Shadow Arena News

Greetings, this is Shadow Arena.

The Beta Season 2 of Shadow Arena is kicking off.

Action-packed battles are awaiting with the release of new Trio mode!


■ Beta Season 2 Schedule
> Round 1: November 5, 2020 (Thu) after maintenance ~ December 10, 2020 (Thu) before maintenance
- Rank points and tiers will reset when the round ends.
- If there are changes to the maintenance schedule, the round schedule will be based on the maintenance day of that same week.
- Season and round schedules are subject to change and any changes will be updated on this notice.

■ Tier
- There are total of 6 tiers. However, tiers may change per round or season.
> Bronze
> Silver
> Gold
> Platinum
> Diamond
> Master
* Check [Tier System Guide] for more details on tiers.

■ Reward
* Only the records from Solo and Trio modes are considered for the season record.
* The highest tier achieved by the end of rounds of Beta Season 2 will be based for the season record.
(Example: If you are Gold by the end of Round 1 and Platinum by the end of Round 2, then you will be considered a Platinum tier)

※ Shadow Arena is currently in Early Access and balances may change during the season.
※ Detailed rewards will be announced via future notice.

Happly Halloween!
Collect Halloween pumpkins to get a special skin!


■ Event Period

October 29, 2020 (Thu) after maintenance ~ November 5, 2020 (Thu) before maintenance


■ How to Participate

① Complete [Daily Quests] during the event period to receive a [Event] Halloween Pumpkin.

② After the event ends, rewards will be given based on the number of [Event] Halloween Pumpkins collected.




[Event][Herawen] Weenie Looney


* Exchange rewards will be sent via in-game mail on November 5, 2020 (Thu) after maintenance.

* Rewards are cumulative, and you will receive all the lower tier rewards if you are eligible for higher tier reward.

Example) If you have 15 [Event] Halloween Pumpkins, then you will receive rewards for 3, 5, and 10 [Event] Halloween Pumpkins as well.

* Remaining [Event] Halloween Pumpkins after the exchange will be converted to 1,000 Silver per pumpkin.

* Daily Quest rewards are not cumulative so please make sure to claim them after completing the quest. Please note that any [Event] Halloween Pumpkins not claimed on time cannot be restored.


※ Additional Notice

- [Event] Halloween Pumpkins will be removed once the event period ends.

- Pearl Abyss reserves the right to change/cancel the event depending on mitigating circumstances. If changes are made, they can be found on this event page.

- Participating in the event with inappropriate methods may result in cancellation of event participation, withdrawal of item rewards, and account restrictions from the game.

- If your account is restricted for violating the Terms of Service, you may be disqualified and have any prizes withdrawn even after being selected as a winner.

- If you have any other questions or concerns related to the event, please contact us via [Support].

- Any matters not listed on this page will follow the [Shadow Arena Event Rules].

The Nov 2020 Asia Champions Showdown (Trio) will kick off with the start of the second beta season and determine the best trio in the Asia server!

Please read below for more details regarding the tournament schedule and rules.

[h2]Nov 2020 Asia Champions Showdown (Trio)[/h2]
* Players selected as participants will be sent a Discord channel URL by in-game mail after the participants announcement.
Please make sure to enter this Discord channel as further event communication and information will be provided through it.


■ How to Sign-Up
① Login to Asia server and press [ESC] > click [Events] to view the banner for tournament registration.
② Click on the banner to input all the info necessary for tournament registration.
③ Check all the tournament announcements and rules and click “Register” to complete your sign-up.
* All 3 members participating in Trio must register for the tournament. If any 1 player out of the 3 players does not sign-up, they will be not be considered for the tournament and the Trio sign-up may not be approved.

※ Participant Selection Criteria
1) Participant selections will be based on the Trio ranking of the Asia server.
* Out of all the sign-ups, only the team member with the highest Trio ranking team member will be considered.
> Ranking will be based on ranking before maintenance on November 12, 2020 (Thu).
> How to Check Ranking:

1. At the top of the Lobby screen [Record] > [Rank] > [Trio] > [Server Ranking]
2. Shadow Arena website [Arena Board] > [Rankings] > [Server Rankings] > [Trio]

2) Maximum of 5 teams (15 players) will be chosen out of all the sign-ups.

■ Tournament Format and Scoring System
① Custom room for the tournament will be created 10 minutes before the scheduled match start time.
* Room information will be announced via participant Discord channel.
② Confirm the room information and enter.
* 1 Special Ticket will be consumed for each entry into the tournament custom room and Special Tickets will be sent to all participants in near future.
③ After making a party with the team members that you signed up, click on [Game Start].
④ The match will start automatically at match start time or when all participants have entered.
⑤ There are total of 4 rounds and the final rankings will be determined by the sum of points earned from each round
* You must participate in the match with the team members that you signed up.
* Please make sure to complete all preparations before entering the room.
* The match will still start at scheduled time even if all participants did not enter the room..
* All player chat will be restrcited in the tournament room.


■ Scoring System
* If two or more players have the same amount of total points, the points of the last round will determine the final placements.
* If some team members do not participate in a round without prior notice to the event staff, a Warning penalty may be applied based on Shadow Arena Competitive Rules.


■ Rewards

* Participation rewards are limited to the players who participated in the tournament match.

▲ Winning Team Exclusive Special Skin - “Blackstar Successor”

* Winning Team Exclusive Special Skin - “Blackstar Successor” is a skin that is not sold in the Shop and is exclusively for winners.
* For the winning team exclusive special skin, you will receive the skin for a Hero that you used in the tournament.

※ Additional Notices - If you sign up for a tournament, then your nickname will not change during the tournament period even if you use the Nickname Change Coupon. Please note that the timing of the nickname change varies depending on whether the participant is selected or not.
> Selected as tournament participant: Nickname changes during the maintenance after tournament ends
> Not selected as tournament participant: Nickname changes during the maintenance after participant announcement
- Total of 4 rounds wil lbe held and they will last for approximately 3 hours so please make sure that you have enough time to participate for the tournament.
- Pearl Abyss reserves the right to change/cancel the event depending on mitigating circumstances. If changes are made, they can be found on this event page.
- If you have any other questions or concerns related to the event, please contact us via [Support].
- Any matters not listed on this page will follow the [Shadow Arena Competitive Rules] and[Shadow Arena Terms of Service].

Now it’s a team of 3!

Let’s play the Trio mode!


■ Event Period

- October 29, 2020 (Thu) after maintenance ~ November 5, 2020 (Thu) before maintenance


■ How to Participate

① Login to Shadow Arena.

② Play 5 or more matches of Trio mode to participate in the event!


■ Event Reward
* Custom matches will not be counted as event participation.

* Finishing one match of Trio mode will be count participation and it will not be counted if you leave a match in progress.

※ Additional Notices

- Event rewards will be sent to in-game mail after November 5 (Thu) maintenance.

- Pearl Abyss reserves the right to change/cancel the event depending on mitigating circumstances. If changes are made, they can be found on this event page.

- If your account is restricted for violating the Terms of Service, you may be disqualified and have any prizes withdrawn even after being selected as a winner.

- If you have any other questions or concerns related to the event, please contact us via [Support].

- Any matters not listed on this page will follow the [Shadow Arena Event Rules].

Here are the updates made to Shadow Arena during the October 29th maintenance.
* Patch Size: 611.83 MB (Approx.)

In order to apply the changes, please launch the game client to receive the latest update.
Check out all the details below, and we will see you in the arena!

■ Preseason
- Preseason has started.
> Preseason Period: October 29, 2020 (Thu) after maintenance - November 5, 2020 (Thu) before maintenance
> Performances during the Preseason period are not applied to your previous season record.
> Added Preseason category in Rankings.
> All players who achieved Gold tier or higher during Beta Season 1 will receive a special Tagahl skin during the November 5, 2020 (Thu) maintenance when the Preseason ends.
> A new Battle Pass event will start when the new season begins after the November 5, 2020 (Thu) maintenance.


Solo Ranking System Changes
- Promotion requirements have changed to the following:

Base Points per Tier (No changes)

Points Possible per Rival Rank (No change)

Points Earned per Match Result

Promotion Requirements

In Beta Season 1 Round 3, it was easy to gather points and hard to lose them. So there was less pressure the higher you moved up in tiers. Thus, we adjusted the overall tier points to reduce the amount of points gained and increased the chance of dropping points if you lose against your rival.

On the other hand, since the tier points are getting harder to earn, we made the promotion matches comparatively easier.

■ Trio Mode
- Added Trio mode in place of Team mode.


Blackstar Fragment
- New objectives called Blackstar Fragments will spawn all over the map during the times listed below:
> From the start of a match to the 3-minute mark
> From the 5-minute mark to the 8-minute mark
- Blackstar Fragments have a higher spawn rate in the outer areas of the map where there are less monsters.
- Blackstar Fragments will break when you go near them, and you will receive the following buffs from them:
(The following effect is maintained even after reviving.)
> AP +5 and DP +10 (Stacks and applies to all party members)
> -30% movement speed for 3 seconds upon obtaining the buff
> The total number of Blackstar Fragments gathered by the party will be shown on the upper left side of the screen.

▲ Blackstar Fragment

Shadow Lord
- Changed Shadow Lord spawn times to 5 minutes 30 seconds, 7 minutes 30 seconds, 9 minutes 30 seconds, and 11 minutes 30 seconds after the match begins.
- Doubled the HP of all Shadow Lords.
- Doubled the skill EXP gained upon defeating Shadow Lords.

- Varigord has a 100% drop rate for 1 Shadow Lord's Armor and a 10% drop rate for 1 to 3 Shadow Lord's Sub-Weapons. (Modified)
- Upon defeating Varigord, the following effect will be applied:  (The following effect is maintained even after reviving.)    
> AP +35, DP +70 (Applies to all party members)  

- Gigagord has a 100% drop rate for 1 Shadow Lord's Helmet and a 10% drop rate for 1 to 3 Shadow Lord's Sub-Weapons. (Modified)
- Upon defeating Gigagord, the following effect will be applied:  (The following effect is maintained even after reviving.)   
> AP +50, DP +100 (Applies to all party members)  

- Saigord has a 100% drop rate for 1 Shadow Lord's Gloves and a 10% drop rate for 1 to 3 Shadow Lord's Sub-Weapons. (Modified)
- Upon defeating Saigord, the following effect will be applied:  (The following effect is maintained even after reviving.)   
> AP +65, DP +130 (Applies to all party members)  

- Margord has a 100% drop rate for 1 pair of  Shadow Lord's Shoes  and  a 10%  drop  rate  for  1 to  3 Shadow Lord's Sub-Weapons. (Modified)
- Upon defeating Margord, the following effect will be applied:  (The following effect is maintained even after reviving.)   
> AP +80, DP +160 (Applies to all party members) 

Revive Changes
- Removed the Altar of Resurrection that was in the previous Team mode.
- Removed the time period during which you can revive in the beginning of a match. Instead, you can revive through the following methods:
1) Get revived by a teammate
> Teammate revivable time: Game time (in seconds) /30 +10
> You can interact with a party members’ grave during the revivable time to bring them back.

2) Revive on your own automatically
> Automatic revivable time: Party revivable time x 2
> You will automatically revive when the automatic revivable time passes.

- Upon revival, you can move quickly as a Black Spirit for 10 seconds.
- Upon revival, you will get a AP+200, DP +300 buff for 30 seconds.
- Upon revival, you will get 2 HP Potions.
- Upon revival, your cooldowns for Dark Shift and Blink will reset.
- The revivable time will be shown in the World Map, on top of the grave, and on the screen of the dead Hero.
- The grave of an ally will be shown in green and looks different from an enemy’s grave (which is a gray tombstone icon).
- Graves of party members will disappear when that party is eliminated.

Relic of Ascension
- 15 minutes after a match begins, the Relic of Ascension will spawn in the middle of the Dark Fog.
> A notification will appear to all Heroes when the Relic of Ascension is spawned.
> The Relic of Ascension charges when you enter within the red line shown around the edges of the Relic of Ascension and fills a gauge.
> The gauge speed depends on the Ascension Points that you’ve gathered throughout the game. The gauge speed increases as more teammates enter within the line.
> If other teams enter within the red line when you’re filling the gauge, the gauge will stop filling.
> The gauge will reset when all party members filling the gauge move outside the line or die.
> When a certain team completely fills the gauge, all the members of that team will Ascend and win the match.
> When Ascension is complete, the entire arena is consumed by the Dark Fog. The damage in the Dark Fog increases considerably. The remaining teams will battle it out to determine the remaining placements.


Ascension Points: The more Ascension points you have, the faster the Relic of Ascension gauge fills. You can check how to earn Ascension Points and how many you can earn with the table below:

Dark Fog Movement Times
- Changed Dark Fog movement times to the following:
> Start at 4 minutes - End at 5 minutes
> Start at 6 minutes - End at 7 minutes
> Start at 8 minutes - End at 9 minutes
> Start at 10 minutes - End at 11 minutes
> Start at 12 minutes - End at 12 minutes 30 seconds
> Start at 14 minutes - End at 14 minutes 30 seconds (Last Dark Fog)
> At 15 minutes, Relic of Ascension spawns in the middle of the last Dark Fog.

Sealed Relic Tower, Stoneback Crab
- Changed late game Sealed Relic Towers to spawn only once at 13 minutes.
- Tripled Sealed Relic Tower’s HP.
> AP increase buff will be applied to all party members and can be stacked.
- Tripled Stoneback Crab’s HP.
> The Stoneback Crab buff will be applied to all party members.

Regular Monsters
- 1 minute after a match begins, 9 Specters with high attack power will spawn in all areas.
- Changed specters to not spawn in the middle of the Dark Fog at 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 9 minutes.
- Doubled the HP of Shadow Trolls that spawn early game and the amount of Skill XP gained.
- Increased the Skill XP gained from defeating monsters with yellow cores that spawn at 5 minutes (Shadow Mercenary, Shadow Warrior, Shadow Combatant, Elite Shadow Soldier) by 1.7 times.
- Increased Skill XP gained from defeating monsters with orange cores that spawn at 7 minutes (Shadow Knight, Shadow Fighter, Shadow Archer) by 2.4 times.
- Doubled the HP of Shadow Trolls with purple cores that spawn at 7 minutes, 9 minutes, 11 minutes, and 13 minutes and tripled the Skill XP gained from defeating it.

Ping System Improvements
> Pings are divided into 3 types and they will be displayed next to the party member UI and on top of the Hero’s head.


- Improved the ping orientation to be around the character when a party member pings an area not shown on the minimap.

Trio Ranking System Changes
- Removed rival system from Trio mode.
- Promotion requirements have been changed to the following:



Other Changes
- Changed items that are dropped by self to not disappear even after time passes.
- Changed the buff that you gain from defeating other players to be applied to all team members (added)
> Kill buff: 5 seconds of Super Armor, 5 seconds of DP+500, 10 seconds of Aal's Eye effect, 18 seconds of 5000 HP regen, 1 HP pot, and 1200 skill XP (added)

The new Trio mode is finally here.
During this Preseason, we aim to monitor Trio gameplay before the main season begins.
Communication methods like “pings” and information shown in the UI are still lacking but we will make improvements to them in the near future.

■ Lobby UI Renewal
- Reworked the main screen menu and UI position.

- Changed the game start menu.

- Moved each separate setting buttons to the upper right side.

- Moved the Chat UI to the lower left side. It can be toggled on and off with chat button located lower right side.

- Changed the locations and sizes of other menus to fit with the new screen configuration.




■ Hero
- Improved direction change while flying as a Black Spirit when a match begins, while reviving in early game, and while using Jump Gates.

- Added 5 seconds of time as a Black Spirit where you can move quickly upon landing after using Jump Gate.


There are comparatively more balance changes this week with the start of a new season. These changes were made with both Solo and Trio modes in mind.




Shield of Heidel (RMB)
- Fixed an issue where skill enhancement effects were not applied.





- Fixed an issue where Dark Shift (Q) and Blink (E) cannot be used while rolling.





Gate Breaker (1)
- Changed the attack range shown as “charge attack range” in the skill description to “shoulder strike range”.

> Before: 125 → After: 250

Bestial Howl (4)
- Reduced maximum damage by 7.5%.
Shultz held one of the most powerful Hero titles for a long time. He was able to respond to any sitaution such as chasing, breaking fights, and defending very well while also dealing big combo damage. Thus, we slightly nerfed the damage of Bestaial Howl (4).




Kamasylve Tree (4)
- Increased regen speed when using the skill to the following:

> Level 1: (Before) Regen 1600 HP for 20 seconds → (After) Regen 1600 HP for 14 seconds

> Level 2: (Before) Regen 3800 HP for 20 seconds → (After) Regen 3800 HP for 14 second

> Level 3, Ultimate Level: (Before) Regen 6500 HP for 20 seconds → (After) Regen 6500 HP for 14 seconds


Herawen is designed as a Hero that could serve as a capable support in team games but the Kamasylve Tree effect seemed very weak compared to her damage. Thus, we are increasing the regen speed to increase her support capabilities.




Asura Tread (RMB)
- Changed movement speed increase when using the skill from 30% increase for 1.2 seconds to 50% increase for 1.2 seconds

Golden Gate (4)
- Increased DP buff when using the skill to the following:

> Level 1: (Before) +40 → (After) +50

> Level 2: (Before) +80 → (After)+100

> Level 3: (Before) + 120 > (After)+150

We’ve been monitoring Badal closely recently and restoring his performance. We increased Badal’s movement speed after Asura Tread (RMB) and DP buff of Golden Gate (4) so that he has more mobility and can start fights in a more advantageous state.




- Increased HP from 10,000 to 11,000.


Blood Flurry (4)
- Increased lifesteal effect at Ultimate level from +10% to +20%.

Goyen uses HP as a resource to use skills so he was actually quite weak compared to his armored appearance. Thus, we increased his HP and the lifesteal effect of the Ultimate level of Blood Flurry (4).




Wing Breaker (2)
- Changed to grab target after moving 1m instantly.

Tagahl’s Wingbreaker (2) grab was too short and frequently missed its target. Thus, we added a forward movement when using the skill so that you can grab the target more easily.


- Improved basic attack speed. (Updated)
- Fixed the last hit to strike when using basic attack after sprinting. (Updated)
- Improved transition into another action more quickly after sprint jump attack. (Updated)



Rolling Boulder (1)

- Improved the rock to fly towards the direction of the arrow instead of exploding on the spot when using the skill without targeting anything.


Rockwind (3)
- Increased attack range by 15% when using the Levels 1-3 of the skill.

> With the above change, the attack range of Levels 1-3 and the Ultimate Level are the same and the explanation regarding the attack range increase at Ultimate Level has been removed from the skill description.

Gorgath’s Rolling Boulder (1) was very useless when using it without targeting anything. With this new change, it will remember the direction that you were facing when creating the boulder and even if you don’t target anything, it will fly towards the direction faced when it was created.

Additionally, we increased the attack range of Rockwind (3) to expand its utility.

.

Volcanic Leap(2)
- Added 500 burn damage for 10 seconds if you land 2 hits of the skill at Ultimate level.

Thunder Strike (3)
- Added an effect that doubles the attack range when landing the first hit of the skill at Ultimate level.
Igrid’s Thunder Strike (3) was intended to have a short first strike distance but we increased it because it was too short. It is still quite short but it will be better than how it was previously.




Second Blade: Countercurrent (2)
- Reduced dash distance by 20%.

> Before: 4m → After: 3.2m
Sura is a Hero showing steady performance but he is tricky to deal with due to his fast engagements and rush of attacks. Thus, we decreased the dash distance of Second Balde: Countercurrent (2) to slightly nerf his dash performance.




Monkey: Reach! (1)
- Removed Super Armor when starting the smash attack.

- Reduced Heilang’s damage by 9%.
Ba-Ri became the most powerful Hero by win rate after getting a buff. Thus, we slightly reduced Heilang’s damage and ended the Super Armor timing on Monkey: Reach! (1) earlier so that she can be more susceptible to counterattacks.

■ Ancient Weapon
- Changed the lasers to fire after gathering energy on the spot when using the laser after mounting Laytenn.

> You cannot move while firing the laser.

- Increased maximum damage of the laser attack by 60%.

- Increased the time to transition to another action by 0.67 seconds when jumping after mounting Laytenn.
After its buff, Laytenn became a killing machine that consecutively fired off lasers without any countermeasure. Thus, we decreased the speed of the laser fires to give enough time to counter but also increased the damage when landing to make it a dodgeable yet powerful attack.

■ Item
- Added 5000 fixed bonus damage when landing Matchlock on monsters or Ancient Weapons.
> Total damage : 7000
This is a change that aligns with the above Ancient Weapon changes and we modified Matchlocks to be more effective against Ancient Weapons.

■ Monsters
- Reduced the time it takes for the Red Dragon to attack from 4.5 seconds to 3 seconds and maximum damage by 40%.

- Changed kills to be applied to the last player hitting it within 5 seconds when a bot dies to Dark Fog or monsters.
The Red Dragon was too good at controlling an area especially around the Relic of Ascension in the Trio mode so we slightly nerfed its duration and power.

■ Jump Gate
- Changed the Black Spirit state to last for 5 seconds instead of deactivating immediately when you land after using the Jump Gate.

> You can use skills when you are in Black Spirit state after landing. When using the skill, the Black Spirit state will be deactivated. (You cannot use skills in any other Black Spirit state besides landing after using a Jump Gate.)


■ Website Improvements
[Arena Board] > [Rankings]

- Added Beta Season 2 Round 1 Preseason category

- Added emphasis marks on 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place spots in Rankings.

- Added a page in Hero Rankings where you can view the 1st to 3rd spots for each Hero at once.

[Overview] > [Heroes]
- Changed inherent skill screenshots into videos.


Thank you