We’ve got a pretty jam-packed post for you today! Because of your amazing participation, providing tons of questions for our team, we’ve decided to split responses into two posts. Since we received a large amount of inquiries regarding PvP balances, we’ll be discussing those questions separately in a later post.

Because today, we have a few special topics we’ll be addressing first. Our first entry is a reply from the dev team regarding the inclusion of a new ship building system. Next, we have a new survey for you all to provide feedback on Ships and we can’t wait to hear your responses. Finally, we finish up with Q&A, excluding PVP questions previously mentioned.

In an effort to provide more transparency between the team and the community, we continue to look for more ways to blend the goals of the two entities to make Atlas as great as we both know it can be. We appreciate your support and ‘til next time, may your skies be clear, waters calm, and sails full in whichever way you roam.



We have heard your concerns regarding the new ship system and we would like to discuss our goals for it to help set expectations. We love the level of customization the original ship system provides and we will continue to support it for as long as possible. Currently, there are no plans to remove the original ship system.

Early Access gives us the unique opportunity to share new systems while they are still early in development. The modular ship system is one of these new systems, and it will be released in three main stages, the first of which has already begun. In the first stage, we used the new system to create pre-built ships, like the Ramming Galley and the Majestic Kraken. Our goal with this stage is to give players a sneak peek of the system while also providing a quicker option for obtaining new ships. While the ability to purchase pre-built ships isn’t going anywhere, it’s not the end goal for the new system.

The next stage of the modular ship system is coming soon and will introduce customization options to pre-built ships through module swapping. We will be introducing a system similar to ‘Sail Points’ called ‘Module Points.’ Each ship will have a pool of Module Points, and every module placed on the ship’s ribbing will cost a set number of points. Higher impact modules will cost more points. As a simple example, a Midship Gunport Module with two Gunports will cost more than a Midship Gunport Module with one Gunport. We will be rolling this system out piece by piece, starting with the ability to craft and swap Railing Modules.

As we expand the customization system, our goal is to introduce a variety of modules that provide meaningful choices when building ships. Players will need to decide which pieces are most valuable to their strategy and budget their points accordingly. We feel that the original ship system had little room for choice and expression because the meta was so defined. Our goal is to expand the meta to include a variety of different builds and strategies supported by the new system. Initially, we will be releasing tactically-focused modules, but eventually we will also release cosmetically-focused modules. These could include things like different Railing types or a Midship Module with windows. Cosmetic modules provide no advantage in combat but would allow players to make their ship their own. (Cosmetic modules won’t cost additional Module Points.)

The final stage of the system will allow players to build modular ships from the ground up. After choosing a ship hull size, players will be able to plug in modules from a variety of available choices. (As long as they have enough Module Points!) Our goal is to eventually have enough modules that the new system will have the same level of customization as the original system. This final stage of development won’t be complete for a while, but we hope you’ll stick with us for this journey!



We're back with another Community Survey! Remember, surveys will cover a specific topic, so if we haven't pushed out a survey relevant to your interests yet, please know that there will be more! If there are any topics or changes you would like to see from us in future surveys, please let us know! We're only beginning this initiative, and hope to improve our process as we continue to develop ATLAS hand in hand with the community!

This month's survey is focused on collecting early feedback to our New Ship System / Ships for Gold System. So far, we currently have the Ramming Galley and the Majestic Kraken out, with plans for many new and unique ships on the way. The goal is to create a highly customizable and modular ship system where players can make meaningful choices when building their ships.
Before you complete the survey - if you haven't already, please make sure you have read the latest about our goal for this new Ships system in the Captain’s Quarters section above, as it will provide more details.

Please find the link to the survey here

Although we cannot promise to commit any specific change, we would want to be able to quantify which issues players care about most by using this survey to reach as broad an audience as possible.

We appreciate your support! Thank you!



Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!


Will the new claim system address the long-standing problems many islands have of "lawless" areas in what should be Island-owned territory?
We have been getting a lot of great data about claiming since Early Access started. Each system has had some good aspects and bad aspects. Every player has different needs and ideas about what they want. The new Area Claim system is meant to fill in some gaps and for now will live side by side with the existing island claim system. The island system still has some flaws and bugs and will be looking to address that in the future when we decide how it fits into the big picture.

With the new theme and vision, will single player still be part of that?
While PvP is our primary focus when designing content, we want to ensure new features are also supported in our other game modes. (Including Single Player!)

Are patches being tested in single player or are they only tested for multiplayer purposes?
Recent patches have addressed some Single Player specific bugs and we plan to continue this in future patches. Your reports speed up the bug squishing process, so please continue reporting any bugs you come across.

Can you enable the market system on single player?
The Trade System runs on a separate server from the game to allow Markets on different servers to talk to each other. When it comes to single player, it will have to be same-server trading only. This change will require some engineering work and we do not know yet when we are going to make that happen.

Will there be factions or AI? It would make PVE more interesting. What do you think of having PVP only at sea while land is PVE?
Our direction for Atlas is to make rich player interactions, whether that is through conflict or cooperation, and that is where we will spend most of our development effort. We have talked about factions and think those fit better with an MMORPG style game rather than a massively multiplayer sandbox game focused on PVP.

When will there be a massive Structure limit for land bases? How do you intend to prevent massive Structure spam that was used in PVP as defense meta on any island and in PVE to claim land on lawless?
Spamming structures is not fun gameplay and we would like to get it out of the game. We have some tools available, such as restricting the number of structures that can be built. Each of those options come with drawbacks. We'd like to find a solution that feels good within the world, is good for performance, and isn't so ugly. One of the things we are working on is giving players more choices when building. For example, rather than having to spam 100 walls, we are adopting some of the modding community's solutions and making large stone blocks so that larger defensive structures can be made with fewer pieces. We are also looking at making more automated structures that are designed specifically for defense.

When can we take exact amounts of resources out of a resource box? Can we please have a keybind to pull one single stack of something from a ship resources chest?
Thank you for the suggestion! We'll look into this. We love hearing ideas that make Atlas a smoother experience.

What Holidays are to be recognized going forward? So far with the new team we've enjoyed Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s and then skipped over Valentine’s. Is there a list, or is it just if there's time given the more frequent Updates?
We don't have a formal list of events, but we like to celebrate as many holidays as our development schedule allows. Our primary focus is on new features, quality of life changes, balance, and bug fixes, so most holidays will be celebrated with rate up events. However, the Winter Event was a lot of fun to prepare, so you may see something similar in the future. (Anyone want a pair of Bunny Ears?)

Do you plan to make any changes to the current economic system? Gold is pretty abundant on PVP, and absurdly worthless on PVE due to the lack of any major goldsinks. Do you have any plans to change gold cost settings between PVP and PVE? PVP sinks gold into war-dec tokens, drakes, and 1000s of defensive npcs. PVE has none of this and island costs are minimal - there is little chance of islands changing ownership on PVE until the owner doesn't log in for 10 days.
This is one of our core focuses on the game right now. We definitely have some more gold sinks in mind and would love to hear your ideas. Please note that with our small team, at this stage in development, we are focused on balancing PVP first. Gold is only one aspect of the economy. We would also like to see a thriving and competitive resource economy. Right now it's very hard for small companies to get a variety of resources, and very easy for large companies to get nearly all of the resources. Since this is tied so closely to competitive balance, it accentuates the gaps between these player groups. We have started working on the next map, and it will give you more reasons to value different islands for the unique characteristics they contain. This is something we’ll talk more about in the future.

Question, will more gear for the players (like new swords, guns, and armor) be added as time goes on?
Atlas is a game about telling player stories. Custom gear or content is one of the places we would like to reinforce that. Rather than take the standard RPG approach where the devs craft thousands of items, we'd rather give the tools to players to let them craft unique and interesting items within the game, so we will be working on those sorts of systems instead. That said, most of our art effort in the next year is focused on creating awesome new ships, so new visuals for player gear are not likely to be added soon.

Does the team envision that it could be viable to just sail 24-7 and totally avoid land from the beginning of the game?
With the introduction of new ships, Sea Forts, and water tames, the ocean is more alive than ever before and we will continue developing content that pulls people towards the sea. We have a variety of features in development including physical trade ships that can be intercepted to steal resources. We are moving towards a world in which a strong navy will be required even if you have a base on land. That said, land will always have a place in Atlas and the majority of players will want to explore both the land and the sea.

We would like to hear more about direction on loot. The loot in this game is so bad right now we are seeing no crafts on bps, and are not seeing more of those bps dropping. We would just like a long write up of what direction you would like to take loot. Also why was loot changed mid season, crippling companies who now do not have the bps to replace boats? What data has been collected on the loot change? Most of us are still seeing low % items at the MW and above scale. Is there more loot balance coming this season?
We have started making changes to loot focused on blueprints and will continue to do so. We are making multiple changes simultaneously to support some transformative changes and that means sometimes things will get out of balance for a while. Recently with blueprint crafts there were some errors in the math which made the number of crafts significantly lower than was intended, and we'll be fixing that. To be clear on the intention - we are moving BP drops to happen in higher frequency with lower craft counts. This means you will see interesting and unique BPs more often, and will not be able to sustain as long on a single good find. Regarding our long term plans, rather than make this a strict RNG loot experience, we're also working on a set of blueprint crafting, merging, and upgrading systems. This will be initially focused on sails as we prototype the system. This should allow you to get closer to the sort of customized, hand-crafted blueprints you want while still providing an element of skill and luck for getting there. We will reveal more on that system as it comes along, but look for sail BP crafting in the coming months.

Will we see increased reasons to sail in our home grids? Currently the only place to sail for content is GA. Is there talk of making more local grid content that would incentivize players to sail to other grids other than GA?
Our goal is to get more player interaction, especially on the water. Adding in Sea Forts is an example of an objective you need to sail to and compete over. Sailing can be obnoxious if you have to go long distances and that's why we're addressing that problem with the upcoming Tradewinds and after that we plan to introduce a portal system. Tradewinds is in final testing, and the portal system is still being worked out in design. Atlas is primarily a game about interactions with other players, so new water objectives we create are not going to be single-player experiences, but rather ways of drawing players together in conflict.

What are your long-term game performance optimization strategies (realistic ones)? It seems pretty clear that from a technology perspective, it's not possible to support islands with 100s of thousands of structures on them and maintain enjoyable gameplay. How is this being addressed and how can players provide detailed feedback as you discuss potential strategies for dealing with this?
We're looking to consolidate some larger multi-piece structures into chunkier single-piece structures. The overall structure count has a huge impact on performance. We don't want to remove the customization that is a hallmark of Atlas, so we're looking for ways to add new options rather than cull existing choices.

Are there any plans to rework the chat system to give players a better method of communication?
Not for a while. We'd love to eventually implement a mail system that allows players to communicate across servers.

Would the ability to salvage ship parts of sunken enemy ships be possible? A skill with a chance on salvage to get the item at a low percentage. This will help provide an incentive for players to pvp for loot in ship combat.
We're definitely looking at ways to bring more conflict to the ocean. Winning a difficult battle only to receive some resources can certainly be frustrating and we'd love to implement a system that allows you to receive a greater reward for your efforts.

Will players who have been playing since Early Access be rewarded with something special when the game goes to Full Release?
We will be looking for some ways to reward our long time loyal fans as we leave early access. It is a bit too early to commit to anything specific.

What are some immersion goals on the horizon? While performance-related, it's currently boring/problematic to have ships rendering when they are almost within firing distance (versus spotting sails far into the distance).
This is on our radar. We agree that the render distance should be increased to prevent ships popping in and out of view during combat, but we want to ensure any changes we make won't come at the cost of performance.

Weather mechanics are currently very one dimensional and don't offer any actual strategic value (you can't choose to head into a storm to lose chasers, for example).
We're planning to flesh out the weather system in the future. Some early ideas include allowing players to control the weather to make certain islands more inhabitable (or uninhabitable if you're an attacker). We'd also like to make storms more interesting by adding new encounters and resources inside them.

Also, smaller things like allowing lanterns to burn indefinitely and automatically turn on/off at dusk/dawn.
We always love hearing quality of life suggestions! Keep them coming!




Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.
As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

2/10/21 8PM - We are aware of some server issues with the latest update and are actively working on a fix. We appreciate your patience as we troubleshoot this incident.

2/11/21 1AM PST - The fix for the servers has been released and after a couple hours of careful monitoring, we have determined the servers are operating normally. Thank you again for your patience and understanding.

Ahoy Pathfinders!

A new ship will be sailing into harbor with the new patch.The “Majestic Kraken” will be available from the ship salesman, it's a streamlined vessel that not only looks deadly but packs quite the punch if she gets her tentacles on you. That's because she's touting 24 cannons that provide 50% more damage. The Kraken will be similar to the previous Ramming Galley, with custom ship compartment load outs and repairable via the Patch Kit. So gather up your doubloons and release the… you know the rest.

In other highlights of the patch, along with a few more bug fixes, we've also taken another pass at the glider suit so you can sail the skies, for a reasonable amount of time.

You get a blueprint, you get a blueprint, you get a blueprint... You guessed it, blueprint drops will be doubling and counts required are going down. So, go get your craft on.

Lastly, accordion music will wake creatures up faster after being tranquilized. Lederhosen and polka dancing are not required, but it couldn't hurt.


Last patch, we asked our fellow pathfinders to take part in a community survey that would help the Atlas team gain better insight on the wants and needs of our community. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed by your participation and feedback and will be taking a lot of it into consideration. We would like to genuinely thank all who participated. To continue this series of engagement, we will have another community survey in the near future, this one will address recent concerns around ship construction and customization. We look forward to hearing more of your input and appreciate your support.


v522.3

New Ship: The Majestic Kraken
The Ship Salesman's inventory is expanding! His latest offering, the Majestic Kraken, features two rows of Gunports armed with 150% damage Cannons.

• Cost: 22,000 Gold, 75 Dried Squid Tentacles
  
• Weapons: 24 Standard Cannons (150% Damage)
  
• Max Level: 60
  
• Sail Points: 6.0
  
• Repair Resource: Patch Kit

Accordion

• Playing the Accordion in Free Play Mode quickly reduces the torpidity of nearby wild creatures, allowing them to wake up much faster after being tranquilized
  
  • The radius of effect can be increased by unlocking the Inspiring Music skills in the Music and Dance tree

Armored Docks

• Quality Blueprints for Small and Large Armored Docks have been added to loot drops
  
  • These have two stats: Durability (Total Health) and Effectiveness (Damage Resistance)
• Decreased stack size from 100 to 1

Blueprints

• Increased the drop rate of Blueprints about double across all sources
  
• Blueprints for Sails, Cannons, Planks, Decks, and Gunports now have much lower craft counts
  
• Updated how quality is derived on Cannons
  
  • Quality is determined primarily based on Damage Percent
    
  • Durability contributes to quality at a much lower ratio
    
  • Stat values rolled are unchanged (same values should be generated, but quality of BP may be different)

Glider Suit

• Added a Stamina Drain Debuff
  
• Max Pitch is now limited by stamina. At low stamina the glider can only go down
  
• Camera Angle has been altered downward
  
• Bug Fix: Dive functionality via the run button has now been fully removed

Harvesting

• Stone Harvesting nodes in the the remaining regions have been rebalanced to match the Copper Regions changed last patch
  
  • Iron is the most common metal now, and may be found in rocks
    
  • Other metals are no longer found in stone but may still be mined from metal nodes
    
  • Geodes may now drop from rock in all areas. Using a Geode will destroy it and may give some limestone, rock salt, and/or a small amount of different gems and crystals. Geodes may only be gathered by hand or with Tames, not with the Quarry or Farmhouse
• Bug Fix: An icon for the Geode has been added

Ships

• Patch Kit repair time reduced from 5 to 3 seconds
  
• Projectiles fired from Cannons in Gunports no longer explode if they hit the water's surface immediately after firing
  
• Enlarged Gunports on the upper level of the Ramming Galley's front castle to prevent clipping
  
• Bug Fix: Cannons in Gunports now correctly deal damage when ships are near one another
  
• Bug Fix: Ship components can be demolished after crossing grids
  
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where all of the Ramming Galley's components were sometimes marked as Demolished
  
• Bug Fix: Ship wake effects are now positioned correctly for the Ramming Galley

Tames and Creatures

• Added Enable/Disable Breeding option to tame command wheel
  
  • Breeding must be enabled to allow creatures to mate
    
  • Wandering is no longer required for mating
    
  • Following must still be disabled for mating
• Unconscious or dead Horses and Bears can now be dragged
  
• Bug Fix: A tamed Dolphin's rider now always receives the Dolphin Intellect buff when jumping
  
• Bug Fix: Tamed Dolphins are now always able to jump after crossing grids
  
• Bug Fix: Removed option to move NPCs onto Cargo Saddles

Trade

• Increased the Warehouse inventory cap to 120 stacks
  
• Trades of the same resources may no longer occur (e.g. iron for iron)
  
• Bug Fix: Agate (Flint) added to the Market so it may now be traded
  
• Bug Fix: Resources tradeable in the Market should all now be able to be placed in the Warehouse

Misc

• Tranq Arrow torpor damage increased by 50%
  
• Sea Fort walls no longer give resources when demolished
  
• Updated the drop tables of a few sea creatures to give more stuff
  
• Bug Fix: The Seed Vendor's inventory is now accessible in Single Player
  
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where some Warehouses and Markets would cause crashes

Known Issues

• Cannon wheels clip through the floor on the Majestic Kraken's lowermost deck
  
• Painting has not been implemented for the Ramming Galley and Majestic Kraken and attempting to do so will result in some cosmetic errors.

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)

Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information

Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Conch here, bringing the latest edition of Atlas Community Q&A with the Devs! While murky waters and stormy seas may alter the exact timelines in the future, the Atlas crew will continue to provide more engagement opportunities during the off-weeks between patches. It may be through Q&A or may be a fun community event or two, but like a pesky barnacle on your broadside, we'll be making it tough to leave us in the wake.



Well, thanks to my parrot postal friend, this image just landed on my shore. Apparently, she was recently spotted out in the deep sea, headin' our way! She's definitely a beauty... so, can anyone spare a coin or two so I can take her for a test sail? Shells don’t get a lot of loot these days.



As a reminder, before we get into Q&A, with all the new features we provide, there is also significant development going on with optimization and maintenance of the current game. Again, these teams work in tandem and you can expect the major patches with overhauls or additions to some of the major gameplay components to come in due time. Meanwhile, to make sure our fellow pathfinders don't feel like they're overboard without a life preserver, we'll be releasing additional smaller content continuously until the big items we’re working on are ready to set sail.
The ships to a better ATLAS have already charted their course and shoved off, but until then, doesn't mean we can't take a ride on a dolphin or seahorse and enjoy the voyage.



Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!


Does the dev team have any thoughts on merging EU and NA pvp or maybe merging all of the servers to make 1 big megamap?
Yeah. We understand that this would be a lot of fun from the perspective of increasing the populations, but we're not ready to do this yet for two reasons:
1. We are concerned about lag when people are playing in distant servers (we locate the servers near where people are playing, so EU servers are in EU and any NA players going to those servers would suffer more lag).
2. There would always be a time when roughly half the population would be sleeping and thus easy pickings. Overall, we think that this will add to frustration until we have implemented ways of players protecting their stuff when offline.

Have you thought about making less planks needed on the lowest layer of ship building?
Yes. The new ship system will handle this much better once it rolls out.

How does the team feel about setting minimum stat values for blueprints at each rarity and adjusting the maximums, so that 300% cannons as an example cannot exist and so mythical blueprints that are no better than common ones don’t exist either?
There is a huge balance pass in progress for blueprints right now. Please let us know what you think once it's done.

Are there any plans to reduce stun duration with shield bash or even use a diminish return so it isn't an indefinite lockdown?
Yes. There is a lot about combat that really bothers us and stun locking is number one. It's on the list.

Are there any plans for more "old style" ships to be released (build from frame up ones) or will all future ones at this point be prebuilt?
The new system contemplates a more modular design that isn't as intricate as the old system and isn't "prebuilt". For now they are as we work on the system, but ultimately it will be a modular system that allows you to swap components and create ships with different functions without allowing for the crazy exploits that the current system permits. It will also be more performant which should improve frame rate.

Any plans for bigger structures, like sea-walls/gates? So there's less need of overbuild harbours with thousands of structures?
Absolutely. We have this on our radar and will be looking into it as soon as time allows. We hear you.

When can we expect more pvp balances to come?
It would be great if players could provide a detailed list of changes they would like to see in the Discord channel. We have a long list of things we're fixing from the old team and putting a complete and forward thinking list up in the discord channel is the single best way to be heard. This goes out to all our players, not just Official PVP. :) (For example, last week’s survey was based on a compiled list of player concerns)

When will the SoTD loot table be fixed? Also the instant/infinite respawn of Sea Fort tax banks? Will there be some tweaks also to the market/warehouse/farmhouse structures to limit companies from spamming them so that new/returning players can have a chance to get their markets up?
Consider them all added to the list. Cheers!

Will we see a new bossfight anytime soon?
Not for a while. We have to fix all the broken stuff and introduce new features first. In general, Bossfights didn't work well and were easily exploited.

Will Seahorses and Dolphins eventually be able to follow behind ships?
Yes. We are also looking into having them pull ships for speed and maneuverability.

Any update on tradewinds?
They are coming. :). We are still working on them and they should be here at the end of Q2 beginning of Q3. It might be sooner but don't want to promise it sooner than that.

Any ETA on some bug fixing and stability patches?
We run patches roughly every 2 weeks. There are a number of fixes associated with each patch so we are doing this constantly. If your particular issue isn't being surfaced, please join our discord and let it be known there.



Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.
As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

There have been reported sightings of a strange and mysterious creature, often alluded to but frequently brushed off as nothing more than a sailor’s tale! It appears these majestic Seahorses have found their way to the seas of Atlas! From what we’ve observed, it appears these creatures are quite fond of Seaweed and Sea Grapes! Once a Pathfinder has gained its loyalty, the Seahorse may allow them to travel the waters on their back. With its natural poison, the Seahorse is a powerful ally. Just be sure to have an antidote ready in case of any mishaps!

Not to be outdone by Seahorses and their poisons, Dolphins have learned how to harvest Coral and Seaweed for their masters! Do we sense a Dolphin vs Seahorse rivalry in the makings?
Various changes were made to the Glider to make it more fun and useful while trying to address some previous exploits. It will likely undergo more changes as we hear feedback and discover abuse cases.
Please see the full patch notes below for additional details and other exciting changes - including the Flame Ballista Bolt buff, new blueprints for farmhouse variants, resource and loot drop changes, among various bug fixes as well!



We will be publishing a series of surveys on different topics in an effort to better gauge and quantify Community Feedback. Surveys may range from balancing, to design, to community/social initiatives, and more! Some surveys may be more geared towards specific audiences than others, but we will try to hit a variety of different topics and niches - so don't worry if your concerns are not addressed in the current survey. We understand how diverse our player base is and we want ATLAS to be accessible and fun for everyone! However, we are a small team, so we cannot roll everything out at once.

While this first survey is focused on PVP Balance, please rest assured that we are working on many different things at the same time in the background. We aren't forgetting PVE, or Private Servers! A lot of things that you may not see being discussed are either already being worked on or already on our radar/to-do.

These surveys do NOT mean that we are only taking feedback in this way. We are continuing to take feedback from all sources. These surveys are only meant to help us pinpoint and gather further details from community data.

Please find the Survey here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeTCwgHFfxeOLpgTlRjeTRDUaOY5r7CbY7V_EOPDWVvi5RcJQ/viewform?usp=sf_link

Although we cannot promise to commit any specific change, we would want to be able to quantify which issues players care about most by using this survey to reach as broad an audience as possible.

We appreciate your support! Thank you!


New Creature: Seahorse
Found in the depths of the Trenches, Seahorses are a new creature that can be tamed and bred after unlocking the Underwater Taming skill in the Beastmastery tree.

• Favorite Foods: Seaweed and Sea Grapes
  
• Taming Style: Passive
  
• Saddle: None
  
• Primary Attack: Venomous Bite
  
  • Gives the target the Poisoned debuff which deals 20 damage over 15 seconds
    
  • The Poisoned debuff can be negated by using an Antidote
• Secondary Attack: Acid Spit
  
  • Fires an arcing projectile that deals extra damage to Submarines and increased durability damage to armor

New Medicine: Antidote
The Antidote can be crafted at the Mortar and Pestle after learning the Basic Medical Studies skill in the Medicine tree.

• Grants the user a buff that removes the effects of Seahorse poison and prevents them from being poisoned again for 20 seconds
  
• Crafting Resources: 5 Medicinal Herbs, 2 Organic Paste

New Tool: Crude Tool
Players now start with a simple recipe to make a tool they can use to collect wood. No more bloody fingers!

• About 1/4 as effective as a Hatchet
  
• Loses Durability very fast
  
• Crafting Resources: 1 Stone, 10 Fiber

Dolphin

• Dolphins can now harvest Coral and Seaweed
  
• Bug Fix: Water Temperature Fortitude bonuses from the skill tree are no longer removed when riding creatures underwater
  
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where Dolphins would occasionally die when near the surface

Flame Ballista Bolt

• Deals increasing damage to Sails every 2 seconds
  
  • Example: 20/40/60/80 damage at 2/4/6/8 seconds
• Hitting a Sail with a second Flame Ballista Bolt adds 100 to the current amount of damage
  
  • Example: A Sail is hit with a second Bolt after it has already been on fire for 2 seconds. The amount of damage received by the Sail increases from 20 to 120
• Fires can be extinguished by closing the Sail, using an Olfend's water spray, or by dumping a Water Bucket on the Mast

Glider Suit
Various changes were made to the Glider to make it more fun and useful while trying to address some previous exploits. It will likely undergo more changes as we hear feedback and discover abuse cases.

• Restored the ability to control pitch so you can now glide up and down
  
• Increased the max height to activate from 100m to 400m
  
• Slowed the base glider speed down by around 40%
  
• Added a drag component to the speed updates
  
• The faster you are going, the more drag will slow you down
  
• Prevents maintaining high speed for a long time after a dive
  
• Reduced the minimum speed you can glide at before you stall to about 2m per second
  
• Changed the dive angle and required dive time
  
• Glider Known Issues:
  
  • You can still gain height but it's slow
    
  • You can still glide across half a server if you jump off a 400m spot
    
  • It's hard to tell when you are about to stall
    
  • Sometimes at super slow speed you inexplicably corkscrew
    
  • Pressing the 'Dive' button (Shift by default on PC) results in a weird sideways dive

Loot Drops

• Blueprints for Lumberyard, Quarry, and Mine now drop. They have two new stats on them: Capacity (how much weight and stacks they can hold) and Gather Rate
  
• Coffee and Coffee Seeds may be found in place of other food drops

Resources

• Fish Oil drops from some fish which previously did not drop it
  
• Stone Harvesting nodes in the Copper Region (Northwest) have been rebalanced and a set of changes are being tested
  
  • Iron is the most common metal now, and may be found in rocks in place of whatever metal may have been used before. Copper is the less common metal found primarily in this region
    
  • Geodes may now drop from rock. Using a Geode will destroy it and may give some limestone, rock salt, and/or a small amount of different gems and crystals. Geodes may only be gathered by hand or with Tames, not with the Quarry or Farmhouse
    
  • These changes will be moved to all regions after a period of testing

Ships

• Bug Fix: Third person view can no longer be obstructed by structures built near the ship's wheel
  
• Bug Fix: Ship levels 46-50 are no longer purchasable on ships with a level cap of 50
  
• Bug Fix: Cannons on the Ramming Galley now have wheels

Tames & Creatures

• Carried Rabbits now give a 20% speed boost while the player's stamina is at or above 90%
  
• Creatures' torpor bars are now displayed after receiving torpidity damage
  
• Seaweed can now be placed in the Trough

Misc

• The Seed Vendor's inventory now rotates every 12 hours
  
• Decay Times on Market, Warehouse, and Kiln have been set to the standard 10 days
  
• Fixed some instances where Markets get out of sync
  
• Bug Fix: Structures can now be built next to the sides of Armored Docks
  
  • NOTE: There is still an area near the entrance and exit where structures cannot be placed
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where Markets, Farmhouses, and Warehouses become invisible in Single Player

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)

Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information

Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

This week we have another Q&A with the Devs for you all as we wait for next week’s Patch! Moving forward, Pathfinders can expect a patch every other week barring any unexpected circumstances or changes in tide.

Some of ye on our Discord may have noticed a new hand on Deck! Let’s get an official introduction to our new community manager!

*Washes up on to shore*

Hey y'all, I'm Conch. I'll be joining the crew as Captain Nami's first mate. I'll be handling most of the dialogue here in the Discord going forward and I'm look forward from hearing from you all. I'll say now I cannot make promises on where our journey may take us but I will do my best to relay your concerns and make our voyage as enjoyable as possible.

You'll shortly see that my sarcasm is my sword and will be wielded often for the forces of good-natured humor (*Trolls Beware*). Other than that, I'm a BIG e-sports fan (*cough* TSM *cough*) so if it's been streamed I've probably watched some of it. Still waiting for competitive Atlas to take off *crossing fingers*.

So if you find yourself in need, I'll be here. Here's to smooth sailing ahead! Cheers!



It’s a new year, and we know some curious Pathfinders may be wondering how ATLAS is going to continue to shape out from here. We are still very much continuing development across all the features and mechanics we have introduced so far. The Trading System and the pieces dependent on it are still in the early stages; and there are still a line of new and unique ships to come! The claiming system rework is still in the testing stages as well. As we work on refining these systems we have put in place, we are also getting closer to defining the direction that we’d like to take ATLAS. We’re still planning it out, and once we have a more cohesive structure in place, we’ll roll out more information to the community. :)


Ehhhh? What’s this!? We’re not seahorsin’ around!

The Tameable Dolphins were only the first of the new underwater tames, which are going to be a part of a taming/breeding rework. Not to fear! This isn’t taking away from our development time in other areas. It is a smaller project that we are doing on the side to add a bit more fun and flavor out in the waters.

We would also like to stress that we are not neglecting optimization and bug fixes in favor of new content. We hear your concerns and understand that there is a lot we need to continue to fix and improve. The team of engineers who work on optimization and fixes are different from the team of designers that implement new content. We are fixing elements of the game while developing new content in tandem. Oftentimes, optimization and bug fixing are a multifaceted issue and require more time and resources to address. Other times, these coding updates may be an under the hood improvement. We’re taking things step by step, and it may take multiple patches for certain fixes, and even new content, to reach the stage we want it. We thank you for your support and patience!



Without further ado, here’s our Q&A! Hang out at our Discord for a chance to get your questions answered in the next Q&A!

What is the next step in the new ship lego project?
For now, we will continue to make unique ships built with a growing selection of unique modules. Further down the road we are looking into allowing players to buy / craft their own modules and build their own ships.

Will the team be addressing or nerfing large walls spamming ? So we might actually be able to destroy a 50 layer wall of them or an entire island spammed with it.
Yes. This is on the list

How is the progress on the claim system? Are you able to reveal more details on it now?
While the focus of the game is, indeed, to get more focus on the sea, we can't ignore the land play. The "new" claiming system is an attempt to balance land play and make it more fun. In general, the team has found bandaid on top of bandaid in this department and we want to remove those layers and get to a cleaner code base and more fun gameplay.

Where in Development is Mech Monkey?
I'll never tell.

Any plans for new servers? Modes?
Yes. We have lots of things planned. We have hit upon a theme for the game that we really like and lots of other wonderful things that are really going to make this game pop in 2021. To answer your question a bit more I can tell you that we're beginning design for small, temporary worlds that you get to via maelstroms that appear on the map. They will only be available for a bit of time and will typically have something cool on them. This is really early but lots more really cool stuff is in the works.

Any word on improving armored docks? Like maybe enclosing them so NPCs are safe? Also, having repairs inside armored dock would be helpful.
Yes, this was always the plan, we just need a little more time to get there.

Can you tell us more about the direction tames/breeding is headed?
For now, we are looking at cleaning up the tame system and adding some more tames to the water. Beyond that, it's fuzzy. The more work we put into tames the more people want to stay on land, but the tame system is only a fraction of what is possible and who are we to stop that. I wish I could tell you more, but we really need more time to come up with something fun, deep, and different.

When will there be a sail revert/rebalance and perhaps a buff to weight sails to make them usable?
A major overhaul of the sail system is on the books. It's another example of the layering of issues that we are now stripping off to get to the fun of the game. No word yet on the timing.

In the steam page, the responses from the devs, and older interviews seem to emphasize a focus on player immersion and faction building with a pirate/colonial aesthetic. The actual design seems to be more of a min/maxer grind fest with theory crafting elements. What’s the actual intended experience for the game?

I hear you. Let me clear things up if possible.
- Atlas isn't where we want it. The game has a long history already and I don't want to spend time there. Just know that where we are today is not where we want to be.
- Vision is about destination. When we talk about vision, we're talking about where we want to be, not where we are today.
- Finally, remember that the game's development is a cooperative experience. We put a bit of something out and then see how you like it and then we adjust to that.

All that said, this is where we are today...

We have hit on a theme for the world that is going to give it more cohesion, remove some of the more annoying limitations of the game, and open it to more possibility. If allowed, we'll be introducing this theme a bit at a time (the way a new idea would be introduced IRL) and then grow it from there.
For a period of time last year, we were guided to add a new strategic layer to the game to give companies new tracks to explore. The aesthetic and realism boundaries of this have expanded a bit and we're very excited for what's being planned for 2021.


Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.
As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We hope you all have had a wonderful start to the New Year so far! ATLAS’ first patch of the year is now here and we thank you for your patience!

Since we have renewed the ATLAS journey last Summer, there have been many changes and we are continuing to further develop the features and mechanics that are starting to take shape. Farmhouses, Warehouses, Markets, and the Trading system will continue to be tweaked and refined. We have plenty in store for the specialized ships within the Ships for Gold system as players will be able to customize these ships as more are released and the system becomes more sophisticated.

We are still testing a new claim system and Tradewinds are still on our agenda. We also have a few new things on the horizon for ATLAS. Not to mention, we are continuing to work on optimization and server improvements in the background! We hope you stick with us, it’s gonna be an exciting ride!




Tired of travelling by ship? Dolphin riding is now an alternate form of water traversal! Dolphins are the first underwater creature that can be tamed and bred by unlocking the new Underwater Taming skill in the Beastmastery tree. They can be tamed passively by feeding them meat, in particular, the new Squid Tentacle which can be obtained by defeating Squids. As part of an overall initiative to revamp and bring new purpose to tames, Dolphins are the first of a slate of new underwater tames that will have specialized functions. Afterall, as a pirate game, we would expect there to be more interactions with creatures at sea. Pathfinders can expect small changes to tames and breeding to slowly roll out in tow with some patches. We hope to elevate the taming system in ATLAS to be more viable and fun as other mechanics may change how some tames were used before.




Business is booming, and a new vendor has set up shop at the Freeports! Working on your farm and looking for a particular crop? The Seed Vendor is your one stop shop! Most seeds can be purchased at a rate of 10 gold for 5 seeds.

With new business, also comes a new crop! Coffee Seeds can be purchased from the Sea Vendor at 20 gold for 5 seeds. Fight away sleep in real life and in game! Coffee Beans can be brewed to create Coffee! Drinking coffee will give pirates the new buff, Caffeinated, which reduces incoming torpor damage.
Embrace the power of coffee! Do we smell a Starfishbucks empire coming up?


Last patch we introduced the Lumberyard, the first of the new Farmhouse variants as we continue to refine the Farmhouse system. These variants are specialized Farmhouses that will gather certain resources at a faster rate. We are now introducing the Mine - a farm that will only gather Metals and Gems, and the Quarry - a farm that will only gather Stone, Crystal, Salt and Flint. They both share the same placement restrictions as other Farmhouses, but require different resources to craft as detailed in the Patch Notes.

All Farmhouses are undergoing changes in preparation for adding Blueprints. Gather rates have temporarily been normalized at a lower rate across all types. Quality Blueprints with stats will increase this in a future patch. Other changes made to Farmhouses include base inventory size and base inventory slots increase. Based on feedback, decay time of Farmhouses has been changed to 10 days.


New Structure: Mine
The Mine is a farm that only gathers Metal and Gems. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Advanced Automation skill in the Construction & Mercantilism tree.

• Shares placement restrictions with other Farmhouses
  
• Crafting Resources: 800 Wood, 600 Thatch, 320 Fiber, 280 Metal, 100 Hide

New Structure: Quarry
The Quarry is a farm that only gathers Stone, Crystal, Salt, and Flint. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Advanced Automation skill in the Construction & Mercantilism tree.

• Shares placement restrictions with other Farmhouses
  
• Crafting Resources: 800 Wood, 600 Thatch, 320 Fiber, 280 Metal, 100 Hide

New Shop: Seed Vendor
A new vendor has arrived! The Seed Vendor can be found in Freeports and provides all the seeds required for your farming needs.

• Coffee Seeds: 20 Gold for 5 Seeds
  
• All other Seeds: 10 Gold for 5 Seeds

New Drink: Coffee
Coffee can be brewed at either the Cooking Pot or Grill after learning the Intermediate Recipes skill in the Cooking & Farming tree. After drinking, pirates are given a new buff, Caffeinated, which reduces incoming torpor damage.

• Incoming torpor damage reduced by 15%
  
• Buff lasts for 10 minutes
  
• Ingredients: 1 Water, 30 Coffee Beans

New Vegetable: Coffee Bean
Since Coffee Beans are not native to the Atlas, they can only be grown from seeds. Pirates who prefer adventuring over sleep will always want to keep Coffee Beans on hand!

New Seed: Coffee Seed
Coffee Seeds can only be purchased from the Seed Vendor. They are required for growing Coffee Beans.

• Can be planted in Tropical, Temperate, and Equatorial environments

New Tame: Dolphin
Dolphins can be tamed passively by hand feeding them meat. In particular, they enjoy fresh Squid Tentacles, Fish Meat, and Crustacean Meat. By grabbing hold of their dorsal fin, pathfinders can ride them as they speed and jump through the ocean.

• Favorite Food: Squid Tentacles
  
• Taming Style: Passive
  
• Saddle: None
  
• Primary Attack: Bite
  • Secondary Ability: Jump
    
  • Gives nearby pathfinders the Dolphin Intellect buff
• Increases intelligence stat for 10 minutes

New Meat: Squid Tentacle
Squid Tentacles are a new type of meat that can be obtained by defeating Squids. They can be eaten raw and don't spoil. Instead, they dry out over time and remain safe to eat!
Dried Squid Tentacles will soon have a special use, so you may want to start collecting them now!

Bola

• Players can no longer stand while entrapped by a Bola
  
• Duration of player Bola entrapment reduced from 5.5 to 2.5 seconds
  
• After recovering from entrapment, players cannot be entrapped by a Bola for 10 seconds

Combat

• Headshot multiplier reduced from 2x to 1.5x
  
• Bug Fix: Critical Strike can no longer be used with weapons other than the Sword

Explosive Barrels

• Cannons, Large Cannons, Swivels Guns, and Ballistas are now immune to AOE damage from Explosive Barrels
  
  • NOTE: These weapons can still be damaged by a direct hit from an Explosive Barrel fired from a Catapult
• Explosive Barrel damage to players and creatures greatly reduced
  
  • Deals 120 damage to pathfinders
    
  • Deals 135 damage to creatures

Farmhouse Variants

• All farmhouse variants are undergoing iteration in preparation for adding Blueprints
  
  • Stats changed and inventories wiped at restart
    
  • You can cheat spawn high quality variants with better stats (bigger inventory and faster gathering)
• Base Inventory Size has been increased from 8k to 10k
  
• Base Inventory Slots have been increased
  
• Decay time changed to 10 days
  
• Gather Rates have temporarily been normalized at a lower rate across all types
  
  • Quality Blueprints with stats will increase this in a future patch.

Ramming Galley

• Increased number of additional structures that can be placed on the ship from 8 to 40
  
• While turning, only one side of rowers will row, increasing the Ramming Galley's turn speed when rowers are active
  
• The leak rate of damaged ship components now increases as the component's health decreases
  
  • Leaking begins at 25% health and the leak rate increases until the component reaches 0 health
    
  • The maximum leak rate has not changed
• Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where the prompt for opening the command wheel would appear on parts of the ship after they had already been demolished

Ships

• Added the option to purchase ship levels 56-60 at a rate of 75 Gold per 1,000 XP
  
• Levels can be purchased when viewing the ship's stat menu
  
• NOTE: Ships can still reach max level by earning XP normally
  
• Ship Gold cost now scales with ship quality
  • Minimum price is used for ships constructed at 100% durability Shipyards and maximum price is used for ships constructed at 225% durability Shipyards
    
  • Price Ranges
    
    • Schooner: 5,000 to 10,000 Gold
      
    • Brigantine: 18,000 to 36,000 Gold
      
    • Galleon: 50,000 to 100,000 Gold

Tames

• Torpor damage from Horse's rear kick attack reduced by 40%
  
• Rabbits can now equip hats
  
• Bears and Rabbits now only receive 10% of the stat bonus from equipped hats

Misc

• Increased Grill ship structure weight from 1 kg to 12 kg
  
• Wood Doors, Wood Pillars, Wood Staircases, Wood Fence Supports, and Wood Ladders can now be crafted at the Smithy
  
• Winter Event items are no longer craftable at the Smithy or purchasable from the Cosmetic Vendor
  
• Fixed some cases where Trade Routes get reset or modified
  
• Bug Fix: Fence Supports can no longer be placed without a connection to the ground
  
  • NOTE: Any floating Fence Supports placed prior to the patch will be destroyed
• Some Crashes Fixed

Known Issues

• Levels 46-50 can be purchased on ships with a level cap of 50
  
• Trade Route Range was increased between patches to include nearby servers. These farther routes are getting reset on server restarts and may be having other issues.
  
• Riding a Dolphin at or near the surface will occasionally cause it to die
  
• Tamed Dolphins may no longer be able to jump after crossing grids
  
• Farm Variants have floating fires near them

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch, as well as timing, may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)

Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information

Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

The next patch will be scheduled for 1/13 7:00 PM PT.

It includes a variety of balance changes and as a heads up, please note:

Grill ship structure weight will increase from 1kg to 12kg.
Please be aware and take care!

Full patch notes to be released tomorrow!

Meanwhile, here's an additional sneak peak at the tameable Dolphins coming as part of the next patch:

Ahoy Pathfinders!

We're ending the year and starting the next one with a rate up event! From now until January 4th, enjoy 3x Gold, Taming, and Harvesting, and 2x experience! Thank you all for supporting us these last 6 months as we have renewed the ATLAS journey. Looking forward to 2021!

Stay safe and healthy! Happy Holidays! Yo ho ho ho🎅


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

Ahoy Pathfinders!

Last week was quite a ride and we would like to thank you all for continuing to sail along with us! It has been about 6 months now since we have renewed the ATLAS journey, and now the last scheduled patch of the year is upon us! 

We have made several fixes to the Ramming Galley, Armored Docks, and more. This includes a fix for Explosive Barrels so they no longer deal damage in Freeports and removing some bad maps from Treasure Map spawning. Christmas Trees and Ship level caps have also been fixed. We have also included a few changes, like the much requested increase in reverse sailing speed, which has now been increased by 200%. The Glider Suit may now only be activated under 100m height as well. As a little bonus, Bears can also now wear hats! For the full list of bug fixes and changes, please see the changelog.

Most importantly, we have also made some server reliability improvements that should also help to reduce incidents of losses. To fully address the issue will be a long-term process, as it is a multifaceted issue and touches many aspects of the code. We are touching on different symptoms of it throughout development as we continue to make our investigations and improve the code. Please continue to report these issues to us as they greatly aid in our efforts to optimize and improve the ATLAS experience. Thanks for your patience, understanding, and support!

Tonight’s patch has quite a few new things in store! First up - we have the Lumberyard, a farmhouse variation that gathers only thatch and wood. All of the systems we have been implementing will continue to see development and improvements as we refine them based on feedback and observation. This is the first step towards the next iteration of the farmhouse system as we introduce specialized variants. Regular farmhouses will still continue to collect Wood and Thatch for now. However, Lumberyards will gather them at a much faster rate.

Aye, and were ye looking for a way to store all yer drinks for the holidays? The new Keg is the perfect way to store and transport your alcohol. Afterall, drinks taste best directly from a Keg, don’t they? The Keg can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Secrets of Cooking skill in the Cooking & Farming tree. For only 30 fiber, 5 metal, 50 thatch, and 60 wood - you can build a Keg and be able to store any alcohol items in stacks of 50. Drinks for everyone!

Having trouble taming some creatures? Might we recommend the new Tranq Arrow? The Tranq Arrow is a new ammo type for the Bow that deals high amounts of Torpor and little physical damage. It can be used to put creatures to sleep, allowing pirates to more easily contain them for taming. Tranq Arrows can be crafted in the Mortar and Pestle after learning the Taming Tier 2 skill in the Beastmastery Tree.

Last week the first of the new ships that can be bought for gold, the Ramming Galley, hit the shores of Atlas. We were excited to see our baby in action and have made a number of changes to help it create more of a splash. We increased its base speed by 40% and have also increased its turn speed while sails are closed. As a ship meant to directly attack and charge into others, it needed more oomph so we increased the damage of all cannons on the Ramming Galley from 100% to 125%. Ramming Galleys will also now deal damage to NPC ships.

To compensate its strength a bit, the Ramming Galley now costs an additional 75 Rhino Horns, a new resource type obtained from defeating Rhinos, to purchase.

In addition to these changes, we also made a number of bug fixes to the Ramming Galley, which can be viewed in the full Changelog that follows.

As with all the features and mechanics we have so far introduced, we will continue to balance and refine the Ramming Galley.

Previously we discussed a rework on the Claim System. Originally, we intended to introduce this by the end of this year. As things move in development and new challenges present themselves, timelines and ideas can often change. We are still working on the new Claim System’s implementation and testing it. It will likely not be introduced until early next year. Many were concerned that a rework of the Claim System would bring about a wipe. Although wipes are inevitable in EA, we also do our best to wipe only when it is absolutely necessary. At this time there is no estimated or set date for a wipe and we will keep the community updated if that changes.

As the last patch of the year, the ATLAS team will be setting sail for a small holiday break. The next scheduled patch will be the week of January 11. However, we will continue to perform daily server restarts and we will have our spyglass handy to watch out for any urgent issues that may require our attention. Otherwise, pass us your Kegs and some glasses please! Happy Holidays!

v519.5

New Structure: Lumberyard
The Lumberyard is a farm that only gathers thatch and wood. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Advanced Automation skill in the Construction & Mercantilism Tree.

• Shares placement restrictions with other Farmhouses
  
• Gathers about 1/3 more wood and thatch than a regular Farmhouse
  
• Crafting Resources: 800 Wood, 600 Thatch, 320 Fiber, 280 Metal, 100 Hide

New Structure: Keg

• The Keg is a new storage container used to store alcohol. It can be crafted at the Smithy after learning the Secrets of Cooking skill in the Cooking & Farming Tree.
  
• All alcohol items can be stored in stacks of 50
  
• Crafting Resources: 30 Fiber, 5 Metal, 50 Thatch, 60 Wood

New Bow Ammo Type: Tranq Arrow

• Tranq Arrows are significantly more effective against tameable creatures
  
• Players and NPCs are immune to Tranq Arrows
  
• Crafting Resources: 1 Stone Arrow, 20 Berries
  

New Keratinoid Resource: Rhino Horn

• Rhino Horns can now be obtained by defeating Rhinos

Armored Docks

• Updated UI text on Armored Docks to clarify that only 1 Gold is consumed when the timer expires
  
• Bug Fix: Armored Docks no longer stop working for a period of time after server restarts
  
• Bug Fix: Armored Docks no longer consume all Gold in their inventory after server restarts

Ramming Galley

• Added 75 Rhino Horns to cost
  
• Base speed increased by 40%
  
• Increased turn speed while sails are closed
  
• Increased damage of all cannons on ship from 100% to 125%
  
• Ramming NPC ships with the Ramming Galley now deals damage
  
• Players can now swim through some large holes in the Ramming Galley after it sinks
  
• Bug Fix: Health is no longer displayed for undamageable parts of the ship including weapons
  
• Bug Fix: Demolish option no longer appears for components that have already been demolished after the ship sinks
  
• Bug Fix: Ramming Galley can no longer be crafted in the Large Shipyard
  
• Bug Fix: Forward-facing Large Cannons are now correctly assigned to the Front Station Group
  
• Bug Fix: Oars will now always automatically retract after idling for 10 seconds
  
• Bug Fix: Sail rigging now previews correctly when placing new sails

Ships

• Max reverse speed for all ships increased by 200%
  
• Bug Fix: Level cap for max quality ships restored to 60
  
  • NOTE: The max level of ships built during the previous patch won't change

Winter Event

• Christmas Trees now produce gifts every 12 hours
  
• Bug Fix: Santa Hat skin will no longer disappear from player inventory
  
• Bug Fix: Santa Hat is now properly positioned on Monkeys, Parrots, and Penguins
  
• Bug Fix: Resolved issue where Stockings and Christmas Trees would stop producing coal/gifts after server restarts

Trade

• Fixed some cases where Markets would break
  
• Limited the number of Trade Offers Markets can have to 20.

Misc

• Made some server reliability improvements
  
• Bears can now equip hats
  
• Glider Suit may now only be activated under 110 meters height (about the height of the lighthouse)
  
• Reduced Grill's damage resistance
  
• Sea Fort walls now swap to a damaged mesh when destroyed rather than disappearing
  
• Bug Fix: Explosive Barrels can no longer deal damage in Freeports
  
• Bug Fix: Removed some bad maps from Treasure Map spawning
  

Again, we would like to emphasize that ATLAS is still in Early Access, meaning many things can and will likely continue to drastically change - even in the middle of development. Anything discussed is only up to date as of the moment it is posted. Features and changes that ultimately make it to the next patch may be different from what was previously discussed.

As always, we appreciate the suggestions and feedback from the community. Please keep them coming! Thank you for all of your support! :)


Happy Sailing,
- ATLAS Crew

For the latest dispatch on #playATLAS keep yer one good eye trained on this here information
Natter n' chatter on Discord: https://discord.gg/playatlas
Hear ye, hear ye on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sailtheatlas
Watch us scallywags on Twitch: http://twitch.tv/sailtheatlas
Plus ye can band with us Pirates on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playatlasgame

517.7 (server)

• Clear unwanted structures on Freeports and GA
  
• Freeports and GA Servers are no longer crashing on startup

We are continuing to work on additional hotfixes for other crashing issues and the map that we hope to push out tomorrow.