Minion Masters News

Patch 1.29 is swarming into the Arenas and with it, a ton of balance changes, two new cards, and a bunch of bugs have been squished!

Cards Added:



[h3]All masters attacks have now special and true damage:[/h3]

There were a couple of interactions in the game we disliked and wanted to solve, most notable:

• Sugilite shield protecting from master damage (we will look at a buff for sugilite shield in future patches)
  
• Stonebjorn tanking some masters for extremely long
  
• Confusion about Ravager being ranged
  
• Incubus jumping into your face (we will look if incubus needs a buff in future patches)
  
• Divine shield (chaining) in front of the masters
  

This change should solve all of these, and appropriate buffs to cards involved will be looked at once we see how big the impact is.

[h3]Balance Changes[/h3] Stormbringer Dev comments: To make up for the global damage being true damage we make stormbringers attack slower.

• Attack cooldown 3.8s -> 4.0s
  

King puff Dev comments: King puff is extremely strong atm, we want to lower his strength potential, but give him more flexibility in return.

• birthday cooldown -> 50 seconds
  
• Added 7 mana cards to his threshold
  

Guardian Dev comments: Guardian has been a card that we had to balance several times and then became unbalanced again when new crystal cards came out. With this change, we hope to make guardian chaining more counterable and futureproof the card.

• Protectection 100 -> 75%
  

Haunting Hugger Dev comments: Haunting hugger is a card currently only used to get some fast stacks for ascension and is basically useless outside of that. By giving him more damage, but lowering his attack speed we hope to give him more defense potency by killing units faster but without increasing his strength too much.

• Attack cooldown 1.8s-> 2.5s
  
• Damage 50 -> 100
  

Chisma boomstick Dev comments: There were some weird interactions of Chisma attacking a unit and then running straight into that unit in fear. We have changed this so that it runs away from whatever unit it was attacking instead of running away from the enemy's base. We also donated him a small buff within the explosion radius as he felt a bit too weak.

• Runs away from the target
  
• Explosion Radius 4->5
  

Call to Arms Dev comments: Call to arms has needed a rework for a long time, and with Sapphire Pebbles, it really became paramount to do it now. With this change, we hope to solve both the issue of buildings giving a lot of value before transforming and then still getting full value from transforming (i.e. an almost dead crossbow guild transforming into a warrior) and solving the problem of the limitations we have in buildings. With this change, we can create cheap buildings as long as they do not have a lot of health. The exception is wall, but considering wall is limited to one copy AND call to arms + wall is still not more valuable than two warriors are, it is an exception that should not be a problem

• Cost 6->4
  

Now spawns different Empyrean units based on the remaining health (always spawns a warrior at base):

• 100 or less -> spear thrower
  
• 200 or less -> legionnaire
  
• 201 or more -> warrior
  

Gor’ Rakk Gate Dev comments: Gor’ Rakk Gate is not in a good place, and swarmers are easily the worst option in the gate, opening for tons of damage from spells, while also not being the best option to kill something, nor do face damage. With three elite swarmers, we hope to make it less risky, while giving an option to get a fair amount of tankiness with some damage on the field for a low price (outside of health).

• 7 swarmers -> 3 elite swarmers
  

Raging Reinforcements, Ahmun's Chosen & Gor'Rakk Gate

These cards now cycle through their options rather than being random. The starting point is random, but after that, it is consistently the same cycle.

We want to remove the randomness to the point that it can decide a game’s outcome (win or lose). With this change, we hope to make them more consistent, while keeping the fun of the alternating gameplay that they offer.

Border Patrol Dev comments: Border Patrol has been bad and underplayed for a long time, and we hope that by making it cheaper more people will make use of the card.

• Shield no longer costs 1 Mana freeze
  

Zeppelin Bomber Dev comments: We really wanna give this Zeppelin a small umpf because let’s be honest, it does really need a bit of love.

• Added: Scrat Swarm: Gain Haste
  

Empowered SoulStealer Dev comments: Empowered Soulstealer has been rather weak, by giving him a stronger baseline he should feel better on the Arena.

• Starting stacks 3->4
  

Demon Warrior and Avea Dev comments: Cards with a quest are really awkward to get from a random card like a blind date or walking blind date, as they can basically never complete their quest, so cards with a quest will generally be excluded from the random pool.

• Removed from randompool
  

Avea Dev comments: Similar to Demon warrior it is generally a bad idea to triple Avea and to prevent confusion from people getting 3 to get the quest done faster, only to realize that is not how it works we limit Avea to 1 copy, which should have basically no gameplay effect.

• CardCount 3->1
  

Stormy Dev comments: Stormy is a bit weak atm, and rarely gets its 2 hits off. By giving Stormy a bit more hp, it should be a bit more consistent.

• Health 125->150
  

Coax the Diplomancer Dev comments: We have heard a lot of complaints about the Diplomancer, and when we looked at the stats we noticed that at high ranks coax was doing average to cards there, but in low and medium ranks coax was performing a lot better. By limiting the max value the Diplomancer can get with 1 minion (10 seconds) while also making sure he can get a minimum amount of value if played well we hope we solve the problem of the Diplomancer taking 1 big minion and hypnotised minion continuously destroying whatever is being flooded in while still keeping him as a viable card.

By reducing the health of the Diplomancer a bit as well we open him up a bit more for removal, making it a choice of fighting him with minions, or “overspending” on spells if you do not have the perfect cards.

• Health 400 ->350
  
• Hypnosis: while attacking -> 10s once per minion.
  

Bug fixes

• Fixed an issue with Hellfire not being removed when t.a.a.s. dies - Thanks Anno
• Fixed an issue with Akinlep and Morellia mistakenly removing cards from decks - Thanks The Mike 1979
• Fixed a visual bug with Adera attacking friendly units - Thanks me
• Fixed an issue with the Musketeer sprinting when hypnotize is used - Thanks Last_Elf
• Fixed Nyrvir’s description to better indicate attack range when initiating an attack - Thanks me
• Fixed an issue with Eeeek the sneak’s abilities in the patch match screen looking like Doomapocalypse’s abilities.
  
• Fixed an issue with the Wrecked walker spending tech even with 0 mana - Thanks Jackeea
• Fixed an issue wíth the Stonebjorn having excessively long spawn time.
  

Masters!

We're thrilled to announce how the team has been progressing with Minion Masters - Remastered! Check out all the details in this blog.

We also have a shiny new trailer to share with you and we hope you enjoy it!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The one... the only... BadAsAFish80 is flexing his skills on the new expansion for Minion Masters - Malediction!

https://www.twitch.tv/badasafish80

Watch him try out Malediction here!

Check out BadAsAFish80 try out the new Expansion on Minion Masters!!

https://www.twitch.tv/badasafish80

Scrats…. Are… WHERE DID THEY GO? Oh no… does this mean the Scrat invasion is over?!

Masters, brace yourselves because the Scrat invasion is done and dusted but we have a new season screeching into Minion Masters and this time it’s going to be darker and scarier than ever!

We’re super stoked to introduce our newest expansion … Malediction!

[h3]Cards Added[/h3]





With this new expansion be prepared to enjoy new cards, balance changes and the reintroduction of Wild Cards!

Wild Cards will be now re-introduced but under certain conditions:

• Wild Cards will still remain unavailable in 1v1
  
• Wild Cards will be reintroduced in 2v2
  
• Introducing a “Copies Allowed” stat which will define the number of copies allowed for every card to 1, 2 or 3.
  
• For more information about the reintroduction of Wild Cards, check out our blog post here

[h2]Balance Changes![/h2]

Spirits

• Maximum Health Gain 300 > 400
  
• Minimum Health Gain 0 > 50
  

Crossbow Guild

• Production time 4.5 > 4
  

Swarmer Totem

• Production time 6.5 > 5.7
  

Dev notes: The old production of buildings have not been performing well since their health/duration reduction, so a bit more value over time should help them become more relevant.

Priestess

• Speed 3 > 2
  

Dev notes: We like how the priestess is no longer an infinite healing source that stays with the army at all times, but she leaves the army a bit too fast. Setting her speed to two should allow her to stay with the army unless there is a prolonged fight.

Fireball Dragon Ball Magma Storm Grasping Thorns T.A.A.S/H3LL-F1R3

• Damage 170 > 180
  

Dev notes: Since the increase of spell cost, a lot of the minions that could barely survive a fireball-threshold became a bit too good at surviving spells. Hence, we moved the threshold to 180, making it a smaller buff mostly being relevant for these specific units (it also makes it easier to remember the numbers, as both daggerfall and these spells end with 80).

Smite

• Damage 150 > 180
  

Dev notes: Smite could use a buff, so we moved it into the fireball thresholds.

Ardent Aegis

• Delay 4 > 3.5
  
• Healing 250 > 275
  

Dev notes: Ardent aegis needs a buff, so making it a bit more consistent and stronger should help.

Rampage

• Cast Delay 2 > 1
  

Dev notes: Rampage is mostly outshined by Volco/Ragers rage, and most use cases are preemptive, so no real reason for this delay. We’re reducing it to allow for a bit more flexibility.

Daggerfall Stunlancers

• Now have Call Slitherbound (1)
  

Dev notes: These cards could use a small buff, and it also buffs slither in general that has been a tad weak lately.

Bladestar

• Damage 100 > 130
  

Dev notes: Bladestar is a tad hard to use, so more damage should make it more consistent.

Avea

• Quest Threshold 5 > 4
  

Dev notes: As promised, an Avea buff.It's quite possible it's not enough yet, but we want to see if getting her to relevance earlier. We’ll be closely looking at how she performs in case she needs a bigger tune-up.

Healing Fireball

• Cast Delay 2 > 1.5
  

Dev notes: Healing fireball missed its target a bit too often, making it a very binary spell. Letting it hit a bit more often should help with the balance of the spell.

Chain Lightning

• Bounces 10 > 12
  

Dev notes: Chain lightning needs a buff. To differentiate it more from fireball it gets more bounces, letting it be better against spread out swarms and hit more important targets more often, while still being less good against higher hp units and really clumped up units.

Defenso Chopper

• Health 500 > 450
  

Dev notes: Defenso chopper is a tad overpowered, it’s doing pretty well against the swarm. But it gets a lot of value against mid ranged thus making it a frustrating card to play against.

Wrecked Walker

• Mana Cost 1 > 2
  
• Health 100 -> 150
  
• Outlander Tech: Spend 40 scrap to reduce cost by 1
  

Dev notes: As some feared, a 1 mana bridge grab turned out to be a bit too good. We are adding a small scrap cost to it, otherwise it’s become a 2 mana bridge grab/small tank. This allows for good usage in decks that have scraps leftover, while limiting the power in non-scrap decks.

Howling moon

• Now does true damage
  

Azali

• Mana Cost 8 > 9
  

Dev notes: Azali is a staple card in 2v2 far more than she should be. We don't want to kill her, but we do want to reduce a bit of her power. By increasing her cost, her army should be a bit smaller, and you should have more mana to kill her, without completely killing the dream of the Azali swarm commander.

Werewolf

• Attack cooldown 0.9 -> 1.0 seconds
  

Dev note: Once bitten and lone wolf are a bit too strong, while howling moon and Wolf among sheep are too weak. Therefore, we are reverting a small buff to werewolves so that we can see where all the cards land. We’ll probably be planning a buff to both howling moon and WaS next patch once we have a better idea where they land with these stats.

All the below Cards will have the “No-Wild Card rule” thus only permitting using one of each of these cards in any deck:

• Bats Bats Bats
  
• Black Hole
  
• Blood Imps
  
• Brothers of Light
  
• Brutish Betrayer
  
• Clear Skies
  
• Crossbow Guild
  
• Demon Warrior
  
• Dragon Nest - Removed Mythic
  
• Fanriel
  
• Gambler's ball
  
• Groggy Woodsman
  
• Jing Long
  
• Lone Ranger
  
• Lone Wolf
  
• Mana Puff Madness
  
• Mountainshaper
  
• Netherstep
  
• Nyrvir’s Breath
  
• Once Bitten
  
• Red Golem
  
• Ritual Of Servitude
  
• Rock Rivals
  
• Scrap Yard
  
• Scrat Tunnel
  
• Shen Shock Stick
  
• Styxi
  
• Sugilite Shield
  
• Thelec
  
• Void Altar
  
• Wall
  
• Xiao Long
  
• Zap Shrine
  

All the cards below are going to be restricted to one Wild Card allowing for a total of two of each card in the deck:

• Arcane Ring
  
• Ardera
  
• Bridge Buddies
  
• Combustion
  
• Guardian
  
• Jadespark Watchers
  
• Leiliel
  
• Unholy Ground
  
• Wizard Puff
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed an issue with Vortex not getting a damage increase
  
• Fixed an issue with minions trying to attack others across the gap, which made Veilstalker
• behave incorrectly - Thank you Pom
• Fixed an issue with the emergency reposition tunnel spell being used in places where
• buildings are normally not allowed
  
• Fixed an issue with the red golem at exactly 1500 health not acting as intended
  
• Fixed an issue with Fanriel Stormcharge interacting incorrectly with the protection by Guardian - Thank you InCole
• Fixed an issue with Hypnotized Shield Guard of Light dashing across the map - Thank you chimaerok
• Fixed an issue with Boom Buggy not attacking properly - Thank you Matt
• Fixed an issue in 2v2’s showing +2 marksmanship buff from teammate Stormbringer’s perk 2 on unit placement preview - Thank you Pom
• Fixed an issue with Veilstalker Crystalline Dashing outside the arena - Thank you Matt
• Fixed an issue with different Volco skins being a different sizes
  
• Fixed an issue with the wrong Morellia using books - Thank you Pom
• Fixed an issue with Veilstalker jumping on stealthed units
  
• Fixed an issue with Veilstalker’s ability interacting incorrectly with root and stun
  
• Removed scrat tunnels from the random pool
  
• Fixed an issue with Miloween not getting extra sparks from certain spells
  
• Fixed an issue with Lychanthropy leaving poison clouds. - Thank you Pom

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