Best Of

Hello everyone. For the last two Banquet events I have written post-mortem design thoughts, explaining our design decisions for the event after it ended. At Summoners Fest, I was chatting with Seatin about changes to the upcoming Banquet event and he suggested this year I publish my thoughts before the event. So I welcome you all to the first Banquet pre-mortem! Mike already shared a lot of this on the recent live stream but this post should hopefully help players understand why we made the changes we made.

I am going to try to keep this post as far from editorialization as I can. Last year on a live stream I shared my personal thoughts about my excitement for the event and that wasn't well received. This post isn’t about trying to convince anybody to do anything. When the event launches you can all decide for yourselves if you want to participate or not. This post is simply to outline design changes we have made and further explain why we made them.

What is the same (or similar) to last year’s Banquet?

First I’m going to start by talking briefly about what isn’t changing, or at least isn’t changing very much. As you will see, the overall structure isn’t changing much.

• There are three Milestone events, a Solo Event, a Realm Event and an Alliance event, and every player Conqueror and above gets the same events. Generally the milestones of these events are structured the same, though the Solo Event is slightly cheaper to finish in terms of Units, halting the trend of increased costs which we have seen in recent years.
  
• There are three tiers of Banquet crystals. Conqueror and above have access to Banquet Crystals and Greater Banquet Crystals, Thronebreaker and above have access to Superior Banquet crystals (SBC).
  
• There is a box of six champions being featured as part of the event.
  
• There will be a trophy champion (Punisher) as a rare drop in the crystals and in ranked rewards.
  

What is changing?

Superior Banquet Crystal Design

Last year the biggest point of criticism was that the crystals felt bad to open. This year we have made a lot of changes to the Superior Banquet Crystals in an effort to improve the crystal opening experience.

First, we have increased the number of drops in each crystal. Last year, each SBC dropped three items, a Main Prize, some ISO, and some Gold. This year, each SBC will drop five different items. The additional drops were not factored into the value of the Main Prize, they were added on top to provide more value in the crystal. Here is the list of the drops and the rationale for why we made these changes:

1. A Main Prize - As with past Banquet crystals, there is a Main Prize drop in every crystal.
   
2. Progression Catalyst Fragments - Last year the Banquet crystal ended up being imbalanced because we thought it felt bad to pull lower tier catalysts from the crystal. This year, we have separated T6B, T3A and T5CC from the Main Prize. This allows us to balance the catalysts required for 7-star champions without players getting these lower catalysts from the Main Prize drops. (Note from Mike - I wrote T6CC instead of T5CC on the Livestream Slide for the Progression Catalyst Fragments under bucket 2. T5CC is correct.)
   
3. A small amount of 7-Star or Titan-Shards - For players still building out their 7-Star rosters, every crystal will be guaranteed to drop some champion shards in addition to the Main Prize.
   
4. Relic Alloy Fragments - We wanted Summoners to have an opportunity to progress their Relics as part of the event, but know that many players would not want to see Alloys take up the Main Prize drop slots. So we decided to simply add some Alloy Fragments to a supplementary drop.
   
5. Gold or ISO
   

Second, we wanted to create a more consistent experience with exciting rewards for more Summoners. To facilitate this, we have created a new Jubilant Crystal, which contains the most exciting stuff we have to offer. It has a 7.77% chance of dropping from every SBC, but critically, to achieve our goals, the SBC is set up to work with the Grandmaster’s Grace system. Summoners will be guaranteed one Jubilant Crystal for every 15 SBCs they open. The Jubilant Crystal includes only a single drop and does not grant any points in the event.

Ranked Rewards Design

• We have also made substantial changes to the Realm Event ranked rewards, with the goal of making them more attractive to a larger group of Summoners:
  
• We have added more granularity at the top to account for the very large discrepancy in Units spent between the 4th and 30th spots from last year.
  
• We have also added more value to the top spots, aiming to create a durable reason to chase these ranks. This includes a Rank 6 Punisher (not a typo) for the top 3 finishers, which will be the only three Rank 6 Champions that will exist in the Contest for close to a year.
  
• Including more value at the top means we are able to spread better rewards down deeper into the ranked rewards. For instance the top 600 will get a Rank 5 Rank Up Gem Crystal. Last year, Rank 4 was only awarded to the top 90 spots.
  
• We have added a number of vanity-related rewards to top spots, including First Appearance Champions and custom profile pictures (work with a Kabam artist to design your own 1 of 1 profile pic).
  
• We have added other exclusive perks meant to increase the value of ranked rewards. For example, top ranks will vote on a champion rework, and will be the only ones with access to that champion’s Ascension for an exclusive period of time.
  
• 2026 Champion Vouchers will award chosen champions as First Appearance at Rank 4 Sig 200.
  

Alliance Event Changes

Additionally, we have made a few changes to the Alliance Ranked rewards:
Similar to Solo, we’ve added much more granularity to the ranks. Last year’s event had reward buckets to top 10, then it jumped to top 5%. This year has buckets all the way to the top 200, then 1%, 3% and 5% buckets.
We also slightly increased value for Alliance ranked rewards. The focus remains on the Realm ranked rewards but there is a little more on offer in the Alliance Event as a whole.

Summary

Our main design goals for Banquet 2025 were to improve the crystal opening experience and to increase the perceived value of Realm Event ranked rewards. It’s not possible to make everyone happy, but we hope the changes we have made will improve the overall experience for all Summoners who choose to participate in the event.

Hello everyone, I am most certainly not Ackbar, but I’m going to do my best to do a livestream summary of all of the new stuff for you all!

Announcements

• Summoners Fest - Thank you!
  
• Founders’ War Saga Closing Up
  
• Time is running out on Side Quests
  
• RER Dev Diary posted 2 weeks ago
  
• AI Update Dev Diary posted last week
  
• Twitch Drops Dev Diary yesterday
  
• And more to come soon!
  

Saga Overview

NEW Saga Chase Champion - Ends 1/7
NEW Eidol Chase - Ends 1/7
Alliance War Encounter Showcase - Ending soon - 12/10!
Saga themed Meta Events - Ongoing!
Saga Incursions Event - Live now!



Deadpool Mini Tour Maze

• Mini side event
  
• Rifts
  
• Short time period - 12/3 - 12/10
  

Founders War Incursions

• Running all of this month
  
• Live now!
  
• Minions crystals
  

Summoners Fest

• Thor Rags voted as Champion Rework
  
• 7 Star will be available through Twitch Drops over time
  

Egg Objectives

• Last objective live today
  
• GET YOUR COSMIC EGG RELIC
  
• Complete Solo Objectives
  
• Open your Unusual Eggs
  
• Use your Cosmic Yolk Alloys
  
• Claim the Cosmic Egg
  
• Complete Cosmic Omelette Side Quest
  
• Defeat Howard the Duck with Tag Champions
  
• Put Relic on Venom the Duck
  

Twitch Drops

• New set of drops to all Creators Streaming MCOC this month starting on 10th - take advantage
  
• Twitch drops in 2026 will include an exclusive 7-Star Champion
  
• Will require multiple views in order to get this Champion
  

Big Thing AW Returns

• Ease the burden off the Holiday war season
  
• Updated map with more intuitive nodes
  
• Updated Solo Event
  
• 1 fight per Summoner
  

Side Quest - Taken

• December Side Quest using 2 Stars!
  
• Get 2-Star Champions via in-game mail
  
• Use those 2-Stars to defeat the Bosses in the quest
  
• There are Class Gates to guide your Champions
  
• Try to figure out which Boss is designed for who!
  
• Complete Solo Objectives to earn Rewards
  

[LINK]

Loyalty Store Clean-Up

• December 8th
  
• REMOVED the timer on the 7-Star Loyalty Crystal
  
• You can now buy as many as you want!
  
• Cleaning up the Store so it’s geared to Alliance War
  
• Keeping Alliance War Boosts & Potions
  
• Removing low tier Catalysts & Crystal Shards
  
• Unstoppable Colossus gets to stay
  

Currency Consolidation

• Inspired by Radiance
  
• Taking engagement based currency and consolidating them into one resource
  
• More consistency with the updates
  
• Expected to go live in 2026
  

Event Quest Updates

• Cleaning up the nodes in Event Quest
  
• Nodes will be clearer and easier to read
  
• Many basic changes across the board to keep in line with current Meta
  
• Valiant straight to Elder is still in progress
  
• Lower toggled difficulty is still in progress and something we’re working on
  

[LINK]


Season 35 Battlegrounds

• Vote on Discord for the different metas
  
• Open for for a few more hours
  

[DISCORD LINK]

• Cosmic Invasion Collaboration
  
• Get some 8-Bit profile pictures
  
• Cosmic Invasion Themed Title
  
• Progression Based Nexus Crystals
  

The Coliseum

• Massive new game mode
  
• Fight through multiple health bars
  
• No Revives or Potions allowed
  
• Gain XP and level up your podiums
  
• 3x Rotating Champion Tags each day
  
• Work with your Alliance for Peak Milestones
  
• Alliance version replaces AQ for that week
  
• Solo Coliseum launches in January -
  
• Solo boils down to going through health bars
  
• Alliance has additional elements and is geared towards reaching the highest possible score with 5 different Champions
  

Imperiosa

• Fractured Power Bar
  
• Starts the fight with 75% Max Power
  
• Power Locks self at the start of the fight
  
• Removed on Intercept & Combo Ending Attack
  
• Immune to Bleed, Disintegrate, & Power Drain
  
• Gains buffs dependant on level of Power
  
• Corrosion Debuff on Special 3
  
• Refreshes 3 Damaging Debuffs on Special 1
  

Punisher Rework

• Banquet Trophy Champion
  
• Indestructible Passives at 33% Health intervals
  
• Grit Passive when intercepting or punishing Special
  
• Critical Hits inflict Bleed Debuff
  
• When a Bleed expires, chance to inflict Bleed Passive
  
• Gain Physical Resistance on Light Attacks
  
• Chance to Gain Fury when gaining P.R.
  
• Gains bonuses against #Villain Champions
  
• Gains Power if Special 2 hits into the Opponent's block
  
• Specials can Crit through block
  

Jane Foster REWORK

• 100% Shock Resistance
  
• Inflicts Self-Shock Passives (Increases Attack)
  
• Fervor on Special 1 for more Shocks
  
• Transfer Shocks from self to Opponent on Special 2
  
• Heavy-Stun after Non-Combo ending attack
  
• 2 Staggers on Heavy Attack
  
• Special 3 for huge Power Gain and mega Crit Rating Increase
  

X-23 REWORK

• Very, very fun Champion to play
  
• Critical Hits inflict Passive Bleeds
  
• Ruptures against Non-Tech Bleed Immune Champs
  
• Pursuit on Intercept & Special Punish
  
• Builds Frenzy and cashes it in for different effects
  
• Eviscerating Stun for rapid nonstop Light attacks
  
• Marked Passive against Skill Champions
  

Banquet Champions

• Absorbing Man - Realm Event
  
• Kingpin - Realm Event
  
• Jane Foster - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Nimrod - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Valk - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Scorpion - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Wolverine X-23 - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Hulkling - Founders Keepers Box
  
• Punisher - Trophy Champion
  

Anniversary Calendar

• Launching December 10th at Calendar time
  
• Supply Drop - Catalysts, Rank Up Gems, Glorious Guardians Selector (featuring last year’s Champions)
  

Banquet (Asgardian Gala) - Launching December 19th

• Solo Event
  
• Realm Event
  
• Alliance Event
  
• Holiday Accolades returning - December 17th
  
• Holiday Sale - December 23rd
  
• Holiday Gift - December 24th
  
• New Year Arenas - 31st - January 7th
  

Updated Banquet Crystals

• Updated for a better Crystal opening experience
  
• Superior Banquet Crystal
  
• Each one will have five different items
  
• Main Prize
  
• T3A/T6B or T5CC Catalysts or Fragments
  
• A small amount of 7-Star or Titan Shards
  
• Relic Alloy Fragments
  
• Gold or ISO
  
• Will utilize the Grandmasters Grace system
  

The Jubilant Crystal

• Special Crystal in SBCs - Drop rate is 7.77%
  
• Few examples of rewards -
  
• Nexus Titan Crystal
  
• Full Tier 7 Basic Catalyst
  
• First Appearance Founders Keepers Crystal
  

Milestone Events

• The Net Unit Cost for Solo Event has been Decreased
  
• More Alliance Event milestones added while keeping total minimum contributions lower than the Solo Event Unit Cost
  
• Like last year, Realm Event stretch goal Milestones will increase automatically if the Community points climb high enough
  

Value Notes

• 10,800 Net Unit Cost for 3 Box Keys from all 3 Events
  
• 15,600 Net Unit Cost for Kingpin/Absorbing Man Selector in Realm Event
  

2025 Holiday Sale - 23rd - January 1st

• Bonus Items in all Unit Packs
  
• 50% Bonus Units in all Unit Packs
  
• Odin features Founders Keeper Box Keys
  
• Webstore Milestone Track
  
• Focused on Founders Keepers Items
  
• Kingpin/Absorbing Man Selectors
  
• Similar to Yondu/Skrull in Regal Ravagers
  

Ranked Rewards

• Ends January 2nd
  
• More ranked brackets and value to top spots
  
• Able to spread out better rewards deeper down the ladder of Ranked Rewards
  
• The Top 600 will get a 4-5 Rank Up Gem Crystal
  
• Last year, Rank 4 was only awarded to the top 90
  
• Vanity Related rewards to top spots as well
  
• Full breakdown coming week of the Banquet Event
  

And that's it, folks!!