Introduction
Explorers! Patch 1.13 is here and we have all the information about the changes we will see coming soon! This is a pretty big update with some exciting changes to Alliances, Tournament, Moves and Creatures! There is a lot of information so make sure you check out all of our articles on the Patch Notes:
In this article, we are going to talk about the upcoming changes to tournaments. We got a little information about it on the forum last week, but there are some major changes coming in 1.13. These changes will affect the weekend skilled and advantage tournaments. The changes come from player feedback that matchmaking can be particularly harsh on new players who are being matched with much more experienced teams from the beginning of the tournament. In order to mitigate this experience, they will be implementing several changes to the weekly tournaments.
Must be in Arena 5 to participate
Starting in 1.13, new players will need to reach Arena #5 (Badlands) before being able to participate in Tournaments. Once unlocked, Tournaments will remain accessible even if they drop to Arena #4 or below. Existing players (who played in 1.12 or before) will not have this new lock as they have been used to participating in tournaments already.
This will give players the opportunity to unlock eligible creatures for tournaments and it will also give them battle experience so they are ready to show their skills in tournaments as well. This might initially limit the number of eligible players, but it is also a way to encourage players to go out and hunt to improve their team enough to reach Arena5.
Entry medals
To avoid matching experienced players with new players, they will give starting medals to all players who join a Tournament based on the current Arena they are in. Entry Medals are given when players register for the Tournament, but they must complete at least 1 battle for their score to be registered in the Tournament Leaderboard (and for player contribution to be counted in the upcoming Alliance Championships (see the additional article on that). Even though new players can't start participating until arena 5, they have grandfathered in those players prior to 1.13 so that is why the medals start with arena 0.
| Arena | Starting Medal |
|---|---|
| 0 | 100 |
| 1 | 160 |
| 2 | 220 |
| 3 | 280 |
| 4 | 340 |
| 5 | 400 |
| 6 | 460 |
| 7 | 520 |
| 8 | 580 |
| 9 | 640 |
| 10 | 700 |
| 11 | 760 |
| 12 | 820 |
| 13 | 880 |
They said they balanced these numbers with 2 objectives in mind:
- Avoid matching players who are in vastly different arenas, so that matches are fairer for everyone.
- Make sure these numbers aren’t so big at higher arenas that we’re rewarding too many medals to advanced players. In the following weeks, they will monitor how these Entry Medals are affecting the balance of the game and the matchmaking system and will adjust if needed.
880 trophies is a LOT to start with so we hope they really take a close look at those numbers. We are also hoping this isn’t applied to skilled tournaments. Since they are all same level creatures, team strength and what current arena you are in shouldn’t matter. We’ll keep a close eye on this topic as we get more information.
High Score
Players will now be ranked in the Tournament Leaderboard based on their High Score. The rewards of each Tournament will still be based on their rank in the Leaderboard at the end of the Tournament. They hope this will encourage players to continue playing to increase their final score, even if they encounter a losing streak.
This is extremely exciting and something players have been asking for for a while now. The end of tournaments can be a mad dash and stressful trying to figure out if you should stop battling to stay in the range you are wanting. Now, it is based on the top score so you can continue to battle without consequences (similar to the actual arena).
Free entry in Tournaments
Recently, they have begun to make tournament entry fees, free and it looks like they aren’t going to stop the trend. They are hoping this encourages more players to enter tournaments to try and see how much they can progress and to earn points for their alliance!
We love the free entry fees and the player feedback has been quite positive since they started it. We are excited they are offering more ways for players to interact with the game without having to pay in coins or in game cash.
Parting Words
While we love the idea of free entry and the locked top score, we aren’t a big fan of the adjusted beginning trophies the way they are being presented. Hopefully, they take a very close look at this and adjust accordingly. We want to see more people actually participate in tournaments, not be discouraged from the beginning. Don’t forget to check out the other articles on the Patch Notes, and be sure to join our Discord server to discuss the Update 1.13 with us! We hope to see you there!
