EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

September 10, 2025

More Combat Skill Augments

This week offers yet another big update to combat skills with 12 new skill augments. There aren't many skills like these left on the trees so I think the next area of focus will be damage-over-time skills (i.e. Venom Strike).

• Bounty Hunter:
  • (EA) Static Grenade: 80% primary dmg.; drains target's energy; absorb 120% of drained energy.
  • (UA) Static Grenade: 65% primary dmg.; drains target's energy; absorb 90% of drained energy; no Rage gain.
• Mercenary:
  • (UA) Bunker Buster: Fire a rocket that grants 20% lifesteal; 15% chance for critical strike.
  • (PA) Bunker Buster: Fire an energy rocket that ignores 15% of the target's defense; 15% chance for critical hit.
• Tech Mage:
  • (PA) Bludgeon: Energy attack with defense ignore via the weapon's blunt end; 20% crit chance.
  • (UA) Bludgeon: Physical attack with lifesteal via the weapon's blunt end; 20% crit chance.
• Cyber Hunter:
  • (EA) Plasma Grenade: Throw an energy grenade inflicted massive damage.
  • (PA) Plasma Grenade: Throw a physical dmg. grenade, ignoring 15% Defense; 20% lifesteal.
• Tactical Mercenary
  • (EA) Frenzy: Deal 110% damage and heal based on damage.
  • (UA) Frenzy: Gain health and Energy based on damage.
• Blood Mage:
  • (UA) Plasma Cannon:Fire a plasma cannon dealing energy damage; 25% Energy steal.
  • (PA) Plasma Cannon: Physical dmg.; ignore 20% target's Resistance; 15% crit chance; gain 10% dmg. to Energy.

There's bound to be potential for balance tweaks after so many back-to-back skill updates so we'll go into a cooldown on new skills for next week as priorities shift to the new Gamma Pirate Promo!

Changes and Fixes:

• Added measures to combat the suspected source of increased lag after last week's update.
• (UA) Overload: Cooldown increased from 2 to 3.
• (UA) Stun Grenade: Cooldown increased from 2 to 3. 
• Maul (Rage drain) will now correctly reduce Rage by the % amount.
• When a player self-applies Infernal Offering, Infernal Blessing, or EA Field Medic, and they are stunned before the last tick of healing applies, the last tick never occurs. This bug was always possible but rare, and only became reproducible after 100% augments were introduced.
• The asset for Conductor Armor (WS) not loading correctly.

Tags: Nightwraith

September 05, 2025

New Augments

For this latest round of skill augments, we're again focusing on offensive skills. Originally the intention was to focus only on skills with stuff change, but not all skills have stun chance so the the augmented skills might seem a bit random w/re skill tree location.

• Bounty Hunter:
  • (UA) Stun Grenade: Inflict physical damage with a 100% stun chance; disables sender's offensive abilities.
  • (PA) Stun Grenade: Inflict energy damage with a 15% base chance to stun the enemy.
• Mercenary:
  • (UA) Maul: Strike, draining % of target Rage with a 15% stun chance.
  • (UA) Maul: Unblockable strike, ignoring % of defenses.
• Tech Mage:
  • (UA) Overload: Summon lightning with a 100% stun chance; disables sender's offensive abilities.
  • (EA) Overload: Summon lightning ignoring 15% of target defenses.
• Cyber Hunter:
  • (UA) Pulse Punch: Reduce target Rage rate by % with 50% initial Rage steal.
  • (UA) Pulse Punch: % lifesteal with 50% initial Rage reduction; ignore 20% defense.
• Tactical Mercenary:
  • (PA) Barbed Grenade: Energy damage with 15% base chance to crit; ignores 10% defense.
  • (EA) Barbed Grenade: Throw a spiked grenade inflicting Physical damage.
• Blood Mage:
  • (PA) Bludgeon: Energy attack with defense ignore via the weapon's blunt end; 20% crit chance.
  • (UA) Bludgeon: Physical attack with defense ignore via the weapon's blunt end; 15% Energy drain.

We will continue working through the offensive skill augments before moving on to buffs and debuffs since they are more complex and generally take longer to develop. We hope you are enjoying the new augments so far as it has been thrilling to expand upon EpicDuel's battle engine after so many years of relative stasis. I can promise you that the most interesting augments are still yet to be released!

Balance changes:

• (EA) Hybrid Armor: 4%-13% --> 1%-8% Defense/Resistance boost.
• (UA) Hybrid Armor: Boosts Defense/Resistance by a flat value instead of a percentage, +17 def/res at level 1, +2 per level; keeps 25% Rage gain bonus and 5% damage-to-energy conversion
• Deadly Precision (damage reflection): 25% --> 15% melee damage reflection.
• Deadly Precision (sidearm): 6%-15% --> 10%-25% more sidearm damage.
• Mania (defense reduction): Reduces 10% stats instead of 20% defense.

Bug fixes:

• (EA) Double Strike: Level 10 is correctly set to 52%.
• Healing-reduction effects dynamically affect heal-over-time (HoT) skills like Infernal Blessing.  HoT ticks are affected if a healing-reduction debuff is active when the tick occurs.
• The counter for remaining jugg battles was off by 1.

Tags: Nightwraith

September 02, 2025

A few days ago, we introduced a new battle end state: Battle Draw. This state applies if the battle ends before the first turn is completed -- most commonly when the opponent instantly disconnects, either unintentionally or intentionally. Currently, in a Battle Draw, the remaining player(s) earns no Credits, Experience, or drops and the battle record is unaffected. This was deemed too punative so we have revised Battle Draws to grant a win as well as reward a small set amount of Credits and Experience. Battle Draws will still reward no drops and wil not deduct limited cores or boosts.

In summary, Battle Draws:

• Grant a win
• 75 Credits
• 20 Experience
• Do not reward war or PvP drops
• Do not deduct a boost
• Do not deduct a core
• Do not factor Power Hour

We may adjust the rewards further if we see rapid disconnects continue to be abused. We are also investigating excluding Faction wins from Battle Draws, eliminating another incentive to boost wins.

Tags: Nightwraith

August 29, 2025

EpicDuel is live with new skill augments, balance changes, and bug fixes! 

New Skill Augments

Experiment with these new skill augments for all classes! Some are fairly straightforward, offering adjusted damage values or an alternative damage type, while other drastically change the skill's effect, like reducing healing effectiveness instead of defense ignore. Expect another round of skill augments next week also focusing on offensive abilities.

• Bounty Hunter:
  • (UA) Cheap Shot: Ignore % of defenses; steals Energy based on 25% damage.
  • (UA) Cheap Shot: Ignore % of defenses; unblockable.
• Mercenary:
  • (EA) Double Strike: Attack for more dmg., defense reduction based on 50% dmg. bonus; -50% block/deflection.
  • (PA) Double Strike: Opposite dmg. type attack for more dmg., defense reduction; -50% block/deflection.
• Tech Mage:
  • (PA) Plasma Bolt: Fire a bolt of plasma at an enemy target, dealing physical damage and ignoring 15% defense.
  • (UA) Plasma Bolt: Fire a bolt of plasma at an enemy target, dealing energy damage; 15% lifesteal.
• Cyber Hunter:
  • (UA) Neural Scythe: Launch a scythe of primary damage type, ignoring Defense/Resistance by skill level.
  • (PA) Neural Scythe: Launch a scythe opposite of primary damage type, increasing damage by skill level.
• Tactical Mercenary:
  • (EA) Crippling Strike: Attack for 105% damage. Reduces % Defense / Resistance for #DUR turns.
  • (UA) Crippling Strike: Attack for 100% damage. Reduces % Healing for #DUR turns.
• Blood Mage:
  • (PA) Fireball: Inflict energy damage, reducing target's Defense and Resistance 15% for 2 turns.
  • (EA) Fireball: Inflict physical damage, reducing target's Defense and Resistance 30% for 2 turns.

Balance Changes

• Deadly Aim (Primary/gun): 9%-20% --> 3%-12% more primary/sidearm damage
• (UA) Hybrid Armor: 7% --> 5% damage to Energy conversion
• (EA) Hybrid Armor: 20% --> 12% damage to Energy conversion
• Cyber Armor (HP bleed): 60%-96% --> 75%-120% boost to armor's defenses; 40 --> 30 HP bleed
• (UA) Mineral Armor: 10% --> 5% Energy drain
• (EA) Mineral Armor: Flat Defense boost, +43 Defense at level 1, +3 per level; flat +20 Resistance boost
• (EA) Reroute: 10%-35% --> 8%-30% Energy conversion
• Mania (defense reduction): 13%-30% --> 15% --> 35% lifesteal/Rage gain
• Infernal Blessing: 150 --> 165 HP gain per turn (readjustment since Medical Mastery no longer applies to it)

Battle Draw

Not a new battle mode, but a new battle state: If someone disconnects or refreshes the game before the first turn completes, the duel ends in a draw with 0 rewards, but no impact on the battle record for the person remaining. In the event of a 2v2 or Juggernaut match, the battle will only be a draw if both members of a team leave before the first turn completes. We are implementing this to counteract rapid disconnects used to boost wins and rewards for characters. Players who disconnect from battle will still face with the normal loss and run penalty.

Bug Fixes:

Challenges don't work while the chat filter is active. It seems crazy, but last week's chat filter changes broke challenges for people with the filter enabled. It's wild how changes to one system can completely break another seemingly unrelated system.

Coming Soon: Gamma Pirate

We're currently developing a new pirate/Gamma-themed promo back that we're pleased to share: The Gamma Pirate! Prepare to sail the irradiated seas with new weapons, armors, bots, and cores coming soon!

Tags: Nightwraith

August 22, 2025

Language filter

In Settings, you now have the option of disabling the language filter. This reduces restrictions on chat, but doesn't remove them entirely. Certain language and topics are still prohibited despite the removal of the filter. Additionally, other text-based elements such as names and Faction titles are still filtered regardless of setting. If you choose to leave the filter in place, you will be unable to use inappropriate language and any inappropriate language in messages you encounter will be replaced with asterixis.

Although this feature grants more freedom for expression and communication, don't use this newfound freedom to be abusive and disrespectful to your fellow players. This feature was implemented because we believe our playerbase is mature enough to handle the looser language restrictions. We would hate to be proven wrong, but if this feature causes a flood of toxicity and harassment, it will be reverted!

Such Convenience

Class and gender change now dynamically unequip gear based on your class/gender requirements. If you have class-neutral weapons or armor, they will not be unequipped. This will be very convenient if you frequently change classes.

Bug Fixes

• PMs sometimes failed to work after a name change.
• Mastery cores displaying the incorrect % bonus.
• Dark Omen could not be used on a target with Curse applied.

Progress

• Skill Augments: Next week, we expect to introduce at least another 12 skill augments, focusing on the upper portion of the skill trees.
• Gifter Prizes: More Gifter prizes are also expected to be completed next week. I can't believe it, but we're finally below double digit prizes remaining.
• New Promo: We should have prizes for promo items available next week as well.

Tags: Nightwraith

August 15, 2025

New Augments

This week, we added augments to all the class passives! Some of these skills have drastically different functionality from their base forms so you should have a lot of fun experimenting! Be warned, however, some of the passive power boosts now come with debuff tradeoffs so be sure to read the descriptions and plan your builds carefully!

• Bounty Hunter:
  • (UA) Blood Lust: Passively add a percentage of all damage inflicted to health and Energy.
  • (UA) Blood Lust: Passively add a percentage of all dmg. inflicted to HP; drain 5% target's Energy.
  • (EA) Shadow Arts: Boosts Robot damage by a percent; +10 dmg. to Primary, Sidearm, and Auxiliary.
  • (EA) Shadow Arts: Boosts Primary, Sidearm, and Auxiliary damage.
• Mercenary:
  • (EA) Hybrid Armor: Boosts Def/Res; converts 20% of outgoing dmg. to Energy; unaffected by stat changes.
  • (UA) Hybrid Armor: Boosts Def/Res; converts 7% of outgoing dmg. to Energy; gain 25% more Rage.
  • (UA) Deadly Precision: Passively increase the damage of your Sidearm.
  • (UA) Deadly Precision: Passively increase the dmg. of your Auxiliary; reflect 25% melee dmg.
• Tech Mage:
  • (EA) Concentration: Convert % of dmg. received into energy; +70 HP per over 50 dmg. attack.
  • (EA) Concentration: Convert % of dmg. received into energy.
  • (UA) Deadly Aim: Passively increase the damage of your Auxiliary.
  • (UA) Deadly Aim: Passively increase the damage of your Sidearm and Primary.
• Cyber Hunter:
  • (UA) Cyber Armor: Passive shield increases your armor's Def/Res values; 12% lifesteal.
  • (UA) Cyber Armor: Passive shield increases a % of your armor's Def/Res values; 40 HP loss per turn.
  • (UA) Cyber Edge: Passively increases Sidearm and Primary damage.
  • (UA) Cyber Edge: Passively increases Sidearm and Auxiliary damage; 40% Rage gain.
• Tactical Mercenary:
  • (EA) Mineral Armor: Passively boosts Defense; Resistance debuff based on 20% Defense boost.
  • (UA) Mineral Armor: Passively boosts Defense; drain attacker's Energy by 10% incoming dmg.
  • (UA) Reroute: Convert a percentage of all dmg. received into Energy; +30 Sidearm dmg.
  • (EA) Reroute: Convert a percentage of all dmg. received into Energy.
• Blood Mage:
  • (UA) Mania: Passively add a percentage of all damage inflicted to HP and EP; increased Rage Gain.
  • (UA) Mania: Passively add a % of all dmg. inflicted to HP; increased Rage Gain; 20% Def/Res debuff.
  • (UA) Red Vision: Passively increase the damage of your Auxiliary.
  • (UA) Red Vision: Passively increase the damage of your Sidearm and Auxiliary.

Balance Changes

• General:
  • Medical Mastery no longer applies to healing cores (i.e. only to Field Medic).
  • Critical Heal only applies to Field Medic (all versions) and Health Booster.
  • All robot damage bonuses standardized to 175.
• Skills and Cores:
  • Double Strike: +10 Energy cost to all levels.
  • Crippling Strike: +30 --> +20 Energy cost per level.
  • (UA) Field Medic: +1 HP per 1.2 --> 0.8 Support.
  • Infernal Blessing: 175 --> 150 HP per tick.
  • Absorption: 35% --> 25% incoming robot damage to user's Energy.
• Azrael's Doombringer Beauty P/E (NPC) added to The Challenger.

Other Changes/Fixes

• Seasonal rares reset to their normal schedules.
• New Settings option: disable battle backgrounds.
• Pulse Punch: wouldn't add brace to target in the event of a stun.

Progress Report

• Skill augments: I didn't take my own advice and spent too long building 24 new skill augments, plus building support for future augments. Next week, I will actually pause the augment rollout to address other items on this list. This will also give us time to address any balance issues or esoteric bugs that emerge from this update.
• Gifting Rewards: Once again, update ate into work on the prizes due to the unexpected time allocation to the new skills and fixes for the previous week's update. Next week, I will clear my schedule to focus on Gifting prizes with as few distractions as possible.
• Chat Filter Toggle: I am working on a change to EpicDuel's language filter that will allow people to disable the strict chat filter. A more permissive filter will remain, but it will still block the most extreme language and account security topics. That said, abusive language will still be moderated so it will be as important as ever to be respectful to each other.
• Gamma Pirate Promo Pack: Acatriel's new promo package is currently in-progress.

Tags: Nightwraith