Brand-new content!

I. New Hero: Winter's Grace - Justina Gu

Born of high standing, she's spent the better half of her life on the run.

Noble princess of the empire; leader of the Pluvial Pavilion; an assassin with a heart colder than her blade.

Justina Gu cares not for these titles. All she cares for is revenge, and finding her mother once more.

(Justina Gu's third skill variant and ultimate are not open in current version. In the upcoming updates, players will be able to unlock them through completing Cultivation quests.)

II. New Mode: Omni's Nightmare

Description: Faction Versus Mode; Asymmetric Survival Mode.

Players: 30

Matchmaking: Players can enter the match through Solo, Duo or Trios, but will be assigned to a random faction and play individually upon starting Omni's Nightmare (in the future versions, the mode will also be available in Custom Lobby).

Basic Rules:

1. Each Hero can revive one time. Evil-Ent Lords will revive as Evil-Ents after being defeated. Evil-Ents are able to respawn without limit.

2. Heroes steadily lose Health while in the Shadow Corruption, but recover Health while in the Embers or Soul Lantern areas. Evil-Ents lose lots of Health while within the Embers.

3. Heroes have to submit Rattans to Soul Sparks until they're lit. After this, they start counting down until they go out. In the meanwhile, the Heroes are strengthened by varying amounts.

4. Each time when the Soul Spark is lit or the Evil-Ent Lord is defeated, the match duration will be extended.

5. Heroes receive varying amounts of Dark Tide Coins upon submitting Rattans or defeating Evil-Ents/Evil-Ent Lords. Dark Tide Coins can be used to buy equipment and items from Rift Dealers.

6. Soul Sparks can be extinguished by Evil-Ent Lords. Once being extinguished, Soul Sparks will enter a protection period during which they cannot be extinguished again.

7. While there are still Evil-Ent Lords left alive, Heroes can attack each other. There will be a penalty for defeating a hero by mistake. Once all Evil-Ent Lords have been eliminated, the remaining Heroes are considered of the same faction.

8. If the total Soul Spark progress amounts to 240% or more (300% counting as full completion), it will enter overtime when the countdown ends. During the overtime, the countdown will stop when Heroes submit Rattans and the duration will be largely increased when the submission succeeds.

How to Win:

Heroes: Light 3 Soul Sparks./Have no Evil-Ents left alive on the battlefield.

Evil-Ents: When the countdown ends, not all Soul Sparks are lit./Have no Heroes left alive on the battlefield. 

Factions Info:

You're automatically assigned into either the Evil-Ents, Evil-Ent Lords or Heroes:

Heroes:

1. Heroes who have picked up fake Rattan will be bound. However, Heroes are also able to free other bound Heroes.

2. Heroes can place and cancel marks on each other, identifying the target as suspicious (double-tap a Hero to target them, and double-tap an empty space to cancel). Heroes' vulnerability increases as the number of marks placed on them rises. These markers will be reset when a hero is defeated by mistake or an Evil-Ent Lord is defeated. There will be a penalty for defeating a hero by mistake.

Evil-Ents:

1. Rattans will drop when Evil-Ents are defeated.

2. Evil-Ents can see Evil-Ent Lords' icons and their messages.

3. Evil-Ents increase their level by defeating Heroes. Evil-Ents of higher levels gain a greater resistance against the Embers (up to Lv. 5).

Skill: They can enter Stealth for brief periods, becoming visible again when launching attacks.

Ultimate: Planting fake Rattans.

Evil-Ent Lords:

1. Rattans will drop after Evil-Ent Lords are defeated.

2. Evil-Ent Lords are visible to one another, and their markers are visible to all Evil-Ents.

3. While disguised as Heroes, Evil-Ent Lords can submit Rattans to extinguish Soul Sparks and nullify nearby Embers, so that the Rattans cannot be submitted to Soul Sparks then.

Skill in the Hero form: Same as the Heroes' skill.

Ultimate in the Hero form: Transform to an Evil-Ent

(Evil-Ent Lords' ultimate in the Hero form will take effects after 120 sec. And before that time, Evil-Ent Lords can use their ultimate manually at any time.).

Skill in the Evil-Ent form: Same as the Evil-Ents' skill.

Ultimate in the Evil-Ent form: Disguise as a Hero.

Chat:

Evil-Ents and Heroes may only communicate with nearby members of their faction, while Evil-Ent Lords can hear and be heard by all. (while 'Always-on mic' is enabled).

New Rift Dealer Items:

1. Firefly: Takes effect once bought. Grants a large Rage boost in a short period of time.

2. Pain Relief: Takes effect once bought. Resist damage for 30 sec, but will lose 200 health once the effects ends.

III. Limited-time event: Night of Snow

Event time: 03/12/2022 update – 03/20/2022 20:00 (UTC)

Rewards claimable until 03/25/2022 20:00 (UTC).

Event Rules: Gain [Swan Feathers] by completing quests during the event. [Swan Feathers] can be redeemed for great event rewards such as [Echelon Treasure] and [Justina Gu's Card-Emote·Skip].

IV. Time-limited Event [The Unspoken]

[The Unspoken I]

Event time: 03/12/2022 update – 03/14/2022 20:00 (UTC)

Rewards claimable until 03/15/2022 20:00 (UTC).

[The Unspoken II]

Event time: 03/17/2022 20:00 (UTC) – 03/20/2022 20:00 (UTC)

Rewards claimable until 03/21/2022, 20:00 (UTC).

[The Unspoken III]

Event time: 03/24/2022 update – 03/27/2022, 20:00 (UTC)

Rewards claimable until 03/28/2022, 20:00 (UTC).

Event Rule: During the event, complete quests to get the item [Rattan Core] (only usable in the corresponding event round). Consume [Rattan Core] to redeem for Accessory [Ent Axe], Card-Emote [Omni's Nightmare·Rigor Mortis], Accessory [Daoist Headwrap] and other great rewards!

Hero Adjustments

I. Kurumi

For [Binding Prayer] skill and all the variants, Teleportation will no longer be interrupted by gold Focus melee strikes.

II. Yoto Hime

1. Increased the attack range of the [Spirit Slash] skill and the demonic blade's flight speed. Optimized the feel of Spirit Slash.

2. For [Spirit Slash] and all the variants, the gold Focus skills will no longer be interrupted by gold Focus melee strikes.

III. Valda Cui

The [Haze: Teleport] skill will no longer be interrupted by gold Focus melee strikes.

IV. Wuchen

1. Yin Yang Orbs set by the [Tai Chi Rift] ultimate will no longer be destroyed by enemies. Before the teleporting, enemies cannot see Yin Yang Orbs.

2. When casting the ultimate [Tai Chi Rift], Yin Yang Orbs will be marked automatically, in order to inform the party members of the location and distance of the Yin Yang Orbs.

3. Shortened the stiff duration when Wuchen and enemies switch the location in the ultimate [Tai Chi Rift·Switch]. Adjusted the enemies' stiff duration from 1 sec to 0.5 sec, and appropriately decreased the transporting dagger of Wuchen. Adjusted the value of [Vulnerable] effect from 20% to 10%.

// Dev Note: Wuchen's ultimate [Tai Chi Rift·Switch] was too profitable when combined with some other hero skills. Thus, we have raised the threshold for cooperation with Wuchen and decreased the effect of [Vulnerable].

Weapon Adjustments

I. Spears

Optimized the sound effects (SFX) for some Scale Rush moves.

Souljade Adjustments

I. Items and Buffs

Changed [Stormstride] effects to: Calls down a strike of lightning at your previous location 0.5 sec after dodging. This only takes effect within 15 sec of attacking, or being attacked.

Match Adjustments

I. Spirit Quests

Removed the [Spirit Walker] quest.

II. Scout Bell Adjustments

1. Increased the scout radius to 100m, and enemies behind the blindage will be visible. (Stealth and other special statuses are not shown.)

2. In the new mode, Omni's Nightmare, the scout radius will be increased to 135m, and enemies behind the blindage will be visible. (Stealth and other special statuses are not shown.)

III. Quick Match Adjustments

[Soulbloom Essence] will also be dropped in Quick Matches. They restore the same amount as in [The Herald's Trial].

IV. Dark Tide Coins Dropping Adjustment

Decreased the amount of Dark Tide Coins dropped from breakables in Artisan's Grove.

V. Gaming Optimization

Optimized the mechanics of some special effects, improved the frame rate and the lagging. These will be optimized continuously in the upcoming versions.

Out-Game Adjustments

I. Custom Lobbies

1. Added the option to customize spawn areas in The Herald's Trial Custom Lobbies (excluding Pioneer Server).

2. Added new features to Ref Spectate:

(1) Refs may press R while spectating to toggle Cairn player names.

(2) Refs may press [ or ] while spectating to adjust the range within which players' health info and names are shown.

(3) Added kill counts for each team member, shown below their health info in Team Info at the bottom-left corner.

(4) Added more Ref positions to Custom Lobbies.

II. Added Hero Stats

Players can now view their The Herald's Trial Hero Stats in the Profile - Hero Stats page.

III. Added Hero Legends

Added Viper Ning's Hero Legends Chapter 4. Complete the Chapter 3 challenges to unlock.

IV. Added Cosmetic Sets

1. Create your own Cosmetic sets, able to be quickly swapped between on the hero selection page.

2. The button to swap weapons shown above heroes' heads on the Home page now is on the heroes' Collection-Match page. Here, you can choose what weapons will be displayed for each hero when they're on the Home page.

V. Controller Settings Optimization

When using controllers, adjusted the default setting of [Adjust Attack Direction] from [Attack from camera direction] to [Attack from stick direction].

(This adjustment will not influence the current players' setting, while this will only be applied for the new characters' default settings. Players can adjust manually in “ESC-Button Layout-Controller-Adjust Attack Direction”.

VI. Added First Bound Reward

Players will get [Immortal Treasure*1] as reward after binding their Steam Guard for the first time.

Store Updates

I. Season Exclusive: Echelon Treasure is now available

Echelon Treasure sells for 360 Gold. When opening it, you will have a chance to get Justina Gu's Extreme outfit [Glacial Cascade], Katana Extreme skin [Kitsune Edge] and other rewards.

Minimum Guarantee

1. Players are guaranteed to receive at least 1 Red (Extreme) reward during the process of opening at most 100 Treasures. This can be triggered multiple times.

2. Red (Extreme) rewards will not be repeated until all of them have been obtained.

II. Store Updates

Added many Justina Gu's outfits.

III. Added New Pack

Added Justina Gu's Exclusive pack [Winter's Grace Pack], which contains Justina Gu's Legendary outfit [Aegis Embroidery] and the Longsword Legendary skin [Winter's Savor]. Original price: 3,300 Gold; Now: 2,350 Gold.

IV. Discount Info

1. Added New Discounts

(1) Added the new Justina Gu's Exclusive Legendary base [Idyll•Wild Deer]. Original price: 1,200 Gold; Now: 1,000 Gold.

(2) Added the new Justina Gu's Exclusive Legendary background [Idyll•Firefly]. Original price: 600 Gold; Now: 500 Gold.

(3) Kurumi Exclusive Legendary outfit [Silky Leisure] now is on sale. Original price: 1,800 Gold; Now: 1,500 Gold.

(4) Longsword Legendary skin [Light Bane] now is on sale. Original price: 1,500 Gold; Now: 1,250 Gold.

2. Discounts End

(1) Valda Cui Legendary outfit [Dragon Will·Unchained] is now back to its original price of 2,400 Gold.

(2) Temulch Legendary outfit [Dragon Shadow·Tiger's Fury] is now back to its original price of 2,400 Gold.

(3) Matari Legendary outfit [Dragon Will·Truth] is now back to its original price of 2,400 Gold.

(4) Viper Ning Legendary outfit [Dragon Will·Awareness] is now back to its original price of 2,400 Gold.

V. Spectral Silk Store Updates

1. Added the new Yueshan Legendary Head Ornament [Sunwing Relics·Military Feather], which sells for 12,000 Spectral Silk.

2. Added the Echelon Treasure, which sells for 3,600 Spectral Silk (purchase limitation: 6 at most)

Bug Fixes

I. Hero-related Bugs

1. Fixed the issue that players would be affected by teammate Temulch's [Buffeted] ultimate effects after reviving.

2. Fixed the issue that the determination range would be wrong due to the fast camera rotation in Valda Cui [Nether Nightmare].

3. Restore the transparency of Valda Cui's Tide Traps, and optimized the texture performance of Matari's outfit Misty Gauze when it is in the Tide Traps.

II. Combat-related Bugs

1. Fixed the issue that you couldn't move after operation when being hit by Thunderstrike.

2. Fixed the issue that BOT opponents would also lose Melee Aim Assist after the player has disabled it in settings.

III. Cosmetics-related Bugs

Fixed the issue that the texture effect of [Scale Finery] and [Seafarer Scales] might be blurred.