Dauntless Reforged is releasing today, and gamers don’t have long to wait before they can download and explore the big update.
Developers Phoenix Labs has revealed that around two hours of downtime will be required, meaning Dauntless will be unplayable during this time.
The good news is that plenty of new content is coming to the popular free-to-play title this week, making it all worth it.
A big part of that will be The Hunting Grounds, which Phoenix says will be the biggest and most ambitious hunt type yet.
18 islands will make up a large chunk of the Hunting Grounds, which will be populated with large beasts to take down, and challenging group events.
A message from Phoenix Labs explains: “The Hunting Grounds offer 18 handcrafted islands to explore, brimming with flora, fauna, treasures to discover, and — of course — fearsome Behemoths.
“These islands not only offer a variety of Behemoths and fauna that regenerate over time, they also dynamically update with a number of island events that call on all Slayers to band together for challenging encounters.
“Since you’re able to spend more time on Hunting Grounds islands than in previous hunt types, we’ve also added the ability to seamlessly restock your supplies and swap loadouts on islands through a new consumable source: supply crates.
“Every element of Hunting Grounds ladders up to an overall goal: giving you more opportunities to enjoy the combat, exploration, and teamwork at the core of the Dauntless experience.
“With the Hunting Grounds, we’ve increased the maximum number of Slayers per island to six, giving you a fighting chance against some of the more perilous encounters you’ll come across. Each island is chock full of Behemoths to defeat, aggressive fauna to clear out, treasure caches to loot, and island events to join — more on those later.”
DAUNTLESS REFORGED RELEASE DATE AND UPDATE TIME
Developers Phoenix Labs has confirmed that the Dauntless Reforged update has a release date set for Thursday, December 3, 2020.
We also know the launch time, with Phoenix confirming that downtime will begin at 10am PDT across all platforms.
It should also be noted that Dauntless Reforged will have two-hours of downtime, meaning everything should be live at around 8pm GMT.
Early patch notes have also been shared and include the following details:
SLAYER’S PATH
- One of the biggest changes in Dauntless Reforged is the Slayer’s Path. The Slayer’s Path is an all-new branching progression system that lets you choose your path through the Shattered Isles.
- Use rams, merits, and effort to unlock every milestone and node on the Slayer’s Path and achieve true Master Slayer status.
GEAR PROGRESSION
Armour and weapon progression has been completely reworked in Dauntless Reforged. Incremental upgrades have been replaced by a tier system that makes items more immediately useful. Dauntless Reforged also introduces weapon skill levels, reforging, and power surging: new ways to take control of your power score and unlock your gear’s true potential.
COLD FRONT HUNT PASS
- Winter is settling in, and we hope you’re ready for a cold one, Slayer.
- The Cold Front Hunt Pass offers two brand-new sets of armour skins and two fresh rumour quest chains. Complete a rumour’s requirements to unlock unique cosmetics.
- Don the armour of the mysterious Frost Wardens and face the frigid winds of winter head-on. You may even meet one of them in the field.
BEHEMOTHS
AGARUS
WEAPONS
REPEATERS
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Fixed a bug where the animation lock for firing blocked input all the way back to idle. Dodging and abilities can once again be used during the return-to-idle phase.
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Fixed a bug where players using repeaters could not dodge, activate abilities, or reload without releasing the firing input. These inputs will now buffer, activating after a shot’s animation lock, and taking priority over starting another shot.
MISCELLANEOUS
QUALITY OF LIFE
BALANCE
We’ve seen the call for build variation and a dampening of power creep from players. We’re laying the foundation for improvements with Dauntless Reforged, and we can’t wait to continue working on these areas.
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Modified the damage curves that control how much damage you deal and take from Behemoths based on your power versus their power. Small power/resistance differences between you and the Behemoth will matter more than before. This means you will do much more damage to Behemoths that have a significantly lower power score than you, but you will also take much more damage from Behemoths that have a significantly higher power score than you.
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Weapons and armour have a much larger portion of their effects transferred to elemental damage/resistance. This will play a big part in decisions around builds and build diversity.
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Sturdy cell effect cooldown reduced to 30/25/20/15/10/5 seconds (previously 120/100/80/60/40/15) for ranks +1/+2/+3/+4/+5/+6.
GAMEPLAY
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Exotic schematics and heroic dyes no longer drop on hunts. They will be reintroduced in a future patch with a new source — one that isn’t based entirely on RNG. Stay tuned for more info!
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We have modified most of the requirements to craft weapons and armour. Orbs and arcstones are no longer required and Behemoth part requirements have been modified. In general, crafting gear will now require regular parts, while power surging gear will require rare parts, epic parts, and aetherhearts.
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Elite Hunt Passes no longer provide bonus Behemoth loot and part drops.
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Cells no longer drop from Behemoths, but cell cores can now be earned through island events or looted from Hunting Grounds treasure chests.
