Went live 10/27/2021 · 45 change items · 5 interim builds
In short
Release 96 is live, bringing a variety of fixes and improvements across the world of Shroud of the Avatar. A major focus this release centers around Castle Atos, with numerous stuck spot corrections, access adjustments from Novia, and functional updates to its buffs – though those buffs are still experiencing some scaling issues that will be addressed in a follow-up patch. Players should find easier navigation within the castle and more reliable benefits when adventuring there with others.
Beyond Atos, several quality of life improvements have been implemented. Control Points now feature “Mages of Mystery” offering fast travel to any other point for a small fee, and various areas like Port Mirren and Estercove have received minimal NPC and crafting station additions. The Halls of Artifice spike cage room has been reworked with clearer warnings and choices regarding its mechanics, and several quests (like Wymond’s bone chip quest in Jotungrund) are now more accessible.
Finally, the release includes a significant sale—20% off deed upgrades and 25% off all sale items—and adjustments to PvP balance testing on the Ardoris arena with skill/level caps and stat reductions. A critical underlying issue causing widespread problems has also been resolved. Numerous smaller bug fixes related to potions, mob parrying, mounts, Lua scripting, and item salvage have been addressed as well.
AI-generated summary (google/gemma-3-27b) — may contain errors; the full notes below are authoritative.
Interim builds (5)
Build 1492 — Dec 4, 2021, 11:00 AM
- Castle Atos: Mage of Mystery Quang has replaced Divum. Blocked off an underside of a specific staircase.
- Player’s should no longer appear to fall when exiting Castle Atos to Novia
- Several POTs have grown in size!
- Shaminian Hills: Adjusted the mechanics of the magical elevator to help ensure the crystal receptacle stays in the proper state. Added a “Reset Platform” button near the top of the elevator for situations where the receptacle might still go out of sync.
- Updates to clean up the Streamer bundles
- The Antique Shop should now be fully decoable
- Ravensmoor teleporter steps have better collision, no longer requiring a jump up
- Halls of Artifice: The “spike cage” room mechanics have been updated to include a trigger warning and two very visible locks. One of these locks replaces the hidden pressure plate and it’s disastrous results. The avatar can now make a mildly-informed choice as to which lock to use. Also, two children in a cage in a different room have been replaced by two adults.
- Control Points: “Mages of Mystery” are now in all control points. In addition to a small fee to teleport a player to the far side, they now also can teleport players to any other control point.SOTA-62329
- Manor of Mystery: Removed redundant mages. Moved floating mandrake to the ground. Avatars with the “incorrect reputation” in the manor may find the mages will notice this and teleport them away.
- Lord British’s Castle: Fixed an issue where a secret door wasn’t opening.
- Several “stuck” spots in Castle Atos have been fixed
- Port Mirren, The Brave Coast, Estercove: Added a mimimal complement of NPCs and crafting stations near the default entrance.
- Jotungrund: Avatars that were told by Wymond about his bone chips quest but didn’t accept it should now be able to do so.
Build 1489 — Nov 24, 2021, 10:00 AM
- 20% off all deed upgrade prices for the first time in over 8 months!
- Sale items are now 25% off!
- Streamer bundles are now purple as decorations
- A critical issue that was causing a number of large issues has been fixed. (Small patch)
Build 1488 — Nov 21, 2021, 2:00 PM
- As part of our further testing for PVP balance, Ardoris arena now has skill caps, level caps, and a 75% reduction in stats provided by gear
- Lightning storm will now correctly use the reagents is lists
- The 2021 Extra Live cloak will now correctly salvage to the 2021 pattern vs the 2017 pattern
- Castle Atos Buff will now work correctly when 1-3 players are in scene
- The Labrys Axe pattern now has the proper display name
- The Delicate Feather of the Phoenix now drops for players without the phoenix feather quest.
Build 1487 — Nov 20, 2021, 10:00 AM
- Fix for an issue that in rare cases could could cause the scene to reload repeatedly plus more logging to see why this occurred
- Castle Atos buffs should now work as expected EXCEPT for when there are between 1-3 people in scene and then it will give the old buff for the health/focus one.*Sad Trombone sound here* (fixed in next patch)
- A number of potions were set to expire if the player died. These have now been fixed
- South Majestic Forest: Fixed typos in CBY-60053’s responses about the virtues.
- The rate at which many mobs parry has been dramatically reduced
- Lightning Storm will no longer be parryable or lockable. Combined with the above bug, this led to players believing lightning storm had been nerfed
Build 1486 — Nov 19, 2021, 1:00 PM
- Mounts that are locked in inventory can once again be used
- Numerous Lua changes, fixes, and additions. Documentation with updates can be found here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zmuAF9Wf8jWfSxjfWCCC-NspDbWGNkvDvlyghB_fexM/edit#gid=634347005
- Default for new players for overworld will be to show names in non-runic letters
- Removed a misplaced exit volume in Castle Atos
- Shrine in Castle Atos will re-grant the blessing if cancelled and reentered (Buff still scales based on current scene, that will be fixed Monday)
- Castle Atos had several stuck spots fixed
- Training dummies will now withstand far more abuse before dying
- Animal Tamers: Renamed the conversation prefabs for these NPCs to be more uniform and filter-friendly.
- Castle Atos: Updated spawn-in target, discoveries, exit volumes, ambient sounds. Removed stuck locations. Added access from Novia.
- Summoned pets will once again be the correct power and level
- Lava decos will no longer damage players when in placement mode
- Spider room recipes and spawned version now in game
- The Outlaws’ Run: Fixed typos in “Tell Guard About Miloslava” journal entries.
- Bundles for Streamers to give away as prizes now in game and available on request for highly active streamers
- Summoning spells should now level more quickly