Jay's Notes on the Equipment Temper balance fix

A letter of apology to Pioneers

Hello, Pioneers. Jay Lee, Design Team Lead for ArcheAge Chronicles, is writing because equipment players have carefully built up was caught by a mistake on the team's side.

He says he is writing with a heavy heart. As the person responsible for design and balance, he wanted to explain the problem himself and how it will be handled.

What we missed

Last weekend, streams and the Discord community showed odd Temper results on some gear. The investigation found that Temper data for certain weapons and armor had been linked to the wrong entries.

Some pieces gained far more stats than intended. Others gained much less than they should have.

Players spent the same Tempering Stones and the same time, and still got completely different results depending on the item. Missing this beforehand was, the team says, entirely their fault.

A difficult decision

Once the error was confirmed, the first principle they agreed on was simple.

"Let's not weaken the equipment our Pioneers are using right now." According to Jay Lee, Design Team Lead.

At higher Temper levels, some weapons were beating even the best crafted weapons, and boss monsters were falling much faster than expected. That put the balance of the whole game at risk, including upcoming Raid bosses and new Legendary equipment.

Restoring the original design values would have been the simple fix, but it would have cut the attack power of some weapons by 30%. The team did not consider that acceptable.

After a long discussion, they chose another route.

"We are correcting the incorrectly linked Temper data, but we have also raised the base stats of the affected equipment and added a new bonus stat. Our goal was to make up as much of the lost ATK as possible and keep your losses to a minimum." According to the design team.

Even so, depending on the monsters you face and how far you have progressed, there will be cases where the drop in performance is noticeable.

They could not avoid today's inconvenience at the cost of future adventures. Jay Lee apologizes for having to make that call.

Making it up to you

For Pioneers who already spent a lot of time and resources because of this mistake, the team has prepared compensation.

1. Compensation for affected players

Tempering Stone compensation

• Eligibility: characters that own affected equipment Tempered to +5 or higher.
• Criteria: the Temper level of the affected item at the time of this announcement (Nov. 10, 11:30 PM PST).
• Reward: Tempering Stones, with amounts based on equipment grade and Temper level.
• Schedule: sent in order after the temporary maintenance patch.

Because it is sent character by character, the actual delivery time may vary. The team asks for your patience.

The equipment you are using will not be taken away. This compensation is on top of that gear.

Even after the adjustment, the affected pieces should remain strong next to other equipment of the same grade. You can keep using what you have equipped.

These Tempering Stones can go into your current gear, be saved for new equipment in later updates, or be used on other items. That choice is yours.

2. Compensation for all players

Unique grade cosmetic item

• As an apology for the inconvenience of this balance issue, every Pioneer will receive a Unique grade cosmetic item.

The cosmetic is being designed from scratch, so it will take some time. The team will prepare it as quickly as it can and announce the delivery date once it is confirmed.

Compensation Chest II (x3)

Each chest contains Gold, Vivid Weapon Tempering Stones, Vivid Armor Tempering Stones, and Hersander's Dice Keys. Three chests will be sent during an upcoming maintenance.

After maintenance, they appear in the account mailbox. Claim them on the character you choose, then use them.

A final word to Pioneers

The team takes it very seriously that the time and effort you put in did not lead to the results you expected, and that the error also made the game less enjoyable.

From here, data checks and internal testing will be tightened.

The team will also work to spot problems sooner and to keep you informed with accurate, clear updates.

The affected items and their adjusted stats are in the tables below.

Jay Lee apologizes again to every Pioneer who was let down. Feedback and criticism will not be brushed aside, and work to improve ArcheAge Chronicles will continue. The note is signed by Jaehwang Lee, Design Team Lead.

Detailed stat adjustments after the rebalance

• Third weapons and unreleased items were also adjusted, but they are not in the tables below.
• Effective Performance values are calculated arithmetically with the bonus stats applied, and may differ from actual combat.

Patch note preview

This patch focuses on bugs found over the weekend and on friction that got in the way of play. Full details for this round will be posted after maintenance. The previous round of bug fixes and improvements is already up.

What follows is only a preview.

• The weight of crafting materials will be reduced. Raw materials drop to about one third of their current weight, and processed materials are reduced in proportion.
• Weight from items other than equipment and crafting materials will be removed. Nui's Tear, Hereafter Stone, outfits, and quest items will weigh 0.
• Runtime memory will be optimized to help low-spec PCs and cut down crashes. Freezes when effects and sounds play should also ease, for more stable frames.
• Freezing and memory spikes in housing placement mode are fixed, including the problem that made housing edits difficult.
• Bugs related to Storage are fixed.
• Issues with some quest progress, and with entering or leaving channels, are fixed.