Update Notes - September 14th 2012

General

• The Mistfire Wolf skill will now properly unlock for existing characters on an account after upgrading to Digital Deluxe.
• Fixed blocked events and skill challenges.
• Fixed bugs that allowed players to go around map edges.
• A number of items created by using Mystic Coins are now correctly set to level 80.

Story

• Fixed a blocking bug in story chapter “Brute Force.”
• Fixed a blocking bug in story chapter “Research and Destroy.”
• Fixed bugs in story chapters “Forging the Pact,” “Battle of Fort Trinity," "The Ghost Rite,” “On Red Alert,” and “Tower Down.”

World-versus-World

• Score interval increased from 5 minutes to 15 minutes.
• Stonemist Castle points reduced to 35 points from 50.
• Bonus thresholds reduced by half to prepare for one-week matches.
• Castle lord, bodyguards, and capture point for Stonemist Castle moved to the first floor.
• “Harpy Feathers” consumable effect disabled.
• Bridges fixed to make passable for NPCs.

Professions

Ranger

• More fixes to pet commands and AI.

Elementalist

• Signet of Air: No longer has infinite range.
• Whirlpool: Now works underwater in PvE.
• Glyph of Renewal: Resurrection effects of Earth, Fire, and Water now surround the caster, not the target.

Mesmer

• Deception: Movement now allowed after casting underwater.
• Spatial Surge: Improved responsiveness.
• Mind Stab: Improved responsiveness.

Warrior

• Made several more skills usable while moving: Brutal Banner, Compassionate Banner, and Furious Rally.
• Rush: Improved the ability to hit fleeing foes.

Guardian

• Mighty Blow: Added a slight movement distance.
• Bow of Truth: Now usable while moving.
• Defender’s Shield and Honorable Shield: Merged together into the same trait.
• New trait Glacial Heart: Critical hits with a hammer have a 50% chance to chill your target for 4 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 45 seconds.

Thief

• Heartseeker: Reduced damage of the 100%-50% threshold by 20%. Damage thresholds changed. Old: 100%-66%, 66%-33%, 33%-0%. New: 100%-50%, 50%-25%, 25%-0%.

Engineer

• Disabled the “stowing” auto-attack to prevent players from getting stuck holding these kits: Bomb Kit, Elixir Gun, Flamethrower, Grenade Kit, Med Kit, and Tool Kit.

UPDATE NOTES 09.09.12

Skills & Traits

Mesmer

• The Prestige – Fixed a bug so that Burning duration no longer amplifies when additional enemies are present.

Ranger

• Beastmastery Trait: Instinctual Bond – Now grants 5 seconds of quickness to the player’s pet and can only occur once every 50 seconds.
• Pets can no longer be revived using the “F” prompt. This is because you can either use F4 to swap pets which will bring that pet back alive or you can wait until you are out of combat at which point you pet will revive automatically. We felt it was doing a disservice to Ranger players to incentivize them to spend a long time reviving their pet when it was a very inefficient thing to do and happened after combat anyway. This will also help clear up “F” to interact functionality.

Guardian

• Tome of Wrath – Removed Stability, added Retaliation; increased the health of the transform
• * Zealot’s Fervor – Players can now move while casting this skill; increased cast time to 2 seconds; reduced maximum targets to 5
• * Judgment – Knockdown is now 3 seconds
• Tome of Courage – Removed Stability, added Protection
• * Heal Area – Base heal increased by 33%
• * Pacifism – Reduced maximum targets to 5; increased cast time to 2 seconds; reduced daze duration to 2 seconds
• Shield of Absorption. The second half of this skill will now unlock in PvE.

Story

• “Bad Blood” – Exiting the conversation will no longer arbitrarily lock the player into a choice
• “Mirror, Mirror” – Adjusted difficulty.
• “The Hatchery” You can no longer do the final step before doing the intermediate steps.
• “Dredging up the Past” – Fixed blocking bug during the first step.

General
Fixes for various blocked events and skill challenges.
PvP games played/won will not increment in activities.
Fixes for various map bugs that allowed players to get out of the map.
Interact “F” should use the following priority:
1) Your current selection
2) Loot
3) Revive/Stomp
4) Anything else
Updated the recipe for Superior Rune of the Ranger to match the rarity of other Superior runes.