[Chance]

Meranthe 2.0

After much time, and much work, the 2.0 update is finally upon us. I apologize it took as long as it did, as we went somewhat overboard with the features, but it felt good to do so with such a landmark number. It's exciting as ever to watch the world of Meranthe grow and the histories be written, so let's hope for many more years to come! Thank you to all subscribers/patrons for supporting the project, and to anyone that's invested in the stories being written!!!

The release date is the 15th of February, Thursday, a belated Valentines present from us to you!

➤  MAGICAL BEASTS: Following the Invocation of Aemir, heralded by Enarr and Gala, the region was briefly bathed in divinity. Goldbloom grew freely and nearby demons were transformed in the abundance of magic as the Aether of the Ten converged. This new race lacks the occultic nature but are just and wild and dangerous as their distant cousins.

For information on the many Magical Beast races....(in progress)

They do not gain EXP within settlements, but Dangerous+ battles grant 10x the usual EXP. This is a PUBLIC, non-rebirth race.

MAGIC CORE: A customizable magic core, the name, description, and sprite is set. This is on a SHIELD slot and can only be equipped by its Magic Beast. As you gain EXP as a Magic Beast, the core strengthens and progresses, +1 ele pow/def (caps at 5) & +1 power (caps at 10) every 10k EXP.

On death, the Magic Core can be harvested and used as a special resource, for the creation of a soulblade: A living weapon that can change and grow with its wielder over the years, in similar respects to the infamous kaorblade.

FRAGMENTS: In defeat (on a Danger 1+) a Magic Beast might also drop a fragment. This is a lesser core that can also be used as a special resource on weapons.

SELF-HEAL: Costs 1000 Energy to use. May heal temporary injuries and regenerate from permanent injuries.

EVOLUTION: At Level 180, a gremlin can transform. Owldrakes.. Ogres and Werewolves.. Cetus and Ursen and Vulpinari, and creatures that Meranthe has never seen. Each comes with a unique spell.

➤ RUSH DUNGEONS : Across the world there are now thirteen 'rush' styled PvE events, where on entry (for a coin cost), waves of monsters bombard the party. These are marked on the mini-map depending on their difficulty, green (easy), blue (standard), and red (extreme). They also feature new enemies. On victory, surviving party members gain token items that scale with the challenge, and can be spent in the token store.

➤ RUSH STORE: Found outside the dungeons. Many new items can be found here, all purchased with tokens. You can trade your coin for tokens, or even your influence via the faction NPC (the latter has a better exchange rate!). Otherwise they're gained by participating in the dungeons!

➤ RETAINERS: Purchase a retainer contract in the token store. This grants you your very own NPC: You name them, can set up their outfit by dragging clothing onto them, and even pilot/puppeteer them as you would a PC. 

Retainers have various commands and mechanics, such as:

Happiness = Their wellbeing. Increase this by paying them coin; declines by 10 each year, or if they're assaulted.

If assaulted and defeated, blood splatters will be left where the NPC is stationed and name the preparator via nearby witnesses. The retainer takes three hours to respawn.

Pay Coin - Gives them money. 1000 coin = +10 happiness

Follow - They will follow directly behind you!

Farm - looks for nearby unwatered crops and waters them, looks for nearby unfed animals and pets/feeds them within a 30x30 range.

Defend - Follows you as a summon would, becoming an ally in battle. A max of two retainers may do so.

Train - For 10k coin, the retainer will learn a basic spell of your choice once the year passes over, and gain 20 power. This command may be issued a maximum of five times, and once per year. 

Control - Pilots the retainer for up to a range of 100 tiles from your position.

Update Description - Update the descriptive text that appears when someone inspects your retainer.

Set Spawnpoint - Your retainer will respawn at the chosen location. 

Set Faction - Updates their current faction to yours. Retainers will not aggro and cannot damage faction members.

➤ FAMILIARS: Familiars are a type of pet that can overcap lifeskills. You can train it in a particular lifeskill and it gains EXP in that skill whenever you do, but also via 'rare candy' style items purchased in the token store. Much like retainers, you can take over and pilot familars as desired.  

So if a familiar has Level 5 farming, and yours is 100, then it'll be 105! You can change what lifeskill a familiar is focused on too.

These are purchased on the token store and are high-end investments!

➤ INFO BOX REMAKE: The information UI that appears when you right-click a character has been remade and improved. It now includes space for a small image, as well as various commands. It will display your faction if you're wearing faction gear.

➤ EXAMINE: You can now view the descriptions of gear that a character has equipped via the examine profile command. It also includes a status display that'll be expanded on in the future. Be sure to stock up on Glamor potions to spruce up your flavor text!

➤ SEASONS: Each passing year, the current season will change and be announced to the server. Piles of snow appear in the appropiate region in the winter, and season decorations (such as the leaf whoosh below!) change palette depending on the season, like bundles of leaves etc. Enemies and resources that only appear during specific seasons! We plan to expand this more with farming as well.

A breezy summer's day.

➤ AUTOMATED FACTION SPELLS: The faction spells (Commander, Head of Research, Master of Coin) are now unlocked automatically. Each has a requirement: Commander requires 20+ Dangerous battles, Head of Research requires an Artificing EXP of 100k+, and Master of Coin requires 500k+ made from a stall. They can be used if you're Rank 3 or higher in your associated faction.

Their effects now also last for 4 years rather than 1 (roughly an OOC month), and cost 10k influence to cast. This is to make usage more impactful/long-term rather than overly game-y.

➤ SPAWN FACTION NPC: A faction recruiter NPC can now be spawned by interacting with the town board as the settlement leader. You can also edit/set it up without staff assistance! Your settlement must be village+ size to do so.

➤ SPELL ADDITIONS: 

Sparkbomb - Rework (PLASMA - INTERMEIDATE): This now spawns many erratic sparkbombs that each individually deal damage and a burn effect!

Chronos Aura - Rework (TIME - MASTER): Chronos now has a passive that converts any damage over 6000 into a 5s DoT, replacing its active. So 10k damage would be converted into 5s of 2k damage instead. It also has some +spell dodge.

Lightspeed - Rework (LIGHT - INTERMEDIATE): Lightspeed now has a brief 1s period where you shimmer silver, then teleport, giving more of a warning. It also deals 5d on teleport. It's no longer a Master.

Fortuna  Death - Rework (FORTUNA): The wave code has been improved so that the damage is more reliable.

Scald - Rework (MIST): When you use Scald, the associated Fogbanks now gently flash silver. Numbers have been adjusted accordingly.

Rock Wall - Fortress (EARTH - MASTER)

Shadow Stich (SHADOW - INTERMEDIATE)

Prism Scattershot (LIGHT - MASTER)

Various spell balance changes as well.

➤ TUTORIAL EXPANSION: The Tutorial has the following quests added- Reach Level 100, Craft a Rowboat, Enter a Dungeon, Join a Faction! 

➤ ARTIFICER - MEMENTO: This Artificer recipe lets you create a 'memento' item, a prop that you can customize the name/description/sprite of. This is good for general roleplay purposes!

➤ ITEM MODIFIERS: Some new Item Modifiers have been added!

Champion: +1 Faith on dangerous/deadly win
Witchblade: +1 Essence on dangerous/deadly win
Soul Eater: Duration of temp injuries on target * 3
Soulbound: Weapon gains +1 power every 20k exp you gain
Indomitable: While your HP is 15% or less less than your opponent's, gain 20% power
Sprint /Invisibility fixed

➤ RUMORS: Players can now submit rumors for staff viewing, describing the rumor and the duration (how many years it'll persist) via the /rumor command. Staff can approve, amend, and remove rumors as desired. An approved rumor has a chance of appearing every so often, randomized!

➤ COMMEND: Salute your felllow player and detail a scene(s) you enjoyed with them; you write out a message the staff see, and a note the player will be able to view in their /commendations command. You can only use this once a year. The 'commend' spell has been renamed to 'support' to avoid confusion.

➤ REPRIMAND: While players commend, staff reprimand! This deals a warning to the target, often given for low effort RP, breaking the fourth wall, or poor OOC conduct. It wipes EXP, docks gains, and hits influence!

➤ DESCRIPTOR ADDITONS: Descriptors can be customized even further, now! You can assign a custom sprite to the descriptor, and even set its duration to 'permanent'. Others can interact/set it to temporary, however, but the name of the person that did so is displayed for viewing if so.

➤ PRIVATE BATTLE IMPROVEMENTS: There is now a leave option that appears while in or spectating a private battle. Additionally there are NPCs that you can use to exit the battle.

➤ SLOT MACHINE: You can purchase a slot machine kit from the Rush NPC! This prop can only be placed indoors, and others can interact for the slots mini-game.

➤ COOKING CRAFT TAB: Cooking now has a dedicated crafting tab rather than being lumped in with general.

➤ IN-GAME PATCH NOTES: There are now in-game patch notes that appears on character load whenever it's updated.

 

MISC/SMALL CHANGES:

➤Guild Command: Assign Rank

➤Farm Animal Command: Follow

➤When a settlement is upgraded, it now announces this to the world.
➤Improves to the slay command. No more black screen!

➤Summons killing NPCs no longer leave them bugged.

➤Improves Compost Bin.

➤More clothing sprites!!

➤You can change your sprite's direction via left-click.