Patch Notes Build 26 (June 12, 2015)

Build 26 (v0.3.4.5) is an update that was released on June 12, 2015.

This update finalized Act 3, allowing the player to venture forth beyond the northern walls of Homestead and into the territory of the Cult of Ch'thon. The player also gains the ability to side with one of the two factions, Order of Death's Vigil and Kymon's Chosen, with the other faction becoming hostile up to the point of eventually spawning their Nemeses. The level cap was raised to 50, granting players access to over 70 new Epic items.

In the announcement for this update, the developers stated that they plan to release the full game by the end of 2015, and that future releases will include Legendary items, the Devotion system, a sixth mastery, and other features.

Major new features

 * The final chapter of Act 3 is now available. Venture out to the north of Homestead and face off against the vile Cult of Ch'thon and their minions. Learn about what brought the Cult to the north and the cataclysmic plans they have in store for Cairn in Act 4!
 * Humanity will not survive through the efforts of just one individual. Join forces with the enigmatic Order of Death's Vigil or the zealous Kymon's Chosen factions and turn them into valuable allies in the battles ahead.
 * Two new Nemesis bosses have been added; one each for the Order of Death's Vigil and Kymon's Chosen factions.
 * The level cap has been increased to 50. Discover new loot and reach for ever greater power as you gain access to over 70 Epic items and class-specific Rare suffixes.

Tech

 * The critical damage bonus is now visible on the character sheet.
 * Pet reputation levels sync with player's regularly instead of only on pet creation.
 * Skill confirmation dialog changed back to not require confirmation in between mastery panels.
 * Bonus items from dismantling now have a proper seed.

Art

 * Updated the Aether Crack terrain texture and the Scattered Bone terrain texture.

Game

 * Boss and Hero monster health scaling adjusted. Should have minimal impact at the levels you normally fight individual bosses at, but improve scaling at higher levels.
 * Drop rate of manticore eyes increased.
 * Rifthounds have had their component table replaced so that Bristly Fur will drop more consistently in the early game.
 * Drop rate of Bristly Fur from Boneback rats has been increased.
 * Bounty: Mortallis now spawns on the first 3 floors of Steps of Torment instead of the bottom 2 floors. Reward reduced.
 * Bounty: Lord Executioner has been replaced with a new target that does not require entry into the roguelike dungeon. Reward reduced.
 * Updated the requirements, rewards and text for various bounties. Some bounties may be reset because of this.
 * Fixed an issue that could cause players on any bounty to be stuck without a bounty and unable to accept another.
 * Fixed Stone Clan Groble bleed dealing excessive damage.
 * Sped up default cast animations by 8%.
 * Fixed an issue with being unable to complete the quest The Seamstress.

Itemization

 * 12 new faction augments have been added to support pet builds.
 * 6 new faction augments have been added for Burn, Coldburn and Electrocute builds.
 * Many older monster infrequents have had their stats updated to bring them in line with more recently introduced MIs.
 * Rare Suffix - Abomination: removed % Offensive Ability for real this time, added % Physical Damage.
 * Component - Arcane Spark: can now also be applied to Medals.
 * Component - Mark of the Myrmidon: added 16% Reflect.
 * Crafting - several blueprints have been updated to use Chthonic Seals of Binding instead of Aether Crystals. More blueprints will be introduced in the future that use this crafting material.
 * 14 new Epics have been added to the loot pool in the 10-50 range.

Soldier

 * War Cry: now has tiered effects that scale in size to more accurately represent the skills effect radius. Radius increased.
 * Markovian's Advantage and Zolhan's Technique have been adjusted to provide a more fair value relative to other weapon pool skills, for their weight for point investment. They now increment to 25% prior to the level cap, then only bonuses increment.
 * Markovian's Advantage and Zolhan's Technique bonuses have been shifted around and rebalanced to be more in line with the number of targets each skill hits.
 * Blade Arc: Bleed and % Weapon Damage scaling increased.
 * Break Morale: changed from % Total Resistance reduction to absolute Physical Resist reduction. The resistance reduction also scales up to about twice what the original provided.

Demolitionist

 * Fire Strike: Fire Damage scaling with rank increased.
 * Static Strike: base chance increased from 15% to 30%, scaling to 60% at max and 75% at ultimate. Damage adjusted to start lower but scale higher.
 * Quick Jacks: Lightning Damage reduction increased to -30%, from -25%.

Occultist

 * Wasting: Vitality Damage increased.
 * Black Death: Poison Damage increased. Vitality and Bleed % damage bonuses increased.
 * Sigil of Destruction: Chaos and Fire damage increased.

Nightblade

 * Weapon-pool skill weights now all start at 8% and increment to 20% by level 5. Beyond that level, only the power of the skill increases.
 * Scaling on various weapon pool skills adjusted based on the higher starting weights and change of Nidalla's Hidden Hand to affect Belgothian's Shears and Amarasta's Quick Cut.
 * Belgothian's Shears: % Physical bonus changed to Pierce so that it isn't self-boosting, and flat Physical scaled down slightly.
 * Amarasta's Quick Cut: % Weapon Damage scales to a higher cap. Pierce damage also increased at cap but % Pierce was removed.
 * Whirling Death: % Weapon Damage starts lower but scales faster to reach within 5% of the original cap. Bleed damage scaling increased.
 * Ring of Steel: Pierce Damage starts lower but scales faster to reach a higher max damage.
 * Circle of Slaughter: Bleed Damage significantly increased.
 * Blade Trap: replaced % Weapon Damage, which was actually not functioning, with flat Pierce Damage. A significant damage increase for the skill. % Defensive Ability reduction now scales with rank, starting at -25%, instead of being -50% at all ranks.
 * Devouring Blades: added % Pierce bonus, reduced starting % Damage Converted to Health to 25%, from 33%.
 * Frenetic Throw: total damage reduction increased.
 * Lethal Gambit: % Current Life damage minimum now scales up to 7% at max ranks instead of remaining at 1% at all ranks.
 * Amarasta's Blade Burst: % Weapon Damage now scales up to 75%, up from 50%.
 * Merciless Repertoire: % Damage bonuses increased. Added % Acid Damage bonus.

Arcanist

 * Panetti's Replicating Missile: slightly increased scaling, more so at rank 13 and above.
 * Distortion: slightly increased Aether Damage scaling with rank, with a bump at rank 12. Added % Fire Damage.
 * Supercharged: % Elemental Damage bonus increased with rank.
 * Proliferation: now starts at 2 additional fragments, % Aether Damage bonus increased with rank.
 * Trozan's Sky Shard: area of effect scaling increased, but energy cost increased with rank as well.

v0.3.4.7 (b26 Hotfix 1) changes
A hotfix for Build 26 was released.

Tech

 * Fixed a crash that could occur when some monsters with pets were killed.

Game

 * Level limit increased to 45 or 50 for most areas in Act 3.
 * Fixed an issue with pathing on Bridge to Gryver's Mill.
 * Adjusted Thall'Nosh attributes.
 * Fixed another issue with the quest dialogue in The Seamstress preventing its completion.
 * Adjusted the spawn rate of Revenants for the Order of Death's Vigil, particularly Frost Revenants.

Demolitionist

 * Stun Jacks and Full Spread lightning and electrocute damage swapped. This was intended for B26 but only Stun Jacks was changed, leaving both the base skill and modifier with lightning damage. This change should help to balance the skill and promote investment in both the base and modifier for Quick Jacks builds, especially now that the projectiles are working properly.

v0.3.4.7 (b26 Hotfix 2) changes
Following the previous hotfix, Build 26 got a second hotfix.

Major changes
The Phantasmal Blades skill has been reworked so that the previous transmuted version, Frenetic Throw, is now the base skill. If you want to restore your no-cooldown Phantasmal Blades build, just use the skill reclaimer to remove the point from the new transmuter Focused Throw, which adds a cooldown. Focused Throw essentially transforms the skill into the original Phantasmal Blades. This swap was made for balancing purposes, as it was impossible to appropriately balance the no-cooldown and cooldown versions of the skill by just applying negative bonuses to the transmuter.

Tech

 * Pet bonuses from suffixes/prefixes are now properly added on items that also had a base pet bonus.
 * Fixed a bug where stun jacks/phantasmal blades would be unable to hit targets.
 * Fixed a crash that could occur if creating a character failed due to problems with file storage.
 * Fixed a crash that could occur if projectiles exited the loaded area of the game world.
 * Fixed a bug where Chthonian Rifts did not work properly in multiplayer.
 * Quest reward window now takes into account a player's faction mandates for displayed reputation gain.

Animation

 * Fixed a bug where running with dual wield pistols would occasionally cause them to disappear.

Game

 * Increased the max level in Cronley's Hideout to 50 during Early Access so players can continue to earn reputation from Outlaws during this phase of development.
 * Slightly increased Hero and Boss monster Defensive Ability scaling with level and hit points.
 * Element-based Hero archetypes now have a high resistance to their element.
 * Faction reputation rewards have been rearranged to be earned at a level for which they would be desirable: Armor and weapons are now available at Respected. Accessories are now available at Honored. The first tier of augments has been moved up to Honored. This change will not impact any rewards already purchased.
 * Increased infamy gained from killing Champion, Hero and Boss monsters. This is relevant for reaching Nemesis status.
 * Increased reputation gained from killing Champion and Hero monsters. This is relevant for reaching Revered status.
 * Increased reputation rewards from Bounties. This may cause your currently active Bounties to reset.
 * Increased max level of Bounty targets to 50+, from 40+.
 * Updated text on several Kymon's Chosen and Order of Death's Vigil bounties to correctly direct you to Fort Haron.
 * Bounty: Wrought from Obsidian has been renamed. Target changed to the boss in the Ashen Waste. Reputation reward increased.
 * Increased bonus from Writs to 50%. If you used one already, you will have to purchase and use another for the new bonus to take effect.
 * Fixed the disabled riftgates at Fort Haron. You may now open personal riftgates in that dungeon as normal.
 * Fixed the blurry map at Fort Haron and Stonerend Quarry.
 * Fixed Sen'Thel Voidbringer and Bolvar, the Bloodbinder casting their Chaos Barrage spells in melee range.
 * Fixed a visual bug with Chthonian Devourer vomit skills.
 * Non-Hero and Boss monster debuffs now have icons and brief descriptions of the effects that will appear over your Energy Bar. The goal is to extend this to all monster debuffs with future updates.

Itemization

 * Updated stats on several level 50 Epic items.
 * Updated the skills granted by level 50 Transcendent Relics: Ancestor, Blight, Desolation, Sacrifice, Zeal.
 * Reduced the health, attack speed and damage of the Stormhound summon.
 * For community translators: Corrupted prefix has been renamed to Void-Touched.

Demolitionist

 * Stun Jacks: stun duration now scales with rank to a higher max. Lightning damage and explosion radius increased. Physical damage has also been added to allow for higher total damage scaling for default use without it being too powerful for Quick Jacks builds. 4 points have also been added to the level cap to provide more scaling for Quick Jacks builds with further investment.
 * Full Spread: Electrocution damage increased and 4th projectile added back at level cap.
 * Quick Jacks: Now has three levels, offering reduced lightning damage penalty in exchange for higher energy cost and reduced physical damage. This should help make energy cost more manageable early on while providing another means to upgrade damage later when energy regeneration is more available. To further support this build, Lightning damage bonuses were added to Flame Touched and Ulzuin's Chosen, tying Stun Jacks back into the latter. Rebalance of this is a work in progress but the previous ultra-nerf was not intentional. It was partially the result of a bug on multi-projectile skills with modifiers that has been fixed. With the bug fixed, it is hard to know where the damage should be set now, so the current adjustment is only a "best attempt" and will be amended in the future if it proves to be too little or too much. The current goal was to end up with a viable, powerful Quick Jacks build but one where the power curve is paced out a little more with investment.
 * Ulzuin's Chosen: now also works with Stun Jacks and only requires investment in any one of the skills it affects. % Lightning bonus has been added along with % Electrocute Damage and % Burn Damage. Bonuses scale slightly higher. % Pierce Damage was removed.
 * Blackwater Cocktail: Fire and Burn damage increased slightly. Instead of reducing target's Physical Damage, now reduces enemy Offensive Ability. Projectile angle lowered to reduce the throw slow-down at short ranges - ultimately the target is to revisit the physics on this but this should at least improve it for now.
 * Blackwater Cocktail now has a transmuter: High Potency, which adds a cooldown in exchange for higher damage, longer duration and reduction to enemy physical resistance.
 * Demon Fire: Chaos damage increased slightly.
 * Agonizing Flames: % Damage bonuses increased and Resistance Reduction removed. The resistance reduction was likely not interesting here because, given the nature of the skill, it was just self-reinforcing and not really much different than upping the damage.
 * Blast Shield lost 4 points to Stun Jacks, but the damage absorption was somewhat increased to compensate, and % Fire Retaliation was swapped with flat Fire Retaliation.
 * Flame Touched: Added a moderate % Lightning Damage bonus, and flat Fire Retaliation has been swapped out for % Fire Retaliation.

Occultist

 * Blood Burst: added % Weapon Damage.
 * Aspect of the Guardian: added % Acid Damage.
 * Familiar Mend Flesh: healing frequency increased.
 * Familiar Lightning Strike: cast frequency increased.
 * Hellhound: innate damage scaling moderately reduced, resistances reduced.
 * Hellhound Infernal Breath: damage scaling increased.

Nightblade

 * Belgothian's Shears: reduced the stun duration to 0.7 s from 1.5 s.
 * Dual Blades: slight reduction in damage bonus scaling.
 * Phantasmal Blades has been totally overhauled such that it now functions like Frenetic Throw, with no base cooldown. All damages have been adjusted accordingly. Frenetic Throw has been replaced by Focused Throw, which adds a cooldown and significantly ups the damage, transforming it to be more like the original Phantasmal Blades. This change was made to allow for better balancing of both versions of the skill. Previously, it was impossible to configure the bonuses in such a way that the base skill could be sufficiently powerful without Frenetic Throw getting out of control. The result was a lackluster Phantasmal Blades and a Frenetic Throw that could become moderately overpowered with the right gearing. In the new incarnation, both the cooldown and non-cooldown versions should each now feel powerful but reasonably balanced.
 * Elemental Awakening: increased duration of Frostburn to 3 s from 2 s.

Arcanist

 * Panetti's Replicating Missile and Proliferation energy cost scaling reduced. This is a stop-gap measure to make the skill a little more viable right now until I have more time to devote to it. I will be evaluating it for additional improvement in the future.

v0.3.4.8 (b26 Hotfix 3) changes
Following the previous hotfixes, Build 26 got a third hotfix.

Tech

 * Fixed a physics related crash.

Demolitionist

 * Fixed an issue with Grenado not properly benefiting from Ulzuin's Chosen.
 * Agonizing Flames now has resistance reduction again - apparently people were using it and it seems that straight %dmg bonuses were not seen as a very worthy investment by themselves.
 * Stun / Quick Jacks targeting range changed to "long" and damage adjusted up slightly.
 * Full Spread electrocution scaling adjusted up slightly.
 * Flame Touched fire and lightning modifiers increased.

Occultist

 * Pet innate damage / life scaling reduced. These numbers were set long ago, before the introduction of all the pet gear and other class pet buffs and needed to come down.
 * Manipulation scaling reduced.
 * Raven AI adjusted so that it should attempt to buff the player / allies more with storm spirit.