What has changed - A guide for returning players
With Tynon giving incentives to players that had not played for a long time to come back I thought that a summary of some of the major changes that have happened would be something good to have. Please feel free to post additions and I will incorporate them into the guide. Note. This is a work in progress as I have time to do it.
Main Screen Layout
There are some changes on the main screen and in Aerie City. The most significant one is that the icons across the top of the screen are now limited to two rows. If they will not fit in those rows, scroll arrows (<< and >>) will appear on the right and/or the left of the icons.
The Arena icon is now next to the Philosopher Stone and there are two new large icons next to the information area at the top right of the screen. They are for the Royal Challenge (no name on it) and Championship Warfare (more on both of them later on the guide).
Some new icons have been added to the bottom of the screen. The more significant ones are Mount and Casino (more on both of them later on the guide).
Some of the NCP characters have moved to other locations. Look for Buros Hunter (Mounts) in the garden and Tanis Kingsley to the right of the Castle steps. Tanis now has a job. He is the Card Broker (more on that later on the guide).
There are two new icons under the mini map at the upper right of the screen. One is the Mount that is a quick way to get into the screen where you purchase mounts. The other is Sale. When you click on this you can see a scrollable list of packages that can be bough using real money. They are a better deal that buying Gems the old way (although that is still available) and they give you resources in addition to the Gems. They also give each member of your Guild (including you) a chest that, when opens, gives them a random resource. the kind and quantity of resources that they get depends on the package you bought. During some holidays there are special packages offered that are an even better deal that the other ones. Some of those packages can be bought only once a day. Any gems that you but though the packages count towards VIP levels.
Weekly Events
Every week there is a different event. There are not the kind of events that you actively participate in, but game features that are available for that day. Click on the Weekly Events Icon for more information.
It is worth noting that because you get Gems as sailing rewards a lot of the servers have a 'truce' on Saturdays so there are no sinking. make sure you ask the members of your Guild id there is such a truce on your server.
If you last played after the weekly events were added, you should note that Tavern Tuesday has changed. Initially you got the card without having to pay any Credits. Now you have to pay the Credits to get the card, but the number of spirits that you get for each Gold or Purple Hero that shows up when you do a refresh (using the Refresh or Auto Refresh buttons in the Tavern) are doubles on Tuesdays.
Banish Cerberus and Baal
The 'last hit' reward of 10 million coins is now a 'lottery'. The way it works is that after Cerb/Baal is killed every one is moved to the starting position and a new 1 minute cool-down starts. During this phase, also known as rage phase, the Boss can not be stunned and starts with 100% morale. The phase ends when there has been between 30 and 35 attacks (not round within an attack) on the Boss. The number of attacks depends on the size Boss you are fighting. The damage done is not taken into consideration. The winner of the lottery is decided before the rage phase starts and anyone that actively participated (attacked the Boss at least once) before the rage phase is eligible for the 10 Million coin lottery. The order of finishing or the rewards that are based on damage done (Credits, Coins, and Reputation) is not affected by the Rage phase.
Note that if the Boss is not killed before the Rage phase ends there is no bonus but you still get the regular rewards. Also note that the requirement that the Boss be beaten in 15 minutes to move up to the higher level Boss includes the Rage phase.
The plan drops that the first 3 places get are the same as what highest HR Boss that the player has beaten gives out. In addition 1st place gets lv4 chip, 2-3 lv3, 6-10 lv2 chips.
The Bosses are now more resistant to Critical attacks and stun attacks.
There is a cap of 40 Million credits on the rewards you receive.
Sailing on the Caribbean
You get 1/2 of the rewards when you set sail and the other 1/2 when you finish. This means that if your boat is sunk you still get 1/2 of the rewards. This includes 1/2 the Gems on Saturdays. Note that to satisfy the Assistant requirement you must have at least one complete sail.
The number of sails that can be started on a day is now four.
Practice Attacks
In the Rankings you will see crossed swords on the extreme right of each player's line. When you click on them toy attack that player, but it is a practice attack. The other player is not notified that you did it and you do not loose or gain any reputation or resources. It is a good way to test formations and to satisfy the three 'Attack other players in the wild' for the assistant.
Assistant
There are several new activities that vibe you assistant points so now just about anyone can get the King's Chest. Note that practice attacked from the Rankings count towards the three 'Attack other players in the wild' for the Assistant. In addition the 2nd (Knight's Reward ) and 4th (King's Bounty) chest give you maps for sailing.
Arena
There is a new Arena called the Ultimate Arena (UA) where the top ten ranked players in the Realm Arena (RA) go into. Players in the UA can not enter the RA to fight. This is a server wide arena. The players in the UA can also be 'seen' and attacked in the RA by players that are below rank 10, and if they win and swap places then the winning player moves to the UA and the loosing player to the RA.
When you steal some one else's stakes, you get your share of the stakes right away. If the other player re-seizes the stakes they still get the whole stakes, but you still keep your share. This means that if you steal a Leader card and the other player re-seizes it you both get the card. Because of this, in most servers it is generally expected that when you seize Gems or a Leader Card that you contact the other player, if possible, to arrange for them to re-seize them back since you will not loose your share.
In the arena when there is a battle both the winner and the looser get Reputation. This makes it very easy to reach the daily reputation cap that is now 2,000. The best way to do this is to strip down to one hero with no equipment or Runes and then hit the most powerful player that you can see. Depending on the difference in power between the two of you, you can gain up to 100 reputation on each fight. If so, you can reach the cap in 20 battles. The only problem is that when you loose the game does not tell you the amount of reputation that you gained or if you reached the cap. What you need to do is monitor the reputation number on the information are in the top left of the screen. If it is displayed in Ks then mover the mouse pointer over it and the actual number is displayed.