A proper arrival. The camera sweeps in over Wickhaven harbour before the Whisper speaks (press any key to skip). Story scenes play in a cinematic frame, lighting the harbour lamp makes it flare with ships answering out at sea, and the Chalk Lookout now has a lit beacon and a view of the road north.
The Lamp Road really is lit. Creatures leave you alone while you walk it between Wickhaven, Silverford and Hearthmoor. Step well off the road, or hit something, and they still come for you.
New abilities. Bows get Quick Shot at Precision 4. Arcana gets Arcane Spark at level 4 (staff, wand or tome) and Searing Wave at level 14. Every combat style now gets something new every few levels up to 30.
Shoulders slot. Plate pauldrons, leather spaulders and cloth mantles in every material tier: craft them with Smithing or Tailoring, upgrade them, or find them in dungeons.
Signposts that point the way. Crossroad signposts point down each road and name the next town, inn or landmark.
Travel you can see. Lamp-stone travel (gold) and Home Recall (pale blue) show a column of light to everyone nearby when someone leaves or arrives.
Ask Ansel. Not sure what's next in Wickhaven? Brother Ansel names every lesson you haven't finished.
New tips for jumping rippling ground shapes, eating when hurt, and touching your first Lamp-stone.
Changed
Levelling has its own pace. The first levels still come quickly, but levels from about 10 to 40 take longer, so the starter coast and the road to Hearthmoor stay worthwhile. Your XP is kept, so some skill levels will read lower than before, and gear you could already use keeps working. Everyone starts at Vitality 10, as new characters do. Abilities and recipes come back as you earn the levels again.
Combat level is your highest combat skill (Might, Precision, Arcana, Guard or Restoration), so healers and tanks are rated like everyone else.
Fairer XP. Hitting a huge pack at once gives less XP per monster, and monsters far below the skill you are training give less. Restoration now levels from healing real wounds from real enemies, not overhealing or topping up full health.
Town critters run away when attacked from inside town, and hits from inside a town give no combat XP.
Gear powers your resource. Mage and healer gear adds max focus or focus regen; warrior, guard and archer gear adds stamina. Focus refills faster out of combat, and Gear & Stats shows all four numbers.
Heals are easier to land: the heal aim is 2.5 times wider. Damage spells are unchanged.
Spells and arrows look much better. Ember Bolt burns with embers and smoke, frost shatters, lightning crackles and every hit flashes. Light gathers at your staff or wand as you cast, wands and tomes cast with a quick flick, and arrows thunk and kick up dust.
Boss mechanics you can see. Barrels roll down the charge line, ore carts rattle down their rails, lobbed attacks arc through the air, pools bubble and smoulder, and a stunned boss gets stars over its head.
Enemies aren't clones. Each wolf, crab, goblin and bandit in a pack has its own colouring, size and gear. Adders, toads, hares, rams, cougars, crocodiles, hawks, scorpions, wraiths, yetis and more get proper bodies. Archers draw before they shoot and shamans raise their staves.
Gear tiers look different. Warm copper, dark studded iron and bright polished steel with brass trim. Weapons, shields, bows, staffs, wands and tomes change shape as they improve, and bows and staffs show their wood.
Better faces. A proper neck, real ears, a cleaner nose and jaw, and fuller hair that sits right under helmets and hoods.
Fountains and doors. Town fountains have tiered bowls and rippling water. Ordinary houses have plain dark doors, and buildings you can enter have a lantern on each side and a warm doormat.
Bows just work: with arrows in your satchel, your quiver fills itself on your first shot.
Straight into the story. Your first character goes from Begin the Story straight into the world, and Play enters directly when only one world is open.
Calmer tips. One tip at a time when it matters: aiming and dodging in the first fight, blocking later. The controls card waits until you've walked around, and quest rewards no longer pop up as separate toasts.
Clearer opening. Corin teaches the glint you'll actually see on the strand. Quest banners say Prologue or Chapter with a one-line summary, and keys mentioned in conversation follow your own bindings. The Letter for the Warden gives boots instead of a second cloak.
Fixed
Short connection drops no longer send you back to the loading screen: the world stays on screen with a "Reconnecting" note. A busy or paused tab is no longer disconnected after a few seconds, and a silently dead connection reconnects by itself.
Smoother big fights. Spell, arrow and particle effects no longer create new graphics data every shot, and very busy fights show at most 24 ground warnings (the nearest, boss attacks and dungeon mechanics are kept).
Capes no longer cut through your backpack, and robes move out of the way of your legs.
The character creator and loading tips now say your story starts on the Wickhaven quay, and the Wickhaven inn's sign reads The Lamp and Lobster.
