What’s next? Battle Arena 0.5 Preview
The work on the next Battle Arena update is going full-steam ahead. It’s time for us to tell you what we’re working on right now!
When planning for the next update, we pick one core feature — the one, that will give us biggest push forward. Say, for 0.4 it was King of the Hill — a new game mode that is dynamic, focused and familiar enough for everyone to hop on.
What will be the big thing this time?
Let’s not wait any longer and talk about it!
Core feature: Quests
Currently, Battle Arena lacks meaningful long and short term goals as well as solid rewards to reinforce them. This is where Quests come in handy. These are concrete tasks you can complete in battles to receive some cool stuff for your efforts.
In some regards Quests should also teach your teammates to play better. “Win x battles”, “use your ultimate y times”, “deal z damage” — these Quests are simple enough so anyone can follow them, but they also nudge newer players towards playing the right way.
On the right side you see short daily tasks that will give you some additional resources or items.
On the left — your next “big“ story to tackle. In the end of it you’ll receive a new hero, a big bunch of resources or something entirely else. Who knows what it might be?
Clarity improvements
0.4 has shown us that sometimes goals of the game are not conveyed clearly enough. To establish them better, we double down on visual indications: think, pieces of crystal chipping off as its energy gets lower, helpful announcements like “Your enemies have captured the tower” and so on.
Additionally, we sort through audio once again, making the game sound better and… consistent-er, let’s put it this way.
New Hero: Mar’Shaq
Yes. Sure. Of course. We know you’re going to call him Shaq for short.
And, mind, we’re not going to stop you.
Designing Mar’Shaq, we thought what hero archetype Battle Arena currently lacks the most. It happened to be control support — the one that supports not by saving teammates, but by rendering opponents helpless.
Shaq’s kit is based around setting up the ground for his teammates: he locks down the enemies and turns the ground around him into a poisonous bog. But his most important trait are his hooky vines: using them, Mar’Shaq catches fleeing opponents or closes the distance by pulling himself to the walls.
You’ll see him in action soon!
New Hero: Gerome
Gerome is just too good at killing. So good that he grew tired, retired from work and started living a peaceful life of civilian. The fact you can see him in action in Battle Arena is nothing short of amazing. Can you have any more luck than that?
Gerome is a classic burst assassin. Unlike Aryla, he doesn’t have any stealth abilities, but the pattern is similar: find the right moment, go in before enemies manage to lock you down, do damage, jump out, rince, repeat.
New map: Glacial Coliseum
Original Battle Arena map has two clearly separated sections: outer ring and inner ring. It’s like two worlds: what’s happening in one section almost always stays a secret for everyone in another.
We want new map to feel more open. Walls here subtly lead you to the center of the map creating more skirmishes — both accidental and not.
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We plan to finish with this updade by the beginning of June. How does it sound? Good? Bad? Just alright?
