Artifact news & patch notes

Artifact, the Dota 2 card game, shipped in November of 2018. Despite good initial sales, our player count fell off pretty dramatically. This warranted a shift from the service/update development model we'd planned to a full reevaluation of the game's mechanics and economy. It's now been about a year and a half since the current Artifact team began work on a reboot in earnest. While we're reasonably satisfied we accomplished most of our game-side goals, we haven't managed to get the active player numbers to a level that justifies further development at this time. As such, we've made the tough decision to stop development on the Artifact 2.0 Beta. However, we recognize that both versions of Artifact still have players and still have value to the community. For this reason, we're opening both games up to make them available for free to everyone. Final releases of both Artifact Classic and Artifact 2.0 Beta (renamed Artifact Foundry) are now available. Technically Artifact Foundry remains an unfinished product, but most of what's missing is polish and art - the core gameplay is all there. While both games will remain playable, we don’t plan to ship any further gameplay updates. Here's an overview of our final changes to Artifact Classic:

• The game is free for everyone to play.
• All players get every card for free. You will no longer be able to buy card packs.
• Paid players' existing cards have been converted into special Collector's Edition versions, which will remain marketable. Marketplace integration has been removed from the game.
• Paid event tickets have been removed.
• Customers who paid for the game will still earn packs of Collector's Edition cards for playing; players who got the game for free will not.

The final release of Artifact Foundry looks like this:

• The game is free for everyone to play.
• Players gain access to cards by playing the game. All cards are earned this way; no cards or packs will be for sale and Artifact Foundry cards are not marketable.
• All final card art that was in the pipeline is now in the game.

(In short, when we say "free", we really mean "free.") For a detailed explanation of how Artifact Foundry differs from the Artifact Classic, see this page. We're grateful to all Artifact players, and particularly to those who were able to help us tune and refine what would become Artifact Foundry. The team feels this is the approach that best serves the community. We're proud of the work we've done on both games and excited about delivering them to a much larger audience of gamers. To install and play now, head over to the store page. Thanks, The Artifact Team

This patch is a part of a larger update to both Artifact Classic and Artifact Foundry (formerly Artifact Beta 2.0). See the full announcement here and an explanation of Artifact Classic vs Artifact Foundry here. Economy

• All players now have access to all cards without the need to collect them.
• Cards that players have already collected have been converted into gold Collector's Edition cards.
• Card packs and tickets are no longer for sale.
• Prized with entry fees events have been removed.
• Players who were registered in prized events have received Collector's Edition packs equal to the first place payout.
• Players with unused tickets have received 1 Collector's Edition pack for each unused ticket.
• If you recycle excess Collector's Edition cards, you now receive 1 Collector's Edition pack rather than a ticket.
• Packs and tickets have been removed from the reward track for new players. New players do not receive or earn any Collector's Edition cards.
• Existing players who had not yet completed their reward track may continue to do so. Packs and tickets on the track have been replaced with Collector's Edition packs.

Gameplay

• Matchmaking parameters have been tightened.
• The Call to Arms preconstructed decks have been slightly updated for better balance.
• Fixed a bug where the client sometimes didn't know it was your turn if you have initiative in lane 1 after both players had no heroes to deploy, and you finished shopping first.
• Fixed Blitz Timer timer not working in player-run tournaments.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/ca8448db51f0e1c9c415c1680f3a78b33b2d3bb8.png We’ve sent out the first round of invites! All invited players should immediately see Artifact Beta 2.0 on their accounts. We will keep you updated on additional invites (no timeline yet!), and will continue to work to support more people. Our localization team is hard at work and non-English languages will become available over the course of the Beta. Our first two areas of focus are Usability and Bugs. Feedback on other topics is welcome, but fixing these types of issues will let us grow the beta more quickly. There is an in-game tool to report any issues, and you can use the feedback email for anything that requires a discussion. Have Fun!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/87c4b7104dcdbace1635f083590087f50a0dabe7.png We are happy to announce that we are moving to the next phase of the Beta! The Beta for the original game started too late and was too short. We’ve decided to approach things a bit differently this time around by gradually inviting people to join us while we are still “Under Construction”.

Here’s the updated road-map:

Test boring stuff

Trickle out invites, starting with players of the original release <- We are here

Work on the Beta, eventually transitioning to an open beta

Leave Beta We will be sending an email to all players with the original game on their Steam Account (it doesn’t need to be installed). Emails will appear by NEXT WEEK. Follow the instructions in the email to sign up for the Beta. We will use a lottery system to invite people who have opted in. Access to the Beta will remain closed until we’ve worked though the signups from players of the original. Communication about the game will remain open for the duration of the Beta.

FAQ:

What are we testing? Gameplay, Balance, Hero Identity, Color Identity, Social Features, Card Unlocks, Ranked Play, Replays, Spectating and the Campaign. What aren’t we testing? Some gameplay modes will be locked. Tournaments and draft modes, other than Hero Draft, won’t be available until we add more players. The tutorial is disabled since we are only inviting players of the original game - the campaign should be a good refresher if you haven’t played in a while. Who should join? There will be bugs, temp art, and data may be reset early in the beta. Some players may wish to wait until the game is further along to start playing, but there is no harm in signing up early. How do I get in? If you played Artifact 1.0, and would like to help us test, check your email for a sign-up link. Slots are limited- but we will be gradually adding more and more people to the beta, so don’t worry if you don’t get in right away! But I’m a member of the press/an influencer/etc. Can I get in? Selection for invites will be randomly generated. So… absolutely maybe! If I get in, are there any restrictions on what I'm allowed to say/stream/share? There are no restrictions. Due to the slow ramp in beta invites, professional streamers may want to wait until Open Beta where there will be a more significant player base. I didn’t play the original. If I buy the original game now, will I be able to get in? Not yet. We are prioritizing people who purchased before March 30, 2020. Will my stats, cards, decks, etc. be transferred from the original game? In the new version cards are unlocked through play. Individual cards are likely to have been changed, removed, or brand new; so old decks and stats wouldn’t be valid. Can I buy cards/packs in the Beta? We have some ideas about what we’d like to sell, but none of them are cards/packs.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/32de7a483a9cce03308109998760afb394b268fc.png Welcome back to another round of shop talk! After our last blog post we received a lot of email which made it clear that people still had questions about the specific functioning of the new shop. A lack of clarity in our previous discussion also caused some confusion. Let's start by trying to clear up some misconceptions, then we'll give some more details on the new shop's current implementation, and finally show some updated cards.

Clarifying The UI

Our tasteful placeholder art muddied the waters a bit. The title "Secret Shop" in the new shop interface implied that it was somehow separate from the old shop in Artifact or a replacement for the Secret Shop slot, when really it is just a reimagining of the old shop. People also found the "Invest" option confusing, because it created the expectation of giving money in the future, rather than right away. In response, we've renamed the options from "Purchase" and "Invest" to "Shop" and "Earn" to make them more specific. The reroll button has been removed in favor of immediately replacing any purchased items, like in the original shop. Here's a sketch of the current iteration of the shop from one of our UI artists. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/bd4c322fa9daad00172d669737278cb8946fd691.png

Populating The Shop

Before a match begins you assemble an item deck, which currently consists of 10 cards. There are no tier restrictions on the items. Once you enter a match, your item deck is supplemented with extra items drawn from the whole set of items available in the game. You can see which items have been added via the in-game deck tracker. This recreates some of the varied gameplay of the old Secret Shop and ensures that the shop will initially contain items of each tier. Currently the number of items added per tier is: Tier 1: 4 Tier 2: 3 Tier 3: 2 Tier 4: 1 Tier 5: 1 In the shopping phase, each of the three slots in the shop is populated from this combined item deck, so roughly half of the items available at any time will be from the deck you constructed, up from a third in the original shop. As mentioned, when you purchase an item it is immediately replaced with a new item drawn from the deck. The items in the shop are drawn from the cards remaining in the combined item deck whose tier is at or below the shop level. If you’ve already bought all those cards, you will see a random Tier 1 card instead.

Item Reworks

You may have noticed how the rarity icons look different. These icons represent the general order that cards can be unlocked instead of traditional card rarity. Players start with the first group unlocked (cards with a grey icon) and some of the second group (the green icon). Cards in higher tiers aren't necessarily more powerful, but tend to use more advanced game concepts and require more finesse to be used at their full potential. Let’s take a look at some of the changes to items. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/7bc5df31b2ea62a186bb747d37c94817876a4457.png Phase Boots

• These boots are still a strong option for forcing or dodging match-ups in a lane.
• The switch from swapping with an ally to swapping with any slot gives more options.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/f41e507983eec5eb46f58b964bff7c3255326275.png Claszureme Hourglass

• The old version of this card had the most requests for change since it could feel so suffocating.
• The new version is mostly good for use against heavy card draw strategies.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/b82a0e00e458a5e8d014d64d0ff1059fab0aa446.png Nyctasha's Guard

• This item clearly follows the old adage that the best defense is a good offense.
• Equipping this item makes a hero a huge target. Make sure to bait out your opponent's counters before equipping it.

Hero Reworks

It doesn't seem fair to cover the same topic twice, so we wanted to share a few hero reworks as well! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/ac089ab79fc1f3e73009344bf250676ececd56ee.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/acf45035dff5c0a1a54bfd9e4cd6e9fb39e42c09.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/7e9ec25cb4258636d4a5b8a0df9f13f85eed9a8f.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/c0e1ba945925aae0f041016cc5c4d3551a3714e1.png Prellex

• When Prellex enters the lane, she converts one of the Melee Creeps to a Mega Creep for an instant hit of extra power on the board.
• Deploying creeps on the right gives you a few tactical options when deploying. Outside of round 1 you can easily get a strong blocker in the 4th or 5th slot.
• Barracks helps empower many of the weak creeps blue tends to rely on by keeping them healthy and able to use their powerful effects more often.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/0a9eb8c056b813c0823065a2fd2cbfbeba0cc97f.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/6fb4e7d5dfc05b774334dd8d1049d26ae021b017.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/75e2c1d2ca674db06c1b6ed72f8e231a3a8386da.png Axe

• While Axe is no longer the stat juggernaut he once was, he's still extremely durable with great deployment options.
• With some setup, and the fact that it's repeatable, Culling Blade lets you lop the heads off several heroes in one round (repeatable cards are added back to your hand when cast, but are discarded at the end of the round). It's also fun to bluff holding so you can bait reactions from your opponent.
• Berserker's Call is still a beast and makes itemization for Axe extra powerful. It's a good idea to control initiative when Axe enters the board with it off cooldown.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/96ceeea770a5a049bd3e0e1677a452c1e21877c9.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/f570722e19326c7bcf6064e6a4151b55509b8af9.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/d7433c2a37bcca11c855e56a7343b6d997ccd419.png Ogre Magi

• Ogre has become a popular hero to build around, just make sure you have enough Mana to cast both copies of your spell this round or you've wasted the cooldown.
• Repeatable cards are discarded at the end of the round, so you can't build card advantage the way you could with Multicast in the original version of Artifact. The increased level of predictability makes this version easier to use though.
• The Multicast ability doesn't modify the base card. Unlike cards which are innately repeatable, Multicast only returns the card to your hand one time. Normally repeatable cards can be cast until you run out of Mana or valid targets.
• While two armor makes Ogre a good option for offlane deployment, you may want to keep him in the safe lane instead to trigger Multicast frequently.
• Due to lower unit stats, Ignite is a great way to clear out small units from a lane.

We are looking forward to your feedback.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/66df36a58b22b8f326421834c57eaccf08c19754.png Before we get into the blog, we wanted to share the results of last week’s poll. Arc Warden was the front-runner right out of the gate – his lead seemed insurmountable. Slow and steady, though, Nyx started to creep up. Then, right before were going to close the poll, he almost overtook the front spot. In the end it was close enough that we figured why not add both! Now on to the shop! Feedback about the shop has been a bit more scattered compared to other parts of the game and the suggestions have ranged far, from tiny tweaks to a huge Dota-scale item shop with item recipes. We've found we also have a mixed mind about the shop. We liked some parts and had other parts we thought needed improvement. There are some side effects of the original implementation that pushed optimal item-deck building into a narrow space. It's a topic that we think would be good to delve into together. Let's break down what we did and didn't like, the goals we should have for the new version, and talk about the design trying to accomplish those goals. Remember to email us at [email protected] to contribute to the discussion. What we didn't like:

• Players often felt compelled to stuff their decks with cheap items with the intent to buy them out so they had more control over the selection they saw.
• It was easy to jump to top-tier items, limiting how cool those items could be.
• Consumables could have a huge impact, but you could be unlucky with your selection.
• Some of the items felt too important (Blink Dagger, Town Portal Scroll, etc.)
• The wacky item prices required more math than needed.
• Three different slot types caused confusion for new players.
• It felt weird when the shop opened with no good options for the player.
• The "hold" option wasn't well utilized.

What we did like:

• Building up powerful heroes feels great.
• The flow of adding abilities to your hero over the course of the game, ending with an exciting final board state without starting off overwhelming.
• It was fun when players were able to adapt to their situation and make creative use of an item in the secret shop.
• You could evaluate what to purchase fairly quickly.

The shop is one of the last things we've worked on, so it might see some dramatic changes still. The details of the implementation may be completely different in the end, but our goals should remain the same. Goals for the new version:

• We’d like you to have better access to your items compared to the original game.
• Items, in general, should have their cost reflect when they are useful in the game. Early items should help build small advantages and late game items should help close the game out.
• We’d like to keep the ability to find a random item that could help you out.
• No class of items, early or late, should be too powerful as to skew the selection one way or another.
• Less math.
• Required tools (Town Portal Scrolls) shouldn't be available based on luck.

In the current implementation we've normalized item costs to 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30. If they seem too expensive it's due to the faster rate that gold is earned now. Items are grouped based on their tier and the shop is populated to have one or more items at each tier, plus your item deck. All slots in the shop follow the same rules for how the item for sale there is selected. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/8393a42fb20d4b4186d46e5b2f211c029564b326.png At the first shopping phase you have access to the 10-cost item tier plus a few other options. If you have some extra money, and don't like the items presented, you can re-roll for 2 gold. If you are a little light on cash you can choose to skip shopping and earn a little extra gold. The gold earned this way starts at 3 and increases by 1 each time you upgrade the shop. Finally you can upgrade the shop for 5 gold. This upgrade cost goes down to 3 then to 1 in subsequent turns and resets to 5 when you upgrade. When you upgrade the shop the next tier of items is added to the pool and you get a free re-roll. Most consumables, including Town Portal Scrolls, have been removed from the game completely. You now get a similar item, the Blink Scroll, the first time you bring each enemy tower to half health. Blink Scrolls work like a Blink Dagger but are consumed on use (each let you move a hero to a slot in an adjacent lane). Let's take a look at some of the new items from the first three tiers. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/946d264f89befb0dd811929184aac6e280b03378.png Force Staff

• Displace is one of the few "random" effects we've added to the game. It pushes a unit randomly left or right 1 slot, but can only push into an unoccupied slot.
• Since you can displace enemy units as well as your own, you can often work out favorable match-ups with a little creativity.
• A few of our favorites are pushing a unit with a strong aura towards one of the edges of a lane, sliding any strong tower attacker into slot 1, or just pushing a blocker out of the way so you can smash a tower.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/4827d56cd75986f5aba7f4b430619a3d34aaa4b4.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/fb37caf0552c06cc8cc5a3f3cc167acf56a43eda.png Necronomicon

• With its strong health buff this item can keep a fragile hero in lane for a long time.
• Demonic Archers are a great way to build up a creep imbalance in a lane. Only one is needed to start the ball rolling.
• Left unchecked, a lane full of Demonic Archers will make deploying heroes into a lane a painful experience.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/64c2d9a73921fe4aa77d448dee9a35a0ecb7b43b.png Root Boots

• The 20-gold item tier has several items that immediately change the texture of a lane, either by making strong localized effects, or providing a large stat boost.
• Root Boots are great for deploying into a hero with mobility and exchanging favorably.
• Decay effects ignore armor, so they are great at cleaning out a lane clogged by armor buffed creeps.
• Root Boots are a great way to stop late-game lane hopping shenanigans.

Don't forget to send us your feedback!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/4944f84873b1fe196e45d58e65bac0903c5ac90e.png This week we wanted to talk a bit more about the heroes in Artifact. These have been viewed as one of the strengths in the original game, but also as one of the missed opportunities. The most common concerns we hear are about underwhelming signature cards, lack of abilities, or heroes that fictionally don’t fit with their kit. Our philosophy this time around is different, so we’d like to go over some of the factors we use when evaluating hero designs.

• All heroes should have at least one ability.
• You should be excited to draw a hero’s signature cards.
• Signature cards should avoid being situational.
• Signature cards should generally be at their best when their corresponding hero uses them.
• Bonus if a hero has a small self-synergy.
• It’s fine to have two abilities on a hero if at least one of them is a passive.
• It’s fine to have strong active and passive abilities on the board. They create interesting threats to play around.

Let’s take a look at the basic heroes and see how they’ve changed. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/54550b3aa619cab165ee7de60790e84d79345050.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/4a34b088cb4990640b12a857ee7df88538628d15.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/e56beefaf5621766b7630f907581fedf58af6547.png Keefe the Bold

• This big body can absorb a lot of punishment.
• Reckless Charge can put this bulk to use, letting him redirect damage from soft targets.
• His active ability, Stop Hittin’ Yourself, lets him turn his attackers' strengths against them.
• Notes: His health was recently increased, and might be a bit too high.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/8a012aca1a85966891b7b9a965f0a3c9a7f0db3e.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/adecc65aed7fb743f7e19e72aab5ea828d538df7.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/27e032e40c34db3d0d99cc52d5c85dac4182609e.png Farvhan the Dreamer

• Green units tend to stick around in lane, so don’t be surprised if you see Farvhan getting up to a big bonus from Pack Leadership.
• Prowler Vanguard makes it easy to create a creep imbalance, keeping your tower safe.
• Placing Prowler Vanguard in slot 2 with Farvhan in slot 3 is an easy way to build pressure in a lane.
• Prowler Vanguard has been feeling a little too expensive, and is likely to decrease to 3 Mana.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/8ebec038227224395806ddc155bacd4d31ecba37.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/3ac7338a0ae53d0e42cbe87add2dce5ad51cb855.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/98a89fe5da31513874a2dba9b104bc0efbe06dfb.png J’Muy

• Runic Instigation has been a fan favorite. One of our favorites was watching Mirana leap in, get refreshed, then leap back to her original slot!
• Runic Instigation lets you refresh creeps and also items on heroes. This makes J’Muy great to splash with any color.
• Wisdom of the Elders can keep your hand full, and is a nice choice for an early runic instigation to start getting the cooldown to 1.
• J’Muy is pretty hefty for a blue hero, giving you good deployment options.

Our feedback alias also had many requests for new heroes. We hashed out a few designs based on these requests and figured we would let you decide which one we add to the beta. Note that the color or abilities might change from those listed here based on testing. Anyway, here’s the list we have so far. Huskar, Red Active: Life Break Passive: Berserker’s Blood Signature: Inner Fire Snapfire, Green Active: Mortimer Kisses Signature: Snapfire Cookie Arc Warden, Blue Active: Tempest Double Signature: Spark Wraith Nyx Assassin, Black Active: Vendetta Signature: Spiked Carapace Please select the one you want from This Poll. We’ll close the poll on Thursday, then get to work on that sweet temp art!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/a75c4b1bcd57eb6073f25ff34c1d943061ceff05.png This one came in hot so please forgive any gram badder, who would have guessed that doing all this remotely would be so hard? Anyway, let’s get to it! Initiative The initiative rules haven't changed much, but the implications are different due to the round being shared across lanes. Players still take turns performing actions until both players pass in a row, and then you go to combat. This sequence continues across rounds, so while you can't control initiative across lanes you can still do so across rounds. There are more rounds per game, although each round is shorter. And "Get Initiative" spells still exist, although they have been renamed to "Quick." Mana There is now a single Mana pool that starts at 3 and increases by 1 per turn. Some cards and abilities are crosslane, but in general cards only affect the lane that they’re being cast from and you need a hero in lane to cast a card of their color. Mana costs have been reduced for low-end and mid-tier cards, but high-end cards remain expensive. If you want to blow up a lane it might be the only thing you do in a round. Balance in the original game with these high impact spells was tricky – you had some decks that went from casting zero big spells to a big spell in every lane. Initiative + Mana = Harmony? Each action costs at least 1 mana, so without things like a refresh from CM, you can no longer delay turns for free - you need to weigh the costs of waiting to respond VS saving enough mana for your high impact spells. The combination of one shared mana pool and adding a mana cost for all actions has taken some of the weight from the initiative system in the original game. The initiative system was something that experienced players enjoyed immensely, but had a steep learning curve for new players and had some really negative side effects if it caught you off guard. Some players ignored initiative. Other players felt that controlling initiative was the main strategic concern, so we don't think this is a change that should be taken lightly. This disconnect may be responsible for the communication breakdown we see playing out in the community. We think that the current system gets to a similar place where the actions you take, and the order you take them are both very important without the big downsides of the learning cliff and the resulting struggles with lockout. New Defaults We’ve been trying to move away the very technically-worded cards from the past. They were always very accurate, but sometimes it felt like you needed to be a programmer to work out what actually was going to happen. Cards and abilities will affect a lane unless stated otherwise. Any verb (stun, disarm, etc) lasts until the end of the round unless another duration is set. All cards with persistent effects are labeled as an enchantments, and last until dispelled. All permanent modifications are labeled as such. Arrows point forward by default but can be modified temporarily. At the end of the turn, or if you move the unit, its arrows reset. Keyword Changes Armor Armor in the old game caused some issues – early in development we ended up doubling all stat values to compensate for how dramatic the impact of a single point of armor was. It also added a lot of math when you had multiple damage sources. Now each point of armor can block one point of damage and is refreshed at the beginning of the round. Cleave/Siege These used to be dependent on the unit being blocked to function. Now they are active all of the time. Feeble Feeble is new to the game, but we wanted to talk about it anyway so we could show off one of the basic hero reworks! Each unit attacking a feeble unit will deal excess damage to the tower instead. For example, if Debbi (4/3) is blocked by a unit (1/3), and uses "No Accident" leaving it with 1 remaining health, 3 damage will be dealt to the tower and her passive ability will trigger. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/fd0d5c2e76e4e77b62cf377893ee93637a508c39.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/a468c79c3b6bc5ca3009a69f831e61a78178d994.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/ff0f49eca522c0537735e02a813d9ff4888968e9.png Card Unlocks All players will unlock cards playing in any mode. The pace should be such that players are excited by getting fun cards to play with, but aren’t overwhelmed when they see too many new cards being played by an opponent. Players that are new to the game, enjoy casual play, like to learn by doing instead of reading, or just enjoy a sense of progression would start in general matchmaking. They can grow their card pools while matching against opponents with a similar number of card unlocks, giving them a controlled environment to learn in. Hero Draft even pulls from the combined set of cards that you and your opponent have unlocked to keep things extra fair. Eventually these players can switch to Ranked mode and automated tournaments if they want to experience a more competitive environment. There will also be the option to jump right in to scrimmages and custom tournaments, these will let players set rules or allow any card sets they see fit. All players will probably enjoy these from time to time, but advanced players can start playing these immediately. Your Feedback After our call for suggestions about how to improve the game, we were overwhelmed by the responses, both in the quantity (it took us a week to catch up on reading them all and they're still coming!) and also the quality. The community took the task seriously and wrote in with a wide range of suggestions, from gameplay changes and features through to feedback on localization and possible founder benefits. We aren't able to respond individually to every submission, but we were able to compile a list of promising ideas from the community and get a sense of where people most wanted the team to spend their attention. Luckily that lined up well with the teams internal plans. Here's a taste of some of the things people asked for, and our current plans. Progression The most popular request outside of gameplay changes was for more robust progression systems. People wanted to feel like their time spent with the game was being rewarded, and also wanted a better measure of their competitive strength so they could see themselves improving. We would like people to be able to feel a sense of progression in the game through unlocking cards and other collectables in the normal course of play, without being forced to spend money, but we're still experimenting with different reward structures. For competitive play, we are working on a design similar to the Underlords ranked system, which we hope will provide people with goals to aim for, a clear path to get there, and a meaningful way to measure yourself against other players. We're also thinking through ways we might be able to connect these systems with Artifact's robust tournament support. Quality of Life Features Tracking your competitive rank is just one aspect of giving people the tools to improve at the game. We're also fleshing out player profiles, letting people track statistics about the games they've played, view match histories, and watch replays. Additionally, we're looking at frequently requested quality of life and social features, such as chat history, the ability to spectate friends, access to more game modes when challenging friends, and saving templates for tournament settings. Also in this odds and ends category is feedback that we got from many non-English speaking communities (sometimes read via machine translation!) that they would like to see a different approach to localizing hero names, preferring a transliteration of the English name, rather than literal translations of their names. We'll be talking to our localization team about this. Single Player A lot of you recognized the potential for telling stories about the DOTA world through Artifact and loved what we'd already done through comics and flavor text. We are doubling down on that effort through a single-player campaign which will both teach new players the game and continue the story that began with A Call To Arms. Tying in to our progressions systems, we want people to feel rewarded no matter which way they choose to play the game, whether it be in competitive play or the campaign. Looking forward to your thoughts!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/23a7673dbf20db34524278240808a1a9460fddb1.png I have some good news, some more good news, and some bad news. The good news is that after our previous post, we received a deluge of emails. More good news - it’s high quality feedback that people have clearly spent a lot of time thinking about. The bad news? We’re slow readers, so it’s taking us a bit more time than we thought to thoroughly comb through all of your emails. But we are a determined bunch! Now enough chit-chat, let’s dive in: One of the first heavy RNG components that players faced was the initial board setup. “The Flop”, as it used to be called, would randomly deploy the first set of heroes and lane creeps. Let’s take an in-depth look at how deployment has changed. Board Layout The board still has 3 lanes, but each lane is exactly 5 slots. The slots also have a fixed position, so adding units on either end of the lane doesn’t shift the positions of any units. There are some rules for deploying on top of units if the lane gets too full or if there’s just something in your way, which you’ll find at the end of this post. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/2f672c25f8b6d451e81ac7eac403a6470af96721.png Lane Creep Deployment Before each round, a melee creep is deployed into the leftmost empty space in each lane. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/1824c46e9795f0c14a807e9ba421a573569c37b4.png Hero Deployment, First round Heroes are deployed in three stages in the first round. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/025fdca796b3aed97041bc9c363b00ac82aebd57.png Let’s take a step by step look using this match-up. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/16886a1cc6a42c5896e68b099555b290af1accf7.png Step 1, Mid - Both players choose one of their first three heroes. They can choose to deploy them in one of the three middle spots in the lane. The heroes and their deploy locations are simultaneously revealed. We’d like Treant to survive a few rounds to build up a creep advantage in a lane. Treant would make a juicy target if we put him in the off lane, and we have a chance that we might be unopposed in mid. Treant’s passive aura can affect the whole lane from the center position so our opponent might play center mid just to prevent that advantage. We might get lucky depending on where our opponent deploys. We are going to play our tree to the mid position. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/bcc1fc47669c7966cc05ada1840eccff47d12d16.png Looks like our opponent saw through our plans! {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/08d0e5552a9daa07537e5d4facfe53153a5c0669.png Step 2, Off lane - Each player chooses their second hero (one player deploys to the first lane, the other to the third lane). The hero and their deploy locations are simultaneously revealed. This hero will be the most vulnerable since the enemy will be able to respond with full knowledge. We don’t mind if Wraith King matches up against any of these enemies. So we can safely put him in our off lane. Bristle is nice to play in the second slot of any lane since you might get some free creep kills with Quill Spray. He can also take a hit so we would expect our opponent to play him now. We are going to play our Wraith King in the fourth position. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/875fda22cf72bf4a765e316c85e064ba4b306603.png Let’s see what our opponent chose. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/09c70bb60539b3465c7366cafe2233bcaf59f81a.png Step 3, Safe lane – Players now deploy their last hero into their safe lane (the lane their opponent deployed into in the previous round). You have full information about what you are facing now, so you can deploy your final hero to the most beneficial of the three available spots. Mirana is a good choice to put in the safe lane for better Sacred Arrow positioning and so she doesn’t get killed. Because we deployed bounty last we are guaranteed we can take advantage of his track ability. Hopefully we get some cards to save him, but we are fine with the trade. We are going to play our bounty hunter to attack their Bristleback. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/404022f017998530944f4c38b32e448819650603.png Let’s see where Mirana went. {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/630b161455e6eddd2101bd185bd635f11f7d8662.png Not the best, but I think we ended up in a good spot! Hero Deployment, Subsequent rounds You still get an additional hero to deploy in the 2nd and 3rd rounds plus any hero that returns from the fountain. Later deployments have no restrictions on where heroes can be deployed. Additional placement rules

• Deploying a hero on top of another hero will bounce the old hero to deploy next turn.
• Deploying a hero on top of a creep will destroy the creep.
• When you play a creep card you can choose the exact slot in the lane to deploy it into.
• Playing a creep on top of a unit will destroy that unit.

Additional Notes

• Armor works differently from the base game.
• Tower health is dependent upon the game mode.

Let us know what you think!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/22b1b09914d4ded86f19dedef613c373d6a42b5b.png When the members of the team decided to reboot Artifact we all did it for different reasons. Some of us loved the original game and wanted to see it thrive. Some of us liked the freeing sense of creativity you can have with a card game. Some of us love trying to figure out how something is broken and see it fixed. There was one unifying reason for all of us - we thought that there was something special in the game, and with hard work we could bring it to light. Thanks for the feedback over the last two weeks, it's been great seeing how many of you share those feelings. There is one class of concerns raised that we wanted to address specifically. Those from the founding players of Artifact - the people who played extensively and built a collection in the original game. There are some great ideas floating around for things we could add, and they mesh well with our own. We want to make sure that there are some incredibly cool and special things that we deliver to our founders, but we aren't ready to implement them yet. We mentioned in our previous post that we were focusing on gameplay first. That wasn’t just a random choice - We wanted to make sure the game had a strong foundation to build upon. It's not going to look polished because we're going to be changing things a lot during this process based on feedback and data. It's really important to us that we take your ideas for how to improve the game into account, so please email them to [email protected]. We are going to read all of them. With all that said, let’s look at some of the fun stuff to come! Also, speaking of things that aren’t finished yet, check out this sweet placeholder art. ;) Mirana

• Mirana has a pretty standard stat line for a Black Hero. (Stats overall have been scaled to around 60% of the original game.)
• Leap gives her excellent mobility and can be used defensively and offensively. You can select your landing spot so it’s possible to buff specific units and go for a knockout punch.
• Her include card, Sacred Arrow, is versatile and powerful. (Probably a bit too powerful right now, to be honest.)

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/999f292d29eb1d4b05037606b222f849bf57b6b1.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/b8e18607911c4ed3f6009c9ff9ba9fb8accfe6fa.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/6f4357348328f10b0efde86606bb8badccb211dd.png Wraith King

• Wraith King looks fragile for a green hero, but his built in death shield makes him one of the most survivable units in the game.
• Reincarnation makes killing Wraith King a bad time for all the enemies in his lane.
• The Decay from Hellfire blast works similarly to regeneration, just in reverse. Unless a hero gets healing it often means death after two turns.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/a8ff7aac667ce284d78dedf887909bbcf5ea5c90.png{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/b5f11a869e486a11b07d6d2ecb09a1dce08cfec4.png {STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/af04036f2fc5a55769c6a91bb172455d598266da.png Sticky Greevil

• With the increased amount of movement in the game, a cheap blocker like this little guy can really gum up your opponent's plans!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/2396e9b8bbc3abfc27e3681521d798a8d83c0f6e.png Morphling Whelp

• As you might have guessed, this unit is hilarious.
• Does it copy both Passive and Active abilities? Of course it does!

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/341e0fd4752029cfed6533db9229da3bc86029a6.png Defenstrating Ogre

• This is one of the few blue creeps with a big stat line.
• Bouncing returns a hero to be deployed next round, or a creep to the hand.
• You need to be careful not to bounce units with a strong deploy effect.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/005da4e8f35bdcbc9edb843ae48bb4c67a5069f9.png Sheep Stick

• So cute you might almost feel bad for killing your enemies.

{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/32397832/f7a59415a2e591c3b2617356ef885117d8715f29.png

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/87c4b7104dcdbace1635f083590087f50a0dabe7.png This week we wanted to talk about the Artifact Beta 2.0, what it will include, and when it will happen. We’ve been focusing on gameplay changes first. The biggest change is zooming out to allow players access to all three lanes at once. The majority of effects still work on individual lanes so they still maintain their identity, but it’s less likely that a player will get shut out in the same way they used to. We’ve also focused on making the game easier to pick up. We aren’t selling cards, so you won’t face an opponent with a stacked deck. We’ve also added a new draft mode, Hero Draft, that gives you a taste of constructing decks without all the pressure. The beta will exist as a new executable and access will be granted to individual accounts. When we are ready to send out invites we will let you know the process. Here’s the current road-map:

Test boring stuff <- We are here

Trickle out invites, starting with players of the original release (ramping up similar to Dota 2)

Work on the Beta, eventually transitioning to an open beta

Leave Beta (hopefully quicker than Dota 2) FAQ: Q. I didn’t play the original. If I buy the original game now, will I be able to get in? A. No, we will prioritize people who purchased before today’s date. Q. I played the original, will I have access to my stats, cards, decks, etc. from the original game? A. In the new version cards are unlocked through play. Individual cards are likely to have been changed, removed, or brand new; so old decks and stats wouldn’t be valid. Q. Can I buy cards/packs in the Beta? A. We have some ideas about what we’d like to sell, but none of them are cards/packs. Q. I’m a member of the press, a celebrity, a streamer, an influencer, a pro gamer, etc. Can I get in? A. Selection will be mostly random. So… maybe?

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/a6003c179a546d55e245808420ff7a5da533ceaf.png First off, we wanted to say thanks for all of your tweets, emails and posts. The continued interest in Artifact has been encouraging, and we sincerely appreciate all of the feedback! You might notice some changes soon – we are starting tests on our systems and infrastructure. This shouldn’t impact live Artifact but we wanted to give you a heads up. Expect more news after the launch of Half-Life: Alyx!

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/48949776a41e8eec05d978abab3435b99f4cd3ed.jpg When we launched Artifact, we expected it would be the beginning of a long journey, that it would lay the foundation for years to come. Our plan was to immediately dive into our normal strategy of shipping a series of updates driven by the dialogue community members were having with each other and with us. Obviously, things didn't turn out how we hoped. Artifact represents the largest discrepancy between our expectations for how one of our games would be received and the actual outcome. But we don't think that players misunderstand our game, or that they're playing it wrong. Artifact now represents an opportunity for us to improve our craft and use that knowledge to build better games. Since launch, we've been looking carefully at how players interact with the game as well as gathering feedback. It has become clear that there are deep-rooted issues with the game and that our original update strategy of releasing new features and cards would be insufficient to address them. Instead, we believe the correct course of action is to take larger steps, to re-examine the decisions we've made along the way regarding game design, the economy, the social experience of playing, and more. So what does this mean? Moving forward, we'll be heads-down focusing on addressing these larger issues instead of shipping updates. While we expect this process of experimentation and development to take a significant amount of time, we’re excited to tackle this challenge and will get back to you as soon as we are ready.

Item Card Changes:

• Blade of the Vigil: Cleave increased from +2 to +4
• Keenfolk Plate: Added "Equipped hero's attackers have -1 Armor"
• Stonehall Pike cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Stonehall Plate cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Barbed Mail cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Assassin's Veil cost reduced from 6 gold to 4 gold
• Phase Boots cost reduced from 6 gold to 5 gold
• Broadsword cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Keenfolk Musket cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Chainmail cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Fur-lined Mantle cost reduced from 7 gold to 6 gold
• Red Mist Maul cost reduced from 10 gold to 9 gold
• Obliterating Orb cost reduced from 10 gold to 9 gold
• Ring of Tarrasque cost reduced from 12 gold to 10 gold
• Cloak of Endless Carnage cost reduced from 13 gold to 10 gold
• Claymore cost reduced from 15 gold to 14 gold
• Platemail cost reduced from 15 gold to 12 gold
• Hero's Cape cost reduced from 15 gold to 12 gold

Private Lobby & Tournament Changes:

• Added Random Two Color deck option for private lobbies and tournaments. This gives both players different randomized 2-color decks in each match.
• Added Speed Timer option for private lobbies and tournaments. This allows players 10 seconds to take each action.
• Automated Open Tournaments are now 'Chaos Blitz'. Chaos Blitz is Random Two Color, Speed Timer, 8 player free-for-all lasting for 1 hour and 30 minutes

Bug Fixes & Other Changes:

• Hovering gold in the HUD displays the amount of gold spent but not yet revealed through playing items (this is a clue rather than an exact amount because of hidden information with Hold, Shop Deed, etc.)
• Fixed Rebel Instigator combat arrows not appearing sometimes
• Fixed issue with Plague wards spawn particles
• Fixed losing a few seconds from the action timer after deployment
• Fixed tournament draft replays not showing selected cards
• Fixed long persona names getting cut off
• Fixed crosslane targets sometimes not showing in Last Action text.
• Fixed Chat Wheel lines for Rebel Decoy, Pit Fighter of Quoidge, Zeus, and Beastmaster
• Reduced low end noise in deck building ambient audio
• Added particle effects for some passive abilities
• Slightly reduced draw card animation speed (time between draws remains the same)
• Slightly increased the time between Eclipse beams (intro/outro time remains the same)
• Improved stability
• Updated localization files

Unchanged:

• Still in it for the long haul

• Fixed the game engine pausing when bringing up the Steam Overlay.
• Added buttons to the HUD for viewing decklists.
• Fixed not being able to inspect heroes in Minimap.
• Fixed Marrowfell Brawler dialog not working.
• Fixed being able to get the Fought Well bonus in tied games.
• Visual improvements for Keenfolk Musket, Sow Venom, Fury Swipes, Corrosive Skin, and Hellbear Crippler.
• Fixed visual bugs with heroes sometimes overlapping during deployment.
• Thundergod's Wrath now shows its played card after the animation.
• Various stability improvements.

Reduced length of various animations and effects:

• Card draw
• Entering and exiting shopping
• When opponent plays an Improvement the camera no longer scrolls to the target lane
• Dimensional Portal, Defensive Bloom, Sow Venom
• Eclipse, Thundergod's Wrath, Poof

- Fix Mac clients not being able to connect to Artifact network. - Removed 60 seconds to surrender notification. - Fixed AI taking a few extra seconds to play when you pass.

• Added a bindable key for typing a custom message on your tower in the active lane.
• Increased maximum custom message length.
• Increased visibility of chat wheel mute button.
• Replaced "Chat with Opponent" button on the end game screen with an "Add Friend" button if you are not friends with your opponent.
• Last action is shown as a mini card on the HUD.
• Fixed many cases of last action details not listing the targeted cards.
• Fixed glossary keywords not working when inspecting active ability actions.
• Fixed some cases where the last used AI deck was not saved.
• Added the ability to send and receive friend requests on the end game screen or using the steam icon in-game.
• Fixed various Call to Arms leaderboard UI bugs.

Game clock:

• After you receive the coin, the game clock now waits an additional 5 seconds before it begins ticking.
• The tournament timer now grants 30 seconds per round, down from 1 minute, and starts at 2:30, down from 3:00.
• The standard timer now grants 1 minute per round, down from 2 minutes, and starts at 3:00, down from 5:00.
• Draft gauntlets and Constructed gauntlets now use the tournament timer rather than the standard timer. (Call to Arms and Global Matchmaking use the updated standard timer.)
• Fixed a bug where animations that killed multiple heroes would start your clock ticking down before the animation finished.
• Fixed a bug where you could pass very quickly using the spacebar during a long animation, causing the opponent’s clock to start ticking down before the animation finished.

Hats:

• The imp's holiday hats have been put back in the attic.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/5b7c7e80298f89ddfa6e9450fe00cf351c7f6c1a.jpg Today's Build Your Legend Update focuses on skill rating, account leveling, and card balance.

Skill Rating and Account Leveling

This update introduces independent skill ratings for constructed and draft games. It also includes an account leveling system that tracks your overall experience with the game and allows you to unlock level icons and a set number of tickets and packs. More information on both systems is available on the update page and the patch notes below.

Card Balance

A common pattern in physical card games is to design around the goal of never changing cards, and to only make card changes or bans in extremely rare cases. Our initial approach to the game was to follow this type of methodology and keep balancing changes as a last resort, in large part because we thought players valued immutability very highly. Since the release of Artifact, there have been a lot of discussions surrounding this topic. Input came in many forms, some from online discussions, some from direct feedback with players, and some through discussions among our own team members. This caused us to take a step back and spend a bunch of time debating the merits of the different arguments presented. In the end, we struggled to see the benefits of immutability outweighing the numerous downsides. The average player mainly wants the game quality to be high above all other considerations. Players who focus a lot on deck building would prefer a more diverse and engaging meta to play around. While some card collectors enjoy having a small number of really valuable cards, many others are happier in a world where the full set value isn’t overly dominated by one or two cards. Further consideration also made us realize it was the wrong approach from the development side. An extremely high bar for making iterations will indirectly cause future set development to be worse off. Long term set creativity will suffer if we are reluctant to try new ideas because of fears around not being able to make adjustments. Our conclusion was that embracing ongoing card balance for a digital game has a lot more upsides for the game as a whole. Once we shifted over to this new mindset, it became obvious to us that it was a more natural fit with how we tend to develop games. Starting with today's update, we will be taking an incremental approach to balancing, with the primary goal being to improve the gameplay quality over time. New set expansions will undoubtedly cause bigger meta shifts, but we'll use incremental balancing between sets as a way to make sure that gameplay quality is as good as it can be. We think player activity and demand is by far the biggest factor for overall card value, so we expect this to be a net positive for everyone over the long term. We also believe the marketplace remains valuable as a whole, as some changes will cause some cards to go down in value and indirectly cause other cards to go up. However, we realize that some players had a different expectation when buying from the marketplace, and so as a result we'll allow a one time buyback exception for the next two weeks. Any player that previously purchased today's changed cards from the marketplace can now visit this link to learn how to sell the cards directly back to us for what their peak selling price was in the 24 hours prior to this announcement. This sell back process will begin tomorrow, Dec 21st.

Card Changes

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/bab614c5f302e1234c6b4b62bf9383f94f55d7c6.png Axe

• Base stats changed from 7/2/11 to 6/2/10.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/6590e63cb14a8c86d619cb950acae1730c72e36e.png Bloodseeker

• Base stats changed from 7/6 to 7/7.
• Blood Rage (signature spell) mana cost changed from 5 to 4.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/5b8cfd3a31c68a050be9fa1e38ccb0abb9fbd1ec.png Cheating Death

• Mana cost changed from 5 to 4.
• Old Text: "If there is an allied green hero in this lane, allies have a 50% chance of surviving with 1 Health when they would die."
• New Text: "Active (Cooldown 1): Give a unit a Death Shield this round. May only be used if there is an allied green hero in this lane."

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/e0d1be9605213b1fe7cc47058623be8cfb3ae6b8.png Drow Ranger

• Gust (signature spell) Old Text: "Silence enemy heroes this round."
• Gust (signature spell) New Text: "Silence an enemy hero and its allied neighbors this round."

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/2c662c2d27c6c5969728f5033e4be49fe6bb2e35.png Jasper Daggers

• Gold cost changed from 7 to 5.
• Old Text: "Equipped hero has +2 Attack and Pierce."
• New Text: "Equipped hero has +2 Attack and Pierce. Equip Effect: Purge your opponent's effects from equipped hero."

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/dec63a02928c9ba5d5f56cfd1e5e97abdf91a377.png Lion

• Finger of Death (active ability) Old Text: "Deal 8 piercing damage to a unit."
• Finger of Death (active ability) New Text: "Deal 8 piercing damage to a unit. Quicken." (Quicken means "reduce cooldown by 1, but not below 1".)

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/72c59b93c930642e46ee00d7559f9db9b7a0a00a.png Outworld Devourer

• Base stats changed from 4/6 to 4/7.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/89499ba21a144d25b79b37a5805016e47b2061e4.png Timbersaw

• Reactive Armor (passive) Old Text: "Timbersaw has +1 Armor for each of its attackers."
• Reactive Armor (passive) New Text: "Timbersaw has +1 Armor for each of its attackers. Each of Timbersaw's attackers have -1 Armor."

New Features

• Added Skill Rating. Skill rating is specific to a particular time period and game mode (draft or constructed) and ranges from 1 to 75. Once you've earned a rating, it will not decrease this season. Every matchmaking game outside of the Call To Arms featured event contributes to skill rating adjustments.
• Added account levels and unlocks. Every matchmaking game grants experience that contributes to account level. Increasing account level unlocks portraits and a number of event tickets and card packs.
• Added Quicken keyword. On activated abilities, this means "reduce cooldown by 1, but not below 1". (See Finger of Death in the card changes section.)
• Added Equip Effect keyword. On items, this ability will trigger immediately after the item is equipped to a hero. (See Jasper Daggers in the card changes section.)

Bug Fixes

• Fixed some words being underlined on ability tooltips in-game.
• Fixed the complete deck list not being visible for the opponent in Call To Arms gauntlet matches.
• Fixed some instances of Red Mist Pillager not showing their combat target arrows after being spawned.
• Fixed a number of other minor bugs and issues.
• Updated the localization files.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/a8be5fef4809b9d8aaf42c5a8cba302c3ba0aa03.jpg Today's Artifact 1.1 Update focuses on social features: a chat wheel, in / post-game chat, and brand new automated tournaments. Additionally, we've added leaderboard support to the Call to Arms gauntlet along two new decks: a damage-focused mono blue deck and an all-aggro all-the-time mono black deck. There are many other features in the update, as well as a ton of bug-fixes. Check out the patch notes and the update page for more details. This is the first major update of many for Artifact. While finishing this update we've also been working hard on the next update, that we expect to ship next week and which is focused on a skill-based progression system.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/ec9d60b5d54dbfd572cccf5392ee4b3a43957f81.png We've had an exciting few days watching everyone finally get their hands on Artifact. Alongside the strategic depth it's also been great seeing people explore the many modes of play. One of our goals in building Artifact was to capture some of the social energy and fun of playing games around the kitchen table with friends, and to bring those experiences online. Today we want to do a guided tour of some features that bring us closer to that goal: matchmaking through Steam Group Chats and user-hosted tournaments.

Open Play

Players and groups have a huge variety of differing goals and play styles. Some like low-stress games with all-commons decks, others want to competitively experiment with new archetypes. Some social circles are small and play games at specific times, while others are large and constantly have a few games going, and everything in between. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/379685a0faa624389414d0944bbdbdc67945e580.png Steam Group Chats are an existing tool to help provide an online presence for these groups. Anyone on Steam can create a new Group Chat, and each supports text and voice, auto-linked giphy images, and now with the addition of Open Play, every group chat also supports matchmaking. By selecting Open Play from within Artifact, you can issue an open challenge to any group you're a member of. You can use your existing social groups to find the games you want to play with the opponents you want to play against. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/8ed03def295506b91ab607be1c6b094323f1dec3.png Creating an open game is as simple as selecting the group chat you want to find an opponent in. When you select a group, everyone in that group will get notified that you're looking for a game both through the chat window on Steam as well as in the Artifact interface. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/0d79ad0005ea29db192f0e8cec7acb7a755a6d98.png Once another player accepts your challenge, you'll automatically be placed in a lobby together. All you have to do is select your decks and play. Creating a new Steam Group Chat is as easy as selecting a friend and inviting them through the Steam friends panel. If you're running a website or streaming, you can easily create a group that's wider than just your immediate friends by creating a public invitation link that you can use in an email thread, a forum, or a chat room. Open Play games are about quickly finding a social opponent for a specific style of play. Artifact also supports group play with more structure through the in-game tournament system.

Tournaments

Any player can create any number of tournaments. The definition of "tournament" is pretty broad. Artifact supports traditional single-day single-elimination brackets, but it's also possible to create an event that works more like a league, with players playing whenever they're available over the course of days or weeks. If your group wants to draft all day every day, you can create that event. If you want to create the Tuesday Triathlon that starts with draft, moves through no-rares constructed, and ends with mandatory four-color decks, you can do that, too. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/cc596c94fe8ec5faad842450262f8421a77e8446.png Once a tournament is configured and you've locked the structure, you can invite participants. You can either invite friends directly from inside the client or create a tournament invitation link that can be used anywhere. All participants in a tournament are automatically placed in a Steam Group Chat for that event. When everyone is registered, all you have to do is push a button and the tournament will begin. The game will automatically advance through the tournament phases. When games are ready, players will get notifications, and status updates about match results and the overall tournament status will be posted in the tournament group chat. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/09731137c7c8579b4c89c3186b857c84eaacf237.png Like Open Play, tournaments live under the "Social Play" menu in Artifact. Both systems are designed to be tools to define how you want to play and who you want to play with.

Fixes

• Fixed a crash that would happen when exiting while in game.
• Fixed a crash that would happen at very high (>4k) screen resolutions.
• Fixed a crash that would happen when resolving some spells.
• UI movies now play from memory instead of disk improving menu performance on low end systems.
• Fixed Sucker Punch's effects timing.
• Updated the localization files.

Fixes

• Fixed a crash that would happen sometimes when the game lost focus.
• Fixed a crash that would happen when hovering over cards or towers when a game ended.
• Fixed a Mac OS crash that would happen when running in high resolutions.
• Fixed some Market prices listed in the client being incorrect.
• Fixed some issues in the deck editor when playing through multiple draft gauntlets in one session.
• Fixed some display issues with the effects for Remote Detonation and the imps.
• Updated the localization files.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/fdfd4c31674014537a3558ce072cff95edbccb8c.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnVuzZYdwIQ We're proud to launch Artifact and its first set Call to Arms. We also have a new comic and a trailer to get you started. This is the first of many adventures and stories in the world of Dota and we are excited to start this journey with you.

This is only the beginning...

Small Update:

• Fixed a bug where the opponent's Deck Tracker was completely filled at game start in Gauntlet and casual matchmaking games. It is intended that you can see the opponent's full deck list during tournament games to reduce the value of scouting. You will also be able to see the full opponent's deck list in private lobbies. In other modes, the opponent's Deck Tracker will update based on what cards you've seen, and cards you know to be present (e.g., hero signature cards).
• Added the Deck Tracker keys to the key binding menu.
• Added an in-game comic viewer to the client.
• Updated the localization files.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/7cebdcbe92d58396c2e17c9b8c902b8752780dcb.jpg Artifact is coming to Steam in just two days! In the meantime, we're happy to launch the first in a new series of Artifact comics, called Prelude. Artifact is more than just a Dota card game — it is a shared universe with a storyline that will deepen the history, expand the world, and change the fates of the heroes of both games. We'll also be releasing a second comic called Call to Arms on launch day, which sets the stage for a series of events that will transform the world of Dota forever. Don't forget to come back and check it out. We're also updating the beta, once this afternoon's stress tests have completed. Pre-loading will be available tonight!

11/26 Beta Update

Features

Added the ability to inspect the current deck lists during play using F2 and F3.

Bug Fixes

Fixes for several crashes.

Pressing ESC to cancel an unrecommended action no longer causes the card to become unresponsive.

When you try to recycle >1000 cards, the dialog box will be clearer about why you can’t.

Fixed the text not fitting in some dialog boxes.

Fixed the reward ticket image sometimes being black.

Fixed the allied Radiant towers covering damage preview numbers.

Fixed bugs with the forced surrender warnings firing too frequently and under the wrong conditions.

Improved timing on for Lux and Nox to make them less active.

Updated gauntlet rewards sounds.

Updated the localization files.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/3d2a8a87424ddf21c1ccfda7dca481cdb8473a21.png

Features

• You can now recycle cards into event tickets at a rate of 20 cards to 1 ticket. There is a "Recycle Cards" tab accessible from the collection. Note that each card will currently show "N/A" where the market price would be until the market is open. Sort by market price will sort by mana cost until the market is open.
• You can now play bot matches and Call to Arms without claiming your starting package. This lets you try more of the game before you reach the point-of-no-return on refunds.
• Added an AI difficulty selector.
• Added some premade decks to the bot's deck selection options to make it easy to quickly practice against various opponent color combinations.
• Added a new cursor and cursor size settings control.

Deck Editor Fixes

• Leaving the deck editor by pressing the Artifact logo will now prompt to save changes.
• Fixed an issue where dragging an unowned hero into a deck that already contains that hero would remove the hero that was in the destination slot and then fail to add or arrange the new hero.
• Fixed a Card Collection crash on MacOS 10.14.1.

Draft Fixes

• Fixed some issues related to losing connection to the Artifact Network while drafting.
• Fixed an issue where closing the draft screen wouldn't always take you back to the correct dashboard page.
• You can now abandon a draft gauntlet before you register a deck.
• Added additional sounds and effects to the draft screen.

In-Game Fixes

• Fixed some issues and improved performance when summoning >300 units at a time.
• Improved the effects for Crippling Blow, Trebuchets, and Lucent Beam.
• Improved the voice-over quality for Jolixia, Meepo, and Kanna.
• Fixed an issue that would cause debris to persist in strange places when improvements are destroyed.
• Fixed Pick Off panning back to the previous lane too quickly after the spell's damage resolved.
• Fixed some display issues when inspecting cards in a 16x10 aspect ratio.
• Fixed a missing sound during board destruction.
• Fixed a crash that would happen when you disconnect from a game while hovering a card.
• Fixed an issue that would sometimes result in visual corruption of card and tower stats when in wide lanes in non-standard resolutions.
• Brightened the visibility of the heroes in the fountain display on the HUD.
• Updated the textures for pathing cards.

UI Fixes

• Significant improvements to general UI performance and responsiveness.
• Fixed some crashes and bad behavior that would happen when mashing the keyboard in various parts of the UI.
• Fixed a crash that would happen while in the settings menu or the credits.
• Fixed the Global Matchmaking deck loader not showing the most recently-used deck on game launch.
• Fixed an issue where some players with lots and lots of Steam friends would experience massive performance degradation.
• Added new high-resolution menu backgrounds for players in 4K.
• Added new effects to claiming rewards from an event.
• Added a display for the number of unopened packs remaining to the pack opening screen.
• Pushing Find Next Match after a Gauntlet game will now take you to the correct Gauntlet page instead of the main menu.
• Improved visibility of the matchmaking cancel button.
• You can no longer restart the tutorial while opening a pack, or while matchmaking, or while in a private lobby, all of which caused crazy things to happen.
• Shared decks are now shown at the top of a deck loader's listings.
• Updated the localization files.

Hotfix

Hotfix for game input bug after leaving ESC Menu

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/0da40fab81efc9d67188e4595d3ba197f9318de6.jpg The Artifact public beta is starting later today. All attendees from this year's International and everyone who redeemed a beta key will find the game activated in their Steam account. Since lifting the NDA on the private beta yesterday, there's been an overwhelming amount of feedback on all parts of the game. Much of that feedback has been a clear signal that we underestimated how much interest and excitement the community has around certain features that weren't available in the initial beta build. We want to take a few minutes to talk about some of those missing features now:

• There was no way to do a draft event with friends. We didn't prioritize this play mode, and had planned to enable it sometime after release. We've heard your feedback: drafting with friends is a core part of what you want to spend your time doing in Artifact. In the next Artifact beta build, you can select Call To Arms Phantom Draft in any user-created tournament.
• There was no way to practice the draft modes without spending an event ticket. Drafting is incredibly fun, but can also be very intimidating. We agree that it's important to have a way to practice before venturing into a more competitive mode. In the next Artifact beta build, everyone who has claimed their starting content will find a Casual Phantom Draft gauntlet available in the Casual Play section.
• There was nothing to do with duplicate starter heroes. We're adding a system that allows extra, unwanted cards to be recycled into event tickets. This feature will ship before the end of the beta period.

The first two changes will be live for everyone when the public beta activates later today. We'll ship the recycling system, as well as other improvements to the beta, over the next week and a half. Please enjoy the beta, and keep sending us your feedback.

https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/65ccd24a0a587857d966c7183e4b2dce39cff6ce.png https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-ep1QnXLQ8 I enjoyed helping design the shop in Artifact and I think it provides a lot to the game. We knew we wanted the heroes to get more powerful over the course of play – and in fact we experimented with some experience and leveling systems to accomplish that. We quickly came to the conclusion we could get a lot of the feeling of improvement from a shop which sold items that upgraded the heroes. Rather than collect experience, players would collect gold. The gold could be spent to flexibly upgrade your heroes in different ways during the course of the game. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/f6565f3d7b6efbac942a8ef885c40b321914d55a.png The shop is composed of three panels, the rightmost selling a random consumable item. These items are effects that we wanted players to always have access to, we didn’t want them to be forced to put, for example, healing potions in their deck. The middle panel is dedicated to equipment the player chooses to bring into the game. It is a minimum of 9 cards, and unlike the other two panels, when you purchase something from the center panel a new option is immediately revealed. This means that when you have multiple purchases buying from the center first is correct so you can see the new revealed option before committing to further purchases. The leftmost panel is the most exciting panel – the Secret Shop, which has who-knows-what for sale. While I wanted to see players build their shop deck with equipment that made sense for their strategy – we wanted to have the possibility that anything might be available in the shop, that it was bigger than just your deck list. This is the sort of mechanic that is easy to do digitally, but hard to do with a physical product. The additional choices had to occasionally be better than what a player has in their deck, or they will rarely find themselves buying from the secret shop – and its’ cool appeal would be at best a surface appeal. This might happen, for example that a player has much more gold than they usually do, and so their equipment deck list might not have some bigger pieces they could afford. Also, it gives an extra chance to get what a player needs in a pinch – you might really need a weapon and you don’t get the opportunity from your deck list – you might have one that can work from the secret shop. Because of the secret shop, one type of equipment whose design I began really valuing was equipment that would be conditionally valuable – perhaps conditional enough that it wasn’t correct to put it in my equipment deck, but when the conditions arise it makes the offer at the secret shop an unexpected boon. An example of such a piece of equipment is the Demagicking Maul, which can destroy an opponent’s lane improvement. This is the sort of equipment I might not make room for in my deck – but can be really happy to see when playing particular decks, or when one of my opponent’s improvements is really just begging to be destroyed. https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/steamcommunity/public/images/clans/32397832/908e6492611298f238e1fffb59249e704f530eab.png One of my favorite cards from the shop is the Shop Deed. It reduces all costs from the secret shop by the cost of the item, in other words – you can get whatever the secret shop is offering for free. The wording on that is a bit peculiar though, why doesn’t it just say the items are free? That stems from our desire to make as much as we could modular and unbounded. If a Shop Deed merely made items free – then what would a second Shop Deed do? The way we made it, a second shop deed actually reduces the cost to negative numbers, and just as we respect negative numbers for armor – we respect negative numbers for item costs. You can start making a lot of money from your second shop deed! - Richard Garfield