ArcheAge Chronicles enters Early Access on November 3 at 3 PM PT, and Executive Producer Ham has published a letter covering what the team changed after the Steam Next Fest demo. It also gives a first look at the December update and a rough picture of how much of Auroria will be open at launch.
Ham says turnout for the demo was much higher than expected, and the feedback pointed at technical problems as well as combat, skill and weapon balance, and gender-locked classes. He describes the list of fixes as only part of the work still ahead.
What’s fixed for launch
On the technical side, the most visible change is a shader compilation screen on first launch, so players no longer stare at a black screen while the game loads. Other fixes include:
- Fewer disconnects and login errors, and a fix for launch failures with certain antivirus software
- Better multi-monitor support and fullscreen switching, plus automatic fallback when upscaling or frame generation doesn’t work
- Automatic region selection, clearer server labels, and new servers in Brazil and Singapore
- Parties now stay together across Peace and Conflict Channels, and you can jump directly to your party leader’s channel
- Dungeon and instance progress survives a disconnect in all Early Access regions, and some solo-only dungeon sections can now be done in a party
Balance got attention too. Wall of Fire deals less damage, bosses resist max-HP-scaling skills more, the Wavesword’s attack power and scaling were rebalanced, and the Longbow’s Fire Arrow was reworked. The Warhammer, Hatchet, Elemental Staff lightning skills and the Berserker’s Forceful Lunge were tuned, Fatal Strike triggers more reliably, and Slaughter no longer swaps targets on a downed enemy. Bosses should also stop clipping into walls and floors.
Quality-of-life additions include new Trait stat nodes, four new Lunastones, 10 rebindable UI shortcuts, separate Y-axis inversion for mouse and controller, a Smooth Camera Rotation option, ladders that no longer drain SP, the option to hide glasses and masks on helmets, more character presets, and a chat language filter for Region and World channels.
Combat feel and the December update
XLGAMES chose not to rush changes to the core feel of combat, such as stamina, hit stun and movement speed, because player opinions varied widely. A dedicated combat team will adjust these throughout Early Access, and will also look at soft-lock targeting for ranged attacks and party aggro.
The first update, planned for December, adds gender selection for the Warrior, with other classes following one at a time. The goal is to remove gender locks from every class by full release. The same update brings a third weapon type to the Warrior, the Gladius, with every class eventually getting a third weapon. Both are shown as work in progress.
As for the world, Early Access opens most of Diamond Shores plus two new regions, Gylden Ruins and Astron Plains. That adds up to more than 60 areas, about twenty times the size of the demo, with over a thousand exploration and collection points. A roadmap is promised soon after launch, once players have had time to play. The full letter is on Steam.
Source: ArcheAge Chronicles official news.
