Major Update: Pre-season "Before the Storm" Content Breakdown

Hey everyone! Today's post will be a long and juicy one, we're going to break down the main content and changes coming in the Pre-season update on September 29th. But first, let's talk about what the Pre-season is about:

• The Pre-season is all about testing the changes we've got lined up for Season 1, aimed at DB's core players. We're hoping you'll dive in, test things out, and give us your honest feedback. We appreciate your patience, dedication, and support as we continue on this journey
• With that goal in mind, the Pre-season update won't involve any wipes, new servers/realms, or progression resets

So, what's new in the Pre-season patch?

Part 1: No More BS Matchmaking!

• Since launch, we've received tons of feedback about matchmaking quality and its issues. After lengthy discussions, we've made a decision: no more "matchmaking"! In the Pre-season update, we want to eliminate the uncertainty caused by the current "matchmaking" system and instead allow players to choose their own identities - whether it's starting with low-tier gear to stealthily loot as a rat, or gearing up to the max to wreak havoc as a chad
• All map difficulties will have gear quality restrictions that are clearly visible to all players. You will know exactly what the entry-level and top-tier gear is for each mode, and you can make your own decisions!
• If we compare extraction games to a casino, we should offer slot machines (low risk, low reward), roulette (medium risk, medium reward), and poker (high risk, high reward) - something for everyone, we hope every type of player can find their own playing field
• Furthermore, having clear gear quality brackets will ensure that high-gear-level players will never appear in beginner lobbies, protecting their experience

Part 2: Fortune Favors the Bold

After the update, the differences between each difficulty will be more significant:

• Removed the warding (poison circle) for Casual mode
• In Classic and Hard modes, early portals will be replaced by "Broken Portals" (green portals), which require a "Resonance Stone" to activate. Triple Broken Portals require the one-time consumption of 3 Resonance Stones. Moreover, their energy forms are unstable and will be destroyed by the poison circle
• Removed fixed extraction points for Classic and Hard modes
• Slightly increased the power of monsters in Classic and Hard modes
• Overhauled the placement and distribution of monsters, elites, and bosses for all difficulties

Since there are greater risks, there need to be more dazzling treasures to reward the brave adventurers who venture into Classic and Hard modes! Fortune favors the bold. We want to make sure that the risks you take are properly rewarded:

• First, we can now officially inform everyone that the global drop cooldown for items has been removed!
• Moreover, we are introducing some serious "treasures" into the game!

• You can obtain these treasure items by engaging with the brand new map mechanics (which we'll dive into below)
• Simultaneously, we've rebalanced the loot distribution by reducing the overall drop rates from regular monsters and significantly increasing the drop rates from elite monsters. Now, you'll have a better chance of finding those treasures and even legendary equipment when taking down elites! This change ensures that the risks and rewards of PvE are more closely aligned
• Tired of the low drop rate of legendaries and not being able to afford them in auctions? We've heard your feedback, and we believe the above changes will address those issues head-on, making top-tier equipment more accessible to a wider range of players

Part 3: A Richer Adventure Experience

We're introducing a brand new feature: high, medium, and low-resource zones. You can find treasures through the following methods:

• Consume Leyline Seals at the Leyline Altar for random rewards. There's a 25% chance to get a treasure item, but the altar will drop a guaranteed treasure item after being opened four times
• Leyline Seals are usually found in high-resource zones, which have tougher monsters and greater risks. You can also find seal fragments everywhere and combine 10 of them into 1 seal
• New chest types that can be opened only after you complete specific objectives (such as killing 10 monsters in the current area)
• You can also directly find treasure drops from elites, bosses, and other rare chests

Please make sure check out the graphic below for more information on dynamic zones, zone levels, portals, and example routes:

• Some of the locations of these zones will be randomized each game, so every run will be different. Based on the value of your gear and your goals (playing it safe or going all-in), you'll need to adapt your strategy and route each time you play
• Here's two examples of vastly different strategies and routes in the same Hard mode game, for your reference only:

• In addition, to prevent unexpected early PvP encounters and spawn rushing, player spawn rooms are no longer right next to each other. Instead, they're spread out around the edge of the map. We hope to regularize the spawn points to a certain extent to help players plan their routes more strategically, whether it's to find treasures or avoid other players

Part 4: Map Structures with Better Replayability

In the Pre-season patch, we've taken a hard look at the map terrain and made some much-needed improvements, fixing some areas that didn't quite make sense.

For instance, we've added another ramp to the Cyclops on Clouseau Castle and created new pathways to provide alternative routes and reduce the frustration of getting stuck at chokepoints. We also completely redesigned some zones to improve their overall flow and functionality. However, we don't want to spoil all the surprises – we'd rather let you discover these changes for yourself when you jump into the game on the 29th.

Part 5: More Rewarding PvP Encounters

• We're saying goodbye to Mithril Dice and hello to insurance. You can insure one gear slot of your choice, but it'll cost you more than Mithril Dice did. If another player takes you out, they can loot your insurance fee, check the graphic below to see how it works:
• So now, in PvP battles, you can expect to loot: Resonance Stones, valuable gear sets, insurance fees, and even the Treasure items they just got from killing elites!

Part 6: Our Vision

In the new DB, every decision you make should feel like a calculated risk. Sure, getting those high-level rewards will be more challenging, but we want to make sure that the rewards are worth the risk you're taking. The new insurance system will ensure that you get what you've earned after a tough battle. And with new high-resource zones and elite monsters dropping way better loot, the meta will no longer be mindlessly farming monsters and chests as fast as you can.

The Pre-season patch brings several fundamental changes:

• Directly finding legendary and unique gear is no longer the sole endgame goal. With the introduction of treasure items and random high-resource zones, you've got new pathways to find good equipment. Each game will feel more strategic, and the competition with other players will be more intense and thrilling than ever
• Overall, you'll be getting more gold (sellables) and fewer equipment drops. This should make each piece of equipment feel more meaningful and exciting to find, and it'll encourage more trading too
• We believe these changes are going to take DB's replayability and fun to the next level. You'll be able to actively choose the role you want to play and create completely different flows and experiences for yourself. Once the update is live, we can't wait for you to jump in and let us know what you think. Your feedback will be invaluable as we refine these designs for Season 1

Part 7: Final Thoughts

We believe the Pre-season patch and the changes in the future will put DB back on the right path, it just needs a little time. Many great games go through ups and downs during Early Access, but they come out on top after a few years of polish. Baldur's Gate 3 and Hunt: Showdown are excellent examples - they had their low points during Early Access, but after 1-2 years of continuous development and support from the community, they became the successes they are today. We believe DB is in a similar place right now, and we're grateful for your continued feedback and thoughts. It's helping DB grow into the game we all know it can be.

Throughout the Pre-season, we pledge to be more open and receptive to your opinions. We want to make sure that when Season 1 officially launches,
it will be a game that's worth coming back to.

We hope you're as pumped about these changes as we are. There's even more to come that we haven't touched on yet, so keep an eye out for another announcement tomorrow about the content update direction for Season 1. Stay tuned.