Hello people!

Your Scrolls client has just been patched. It’s a big ‘un, so let’s get right into it.

Excitingly, we’ve added Achievements! 85 of them in fact. Some will be retroactively unlocked when you next log in, but you’ll need to play to earn the rest. They each award 100 gold when unlocked, and are shown off on your profile page for bragging rights.

Next, there’s the Testing Grounds, which replaces multiplayer Quick Match in the arena. It’s a mysterious place where you get to sample new takes on the standard Scrolls ruleset. It helps us analyse potential future tweaks, and provides you with some alternate ways to enjoy Scrolls. You’ll still earn standard gold rewards from playing in this mode, but ranking/rating won’t be affected.

Rating decay has also been introduced. It basically means that player’s ratings will decrease over time, keeping the rankings competitive and the top of the leaderboard attainable for active players. We’ll be posting about this on the dev blog soon.

Want more juicy details, along with a sneak peak at four new scrolls? Read on, dedicated Scrolldier!

Features



Added 85 achievements. Achievements are displayed on your profile page and award 100 gold each.

Added rating decay. Once a week, ratings will decay towards 1500.

Starting with this patch, we’re turning the “Quick Match” mode into a testing grounds for rule changes. First up is 8 HP idols and 60 second turn timers.

You can now rejoin your current match even after closing the game.

The remaining library and discard pile counts are now displayed in battle mode.

Abilities activated by your opponent in a battle now display text with the ability name.

Scrolls

Added the Scrollsguide competition winners’ scrolls: Eclipse, Stifled Advance, Ancestral Pact and Piercing Projectile. Congratulations to EyeTheta, ArcBehemoth, RoboSox and Tharos!

Watcher (Decay) now deals 2 idol damage (down from 3).

Miscellaneous

Added 8 new AI decks. Thanks to Blinky for assisting with deck design!

Updated the post-game screen to show the duration of the match. In ranked matches, ranking and ranking change is now shown.

Updated the profile screen to show ranked and Judgement wins.

In the Watch menu, sorting by Highest Rating now uses average rating instead of the best player’s rating.

Deck builder: Typing “s:2″ will now filter scrolls in set 2. Similarly, #:5+” will show any scrolls which you have at least five of. Handy for crafting!

Bug Fixes

Players can now be challenged and invited to trade via the friends list.

Machination Mindset now only works on melee creatures.

That’s it for now! Feel free to feedback at will on Scrollsguide! We’ll be reading.

Oh, and Merry Christmas/God Jul/Nadolig Llawen everyone!

Owen – @bopogamel