The team has been working tirelessly to prove to the world their capabilities and commitment to bringing Wayfinder as both Developer and Publisher.
The result of that heroic effort - over 2,000 bug fixes, performance improvements, combat rebalances, Wayfinder reworks, system implementations, content enrichments, additional cosmetics and much much more. With that we say goodbye to Version 0.1 of Wayfinder, as this is indeed deserving of us moving to 0.2!
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Important Notes:
- This update is a total repackaging of all of our files and assets. Download and install may take longer than usual.
- When you start the game for the first time, shaders will recompile which may results in reduced performance for a minute or two before retuning to normal.
- The game now requires an SSD.
Patch Highlights:
Awakening System (Part 1) - A major implementation for late game progression for players in Wayfinder. Upon reaching maximum level, Players can collect & craft Awakening Stones to add a new echo slot, increase echo capacity, as well as buff to all of their stats on Wayfinders and Weapons. Right now the current cap is 3*. In the future we'll be expanding this system to 5* as well as implementing archetype levels and other horizontal progression for your Wayfinders and their entire archetype.
Performance - We know performance has been a huge pain point for many members of our community, this is the first of many patches were we’ll directly be working on performance + optimization. This patch delivers hundreds of improvements on backend optimizations as well as client changes that have a dramatic impact on overall performance. We aren't done with improving performance, but this should be a huge leap in the right direction.
Senja Rework - As the Last of the Iron Sisters and Champion of the Imperial Arena, we didn't feel as though Senja was packing the punch we envisioned. Senja players should expect some major improvements to Sejna’s mobility, durability and offensive capability! These aren't only stat adjustments, but sweeping buffs/reworks to her core kit of abilities.
Event Timers on the map - No longer do you have to guess when events are happening or how long world bosses will be up! Our v1 of this system has timer markers on the map. In the future we'll be adding names as well as more info there about drops, progress etc.
Rifle Subclass Reworks - The goal with this subclass rework is to incentivize creative loadout compositions, depending on the challenge Wayfinders face. Rather than have every rifle weapon essentially perform similarly asides from their weapon ability, we want each subclass to have a distinct utility to distinguish themselves.
- Shotguns - Significant break power and close quarter splash damage
- Rifles -Mid-range Low break but high broken DPS
- Railguns - Long range single target burst
Stat Rebalance - We want player builds to be diverse and interesting, with clear benefits for investing in the full spectrum of offered stats. Specifically Ability Power and Defensive stats were underperforming when compared to Weapon Power and Crits. To address this we are implementing some major buffs to AP builds, and fundamental improvements to Defensive stats as a whole.
Lost Zone Event items changes - Specific items in Lost Zones that may drop from a specific event now have a chance to drop in all events within that Lost Zone. This means that those hard to find crafting ingredients just got a little easier to get.
New Wayfinder + Weapon Dye Tech - We love seeing the huge diversity of player expression with our style system and dyes, but more is always better! Take a look into the new Dye options to see additional slots for Wayfinder VFX, even more trim customization, and three new slots for Weapon Dyes!
Updated Music and Combat Sound Effects - We are already very proud of the music and ambiance in Evenor, but prepare for even further immersion with loads of improvements to Combat feedback sounds (Hits vs Crits, breaks, deaths, dodges etc.) and a new music system.
Inventory Management and UI upgrades - Players will now have improved sorting functionality for their Echoes, ability to view Affinities and Echo slot types in shop/inventory lists, and sell multiple instances of items with a single input! We have laid the framework for Mass Tag + Sell/Dust with a single click as well as Multi-Crafting, so stay tuned as we look to add these and additional functionalities soon!
Underperforming Weapon Buffs - We want all weapons to be on a level playing field, with distinct strengths and weaknesses depending on the encounter. Sword & Shields as a weapon class are statistically less relevant compared to other weapon types, so there are a number of changes to weapons to bolster some of the less popular choices and give them a chance to shine.
XP Caches - XP Resonance Caches for Wayfinders and weapons are now enabled! When we rolled out the 300% XP Buff, we had mentioned that we'll be adjusted XP once again to account for these scrolls. We have reduced the overall gain from expeditions and hunts and put that difference in these XP caches.
Helper Coin Shop Update - It has been incredible to see how many Wayfinders take advantage of the Helper Queue system to help fellow players push back the Gloom. We want to reward that collaboration even more with tons of new additions to the Helper Shop, including new items and resources, as well as exclusive cosmetics not sold in-game; all available for FREE.
New Weapons - Five brand new weapons await crafting. Bastion, Bloodsong, Windmother’s Fang, Umbros and Voidbreaker!
Eventide Live Event - The citizens of Skylight are celebrating Eventide, but that means they’ll also need your help in making sure it’s the holiday the citizens deserve! Our biggest live event yet will be active in the weeks following this patch’s release and feature a vendor with exclusive housing items and cosmetics.
Eventide Known Issues:
- Sometimes Lures will not be placeable at the Plunderfool event.
- Presents are not placeable under the Eventide Holiday Tree.
The full 79-page, 27,430 word Patch Notes can be found here
What's in store for 2024?
As always thank you to everyone that has supported us when we announced, when we launched into Early Access and when we began our transition of service. We hope that this patch shows our continued commitment to Wayfinder. With the launch of Eventide, our team will be taking a much deserved break for the next few weeks. In early 2024 we'll return to our weekly/biweekly patch cadence. We're also going to be pausing adding additional MTX items (outside of Eventide themed items) to the store while we focus on v0.2 being a great new foundation.
These patches will includes fixes and balances changes as well as content. Rightfully people have asked about the things we promised in Season 2. By not being bound to a Seasons for the time being means we'll be able to quickly release content. We are truly just getting started, because In early 2024 you can look forward to:
- Mounts
- Job Board
- A new zone
- Raids
- Grendel
From everyone here at Airship Syndicate we thank you from the bottom of our heart for your continued support of Wayfinder. We quite literally could not do it without everyone.
