1.4 Notes

April 01, 2015

[APRIL FOOLS’] UPDATE 1.4 PREVIEW: CORPUS, THE NIGHTMARE GOAT!

Update 1.4.0 includes the long-awaited nightmare goat, Corpus! Plus, we introduce the new skins system and bring much-needed balance changes to Joule and Taka. Let’s break it down …

CORPUS, THE NIGHTMARE GOAT – BACKGROUND & LORE

With alarming regularity, citizens from all cultures and walks of life are reporting sightings of a demon goat terrorizing their farms, cities and homesteads. The growing legend of the goat includes leaving the drained corpses of animals in its wake — and occasionally leaving symbols in fields of chyro-wheat. What began as mere rumor in Southern Gythia following one woman’s murder is now accepted fact, causing affected regions to form Night Watches and alliances once unthinkable. But is this nightmare goat real or imagined?!

From the deepest, darkest corners of your mind comes Corpus, the Nightmare Goat. More lore soon!

SOMNAMBULISM (HEROIC PERK)

Enemies in close proximity to Corpus for more than 5 seconds fall into a dreaming trance for 2 seconds. This trance marks enemies, but they are otherwise unaffected until Corpus acts. Corpus’ nightmare goat items & abilities are more frightening while enemies are asleep.

BLEATING SHRIEK

Corpus lets out a shriek that deals crystal damage in a short radius around him, applies a mortal wound to each target and refreshes the dream trance on enemies. Sleeping enemies receive 20% more damage from the shriek and goat power-infused items.

HORROR SPIRAL

Corpus gouges the target with his spiraled horns and sticks to the target while it moves for 2.2 seconds. Enemies may drag Corpus but cannot free themselves until the duration expires. Sleeping enemies receive 10% more damage from the gouge and goat power-infused items.

WAKING NIGHTMARE

Corpus plunges all sleeping enemies (globally) into a waking nightmare, causing them to lose control and attack the nearest ally for 3 seconds. A sleeping enemy with no ally nearby will inflict damage on itself for the duration of the nightmare. Following this duration, all enemies awaken (trance removed).

GILDED HORNS (WEAPON)

Purchase this item in the Consumables section of the shop, open your “Possessions” and then attach it to the Weapon item of your choice. Gilded Horns will combine with the chosen item, producing a unique basic-attack effect and infusing the item with Goat Power.

CHYRO-WHEAT (CRYSTAL)

Purchase this item in the Consumables section of the shop, open your “Possessions” and then attach it to the Crystal item of your choice. Chyro-Wheat will combine with the chosen item, producing a unique crystal-power effect and infusing the item with Goat Power.

HOOF TRIMMERS (UTILITY)

Purchase this item in the Consumables section of the shop, open your “Possessions” and then attach it to the Tier 3 Utility item of your choice. Hoof Trimmers will combine with the chosen item, producing a unique utility-based effect and infusing the item with Goat Power.

UNVEILING THE SKINS SYSTEM!

If you were watching the PAX livestreams, you saw the in-game models for the first SAW and Adagio skins. But there’s much more to the system than just that.

We’re not going to show everything here because we want players to discover the art and details on their own. We can’t wait to see those first tweets and forums posts pop up as we move into the next phase of Vainglory! You won’t have to wait much longer …

VOX

A bug fix that’s a massive buff … but it seems to have worked out okay!

“In creating the Vox Hero Spotlight, I realized that Vox’s Resonance appears to have an internal cooldown, which prevents Sonic Zoom from triggering multiple bounces. Although we’ve been balancing Vox around this bug (by virtue of it existing throughout our internal playtests). This was unintentional.” —Ciderhelm

• Removed the internal cooldown on Resonance.

• We have not nerfed Vox in any corresponding way, so this is effectively a significant buff for Update 1.4. This effectively multiplies Vox’s multi-target burst damage.

• We may revisit this in Update 1.5 based on more play sessions and player feedback.

TAKA

The existing vision rules made Taka unplayable, and he wasn’t as slippery as we intended. All changes listed go into effect in Update 1.4, so you won’t see them now.

“When we designed Taka, we thought revealing him with items would provide a healthy balance between stealth and smart play. But ultimately, Taka was too easy to find and kill. These changes certainly take care of the problem. Taka is now frighteningly fast and able to strike and run unlike any other hero.” —CaptainNeato

• Flare Guns and Scout Traps no longer reveal Taka.

• Taka’s base move speed increased from 3.4 to 7.

JOULE

The mech takes to the sky!

“We’ve been looking for creative ways to bring Joule back into the mix without disturbing her very entertaining playstyle, and I think we’ve found a silver bullet by dramatically increasing the distance Joule can cover to impact a fight. ” —CaptainNeato

• Joule’s Rocket Leap max range increased from 10 meters to 50 meters.

• When on overdrive, Joule’s Rocket Leap is a global ultimate (using her recall animation to take to the sky)!

We have some more surprises in store for Update 1.4, but we hope this whets your appetite. As crazy as it sounds, I think the nightmare goat might be my new main. (Sorry, Koshka!) I can’t wait to get Corpus in your hands! But for now, VOXHYPE! —PlayoffBeard

Confirmed: April Fools’. But perhaps Corpus shall return one day!