Small news update…
So this week’s blog content is all about the PAWC finals, which are running this weekend. But I also wanted to leave a quick note on a few other things we’ve been up to:
Elyot Grant
Meet the Prismata Alpha World Championship Finalists! 1
Hi all!
The exhilarating conclusion to the Prismata Alpha World Championship is nearly upon us.
Only eight players remain.
Each of them grinded their way to the upper echelons of the Prismata ladder, slogged it out through the 6-round PAWC Grand Prix, and in some cases, fought tooth and nail to survive through our Wildcard Qualifier event last weekend. Employing their outstanding skill and determination, each of these Prismata masterminds has earned a position in the toughest Prismata tournament we’ve witnessed thus far—the Prismata Alpha World Championship Finals.
Shalev’s Rule in Prismata
Hi everyone!
First, a small item: We have a brand new Prismata unit balance survey available. If you’re interested in providing feedback on the latest Prismata unit balance changes, we’d really appreciate it! It should only take about 5-10 minutes, though you could spend more time on it if you want.
On with today’s topic: I figured it was about time that I explain one of the design concepts that has existed in Prismata since very early on in its development—the so-called “Shalev’s Rule”. There have been a number of questions posted on the topic (such as this one) and there’s actually quite a bit of misinformation floating around on the definitions involved. So I’m here to set the record straight, and explain a little about why the design rule exists, and how it influences our decisions in creating new Prismata units.
Truth be told, we’ve never really discussed Shalev’s Rule much in public. Public knowledge has mostly leaked out through small mentionings here and there, which led to gradual (and rather incomplete) dissemination of the concept through the Prismata community. The rough idea is essentially “stuff that’s supposed to be good is never bad”, but the rule actually goes much deeper than that, and its implications in Prismata’s design induce a lot of really cool emergent properties.
Obligatory random image that has nothing to do with the article’s contents… but it’s pretty awesome, agree? Coming soon!
Mini balance patch incoming!
Hi everyone.
Two quick announcements regarding balance on the Prismata alpha server:
- We’ll be launching a new balance patch soon. It will be going live this Wednesday at 11:59pm ET.
- Effective immediately, Redeemer has been temporarily disabled and will not appear in any ranked games, or as a random unit in custom games.
Redeemer’s getting another makeover
Redeemer’s been having a tough time. After multiple balance changes, the latest Redeemer looked promising. Unfortunately, some terrifying new builds were discovered, including the crushing “Thunderdeemer” rush for player 2, popularized by Zezetel through his fascinating article on the subject. For this and other reasons, we’re going to be releasing a reworked Redeemer later this week.
Balancing Redeemer has proven to be quite the opposite of a piece of cake.
A guest article on Prismata.xyz
Hi all,
Just a quick note: I have a guest post up on /u/evanisvinks14‘s new web site, prismata.xyz. The site hopes to host a ton of community-written Prismata articles on a wide range of topics, and Evan is still accepting submissions. We’re very supportive of these types of community initiatives, so I’ve contributed myself by authoring a strategy article on Trinity Drone there. It’s here if you’d like to have a look.
I look forward to lots of other great content on Evan’s blog. Evan’s been one of our greatest ambassadors, moderating our subreddit and giving out tons of keys. We owe him tremendous thanks!
How well can you predict the outcome of a Prismata match?
Hi folks!
I apologize for not blogging much lately; the Canadian Media Fund deadline is coming up so I’ve been slaving away on an application for government support that will help pay for the giant advertising and PR campaigns that will be accompanying Prismata’s release. (Exciting, I know….)
In the interim, I have two small things for you:
(1) A quick survey on what we should do with the “Good Game” emote, which has recently been removed from Prismata. It should take less than two minutes to complete.
(2) I want to run a quick little “Guess who wins” contest, inspired by a few recent threads on our subreddit.
Patch notes for this weekend’s update
In addition to the two units we announced yesterday, we’ll also be pushing a large list of balance changes at 11:59pm tonight. Many of them are quite minor, but some are very important. A complete listing, alongside an explanation for each change, is provided below:
New patch, new units!
A new patch arrives soon!
As promised, a new Prismata balance patch will deploy this Friday at 11:59pm ET. Three new units will be added the Prismata unit collection, and they’ll appear with a higher-than-average frequency on the ladder throughout the weekend.
Here are two of the new units, both featuring build time 2:
Lancetooth – supply 10
Ferritin Sac – Supply 10
The third new unit will be revealed on Friday, making its long-awaited return. It has a brand new start-of-turn ability that hasn’t been seen on a Prismata unit since early April, and its new ultimate click ability will make your opponent wince in fear every turn if you use it enough times. Prismata will never be the same.
Full patch notes, including all buffs and nerfs, will also be made available tomorrow.
Longer build times in Prismata 1
Hi all,
Today, I’m going to discuss one of my favourite mechanics in Prismata: build time. Specifically, build times greater than one, as employed in the design units like Tarsier, Apollo, and Zemora Voidbringer.
Here are all the Prismata units that currently have a build time greater than one:
| Unit | Build Time |
| Tarsier | 2 |
| Antima Comet | 2 |
| Apollo | 2 |
| Centrifuge | 3 |
| Endotherm Kit | 4 |
| Frostbite | 2 |
| Iso Kronus | 2 |
| Nitrocybe | 2 |
| Resophore | 5 |
| Scorchilla | 2 |
| Wincer | 3 |
| Thorium Dynamo | 2 |
| Zemora Voidbringer | 6 |
Prismata Balance – Vivid Drone, Unit Stats, and a New Survey! 2
Hi all!
A bunch of random things to discuss this week…
Survey
First and foremost, we have another alpha player survey online. There are questions about skins/emotes, unit balance, the armory card-flipping minigame, and more. Please fill it out; your responses are extremely helpful!
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- These infernal skins will be arriving soon…
Stats
We collect a huge number of statistics on Prismata units—how often they are bought, how often players win with them, and how balanced they are. In this article, I wanted to share a few of our findings.
