2.8 Notes
September 5th 2017
Autumn season is here, designed specifically to reintroduce the fiery early game and expolosive action that made players fall in love with Vainglory in the first place.
Autumn brings a major shakeup: Two new items hit the Halcyon Fold along with a more dangerous and rewarding jungle demanding new strategies. Plus, enjoy four incredible new skins, a fresh chance to rank up post-reset and a new display of last season’s trophy rank on the match loading screen. Read on for much more. …
JUMP TO A SECTION:
NEW SEASON, NEW RANK NEW ITEMS! NEW HERO SKINS BATTLE READINESS BLITZ BALANCE PLAYER EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS ANDROID KEYBOARD & MOUSE SUPPORT HERO BALANCE ADDITIONAL ITEM CHANGES TALENTS BALANCE BUG FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
NEW SEASON, NEW RANK
SHOW OFF & RANK UP
Each Vainglory season is a fresh challenge with new dynamics. Resetting players’ rank gives all players a chance to advance every season and show their true skill in an ever-evolving meta. And this season, we’re granting all players bonus progress on their Autumn rank based on prior Ranked performance for a head start.
By displaying last season’s rank to allies only on the match loading screen, players can take pride in showing off their latest milestone accomplishment, without worrying about the midseason stress of displaying a rank that’s moving up and down. A seasonal-best rank is a symbol you’ve earned of your hard work and exceptional play — and it can serve as something aspirational to surpass in your current season. Aim to beat that rank number, and make Autumn your biggest accomplishment yet!
Your Summer rank is now immortalized in your profile’s Trophy Case.
See your best Summer rank along with your allies’ on the Ranked match loading screen.
Your rank will be reset for the start of Autumn, along with bonus progress based on past performance. Rank up for a fresh challenge.
NEW ITEMS!
SPELLSWORD
“Spellsword fills two holes we have had in our game for a long time: First, weapon carries never really had a decent item they could purchase if they consumed energy at a faster rate. Nor did they have any item they could purchase really to provide cooldown. And in replacing Halcyon Potions with Healing Flask, we’re hitting energy options for some weapon builds particularly hard. Spellsword will address these needs while still maintaining the identity of a weapon carry.
“Secondly, when the game was originally released, there was a very distinct split between abilities that did crystal damage and basic attacks that did weapon damage. We have since broken that mold by introducing more ability-oriented heroes — weapon casters, if you may. This item is a perfect fit for many of those heroes while also creating some interesting choices for other weapon heroes who are willing to trade the damage for utility.” —Nivmett
Passive: Basic attacks grant you 3 energy (9 on heroes)
Builds out of Six Sins and Chronograph
90 Weapon Power
35% Cooldown Speed
2.5 Energy Recharge
Purchase for 2600 gold; sells for 1300
HEALING FLASK
“We’re removing Halcyon Potions and replacing them with a new item, Healing Flask, which blocks incoming damage and recovers a significant portion of your health and energy. Our goal with this item is to provide players more impactful and obvious decision points with healing. Healing Flask will have an impact on lane dynamics, itemization strategy and skirmishing.” —Ciderhelm
Activate: Block 115-500 damage (based on hero level) and recover 30% health and energy over the next 5 seconds. (120 second cooldown)
Sells for 0 gold, can be repurchased for 300 gold
Automatically in inventory upon start of Standard matches
NEW HERO SKINS
‘King’ Glaive (Epic)
Glaive the Lion has become the King of the Forest! There’s only one problem: He’s a coward. Luckily, the wizard’s brew gives him courage – but what would happen if he lost it?
AVAILABILITY
Direct Purchase for 1499 ICE starting on Sept. 15.
MODEL & ANIMATION CHANGES
All new LION model with tail!
Glowing ornament on his mane
Lion-headed rocket axe with red rope
Blue & gold armor
READ ‘KING’ GLAIVE’S STORY:
READ GLAIVE’S CANNON LORE:
WALLPAPERS
‘Horus’ Idris (Epic)
The Horus King believes that Ra is his people’s one hope against the onslaught of the Churn, but Ra’s temple has disappeared. Read on to discover the alternate fate of ‘Horus’ Idris, the pharaoh.
AVAILABILITY
Direct purchase for 1499 ICE starting on Sept. 8.
MODEL & EFFECTS CHANGES
Pharaoh’s headdress with linked crest feathers
Eagle talons and bladed feathers on boots and gauntlets
Metal tech face mask
Golden spear
Shendyt skirt, obsidian jeweled belt and chest piece
Winged and jeweled chakram
READ ‘HORUS’ IDRIS’ STORY:
READ IDRIS’ CANNON LORE:
WALLPAPERS
‘Vaquero’ Ringo (Rare)
The famous Rowdy Ringo is known through the Wild West for tricky dice and robbery. Somehow, he never gets caught! Keep reading for more information about ‘Vaquero’ Ringo.
AVAILABILITY
Direct purchase for 900 ICE when Autumn season launches on Sept. 6.
MODEL CHANGES
All new sombrero!
Charro suit pants with leather chaps and Grangor belt buckle
Black and gold patterned poncho
.50 caliber rimfire revolver
Woven wicker jug
READ ‘VAQUERO’ RINGO STORY:
Read Ringo’s canon lore:
WALLPAPERS
BATTLE READINESS: MORE DANGER. EXPLOSIVE ACTION.
Great gameplay comes from making meaningful decisions and managing risk. And in a MOBA, most risk/reward scenarios revolve around heroes’ health. Can you secure that kill under enemy turret and live to tell the tale? Can you time your Fountain perfectly to turn the tide of the fight? Can you 1v2 and become a legend?
But one of the most delicious areas of risk is around jungle “battle readiness.” It’s the constant dance between clearing camps and earning max gold vs being ready for the next fight happening any moment. Battle readiness has been a major factor in designing Vainglory’s new 5v5 map — especially the layout and function of the 5v5 jungle — but those deliberations helped us realize that battle readiness was a big opportunity for Halcyon Fold 3v3 as well. Simply put, most fights to date happen at full health, and that removes a major teamfight dimension.
So, for Autumn season, we’re blowing up the stale meta and introducing an entirely new way to think about jungle engagements:
Potions … gone.
Book & Barbed Needle healing … slashed.
Healing cooldowns … intensified.
The result is a jungle fraught with more danger, more explosive action — and much more interesting decision points. The tradeoff between gold efficiency and battle readiness will definitely take some getting used to. You can no longer clear every camp and expect to live through an ambush. “Fight or farm?” will become the question on players’ minds. And once you realize the windows of opportunity this meta change creates, there’s a world of strategies you’ll want to try. When combined with two new items in the mix, Autumn season is going to be a wild ride …
HALCYON POTIONS REMOVED
Potions are no longer available in the Shop
All heroes have additional 1 health regen & 1 energy regen per second
Use Healing Flask instead, along with smart takedowns of Treants
‘BOOK’ HEALING SLASHED
BOOK OF EULOGIES
Restores 20 health instead of 30 (ranged)
Restores 40 health instead of 60 (melee)
5% lifesteal added
Restores 20 health instead of 30 (ranged)
Restores 40 health instead of 85 (melee)
TREANT HEALING CAMPS
ELDER TREANT
Gold bounty up from 64 to 110
TREANTS
Treant base basic-attack damage reduced from 80 to 70
Root duration down from 4.0 to 2.5
FOUNTAIN OF RENEWAL
Cooldown time increased from 60 to 75
HEALING ABILITIES
Cooldowns increased for certain hero healing abilities. See Hero Balance Changes section for details.
OUTERMOST TURRET
Health down from 4000 to 3000
Bounty reduced from 300 to 200
JUNGLE STRATEGY
DUO JUNGLING RETURNS
“These changes will give captains compelling reasons to roam the jungle instead of babysitting lane all game long.” —Nivmett
Lane minion ambient gold reduced from 75% to 60%
Jungle ambient gold increased from 75% to 85%
Duo-shared experience has been changed from 65/60% to 75/70%
Triple-shared experience changed from 45%/40%/40% to 51%/47%/47%
Fixed a bug where experience granted was slightly lower than intended.
GOLD MINER
Health up from 1200 + 200 per level to 2500 + 0 per level
Damage down from 80 + 12 per level to 40 + 10 per level
Attack speed changed from 100% + 5% per level to 150% + 0% per level
Armor and shield changed from 70 + 10 per level to 0 + 30 per level
Max gold up from 300 to 400
Max fill time down from 4 minutes to 3
Miner’s basic attacks now apply a decaying slow starting at 35% and falling off over 1.4 seconds
Miner’s attack projectile speed up from 7 to 12
CRYSTAL SENTRY
Damage down from 135 + 30 per level to 80 + 20 per level
Attack speed up from 165% + 5% per level to 200%
Basic attacks now apply a decaying slow starting at 35% and falling off over 1.4 seconds
Attack projectile speed up from 7 to 12
Sentry’s area of protection has reduced by 6 meters.
JUNGLE CAMPS
Front camps base basic-attack damage down from 40 to 32
Back minion duo base basic-attack damage down from 68 to 60
BLITZ BALANCE
Blitz continues to evolve as we observe how people play and consider player feedback.
The Middle Sentry is slightly easier to take down
Allied (side) sentries will no longer protect allies in an area; they will just defend themselves.
Allied sentries no longer recall and now respawn in place just like Middle Sentry
Allied sentries are harder to kill, but they have lower regeneration
PLAYER EXPERIENCE IMPROVEMENTS
A new season gives us a chance to level up parts of the player experience that deserve more attention, like the steps players must take to navigate through their skin and talent collections.
NEW HERO BROWSER
Browse all skins in one convenient location
Jump to a hero by letter
Easily craft and buy hero skins
TALENT BROWSER
Browse all talents in one place
Jump to a hero by letter to view their talents
Easily inspect and upgrade talents
TALENT UPGRADES
The green talent upgrade indicators now clear after you’ve seen them
Green upgrade frame remains for any talents you can afford to upgrade
MATCH LOADING SCREEN
Your Ranked skill tier for the previous completed season (in this case Summer) will appear on the Ranked match loading screen.
Your final Summer Blitz Score (to the nearest 100) will appear on the Blitz match loading screen.
These tier numbers are visible to you and your allies.
RANKED PARTY RESTRICTION
“One common source of player frustration is wondering why they were matched with players way above or below their skill tier. Often, this happened because a party had a dramatic skill tier disparity between players, causing the other team to be match-made similarly. While it’s understandable that a highly skilled player might mentor someone newer to the game, the wide range of possible outcomes was giving players whiplash. So, we’ve instituted a ‘1-tier’ rule to better ensure players in ranked matches will be similarly skilled.” —PlayoffBeard
You can no longer enter Ranked queue as a party if your total skill tier is greater than 1 tier apart. For example, Simply Amazing (Tier 8) Silver can, at most, party with Pinnacle of Awesome (Tier 9) Silver or The Hotness (Tier 7) Silver.
‘TODAY’S TALENTS’ MARKET
The daily ‘Pick 3’ now rotates every 12 hours! Be sure to stop back with the selection of talents changes.
WIN COUNTERS
“Want to see how you’ve performed in Blitz, Battle Royale, Ranked and more? Now you can track every win and notch those Ws. Some players will see larger-than-expected win counts because we were counting bot matches for a time. We’re not anymore.” —PlayoffBeard
See your overall win count for each game mode
REDUCING TOXICITY: LOW PRIORITY QUEUE
“The Low Priority Queue is supposed to be a deterrent sufficient to alter bad player behavior. But offending players would often just “kill time” or ignore LPQ by using secondary player accounts. By disabling logout during LPQ, it forces players to sit in the penalty box and play their way back into the game’s good graces. We’ll monitor this closely to see if it’s effective in reducing player toxicity.” —PlayoffBeard
Players in Low Priority Queue for bad behavior cannot log out of their account to play on a smurf until the LPQ timer expires
TUTORIAL IMPROVEMENTS
Removed blocking modals
Changed the second tutorial to 1v1 instead of 3v3
Added English voiceover instructions
Note: Voiceover instructions for other languages will come in future updates
ANDROID KEYBOARD & MOUSE SUPPORT
Autumn season introduces Vainglory keyboard & mouse support on select Android platforms, including the Samsung DeX Station. That’s right, you’ll be able to play with the classic QWER ability key bindings and numeric item activations.
When we unveiled this news at gamescom in August, some players expressed fears that it signaled a move away from mobile or touchscreen controls — or that it could provide keyboard players with an unfair advantage.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
First, Vainglory is a mobile game built for the touchscreen generation of players. Mobile gaming is rapidly growing, and it’s absolutely the place we want to be. We have no plans for general release on PC or Mac. Second, devs such as Ciderhelm and Zekent have been playing Vainglory for years with a mouse and keyboard during internal playtesting. Zekent was a MOBA pro and many of us in the Lair come from PC gaming backgrounds. Our conclusion from playing with keyboard & mouse is that there is no advantage over touchscreen controls — and that some things such as stutter stepping are more natural through the tap interface. There are no specific keyboard & mouse optimizations beyond the QWER keys and number keys for items. But partnering with hardware makers lets us demonstrate the power of our E.V.I.L. game engine and get the word out about Vainglory, which is really helpful in growing the game.
We will, of course, be monitoring usage very closely, and if we see anything unintended, we’ll immediately address it. So, don’t fret … and if you’re curious, check out the new keyboard & mouse support! —PlayoffBeard
Optimized for keyboard & mouse play on Android operating systems
Uses QWER ability keys & numeric item activations
HERO BALANCE
ADAGIO
“With the changes to sustain, healers became too strong.” — Nivmett
ARCANE RENEWAL
Damage-to-energy ratio down from 35% to 25%
GIFT OF FIRE
Cooldown increased from 8 to 10-9.5-9-8.5-8 seconds
VERSE OF JUDGMENT
Cooldown reduced from 110-90-70 to 100-80-60
ALPHA
“Alpha was in need of a bit of a tune up. Downloading the newest update for her software allowed her weapon to pack a bigger punch.” — Nivmett
CORE CHARGE
Weapon ratio increased from 100% to 110%
ARDAN
“Ardan has upgraded his armor. This change will bring his cooldown more in line with the lower cooldowns of other supports.”— Nivmett
GAUNTLET
Cooldown reduced from 110-100-90 to 100-90-80
BAPTISTE
“Baptiste polished his Scythe. He has been a popular pick as of late. His burst was a bit too strong. While at the same time his weapon path had been near forgotten. This change will equalize them, allowing both paths to be choosable.” — Nivmett
BAD MOJO
Crystal ratio reduced from 110% to 105%
REAP
Basic attack bonus increased from 25% to 35%
CATHERINE
“Catherine is an incredible pick, but with the change to Echo, her double ult was up a bit too often. This change will aid with that issue.” —Nivmett
MERCILESS PURSUIT
Energy cost increased from 40-50-60-70-90 to 50-60-70-80-100
BLAST TREMOR
Cooldown increased from 80-70-60 to 100-85-70
CELESTE
“Celeste’s clear speed is one of the fastest in the game, leaving most other junglers in the dust. This change will lower that in the early game while not taking away from her late game.” — Nivmett
HELIOGENESIS
Damage reduced from 100-150-200-250-300 to 80-135-190-245-300
Supernova damage reduced 150-200-250-300-350to 130-185-240-295-350
GRACE
“With her perk, Grace’s ultimate was a bit too much all game. This change should not only match her cooldown but also tune down the Echo build she tends to utilize.” — Nivmett
STATS
Base weapon power reduced from 79-158 to 73-152
DIVINE INTERVENTION
Cooldown increased from 60-45-30 to 70-60-50
GRUMPJAW
“Grumpjaw was a bit too Hangry after last update.” — Nivmett
HANGRY
Damage increased from 20-40-60-80-100 to 30-50-70-90-110
Buff duration increased from 4.5-4.5-4.5-4.5-5.5 to 5-5-5-5-6
IDRIS
“Idris has been a strong force in both paths. This change should tune down his amazing burst slightly.” —Nivmett
CHAKRAM
Damage reduced from 75-125-175-250-275 to 60-110-160-210-260
KESTREL
“With sustain in the game coming down, Kestrel’s already oppressive poke became unbearable.” — Nivmett
GLIMMERSHOT
Crystal ratio reduced from 160% to 140%
KRUL
“Krul is finally in a good spot, but with the reduction of sustain he was a bit too good.” — Nivmett
DEAD MAN’S RUSH
Barrier reduced from 100-180-260-340-420 to 80-160-240-320-400
LYRA
“With the changes to sustain, healers became too much of a powerhouse.” — Nivmett
IMPERIAL SIGIL
Cooldown increased from 10-9.5-9-8.5-8 to 14-12.5-11-9.5-8
PHINN
“Phinn has been slightly outclassed by other supports for a while now. With more early-game aggression expected in Autumn season, Phinn will need to be more ready.”— Nivmett
POLITE COMPANY
Fortified health increased from 120-150-180-210-240 to 140-170-200-230-290
REZA
“This should make Reza’s Troublemaker feel more crisp.” —Doomnyr
STATS
Base health increased from 672-1464 to 722-1514
TROUBLEMAKER
Recovery Dash Delay from 0.2 to 0.1
SKAARF
“Skaarf is seeing more jungle play, but his clear speed is a little too high and a bit too free. This will bring him in line with other heroes while giving him a bit easier time in early skirmishes and laning.” — Nivmett
FAN THE FLAMES
Perk damage down from 10 to 8
SPITFIRE
Cooldown decreased from 6-5.5-5-4.5-3 to 5-4.5-4-3.5-3.0
Crystal ratio down from 150% to 130%
GOOP
Damage per second reduced from 60-100-140-180-220 to 40-85-130-175-220
SKYE
“This should make Skye players feel more rewarded for landing a locked-on Forward Barrage.“ — Nivmett
FORWARD BARRAGE
Lock-on damage bonus crystal ratio increased from 33% to 35%
TAKA
“Taka has been having a little trouble ever since we nerfed the cooldown on his perk. With potions gone, Taka takes a bit more damage than before. So, we are giving him back his old perk power.” — Nivmett
HOUSE KAMUHA
Cooldown per stack increased from 20% to 25%
ADDITIONAL ITEM CHANGES
SCOUT TRAP “Most players will likely be surprised at how large the radius of sight actually is. With this change, there will be no doubt on how much traps can or cannot see.” —Nivmett
Added an outline showing the true vision radius of the scout trap
CONTRACTS: DRAGONBLOOD, PROTECTOR & IRONGUARD
“The contracts have been a bit outclassed for a while. With the changes to the jungle, this is a good time to bring them more into line as an interesting early purchase.” — Nivmett
Price reduced from 300 to 250
ECHO
“We were happy to see Echo being purchased much more frequently, but how often it was coming up was slightly off.” —Nivmett
Cooldown increased from 115% + 10 seconds to 115% + 15 seconds
LEVEL JUICE
“Want to practice combos or check out a new hero’s ultimate? Jump to Practice level 12 with this tasty, fruity Level Juice beverage.” — PlayoffBeard
Players now start with a Level Juice in Practice Mode
TALENTS BALANCE
ADAGIO
HEALING VERSE
Health heal ratio base increased from 35% to 40%
Health heal ratio scaling increased from 7.5% to 10%
Damage base decreased from 75% to 70%
Cooldown base increased from 50% to 60%
Cooldown scaling increased from -5% to -7.5%
ALPHA
ACCELERATION
Bonus movement speed base increased from 1.5 to 2.0
ARDAN
KNOCKOUT PUNCH
Knockback distance base increased from 4.0 to 5.0
Damage base increased from 50% to 85%
BARON
ENDLESS MORTARS
Damage base increased from 35% to 45%
Damage scaling increased from 3.5% to 5%
TRION CANNON
Damage base increased from 60% to 80%
Damage scaling increased from 7.5% to 10%
BLACKFEATHER
ELUSIVENESS
Charge time base decreased from 70% to 60%
Damage base increased from 40% to 60%
Damage scaling increased from 5% to 10%
CATHERINE
ADVANCING GUARD
Duration base decreased from 40 seconds to 35 seconds
SHOCKWAVE
Damage base increased from 40% to 115%
Damage scaling increased from 7.5% to 15%
Cooldown base increased from 50% to 70%
FLICKER
FAIRY HEALING
Health regeneration base increased from 5% to 7.5%
Health regeneration scaling increased from 1.5% to 2.5%
Passive crystal power base decreased from 20% to 15%
FORTRESS
LONGTOOTH
Bonus range base increased from 3.5 to 4.0
Passive attack speed base decreased from 20% to 1%
FLANK ATTACK
Bleed damage base decreased from 80% to 60%
Bleed damage scaling increased from 7.5% to 10%
CHA-CHA-CHAKRAM
Damage base decreased from 80% to 75%
KESTREL
ACTIVE RELOAD
Energy cost base increased from 40% to 50%
Damage base increased from 70% to 85%
PIERCING SHOT
Damage base increased from 110% to 115%
Damage scaling increased from 10% to 15%
KOSHKA
TWIRLY LIFE
Damage base decreased from 70% to 65%
SLASHY PLAY TIME!
Damage base decreased from 40% to 35%
LANCE
STRIKER
Impale cooldown reduction per hit base increased from 20% to 25%
Combat Roll cooldown reduction per hit base increased from 12% to 15%
Combat Roll cooldown reduction per hit scaling increased from 2% to 5%
OZO
SECOND WIND
Fortified health base increased from 90% to 100%
Fortified health scaling increased from 4% to 5%
Damage base increased from 60% to 65%
BANGARANGARANG
Damage base increased from 80% to 90%
Damage scaling increased from 10% to 15%
PHINN
RAID BOSS
Health regeneration per second base increased from 6% to 7%
Damage base increased from 40% to 45%
REIM
CREEPING COLD
Damage base decreased from 50% to 45%
REZA
NETHER RAGE
Bonus duration base increased from 1 second to 2 seconds
Bonus duration scaling increased from 0.75 seconds to 1 second
RINGO
SPIKED BREW
Cooldown base decreased from 80% to 70%
SAMUEL
VISCOUS DARKNESS
Slow strength base increased from 25% to 30%
SAW
ROAD RAGE
Roadie Run cooldown reduction per hit base increased from 25% to 35%
SKAARF
SPLITFIRE
Damage base increased from 70% to 80%
FLASH FIRE
Base damage increased from 90% to 95%
FLAMING SLUDGE
Slow effectiveness increased from 50% to 75%
Goop damage base increased from 35% to 60%
Goop damage scaling increased from 7.5% to 10%
Spitfire damage base increased from 25% to 30%
BUG FIXES & IMPROVEMENTS
‘FREEZE’ BUG
Some players experienced very unfortunate and frustrating “freeze” issues in matches during Update 2.7. Many of these issues were addressed with a hotfix during the 2.7 cycle, and the rest of the issues should be resolved in this Autumn season (2.8) update.
For context, the root cause of these issues was that we’re optimizing our game engine to make play smoother on 3v3 and to make sure we’re ready for a smooth 5v5 play experience on low-end mobile devices. Unfortunately, these kinds of tech changes sometimes introduce bugs.
We’ve done everything we can to ensure that in Autumn season, players can focus on _fun, _not freezes or other pain. Thanks for your patience.
Resolved: “freeze” bug
BUG FIXES
Grumpjaw will no longer instantaneously attack twice after activating Hangry.
Fixed a bug where stealthed enemy heroes could be detected by the change in allied nameplates
Fixed a bug where Petal would occasionally permanently lose her munions
Recalling now stops Skye’s forward barrage and also breaks the lock from Suri Strike
Rapidly moving back and forth while locked on as Skye no longer occasionally causes her position to get out of sync between the client and server.
Catherine’s Stormguard damage ticks now have their damage calculated each tick, rather than all up front. This means upgrading the ability or buying an item in the middle of it being active will make the remaining ticks do more damage.
Fixed a bug where the Sanctuary platform speed boost would not instantly refresh
Addressed a reported “black screen” issue. Note: If you experience this in Update 2.8, please tell us immediately. If the issue persists for any players, we will immediately investigate and remedy.
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