1.20 Notes
JULY 25, 2016
Last updated
JULY 25, 2016
Last updated
Since 1.19 released, we’ve seen a lot of changes brought on by new items, new gameplay mechanics and the meta-shifting new hero, Lyra. So in Update 1.20, we’re giving you a chance to catch your breath and digest the changes while focusing on a much-needed feature: smart bots. The next new hero, the spell-slinging dark mage Samuel, will hit in 1.21. In the meantime, now is a great time to chill out with easier ways to obtain Sunlight, faster play options and improved bots that will follow your shot-calls better than anyone on your Friends list. Grab a drink and a spot by the pool. Update 1.20 is going to be a welcome breeze …
Look who’s joining the party: The Update 1.20 mystery skin is Summer Party SAW, who will make a splash on July 27 with his Gracie water gun and all-new effects and animations.
SKIN HIGHLIGHTS (HOW SAW LIKES TO PARTY)
Gracie transformed into a freakin’ big water gun!
All-new idle animation
Floaties for maximum safety
Face-smashing water balloon dominance
Flippy-floppies
Suppressing “Fire” soaks enemies
Throws “Mad Cannon” exploding water balloons
Jumps into a kiddie pool for his recall animation
HOW TO UNLOCK SUMMER PARTY SAW
Unlock this special seasonal skin by collecting 50 cards in the following ways:
Get cards from the special SAW ICE Box.
Earn Sunlight from matches to level up. (Some Summer levels will automatically give you a SAW card.)
Claim Daily Summer Chest rewards, which will sometimes include a Summer SAW card, especially if you’ve leveled up your chest a lot.
Complete Quests: It’s possible you’ll score a Summer Party card in your quest chest.
Maybe get really lucky from a Summer SAW card drop post-match
Card Parties! Play every weekend all Summer season long to get a max of 2 Summer cards per weekend.
Note: Summer Party Krul is still available and will be until the end of the season. Plus, there’s still one more mystery skin to come in Update 1.21. Stay tuned.
A lot of players told us it was confusing to receive Sunlight in some situations and not others, along with much sadness that Battle Royale loses gave nothing but a little shade. In response, we’ve made it easier to get Sunlight (while still keeping minimal abuse prevention measures in place). So lather on that sunscreen. There’s going to be a lot more Sunlight in 1.20.
Decreased minimum match lengths required for Sunlight:
Ranked matches: Gain Sunlight after 10 mins (down from 15 mins)
Casual matches: Gain Sunlight after 10 mins (down from 15 mins)
Co-op Bots Standard: Gain Sunlight after 7 mins (down from 10)
Added Sunlight payouts to all bot modes and to all losses
Yes, get Sunlight from Battle Royale losses.
Learn more about Summer Sunlight: ‘Get New Rewards & Progress‘
Summer season is about fun experiences for players of all kinds. Now, intelligent bots are getting in on the summer fun, challenging players across the experience spectrum. Try bots at five difficulty levels (Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Very Hard) and find what’s right for you and your friends. Also, expect the Hard and Very Hard bots to get smarter and even harder to beat in future updates.
BOTS FOR BEGINNERS
Bot mode: Solo | Recommended difficulty: Very Easy
For new players just joining the game, Very Easy bots will be a great introduction to the basic mechanics of combat and teamwork. Since the bots are designed to behave like humans, they’ll follow tactical commands, rally at specified points and even use social pings to express sadness or congratulations depending on how your match is going.
BOTS FOR MENTORING
Bot mode: Party | Recommended difficulty: Easy
Have a friend you want to introduce to Vainglory but concerned about dropping them into intense matches at your skill level? Now you can use the PARTY menu option, invite that player and a friend, then set up a match against bots at your desired difficulty. As that player becomes more skilled, you can increase the difficulty of the bots. So, invite a new friend to Vainglory, grab someone from your Friends list and throw a bot party.
BOTS BY CHOICE
Bot mode: Co-op | Matchmaker automatically sets bot difficulty
Some players simply prefer a challenging bot experience over PvP matches because they don’t have to worry about dealing with other humans. And you know what? That’s cool too. The Matchmaker will populate your game with opponents on par with your skills. The better you get, the more challenging bots you’ll encounter. See if you can defeat a team of Very Hard bots!
BOTS FOR EXPERIMENTATION
Bot mode: Solo | Recommended difficulty: Hard
Just unlocked a new hero or want to try out a different item build? Great, go for a test run against some bots. Setting up a bot match is a great, low-risk way to sharpen skills without the pressure of a live player match.
NEW: When playing a Battle Royale match with solo bots, you can select your hero while battling random bot enemies.
This one’s in honor of all the hard carries out there. For the first time ever in Vainglory, receive recognition from killing multiple enemy heroes in close succession. There’s nothing quite like hearing Vainglory’s iconic announcer declare “Double Kill!” or “TRIPLE KILL!” because of youroutplays.
New announcer kill streaks:
Double Kill!
Triple Kill!
Through player feedback, we’ve worked to improve our system of punishment for players who abandon matches, ping rudely, troll, dodge Hero Select and have seriously negative karma. The new Low Priority Queue serves to keep repeat offenders away from you — while giving them an opportunity to earn their way back into the mainstream.
The Low Priority Queue adds additional time to matchmaking for a set number of matches.
Repeat offenders earn additional amount of queue time and increased number of probationary matches.
Completing matches earns points toward returning to normal queue.
Find new skins in the Vainglory Market every week.
SUMMER PARTY SAW
BROKEN DOLL ALPHA TIER I
FURY RONA TIER III
Keep an eye on the in-game News section for hero skin details, official skin lore & dev interviews, and watch the Wednesday dev stream for in-game skin reveals.
A new monster replaces the jungle heal camps in Update 1.20: the Treant. The Treant is also a healer, and when it dies, it will launch a green heal projectile to the last-hitter. Look for this cosmetic upgrade in the jungle.
Heal camp model upgraded to new “Treants.”
Same healing effect as before
Projectile from heal camp to last-hitter (similar to Fountain of Renewal projectile)
Experience down from 29 to 27
Get into games faster with menus that remember your preferences.
Easily find deals & exclusives.
Longtime players got the guild and team tags they wanted, but over time as the player base has grown, it has become increasingly difficult to get the tag you want … or even find an unclaimed tag at all! Starting in Update 1.20, team and guild tags will no longer be unique, so players can freely choose the tag they really want.
Guild & team tags are no longer unique.
Simply select the name you want when creating a guild or team.
Existing guilds & teams will be able to change their tags starting in Update 1.21 (next update).
In 1.19, we first announced that we were seeking community suggestions for quest ideas. We’ve been really impressed by these player-sourced submissions so far and can’t wait to hear more. Look for quests with the “Community” title and tap to the detailed view to see the player shout-out for the idea.
The first set of community-suggested quests are included in 1.20, and this is just the beginning. These initial Community quests focus on play based on specific hero roles, which is a great way to collect extra rewards as you utilize your hero roster.
HERO ROLE COMMUNITY QUESTS
Play a Warrior (Rona, Glaive, Joule, Ozo, Krul, Alpha or Fortress). Yes, Fortress is considered a warrior even though he’s a roamer.
Play a Protector (Lyra, Lance, Catherine, Ardan, Phinn or Adagio)
Play an Assassin (Koshka, Taka or Blackfeather)
Play a Mage (Skaarf, Petal, Reim or Celeste)
Play a Sniper (Ringo, Kestrel, SAW, Vox or Skye)
Submit your Community Quests ideas here. Punchpop will pick a few every update to make into real quests. Note: There are many more Community Quests already selected and in development for future releases.
MORE FLEXIBLE QUESTS
We’ve heard your feedback and have now made quests easier to complete. Now, all Hero Quests can be completed in any game mode.
NEW QUEST TYPES
Play Solo Bots
Win Solo Bots
Increased number of cards in a chest by +1 for all chests except for Legendary chests.
Now, all chests have at least two cards in them.
Increased likelihood of getting cards.
EXPERIENCE
With the change to experience and the addition of ambient gold, some adjustments to experience distribution were in order. —Zekent
Experience gain changed from: One – 100% Two – 85/40% Three – 65/30/30%
To: One – 100% Two – 65/60% Three – 45/40/40%
HOLD TO USE MINI-MAP
Too many players were accidentally “snapping” to the mini-map during fights. Now, players need to tap and hold down the mini-map before the screen will move.
Tap-and-hold the mini-map to pan over the Halcyon fold map like before.
To turn on instant mini-map snapping, go to Vainglory app settings.
TACTICAL PING COOLDOWNS
The earlier ping cooldown changes dramatically reduced “rude ping” spam, but it had the unintended consequence of preventing legitimate shot-calling in the late game. We hope this addresses cooldown concerns. —PlayoffBeard
Changed ping cooldowns from 3 pings within 6 seconds to 4 pings within 8 seconds
PETAL
Petal is finally firming in the competitive meta, but her kit could still be rather difficult for players to use. We wanted Petal’s abilities to be more player-friendly and to give players more flexibility with Spontaneous Combustion. —Zekent
TRAMPOLINE
Allows you to choose jump direction (like Vox’s Sonic Zoom)
No longer require Petal to be standing on a seed to activate. Instead, this ability costs energy and instantly places a seed on the ground from which Petal leaps
No longer recalls all munions back to Petal
SPOTANEOUS COMBUSTION
Petal now only commands one munion to explode at a time
This ability has 3 charges; one charge every 35-30-25 seconds.
Button is disabled when no munions are available, preventing you from wasting charges
ENERGY
No longer gains 0-150% bonus regeneration based on current energy amount
Energy down from 1200 to 410-718
Energy regen down from 8.88 to 3.21-5.30
Seeds cost 60-65-70-75-80
Trampoline costs 80-85-90-95-100
Spontaneous Combustion costs 40
MUNIONS
Munion health changed from 110-200-290-380-560 + 30% CR to 100-170-240-310-450 + 25%CR
Defense per munion up from 20-25-30-35-45 to 30-35-40-45-50
KOSHKA
These changes move Koshka away from being a bruiser and more toward a mobile assassin. We’ve been testing a more dramatic rework internally, but these changes may already make Koshka front-of-mind again. —SurpriseBirthday
HEROIC PERK
Whenever Koshka deals damage with an ability, she gains +2 move speed for 4 seconds
No longer has cooldown reduction on basic attacks, instead, her cooldowns have all been reduced.
POUNCY FUN
Damage changed from 80-130-180-230-400 + 80% CP to 75-140-205-270-400 + 100% CP
Cooldown down from 14-13-12-11-10 to 9.0-8.5-8.0-7.5-7.0
TWIRLY DEATH
Always empowers her next 2 basic attacks, regardless of # of targets hit by Twirl
Damage changed from 90-125-160-195-270 + 80% CP to 80-120-160-200-280 + 100% CP
Bonus damage changed from 30-55-80-105-150 + 110% CP to 35-50-65-80-110 + 140% CP
Cooldown down from 16-15-14-13-12 to 8.0-7.5-7.0-6.5-6.0
YUMMY CATNIP FRENZY
Cooldown down from 140-110-80 to 80-65-50
LYRA
While Lyra’s is still very powerful, we’re exaggerating her squishisness rather than hurting her power. —Zekent
BASE STATS
Armor/shield down from 30-63 to 30-48
IMPERIAL SIGIL
Build some health! It’ll be good for both you and your allies! – Zekent
Healing per second health ratio up from 7.5% bonus health to 10% bonus health
Burst healing health ratio down from 15% bonus health to 8% bonus health
BRIGHT BULWARK
The shortened duration and cooldown means that Lyra must properly time this ability to have maximum effect. —Zekent
Duration down from 4-4-4-4-6 to 2.5
Cooldown down from 35-32-29-26-20 to 24-22-20-18-14
Enemies inside the zone cannot use Lyra’s portals for the entire duration inside.
CATHERINE
We wanted Catherine to have a more active playstyle, so we’ve shortened the cooldowns and durations of Stormguard and smoothed out her damage levels. —Zekent
STORMGUARD
Duration of bubble down from 6 to 4
Cooldown down from8-7-6-5-4 to 6.0-5.5-5.0-4.5-4.0
Damage per second up from 40-55-70-85-100 to 40-60-80-100-120
Fixed a bug where this ability can be activated while stunned
ADAGIO
As part of our overall effort to buff roamers, we wanted Roam Adagio to offer meaningful healing by scaling his items. —Zekent
GIFT OF FIRE
Burst heal crystal ratio down from 65% CP to 45% CP
Burst heal now has an 8% bonus health ratio
AGENT OF WRATH
Hit count up from 4-4-4-4-6 to 5-5-5-5-7
ARDAN
VANGUARD
Barrier health ratio up from 15% to 25%
BLOOD FOR BLOOD
Fixed a bug where bonus energy did not convert to bonus crystal for this ability
PHINN
We wanted Phinn to have a bit more an impact as a late-game Roamer, so we’re giving Forced Accord additional damage spikes at level 9 and 12. —Zekent
Forced Accord
Damage up from 100-200-300 to 100-300-500
REIM
We’re balancing the damage between the first and second hit of Winter Spire so that Reim has a bit more consistent damage overall. —Zekent
Winter Spire
Initial damage up from 80-110-140-170-200 + 80% CP to 80-120-160-200-240 + 100% CP
Shatter damage down from 100-145-190-235-280 + 160% to 80-120-160-200-240 + 140% CP
SKAARF
Skaarf needed a bit more opportunity to contribute late game so we’ve upgraded his Fan the Flames and Goop’s damage. —Zekent
Attack speed up from 100% to 100-122%
FAN THE FLAMES
Crystal ratio up from 2% CP to 3% CP
GOOP
Damage over time up from 40-60-80-100-120 to 60-90-120-150-180
VOX
We wanted to emphasize Vox’s potential as a crystal power mage. —Zekent
RESONANCE
Bounce damage changed from (25 base) 50-75-100-125-175 + 80% CP to (20 base) 40-60-80-100-140 + 90% CP
OZO
THREE-RING CIRCUS
Crystal ratio on first and third hit up from 50% to 75%
ACROBOUNCE
Cooldown down from 13-12-11-10-8 to 10-10-10-10-8
Fixed a bug where this ability was unable to target Kraken
JOULE
Big Red Button is a powerful ability with big-play potential, but we weren’t seeing enough of it. —Zekent
Big Red Button cooldown down from 100-85-70 to 60-50-40
RONA
Red Mist leaves Rona exposed from range, so now she can properly soak up some damage while using her ultimate. —Zekent
RED MIST
Fortified Health gained per second up from 40-60-80 to 40-70-100
BLACKFEATHER
This change allows Blackfeather to be much more of a threat early on while also creating a bit more power for his crystal path.
HEARTTHROB
Bonus crystal damage up from 3-9 (level 1-12) + 7% CP to 5-10 + 10% CP per stack
ON POINT
Damage changed from 90-140-190-240-290 + 165% CP to 80-120-160-200-240 + 180% CP + 50% WP
FORTRESS
Attack of the Pack
Cooldown down from 120-95-70 to 90-75-60
TAKA
KAKU
Fixed a bug where this ability can be activated while stunned.
OVERALL
Most items are now usable while channeling abilities, with the exception of Flares, Flare Gun, Contraption and Scout Traps.
Stormguard Banner is returning to its DPS incarnation for simplicity and consistency of damage for roamers.
Passive: Basic attacks deal 25-75 (level 1-12) bonus true damage per second to non-heroes, 20% to heroes
Recipe price down from 800 to 550 (Total price down from 1100 to 850)
New Stats:
200 Health
STORMCROWN
Stormcrown now not only packs more consistent damage due to the Banner change, but it also has superior stats that roamers love. —Zekent
Passive: Basic attacks deal 50-150 (level 1-12) bonus true damage per second to non-heroes, 20% to heroes
New Stats
30% Cooldown Speed
4 Energy Recharge
200 Health
FLARE GUN
Now Flare Gun is a more economical purchase.
Cooldown up from 18 to 20 seconds.
Now has 2 charges
CONTRAPTION
Raising the charge time a bit for consistency with Flare Gun, but vision alone will never justify a tier 3 slot, so we’re adding a tad more cooldown — a stat heavily favored by roamers.
Charge time up from 18 to 20 seconds
Cooldown speed up from 35% to 40%
CONTRACT ITEMS
We were relatively conservative with the new contract items when introduced at the start of Summer, just to make sure we didn’t disrupt the meta too severely. Now that we’ve observed these items for a while, we’re in a position to make them stronger and more desirable. —Zekent
PROTECTOR CONTRACT
Grants the barrier to all nearby allied heroes
Projectile speed increased from 15 to 20
DRAGONBLOOD CONTRACT
Damage up from 75 to 100
IRONGUARD CONTRACT
Also works when a large lane minion is killed
Also regenerates 10 energy each
CLOCKWORK
Since the utility tree is now filled with cooldown items that probably easily outclass Clockwork, Clockwork is moving back squarely into being a Mage item again.
Passive: Amplify Crystal Power by 25%
Cooldown speed down from 50% to 40%
Price up from 1850 to 2500
BREAKING POINT
Total cost up from 2500 to 2600
Weapon Power up from 50 to 55 (to match Heavy Steel)
BONESAW
Weapon power down from 30 to 15 (to match Piercing Spear)
Armor Shred changed from 7 stacks of 7% to 8 stacks of 6%
Duration of armor shred down from 6 to 3 seconds, then decay a stack every half-second
MINION CANDY
Can only be used if there is a valid target nearby, preventing you from accidentally wasting it
Hotfixed earlier: Resolved “missing abilities” issue
Catherine Stormguard / Taka Kaku: Fixed an issue where you can use these abilities while stunned.
Addressed the ‘Asset Not Found’ error Google Play players were experiencing
Improved loading performance in game
Improved Android stability across multiple devices
STORMGUARD BANNER
