1.16 Notes
MAR 29,2016
Last updated
MAR 29,2016
Last updated
Spring Season 2016 is here, and with it comes Halcyon Days events, a new hero sent to destroy the Stormguard, the new Battle Royale game mode (beta), Fortress & map skins, unlockable boosts, “Draft mode for all” and more! Read on to discover what the new season brings …
It’s time for the annual Halcyon Days celebration of Spring! Enjoy a full two weeks of special events, including reveals, contests and chances to earn double Fame, triple Glory and legendary cards. Easily follow all the current and upcoming events in the in-game NEWS section so that you don’t miss a thing!
Read all the details about Halcyon Days here.
Play on a seasonal version of the Halcyon Fold, complete with a double rainbow in the distance.
Be sure to toggle on “pinch to zoom” in Settings so you can explore all the map’s Spring surprises!
Collect your guild rewards for a job well done. This will happen automatically in 1.16 and you’ll know it when you see it.
Your guild tier and rewards will restart from the bottom of the Spring ladder.
Your skill tier will restart from the bottom of the Spring ladder, but you’ll continue to match against worthy opponents at your true skill level, helping you rapidly accelerate (and hopefully reach new heights).
Difficulty: MEDIUM | Position: JUNGLE | Role: WARRIOR
Alpha hunts and terminates her targets with ruthless precision. No longer bound to the rules of mortality, she engages in battle without fear or caution. Alpha performs well in the jungle and can take down her targets built either weapon or crystal.
Alpha will be unlockable with ICE only for the first 7 days. Afterward, you will be able to unlock Alpha with ICE or Glory.
Instead of dying, Alpha initiates a reboot sequence upon receiving lethal damage, gaining a reserve health (based on level). For the next several seconds, enemies can continue to attack her and deal damage. If her reserve is not destroyed during this time, she will reboot to ample health at the same location. The cooldown for this ability is displayed in place of Alpha’s energy bar. Once this bar is full, Infinite Reboot is available. This bar will slide back to zero during the reboot process, indicating the remaining time left before she is restored to health.
Alpha scans for enemies along the target path. If she scans an enemy, that enemy is slowed and Alpha instantly dashes behind them, dealing damage to the target and all enemies within 4.5 meters (65% damage to minions). This also removes the negative effects of Core Overload (without removing the positive effects), dealing increased damage based on the number of stacks removed.
Alpha lunges forward, landing a basic attack on her target and fracturing the ground for additional crystal damage in a small area. Each time she uses this ability, she spends a portion of her current health and gains Core Overload for a few seconds, stacking up to 3 times. Basic attacks reduce the cooldown of Core Charge.
Core Overload: Alpha loses a percentage of her current health every second, but also increases the damage of subsequent Core Charges and causes her basic attacks to heal her. Basic attacks refresh the duration.
On activation, Alpha begins a self-destruct sequence. At the start of this she gains a burst of move speed as well as a barrier (based on her level). Immediately afterward, she rapidly loses move speed as her Halcyon core approaches critical mass. After a few seconds, or immediately upon her barrier being breached, Alpha explodes. This explosion deals heavy crystal damage to all enemies within the explosion radius and is lethal to herself. This ability can only be activated while Infinite Reboot is available. Upgrading this ability reduces the cooldown of Infinite Reboot.
“Introducing Vainglory’s newest game mode: Battle Royale — designed to deliver maximum fun in minimum time! This variant on standard play has been hugely popular with the community and has been prominently featured by many Vainglory streamers using self-imposed ‘house rules.’ Now, players can enjoy this as a full, real game mode with all the bells, whistles, enhancements and Super Evil twists impossible for community members to implement themselves.
“Players are assigned a random hero from Vainglory’s entire hero roster (even if you don’t have that hero unlocked) and are limited to the lane. Recalling is prohibited and you cannot reenter the spawning platform, which means the only way to buy new items is to fight to the death! This creates an environment where the combat is plentiful and the strategies are unique, which is what makes it such a Vainglory fan favorite.
“Battle Royale has a few additional changes to make it even more frantic, fast and fun. Things like increased experience gain, more gold on kill bounties and increased energy regeneration all ensure that the games are quick and the action is non-stop.
It isn’t just about fun though, it can help improve your mechanics too! Since team fighting occurs more frequently in Battle Royale you can use it to practice things like stutter stepping, positioning and aiming skill shots. And since your hero is randomly selected from the entire roster, you’ll end up practicing far more heroes in more situations than you otherwise would. Having a blast and sharpening your techniques is a win-win, so be sure to give it a shot in this newest update!” —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
BATTLE ROYALE: RULE CHANGES
GAMEPLAY
Average match length 7-10 mins (original game lasts 18-22 mins)
Can’t recall
Can’t re-enter spawn platform
Turrets do not have barrier
Death clocks are 10-40-50 seconds @ minute 0-8-10>
Death clocks are not reduced by turret destruction
Turrets have 800 less health
Turret XP value up from 0 to 80 (for reference, a lead minion is worth 12)
HEROES
Randomly selected from Vainglory’s entire hero roster, including Alpha!
Start at level 4
XP trickle 1.8 (normally 0.6)
XP rubberbanding is disabled
Start with 2000 gold
Gold trickle 10 (normally 4)
Kill bounty is 400 gold
Energy regeneration at +35%
When out of combat, regenerate 4% of missing health
MINIONS
Kill bounty 2x
XP value 2x
Level up automatically, reaching max level @ 5 minutes
Gain move speed every level, +0.6 by 5 minutes
PLAY PRIVATE MATCHES WHILE IN BETA
Battle Royale is brand-new, and we’re going to see how players respond before putting it fully out front. For now, find and play the game mode as a new option when you go to make a PRIVATE match.
In Spring season, players at all skill tiers can enjoy Draft Mode in Ranked play. Ban that hero you hate to face. Devise cool draft strategies and comps. Take your Ranked play to the next level and get your highest skill tier ever in Spring. Not sure how Draft Mode works? Check out this video:
‘NETHERWORLD FORTRESS’ TIERS I, II & III!
All three tiers of Fortress skins will be released during Update 1.16.
FORTRESS TIER 1 LORE
The power of the Halcyon Wells originates deep underground in the boiling hot Netherworld. In a time beyond memory, the gate laid open, and those above traveled below if their need was dire. Today, what lives above survives because Fortress guards the Nether Gate.
Past Fortress, none may go.
Read the full story.
Players have been asking for more options in the in-game Market. Now, you can boost your post-match Glory, out-of-game account XP and Guild Fame progress.
GLORY BOOSTER
Increases the Glory earned from matches until expiration.
PERMANENT GLORY BOOSTER
One-time unlock to permanently increase the rate at which you gain Glory.
GUILD FAME BOOSTER
Increases the Guild Fame earned from matches until expiration.
ACCOUNT XP BOOSTER
Coming soon.
Increases the out-of-game account XP earned from matches until expiration. This has no impacton in-game hero level XP!
More encouraging for new players at low tiers while preserving the iconic high tiers. RIP Decent-ish. GGWP.
Vainglorious
Pinnacle of Awesome
Simply Amazing
The Hotness
Credible Threat
Got Swagger
Worthy Foe
Rock Solid
Getting There
Just Beginning
New players can learn the game in bite-sized pieces with a more friendly journey through the app.
Previously, the ideal play would be to wait until the Minion Miner was worth the maximum amount of gold before capturing it, which wasn’t very intuitive for newer players. The new changes encourage players to fight over the miner more frequently, while also making it more threatening if you control both. —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
Gold bounty up from 80 to 150.
No longer grows in bounty when neutral.
Minions push harder when you control both Minion Mines.
This should help players secure an objective after an ace and close out the game. —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
Ace-buffed minions move faster and deal more damage to minions.
ACTIVE ITEMS
“Our items are massive teamfight tilts, but they’re “hidden power” to people watching the matches. Their gameplay effects are powerful, but their in-game visuals are invisible, and it’s not just a great learning tool for people watching VG, it’s a great learning tool for people playing it.
“If someone fountains me in solo queue and saves my life, I want to know who made that clutch play and applaud them. I want to know when the effect happens so that I can rally and reengage in battle, and if my opponents trigger a Fountain, I want to know to fall back.
“So all three of those items were in sore need of clear correlation in terms of visuals and cause-effect relationships.” —CaptainNeato
FOUNTAIN OF RENEWAL
A better visual correlation but with reduced heal speed increases the tension around a Fountain rescue. It will take more skill to save lives, but when you do it, it’ll be that much more clutch. —CaptainNeato
Healing is now carried via a projectile traveling to allies. Projectile travel time does impact Fountain heal timing.
FLARE
It’s now clear who is flaring. It also slows down the pace of how fast you and friends are running through the forest, flaring as you go. —CaptainNeato
Now has a projectile traveling to destination. Projectile travel time does impact flare timing.
CRUCIBLE
Despite the visual, there is no change to the split-second timing of activating this item. You can still cancel that Blast Tremor silence if you have Gabevizzle-like reflexes. The key here is making sure players and spectators alike are clear on where that clutch block came from. —PlayoffBeard
Reflex Block is now carried via a projectile traveling to allies. Projectile travel time does not impact block timing.
STORMGUARD
This item was able to store up to 1.3 seconds worth of damage when you first hit someone, because basic attacks have a base cooldown of 1.3 seconds. —Zekent
Damage storage now capped at 1 second.
BROKEN MYTH
The new Broken Myth can now reach max stacks faster but only when the player is the aggressor —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
Now only gains stacks when dealing damage to heroes, not when receiving damage from heroes.
Stack count changed from 7 stacks of 5% to 5 stacks of 7%.
ALTERNATING CURRENT
Making this item focus more on mages who have special properties on their basic attacks — and less about turning CP Vox into a Ringo also. —Zekent
Attack speed up from 40% to 65%.
Crystal power up from 50 to 60.
Damage crystal ratio down from 115% to 70%.
ADAGIO
It was too easy to take advantage of Adagio’s powerful buffs. Some of the damage has been shifted out of simply casting Agent of Wrath on an ally in favor of comboing Adagio’s kit together. —Zekent
Base attack speed up from 100% to 100-116%.
GIFT OF FIRE
Energy cost up from 120-132-144-156-168 to 120-135-150-165-180.
AGENT OF WRATH
Damage changed
From:
25-40-55-70-115 + 85% CR
50% bonus to base damage from Arcane Fire bonus (effectively 12.5-20-27.5-35-57.5 + 0% CR)
20% bonus to base damage from self-cast bonus (effectively 5-8-11-14-23 + 0% CR)
To:
20-40-60-80-120 + 50% CR damage
10-20-30-40-60 + 35% CR Arcane Fire bonus
5-10-15-20-30 + 20% CR self-cast bonus
JOULE
Even with all her fancy rockets and lasers, Joule has been having a tough time on the Fold. We figured it’s about time for a tune-up! —Zekent
ROCKET LEAP
Cooldown down from 22-21-20-19-10 to 22-20-18-16-10.
THUNDER STRIKE
Cooldown down from 3.5-3.4-3.3-3.2-3 seconds to 3 seconds.
Energy cost changed from 35-37-39-41-43 to 40.
BIG RED BUTTON
Damage up from 750-1350-1950 to 800-1500-2200.
Crystal ratio down from 520% to 460%.
CELESTE
While Celeste does fantastically in the back line, it was far too easy for gap-closing heroes to take her down in close-quarters combat. Now, she stands more of a fighting chance.
Base attack speed down from 100-136% to 100-125%.
JULIA’S LIGHT (HEROIC PERK)
Crystal ratio up from 50% to 75%.
HELIOGENESIS
Star duration-on-ground up from 7 to 8 seconds.
PHINN
That’s a big anchor! Phinn now has more utility on Quibble while also adjusting the damage, so that roam is more appealing. — ShinKaigan
QUIBBLE
Radius up from 2.7 to 3.0 meters.
Crystal ratio down from 200% to 170%.
Slow/stun duration up from 0.8 to 0.9s.
RONA
We’re fixing two elements of Rona’s kit that didn’t work properly. They’re now ready to go so we’re putting them back in!
BERSERKERS’ FURY
Basic-attack ratio up from 75% to 80%.
INTO THE FRAY
Into the Fray now properly grants Bloodrage upon the first impact. (Grants 20 Bloodrage per hero hit.)
Regular Bloodrage gains from basic attacks down from 9 to 6.
FOESPLITTER
Weapon ratio of both first and second activation up from 75% to 80%.
Second activation damage down from 15-30-45-60-105 + 120% CR to 10-20-30-40-70 + 100% CR.
Second cast drains all bloodrage and deals up to double damage based on % of bloodrage drained.
FORTRESS
33% damage per basic attack x3 basic attacks ≠ 100%.
Fixed a bug where pack wolves sometimes survive more than 3 basic attacks.
BLACKFEATHER
Adding more readability to Blackfeather on top of adding more ability choice diversity. —Zekent
ROSE OFFENSIVE
Hitbox reduced to match Blackfeather’s body width.
Charge time up from 30-25-20 to 40-30-20.
RINGO
Pew pew pew! —Zekent
TWIRLING SILVER
Attack speed boost down from 50-60-70-80-100% to 40-50-60-70-90%.
TAKA
Fixing a long-standing bug in Kaku in addition to adding some more skillful elements to Taka’s kit. —Zekent
KAKU
Fixed a bug where Kaku would end early if he was also basic attacking at the same time as using Kaku.
Reflex Block prevents Taka from getting knocked out of stealth.
Energy cost down from 45-57-69-81-93 to 45-55-65-75-85.
PETAL
Addressed a small bug where Petal’s munions were not correctly being treated as minions and thus made them easier to kill with certain AOE abilities. —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
Fixed a bug where Kestrel’s Glimmershot, Rona’s Into the Fray, and Skye’s Suri Strike dealt full damage to Munions when they should deal reduced damage as they do to lane minions.
GLAIVE
Adding a bit more meaningful choice in Glaive’s skill point allocation. —Zekent
AFTERBURN
Cooldown down from 25-24-23-22-10 to 22-20-18-16-10.
TWISTED STROKE
Energy cost down from 35-41-47-53-59 to 35-40-45-50-55.
BLOODSONG
Lifesteal changed from .75% to 0.9% per stack.
Gains full stacks whenever Glaive dies.
KRUL
The barrier was simply too large to break through! Additionally, slightly reducing Krul’s stacking capabilities. — Zekent
Base weapon damage down from 68-154 to 68-140
DEAD MAN’S RUSH
Barrier changed from 100-200-300-400-600 to 100-150-200-250-350
SPECTRAL SMITE
Damage with zero stacks down from 100-150-200-250-400 to 100-150-200-250-350
KESTREL
We gave her a little boost to her late game scaling, making her a more well-rounded character throughout the match. —Super-sub (writer) ShinKaigan
Base weapon power up from 64-99 to 64-130.
OZO
Fixed an issue where Ozo did not have the standard melee hero minion defense.
ACROBOUNCE
Bounce damage up from 20-40-60-80-100 + 100% CR to 50-80-110-140-200 + 120% CR.
Final damage changed from 70-105-140-174-245 + 100% CR to 50-80-110-140-200 + 120% CR.
Additional bounce damage changed from 30-50-70-90-110 + 50% CR to 25-40-55-70-100 + 60% CR.
Cooldown down from 14-13-12-11-10 to 13-12-11-10-8.
Dead heroes no longer earn XP.
Dead heroes no longer earn Ironguard gold.
SAW: Fixed a bug that caused a normal basic attack to fire immediately after using Roadie Run while Mad Cannon was activated.
Joule: Fixed a bug where Joule rotates if she gets rooted.
Reim: Fixed a bug where Reim’s damage on turrets granted fortified health as if he were hitting a hero.
Taka: Fixed a bug where Kaku would end early if he was also basic attacking at the same time as using Kaku.
Petal: Addressed a bug where Petal’s munions were not correctly being treated as minions.
Ozo: Fixed an issue where Ozo did not have the standard melee hero minion defense.
Fixed a bug where the collision of certain abilities didn’t quite match their visual effect. The following abilities have been impacted:
Blackfeather’s Rose Offensive
Celeste’s Solar Storm
Kestrel’s Glimmershot
Krul’s From Hell’s Heart
Phinn’s Forced Accord
Ozo’s Bangarang
Skaarf’s Spitfire
Skye’s Forward Barrage
Vox’s Wait for It …
As always, please understand that anything can change during development, including the details here. These two heroes are the Hero Design team’s top priorities and we’re looking forward to getting two new roamers into your hands!
INFINITE REBOOT (HEROIC PERK)
PRIME DIRECTIVE
CORE CHARGE
TERMINATION PROTOCOL
Hey, this is Ciderhelm, and I’d like offer a glimpse of our two upcoming roam heroes, Lance and Lyra. Lance is a heavily armored defender with a unique sword-and-board fighting style. Lyra, on the other hand, brings powerful magic to support her allies from a distance. In addition to their primary roam roles, Lance will offer a separate warrior path while Lyra will offer a separate mage path.
