With Mortal Judgement nearly upon us, and us coming to the conclusion of the Public Test Realm (PTR), we wanted to take a step back and let you know where we’re at as a team. Initially we had planned to skip the PTR due to timelines, but we decided to have one due to player requests, and we’re very glad we did. We decided that the aim for this test was to check the stability of our servers and our assumptions for game balance. As far as that is concerned, we consider it a success – we’ve managed to spot plenty of fix opportunities ahead of time. So thank you, mortals!
Reviewing the feedback
We’re really pleased with the feedback we’ve received from players so far – overall, it has been really great to see how the set has been received. We’re taking the opportunity to write up a list of reported issues, and where they currently stand in relation to the development timeline. The good news is that holding a PTR ahead of time has meant we are aware of player concerns now, rather than after launch.
While we have previously stated that the majority of changes won’t be implemented until post launch due to timelines, we’re glad to be able to push in some early balance tweaks and bug fixes that will be seen at release. A lot of that is due to your quick feedback so again, thank you!
There are some fixes that are technically more simple for us to implement – things that are a stat change, for example, take less development time and are much less likely to cause critical bugs than changing how a card works. It’s a distinction that we feel is important to be transparent about – there may be some changes that we are not pushing out in this launch patch that we wanted to. They will be following shortly, and we appreciate your patience and understanding here. We’ll go through a lot of them in detail below.
On the balance process
We’ve heard concerns from players around balance, with the emergence of overly low cost decks such as Casino Deception, and the strength of Light. We’re keeping a close eye on this, and have made some balance changes that will hopefully assist with the overall meta, as well as power creep more generally. We’ve listed those below, and they will be in play in time for launch on April 19.
A lot of players correctly identified some of the issues that we had been keeping an eye on. The new death and deception archetypes had their cost assumptions based on the value of a 1 mana creature, which was an error picked up by the balance team very quickly. Seeing how the meta evolves to counter balance is generally a solid strategy that gives us good clarity, but after seeing the community quickly hone in on the power of the decks, it became pretty clear that this would be too disruptive to leave in. With this knowledge, we decided to make a suite of stat changes to the Mortal Judgement cards, as well as some changes that the community (and balance team!) have been requesting, mostly around the prevalence of Light decks.
Our hope with this, and the upcoming patch, is that we can dissuade players' fears around any intentional power creep from the design team. Our intention is never to outclass old cards with higher numbers, but we are challenged with interfacing the very mathematical world of card game balance, with the much more artistic goals of new mechanics. There are sure to be missteps along the way, but thankfully, we have a process for continuing to update cards. We appreciate the ongoing feedback here, and we will continue to focus on ensuring this balance in the future.
The balance changes
Non-Mortal Judgement changes
Mace of Calling – Durability decreased.
- Change durability from 3 to 2.
Wrong Path – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 3 to 4.
Shieldbearer – Strength decreased.
- Change strength from 1 to 0.
Porphyrion, Dread Cyclops – Stats decreased.
- Change stats from 5/5 to 5/4.
Viking Warmaiden – Strength decreased.
- Change stats from 3/2 to 2/2.
Battlebard – Strength decreased.
- Change stats from 2/2 to 1/2.
Mortal Judgement changes
Big Bony Bastard – Strength decreased.
- Change strength from 5 to 4.
Dalia, Night Gardener – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 3 to 4.
Giras, Defender of T’artes – Health reduced.
- Change health from 7 to 6.
Proud Protector – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 4 to 5.
Homeguard Protector – Stats changed.
- Change stats from 2/1 to 1/2.
Returned Tombguard – Health reduced.
- Change health from 4 to 3.
Immaterialize – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 2 to 3.
Lupine Wayfarer – Stats reduced.
- Change stats from 5/5 to 4/4.
Shadowstep Backstabber – Strength reduced.
- Change strength from 1 to 0.
Arms Dealer – Stats reduced.
- Change stats from 4/4 to 3/3.
Line in the Sand – Mana cost increased.
- Change cost from 2 to 5.
Territorial Dominion – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 1 to 2.
Aspect Juggler – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 1 to 2.
Rollicking Lyricist – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 2 to 3.
Corrupting Influence – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 2 to 4.
Appeal to Mercy – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 2 to 3.
Nythos, Mage-Weaver – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 1 to 2.
Twenty Sided Mace – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 3 to 4.
Wretched Vanguard – Strength reduced.
- Change strength from 2 to 1.
- Change the text of Pharaoh's Heirloom to say “1/1 Wretched Vanguard”.
Alastrina, Prime Refractor – Mana cost increased.
- Increase mana cost from 4 to 5.
Hand of the Abyss – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana from 2 to 3.
Land of the Dead – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 5 to 6.
Reach into the Black – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 2 to 3.
Bone Roller – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 4 to 5.
Dead King's Touch – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 4 to 5.
Aggressive Superior – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 1 to 2.
Armory Heist – Mana cost increased.
- Change mana cost from 5 to 6.
Kaya, Conduit of the Gods – Health decreased.
- Change health from 3 to 2.
Known issues
Here’s the current list of bugs we’ve logged during PTR thanks to your feedback, and where they stand currently. This is not an exhaustive list – it simply covers what we’ve seen reported by players. Once Mortal Judgement launches, these bugs will be added to our Known Issues Tracker which can be located here.
Fixed in time for launch!
Metamorphosis: What was happening with this one was that any card that uses delving was calling up far more information than it needed to be in order to work, which is why it was lagging and causing freezes/stutters. This issue was also seen during PTR with other cards (listed below). A fix has been implemented and you will see this bug squashed come launch day.
- Aspect Juggler
- Goblin Rallyboss
- Appeal to Mercy
- Rollicking Lyricist
- Corrupting Influence
- Arms Dealer
- Unlikely Pact
- Unannounced Arrival
- Pietro, Merry Bandit
- Galatea, Unyielding Friend
Helmna, The Spear of Life: This card was gaining strength equal to the amount of regen instead of the amount healed. A fix for this is coming in time for launch.
Preview of child cards overlapping each other: We’ve got to give each card their own time in the spotlight! This one has now been solved.
Empower toggle not working correctly: This includes a range of issues reported by players. We’ve toggled a fix now.
Over-Honed Spear: This card was destroying the target creature instead of itself. We’ve found a fix for this, so you could say we honed a solution.
Creatures summoned not going to the void when the board is full: This happens when the board is full after playing a card with the “summon” effect – creatures that are summoned do not go into the void.
Cards that were affected and now fixed:
- Aspect Juggler
- Goblin Rallyboss
- Rollicking Lyricist
- Corrupting Influence
Single combat (when not empowered) can’t target your own creature: We’ve sorted this one out by challenging the card to a single round of hand to hand combat. It accepted.
Bound By Her Will: We’ve seen the reports of the card disappearing when your board is full. This one will be all sorted by launch.
Card text typos: Our grammar enthusiasts have gone through and modified any issues they have come across. Use the card text reporter if you see any they missed!
Empower Slide Bars: We’ve seen the UI concerns regarding the Empower mechanic (as well as other mechanic animations), and we’re keeping a close eye on it. When mobile launches our plan is to have it view differently, so for those who were concerned about how it would play on the mobile version – never fear!
Fixed shortly after launch
Alastrina: Issues related to Alastrina are similar in origin to the Metamorphosis issues we were facing, being just different enough for the fix to elude us. We are confident we’ve got it sorted for shortly after launch, but you’ll need to be patient with us a little longer.
Brink Watcher not receiving a buff: We are planning for the text to be slightly altered post launch to reflect the fact that Brink Watcher has to be in play in order to receive any buffs.
Pietro, Merry Bandit: Creatures that are summoned by this card while the board is full do not go to the void. We’ve now amended this. To the void they go.
The Quorum of Pharaoh's past: Was hitting the same creature many times even if the creature is already dead. Stop, stop, he’s already dead. We’ve given mercy to the creatures and this will be fixed.
Aware of and actively working on
Militant Theist: Still working on repro steps for this one, but it’s front of mind. We know this one is frustrating, so bear with us while we solve it.
Unity Crash Report: The crash report is actually incorrect – you can click continue to go back to the client and keep playing as per normal. We know this is frustrating however, so we’ll let you know an ETA on a fix for this when we’ve got a clearer idea.
Faustian Pact causing softlock: We’re having some troubles reproducing this, so please do use the report tool in–game (or report in the bugs channel) if you come across it!
Bug report/setting button issues: Being looked into and a solution is currently being mapped out. The irony of the bug report button having a bug is not lost on us.
Over the Line: Does not allow you to hit face twice after already hit. This is being actively looked at.
Tempt Fate VFX causing rope loss: This requires a lot of manpower to fix, so while we’re focused on a solution, it may take some time.
Opponent cannot see creatures summoned from the void: This one is something that will require engineering work, and while it’s considered a priority fix, it will take some time to implement. We’re looking at a few weeks post launch minimum to see a fix come across game-side.
We know this was a lot to digest, so please feel free to ask any clarifications of us in the Discord channel! Again, we really appreciate the constructive feedback and ongoing enthusiasm for the game. We’re grateful for such a passionate and dedicated community.
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