Forward

Hello, Summoners!
We have recently been gathering data and Summoner feedback about Alliance Quest with the intention of making some changes to improve the Summoner experience. We have elected to make the following changes with the intention of alleviating frequently reported pain points for Maps 6 and 8.

Changes will be in place when the next AQ event goes live this weekend. More changes are in the works and we’ll have additional information to share in the future.

Map Changes

Map 6 (Variation 2):

Jabari Panther Mini-Boss: 

Section 1:

• Removed: Bob and Weave - 3
• Added: Vital Strikes - 1

Section 2:

• Removed: Bob and Weave - 3
• Changed: Vital Strikes - 2 > Vital Strikes - 3

Reasoning: Her win rate was quite high. She is a decent defender on her own so we decided to trim the difficulty. 

Map 8 (All Variations):

Final Boss Changes

Scorpion:

• Added: SSStylish!!! - 2:
• ‘Landing Critical Hits grant the Attacker 2 Combo’

Reasoning: Reaching the needed combo count on top of the buff combinations was quite difficult. We added a Skill-focused buff that will assist Summoners to get around Scorpion's evade mechanic. 

Toad: 

• Added: Repeat Offender - Taunt:
• ‘Landing the same type of Basic Attack twice in a row inflicts the Defender with a non-stacking Taunt Debuff for 3 seconds.’

Reasoning: Even though Toad's AI wasn’t changed, some Summoners were reporting that the AI was playing passively which resulted in Toad throwing fewer special attacks and backing Summoners into the corner. This Buff should help Summoners by having the AI throw Specials more often.

Section 1:

Changes

Path: Shared path 3/4/5

Nodes: 5, 12, 29, 36, 37, 47, 48, 54
Change: Removed from all of the shared path fights: PULL! (Cut):

Reasoning: We decided to remove PULL! As there were already two other damage-limiting Buffs (Flux Dispersal + Right Back At It - 2) on this shared path identity. Removing PULL! opens up a large number of counters as any champ will now be able to compete against this node combination. 

Path: 7

Nodes: 

• 56 (Ronin)
• 65 (Hulkbuster)
• 73 (Venompool)
• 72 (Mysterio > Doctor Octopus)
• 98 (Red Skull)
• 91 (Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) > Elektra)
• 88 (Yondu)

Stellar Genetics > While the Iron is Hot (Buff change)

While the Iron is Hot:

• ‘Whenever the Defender is struck while their back is against the wall, the Attacker gains an indefinite Prowess Buff increasing their Special Attack damage by 20%. Max 10 stacks. These Prowesses are consumed on Special Attack activation. The Defender's Defensive Power Gain rate is increased by 5% for each active Prowess on the Attacker up to 50%.’

Reasoning: Persistent Pressure & Diss Track are fairly limiting buffs on their own so we decided to let Summoners have more free reign to choose who they bring into the fight. Opening up more champion options also provides more value to the Cross fight for that path (Unyielding Punishment).

Champ Changes

Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) > Masacre

Path: 4

Node: 17

Reasoning: Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) evade ask was too much when combined with the Path buffs (Hard Head + No Hit-M...ercy (Passive) - 2 + Fighting Dirty)

Black Widow (Claire Voyant) > Gambit

Path: Shared path 3/4/5

Node: 29

Reasoning: The main reason for her change was to do with limited Class advantage counters when combined with the PULL! Buff which was swapped above. We decided to swap her out as that buff combination is somewhat hard and Gambit should provide a better matchup. 

Yellowjacket > Sentry

Path: Shared path 3/4/5

Node: 36 (Shared path node on lanes 3/4/5)

Reasoning: Same as above. The main reason was this champ stacked up with the previous PULL! Path buffs. We decided to swap Yellowjacket out as that path buff combination is fairly hard. Sentry should provide a better matchup. 

Silver Surfer > Guillotine 2099

Path: 6

Node: 64

Reasoning: The Cross Fight Buff (Missing Fixations) grants Miss for the Summoner to utilize but Silver Surfer can trigger Vigilance on his Special Attack 1 which is the better Special for Summoners to dodge.

Mysterio > Doc Ock

Path: 7

Node: 72 (lane 7)

Reasoning: Mysterio has a number of tough RPG counters within his own kit and when stacked up with the other path buffs (Persistent Pressure + Stellar Genetics (Cut for While the Iron is Hot) + Diss Track) he had a high win rate. He was tougher than we wanted.

Section 2:

Champ Changes

Guardian > Mantis

Path: Shared path 6-10

Node: 71

Reasoning: Guardians Auto-Block mechanic forces the player to bring in Armor Break or Nullify to finish the fight quickly but it's still possible without it. When combined with the Dawn of Protection modifier, though, the player can’t land a Special Attack to reset the protection stacks thus resulting in a bad interaction. We aim for Boss Killer Cross Fight matchups to be non-RPG dependent so we decided to swap him for Mantis here. Mantis has better RPG-specific counters but is more open to anyone as a counter.

Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) > Elektra

Path: 7

Node: 91

Reasoning: Spider-Man (Stealth Suit) evade RPG requirement didn’t pair well when combined with the Path buffs (Persistent Pressure + Stellar Genetics (Cut for While the Iron is Hot) + Diss Track)

Section 3: 

Champ Changes

Iron Man (Silver Centurion) > Rogue

Path: 6

Node: 114

Reasoning: Silver Centurion didn’t fit into the intended Summoner counter champions for the path buffs (Atomic Overclock (Intended Summoner champs = Tech or Science) + Nerves Of Steel - 3 + Encroaching Stun). We decided Rouge would be a good challenge with the paired path buffs that are also countered by the intended Summoner roster classes.

Wong > Sentinel

Path: Shared path 5-8

Node: 115

Reasoning: He requires the Summoner to land heavy attacks but has Purify, making this fight a tough matchup. He was more difficult than we wanted him to be.

Guillotine 2099 > Sorcerer Supreme

Path: 6

Node: 122

Reasoning: Guillotine 2099 didn’t fit into the intended Summoner counter champions for the path buffs (Atomic Overclock (Intended Summoner champs = Tech or Science) + Nerves Of Steel - 3 + Encroaching Stun) so we swapped her for Sorcerer Supreme which is countered by the intended Summoner roster classes.

Ikaris > Captain Britain

Path: Shared path 5-8

Node: 137

Reasoning: The champions you would want to get the Boss killer Cross Fight with didn’t pair well when fighting against Ikarus. Class advantage against Toad is Tech and Ikaris counters that class.