Codename Entertainment : Blog

Welcome, Champions!

We've got a ton of content for you today, so let's get started!

Core 12 Balance Update: As Justin discussed in the Community Q&A yesterday, we're rolling out a long-awaited update: The Core 12 rebalance! Almost all of the Core 12 characters saw an update (those that didn't were updated in last year's Tanking & Healing update). Read below for more specific detail on each Champion!

Browser-Based Platforms: In addition to the balance update, we're releasing a whole new way to play Idle Champions: In your web browser! We've released the game on the following new platforms: our own Codename Entertainment Games portal (where our other two live service games are available as well), Kongregate, and Armor Games! Now PC players who prefer to play in a browser can start their own Idle Champion Adventures!

New Variants: In addition to all of those updates, we're also releasing 6 new variants for the Grand Tour campaign within Ravenloft!

Explorer's Pack: But we're not done! To celebrate the core 12 rebalance and the release on browser-based platforms, we're releasing a new founder's pack-like DLC pack: The Explorer's Pack. This $10 USD DLC pack includes 16 chests, an exclusive Champion Bruenor outfit, as well as a bunch of potions and contracts to get you started on your adventures!

Now let's get into the details of the Core 12 Balance Update! Note that Arkhan and Nayeli recieved no changes.

We wanted to add a different choice to Bruenor's specialization, and focus his kit around making his Rally ability really competitive. To this end, his rarely used Inspired ability is no longer a focus of his upgrades, and instead serves as an introduction to position-based formation abilities and not much more.

Removed "DPS" tag
Removed "Champion" specialization (increased "Inspired" effectiveness)
Added "Shield Master" specialization (increases "Rally" effectiveness when nearby allies are under attack)
Added "Dwarven Glory" ability at level 475 (increases "Rally" effectiveness for each additional dwarf in the formation)
Removed most upgrades that increase the effectiveness of the "Inspired" ability
Slot 1 equipment now buffs global DPS (instead of self DPS)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Dwarven Glory (instead of Inspired)
Minor adjustments to global DPS upgrades and upgrades to "Rally" to match the curve set by the previous Tanking and Healing balance update.

We were pretty happy with where Celeste ended up after the Tanking and Healing update, but we wanted to tweak her healing spec to give her some more formational utility, rather than making her healing better.

Doubled the base healing of Mass Cure Wounds (to 6)
Changed "Life Domain" specialization (now increases range of "Mass Cure Wounds" by 1)

Jarlaxle has been completely redesigned from the ground up to be the bad-ass, sarcastic elf he is in both our cinematics and the Dragon Heist book. His buffs are now based on the class, race, alignment, and gear of other Champions in the formation. He is now a potent early game damage dealer and gold finder, and he scales up as you unlock more and more event Champions (and more and more epic gear) that power-up his abilities.

Removed "Room to Work" and "Equal Opportunity" upgrades
Reworked his basic attack (he now attacks another monster for less damage if he kills his target; this continues until he doesn't kill a monster or all monsters are dead)
Reworked his ultimate attack (now hits all enemies and has a new visual)
His ultimate attack now unlocks a little bit later (at level 125 instead of 50)
Added "Master of Piracy" ability (increases gold find based on # of Rogues and Drow in the formation)
Added "Master of Disguise" ability (increases self damage based on # of adjacent Good or Neutral Champions)
Added "Master Attuner" ability (increases self damage based on # of epic items on Champions in the formation)
Added "Secret Lord of Luskan" specialization (increases effect of Master of Disguise)
Added "Leader of the Bregan D'aerthe" specialization (increases effect of Master of Piracy)
Slot 2 equipment now buffs Master Attuner (instead of self DPS)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Master of Disguise (instead of Room to Work)
Slot 4 equipment now buffs Master of Piracy (instead of Equal Opportunity)
Complete rebalance of upgrades to compliment new abilities

We've adjusted Calliope so that squishies can't sponge damage as effectively as tanks without at least a few tanks in the formation somewhere. We'll be watching to make sure this doesn't render any variant objectives too challenging.

Song of Protection's shield effect now caps at 2x each receiver's maximum health.

Asharra has received some major increases to both her buffing ability and her DPS ability. She should now be a decent DPS Champion for newer players, and a solid support Champion though-out the meta if you can stack your formation just right.

The magnitude of the Bond abilities have been increased
Added "Paragon of Kir Sabal" ability (increases the effect of all bonds based on the # of Champions affected by them. Asharra also gains the bond effect if at least 3 Champions in the formation are affected by it)
Added "Take Flight" ability (increases self damage over time when the formation is under attack; also comes with some slick new animations)
Slot 2 equipment now buffs Take Flight (instead of self DPS)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Paragon of Kir Sabal (instead of global DPS)
Complete rebalance of upgrades to compliment new abilities

We've beefed up Minsc's kit with a few new abilities, including the first ability in the game that causes additional monsters to sometimes spawn, which could help veterans speed through the first few hundred areas just a little bit faster. Along with more damage and some synergies with his Favored Enemy ability, he should have some more lasting power in many formations.

The magnitude of the Favored Enemy abilities have been increased
Added "Boastful" ability (whenever a non-boss enemy wave spawns, there's a small chance of one or two additional enemies spawning as well)
Added "Overkill" ability (whenever Minsc's base attack hits only one enemy, it does more damage)
Added "Legendary Slayer" ability (Minsc deals extra damage against his Favored Enemies)
Updated his ultimate attack (the bonus damage to enemies Boo scratches is now equal to his Favored Enemy bonus)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Overkill (instead of global DPS) (note: several new global dps upgrades have been added to compensate)
Complete rebalance of upgrades to compliment new abilities

Delina has too long been the laughing stock of the Champions world. She has had enough and wants to show everyone what she is truly capable of. With that in mind, her entire set has been redesigned from scratch and she is on track to compete with the best of them for the title of most insane damage dealer in the Realms.

Added "Surge of Power" ability (increase Delina's damage with each attack; restarts after 10 stacks or a lull in attacks)
Updated "Twinned Spell" ability (25% chance to duplicate any attack on a different enemy)
Updated "Empowered Spell" ability (50% chance for enemies to burn for extra damage over time)
Added "Spell Bombardment" ability (increase Delina's damage for each Champion ahead of her in the formation)
Replaced normal attack with "Wild Magic" (Delina now has three base attacks that she rotates though in sequence. Fire Bolt is a single target attack. Lightning Bolt attacks all enemies in a line. Ice Storm (her previous ultimate) deals damage to a large group of enemies.)
Replaced ultimate ability with "Controlled Chaos" (reduces attack cooldown to 1 second and prevents Surge of Power stacks from resetting for 15 seconds)
Removed "Endless Empowerment" specialization
Updated "Font of Magic" specialization (increases damage done by Empowered Spell)
Added "Tides of Chaos" specialization (increases damage bonus from Surge of Power)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Surge of Power (instead of global DPS)
Slot 4 equipment now buffs Spell Bombardment (instead of Twinned Spell)
Complete rebalance of upgrades to compliment new abilities

Minor changes to Makos allow players to build more interesting/meta specific formations with him, though his Dark Blessing buffing power is vastly improved in all cases.

Added "Eldritch Alchemy" ability (increases the effect of Dark Luck by 25% for each evil or warlock Champion in the formation)
Added "Draw Power" ability (increases the effect of Dark Blessing when Makos is NOT on the edge of the formation)
Boosted the power of Dark Blessing to better match the current meta's upgrade curves
Added several brand new global DPS upgrades

Cover your eyes! It's a minor nerf to Moonbeam if he's too surrounded.

Changed the Moonbeam reduction amounts for adjacent Champions from 10, 40, 70, 90% to 30, 60, 80, 95%.

Jamilah has been a shadow of the damage dominator she was when the game first launched, so we've completely redesigned her to be a DPS that synergizes with tanks and hangs out near the front of the formation. It should allow for some interesting formation opportunities for those brave enough to try them out.

Removed "Frenzy" ability
Removed "Reckless Attack" ability
Removed "Brute Strength" specialization
Removed "Uncanny Speed" specialization
Updated base attack (now attacks the nearest monster and up to two additional nearby monsters; if the additional attacks trigger, her attack cooldowns (both base and ultimate) are reduced by 2 seconds)
Added "Unarmored Defense" ability (increases Jamilah's max health based on adjacent tank Champions)
Added "Frontline Fighter" ability (increases damage based on adjacent tank Champions)
Added "Berserker Confidence" ability (increases damage based on damage shields affecting Jamilah)
Added "Retaliation" ability (increases damage when nearby Champions are under attack)
Added "Bruiser" specialization (increases effect of Frontline Fighter)
Added "Indomitable Might" specialization (increases effect of Berserker Confidence)
Slot 3 equipment now buffs Frontline Fighter (instead of global DPS)
Slot 4 equipment now buffs Berserker Confidence (instead of Reckless Attack)
Complete rebalance of upgrades to compliment new abilities

But wait, there's more!

That's right, you can now play Idle Champions in your web browser! Starting now, you can log into our own CNE Games portal, Kongregate, or Armor Games to play Idle Champions!

Not exciting enough? How about a new outfit and a great deal on chests!

We've released a new $10 USD DLC pack to celebrate the revised core Champions and the launch on browser-based platforms. The Explorer's Pack is a great deal at $10 as it gets you set up quickly to blast through the early campaign adventures! It contains:

An exclusive Skin for Bruenor (Champion Bruenor)
16 Gold Chests (containing 2 guaranteed Shiny loot cards)
2500 Gems
2 Epic Potions of Fire Breath
2 Epic Potions of Giant's Strength
2 Epic Potions of Clairvoyance
2 Epic Potions of Speed
2 Epic Bounty Contracts

The Explorer's Pack is available RIGHT NOW on Steam, CNE Games, Armor, Kongregate, iOS, and Android. We'll be rolling the pack out to Xbox and PS4 in the coming weeks. Sorry! #BlameChris as this is our first new DLC pack on consoles and he didn't realize there were a bunch of additional steps to rolling it out on those platforms. Sorry!

And finally, 6 new variants in Ravenloft!

The Mists of Ravenloft Variant 2: Werewolves in the Mist â€” Extremely powerful werewolves spwan randomly. These extra enemies drop more gold, but have much higher health and damage. Lycanthrope champions (like Azaka) do four times damage to these extra enemies.

Family Entanglements Variant 2: Poor Fortune â€” For every gold pick-ups collected, Champions deal 5% less damage and gold find is reduced by 5%. The stacks halve when you change areas or completely kill all enemies on the screen.

Tower on the Lake Variant 2: Shorty's Day Off â€” There's a convention for short races going on in Waterdeep. No Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, or Kobolds can be used (Sorry Spurt!).

Seeds of Deceit Variant 2: Seeds of Corruption â€” Every 25 enemy kills, a random Champion is cursed with a Seed of Corruption for 30 seconds. Corrupted Champions have their DPS and formation abilities disabled.

Flies on the Wall Variant 2: Class Vacation â€” There's a conference in Baldur's Gate for certain classes. Bards, Barbarians, Clerics, and Druids cannot be used.

Backtracking through Barovia Variant 2: Late Game â€” Champions in seats 1-4 are unavailable. Only Champions in seats 5 or higher (Calliope or higher) can be used.