We've been working on this update for a while, and it's an important update: we have a whole new Dungeon, a whole new way to level up your Champions, new Champion Skins, changes to the Champions balance, and some small fixes and updates! Let's dive into the star of this update: Awakening!
AWAKENING & THE IRON TWINS FORT
Awakening your Champions gives them access to Graces, powerful new passive skills that increase their stats and transform their performance in battle. Awakening (and everything related to it, including the new Dungeon) unlocks at Level 42.
To begin Awakening your Champions, you will first need to obtain important items from a brand new Dungeon: the Fort of the Iron Twins.
IRON TWINS FORT
The Fort of the Iron Twins is where you will face the Iron Twins, a tough new Boss that will give you access to valuable items: Soul Pieces and Soul Essence. You will need it to begin the process of Awakening your Champions.
The Fort itself works differently from other Dungeons: it is divided into four Affinities, and its Affinity changes every day.
Each Affinity has 15 Stages, and your progress is unique for each Affinity. This means that you must unlock each Affinity's Stages separately, progressing through Stages when that specific Affinity is active.
You need Energy and Fortress Keys to enter a Stage of the Iron Twins Fort. You have a maximum of 6 Fortress Keys to use per day, with your supply of Keys being reduced to 6 at 00:00 GMT each day.
If you manage to use all of your Fortress Keys but want to keep progressing, you can get a Fortress Key Refill using Gems, which will allow you to replenish your supply. You can only get one Fortress Key Refill per day, so choose wisely. If you lose a Battle, you won't lose a Fortress Key but you will lose Energy, so keep an eye on your reserves.
If you manage to defeat the Iron Twins, you will get your hands on Soul Pieces and Soul Essence. From there, it's time to start Awakening your Champions.
AWAKENING
To Awaken your Champions, you'll take the Soul Pieces and Soul Essence you stole from the Iron Twins, then head to a brand new building in your Stronghold, the Altar of Souls. This is where you will use these items to get Souls for your Champions.
There are two types of Souls: Perfect Souls and Split Souls.
- Perfect Souls allow you to Awaken your Champions to the exact Awakening Level indicated by the number of red stars on the Soul, without any additional steps or requirements. The main way to get Perfect Souls is to summon them using Soul Stones, but you can also find 1* Perfect Souls at the Soul Merchant.
To get Soul Stones, you need to go to the Mystic Market located in the Altar of Souls and spend your Soul Coins. - Split Souls Awaken your champions one Level at a time, and your Champion must be at the correct Awakening Level to use a specific Split Soul.
To get Severed Souls, you need to go to the Soul Merchant and exchange your Soul Essence. The Soul Merchant's stock changes all the time, so be sure to visit regularly to find the Souls you need.
Each Champion needs a specific Soul to be Awakened. So, to Awaken the Arbiter, you will need Arbiter Souls.
It is important to know that only Rare, Epic, and Legendary Champions can be Awakened, and Champions cannot be Awakened to a level higher than their current Ascension Level.
Once you have the Souls you need, you can Awaken a Champion and choose their Grace.
GRACES
The reason you want to beat the Iron Twins, summon Souls, and Awaken your Champions is the Graces.
Each Grace belongs to a Deity, and each Deity has Rare, Epic, and Legendary Graces. Rare Champions can only access Rare Graces, Epic Champions can only access Epic and Rare Graces, and Legendary Champions can access all Graces.
Each Grace has 6 Levels, and the improvement of these Levels is directly related to the Champion's Awakening Level. The benefits of Leveling up are unique to each Grace, from improving stat bonuses to unlocking new effects and abilities.
Graces can be redeemed at any time. As with Masteries, the first change is free – but any subsequent changes will cost Gems.
LEARNING ITEMS
There are a few other ways to get your hands on some of these important Awakening items, as well as ways to turn surplus items into something useful - so you can always keep progressing.
For example, if you get Souls you don't need, you can always sell them to get Soul Coins. Here is a summary of the main Awakening items.
Soul Pieces. Used to obtain Soul Gems and Soul Essence. They can be earned in a number of ways, including:
- Defeat the Iron Twins.
- By selling Souls.
- By using mortal and immortal Soul Stones at the Soul Altar.
- As a refund from Soulburn.
Soul Essence. Used to obtain Souls from the Soul Merchant. Can be won as follows:
- Defeat the Iron Twins.
- Traded for Soul Pieces at the Mystic Market.
- Soul Stones. Used to summon Perfect Souls at the Altar of Souls.
- Acquired using Soul Pieces at the Mystic Market.
- Found in Hydra chests (Deadly Soul Stones only).
- And as always, keep an eye out for what you can win in Events and Tournaments!
HAVE FUN !
You can find more information about Awakening, Graces and Iron Twins by consulting the in-game guides. Once in the Altar of Souls, the Fortress of Iron Twins or the Graces interface, simply to press the "i" icon to get a full explanation of everything.
All players will receive a free item pack to start the Awakening experience once they reach Level 42 and unlock the feature. If you have already exceeded Level 42, you will get it directly after visiting the Altar of Souls.
There are a ton of different and unique Graces to play with, and we can't wait to see all the cool strategies and combinations you discover.
NEW CHAMPION SKINS
We're releasing two new Skins that will transform the appearance of a Legendary Barbarian – Scyl des Drakes (Scyl of the Drakes) ! We are adding the following Skins:
Heroic Skin – Lavaborn.
Iconic Skin – Azure.
Both Skins will be available in-game in the near future, so keep an eye out for Events, Tournaments, and Special Offers.
But if you want to see what these Skins look like right now, head over to the Champions Index, find Scyl of the Drakes, and see for yourself!
And remember, you won't lose a Skin if you sacrifice your only copy of a Champion you've collected a Skin for; and yes, you can use the same Skin on each of your duplicates of a Champion at the same time.
CHAMPION REBALANCE:
[Skill 1 - Venom Arrow]– Effect changed: increased chance to grant extra turn from 15% to 25%.
[Skill 2 - Impressive Shot (Ascendant)]– Effect changed: Increased the additional chance of inflicting a critical hit from 15% to 25%.
[Skill 3 - Thorns]– Effect changed: Increased chance to ignore DEF from 25% to 35%.
– Base stats changed: VIT increased from 92 to 98.
– Changed Aura: Now increases ally's SPD in Arena battles by 20% (ally's DEF in Arena battles was 32%).
[Skill 3 - Faithful Guardian]– Changed skill.
Old version: Grants a 50% buff of [Allied Protection] and a 60% buff of [Increase DEF] to the target for 2 turns. Also grants a 15% [Continuous Heal] buff to this Champion for 1 turn.
New version: Places a 50% [Ally Protection] buff and a 60% [Increase DEF] buff on the target for 2 turns. Also grants a 15% [Continuous Heal] buff to all allies for 2 turns.
– Base stats changed: VIT increased from 89 to 98.
[Skill 2 - Final Blow]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. If the target has less than 30% HP, this attack is still critical.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. If the target has less than 50% HP, this attack is still critical.
[Skill 3 – Decimate]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 50% [ACC Decrease] debuff on all enemies except the target for 2 turns if this attack is critical.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. Grants a 50% [ACC Decrease] debuff to all enemies for 2 turns if this attack is critical.
– Cooldown increased from 5 to 4 rounds.
[Skill 3 – Decimate (Ascendant)]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 30% [VIT Decrease] debuff and a 50% [ACC Decrease] debuff on all enemies except the target for 2 turns if this attack is critical.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 30% [VIT Decrease] debuff and a 50% [ACC Decrease] debuff on all enemies for 2 turns if this attack is critical.
– Cooldown reduced from 5 to 4 rounds.
– Changed Aura: Now increases the ATK of allies in Faction Crypts by 30% (was in Arena fights).
[Skill 2 - Mark of Death]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 25% debuff for 3 turns if the target has a [Heal Reduction] type debuff.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 25% debuff for 3 turns if the target is under the effect of a DEF debuff.
[Skill 2 - Death Mark (Ascendant)]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 25% debuff on the target for 3 turns if the target has a [healing reduction] debuff. This debuff cannot be resisted.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. Places a 25% debuff on the target for 3 turns if the target has a defense debuff. This debuff cannot be resisted.
[Skill 3 - Finisher]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attacks all enemies. Places a 50% [Increase ATK] buff on this Champion for 2 turns before attacking. If the target has a [Weaken] debuff, it places a 60% [Decrease DEF] debuff on the target for 2 turns.
New version: Attacks all enemies. Places a 50% [Increase ATK] buff on this Champion for 2 turns before attacking. Also has a 50% chance to place a 60% [DEF Decrease] debuff on the target for 2 turns before attacking.
– Base stats changed: VIT increased from 91 to 98.
[Skill 1 - Bloodstained Swords]– Effect changed: Increased the chance of inflicting a 2.5% [Poison] debuff from 30% to 50%.
[Skill 1 - Bloodstained Swords (Ascendant)]– Effect changed: Increased the chance of inflicting a 5% [Poison] debuff from 30% to 50%.
[Skill 2 - Madness of Rage]– Changed skill.
Old version: Attack 1 enemy. Has 15% more chance to inflict a critical hit. The damage increases based on the number of HP the Champion has lost.
New version: Attack 1 enemy. Has 15% more chance to inflict a critical hit. The damage increases by 50% if this Champion has more than 50% of HP.
– Damage multiplier changed: This skill's damage multiplier is now based on ATK only, rather than ATK and HP.
Miscellaneous Combat Changes and Fixes
- Soul Stones (the Material of Forging) have been renamed to Will Stones.
- Champions that Astranyx the Dark Fae banishes with his Abduction in Darkness ability now become invisible.
- The [Stun] debuff animation and icon no longer display if the debuff is removed.
- Fixed a bug that prevented Iragoth from sacrificing one of his minions with the Consume Soul passive skill if the minion was under the effect of the [Petrify] debuff.
- Stoneskin Artifact Set Champions who place [Taunt] and [HP Burn] debuffs no longer cause enemy Champions under those debuffs to skip their turn.
- Fixed a bug that prevented Helicath to counterattack while under the effect of the [Block Damage] buff after an enemy with the Warmaster or Giant Slayer masteries attacked him.
- Fixed a bug due to which Shemnath was not revived correctly after being defeated in the first Rounds of a Combat.
- Fixed a bug where players were not receiving Rewards from Demon Lord Novice Chests under certain circumstances.
That's all we have for you – now is the time to dive into Awakening.
