=AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (Full Version)

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CHAIML -> =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 12:04:57)

AdventureQuest News

Monday, September 27, 2021

COMING THIS WEEK!
The Lost Talon Set Part 1 - Liar's Pilgrimage
COMING THIS WEEK!
The journey for the 2021 annual Mastercraft set begins! While rallying in the Far West, the Silari discover that Xilar abruptly went silent and escaped into a heavily contaminated area on his own. Worried that his vast knowledge might fall into nefarious hands, you track him down... And get swept up into the quest for the Lost Talon set!



Mogloween Season Begins:
The town of BattleOn gets decorated as the Mogloween season begins

We have a fun Mogloween tradition for the houses you visit during the event -- using the names of our own players and staff. If you would like to have your name included in this year's Mogloween festivities please post your character's name here!



PLAY NOW
Back-To-School Daily Prizes
Ends October 13th
Login daily for your chance to win 7 amazing rewards, 1 for every day of the week! Just by logging in and playing AQ you will qualify for 50 prizes being given away daily. The more characters you play with the better your chances of winning. As an added perk, all Guardians gain an extra 50% chance of winning! Here are the 7 Water variant prizes along with the day of the week they are being given away:

Sunday - Scroll Knight Helms
Monday - Dodgeball Z Spell
Tuesday - School Uniform Color-Custom Armor
Wednesday - Savage Schoolbook Pet
Thursday - Paperclip Pencil Bow
Friday - School Bell Bulwark
Saturday - Ruler Buster Blade
Linked to info subs, please note this year they're water aligned instead of light.



September 2021 Golden Giftboxes
Talk Like A Pirate Day
A specially bred Fire version of the Hippocampus, this aquatic steed is a powerful offensive armor. Arcane Cutlasess are wielded by more magically adept pirates and amplify the power of your Darkness or Energy spells. The fiery Mimic Pet will not mimic your foes element but does include an extra powerful attack if you feed them your gold! Also find the Twisted Atrea Dream Glaive and Moglimus Decimus Guest!



Zombie Hunter Set
50K Z-Token Package Bonus
Don't let those zombies chomp on your gray matter and instead offer them a lead salad courtesy of your boom stick! This powerful set features an armor, 3 weapons, shield and title. The undead will be rattling in fear with this set's amazing full-set bonus and undead trigger. Grab yours while they last as this package bonus will only be available for a limited time!
Info sub: Here

Arms of Carnax
20K Z-Token Package Bonus
Wield the power of one of the greatest legendary foes in all of Lore! Become consumed by the power of the Carnax beast and unlock this weapon's ultimate power - transforming you into the incarnation of Carnax's Malice!
Info sub: Here

BUY NOW

2021 Calendar In-Game Rewards
Unlock Draconic Chronomancer in-game bonus rewards in:
AdventureQuest 3D
AdventureQuest Worlds
DragonFable
EpicDuel
The original AdventureQuest

ORDER NOW

~Tagged, you're it. ~Anim




Zennistrad -> RE: AQClassic: The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 12:12:28)

Oooh, noticing a lot of sandy earthen colors in the promo image.

Could this finally be the FO Earth set we've needed for so long?




PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 12:30:00)

Interesting how we’re starting the MC quest line now instead of before the Summer Saga’s conclusion, unless the war would be its conclusion?

On the bright side it looks like we’ll actually have the MC set this year (fortunate that I was wrong on this one, but content rarity and schedules need to still be addressed) I could see this set being based on the pictures:

Earth/light
Earth/Wind
Light/Wind

I’m hoping it’s earth and/or light, because those elements are somewhat lacking (no, paladin doesn’t count because obvious reasons)




Zennistrad -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 12:40:15)

I think it's highly unlikely we'll see light or darkness sets in the near future. Paladin so good at almost everything that it'd be extremely difficult to make a light set that can compete with it, and Darkness already has some of the best sets in the game (and that's before counting the upcoming advanced Necromancer armors).

Wind also seems fairly unlikely, given that last year's set was a wind set.




PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 13:23:21)

I should clarify, I meant: Primary/Secondary elemental defenses.

As for dark, if we exclude Premiums, rares and other exclusives, then dark actually has lacking equipment. Well, most things when you exclude that but that is also a symptom of the increasingly unobtainable nature of AQ equips in recent years and power creep

But moreover I do think there should probably be discussions of Tier3 power (and subraces) given how those virtually monopolize their respective elements and make it harder to design forward without power creep. The fact that paladin virtually monopolizes Light is problematic to say the least; and shouldn’t be used as a standard for anything. In the word of IMR, subraces already break a lot of balance rules. I can’t even begin to describe how many rules Paladin and Necromancer break. And I shudder for what Archmage and Assassin will give us.




RobynJoanne -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 14:31:53)

@PD
I believe the excessive power of T3 classes will be addressed to some extent. At the very least, we will lose the ability to use multiple ones at once without consequence. I think it will be a limit based on our current class title. If we use a T3 class without the proper class title, we will lose the ability to use most of their skills, which will limit them quite a bit.

This does not change the fact that every skill is essentially another MC, so Subrace armors have 10 MCs, and the T3 classes have 20 MCs. Even if we can only use one of the latter, that single armor will still be overwhelmingly powerful compared to everything else in the game. The power of Subrace armors means that certain builds need a very good reason to use anything else. Defensive builds pretty much exclusively use Neko armors, and Werepyre Hybrids rarely use other armors with Hybrid stats (admittedly because there pretty much are none). I still remember how underwhelmed a lot of people felt about Muscle Mage and Spring Dryad Vestments, and those armors are hyper-optimized. For any other build, armors like them with so many effects would be among the best armors in the game, but they simply cannot compete with a Subrace. Only Paladin does, which only means that Paladin is even more overpowered.

Dark does benefit from the incredibly powerful "Reaper" Set, which is still one of the strongest sets in the game even including rares and premium items. There are also the Shadow armors, which are still some of the best dual-element armors in the game, beaten out again only by the Subrace armors.




It's rather interesting that we're getting an Earth set this time. Wind has been shown quite a lot of love with the revamp of Fujin and the releases of Frostgale (kind of) and Dragonlord. Considering the Chimeran and Morningstar revamps and the release of Geocastellum, Earth has been getting a similar treatment. It seems we're getting some more equipment for what were previously considered the weakest elements in the game by a fairly large margin. I've also enjoyed how there has been a fairly good split between defensive and offensive armors for the MC Set releases. It is no secret that offensive builds get a lot of support, so I'm really glad that there's been close to equal treatment between the two.




OG Ranger -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 15:40:31)

It looks like a wind set to me. Pleeeease have a high damage/overcharged wind pet. Pleeeease. That is a gap that needs filling.




Lorekeeper -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/27/2021 17:10:04)

While this canonically happens after the summer event, rest assured that it's written in such a way as to avoid any spoilers by the time quest hubs are finished.

It's also worth noting no mechanics have been announced/confirmed beyond it standing to reason that this year's set would be unlike the Haunted Dragonlord set.




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 0:10:35)

Don't remember who was pushing all this, but , Well, it looks like all the nonsense about omg how on earth will a MC set fit into this year's time left turned out to be for nothing. Maybe a bit of biting of the lip might be best at times.
Or maybe every single "mistake" has to be pointed out every week? I'm not sure.



Moving on..


I don't think they should make it like subraces, with classes to the same extent. There should just be perks built-in. Maybe all the skills get Mastercrafted bonuses if you have the class set to the armor, or maybe *some* skills get disabled... but to make the armor completely and totally unworthwhile to have to me is a bit over the top.

I did notice that Necromancer seems to have *NO* bonus for being titled as Necromancer. So I think that should be addressed for sure. One could BE a Wizard to get that bonus, or Paladin to get that, but have Necromancer and be fine at the same time.

I do agree that the subrace and class armors make everything else dull and under powered. I mostly don't ever use a non class or non subrace armor...almost ever.

I might carry some but I don't see the need to use them on most fronts. I bought and have tried the ebony sepulchre armor and it's undead skill is fantastic, especially against UNDEAD. And it's still not as good as other armors. Full Hybrid werepyre is powerful, but with specific items and playstyles it's unbelievable.

I have decided the old style way to play where you try and have all or most elements covered on weapons isnt even optimal anymore. Just find an element you think will have the best lot of stuff, get PCO, use it every battle, and stack.

I mean, all in same element (darkness)-> Eclipsed dragonlord might (broke SP regen), eclipsed dragonlord insight (broke MP regen), atrea dream rod (lucky strike crit style play = crazy damage), terror eater (eat fear..ie damage cap), terror skill (easily regenned, and fear amount based on damage dealt, so guaranteed multi turn stun), arcane cutlass of abyss (outstanding spell boost), doom knight's blade (damage boost, stays darkness, acts like element seeking vs undead..ie this war we are on its outstanding), ebony sepulchre armor's skill, Necromancer armors best skills, destruction burst (element seeks darkness, overcharged)

Why not just darkness element specialize? Everything here's synergy is off the charts...

And I'm sure there's other darkness things like Reaper I dont have the patience to go get....so yeah darkness benefits, but to me it might be the element with the best collection of stuff in the game as it stands...




PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 0:57:20)

quote:

Don't remember who was pushing all this, but , Well, it looks like all the nonsense about omg how on earth will a MC set fit into this year's time left turned out to be for nothing. Maybe a bit of biting of the lip might be best at times. Or maybe every single "mistake" has to be pointed out every week? I'm not sure.


First of all, I said this and you addressed the original point as "Not a big deal if they don't do a MC set". Yet again you have chosen not to seriously engage with the point of that original statement, which Cray has even addressed is a serious concern that was lacking appropriate timely responses (for very good reason, his health and in general the devs' personal concerns come first, they owe nothing to us before that). As the original point was never engagd seriously (and thus this explanation will not be for you, but for the others of you who care about things beyond the egoistic); the original statement I made was never about the content itself, it's about the priorities of the devs and the game in general. Content, updates and fixes are the manifestation of what direction the staff decides to take for the game. The Lost Talon set we're imminently getting is as I said, the staff's decision to at least nominally obligate themselves to elements of the game that serve that wider purpose. They could choose to serve that sustainability in other ways of course, and this is one of that many ways they choose to direct themselves to that sustainability.

That to be fortunately wrong about my timeline of events is marginal to everything else at stake. What's most important (and what I advocate for primarily) is the sustainability of this all. They could never release another MC set again and I would be happy as long as their obligations to said sustainability are met, and the game is set to be an enjoyable product for the foreseeable future as I have said in the past; because we do not live in vacuums, and our enjoyment is dependent on more than the selfish concerns that are often raised as priority before everything else.

As for "pointing out the mistakes" (And this quote in general is a bad faith characterization of my original posts) as I often discuss, I do not wish to re-litigate the discussion points of old but the problems are getting worse, and few if ever are willing to ever talk. A thread that highlighted this very issue 2 years ago, and at the time it was dismissed as unwarranted as nobody really bothered to do any empirical analysis of just how inaccessible the game was then, and how much worse it is now.

The majority of this community is at this point on Discord, Reddit, and every place that is not here. And those communities tend not to ever talk about these matters, so I do it because the very few who do care about these things will not show up otherwise to corroborate this as an issue. And the rest of the community that I had mentioned earlier does not have the games' best interests in mind - The recent contests were a pretty clear example where they shoved a niche set to everyone else, and overall reduced the general appeal in favor of fulfilling that niche that maybe a few even understand how to use, if they even do all.

We can choose to do nothing and surrender to our arrogant mendacity and selfishness. And I can certainly say nothing more, remove myself as an obstacle, and ultimately leave AE altogether because apparently it is unpleasant to hear my "complaining" because it feels good to continue as we usually do (and if enough people ask, I am aware of my unpopularity in these parts and I will do just that, and leave the fate of the game to the rest of you who will be its trustees over its ultimate fate). And to that end we as a community can certainly use what limited resources we still even have the good fortune of having left to spend on those concerns. Though on recent memory as of this year, we have not been doing that, and instead use it to bring ourselves to a nadir not seen in well over a decade. On that end, we'll be looking back maybe sometime in the future and wonder if we'd done enough to shape and ultimately conclude things on a high note. Certainly, Mechquest and other AE games did not get to have that opportunity to direct and end things on their own terms. AQ has at least the opportunity to do direct itself towards a better path and ultimately ending, although few seem to even recognize this, and fewer still choose to actively want and push for that. The few who are aware of how much power they have towards these ends are ultimately those who have the ultimate ability to choose what of those ends AQ ultimately pursues and becomes as.




ruleandrew -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 1:00:50)

Player must have at least 3 active armour slots that are not class armour or sub race armour.




Zennistrad -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 1:24:20)

quote:

Don't remember who was pushing all this, but , Well, it looks like all the nonsense about omg how on earth will a MC set fit into this year's time left turned out to be for nothing.


Well, we don't actually know if it's earth, that's just my speculation based on the promotional image.

(It's worth noting that the image shows what appears to be Wyvern pet, and Wyverns are traditionally wind-element monsters in AQ)

As for the stuff about Tier 3 classes, maybe we should move that to its own topic?




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 1:50:40)

I apologize for touching a nerve. I just feel like the *community* has shown a lot of negativity and sense of entitlement in the last few months that I think is quite interesting. I am not for a second going to sit here and pretend that there's not things I would have done different in a few situations if I were in their shoes. That isn't any different than anyone else who plays this game. And I'm all for sustainability. I'd like to be able to play this game years from now. I'd like to continue to see weekly updates years from now.
But the collective finger wagging at a group of people who may or may not get paid to do something they love to do, and give up their time as if it's expected to me is asinine.

I think the complaints is far too often, far too much. This is *not* me singly pointing at you. This is me making general statements about a broad observation.

I saw Cray say that they acknowledge some things. But I don't remember every player's posts or who said what all the time, even if I did respond to it. I suppose I could have gone back and looked who said what, when, etc. But at the end of the day, my post wasn't singling anyone out. When you're talking about people commenting on the "weak" weekly updates for the year, the back and forth on the frostwyrm items, the Oympax "scandal", and a few other smaller things I am reflecting back on the general sense of entitlement that's been over the top recently.

I do remember a time when these boards were UBER controlled to the point of them not being enjoyable AT ALL to participate in. Why else do you think the main stage is reddit and wiki and discord? People don't put up with control very well. And on the flip side, people dont put up with chaos either.

Staff can take in feedback and constructive criticism, but if that becomes the overruling tone, you may as well be killing off that very sustainability you seek.

My comment last time about the MC set comes from a place that my opinion differs from yours, and that's ok. It wasn't a dig, just that I think "Mastercraft", like with so many thibgs, means little today. It used to be a once a year set that was the year's best items, and mastercraft was new idea. They mastercraft 75%+ of everything now, and there's other FSB's items without being labeled as the "MC set" . I feel like if they do one, they do one. If they don't, they dont. But they'll likely get to one at some point and when they do then YAY! It is a sense of entitlement, in my opinion, to think they have to do one, or need to do one. As it turns out, they're going to do one. And guess what? I'll get it. And guess what else? After playing with it a bit, I'll likely put it in storage. As mentioned earlier, subraces and classes outclass everything. Even more of a reason to not worry about it too much.


As for QoL on the docket next year, I have no idea what that entails. But if we are going to get into a nitpick match, I suppose I can tbrow in my 2 cents.

To me, there is a PLETHORA of old items that need updated. Weekly updates does not have to mean NEW. The game needs bug fixes. Tempest armor still has the 0 SP bug. Why? Necromancer is either overpowered to game breaking levels in specific abusable instances, or the code is bugged. I'm sure they know about it. Also the spellcaster lean bugs out to be neutral off/def but give 1.6/1. boosts to the elements it gives boosts to. Why? The eclipsed dragonlord weapons...are these considered balanced? Bugged? Not bugged? Supposedly an essence orb "fix" planned? Ok, for when? Why is 95% of the game's damage boosting items designed for weapon/skill/spell attacks? Why is there so much effort on balancing an item, but none on balancing the items meant for all the builds? Beastmaster based items tend to be seasonal rares or guardian only or GGB or z token. We have misc items that cause fear, daze, entangle, damage boost, elemental empowerment, SP heal, MP heal, HP heal, bth increase, etc etc etc etc that do these thibgs to weapon attacks, spells, but NOTHING that do the same effects based on your pets/guests attacks. Why? We need more hybrid attack armors. More backlash armors. You need a unique build to optimize that, so it goes hand in hand.

I get there's only so much time, only so many coders, artists, story tellers, balance experts, etc. It's all good. They just need to take a 40,000 foot view and maybe spend a year on updates that arn't always new...just getting things up to speed and making sure bugs are squashed, balancing of OP'd stuff is dealt with, and maybe taking the point of of view of "What if I wanted to start new"or "What if I wanted to change builds" and look at those landscapes and make adjustments...and THAT will create sustainability long term...not necessarily that a MC set was created for the year. (I get it's one example in the greater argument)

Not trying to point you out, PD. Going back and reading I get why it may have touched a nerve a bit, and I get you have what you think is good intent in saying what you're saying. I'm not necessarily against what you say. But the collective from all instances from many people IMO is off-putting.




RobynJoanne -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 1:57:07)

The T3 class stuff is a derail. We should absolutely take that discussion elsewhere.

@PD
I believe I've supported your position on most of these matters, even if I feel less strongly about them than you do. If it is an unpopular opinion to hold, then at least know that I (and I'm sure there are silent others) share your thoughts. Cray has promised multiple times recently that the staff plans on major QoL improvements next year. We can hold them to their word and see if next year will take a different direction than this one.

If we're getting another wind set this year, I'm seriously hoping for some dodge build support. Wyverns have traditionally been among the dodgiest of monsters in the game alongside Sneaks and Rocs. It'd be amazing to get more dodge armors.




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/28/2021 4:03:25)

I really wish staff would re-imagine all "rider" or "mounted" armors and make them a ranged and blocking specialty armor set....almost a new Lean of sorts.

In battle, having the high ground typically gives you a tactical advantage. This is why you see horse mounted armies in the past. It's why being on a hill, or even on a higher floor of a building lends itself to a tactical advantage. Even in movies like LoTR, all the battle scenes with the army (man) inside and up high still provided some tactical advantage even though they were outnumbered.

So I view mounted and rider armors as something that should be re-imagined...and all old armors with this art changed. I'm not going to sit and iron out specifics, other than to say I think it should be high defense, and low melee/magic (including spells) offense (except for 100 proc) and all ranged (both 100 proc and all other ranged) and all other 100 proc gets a substantial damage and accuracy boost in the armor. Maybe the lean even reduces pets/guests damage...as to not make it a beastmaster style. This is perhaps a Ranger Lean.

This is the type of stuff I wish for. Something more than "I hope its wind element"





PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/30/2021 19:50:58)

Just a side note, the Zombie Hunter Set is now available to buy in the 50K Z-token packages again. Apparently it was meant to be for this week, not last week.

Also any indications of whether this will be released today or if it's getting delayed?




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (9/30/2021 21:10:46)

I been wondering whats going on with the release for THIS week....



Edit- Homepage updated for the MC, but after 2 battles you get kicked out


Edit 2-> Fixed




.*. .*. .*. -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 16:04:41)

Quest is out, however after 2 battles you are thrown out of the quest and end up in battleon. [:D]




PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 16:23:21)

Anyone got a quick shortlist of panic in using sources? When I can get on I’d like to try it out myself




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 16:37:52)

spoiler:

Considering that the weapon is hybrid, Werepyre's Terror skill inflicts panic, and for cheap. The synergy is outstanding. I just used the weapon and it gave me 122 STR/Int for 3 rounds.

This is greater than the two quick casts, and using the two quick casts extends the rounds but averages the boost (lowers)

I am unsure of other panic inflictors, but here if there's a misc it would be fantastic.




RobynJoanne -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 16:45:17)

@PD
Not many IIRC. Paladin and Werepyre Terror are fairly accessible. The Forums' Panicked page has some items as well. The spells Seeing Red and Jaania's Orb of Power are the most reliable of the bunch.

It is missing Katar of Undeath, which inflicts Panic on its weapon special. Shattered Horizon provides Panic backlash, but it costs Z-tokens, though I'm sure any backlasher worth his or her salt has already gotten it due to it being a healing misc.

As a side note, is there a reason Werepyre's Terror casts Panic while War's Legacy's Panic casts Fear? Jalek's Panic Reaver also eats Fear. Those names are quite misleading.




OG Ranger -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 17:48:29)

I haven't got my GGB's this month. Anyone else the same?




PD -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 18:02:53)

Give a few days. Sometimes it isn't immediate and this is just one of those months. If we don't get them after the 5th day that's when we should call upon them to address it.




RobynJoanne -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 19:10:52)

I think this quest practically confirms that we're getting a wind set. Also, Cray's comment that this is not Haunted Dragonlord heavily hinted at this earlier.

This Tenebrophage status is quite fascinating: reduced damage from both light and darkness (Shadows?!) and bonus Initiative, implying these monsters ambush and are at constant threats of ambushes. The latter comports with the description of attacking anything that comes out of the Far West. I wonder if they'll be mechanics for the upcoming set. I'm pretty happy with the recent dodge support, and dodge support is already far too centralized in wind, so I'm okay if the wyverns do not hint at more dodge support.




Sapphire -> RE: =AQ= The Quest For The 2021 Annual Mastercraft Set Begins (10/1/2021 21:01:35)

Celerity, 2 casts of seeing red gets you about 0% to panic until a save is made.

Use the new weapon, get 270+ STR and INT..now you have 500 Str/Int

BOMBS AWAY




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