Hello everyone! With today’s patch, we are putting a large focus on buffing and reworking underplayed or underperforming cards, as we continue to discover what sorts of things work and don’t work for this game and what kind of stat profiles are acceptable. We’ve taken a comprehensive look at the state of play and each individual card, and have upgraded a number of under-utilized or confusing cards to open up even more gameplay options and make the new player experience even smoother. Check out our full patch notes on discord!
PATCH NOTES
Transcribe: Now sets the cost of the copied card to (2).
Bridge Troll: Stats changed to 6/3.
Developer’s Note: We want most traps to have higher impact “win” conditions that force your opponent to play around them more.
Eternal Life: Changed to simply prevent one source of lethal effect (including hard removals).
Developer’s Note: This card was underplayed because the health bonus effect was often entirely worthless when activated, especially against hard removal. Conversely the place where it was most powerful was in early game, where a large health buff to a unit can trigger an ugly tempo snowball. This new design should make the trap get value more often, while also making its value considerably weaker or stronger depending on how the opponent plays around it.
Dragon’s Fire: Changed to split excess damage randomly among ALL targets. Damage increased to 10.
Developer’s Note: We’ve long since been uncomfortable with the amount of Castle damage dragon’s fire can achieve after a board clear, punishing the opponent for summoning a peasant. This change keeps the same overall flavor of the card, but flips things so that the value is greater when your opponent has more stuff.
Burst of Strength: Cost reduced to (4).
Dragon Egg: Summoned Drake now gains +1 Health.
Archdruid Leanna: HP increased to 5.
Doomship: Now a Sniper, stats increased to 10/10, and immediately attacks once when it awakens.
Freya: Now applies her buff to units that were summoned both BEFORE AND AFTER her warcry.
Developer’s Note: This was done because many new players would summon things in the wrong order. The card should now be easier to use.
Rakanoth: Stats changed to 6/9.
Brontosaurus: Stats increased to 5/11.
Shattering Strike: Cost reduced to (1).
Imperial Guard: Armor increased to 4.
Scoutbird: HP increased to 3.
Sunflower: HP increased to 3.
Lumberjack: HP increased to 3.
Shield Runner: HP reduced to 1.
Spiney: HP increased to 3.
Developer’s Note: This block is a re-evaluation of the power scaling for 1-cost units, which data shows are severely weak and underplayed. Shield Runner is the notable exception, who simply had outsized stat value for his cost.
Heavenclaw: Stats increased to 5/7.
Professor Headwood: Attack reduced to 3.
Gorilla Fighter: Attack reduced to 2.
Triceratops: Attack increased to 3.
Spellsurge Adept: Attack bonus increased to 3.
Dwarven Miner: HP increased to 4.
Dwarven Blacksmith: HP increased to 4.
Dark Magician: HP increased to 5.
Kaijr: Stats changed to 2/5.
Knight of Flowers: Stats changed to 1/5.
Developer’s Note: We are shifting some more units to be a bit tankier, especially if they have powerful passive effects. This helps dampen the overall impact of AOE spells a little, improves stat variety for the unit pool, and bolsters some weaker cards.
Ronin: Bonus changed to Elusive instead of Guardian, but stats reduced to 2/5.
Developer’s Note: Having a sole guardian on the battlefield is a risky strategy with low payoff, and as a result this unique and cool concept sees very little play. We are hoping this shift to an aggressive card gives the Ronin a more distinct role as a closer.
Brynjolf: Now has Charge instead of Chain Lightning.
Developer’s Note: We are going to try letting Brynjolf simply have his fun immediately from hand, as we don’t anticipate playing around him will be an important strategy. As it is, the card is very underplayed due to needing to survive a turn with low HP for the cost.
Adaptive Armor: Heal increased to 4, and armor increased to 3.
Soul Destroy: Cost increased to (8).
Hand of Judgment: Cost penalty reduced to +2 (was +3).
Courthouse: Now costs (2) again.
Shadow Strike: Redesigned. Now simply gives a unit +3 Attack.
Developer’s Note: The previous shadow strike was confusing to use, as its buff had counter-synergy with its return to hand ability. We feel that there are plenty of return to hand cards in the game already, and this simple attack buff could be a staple addition to the ninja combo arsenal.
Lava Font: Redesigned. Now deals 2 damage to a random enemy over 3 turns.
Developer’s Note: This card was both confusing to new players with its complicated text and positioning, and considerably slowing down some games. It tends to put early game units in a position where there are no good options other than to wait. Future “wall” type cards will likely not have strong counterattacks, so they can stall the opponent without requiring they also do nothing.
Fire Drake: Redesigned. Now a 2/3 and gains +2 Attack each time a Fire spell is played.
Developer’s Note: The previous version of this card was severely underplayed, as his small aoe attack didn’t really have a role. This new design gives fire magic decks another reason to have units on the board, which is important for the archetype.
Infernal Furnace: Redesigned. Now costs (2) and attempts to discard a fire spell at the end of your turn. If it does, you gain 2 random Warlock cards that cost 2 less.
Salahar Voyager: Redesigned. Now a 2/5 with Charge and Damage Dealt: Gain 1 Treasure.
Developer’s Note: While an interesting idea, the bonus when your opponent has Treasure was too unreliable to see play, nor was it an effective tech counter.
Storm Weapon: Cost of unit summoned increased to (3).
Developer’s Note: While getting a 3-cost unit for 2 may seem good, the way this card works prevents any Warcrys from working, so its actual value is usually much less than a unit of the same cost.
Camouflage: Redesigned. Now gives a unit Elusive and draws a card.
Developer’s Note: We were initially very conservative about having external elusive buffs in the game. However, with plenty of available counterplay, we are not really seeing Shadow Katana come anywhere close to breaking the meta, so it’s probably safe to allow another Elusive buff as a more useful design for this card.
Dwarven Revenger: Redesigned. Now gains +1 Attack when a friendly unit dies. Stats increased to 1/6.
Developer’s Note: This was the lone Last Will synergy card in Vikings, and while we thought about adding more Last Will support in the future to create an alternative faction option for Last Will decks, ultimately the Vikings are not the right faction to fill that role. Revenger’s new design is much more themed with the Viking faction and is intended to provide further payoff for swarm decks.
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