Greetings Summoners!



It’s been over a year now since we first introduced Alliance Wars, and since then, much has changed in the Contest. From countless new Champions, to new Buffs, and a whole new way to traverse the map, the Contest has come a long way.



Now, it’s time for Alliance Wars to start to catch up to all of the progress and new content that has come along over the last year.



It’s time for a Shakeup!



A Brand New Map



This is definitely the biggest change coming to Alliance Wars! The new map takes advantage of many new developments that have been made in the Contest lately, and offers Summoners more freedom than they are used to in Alliance Wars. Here’s a quick rundown:



Portals have been added to the Alliance Wars Map!

One of our goals with the new Map was to give Summoners greater control over their movement in Alliance Wars, and portals help do just that! Portals will allow Summoners to move around the map more freely, allowing you to help out Alliance Mates that are in trouble, or to move away from a section that you weren’t totally prepared for.



A Bigger Map, Less Linked Nodes, and shorter Energy Refresh Times!

The new map is roughly 1.5x larger than the previous map, but now features 60 minute energy timers, just like Alliance Quests! We’ve also reduced the amount of Linked Nodes that you’ll be encountering. Our goal with this change was to increase the amount of fights you’ll be able to participate in before waiting for an Alliance Mate to unblock your path.



Points for exploration have been reduced from 450 per node to 300 per node, so as to be roughly equal to before.



Changing the Status Quo

Up until now, you’ve probably gotten pretty used to finding the more manageable fights towards the center of the map, with the more difficult fights occurring towards the outer edges of the Map, but not anymore! Now, you’ll find that the further from the center of the map you are, the easier the Buffs and Nodes become. Additionally, the closer you get to the boss, the more difficult the skirmishes will become!



You’ll also find that instead of clearing the center lanes first, to open up the outer lanes, you’ll now want to clear the outer nodes before attempting to fight the tougher fights in the center.



More Minibosses!

We’re upping the amount of Minibosses! Get ready to face off against 5 Minibosses before you want to start your fight against the Boss!



New Buffs!

Another goal we had with this new map was to play up Champion Archetypes, so be ready for more nodes like Enhanced Poison, and Enhanced Energy Damage! This should also help to increase the diversity of Champions that you encounter on the Map.



We’ve also simplified some buffs and added them together. Instead of one node featuring a 50% Champion Boost, as well as a %100 Champion boost, these will be combined into a singular %150 Champion Boost.



Goodbye to some old Nodes!

This is one that we know many of you have been waiting to hear… We’ve removed all instances of Thorns and Slashed Tires across every difficulty level!



More Information to Help Make Decisions!

To give Summoners the ability to make better informed decisions on what paths they’ll be taking, and who they’ll be matched up against, we’re cutting down on what information is hidden about potential opponents. Now, even on the most difficult levels of Alliance Wars, you will always at least be able to see the Class of the opponents you’ll be facing.



Skirmish Rewards!

Introducing, Skirmish Rewards! After completing an Alliance War, you’ll receive an in game mail message that includes the stats for all of your Alliance Mates with their performance in that War, and a small chunk of gold for each kill earned by an attacker, or defender!



Changes to Scoring Methods



As we said above, one of our major goals with this iteration of Alliance Wars was to promote a wider cast of Defenders that you’ll encounter, instead of the same Champions over and over again. In addition to promoting this with the new nodes that will boost certain attributes like Energy Damage or Bleed, we’re introducing a brand new way to earn points in Alliance Wars.



Introducing, Defender Diversity points! Defender Diversity points are awarded to Alliances for bringing in unique Champions as Defenders. You will be awarded a small amount of points for each unique Champion your Alliance places as a Defender across all of your Battlegroups. Remember, this isn’t just for every Battlegroup… All of your Battlegroups are counted! Remember, a 4-Star Hulk and a 5-Star Hulk both count as The Hulk, and are not unique!



This scoring system will not award large amounts of points, and will act more as a tiebreaker than a game changer.



That’s not all though, we’re also making a major change to a scoring method that you’re all used to. We’re now removing points for received for Defender Kills, and increasing the points received for Attacker Kills! The goal of this change was to encourage Summoners to continue their assault on the opposing Alliance, without having to worry about giving them more points, and to avoid that feeling of defeat after only trying one fight and being beaten.



You’ll still want to make sure you’re bringing in your best Defenders though, as now, wins and losses can hinge on Exploration, and you want to stop your opposition from exploring as much of the map as you can!



Never Forget! You’re an MVP!



In addition to the Stats that you’re already used to seeing in your Summoner Profile, you’ll now also have a running tally of how many times you’ve been an MVP in Alliance Wars! This is a brand new stat, and all players will start at 0 upon launch of 15.0.



New Boosts in the Loyalty Store

In addition to all of the changes we’re making to Alliance Wars, we’re also introducing some new Alliance Wars Boosts in the Loyalty Store! These 3 Boosts are only active for 3 Minutes, and are only able to be used in Alliance Wars. They are also not a permanent addition to the Loyalty store, and will only be available at random.



Advanced Power Boost: This boost will allow you to start a fight with 1 Bar of Power already stored.



Combat Regeneration Boost: This boost allows your Champion to start a fight a Regeneration Buff that will grant you 15% of your Maximum health over 20 Seconds. This regeneration cannot be nullified, but is still affected by Heal Block Nodes and Abilities. This is a Passive Regeneration and is not affected by Masteries or Abilities that would extend the length or Potency of the Regeneration (Ie. Recovery, or Dr. Voodoo’s Signature Ability)



Invulnerability Boost: This boost will allow your Champion to take no damage from the first 3 hits they receive in a fight. Remember, Special 3 attacks only count as 1 hit!



Additionally, we’re bumping up the potency of boosts that you’re already used to seeing in the Loyalty Store, like Class Specific Special and Power Boosts.



Post edited by Kabam Miike on November 2017