I've seen kieran's interview where he talks about changing the arena mode to make it more similar to TFT, with more RNG, etc. I don't dislike the current mode, but it is true that it is too linear, too much to study and unattractive for a casual player. One way such a change like this could be implemented is by merging traditional card games with auto battlers. It is clear that the game mode should work with illuvials that you have purchased or captured in the overworld, and not with random illuvials that you do not need to capture. So one way to implement this is that you have to create your own deck with your illuvials, weapons and augments as before, but instead of having the entire deck available from the beginning, you draw, for example, 5 cards the first turn, and you draw cards with each turn like in traditional card games. This has several advantages: it allows there to be an RNG that helps the less skilled players to win, each game is different since you have to adapt your game plan to the cards you have been draw and not only play the combination that you know is most optimal in a linear way, the RNG is not excessively high since in the end you play the deck that you have create and not random pieces (which adds an RNG that is too high that makes TFT uncompetitive), and you can continue creating decks, trying combinations like in traditional card games, which is a part that many players like and that hardly exists in TFT, since everything is random auto battlers tends to limit the options (you can only play a few pieces per set) and it is very difficult to try combinations because the pieces appear randomly. The battles will be in the auto battler mode that the game already has, so it is an easy change to implement.
#Arena mode fusion between traditional card game and Auto battler.
formal kraken
Obviously you would have to test things, try it in 1vs1 and battle royale mode to see how it works (8 people seem like a lot to me, maybe 6 or 4 per lobby), and try things like, for example, Instead of spending gold to make the store change like in tft, you spend gold to have extra draws, so you will have more cards and better playing options, but you will have less gold to play your table. If you don't spend the gold it will generate interest, but if you spend it you can go on a winning streak which will generate gold, etc. For novice players there may be predefined decks to try the game, even if those decks don't give you those illuvials (for example, you can try an invokers deck with ophisto but you don't have that illuvial, you can only try the deck), and if not You fill all the cards in your deck because you are missing illuvials, the deck adds random cards.
formal kraken
Arena mode fusion between traditional card game and Auto battler.
celest jacinth
I would love to have an arena mode that applies a random burn/modifier each round. Example round one water bonus, round 2 only T2 illuvials, round 3 behemoth bonus etc. This would make you have to change up your teams on the fly and make each game feel wildly different
fallen ember
I'd like a mode like this too.
I can see both being for different types of players.
I keep getting random flashes of wholly Molly, Illuvium has one IP, with the willingness and hopefully, continues ability to, nor only make games of every genre, yet make different modes of those games. 😍
formal kraken
The more I play, the clearer it becomes to me that the game needs RNG, the absence of a random factor means that right now the game hardly requires skill, and is much less fun. In card games like magic, no matter if you copy someone's deck, it does not guarantee good results. Since the cards that you and your opponent draw are random, each game is different, so you have to be able to adapt to different situations. Something similar happens in autochess, as the pieces you get are random, no matter how much you know that x composition is good, you have to be able to reach it, and if you simply dedicate yourself to forcing a composition you are going to loss a lot of games. In illuvium people simply copy a deck that is broken, as they have all the cards from the beginning they learn the optimal order to play them, they throw them and win games as if they were a robot, many position the pieces exactly the same every game, 0 skill, or thinking, little effort, lots of reward, because either you play the same decks, or you have to spend many hours building a new one that can win. Since they are bots, you can obviously beat them, but in the end it takes a lot of time to study to find the combinations that can beat them, something that is not especially fun even for me who likes to build decks. It's also not especially fun to constantly play the same combination of units and augments in the same order every game because it is the most optimal. And I am one of those who avoids playing like a robot and tries to adapt to each game but of course, I need to study each match a lot to be able to overcome it because the other person playing like a robot is already making very optimal plays. And it's a shame because the illuvials, the synergies, the skills, combinations, etc, are good, better than TFT, but the game mode is not good.
jovial linden
I like this idea and I upvoted.
I would also love to see a hyper casual game mode / variation of arena where you use the exact same features we currently have but cancel class and affinity related boosts and synergies and only keep the concept of hyper.
Also ppl could have complete freedom to build their decks as they want (i.e. if I want to play a team of 5 scoriox that I own, I can).
I think a hyper casual mode can easily leverage off all the existing infrastructure and will greatly benefit the ecosystem by adding an entry point for people who are not necessarily willing or able to spend time learning all the intricacies of competitive arena (at least at the start of their journey maybe 🙂)
marsh flicker
I agree the games needs a bit more RNG, but I don't agree to the idea of limiting your deck. You bring these illuvials with you therefore you should have access to all of them.
What could have some RNG is the battleboard conditions with some random rules implemented into them.
formal kraken
I agree the games needs a bit more RNG, but I don't agree to the idea of limitin...
I theoretically like the idea of having your entire deck from the beginning, in practice I think it is one of the main problems of the current arena mode, and I don't think adding random rules will solve that problem. Having your entire deck from the beginning makes illuvium a game to study, and not a game to play, which is obviously not fun. Since you always have access to all your cards, the optimal thing is that you have studied each situation and played before it even happens: I know that on turn 1 I am going to play this, on turn 2 this, on turn 3 this... and this includes the deck you play against and even random rules. There is already a random element in the game which is legendary augments, and these augments barely change the way you play, do you know why? because even if you have that augment that should change things, your hand is always the same and you can (and should) also study that situation, so if I get an augment from for example magma, that doesn't change anything because the rest of my hand is going to remain the same, and I have already studied beforehand what moves I am going to make if I get that augment. Adding random rules if you still have all the cards from the beginning doesn't change things, it just makes them even more tedious if possible, because it will still be a study game, and the only difference is that you will have to study a lot more of situations.
However, if you draw random cards from your deck, it's not so much a game of studying, it's more of a game of playing, because it's impossible to study all the combinations that give all the possible starting hands + all the possible draws, so In the end, the important thing is how well you have create your deck, how well you are able to play it, adapting to the different situations that arise, and how lucky you are in the draws. It becomes much more of a game to play, and much less a game to study, it is true that sometimes that RNG of the draws is frustrating, but it is also true that it allows even the worst players to win games, and allows each game to be different.
marsh flicker
Sorry I don't think making this more of a card game is the way, just my opinion. I see illuvium as being something akin to Pokemon not a TCG. I'll wait for the arena new mode for now and then i'll share my feedback.
formal kraken
Sorry I don't think making this more of a card game is the way, just my opinion....
I understand your point and it doesn't seem like a bad approach or idea for the game to be more like Pokemon, but I think that right now the combat part is totally the one of an autochess, and the management part of the arena mode is the one of a TCG, to the point of that making the player's hand random is something very easy to do and implement, and would even feel natural, and yet making arena mode more like pokemon would require changing the mode entirely. I think the "pokemon" part is in the overworld mode, the capture of the illuvials, level them up and evolve them, the aspect of the "pieces" that instead of being heroes are more similar to pokemons... the arena mode is more of a mix between an autochess and a TCG. And I like the arena mode itself, I think that as autochess it is better than TFT, the problem is the game mode itself, which I think is not fun precisely because it is a mode more designed for "studying" than to play and have fun.
marsh flicker
I understand your point and it doesn't seem like a bad approach or idea for the ...
yeah I agree with you as it stand for the arena mode. Let's wait and see what the new mode for the arena that the team has been cooking is and then give them our feedback. Anyway you bring good points to the discussion thanks for the thread.