Genre: Strategy, Turn-based strategy (TBS), Indie, Card & Board Game
Duelyst
Duelyst Patch 1.74
Hey everyone, we’ve been working hard on the next card expansion as well as our Mobile and Console builds. In the meantime, the mid-October patch is going to focus on balance changes and fixing a few bugs and minor issues.
Balance Changes
We make balance changes rarely and for a number of reasons. These changes are not based entirely on a card’s popularity, win rate, or lack thereof. We will say a bit about why we’re making each change, and as always changed cards are disenchantable for ~1 week after the change for full spirit value.
Kara Winterblade – Bloodborn spell changed to: “Any minion you summon this turn gains +1/+1.”
This was a hard decision. There are a few reasons for this change: First, Kara has been dominant in competitive play, and tends to promote decks that are considered unfun. Second, Kara has been a one trick pony and we wanted to adjust that a bit to allow us to create new interesting cards that interact with her spell (for example, cards that create multiple minions and spells that spawn walls will now receive the buff unlike before). Ultimately, Kara’s spell acted as a hard power limit on any Neutral or Vanar cards we could release in future expansions or our monthly season card releases.
Saberspine Seal – Cost changed from 1 to 2.
We are increasing the mana cost of Saberspine Seal to make it more difficult for Songhai to put together high-damage combos, and make it more taxing to efficiently remove threats from the board while maintaining pressure on an opponent. Note that we do want to continue to support a variety of deck-types in Duelyst, and Songhai’s ability to play powerful aggressive and/or combo decks is something we consider core to their playstyle.
Siphon Energy – Text changed to “Dispel an enemy minion nearby your General.”
Vetruvian has some of the most powerful tools in the game. The ability to easily neutralize opposing threats regardless of their position on the board is an area where the faction could stand a slight adjustment. We think forcing Vetruvian to care more about positioning to dispel enemies is such an adjustment.
Ephemeral Shroud – Stats changed from 2/2 to 1/1.
Ephemeral Shroud is among the most commonly played cards in all of Duelyst. Given its near universal playability, we’ve reduced its stats to reinforce the core reason for including Ephemeral Shroud in a deck: its dispel effect. The value Shroud offers as a minion on the board should not be as important. Note that we do think there should be good neutral dispel options for all factions to use, but we want to see other reactive cards become viable choices in place of having an answer to most scenarios with the Ephemeral Shroud.
Zen’Rui, The Blightspawned – Cost changed from 5 to 6. Stats changed from 4/3 to 4/4.
We want Zen’Rui to continue to be a viable card to play given the correct metagame, but it should be more difficult to include in a deck without many downsides. Putting Zen’Rui further up the curve introduces more tradeoffs when deciding to include him in a deck, and gives us more space to create powerful minions with 2 or less attack.
Inquisitor Kron – Stats changed from 4/6 to 4/4.
Inquisitor Kron’s powerful stats and value-generating effect have landed him a spot as the premier 5 cost minion of Duelyst to the exclusion of most other 5 cost minions. While we hope he continues to be a desirable choice in a variety of deck styles going forward, we want players to feel like they have more options in the 5 cost slot.
Bug Fixes
First Look: November Monthly Cards
Get excited for the 4 November Monthly Season cards coming out on the 1st of November. Remember, you can earn a FREE copy of each of these by hitting one of the 4 ranked ladder divisions: SILVER, GOLD, DIAMOND, S-RANK.
As always, let us know what you think in the Forums, Discord, and on Reddit.
You can now earn Faction XP up to level 10 in Friendly games. This is a small step, but we are looking for more ways to allow players to earn rewards for playing with friends in the future.
You can now choose which player you want to spectate from the watch section.
Buddy List Quality of Life Improvements
Prismatic Backfill for Veterans
If you opened a sufficient amount of Spirit Orbs before Prismatic Cards were added to the game (Patch 1.68 July 21st 2016), when you log-in after the patch, your collection should be filled out with a set Prismatic cards based on how many Orbs you've opened.
We have implemented changes to how ranking are calculated within S-Rank. These changes are based on processing a lot of feedback on issues with the current system. Read an in-depth explanation here.
Let us know what you think.
As always, dive over into the forums, discord, or [reddit] to let us know your thoughts.
Starting with Patch 1.72 you can spectate friends in your buddy list. When a friend is in-game you will see a "spectate" button in place of the "challenge" button. Once you are in-game with a friend, all game events are close to real-time.
You can always block spectators in the settings if you don't want friends to spectate your games.
Note: Spectating players not on your buddy list and/or featured games is in the works, but not yet part of this update.
Server desync Handling
We've improved how the server handles clients that drop packets and their game getting out of sync with the server. Your client should detect these cases and offer you the option to attempt to reload the game.
Fight for a seat at the Duelyst World Championship and a slice of the $2,000 USD cash prize on this weekend's Duelyst Open! This is a free for all tournament open to you and all Duelyst players in the world.
Along with the release of Denizens of Shim’Zar, we have changed a number of cards and mechanics in Duelyst. As always, we made these changes based on extensive community input, play testing, and data mining. Our aim is to improve overall gameplay, deck and card variety, and open up more space for future additions to the game.
Core Mechanic Change: Shadow Creep
Shadow Creep tiles now always deal 1 damage, rather than scaling with the amount of friendly Shadow Creep tiles.
The following Shadow Creep cards also changed:
Core Mechanic Change: Eggs
Friendly eggs now hatch at the start of your turn. Additionally, minions that hatch from eggs are “ready” (can move and/or attack immediately).
The following egg cards also changed:
Other Card Changes
As always, you can disenchant any changed cards for approximately one week after the patch for full spirit value.
September Monthly Cards
We’re introducing 4 new cards into the core set for the September Season!
