams.
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The server averages the action level of the 4 maps and then lets the clients know what the current action level is
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Action Level is set at the beginning of a skirmish and cannot change until the start of the next skirmish.
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Action level should not be game-able
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By a small number of players
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By a single side
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By two sides coordinating to trade kills or objectives.
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With a grace period, so that 200 people logging off simultaneously right before the start of a new skirmish doesn’t suddenly drop the level.
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Last Stand
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Last Stand describes the final day of any week long matchup
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During Last Stand, skirmish placement points are tripled
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[11:47]
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This is intended to provide a final comeback mechanic for teams that are behind and give teams that are behind hope that they are still in the match.
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Note: We have tentative plans to move reset times back to Saturday so that Last Stand can happen on Friday night.
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Last Stand Placement
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Points for 1st – 9/18/27
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Points for 2nd – 6/12/18
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Points for 3rd – 3/6/9
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Skirmish Scoring
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Points for Capture
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Objectives will award score (for the current skirmish) both on capture, and again on each tick.
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This is the method that Edge of the Mists scores objectives, and prevents teams from getting nothing for capturing an objective, but then losing it before the tick scores.
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EotM currently awards roughly 3x the objectives tick score on capture. EotM should be normalized to 1x tick score when WvW 2.0 rolls out, so scoring is consistent across all of WvW.
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[11:47]
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Capturing upgraded objectives is worth higher amounts of Warscore and Participation(individual rewards.)
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Holding upgraded objectives is worth higher amounts of Warscore per tick (PPT).
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A fully upgraded keep would be worth double the current value, so 25 -> 50
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Castle – 35/46/57/70
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Keep – 25/33/41/50
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Tower – 15/20/25/30
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Camp – 10/13/16/20
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Points for Kill
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The amount of score earned from PPK will increase to be proportionally more siimiliar to the amount of score earned from PPT (Points Per Tick.)
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A rough number would be 1 -> 5, with diminishing returns on killing players who have been alive for less than 5 minutes.
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Caravans
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*Warscore for Caravan Kills, Caravan Delivery and Sentry Capture should increase by at a similar rate as PPK.
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Ex: If killing a player is increased from 1-5 points, killing a dolyak should also increase from 1->5 points.
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[11:48]
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Communicate Warscore actions in world better.
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Ex: Kill a dolyak and a +5 Warscore floater appears above the corpse for a few seconds.
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*Top center point graph should give better feedback when it updates.
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Ex: the line should flash and refill everytime objective ownership changes.
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Rewards
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Skirmish Rewards (Every 2 Hours)
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Grants Reward Track Points (large amount)
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Amount based on world placement at the end of the Skirmish
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Requires at least some recent participation (Reward Level 1 or higher)
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Reward Track Points Awarded
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1st – 2000
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2nd – 1500
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3rd -1000
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Amount also modified by the number of Ticks a player participated in
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8 possible Ticks per Skirmish
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For each Tick a player participated in, they will earn an 1/8th of the full reward amount
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Indirectly awards whatever items are on WvW Reward Tracks
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[11:48]
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skirmish Summary Bouncy Chest type UI to claim rewards
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Displays skirmish world placement and reward points
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Fills reward track bar and grants any item reward if a new tier is achieved
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Match (Every Week)
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Grants a huge amount of Reward Track Points
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Amount based on world placement at the end of the Match
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Amount also modified by the number of Skirmishes a player participated in.
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Requires participating in at least 10 Skirmishes to earn the full reward amount.
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For each Skirmish a player participated in, they will earn an 1/10th of the full reward amount
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Grants WvW Armor Upgrade Tokens
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Also grants Tournament Tickets as an additional reward during tournament weeks.
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1st – 6,000 Reward Track Points & 3 Armor Tokens (+300 Tournament Tickets)
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2nd – 4,500 Reward Track Points & 2 Armor Tokens (200 Tournament Tickets)
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[11:48]
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***3rd – 3,000 Reward Track Points & 1 Armor Token (100 Tournament Tickets)
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Match Summary Bouncy Chest type UI to claim rewards (Fancier than Skirmish)
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Displays match world placement and reward points
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Fills reward track bar and grants any item reward if a new tier is achieved
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Veteran Bonus
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Stacking Reward Track multiplier gained for playing consecutive weeks of WvW.
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Each consecutive week of play (starting with week 2) grants a 10% bonus to reward track points earned.
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Stacks up to 3 times.
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Week 1 – No Modifier
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Week 2 – +10% Reward Track Points
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Week 3 – +20% Reward Track Points
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Week 4+ – +30% Reward Track Points
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