Back Issues #4: Waning Moon

Once upon a time, a rogue hero took matters into his own hands, seeking to dispel evil by any means. The Collector sought to return him to The Contest... via some unlikely allies.

Introducing Back Issues #4: Waning Moon

Available 10am PT, Wednesday December 11th!

As the Contest has grown and evolved we’ve introduced many Event Quests, each with their own unique stories, and many that have expanded on the mythos of The Battlerealm and The Contest of Champions. We want to give Veteran Summoners a way to relive those moments, and newer ones that weren’t with us at the time a chance to experience the stories of the Contest that they had missed out on!

This Event Quest is available in TWO difficulties:

CLASSIC difficulty is a recreation of the original quest. While not completely 1:1, the layouts, difficulty, and dialogue are all the same as you remember. Take a stroll down memory lane and see how far you've come, or experience a quest you never got the chance to play!

VARIANT difficulty is a new spin on the quest, available for Summoners level 45 and up. This version features extreme challenge, new opponents, some minor map layout updates, and Champion Requirements that will ask you to reach deep into your roster and pick up some old favorites. This quest will test even the mightiest of Summoners, so be prepared!

The Variant Challenges!

With each Back Issue Variant Difficulty, we aim to shake up the Summoners Roster, either through implicit, or explicit Champion Requirements. This time, we’re making Summoners dig deep into their Rosters, and reviving some of your old favourites through the use of Rarity Restrictions!

Each Quest will require you to bring only certain Rarity Champions. Remember, this is permanent Content, so if you’ve lost your lower Rarity Champions over time, you’ll have time to rebuild that Roster. To assist in this, Summoners over level 45 will regain access to the “Hero Crystal” in the Misc. tab of the store, which contains 1 and 2-Star Champions.

Quest 1: 5 and 6-Star Champions Only
Quest 2: 5-Star Champions Only
Quest 3: 4-Star Champions Only
Quest 4: 3-Star Champions Only
Quest 5: 2-Star Champions Only
Quest 6: 1-Star Champions Only

New Buffs
In addition to some challenging Buffs that you’ve probably already seen around the Contest, this Variant Difficulty will introduce 4 new Buffs:

Crackling Energy:
Striking the Defender with a Contact attack puts a Passive Energy Damage over time effect on the Attacker dealing 0.5% of their max health every second for 10 seconds, stacking up to 10 times. Striking the Defender with a Non-Contact attack Removes all stacks.

Fundamentals:
The Defender has a -100% chance to use Special Attacks, instead they gain a bonus based on their Current Power:

Less than 1 Bar: Reduce all incoming Damage by 95%
1 Bar: Gain +2100 Block Penetration
2 Bars: All Attacks are Unblockable
3 Bars: All Attacks are Unblockable and Charging a Heavy Attack deals 50% of the Defender's Attack as Direct Physical Damage.

Will of Konshu:
All of Moon Knight’s passive abilities are activated, regardless of the current lunar phase.

Echo Barrier:
Defender gains an energy barrier with 15 charges. Striking the Defender, applying a Bleed effect, or applying an Armour Break effect removes a charge. The Defender is immune to all damage while the barrier has charges remaining. Charges are restored to 15 every 20 seconds.

Rewards:

Like Back Issue #3, this Quest features 6 Individual Quests over 3 Chapters, unlike Back Issues #1 and #2, which featured 9. Quest Rewards reflect this.

For completing and exploring all of the Classic quests, you earn:
Tier 2 Generic ISO x3
Tier 3 Generic ISO x16
Tier 4 Generic ISO x9
Gold x9575
Units x150
Premium Hero Crystal Shards x8000
3-Star Hero Crystal Shards x2000
Stony Core x1

For completing and exploring all of the Variant quests, you earn:
5-Star Rank 2 → 3 Gem Crystal x3
5-Star Rank 3 → 4 Gem Crystal (2015/2016 Champs Only) x3
5-Star Rank 3 → 4 Gem Crystal x1
5-Star Rank 4 → 5 Gem Crystal x1
5-Star Awakening Gem Crystal x1
5-Star Crystal x2
Tier 5 Basic Catalyst Fragments x27000
6-Star Crystal Shards x2250
5-Star Signature Stone Crystal x42
Gold x2,100,000
Units x270

EDIT: Clarified the Collector Crystal is only available to Summoners: Level 45+

EDIT: There is a typo on the Fundamentals node that is displaying the wrong damage value for when the defender charges a Heavy Attack at 3 bars of Power. The actual damage value is 50% of the Defender's Attack. We have corrected that in this announcement and are working on getting this visual error corrected within the game as well.

Comments

benshb

To those who is upset because they sold their 1* champs: Did anyone tell you to sell them? Did you watch a video where someone told you to do so? No? So you did it because YOU wanted to? Ohh I see.

Rotelly

So good up till 3.2, nodes are so lame.

LeNoirFaineant

Sick of variants why don't you make one that doesn't ignore 90% of your players it's either stupid easy or stupid hard no medium difficulty everytime a new variant comes out it only annoys me

Content that is there for 100% of the player base when they are ready for it doesn't ignore 90% of the player base. A medium difficulty would be just a regular EQ but it would be permanent. How would that make sense?

xNig

Really struggling on the deadpool boss as I don’t have ghost and ideas on how to beat deadpool or is deadpool working as intended

He’s working as intended. It’s not required to have Ghost. There are videos that will aid you on YouTube. Do a quick search and you’ll find them.

JVoorhees

Guess I'll start 100% completing the rest of the Variants...

Seraphion

Guess I'll start 100% completing the rest of the Variants...

V2 will be a lot harder. At least imo

Nojokejaym

This variant is nonsense

EBG78

To those who is upset because they sold their 1* champs: Did anyone tell you to sell them? Did you watch a video where someone told you to do so? No? So you did it because YOU wanted to? Ohh I see.

Why would an end game player ever believe that they’d need to keep their 1*’s? Kabam stopped giving them to us for a reason. Now, it seems like a money grab to me. I’ve spent 1,400 units trying to get some 1*’s to finish this Variant. From that, I’ve gotten TWO 1* champs. TWO. I could get five 3*’s for almost the same amount of units. Those two 1*’s are Juggie and Black Panther. So only one of them is worth anything.

Aleor

To those who is upset because they sold their 1* champs: Did anyone tell you to sell them? Did you watch a video where someone told you to do so? No? So you did it because YOU wanted to? Ohh I see.
Why would an end game player ever believe that they’d need to keep their 1*’s? Kabam stopped giving them to us for a reason. Now, it seems like a money grab to me. I’ve spent 1,400 units trying to get some 1*’s to finish this Variant. From that, I’ve gotten TWO 1* champs. TWO. I could get five 3*’s for almost the same amount of units. Those two 1*’s are Juggie and Black Panther. So only one of them is worth anything.

1400 units is 7 cavalier crystals (usual, not featured), so it's 7 3*+ champs

Aleor

Overall I'd say 2* and 3* chapters are the best - it's easy to have wide enough roster, you don't need to spend any valuable resources and can rank up any champ for fun or use ones you don't have. The nodes could've been more difficult, imo first 3 chapters are harder because of nodes.
As for 4.3.2, as a lot of people said already, with how limited 1* rosters are, the chapter feels more like a cashgrab

Wakandas_Finest

I’ve never sold my 1* champs yet I don’t have a 1* hulk which is the only viable option for the caustic temper node. It’s ridiculous that only 1 champ is both poison immune and procs a fury buff. Vision isn’t a real options as it will take 500+ hits per fight. Kabam really needs to fix this node. Whatever happen to kabam not wanting us to be champ dependent for content.

LeNoirFaineant

I have to say I was on the side of "it's your fault you sold" at first but reading things like @Wakandas_Finest and @Aleor has caused be to change my position a bit. There ought to be a better way for people to get 1*s. Also @P_R_I_M_E gotta admit I was wrong. Looks like it could take thousands of units to get the 1*s you need.

Snizzbar

1000 units and I've now got Scarlet Witch and Black Panther, so at least completion is possible. Personally, I think it's a shame that the 20/80 crystal wasn't the other way round - 50 units for that would have probably meant a 200 unit spend instead. I guess I can always pretend that the variant was way harder and the units were spent on revives, and I think the rewards will be worth it.

Mcord11758

I enjoyed this content a good deal. The last chapter was less enjoyable but only do to restrictions if who you could use. Exploration requires me very few items. I had concerns that I would have to rank up unneeded champs just to play this but was fortunate enough to have the needed answers in my roster already. Selling 1* champs in 50 unit crystals is a pretty ugly thing to do.

unknown

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TheTalents

I completed V4 this weekend. I actually sold my 1 stars when I first started the game but I didn't join an alliance so I was able to recoup 7 1 stars and I had vision and hulk so I could do all of V4. V4 was by far the best Variant and the most fun but it punishes players with nothing more than a cash grab to get the champions they don't have and I don't agree with that. One stars need their own crystal and shouldn't be 50 units per, based on their value.

unknown

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Gomezlink

Variant 4 the need for champions 1 * is totally unfair, any high level player no longer has these champions ... there will be the one who says: should not have sold, but the game induces you to sell, because you have this option, We sell to evolve, how to know that after 5 years will be useful? And why only this crystal the option of having a higher champion is bigger? embarrassed

Gomezlink

To those who is upset because they sold their 1* champs: Did anyone tell you to sell them? Did you watch a video where someone told you to do so? No? So you did it because YOU wanted to? Ohh I see.

there is the option, if it were not for sale, would not have the option ... ignorant

Thecurler

To those who is upset because they sold their 1* champs: Did anyone tell you to sell them? Did you watch a video where someone told you to do so? No? So you did it because YOU wanted to? Ohh I see.

The punishment doesn’t fit the crime, show mercy your honour.

Hort4

It wasn’t that long ago that there was a 2* challenge. Why would everyone think that at some point that 1* would not be needed.

LeNoirFaineant

It wasn’t that long ago that there was a 2* challenge. Why would everyone think that at some point that 1* would not be needed.

Well to be fair, progressing to a point where you have no way of getting 1*s anymore is an indication that you won't need them. Most people don't really use them for more than the first day. And some now progress past them fast enough to never pull them all even if they never sold. I loved this event but I have the 1*s necessary for it. They should reconsider their stance on making 1*s available.

unknown

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unknown

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Gomezlink

And why a crystal where the inferior champion has a smaller percentage to obtain? business are business

zuffy

Did a single pass in my second account. No chance of exploration in 3.2 since all I have is a 1* classic spidey, colossus and wolvie.

unknown

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Snizzbar

The Sunday arenas should give the hero crystals as rewards, and they should be made available in the glory or loyalty store

Matanacos

It is ludicrous. 5 years ago it was far from evident that selling champs could have these consequences.

5 years later and Uncollected... Cavalier by now, it is close to impossible to get 1* champs.

Variants are about the only interesting content left for those of us that have been here since the beginning.

If a fix to to the 1* issue is not implemented, some of us will end up bored and leaving.

World Eater

Pretty fun content , although the caustic temper path in 3.2 was pretty awful.