Minion Masters News

Minion Masters!

[h2]New Swarmer Models[/h2]
Our artists have been hard at work again, creating new, even more vicious looking models for some of Minion Masters' oldest units - The Swarmers! Our primary reason for updating the units is due to the age of them - The models date back to the early days of Forced, making them over 7 years old now.

We're looking to update quite a few models back from those days as a result to ensure they fulfill our new quality levels that we wish to maintain going forwards with our art assets, as well as help define them better within the universe we're working to establish. You've already seen quite a few of them already, and the Swarmer units were next in line to get a touch up - Check them out below!



They also come with brand new, updated Card Art:



Swarmers might be blind, but they'll always smell your fear.

The new Swarmer models will be making their way to the arenas in Version 1.15. We've also got an updated model for Laser Turret in the works - Tune in to our Social Media next Monday for an exclusive reveal!

[h2]What's up at the BetaDwarf Office?[/h2]

Just a couple of weeks ago, we've finally got back to the offices following the extended quarantine, and we're still working on our exciting future projects all the same. We're still taking serious precautions, though - You can't walk five feet without finding disinfectant bottles!

All in all though, despite out rock solid remote working solutions, we're happy to be back at the office with the rest of the BetaDwarf family. Personally speaking, I'm glad we can start doing our monthly Tabletop RPG sessions again after an unfortunately long hiatus. We hope you've all been managing well during this time, too - If you got up to anything interesting while you were stuck at home, get in touch with us at [email protected] - We'd love to hear about it!


[h2]BadAsAFish80's 1v1 Tournament #13[/h2]


BadAsAFish is back with his excellent Minion Masters competitive tournaments! Making a comeback with a $100 prize pool and tons of in-game rewards, the tournament also functions as a qualifier for the prestigious Sinobii's Battleground Invitational run by TEAM MANA FRENZY!

Check out their Toornament page here and sign up today! https://www.toornament.com/en_GB/tournaments/3556399228476727296/information

Cheers from BetaDwarf!

Minion Masters!

We've got quite a lot to talk about this week - We need your input regarding some upcoming Balance Changes, and we're opening up PTR Signups again. Let's not waste any time and get into it:

[h2]Arcane Golem & Haste/Slow Public Poll[/h2]


With the upcoming Balance Changes coming in Version 1.15, we've been giving heavy consideration towards changes to Milloween's Arcane Golem and the Haste mechanic in particular. While we're decently confident in our changes, we wanted to give the opportunity to get more input from you all about them which we can take into account, as they are likely to significantly affect the metagame. Here are the changes we're currently thinking of:

Arcane Golem

• Mana Cost 3 -> 2
  
• Health 300 -> 250
  
• Damage 40 -> 30
  
• Health Gain Per Level 40 -> 30
  
• Damage Gain Per Level 6 -> 5
  

The main reason we're seeking to alter Arcane Golem is to rebalance Milloween's general gameplay. Currently Milloween is very frustrating to play against at Perk 3 due to how high its stats end up at from the Level 5 Boost. We're hoping with this change that the Arcane Golem, while still strong and forming the core of Milloween's kit, feels much less oppressive to fight against in the lategame and overall smoothes out her power curve.

Haste

• Bonus 50% -> 33%
  
• (Slow will also have its debuff changed from 25% -> 20% to match this)
  

Haste has been a fairly problematic buff for quite a while, as some of our veteran players can no doubt testify to. We've traditionally had to hide the explosive potential of the effect behind specific conditions, or remove them from cards that proved far too powerful with it - Examples of this would be Rabid Prowler and Woodsman. By reigning in the power of Haste we want to make it a more fair mechanic to play against, and open up more design space for us to utilise it when designing new cards.

This Haste change will also come with a buff to Ravager's perk 2 as he would be significantly impacted. This change will likely come in form of altering the threshhold required for his units to gain Haste in proportion to the change. Changes to other cards affected are also likely to be considered.

We've prepared a short survey that we would like you to answer so you can give us your feedback on this adjustments: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsX1IRLy-TNoWBHZCq9wKsJWBkx2OVIdWlQkh9nDTzSTatyg/viewform?usp=pp_url

Thanks a ton in advance for your time, Masters!

[h2]New Reveals Coming Soon![/h2]


We're swiftly approaching that time again, Masters - The Season Pass #3 reveals are due to start this Friday! Join us for another round of exciting card reveals that will expand upon your Accursed collection as Mordar makes his counteroffensive, on our Update Site!

[h2]PTR Signups[/h2]

We're looking for willing PTR Testers and are opening signups once again, to help us test upcoming content for Minion Masters! Things are a little different, this time - We're offering you the option to reference another user when signing up to the PTR that you'd like to partner with that is also filling in the application for membership. If the two of you are selected, we'll ensure you're in the same group, meaning there'll always be someone you're familiar with to play against, or with for 2v2 testing. Signing up with another player is not a requirement to be accepted for the PTR.

As a PTR tester, you will test new content on the PTR and provide feedback for the Minion Masters design team through questionnaires and discuss feedback with the team directly in the Discord channel. Responses from the PTR testing group is an extremely important part of creating new content for the game.

To join, you must be able to write in English, be open-minded, and have time to test and discuss new cards, masters and other content with us. It is a requirement that you are open to testing new cards/masters through rigorous playtesting. You must also have a Steam account and be able to play the game on PC (you will have the full collection of cards at your disposal).

There is a minimum expectation of activity while you are a member of the PTR. If you do not participate in several PTRs in a row without contacting a developer as to why, you will be removed from the group.

To sign up, answer this questionnaire here and we'll contact you via your Discord account if you're accepted: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2q6WF0xfushgM8ZYI-xYEeTQgBijulnA1tsINAvjpPoIuZg/viewform?usp=pp_url

[h2]Sinobii's Battleground Invitational #9[/h2]


The ninth SBI is happening this weekend! Like previous SBIs, the tournament competition consists of active players that have performed exceptionally well in previous Team Mana Frenzy tournaments or are ranked at the very top of the Minion Masters Leaderboards - Meaning you can be certain there'll be some excellent quality gameplay on display! It's your traditional no-holds-barred double elimination tournament and will be livestreamed on Sinobii's Twitch channel.

If you want to find out more about the competition, check out their Toornament page here, and drop by their Discord!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!

Minion Masters!

[h2]100 in 10 Challenge[/h2]



It's time to put your Draft skills to the test, Masters - Today we're announcing the start of the 100 in 10 Draft Challenge! Inspired by community contests in other events, the challenge is to Stream yourself getting 100 wins over the course of 10 Draft runs - If you win and have your results verified by BetaDwarf, you'll receive the Cosmic Cleaver avatar! Here's a graphic with the full rules below:



You can find the logo mentioned in the rules at the top of this section.

All submissions must include working links to the Livestreams in which the challenge was done. All conditions described must be met in order to be eligible for the prize. Runs will be reviewed manually, so please be patient in waiting for a response and receiving your Avatar. There is currently no formal end date for this Challenge. If you have any further questions, email [email protected].


Good luck, Masters!

[h2]Interview with Last_Elf[/h2]



This week, we have a special interview with Youtube Content Creator Last_Elf!

Can you give us a brief introduction of what you do? I am doing fun Minion Masters gameplay videos. I try to come up with new ideas and strategies, something you are not facing on the ladder and mostly just crazy decks. Not tier 1, but definitely fun. I publish 3 new videos every week with more than 300 videos already on my channel.

How long have you been playing Minion Masters for?
I've been playing for 2,5 years now and creating YouTube videos for 1,5 years.

What made you get into creating Minion Masters content? This might sound greedy, but I wanted to earn money. When my son was born, I've realized, that if I want to have time on games, I need to make it a living. After 2 years, I am nowhere near my goal and it's still not worth the time, I put into it. But I really enjoy it, I love the game and the community around the game.

What do you think is the best video you've made so far? My personal favourite is for sure Solo Priestesses. I managed to have 7 Priestesses on board and watching how desperately your opponent tries to kill them is just hilarious. We've recreated it on premade with 11 Priestesses on board in the video called Holy Army and in a friendly coordinated battle called Healing Hell. I think this title doesn't need an explanation :D

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Where can people follow you? I have my own Discord server, Facebook page and Twitter.
For my most loyal fans I even have a Patreon page, where they can support me.
You can visit my website www.lastelf.net, where you can find all the links ;)

You can find Last_Elf's Youtube channel right here - He makes tons of entertaining gameplay videos featuring all kinds of oddball strategies, so he's definitely worth checking out!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!

Minion Masters!

• A new Season Pass has arrived to Minion Masters!
  
• Tons of new rewards, including 3 cards, a Legendary Skin, bonus cards, and more!
  
• Three new cards have been added to the game. They are as follows:
  
  
  
  
• Galaxy Diona has also been added to the game!
  
  
  
  
• The Season Pass will last one month and end on Thursday the 30th of July.
  

Ardent Aegis

• Heal 200 -> 250
  

Bounty Sniper

• New Effect: If you’re behind on XP, gain Shield
  
• Developer Comments
• Bounty Sniper was a card that was difficult to justify in most decks. While the effect is strong the mana premium made it very punishing when removed, and the risk of losing board control for the sake of maximising the XP was too high. By giving it a unique Shield condition, we want to help it have an identity of a comeback card while hopefully not impacting the “win more” element of such mechanics.
  

Call to Arms

• Mana Cost 4 -> 5
  

Disruptor Puff

• Teleport Cooldown 5 -> 6
  

Hypnotize

• REWORK: Hypnotise now applies a debuff that causes enemy minions to prioritize attacking their allies. They cannot target the Master Tower, and will still target enemies if there are no valid allies to attack.
  
• Duration 5 -> 6
  
• Developer Comments
• Hypnotize has been a fairly problematic card design wise for a while now, particularly in 2v2 game modes, and we've gone through multiple iterations of different designs to create an effect that is more fair to the opponent while retaining the core identity of the spell inflicting chaos in the middle of a fight. In particular, we took issue with it being implemented in cheese strategies such as those with Rock Rivals that offered very little interactivity from the opponent.
  

Lord Fanriel the Stormcharger

• Damage 100 -> 120
  

Magma Storm

• Damage per Rock 200 -> 170
  

Mordar

• Tombstones can now only resurrect minions belonging to Mordar
  
• Tombstone Activation Time 10 -> 8 seconds
  

Morellia

• Number of Skeletons from Book of the Dead 4/8 -> 3/6
  

Netherstep

• Cast Delay 0.5 -> 0 seconds
  

Poison (Mechanic)

• Ticks per Second 1 -> 2
  
• Damage per Tick 20 -> 10
  
• Developer Comments
• This solves an issue we had with Poison where we could only make units deal Poison damage in units of 20. By increasing the ticks it allows us to hit much more specific ranges, and also has the side effect of having better visual feedback and being more effective against Shield.
  

Poison Strike

• Duration 6 -> 6.5 seconds
  
• Total Poison Damage 120 -> 130
  

Resonating Blast Crystal

• Damage 120 -> 130
  

Scratillery

• Damage per Rocket 40 -> 50
  

Shielded Crossbow Dudes

• New Effect: If you control no bridges, summon an extra Crossbow Dude.
  

Skeleton Horde

• Skeleton Count 8 -> 9
  

Styxi

• Health 90 -> 140
  

Swarmer Totem

• Production Speed 6 -> 7 Seconds
  

Troubadour

• New: Highland Revelry: Give nearby enemy minions Slow
  

• Blue Golem has received a big visual rework. Red Golem will stay with its old model for now, but we intend to give it a new look as well in the future.
  
• New Card art has been added for Scrat Pack, Bridge Buddies, Tranquil Shi-Hou and Blue Golem.
  
• Improved the error message that appears when starting a game that isn’t on the same version as the server.
  
• Everyone who completed the Charging Into Darkness Adventure will receive 3 copies of a Supreme card as an apology for the error with the rewards in the near future.
  

• Fixed Illusory Cleaver not activating Voidborne Wound.
  
• Fixed being able to use skins you don’t own.
  
• Fixed Arcane Ring hitting Masters and Buildings.
  
• Fixed Jade Flingers having a small freeze at the end of their attack animations.
  
• Fixed Battlepass references not working on “Available in the current Battlepass” buttons.
  
• Fixed Season Pass Premium still referring to itself as Battle Pass.
  
• Fixed More Dakka not hitting Werewolves.
  
• Fixed a minor visual bug with Galaxy Morellia.
  
• Fixed an animation bug where Warrior would attempt to swing her sword even though she was out of range.
  
• Fixed some inconsistencies with Call to Arms transforming Dormant Defenders.
  
• Fixed a visual bug with Ratbo’s Minigun still spinning at max speed after using More Dakka.
  
• Fixed Jungle Jumble using the wrong card buff tooltip.
  
• Fixed the Charging Into Darkness Adventure granting the wrong rewards. Anyone who completed the Adventure will receive 3 copies of a Supreme card in the near future.
  
• Fixed the Italian Translation for Squire Puff and Arcane Bolt not being displayed.
  
• Fixed the “Puff Sorry” emote having lost its localization.
  
• Fixed Master Skins not having the Master Tips - Thanks LordJulius!
  

Cheers from BetaDwarf!

Minion Masters!

[h2]Season Pass #2 Inbound![/h2]

If you've been keeping up with out Charging Into Darkness reveals, then that means you're aware that the second Season Pass of this Expansion is right around the corner!

Next week on the 25th of June, Version 1.14 will be releasing with a whole host of brand new content, including new cards Sugilite Shield, Lady Infray the Spire Warden, and Skeleton Crew!

Check out our Update Site for all the juicy details. Which of the two currently revealed cards is your favourite? And don't forget to let us know what you think of Skeleton Crew once it comes out!

[h2]Balance Changes[/h2]
Today we've got a preview of some of the balance changes coming with Version 1.14! As always, these aren't all of them, but should highlight some of the larger changes we're planning to make:

Hypnotize Rework

• NEW EFFECT: Enemy minions within the AoE will start attacking, and prioritise, friendly units for the duration. Cannot attack the Master Tower.
  
• Duration 5 -> 6
  
• Call Slitherbound Count 1 -> 2
  
• Dev Comments: Hypnotize has been a fairly problematic card design wise for a while now, particularly in 2v2 game modes, and we've gone through multiple iterations of different designs to create an effect that is more fair to the opponent while retaining the core identity of the spell inflicting chaos in the middle of a fight. In particular, we took issue with it being implemented in cheese strategies such as those with Rock Rivals that offered very little interactivity from the opponent.
  

Call to Arms

• Mana Cost 4 -> 5
  

Swarmer Totem

• Production Speed 6 seconds -> 7 seconds
  

Troubadour

• NEW: Highland Revelry: Give Slow to nearby enemy Minions
  

Shielded Crossbow Dudes

• NEW: If you don't control any bridges, summon an extra Crossbow Dude.
  

[h2]New Card Art[/h2]
Some of you have noticed, and admired, a lot of visual reworks that have been coming to Minion Masters recently, be it card art updates, or entirely new models (as seen with Dragon Nest). We're just as excited to see what the Art team comes up with as you are, so we're going to be making more of an effort to feature their creations in the blog going forward.

Most of the time when art or models get updated, it's to fit with an updated or revised visual identity we have for their faction. Alternatively, it could be that the models are too old to properly work with going forward or don't meet the level of quality we'd like for the game - Some of the models in the game are still dating back to our very first game, after all!

This Update will be bringing some relatively simple changes - Brand new Card Art for the Scrat Pack and Bridge Buddies cards. Bridge Buddies' art was starting to look fairly unfitting when lined up with the other Scrat cards in its visual style, particularly due to the extensive referencing of the 3d model when creating it. So we've given it an entirely new card art! For Scrat Pack, we're still fond of the original identity of the card art, but wanted to give it a fresh coat of paint to reflect the updated Scrat designs. Check them out below:



[h3]We also have a brand new model for Blue Golem coming in this update, too - Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for an exclusive reveal on Monday![/h3]

[h2]$1000 ShadowGaming Tournament[/h2]


This weekend, Shadow Gaming TV are hosting their Minion Masters Summer International Tournament, where the winner receives a massive prize of $1000!

The 1v1 event will be taking place this Sunday the 21st at 11 AM PST on their Twitch Channel, with signups closing shortly before the event starts. It's promising to be an exciting event with a ton of players already signed up!

Check out the full rules of the Tournament and signup on their Battlefy link!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!