Minion Masters!
Avatar System
The previous Steam avatar system is being replaced with a new collection of vanity Minion Masters icons. All players with start out with 14 default avatars. More avatars are available through leveling up, from future Battle Passes, via the in-game shop, and more. Avatars available from leveling up do not replace any existing rewards and are simply available on top of what you would get before.
Existing players will receive an additional 14 avatars once they log in. These avatars will be available in the shop in the future, but people who have already taken part in Minion Masters get them sooner and for free. All avatars in our current system are of the Common and Rare tiers, and for the time being, those are the only tiers that will be available. You can choose your avatar freely from the Master selection menu.
This is a change we knew we’d have to do at some point. While we’re not happy about removing customization from the game, there are a number of reasons why this needed to be done:
- The Steam policies for avatars simply aren’t where we want them to be. We received many reports over time about inappropriate avatars with no action we were able to take ourselves other than passing the report on to Steam.
- Cross-Platform Compatibility is an element we have to make serious considerations for, especially with the upcoming Discord release. It was a logistical problem to ensure that avatars could function across Steam, Discord and eventually Xbox with our current system that didn’t appear to have any easier solutions.
- Using art that already exists inside of the game allows for a distinct visual coherency, a concept we have been pushing towards for some time now.
Our aim for the new avatar system is to still provide enough customization that you can feel unique, so we’d love feedback on what you think is missing in the feature!
Lobby Improvements
We’ve added the ability to minimize the in-game lobby. Now, you can claim rewards from your Battle Pass, edit your deck and master, roll power tokens, and more without the need to remake a lobby. No more interrupting your hour-long Premade session just to swap one card!
Mayhem Changes
We’ve iterated upon the Mayhem mode following both user feedback and data we’ve collected. We’ve reduced the number of non-paid tries on both entry types to one, and increased the number of days a Mayhem mode is available for to 3. The Glory requirement for the Gold entry’s free try has been removed so there will always be a Free try for everyone, Meanwhile, the Ruby entry’s free try has been increased to 2500 Glory, which allows us to keep having big rewards such as legendary cards.
Balance Changes
- 2v2
- Master Health 4000 > 3000
--- Developer comments ---
This is an experimental change being put in place to test how the meta develops with a lower health pool. Currently, 2v2 matches are rather lengthy, ending around Perk 3 or Mana Frenzy stages, while aggressive decks appear to have been irrelevant for a long period of time. The additional health tended to greatly favor slower, passive strategies such as Double Mordar. Hopefully, this will alter the dynamic and enable co-ordinated aggressive strategies to be more effective. This change is not set in stone, however, and we’re very interested in hearing your feedback on the new 2v2 via the usual channels such as Stomt, Discord, Reddit and Steam.
- Healing Shrine
- Range 10 > 8
- Healing Per Second 75 > 50
--- Developer comments ---
Healing Shrine is a card that had been universally oppressive for a while due to a number of factors. Firstly, it was extremely versatile in supporting your board presence, able to win trades in your favor almost instantly. If your opponent didn’t have the correct counter in hand the encounter would be a lost cause. Secondly, this high pressure could also be applied on the enemy’s side of the field due to Healing Shrine’s effect extending slightly past the bridges.We decided to tackle both of these problems at once. Healing Shrine can no longer heal past the bridges, and its Heal Per Second has been reduced to make it less of a mountain to overcome. Overall the card will still heal for 600 health over its full duration, making it an effective defensive card and strong for supporting bridge capture, but hopefully nowhere near as problematic as the card has been in the past.
- Harbinger
- Radius 1800>1400
--- Developer comments ---
The Harbingers radius caused it to be affected in situations where it looked like it shouldn’t.
This change is also to ensure that it isn’t possible for Healing Shrine to heal a Harbinger that targets the enemy master tower, even with the Range change.
- Guardian
- Can no longer shield buildings other than the Master tower
--- Developer comments ---
Guardian’s ability to protect buildings ultimately became problematic in terms of both design and gameplay, as it could easily be combined with cards such as Healing Shrine for a nigh unstoppable early game push, as frequently seen in 2v2. Entities such as Healing Shrine were essentially uncounterable because of the protection Guardian offered, but with this change that should no longer be the case.
- Scott the Sensitive Savage
- Damage 75 > 65
--- Developer comments ---
Scott was a card we tuned his Attack Speed up in order to give him an identity as the berserker card. Unfortunately, it was apparent that his damage was far too good on the offensive, or when making a counter push. This change should help keep Scott as a major threat that needs to be dealt with quickly, but reduces how much pain is needed to take him down.
- Xiao Long
- Speed 4 > 7
--- Developer comments ---
Xiao was a frustrating card to play against because of how long his anti-spell presence would linger on the board for. His slow movement speed helped him stay tucked away behind tankier units as an insurance policy for pushes, or he would just be played as an annoying 3 mana unit that was exceptionally difficult to deal with in the right situation. By increasing his speed, Xiao becomes far harder to protect and stays on his side of the field for a lesser period of time.
- Boomer, Re-Boomer, Gax the World Bomb
- The Egg and Boomer are now one single unit
--- Developer comments ---
More of a Quality of Life change than a significant balance adjustment, this change serves to make the cards less frustrating to play. Buffs such as Rage will persist through the egg state, while Hypnotize can no longer permanently steal a Re-Boomer after it detonates. Additionally, Mordar tombstones will not resurrect Boomer eggs when they hatch, or a Re-Boomer when it explodes - only when either dies definitely.
- Assassin
- Damage 60 > 70
--- Developer comments ---
Assassin was ultimately underperforming previously, and with this damage change his burst damage out of Stealth has increased to 210. This hits numerous important thresholds such as killing a Succubus instantly and should increase the unit’s power overall, even outside of King Puff decks.
- Chain Lightning
- Now additionally stuns units hit for 0.5 Seconds
--- Developer comments ---
Chain Lightning was a card that has been irrelevant for a long period of time since its fast speed was nerfed, being seen as the “weaker Fireball”. Its niche of chaining along the map was rarely seen and never enough to justify picking the card. With this change, Chain Lightning should develop more of its own identity, and also make it more consistent with other electric-based cards such as Stun Blast and Shock Rock with its stun effect.
Misc
- Added a Server Shutdown notice with a timer that activates some time before the servers are taken offline for an update.
- We’ve added an option to view high resolution versions of the card art to the Minion Inspector. Simply click on the art when previewing a minion and a window will appear showing it in all of its glory. Why not spend a few minutes admiring your favourite cards?
- Scrat Tank does not play the scream voice line in-game anymore. It will still play in the card inspector to match his animation.
- Adjusted the Collection View so that it is no longer being overflown by all the cards.
- Priestess now has her Healing Per Second displayed on the card inspector, like Healing Shrine does.
Bugs
- Fixed Blood and Gore setting being set to off upon every restart.
- Fixed matchmaking starting despite not all players in a lobby being ready.
- Fixed matchmaking not discriminating against players you recently matched against.
- Fixed King Puff’s second perk being bugged again.
- Fixed Draft showing the deck as having a 0 mana average and 0 glory after the draft is completed.
- Fixed Random cards that were generated from other random effects (I.E. Future Present, Apep perks) not working the first time they were played.
- Fixed an instance where Troubadour could hit Scott even though he stopped crying - Thanks Julaiwnl!
- Fixed a case where minions could be shielded twice - Thanks Daddy Dip!
- Fixed your master not updating properly if you change it in deckbuilding from the Mayhem menu - Thanks Steven!
- Fixed an instance where Watch & Win events wouldn’t end properly - Thanks BOB
- Fixed Crashsite arena saying it will be available in future shop offers.
- Fixed a bug where Arctic Warfare Settsu was invisible after being deployed on the field - Thanks Keks!
- Fixed a bug where the skins of Ratbo and Ravager would be changed every time you clicked off the master - Thanks DerpSmashed!
Cheers from BetaDwarf