I had to double-check my calendar when reading this news, but yes, Kickstarted indie MMORPG Embers Adrift really is about to turn three years old, and Stormhaven Studios is celebrating with a juicy patch.

“This patch marks a major milestone for the game, bringing some of our biggest changes yet,” the team posted on Steam. “We’ve overhauled the new player experience by eliminating base roles, introducing Alchemy earlier, and weaving in more class fantasy so every character feels unique from the start. We’re also celebrating our third anniversary of being live with a host of improvements, fixes, and quality-of-life updates to make the game better than ever.”

The role changes are probably the most important, particularly in how they affect existing characters; for example players can no longer “forget” adventuring roles, specs, or classes.

“Characters without a base role or specialization will be required to select a class before they can enter the game. A new button ‘Select Class’ will show on the character nameplate, which will show a new dialog with your selection options (this choice is FINAL and cannot be reverted). With no base class you can select from all 9 available classes and will start at level 1. With a base role but no spec you will be able to choose from the 3 subclasses of your base role. If you are below level 6 then your class level will match your current level. If you are above level 6, then your class level will be set to level 6 and will need to play catch up. All other characters will undergo a ‘live migration’ process on their first zone in which will add, remove, and replace skills depending on your specific class configuration.”

The third anniversary is on as well; players should head to the Newhaven for the seasonal events, just note that Newhaven Valley itself as been retooled a bit too in terms of balance and roads. Happy birthday, Embers!