I should take this blade to your throat. Cowards deserve a slow death, one Nefari brandished his blade and pressed it to the elf’s neck. The other leaned into his ear and spoke in a soft voice.

Next time, the Hook Demon will take a finger; perhaps, that one with the ring. Does that have any value?

The elf was silent. He felt the blade slowly working into the skin, the sharp edge growling for his life. He said nothing.

He asked you a question, traitor! Where did you get the ring?

Geril, the elf, remained silent.

I’ll just keep it. Tomorrow, it won’t have a finger to rest on.

Geril’s hand shook, as he felt the ring slide from his finger. The skin grew cold, where the band once covered and warmed it. It was the ring given to him by Darius. The Nefari gazed over its surface, staring at Elvish inscriptions and mouthing the ancient scripture. The sword was raised from his neck and the Nefari shoved him beyond the steel gate. He could hear it closing, locking, footsteps walking away. He turned to see the soft-spoken Nefari, tossing the ring in the air and catching it in his hand.

“The tree, the insignia on its face; it’s the Eternal Circle.

Geril reached to his throat, stroked the painful mark where the blade sat. He felt the stubble collecting on his chin, the gauntness of his neck; he grabbed at his jaw and felt the shape of the bone. How long had he spent in Sheoul? How long had they kept him captive?

There’s an inscription on the side, too, the Nefari spoke, indicating the grooves along the band with a finger, What does it mean?

How long had he endured? Was the time in weeks, months? When would he be amongst friends? Would he ever have that leisure again? Geril spoke.

In this forest, we are united. All of K`thir joins this eternal circle.

The Nefari sneered, dropped the ring into his pocket, And the Nefari, as well? Are we a part of your union?”

I know nothing.

Of course, brother. Kinsman. You know nothing about sealing the Mouth of Sheoul.

I am a lorekeeper. I was never told-

Anything? It’s the same story. Tell me, what spell are they using? Are they collaborating with the dwarves? The Jakei?

The Hook Demon got nothing from me. You think I’d tell you?

No, of course. I’m just making conversation with a friend, a brother.

Geril rested against the stone wall, at the back of the cell. As he lowered himself to the floor, he felt a rumbling pain in his legs. Beneath the tattered robe, his body was bruised.

A brother does not strike at his own blood.

And a brother doesn’t leave his own blood to rot in the earth.

The Nefari pressed his face to bars, his soft voice harsh, subdued, undercurrents of violence pulsing through each sound:

Did you hear me? A brother doesn’t leave his own blood in the ground, doesn’t leave them to starve, doesn’t leave them to be eaten alive by unspeakable horrors. A brother listens when his own blood is screaming.

The Nefari backed away, turned to walk, glancing back at Geril as he moved:

You bring this suffering on yourself, brother.

He disappeared into the dark shadows of the cavern. Geril looked down at his bare fingers, looked back into the darkness, searched for the ring’s glow, then returned to the hands. The ash was beneath his fingernails and in the crevices of his hands. He rubbed the black dust between his fingers. It was on his skin and in his hair, in his throat and on his tongue. A brother is not cruel, doe not hold true vitriol towards his brethren. A brother does not leave his kin locked away, does not leave him to die in a demon’s den. It was not a plan to seal the opening, but a plan to invade it. M`alta and S`etra would lead a force inside, a company of Rangers and Furies. They would have dwarves with them, priests and priestesses. L`ilim would lead another force through Mount Belkairon, accompanied by another gathering of dwarves. It would be the first offensive on Nefari soil. But, when would it happen? When would they come? Had they forgotten Geril of the Eternal Circle? Waiting was the only option, but his patience would succumb soon. The Hook Demon would take his finger tomorrow, but then what? Would it be his hand next? His arm? When would they grow bored of him? When would he be left to feed K`lzik’s brood? S`etra would find a mangled corpse, not the weary eyes of an old friend. And the alternative? Many corpses, one Geril and another S`etra, all wrapped in spider silk. He brushed his palms on his robe and then examined them; the soot had lifted. This would be his burden and he would carry it with clean hands.

The elf tells them nothing, Grimlic said to Maxxarek, Perhaps my servants would be better suited. They share a form he is accustomed to.

Erimalion rose from his throne and spoke, a voice of many voices, all of them dreadful: Grimlic is out of line. My tortures are breaking the captive. My demons do better than anything his Deep-Elves could muster.

Grimlic turned to Erimalion, the writhing mess, stared into his many eyes.

I do not question your methods. But, perhaps we go about this the wrong way.

Maxxarek smirked, the red lips giving way to teeth. His eyes were aglow, two pulsing orbs emerging from darkness.

“A friendship, Grimlic?

“A creature, more pleasing to his eyes. Something to confide in.

The Demon Lord hissed, a gargling and heinous laughter. Grimlic grinned to him, continued.

We can place another elf in with him, have this one act as a listener. He will speak his deepest fears into this creature.

Erimalion smashed his mace into the rock floor.

Pathetic! Mind tricks will not break his spirit! Break his bones!

Maxxarek raised a hand to Erimalion.

“No. Something else.

He rose from his throne of skulls and stepped towards the center of the chamber.

Think of the world above us. Every nation has sworn an alliance to another. Protectorate and Wrath.

He paused; his wicked sneer caught the orange glow of the magma fonts.

Think of our allies. They question their ties to each other, but they honor them. There is always a question of loyalty.

Maxxarek turned to Grimlic, then to Erimalion.

It is universal. ëAre these my true allies?’ Even as one shakes hands with another, there is that question in the back of one’s mind.

Erimalion spoke, I hold no ire against you.

I am not questioning you. But the question exists, regardless of loyalty. Do you think Menalaus puts trust in Forglar? Does J`orea really trust her alliance with Rugolth?

Grimlic approached, his face alight in the chamber’s vermillion glow: We take illusions into J`thir, posing as dwarves from Ironfist, and have them kill Jakei.

And illusions to K`thir, disguised as Boghoppers. We could have them slaughter a hundred elves! Erimalion spoke, a delight in his demon’s voice.

Maxxarek paced for a moment. As he slowly moved from one part of the chamber to the other, a low and dreadful laughter built in his throat. Soon, it was echoing through the cavern and into the whole of Lower Sheoul. Bok stirred from their places, looked about at the monstrous voice and shook at its violence. Pitspawn joined in, trying to match its power, coming short. He ceased, but the voice still lingered in the dark crevices.

No! There is no need for such unnecessary risk. Our allies can prove useful. Come, Grimlic. Waste no more time waiting for an attack on the Mouth. There is work to be done.

The Fragile Expanse was silent; it had been this way for nearly two weeks. On the one hand, it pleased Dirge. He could hunt at any time of day, without a second thought. However, the silence worried him. It was an altogether unsettling silence. Something had fallen ill. As he traveled through the Expanse, he would pause to take a handful of dirt. Then, he would watch it, look to the grains for signs of life; boar fur or strands from a Pit Wolf’s mane, perhaps even an elven hair. He would hold the mound to his snout, snort at the mass; a boar’s scent, anything with a distinct smell. All he could smell was smolder, the remnants of a burning log. In the pile, he found small specks that didn’t belong. They were gray, unnatural things. They belonged to no animal he had ever seen. Dirge decided he would get the bottom of this illness. One morning, he took his axe and left his den for the edge of the Expanse. He would start there and work his way through to the other end. He would find the disease and root it out.

Beneath the Expanse, deep within the broken earth, something unraveled. Under dust and rock, laughter echoed through darkness.

Let us know what you think on the PoxNora Forums!

Leaping off the Page

The first benefit players will see is bringing what was once just story to life. Lead Designer CorpsE explains what it was like to render PoxNora visually.

Biting off on the PoxNora World map was one of the first things I wanted our team to do when I arrived here at SOE Tucson. The PoxNora world has always felt a little ambiguous, and lacked form or definitive lore. Since 85 % of our players are full faction players and nearly every player has a favorite faction we really wanted to give an image that carried feeling for the world and a territory to identify with. Not only does this map help the player understand where his faction is located in the world it also gave us a great engine to flush out more of the culture, history and battles from the continent of Poxanthru. We’re extremely happy to present this to the PoxNora community and hope players enjoy interacting with it as much as we enjoyed bringing it to life.

As you can see, this map plays an important role in the PoxNora design process and adds depth. Followers of Forsaken Wastes have heard of the Elsarin plight, but now can learn about their city or what horrid beasts live in the Fetid Marsh. The lands roamed by the Exile are no longer just in text, but visually represented. Are you curious where the Ironfist Mountains are in relation to Forglar Swamp? It’s now plain to see which factions share borders and where bitter rivalries have begun.

Opening Up More of PoxNora

The PoxNora World Map may already sound pretty interesting, but its creation required our development team to go far beyond what was in place. Countless hours were spent creating additional lore to reveal never before seen stories about your favorite areas and heroes. Do you know the purpose of the Three Towers of Valdac or what they guard? Their history and purpose is clearly marked!

“Three observation towers, positioned within the Ironfist Mountain range around J’thir, the Elsarin-Valdac border, and the Shattered Peaks. These were made to watch over the Ironfist Mountain range. Soldiers and snipers were stationed on these towers, to guard against possible invaders.”

This is just one of numerous interesting facts you can learn about the environment and enhance your PoxNora experience.

Foreshadowing the Future

The PoxNora World map does much more than bring life to the game, it presents a window to the future. These lands could change and who knows what secrets await those patient enough to search carefully. Seek out each faction and every corner of the map to learn more about PoxNora, and who knows what you’ll find.

Look for this exciting feature November 11^th with PoxNora’s Dire Covenant Expansion!

Broodcall was successful, I think, because of the randomization and the fact it is fairly open ended despite being story driven. The previous campaign ended up being less popular because it was heavily story driven but relied on the player’s tactics with starting units more than deck building. It’s likely in the future that campaigns will build off the Broodcall model, and randomization is something we will definitely do more of.

Do you have a team of people working on campaigns or are you the solo master?

I’ve been the sole campaign guy for the past 3 campaigns. We do have other people who can do them, but usually creating a single campaign is a one person job. Expansion 12’s campaign is going to be done by one of the other designers, as I’m currently working on other things. I do make it a priority to keep up with the single player community, but all our designers are familiar with all aspects of the game.

Have there ever been abilities or features you’ve wanted to implement into a campaign, but didn’t have the resources to program? If so then what has SOE brought to the table to help accomplish these dream features and abilities?

Our campaigns are made with use of an in-house coding language designed specifically to handle the bots . As such, whenever we need new features they can usually be added. Being under SOE has helped grow our staff and give more time for things such as campaign features.

Was single player always a plan for PoxNora, or was it discovered along the way?

Single player was always an intention, though it wasn’t introduced immediately. Multiplayer is not for everyone, as the number of campaign players testifies.

Do you feel that single player has opened up the scene for new rune flavors and combinations? Also, are runes now being designed with single player interests at heart, or are runes designed without affiliations?

Single player opens up a lot of creativity among players because it can be played in totally different ways from multiplayer. Generally, we design runes for multiplayer – well made multiplayer runes can easily be used in single player (often in more unique ways) regardless of power, while a single player rune that caused problems in multiplayer would have to be changed. That’s just the nature of multiplayer vs. single player. We do try to make changes to multiplayer or single player problems have as little impact on the other variety of play as possible, though that’s not always doable.

There are a lot of aspects of the rune manager and UI that don’t quite seem to fit campaign play. Are there any current or future plans to improve the UI and site managers for campaign play? and Are there any current or future plans to change the rewards system for single player? With the recent change to DoW rewards it leaves us hoping.

I’m lumping these together because the answer is effectively the same. The change has been discussed at length. It’s really not a question of if, but when. I can’t get any more specific than that, but we are definitely aware that the current system has flaws.

Do you feel the single player aspect of the game is well rounded enough to support a stand alone game? If so would there be more storyline and eventful combat, if not then what would you change to make it stand alone?

It could definitely, if it was used for that purpose. If I were making a stand alone, single player focused game it would likely have a longer, more involved campaign. It would be like Warcraft 3 or other RTS games, and a more persistent army than the standard battlegroups used in pox – runes unlocked during missions and characters you can upgrade over the course of the story. This is purely hypothetical though, we have no plans for such an offshoot at this time.

The single player content has been a powerful element of driving the storyline. With Broodcall’s campaign, Wrath of the Exile, it showed us an amazing new level of detail in storytelling.

I’m personally a big fan of story driven campaigns. My goal has always been to tie campaigns into the larger story and create NPCs the player can recognize as characters. As we move forward storytelling could be the norm for campaigns, but we’re always looking at Design from every perspective possible.

How does difficulty level play into what fragments you get?

Playing on higher difficulties gives you better chances to get rarer components, essentially. Playing on legendary always offers the highest available rarities and the best chance to get them.

What is the purpose of the Fragment Harbinger?

Originally the Harbinger was something of an inside joke in an older, internal only campaign. When the Angel’s campaign was done, parts of that old campaign were used, and she made it in there. It gives something of a surprise factor to the campaign and a little side quest aspect so we left it in. Killing her will give you a chance for an extra drop from that level.

Who is responsible for giving Serkan those crazy stats on legendary mode of the Angel’s Descend Campaign?

Hah, that would be me. Angels is the first campaign I did. Since Serkan hadn’t been released yet, I really wanted to give him an epic feel, and it can be pretty hard to make an end boss that’s relevant for campaigns considering that the player usually has a whole army set up by that time. I think he contributes to making that encounter cool – that map is my personal favorite.

Are there any plans to improve the AI?

This is something Gedden, our programming lead, and I have discussed quite a bit. Currently the AI is fairly smart in targeting, but has little to no self preservation instinct. That’s an area we hope to improve on. Beyond that, more intelligent use of abilities is a goal, but an unlikely one – as complicated as PoxNora is it will be very tough to get the AI to use more than a fraction of abilities competently.

Is there going to be more taunts or LE craftables ?

Yes, though the LE craftables will likely evolve into something slightly different.

How long does it usually take to make a campaign from start to finish?

This depends on the campaign to an extent – both on the number of missions and number of mechanics in place. However, for most it usually takes a week to two weeks to create a campaign and play test it.

“When we began planning the Broodlord event, I knew it would be challenging playing veterans who knew PoxNora inside and out. The question was, how do you provide an adequate and fair game to people of any rank? It wasn’t easy a lot of time was put into creating a battlegroup that could face anything thrown against it. What did I end up with? Here is the secret behind the Broodlord battlegroup.”

Champions:

The Eight Broodcall Dragons - These were auto-includes fitting the theme but considering this was before our buffs to many of them, they could be vulnerable by themselves. I ended up growing pretty attached to Thirion as he was my only magic damage champ and Firemaw just because I like when he explodes.

Cave Dragon - I was asked a lot about this one. Why a Cave Dragon? It’s really pretty simple honestly. The Exile has Volatile, and the Cave Dragon is technically a dragon so it fit.

Spells:

Avalanche X2: With chasms on the map, and its ability to hit multiple targets I couldn’t avoid utilizing this regularly. I only managed to cliff dive one champion but it was worth it.

Backfire X1: This wasn’t used a lot but a few of you put together hefty spell spam Battlegroups and it threw people off their game.

Banish X2: I tried to only use this in emergencies when a hero was tearing up one of my dragons. It threw a major monkey wrench in some strategies and made the difference between a tough game and a sound beating of Broodlord.

Desperate Heal X1: This one was another auto-include which allowed a quick heal at a relatively low cost.

Essence Drain X1: Essence Drain is another easy spell to take the wind out of an extremely powerful creature. I didn’t use it every time but enough that I’m glad it was there.

Fireblast X2: Another great utility area of effect spell which helped finish off more champions than I can count.

Firestorm X1: This is another great area of effect spell which I found particularly effective against Moga swarm.

Hammer Strike X2: Hammer Strike was really fun to use against people who used it on me. I could see this as aggrivating though so I tried to only use when I had to.

Mobilization X2: It would have been easy to use Mobilization with Flying in order to quickly advance and crush a shrine. The goal of this event however was to make it fun so I only used against extremely fast units.

Monsoon X2: Monsoon served me in two ways, first to drown so many heroes. Euan, Talgar, Grimlic and many more sank to the murky depths. In a pinch it also could slow down a War Enchanted Groble too.

Retribution X2: The benefits of Retribution probably don’t need explanation, but in my case remember these dragons were all in the 100 nora range. This made the damage output catastrophic when utilized correctly.

With a hefty nora bank, you can see I had plenty of tools at my disposal. I was surprised however a number of times by many players ingenuity and I think most of you had quite a bit of fun trying to beat me. To those who succeeded, we’ll have a rematch one day. Until we meet again mighty champions, I leave you with one important thought. I will totally Banish your Euan.

The first and most important process of bugs is identification and that is where you, the community comes in. Ideally we would catch every single possible bug during our testing phase. While most are, there are always a few slip through the cracks. Our first and most widely utilized bug catching tool is the PoxNora forums. Every work day I, or a member of our Quality Assurance team goes through the forums and enters each issue into our system. We also take bug reports from the support system found on the PoxNora.com website which gives players at least two ways to bring our attention to Gnark.

The bug’s life continues as it moves to our Quality Assurance team who spend a good portion of their time trying to break things. Sometimes they are a little too efficient at their job (asdf actually giggles), but it’s always good to know they are ready to get down to business. When a bug report is received they go in and try to recreate the situation to see exactly what happens.

Once a bug has been verified, it’s up to either our Programmers or Design team to decide how to fix it. If there is a question about if something is working as intended, someone braves a trip to see CorpsE or Kaervas in hopes of not being hit with a wooden sword. If it’s an ability that isn’t operating the way it’s described, a Programmer goes in and does their black magic to make that happen. Once the animals have been sacrificed and voodoo dolls are put away, it goes back to Quality Assurance for testing. In this instance, Gnark has been fixed and will be put back into the live game.

Once everything seems to be in working order, any necessary changes are put in the next patch. These are scheduled weekly to insure we provide an ample amount of downtime for you. If the change is a large one, we announce it in advance to see how the community feels. Otherwise, it’s slipped into patch notes and we move on to the next bug. At this point everyone is happy and there are balloons, elephants, and a great celebration. Gnark has been squashed.

How exactly do we decide which bugs are going to get fixed first? There are combinations of factors taken into consideration when prioritization changes. First of all, how much does bug impact gameplay? For instance, if Gnark is causing an even more annoyance than usual and teleporting across the map, he’ll be fixed pretty quickly. Next, how much goes into correcting this bug? Fixing a typo in a spell description can be done much quicker than correcting a complex ability on a champion. At that point, a list is made determining what can be done immediately, and what might be a little later.

We hope this gives you a rough idea about how bugs are caught and exterminated. While it’s not a step by step, this is an overview of exactly what happens every day in the SOE Studio. For now, keep submitting those bugs, because we want to keep fixing them.

He had returned to his lair a while ago, the catacombs beneath the Ironfist Stronghold, to rest and recuperate from his confrontation with the Exile. The catacombs had always soothed him; they were quiet, cool and peaceful. Light filtered in from the iron gate, the cold grey of morning against the stone. His gaze then fell upon the Ethereal Priestess who was tasked with aiding in his recovery.

She was a skilled healer, weaving Nora through the air and into his various wounds. He watched her awhile, with the strands of blue in her hands. She moved it about the air, eyes focused intensely on where she would apply her healing energy. She murmured her chant, and then touched a tender spot on his outstretched arm; the Nora seam followed her movement, sewing the wound shut and soothing his pain. As she continued her task, Drakon glimpsed a familiar dwarf, in platemail, sauntering towards him. He turned his head towards the approaching dwarf, greeted by a nod from Euan Ironfist.

“You’re a mess, Drak’.”

Drakon pulled himself up from the ground, found the strength that had disappeared.

“Any word on the Exile? Where is he? Where is Windfury?”

“Settle down. You’re the only dragon in Ironfist territory. It’s been that way for a month.”

“Windfury wants blood Euan, nothing else.” Drakon grumbled.

“There hasn’t been an attack on Ironfist since we found you at Raela. Not even a single Draksar scout. The mountains slumber with you.”

Drakon was poised for battle, but Euan’s touch eased him.

“The Exile is in the Peaks. If he decides to return, we’ll have an army waiting for him.”

The priestess had climbed onto Drakon’s back and began soothing the scars along his spine. He lowered himself to the ground, releasing a heavy sigh as he did.

“Windfury tore open his own son, Euan. The Draksar carried Akakios away before the Exile could finish him. He wants blood.”

“Then we’ll just have to make sure it isn’t ours. You worry too much. This isn’t our fight brother, you just got caught in the middle of a feud is all.”

Euan left Drakon to rest, beginning his long trek up the stairs towards the bottom floor of the Stronghold. Drakon dropped his head to the cold stone floor; another breath brought a small cloud of dust into the air. The wounds along his back were closing.

“Euan Ironfist doesn’t worry enough. The Exile will be back.”

The priestess continued her work, her voice fading softly into the empty space of the stone roost.

The Exile did not plan another attack on Ironfist. When he fled from the field at Raela, he didn’t return to Eehiist and the caverns that dotted the Shattered Peaks. Instead, he rested in the Fragile Expanse, a plain reaching between the Peaks and the Ironfist Mountains; Voil territory. The Fragile Expanse was plagued with quakes and unstable ground, no place for a Moga or G`hern; yet there lived in its various spaces, hiding from the winged tyrants. It was a place for a dragon to hide, to collect his thoughts. In his roost of broken rock, he was visited by Hyaenid. They yipped when they first saw him, occasionally retreating and baring fangs at him. A month passed, a month of introspection and contemplation. The Hyaenid spent the time sneaking around his roost, speaking in hushed and squawking tones, pointing to him. He ignored them, thought of the blood he had spilt. He imagined the little boy, hiding in the stable in Helenda, and the guard captain who scooped the boy into his arms. Occasionally, a rock would strike his skin; a soft impact that he barely noticed. Bladen would turn to its source, to see darting figures and hear the yipping throats. He thought of Varia revealing a scaled shoulder to the Draksar that combed the streets for soft-skins. He could see his son’s men, dragons on their hind quarters, raising swords against men who defended with farming tools. Had the soft-skins already suffered their due? Many lay where they once stood, burned or cut for standing against their demise. They had no homes and the ones they could keep were meager. He thought of the homes he crushed in Raela, the meek ones that watched in horror, the ones who drew their crude steel against a titan. He thought of the soldiers who were ready to defend the small hovel of cobblestone. Bladen had released his anger, his vindictiveness, on weakened spirits. They had no chance of defending themselves. He remembered the red dragon that descended beside him, the one who called him an interloper, his son Akakios. What turned his son to such violence? What could drive a child to extermination? Where was his little Akakios, or the man he imagined the boy would become? He wanted a better life for his son, one of peace and silence. The son was ire, a shadow of his father.

The thoughts consumed him until the Hyaenid had stopped their harassing and came out from the shadows. He noticed them at the mouth of his roost, a group of ten. Instead of retreating from his glance, they approached him directly. They were dressed differently than the others, each adorned in ornate leather and crowned with feathered crests. They had a drum on each hip, which they proceeded to slap in rhythm. Bladen looked down on them, watched their fervent hands slap the thin skins. A few began to move about the roost, continuing the furious beat; the entire gathering began howling and yipping. One stepped up to Bladen, stood right beneath his maw and stared into his eyes. Their fear of the behemoth was gone. Their drumming slowed, the beat waning into a dull roar and then into silence. The Hyaenid beneath him spoke.

“Mighty titan, god of the Peaks, we have no offering other than our music.”

Bladen snarled.

“Why are you here, Hyaenid? Your kind has been gnawing at my patience.”

“We come to pay homage to you, the true king of the Shattered Kingdom.”

“Homage? King?”

“We come to ask for food. Our hunters bring morsels fit for a Moga. Our calls to the Queen Eehiist go unanswered. Our tribes will starve if they don’t receive a healthy meal. We need your help, mighty titan.”

“You ask a dragon for food, not a king. I have nothing for you.”

“Do you sit on a throne?”

Bladen looked around his roost, stone jutting from stone, the formations encircling his bed.

“A roost. This is my roost.”

“It is a throne made from shattered rock, fit for the king of our lands.”

“I am no one’s king, little dog. Leave.”

The Hyaenid raised his hands to Bladen, his finger close to the dragon snout.

“Don’t leave us to rot, king! We need you, we need your guidance, your gift!”

Bladen stood and snarled at the groveling creature.

“Fine! I get you food and you leave me alone!”

With that, Bladen swung his wings and lifted himself into the air. The Hyaenid watched the titan, each pump bringing him higher and higher into the sky. Soon, the entire expanse was in his view, along with all of its little denizens; miniatures of themselves, scrambling across the tiny curves and crevices of the land. He scoured its shapes, searching for a suitable game. Moments into his hunt, he spotted a pack of feral boars, bounding into the horizon. He sailed across, plucking up one in each claw. The soft bodies squirmed in his grip, their voice squealing as he swooped across the plain. Four savage boars, each a feast in its own right, would be enough for them. As he returned to his roost, he saw the adorned Hyaenids standing at the entrance, anxiously awaiting his arrival. When he entered, he dropped the boars onto the stone floor and then returned to his resting place. The bewildered beasts stumbled around, squealing and thrashing about. Two more Hyaenids appeared from the entrance, wearing torques of beads and carrying spears in their hands. In a sudden movement, a quick and effortless motion, two of the four were sputtering their last breaths along the stone floor. One of the ill-fated beasts made for the entrance, only to receive a magical blast to its flank. The wound grievous, it too succumbed to death. The final beast rushed towards Bladen, only to be met with a powerful swipe across its face. It thrashed about once more, blindly and frantically. Another magical blast to its back and it was felled. Bladen lowered his head to the ground, resting it on an arm, and turned a single eye to his unwanted visitors.

“Your food, little dogs. Now, leave me.”

The Hyaenids obliged, carrying the boars out in twos and praising his beneficence with each step away. The rest of the night was spent in introspection, the same as the past month, but the subject was different. Such a simple act, lifting a boar into the sky, gave the Hyaenid something to eat. In Raela, he struck down the ones that needed his help, crushed their homes in his hands. Did he enjoy it? What did he gain from killing the soft skins of Ironfist? Nothing. There was nothing gained in vengeance, other than soiled claws and a hunger for more. It destroyed his son and it would end him if he continued. If not vengeance, then what? Helping the Hyaenid? They needed him. They named him the ruler of the Shattered Peaks, begged him for sustenance, and praised him when he delivered. It was the fact that they would eat that night, not their praise, which pleased him. The night was long with thoughts of his actions and, ultimately, he had chosen a new path. The soft-skins had paid their debt many times over, through Akakios and his loyal servants. Vengeance had consumed his son and Bladen could do nothing more than dismiss his actions. The son would not listen to his father; he was too far submerged in blood and all-encompassing hatred. Bladen Windfury would not follow the path any longer. He made his decision; when the sun was up, he would find the Hyaenid tribes and aid them in whatever way he could. He would be their king, not to garner worship, but because they needed him.

As time passed, the Exile aided the Hyaenid in whatever way he could. He hunted with them, pulling in large game. The Hyaenids ate their fill of boar and mountain lion, occasionally indulging in seared fesh. Bladen’s praises were sung around bonfires and in circles of witchdoctors. Eventually, word of their king spread across the Fragile Expanse to hidden tribes of Moga. Even the Cyclopes of the Storm Lands heard word of the mighty dragon god. They came to him, either for his aid or to praise his glorious power. Soon, the Fragile Expanse became a kingdom, a gathering of different creatures; Hyaenid, Moga, Cylcops; all of them bowed to him as their benevolent king. His troubles with the soft-skin had faded to a faint recollection, all but a wisp in the furthest corner of his mind. No longer was the Exile the title of a murderer; it was a king’s name. Bladen Windfury, exile in name and no longer in spirit, was the rightful king of the Fragile Expanse. His domain would reach from the foot of Ironfist to the edge of Eehiist’s caverns. His subjects would follow him and sing the glory of his feats in their tales. They had no banner in his honor, because he forbade it. When asked why, his reply was always simple.

“My banner is in the air, the praises of the Hyaenid and Moga. Their voices are my crest and their hearts are the poles that hold each banner up to the sky. There is no need for a flag.”

His rule rose friction with Eehiist, but their differences never came to blows. The shattered plains were his to rule. God or mortal, the Voil Queen kept her distance; it was best to leave the wretched place alone. Bladen Windfury, exile in name alone and no longer in spirit, was the rightful king of the Fragile Expanse and of all the creatures unguarded by Voil.

Thorn Collection x2
Lifeshield x2
Mend x2
Herbal Antidote x2
Impervious x2
Last Stand x2
Righteous Deflection x2
Repair x2
Disarm x2
Hammerstrike x1
Desperate Heal x1
Unobstructed View x1
Butterfly Wings x1
Invisibility x1
Swiftwind x1
Vortex x1
Elite Blade x2
Oaken Mace x1

This week we have a deck I played some at the start of the expansion and which has since been experimented with by many players, the War-Enchanted Groble deck. The Groble, as with the Elven Ancestor, is very well suited to a deck revolving around it as a lone champion. This is due to the powerful Adaptive: Ironfist ability and the potential long term power of Spellswallower. Compared to the Ancestor deck, which is fairly low tier, the Groble deck has one major advantage: Last Stand. This spell is naturally very powerful in a deck like this, and the HP bonus stacks with itself and with Adaptive allowing you to get your HP and all other stats up fast. Generally, your strategy with this deck will be to get out the Groble and Last Stand up and running on him, which will jump to huge stat numbers immediately. These numbers will rise as the game continues. Once your Groble is out, liberal use of spells to support him will keep him going strong and allow you to deal with a variety of situations.

Most of the spells in the deck normally have rather limited uses. However, since we can pad our build here without loss of valuable champion space, the hard counter nature of these effects is very valuable. The most important spells are Lifeshield, Last Stand and Repair. Last Stand, as described above, gets you going. Repair keeps you going by providing excellent single target healing. Lifeshield counters many of the spell based counters to the deck, allowing you to set up without fear. The rest of the spells should be used as applicable for extra damage or utility as the situation demands - the ability to become unstoppable, invisible or flying at will is very useful in a small deck like this. The Ironfist spells, in particular, should be used as freely as possible. Each casting is going to buff your Groble, after all. Righteous Deflection and Impervious should be chained on cooldown as much as is feasible. Finally, the 3 equipments provide you with something to occupy your equipment slot (preventing negative equipment) and also give you access to physical attacks, key in a deck with limited typing such as this.

When playing this deck, you have to be wary of a number of things. Magic Immunity is obviously a problem - Elite Blade/Oaken Mace is your only real option here. Don’t be shy about disarming yourself if necessary to use both equipment in a single turn. Single target spells are a threat, so Lifeshield should be up at all times. Clever opponents will probably ignore your Groble in favor of attacking the shrine - be sure to save your Repairs and Desperate Heal when this seems likely, as you will take a lot more damage from Defender of Chaos than from being hit normally. If they’re going for your shrine, your best bet is to go for theirs first - your high speed makes that quite doable.

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Kaervas Assistant Game Designer

Theme - Without a good theme, a tournament is nothing more than a group of people beating on each other until only one remains. Even the smallest variation in gameplay can add an additional layer of strategy or force players to think outside the box. It could be a battlegroup of one specific race, the exclusion of Exotics, or another limitation placed on a particular battle. Maps are a huge consideration as a poor map choice can give an enormous advantage to certain battlegroups.

Prizes - No contest or tournament is worth participating in without some decent prizes. We try to rotate things with booster packs, leveling tokens, and on a rare occasion spiffy runes. For the most part many players just compete for enjoyment but a decent reward for performance is never unappreciated.

Get Approval - You might think I just decide “Hey we’re going to give away booster packs” when I decide on a tournament but it’s not quite that simple. There is an approval process we go through to make sure we are following best practices and company policy. Once everything has been a green light we can make an announcement.

Announcement - Promoting the tournament isn’t a difficult step but you want to be sure to find the balance between excitement and using the word “unprecedented.” For the most part a locked thread is put in the Events forum with specific entry instructions.

Entrants - At a specified time, I unlock the entry thread and have players post if they are interested. They also send me a breakdown of which battlegroup they are planning to use in the upcoming event. I verify it to make sure it fits within the parameters established in the rules and verify their entry. I also have a system that can see the battlegroup they are playing before the game begins, so I verify things match up.

Seeding - If you aren’t familiar with professional sports, seeding is the process of making sure matches are paired to provide a fair and exciting finale. This can be challenging if the ranking of participants varies by a large amount. It’s mitigated as much as possible but there are times where a rank 1000 plays a rank 200.

In Game Announcements - This is where I remind everyone regularly that the tournament begins at a specific time. This is not only to make spectators aware, but to remind players who may have forgotten about the event.

Take Roll - It’s time to get things going, so we need to take roll and make sure everyone has showed up. This is almost never the case, so we fortunately have some alternative entrants ready to take their place. In some cases this means finding some last minute participants who want a shot at fame and prizes.

Initiate the Competition - This step might actually as easy as waving a Starting Flag at NASCAR, but it isn’t. Depending on the size of the tournament, and if entrants arrive promptly, this can take 10 minutes to accomplish. Even after the first round has begun, players complete their battles at various times so seeding must be done on the fly.

Prizing - When all is said and done, participants must be given their reward per the tournament rules. For the most part this requires a quick few commands in our system, but a large tournament can be time consuming. Our anniversary tournament for example had 17 prizes that were individually awarded.

Hopefully this gives you a little insight into exactly what it takes to create and run a tournament here at PoxNora. While some of it is less than glamorous, seeing some of the epic fights over the last few months has been worth every minute.

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RadarX Community Manager

Firk Mindweaver x2
Upgrades: 9 speed, 43 hp, Absorb Illusion - 71 Nora

Voil Transporter x2
Upgrades: 41 hp - 63 Nora

Glowing Slider x2
Upgrades: 46 HP, Transfer Life 2, Vulnerability: Fire, Vulnerability: Acid - 43 Nora

Cyclops Nemesis x2
Upgrades: 11 speed, 58 hp - 50 Nora

Firk Mindshredder x2
Upgrades: 45 hp - 62 Nora

Firk Botanist x2
Upgrades: 9 speed, 47 hp, Vulnerability: Magical - 65 Nora

Cyclops Shaman
Upgrades: 9 Speed - 69 Nora

Massive Anuran
Upgrades: 9 Speed, 57 hp - 62 Nora

Intimidation x2
Tribe Wars x2
Avalanche
Feeding Frenzy
Marsh Song x2
Monsoon
Echo Chamber
Tribal Post
Moga Bartering Post
Darkmarsh Helm x2

Hello everyone. It’s been a while since we’ve done a battlegroup, I know. This time around I’ve got a fun deck enabled by the most recent expansion Broodcall. The central theme of this deck is Surge: Behemoth on the Cyclops Chieftain - one of the broadest surges around. In order to enable this, we primarily use two different runes. First, the new Firk Mindweaver and the Shattered Peaks spell Tribe Wars. With two Mindweavers out, a single casting of Tribe Wars gives our Chieftains +12 damage! We can support this effect with a number of other runes to get a pretty cool deck. You probably won’t dominate the ranks with this given the difficulty managing massed 2×2 units. However, you can definitely surprise opponents with some insane numbers on your Chieftains and clutter the heck out of the board to boot.

Cyclops Chieftains are the center of this battlegroup, and our build on them is forced by CP concerns to get all the basics maxed out. Mindweavers are key rune #2, and are kept cheap. They should be protected, though with absorb for healing they can make solid back line fighters early on. Following them we have support staff which is 2 Voil Transporters. They give us the mobility we’re going to desperately need and 2 Glowing Sliders add a lot of healing support for our Chieftains. Next up is combat champs and the Cyclops Nemesis is a no brainer since he gives us more illusions to surge off of. This is boosted by the chieftain, which also has excellent stats. Firk Mindshredders and Firk Botanists give us some ranged damage that’s cheap. This is very helpful in a deck that relies on playing a 106 Nora champion. Trailing the lineup is a Cyclops Shaman, who is a solid ranged choice that counters Nora Generation. It gives us a pseudo-cleanse and is boosted by the Chiefs, not to mention a Massive Anuran for early game help and more surge. The Anuran can be replaced with almost any other champion in FS though.

Beyond champions, our key runes are threefold. First, Tribe Wars enables the core combo. Second, Intimidation which will always have greater numbers with this deck, so is very helpful. Finally, Darkmarsh Helms are key in protecting our Chieftains, and give us a way to make hitting them with range and spot removal spells hard. In addition, once you’ve gotten going an assassination from a Helm’d Chieftain, this will kill pretty much anything in existence. It’s possible to do 80 damage or more. To further pump the Chieftains, Bartering Post, and Tribal Post are excellent relics. Backing up this central assortment is a number of more generally useful spells like damage spells and Marsh Songs for nora.

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Kaervas Assistant Game Designer

Slugbait - This champion of code is going through line after line diligently trying to make any necessary adjustments. I wanted to talk with him more but the sound of a whip cracking in the background spurns me on.

qwerty and asdf - This dynamic duo is doing their best to break everything now so the players can’t do it later. asdf wants to take a break to do some dancing, but the Trading System can’t wait.

Elrac and Paragon - These two are discussing the new Drums of War system and making changes to the website. They are using a lot of technical terms that I’m sure I can’t share even if I did understand, so I just slide over to someone else.

MaxGoliath - His work was on a number of the new abilities in Broodcall. One in particular he helped create was Stormwrack which you’ll see tomorrow. He’s wearing headphones so he doesn’t have to listen to me crunch Cheetos.

After this I make my way over to the designers who think all this stuff up. Now as you can see Kaervas, CorpsE, and Sir Quimbel sit in tight quarters for maximum creativity. It’s also so CorpsE is always in range with a wooden sword he has at his desk. I can’t show you the dry erase board behind me, but it’s safe to say these guys are already sketching ideas for the next expansion. What do they do the day before an expansion?

Sir Quimbel - This is our writer and he’s actively creating a compelling story to go along with Broodcall. I expected more quill pens and such on his desk but apparently that’s “really old school.”

Kaervas - Kaervas takes a moment from whaling on the AI to tell me what he’s working on. Balance testing on the Drums of War is currently a priority and I can see he’s tinkering with all sorts of abilities.

CorpsE - As I approach his desk I get the obligatory glare and reminder that he IS buffing Gnark. CorpsE is working on a lot as the Senior Designer, checking the adjusted Ironfist Stronghold map and the new K’Thir Forest map going into Ranked Play. He’s also testing the Full Plate Armor, and renaming a rune that was apparently going to be Nosferatu.

KaizerSozay - My last stop is with the Producer himself. The guy in charge believe it or not is just as busy as everyone else coordinating pieces and making sure everything is on task. While I’m standing there he is looking at some Broodcall assets to use on the PoxNora website. I didn’t stay any longer than I had to for fear he would start asking me to collect data on what the Community thinks on Broodcall changes. I’ll have plenty of reports to do in the coming days.

I hope this gives you an idea of what is going on at SOE Tucson today and the type of work we put into an expansion. Admittedly this is all from a Community Managers perspective, but if nothing else you’ve now seen a few pictures of our new offices.