Game updates/20090618

Skill Updates
For more information on these changes, please see the Developer Updates page.

PvE and PvP
Assassin Elementalist
 * Palm Strike: increased recharge time to 7 seconds.

Ether Prism: increased recharge time to 20 seconds. Mesmer

Visions of Regret: functionality changed to: "For 10 seconds, target foe and adjacent foes take 15..45 damage whenever they use a skill and 5..50 damage if not under the effects of another Mesmer hex." Necromancer

Lingering Curse: increased Energy cost to 15. Suffering: increased recharge time to 10 seconds. Weaken Knees: decreased duration to 1..16 seconds; decreased Health degeneration to -1..4; decreased damage to 5..10. Ritualist

Brutal Weapon: decreased duration to 10..40 seconds. Guided Weapon: decreased duration to 4..10 seconds. Resilient Weapon: decreased duration to 5..15 seconds. Signet of Binding: functionality changed to: "You lose 200..50 Health. Gain control of target spirit." Spawning Power: increased effect on Weapon Spells to 4% per rank. Spiritleech Aura: functionality changed to: "Skill. For 5..20 seconds, all of your spirits within earshot deal 5..20 less damage and steal 5..20 Health when they attack." Spirit Siphon: functionality changed to: "The spirit nearest you loses all Energy. You gain 15..50% of that Energy." Vital Weapon: decreased duration to 5..30 seconds. Wailing Weapon: decreased duration to 3..9 seconds. Warmonger's Weapon: decreased duration to 3..13 seconds. Weapon of Shadow: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds. Weapon of Warding: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds. PvP Only

Elementalist

Savannah Heat: increased Energy cost to 15. Paragon

"Help Me!": functionality changed to: "For 1..10 seconds, you gain 5..50 Health and other allies' spells targeting you cast 50% faster." PvE Only

Sunspear

Cry of Pain: functionality changed to: "Interrupt target foe's skill. If that foe was suffering from a Mesmer Hex, that foe and all foes in the area take 25...50 damage and -3..5 Health degeneration for 10 seconds." Vampirism: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 4..14. Ritualist

Agony: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Anguish: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; decreased Energy cost to 15; increased spirit level to 1..11. Armor of Unfeeling: decreased Energy cost to 5. Functionality changed to: "For 10..35 seconds, your spirits takes 50% less damage and are immune to critical attacks." Bloodsong: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Destruction: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Disenchantment: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased Energy cost to 15; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Displacement: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Dissonance: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12. Earthbind: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Empowerment: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Gaze of Fury: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Life: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Pain: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Preservation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Recovery: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Recuperation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Rejuvenation: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..20. Restoration: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..14. Shadowsong: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased recharge time to 30 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..10. Shelter: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12. Signet of Creation: increased recharge time to 30 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 5..30 seconds, your next 1..3 Binding Rituals cast instantly." Signet of Spirits: increased recharge time to 20 seconds. Functionality changed to: "Create three level 1..12 spirits. These spirits deal 5..30 damage with attacks. These spirits die after 60 seconds." Soothing: decreased casting time to 1 second; decreased Energy cost to 15; decreased recharge time to 45 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Union: decreased casting time to .75 seconds; increased spirit level to 1..12. Wanderlust: decreased casting time to 1 second; increased spirit level to 1..12. Weapon of Warding: decreased duration to 3..8 seconds. Paragon

"Brace Yourself!": functionality changed to: "For 5..12 seconds, the next time target other ally would be knocked down, all nearby foes take 15..75 damage instead." "Can't Touch This!": functionality changed to: "For 20 seconds, the next 1..5 touch skills used against allies within earshot fail." "Fallback!": decreased recharge time to 20 seconds. "Find Their Weakness!": functionality changed to: "For 5..20 seconds, the next time target ally attacks, that ally also inflicts a Deep Wound and does 5..50 additional damage for 5..20 seconds." "Go for the Eyes!": decreased recharge time to 0 seconds; increased chance to land a critical hit to 30..100%. "Help Me!": decreased recharge time to 10 seconds. Functionality changed to: "For 1..10 seconds, you gain 15..90 Health and other allies' spells targeting you cast 50% faster." "Incoming!": decreased Energy cost to 5; decreased recharge time to 20 seconds. "Never Give Up!": decreased recharge time to 15 seconds. "Never Surrender!": decreased recharge time to 15 seconds. "Stand Your Ground!": decreased Energy cost to 10; decreased recharge time to 20 seconds. "We Shall Return!": increased Energy cost to 25; increased recharge time to 30 seconds. Functionality changed to: "All party members in earshot are resurrected with 25..50% Health and 5..20% Energy." Anthem of Disruption: decreased casting time to 1 second. Bladeturn Refrain: functionality changed to: "For 20 seconds, target non-spirit ally has a 5..20% chance to block incoming attacks. This Echo is reapplied every time a Chant or Shout ends on that ally." Blazing Finale: increased Burning duration to 1..7 seconds. Defensive Anthem: decreased Energy cost to 10. Signet of Return: decreased recharge time to 5 seconds. AI Updates

The following AI updates apply to Heroes and Hard Mode NPCs.

Assassin

Heroes are more likely to use offensive Shadow Step skills before their Health reaches 50%. Heroes will now use Black Lotus Strike against non-hexed foes when appropriate. Dervish

Heroes are more likely to use Attacker's Insight during combat. Elementalist

Heroes are more likely to use attunement skills during combat. Mesmer

Heroes will now more appropriately use hex spells that require an interrupt to take effect. Heroes will now maintain Mantra of Inscriptions both in and out of combat. Monk

Heroes are more likely to scatter appropriately when affected by Ray of Judgment. Heroes will now use Life Sheath to remove conditions out of combat. Heroes will now use Boon Signet more frequently. Heroes are now more likely to use Spotless Mind and Spotless Soul in conjunction with other hex and condition removal skills. Heroes are now more likely to use Restore Condition if their target is suffering from multiple conditions. Heroes will now use Dwayna's Kiss more frequently when hexes and enchantments are present on the target. Heroes will now use Words of Comfort more frequently on characters suffering from conditions. Fixed a bug where the AI only used Healing Burst as a self-targeting spell. Fixed a bug where the AI did not recognize Unyielding Aura as a hard resurrection skill. Necromancer

Heroes can now cast Lingering Curse off-target. Heroes will now use Blood is Power and Blood Ritual on casters holding bundle items. Heroes will now maintain Aura of the Lich in and out of combat. Paragon

Heroes will now check if Angelic Bond is active on all party members before using the skill. Heroes will only activate Angelic Bond if a party member is under 50% Health. Heroes are more likely to use "Incoming!" outside of combat. Heroes will only use Chest Thumper against foes that are suffering from Cracked Armor. Heroes will now use "Never Surrender!" both in and out of combat. Ritualist

Heroes will now use Resilient Weapon, Spirit Light Weapon, and Weapon of Warding to overwrite non-defensive weapon spells when the target's Health is at critical levels. Heroes will now use Offering of Spirit more frequently and will now use it out of combat. Heroes will now use Mending Grip as a self-targeting spell. Heroes will now only use Brutal Weapon on targets who are engaged in combat. Heroes will now cast Weapon of Quickening on spell-casting classes regardless of weapon type equipped. Fixed a bug where the AI would not use Renewing Memories while holding a bundle item. Warrior

Heroes are more likely to use Defy Pain at 95% Health to make better use of its damage-reduction feature. Heroes will use "or Great Justice!" as is appropriate for their weapon type. Heroes are less likely to overwrite Rush with other stances. Heroes are less likely to overwrite Frenzy with other stances unless Health is low. General

Fixed a bug where Heroes would not use zero-Energy skills when low on Energy.

Bug Fixes

Fixed a bug that would cause GvG matches to end in a tie if a Guild Lord died when the tiebreaker triggered. All Guild Lords will now become non-combatants when the match ends after 28 minutes according to the server clock. Note that this time may differ slightly from your client's timer. Fixed a bug that prevented Depravity and Ether Phantom from displaying Energy loss. Fixed a bug that caused Depravity to affect all nearby foes. Fixed a bug that caused the following Ritualist skills to use an incorrect casting animation: Agony, Anguish, Empowerment, Gaze of Fury, Recovery, and Rejuvenation.

Miscellaneous

Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the May tournament. These agents can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan. Reduced the amount of wins needed for the base objective and second bonus objective on the Random Arenas Zaishen quest. Increased the Zaishen Coin rewards for all Zaishen Mission quests and Zaishen Bounty quests.