Patch Notes: Version 2.1.1

(link to Steam forum thread, Lightmare forum thread)

Hey guys! I'll summarize the notes for this update. For starters, Rebellion Wave 2 is now released in new preview penta-packs for your consumption - if accessing these cards early on is your thing! The new penta-pack contains a guaranteed Wave 1 slot and Wave 2 slot, in addition to a guaranteed rare in general.

Next up, Draft adjustments. Several cards had their rarity tweaked between common and uncommon for better draft selections, such as Plaguebearer and Gift Of The Passing moving to Uncommon rarity. Other cards were added or removed from draft, with a few key commander bans such as Hehkeem, The Corrupted and Evolving Parasite. And while this is mainly a draft-focused adjustment Tech Knight has received a modest buff. When it is chosen as a fallback pick, it will be less bittersweet.

The IW team made sure we covered some key bugs, including the icky interaction between Engine of Reincarnation and characters with Unstoppable. On top of that and a few other miscellaneous things, We have removed the incomplete Russian translation until it can be completed, and Simplified Chinese has been added in! That's our summary, for details you can read below~


Patch Details:

• Wave 2 of Rebellion has been released! 14 new cards enter the mix in Draft, Normal play, and private games between players. They will become ranked legal in about a week or two.
  
  
• Rite of Rage now reads: “The first time target Character would take non-combat damage this turn, prevent that damage and it gains +5/+5 instead.”
  
  
• Tech Knight is now a 7/8, up from a 6/7. This change is intended to make the card less of a “feel-bad” pick in draft.
  
  
• Forerunner of the Champions is now two purity, since all Champions the card works with are two purity and it was cluttering up single purity Overseers draft picks.
  
  
• Rita, Mistress of Shadow will no longer be able to redirect damage to cards she created but have since been transformed into new cards.
  
  
• Engine of Reincarnation now waits until the end of the turn to raise and transform its cards. This fixes an interaction with Unstoppable characters. Previously, a card raised by Engine of Reincarnation would not be considered dead for the purposes of Unstoppable characters, since the card never left play.
  
  
• Purify can now only target cards in the opponent’s graveyard. Combined with some new mechanics in Rebellion, Purify leads to degenerate combos when used on yourself. Additionally, having the game come up with popup boxes to ask which player you want to target when 99% of the time it’s obviously the opponent is a design we try to avoid in modern cards, so we’re happy to update Purify in this way. We’re aware that at very high levels of play there are certainly cases where using Purify on yourself is the correct course of action, and losing that flexibility is a bit unfortunate, but to make the overall balance and gameplay experience of the game better, we’ve changed Purify to only target the opponent.
  
  
• Academy text has been optimized to remain visible for longer.
  
  
• Tranquil Swarmer’s description has been changed to reflect the card’s intended ability. Tranquil Swarmer’s previous description did not include the card's ability to give other insectoids Vigilance.
  
  
• Removal of Russian text interface.
  
  
• Addition of Simplified Chinese text interface.
  
  
• Updated PvE map interface to include faction-specific icons above each mission
  

Several cards have been modified from the draft pool in our continuous efforts to balance it:

• Hehkeem, The Corrupted is no longer offered as a commander.
  
• Evolving Parasite is no longer offered as a commander.
  
• Zombie Scavenger has been moved from Common to Uncommon.
  
• Plaguebearer has been moved from Common to Uncommon.
  
• Infected Pack Leader has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Drag Down has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Gift of the Passing has been moved from Common to Uncommon.
  
• Denial of Flight is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Weaponize is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Give Him a Jetpack! has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Zom-b-Gone has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Flame Dawn Commando has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Dive is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Denial of Advancement is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Angelic Veil is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Tempus, Champion of Patience has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Heaven’s Assistance has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Denial of Surprise is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Reflective Shield is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Rubble Golem has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Summoner of the Deep has been moved from Common to Uncommon.
  
• Demoralize has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Battlefield Scavenger has been moved from Common to Uncommon.
  
• Vengeful Warrior is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Honorable Farewell is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Prayer of the Dragon is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Suppress is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Find Your Way is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Lingbao’s Will has been moved from Uncommon to Common.
  
• Radariah is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Wealthy Noble is no longer offered as a commander in draft.
  
• Field Engineer is no longer offered in draft.
  
• Gather Thoughts is now offered in draft.
  
• Recycle is now offered in draft.
  

Bug Fixes

• Completed quests not showing completed quest icon and not providing proper rewards.
  
• Game crashes related to killing Cyber Infested Dragon and Endless Horde.
  
• Upon completing Flame Dawn 5 & Warpath 5 campaign, game crashes and completion does not register.
  

I'm adding this section a few minutes after creating the post, to note some changes that were made to Rebellion Wave 2 cards:

• The effect of Defiant Footman will increase from +1/0 to +2/0, and the effect of Defiant Monk will increase from +0/1 to +0/2.
  
• Morningstar Accelerator will be buffed from 14/10 to 16/10.