Whelp, it didn't quite land at the end of 2020, but 2021 is here and we're starting you folks off with a new patch! You get Balance Updates, Optimization Options, New Achievements, New Cosmetics, Bug Fixes, and best of all... New Maps!
Is that a Campaign map... in Multiplayer?
Map Variants
Every FFA & Teams map now features an alternate version of it, all based off the versions seen in the Campaign. Effectively, we're adding 8 New Maps to the game! These variants are generally more difficult than the standard versions, some of them supporting 3 or even 4 Paths.
Remember this old gem from initial Early Access release? It's baaack!
Speaking of paths, some of our maps are designed to be played as 2 Path maps. As such, we're adjusting the Paths option. Instead of choosing between 1 or 2 Paths, you'll now choose between:
- Standard: Play the map the way it's meant to be played. It'll have 1 or 2 Paths on by default.
- Advanced: Play an advanced version of the map, containing at least 2 Paths and scaling up to 4.
- For some of the base maps, Standard & Advanced will be one and the same.
That said, you'll no longer be able to play certain maps as 1 Path.
RIP Wasteland as the easiest 1-Path map.
New Achievements & Cosmetics
- Each map now has the following Achievements:
- Alternate: Clear Wave 55 of [Map] Variant on Hard Difficulty
- Elite: Clear Wave 55 of [Map] Variant on Very Hard + Advanced Paths
- The Leprechaun & Jester Hats have been updated.
- 5 New Hats!
- Ho Ho Hat
- Double Wreath
- Viking Helm
- College Cap
- Flamingo
It's a bit late, but Merry Christmas!
Improvements
- VFX will no longer render off-screen, which should drastically help end-game lag.
- Reduced Ranked Requirement from Level 20 to 15.
- Graphics Options have been added:
- Anisotropic Filter: Turn it on to improve texture quality at a distance, especially when viewed at an angle. Good for screenshots. Off by default.
- Shadows: Choose between Hard and Soft Shadows.
- AO Quality: Ambient Occlusion, aka draws shadows at intersections. Choose between Off, Low, Medium, and High.
- Adjusted Score Thresholds for some Missions in Chapter 3. Should make 4 Stars a bit easier to do.
- The paths for 1-4 Players have been adjusted for Atlantis.
- War Mode Ability Cooldowns reduced by roughly 20% across the board.
- Added Turkish localization.
Fixes
- Fixed FFA Game Notifications sometimes not turning off properly
- Fixed a bug where players could join an in-progress game
- Fixed Personal Scores in Singleplayer not saving.
- Fixed a bug in War Mode where abilities would grow in size with each use
- Fixed a bug in War Mode where selecting a tower would not only hide the lingering icon, but also "pause" its remaining timer
- If you cast Dimensional Rift without hitting any enemies, no icon should appear
- Fixed builders sinking into the abyss in the middle of Grand City.
- Fixed Atlantis minimap being offset.
- Fixed Fastest Clear stat resetting itself.
- Fixed a bug where if you select the Friends tab in the Leaderboard, then switch to a map where you have a replay, it'd automatically load that entry.
A lot of work goes into making the in-between areas pleasant to look at. Take a look around sometime! Just don't die in the process.
General Balance
- Diminishing Returns:
- All Slow & Damage Amp Towers will now have diminishing returns. How this works is, after the first debuff, for each additional unique debuff, all debuffs are 5% less effective.
- Debuff Effectiveness = 95% ^ (# of Stacks - 1)
- Default Wave Order has shuffled a bit:
- Wave 7 is now Fire + Healing
- Wave 8 is now Water + Bulky
- Wave 9 is now Light + Cursed
- Wave 10 is now Earth + Temporal
- Wave 13 is now Light + Healing
- Wave 15 is now Earth + Shield
- Wave 22 is now Nature + Healing
- Wave 23 is now Earth + Undead
- Wave 25 is now Light + Bulky
- Wave 31 is now Light + Shield
- Wave 32 is now Water + Temporal
- Tier 2 Singles cost increased from 650 to 675
- Tier 3 Singles cost increased from 2250 to 2500
- Tier 4 Singles & Periodic cost increased from 12250 to 15000
- Cursed attack speed reduction raised from 10% to 15% per stack
- Duration reduced from 15 to 10 seconds
- 2-Path maps in Ranked Mode no longer have +3 seconds added to the Wave Timer.
- Autumn's map layout has been adjusted a bit.
It's almost the same, we just extended things a bit. Oh, and it looks prettier.
Tower Balance
- Arrow damage reduced from 50 to 45
- Cannon damage reduced from 60 to 55
- Darkness damage reduced from 300 / 1800 / 10800 / 108000 to 280 / 1680 / 10080 / 100800
- HP Damage reduced from 10% to 5%
- Fire damage growth per second increased from 0.5 / 3 / 18 / 180 to 1 / 6 / 36 / 360
- Reset time reduced from 4 to 3 seconds
- Blacksmith damage reduced from 500 / 2000 / 8000 to 450 / 1800 / 7200
- Damage buff rescaled from 10% / 20% / 100% to 10% / 30% / 90%
- Well damage reduced from 500 / 2000 / 8000 to 450 / 1800 / 7200
- Attack speed buff rescaled from 10% / 20% / 100% to 10% / 30% / 90%
- Trickery damage reduced from 375 / 1500 / 6000 to 325 / 1300 / 5200
- Clone damage rescaled from 40% / 80% / 400% to 36% / 108% / 324%
- Infernal damage reduced from 700 / 2800 / 11200 to 650 / 2600 / 10400
- Haste reset time increased from 4 to 5 seconds
- Flooding damage increased from 320 / 1280 to 350 / 1400
- Money damage reduced from 6000 / 24000 to 5500 / 22000
- Impulse damage increased from 2000 / 8000 to 2200 / 8800
- Golem damage increased from 2500 / 10000 to 3000 / 12000
- Downtime increased from 3 to 4 seconds
- Nova Level 2 Slow increased from 20% to 30%
- Windstorm Level 2 slow increased from 20% to 30%
- Root Level 2 slow increased from 20% to 30%
- Muck Level 2 slow increased from 20% to 30%
- Jinx Level 2 bonus damage increaased from 12% to 18%
- Corrosion Level 2 damage amp increased from 30% to 45%
- Polar HP burn rescaled from 10% / 20% to 8% / 24%
- Incantation Level 2 damage amp increased from 20% to 30%
- Solo damage amp increased from 60% to 90%
- Periodic damage increased from 38000 to 40000
As usual, with any Balance Patch is a Leaderboard Reset. Note this is just for the Score Leaderboards, not Ranked. That won't be reset until the official release.
Things may have gotten just a tad chaotic here...
And with that, we've delivered one of the last "big updates" before official release. Chapter 4 of the campaign will arrive with the official release. There'll still be updates between now and then (Achievements, Cosmetics... a 3rd Co-op Map), but otherwise it'll primarily be bug fixes and quality-of-life updates. In the meantime, enjoy dying to the new maps, Happy New Year, and may 2021 fair better for us all!