Hello, Guardians.
We'd like to share some info about our 5th update, introduced in December. In this update, we're taking the feedback we've heard from many of our players and adding a skin system. We will be introducing the new skin system starting with a Barkhan collab skin, a famous webtoon in Korea. Please look forward to a wide range of skins we're preparing for you in the future.

We've also made some improvements to Derby Requests and the Hero's Journey to resolve some inconveniences. We are always eager to hear your suggestions and areas you think need to be improved, and will strive to address them promptly.

We'd like to express our gratitude for all the love you've given to Defense Derby throughout the year 2023. The Defense Derby team will continue our effort to make a fun and enjoyable game in 2024.

New System: Unit Skins

New Skin System

• • We're excited to introduce a skin system that allows players to customize the appearances of their units.
  • In this update, explore new looks for Frost Mage, Lupine Berserker, Dendroid Warrior, and Pygmy Yeti.
  • Applying a skin will not only change their appearances, but also their voices.
  • Skins can be found in the Unit Info screen by tapping the Skins button.

Skin Effects when Scouting Units

• • If you have a skin for a unit, it will display a unique image upon scouting that unit.
  • The unit will adopt the player's unit skin upon successful scouting.

Content Improvements

Derby Requests

We have adjusted certain Derby Request conditions that led to abnormal gameplay. Additionally, we have made improvements to address a few things that players found inconvenient.

• • Derby Request conditions have been adjusted as follows.
    

    Requests	Adjustments
    Scout a unit by offering 30 Derby Chips or more	Removed
    Scout two units by offering 30 Derby Chips or more	Removed

※ The updates will be applied to new requests following the next Derby Request refresh. Any existing requests will remain. 

• • Fixed an issue where the game freezes when refreshing Derby Requests.
  • Guide tooltips will be displayed automatically when checking Derby Requests for the first time. (After the first time, the guide will only be displayed when the player taps on the question mark icon.)
  • Fixed an issue where the Derby Request Probabilities pop-up does not close even when tapping on an empty area.

Themed Mode

It appears that the reward we were giving for submitting feedback on the Themed Mode was not sufficient enough to encourage playing Themed Mode. Recognizing that the current reward does not attract players and fails to motivate repeated gameplay, we are making the following adjustments.

• • The schedule will be changed as follows.
    

    Before	Every month from the 15th, 00:00 UTC to the 29th, 00:00 UTC
    After	Every two weeks, from Saturday at 00:00 UTC to Monday at 00:00 UTC, alternating with the weekend Hot Time event.

  • The rewards will be changed as follows.
    

    Before	300 Cubics as a feedback reward after the first play of Themed Mode
    After	The feedback system will be removed. Gems to be distributed based on Themed Mode ranking (up to 500 Gems) [Rank Rewards (Gems)] - 1st place: 150 - 2nd place: 120 - 3rd place: 80 - 4th place: 40

  • Players can now earn Season Points and event currencies in Themed Mode.
    

    Before	Obtainable Currencies: Season Points *Season Points are rewarded based on the ranking (Same amount of rewards as Derby rankings)
    After	Obtainable Currencies: Season Points, Eternal Feathers, Doubloons, and special event currencies *Season Points and event currencies are rewarded based on the ranking (Same amount of rewards as Derby rankings)

Defense Derby Useful Tips

Tips on things players may have been curious about can now be accessed within the game. Here, you can explore strategies shared by other players and redeem coupon codes.

• • Defense Derby Useful Tips section can be found in the Battle tab.
    
    

Displaying Red Dot Notifications

To ensure players promptly notice new content or rewards without entering the related screens, we are now implementing a red dot notification for instances like new content unlocks.

Badge Progress

• The Badges screen will now display the current progress for each badge.

Blitz Stages

• The HP of monsters in certain stages will be decreased.

Hero's Journey

• Hero's Journey and Shop of Glory will be reset every Monday 00:00 UTC.
• The Army Level required for each chapter will be displayed on the Chapter Selection screen.
• When a chapter is completed, the Chapter Selection UI will change.
• Players can now check stage info even when a hero is not deployed.
• Players can now navigate to the Edit Deck screen directly from Stage Info.
• The following tip will be displayed on the Stage Info screen: "The units and artifacts used in a defeat will no longer be available to use."
• The previously locked artifacts, Soul Stone and Cursed Parchment, will now be exclusively usable in Hero's Journey.
• Tips have been added for the Shop of Glory.

Today's Exclusive Deals

• A free item has been added to Today's Exclusive Deals. Collect 20 Gems for free every day.
• You will also be able to refresh Today's Exclusive Deals for free one time.

Events

Barkhan Collab Event

• Event Period: 12/14/2023 (Thu) - 1/12/2024 (Fri)
• Meet the characters from the famous webtoon Barkhan in Defense Derby!
• The following four characters will be available as unit skins. 
  • Pygmy Yeti - Muke
  • Lupine Berserker - Sangoon
  • Frost Mage - Arangsa
  • Dendroid Warrior - Chui

• During the collab event period, Muke skin and emotes for Barkhan characters will be available in the special event shop.
• The event currency, Tiger Paws, can be earned by playing Derby. (Up to 200 per day)
• Tiger Paws will also be provided as sign-in rewards.

Christmas Event

• Event Period: 12/14/2023 (Thu) - 12/31/2023 (Sun)
• Celebrating Defense Derby's first Christmas, we have prepared a puzzle event.
• A new puzzle will open each day starting from the beginning of the event.
• Complete missions to get all the puzzle pieces, then claim the final reward of the puzzle.
• A small reward will also be provided for getting each puzzle piece. 
• You must complete the previous puzzle and claim its rewards to start the next puzzle's mission on the next day.

New Year's Event

• Event Period: 1/1/2024 (Mon) - 1/31/2024 (Wed)
• The New Year's Event Shop will be opened to bring a good start to 2024.
• Collect New Year's Coins through various missions and Derby plays and get a Legendary Unit Summon, Castle Skin (Limited Time), and 2024 Gems.

Event Rewards

Payback Event

• The Gems Payback Event will start from 12/15/2023 (Fri).
• Event Period: 12/15/2023 (Fri) - 12/29/2023 (Fri) 00:00 UTC
• Rewards will be provided based on the Gems spent during the event period.

Packages

Human/Beast/Spirit Fast Track Pack

• The previous Special Pack for each faction will be replaced with Fast Track packages.
• Fast Track packages contain a Legendary Hero Selection per faction, along with a Rare+ Unit.

  Package Name	Items in Pack	Price	Purchase Limit	Sale Period
  Human Fast Track Pack	1 Human Legendary Hero Selection, 3 Human Rare+ Unit Summons, 1000 Gems	$9.99	Once	Unlimited
  Beast Fast Track Pack	1 Beast Legendary Hero Selection, 3 Beast Rare+ Unit Summons, 1000 Gems	$9.99	Once	Unlimited
  Spirit Fast Track Pack	1 Spirit Legendary Hero Selection, 3 Spirit Rare+ Unit Summons, 1000 Gems	$9.99	Once	Unlimited

Collab Skin Packages

• Three skin packages collaborating the famous webtoon Barkhan will be available.
• The collab skin packages contain Sangoon (Lupine Berserker), Arangsa (Frost Mage), Chui (Dendroid Warrior) skins and a Legendary Unit.

  Package Name	Items in Pack	Price	Purchase Limit	Sale Period
  Sangoon Skin Pack	Sangoon Collab Skin, Legendary Lupine Berserker, 1000 Gems	$12.99	Once	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 13  00:00 (UTC)
  Arangsa Skin Pack	Arangsa Collab Skin, Legendary Frost Mage, 1000 Gems	$12.99	Once	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 13 00:00 (UTC)
  Chui Skin Pack	Chui Collab Skin, Legendary Dendroid Warrior, 1000 Gems	$12.99	Once	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 13 00:00 (UTC)

Castle Skin Package

• - Celebrating the end of the year, Castle Packages are being released so our players can feel the holiday spirit in Defense Derby.

  Package Name	Items in Pack	Price	Purchase Limit	Sale Period
  Christmas Castle Pack	Christmas Castle Skin, 2000 Gems	$14.99	Once	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 1  00:00 (UTC)
  New Year's Castle Pack	New Year's Castle Skin, 1500 Gems	$12.99	Once	2024. 1. 1 ~ 2024. 1. 16  00:00 (UTC)

Hot Deals: Human/Beast/Spirit Legendary Pack

• Releasing Legendary Packages where players can get legendary cards for each faction.

  Package Name	Items in Pack	Price	Purchase Limit	Sale Period
  Human Legendary Pack	3 Human Legendary Summons, 2000 Human Crystals	$19.99	Twice per Account during Event Period	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 1  00:00 (UTC)
  Beast Legendary Pack	3 Beast Legendary Summons, 2000 Beast Crystals	$19.99	Twice per Account during Event Period	2023. 12. 14 ~ 2024. 1. 1  00:00 (UTC)
  Spirit Legendary Pack	3 Spirit Legendary Summons, 2000 Spirit Crystals	$19.99	Twice per Account during Event Period	2023. 12. 1 ~ 2024. 1. 1  00:00 (UTC)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Today's Exclusive Deals products sometimes refreshed unexpectedly.
• Fixed an issue where castle HP was displayed as being full when using Seria's active skill.
• Fixed an issue where units could not be moved when under attack by Rake's skill, even if the unit was already in the process of being moved.
• Fixed an issue where players sometimes could not claim Gold of Glory from Hero's Journey.
• Fixed an issue where screen taps were not recognized when the 28-Day Check-in pop-up was active.
• Fixed an issue where Derby Requests did not refresh after acquiring the rewards.
• Fixed an issue where the reset time for Hero's Journey stages and the Shop were different.
• Fixed an issue where the animation effect was not displaying correctly when entering Stages 8 and 9 of Land of Glory Entry in Hero's Journey.
• Fixed an issue where the results for Valley of Trials were not displayed correctly when failing a stage during a network disruption.
• Fixed an issue where players could not change the language in Hero's Journey.
• Fixed an issue where Hero's Journey was displayed as Rival Mode in Portuguese and Vietnamese.
• Fixed an issue where castles could not be equipped immediately from the Castle Preview.

Thank you.