NirvanaOnline Version 2.0: Equinox

The days of NirvanaOnline as we know it are numbered, and the Vexation magic that powered Nirvana is almost spent. Welcome to NirvanaOnline Version 2.0... or as we like to call it: EQUINOX. In this article, we'll be detailing the truly incredible number of changes and alterations we're making to the game you already know and love. Without any further ado, let's get right to it:

If you'd like to read message from Zane Wyndham regarding the state of Network Nirvana's business side, you can do so here.

The Dynamic Sidebar

The first and perhaps the most notable upgrade coming to the core NirvanaOnline experience is the inclusion of our new Dynamic Sidebar. This sidebar exists to bring you all of the information you previously would have had to visit a kiosk to retrieve. This includes things like Echelons for each world around NirvanaOnline and Wildcard Echelons in general. The Dynamic Sidebar will display only the relevant information for the game world you are currently in. For example, if you are in Chernobyl, you will see only your Radioactive Echelons and your Wildcard Echelons on the sidebar. Additionally, when you are visiting the Monastery you will also see your total Merits for each of the Great Guilds that you might have chosen to align yourself with.

Another perk of the Sidebar is the ability to display persistent information that all players should find useful no matter which world they are in. Information like players' Bank total and their current amount of Vault Tickets will persist no matter which game world they are in. The Sidebar can also display a players' current Game World and Game Mode as well as some useful tips and hints at the bottom of the bar.

Reworked Loot Tables

Another key step in permanently improving the overall health from both the player-side and development-side is the introduction of reworked loot tables. For years we've employed a specialized algorithm that refills chests around the game every few minutes with loot that's been randomly selected from the algorithm. This system is still in place, but now it's cleaner than ever. From the development perspective, the algorithm has been rewritten to facilitate future growth for NirvanaOnline. For the player-facing side of things, we've introduced new loot tables for generic mobs that you'll find while exploring all over NirvanaOnline. Kill a zombie anywhere in NirvanaOnline to find that zombies now have a chance to drop a healing potion or even a treasure chest key. Healing potions were added to the loot tables to give players the opportunity to heal themselves quickly and effectively between mob encounters. Additionally, we've added a few surprises to the loot tables of all mobs around the game. Find and collect special items like Cryptoplasm to be used at a future date...

Updated Entity Spawning

In addition to an overhaul of the loot tables, we realized it was time that we updated the most important spawners around NirvanaOnline. That's to a new update from Mojang, we've been given the precious ability to spawn enemies during the daytime in many levels around Nirvana. This means that several levels like IX in Arkoneux and the Ark of Exile in Etheria will no longer need to close during the day. Both of these levels have been reworked so that they may be played and completed at any time! Additionally, certain areas of Nirvana like the Scar in Arkoneux have been updated with a more fluid spawning system that allows for any enemy to spawn anywhere within the zone, and thanks to the new loot tables this means that any enemy in these zones can now drop any piece of loot upon death!

Mortieu: Remastered

It's the game world that took NirvanaOnline to the next level a few years ago, and now it's coming back in a big way! Mortieu: Remastered brings back all of the magic and allure of Nirvana Royale with some more modern twists. A proper closing circle will always make you feel as if the ground is shrinking beneath your feet, and a rewrite of all of the Nirvana Royale systems will have you playing in our smoothest royale experience ever! Additionally, we've added a new Quest to the mix and new activities like a brand-new Strike and even a new Zone to explore in! The whole city of Mortieu has had a cosmetic pass, and we've never been so proud of our largest urban construction ever. Encounter new enemies while you roam the streets of the Dusklight City and you'll notice a new currency dropping from the enemies there: Salvation Stones! This special currency allows you to access new experiences and even craft some wonderful new weapons and surprises for yourself by collecting enough of them. You'll need to collect enough of them and deposit them into the kiosk near the Mortieu lobby if you want to unlock the Masquerade: Imperiale and its newest addition... The Cabal Conclave! (coming soon)

New Robust Fishing System

Nirvana's massive new fishing system is already partially live in NirvanaOnline servers, and so far it's been a hit! With this update, players can now grab a fishing rod and visit any water source around NirvanaOnline to start fishing. Fishing would previously have a limited amount of outcomes in Nirvana, and overall it was quite difficult to profit from. As part of our new maxim, we want our players to be able to profit from a variety of activities that are self-driven. Even goofing off in NirvanaOnline should provide some goodies every now and then, no?

Drop a fishing line in the water and you'll notice that now you'll be rewarded with one of three different classes of fish. We've got the Small Fry class, the Common fish, and the Trophy Fish for you to collect and take with you. There's even a few junk items in the water, so if you pull out some Tangled Kelp, don't get too discouraged. Additionally, each type of fish will now tell you its overall weight. This will be important when you align yourself with the brand-new Fisherman's Guild who are eager to buy your haul from you in exchange for some nautical rewards, but more on that later!

Black-Gold Vaults

Your favorite Vaults are our favorite Vaults! Black-Gold Vaults are the newest and hottest way for you to get the most out of your favorite Vaults by offering up a little Vegnacite to the Vexation Priests of Nirvana in exchange for some new content throughout various areas of Nirvana. If this isn't making sense so far, don't worry. Every Black-Gold Vault Upgrade will provide players with a new Exotic to pull from the final loot pool of a Vault as well as a new Quest to complete inside your favorite Vaults. These Quests are designed to bring out the deeper stories of your favorite 12-player Vaults. Each Black-Gold Upgrade will also come with some extra activities and surprises all themed around the core experience of the mother-Vault. The first of these Black-Gold Upgrades will be found in a newly-renovated prep room of Prospector's Hallow and can be purchased for 500 Vegnacite.

Menagerie Vault Rewards

The Season of Babel is now in full swing and so is our new Season Activity: The Tower of Babel. In order to begin a round of the Tower, players must first acquire four special pieces of "Menagerie Materials" This class of loot was obtainable from last Season's special Menagerie activity, but now we're ready to expand access to it further. Various Vaults around NirvanaOnline will begin awarding Menagerie Materials as part of their final rewards, to help our seasoned players get more completions of the Tower of Babel under their belt, and help us work towards our endgame goal that will be revealed later in the Season of Babel...

Reworked Onboarding Program

One of the most important aspects of NirvanaOnline is our ability to bring in new faces, and a reworked onboarding program is paramount to us making Nirvana a welcoming and inviting gaming environment. We've added new "failure text" (which isn't as bad as it sounds) to various kiosks and activities around Nirvana. This means that if you walk up to a kiosk and press a button, if that button does not execute the desired task, we'll print some text on your screen to let you know why, and in many cases the kiosks will even point you in the right direction to fix that. With most new players to NirvanaOnline, we understand that as the game continues to grow, so does the learning curve. Vespasian Assistants are a series of NPCs we debuted a few months ago to allow players to ask all of their questions to an in-game knowledge base, but now we're ready to expand on that. More knowledge and more helpful hints have been injected into Nirvana than ever before with the new round of NPCs and the added information of the Dynamic Sidebar, but we know that we can still do better, and we plan to do so in the coming year ahead!

The Hunter's Guild

If you love hunting big, scary things then the Hunter's Guild is excited to welcome you into their ranks. After coming under new management, the elusive band of Hunters that have formed this legendary Great Guild are ready to start allowing some newcomers into their ranks. Head into the Hunting Hall of the Monastery right away and pick up a Hunting Contract. This will have you heading out into the rest of Nirvana to slay a certain type and number of monsters before returning to claim a reward. This reward has been updated in the EQUINOX to also include a Big Game Hunt Ticket and a few Hunter's Merits. Claim 10 Big Game Hunt Tickets to be invited to the new Oasis Apex Zone in ArkoneuxOnline for a hunt for the ages.

In the Oasis you'll find a town called Sanctuary, and in that town you'll find the Hunters' Hunting Lodge. It's here that you'll carry out the majority of your business with the Hunter's Guild. Bloody Mary will send you on her Big Game Hunts, you'll be able to pick up new Hunting Contracts, and you'll even be able to redeem some sweet rewards and experiences for your work with the Guild. Some of these even include a new 4-player Raid and even an all-new Bedlam with NirvanaOnline's second-ever Mythic Item (coming soon). As with all of the Great Guilds, we'll continue to add even more rewards and ways to earn new Merits as time goes on, so keep coming back to the Oasis throughout 2022 for new Big Game Hunts and new features galore to keep you occupied for years to come...

The Slasher's Guild

Do you like scary movies? Well, even if you're not old enough for them yet, it's always fun to play the role of the villain every once in a while, right? The Black Moon Slasher was Nirvana's most infamous serial killer before he disappeared into the mists of the Dreamscape. Now his spirit has been resurrected from the dead by some deranged cultists, and they want you to finish what he started all those years ago. You may have already noticed the Slasher's Curse kiosks near the entrances to some older Vaults around Nirvana. These kiosks are ready to bring the spirit of the Slasher to life and help you start earning your Blood Bonds. Simply approach the kiosks and don on the Slasher's Guise to experience your favorite Vault with a whole new dark attitude. Your vision will be limited, your speed will be slowed, and your health will be reduced. Do you think you have what it takes to beat the entire Vault under these conditions? Take down the final boss and claim your reward to claim a generous allotment of Blood Bonds, a new currency awarded by the spirit of the Black Moon Slasher himself. Use these Blood Bonds to purchase dark and macabre treasures and adventures from within the newly-renovated Slasher's Sanctum in Chernobyl Carnivale and even claim the title of Slasher Supreme...

Additionally, we've got a very special surprise for any Slasher's who manage to accrue enough Blood Bonds to unlock the Slasher's very-own special experience that we call: Der Eisengarten... (but that's all we'll say about that!)

The Fisherman's Guild

One of the hottest and most anticipated additions to NirvanaOnline is the new Fisherman's Guild. This brand-new addition to the Great Guilds of Nirvana invites players to the new Fisherman's Wharf located in the Monastic Badlands to turn in any fish they've caught for a new currency called Sand Dollars. In conjunction with the robust new fishing system that's already been integrated into the game, the Fisherman's Guild works to reward players for doing something that's completely combat-free. Players do not need to complete a Quest to begin working with the Fisherman's Guild, and the only prerequisite for working on improving their reputation with them is a simple fishing rod.

As we broke down in our summary of the new fishing system, there are three types of fish in the waters of NirvanaOnline. Small Fry and Common Fish are the baseline for what you'll be catching while fishing in Nirvana's new fishing system. Trophy Fish form the top-tier catch that you'll find rarely when you pull your line out of the water. Small Fry and Common Fish can be sold to a new NPC found in the Fisherman's Wharf named Boat Captain Elwood. Elwood will gladly purchase your smaller fish for a fair price, which will reward players with a few Sand Dollars and a small number of Fisherman's Merits. Fisherman Blaine is another NPC at the Wharf who will be happy to purchase your Trophy Fish in exchange for a large amount of Sand Dollars and a few Fisherman's Merits. On the other hand, there's Fishmaster Elwood who runs the show around the Wharf. He'll be happy to take donations of Trophy Fish to decorate the walls of the Wharf, and in exchange he'll give you a small amount of Sand Dollars and a huge amount of Fisherman's Merits if you're okay not making too much of a profit from your largest catches.

The Fisherman's Guild rewards players with the ability to convert their Sand Dollars into Credits, a sweet Player House, special Titles, and more! Even more rewards will become available in the future, but with so much available on February 1st there's already a dozen reasons to jump in and start your fishing career!

Blood Bonds Currency

Blood Bonds are a brand-new currency earned by completing Black Moon Slasher challenges in various Vaults around NirvanaOnline. Blood Bonds can be spent on a variety of things within the Slasher's Sanctum in Chernobyl Carnivale. These include new titles, a sweet player house, and something known only as: Der Eisengarten... Additionally, Blood Bonds can now be spent in the Peregrine Emporium to directly acquire Vault Exotics from your favorite Vaults! In order to acquire a Vault Exotic, you must first have completed the Black Moon Slasher challenge for that Vault. Additionally, you will not be allowed into the upper levels of the Peregrine Emporium until you have managed to acquire the required 250 Blood Bonds needed to purchase one of the Exotics.

The Stitches: Apex Strike

Itching for a bit of good old classic NirvanaOnline content? The Stitches is a new Apex Strike in a similar vein to the Dusklight Circuit in Mortieu. The Stitches is a delightfully long Apex Strike that forms a rim around the Scar in the Arkoneux Sierra. Players will be tasked with trekking an incredible distance in the scorching heat of the Scar, all while fighting enemies plucked directly from the Scar itself. Make it all the way through the Stitches and you'll be handsomely rewarded!

"Claim Your Reward" Rework

Another important step in improving the overall health of NirvanaOnline was to rework how we dole out rewards at the end of certain activities like Strikes, Mazes, Trials, Raids, and Vaults. At the end of each of these activities you'll find a "Claim Your Reward" button that gives you some Credits, a Casket Basket, and possibly even a few Crowns (among other rewards)... But what are those rewards? With the new Claim Your Reward rework we've added descriptive text to the end of each of these activities to promptly display how many Credits, Crowns, and other rewards you earned from completing that level! This text will now appear in the bottom left corner of the screen, and will also include the name of the activity that was completed! Lastly, while we were rewriting the Claim Your Reward buttons around Nirvana, we also managed to correct a number of inconsistencies with the Strike rewards. This also means that more than a few activities around Nirvana also had their Credit payouts buffed, and some activities that did not previously award a Casket Basket or Crowns have now had those added to their reward lists!

New NPCs

More new NPCs have appeared all over NirvanaOnline! These include some Vespacian Assistants to help explain the rules and structure of Vaults and Raids, but there are also some new "flavor NPCs" added to various game worlds to help flesh out the story and theme of those worlds. Mortieu has had the most attention, but every game world in Nirvana has had a few new faces show up to help make the world feel even more alive than ever!

Checkpoint 2.0 System

Have you ever noticed that some Vaults around Nirvana have Checkpoint Stations with two buttons instead of one? Did you find yourself getting kicked out of the Vault if you clicked the wrong button? This annoyance is no more, as all of the Checkpoint Stations in Nirvana's Vaults have been redesigned to be made out of the same lapis material (to make them stand out more), and that extra button has been removed. With the advent of the /kill command in NirvanaOnline, this second button has been made obsolete, and its removal has actually provided a very small performance increase on low-end computers! Additionally, we've added a text printout to players to let them know that their checkpoint was successfully reset!

The Oasis

The beautiful majesty of The Oasis has finally opened to Keepers within the Arkoneux Sierra! This massive new Apex Zone functions somewhat similarly to The Scar, but with a wild twist! This is where you will come to partake in Bloody Mary's new Big Game Hunts on behalf of the Hunter's Guild! This epic new zone is approximately 80% of the size of the Scar, and is ready to challenge you in all of the best ways! Descending down into the valley of the Oasis will have you arriving in the town of Sanctuary, a new hub for getting all of your gear and enchantments figured out before you head into the wilds that wait just beyond the edge of town. There's a massive hunting lodge here where you'll be encouraged to group up with your friends and regale each other with stories of your most spectacular hunting escapades! When you've completed enough Hunting Contracts from the Hunting Hall and you've collected enough Big Game Hunt Tickets, it's time to go see Bloody Mary near her office in the lodge and take on a Big Game Hunt!

Peregrine Emporium Overhaul

To aid with the introduction of Blood Bonds and the Keepers' ability to purchase Vault Exotics, players will notice that a whole new floor has been added above the usual walking level of the deeper Peregrine Emporium. This is accessible via a new levitation pad that will be made available to players who have acquired the 250 Blood Bonds needed to purchase one of the Exotics from the Emporium. Additionally, we've made some small tweaks to the outer Emporium in the way of adding new Class Weapons available for purchase and tweaking the kiosk that turns Netherite Scraps into Vault Tickets. Additionally, we've also added a new kiosk in the deeper Peregrine Emporium that will finally allow players to open their Peregrine Chests. Finally, we've done a pass at the Vault Daily quests and have removed all of the retired Vaults from the available quest list.

Vault/Raid Labeling

A lot of our player base enjoys the thrill and the challenge of taking on a 12-player Vault with significantly fewer than 12 players. In fact, there are many cases in which some of our top-tier players in NirvanaOnline prefer to even run them alone! To help assist those who are willing to take on the challenge of a 4-player Raid or a 12-player Vault with fewer than the recommended number of players, we've completed a pass at all of the Vault and Raid teleporters found within their respective world hubs. Each of these teleporters will now display the minimum number of players needed to complete these activities.

Rebalanced Vault Exotics

Last, but certainly not the least... we've gone through each of the Vault Exotics that are currently being chased in NirvanaOnline. We were shocked to learn that even though many of these Vault Exotics provide a cool new way to experience gameplay in Nirvana, in most cases these Vault Exotics are not the most-desired weapons and armor from their respective Vaults. The reason for this being that the rewards in the Vault Loot pools simply have better enchantments and have no downsides to use. To correct for this, we're buffing many of the Vault Exotics across almost every Vault in NirvanaOnline to bring these unique weapons up to speed with their lower-classed counterparts. (Unfortunately this will not apply retroactively, so Vault Exotic weapons will need to be reacquired to feel the power boost)

And that's all we have for you today! There's a TON of stuff that we didn't cover in this article, so I guess you'll just have to come join us in NirvanaOnline on February 1st and see what all is new and improved! If you'd like to read more about the EQUINOX update and what that means for the business-side of Network Nirvana, you can do so here!