Paladins: Beta patch brings ice mage and free legendary cards!

The first major beta update expands Paladins with a new character and improves the starting conditions for newcomers.

The hero shooter Paladins: Champions of the Realm receives its first major beta update with so many changes that they could fill several pages in the forum. Particularly noteworthy is the new character, the frosty sorceress Evie, and the revised level system. For newcomers, the entry experience increases, as the starting decks of all characters have been massively improved.

Evie, the Winter Witch

The first newcomer to Paladins is a true glass cannon and gifted illusionist. Evie is the wonder child of the archmage of Stonebriar, defying her master by binding the ice fury Xerses to herself forever. This process not only granted her great power but also bestowed her with immortality, though it led to her banishment. Since then, she has wandered the north, and no one knows why she has come to Crosswing Hold now – and no one dares to ask her.

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  As a weapon, Evie uses her Frost Staff. The projectiles don’t fly very far, but they explode and deal damage in a small area.
• Illusion creates a copy of Evie that lasts for 6 seconds and attacks enemies, dealing 40% of the damage of its summoner.
• With Blink, Evie can teleport a few meters – as is typical for mages – always in the direction she is facing. This works upwards into the sky or onto elevations as well.
• She swings onto her broom temporarily with Soar, which gives her increased movement speed and is perfect for fleeing from dangerous situations or chasing fleeing enemies.

Her cards allow her to focus either on dealing devastating damage with her weapon or creating a variety of illusions. With the right cards, it is possible to have up to 5 illusions active at the same time. Since each copy deals 40% of Evie’s damage, they can often take out entire groups of enemies by themselves.

However, Evie herself is very fragile. If she is focused and her abilities are on cooldown, the young sorceress quickly bites the virtual grass.

Changes to the Starting Decks

To give newcomers a great gameplay experience right away and let them feel the impact of the most powerful cards, the starting decks of all characters have been revised. Every champion now starts with 4 common, 1 rare, 1 epic, and 1 legendary card.

At the same time, the rarity of many cards has been changed to better reflect their strength. Those who have already played in the beta benefit even more from these changes – as they will have the new cards in addition and will have many duplicates. These can be exchanged in “Card Crafting” to obtain new cards.

Level System Expanded to Level 10

Significant changes have also been made to the level system. During a match, heroes level up significantly faster, often reaching level 5 within just a few minutes (which grants them access to the legendary card). However, players continue to accumulate experience points thereafter, and at each level-up, one of the previous cards can be exchanged to further customize the playstyle.

This should also be heeded, as at levels 1-5 the cards only provide half of their passive bonus (health points and extra damage). It appears that it is possible to always replace selected cards with “themselves” if desired. This keeps the selection of abilities the same and only increases the passive bonuses.

Siege machines are now more vulnerable during the journey and can only destroy a maximum of one gate before being destroyed themselves. This artificially lengthens matches, but often leads to exciting comebacks when a team seems to be losing.

Finally, there is now a punishment system for players who are AFK during the match. Unfriendly players can also be reported after a match and may face sanctions after multiple offenses.

Mein-MMO says: It feels like leveling up is now too fast, and often you reach level 2 after just taking the first shot. However, this is a very early beta version, and HiRez has announced that they will try many “crazy things” to see how the gameplay experience changes. Evie fits well into the group of champions and offers many customization options thanks to her cards to play her in different ways – an advantage that some other characters have not had yet. Especially the punishment system for AFK players was important – previously, there was hardly a match where a player didn’t drop out.

We have previously introduced the other champions and made an initial impression of the game.