PWI Neverfall

Neverfall is the eleventh expansion for Perfect World International. It was announced on the 16th of March, 2017, and released on April 13th, 2017. Its original release date was April 12th, 2017, however due to technical issues it was forced to be delayed by a day. The main features of the expansion included a new continent, the Western Steppes, a larger World Map with 3 other continents to be released in the future, a Glyph System, a new endgame instance named Dawnlight Halls, and two new cultivations named Chaotic Soul and Celestial Saint.

The expansion was not accompanied with a story prior to its release despite the new Western Steppes area opening up a new storyline. It also did not receive a teaser trailer.

A content update was later released on August 30th, 2017. Unlike previous content updates, this update did not receive a unique title and was simply called the Neverfall Content Update.

News Releases
The expansion was first announced on the game's website on March 16th, 2017. It revealed the new world map, showing 5 different regions including the Midlands, the Perfect World players had been most familiar with. Only one other region would be unlocked for now, named the Western Steppes. It also made mention of a new cultivation that would combine the current sage and demon cultivations together and would be essential for new skill upgrades and Glyphs, a new skill system. It also briefly mentioned a new dungeon, however no other information about this was mentioned. The release date was not announced in the news post.

Several more news posts were made between the announcement and release of the expansion.


 * March 21st, 2017: The Glyph System was briefly mentioned, but no further details were revealed. Arigora Colosseum was announced as a team-based PvP event that would lead to paths to crafting or upgrading to newer gear. The new dungeon, named Dawnlight Halls, was also announced.
 * March 23rd, 2017: The first preview for the new area, the Western Steppes, was released. The new area would be unlocked once players reached a boundary level of Mirage Sky I. It briefly mentioned how to unlock the area, and showed off a close-up version of the map. The game's new logo was also revealed.
 * March 29th, 2017: The second preview for the Western Steppes was released. It introduced some important NPCs in the Western Steppes such as Royal Knight Hector, an NPC for exchanging materials found while traveling through the Western Steppes. A new set of Bounty Hunter quests would be released to go alongside the existing Bounty Hunter quests. Two daily quests were also teased. The new cultivation was revealed to actually be two new cultivations named Chaotic Soul and Celestial Saint, and some information regarding using Celestial Schisms with these new cultivations was also mentioned.
 * March 31st, 2017: A news post focusing on the upcoming Glyph System was released. The Glyph System would be available through the current Skill window accessed using the R key, and only Sanctified skills and Town Teleport would benefit from this system. Sanctified skills were new skill upgrades available from Royal Knight Hector in Neverfall. Each Glyph slot would need to be unlocked, with the first one being unlockable from level 1. Five types of Glyphs could be used on these Sanctified skills, meaning that each skill could have a possible 5 added effects to them. A mechanic named Glyph Bonuses was also revealed, where activating Glyphs on skills in a certain category would grant 1 Glyph Bonus, out of a total of 3. Glyph Bonuses would have advantages and disadvantages over others.
 * April 4th, 2017: The new PvP event, Arigora Colosseum, was featured. Players over level 100 would be able to participate. To participate, players would need to be in a team of 3 or 6, both of which come with a coin fee to create. Each battle would last 10 minutes and would have certain restrictions, such as Genie energy recovery. Winning battles would result in winning Arigora Coins, which could be used to exchange for buffs, special titles, materials and more. Gear would be able to be upgraded or created using materials made with Arigora Coins.
 * April 6th, 2017: A news post was made to highlight the newest dungeon, Dawnlight Halls. Players would need to be Twilight Sky 6 and Chaotic Soul (the news post incorrectly states Celestial Saint) to enter. Dawnlight Halls was described as a dungeon with diabolical puzzles. The dungeon would have 5 rooms total to complete, 1 of them being the final boss room. Completing Dawnlight Halls would award players with Glyph Packs, Homestead materials, and Rank 8 second cast materials.

On April 13th, 2017, the expansion was announced as released. Several new items would be released, including fashion and version-exclusive mounts and all-class pets. Some new features were also mentioned in the news post including revamped Marriage Quests, a new title UI, and changes to Teleacoustic usage. Other changes were made to the Bidding Hall, Boutique, and Event Boutique.

Patch Notes
Patch Version 1010, Released April 11th, 2017

New Features
 * New Zone: The Western Steppes! Explore an all-new zone with hundreds of new quests! Visit the city of Neverfall, and discover what darkness lurks beneath the ancient lands of the Light Empire! Level 100 players at Mirage Sky I can start the quests to enter the Western Steppes in the City of a Thousand Streams.
 * New Cultivation Levels: Chaotic Soul and Celestial Saint! Beyond the paths of Sage and Demon lies a new way, combining the strengths of each into a single, powerful path of cultivation! Players who have completed the Atlas of Time questline in the Western Steppes will receive a quest to speak to either Nibu Ru or the Celestial Savant to begin their new path.
 * New Dungeon: Dawnlight Halls! Delve into the dark sanctum of the Future of Mankind Initiative and put a stop to their unnatural experimentations! Includes more difficult Judgment and Deicide Modes. Requires Chaotic Soul cultivation and Twilight Sky I to enter.
 * New Feature: Arigora Colosseum! Form teams to battle against other players in a no-holds-barred cross-server arena fight to the death! Earn titles, gear, and more! Teams can consist of 3 or 6 players. Level 100 players at Mirage Sky I can sign up with Arigora Agent Khroatis in Archosaur or Neverfall.
 * New Feature: Skill Glyphs! These items can be used to upgrade your skills with additional effects based on the glyph used, which can range from increased damage to converting healing spells into direct damage! There are five glyph types: Golden, Verdant, Ethereal, Sanguine, and Argent. The first Glyph Slot can be unlocked in the Celestial Vale, while the rest can be unlocked in the Western Steppes. Two require Chaotic Soul, and three require Celestial Saint.
 * New Feature: Chronicles! Read the entire history of Perfect World and its major denizens and factions. Unlocked upon completing the Atlas of Time questline in the Western Steppes.

Gameplay
 * Players who have engaged in PvP combat within the last 5 minutes can no longer enter Homesteads.

Items
 * The cost to unbind Dustfall materials has been lowered.
 * The chance to engrave the 2nd and 3rd Ring attributes has been increased to 100%.
 * Sovereign Seals can now be exchanged for Rank 8 Boundless materials at the Contemplation Forge in Archosaur.
 * Using World Chat in rapid succession will incrementally increase the number of Teleacoustics needed for each message, up to a maximum of 32. The cost will reset back to 1 after 1 minute.
 * Certain Mystic skill book tooltips no longer say to visit the Mystic Trainer.
 * New items have been added to the Bidding Hall.
 * The items in the Treasure System have been changed.

World Environment
 * The Morai Guide has been renamed to World Guide.
 * Fixed some spots where players could get stuck in the terrain.

User Interface
 * The Titles UI has been completely redesigned, and now shows all titles in the game and where to get them.
 * A customization option has been added to hide genies and cultivation sprites.
 * The cap on coins has been increased to 1,000,000,000. The PW Boutique Agent now has quests to trade for 50 and 100 Big Notes.

Skills
 * Glyphs can now be attached to the Town Portal spell.
 * Each class has ten skills that can be upgraded; 5 at Chaotic Soul, and 5 at Celestial Saint. Glyphs can only be attached to upgraded skills.
 * Each upgrade skill has one of three glyph bonuses - Martial Prowess, Tiger's Rage, or Dragon's Fury. Upon attaching glyphs to six different skills, you will get bonus damage against other players based on whichever bonus is most common among your glyphed skills. Town Portal has no glyph type.
 * Low-level Glyphs can be combined into higher-level glyphs, which improve the skills' bonuses and grant you additional stats.
 * Archer
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨAim Low, ΨStunning Arrow, ΨWings of Grace, ΨLeap Left, ΨLeap Right, ΨQuickshot, ΨLightning Strike, ΨThunder Shock, ΨThunderous Blast, and ΨBlood Vow.
 * Assassin
 * The Demon version of Tidal Protection now properly states that its chance to resist debuffs is 50%, rather than 66%.
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨElimination, ΨSpell Cutter, ΨTackling Slash, ΨRising Dragon Strike, ΨShadow Jump, ΨLife Hunter, ΨCondensed Thorn, ΨKnife Throw, ΨCursed Jail, and ΨInner Harmony.
 * Barbarian
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨStomp of the Beast King, ΨBerserker's Rage, ΨBestial Rage, ΨFlesh Ream, ΨDevour, ΨMighty Swing, ΨArmageddon, ΨCornered Beast, ΨRaging Slap, and ΨInvoke the Spirit.
 * Blademaster
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨFerocious Leap, ΨOcean's Edge, ΨArmy Crusher, ΨDrake's Ray, ΨRiver Avalanche, ΨBlade Tornado, ΨDrake's Breath Bash, ΨHeaven's Flame, ΨMyriad Sword Stance, and ΨGlacial Spike.
 * Cleric
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨIronheart Blessing, ΨChromatic Healing Beam, ΨPurify, ΨChromatic Seal, ΨSilent Seal, ΨSoothing Pulse, ΨStream of Rejuvenation, ΨViolet Dance, ΨPlume Shell, and ΨGreat Cyclone.
 * Duskblade
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨGalemark, ΨEverlasting Ode, ΨWinged Dragon, ΨStrigimorphic Dive, ΨEternity, ΨConstellation Arc, ΨGrief, ΨRelentless Drift, ΨDistant Cloud, and ΨSlash of Pride.
 * Mystic
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨNature's Vengeance, ΨAbsorb Soul, ΨSwirling Mist, ΨGale Force, ΨBreak in the Clouds, ΨStorm Dance, ΨComforting Mist, ΨNature's Barrier, ΨThicket, and ΨVital Herb.
 * Psychic
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨEarth Vector, ΨSandburst Blast, ΨGlacial Shards, ΨRed Tide, ΨCrystal Light, ΨSandball Clash, ΨStone Smasher, ΨSpirit Blast, ΨAqua Impact, and ΨSoulburn.
 * Seeker
 * The Gravel Blade tooltip now lists the effects of Spirit Bore and Bloodletting.
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨGravel Blade, ΨGlowing Blade, ΨGemini Slash, ΨStalagstrike, ΨDarkcloud Bolt, ΨWind Blade, ΨArme Nier, ΨHeartseeker, ΨIon Spike, and ΨEdged Blur.
 * Stormbringer
 * The Sage and Demon versions of Deafening Thunder now correctly state that Attack Rate is reduced by 20%, rather than 120%.
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨSonic Boom, ΨCloudburst, ΨThunderstrike, ΨDownburst, ΨIce Bullet, ΨDeafening Thunder, ΨLunar Surge, ΨFrigid Thunder, ΨMoonblade, and ΨSupercell.
 * Venomancer
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨVenomous Scarab, ΨRedstone Venomworm, ΨAmplify Damage, ΨCrush Vigor, ΨSoul Degeneration, ΨNoxious Gas, ΨLucky Scarab, ΨParasitic Nova, ΨPurge, and ΨBlazing Barrier.
 * Wizard
 * Corrected several instances of "Ice Dragon Strike" to "Black Ice Dragon Strike".
 * The following skills can be upgraded: ΨPyrogram, ΨGush, ΨStone Rain, ΨWill of the Phoenix, ΨSandfall, ΨHailstorm, ΨFrozen Flame, ΨBlade Tempest, ΨIce Dragon Strike, and ΨMountain's Seize.

Known Issues
 * Skills with particularly long tooltips (such as Gravel Blade, Moonblade, and Supercell) will not display their tooltips in the Skills pane. The tooltips will be properly displayed if placed in your hotbar.

Neverfall Content Update
The Neverfall Content Update was officially announced on August 25th, 2017, and released on August 30th, 2017. The content update focused on making changes to several higher level dungeons, ranging from making them easier to complete, lowering requirements, to making it easier to earn EXP. Many weekly events were also removed to make space for the return of Cross-server Nation Wars along with some new monthly events. A new world boss, Changeling Commander Haspon, was also added, along with 3 new features: a Character Simulator, Faction Battles, and Transmutation.

Prior to its announcement, several teasers were made on the Perfect World forums by PWE employee kalystconquerer, who showed off several screenshots via maintenance threads. Other spoilers were mentioned in various other posts that would clarify certain features that were coming to the game.

The first teaser possibly came as early as June 27th, 2017, through a screenshot of two new fashion sets on a maintenance thread. The next earliest teaser was posted in a thread on July 6th, 2017 as compensation for changes made to a charge reward event, a screenshot of a crafting window showing new upgrades for Arigora Colosseum gear and a tooltip of one of the rings.

A notable teaser was the Transmutation system, which was posted into a maintenance thread. The teaser described how the system would work, showing screenshots of some of the windows which also revealed what types of items could be used and what type of items could come out of Transmutation. It revealed that there would be a high level and low level version of Transmutation.

News Releases
The Neverfall Content Update was first officially announced on August 25th, 2017. most of the forum teasers were compiled into the post. This included new crafting options for Arigora Colosseum gear, adjustments to obtaining Mysterious Pages and Advanced Mystical Pages, a batch crafting feature, new Lucky Coin exchanges, including one for Morai skills, and the introduction of the Transmutation system, though the introduction was much briefer compared to its teaser counterpart posted to the Perfect World forums. The Content Update was announced to be released on August 30th, 2017, just 5 days after its official announcement.

No news post was made to announce the release of the content update, however on the day of the release, August 30th, 2017, a post was made about Boutique sales that included many of the new items that had been mentioned or teased through the forums.

Patch Notes
Patch Version 1038, Released August 29th, 2017

New Features
 * A new world boss, Changeling Commander Haspon, has been added at the Path of Sorrow in the Western Steppes. Haspon will spawn every two hours between 15:00 and 24:00 from Thursday to Sunday.
 * The Character Simulator has been added to the Functions tab of the menu, allowing you to see how your attributes would change based on different gear and skill setups.
 * Faction Battles have been added, allowing you to challenge other Factions to PvP combat! Leaders of Level 2 or 3 Factions can access this functionality in the Faction pane.
 * Transmutation Master Xolo has been added in South Archosaur. Transmutation can be used to convert certain unwanted items into more useful ones. Speak to Xolo to see a full list of items and what they can be converted into.

Dungeons
 * Uncharted Paradise now only requires one trial to be completed before facing the Lord of Paradise, rather than three.
 * The requirements to enter Undercurrent Hall have been reduced to the First Reawakening and Arcane Sky I.
 * Faction Base Trials have been temporarily removed.
 * The Twisted Nightmare boss has been removed from Dawnlight Halls.
 * Heavenfall Temple now rewards additional Star Chart items.
 * Bosses in the Quicksand Maze now drop additional materials at level 95 and below.
 * Hyper EXP Stones can once again be used in Frostcovered City.
 * Completing Lv100+ Phoenix Valley will allow you to enter the Phoenix Sanctum. Talk to the Phoenix Aura there to summon a Golden Toad, which can be killed for a large amount of XP. The Phoenix Aura can only be activated 10 times per day.

Events
 * The Arigora Colosseum is now only available between 00:00 and 12:00 CET.
 * City of Abominations, Temple of the Dragon, Forest Ruins, and Celestial Tigers have been removed.
 * Nation Wars has been moved to Monday and Tuesday nights at 20:20 server time.
 * Cross-server Nation Wars has returned, starting on Sunday at 20:20 CET.
 * Territory War times have been adjusted as follows:
 * Saturday 17:00
 * Saturday 20:00
 * Friday 22:30
 * Sunday 17:00
 * Sunday 18:30

Items
 * All Rank 8 gear upgrades now use Fortification Essences instead of the previous materials. Old Rank 8 upgrade materials can be exchanged for Fortification Essences at the Fortifications: Engrave forge in Archosaur.
 * Rank 8 Bracers and Shoes are now purchased for 1,000,000 coins instead of Wedding Candies.
 * Merchant NPCs now sell Mystical Pills, Holy Pills, and Perfect Stones.
 * You can now batch craft any stackable item, creating the entire stack at once instead of crafting each item one at a time.
 * The cost at the Undercurrent Guardian has been reduced from 6 Undercurrent Coins to 1.
 * The Undercurrent Guardian now sells for 2 Undercurrent Coins.
 * Reduced the number of materials required to upgrade Aerogear in the City of a Thousand Streams.
 * Items crafted at the Spirit of the Forge or Dustfall: Spirit of the Forge no longer require Chienkun Stones, but the coin cost has been increased.
 * Perfect Tokens of Luck can no longer be exchanged for Mysterious Pages or Advanced Mystical Pages. Mysterious Pages now drop from the final bosses in Seat of Torment and Abaddon.
 * Level 1 glyphs are now purple in color instead of orange.
 * Martial Arts Scrolls, Old Book Pages, Pages of Fate, and Wraith Officer's Badges now stack up to 9999.
 * Wishful Wing Tokens now stack up to 100.

Quests
 * Title Quests have been added in the Valley of the Hidden Orchid, Peach Blossom Grove, King's Feast Swamp of the Wraiths, and Stairway to Heaven.
 * XP, Spirit, and Item rewards have been increased for Bounty Hunter quests. Level 40-99 quests now also award items such as Mystical and Holy Pills.
 * XP, Vitae, and Item rewards have been increased for Primal World daily quests.
 * Increased XP and Spirit rewards for the Paperclip for Villa quest chain.
 * Increased XP and Spirit rewards for the Crazy Stone quest. This quest now also rewards items such as Mystical and Holy Pill at level 40+.
 * The quest Dark Emperor's Fate Star Chart now rewards 5 Starglade Chests, up from 1.
 * The quest Coming of Age: Warriorhood now awards 10 Mirage Celestones, up from 5. These stones are now bound and can only be used to refine your own gear. Refinement will use bound celestones before unbound ones.
 * You can now spend 6 Silent Sea Sandgrains to take a weekly quest to kill the Lord of Paradise in Uncharted Paradise.
 * You can now spend 6 Dawnlight Feathers to take a daily or weekly quest to kill Natya Veda in Dawnlight Halls on Judgment Mode.
 * Completing daily quests for Endless Universe will reward a random Sage or Demon skill book for your class.
 * Completing daily quests for Advanced Endless Universe will reward a random Aware of Vacuity, Celestial Sage, or Celestial Demon skill book for your class.
 * The first time you complete Flowsilver Palace each day, you will get a Flowsilver Prince or Princess Token. These tokens can be combined with 5 Golden Splendors to create a Flowsilver Prince or Princess Treasure, which give extra rewards when turned in after completing the dungeon.

NPCS
 * Local Rich * Keman has been renamed to Keman the Wealthy.
 * The Eye of the Jungle now appears next to the Reasure Seeker of the Jungle in Archosaur and outside the Forest Ruins.
 * Assistant Wang Tsai now sells several additional items for Lucky Coins.
 * The PW School Teacher now sells Aerogear for 7 Attendance Sheets each.

User Interface
 * Two new Interactive Actions have been added, Show Affection and Adore and Love.
 * You can now save and load additional hotbar layouts by clicking the S icon next to your hotbar.
 * Duke Blacke no longer announces when players receive Ancient Emblems.
 * The tooltip for the Spirit stat has been rewritten to clarify its effects.
 * The Cultivation System has been renamed to the Reflection System to avoid confusion with Spiritual Cultivation.
 * Duke Blacke will now announce to the server when a piece of gear is refined to +9 or higher.
 * New Meridians now unlock at every level above 40 instead of every other level.

World Environment
 * The requirement to enter Morai has been reduced to level 85. All quests and monsters in Morai have had their levels reduced to match.

Skills
 * Archer
 * The Argent glyphs of Lightning Strike, Thunder Shock, and Thunderous Blast have been reworked. Charging now deals 70-120% of total damage, with the glyph level increasing total damage by a percentage of weapon damage.
 * Assassin
 * The tooltips for Death Link and Death Chain have been rewritten slightly to clarify their effects.
 * Focused Mind and Tidal Protection now share a 120-second cooldown (up from 90).
 * The Sage/Demon versions of Focused Mind now grant 35% Evasion (up from 25%).
 * Barbarian
 * All glyphs of Armageddon can no longer miss.
 * The Sanguine glyph of Cornered Beast now lasts 10/15/20/25 seconds (up from 9/11/13/15).
 * All glyphs of Raging Slap now generate an absorption shield for 5 seconds equal to 10% of your max Health.
 * The Verdant glyph of Devour can no longer miss.
 * Blademaster
 * The Golden, Verdant, and Sanguine glyphs of Myriad Sword Stance now properly reduce the Chi cost of your other skills.
 * The Sanguine glyphs of Ocean's Edge, Army Crusher, Drake's Ray, and River Avalanche now increase Accuracy by 10% per point of Chi spent.
 * Duskblade
 * Divine Moonlight's cooldown increased from 15 to 30 seconds. Chi cost reduced from 30 to 10.
 * Umbral Stalker's cooldown increased from 90 to 120 seconds. Chi cost reduced from 50 to 30.
 * Quadrature's Chi cost increased from 30 to 50.
 * The Stun effect of ΨRelentless Drift now properly has a 100% chance to trigger.
 * Mystic
 * ΨVital Herb now functions properly in the Arigora Colosseum.
 * The Verdant glyph of Storm Dance now lasts for 10 seconds (up from 8).
 * Psychic
 * Soul of Silence and Soul of Vengeance can now only be cast on yourself.
 * Seeker
 * The Bloodletting effect of the Ethereal glyph of Gravel Blade now lasts 1.5/2.0/2.5/3.0 seconds (up from 0.5/1.0/1.5/2.0).
 * The Disarm effect of the Verdant glyph of Glowing Blade now lasts 2.5/3.0/3.5/4.0 seconds (up from 1.5/2.0/2.5/3.0).
 * Stormbringer
 * The Argent glyph of Ice Bullet now properly stuns the target for 4-5 seconds.
 * Venomancer
 * The Maddened effect of ΨParasitic Nova now properly has a 100% chance to trigger.
 * Wizard
 * The Argent glyph of Frozen Flame can no longer miss.
 * The Ethereal and Argent glyphs of Blade Tempest now properly reduce the Chi cost of your other skills.
 * The Ethereal and Argent glyphs of Mountain's Seize now properly reduce the Chi cost of your other skills.
 * The Sanguine and Argent glyphs of Black Ice Dragon strike now properly reduce the Chi cost of your other skills.