Design Notes

October 01, 2026

18th Birthday AdventureCoin Bonus

Get 50% more AdventureCoins as Our Holiday AC Bonus Begins

Birthday Bonus surprise! Heroes across Lore (and Discord, Twitter, and Facebook) have been flooding our feeds with requests to get the /party started off right... and what better way to celebrate than by starting our Holiday Coin Boost a month early?! Starting right now, (October 1st), get 50% more bonus AdventureCoins with any AC or membership package. 

* If you bought a membership or AC pack on or after 12:01 AM EST on September 30, 2025 Captain Rhubarb is awarding you the bonus ACs, too! 

Get 60,000 ACs while our Holiday Bonus is on!

During our 2026 Holiday AdventureCoin bonus, get 60,000 ACs for $99.95 (that's 20,000 ACs more than normal!) and unlock your choice of upgrade bonus pack, 15x Rep, Gold, Class Points, and XP server boosts, and the Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness (IoDA). 

Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness?!

The Mythic Item of Digital Awesomeness (or MIoDA for short) is a miscellaneous item you will get by purchasing the 40k AdventureCoin pakage. Like the other IoDA items, it allows you to choose any item in the game when you redeem it through your Account Manager.

How to Claim your MIoDA Prize

Make sure you have a confirmed email address attached to your game account, and then follow these steps:

1. Decide on the item you want
2. Log into your Account Manager
3. Click on the "Awesome Prizes" link on the sidebar
4. You'll see a list of the IoDA tokens you have available
5. Choose from a list of ALL the eligible item rewards  
6. You'll be taken to a verification page to confirm your choice

Wait...AdventureCoin Bonus?!

That's right! Several times each year, we have bonus AdventureCoin offers, where we'll increase the amount of ACs you get with each pack. (example: Summer, Back to School, and during the holidays). Bonus amounts and dates may change from year to year, so keep an eye on the Design Notes and social media for more news of future bonuses.

Support AQWorlds and Become a Legend!

Upgrade today and lock in 18th Upholder status! Instantly unlock exclusive items, badges, and all our membership perks. AdventureQuest Worlds has been built for (and with) heroes like YOU since 2008. The Founders and early Upholders carried us to the present, and and your support now makes our future updates possible... and to keep building what comes next.

How to become a 18th Upholder

Starting Thursday, October 1 at 12:01 AM EST, we are once again offering the chance to become an AQW Upholder.

1. Upgrade your AQW account with any membership during the month of October
2. Have an active membership that expires on or after 11:59 PM November 1st
   (If this is you... Grats! You are already a 18th Upholder!)

Check out this Design Notes post to see everything you'll unlock as a 18th Upholder!

Note: only memberships count towards 18th Upholder.

October 01, 2026

Become an 18th Upholder

Support AQWorlds and Become a Legend!

Every October, we celebrate AdventureQuest Worlds’ birthday, and honor the heroes who help support the game by becoming Upholders. To show our appreciation, every Upholder instantly unlocks exclusive gifts, badges, an adventurezone, and more.

18th Upholder Dates & Details

Upholders are a core part of why we're able to create updates every week and can keep the game free to play. Become an 18th Upholder now to help keep AQWorlds growing and expanding!

There are two ways to unlock the 18th Upholder bonus:

1. Upgrade your AQW account with any membership during the month of October
2. Have an active membership that expires on or after 11:59 PM November 1st
   (If this is you... Grats! You are already a 18th Upholder!)

Important information:

• 18th Upholder starts Thursday, October 1 at 12:01 AM and ends Sunday, November 1 at 11:59 PM*
• Only memberships count towards 18th Upholder.

Want to know if you're already an Upholder? That's easy! Just click the Manage Account link on the left under the ACCOUNT section. As soon as you sign in you'll see when your membership expires. 

18th Upholder Rewards

In addition to bragging rights as one of Lore's elite heroes, all 18th Upholders receive:

2026 Star Swords

This year's Star Swords theme is: "Factions of Lore"

Inspiration came from the factions that have risen up across Lore over the last eighteen years.

DragonRoad Star Swords & Class For ALL Upholders

We wouldn't be here without your support, and we want to make sure you know it! The Sentinel Class will be available for ALL previous Upholders and Founders as our way of saying thanks for supporting us in the past! Over the last several years, we added new Star Swords available to every Upholder. You'll find them in the Star Sword Merge shop in /dragonroad.

Want to know if you're already an Upholder?

That's easy! Just click the Manage Account link on the left under the ACCOUNT section. As soon as you sign in you'll see when your membership expires. 

Thank you, sincerely, for your support

It takes all kinds of Heroes to make a videogame world the kind of place to want to log into each week. But takes exceptional Heroes to create a community that's lasted as long as AdventureQuest Worlds. Because of you, AdventureQuest Worlds has been online and updating every week since 2008!

So if you’re reading this right now… thank you. The entire team is deeply glad you’re here. We are grateful for all of the time you’ve chosen to spend with us and the support you've shown. Those it possible for us to release new game updates every week and to ensure the majority of the game remains free for ALL heroes.

And of course, we will never forget the original AQWorlds Founders. You believed in us before there was even a game to log into! As always, Founders will receive a special upgraded version of your Platinum Dragon pet. This year’s pet will be revealed soon... keep an eye on the Design Notes for previews!

Note: All dates and times are written in GMT +5 / Eastern United States. This is timezone where the AdventureQuest Worlds game headquarters are located. Want to see what the current server time is? Log in and check the server clock in your Options Menu.

September 21, 2026

Talk Like a Pirate 2026 Collection, Pt 2

NEW event rare items in our 2026 Deadly Seas Collection

Talk Like a Pirate Day is one of the most popular holidays in AQWorlds, and Quibble Coinbit-ARRR is here for it! Our time-traveling sales-moglin is back with new loot for heroes who don't ask too many questions about where he "found" it. Buy items from his shop or unlock 150+ event rares and a character page badge for 10,000 ACs when you get the Endlesss Seas chest. 

Collection Details

We've got a bountiful boatload of wicked rares and witchin' booty for you this weekend! The digital craftsmiths who created this year's sets have outdone themselves with unique treasures for you. Find them in Quibble's 2026 Rares shop and collection chest now.

What: the event rare gear collection contains 150+ items and unlocks an exclusive character page badge
When: Available through Friday, October 16th
Where: Talk to Quibble CoinBiter in Battleon
How: Get the full collection for 10,000 ACs or buy individual items from Quibble's Rares shop

New Gear in the Deadly Seas Collection

The Deadly Seas' Collection pet is in Quibble's Shop for 10,000 AdventureCoins now!

• Click it to open the collection shop full of 0 AC versions of Quibble's rares
• Automatically unlock any future items added to the collection
• As soon as you purchase the quest, your character page badge will apppear
• Tonight: 100 items with more being shipped in next week!

The Deadly Seas Collection pet features Valencia the TreasureHunter art carrying your shiny new loot!

This Week's New Gear

5 armor sets:

• StormKing & DarkBlood Naval Commanders
• CurseCaster Naval Commander
• Naval Commander of DOOM
• Naval Commander of Awe*
• VoidShark Shifter & Guardian of the Depts*

2 pets:

• Emergency Supply Cache
• Active Doom Mine

5 capes, including:

• Stained Glass Mercutio
• CurseCaster Naval Spirit*

And more, including:

• 17 helms
• 8 swords
• 5 daggers
• 3 guns
• 2 polearms
• 1 axe

Still to Come:

• Au-some Admiral set
• Platinum Pirate set
• MindBender Naval Commander set
• Magical Pirate Captain set (featuring Sora the Dark Sorceress)
• ArchMagical Naval Commander set (featuring Warlic the Blue Mage)

A few sets weren't sent in until yesterday, so to help keep things sane (and to extend the pARRRRRty as we prepare for our 18th birthday event) we're adding a 3rd week of Talk Like a Pirate Day collectioon chest items!

And as a 18th birthday bonus, the Au-some Admiral & Platinum Pirate sets will be available in BOTH the 2026 TLaPD and 18th Birthday collection chests! /cheer

Last Week's First Shipment of Gear

8 armor sets:

• Experimental Naval Commander
• VoidLight Naval Commander
• Darkovian Naval Commander
• Celestial Pirate Captain
• Eldritch Pirate Commander
• Flaming Seas Privateer
• Dark Seas Privateer
• Thousand Seas Corsair

4 pets:

• Supply Cache Bank pet
• Chest of the Thousand Oceans pet
• Experimental Virus Bomb
• Navigator 3.0

19 capes, including:

• Aegis of the Thousand Seas (color-customizable)
• Chest of the Thousand Fathoms
• Wings of Rahab
• Eldritch Captain's Coat
• Rings of Rhea

Chaos Pirate Seasonal Collection Chest Returns

For AQWorlds' 13th anniversary, we added a seasonal Chaos Saga Pirate chest with over 100 items! Unlock them all when you get the Chaos Pirate Collection Chest, or buy individual items from the shop in your game menu.

The seasonal Chaos Pirate Collection Chest include:

• Mobius Naval Commander set based on the 1st Lord of Chaos
• Duality Pirate Captain set based on the 2nd Lord of Chaos
• Chaos Dragon Pirate Captain set based on the 3rd Lord of Chaos
• Ruby and Emerald Yokai Pirate Captain sets based on the 4th Lord of Chaos area
• WerePyre-ate Captain set inspired by the 5th Lord of Chaos
• Discordian Naval Commander set totally inspired by the 6th Lord of Chaos
• Arboreal Pirate Captain set inspired by  the 7th Chaos Saga area
• Sandsea Naval Commander set inspired by Zhoom, your main ally in the the 8th Lord of Chaos Saga
• Horcish and Trollish Naval Commander sets inspired by your allies in the 9th Lord of Chaos Saga
• Chronomancer Pirate Captain set inspired by the 10th Lord of Chaos
• ChaosFang Naval Commander set inspired by the 11th Lord of Chaos
• Swordhaven Naval Commander set inspired by the 12th Chaos Saga area
• Eternal Dragon Naval Commander set inspired by the Eternal Dragon of Time
• Ahoyrion Quest pet (with quest for exclusive character page badge)

Just want a couple of the items listed above? Apart from the exclusive pets, all of the gear contained inside the 2026 TLaPD Deadly Seas Collection Chest shop will also be available to buy individually in Quibble's Event shop.

* Seasonal items will return in future TLaPD Quibble rare shops, but will not be included in collection chests.

September 21, 2026

What the Kingdom Owes

Yarrr! Talk Like a Pirate Day, Part 2 is Live

GREAT news, Hero: you found your friends alive! :D
Not-so-good news: ... they're fish. O_O

The rulers of this underwater paradise you found yourself in have apologized politely for the mistake their Reapers made. Extremely politey. But the King seems unusually nervous when you mention Death. Something's more than just fishy in the land of Isthmia... it's rotten.

But Hero, it's better down where it's wetter, under the sea! Make sure you've finished part one of our Talk Like a Pirate Day event in /DeadlySeas, then /join IsthmiaCastle to fin-ish the story.

Friday Update Details

Read on for news about this weekend's new updates.

Event: The Deadly Seas, Part 2 of our Talk Like a Pirate Day event
Rewards: Siren of the Nethersea + ShadowSlayer Corsair sets and more
Quibble's Rares Collection: 50+ new event items

Weekend Daily Gifts & Boosts

Server Boost: Get double Gold, XP, Rep, and Class Points until Monday!
Saturday: Feast on seasonal Pancake gear from the Chickencow in /Battleontown
Sunday: Collect the rare Bloodsail Sharpshooter set items from the Reaper of the Sea in /IsthmiaCastle

And don't miss the rest of this month's update. See the full release lineup here: AdventureQuest Worlds calendar.

Booty Fer Buccaneers

A Hero like you never walks out of a castle empty-handed... not when you've solved the fish-tery of the disappearing townpeople and recovered your missing friends! Take on Isthmian Guards, kriller sharks, and the Reaper of the Sea, then take your loot the shell out of the Isthmian Offering's shop!

The sea’s most bloodthirsty buccaneers don’t give up without a fight… but victory is sweeter when it comes with treasure! Battle the Captains and crews in /PirateHunt to claim their loot. Fight to earn merge resources, then craft awe-some pirate armor sets.

Hunt for the Queen's Bounty

/join PirateHunt now and board Captain Rhubarb's ship, the Red Betty! Work with him and Lore's best bounty hunter, J6, to seek out the pirates on Queen Victoria's list. Click the globe in Captain Rhubarb's quarters to call up the map that'll lead you to your targets.

She's after some of the most vile, greedy, and just plain annoying pirate captains and crews... and if you catch'em YOU get the reward! 

ShadowScythe vs SpacePirates!

Did you see that streak of red in the stars? That was left behind by the Hydra's Hark after its crew and Commander, Gallaeon, plundered one of Empress Gravelyn's fortresses, attacking from the sky. She sent one of her DoomKnights to bring Gallaeon to heel, and if you help him battle the crew + captain, he's got orders to let you pillage 'til your pack can't hold anymore rewards. 

• /join doompirate
• Talk to Dusk to begin your quest to help subdue the crew
• Defeat Commander Gallaeon
• Victory unlocks a bonus quest + challenge fight against the Captain and crew

Commander Gallaeon & Crew Challenge

After you defeat Gallaeon in /doompirate, take him and his entire crew on at once. This nine mob challenge might be difficult to overcome, but if you are victorious enough times, you can earn Dusk's DoomTech DoomKnight armor, a house guard, and the Shadowscythe Pirate Warship house for yourself!

If you have the ShadowScythe Pirate Commander Upgrade Bonus pack, you've automatically unlocked a version of the house with a color-customization room!)

Hydra Swabbie Drops:

• Hydra's Hark Crewman armor
• Shadowspace Skull + Hydra's Hark Bandana helms
• Space Buccaneer Bag

Hydra Crew Drops:

• Undead Buccaneer Skull
• Hydra's Hark Handcannon

Merge Shop:

• Shadowspace Empire Crewman armor
• ShadowScythe Admiral armor
• Shadowspace Crewman
• 2 capes + 4 helms
• Serrated Cutlass + Crimson Cutlass (single + dual-wield)
• Empire Fleet Flintlock (single + dual-wield)

If you haven't checked out our other seasonal Talk Like a Pirate Day events yet, /join septhub (our September event hub town) to find all our seasonal Talk Like a Pirate Day maps, birthday NPCs, and battle for loot, booty, and adventy-ARRRRR!

• Tlapd
• Pirates
• Piratewar
• Hiddendepths
• Blazebeard
• Manacannon
• Kaijuwar 
• Heartofthesea
• cetoleonwa

September 18, 2026

Tonight: Talk Like a Pirate 2026 Collection

Unlock event rare items in our 2026 Deadly Seas Collection

Talk Like a Pirate Day is one of the most popular holidays in AQWorlds, and Quibble Coinbit-ARRR is here for it! Our time-traveling sales-moglin is back with new loot for heroes who don't ask too many questions about where he "found" it. Buy items from his shop or unlock 150+ event rares and a character page badge for 10,000 ACs when you get the Endlesss Seas chest. 

Collection Details

We've got a bountiful boatload of wicked rares and witchin' booty for you this weekend! The digital craftsmiths who created this year's sets have outdone themselves with unique treasures for you. Find them in Quibble's 2026 Rares shop and collection chest now.

What: the event rare gear collection contains 150+ items and unlocks an exclusive character page badge
When: Available through Friday, October 16th
Where: Talk to Quibble CoinBiter in Battleon
How: Get the full collection for 10,000 ACs or buy individual items from Quibble's Rares shop

Now Available: Deadly Seas Collection

The Deadly Seas' Collection pet is in Quibble's Shop for 10,000 AdventureCoins now!

• Click it to open the collection shop full of 0 AC versions of Quibble's rares
• Automatically unlock any future items added to the collection
• As soon as you purchase the quest, your character page badge will apppear
• Tonight: 100 items with more being shipped in next week!

The Deadly Seas Collection pet features Valencia the TreasureHunter art carrying your shiny new loot!

8 armor sets:

• Experimental Naval Commander
• VoidLight Naval Commander
• Darkovian Naval Commander
• Celestial Pirate Captain
• Eldritch Pirate Commander
• Flaming Seas Privateer
• Dark Seas Privateer
• Thousand Seas Corsair

4 pets:

• Supply Cache Bank pet
• Chest of the Thousand Oceans pet
• Experimental Virus Bomb
• Navigator 3.0

19 capes, including:

• Aegis of the Thousand Seas (color-customizable)
• Chest of the Thousand Fathoms
• Wings of Rahab
• Eldritch Captain's Coat
• Rings of Rhea

Still to Come:

• StormKing Naval Commander & Darkblood Pirate sets
• Au-some Admiral set
• Magical Pirate Captain set (featuring Warlic the Blue Mage + Sora the Dark Sorceress)
• CurseCaster Naval Commander set
• Naval Commadnder of Awe set
• Naval Commander of DOOM set
• and more!

Chaos Pirate Seasonal Collection Chest Returns

For AQWorlds' 13th anniversary, we added a seasonal Chaos Saga Pirate chest with over 100 items! Unlock them all when you get the Chaos Pirate Collection Chest, or buy individual items from the shop in your game menu.

The seasonal Chaos Pirate Collection Chest include:

• Mobius Naval Commander set based on the 1st Lord of Chaos
• Duality Pirate Captain set based on the 2nd Lord of Chaos
• Chaos Dragon Pirate Captain set based on the 3rd Lord of Chaos
• Ruby and Emerald Yokai Pirate Captain sets based on the 4th Lord of Chaos area
• WerePyre-ate Captain set inspired by the 5th Lord of Chaos
• Discordian Naval Commander set totally inspired by the 6th Lord of Chaos
• Arboreal Pirate Captain set inspired by  the 7th Chaos Saga area
• Sandsea Naval Commander set inspired by Zhoom, your main ally in the the 8th Lord of Chaos Saga
• Horcish and Trollish Naval Commander sets inspired by your allies in the 9th Lord of Chaos Saga
• Chronomancer Pirate Captain set inspired by the 10th Lord of Chaos
• ChaosFang Naval Commander set inspired by the 11th Lord of Chaos
• Swordhaven Naval Commander set inspired by the 12th Chaos Saga area
• Eternal Dragon Naval Commander set inspired by the Eternal Dragon of Time
• Ahoyrion Quest pet (with quest for exclusive character page badge)

Just want a couple of the items listed above? Apart from the exclusive pets, all of the gear contained inside the 2026 TLaPD Deadly Seas Collection Chest shop will also be available to buy individually in Quibble's Event shop.

September 18, 2026

Taken By the Tide

Yarrr! Talk Like a Pirate Day, Part 1 is Live

Avast! Reports have been flooding in: fishermen, sailors, pirates, and even Water Elves have gone missing. Some disappearances are expected; Lolosians know the seas can be deadly. But when your friends vanish into the depths, it's an "all hands on deck" emergency. You've got to find them, and fast. The good news is, you know a guy with a boat! 

This weekend, sink into the depths as you search for your lost friends and uncover a world under yours that seems... fishy. /join DeadlySeas now to begin your adventure!

Friday Update Details

Read on for news about this weekend's new updates.

Event: The Deadly Seas, Part 1 of our Talk Like a Pirate Day event
Rewards:  Noval Sal Pirate + Privateer sets, First Mate o' Awe set
Quibble's Rares Collection: 100 new event items

And don't miss the rest of this month's update. See the full release lineup here: AdventureQuest Worlds calendar.

Booty Fer Buccaneers

The sea never gives up her dead... and what waits below is very, very fishy. Battle the creatures lurking in the /deadlyseas to claim a boatload of new booty. Fight to earn Isthmian Seashell merge resources, then craft all-new pirate sea-riously killer loot: Mermaid Hunter and Isthmian Guard sets!

The sea’s most bloodthirsty buccaneers don’t give up without a fight… but victory is sweeter when it comes with treasure! Battle the Captains and crews in /PirateHunt to claim their loot. Fight to earn merge resources, then craft awe-some pirate armor sets.

Hunt for the Queen's Bounty

/join PirateHunt now and board Captain Rhubarb's ship, the Red Betty! Work with him and Lore's best bounty hunter, J6, to seek out the pirates on Queen Victoria's list. Click the globe in Captain Rhubarb's quarters to call up the map that'll lead you to your targets.

She's after some of the most vile, greedy, and just plain annoying pirate captains and crews... and if you catch'em YOU get the reward! 

ShadowScythe vs SpacePirates!

Did you see that streak of red in the stars? That was left behind by the Hydra's Hark after its crew and Commander, Gallaeon, plundered one of Empress Gravelyn's fortresses, attacking from the sky. She sent one of her DoomKnights to bring Gallaeon to heel, and if you help him battle the crew + captain, he's got orders to let you pillage 'til your pack can't hold anymore rewards. 

• /join doompirate
• Talk to Dusk to begin your quest to help subdue the crew
• Defeat Commander Gallaeon
• Victory unlocks a bonus quest + challenge fight against the Captain and crew

Commander Gallaeon & Crew Challenge

After you defeat Gallaeon in /doompirate, take him and his entire crew on at once. This nine mob challenge might be difficult to overcome, but if you are victorious enough times, you can earn Dusk's DoomTech DoomKnight armor, a house guard, and the Shadowscythe Pirate Warship house for yourself!

If you have the ShadowScythe Pirate Commander Upgrade Bonus pack, you've automatically unlocked a version of the house with a color-customization room!)

Hydra Swabbie Drops:

• Hydra's Hark Crewman armor
• Shadowspace Skull + Hydra's Hark Bandana helms
• Space Buccaneer Bag

Hydra Crew Drops:

• Undead Buccaneer Skull
• Hydra's Hark Handcannon

Merge Shop:

• Shadowspace Empire Crewman armor
• ShadowScythe Admiral armor
• Shadowspace Crewman
• 2 capes + 4 helms
• Serrated Cutlass + Crimson Cutlass (single + dual-wield)
• Empire Fleet Flintlock (single + dual-wield)

If you haven't checked out our other seasonal Talk Like a Pirate Day events yet, /join septhub (our September event hub town) to find all our seasonal Talk Like a Pirate Day maps, birthday NPCs, and battle for loot, booty, and adventy-ARRRRR!

• Tlapd
• Pirates
• Piratewar
• Hiddendepths
• Blazebeard
• Manacannon
• Kaijuwar 
• Heartofthesea
• cetoleonwa