Alliance Quest Season 9.5 Update

Hello Summoners, we have another round of exciting updates for you for the Season 9.5 update! It has been a long time since Maps 5 & 6 were released and we identified some pain points with the design that we wanted to act on. We want to encourage players to move up into higher maps to receive better rewards but we need to assist them in the process. We also want to freshen up champions on our maps so we swapped in newer champions across Maps 2-6, and removed Hidden Nodes from Maps 4 & 5.

With the size of the scope to do this, we decided not to change any Mini/Final Bosses on any Map, and Map 7 received no changes this time around. Below is a list of the changes we made for each map:

Map 2:

• Swapped some encounters for newer champions.
  

Map 3:

• Swapped some encounters for newer champions.
  

Map 4:

• Swapped some encounters for newer champions.
  
• Removed Hidden Nodes (Local buffs were placed where some hidden nodes used to be).
  
• Changed a buff on the Variation 3 - Nebula Mini-Boss Nodes.
  
• Section 1: Limber (10%) changed to Steady Perseverance -1.
  
• Section 2: Limber (10%) changed to Steady Perseverance - 2.
  

The Map 5 Redesign

We changed a lot but we focused on a few things. We wanted to keep the feel of the old map so we mostly kept its shape but made it symmetrical while changing the following:

We reduced the total number of paths in sections 1 & 2: With the reduction in paths players now have access to more flex players to help out where an alliance member may be struggling. Less total paths mean more opportunity to back people up and give alliances that don't run full 10 player Battle Groups an opportunity to compete here.

• Section 1: 8 paths reduced to 6.
  
• Section 2: 8 paths reduced to 6.
  
• Section 3: Same as before.
  

Total Energy for map Completion:
Map 5 Total Energy: 157 Energy reduced to 132 (25 fewer Energy).

We reduced the total number of encounters:
Map 5 Encounters: 112 encounters reduced to 97 (15 fewer Encounters)

• Encounter consistency: Encounters should now feel more consistent with usually only 2 class types on individual lane nodes. You will see more champ variety on Shared path nodes (Any node where paths intersect).
  

Balancing of individual paths:

• Each path within a Section should now feel more balanced to one another. Some paths may be longer than others but those paths are intended to have multiple players traverse them. This is where Flex players can assist.

Hidden Node Removal & Buff Updates:

• Hidden Node Removal: We removed Hidden Nodes. Some of the locations where Hidden Nodes used to be will now have a new Local node. You will see a few more Local nodes added between each section alongside tuning buffs.
  

Buff Consistency: Map 4 has only a few buffs on its paths so we wanted to step the challenge up slightly by adding a few extra buffs while also adding Tuning buffs to increase stat-based difficulty. Buffs on Map 5 will now be laid out more consistently than its previous version. See details below:
Section 1:

• 1 Individual Lane buff.
  
• 1 Shared Lane buff.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 50% Iso-Infused (+50% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: 50% Health.
  

Section 2:

• 2 Individual Lane buffs.
  
• Up to 1 Shared lane buff.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 75% Iso-Infused (+75% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: 75% Health.
  

Section 3:

• 3 Individual Lane buffs.
  
• 2 Shared Lane buffs.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 75% Iso-Infused (+75% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: Iso-Infused (+75% Attack + Health).
  

Link Node Updates: We decided to also make Link nodes between each section more consistent so Link nodes outgoing to Mini or Final boss nodes will be the same across sections. Different paths will still hold different Link Nodes.

We've built a Google Sheet with all of the info that you need for Map 5! Check it out Here!

The Map 6 Redesign:

We followed a similar approach to the Map 6 update. We wanted to keep the feel of the old map by keeping some of its layout similar while making it symmetrical:

We reduced the total number of paths in each section here: With the reduction in paths players now have access to more flex players to help out where an alliance member may be struggling. Less total paths mean more opportunity to back people up and give alliances that don't run full 10 player Battle Groups an opportunity to compete here at a higher level and obtain better rewards than Map 5.

• Section 1: 8 paths reduced to 6.
  
• Section 2: 8 paths reduced to 6.
  
• Section 3: 10 paths reduced to 8.
  

Total Energy for map Completion:

• Map 6 Total Energy: 166 Energy reduced to 143 (23 fewer Energy).
  

We reduced the total number of encounters:

• Map 6 Encounters: 118 encounters reduced to 108 (9 fewer Encounters).
  
• Encounter consistency: Encounters on this map will be catered to incentivize players to play into the Class-based buffs they find on their lanes. Roughly half of the Defenders on paths will offer a Class Advantage for the player with the remaining having no advantage/disadvantage.
  

Balancing of individual paths:

• Each path within a Section should now feel more balanced to one another. Some paths may be longer than others but those paths are intended to have multiple players traverse them. This is where Flex players can assist.
  

Buff Updates:

• Buff Theming: While we want Map 6 to stand out we also want to start prepping players for their next challenge, Map 7. Map 7 holds a lot of specific RPG and of mechanic-based restrictions so Map 6 begins to prep players’ mindsets & planning strategies for this. We opted to theme the map around Dual Class-Based Weakness buffs which weaken the player's Attack by 50% if they are not of the intended class. We also reuse the same Dual Class buffs in each section to make planning Map 6 easier.
  
• Note: We targeted each class twice with the 6 different Dual Class buffs chosen so each class gets their time to shine evenly on the map.
  

Buff Consistency: We also decided to maintain buff consistency while increasing the challenge from Map 5. To do this Map 6 will step its local buff placements from a few on a lane to one on every fight alongside tuning buffs for each section. See details below:
Section 1:

• Local, Dual Class, & Tuning buffs on each fight.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 75% Iso-Infused (+75% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: 75% Health.
  

Section 2:

• Local, Dual Class, & Tuning buffs on each fight.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 100% Champion Boost (+100% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: 100% Health.
  

Section 3:

• Local, Dual Class, & Tuning buffs on each fight.
  
• Tuning Buffs:
  
• Individual Lanes: 100% Champion Boost (+100% Attack + Health).
  
• Shared Lanes: 100% Health.
  

Link Node Updates: We decided to also make Link nodes between each section more consistent so Link nodes outgoing to Mini or Final boss nodes will be the same across sections. Different paths will still hold different Link Nodes.

We've built a Google Sheet with all of the info that you need for Map 6! Check it out here!