Thursday, May 31, 2012

What’s New in Wrath of Heroes?


Today’s maintenance came with game update 0.20 and several interesting changes and additions. Let's take a look at some of them:
New Scenario: The Pyramid of Settra - The 'Relic Rush' in the pyramid is the fourth scenario available! The possession of relics will give you points, while you try to steal more relics and defend the ones you gathered.
New Hero: Amenadresh - Play the mystical Liche Priest who uses the chants of ancient Nehekara to bolster his allies and curse his foes!
Free Hero Rotation Changed - Aessa, Bax and Nethys; take the fight to your enemies!
Changes to Elite Tactics - Elite versions of tactics may no longer be slotted in a Mastery loadout together with their corresponding normal version. Any Heroes that had both elite and normal versions of a tactic slotted together in a Mastery loadout will have both versions un-slotted upon their first login.
Also in the version: Skins with Benefits, the chance to inspect Other People’s Profiles, a new Trophy System and much more.

Known Issues

The following is a list of known issues with the current build:
  • Currency: There is a known issue that if you purchase Gems, the client will not update properly.  For this beta, please use the ‘refresh’ button beside the currency totals to manually update.
  • The Pyramid of Settra: There is a known issue with this zone where the lighting is not displaying properly at all points on the map.
  • Profiles: There is a known issue where viewing multiple player profiles will not update properly.  
  • Store:  If you find a bug or have an issue, note it and try refreshing the store via the home button on the browser window or relogging into the client.  
  • Graphics: Occasionally VFX will stick on characters during game play.

Please note that known issues will be removed and moved to the patch notes section below when resolved.  If you find any other issues, email them to bugs@wrathofheroes.com. General feedback can be directed to feedback@wrathofheroes.com.
Join us in the fights and get your share of the riches of the Pyramid!

Patch 0.20 Goes Live


We will take the Wrath of Heroes servers offline tomorrow, May 30th at 7:30am EDT (1:30pm CEST) to implement patch 0.20. At the moment we expect the servers to be back online now later than 11:30am EDT (5:30pm CEST).
Read all changes in the patch notes.

Game Update 0.20


Highlights


The Pyramid of Settra

Riches and power await you in the newly-discovered Pyramid of Settra!  Gather as many Relics as you can and hold on to them for as long as you can.  The more you gather and hoard away, the more points you’ll get for your team, but remember you aren’t the only Relic hunters out there - enemy Heroes will be crashing your treasure room!  It's a mad dash for power and glory, so stay strong and plan your offense and defense carefully!

Skins with Benefits

They say clothes make the man (or woman or monster), and in the new patch, they’ll bring more than good looks to the table!  Now when you buy an alternate appearance for your Hero, affectionately known as a skin, you’ll unlock an additional mastery loadout for that Hero.  Set up multiple mastery loadouts before battle and switch between them when you respawn to ensure that you are always prepared!  So check out some super sexy skins in the store and get locked and loaded-out!

Other People’s Profiles

Still reeling from that Bax attack?  Want to see what your enemy is playing with to see how they accomplished that high score?  Or just curious how you stack up against your friends or complete strangers?  Then check out our new feature, Other People’s Profiles, that allows you to check out the profile of anyone you meet in game.  Check out what trophies they’ve won, what Heroes they own, or what loadout they use to dominate.  Use that information to your advantage, learn what others are doing, or just use it to brag about how awesome you are compared to other players.

Trophies

Hit Mastery Tier ten before your friends?  Show it off by displaying the trophy for that accomplishment beside your name with the new Trophy system.  This new system will reward you as you hit milestones in your Wrath of Heroes career.  You can view your trophies or other peoples' trophies in the Profile section, and set your favorite as the icon that will be displayed beside your name in the scoreboard.  The system will be expanded over time, so keep an eye on future patches, because there’s to come and plenty to accomplish and show off.

Patch Changes


Skins with Benefits

Additional functionality has been added to the alternate skins available for each of the Heroes.  In addition to looking snazzy, owning a skin will grant you an additional loadout for that Hero.  This will work in the following fashion (pun intended):
  • Owning a skin will grant access to an additional loadout for the associated Hero.
  • These additional loadouts can be viewed on the Hero detail page off of the Heroes tab in the lobby.
  • To slot Masteries to a particular loadout, just choose the appropriate loadout from the dropdown box.
  • Loadouts can be named to aid in choosing them quickly.  To rename a loadout just click on the pencil icon to the right of the loadout name, then choose a name from the list of options.
  • All loadouts are numbered as well to aid in identifying where a Mastery is stored when viewing tooltips in the Available Masteries section of the Hero details.  By default the main loadout that is on a Hero is numbered one and additional loadouts are numbered sequentially as they are unlocked by owning Skins.
  • Loadouts are not tied to the Hero or Skin and can be set separately.  For example,  a player that owns both Aessa Goldmane (the Hero) and Aessa the Protector (the Skin) could choose to use either outfit as their default look and would still have access to choose either loadout during the Scenario and swap that out as they choose each time they respawn.  Skin preference cannot be changed during a Scenario.

Other People’s Profiles

Who’s the best Bax player ever? This guy! But wait, no one can see that… until now. Now anyone can see the profile of anyone else with the addition of our new feature called ‘Other People’s Profiles’. You can now choose to view information about any other player and see what they’ve done, what they play, and get a glimpse into just how they are winning, or conversely, how much better you are than them!
  • To view another player’s profile, just right click on their name and choose ‘View Profile’ in the list of options.
  • Doing this will open the Profile tab and populate it with all the information about that other player.
  • Including in the Profile view of the other person is a comparison of stats so you can match up Heroes or overall statistics.

Trophy System

Show off your skills or accomplishments with the all new Trophy system. As players hit pre-defined milestones or achievements in their career, Trophies will be rewarded. We've started the system off with a small set of rewards and over time the number of available Trophies, and any associated rewards will grow.
  • Trophies are rewarded when a set threshold has been met for a particular goal.
  • Trophies will have goals based on a number of criteria that will expand over time.   Criteria could include account specific goals, hero specific goals, scenario specific goals, or any other cool or funny goals that would be fun to brag about!
  • Trophies that you have collected, as well as Trophies available to collect can be seen in the new ‘Trophy Wall’ section of the Profile tab.  See the section on ‘Trophy Wall’ for additional details on how the feature works.
  • Players may choose a Trophy to represent them on the scoreboard or when their profile is viewed by another player.  The icon for that Trophy will be seen by all players in a Scenario and allow the player to virtually brag about their accomplishments.

New on the Store

  • Amenadresh the Steward has been added to the Store.  See the Hero Lineup section for more information.
  • Additional skins are now available for Lucian, Nethys, and Aessa.  All Heroes now have a skin available - just in time for the release of Skins with Benefits!
  • All skins have been updated to reflect that owning them will grant an additional loadout for the appropriate Hero.
  • Mastery Scrolls were introduced last week in the store.  Purchasing these scrolls will grant your account the appropriate number of Mastery points to spend on owned Heroes.
  • Wood Chest: This item has been updated with additional content.  This content includes tactics and perks available from the most recent Hero introductions.
  • Look for new items to appear on the store periodically!

Hero Lineup

Amenadresh has arrived! He is a mystical Liche Priest who uses the chants of ancient Nehekara to bolster his allies and curse his foes.
  • Amenadresh can curse his enemies, making them take damage over time or removing their armor for a short period.
  • Amenadresh can siphon the life from his enemies to keep himself alive, and can bless all nearby allies with health over a period of time.
  • Amenadresh’s first ability causes him to build up ancient power, which he unleashes every third cast to do powerful damage to all enemies near his target.
The following Heroes are considered free and available to all during this week:
Aessa the White Lion
Bax the Black Orc 
Nethys the Vampire
Note: The Heroes that are free to play change on a weekly basis.
The following Heroes are available for purchase on the store:
Aessa the White Lion
Amenadresh the Liche Priest
Bax the Black Orc 
Drulg the Ogre
Felicia the Bright Wizard
Glowgob the Shaman
Ikkrik the Gutter Runner
Ilanya the Sorceress
Nethys the Vampire
Olwyn the Ironbreaker
Volrik the Marauder
Keep an eye out for future additions to the Hero Lineup in weeks to come. 

Hero Changes

General

  • Owning a skin will now unlock an additional loadout for the associated Hero, see the Skins with Benefits section for additional details.
  • Elite versions of tactics may no longer be slotted in a Mastery loadout together with their corresponding normal version. For example, Temerity may no longer be used in conjunction with Desperation, and Restorative Surge may no longer be used together with Restorative Burst. Any Heroes that had both elite and normal versions of a tactic slotted together in a Mastery loadout will have both versions un-slotted upon their first login.
  • Bloodthirst: Chance to trigger on hit is now 8%, and healing has been increased.
  • Carnage: Chance to trigger on hit is now 15%.
  • Counterblast: Chance to trigger on hit is now 15%, and damage has been increased.
  • Restorative Surge: Chance to trigger on hit is now 15%, and healing has been increased.

Aessa

  • The "Aessa the Protector" skin is now available on the store.

Lucian

  • The "Lucian the Disbanded" skin is now available on the store.

Nethys

  • The "Nethys the Crimson" skin is now available on the store.

Olwyn

  • Olwyn has joined the ranks of Rentable heroes!
  • Gromril Protection: Cooldown time is now 12 seconds.
  • Relentless: No longer provides Snare immunity.
  • Shield Bash: Now correctly has a 5-foot range.

Scenarios

The Pyramid of Settra

This version brings a new Scenario to the mix with the addition of The Pyramid of Settra.  Rules for this new ‘Relic Rush’ map are as follows:
  • When the Scenario starts, a number of Relics will spawn in the central chamber of the pyramid.  Be the first ones into the center and claim as many as you can!
  • Return the Relics to your treasure room off of the central chamber, conveniently color coded and located to the left of your spawn room.
    Holding Relics will provide points over time.  Each Relic grants additional points, so holding on to the most Relics will ensure victory… but also ensure that you are the target of two other teams!
  • Over time, additional Relics will spawn in the central chamber, so be on the lookout for those.
  • The center chamber connects to all of the treasure and spawn rooms, and there are also back passages that provide alternative approaches to getting in or out of a team’s treasure room.  Don’t forget about these or you might be suddenly wondering where all the Relics have disappeared to!
  • Killing players will grant no points, but is necessary to ensuring you can procure or secure Relics, so pick your battles and then take your foes down mercilessly.
  • Be sure to send in feedback about the new Scenario. Tell us what you like, and what you might want to see in future Scenarios!

General

  • The weightings for scenarios have been adjusted to accommodate for the addition of the new The Pyramid of Settra scenario. 

Rewards

  • Scenario reward wheels now have a chance to grant Health Potions.

User Interface

  • The scoreboard at the end of the match will now include each player's account level and mastery tier level icon. It will also include any the Trophy icon of the player’s choice as their badge of accomplishment.

Lobby

General

  • The user profile information in the top right corner of the lobby has been updated to include the tier icon for the level display.
  • The clan tag presentation in the top right corner has been updated with a fancy graphic to match the presentation in the profile page.
  • There are now six tabs on the Lobby!  This was done to split the Profile information (profile information, stats, and trophies) from the Heroes information; Profile and Heroes now have their own tabs. For more information on what is included in each tab, see the sections below.

Profile

  • The profile page has been split from the Heroes information to allow for better presentation of the data to allow for future functionality.
  • The Overview option contains the same information previously found in the ‘Profile’ option.
  • Last Game Stats works as it did previously but contains additional information as follows:
    • Each player’s level and tier is shown alongside their name.
    • Each player will show a trophy icon beside their name based on their chosen accomplishment.
  • The Trophy Wall has been added to the profile tab. This new feature shows off any trophies gained over the course of play. See the section on Trophies for additional information on how this system works.

Heroes

  • The information in this page has been separated from the Profile tab.
  • Each Hero page will now allow a player to assign Masteries to additional loadouts if they are available. See the Skins with Benefits section for details on how to obtain additional loadouts.
  • Additional loadouts that are available on a Hero can be renamed on this page to make them easier to reference and choose when choosing a Hero in a Scenario. By default they will be given a name, and these names can be changed to any of the available default labels.
  • Hovering over individual Masteries in the ‘Available Masteries’ inventory will now show you what Heroes they are equipped on. It will also include a numerical value to indicate which loadout the Mastery is slotted in.

Store

  • Check out the spiffy new store icon on the store button!

Settings

  • Forgot whom you were ignoring?  Now you can just head over to the settings tab and choose the ignore list option to view and modify your current list of ignored players.
  • To remove a player from your ignore list, just right click on the player’s name in the ignore list and choose ‘Remove Ignore’ from the list of options.

Version 0.20 Arrives on Wednesday


A new Hero, a new Scenario and several other good additions will come to Wrath of Heroes on May 30th. Because of the Memorial Day weekend, this week’s patch day is on a Wednesday and it will come with version 0.20, including the Tomb Kings Liche Priest Amenadresh and the Pyramid of Settrascenario. It also brings new Skins for Aessa, Lucian, and Nethys … and these skins will come with benefits.
Keep an eye on the Herald tomorrow!

MMORPG Interviews Carrie Gouskos


Greetings,
Our producer, Carrie Gouskos, recently answered some satisfying questions in an informative interview by MMORPG. The interview divulges news regarding changes planned for Wrath of Heroes, including an exciting reveal of the new scenario map, The Pyramid of Settra!
Want to know more? Head over to MMORPG for all the juicy details.

Amenadresh's Abilities


The Tomb Kings Liche Priest Amenadresh will join Wrath of Heroes next week. We already had a look into his background, now let us check his combat style:
Amenadresh is a pure magic damage caster with both offensive and defensive capabilities making him an effective support hero. He is able to both strengthen allies and unleash devastating curses upon his foes, showing all the true power of the desert.
Let's take a look at his abilities:
Chant of Vengeance – Deals damage.
Djaf's Curse – Deals damage, and negates armor.
Djedra's Undying Legions – Heals you and nearby allies over time.
Usekhp's Desiccation – Area damage over time.
Sakhmet's Devouring – Damages the target and heals you.
Passive:
Prolonged – Your abilities last longer per other Tomb King character in your group.
We will see you in the battles.

Account Center Maintenance - 05/24

Greetings,

We will bring down the Account Center for a short maintenance tomorrow, Thursday May 24th, at 9:30am EDT (15:30 CEST). During the maintenance you will not be able to sign up for beta or check your status. The game itself is not affected.

At the moment we anticipate the Account Center to be back online at 12pm EDT (18:00 CEST).

Thank you for your understanding.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

What’s New in Wrath of Heroes?


Today’s maintenance brought three major updates:
Mastery Points are for Sale – Do you really want to have that one tactic, alternate ability or perk from the Mastery tree right now, but you are missing a few Mastery Points? You can now buy Mastery Points for Gold or Gems in the store. Mastery Points come in four different stack sizes – just what you need to prepare your Heroes for the next battle.
Olwyn Shieldbearer, who joined Wrath of Heroes two weeks ago, is now available in the Free Hero rotation. Together with Drulg and Ilanya, Olwyn will be one of the three free Heroes ready to be taken into battle.
More Affordable Heroes – Several other Heroes have had their prices adjusted:
Bax is available for 23,000 Gold
Nethys is available for 23,000 Gold
Ikkrik is available for 16,000 Gold
Ilanya is available for 16,000 Gold
Aessa is available for 9,000 Gold
 It’s time to get your Hero and Masteries, and join us in the fights!

Server Maintenance - 05/22


We will take the Wrath of Heroes servers offline for maintenance tomorrow, Tuesday May 22nd at 7:30am EDT (1:30pm CEST). At the moment we expect the servers to be back online now later than 9am EDT (3pm CEST).
These are the changes:
Updated Free Rotation – Now you can play Drulg, Ilanya, and Olwyn even if you don’t own them!
 
Join us in the fights!

Upcoming Hero: Amenadresh the Steward


"You will bear witness to the true power of the desert!" - Amenadash will join Wrath of Heroes next week. Take a first look at the Tomb Kings Liche Priest.
Background:
The sand-shrouded land of Nehekhara is a realm within which no living creature can exist peacefully for long. Countless treasures lay within the sun-bleached monuments and ancient vaults. Treasures which are guarded, even now, by the servants of Nehekhara’s sleeping kings.
First among those servants are the Liche Priests; ancient sorcerers who, through centuries of study have managed to bind their souls to their bodies, trapping themselves within time-wizened flesh for all eternity. It is the Liche Priests who prepare the bodies of Nehekharan royalty when their souls pass into the realms beyond, and it is these same Priests who awaken the Tomb Kings from their slumber when danger threatens their lands.
Of Amenadresh himself little is known. Translations from what few Nehekharan artifacts have been studied suggest he was once a prominent power in the Mortuary Cult of Khemri, and that his brother, Yu’djeli, was the personal Champion of a King whose name has now been lost to time.
Amenadresh’s true power resides within the ancient chants that Liche Priests have recited, unchanged, since before the coming of Nagash. Through these chants Amenadresh is able to both strengthen allies and unleash devastating curses upon his foes.
“For the desecrators of tombs, the despoilers of sacred spaces, there shall be no hereafter.” – Amenadresh the Steward

Monday, May 21, 2012

a [FR33] video


Building a Better Warband: Coordinated Spike Melee Train


After playing some matches in a group with the new matchmaking system in place, I can see where the meta game is going. All heroes currently in the game have some way to save themselves from a spike of damage except for Aessa, who can save someone else from a spike, and Volrik, who can force someone to blow a save. At the highest level of play, the game will resolve around forcing a save to be used, or using CC to prevent the save, and then spiking someone down while the save is on cool down or disabled.
This warband is built around having a hard spike every 10 seconds. It’s melee heavy, with Ilanya as the ranged focus. Ilanya calls the targets since she needs 7 seconds to set up her burst. This group has a lot of crowd control, so Volrik will not be needed. It’s going to use crowd control to prevent the save rather than pressure to draw out the save early.
The heroes for this warband are Olwyn, Bax, Drulg, Ilanya, and 2 Glowgobs. The idea is coordinate a Word of Pain + Gloomburst from Ilanya with a knockdown from Olwyn or Bax, Tenderizer from Drulg, I’m Da Biggest! from Bax and Vengeful Strike from Olwyn. This is about 1200 damage and will kill anyone almost instantly unless a save is blown or Aessa dodges a couple things.
For Olwyn, Relentless is a must. One of the key ways to stop this group to make sure the knockdown doesn’t happen. With Relentless, there’s no way she’s going to lose her target once she’s on it without someone blowing a knockdown or stagger on her. With that in mind, Relentless, Proficiency, and Balance is a good Mastery for her. Empowered Strikes also helps the damage a little bit. Combine Empowered Strikes and Grudges Repaid to make Vengeful Strike hit really hard. Relentless, Empowered Strikes, and Grudges Repaid is good for this group too.
Bax is around for his knockdown and his heavy burst from I’m Da Biggest! Honestly, just about anything will work for Mastery in this group. I’d focus on CC reduction and survival. Grim Pragmatism adds a nice bit of finishing power to I’m Da Biggest!, so that’s a good option too. An’ Stay Down is also useful if you find opponents that slot Proficiency. Rapidity is also good for helping close distance.
Drulg needs to get his Tenderizer cool down below 10 seconds. To do this, we need to take Nice an’ Tender and Endless Knowledge. The last Mastery can either be Grim Pragmatism or something to help him survive, like Strong Gut or Desperation.
Ilanya should be absolute glass for this group. Ideal mastery would be Perfect Assault, Overwhelming Force and Doomburst, but that’s not realistic for most players. With all the crowd control on the frontline, she should be relatively safe. Power of Darkness should likely be saved to escape from the Ikkriks that will almost certainly be going behind the frontline to assassinate her, especially if Ikkrik is free that week.
Glowgob, in addition to providing healing, also provides burst support. Glory is an amazing perk for forcing a kill. It can give the damage to push through even the Temerity and Desperation stacking tanks on the field. An’ We Means It! is also key to this group. ‘Ere We Go! adds a percentage of damage dealt by nearby allies to every target the allies hit. That just pushes the spike even higher. The 3rd mastery should likely be something for survival.
This is best done in voice communication of course. Ilanya will place Word of Pain on the target and stack Impending Doom as fast as possible. When the Word of Pain is less than 2 seconds away, the target is knocked down and everyone drops their big attack on that target. Ideally, the damage abilities should all land within a quarter second of the Word of Pain and Gloomburst spike. Drulg can use his silence to prevent healing from being cast while this is happening to make this even more deadly.

Wrath It Up


This week’s Wrath It Up is focused on our players and their exploits: written, captured or streamed.
Here is a small selection of the last week's highlights:
From Stratics, an article on building a better warband, and the nuances of avoiding damage spikes.
A chance to watch the experts in action, as [FR33] slice it up. Maybe we’ll see some [SWAG] action in response?
Everyone loves Bax, and he gives a ‘gud bash’ to all comers here.  
We also have a stream of the Black Fire Pass Scenario from FrigoGeoAdri. Our favorite bit of voice over is about Bax – ‘He’s so big!’ Our Spanish is a bit rusty though. 
Rumors of who the next Hero will be have started on Facebook – check out what people are speculating here.
Can’t wait to see what next week brings!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Gold Prices and Dwarf Steel


Some interesting changes came to Wrath of Heroes today.
Hero Price Reduction - Are you looking for more affordable additions to your collection of heroes? With the growing amount of heroes in our lineup, we are making changes to ensure there is a great selection of affordable Heroes matching various play styles and needs. With this in mind, we have adjusted the prices for the following heroes:
Glowgob will be available for 40,000 gold
Drulg will be available for 23,000 gold
Felicia will be available for 16,000 gold
Volrik will be available for 9,000 gold
Gem prices have been adjusted as well and more reduction are inbound; keep an eye on the store! And don’t forget that you can try before you buy with Rent-A-Hero available in every scenario.
Olwyn is out for more fights - The Dwarf Ironbreaker is now avalaible for gold or gems. Also available now is her second skin: Olwyn Goblinbane - bedazzle your enemies with this masterpiece of gold and steel.
Meet you in melee!

Server Maintenance


We will take the Wrath of Heroes servers offline for maintenance tomorrow, Tuesday May 15th at 7:30am EDT (1:30pm CEST). At the moment we expect the servers to be back online now later than 9:30am EDT (3:30pm CEST).
These are the changes:
Updated Free Rotation – Now you can play Aessa, Felicia, or Nethys even if you don’t own them!
 
Join us in the battlegrounds.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Want to Master Olwyn?


Olwyn entered the battlegrounds in Wrath of Heroes this Tuesday. The Dwarf Ironbreaker has already left quite an impression - especially in the armor of her enemies. The unstoppable steel powerball is one of the completely new Heroes who was not available during earlier Closed Beta tests. Now that you may have encountered her abilities as friend or foe in battles, lets take a detailed look at her Masteries:
Olwyn's Mastery Tree in Detail:
Grudges Repaid – When Olwyn is critically hit, she deals 45% more damage for 6 seconds.
Proficiency – Reduces the duration of all knockdown effects used on you by 50%.
Empowered Strikes – Kneecapping Strike lasts an additional 5 seconds, and Vengeful Strike deals 20% more damage.
Crushing Impacts – Smashing Impact deals 30% more damage.
Restorative Burst – 10% chance on being hit: Regain 46 health.
And You As Well! – Kneecapping Strike and Vengeful Strike now deal an additional 72 damage to another enemy near the target.
Relentless – Olwyn's passive effect now also makes her immune to Snares and Roots.
Retaliation – 10% chance on being hit: Deals 38 damage to all enemies within 20 feet.
Shield Bash – (Alternate Ability - replaces Shield Slam) Deals 222 damage.
Fling Explosives – (Perk) Deal 5000 damage in one life: Marks a spot on the ground. 2 seconds later, deals 115 damage to all enemies in the area and knocks them down for 3 seconds.
Desperation – Reduces all damage you take by 35% when you are below 25% hitpoints.

That perk sounds like a lot of fun - for your group only, of course.
Olwyn is currently available for gems only but can be bought with gold or gems from next Tuesday on. Are you ready for some Dwarf power?
See you in the battlegrounds!