Archives: Live Feed

New sniper hero Gwen rolls into town, bringing the long arm of the law (and a pair of blazing guns) to the Halcyon Fold. A new social section simplifies talking with your friends, guildmates and teammates while more detailed party invites makes teaming up even easier. Plus, there are a ton of new skins, quests and a spooky map skin to enjoy. Read on for all of the details. …

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HAUNTED AUTUMN MAP SKIN

In keeping with the spirit of the season, Update 1.23 will see a spooky new version of the Halcyon Fold map. A new festive green and purple color scheme adds a nefarious element to our Autumnal celebration — complete with pools of mysterious goo. Autumn pumpkins have been replaced by jack-o-lanterns while spiderwebs, cemetery gates and other creepy surprises await. Get ready to explore this haunting new map when Update 1.23 releases.

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NEW HERO: GWEN

Gwen moves swiftly through the Fold, picking off enemies from a distance. She shakes off negative effects inflicted by her enemies, turning the tables in her favor. Gwen is best played in the lane where she can earn gold and gear up for big fights.

READ HER LORE:

• Video teases (scroll down)
• “Guns & Sun“

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GWEN EARLY-ACCESS PERIOD

Gwen will be unlockable with ICE only for the first 7 days. Afterward, you will be able to unlock Gwen with ICE or Glory.

HERO ABILITIES

 

Boomstick (Heroic Perk)

After not attacking for 1.6 seconds, Gwen’s next basic attack deals 30-115 + (50% bonus weapon power) additional damage. Attack speed reduces the time before this empowered attack becomes available.

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Buckshot Bonanza (A)

Gwen blasts enemies in the target direction, damaging all targets in a cone. Enemies hit by this ability are slowed and revealed for 2 seconds

 

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Skedaddle (B)

When activated, Gwen instantly removes negative effects from herself and blocks further effects for a short time. Additionally, she gains a temporary burst of bonus move speed.

Passive: Gwen gains bonus move speed. This effect is disabled for a few seconds upon taking damage from an enemy hero, but it is otherwise permanent.

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Aces High (Ultimate)

Gwen pulls an ace from up her sleeve and flings it in the target direction. The card deals damage to everything it passes through. The ace impacts and stuns the first enemy hero in its path.

NEW HERO SKINS

 

APPRENTICE SAMUEL (TIER I)

First 10 days – ON SALE: 675 ICE
Regular price: 900 ICE

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SERAPHIM ADAGIO (TIER II)

First 10 days – ON SALE: 1125 ICE
Regular price: 1499 ICE

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LOVE BITES BLACKFEATHER (SPECIAL EDITION)

First 10 days – ON SALE: 1948 ICE
Regular price: 2599 ICE
Opals availability: Update 1.24

NEW HERO SKINS (OPALS ONLY)

These new Special Edition skins will be immediately available for Opals in the Market. Since they are “in-season” for the first time, you can get them at an Opals discount! If you are the proud owner of the limited-edition skins from which these were inspired, you will be automatically granted an unlock to the Special Edition version!

PUMPKIN SPICE PETAL (SPECIAL EDITION)

 

• Special edition change: White pumpkin head with stitched mouth
• Special edition change: Stripes and curlicue tentacles
• Flesh-eating fruit Murgle with crazy eyes
• Tombstone seeds
• Skeleton munions
• Candlelit spookiness
• See full skin preview

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BAEWITCHED CELESTE (SPECIAL EDITION)

 

• Special edition change: “Good” witch white dress
• Broom-ride sprint
• Cauldrons drop from the sky, bubble and explode into supernovas
• Magic circle Core Collapse
• See full skin preview

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‘ORIGINAL SKIN’ IDENTIFIERS

The seven Limited Edition skins released between Autumn 2015 and Spring 2016 now have a golden glowing dagger in the Market and in the match loading screen. These visual identifiers will help set apart the original skins from the Special Edition versions being released.

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NEW IN-GAME SOCIAL SECTION

In Update 1.23, you’ll notice something different about your in-game social features. Up until now, if you wanted to check your guild status or rewards, boost a guildmate, check your team skill tier or simply chat with friends, you had to bounce all over the app — from various parts of the Allies section to Friends and back again. We’ve heard your feedback about how inconvenient and time consuming this could be, so we’ve pulled it all together into one place.

Improving Vainglory’s social features remains a constant priority and to that end, we’re introducing a new Social section. Now, the Guilds and Team areas have been combined with the chat functionality and Friends list into a single, easy-to-use section. You can access your friends, teammates and guildmates all under “Social.” No more tapping multiple tabs. No more frustrating back and forth. Just one section for all of your social needs.

We hope this encourages more players to take advantage of the many social features of the game. Most importantly, this is just the beginning. This sets the framework for further improvements to your social experiences in Vainglory, and we won’t stop until players tell us we’ve achieved excellence.

Join guilds, coordinate with your team and make friends. The new Social section awaits!

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DETAILED PARTY INVITES

When you get a party invite, have you ever wondered what kind of game you’ve been invited to? Will it be a Battle Royale that instantly kicks off before you can react or will it be a high-stakes Ranked match with players with a wildly different VST than you? Knowing the type of game you’re invited to is critical to determine if you’ll accept the invite. So in Update 1.23, when you get a party invite, the invite will tell you what game mode you’ve been invited to. Now, you have the information you need to make an informed decision on accepting that party invite. So get out there and party up!

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PERSISTENT CHAT (FULLY INTEGRATED)

Players may have noticed some exciting changes to chat during the past month. For the first time, chat is now persistent. Before, you couldn’t message a friend while they were in a match — and any messages received in an earlier chat session would be wiped out whether you read it or not. This was a huge pain to players who wanted to coordinate next matches, ask advice, finish conversations and just generally not feel like they probably missed something. Now, messages will persist with a timestamp from when you sent it.

Both guild chat and team chat are persistent as well, including the ability to see guild messages written while you were offline. So, coordinating guild times and earning Guild Fame should be easier.

Persistent Chat was first introduced last update but is now fully integrated worldwide, and it’s just one item in a long list of improvements we’re working toward.

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SKILL TIER DECAY

 

• Your skill tier will decay over time based on Ranked match inactivity.
• The higher your skill tier, the more frequently you must play Ranked to avoid decay.
• If you are within four days of experiencing decay, the skill tier progress bar in your Profile will turn red and a special reminder notification will appear.

Now that Ranked skill tiers are no longer resetting when a new season begins, we need a better way to ensure that players’ tiers remain accurate representations of their skill. Now, if a player neglects their account over a period of time or fails to hone their skills in Ranked, their skill tier will decay. The higher your skill tier, the more emphasis is placed on regular Ranked play.

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ZOOM DEFAULT

Players who prefer to play on their mobile phones may have noticed a small magnifying glass under the mini-map that was introduced in Update 1.22. By tapping on the icon, you can zoom in and out. Some players have been frustrated that they have to reset their preferred zoom level every time they open a game. Now, in Update 1.23, Vainglory will remember your preferred zoom. So when you open the game and start a match, you’ll experience the same level of zoom that you had when you last played.

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LOCAL NOTIFICATIONS

Now, you can receive local notifications so you never miss out on a Daily Chest. We hope this helps you collect more loot! All notifications can be toggled in Settings.

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TURRETS: NOW WITH LASER SIGHTS!

Good news for laners! Turrets now have a laser sight to track their targets. Before, the turret would just point in a general direction and make a noise when it initially locked on a target. For new players, it was difficult to determine when they were being targeted and why. Now, the laser sight will give players the ability to see whether or not they are being targeted by a turret before the turret fires. This will allow players to be more confident in their attacks on turrets — no more worrying the turret will suddenly fire on you when you thought it was safely preoccupied with something else. It’s a small change, but we believe it will have a big impact on the game. Read the full article.

Read it here.

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QUESTS & CHESTS IMPROVEMENTS

 

SEASON CHEST: MORE LOOT!

More cards: Now, your Season Chest drops a minimum of 3 cards. Previously, you could get a drop with 2 cards, and they would both be Opals. Now, the 3rd card is unpredictable, so there’s always a nice surprise!

QUESTS

• Bot Quests: Per player feedback, bot quests are slowly phased out for players during account levels 10-17
• Any quest that doesn’t explicitly say “Win” in the title will no longer require a win. For example: “Destroy Turrets.”
• Practice mode can no longer be used to complete quests that had previously said “any mode.”
• Added Gwen hero quests

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HERO BALANCE CHANGES

SAMUEL

MALICE & VERDICT

When inside his Drifting Dark cloud, Samuel was able to dish out far more damage than most heroes could handle. —Zekent

• Damage crystal ratio down from 70-100-130-160-220 + 110% CR to 60-90-120-150-210 + 100% CR
• Empowered damage crystal ratio down from 80-115-150-185-255 + 130% CR to 75-105-135-165-225 + 115% CR

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TAKA

KAITEN
This change is a slight boost in immunity duration to Taka, though it really only matters against turrets. —Zekent

• Fixed a bug where Taka’s Kaiten immunity would last less than his full air time of 0.6 seconds

KAKU

The healing combined with the stealth duration was a bit too powerful for the first few levels of the game. This change will make damage on Taka stick much more easily while making him a bit easier to track down. —Zekent

• Healing down from 40-50-60-70-100 to 25-40-55-70-100
• Energy cost up from 45-55-65-75-85 to 50-65-80-95-110
• Duration down from 4 to 3.0-3.2-3.4-3.6-4.0

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FORTRESS

TRUTH OF THE TOOTH

This ability will now deal basic-attack damage. This is an overall increase in early-game power and a slight improvement in damage later on in the game. —Zekent

• Now additionally deals basic-attack damage (applies on-hit effects)
• Damage down from 60-120-180-240-300 to 0-45-90-135-180

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ADAGIO

GIFT OF FIRE

Roam Adagio has a fairly substantial heal; however, a bit of a nudge upward could be just what he needs in this role. —Zekent

• Heal health ratio up from 8% to 10%

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SAW

MAD CANNON

This ability did not deal execute damage to turrets or Kraken and allowed SAW to take down the Vain crystal far quicker than he should able to. —Zekent

• No longer does execute damage to the Vain Crystal

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SKYE

FORWARD BARRAGE
Pew Pew Pew. —Zekent

• Lock-on bonus crystal ratio down from 15% to 10%

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KESTREL

Fixed a bug where Kestrel’s attack delay was occasionally slightly longer than intended. —Zekent

• 1.05 instead of 0.80

GLIMMERSHOT

Slowing down a bit of her early-game jungle clear while granting her more damage later on in a game. —Zekent

• Splash damage changed from 50-85-120-155-190 to 40-80-120-160-200
• Minion splash damage changed from 50-75-100-125-150 to 40-70-100-130-160

ACTIVE CAMO

Weapon Kestrels were relying much more heavily on their basic attacks than Glimmershot, leading her to be able to constantly cast Active Camo. This change forces Kestrel into a position where she must consistently land Glimmershot to take full advantage of her stealth. This change additionally allows crystal Kestrel to more easily activate her stealth. —Zekent

• Basic attacks no longer reduce the cooldown of this ability. Instead, landing the primary impact of Glimmershot will reduce the cooldown by 2 seconds

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PHINN

QUIBBLE

Phinn did too much damage early on in the jungle. Landing a Quibble would knock out a massive amount of health from his opponents while providing him an incredibly quick clear speed. —Zekent

• Damage changed from 230-320-410-500-590 to 160-270-380-490-600

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LANCE

IMPALE

Lance’s early game damage against both jungle camps and heroes was a bit overwhelming. Opponents will now have more of an opportunity to fight back against him. —Zekent

• Damage changed from 160-240-320-400-480 + 160% WR to 120-210-300-390-480 + 140% WR

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REIM

FROSTGUARD

Our favorite frosty mage is due for an upgrade. He is now able to accrue much more fortified health, making him harder to take down if he is able to engage effectively. —Zekent

• Maximum fortified health up from 15% to 20%
• Fixed a bug where Reim would not generate additional fortified health if he hit 15% fortified health from another source

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ALPHA

Alpha was a bit too brittle early in the game. This should make her just a bit more durable to hold off against her foes. —Zekent

• Base armor up from 20-86 to 30-86
• Base shield up from 20-86 to 30-86

PRIME DIRECTIVE
More power to Alpha’s early game and late game weapon path. —Zekent

• Base damage up from 60-80-100-120-140 + 60% WR to 80-100-120-140-160 + 80% WR

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BLACKFEATHER

HEARTTHROB

This change allows Blackfeather to be more able to rejoin a fight after expending all of his Focus. While it may not seem like much, saving one second here or there can quickly add up. —Zekent

• Focus recharge up from 7.5 to 10 per second

ON POINT
While weapon Blackfeather is fantastic when up close, he needed a stronger option when forced to fight at range. —Zekent

• Weapon ratio up from 80% to 100%

ROSE OFFENSIVE
While this doesn’t let Blackfeather cast his abilities whenever he wants, this adjustment to the Focus cost of Rose Offensive will allow him to more easily have it ready when he needs it. —Zekent

• Focus cost down from 50 to 40

ITEM CHANGES

BREAKING POINT

This item was a bit too advantageous for ranged heroes. They were able to maintain their stacks and gain stacks at a much steadier pace than their melee counterparts. This should balance out the power significantly. —Zekent

• Changed item functionality to: Gain 10 weapon power for every 125 weapon damage done to enemy heroes +5/10 (melee/ranged) damage needed for each stack thereafter. 25 stacks max. Decays 2 stacks per second after you’ve stopped stacking for 2.5 seconds.

SCOUT TRAP

The arming animation was used to indicate when a scout trap was ready to explode, however, it allows for stealth heroes to be far too easily countered by a hastily dropped scout trap. Now, you’ll either need preemptively dropped scout traps or some flares. —Zekent

• Scout Traps no longer grant vision until armed

OTHER FIXES

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ABILITY DESCRIPTIONS

• Lyra’s Arcane Passage has an updated ability description to clarify its interaction with Bright Bulwark.
• Rona’s Berserker’s Rage has an updated heroic perk description to clarify its interaction with Mortal Wounds
• Removed inaccurate “with bonus critical damage” text from Skye’s Forward Barrage description.

BUGS

• Fixed a bug where Ringo’s Hellfire Brew’s impact damage was considered buff damage instead of ability damage.
• Certain targeted projectiles will no longer time out when their intended target was killed beforehand.
• Ozo’s Acrobounce will no longer occasionally take him across the map.
• Lyra’s Bright Bulwark will now prevent entry into an Arcane Passage if it was cast before Arcane Passage was Level 1.
• Baron can no longer use Jump Jets to launch off of the Sanctuary during the 10 second pre-game start timer.
• SAW will no longer randomly target something after casting Suppressing Fire.
• Baron’s abilities won’t lose their bonus range upon restart.
• Pinging inside an enemy Ardan’s Gauntlet won’t force the ping to the center of the Gauntlet
• Ardan’s Gauntlet will completely refresh his Vengeance.
• Lance’s Gythian Wall will no longer, in rare instances, get heroes stuck inside a wall.

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Dig in and enjoy the spooky new map skin, new hero, new Social Section, new skins and so much more. And if you enjoy Vainglory, be sure to leave a positive review on the Amazon, Android or iOS App Store. Spreading the word about Vainglory is a great way to grow the community!

Gwen moves swiftly through the Fold, picking off enemies from a distance. She can shake off negative effects, turning the tables in her favor. Gwen is best played in the lane where she can earn gold and gear up for big fights.

Read on for Gwen’s abilities. …

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HERO ABILITIES

Boomstick (Heroic Perk)

After not attacking for a brief time, Gwen’s next basic attack deals additional weapon damage. Attack speed reduces the time before this empowered attack becomes available.

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Buckshot Bonanza (A)

Gwen blasts enemies in the target direction, damaging all targets in a cone. Enemies hit by this ability are slowed and revealed for a short time.

 

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Skedaddle (B)

When activated, Gwen instantly removes negative effects from herself and blocks further effects for a short time. Additionally, she gains a temporary burst of bonus move speed.

Passive: Gwen gains bonus move speed. This effect is disabled for a few seconds upon taking damage from an enemy hero, but it is otherwise permanent.

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Aces High (Ultimate)

Gwen pulls an ace from up her sleeve and flings it in the target direction. The card deals damage to everything it passes through. The ace impacts and stuns the first enemy hero in its path.

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VIDEO TEASERS

Want to see more of Gwen? Check out the teaser trailers for this new hero:

https://youtu.be/hhFJZPBlXxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_TgjbQF8_w&feature=youtu.be

 

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Keep an eye on the in-game News section for more Gwen info and guides. Gwen will hit the Halcyon Fold in Update 1.23. 

What if, rather than fostering with Lyra, Samuel was sent to the Mage Academy for his instruction? ‘Apprentice’ Samuel is a student of Nethermagic, ready to take the reins from the Headmistress.

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CHECK OUT HIS 3D MODEL: 

SKIN HIGHLIGHTS:

• Wool coat emblazoned with the Gythian Mage Academy’s emblem
• Wand holster with baldric
• Krakenshell spectacles

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ALTERNATE FATE LORE

The Door at the Top of the Stair

On the cold Haunting Night, the students at the Gythian Mage Academy tucked up in bed with hot bricks by their feet and fires glowing in the hearths, their doors locked. The most provincial students had shoved bureaus and chairs up against the doors, as if that would protect them.

Not Samuel. He had not even unbuttoned his uniform wool coat. His wand, Malice, was snuggled in his buckled baldric. At lights out he’d pulled his quilt up to his chin and waited, listening into the dark, until he heard the girl-ghost’s whisper: The supervisor’s poured his drink. He won’t bother you now.

In the pitch black he unfolded his spectacles and crept through the academy where he’d lived since he was four years old. There was not a secret passage he had not explored before. Only at the winding stairs did he dare allow Malice to cast a faint glow, illuminating the spirits that waited at the edge of the Nether, for when the moon was dark on Haunting Night, the dead came to life again during the Witching Hour.

Samuel jogged up the stairs in silence, skipping the creaky ones, the breath of the girl-ghost in his right ear.

At the top was a door. He pulled a pocketwatch from his coat and held it up to Malice’s meager light. Two minutes to midnight.

Will you really go inside?

Samuel wiped dust from the door with his sleeve. There was no knob and no lock, only an inscription in old Gythian which he translated out loud in a whisper: “Who holds Verdict wields the power of the academy.”

He felt the girl-ghost swirl around between him and the door. He could see her edges flash in the low light. You got a word wrong, she said. Who holds Verdict wields the responsibility of the academy.

“Whatever,” said Samuel, untying a ribbon around his neck from which dangled a key made of onyx. “A day of chaos is just what this school needs. Now go inside.”

The girl-ghost hesitated. What will you do?

“Nothing bad,” coaxed Samuel. “Just some last-year pranks. Color Mrs. Llanfair’s skin blue. Turn Mr. Chepstow’s corgi into a rat. Mix up all the exams.” He looked again at his pocketwatch. One minute to midnight. He knelt down and slid the key under the door.

Cool, airy arms wrapped around his neck. And if I do as you ask, you will do as you promised?

“My love,” crooned Samuel, “the prank is but an excuse to fulfill your desire.” He saw, in the glow, the outline of her crooked smile. “Hurry inside or our accord will be broken.”

The girl-ghost reached out to touch his face, but the incorporeal fingers passed through his cheeks.

At five seconds to midnight, the girl-ghost slipped through the locked door.

At midnight, the staircase came alive with a throng of people. There were former students in antique school uniforms, teachers with flouncing dresses and gentlemen in coattails and top hats, for they had been dressed handsomely for their coffins. They paid Samuel little mind; they had but an hour to cavort and dance together. They filed arm-in-arm down the staircase and through doors, which they had to open, to the ballroom, where eerie music played, and the scent of roses drifted all around.

Samuel stared down at the ribbon until it slid all the way under the door. He heard the lock in the door turn, for the door could only be unlocked from the inside, and it swung open wide. There in the dim light stood the girl, a ghost no longer, in a tartan skirt and uniform coat like Samuel’s, the key’s ribbon swinging from her fist. She was gangly and pale, her elbows, knees, hips, chin and nose all sharp corners, her mousy hair cropped to her shoulders, and at the back of her head he saw a great wound in her skull. She’d fallen from this very staircase, generations ago, before she could taste her first kiss.

Samuel strode past her to the glass case where the wand named Verdict was displayed. Without hesitation he snatched the wand and slid it into his baldric. “Well done, my partner in crime,” he murmured, turning, closing in on her. He tilted up her pointy chin and brushed his lips against hers. She shivered and sputtered when he let her go, which made him laugh. “Let us be off to the ballroom and have a dance.”

“What if the Headmistress catches you?” she whispered, startling at the loudness of her living voice.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m the Headmaster now,” said Samuel, and the two joined the throng of living ghosts, dancing away the Witching Hour until the moment when the ribbon dropped from the girl-ghost’s incorporeal fingertips.

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CANON SAMUEL LORE:

The Nightmare
The Trial

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In this regular column, Vainglory Senior Editor BicycleSquid highlights interesting, confusing, complex or obscure aspects of Vainglory. If you’d like to see a topic covered, let him know here.

Every time you start a new season, we want you to be excited for new, rewarding experiences. To that end, we introduced a new currency, Opals, which open up amazing opportunities for you to unlock Special Edition skins at whatever pace fits your playstyle.

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What are Opals & how do I get them?

Opals are a super-rare currency that you may get from your Daily Chest and Season Chest. Use Opals to unlock Special Edition skins such as Moon Princess Celeste and Summer Party SAW.

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How do I spend my Opals?

Visit the in-game Market and look for skins with an Opals icon and cost. Eventually, there will be a dedicated Opals section of the Market that only contains these Special Edition skins.

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What Opals skins will be available and when?

So far, Summer Party Phinn is the only skin available to unlock with Opals. More and more Special Edition skins will be added over time, based on the phases below:

PHASE ONE: ICE PURCHASE

• When a Special Edition (often seasonal) skin is first released, it will be directly purchasable with ICE.
• That skin will also be placed inside the Season Chest. If you’re really lucky, you can instantly unlock the new Special Edition skin when you use a key to open the Season Chest!

PHASE TWO: OPALS MARKET (IN SEASON)

One update later (aprox. one month after release), the Special Edition skin will move into the Opals section of the Market and no longer be available for direct ICE purchase. At this point, the only way to get the skin is with Opals.

At this point, the skin is also considered “in season.” When a skin is first in season, it will be available at a significant Opals discount. I can’t stress this enough: If you can get a skin with Opals during its first season, do it!

PHASE THREE: OPALS MARKET (OUT OF SEASON)

When the next season launches, the out-of-season skin’s Opals cost may go up significantly. This may also vary from skin to skin. Note: A skin is only “in season” once; it won’t be at a reduced price again a year later.

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Coming Soon: ‘Baewitched’ Celeste & ‘Pumpkin Spice’ Petal (Special Editions)

Vainglory has been cast into darkness by Petal’s eternal enemy, the Bleekos! Introducing the new Special Edition versions of ‘Pumpkin Spice’ Petal and ‘Baewitched’ Celeste — spooky new designs based on the original Limited Edition favorites.

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What’s the difference between Limited Edition and Special Edition skins?

Seven Limited Edition seasonal skins were released in the past between Spring 2015 and Autumn 2016. These include fan favorites such as Gift-Wrapped Fortress, Pumpkin Spice Petal and Night Shadow Taka. Over time, we will be releasing new Special Edition versions of these skins that are distinctly different than the originals. And good news: If you already own the original Limited Edition skin, you will automatically get the new Special Edition skin at no additional cost!

Important note: These seven reissued skins only will skip the “direct ICE purchase” phase and go directly into the Opals Market upon release.

Moving forward, we will release Special Edition skins, often seasonal in nature. New Special Edition skins will follow the phases above, starting as a direct ICE purchase and then move into the Opals Market. So, your Opals can be used on any future Special Edition skin!

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DISCLAIMER: EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE! 

The Opals system is brand-new, and we’re going to learn a lot over time and hear feedback from the Vainglory Community. What we’ve stated above is the current plan of record, but we may need to tweak — or even overhaul — the plan for Opals and Special Edition skins as we learn what’s working amazingly well and what’s not. Please do not consider any statements about Opals or Special Edition skins as forever set in stone. That said, we’ll do our very best to alert players well in advance if any changes are incoming.

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Opals are already in the game! Go play and collect them now and save up for that Special Edition skin of your dreams.

The winds of Autumn have brought change to the Halcyon Fold. With the new season comes an explosive new sniper hero and a new season reward system. Plus, there are new interface and control options along with a cornucopia of new quests. Let’s dig in …

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AUTUMN SEASON HALCYON FOLD MAP

Explore the latest map to discover all kinds of seasonal touches — including pumpkins, falling leaves and other autumnal flora. In addition, the brush has been redesigned to look better and be more clear, especially when hunched heroes like Reim have stalked into cover. Use the mini-map to look around or just take a stroll!

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AUTUMN SEASON REWARDS

The Autumn season offers an improved Daily Chest, a new Season Chest, a new currency to unlock past Special Edition skins and much more. Of course, you can still collect Sunlight to boost your rewards and get bonus Sunlight from wearing skins in matches.

It’s been a full season since we introduced the new seasonal rewards system, and we’re pleased by the player response. Still, we wanted to go a step further, make rewards bigger and give players more chances to win huge rewards.

In addition to your Daily Chest, Autumn introduces a new Season Chest that will offer amazing rewards like ICE, Glory, cards, currency jackpots and even entire skins instantly! In order to open a Season Chest, you need to find keys, which will be awarded through our Autumn level rewards system. Play more games, earn more Sunlight, level up and you’ll get chest rewards like you’ve never seen.

We want the opening of a chest to be filled with anticipation and possibility — and we’re looking forward to loading up the new Season Chest with all sorts of things that will blow you away.

We wanted to spice up the Daily Chest as well. Not only will you be able to get your usual rewards of Glory, ICE, boosts and Essence, but you’ll also now have an opportunity to get even bigger rewards like keys to the new Season Chest and a new currency called Opals used to unlock skins from past seasons.

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OPALS & ‘ORIGINAL SKIN’ IDENTIFIERS

We’ve taken steps to honor those players who acquired skins when they first came out:

• Read more about Opals and “Original Skin” identifiers.
• Read about Special Edition skin reissues (color changes)

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NO RANKED SKILL TIER RESET FOR AUTUMN

• Your Ranked skill tier will not reset at the beginning of Autumn season.
• We intend to introduce “skill tier decay” in the future, whereby neglected accounts will gradually drop in skill tier. (You must play regularly on that account to prevent decay.)

While there is very real and substantive work being done now to improve the Matchmaker, we realized that we also had a matchmaking perception problem. In many cases, players believed a matchmaking pairing was poor because of a visual skill tier disparity between themselves and their allies. If you’re Hotness and get paired with two Just Beginning allies, you understandably assume the Matchmaker did a poor job. But in reality, all those players had remarkably similar hidden Matchmaking Ratings (MMRs). For more about the difference between VST and MMR, read this.

By no longer resetting Ranked skill tiers, these skill tiers will become more and more accurate representations of a player’s true skill over time. You won’t run into any more Just Beginning players who are actually at Hotness skill level. The end result is easier-to-understand Matchmaking where the players you’re paired with visually match your skill tier far more often, creating more confidence in the quality of the match.

Additionally, we will most likely introduce “skill tier decay” at a future date. This would be to ensure that players don’t “retire” accounts following the removal of seasonal skill tier resets. In order to maintain your skill tier, you’d have to play on that account regularly. The skill tier on neglected accounts would degrade over time.

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SKILL TIER POINTS

• Your ranked profile now shows your exact skill tier number, helping you assess your progress toward the next tier.

NEW HERO

NEW HERO: BARON

Baron is a soldier who specializes in raining destruction on his opponents. He brings incredible range and powerful burst damage to any team. With his rocket launcher, even his basic attacks have area-of-effect damage. When building crystal items, he becomes mobile artillery, laying siege to enemy teams. His weapon path enables aggressive in-your-face tactics. Though slow, his powerful jump jets allow him to reach new positions. His ultimate ability calls in an orbital strike that devastates an area.

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READ HIS LORE:

• Baron Lore I: “Sierra Kilo Yankee Echo.”
• Baron Lore II: “Baron’s Choice.”

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BARON EARLY-ACCESS PERIOD

Baron will be unlockable with ICE only for the first 7 days. Afterward, you will be able to unlock Baron with ICE or Glory.

HERO ABILITIES

 

Rocket Launcher (Heroic Perk)

Baron’s basic attacks deal 130% weapon damage to the target and surrounding enemies. These explosions deal reduced damage to lane minions.

 

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Porcupine Mortar (A)

Baron launches artillery toward the target location, damaging enemies on impact. Enemies caught by the explosion are also slowed for a short period of time. Weapon power strengthens the slow while crystal power increases the range of the ability.

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Jump Jets (B)

After a short delay, Baron launches to the target location, then gains bonus move speed for a short period of time. After landing, his next basic attack fires quickly and reloads instantly. Crystal power can extend the range of the jump while weapon power can shorten the delay of the jump.

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Ion Cannon (C)

Baron targets a location for an orbital strike. After a brief delay, the location is obliterated, dealing massive damage to all enemies in the area. This deals full damage to enemies near the center and deals less near the edges. This ability also passively increases Baron’s basic attack range every level.

NEW HERO SKINS

All these skins will be available for purchase with ICE the moment Update 1.22 arrives and they’ll be on sale! The Update 1.22 Skin Sale will offer all of these skins for 25% off for the first 10 days. 

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MOON PRINCESS CELESTE (SPECIAL EDITION AUTUMN SEASON SKIN)

• First 10 days – ON SALE: 1949 ICE
• Regular price: 2599 ICE

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DEAR DIARY LYRA (TIER III)

• First 10 days – ON SALE: 1949 ICE
• Regular price: 2599 ICE

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NETHERKNIGHT LANCE (TIER II)

• First 10 days – ON SALE: 1125 ICE
• Regular price: 1499 ICE

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Keep an eye on the in-game News section for official skin lore, dev interviews and in-game skin spotlights.

NEW QUESTS

Autumn season brings with it some new hero quests, bot quests and more community quests!

COMMUNITY QUESTS

• New Conquests (submitted by player Deathscyth):
  • Destroy 50 Turrets (in 100 hours / 4.16 days)
  • Destroy 100 Turrets (in 7 days)

Remember to submit your quests ideas here! Punchpop will pick some periodically to turn into real quests.

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HERO QUESTS

• Petal & Baron now have quests like other heroes. (Hooray for Petal!)

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QUEST CHANGES

• Bot Quests: Decreased chances of bot quests for players at higher levels.
• Based on player feedback, we’ve permanently removed the “Use Glory Boost” quest.

INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS

We’re always striving to improve players’ game experiences, and that means looking at new ways for players to interact with Vainglory.

PHONE-OPTIMIZED LAYOUT OPTIONS

Vainglory was originally optimized for tablets, but we’ve found that increasingly large numbers of players prefer to play on phones. Over time, we’ve been improving the game experience for these phone-first players, and we’re taking a huge step forward in Update 1.22.

The new layout takes full advantage of how phone players hold their device, putting items on the left-hand side underneath your thumb for much easier access and faster reaction times. If you had trouble hitting your Crucible or Fountain in time for a clutch save, you’ll be surprised what a big difference item layout changes can make! Buffs are now located above the items (instead of in the lower corner), and because of these moves, the social pings (smiley face, etc) are pushed further up in the corner.

If you don’t like the changes or just feel too used to the “old way,” simply go to Settings on your device to change it back.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR INTERFACE LAYOUT

ON iOS:

• GO to your Settings app.
• Scroll all the way down to Vainglory.
• Change the HUD Layout setting

ON ANDROID:

• Open the Vainglory app.
• Tap on your Profile section
• Tap on the “gears” icon to open your Settings

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CAMERA SHIFT

Camera shift is a little feature with massive positive implications for players.

Ever wish you could see just a little bit farther in the Halcyon Fold to land an ability or see a fight coming? Now you can! With the improved mini-map and camera, you can see more, easier. Here’s how it works: When you do a quick swipe on the mini-map, it will shift the camera’s base offset from your hero. Meaning, if you swipe quickly right on the mini-map, it will shift the camera to the right of your hero (to a certain max) and stay that way, allowing you to see more on the right side of the screen but less on the left. Tapping the mini-map and releasing quickly will reset the camera to normal. Camera shift does not alter the rules of vision, but it can often be the difference between life and death or securing a kill or sulking away.

Try a match with Celeste to hit your Helios more easily, and try shifting the camera down when heading to Jungle Shop to prevent running face-first into an enemy jungler!

Using this feature will take some experimentation, but most players will have an “ah-ha!” moment when they realize how freeing and useful this feature can be.

• Swipe the mini-map to shift the camera and see farther on the map.
• Tap the mini-map and release to reset the camera to normal.
• Camera shift does not alter the existing rules of vision.

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FULL MULTI-TOUCH CONTROLS

Great news! Now, Vainglory’s user interface has full multi-touch controls. In simple terms, this means you can now tap on multiple screen elements at once. There are a ton of positive implications of this. First, if you hold your finger down on the screen, your hero will follow your finger wherever it goes. No more spamming the screen with a million taps (if you don’t want to)!

Multi-touch also makes it possible to use many abilities more easily. For example, when lining up someone’s global ability (like Kestrel or Celeste), you’ll be able to move the camera around with the mini-map and activate an ability. Pretty nifty stuff. You no longer have to execute a weird sequence of alternating touches to do certain things well or worry about losing a crucial tap to an accidental multi-touch. Try it out!

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NETWORK TROUBLESHOOTING HELPER TEXT

In the Play menu, there’s a Wi-Fi icon that shows the quality of your local Internet connection. If the icon gets above certain thresholds, it will turn yellow for bad and red for very bad. The problem is, some players don’t know what to do when they get that “bad connection” notification. To help, new tooltips will walk you through hints for resolving your local network latency issues. We hope this ultimately improves your play experience.

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NEW WAYS TO INVITE FRIENDS

 

We’re excited to announce new ways to invite your friends to Vainglory! Use email, SMS and your favorite social networks to get your friends into the game and party up. Better yet, make or join a guild with your new buds for maximum end-of-season rewards. Nothing’s more fun than playing with friends, and getting them into the game just got much easier. Check out this new invitation system in your Friends list.

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SUMMER SEASON REWARDS & REMINDERS

The leaves are changing and it’s too brisk for flip-flops. That can only mean that Autumn is just around the corner. While you may be loathe to put away that bathing suit, the end of the Summer season is also a time to celebrate because it’s payout time! In addition to the usual rewards based on guild fame, we’re adding bonus Summer Party cards based on your seasonal level to help players get those Special Edition skins.

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BONUS REWARD SUMMARY

• Everyone from seasonal Level 1 & up will receive bonus Summer Party cards.
• The higher your seasonal level, the more total bonus cards you’ll receive.
• With the inclusion of these card bonuses, thousands upon thousands of players will have participated enough in Summer (Sunlight from matches + weekend card events) to unlock Summer Party Krul or Summer Party SAW at no charge.
• You still have two more weekends to participate in card events and improve your season-end bonuses!

The better your seasonal level, the better your rewards will be. This will be a bonus payout separate from the seasonal guild payout. Higher levels will receive more total cards, so play as much as possible to collect maximum Sunlight before the season ends.

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REMEMBER GUILD FAME!

Like in previous seasons, you’ll receive a payout of Glory and/or ICE based on your guild level. Important reminder: You must be a full “Member” of your guild (based on participation) and not just an “Initiate” to receive payouts. Initiates don’t get payouts, so if you’re an initiate, play more matches with guildmates now to advance your tier!

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ANOTHER BONUS PAYOUT: SEASON CHEST KEY

Your season-ending payout will also include a key to the new Season Chest. Use the key to open the chest and receive a hefty reward. In fact, it’s possible for the Season Chest to grant an instant skin unlock or jackpot of other currencies.

HERO BALANCE CHANGES

 

ALPHA

PRIME DIRECTIVE

We wanted to increase the reliability of Crystal Alpha. —Zekent

• Direct damage weapon ratio down from 120% to 60%
• Damage per stack weapon ratio up from 0% to 40%
• Direct damage crystal ratio up from 90% to 200%
• Damage per stack crystal ratio down from 90% to 40%

CORE CHARGE

Following the same line as the change to Prime Directive, some more consistent damage for Crystal Alpha can go a long way.  —Zekent

• Crystal ratio up from 80% to 100%

TERMINATION PROTOCOL

It is far too common for an enemy to simply walk away from Alpha as Termination Protocol is activated. This small increase in movement speed may allow her to land this powerful ability a bit more often. —Zekent

• Self slow down from 70% to 50%

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KOSHKA

POUNCY FUN

While Koshka is meant to do some serious damage with her abilities, this was hitting a bit harder than we would like even with a low amount of Crystal in her build. —Zekent

• Damage changed from 75-140-205-270-400 + 120% CR to 75-130-185-240-350 + 130% CR

EMPOWERED BASIC ATTACKS

Being locked in place after an empowered attack dramatically reduced Koshka’s mobility in engagements. This change will allow Koshka to maneuver around fights much more easily. This change is a fairly substantial increase in power for Koshka, as it means that it will be even more difficult for her enemies to lock her down. —Zekent

• Koshka’s empowered basic attacks no longer lock her in place longer than a normal basic attack

TWIRLY DEATH

While this ability does some decent damage, the main bonus granted is the two empowered attacks following it. Tuning this down a bit gives Koshka a bit less AoE damage, further focusing her toward a single-target assassin. —Zekent

• Crystal ratio down from 100% to 80%

YUMMY CATNIP FRENZY

• Fixed a bug where this ability would sometimes not automatically cancel if used on a target with Reflex Block activated.

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RONA

For a hero who is supposed to be in the front lines brawling, Rona was a bit too easy to take down. —Zekent

• Health up from 799-1789 to 815-1893

INTO THE FRAY

With a fair number of highly mobile heroes on the Fold, Rona needed a few more opportunities to gain Bloodrage and stick to her targets. —Zekent

• Cooldown down from 16-15-14-13-11 to 14-13-12-11-10
• Bloodrage generation up from 20 to 25-25-25-25-35

RED MIST

While Red Mist is a powerful ability, Rona would often not be able to activate it in situations where she most needed it because of the high Bloodrage requirement. —Zekent

• Bloodrage requirement to activate down from 75 to 50

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OZO

THREE-RING CIRCUS

We’re increasing Ozo’s survivability through healing. While he may take a decent chunk of damage during Acrobounce, using Three-Ring Circus in opportune situations can quickly heal him back up. —Zekent

• Heal-per-hit up from 15-25-35-45-55 to 15-30-45-60-75

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JOULE

HEAVY PLATING

Joule’s perk was simply not covering enough area, leading her to take far more damage than she could handle. —Zekent

• Perk arc increased from 90° to 220°
  • Armor and shield granted by this perk increased from 40-150 to 50-175

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PHINN

FORCED ACCORD

Phinn was able to pull his enemies in a bit too often, with too little punishment for missing his ultimate. There will now be a longer grace period for his opponents to take advantage of his slow movement speed. —Zekent

• Cooldown up from 60-45-30 to 70-55-40
• Cooldown “refund on miss” down from 0-15-30% to 0-10-20%
• No longer refunds cooldown if Reflex Blocked

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LYRA

PRINCIPLE ARCANUM

The sheer amount of slow on her basic attack was a bit too frustrating to play against — especially early on before enemies had an opportunity to purchase boots. Lane mage Lyra was also able to take advantage of high attack speed and Principle Arcanum’s slow to endlessly kite her foes. —Zekent

• Slow on basic attack down from 70% to 35% + 1% bonus health ratio
• Energy cost up from 12-20 to 15-20

IMPERIAL SIGIL

Lyra was able to use to her Imperial Sigil a bit too frequently without having many worries about her energy pool. She will now need to use it a bit more sparingly, though she can overcome the increase in cost with some energy items. —Zekent

• Energy cost changed from 65-70-75-80-85 to 60-70-80-90-100

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ADAGIO

GIFT OF FIRE

Taking Crystal Adagio’s healing down a notch. The previous numbers allowed for Crystal Adagio to have the best of both worlds: high sustain and damage. Now, Adagio must choose to lean more heavily toward one side. —Zekent

• Burst heal crystal ratio down from 45% to 30%
• Healing/sec crystal ratio down from 20% to 10%

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PETAL

MUNION AI

Munions have gone to stutterstepping school and are now amazing.—Zekent

• Dramatically improved Munion AI; they now attack significantly faster.

MUNIONS

Seriously. They attack REALLY fast now. This will tone down some of the pain they can dish out. —Zekent

• Damage down from 8-16-24-32-48 +50% CR to 6-13-20-27-41  + 40% CR
  

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION

Making this ability more controllable. Enjoy! —Zekent

• If Petal has a target selected, the munion closest to her target will explode. If no target is selected, the munion closest to Petal will explode.

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SKYE

TARGET LOCK

Skye was able to use her abilities from a bit too far away when she had a few points in Death From Above. This additionally allows her to stay closer to her targets early on in the game and addresses an issue where Skye was able to basic attack turrets from outside of her lock range. —Zekent

• Base range where a lock could be applied up from 8 to 8.5
• Additional lock range from leveling Death From Above down from 2-4-6 to 1.5-3.0-4.5

SURI STRIKE

A bit less power across the board. Skye is slippery enough as is. This also means that Forward Barrage will be ready just a bit less often. —Zekent

• Cooldown up from 13-11.5-10-8.5-5.5 to 14-12-10-8-6

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LANCE

IMPALE

A bit more incentive to build some crystal power on Lance. Being able to lock your enemies in place for your allies can greatly increase his effectiveness against certain heroes. —Zekent

• Root duration crystal ratio up from 0.001 to 0.0015 (100 crystal for an additional 0.15-second root)

GYTHIAN WALL

Even more crystal power bonuses! Yay! —Zekent

• Stun duration crystal ratio up from 0.2% to 0.3% (100 Crystal for an additional 0.3-second stun)

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CELESTE

CORE COLLAPSE

With a number of slippery foes on the Fold, Celeste needs to have a few more opportunities to lock down her opponents to take them out before they can finish her off. —Zekent

• Cooldown down from 16-15-14-13-10 to 14-13-12-11-9

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ITEM CHANGES

STORMGUARD BANNER

Just a bit more damage for Stormguard Banner. —Zekent

• Damage up from 25-75 to 30-80
  

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STORMCROWN

A small amount of power for Stormcrown will make it a more worthwhile choice for roamers. —Zekent

• Damage up from 50-150 to 60-160

Editor’s note: These Stormguard Banner and Stormcrown changes were locked prior to the North America Summer Live Championships and the introduction of the “Tension-Crown” build. We’ll keep an eye on it, and if any changes are necessary, we’ll adjust in Update 1.23.

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CLOCKWORK

Though Clockwork is a fairly powerful purchase with the introduction of the Crystal Amplification passive, it was still not quite up to par with some other options.

• Crystal amplification up from 25% to 30%

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IPHONE UPDATES

• Vainglory is no longer compatible with iOS 6.1.
• For players who are on an iPhone 5 (not 5S) and upgrade to iOS 10, the game will crash for you. We are working to resolve.

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BUG FIXES

• Fixed a bug where gold trickle, experience trickle, health regeneration and energy recharge was happening every 1.1 seconds instead of every 1 second
• Removed text from Samuel’s Corrupted Genius perk description that incorrected indicated that there was a crystal ratio on the damage.
• Fixed a bug where SAW could cancel another SAW’s Roadie Run.
• Fixed a bug where jungle monsters would follow invisible targets.
• Fixed a bug where Taka would continue attacking after activating Kaku, which would immediately end Kaku.
• Fixed a bug where an existing Lyra Arcane Passage could be reused immediately if another instance of Arcane Passage was cast.
• Fixed a bug where Lyra’s Bright Bulwark did not prevent enemies from entering her portal for its full duration
• Fixed a bug where Ozo could not activate Acrobounce on minions in Battle Royale.
• Fixed a bug where Alpha could regenerate while having Termination Protocol activated.
• Can no longer buy Minion Candy with a full inventory.
• Reim’s Frostguard perk description now accurately describes its functionality.
• Glaive’s Afterburn description now mentions its stun (duh!)

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Autumn season is overstuffed with new content and experiences. Feast on the new rewards system, new hero, new skins and much more! Remember to open your Daily Chest every day in the SEASON tab of your profile, and collect keys to open the new, awesome Season Chest. Autumn’s bounty awaits!

Well, that was rough.

The community reaction to bringing back past seasonal skins through the new Opals system was swift and fierce. We’ve been reading every tweet, post, message and email from players on the topic, and we spent pretty much all night discussing how we could try to make this right. First up: For any players who feel betrayed by the return of limited-edition skins, we’re sorry. Mea culpa. Our intent was not to wrong you or renege on past promises; our intent was to give the millions of players who joined the game too late a chance to get in on the fun. We thought the inclusion of “original skin” identifiers would be enough to clearly distinguish the “OGs” from the newcomers and additionally honor those who supported us from the beginning. But many longtime players told it we got it wrong and these identifiers weren’t enough.

So, here’s the new plan …

We’re still implementing the Opals Market and doing the “original skin” identifiers. But additionally, we’re going to make the original skins truly sacrosanct by keeping them unique. Any reissued seasonal skins will be recolored to identify them in game as something new. The particular choices will vary from skin to skin, but the goal is to make reissued skins clearly different.

For example, the reissue of Red Lantern Koshka might have Koshka in a yellow dress in-game and in the splash art instead. (I’m literally making up the skin particulars since we’re making this change on the fly in reaction to the community response.) In this example, if you got Red Lantern Koshka when she first came out, then only you and longtime players like you could play with the Koshka in the red dress. Any newer players would still see that and say, How’d they get that? Where’d it come from? I don’t see that available anywhere. Yeah, newer players could embark on a multi-season grind to collect enough Opals to unlock yellow-dress Koshka, but they’ll never have that red dress, no matter how hard they try or how much they’re willing to spend.

And remember: The Opals grind is long. For a newer player to grind the Red Lantern Koshka reissue skin, it would take two full seasons of matches. The Opals grind for Night Shadow Taka would take five full seasons of matches. That grind could theoretically be shortened through spending ICE on keys and using keys to open Season Chests, but taking those shortcuts would be quite costly.  

One more thing …

Each time a reissued seasonal skin comes out, the unlock will be automatically granted to all longtime players who acquired the skin the first time around. To extend the above example, if you got Red Lantern Koshka when it first came out, the day her reissue is released, you’ll find that reissue already unlocked and available to you. So, on Day One, you can pounce, twirl and frenzy in that new yellow skin — or perhaps even better, go out into the Fold in the original red to show off how legit you are.

We hope this decision quells the concerns and alleviates the frustration of our longest and most dedicated supporters, but the truth is, this won’t be our last mistake. We’re making a lot of decisions for the future of the game every day. We’re going to do everything we can to make the vast majority of those decisions good ones, but every now and then, we’ll really step in it. Our promise and commitment is that we will always listen, and if there’s anything we can do, we’ll react swiftly and forcefully.

Thank you for supporting us. This has been, and always will be, a dialogue and partnership in evolving Vainglory into the best game it can be. With your help, the seasons to come will always be better than the last. —PlayoffBeard & SEMC team

‘Sierra Kilo Yankee Echo‘

While his family’s fortune burns, Baron pursues the culprit …

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Baron rolled up the door to the hangar’s private garage. The glowing blue of his skin illuminated the Heavy Armor Rapid Deployment armor parked inside. It had been commissioned for his family’s new alliance, with helmet and joints sculpted into roaring tiger heads, power amplification haptic controls and reinforced plating built to withstand heavy kinetic rounds. He pressed his thumb to the lockpad and the exoframe opened with a quiet hum.

He realized then that he was still holding the silver cage. He lowered it down and swung open the door. The goose lectured him with furious honks before escaping out of the hangar.

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At the Choosing, a servant had handed the large silver cage to him and guided him with deep backward-walking bows to the line of betrothed young men. Inside the cage, an angry goose flapped and hissed. The other grooms held wooden geese, representing the bird’s tendency to mate for life, but Baron’s mother had insisted that her eldest son have a live goose to present to his future in-laws.

It seemed to bother no one that the goose had been taken from her lifelong mate for the purposes of the ceremony.

Some of the betrothed young women forced their gracious smiles, their sad eyes darting across the room to the men they’d hoped to marry. Nari Tiger’s expression gave away nothing as she bowed before his parents with her two cupped hands full of chestnuts and dates, symbolizing the many children she would bear for him. Baron supposed he’d never know whether he’d been her first choice. It didn’t matter.

“The fireworks are early!” cried Baron’s mother in dismay, pointing at the windows, and a greedy murmur sounded among the guests as they crowded to get outside. Baron’s father chuckled, taking his son by the shoulders and guiding him along with the crowd.

“Your mother will have the pyrotechnicians beheaded,” he murmured.

“As well she should,” said Baron. “The other mothers watch for any mistake.”

They were met at the door by the general. “Sir,” he said, leaning in close to Baron’s father, “it is not fireworks.”

The three men stepped outside together, watching the night sky light up over the distant crystal mines.

“Who would attack the mines?” whispered Baron’s father.

“No one on the peninsula,” said the general. “but the Tigers…”

“They are united with us now.”

“And they do not have this kind of firepower.”

The sky burst with blue fire and smoke billowed up from the source of the land’s only power, its only wealth. “No,” said Baron as understanding sank down his spine. “But we do.”

The general locked eyes with Baron and he turned around, scanning the room for someone he would not find.

Out of the house Baron went, into the smoke roiling with tiny crystal splinters that slid under his skin and glowed blue. Behind him, the families gathered, their growing panic a low murmur. He followed the trail of wilted orchids, loose screws and gold rings to Skye’s repair lift. The blue overcoat Skye had worn to the Choosing lay crumpled there.

There are times I wish that the mines would disappear.

~

He placed his rings and silver-threaded overcoat aside and settled into his exosuit. It locked into place around him, helmet last, the HUD blinking awake as the skydoor whirred open. The jump jets activated with a vibrating rumble that chattered his teeth. He bent his knees and the exoframe bent with him, a powerful extension of his every move; he jumped, launching through the skydoor, high over the hangar, high enough for his visor to register in infrared the scramble of minions in their pens, the burning mines, and all the way at the shoreline of the peninsula, one lone heat signature where he’d known she would be waiting for him.

As always there was a moment when he wished he did not have to come back down.

“Sierra Kilo Yankee Echo,” he said, “do you copy?”

https://youtu.be/Rdb61po5YUs

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Read more of Baron’s story:

Coming soon

For the beginning of this story, read Skye’s Lore:

Skye’s Promise
The Choosing
For Baron

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