Greetings, Adventurers!
A twin threat rises from the shadow of the Ennead on February 21 through March 7.Join the Development Team for a look at how the Legacy of Crassus event came to life, and then topple Lucanus and Decimus in-game for event-specific, daily rewards.
Lucanus and Decimus, brothers bound by blood and battle, now transformed to stone by the Curse of Medusa and warped into mythic monsters by the Corruption, will stop at nothing to fulfill their final command. Once feared across many lands as General Crassus’ two most dreadful champions, they continue his legacy with relentless cyclopean brutality. Adventurers who brave the southern lands to confront Lucanus and Decimus can expect a fight that will challenge their abilities to the fullest.
The banners of the Republic will sail once more, this time over Aeternum. Rome Eternal!
Check out the video below for a peek into the cyclopses’ development.
Behind the Scenes
Learn more about the world bosses’ lore, design, and daily rewards.
Lucanus, Decimus, and Crassus
“The characters of centurions Decimus and Lucanus came about when we realized that General Crassus had always intended to establish a new Roman Republic on the island once he had claimed the power of the Ennead,” said Narrative Designer Aaron de Orive. “Even though Crassus was defeated, we figured that his goal would still be pursued by the loyal members of the 19th Legion.”
“Decimus and Lucanus were two of his most trusted centurions, capable soldiers who had served Crassus with distinction for decades before coming to Aeternum. After the 19th Legion was corrupted, both Decimus and Lucanus were transformed into monstrous cyclops capable of mindless destruction. But their loyalties remained, the one aspect of their humanity that they continued to hold onto. They became focused on carrying out General Crassus’s last wish – to expand the might of Rome across all of Aeternum.”
“The idea of these two formerly noble centurions rampaging through the island determined to carry out their master’s last wish was a nice tragic twist and made these bosses stand out from regular Corrupted monsters.”
Reward Philosophy
“With a battle as epic as this one, we wanted to do more than the expected pool of reward items,“ said Senior Designer Rhett Mathis. ”We wanted to give players some really powerful items that would celebrate their victory over Decimus and Lucanus. That’s what sparked the idea for a core set of Named gear that players can collect every day.“
“We ensured they won’t receive the same Legendary item twice. This allows us to make each item very potent without unbalancing the loot chase.”
“Colossal” Rewards Every Time
“We want to reward players with special items for their persistent cyclops hunting — so beyond the once-daily rewards, we always drop some high-level gear with every victory,” said Product Owner Phil Bolus. “Additional rewards are level appropriate consumables, a chance to get a piece of Tier V gear at higher rarities, and a chance to roll a Named item from any location in the game, with a special emphasis on Named items from Decimus and Lucanus’ homeland, Brimstone Sands. The Legacy of Crassus event is an excellent opportunity to earn strong weapon and armor sets.”
Corrupted Legion Designs
“When we were developing both the Legion Signifer and Legionnaire creature concept designs, our art team had the challenge of reimagining historical Roman soldiers,” said Associate Art Director Sojin Hwang. “Some of our main questions were what would happen to these characters when they fell into corruption on Aeternum and what is the best way to convey that corruption for this particular group of creatures. The corruption mutates and distorts their physical appearance, but even though mutation is involved, we thought it was important to carry their recognizable personality traits; disciplined, brave and tough.”
What would you like to see us do for a world event? Let us know on the forums, Reddit, or YouTube comments section. Thanks for your support! Happy hunting in Aeternum.