[PTS] Patch Notes 23/07/2026 - RDPS Patch and New Scenario Mechanic

[Ruin]

Play style will be more about starting in Skirmish, softening up targets with DOTs + Snare + Eye Shot, then Shadow Step to get in and do some damage, probably opening with Draw Blood, then Opportunistic Strike for the damage each 2s if within 25 ft, followed by Swift Strikes for +40% speed boost to stay close to Opportunistic Strike hits, and I suppose Exploit Weakness for KD, followed by Brutal Assault (as it requires positional, so easier during KD) and Grim Slash.

You forgot about Crosscut and it's 10% crit and 2x hits, providing benefit from eye shot.

also its interesting, but is Shadow step also an ailent? with the 10sec window to kill?

[rorswar]

Play style will be more about starting in Skirmish, softening up targets with DOTs + Snare + Eye Shot, then Shadow Step to get in and do some damage, probably opening with Draw Blood, then Opportunistic Strike for the damage each 2s if within 25 ft, followed by Swift Strikes for +40% speed boost to stay close to Opportunistic Strike hits, and I suppose Exploit Weakness for KD, followed by Brutal Assault (as it requires positional, so easier during KD) and Grim Slash.

You forgot about Crosscut and it's 10% crit and 2x hits, providing benefit from eye shot.

You're totally right. +10% crit only applies to other players, but the 2x hits in a single ability, both benefiting from Eye Shot is something I overlooked. Thank you.

[kpihuss]

Patches are always welcome.

Without having tried it, but reading the patch notes, I get the impression that RDPs have been buffed. But perhaps what RDPs need is a general nerf, not a buff.

Right now the game feels more like Counter-Strike with so many RDPs; if they get buffed more, melee classes will disappear.

[rorswar]

Patches are always welcome.

Without having tried it, but reading the patch notes, I get the impression that RDPs have been buffed. But perhaps what RDPs need is a general nerf, not a buff.

Right now the game feels more like Counter-Strike with so many RDPs; if they get buffed more, melee classes will disappear.

Not familiar with all the other classes, but both AOE and single-target Skirmish Shadow Warrior got some major nerfs. Scout can't festerbomb timestamp people anymore, but is more turned into a Word-of-Pain variant, where you need to layer DOTs and do damage, so Fester Bomb delayed damage can potentially time stamp - could still work, but has much more counter play to it.

[hordak774]

squigh herder aoe buff winner ? or slighty nerfed in his st

[ponko22]

squigh herder aoe buff winner ? or slighty nerfed in his st

Seeing how they are further buffing the Squig Herder, it’s clear they aren't looking at the combined damage output of both the pet and the character itself.

[wonshot]

[Before playing on PTR tonight]

Thanks for the reasoning behind the changes, and explaining where you are seeing each class and build being. That helps take in the changes!

First impressions so far overall:
- Is Realm Champion 2.0 back, because im getting a sense of this helping order more than destro, overall.
- So after 11 pages of community mainly disagreeing you STILL go through with the Champions Mark direction. This is a new milestone of you focing pve down our throats and try to make it seem like its new content. Running Gunbad for Hard Mode champion marks, for gold and buying the +25talismans from gold on AH. is not new content... You heard the community, and you went through with it. This is strikedown point on the RoR timeline of where we can go back and look at when the PvE focus overtook.
- Some RoR-custome changes such as longer stealther duration, and Sorc getting an M2 mirror from BW are getting reverted now. Not sure how this will play out. Time will tell.

Ill think, test and talk with some players and come back with more feedback.
How many are needed for Talabec dam sc to pop on test server, if i go in with 6 and assign 3 on each realm and we queue to try to "break" the Giants npc pathing with stuff like puddles, champ challenge, wind of insanity, jiblis, outtamyway. Can we test that inhouse in a 3v3?

[rorswar]

One thing that got overlooked for aSW is that +130 WS proc from 4pc Triumphant and +150 WS from Wrist Slash tactic don't stack, rendering half of what would be a very useful tactic useless under most circumstances.

[kikiprecko]

It's wild that Squigs did not get nerfed, running around in oRvR lakes outside peak hours, it's literally just Squigs, Shamans, Magus, and WE's. I know that Teefz (Squig main) is on the balance team, so it's very biased.

You nerfed melee in general so much that it makes no sense to solo roam around. Slayer is literal garbage now, nerfed WL, now nerfed SW the only class that feels OP on Order side compared to Destro is RP.

You have to be realistic and see that the player base is declining, new players leave after getting farmed by WE's and ranged DPS all the time.

Something that the community is crying out for sometimes a year or more and could literally be a hotfix you end up leaving untouched for months, for example, the broken WE's.

Meanwhile, you focus on fixing stuff like PvE and quests for literally 10% of the population that plays that, wasting resources and making people leave the game.

First you unify the currency, now you add a new one? You also said the vic/tri rings will cost 2000 now you say its gonna be something else, it should never even have been 10k to begin with, or forcing people to play dead ranked to get it.

Leveling a certain class to 80 takes time getting the gear even more just to have constant random nerfing, really feels like the time spent playing is not being respected at all on top of poor communication.

Most of the server is just the same people that stay here after whatever you come up with because there is no alternative way to play this game, there is no progression after 80 you can reroll an alt (hopefully it does not get nerfed to the ground) that's it.

And why not let this patch go live? The population is so low to begin with that the PTR feedback could be very biased, and you will not do anything about it. You say you want to balance the game around group play soon you will not have enough people to test your awesome changes. Everyone is burnt out from constant blobing

[rorswar]

- Is Realm Champion 2.0 back, because im getting a sense of this helping order more than destro, overall.

AOE and ST SW got nerfed much harder than SH (thanks Teefz, for being on the balance team!)
ST Engy didn't get the buffs ST Magus has, which is already stronger as it doesn't rely on a secondary stat like Weapon Skill, so can stack 1k TGH and still hit like a truck.

I'm sure there's areas where Destro benefit less (e.g. WE a little bit nerfed more than WH, and rightly so), but in general both sides have winners and losers in classes/specs.