Levelling Up the Fun: the Evolution of Eternal Dragons’ Gameplay
Greetings, Dragoneers! The realm of Eternal Dragons is currently undergoing a significant transformation to enhance your gaming experience. Insights gained from previous iterations have highlighted the importance of making the game more accessible and engaging, with even more tactical depth. In simple terms, we aimed to improve the game’s intuitiveness for first-time players and inject more fun into the battles. This update signifies the start of a series of changes aimed at striking a balance between accessibility and a more dynamic battle experience. Our focus has been on streamlining gameplay, laying a robust foundation for regular updates and expansions to keep players consistently entertained. With a heightened emphasis on unit placement, aided by the introduction of obstacles, spells, and offensive roar skills (more on that shortly), we’ve significantly elevated the skill factor in both PvE and PvP modes. This update introduces a completely novel core gameplay mechanic, never before seen. Join us as we explore the transformed world of the Eternal Dragons auto-battler to discover what’s new.
The Cataclysm
The game updates are so momentous that all Dragoneers’ progress must be reset at this juncture. From today, everyone will battle from the same starting point. Fear not, though, as your progress is not lost to time. We are providing unique Super Content Shields based on the following criteria which can be both held in-game and minted, reflecting your previous battle history and giving you eternal bragging rights:
🛡️ Emperor Shield: A completely unique Shield awarded to the Dragon Master with the highest number of PvP victories, showcasing unrivaled dominance on the battlefield.
👑 Majestic Shield: Granted to those victorious in at least one PvP League during the season, highlighting strategic brilliance and triumph.
⚔️ Warrior Shield: Earned by players who’ve reached the pinnacle of mastery, maxing out Story levels, symbolizing dedication and accomplishment.
🏹 Challenger Shield: Awarded to those who’ve ventured into the competitive realm, completing at least one level of Story Mode during the season, marking the initiation with courage and exploration.
We’ve bid farewell to the generic Units, internally referred to as Filler Units, that were previously employed to complete battle rosters. In the current iteration, you’ll exclusively deploy the units you own. While previous versions relied on Filler Units to ensure a cohesive battle experience, we believe that your assets should take center stage in the fight. Every player now begins with a clean slate, showcasing a sole base unit named Lloyd in your gallery, poised and ready for combat.
Embark on the journey in Story Mode and collect scrolls as you advance through levels. These scrolls serve as a key to summoning units, contributing to the expansion of your army. In this initial version, there are ten distinct units awaiting discovery across twelve PvE levels, ensuring you assemble a robust battle force ready to face PvP challenges and participate in upcoming tournaments. PvP Mode now offers a level playing field, placing the responsibility on you to strategically build and strengthen your army.
The Revamped Battle Experience
Now, let’s dive into the heart of the updates. The core mechanics have undergone a significant transformation, resulting in a strategic fight we’re confident you will savour:
- Spells are added as a powerful additional tool in your battlefield arsenal. For this initial version, four spells have been added, which can be bought in the battle shop. There are two types of spells: attack and defense. Here we see the ‘Big Bang’ offensive spell, which can be bought in the battle shop and then placed on an opponent’s tile. When the spell is triggered in battle it will deal damage to Units both on its tile, plus all adjacent tiles. The defensive Mass Heal spell is being used by the left-hand army to treat their battle wounds.
- We introduce obstacles to the game for the first time! These strategic barriers obstruct both unit and spell placement, contributing to tactical depth and introducing a greater variety to the battlefield.
- The shop phase between each battle round has been streamlined, facilitating quicker yet more impactful decision-making. A maximum of two Units and two Spells are presented, leaving the choice of how to spend those valuable coins entirely in your hands! Purchased units will not reappear in your shop unless the original unit is sold, introducing a captivating layer of decision-making. Shop units progressively become more powerful as you advance through the battle, prompting strategic considerations.
Should you acquire a Tier One Sybil early on, or wait until the third shop phase for a Tier Three version? Alternatively, you could purchase the Tier One Sybil, sell her later, and aim for a higher tier version in subsequent shop rounds.
The Tier of the unit is now reflected by its diamond rating, in the graphic below you see tier 1 Lloyd and Sybil. The higher the Tier, the more damage to the opponent’s Avatar. The potential decisions are limitless, enriching the tactical complexity of each battle!
- Area of Effect (AOE) for each Unit and Spell is now highlighted on the battlefield. This is a significant step forward in helping new players understand what their Unit can impact in battle. Overlapping AOEs will trigger a boost. The placement of units has never mattered more!
- The bench has been removed for further simplification and streamlining of interactions and decisions. Unit placement is now done using an intuitive drag-and-drop action. From now on, you can use up to six Units in battle. After this point, any Unit you want to add to your battlefield must replace one you’re willing to sell. No more back-and-forth micromanaging of the bench.
- Unit stats have been improved to support the new core battle mechanics, and their names have been made clearer, leading to a much easier understanding, particularly for players who are new to the game. For example, the new Speed stat dictates turn order during battle with faster units logically getting their attacks in first!
Finally, let’s look at the revised battle sequence:
- At the start of each turn, each Unit will perform their Roar Skill, followed by Spells taking effect
- Each unit in turn will then take one action, depending on the status of the Active Skill gauge. If the gauge is maxed they will perform their Active Skill, for instance, Sybil calls forth ‘Eruption’ which deals serious damage to all opposing units in the front column of the battlefield. If not, they will perform an ordinary attack. Turn order is dictated by each Unit and Spell’s speed stat, with the quickest getting their attacks in first.
- As with previous versions, the battle then continues until one side is wiped out. Each army now has a Champion, who stands watch over the battlefield and reflects your team’s HP reserves.
Once one side is conquered, combatants return to the shop and battle on until one side’s HP is completely decimated.
As you try out and experience the updated game you’ll find a plethora of additional improvements. Sounds, graphics, and VFX have all had a multitude of upgrades, the team has worked tirelessly on every aspect of our battle experience. A lot of these changes are small in isolation, but add up to a momentous shift in playability and fun!
We hope you enjoy the new and improved Eternal Dragons game, which you can download via our website. We are super excited to hear your feedback, and our team is already working on the next set of improvements. It has been a real labor of love from the whole team to get this revised version into your waiting hands, and we can’t wait to see your reactions.
Into battle, Dragoneers!
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Eternal Dragons
