Many years ago, a legendary guild existed that stood far above the rest. It consisted of only the strongest and most powerful heroes to ever grace the realm. To this day, their names go down in history and it is commonplace for younger adventurers to adopt their titles. Their namesakes are what many know as the "default names.” This mighty band of travelers eventually died off, but not without leaving behind a legacy and a trace of their collective power.
In a small and remote glade at the far reaches of the realm, every one of them agreed to transform their remaining life essence into a forest spirit, otherwise known as fairies. The woods have gone undisturbed for years, but due to the lack of an independent consciousness, the fairies have forgotten their purpose and consider anyone a trespasser. None of them will go down without a fight, but the source of their strength may also lie somewhere in the forest.
Introducing the Magic Woods! This is an early/mid game dungeon that drops a guaranteed speed and dexterity potion, designed to help break up the monotony of two of the most tiresome potions to farm. As a result, its difficulty is designed to be slightly harder than either the Sprite World or Snake Pit. The dungeon is also far less accessible than either of those two, so it’s not something that could feasibly be used as a sole source of these potions.
Think of it as the Mad Lab of early game dungeons, a rarer and more challenging source that offers greater rewards. It drops rarely from Ent Gods and also has a special secondary source from Ent Ancients, offering a bonus opportunity for leveling players to power themselves up if they can handle the challenge, while also rewarding unmaxed players for helping close the realm even if they can’t yet benefit from Oryx’s Castle.
Now, most of you have already seen this dungeon in public testing, and it’s open again at the time of this thread being posted if you want to check it out in advance. I won’t bore you all with a huge text wall about how every little thing works, it’s pretty straightforward. However, two noteworthy things have happened since the previous public test.
First of all, damage has been increased across the board. It became quickly apparent that the dungeon was far too weak for its intended challenge level last time, so enemies (as well as the boss) should now pose a more considerable threat to unmaxed players. Think of it like a Snake Pit, it’ll maul you if you’re not careful, but is fairly manageable as long as you take your time.
Secondly, the rather controversial UT orb got completely changed. For those who don’t know, it’s previous function was a stasis effect for 8 seconds without any curse, designed for newer players as an enemy manager. There were many concerns regarding its potential trolling use, so this has now been revamped.
Instead, the orb is now a rare white bag drop designed to actually have practicality, just like the Spirit Staff. The Enchantment Orb has a unique effect in which the stasis radius originates from the player upon use, whereas the curse effect comes from the cursor. This gives it an interesting dual functionality. It can be used to curse enemies without stasising them if you’re precise, but can also be utilized as an emergency tool to get nearby enemies off your back. This makes it an excellent rushing tool as well as a viable option in more aggressive combat if you can work with it. Let me know what you think of this new iteration!
On a smaller note, the Spirit Staff has five extra minimum damage now, giving its DPS a tiny extra boost to increase desirability. Anyway, hope you enjoy the dungeon!
