Announcements | 2/19/24

WELCOME TO UPDATE 23.3!

CHANGES TO THE SPIRIT MASTER

Stat changes

Attack interval is now shorter: 0.6 → 0.5

Talent changes

Storm Power

This is now a first Ascension level talent, and does not require level 6 Mana Power-up to activate.
Purification is cut from the talent and moved to a separate talent of the second Ascension level.
The duration of the Storm form is increased: 7s → 10s.
Attack speed increase is now smaller: 85% → 50%.

Flame Power

This is now a first Ascension level talent, and does not require level 6 Mana Power-ups to activate. The level reduction in this form decreases the level to the minimum, bypassing the intermediate levels of Mana Power-up.
The talent also increases damage for each Master in his fiery form.

Elixir of Life and Life Surge

Combined into a single talent of the second Ascension level, requiring level 6 Mana Power-up to activate.

New talent: Elixir of Purification

With Mana Power-up of level 6 and above, has a 50% chance to remove all negative effects from the Master.

Stone Power

It has been changed, and now it's a third Ascension level talent.
After assuming the spirit form, the Spirit Master gains a 5% chance to throw a boulder, dealing additional 200% attack damage in small area.

Earth Power

It has been changed, as now it's a third Ascension level talent.
The damage inflicted by the boulder is now dependent on the Master’s attack damage: 1500 → 200%
The talent reduces monster’s armor by 2.5%, up to a maximum of 15%.

Critical Might

Mana Power-up of level 6 and above increases the Master’s critical attack chance by 2%.
Mana Power-up of level 9 and above increases the Master’s critical attack chance by a further 2%.

WHY?

The Spirit Master is one of those units possessing unique mechanics of interacting with Mana Power-up, which makes him stand out against the rest. That said, the unit’s talents do not allow players to confidently play at lower levels for a long time. We’ve decided to update the talents and buff the Spirit Master a little in order to increase his popularity – and make the process of playing him more engaging.

BALANCE CHANGES

Genie

Unit’s initial damage is now less significant: 700 → 500
Damage increase with unit level is now more significant: 20% → 25.3%
Vortex’s initial damage has been reduced: 500 → 357
Magic Fist’s initial damage has been reduced: 175 → 125

WHY?
At low levels, the Genie is the best unit overall that has great popularity and high winning rate. This is achieved due to high base damage that allows beating the first few waves easily. Since the number of waves in the early Leagues is low, the Genie has too stark of an advantage. With these changes, we’re keeping the Genie’s damage at high levels while improving the balance and the game’s variability at lower levels.

Riding Hood

Alpha

Damage increase below 40 charges: 0.4% → 0.3%
Damage increase above 40 charges: 0.15% → 0.1%

Scarecrows

Armor reduction (base and per each rank): 5% → 3%

WHY?
If the Genie has taken the spot of the strongest unit at lower levels, then the Riding Hood edges ahead at higher levels and in the Leagues. The Hood’s strong suit is her mechanic of absorbing units of any rank, which makes building the field that much easier and allows taking on an additional damage-increasing support unit, such as a Chemist or a Trapper. We’ve changed this unit’s talents with the same intention of increasing the number of different decks encountered at higher levels of gameplay.

Bruiser

The number of monsters required to Enrage is reduced: 7 → 5
Chance to Enrage: 10% → 15%

WHY?
Unlike many other units specialized in dealing damage, the Bruiser has very inconsistent damage due to the random factors of the Enrage mechanic. At times players might run into a situation when none of the Bruisers on the field would Enrage with few monsters on the path, which might sour the impression left by this unit. We want to fix this and make the Bruiser’s damage more consistent during battles – so we hope that will improve his stats, and thus his popularity with players.

Clock of Power

The base mechanic has changed:
The Clock of Power now decreases (in PvP) or increases (in Co-Op) the attack speed of units owned by another player, depending on the combined rank of every Clock of Power you control. Before this, the attack speed-altering effects of the Clocks of Power were multiplied.

Attack speed increase per merge rank (Co-Op / Dragon Rifts / Plunder): 2% → 1.5%
Attack speed increase per Mana Power-up (Co-Op / Dragon Rifts / Plunder): 0.5% → 0.15%
Attack speed reduction per Mana Power-up (PvP): - 1% →- 0.5%

WHY?
For one thing, this unit gives a markedly distinct variant of gameplay. Yet, it has exceedingly low popularity at levels 7-9, as well as creating a negative effect that your opponent has no way of countering. The previously used mechanic increased effectiveness with the additional Clocks on your field, not with their ranks, which – in our opinion – runs counter to the basic concept of gameplay. Besides, the latest improvement to the Inquisitor has strongly impacted the Clock’s popularity because of strong synergy with the Knight of Darkness talent. Because of all this we’ve decided to change the mechanics, so that the merge ranks are more important when playing with the Clocks.

Sharpshooter

Stunning Shot

The number of targets is no longer increased with the merge rank.

WHY?
This talent has gone unchanged for a long time. Still, since the Sharpshooter has been gaining in popularity, and the endless stunning of almost every unit on the field was greatly inconveniencing players, we’re reducing the power of this talent.

FIXES

Portal Mage

The percentage damage from the Hard Landing talent is considered area damage, and is no longer transferred repeatedly by the Unstable Connection ability (the hero Mari).