Variants are targeted towards progressing players so they can get more resources in terms of gems and catalyst and shards . They have never been an end game content.
I do hope next variant will be an end game content with grt amount of 6* shards and gem as well.
Variants can still be for progressing players. Those progressing players being the thronebreaker players. You could shift to 5* 3-4 gems for completion per chapter (why waste the t2a), a 2-3 for completion, and 1-2 class based for 1-2. All 6*. Add in some sig stones, maybe 2 6 stars (or 2,5). And for exploration add 50% of both t6b and t3a. Difficulty equal to 7.4 with maybe somewhat higher attack values as variants typically have those compared to their respective progression.
Variants can still be for progressing players. Those progressing players being the thronebreaker players. You could shift to 5* 3-4 gems for completion per chapter (why waste the t2a), a 2-3 for completion, and 1-2 class based for 1-2. All 6*. Add in some sig stones, maybe 2 6 stars (or 2,5). And for exploration add 50% of both t6b and t3a. Difficulty equal to 7.4 with maybe somewhat higher attack values as variants typically have those compared to their respective progression.
Yes, the old variants can still be beneficial, but let's be honest. When they come out, at that point in time, they are (we're) meant to be challenging. And if the goal is to be challenging for "more experienced players" , the rewards should be appropriate for that same group of players. 2016 5* r4 gems (primarily) aren't helping experienced players at this point. 5* rank up gems, in general (possibly a few rare ones like Herc) aren't enticing to people who have multiple 6* R3 and R4 champs. So let's hope to at least see some 6* R1 and R2 gems at a minimum, and content that justifies them as rewards for any new variants that drop.
Variants can still be for progressing players. Those progressing players being the thronebreaker players. You could shift to 5* 3-4 gems for completion per chapter (why waste the t2a), a 2-3 for completion, and 1-2 class based for 1-2. All 6*. Add in some sig stones, maybe 2 6 stars (or 2,5). And for exploration add 50% of both t6b and t3a. Difficulty equal to 7.4 with maybe somewhat higher attack values as variants typically have those compared to their respective progression.
Hey look it's me! Even as a fresh uncollected that was an easy variant 💀
Variants are still relevant for developing players and the newer ones had good rewards for the release dates.
Now that the meta has shifted I’d expect new ones to have R4 materials in them and nothing 5* related but they’ve always been pitched as hard but quirky with good loot.
Just a quick history on Variant content for those that weren't around for Variant 1's release:
Variant 1 released between Acts 5 and 6. It was intended to be stepping stone content to help players acclimate to the substantially more difficult Act 6 from Act 5 and provide additional rewards along the way. Variants 2, 3, and 4 were addressed at that same kind of niche, although they reduced the difficulty from Variant 1 and saw an extremely slight buff to rewards over V1.
It wasn't until V5, Blood and Venom, that we saw a substantial buff to Variant rewards. The previous 4 iterations were all very much focused on 5* roster growth, both in champion acquisition and rank up. V5 included 5,000 6* shards for completion, as compared to previous Variants having 2,250 for exploration as well as approximately quadruple the t5b. These rewards also now include 25,000 5* shards, whereas previously it had been two fully formed basic crystals (equivalent to 20,000 shards). There have been 4 variants under this reward scheme in total. There have been updates to rank up gems and such along the way as well, but I don't think I need to get any more into that right now.
The point of this history is to show that Variant content was, at one time, considered endgame content. But this is true of Realm of Legends and Act 5 and many other areas of the game that, at the time of release, were the most challenging content in the game. The difference between Variants and those other pieces of content that have aged out of their endgame status is that Variants have been an ongoing project still aimed more or less at the same place they were targeting at their inception. It hasn't scaled up because it isn't meant to scale up. It is meant to provide players who are working their way through Act 6 with an additional piece of challenging, fun content they can attempt outside of the story mode.
It is also worth remembering that this design philosophy for the Variants originated before the nerfs to Act 6's difficulty. It was truly challenging, and so making a different kind of questing content available was important. Now, Story content is not where the most difficult challenges in the game are found anymore. So creating alternative permanent questing content to work through until you have solutions for another roadblock isn't as critical. Instead, Story mode is where the tools are gathered to take on content like EoP and Carina's Challenges. I imagine this is why Variants have fallen off the production radar a bit. With the change to story mode philosophy, Variants just aren't needed as stepping stone content anymore.
The back issue quests have been released in the order of their initial release as a monthly event quest, except Kabam skipped Rocket and Groot's Holiday Special. I wouldn't be surprised if that quest is the next back issue added, and it would make sense for them to add that in around the holidays. If I had to guess, I'd pick the second Wednesday in December as the next release date for a new variant.
Artemis108
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I do hope next variant will be an end game content with grt amount of 6* shards and gem as well.
Add in some sig stones, maybe 2 6 stars (or 2,5). And for exploration add 50% of both t6b and t3a. Difficulty equal to 7.4 with maybe somewhat higher attack values as variants typically have those compared to their respective progression.
Now that the meta has shifted I’d expect new ones to have R4 materials in them and nothing 5* related but they’ve always been pitched as hard but quirky with good loot.
Variant 1 released between Acts 5 and 6. It was intended to be stepping stone content to help players acclimate to the substantially more difficult Act 6 from Act 5 and provide additional rewards along the way. Variants 2, 3, and 4 were addressed at that same kind of niche, although they reduced the difficulty from Variant 1 and saw an extremely slight buff to rewards over V1.
It wasn't until V5, Blood and Venom, that we saw a substantial buff to Variant rewards. The previous 4 iterations were all very much focused on 5* roster growth, both in champion acquisition and rank up. V5 included 5,000 6* shards for completion, as compared to previous Variants having 2,250 for exploration as well as approximately quadruple the t5b. These rewards also now include 25,000 5* shards, whereas previously it had been two fully formed basic crystals (equivalent to 20,000 shards). There have been 4 variants under this reward scheme in total. There have been updates to rank up gems and such along the way as well, but I don't think I need to get any more into that right now.
The point of this history is to show that Variant content was, at one time, considered endgame content. But this is true of Realm of Legends and Act 5 and many other areas of the game that, at the time of release, were the most challenging content in the game. The difference between Variants and those other pieces of content that have aged out of their endgame status is that Variants have been an ongoing project still aimed more or less at the same place they were targeting at their inception. It hasn't scaled up because it isn't meant to scale up. It is meant to provide players who are working their way through Act 6 with an additional piece of challenging, fun content they can attempt outside of the story mode.
It is also worth remembering that this design philosophy for the Variants originated before the nerfs to Act 6's difficulty. It was truly challenging, and so making a different kind of questing content available was important. Now, Story content is not where the most difficult challenges in the game are found anymore. So creating alternative permanent questing content to work through until you have solutions for another roadblock isn't as critical. Instead, Story mode is where the tools are gathered to take on content like EoP and Carina's Challenges. I imagine this is why Variants have fallen off the production radar a bit. With the change to story mode philosophy, Variants just aren't needed as stepping stone content anymore.
Of course, I'm just speculating.