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The Astral Spire: A Detailed Overview


Hello everyone! We’re excited to finally tell you more about our next update, 9.1 – The Astral Spire!

This update introduces a new system that allows players to unlock and upgrade account-wide bonuses that will apply to various systems and mechanics across Gems of War. It’s a major new feature that gives more opportunities for progress, each with a focus on different elements of the game. We’re also revamping the new game experience with the Library – a new early game progression system that replaces the Adventure’s Path. But we’ll get into that below.

After you reach level 50, you’ll get access to the Astral Spire, along with the first 7 boards. Each board is themed to an area of Gems of War.

Additional boards are planned to be released in the future, but we’re starting with Hero skills and Allied troops (one board for each mana color).

Let’s dive into it!



The Astral Spire will be available at the top of the World Map.



Above is one of our first Astra Spire constellations, “The Crown,” which focuses on Hero skills. You can see the backgrounds of the unlocked nodes, match their tier – Bronze, Silver and Gold.

Each board has 3 different tiers of nodes: Bronze (4 pointed star), Silver (6 pointed) and Gold (12 points), and 1 Capstone.

Ranging from 100 to 300 Star Stones to unlock these nodes, and 400 Star Stones to unlock the first level of the board’s Capstone.

Capstone level 2 then costs 50 Star Stones, level 3 is 52 Star Stones, level 4 is 54 Star Stones and so on. Increasing incrementally up to the max level of 50.

Note: As the Astral Spire currently can not be reset, please make sure you read the bonus description before purchasing. There is a confirmation message before any Star Stone purchase as well!

You can only unlock a Star or Capstone if you have unlocked the one before it. Making your way around the constellation board until all are unlocked.

Nodes and Capstones are unlocked with Star Stones.



Star Stones are a resource that will be available from Daily Plunder (one per day) and Weekly Goals (once a month) for players who have the Astral Spire unlocked. As well as two offers within the Specials tab of the Shop.



Star Stone Daily Plunder tasks will always take the place of the bottom left node. “Exalted” Goal text on the left will be updated before release.

Sirrian, why did we change from Bastions to Astral Spire?

As many of you may remember, this feature was originally called ‘Bastions’. The idea was the same though – provide skill trees full of bonuses that also allowed players to re-tune elements of the game they found frustrating.

After some consideration, we believed that having a Keep in Guild Wars, and having an actual Bastion here was doubling-up on the whole castle thing thematically. The idea of an ‘Astral Spire’ on top of the ‘Library’ (another feature we were developing for 9.1) seemed a natural fit. Also, constellations with Skill Trees actually felt more natural than buildings with Skill Trees, so it was a series of thematic wins all round.

Mechanically-speaking though, it’s exactly the same system we wanted, just wrapped in a different flavor.




As we already mentioned, each board is themed, with their own Capstone and a variety of nodes (Bronze, Silver and Gold) that can be unlocked by spending Star Stones.

You can view your Astral Spire bonuses in the Hero profile screen or within the Astral Spire boards themselves, either by tapping the ‘?’ under the board name or by viewing the applied bonuses in your Troop screen.

NOTE: Any bonus/ability that specifies “troops” means it will apply to non-hero troops, and anything that specifies “your Hero” will only apply when your Hero is on your attacking team.

Any that specify “from Spells” only trigger from the actions described in the troop spell. It does not include Traits unless stated otherwise.



Nodes will appear to have a grey boarder and background, if they are locked.

The coloured boarder and background will transition to colour once unlocked.

But be aware the icons themselves (shown below) are always coloured, if locked or unlocked.
Feedback has already been shared



  
Board

  
Bronze
(100 Star Stones each)
Silver
(200 Star Stones each)
Gold
(300 Star Stones each)



  
The Crown (Hero Skills)

  
+3 Armor for your Hero
+3 Life for your Hero


+2 Magic for your Hero
+4 Attack for your Hero


Vanguard
Gain +5 Attack, Life and Armor if your Hero is in first position
All Skills
+3 to all Skills for your Hero



  
The Chalice (Blue Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Blue troops
+3 Life for Blue troops
+1 Magic for Blue troops
+3 Armor for Blue troops

+4 Attack for Blue troops
+6 Life for Blue troops
+2 Magic for Blue troops
+6 Armor for Blue troops

Purification
+20% cleanse chance to Cleanse at the start of your turn

Chance to trigger at the start of the players turn
Surging Power
+15% Blue Mana Surge chance
Bonus is applied after Masteries are calculated



  
The World Tree (Green Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Green troops
+3 Life for Green troops
+1 Magic for Green troops
+3 Armor for Green troops

+4 Attack for Green troops
+6 Life for Green troops
+2 Magic for Green troops
+6 Armor for Green

Life Force
+20% bonus Healing/Life gain from Spells
Surging Power
+15% Green Mana Surge chance


  
The Lion (Red Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Red troops
+3 Life for Red troops
+1 Magic for Red troops
+3 Armor for Red troops

+4 Attack for Red troops
+6 Life for Red troops
+2 Magic for Red troops
+6 Armor for Red troops

Skull Frenzy
+15% chance to gain an extra turn when matching Skulls
Surging Power
+15% Red Mana Surge chance

Bonus is applied after Masteries are calculated


  
The Dove (Yellow Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Yellow troops
+3 Life for Yellow troops
+1 Magic for Yellow troops
+3 Armor for Yellow troops

4 Attack for Yellow troops
+6 Life for Yellow troops
+2 Magic for Yellow troops
+6 Armor for Yellow

Empowered Portal
+15% skill bonus to my summoned troops

This is applied after any other bonuses. That includes any troop bonuses you have unlocked in the Astral Spire that are applicable.
Surging Power
+15% Yellow Mana Surge chance

Bonus is applied after Masteries are calculated


  
The Bat (Purple Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Purple troops
+3 Life for Purple troops
+1 Magic for Purple troops
+3 Armor for Purple

+4 Attack for Purple troops
+6 Life for Purple troops
+2 Magic for Purple troops
+6 Armor for Purple

Battle Hex
15% chance to Curse all enemies when the battle starts

Applies at the start of the battle
Surging Power
+15% Purple Mana Surge chance

Bonus is applied after Masteries are calculated


  
The Mountain (Brown Allies)

  
+2 Attack for Brown troops
+3 Life for Brown troops
+1 Magic for Brown troops
+3 Armor for Brown troops

+4 Attack for Brown troops
+6 Life for Brown troops
+2 Magic for Brown troops
+6 Armor for Brown troops

Bountiful Gems
+1 to Gems to any Gem Creation from my SpellsTriggers when the player casts a spell that creates Gems, adding an extra Gem at each Spell step. It does not trigger from Gem creation Traits.
For example; Create 8 – will create 9
Create 4, then create 5 – will create 5, THEN create 6.
Surging Power
+15% Brown Mana Surge chance

Bonus is applied after Masteries are calculated



The bonuses and graphics may still be in the process of balancing and adjusting. So, they may be different when the update goes live. Q: What about troops that have more than one mana color? They will get the bonuses that apply to the boards that match any of their mana colors! For example, Baba Yaga is Green/Purple, so it would get the bonuses from both the Purple and the Green boards.  A troop with 3+ mana colours? Same thing.  Q: If I fight myself, will the opponent version of me have the Astral Spire bonuses?
No, they are just considered an enemy in the data so they will not have any of the bonuses that you will have while attacking them.
This does mean you can see your boosted team attacking, compared to if you didn’t have any of the Astral Spire benefits.
Q: If I unlock Extra Turn on Skull matches from the Red board, does this only apply to red troops? No, it applies to all allied troops on your attacking team. If a description does not mention a restriction to the ability, then there is none. It does not matter if the board theme is specific. The same can be said about Extra Enemy turn on the Blue board; this will apply in all battles where you are attacking, even if you have no Blue troops on your team! Q: But it’s just when I am attacking? What about when my team appears in PvP or Guild Wars? All bonuses unlocked from the Astral Spire only apply when you are attacking. So, when someone faces you in PvP (your defense team), your Astral Spire bonuses do not apply. They also do not apply in Guild Wars at all. Even in your attack team. Additionally, the Hero Board buffs only apply if your Hero is on your attacking team.  Q: I have a trait on my Weapon that creates Gems. Does that get the Gem creation bonus? No, any bonus within the Astral Spire that affects Gem creation only applies to Gems created by Spells (weapons or troop spells), it does not affect traits. All descriptions only apply to Spells, and not traits, unless it is stated otherwise.  Q: I purchased the +3 to All Skills bonus, but I am not seeing Magic/Attack/Armor/Life listed in the bonuses for the Hero Skills board? The list of specific Attack, Armor, Life and Magic bonuses (grey text), are only displayed once you unlock their nodes. They do not also include the +3 to all skills for your hero bonus (blue text). Once the Magic bonus is purchased, it would look like this. You can see the +3 to all skills in blue at the top, then the individual stat bonuses under it. 



You can see the +2 Magic is now displayed, as that node is unlocked. In total, this player would get a total of +5 to their Hero magic. +2 from the Silver Magic bonus and then +3 from the Gold All Skills hero bonus.


Players will also be able to view the total active bonuses. Shown below




Q: Along with the +3 to all Skills for my Hero, I also have the +1 to Magic for Purple Troops, but I don’t see a total +4 Magic being applied to my Hero, who has a Purple Weapon equipped?
All bonuses from The Crown (Hero Skills) board are only applied to the hero, whereas all other boards that have a bonus that is applied to “troops” are only applied to non-hero troops.
Having your hero equipped to your team means that the hero gets any unlocked bonuses from the Hero board. Then all other troops on your team will get any bonuses applicable from the other Allied troop boards you have unlocked.
Q: What are some other examples of troops that are affected by the “20% chance to ignore “Lethal” spell effect?
Here is a list of a few troops that have a spell that can instantly destroy an opponent troop.

  • Dullahan
  • Only triggers when it tries to kill the players’ first troop, not when it sacrifices an allied enemy troop
  • Executioner
  • Grimborn Bloodeye
  • Lady Morana
  • Maelstrom Dago’Nath
  • Matron Velenne
  • Nightarrow
  • P4-NTH4
  • Scylla
  • Sironia
  • Skulker
  • Smash-O-Bot
  • The Archduke
  • Ubaset
  • Zuul’Goth
Q: My first troop is Frozen, so I cannot get an extra turn from 4+ matches. How does that work with the Red Allies Gold node Extra turn chance on Skull Matches?
If your first troop is Frozen AND you have the chance for extra turns of Skull matches unlocked in the Astral Spire, then the Astral Spire bonus has a chance to trigger on matches of 3 Skulls, but it will not trigger on Skull matches of 4 or more due to being Frozen.





As mentioned, each board has one Capstone.

Capstones cost 400 Star Stones to unlock, and they start at level 1. Capstones are the only bonuses you can continue to upgrade within the boards.



With each level, the bonus increases! Capstones can be upgraded up to level 50.



  
Board

  
Capstone

  
Progression



  
The Crown (Hero Skills)

  
Hero’s Bane
-X% to all Enemy Hero Skills

  
Increases by 1% per level



  
The Chalice (Blue Allies)

  
Time Warp
X% chance for Enemy to miss Extra turns from Spells and +4 matches
Triggers on each instance where the enemy can earn an extra turn

  
X% chance increases by 1% per level



  
The World Tree (Green Allies)

  
Withered Gems
Reduce Enemy Gem creation by X with a X% chance to reduce by 1 more


The bonus is applied when an enemy casts a spell that creates gems; each spell stage triggers this effect For example: Create 17 – will reduce to 14, chance to reduce to 13. Create 6, then create 5 – will reduce to 3, with a chance to reduce to 2, THEN reduce to 2, with a chance to reduce to 1.

  
Level 1-19: reduce by 1 with X% chance to reduce by 1 more (increments by 5%)
When you go from level 19 to level 20, your % chance to reduce creation is reset to 0%

Level 20-39: reduce by 2, with X% chance to reduce by 1 more (increments by 5%)
When you go from level 39 to level 40, your % chance to reduce creation is reset to 0%

Level 40-50: reduce by 3, with X% chance to reduce by 1 more (increments by 5%)



  
The Lion (Red Allies)

  
Waning Portal
+X% chance to negate each Troop summoned from an Enemy Spell or Trait

Triggers when the enemy summons a troop and applies the chance to fail. Each troop summoned is one instance of the chance to fail being applied.

  
X% chance increases by 1% per level



  
The Dove (Yellow Allies)

  
Expel Blessings
+X% chance to cast Dispel on all enemies when my turn begins
Chance to trigger at the start of the enemy turn

  
X% chance increases by 1% per level



  
The Bat (Purple Allies)

  
Blighted Change
Blighted Change
Reduce enemy Gem conversion by X with a X% chance to reduce by 1 more
Works the same way as enemy gem creation reduction

  
Level 1: reduce by 3 with 5% chance to reduce by 1 more
Level 2-19: reduce by 4 with X% chance to reduce by 1 more
(starts at 10%, increments by 5% each level)
When you go from level 19 to level 20, your % chance to reduce conversion is reset to 0%
Level 20-39: reduce by 5, with X% chance to reduce by 1 more (increments by 5%)
When you go from level 39 to level 40, your % chance to reduce conversion is reset to 0%
Level 40-50: reduce by 6, with X% chance to reduce by 1 more (increments by 5%)



  
The Mountain (Brown Allies)

  
Death Ward
+20% chance to ignore instant Kill Effects (except Devour) from Enemy Spells and Traits
For example; Troops such as Lady Morana and Dracos-1337 that have a chance to instantly destroy an opponent troop This also includes Traits that apply the same effect.


It is not triggered whenever an enemy troop deals enough damage to destroy a troop or if the troop has a chance to destroy an allied troop. To see what troops are included, you can filter “Lethal Damage” in Spell Effects in the Troop collection, and review the spell descriptions

  
X% chance increases by 1% per level



Again, the bonuses and graphics shared above may still be in the process of balancing and adjusting. So, they may be different when the update goes live.



The Library is an updated tutorial system for new players! 
With that, we will be transitioning from Adventurers Pass to The Astral Spire and the Library. 


Players under level 50:
All unspent Adventurer’s Keys will be used, and all rewards will be given. 
All tutorials already completed, based on your level, will also be marked as completed and available to collect the new Library rewards. 
You then continue through the Library as normal, and once you reach level 50, you will get access to the Astral Spire.


Players level 50+:
All tutorials in the Library will be marked as completed, and the rewards from the Library will be available for collection.
The Astral Spire will be automatically unlocked.


Players who have an active Adventurer’s Pass:
Any unspent Adventurer’s Keys will be used, and all rewards given. 
Any unclaimed or yet-to-be-unlocked rewards from the Adventurers Pass will also all be collected and given. Yes, even if you had not unlocked them yet. 
There will be a large pop-up to tell you that these rewards are all being collected, and list everything you have been rewarded. 



If these are not collected, they will be mailed out.


[h2]The Library Pass[/h2]
The Library Pass is a one-time purchase that triples the rewards given for completing the tutorials within the Library.
You can also purchase the Pass after completing and collecting any of the tutorial rewards. The bonus rewards for purchasing the Library Pass, for any tutorials you have already completed and collected, will be received upon purchase of the Library Pass.

This is different to the other Premium Passes, where any unlocked rewards are mailed out. 

From Sirrian:
Originally posted by author
Making a game that lasts more than decade is breaking new ground. Some MMOs and MOBAs got there first, and it’s been helpful to watch their journey, and one thing they all encounter is how balance and meta can swing around over time, and become a little frustrating. That’s a natural evolution of having thousands of pieces of content that can interact in so many unforeseen ways.
Originally posted by author
The key goal of Astral Spire has been to give mid-to-late-game players a mechanism where they can tune some elements of the game that have become more frustrating over time. Really hate enemy gem spam? Then focus on the Withered Gems Capstone in The World Tree… it can gradually take the edge off that frustration.
Originally posted by author
A secondary goal of Astral Spire is to create another staple system of the game that can expand for years to come. We always strive to create ‘space’ to work in – systems that can expand and allow other areas of the game to expand with them. Having a new, clear way of providing bonuses allows us to scale up and create more end-game-specific content, that will hopefully keep the game exciting for another decade.


We have more Constellation Boards planned to release, but only a small number every year. These boards will initially be themed to Kingdoms or troop types.

As for their capstones, we’re going to keep that under wraps for now, but not every capstone will be about nerfing enemies, and some might even apply scaling bonuses to popular game modes.

And that’s everything!

We will be releasing the patch notes for 9.1 this week (hopefully) as well, which will be a simplified explanation of the Astral Spire and The Library, as it will refer you to this blog for a full detailed breakdown.

Update 9.0



We have returned to the Underspire to add several new rooms for players to discover. We have also updated some Underspire menus to match the new UI style.

The example above shows a defeated new Treasure Room, which has left a Treasure Chest, awaiting collection.




  • We have updated the following menus with the new UI style:
    • Underspire Main Menu

    • Underspire Shop

    • Deep Shrine

  • We have changed the Goblin Merchant card icon on the Underspire map to be teal
    instead of red (due to the introduction of trap rooms, whose icons now have the red card icon)


[h3]Please note: That all new rooms will start appearing in Underspire after weekly reset. To allow players time to update to 9.0[/h3]



Trap rooms are a new type of battle encounter/room that can appear in the Underspire. These new rooms consist of 4 enemy troops, including the new Enemy Trap Troops! These new Trap Troops are not collectible.


Trap rooms cannot appear next to each other along the path or at a dead-ends.


Enemy Trap Troops each have a theme and all create a new Heroic Gem - the Trap Gem. The Trap Opponents include:

  • Spike (Bleed)
  • Acid (Poison)
  • Boulder (Stun)
  • Mirror (Reflect)
  • Flamethrower (Burning)
  • Frozen (Freeze)
  • Dart (Single-target damage)
  • Pit (Knocks troops to the back)

[expand]
[/expand]
Trap Gems are colorless Gems that, when destroyed, will do 1 of 5 effects:

  • Stun all Player Troops
  • Freeze all Player Troops
  • Entangle all Player Troops
  • Faerie Fire all Player Troops
  • Create 3 Doomskulls



The negative status effects only affect the player's team (even if the player destroys the Gem). Trap Gems do not drop randomly in battles; they are only created by Trap Enemies in Trap Rooms.

After defeating a Trap Room, a Trap Room Chest will appear for collection! These can contain items such as Cursed Runes, Writs, Chaos Shards, Ingots, and more.



In addition to the new Trap Rooms, we have added 6 new types of rooms that players may encounter.



Treasure Room - Find and defeat a Treasure Room for the chance to be rewarded items such as a random Book of Deeds or Shiny Dust. Treasure Rooms can appear anywhere in the Underspire.

Up to 20 Treasure Rooms may be found in each Underspire.



Oracle Room - Discovering an Oracle Room at a dead end will reveal a random 3x3 location somewhere within the Underspire Map, showing the rooms or passages in that space! This area is viewable only and cannot be interacted with. Intended to just reveal a section of the map you have yet to discover. Oracle Rooms can only appear in a dead-end room in Underspire.

Up to 2 Oracle Rooms may be found within each Underspire.



Trinket Room - Finding a Trinket room will reward the player with 2-5 random Trinkets. The Trinket Room can appear anywhere in the Underspire.

Up to 3 Trinket Rooms may be found in each Underspire.



Cursed Mine - Interact with this room to earn between 10 -20 Curse Runes. Cursed Mines can appear anywhere in the Underspire. No more than 1 Cursed Mine may be found in each Underspire.



Powder Room - Interact with this room to earn either between 2-4 Torches, or if the player is lucky - a Lantern. Powder Rooms can appear anywhere in the Underspire. No more than 1 Powder Room may be found in each Underspire.



Secret Passage - Interact with this room to open a secret door to a new location in the Underspire (which is unlocked and ready for battle). Secret Passages can only appear in dead-end rooms. No more than 1 pair of Secret Rooms may be found in each Underspire.

All of the new rooms (except the treasure room) do not have a battle in them, and so do not use a torch to explore!

Things to note:

  • Of the new rooms, only Trap Rooms and the new Treasure rooms consume Lanterns/Torches
  • Not all new rooms are guaranteed to appear, or up to their maximum number.
    • For example, there may be anywhere from 0 to 20 Treasure Rooms, and 0 Powder Rooms.

  • These new rooms will not replace Treasure Guardians - they occur in addition to the Treasure Guardians
    • (i.e. you will get the same amount of Treasure Guardians as you did previously).

  • The Underspire is being generated in the same manner as previously. It will not be any larger than the previous underspires - the new rooms will simply be replacing regular rooms/battles that would have been encountered while exploring.
    • We understand that Underspires are large, and we do not want to make the event any bigger than it already is.

  • Lanterns only double rewards given from the Victory screen and not any rewards given in Treasure Chests.

[h3]
Final notes[/h3]

Underspire Treasure Guardian troops: This is feedback I (Jeto) have been sharing from the community to the team around, players experiences with trying to collect these troops. There are no changes coming in 9.0, but the team has shared that they are looking at introducing the Underspire Sentinel troops into the Soulforge in some way.

Tarot troops:
In future, the team are also investigating an additional new room based around the Tarot Troops, whether that is somewhere they can be earned or purchased has not been established, as it is just the beginning of an idea currently.
Came up from discussions from our awesome BETA




It's A Trap!: Defeat 10 Trap Rooms in the Underspire.

Drums in the Deep: Find 5 Cursed Mines in the Underspire.

Double the Powder: Find 5 Powder Rooms in the Underspire

  • We have a new heroic Gem for a future Campaign.
    • This will not appear till that Campaign is live.
  • We have made some improvements to how the 'Upgradable' filter works in the Troop Collection menu; it sorts troops better, based on the types of upgrades they have available.
  • We have changed the Level Troop Tutorial to upgrade Prisoner Luther instead of the Priestess.
  • The Guild Activity button on the Guild Overview menu, will now get a '!' icon when there is a new activity to view.




  • Players are unable to set up their Guild War defenses when using a controller.
  • The max Upgrade option available was not behaving correctly if the troop only had a single trait upgrade available with traitstones.
    • The Ascend all button is still missing, and currently aiming for 9.2 at the earliest. Will update the Known Issues article when we have a confirmed update
  • Troop Upgrade filter listed troops inconsistently.
  • Rewarded Ads button was not appearing on mobile.
    • Rewarded Ads were not always running correctly.
  • New players could experience a soft lock in-game by reaching the world map if they switch between inputs (e.g. Controller + Keyboard) during early tutorials.
  • Guild ranks for a guild member's promotion/ demotion were failing to display in the promotion/demotion confirmation popups.
  • PvP Global Leaderboard rewards were not being mailed out at weekly reset for some players
  • Text was not always appearing correctly in conversations for Russian and Simplified Chinese.
  • Profanity filter for Guild Names and Guild Ranks to be consistent with Global Chat.

Update 8.9


We have updated the 1 hour Pet Rescues, from Pet Gnomes to help players try to target the Pets they are missing.

When players defeat a Pet Gnome (and there are no other Pet Rescues currently active), they will now get a new popup menu that will allow them to pick between 3 potential Pets to rescue.



The 3 Pets will be randomly selected, and will not necessarily be from the same Kingdom, however there will always be the following:

  • 1 Buff Pet (this is any pet that has an ability that helps the player)
  • 1 Cosmetic Pet
  • 1 Buff OR Cosmetic Pet


Only 1 Pet can be chosen from the 3 Pet options. Once a Pet has been selected, it will be the Pet Rescue available to the player and their guild.

PvP Pets, Starry Pets, Faction Pets, Immortal Pets, Platform-Exclusive Pets, and the Revered Dragonkitty will not appear as options for the updated Pet Rescues.

Please note: These changes only affect the Pet Rescue event from defeating Pet Gnomes, and will not apply to scheduled Pet Rescue events on Wednesdays. We are looking into this as a potential change to come in the future!



We have added an updated version of the classic Guild Roster to the new Guild Wars. The new Guild Roster displays Guild Wars information for all guild members.

Similar to classic Guild Wars, all guild members will be able to view the Roster. It can be accessed from the Guild’s Keep menu. Players will also be able to review the final Roster results during the 2 day Guild Wars “grace period” after the final daily war ends.


Names have been removed from this screenshot

This information includes:

  • How many Guardian Boosts has a player purchased?
  • Is the Guild member defending a location? If so, have they set up their team?
  • How many Wins / Losses did the player have each day?
  • What is their total Guild Score for the event as a whole (across all the days)?


Also returning are the classic Guild Wars Ranks of Paragon, Champion, Herald, Vanguard, and Soldier.
Players will earn one of 5 ranks based on their total Guild Wars score from the previous Guild Wars events – so players wanting to be Paragon will need to be the top-performing player in their Guild.

Currently, these Guild War Ranks are for bragging rights only and give no other advantage, but we may explore special rewards in the future!


We have made some initial improvements to the rotation of craftable Mythics and Legendary troops.

The Soulforge will now rotate the Mythic + Legendary Troops available for crafting twice a week – once at weekly reset and once at Daily Reset on Thursdays.

This allows us to cycle through the Soulforge lists for Mythic and Legendary Troops faster, allowing for new Troops to go into the rotation more quickly.

We have added a ‘time left’ timer to all troops that will rotate, so players know how much time is left before the Soulforge changes its contents.


The Craftable Dragonite Dragon, Weekly Kingdom Weapons, and Colored Summoning Crystals will continue to rotate once a week, at weekly reset.


Guild Leaders (and only Guild Leaders) will now be able to change their Guild’s name in-game from the Manage tab of the Guild Admin Menu.



Guild Leaders may only change the Guild’s Name once every 4 weeks.

Guild Names will go through the same restrictions as choosing a name for a new Guild. (To make sure the new name is available and isn’t inappropriate). As part of this change, the Guild Admin menu for the Manage tab has been updated.

Please Note: We have freed up some old names from disbanded guilds that have not had any activity for some time, to make additional guild names available.

Support will no longer be accepting Guild name request tickets, after 8.9 releases.


We have updated the Troop Upgrade menu to bring all aspects of troop upgrading back into a single menu. The Troop Upgrade Menu has been updated to the UI style to be similar to the Immortal Menu.

On the new Overview menu, players will be able to view their Troops’ information and easily navigate to the different types of Troop upgrade menus.



The menu along the right is broken down into 5 sections:

  • Spell: View the Troops spell description and spell icon.
  • Level: View the Troops’ current Level and Skill Points. Players can also tap the notepad button to see a breakdown of Skill Points.
  • Traits: View all 3 Traits on a Troop and their unlock status.
  • Ascension: The Troop’s progress to their next ascension Rarity.
  • Max Ascension for all Troops is not available on this menu at this time, but will be added back into the UI in a future update
  • Elite Level: This will replace Ascension once a Troop is fully ascended. Players can see the Troop’s Role and current elite level.
  • Shiny: If the troop has a shiny version, they can see the current progress and tap on the shiny token to bring up the Troop’s Shiny Menu.


Along the edge of each section, there are upgrade icons that – when tapped – will slide out the upgrade menu for the matching Troop upgrade (e.g. Level, Traits, Ascension, Elite Level).


On each Upgrade menu, players will be able to either upgrade with their resources or choose to use an Orb for that type of upgrade. This will allow players to view upgrades and decide if they prefer using an Orb instead of resources.
Along the top left of the menu, adjacent to the Back, Help, and Chat buttons, there are 2 additional buttons:

  • Orb Button: Players will be able to view all their orbs (similar to the Jewel view in Soulforge)
  • Disenchant Button: Players will be able to go to the Disenchanting menu.



We have kept the Max Upgrade button on the overview menu that will do any possible upgrade for that Troop (including Level, Traits and Ascension as before).

The button has a slide-out display that lists all of the upgrades and resource costs when using the button.

This slide-out will also allow players the option to use an Orb of Power instead of regular resources if they prefer.

All Orb upgrades have a confirmation popup menu in case a player accidentally interacts with an orb button instead of the regular upgrade button in a menu.



Using the Level up button from the Troop Card view will take players directly to the Troop level menu.

We left this button in for new players, to make it easier for them to focus on levelling their troops.



Players still have the option to take a screenshot of the Troop Overview menu, but we have removed the screenshot customization options at this time.

The Disenchant menu has been updated to the new UI Style, but will work the same as it did previously.

Again, Max Ascension for all Troops is not available on this menu at this time, but will be added back into the UI in a future update

  • In the Opening Tutorial sequence, we have removed the 2nd Militiaman troop from both Battle 2 and Battle 3. This allows players to complete these tutorial battles faster, allowing new players to get into the Dragon’s Pursuit story sooner.
  • In tutorials, the message “Tap/Click to Continue” now appears faster, so players don’t have to wait to move to the next part of a tutorial.
  • We have sped up the reveal of nodes for a story arc (the quest nodes between the arc start and the next mini-boss or Boss battle).
  • We have changed the battle background in quest battles to match the background used in starting conversations. This ties the battles to conversations happening beforehand.
  • Paragon of War: Earn the Paragon rank in a Guild Wars event.
  • Anger Management: Match 100 Enrage Gems

  • Warbands will now rotate around every 2 weeks – with the oldest Warband cycling out, and a new Warband cycling in.
  • Adjusted text on various menus to address some of the readability concerns with the new fonts.
    • We have also been reviewing the new fonts in non-English languages to address the smaller text concerns

    • We will be reviewing the font changes and feedback as an ongoing project



  • SONY offers for real money appeared without a price and were unable to be purchased
  • Improvements to the tech around the Rewarded Ad videos, to help address the issue where no video is available.
  • ”Tower Destroyed” reward text in Invasion events would expand out of the reward box making it difficult to read some of the text.
  • Gnomes summoned during Gnome-a-Palooza would appear as level 1 and would ppear with higher stats than they should have from PvP bonuses, such as Blood Frenzy
  • Guild admins were blocked from Guild admin features, caused by a CLIFFY error
  • Game board shrink after accessing Chat menu
  • Glory not visually displayed in the Rewards list after completing a Treasure Hunt game
  • Progression on Guild tasks visually missing
  • Team score visually incorrect in Defense team


Small note from Jeto: I have a list (one of many) of what I believe are the ongoing top priority bugs that need to be addressed, and I am following them up regularly with the team to get any sort of update on the progress on those issue.

Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition OUT NOW!

The original Match-3 RPG is back! Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition is the definitive Puzzle Quest, polished for a new era and featuring all the collected content from almost 20 years of history. Experience the original Puzzle Quest: Challenge of Warlords, Revenge of the Plague Lord, and The Legend Returns all together in a neat package. What's more, for a limited time, pick up Puzzle Quest: Immortal Edition and enjoy 20% off!

OUT NOW ON STEAM!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3236710/Puzzle_Quest_Immortal_Edition/
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
  • Create a Hero who gains skills and spells
  • Match-3 Battles with varied opponents requiring different strategies
  • Complete Quests and Side Quests
  • Meet Companions who will aide you
  • Learn Spells and collect Items
  • Build your Citadel – add buildings that grant you special powers
  • Capture creatures, use them as Mounts and train them
  • Capture monsters and play the research mini-game to learn their spells
  • Discover hidden Runes and create magical items in your Citadel Forge
  • Siege Cities around Etheria to expand your dominion

Are you ready to save the kingdom of Etheria?

Update 8.8

Shout out to our wonderful little crew of beta testers for their time & efforts, this update.
Guild Keep Guardians are getting expanded in this update. Players will be able to give their Keep Guardian Teams a helping hand to improve their effectiveness!
All Guild Members will be able to view the Keep Guardian and its current effect on the Keep menu. During the Guild Wars preparation, before the new event begins, players will be able to purchase boosts for their Keep Guardian.
The Guardian Boost menu can be accessed from a button in the Keep Guardian info area.

Players can purchase up to 5 Guardian Boosts for an upcoming Guild War. There are 3 types of Boosts, which can each be purchased with Silver Marks.

  • Lv 30 Boost – 20 Silver Marks
  • Lv 50 Boost – 40 Silver Marks
  • Lv 70 Boost – 60 Silver Marks

The Guild tracks how many Boost purchases are made by its members (displayed on the right).
Each Boost purchased will add to the Guardian Blessing pool. Once the first Daily War begins, no more Keep Guardian Boosts may be purchased.





[h3]Guardian Blessings[/h3]



For every 3 boosts the Guild purchases, they will get a Skill Point towards their Guardian’s Blessing. These skill points unlock in a specific order: Life > Armor > Attack > Magic
Up to a cap of 135 Boosts, for the whole Guild.


As these Guardian Blessings are unlocked, they will apply Skill Points to the Guild members’ attack teams during Daily Wars battles!


Every time your Guild’s Keep Guardian Team appears in a battle to defend your Keep, it will consume ONE of your Guild’s Keep Guardian Boosts, and last for that one battle. Highest level boosts are used first
Again.. This boost will level up the Guardian for this one battle, and uses your highest-level boosts first.


Each day during the event, your Guild’s total number of Keep Guardian Boosts replenishes to the original total your Guild members had purchased, ready for the next Daily War.


When the Guild Wars Event ends (currently, after 5 days). the Guild Boosts reset to zero, and they will need to be purchased again for the next event.
Remember: The Gate is always defended by a Guardian Team, and any location that does not have a player defending.




Players will be able to view results and information about previous Daily Wars! The new Daily Wars Result menu is accessed from the main Guild Wars menu (under Leaderboard).

There are two tabs in the Result Menu:

Guild: View your Guild’s results.
Screenshots taken from a staging server and displayed data may not reflect actual scores and calculations

Personal: View the results of your own previous Guild Wars battles.


Players can view their Guild’s Daily War results further, with information such as:

  • Leaderboard Ranks
  • ELO Ratings
  • Daily War score
  • ELO Change from the Result
  • Total Battles
  • Morale Bonus
  • Conquest Bonuses
  • Total number of Keep Defenders
  • Keep Location Wins vs number of Battles
  • Guild member performance (Score/ Wins)
More information UI for Guild Wars, is coming in 8.9




  • Players can now view their Guildmates’ defence teams within the Guild Keep.
  • If no team has been set up, there will be a pop-up message to let you know.
  • Grace Period: For 2 days after a Guild Wars ends, players will be able to collect their Daily War Rewards for the final day, as well as any uncollected personal Guild War rewards. Once the grace period ends, any uncollected rewards will be mailed out like normal.
  • Review Next War Rewards: Players will be able to access the Guild Wars Reward menu to view the rewards for the next Guild Wars event, along with being able to purchase the Guild Wars Medallion in advance.
  • We have increased the base Gold and Silver Mark rewards from winning a Daily War.
  • Base Gold Marks has increased from 10 to 20 Marks (which is scaled by the guild’s morale)
  • Base Silver Marks has increased from 20 to 40 Marks (which is scaled by the guild’s morale)
  • We have changed Purple Keep Guardian of Darkness’ Defense Ability to: Inflict Bleed on 3 random Enemies. Create 3 Bleed Gems.
  • We have added a confirmation message when a player fights on a location they have already defeated.
  • When a player selects a location to fight, it will now display a path on the Keep map to display what new areas(s) would unlock from defeating that location




Searching for specific Monoliths just got easier. The Monolith Menu has had an update to match the newer UI style in the game. Similar to the Collection menu, there is now a Filter button on the right-hand side of the menu.
Players are now able to filter Monoliths in multiple ways:

  • By Region
  • By Buff Type
  • By Searching for the Monolith Name
  • By Active/ Inactive Monoliths






We have added a new pop-up menu when a PvP Season has finished, and a new one has begun.

  • When players go to the PvP World Map for the first time after a PvP Season, they will get a PvP Season Ended Summary message.
  • The summary will include a list of all uncollected rewards that have been awarded to players (this replaces the Season mail being sent out, since it could be lost due to a full inbox).
  • If players have no uncollected rewards, this area will be empty with a note “Thanks for playing the previous season”.
  • The PvP Season Summary will display your end-of-season PvP Icon Conversion. The overall VP earned from Icons the player had in their inventory when the PvP Season ended.
  • This will show how each rarity of their Icons has been converted to make up that total VP amount, in a help popup window in the menu.
  • Players can return to the PvP Season Ended pop-up menu after closing it from the PvP World Map (near the Mail button on the right-hand side).
  • This button on the PvP World Map will be available for 1 week after the PvP Season Ended Summary has been displayed.








When a player earns a Hero Level, they will go through a new Hero Level up sequence. The new sequence has been updated to match the new UI Style for the game.

All level-related rewards (e.g. new Feature unlocks from Adventurer’s Path, or Weapons unlocking from new Gem Mastery) will be displayed in a single menu, alongside any Skill Point increases, and Gem Masteries chosen.




  • Players’ PvP teams will be saved within a region for specific restrictions (as long as the player has created a team previously).
  • Added a new Heroic Gem for a future Campaign.
  • Updated the main fonts for the game to match the new UI style of the game.





  • To the Victor… : Win 25 Quick Match PvP Battles in any Region.
  • Guild Paragon: Win 10 Guild Wars Battles.
  • Pillars of Might: Win 5 Monolith Battles.


  • Disconnecting from Chat from the World Map caused a softlock
  • Reward animation missed the first reward, often Campaign Stars
  • Morale bonus showing /30 instead of /27
  • PvP Gold Mark Region bonus not displaying and not being rewarded
    • Awaiting confirmation on the details of the fix
  • The 'Y' button icon is upside down in the Vault Rewards screen on Nintendo Switch
    • Awaiting confirmation
  • CLIFFY Error in PVP caused by the opponent's Troops not be
    [list[
  • Awaiting confirmation



If any further are confirmed, we will update these patch notes.

Also, there are placeholder translations for some languages, while we are waiting for localisation to come back.

Due to some delays and issues outside of the studio's control, a number of bug fixes have needed to be pushed back into 8.9.