Epic Duel Game Design Notes

Behind the scenes information about EpicDuel's development and releases, a real-time PVP MMO that you can play online in your web browser.

	November 19, 2021 Gift-a-Geddon 2021 What time is it? It's EpicDuel Gifting time again! This year, Gifting will officially go online Friday December 3rd and last until Friday January 7th, 2022! In preparation of this major event, which is by far the highlight of every EpicDuel year, we'll be launching a new Mega-Pack and buffing the value of the current 10,000 AP Varium packs! Legendary Epic Mega-Pack 2021! Today, Friday November 19th, we'll be launching a massive mega-pack of 40,000 Varium for 20,000 Artix Points. This package will be available after a brief update. Those who purchase this pack will also be awarded a one-time Legendary Epic Supporter 2021 achievement! This is an incredible value, but it will only be around for a limited time: the promotion will officially end when gifting begins on December 3th! Epic Supporter 2021! Today, we're also boosting the Varium included in the weapon pack from 10,000 to 15,000 and the pure Varium pack from 12,000 to 18,000! These packages will award the Epic Supporter 2021 achievement which will evolve if the packs are purchased multiple times! The 40,000 Varium pack will also count towards the Epic Supporter 2021 achievement. If you purchased a 10,000 AP package on Friday November 19th before the update took effect, you will be awarded the appropriate achievement plus the difference in Varium. Gifting Revised Rewards and Rules It's nearly time for EpicDuel Gifting! After all these years it's still the most anticipated EpicDuel event, and it's not even close. If you've participated in past Gifting events, or if this is your first time experiencing one, it's important that you pay careful attention to this year's rules and rewards because they've changed a bit, especially if you're aiming to land a position on the leaderboard. Like last year, we'll be offering each of the top 15 Gifters a unique prize! Winners may request any items within the guidelines below and receive a version of the item with their name associated (i.e. Nightwraith's Delta Knight), however the restrictions have been tightened this time around. These changes were made because the workload of prize fulfillment escalated year-over-year to such an extent that it's unsustainable to continue the scope-creep of custom items that have been drastically altered from their original designs. Also, this year's gifting event will be the FINAL EpicDuel Gifting event so we're pulling out all the stops on content, rewards, balance, bosses and more to make this event one to remember! Please review the following revised rules regarding prizes so there are no disappointments or surprises by the end: The first place gifter will receive an item as specified above but will additionally receive a completely custom item. This can be any item category. Only the first place winner may request a custom hairstyle/helm. No custom styles/helms will be permitted for other winners. No prize codes will be offered to the winner this year. Choose carefully! Winners will be restricted to 1 item as a prize. Mutating items and mutating armors count as one item. Unlike last year, if you request a physical variant you will not also receive an energy variant and vice versa. The prize item can be any sword, sidearm, auxiliary, home item, armor, vehicle, mutation, bot, or class-specific item that has ever been available in-game. Please note the exception regarding Founder Armor.* The item must have been available in EpicDuel at some time. Items from other AE games are not permitted. If your requested item originally included an achievement (i.e. Infernal Slayer), you will NOT also receive the achievement if you request the same item. If the request is for a customized bot, the wish will only be valid for one damage-type configuration of the bot. Skills on robots cannot be swapped for other bot skills. Customization requests can be refused if they're deemed unreasonable or illegal (copy-written material, offensive, etc...). Customization requests can be refused for causing excessive lag due to complex, looping animations. The item(s) must be awarded to the same character that made the top 15 gifting list. No item transfers will be honored. The item may have any core available in-game equipped to it as long as it's of the proper category (i.e. no auxiliary cores on primary weapons, etc...). Core graphics and animations will not be customized. For balance reasons, skills cannot be modified (i.e. additional damage, % effectiveness, cooldown, damage type, cost, etc...). No Replica prizes to be sold in-game will be offered this year. Please consider your prize carefully because once the item is in-game there will be no revisions permitted except for bug fixes. You will have until January 31st to decide on your prize. If you fail to respond during that time window, your prize will be forfeit. Founder Armor Exception: Only the first place gifter may request Founder Armor, however, if you have a Founder Achievement from the Founder phase of EpicDuel, but no Founder Armor, you may ask for Founder Armor. Also, winners who achieve a gifting score higher than 1,000,000 gifts will be eligible for Founder. Any perceived attempts to bypass this rule with loopholes will be denied. Like last year, the top 15 Gifters will have the option to distribute their extra Secret* and Silver Secret packages to friends of their choice! This distribution must happen before the packages open so they can't be held in limbo indefinitely. Winners will have until January 14th to decide on their Secret and Silver Secret package distribution Hopefully this list will help you make your decision easier without being too restrictive. We'll work with the winners to make sure their wishes are fulfilled to their satisfaction within the parameters established above. If any winner is found to have cheated, they will not be eligible for a wish and will have their account disabled. Nightmare Adjudicator Changes and Fixes Nightmare Adjudicator's Eye rating value increased to 5000 Fixed art for Nightmare Hunter Cannon P and E to display the correct art for weapon Increased drop rate for Adjudicator and Nightmare Adjudicator Added to Nightmare Adjudicator Shattered Nightmare Slayer P Shattered Nightmare Slayer E Tags: Nightwraith

	November 09, 2021 The Hunter of Nightmares The Adjudicator's Challenge There's a grave disturbance across all of Delta V, and nobody seems to know the cause! Mysterious parasites are infecting friend and foe alike, and the invasion can only be stopped at the source. But what...or who...will you find once you uncover the truth? Accept the challenge and receive riches and weapons beyond your wildest dreams...or worst nightmares! Special credit goes to EpicDuel Artist Lodrian / Acatriel for producing S-tier weapons, boss animations, and backgrounds! This release wouldn't be possible without these extraordinary efforts. Hunter of Nightmare Part 1 Hunter of Nightmare Part 2 Hunter of Nightmare Part 3 If you're not read for the long, world-spanning saga, you can visit Xraal in the Biological Preserve to investigate an anomaly. Gourd Gone Wild New Achievements With new missions and bosses come new achievements to boost your rating points! This release gives you access to a total of six new achievements, but to claim them all, you'll need help! Pumpkin Lord Skull: Defeated Pumpkin Lord. Nightmare Pumpkin Lord Skull: Defeated Nightmare Pumpkin Lord. Adjudicator's Eye: Defeated the Adjudicator. Nightmare Adjudicator's Eye: Defeated the Nightmare Adjudicator. Gourd Be Gone: Awarded for completing "Gourd Gone Wild". Nightmare Slain: Awarded for completing "Hunter of Nightmares". Adjudicator's Arsenal This release contains a trove of new items, but to gain access to them, you'll need to reach nearly the end Hunter of Nightmares Part 3! Nightmare Hunter Armor Nightmare Hunter Armor CC Nightmare Slayer P Nightmare Slayer E Broken Nightmare Slayer P (Nightmare Adjudicator boss drop only) Broken Nightmare Slayer E(Nightmare Adjudicator boss drop only) Nightmare Moonlight Blade P(Adjudicatorboss drop only) Nightmare Moonlight Blade E(Adjudicator boss drop only) Nightmare Hunter's Arsenal P Nightmare Hunter's Arsenal E Nightmare Hunter Pistol P Nightmare Hunter Pistol E Nightmare Hunter Rifle P Nightmare Hunter Rifle E Nightmare Hunter Cannon P Nightmare Hunter Cannon E Tags: Nightwraith

	October 28, 2021 Cosmic Carnage Finale The Endless has spoken! It has received your sacrifice and deemed it...good! Congratulations to Naruto for claiming the top Platinum prize in the Cosmic Carnage Tournament. This week-long gauntlet was an intense trial in which only the best, most dedicated duelists could triumph. If you made it to the top-50, you are indeed worthy of The Endless' blessing! As of this writing all prizes have been fully distributed. During the Tyrant's Trial Tournament, we were very generous with the prizes to celebrate the launch of the feature. It seems this one-time bonus became an expected practice. We certainly don't want any hurt feelings so we've buffed the prize pools. Next time, to avoid disappointment, we will be crystal clear what all the tiers can expect to receive upon victory. Platinum Tier Ascended Cosmic Eviscerator CC Ascended Cosmic Eviscerator Cosmic Eviscerator Scythe P CC Cosmic Eviscerator Scythe E CC Cosmic Eviscerator Bike CC The Endless Bank(Home Item) Cosmic Carnage Platinum (Home Item) Crowned Cosmic Eviscerator Hairstyle Gold Tier Cosmic Eviscerator Cannon E Cosmic Eviscerator Cannon P Cosmic Destroyer P Cosmic Destroyer E Cosmic Eviscerator Sword P Cosmic Eviscerator Sword E Silver Tier Cosmic Eviscerator Armor CC Cosmic Eviscerator Magnum P Cosmic Eviscerator Magnum E Bronze Tier Cosmic Eviscerator Armor Cosmic Eviscerator Scythe P Cosmic Eviscerator Scythe E ALL Ticket Owners Cosmic Eviscerator Pistol P Cosmic Eviscerator Pistol E Cosmic Eviscerator Rifle P Cosmic Eviscerator Rifle E Cosmic Eviscerator Bike Thank you all again for your participation! Tags: Nightwraith

	October 22, 2021 Cosmic Carnage Continues All things must come to an end and the Cosmic Carnage Tournament is nearing it's conclusion. At 12:00 A.M Monday morning (EST), the tournament will conclude and prizes will be awarded to the tiers automatically. If you're not yet on the leaderboard, there's still time to secure your place! If you cannot, all is not lost, for The Endless may yet show mercy and reward those who were brave enough to participate! Achievements The Code Crafter achievement will receive 2 more evolutions for higher code redemption thresholds. Divine Leg. Code Crafter - 85,000 God-like Leg. Code Crafter - 100,000 Coming Attractions This update may be small, but there's much more epic content on the horizon! Tags: Nightwraith

	October 20, 2021 Artix Entertainment's Pumpkin Carving Contest: 2021 Edition! Can you... SQUASH... the competition?! … Ok, at this point maybe "Fall Food Decorating Contest" is more appropriate, but it just doesn't have the same ring. BUT on to the contest! Do you have what it takes to carve the best EpicDuel-themed pumpkin in all of Lore? How skilled are you in the fine arts of squash carnage? Are you able to duel-wield a camera and a carved ear of corn at the same time? If so, this contest is perfect for you! Attention all ye who wish to enter…this contest: Mogloween is drawing ever near, so we need pumpkin-carving masters to take on this challenge! Mogloween mog-luh-ween; noun The evening of October 31 in Lore; celebrated in the month of October; observed especially by Heroes in costumes who solicit treats, and candy. Prize Details There will be ONE Grand Prize winner, who shall receive 2000 ArtixPoints 2nd Place Winners will get 1000 ArtixPoints 3rd Place Winners will get 700 ArtixPoints Runner Ups will get 500 ArtixPoints If you go Above and Beyond, we shall award you accordingly ;) Contest Timeframe The contest will range from today, October 20th until 11:59pm EST on Sunday, October 31st. The winners will be announced the following week on the Design Notes. Contest Rules To be considered, all entries must: Include your game character name and the year (2021) visually displayed somewhere within the picture or video The game character name in the picture must be tied to an Artix account to receive a prize Must not use digitally altered art (so no photoshopping) - we want to see what you can do offline! Be themed on any Artix game, character, monster, etc Be posted to the AE_Contests Twitter account The photo of your pumpkin must be of the highest quality—the bigger and more clear the picture, the better! One entry per person You are welcome to think outside the box and submit other non-pumpkin creative entries for our consideration… but carved pumpkins and gourds are what we want to feature! So you COULD... Paint a pumpkin Dress an ear of corn Carve a pumpkin pie Build a diorama featuring acorn squash … the possibilities are endless Reminders Please don't spam your entry or you will be disqualified! You can only win once per person! A true hero is a good sportsman -- we reserve the right to reward excellent examples of good sportsmanship or remove entries for abusive behavior towards staff or other contest participants. As always, entries that WOW us and go above and beyond, displaying true effort or creativity, will get extra-special attention (or prizes)! Good Luck! On behalf of the entire AE team, we are really looking forward to seeing your creativity carved into pumpkins… or gourds… or apples (?!)! Will you win the Grand Prize? There is only one way to find out—submit your photo today! Tags: Artix

	October 15, 2021 Cosmic Carnage Begins! Cosmic Carnage Tournament BEGINS! Today is the day! EpicDuel's second tournament of 2021 officially starts today! Visit The Endless to purchase a Cosmic Carnage Ticket or standby to view the official start time of the tournament. Prepare for battle! Prepare for Cosmic Carnage! The tournament will officially start shortly after today's release and will last until the end of the day Sunday October 24! Epic Gleam Giveaway Want a chance to receive free rewards for completing a few basic tasks? EpicDuel, along with other Artix Entertainment games, is participating in a new Gleam.io event in which you can enter by doing very basic things like following our Facebook page or entering a super-secret hidden code that will be impossible to find. SUPER ULTRA SPECIAL SECRET CODE DO NOT STEAL: EPIC Whoops! Anyway, you can find the list of tasks here atEpicDuel's Official Gleam.io page! Core Changes Sea King's Spirit: Cooldown lowered to 4 since initial energy gain was nerfed New Achievements To Boldly Go: Cap. Kirk goes to space for real on 10-13-2021 New Styles The style shop is rolling out an exciting supply of new styles to help you get into a competitive mood and dominate your foes! 342 Cosmic Hood 343 Cosmic Hood CC 344 Cosmic Mane 345 Cosmic Mane CC 346 Circle Mask 347 Triangle Mask 348 Square Mask 349 Frontman Mask Tags: Nightwraith