The next series of balancing changes has just arrived in Block N Load after feedback from players. In addition to this, we’re also introducing a number of changes to arenas & refreshing the rotation!
The changes to the World Blocks, which make up the majority of most of our arenas, are some of the most wide-reaching that we’ve made in a balancing pass to date. With these Blocks making up such a large part of the areas that the matches take place in even a small change can have a large impact. With these changes you should find that it’s now easier to tunnel through some materials than others, and that damage from weapons affects the Blocks that we’ve changed in different ways depending on the power of the weapon.
We’ve also tried to address some of the more common comments about balancing that we’ve seen – such as the timer on Astarella’s Orbital Strike Beacon Hero Block being too short to be able to reach it and defuse it – whilst making other changes around this to keep the blocks as balanced as possible when compared against each other.
Attention all Block n Load lovers! Following the awesome community hosted Winter Invitational, get ready for the GS Invitational! Genesis will be hosting a tournament starting April 1 and ending April 30. Come and watch your favorite BnL players from North America and Oceania team up and compete for bragging rights.
April 1st - Registration Deadline
All teams must register; Brackets & Schedules will be posted April 3
April 9th - Week One
The "Big 4" teams meet for the first time; Challenger Brackets
April 16th - Week Two
Last week of Challenger; surviving "Big 3" face off
April 23rd - Week 3: Semi-Finals
Challenger Bracket winner faces second-ranked "Big 2;" Top on bye
April 30th - Week 4: Finals
For all the bragging rights; Semi-Finals winner against the "Big 1"
Prize Pool
The two teams in the FINALS will SPLIT a crowdfunded prize pool provided by the Block n Load fans!
For full details, to register a team, where to watch each game and to keep up to date with tournament progress, via this link.
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In other News
Free Rotation
Today Dream Genie has stepped out of the lamp to join Sarge & Nigel in free rotation
Dream Genie
Dream Genie's Conjuration allows her to build from long range, support your allies from afar or rain down bombs on your enemies. Sprint into your enemy's base and use your active ability, Jinx to confuse any nearby enemy blocks turning it against them for a few seconds.
Set your best time, compete on the leaderboard, and win yourself bonus Gold.
Balancing Update
We’ve received a lot of feedback about the Heroes in Block N Load, which ones are difficult to play, and which ones are easier to control the battlefield with. As a result of this feedback we’ve made a number of balancing changes to a selection of Blocks, some Heroes, and also a few more Perks.
For the full list of what’s changed, check out the full patch notes.
This is part of an ongoing process of balancing all of the areas of Block N Load. For more details about our future plans, read our Development Roadmap.
As always, let us know what you think!
Update 2.6
Block N Load update 2.6 brings with it a number of improvements to the way positions in Ranked mode are calculated and displayed, perk balancing, new arenas, an increase to the brick wallet cap, along with fixes and improvements to a selection of other areas in the game as well.
Kreepy’s celebrating his launch in Block N Load by inviting you to his circus tent for a massive sale. Dare you come inside and look at the bargains on offer?
ACT ONE: IN-GAME SALE
50% OFF THE FOLLOWING HEROES IN THE IN-GAME SHOP:
Astarella
Sweet Science
Dream Genie
Kira-Chan
Vander Graaf
50% OFF THE FOLLOWING SKINS IN THE IN-GAME SHOP:
Boris
Electricella
5x5-arella
Not-so-Sweet Science
Cambot
Nightmare Genie
Camo Kitty
Ultra Kawaii
Vander Punk
Alien Disco Ball
Nearly Naked Nigel
Fallen Nigel
1980 Juan
Boot Camp Sarge
Al Castone
These offers will run from now until 12th February at 18:10 UTC.
ACT TWO: STEAM LUNAR SALE
UP TO 50% OFF ALL BLOCK N LOAD DLC IN THE STEAM STORE:
Platinum Bar Pack
Scary Monsters Skins Pack
Starter Pack
These offers will run from now until 12th February at 18:10 UTC.
ACT THREE: PLAY KREEPY’S NEW CIRCUS MAP
While you’re in-game, check out Kreepy’s Circus, a new map for classic mode that’s themed around the hellish harlequin himself. Battle through the mouth of Kreepy and fight for control of the objectives in the centre of the big circus tents.
Ride the Hype Train!
Experience the specially made global arena ambience.
Please note, Kreepy himself is not on discount during this particular promotion but is also available now from the in-game shop, along with his superbly twisted skin “Kreepy The Ringmaster”.
Dev Blog #3 is Live!
This blog focuses on damage rates for our heroes. Calculated as an average Damage Per Minute, the stats demonstrate how the heroes play in different hands.
Don't forget to share your thoughts on the forums!
Update 2.5 - Kreepy the Klown
Update 2.5 brings a new Hero to Block N Load as well as a whole host of improvements and changes.
KREEPY THE KLOWN
Now available for all birthday parties and evil rituals, it’s Kreepy the Klown – Block N Load’s scariest Hero. This malevolent mischief-maker is now available to buy via the in-game shop.
Kreepy comes armed to the teeth with boxing-glove Extendo Arms, explosive Trick Bananas and the most terrifying Hero Block to be added to the game to date.
Like every Hero, Kreepy also has some uniquely killer abilities. His giant Klown Shoes give him unnaturally high jumping skills and his active ability traps nearby enemies in a frightening maze of psychological spookiness (think Nigel’s Tiki Heads but with more evil clowns). From his dungarees to his fangs, Kreepy is 100% terrifying and 100% awesome.
If Kreepy sounds like the gig for you, head over to the in-game store and start spooking your opponents. Are you ready to give your foes nightmares?
Sandy Shores has three objectives to take down in order to secure the victory. With wooden walkways, towers, mountains, and sandy beaches to scramble over when launching assaults, there are plenty routes to find and opportunities for forging your own path.
Beach Base has had a significant re-design to improve movement around the arena and allow for new attack routes, particularly when attempting to flank across the middle of the arena.
Additionally, all of the Arenas have been updated to accommodate multiple points for the BlockBuster Boost to appear at. The BlockBuster Boost can now come in at any of these locations like Supply Drops. This should allow more opportunities for different tactics for teams preparing for the BlockBuster Boost to drop in.
SUPPLY DROPS
Supply Drops are now twice as frequent as they were before, however, each individual Supply Drop is worth half of the value it previously had. This means that you will have more opportunities to grab resources for your team.
BRICK WALLET CAP
The number of Bricks anyone can have as resources for building can now never exceed 5,000 at any time.
During a match, the number of Bricks that your Hero currently has is displayed in the lower left. Once 5,000 has been reached this number will begin to pulse red and you will be unable to gather more resources until you have spent some on building Blocks.
Introducing our first in a series of Dev Stats blogs - available now on our website.
Why do we want to share this with you?
We want you to be involved more than ever in the development of new features, and in our Hero balance activities. We’ll let you know how this will work over the next couple of weeks, but we’re really excited about getting your input and making the game truly player-driven.
We’ve kicked this off with a new build on our PTR (Player Test Realm) server. We’ve got some pretty important gameplay changes, automatic cheat-detection solutions, and (most excitingly) a new Hero to play test!
Sound awesome, how do I become a tester and get involved?
We aim to gather initial feedback & survey results on Monday, after which we will start experimenting with balance improvements.
As always, thank you for your enthusiasm and involvement!
The Block N Load Team
Free Hero Rotation - Astarella
Astarella, our high-flying galactic gal, has replaced Kira-chan in free rotation. Able to boost team-mates and her own movement speed, armed with her fast firing P.P.P. and explosive Saucer Launcher, and able to place targeting beacons for an Orbital Strike Astarella is certain to cause some space-age carnage.
If you haven’t tried Astarella before now is the perfect opportunity to hop in to a match and see what she can do.
Roly Poly's Festive Mission - Unlock an Exclusive Hero Skin!
Roly Poly Fat Fat has the world’s deadliest hamster ball, but it can be a winter wonderland too! Unlock this snow-globe skin for Roly by taking on the following daring mission.
MISSION: Complete 15 classic games as any hero between 00:01 on Friday 18 December and 23:59 on Monday 4 January. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just as long as you start and finish each game.
REWARD: Exclusive Roly Poly Shake Shake skin. This will be added to your account permanently. Don’t miss out – it’s only available to unlock for a limited time.
[H1]WHAT HAPPENS IF I UNLOCK THE SKIN BUT DO NOT OWN ROLY?[/H1]
The skin will remain in your account permanently. It can then be selected and used if you own Roly Poly, whenever Roly is in the free hero rotation and will be there if you choose to purchase her from the in game store. By the way…
[H1]ROLY POLY FAT FAT IS NOW HALF-PRICE IN THE IN GAME STORE[/H1]
Not only has she prepared her festive mission for you, but the Texan troublemaker is also 50% off Platinum in the in game store.
[H1]CAN I BUY THE SKIN TOO?[/H1]
No. This skin ONLY available right now by completing Roly’s Festive mission.
What more motivation do you need? Play the game, unlock something special.
