New in the Realm

Everything Phantasia Reimagined adds to the original game, newest first.

Safer accounts | World bosses | The Deeps | Fixes | Mounts | The War of the Seasons | Artifacts: rare, unique, growing | Weapons that keep up | Walk anywhere with Move To | Fairer sieges, bigger purses | The living realm | Call to Arms | Where the shops are | Deeds | Rulers' rewards | New spells | Colour-coded log and chat | Arrange your buttons | Ceremonies | Gear & artifacts | Daily quests | Champions | World events | New monsters | Chat commands

Safer accounts

• Passwords are stored far more safely. Each is now kept as a salted, deliberately slow hash (yescrypt), so even someone who got hold of the game's files couldn't feasibly work them out. Nothing for you to do: your password is moved over the next time you log in.
• Guessing is stopped. After a few wrong passwords, the next try has to wait, and the wait grows with every miss.
• Your e-mail address is no longer written to the server's logs.
• Logins are always encrypted. The old downloadable client, which sent passwords without encryption, is switched off; the browser client is encrypted end to end.

World bosses

Every few days something terrible rises somewhere in the realm: the Balrog, Ancalagon the Great Dragon, the Witch-king of Angmar or the Kraken. Walk to it and choose Fight Boss: every blow from every player comes off its one huge pool of energy. Each has its own trick (the Balrog's fire melts your gold, the Witch-king's terror makes you flee), it enrages as it weakens, and while it lives it harms the realm, worse every hour, until it leaves after a day. It strikes you down rather than killing you. Slay it and everyone who fought shares its hoard, with a chance at its own artifact and mount. Type /worldboss, or watch it on The Realm Today. All about world bosses.

The Deeps

Five dungeons now lie under the realm: the Barrow-downs, Goblin-town, the Mines of Moria, Dol Guldur and Angband. Their doors stand out in the realm, locked, and the keys are carried by monsters out there, more often by champions and nemeses. Below, each delve is laid out afresh: floors of rooms holding monsters, chests (some trapped), hidden traps, shrines, a key for a locked stair, wardens guarding the way down and, at the bottom, a boss. In the browser the floor is drawn as a map, revealed as you explore, and your keys are shown beside your magic items.

What you find below is held as spoils, richer on every floor down, and yours when you climb out. Fall in the dark and you are dragged out alive, but the spoils are lost. Bosses drop pieces of their dungeon's five-piece set, with bonuses for wearing two, three and all five. Type /deeps to see the doors and your keys, and follow the records on The Realm Today. All about the Deeps.

Fixes

• World events keep their schedule through server restarts. A Blood Moon, Gold Rush or Champion Hunt under way carries on after a restart, and the next one keeps its time, instead of every restart cancelling it and starting the wait over.
• Reaching the Plateau of Gorgoroth no longer crashes the server.
• Stepping onto a square where another player stands no longer crashes the server.
• A nemesis no longer hunts new characters for their name. It stalks the adventurer it killed harder than anyone else, but a new character given the same name isn't that adventurer.

Mounts

Ride instead of walking. Every trading post now has Stables selling a Pony (steps half again as far) and a Pack Mule (carries more gold), with a Riding Horse and a Warhorse (steps twice as far) at the bigger posts. Wilder mounts can't be bought: tame a beaten Warg or a beast of the Dead Marshes with the new Tame fight option, win a Great Eagle from Gwaihir or a great deed, ride off on a slain Nazgûl's Nightmare, or hatch the realm's one Dragon Hatchling from a slain dragon champion or nemesis. It is the only mount that fights, breathing fire after each of your blows. Mounts eat (feed them at the Stables), tire as you travel (rest), and can be injured or killed by a monster's heavy blow; yours is lost if you die. Type /mount to check on it. All about mounts.

The Strength bar now shows your full might, weapon damage included, the number every blow is based on. Before, it left out the weapon's damage and looked far too low.

Gwaihir's Feather no longer flies you anywhere at once: it now carries you three times as far each step, and monsters find you 75% less often on a Move To walk.

The War of the Seasons

The whole server now fights one war together: build all five realm projects before the four seasons turn (four weeks). Win, and everyone who helped, by giving gold to the realm project or slaying monsters, carries up to +10% experience and gold through the next war, more for those who did more, and the greatest helper carries the Banner of the Seasons: +10% experience and gold, and once a day /muster calls the whole realm to arms for an hour of double project progress and 25% more experience for everyone. Lose, and the next war is fought with monsters 10% stronger, the Shadow spreading faster and dearer shops. The projects start over each war. Type /war in the game to see your part, or follow it on The Realm Today. How the war works.

Artifacts: rare, unique and growing with you

• Every artifact has two powers no other gear can have. The Helm of Ages stops you aging, Gwaihir's Feather carries you three times as far with far fewer ambushes, the Ring of Hoarding lets you carry any amount of gold, Mourneblade finishes weakened monsters and drinks their souls, and more. See them all.
• Artifacts are rare. They no longer turn up in ordinary treasure: they come from great deeds, such as slaying a nemesis, liberating a region, defending the throne, beating a champion or completing a daily quest, and the realm hears which deed earned one.
• They grow with your level. An artifact always matches your level, keeping its own roll, at a quality no other tier reaches, so it stays the best piece you can hold.
• The Phoenix Amulet no longer flies away after saving you: it rests an hour, then can save you again.

Weapons that keep up

• Weapons hit for their damage every blow. Before, a weapon only raised your strength a little, so farther out fights took more and more blows. Now its damage is added to every blow, and weapons are made to match how much energy monsters have at their circle: a Fine weapon adds about 107 a blow from circle 10 and 535 from circle 15.
• Armor matches the real monsters. Gear is now measured from the monsters themselves, so armor from circle 15 and beyond soaks up the harder hits found there.
• Your gear has been reforged. Gear you already have was brought up to the new values the next time you played, keeping its own roll. Nothing got worse. How gear is made.

Walk anywhere with Move To

• Move To walks you there. Type coordinates farther than one step and your character sets off, a step each turn, until it lands on the exact spot. No more "That's too far to move in 1 step". Monsters can still find you on the way, and below half energy you stop to rest; choose Move To again to carry on. Handy for reaching a trading post. More on moving.
• Bags cost what they should. The bag maker's prices had gone haywire; every bag now costs its listed price, adjusted by the town's prices.

Fairer sieges, bigger purses

• Sieges are weighed by the monster. A kill no longer counts the same whatever it was: deadly monsters cut the army down far more than weak ones, and size multiplies it, so slaying a hundred size 1 Morons won't break a siege any more. The army also grows with the number and levels of the defenders in the realm. How sieges work.
• Siege pay fits your purse. Pay rises with your level and your share, up to 60% of the gold you can carry, so a victory never leaves you too heavy to move.
• Bigger bags carry more gold. Every bag now lets you carry more gold before it slows you: half again with a Satchel, up to twelve times as much with a Bag of the Endless Road. See the bags.

The living realm

The realm now changes with what its adventurers do. See it live on The Realm Today; the rules are on The Living Realm.

• Shadow and liberation. Eight regions surround the Heartlands. Shadow creeps over each one, and every monster slain there pushes it back. Blighted regions have stronger, richer monsters; liberated ones have safer roads and cheaper shops, and the hero who frees one is named to all.
• Living towns. Each region's town prospers when you trade and fight nearby: lower prices, and an inn that heals you once it flourishes. New trading posts now stand on the main north, south, east and west roads as well as the diagonals, at the same distances from the throne, so every region has shops. See where every shop is. A town swallowed by Shadow falls, and its trading posts lie in ruins until it is retaken.
• Sieges on the throne. Every few hours a monster army marches on the Lord's Chamber. Every kill anywhere pushes it back. Win, and the defenders are paid; lose, and monsters hold the throne room for a day.
• Realm projects. The whole realm builds great works together with gold (the new Realm Project button at trading posts) and kills. Each one finished helps everyone forever.
• Nemeses. A monster that kills an adventurer can become a named nemesis that grows with every victim, roams the realm and carries a bounty on its head.
• Monster ecology. Hunt one kind of monster hard and its neighbours grow bold. Rare creatures like the Golden Stag appear only when the conditions are right.
• Day, night and seasons. Night falls one hour in three, and each week brings a new season with its own effect. The game shows both at the top of the screen.

Call to Arms, and richer Shadow

The regions in the worst state are now the most rewarding:

• The darker, the richer. Every kill gives more experience and gold the deeper its region lies in Shadow: +1% for every 2% of Shadow past 25%, up to +37%.
• Call to Arms. Every hour the region deepest in Shadow is called. Kills there earn Valor (bonus gold), and count toward a new deed, Shadowbreaker. The call is shown at the top of the game screen, in /realm and on The Realm Today.

Where the shops are

Trading posts stand along all eight roads out from the throne: the four diagonals, as before, and now the four main roads too, at the same distances (so in the same circles). East-road posts are shown; the north, west and south roads mirror them.

Every region's posts, by town, are on The Realm Today. In the game, entering a region tells you its nearest post, and /realm does too.

Deeds

Lifetime achievements of your account, each giving all your characters a small permanent bonus: slay 100 monsters for +1% experience, become King or Queen once for +1% gold, and many more, up to +16% experience, +12% gold and 30% more gear in all. Type /deeds to see your progress. Details on the Deeds page.

Rewards for the realm's rulers

Holding a title is now worth fighting for:

• Regalia that grow with your level and are worn on top of your gear: the Steward's Seal, the King's or Queen's Crown, and the Halo of the Valar.
• Richer fighting: up to 50% more experience and gold, and more and better gear.
• The royal treasury pays the Steward and the ruler a stipend; a tenth of all shop spending flows into it, and collecting taxes no longer adds sin.
• New decrees: the Steward can Feed the Poor, the King or Queen can Call an Event, and the Valar can Bless the Whole Realm.

See the Steward, the King or Queen and the Valar, and type /court to see who rules and how full the coffers are.

New spells

From magic level 10, the spell menu gains a More Spells page: Frost Lance, Mending Light, Drain Life, Fireball and Banish. Costs and effects are on the Spells page.

Colour-coded log and chat

The browser game now colours what happens so you can follow a fight at a glance: monsters that attack you, damage you take, blows you land, healing, gold, gems, gear and experience, travel and the state of the realm, and big announcements. Gear is shown in its tier's colour wherever it is named (in shops, finds and rewards), and a shop's buttons match the items they buy: Worn, Common, Fine, Masterwork, Enchanted and artifacts. In chat, every player's name has its own colour, messages that mention you are highlighted, announcements stand out, and the game's answers to your commands are shown more quietly. On wide screens the chat now has a full-height column of its own beside the game, so far more of the conversation stays in view.

Arrange your buttons

In the browser game, click Arrange buttons to put the action buttons wherever suits your play style. Each character keeps its own layout, so your fighter can keep Melee first and your magic-user Spell. See The Game Screen.

Ceremonies in 3D

When a wizard enters the realm, or someone becomes Steward, King, Queen or Valar, every player in the browser game sees a full-screen 3D ceremony. World events and sieges are announced the same way, and while one lasts its scene plays behind the game.

Gear and artifacts

Shields, swords and quicksilver are now real equipment: a weapon, armor, a helm, boots and a trinket, each with its own bonus, and many with a special ability such as Evasion, Lifesteal or Crushing Blows. Better gear comes from farther out, champions always drop something good, and trading posts have an Armory. Eleven one-of-a-kind artifacts exist, only one of each (four more now come only from world bosses). Find one and the whole realm will know. Your old shield, sword and quicksilver became matching "Worn" gear.

All the numbers are on the Gear and Artifacts page, and the Legends page shows who holds each artifact right now.

Daily quests

Every character gets one quest a day. It is shown in your chat window when you enter the realm, and you can check it any time by typing /quest in chat. Quests change at midnight UTC. Progress is shown in chat as you go.

Rewards, based on your level when you finish. Half of all quests, and every champion quest, also give a piece of gear.

For example, a level 10 character earns 800 gold and 1 gem, or 2,400 gold and 2 gems for slaying a champion. The whole realm hears when you complete your quest.

Champions

Any ordinary monster met at random has a 3% chance of being a champion: a named, battle-hardened version of that monster, such as Grishnak the Troll. During a Champion Hunt the chance rises to 15%. Special monsters (the Dark Lord, Modnar, unicorns and so on) are never champions, and champions never flock. The whole realm is told when a champion appears and when one is slain.

Defeating a champion also wins its hoard: 250 to 500 gold per size and 1 + size ÷ 4 gems, plus up to 3 more. A champion's size is the circle you meet it in, like any monster.

World events

Every so often (on average every 90 minutes, and anywhere from half to one and a half times that) a world event begins and lasts 20 minutes. It is announced to everyone in chat when it starts and when it ends. Type /event in chat to see what is happening and how long is left. Events only start while someone is playing.

Blood Moons, Gold Rushes and Champion Hunts are equally likely. Sieges come on their own schedule, every few hours. A King or Queen can also call an event by royal decree.

New monsters

Twelve new monsters roam the realm, from the Giant Rat near the origin to the Shadow Dragon beyond circle 36. Their full statistics and the circles they live in are on the Monsters page.

Chat commands

Type these into the chat box. Only you see the answer.