Counterplay’s gorgeous hybrid of collectible card battling and turn based strategy game, Duelyst, has sent its latest patch live on Wednesday, Feb 17th. In it, a few minor tweaks to AI behavior and some new deck selection features is overshadowed by the emergence of Unranked play. Finally, you can get a couple of games in without putting your rank on the line. There was much rejoicing.
Playing Duelyst outside of the practice mode and challenge maps was a risk/reward scenario, almost admirable for its unflinching demand for you to play the game with everything on the line every time. It nurtured its unique form of competitive spirit, where every game means something to someone. The problem with this approach is that in order to do things like daily quests, you have to be willing to do so at the risk of your standing in the ladder. Why play with a faction you don’t main for some extra gold if it could be sinking your rank that you worked so hard on during the month. Now, that doesn’t have to be something keeping people away from the great benefits of completing the dailies. I count that as a win.
Ranked got a small tweak as well in the form of the S-Rank Ladder. When players entered S-Rank previously, they were in the best caste, but among a nebulous pool of players. Knowing where you stood among them could only be settled through facing each and every one of them. A difficult task to be sure, but made easier now that there is a ranked ladder for S players. You now can see exactly where you stand among the elite Duelysts, and you can plan your rise to the top accordingly.
The deck selection interface has gotten an upgrade, as well. Now you can sort your decks by name and even color code them to find them more easily. That means you can separate all of those cheesy Third Wish decks you have into the shameful little pile in which they belong. There are also a few bug fixes and minor tweaks, with the major card balancing being reserved for the end of the month. Theres also mention of something that involves computer controlled opponents being “upgraded to show emotion,” which I can only imagine means one thing.
Will Unranked mode ease the ladder stress in your life? Let us know on Twitter or Facebook. Also: check out the Official Duelyst Wiki, which is chock full of up to date stats on the most popular cards in the game.