Queue Pop - Balance Pass Open Beta Phase 3

Another open beta has been announced for Secret World Legends' upcoming balance pass! Open Beta Phase 3 is set to begin on August 21st and end on 9 AM EDT August 24th. Players have an entire weekend to log into TestLive and test out all changes coming with this phase of testling. As with previous phases, TestLive is open to all for the duration of the beta test.

Dive into TestLive and help make the balance pass the best it can be for Secret World Legends!

Hello everyone!

We are going to be running another open beta weekend, starting Friday August 21st, and ending the morning of Monday August 24th.

We’ll have updated patch notes post as we get closer to the weekend. But in the meantime, a quick tease of what is in store: . . . .

Phase 3 contains a multitude of bugfixes, tuning passes, and changes unique to the phase that requires another trip to TestLive, just as Phase 1 and Phase 2 did.

The balance pass may be for tanks and healers, but some weapons necessitated a quick DPS pass as well.

Elementalism in particular received a shocking round of interesting changes that are sure to rekindle Elemental use. The damage buffs granted by Thermotics upon achieving certain heat levels has been buffed from +9.2%, +18.4%, and +36.9% Elemental damage to +16.9%, +33.8% and +67.6% Elemental damage. Of note, the Flicker recast bug plaguing prior phases of the beta that ultimately resulted in not being able to recast Flicker has finally been fixed. There are many other changes catalysing the improvement of Elementalism, as well.

The infamous Crystallised Blaze was also doused and removed, as it turns out that Crystallised Blaze was doing 2.5 seconds' worth of damage every 0.5 seconds, effectively being the equivalent of 5 Crystallised Flames. Crystallised Blaze was ultimately keeping Elementalism afloat, but with the removal of what was a very broken ability comes the need to rebalance Elementalism to ensure it can stand on its own once more. Won't you help spark life into Elementalism, sweetling?

Replacing both Crystallised Flame and its passive Crystallised Blaze is something entirely new to Secret World Legends: a persistent combat pet! Living Flame is the new Elementalism Active Ability replacing Crystallised Fire. When the Living Flame Active is used, it will summon the Living Flame pet at a desired location while causing it to cast Flame Flare. Flame Flare deals damage to enemies around the Living Flame and stuns them briefly. When not casting Flame Flare, the Living Flame has a ranged autoattack that will be directed toward the enemy its caster is attacking at the time. Additionally, when the new Synergetic Flame passive is slotted, the Living Flame taunts all enemies aside from Dungeon, Lair, or Raid monsters and acts as a tank for the Elementalist in solo content, providing survivability in a unique manner. Get fired up for this form of friendly fire to play with!

Not to be outshone by the Living Flame, something more than reality can contain has come to Secret World Legends. Experience an entirely new tier of dungeon difficulty with new mechanics to encounter for every dungeon! This difficulty is the Tier 4 dungeon difficulty. There is Story Mode (Tier 1), Elite Mode (Tier 2), Nightmare Mode (Tier 3), and now this new unnamed Tier 4! Previously, Nightmare mechanics began at Elite 5, but will now begin at Elite 8. The T4 mechanics begin at Elite 14 and drastically alter the strategies necessary for certain bosses. Many challenge Tanks, Healers, and DPS in different ways. Purges in particular see a resurgence as necessity for DPS to bring for certain encounters at higher difficulties.

Every new mechanic will be documented as we prepare updated guides for all dungeons as the balance pass closes in on release.

Last but not least, we get our first sneak peek at the new key system coming to the game! Currently on Live, Dungeon, Lair, and Scenario chests all require use of Dungeon, Lair, and Scenario keys in order to open them. These keys refresh daily and Patrons have more keys than non-Patrons - and anyone running out of keys has to spend Marks of Favour to open any chests afterwards until their keys reset.

The old system will be no more. The new system is not fully in place on TestLive, but new chests can be found at the end of Dungeon, Scenario, and Lair content. These 'Patron Chests' utilize placeholder loot from Story Mode Polaris at the moment, so their final contents are unknown.

Make your way to TestLive, find FATE, and get testing, sweetlings!

Don't forget to take a look at the Official Open Beta Phase 3 Announcement and scour over the the TestLive Patch Notes.

Any eager to contribute to the beta test can post any bug reports or feedback regarding the rebalance on the Rebalance Feedbacks & Bugs section of the Secret World Legends Funcom Forum.