Patch notes for 0.2.38 below. As a reminder, you can also read the patch notes on the Duelyst II website[news.duelyst2.com].

\[[b]New[/b]] Neutral | Epic | Minion | 4 | 1 / 6 | Your minions cost 1 more. Minions you play gain +2/+2.

We’re adding a time-limited community-designed card (submitted by buyingcoats) to spice things up a bit while you’re waiting for a bigger patch. 3 copies will be rewarded to all players who log into the game after this update.

We’ve decreased the time it takes for matchmaker to expand the search range when looking for players. Additionally we’ve disabled the rule that prevents two players repeatedly match against each other.

Made all Vanar – Earth skins individually purchasable.

Added 6 new music tracks written by Archaeologist. You can stream the entire soundtrack on Spotify[open.spotify.com] or purchase it on Bandcamp[archaeologist.bandcamp.com].

In case you didn’t know, I frequently discuss balance changes with the community in the Duelyst Official Discord server[discord.gg], and since there’s no proper balance patch this month, I promised to make a post that explains why and what I’ve been working on.

My original plan was to make a relatively small “feels good” update – eliminate or at least tone down the most irritating things (based on what people talk about), and then take my time to work on the last part of the Sisters update. You wouldn’t get anything substantial for quite some time, but at least nothing would be getting on your nerves.

It seemed relatively easy at first, but I soon realized that one thing leads to another as everything is interconnected balance-wise and it’s difficult to decide where to stop. Which gets even more complicated when you need to come up with appropriate replacement and rebalancing first. Once I realized I don’t have anything ready for the start of August I thought that it would probably be best to move to the end goal right away – work on the last part of the Sisters.

Here’s the current plan, along with some reasoning.

• Remove Cyclone Mask and Wildfire Ankh. Try to move artifact decks away from combo-ish “I avoid your board and punch you for big damage” towards tempo-ish “I efficiently trade into your board and punch you for moderate damage” (something along the lines of Adamantite Claws + Iridium Scale). Replace Cyclone with Crescent Spear (2 mana); replace Ankh with Iris Barrier (maybe Obdurator). Probably add spells that give Ranged/Blast to your General for one turn. I don’t think Spear will be problematic as D2’s Hai has much less spell burn options and throwing spells into the opponent’s face until they die will not be as easy.

• Start reworking Arcanysts. Now this is probably the part where you all will be disappointed as the fabled Arcanyst rework is nothing fancy. Issue with Arcanysts is that the entire theme is carried by one card – Owlbeast Sage – and does nothing without it. How do we fix that? By removing Owlbeast Sage. Arcanyst synergy is that there’s no synergy. The theme is caring about spells – either do something when spells are played or create more spells to play. If we buff/rework Arcanysts into self-sufficient cards that can work individually, they will naturally gravitate towards each other. Tribe will no longer have any mechanical effect but it will remain as a reminder that these cards are somewhat related. Some cards will lose Arcanyst tribe as it doesn’t make sense on them (Aethermaster, Mindwarper, Sun Seer, Temporal Sage Lily, Eclipse). Card changes: Owlbeast Sage now buffs itself. Prismatic Illusionist to 3/3.

• Rework/remove Penance. No idea what to do with it, current plan is to change it to 3 mana “Destroy a minion”.

• Rework Star’s Fury. Same as Penance, no idea what to do with it, but the positional trap it creates has been an issue for too long. The easiest solution is to make it summon Iron Dervishes instead of Wind Dervishes. Another option: summon a set number of Wind Dervishes in a set location (around your General, for instance); summon a Wind Dervish nearby each allied Obelysk.

• Rework White Widow. This is a weird one as I don’t see Widow that much and it doesn’t seem like a problematic card, but each time it shows up it’s a major PITA. What I want to try out is “Both players can replace one card less each turn”. I don’t think Psionic Resonator will be an issue without WW so I’m not touching it.

• Start removing card recursion. I imagine many will disagree with me on this one as Alcuin Loremaster and Keeper of the Vale are fun cards. Additionally, this further hampers control decks. The issue here is that Duelyst is unevenly balanced – some cards are significantly above the power curve. These cards define their respective factions and games often revolve around anticipating, setting up or baiting these cards out. This is fine and interesting when players are limited to a maximum of 3 copies per card, but quickly becomes an issue when card limit is removed. All the fun aspects of additional copies are shoved aside in favor of copying only the most efficient options. Card changes: Alcuin copies enemy spells (and discounts by 1?). Keeper copies enemy minions. Aerial Rift has not changed, for now.

• Whistling Blade to 4/9.

• Thicket Augur to 3 mana.

• Darkfire Sacrifice – discount reduced to 1 mana or discount only applies to Dying Wish minions.

• Darkspine Elemental to 1/3. Finally being on par with other factions in the 2-drop department feels nice but I have to admit it’s a mistake from a balance standpoint. Another hit at Creep, which is unfortunate but necessary.

• Grow rework? Big maybe here. You most likely know all the issues with Grow: it’s an infinite value generator; it has weak board presence at base; it’s slow; it’s weak to dispel; it promotes nonengagement. Over the years, multiple rework ideas have been floated. Changing Grow to a one-time effect was the one that I liked the most. The way I see it is you have a deck full of Primordial Gazers: decently stated minions that buff another minion you have on board. If you manage to maintain board presence, you’re rewarded with favorable trades. Unfortunately, after I started prototyping it I realized that it’s much easier to implement this kind of effect through tribes and I don’t need the keyword at all. So Grow rework turned out to be another faction tribal which works only within itself. Not particularly exciting, but I’m going to playtest it anyway.

• Sisters part 3. This is by far the toughest task, not even technically but creatively. Also my biggest excuse for taking it slow.

Remember that all of the above is not final. The reason for making this post is to discuss the changes and come up with something you will enjoy.