Warhammer patch 1.0.4 hits the live servers

As this post goes live the servers are still down, updating merrily for the latest meaty patch to Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. Mythic Entertainment has been johnny-on-the-spot with Warhammer updates since the game went live lo these few weeks ago, and it's great to see them continually tweaking the concept of the core RvR game. The patch (which is listed and formatted in full below the cut) addresses a number of issues, but here are some bullet-pointy highlights:



Witching Night is Live! Get your Halloween on in Warhammer! Free character transfers from low pop servers are inching ever closer.


Teleport scrolls to dungeons are coming for guilds that crack around the level 30 mark. Tier 4 zones should now be more easily a capturable. Read on below the cut for the full notes, and hop in-game to check out the very first live event in Warhammer Online's live service!


Game Update 1.0.4


We've got a bunch of great stuff inside most notably being the start of our first Live Event: Witching Night!



Wednesday, October 29th at 7:00AM EDT all North American Servers will be brought down to begin the update. Oceanic servers will follow at 9:00AM EDT. We expect servers to be online by 1PM EDT. Please note that during the first 40 minutes of downtime the Mythic Account Center may be unavailable while it is updated as well.



Enjoy the notes below and we'll see you on the battlefield...WAAAGH!!!



Highlights



The Witching Night live event has begun! For details, see the Warhammer Online Herald. With the arrival of 1.0.4 we are now one step closer to offering Character Transfers from low population servers to medium population servers and the final stages of testing have begun. We're excited to share all the details, keep an eye on the WAR Herald for more information and to find out how you can help us test the Free Character Transfer service in the coming days! We have added three new guild rewards in the form of dungeon teleport scrolls. Each scroll can be purchased from a guild quartermaster, and is a single-use item that will teleport the player to a dungeon: Gunbad Teleport Scroll - This reward is unlocked at guild rank 29, and will teleport the player into the entrance lobby area of the Gunbad Tunnels. Bastion Stair Teleport Scroll - This reward is unlocked at guild rank 32, and will teleport the player into the entrance lobby area of the Bastion Stair. Lost Vale Teleport Scroll - This reward is unlocked at guild rank 35, and will teleport the player to just outside the entrance to the Lost Vale. Once a city has become contested, the attacking realm will now have 6 hours to capture it. If the invaders do not conquer the city in that time, the defenders will be declared victorious and the campaign will reset. Pets set to follow will now path properly to their master, and will no longer teleport instantly to their master's side. Fixed an issue that was causing pets to stop attacking their current target and return to their master's side. This issue would occur when a pet was ordered to change targets in mid combat, and the previous target subsequently died. Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause trainer icons not to appear on the minimaps. The successful capture of an enemy battlefield objective now rewards the capturing players with experience. In response to player feedback, the amount of renown earned from healing players has been increased slightly. Campaign Adjustments


Tier 4 zones now require fewer scenario victory points to be captured. The mechanics of capturing a zone have not changed however. Zones which have no scenario opposition can still be captured if players join the queue for scenarios based on that Zone. Victory points towards zone control will be granted if a realm has enough players in the queue to launch the scenario and the other realm doesn't. If players in those queues join a launched scenario or leave the queue, the victory points towards zone control will be forfeit.



In other words, using %26quot;Join All%26quot; to queue for all available scenarios is still the fastest way to get into a scenario, but joining the scenarios in a specific zone will have the greatest impact on control of that zone, and by extension the greatest impact on the campaign in that pairing.



General Changes and Bug Fixes


Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause monsters to improperly flee at full speed. Monsters will now flee from combat at a more appropriate speed.



Capital Cities


Adjusted the text messages that display when the capital cities become contested, to make them more appropriate.



Combat and Careers



Archmage: Balance Essence: The damage of this ability has been increased.


Content



Additional polish has been applied to monster pathing and behaviors in the Lost Vale to improve the overall gameplay experience. The Bastion Stair dungeon boss Kaarn the Vanquisher will no longer erroneously give %26quot;Target is Retreating%26quot; messages when attacked.


Realm vs. Realm



The Statue of the Everchosen battlefield objective in the Chaos Wastes will no longer spawn guards of the wrong realm. The guards at the Maiden's Landing battlefield objective in Avelorn will now spawn at the appropriate level. Fixed an issue which was causing the RvR campaign to reset prematurely while a capital city was still contested. Fixed an issue which sometimes caused keeps and battlefield objectives to forget which realm and guild last owned them when the server was reset. The minimum number of players required to launch scenarios in Praag, Dragonwake and Thunder Mountain has been equalized to ensure even population distribution between all scenarios available when the campaign is in its default state. Tome of Knowledge


Tooltips for Tome of Knowledge tactic rewards have been revised to be more clear and helpful.



User Interface


Fixed an issue that sometimes caused trainer icons not to appear on the minimaps.