SunWu

Greetings Skylords!

It's been two weeks already since our last community update so it's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!
State of the Project
It has been a while since we have released an update to the live server. We'd like to take this opportunity to mention a lot of work is going on behind the scenes to bring you some cool stuff in the future. New card development is going well, although it will still take quite a while for them to be ready. We are also making great progress on our balancing patch on the test-server and hope to bring this to live servers soon, resulting in a ton of changes for both PvP and PvE. Our new game modes are also steadily progressing; we are currently working on bosses for our new Defence rPvE mode, and are still working on adding the mono-factions to rPvE. The BattleArena fun PvP mode is currently being fine-tuned and will probably be the first of those to be complete. We are not able to give you release dates on any of these features yet, but we do want you to know we are still working on them for many hours each week and Skylords Reborn is still going strong.

Here are some other things we are working on:
 
Map Editor: clean-up
We are doing a big clean-up in the Map Editor that will make it easier to work with.
All the units have been organized in a way that if you use these squads or buildings for making your own maps, you can be sure that your map won't be broken by future balance changes. All the upgrade levels are now also available in the map editor.
We will give a more detailed explanation of all the changes when they go live. We expect to release this in August.
Interested in making maps yourself? Please check out these tutorials! 

 
Map Editor: new extended map settings
In our next test server patch, we will add more options which map makers can use for their custom PvP maps.
This can affect the predefined goals for PvP maps. So far this feature is only useful if you want to define non-standard win conditions for your fun PvP maps. However, we do plan to expand this configuration with more options in the future!
Please note that this new feature is only on the test server so far, and will hit the live servers within the next months! This is an experimental feature, and might break the game in some rare cases.
So far it seems to work, however, please inform us if you encounter any issues after playing a map which uses these new options. Please also let us know if there any other variables we should add to this new configuration!
 
Community Maps User Interface
A common complaint for the community maps is the map section UI. Currently, it's hard to find a specific map and it does not really invite you to look for cool maps. We are interested in working on this, but are currently a bit understaffed for the job. If you are interested in helping out with this and similar tasks (progression on worldmap, marketplace rework, etc.), please apply as a client developer and help out the project!
 

PvP QoL feature: view lobbies while in a ranked queue
PvP players will know this scenario all too well: you see players in the PvP lobby and queue up for ranked. After a while of searching you start to wonder if there are perhaps unranked games being hosted instead. You cancel the queue to look. At that very moment, the host probably had the same idea and cancelled their game to start the ranked queue.
No more we say! We have developed the option to allow a queuing player to browse the lobbies while waiting for an opponent. Change your mind and want to join that Bad Harvest game that just got hosted instead? Well soon you can!
The feature seems to work, but we want to do some final testing to prevent it from breaking games if you cancel and find an opponent at the very same moment. You can expect this feature to hit the live server soon though! 
 
Upcoming Tournaments
Last week we announced the winners of our official PvE contest on Twitch. If you missed the fun, you can still rewatch the stream there. 
We definitely plan to do more events like this, and will take your feedback into account for the next one. Please look forward to announcements on a later date. 
• NEW: Skylords Open #9
Next week (11th of July) marks the return of the Skylords Open! Battle it out in the Skylords Open #9, a 1vs1 community tournament hosted by Toggy, open for everyone, and with prizes! If you want to participate, it helps a lot if you sign-up in advance!
 
New Team Members / Team Changes
We are happy to announce Carofex has joined the team as a Balance Developer. He will be helping out the project by implementing balance changes, new cards, new enemies in PvE maps, bug fixes for cards, etc. 
We are currently in need of a Russian translator. If you can help, please reach out to us!
And as always; if you want to see Skylords Reborn succeed, please take a look at how you can help. There are still some open positions in our team.
 

In conclusion
Thanks for reading! 
Is there anything you wish us to cover in upcoming community updates? As always, we are open to feedback so please let us know!
Here is a scratch code you can redeem in-game for 100bfp. COMM-UNIT-YUPD-ATE6
The code is valid till July 17th. 
Archive
Community Update #3
Community Update #4
Community Update #5

Hey all,
as the last deck that I showed was more an super-expensive expert deck, let's speak about the most beloved beginner faction this time - Stonekin.
Prologue:
Even though I don't want to present simple solutions with fixed 20 cards, I have to split the Stonekin topic into 3 parts. There are always nice cards that you can not take because of the limited slots, or other cards that offer other options, but that would be just another deck. Stonekin is a great example.
So that the tension is not quite so unbearable, already the outlook for you:
1/3 will be a classic Stonekin deck with (any row), a macro deck, with a small budget and equally popular among beginners as well as suitable for them.
2/3 will be a bit more expensive and a bit more advanced, taking advantage of the -meta. The deck becomes (slightly) faster, significantly stronger, but in the same measure becomes more "vulnerable" and requires significantly more intervention from the player.
3/3 will follow with the next patch as I have some changes in view on the test server. Here we will focus on the freeze mechanics and build a nice strong, but even more micro-intensive deck. A great fun!
1/3 Classical Stonekin
Theme/Scope: classic Stonekin deck with (any row), prefering Stonekin-Faction over pure Faction where it makes sense, easy to play

Playstyle: Macro
Budget: low budget
Addresses to beginners

Core Deck: 
(as RPVE Decks mostly happen in T4, every RPVE Deck considering should be done from T4 downwards imo - just to explain my approach)
- Our scope sets Grinder as core unit as there are only 3 cards in this orb range. The other 2 cards have no value for us here, as they are about defense, a thing that we don't even consider for a second in Battlegrounds. Always forward, never backward.
- The Grinder is an incredibly good tank, but unfortunately does very little damage - we need a Damage Dealer (DD) and here Gemeye offers itself, more on this below
- Since we don't have good void manipulation ourselves, we rely more on armies than spells in all tiers. ("more" does not mean only)
- We use our nice crowd control (CC) spells that we have through all tiers
- We use large area buffs and heals for maximum efficiency with only a few interventions
- the 2 dmg Spells that we have speed up killing alot
 
T1: Either or
Basically, with any deck, keep the T1/T2/T3 as large as necessary and as small as possible
 
Nature Start - A classic, the most common start, and yet something to talk about, many do a lot "wrong" here
- Windweavers (WW), Surge of Light and Ensnaring Roots are usually set and enough for any rpve9. This is the gold standard.
- Dryad (B) is a great addition, but to me a waste slot as it is not needed. Shaman is a nice Quality of Life (QoL) addition but usually not needed either. If you want to take one of this two cards don't play too much. Usually build not more then 2 Dryads or 2-3 Shamans. For BG10 I would recommend Dryad (B), even more then a Shaman. If you play Dryad (B) I would recommend beginners to switch them to dmg (not using sleeping) it makes them easier to hold in line with your WW.
- Treespirits or Mana Wings are Rare, aren't they an option to Windweavers? Not a bit, WW are the superior nature allrounder. Mana Wings can be a rare solution against Lost Souls (if you play a MOTM where you know you face LS) as some of their strong units can't attack flying. But this is a too rare case to use Mana Wings as allrounder
- Melee Units or Amazon are simply no beginner options, please just trust me. Most melee T1 units lead to unintended pulls and Amazon is too weak for BG imo.
- Other T1 options that are worth mentioning: Mark of the Keeper as Upgrade for BG10, Hurricane is great against S- Units but usually not worth the short T1 stage (nice BG10 Upgrade), Fountain of Rebirth can be a nice addon in 4player groups, solo not worth the pick (BG10 and such... 🙂 )
In BG9 usually bring out 4-6 Windweavers, root smart and have one Surge of Light ready and T2 should be clear. Against LS play 6-8 WW, one of the rare cases where you want to pull enemys to you a bit out of the camp and clean beasts one by one. Fokus your fire a bit and your troops will do better.
 
Frost Start - the underestimated alternative, a shitload more damage but less sustain
- Frost Mages mixed with Masterarches in ratios between 1:1 and 1:2 supported by Homesoil/Ice Barrier can handle any BG9. If you choose to go for blue T1 then there is no way around Homesoil/Ice Barrier, use this combination the whole match until late T4 for your Gemeyes
- again melee tanks are no option in the scope of a beginner deck, though this is a valid option for more sustain melees usually do more harm then they give a benefit (aka unintended pulls)
- Nice BG10 addons can be: Glyph of Frost, one of the Wintertides, Lightblade (very micro intense), Frost Sorc (very micro intense)
Use your Homesoil (eventual Ice Barrier) to clear T2, ~6 Units deal insane dmg with that support, Barrier can be used to heal units too in some cases.
 
T2 either or - the opposite of the T1 choice
As we want to make a stonekin Deck, lets go Stonekin with our T2, where we get great options in our faction. As both colors come with some great splash cards at t2 too, we will focus on Stonekin and only go for "mandatory" splash cards, like the omnipresent Oink - never go out without your Oink! 🙂 Again we want to have a most lean T2, so pick at maximum 2 of the following considerable Units:
- Razorshard (G) is my hidden champion here on the paper he may look not that great (another S-Counter, you need to use ability, delayed damage), but he performs outstanding against most BG9 enemys, he gives your remaining T1 force a nice basic heal that gives a shitload of sustain
- Crystal Fiend (B) moooore sustain though is audio sucks - a really strong option, but beware that your army does not only consists of supporters and healers, a common "mistake"
- Stone Tempest a bit fiddly but a good M counter and providing nice CC via his knockback, though in some cases annoying
- Aggressor - ok'ish unit as L counter if needed, please consider that he is rather a supporter too then a damage dealer
From the Mono color units the following might be worth mentioning: Stormsinger (any) as strong air-counter or Burrower as swift sieger.
As most of the above mentioned are pure supporters or more-supporters keep some/all of your T1 force alive. Usually at T2 a Breeding Ground is not worth (building). After getting mix in - depending on the T3 situation - 0-4 of the above Units. All your T1 options are still viable and your army supported even with your T2 spells now should be fine to deal with anything and everything. The following spells are nice at T2:
- Oink, as said, never have a deck with a that goes without
- if you started Frost you still can consider to take a Surge of Light. Usually T1 spells are not worth a T2 slot, this is an exception
- Matter Mastery, expensive but strong and fun, can be used in combination with Homesoil if you started frost
- in rare cases: Gravity Surge (B) but Stormsinger would be prolly a better T2 choice for most uses here
- and finally the big question "to freeze or not to freeze" -> Coldsnap 
  It is a super strong tool in some rare cases but often used brainless, where it hurts more then it helps. I like to have it with me for seldom super hard T3 camps or to stop a frontline in late match when I am completly on my own. Always have in mind, that freezed enemys only take 50% dmg, which is a very significant penalty. Freeze is very strong against Lost Souls T3 camps, Coldsnap while running in and take out spawner + other buildings to weaken the Lost Vigils.
And please be very careful about freezing units for others, decks that have high burst damage or also rely on triggering their infects can be put in quite a hassle by a single freeze. As a rule of thumb, if you want to help your mates, buff or heal them, but unsolicited freezes are rarely welcome.
 
T3  (?)

Let's speak about void first.
Stonekin has two obvious options here, either Shrine of Memory () or Shrine of Martyrs () that both can be made available at T3, if we stay in the scope of Stonekin and mixed T2. I don't consider Shrine of Martyrs to be usefull in a deck that is not build around freezing, and even then it is doubtful. Shrine of Memory is very weak too, and I think leaving it out at all can be an option, but after hundreds of games with and hundreds without I have the weak feeling that the 2x 100 energy are just about worth the investment.
I find it very difficult to make an absolute statement here, but my cautious recommendation goes in the direction of SoMem, hence the choice of headline ""
As my Stonekin T1/2 units give usually give a very solid mix I tend not to take any T3 units for the usually quite short T3 stage - spells and my remaining force needs to do the job. If you want to take in a unit, it must be something really beneficial like taking in an XL unit like Deepcoil Worm or Deepfang. There are ofc other nice'ish units, but noting that really adds something that you couldn't do with your T1/T2.
You may now say "Hey, it's Stonekin, what about Rageflame/Stone Warrior" and you are right, those give an excellent combo. But still in this deck they would be aliens and not really solve any ugly T4 camp situations for which you would take them in now. I will have a close look on those two in part 3/3 of this "guide".
Spellwise T3 brings two mandatory ones for me, for this deck:
- Revenge
- Stone Shell (G)
Easy to use, both stack, and make your already strong force almost invincible.

Next "mandatory" pick: Thunderstorm - a perfect allrounder you want to have with you if you play a green splash. If there is a Shrine of War from your mates, use your Thunderstorm all the time either for waves (don't stop for them) or when you fight camps. Thunderstorm is as Curse of Oink - this card can't be wrong in most of your decks.
Other spells worth mentioning would be
- Equilibrium (G) if you feel need for more heal, here it is. Usually this should not be needed but can be a nice filler if you feel better with it
Neither Enlightenment nor Frost Shard would add something at T3, so they are not considerable for me.
And now comes the part where opinions differ: Support Buildings
- Wheels of Gifts are no option for me in this deck whereby I have to emphasize here "for me" just as much as the "no" option. Wheels bind 540 (405 with construction hut) energy that can't be invested in units. Solo even with taking muuuuch time it is hard to reach even the break even point where the wheels are useful. In groups ofc wheels pay out earlier, but are usually not really worth slowing down one player that strong.
The problem is compounded by the nature of the Stonekin faction, as individual units are not as strong here, but they become stronger when combined, having almost 2 units less on the field hurts me a lot there. Another reason for me to do without the wheels is that only one wheel buff is very profitable for ourselves, namely the attack buff.
On easy maps, a skilled Stonekin player doesn't even need a single heal, to buff this further with Wheels (partly it wouldn't even stack) would be absurd for me.
However, I also know my Battlegrounds so well that many factors are no longer random for me, but well predictable, that it is very difficult for me to fully take a beginner's perspective here. 20% is 20% more - and if you feel better to wait 1-2 min and take that 20%, then do it!
- Healing Gardens - a great buff! But still I rarely play them, as I consider most content well doable if all decks around are build well, it's a bit the same as for the wheels. But again, of course, if you feel the 300 energy for 2 HG is worth it, then play them (in a group). I would also prefer the HG over the Wheels.


  T4
We have 2 Units in our Faction at T4, as both work together well, why not build around them?
- Grinder is our tank, usually I would only want to have one slot for it and take one of either affinty. Honestly, the fewest will use the skill. But it's not completely useless, though, so give it a try. I therefore slightly prefer the purple. I think having 2 is recommended, the more the better ofc. Grinders benefit greatly from grouping, I would want to set up 2-3 straight up and have 4-5 towards the end, then they are actually almost immortal, especially if you buff them nicely.
- Both Gemeyes are great for me, I like to have them both. Usually I play 1 green, put out all my purples and play Grinders or further purple Gemeyes when the cooldown is off. I would recommend to charge the purple Gemeye for this deck sooner or later. Ofc the green can be cut if you have other preferences.
- always leave some energy left for 1-2 spells
Ofc other Units can support this mix, though I don't feel a need for it. Primeval Watcher for example could go as supporter, Giant Wyrm as super budget DD.
The two spells I recommend the most here are Regrowth and Ice Tornado. The former is mandatory in most unit based decks though I don't often feel the need to use it in a Stonekin Deck. The latter is a great damage spell and should be set in the back of most camps, while you fight the frontline. Also it is a nice support for bosses or just as helper to increase dmg on endless crossing fights. Tornado and Thunderstorm should be used all the time if a Shrine of War of a group member is running.
Maelstorm can be an option to get even more sustain, but hey, freezing, we had this topic - be smart when you freeze!
There are other cool spells in this color range, but none that I would consider for this deck
 
Any more options throughout the the tiers?
- Incredible Mo is important against LS, if you play random maps make sure there is one around or take yourself (Yellow buff to avoid anti-range debuff)
- Amii Mon for solo purpose ofc possible
- construction hut if you considered any of the Buff Buildings or Amii
- Frost Bite (P) does work on bosses, usually not worth the slot to me but hey it needs to be mentioned
 
Bosses you struggle with:
- Hellhound can be dangerous, avoid to face him with a too small army alone. Keep your buffs up, take out spawner via Tornado and perhaps focus the boss then
- fear very early Urzachs and Infester, keep your Gemeyes out of range but close enough for your Grinders to count for their passive heal
Any other dangerous situations for this deck:
- early bosses, especially when you are on your shitty SoMem. Know your deck and retreat if needed in time
- Ugly T4 situations end in quite a "zerg" - even t3 units do not change much about that
- usually not a deck I want to bring to BG10 random maps/groups as it is too slow for the given time frame
- Willzappers in early match, reason enough for me to justfy Matter Mastery (that is useless against Lost Souls)
Personally tested Deck proposals, as always from Spells over Units to Buildings
BG9 allrounder

BG10 Solo


Replays:

BG9_4pl_motm_Stonekin_noheals
The very easy current motm, I guess I did not even use a regrowth in that match, perhaps one lazy one in the end. If maps are that easy usually this deck cannot ever be beaten.

BG10_1pl_MOTM_Stonekin
Current super easy motm tempted me to do it with a stonekin - slow but steady, deck above.
I will add a replay of a close and ugly T4 situation (current motm 3/4 comes to my mind) the next days. This is noting you want to have with this deck, but still doable.
BG9_4pl_MOTM_Stonekin_close_t4_fight
As I have seen many people struggling with this Pos3/4 (I am sitting in 4 here) I was a bit afraid to play it with this deck. A very low rank, Deck lvl 7 sat next to me. He touched every next camp in advance to trigger useless further spawn and brought non-optimal units to the field - a perfect stress-test for our Stonekin deck.
And what shall I say, have a look yourself, we are super-clean t4 in ~8min. Far from being fast, but for this map and situation still rock-solid imo.
 
If you have feedback, suggestions, nice replays or storys about this deck, please feel free to post below!

As always, all information without guarantee and with strong personal preference.

See you in the Battlegrounds!
 
Thanks to https://www.deepl.com/translator for helping me with some partly translations
BG9_4pl_motm_Stonekin_noheals.pmv BG10_1pl_MOTM_Stonekin.pmv
BG9_4pl_MOTM_Stonekin_close_t4_fight.pmv

He thinks it's funny that you're complaining about a certain niche use not being available anymore and then turn around and say ,,I feel its problematic to balance things base on such niche situation''. You see the contradiction. And while killing XL units with S units and wintertide IS a niche situation, dread vs MAs in pvp is not, it's a standard scenario.

He thinks it's funny that you're complaining about a certain niche use not being available anymore and then turn around and say ,,I feel its problematic to balance things base on such niche situation''. You see the contradiction. And while killing XL units with S units and wintertide IS a niche situation, dread vs MAs in pvp is not, it's a standard scenario.

Read it aloud 😉
 


 

There is a big difference on how Thugs and Energy Parasite interact with the game. 
-> Energy Parasites are restricted by very specific orb limitations (double nature has inherent weaknesses, that make up for the strong upside of generating extra power)
-> Energy Parasite does not have an impact in combat as the hp pool is basically nonexisting (trade off between combat power and long term power generation)
On top of that there was no visual clarity on how much power got looted during fights compared to the flat 25 of EP, which made the Looter mechanic in PvP even more problematic to balance. Thugs were capable of generating leads through staying in combat for as long as possible regardless of the outcome, so the proper response for factions without hard cc options (Shadow/Fire decks without looter units) to this was avoiding fights at all costs, which lead to very stale, defensive and one dimensional gameplay. If you get into fights, there is no change in how thugs are played and they received a combat power compensation for the loss of looter to be more effective if they end up being ignored. PvE will also receive a compensation quite soon, which probably leads to Thugs being a lot better for the casual game experience than ever before. 
 
 

Greetings Skylords!

It's been two weeks already since our last community update so it's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!

New Logo
Already teased in the updated Discord icons and Facebook profile, we also have a new logo! We are very happy with our fresh new look, which inspired us to also take another look at our landing page. Nothing to share yet there, but we are currently in the first stages of a redesign, and hope to share more with you in the future.
We'd also like to take this time to let you know we are going to post these Community Updates on our Reddit as well. Please make sure to follow us there if that is your preferred platform to stay up to date on Skylords Reborn. 

New cards are now in development
As mentioned in the last Community Update, the exciting moment has come to design brand new cards for the game. We will release these new cards in batches, instead of a full expansion. Our plan for the first batch is to create new cards for 3 different factions, with up to 9 cards added in total. We are also planning to add affinities to some, if not all, of these cards.
The past week, patrons with the Moon tier or higher were able to vote for their favorite factions. We are excited to announce the 3 factions that will receive new cards:
- Frost
- Amii (Shadow / Nature)
- Bandits (Shadow / Fire)

Don't worry, we plan to add new cards for each faction over time, the voting only impacted the order of our release. Since this is new territory for us, we are currently not able to say when new cards will be ready, and when the vote for the next batch will be. We will be actively working on this, but we don't want to rush out new cards.
 

Expansion Icon

New cards need a new expansion icon! The community was able to vote for their favorite icon on our social media (Twitter, Discord, Facebook and Reddit). All icons (from left to right: Phoenix, Ouroboros, Triskelion and Lotus) were symbols of Rebirth, which we found fitting for the current stage of the project. The votes were extremely close, with our Discord community heavily leaning towards Ouroboros, while the other media were rallying behind the Phoenix icon. Here is the icon you can expect on our upcoming cards (not just the factions mentioned above):


Until further notice, all upcoming Skylords Reborn cards will have this icon. We are also looking into creating multiple versions of this expansion symbol, depending on the rarity. And of course not all cards will be ultra rare. Please note again: new cards have now started development, but we have no specific cards to share at this moment. 
Thank you all for your votes and comments, and thank you Tweeto for your awesome work!

New Patch on the test server

A lot is happening on the test server as well. A large patch has hit the test server on the 9th of June. 
The patch contains many balancing changes and experimental changes. Please take a look at the patch notes, test them out on the test server and take place in the discussion.
Speaking of discussions, we would like your help in making a decision regarding the card Unity and if it should only effect own units or also allies.
Please check out our Unity poll here.

Upcoming Tournaments
• FINISHED Official PvE Contest#1 Siege of Hope 
The first official PvE contest on Siege of Hope is now finished! We will announce the winners in a stream on the 26th of June at 19:00 CEST.
We will also do some giveaways, so even if you did not participate; we invite you all to join us! 
 
• NEW: Host your own event / tournament
Want to host a tournament or event? Please reach out to our Event Organiser Hiko to have your events prizes sponsored by the Skylords Reborn team. If you got a cool idea for a PvE event, or want to host a PvP tournament, please don't hesitate to reach out to us, we will gladly assist you. 
 
New Art for Firesworn
Besides a new Logo and Icon, our artist Tweeto has been working on adjusting the art of Firesworn. As most would agree, Firesworn always felt a bit off compared to the other fire cards. Tweeto made a few changes to make it feel more in line with the rest of your deck. We hope you like it! 
 
Current Artwork
 
Adjusted Artwork

The artwork has not yet been adjusted in-game yet. We expect to add it in an upcoming content update to the live server. 
There are still some cards we would like to give a slight upgrade, but we will only do so if there are no other tasks with more priority to work on. With new cards in development, new artworks for those cards currently have more priority. 

New Team Members / Team Changes
Our moderation team welcomes a new (old) member! Bradley will be helping us out with moderation again.
We are also happy to announce our first official Map Designer: Hodron! 
Right now he is spending a lot of time on designing the new rPvE presets mentioned in the last community update; specifically what units and or bosses you will encounter. 
Our developer _empty_ stepped down from his position. He worked on creating the installer used by new players to more easily be able to install and play the game. We would to again thank him for his contributions!
Additionally, we will soon be adding at least one new server developer. 
We have also added a new role into our open positions; Marketeer/Outreach Coordinator. As an Outreach Coordinator you are responsible to spread the word and create awareness about Skylords Reborn and to attract veteran and new players alike. This includes actively researching and reaching out to potentially interested influencers, streamers, youtubers, Discord channels, game magazines, among others. 

As always; if you want to see Skylords Reborn succeed, please take a look at how you can help. There are still some open positions in our team.
 

In conclusion
Thanks for reading! 
Is there anything you wish us to cover in upcoming community updates? As always, we are open to feedback so please let us know!
Here is a scratch code you can redeem in-game for 100bfp. COMM-UNIT-YUPD-ATE5
The code is valid till July 3rd. 
Archive
Community Update #1
Community Update #2
Community Update #3
Community Update #4
 

Greetings Skylords!

It's been two weeks already since our second community update so it's time to bring you up to speed with everything going on in Skylords Reborn!
Promo Snapjaws
Collectors rejoice! Promo Snapjaws will be trade-able after the next maintenance update. This promo was handed out through a scratch code that was only valid around the time of the game release. If you missed out on this one, you can now trade or buy them in the AH from other players. If they are willing to part from it of course!
There are currently no plans to distribute the Snapjaw Promo through boosters.

New Patch on the Test Server
A new patch has hit the test server with quite a lot of changes in all kind of categories. Full notes can be found attached to this post, but here are some things that are currently being tested. Please note: none of those are final, and they will not necessarily make their way to the live server in this state! Please give us feedback regarding those changes on the balance discord!
Global Changes
Various tier 3 units (Swamp Drake, Bandit Lancer, Fallen Skyelf, etc.) have had their charges increased. 
PvE Changes
Thugs have received a new ability to compensate for the nerfs they received with the removal of looter. There is also some love for pure frost. 
PvP Changes
After some necessary nerfs in the last few patches, we are now in a position where we can also buff some cards to provide more options and playstyles. Various tier 3 units (Drones, Unstable Demon, Magma Hurler, etc.) are seeing some buffs, while counter units like Lyrish Knight and Gladiatrix are also being looked at. 
Bug Fixes
A couple of bug fixes and a change that makes Bloodthirst and Unity stackable with every other regeneration ability in the game (others will follow).
Class Fixes
Some units have had their class changed or fixed. This can mean the correct melee or ranged class, but also creature class (Deathglider is now a Demon for all you Eliminator lovers out there!). 
QoL description changes
Some nice Quality of Life changes in descriptions have been made to make cards easier to understand or consistent. Please note this is not the big description changes mentioned in an earlier update yet; that is still in the works. Noteworthy would be the Mountaineer: It now shows the hidden ammo generation used for its attack and ice shield, so one can better use the card. Additionally U0 now also has the Glacier Shield for consistency with the shown ammo system.

As mentioned before, those changes are still on the test server and you can find the full list of changes in the document attached to this post. Please note that for the changes to be implemented, we had to clear the test server accounts. So don't be startled if you have to create a new account. 

Skylords Reborn Design Philosophy
Now that Skylords Reborn has been released fully, we are looking at the future of the game for the next couple of years. Over the past months there have been a lot of discussions and feedback regarding the state of the game and the changes to make (or not make) moving forward. In the attached document, we go extensively into this topic. We understand not everyone will be interested in reading 12 pages, but we did want to take the time to clarify our vision for the future as much as possible.
As unique as Battleforge is, it also has some unique concerns in regards to balance. Where most RTS games only provide a limited number of factions to play, the number of decks in Battleforge is virtually uncountable. And while most other RTS games limit their balancing concerns to either competitive or cooperative play, Battleforge has to serve them both. Fortunately, this is mitigated by the fact that PvE and PvP are often build around different core-cards. However, some overlap between cards is inevitable and some changes will have ripple effects in other formats.
In this document we have striven to detail the thought process behind how we will be balancing the game moving forward. We have broken the document into three parts: Introduction, PvE Balance, and Fundamental Game Principles.
The reason we have written this document is to give you, the community, a clear view into our philosophy and stance on certain topics. We will use the topics described here as guidelines for the changes we will make in the coming months.
This is just a start that covers our fundamentals for faction design and more concrete documents will follow. We want to analyze and discuss each faction in particular and shed light into our roadmap.
As always, we are open to constructive feedback. 
Upcoming Tournaments

• NEW: Skylords Open #8
Next week (30th of May) you can again battle it out in the Skylords Open #8. A 1vs1 community tournament hosted by Toggy, open for everyone, and with prizes! 
If you want to participate, it helps a lot if you sign-up in advance!

• Community Challenge #3: King's Ridge
The King's Ridge PvE contest is still going on until the 31th of May. Try to complete the community map King's Ridge as fast as you can in the Community Challange #3 for a chance to win some prizes!

• NEW: Official PvE Contest#1 Siege of Hope 
Our first official PvE contest is here! play Siege of Hope Expert with a twist! Our Event Organizer has created a point system that allows multiple strategies and hopefully rewards thinking outside of the box. Speedrunning still gets you points, but speedrunning alone won't be enough to win this one! A promo of your choice is one of the prizes, so make sure to check it out!

New Team Members / Team Changes
Another new member, HardwareHeinz, has joined the Skylords Reborn team. We are happy to have him as our new Global Moderator.
We would also like to take this time to thank MrXLink for all the work he put in Skylords Reborn over the years. After many years and many roles, he has decided to step down as a member of the Skylords Reborn team. You can read his full explanation here. We wish him all the best and are grateful for all his hard work. 
We are still looking for new team members! If you want to see Skylords Reborn succeed, please take a look at how you can help. We recently added these new positions: backend web developer, frontend web developer and C# developer.

In conclusion
And that's it for this Community Update! We hope we were able to share something you like. See you again in 2 weeks!
What do you guys think of this biweekly status update? Is there something you would want to see covered more? We are open to feedback so please let us know. 
Thanks for reading! Here is a scratch code you can redeem in-game for 100bfp. The code is valid till June 5th.
COMM-UNIT-YUPD-ATE3
Archive
Community Update #1
Community Update #2
Attachments
Balance_Philosophy_Skylords_Reborn.pdfTest_Server_Patch_Skylords_Reborn.pdf

With all the work you put in i hope you'll find at least time to play a little here and there in the future.
Thank you for being part of a dream come true!

With all the work you put in i hope you'll find at least time to play a little here and there in the future.
Thank you for being part of a dream come true!

Had to pop back in for this.

We (hopefully) all appreciate the work that you have done for the community and wish you the best in whatever lies ahead for you!

Good luck!

Previously i was undecided on this topic, but these days lots of ,,feeders searching for runner'' messages make me think a change might do more good than bad.
arguments against a change:
- Obviously decomposer plays a big part in speedrunning on a lot of multiplayer maps, changing it would mean one of the most significant shifts in this category ever. No speedrunner myself but it seems like most of them seem to oppose this change.
arguments for a change:
- Card description indicates that the current decomposing of allied units is just an oversight and not a wanted feature.
- BH decomposer speedruns have somehow gained lots of poplarity. It lets new players solve an expert map without having the necessary skill or knowledge. Eventhough this doesn't have an immediate negative effect on other players i can't imagine that this is healthy for the playerbase in the long term.
- Speedrunners will have to develope new - probably more interesting - tactics. Formerly highly optimized speedruns will enter a new post-decomposer era.
Edit: less griefing also, but thats rare anyway in my experience

It's really not that complicated:
Frost is the strongest in close well situations. This has nothing to do with playstyle, meta or players adapting to mapping... Ice guardians are just really strong and in close well situations you actually get to use them. Fire and shadow really struggle cause they can't rely on their S sized M counters as usual, cause they get destroyed by master archers.
So: big map bad for frost. Small map good. There's no adapting to that, it's been like that for years. One of the reasons frost was never really popular, a lot of players don't want to be that dependant on rng.

It's really not that complicated:
Frost is the strongest in close well situations. This has nothing to do with playstyle, meta or players adapting to mapping... Ice guardians are just really strong and in close well situations you actually get to use them. Fire and shadow really struggle cause they can't rely on their S sized M counters as usual, cause they get destroyed by master archers.
So: big map bad for frost. Small map good. There's no adapting to that, it's been like that for years. One of the reasons frost was never really popular, a lot of players don't want to be that dependant on rng.

It's really not that complicated:
Frost is the strongest in close well situations. This has nothing to do with playstyle, meta or players adapting to mapping... Ice guardians are just really strong and in close well situations you actually get to use them. Fire and shadow really struggle cause they can't rely on their S sized M counters as usual, cause they get destroyed by master archers.
So: big map bad for frost. Small map good. There's no adapting to that, it's been like that for years. One of the reasons frost was never really popular, a lot of players don't want to be that dependant on rng.

Is proud of ,,not playing by the book'' - plays curse well lmao
Curse well was one of the lamest most played cards in the top 100. If you don't want to play by the book try one of the cards devs carefully buffed to achieve more diversity. Getting a little annoyed by people getting a whole meal for free and complain because one of the side dishes is not exactly their taste. I'm totally fine with well mannered feedback/criticism like Chronopie did, but if i read something like ,,again devs ruining the game'' i gotta stay away from the forum for a while...

Is proud of ,,not playing by the book'' - plays curse well lmao
Curse well was one of the lamest most played cards in the top 100. If you don't want to play by the book try one of the cards devs carefully buffed to achieve more diversity. Getting a little annoyed by people getting a whole meal for free and complain because one of the side dishes is not exactly their taste. I'm totally fine with well mannered feedback/criticism like Chronopie did, but if i read something like ,,again devs ruining the game'' i gotta stay away from the forum for a while...

You obviously didn't notice they reworked a lot of the maps so that frost now has much better chances of gaining mapcontrol / defending swift rushes.

Possible paradox: 2-3 min BH runs make some new people grind more than less. New players see/hear how easy it is to get gold and a shiny rank with these runs and stop caring about the rest of the game and don't check out other maps and modes. I don't think that's a good introduction to this game. Yeah, old players dont want to grind, but we're still on the same page when we say we want to get and keep new players, right?

Possible paradox: 2-3 min BH runs make some new people grind more than less. New players see/hear how easy it is to get gold and a shiny rank with these runs and stop caring about the rest of the game and don't check out other maps and modes. I don't think that's a good introduction to this game. Yeah, old players dont want to grind, but we're still on the same page when we say we want to get and keep new players, right?

Possible paradox: 2-3 min BH runs make some new people grind more than less. New players see/hear how easy it is to get gold and a shiny rank with these runs and stop caring about the rest of the game and don't check out other maps and modes. I don't think that's a good introduction to this game. Yeah, old players dont want to grind, but we're still on the same page when we say we want to get and keep new players, right?

Fully understand that Gold/XP distribution is the problem of this tread and not decomposer, still i think you made some flawed arguments.
Nobody said that the problem is playing the game as it's not intended (complaints about amii monument go more in that direction). The problems stated were more about the consequences of totally unbalanced XP/gold rewards for 2-3 min BH runs wich a lot of new players do now since they heard of it. And a card being a certain rank in most played cards doesn't make it problematic or unproblematic. I'm sure amii monument isn't in the Top 50 and a lot of people have complained about it. I'm even more sure decomposer wasnt intended to be what you say. Doesn't it even say ,,own units'' on the card lol?
I think the real problem and some possibly good solutions have been pointed out, but i still wanted to give my 5 cents cause you're all jumping on him and some arguments here i found to be rather weak.

Introduce that not completing all quests on a map no longer gives 100% of the gold and XP, in BH as an example, you will do the cannons nor the deffence on the wagon, so skipping a large part of the map. If you assume that 100% is 4k gold, you could say 10% is the minimum you would get if you skipped everything, and for every quest you do you get a percentage more gold. In BH, I think it's 4 cannons, 1 wagon deffence, 3 stone lords, 1 jorne.
So 9 quests in total. 
10% if you do nothing and win
spoeedrun (3 lords 1 jorne) 50%
all cannons and defence are also 5 quests, so also 50%.
So the speedrun would still give 2k gold, which i think is still too much to stop goldfarms from playing zombie mode on BH. 
Therefore my suggestion: what has to be done for a map (at BH the 3 lords and jorne) give a maximum of 25% of the reward, everything else that is "voluntary", which can be skipped by a tactic, give 75%.
This is how you have regulated it not only for BH, but for all maps. Because we all know that if BH can no longer be made, the next map will come, probably GoL, and then the map will be destroyed for speedruns by map changes or cards. After GoL comes the next map that can simply be used for gold farms, then the next, and this until it is no longer fun to play any map because you have to clear any map completely for getting done, which is just boring from a speedrunner's point of view, apart from RPVE perhaps.
 
In my point of view it would be good, if speedruns themself get nerved that rewards are way more smaler by  skipping things on map who are not 100% nessesery (like the cannons in BH), but still is playable for the Fastest time. 
 
/wanky
 
 
edit: btw, this is what we are talking about since weeks/months, we startet talking about rework reward system after some streamers start to farm gold and Xp live on twitch, cause we clearly saw this abuse coming für gold/XP farm.

Greetings Skylords!
We are happy to bring you the first official community update, a biweekly update to give you an overview of whats happening (and going to happen) in Skylords Reborn. We have heard your desire for communication loud and clear, and as your fresh Community Manager, I will do my best to deliver. 
The goal of these updates is to give you an idea of the things going on behind the scenes and cool stuff that you might have missed. Not every update will have the same content, but we hope to provide you with some cool details and insights. 
Without further ado, lets get to it!
Balance Patch #2
What better way to start than with a new patch announcement! Balance Patch #2 is hitting the live servers soon, bringing with it a lot of PvP balance changes and map updates. We have decided to wait with the release until Toggy's PvE contest is finished to not cause issues for the contenders. You can expect the patch to go live at the beginning of May. The patch notes will be posted soon. 
In-game Tournament tab
Once logged in, you will now be greeted with a tab showing upcoming tournaments and events in Skylords Reborn. Full event details will still be posted on the forums, but we hope this will help tournament organisers with spotlighting their events. 

We would like to take this moment to point out we are still looking for an Event Manager. If you are up for the task, please apply! Check our Open Staff Positions for more information.
Upcoming Community Tournaments
There is a 1v1 tournament hosted by Toggy this saturday. Because we had to delay the patch, it will be played on the test-server.  

Toggy is also giving PvE players a challenge with his speedrunning contest of the map Ocean. 

Both tournaments will reward booster prices. 
PvE
Don't worry PvE players, you are not forgotten. We are not ready to bring you a PvE patch just yet, but rest assured that a lot of work is put into improving the PvE experience. 
There have been a lot of heated arguments in the forum and the discord about what the ideal PvE scene should look like. We will release a philosophy document in the near future explaining our stance on certain topics and what you can expect from the balance team going forward. We cant share any details yet, but WindHunter will soon be in touch with you with more information. 
Balance Discord
Most of you might be aware, but alongside the regular discord we have a discord specifically focused on balancing PvE and PvP. You are encouraged to discuss potential changes and ideas with us here. 
Card Description Project
You might have noticed that cards in Battleforge aren't always very consistent or clear. A group of volunteers has started the huge undertaking to fix this. Not only are they clearing up sentences and details for every single card, they are also adding relevant hidden information like gender (girl-power anyone?), abilities, movement speed, a better reflection of a cards true damage output and much much more. Here is an example:

  *please note this is a mockup and not final yet
With hundreds of cards this might take a while before you see this in game, but I wanted to mention it already. I'm truly baffled by all the hours people put into this project behind the scene. If you want to help out with this project, they are currently in need of a French translator. If you know anyone, please reach out to them via the Description Changes Discord.
Map Testers
Some new map testers are helping us out with the project as well. They have already been a great help and we are grateful for their time. Thank you cswordmaster, LEBOVIM, LegitNacho, Liorans, Mister_Mv, Perthos and Wanky [CH][Ger]. 
New Team Members
To those who missed the announcements, we added two new members to the team in the past weeks. 
Going forward I will be your community manager and will be in charge of keeping the community updated on the latest information, while also making sure suggestions and concerns from the community reach the developers.
Tweeto has also joined the team as a 2D artist. He has already created two beautiful artworks for Amii Phantom and a possible new Amii card. We will have a staff meeting soon to get him underway to create even more awesome artwork. If you are interested in seeing how his artwork comes to live, we can also share that kind of information in the future. 
  
 
We still have some open positions on our team to help with the project. We are looking for map artists, designers, discord moderators and more. Please have a look at the Open Staff Positions for more open positions and information on how to apply!
Twitter and Facebook 
Are you following us on Twitter and Facebook already? They have been inactive for a while, but I have heard from a very reliable source that going over there might be.. rewarding for you. Expect us to use those channels to keep you updated from now on as well. 
In conclusion
And that's it for your very first Community Update! Just to set expectations: we definitely wont be releasing a new patch with every update and some weeks will have more news than others. 
In future updates, we would also like to take a moment to give some information on what we can and can't do in the game, and what a realistic flow of content will be. As you might have noticed, we have added quite a few members to the team lately and in the past week I have been absolutely blown away by all the work that is being done behind the scenes. I look forward to sharing more with you in the future.  
What do you guys think of this first biweekly status update? Is there something you would want to see covered more? We are open to feedback so please let us know.