Months ago, the SeekRat obtained the power of the Shadow Universe.....and nearly destroyed Lore in the process. And for the longest time, ever since the Shadow Universe was first discussed in-game, players have asked me if there are other universes similar to the Shadow Universe out there. The answer is, of course, yes, as you're about to discover for yourself.

This week, you'll get to meet several other types of shifters, each hailing from a similar universe composed of different elemental combinations. Their universes and powers were always much smaller than the Shadow Universe, but together, they could still pose a threat. No one knows why they're joining forces, but it can't be good for Lore. You'll have to crush their shifter army to find out their true motivations!

This small story release essentially acts as an "in-between" release as far as the SeekRat Saga goes. As I said in the past, the story has been split into chapters, and that the chapters will essentially act as separate "sagas" of their own so that players can jump into the storyline and experience the current content without having to refresh themselves on years of back story.

However, Chapter 2 isn't coming out immediately because of a number of other projects that I'm working on to help improve the game in other areas and ways. Knight was only one of many big projects I have in store. However, I don't want to leave our players hanging on the storyline front, and so I've prepared a few small story releases to help tie you over in the interim between Chapters 1 and 2. These releases will help show that the SeekRat is still around, still causing trouble, and still amassing power....but rather than confronting you directly as he has in the past, he has chosen to utilize his superior intellect against you and to manipulate the world behind the scenes. Can you put a stop to his schemes? Only time will tell.

he drive is officially over!

You successfully passed the 500 billion mark. That means that, some time next year, we will release the following Neko-themed content:

• A Neko-themed Log Cabin
• A Neko House Guard
• "Enchanted Grove" estate item
• A Neko-themed quest revealing the adventures of the Nekos as they try to locate a new home.
• A Neko "mini-town", showing the Nekos living in their happy new home.

You can expect to see this content roll out over the course of multiple weeks some time in 2014.



Being a math-y sort of guy, I thought it might be nice to share with you some statistics about the event.

• The Top 25 contributors donated a whopping 151.87 billion gold! That's around 23.62% of all donations.
• The Top 50 contributors donated 238.32 billion gold, accounting for 37.07% of all donations.
• And finally, the Top 100 contributors donated 343.92 billion gold, accounting for 53.49% of all donations.
• Just over half (50.06%) of all the donations in this event were given by the top 87 characters in the event.
• Aerodu was by far the most generous of all the clans, donating 196.46 billion gold, or about 30.56% of the overall total. The next closest was Igneus, with 122 billion gold, which is around 18.97% of the overall total.
• Aerodu also had the most donators in the Top 25, Top 50, and Top 100! They had 10 donors in the Top 25, 17 donors in the Top 50, and 34 donors in the Top 100. The next closest was Igneus, with 4 donors in the Top 25, 9 donors in the Top 50, and 20 donors in the Top 100.

We're all very impressed by the amounts you've donated. But as we know, several of you went above and beyond what we could have ever expected, and we want to honor those players.

First, a huge shoutout to Bu Kek Siansu, who managed to rack up an unbelievable 17.17 billion gold across two characters! He managed to take both the top donor slot and 6th place in the donors list! We also had a second player, Billy Joe Armstrong, who got two characters into the list as well: 2nd and 20th place! So, we decided that we would give both characters the item as promised (since they gave up a lot of gold to get there), but to honor the spirit of the competition, we'd also select additional players from the donors list so that we'd have exactly 25 players.

So, without further ado, here are the Top 25 27 Donors!

• Bu Kek Siansu
• Billie Joe Armstrong
• Dreamer
• Lord Athor
• Katana
• Black Cat
• Msyu
• Gorak
• Lord Taelord
• Larodis
• Artix (no, not the real one, we checked)
• subsailor
• Grixus Faldor
• Smackie El Frog
• Valthonis
• BBFM
• Doomsday
• Unbeatable Guardian Z
• commando manni
• Magnus Caesar Augustus
• Black Knight
• Calum the Untainted
• Oisin The Druid
• Sam
• Luchador Mago
• Kalle
• Exalted Beastlord

These players will all receive an additional prize: an exclusive rare item that will not be sold in stores.



Thanks for all of your contributions throughout this event! We're looking forward to giving you all a ton of great new content to enjoy.

Hi there, guys and gals! Lore's favorite shadowkitten here, asking for your help!

You see, I'm in a bit of a pickle. You may remember that, last year, I promised to give the Nekos a happy new home. And I've found them the most wonderful spot in the Middle Isles, away from much of the danger that civilization posed to them. Unfortunately, it turns out that it's really, REALLY expensive to make a good home out of uninhabited and previously dangerous jungle land. And my owner said he isn't interested in paying lots and lots of money to help me, in his words, "build my own army of loyal catgirls". I know, right? What a cheapskate! I told him that I'd only keep a few of them for myself, but....

Oh, right, sorry. As I was saying, without the money to help build this place up, I'm afraid they'll go homeless....unless you're willing to help us out!

I've started a brand new charity called "The Nyanited Way". Our goal is to raise money to support the Nekos in the construction of their new homeland. Won't you donate to our cause?

"But ElBhe, why would I just give you free money?", you ask. Well, because I'm adorable, mostly. But just in case that line doesn't work for you, I've got prizes to offer too!

Here are some of the goals we've set for this charity drive.



If We Reach 10 Billion Gold....we'll have enough to get tents for the entire Neko population! Your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Tent House and a new Neko house guard!

If We Reach 50 Billion Gold....we'll have enough to build some simple huts for the entire Neko population! Your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Hut House and a new Neko house guard!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!

If We Reach 100 Billion Gold....we'll have enough to build cabins for the entire Neko population! Your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Cabin and a new Neko house guard!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!

If We Reach 500 Billion Gold....we'll have enough to build strong log houses for the entire Neko population! Your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Log House and a new Neko house guard! Plus, you'd get a new estate item: The "Enchanted Grove", a magical grove grown by the Nekos which produces wood and food for your estate!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!
• A new, permanent "mini-town" on the Travel Map, so you can visit the Nekos any time you want!

If We Reach 1 Trillion Gold....we'll be able to afford some very fancy cottages for the entire Neko population! Your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Cottage and a new Neko house guard! Plus, you'd get a new estate item: The "Enchanted Grove", a magical grove grown by the Nekos which produces wood and food for your estate!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!
• A new, permanent "mini-town" on the Travel Map, so you can visit the Nekos any time you want! Plus, we'll add some extra shinies to their shop!

If We Reach 5 Trillion Gold....the Nekos would be amazed by your kindness! They'd each have their own classy mansion to live in, which is way beyond what they could ever have dreamed of! As such, your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Cottage and a new Neko house guard! Plus, you'd get a new estate item: The "Enchanted Grove", a magical grove grown by the Nekos which produces wood and food for your estate!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!
• A new, permanent "mini-town" on the Travel Map, so you can visit the Nekos any time you want! Plus, we'll add some extra shinies to their shop!
• The Nekos would invite you to join them! That's right, you could become one of the first to become part of the brand new Neko subrace!

If We Reach 10 Trillion Gold....then you all are simply AMAZING! We'd be able to help the Neko population live like kings, each with their own estate! They'd be so grateful for your generosity that your rewards would include:

• A Neko-themed Estate and a new Neko house guard! Plus, you'd get two new estate items: The "Enchanted Grove", a magical grove grown by the Nekos which produces wood and food for your estate; and the "Kitten Mine", a place that projects such hope and joy throughout your estate that you gain resources per hour!
• A brand new quest (with rewards) which features the Neko race and their struggles settling in a new land!
• A new, permanent "mini-town" on the Travel Map, so you can visit the Nekos any time you want! Plus, we'll add some extra shinies to their shop!
• The Nekos would invite you to join them! That's right, you could become one of the first to become part of the brand new Neko subrace!
• The Nekos would enchant ALL of their items with special magic that makes it more effective for members of the Neko subrace!

Sounds like a much better deal now, doesn't it? I knew it would! But you have to hurry, because this charity drive will only be available for 4 weeks! That means that, on September 26th, we'll lock up the charity drive and count up your donations to see how much you've made.

So please, give often and give generously! The Nyanited Way preemptively thanks you for your kindness. And if this drive is a success, we may have other drives in the future as well!

~ElBhe

This week, we release the first five levels of the new Knight Class!

In the first five levels of the class quest, you are a new recruit seeking to become a Knight. You are entrusted with a difficult task: Stormfallen is seeking a powerful demonic artifact that would amplify its user’s power. You must retrieve the artifact and hide it in a new location until it can be purified of its demonic energy. But a Demon Lord (the most powerful Demon Knights are called “Demon Lords”) is hot on your tail! Will you defeat him and hide the artifact as instructed? Will you keep its power for yourself? Or will you willingly hand it over to the Demon Lord to get in good with the legions of Stormfallen? This choice influences some of the later training quests, and leads into the big decision once you’ve reached Lvl 5....what kingdom will you choose?

The new Knight Class features some very unique attributes that I'll discuss here. Firstly, this is the first class that will utilize our new scaling system: it starts at Lvl 40 power and scales to Lvl 70. Second, you will be using a brand new roster of skills. The old skills have been thrown out in favor of a brand new set of skills that I designed personally. These new skills make Knight one of the best tanking armors for its level in the game. Third, some of the class's unique skills benefit greatly from recent modifications to the game engine.

After this release, we will continue to add to the Knight Class throughout the summer by dedicating a week to each kingdom. For those of you who have done your math, yes, that means you'll be seeing FOUR more weeks of Knight Class after this! And now you finally understand the pun of this DN's title: this is essentially the Summer of Knight Class. :P

And finally, if you're a high level player and aren't interested in all of this because a Lvl 70 armor isn't useful to you, I would like to make a recommendation that you keep a sharp eye on this class as it continues to be updated throughout the summer. Not only do we have plans to include you in these releases at a later date, but some of this class's influence rubbed off on my work on the Paladin class (and also on Archknight, though that's much later down the road), so you'll be seeing some of these skills again some day.

Part 1 of the Knight Class is coming this Friday!

Have you ever wanted to be a knight? I have. Oddly enough, while I can’t remember a lot of my Halloween costumes, I do recall one night in which I dressed up with an adorable little knight’s helmet and breastplate, and went around defeating evil and saving princesses....and getting candy, of course. Okay, so maybe it was just getting candy, but I remember having so much fun with it! I ended up going to a high school whose mascot was a knight, as well. There, my school embraced the knightly ideals and sought to raise gentlemen. And they succeeded with most of us, but to be fair to them, I’m not easy to deal with. ;)

That short bit of my life’s history may seem out of place for an AdventureQuest Design Note post, but it’s there to help explain why it is that I’ve always felt a sort of link to knights. That fondness of knighthood never really left me, and I always loved the romanticized stories of medieval knights slaying dragons and rescuing damsels. So naturally, when it was pointed out how neglected the poor Knight Class was in AQ, I knew it was only fitting for me to take on the task of making Knight into the class it deserved to be.

The task was a daunting one. With Wizard having NINE armors to cover all of the elements, I knew that making a decent warrior armor to pair up against that would be a difficult task. Especially given the original class’s skills, which were generally pretty weak and didn’t really provide either good defense OR good offense. I think you’ll certainly find it more useful than ever before. The class’s skill roster has been cleaned out entirely to make room for new skills that grant you some tactical offensive capabilities as well as superior defense for the times when you need to dig in deep and resist whatever the foe can throw at you.

There was also the matter of the quest. In the original Knight Class, you meet up with Tathlin, a knight of Rennd, and train against other knights to become the very best, like no one ever was. Then you have to trek over to some ruins to beat the heck out of an evil potion-stealing demoness, and poof, you’re done. It’s very abrupt, very generic, and doesn’t have much of a knightly feel, does it? It lacks the epic feel that comes with the title of “Knight”. Plus, you have no idea where Rennd is, or what significance it holds. I decided that the best way to fix this would be to give the entire class quest a complete re-write. Tell me how this sounds to you....this is an actual story synopsis, taken straight from the class quest!

Long ago, Lore had many powerful kingdoms that all lived in harmony...the mightiest being the kingdom of Rennd. But that peace was shattered one day with the rise of a new kingdom, the kingdom of Stormfallen.

It is said that the demons emerged from deep within Heck and forged Stormfallen to gain a foothold in Lore. The mighty demon queen of Stormfallen, Tyranna, and her demonic hordes sought to conquer Lore and subvert it. Stormfallen’s legions pushed forward, conquering many kingdoms and weakening many others. But in order to pass into the East, to reach the city of Battleon and truly conquer the continent....they had to pass through Rennd.

Rennd, a kingdom hundreds of years old, stood tall and pushed back their hordes, fighting with an intensity that the demons could not match. But Rennd, the last great kingdom in the West, has grown weaker over time. And should we fall, all of Lore could be swept away....

While many kingdoms fell into obscurity from the ravages of war, two others still stand strong to aid us. One of them is the kingdom of Deren, ruled by King Tralin. When they heard of Rennd’s plight, they sent their knights to fight at our side.

The other is fairly young, born from the ashes of old Granemor. A fierce fighting force raised to defend Granemor from the mutant menace. The ‘Emoran Knights have joined in the war effort against the demonic forces of Stormfallen.

And one day, when you are ready, you will be able to choose which of these great kingdoms you wish to serve. But you have much to learn about the basics of Knighthood before that day comes.

Sound a bit more like the kind of story you’d want to sign up for? I figured as much!

This post may be long, but I assure you, it’s only the beginning of all the amazing things we have planned for you with the Knight class! Starting this summer, you will experience the new Knight class as you never have before, in one of the biggest multi-week releases that we have ever done in this game’s history! You'll experience five brand new storylines and five amazing armors! You'll get to meet some new faces and some old, and I have every hope that you're going to absolutely love it!

For now, I’ll leave you with this: a preview of Hollow’s majestic work on the training armor! And remember, this is just one of the armors....you still haven't even gotten to see what the kingdom armors look like yet!



I'll post again some time this summer with more teasers and goodies!