Item Updates

Happy Saturday Patrons!

As mentioned in the previous post, there were a large amount of item changes made since the last open test. The updated list of all the items is finalized and ready to be presented to you as well as some insights into some of the reasons changes were made. These are the iterations of all the items as they will be seen during the open test period in just a few short weeks!

One of the most impactful changes made across all items was the philosophy around gold costs. Previously Tier 2 items were roughly 50% of the cost of the full Tier 3 item and did not take into account Tier 1 pieces. This led to a larger gold cost gap between Tier 2 and Tier 3 items. This felt unhealthy and did not feel smooth and natural in the gameplay loop. To fix this, gold costs were adjusted so that Tier 2 item gold costs were 50% of the remaining costs once you owned a Tier 1 item. Now it is easier to determine how much gold you need to purchase your next tier without needing to search the shop. Item purchases also occur at predictable time intervals that overall has led to more consistent and reliable gameplay.

The second most impactful change we made was large scale stat modifications to bring a healthier Time To Kill. The game got to a point where low health/high dps Myths died in 2-3 shot but they were unable to kill tanks even if undisturbed for an entire teamfight, regardless of item builds. We lowered the overall tank stats available via items in a full build, but also lowered their average prices to compensate. Damage items received lowered Attack Speed and Physical Power values. It was at this point we introduced the reworked Spear and Axe item trees which introduced healthier bruiser itemization and gave Carry Myths better access to Penetration items. 

The Spear and Axe item trees have been completely reworked and their primary stats have been reshuffled. Axes now primarily focus on Physical Power and Attack Speed with improved Cleave damage. Spears now focus on Physical Penetration and Physical Power, with a new sub stat of Critical Strike Chance in part of the tree. 

New Spear Tier 3 items:

-Pennie's Pen

-Shield Piercer

-Vorpal Spear

-Spear of Krito

-Spear of Dearg

New Axe Tier 3 items:

-Axe of Calamities

-Flame Tongue Axe

-Giant Slayer Axe

-Quarterings Edge

With the addition of Exiel, we needed proper assassin itemization so we introduced the Shurikens item tree which focuses on Physical Power and Ability Haste. These items however, are not exclusive to assassins and can bring benefit to other Myths in specific scenarios as well. Dragon Shuriken sacrifices early power spikes in an effort to capitalize on unique kills and scale harder into the late game. Viper Shuriken is an anti-CC item that empowers your basic attacks for a duration after blocking an instance of hard CC. Butterfly shuriken adds more burst damage with a decaying movement speed buff on proc.

The second new item tree being introduced in this test is the Artifacts! Some of you older supports may remember this tree existing in the past and was removed due to designs that were unhealthy for the game. The tree has been repurposed and reintroduced as items mainly for supports. There are 5 new Tier 3 items that empower allys in a variety of ways from bonus damage, bonus stats and bonus healing. 

New Artifact Tier 3 items:

-Ivir's Boon

-Hyper Drive

-Cursed Gift

-Splintered Jewel

-Ora'ias Stone

There are also a large amount of new and reworked Tier 3 items:

-Fool's Curse (New)

-Redemption Gauntlets (New and Reworked)

-Ring of Protection (New)

-Heaven's Blade (Reworked)

-Medusa's String (Reworked)

-Leyline Shroud (Reworked)

-Stalkers Edge (New, previously known as Vampire Scythe)

-Cryogenic Cannon (Reworked)

-Alvion's Shield (Reworked)

-Holo Shield (Reworked)

-Staff of Anubis (Reworked)

-Thunder Bowblade (Reworked)

-Spiked Boots (Reworked)

-Perseus' Warding (Removed)

Some of these were reworked due to being unhealthy (Medusa's String and Heaven's Blade), while others were reworked due to being too niche (Holo Shield, Alvion's Shield, Cryo Cannon). We want all items to have a place in the game. While we know that some items are still niche to our current roster, we are hoping as we introduce more Myths these items will find a home. As we continue developing the game, we will continue to make adjustments to current items and add new ones when required in an effort to lead to the healthiest gameplay we possibly can. We want items to feel strong and hold a place into the game while not being so overbearing that they become the main balance factor for gameplay. We know some items will work particularly well with certain characters over others and will tweak the items or characters as needed where it applies. We will also closely watch any items that are performing too well on more characters than intended and take action accordingly on that item.

Here is the doc; linked to all the changes: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PmUkaE3CdhHZgOn6NRgAUt-X2pqIeLx-5VsiHdV4Ne8/edit?usp=sharing

Be on the lookout for some more gameplays posted on Patreon this week!

Thanks all,

Undying Games ~~