Update Highlights 2.0
Greetings from Plarium!
The last several updates focused on the quality of life for our players more than anything else, but 2.0 has something special in store - a brand new Arena mode. This will not be a replacement for the old Arena Battles you know and love, but rather a complementing feature that will, in time, grow into something quite different. While this update will not introduce the special kind of reward we have in mind - we are still testing matchmaking and balance to ensure the PvP experience is fun and fair - all participating players will receive something for their effort regardless. We will elaborate in the Rewards section at the end of this Update Highlight.
Without further ado, let’s dive right into it and see what glorious new carnage your Champions can unleash in the Arena Town of Velyzar!
Overview
You’ll see the first change as soon as you enter Arena Battles from the Game Modes menu. We’ve added an Arena Map, much like the ones you see in the Campaign, Dungeons, and Faction Wars modes. The old Arena Battles are still there, marked as Classic Arena - or the First Circle, as it is named on the map. What interests us this time is the Circle of Many - the Tag Team Arena - which will become available to all players of Level 35 and above.
Tapping on the Tag Team Arena icon will bring you to its menu. You should be able to navigate it easily enough, given the familiar layout. Notice how a different kind of Token is required to fight in these battles. We’ll get to that later!
For now, your Defense must be set.
Tag Team Arena Defense
The core principles of the Classic Arena remain largely unchanged. Before you start battling in Tag Arena, you need to set your Arena Defenses. But where the Classic Arena requires you to set at least 1 Champion, you will need to have at least 3 for the Tag Team Arena - a Champion of each Team. Team 1 will fight in the first battle, Team 2 in the second, and Team 3 in the third.
Note that you can use a drag & drop system, i.e. hold your finger over a Champion’s icon and drag it to the desired slot on the roster. The maximum number of Champions you can use is 12 - 4 in each of 3 Teams.
A Champion can only be used in the Tag Team Arena Defense roster once, unless you have a duplicate of them (in which case both can be used in the same Team or in different Teams). Just like in the Classic Arena, Champions used in the Defense team(s) cannot be sacrificed in the Tavern or for Fusion, nor can they be sent to the Sparring Pit or to the Champion Vault.
They can, however, be used for Classic Arena Defense and Tag Team Arena Defense at the same time!
Tag Arena Tokens
As mentioned before, Tag Team Arena Battles will require a special kind of Token to participate - Classic Arena Tokens won’t do. Here is how they’ll work.
Upon reaching Level 35 (or on the day Update 2.0 goes live for those players who are already Level 35 or higher), each player will receive 5 Tag Arena Tokens. That is the maximum number of Tokens that any one player can hold at a time. Just like in the case of the Classic Arena, any ‘overflow’ Tokens will be removed. So be sure to only use refills when your Tag Team Arena Tokens are at 0!
There is one important difference to keep in mind; where the Classic Arena Tokens are refilled at a rate of one per hour, Tag Arena Tokens are reset fully at 00:00 UTC. This effectively means that the game automatically gives you 5 Tag Arena Tokens every 24 hours. You will be able to buy a refill at the Gem Shop, but every new purchase will increase in price. This price increase also gets reset at 00:00 UTC.
Battle Tab
At their core, Tag Team Arena Battles work in a similar way to the Classic Arena. There is a list of possible opponents in the Battle tab; you can see their Defense teams and choose which opponent to face by tapping the Battle button. From there, you fill up your own Tag Team Teams to fight in each consecutive Battle (you will be able to see who they face off against) and initiate the Battle Series if you have enough Tag Arena Tokens to spare.
Should you not find a suitable opponent in the current list, you can refresh it once every 15 minutes for free or at any point after the first refresh (before the refresh ‘cooldown’ is over) for 15 Gems.
Fighting a Tag Team Arena Battle
Once the Battle starts, you will be taken to the Arena where your and your opponent’s Champions clash for glory and riches. There are no additional obstacles, no specific rules when it comes to the meat of the matter - you control a team of up to 4 Champions against an enemy team that too comprises 1-4 Champions (depending on how bold your foe is).
But where you only have to win once in the Classic Arena, here you must fight a series of 3 Battles in full, each one between new Champion teams. Whichever player wins 2 out of 3 Battles will be the overall winner, though each Battle contributes to the final score.
Any of the ongoing Battles can be skipped by tapping the Pause button and choosing Skip Battle. Of course, that will count as a defeat.
Also, keep in mind that you will not be able to fight the opponents you’ve already defeated again for 24 hours under normal circumstances. Those may only end up on your opponent list again if there are no other players to fight in your tier at that given moment.
Tag Team Arena Tiers
Every player starts with 1000 Tag Arena Points. Losing Battles will diminish these Points (to a minimum of 0), winning Battles will increase them (there is no cap on how many Points you can earn). There are 12 Tiers overall: Bronze I - IV, Silver I - IV, Gold I - IV.
Unlike the Classic Arena, there are no defined milestones that you have to reach in order to progress. Instead, a certain number of players will ascend to the next Tier every time Tag Arena Points are reset - currently, it will happen every Monday at 06:00 UTC.
The number of players in each Tier save for Bronze I is limited, and the game will choose as many contenders to progress as the Tier limit will allow based on their Tag Team Arena score. Those who have the lowest score will be demoted to the Tier a step below.
Fortunately, you can see where you stand thanks to a helpful progress bar. It’s even color-coded for your convenience: red means you will be demoted, yellow stands for remaining in the current Tier, and green heralds advancement to the next Tier! The number on the left shows how many Tag Arena Points you have, while the number on the right shows how many points the highest-ranking player in your Tier has.
If several players have the same score, whoever earned their Tag Arena Points first will get priority. I.e. if the choice is between letting one of the two players with a score of 3000 Points progress from Bronze II to Bronze III, the player who reached 3000 Points first will advance to Bronze III. Likewise, if two players have 1010 Points and one has to be moved to Bronze I, whoever scored 1010 first will remain in Bronze II while the other player will be demoted.
Rewards
There is a feature that we wanted to introduce to the game for a long while, one that our players likewise requested frequently - the ‘Arena Shop’, or Bazaar as it will be called. While it is not going to hit the servers in Update 2.0, we are happy to confirm that the Bazaar will happen in the next big Arena update.
At this point in time, we can’t reveal much in terms of specifics, nor can we give a date for this release that would be set in stone. But we can confirm that Bazaar will be closely connected to the Tag Team Arena! Further information will become available in future Update Highlights and news.
Of course, we would not want to leave our players without a reward in the meanwhile. Therefore everyone who participates in Tag Team Arena Battles will receive a special prize at the end of the testing period when Bazaar goes live. Like in the Classic Arena, the value of these prizes will depend on the Tier they’ve managed to reach.
Keep an eye on the news, we will release a separate article detailing the rewards that Raiders will receive for their participation in the Tag Team Arena in Update 2.0!
