2.1 Notes
January 18th 2017
New Blitz Mode beta offers Vainglory’s first five-minute gameplay mode. Plus, there’s a new Epic Mystery Chest to unlock with an unprecedented 1 million ICE jackpot, a new Supporter Badge, a new Lunar New Year map skin, new hero skins and much more. Let’s check it out …
NEW MODE: BLITZ BETA
Blitz Beta is a new gameplay format designed for short, five-minute sessions. It is still very much in development and will likely evolve with time, based on community feedback.
Let’s say you have a set amount of time to play a game. Maybe you’re on a bus and your stop is coming up or you’re waiting in line at the movies. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to jump into Vainglory and know exactly how much time it would take to finish a match? That’s the thinking behind Blitz. Whereas Battle Royale and Casual matches are objective-based and can go on indefinitely, Blitz is the first mode in Vainglory to have a countdown timer and a definitive end. Now, you can hop into a quick, intense match when you only have five minutes to spare — and know it will end when you need it to.
Blitz Mode also debuts a handy new “Quick Buy” feature. When players are near their shop, they will see the icon of the next recommended item for their hero’s build. Simply tap on the item’s icon to purchase it. The icon will be replaced by the next item in the build if the player has enough gold. If they don’t have the gold, no icon will appear. This is a great feature for new players who can often be overwhelmed by item options but won’t limit veterans who still want to shop for a specific build.
We saw an opportunity to add a more compact, quicker gameplay mode that is great for new players and incredibly fun and fast for all players. We hope Blitz Beta delivers on that promise, giving players the perfect opportunity to try out a new hero, item build or strategy in an action-packed session.
HOW TO PLAY BLITZ BETA
Objective: Reach 15 points before the enemy team
The five-minute game ends one of two ways: Reach 15 points or run out of time.
HOW TO EARN POINTS
A team scores points by killing enemy heroes or taking out objectives.
Enemy heroes: 1 point each
Objectives (Turrets, Crystal Miners, Gold Miners): 3 points each
You and your teammates will have to strategize what is more important — the lane or the jungle — and either play conservatively or aggressively depending on how close you are to 15. Suddenly, chasing down that fleeing Koshka takes on a whole new level of tension — securing the kill will bring your team closer to victory but if you’re caught and killed, then it could be game over.
Players start the match at Level 9 and with 6000 gold. So, you get to test your new item build strategy immediately. Maybe you start Lyra with Shatterglass and overdrive her Imperial Sigil. Or maybe you start with a Fountain of Renewal or Contraption and focus on keeping teammates alive.
Blitz Beta is still in many ways a work in progress, but we’re excited to share it now and get as much feedback from you as possible as we look for the perfect five-minute version of Vainglory. We can’t wait for you to try it out!
RULES SUMMARY
First team to score 15 points wins
1 point per kill, 3 points per objective (Turret, Gold miner, Crystal miner)
At 5 minutes, team with higher score wins.
If tied at 5 minutes, goes into sudden death and the next score (of any kind) wins
Players start the match at Level 9 and with 6000 gold.
Unlike Battle Royale, players can select their hero before the match
Unlike Battle Royale, players can recall back to base
Unlike Battle Royale, the entire map is open
Hero respawn rate is 12 seconds at all times.
Lane minions and jungle monsters are worth more gold & XP than standard modes.
NEW: THE EPIC MYSTERY CHEST
Vainglory Update 2.0 introduced the Mystery Chest, offering players the opportunity to get any hero or skin in the Market — including all the Special Edition skins that usually require massive amounts of Opals. Player feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re excited about what new opportunities this provides going forward.
In Update 2.1, the Mystery Chest will be renamed the Rare Mystery Chest. Why the change? We wanted to leave room for an offering even more… epic. For a higher price, the Epic Mystery Chest guarantees better payouts and a chance at a 1 MILLION ICE JACKPOT. That’s not a typo. Imagine what you’d do with 1 million ICE in your account.
Use an Epic Mystery Key to unlock this new chest for 999 ICE. Each chest contains at least six cards including one hero, one skin and 20 Opals guaranteed! There’s also an increased chance of getting an Epic skin or higher or a Special Edition skin. The Epic Mystery Chest will include every hero and skin sold in the Market … plus a few surprise unreleased skins scheduled to hit the Market later on. If you receive a duplicate of a skin or hero you already own, you get 20 Opals instead. In addition to a chance to win a staggering one million ICE jackpot, the Epic Mystery Chest also offers a potential huge payout of 100,000 ICE.
The Epic Mystery Chest: Better, more reliable payouts and a chance to score 1 million ICE.
NEW: VAINGLORY SUPPORTER BADGE
Vainglory is a shared journey with a community that shapes our product roadmap, heroes, skins, lore and gameplay. Together, we’re making this game better. With the introduction of the Rare and Epic Mystery Chests, we wanted to do something for the players within this community who take the extra step to support Vainglory financially. That’s why we’re introducing the Supporter Badge. If you’ve bought ICE in the past 30 days, you’ll see a new signifier on the VS screen of every match. Thank you for helping make Vainglory what it is today. We know your money is precious, and we sincerely appreciate your support.
NEW HERO SKINS
Wuxia Ozo (Rare)
Price: 900 ICE
Gladiator Lance (Epic)
Price: 1499 ICE
LUNAR NEW YEAR MAP
To celebrate the Lunar New Year, the Halcyon Fold has turned festive. Look for red paper lanterns, fireworks and golden statues to celebrate the Year of the Rooster. Use the mini-map to explore all its detail.
GAMEPLAY CHANGES
HALCYON FOLD
These changes to the Halcyon Fold create many interesting options when approaching a match. Opportunities for quick invades, early jungle aggression and alternative jungle rotations set the stage for a much more dynamic game.
Lane minions and jungle monsters spawn 10 seconds later
Now spawns an Elder Treant camp before 4 minutes where the Jungle Shop would be
HERO BOUNTIES
Hero kills are now significantly more valuable. Gaining a significant amount of kills in a game can dramatically swing the tide of battle. These changes allow for early-game heroes to put more pressure onto slower teams and head into the later stages of the game with a larger advantage. However, if you’re on a streak, be sure to protect your own life, as your death will be significantly more valuable to the opposition. —Zekent
Added a First Blood bonus of 100 gold
Hero bounty up from 50-160 (Level 1-12) to 200 (all levels)
Killing streak gold bounty (+75 gold per kill)
Assist streak gold bounty (+15 gold per assist)
Minimum bounty is 200; maximum bounty is 600
Bounty formula is 125 + killstreak Bonus + assist streak bonus (minimum 200 gold)
Assist gold down from 40% to 25%
No rubberbanding gold
CRYSTAL MINER
In Update 2.1, the Crystal Miner packs an even stronger punch, but it also takes longer to respawn and now has a set number of lives, after which it will no longer respawn. You can now invade the enemy jungle more effectively, but it’s a risky strategy.
Bounty up from 35 gold and 11 experience to 125 gold and 15 experience
Now has three lives, after which it will no longer respawn
Now deals 4% maximum health damage as mixed damage
Respawn time up from 45 to 60 seconds
SKINS PREFERENCES
Vainglory now remembers your preferred skins from game to game. If you always like to use Petal’s Pumpkin Spice skin, for example, select it once and it becomes your default for future matches. Resetting your default skin is as simple as choosing a different skin.
HERO BALANCE CHANGES
PETAL
BRAMBLEBOOM SEEDS Munions. Everywhere. This should put a bit of a stop to that. Petal will now need to put more thought into where she takes a fight instead of dropping a garden everywhere she goes. Additionally, the decrease in leash range should make it far less frustrating when fighting against a Petal who stays far away from the fight. —Zekent
Damage up from 6-13-20-27-41 to 7-14-21-28-42
Cooldown up from 1 to 2
This ability is now affected by cooldown speed
Munion leash range down from 10.5 to 9
GWEN
BOOMSTICK Nudging down the damage just a bit. A single basic attack mixed in with Gwen’s other abilities could decimate her foes far too quickly. —Zekent
Weapon ratio down from 50% to 45%
BUCKSHOT BONANZA While a crystal Gwen should be able to constantly blast her opponents with this ability, it was far too effective on a weapon Gwen. These changes should make Gwen a bit more wary of her energy in addition to toning down the hurt just a bit. —Zekent
Energy cost up from 50-55-60-65-70 to 60-65-70-75-90
Damage down from 60-100-140-180-260 + 75% WR to 60-100-140-180-220 + 65% WR
TAKA
STATS Bringing Taka’s defensive stats up to par with most other heroes.
Armor changed from 23-73 to 20-86
Shield up from 20-64 to 20-86
HOUSE KAMUHA Weapon Taka has been having a rough time. Paired with the increase in defense, he should now be more effective in fights. —Zekent
Weapon ratio up from 25 to 30%
CATHERINE
STATS Catherine was granted way too much shield from simply leveling. Combined with her Captain of the Guard heroic perk, it made it very tough for heroes building crystal to get through to her. —Zekent
Shield down from 25-113 to 25-80
STORMGUARD Plenty of new cooldown options led to a virtually untouchable Stormguard warrior. This should grant her opponents a bit more room to breathe and forces Catherine to decide between a more defensive or offensive build early on. —Zekent
Cooldown up from 6.0-5.5-5.0-4.5-4.0 to 7.0-6.5-6.0-5.5-5.0
BLAST TREMOR With how impactful abilities are in large engagements, this ability created too much of a tilt in fights when landed on multiple enemy heroes. —Zekent
Cooldown down from 105-85-65 to 100-80-60
Energy cost changed from 95-135-175 to 120-140-160
Silence duration down from 2.5-3.0-3.5 to 2.5
LANCE
GYTHIAN WALL
Having this ability up so often meant that Lance was able to easily suppress many heroes jumping onto his allies. The increased cooldown means that he has fewer opportunities to push enemies around, leaving his allies more prone to danger. The slight bump in stamina means that constantly using this ability will hamper his ability to cast his other abilities more easily. —Zekent
Stamina cost up from 30 to 40
Cooldown up from 8-7-6-5-4 to 9-8-7-6-5
No longer CC immune after he cancels the shield
COMBAT ROLL Reducing the stamina cost of this ability so that Lance is able to use all three abilities without needing to purchase energy items to increase his stamina pool. —Zekent
Stamina cost down from 40-35-30 to 30-25-20
RONA
BERSERKER’S FURY A bit more power on Rona’s basic attacks go a long way. If she can get into the middle of a fight, she can dish out some serious damage to her enemies. —Zekent
Weapon ratio up from 80% to 85%
FOESPLITTER This ability is meant to have the same weapon ratio as Rona’s basic attacks. This change will allow her to do just a bit more with her abilities. —Zekent
Weapon ratio on first and second hit up from 80% to 85%
RED MIST Rona will now be able to much more easily transition from one ability to another. Keep in mind, a maxed out Foesplitter will now grant her enough bloodrage to cast Red Mist! —Zekent
Bloodrage required to channel this ability for one second down from 35-30-25 to 25-25-25
Bloodrage required to activate this ability down from 50 to 25
LYRA
STATS Still more fragile than most other heroes, but she needed to be a bit tougher than before. —Zekent
Armor changed from 25-41.5 to 25-65
Shield changed from 25-41.5 to 25-65
IMPERIAL SIGIL The move speed granted by this ability is now more impactful. Be sure your allies are ready to reposition mid-fight! —Zekent
Move speed strength up from 1.5 to 2.0
FORTRESS
STATS Bringing Fortress’ defensive stats up to par with other heroes.
Armor up from 30-85 to 30-86
Shield up from 20-75 to 30-86
TRUTH OF THE TOOTH This ability now makes more sense. Previously, an allied hero just outside the range of the mark would not be granted move speed even if they entered the range shortly after.
Allies stepping into range of a target marked as prey have their move speed increased running toward the marked target
KRUL
STATS With a particularly slow early game, Krul had a tough time gaining any momentum when his opponents were able to put early pressure on him. A slight increase in stats across the board should help him weather the storm. —Zekent
Armor up from 20-75 to 25-86
Shield up from 20-75 to 25-86
DEAD MAN’S RUSH
While this ability may not do a huge amount of damage, it is meant to keep Krul in the thick of things. The reduction in cooldown and the increase in barrier strength and duration means that he will now have improved durability to continue whittling away at his foes. —Zekent
Cooldown down from 12-11-10-9-8 to 9-9-9-9-8
Barrier strength up from 100-150-200-250-350 to 100-180-260-340-420
Barrier duration changed from 2.5 + 0.2% CR to 3.0
SPECTRAL SMITE Since the lifesteal on this ability scales with Krul’s damage output, there was no reason for it to be lowered at early levels. If he does manage to get max stacks on you, be prepared to run. —Zekent
Lifesteal per stack up from 10.0-10.5-11.0-11.5-12.5% to 12.5%
Weakness damage reduction now affects everything other than Kraken, turrets, and the Vain Crystal
SAMUEL
MALICE & VERDICT This isn’t a huge change, but should make Samuel’s damage a bit more predictable. —Zekent
The empowered version of this ability is no longer affected by cooldown speed
DRIFTING DARK Since this ability is meant to primarily support Samuel, the amount of damage it did was a bit higher than necessary.
Damage per second down from 40-70-100-130-160 to 40-55-70-85-100
KESTREL
STATS Putting the removed Adrenaline attack speed back into her base stats.
Base attack speed up from 100-111% to 100-136%
ADRENALINE With the attack speed removed from this heroic perk, Kestrel no longer has the faster reload time on Glimmershot.
Attack speed per stack removed
GLIMMERSHOT Adding a few more options to counter Kestrel. The removal of armor piercing means that buying defensive items against Kestrel will be a more potent way to deal with her damage. Additionally, the shift of base damage into ratios means that weapon Kestrel no longer piles on as much crystal damage with her Glimmershot. —Zekent
Removed armor piercing from this ability (down from 5-5-5-5-10% to 0%)
Basic attack ratio up from 80-90-100-110-120% to 100-105-110-115-130%
Crystal damage down from 35-70-105-140-175 + 170% CR to 30-60-90-120-150 + 160% CR
PHINN
FORCED ACCORD With plenty of cooldown options at his disposal, Phinn no longer needs a reprieve when he misses his hook. Be sure to aim carefully and catch your opponents when they least expect it. —Zekent
No longer has a cooldown refund on miss
Cooldown up from 70-55-40 to 75-60-45
SKYE
FORWARD BARRAGE A fairly dramatic change to how weapon Skye can be played. While still doing a bit of damage, this ability will now be much more effective as a kiting mechanism — allowing Skye to buy time for Suri Strike to come back up to continue dancing around her opponents. —Zekent
Weapon ratio down from 210% to 50%
Now has a 0% + (20% every 100 weapon power, up to a max of 40%) slow
ARDAN
STATS Ardan is meant to be fairly tough to take down; however, we wanted to make sure his stats were more in line with other heroes. —Zekent
Armor down from 30-96 to 30-86
Shield up from 20-86 to 30-86
VANGUARD If you’re looking to stay in step with more mobile allies, be sure to take the overdrive on Vanguard to keep up. —Zekent
Range up from 7 to 7-7-7-7-8.5
BLOOD FOR BLOOD Paired with the new overdrive for Vanguard, this change to Blood for Blood will allow Ardan players a few more interesting options when choosing to level up his abilities. Be sure to take this overdrive if your enemies are staying just outside your range. —Zekent
Range up from 5 to 5-5-5-5-7
IDRIS
DIVERGENT PATHS The crystal side of Idris’ perk was not quite as impactful as it needed to be. This should help Idris stand toe to toe with other heroes a bit more easily. —Zekent
Crystal path basic attack crystal ratio up from 85% to 90%
CHAKRAM Not too overwhelming later on in the game, but Idris had a tough time early on. These changes should help him make it through the early stages of match a bit safer. —Zekent
Cooldown down from 10-9-8-7-5 to 8.0-7.5-7.0-6.5-5.0
Damage to minions up from 45-75-105-135-165 to 70-95-120-145-170
MISC
Idris now has crystal recommended items
SKAARF
SPITFIRE
Damage changed from 75-125-175-225-325 + 140% CR to 75-135-195-255-315 + 150% CR
ITEM BALANCE CHANGES
NULLWAVE GAUNTLET These changes create more opportunities to counterplay the item silence and prevent heroes from firing point blank, which made it essentially unblockable. —Zekent
Item silence duration down from 5 to 4 seconds
The delivery system of this item has now been changed from a single slow moving projectile that item silences to a single fast moving projectile that marks its target, then detonates after a substantial delay. The item silence only triggers after the delayed detonation, meaning both the projectile and the detonation can be Reflex Blocked.
BUG FIXES
Gwen’s Buckshot Bonanza and Aces High descriptions now properly indicate that they deal weapon damage.
Glaive’s Bloodsong deals damage in three separate ticks (dealing 70/20/10% of the total damage respectively).
Fixed an issue where Idris didn’t have the standard 33 minion defense present on all melee heroes.
Fixed bug where the bonus CP from Clockwork didn’t increase the crystal damage of Idris’s ranged basic attacks.
Joule’s Rocket Leap description now more accurate describes what it does.
Koshka’s Twirly Death description now accurately reflects the lowered empowered attack cooldown.
Fixed a bug where purchasing Echo, Slumbering Husk, Poisoned Shiv or Nullwave Gauntlet didn’t show in the battle log.
Added tips on Nullwave Gauntlet, Poisoned Shiv, Echo and Slumbering Husk
Fixed a bug where Echo incorrectly allowed you to activate it during the execution of certain abilities such as Skye’s Forward Barrage, but it would not actually reset their cooldown.
Fixed a bug where all buff icons were showing up in Spectator Mode.
Stormguard, Bloodsong, Spin Up, Spectral Smite, Truth of the Tooth, Boomstick, Shroudstep and Shimmerstrike buff icons no longer show up in Spectator Mode.
Fixed a bug where fortified health was not showing tick marks.
Fixed a bug where items would be deselected as you switched shops.
Last updated
