Game updates/20090305

Update - Thursday, March 5, 2009

Updated Zaishen Rewards

• Updated the Zaishen Chest drops to replace the Searing Tonic with a new tonic for the month of March. More information on Zaishen Rewards can be found here.

Automated Tournaments

• Updated Automated Tournament map rotations.

Skill Updates

PvE and PvP

Assassin

• Hidden Caltrops: now disables all your non-Assassin skills for 10 seconds.
• Shadow Refuge: increased duration to 6 seconds.

Elementalist

• Aura of Restoration: decreased Energy cost to 5; increased recharge to 12. Functionality changed to: "For 60 seconds, you gain 0...1...1 Energy and are healed for 200...440...500% of the Energy cost each time you cast a spell."

Mesmer

• Ether Feast: increased Health per Energy drained to 20...56...65.
• Illusion of Haste: reduced the duration of the Crippled condition to 3 seconds.

Necromancer

• Gaze of Contempt: increased casting time to 2 seconds.
• Rend Enchantments: increased casting time to 2 seconds.
• Wail of Doom: increased recharge to 15 seconds.

Warrior

• Defensive Stance: decreased duration to 1...4...5 seconds; decreased armor gain to +10.
• Disciplined Stance: decreased duration to 1...3...4 seconds; decreased armor gain to +10.
• Distracting Strike: functionality changed to: "If Distracting Strike hits, it deals no damage and interrupts target foe's action. If target foe has Cracked Armor, that skill is disabled for 20 seconds."
• Flail: decreased duration to 1...12...15 seconds.
• Healing Signet: increased healing to 82...154...172.
• Primal Rage: increased recharge to 15 seconds.
• Shield Stance: decreased duration to 1...5...6 seconds.
• Soldier's Defense: decreased duration to 1...4...5 seconds.

PvP

Ranger

• Read the Wind (PvP): functionality changed to: "For 24 seconds, your arrows move twice as fast."

Ritualist

• Ancestors' Rage (PvP): increased duration to 3 seconds; decreased damage to 1...25...31.
• Weapon of Warding (PvP): functionality changed to: "For 5...9...10 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Warding, granting that ally +2...4...4 Health regeneration and a 50% chance to block. Weapon of Warding ends if that ally attacks."

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that caused heal-reducing skills and heal-increasing to stack incorrectly.

• Fixed a bug that caused Eye of the North treasure chests in Hard Mode to not drop Skill Tomes.

Miscellaneous

• Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the February tournament. These agents can be found in the Great Temple of Balthazar, Lion's Arch, Kaineng Center, and Kamadan.
• Improved Hero AI for the Necromancer spell Death Nova to reduce the use of this spell when not in combat.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

• This month's tonic is the Abyssal Tonic.
• The description of the PvE version of Weapon of Warding is the same as for the PvP version, but the skill's functionality is unchanged.
• Weapon of Warding ends if the target hits, not attacks as stated