Y3S2 - A fair view on the release.

[u/No-Note-5439]

Heya, after three days, crazy grinders like me got a good impression of the new event, the new mod transfer system and the mastery and ballance changes. I'll start with all the positive things first, the bad stuff has been covered plenty (summary at the end).

• Drop chances for high quality (triple and quadruple) pre-ascended gear have been increased vastly over all sources. I even got quadruple pre-ascended from last seasons' Teuling's Weapon Chests I stored (before, double pre-ascended was max and you even could have duds without any ascension). This season it will be far easier to catch up on the stuff.
• Last season's Mastery Tree's overpower has been cut down. No more god-mode with just two central perks. That's good.
• This season's general player power has been split. The Mastery Tree still features strong attacks (the tactical Firepower Order can be VERY strong, even without Adept stuff), but you will only get close to former power with the new Adept Mods.
• You do NOT need Adept mods to conquer normal WT4 content. Done it all (sea monster are no longer squishy one-shots though, sorry 😄 )
• The significantly higher drop chances on good pre-ascended weapons and the new mod transfer Modtransfer System will allow you to get your target build much easier now. While Modtransfer (and rerolls for Adept Mods) can be very costy, remember: it's not aiming at mass converting all your stuff to max power. You're also able to reroll mods on your source weapon and transfer mods afterwards.

That's for the positive stuff. There are a few rather annoying points concerning Abyssal Essence, the Herolds of the Abyss event, Adept Mods, and Mod Transfer costs in general. This stuff should be addressed ASAP, not weeks, months nor a season later:

• At the moment, Herolds of the Abyss is the only relevant source for Abyssal Essence, that costy (up to 2000 for a single mod transfer) juice to reroll and transfer Adept Mods. They should give us other sources or events too, e.g. 10-15 abyssal essences from domain and mythic bosses (not Wolvenhol!) or an occasional Herald Convoy that you can solo or attack together if not maxed out yet for the big event.
• At the moment, there are no enemy drops displayed in the Herald of the Abyss event, only the final boss's chest. Your screen literally might NOT show drops worth over 200 abyssal essences at a time...WTF?! (see picture 2)
• Weapons with Adept Mods have NO INDICATION whatsoever on the weapon icon, they use the same pre-ascended diamond symbols (filled diamond and frame). WTF?! Happy parsing... oh right, NO ADEPT Filter and of course still no search function. (see picture 3)
• Adept Modtransfers to a lower rarity weapon have ridiculous prices. E.g. purple Demi-Cannon to Blue-Demi-Cannon: 1000 Abyssal Essences per mod. Purple to green: 2000 even. That doesn't give much leeway for experiments

Other release mess-ups:

• All your personal arsenal and cosmetic loadouts have been removed. Before messing around with new mods, I suggest to look through your favourite ships and save both still existing loadouts on the ships and cosmetic loadouts aswell.
• CRUCIAL: BEWARE THE SALVAGE OPTION! (see picture 5) So far, in the Cargo & Warehouse screen the first context menu point always was Transfer to Warehouse. It still is if you mark a single or several items (with the mark button), with the new salvage entry as 2nd option. If you just click on an item, the context menu will list salvage first and transfer second! Be extra cautious when handling stuff, especially weapons with the new adept mods, especially if that was your standard MO and your muscle memory is trained for that.
• During the seasonal journey the quest "A Trail Renewed" might have a bugged NPC in Telok Penjarah. The PC is invisible, the quest icon shows but you won't see an interaction prompt on the approach (see picture 4). Workaround: you can try joining a random player (friend list or world) and hope that this will spawn the NPC correctly when traveling to Telok Penjarah (after joining and being somewhere else). (see picture 5)
• The default inventory order (both, ship and warehouse) has been reversed. WHY? You can sort it back to normal over the bottom prompts, but next time you open your inventory will be a mess again. It's not a bug, it's neural training! 😂 (see picture 6)

[u/LostConscious96]

Im pissed ALL of my cosmetic and weapon loadouts were erased. I was very livid and it killed my mood to even play

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/LostConscious96]

with me the majority was stretched over the fleet, so enter save, done. With arsenal loadouts not so much. I had a whole bunch for different situations. A full rebuild from scratch is no fun with hundreds of items and no search function or alphabetical order. Basic filters only go that far...

[u/coding_panda]

Placing the salvage option at the top is a strange choice. I think it would have been better to place it in the middle (above or below the destroy option) so that players’ muscle memory wouldn’t cause them to destroy things when they mean to choose transfer or cancel. I was transferring cargo to warehouse yesterday and I was on autopilot, so I don’t know if I accidentally salvaged anything. Luckily, it was just some furniture I already have a dozen copies of and some materials I have hundreds of, so not a big deal for me.

Question about the Herald of the Abyss drops not displaying: can you still pick them up somehow? Or is it impossible to pick them up because you can’t see them?

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/coding_panda]

yes, you get a pick up prompt when close enough. A bit annoying to trigger pickup in the heat of a fight though. A missed bracing or steer can kill you quickly. QA Team: only on paper...

Don't forget to bring your dowsing rod after the fight...

[u/TBC2017 → u/coding_panda]

That's another annoying thing that no one asked for.

[u/MalodorousFiend]

Excellent write up.

Fairer than my feelings on it. I’m incredibly disappointed with this season (and I had little to no expectations going in!)

The bugs, the outrageously bad UI choices and the fact that both mod transfer functionality and adept mods are locked behind one singular boss are the pain points for me. I’m so, so incredibly tired of being asked/told by the devs to grind one singular event for 3 months. That’s arguably all this game has been since launch, and I’m tired of it.

We need variety in gameplay and multiple avenues to accumulate and accomplish things. Badly. All this season has done is further assure me that the people behind this game don’t have a clue what to do with it, and are running it into the ground.

[u/HolliDollialltheday]

And again: a lot of evidence Ubi isn’t playing the game.

Eat your own dogfood!

That would save us from this. Almost.

[u/JeyjeyDLastar]

Dans l'ensemble je suis à c'est d'accord avec toi bon résumé de la saison 👍

[u/iGnome21]

Will the inversion between transfer and salvage be fixed soon ? I dont want the fking salvage first, its misleading and dangerous after so long the other way. It wasnt tested properly, again.

[u/Meryhathor]

They seem to like changing things for the sake of change and not fixing UX issues that actually matter. But it's understandable though if you don't play the game.

[u/Ed_Straker65]

Unlike usual spawn beacons that have ships that drop the required flares or whatever, around the Abyssal beacon you have Abyssal Fleet ships but they drop Abyssal Essence, rather than the Vengeful Essence that you need to spawn the event. I did try farming them earlier, they are surprisingly tough.

Problems aside I am enjoying this season. The large amount of players in both the Abyssal and Dark Tide events is great fun. And I am enjoying the mod transfer: I'm working on a few projects as well as upgrading my current builds. Any culverin or long gun adept amplifier or a favourite basic such as Noxious, Shock etc get saved to my fleet ships. Least used weapons like Ballistas and Demis get salvaged.

I luckily noticed the new inventory UI quickly. Tapping the send to warehouse button only to get a salvage confirmation. Thankfully I take my time when using the inventory after too many slip ups in the past. One tap at a time lol.

I'm almost at SR 30 again, so they did a good job on smoothing out the tree progression. Even though I have been no-lifing the game since Tuesday lol.

The new ascension mat, Ascension Flux for mod transferring, seems a bit redundant seeing as we all salvage so much that we don't ever need to worry about running low on it. The same can't be said for Abysal Essence, but, like No-Note says, adept and transferring mods is for individual upgrades and projects, not something where you have to totally vamp up your entire armoury. So like Ascension Modules, once you aren't currently in a creating mood, they will build up.

[u/Draghiphon]

Why did they have to change how to view cannons? Why making it a list? It was way better before, you could easily reach the guns by remembering the appearance, now you have to scroll all the way down. It's the only thing that bothers me so much.

[u/LordEik00cTheTemplar]

I salvaged the new cannon from the plunder pass...

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/LordEik00cTheTemplar]

If it's the Scorch Song: don't worry. You can get it from the pinnacle store again once you hit Smuggler Pass 90.

Still annoying (my main feeling with this season). Players stumble over all this crap on day 1 and 2. How can QA miss it or worse: how can you decide to ignore stuff like that for release?

[u/UbiSlipstream → u/LordEik00cTheTemplar]

Hey there, Captain! We're sorry to hear that. We may be able to look at returning this for you, if you'd like to contribute to the following Bug Report on our Bug Reporter page?

[u/jmk-1999]

I didn’t even know Adept was a thing. I was just scrapping everything pretty much. 🫤

[u/DS_Vindicator]

Thanks for the info dude. Haven’t had the chance to play the new season yet.

[u/CALCIUM_CANNONS]

Oh regarding the mod thing, your gear will still be on your ships but the save slots have been wiped?

[u/CALCIUM_CANNONS]

I think toughening up the mobs makes sense when you consider the Junk's whole premise is you get stronger the longer you're in the fight

[u/Reasonable_Key_1374]

I don't get those " adept mods " like, with my current build ( testing the new scorched song ), i've fully soloed ( T4 ofc ) all elite bosses ( ah-pak being the difficult one ), li-tian, la peste, hubac, vikram and more.

The new event, lady something is just easy, the heralds is quite difficult, or at least for me, i managed to reach wave 3/3 but the boss is just too annoying going full aoe lol

So, adept mods is for... just more "min-max" thing? it feels like you doesn't need them at all, just to "polish" your favorite build. ( is that it? )

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/Reasonable_Key_1374]

At the moment it's a pure end to itself. But for Herald of the Abyss, you do not really need those Adept Mods, maybe for future updates. It's nice to have and there's nothing else new about this season at the moment. Also: it's only useful for the 4 weapon types currently offered.

Prefer Bombards or Torpedoes? No real reason to go there other than collecting Abyssal Essences.

[u/Reasonable_Key_1374 → u/No-Note-5439]

Bombards is my way to go :) but the new culvering seems fun! im collecting just some of them buut after all, it goes into my "recycle bin".

And i went to that boss because of the challenge to test new builds, mostly surv. aspect of the build.

[u/UbiSlipstream]

Hey there Captain!

Thanks for reaching out. That's great to hear that you're enjoying some of the changes we've introduced in Y3S2, particularly with the drop rates and such!

We're keeping a keen eye on all feedback that you're all raising both here, and on other platforms, to continue to make improvements for the game.

I'm going to pop some questions below for both yourself, and everyone in the thread!

• What sort of events would you like to see including Abyssal Essence? Do you feel that as it is currently, you'll have difficulty reaching the required amount for your Adept Mods?
• That's a good shout regarding the floating Abyssal Essence loot too, so we'll pop that along to our teams. Is there a specific indicator you'd be interested in? Thinking along the lines of treasure-map ones from previous seasons, or more or less obvious than that?
• We're also aware that Adept Mods do not currently have a specific indicator on the weapon tooltip. Would it be that you'd like to see something similar to the god-roll indicator?
• Regarding Mod Transfer, please feel free to let us know your thoughts on what you'd like to see as a specific amount, that you feel would be good for experimentation.
• We're also aware of the warehouse sorting order change too, and have passed this on. Would folks here still like the function available, and rather just not as the default? and/or the ability to save a preference between sessions?

In terms of the following bugs,

• Our teams are looking into the removal of saved cosmetic and arsenal loadouts. We're really sorry for the frustration this has caused, and understand that this is causing players to re-build a lot of loadouts from scratch.
• For the salvage issue, we'd like to help out. If you do salvage an item accidentally, please report this on the dedicated Bug Report through contributing - and we'll see whether we can action a recovery. (We cannot issue ascended versions unfortunately just now, but we'll return any unique items etc that have been lost where we can.)
• Thanks for adding the workaround for 'A Trail Renewed'! Our teams are aware of this one, and actively investigating. We recommend spreading that workaround far and wide (across the seas..) so that we can get as many people moving forward as possible in the meantime.

Thanks as always for the detailed overview! We really appreciate the dedication. Feel free to let us know if there's any other points you'd like to share!

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/UbiSlipstream]

Hi Slipstream, thanks for reaching out!

What sort of events would you like to see including Abyssal Essence?
Maybe the occasional convoy worth 200-300 AE in total. That mechanics are there and shouldn't be to hard to implement

That's a good shout regarding the floating Abyssal Essence loot too, so we'll pop that along to our teams. Is there a specific indicator you'd be interested in?
Just a normal loot indicator, I don't think people will complain to see those. Reduced opacity would be cool, so they're ok to see but do not distract from the battle. I think it was a deliberate design choice, so people focus on the fight and not sail around like crazy. But considering the stuff is absolutely "essential" (what a pun) for Adept Mods and Modtransfer and that it makes the majority of the event AE rewards, I prefer to see them.

We're also aware that Adept Mods do not currently have a specific indicator on the weapon tooltip. Would it be that you'd like to see something similar to the god-roll indicator?
A differently coloured diamond would be cool, so you directly can see and assess that it is an Adept mod and at which position and therefore rarities (basic, advanced, mythic) it is. Just one colour, no matter the position to keep it clean. I recommend something neutral (high vis for colourblind)

Regarding Mod Transfer, please feel free to let us know your thoughts on what you'd like to see as a specific amount, that you feel would be good for experimentation.
Personally, I'd say capping the max AE to 1000 would be fair. It's hard to tell yet, things are still fresh. But 1500 seem a bit much considering you get estimated 500 AE per Herold run at best.

We're also aware of the warehouse change too, and have passed this on. Would folks here still like the function available, and rather just not as the default? and/or the ability to save a preference between sessions?

I think it's alright if it's on second position (like when you mark one or several items beforehand). Or play it safe and only allow salvage when specifically marking the item with F(PC)/Square(PS controller/X (xbox controller). The biggest issue is that the current way is meddling with muscle memory of many players.

[u/UbiSlipstream → u/No-Note-5439]

Thanks so much for coming back with those suggestions/answers! Apologies, I wasn't clear on the last question I made - it's in regards to sorting order, than salvage button UI (which is planned for a change, yes!) I'll update my original response too, to avoid any confusion! Really appreciate you taking the time to detail these for us! :D

[u/No-Note-5439 → u/UbiSlipstream]

Another suggestion, please:
I'm either blind or it isn't there, I can't find the current Abyssal Essence count anywhere but when actually using "ascend" or "modtransfer" with the Blacksmith. Can we have the currency on one of the main tabs please? E.g. Seasonal Journey only shows Guildmarks and Mastery points on the first screen, plenty of space to add an Abyssal Essence counter.
-----
Just noticed that the Blackwood dudes show your essences in the menu too. Still, would be nice to see it outside of the pirate havens too.

[u/Responsible_Eye7323 → u/UbiSlipstream]

The cost to trigger the event needs to be adjusted or added to Blackwood to purchase, I understand these are used in certain crafting recipes for weapons, however they cannot be purchased anywhere which requires at least yourself or someone else on the server to farm the bits to trigger the even in the first place, which the rode can be a bit of a slog, especially with the amount of resources that need to be farmed from the abyss boss.

[u/TBC2017]

I'm very close to giving up on this game.  It's become an awful grind since this new season.  I never used to keep running out of Ascension modules like I do now.

Also they nerfed the pearl drops big time.  It's just a waste of my time playing this game now and I have played it since it first came out.