(!) Spoiler Alert (!) -- [Any Details Provided are Subject to Change] (Part 1)

See that other post for more information.

In other news, we got a bunch of new troop changes, including a couple new things!

Hero Class Changes:

  • Tidecaller’s traits and class weapon have been added, and they have been discussed already above.
  • No other class changes have been made since December 28th.

Troop Changes:

  • Blackfire Cannon, a new Dhrak’Zum Siegebreaker, has a 30% chance to deal a second burst of damage to a random enemy. Doesn’t seem like too bad of a Siegebreaker, though usually I prefer Skull spam as a strategy.
  • Champion of Gaard, an upcoming Mythic, was “added,” but has no spell or traits.
  • New Bountyhunter, Excavator, destroys a column and creates Red gems boosted by Brown gems destroyed. This will be excellent, since many Bounty teams are based on Red, although I don’t like that this troop’s Rocky Death overrides Pharaoh Hound’s Skull Death, depending on placement…
  • 4 new troop names, and it looks like my theory about Amanithrax was right: Exploadstool, Fungomancer, Goblin Shroom King, and Mushroom Man.
  • Ridgeback, another EXCELLENT Bountyhunter, knocks the first enemy to the back and explodes Gems of their color. Great for disrupting the enemy, and probably the best Green Bountyhunter we’ve gotten.
  • New Legendary: Starflower, from Pan’s Vale, deals AoE damage, boosted 5x by Allied and Enemy Fey, summons a random Fey, and has a 20% chance to transform a random enemy into a Pixie. For an “AoE damage, then Summon” spell, which have been becoming increasingly common in new Legendaries to a frustrating degree, this one is quite nice, especially with the high boost ratio. It also has 50% chance to Faerie Fire at the start of the turn, which, while probably too infrequent to rely on, can help a bit. For newer player with low Magic stats, this is quite powerful, and pairs well with Fey troops like Alderfather (which creates Purple for Starflower), Glitterclaw and Queen Titania (for Faerie Fire), Suna, Tinseltail, and Leprechaun or Pixie for mana generators. Overall, this troop is very good early game, like the Elwyn or Zephyros of legendaries.
  • New Siegebreaker, Stone-Biter. It deals damage to Towers, and if one dies, it gains 7 to all skills, including Magic. Pretty useful, considering that this lets you deal damage to increasingly powerful towers.
  • Other new troops, that I didn’t find too special: Arachnataur, Lapina Explorer, Grimcorn, Cursed Efficy, Thunderforge.
  • A couple upcoming troops were buffed too.

Weapon Changes:

  • New Tidecaller class weapon: Deal [Magic + 5] heavy splash damage to an Enemy, boosted by all Blue Allies and Enemies. If an Enemy dies, give 3 Magic to all Allies and Submerge them. [4x] Not too special.

Pet Changes:

  • New pet: Dragonpuppy (International Dog Day 2019).
  • New pet: Little Bang (US Independence Day 2019). Spells bad news for Lil’ Freedom returning.
  • New pet: Sharki (Shark Week 2019)