Hello, Rangers!
We’ve got some interesting changes dropping in the Tuesday patch. Let’s dig in!
New: Match Start Mana Crystals
Dropping in tomorrow’s patch is an all new gameplay system that is intended to balance the win rates between Player 1 and Player 2. We’re excited about the changes from our internal playtests, and have found the start of matches to be much quicker and more interesting. Now, we’re looking for your feedback on this experimental change. Here’s how it works:
- Player 1’s has a Mana Crystal spawn somewhere within their hero’s movement range.
- If the Hero ends their movement on this tile, the crystal is consumed and the player receives an additional mana for that turn.
- The crystal can be used on Turn 1 or saved for a future turn.
- The Mana Crystal is also used if a friendly unit moves onto or is deployed on top of it.
- If an enemy ends their movement on one of your Mana Crystals, it is destroyed!
- Destroying an enemy Mana Crystal denies your opponent of bonus mana, but generates NO mana for you.
Player 2 receives TWO mana crystals on their first turn, one appearing within movement range of their hero, and a second crystal that is in their deploy zone but not necessarily within initial movement range.
These three mana crystals are the only ones to spawn for the entire game, but have a dramatic impact on mana usage and positioning for the first few turns of the game. We’re looking forward to your feedback!
Card Balance Adjustments
We’ve recently greatly improved our ability to collect in-depth card usage and win statistics. We’ve used some of this new data to make some targeted tuning adjustments to cards that have been on our watchlist. A small preview in anticipation of the patch notes:
Wayfinder spells do a little too much! Ascension will no longer draw a card and Bless the Meek will no longer grant bonus attack.
Some highly utilized cards with powerful effects will see minor hits to their statline, including Dancer, Shade, Efficiency Expert, and Wraith.
Some underused Fatekeeper Minions will see a slight bump to their effectiveness, including Rebounder, Rift Trickster, and Brave Scryer. Additionally, Stellar Replicas will receive a buff by additionally drawing a card when played.
The Osprey units (Soldier, Deadeye, and Captain) will receive the helpful quality of life improvement of being able to be deployed in your spawn area instead of ONLY next to your Hero.
Check out the Patch Notes tomorrow for all the changes, and as always please let us know how they feel!
The Duskblade
Everyone’s favorite poison-wielding two drop is receiving the art treatment this week. Be sure to check him out in game once the patch drops!
In Conclusion...
A lot of the work alluded to in last week’s Dev Update continues - firing up the art pipelines, further work on the Mac build, core tech improvements, design work on House gameplay, and a new initiative to improve Seedling gameplay.
Thanks as always for your support. We’ll see you in Shardbound!
- Your friends at Spiritwalk