Design Notes

April 12, 2017

Queen of Monsters Saga: The Rift

Return to the Darkness, to Fear, and to Chaos

On Friday, April 14th, we return to a darker, deadlier Queen of Monsters Saga! A mysterious rift appears as the Queen’s Gambit begins… and woe to those who fall for its trap!

January 29, 2016

Brightoak Grove Finale Rewards

TONS of New Gear to Celebrate the Finale

To celebrate the finale of the latest Queen of Monsters Saga, we've got a TON of new gear for you to buy, unlock, or farm for! Check out the new StoneCrusher Class, new gear in the Brightoak Rep and Gear shops, plus permanent and rare monster drops from this weekend's boss monsters!

Ravinos' Brightoak Rep Shop Update!

Ravinos in Brightoak is so grateful for all the help you've given that he's stocked up the Rep Shop with a backpack full of new gear for you to unlock!

• Brightoak Poison Sword and Pike 
• Tainted Druid armor set 
• Mystical Wand
• Corrupt Forest Fairy armor set* 
• Earth Titan Pet
• Rep versions of the Arcane StoneCrusher armor set 

*This is the first gear done by our newest assistant artist, Neihi! /cheer

Lapis' Brightoak Gear Shop Update!

Lapis in Brightoak has some sweet NEW gear for you, even though her home is up in flames (she is so dedicated)! In addition to the AC version of the StoneCrusher Class, she's also got:

• AdventureCoin versions of the Arcane StoneCrusher armor set
• Wand of Patronum
• Helms of Patronum 
• Brightoak Raven Sword

Rare Boss Drops

• Nevanna Armor and Helms
• Brightoak Raven Scythe
• Brightoak Raven Armblades

Permanent monster drops:

• The member-only General Nevanna armor and helms drop from the General Nevanna boss. 
• The 0 AC Earth Titan pet drops from the Gaiazor boss.  
• Wisterrora's Reach and Claw polearms drop from Wisterrora 

These items will NOT go rare, so if you don't get it right away, fear not! You'll have all the time you need to battle for it. 

Class Merge Shop

You can unlock the StoneCrusher Class immediately for 2000 ACs from the Class Shop in your game menu or by talking to Lapis in Brightoak! If you want to EARN the class, you can unlock the rep version from the class Merge Shop at Ravinos.

To unlock it, combine the Earth's Song Token (requires rank 10 Mythsong) with the Shaman Armor (requires Rank 10 Arcangrove). To equip the class, you'll need Rank 10 Brightoak!

November 02, 2015

This Friday: Battle to Save Rivensylth

The Queen of Monsters Brightoak Saga Continues!

Choose one of three battle paths as you seek the lair of the Faerie Dragon, Rivensylth! She holds secrets and knowledge of the past that will be vital to stopping General Nevanna and saving Brightoak!

If you haven't begun the Queen of Monsters Saga in Brightoak Grove, now's your chance to get caught up! /join Brightoak and talk to Ravinos to discover the threat that is attacking the Heart of the Grove... and what you can do to stop it!

Also releasing this week, the  Wretched Deadman limited time shop, with gear created entirely by our newest volunteer artist, Tana!

September 04, 2015

Battle to save Brightoak this Weekend

The New Queen of Monsters Saga Begins this Weekend!

The World Tree sits at the center of Brightoak Grove, but after Nevana, newly-sworn Genera, introduces corruption into the forest, threatening the World Tree itself - the shields guarding it have begun to falter. Answer the call of the Ravinos, Druid Elders before the Queen of Monsters’ corruption spreads to its heart!

Brightoak Grove Hub Town

If you're just joining us, you may never have battled through one of our hub towns. We release these at the start of a new storyline. These towns are the center points of new sagas. They have NPCs (non-playable characters) you can talk to and do quests for, learn details from, and get a feel for what's about to happen!

This week, /join Brightoak and talk to Ravinos! He and his fellow Grove residents need you to help them recover the Celestial Horn of Balance. Later this month, we'll continue the Brightoak Saga storyline with more updates from ACW0, one of our volunteer writers, with the "Hunt for RivenSylth" - but this week, you should complete quests for:

• Ravinos Brightglade
• Aven Greywhorl
• Lapis Willowmist (she's the middle fairy)
• Flix Spiderwhisp
• Zephyr Wildwood

to increase your Brightoak reputation!

Slay the beasts of Brightoak Grove to complete quests and earn gold to get gear from the shops in the area. You'll find the following:

• Reputation Shop: Talk to Ravinos and complete rep quests. Earn the trust of the NPCs in the area to increase your reputation and purchase more and better gear! This shop will be updated throughout the storyline.
• House Shop: Talk to Zephyr to get some naturally-awesome decor for your in-game house!
• Pet Shop: If you want a battle companion that knows its way around the woods, find Flix Spiderwhisp!
• Gear Shop: Lapis Willowmist make LOOK like a lightweight, but she's got fairy magic, and that lets her create and store more gear than you'd ever think to find in a fairy's backpack!

Special Bonus Boss Drop Release

PS: As a special surprise BONUS release, we've added the Skull Pauldrons of Vordred cape drop to the boss monster when you /join epicvordred! It's a 1% drop, so good luck! (If you bought the DoomWood Card Game expansion pack, we also added it to your badge shop. EXTRA BONUS!!!!)

September 03, 2015

Corruption in BrightOak Grove!

New Queen of Monsters Saga Starts This Friday!

The World Tree sits at the center of Brightoak Grove, but the shields guarding it have begun to falter. Answer the call of the Druid Elders before the Queen of Monsters’ corruption spreads to its heart! new main storyline saga begins soon in Brightoak Grove!

• Speak with Ravinos Brightglade on Friday, September 4th in /brightoak to begin questing!
• If the Druid's sacred artifact is not recovered, the shields guarding the roots that feed the World Tree will fall... 
• If the shields guarding the World Tree fall, the ElvenSong will be silenced... the heart of the forest must not wither and die.
• Corruption MUST not spread in Brightoak Grove!

The image you see above is the first look at the new Brightoak Grove map, with the Ravinos NPC from Memet!

August 17, 2015

Dage Invades the Mirror Realm

August 21st: Battle Between Good vs Evil in the Mirror Realm!

The Queen of Monsters has been plotting for centuries - even before she was released into our world, her whispers found their way into the ears of those who would listen. Alteon the Imbalanced was ready to listen. Dage the Evil was ready to listen. And now, those two dark commanders have allied and are massing to take out the forces of Good in the Mirror Realm!

This Friday, travel to the Overworld but know this - whether you battle for Good or Evil, your goal remains the same - you must return Dage the Evil to our world and Alteon the Imbalanced's portal key must be... dealt with... or the psychic reverberations will resonate throughout the galaxy, causing greater and greater rifts. Everywhere!

Featuring the character cast of:

• Dage the Evil
• Alteon the Imbalanced 
• Evil Ice Drakonnan
• Dark ArchMage Brentan  
• InnDestroyer Yulgar 
• Beleen, She Who Strikes from the Shadows
• Dage the Good
• Nulgath the Archangel 
• Aranx the Good
• Memet, Dream Moglin
• Twig who loves Broccoli and Hummus

You are not going to want to miss these releases - I saw ACW0's scripts, and there is a VERY interesting secret you'll find out... about yourself... that you have NEVER known before!

July 31, 2015

Cysero's Secrets

Do you dare face the Ancient Goose?

Yeah. You probably do. 

I mean, of course you do. Why else would you be here? Just cheering on your friends while they play the release? I don't think so. 

You want a piece of this goose. AND YOU'RE NOT ALONE! The Queen of All Monsters also wants a piece of him (three pieces, actually). 

My first special guest release for the Return Of The Living Devs was a lot of fun. It was a story I thought about for a while, and I think the AQW team did a fantastic job making the release come to life.

I think it surprised a lot of people because people expect zany, wacky fun from me, but It was dark and moody and very emotional and I'm so happy that so many of you played it and let the story do its job. 

For my second special guest release (of two), I really wanted to give you some of the Cysero that a lot of you expect to see. The story is dumb (but fun and has a few great surprises in it), and the gear is very nice, but the MAP is the real jewel here. I planned out each room, each twist and turn, each hidden exit, shortcut and hidden mouse-over.

Cysero is what's up.

I really tried to give you somewhere that was fun to run around. (of course J6 and Reens were the ones who had to build the map to my exacting standards and Ghost expertly animated some of my favorite cutscenes in all of AQW history for tonight, so they all have permission to hit me. Sorry, guys.)

Let's face it. There are only so many types of quests that you can go on before they all start feeling kind of similar... so, I wanted to give you a PLACE that fun to run around in. This way, if the quests start feeling like work, the map will always keep things interesting with a hidden treat in almost every room. 

Look carefully, dear player. If you want to find MY secrets... you're going to have to work for them.

April 29, 2015

Face Cinderclaw the Ravenous

Face Cinderclaw, Guardian of the Phoenixrise Gates!

Long before the Queen of Monsters was freed, Cinderclaw the Ravenous stalked the molten caverns beneath the Phoenixrise Gates. Mothers throughout the Firestorm Islands threatened to send their children to him if they misbehaved, and many foolhardy adventurers dared to enter his realm... and never returned.

Cinderclaw concept and Flash art by Laken

But that was before the Firestorm Onslaught... before Tyndarius was chosen by the Queen to serve as her Fire General in our world. Now, Cinderclaw has been tamed - barely - but will ONLY answer to those who have formally sworn to serve the Mother of Monsters.

This Friday, brave the deep, dark Fyreborn Caverns beneath the Phoenixrise Gates and face down Cinderclaw the Ravenous! Since the Firestorm Onslaught rose, he has gone without food - because all surplus personnel have been conscripted for a much more terrifying purpose - and he is VERY eager to feed - on YOU!