The wait is finally over! Today marks the highly anticipated launch of the Rise of the Ourobani expansion! The Ourobani have finally come out of the shadows and begun their long-term campaign to control the world of Alganon, shattering the portal system and forcing all races to find another expedient form of travel. Will the Asharr and Kujix put aside their differences to give full attention to this rising power, or will their constant distrust and fighting give the Ourobani the foothold they need? Join us in Alganon and find out!
Rise of the Ourobani - New Features
New Race - The Ourobani
For years, the proud yet veiled Ourobani have been scarce throughout much of Alganon. Few have ventured out to use their knowledge of the ancient portal system to help others, opting to stay within the comfort of their secluded continent of Aeon. The Ourobani have been patient, lying in wait until the time came for them to regain their position as a powerful faction in Alganon. That moment has finally arrived.
Though the Ourobani's rise has begun, it is still early in their ascent. Instead of continuing the wait in the shadows, they have started using the power of the Asharr and Kujix as assets by allying themselves with the losing race in order to overthrow the dominent force, then switching sides when the tides change. Ultimately loyal to none but themselves, they use both sides of the war to promote their own rise to power and expedite the collapse of their enemies.
The newly-launched expansion brings the brand new continent of Aeon to light, complete with new enemies to encounter, towering cities to explore and hundreds of new quests to complete.
New Class - The Warden
The Warden is a new ranged/melee damage oriented class that is playable to all three races (with expansion purchase). They feature a varied kit of actions and a companion to help control his/her fight. Should things prove too difficult for the Warden alone, he/she can form a telepathic bond with animals to gain the assistance of a permanent companion. There are three major branches of the Warden skill tree:
Naturalist
Naturalist actions and abilities focus on the Warden's shapeshifting and melee capabilities. While in tiger form, the Warden gains increased Attack Power at the cost of Resistances. To help the Warden control the pace of a fight, he/she can shift into lynx form to quickly sprint out of harm's way or stealthily attack unaware foes. The damage potential of this form is quite high, but players must be aware of the fight to prevent unforeseen deaths.
Animalist
Wardens who focus on Animalist actions and abilities increase the potential of their companion as well as controlling combat through traps. The combined damage of the Warden and companion is a ferocious combination, but the ability to disable an enemy with traps and roots while fighting makes an Animalist Warden an elusive and dangerous target.
Ethologist
The abilities of an Ethologist Warden increase the combat abilities of those who wish to focus on fighting at a distance or in close combat with their own weapons. High-damaging ranged attacks, increased defenses and vicious melee actions make the Ethologist Warden a danger at any range. Should the Warden decide that a bit of assistance isn't such a bad idea, he/she can summon a pack of vipers, roks or panthers for a short time for added damage and safety in numbers.
Flying Mounts and Flight Paths
With the Ourobani attempting to rise up to become the superior faction of Alganon, they have greatly restricted the use of portals across the land. Aside from the instances (which the Ourobani have so far left alone), the only portals left available reside in Nazrun, Westshallow and Axelion. These can be used to travel between the three continents, allowing allies access to quests and content across the three Races.
The removal of the portals in other areas have forced the Humans, Talrok and Ourobani to use tamed flying creatures for travel. Flight paths can be accessed by talking with Flight Master NPCs in towns and paying a fee in gold to traverse the lands along predefined courses. Higher level players wishing to travel the skies at their leisure can purchase flying mounts through the Tribute Market for their personal use.
TMS flying mounts can be purchased and used by all level 50 players, both with and without the Rise of the Ourobani expansion.
PvP/PvE Alliance System
Due to the Ourobani's duplicitous plans to weaken the other two warring races they have opted to change their loyalty depending on the current PvP standings in Alganon. The Ourobani will start as Neutral to both races at the expansion launch and will remain so until either the Asharr or Kujix have killed the others King. Once that happens the Ourobani will ally themselves with the losing side. They will remain allied, lending their strength to the fallen race, until the other sides King has fallen. They will then switch loyalties and continue from there.
The Ourobani and their allied race will be friendly to each other, able to share in each other's content (quests, NPCs, parties, PvP captures, etc). This allows both the Kujix and Asharr the ability to explore the new Ourobani content as well as allowing the Ourobani the chance to get a much more intimate look at their temporary allies.
The faction allied to the Ourobani during a King kill will have 10 minutes of neutrality in order to retreat to a safer location (as seen in the PvP UI). Once those 10 minutes are up the alliances will flip and your former friend will again be your enemy. Enemy NPCs cannot be used to turn in quests/etc, so it's important to plan your questing goals and logout locations when exploring the other race's territory!
Mercenary Companions
With the launch of the new expansion we have added Mercenary companions to the world of Alganon. Players who wish to easily recruit assistance during their quests and combat can purchase a companion contract from the Tribute Market. This will allow the player to summon a mercenary to help in combat. These companions will have be the same level as the player and come in three varieties:
- The Guardsman will help players who need a little protection during combat.
- The Pikeman offers close-range damage and a bit of distraction for players.
- The Arcane Scholar uses magic to damage opponents from a distance.
Much like the personal flying mounts, the mercenaries can be purchased and used by all players, regardless of any Rise of the Ourobani expansion services.
Tribute Market Pricing Changes
We have reworked the Tribute cost of many of the items in the Tribute Market, lowering them to bring them in line with where we want them to be. The largest of these are the mounts and Study boons with discounts of up to 70 percent!
Be sure to stop by the Tribute Market and take advantage of the fantastic new prices!
Early Adopter Expansion Bundle
For the first two weeks after the launch of Rise of the Ourobani we will be running a special "Early Adopter" sale on the Expansion Pack Bundle. Players who purchase this bundle will receive the following:
- Unlock the brand new Ourobani race
- Unlock the new Warden class for all 3 races
- Receive portal access to the brand new continent of Aeon for non-Ourobani players
- A Flying Conqueror's Pegasus Mount (Early Adopter bonus - the standard pack contains a different mount)
- A 1 Week Study Boon (Early Adopter exclusive! A fantastic deal!)
* The Early Adopter Expansion Bundle will be available in the Tribute Market on launch day for only 3,370 Tribute ($17.50). Get yours before the Early Adopter Bundle sale ends on February 11th (11:59pm PST)!!
** Note ** You will need to log out completely and log back in after purchasing the Expansion Bundle in order to see the new features.
Additional Fixes/Changes
Fall Damage - Along with the flying mounts we have introduced fall damage into the world of Alganon. Gone are the days of jumping off of mountain tops and towers. Please be careful when falling from any great height or dismounting from flying mounts during their flight path, or you may find yourself with a nasty headache (or worse!)
Zone buffs again apply correctly when a faction controls a PvP area.
WFK ToF (all 3 sections) - We have rebalanced WFK in order to bring the loot drops and enemy attacks to where they should be. Stats on loot drops are more favorable and many enemy special attacks aren't so obscenely damaging.
We have cleaned up MyAlganon to better reflect the current content in the game.
We are absolutely thrilled to finally bring this expansion content to our players. We hope everyone enjoys it and we can't wait to see you in game!!
