Editing Updates/New Skill: Athletics (section)

== '''New Skill: Athletics [Updated]''' ==

''Friday, August 22, 2025''

<html><center><img src="https://highspell.wiki/w/images/2/22/Kabeplateaeu1.png" alt="Athletics Training" title="Athletics Training"></center></html>

=== Athletics ===

There is finally a new skill to train - Athletics. You will notice that your once infinite stamina is no more, now if you want to sprint for longer periods, you'll need to start working out.

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There are currently three obstacle courses to increase your Athletics skill at - Kabe Hills Plateau, the Swamp to the West of Celadon City, and up on Mount Tan. As you increase your Athletics levels, not only will you increase your stamina, but you'll also be able to navigate various shortcuts that are scattered around the map, to help getting from one location to another much faster.

If you are low on stamina and need a quick breather, if you happen to be near a bed, then you can go ahead and take a small nap to quickly restore stamina. Not only that, but a new Potion of Stamina can now be brewed to help restore stamina as well.

=== Other Updates ===

Along with the new skill, there have been some other changes made.

* Your sprint setting is now saved between logins
* Item weight has been added, which affects how quickly your stamina drains
* You can now sleep in beds to restore stamina quickly
* Potion of Stamina has been added
* Potion of Magic is now brewed in Witch's cauldrons, instead of Wizard's Cauldrons
* Experienced gained from brewing a Potion of Smithing has been reduced
* Cairn Teleport has been added to the Spell Book
* Legendary Gloves have received a slight Accuracy and Strength buff
* Knives have been added as possible loot from searching crates

=== Performance Improvements ===

Some client-side performance improvements have been implemented.

* Many meshes (3d models) have been optimized, so the total of meshes loaded at any given time has been dramatically decreased, particularly in cities such as Celadon City
* Shaders are now used to draw cliffs/paths on the world terrain, as opposed to a completely separate ground mesh. If there are any strange graphical issues on your computer or device, you can turn shaders off in the graphics settings menu and use the original approach
* You can now toggle water transparency from the graphics settings menu

=== Server-side changes ===

Due to some longstanding issued involving NPCs being duplicated/frozen when walking into a new chunk (such as Orlando), the method for loading other players/NPCs/ground items/exhausted world entities/etc. has been refactored. All other entities will now appear on your screen based on your distance from them, as opposed to loading all at once when you enter a new chunk. These changes may not be noticeable to you, but they were much needed and long overdue. And not only that, but it now allows for NPCs to be able to walk around all over the map instead of being locked to a single chunk, although currently none have a large enough movement radius to do so just yet, but stay tuned.

This should also fix the longstanding issue where players would receive damage twice when pickpocketing/combat training, showing duplicate chat messages, etc., as well as trees and ore rocks not correctly respawning.

=== Bug Fixes ===

* Fixed bug where size of healthbar was sometimes not the correct size
* Fixed bug where certain NPCs would not move, and would also not retaliate when attacked
* Fixed issue with King Goblin Jockey's attack radius, allowing him to be ranged/maged without retaliation
* Fixed bug where world entities such as ore rocks, trees, etc. would not correctly respawn
* Fixed bug where items a steep slope (such as a staircase) would appear nearly entirely underneath the ground
* Fixed bug where players could not harvest crops with Legendary Gloves equipped

=== Update 2025/08/23 ===

*Stamina loss rate has been decreased, and stamina regeneration rate has been increased (note that these rates scale as you continue to level up Athletics)
* Fixed bug where treasure maps displayed the wrong image
* Fixed bug preventing users from sending messages when maneuvering obstacles
* Added missing Cairn Teleport to the Magic Guide

More additions to Athletics will be added in the coming updates, such as new areas to enter and additional equipment/cosmetics.