Arena of Kings update for 8 January 2022

v1.3.0.0 Changes:

• Added Region support for EU-West. Players will have a choice on which region they would prefer to play. The system is smart enough to automatically attempt to place you on a lower ping server before assigning you to a less favorable region. Most players should have US-East and EU-West selected (assuming they are both playable for you) since your best region will be weighted more heavily automatically in the matchmaker.

• Ranked Season 1 has begun! Players will be able to team up to climb the ranked ladder on level 10+ Characters! Your rating is tied to your character, not your account. Your ranking will be the foundation for Esports eligibility for most of the automated tournaments in Season 1. Your first few ranked matches will swing your rating significantly while the system determines your proper rating.

• The Ranked Ladder is now visible on the Esports tab. We'll be adding the Tournaments section later.

• Character Level is now hidden in Quick Play. Players were frequently dodging games based on Character Level. Instead of punishing that behavior we’re reshaping the mentality of the game mode. Quick Play is intended to be a fast casual mode that you can just hop on and get a match in. We want players to use this mode to level characters, experiment and learn new things, all while being friendly to new players.
• Removed the “dinging” sounds.
• Blackwood Vale arena no longer poisons when stepping in the water and no longer burns when touching the torches. This was disproportionately frustrating a lot of Assassin players due to Stealth interactions, as well as new players that had no idea that these areas were hazardous.
• Improved the quality of loot contained in Winner’s Satchels.

Balance Changes
Assassin

• Bandage cooldown reduced from 8 to 6 seconds.
• Disappearing Act’s Empowered Stealth breaks on receiving 1000 damage.
• Stealth (non-empowered) now breaks on receiving 500 damage.

Champion

• Master of the Sword cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
• Resounding Warcry cooldown reduced from 35 to 30 seconds.
• Safeguard cooldown reduced from 22 to 20 seconds.

Elder

• Remedy cooldown reduced from 15 to 12 seconds.
• Serenity duration increased from 10 to 12 seconds.
• Spirit Wolf movement speed increased from 35% to 40%.

Lich

• Abyssal Spike damage reduced by 5%.
• Exhaustion cooldown reduced from 12 to 10 seconds.
• Parasite life steal reduced from 2% to 1.75%.
• Terrify now breaks on 9% damage (up from 6%).
• Torment duration reduced from 11 to 10 seconds.
• Underworld Armor damage reduction reduced from 10% to 7%. Healing amplify reduced from 10% to 5%. Health regeneration reduced from 0.5% to 0.25%.

Mystic

• Fixed a bug that was causing Disenchant to remove more Effects than intended.

Nihilist

• Orb of Absolution now ticks when placed and ticks every 1 second.
• Lingering Demise damage reduced by 4%.

Paladin

• Purify healing increased by 30%.

Ranger

• Aether Shot cooldown reduced from 10 to 9 seconds.

Scholar

• Gospel of Harmony duration increased from 6 to 7 seconds.
• Life Burst instant healing increased by 3%.

Wizard

• Combust damage increased by 5%.
• Sheepify now breaks on 6% damage (up from 4%).
• Fixed the inaccurate Magic Missile tooltip regarding a critical strike bonus (we’ll revisit this in the future).