Unlike past weeks, Oryx 3’s fourth and final miniboss will not be revealing himself just yet. Instead, today we will be taking a look at the Bard, in addition to more Exalt news and some information about the content creator partnership we mentioned in a previous blog post.
Exalt Update
A new Exalt update will be released on May 20th, and a number of changes, improvements, and bug fixes will be coming along with it. However, there are two new features in particular that we’d like to highlight here in advance, both pertaining to realms.
- Realms will now feature a timer, displaying how long a realm has existed since its generation.
- Full realm portals will now use a queuing system, instead of just who can interact with it first upon having a slot open up.
We will have extra information on both of these upon release, but we hope these improvements are exciting and helpful for all!
Bard Changes
Firstly, thank you to everyone who participated in the joint public testing session of Oryx’s Sanctuary and the Bard class! While Oryx 3 will not be releasing just yet, the Bard will arrive shortly on production! In addition to heavy amounts of polish and finishing touches to take it from testing to final release, we’ve made some final balance changes too and would like to share some here.
The core identity of the lute ability remains the same: Inspired boosts the weapon range of yourself and allies. The Bard is a support class first and foremost. However, the most notable change from public testing is the removal of Energized as a secondary effect.
Instead, starting at T3, lutes grant a defense boost on self, helping compensate for the Bard’s use of robes. The raw defense stat boost originally placed on lutes has instead been converted to a speed increase as well.
By T6, lutes Inspire for six seconds, boost 10 defense on self for 4 seconds, and grant 4 base speed (in addition to the usual +20 HP and MP bonus shared by all T6 abilities). All three UTs which the Bard will be immediately releasing with have also received considerable changes to be more appealing and balanced.
As an early game white bag drop from the Snake Pit, the Snake Charmer Pungi is now much less convoluted than its PT iteration. Plain and simple, it’s the Bard’s mobility item. With a substantial raw speed increase on equip, a 4 second Speedy buff on use, and a solid (albeit short) defense boost, it’s a Bard’s best option for rushing or general realm traversal.
By far the most unusual UT lute is the Wavecrest Concertina, dropping from the Deadwater Docks. While it still grants the Inspired buff, it is a heavily offensive lute, and quite a multipurpose one at that. Using it launches a large parrot toward the cursor to deal damage to nearby enemies. Additionally, every shot from your weapon has a 5% chance to summon a smaller parrot who fights beside you. This makes the ability synergize extra well with high fire rate weapons, which constantly create better odds of summoning a parrot swarm. Their DPS is no joke, and that’s on top of the +4 attack and dexterity you get on equip!
Formerly known as the Lullaby, this item now drops in the Tomb of the Ancients from Nut. Yes, her white bags are no longer immediate cause for disappointment! Essentially the opposite of the Wavecrest Concertina, the Pharaoh’s Requiem is a defensive lute that can keep you safe in more ways than one. Taking moderate damage from a shot will grant you Armored, as well as inflicting Weak on anything nearby for a short time, allowing you to get through sketchy situations more safely. Using the lute creates a mask ally that continuously inflicts Weak around itself on enemies. This is the first time the Weak effect has an accessible use against enemies, allowing the Bard to play a new role in their party!
Regarding the ST set available on testing, this will not be released alongside the Bard right away, so there is no news on that set at this time. For the rest, we’ll have more in-depth demonstrations and footage of these items in action soon, which brings us to the final point of this blog…
Partnered Content Creators
We are happy to announce our first wave of officially partnered Realm content creators! We will be working with the following Youtubers/streamers to deliver special content, previews, and more in ways that were never before possible!
- MothrShip
- VarsVerum
- Bickuribox12
- CaTaHa
- Spencer
- CussingCanadian
- Sebchoof
- Soulshift
- Floflorian
- As well as a few more we will officially announce shortly.
Be sure to check out their channels for more Realm content starting very soon!