September 2 Update — Rift of Time and Space Contest, Watcher Kaira Spawn Overhaul & Templar/Chanter Rebalance

• Event Overview
  • Contents: takes place in the Verteron and Altgard territories. Each race is split into an attacking and a defending faction, and captures or protects a majority of the Strongholds.
  • Schedule: every Monday / Thursday / Saturday (rift times 8 PM and 11 PM).
  • Faction Rotation Rules
    • The attacking and defending factions swap with each other every week.
    • Week 1: Verteron (Elyos defending) / Week 2: Altgard (Asmodian defending)
• Entry Requirements & How to Apply
  • Entry requirements: only characters that meet all of the conditions below can enter.
    • Character level: 50 or higher
    • Item Level: 4,500 or higher
    • Combat Power: 500.0k or higher
    • Achievement requirement: 'Verteron Stronghold Sweep VI' and 'Altgard Stronghold Sweep VI' completed (every Stronghold in that territory cleared)
  • Applying
    • Holding 1 or more 'Event Key' lets you apply through the Contest notifier UI.
    • Event Key: 3 are auto-recharged each week, and 1 is deducted at the point the event reward is claimed.
    • While the event is active, the [Join] button is only enabled in the defending side's territory.
  • Format & Rules
    • Capacity: a minimum of 60 and a maximum of 200 players enter per faction.
    • Flow: the event starts 5 minutes after the rift portal spawns, and the Contest runs for 25 minutes.
    • You can join during the 10 minutes the rift portal stays open.
  • Usage restriction: while the Contest is running, other content such as Expedition, Transcendence and Sanctuary cannot be used.
  • S-PvP Mode
    • S-PvP Mode activates automatically once the preparation time ends.
    • Only characters under S-PvP Mode can fight each other; field monsters, NPCs and other characters in normal mode cannot be attacked. (Field guards can still attack S-PvP characters.)
    • The options menu can unify the nameplates and appearance of S-PvP characters.

• Stronghold Groups & Victory Conditions
  • Five Strongholds inside the defending faction's territory form one group, and when the event fires one of the groups below opens at random.

• Capture & Win/Loss Rules
  • All three Monoliths in and around a Stronghold must be destroyed for it to count as captured — and as a failed defence.
  • Capturing 3 or more of the 5 Strongholds wins it for the attackers; defending a majority within the time limit wins it for the defenders.
• Rewards
  • Destroying Monoliths, killing Guardians and killing enemy-faction characters all grant Contribution.
  • Rewards are handed out by per-class Contribution ranking, only to those who met the minimum Contribution.
• Leaving & Rejoining
  • You can leave mid-event with the [Leave] button, and re-enter through the UI after a set time.
  • If you return to the main server by resurrecting there after death, or through an abnormal disconnect, your participation is held for a set time and you are withdrawn automatically once that time runs out. (You can rejoin through the UI within that window.)
• New Dedicated Item
  • A Contest-only Kisk is added. (Purchasable from the General Goods Merchant or Wind Breeze Merchants.)
  • Anyone can register with it or withdraw regardless of party or Force membership, and it holds more people than a Legion Kisk.
  • Only the attacking team can place and use it while the Contest is running.
• Dedicated Season Missions
  • Missions related to the Rift of Time and Space Contest are added to [Season Mission – Server – Weekly/Season].
• Notes
  • Play inside the Rift of Time and Space Contest does not count toward field achievements or the kill-mission counts of 'Rift of Time and Space Season Mission [Challenge] > [Season]'.

The spawn chance and spawn cycle of Watcher Kaira, who appears in the Abyss — Lower Reshanta, are changing.

• The stats of Abyss bosses and Dimensional Cores, and the Contribution obtainable through PvP, are raised substantially again.
  • These values may be adjusted further at a later date.

• Templar
  • Shield Smite becomes a skill usable while moving by default, and its motion is improved.
• Assassin
  • An extra-damage effect is added during Illusive Clone, and its hit feedback is improved.
• Spiritmaster
  • The DPS lost after the Elemental Fusion bug fix is improved further.
• Cleric
  • Their comparatively low damage is adjusted, improving PvE DPS.

• Some Rift of Time and Space missions in [Season Mission - Challenge - Weekly] are changing.
  • The 'Pride of Elysea / Pride of Asmodae' missions and the 'Marching Beneath the Elyos / Asmodian Banner' missions are merged, so the count now rises whenever you kill an enemy-faction player anywhere in Verteron, Altgard, Eltnen or Morheim.
  • Kills inside the Rift of Time and Space Contest are not included, however.
• The maximum stack size of some items is raised.
  • The items concerned are Amplify Stone Fragments (Bound), Sync Stone Fragments (Bound), Transfer Stone Fragments (Bound), Arcana transmutation crystals and crystal shards (Bound), Unstable Stigma Shard (Bound) and the like.
  • This improvement is applied when the inventory sort function is used.

• The General Goods Shop sale price of Mysterious Crystal (Bound), Harmonious Crystal (Bound) and Noble Crystal (Bound) is corrected to 5,000 Kina.
• Dismounting a pet while falling now leaves you unable to use skills, matching the character's current falling state.
• Fixed an issue where certain skills of Atiel, the boss of the Expedition 'Corrupted Deus Research Base' and the Transcendence 'Deus Research Base', had hit timings that did not match their animation.
• Fixed an issue where no system message was shown when Abyss entry failed because the instance was full.
• Fixed an issue where the whirlwind at a certain spot was not generated in the Elyos 'Mysterious Track' event.
• Fixed an issue where you could not enter Dimensional Invasion while in combat or in flight.
  • The mobile client will be fixed in the 9/9 update.

• Since the August 26 update, cases have been confirmed where a malfunction of the sale-registration and bulk-sale features caused players to unintentionally sell large numbers of items.
  • For this reason, the [Item Restoration] > [Items Sold to NPC Shops] restoration count is being reset for anyone who used one because of this issue.