Patch 1.3.10 - A Tale of Blades and Run Length
Before going any further, I wanted to take the time to give a massive thank you to all who have left a Positive Review on Steam. You can’t even believe how much it begins to help things - and I’m so humbled by all the support! Thank you so so much!
Tonight's patch comes with some pretty big changes! I wanted to take the time to give a bit more of an explanation as to why things have changed, rather than list them all off. I’ll do a full list at the bottom but at least for the main points, I’d like to dive into some details!
[h3]Run Length[/h3]
One thing that has been debated quite a bit over the last 6 months is Run Length. It’s true that Vault is on the longer side of things, and whilst Veterans have runs down to around 60-90 mins, it's not uncommon for new and intermediate players to be looking at a good 2-3 hr sit down.
To be clear, I always said I wouldn’t just change map length for the fun of it, but after talking to some other players, one thing is pretty clear. By about middle/two thirds through Floor 2, your deck is pretty much done and you’re ready to go. By that point, you’re either going to be fine in the Vault, or you’ve got some hurt coming. I always said if things were going to change, that would be around the spot I would tweak the map.
So I made the change! Floor 2 is now 2 columns shorter. That does mean there is : 2 less mob fights, 1 less Treasure Room, 1 less Shrine and 1 less Merchant. It’s been playtested over the last few days and it feels pretty good, but please feel free to fire any feedback to me! Depending how you path, it may shave a bit of time off your runs, but the big thing is it will make Floor 2 feel like it's ending at the right time now. Hopefully!
[h3]Blades, Blades and more Blades[/h3]
So this is a big change - and whilst I see you readying the pitchforks, please give me a chance to explain haha! I like data. A lot actually. I look over all the data on win rates and winning decks everyday to try and pickout trends. I also watch streams, I lurk in a lot of them, and I get to see what people enjoy about different builds. One thing that's been bugging myself and the card balance volunteers is that Blade has a few things showing up, namely:
So this patch, lets put the Blade, back into Blade.
But wait! As I mentioned, that card was fun to play. I love fun as well, which is why there is a new Rare card called Stiletto, which is basically the Hidden Blade you know and love. You can still get it, but you will no longer be able to get a free hand out at the Mastery screen.
But wait! We wanted more handfuls of Hidden Blades! There's no handsize limit for a reason! I know - thats why 5 new cards have been added to the Hiddens pool which do just that. Let me preview one of my favourites:
Blade Upon Blades - 2 Cost Swift Attack
Deal 8 (11) Damage. Gain 1 Volatile Hidden Blade.
These cards have a lot of flavour and add a bunch more Hidden Blade generation to the Blade spec. They’re also spread across Rarities, so check them out!
On top of that, I've also added a hanful more Artifacts for the Hidden specifically! Now the fun really begins. Lets take a look at one of the new ones:
Blade Belt: When you play your 4th Attack in one turn, gain 2 Volatile Hidden Blades.
At the end of the day, this is just a long winded way of saying that Blade should now feel more fun, and much, much more Bladey.
[h3]New Playmats[/h3]
It's not all doom and gloom! There are 2 awesome new Battlefields available to unlock under the Unlocks menu! (Although, if I was to give them a theme, it would probably be Doom and Gloomy).
[hr][/hr]
And now, for the full details. As usual, theres probably a few bugs I didn't document fixing, as sometimes when I'm in the trenches I forget to record all the details!
Tonight's patch comes with some pretty big changes! I wanted to take the time to give a bit more of an explanation as to why things have changed, rather than list them all off. I’ll do a full list at the bottom but at least for the main points, I’d like to dive into some details!
[h3]Run Length[/h3]
One thing that has been debated quite a bit over the last 6 months is Run Length. It’s true that Vault is on the longer side of things, and whilst Veterans have runs down to around 60-90 mins, it's not uncommon for new and intermediate players to be looking at a good 2-3 hr sit down.
To be clear, I always said I wouldn’t just change map length for the fun of it, but after talking to some other players, one thing is pretty clear. By about middle/two thirds through Floor 2, your deck is pretty much done and you’re ready to go. By that point, you’re either going to be fine in the Vault, or you’ve got some hurt coming. I always said if things were going to change, that would be around the spot I would tweak the map.
So I made the change! Floor 2 is now 2 columns shorter. That does mean there is : 2 less mob fights, 1 less Treasure Room, 1 less Shrine and 1 less Merchant. It’s been playtested over the last few days and it feels pretty good, but please feel free to fire any feedback to me! Depending how you path, it may shave a bit of time off your runs, but the big thing is it will make Floor 2 feel like it's ending at the right time now. Hopefully!
[h3]Blades, Blades and more Blades[/h3]
So this is a big change - and whilst I see you readying the pitchforks, please give me a chance to explain haha! I like data. A lot actually. I look over all the data on win rates and winning decks everyday to try and pickout trends. I also watch streams, I lurk in a lot of them, and I get to see what people enjoy about different builds. One thing that's been bugging myself and the card balance volunteers is that Blade has a few things showing up, namely:
- Quite often, Combo will be used in conjunction with some of the big 2 Cost Neutral cards to hit hard. Seriously, Combo 3 and a Wound or a Planned Strike can carry a run. That doesn’t feel very bladey.
- Hidden Blade upgraded is great. No, it’s fantastic. Actually, to be honest, it’s probably better than a lot of Rares in the game. A 0 cost multi-trigger that doesn’t eat combo is so fun to play, but it's also so very strong. Like, “should-not-be-a-common” strong. Especially a Mastery target. Also, any deck that contains one (or heck, 2!), has a very high win rate. Turns out Block 16 or Rage 100% for 0 cost is really good. But it’s fun.
- People love tossing Blades. The giddy smile and maniacal laugh they give when a handful of blades show up makes that pretty clear. In contrast to point 1, that does feel bladey.
- There was a heavy requirement to get 1-2 of the Buff cards going for the Blade Build to really take off.
So this patch, lets put the Blade, back into Blade.
- Firstly, Wound, Do Over and Planned Strike have lost the Swift tag.
- Secondly, Upgraded Hidden Blade has changed to read;
Deal 3 damage. Balanced. Inert. Rebound.
It no longer loses Inert but has gained Rebound.
But wait! As I mentioned, that card was fun to play. I love fun as well, which is why there is a new Rare card called Stiletto, which is basically the Hidden Blade you know and love. You can still get it, but you will no longer be able to get a free hand out at the Mastery screen.
But wait! We wanted more handfuls of Hidden Blades! There's no handsize limit for a reason! I know - thats why 5 new cards have been added to the Hiddens pool which do just that. Let me preview one of my favourites:
Blade Upon Blades - 2 Cost Swift Attack
Deal 8 (11) Damage. Gain 1 Volatile Hidden Blade.
These cards have a lot of flavour and add a bunch more Hidden Blade generation to the Blade spec. They’re also spread across Rarities, so check them out!
On top of that, I've also added a hanful more Artifacts for the Hidden specifically! Now the fun really begins. Lets take a look at one of the new ones:
Blade Belt: When you play your 4th Attack in one turn, gain 2 Volatile Hidden Blades.
At the end of the day, this is just a long winded way of saying that Blade should now feel more fun, and much, much more Bladey.
[h3]New Playmats[/h3]
It's not all doom and gloom! There are 2 awesome new Battlefields available to unlock under the Unlocks menu! (Although, if I was to give them a theme, it would probably be Doom and Gloomy).
[hr][/hr]
And now, for the full details. As usual, theres probably a few bugs I didn't document fixing, as sometimes when I'm in the trenches I forget to record all the details!
1.3.10
+ UI/General
- More colour tweaks to card text
- Floor 2 Map has been shrunk by a small margin.
- 2 New Battlefields have been added!
+ Artifacts;
- 11 new Elite Artifacts added (Global and Hidden)
+ Cards;
- Do Over, Wound and Planned Strike have lost the Swift tag.
- 5 new cards added to the Hidden's Card Pool. Main Gauche, Juggle, Trigger Phrase, Leading Edge and Blades Upon Blades
+ Bugs;
- Blessing of Efficiency will no longer affect cards outside of battle
- Added a buff icon for Potion of Energy
- Taste of Blood vs Bruce now shows the correction damage
- Popup when reslotting a Stone as the Daughter will no longer say it will be destroyed
- Fixed the tooltip card showing at the top of the screen, rather than above the card.
- Spell Child will now actually take your Essence, instead of dishing out his wares for FREE!
- Side Step will now show block cap when vs'ing the Dragon Mother
- Blessing of Stealth will now give full energy.
- Fixed an issue where one card in hand would cover Buffs
- Spells from the Guardians will now unlock in the Compendium
- Music will no longer double up if sitting on the Main Menus too long