As promised this update marks the first of the year to refine the combat system and make gameplay more consistent! This patch adds some tools to prevent extreme cases of snowballing and make sure all players have a chance to stay in the game all the way to the end.
There’s also some balance updates to make combat abilities feel stronger, make combat more straightforward, and clean up the user experience a bit.
GENERAL:
In the previous patch, snowballing was quite the issue which meant that once someone got far enough ahead, they would be nearly unstoppable. This change seeks to give a little love to players who fall behind significantly.
NEW – UNDERDOG
When a player is behind more than 300 AP of net worth (compared to the lead player) they automatically receive the Underdog buff.
Underdog has the following effects when active:
- Attack and defense are increased by 4.
- When attacking the player in the lead, you gain +10% crit chance. When being attacked by the player in the lead, you gain +5% evasion.
- Items in the shop are discounted by 20%. (Applies to Heroic items).
- You no longer pay medical fees when you die, and when defeated in battle you’ll pay slightly less AP to the winner.
RENEWAL – The Underdog buff will remain active on the player until they come within 150 AP of net worth as the winning player.
BUT THERE’S A CATCH – The Underdog buff can only be applied after halftime.
AND ANOTHER CATCH – Any stats gained by Underdog do not count toward a player’s net worth.
ROLL PREDICTION
GIVE ME MONEY – Correctly predicting a roll when you’re at max level will now grant +12 AP. (+8 AP if you were close!).
COMBAT:
Balance Changes!
Standard attacks and crits are weaker late game. Many abilities now have increased scaling and higher base damage overall.
SLOWER SCALING – Standard attack damage scaling reduced from 85% of attack –> 67% of attack.
LOWER CRITS – Critical Strike bonus damage multiplier reduced from +70% –> +50%.
BIG BOMB – Chronobomb damage increased from 5 –> 8 +(35% defense)
STRIKE FAST – Quick Strike damage increased from (3+ 40% attack) –> (4 + 40% Attack + 30% Defense)
THORNIER – Thorn Shield damage increased from (3+ 35% defense) –> (3 + 50% defense)
DUEL – Duality damage increased from (5+30% attack) –> (5 + 45% attack)
RESOLVE – Gladiator’s Resolve attack bonus increased from 5 –> 6.
NEW – MINIMUM DAMAGE REQUIREMENT
- Standard attacks in combat now deal a minimum of 4 damage. (6 after halftime.)
CHANGED – RETREAT
- When a battle starts, the retreat option is now disabled for the first 3 rounds.
ITEMS:
Part of the snowballing problem comes from the scarcity of items when behind. Due to the price of combat items, players who were behind were forced to pick up cheaper, much less useful items which made them less competitive in battle. While players who crush in the arena should be rewarded, this change is designed to ensure everyone has access to decent combat items no matter what.
And in the same way, this change helps to put a limit on snowballing by making it harder for players to run away with the game– players who get ahead will now fill up on their inventory faster, and will be forced to make choices about what to keep and sell, giving other players time to catch up.
PRICE SLASH – The prices of ALL combat items have been reduced by 40-60% (Varying by item).
OPTIMIZATION:
A LITTLE FASTER – Another round of optimization completed! Expect better FPS, lower memory consumption, and overall, smoother gameplay.
BUG FIXES:
Still in the bug squatting business!
- Fixed a bug where player avatar animations would stop playing correctly when moving across the board.
- Fixed a bug where Gladiator’s Resolve and Thorn Shield would not always apply their buffs for the proper duration.
- Fixed a bug where board zones were not always correctly displayed.
- Fixed a bug which caused powers to be able to be activated without costing energy.