It has been a while, but the patch is here! Patch notes below, and you can also read them on the Duelyst II website, it has pictures!
The Sisters are still cooking, don't worry...
Duelyst II: The Board Game
In case you missed it, the Duelyst II physical board game is out now! You can read more about it here.
Balance Changes
Unbounded Energy Amulet: Now costs 3 mana.
Assassination Protocol: Now costs 0 mana; the activated minion can now attack (but not damage) Generals.
There has been a large volume of community feedback voicing disappointment with the state of Songhai after all the nerfs. This partial unnerf should help a little. Being able to attack Generals for 0 damage gives some synergy with attack effects, like Frenzy. It also makes card’s effect consistent with Vindicator’s change.
Time Maelstrom: Now costs 4 mana. Effect changed to “Destroy minions that were summoned since your last turn. End your turn.”
Magmar’s Anachronize is moved to Vetruvian, replacing Time Maelstrom. Maelstrom is (was) the most powerful card in the game, only held down by the surrounding cards. But you could also say that Vetruvian as a faction is held down by the fact that they have access to Maelstrom. Removing the spell allows us to spread that power more evenly across the faction’s card pool with future updates. Additionally, it gives Vetruvian access to AoE removal – something the faction was lacking – while removing excessive AoE from Magmar.
Shadow Creep: Now deals 2 damage.
This is more of an experimental change. 3 damage Creep proved to be a strong archetype and a good reference point. Even though it is not overpowered, it still feels oppressive at times – in the early game and against certain other archetypes. Lowering the damage output whilst increasing the speed of the deck changes the dynamic, hopefully making it more entertaining for both players.
New Moon Hex: Now costs 1 mana.
Sphere of Darkness: Now costs 1 mana.
Darkspine Elemental: Now has 3 Health.
Nightsplitter: Now costs 4 mana. Attack reduced to 4.
Shadow Nova: Now costs 4 mana.
Horn of the Forsaken: Now costs 4 mana. Effect changed to “When this is equipped and destroyed, summon a Wraithling directly above, below, in front and behind your General.”
Vindicator: Now has 2 Attack; the minion that gains Rush cannot damage Generals the same turn.
This is yet another in a set of changes aimed at limiting out-of-hand face damage and OTKs. We may completely rework the card in the future, but currently decided to stick with a simpler solution. It keeps one half of the card – board-oriented one – intact, while removing unwanted interactions, both existing and theoretical ones that may come with new cards.
Anachronize: Replaced with 3 mana Blood Rage: Give an allied minion +1/+1 for each time damage was dealt this turn.
Anachronize is an AoE removal spell in a faction full of removal spells. Additionally, its effect doesn’t fit the faction thematically (time manipulation, all the weird effects and clever words go to Vetruvian). Blood Rage is a quick replacement so that Magmar doesn’t end up being a card down.
Consuming Rebirth: Changed back to 2 mana: “Destroy an allied minion. At the end of your turn, summon it on that space and give it +1/+1.”
While fun as a concept, Consuming Rebirth (and its combo with Synchronic Abomination, in particular) turned out to be very unfun on the receiving end. We believe that this card needs to be removed from competitive play, so we are reverting it to its previous version.
Predation: Effect changed back to “An allied unit fights a nearby enemy minion.”
Coldbiter: No longer deals damage to the enemy General.
Coldbiter and Predation were the “nudge” changes (you will be seeing more of those) – small tweaks to encourage players to take another look at certain cards and experiment a bit. Admittedly, these two particular changes didn’t work well, so we are reverting them.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Reva Eventide – Dark was missing her run animation
- Fixed an issue where playing Penance on Sun Seer would cause it to heal your General.
- Fixed Storm Aratha’s hit/death animation.