Early Access Patch V0.14

Hotfixes

V0.14.2 (23/01/2024)

• Fixed a crash when selling an item.

• Double-clicking an item no longer buys the item twice.

V0.14.1  (23/01/2024)

• Minor backend fixes.

Introduction

Happy New Year, Champions! 

It’s 2024 and time for our first major update of the year. Who better then to help us see in the year of the dragon than the legendary swordmaster himself, Kwang!

That’s not all though, as we’ve got the usual bunch of important Hero and Item balance changes alongside a fresh collection of new skins in the store.

V0.14 is also the penultimate major content release of Season 3. We’re excited to share more about V0.15 and our next original Hero very soon, so watch this space for more!

Let’s get to it!

A New Hero Joins The Fight

Raise the Heavenly Blade, with Kwang!

The master of the sacred sword is back!

Kwang is a durable and strategic fighter, locking down his opponents before electrifying them with his legendary sword skills.

Abilities: 

Strike of the Heavens [Passive]:

Effect: When Kwang damages Enemies with abilities his Heavenly Blade becomes Energized with electricity for 5s, stacking up to 3 times.

Whilst Energized, Kwang’s next basic attack strikes lightning from above dealing 10 (+4 per level) (+10% Magical Power) magical damage to the Target and nearby Enemies.

If Strike of the Heavens damages an Enemy Hero, Kwang reduces his basic ability cooldowns by 0.5s.

Slice [Basic Attack]:

BAT: 1.15
Effect: Melee basic attack dealing 55 (+80% Bonus Physical Power) physical damage.

Judgement of the Heavens [Primary]:

CD: 16/15.25/14.5/13.75/13
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70
Effect: Kwang throws the Heavenly Blade up to 1650 units away, dealing 70/95/120/145/170 (+30% Magical Power) magical damage to nearby Enemies upon landing.

Enemies hit by the Blade will be Tethered to it for 1.5s. Recalling the Blade early will break the Tether.

Surge of the Heavens [Secondary]:

CD: 14/12.5/11/9.5/8
Cost: 70
Effect: Kwang dashes forward dealing 55/80/105/130/155 (+35% Magical Power) to all Enemies he passes through. 

When the Blade is in the world, if Kwang dashes within 300 units of its radius he will summon it back to his hand with a crash of lightning, dealing the damage to all nearby Enemy Units and Knocking them Up for 0.75s.

Light of the Heavens [Alternate]:

CD: 13/12//11/10/9
Cost: 50
Effect: Light strikes the Heavenly Blade, dealing damage to nearby Enemy Units. 

While holding the Blade, it deals 70/110/150/190/230 (+40% Magical Power) magical damage and grants Kwang a 80/115/150/185/220 (+40% Magical Power) Shield for 3s. 

If the Blade is in the world, it deals 70/120/170/220/270 (+40% Magical Power) true damage instead.

Fury of the Heavens [Ultimate]:

CD: 120/100/80
Cost: 100
Effect: Kwang strikes with the Heavenly Blade, dealing 200/320/440 (+80% Magical Power) magical damage to all nearby Enemies and applying a 40/50/60% Slow for 2s.

If the Blade is in the world, Kwang will teleport to it before striking.

Store Update

Kwang | Heavenly Focus

Take the time to reflect on the true meaning of strength with the meditative Kwang Heavenly Focus skin [rare]!

The Fey | Autumn Keeper

Cause your enemies to Fall before you, with The Fey Autumn Keeper skin [common]!

Riktor | Diesel

Fuel up with the gas-guzzling Riktor Diesel skin [common]!

Winterfest 2023 Skins - Last Chance

Due to a bug that prevented PlayStation users from purchasing Platinum*, we’ve extended the sale of Winterfest Skins in the in-game store until January 19th! Head to the store now to pick up a festive treat!

*Purchasing Platinum on PlayStation should be re-enabled as of January 12th, 2023.

PlayStation Closed Beta

There’s just a few short weeks left to take part in the Predecessor PlayStation Closed Beta!

Not got your key? Click here to instantly receive a key via email or join our Discord to claim up to 5 keys for you and your friends!

Other Improvements

• Controller users can now switch the Virtual Cursor control from Left to Right Stick in the Controller Settings menu.

• The controller dead zone Setting can now be reduced to 0% in Controller Settings.

• Added some Hints to the in-game Chat Box.

• Improved the audio balance of various Minion sound effects.

Hero Changes

A quick bug fix for Crunch to address a pesky hitbox issue.

From a purely aesthetic perspective, Howtizer’s Make It Rain can often feel like it stops firing its missiles too early, while also dumping out its damage in a short amount of time. To provide further room for counter play (and to make it even cooler) we’re increasing the number of missiles required to hit in order to achieve its full damage potential. Off the back of the reduced burst we can give some love back to Howi’s R2000 Missile which can sometimes struggle to keep pace with the bread & butter abilities of other Mages.

Kallari’s Crippling Dagger buffs from her previous set of changes provided her with an increase in pace and tempo in the earlier stages of the match. To help alleviate some of the new pressure and uptime she possesses when stalking the map we’re reducing how long she can stay Camouflaged.

Kira’s Purge ability can feel a little underwhelming in the damage department at rank 1 and is receiving a little more damage in this patch as a result. And for those of you that may have been unaware, Purge does in fact apply On-Hit Effects, which is now accurately reflected in the ability’s description.

A quick description fix for Khaimera’s Unleash to better communicate how it interacts with On-Hit Effects.

Morigesh’s general Mana pool and costs can leave her feeling unfairly starved for Mana, even when she commits to a Mana-based build. To remedy this we’re making some adjustments to her overall Mana economy, better allowing her to stay present on the map in the mid-game onwards.

Rampage hasn’t been living up to his monika as king of the jungle lately, instead struggling to keep pace with the other Junglers. While there are many changes listed below, the general goal of these changes are to make our frog-like friend a little less reliant on his Ultimate ability in order to function, to reduce his overall reliance on Haste, to provide some diverging double-rock Haste breakpoints during his Ultimate between Tank and more Haste-heavy Bruiser builds, and to allow him greater flexibility in his skill order by taking some value out of his Boulder Toss.

To put it more simply, Rampage should feel slightly more autonomous, and not be quite as hard-bound to his Ultimate or Primary abilities.

Riktor’s general durability throughout a match leaves him feeling overly oppressive with little room for a damage response when he’s playing aggressively. Some slight reductions in this durability are required to make Riktor think twice about his positioning and reduce his ability to play recklessly should his opponent hold their ground and fight.

Another On-Hit Modifier description fix, this time for Serath’s Heaven’s Fury.

One more missing On-Hit Modifier description fix. Last one, we promise! 

Wraith can be quite the polarising Hero. While he can definitely dominate the battlefield in the right scenario, the level of execution required to access this power is often too difficult to achieve consistently. To help address this, we’re adjusting Wraith’s overall Cooldowns and damage potential, providing him greater ability uptime and less Haste reliance in exchange for slightly less damage. Additionally, we’re bringing back his 100% Mana Refund on his Snipe to grant him greater freedom to use the ability, at the risk of a higher Mana investment should he miss.

Overall, these changes should leave Wraith feeling more versatile and enjoyable to play across all skill-brackets, providing him greater flexibility in Itemisation while still maintaining his high skill-ceiling and Mana risks should he miss too frequently.

Item Changes 

Obelisk still provides Heroes with too much inherent burst when stacked up in the late-game and is once again receiving a hit to the free damage it can provide to reduce the one-shot potential it offers its wielder.

• Condemn Damage per Soul decreased from 12 to 10.

Heal & Shield Power can be an incredibly valuable stat for Enchanters, compounding their strengths aggressively throughout a match. It being offered at 10% on Crests makes them less of a choice and more or a “must”, while also contributing to excessively high heals and shields as matches progress. As such, we’re reigning it in a little.

• Heal & Shield Power decreased from 10% to 8%.

• Heal & Shield Power decreased from 10% to 8%.

Dust Devil’s Passive allows for too much freedom in positioning due to its uptime, and can be easily maintained even with a break in the action. A hit to its duration is needed to better force its wielders to risk staying in the fight should they want to reap the benefits of its full effect.

• Menace Duration decreased from 5s to 3s.

Resolution is receiving a small overhaul. Its Darksteel Passive no longer acts as a Damage over Time (DoT) effect, but rather as On-Hit damage. This change will better allow it to stand strong as an On-Hit option, with respectable damage that is better suited for Mana-hungry Heroes, therefore opening up some new possibilities in build paths.

• Physical Power decreased from 40 to 35

• Attack Speed increased from 20% to 25%.

• Mana increased from 200 to 250.

• Midnight Missing Mana Restore On-Hit decreased from 3% to 1%.

• Recipe: Rapid Rapier replaced with Composite Bow.

• [Reworked] Darksteel: Basic attacks deal bonus physical damage On-Hit equal to 3% of your Maximum Mana.

Stormbreaker’s interactions with On-Hit Modifiers were bugged, resulting in Chain Zap’s damage output being higher than intended. This is now fixed and will significantly reduce the item’s raw power on those Heroes that could abuse it best (*ahem* TwinBlast).

• [Bugfix] Chain Zap now correctly modifies its damage with Hero On-hit Modifiers.

Some additional Mana is being granted to make Infernum feel better as a standalone Mana source.

• Mana increased from 200 to 250.

The Axe still struggles to compete with other competing options such as Basilisk due to its lower Haste amount. A little extra Haste is being granted to make it feel better as a standalone source.

• Ability Haste increased from 10 to 15.

Boneseeker is getting a little extra Attack Speed to make it more attractive as a standalone source for any Hero that needs it.

• Attack Speed increased from 30% to 35%.

To offset the strength gained from the previous round of changes to Caustica, we’re reducing its overall Magical Power to make it less effective against targets with low Magical Armour.

• Magical Power decreased from 75 to 70.

• Recipe: Potent Staff replaced with Sceptre.

Megacosm’s identity as an anti-Tank option that provides consistent damage output for Mages was blurred by its ability to also offer effective amounts of burst damage against squishier targets. This made the item too strong of a catch-all. 

In efforts to shift the item back to its original purpose, we have removed the burst component found in its Atomize effect, and created a new anti-Tank effect that amplifies the burn damage further against enemies that have larger health pools, allowing Megacosm’s burn to stay relevant to tankier targets, but no longer harming squishier targets as hard.

• Mana increased from 200 to 250.

• Disintegrate Max Health damage decreased from 3.5% to 3%.

• [New] Star Killer: Disintegrate deals additional damage to Enemy Heroes, equal to 4% of their Bonus Health.

• [Removed] Atomize. 

‘Totem is providing too much durability to Enchanters in spite of its already strong utility effects and desirable statline.

• Health decreased from 250 to 200.

Wellspring’s Max Health Healing Effect provides far too much sustain and becomes incredibly hard to poke through when the item is bought early. We’re reducing this reduction to make it less of a burst heal, and in return provide more potential for uptime and reward for Supports that risk playing aggressively with their basic attacks.  

• Soothing Waters Max Health Healing decreased from 8% to 5%.

• Soothing Waters Cooldown Refund on Basic Attack increased from 1s to 2s.

A quick follow up adjustment to Unbroken Will to better cement its identity as a durable Tenacity and Anti-CC option for anyone struggling against a CC heavy team.

• Health decreased from 350 to 325.

• Tenacity Increased from 20% to 30%.

• Base Health Regen decreased from 150% to 0%.

• Recipe: Stalwart Gauntlet replaced with Tenacious Drape.

• Undying Duration increased from 2s to 2.5s.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an error with Refillable Potion’s Main Menu description stating the incorrect healing per second.

• Fixed an error with Stormbreaker’s In-game description stating critical scaling.

• Fixed an error with World Breaker’s Main Menu description  stating 5 stacks, instead of 4.

• Fixed an error with Lt. Belica’s Void Bomb In-game description.

• Fixed an error with Spellbreaker’s In-game description with Malefic stating 15%, instead of 20%.

• Fixed a bug where lighting could corrupt the look of various Skins in the Main Menu.

• Fixed a bug where an invisible wall could block movement in the Dusk T2 Red Jungle entrance.

• Fixed a bug where Muriel could get stuck in the Dusk T2 Red Jungle entrance.

• Fixed a bug where the Social Screen could not be accessed while viewing a Bundle.

• Fixed a bug where both confirmation options would be highlighted when purchasing a Hero or Skin.

• Fixed a bug where controller users could not navigate to the “Buy Hero and Skin” options when purchasing a Bundle.

• Fixed a bug where clicking the empty space in the Platinum Purchase screen would open a Purchase prompt.

• Fixed a bug where Kira’s haptics lightbar effect would incorrectly show as blue, not purple.

• Fixed a bug where Drongo’s Shrapnel Cannon ability would not go through walls.

• Fixed a bug where Drongo’s Old Rusty SFX would continue to play after catching.

• Fixed a bug where Wraith’s screen would not turn grey when Silenced during Surprise, Surprise!

• Fixed a bug where controller users could not upgrade abilities if killed/stunned while in targeting.

• Fixed a bug where Steel could fall through the map when using his Ultimate ability near Dawn T1 Tower.

• Fixed a bug where Revenant’s Frost King Skin would not show its VFX in the post-match cinematic.

• Fixed a bug where Megacosm and Combustion could end Camouflage effects when their Passives were triggered.

• Fixed a bug where abilities with charges, such as Iggy’s Flame Turret, would show an incorrect number of charges upon levelling up.

• Fixed a bug where the last known position in the In-game Shop was not remembered for controller users.

• Fixed a bug where the selecting filters in the in-game shop would prevent controller users from purchasing Items.

• Fixed a bug where the “Builds Into” section of the in-game shop would disappear for controller users when buying an item component.

• Fixed a bug where the “Builds Into” section of the in-game shop would lose its button prompt when swapping between components for controller users.

• Fixed a bug where purchasing an item would cause the current item tree to swap to a recommended item for controller users. 

• Fixed a bug where the “Builds Into” element of the in-game shop would swap to a recommended option when buying item components.

• Fixed a bug where multiple Items could be highlighted at once in the in-game shop.

• Fixed a bug that would cause button prompts to carry over in the in-game shop from the recommended items to “All Items” tab when using filters.

• Fixed a bug where Quick Buy would not progress on item trees from left to right for controller users

• Fixed a bug that caused a loss of functionality of the in-game shop when tabbing out of the window and switching control Inputs.

• Fixed a bug where T1 components in the in-game shop would not tick them off correctly in their item trees.

• Fixed a bug where the focused recommended item would refocus when swapping between control types.

• Fixed a bug preventing controller users from being able to Basic Attack when opening the Level-Up menu in-game.

• Fixed a bug causing Gold and XP values to be shown twice when killing Minions.

• Fixed a bug resulting in a client error when a player rejoins the match as the Core is destroyed.

• Fixed a bug that could cause players to no longer have Crest evolutions displayed in subsequent matches when playing consecutive matches.

• Fixed various bugs where the main menu UI would display incorrect action prompts to users.

• Fixed a bug where Heroes would appear as locked when an ally selected them in the Hero draft menu.

• Fixed a bug where Red Hex Countess’ Skin material would appear artifacted in the main menu.

• Fixed a bug causing Greystone’s fabulous hair to clip into the back of his head.

• Fixed a bug that would prevent players from rejoining an AI match if they lost internet connectivity mid-game.

That's everything this time Champions, what do you think?

Let us know your feedback over on our Discord server or the Predecessor Subreddit.

Until next time!

Kari
Community @ Omeda Studios