V1.2 Patch Notes

Hotfixes

26.11.2024

Default Controller Layout Changes:

Introduction

Greetings Champions!

With spooky season behind us at last we're gathering our winter warmers and getting ready for 1.2 (and Winterfest 2025)!

1.2 is chock full of highly requested features and changes, from Arcshot Gateways (our fancy new official name for the previously showcased Teleporters) to communication changes, UI overhauls to map adjustments, and more!

But that barely scratches the surface, so let's crack the whip and jump straight in!

New Hero: Yin - The Jade Serpent

Claim the storms and surge into action, with Yin, Predecessor's newest whip-cracking wind-running Hero!

Yin is a powerful yet agile Jungler/ADC hybrid, able to manipulate intense gusts of wind with a crack of her whip, turning her opponents own attacks against them. 

Stats:

Abilities: 

Store News

Wind Gauntlet Yin [Uncommon]

Turn up the tempo and command the tempest with Yin's new Wind Gauntlet skin!

Wasteland Khaimera [Rare]

It’s survival of the fittest in the Wasteland, and Khaimera's new skin makes him one tough cookie.

Wasteland Grim.exe [Uncommon]

Take the bull (err... death bot?) by the horns with Grim.EXE's latest rust-riddled Wasteland skin!

Wasteland Kallari [Uncommon]

Move with the sandstorm and strike from the dunes, with Kallari's sand-swept Wasteland skin!

Wasteland Twinblast [Common]

Every wasteland needs a Hero, it's just a shame it was TwinBlast who answered the call.

New Bundles

New Store Section - Extras

Some of you may know that for a while we’ve spoken about a new section of the store, specifically for smaller cosmetics and a place where you can use Amber or Platinum to pick up the little things you might be missing from your collection.

V1.2 will see this new section of the store, the new Extras tab, finally become reality - becoming the #1 destination for standalone effects, emotes and menu cosmetics.

Be sure to take a look!

Purchasing Variants

It’s now possible to buy Skin Variants outside of bundles for all new variants added to the game.

Currently only the new Wasteland Khaimera variants are available to purchase this way, but as time goes on more and more variants will be available this way too.

Note, you must own the base Skin that a Variant is based on in order to purchase a Skin Variant in this way.

Communication Improvements

Overhead Emotes

One such cosmetic available in the new Extras tab are a new type of emote, Overhead Emotes.

Overhead Emotes are small icons that you can display over your Hero’s head for a short time to communicate with others. Flash a wave at the enemy, wow at your teammates, or perhaps even taunt your enemies with something completely irrelevant and distracting - the choice is up to you!

Emote Wheel

With so many ways to express yourself, we've also taken the opportunity to add another highly requested feature - a brand-new, fully-customizable Emote Wheel!

The Emote Wheel is an in game quick-menu that lets you quickly select from a range of pre-selected sprays and other emotes. Not only does this mean you can now go into battle with more sprays than ever before, giving you versatility to pick different ones for different moments, but we've also upped the limit you can deploy before they vanish, meaning you can now place up to 4 sprays on the map at once.

You can equip or change your selection under the Profile tab in the Main Menu, and in game you can pull up the wheel by simply holding down the existing Spray button.

Communication Wheel Improvements

The Communication Wheel has also been give a once-over this update.

We've updated the selection of options, taking out some pings based on your feedback or that we commonly saw get misused, while also adding some brand new phrases such as "Never surrender!", "Stand and fight" and "Out of mana". We've also re-recorded some.

Check out some of the new pings below and let us know what you think when you start using them in game!

Ranked Mode Improvements

Following your feedback, we’ve made a number of improvements to Ranked Mode.

• We’ve removed inter-division promotional games. Players with over 100 VP will now be automatically promoted from Division III to Division II, and from Division II to Division I. 

  • Promotion games between Ranks are still present; going from Silver I → Gold III requires the completion of a promotion game.

• Adjusted VP updates for Platinum and Diamond Ranks so that players can move through these ranks quicker if they are not yet at their correct rank.

• Adjusted VP updates in Paragon rank so winning and losing grants the same VP for all Paragon-ranked players.

For more information, see our 1.2 Recap Blog here.

Arcshot Gateways & Map Changes

Arcshot Gateways

Arcshot Gateways have been added to Sanctuary, located in new sections of the map near the Gold Buff in the Duo Lane and the Cyan Buff in Offlane. These new structures allow Heroes to ‘Arcshot’ from one side of the map to the other, quickly flying over the battlefield before landing at the gateway on the other side just a few short seconds later!  

Once they become active at the 10 minute mark, Heroes can stand on them for a short amount of time to activate them. Beware though, there’s a cooldown for each player that uses them so think carefully about when’s the best time to take to the skies!

Arcshot Gateways will provide new strategic and tactical opportunities for players to consider and take advantage of in any given match, whether that’s new ganking opportunities, creative new rotations, or simply providing splitpushers with a new angle. 

Naturally there will be balance concerns regarding this feature. We’ll be monitoring your feedback on Arcshot Gateways and considering any additional improvements that may be required for the future! 

Mechanics Breakdown:

• Initial Arcshot Gateway Activation time: 10 Minutes.

• Arcshot Gateway Charge-up Time: 2.5s.

• Arcshot Gateway Travel Time: 4s.

• Arcshot Gateway Cooldown: 4 Minutes in 10-20 minute of the match, decreasing to 3 minutes afterwards, per Hero.

  • This is displayed on the Mini-map and in the Player’s Buff Bar. 

• Arcshot Gateway Activation Rules:

  • Once Arcshot Gateways become active at 10m, stand on one for 2.5s to charge it up.

  • Upon fully charging a Arcshot Gateway, become immune to Damage and Crowd Control effects, and travel to the other Arcshot Gateway.

  • If an Enemy stands on top of the Arcshot Gateway while you are also on the Arcshot Gateway, it will be contested, pausing charge progress.

    • Example: You stand on the Arcshot Gateway for 1s and an Enemy contests it. You still have 1.5s of uncontested time until you can travel through the Arcshot Gateway.

  • Arcshot Gateways that are either fully or partially charged will decay their charge at the same rate if there is no Hero actively standing on them.

Fangtooth and Orb Prime Pit Changes

The Fangtooth and Orb Prime pits have received changes to their geometry to open up the areas, reducing the sense of claustrophobia experienced when fighting in the area and providing more opportunities to join the fight!

The ledge within the Fangtooth and Orb Prime Pits has been levelled, providing for a more open fighting area. This gives Heroes equal opportunities, reduces instances of camera clipping and ensures more accurate use of Area of Effect Abilities.

Additionally, a nearby wall at the entrance of the pits has been changed to a new half wall, providing the area with a greater feeling of openness and allowing for more vertical play to occur in the area, with ground targeting and mobility all able to be used over the wall.

Toxicity Improvements

AFK Detection

Following feedback we've made a series of changes to improve our AFK detection system, meaning we have new and more effective ways to take action against players going idle in the base (or just tabbing out or abandoning the game for extended periods of time).

This improved detection should reduce the number of ruined matches from AFK'ing, ensuring a smoother and better experience for everyone.

AFK Match Cancellations

If a player is considered AFK for too long in the first 5 minutes of the game, the match will now automatically cancel and the offending player will be punished.

All other players receive no rewards or penalties when a game is cancelled in this way. 

Player Report Feedback

We’ve also introduced a new feedback notification off the back of player reports, which will let you know if a report you've made against another player has contributed to a ban or similar action.

We went into detail about this feature in our latest Toxicity Report, check it out here.

Menu Improvements

Main Menu Visual Improvements

We’ve heard your feedback and have been quietly tinkering away on an all-new main menu UI. The new menu pays homage to Predecessor's original look, while feeling more polished, immersive and fluid than ever before!   

We hope you'll find this new version of the menu not only more visually appealing but also more user-friendly.

Take a look and as always, we’re keen to hear your feedback!

Match History

You can now view your recent match history in the new Matches tab of the Main Menu.

You’ll be able to see key insights such as the match result, your K/D/A and which items you used, as well as all of the end-of-match information you might want to look back on. 

From there you can also send friend invites or report offending players.

Watch Tab

The Watch tab has been merged into the new Matches tab, meaning replays are now accessible via your match history.

There's also additional tabs to view your friends' replays or to search for a specific replay.

Learn Tab & Tutorial Videos

Got a friend who's new to the game? Perhaps you're a fresh addition to Predecessor yourself and are looking for ways to level up your playstyle.

A new “Learn” Tab has been added to the Main Menu, providing everyone with a selection of short tutorial videos that explain everything you need to know to get started with Predecessor. 

Top Ranked Leaderboard

Battle it out for the top spots with in-game leaderboards for Ranked!

The all-new Top Ranked tab will display the top 500 Ranked players, as well as their platform, Profile Icon and Banner.

Note, due to PlayStation compliance requirements, this feature will be unavailable on the platform in 1.2 We're currently aiming to deliver it in 1.3, but stay tuned for updates.

Draft Purchasing

Forgotten to pick up a newly released Hero or a skin before heading into draft? No problem!

You can now purchase any unowned Skins and Heroes directly in the draft screen.

Match Found Audio

We've added new audio that plays when you find a match.

It's now much more noticeable that a match has been found and that people are waiting for you to accept the match - ideal for anyone guilty of holding things up because you've tabbed out to watch a funny cat video and missed the match prompt.

Gameplay Changes

Basic Attack Projectile Speed Increases

Basic Attack projectile speed for all Ranged Heroes has been nearly tripled, creating a smoother and more responsive combat experience.

Buff Transfers

Certain Buffs will now be transferred when a Player kills an Enemy Hero possessing an active Red or Blue buff. 

These transferred buffs function the same as if you had acquired them normally but last for a slightly reduced duration.

This change offers new strategic opportunities to gain buffs in new ways while helping protect against early Jungle invasions and giving players the chance to recover a stolen buff.

Let us know what you think!

Sanctuary

• Red and Blue Buff will now be transferred to Heroes that kill their Owners for a reduced duration:

  • Transferred Buff duration: 45s.

Brawl

• Purple and Brown Buff will now be transferred to Heroes that kill their Owners for a reduced duration:

  • Transferred Buff Duration: 25s.

Enhanced Recall

Mini-Orb and Orb Prime Buffs now grant their owners an Enhanced Recall effect, reducing the time it takes to Recall to Base from 8s to 4s for the duration of their corresponding Buffs.

Enhanced River Bugs

Rivers Bugs are fighting back, now growing in size and becoming stronger at the 21 minute mark. After they grow, they have increased durability and damage, but provide increased rewards and Buff effects when killed. 

These larger River Bugs will provide a greater point of contention in the later stages of the match after Orb Prime spawns on the battlefield, adding a further layer of strategy and signalling that it’s time to transition away from the laning phase.

A full breakdown of the new rewards can be found in the Balance Notes below.

Other Improvements

Additional Hero Voice Lines

Shhhh! The Heroes are talking!

We've updated all Heroes with a range of new voice lines, which each trigger in reaction to various new in-game events and situations. This should give each Hero more personality while making them feel more alive and more firmly anchored into the heat of battle.

We won't spoil the new voice lines here - keep an ear out and let us know what new lines you hear!

New Tower Danger Visual Effects

Towers now display their Attack Range via a snazzy new visual glow that surrounds how far they can shoot. Better still, the colour of this new glow will be change based on tower’s aggression status!

This should make it easier to see when you're in danger!

Brawl Mode - Hero Freedom

Ever wanted to watch the world burn with a battlefield full of Iggy & Scorchs? We did too! 

At long last you can now select multiple of the same Hero in Brawl, meaning your wildest fantasies of 5v5 all Phases, each yeeting one another into oblivion can at last play out.   

Editor's Note: Enjoy this fresh new type of chaos but be warned - we fully expect some unexpected and downright unbalanced behaviour or bugs as you fill the map with Morigesh Ults etc.

PlayStation Improvements

Promised improvements are here for the PlayStation 5 users! These include:

• Trophies

• 120 FPS mode

• Mouse & Keyboard Support

• Initial Localisation

New Level-Up Rewards

We've added new level-up rewards up to Level 20. Already Level 20 or higher? We'll be retroactively adding these to accounts in a later patch.

Other News

Winterfest - Coming Soon

Winterfest is back for 2025, and it's bigger and better than ever before!

This year's event starts on December 3rd and features a brand new Battlepass loaded with free and premium festive rewards that you can earn by getting stuck in to the event.

Consider this a heads up - we'll go into full details and showcase all the rewards and event features a little closer to the time!

Twitch Drops

Missed out on Blueberry Punk Countess earlier in the year? We’re bringing the skin variant back for an encore!

Tune in to any Predecessor Twitch stream to earn these freebies!

Gameplay Balance Changes

Overview

• Ranged Basic Attack Projectiles are now faster, improving feel and consistency.

• Gateways have been added to the map near the Gold and Cyan Buffs, activating at 10m. By standing on them for a short duration, they allow you to traverse to the other side lane on a 3m individual cooldown.

• Changes to Fangtooth and Orb Prime pit terrain, opening up the areas further. 

• River Bugs now become stronger at 21m (after Orb Prime spawns), offering increased rewards and Enhanced Buffs.

• Mini Orb and Orb Prime Buffs now grant a faster recall for the duration of the Buff.

• Red and Blue Buffs now transfer to killing Heroes on death for 45s.

• General Hero and Item Balance.

Projectile Speeds:

• All Ranged Heroes have had their Basic Attack Projectile Speed increase by approximately 3x.

• Certain Abilities have also had their speed increased to match this. These are listed in the Heroes section below for the respective Heroes.

Jungle:

Enhanced River Bugs:

• Initial Spawn Time: 21 minutes.

• They will continue to respawn and level-up at every 2 minute interval, as normal River Bugs do.

• Upon death, they provide their previous rewards and Buffs, alongside some additional Health Regeneration and an additional element on each Buff.

• Enhanced River Bugs generic rewards: 

  • Gold increased 30g to 80g

  • XP increased from 50-90 to 100 (+5 per Level)

  • Mana Regeneration increased from 50 (+2 per Level) to 100 (+4 per Level) 

  • [New] Enhanced River Bugs additionally grant 50 (+4 per Level) Health Regeneration per Second for 5s.

• Enhanced Buff Types:

  • Orange Buff: Grants 30% Attack Speed and 5% Omnivamp.

  • Pink Buff: Grants 20% increased Ability Damage and 20 Ability Haste.

  • Grey Buff: Grants 100 Movement speed and 15% Out of Combat Movement Speed.

  • Green Buff: Grants an (+18% Max Health) Shield, and now explodes on depletion, dealing 200 (+5% Max Health) Magical Damage to all Enemies in a 650u radius and Slowing by 40% for 1s.

• Enhanced River Bug Stats and Rewards:

  • Health increased from 200 to 1500.

  • Physical Power increased from 10 (+1 per Level) increased to 50 (+8 per Level)

  • Gold increased 30g to 80g

  • XP increased from 50-90 to 100 (+5 per Level)

  • Mana Regeneration increased from 50 (+2 per Level) to 100 (+4 per Level)

  • [New] Enhanced River Bugs additionally grant 50 (+4 per Level) Health Regeneration per Second for 5s. 

Red Buff: 

As well as their Buffs being transferrable, Red and Clue Buff are both receiving a slight decrease to their durability from the second spawn onwards to allow Junglers some additional room to work with. 

• Health decreased from 2450/2800 (+120 per Level) to 2450/2700 (+110 per Level).

• Red Buff will now transfer upon death to the Killing Hero for 45s.

Blue Buff:

• Health decreased from 2450/2800 (+120 per Level) to 2450/2700 (+110 per Level).

• Blue Buff will now transfer upon death to the Killing Hero for 45s.

Fangtooth:

Matches are currently determined too strongly by a team's ability to secure Jungle Objectives. Given they both provide significant Buff effects already, both Fangtooth and Mini Orb are receiving a cut to the Gold they offer the entire team, slightly diminishing the swing in gold that can occur if you lose multiple in the earlier stages of a match. 

• Global Gold decreased from 120 to 100.

Mini Orb:

Alongside a cut to its Gold Reward described in the Fangtooth section, the player possessing the Mini Orb Buff can now recall faster for its duration to make better macro use of its effect.

• Global Gold decreased from 200 to 150. 

• Mini Orb Buff now grants Empowered Recall for its duration, increasing the Recall speed from 8s to 4s.

Orb Prime:

The XP reward granted by Orb Prime can push winning teams too far ahead when taken early, and is receiving a small cut. Additionally, all players possessing an Orb Prime Buff can now recall faster, allowing for faster resets and macro plays around the map.

• Reward XP decreased from 600 to 500.

• Mini Orb Buff now grants Empowered Recall for its duration, increasing the Recall speed from 8s to 4s.

Hero Balance Changes

The early-game wave clearing potential provided by Photon Disruptor allows Dekker to outpace many other Supports, with it still providing meaningful push potential even when left at a single point. To ensure Dekker’s level 1 efficacy better matches other Heroes, a shift away from Photon’s flat damage to Scaling is being levied to ensure Dekker’s Level 1 strength is not as effective, alongside some decreases to her Health Regeneration to better allow trades against her to stick, given how elusive she can be.

General:

Photon Disruptor [Primary] 

In the past, Feng Mao frequently relied on Malady and Envy to provide him with a strong 2-item spike. With nerfs to both items occurring in previous patches, Feng has once again found himself struggling to find a home in a Jungle unless he secures an early snowball. To help him along in the average match, increased uptime on Hamstring is being offered at early levels, better allowing him to attain a tempo advantage through clear, or take trades in the Offlane as an additional benefit.

Hamstring [Secondary]:

Gideon’s Mana economy generally runs into issues compared to other Mages, especially in the mid-game onwards where he can quickly run dry after a few rotations. As a result, a cut to his Mana Costs are being given to ensure he can stay on the map for longer and better match up to other Mages in lane. Additionally, a previous Bugfix to Gideon’s Ultimate was unintentionally reverted, and due to it being balanced around 10-ticks of damage, the fact it was only dealing 9 again resulted in a significant unintentional damage loss. This has now been resolved again, and Gideon should find himself in far stronger contention with other Mages and back to his usual intended strength.

Cosmic Rift [Primary]:

Void Breach [Alternate]:

Black Hole [Ultimate]:

Howitzer can struggle in various matchups, such as The Fey and Wraith, especially if he falls behind the curve. To provide Howitzer with some greater consistency, and to further allow him to match up to other lane bullies, he is receiving damage increase across his kit, with Make It Rain gaining a greater damage baseline independent of his performance, and Slow Grenades being bolstered to ensure it provides sufficient threat relative to the mana investment.

Slow Grenades [Alternate]:

Make It Rain [Ultimate]:

A quick bump in Projectile Speed for Mercy to make it better match the new Basic Attack Projectile Speed baseline.

Mercy [Alternate]:

While Lt. Belica can transition into a strong threat later in a match, she currently struggles to keep pace with many of the pushing mages such as Argus, Gadget and The Fey. To close the gap in early game strength, Void Bomb is receiving a suit of buffs aimed at enhancing her pushing potential, alongside Seismic Assault gaining more uptime if it is invested in first as Support.

Seismic Assault [Primary]: 

Void Bomb [Alternate]:

Narbash’s ability to sit back and commit to passive gameplay when investing levels into his heal can result in a play pattern that is too safe and difficult to punish. A decrease to the efficacy of maxing his heal is being taken, better allowing his lane opponents to punish mistakes and further incentivising investment in Thunk instead. 

Song Of My People [Secondary]:

Riktor possesses significant threat thanks to his hook, but is difficult to consistently poke out in response thanks to the general uptime of his Riot Shield and the durability it provides. An increase to its cooldown is occurring to provide his opponents with a greater window to punish him and maintain pressure, should they dodge his hook.

Riot Shield [Passive]:

Sparrow is one of the few Heroes receiving an increase to her ability Projectile Speed. This will better allow Piercing Shot to match up with the new baseline, and increase the overall feel and fluidity of the ability as it could often miss at times it was expected to hit.

Piercing Shot [Alternate]:

Steel’s is receiving a change to his Shield Wall as a follow up to the previous duration changes, with it now triggering its cooldown once it disappears. This will provide more windows of downtime in the late-game during Tower sieges to ensure he cannot defensively stall games as easily, while also benefitting less from Ability Haste in the process. Additionally, he is receiving a hit to his early Health to allow Offlane matchups a better chance at pushing him and killing him in the early levels.

General:

Shield Wall [Secondary]:

Given its range, TwinBlast’s Vaporize deals too much damage from afar, frequently allowing Penetration builds especially to outduel other Carries from afar when both Carries are isolated in the lane. Damage is being decreased to reduce the efficacy of these Penetration builds further, and further ensure his overall mid-range trades are less oppressive.

Vaporize [Primary]:

Ventilate [Ultimate]:

Wraith’s ability to snowball out of control after a couple of kills has led to higher than desired levels of success at high level play. A reduction to his general Scalings is being levied to ensure that he does not snowball as aggressively with an early gold lead, while also taking some of the power out of his Basic Attacks to ensure his DPS is not as closely matched to other Carries. On the flip side, Wraith’s Sonar Drone is receiving an increase to its Vision Range, better allowing it to scout behind some of the thicker walls, and further accentuating his ability to provide vision for his team.

Who’s There? [Passive]:

The Neutralizer [Basic Attack]:

Knock, Knock! [Alternate]:

Zinx can feel rather oppressive when she gets ahead, able to deny picks from the enemy Team which makes it difficult to execute a comeback, while also possessing significant damage output should she invest in Items such as Prophecy or Spectra. To resolve this further, we’re dropping her general Attack Speed and DoT output, while also increasing the windows of downtime between Resurrection casts, giving her opponents more room to play around should it be forced out.

General:

Infuse [Alternate]:

Refibrillator [Ultimate]:

Item Balance Changes

Crests

Razorback’s ability to deflect high amounts of damage contributes strongly to the efficacy and damage potential of Tanks and is receiving a reduction. 

Time-Flux Band’s double rotation loop often leaves many Mages dry on Mana after one activation, especially in more burst heavy builds. To mitigate some of the mana-reliance it requires, Turntable will now Refund some Missing Mana after it rewinds you back to your original location. 

Carry

Ashbringer struggles to provide enough raw value as an Attack Speed pairing within builds, especially when you consider that it lacks a raw damaging or defensive effect. To allow it to serve as a stronger 1-2 pairing with other Items, some additional Attack Speed is being granted. 

Quiver’s Multishot Projectile Speed has also been increased in line with the new Basic Attack Projectile Speeds.

Solaris currently struggles to provide enough bang for its buck on purchase compared to many other Carry Items and is receiving some small changes to its cost and Haste to make it more attractive to its users.

Spectra has emerged as a rather dominant Item since its addition, with many Heroes favouring it within their builds. While it was designed to be usable by On-hit users beyond the Carry class, it especially overperforms on more niche picks such as offlane Muriel and midlane Zinx. As a result, some Ability Haste and general effectiveness is being removed to ensure Spectra is brought back into parity. 

Assassin

The switchover from Lifesteal to Omnivamp has Nightfall being appreciated by more Heroes, but it has some additional room for an increase to its Healing potential to better serve those Assassins that are looking for a Sustain-based alternative to Mutilator. 

Painweaver has seen reduced popularity as of late, especially when compared to competing purchases such as Envy. To help differentiate it and speciliase it further, Movement Speed is being granted as a baseline stat to cement Painweaver as a strong Mobility option for Assassins to consider. 

With the resurgence of Tanks. Perforator does not provide enough efficacy as a response. To better serve its Tank-busting purpose, we’re shifting some of the Flat Penetration back into the Percentage Penetration, thereby making it slightly more effective against anyone stacking Physical Armor.

Fighter

Initially, with the addition of Gaia Greaves in v18, we reduced Axe’s movement speed to ensure there was not too much mobility creep as they were frequently being stacked together in a lower TTK environment. Now that the balance environment has shifted, we can reintroduce some of that lost movement speed to allow it to serve as a better standalone pickup.

With the previous improvements to Bonesaw’s effect, it has emerged as a strong contender among the Bruiser Item pool. However, the combination of its raw health pool and strong duelling effect allows it to overperform, and a decrease in raw power is required.

Given its lack of Health, the disparity in cost between Mutilator and items such as Fire Blossom leaves many of its wielders unable to adequately keep pace in Fighter vs Tank matchups, even when winning in the early lane. A small cut to its cost will help close that gap, and better reward Fighters that manage to deny farms from enemy Tanks.

Salvation grants a significant bump in durability on purchase and contributes to Fighters feeling overly durable in a skirmish. A hit to its raw Health is being levied to better ensure damage stats can match the efficacy of health-based items and reduce some of the Health Bloat that has creeped up in the Item pool.

Mage

Starting with Noxia, a range of Mage Items are receiving small efficacy improvements to help bring greater parity among the classes, especially in burstier builds paths, and therefore allowing Mages to remain a relevant threat through a match.

A small bump in Spellblade damage to make the initial purchase feel like a stronger power spike compared to Elafrost.

Oblivion Crown:

^{(Editor's Note: Kari lost the image for this one, sorry!)}

Saving enough money for Crown’s steep completion cost can feel overly cumbersome and contributes to delays in power spikes for Mages seeking some raw firepower. A small decrease to its cost is being provided to free up Mage builds further.

Overseer has emerged as a highly potent choice for Heroes such as Countess. As the Item’s identity is all about Ultimate enhancement, we’re favouring to hit the statine to bring it further in line, with the Magical Lifesteal decrease especially being levied as a hit to single-target Mages that benefit more from its full value.

Soul Binder can be unreliable in its stacking condition, and lacks the raw boost in power that other choices provide so a small bump to its Magical Power is being granted.

Many Mage Junglers seeking a damage-heavy build such as Kwang struggle to justify opting into Amir over other choices, primarily due to how fragile it leaves them compared to other choices while also not possessing a potent damaging effect to spike off. To help open up some new build pairings and alleviate this feeling of fragility, Amir is now gaining some Health in exchange for some of its damaging Stats.

A small decrease in Timewarp’s cost to bring its cost more in line with other Haste alternatives.

As a pure damage option, Wraith Leggings have room for some additional efficacy to better differentiate building for Burst compared to multiple rotations with Haste Itemization. 

Tank

A small reduction to Elafrost’s damage, further differentiating it from Oathkeeper while helping to further reduce damage bloat from Tankier builds. 

As with other Items is the Tank section, Flux is seeing a transfer away from raw Health into its Magical Armor. This will help ensure Tankier Heroes are not as resistant to all damage sources thanks to Health’s universal durability against all damage types while reducing the need for Heroes to rely on Percent Health Damage sources to fell them, and instead tailor certain Items further as a direct response to a particular damage type.

Frostguard struggles to serve as an adequate response to Magical Heroes with high attack Speed and is receiving some additional Magical Armor to fortify its existence as an adequate counter-buy further. 

Raiment provides a significant durability in the early-game, especially when rushed first by Supports. While the issues related to Support purchase and the low interaction gameplay it promotes are a topic to be addressed fully at another time, for now some Health is being stripped back to ensure its wielders are more susceptible to being all-in’d.

Similar to Flux, Stonewall is trading some Health for Physical Armor, making it stronger against physical burst-sources, but weaker against magic.

Thanks to Bastion’s Passive effect, it double dips its durability against both Magical and Physical sources and serves as a strong-catch all when it is required. To account for this, it can stand to lose some raw Health to make it less of a universal durability pickup.

Unbroken Will is the final Item to see a shift away from Health and into Armor this round. As mentioned before, health is overly prevalent on some items, and the transition to Magical Armor will leave Unbroken will feeling better suited to its purpose as a response to magical damage for Tanks and Bruisers alike, while also allowing other Classes to feel less reliant on Items that deal Percent Health damage.

Brawl Balance Changes

Enhanced River Bugs

Maintains the same functionality as Sanctuary, except:

• Initial Spawn Time: 5 minutes, 45 seconds.

• Respawn interval: At every 75 second interval.

Brown Buff: 

• Brown Buff will now transfer upon death to the Killing Hero for 25s.

Purple Buff:

• Purple Buff will now transfer upon death to the Killing Hero for 25s.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Walls above the Midlane High Stairs were at inconsistent heights.

• Fixed an issue where Heroes could stand in a wall near Gold and Cyan Buffs.

• Fixed an issue where Heroes could get blocked by an Invisible Wall in the Blue Corridor behind Fangtooth Pit.

• Fixed an issue where Heroes could stand on some unintended Rocks near the Red Buff.

• Fixed an issue where Grux would play a Morigesh Voiceline when his Ultimate comes off cooldown.

• Fixed an issue where Console Users would not be accurately prompted to restart when changing Quality Presets.

• Fixed an issue where Heroes would not correctly lock-in during the Draft if immediately selected.

• Fixed an issue where Console Navigation would lose UI focus when selecting Amber as a purchase method while possessing an insufficient amount.

• Fixed an issue where some Console Users could have their Friends List Widget duplicated when toggling Crossplay.

• Fixed an issue where Age-restricted Accounts could receive an error prompt when interacting with the Post-match screens.

• Fixed an issue where Blocking a Friend on Xbox would not remove them from your Friends List.

• Fixed an issue where Shinbi’s Biting Melody would continue to emit Vibration on Controllers even with Vibration disabled.

• Fixed an issue where Monsters could lose Aggro when a Player dies in a match.

• Fixed an issue where Sprays could appear pixelated for PS5 Users.

• Fixed an issue where the Core’s Healthbar would disappear if at full health, despite an Inhibitor being down.

• Fixed an issue where the incorrect Item could be purchased when buying an Item from your Recommended List that had the same component as another Item.

• Fixed an issue where Support Crest Charge VFX would disappear on Death.

• Fixed an issue where Controller Tab Navigation could cease to function correctly when cycling between Affinity and Skins Tabs.

• Fixed an issue where Controller Skin Variant Navigation could cease to function correctly cycling between the Social Screens.

• Fixed an issue where Mouse Users could not scroll through the Heroes and Store Tabs while holding RMB.

• Fixed an issue where Controller Users could not accept Invitations while in the Store Tabs.

• Fixed an issue where Jumpad Trails could be misaligned for Greystone.

• Fixed an issue where Hero Ability Text could fail to update when cycling between Abilities in the Draft.

• Fixed an issue where Unbound Inputs would appear as Bound in the Settings Menu when transitioning in and out of a session.

• Fixed an issue where Undertow Riktor’s Spawn-in VFX would not play in the Menus.

Whew, that’s a lot, isn’t it? We hope that you enjoy playing with Yin again and that you’ll find these changes and improvements are impacting your experience for the better.

As always, let us know what you think on Discord or Reddit.

Until next time,

Rei, Feysky, Omeda_Zuzu & Kari
Game Design, UI/UX and Community @ Omeda Studios