Paladins update out now (version 1.4)

Another big update is now live for Paladins. Hi-Rez Studios has issued version 1.4 for all players.

Today’s updates features the new event Dragon’s Call, The Vault, lots of balance changes, and more. Read up on the (lengthy) patch notes below.

NEW EVENT : DRAGON’S CALL

Claim the Warder’s Relics!

The beacon is lit and both Paladins and Magistrate have come to heed the dragon’s call, arriving on the shores of the Warders’ ancient homeland. Race to unlock seals guarding the island’s inner vaults and capture what lies within. Who will claim the Warder’s Relics and tip the scales in this conflict?

As your team unlocks seals, you’ll earn Goal Points which grant exclusive Dragon’s Call event items. Acquire the Dragon’s Call Bundle for battle-ready skins and an Ancient Idol which grants you twice as many Goal Points. You’ll also gain one Vault Key from the Bundle, which can be spent in the Vault to unlock an exclusive Epic Skin of your choice!

1. Play Dragon’s Call

Face off in our new 4v4 event game mode – Dragon’s Call. The rules are simple: Carry the Warder’s Key Sphere into the opposing team’s Vault four times to win. Careful though, the Key Sphere is a power not meant to be handled alone, sapping you of your strength upon touch. Keep the Key Sphere moving by passing it to your teammates if you want to win.

Game Rules:

• First Team to 4 Points wins
• 15 Minute Time Limit
• If the timer runs out before either team unlocks 3 seals, the team with the most points wins.
• If the score is tied, the last team to touch the Key Sphere wins.

Key Sphere Carrier:

• The Key Sphere carrier cannot use any abilities except
  • Primary Fire: Throw Key Sphere
  • Alt-Fire: Drop Key Sphere
• The player cannot be healed
• The player is revealed to all enemies
• If the carrier dies, the Key Sphere will drop at their location
• If the Key Sphere is unattended, it will reset back to the middle after 10 seconds

2. Unlock Rewards

Each Seal unlocked by your team in Dragon’s Call progresses the event reward track. Unlock 60 seals to earn everything!

• 5 Points: 10,000 Gold
• 10 Points: 20,000 Gold
• 15 Points: 30,000 Gold
• 20 Points: Tranquility, Inara MVP Pose
• 25 Points: Dragon’s Gauntlet Spray
• 30 Points: Flametongue Avatar
• 35 Points: Serpentine, Kinessa MVP Pose
• 40 Points: Punch Out, Ash Emote
• 45 Points: Coldfire, Animated Spray
• 50 Points: Snack Time, Animated Avatar
• 55 Points: Show Stopper, Evie Roaming Emote
• 60 Points: Skylord Seal Deathstamp

3. Dragon’s Call Bundle

Purchase the Dragon’s Call Bundle to unlock three new event exclusive skins, plus gain access to the Vault where you can unlock another exclusive skin of your choice! You’ll also double your Seals earned for the rewards track, unlock 3 other new event exclusive cosmetics. Players who purchase the Dragon’s Call bundle will be given all reward track items they failed to earn at the end of the event.

The Dragon’s Call Bundle costs 1200 Crystals and contains:

• 3 Epic Skins
  • Sha Lin – Outlaw
  • Moji – Dragonborn
  • Khan – Overlord
• 1 Vault Key (Unlocks another Epic Skin!)
• Warder’s Loading Frame
• Pacify, Legendary 3D Spray
• Dragon Baller, Legendary Title
• Ancient Idol (Doubles your Dragon’s Call reward track progress)

Outlaw Sha Lin

Dragonborn Moji

Overlord Khan

Outlaw Sha Lin, Dragonborn Moji, and Overlord Khan will also be available for direct purchase at 600 Crystals each during 1.4. If you purchase one and later decide to upgrade to the Dragon’s Call Bundle, you will receive a discount equivalent to the Crystals spent.

 

THE VAULT

The Vault is a new Special Store that holds past Exclusive Event Skins! The Vault will only be available for limited time frames and each skin costs 1 Vault Key.

Dragon’s Call Vault Skins:

• Raeve Maeve
• Academic Skye
• Demon Slayer Zhin
• Jade Priestess Seris
• NEW – Aurora Furia

 

GENERAL

• Changed Daily Login rotation from 28 to 14 days

 

CUSTOMIZATIONS

• Ash
  • Punch Out, Emote
    • Event Exclusive
• Evie
  • Show Stopper, Roaming Emote
    • Event Exclusive
• Furia
  • Aurora Skin
    • Vault Exclusive
• Inara
  • Tranquility, MVP Pose
    • Event Exclusive
• Khan
  • Overlord Skin
    • Dragon’s Call Bundle
    • Also available via direct purchase for 600 Crystals
• Kinessa
  • Serpentine, MVP Pose
    • Event Exclusive
• Moji
  • Dragonborn Skin
    • Dragon’s Call Bundle
    • Also available via direct purchase for 600 Crystals
• Sha Lin
  • Outlaw Skin
    • Dragon’s Call Bundle
    • Also available via direct purchase for 600 Crystals

 

CHAMPIONS – MID-SEASON BALANCE

Androxus

• Abilities
  • Defiance
    • Changed functionality of Defiance to work as an extended energy punch.
      • Increased range
      • Reduced frontal cone
  • Can now hit multiple players
• Talents
  • Dark Stalker
    • Increased Health Threshold 40% ➡️ 50%

Developer Commentary: Defiance is meant to be an easy-to-secure finishing move after a few shots from the Revolver. But more often than not, Androxus players are too far away to secure that hit. The extended range will make Defiance a more consistent damage option instead of a button pressed only when you happen to be close to someone.

Ash

• Abilities
  • Assert Dominance
    •  Increased horizontal strength of Jump

Bomb King

• Talents
  • Royal Subjects
    • Reduced Radius Increase 30% ➡️ 20%

Buck

• Talents
  • Bucking Madness
    • NEW EFFECT: Eliminations increase your attack speed by 20% for 10s.

Developer Commentary: The old Bucking Madness could be quite powerful if lined up correctly, but took too many qualifiers to be consistent. Many times, players would never activate the effect even once during their games. This new Bucking Madness will give players 4 clear options when selecting their talent; Sustain (Bulk Up), Control (Bounce House), Burst (Ensnare), and Consistent DPS (Bucking Madness).

Cassie

• Talents
  • Impulse
    • Decreased Damage 250 ➡️ 150
  • Just Breathe
    • Crossbow shots deal 850 damage past 120 feet.

Developer Commentary: Just Breathe’s previous scaling damage based on distance made it hard for players to determine exactly where they should stand, and what exact benefit they would be getting for doing so. The new effect gives this Talent a clearer identity as the long range option for Cassie.

Evie

• Talents
  • Snow Globe
    • Increased duration 2s ➡️ 3s
    • Decreased energy cost 60% ➡️ 50%
  • Wormhole
    • Removed 1s cooldown reduction on Blink

Furia

• Abilities
  • Kindle Soul
    • Reduced Range 175 ➡️ 120
• Cards
  • Hallowed Sight
    • Reduced Reveal Length {2|2}s ➡️ {1|1}s
  • Light of Dawn
    • Reduced Shield {100|100} ➡️ {50|50}

Developer Commentary: We’re happy with Furia’s current level of lethality, but her healing output is competing too well with other Supports. We brought down the strength of her Shielding Card, and reduced the range of Kindle Soul to make healing a more risky endeavour for the Angel of Vengeance.

Grohk

• Abilities
  • Lightning Staff
    • Now Deals up to 30% Increased Damage the longer you are on target
  • Healing Totem
    • Now deployable at 100ft range
  • Tempest
    • Now Grants Flight 
    • Increased Radius
    • Increased duration
• Talents
  • Maelstrom
    • Increase Shock Pulse Cooldown reduction 0.3s ➡️ 0.5s
  • Spirits Domain
    • Lighting staff now applies a heal to allies  

Developer Commentary:

Grover

• Abilities
  • Blossom
    • Reduced Cooldown 12s ➡️ 10s
• Talents
  • Deep Roots
    • NEW EFFECT: Crippling Throw now roots for 1s and bounces between enemies.

Developer Commentary: Grover’s strength relies in his consistent Passive healing, but he feels lackluster in comparison to the reactionary healers. Reducing the Cooldown on Blossom will make sure his reactionary healing is up more frequently, and naturally increase the strength of the Rampant Blooming Talent. The upgraded Deep Roots gives Grover a better defined control playstyle against highly mobile teams.

Khan

• Talents
  • Lian’s Shield
    • Increased Shield Effectiveness 60% ➡️ 100%

Maeve

• Talents
  • Street Justice
    • NEW EFFECT: Now executes at 35% health with pounce

Developer Commentary: Street Justice is intended to be a strong finisher for Maeve, but ended up becoming a catch-all damage option. The new effect helps dispense the original idea of Street Justice in a much more balanced manner.

Makoa

• Talents
  • Davey Jones Locker
    • NEW EFFECT: Your Shell Spin now lasts until canceled and you can control its direction.

Developer Commentary: Davey Jones Locker was heavily underperforming while also directly competing with Pluck for a Dredge Anchor-based talent. This new Talent opens up a completely new mobility-based playstyle for Makoa. (honestly it’s just fun)

Mal’Damba

• Talents
  • Wekono’s Wrath
    • Now also increases Snake Toss Projectile Speed 120 ➡️ 200
    • Increase Internal stun timer 3s ➡️ 4s
  • Ripened Gourd
    • NEW EFFECT: Gourd has a 50% chance to not go on cooldown.
• Gourd effect does not stack

Developer Commentary: The new Ripened Gourd rewards those already actively using Gourds for healing, and gives Mal’Damba players an option for more area healing.

Moji

• Talents
  • Toot
    • Removed Movespeed Bonus
    • Reduced Cloud Duration 6s ➡️ 3s

Pip

• Talents
  • Combat Medic
    • NEW EFFECT: Your Weapon Shots now also Heal Allies

Developer Commentary: Combat Medic was actively competing against Catalyst as the damage option for Pip. This new effect will give Pip players a better way to consistently heal their allies.

Seris

• Abilities
  • Restore Soul
    • Increased Range 100 ➡️ 120
  • Soul Collector
    • Increased Max Stacks 8 ➡️ 15

Sha Lin

• Talents
  • Desert Shadow
    • Removed 2s Stealth Increase

Tyra

• Talents
  • Hunting Party
    • Hunter’s Mark now also has 2 Charges
  • Mercy Kill
    • Now deals 35% Max Health
  • CARDS
  • Favored Quarry
    • Reduced Hunters Mark reveal {2|2}s ➡️ {1|1}s

Developer Commentary: Hunting Party is a good tool in coordinated play, but was outclassed by the upfront value of Tyra’s other talents. The second charge will make the Hunter’s Mark playstyle more active and engaging, and become a strong anti-flanker option for Tyra. Mercy Kill’s old damage delivery made it difficult to know when Grenade Launcher should be used. The new damage delivery makes using Grenade Launcher always the correct option.

 

 

Torvald

• Abilities
  • Protection
    • Increased Shield Duration 2s ➡️ 3s
    • Decreased cooldown 9s ➡️ 8s
• Cards
  • Induction
    • Increase ammo regeneration {1|1} ➡️ {2|2}

Viktor

• Assault Rifle
  • Improved hipfire consistency
• Talents
  • Firefight
    • Now unlocked at default
  • Gunnery
    • Now Unlocked at Champion Mastery 12
    • New Name: Burst Mode
    • New Effect: Enable 3 Shot Burst Mode on your Assault Rifle, increasing damage and improving effectiveness at range.

Developer Commentary: Viktor’s talents give him good options for close and medium range, but he suffers from his inability to deal with players in longer distance engagements. The reworked Gunnery gives Viktor a clear Talent for those who like to fight from afar, opening up new opportunities for Viktor players on longer maps.

Vivian

• Abilities
  • Sensor Drone
    • Increased Max Deployed count 1 ➡️ 2
• Talents
  • Booby Trap
    • Now applies a knockback
    • Increased arm time 0.1s ➡️ 0.9s

Ying

• Talents
  • Life Exchange
    • NEW EFFECT: Shatter now instantly heals your target for 800 health but no longer explodes Illusions.

Developer Commentary: Yings healing through illusions is a key component of her identity as a Champion, but her inability to reactionary heal often hurts her. The new Life Exchange gives players an option to reactionary heal in exchange for damage potential. Ying will have to more heavily rely on teammates to protect her, but have an easier time keeping them alive.

 

BUG FIXES

Champions

• Ash
  • Enemies now see the increased Shield size with the Fortress Breaker Talent
• Bomb King
  • Accelerant now properly speeds up Grumpy Bomb Audio
• Evie
  • Fixed an issue where Snow Globe caused Ice Storm to move faster than intended, shortening the intended duration of the ultimate
  • Fixed an issue with Wormhole where Evie would attempt to blink back, animations would play, but she wouldn’t move
  • Fixed an issue with Wormhole where Evie could blink 3 times if stunned
• Koga
  • Fixed an issue where Koga could use both Agility and Shadow Step with a single bar of Energy
• Khan
  • Fixed a Commander’s Grab issue where Khan would pass through the body of characters with an active Shield
• Maeve
  • Fixed an issue issue where immediately after Pounce, attempting to use Nine Lives could cause the animation to play but not the ability
• Ruckus
  • Fixed Star Slayer skin showing default gloves in 1P
  • Ruckus can now jump when using Emitter
• Terminus
  • Fixed an issue where Seething rage effect could persist in unintended situations

General

• Fixed the Shogunate Loading Frame always displaying the player as loaded in
• Party Leaders can no longer queued for ranked if there’s an unqualified player in their party
• Fixed Raeve Maeve music stopping after respawn
• Increased audio on Furia reload
• Normalized Cassie Ultimate Lines across all Skins (excludes Vampire)
  • Allies hear “Target locked.”  Enemies hear “Go Ziggs!”
• Normalized Moji Ultimate lines across all skins
  • Allies hear:  “Abaly Kadabra!” Enemies hear:  “Snack time!”
• Normalized Strix Ultimate lines across all skins
  • Allies hear:  “I’m gone.” Enemies hear:  “Flash out!”
• Fixed an issue in ranked matchmaking where a user could select a champion they don’t own, which would cause the game to abort

Maps

• Updated collision on Foremans Rise objective building

Source