Yesterday’s patch brought significant changes, and today we’re releasing a hotfix to address them.

Having analysed the initial data and your feedback following Patch 8, we’ve concluded that a number of changes have had too significant an impact on single hero mode’s gameplay — primarily affecting the Schism faction. In today’s minor patch, we’re reverting some of these changes and adjusting others in line with our vision for balance. At the same time, we are implementing improvements for Hive that were originally planned for a later date ahead of schedule.

The update also includes bug fixes (including those introduced by Patch 8 itself) and a buff to the Dungeon in the Arena.

Full patch notes are below. Good luck on the battlefield!

v. 0.80.19

• Jebus Cross: Fixed a bug from the previous update where Taverns and Mage Guilds were still being built in central area cities despite the intended changes.

• Sand Clover: Fixed a bug from the previous update where some guards were not generating.

• Exodus: Fixed a bug from the previous update where the template could still generate more dwellings of a specific tier.

• Fixed a bug from the previous update where upgraded versions of Cultists had inconsistent hiring costs.

• Fixed a bug from the previous update where the casting cost of the Death Merchant's "Ensnare Memories" ability was displayed incorrectly.

• Fixed bugs from the previous update related to the class changes for Tavi and Pauper (wrong models and Heroic Strike).

• Fixed a bug from the previous update where the number of bonus attributes for the Temple sub-skill "Strong Faith" was displayed incorrectly.

• Fixed a UI bug that occurred when exchanging items or troops between heroes if either hero had active buffs or debuffs. In multiplayer, this was also causing desyncs.

• Fixed a bug where force-closing the game via Alt+F4 during the pick-and-ban phase incorrectly assigned match results.

• Fixed a bug with army growth from temporary stacks gained through Communion of the Abyss for the Schism faction AI-opponent.

After reviewing your feedback following yesterday's patch, we are making a number of adjustments in today's hotfix.

Yesterday's changes were aimed at refreshing the gameplay, including strengthening the Schism faction's standing in Classic mode. However, as many of you noted in the comments, some of those changes had too strong an impact on Single Hero mode. In today's update, we are reverting some of those changes and making additional adjustments. These changes will have a greater impact on Single Hero mode and a lesser one on Classic mode, where Schism's position is already quite weak.

At the same time, in the previous update we did not give sufficient attention to the Hive. Its situation is broadly the inverse of Schism's — the faction performs well in Arena and Classic modes but struggles in Single Hero mode. One reason for this is the demanding nature of Hive battles, which require significant time investment to minimize losses. As a result, in that update we slightly adjusted combat timers and intended to observe how this would affect the faction's results before making further decisions. However, we see your requests for more impactful changes, so we are implementing some of the planned adjustments now.

After the update, the Summon Avatar use cases have shifted, closing off some abuse scenarios (though you will certainly find new ones), and the skill has also started performing effectively in Arena mode. Based on initial observations, the skill appears quite strong, so we are making a slight adjustment to its damage and will continue to monitor its performance. More significant changes, however, will require more data.

"Summon Avatar"

• Damage scaling from Spell Power decreased: 12–12/18–18/24–24 → 12–12/16–16/20–20.

Hero Specializations

We have slightly adjusted the starting skills of Hive heroes so that, in combination with the other changes, these heroes perform better as starter heroes — which will primarily affect their effectiveness in Single Hero mode.

Hive

• Pauper

  • Starting skill: Luck → Battlecraft

• Maelstrom

  • Starting skill: Insight → Luck

• Nor

  • Starting skill: Battlecraft → Insight

• Zoran, the Self-Founded

  • Starting skill: Nightshade Magic → Defense

• Lo

  • Starting skill: Defense → Recruitment

• Leira

  • Starting skill: Battle Magic → Nightshade Magic

• Oriax

  • Starting skill: Recruitment → Battle Magic

• Tavi

  • Bonus to the number of summoned Fire Larvae based on Hive army health: 4% + 1% per every two hero levels → 4% + 2% per every three hero levels

During the creature changes, we revisited the balance value of certain active and passive abilities, resulting in adjustments to some creatures — and related elements such as Pandora's Box counts, hiring costs, and city recruitment buildings. The main changes affect the Schism and Hive factions: the former has been slightly nerfed, while the latter has been buffed. Additionally, significant changes have been made to Hive faction laws, which should allow them to accumulate power faster in Single Hero mode matches. Also included are Pandora's Box changes for the Dungeon faction that were accidentally omitted from the previous update.

Pandora's Boxes

The number of creatures players can receive from Pandora's Boxes has been adjusted. Values are given for standard/upgraded versions in "before → after" format:

• Necropolis:

  • Tier 4, Graverobber: 30/21 → 31/21.

• Hive:

  • Tier 3, Hornet: 30/22 → 28/20.

  • Tier 4, Scorpion: 29/20 → 32/22.

  • Tier 7, Hive Queen: 7/4 → 8/5.

• Dungeon:

  • Tier 1, Troglodyte: 60/45 → 50/35.

  • Tier 2, Infiltrator: 35/25 → 40/30.

  • Tier 3, Onyx Dancer: 34/24 → 34/25.

  • Tier 4, Minotaur: 20/14 → 23/16.

  • Tier 5, Medusa: 21/15 → 23/16.

  • Tier 6, Hydra: 11/7 → 12/8.

Necropolis

• Tier 7:

  • Vampire Lord:

    • Defense: 25 → 26.

  • Vampire Scholar:

    • Attack: 26 → 27.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Bone Exchange I" (Tier-4 dwelling) is now 250 Gold cheaper.

  • Construction of "Bone Exchange II" (Tier-4 dwelling) is now 500 Gold cheaper.

Grove

• Tier 1:

  • Faun:

    • Damage: 3–4 → 3–5.

  • Faun Archer:

    • Damage: 3–4 → 3–5.

  • Faun Warrior:

    • Damage: 4–5 → 4–6.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Shroomwood Shack I" (Tier-5 dwelling) is now 500 Gold cheaper.

Schism

• Tier 1:

  • Ra'Shoth:

    • Initiative: 5 → 4.

  • Stinging Ra'Shoth:

    • Initiative: 5 → 4.

  • Ferocious Ra'Shoth:

    • Initiative: 6 → 5.

• Tier 2:

  • Cultist:

    • Speed: 4 → 3.

    • "Glance of the Abyss" ability effect power: 15 + 3 × Stack Size → 12 + 2 × Stack Size.

  • Binder:

    • Attack: 6 → 5.

    • Speed: 6 → 5.

    • "Glance of the Abyss" ability effect power: 15 + 3 × Stack Size → 12 + 2 × Stack Size.

  • Votary:

    • Speed: 5 → 4.

• Tier 6:

  • Rift Arbitrator:

    • Attack: 24 → 26.

    • Defense: 26 → 28.

    • Initiative: 12 → 10.

• Tier 7:

  • Abyssal Envoy:

    • Initiative: 9 → 8.

  • Abyssal Overseer:

    • Initiative: 10 → 9.

  • Abyssal Executor:

    • Initiative: 11 → 10.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Cultist Spire I" and "Cultist Spire II" (Tier-2 dwelling) is now 250 Gold cheaper.

• "Involuntary Summons" once again requires "Mage Guild III" to be built.

• "The World is Ours" law Tier reverted to pre-update value: 3 → 5.

Hive

• Tier 1: Base weekly growth in all cities increased: 21 → 22. All hero starting armies adjusted accordingly.

  • Parasite:

    • Damage: 2–3 → 2–4.

    • Speed: 3 → 4.

  • Warden Parasite:

    • Damage: 2–3 → 2–4.

    • Speed: 4 → 5.

  • Ravager Parasite:

    • Damage: 2–3 → 2–4.

    • Speed: 5 → 6.

• Tier 2: Base weekly growth in all cities increased: 13 → 14. All hero starting armies adjusted accordingly.

  • Locust:

    • Damage: 3–4 → 3–5.

  • Overgrown Locust:

    • Damage: 3–4 → 3–5.

  • Harvester Locust:

    • Damage: 4–4 → 4–5.

• Tier 3:

  • Hornet:

    • Damage: 4–7 → 4–9.

  • Chanter:

    • Damage: 4–7 → 4–9.

  • Stinger:

    • Damage: 4–7 → 4–9.

• Tier 4:

  • Scorpion:

    • Attack: 11 → 12.

    • Defense: 11 → 12.

  • Volcanic Scorpion:

    • Attack: 11 → 12.

  • Spelaean Scorpion:

    • Defense: 11 → 12.

    • Damage: 11–14 → 12–14.

• Tier 6:

  • Health restored by the "Corpse Eater" passive ability: 65 → 120.

• Tier 7:

  • Hive Queen:

    • Initiative: 7 → 8.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Neglected Housing I" (Tier 1 dwelling) is now 500 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Neglected Housing II" (Tier 1 dwelling) is now 1250 gold more expensive and no longer requires Crystals to build.

  • Construction of "Carrion Lair I" (Tier 2 dwelling) is now 500 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Carrion Lair II" (Tier 2 dwelling) is now 1750 gold more expensive and no longer requires Crystals to build.

  • Construction of "Paper Nest I" and "Paper Nest II" (Tier 3 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Chitinous Ziggurat I" and "Chitinous Ziggurat II" (Tier 4 dwelling) is now 250 gold cheaper.

  • Construction of "Tower of Love I" and "Tower of Love II" (Tier 7 dwelling) is now 2500 gold cheaper.

  • Construction of "Tower of Love II" (Tier 7 dwelling) now requires 5 Wood and Ore.

• "Hidden Desires" law Tier increased: 1 → 2.

• "Focus Reserves" law Tier decreased: 2 → 1.

• "Natural Selection" law Tier decreased: 4 → 3.

• "Evolve, Adapt, Overcome" law Tier increased: 4 → 5.

• "Prosper and Flourish" law Tier decreased: 5 → 4.

Day Magic

• "Riposte." Can now be cast on Magical creatures.

Due to the creature balance changes, minor adjustments have also been made in Arena mode. Additionally, the Dungeon faction was underperforming in Arena mode, and to strengthen it we are slightly increasing its army sizes.

The number of creatures offered to players has been changed (values shown for standard/upgraded versions in "before → after" format):

Necropolis

• Tier 4. Graverobber: 64/44 → 68/46.

Grove

• Tier 5. Whisper Whisperer… nah, kidding, Herbomancer: 35/24 → 37/24.

Schism

• Tier 1. Ra'Shoth: 215/165 → 220/165.

• Tier 2. Cultist: 100/75 → 110/85.

Hive

• Tier 1. Parasite: 180/140 → 165/125.

• Tier 2. Locust: 110/85 → 105/80.

• Tier 3. Hornet: 70/50 → 65/45.

• Tier 4. Scorpion: 58/40 → 60/42.

Dungeon

• Tier 1. Troglodyte: 285/220 → 295/230.

• Tier 2. Infiltrator: 135/100 → 140/105.

• Tier 4. Minotaur: 50/34 → 52/36.

• Tier 5. Medusa: 45/30 → 47/31.

• Tier 6. Hydra: 21/13 → 22/14.

• Tier 7. Cave Dragon: 9/5 → 10/6.

Your reviews help us understand what matters most to you. We read every single one, so please keep them coming — they really do make a difference.

New to the series or a returning veteran? We have an Official Community Wiki[wiki.hoodedhorse.com] for you to master the art of war! Thanks to active community members, it has detailed breakdowns of unit stats, spell tiers, and other detailed data for those who wish to dig deeper. You, our community, are the gift that keeps on giving!

Stay informed and share your victories with the community! Follow us on Discord[discord.gg], Steam and Facebook[www.facebook.com] for the latest patch notes, community discussions and chit chat with our team! We would also like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to the unofficial community subreddit, where you’re also welcome to share your thoughts!

With love,

💙 Unfrozen Team

A brand-new patch is now live — and it is a massive one.

This patch covers extensive balance adjustments across multiple game systems: skills, spells, hero specializations, creatures, artifacts, map templates, and the matchmaking system. The expert-level subskills for “Murmuring” have been significantly reworked, and the “Summon Avatar” skill has been fully overhauled to position it as a purely magical ability.

Certain passive creature abilities were recalculated — most notably “Parry.” Additionally, based on collected telemetry and statistics, we have buffed the upgraded versions of creatures that were noticeably underperforming compared to their alternative upgrade options.

Improvements have also reached the random map genertator. The side areas on the popular Jebus Cross template are now much more interesting to play, while the Sprint, Harmony, and Exodus templates have been adjusted to increase overall pace of the game. Along with these changes, we have updated the template pool for the matchmaking.

Finally, we have patched-out a number of exploits and crucial bugs. In particular, we have removed the ability to abuse Alt+F4 to disconnect from games, fixed an exploit that allowed players to peek at the opponent’s setup during the tactics phase, and eliminated a bug that permitted free creature upgrades.

Furthermore, we have taken disciplinary action against players who knowingly exploited these vulnerabilities to secure unfair victories, as well as those who encouraged other community members to use them.

⚠️ A Quick Reminder: Intentionally exploiting in-game bugs in competitive play can result in a temporary or permanent multiplayer ban! Engaging in such behavior may also violate the rules of the platform you're playing on, risking a platform-wide ban. Don't jeopardize your account for a dubious advantage — play fair!

Full changelog is below. Good luck on the battlefield!

v. 0.80.18

• Ghouls spawned during combat now correctly leave a corpse on the battlefield upon death.

• Fixed a bug where increasing the maximum health of an Energy Phoenix caused its passive ability "Eternal Flame" to malfunction.

• When creating a copy of a Crystal Iriyad stack, its passive ability "Crystal Thorns" now correctly applies to both the original stack and the copy.

• The Naiad passive ability "Embodiment of Water" now correctly grants the stack immunity to the effects of "Ice Bolt" and "Circle of Winter" as intended.

• Fixed a rare bug where the morale debuff from Avatars of War failed to be removed from enemies when two or more of them died simultaneously.

• Positive and negative effects applied by friendly stacks now correctly expire when the source stack dies.

• Fixed a bug where summoned creatures under the effect of max-level "Heavenly Blades" were destroying themselves.

• Creatures with ranged and long-reach attacks surrounded by other stacks now correctly switch to melee attacks while under the effect of "Berserk."

• Fixed a rare bug where a stack would skip its turn instead of waiting.

• Fixed a bug where creatures in combat could not trigger the positive Morale effect after waiting.

• Fixed a bug where immunity to the Vampirism mechanic, destruction of summoned creatures, and destruction of temporary stacks was not working correctly.

• The Lich ability "Death’s Embrace" now correctly interacts with the "Masterful Despair" spell effect applied by Laura.

• Fixed a bug where Spell Power bonuses scaling from the level of Summon Avatar specialist heroes were not working.

• Fixed a bug where the Grove hero sub-skills "Burst of Energy," "Just One More Time," and "Strong Connection" were incorrectly triggering when using abilities that did not actually consume Focus.

• Fixed the "Revenge" sub-skill of the "Combat" skill — the hero now correctly receives a bonus Heroic Strike after a friendly stack dies.

• The "One for All" and "All for One" sub-skills no longer incorrectly grant attribute bonuses for corpses on adjacent hexes.

• Changes to Spell Power during combat now correctly update the numeric values of active effects and spells.

• Magic Defense now correctly reduces magic damage from damage-over-time effects.

• Fixed a bug in the effect applied to a hero by the "Shadowflight" spell.

• The "Thaumaturgy" skill is no longer offered at the "Wise Owl" map object.

• Fixed the synergy between the "Fortune’s Favored" Elite class and "As Luck Would Have It" sub-skill, which was causing abnormally high Defense values on creatures.

• Fixed a bug where the Temple faction's "Chosen One" active ability had no cooldown.

• Fixed incorrect descriptions of the "Temporal Spheres" spell upgrades.

• Alt+F4 protection: Reworked the emergency application close system. If a player closes the game via Alt+F4, the system now correctly assigns an automatic loss to that player and a win to their opponent.

• Fixed an exploit that allowed seeing the enemy army placement during the Tactics Phase using a creature with high Speed.

• Fixed a bug that allowed dishonestly swapping low-tier creatures for high-tier ones by switching their positions.

• Fixed a bug where traps created during a siege were not dealing damage to creatures that stepped on them.

• Defensive tower damage during sieges now correctly scales based on the number of buildings in the city.

• Fixed a bug causing a "zero" stack to appear when sending a hero to the "Guild of Six Winds" in a Temple city.

• Fixed a bug where interacting with a map object in the last second of a player's timer would lock that object for the rest of the match.

• Fixed a bug where Tier-7 creatures in the diplomacy window were blocking the purchase of all other creatures in that window.

• Fixed incorrect display of a player kicked from a match when reopening the connection issues window.

• Fixed incorrect display of the current income and point totals for Laws and Astrology when passing the turn in hotseat mode.

• Fixed the Spellbook automatically closing when the opponent performed certain actions.

• Fixed incorrect behavior of the hire window when there was insufficient gold to purchase creatures.

• The tooltip for "Pocket Dimension" now disappears from the screen on its own.

• The ~ hotkey (by default) now correctly resumes and stops hero movement.

• Fixed the objects controlled by Black Player incorrectly marked as controlled by Red Player.

• Fixed incorrect numeric values for the Dungeon faction law "Leaders of the Nation."

• The Dungeon faction law "Triumvirate’s Agents" now correctly applies only to heroes of that faction, as intended.

• Fixed incorrect values in the description of the Minotaur Vanguard passive ability "Adrenaline Surge."

• Fixed errors in the descriptions of the artifacts "Singing Pan‑Pipe" and "Clenching Ring."

• ⚠️ This fix will not apply to saves made inside a mission before the patch ⚠️
  The victory screen no longer covers the final story dialogue.

• ⚠️ This fix will not apply to saves made inside a mission before the patch ⚠️
  Fixed broken quest and event triggers when loading certain missions.

• Fixed a bug that locked artifact item slots when carrying them over from one mission to another.

• The "Restart" button is no longer locked when loading a save.

• Autosaves made within the same in-game day no longer overwrite each other — a save number in parentheses is added instead.

• Fixed a visual bug with creature movement range display during the tactics phase.

• Holding Shift on elite class tooltips (in the hero window) now allows you to view details about the skills required to unlock those classes.

• Positive and negative effects applied to heroes and creatures are now significantly more visible.

• Various other visual improvements.

"Summon Avatar"

The skill has been significantly reworked and now the summoned avatar has its own unique scaling rules.

• The summoned Avatar no longer receives a Defense bonus, and the Attack bonus now scales from the hero's Spell Power (not from Attack).

• The Avatar no longer has a regular HP. Instead, it can survive a fixed number of hits: 2, 3, or 4 (depending on skill level).

  • The number of hits the Avatar can survive is increased by bonuses that increase creature HP.

  • The Avatar's HP cannot be restored during combat via healing spells or abilities.

• Changes to the Avatar's base stats:

  • Damage increased: 6–6 → 12–12.

  • Initiative decreased: 6 → 5.

  • Speed decreased: 6 → 5.

• Changes to stat bonuses (per 1 point of hero Spell Power):

  • HP changed: 12/18/24 → N/A.

  • Damage increased: 6–6/12–12/18–18 → 12–12/18–18/24–24.

• Restriction: the Avatar can no longer be copied using the "Mirror Copy" spell.

Sub-skill updates:

• "Avatar of Fury": now increases the summoned Avatar's Damage by 25%. The bonus is doubled if the hero has the "Leadership" skill.

• "Avatar of Toughness": now allows the Avatar to survive one additional hit. The bonus is doubled if the hero has the "Defense" skill.

"Murmuring"

• Child of the Woods: Maximum mana granted has been reduced: 30 → 20.
• Expert-level sub-skills have been significantly reworked.
[/p]

• "Just One More Time." The cooldown reduction for all spells in the Spellbook when using Focus has been increased: 1 → 2 rounds.

• "Burst of Energy." The bonus Damage to the Heroic Strike has been increased from 5% to 15%, but it now only lasts until the end of the current round.

• "Strong Connection." The hero attribute bonus has been increased from 1 to 2, but now only lasts until the end of the current round.

"Righteousness"

• Sub-skill "Chosen One." Stat bonuses granted to a creature from the hero's attributes have been reduced: 100% → 50%.

• Sub-skill "Strong Faith." The bonus to additional attribute per round when a stack dies has been reduced: 2 → 1.

"Sorcery"

• Sub-skill "Piercing Spells." Magic resistance ignored on targets has been increased: 20% → 25%.

• Sub-skill "Magical Influence" has been replaced by a new sub-skill "Summoning Sorcery": All summoned creatures in battle gain +25% health and deal +25% damage.

"Insight"

• Sub-skill "Civic Innovation." Bonus Law points: 100% → 30%.

"Offense"

Bonus damage from regular attacks reduced: 15/20/25% → 10/15/20%.

"Defense"

Damage reduction from regular attacks reduced: 15/20/25% → 10/15/20%.

• Spell specialists have been slightly buffed. They now gain 1 additional Spell Power for their spell for every 2 hero levels (previously every 3 levels). Affected heroes:

  • Temple: Julius, Vesper, Anastasia the Meek, Nadir.

  • Necropolis: Marl, Laura, Lord Rufus.

  • Grove: Old Pilgrim, Faleor, Aeliniel, Glacia, Vim, Halon, Echolily, Sullie.

  • Schism: Changeling Urgo, Ra'Davok, Sister Keiri.

  • Hive: Mila.

  • Dungeon: Tellaris the Betrayed, Sister Deira.

• Diplomat heroes have been slightly buffed. The base diplomacy power bonus has been increased from +5% to +10%. They also now gain +1% to persuasion power for every 3 hero levels (previously every 4 levels). Affected heroes:

  • Necropolis: King‑of‑Kings.

  • Grove: Alluring Sh'a.

  • Dungeon: Ylwari.

• Morale specialists have been slightly nerfed. The additional morale trigger chance now increases by 1% for every 6 hero levels (previously every 4 levels). Affected heroes:

  • Temple: Aeos the Exalted.

  • Hive: Goldentongue.

• Physical damage specialists have been nerfed. Base and specialized stack damage now increases by 1% for every 4 hero levels (previously every 2 levels). Affected heroes:

  • Necropolis: Bulwark.

  • Grove: Gorel Spearhead.

  • Schism: Grellekh the Betrayer, Icequeen Hel’Ghat.

  • Hive: Niev.

• Magic Damage specialists have been buffed. Magic damage now increases by 1% for every hero level (previously every 2 levels). Affected heroes:

  • Schism: Blackhorn.

  • Dungeon: Zakron the Great.

• Lord Edgar (Temple) has been nerfed. Bonus attack and Defense granted to creatures from the hero's attributes reduced: "20% + 5% per 6 hero levels" → "10% + 5% per 6 hero levels."

• Aeliniel (Grove) has been buffed. Additional duration of Firewall increased: +1 → +2 rounds.

• Tarius and Funerella (Necropolis) have been buffed. They now gain a 2% bonus to Necromancy power for every 5 hero levels (previously 1%).

• Tavi (Hive) is now a Magic hero, and Pauper (Hive) is now a Might hero.

Starting Spell Changes

Temple

• Heretic Avis: started with no spell → "Groundsight."

• Pip: "Early Start" → "Clear Fog."

• Lia the Untethered One: "From a Bird’s Eye" → "Inner Light."

• Clarissa: "Energize" → "From a Bird’s Eye."

Necropolis

• Zam: started with no spell → "Primordial Chaos."

• Adahn: "Silence" → "Shade Cloak."

• Ethric: "Shade Cloak" → "Song of Power."

• Guildmaster Klastor: "Read Minds" → "Naira's Veil."

• Shadespinner Oona: "Sleep" → "Umbral Grip."

• Funerella: "Shackles" → "Read Minds."

Grove

• Eith: "From a Bird’s Eye" → no spell.

• Mreowa: started with no spell → "Berserk."

• Elder Tss'kish: "Song of Power" → "Energize."

Schism

Important! Since all heroes of this faction are hybrids between Might and Magic, each of them now receives a starting spell. In addition, their starting army sizes have been averaged and no longer depend on the hero's specific class.

• Nihil: started with no spell → "Energize."

• Blackhorn: started with no spell → "Ice Bolt."

• Matastala the White: started with no spell → "Optical Illusion."

• Jänhei: started with no spell → "Early Start."

• Mara Mat’ha: started with no spell → "Unnatural Calm."

• The Iron Master: started with no spell → "Silence."

• Changeling Urgo: no spell → "Shackles."

• Martyr Tho: started with no spell → "Assemble!"

• Grellekh the Betrayer: "Blessing" → "Enlarge Shadow."

• Icequeen Hel'Ghat: "Ice Bolt" → "Shorten Shadow."

• Kwinri: "Groundsight" → "Riposte."

• Eye Collective: "Wean" → "Reinforcements."

• Tölketh: "Reinforcement" → "Circle of Winter."

• Ulkuth: "Unnatural Calm" → "From a Bird’s Eye."

• Dhüvri: "Blink" → "Thick Hide."

Hive

• Nor: "Impending Fate" → no spell.

• Pauper: "Fireball" → no spell.

• Leira: "Vulnerability" → "Wean."

• Khariset: "Anti-Magic" → "Fireball."

• Tavi: started with no spell → "Anti-Magic."

Dungeon

• Creta, Daughter of Navarr: "Groundsight" → "Mind Reading."

• Gleard the Grey: "Shackles" → "Temporal Spheres."

• Kelarr, Son of Navarr: "Groundsight" → "Wean."

• Glastor: "Thick Hide" → "Clear Fog."

Starting Skill Changes

Temple

• Vesper: "Daylight Magic" → "Battle Magic."

Necropolis

• Zam: "Battlecraft" → "Recruitment."

• Adahn: "Recruitment" → "Battlecraft."

• Funerella: Advanced "Necromancy" → Basic "Necromancy" and "Summon Avatar."

Grove

• Mreowa: "Sorcery" → "Combat."

Dungeon

• Motley: "Luck" → "Recruitment."

Hive

• Pauper: "Battle Magic" → "Luck."

• Oriax: "Summon Avatar" → "Recruitment."

Daylight Magic

• "Healing Water." Base HP restored increased: 25/25/25/25 → 50/50/50/50.

• "Inner Light." Base reduction to negative effect duration changed: −2/−3/−3/−3 → −2/−4/−4/−4.

• "Vengeance":

  • Base Damage dealt reduced: 100/100/100/100 → 60/60/60/60.

  • Damage scaling from Spell Power reduced: 20/20/30/30 → 15/15/20/20.

• "Judgement." Base damage dealt changed: 200/300/300/300 → 200/400/400/400.

Nightshade Magic

• "Web." Casting cost reduced: 11 → 9.

• "Umbral Grip." Damage scaling from Spell Power increased: 8/12/16/16 → 10/15/20/20.

• "Summon Star Children":

  • Base number of summoned creatures increased: 4/4/4/4 → 8/8/8/8.

  • Number of summoned creatures scaling from Spell Power reduced: 2/2/2/3 → 1/1/1/2.

• "Naira's Kiss":

  • Base Damage dealt reduced: 200/300/300/300 → 150/200/200/200.

  • Damage scaling from Spell Power reduced: 20/20/30/30 → 15/15/20/20.

Arcane Magic

• "Shackles." Casting cost reduced: 9 → 6.

• "Mirror Copy." Casting cost reduced: 24 → 20.

• "Impending Fate." Damage per target level changed: 20/25/35/35 → 20/30/45/45.

• "Reality Distortion." Casting cost reduced: 21 → 15.

Primal Magic

• "Wean." Base reduction to positive effect duration increased: −1/−2/−2/−2 → −2/−4/−4/−4.

• "Ice Bolt." Initiative reduction on target increased: 2 → 3.

• "Firewall." Base damage dealt increased: 60/60/90/90 → 80/80/120/120.

• "Anti-Magic." Casting cost reduced: 18 → 16.

• "Summon Primal Remnant":

  • Base number of summoned creatures increased: 6/6/6/6 → 12/12/12/12.

  • Number of summoned creatures scaling from Spell Power reduced: 2/2/2/3 → 1/1/1/2.

• "Armageddon":

  • Base Damage dealt increased: 100/200/300/300 → 150/250/350/350.

  • Damage scaling from Spell Power increased: 10/10/10/20 → 15/15/15/25.

Neutral Magic

• "Magic Arrow." All damage is now dealt across three consecutive strikes.

• Ring of Neutrality:

  • Rarity: Epic → Rare.

  • Effect reworked: the artifact now only neutralizes Luck (instead of both Luck and Morale previously).

• Monster Head:

  • Rarity: Common → Rare.

  • Effect reworked: the artifact now neutralizes the Morale of all stacks in combat.

• Sixth Finger:

  • Enemy Morale and Luck reduction reduced: 2 → 1.

• "Ethereal Knowledge" set:

  • 2-artifact bonus weakened: bonus XP gained by the hero 100% → 50%.

  • 4-artifact bonus changed: it now increases the duration of all applied effects by 8 rounds (previously they lasted indefinitely until the end of combat).

During our analysis of game statistics, we found that some passive abilities were incorrectly accounted for during the initial balancing process (for example, the "Parry" creature passive). As a result, some creatures were over-tuned and have been adjusted downward.

We also made a large number of targeted stat adjustments. These are mainly aimed at buffing upgraded versions of creatures that, according to collected data, were underperforming compared to their base versions.

Pandora's Boxes

The number of creatures players can receive from Pandora's Boxes has been adjusted. Values are given for standard/upgraded versions in "before → after" format:

• Temple:

  • Tier 3, Griffin: 22/16 → 26/18.

• Necropolis:

  • Tier 1, Skeleton: 80/60 → 65/50.

  • Tier 2, Wight: 40/30 → 45/35.

  • Tier 3, Undead Pet: 46/32 → 50/35.

  • Tier 5, Lich: 33/23 → 27/18.

  • Tier 6, Dread Knights: 17/11 → 16/10.

• Grove:

  • Tier 2, Hoplet: 25/20 → 30/20.

  • Tier 3, Vine Iryad: 24/16 → 28/20.

  • Tier 4, Naiad: 21/15 → 24/17.

  • Tier 5, Herbomancer: 15/11 → 18/12.

  • Tier 6, Qilin: 11/7 → 12/8.

• Schism:

  • Tier 1, Ra’shoth: 45/35 → 35/30.

  • Tier 3, Aga'shoth Rider: 26/18 → 32/23.

  • Tier 4, Grand Shoth: 17/12 → 20/14.

  • Tier 5, Concubus: 20/13 → 22/15.

• Hive:

  • Tier 1, Parasite: 35/30 → 40/30.

  • Tier 2, Locust: 30/20 → 35/25.

  • Tier 3, Hornet: 24/18 → 30/22.

  • Tier 4, Scorpion: 26/18 → 29/20.

  • Tier 5, Reaver: 14/10 → 15/10.

  • Tier 6, Waurms: 12/8 → 13/8.

Temple

• Tier 4:

  • Lightweaver:

    • Attack: 10 → 11.

    • Defense: 10 → 11.

  • Hierophant:

    • Defense: 15 → 16.

    • Initiative: 4 → 6.

  • Sun Herald:

    • Attack: 15 → 16.

    • Damage: 11–17 → 11–18.

    • Initiative: 4 → 5.

• Tier 6:

  • Inquisitor. Health: 95 → 90.

  • Excommunicator:

    • Health: 95 → 90.

    • Damage: 22–32 → 23–33.

• Tier 7:

  • Archangel. Gained the "Duelist" passive, same as the Apotheosis.

  • Apotheosis. Defense: 30 → 35.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Sundrop Chapel I" and "Sundrop Chapel II" (Tier 4 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Threshold Basilica I" (Tier 6 dwelling) is now 500 gold cheaper.

  • Building "Hippodrome I" (Tier 5 dwelling) now requires "Griffin Rookery I" (Tier 3 dwelling) instead of "Mews I" (Tier 2 dwelling). Construction of both versions of the dwelling is now 500 gold cheaper.

Necropolis

• Tier 2:

  • Wight. Initiative: 7 → 5.

  • Wraith. Initiative: 9 → 7.

  • Phantom. Initiative: 8 → 6.

• Tier 3. Barghest:

  • Attack: 8 → 4.

  • The "Call the Pack" ability no longer ends the stack's turn. Its effectiveness has been reduced from 25% to 20%.

• Tier 4:

  • Graverobber:

    • Defense: 9 → 10.

    • Damage: 6–8 → 6–9.

  • Merchant of Death:

    • Defense: 9 → 10.

    • Damage: 7–9 → 7–10.

    • "Dig Up Bones" ability. Number of summoned skeletons scaling from stack size increased: 2 → 3.

    • "Ensnare Memories" ability. Number of summoned Wights scaling from stack size reduced: 2 → 1. Ability casting cost reduced: 3 → 2.

  • Kennelmaster:

    • Attack: 12 → 13.

    • Defense: 13 → 10.

    • Damage: 6–8 → 6–9.

    • Speed: 5 → 6.

• Tier 5:

  • Lich:

    • "Rewind Death" ability. Health restored changed: 60 + 10 × stack size → 20 + 10 × stack size.

  • Sanguine Lich:

    • "Rewind Death" ability. Health restored changed: 60 + 15 × stack size → 40 + 20 × stack size.

• Tier 7. Vampire Scholar:

  • Stack abilities no longer end its turn.

  • "Corpse Explosion" ability replaced by new ability "Cleansing Blood": removes all negative effects from a chosen friendly stack.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Bone Exchange II" (Tier 4 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

• Law "Elite Liches." Bonus to Lich healing ability power: 100% → 50%.

Grove

• Tier 1. Base weekly growth in all cities increased: 12 → 13. All hero starting armies adjusted accordingly.

  • Faun. Initiative: 5 → 4.

  • Faun Archer. Initiative: 6 → 5.

  • Faun Warrior. Initiative: 7 → 6.

• Tier 2. Base weekly growth in all cities increased: 8 → 9. All hero starting armies adjusted accordingly.

  • Dusk Hoplet. "Bloom" ability. Spell Power bonus until end of round reduced: 3 → 2.

• Tier 3:

  • Vine Iriyad:

    • Attack: 4 → 6.

    • Defense: 10 → 11.

  • Fungal Iriyad:

    • Attack: 4 → 6.

    • Defense: 10 → 11.

    • Initiative: 2 → 3.

  • Crystal Iriyad:

    • Attack: 4 → 6.

    • Defense: 10 → 11.

    • Initiative: 2 → 3.

• Tier 4:

  • Naiad:

    • Health: 35 → 40.

    • Defense: 9 → 10.

    • Damage: 10–12 → 10–14.

  • Vernal Naiad:

    • Health: 35 → 40.

    • Defense: 9 → 14.

    • Damage: 14–16 → 14–18.

  • Brumal Naiad:

    • Health: 35 → 40.

    • Attack: 13 → 15.

    • Defense: 9 → 10.

    • Damage: 14–16 → 14–18.

• Tier 5. Murmurmancer. "Shroomsong" ability. Mana restored per Focus point reduced: 8 → 6.

• Tier 6:

  • Thunder Qilin. Damage: 27–36 → 30–36.

  • Mist Qilin:

    • Attack: 26 → 24.

    • Defense: 26 → 24.

    • Damage: 27–33 → 27–36.

• Tier 7:

  • Phoenix:

    • Attack: 26 → 28.

    • Defense: 24 → 26.

  • Flaming Phoenix:

    • Attack: 32 → 34.

    • Defense: 24 → 26.

  • Energy Phoenix. Attack: 26 → 28.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Faun Huts I" (Tier 1 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Hop Patch I" and "Hop Patch II" (Tier 2 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Blooming Pond I" and "Blooming Pond II" (Tier 4 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Shroomwood Shack II" (Tier 5 dwelling) is now 5 Wood cheaper.

  • Construction of "Thunder Lair I" and "Thunder Lair II" (Tier 6 dwelling) is now 500 gold cheaper.

Schism

• Tier 1:

  • Ra’shoth. Initiative: 2 → 5.

  • Stinging Ra’shoth:

    • Attack: 4 → 5.

    • Defense: 4 → 5.

    • Initiative: 4 → 5.

  • Ferocious Ra’Shoth. Initiative: 3 → 6.

• Tier 2:

  • Cultist. Damage: 3–5 → 4–6.

  • Binder:

    • Damage: 3–5 → 4–6.

    • Speed: 5 → 6.

  • Votary:

    • Damage: 3–7 → 4–8.

    • Attack: 8 → 9.

• Tier 5:

  • Mistress of Chains. Attack: 16 → 20.

  • Bewitcher. Initiative: 5 → 6.

• Tier 6. No longer deals 1.5× damage in Melee due to the "Paradoxical Shooter" passive: their damage is now reduced the same as all other ranged units.

  • Rift Arbitrator:

    • Attack: 22 → 24.

    • Defense: 24 → 26.

  • Bloated Arbitrator. Damage: 20–24 → 22–26.

• "Involuntary Summons" building no longer requires other buildings to be constructed first.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Lesser Summoning Rite I" (Tier 1 dwelling) is now 500 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Cultist Spire II" (upgraded Tier 2 dwelling) is now 250 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Aga'Shoth Stables I" (Tier 3 dwelling) is now 250 gold cheaper.

  • Construction of "Disturbing Summoning Rite I" and "Disturbing Summoning Rite II" (Tier 4 dwellings) is now 250 gold cheaper.

  • "Involuntary Summons" building no longer requires other buildings to be constructed first.

• "The World is Ours" law Tier reduced: 5 → 3.

Hive

• Tier 2. Overgrown Locust. Damage: 3–5 → 3–4.

• "Burning Soul Burrows" (Tier 6 dwelling) no longer requires "Paper Nest" (Tier 3 dwelling) to be built first.

• Buildings:

  • Construction of "Burning Soul Burrows I" and "Burning Soul Burrows II" (Tier 6 dwellings) is now 500 gold more expensive.

  • Construction of "Tower of Love I" (Tier 7 dwelling) now requires 5 Wood and Ore.

  • Construction of "Tower of Love II" (Tier 7 dwelling) is now 2500 gold more expensive.

Dungeon

• Tier 2. Guile Infiltrator. Defense: 2 → 3.

• Tier 4:

  • Minotaur. Morale: 2 → 1.

  • Minotaur Lord:

    • Attack: 12 → 11.

    • Initiative: 7 → 6.

    • Morale: 2 → 1.

  • Minotaur Vanguard:

    • Defense: 12 → 11.

    • Morale: 3 → 2.

• Tier 5:

  • Medusa Sculptor. Attack: 18 → 20.

  • Medusa Queen. Initiative: 6 → 7.

• Tier 6:

  • Chthonic Hydra:

    • Health: 150 → 160.

    • Defense: 32 → 34.

  • Infernal Hydra. Damage: 30–33 → 30–38.

• Tier 7. Ashen Dragon. Attack: 33 → 37.

Neutral Creatures

• Tier 4. Primal Remnant. "Emboldening Spores" ability replaced by new ability "Cleansing Spores": removes all negative effects from this creature and all friendly stacks in adjacent hexes.

• Tier 8. Lich Dragon. This creature's magic resistance now reduces incoming Magic Damage by 85% (previously 60%).

General Changes

• Adjusted the internal guards of the "Tomb of Vigilance" object:

  • Number of Undead Pets and their upgraded versions depending on object difficulty: 13/26/37/47 → 14/28/40/50

• Adjusted the internal guards of the "Ritual Pyre" object:

  • Number of Herbomancers and their upgraded versions depending on object difficulty: 5/10/14/18 → 4/8/11/14

• Adjusted the internal guards of the "Carrion Pile" object:

  • Number of Locusts and their upgraded versions depending on object difficulty: 18/36/52/65 → 19/38/55/69

• Maps now generate slightly more Wood and Ore relative to other resources.

• Gold rewarded for defeating the "Research Laboratory" guards reduced: 30000/40000/50000/60000 → 20000/30000/40000/50000.

Jebus Cross

• Starting areas:

  • Artifact generation improved.

  • Pandora's Box creature generation slightly improved.

  • Guard strength for optional cities reduced by 35%.

• Probability of high-tier creature dwelling generation slightly increased.

• Central area:

  • Number of Prisons slightly reduced.

  • "Remote Foothold" generation adjusted: they now spawn more evenly, and the roads leading to them cover a larger area.

  • Default creature count in external dwellings increased to 2× the standard growth.

  • Default-built "Tavern" and "Mage Guild" removed from all cities. Other pre-built buildings have also been slightly adjusted.

• Side areas:

  • 2 mandatory guarded "Town Gates" added, allowing players to return to any city they own.

  • Spells and creatures completely removed from Pandora's Boxes in these areas.

  • Default creature count in external dwellings increased to 3× the standard growth.

  • Each side area now guarantees one city matching the player's faction. All creature recruitment buildings are fully constructed in these cities and in the area's central city.

Arcade

• Maximum number of possible "Dragon Utopias" in the central area increased.

• Several artifacts unsuitable for this template have been removed from generation.

• Guard strength of objects in the central area increased.

Exodus

• Pandora's Boxes granting +3 and +4 to all hero stats can no longer generate in player final areas.

• Pandora's Boxes granting +1 and +2 to all hero stats are less frequent in player final areas, but their value (and external guard strength) has been increased relative to standard values.

• Creature dwelling generation in player starting areas adjusted: the statistical bias toward low-Tier dwellings has been removed.

Sprint

• All heroes now start with the "Primordial Chaos" spell, with its casting cost reduced to 0.

• The spells "Assemble!", "Groundsight," "From a Bird’s Eye," "Naira's Veil," and "Clear Fog" are fully blocked.

• Guard strength between areas increased.

• The number of Astrology points and Law points required to gain new levels has been reduced.

• All "Logistics" specialist heroes are banned.

• The number of unguarded resources in all areas has been reduced.

Harmony

• Template size reduced to 112×112 for more dynamic gameplay.

• Unguarded resource count reduced in all areas.

• Guard strength increased between the 2nd and 3rd areas of each player, and between the 3rd areas of both players.

• A mandatory "Redwood Observatory" added to the 2nd area.

• The 2nd area now contains two "Town Gates," positioned away from roads.

Vendetta

• More creature dwellings and "Town Gates" now generate in the starting area.

• More creature Pandora's Boxes now generate in the central area.

Jebus Outcast

• Several variations for starting area generation have been added to the template.

Miracle

• The generator now lays dirt roads to help players visually identify exits from the starting area more quickly.

We hear your requests for the ability to play exclusively on the templates you prefer. As mentioned in the early access roadmap, this feature will definitely be added in the future. In the meantime, we've prepared a small change to the online game settings and rotated the templates available for competitive play.

Classic Mode

• Map rotation updated:

  • Old set: Jebus Cross, Universe, Infinity, Last Fortress, Arcade.

  • New set: Jebus Cross, Universe, Infinity, Sand Clover, Arcade.

  • Jebus Cross is always included in the selection pool.

• Timer settings adjusted on some templates:

  • Jebus Cross. +60 seconds added to the daily timer.

  • Universe. −120 seconds from the starting timer.

  • Infinity. −60 seconds from the starting timer.

  • At high Ranks, combat time on all templates increased from 90/105 to the standard 120 seconds.

Single Hero Mode

• Map rotation updated:

  • Old set: Harmony, Sprint, Exodus, Jebus Outcast, Vendetta.

  • New set: Harmony, Sprint, Exodus, Blitz, Vendetta.

  • Exodus is always included in the selection pool.

• Timer settings adjusted. Combat time is now set to uniform values across all leagues: 60 seconds for Sprint and Vendetta, 80 seconds for all other templates.

We are beginning to plan a major arena update that will make battles even more engaging and exciting. It will arrive a bit later — but in the meantime, to keep things fresh, we're making some small balance adjustments to the current ruleset to shake up the meta.

• The following artifacts have been removed from the mode: "Orb of Inhibition," "Ring of Neutrality," "Monster's Head," "Chain Link," "Deck of Spells," and "Runestone Shards."

• The following artifacts will appear much less frequently: "Nightshade Tome," "Daylight Tome," "Arcane Tome," "Primal Tome," "Robe of Enlightenment," "Bottled Spells," and "Spellbinder’s Hat."

• Players are now offered a choice of 10 spells when building a loadout (previously 9).

• Level 4 spells no longer appear in the Arena. The chance of receiving a level 2 or 3 spell has been reduced.

• The number of creatures offered to players has been changed (values shown for standard/upgraded versions in "before → after" format):

Temple

• Tier 4. Lightweaver: 60/40 → 58/40.

Necropolis

• Tier 1. Skeleton: 350/265 → 370/280.

• Tier 3. Undead Pet: 135/95 → 130/90.

• Tier 4. Graverobber: 62/42 → 64/44.

• Tier 5. Lich: 56/38 → 54/36.

• Tier 7. Vampire: 22/12 → 22/13.

Grove

• Tier 1. Faun: 145/110 → 150/115.

• Tier 2. Hoplet: 100/75 → 105/75.

• Tier 3. Vine Iriyad: 70/50 → 75/55.

• Tier 4. Naiad: 52/38 → 52/36.

• Tier 5. Herbomancer: 32/22 → 35/24.

• Tier 6. Qilin: 20/12 → 24/15.

Schism

• Tier 1. Ra’shoth: 250/195 → 215/165.

• Tier 2. Cultist: 105/80 → 100/75.

• Tier 3. Aga'shoth Rider: 90/65 → 95/70.

• Tier 4. Grand Shoth: 46/32 → 50/34.

• Tier 5. Concubus: 46/31 → 48/32.

• Tier 6. Arbitrator: 25/16 → 25/15.

• Tier 7. Abyssal Envoy: 13/7 → 12/7.

Hive

• Tier 1. Parasite: 190/145 → 180/140.

• Tier 2. Locust: 125/95 → 110/85.

• Tier 3. Hornet: 75/55 → 70/50.

• Tier 4. Scorpion: 66/46 → 58/40.

• Tier 5. Reaver: 30/20 → 27/18.

• Tier 6. Waurms: 23/14 → 20/13.

• Tier 7. Hive Queen: 13/8 → 12/7.

Your reviews help us understand what matters most to you. We read every single one, so please keep them coming — they really do make a difference.

New to the series or a returning veteran? We have an Official Community Wiki[wiki.hoodedhorse.com] for you to master the art of war! Thanks to active community members, it has detailed breakdowns of unit stats, spell tiers, and other detailed data for those who wish to dig deeper. You, our community, are the gift that keeps on giving!

Stay informed and share your victories with the community! Follow us on Discord[discord.gg], Steam and Facebook[www.facebook.com] for the latest patch notes, community discussions and chit chat with our team! We would also like to take this opportunity to give a shoutout to the unofficial community subreddit, where you’re also welcome to share your thoughts!

With love,

💙 Unfrozen Team