Epic scenario effects & missions :
The epic scenario missions and scenario end effects of meteors and other natural terraforming events brought some depth to the game, the main problem of it was just how severe the effects were, tune down the terraforming damage and make sure it doesn't hit deeds and it'll add some additional incentives to leave deed through karma gain and valrei buffs, and some additional depth to the game, how cool wouldn't it be for new people to see stuff like this https://youtu.be/wMhCmaFsolM?t=123
Consider adding old hota as a compliment to the new hota battlecamp system :
While the new hota incentivizes roaming, it hasn't created much large scale pvp due to the time it takes to get pvp ready, organize a group and then head out to the battlecamp. It takes 10 minutes at most to conquer a battlecamp, and it'll take far longer for a kingdom to organize a group and get to the position, so only groups which are already out roaming would be able to respond in time for a battlecamp before it is captured, if you look on the tabs of the new server the vast majority of kills are through solos/duos/trios roaming, not through large battles.
The old hota system however incentivized large scale pvp, as people could predict that there would be enemy groups that would show up, while you don't know when a battlecamp will be captured by enemies.
As the location of the hota was constant it was also easier for large groups to arrive and either fight enemy groups or finish the hota within a short amount of time, if the battlecamp is on the other side of the map it could take hours to conquer it through travelling and so on. The new hota system is good to incentivize roaming, but what is currently lacking on defiance is incentives for large scale pvp.
Nerf pets:
Currently with the lead 1 creature mechanic combined with what seems to be a buff to creature cr from the latest elevation changes, pets are extremely powerful, so much so that most of the work when it comes to pvp is usually done by pets, and this is coming from a libila priest who would not benefit from a pet nerf, but for the server health it shouldn't be a requirement to have 70 taming to be on an equal level to priests who can zombify/charm/dominate, as soon as the enemy is dehorsed you can simply put the pet on the enemy and it's game over, eventually their stamina will run out even if you do absolutely nothing but let the pet stay on them, and a troll/croc/scorp will kill most people on foot solo. How such a nerf would be implemented is another question, perhaps just make tamed/zombified/charmed/dominated pets squishier with lower cr.
Consider buffing wrath of magranon to a similar damage to pain rain/scorn of libila:
From tests done a year ago wrath of mag didn't deal much damage at all, and whitelight priests currently lack aoe damage as the pillar spells are essentially useless for damage.
Redo the king challenge mechanic:
The current mechanic works on a total amount of player basis, the more premium players there is in a kingdom, the harder it is for a kingdom to get the kingship, and with the huge amounts of players currently on defiance, you have as much chance winning a lottery as becoming king, the king system adds some depth, flavour and lore to the game, which is currently missing imo.
Look into how new players join the pvp server:
If it still is the same as it was on launch where you have to first go to pve, and then find a portal at the starterdeed to the pvp server, that's just terrible, a new player probably wouldn't even be able to find the portal in the first place, just let them join directly to the pvp server from the tutorial spot, with an added warning text of how defiance is a full loot map where you risk losing items, perhaps recommend kingdom choices based on the amount of total premium players in said kingdoms, so new players are recommended to join smaller kingdoms from the start
Epic scenario effects & missions : The epic scenario missions and scenario end effects of meteors and other natural terraforming events brought some depth to the game, the main problem of it was just how severe the effects were, tune down the terraforming damage and make sure it doesn't hit deeds and it'll add some additional incentives to leave deed through karma gain and valrei buffs, and some additional depth to the game, how cool wouldn't it be for new people to see stuff like this https://youtu.be/wMhCmaFsolM?t=123 Consider adding old hota as a compliment to the new hota battlecamp system : While the new hota incentivizes roaming, it hasn't created much large scale pvp due to the time it takes to get pvp ready, organize a group and then head out to the battlecamp. It takes 10 minutes at most to conquer a battlecamp, and it'll take far longer for a kingdom to organize a group and get to the position, so only groups which are already out roaming would be able to respond in time for a battlecamp before it is captured, if you look on the tabs of the new server the vast majority of kills are through solos/duos/trios roaming, not through large battles. The old hota system however incentivized large scale pvp, as people could predict that there would be enemy groups that would show up, while you don't know when a battlecamp will be captured by enemies. As the location of the hota was constant it was also easier for large groups to arrive and either fight enemy groups or finish the hota within a short amount of time, if the battlecamp is on the other side of the map it could take hours to conquer it through travelling and so on. The new hota system is good to incentivize roaming, but what is currently lacking on defiance is incentives for large scale pvp. Nerf pets: Currently with the lead 1 creature mechanic combined with what seems to be a buff to creature cr from the latest elevation changes, pets are extremely powerful, so much so that most of the work when it comes to pvp is usually done by pets, and this is coming from a libila priest who would not benefit from a pet nerf, but for the server health it shouldn't be a requirement to have 70 taming to be on an equal level to priests who can zombify/charm/dominate, as soon as the enemy is dehorsed you can simply put the pet on the enemy and it's game over, eventually their stamina will run out even if you do absolutely nothing but let the pet stay on them, and a troll/croc/scorp will kill most people on foot solo. How such a nerf would be implemented is another question, perhaps just make tamed/zombified/charmed/dominated pets squishier with lower cr. Consider buffing wrath of magranon to a similar damage to pain rain/scorn of libila: From tests done a year ago wrath of mag didn't deal much damage at all, and whitelight priests currently lack aoe damage as the pillar spells are essentially useless for damage. Redo the king challenge mechanic: The current mechanic works on a total amount of player basis, the more premium players there is in a kingdom, the harder it is for a kingdom to get the kingship, and with the huge amounts of players currently on defiance, you have as much chance winning a lottery as becoming king, the king system adds some depth, flavour and lore to the game, which is currently missing imo. Look into how new players join the pvp server: If it still is the same as it was on launch where you have to first go to pve, and then find a portal at the starterdeed to the pvp server, that's just terrible, a new player probably wouldn't even be able to find the portal in the first place, just let them join directly to the pvp server from the tutorial spot, with an added warning text of how defiance is a full loot map where you risk losing items, perhaps recommend kingdom choices based on the amount of total premium players in said kingdoms, so new players are recommended to join smaller kingdoms from the start