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Vainglory Update 2.0 is here! Explore this massive milestone update …

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New: The Mystery Chest

Everything you want. Anything can happen…

Vainglory Update 2.0 is an opportunity to improve on existing game experiences and introduce new excitement into the mix. With the new Mystery Chest, we’re able to do both at once.

The Mystery Chest contains every hero and every skin in the Market — including all the Special Edition skins that usually require massive amounts of Opals. In addition, there’s an extremely rare chance of hitting a 1 MILLION Opals jackpot, which is enough to set you up for life.

With the turn of a key, you could get just about anything.

Making Every Key ‘Worth It’

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The idea for the Mystery Chest didn’t come out of nowhere. It came in direct response to player feedback on keys, Opals and the Season Chest. The most important piece of player criticism was that acquiring keys didn’t feel “worth it” because of the perceived limited value of the Season Chest. That was never our intent and a clear opportunity for radical improvement.

The new Mystery Chest is the direct evolution of the Season Chest and can be found in the same place in your profile. But instead of just one or two items of interest, all the heroes and skins are in there. We want every use of a key to be a moment of intense anticipation … with payoffs that feel incredible.

Your Chances of Hitting It Big

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Here are some details on each time you use a key on the Mystery Chest:

• Better than 1-in-3 chance of getting a hero or skin!
• Extremely rare chance of hitting the 1 MILLION Opals jackpot
• Other Mystery Chest loot includes: Opals, Glory, Essence, boosts and Mystery Keys – These loot payouts are consistently greater than in the old Season Chest.
• If you don’t get a hero or skin, you’ll at the very least get 800 Glory or a boost or another Mystery Key
• If you would receive a duplicate hero or skin, you’ll instead get at least 20 Opals.

Note: It’s our intent to always have all available heroes and skins in Mystery Chest. That said, we must reserve the right to adjust the system over time if something goes horribly wrong. The Mystery Chest will never contain the seven original limited-edition skins that are retired from the Market.

New Season, New Beginning

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Whatever you thought about keys and the Season Chest before, wipe it from your mind. We want the Mystery Chest to be the best way to acquire content within Vainglory — and we think you’ll find its contents incredibly worthwhile.

Get your keys now. The new chest in Vainglory Update 2.0 has everything you want. What you’ll get is a mystery.

New Hero: Idris

Idris shifts through battle, piercing his targets with his spear and chakrams. When building weapon items he excels at assassinating vulnerable targets at close range, while crystal items allow him to dance around the fight, keeping his distance. Whether building weapon, crystal, or a combination of the two, Idris brings extraordinary damage and agility to any fight.

Read on for Idris’ abilities…

Hero Abilities

Divergent Paths-(Heroic Perk) Idris unlocks unique powers for either his melee or ranged paths upon attaining a certain amount of weapon or crystal power.

Shroudstep (A) Idris dashes in the target direction, dealing amplified damage to the next target he attacks within seconds. If Idris has not taken damage within the last few seconds, Shroudstep grants a barrier. The availability of the barrier is displayed beneath his stamina meter.

Chakram (B) Idris throws a chakram that returns to him, damaging enemies each time it passes over them. Hitting enemy heroes, miners, or kraken recovers stamina. Idris can use his Shroudstep and Shimmer Strike abilities to avoid catching returning chakrams, giving him additional opportunities to strike enemies.

Shimmer Strike (Ultimate) Idris latches onto the target hero, becoming invulnerable, then leaps off in the chosen direction, damaging surrounding enemies. The distance Idris leaps is increased in his crystal path.

Winter Map Skin

The Halcyon Fold has been repainted for the holiday season.

• More colorful, with new shades of aquamarine and purple
• Snowman minions return
• Snow sparkles

New Hero Skins

• Compound bow
• Night-vision goggles with green glowing laser
• MOLLE backpack
• Fur-lined winter uniform
• Price: 900 ICE

• Dragon-toothed caestus
• Ancestor’s Death Mask
• Wolf’s-head cloak
• Halcyon-infused power gem
• Horned Death’s Head Kilt, Kidney belt and Galerus
• Gauntlet made of stakes and barbed wire
• Price: 1499 ICE

New Hero Skins (Opals)

These new Special Edition skins will be immediately available for Opals in the Market. Since they are “in-season” for the first time, you can get them at an Opals discount! If you are the proud owner of the limited-edition skins from which these were inspired, you will be automatically granted an unlock to the Special Edition version!

• Special edition change: Brand new black & white husky breed
• Special edition change: Bells have changed into colorful blinking lights
• Cheery bounding-about running animation
• Unique recall animation
• Festive fuzzy antlers
• Opals price: 350

• Special edition change: Black and red colored uniform
• Redesigned arcshield
• War kilt, boots & beret
• Eagle pauldrons
• Fur-lined cloak
• Stylish glasses
• Opals price: 200

Skins System Renames

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Through player feedback, we’ve heard that the skin-tier system can be confusing. And from our perspective, the system can be creatively restrictive, forcing us to wait on “Tier III ideas” until the earlier tiers came out. So we’re making the system both simpler and more flexible.

Skins will no longer be identified as “Tier I,” “Tier II” and “Tier III.” Instead, skins will use “Rare” “Epic” and “Legendary.” This change will not only affect new skins, but old skins in the Market as well. Largely, Tier I skins are now Rare, Tier IIs are now Epic and Tier IIIs are now Legendary. Seasonal skins and other surprises are still Special Edition.

Moving forward, expect more one-off skins rather than three skins around a single theme. This freedom will allow us to introduce more skin variety across the entire hero roster.

Guild Improvements

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Ever since we rolled out guilds, there has been a steady drumbeat from players for better administration tools, better discoverability and remedies for seasonal (or daily) frustrations. And while it has taken longer than we hoped to roll out, many of the most-requested guild improvements finally arrive in Vainglory Update 2.0.

In many ways, guilds are the heart center of Vainglory — passionate, dedicated and faithful players who by joining forces show that you can accomplish much more together than as individuals. We hope these changes honor the countless contributions of guilds to Vainglory and make the game that much more fun for everyone.

If you’re not already in a guild, take advantage of this moment to find a home of likeminded players ready to support and play with you.

Easily Find Guilds

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Until now, it was difficult for players to discover and join guilds. The new guild finder makes this much easier and provides the details necessary to find the right fit.

• Access a new “Guild Finder” feature if you’re not already in a guild.
• See 3 suggested guilds at a time. Tap to see more.
• Utilize new guild traits such as playstyle, play time and minimum skill tier to find the guild that’s right for you (or find great additional guild members).

Get More Frequent Rewards

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One of the biggest sources of guild pain was members getting kicked out right before end-of-season payouts. The “guild freeze” we put in place to remedy this was far too restrictive for good-citizen guild leaders. Reflecting on all this, we’re moving away from end-of-season payouts to a system that consistently rewards guild members throughout the season for their contributions, removing the end-of-season issue altogether.

• Open the new Guild Chest every 5th Guild Level.
• Initially contains Glory. Loot includes ICE at higher levels.
• The Guild Chest REPLACES the end-of-season guild payout. This spreads rewards throughout the season rather than having to wait until the very end.

Earn Fame Solo; Gain More Together

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Players want to represent and contribute to their guild even when other members aren’t around to party with. And while we’re at it, let’s make it possible to earn much more fame than before when playing together.

• Rep your guild and collect fame even when playing alone.
• Fame earned per player: Solo = 35% // Duo = 100% // Trio = 120%
• New fame bonus replaces the Guild Heat buff. New buff options are in internal testing but not confirmed for release.

Utilize Better Guild Admin Tools

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Finally. Thanks for your eternal patience.

• Transfer guild leader status
• Appoint guild officers who can invite/kick members
• Set a minimum skill tier for your guild
• Link to external guild website
• Rename guild / change guild tag for ICE
• Create guilds for less ICE

More

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Wherever we see opportunities, we’ll continue to improve the guild experience over time.

• Earn Guild Fame even when a game ends in Surrender (If you lose before 15 mins, you’ll earn a prorated amount of fame.)

2.0 Gameplay Changes

Update 2.0 creates new opportunities, increases build diversity, adds counterplay and tackles head on one of the game’s biggest pain points. Changes to the Jungle Shop and Minion Miners eliminate snowballing strategies and introduces comeback potential. Four new items give players counters to established strategies and create room for new ones, as well. And improvements to the hero plaque convey information critical in battle. Let’s get into the details …

Increased Starting Gold

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In Update 2.0, players will start each match with 625 gold, up from 350. This change allows for a much more diverse set of starting items. Players can now start off with various combinations of offensive items, defensive items and consumables to fit their needs and playstyles for the early game. Want to be a bit tanky out of the gate? Now you can. Want to get an early jump on that Sorrowblade? Now you can double down on weapon power and pick up two Weapon Blades. More gold means more open strategies, so get out there and see what works for your favorite hero.

• Player starting gold up from 350 to 625

Jungle Shop Changes

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Up until now, the team that managed to reach the Jungle Shop first had a considerable battle advantage since they are not only able to buy items, but also prevent the enemy from doing so. The mere act of shopping first could determine that first critical teamfight … making it possible to steal enemy jungle camps … setting up a likely victory in the next teamfight. This snowballing is difficult to stop. To rectify this, we’ve introduced two new changes:

• Jungle Shop spawns at 4 mins at the same time as the miners
• No longer sells Halcyon Potions

In Update 2.0, removing the Jungle Shop from the early phases of the game helps curb snowballing and opens up different rotation paths. Similarly, removing potions from the shop makes it difficult to maintain a high health lead over the other team. Now players can’t simply buy potions and rotate into the enemy team’s jungle over and over again. Players will have to make a choice: return to home base to heal and shop or push for more but risk giving up an easy kill at lower health.

Treant Changes

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The treants are tired of getting kicked around and can now fight back, tree-style. When jungling, be aware– they now possess the ability to cast a spell that roots their attackers in place. This encourages players to pay close attention to their positioning even while jungling, rewarding players that dance well with a faster clear speed than their opponents. Truly cunning players fleeing from enemies can easily pull a nearby treant into the fight, trapping their opponents and turning the tables on them.

• Attempts to root heroes attacking it (at melee or range)
• Shoots a healing projectile to its killer
• Heroes with the treant heal now have a visible aura beneath them

Crystal Miner (Minion Miner) Changes

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Most players were ignoring the Minion Miners intended function (tactical buffing of lane minions) and were simply using them as “mini Gold Mines” — killing them whenever possible for the gold payout. This meant we had an opportunity to revamp the mine objectives to play a more meaningful role and to help us address player frustrations. The new Crystal Miner does just that, helping to protect his team, prevent snowballing and increase comeback potential.

No longer with this jungle creature impact the strength of your lane minions. Instead, the new Crystal Miner is a powerful jungle sentry who starts — and stays — affiliated with your team. The Crystal Miner is much more active in defending your team and turf from intruders and makes it considerably more risky for the invading team to steal away your jungle camps.

The Crystal Miner spawns from your base at the four minute mark (at the same time as the Jungle Shop and Gold Miner). He will attack enemy heroes on sight, whether he has been attacked or not. The new miner will also travel much farther to come to your aid when you’re under duress.

When the miner is killed, he’ll eventually respawn and march out from base to his mine. His march to the mine allows the defending team to walk out of the base alongside it. This provides interesting tactical choices as the defending team can use the Crystal Miner as a fourth player who could help them fend off an enemy push — even in the lane! The Crystal Miner will always respawn for your team; the enemy team can’t capture it and use it against you.

• Renamed from Minion Miner to Crystal Miner
• No longer buffs lane minions
• Spawns affiliated to a team and walks out from base
• Travels significantly farther to assist allies in battle
• Attacks enemy heroes on sight
• Are significantly more powerful
• Bounty down from 150 to 35
• Experience up from 0 to 11

New Items!

Poisoned Shiv " APPLIES MORTAL WOUNDS. BEST VS HEALERS. Ever wanted to get past a particular tough target’s fortified health or barrier? Or been frustrated by a healer’s ability to heal themselves? Then Poisoned Shiv is your new item of choice. It’s best against healers (Lyra/Adagio) or high-sustain targets (Krul/Reim) and allows a hero to apply the mortal wound debuff, which cuts down healing, barrier and fortified life.The drawback is that the Poisoned Shiv takes several hits to trigger the mortal wound effect, so it is best used by ranged weapon attack speed heroes such as Vox, Ringo and SAW."

Echo "USE ANY ABILITY A SECOND TIME! Echo allows heroes to refresh the cooldown of their last ability used — including ultimates! This is great on heroes with powerful-but-long cooldown abilities (Joule, Ardan, Adagio) or those with crowd control to lock down enemies even longer (Catherine/Krul). There are many creative uses for this item, so make sure to try it on all your favorite heroes! It’s important to note that the cooldown of Echo itself is relative to the ability used. Echoing a powerful ultimate like Big Red Button will put the item on a much longer cooldown than using it on something simpler like a Skaarf Spitfire. The item will also take some practice to get the timing down because you must trigger Echo after your ability of choice goes on cooldown. Attempting to echo an ability before it’s done channeling won’t work.Keep in mind that the raw stats on this item are very low and the cost is significant, so the tactical advantage of the item is dependent on using an ability at the right moment."

Slumbering Husk "FORTIFY AGAINST BURST DAMAGE.Tired of getting bursted down by Celeste’s Solar Storm? Or do you live in fear of a Taka ambush? Slumbering Husk is your anti-burst answer. It’s great against heroes who have large spikes in damage such as Taka or crystal Joule. Upon burst damage, it will automatically fortify your entire health bar, effectively making you take nearly half damage. Keep in mind that this isn’t powerful against consistent damage dealers since the passive on the item lasts for a very brief period of time. So while this may save you from an enemy’s ultimate, it may not save you from prolonged teamfights."

Nullwave Gauntlet "VAINGLORY’S FIRST ITEM SILENCE.Triggering a Fountain of Renewal or a Crucible at the right moment can turn the tide of battle. So can this item: Nullwave Gauntlet. Designed to stop captains from activating their items during key parts of the fight, Nullwave Gauntlet disables all of an enemy’s items temporarily. It can also be used to stop enemy carrys from using Reflex Block or their boots to escape, allowing you to land key skills like Adagio’s Verse of Judgement."

Improved Hero Plaque

It’s important you understand what’s happening to you and your allies in a match — and by knowing the status of allies, you can make better tactical decisions.

• Shows if your ultimate is available
• Shows negative effects & the duration of those effects

New Roles & UI

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In Update 2.0, we’re reducing the numerous terms used to describe Vainglory’s heroes down to three easily identifiable and understandable roles. Gone are references to protectors, snipers, warriors and all the rest. In their place, we’re introducing the “captain,” the “carry” and the “jungler” — and we’re making these three core roles the cornerstone of the new-player learning process inside and outside of the app.

The Captain

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Goal: Protect the Carry

The captain is the leader and shot-caller of the team. This role’s job is directing real-time team tactics and, most importantly, protecting your carry from harm. And while we deserve any jokes at our expense about another name change (RIP roamer), the choice of “captain” isn’t just cosmetic. We have a long-term vision for how the captain will play a unique in-game role on a team, with a markedly different mindset, options and incentives. Update 2.0 is only the very tip of the iceberg for what we have in store for captains in Vainglory.

Those who like to lead, absorb damage and shield enemies from harm should be the captain.

The Carry

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Goal: Secure Kills

The carry is the team’s gold-hungry playmaker. This player starts in lane to earn money faster and build items quicker — all for the express purpose of killing as many enemies as possible. The carry is the most dangerous team member, but it’s also the most fragile. As such, the carry should always be in close proximity to the captain or a turret cannon. If the carry is alone or positioned too far forward, it likely won’t end well.

Those who like to live on the knife’s edge of death or superstardom should be the carry.

The Jungler

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Goal: Menace the Enemy Carry

The jungler prowls the terrain beneath the lane, looking to threaten or ambush vulnerable enemies. The jungler is halfway between the captain and the carry — durable enough to offer some protection and strong enough to stand and fight — but with neither as a specialty. The jungler is most effective when breaking through the enemy front line and creating chaos (or death) for the enemy carry.

Those who like to fearlessly get in the enemy’s face should be the jungler.

UI Improvements

Detailed Hero Info

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We’ve revamped the hero pages with bars that show each hero’s attributes: offense, defense, team utility and mobility. Get a sense of each hero at a glance, or see how one hero stacks up against another.

Role Icons

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To emphasize the new roles, we’ve created special icons for captain, carry and jungler that appear throughout the app. We’ve also added an icon-rich role picker to Hero Select as well as warning labels to alert players if their proposed combination of heroes lacks one of the three core roles.

All together, these changes make it much easier for new players to understand heroes and for experienced players to make informed comparisons.

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Moving forward, expect each of these three core paths to become more distinct in real, meaningful in-game ways that will matter to players of all skill levels. As with most everything, Update 2.0 is just the beginning of our ambitious plans for Vainglory in 2017.

Developer API Coming in 2017

The Vainglory Developer API is coming soon. The API allows for access to player statistics, match results, and in-depth item & hero metrics relevant to dedicated players, professional teams and third-party sites & providers alike. Launching in early 2017, the Vainglory developer API will open up opportunities for players to contribute to the Vainglory experience in new and profound ways.

Hero Balance Changes

Infinite Reboot "Making energy purchases a bit more useful on Alpha. She will now see a substantial increase in durability when purchasing a few energy items. —Zekent" - Energy gives Alpha more rebooting health (50% energy ratio) - Energy Recharge makes Alpha reboot faster (15% energy recharge ratio)

Prime Directive "If you have stacks of Core Overload when this ability is cast, they are now guaranteed to be triggered upon landing. —Zekent" - Casting this ability will prevent Core Overload stacks from timing out

Core Charge "Making Alpha feel a bit smoother. She previously had a bit too much of a delay after using this ability. —Zekent" - Alpha’s basic attack is put on a 50% cooldown instead of a 100% cooldown after using Core Charge.

Fairy Dust "While Flicker is meant to help his allies stick to their targets, the overdrive on this ability made it too difficult for enemies to escape. —Zekent" - Slow down from 40-45-50-55-70% to 35-40-45-50-60%

Acrobounce "This ability will still grant Ozo a strong speed boost, allowing him to stick to his targets. These changes make it so that he doesn’t go too crazy with his mobility. —Zekent" - Maximum speed boost caps at 4.5 (200 weapon power) - Maximum speed boost duration caps at 2.5 (200 weapon power) - Note: We are aware of a bug that prevents Ozo from being stunned while mid-air in a bounce.

General "Lyra’s long basic-attack range makes it incredibly difficult to trade back against her, especially in the early game. This tunes down the pressure just a bit, while allowing her to still be a nuisance to her enemies. —Zekent" - Basic-attack range down from 6.8 to 6.6

Imperial Sigil "A major change to this kit. Having the burst heal on her Imperial Sigil made it so that almost any engagement she took was a beneficial one. This change makes it so that a team must sit back and exchange a few hits while taking advantage of Lyra’s increased heal per second to stay healthy and not just barrel straight into an enemy team knowing that Lyra will always be able to top them off. —Zekent" - No longer has a burst heal upon timeout or reactivation - Heal per second up from 35-50-65-80-110 + 10% bonus health to 40-60-80-100-140 + 12% Bonus Health

General "Since Kestrel can do plenty of damage with her abilities, she doesn’t also need to pummel her opponents with hard-hitting basic attacks — especially since she has higher early-game attack speed than most with her Adrenaline perk. —Zekent" - Attack speed down from 100-136% to 100-111%

Adrenaline "While the extra attack speed is fantastic for skirmishing, it also allows Glimmershot to come off of cooldown far too quickly and gives Kestrel too many options in fights. This additionally drops off just a bit of her early-game power where she is able to fire faster than her enemies. —Zekent" - Bonus attack speed per stack down from 10% to 5%

General "A bit more attack speed for Joule allows for more options in combat when Joule enters a fight. —Zekent" - Base attack speed up from 100% to 100-113%

Thunder Strike "Joule is meant to be able to be incredibly powerful up close, but she was taking a bit too much damage from her opponents before being able to close the gap to fight. This change will allow her to trade back just a bit better. —Zekent" - Cooldown down from 3 to 2.5

Twirly Death "Adjusting Koshka’s empowered attacks to feel a bit more smooth. Instead of requiring specific stutter-step timing for increased attack speed, we are slightly modifying the speed at which these empowered attacks can be thrown out. —Zekent" - Removed functionality on Koshka’s empowered attacks where specific stutter-step timing would grant her increased attack speed for the next attack - Koshka’s empowered attacks now have lower cooldown (0.5s) than her normal basic attacks (0.8s)

Twirling Silver "While a small change, this should dramatically increase the uptime of Ringo’s Twirling Silver, making him ready for battle far more often than before. —Zekent" - Cooldown down from 10 to 9 seconds - Energy cost down from 50-60-70-80-90 to 50-55-60-65-70

Item Balance Changes

Crucible "Since Fountain of Renewal is set to 12 range, it seemed a bit strange that Crucible was not also at that range." - Effect range up from 10 to 12

Breaking Point "While this is a powerful item, it should have a bit more a trade-off between itself and other damage options. Increasing the amount of damage needed to increment in stacks makes it just a bit more risky to pick up. —Zekent" - Base weapon damage dealt to increment in stacks up from 125 to 140

Broken Myth "Meant to be used in extended engagements, it was a bit too easy for mages to easily cap out their stacks through poke and pummel their enemies from range. —Zekent" - Changed from 5 stacks of 7% to 9 stacks of 4%

Halcyon Potion "With the changes to the Jungle Shop, these must now be purchased more strategically. Are you willing to trade the inventory space for more sustain? —Zekent" - Max stacks down from 5 to 3

General "These items were selling for values that didn’t match half their purchase price. —Zekent" - The following items now sell for half their purchase price: Minion’s Foot, Bonesaw, Tornado Trigger, Shatterglass and Crucible

Bug Fixes

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• Rona’s Into the Fray description now properly displays the damage it deals to minions
• Updated ability descriptions for: Winter Spire, Bright Bulwark, Gift of Fire, Agent of Wrath, Core Charge, Pouncy Fun, Twirly Death, Vanguard, Blood for Blood and Thunder Strike
• Adagio’s Gift of Fire burn now deals damage every half second instead of every second
• Fixed a bug where Lyra’s Bright Bulwark slow could end while still within the area of effect
  Rephrased SAW’s Mad Cannon to be more accurate.
• Fixed a bug where Ozo’s Acrobounce animation would occasionally swap to his walk animation
• Fixed a bug where Ringo’s Double Down critical strike wouldn’t trigger if Twirling Silver was cast
• You can no longer shop at the store in the other team’s base.
• Fixed bug where the barrier reduction from Mortal Wound affected Ardan’s Vanguard twice (base * 66% * 66%).
• Fixed a bug where Samuel’s Drifting Dark buff was instantly refreshing the cooldown of Malice & Verdict
• Fixed a bug where basic-attacking a target that Taka had just cast X-Retsu on would refresh the bleed and the visual effect, but wouldn’t actually refresh the mortal wound itself.
• Skaarf’s Dragon Breath ultimate now correctly deals 50% damage to non-heroes
• Fixed a bug where Gwen’s Aces High occasionally did not apply a stun effect
• Fixed a bug where Adagio’s Gift of Fire would not apply the heal effect correctly on its target
• Fixed a bug where Joule could be stunned by using Rocket Leap inside Ardan’s Gauntlet
• Fixed a bug where Lyra’s Bright Bulwark would deal damage twice to enemies within the Bulwark
• Fixed a bug where Petal’s Munions would do an infinitely long-ranged attack
• Fixed a bug where Ozo’s Acrobounce would get canceled if a move command was inputted before a target was selected

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This is just the start of a huge year for Vainglory. New heroes, new gameplay depth and new game modes are coming in 2017!

Remember: If you enjoy Vainglory, please rate/review the game in the iOS App Store, Google Play or Amazon Appstore. Spreading the word about Vainglory is a great way to grow the community!