Balance Change
UI / Interface
Party play, but easier to actually keep moving. The Band Together proximity rule has been widened from same-tile to within 3 tiles of a partymate — so the party bonus, quest credit, gather progress, and the Party Aura all stay live across a comfortable 7×7 area around you, instead of demanding everyone stack on a single square.
⚜ Party Proximity Widened to 3 Tiles Balance
From One Tile to Within Three
Every party-bonus surface that used to require you to be
standing on the exact same tile as a partymate now triggers as long as you are
within 3 tiles of them — measured by king's-move distance, meaning three steps in any direction including diagonals. That gives every member a comfortable
7×7 area to roam within while the bonuses stay live.
- Shared quest credit on kills — if any partymate lands the blow and another is within 3 tiles, all in-range mates tick that enemy for their story / class / board / daily / weekly objectives.
- Shared gather progress — pull a node with a partymate in range and any matching collect quest progresses for both of you (the resource item still goes only to the gatherer).
- +10% Party EXP & gold bonus — applied whenever the killer has at least one mate in range, then split evenly between the killer and every in-range teammate.
- The Party Aura — fires whenever at least one partymate is within 3 tiles of you, with the diversity bonus scaling on distinct classes in range.
Why The Change
The same-tile rule worked for kills landed in a tight scrum, but in practice it made partying feel like a tile-stacking puzzle: one wrong step out to peck a node or chase a runner and the bonus dropped. The 3-tile radius keeps the spirit — you have to actually be
playing together — while letting parties breathe.
- The numbers themselves are unchanged. +10% bonus, the same 55% / 36.7% / 27.5% per-member share for duos / trios / quads.
- The class diversity ladder is unchanged. Two different classes → +2% all stats. Three → +4%. Four → +6%.
- The signature passives are unchanged. Paladin +3% DEF, Magician +3% MP regen, Death Knight + Necromancer +1% lifesteal each.
Only the
distance at which all of these activate has changed.
The Range, Drawn Out
Here is the area around you (in green) inside which any partymate (purple) counts as "in range":
You (green) · A partymate anywhere in this 7×7 area counts as in range
☀ UI Wording & Map Glow Updated UI
"In Range" Replaces "On Your Tile"
Everywhere the Party panel and combat log used to say "on your tile" / "on the same tile" / "on this tile", it now says
"in range":
- The shared-kill combat log line is now — "◆ Party (+10%): shared the kill with N teammate(s) in range."
- The gather chat line is now — "◆ Party (+N in range): collect progress shared."
- The Party tab's aura hint is now — "Stand within 3 tiles of a partymate to activate the Party Aura."
- The form-party explainer is now — "Members within 3 tiles of each other share quest progress, get a +10% EXP & gold bonus, and unlock the Party Aura."
- Each member card on the Party tab still flags partymates in range with the small chip, so you can see who is contributing at a glance.
Map Aura Glow Lights Up Across The Range
The world map's party overlay has been re-tuned to match the new rule:
- The green-gold aura glow on your tile now fires whenever at least one partymate is within 3 tiles of you, instead of waiting for someone to step onto your exact square.
- The soft purple ring still marks every partymate's tile no matter where they are on the visible map — so if their ring is outside your 3-tile window, you can see at a glance which way to drift to pick the bonus back up.
- If a partymate is standing on your tile alongside you, the brighter aura glow still wins so the cell stays readable.
◆ What Hasn't Changed Note
Idle Partymates Still Drop Out After 10 Minutes
The activity gate still applies: a teammate who hasn't moved or fought in 10 real minutes drops out of the proximity calc, so a half-AFK player can't lock the aura on for the rest of you when they're not actually contributing. The moment they move again they snap right back in.
Solo Play Is Untouched
None of this affects players who aren't in a party. Solo EXP, solo gather progress, solo quest credit — all unchanged. The only thing this hotfix touches is what happens when you are grouped up.
Same Cap, Same Chat, Same Invites
Party cap remains at four members. /p chat, the Party tab, the popup-plus-chat-notice invite flow, the 5-minute invite expiry, and the leader-handoff rules are all exactly as they were at launch.