Game updates/20080206

Canthan New Year

 * Made preparations for the Canthan New Year's Festival, which begins at Noon Pacific (-8 GMT), February 8, 2008, and runs until Noon Pacific, February 11, 2008.

Party Animal Title Track

 * Added the Party Animal title track and support for it in the Hall of Monuments. Players can gain points toward the Party Animal title by using various festive items, including Bottle Rockets, Champagne Poppers, Sparklers, Ghost-in-the-Boxes, Squash Serums, Snowman Summoners, Beetle Juice Tonics, Yuletide Tonics, and Transmogrifier Tonics.

Skill Updates
We will evaluate the following changes this week. Additional adjustments may be made during that time.

All

 * Decreased the variance in trebuchet impacts in GvG by reducing the target deviation and increasing the area-of-effect.
 * Health sacrifice now displays as a skill cost.

Victory or Death

 * Victory or Death [sic]: increased the damage to 25%.
 * NPCs receive an additional 5% damage bonus each minute after Victory or Death.
 * Added "Victory is Ours,"comma [sic] a new GvG feature that activates at the same time as Victory or Death, giving players on the team with the most NPCs a 15% damage increase.
 * Archers now stand farther apart at Victory or Death.
 * Trebuchets no longer work after Victory or Death.
 * The Bodyguard and Guild Thief now receive a smaller damage bonus than other NPCs at Victory or Death.

Mesmer

 * Power Leak: decreased target foe's Energy loss to 1..5.
 * Clumsiness: increased casting time to 2 seconds; increased recharge time to 10 seconds; now affects adjacent foes.
 * Ether Feast: increased healing to 20..50 Health per Energy lost by target.
 * Hex Breaker: changed skill type from stance to skill.
 * Ineptitude: decreased duration to 4 seconds.
 * Wandering Eye: decreased duration to 4 seconds; increased casting time to 2 seconds, increased recharge time to 10 seconds; increased damage to 10..92.
 * Drain Enchantment: decreased Energy cost to 5 Energy; decreased Energy gain to 8..13 Energy.

Necromancer

 * Hexer's Vigor: decreased casting time to .25 seconds.
 * Chilblains: increased number of enchantments removed to 1..2.
 * Plague Touch: increased number of conditions transferred to 1..3.
 * Blood is Power: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Wallow's Bite: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Touch of Agony: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Dark Pact: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Demonic Flesh: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Blood Renewal: decreased Energy cost to 1.
 * Blood Ritual: decreased Energy cost to 5.
 * Offering of Blood: decreased Energy cost to 1.

Monk

 * Light of Deliverance: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased recharge time to 10 seconds.
 * Heal Party: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased healing to 30..75 Health.
 * Divine Healing/Heaven's Delight: decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge to 15 seconds; decreased healing to 15..60 Health.

Elementalist

 * Glyph of Restoration: now affects the next two spells.
 * Deep Freeze: decreased casting time to 2 seconds.
 * Whirlwind/Teinai's Wind: decreased Energy cost to 5.
 * Glyph of Energy: decreased recharge to 7 seconds.

Warrior

 * Healing Signet: increased Health gain to 62..152.
 * Lion's Comfort: increased healing to 40..100 Health; increased Health gain per Tactics rank to 7.

Ranger

 * Troll Unguent: increased duration to 13 seconds.

Dervish

 * Avatar of Grenth: duration increased to 10..90 seconds; functionality changed to: "For 10..90 seconds, you cannot be blocked by enchanted foes, and your attacks deal cold damage. This skill is disabled for 120 seconds."
 * Mystic Regeneration: Health regeneration is now capped at 3 enchantments.
 * Pious Assault: increased activation time to .75.

Paragon

 * Mending Refrain: decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased Health regeneration to 2..3.
 * Song of Restoration: increased healing to 45..90 Health.

Ritualist

 * Protective Was Kaolai: decreased recharge to 15 seconds.

Bug Fixes

 * Fixed a bug with a pathing issue in The Dragon's Lair outpost.
 * Fixed a bug with a pathing issue in the Eastern Frontier.
 * Burol Ironfist in Boreal Station will no longer display his Hero tutorial dialogue buttons when he is offering or rewarding his tutorial quest.
 * Fixed a bug that caused the skill Meditation of the Reaper to not remove itself properly from Heroes.
 * Fixed a bug that caused Devona to spawn in Pockmark Flats after the Replacement Healers quest had been completed.
 * Heroes and henchmen will now properly target themselves with the skill Zealous Benediction.
 * Heroes and henchmen will now properly target themselves with the skill Dismiss Condition.
 * Players will not die because of life loss from a vampiric weapon during the Rollerbeetle Racing festival game.
 * Fixed a bug that caused a Hero to cancel and then re-activate a skill if manually ordered to use it.

Miscellaneous

 * Corrected the crafting costs on two of the Elite Canthan Masks sold by armorer Koumei on the Divine Path.
 * Changed the item boxes in Rollerbeetle Racing to only be collectible once per player.
 * Added additional base defenders to the Alliance Battles.
 * The Xunlai Tournament House NPC now offers prizes for January and can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.

GuildWiki notes

 * This update also required some players to accept an updated End User License Agreement.
 * This update also reverted the duration of Shadow Refuge to 4 seconds.
 * New PvP characters now start in Isle of the Nameless.
 * The caster of Ancestors' Rage, rather than the target, now gets to see the damage it causes.