Jul 30, 2020
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!



Charging Into Darkness - Season Pass #3
  • A new Season Pass has arrived to Minion Masters!
  • Tons of new rewards, including 3 cards, a Legendary Skin, bonus cards, and more!
  • Three new cards have been added to the game. They are as follows:





  • Galaxy Apep has also been added to the game!



  • The Season Pass will end on August 20th, bringing an end to the Charging Into Darkness expansion.

Balance
Haste
  • Buff % 50 -> 33

Slow
  • Debuff % 25 -> 20

Developer Comments
Refer to our Blog Post for our reasoning regarding the Haste change. Thanks to everyone for their great feedback, and we’ll continue to monitor this change going forward.

Armored Scrats
  • Barrel Shield Health 60 -> 50
  • Developer Comments
  • Armored Scrats were a little too durable with their current HP values, making them quite annoying to pick off for many units. This new HP threshold also falls in with our rework to Combustion, listed further below.


Battle Shi-Hou
  • Health 450 -> 420
  • Special Note: In this patch, we’ve fixed Battle Shi-Hou’s description stating an incorrect value for its Bonus Attack Speed. The actual gameplay value for this has not been changed, as it is merely a description fix.

Jadespark Watchers
  • Generic Shi-Hou Health 450 -> 420
  • (Health change also affects Windwalker Shi-Hou)
  • Mana Cost 10 -> 9

Developer Comments
We felt that Battle Shi-Hou was a little too strong, and Jadespark Watchers was underpowered since its nerfs during Saving Jadespark Jungle, so we wanted to take this opportunity to unify their health values with Tranquil Shi-Hou and Shen Stormstrike as it represented a good opportunity to hit all of these needs at once.


Black Hole
  • Cast Delay 0.5 -> 0.2
  • Duration 1.5 -> 1.8
  • Developer Comments
  • Black Hole has been difficult to utilize since the nerf, so we're aiming to make it easier to use on reaction against spells to better protect units with.

Blastmancer
  • Soul Detonate damage 20 -> 25

Blood Imps
  • Damage 15 -> 17

Combustion
  • Reworked: Now deals 50 damage to the target and nearby enemy minions up to 5 times. (0.2 second delay between each explosion)
  • Units under the Combustion debuff are no longer stunned
  • Developer Comments
  • Combustion was still proving to be a problematic card in terms of just how efficient it was combined with swarm at removing... Pretty much anything. This was especially the case with Armored Scrats who would either survive the explosion and thus remain as bodies on the field, or more significantly, be almost impossible to remove on reaction. This change means that swarm units will still be quite efficient when utilized with the card, but toned down to more reasonable levels. It also gave us an opportunity to increase the spell's effectiveness when utilized on larger minions such as Colossus or Living Statue.

Defenso Chopper
  • Health 450 -> 500

Grasping Thorns
  • Damage 170 -> 200

Haunting Hugger
  • Progress 1 towards Accursed Ascension for each killed target
  • Attack Cooldown 2 -> 2.5 sec
  • Developer Comments
  • We wanted to re-introduce the effect of using some Accursed cards to speed up Accursed Ascension, and Haunting Hugger seemed a natural fit for the task as it had lost some of its purpose since the re-work. We also opted to give it a rebalance in its attack cooldown as well to compensate for this buff, making it a bit easier to get rid of.

Jungle Jumble
  • Mana Cost 7 -> 6

Milloween
  • Arcane Golem has been rescaled:
  • Mana Cost 3 -> 2
  • Health 300 -> 250
  • Damage 40 -> 30
  • Health Gain per Level 40 -> 30
  • Damage Gain per Level 6 -> 5
  • Developer Comments
  • As with Haste, refer to our Blog Post here.

Mythic
  • Mythic Units affected by Destroy instead take 50% of their Maximum Health as damage, instead of 1000 damage.
  • Developer Comments
  • We wanted Destroy effects to still feel powerful on Mythic units, but allow us to open up some design space for minions to have Mythic but not colossal amounts of Health. Effectively, this does not change Destroy’s interaction against Nyrvir, while it does less damage to Jahun.

Ratbo
  • More Dakka! Mana Cost 0 -> 1
  • Developer Comments
  • Ratbo has been exceptionally powerful since the rebalances to 1 drops, so we feel he needed a change on top of the adjustment to Armored Scrats for him to fall more in line with the other Masters in terms of power level.

Ravager
  • Feeding Frenzy Threshhold 50% -> 66%
  • Brutus and TERROR BRUTUS now have Mythic
  • Developer Comments
  • Ravager is the Master hit hardest by the change to Haste, so we wanted to increase his perk 2’s threshold to retain its usefulness, while also giving his special summons resilience to Destroy effects and being pushed around by other minions.

Red Golem
  • Damage 300 -> 350
  • Health 1200 -> 1400

Shen Stormstrike
  • Damage 200 -> 175

Slitherbound Lancer
  • Attack Delay 1.0 -> 0.5 seconds
  • Developer Comments
  • Slitherbound Lancer was the clear worse result of the two Slitherbound units due to how long its attack would take to go off despite being in melee range, meaning it often just got picked off before it could apply any poision. By shifting his Attack Delay, his attacks will come out much faster without increasing his overall Attack Speed.

Spirit Infusion
  • Time per Spirit 3 -> 2
  • Developer Comments
  • This also affects Morellia’s perk 1 and 2 as they function similarly, but the impact of this buff should be significantly lesser for her due to the lower number of spirits.

Stormy
  • Zen-Chi Flow Health Increase changed from Doubling Stormy’s health -> +100 Health
  • Developer Comments
  • The goal with this change is to make Stormy easier to whittle down with chip damage by narrowing the threshholds required to make him "lose" an attack, as well as less durable in general when combined with effects such as healing by making him easier to burst down. Notably, it's now much easier to time a Fireball to kill Stormy while he's being healed, and a non-healed Stormy can be killed by a 130 damage spell after his first attack.

Misc
  • Magma Cannon has received a visual update, and its faction has been changed to Voidborne.
  • Swarmers, Elite Swarmers, Morgrul’s Ragers and Morgrul the Swarmer King have all received a visual update.
  • Dragon Whelp and Rammer have received updated Card Art.

Bugs
  • Fixed Mordar’s Tombstone description not noting that it can summon allied Mordar units. It implied only your Minions could be resurrected, when in actuality another Mordar’s summons counted too. We apologize for this error.
  • Fixed Nyrvir Slumbers not stating that units killed by it would grant 1 progress towards Accursed Ascension.
  • Fixed Jungle Jumble’s tooltip still stating that it grants Mana Reduction.
  • Fixed the Campfire text in Adventures being too small.
  • Fixed Battle Shi-Hou’s description using the incorrect number for its bonus attack speed.
  • Fixed Tombstone not working in Adventures.
  • Fixed the Undying Skeleton boss in the Charging Into Darkness adventure spawning his Undying Skeletons off the map.
  • Fixed the Haunting Hugger boss in Adventures producing a massive amount of smoke when first attacked.
  • Fixed Emerald and Crystal Stormbringer’s eyes popping out of his skull.
  • Fixed Skeleton Horde’s placement being too close together - Thanks Steven!
  • Fixed free Accursed cards from Apep’s perks counting towards Accursed Ascension as if they cost the full amount - Thanks Steven!
  • Fixed Ardent Aegis units being resurrected by Mordar when he wasn’t the one that cast the spell - Thanks LeilaFox!
  • Fixed a rare occurrence where Dormant Defenders would never wake up - Thanks Jimi D Night!
  • Fixed an occurrence where Harbinger retargeted off of the Master Tower despite not being stunned - Thanks Cole420!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

Balance Changes for Version 1.15
We've got another set of balance changes coming up in the next update, and we have a couple we'd like to share with you today. But first, we have some followup news regarding the public Poll of Arcane Golem and Haste's changes.

Firstly, we want to give a huge thanks to the fantastic amount of participation from you all, Masters! We got a ton of useful data and feedback from your submissions, and we're definitely open to doing that sort of thing again in the future as a result.

Secondly, we've opted as a result of the poll to go ahead with the planned changes to Arcane Golem and Haste as most of the responses supported the idea. Some were worried that they would be too weak following the changes, so we're planning to keep a close eye on them - Make sure to let us know how you feel about them once the changes hit the live servers in Version 1.15!

Black Hole
  • Cast Delay 0.5 -> 0.2
  • Duration 1.5 -> 1.8
  • Developer Comments
  • Black Hole has been difficult to utilize since the nerf, so we're aiming to make it easier to use on reaction against spells to better protect units with.

Stormy
  • Zen-Chi Flow changed: Now grants +100 Health instead of doubling health
  • Effectively, this means an activated Stormy has 225 health now, instead of 250
  • Developer Comments
  • The goal with this change is to make Stormy easier to whittle down with chip damage by narrowing the threshholds required to make him "lose" an attack, as well as less durable in general when combined with effects such as healing by making him easier to burst down. Notably, it's now much easier to time a Fireball to kill Stormy while he's being healed, and a non-healed Stormy can be killed by a 130 damage spell after his first attack.

Combustion
  • Reworked: Now deals 50 damage to the target and nearby enemy minions up to 5 times. (0.2 second delay between each explosion)
  • No longer stuns units with the Combustion debuff

Armored Scrats
  • Barrel Shield Health 60 -> 50

  • Developer Comments
  • Combustion was still proving to be a problematic card in terms of just how efficient it was combined with swarm at removing... Pretty much anything. This was especially the case with Armored Scrats who would either survive the explosion and thus remain as bodies on the field, or more significantly, be almost impossible to remove on reaction. This change means that swarm units will still be quite efficient when utilized with the card, but toned down to more reasonable levels. It also gave us an opportunity to increase the spell's effectiveness when utilized on larger minions such as Colossus or Living Statue.

There's plenty more changes on the way, naturally, so stay tuned for the patch next week!

Magma Cannon Visual Update
(We had an exclusive reveal for a visual update for Laser Turret on our social media earlier this week, did you check it out yet?)

We've got news of another update coming to one of our older cards coming in Version 1.15, and that's Magma Cannon! We felt that the card lacked a proper visual identity, and didn't really fit in with any of the existing factions as well as needing a model update for a while, so we've given it this fearsome new look, as well as a Faction Change to Voidborne:



As always, let us know what you think!

Sinobii's Tournaments want YOUR help!
Are you looking to get more involved with competitive Minion Masters? Sinobii from Team Mana Frenzy is looking for volunteers to help with his future tournaments! Currently, they're looking for;

2-3 Shoutcasters (Commentators)
1-2 Tournament Administrators ("To work with players via discord in resolving any issues during the event, most particularly helping/making sure everyone gets into lobbies with their paired opponent and start their matches timely, and by extension identifying any tardy or absent players to adjudicate game/match losses, and otherwise minimize any tournament delays.")

Currently tournaments are scheduled to have 1 Xbox tournament per month, and 1-3 PC events. Contact {LINK REMOVED} on Discord if you're interested!

BadAsAFish80's 2v2 Tournament #8



Got some time on your hands and a reliable friend? Want to get a chance at winning some money by playing 2v2 matches? Then BadAsAFish's next tournament is the place to be - A $100 prize pool multi-day tournament! Check it out here and sign up with your partner:

https://www.toornament.com/en_GB/tournaments/3556412245006991360/information

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

New Swarmer Models
Our artists have been hard at work again, creating new, even more vicious looking models for some of Minion Masters' oldest units - The Swarmers! Our primary reason for updating the units is due to the age of them - The models date back to the early days of Forced, making them over 7 years old now.

We're looking to update quite a few models back from those days as a result to ensure they fulfill our new quality levels that we wish to maintain going forwards with our art assets, as well as help define them better within the universe we're working to establish. You've already seen quite a few of them already, and the Swarmer units were next in line to get a touch up - Check them out below!





They also come with brand new, updated Card Art:



Swarmers might be blind, but they'll always smell your fear.

The new Swarmer models will be making their way to the arenas in Version 1.15. We've also got an updated model for Laser Turret in the works - Tune in to our Social Media next Monday for an exclusive reveal!

What's up at the BetaDwarf Office?

Just a couple of weeks ago, we've finally got back to the offices following the extended quarantine, and we're still working on our exciting future projects all the same. We're still taking serious precautions, though - You can't walk five feet without finding disinfectant bottles!

All in all though, despite out rock solid remote working solutions, we're happy to be back at the office with the rest of the BetaDwarf family. Personally speaking, I'm glad we can start doing our monthly Tabletop RPG sessions again after an unfortunately long hiatus. We hope you've all been managing well during this time, too - If you got up to anything interesting while you were stuck at home, get in touch with us at thatsprite@betadwarf.com - We'd love to hear about it!


BadAsAFish80's 1v1 Tournament #13


BadAsAFish is back with his excellent Minion Masters competitive tournaments! Making a comeback with a $100 prize pool and tons of in-game rewards, the tournament also functions as a qualifier for the prestigious Sinobii's Battleground Invitational run by TEAM MANA FRENZY!

Check out their Toornament page here and sign up today! https://www.toornament.com/en_GB/tournaments/3556399228476727296/information

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

We've got quite a lot to talk about this week - We need your input regarding some upcoming Balance Changes, and we're opening up PTR Signups again. Let's not waste any time and get into it:

Arcane Golem & Haste/Slow Public Poll


With the upcoming Balance Changes coming in Version 1.15, we've been giving heavy consideration towards changes to Milloween's Arcane Golem and the Haste mechanic in particular. While we're decently confident in our changes, we wanted to give the opportunity to get more input from you all about them which we can take into account, as they are likely to significantly affect the metagame. Here are the changes we're currently thinking of:

Arcane Golem
  • Mana Cost 3 -> 2
  • Health 300 -> 250
  • Damage 40 -> 30
  • Health Gain Per Level 40 -> 30
  • Damage Gain Per Level 6 -> 5

The main reason we're seeking to alter Arcane Golem is to rebalance Milloween's general gameplay. Currently Milloween is very frustrating to play against at Perk 3 due to how high its stats end up at from the Level 5 Boost. We're hoping with this change that the Arcane Golem, while still strong and forming the core of Milloween's kit, feels much less oppressive to fight against in the lategame and overall smoothes out her power curve.

Haste
  • Bonus 50% -> 33%
  • (Slow will also have its debuff changed from 25% -> 20% to match this)

Haste has been a fairly problematic buff for quite a while, as some of our veteran players can no doubt testify to. We've traditionally had to hide the explosive potential of the effect behind specific conditions, or remove them from cards that proved far too powerful with it - Examples of this would be Rabid Prowler and Woodsman. By reigning in the power of Haste we want to make it a more fair mechanic to play against, and open up more design space for us to utilise it when designing new cards.

This Haste change will also come with a buff to Ravager's perk 2 as he would be significantly impacted. This change will likely come in form of altering the threshhold required for his units to gain Haste in proportion to the change. Changes to other cards affected are also likely to be considered.


We've prepared a short survey that we would like you to answer so you can give us your feedback on this adjustments: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsX1IRLy-TNoWBHZCq9wKsJWBkx2OVIdWlQkh9nDTzSTatyg/viewform?usp=pp_url

Thanks a ton in advance for your time, Masters!

New Reveals Coming Soon!


We're swiftly approaching that time again, Masters - The Season Pass #3 reveals are due to start this Friday! Join us for another round of exciting card reveals that will expand upon your Accursed collection as Mordar makes his counteroffensive, on our Update Site!

PTR Signups

We're looking for willing PTR Testers and are opening signups once again, to help us test upcoming content for Minion Masters! Things are a little different, this time - We're offering you the option to reference another user when signing up to the PTR that you'd like to partner with that is also filling in the application for membership. If the two of you are selected, we'll ensure you're in the same group, meaning there'll always be someone you're familiar with to play against, or with for 2v2 testing. Signing up with another player is not a requirement to be accepted for the PTR.

As a PTR tester, you will test new content on the PTR and provide feedback for the Minion Masters design team through questionnaires and discuss feedback with the team directly in the Discord channel. Responses from the PTR testing group is an extremely important part of creating new content for the game.

To join, you must be able to write in English, be open-minded, and have time to test and discuss new cards, masters and other content with us. It is a requirement that you are open to testing new cards/masters through rigorous playtesting. You must also have a Steam account and be able to play the game on PC (you will have the full collection of cards at your disposal).

There is a minimum expectation of activity while you are a member of the PTR. If you do not participate in several PTRs in a row without contacting a developer as to why, you will be removed from the group.

To sign up, answer this questionnaire here and we'll contact you via your Discord account if you're accepted: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd2q6WF0xfushgM8ZYI-xYEeTQgBijulnA1tsINAvjpPoIuZg/viewform?usp=pp_url

Sinobii's Battleground Invitational #9


The ninth SBI is happening this weekend! Like previous SBIs, the tournament competition consists of active players that have performed exceptionally well in previous Team Mana Frenzy tournaments or are ranked at the very top of the Minion Masters Leaderboards - Meaning you can be certain there'll be some excellent quality gameplay on display! It's your traditional no-holds-barred double elimination tournament and will be livestreamed on Sinobii's Twitch channel.

If you want to find out more about the competition, check out their Toornament page here, and drop by their Discord!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

100 in 10 Challenge



It's time to put your Draft skills to the test, Masters - Today we're announcing the start of the 100 in 10 Draft Challenge! Inspired by community contests in other events, the challenge is to Stream yourself getting 100 wins over the course of 10 Draft runs - If you win and have your results verified by BetaDwarf, you'll receive the Cosmic Cleaver avatar! Here's a graphic with the full rules below:



You can find the logo mentioned in the rules at the top of this section.

All submissions must include working links to the Livestreams in which the challenge was done. All conditions described must be met in order to be eligible for the prize. Runs will be reviewed manually, so please be patient in waiting for a response and receiving your Avatar. There is currently no formal end date for this Challenge. If you have any further questions, email thatsprite@betadwarf.com.

Good luck, Masters!

Interview with Last_Elf



This week, we have a special interview with Youtube Content Creator Last_Elf!

Can you give us a brief introduction of what you do?
I am doing fun Minion Masters gameplay videos. I try to come up with new ideas and strategies, something you are not facing on the ladder and mostly just crazy decks. Not tier 1, but definitely fun. I publish 3 new videos every week with more than 300 videos already on my channel.

How long have you been playing Minion Masters for?
I've been playing for 2,5 years now and creating YouTube videos for 1,5 years.

What made you get into creating Minion Masters content?
This might sound greedy, but I wanted to earn money. When my son was born, I've realized, that if I want to have time on games, I need to make it a living. After 2 years, I am nowhere near my goal and it's still not worth the time, I put into it. But I really enjoy it, I love the game and the community around the game.

What do you think is the best video you've made so far?
My personal favourite is for sure Solo Priestesses. I managed to have 7 Priestesses on board and watching how desperately your opponent tries to kill them is just hilarious. We've recreated it on premade with 11 Priestesses on board in the video called Holy Army and in a friendly coordinated battle called Healing Hell. I think this title doesn't need an explanation :D



Where can people follow you?
I have my own Discord server, Facebook page and Twitter.
For my most loyal fans I even have a Patreon page, where they can support me.
You can visit my website http://www.lastelf.net, where you can find all the links ;)


You can find Last_Elf's Youtube channel right here - He makes tons of entertaining gameplay videos featuring all kinds of oddball strategies, so he's definitely worth checking out!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Jun 25, 2020
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

Charging Into Darkness - Season Pass #2
  • A new Season Pass has arrived to Minion Masters!
  • Tons of new rewards, including 3 cards, a Legendary Skin, bonus cards, and more!
  • Three new cards have been added to the game. They are as follows:



  • Galaxy Diona has also been added to the game!



  • The Season Pass will last one month and end on Thursday the 30th of July.

Balance
Ardent Aegis
  • Heal 200 -> 250

Bounty Sniper
  • New Effect: If you’re behind on XP, gain Shield
  • Developer Comments
  • Bounty Sniper was a card that was difficult to justify in most decks. While the effect is strong the mana premium made it very punishing when removed, and the risk of losing board control for the sake of maximising the XP was too high. By giving it a unique Shield condition, we want to help it have an identity of a comeback card while hopefully not impacting the “win more” element of such mechanics.

Call to Arms
  • Mana Cost 4 -> 5

Disruptor Puff
  • Teleport Cooldown 5 -> 6

Hypnotize
  • REWORK: Hypnotise now applies a debuff that causes enemy minions to prioritize attacking their allies. They cannot target the Master Tower, and will still target enemies if there are no valid allies to attack.
  • Duration 5 -> 6
  • Developer Comments
  • Hypnotize has been a fairly problematic card design wise for a while now, particularly in 2v2 game modes, and we've gone through multiple iterations of different designs to create an effect that is more fair to the opponent while retaining the core identity of the spell inflicting chaos in the middle of a fight. In particular, we took issue with it being implemented in cheese strategies such as those with Rock Rivals that offered very little interactivity from the opponent.

Lord Fanriel the Stormcharger
  • Damage 100 -> 120

Magma Storm
  • Damage per Rock 200 -> 170

Mordar
  • Tombstones can now only resurrect minions belonging to Mordar
  • Tombstone Activation Time 10 -> 8 seconds

Morellia
  • Number of Skeletons from Book of the Dead 4/8 -> 3/6

Netherstep
  • Cast Delay 0.5 -> 0 seconds

Poison (Mechanic)
  • Ticks per Second 1 -> 2
  • Damage per Tick 20 -> 10
  • Developer Comments
  • This solves an issue we had with Poison where we could only make units deal Poison damage in units of 20. By increasing the ticks it allows us to hit much more specific ranges, and also has the side effect of having better visual feedback and being more effective against Shield.

Poison Strike
  • Duration 6 -> 6.5 seconds
  • Total Poison Damage 120 -> 130

Resonating Blast Crystal
  • Damage 120 -> 130

Scratillery
  • Damage per Rocket 40 -> 50

Shielded Crossbow Dudes
  • New Effect: If you control no bridges, summon an extra Crossbow Dude.

Skeleton Horde
  • Skeleton Count 8 -> 9

Styxi
  • Health 90 -> 140

Swarmer Totem
  • Production Speed 6 -> 7 Seconds

Troubadour
  • New: Highland Revelry: Give nearby enemy minions Slow

Misc
  • Blue Golem has received a big visual rework. Red Golem will stay with its old model for now, but we intend to give it a new look as well in the future.
  • New Card art has been added for Scrat Pack, Bridge Buddies, Tranquil Shi-Hou and Blue Golem.
  • Improved the error message that appears when starting a game that isn’t on the same version as the server.
  • Everyone who completed the Charging Into Darkness Adventure will receive 3 copies of a Supreme card as an apology for the error with the rewards in the near future.

Bugs
  • Fixed Illusory Cleaver not activating Voidborne Wound.
  • Fixed being able to use skins you don’t own.
  • Fixed Arcane Ring hitting Masters and Buildings.
  • Fixed Jade Flingers having a small freeze at the end of their attack animations.
  • Fixed Battlepass references not working on “Available in the current Battlepass” buttons.
  • Fixed Season Pass Premium still referring to itself as Battle Pass.
  • Fixed More Dakka not hitting Werewolves.
  • Fixed a minor visual bug with Galaxy Morellia.
  • Fixed an animation bug where Warrior would attempt to swing her sword even though she was out of range.
  • Fixed some inconsistencies with Call to Arms transforming Dormant Defenders.
  • Fixed a visual bug with Ratbo’s Minigun still spinning at max speed after using More Dakka.
  • Fixed Jungle Jumble using the wrong card buff tooltip.
  • Fixed the Charging Into Darkness Adventure granting the wrong rewards. Anyone who completed the Adventure will receive 3 copies of a Supreme card in the near future.
  • Fixed the Italian Translation for Squire Puff and Arcane Bolt not being displayed.
  • Fixed the “Puff Sorry” emote having lost its localization.
  • Fixed Master Skins not having the Master Tips - Thanks LordJulius!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

Season Pass #2 Inbound!

If you've been keeping up with out Charging Into Darkness reveals, then that means you're aware that the second Season Pass of this Expansion is right around the corner!

Next week on the 25th of June, Version 1.14 will be releasing with a whole host of brand new content, including new cards Sugilite Shield, Lady Infray the Spire Warden, and Skeleton Crew!

Check out our Update Site for all the juicy details. Which of the two currently revealed cards is your favourite? And don't forget to let us know what you think of Skeleton Crew once it comes out!

Balance Changes
Today we've got a preview of some of the balance changes coming with Version 1.14! As always, these aren't all of them, but should highlight some of the larger changes we're planning to make:

Hypnotize Rework
  • NEW EFFECT: Enemy minions within the AoE will start attacking, and prioritise, friendly units for the duration. Cannot attack the Master Tower.
  • Duration 5 -> 6
  • Call Slitherbound Count 1 -> 2
  • Dev Comments: Hypnotize has been a fairly problematic card design wise for a while now, particularly in 2v2 game modes, and we've gone through multiple iterations of different designs to create an effect that is more fair to the opponent while retaining the core identity of the spell inflicting chaos in the middle of a fight. In particular, we took issue with it being implemented in cheese strategies such as those with Rock Rivals that offered very little interactivity from the opponent.

Call to Arms
  • Mana Cost 4 -> 5

Swarmer Totem
  • Production Speed 6 seconds -> 7 seconds

Troubadour
  • NEW: Highland Revelry: Give Slow to nearby enemy Minions

Shielded Crossbow Dudes
  • NEW: If you don't control any bridges, summon an extra Crossbow Dude.

New Card Art
Some of you have noticed, and admired, a lot of visual reworks that have been coming to Minion Masters recently, be it card art updates, or entirely new models (as seen with Dragon Nest). We're just as excited to see what the Art team comes up with as you are, so we're going to be making more of an effort to feature their creations in the blog going forward.

Most of the time when art or models get updated, it's to fit with an updated or revised visual identity we have for their faction. Alternatively, it could be that the models are too old to properly work with going forward or don't meet the level of quality we'd like for the game - Some of the models in the game are still dating back to our very first game, after all!

This Update will be bringing some relatively simple changes - Brand new Card Art for the Scrat Pack and Bridge Buddies cards. Bridge Buddies' art was starting to look fairly unfitting when lined up with the other Scrat cards in its visual style, particularly due to the extensive referencing of the 3d model when creating it. So we've given it an entirely new card art! For Scrat Pack, we're still fond of the original identity of the card art, but wanted to give it a fresh coat of paint to reflect the updated Scrat designs. Check them out below:



We also have a brand new model for Blue Golem coming in this update, too - Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for an exclusive reveal on Monday!

$1000 ShadowGaming Tournament


This weekend, Shadow Gaming TV are hosting their Minion Masters Summer International Tournament, where the winner receives a massive prize of $1000!

The 1v1 event will be taking place this Sunday the 21st at 11 AM PST on their Twitch Channel, with signups closing shortly before the event starts. It's promising to be an exciting event with a ton of players already signed up!

Check out the full rules of the Tournament and signup on their Battlefy link!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

Starting this Friday, we'll begin showcasing our Season Pass spoilers for new cards and content that'll be coming in Version 1.14! Make sure to stop on by our Update Site to check it out and take a look at the awesome new content coming soon!

Emote Contest


It's been a while, but we're back with another Minion Masters Emote Contest! The Emote Contest is a community competition that allows your custom Minion Masters emotes to be immortalized on the Minion Masters Discord Server! Here's how to enter:

  • Make a cool Minion Masters emote! They don't have to be just puffs, but the general guideline for an emote is a 1:1 ratio emoticon, like the ones you'd see in-game. Make sure that it looks nice as a downscaled emote, too, as that may affect your chances.
  • Head over to the official Minion Masters discord at http://discord.gg/minionmasters and post your entry in the #emote-contest-3 channel.
  • Once the Contest ends on the 18th of June, 5 candidates and their emotes will be presented to the community for voting. The three emotes that receive the most votes will be declared the winners!
  • The winners will have their emotes added to the Minion Masters Discord for everyone to use, as well as a special credit in the FAQ!
  • Emotes must be Minion Masters related and not use copyrighted material that isn't from BetaDwarf.
  • Entries must be your own original works. Any medium can be used to create them.
  • Entries must be new. Emotes from the previous contests are not eligible.
  • Entries must not violate the server rules.

Entries will close on the 18th of June at 0800 UTC. Good luck, Masters!

Twitch Drops Boost Incoming


There's a big boost to Twitch Drops coming to compensate for the issues we had during 1.12. From June 11th to June 18th, you can get triple value from your Twitch Drops, making them worth 300 Gold each! Make sure to stop on by your favourite Twitch Stream while the event is ongoing and get your rewards!

Or, if you want to start streaming during this event and share the love, make sure to connect your Minion Masters account to Twitch to earn rewards while streaming - Learn more here!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
Minion Masters - That Sprite
100% OFF - WEEKEND DEAL

Get the new $15 Charging Into Darkness DLC 100% off this weekend!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1324190/Minion_Masters__Charging_Into_Darkness/

CHARGING INTO DARKNESS - OUT NOW!

With Ardera's true agenda revealed, High-Mage Leiliel races to the Whispering Woods to find an old friend. Without his help they stand no chance against the evil that is coming in Jadespark Jungle - But the Elven armies are locked in battle with the accursed legions of Mordar the Mad. Can Leiliel secure Fanriel the Stormchargers aid?

Featuring new cards, a new Adventure, a reworked Battle Pass System, and more!

Read all about the new expansion on the update site, or just jump right into the game!

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
May 27, 2020
Minion Masters - That Sprite
Minion Masters!

Our latest expansion, Charging into Darkness, starts now! With Ardera's true agenda revealed, High-Mage Leiliel races to the Whispering Woods to find an old friend. Without his help they stand no chance against the evil that is coming in Jadespark Jungle - But the Elven armies are locked in battle with the accursed legions of Mordar the Mad. Can Leiliel secure Fanriel the Stormchargers aid?

Revised Battle Pass System
With this Expansion, we’re doing big changes to how we release new content, and how the Battle Pass system functions. We have a big write-up of the changes and our reasoning on our blog here. Here’s what’s being changed:

  • Battle Passes are now known as Season Passes
  • Season Passes last 1 month
  • Season Passes are 50 Tiers
  • 3 new cards are added to the game with each Season Pass
  • Also includes 1 Legendary Skin, 3 Avatars, and 1 Emote
  • Still includes heaps of XP, Shards, Rubies and Gold
  • Includes lots of copies of other cards and 35 Power Tokens
  • Season Tokens have been removed - You now unlock new cards directly through specific Season Pass Tiers. There’s no longer any randomness in accessing new content.
  • All new cards can be earned in the free pass. They will also appear earlier in the premium pass.
  • Cards introduced in the season cannot be crafted until the next season starts.
  • If you complete the Season Pass, you will receive glory for the new Cards, both for the Free and Premium paths.
  • XP Requirements for Season Pass tiers now scale - It’s easier to get started with a new Season Pass. It now starts at 25k Glory for the first tier, compared to 42k as before.
  • Overall XP requirement to complete a Season Pass is the same as finishing 50 tiers of the old Battle Pass system.
  • Season Pass price will be 1500 Rubies
  • Expansions will last 3 Season Passes - Each Pass brings new content related to the Expansion.

New Cards




New Adventure
Aid High-Mage Leiliel as she races through the raging battlefield in the Whispering Woods to find her old friend, Lord Fanriel. She needs his help to overcome the evil emerging from Jadespark Jungle - Can she secure his aid?

  • Brand New Story - Venture through the woods and fight off maddened denizens and cursed Undead.
  • Play as the new High-Mage Leiliel Master, exclusive to Adventures - Or play as returning favourites Jolo and Fergus as bonus content!
  • This 1 Chapter Adventure is free!
  • Completing the Chapter will get you some cool rewards, and will take you to a story introducing an upcoming Master!

Balance
Accursed Ascension
  • Reworked: To obtain Accursed Ascension, spend 60 Mana on Accursed cards.
  • Spectral Essence removed from the game

Arcane Bolt
  • NEW: If the unit drops below 500 HP during the stun duration, destroy it.
  • Stun Duration 9 > 5
  • Mana Cost 3 > 4
  • Mana Freeze 2 > 1
  • Developer Comments
  • Arcane Bolt has been difficult to find a good spot for due to the hard threshold in the card’s mechanic. By changing the requirement to allow for greater leniency we aim to make the card much more practical to use in regular gameplay.

Arcane Ring
  • Radius 5 > 4
  • Developer Comments
  • It was unfortunately common for units to be missed by the Arcane Ring’s projectiles due to the circle radius, where they could simply walk through it and ultimately mean the majority of the spell’s damage was wasted.

ATG Drone x8
  • Projectiles 6 > 7

Blastmancer/Spiritmancer
  • Effect Radius 10 > 14

Blood Imps
  • Attack Cooldown 1.1 > 0.9

Bridge Shrine
  • Total XP 15 > 18

Crystal Construct
  • Now gives Mana on Death, instead of on Play
  • Developer Comments
  • This change also applies to the new card Dormant Defenders.

Cursebearer
  • Mana Cost 3 > 4
  • Curse Aura Duration 4 > 8
  • Developer Comments
  • Cursebearer’s effect ultimately made it too efficient for its mana slot.

Demon Warrior
  • Attack Cooldown 2.2 > 2.0

Dragon Whelp
  • Attack Cooldown 1.0 > 1.1
  • Also affects Flightless Dragons and Shadow Whelp

Ghost Turret
  • Health 350 > 250
  • Now grants an allied minion Spirit on death

Grasping Thorns
  • Total Damage 160 > 170
  • Enemy Speed 3 > 2

Jungle Jumble
  • No longer grants a mana Discount
  • Cards obtained now have Growthburst Shroom

Leiliel’s Vortex
  • Pull Strength 7 > 10

Ratbo
  • Attack Damage 6 > 5

Snake Druid
  • Attack Cooldown 1.0 > 2.0
  • Damage 25 > 50
  • Attack Delay 0.4 > 1.4
  • Developer Comments
  • Snake Druid’s ability to deal with swarm fairly efficiently was an area we felt he needed a weakness in order to enable more counterplay.

Squire Puff
  • Now a Minion
  • New Effect: While on the bridge, give 3 random friendly ground Minions Shield every 10 seconds.
  • Empyrean Army: Give 5 shields instead.
  • Mana Cost 2 > 1

Ting, Teng & Tung
  • Bug Fix: Rage and Growthburst Shroom now grant damage bonuses properly
  • Health 360 > 300

Wall
  • Duration 20 > 30

Zeppelin Bomber
  • Mana Cost 2 > 3

Misc
  • Dragon Nest and Priestess have received visual overhauls, including new Card Art and Models.
  • Combustion and Black Hole have received updated card art.

Bugs
  • Fixed Blue Golems summoned by the Red Golem card doing 300 damage instead of 200 - Thanks KcToby101!
  • Fixed minions in Chapter 2 of the Saving Jadespark Jungle adventure being permanently invisible.
  • Fixed inconsistencies regarding Mana Surge and Stealth.
  • Fixed Puffs being able to wander off the bridge and get hit by effects such as Mordar’s attack.
  • Fixed a slight error with the Buffed HP indication - Thanks SoSiskodemon!
  • Fixed Black Hole occasionally causing games to hang, making them unplayable.
  • Fixed Haunting Hugger becoming Untargetable.
  • Fixed Hypnotize still being able to permanently steal minions.
  • Fixed Sun Burn’s size indication being too small.
  • Fixed units granted Stealth by Mal’Shar not visually regaining Stealth.
  • Fixed Twitch Drops not working.
  • Potential fix for Twitch VIPs and Moderators not receiving Twitch Drops.

Cheers from BetaDwarf!
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