Dev Diary: The Future of Team Building

Greetings Legends,

We're writing to you today with a major announcement about a change coming to Game of Thrones: Legends that we believe will make the game more exciting and rewarding for all of you.

As many of you know, our current Faction bonus system provides a significant scaling bonus for bringing a full team of 5 Champions from a single Faction. We've been carefully monitoring the game's meta, and we've heard your feedback that this system often leads to one or two dominant team compositions, most notably the Greens, Starks and Baratheons have all had an iron-grip on the meta at one point in the last year.

This "mono-faction" meta has limited your creativity and made many incredible characters less valuable simply because they don't fit into the most powerful teams. Our goal is to make every Champion you collect feel special and to give you the freedom to build the teams you want, not just the teams you feel required to build.

Changes Coming

In the next few months, we will be implementing three major changes to unlock vastly more creative team compositions:

The New "Synergy Bonus" System

We are replacing the current scaling bonus system with a new Fixed Synergy system, designed to promote flexibility and depth.

• Activation: The bonus will be granted for having exactly 3 Champions of the same Faction.

• Bonus Value: This fixed bonus will be two-fold, combining a powerful generic boost with a more unique faction identity: 1) A universal +25% Gem Damage boost for every Champion on the team regardless of Faction, and 2) A significant 25% - 30% primary stat boost (such as Attack, Defense, Tenacity, Reduced Stamina cost, etc.), tuned for each Faction and applies to every Champion on the team regardless of Faction. 

This new focus will provide a powerful, clear foundation for your team's damage and survivability.

Leader Abilities Overhaul - Creating Compelling Choices

To ensure we are not losing the strategic nuance of the current system (specific buffs/debuffs), we will be transferring that power to Leader abilities. The Leader slot, in particular, becomes critically strategic:

• Significantly Stronger Bonuses: Leader bonuses will be reworked and amplified to provide more substantial, game-changing effects for teams. -- As an example: When an enemy gains a buff from an ability, all allies gain X% ATK and Tenacity indefinitely

• Compelling Choice: The goal is to ensure the selection of a Leader is the selection of a play style, rather than then a small add-on. A defensive, FIRE play style should likely have Criston Cole or Grey Worm as the Leader - but currently those Champions don’t offer the ability to make that play style a reality.

Many of our Champions will receive Leader ability buffs. We are especially looking to improve Champions that are already owned by a majority of the player base.

Such as, but not limited to:

• Samwell Tarley

• Grey Worm

• Alicent Hightower (The Green Queen)

• Jorah Mormont

• Khal Drogo

• Talisa Stark

• Robb Stark

• Beric Dondarrion

• Barristan Selmy

• And Many More.

The Key Role of Dual-Faction Champions

We know many of you have invested in our Dual-Faction Champions, such as Joffrey Baratheon: The Future King and Rhaenyra Targaryen: The Black Queen. Under the new system, they become the key to creating advanced team compositions:

• Double Activation: Dual-Faction Champions are the ultimate synergy enablers. They can contribute to two separate 3-unit Factions, allowing you to activate two independent Faction Bonuses (which apply team-wide!) within a single team.

• Ultimate Flexibility: These Champions act as powerful synergy lynchpins, simultaneously fulfilling one 3-unit requirement while bridging to a second faction's core, and connecting to a powerful team Leader.

• The Goal: This change puts the power back in your hands. You will be able to build intricate teams based on two synergistic layers: a 3-Unit Faction Core, and amplified Leader, leading to many more team combinations.

Our Commitment to Protecting Your Investment

We understand that a change of this magnitude can be disruptive, and we want to ensure a smooth transition. To thank you for your patience and to help you adapt your teams to the new meta, we will be implementing the following steps:

• Closed Beta Test: We will be running a Closed Beta Test phase soon to gather vital feedback on the new Synergy system and Leader abilities. Stay tuned for details on how you can sign up and get an early look!

• Developer Deep Dive: We will release a follow-up blog post early in the new year, detailing some of our findings and next steps. 

• Resource Grant: When the update goes live in the new year after testing, all players will receive a very large grant of Level Up Materials (Food and Silver). This compensation ensures you can immediately power up and experiment with new team compositions, making sure your progress is protected throughout this transition.

We are incredibly excited about the possibilities this new system opens up for Game of Thrones: Legends. We believe it will create a healthier, more balanced, and ultimately more fun experience for everyone.

Thank you for being an essential part of our community. We can't wait to see the incredible new teams you build.

Sincerely,

BattleKitty and the design team.