Update 5.2 is now available for download on PC and iOS! This update adds the Year of The Wererat page to the Reward Book, new Seasonal mode for the Season of the Bear and redesign of the Ornament page. It also brings multiple usability improvements and balance changes to cards from all factions.
Full patch notes:
Changes
- Doomed units will now instantly be banished instead of going to graveyard first and then becoming banished
- If a card has doomed status it will now have 'Banish' vfx on death (instead of 'Consume' or any other vfx)
- The design of the Outcome Screen shown after a match has been updated
- Rewards on Daily Login Rewards screen will now be claimed instantly
- The ranked score tab in a Public Profile won't be visible on Pro Rank player profiles
- Mastered Basics and Poor Infantry contracts have been fixed to properly unlock after completing or skipping the tutorial
- Updated Gernichora leader skin
- Rebalance of powder nodes in Reward Book
Comment:We want to make powder feel like special currency, used for special purposes. The previous setup of powder nodes gave a feeling of crafting or getting premium cards more oridinary - what we want is to make you feel as amazed as we were, having seen the cards in action for the first time.
This change also allows us to release powder priced ornaments more frequently.
New Features
- The ornament selection screen has been redesigned, bringing a enhanced customization functionality
- Ornaments now have a set rarity
- The collapsible filters from the PC version of the Deck Builder have been brought to the Mobile version of the game
- Crafting cost filter based on card rarity has been added to the list of filters in the Deck Builder.
- Spare cards from your collection will now be milled directly after entering the Deck Builder, replacing the 'Mill Spare Cards' button.
- A new page for the Year of Wererat is now available in the Reward Book.
- A new milestone has been added to the Refer a Friend program for the first invitee completing the Tutorial.
- [PC Only] Shadows from cards and Leaders are now cast in real time onto the board.
Neutral
- Bekkers Dark Mirror provison changed from 9 to 8.
- Caretaker provision changed from 14 to 9.
- Caretaker power changed from 2 to 7.
- Cartaker ability changed to: Zeal. Order: Purify a unit. Cooldown: 2.
Comment:Finally more than just-another-Scenario. Caretaker is starting new career as a bodyguard against (or a magnet for) Lock, Bleed and Poison, and a punisher to Vitality, Shields and Defenders. We will be closely monitoring the usage of this card. We expect it to be in every deck for a bit before he moves on to be a good value tech-in Purify, and if he will deviate from that, we will adjust him accordingly.
- Tesham Munta Sword provision changed from 8 to 7
Comment:This card is a bit awkward because making it too cheap will just turn it into Alzur's Thunder with a niche upside. At 7 provisions it slowly starts being a considerable tech if you need an answer to a card with Shield. We are considering making it even cheaper, but it's hard to predict how impactful a change to a tech card can be, which is why we decided to take a smaller step this time.
Monsters
- Brewess provision changed from 8 to 7.
- Brewess power changed from 6 to 5.
- Weavess provision changed from 8 to 7.
- Whispess provision changed from 8 to 7.
Comment: Crones have generally fallen out of favour together with Monsters. While we believe that Monsters can hold their own and are mostly kept down by the meta naturally answering most of their gameplans, Crones needed a little bump to compete with many combos Monsters have access to
- Mourntart provision changed from 9 to 8.
Comment:Mourntart is a unique win condition that isn't really explored because of a huge provision and deckbuilding cost that it carries while being quite vulnerable. We hope that this change will make it feel at least a little bit less committal so more people give it a chance.
Skellige
- Second Wind provision bonus changed from 15 to 14.
Comment:Second Wind's power will always be closely tied to how good Skellige cards are, and right now you have enough great options for it to bring it's provision total down a bit.
- An Craite Longship power changed from 5 to 4.
- An Craite Longship Armor changed from 0 to 1.
Comment:An-Craite Longship has often reached over it's provision value on play if it was not answered directly, and that is discounting Bloodthirst synergies. We are slowing it down so dealing with it over multiple turns feels less painful.
- Freya's Blessing ability changed to: Play a bronze Skellige unit from your graveyard and give it Doomed.
Comment: While this change is not going to impact use of Freya's Blessing in most cases, and in some you will just use a Gremist's charge to go around it completely, we hope that it will make it a bit harder to use the very same card 3+ times in one round despite your opponent answering it every time.
- Wild Boar of the Sea provision changed from 11 to 12.
Comment: We are happy that Wild Boar sees more play after the changes, but it may have been a little too easy to fit in the deck and enable through other Skellige cards. This change is minor, but the meta was already slowly adapting to this card's existence, which is why we opted to take a smaller step.
Northern Realms
- Added Machine Category to Reinforced Trebuchet.
- Reinforced Trebuchet's ability changed to: Ranged: At the end of your turn, damage a random enemy unit on the ranged row by 1.
Comment: Removing Inspired part of the ability will make this card easier to play around, which also makes Siege a little worse as a result.
Scoia'tael
- Deadeye Ambush provision bonus changed from 16 to 15
Comment: We have observed this ability after rework and it is performing a little better than we expected, So we are bringing it down a bit.
- Precision Strike provision bonus changed from 16 to 14
Comment:Precision Strike is currently way over-performing, acting as a source of additional reach for removal, a setup and huge tempo play if you can keep the Dryads in your deck. Since Other leaders were struggling to compete with all of this, we have made it harder to fit all of the best faction tools with Precisions Strike.
- Dryad Ranger damage changed from 2 to 1
Comment:Dryad Ranger was mostly being played as even-on-provisions Harmony engine with Poison as an extra if you happen to draw double. Reducing the damage drops the card's floor, but also makes it lose less value on successful poison, which pushes this card into a better direction.
- Percival Schuttenbach Armor changed from 3 to 2
Comment:Both Glynnis and Percival were really tough to remove due to their nature of self buffing engine combined with being played outside of the common removal ranges. While this change puts them only in range of some of the removal, some factions should have easier time to deal with them without completely conceding to their existence.
- The Great Oak power changed from 8 to 7
Comment:The card that has not been touched since it's release in Crimson Curse finally earned it's adjustment. With many additional ways to take advantage of Oaks effect, it's point floor went up considerably. Since a lot of things in Scoia'tel are shifting in this and previous patch, we have opted to take a smaller step towards bringing Oak back in line, to avoid killing off the card together with the faction.
- Water of Brokilon provision changed from 11 to 12
Comment: It's hard to put a price on playing 2 engines with one card. This tiny adjustment combined with other changes in this and previous patches should put Water closer to where it needs to be. We will continue watching the faction as it adapts to all the changes.
Nilfgaard
- Tactical Decision provision bonus changed from 17 to16
Comment:While Tactical Decision has not been played as much, it still holds tremendous potential. This ability also used to give your deck the most provisions to work with, so it was adjusted slightly.
- Glynnis Aep Loernach Armor changed from 3 to 2
Comment: Both Glynnis and Percival were really tough to remove due to their nature of self buffing engine combined with being played outside of the common removal ranges. While this change puts them only in range of couple of cards, some factions should have easier time to deal with them without completely conceding to their existence.
- Yennefer's Invocation ability changed to: Place an enemy unit on the top of your deck
Comment: After we decided to limit Artifact Removal to neutral cards, we have overlooked Yen's Invocation as a viable way to do it, so now we are correcting that.
Syndicate
- Blood Money provision bonus changed from 16 to 15
- Wild Card provision bonus changed from 14 to 13
Comment:We like that Syndicate leader abilities that are not Wild Card are starting to see the light of day. Those changes are meant to incentive more experimentation. Both Blood Money and Wild Card are getting adjusted just so one is not clearly superior to other after the change.
Game Fixes
- Fixed and Issue with Greatsword, Dagur Two Blades and Heymaey Protector reacting sometimes to units losing armor
- Fixed an issue when Daily Login Rewards screen would appear only if there are unclaimed rewards available
- Fixed an issue whereby Crones did not update their abilities for the previously played Crone under specific circumstances
- Fixed an issue whereby An Craite Warrior did 1, rather than 3 damage when played from the graveyard
- Fixed an issue whereby Roach did not get Summoned from the Deck when its owner played a gold special card
- Fix the order of cards spawned on Playstack - affects cards like Gedyneith
- If Grand Inqusitor Halveed fee is used to spawn a unit the fee will be taken before any other ability is resolved, meaning that Scribe will add 1 coin afterwards
- Ancient Foglet with Doomed status will no longer come back from graveyard for a split second before banishing itself
- Numerous tooltip fixes and improvements
