Draft patch notes 8.5

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Welcome to the Draft update! We know that we've been quiet for some time, but worry not, we didn't forget about the format and we're planning bigger changes in the near future. With 8.5 we introduced changes to existing packages which allow for better balance. We've also added the 12 new cards from the 8.3 update to the roster! Enjoy!

Maddoc special package will only contain 2 Maddoc's and a bomb instead of 3 Maddoc's

New core card: Crach an Craite

The following cards were added to Tribal- Ships & Pirates:
  • Holger Blackhand
The following cards were removed from Tribal- Ships & Pirates:
  • Hvitr and Aelydia
The following card were added to Defense - Sukrus Package:
  • Morkvarg
The following card were removed from Defense - Sukrus Package:
  • Giant Boar
Created Mechanical - Discard Package

New Core Card Eist Tuirseach added:
  • Enabled Mechnical - Discard Package
New core card Eldain added:
  • Enables Traps Package
Core card Gezras of Leyda adjustements:
  • Enable Move Package
  • Disale Traps Package
  • Enable Move Package
Added Malena into Mechanical - Move Package

Removed Paulie Dahlberg from Mechanical - Move Package

New core card - Brouver Hoog:
  • Removed Value - Prebuff package
  • Added Defense - Armor package
Added Sheldon Skaggs to Value - Prebuff Package

New core card - Unseen Elder

Removed core card - Orianna

New Core Card: Dettlaff van der Eretein
  • Increase odds of Bleeding & Weather
  • Enables offensive Bleeding
Removed core card - Mourntart

New core card Anna Henrietta:
  • Offensive - Poison package enabled
  • Mechanical - Create package enabled
  • Increased chance for Combo packages
Removed core card Xarthisius

New core Card: Emhyr Var Emreis

Removed core card Usurper

Added Usurper: Officer into the package Mechanical - Disloyal

Removed core card: Trolololo

New core card Queen Meve:
  • Adjusted Boost and shield probabilities
New core card: King Foltest

Added King Roegner to Defense - Shield package

New core card: Whoreson Junior

Added Caleb Menge to Offensive - Bounty package

Removed core card Harald Gord

New core card Cleaver:
  • Enables Mechanical Intimidate
  • Enables Mechanical Tribute
Added Draug into Tribal - Soldiers package

New core card King Foltest enables:
  • Tribal - Soldiers
  • Mechanic - Thinning
  • Unique: Mechanic- Thinning - Blue Stripes package
 
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Goodbye, triple Madoc. You will not be missed.

Kurt still in Lock packages, though? :coolstory:

PS. Traps in Draft sounds like fun. I'm going to try to get that the next time I play the mode, especially if I have one of the Artifact daily quests. :D
 
Thanks for nerfing Madoc!

Please, can you also do something with Charges? It is just too easy to build very OP deck with so many charge packages available. And it is not fun to play against that.
 
The balance patch will arrive tomorrow. I thought CDPR will post the balance patch 1 day ahead before the patch arrive. However, I can see only Draft Patch, not balance patch.

Am I looking at the wrong place?

edit: found the link :D
 
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Thanks CDPR, even just removing 3x Madoc would've shifted the meta a bit. Also when can we get more leaders?
 
Am I looking at the wrong place?
Draft patch notes are separate sometimes. The regular patch notes will almost certainly follow later today; I seem to remember from the Open dev stream that they said patch notes would come a day before the patch.

Edit: Well, they will certainly follow later today. Ryan has commented that on Twitter apparently.
 
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Please bring back old Arena. A lot of players are dying to play it again.
Many people arent interested in Draft. I'm browsing Reddit and checking opinions.
On top of all of that, Draft mode isnt about the quality. Its not your, CDPR, or Gwent lvl of quality. There is obviously lack of time/talent/recourses.
2 months no patches and now "this".
Hackers attack, covid, ill mothers. We get this. But stop just for a second, put yourselves in players' place and think what you're doing.

I dont hope any1 will do anything or even read this post.
It's just sad and disgusting to observe that some time ago you had passion for the games, The Witcher, Gwent, but now money is all you guys care about. Good luck.
 
Please bring back old Arena. A lot of players are dying to play it again.
Many people arent interested in Draft. I'm browsing Reddit and checking opinions.
On top of all of that, Draft mode isnt about the quality. Its not your, CDPR, or Gwent lvl of quality. There is obviously lack of time/talent/recourses.
2 months no patches and now "this".
Hackers attack, covid, ill mothers. We get this. But stop just for a second, put yourselves in players' place and think what you're doing.

I dont hope any1 will do anything or even read this post.
It's just sad and disgusting to observe that some time ago you had passion for the games, The Witcher, Gwent, but now money is all you guys care about. Good luck.

I actually did not like Arena but enjoy the new Draft mode. The only thing I wish they could do is to remove the old Arena Contracts & update them with Draft contracts we can complete. The Draft has been in Beta for long enough IMO. Some new leader abilities would be nice now as we have been using the same ones forever. Instead of complaining why not be positive. Your the only comment on this thread that has said you aren't interested. Change is good no one likes doing the same thing over and over. [...]
 
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I haven't played since the Madoc package took over and 90% of matches I played were against that or charges. As someone who put in 1000 hours in Arena in less than a year before Draft was introduced I can never see myself coming back while there are still metas in Draft. The reason I loved Arena so much was because there was no meta and seeing what kind of deck you could put together and what your opponent was working with was always a thrill that never ended. In Draft there are packages of cards that synergize, but the fun thing about Arena was you had to know your cards and try to make cards synergize and if they didn't, no big deal, find another use for it. Please bring back Arena, I and many others would feel like kids in a candy store again and enjoy each day a little more again.
 
You're free to do so, it just won't change anything. CDPR are committed to updating and improving draft, it's been made explicitly clear.
Are they ? Where's contracts ? Where's the rest of the leaders' abilities ? 2 months without any patches...FML, I've totally forgot....small indie company.

Who wishes to do something - looking for the opportunities, who doesnt - looking for the excuses. And because all the answers on the questions above gonna be excuses...

With the start of the Journeys business model, do we see more content and more often patches ? I don't think so. Simple conclusion is that CDPR earns more but spends same amount or even lesser.

But people won't notice anything, because cant simply stop to praise CDPR for good ingame economy, comparing with the other CCG.

I have only several complaints regarding Gwent:

- Draft and its' poorest quality, on top of that the slowest possible updates tempo
- Removing Arena was the worst thing happened to the game. Even x2 price increase on Prem Legendaries craft didn't hurt that bad, although it was pretty dirty and greedy move (no need to comment on this, regarding reduced price on common/rare premiums craft, which can be easily and fully obtained through simple opening the kegs)
- Quantity/frequency/size of "Addons". 3 big updates per year would have been great. Doubt CDPR can pull even 3, not to speak of 4. What do we have now ? 2 ?

Considering the size of the company, I have a very strong feeling of how small Gwent team is and how little funds it receives from the top for development. Right now no words can proof otherwise. Only updates. Good, quality updates.

PS: Draft and Arena it's like EGS and Steam. First want compete with the second, although has nothing to offer (bloody EGS doesnt have a shopping cart 2 years (?) after the launch). Same with Draft. First four sentences of this post confirms this. Just the facts.
 
Are they ?
Q: When will draft mode get more updates? [In addition to the ones in update 8.5; question was old.]
A: Still coming, it's just taking a little bit more time. Prizes or some other incentive to play the mode coming for sure, card packs will also get attention; draft will be evolving.

A week ago, that.

Just need to be patient. Posting angry messages won't speed things up.
 
Q: When will draft mode get more updates? [In addition to the ones in update 8.5; question was old.]
A: Still coming, it's just taking a little bit more time. Prizes or some other incentive to play the mode coming for sure, card packs will also get attention; draft will be evolving.

A week ago, that.

Just need to be patient. Posting angry messages won't speed things up.

I just cannot understand devs position regarding Arena. Why can't we have both modes. Everyone's happy. Win-win condition. If they affraid people will gain/convert Ore to MP through rewards in Arena - reduce rewards by half, make us spend MP to enter Arena instead of ore etc. I'm sure main reason wasn't new players who didnt have enough ore to reroll Arena decks (which I personally did only to get several copies of same card for achievement or contract, while sitting on 40k+ Ore at that moment), but economy. MP, juicy legendary from 9 wins and real money. Everything were around these and how the first two affects the 3rd. But hey, let's just delete Arena and release this unpolished stub/scrap called Draft.

It's the easiest thing to say: be patient. You can apply it to any concept, when smth isn't happened just yet. Not gonna work. I know CDPR couldn't care less about me, or thousands of the other players who loved Arena mode, because neither we nor our opinions or even our money matter to them. We're just acceptable losses on their roadmap.
 
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