dailywarhammer

While we wait for the massive patch to finish downloading, lets take the time to go over some of the features of this new patch/expansion. I am a huge fan of RvR and the new enhancements to the system are a welcomed edition. Highlights include the Zone Control Domination System which is explained below. There are also focuses on UI enhancements to better understand the status of RvR in different zones. The RvR sections below is has been extracted from the latest patch notes released by Mythic:

RvR Highlights:

RvR Fortresses

RvR Fortress raids have received an update for their itemization in version 1.2. The focus of this update was to better reward players for completion of a Fortress capture as well as give players who do not successfully capture a Fortress some chance at improved loot.

* The Fortresses now feature the same world drop items found in the high-level city dungeons. This includes rare drop “Watcher” weapons.

* The Fortress PQ bags now feature new, unique Uncommon, Rare, and Very Rare items.

* Non-PQ target mobs within the Fortresses, including general mobs and the guards of the lords, now have a chance to drop the Conqueror Belt. The belt will no longer drop from Gold Bags.

* Additionally, the Conqueror Belt has been made bind-on-equip. This only affects new instances of the Conqueror Belt. Any Conqueror Belts found prior to this patch will remain bind-on-pickup.

* The number of PQ reward bags that drop in Fortresses has been increased to 30, with 12 Gold Bags for each completion.

Zone Control Domination

To help place more emphasis on Keep claiming and defense, as well as to combat the “defense by not defending” strategy, we are introducing the Zone Control Domination mechanic. With this system, players who take and hold all Battlefield Objectives and claim Keeps in a contested zone (in Tier 4) or a shared RvR lake (in Tiers 2 and 3) have the opportunity to capture that zone, forgoing the standard mechanics of Zone Control. Each Battlefield Objective and Keep will be worth 1 Domination Point. To capture a zone via the Domination rules, your Realm must have all 6 Domination Points. In Tiers 2 and 3, capturing all six points in a shared RvR lake will give the capturing Realm control of the entire Tier. These are represented as small pip marks on the Zone Control Bar. Battlefield Objectives and Keeps have different requirements for earning their Domination Point, as follows:

* To earn a Domination Point from a Battlefield Objective, it must be owned by your realm for 30 minutes.

* To earn a Domination Point from a Keep, it must be claimed by a Guild and then held for 2 hours. If you lose control of a Battlefield Objective or Keep at any time, you lose the Domination Point.

* Multiple Domination Points cannot be gained from a single source (for example, it isn’t possible to get 6 Domination Points by capturing Martyr’s Square 6 times).

* If a zone that was taken over by Zone Domination is put into a contested state, all timers and Domination Points are reset.

New RvR Chain Quests

* The rally call has gone out! The WAR rages on and help is needed at every warcamp across the realms! New quest-givers have appeared in every warcamp and will offer players brand spanking new chain quests. ‘Chain’ quests are a new feature that will allow players to complete a set of linked quests and repeat the ‘chain’ again once they have completed all of the quests in the ‘chain.’ The new quests will be available from NPCs in the warcamps, and they are designed to reward players for participating in open RVR.

General

* Keeps that are providing a Standard Tactic buff will now display this information in their tooltip.

* RvR Hotspot tooltips have been added to give an indication of how big the battle actually is.  Hotspots will also be displayed on the racial pairing view and campaign UI tracker.

* The Zone Control Bar can now be clicked to provide more details on each Zone Control Pool, including each contributing system, and who is winning the battle for each. This will tell you what your realm still needs to accomplish in order to conquer the zone!

* Players will now get a help tip regarding Zone Control and its bonuses.

* We are introducing the new Rally Call system. At various intervals, players will be called to join the battle in the Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 RvR lakes. A button will appear near the mini-map, enabling willing participants to jump right into the action.

* The Keep loot timers have been extended to allow more time for players to reach the loot chest.

* Public Quest objective trackers will no longer overlap with Battlefield Objective trackers when moving quickly from one to the other.

* Users now have more UI options to enable, disable, or throttle Center Screen messaging. You can get to the new options by clicking Customize Interface in the main menu and selecting the Center Screen Message category.

* Cities will now degrade in rank when they have been pushed into a contested state. The number of ranks removed will be determined by how much damage the enemy does to the city. Realms who have their King captured will find that their city is reduced to Rank 1.

* Various city-related art bugs have been resolved.

* Both destroyed and damaged Keep doors will now properly reset after a failed attack.

* Additional Guards have been added to the Order Warcamp in Eataine.

* A Quartermaster has been added to Stonewatch Fortress.

* The oil in Badmoon Hole will no longer give the message, “Target is out of range” upon use.

* The oil at the keep Hatred’s Way is now attackable.

* Additional guards have been added to the Gharvin’s Brace Warcamp.

* The flags will now update properly in the Login’s Forge Scenario when one side has captured an objective.

* Talisman merchants have been added to Altdorf and the Inevitable City.

* Ranged siege weapons, such as catapults and ballistae, have had their cone of fire increased to a full 360 degrees.

* Normalized the amount of player kills required for Keep Defense Quests. The experience and monetary rewards for these quests have been adjusted accordingly, resulting in an overall increase in experience and monies awarded.

* Reduced the amount of time that a Capital City will remain in the Contested state from 6 hours down to 2 hours.

* Capturing Battlefield Objectives in the Cities will now contribute more Victory Points towards City Capture.

* Increased the chest timer on rewards for Contested City Public Quests to 4 minutes from 2 minutes.