Patch v829 Breakdown

Welcome back, HEXers! It’s another patch week, and we’ve got a slew of card changes coming to you, hot and ready and straight from development’s kitchen! Power adjustments, community concerns, and some Shin’Hare buff-a-rific goodness are in store for you with this one. Check out all the nitty-gritty below!

TOURNAMENTS

Players are no longer asked if they want to forfeit when leaving a tournament they have been eliminated from, or that has already finished

Attempting to join a tournament now shows you the cost of joining and the rewards for winning

Improved error messaging when trying to join tournaments

GENERAL

The start of battle animation has been spiced up (this is still a work in progress)

Victory and Defeat screens have been spiced up

Cards being destroyed should no longer leave behind any pink residue

You can now cycle through multiple versions of a card while socketing

You can now sort your deck by cost in the card manager

Deck stats (Cost/Threshold breakdown, etc) now update in real-time

Reconnecting to a game should no longer prevent you from seeing the cards in your hand prior to disconnect

You can now delete sent mail

New logo while the game is loading

The “Failed to start game” bug has been squished

Players will have to accept the Terms of Service the first time the game is run

Header removed from Card Manager screen, other frames increased in size

Updated names for Starter Decks

Updated descriptions for Starter Decks and Booster Packs

Fixed navigation bar in mail and friends screens

It is no longer possible to accidentally mulligan multiple times by clicking ‘Draw again’ multiple times

The ‘Delete’ button will now delete the currently opened message in Mail

Players now have 1 minute between each round in a tournament

GAMEPLAY

Briar Legion, Ozawa, Cosmic Elder, High Tomb Lord and The Kraken no longer immediately die when put into play with Eye of Creation

and no longer immediately die when put into play with Shadowgrove Witch will no longer affect non-troop cards

will no longer affect non-troop cards Troops that have been affected by Dream Dance will now properly trigger when you have no cards in hand

The activated Revert effect of Boltpaw Wizard is no longer permanent

Bird o’ Plenty should now be able to trigger more than once per game

Setting life does not count as life gain or life loss (e.g. Immortality will not be affected by Emberspire Witch)

Troops returned to play from the graveyard with targeted effects now trigger “When this comes into play…” effects of the returned troop

Using Boltpaw Wizard’s reversion ability on an Unmerciful Tormentor no longer locks the game

Cerulean Mirror-Knight will now properly inspire troops from the graveyard when Blessing the Fallen is in play

Gas Troll now properly triggers when Ruby cards are played, not resolved

Stoneskin can no longer target a card that is targeting a different card in a zone other than the warzone (E.G. You can no longer interrupt a Countermagic on your troop by giving it Stoneskin)

Royal Falconer now costs 4, down from 5 and now has 1 Defense, down from 2

now costs 4, down from 5 and now has 1 Defense, down from 2 Phoenix Guard Scout costs 2, down from 3

costs 2, down from 3 Phoenix Guard Scout now has 1 Attack, down from 2, and now has 3 Defense, up from 2

now has 1 Attack, down from 2, and now has 3 Defense, up from 2 Shin’Hare Eulogist now has 2 Defense, up from 1

now has 2 Defense, up from 1 Cottontail Ronin now has 2 Defense, up from 1

now has 2 Defense, up from 1 Elite Battle Tech now has 4 Defense, up from 2

now has 4 Defense, up from 2 Xarlox, the Brood Lord now has 5 Defense, up from 4

now has 5 Defense, up from 4 Crazed Squirrel Titan now has 4 Defense, down from 5

now has 4 Defense, down from 5 Chimera Guard Outrider now has 4 Defense, up from 3

now has 4 Defense, up from 3 Eternal Guardian now has 4 Attack and 4 Defense, down from 5 Attack and 5 Defense

now has 4 Attack and 4 Defense, down from 5 Attack and 5 Defense Eurig the Robomancer now has 2 Attack and 3 Defense, up from 1 Attack and 2 Defense

now has 2 Attack and 3 Defense, up from 1 Attack and 2 Defense Sadistic Castigator now has 4 Attack, up from 3

now has 4 Attack, up from 3 Slaughtergear, Renegade War Factory now has 5 Attack, up from 3

now has 5 Attack, up from 3 Prophet of Lodegan now has 3 Attack, up from 2

now has 3 Attack, up from 2 Echoes of Lodegan now has 3 Attack, up from 2

now has 3 Attack, up from 2 Sensei of the Wounded Petal now costs 4, down from 5

now costs 4, down from 5 Dream Dance now costs 2, down from 3

now costs 2, down from 3 Mimic now costs 2, down from 4

now costs 2, down from 4 Hideous Conversion now costs 2, down from 3

now costs 2, down from 3 Inferno now costs 2, down from 3

now costs 2, down from 3 Oath of Valor now costs 3, down from 4

now costs 3, down from 4 Zombie Plague now costs 3, up from 2

now costs 3, up from 2 Zombie now costs 2, down from 3

now costs 2, down from 3 Circle of Preservation now costs 3, up from 2

now costs 3, up from 2 Xentoth’s Inquisitor now costs 4, up from 3

now costs 4, up from 3 The activation cost of Induction Coil is now 2, down from 3

is now 2, down from 3 Concubunny has been moved from Uncommon to Common rarity

has been moved from Uncommon to Common rarity Concubunny now costs 2, down from 3

now costs 2, down from 3 Oakhenge Ceremony has been moved from Common to Uncommon rarity

has been moved from Common to Uncommon rarity Chlorophylia now costs 2 and reads: “Play a random Wild Shard from your deck.”

now costs 2 and reads: “Play a random Wild Shard from your deck.” Blood Cauldron Ritualist now reads: “Sacrifice another troop -> This troop becomes 5[ATK]/5[DEF] this turn.” We promise, this time.

now reads: “Sacrifice another troop -> This troop becomes 5[ATK]/5[DEF] this turn.” We promise, this time. Eye of Creation now reads: “Reveal the top X cards of your deck. Put each troop revealed this way into play. Shuffle the remaining cards into your deck.”

now reads: “Reveal the top X cards of your deck. Put each troop revealed this way into play. Shuffle the remaining cards into your deck.” Jadiim now reads: “ Flight . When you play a non-resource card, Jadiim gets +X[ATK]/+X[DEF] this turn, where X is that card’s cost.”

now reads: “ . When you play a non-resource card, Jadiim gets +X[ATK]/+X[DEF] this turn, where X is that card’s cost.” Turtle Pet will now properly prevent damage to its master

KNOWN ISSUES

Champions names on the new coin flip screen have some UI problems

Champion portraits no longer show on Victory/Defeat

Fiendish Cabalist currently does not work

Reginald Lancashire’s destroy power currently does not work

Buttons in the Mail UI are missing labels

Chests in pack opening currently don’t do anything

Attack arrows sometimes do not connect to the opposing champion

Opening the option menu while in the store will lock up the game

That’s quite a heaping helping of card changes, so let’s delve into why the changes took place.

Development Highlights

What?! Why were so many costs and stats adjusted?

Thanks to feedback from the community, as well as a look at the initial goals from R&D, the development team was able to make appropriate adjustments to Set 1, Shards of Fate, before we move into beta (it’s coming soon, guys!). A couple of cards that were deemed too expensive have had their costs reduced to make them more enticing options when building decks. Other cards had some costs increased, or effects modified, primarily due to concerns about their power-level in testing. The Shin’Hare also received a huge boost with this patch update.

For the complete run-down on the changes and why they were made, check out lead developer Dan Clark’s article.

This should be one of the final big waves of card changes that we’re expecting to make for Set 1.

We’re fast approaching the day when beta arrives. Keep those bug reports coming in, and we’ll keep squashing bugs as they arrive. Thanks again for all of your support!