Hey everyone,
Today we are focusing on communicating our thoughts on the upcoming changes via the patch notes, instead of the usual developer video. In addition to the balance changes, we have Draft updates and game fixes for you.
Let’s begin with the balance changes:
Patch 10.3 focuses on several goals:
Revitalizing Wild Hunt, Elven Swarm and Firesworn archetypes
Increasing the cost of running the most popular thinning tools in Northern Realms, Nilfgaard and Skellige.
Improving some other archetypes and strategies with smaller buffs.
Geralt: Quen: Adrenaline condition changed from 3 to 4.
Magic Lamp: Lamp Djinn is now a Doomed Token.
Triangle Within a Triangle: Provision cost changed from 9 to 8.
Auberon Conqueror: Deploy ability changed to:
Spawn and play a bronze Wild Hunt unit from your starting deck.
Eredin Bréacc Glas: Power changed from 6 to 7.
Wererat: Ability changed to:
Order: Spawn a number of Rats on this row equal to the amount of boost on self, then lose a point of boost for each Rat Spawned. Cooldown: 1. Before the end of your turn, Consume a unit to the right.
Winter Queen: Devotion ability changed to:
Once both players have passed, boost self by 2 for each turn of Frost remaining on the opponent's side.
Chimera: Adrenaline condition changed from 4 to 5.
Red Riders: Ability changed to:
Choose one:
- Spawn Frost on an enemy row for 2 turns, then replay a bronze Wild Hunt unit.
- Spawn Frost on both enemy rows for 2 turns.
Slyzard: Power changed from 5 to 4.
Provision cost changed from 5 to 4.
Wild Hunt Navigator: Ability changed to:
Deploy: Boost an allied unit by the duration of Frost on its opposite row.
Dominance: Boost an allied unit by the total duration of Frost on the opponent's side of the battlefield instead.
Wild Hunt Warrior: Ability changed to:
Deploy: Damage an enemy unit by 2.
Dominance: Also Spawn Frost for 1 turn on that unit's row.
In the past several months Wild Hunt had their moments, but it’s been a while since Aen Elle were a very popular choice among Monsters’ players. In 10.3 we are introducing a bunch of changes that should make the Frost archetype feel better to play.
The reworked cards include the ones players weren’t interested in playing in their decks (such as Wild Hunt Navigator or Wild Hunt Warrior), but there are also other improvements, including more flexibility for the final stage of Auberon - players will be able to pick any Wild Hunt unit from their starting deck instead of relying on randomness.
We also decided to change Winter Queen - from now on, she can protect you from wasting value on Frost if your opponent decides to pass. We replaced Thrive with this ability, as Wild Hunt’s main strategy is not reliably triggering Thrive, and we hope that this ability will help the Frost deck with one of their biggest weaknesses, which is low tempo when applying weather. Regardless of the success of those changes, we want to continue supporting Wild Hunt in the future.
Moreover, we added a small pack of buffs for some of the Consume cards. The most notable change here is Wererat. Due to how the end of turn abilities are resolved in Gwent, Wererat didn’t work with some of the Deathwish cards, such as Ruehin or Succubus. To bypass that restriction, we are changing him to trigger before end of turn abilities. On top of that, Wererat will no longer fully reset when clicking the Order - now the amount of lost points is equal to the number of Rats spawned.
Coën: Ability changed to:
Zeal. Order: Boost all allied units with power equal to Coën by the amount of boost on Coën.
King Belohun: Power changed from 5 to 6.
Power setting value changed from 4 to 5.
Power setting value with Devotion changed from 5 to 6.
Siege Master: Provision cost changed from 4 to 5.
Ability changed to:
Order: Reduce an allied unit's Cooldown by 1.
When you play a Siege Engine, Summon self from your hand to the left of it, then draw a card.
Northern Realms get a minor buff for the King Belohun strategy - the king himself has better stats, and Coën no longer boosts enemies. When we released Coën we hoped that having to play around the opponent's board state can be a fun way of playing the card, but since players are not interested in running him, we made him easier to use.
On top of that, Siege Master now costs 5 provisions. The card is seeing a lot of success and shouldn't be so easy to include considering what it offers and how easy it is to use. As a small compensation for the Cooldown decks, we also added an Order ability, and due to popular request, we made him jump out on the left side rather than the right side to make using Crew less awkward.
Toruviel: Power changed from 5 to 4.
Added new part of ability:
If you control an Elven Deadeye, use both abilities.
Vernossiel: Provision cost changed from 12 to 11.
Dol Blathanna Archer: Power changed from 5 to 2.
Ability changed to:
Deploy (Melee): Damage an enemy unit by 3.
Deploy (Ranged): Damage 2 enemy units by 1.
Deathblow: Spawn an Elven Deadeye on this row.
Dol Blathanna Bowman: Power changed from 3 to 4.
Vrihedd Vanguard: Ability changed to:
Deploy (Melee): Boost self by 1 for each Elf in your hand.
Deploy (Ranged): Boost self by 1 for each Elf on this row.
Waylay: Ability changed to:
Damage an enemy unit by 3 and Spawn an Elven Deadeye on a random row.
Isengrim Faoiltiarna: Power changed from 4 to 6.
Schirrú: Provision cost changed from 9 to 10.
Ability changed to:
Zeal. Order: Destroy all other units with power equal to Schirrú.
Milva: Sharpshooter: Provision cost changed from 11 to 10.
For Scoia'tael the main focus is on the Elven Swarm archetype. On top of numerical changes, we added a way to trigger both abilities for Toruviel, gave Vrihedd Vanguard an alternative ability that works with tokens, changed Dol Blathanna Archer into a card that can help with generating Elven units and removed the Deathblow requirement from Waylay.
We hope that with those changes, setting up Elven Swarm strategy will be easier and using the pay off cards - more satisfying.
In 10.3, we are also buffing Schirru. 3 years ago, Schirru was changed to destroy himself. In those times, he was considered one of the most powerful cards in the game - the environment was really good for him because cards were more aligned in terms of points. The times are different, and while Schirru can definitely be very devastating, he is also a very exciting card to play, therefore he will no longer destroy himself. This change not only means more points for the Schirru player, but it also opens up possibilities to boost Schirru to higher values without losing points. Since this is a big buff, we also decided to increase the provision cost of Schirru to 10.
As for Milva: Sharpshooter, we are lowering her cost to 10. She performed pretty well even after the nerf, but since fully using her power is now significantly harder, making her cheaper by 1 provision seems fair.
Sigvald: Adjusted the tooltip to reflect that only damage from non-status abilities is counted. The ability itself remains unchanged.
Tuirseach Skirmisher: Provision cost changed from 4 to 5.
Skellige is still a faction with the biggest variety of viable decks, so in 10.3 we are not supporting any of the SK archetypes. However, the discard package is now more expensive with Tuirseach Skirmisher going to 5 provisions. Going for the discard package has been a bit too obvious for Skellige players, and Tuirseach Skirmisher, similarly to Siege Masters, is too easy to include for a card that adds so much tempo to a thinning play. We hope that this change will make some of Skellige players consider running different consistency tools, and the decks that keep running the discard package will be a bit easier to beat.
Mage Assassin: Provision cost changed from 4 to 5.
Similarly to Siege Master and Tuirseach Skirmisher, we are targeting Nilfgaard’s most efficient consistency tool, with the same goals as in Skellige.
Cyrus Engelkind Hemmelfart: Now has the Cleric tag.
Damnation: Provision cost changed from 7 to 6.
Ability changed to:
Destroy an allied unit and Create and play a 4-provision cost Firesworn unit. Increase the provision cost by the power of the destroyed unit.
Excommunication: Provision cost changed from 6 to 5.
Lieutenant von Herst: Ability changed to:
At the end of your turn, if you control a Cleric, Spawn a Firesworn Zealot on this row.
Fee 1: Transform a Firesworn Zealot into a Flaming Rose Footman.
Roderick de Wett: Provision cost changed from 7 to 6.
Whoreson's Freak Show: Provision cost changed from 7 to 8.
Cleric of the Flaming Rose: Profit changed from 2 to 3.
Eternal Fire Disciple: Now has the Cleric tag.
Fee changed from 2 to 1.
Eternal Fire Inquisitor: Power changed from 3 to 4.
Provision cost changed from 5 to 4.
Ability changed to:
Deploy: Destroy a Firesworn Token, then boost self by 4.
After 2 turns, Spawn a base copy of the destroyed Token on this row.
Lonely Champion: Ability changed to:
Immunity.
Zeal. Order: Destroy all Firesworn Tokens on this row, then boost self by their total power.
Cooldown: 2
For Syndicate, the main goal of 10.3 is to bring some attention to the Firesworn Swarm archetype. With new Damnation, players will be able to get additional Fallen Knight or any other Firesworn card, depending on how much they are willing to sacrifice. Moreover, Damnation allows you to play a unit without losing board space. Lieutenant von Herst has lost the Hoard condition (which we want to be connected to the Tidecloak gang), and now will spawn Zealots if you control a Cleric. Lonely Champion can now help with board space in a much more flexible way. New Eternal Fire Inquisitor allows the player to benefit from spawning one unit twice. Besides those changes, there are a bunch of other improvements that should make Firesworn more relevant.
All evolving cards are now acquired in the base version.
Nature package: Removed Orb of Insight.
Prebuff package: Replaced Vrihedd Saboteur with Circle of Life.
Prebuff package: Replaced Dwarven Agitator with Bountiful Harvest.
Spells - Neutral package: Removed Undying Thirst and Surrender.
Foglets - Thinning package: Replaced with Archespore - Thinning package. (Never Foglet!)
Deathwish package: Replaced Katakan with Abaya.
Old Speartip: Asleep: Removed from all packages.
Raid package: Removed Whale Harpooner.
Bounty package: Removed Dire Mutated Hounds.
Vitality package: Removed Shani.
Vitality package: Removed Horst Borsodi.
Create package: Replaced Queen Adalia with Filavandrel.
Raid package: Removed Blood Eagle.
Rain package: Replaced Offering to the Sea with Fucusya.
Rain package: Replaced Hermit with Messenger of the Sea.
Rain package: Replaced Havfrue Singer with Little Havfrue.
Keeper of the Flame will now boost itself on Tribute, as intended.
Mangonel will no longer damage allied units following Mage Infiltrator's Deathblow effect. It will now deal damage to any surviving unit that Mage Infiltrator was played next to.
Megascope and Saov Ainmhi'dh: Unity no longer sometimes show references to missing cards in their tooltips.
Siege Master's Deploy ability is no longer triggered additionally when replaying a Siege Engine with Teleportation.
Van Moorlehem Servant will no longer count 1 point of boost less when copying a Bounty.
