Version 1.3 is just around the corner meaning there's plenty for us to talk about. We've been busy working on an assortment of balance adjustments, new features and more, so let's waste no time and get right into it:
Balance Bonanza
Version 1.3 is going to have a whopping total of 22 cards/masters being adjusted. We've been working close with our PTR group to come up with a set of balance changes to shake up the meta, and just a few have been handpicked out to reveal today. We'll have more news on the rest of the adjustments soon, but for the time being here's what we've got to display:
- Morellia
- Range 12 > 10
- Perk 2 Spirit Count 3 > 2
- Queen's Dragon (perk 3) Mana Cost 6 > 8
- Morellia turned out to offer too much value in specific areas, particularly through her Spirits and ease of getting her Nyrvir through Perk 3 onto the field. These changes also come hand-in-hand with an adjustment to the Spirit mechanic detailed below;
- Spirit (Mechanic)
- Flying Minions only receive 100 Health from Spirit
- The intended design with most flying minions is for their highly destructive capabilities to be weighed in with their limited survivability. With the release of Morellia in particular we saw flying minions being pushed beyond their limits with the amount of health they received from the reworked buff, making them feel insurmountable to play against and requiring the most expensive forms of removal to get rid of them.
- Empowered Soul Stealer
- No longer has Marksmanship
- Starts with 2 souls
- Gains 2 extra souls if a friendly minion has Rage
- On a similar note to the Spirit change, Marksmanship not only made Empowered Soul Stealer a much safer card to play but much more powerful offensively as well due to its natural advantage against all but the highest range minions in a direct encounter. Combined with a kickstart on the amount of souls the card had, it felt less like a glass cannon that needed protection and more of a one-man army that could effectively deal with any threat.
- Rock Rivals
- Enemy Living Statue no longer has Rage
- Rock Rivals had two distinct issues to it: In 1v1, the enemy Living Statue was simply far too powerful to be realistically dealt with on your own after you committed a 6 Mana card that didn't come close to matching its power level. In 2v2, Rock Rivals was at the forefront of a notorious cheese strategy where you would cast Hypnotise on the enemy Living Statue for an unstoppable sudden offense that couldn't be dealt with without specific cards in your deck. Removing the Rage should hopefully go a long way to resolving both of these issues.
- Apep
- Perk 1 and 3 can now only select Minions
- Apep, while previously a strong and popular master due to his free value, has become less relevant over time due to the inconsistency in his perk, which in turn became a large cause of frustration. Some of his best and worst options from his first perk were Spell cards such as Black Hole and Mana Puff Madness to name a few. This change should make his perks feel much more consistent, and as a whole better to use.
These are just 5 of the changes coming in Version 1.3. To learn about the rest, you'll have to tune in to...
The Dwarf Stream!
Our ritual Developer Stream will be occurring on Monday the 15th, hosted as usual by That Sprite. Come stop by at 1900 UTC +2 as we guide you through everything that Version 1.3 has to offer. Want to learn about our new player reporting feature? Join in the excitement of those fresh Balance reveals? Stop on by at our Twitch stream and hang out with our awesome community!
Streamer Spotlight - Sinobii
Today we'll also be highlighting another dedicated Minion Masters streamer - Sinobii! Sinobii drew upon his skillset developed as a Legend Rank Hearthstone Streamer to reach Grandmaster in his first month of playing Minion Masters, and has achieved GM Rank in all three ranked play modes every month since. With his consistent effort in improving his own play, and trying to help others do the same, it's no surprise his community continues to soar to greater heights! Here's what he has to say about his stream:
If you're anything like me, you'll agree the un-Official motto for Minion Masters should be 'Welcome to your new addiction!'
We've been streaming minion masters about 6 days a week for the last 6 months and going strong!
We're excited to be gearing up for our next Season of Sinobii's Ladder, a new way to compete in Organized Minion Masters Play.
Whether you're new to the game and looking to find an interactive stream, learn some basics, find out more about competing in Sinobii's Ladder, or just have some laughs and enjoy a quirky sense of humor, come join us!
We look forward to seeing you soon... at The Battleground!
Check him out at https://www.twitch.tv/sinobii every day but Friday from 6PM EST.
Cheers from BetaDwarf!
