EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

July 26, 2024

The Nanotech Nightmare Showcase Battlepass is NOW LIVE! Login now to earn the latest collection of nanotech and casual weapons, armors, vehicles, morphs, bots, and more crafted with care by Acatriel and Mihuri!

Good luck and happy dueling to reach level 60 of EpicDuel's latest Battlepass season!

So you all know what you're getting into with the new bots available in this season, the skill descriptions are listed below:

• Nanotech Destruktor P
  • Nanotech Destruktor Assault P Chaingun attack, ignoring 15% defenses.
  • Nanotech Destruktor Onslaught P At critical HP, reduce Def/Res 50% for 1 round; steal 25% Rage.
• Nanotech Destruktor E
  • Nanotech Destruktor Assault E Energy chaingun attack, ignoring 15% defenses.
  • Nanotech Destruktor Onslaught E At critical HP, reduce Def/Res 50% for 1 round; steal 25% Rage.

Character Animation Optimization

The optimization of the character animation timeline is still underway so there may still be some jank in certain animations. This means that certain armors in certain poses may not look right. In some cases, it might be better to change the armor rather than the animation, but this will be handled in time. Many animations have been consolidated, cleaned up, and shortened (especially the hit/block animations) to improve the flow of battle. Despite all the work already done, with over 8000 total frames, there's still plenty of room for improvements in the future.

Tags: Nightwraith

July 18, 2024

Progress Report

The upcoming Battlepass, Nanotech Nightmare, is still in progress.This update features some new armors which will require a few changes to the character animation timeline. These changes are minor, but there are 8,000+ frames in the timeline, so the update is taking more time than expected. Everything else is going smoothly so the update is expected to go live next week!

We didn't want you to go too long without any updates so we're implementing a few small changes while you wait!

 Balance Changes

• Reactive Armor: 50% —> 25% melee reflection at max; new values: 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18%, 20%, 21%, 22%, 23%, 24%, 25%
• Force Field: +25 energy cost to all levels
• Tactical Reload: No longer puts the associated weapon on cooldown
• War Commander (Gun): +4 Dexterity instead of Strength
• War Commander (Aux): +4 Support instead of Strength

Achievement Updates

• Olympic Games 4 is now available form the Seasonal section of the achievement shop.
• Rising Star achievement, awarded for earning the most fame in a day, is now tiered with 5 tiers. Those who qualify for the higher tiers will automatically receive the corresponding achievement.

Tags: Nightwraith

July 03, 2024

Independence Day Arsenal

Visit the Overlord Guard in the Overlord Facility to browse his shop of new seasonal rares created by Bido! These rares are limited quantity so you'll need to act quickly if you want to collect them all!

• Liberty Slayer P
• Liberty Slayer E
• Maple Leaf Slayer P
• Maple Leaf Slayer E
• Liberty Guards P
• Liberty Guards E
• Maple Leaf Guards P
• Maple Leaf Guards E
• Liberty Axe P
• Liberty Axe E
• Maple Leaf Axe P
• Maple Leaf Axe E
• Liberty Staff P
• Liberty Staff E
• Maple Leaf Staff P
• Maple Leaf Staff E

New Missions

In addition to new seasonal rares, the Overlord Guard is offering a new mission chain, starting with "Dawn of Destiny." This new chain will allow players to turn in new Starlight Shards, earned from PvP wins, to claim the new rares: Dawn of Destiny and Starlight of Destiny.

New Achievement

The Independence Day 6 Achievement has been added to the seasonal section of the achievement shop.

Juggernaut Battle Cap

To combat the exploitation by botters, as of this update we've implemented a cap on Juggernaut wins. After 300 Juggernaut wins, Juggernaut battles will stop offering credits, experience, war drops, and PvP drops. This was done to remove the incentive to use bots accumulate way more wins than any human could possibly achieve.

Tags: Nightwraith

June 28, 2024

New Class Win Tracker Achievements

New achievements have been added to track wins for each class in each PvP battle mode (1v1, 2v2, and Juggernaut). These achievements are not retroactive so everyone will start at 0 for all Classes and battle modes. They will start tracking as soon as you win any PvP battle mode with any class.

Balance Changes

• Skills:
  • Multi-shot: +1 damage per 0.3 --> 0.34 dex; 85% --> 90% damage against multiple targets
  • Reflex Boost: Scales with dex --> supp
  • Massacre: Removed 50% lifesteal; 30% --> 15% defense ignore
  • Maul: 75 --> 100 base energy cost; 20% --> 15% stun chance
  • Artillery Strike: Requires dex --> tech
  • Barbed Grenade: Add 15% stun chance
  • Assimilation: +15 to all base values; +1 energy per 1.25 --> 1 str
• Cores:
  • Necrosis: 100% --> 85% damage
  • Botanical Wrath: 85 --> 100 energy cost
  • Salvage: 0 --> 90 energy cost
  • Thorn Assault, Meteor Shower, Plasma Meteor, Shattering Star, Jack-O-Fire: 90 --> 100 energy cost
  • Icy Overkill (Aux): 1-turn warmup
  • Revitalization: 1000 --> 1300 heal; 0 --> 100 energy cost
  • Medusa's Gaze: 70% --> 85% damage
  • Piston Punch: 85% --> 100% damage
  • Captain's Charge: Update description to include lifesteal effect
  • Ninja Reflexes: 20% --> 13% additional block chance
  • Deflection Shield, Ballistic Shield: 20% --> 13% additional deflection chance
• Robots:
  • Gamma Bot and Variants: 111% --> 109% damage
  • Shadowlord's Severance P/E: 40% --> 35% defense ignore
  • Infernal Overload P/E: 100% --> 95% initial damage; 135% --> 130% max damage
  • Dino Fire P/E and Variants: Removed warmup
  • Necrotek Assault P/E: 15% --> 20% defense ignore
  • Yeti Claw (includes Baby/Omega Yeti Variants): 100% --> 105% damage
• Other:
  • Brace: Remove additional block/deflection chance

BuyBack Boost

New items will be added for people who have the following promotional items:

• Infernal Interdictor E
• Bionic Battlegear E

Owners of these items will receive the corresponding P (physical damage) variants. If you already sold your original promotional weapon, you can find the new items in the BuyBack shop.

Botters' Bane

Every only game suffers from bots, hackers, cheaters, and jerks of all degrees, but that doesn't mean we can just rest on our hands while exploits are used. Most players play the game legitimately, but some are clearly using sophisticated bots to take advantage of blind spots in our bot flagging system, particularly in Juggernaut mode. I've never understood why someone would put so much effort into *not* playing a game, but clearly, as revealed by the popularity of generative AI, there's a market for pathetic people who want to reap rewards in exchange for minimal effort. With this update, we've modified the bot flag parameters to throttle rewards for those who accumulate more wins than would be possible for a human player. Some players are hardcore and can play for hours, but no human can play 24/7 without rest.

The ultimate reward for botters is an empty game with all human players driven out with numbers going up perpetually to the acclaim of nobody. Maybe that's what they want? Maybe I'm too old-fashioned, but that doesn't seem fun to me.

Tags: Nightwraith

June 21, 2024

New Legendary Gear

The Legendary Shops of Titan's Peak have been stocked with loads of luxurious new items! User your excess Credits to boost your rating score and show off your stylish new swords!

For new-ish players: These shops are only accessible if you have achieved level 40+. If you're under level 40, you'll need to level up before you can access the shops.

• Legendary Arsenal
  • Silver Royal Dagger P
  • Silver Royal Dagger E
  • Silver Royal Claymore P
  • Silver Royal Claymore E
  • Silver Royal Scythe P
  • Silver Royal Scythe E
  • Silver Royal Spear P
  • Silver Royal Spear E
  • Silver Royal War Axe P
  • Silver Royal War Axe E

• Exquisite Legendary Arsenal
  • Golden Royal Dagger P
  • Golden Royal Dagger E
  • Golden Royal Claymore P
  • Golden Royal Claymore E
  • Golden Royal Kingmaker P
  • Golden Royal Kingmaker E
  • Golden Royal Impaler P
  • Golden Royal Impaler E
  • Golden Royal Cleaver P
  • Golden Royal Cleaver E
  • Golden Royal War Axe P
  • Golden Royal War Axe E
  • Golden Royal Halberd P
  • Golden Royal Halberd E
  • Golden Royal Spear P
  • Golden Royal Spear E
  • Golden Royal Scythe P
  • Golden Royal Scythe E
  • Golden Royal Wrist Blades P
  • Golden Royal Wrist Blades E
  • Golden Royal Reaper P
  • Golden Royal Reaper E
  • Golden Royal Great Hammer P
  • Golden Royal Great Hammer E
  • Golden Royal Greataxe P
  • Golden Royal Greataxe E
  • Golden Royal Staff P
  • Golden Royal Staff E
  • Golden Royal War Staff P
  • Golden Royal War Staff E
  • Gilded War Scythe P
  • Gilded War Scythe E

• Epic Legendary Arsenal
  • Epic Blade of Honor P
  • Epic Blade of Honor E
  • Epic Blade of Awe P
  • Epic Blade of Awe E
  • Legendary Royal Claymore P
  • Legendary Royal Claymore E

Balance Addendum

As per the last Design Notes, there was supposed to be balance changes for this update, but those have been delayed, unfortunately. I didn't want to hold onto the content for any longer so I decided it was better to update with the new items than nothing at all for another week! Balance changes are still being considered and will be pushed to live as soon as they are ready.

Tags: Nightwraith

June 14, 2024

Optimization Odyssey 

This week was a challenging one as a great deal of time was spent on optimizing the file that contains all the skill icons in the game. Every icon is stored in one FLA (the raw file format used by Flash) and compiled at runtime. The problem was that the file had become to large and would take 15 minutes or more to publish if it did at all. This can happen when FLAs become too large. This can sometimes be addressed by splitting the one massive file into several, but in this case, the only way forward was to make the file smaller by merging duplicate assets and removing unused ones. The end result was a file ten megabytes leaner (20% reduction) that could reliable publish! There was still more optimization work to be done, but it is good enough for the time being. This will not be the last time optimization work will be needed as EpicDuel is ancient by game standards -- that long lifespan means plenty of time for redundant assets to accumulate that bloat files and hinder development.

The rest of the time this week was spent making dozens of new weapons for release in the Legendary shops. I ended up making progress, but not nearly enough weapons for a substantial update so I'll continue work into next week to make sure all weapons are thoroughly polished and tested.

Since there will be no update this week, I've included some previews of content to expect for next week and the weeks to come.

Golden Regal Armory

For those who have been itching for something use their accumulated Credits on, we'll soon be introducing new weapons with to the Legendary Shops.

To make sure the update is substantial, we're also planning to include several balance changes with the next update!

New Battlepass Already?

The Eldritch Battlepass just launched last week, but Lodrian has been one and a half steps ahead of our schedule by delivering the next Battlepass: Nanotech Nightmare! Here's a small preview of the new gear that will be available with the next showcase! 

If you just started leveling Eldritch Onslaught, don't worry! This will not release for a few weeks so you'll have plenty of time to complete the current Battlepass.

Tags: Nightwraith

June 07, 2024

The Eldritch Onslaught Showcase Battlepass is NOW LIVE! Login now to earn the latest collection of Lovecraftian-themed weapons, armors, vehicles, morphs, bots, and more crafted with care by Acatriel and Bido!

Good luck and happy dueling to reach level 60 of EpicDuel's latest Battlepass season!

So you all know what you're getting into with the new bots available in this season, the skill descriptions are listed below:

• Eldritch Proto Beast P
  • Eldritch Proto Beast Cyclone P: Spinning physical attack cutting through 15% of target's defenses.
  • Eldritch Proto Beast Rampage P: Brutal beatdown, reducing all stats by 25% for #DUR rounds.
• Eldritch Proto Beast E
  • Eldritch Proto Beast Cyclone E: Spinning energy attack cutting through 15% of target's defenses.
  • Eldritch Proto Beast Rampage E: Brutal beatdown, reducing all stats by 25% for #DUR rounds.

Balance Changes

• Frenzy: 4 --> 3 turn cooldown; flat 70 energy cost
• Mineral Armor: +10% Support --> +20% highest stat
• Toxic Grenade: Scales with Strength --> Support
• Cleanse: Removed HP gain
• Absorption: 40% --> 35% Conversion
• Thrown Shot x25: 120 --> 135 Energy cost; 450 --> 400 HP Gain
• Infernal Prism, Infernal Blessing, Infernal Offering: Unaffected by debuff removers
• Captain's Charge: Removed HP threshold; removed lifesteal; added 2-turn warmup

Tags: Nightwraith

May 24, 2024

This update covers some miscellaneous categories, mainly focusing on war drop balance with some additional information on the next Battlepass!

War Drops Rebalancing

Last week we introduced some substantial changes to war drop rates, including increased drop rates for super war drops. One major downside of this change is it tilted the incentive to bot heavily, especially in Juggernaut mode. To address this, the following changes have been made and will be in effect for the next War.

• All modes now have a flat 60% base chance to receive a war drop without a War Commander core.
• If you receive a war drop, there is a 20% chance that drop will be a super drop for all modes. 
• War Commander no longer drops super items for any mode.

Drop rates are always difficulty to evaluate as sometimes an item drop might "feel" like it's dropping more or less than it should based on a limited data set. Generally, we'd prefer to be more generous than stingy so we're open to reevaluating the percentages when the next War is underway.

Cyber Wolf Collection Complete

With this update the final Cyber Wolf Collection items have been distributed. I'm sorry this obligation took so long to fulfill, but I wanted to make sure all the items were as high quality as we could make them.

Over 175,000 score

• Cyber Dragon Morph 
• Cyber Dragon Morph CC

Over 250,000 score

• Nightbot 3000 Morph
• Nightbot 3000 Morph

This collection was a collaboration between myself, Tomcat, Acatriel, and Charfade, with a bit of inspiration from Dage thrown in for good measure. I hope you all enjoy the rewards as much as we did crafting them!

Balance Changes

This small round of balance changes mainly address the new promo cores, but fortunately, they're mostly buffs! 

• Infernal Prism: Description corrected to 3 turns instead of 2.
• Infernal Blessing: 100 --> 125 HP per tick (including initial use)
• Infernal Offering: 120 --> 150 energy per tick
• Infernal Curse: 25% --> 15% effectiveness; reduces defense/resistance as well as base weapon damages

• Terrify: Removed defense reduction effect.
• Plasma Cannon: -40 base damage at all levels.

Bug Fixes

• "You already own this item." message now works as intended.

Eldritch Onslaught Battlepass

The final item on this post is a preview for the upcoming Eldritch Onslaught Battlepass! This will replace the current Azrael-themed Battlepass soon so your time to collect the last few levels of rewards is running out!

Tags: Nightwraith

May 18, 2024

New Infernal Guardian Gear Promo Pack

For the first time in too long, we're introducing a new promotional package featuring new, exclusive armors, weapons, and cores! 

• Armors
  • Infernal Guardian
  • Infernal Guardian CC
  • Infernal Guardian Knight
  • Infernal Guardian Knight CC
  • Infernal Refracting Guardian
• Swords
  • Infernal Guardian Slayer P
  • Infernal Guardian Slayer E
  • Infernal Guardian Greatsword P
  • Infernal Guardian Greatsword E
• Sidearms
  • Infernal Guardian Gun P
  • Infernal Guardian Gun E
• Auxiliaries
  • Infernal Guardian Bow P
  • Infernal Guardian Bow E
• Mutating Weapons
  • Infernal Guardian Arsenal P
  • Infernal Guardian Arsenal E
• Cores
  • Infernal Prism (armor): The slow blade penetrates the shield. Reduces projectile dmg. 85% for 2 rounds.
  • Infernal Blessing (armor): Heal over time for 125 HP each round for 2 rounds, including the initial use.
  • Infernal Curse (primary): Reduce base Primary, Sidearm, Auxiliary dmg. and Defense/Resistance 15% for 2 rounds.
  • Infernal Offering (primary): Offer 80 HP for 150 MP each round for 2 rounds, including initial use.
• Achievement
  • Infernal Guardian Crest: Award for supporters of ED who got the Infernal Guardian package.

For this latest promotional package, we're doing something experimental. We'll be offering a 10,000 AP and a 4,000 AP version of the package. The 10,000 AP version will include 15,000 Varium and addition spare cores. The 4,000 AP package will be gear-only and not offer Varium or spare cores. It will still include cores pre-equipped to the items. Both packages will award the Infernal Guardian Crest Achievement, but only the 10,000 AP package will reward the Epic Supporter Achievement. Please review the package descriptions carefully in the in-game Varium shop to avoid accidentally purchasing the wrong package.

New Infernal Guardian Styles

Styles 763-772 have been added to the Style Change shop!

Nightmare Azrael's Guardian Slayer Achievement

This achievement will be awarded to those who were able to defeat Nightmare Azrael's Guardian in the time since the boss was first introduced! Congratulations on finding a successful strategy for taking down this fearsome foe! This achievement will be awarded manually so please allow some time before you see the achievement appear on your account if you qualify for it.

Quality of Life Changes

• War bar interface now enabled in homes.
• Super war drop chance increased.
• War drop capacity increased to 20 from 10.
• Juggernaut and Sim buttons swapped places.
• New items available at Vendbots:
  • Anti-1v1 Badge
  • Anti-2v2 Badge
  • Anti-Juggernaut Badge
  • Anti-Sim Badge
  • These items will allow you to disable the buttons for the corresponding battle modes. This solution has an advantage over a Settings toggle because, unlike Settings, your preference will not reset when you clear your cache. To re-enable the battle mode, simply sell the badge. NOTE: It's still possible to enter a Juggernaut match while queuing for 2v2 if you're of a certain level range even if you have the Anti-Juggernaut Badge.
• The merchant shop interface will now warn you with red text that you already own an item you have highlighted. If the item is not restricted, you will still be able to purchase duplicates.

Tags: Nightwraith

May 03, 2024

May the 4th Prize Code Star Sabers

It was around this time a year ago that I made a huge list of EpicDuel-themed star sabers I intended to offer as prize code rewards throughout the month of May and a little beyond. I got about halfway through the list before I needed emergency surgery to repair a detached retina which put a damper on the progress. The remaining star saber designs sat unfinished for a year, but they'll finally be released. Starting today, two codes will drop from my Nightwraith Twitter account every day until the list is exhausted. Interestingly, there are still a few codes from last year that were unclaimed fully so if you missed out, you can dig to find some that work. The following items being offered are, in no particular order:

• Infernal Slayer Star Saber P
• Infernal Slayer Star Saber E
• Ultra Corsair Star Saber CC P
• Ultra Corsair Star Saber CC E
• Sea King Star Saber P
• Sea King Star Saber E
• Celtic Hunter Star Saber P
• Celtic Hunter Star Saber E
• Infernal Fantasy Star Saber P
• Infernal Fantasy Star Saber E
• Black Abyss Star Saber P
• Black Abyss Star Saber E
• Abyss Acolyte Star Saber P
• Abyss Acolyte Star Saber E
• Dage's Desolation Star Saber P
• Dage's Desolation Star Saber E
• Infernal Overfiend Star Saber P
• Infernal Overfiend Star Saber E
• Fourteen Year Alpha Star Saber P
• Fourteen Year Alpha Star Saber E
• Titan's Triumph Star Saber P
• Titan's Triumph Star Saber E
• Tyrant Titan Star Saber P
• Tyrant Titan Star Saber E
• Nightwraith's Avatar Star Saber P
• Nightwraith's Avatar Star Saber E
• Legion Overfiend Star Saber P
• Legion Overfiend Star Saber E
• Ancient Legion Star Saber P
• Ancient Legion Star Saber E

PvP Drop Cleanup

 Over time EpicDuel has accumulated many PvP drops at many different drop tiers. In an effort to streamline and cleanup, we've adjusted the drop pool accordingly to keep the current drops from growing stale and giving people a better chance at collecting drops they were missing.

• Evolved Frostbane PvP Drops Leaving
• Ancient Legion/Doom PvP Drops Leaving
• Necrotek PvP Drops Leaving
• April Fools PvP Drops Leaving
• Nulgath PvP Drops Returned
• Darkwraith PvP Drops Returned

Nightmare Nerfs

Since nobody was able to defeat Nightmare Azrael's Guardian after a week, mainly due to a combination of a huge HP pool and impervious defenses, we're implementing the following nerfs based on player feedback:

• 50k --> 35k HP
• 150 --> 70 dex/tech
• 250 --> 0 armor bonus
• Removal Consecrated Fire
• Energy damage AOE removed.
• Physical AOE damage type changed to Energy.

Azrael's Guardian Slayer achievement awarded to those who defeated Azrael's Guardian in the first week of release! This achievement is awarded manually so please allow 30 minutes to an hour after the update to see the achievement. After that point you may need to relog to see it. Those who are able to defeat the Nightmare variant after this update will also receive an achievement in recognition of their skill for next week's update.

Tags: Nightwraith

April 26, 2024

Azrael's Guardian Unleashed

For the first time in a LONG time, a new boss has emerged from the Time Fortress to challenge EpicDuel's most elite players. Borne from the blood of Azrael, this Guardian seeks vengeance on those who tormented the solitude of his master. This boss hungers for blood so challenging him will be a constant battle to prevent him from stealing your own life essence for his own.

The following are the new boss drop items + their drop rates. Remember that boss drop percentages are on a per battle basis, meaning if you defeat the boss 4 times to get an item with a 25% drop rate, you aren't guaranteed to receive that drop. This always creates confusion with people writing bugs reports about NPC drops so I feel I need to clarify it again here.

Azrael's Guardian (Normal)

• Azrael's Cavalier Executioner P (25%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Executioner E (25%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Executioner CC P (15%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Executioner CC E (15%)

Nightmare Azrael's Guardian

• Azrael's Cavalier Exsanguinator P (35%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Exsanguinator E (35%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Exsanguinator CC P (25%)
• Azrael's Cavalier Exsanguinator CC E (25%)

Since this is the first new superboss in a long while, if you are among the first to defeat Azrael's Guardian or his Nightmare variant, you will be manually awarded a special achievement upon the next update!

Balance Changes / Fixes

• Skills:
  • Nanotech Shield: +2% to all levels (12% max)
  • Static Charge: Removed Technology requirement
  • Fireball: +20 energy cost to all levels (max 240)
  • Reactive Armor: Requires Dexterity —> Technology
  • Necrotek Bot Special: Correctly calculates health gain vs. Rage. Was previously rounding to either 0 or 100% Rage when calculating how much HP to restore. Rounding may cause max HP restore to exceed 300 slightly when used on NPCs because they have 0 Rage by default.
• Cores:
  • Salvage: 110% --> 100% damage
  • Sea King's Spirit: 100 —> 150 initial energy gain
  • Darkeater’s Adjudication/Pacify/Convergent Exsanguination: 100% —> 50% Rage drain; 5 —> 3 turn duration
• Arcade Token drop rates: 100% for 1v1/2v2; 50% for jugg
• Arcade Token cost: 100 --> 50 for x10; 15 --> 7 for single

Cyber Wolf Morphs

Everyone who achieved over a 150,000 Gifting score in the most recent Gifting season has now received the Cyber Wolf Morph and the Cyber Wolf Morph CC.

Tags: Nightwraith

April 12, 2024

EpicDuel is live with new balance changes plus a great opportunity to max out your Rating with new achievement tiers for the Arcades and Legendary ranks!

Arcade Achievement Update

All arcade achievements have been updated with 7 more tiers, maxing out at 20, giving everyone a good reason to spend those excess Arcade Tokens. NOTE: If your score already exceeds the current maximum achievement tier, your achievement should update automatically after incrementing your score.

Legendary Achievement Update

Since so many have reached the max tier, we've raised the cap with 8 new tiers of of the Legendary achievement, maxing out at 20. NOTE: If your rank already exceeds 200, your achievement should update automatically after attaining a new rank.

Balance Changes

• Encumbrance: Updated tiers and include Support in debuffs.
  • 1500-1699 HP: -5% all stats
  • 1700-1799 HP: -10% all stats
  • 1800-1899 HP: -15% all stats
  • 1900-1999 HP: -20% all stats
  • 2000+ HP: -25% all stats
• Agility: Same HP tiers as before, but Support is now be included in the buffs.
  • Agility I Unencumbered by HP; no stat penalty.
  • Agility II Unencumbered by HP; +3% all stats.
  • Agility III Unencumbered by HP; +5% all stats.
• Paralysis Coating: Blockable --> Unblockable
• Necrotek Siphon P/E: 350 --> 300 max heal; heal strength is inverse of Rage amount drained. (i.e. heal is at max strength (300) when draining no Rage, at minimum strength (0) when draining all Rage); deal's 50% damage

Skill balance

• Tactical Mercenary
  • Crippling Strike: Reduces Resistance as well as Defense; base values: 12% min, +2% per level; +1% per 6 → 7 Strength
  • Field Commander: Removed Rage gain aura; grants +25% Rage on initial use
  • Barbed Grenade: 15% → 10% defense ignore; 25% → 15% crit chance; 130 base energy cost, +20 per level
  • Reroute: -5% to all values
  • Tactical Grenade: Grants same amount of Energy drained → Grants 150 energy
  • Toxic Grenade: Improves with Support → Strength; 100% → 85% damage

• Bounty Hunter
  • Shadow Arts: Removed additional grenade stun chance; New values: 1%, 2%, 3%, 4%, 4%, 5%, 5%, 6%, 6%, 7%; added increased sidearm and increased auxiliary damage; reduced increased robot damage to match other percentages with value based on total robot damage.

• Cyber Hunter
  • Neural Scythe: Removed Support scaling; improves 1% for every 4 levels over 20; damage is based on primary damage, plus a % of primary damage bonus; damage bonus values: 18%, 20%, 22%, 24%, 26%, 28%, 30%, 32%, 34%, 35%; removed energy drain
  • Plasma Grenade: 15% → 10% Resistance ignore; removed lifesteal; +1 damage per 0.35 → 0.3 Technology
  • Nanotech Shield: Removed defense/resistance buff; Removed stat boosts; added lifesteal equal to damage reduction values; new values: 1% min, 10% max

• Tech Mage
  • Overload:95 → 105 base energy cost; +10 → +15 energy cost per level
  • Plasma Rain: +1 damage per 0.5 → 0.25 levels above 20; Added 20% Resistance ignore
  • Assimilation: 85% → 100% damage

• Blood Mage
  • Terrify: +1 Strength reduced per 4 → 5 Technology

OMG Mode Removal

You may notice the OMG mode button missing from the main interface. It was removed intentionally until a better implementation can be devised with true rewards while not siphoning players from the other battle modes. A fun meme while it lasted, but not enough substance to make it stick as a feature (even if it was there for over 2 years).

Tags: Nightwraith

April 06, 2024

Class Skill Balance

Last week we made a major class balance update, but one skill was left out of the overall plan due to challenges of implementation. We intended for Shadow Arts to increase robot damage, which isn't something that any cores or skills have been able to do up until now. This is due to the complexity of the caculations for robot damage versus other gear categories. However, after a week of struggle, it appears to finally be working. This change should be an interesting benefit, especially focus Bounty Hunters. It also opens the possibilty of adding new cores that can debuff or buff robot damage in the future.

• Bounty Hunter
  • Shadow Arts: Removed increased block chance, increased sidearm damage, and increased auxiliary damage; added effect that increases robot damage. The robot's base damage will increase by twice the skill value %. So a robot that has a base 175 damage will increaes by 20%, granting a bonus 35 damage at max level.

Core Fixes

• Frost Revenants Retribution P/E: Can no longer be removed by buff-removing skills like Azrael's Torment.

Cyber Wolf Distribution

This week we were able to distribute another batch of Cyber Wolf items and styles! The collection is nearly complete, but there are a few items that are still being refined, specifically the travel forms. We certainly hope you enjoy the items you've received so far and find them worth the wait!

The following is a list of the distributed items plus the minimum Gifting scores for receiving each item.

• 200,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Armor
  • Cyber Wolf Armor CC
  • Helm 741
  • Helm 742
• 225,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Savage Cyber Wolf Armor
  • Savage Cyber Wolf Armor CC
  • Helm 743
  • Helm 744

New Cyber Wolf Styles

If you're browsing the style shop, you'll notice that styles 745-762 are available for purchase! These are based on the Cyber Wolf armors but they looked so cool, we wanted to share them with everyone, while still retaining a few exclusives for the Gifting tiers.

Tags: Nightwraith

March 29, 2024

Class Skill Balance

After rebalancing dozens of cores weeks ago, it was time to move onto class balance. This week's update will hit all six classes with a range of changes from minor tweaks to more substantial overhauls derived from community suggestions.

• Tactical Mercenary
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Frenzy: Remove energy drain effect
  • Tactical Grenade: Grants 180 energy → Grants same amount of Energy drained; +1 energy drained per 2 → 1.25 Support

• Cyber Hunter
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Nanotech Shield: Removed defense/resistance buff
  • Static Charge: Drains 100 energy → Drains 90% of energy gained; 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Memory Leak: Replaced with Venom Strike

• Bounty Hunter
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Cheap Shot: Removing healing reduction; 70 → 120 base energy cost
  • Static Grenade: Improves with Support → Dexterity
  • Reflex Boost: Remove Energy gain
  • Venom Strike: 80 → 110 base energy cost; 100% → 85% damage

• Mercenary
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Maul: 65% → 35% heal debuff

• Tech Mage
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Plasma Bolt: +1 damage per 0.28 → 0.32 Technology
  • Bludgeon: Removed damage increase; Added defense ignore (same values as current)
  • Concentration: New energy regeneration values: 10%, 12%, 14%, 16%, 18%, 20%, 22%, 23%, 24%, 25%
  • Assimilation: Improve with Support → Strength
  • Deadly Aim: Requires 24 → 16 Dexterity, 42 → 34 at max

• Blood Mage
  • Field Medic: 3 → 4 turn cooldown
  • Fireball: Added 20% stun chance; removed defense reduction
  • Blood Shield: Sacrifice 90 HP → 40 HP
  • Blood Instinct: Sacrifice 90 HP → 40 HP
  • Terrify: Improves with Support → Technology

Core Balance/Fixes

• Astral Projection: Fixed bug that was doubling Energy steal.
• Revitalization: Def/Res reduction increased to 25% from 10%.
• Health Reserve: Max heal increased to 450 and affected by Medical Mastery specifically.
• Tranquility: Affected by Medical Mastery.

Cyber Wolf Distribution

This week we were able to distribute a large batch of Cyber Wolf Weapons! The collection is nearly complete, but there are a few items that are still being refined, specifically the travel forms, armors, and helms. We certainly hope you enjoy the items you've received so far and find them worth the wait!

The following is a list of the distributed items plus the minimum Gifting scores for receiving each item.

• 10,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Dagger P
  •  Cyber Wolf Dagger E
• 15,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Greatsword P
  • Cyber Wolf Greatsword E
• 20,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf SMG P
  • Cyber Wolf SMG E
• 25,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Shotgun P
  • Cyber Wolf Shotgun E
• 75,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Bow P
  • Cyber Wolf Bow E
• 100,000 Gifting Score and Up
  •  Cyber Wolf Arsenal P
  • Cyber Wolf Arsenal E
• 125,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Bazooka P
  • Cyber Wolf Bazooka E
• 200,000 Gifting Score and Up
  • Cyber Wolf Scythe P
  • Cyber Wolf Scythe E

Infernal Slayer 2024 Preview

It's been ages since we offered a new promotional package. For the last few years, we wanted to pivot from promotional packages to battlepasses which we thought would allow everyone to earn a collection of weapons and cores. It turns out that there's still a high demand for new promotional packages! Soon, a new promotional package will emerge with a new Infernal theme!

The Infernal Weapons have always been some of the best-looking weapons in EpicDuel and I have high hopes for this set exceeding those expectations.

April Fools PvP Drops

April Fool's PvP drops have returned! Collection them all while you can!

Tags: Nightwraith

March 22, 2024

The Azrael's Cavalier Showcase Battlepass is NOW LIVE! Login now to earn the latest collection of Azrael-themed weapons, armors, vehicles, morphs, bots, and more crafted with care by Acatriel and Bido!

Good luck and happy dueling to reach level 60 of EpicDuel's latest Battlepass season!

So more of you know what you're getting into with the new bots available in this season, the skill descriptions are listed below:

• Azrael's Cavalier Bot P
  • Azrael's Cavalier Slash P: Slash through 15% of target's defenses.
  • Azrael's Cavalier Fury P: Unleash Azrael's fury, gaining 30% Rage, 25% lifesteal. 100% damage, 95% damage against 2 targets.
• Azrael's Cavalier Bot E
  • Azrael's Cavalier Slash E: Slash through 15% of target's defenses.
  • Azrael's Cavalier Fury E: Unleash Azrael's fury, gaining 30% Rage, 25% lifesteal. 100% damage, 95% damage against 2 targets.

Balance Changes

• Deflection Shield: +30% --> +20% deflection chance
• Dualism / Revolver Retribution: 70 --> 0 energy cost
• Ultra Obliteration: 70 --> 0 energy cost
• Necrotek Assault P/E: 25% --> 15% defense ignore
• Battlebot Buzzsaw P/E: 20% --> 15% defense ignore
• Bio Claw: 20% --> 15% defense ignore
• Squirrel Smash P/E: 25% --> 15% defense ignore
• Minotaur's Charge P/E: 25% --> 15% defense ignore
• Infernal Impale P/E: 100% --> 105% damage
• Techstalker Beam P/E: 20% --> 25% crit chance
• Ultra Corsair Uppercut: 20% --> 25% crit chance

Tags: Nightwraith