Mid-set Mechanic Update: Glitched Out!!

Ultra Threat Whisker’s attack on the city of Spatulopolis has left its mark on the entire Convergence. Mayhem has broken loose as alternate dimensions bring new monsters to the city, and heroes to stop them. Supporting these heroes are new Hero Augments for heroes new and old, some of which we’ll go over here. But more importantly, we’ll go over the interdimensional-rift-sized changes coming with our new mid-set mechanic, Glitched Out Carousels. Expect all these changes to go live on March 22nd with the launch of Glitched Out!!

Glitched Out Carousels

The Convergence shimmers in the splattered light pouring out of interdimensional rifts. Ultra Threat Whisker has won, but so have we, because with this newfound chaos comes increased variability (and hectic glee). Openers in TFT have the potential to feel solved when compared to mid and late game due to the limited access to units (only low tier units available), economy (typically you are trying to hit interest breakpoints), and traits (many splashable traits are locked behind high levels and unit counts). Glitched Out Carousels make each game feel distinct as early as Stage 2 by imbuing comps with items and tools from beyond that add variance to your comp despite your current access to units, economy, and traits.

But even the most chaotic elements of TFT have rules, so let’s get into the rules for our new mid-set mechanic!

When they appear: Glitched Out Carousels appear on Stage 2, but also have a chance to appear again between Stage 3 and 6. Most games will have two or less Glitch Out Carousels, but some games will have three.

Glitched Out power: The later in the game a Glitched Out Carousel appears, the more impactful its glitches will be. In Stage 2, you can expect units to hold things like bonus defensive or offensive components, Training Dummies, Loaded Dice, Golden Eggs, or more. Occasionally there won’t even be champions on the Carousel, instead there can be Component Anvils dancing in place of champions—but you’ll have to wait to see that special (albeit uncanny) surprise yourself. Below we have a sample of the all bonus components case.

In Stage 3, Glitched Out Carousels will have a higher change to be Component Anvils, Golden Eggs, or have Lesser Duplicators (a consumable Champion Duplicator that’s made its way from Double Up and can only be used on 3-cost or less units). As we look to Stage 4 and 5 the chance to get things like Completed Anvils, or even Ornn Item Anvils becomes possible. And don’t be surprised to see the more than occasional Tome of Traits or Champion Duplicators come Stage 5 and 6.

Carousel improvements: One other thing you will notice immediately upon playing Glitched Out!! - all Carousels now have the held item, component, or consumable bounce off of the champion you select from Carousel upon returning to your board. That means there’s no more risk of 2-starring your Attack Damage carry with a Needlessly Large Rod from Carousel equipped. We see this as a huge quality of life improvement that will remain past our mid-set!

Not all Glitched Out Carousels will have as high of impact on early game variance as others. We’ve had a ton of fun playing with more dynamic and distinct compositions in the early game, but we still find value in the more tame openers to maintain a healthy juxtaposition and variation from the wilder, glitchier openers.

One more thing, expect Glitched Out Carousels to pop up in Hyper Roll as well—they’ll be replacing Armories when they occur. We’re excited to see what early game boards you can pull off with more early game resources!

New Heroes : New Hero Augments

The hero-Augment-industrial complex is alive and well in Glitched Out!! as we introduce 14 new champions and 28 new Hero Augments to master! You can read more about those new champions and their traits here, as for below, we’re about to get into some of our new Augments.

As a reminder, I’m writing this well ahead of PBE, so the numbers here are highly likely to change.

Lucian, 1-cost, Hyperbolic Time Chamber

Lucian’s Carry Augment taps into his leadership experience by generating you experience every two times he casts. Throw him a Blue Buff and keep him alive to eke out a level advantage over your opponents.

"Gain a Lucian. Every 2 times your strongest Lucian casts his Ability, gain 1 experience point."

Pantheon, 1-cost, Chronic Hallucinations

This support Augment gives you the opportunity to run melee carries in riskier positions as they benefit from the additional protection Pantheon provides.

"Gain a Pantheon. Combat start: He and his nearest 4 allies take 90% reduced damage for 6 seconds."

Pyke, 2-cost, Small Game Hunter

Use Small Game Hunter to win streak early before your opponents have time to star up their champions and push over the max Health limit.

"Gain a Pyke. When you field him, your team's abilities and attacks deal 10% more damage, increased to 25% against enemies with less than 1400 maximum Health."

Shen, 3-cost, Anomalous Amplification

From tanky tank, to tanky tank killer in just one Hero Augment. Be sure to equip Shen with an Ionic Spark when you take this Augment to allow for the percentage max Health damage to do even more damage to foes with extra Magic Resistance.

"Gain a Shen. His Ability lasts an additional 5 seconds and his tethered ally deals 20% more damage while protected."

Neeko, 4-cost, Starlight Resonance

Neeko is a new Star Guardian who benefits greatly from Blue Buff, but with Starlight Resonance be sure to equip her with as much Ability Power as possible. Starlight Resonance is the perfect Augment for a running Star Guardian verticals. Her ability, Star Blossoms, becomes permanently empowered to do damage in an AOE upon casting her third time.

“Gain a Neeko. At combat start and when your strongest Neeko casts her Ability, she grants herself and her closest ally 20 Ability Power until the end of combat.”

Neeko, 4-cost, Cerulean Comet

Sometimes the simple Hero Augments are the most fun!

“Gain a Neeko and a Shojin. When you field her, allies holding Shojin gain 35% Ability Power.”

Garen, 4-cost, My Sword is Your Shield

Run this augment with vertical Defender and a Rammus carry—you won’t regret it. No Lp refunds.

“Gain a Garen. Combat Start and when your strongest Garen casts his ability: Garen shields allies for 15% of their maximum Health for 6 seconds.”

Garen, 4-cost, Full Power to Sword

Full Power to Sword completely changes the way you play Garen. When you take this Augment be sure to make Garen your Mecha Prime to take advantage of his new AD scaling. A Bloodthirster will also do wonders.

“Gain a Garen. His ability costs less Mana to cast and deals additional damage equal to a portion of his Attack Damage, but no longer stuns.”

With Glitched Out Carousels, we’re spicing up early game boards in a way that will keep each opener feeling more distinct in the second half of Monsters Attack! Alongside our new Hero Augments we hope you all enjoy a mid-set experience that extends upon what you’ve liked with Monsters Attack! while replacing some of the things that didn’t work out as intended. To read more about our unit swaps, swap it over to the Gameplay Overview, as for now, I’ll leave you with a pretty release infographic to help you count down to live!