Portalarium’s development log for October 26 to 30 covers a busy week for Shroud of the Avatar. Two builds went live, Build 340 and Build 343, the latter landing a day before the November login reward kicks in. The biggest gameplay story is a round of upgrades for the Focus school, but there is also new fishing content, fresh NPC stories in Castle Atos and a lot of interface polish.
Focus gets a serious boost
Focus Specialization now gains mastery at the same pace as every other school, which means every Focus rune that scales with it gets stronger. On top of that, the school picks up several new tools:
- Eidetic Memory replays the last rune you used.
- Mental Reflex refills an empty slot in your hand when you dodge, parry, block or take a critical hit.
- Mind Wipe now grants one free right-click swap during the five seconds after the redraw, so it works more like a mulligan you can steer.
- Tranquility lowers the cost of running, a first for any skill.
- Summon upkeep can be cut by up to half through Summoned Pet Health and Focus Specialization.
Quick Swapping has been renamed Efficient Swapping, several Focus skills now list their costs in their descriptions, and the character sheet breaks down where your focus goes, from regeneration and swaps to sprinting, pets and buffs. Runes in the combat hand can also display their remaining seconds.
World, combat and rewards
Anglers have eight new fish to chase, ranging from the Wels Catfish to a Great White Shark, and each comes with its own trophy mount. In Castle Atos, a handful of new characters have stories to tell, including a guard named Corwin whose dancing days ended with an arrow to the knee, the gate guard Baozhai, and two beggars, Tomek and Vesna, who each offer an errand. Markus’s letter in Solace Bridge is now easier to find and every player who searches it gets a copy.
The Cabalist wave battle in Lost Vale now pulls from all eight Cabalists, and Hard mode finishes with two of them at once. PvP should feel smoother: Blink, Night Step and Charge no longer snap back after landing, jumps are visible, and your own hits register on screen immediately.
Combat decks can now swap your pet’s collar, toy and accessory along with your gear. In player towns, a governor or Steward can open a lot to every resident, including its bank boxes and vendors. Crusader Village homes can now be resized up to 150% by their owners, and new ones are placed at 130%.
November’s login and R155 subscriber rewards include two Tribal Totems, the Dreadhorn Skull Helm, a Miniature Ballista turret that tracks whoever comes closest, and the Locking and Running Man dance emotes. Those emotes can spread from player to player, but only once every three months per generation. Fifteen Tribal Totem decorations were also added, and Twitch Drops can be claimed again.
Interface and the Desk
The compass gained a right-click menu for choosing which marker types it shows, including towns, adventure areas and notable NPCs, and hiding quests no longer hides the locations they lead to. The Penmawr Island map now shows the full island, and area maps no longer zoom in too far. Login has moved onto the title screen, and the launcher stops reappearing over a game that is still loading.
The website’s Desk picked up a daily word game called Novian Word with personal, guild and server streaks, a searchable archive of loading-screen tips, replays for Rogue of Novia runs, and access to the official radio stations, where players can request songs for gold.
Source: Shroud of the Avatar official news.
