It’s been less than a month since WildStar came out, and its first major content update is already here. Called Strain, it has tons of content in store for players at level 50.
I had a chance to check out Strain while at E3, and what I saw was exactly what WildStar has needed. Its two endgame zones add weeks worth of casual and hardcore content to explore, while also offering places to dwell in if you’re tired of standing around your capital city. New items including a hoverboard and gear are perfect for those looking for something to grind toward. Also, there’s an event in one of the new zones that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen in an MMO.
The patch notes are extremely extensive (we’re talking dozens of pages long), so we’ve consolidated it down to the highlights and general adjustments, which you can see below:
Blighthaven – Hello level 50 players, and welcome to Blighthaven!
The door to further adventure and excitement has been kicked the !@#$ down. Shimmering, golden death? It lurks around every corner. The water? It can eat your mind! Discover the origins of Drusera, and collect mountains of Elder Gems-that is, if you’re up to the challenge!
Northern Wastes – The passage to Northern Wastes has been opened!
In the aftermath of the Exile’s clash with the Dominion in the Northern Wilds, new enemies have moved in to stake their own claims. Strap on those snow shoes and prepare to battle for control of the territory against the beasts who now call these lands home. Level 50 characters, check out your faction’s local Venture Board inside Thayd or Illium for details! Dominion players can access Northern Wastes by reporting to Captain Zanaar for transport to Camp Icefury. Exile players can travel to Northern Wastes by speaking to Venyanna Skywind for a ride to Darkstone’s Landing.
GENERAL
- Banned game accounts will display an appropriate message upon attempted login.
- Many spell, audio, and animation fixes and updates were made throughout the game.
- Fixed an issue where players falling under the world could end up hanging around stuck until doing the support-stuck command or getting a GM to help them. Now this is automatically detected, so stuck players will have to rez immediately to the nearest safe spot.
- Significant updates were made to the way we handle the Datachron minimizing and maximizing, and the saving of that data.
- Occasional crashes during general play have been fixed.
- Changed the header on the Combat Options menu so it will read correctly on French/German clients.
- Added sound caching to cinematics so sounds will play more accurately.
- Fixed a bug with instance throttling where instances were taking longer to expire than intended.
- Fixed a pathing crash.
- Fixed user server crash related to Guild operations.
- Housing buffs are now removed when entering dungeons, adventures, and raids.
- Fixed an issue where occasionally when an order on the commodities exchange was filled, the client could crash.
- Fixed an issue where using food wouldn’t always consume the food.
- It is now no longer possible to use a gadget more than once within the same instance.
Related: WildStar’s 10 Best Addons
Carbine Studios is already working on its next upcoming drop which will apparently include PvP related content, such as a new battleground. You can see a brief sneak peak in the Strain Trailer.
