Update 2.4 introduces Baptiste, the soul-reaper, and announces Double Glory weekends all update long. Read on for new skins, new chests and all the changes coming April 26.
NEW HERO: BAPTISTE
‘The Passing of the Gendarme’
Baptiste dictates battle by striking fear into the heart of his enemies. Reaping the souls of his opponents, he both sustains himself and empowers his attacks and abilities. He commands his army of shades to either lock down unsuspecting victims or terrorize entire teams, forcing them to flee from him.
Read on for Baptiste’s abilities …
HERO ABILITIES
Reap (Heroic Perk)
Baptiste steals soul fragments through combat and is healed for each soul fragment acquired. Basic attacks and abilities generate soul fragments. Once Baptiste has collected four soul fragments he becomes empowered for four seconds, increasing the damage of his basic attacks and abilities. While empowered, Baptiste no longer generates additional soul fragments.
Bad Mojo (A)
Baptiste pulls a vial of liquid from his vest and throws it. The vial explodes upon reaching its target or when colliding with an enemy. Enemies near the explosion take damage and are slowed.
Ordained (B)
Baptiste ordains a target enemy, damaging them and creating an ethereal prison around them. If the ordained target leaves the area, they are stunned and take additional damage.
Fearsome Shade (Ultimate)
Baptiste summons waves of shade that terrorize enemies caught in their path. Enemies struck by the shade run from the source in fear and take damage each second.
NEW HERO SKINS
‘ELITE FORCE’ SAW (RARE)
No one has seen more combat than ‘Elite Force’ SAW. Will his skills be enough to save his buddies deep within the Halcyon Well? Read the exciting conclusion to the ‘Elite Force’ trilogy!
CHECK HIM OUT IN GAME:
MODEL CHANGES
- Environmentally sealed ballistic armor and mask
- Rotary coilgun accelerator
- Brand new tomahawk
ALTERNATE FATE LORE
Part I: The Voices
Part II: Disarm!
Part III: Pucker Factor
WALLPAPERS
‘RED LANTERN’ FLICKER (EPIC)
It’s never too early to prepare for the Red Lantern Festival. Follow ‘Red Lantern’ Flicker’s delicious dumpling recipes for good luck all year long!
CHECK HIM OUT IN GAME:
MODEL & EFFECT CHANGES
- Flicker is now an adorable pot-bellied red panda!
- Bamboo conical hat
- Paper lantern with festive red glow
- Brand new red smoke cloud effects
- Flame effect on Binding Light
ALTERNATE FATE LORE
Flicker’s Best Red Lantern Festival Dumpling Recipes
WALLPAPERS
‘CHAMPION’S FATE’ BLACKFEATHER (LEGENDARY)
Blackfeather’s past has been shrouded in mystery … until now. Read on to discover more about ‘Champion’s Fate’ Blackfeather — his flashiest look yet.
CHECK HIM OUT IN GAME:
MODEL & EFFECT CHANGES
- Blademaster’s Daughter ringed sword
- Black feather cape
- Bursting black feather attacks
- Winged dragon-head pauldrons
- Bladed armor and black leather pants
- Flashy violet and gold ability and attack effects
- Tumbling, spinning, feather bursting Rose Offensive
- Brand new ornate hearts for Heartthrob stacks
- New animations to accommodate new effects
ALTERNATE FATE LORE
WALLPAPERS
‘NIGHT SHADOW’ TAKA (SPECIAL EDITION)
You’ve waited long enough. ‘Night Shadow’ Taka is back with brand new special edition changes. Read on to discover how the escaped assassin came upon his blazing, molten metal blades!
MODEL CHANGES:
- Special edition change:Crimson Shadow Gythian armor
- Power-cooled respirator mask and night-vision eyepiece
- Special edition change: Blue ion arc-blades
- Kaku turns Taka into a fox in a robo-box
- Flashy molten metal spark effects
- Redesigned ability animations
ALTERNATE FATE LORE
WALLPAPERS
SKINS & SPECIAL CHESTS RELEASE CALENDAR
With all the amazing skins coming in Update 2.4, we wanted to make sure everyone knew how and when to get the skins that they want.
APRIL 26 – UPDATE 2.4 RELEASE DAY
The following skins will be available at the same time directly for ICE:
- Elite Force SAW (Rare) 900 ICE
- Red Lantern Flicker (Epic) 1499 ICE
Night Shadow Taka (Special Edition) and Champion’s Fate Blackfeather (Legendary) will have normal drop chances from both the Rare and Epic Mystery chests.
APRIL 29 – TAKA & BLACKFEATHER CHESTS
Starting on April 29, new Mystery chests featuring the Night Shadow Taka (Special Edition) and Champion’s Fate Blackfeather (Legendary) skins will be introduced.
CHAMPION’S FATE CHEST
Available for 1049 ICE from Saturday, April 29 at 5PM PDT until Wednesday, May 10 at 11:59AM PDT.
- Unlocks a random skin with a 1-in-5 chance of unlocking the Champion’s Fate Blackfeather skin!
- Unlocks a random hero guaranteed.
- ICE, Glory, Opals, Keys and Essence payouts are similar to the Epic Mystery Chest, so the 1 MILLION ICE jackpot can be won!
Champion’s Fate Blackfeather will be available for direct ICE unlock on Wednesday, May 10 at 12PM PDT for 3599 ICE.
NIGHT SHADOW CHEST
Available for 1099 ICE from Wednesday, May 10 at 5PM PDT until Wednesday, May 17 at 11:59AM PDT.
- Unlocks a random skin with a 1-in-5 chance of unlocking the Night Shadow Taka Special Edition skin!
- Unlocks a random hero guaranteed.
- ICE, Glory, Opals, Keys and Essence payouts are similar to the Epic Mystery Chest, so the 1 MILLION ICE jackpot can be won!
Night Shadow Taka’s Special Edition skin will be available for Opals unlock on Wednesday, May 17 at 12PM PDT for 500 Opals.
Four Double Glory Weekends are Coming!
GET READY WITH DOUBLE GLORY WEEKENDS!
We want you to have as much Glory as possible when Talents hits, so we’re rolling out four Double Glory Weekends to stock up:
- Friday, April 28 – Sunday, April 30
- May 5-7
- May 12-14
- May 19-21
All Double Glory weekends start at 5PM PDT on Friday and run for 48 hours, expiring each Sunday at 4:59PM PDT.
WHAT ARE THESE ‘TALENTS’ YOU SPEAK OF?
Talents is a new progression system coming soon to Vainglory, which is exclusive to BRAWL game modes such as Blitz and Battle Royale. You’ll be able to spend Glory to upgrade hero abilities, making them statistically better, more fun and often crazier. We’re doing things we’d never do in the “Classic” mode of Vainglory — and the result (in internal playtests) is some of the most entertaining and extreme matches of Vainglory we’ve ever played.
We can’t wait to get Talents into your hands … but in the meantime, play as much as possible during Double Glory Weekends so that you’re good to go when this big milestone hits.
HERO BALANCE CHANGES
ADAGIO
AGENT OF WRATH
Enemies afflicted by Adagio’s Arcane Fire were able to be taken down far too quickly. This small nudge should make carry Adagio less punishing. —Zekent
- Arcane Fire Bonus down from 10-20-30-40-60 + 45% crystal power to 5-15-25-35-55 + 40% crystal power
BARON
JUMP JETS
These changes are intended to make Baron’s gameplay feel much smoother without changing his intended power spikes. —Zekent
- The double attack after using this ability is now automatic upon acquiring a target
- Cooldown reduction per basic attack down from 15% to 12.5%
BLACKFEATHER
STATS
With the attack speed adjustments in Update 2.3, Blackfeather had a tough time applying his Heartthrob stacks to his foes. —Zekent
- Attack speed up from 100-111% to 100-122%
FLICKER
WILLOW WHISPER
These changes allow Flicker to more easily activate his perk and pressure his enemies. Be sure to pick up vision items when matched up against a Flicker! —Zekent
- This perk will no longer time out while in brush
- Taking damage from lane minions no longer stops this perk
MOONCLOAK
Reducing some of the frustration tied to this ability where the initial startup of the stealth would often be unintentionally canceled by a basic attack or ability. —Zekent
- This ability will now attempt to re-stealth heroes affected while its duration is active
- Charge time up from 1.0 to 1.2
FORTRESS
TRUTH OF THE TOOTH
With the recent buffs to Fortress’ cooldowns, this ability was able to output far too much damage. —Zekent
- Damage down from 40-80-120-160-240 to 20-60-100-140-220
LAW OF THE CLAW
Between the bleed stacks and the base damage of this ability, Fortress was able to contribute too easily in fights. This change should bring him back in line. —Zekent
- Damage down from 100-150-200-250-300 to 70-115-160-205-250
KOSHKA
TWIRLY DEATH
While Koshka is meant to be an early game powerhouse, she was a bit too overwhelming after picking up a few items. —Zekent
- Empowered attack crystal ratio down from 140% to 120%
LYRA
PRINCIPLE ARCANUM
Lyra’s basic attacks were dealing a bit too much damage in the early game, forcing her opponents to play too passively. —Zekent
- First Missile damage from 55-90 to 50-85
- Second Missile damage from 65-175 to 60-170
IDRIS
DIVERGENT PATHS
These changes should grant Idris a few more item options to more readily activate his perk in addition to granting his Crystal path more consistent damage. —Zekent
- Both weapon and crystal paths threshold down from 125 to 120
- Crystal path basic attack crystal ratio up from 90% to 100%
REIM
STATS
Reim has upgraded his walking stick and can now hobble around even faster! —Zekent
- Base movement speed up from 3.1 to 3.2
RONA
INTO THE FRAY
Raging berserkers are best suited in the middle of fights. A small bump to Rona’s cooldown should keep her in there much more easily. —Zekent
- Cooldown down from 14-13-12-11-10 to 13-12-11-10-9
SAW
SPIN UP
SAW’s attack speed was hit too much in the previous update, this should help bring him back into the limelight. —Zekent
- Attack speed per stack up from 15% to 18%
SKAARF
STATS
A bit more firepower for our favorite dragon should help him fare better in the early game. —Zekent
- Raise base weapon from 74-148 to 80-154
FAN THE FLAMES
Some dragons just want to see the world burn. —Zekent
- Damage per second increased from 5 to 10
ITEM BALANCE CHANGES
Stormcrown
- Damage to heroes down from 20% to 15%
- Damage to non-heroes from 60-160 to 40-140
Stormguard Banner
- Damage to heroes down from 20% to 15%
- Damage to non-heroes from 30-80 to 20-70
ALSO …
The following Update 2.4 changes were inadvertently omitted from this article when originally published on April 24:
STARTING GOLD
In Ranked and Casual matches, players now start with two Halcyon Potions and 600 gold instead of 650 gold.
Note: Halcyon Potions can be sold at full price to replace them with a Scout Trap or Flares, as needed.
ABILITY DESCRIPTIONS
All hero ability descriptions have been overhauled to lead with an easily understandable summary, followed by detail in bullet points. Descriptions also included colored keywords for emphasis.
NEW ACADEMY VIDEOS
Watch new and improved entry-level Academy videos. New intermediate and advanced videos will arrive in future updates, as well as video guides from Vainglory8 pro players.
UPGRADE INDICATORS
It’s now easier to upgrade your abilities during a match, and a gold indicator will suggest which ability to upgrade next. No more accidentally triggering your ultimate when all you wanted to do was level up your ability!
PRESENTING: CHESTS!
When you open a chest, you’ll see a new dedicated, animation-rich rewards screen.
BLITZ VS BOTS
Play solo and co-op bots in Blitz and hone your skills.
HIDE BUILD SELECTOR
Getting triggered by the Build Selector at the beginning of each match? Disable it in app settings.
TURN OFF VIBRATE (ON PHONES)
If you don’t like the buzzing, turn it off in app settings.
BUGS & IMPROVEMENTS
- Hotfix: Corrected an issue causing certain heroes’ basic attacks to interact improperly with their ability cooldowns. (Looking at you, Alpha!)
- Kestrel now shows her arrow count and reload timer in a white meter.
- Flicker now shows his stealth charge-up in brush in a white meter.
- Krul now shows his Shadows Empower Me charge-up in brush in a white meter.
- Disabled swiping the mini-map to offset the camera while dead.
- Nullwave Gauntlet now applies properly when activated on a hero twice.
- Fixed a typo in Phinn’s Polite Company tips section.
- Known 2.4 bugs:
- Tornado Trigger: total cost down from 2800 to 2600 gold.
- Blitz Hero Select sorted alphabetically instead of by role
- Role indicators removed from Blitz
Get ready to reap the souls of your enemies during the Double Glory weekends all May long. Baptiste and Update 2.4 arrive on April 26. Join us live from The Lair at 8AM PDT for the downtime stream on twitch.tv/vainglory.