Game updates/20090401

Update #2 - Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Bug Fix

• Fixed a bug that prevented some text in the Hall of Monuments from displaying properly.

Update - Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Note: This update was never implemented. It is a fake update in the spirit of April Fools' Day. However, this update did cause all player characters that were above level 1 in non-PvP outposts to appear as Gwen-chan.

For more information on these changes, please see the Developer Updates page.

PvE and PvP

Assassin

• Scorpion Wire: no longer has half-range. Changed functionality to: "Target foe is teleported to your location and knocked down."
• Shroud of Silence: changed functionality to: "For 5...20 seconds, target player cannot send chat messages."

Dervish

• Increased duration of all Avatar skills to 40...70 seconds.
• Avatar of Grenth: changed functionality to: "For 10...90 seconds, your attacks steal 1...2 enchantments from any foe you hit and apply those enchantments to you."

Elementalist

• Sandstorm: now deals 10...30 more damage if the caster is standing in a sandy area.
• Searing Flames: removed Burning condition.

Mesmer

• No changes.

Monk

• Ray of Judgment: Removed Burning condition, increased damage to 10...90.

Necromancer

• Animate Flesh Golem: removed the single-golem limit.

Paragon

• "Fall Back!": Now ends if target ally is not moving away from a foe.
• "Incoming!": Now ends if target ally is not moving away from a foe.
• "It's just a flesh wound.": This skill can now be used while dead.
• "The Power Is Yours!": changed functionality to: "Sacrifice all Health. Until resurrected, 5 nearby party members gain +1...5 Earth Magic, +1...5 Fire Magic, +1...5 Air Magic, +1...5 Water Magic, or +1...5 Healing Prayers."

Ranger

• Beast Mastery: pets now have a chance of ignoring commands unless their master has a higher Beast Mastery rank than the pet's level.
• Equinox: Exhaustion duration is now based on the time of day.

Ritualist

• Signet of Ghostly Might: reverted functionality to: "For 10 seconds, target ally or foe does +10...30 damage. When this skill ends, that target is slain."
• Spawning Power: Weapon skills now last 50% longer for each rank of Spawning Power.

Warrior

• Bull's Charge: functionality changed to: "You Shadow Step to target foe and knock them down."
• Dwarven Battle Stance: duration is now based on the user's height.
• Gladiator's Defense: duration is now doubled in Random and Team Arenas.

Guild Battles

• Guild Battle NPCs now respawn at regular intervals until the Guild Lord is slain.

Miscellaneous

• Removed the Lucky Aura effect from the Lunar Fortune item.
• On a direct hit, the Zaishen rank emote now deals minor damage based on the user's rank and knocks the target down.
• Characters suffering from Blind cannot see distant enemies.
• Characters suffering from Dazed will now spin in place. The camera is locked for the duration of the effect.
• Introduced a new Cartographer title for the Battle Isles.

Guild Wars Wiki notes

• The alleged change to Signet of Ghostly Might is a reference to an infamous bug during the Guild Wars Nightfall World Preview Event which allowed it to be cast on any creature rather than only working on allied spirits.
• The alleged change to "The Power Is Yours!" is a reference to Captain Planet.
• The alleged change to Scorpion Wire is a reference to the character Scorpion of the Mortal Kombat series, whose signature move is to impale a spear, with a rope attached to the end, into the opponent's chest, and then drag the opponent towards him by pulling on the rope, leaving the opponent dazed for a free hit.
• The alleged change to Beast Mastery is a reference to the Pokémon game series, where, If you did not have a certain number of badges, Pokémon over a certain level would not obey you.