Hey Champions,
Winter has almost arrived! Update 1.18: Frostbite launches on Tuesday 3rd November, bringing a brand new ice-wielding Hero, a chaotic new limited-time mode, and big changes to the top of the Ranked ladder!
Not only that, but we've also teamed up with the incredible people at the Wolf Conservation Center!
As part of Kaelen's launch, we're making a donation to the Center, donating 10% of sales of Kaelen's Quantum skin and bundles, and sharing a little about the important work they do. If you'd like to help too, you can donate to their Treat the Pack fundraiser below!
https://playp.red/FrostbiteWolfPack
New Hero: Kaelen
Sworn to protect the innocent, Kaelen is a noble knight of the frozen north who wages war on two fronts: against the darkness that stirs the world, and the beast that stirs within.
Cursed with the mark of the wolf, Kaelen roams the land alongside Scarlett, searching for a cure. Until he finds one, he turns the fear of the beast into a weapon, wielding his twin greatswords and the bitter cold of the north to freeze his enemies where they stand.
Stats:
- Health: 695 (+131 per Level)
- Health Regen: 2.3 (+0.25 per Level)
- Mana: 310 (+60 per Level)
- Mana Regen: 1.4 (+0.2 per Level)
- Attack Speed: 135 (+2.2 per Level)
- Physical Armor: 36 (+4.8 per Level)
- Magical Armor: 31 (+1.7 per Level)
- Physical Power: 65 (+5.2 per Level)
- Movement Speed: 700
- BAT: 1.5
Abilities:
Heart Of Ice [Passive]:
Effect: Abilities leave behind large patches of Rimeglass for 6s. Enemies that stand on Rimeglass are afflicted with Frostbite for 1s. Affected Enemies are Slowed by 15% and take 0.5% of their Max Health as True Damage per 0.5s.
Pale Twins [Basic Attack]:
Type: Melee
Range: 325u
Cleave: 25%
Effect: Melee Basic Attack dealing 65 (+80% Bonus Physical Power) Physical Damage.
Razorstorm [Primary]:
CD: 13/11.75/10.5/9.25/8
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80 Mana
Effect: Kaelen spins his greatswords around him over 3.5s, dealing 7.5/10/12.5/15/17.5 (+8%/10%/12%/14%/16% Total Physical Power) (+0.5%/0.825%/1.15%/1.475%/1.8% Max Health) Physical Damage every 0.25s to all Enemies in a 400u Radius. While Spinning, Kaelen continuously spawns patches of Rimeglass underfoot.
This ability cannot be interrupted by Hard Crowd Control Effects, meaning Kaelen will continue to spin even while Stunned.
Razorstorm’s Damage is 60% effective against Minions, and deals +5 bonus Damage to Monsters with each strike.
Passive: Increase total Physical and Magical Armor by 4/6/8/10/12%, increased by 1.5x while on Rimeglass.
Winter’s Pursuit [Secondary]:
CD: 16/15.5/15/14.5/14s
Cost: 80 Mana
Effect: Kaelen dashes forward 1100u, stopping past the first Enemy Hero, dealing 70/95/120/145/170 (+100% Bonus Physical Power) Physical Damage to all units hit and Slowing them by 25% for 1.2s.
If Enemy Unit has Frostbite applied, Damage Dealt is increased by x2 and Enemy Heroes are Rooted instead for 1.2s.
Rimefang [Alternate]:
CD: 15/14.5/14/13.5/13s
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana
Effect: Kaelen channels his blades for 0.6s before releasing a frozen Rimefang’s Spirit, flying forward 2250u whilst creating a trail of Rimeglass underneath it. The Spirit pierces terrain and deals (+11%/12%/13%/14%/15% Target’s Max Health) Physical Damage to all Enemies it passes through, Stunning them for 0.2s and Slowing them by 50% for 1.5s.
Frostfall [Ultimate]:
CD: 130/110/90s
Cost: 100 Mana
Effect: Kaelen channels for 1.5s before leaping into the sky for 4s. While in the sky, Kaelen has 1275 Movement Speed, can move over large walls and ledges, and is immune to damage effects.
Kaelen then crashes down at target location after 4s, or upon reactivation, dealing 200/300/400 (+100% Bonus Physical Power)(+6% Bonus Health) Physical Damage to all Enemies at the impact location and Slowing them by 40% for 1.5s. Enemies caught in the center of the damage zone are Rooted for 1.5s.
The impact leaves behind a raging Frost Storm for 8s. Enemies inside the storm are continuously afflicted with Frostbite and take 2x Damage from it.
Augments:
Relentless Hunt:
Relevant Ability: Razorstorm [Primary]
Type: Enhanced Ability
Effect: Razorstorm now strikes an additional time for every 20% Attack Speed owned, up to +10 strikes and can Critically Strike. Rimeglass no longer grants Armors.
Neverending Chase:
Relevant Ability: Winter’s Pursuit [Secondary]
Type: Reduced Cooldowns
Effect: Pale Twins or Ability hits against Heroes and Camp Leaders reduce Winter's Pursuit Cooldown by 3% on hit.
Last Winter:
Relevant Ability: Frostfall [Ultimate]
Type: Utility
Effect: Frostfall grants Allies within the Targeting Zone +20% Movement Speed for 3s. Upon landing, Kaelen gains a (+10% Max Health)(+4% Max Health per Enemy Hero hit) Shield for 4s.
Store News
Quantum TwinBlast [Legendary]
Quantum Kaelen [Epic]
Quantum Zarus [Epic]
Quantum Scarlett [Epic]
Galaxy Steel [Epic - Opal Store]
Quantum Kaelen Bundle
- Quantum Kaelen [Skin]
- Chromatic Quantum Kaelen [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Photon Quantum Kaelen [Skin Variant]
- Military Quantum Kaelen [Skin Variant]
- “This Yours?” [Overhead Emote]
- Quantum Kaelen [Banner]
- Quantum Kaelen [Profile Icon]
- Kaelen Premium Affinity [Affinity Pass]
- Kaelen [Hero]
Kaelen Variant Bundle
- Ebony Kaelen [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Gold Kaelen [Skin Variant]
- Red Kaelen [Skin Variant]
- Silver Kaelen [Skin Variant]
- Ebony Kaelen [Banner]
- Ebony Kaelen [Profile Icon]
- Kaelen [Hero]
Quantum TwinBlast Bundle
- Quantum TwinBlast [Skin]
- Military Quantum TwinBlast [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Ion Quantum TwinBlast [Skin Variant]
- Graphite Quantum TwinBlast [Skin Variant]
- Gasp! [Overhead Emote]
- Quantum TwinBlast [Banner]
- Quantum TwinBlast [Profile Icon]
- TwinBlast [Hero]
Quantum Scarlett Bundle
- Quantum Scarlett [Skin]
- Chromatic Quantum Scarlett [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Ion Quantum Scarlett [Skin Variant]
- Photon Quantum Scarlett [Skin Variant]
- Bleh! [Overhead Emote]
- Quantum Scarlett [Banner]
- Quantum Scarlett [Profile Icon]
- Scarlett [Hero]
Battlepass Bundle
- Quantum Shift Battlepass [Battlepass]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Banner]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Profile Icon]
- Zarus [Hero]
Ultimate Battlepass Bundle
- Quantum Shift Battlepass [Battlepass]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Chromatic Quantum Zarus [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Valiant Quantum Terra [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Military Quantum Murdock [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Graphite Quantum Muriel [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Bronze Quantum GRIM.exe [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Banner]
- Graphite Quantum Zarus [Profile Icon]
- Zarus [Hero]
- Terra [Hero]
- Murdock [Hero]
- Muriel [Hero]
- GRIM.exe [Hero]
Quantum Shift Bundle Core
Eight exclusive items, no duplicates and equal drop chance.
- Quantum Kaelen [Skin]
- Nullfire Quantum Kaelen [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Quantum TwinBlast [Skin]
- Nullfire Quantum TwinBlast [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Quantum Scarlett [Skin]
- Nullfire Quantum Scarlett [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Quantum Zarus [Skin]
- Nullfire Quantum Zarus [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Nullfire Quantum Lt. Belica [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Nullfire Domed Howitzer [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Nullfire Mecha Terror Iggy & Scorch [Exclusive Skin Variant]
- Red Translocate Jumppad-Recall Bundle [Exclusive VFX Bundle]
Variant VFX
A range of our variants this update include brand new, coloured VFX to match - a popular request among many players in the community! These special variants are available for Quantum Zarus, Quantum Twinblast, Quantum Scarlett and Nullfire Quantum Lt. Belica. Variants featuring VFX recolours carry a 200 premium over standard variants.
Hero Voice Comms
When you use the comms wheel, your Hero can now speak for you. With a Hero’s Voice Comms pack, every option on the comms wheel, like “Attack Fangtooth”, is spoken in that Hero’s own voice instead of the generic one.
- Voice Comms packs are available for the following Heroes:
- Adele, Akeron, Argus, Bayle, Eden, Ikra, Kaelen, Legion, Maco, Mourn, N3ON, Scarlett and Valmont.
- Buy a pack once and it works with every skin you own for that Hero.
- Some skins have their own voice. If you own the pack, those skins will speak in the skin’s voice.
The Void & Daily Deals Changes
The Void
The Void is a brand new personal sale, made just for you. When it opens, you’ll reveal 5 skins picked from the Heroes you play, each with its own discount of up to 70% off.
- Your picks: skins are chosen from the Heroes you’ve played recently, then the ones you’ve played the most. You’ll never be offered a skin you already own.
- Your discounts: every skin gets a discount between 20% and 70%.
- Two weeks to decide: The Void stays open for 2 weeks, with a countdown on the main menu. You’ll get a notification when it opens.
- Don’t own the Hero? You can buy the Hero and the skin together.
- The Void is available to players level 10 and above.
The Void will start opening during V1.18, in batches, so not everyone will get theirs at the same time. Keep an eye on the main menu, and when it does open: don’t stare too long.
Daily Deals
With V1.18, Daily Deals are leaving the Store, as The Void takes their place. The Featured tab now shows four featured items instead.
Triple Battlepass XP Weekend
This weekend, get 3x XP on the Celestial Dawn Battlepass! Got some more rewards to collect before the new Battlepass arrives? Jump in from Friday to Monday 12pm UTC!
Overclocked Mode
Overclocked is a brand new Limited Time Mode. Managing resources, long cooldowns and slow map traversal are gone, leaving fast, explosive team fights. Matches last around 14-20 minutes, so jump in and spam those abilities! Available for a limited time only!
Core Design:
- Abilities have no Mana or Energy costs, so if it’s off cooldown, press it.
- Gold and XP generation are massively amplified, pushing builds to their end-game state much faster.
Systems
Recall
- Recall is always Empowered Recall.
Giga Jump Pads
- Stepping on a Jump Pad launches you in an arc towards the furthest living Tower in that lane.
Economy
XP
- XP from Minions increased by 2x.
- XP from Monsters increased by 1.6x.
Gold
- Passive Gold Generation increased from 2.6 to 13.
- Minions now grant Gold to all nearby Allies when they die.
Map
Explosive Flowers
- Spawn Time decreased from 4m to 20s.
- Respawn Time decreased from 2m 30s to 1m.
Arcshot Gateway
- Portal Activation Time decreased from 8m to 5m.
- Portal Cooldown decreased from 3m-2m (based on game time) to 1m.
World Shift
- Trigger Time decreased from 14m to 7m.
Heroes
Overclocked Global Buff:
- Blink Cooldown decreased from 5m to 2m.
- Ability Haste: +400
- Unlimited Mana/Energy.
- Critical Strike Damage: +25%.
- Movement Speed: +12%.
- Tenacity: +80.
- Healing and Shielding: -50% at the start of the match, scaling to 0% over 16 minutes.
- Bonus Attack Speed is increased by: 50% for Ranged Heroes, 100% for Melee Heroes.
Renna
Echoes of the Damned
- Passively generates 1 stack every 12s.
- Stack Drop Chance increased from 50% to 90%.
- Stack Threshold adjustment is now slightly more focused (more drops when lower, fewer drops when higher).
Sevarog
Reaper of Souls
- Passively generates 1 stack every 10s.
- Stacks required per Tier decreased from 40 to 35.
Items
Crests
- Non-Support Crests now automatically generate stacks each second.
- Stacks required to evolve are reduced by ~30% for all Non-Support Crests.
- Stacks required to evolve are reduced by ~75% for all Support Crests.
- All Crests have reduced Cooldowns.
Lucky Feather
- Bonus Gold increased from 5 to 6.
- Hero Bonus Gold increased from 40 to 50.
Alchemical Rod / Azure Core
- Mana per Stack increased from 5 to 7.
Soul Chalice / Resolution
- Mana per Stack increased from 5 to 7.
Catalytic Drive
- Stacks to Evolve decreased from 20 to 10.
- Bonus Gold increased from 8 to 20.
Manta Scythe
- Power Gained on Camp Leader Kill increased from 0.5 to 1.
Orb of Growth
- Max Experience decreased from 500 to 450.
- Experience on Kill increased from 6 to 7.
- Experience on Hero Kill decreased from 50 to 45.
Eternals
Nihil
- Growing Threat Time decreased from 15m to 9m.
Vesh
- Major Blessing Scaling increased from 0.4% to 0.75%.
- Millennia Scaling increased from 0.75% to 1.5%.
Aion
- Philosopher Gold increased from 4 to 12.
- Bottomless Vial Magical Power increased from 5 to 8.
Objectives
River Buffs
- Spawn Time decreased from 3m to 2m.
- Enhance Time decreased from 17m to 8m.
Seedling
- Spawn Time decreased from 4m to 3m.
- Respawn Time decreased from 4m to 3m.
Genesis Core
- Seedling Replacement Time decreased from 15m to 8m.
- Respawn Time decreased from 6m to 3m.
Fangtooth
- Spawn Time decreased from 5m to 3m.
- Respawn Time decreased from 4m 45s to 3m.
Mini Orb
- Spawn Time decreased from 7m to 4m.
- Respawn Time decreased from 6m to 3m 30s.
Orb Prime
- Mini Orb Replacement Time decreased from 20m to 10m.
- Respawn Time decreased from 6m to 3m 30s.
Orb Prime Buff
- Melee Minion Damage Reduction increased from 50% to 75%.
- Ranged Minion Damage Reduction increased from 40% to 75%.
- Siege Minion Damage Reduction increased from 45% to 75%.
- Super Minion Damage Reduction increased from 50% to 75%.
Empowered Red/Blue Buffs
- Empower Time decreased from 20m to 10m.
Minions
Siege Minions
- Health Growth increased by 35%.
Super Minions
- Health Growth increased by 35%.
Ranked News
V1.18: Frostbite brings big changes to the top of the Ranked ladder. There's a brand new tier, Paragon now belongs to the very best of the best, and players who stay in the fight lose much less VP when a teammate goes AFK. For the full story, check out our blog, The Road to Paragon: Ranked in 1.18 and Beyond.
Rank Split Reset
Split 5 ends on Tuesday 3rd November with the release of V1.18, so be sure to get your peak Rank this weekend and lock in your end of Split rewards.
Finishing Placements will get you the Split 5 Icon and Banner for your peak Rank. If you win 15 games, you will unlock the Royal Wukong skin, with additional variants if your peak Rank was Gold or higher.
- Bronze and Silver: Royal Wukong.
- Gold: Royal Wukong, plus the Gold variant.
- Platinum: Royal Wukong, plus the Gold and Platinum variants.
- Diamond: Royal Wukong, plus the Gold, Platinum and Diamond variants.
- Paragon: Royal Wukong, plus all variants (Gold, Platinum, Diamond and Paragon).
All players will start the new split in Placements and have 5 matches to complete to get placed (10 if you're new to Ranked or haven't played in a while).
Introducing Master Tier
V1.18 adds a brand new tier towards the top of the ladder: Master, sitting between Diamond I and Paragon.
- Promotion game: when you reach the top of Diamond I, you'll play a promotion game to earn your place in Master.
- No VP cap: once you're in Master, your VP keeps climbing as long as you keep winning.
- Wins and losses in Master are +11 / -11 VP.
Paragon, Reforged
Paragon should be the ultimate achievement: the rank people recognise the moment they see it in the lobby. From V1.18, only 100 players can be Paragon at any one time.
- Once you gain 200+ VP in Master, you're eligible for the Top 100. There's no promotion game: earn as much VP as you can to claim your spot.
- The Top 100 refreshes every 24 hours. If you're still in the Top 100 at the refresh, you keep Paragon. If not, you're back in Master.
- The only way to lose Paragon early is to be demoted to Diamond.
- The first time you hit Paragon, you'll get a notification, whether that's on login, on the leaderboard or right after the match that got you there.
VP Decay in Master and Paragon
To keep the top of the ladder competitive, Master and Paragon now have VP decay. To be the best of the best, you'll have to fight for your spot. We know you have lives outside of Predecessor, so decay won't drop your VP the moment you stop playing.
- When you're promoted into Master, your bank is set to 10 days, so you always start Master with at least 10 banked days.
- Each match you play banks a day, up to 14 days.
- Every day at 10:00 UTC, banked days are reduced by 1.
- If your bank is already empty, you lose 25 VP each day instead. Decay can demote you out of Master.
Cracking Down on AFKs
Nothing ruins a Ranked game like a teammate going AFK. Starting in V1.18, the players who stay in the fight lose much less VP, and players who go AFK and get demoted feel it more.
You now lose at least 25% less VP when a teammate goes AFK.
- VP lost in a match with an AFK teammate decreased from 20%-40% to 5%-25% of a normal loss.
- For example, a normal -18 loss now costs -1 to -4 VP (previously -4 to -7).
- If you go AFK and get demoted, the VP you lose for going AFK is now applied after your demotion, so you start the lower rank with less VP than usual.
Daybreak
We know many of you are very excited to hear more about our new map, Daybreak! It's all still full speed ahead here, our team are working on set dressing right now to make sure the map feels epic and immersive. We're seeing a lot of positive feedback from testers, and we're really excited to get it into your hands!
We're aiming to launch Daybreak early next year, so keep an eye out for more news (and some screenshots) soon.
New Items
For the next few updates we are planning to introduce various new items, alongside a couple of reworks, so be sure to watch this space!
For now, we have 2 new additions that are centered around Frontliners and Shielding:
Support:
Firstly, we have “Vortex Stone”. This will benefit many frontline engagers such as Riktor, Steel, and Adele, allowing them to reduce their cooldowns for a faster second rotation upon engaging, while staying durable while in the thick of the fight thanks to the Shield it provides upon triggering its effect.
- Cost: 2350g
- 375 Health
- 100% Base Health Regen
- 100% Base Mana Regen
- 10 Ability Haste
- Recipe: Stalwart Gauntlets + Vitality Beads + Essence Ring + 100g
- Passive Effect - Eye Of The Storm: On Immobilizing Heroes, reduce your Current Basic Ability Cooldowns by 20%, and gain a (+12% Max Health) Shield for 4s. The Shield is 50% effective for Ranged Heroes - 12s Cooldown.
Tank:
Secondly, we have “Forticus”. This new Physical Armor Tank Item allows many frontliners such as Kaelen and Steel to stick in the fight, providing them with a repeated Shield, as well as ramping stats for each second they fight, thereby acting as a form of pseudo Health Regen and improved sticking power (or a way to make a swift exit should the tides of battle turn against you!)
- Cost: 2900g
- 325 Health
- 55 Physical Armor
- 25 Tenacity
- Recipe: Vigorous Amulet + Steel Mail + Tenacious Gem + 250g
- Passive Effect - Immovable: Upon taking Hero damage, gain a (+8% Max Health) Shield for 3.5s - 14-10s Cooldown (Based on Hero Level).
- Passive Effect 2 - Swell: Upon damaging a Hero, or being damaged by a Hero, for the next 3s, gain (+0.6% Base Health), +4 Movement Speed, and +0.5% Size each second. All stats are lost once the 3s timer expires. Stacks Infinitely.
Gameplay Balance
Eternals:
The Maw:
The Maw’s low health damage condition can be difficult to reach, given Marrow doesn’t offer many other damage increases relative to other Eternals, making Carries especially struggle when using it. A decrease will help normalize it further with the strength of other aggressive blessings.
- Bonus Damage Health Threshold increased from 40% to 45%.
Major Blessing:
Krix is currently contributing to excessive durability on Bruisers in the Jungle especially, making them forgo other Eternals in favour of it due to its generic strength. A small cut to its Health on offer, alongside a hit to Predator’s Jungle Clear and ganking capabilities will help lower it down, and make it feel less mandatory compared to other potential Eternal setups.
- Max Health decreased from 5% to 4%.
Predator:
- Damage Amplification decreased from 10% to 8%.
- Movement Speed decreased from 4% to 3.5%.
- Duration decreased from 20s to 15s.
Patina:
Another hit for Patina’s shield, as it currently affords squishier users to benefit too heavily from the mix of durability and damage (from Fracture) on offer.
- Shield decreased from 30 (+14 per Level) to 30 (+12 per Level).
Fracture:
As mentioned, Fracture is the Minor Blessing that opens up Knell to more damage orientated users such as Scarlett and Eden. While this is part of the intended design as we wish to allow Heroes to opt for a more mixed durability and damage profile when considering their Eternal, Knell is currently providing the damage classes with more strength than is desirable.
- Damage Amplification decreased from 4% (+0.2% per Level) to 3.5% (+0.2% per Level).
Resonant Repair:
A quick bump for Resonant Repair to help level it up to the strength of the others in its category, better allowing its use when against a CC-heavy team.
- Healing on Immobilized Max Health Healing increased from 3% to 3.5%.
Major Blessing:
Vesh’s general scaling outlet, given that it’s based on time, allows many Mages to become somewhat absurd in the late-game. We’re trimming out some of this damage to better normalize how hard Mages can hit once they reach the 30+ minute mark.
- Ability Damage decreased from 7% (+0.4% per Minute) to 7% (+0.35% per Minute).
Lich:
While we have largely reduced the early-game healing from Lich to a point we believe is more appropriate, it is still offering a little too much as the mid/late-game rolls around, often allowing its users to sustain through mistakes when hitting Minion Waves especially.
- Magical Lifesteal decreased from 4%/7%/10%/14% to 4%/6%/9%/12%.
Phylactery:
With more Heroes picking up Phylactery, its strength is now more largely appreciated by Players thanks to the speed at which a second rotation of abilities can be achieved on the likes of N3on, leading to overbearing all-in potential.
- Cooldown Progression decreased from 100% to 75%.
Furor:
Given the strength of Xyris’s Total Attack Speed Amp throughout a match, we’re trimming back how much it offers to ensure that its damage potential is less overbearing.
- Total Attack Speed decreased from 20% to 17.5%.
Cull the Weak:
Cull the Weak sees far less play than the other alternatives, and is receiving an increase to its Mana Regen capabilities, better positioning it as a choice for Mana-hungry laners that are seeking some extra longevity before they need to reset.
- Missing Mana Regen increased from 1% to 1.25%.
Construct:
The amount of Ability Haste on offer from Construct makes it too consistent relative to other options, and affords many Mages especially too high of an upside once Level 18 is achieved. This allows them to forgo Haste Items entirely if they choose, rather than being a form of supplementary Haste to round out a build, and is therefore in need of a reduction.
- Ability Haste per Level decreased from 1 to 0.75.
Memory Leak:
Memory Leak has risen in popularity, with a wide range of Mages opting for it in combination with Azure Core or Soulbearer. While the scaling Mana is perfectly fine to offer, the upside on how much it provides once the mid-game rolls around is currently too high and outperforms other options too heavily.
- Movement Speed decreased from 5% to 4%.
- Max Mana decreased from 500 to 400.
- Mana gain from abilities decreased from 5% to 4%.
Major Blessing:
Once again we’re bumping down the amount of gold generation available from Aion. As we have mentioned in the past, the ability for its Users to get ahead in economy, even in a largely losing lane-state, can feel both frustrating and unsatisfying for the opponent. By trimming down the forms of “free gold” offered over the last few updates, we’re hoping to push these Eternals into a more reasonable state where laning dynamics and early leads feel meaningful.
- Gold based on Ability Damage Dealt decreased from 6% to 5%.
Philosopher:
Philosopher arguably causes more issues than Aion’s Major Blessing, due to the fact it allows its user to passively generate a lead, compared to the Major which requires the Hero to interact and fight to receive its benefits. While Heroes may indeed be sacrificing a Minor Blessing in return for the 700-1000+ Gold in the late-game, the sheer upside of Philosopher’s gold is still too high and overshadows the value other Minor Blessings provide.
- Gold Gain decreased from 4 to 3.5.
Arcane Resonance:
Arcane Resonance’s Cooldown Progression is currently causing two issues: Firstly, the amount of Ability spam it provides allows highly mobile Heroes to be nigh uncatchable. And then in combination with Philosopher, it provides too much free gold at the same time. As a result, we’re dropping the Cooldown Progression to ensure its impact is lessened, especially in the extreme scenarios.
- Cooldown Progression decreased from 0.75% to 0.6%.
Perfection:
Perfection’s Haste allows for specific abuse cases to occur, with various Heroes able to take it against a low-poke opponent who cannot easily damage the user below the threshold, and thereby benefit from a permanent +30 Haste. This is especially potent as it also gives its user high uptime on their Ultimate, reducing windows of downtime too heavily in specific matchups as the unpoked Hero can just keep dumping their Ultimate on cooldown, meaning their lane opponent cannot reasonably keep up.
- Ability Haste while above 85% Health decreased from 30 to 25.
Systems
Attack Chain Minion Execution:
Heroes with Attack Chains would not always execute Minions that showed a Red Healthbar indicator, causing confusion for players (e.g: Scarlett’s 2x/2x/1x Speed Basic Attack). This has now been resolved.
- [Bugfix] Heroes with Variable Damage Attack Chains will now correctly execute Minions at their default damage modifier when the Healthbar is shown as red, rather than it being based on the individual damage of the Attack chain.
Healthbar Status Timers:
Healthbar Status Timer Bars could sometimes be slightly desynced from the actual duration of the effect, especially noticeable on effects like Epoch’s Stasis. This has now been resolved.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where the Time Bars above a Hero’s Health would not always accurately reflect the time remaining on a Status Effect.
Towers:
In v1.15 we made some improvements to Tower Targeting Behaviour to stop it from instantly swapping and shooting another target if their original Target died. While it mostly did the trick, there has been a bug that would still cause this behaviour to occur at specific timing windows. This has now been resolved.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Towers could sometimes instantly shoot another Target if their current Target dies.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Tower Targeting VFX could remain in the world if a player disconnects and rejoins a Match.
Dash/Leap/Teleport Abilities:
Various abilities and effects were missing the appropriate Tag identifiers to be treated as a Dash, Leap, or Teleport, meaning their use would not trigger Effects that are checking for these Abilities, such as Weald’s Wind-rider, Nihil’s Inescapable, or Berserker Axe’s/Envy’s Effect. They are listed below for full clarity as some new interactions can now occur.
- [Bugfix] Fixed various abilities to now be correctly tagged as Dashes, Leaps, Blinks or Teleports:
- Akeron Web Lash Leap [Secondary] = Dash
- Drongo mid-air Shrapnel Cannon [Ultimate] = Dash
- Kwang Fury Of The Heavens’ Teleport [Ultimate] = Teleport
- Mourn’s Abduct Augment Pull [Alternate] = Dash
- N3on Erase Vector Recast [Alternate] = Dash
- N3on Final Thread Recast [Ultimate] = Leap
- Blink = Blink + Teleport
- Phase’s Blink = Blink + Teleport
- Grux’s Blink, Chieftain’s Blink Augment = Blink + Teleport
- Abyssal Dart Reactivation = Teleport
Hero Balance
A fix for Countess’ Shadow Slip, where previously she could reactivate it and teleport back the same moment she is stunned. This has now been resolved.
Shadow Slip [Primary]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Countess could Teleport back to her Shadow the same frame she is hit by Crowd Control.
A bugfix for Eden that was preventing her from gaining Physical Power in her Ranged form after respawning.
Zero Shift [Secondary]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Eden would not gain her Ranged Stance Bonus Physical Power upon respawning, unless she toggled Stance.
Quick Bugfix for Grimothy, with his Instant Reload Augment now correctly executing targets when an Item Effect is triggered on top of his Ultimate and brings them below 5% Health, such as Combustion’s Damage bringing the target down from 5.1% to 4.9%.
Instant Reload [Augment]:
- [Bugfix] Now correctly Executes Heroes when GTFO Damages the target below 5% Health from an Item Effect, such as Combustion’s damage.
Howitzer suffered (or benefitted) from a strange bug that caused his 2nd Basic Attack to sometimes have 100% Cleave on a miss. This has now been resolved.
Cannon [Basic Attack]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Howitzer’s 2nd Basic Attack could have 100% Cleave if he missed his shot.
Iggy is receiving a targeted nerf to his Offlane capabilities, better allowing Melee Heroes to take them down with Basic Attacks, given the damage Melee Heroes are guaranteed to take on approach.
Flame Turret [Primary]:
- Melee Basic Attack Damage Taken Modifier increased from 1.7x to 2x.
Kallari has largely fallen to the wayside since the last few rounds of adjustments she received. While we are conscious of being careful with her power level, she currently feels underwhelming outside of extreme snowball scenarios. To help with this, we’re granting her a little more Dagger strength and utility, better allowing her to navigate mid-range fights through more effective poke and set-up, rather than simply offering her more unmissable damage with her Ultimate or Dash.
Death Mark [Passive]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Kallari’s Double Jump would not go on cooldown if she is interrupted out of it.
Crippling Dagger [Alternate]:
- Bonus Physical Power Scaling increased from 85% to 90%.
- Slow increased from 25% to 30%.
Kira is seen to be on the weaker side of Carries by many, largely struggling to maintain pressure and keep up with the stronger lane bullies that are currently thriving in the Duo Lane. To help bring her up to speed, we’re granting her some additional wave clearing and poke capabilities from her Passive’s Raven by granting it some flat damage so that it doesn't feel as underwhelming when triggered on low health targets. Likewise, an increase to her Dusk’s scaling is being offered, making well-timed Ultimates and drawn out engagements more rewarding for her to seek out, as the ability largely falls off too heavily in late-game scenarios.
Nevermore [Passive]:
- Damage changed from (+7% Target’s Current Health) to 15/30/45/60 (Hero Level 1/6/11/16) (+5% Target’s Current Health).
Dusk [Primary]:
- Bonus Physical Power Scaling per Stack increased from 12% to 15%.
Legion is receiving some shifts to his general power, with his early game now being bolstered to better allow him to maintain pressure and reach his mid-game spike in a more reliable fashion. Likewise, his Augments are seeing some minor shifts, with Heavy Caliber especially seeing more success in high end play compared to his other 2 Augments. Naturally, pushing up the early game strength of a slower, more scaling-orientated Hero always risks their consistency being too high relative to their late-game power and potential, so we will be keeping an eye on him and will adjust further next patch if needed.
Press The Advantage [Augment]:
- Fire Rate increased from 12%/16%/20%/24%/28% to 14%/18%/22%/26%/30%.
Napalm Zone [Augment]:
- Damage increased from 5 to 7.
- Bonus Physical Power Scaling increased from 6% to 7%.
Heavy Caliber [Augment]:
- Damage Modifier decreased from 310% to 300%.
K-75 Storm Rifle [Basic Attack]:
- [Bugfix] Now correctly executes Minions, rather than his Execute Threshold being overly low.
Saturation Charge [Primary]:
- Cooldown decreased from 19/18/17/16/15 to 18/17/16/15/14.
Frag Order [Alternate]:
- Damage increased from 70/110/150/190/230 to 80/120/160/200/240.
- Bonus Physical Power Scaling increased from 60%/65%/70%/75%/80% to 65%/70%/75%/80%/85%.
- Magical Power Scaling increased from 40% to 60%.
Maco has suffered from repeated hits to his strength over the last few months, largely pushing him out of play. While he still finds ways to succeed in the hands of high-ranked players, he is suffering too heavily in the average match and in need of some love. To address this, we are increasing the output of various abilities such as the healing and shielding he offers and pushing their values away from “Tank Maco” builds, making him more generically impactful for the average player. In return, we are making some targeted hits to the more oppressive gameplay loops he can engage in at the higher skill-brackets, such as close range stunning his target into an undodgeable ult, or receiving too much benefit from tankier build paths.
General:
- Health Regen decreased from 1.6 to 1.3.
- Attack Speed increased from 115 to 125.
- BAT increased from 1.3 to 1.45.
Shatterbloom [Augment]:
- Healing Magical Power Scaling increased from 4% to 4.5%.
Ferocious Flight [Augment]:
- Additional Shield Magical Power Scaling increased from 12% to 15%.
- Cooldown refund increased from 1s to 1.5s.
- [Bugfix] Description no longer states that the Shield is 10 higher than intended.
Maco Gift! [Primary]:
- Health Magical Power Scaling increased from 35% to 40%.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where healing Allies would not grant an assist to Maco should they get a Takedown.
Maco Fly! [Secondary]:
- Shield decreased from 60/115/170/225/280 to 60/110/160/210/260.
- Shield Magical Power Scaling increased from 50% to 60%.
Maco Sparkle! [Alternate]:
- Stun Duration decreased from 1.1/1.15/1.2/1.25/1.3s to 1/1.05/1.1/1.15/1.2s.
- Minimum Stun Duration decreased from 0.5s to 0.35s.
The last round of changes helped bring Morigesh back into contention among the various Midlane Mages, but has consequently pushed her power a little too far over the edge. A small hit to her Cursed Infestation Augment and Movement Speed is being levied, as this both slows down her wave clearing and poking capabilities, while also making her more vulnerable in the Offlane especially as it is now easier for them to close the gap and threaten her.
Cursed Infestation [Augment]:
- Hive Damage decreased from +12% to +10%.
General:
- Movement Speed decreased from 675 to 670.
Muriel continues to be problematic when opting for tankier build paths, largely thanks to the amount of raw defense she can provide to her Allies without the need for Magical Power in her build, and thereby being hard to pick-off in a fight if she is building tankier. To help resolve this further, we’re shifting some of her Alacrity’s Shield into Magical Scalings, with it only normalizing once a couple of Magical Items are purchased, and reducing the amount of flat Damage Reduction offered by her ultimate in exchange for it now also scaling with Magical Power.
Alacrity [Secondary]:
- Shield decreased from 80/120/160/200/240 to 80/115/150/185/220.
- Magical Power Scaling increased from 50% to 60%.
Reversal Of Fortune [Ultimate]:
- Damage Reduction changed from 30% to 20% (+5% Magical Power).
Ever wanted to be a Rev-shaped Loot Goblin and Ult your enemy to pick up some Tower Gold? Well, Revenant suffered from an issue where he could not pick up Tower Gold that is on the floor while in the Nether Realm. Now he can!
Nether Realm [Ultimate]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Revenant could not pick up Tower Gold while in the Nether Realm.
Serath has largely fallen out of favour since the last round of changes she received, with her struggling to make an impact unless she secures an early snowball. We’re granting her some additional mid-game strength to ensure that she can scale a little more naturally across a game regardless of match state.
General:
- Physical Power Growth increased from 2.6 to 3.3.
Chastise [Alternate]:
- Damage increased from 80/105/130/155/180 to 80/110/140/170/200.
A quick bugfix for Sev to make his Ultimate behaviour consistent with other Abilities of its nature, with his Ultimate now correctly going on Cooldown if he is stunned mid-swing.
Colossal Blow [Ultimate]:
- [Bugfix] Now correctly goes on cooldown if its cast animation is interrupted.
Skylar is receiving a round of changes aimed at shifting some of her Beam and Hover Missile strength into the rest of her abilities and Augments, providing her with a broader damage profile and more effectiveness as an Anti-Tank, rather than it being focused into the more frustrating “Fly and Beam you to death” gameplay regardless of target type. Additionally, this shift away from raw DPS allows us to give her some more uptime on her Air Assault, making her more effective in Mid-game skirmishes where it is typically still at Rank 1 and difficult to use more than once in a long fight.
Plasma Barrage [Augment]:
- Explosion Missing Health Damage increased from 6% to 7.5%.
Atomised Artillery [Augment]:
- Time between Shots decreased from 0.75s to 0.65s.
- Now also grants +10 Ultimate Haste.
General:
- Mana increased from 280 to 290.
Plasma Grenade [Primary]:
- Slow increased from 40%/45%/50%/55%/60% to 45%/50%/55%/60%/65%.
Air Assault [Secondary]:
- Missile Damage Bonus Physical Power Scaling decreased from 20% to 16%.
- Missile Damage Magical Power Scaling decreased from 12% to 10%.
- Cooldown decreased from 24/22/20/18/16 to 21/19.75/18.5/17.25/16.
Hypercharge [Alternate]:
- Bonus Physical Armor Penetration increased from 20% to 25%.
- Damage Ramp per Hit decreased from 1% to 0.75%.
- Max Damage Ramp Stacks increased from 25 to 30.
- Max Damage Ramp decreased from 25% to 22.5%.
Atomiser [Ultimate]:
- [QoL] Channel Camera now removes more in sync with the fire of the Ultimate.
Steel’s ability to stonewall out opponents in the Duo Lane can make him feel overly difficult to punish or pressure thanks to his baseline durability. He’s receiving some reductions to his level-1 durability as a result, but to ensure Offlane Steel is not overly impacted, he is receiving some additional Health scaling to his Bull Rush, better allowing him to clear waves and maintain threat in the 1v1.
General:
- Physical Armor decreased from 38 to 35.
- Health Regen decreased from 2 to 1.8.
Bull Rush [Primary]:
- Bonus Health Scaling increased from 5% to 6%.
The last round of changes have helped normalize Valmont down to a more reasonable power level, but his general Mana & Health Sustain, and his ability to run rampant in a fight with his Ultimate are still overly difficult for many Heroes to manage. For this pass we’re reducing his general staying power and Ultimate healing and damage effectiveness against Heroes, and shifting some of that lost damage into his Rupture. This will help ensure that Valmont must use his complete kit to find consistent success in a fight, rather than being able to simply rip Ult and fabulously walk at his opponents until they die.
Sanguine Banquet [Augment]:
- Omnivamp Bonus Mana Scaling decreased from 0.4% to 0.35%.
Hemophagia [Passive]:
- Mana Restore decreased from 3-38 to 3-33.
Rupture [Primary]:
- Magical Power Scaling increased from 15% to 16%.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Rupture’s blades could rarely become stuck mid-air and not travel to their intended target.
Exsanguinate [Ultimate]:
- Damage decreased from 40/65/90 to 40/62/84.
- Damage Magical Power Scaling decreased from 23% to 20%.
- Hero Healing decreased from 20/40/60 to 16/34/52.
- Hero Healing Magical Power Scaling decreased from 22% to 20%.
- Minion Healing Modifier increased from 10% to 12.5%.
- Minion Healing increased from 1.8/3.6/5.4 to 2/4.25/6.5.
- Minion Healing Magical Power Scaling increased from 2.2% to 2.5%.
A meaningful bugfix for Zinx (and Rebirth) that could cause players that are resurrected to have their camera placed in the sky but still be able to move around their Hero. This has now been resolved.
Neural Regenesis [Ultimate]:
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where the Hero Resurrected by Zinx’s Ultimate would have their Camera detached and be placed in the wrong area upon revival.
Items Balance
Tier 2:
A quick bugfix for Rapid Rapier, and all the associated Items (Stormbreaker/Lightning Hawk/Omen), where their Momentum effects would immediately activate if the attack that hits a target would increase their stack counter to 100, rather than it requiring the user to already be at 100 stacks when launching the attack.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Momentum Items would trigger their damage effect if the attack that increases stacks increased the stack count to 100.
A quick cost reduction for Stalwart Gauntlets as it’s largely overpriced, and is now used in Vortex Stone’s recipe.
- Price decreased from 1150 to 1000.
Crests:
Judgement’s Damage currently falls off too heavily in the later stages of a match, making it rather underwhelming as a form of supplementary burst. Some increased scaling will help it feel more impactful as the game rolls on.
- Thunder Cleaver Damage Total Physical Power Scaling increased from 30% to 40%.
Carry:
While Solaris serves a strong purpose for the users it synergizes best with (TwinBlast and Kira) it is often picked up by too many other Heroes such as Eden and Yurei. To reduce its overall effectiveness across the Hero roster, a reduction in Haste is occurring to make it less of a “catch all” purchase.
- Ability Haste decreased from 15 to 10.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Stormbreaker’s Electric Strike would not reduce the Cooldown of Spectra’s effect.
Assassin:
A fix for an Infernum x Malady interaction, with the DoT now correctly triggering Malady’s additional low health damage effect.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where Infernum’s Damage Effect would not trigger Malady’s Demise Effect.
Penumbra is largely underbought, lacking the raw stats to compete for a slot in builds given that its Passive effect is unreliable and purely utility driven. A quick bump is required to make it more attractive and competitive in builds.
- Cost decreased from 2900 to 2850.
- Physical Penetration increased from 8 to 9.
Fighter:
Rebirth is close to where we want it to be, but is still providing too much uptime between uses, making it difficult for opponents to consistently punish Heroes that pick it up earlier into a match due to the speed of its cooldown.
- Mechanica Cooldown increased from 270 to 300.
- [Bugfix] Fixed an issue where the Hero Resurrected by Rebirth’s Effect would have their Camera detached and placed in the wrong area upon revival.
Mage:
Magnify currently provides some excessive healing thanks to the Omnivamp on offer, making it too mandatory and/or attractive for various Heroes compared to other anti-tank alternatives.
- Omnivamp decreased from 10% to 8%.
Timewarp continues to see a surge in play, both thanks to how well it synergizes with Aion, and due to how desirable it is for many Supports as a greedy option. Its identity as one of the stronger forms of Cooldown Reduction in the game is something we want to maintain for now, but with Aion receiving some hits, we are choosing to drop the Mana Regen here too, reducing the strength of the synergy and making it less potent on Supports in the early game (as they tend to have higher Mana Regen than other classes).
- Base Mana Regen decreased from 150% to 125%.
Support:
Warp Stream can often feel overly difficult to utilize in a fight once its user takes damage. A reduction in time before it can be activated after damage should have it feeling more consistent and enjoyable to use throughout a match.
- Tele-Blink Damage Timer decreased from 2.5s to 2s.
Despite the Enchanters that poach the item, Hexbound Bracers currently does not offer enough durability in the later stages of a match for the frontline Heroes that appreciate it the most. An increase to its damage block is occurring, better suiting it towards being a solid counter to fast attacking Heroes, such as Legion, Skylar, or Eden.
- Hexed Guard Basic Attack Damage Block increased from 5 (+1 per Level) to 8 (+1 per Level).
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the Surrender Widget could be stuck on screen if the Player is on the Scoreboard as it times out.
- Fixed an issue in Draft where transitioning from Role Pick to Hero Pick would play the “pick” SFX for everyone when the first player picks.
- Fixed an issue where Objective Taken HUD Notifications that trigger at the same time would only play one of them.
- Fixed an issue where Gadget’s Sticky Mine could be blocked by Iggy’s Molotov projectile.
- Fixed an issue with Grim.Exe where swapping Skin Color would make him fall through the floor into the depths of hell.
- Fixed an issue where using a Spray or Overhead Emote while Invisible would reveal the User.
- Fixed an issue where Kwang would visually radiate Electricity VFX when using Surge Of The Heavens and becoming Invisible.
- Fixed an issue where various Heroes could Double Jump while being Pulled by Phase’s Telekinetic Link.
- Fixed an issue where Orb Prime would not display a Blight HUD Notification when damaging Heroes.
- Fixed an issue where Eden’s Descriptions did not state that she moves faster while in Melee Stance.
- Fixed an issue where Special Loot Cores would not play their SFX correctly when opened.
- Fixed an issue where various time-limited store items would not display a Timer on their Menu icons.
- Fixed an issue where Morigesh’s Mark could damage Yurei’s skulls, and therefore block her from selecting the intended target.
- Fixed an issue where Users with unclaimed premium Battlepass rewards could be shown a placeholder image when purchasing the upgrade.
- Fixed an issue where Morigesh’s Doll would display an extended tentacle on her Riktor Doll, if he’s using the Gold Bones skin.
- Fixed an issue where Heroes could begin channeling their Recall while Stunned.
- Fixed an issue where Abyssal Dart’s Teleport could cause users to become stuck in various Walls.
- Fixed an issue where Feng Mao’s Earth Shatter Targeting could briefly persist in the world after being interrupted.
- Fixed an issue in Replay Mode where the Controller Input for Pause and Scoreboard were flipped.
There’s a lot to be excited about! Update 1.18: Frostbite launches 3rd November, let us know what you think!
Until next time,
Rei & Steggs
Game Design & Community @ Omeda Studios
