Super Evil Mega Corp just unleashed a robust set of patch notes for 1.5.0. We’ll cover everything, from new items to Skaarf nerfs, in this Vainglory update review.

heroes

That wolf guy probably doesn’t look too familiar as he just entered the game this patch. His kit makes him a valuable asset on any team, and his damage is massive. I expect Fortress to fit into the meta nicely, as he moves quickly, and dishes out damage like an assassin (without the title, of course).

If you didn’t see this change coming then you weren’t playing the same game that everyone else was. Someone could write a novel about all the changes, but CaptainNeato clarified on The Undersprawl that Skaarf‘s perk will only stack four times, each stack dealing 1.5% of the target’s maximum health per second in crystal damage to a maximum of 6%. The damage is increased by 1% per 100 crystal that Skaarf has, meaning he’ll scale better with crystal power items, rather than just stacking Fountains. Spitfire and Goop have better crystal ratios, so, like Fan the Flames, it deals more damage with crystal items. A mage that needs to build crystal? What’s this world coming to?

Did anyone watch REDemption play weapon Vox in the first ESL Series Cup? I’m starting to think he had insider information. Crystal power Vox saw significant changes for balance this patch. I’m not sure if Vox is out of the meta, but his viability is drastically reduced. Resonance hits fewer targets, doesn’t hit targets as far away, doesn’t get amplified damage from lane minions, and doesn’t bounce from Kraken. I think SEMC found Resonance was broken on Vox and crushed it with the nerf bat. Here’s to hoping! However, Vox got a good buff to his attack speed.

Both weapon and crystal power SAWs got a nice touch this patch. The most interesting changes came on Mad Cannon so now it scales better with crystal, but can also critically strike, whereas before it changed the attack into some magical missile. I could easily see a form of hybrid SAW that uses the new 140% ratio on Mad Cannon, along with the crit damage from Tyrant’s Monocle. However, I really just love Tyrant’s Monocle!

Thank goodness. I’m pretty sure I expressed how ridiculous her defensive stats were when they adjusted her last patch. The number changes here aren’t very surprising, or very drastic. Her early-game damage is up, which I’m sure everyone is thrilled about because of how weak she was early. At level eight, when any sane Koshka player would have Twirly Death maxed out, the flat damage is reduced by 30. Thanks to a better scaling value, Koshka players can make up the difference at around 100 crystal power. Yeah… not a fierce nerf to her in any regards. With Skaarf out I expect Koshka to move back up to her throne, unless Fortress has something to say about it.

Hardly worth mentioning, but Celeste‘s wave clear was still too good, so now her spells don’t scale as well when damaging minions. They still sting when they get in your eye, though, so be careful.

What’s that? SEMC over-buffed someone in a patch and are now back-pedaling? I guess there’s a first time for everything. 40% pierce was the most ridiculous stat in the game. To compensate for just removing it, they took half a second off Joule‘s Thunder Strike cooldown, that already gets reduced for having attack speed, so we’re getting closer and closer to Thunder Strike just being a ranged auto attack that you have to aim.

Items

New items! Is it Christmas?! This is the kind of stuff I live for!!

Contraption

As the meta evolves and the support role is more permanently defined, items are being created to fill out that spot. Contraption let’s you passively accrue consumables that are great for map control. It can place a Scout Trap or fire a Flare Gun, while also toting the Stormguard passive for free. With the support jungler getting gold faster (spoiler alert) you can expect competitive teams to have this item on at least one hero in their comp.

Minion’s Foot

Better than “Ear of Minion”, this item creates an easier build path into critical strike builds. However, 10% crit chance and 10% crit damage for only 300 gold is already very affordable, but then to add on a guaranteed crit the next time you attack an enemy hero is just insane! Considering that 900 gold buys a Lucky Strike that offers 20% crit chance and 12% crit damage, you’re getting less than double the effectiveness from triple the gold. Value!

Warhorn

People were rushing Warhorn and then using it to rush into battle. It’s a brilliant idea, but then they wished that they had the active available after they realized they didn’t have any tank stats. Now Warhorn has the health from Dragonheart mixed in, so instead of cooldown acceleration you’ll enjoy tank stats for once!

Stormguard Banner

This was always a bad stepping stone when upgrading to a Warhorn, but got a nice damage bump from 35 to 50 non-hero DPS. This will really help speed up jungle clears without investing in the full Warhorn or Contraption.

Ironguard Contract

Show me the money! Now the contract-wielding support jungler gets half the gold when their ally gets the last hit. This is really putting the money into the pockets of the support player. This change lets the jungle duo have a much larger impact in the game, so beware!

Broken Myth

The initial interpretation of this item sounds like a nerf. The old Broken Myth was the go-to answer for teams stacking shield against the crystal power meta. This item got a serious re-work. It builds out of different stuff, and doesn’t cut through (as much) defense like it used to. That being said, it became much more efficient in certain situations. Rather than increase damage using crystal ratios, it amplifies the base damage of all crystal damage, like Joule’s Big Red Button, Krul’s Spectral Smite, and SAW’s Roadie Run which all have very high damage without crystal.

Note: while the crystal ratio was removed from Vox’s ultimate, it can still rip a team to pieces if placed correctly. While crystal Vox may not be a mainstream or common pick after this update, I expect crystal Vox with Broken Myth to still catch people off-guard. Keep your eye’s open for this, and other high base damage abilities manipulating the power of the myth that was busted!

Scout Trap

Supposedly the explosion delay on these was touch from 1.2 to 1.3 seconds. If you notice, you deserve a medal. I sure hope xmaveric doesn’t have a video of me dying to one of these in patch 1.5.

Cute Booties

In an effort to keep this post PG-13 this section doesn’t include pictures, but boots are finally worth upgrading! Tier one, two and three boots now grant 0.40, 0.45 and 0.50 movement speed respectively. The activated cooldowns have also been reduced on tier two and three boots. Upgrading to tier two boots feels like an upgrade now, not just an out-of-combat boost.

Boots still add a random amount of movement when you activate them. Wouldn’t that be a stat that you’d like to know? Me too!

Misc changes

You can find this cute lycan in the shop as an “Early Access” item. I’m really hoping someone figures this cat out, dawg. Or figures this dawg out, cat?

Epic cards were added, along with skins for Ardan, Joule, Krul, Glaive, Koshka, and Ringo! Collect cards by playing matches, or by tripping other players while playing soccer.

Bot games were added, but with the caveat that the bots will most likely attempt to execute themselves via minion damage or turret aggro. They’re not your average Decent-ish team mates, if you know what I’m saying. Maybe these games should be called “Punching Bag” games until the bots are improved a bit. Know how to code bots for Vainglory’s proprietary engine? Donate your bot code here.

Players now have another (your eyes do not deceive you) account leveling mechanic. Glory, ICE, cards, hero and skin unlocks, karma, and now account levels. While it seems crazy, it’s probably just evil. You can track your account progress by watching this cute little bar move.

It’s moving. You just have to believe!

Vainglory settings have been restored in your OS settings. Items with active abilities now have an option to have larger icons in settings. I consider this a nerf to Koshka (and a buff to iPhone users) because I always wanted to hit my Reflex Block, the game knew I wanted to hit my Reflex Block, I tapped on my Reflex Block, and the operator on the other end just kept saying “I’m sorry, the fingers you used to tap Reflex Block are too fat. Please roll your face across your phone for assistance.”

FooJee suggested a change to jungle monsters to prevent jungle invades from becoming too severe. His suggested change was to move the gold deeper into the jungle and make the minions in the middle/contested area worth less money, so it’s not as crushing to a team when they lose the level one fight. So that happened. Minions in the middle area are worth less money now, and the larger minions in the back are worth more.

Minion mines now immediately empower the existing minions on capture, and also improve their ability to dust a turret.

Heroes who inflict “Mortal Wounds” to reduce the effectiveness of healing by 33% and 50%, for Fortress and Taka respectively, now also reduce the amount of barrier generated from any source. That’s you too, Reflex Block!

conclusion

While that sums up the patch review, I expect there will be a few Easter eggs about patch 1.5 unveiled by Gadianton, as well as more information about Fortress, so stay tuned! If you’d like to receive an email whenever a post is published, subscribe using the banner on the right. It’s free, and your information won’t be sold for cheap.