It is done! V.1.4.0 will make a big difference on the gameplay! Rebalanced artifacts and pyramids, plus new tools to help the player (and a little compensation for the enemy).
For the new players, this rebalance means an easier start, with enough time to learn the game mechanics, and a smoother increase in difficulty throughout the stages.
For those who already played the game, the biggest difference will be the change in the pace of the battle. Artifacts and pyramids now will generate less points of DOM per turn, wich will give the player more time to react and to overcome bad luck.
And since the artifacts generate less points now, we also greatly increased the chance of getting them and reduced their MP cost! The fun of the game is on having many artifacts (and, thanks to them, being able to act more with the Spellinkers).
So here are the main changes on V.1.4.0 (for a detailed description, please check the changelog).
TOOLS:
We know that many players would rather that the game had a bit less of luck factor, and we thought on different ways to mitigate this without changing too much the essence of the game. Because, truth be told, the game IS meant to have some amount of luck factor.
There were always some ways to surpass the randomness by using spells and items, and also leveling up the Mage General. But we thought that it would be nice to give some extra resources to the player. These resources are Melchior's and Stella's Tools.
Tools are new equipments that will be unlocked during the campaing, when the player passes through specific stages. Tools are gifts given from Melchior and Stella, and the player may use them during battle. Melchior's Tools will allow the player to spend a little mana to repair artifacts or to inflict direct damage on pyramids. Stella's Tools are passive, and may be turned on or off whenever the player wants; her tools give the player a good advantage on the battle by draining MP from defeated enemies and also making it easier to do arcane attacks with your Spellinkers.
REBALANCE ON DOMAIN POINTS
Now both the player and the enemy will advance a little slower over the field, because artifacts and pyramids will generate a reduced amount of Domain Points (DOM) per turn. To win it will be necessary to place and maintain even more artifacts/pyramids on the field. But game won't become too slow, don't worry! It was the previous version of the game that was too fast.
To compensate the reduction of DOM points of artifacts we also reduced the amount of DOM that the player loses when homunculi cross the border, or when they kill an Spellinker or an artifact. It is still dangerous to let these things happen, but with this rebalance the player will have more chance to recover.
REBALANCE ON ARTIFACTS FLOW AND COSTS
Another compensation for the reduction of DOM points generated by artifacts is that we increased the amount of artifacts that the player will get during the battle and reduced their casting cost.
This makes a big difference on the gameplay, which will get more fun and dynamic in two ways:
1 - As always, the number of artifacts is what determines how many moves you can make with your Spellinkers per turn. So, with the increase on the amount of artifacts per battle comes also an increase on the actions per turn.
2- With reduced cost and increased flow of jewels, silver and gold artifacts will become more common and will have a bigger role on the battle (it was a bad point on the previous versions that these higher level artifacts were so hard to get).
FRONTLINE ENEMIES
The player got many new advantages, but we also added something to the enemy. Now, starting on stage 1-4, each enemy will have some initial units already placed on the field at the start of the battle. Since the Domains will advance a little slower because of the rebalance on artifacts/pyramids, these enemies were added to make the first turn of the battle a bit more interesting. Now the player will have to compete with these starting enemies for the surprise bubbles on the center of the field. Stronger enemies on advanced stages will start with more units.
GENERAL CHANGES
We also made some minor changes on costs and unit's stats. Pyramids have a little less HP on the first worlds; some items on Melchior's Shop are cheaper now; bonus stages unlock costs were also reduced; and we also changed a few values of some skills.
And some minor bug fixes too. Once again, for more details please view our changelog session: changelog
That's it! This may be our last major update for this game, except for bug corrections and some minor fixes that may be necessary in the future. We are pretty happy with the results of this new balancing, and we hope that it will satisfy most of the players. Please, let us know what you think! Any feedback is welcome!
Have fun!