Game Update 1.4.4

**Highlights**
* Keep Defense
 **Related**
* Game Update 1.4.5

# Highlights

## Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt Live Event introduces Kurnous, the Elven God of the Hunt. Players can test their skills tracking and slaying fierce animals, collecting sacred pelts, and sighting the elusive White Stag. On the RvR battlefields of the Elf lands, players can risk the Curse of Kurnous and seek access to the Hunter's Vale instanced, six-player dungeon: a mist-shrouded, twilight forest where dwells the embodied Spirit of Kurnous. Earn unique rewards by earning Event Influence as well as participating in the Curse of Kurnous Public Quest. Those who manage to face and defeat the Spirit of Kurnous may even obtain the sought-after Fleet Stag Mantle. Do you dare to challenge the God of the Hunt?

## Keep Defense

Changes have been made to the Open Realm versus Realm campaign to provide incentive to successfully defend a keep against an enemy offensive. Push back on their attack, turn the tide of battle, and then take the battle to their front door. While you have them on the ropes, rebuild your outer keep door and take a breather. For full details of the new Keep Defense mechanics, see the Realm vs. Realm section. New Packs!

A gaggle of new vanity pets have shown up in the capital cities! These pets are there to show off the new packs available on Origin (aka the EA Store). If you've run out of Barber Surgeon tokens or want more Trophies of the World, Personality Pack 3 has you covered. But wait, you also get a plethora of new pets... Order characters will get the Bulldog and Phoenix pets. Destruction will get the Ravenspawn and Mite pets. Both realms will get the Griffonling and Imp Skeleton pets. If you want a pet with some utility, look at the Booster pet pack and get a bonus to your skills based on the color chosen. Order will get the adorable Drumming Bear, while Destruction will get the fearsome Tzeentch familiar. These packs are available for purchase via account entitlements that can be found at the EA Store / Origin. Adopt a pet today!

## Scenario Shakeup

The battle has shifted! With the advent of 1.4.4, the lineup of the Scenarios has once again shifted. A number of old scenarios are making their return, some are retiring for the moment, and others are shifting tiers. The line-up is based on player feedback from our Dev Discussions in the forums, so be sure to vote for the next batch of scenarios! For a full list of the new line-up, see the RVR section.

# Realm versus Realm

## General Changes

* Roaming warcamp guards have been removed.
* Resources Carriers that successfully reach the keep will now apply a heal to the keep doors that scales with the Against All Odds buff.
* Players with deployable siege, including the ram, can no longer fly on Aerial Bombers.

## Campaign

As part of the campaign in Tiers 2-4, we've introduced the concept of a 'successful' keep defense. This mechanic will allow defenders to concentrate their defense for a specific goal and if they succeed, they will get a bonus that will allow them to push back and turn the tide of battle. Specific changes are detailed below.

* A successful keep defense is triggered when the defenders destroy the attacking ram. When the ram is destroyed, the keep siege will briefly shift to a "Successful Defense" state to acknowledge the accomplishment.
* Defenders in the keep area when a "Successful Defense" is triggered are awarded the Heroic Defender buff, granting them the power to push back the attacking force. Once the brief "Successful Defense" stage is over, the keep siege returns to its previous state.
* The Heroic Defenderbuff is designed to give the defenders a brief, but significant, leg up on the attackers. This serves two purposes: first, it gives the defenders the power to push back the attackers, underscoring the successfulness of their defense; and second, it takes the place of a physical defense-reward, by giving the defenders the ability to carve their own reward out of the hides of their attackers.
* The Heroic Defender Buff grants the following bonuses: Movement speed increase, incoming damage reduction, high resistance to incoming critical, increased chance of outgoing critical, and finally increased morale and AP gain.
* The Heroic Defender Buff will fade away quickly if the defender leaves the keep area.
* Fixed an issue with siege weapons and critical damage application.
* Ram strength and health have been modified by Tier.
* Rams now have Armor Plating to absorbing incoming damage.
* Doors have been modified by tier.
* Keep Foremen have returned to the keeps and can be located in the lower floor of the keep proper. They only accept Ordnance and Medallions.
* Bundles of wood can be purchased from Keep Foremen to repair keep doors.
* New Outer Keep Doors (Tier 3 and 4) can be purchased from the Keep Foreman to replace a broken outer keep door.
* The New Outer Keep Door replacement door can only be placed if the outer door is currently destroyed, there is no deployed ram at the inner door, and your realm owns the keep.
* If a New Outer Keep Door is purchased, the Keep Foreman will attempt to place the door. However as they are construction workers and not warriors, they will stop work on the door if an enemy is nearby or attacking them. They will return to work if the enemy leaves or is dispatched.
* If the Keep Foreman is killed before the door has been deployed, a new purchase will need to be made. No refunds on uncompleted construction! Defend your foreman.
* If the Keep Foreman is able to successfully deploy a New Outer Keep Door, the keep siege will push back to the "defend outer door" stage. When this occurs, the inner door is not repaired automatically, but players can use bundles of wood to repair it.

## Scenarios

The line-up of scenarios that are permanently available has changed. The new list is as follows: **Tier 1:**

* Nordenwatch
* Khaine's Embrace
* Serpent's Passage

**Tier 2:**

* Nordenwatch
* Mourkain Temple
* Gates of Ekrund

**Tier 3:**

* Nordenwatch
* Mourkain Temple
* Gates of Ekrund
* Reikland Factory

**Tier 4:**

* Nordenwatch
* Mourkain Temple
* Tor Anroc
* Temple of Isha
* Khaine's Embrace
* Howling Gorge

# Combat and Careers

## General Changes & Bug Fixes

* Engineer Warlord 7pc set will now reduce Redeploy's cooldown by 50%.
* Magus Warlord 7pc set will now reduce Resummon's cooldown by 50%.

## Renown Abilities

To complement the new Keep Defense Mechanics introduced in this patch, the following updates to Renown Abilities have been made. **Physical Ranged DPS**

* Bolster War Engine: Increases damage dealt by ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other buffs of this type.
* Hamper War Engine: Increases cooldown times for ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.
* Diminish War Engine: Decreases damage dealt by ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.

**Magical Ranged DPS**

* Enhance War Engine: Increases damage dealt by ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other buffs of this type.
* Hex War Engine: Increases cooldown times for ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.
* Abate War Engine: Decreases damage dealt by ranged siege weapons. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.

**Healer**

* Reinforce War Engine: Heals the ram over time. The cooldown has been adjusted. Stacks with other heals of this type.
* Cleanse War Engine: Now cleanses two negative effects instead of all negative effects. The cooldown has been adjusted.
* Shield the Skies: This ability is no longer a channel. The cooldown has been adjusted.

**Tanks**

* Deflect Oil: This ability is no longer a channel. The cooldown has been adjusted.
* Modify War Engine: Adds and absorb to a friendly ram. The cooldown has been adjusted. Stacks with other absorbs of this type.

**Melee DPS**

* Siege Wrecker: Decreases damage dealt by rams. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.
* Bypass Defenses: The duration and cooldown have been adjusted.
* Faultfinder: Increases damage dealt by rams. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other buffs of this type.

**Rogues**

* Booby Trap: Decreases damage dealt by rams. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other debuffs of this type.
* Pick Lock: The duration and cooldown have been adjusted.
* Faultfinder: Increases damage dealt by rams. The duration and cooldown have been adjusted. Stacks with other buffs of this type.

## Engineer

**Balance Changes** Due to the nature of the changes in this update, the Engineer Career has had their Mastery and Renown training refunded.

* Flak Jacket: The cast time has been removed from this ability and a cooldown has been added. The value of the armor buff has been lowered and will now stack with other armor buffs. The duration of the ability remains the same, but no longer is removed after twenty hits.
* Land Mine: The cast time has been removed from this ability.
* Redeploy: This ability is now available at Rank 3.
* Shock Grenade: This ability is available at Rank 22 and replaces Field Repair. Removes stagger effects to the target and up to five targets around the target.

**Bug Fixes**

* Extra Ammo: The AoE AP gain should no longer cause neutral mobs to attack.

## Magus

**Balance Changes:**

Due to the nature of the changes in this update, the Magus Career has had their Mastery and Renown training refunded.

* Daemonic Armor: The cast time has been removed from this ability and a cooldown has been added. The value of the armor buff has been lowered and will now stack with other armor buffs. The duration of the ability remains the same, but no longer is removed after twenty hits.
* Daemonic Infestation: The cast time has been removed from this ability.
* Resummon: This ability is now available at Rank 3.
* Shocking Jolt: This ability is available at Rank 22 and replaces Strengthen Thrall. Removes stagger effects to the target and up to five targets around the target.

**Bug Fixes:**

* Lasting Chaos: The AoE AP gain should no longer cause neutral mobs to attack.
* Chaotic Attunement: Resummon will now cost 0AP while this tatic is slotted.

## Shadow Warrior

**Balance Changes:**

* Brutal Assault: Fixed an issue in which this ability didn't process the correct amount of damage.
* Eye Shot: The cooldown has been increased and damage has been reduced. This ability will now also knock down the target.
* Fell the Weak: This ability will no longer interact with Vengeance of Nagarythe. The damage has been adjusted due to the change.
* Festering Arrow: Fixed an issue in which this ability didn't process the correct amount of damage.
* Flanking Shot: This ability will no longer interact with Vengeance of Nagarythe. Ability will scale the chance to deal critical damage upward based on the amount of life lost by the target.
* Glass Arrow: This ability will now deal damage to a single target and reduce the range of their abilities to 75% of the intended range. The cost has been lowered.
* Keen Arrowheads: This tactic will no longer adjust abilities gained from the interaction with Vengeance of Nagarythe.
* Takedown: This ability will no longer interact with Vengeance of Nagarythe.
* Vengeance of Nagarythe: The ability no longer affects other abilities. The cooldown and duration has been lowered. The bonus has been increased.
* Whirling Pin: This ability will now snare targets instead of root them. The Shadow Warrior will be knocked back a short distance. The Action Point cost has been removed.

## Squig Herder

**Balance Changes:**

* Finish Em' Off: Removed the buildup time on the ability and slightly lowered the stat contribution to damage.
* Shrapnel Arrer: This ability will now deal damage to a single target and reduce the range of their abilities to 75% of the intended range. The cost has been lowered.
* Sticky Squigz This ability will now snare targets instead of root them. The Squig Herder will be knocked back a short distance. The Action Point cost has been removed.

# Content

## General

* Companion Keeper Patricia Farnswoggle has relocated her wares further up the street to the east after complaints from the library.
* Temple Warriors and Sigmarites in the Temple of Sigmar will stand up for combat and sit back down afterwards using their correct animations.
* Saldon Sharpspear: This NPC will focus more on tending the wounded soldiers.
* Skeletal Gebauer: These monsters in the Chaos Chapter 5 area will no longer aggro players from excessive distances.
* Deathwing: This monster will no longer get stuck in the walls of the cave, and shall drop Deathwing's Fangs more reliably now.
* Made some changes to the Name Change service that will update groups and warbands properly with the new name. This corrects an issue where if a player logged out and applied a name change immediately, the old name would remain in some instances in the group and warbands.

## Dungeons

* Mount Gunbad: 'Ard to Feed's Corrosive Vomit ability will now correctly debuff healing received rather than increase healing received.
* Warpblade Tunnels: Master Moulder Skrot will now chase and attack players properly, perhaps braver than most Skaven but deadly nonetheless!
* Sigmar Crypts: the spirits that Necromancer Malcidious summons will no longer have strange characters in their name.

## Quests

* Shattering the Will: Taking Zimmeron's Hold or Charon's Citadel will correctly grant credit for this quest once again.
* To Be Chosen: Quest text is now free of typos.
* The Eager: The quest text has been changed to be more clear.
* Ascension (part 5): The instructions on how to find Naruul Voidcaller are more concise and clear, and the waypoint is better situated.
* Wyrmbreaker: Orolos Feralbrow will no longer become stuck in an uninteractable state.
* Ascension (part 6): Naruul Voidcaller will reset correctly after each combat.
* Ruinous Daemon: The daemons needed for this quest will spawn once again.
* Justice Be Done: The level requirement to get this quest has been raised to reflect the Land of the Dead level requirements.
* Lost in Translation: The level requirement to get this quest has been raised to reflect the Land of the Dead level requirements.
* The Hunger: The quest waypoint now refers to Tarl Bretenbach.
* Saving Grace: Quest text is now free of typos.
* Sky's the Limit: Due to the zoning restrictions in Altdorf, there are now more merchants that are willing to sign the petition.
* Unholy: Quest waypoints have been altered to properly indicate the locations of the Dark Flames.
* Death in the Fen: The Dwarf Corpses have been moved so that none are too close to the enemy camp.
* Pillaging the City: Removed extraneous quest waypoints.
* Bloody Shame: The quest waypoint now indicates Gazrog Beardrippa's correct location.
* An Old Flame: Kildar Dragonbane will now properly chase his enemies if they attack him from outside his tent.
* Rallying Cry: The quest waypoint will now display the conditions correctly until all of them have been completed.
* 'Ow t'Steam Stunties: Quest text no longer refers to a scenario that is not part of the normal rotation.
* The Grudges of King Grolmunn: Quest text no longer refers to a scenario that is not part of the normal rotation.
* Spotting Trolls: Quest waypoints have been altered to properly indicate the locations of Trolls.
* Ghoulish Goodies: Quest waypoints have been added.
* Battle at Mourkain Temple: The level requirement to get this quest has been raised to reflect the changes to the Tier 2 Scenario level requirements.
* Boss Huntin': added a quest waypoint to indicate where to find the Murdogh Dwarfs.
* The Emperor's Mandate: The peasants and Innkeeper Svetla are now aware of Corrupter Bathshida's new location.
* Squig Shakes: The quest waypoints have been consolidated to display correctly.
* Local Beliefs: A quest waypoint is now available for Utlag Bear Slayer.
* 'Ow t'Steam Stunties, and The Grudges of King Grolmunn: The item that starts these quests will only be mailed once at the correct level for Tier 3.
* Shadow of the Hunter: added in a quest reward.
* Alone in the Woods: added in a quest reward.
* Price of Peace: Silverwind and other nearby corrupted steeds are visible once again.
* The waypoint for the quest "Trouble for Perthar" will now display the appropriate description on the map.
* Special Delivery: Journal text no longer cuts off mid-sentence.
* Grimmenhagen Burning: The Marauder Torchbearers will now become enraged and attack anyone that tries to rescue the Grimmenhagen Villagers.
* Anomalous Behavior: Removed extraneous quest waypoints.
* Bringing Down the Squig-Maker: This quest is no longer repeatable.
* Within Reach: Level requirements have been altered to match the current levels for Tier 3 RvR.
* Sacrifice: Quest shows up only once when you speak with the NPC that gave the quest.
* Grip of Darkness: The skeleton that appears after using the Worm's Fang will no longer have strange characters in their name.
* The Azure Rocks for the quest "Reluctant Hand" will no longer make a squelching sound when gathered.

## Public Quests

* Bank Robbery: The Loot Chest in the First Bank of Altdorf will despawn correctly, and mail unclaimed loot as needed.
* Rescuing prisoners in stage 1 of the Public Quest "Da Drakk Cult" will now properly count toward completion.
* Pillage and Plunder: The Empire Wagons will always be attackable during Stage 2.

## Tome of Knowledge

* Part 1 of the Destruction-specific tome unlock "Subversion" will no longer unlock for Order characters.
* The Zombies in Empire Chapter 14 will grant the correct Tome of Knowledge credit instead of Bandits.