Developer's Notes

"Hello, Guardians.

Defense Derby officially launched globally on August 3rd.

Since then, we've been enjoying the Derby with all of our players and have been putting our best efforts into preparing the next update.

So we would like to share some info with you about our first patch following our global launch.

New Derby rules will be applied to allow more varied strategies.

Additionally, with the start of the new Curing Swamp season, a new Beast unit, Plaguemancer, will join the Derby to provide you with even more choices for building your deck.

The combat balancing for all three factions—Humans, Beasts, and Spirits—is being adjusted. We are making adjustments to encourage players to change up their decks more and try out different combinations.

The Defense Derby team is always exploring ways for our guardians to experiment with new strategies.

We will always do our best to help our players enjoy the game. Thank you for your support."

Schedule: 8/30 (Wed) 02:00 UTC

• Although the update will be available to download on 8/30, the new content and new season will open on 9/1 (Fri) 00:00 UTC.

Notes on First Global Update

1. Changes in Derby Match

It hasn't been easy to win a Derby match by using a different faction.
It has been difficult to get your desired unit from scouting, making it challenging to try out new strategies.
To address the weaknesses of playing with a unique faction and encourage using different strategies, a Unique Faction Bonus will be introduced.

From now on, if there's no hero of the same faction as yours in the Derby match, you will receive a Unique Faction Bonus at the beginning of the battle.

• Unique Faction Bonus: Acquire an extra Derby Chip at the beginning of the battle.

※ Applies to Derby and Friendly Derby matches immediately after the update.
※ An option to allow Unique Faction Bonus Derby Chips will be added to the Friendly Derby settings.
※ Does not apply to Mirror Matches or other themed modes.

2. September Season, Curing Swamp

In September, the new Curing Swamp season begins and a new Beast unit, Plaguemancer, will be introduced.

Starting from the new season in September, the tier of the players who achieved Platinum 3 or higher will be reset to the starting DP of that tier.

Ex) If you finish with 3800 points in Platinum 2, it will be reset to 3600 points in Platinum 2

Plaguemancer

• "This ill-tempered shaman is eager to use his enemies as test subjects to find a cure for these plagues. "
  
  
  

• The infection damage from the Plague Time skill increases proportionally to his attack power.
• Plaguemancer will pair well with another Beast unit that has a fast attack speed.

To go along with our new unit, the Plaguemancer's Badge and four types of Plaguemancer emotes will also be added.

• Plaguemancer's Badge

• 4 Plaguemancer Emotes
  

[Derby Brawl] Mirror Match

• The Plaguemancer Mirror Match era begins.

• Everyone will start with the same deck that includes the Plaguemancer.
• Try to find the best combination of units that work well with Plaguemancer!
  • Period: 9/1 to 9/14
  • 1st Place Reward: 1 Plaguemancer Emote
  • Starting Deck
    • Aella, Plaguemancer, Rogue Mouse, Windy, Minotaur, Lupine Berserker, Owlmancer, Meow Mage, Wendigo
      ※ Player balancing will be applied to Mirror Matches.
      
      

3. Season Maintenance

With the beginning of the Curing Swamp season, a Season Check-in will be added, and both the Shop of Blessings and the Lucky Draw will be revamped.

The reward amounts for Season Pass that can be earned from Derby Match will be additionally adjusted

- 1st place: 150 points

- 2nd place: 120 points

- 3rd place: 80 points

- 4th place: 40 points

September Season Check-in

• Acquire rewards including a Rare Plaguemancer and new emotes. 
  • Season check-ins are refreshed with every new season. 

September Season Shop of Blessings

• Acquire this season's new units from the Shop of Blessings.
• This season, Rare Plaguemancer and his emotes can be purchased with Eternal Feathers or Infinite Feathers.
  • Infinite Feathers are a newly added product that can be purchased from the Shop.
  • Infinite Feathers can be used as a substitute when you are short of Eternal Feathers.
  • When the event ends (10/1 (Sat) 00:00 UTC),  for each 1 unused Infinite Feather, 1 Gem will be sent to your inbox.
  • At the end of the event (10/1 (Sat) 00:00 UTC), any unused Eternal Feathers will be removed.
    
    

Lucky Draw

• Plaguemancer will appear in the Lucky Draw.
  • The Lucky Draw event will reset on the 1st, 8th, 15th, and the 22nd of September.
  • At the start of each event, there's a 50% chance that Plaguemancer will appear as the main reward on the first Lucky Draw board.
  • If Plaguemancer doesn't appear on the first board, there's a 100% chance that he appears on the second board.
         ※ The same unit does not appear as the main reward more than once, unless all of the units have already appeared as the main reward.
  • After the update, the faction selection will no longer be available.

• Voyage Tokens
  • Voyage Tokens are a newly added product that can be purchased from the Shop.
  • Voyage Tokens can be used as a substitute when you are short of Doubloons.
  • When the event ends (9/29 (Fri) 00:00 UTC), for each 1 unused Voyage Token, 1 Cubic will be sent to your inbox.
  • At the end of the each event (9/8, 9/15, 9/22, and 9/29 at 00:00 UTC), any unused Doubloons will be removed.

Featured Summon - Plaguemancer

• Plaguemancer will be the featured summon during the September Season.

  • During this time, there will be an increased change to summon a Legendary Plaguemancer. (Check here for probability details).

  • If Plaguemancer does not appear after 3 summons of Legendary cards, it is guaranteed to appear as the 4th Legendary card.

※ During the September Season, Plaguemancer can only be summoned from Featured Summon: Plaguemancer. (Plaguemancer cannot be summoned from fated or miraculous summons.)
※ After the end of the September Season, Plaguemancer will be available from all types of summons.

4. New Mode

[Themed Mode] Random Hero

• You will add units, artifacts, and castle skins to your deck, but no hero.
• A hero will be randomly selected when the battle begins.
• We hope you will enjoy the unique experience of scouting and assembling your deck with various units that pair best with the randomly selected hero. 

  • Period: 9/15 to 9/28

  • Feedback Reward: 300 Cubics

※ Your feedback and  gameplay stats will help us decide whether to add themed modes as permanent mode options.

5. Balance Adjustments

Developer's Notes

"The Defense Derby team is always working hard to maintain balance between the Human, Beast, and Spirit factions to make sure all heroes and units are viable to use in battle.

After the balancing patch on 8/11, we've seen the number of players picking AoE heroes steadily increase.

In response, we are adjusting the balancing for some heroes and units that have been relatively less popular to provide you with a wider array of choices."

Human

Leon

Leon is a hero with a passive skill that increases the maximum castle HP and an active skill that summons a shield to block damage.

While Leon's shield is durable, its cooldown seemed somewhat lengthy, making it challenging to use the skill efficiently. As such, we are making the following adjustments.

• • Decreased active skill cooldown from 5 waves to 4 waves
    
    
    

Cannon Master

Cannon Master is a unit whose attack speed significantly increases at the start of each wave.

However, it seemed that she still lacked impact in the early stages, so we're increasing her skill duration.

• • Before the Patch
    • At the start of each wave, attack speed significantly increases for 5 sec.
  • After the Patch
    • At the start of each wave, attack speed significantly increases for 6 sec.

Beast

Aella

Aella is a hero with a passive skill that increases all units' critical chances and critical damage. She also has an active skill to increase all allies' critical chances for 5 sec.
Despite her attractive skills, her ability to defend seemed a bit lacking, so we're making the following adjustments.

• • Increased attack power by 5%
    
    

Gruvo

Gruvo is a hero with a passive skill that increases the attack speed of nearby units. His active skill brings down thunderbolts to deal splash damage and knocks out the targets.
Like Leon's active skill, Gruvo's thunderbolts are powerful but have a slightly long cooldown. To increase his utility in battles, we're making the following adjustments.

• • Decreased active skill cooldown from 5 waves to 4 wave
  • Increased attack power by 5.5%

Spirit

Gargoyle Bomber

Gargoyle Bomber is a unit that deploys proximity mines that knock back any monsters that get near.

Given that the skill's ability to hinder monsters' movements is already effective, we're decreasing the maximum number of proximity mines that can be deployed by Gargoyle bomber. 

• Decreased the maximum number of mines that can be installed from 5 to 4
   

Mermaid

Mermaid is a unit that sticks water drops on her target to inflict damage to a monster whose remaining health is high.

Considering that her skill is not effective enough against large monsters in the early waves, we're making the following adjustments.

• Before the Patch
  • Water drops stick to the target when the target has more than 60% HP.
    Water drops explode 2 times over 1 sec, dealing damage to the target.
• After the Patch
  • Water drops stick to the target when the target has more than 40% HP.
    Water drops explode 2 times over 1 sec, dealing damage to the target.

※ Battle records prior to the update will no longer be available to replay. 

6. Enhanced Support for Deck Switching

• In order to encourage more experimenting to find the best deck, the costs required to switch decks  will be adjusted as follows. 
  • There will be no cost to reset the level for any target up to level 30.
  • Level transfer will also be free free for targets up to level 30.
  • Remove from Slot will be free for targets up to level 30.
• We are preparing additional measures to support changing decks to ensure players can explore a wider array of combinations.We hope to implement these measures in a timely manner.
• As a temporary measure to alleviate the burden associated with switching decks, the following will be applied after the update.
  • After the update, there will be an opportunity to reset a talent for free.
  • Previously equipped army slots will be unlocked after the update."

7. Reward Improvements

• Weekly Quest
  • The weekly quest reward will be changed to Gems, allowing players a regular chance to acquire Gems.
    Before: Total of 1,000 Cubics → After: Total of 500 Gems 600 Gems (Updated on 8/30)
    • For players who had already claimed the rewards as Cubics before the update, extra Gems will be provided afterwards.
• Season Pass
  • From now on, Premium Pass XP can be acquired not only from Derby, but also in Themed Modes and Mirror Matches.
    The acquired amount will be the same as in Derby mode.
  • Upon purchasing the premium pass, the players will immediately receive 3,000 Season Pass XP. 
    • For the players who purchased the Premium Pass in August, the XP will be applied after the maintenance.

8. System Improvements

• The grade and level setting for player balancing in Friendly Derby will be adjusted.
  • Before: Mythic+, Level 100 → After: Legendary, Level 50
• A network status indicator will be added so that players can check their network connections during battle.

9. Miscellaneous

• Server optimization to resolve server issues.
• Descriptions and tips for Premium Pass and the Daily 30-Day Gem Pack will be enhanced.
• We have changed the item sorting rules so that the main reward is displayed first in your inbox.
• A dedicated app icon for the Galaxy Store will be applied.
• Fixed an issue where mail containing non-duplicable items like castle skins and emotes obtained through coupons could not be claimed.
  (The issue only occurred when receiving non-duplicable items.)

10.Bug Fixes

• Improved delays from processing battle results due to server load.
• Made modifications to decrease server loads when the system sends out mail in bulk.
• Fixed an intermittent issue where a Connection Failure popup when looking for a Derby match appeared.
• Fixed an issue where abnormal battles occurred after canceling opponent search and attempting matchmaking again.
• Fixed some animation bugs, including some heroes' active skill effects not displaying correctly.
• Fixed an issue where the level of an Artifact increases abnormally. 
• Fixed an issue where Vikings never descend into madness two times in a row. (Updated on 8/30)
• Fixed an issue where the emote does not appear when used in Guild Chat. (Updated on 8/30)
• Fixed an issue where the 'friendly match share' does not work in Guild. (Updated on 8/30)
• Fixed an issue where the effect of the Artifact 'Giant Slayer' is not applied normally. (Updated on 8/30)

11. Upcoming Updates

• We are preparing to release a new Human unit in October.
• We are also preparing a new castle with a new lobby background and battlefield. We're planning to reveal this update at the end of October, and hope you'll be as excited about the upcoming changes as we are.