Given the size of this patch, it almost feels like it would be faster to tell you what hasn’t changed, but that would be less entertaining to pore over than the stacked list below. Give that scrolling finger a workout by digging into balance changes that refocus the meta on tactical minion combat, crafting and rewards tuning, social features, and more stuff than is reasonable to synopsize!
Revamped Card Layout
- The new layout has the burn indicator in the top-left corner instead of the middle-right corner in order to make the most relevant information visible in the hand while better matching cardlet slugs in the deck editor
- A much larger art window and more neutral frame color to conflict less with the wide variation in card art color palette
- Enlarged and cleaned up info area to make it easier to read the card text
(Note that this is still a work in progress and we expect to iterate on it further as we approach beta)
Features & Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue causing reconnecting to the server to occasionally fail
- Artifact Durability (see independent section below)
- Added ability to queue 2v2 with a preselected ally or queue with one ally and one opponent or enter a 2v2 match with all four players preselected (2v2 challenges)
- Added Find Player button to the social panel which allows search for online and offline players by name. Also added a filter for the social panel views using the new filter... text box
- Improved pack opening experience. Added sound effects and animation. The cards now flip automatically on mouse over except for the rare slot, which requires a click. Note this is still a work in progress
- Made adjustments to ranked matchmaking and RP rewards. We’ve tightened the matchmaking window and lowered the amount of RP deducted for a loss, especially in the lower tiers. Furthermore, there is now a soft floor on ranks, where a loss will only deduct enough RP to put a player at 0 RP in their current rank -- falling rank will only occur if another loss is incurred
- Added Maat rewards (see the fourth panel in your player profile). Earn wild cards (see below) and card material/trim by accruing maat. Maat is intended to be an additional reward track for social activities. Note: due to a bug that was discovered only at the last minute, gaining maat has been turned off for the current release. We expect to turn the system on in patch 14.1
- Added a “good game” emote button which appears at the end of the match
- Added wild cards, which can be used in place of essence to craft cards of a particular set, rarity, and faction. This system allows us to give more specific rewards, in cases where we don’t want to give out large amounts of essence at once. Due to the aforementioned bug, there will be no way to get wild cards until patch 14.1, at which point players should be able get wild cards from maat rewards and randomly in packs
- Unmake value of mythic rarity cards raised from 500 to 625 essence
- Added about 600 coins to the average value of the weekly chest, while also making its value a bit more random
- Added a player guide accessible from the escape menu that contains a glossary, rules reference, and basic faction information. This guide will be expanded as necessary to help clarify keyword, ability, and gameplay rules
- Fixed a bug preventing starter pack items from being displayed upon purchase
- Story sequences now all have custom music and some additional sound effects
- Added Puzzle 14: The Wall
- Game mode panels now give more details about possible rewards
- Challenge games (all players join from a challenge, none from the matchmaking queue) give half rewards.
- Added adjustable ‘Ambient’ sound volume level
- Tooltips now appear for card picks in draft
- Added tooltips for level-up rewards
- Added pie and curve details to deck histogram tooltips
- Card material/trim reward text now specifies whether you received a material or a trim
- Combat preview now properly hidden after using activatable abilities
- Fixed 2v2 games not being counted towards multiplayer games achievement
- Fixed a bug that could cause the hand to lock up
- Improved selection for cards on the edges of hands that have many cards
- Clarification pass on some card text (has vs gets)
- Cards that are not picked during Divination are now shuffled (randomly inserted, not on top) into the deck instead of going on bottom This makes it slightly harder to dig for a specific card, but reduces the somewhat hidden weight of divination choices
- Burning ephemeral cards banishes them instead of inserting them back into the deck
- Players can no longer gain life from triggered effects after their life is reduced to zero
- Minions on life support no longer die when replacing a sustaining enchantment with another one or moving from one sustaining enchantment to another
- Fixed Desert replacing enchantments triggering off non-Deserts via Rainbow’s End
- Fixed client crash when using Bragi Runesinger’s ultimate ability immediately after burning a lane enchantment
- Fixed “divination and draw” not triggering “on draw” effects (specific reported bug was that the second draw from Peri at the Gates wasn’t triggering The Stretcher)
- Fixed not being able to burn after casting Seal of Exile with a full mana bar
- Seal of Exile now properly constrained to banish only the owner of the target’s minions in 2v2 and not their ally’s cards
- Stairway to Hades can no longer revive ephemeral minions
- The To Heaven and Back buff no longer persists when discarded or removed from play
- “Permanent” buffs (such as To Heaven and Back and Blood Dolls) no longer fall off when a minion is stolen
- Allfather’s Horn is now banished even if The Recursionist is in play
- Playing Herald of War onto a Root of the World no longer leaves the Herald with the Root of the World active ability
- Twin Junah and Twin Blanque no longer claim to have Overrun and Regen 3 by default
- Orbital Jamming Satellite’s suppression effect should now properly expire at the start of your next turn as opposed to the end of your opponent’s turn
Known Issues
- Due to a late-breaking bug, the Maat rewards system has been turned off until 14.1
- Disk of Circadia is refusing to flip and will require a fix
- The block feature on the Social panel doesn’t work yet
- Vengeful Heirloom cast on an ally’s minion in 2v2 will not return to your hand
Artifact Changes
Many artifacts now have durability (shown on the card next to their emblem). When damage is dealt to a player, an equal amount of damage carries over to their artifacts, starting with the “outermost” slot. When the durability of an artifact is reduced to zero, it is destroyed. Excess damage automatically applies to the next artifact in line, and so forth.
Many of the artifacts are now stackable. Artifacts in a stack have independent durability.
High-value artifacts needed systemic counterplay that doesn’t require us to push an unhealthy number of hate cards into core.
Cards/Tuning
Heads Up - Text Changes
This patch we’re updating a lot of card rules text to make effects that work the same way share wordings, cutting down on individual cases where wordings differed for arbitrary or stylistic reasons. These tweaks shouldn’t be very disruptive and the functionality is unchanged, (otherwise they’re listed below!) hence this note rather than an exhaustive list.
Alchemical Key
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 20
Alkonost
- ACTIVE:
❷@: Give another minion Agile and ‘Is sacrificed after attacking→ ❷: Give another minion ‘Sacrifice at end of turn unless it attacked or was just created’
Allfather’s Horn
- TYPE:
Spirit Spell→ Valkyrie Spell - SPELL:
Restore action to all your minions, refresh your mana, and draw a card→ Restore action to all your minions, then refresh your mana and gems
To clarify, Horn has always refreshed your gems in addition to your mana as part of its “take another turn”-like flavor, but the additional card may have been a bit strong.
Blackened Jotun
- NEW: Overrun
Black Hatter
- NAME:
The Black Hatter→ Black Hatter - COST:
4{B}B→ 3{B}B
Bold Omega
- BREACH:
Empower with +2/+1 and Life Tap→ Empower with +2/+1 - NEW: Life Tap
Bolt From the Blue
- NAME:
Bolt From the Blue→ Brainstorm - COST:
1{B}→ 3{B}B - SPELL:
Deal 1 damage to a minion and draw a card→ Draw 2 cards
One of the persistent tuning problems with blue as a faction has been that in addition to being good at area of effect damage and using enchantments to build threatening minions, containing cheap single target removal also makes Norden king of spell-slinging and card efficiency. Big changes like these have meta shaking impact, but are part of a larger effort to solidify faction identity and balance before beta and the wipe.
Bragi Runesinger
- ENERGY:
3🗲→ 1🗲 - ACTIVE:
-2🗲: Give another minion Warded→ -2🗲: Give another minion Frenzy - ULTIMATE:
-5🗲: Choose and draw up to two enchantments from your deck→ -4🗲: Choose and draw up to three enchantments from your deck
Breath of Wintertide
- COST:
3{B}→ 2{B}
Calliope Muse
- SIZE:
3/3→ 3/2
Cataclysm
- COST:
6{B}B→ 6{B}BB - DAMAGE:
6→ 5
Unpacking the differences between a game like Mythgard and all the more open-fielded card combat systems out there comes with surprising little tuning revelations, and promoting positional, strategic play means that board clearing spells don’t get to be quite as crushingly competitive.
Chort Stag
- PASSIVE: Reduces damage taken in combat to
2→ 3 - NEW: Overrun
- AWAKEN: Return a minion from your boneyard to your hand
Circle of Protection
- SPELL:
Give all your minions Armor 2 and Warded until your next turn→ Give all friendly minions Armor 2 and Warded until your next turn
Extending the protection a bit in 2v2.
Crimson Pact
- COST:
2[R]R→ 3[R]R - SPELL:
Banish a minion and you lose life equal to its strength→ Destroy a minion and you lose life equal to its strength
As good a spot as any to talk a little about this big shift in the meta; Removal and deck cycling efficiency have a pretty chilling effect on tactical, board-presence-based play. With shifts like this, it should be a bit easier to make progress by playing minions and making smart trades.
Cyclopean Giant
- FOCUSED:
4→ 5
Detained
- SPELL:
Stun a minion until your next turn→ Give a minion -1/-0 and Immobile
Dragon’s Teeth
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 10
Draupnir Band
- NEW: Stacking
Dream Weaver
- COST:
3[Y]Y→ 3[Y]
Eir Healing
- SPELL:
Restore 3 minion health or grant 3 player life. Draw a card→ Restore 5 health to a minion and draw a card
Increasing the odds that you’ll actually care for some poor wounded minions while healing your way through the deck using what was always a very stall-oriented spell.
Extract Life
- COST:
X[R]R→ X[R]RR
Forked Lightning
Deal 2 damage to enemy minions in 3 adjacent lanes→ Deal 1 damage to the occupant of an enemy lane and 2 damage to adjacent lanes
Now has a damage profile that’s actually “forked”!
Forge Elemental (created by the Fires of Creation path)
- DEMISE:
Deal 1 damage to your opponent→ Restore 3 durability to all of your artifacts
Giant’s Stairway
- NAME:
The Giant’s Stairway→ Giant’s Stairway
Godsblud Transfusion
- SPELL:
Give a minion +1/+1 and Regen 3→ Give a minion +2/+2 and Regen 2
Goliath’s Web
- NAME:
The Goliath’s Web→ Goliath’s Web
Hacker’s Intuition
- COST:
2[G]G→ 2[G]
Hekate’s Wheel
- ENCHANTMENT:
Enchantments in the opposing three lanes are Suppressed→ While occupied, enchantments in the opposing three lanes are Suppressed
Requiring occupancy reinforces the pattern that board control is more about contesting lanes and less about “fire and forget” effects shutting down parts of the battlefield.
Helm of Conscription
- DURABILITY: 16
Ice Spike
- SPELL:
Deal 3 damage to a minion→ Give a minion [Stunned] until your next turn and deal 1 damage to it
Ichor Feast
- COST:
3[R]R→ 3[R]RR
Infuse (power)
- ACTIVE:
Once per turn, give a minion +1/+1 until end of turn→ Once per turn, give a friendly minion +1/+1 until end of turn
The Invisible City
- SHARE:
While occupied, draw an extra card each turn→ While occupied, friendly players draw an extra card each turn
In 2v2, control over the center lane enchantment is usually a matter of who is playing into it or taking action at the moment, which unfortunately isn’t clear at the start of your turn, when the “Throne” cycle of enchantments are alternating controllers and handing out cards. This change makes an occupied The Invisible City, Odinthrone, Sacrificial Altar, Temple at Delphi, or Treasury of Petra high value in 2v2 regardless of where it’s sitting or who currently has control.
Ironbelly Wyvern
- COST:
3[R]→ 3[R]R - SIZE:
3/4→ 3/2 - NEW: Rush
Leshy Greene
- COST:
4[G]G→ 3[G]G
The Long Winter
All non-occupying minions come into play Stunned until the end of their next turn→ While occupied, all minions outside this and the opposite lane come into play Stunned until the end of their next turn
Given the degree to which it’s capable of slowing the game down, intent here is to increase counterplay and make The Long Winter’s position on the board more important and contested.
Matryoshka
- DURABILITY: 12
Mend (power)
- REMOVED: ...and gain 1 life
See the Smite change for additional context, would be a little silly for these two powers to negate each other that directly.
Meso Libre
- COST:
3[Y]→ 3[Y]Y
Misanthropia
- SPELL:
Destroy all minions→ Give all minions [Blight 3]
Model of Duality
- DURABILITY: 15
Mothmara
- SIZE:
2/1→ 1/2 - ABILITY:
Agile→ Deal 1 damage to your opponent when you cast a spell
Odinthrone
- SHARE:
While occupied, draw an extra card each turn→ While occupied, friendly players draw an extra card each turn
See The Invisible City change for context.
Ollama Ring
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 12
Orbital Jamming Satellite
- DURABILITY: 13
Ourania Muse
- COST:
3[R]R→ 3[R]
Panic Raider
- COST:
3[R]RR→ 3[R]R
Pit Fiend
- ABILITY:
Demise: Banish the bottom 4 cards of your opponent's boneyard→ Awaken: Banish the top 4 cards of your opponent's boneyard
Quicksand Hourglass
- NEW: Stacking
Radiant Vessel
- ACTIVE:
Consumes remaining O gems to get +1/+0 for each O until end of turn→ your next turn
Raid the Tombs
- COST:
2[G]→ 2[G]G
Sacrificial Altar
- SHARE:
While occupied, draw an extra card each turn→ While occupied, friendly players draw an extra card each turn
See The Invisible City change for context.
Sapo, the Devourer
- AWAKEN:
Devour an enemy minion in the opposing lane as well as your minions in adjacent lanes. Is created with 2 more strength and health for each minion destroyed in this way→ Destroy an enemy minion in the opposing lane as well as friendly minions in adjacent lanes. Gets +2/+2 for each minion destroyed in this way
In the mind of a godlike amphibian, devour and destroy mean the same thing, but it’s probably better to be clear about things like this (and the way it works in 2v2). Additionally, making dat belly a buff instead of a base size increase means that it can be suppressed.
Samosek, the Living Sword
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 7
- ABILITY:
After your opponent's minions deal combat damage to a player they take 1 damage→ 2 damage
Sandscale Wurm
- NEW: Overrun
Sea Lord’s Trident
- DURABILITY: 16
Serpent Den
- COST:
4[Y]→ 3[Y]Y - REMOVED: (Temple Snake) Awaken: Gets a free move action
The value-over-time proposition is obviously the point of serpents, but the den self-solves its own potential lane clogging problems too well for interesting options like the Impel power to combo with it.
Shroud of the Pit
- DURABILITY: 15
Singing Stone
- NAME:
The Singing Stone→ Singing Stone - NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 14
- ARTIFACT:
All your enchantments give occupying minions +1/+1 in addition to their other effects→ All your minions have +1/+1 while they are occupying enchantments
This doesn’t change the stone’s functionality much, but doing it this way simplifies it somewhat and gets rid of a lot of noisy/redundant text all over your enchantments.
Smite (power)
- DAMAGE:
2→ 1
Not just a test of the “how much impact can a single number going down by one have?” system, but a necessary change to support a world where player damage erodes artifact durability.
Spear of Destiny
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 18
Spellflux Cauldron
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 13
The Stretcher
- NEW: Stacking
- DURABILITY: 9
Tailroot Wurm
- COST:
4{B}→ 4{B}B
Temple at Delphi
- SHARE:
While occupied, draw an extra card each turn→ While occupied, friendly players draw an extra card each turn
See The Invisible City change for context.
Timberland Troll
- COST:
4{B}B→ 4{B}
Treasury of Petra
- SHARE:
While occupied, draw an extra card each turn→ While occupied, friendly players draw an extra card each turn
See The Invisible City change for context.
Triassic Kraken
- REGEN:
1→ 2
Vilja Windfury
- COST:
7[G]G→ 6[G]G - SIZE:
6/6→ 4/5 - ABILITY:
Armor 1→ Swift, Frenzy
Volcanic Risi
- BLAST:
3→ 4 - NEW: Awaken: Deal 4 damage to your opponent
Xerxian Saboteur
- ABILITY:
@: Destroy an artifact and disable this ability→ Awaken: Deal 6 combat damage to opposing player's artifacts
Yana Virus
- NAME:
The Yana Virus→ Yana Virus
Art/VFX
- New draining visuals for Life Tap
- Card art updates for Alchemical Key, Lavish Proxy, Matryoshka, Fey Plagiarist, Desertification Engine, and Faceless Construct
- 24 new wild card designs