Category Archives: Patch Notes

A place for all patches to the game.

Patch 0.5.4 — Balance and Clarity Update

  By Atlas • May 15, 2019

After a brief hiatus and lengthy testing period, patch 0.5.4 comes in strong with some UI updates targeted toward clarity and usability, while delivering a ton of balance changes, new items, and mechanics changes to pave the way for new builds and strategies to thrive in Battle Squares. This patch also prepares for patch 0.5.5, which will deliver a major change to the way combat abilities function in the game, so keep that in mind!

General

A new status effect, new modifiers, and balance changes to make level progression slightly faster.

NEW STATUS EFFECT: Shielded

  • When shielded, a player ignores the next instance of damage they take. This status effect lasts until the shield is broken.

NEW MODIFIERS

  • Haste
    • Reduce the remaining cooldown of your character ability by 1 round.
  • Backtrack (Replaces Spatial Reset)
    • At the end of your turn, teleport back to the square you started on. Any items you lost this turn are also returned to you.

Modifier Changes

  • Roll Modifiers can now only be used at level 3 and above.
  • Double Time
    • Energy lost increased from 4 –> 6.
  • Quickmend
    • Energy restored increased from 3 –> 4.
  • Travel Lightly
    • Dodge bonus increased from 6% –> 8%.

Experience & Leveling Changes

  • Experience needed to level up reduced by ~10% at every level.
  • Experience needed at levels 6, 7, and 8 have also been reduced by 3, 2, and 1 respectively.

Powerups

  • Aegis now grants the Shielded status effect instead of untargetability.
  • The Coin powerup now grants 35 + (Current Round) AP. (Up from 30+ Current Round).
  • The Strength powerup now grants +2 Attack and Defense. (Up from +1/1).
  • ALL powerups now only grant +5 bonus experience. (Down from +8).

End-of-Game Rewards

  • (New Award) – Immortal
    • Awards 13-129 AP based on who died the least.
  • Bloodlust (Most battles won)
    • AP reward changed from 32- 118 AP –> 35- 137 AP.
  • Punching Bag
    • Now awards up to 101 AP to players who are the most targeted. (Up from 91 max).

BOARD

NEW: HIDDEN SQUARES

  • At the start of the game, all square types are now hidden! Square types are not revealed until a player lands on or next to a square, which reveals that square’s type to all players.

CHARACTERS

This patch, most characters receive a balance update. Aimond’s ability gets a partial rework, while Steve gets quite a few nerfs.

  • Aimond
    • “Boo” Reworked to read:
      • Aimond teleports to the square of an opponent, and haunts all players on that square for 2 turns. If they were already haunted, they take 100 damage instead, and the cooldown of this ability is reset.
    • “Boo” Energy cost increased from 5 –> 6.
  • Gramps
    • “Back in My Day” cooldown increased from 5 –> 6 Rounds.
    • “Back in My Day” energy cost increased from 4 –> 6.
    • “Bad Knees” Passive now deals 25 non-lethal damage to Gramps. (Up from 15).
  • Melizan
    • Tempest damage reduced from 20 –> 17.
  • Nai Xin
    • Now becomes Shielded after using his character ability.
  • Nurse Ann
    • “Emergency” cooldown reduced from 4 –> 3 Rounds.
  • Sarge
    • AP for each exhausted opponent increased from 20 –> 25.
  • Steve
    • Bunny Rage energy cost increased from 7 –> 9.
    • Bunny Rage cooldown increased from 5 –> 6 Rounds.
    • Bunny Rage Max Health ratio decreased from 35% –> 30%.
  • Tim
    • “Snapshot” energy cost increased from 2 –> 3.
    • “Snapshot” cooldown decreased from 4 –> 3 Rounds.

Combat

Pacing changes to make combat resolve a bit quicker early on, plus a handful of changes to exhaustion, stats, and combat abilities.

Stat Changes

  • Attack and Defense are now capped at 70 each. (Up from 50).
  • Standard attacks now deal 5 base damage. (Up from 1).

Exhaustion Changes

  • Defense is now 60% less effective when exhausted. (Up from 40%).
  • Exhaustion damage now scales with the player’s Max Health. Each turn when exhausted, players now take 2.5% of their max health as damage + an additional 2.5% for each turn the player is exhausted.

Combat Ability Changes

  • Invigorate
    • Cooldown increased from 4 –> 6 Rounds.
  • Last Stand
    • Energy cost increased from 5 –> 6.
  • Sundercry
    • Base damage increased from 4 –> 10.

Round Limit Changes

  • The max round limit has been lowered by 2 rounds for all battles.

Items

  • AG II Pistol
    • Cooldown reduced from 3 –> 2 Rounds.
  • Bow of the Master Archer
    • Attack bonus per crit landed increased from 1 –> 3.
  • Cursed Blade
    • Max health ratio damage increased from 12 –> 13%.
    • No longer grants +2 Max Energy.
    • Defense ignore ratio reduced from 50% –> 40%.
  • Deadshot Rifle
    • Now grants +7 Attack and +30% Crit (Up from +6/25%).
    • Active damage dealt increased from 26 –> 30.
    • Now decreases miss chance by 25%. (Down from 75%).
  • Deathblade Scythe
    • Attack bonus from dead opponents increased from 2 –> 3.
  • Earthmother’s Root
    • Now grants +3 Attack.
    • Cost increased from 120 AP –> 150 AP.
  • Eddy’s Emerald
    • Cost reduced from 125 AP –> 75 AP.
    • Grants +5 Health per roll. (Down from 10).
  • Etherial Amethyst
    • Now grants +5% dodge upon becoming untethered. (Up from 3%).
  • Fortification Rune
    • Cost increased from 50 –> 90 AP.
    • Now grants +4 Defense.
  • Gazerbeam Helm
    • Cooldown increased from 3 –> 5 Rounds.
  • Gladiator’s Stronghelm
    • Defense bonus increased from 5 –> 8.
    • Max Health bonus reduced from 35 –> 30.
    • Active damage reduced from (8% Health + Defense Score) –> (4% Health + Defense Score).
    • Active cooldown increased from 2 –> 4 rounds.
  • Infinity Potion
    • Is no longer auction exclusive.
    • Cost increased to 80 AP. (From 20).
  • Infused Crown
    • Health bonus reduced from 20 –> 10.
    • Energy bonus reduced from 2 –> 0.
  • Restorative Charm
    • Moved to item pool, and no longer appears in the shop.
  • Ryan’s Piercer
    • Now ignores 50% of the target’s defense. (Up from 40%).
  • Lifetether
    • Defense bonus reduced from 5 –> 2.
    • Evasion bonus reduced from 10% –> 8%.
  • Odnamro’s Greatsword
    • Attack bonus increased from 12 –> 15.
  • Phantom Cloak
    • Defense bonus increased from 7 –> 9.
  • Sorrow
    • Max Health ratio increased from 8% –> 10%.
  • Sure-Step Boots
    • Cost decreased from 90 –> 80 AP.
    • Can now only be purchased at level 3.
  • Stalker’s Boots
    • Cost reduced from 45 –> 40 AP.
    • Cooldown decreased from 4 –> 3 Rounds.
  • Teddy Bear
    • Moved to item pool, and no longer appears in the shop.
  • Vampiric Trinket
    • Cooldown increased from 4 –> 5 Rounds.
  • Vitality Armor
    • Health bonus reduced from 65 –> 45.
    • Now grants +3 Defense
    • Activated effect now restores 14% Max Health. (Down from 20%).
    • Activated effect cooldown reduced to 3 rounds. (Down from 4).
  • Wisdom Crown
    • Cost decreased from 90 –> 80 AP.
    • Experience gain reduced from 8 –> 6.
    • Now grants +1 Max Energy.
  • Xpired’s Mystery Soup
    • New Effect: (Hallucination) — Become Haunted for 1 turn.

REMOVED: Clever Disguise

Spells

Two new spells have been added!

  • Aegis
    • Costs 4 Energy
    • When cast, become Shielded. If already Shielded, you permanently gain +3 Defense.
  • Farsight
    • Costs 3 Energy
    • Reveal the next 10 squares on the board for yourself.

TECHNICAL

  • Basic client re-connection has been implemented! This allows players with less-reliable internet connections to quickly reconnect to the game if their connection goes out briefly.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed a bug where in AI games, AI’s would get back infinity potions too soon.
  • Fixed a bug where in AI games the turn timer could stop functioning properly.

Patch 0.5.3 — Variety Patch!

  By Atlas • February 1, 2019

As the name may suggest, this patch focuses on delivering on the promise of variety; inside you’ll find a host of changes including new characters, a new item, and more ways to customize the way you play. Variety is the spice of life, and Battle Squares gets a little spicier with this content patch, so dig in and enjoy!

GENERAL

The first order of business this patch was to increase the amount of game options available to players before the game starts. As a result, new “Advanced game options” have been added to give the host more control on how the game is being played.

NEW – OPTIONS GALORE:

  • A new “AP Multiplier” option has been added.
    • This option multiplies all AP gained from rolling the dice.
  • A new “Roll Difficulty” option has been added.
    • This option adjusts how easy it is for players to control the dice.
  • A new “Turn Timer” option has been added.
    • This option adjusts how much time a player has to take their turn, and allows the timer to be disabled.
  • A new “Heroic Item Limit” option has been added.
  • A new “Random Characters” option has been added.
    • When enabled, all players will be assigned random characters when the game starts. (Overrides all character selection).
  • A new “Underdog Buffs” option has been added.
    • When enabled, players that are behind in net worth will receive Underdog buffs.

OTHER OPTION CHANGES:

  • A new 18-round option has been added to the rounds drop-down list.

CHANGED – LEVEL BONUSES

  • Leveling up now grants +35 AP (+45 if first). (Changed from +20/ 35).

CHANGED – Revival Costs

  • Revival cost lowered from 15 AP (+15 per death) + .5% Net Worth (+2% per death) –> 5 (+10 per death) + .5% net worth (+1% per death).

CHARACTERS

Since the Character update, players have had to struggle with the choice of whether or not to use their character ability or roll the dice. This was an interesting decision, but made it necessary that all character abilities meet a minimum power level in order to ever see use. This change allows players to do both, while allowing for more combos and interactions between game elements to enable more intriguing options.

RULE CHANGE:

  • Players can now roll and use their character abilities in the same turn.

NEW CHARACTERS

NEW CHARACTER: Melizan

  • PASSIVE TRAIT: Amplified Magic
    • Harmful spells cast by Melizan are cast on all enemies. Beneficial spells cast by Melizan trigger twice.
  • CHARACTER ABILITY: Tempest
    • Deal 20 damage to all other players. If you’ve cast a spell this turn, this ability does not go on cooldown but its energy cost increases by 1 this turn.

NEW CHARACTER: James

  • PASSIVE TRAIT: Objection!
    • The first time James is targeted by an enemy, he silences them for 1 turn.
  • CHARACTER ABILITY: Lawsuit
    • James sues a target player, taking 10% of their Net Worth (Max 150 AP). James can only use this ability against players that have targeted or killed him this game.

BALANCE CHANGES

Allowing character abilities to be used on the same turn as rolling introduces a lot of potential imbalances. As such, the power level of nearly all characters has been trimmed down to compensate.

AIMOND

  • Boo! Cooldown increased from 4 –> 6 rounds.

GRAMPS

  • Back in My Day duration decreased from 2 rounds –> 1 round.
  • Back in My Day now expires at the start of Gramps’ next turn, rather than at the end of a round.

NURSE ANN

  • Emergency pass-thru damage reverted from 55 –> 40.
  • Emergency cooldown increased from 2 –> 4 rounds.

ROBBIE

  • Snatch ability cooldown increased from 4 –> 6 rounds.
  • Robbie no longer becomes Untargetable after successfully stealing an item.
  • Robbie’s stolen items now only sell for 40% of the items original cost. (Down from 50%).
  • Robbie’s Snatch can only steal items worth 110 AP or less. (Down from 120).

SARGE

  • Boot camp energy cooldown increased from 4 –> 5 rounds.

STEVE

  • Bunny Rage energy cost increased from 6 –> 7 energy.
  • Bunny Rage bonus health ratio decreased from 40% –> 35%.

TIM

  • Snapshot sell price reduced from 50 –> 25 AP.
  • Snapshot cooldown increased from 3 –> 4 rounds.
  • Snapshot energy cost increased from 1 –> 2.
  • Sightseer (Passive) now only grants +6 experience and +10 AP after Tim uses his ability. (Down from 15/15).
  • Tim’s Snapshot can no longer be used when:
    • Tim is currently moving around the board.
    • Tim is currently rolling the dice or selecting a roll modifier/action.
    • A square effect is currently resolving. (Such as auctions, the pot, etc).

NAI XIN

  • Passive buffed to read:
    • When Nai Xin has 8 or more energy (down from 10) he gains +3 Attack and Defense.
  • Chi Transfer cooldown reduced from 4 –> 3 rounds.

COMBAT

Combat changes!

CHANGED – SOFTER CAP

  • The damage cap has been softened, allowing for damaging attacks and abilities to exceed 75 damage. However, any damage over the cap is now reduced by 75%.

CHANGED – LESS DAMAGE

  • All damage dealt in combat has been reduced by 20%.

CHANGED – DEFENSE EFFECTIVENESS

  • Defense is also 20% more effective at reducing damage taken.

CHANGED – FINAL BRAWL

  • For the final brawl, AP gains/losses are increased by 50%.

ITEMS

A new tool for dealing with players who repeatedly hit you with damaging items. (Ow).

NEW – Rebounder Star

  • Costs 40 AP
  • Grants +3 Defense.
  • After being targeted by an enemy outside of combat, become Untargetable for 1 turn. (4 Round cooldown).

Item Balance Changes

  • Alien Shield
    • Reduces all incoming damage by 5. (Up from 2).
    • Defense bonus increased from 7 –> 8.
    • Cost increased from 120 AP –> 155 AP.
  • Cursed Blade
    • % Max health ratio increased from 10 –> 12%.
  • Dash’Kai Blood Tome
    • Self-damage dealt increased from 10 –> 20.
    • Energy bonus decreased from 2 –> 1.
  • Earthmother’s Root
    • Bonus damage reduced from 5% Max Health –> 4% Max Health.
  • Eddy’s Emerald
    • Cost increased from 60 –> 125 AP.
    • Health bonus decreased from 15 –> 5.
  • Enmar’s Time Rod
    • No longer restores 6 energy upon use.
    • Cooldown increased from 4 –> 6 rounds.
  • Giant’s Bane
    • Cost reduced from 150 –> 140 AP.
    • Attack bonus changed from 3 –> 0.
    • % Max health ratio increased from 18% –> 20%.
  • Hyperdrink
    • Energy restoration changed from 8 (4 in combat) –> 6 at all times.
  • Magic Glove
    • Is now auction exclusive.
  • Ol’ Muriel’s Pin
    • Moved to the item pool, and is no longer purchasable in the shop.
  • Painkillers
    • Effect changed: Consume: Reduce all damage taken outside of combat by 75% until your next turn.
    • Can no longer be used in combat.
  • Sirkind’s Grandstaff
    • Energy bonus increased from 3 –> 4.
    • Cost increased from 70 –> 100 AP.
    • Is now a level 3 item.
  • Sorrow
    • % Max Health ratio increased from 7 –> 8%.
    • Cost increased from 62 –> 80 AP.
    • Is now a level 3 item.
  • Training Sword
    • Cost increased from 45 –> 55 AP.
    • Now grants +2 attack after rolling a 5 or less.
  • Veerin’s Revenge
    • Haunt effect now also applies when the player receives a combo strike.
    • Defense bonus increased from 7 –> 8
  • Vitality Armor
    • Health bonus increased from 40 –> 65.
    • Active effect cooldown reduced from 5 –> 4 rounds.

REMOVED ITEMS

  • Quizzle’s Mark
  • Cultist Robe

SPELLS

Time Warp

  • Energy cost increased from 2 –> 4.

SQUARES

  • Battle Squares
    • Bonus attack and defense from combat training increased to 3. (Other options are unchanged).

VISUALS

It isn’t too often you see this section, but there are some new visual additions!

ANIMATIONS

  • Added flinch animations for when players take damage.
  • Refined the out of combat death animation.
  • Added a recover animation when players revive after death.
  • Added a spell cast and character ability use animation for Steve, Gramps, Melizan, Sarge, and Nai Xin.

PARTICLES

  • Added lightning particles for Arcanopulse, and for Hex square damage.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug where reviving sometimes wouldn’t remove fatigue effects.
  • Fixed a bug where Infinity Potion would return too soon in AI games.
  • Fixed a bug where using the revive capsule icon would cause the revive UI to stay visible for too long.

Patch 0.5.2 — Streamlining Update!

  By Atlas • January 19, 2019

As the first official patch of 2019, this patch seeks to touch up on more obscure gameplay mechanics to make them more approachable for new players while delivering on numerous gameplay updates, a pinch of new content, and a few much-needed bug fixes to make the game more consistent.

GENERAL:

Earning experience works a little differently:

  • Players now gain +8 Experience whenever they collect a powerup.
  • Experience requirements have been slightly lowered at every level.
  • The powerup spawning rate has been slightly increased.
  • Players will no longer gain experience from correctly predicting rolls. Instead, correct predictions will award 12-18 AP. (Based on #players in the game).

A NEW JAM – A new end-of-game music track has been added.

AI:

Our overlords-to-be have received some improvements:

  • AI logic has been improved for buying and selling items; they will now prefer to buy items better suited to their play-style, and will be more selective about the items they purchase after halftime.
  • AI difficulty can now be adjusted in the lobby between 4 modes: Easy, Normal, Hard, and Insane.
    • WARNING:  Insane AI’s do not  always play fair.

In addition to the logic improvements, several bugs have been addressed that negatively impacted AI players:

  • Fixed a bug where AI’s could use abilities in combat even if they didn’t have the required energy.
  • Fixed a bug where AI’s couldn’t properly use Infinity Potions.
  • Fixed a bug where AI’s wouldn’t benefit from the Underdog buff.
  • Fixed a bug where AI’s sometimes couldn’t complete their quest.

CHARACTERS:

ROBBIE:

  • Now has a new passive trait:
    • Crime Does(nt?) Pay
      • When Robbie passes another player on the board, he steals 15 AP from them. If Robbie dies, he pays 30 AP into the pot and loses any stolen items.

COMBAT:

LEVEL 3 — Players must now be level 3 to declare a duel after landing on a Battle Square. (Up from level 2).

COMBAT TURN ORDER — In combat, the turn order is now solely decided by the player who has the highest energy amount. (If two players have the same energy amount, combat resolves from left to right).

ITEMS:

NEW – ITEM POOL

This patch introduces the concept of an ‘item pool’. In short, this is just a small set of items which will not appear in the item shop or auctions, but can still be generated and obtained through effects which create items. (Such as Care Packages, Conjuring, and Treasure powerups). Items in this pool are a little too strong to be sold in the general store, but too weak to be set as auction exclusive, so putting them here means they’re rare to obtain but provide great utility, and improve the reliability of item-generation effects.

The following items have been moved into the item pool and are no longer auction-exclusive:

  • Mystic Timepiece
  • Combat Bandage

Additionally, 3 new consumables have been added that will only appear in the item pool:

NEW – Strength Potion:

  • Consume: Gain +2 Attack.

NEW –Defender’s Potion:

  • Consume: Gain +2 Defense.

NEW – Alacrity Potion:

  • Consume: Gain +8% Crit Chance.

 

 

Meanwhile, 3 new store items enter the game:

NEW – Magic Gloves

  • Cost: 130 AP
  • Activate: For this turn only, you automatically collect any powerups on squares you move over.

NEW – Painkillers

  • Cost: 15 AP
  • Consume: For this turn only, any damage you take is reduced by 50%. (Works in combat).

NEW – Training Sword

  • Cost: 45 AP
  • Whenever you roll a 6 or less, you permanently gain +1 Attack.

ITEM RE-BALANCING:

Atlas O’s

  • Cost reduced from 10 AP –> 8 AP.

Deadshot Rifle

  • Effect changed: Your attacks are 75% less likely to miss. (Down from 100%).

Eddy’s Emerald

  • No longer heals for 10% of a player’s max health at the end of their turn.
  • New Effect: Whenever you roll a 6 or less, permanently gain +10 Max Health. (Up from +5).
  • Now grants +15 Max Health (Up from 10).
  • Cost increased from 45 –> 60 AP.

Enmars Time Rod

  • Energy bonus increased from 1 –> 4.
  • Active effect now restores +6 Energy (up from +4).
  • Dodge bonus reduced from 15% –> 10%.

Equinox Ball

  • Cost decreased from 50 –> 40 AP.

Jason’s Shield

  • Out of combat damage reduction increased from 30% –> 35%.

Juker’s Boots

  • Dodge bonus increased from 10% –> 18%.
  • Now grants +1 Max Energy.
  • Cost increased from 90 AP –> 160 AP.

Lifetether

  • Attack bonus reduced from 9 –> 8.
  • Evasion bonus reduced from 12% –> 10%.

Lucky Clover

  • Is now an auction-exclusive item.

Revive Capsule

  • Can no longer be randomly generated from other items, spells, or powerups. (But will still appear in the shop).

Ring of Wealth

  • Renamed to “Bling Ring”
  • Has a new icon.

Sure-Step Boots

  • Dodge bonus lowered from 5% –> 3%.
  • Now grants +2 Max Energy.

Xpired’s Mystery Soup

  • Odds have been adjusted to help prevent streaks of bad luck from the item.
  • Two new possible outcomes added:
    • Has a chance to restore 5 energy.
    • Has a chance to reset all ability cooldowns. (Rare)

REMOVED- The Purging Wand item has been removed.

SQUARES:

Pot squares really dont work out very well with 2 players. Also the high pot cap and fast growth rate means that too often the money in the pot can decide games. These changes address this.

  • If there are 2 players or less in the game, pot squares will no longer appear on the board.
  • The AP in pot cap has been lowered from 400 –> 300 AP.
  • Pot growth reduced from 24 AP per round (+48 after halftime) –> 20 AP per round.

UI:

Miscellaneous improvements:

  • Host latency is now shown in the pause menu; if the host is causing the game to lag, you’ll know about it.
  • Made minor clarity updates to the health bar and added additional flavor text for when players die.
  • World particle effects added for when players are stunned, untargetable, knocked out, and/or haunted.

 

Bug Fixes

Some nasty bugs get squashed.

  • Fixed a bug where starting a game with exactly 2 human players and 1 AI player could freeze the game.
  • Fixed a series of bugs where the game could get stuck if a player timed out.
  • Fixed a bug where the Strongman award was not calculated properly if players were damaged at the end of the game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 0.5.1 — AI Update!

  By Atlas • December 18, 2018

As the last major patch of the year, this update brings one of the most-requested features of the year to the game: bots. While Battle Squares has always been intended as a multiplayer experience with friends, the lack of single player modes meant that playing solo games or testing new strategies alone was practically impossible. This update changes that; you’ll now be able to add up to 3 bots to any lobby and play the game without other humans if you so desire. Whether you need to add just one or two extra bots to fill up a lobby or intend to find solace in a few non-human friends, the choice is yours.

 

Keep in mind that AI’s are still a work in progress and their logic continues to develop over time. In other words, don’t make fun of them if they do strange things — they’re just learning the game.

Alongside this update you’ll find a few other changes, mostly balance updates. Enjoy!

GENERAL:

BEEP BOOP – In lobby, you’ll now be able to add bot players to the game.

REVIVE COSTS – Revive costs have increased by 30%.

QUEST FINISHED – The Finisher Quest has been removed.

CHARACTERS:

Nurse Ann

  • Emergency (Active Ability) — Pass-by damage increased from 40 –> 55.

Robbie

  • Snatch now steals an item worth 120 AP or less (Up from 100) from the target player.
  • Five-Finger Discount (Passive) – Effect can now only steal items worth up to 70 AP. (Down from 95 AP).

Sarge

  • Boot Camp (Active Ability) — AP gained per exhausted opponent increased from 15 –> 20.

Tim

  • Snapshot sell price increased from 30 –> 50 AP.
  • Sightseer (Passive) — Tim now gains +15 experience (up from 10) whenever he uses his ability. Tim now also gains +15 AP after using his ability.
  • Take Snapshot (Active Ability) — Energy cost reduced from 2 –> 1.

COMBAT:

LESS CANCELLING – Brawls no longer require 50% of players in the game to participate. This means Brawls will not be cancelled by player deaths unless only one person is alive.

Bludgeon

  • Cooldown increased from 3 –> 4 rounds.
  • Base damage reduced from 3 –> 2.
  • Defense scaling reduced from 115% Defense –> 110% Defense.

Cheap Shot

  • Now generates 2 Combo Points.
  • Base damage increased from 4 –> 8.

Contempt

  • Damage increased from 8 + 60% Attack –> 10 + 68% Attack.
  • Now generates 2 Combo Points. (Up from 1).

Final Hour

  • Upon cast, now grants +2 Attack per attack performed this battle. (Up from 1).
  • Now generates 2 Combo Points. (Up from 1).

Lethal Advance

  • Damage increased from 15 + 150% Attack –> 18 + 160% Attack.

Reckless Rage

  • Now generates 1 Combo Point.

Thorn Shield

  • Return damage increased from 75% Defense –> 80% Defense.

ITEMS:

Shifting numbers around. Nothing major to see here.

Bandage & Combat Bandage

  • These items can no longer be used if the player is affected by Lifebane, which prevents healing. (Previously the items would be consumed without healing the player).

Caldrio’s Lifebane

  • No longer grants +2 Energy.
  • Cost reduced from 70 –> 60 AP.

Equinox Ball

  • Now grants +1 Energy.
  • Cost increased from 45 –> 50 AP.

Fencing Sword

  • Cost increased from 72 –> 100 AP
  • Now grants +5% Crit Chance.
  • New Effect: If no other items in your inventory grant Attack, this item grants +12 Attack.

Lifetether

  • Death’s Edge healing decreased from 30 –> 20.

Sorrow

  • Cost reduced from 80 –> 62 AP.

Teddy Bear

  • Now removes both Curse and Haunt effects.

Vampiric Trinket

  • Now also steals 5 Health from all damaged enemies. (In addition to 3 energy).

BUG FIXES:

This officially ends the patch notes — stop reading.

  • Fixed a bug where if Robbie stole a snapshot from Tim, he wouldn’t be able to activate the item.
  • Fixed a bug where Lifetether’s healing would not apply properly.
  • Fixed a slight bug where attacks against players that stacked absurd amounts of defense could deal negative damage.
  • Fixed a bug where the same item could be auctioned multiple times in a game.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 0.5.0 — December Megapatch!

  By Atlas • November 30, 2018

This month delivers the largest patch of the year! This patch offers a little bit of everything, but focuses on supporting new and interesting play-styles in the game with the addition of 6 new Heroic items, as well as 2 new unique active items. Additionally, you’ll find massive changes to the Revive system, giving players more options after death, and all-new powerups to promote more board maneuvering.

 

Below you’ll find quite a long list of changes, so if you brave out reading the patch notes this time, more power to you! Enjoy!

GENERAL:

Previously, death meant you missed a turn almost no matter what. This design was meant to strongly discourage players from dying, but sometimes death is inevitable– as a result these changes allow death to still be punishing, but make death in general easier to recover from.

REVIVE SYSTEM REWORK:

  •  When dead, players may now choose between two options at the start of their turn:
  • Revive Instantly — This allows the player to pay AP into the pot and revive instantly, allowing them to take their turn as normal. (Players will only revive with 50% health and energy).
    • The amount of AP paid to the pot starts at 10 AP + 1% net worth. This cost increases by 10 AP and +2% Net worth for each subsequent death.
  • Skip Turn —  This option allows the player to skip their turn and revive normally without paying a fee. (Similar to previously).

THE TALKING DEAD – Silence effects are now removed upon death, similar to other debuffs.

POWERUPS:

NEW POWERUP : Coin

When collected, grants 30 (+1 per game round) AP to the player.

NEW POWERUP : Restoration

When collected, restores a player’s character to full health and energy. If already at full health and energy, they gain +5 Max Health and +1 Max Energy instead.

CHANGED POWERUP : Strength

When collected, now grants +1 Attack, +1 Defense, and +5 Max Health permanently.

Too often was Roll Assist practically useless. As a relatively old powerup it didn’t translate well into the new rolling system, so it was removed.

REMOVED POWERUP : Roll Assist

EXPERIENCE / LEVELING CHANGES:

Players level up extremely fast, which makes decisions around combat abilities and items feel more rushed than intended. These changes slow down the process early on to allow your first choices to be more meaningful.

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS – All levels now have a minimum experience requirement of 13 XP. This means levels 2 and 3 will require about 100% and 50% more experience to achieve respectively.

 

MORE KNOWLEDGE – Experience needed at all levels increased by 2.

SIMPLER-  The Evasion stat has been renamed to Dodge.

End-Of-Game Rewards:

Typically, item builds which didn’t purely build raw stats were always weak, since they struggled to compete in late-game battles and in net worth. This bonus should provide a nice bonus to those who prefer to obtain stats in more.. creative ways.

STRONGMAN AWARD – At the end of the game (After items are sold), players now gain bonus AP based on any permanent stats they gained over the course of the game.

Players will get:

  • +5 AP per Attack and Defense
  • +2 AP per 1% Crit Chance
  • +2 AP per 1 Max Health
  • +10 AP per 1 Max Energy
  • +3 AP per 1% Dodge.

CHARACTERS:

The experience changes above are due to make Gramps much better as he levels up much faster than most other characters. This change is to ensure the old-timer doesn’t level up too fast in the wake of these changes.

GRAMPS:

  • NERFED – (Passive) — Gramps now earns experience 30% faster. (Down from 50% faster).

COMBAT:

In accordance with the game pacing changes, pushing back combat ability selection allows more time for players to think about their playstyle before having to commit to a specific ability path.

CHOICE LEVELS – Combat abilities are now chosen at levels 3, 4, and 6. (Changed from 2, 3, 5).

 

HIGHER AP PENALTIES – When losing a Brawl, players now pay about 30-50% more AP, depending on the game round.

ABILITIES:

Last Stand:

  • Energy cost increased from 3 –> 5.
  • Cooldown increased from 9 –> 10 rounds.

Rewind

  • NEW EFFECT: Reset the cooldown of your items and combat abilities.
  • Energy cost increased from 1 –> 3.
  • Cooldown decreased from 9 –> 7.

ITEMS:

Heroic items are really meant to be late-game tools. These changes enforce this a bit more.

MORE HEROIC – ALL Heroic items now cost 300 AP. (Up from 250).

HEROIC REQUIREMENTS – Heroic items now unlock at level 5. (Up from level 4).

NEW ITEMS:

Eight new items join us this patch, most of them Heroic items!

NEW – Deadshot Rifle

HEROIC ITEM

++ Grants +6 Attack, +25% Crit Chance

:: In combat, your attacks can no longer miss. Activate: Deal 26 damage to a target. (This damage can crit). (5 Round Cooldown).

NEW – Infused Crown

HEROIC ITEM

++ Grants +20 Max Health, +1 Max Energy

:: If no other items in your inventory grant Attack, double your Attack. Repeat for Defense, Crit Chance, and Dodge.

Death’s Edge makes a return — exclusive to this item only:

NEW – Lifetether

HEROIC ITEM

++ Grants +10 Attack, +5 Defense, +12% Dodge

:: After taking lethal damage in combat, you become immune for 2 turns. (4 Round Cooldown).

NEW – Phantom Cloak

HEROIC ITEM

++ Grants +7 Defense, +4 Energy, +10% Dodge

:: Your combat abilities cost 1 less energy, and have their cooldown reduced by 1 round.

NEW – Mystic Cauldron

HEROIC ITEM

:: Activate: Add one of each consumable item you’ve used this game to your inventory. (4 Round Cooldown).

NEW – Vitality Armor

HEROIC ITEM

++ Grants +40 Max Health

:: Activate: Heal for 20% of your Max Health. (5 Round Cooldown).

NEW – Etherial Harpoon

Cost: 88 AP

++ Grants +7 Attack.

:: Activate: Bring a target opponent to your square.

NEW – Vampiric Trinket

Cost: 170 AP

++ Grants +6 Attack, +6 Defense, +6% Evasion

:: Activate: Steal 3 Energy from all damaged enemies. (4 Round Cooldown).

This section is pretty hefty as well with some major balance adjustments for some items. Read on!

ITEM BALANCE CHANGES:

AG II Pistol:

  • Cost increased from 55 –> 75 AP.
  • Attack bonus increased from 4 –> 6.

Atlas O’s

  • Cost reduced from 18 AP –> 10 AP.

Berserking Blade

  • Attack bonus increased from 6 –> 7.
  • Now also grants +10% Crit Chance.
  • NEW EFFECT: When below half health, the stat bonuses from this item are doubled.

Bow of the Master Archer

  • Crit bonus increased from 35% –> 40%.
  • Has a new icon!

Caldrio’s Lifebane

  • Now grants +2 Max Energy.
  • Active damage dealt increased from 5 –> 10.
  • Cost increased from 50 AP –> 70 AP.

Crown of Wisdom

  • Experience gain per turn increased from 5 –> 6.

Colton’s Brewing Stand

  • Cooldown decreased from 3 –> 2 Rounds.

Doogle’s Spellbook

  • Max Energy bonus increased from 5 –> 8.

Emperor’s Defender

  • Attack bonus increased from 12 –> 14.
  • Now also grants +4 Defense.
  • Healing ratio decreased from 20% –> 15%.

Equinox Ball

  • Cost reduced from 50 AP –> 45 AP.

Hawky the Hawk

  • Damage per trigger increased from 5 –> 5 % of the target’s Max Health.

Jason’s Shield

  • Defense bonus increased from 4 –> 6.
  • Out of combat damage reduction increased from 20% –> 30%.
  • Cost increased from 55 –> 90 AP.

Gladiator’s Stronghelm

  • Defense bonus decreased from 10 –> 5.
  • Active damage dealt decreased from (Defense score + 10% max health) –> (Defense score + 8% max health).

If you’ve been paying attention, this next change had to happen to prevent an infinite loop…

Mystic Timepiece

  • Cost decreased from 12 –> 10 AP.
  • No longer resets item cooldowns.

Odnamro’s Greatsword

  • Attack bonus increased from 9 –> 12.
  • Crit Chance bonus decreased from 40% –> 20%.

Purging Wand

  • Energy bonus increased from 1 –> 2.
  • Cooldown reduced from 6 –> 5 Rounds.
  • Cost decreased from 55 AP –> 50 AP.

Ramne’s Bulwark

  • Defense bonus increased from 10 –> 18.
  • Max Health bonus decreased from 25 –> 15.
  • NEW EFFECT: Your Defense now reduces damage taken outside of combat as well.

Reggie’s Blunderbuss

  • Attack bonus increased from 1 –> 3.
  • Cost increased from 40 –> 90 AP.

Revive Capsule

  • Cost reduced from 28 AP –> 20 AP.

Riot Shield

  • Is no longer auction exclusive. (Store Price: 90 AP).

Not all the old items made it through this patch, a few will be retired.

REMOVED ITEMS:

  • Magic Clay
  • Precision Bow
  • Vitality Shard
  • Duelists Longsword

SPELLS:

DYNAMIC SPELLS: The likelihood of certain spells appearing will now be adjusted based on the game state. In general, this means when landing on a Spell square you’re much more likely to get a useful spell for the situation.

 

NEW SPELL: Conjure

  • Costs 7 Energy
  • Create a random item and add it to your inventory. (Costs 60 AP or less).

CHANGED: Silence

  • Duration decreased from 2 turns –> 1 turn.
  • Energy cost reduced from 6 –> 5.

SQUARES: 

MINUS SQUARES:

  • The cap on AP lost from Minus squares has been removed. This means players will be subject to lose significantly more AP from Minus Squares.

UI:

The following changes are all about improving clarity and providing the player with more relevant information when they need it.

Roll Button

  • YOUR AP, SIR — The roll button tooltip now displays how much AP you’ll gain from rolling the dice this turn.

Standard Attack Button

  • YOUR DAMAGE, SIR — The standard attack button in combat will now display the estimated damage of your standard attacks.

Inventory & Stats Panel:

  • Item Icons are now much larger in the inventory UI and are more visually responsive to being clicked.
  • Animations and visual indicators have been added for when:
    • New items are added to your inventory
    • When items are used, clicked, or sold
    • When items are usable and/or on cooldown.

Item Shop

  • Added more specific error messages when the player attempts to buy items that can’t be duplicated, or when their inventory is full.

 

SNITCH – After a player takes damage from a Curse effect, they will now be able to see who placed the effect on them via the message tooltip.

SNITCHIN’ –  When Nai Xin targets an enemy with his special ability, the target of the ability will now be displayed in the message tooltip.

BUYER’S REMORSE – When a player wins an item from an auction, the amount they paid for the item will now be displayed in the post-auction chat message.

GAME OPTIONS:

A few much-requested game options to preserve your sanity.

New Options:

  • Added an option to enable/disable automatic screenshots. (This is now disabled by default).
  • Added an option to enable/disable help tips, for those of you know-it-alls.
  • Added an option to enable/disable action bar hiding when it isn’t your turn.

You can stop reading now. This is embarrassing.

BUG FIXES:

  • Fixed a bug which caused unnecessary lag during battles.
  • Fixed a bug where overhealing (Caused by Green Zones) could cause Nurse Ann to gain more AP than intended.
  • Fixed a bug where the “Elite Care Package” item was not appearing in auctions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Patch 0.4.9 — Pacing Changes!

  By Atlas • November 2, 2018

With this patch comes a variety of adjustments to improve upon the pacing of the game while addressing some common balance issues that have arisen last patch. To be clear, most of these changes are designed to shorten games slightly and let them progress more quickly into the late-game, however sprinkled in are the typical balance adjustments, new items, and quality-of-life changes. Enjoy!

GENERAL:

More starting AP means you’ll be able to hit the ground running as you visit shops and auctions even from the first round.  A higher level cap means your high-rolls will still matter all the way through the late-game as you pursue the ever-elusive levels 6, 7, and 8.

MAS AP – Starting AP increased from 50 –> 150.

Level Up – The level cap has been raised from 5 –> 8!

NEW – Level Bonuses

  • Players will now gain +20 AP whenever they level up. (Being the first to reach a level will yield +35 AP instead).
  • This is in addition to the existing +5 Max Health players gain for each level, and now extends all the way until level 8.

CHARACTERS:

  • Gramps
    • Back in My Day cooldown reduced from 6 –> 5 Rounds.
  • Robbie
    • Snatch cooldown reduced from 5 –> 4 Rounds.
    • Energy cost increased from 4 –> 5.
  • Steve
    • Bunny Rage now grants +50% bonus health for 2 turns. (Changed from +100% bonus for 1 turn).
    • Energy cost reduced from 7 –> 6.
  • Nai Xin
    • Alignment (Passive) now only grants +3 Attack and Defense when Nai Xin is at 10 energy. (Down from 4/4)

COMBAT:

Players currently spend a lot of time resolving battles which may drag on a bit too long. As a result this patch introduces general damage increases while adding damage caps to ensure high-damage builds don’t become one-shot nightmares.

MORE DAMAGE – All damage dealt in combat has been increased by 15%.

CAP IT OFF – Damaging abilities and attacks can no longer exceed 50 damage.

DUKES DOWN – Defense effectiveness reduced by 10%.

 

RETREAT CHANGES:

In duels, (1v1 battles) Retreat will no longer start on a 3 round cooldown, meaning players can retreat from duels immediately after they begin.

Retreating in the first 2 rounds of a Duel however will forfeit additional AP equal to (8 +2% net worth).

CHOOSE FASTER – The ability choose timer in combat has been shortened from 10–> 8 seconds.

 

ABILITIES:

  • Invigorate
    • Max Energy restored increased from 25% –> 30% max energy.
  • Last Stand
    • Permanent Defense bonus increased from 5 –> 6.
  • Second Wind
    • Healing reduced from 10% –> 8% max health each turn.

ITEMS:

Now that combat damage has normalized a bit, raising the Heroic Item limit enables many more possibilities for late-game itemization without game-breaking late-game power. 

DOUBLE THE HEROISM — Heroic item limit per player increased from 1 –> 2.

 

NEW ITEMS:

Atlas O’s

  • Cost: 18 AP
  • Consume: Reduce the remaining cooldown of your Character Ability by 1 round.

Equinox Ball

  • (Benign Item)
  • Cost: 50 AP
  • Restore 2 energy at the end of your turn. If already at full energy, Heal for 20 health instead.

Fencing Sword

  • Cost: 80 AP
  • Grants +6 Attack.
  • Effect: If this item is the only one in your inventory, gain +7 additional Attack.

 

BALANCE CHANGES:

Deathblade Scythe

  • Attack bonus decreased from 8 –> 6.
  • Now grants +2 Attack whenever another player dies. (Up from +1).

Hawky

  • Hawky damage increased from 4 –> 5.
  • Hawky base cost increased from 66 AP –> 75 AP.

Veerin’s Revenge

  • Defense bonus increased from 6 –> 7.

SPELLS:

CURSE

  • Damage per turn increased from 17 –> 18.

TIME WARP

  • Energy cost reduced from 3 –> 2.

SQUARES:

The following change to Plus and Minus squares makes the mini-game resolve much quicker, still yielding about the same amount of AP for those with quick fingers.

PLUS & MINUS SQUARES:

  • The Plus and Minus Square mini-games have been adjusted:
    • Mini-game time reduced from 5 seconds (+.1 seconds per round) –> (2.5 seconds + .05 seconds per round).
    • AP gains and losses from Plus and Minus squares have been doubled.

UI:

HEADS UP – The upper-left round count window will now display if it’s currently an intermission or halftime round. (Similar to Brawl rounds).

 

Patch 0.4.8 — September Update!

  By Atlas • September 25, 2018

Welcome to the first Battle Squares update since the Early Access release last month! This patch delivers a few major tweaks to combat, while introducing a few new items, mechanics changes, and more, so see what’s in store below.

GENERAL:

Changes to the time allotted for intermissions, and intermission frequency.

MORE OVER TIME – Intermission time now scales with the game round; intermissions will now last 60-90 seconds based on the current game round, maxing out at round 13+. (Changed from 75 seconds at all times).

THREE IS A CHARM – Intermissions are now guaranteed to happen at least every 3 rounds.

(This addresses a situation where in some cases intermissions could be disrupted if a brawl was cancelled on the preceding round).

CHARACTERS:

STEVE

  • “Bunny Rage” Energy cost increased from 4 –> 7.
  • “Bunny Rage” Cooldown decreased from 6 Rounds –> 5 Rounds.

COMBAT:

These changes seek to speed up pacing in combat to help battles resolve faster, which can feel a bit sluggish at times. Attacks and abilities deal more damage, but the round counter has been shortened so that all battles conclude quicker.

DAMAGE BOOST – All attacks and abilities now deal 25% more damage. (Item damage is unaffected).

ROUND LIMITS – The combat round limit has been lowered from 13 (15 After halftime) –> 10 (12 After halftime).

  • For 1v1 duels, the round limit has been lowered from 10 (12 After halftime) –> 8 (10 After halftime).

Visuals:

  • In combat, character outlines are more easily visible.

ITEMS:

CHEAPER – The prices of all non-heroic shop items has been decreased by 10%.

ITEM GENERATION CHANGE – Some Auction-exclusive items can now be generated from random events (Such as presents).

NEW ITEM – Elite Care Package

  • Auction Exclusive
  • Base Cost: 275 AP
  • Consume: Add 3 random combat items to your inventory. (Each worth 125 AP or less).

NEW ITEM – Hawky the Hawk

  • Auction Exclusive
  • Base Cost: 66 AP
  • Grants +5% evasion. After being targeted by an enemy, deal 4 damage back to them. (Works in combat).

NEW ITEM – Veerin’s Revenge

  • Auction Exclusive
  • Base Cost: 100 AP
  • Grants +2 Attack and +6 Defense. After receiving a stun or critical strike in combat, Haunt your attacker for 1 turn.

NEW ITEM – Cursed Blade

  • HEROIC ITEM
  • Base Cost: 250 AP
  • Grants +11 Attack, +2 max energy. Your combo attacks ignore 50% of your opponent’s defense, and deal bonus damage equal to 10% of the target’s max health.

ITEM BALANCE CHANGES:

Bandage

  • Healing increased from 15 –> 18.

Champion Sword

  • Defense penetration increased from 10% –> 20%.
  • Cost increased from 65 AP –> 80 AP.

Cultist Robe

  • Cost reduced from 110 AP –> 90 AP.

Giant’s Bane

  • Max health ratio increased from 16% –> 18%.

Kevlar Vest

  • Defense bonus decreased from 5 –> 2.
  • Max health bonus increased from 10 –> 20.
  • Cost increased from 130 AP –> 175 AP.

Old Man’s Tincture

  • Self-inflicted damage reduced from 30 –> 28.

Quizzle’s Mark

  • Defense bonus lowered from 4 –> 1.
  • Energy bonus increased from 1 –> 2.
  • Has been downgraded to a level 2 item.

Revive Capsule

  • Cost reduced from 40 AP –> 28 AP.

Ryan’s Piercer

  • Defense ignore ratio increased from 35% –> 40%.
  • Cost increased from 125 AP –> 140 AP.

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed an issue where prices in the store could be slightly off, resulting in more expensive items.
  • Fixed a bug where after purchasing an item, a player’s stats could take a long time to update.
  • Fixed an issue where after the roll cube is hidden, numbers on the die were still visible.

 

 

 

0.4.7 — Early Access Release!

  By Atlas • August 23, 2018

While these are patch notes like any other, this patch marks the Early Access release of Battle Squares on Steam! So firstly, a huge thank you to all the people who’ve assisted in bringing the game up to this point. Your feedback, comments, play-testing, and occasional death threats all helped to shape the game for the better!

Interested in picking up the game? Visit the store page.

Obligatory gratitude and shameless plugs aside, below you can find the latest set of changes which will mark the beginning of Early Access. Enjoy!

GENERAL:

LEVELING SCALING:

  • Players now gain +5 max HP per level, rather than +1 Attack and Defense.

Experience snowballing was starting to become an issue– with players that level quickly gaining access to huge power-spikes before others could even choose their first ability. This change seeks to “compress” the earlier levels so that the benefits of leveling quickly don’t persist throughout the entire game.

PACING CHANGES: Earning levels 2 and 3 should happen about 30% faster. However earning levels 4 and 5 should take proportionately longer.

BOARD ZONES:

Changes to make Board Zones more consistent, and overall more impactful.

Blue Zone

  • Bonus AP ratio increased from 15% –> 20%.

Green Zone

  • Green Zone healing bonus reduced from (+100%, 50% in combat) –> (+50% at all times).
  • Green Zones have a new effect: At the end of your turn, heal for 12.

Red Zone

  • Bonus stats changed from (+1 Attack & Defense , +5% Crit chance) –> (+2 Attack & Defense, +8% Crit Chance).

Yellow Zone

  • Item discount bonus increased from 10% –> 15%.

ALL ZONES: Board Zone bonuses are no longer doubled after halftime.

Roll Modifiers:

Recently, the pot has seen a dominant role in determining the winner of games, mostly because of roll modifiers generating large sums of AP for it.

CHANGED – Moneybags

  • Now only adds 20 AP into the pot. (Down from 30).

CHANGED – High Stakes

  • Now only adds 60 AP into the pot. (Down from 100).

YOU ASKED FOR WASD – The camera can now be panned using the WASD keys when not typing in chat.

BECAUSE ITS NOT LUCK – The “Never Lucky” End-of-Game Award has been removed.

CHARACTERS:

NURSE ANN:

  • “EMERGENCY” energy cost reduced from 6 –> 5.
  • Movement from “EMERGENCY” will now count toward the end-of-game reward, Track Star.

COMBAT:

There’s a lot of damage going around, so these changes are mostly to address that.

EXHAUSTION CHANGES:

  • Exhaustion no longer increases damage taken in combat by 20%.
  • Exhaustion now carries a damage penalty of 40%, which now applies to all damage dealt. (Previously only applied to standard attack damage).

 

BREAK THE COMBO – Combo Attacks now deal 3+115% Attack damage. (Down from 3+130% Attack damage).

YOU MISSED. – Abilities that apply buffs or debuffs to a target will no longer apply them if the ability misses its target.

ITEMS:

NERF INCOMING – Bloodborne Sabre

  • Now heals for 8% of damage dealt. (Down from 15%).
  • Cost decreased from 115 AP –> 110 AP.

BUFF INCOMING – Duelist’s Longsword

  • Healing (After receiving a stun or crit) increased from 10 –> 20.

ITEM SHOP:

Quality-of-Life +++.

RE-RE-ROLL – Players now get 2 re-rolls in the shop. (Up from 1).

RE-ROLL ANYTIME BBY – You no longer need to be level 3 to re-roll items in the shop.

SPELLS:

CURSE

  • Damage per turn reduced from 21 –> 17.

TIME WARP

  • Spell energy cost reduced from 4 –> 3.

UI:

HALFTIME – The Halftime UI has been updated.

MISC:

LESS HASSLE – You’ll no longer need to login to play the game! (As long as you have Steam open).

BUG FIXES:

  • Fixed an issue where status effects like un-targetability and immunity lasted one turn too long.
  • Fixed an issue where it was possible to select a null character after the game restarted.

 

0.4.6 — Character Update: Part II

  By Atlas • August 17, 2018

As the title suggests, this patch delivers primarily on updates to characters while introducing a few new ones to the roster! Minor changes elsewhere too!

 

CHARACTERS:

Three new characters round out the total roster size to 8!

NEW CHARACTER: Nai Xin

  • UNIQUE TRAIT: Alignment
    • When Nai Xin has 10 or more energy, he gains +4 Attack and Defense.
  • UNIQUE ABILITY: Chi Transfer
    • Nai Xin swaps energy values with a target player. Nai Xin may roll and use this ability in the same turn.

 

NEW CHARACTER: Sarge

    • UNIQUE TRAIT: Hardy Fighter
      • In combat, Sarge deals 20% more damage and heals for 20% of damage dealt when attacking targets with less energy than her.
    • UNIQUE ABILITY: Boot Camp
      • All enemies are teleported to your square and lose 8 energy. Sarge gains +15 AP for each exhausted opponent.

 

NEW CHARACTER: Tourist Tim

  • UNIQUE TRAIT: Sightseer
    • Whenever Tim uses his unique ability, he gains +10 experience.
  • UNIQUE ABILITY: Snapshot
    • Tim takes a picture of the current square he’s on, and adds a copy of it to his inventory. Snapshots can be consumed to activate that square type again.

BALANCE CHANGES:

Keeping with the theme of updating characters, here’s a few balance updates to doctor up the old timers.

 

GRAMPS

  • “Bad Knees” passive now triggers on dice rolls of 9 or more. (Changed from 10 or more).
  • Back in My Day energy cost increased from 2 –> 4.
  • Back in My Day cooldown increased from 5 –> 6.

NURSE ANN

  • Nurse Ann’s “Emergency” ability now counts toward spaces moved for the purpose of end-of-game rewards.

 

 

GENERAL:

HAUNT:

  • When haunted, you can now still use roll modifiers and actions.

HALFTIME EVENTS:

Shop Till you Drop… Dead

  • Damage inflicted for purchases reduced from 50% of the items cost –> 20% of the item’s cost.

END-OF-GAME SEQUENCE:

  • The end-of-game reward sequence should now conclude twice as fast.

 

COMBAT: 

LESS DA’MAG’ – Standard attack damage scaling reduced from 121% Attack –> 114% Attack.

Lethal Advance:

  • Damage decreased from 16+160% Attack –> 15 + 155% Attack.
  • Energy cost increased from 3 –> 4.

Thorn Shield:

  • TOTALLY NOT A BUG – Missed attacks will no longer trigger thorn shield’s return damage.

ITEMS IN COMBAT – Active items can no longer miss in combat.

ITEMS: 

CHANGED – Bloodborne Sabre

  • Attack bonus increased from 3 –> 7.
  • Cost increased from 60 –> 115 AP.

CHANGED – Dash’kal Blood Tome

  • Self-damage reduced from 15 –> 10.

EXCLUSIVE – Infinity Potion

  • Is now an auction-exclusive item.
  • Base cost reduced from 60 AP –> 20 AP.

CHANGED – Juker’s Boots

  • New Effect: When an attack misses you in combat, you lose 2 energy.
  • Cost decreased from 100 –> 90 AP.

CHANGED – Sure-Step Boots

  • Evasion bonus decreased from 7% –> 5%.
  • Cost decreased from 100 –> 90 AP.

REMOVED ITEMS:

As consumables, these items were too situational and ended up clogging the shop for more impactful and strategically significant items. So… they’re gone!

  • Defense Potion
  • Deadly Tincture

OTHER:

NEWS: Custom games are now live!

  • You can create your own lobbies now!

 

 

0.4.5 — Pre-Release Patch!

  By Atlas • August 10, 2018

As the release of Battle Squares nears, this patch brings a few changes to polish, clarity, and balance. You can expect at least one more patch following this one before the release of the game on August 23rd, 2018, so stay tuned!

GENERAL:

In no particular order, quite a few miscellaneous changes:

MORE AP – Starting AP increased from 25 –> 100.

INTERMISSION FREQUENCY – More intermissions should occur after halftime, to help fix those “item droughts” in longer games.

FATIGUE CHANGE – If you’re fatigued, gaining energy from any source will now remove the fatigue debuff.

AFTERLIFE PEACE – If you’re haunted upon death, the debuff will now be removed regardless of its remaining duration.

 

HALFTIME EVENTS:

  • Mass Recall now only sells the most expensive item in each player’s inventory, rather than their entire inventory.

 

CHARACTERS:

DOUBLE TIME – Character abilities can now be used multiple times in a turn if a player resets their cooldowns. (Ie: Mystic Timepiece, Time Warp, etc).

NURSE ANN:

  • Nurse Ann will no longer be offered the “Finisher” Quest, as it’s impossible for her to complete it.

COMBAT:

Critical strikes deal a little too much damage to defensive builds for comfort, so that gets dialed back a bit:

CRITICAL DEFENSE – Critical strike damage is now reduced by 1.3% per point of defense the target has. This is in addition to the standard defense reduction for normal attacks.

 

And the other changes:

COMBAT ABILITIES:

  • Bludgeon damage reduced from 3 + 140% Defense –> 3+ 115% Defense.
  • Haymaker damage scaling changed from 100% Attack +80% Defense –> 150% Attack + 35% Defense.
    • Haymaker can now also critically strike.
    • Haymaker base damage reduced from 7 –> 4.

 

MECHANICS ADJUSTMENTS:

  • Combo attacks will no longer miss against targets with less than 10% evasion.
  • If a player becomes untargetable during a round, attacks targeting them that round now always “Miss” rather than being completely cancelled.

SQUARES:

BATTLE SQUARES:

  • Combat Training no longer costs AP, and now instead lets you choose a stat to boost. Players can now choose between:
    • +2 Attack
    • +2 Defense
    • +8% Crit Chance
    • +10 Max Health

SPELL SQUARES:

  • Energy cost of several spells reduced:
    • Arcanopulse energy cost reduced from 6 –> 5.
    • Curse energy cost reduced from 7 –> 6.
    • Silence energy cost reduced from 7 –> 6.
    • Time Warp energy cost reduced from 5 –> 4.

ITEMS:

Death is a harsh penalty, and is sometimes unavoidable. Having a readily-available consumable item to quickly revive helps to lessen the sting of death for players expecting to teeter on death’s edge.

NEW – Revive Capsule

:: Cost: 40 AP

:: Consume: Return to life with 50% health and energy, and take your turn as normal. (Can only be used when knocked out or dead).

Crit builds struggle against players stacking max health without building defense– this change lets those builds spec into taking down players with tons of max health. (Looking at you Steve).

ADJUSTED – Giant’s Bane

  • New Effect: Your crits deal 30% less damage, but now deal bonus damage equal to 16% of your target’s max health.

UI:

Tweaks for clarity and convenience:

  • The turn timer window has been recolored to stand out more from the background. The timer now also flashes yellow and red when a player’s turn is about to expire.
  • When a player lands on a pot square, all players can now see how much AP is in the pot before voting.
  • All targeting actions can now be cancelled.

 

Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed an issue where damage from AG II Pistol was ignoring defense.
  • Fixed an issue where item tooltips would not display in the tab menu on certain screen resolutions.
  • Fixed an issue where stuns in combat could last longer than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where 1920×1080 resolution would not be correctly applied.
  • Fixed an issue where the leveling first bonus was not displaying in chat in some cases.
  • Fixed numerous issues where players with high ping would experience “rubber-banding” of stats.