Congratulations to our division winners!
D1 F-C Lu-cy :drach; :drach; - :drach; :drach; :drach; (Kidk & GreenSpirit)
D2 Geegee (GehPennen & fine)
D3 Brute Force (Ecaptor & Hinterwaeldler)
D4 Team Lux (zzPestilenceX & iKaBiNk)

See below for the full recap of the tournament! Credit for this recap goes to nattodog.


A year of Nova Cup has come and gone! November was a great tournament, and the last of this year. We’ll be skipping December this year for the holidays and regroup in January 2023 for a new season of Nova Cup tournaments. But enough about that, we’re here to talk about November:

Signup stats
Total signups (teams): 116
Total signups (solos): 68
Total teams in final brackets: 97

Thank you to all who entered and who were able to participate in the final bracket. If you missed this one, join the January cup next year! Get a free card in-game for your trouble, possibly win some prizes, and make some new friends. This month we had great coverage across our talented casting team. I would like to give special mention to Shadowings for covering Division 4 this month– the mashup of high analytical knowledge delivered in very easy terms was awesome to watch. I recommend checking it out, as well as all the other archived footage, here: https://beta.legiontd2.com/esports/#panelTournaments.

Division 4 (Team Rank Spread 748-1559)

• First game of the day, Peppa Pig vs Team Kinky (not shown in bracket above) started off with a bang. A very even game with both teams at 78% king HP on wave 11. Both teams used a large amount of upgraded T1 spam, and final wave came down to 18 where Peppa Pig secured the win https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1660658187?t=39m11s
  
• Day 2 Team Lux vs Ciamajdy was not an easy win, with both teams trading games. Final game ended on wave 19 where Team Lux made a play to resend after a big send on 18 that caught Ciamajdy off guard https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1660658724?t=82m22s
  
• Day 2 finals Team Lux vs Painies was looking like a potential 3-0 for Lux, until game 3 where Painies was able to make a big comeback play on 17 for a game win. Team Lux took the set, but well played! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1660658724?t=166m11s

Division 3 (Team Rank Spread 1564-1845)

• Day 1 game 2 between Team Kiwi and Megadmega, a big send from Team Kiwi on 12 gets eaten up by Ocean Templar + Protector aura Banana Haven. A big wave 15 send from Megadmega brought Kiwi king HP down to 11% but not a kill, and then both teams trade king damage on 16 dropping Kiwi to 2%(!) giving them one last chance for a comeback. The 17 send proved too much and Megadmega moves on. Well played to both teams! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666090864?t=148m27s
  
• Day 2 game 1 of Tigerpants vs Megadmega, Megadmega was in a hurry for game 2 and ended game 1 on wave 7 where both teams traded big hits https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666090545?t=17m51s
  
• Day 2 finals Brute Force vs Megadmega, both teams traded games back and forth for the first 3 games, with very aggressive plays ending around midgame (wave 11-15). Game 4 was no different with many big king hits up to wave 11, where Brute Force was able to take their 3rd win to secure 1st place in D3 by sending Ghost Knights on 11 vs Megadmega. Well played to both teams! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666090545?t=178m03s

Division 2 (Team Rank Spread 1838-2346)

• Day 1 Twobruteoneoneleak vs TheSwarm game 2, Twobrute went all in on a Kingpin build. You might be able to guess what wave the game ended on https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666001388?t=111m03s
  
• Day 1 the set between Geegee and Blobhound Gang was a very fun watch. Game 1 was a win for Blobhound, game 2 came down to a clutch Glacial Touch carry that got Geegee the win, and the final game a brawl on 15. Actually, all 3 of those games ended on 15! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666001388?t=158m49s
  
• Day 2 finals between Geegee and Pyroblem went to the last possible game, with a big clash on 16 (with Immolation) from Pyroblem that didn’t do enough damage to win, and a countersend from Geegee on 18 that sealed the deal. Ggs! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1666000954?t=201m41s

Division 1 (Team Rank Spread 2502-3201)

• Day 1 started off with some serious early game brawling in round 1 DarkPooPoo vs Split Tank With The King. In game 1, a 480 mythium send from Split Tank on 9 was huge king damage https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1658910690?t=20m44s
  
• Day 2 Ask Chat IDK vs F-C Lu-cy :drach; :drach; - :drach; :drach; :drach; game 1 saw HUGE king damage on wave 10 to Ask Chat’s team, and were not able to recover. Game 2 was a clutch reversal with a lower worker Mr Buzz playing cartel Kingpin being able to recover in the midgame. Game 3 did not go as cleanly for Ask Chat with Peini not being able to recover as well from Cartel after wave 10, with a game winning send from F-C Lu-cy on 16. Well played! https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1658911162?t=54m17s
  
• F-C Lu-cy in the finals did not relent with a 3-0 victory. In game 1 of the set GreenSpirit of F-C Lu-cy did a clutch 12 hold with Azeria with -400 value https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1658911162?t=110m31s
  
  Closing Thoughts
  
  With this season of Nova Cup concluded, congratulations to our top 10 players in League Points https://beta.legiontd2.com/esports/#panelPlayers this year, who will receive exclusive in-game badges, numbered 1-10 based on ranking.
  
  Thank you as always to Nova Cup Staff:
  Schn3rd
  AmerikanHunay
  Pennywise
  
  And to our commentators/casters this month:
  D1: LTD2 - Pennywise & Ofma & SSP & Widderson
  D2: Seederers & ToHoe
  D3: Milkstevens & Devious
  D4: Shadowings
  
  Hopefully you were able to grab your very own real Safety Mole Plush and the new campaign early! If not, it is out for everyone very soon. Thank you again from all of the staff running Nova Cup, and we look forward to seeing you all again in January 2023!
  
  -nattodog, on behalf of the whole Legion TD 2 Tournament Team!.
  
  P.S. We'll be making a separate post congratulating the top players of this Nova Cup season, so keep an eye out for that.

The first full season after the game's launch is ending, and a new season is coming!

• January 3: New season patch notes are posted (v10.00)
  
• January 5: Current season ends at 8am PST / 5pm CET. Ranked disabled.
  
• January 5-10: 1v1 featured event is live
  
• January 6: New season patch is live (v10.00)
  
• January 7-10: Ranked rewards are given out. Player ratings are soft-reset.
  
• January 10: New season begins at 8am PST / 5pm CET. Ranked re-enabled.

More details to come in the upcoming Season 2023 patch notes.


Ranked badges and loading screen borders are based on your peak rating this season. You are not penalized for dropping below a tier you already achieved. Eligibility for each tier requires 10 ranked games and a peak rating this season of:

• Bronze: 1000
  
• Silver: 1200
  
• Gold: 1400
  
• Platinum: 1600
  
• Diamond: 1800
  
• Expert: 2000
  
• Master: 2200
  
• Senior Master: 2400
  
• Grandmaster: 2600
  
• Legend: 2800

Best of luck in the final weeks of the season! Remember you cannot drop ranked rewards by playing. Rewards are based on your peak rank this season.


The Ladder Points (LP) formula will be reworked for the 2023 season; details to come in the upcoming Season 2023 Patch Notes in early January.

A special badge is given to the Top 100 LP earners at the end of the season:

• GOAT: Top 1 LP
  
• Raidboss: Top 2-10 LP
  
• Champion: Top 11-25 LP
  
• Pro: Top 26-50 LP
  
• Elite: Top 51-100 LP

I have important news to share: my wife and I are expecting our first child in December! From December through January, I will be reducing the amount of time I spend working on Legion TD 2 in order to spend time with the newly implemented BabyLisk.



I'll still be doing all the work involved with launching the new Season & major v10.00 patch, which is on-schedule for January 2023. Additionally, even while I'm gone, balance tweaks and hotfixes will also happen as usual: they'll just be coming mostly from Dani & Jules.

However, bug fixes, QoL improvements, and new units/features will mostly wait until I'm back to work full-time in February/March. I'll also be stepping back from Discord/reddit until then, too. I'll still be in touch with the moderation team in case of emergencies.

Thank you for continuing to play the game and supporting our team! And I'm looking forward to returning back to full development next year!

-Lisk

P.S. Wish me luck, trying to hit 2600 before the baby comes.

Quick hotfix patch for some v9.10 issues.

Map
- Reduced some brightness in some areas, especially on 4v4 map
- Improved building grid visibility

Alpha Male
- Health: 2800 --> 2680 (bug fix)

Ocean Templar
- Damage: 130 --> 125

Honeyflower
- Attack speed: 1.015 → 1.005

The recent change allowed Honeyflower to clear wave 2 solo with specific positioning, which was too strong.

Deathcap
- Health: 4160 → 4190
- Attack speed: 1.02 → 1.025

Shifting some power into Deathcap.

Expected patch release: November 14

News & Updates
- Sign-ups are open for the November Nova Cup which will take place on Nov 19-20.
- If you missed it, check out my (Lisk's) Reddit AMA from last month! I've been doing these every major patch, so keep an eye out next week for the next one.


A treacherous snow queen has cast a spell over the world of Legion, and it's all frozen over! But fear not...she's actually not treacherous. She just wanted everyone to get in the holiday spirit! On top of the snow-covered landscape, you'll find Christmas trees, presents, colored lights, snowmen, stockings, candy canes, and more goodies around the map. Enjoy the fresh look for Legion TD 2 while you eat Christmas cookies and hopefully spam some games over the holidays!

New Christmas Map: Both 2v2 & 4v4 maps packed with Christmas decor!
New Skin: Christmas Poinsettia Hermit
New Skin: Head Santa (Head Chef)
New Skin: Candypixie (Chloropixie)
New Skin: Christmas Ornament Seedling

These skins will be on a special sale: 25-50% OFF through the end of the year!



Screenshots


The snow queen promises to lift the "eternal" winter by Spring 2023. You can toggle decorations in Options if your PC is struggling to contain her power.


If that wasn't enough to ring in the new season, we're also introducing Twitch Drops! Earn free essence simply by watching Twitch streams!



From November 14th to 18th, watch any Legion TD 2 Twitch streamer with Twitch Drops enabled to earn the following rewards:
- Watch for 30 minutes: 1,000 Essence
- Watch for an additional 60 minutes: 3,000 Additional Essence
- Watch for an additional 120 minutes: 5,000 Additional Essence
In other words, simply watch 210 minutes (3.5 hours) of Twitch, and you'll earn 9,000 Essence in total.

Full instructions for both streamers & viewers here:
Legion TD 2 x Twitch Drops




- See how much damage your mercenaries deal to your opponent!

This was something popularly requested on the subreddit. Should be useful for helping evaluate if you did a good send or not.


- You can now unlock any card with card fragments, not just cards that are currently in rotation that day!
- To access this menu, click your card fragments in the Card Trader tab.

Also by popular request! Now you no longer have to hoard your card fragments for weeks until the secret card you wanted comes along.


Improvements

• HUD: Queued mercenaries now appear as semi-transparent icons to help you plan around your allies’ queued sends

Fixes

• HUD: Fixed a bug where Undo Harden/Boost/etc. buttons didn’t refresh on the HUD until you reselected the unit
  
• Profile: Fixed a bug where some upgraded fighters in Game Stats wrongly displayed pick rates of 0%
  
• Achievements: Fixed a bug where some Campaign achievements weren't being awarded when they were supposed to
  
• Gameplay: Takeover bots are now a bit smarter about toggling autosend
  
• Gameplay: Fixed a bug with Sakura in Weekly Challenge
  
• Postgame: Fixed a bug with post-game Game Coach quotes showing only the default win message instead of achievement-based messages
  
• HUD: Fixed a bug where restoring default options didn't also reset HUD element positions
  
• HUD: Fixed some selection circle heights with flying units
  
• Performance: Improved some performance on High/Very High/Ultra graphics (reduced AA sampling slightly)
  
• Performance: Continued debugging of some intermittent lag issues

Localization & API

• Localization: Translation sheets now contain the new Desert Ridge Campaign texts
  
• Localization: Desert Ridge Campaign is now fully translated into Polish! Plus, Spanish translation is making good progress.
  
• Join the Legion TD 2 Contributors Discord to stay up-to-date with Localization & API development! Even if you're not a dev, you can join to check out in-development projects such as paintsniffer's https://ltdmeta.app/, a successor to LTDDB that automatically generates guides (!!) by listing builds that hold particular waves & sends.

King
- Now deals 8% more AOE damage on wave 16 (still does slightly reduced damage on wave 16)



Fiesta
- Gain 14-52 gold → 14-50 gold

As players learn and optimize Fiesta openings and strategies, it has become too strong. This change nerfs Fiesta by 1 gold on waves 6-9 and 2 gold on waves 10-21, which is a 3.5% nerf on average.



Battle Scars
- Attack speed: 3% → 3.5%

Low win rate and pick rate.


Lizard Army
- Mythium: 45 → 50
- Now properly increases recommended fighter value for the opponent

It was previously unintuitive and misleading how Lizard Army didn't affect your opponent's recommended value. The small percent of players that knew this were at a big advantage when Lizard Army was in the game. It’s now harder to fake Lizard Army, but the spell will be better with increased clarity and a buff. Plus, it’s still viable to do a small fake on wave 11, discouraging your opponent from training workers during wave 11.


Magician
- Mana regeneration: 0.55 → 0.57

Low win rate and pick rate.


Protector
- Health regeneration: 1% → 0.9%

High win rate and pick rate, and indirectly buffed by damage reduction changes to units.


Titan
- Bonus health: 1400 → 1350

High win rate and indirectly buffed by damage reduction changes to units. Reverting the previous buff.


Vampire
- Life steal: 23% → 24%

Low win rate and pick rate.



Sakura
- Attack speed: 1.143 → 1.149
- Fixed a bug where Superbloom wasn’t adding an extra 15 value for extra stacks after Wave 11+


Green Devil
- Health 1040 → 1050

Low win rate.


Nekomata
- Attack speed: 0.9 → 0.91

Low win rate.


Slime Larva
- Health: 330 → 320
- Damage: 33 → 32

Slime Larva currently outshines all other arcane units with the highest win rate and pick rate.


Slime Siren
- Health: 1140 → 1150
- Attack speed: 1.35 → 1.37

Compensation buff for the Slime Larva nerf to keep Siren a similar power level.


Kingpin
- Health: 4750 --> 4700

High win rate.


Honeyflower
- Attack speed: 1 → 1.015
- Fragrance: 10 + 0.03% max health damage → 10 + 0.02% max health damage


Deathcap
- Attack speed: 1 → 1.02
- Noxious Scent: 30 + 0.1% max health damage → 30 + 0.06% max health damage

Less oppressive late game. Slightly stronger early game, but Hermit is now a bigger threat.


Sky Queen
- Synergy with mana effects increased by 14%

This synergy was previously lackluster.


Sea Serpent
- Health: 620 → 640


Deepcoiler
- Health: 1890 → 1950

Low win rate and pick rate.


Alpha Male
- Health: 3380 → 2680 (effective health = 3350)
- Damage: 103 → 102
- Dominion: Now also grants 20% damage reduction

Alpha Male is now stronger with health gain and healing effects.


Eternal Wanderer
- Health: 770 → 750


Samurai Soul
- Damage: 115 → 120

Shifting power from Eternal Wanderer to Samurai Soul.


Ocean Templar
- Health: 2000 → 3000
- Damage: 160 → 130
- Range: 450 → Melee
- Attack type: Pure → Impact

Now a melee off-tank, which makes it more straightforward to use.


Gatling Gun
- Health: 1350 → 1080 (effective health unchanged)
- Attack speed: 2.04 → 2.08
- Damage reduction from overheating changed:
— No overheat = 0% → +20%
— Maximum overheat = -50% → -20%


Vulcan Cannon
- Health: 3930 → 3030 (effective health slightly lower at no overheat, slightly higher at max overheat)
- Attack speed: 2.04 → 2.08
- Damage reduction from overheating changed:
— No overheat = 0% → +20%
— Maximum overheat = -60% → -20%

Gatling Gun and Vulcan Cannon now no longer have a significant anti-synergy with health gain and healing effects.

Gatling had a low win rate and pick rate, so this is an overall buff.


Priestess of the Abyss
- Attack speed: 1 → 0.985

Highest win rate unit.

Azeria
- Attack speed: 1 → 0.985
- Echostrike: 68 + 0.04% max health → 67 + 0.06% max health

Slightly stronger against very high health units, but an overall nerf.


Banana Bunk
- Damage: 67 → 65


Banana Haven
- Damage: 60x3 → 58x3

Highest pick rate unit.


Hell Gate
- Summon health decreased by 1%
- Summon attack speed decreased by 1.5%

Very high pick rate.


Fenix
- Damage: 295 --> 292

Slight nerf due to consistent community feedback.


Hydra
- Health: 2700 → 1860 (effective health = 2730)
- Damage: 144 → 111 (effective damage = 150)
- Now gains damage and damage reduction for each wave the Eggsack survives, instead of losing damage and damage reduction for hatching early

Hydra is now stronger with health gain and healing effects. It was previously a significant anti-synergy to have a weakened Hydra with healing.

Eggsack had low win rate and pick rate, so this is an overall buff.


Millennium
- DPS: 150.3 → 150.6
— Damage: 245 → 253
— Attack speed: 0.613 → 0.595

Now one-shots Snails again.



Brute
- Damage: 56 → 57
- Attack speed: 0.922 → 0.926

Brutes used to strike terror into the hearts of new players. Long gone are those days - as players have learned to hold Brute on wave 3 and as other mercenaries have been buffed.


Hermit
- Attack speed: 1.02 → 1.06

Hermit is the worst performing power mercenary. Buffing its DPS to make it more versatile, rather than its healing ability, which is already strong.


Centaur
- Attack speed: 2.22 → 2.17

Even after the previous nerf, Centaur is still the #1 performing power mercenary,



(12) Mantises
- Health: 1250 → 1270


(13) Drill Golems
- Attack speed: 1.575 → 1.55


(14) Killer Slugs
- Health: 2030 --> 2050


(15) Quadrapuses
- Attack speed: 0.719 → 0.74


(17) Metal Dragons
- Attack speed: 1.74 --> 1.71


(19) Dire Toads
- Health: 4300 → 4350


(20) Maccabeus
- Attack projectile is now instant, allowing him to mow through cheap units faster
- Insatiable Hunger: Health gain per kill: 300 → 100
- Health: 60000 → 65000



If you haven't already, check out the Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie!

It's a high quality, custom-designed plushie and every purchase includes the new Desert Ridge singleplayer/co-op campaign, a 200 IQ Mole secret card, and 2800 Premium Essence!

Safety Mole Plushie Store Page


We hope you enjoy this patch! Thank you again for playing Legion TD 2.

For now, an early Merry Christmas from the team, and enjoy the wintery scenery!

If you've enjoyed the game, but haven't left a review yet, please consider posting a short review for the game! It really helps get the word out there.

If you enjoy these updates, please give it a Thumbs Up, too!

And as always, if you have constructive criticism, let's chat about it. Discord is our main channel of communication, and aside from the development team, there are community helpers who can ensure your feedback is heard, as well as answer pretty much anything you've ever wanted to know about the game. We know there's still much to improve, so let's work together.

Until next time!

Sincerely,
Lisk, on behalf of The AutoAttack Games Team

Last month featured an EPIC 5 game showdown between Abrasiert (Widderson & Kingdanzz) and Pi^2/6 (Aviator & BerntDasBROT), as well as Dogchow (Schweppes & Oteoteote) winning their first cup after participating in 7 of the previous cups, and many more great storylines.

Last month also featured Legion TD 2's first ever Skin Design Competition. Community members submitted skin some crazy ideas, and the top voted skin concept will be used to inspire a new skin that will be added to the game.

Full recap here: October Nova Cup Recap

The upcoming November Nova Cup takes place November 19-20.

$750 in cash prizes and sign-up is free - first come first served!
There are four skill divisions, so no matter what your rating is, you have a chance to win.
Participation prize: Every participant who plays all of their matches will receive a FREE random card. If you haven't played a tournament yet, this is a great time to join.

Note: this will be the last Nova Cup of the year! The tournament staff is taking a break in December to enjoy the holidays, refresh, and recharge for next year's Nova Cup season which will kick off in January.




Legion TD 2 meets Twitch Drops! Now, when you watch Nova Cups, aside from enjoying shoutcasted top-tier Legion gameplay, you'll also receive in-game rewards based on how long you watch!

Watch the official Legion TD 2 Twitch stream during a Nova Cup to earn the following rewards:
- Watch for 60 minutes: 2,000 essence
- Watch for an additional 90 minutes: 4,000 additional essence
- Watch for an additional 120 minutes: Random card

In other words, if you watch the Nova Cup both days, you'll earn 6,000 total essence and a random card!

IMPORTANT: You'll need to link your Twitch account to your Legion TD 2 account in order to earn the rewards.
Link Your Twitch Account

• Sign-ups are open from NOW until November 19 at 9am PDT / 7pm CET.
  
• To sign up, find a teammate and log into Legion TD 2. Both players should join a unique chat lobby by typing /join team name (e.g. /join Snail Kings) in Global Chat. After you're both in the lobby, have one player type /signup.
  
• The first 16 teams to sign up in each division can participate. Other teams are waitlisted. There are usually no-shows, so waitlisted teams are encouraged to be present in the Discord and ready to play. {LINK REMOVED}View the team list to see your sign-up position and division.
  
• If there are more than 32 teams checked in, there will be an additional best-of-1 qualifying round to allow more teams to participate. It is a best-of-1, rather than a best-of-3, to keep the event from running overly long.
  
• Both players must join the Legion TD 2 Official Tournament Discord. Make sure to set your server nickname to match your in-game name.

Like last month, you may now sign up as a solo player!

• You may sign-up as a solo player using the usual /signup command, and you will be added to the public Teams list as usual
  
• If there is a waitlist, team sign-ups will always take priority over solo sign-ups
  
• If you sign up as a solo, but then you find a teammate, you can re-sign up as a team any time before check-ins start. Just use the /signup command again with the new teammate. The tournament organizer will void your old solo signup after they process your new team signup.
  
• After check-ins are over, all checked-in solo players will be randomly formed into teams by the tournament organizer. You cannot request a specific teammate at this point; if you want to play with a specific person, you should have signed up as a team instead.

It is still strongly recommended to sign-up as a team to guarantee your spot in the tournament and to give you time to practice with your teammate beforehand.


Saturday, November 19

• Check-in window: 8:45 - 9:15am PST / 5:45 - 6:15pm CET
  
• Games: 10am - 1:30pm PST / 7 - 10:30pm CET
  
  • Round of 16 (Best of 3)
    
  • Quarter-finals (Best of 3)

Sunday, November 20

• Check-in window: 9 - 9:30am PST / 6 - 6:30pm CET
  
• Games: 10am - 1:30pm PST / 7 - 10:30pm CET
  
  • Semi-finals (Best of 3)
    
  • Final (Best of 5)

Check-in

• Teams must check in via the Legion TD 2 Official Tournaments Discord. Waitlisted teams should also check in.
  
• Any team that fails to check in will be disqualified. The next team on the waitlist that checked in will earn a spot.

All Divisions

• Mastermind 2v2 (Tournament Mode)
  
• Hybrid is banned
  
• Single elimination
  
• Best of 3. Best of 5 final

Division 1 Only: Conquest Format

After winning a match using a particular Mastermind option, you can no longer use that Mastermind option for the rest of that series.

• For example, if you win game 1 with Greed, you can't pick Greed the rest of the series.
  
• The restriction applies to players individually; if your ally picks Greed, but you picked Yolo, you can still pick Greed next game, but your ally can't.
  
• The restriction only applies to the winning players. If you lose the game, you can still pick the same options next game.
  
• If you violate this rule and your opponent reports it, the game will be counted as an automatic loss for your team. Because this is a new rule, please show good sportsmanship and remind each other before starting the game.

The goal of the Conquest Format is to force the winning team to be able to win with a variety of playstyles, which leads to more varied matches. It also gives the losing team a little bit of help for the rest of the series. Credits to Pennywise#8456 and Shadowings#1413 for this format!


See the Nova Cup FAQ for prizes and additional rules.

For questions & support, please join the Legion TD 2 Official Tournament Discord.

See you on November 19th! The Nova Cup will be casted and streamed at https://twitch.tv/ltd2. Check the Tournament Discord on the event day for links to the other casts.

Sincerely,
Your Legion TD 2 Tournament Staff

P.S. If you haven't already checked out the Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie... check it before it's too late! It's going to be GONE FOREVER in just two weeks (November 25th).


Buy it here: Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie by Makeship

Congratulations to our division winners!
- D1: Abrasiert (Widderson & Kingdanzz)
- D2: Doghow (Schweppes & Oteoteote)
- D3: Nephyzdepioute (Bouobou & Plebus)
- D4: Calvesslayer (Nephyz & LaMiiiicr)

See below for the full recap of the tournament! Main credit for this recap goes to nattodog, with help from Lisk.


October Nova Cup has wrapped! Last Saturday and Sunday, competitors from a large spread of competitive ranges put their skills to the test to see who can take the winning title.

First, some signup stats.
- Total signups: 364 (140 teams + 84 solos)
- Total teams in final brackets: 101

The turnout for October was huge! Thank you so much to everyone that participated and signed up to compete.

For this month, we had some gaps in commentary coverage for Division 3 and 4, so there are no recordings this month for the two divisions. If you have any interest in doing commentary for future Nova Cups– it's available to anyone! All you need is a Twitch account, and contact me through Discord at nattodog#3290 and we can get you set up.

If you missed any of the action and would like to deep dive into it yourself, please check out the links to all tournament footage from all divisions: https://beta.legiontd2.com/esports/#panelTournaments

Otherwise, onto the highlights:

Division 4 (Team Rank Spread 954- 1547)

• Top seed Schnitzelpolizei had a strong start but fell to Wikileaks in the Semifinals– 13th seed!
  
• Team Cnn10/CzarMango as a solo sign-up team took the win from The Harbingers of Doom in Round 2.
  
• Calvasslayer at 10th seed kept up the good play from beginning to end, but didn’t win Finals unchallenged by Wikileaks with a 3-1 victory.

Division 3 (Team Rank Spread 1559-1837)

• Unrivaled Rivals in Round 2 at 26th seed took a win over 10th seed(!) Tigerpants. Their tournament run ended in Round 3 against 2nd seed Twobruteoneleak.
  
• Last month’s D4 winners Opulence had a good run to Semifinals, meeting their match vs Nephyzepioute. That’s a quick climb! Will we see them in the Finals soon?
  
• Both finalist teams Nephyzepioute and Doublefiesta made it all the way through bracket uncontested until their Finals match. Nephyzdepioute took the win but not for free! With a 3-1 finish.

Division 2 (Team Rank Spread 1858-2344)

• Day 1 Valas/SuperCheapOtto vs Punktelieferant came down to a very close final game with an end on wave 16 giving a victory to Valas/SuperCheapOtto (Watch Video)
  
• Day 2 finals Geegee vs Dogchow was a very close game up to wave 10 where Dogchow took a large lead from a huge send. The game ended with a clash on 17 with Dogchow coming out of the exchange on top. (Watch Video)
  
• Of note: team Dogchow has played in 7 Nova Cup tournaments, and were finally able to come out with a division win! Well played!

Division 1 (Team Rank Spread 2460-3259)

• Day 1 in round one team Oftq vs Nogreedballzfeed, a very evenly matched game leads to a big 16 push to a game winning 17 send for team Oftq (Watch Video)
  
• ßutterßoys vs Quack Quack Boom had a very interesting match where Quack Quack Boom was seemingly heavily put on the back foot from a huge hit on 12, but managed to return with a game ending 13 hit to the king immediately after (Watch Video)
  
• Day 2 Finals Abraisiert vs pi²/6 game 1, a close game by wave 11 becomes especially stressful when pi²/6 picks All Out Assault. pi²/6 kept their composure and held mythium all the way to 13 where both teams raced for the win, with pi²/6’s send being just enough to secure the win (Watch Video)
  
• Game 3 of Abraisiert vs pi²/6, what was shaping up to be a very one sided game with a big lead for Abraisiert abruptly ended on wave 11 when pi²/6 re-sent with All Out Assault while Abraisiert committed to a push and treasure hunt, giving an comeback game win to pi²/6 (Watch Video)
  
• Final match game 5 Abrasiert vs pi²/6, another close game ends on 16 with an intense race, what a final set this month! (Watch Video)

Last month, the first ever Legion TD 2 Skin Competition concluded, which featured Legion TD 2 community artists (and non-artists ) competing to have the most popular skin concept. The highest voted skin would be added to the game in a future update!

16 skin concepts made it through to the final round, and 958 votes were cast, and below are the top 5 most voted skins!

1. Bone Crusher Red Mask by D4NW0LF - 142 votes


2. Totally Not Poisonous Hermit by LanaDelRabiesLTD2 - 100 votes


3. Beach Party Cannoneer by Drachir - 87 votes


4. Fallen Pegasus by Liktor03 - 86 votes


5. Robo Skeleton Archer by Dyztanz - 83 votes


See all votes here: [[url=https://i.imgur.com/84i0lNR.png]Legion TD 2 Skin Competition Voting Results[/url]]

Congratulations to D4NW0LF on winning first place with their Bone Crusher Red Mask skin!

They have been awarded 10,000 Premium Essence and a new skin based on their design will be added to the game in a future update!

Because the entries were all just so good, an additional 2,500 Premium Essence will also be awarded to 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th. Big thank you to everyone else who participated, too. Many entries will surely inspire future skin designs even if they weren't the top vote getters.

Winners - please message Pennywise#8456 on Discord or reddit with your in-game name to receive your prizes.

Closing Thoughts

Thank you to everyone who participated and signed up for this month's Nova Cup, as well as the Skin Competition! A tremendous thank you to all tournament casters & organizers.

Tournament Organizers:
- Schn3rd
- AmerikanHunay
- Pennywise

Tournament Casters:
- Pennywise
- Shadowings
- Greenspirit
- Ofma
- Tohoe
- soaring.ostrich
- ToxicFury
- SetoKaiba

Skin Competition Organizers:
- Pennywise
- Schn3rd

We could not have an event like this without all of the help and support. Thank you very much and hope to see all of you again next month (and hopefully some new faces as well!).

We hope to see you next month, November 19th-20th for the next Nova Cup!

-nattodog & Lisk, on behalf of the whole Legion TD 2 Tournament Team!

It's finally here!!! Buy it before it's gone forever!*

Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie - Store Page
Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie - Original Announcement

*The plushie is available NOW for 21 days only. After November 25th, it will be discontinued forever.
*Lisk's dog not included in purchase.





A lot of iteration went into getting the details just right, because Safety Mole deserves it.


(There's actually much more...it just wouldn't fit into a gif!)

Thank you again for playing and supporting Legion TD 2. We hope you'll enjoy the plushie and the in-game goodies that come with it!

-The AutoAttack Games Team


To answer a few questions that have come up:

Q: If I buy multiple plushies in the same order, do I get multiple copies of the rewards?
A: Yes!

Q: How will the rewards be delivered?
A: The DLC will come as a Steam key, and the in-game rewards will come as coupon codes that you'll enter in-game. You can even use both codes on the same account if you really wanted to. All rewards will be delivered via email.

Q: When will the rewards be delivered?
A: At the end of the campaign (after November 25th). It will probably take a day or two to process everything.

Get ready for the biggest update of the year!



Finally, a piece of Legion TD 2 that you can hold in your hands, coming November 4th!

This is available for a LIMITED TIME ONLY. It will be on sale from November 4th to November 25th only. You cannot buy it after the sale is over. Forever.



The plushie price is $27.99, which is set by the manufacturer. To sweeten the deal, in-game rewards come with every purchase!*

• Unlock Desert Ridge singleplayer/co-op campaign DLC (worth $8.99) and get to play it before everyone else
  
• Receive 2800 Premium Essence (worth $20)
  
• Receive a 200 IQ Mole secret card (worth $15)

*All rewards will be sent on November 25th, after the conclusion of the plushie sale period.

The only catch is that our manufacturer requires a minimum of 200 plushies to be sold in order to produce them for us. If less than 200 plushies are sold by the end of the sale, everyone will receive a full refund instead. We have 21 days - let's all chip in together to hit at least 200! And beyond!!?

More info: Safety Mole | Makeship


Introducing the long-awaited second campaign, launching December 1st!



Like the first campaign included in the base game, Desert Ridge is playable with 1-4 players. It consists of 7 unique opponents, each increasing in difficulty. Among others, you'll face off against PennyTV - a British streamer who forces you to play T1-only builds, Bonny Flay - a salty chef who gives "balance advice" to the devs, and receives some "hotfixes" as a result, and Crashton - a high-octane goblin who pushes too many workers, but always seems to get away with it.

Desert Ridge will be made available via a DLC costing $8.99 on December 1st, 2022. Only one member of the party needs to own it to play. Early access is granted for all players who order the Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie (details above).

More info: Legion TD 2 - Desert Ridge Campaign

Legion TD 2 takes time and money to develop and keep the servers online. Periodically releasing DLC's ensures that the dev team can continue to pump out monthly patches with new units, new features, balance tweaks, quality of life improvements, and bug fixes, all free of charge. Supporting the dev team with your purchase also ensures the game can continue running for many years to come, without any subscription fees.

As an additional thank-you, after beating the campaign on Normal difficulty, you will automatically unlock the exclusive Afterburner Doomsday Machine skin!




We're really excited for you to enjoy both the Safety Mole Plushie and the Desert Ridge campaign. They've both been in the works for a long time, but we didn't want to release them until they were ready.

As players, we wish the plushie price could be lower, but the price is set by the manufacturer, which we have no control over. We hope the in-game rewards make it still a sweet deal. And again, your financial support goes fully towards the game's continued development.

Thank you again for supporting the game we love!

Sincerely,
Lisk, on behalf of the AutoAttack Games Team

P.S. Game is on sale for 25% off. Tell your friends :)

Congratulations to the winners of last month's Nova Cup!
- D1: ßutterßoys: XGod37 & Shea
- D2: halo: Valas & Lemon Rush
- D3: bärserker: Guenni99 & Henzer
- D4: opulence: Scarabimi & Daffybow

Missed the action? Check the brackets, team lists, & VODs for all divisions on the Legion TD 2 eSports portal!
- D1 casted by: Pennywise, Ofma, plus Kidk, BerntDasBROT, Shadowings, and Boone
- D2 casted by: Mauer01, Sludg3, plus Tohoco, Whitestonefenix
- D3 casted by: MilkStevens, McDzzzTheGamer, plus Snyp3r
- D4 casted by: Xorpeth
- Tournament directors: Schn3rd, AmerikanHunay, Nattodog, Pennywise
- Additional help: SlinkyDinky (the awesome check-in bot!)


Last month was a special month, which featured Pennywise's Legion TD 2 Community Skin Competition. 16 entries made it through to the finals, and voting is NOW OPEN! The top voted skin will be designed & officially added to the game!

Please vote for your favorite skins! Seriously, please vote, so we don't get stuck having to make Pennywise's balloon skin.



The upcoming October Nova Cup takes place October 29-30.

$750 in cash prizes and sign-up is free - first come first served!
There are four skill divisions, so no matter what your rating is, you have a chance to win.
Participation prize: Every participant who plays all of their matches will receive a FREE random card. If you haven't played a tournament yet, this is a great time to join.

• Sign-ups are open from NOW until October 29 at 9am PDT / 6pm CEST.
  
• To sign up, find a teammate and log into Legion TD 2. Both players should join a unique chat lobby by typing /join team name (e.g. /join Snail Kings) in Global Chat. After you're both in the lobby, have one player type /signup.
  
• The first 16 teams to sign up in each division can participate. Other teams are waitlisted. There are usually no-shows, so waitlisted teams are encouraged to be present in the Discord and ready to play. {LINK REMOVED}View the team list to see your sign-up position and division.
  
• If there are more than 32 teams checked in, there will be an additional best-of-1 qualifying round to allow more teams to participate. It is a best-of-1, rather than a best-of-3, to keep the event from running overly long.
  
• Both players must join the Legion TD 2 Official Tournament Discord. Make sure to set your server nickname to match your in-game name.

Like last month, you may now sign up as a solo player!

• You may sign-up as a solo player using the usual /signup command, and you will be added to the public Teams list as usual
  
• If there is a waitlist, team sign-ups will always take priority over solo sign-ups
  
• If you sign up as a solo, but then you find a teammate, you can re-sign up as a team any time before check-ins start. Just use the /signup command again with the new teammate. The tournament organizer will void your old solo signup after they process your new team signup.
  
• After check-ins are over, all checked-in solo players will be randomly formed into teams by the tournament organizer. You cannot request a specific teammate at this point; if you want to play with a specific person, you should have signed up as a team instead.

It is still strongly recommended to sign-up as a team to guarantee your spot in the tournament and to give you time to practice with your teammate beforehand.


Saturday, October 29

• Check-in window: 8:45 - 9:15am PDT / 5:45 - 6:15pm CEST
  
• Games: 10am - 1:30pm PDT / 7 - 10:30pm CEST
  
  • Round of 16 (Best of 3)
    
  • Quarter-finals (Best of 3)

Sunday, October 30

• Check-in window: 9 - 9:30am PDT / 5 - 5:30pm CEST
  
• Games: 10am - 1:30pm PDT / 6 - 9:30pm CET (Note the time change!!!)
  
  • Semi-finals (Best of 3)
    
  • Final (Best of 5)

Check-in

• Teams must check in via the Legion TD 2 Official Tournaments Discord. Waitlisted teams should also check in.
  
• Any team that fails to check in will be disqualified. The next team on the waitlist that checked in will earn a spot.

All Divisions

• Mastermind 2v2 (Tournament Mode)
  
• Hybrid is banned
  
• Single elimination
  
• Best of 3. Best of 5 final

Division 1 Only: Conquest Format

After winning a match using a particular Mastermind option, you can no longer use that Mastermind option for the rest of that series.

• For example, if you win game 1 with Greed, you can't pick Greed the rest of the series.
  
• The restriction applies to players individually; if your ally picks Greed, but you picked Yolo, you can still pick Greed next game, but your ally can't.
  
• The restriction only applies to the winning players. If you lose the game, you can still pick the same options next game.
  
• If you violate this rule and your opponent reports it, the game will be counted as an automatic loss for your team. Because this is a new rule, please show good sportsmanship and remind each other before starting the game.

The goal of the Conquest Format is to force the winning team to be able to win with a variety of playstyles, which leads to more varied matches. It also gives the losing team a little bit of help for the rest of the series. Credits to Pennywise#8456 and Shadowings#1413 for this format!


See the Nova Cup FAQ for prizes and additional rules.

For questions & support, please join the Legion TD 2 Official Tournament Discord.

See you on October 29th! The Nova Cup will be casted and streamed at https://twitch.tv/ltd2. Check the Tournament Discord on the event day for links to the other casts.

Sincerely,
Your Legion TD 2 Tournament Staff

P.S. Get hyped for next week's announcement on October 28th. We'll be revealing the all-new Desert Ridge singleplayer/co-op campaign as well as the Safety Mole Plushie!

Expected patch release: October 10-12

News & Updates
- Submit your entry to Pennywise's Skin Design Competition by Oct 17 to have a chance at having YOUR skin design added to the game! Voting begins Oct 21.
- Mark your calendars for the next Nova Cup: Oct 29-30. Sign-ups will open Oct 21.
- If you missed it, check out my (Lisk's) Reddit AMA from last month! I've been doing these every major patch, so keep an eye out next week for the next one.


We wanted to do something spooky this year to celebrate 1 year since Legion TD 2's full release last October.

New Halloween Map Decorations
New Skin: Haunted Devilfish
New Skin: Trick-or-Treat Witch



Screenshots


Halloween decorations will be enabled for a month. You can toggle them in Options.


If you miss income, you can no longer blame the queuing system.

• Fixed all issues where queuing mercenaries would be either sent too early or too late. Now they will always be sent just before income and just before mercenaries are warped.
  
• Fixed a bug where the king upgrades queue would mistakenly be cleared at the start of the build phase
  
• Fixed a bug where queuing mercenaries would accidentally hire the mercenary instantly on wave 1 and 21+

This involved a significant system rewrite so it had been put off for a while. However, thanks to continued feedback via bug reports and reddit, we were able to prioritize it for this patch!


Added a UI button for pause/unpause (in Custom games, Play vs. AI, and Campaign).

We received feedback that new players were unaware of being able to pause the game, or that it was just too much of a hassle. This should make it much easier to play the game at your own pace!


Fixes

• Bots are now smarter about using Chloropixie, Sakura, Grarl, Bone Crusher, and Fire Archer
  
• Building: Fixed a rare bug where certain ground clicks/building placements didn’t register, even though the square was buildable
  
• Soul Gate & Hell Gate: Fixed a bug where enemies would sometimes run past the summoned unit if the gate was the last unit alive in your lane before you leaked
  
• Guardian Angel: Fixed a bug where some fighters would be slow to autocast their abilities after reviving and being at max mana
  
• Menus: Fixed a bug where the back button would temporarily break after using the Card Trader just before finding a match
  
• HUD: Fixed a bug with 4K resolution where the mythium hover tooltip was blocked by other text
  
• Sandbox: Fixed a bug where spawning -wave 0 (empty wave) didn’t allow you to -clear the wave if there were no mercenaries sent
  
• Lock-In: Now properly displays a chat message to your allies as soon as you pick it
  
• Campaign: Fixed a bug where some opponent dialogue didn’t play after using Restart
  
• Reroll: Fixed a bug where you couldn’t upgrade the king if you were in the middle of picking a roll

Localization & API

• Localization: Various formatting fixes and some missing fields added
  
• Join the Legion TD 2 Contributors Discord to stay up-to-date with Localization & API development! Even if you're not a dev, you can join to check out in-development projects such as paintsniffer's LTDMeta app, a successor to LTDDB that lists builds that hold a particular wave & send.

This patch’s balance goals:
- Nerf long saving mythium and one-shotting the king. Encourage smaller scale attacks.
- Nerf cheap unit spam. Buff upgrades.
- Diversify the meta with wave rebalancing and king adjustments.


Power Score
- When players save mythium, the enemy team is now less likely to go on fire.

Leaking
- Leaking now rewards more gold to the opposing team, especially in the late game. Waves 1 to 21: 25% to 151% → 25% to 179%

These changes nerf long saving mythium and buff undercuts, solo sends, and smaller breaks.


King
- Giant Slayer: 22% → 24%



Cash Out
- Bonus starting gold: 23 → 22

As players have learned Cash Out openings, it’s surpassed Greed as the strongest and default playstyle.



Sorcerer
- Ability damage increase: 55% → 57.5%

Low win rate and pick rate.



Sakura
- Attack speed: 1.12 → 1.14

Low win rate and indirectly nerfed by wave changes.


Slime Larva
- Health: 360 → 330
- Mini Slime: Health: 140 --> 130


Slime Siren
- Attack speed: 1.23 → 1.35
- Mana gain on attack increased by 33%

Shifting power from Slime Larva to Slime Siren and making it easier for Siren to reach max mana.


Kingpin
- Health: 4830 → 4750

High win rate and indirectly buffed by wave changes.


Zeus
- Attack speed: 2.33 → 2.44
- Synergy with mana effects decreased by 20%


Harpy
- Attack speed: 1.52 → 1.49


Sky Queen
- Damage: 58 → 57
- Attack speed: 1.52 → 1.49

High win rate and indirectly buffed by wave changes.


Windhawk
- Attack speed: 1.23 → 1.22

Solo Windhawk now consistently leaks on wave 1 again.


Violet
- Lightning Strike: Damage: 120 + 0.1% (0.05% to bosses) max health → 80 + 0.15% max health
- Mana regeneration increased by 64%
- Synergy with mana effects adjusted to be similarly powerful

Shifting power from Windhawk to Violet and increasing Violet’s late game viability.


Sea Serpent
- Health: 600 → 620


- Health: 1840 → 1890

Low win rate and pick rate.


Gatling Gun / Vulcan Cannon
- Attack speed: 2 → 2.04

Low win rate and pick rate. The buff is conservative because Gatling Gun and Vulcan Cannon are indirectly buffed by wave changes.


Soul Gate
- Spawn health and attack speed decreased by 3%


Hell Gate
- Spawn attack speed decreased by 1%
- Building health: 5000 → 5200

Slightly high win rate and pick rate.


Holy Avenger
- Damage: 95 → 92
- Synergy with mana effects increased by 40%


Sovereign
- Synergy with mana effects increased by 22%


Hades
- Synergy with mana effects increased by 13%



Cannoneer
- Damage: 110 → 113


Drake
- Attack speed: 1.042 → 1.075

Lower win rates and usage rates than other high income mercenaries.


Centaur
- Attack speed: 2.33 -> 2.22

High win rate and usage rate and currently oppressive against melee-centric builds.



Wave 11 (Quill Shooters)
- DPS: 56 → 55
- Damage: 67 → 34
- Attack speed: 0.83 → 1.6

Now less countered by cheap unit spam.


Wave 13 (Drill Golems)
- Attack speed: 1.6 → 1.57


Wave 14 (Killer Slugs)
- Health: 2000 → 2030


Wave 15 (Quadrapuses)
- Quadrapus: DPS: 119 → 115
- Quadrapus: Damage: 95 → 80
- Giant Quadrapus: DPS: 475 → 460
- Giant Quadrapus: Damage: 380 → 320
- Attack speed: 1.25 → 0.72
- New ability: Dual Shot. Attacks up to 2 units at once but can still strike the same unit with both attacks.

Now less countered by cheap unit spam.


Wave 18 (Wale Chiefs)
- Poison-tipped Pole: 130 single-target and 40 splash damage every 3rd attack → 170 single-target and 40 splash damage every 4th attack

Nerfing Wale Chief’s ability, particularly the splash damage. It’s still strong enough to deal with cheap unit spam but now less oppressive overall against melee units.


Wave 20 (Maccabeus)
Grows in size with each kill, so you can see just how fed that boss is marching down to your king.



Announcing... the Limited Edition Safety Mole Plushie! Finally, a piece of Legion that you can hold in your hands.

The first 200 people to purchase the plushie will gain early access to the upcoming Desert Ridge singleplayer/co-op campaign. Plus more rewards for all buyers after that!

Full reveal, release date, and more details (including a giveaway contest) on both the plushie and the Desert Ridge campaign are coming in an announcement on October 28th!


We hope you enjoy this patch! Thank you again for playing Legion TD 2.

We're super excited about the upcoming Desert Ridge singleplayer/co-op campaign. If you haven't played the first campaign (Crystal Coast) yet, it's not too late to give it a try. Playing a campaign co-op is a great way to introduce the game to a friend, and the Hard modes are challenging even for experienced players. And when it comes out, Desert Ridge will be even more challenging.

If you've enjoyed the game, but haven't left a review yet, please consider posting a short review for the game! It really helps get the word out there.

If you enjoy these updates, please give it a Thumbs Up, too!

And as always, if you have constructive criticism, let's chat about it. Discord is our main channel of communication, and aside from the development team, there are community helpers who can ensure your feedback is heard, as well as answer pretty much anything you've ever wanted to know about the game. We know there's still much to improve, so let's work together.

Until next time!

Sincerely,
Lisk, on behalf of The AutoAttack Games Team