The Dawn of Relics update is now live for Bloodline Champions.
The update introduces a new beginner quest that rewards players with a free Bloodline (players who own all Bloodlines will earn Blood Coins instead). A new medallion and traits system introduces character progression, letting you now modify health, damage, movement and cooldowns on your bloodline.
A new matchmaking system lets players join as a party, and has been improved to make matchmaking faster and better. Other changes include an overhaul to the Bloodgate UI, new items, and rebalancing to several classes and skills.
Bloodline Champions is published by Funcom, which also publishes Age of Conan.
Bloodgate Overhaul
Major parts of the Bloodgate user interface has been reworked and updated with new functionality, graphics and sounds.
• The Top navigation bar has been redesigned
• The main play game bar has been redesigned
• A new game menu – Standard Game has been added
• Quicklinks have been added to the News panel
Standard Game
In the new Standard Game menu players can search for games using the matchmaking system, play Single Player and learn from the Tutorial Section
Matchmaking
• Players can now join the matchmaking queue solo or together with friends as a Party.
• There are now one single queue for both Europe and US and players can prioritize which regions they want to play in.
• The matchmaking system will now take player level into consideration when looking for a suitable game.
• Players can now queue for 5v5 Conquest and Artifact Games.
• The skill estimation question has been removed
Tutorials
• The Basic Combat tutorial has been improved and should now run smoother.
• A tutorial section for videos and guides have been added.
Bloodline Quest
There is now a bloodline starter quest for all players. Earn one bloodline or 3000 Blood coins by completing the following Achievements:
• Reach Level 5
• Complete the Tutorial
• Win 1 Arena Game
• Win 1 Conquest Game
• Win 1 Capture the Artifact game
Account Progression
The account level system has been reworked. There is now a level cap at level 25. The XP algorithm has been changed to fit the new level cap. All players account level has been recalculated to fit the new leveling system.
A lot of elements in the game are now bound to player level. The following menus are now unavailable from the start and are unlocked when the player increases in level:
• Teams Menu Unlocked at Level 5
• Traits Menu Unlocked at Level 5
• Medallion Menu Unlocked at Level 8
• Tournament Menu Unlocked at Level 10
• Rated Solo Matchmaking Unlocked at level 25
Traits & Medallions
Traits
The trait system will enable players to modify stats and passive bonuses by spending Trait Points. Players will receive Trait Points when leveling up their account. Players can access the Trait system once they hit level 5.
Medallions
Players can equip medallions that grants additional abilities. Players can access the Medallion system once they hit level 8.There are 4 different categories of medallions:
Crimson
Grants an offensive/utility ability. This ability costs energy to use. (medallion slot unlocked at level 
Cobalt
Grants a defensive ability. This ability costs energy to use. (medallion slot unlocked at level 10)
Passive
Grants a passive bonus to the wearer. (medallion slot unlocked at level 12)
Troll
Grants a troll ability, used to troll your opponents.(medallion slot unlocked at level 14)
Gems
Gems can be inserted into medallions. Gems grants additional stats bonuses. Gems cannot be inserted into a Troll medallion.
Hanging Gardens of Savir – New Arena Map
The Hanging Gardens of Savir is a new medium sized arena map in the Temple setting.
Season 3
• All players grades have been reset
• New Rewards for Season 3 will be announced later
Marketplace
• Blood coin boost services have been added, increasing the amount of blood coins earnt for a period of time.
• XP boost services have been added, increasing the amount of XP earnt for a period of time.
Blood Coins
• The general Blood Coin generation from games have been greatly increased
• A blood coin max cap has been added. Players can’t earn more blood coins from games when they are above 50.000.
• Some items in the Marketplace have had their Blood Coin price removed and can now only be purchased with Funcom Points
• Achievements now rewards less Blood Coins
• Daily bonus reduced to 400 Blood Coins from 600.
Blood Coins in different game types
• 25% from Private Games(custom games)
• 50% from Single Player Games
• 100% from Standard Matchmaking (Arena, Conquest, CTA)
• 100% from 2on2 Team Matchmaking
• 125% from 3on3 Team Matchmaking
Game Lobby
• Time before the game starts after all players have joined from a matchmaking queue down to 5s from 15s
• Map votes are now saved.
• Map vote time down to 20s from 45s
Loader
The loader has been updated with new graphics and functionality
Achievements
• New achievements added for The Hanging Gardens of Savir.
• New achievements added for the Trait and Medallion System.
• Certain Achievements have been reworked to fit the new Leveling System.
• CVPS achievements have been reworked to fit the new damage, healing and control values
General
• a randomize flag button has been added to the team creation menu
• Size and fade time for scrolling combat text has been tweaked
• Scrolling combat text now scales with camera distance
• Health bars are now divided into blocks to make it easier to distinguish max health for different bloodlines
• Auto-join channel checkbox has been added to the chat
• Secondary key bindings are now available.
• Scoreboard should now be showing players before the countdown of the first round
General Bugfixes
• Fixed a bug that caused some particles (buffs and blood effects) to spawn at random positions where there was no player
• Fixed a bug that caused the shop to sometimes return an empty list of items
• Fixed a bug that caused the bloodline previewer to have dark background models after a game when using medium graphics settings.
• Fixed a bug that caused losses to count as wins for certain achievements.
• Fixed a bug with conquest rounds, it should now be possible to play several rounds on the same map
• Conquest cold team rounds won counter no longer counts downwards
Bloodline & Gameplay Changes
• All bloodlines have been massively buffed and now deals 10 times more damage and healing, shield abilities absorb 10 times more damage and max health and recovery health has been increased by 10 times.
• Several ability effects have been updated with new graphics and new sound effects
• Simplified tooltips have been added to all abilities, these can be turned off in the option menu.
• The group heal effect has been removed from all primary healing spells. Only the target closest to the impact will now be healed
• Fixed an issue where abilities could be interrupted just as they were cast and consume cooldown + energy before you turned immaterial. (EX Lunge, Venom Lunge, EX Fleetfoot, Earth Crush, Puncturing Strikes, Cyclone Charge, Possession, Conflagration)
• Fixed an issue where instant spells could be cast when being affected by Tornado while Slept.
• Fixed an issue where Possession would turn you material while stunning an enemy.
• Dismantle now counts as a Silence type effect and is now reduced by cc reducing effects
• Black Dagger now counts as a Silence type effect and is now reduced by cc reducing effects
• Dark Voodoo now counts as a Weaken type effect and is now reduced by cc reducing effects
• Moon shadow now counts as a Slow type effect and is now reduced by cc reducing effects
• Feeble minded now counts as a Silence type effect and is now reduced by cc reducing effects
Ranged
Igniter
Living Flame (R)
• No longer heals the Igniter for 25% of the absorbed damage
Engineer
Concussion Shot (MB2)
• Energy gain down to 12 from 14
Jetpack (Space)
• Min range reduced to 60 from 120
Shrink (R)
• Energy gain down to 3 from 5
• Duration down to 4s from 5s
Seeker
Seeker’s Strike (MB1)
• Energy Gain down to 8 from 9.
Fire Arrow (MB2)
• Casttime down to 0.6s from 0.8s.
• Impact damage down to 18 from 25.
• Fire Area damage up to 5 every 0.5s from 4 every 0.5s.
• Fire Area duration up to 3.5s from 3s.
• Cooldown down to 5.5s from 6s.
• Energy gain down to 10 from 12.
Ice Arrow (Q)
• Area effect no longer reduces attack speed.
• Freeze duration up to 0.5s from 0.3s.
• Cooldown down to 9s from 10s.
• Casttime down to 0.4s from 0.5s.
• Delay before impact up to 0.9s from 0.8s.
Blitz (Space) – Reworked
The Seeker dashes towards target location, deals 10-16 damage and knocks target back upon impact. Damage and knockback increases with distance dashes. Can be double casted
Earth Arrow – (E)
• Now deals flat 14 damage and heals 14 health.
• No longer reduces projectile speed.
• Now weakens target by 25% and slows movement speed by 15% for 3.5s, stacks up to two times.
Lightning Arrow – (EX – MB2)
• Damage down to 20 / 16 / 12 from 22 / 18 / 14
• Velocity down to 270 from 300
• Duration between bounces up to 0.2s from 0.1s
Markmanship (F) – Removed
Storm Arrow (F) – New Ultimate
Piercing projectile attack that deals 10 damage and inflicts Storm; deals 4 damage every 1s for 3s, deals 30 damage to the target and 20 damage to nearby allies of the target when the effect ends.
Nomad
Razor Boomerang
• Range up to 100 from 93
Healers
Psychopomp
Other Side (R)
• Fade time down to 0.4s from 0.7s
Astronomer
Spectro Strike (MB1)
• Damage from consuming Solar Charge down to 5 from 10
Sun Ellipse (Space)
• Sun Ellipse now correctly gives energy when dealing damage and healing allies
• Energy down to 3% from 6%
Grimrog
Healing Ward (Q)
• Health down to 10 from 15
• Damage reduction down to 20% from 33%
Wicked Blessing (MB2)
• Cooldown reduction per stack down to 4% from 6%
Gringols Gate (Space)
• Delay before gates spawn up to 0.25s from 0.1s.
• Cast time down to 0s from 0.2s.
• Warp time up to 0.25s from 0.12s
• Max range down to 120 from 135
Shamanistic Flurry (R)
• Slow factor down to 25% from 40%
• Slow duration up to 2.8s from 2.5s
• Cooldown up to 8s from 7s
• Consuming Curse of Kojo now Blinds the enemy for 2s instead of turning the enemy into Stone for 2s.
Dark Voodoo (EX – E)
• Damage conversion cap down to 17 from 20
• Duration down to 2s from 2.5s
• Dark Voodoo no longer converts healing to damage from Nether Shift
Curse of Weakness (F)
• Min damage up to 25 from 20
• Max damage up to 45 from 40
Herald
Stiffling Dust (MB1)
• Cooldown reduction down to 7% from 9% per stack
Healing Word (MB2)
• Spirit Dust heal down to 4/2 from 5/2
Mantra of Devotion (Q)
• Changed to a 180 degree cone attack from 360 degree
• Now deals 4 / 8 / 12 damage if the enemy is affected by Feeble Minded
Cerebral Shock (EX E) – Removed
Aura of Devotion (EX -Q) – Removed
Chrono Bolt (New EX – E)
Projectile attack that deals 22 damage, knocks target back and inflicts Time Fever; Increases damage taken by 20% for 6s.
Time Rift (New EX – Q)
Teleports the Herald back to the position he where standing at 1.8s back in time.
Lockdown (F)
• Time Fewer amplify factor down to 25% from 33%
• Now silences enemies instead of incapacitating them, the silence effects breaks on damage.
Melee
Harbinger
Shadow Bolt (E)
• Now deals 26-38 damage, damage is increased by distance traveled.
• Cooldown up to 5s from 4s.
• Amplify Duration down to 7s from 8s.
Dark Ward (F)
• Plague Slow down to 30% from 75%.
• Shadow Slash damage increase down to 15% from 30%.
• Passive damage reduction down to 20% from 25%.
Ravener
Spike Strike (MB1)
• Casttime down to 0.3s from 0.4s.
• Cooldown down to 0.3s from 0.4s.
• Damage down to 11/12/13 from 13/14/15.
• Energy Gain down to 6 from 7.
• No longer inflicts Stun on 3rd hit.
• Now consumes Electrify dealing 5 extra damage and stuns target for 0.3s.
Assail (Space) – Reworked
Now leaps to target location inflicting Electrify on all nearby enemies. Electrify reduces movement speed by 10% for 3s.
• Leap distance increased to 80 from 55.
• Haste duration increased to 2.5s from 2s.
• Haste factor down to 25% from 50%.
• No longer deals extra damage/stun on impact.
Spinning Strike (Q)
• Area down to 13 from 18.
Spike Shield
• Damage reduction down to 40% from 50%
Earth Crush (F) – Reworked
Now leaps two timer towards target location, deals 26 damage and inflicts Electrify on all nearby enemies.
Thunder Shock (EX – MB2) – Removed
Bone Crush Rush (EX – Space) – Removed
Raging Thunder (New EX – Q)
Spinning attack that deals 6 damage every 0.25s and inflicts Electrify on Hit. The Ravener can move through enemies during Raging Thunder but projectile attacks are not reflected. Increases movement speed by 70%.
Mace to the Face (New EX – E)
Dash attack that deals 16 damage and inflicts Wasted: Reduces damage done by 50% for 4s.
Stalker
Puncturing Strike / Slice & Dice
• Now only incapacitates on the first time the attack hits a target (the incapacitate effect does not break from Puncturing Strike / Slice & Dice second or third hit)
Deviate (Space)
• Fade time before teleport up to 0.32s from 0.25s.
• Teleport time up to 0.08s from 0.05s.
Stalkers Cloak (R)
• No longer inflicts Incapacitate when a debuff is removed.
• Now heals the target for 14 health when a debuff is removed.
Shroud of Darkness (EX – R)
• No longer inflicts Incapacitate when a debuff is removed.
• No longer reduces damage taken.
• Now heals the target for 14 health when a debuff is removed.
Reaver
Drunken Haze (Q)
• Now only triggers the AoE effect when a player is hit
• Impact damage up to 15 from 12
• Area damage up to 8 from 6
Blade Strike (MB1)
• Breaking Drunken Haze with this attack heals the Reaver for 12 health
Dragoon Strike (Space)
• Breaking Drunken Haze with this attack heals the Reaver for 12 health
Explosive Kick – Reworked and renamed to Flying Side Kick (EX – E)
Dash attack that deals 18 damage and inflicts Spell Block; blocks an ability for 3s
Spearmaster
Whirlwind (F)
• damage up to 30 per second from 28
Tanks
Glutton
Earthstorm (E)
• Damage reduction down to 25% from 33%
Revitalizing Wind (EX – E)
• Damage reduction down to 25% from 33%
Stalagmite (MB2)
• Cooldown up to 7.5s from 6.5s
Rush (Space)
• Cooldown up to 8s from 7.5s
Inhibitor
Runic Discharge (Q)
• Now only triggers the AoE effect when a player is hit
• Casttime down to 0.4s from 0.5s
Thorn
Root Bash (MB1)
• Regrowth no longer heals over time, damage reduction down to 3% per stack from 4%, now stacks up to 2 times.
Fungal Spores (MB2)
• Now consumes Regrowth healing Thorn for 7 health.
Mud Walk(Space)
• Now Entangles enemies for 0.5s instead of throwing them into the air
Mushroom Spore(E)
• Entangle Duration down to 2s from 2.4s
• Ticks down to 2 from 3
• Damage and healing per tick up to 5 from 4
Guardian
Sweeping Strike (MB1)
• Consuming Judgement now always deals 20 damage instead of 16 damage + 6% of lost health.
Boomerang Axe
• Incapacitate duration up to 0.4s from 0.3s
• No longer inflicts Incapacitate on the way back
Disperse – Reworked – Renamed to Counter Attack (E)
The Guardian now leaps vs target location striking in an aoe dealing 16 damage and inflicting a 0.5s Silence when Counter Attack is triggered by a melee, projectile or direct aoe attack.
Sanctuary – Reworked (R)
Sanctuary is no longer an EX ability and now creates a shield around target player, reduces damage taken by 60% and absorbs up to 16 damage, breaking the sanctuary triggers a 40% weaken effect on nearby enemies lasting 3s. The shield lasts up to 2.5s.
Chain Heal (EX – R)
Chain Heal is now an EX ability, Heals target ally for 30/22/14 health and applies Breeze; Increases movement speed by 20% for 3s.
Intervene (Space)
• No longer heals the Guardian when Intervening a friendly Healing Ward
Cyclone Charge (F)
Area down to 12 from 18
In a rare example of bipartisanship, the US Congress passed a patent reform bill, and President Obama has just 
Sony's new Alpha NEX-5N takes great-looking stills and vibrant 1080p/60fps video, but many users have reported the audio is driving them bonkers. It seems that when the camera is moved, even slightly, it produces 
Flipboard set nerd hearts aflutter when it brought a magazine-like experience to news feeds on the iPad. Google apparently tried to buy the feisty young start up last year, but was rebuffed. Well, now the Big G is reportedly building its own Flipboard competitor called 
With subscription services like Netflix and Hulu Plus, downloadable content from iTunes and Amazon, and freebies from Crackle or YouTube It's getting harder to justify paying for cable. For those of us who prefer our time in front of the tube stimulate, rather than rot our brains, 
We didn't come up with that question out of the blue, and we only started wondering about the logistics of such a move after hearing rumors that Intel and SandForce are fast becoming pals. According to news and rumor site Fudzilla, Intel is at the very least seriously considering outfitting some of its high-end solid state drives with SandForce controllers, which would be just another notch -- albeit a very big on -- on SandForce's belt. But that's not all Intel is thinking about.
Samsung's Galaxy S II smartphone is finally available for purchase in the U.S. It goes by the name "Epic 4G Touch," which is the name attached to Sprint's version of the second coming of the popular Galaxy S, and it features some big (literally) specs, starting with a generously sized 4.52-inch Super AMOLED display.
A new over-the-air (OTA) update for the 4G LTE version of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet for Verizon might be just the thing you need to curb your cussing and keep your extra dollars out of the swear jar, but only if you're experiencing high-speed connectivity issues. If you're swearing up a storm for another reason, this update will do nothing to patch your potty mouth.
We love free things, and we like them even more when they're awesome. Those two don't go hand-in-hand nearly enough, but for a short while, they both apply to Portal, a single-player first person puzzle platformer that was 
