Gems destroyed by lightning gems don't give correct mana

Bug Reports
1

Platform, OS
PC, Windows 10

Screenshot or image:

before
before915Ă—613 131 KB

Game board before swapping the yellow lightning gem at row 6, col 3 with the red gem above.

after
after915Ă—613 132 KB

Game board after swapping [Focus on the mana gained]

What you were expecting to happen, and what actually happened:
After destroying the gems in the first three columns,
the 1st troop gained only 4 mana instead of 6 mana from the 6 destroyed red gems,
the 2nd troop gained only 4 mana instead of 7 mana from the 3+4 destroyed green and brown gems,
the 3rd troop gained only 5 mana (less than what I expected from matching 3 and destroyed 4 yellow gems),
the 4th troop did not gain the 1 mana from the destroyed purple gem.

How often does this happen? When did it begin happening?
I would say “very often” because I noticed my troops are not gaining much mana when I matched yellow lightning gems in this week Raid Boss Event.

Steps to make it happen again
Just try the team as shown in the image.

1 Like
2

It’s as if Gems destroyed by a Lightning Bolt gem only give half their usual mana (consistent with explosions), Research time!

My team:

  • Brass Drake
  • Dragon Commander
  • Sir Gwayne
  • Ulf Harrigan
  • Banner: Zhul’Kari (for testing purposes)

During the battle, I matched 3 Gems horizontally including 1 Blue Lightning Gem, Mana Surge triggered, result:

  • +6 Mana (3x2) for Dragon Commander
  • Destroyed row also containing 1 Red, 1 Brown, 1 Yellow Gem
  • Brass Drake and Sir Gwayne received zero Mana

Second example:

  • Matched 3 Gems vertically including 2 Blue Lightning Gems
  • Mana Surge triggered
  • Destroyed an area including: 4 Red Gems, 3 Brown Gems, 3 Yellow Gems, 2 Blue Gems

Expected Mana yield:

  • +6+2 Blue Mana
  • +4 Red, +3 Brown, +3 Yellow Mana

Actual Mana yield:

  • +4 (2 Red, 2 Brown) to Brass Drake
  • +4 (Blue) to Dragon Commander (and full Mana)
  • +2 (Yellow) to Sir Gwayne
  • +3 (Blue) to Ulf Harrigan
  • TOTAL: +2 Red, +2 Brown, +6+1 Blue, +2 Yellow

(I recorded video footage of both, and can provide screenshots)

Yeah, it seems like Lighting Bolt gems only generate half mana…

Which may be intentional, but seems like an odd choice. We should also closely inspect the Mana yield from Elemental/Umbral Stars, since those also “destroy” Gems when matched – they are known to yield +1 Mana for each color of the Star itself, but what about other Gems destroyed?

5 Likes
3

For all other cases, “explode” gives 50% mana and “destroy” gives 1 mana. Using the same term “destroy” in describing lightning gems can confuse players.

Perhaps lightning gems should be described as giving 50% mana from the gems destroyed in the same row/column.

3 Likes
4

Update: Can confirm, Elemental/Umbral Stars also only give 50% Mana from Gems destroyed. So this appears 100% intentional, has been in place ever since Nexus debuted but nobody noticed until now. And … personally, I actually agree with it!

Some examples to consider:

  • If you match (horizontally) 3 Yellow Lightning Gems, this destroys 3 columns, covering a region the same size as Exploding a single column.
  • Run Natureborn Hunter in a full Green team, against any Beast team. There’s a high chance that the # of Elemental Stars created will trigger somewhere, then nearly the entire board explodes, you get tons of Mana AND an Extra Turn to go with it! This isn’t exactly Chalcedony levels of self-looping, but it’s close.

(Again, I have taken video/screenshots from my testing and can post for verification.)

3 Likes