1. Introduction and Conclave Arcana Overview
Conclave Arcana is the sixth major core set since Splinterlands launched almost seven years ago.
The set will be similar in size to previous sets like Rebellion and Chaos Legion, containing 24 common, 29 rare, 14 epic, and 15 legendary cards, with an additional nine legendary cards airdropped via the conflict system.
2. Archons (Formerly Summoners)
The term "summoner cards" is being rebranded to "archon cards".
This change is to clarify that players are the summoners, and the archon cards represent the entity they summon to lead their unit cards.
This rebranding aims to improve the new player experience and align with the narrative of players being battle mages who summon enchanted cards.
The UI will be updated to visually distinguish archon cards with a small triangular symbol at the base and through filters.
This is just a name change, and the functionality of these cards in the game will remain the same.
3. New Mechanic: Bloodlines and Archon Dominion
Conclave Arcana introduces bloodlines as a significant game mechanic.
All cards have had bloodlines historically, but they are now being brought forward mechanically.
Archons will have bloodline dominion over specific bloodlines like elves, dwarves, or gnomes.
Archons will provide special bonuses to units of the bloodlines they have dominion over, in addition to normal team benefits. For example, a dwarf archon will have special benefits when used with dwarf units.
This mechanic allows players to break elemental summoning rules based on racial dominion. A dwarf archon can summon dwarves regardless of their element.
This new mechanic aims to give players more agency in team selection.
Bloodlines will be applied to cards from previous sets as well, making older cards with relevant bloodlines (elves, dwarves, etc.) potentially more useful. However, wild elves cannot be summoned in modern, and vice versa.
4. New Abilities
Shapeshift: Cards with shapeshift are treated as if they were all races or any race. This allows them to benefit from bloodline-specific effects, such as being summoned by an archon with dominion over a particular bloodline. Two promo cards and one other core card are planned to have shapeshift.
Bloodline Tribute: A new form of martyr that interacts with bloodlines. When a card with bloodline tribute dies, all units that share its bloodline receive a benefit, at minimum a boost to health, armor, and speed. If they share an attack type, they also get a power boost. Shapeshift cards can also benefit from and contribute to bloodline tribute effects.
Pain Forge: An ability that provides stat boosts when a unit takes damage from effects like burning, poison, or damage from an ally. This synergizes with other new abilities.
Reckless: When a unit with reckless attacks, it inflicts damage to adjacent units. This can trigger the pain forge ability on friendly units. These abilities are expected to speed up matches due to higher damage potential.
Resurgence: A new rebirth ability where a unit comes back to life with full health upon death and deals one damage to all units. This damage can also trigger pain forge. The full health aspect is still being tested and may be adjusted.
Final Rest: A global effect that shuts down death trigger abilities for both sides of the battle while a unit with final rest is in play. This includes abilities like resurrection, rebirth, martyr, tribute, and possibly less obvious ones like scavenger and trample. It aims to bring more control to the game and make opponent history more relevant. Mechanisms to counter final rest are being explored.
Reveal: A counter to camouflage. A unit with reveal will reveal a camouflage unit on the opposing team at the start of its turn, making it targetable. This could have a significant impact depending on the prevalence of camouflage in the meta and will likely be a staple in Wild format.
- Relentless Strike: This ability bypasses damage avoidance from abilities like shield, force field, and void, causing normal damage against units with these abilities. It is also being tested to potentially include extra damage. It aims to prevent hard locks and speed up battles.
5. Playtesting Process
The playtesting efforts for Conclave Arcana have been significantly ramped up both internally and externally.
The process involves statistical analysis for set shaping, internal iteration on card concepts, and collaborative testing with community members.
Community feedback has been valuable in refining the cards.
The set has had the most eyes on it for the longest period of time, resulting in a more polished product.
The community was involved early in the planning and feels a sense of ownership over the set.
6. New Pack Types and Foils
Starter Packs: A new pack type containing five common or rare cards. They are cheaper and designed for new players, available for 1,000 DEC or $1 in credits. They do not contain epic, legendary, or special foil cards and are given out with the purchase of a spell book. There is no limit to the number of starter packs.
Standard Packs: Work the same as previous booster packs, costing 4,000 DEC or $4 in credits with the same odds.
Alchemy Packs: Cost 12,000 DEC or $12 in credits and guarantee one gold foil card. They also increase the chances of getting better foil cards in general.
Legendary Packs: Cost $24 and offer a higher chance of pulling legendary cards.
New Card Foils: The game now supports multiple foil types beyond just gold.
Black Foil Cards: A new foil type that is rarer than gold foil. They provide a 20% reward bonus in battles (vs. 10% for gold), half the cooldown of gold cards in survival mode, five times the burn value, collection power, and conflicts contribution of gold foils. Black foil cards are max level by default. The first black foil of a certain card pulled will have mint number one, and the numbering will continue sequentially, while arcane black foils are in a pool and might not be mint number one when first pulled.
Arcane Variant Cards: A new type of card with special gold foil and black foil versions. These have unique animations and are intended to feel like enchanted cards.
7. Black Foil and Arcane Cards Distribution
Black Foil Cards: Found in standard, legendary, and alchemy packs, with increasing odds respectively (1 in 4,000, 1 in 800, 1 in 400). Starter packs cannot contain black foil cards.
Arcane Cards: Both gold foil and black foil arcane cards will be found in standard, alchemy, and legendary packs, but not starter packs.
A fixed number of each arcane card (e.g., 20 black foil and 50 gold foil for each common card) will be minted beforehand and placed in a special rewards account.
The chance of pulling an arcane card increases over time as more Conclave Arcana packs are opened, reducing the total number of available packs. Players will be able to track the number of arcane cards given out.
Standard packs have a 1x chance of getting arcane cards, alchemy packs have a 3x chance, and legendary packs have a 6x chance.
A new tradable potion called "Midnight Potion" will double your chances of receiving a regular black foil card (not arcane black foil) in packs (excluding starter packs).
8. Land Integration: Permits and Aura Lab
A new resource called "permits" will be required to build a new work site.
Players will spend their research to obtain these tradable permits.
Permits can be bought and sold on the non-card market.
The new building is called the "Aura Lab" and will be used for harvesting aura.
Aura will be the output of the Aura Lab and will be used to create the new Midnight Potions.
This integrates land ownership into the new card set and provides a use case for land assets.
9. Pre-sale Details
The Conclave Arcana pre-sale will begin on April 22nd and end on May 11th
There is no benefit to buying early versus late during the pre-sale, as all rewards are based on the total amount spent.
For every 40,000 DEC or credits spent, players are guaranteed one Arcane Skimwalker promo card.
For every 400,000 DEC or credits spent, players are guaranteed the legendary Groml the Hunger promo card.
Promo cards have a 4% chance of being gold foil, and a guaranteed gold foil for every 25 copies obtained.
Black foil versions of the promo cards will not be obtainable directly through spending but will be rewards from the leaderboard and raffle.
The top six players on the pre-sale leaderboard will get to design a legendary archon card and receive max regular, gold foil, and black foil copies of it. The top 20, 30, and 100 will receive other titles and black/gold foil promo cards.
A raffle will give out gold foil, black foil, and arcane variant versions of the two promo cards for every 1,000 DEC or credits spent, with a total of 71 prizes.
Buying packs during the pre-sale is the only way to guarantee the promo cards and participate in the leaderboard and raffle. You can only get one arcane card per pack outside the pre-sale, but pre-sale purchases could potentially yield two (one in the pack, one from the raffle).
10. General Sale and Card Burning
The general sale begins on May 13th, and packs can be opened and cards used.
The set will be available for sale for up to 300 days.
Each day, a portion of any unsold packs (below a certain threshold) will be burned and another portion allocated to the DAO.
This mechanism allows the market to decide how many packs are sold.
11. Conflicts
Conflicts will return in a similar way to Rebellion, starting a month or two after the general set release (around June or July).
Players can stake their Conclave Arcana cards and packs on mage wagons to earn points.
Points are earned based on the type of cards and packs staked.
At the end of the conflict, a new legendary card will be airdropped based on participation.
Battle wagons purchased previously will need to be upgraded for the Conclave Arcana conflicts. This upgrade is considered the first repair.
12. Chaos Legion Rotation
Chaos Legion cards will rotate out of the Modern format on May 13th when Conclave Arcana launches.
This is expected to cause a significant shift in the Modern meta.
Chaos Legion cards will still be usable in Wild, Survival Mode, and on land.
Rebellion packs are seeing increased value due to the upcoming rotation.
13. Card Stats and UI Changes
The release of card stats is planned around April 18th, with community members revealing them over the following weeks.
Highlight videos showcasing the promo cards in action will be released.
The stats on all cards in the game will have slightly different positioning. Offensive stats (attack) will be on one side, and defensive stats (armor, health) on the other, with speed positioned with the offensive stats. This change was made to accommodate the introduction of the first three-attack unit (for melee, magic, or ranged). While Armor Strike allows for more than two melee attack in specific scenarios, this is the first unit with a base attack of three.
14. Divine Constructs (Formerly Fiends)
The "Fiend" bloodline found on some existing cards (like the zero mana Chaos Legion cards) and the Arcane Skinwalker will have a lore change.
We will be re-designated as "Divine Constructs" or "Spawns," created by an otherworldly power.
The ability "Blasphemy" on Elanor (a Chaos Legion card that cared about fiends) will be updated to specifically care about the "Spawn" bloodline.
Shapeshift cards will also count as "Spawns" for abilities like Elanor's.
15. Q&A Session
- Question: How about adding an in-game notification when an arcane card is opened?
- Answer: This is something that has been discussed internally and we want to implement. It might be available at launch or in a later update. We plan to highlight these openings and are working on a widget for notifications. Players can also replay pack openings, and we may add indicators on card backs for special cards.
- Question: For the promo cards and the pre-sale is there a chance to get regular foral promo cards per the credits DEEC spent or the numbers required there hard limits?
- Answer: Spending the specified amount of DEC or credits guarantees the promo cards. There are no chances involved for getting them if you spend less than the required amount. However, those who spend any amount during the pre-sale will still have chances to win raffle prizes.
- Question: Will you live stream the pre-sale launch and do a pack opening?
- Answer: We are open to live streaming the pre-sale launch. Pack openings would need to occur after the general sale begins on May 13th. We are willing to do livestreams and engage with the community, especially if someone has a significant pack opening.
- Question: Can the daily pack burning be removed for this set sales won't be a smooth 15,000 a day i hope or I hope so and with the marketing push a lot of new players may come into the game in July and August etc so all the packs that are burned before them are lost packs that the players could have bought.
- Answer: The daily pack burning mechanism was proposed to and approved by the DAO, so We will not change it at this point. The sale period is set for 300 days, which we believe will provide ample opportunity for new players to purchase packs when they join. They feel this system worked well for the Rebellion set.
- Question: Are there going to be a liquidity pool for permits?
- Answer: No, there will not be a liquidity pool for permits. Permits are not divisible items. Instead, they will be tradable on the non-card market, similar to tax. Players will be able to use or transfer them freely, and they are separate from land resources that have liquidity pools or transfer fees.
- Question: Is is there no bulk purchases or bonuses discounts for the pre-sale and throughout the general sale?
- Answer: That is correct. Bulk purchase bonuses and discounts were removed partway through the Rebellion sale and will not be available for Conclave Arcana or the general sale. This decision aims to avoid over-incentivizing players to buy more packs than they need, which could negatively impact pack value. If the community strongly disagrees, they can propose a change through the DAO system.
- Question: Battle wagons were sold as battle wagons not rebellion battle wagons and in the game the battle wagons purchase page states that they'll be usable in all future conflicts given this why do we need to upgrade them for the the CA conflicts if we have unused battle wagons do they have to be upgraded too we're already going to have to repair them after each conflict do we really need another cost on top of that.
- Answer: If the community feels strongly that upgrading battle wagons shouldn't be required, they can make a proposal to the DAO. The speaker's personal perspective is that they want to create more use cases for land assets in the game and encourage the use of in-game resources. Upgrading could be considered the initial repair step.
- Question: When designing conflict wagon repairs smaller players don't hit the guaranteed minimums and might go without cards for many conflicts can the players that don't receive any airdrop cards be spared from subsequent wagon repairs until they receive a card.
- Answer: This is a reasonable suggestion and will be considered during the design process for conflict wagon repairs. The idea of potentially sparing players who didn't receive airdrop cards from repair costs until they do receive one makes sense and aligns with trying to be fair to all player types.
- Question: How is the foundation cards in the campaign mode looking for the CA main sale release.
- Answer: The current plan is to release the foundation cards and the campaign mode on or before the general sale launch of Conclave Arcana (May 13th). The foundation cards are designed, the artwork is in progress, and the campaign mode is being built and tested.
- Question: Are we ever going to revisit Runi traits the black foil limited editions are giving PTSD.
- Answer: Revisiting Runi traits is something we would like to do in the future, but it is not a current priority. We are focused on developments that will have a more immediate impact on the game. Runi are currently performing well in terms of value.
- Question: How's the mobile app looking with Apple and Google.
- Answer: The mobile app is looking great and is still in development. We have not submitted it yet. Recent navigation improvements were partly driven by the needs of the mobile app. We are working with Studv (Hive Keychain developer) on final tweaks and plan to submit it soon, ideally before the Conclave Arcana launch. The mobile web browser and Hive Keychain app offer a much-improved experience in the meantime.
- Question: Just looking for confirmation that no packs will be sold with bulk sale type of promotions afterwards or with lower prices than the pre-sale or official shop by the company like the Rebellion and No Chaos Legion PTSD stuff yep no 100%.
- Answer: Confirmed. The company will not sell packs with bulk discounts or at lower prices than the pre-sale or official shop. The packs belong to the DAO, and we will adhere to the DAO-approved proposal. Any changes would require DAO approval.
- Question: What is your or the company's position on the current US administration's stance on actions in the crypto realm things like stopping cases against crypto companies removing restrictions on tornado cash does it open a new path otherwise avoided due to the harsh regulatory environment of the path of the past.
- Answer: The shift in the US administration's stance is a significant relief. Previously, the regulatory environment felt uncertain. We do not plan to change their current model, where the company focuses on game development and the DAO handles token-related aspects. We believe this model is appropriate regardless of the regulatory environment. We also anticipate this positive shift will eventually benefit crypto markets.
- Question: If the stars all align in the right direction and there are lots of new players coming into the game and selling out Conclave Arcana is there a way to create products for them not that we lose new players because there's nothing left till next time main set or mini set.
- Answer: Yes, there are several ways to address this. The DAO receives a portion of burned packs and could choose to sell them. The DAO could also decide to offer more packs than initially planned. We are implementing a system where even sold-out packs can be purchased from the non-card market in the game. Additionally, the starter packs will remain available throughout the set's lifespan, and the foundation cards will provide a starting point for new players.
- Question: [Question about Survival Mode how's it going any plans to adjust the mechanics and revival potions end of season and resets runway on rewards etc um can we get a quick spiel on the data you're seeing on your side and what you're thinking for the future].
- Answer: The primary focus has been on Conclave Arcana. Details about Survival Mode will be addressed more closely after the Conclave Arcana launch. We are planning some form of revival potion, potentially integrated with land resources or time crystals, to address match liquidity issues. We will have ample data to inform future decisions by then. The current reward pool for Survival Mode has approximately four months of runway remaining.
16. Concluding Remarks and Team Acknowledgements
- The team expressed excitement for the Conclave Arcana set and its potential impact on the game.
- We thanked the community for their support and involvement in testing.
- Special shout-outs were given to Tyler, Investigator, the entire development team, Alfredo (creative coordinator), Call Me Tim, Bla1, and Dave for their significant contributions.
- The pre-sale countdown will be added in an update the following Tuesday.
There might be some errors in this summary
