The newest Grab Bag is out, with Mythic answering questions about the upcoming Game Update 1.3.2! With the removal of the Fortresses from the T4 Campaign, the loot system is going to be changing a bit.

The Fortress loot has now been moved to Keeps.  In game update 1.3.2, we’re introducing the Keep difficulty system where a keep will be rated on how difficult it will be to defend/attack based on the Keep’s rank and how many attackers and/or defenders there are.  The Keeps with the highest difficulty rating will drop the Fortress and Conqueror gear.

The full list of questions and answers is after the jump!

Q. With the removal of Forts from the T4 campaign, how are new players (or even existing players) supposed to gain Conqueror Gear?   Is Conqueror Gear only going to be available through RvR Tokens and Land of the Dead?  Is it available via the new Keep system?  If it is, how does that affect Annihilator gear?  Also, do have any info on the how we will obtain the items that were in the Purple and Blue bags from Fort takes and defenses?  They had some really good items!

A. The Fortress loot has now been moved to Keeps.  In game update 1.3.2, we’re introducing the Keep difficulty system where a keep will be rated on how difficult it will be to defend/attack based on the Keep’s rank and how many attackers and/or defenders there are.  The Keeps with the highest difficulty rating will drop the Fortress and Conqueror gear.

Q. When in a City Siege, how do you communicate with players in just your city siege instance? Example: If I'm in Aldorf instance #5069, how do I just talk to everyone in Aldorf #5069 in-game?

A. Right now, the best way is to use warband chat and/or to use the region chat with what instance you’re in.  You can also create a private channel for your instance by typing /channeljoin [channel name], and ask everyone to join (which they can do by typing the same thing once the channel is created). That’s something we want to simplify, of course, so look for an improved method in a future version.

Q. Now that the Warlord set is attainable for those of us on the underdog side, I have a question specific to the Choppa set. The six-piece Warlord set grants an ability called "Corrosion".  This would obviously be very useful.  However, I want to know if this ability will STACK with our Can't Stop da Chop, which is one of our main attacks.

A. No, they do not stack. Only the effect with the highest value will be counted.

Q. With the new apprentice system coming up, will the Collar of Servitude still have use in the game? Or will the Recruit-a-Friend program be reevaluated?

A. The Collar of Servitude (which we have renamed to the Lash of Servitude) and the Rod of Service will now act a little differently.  They will continue to give the Exp/Renown bonus, however instead of bolstering an ally, the item will act as a group summon.  This ability is on a 2-hour cooldown.

Q. Are we ever going to see RvR weapons and accessories that are as strong as their PvE counterparts?

A. This has been in discussion lately, and we are attempting to figure out the best way to fit improvements like these into the game.  As it stands now, we do not have any finalized plans, but it’s still on the table.

Q. What are your plans, moving forward, for career balancing between Order and Destruction?

A. As always, our plans are to continue to work on bringing the Realms into a more balanced state.  This patch is one more step in our ongoing balance work.

Q. Are DoK/WP who actually use their melee heals ever going to see their channeled heal moved into the mastery line? If not, why?

A. We've discussed this internally in the past and we're generally amenable to the idea, but we have not yet made any finalized decisions.

Q. With no Fortresses to bar the way to the capital cities, are there any plans to help the underdog Realm?

A. Yep—we’ve been thinking about this subject quite a lot.  We’re still finalizing the details and arguing the best way to help the underdog Realm without punishing players for winning.  It’s a complicated issue, but we’re working on it.

Q. The BG Dark Protector is a poor mirror to Oathfriend. Are their plans to improve it before 1.3.2 goes live? If not, why?

A. Adding Dark Protector is a single step towards achieving career balance, and is obviously not an entire solution in and of itself.  We plan to continue working on the Black Guard, as well as all other careers, in future patches.

Q. Are we ever going to see a buff to Experience gained while grouping, to encourage more grouping and less soloing?

A. As a social game, we always want to encourage players to group up and work together.  We’ve taken steps to help people get together already, for example the introduction of summoning stones, and we continue to work on improving and encouraging the social nature of WAR. That being said, yes we are discussing ways that we can improve the group experience; however, changing group Exp/Renown/Influence generation has a fairly broad effect on our game. As such we’re approaching it with caution.

Q. Why did WE finishers not receive a buff at the same time you made their kisses mirror WH bullets?

A. We began tackling the balance issues between Witch Hunters and Witch Elves with the Kisses.  As with all balance changes, further work will be an on-going concern for the C&C team.

Q. Are the 'Spoils of War' for enemy classes in game?  I mean I've killed over a thousand of pretty much every enemy career, and haven't seen any of these 'Spoils' drop for any of the careers.  Are they in game?  Do they exist?  I don't know anyone that have any of these unlocked!  Tell me!  I must know!

A. There is a bug in our tracker for this and we have our teams actively working on a solution to ensure that players can receive the drop and complete the unlock.  Hopefully the fix will be forthcoming in an imminent patch.  We know it can be frustrating to not be able to complete something.
 
Q. What are the 'Cards' unlocks?  You know where you have the items, titles, and Tactics unlocked in the Tome there is also a tab that says 'Cards'.  What are these cards!?!

A. ‘Cards’ is a system that we wanted to do at launch, so we put in a spot for them, but did not have time to complete the design and implementation of.  It was a reward system that would tie into an in-game card game.  At this point, it is on our back burner of things we’d like to do, but other items have our priority at the moment.

Grab Bag Tip

When 1.3.2 goes live, you’ll be able to easily view a Keep’s difficulty (which is different than Rank!). Simply look for tiny gold stars beneath the Keep on your World Map—the number of stars indicate the Keep’s difficulty level, from 1 (easiest) to 5 (most difficult). The greater the difficulty of a Keep, which is based upon the number of defenders, the better your reward will be for defending it, or taking it over from your enemies.