Patch date: . Guide reviewed 2026-11-03. Historical changes can be superseded; use current definitions for a match today.
How this guide was prepared: AI-assisted analysis with a separate source-check pass against archived official notes. Practical decisions are reasoned suggestions, not player-tested results or measured win-rate evidence. A small hotfix receives a short guide rather than a reconstructed full build.
Original update sources
Recorded topics: Heroes, Items, Gameplay, Fixes. Dates refer to the update named in the notes; a mirrored post can be published later.
Track the Rift and Urn as separate objectives
What changed: Unstable Rift replaces King of the Hill and no longer needs an Urn delivery to start. Its interval changes from six to seven minutes, and its start time varies by plus or minus one minute. An in-world visual indicates the randomly selected lane 60 seconds before spawn; a global announcement follows 25 seconds before spawn. Rift comeback bonuses scale linearly from none at 0% net worth behind to full at 15% behind. The secured Rift sends five Rift Troopers from its location; when trailing, it sends up to 12 using the same linear ramp. Troopers drop no souls when killed. Rift bounty rises by 35%, offsetting the loss of the Urn runner bounty so the overall objective bounty is unchanged. The separate Urn spawns at either end of the map and is delivered to the opposite end, at the listed times 10/15/20/25/etc.
How to adapt: Watch the Rift's lane warning and broadcast separately from the Urn schedule, and check the announced lane before committing. Do not count Rift Troopers as a source of souls when killed; the notes do not specify their lane or give a broader tactical outcome.
Plan around the Urn's carrying and deposit rules
What changed: The runner is no longer revealed, disarmed, or silenced, but going through a doorway or Mirage teleport still drops the Urn. It cannot be manually dropped; light or heavy melee, stun, or death drops it, and it stays where it drops rather than walking home. The runner cannot parry. The runner's passive bonuses while holding the Urn now scale with how far behind the team is, linearly from no bonus at 0% net worth behind to full at 15%. The bounty is for the runner, starts decaying 45 seconds after pickup, drains over the next 45 seconds, and the Urn is removed when empty. Deposit is immediate; the bounty's souls release as airborne orbs that allies can secure to share it with the runner. The runner receives four permanent buffs on deposit. Three minutes after spawn, the Urn begins walking very slowly toward the deposit point. It is louder and easier for nearby enemies to hear.
How to adapt: Choose a route that avoids doorways and account for melee, stun, and death as drop risks; the runner's lack of reveal does not remove those risks. If the Urn drops, recover it where it landed, and coordinate who will secure the released orbs at deposit. Test whether your route can complete the delivery before the 90-second bounty decay removes the Urn.
Recheck economy and general timings
What changed: Guardian bounty falls from 1500 to 1250, Walker bounty from 4000 to 3500, first-blood bounty from 150 to 125, and base kill bounty from 250 to 200; its maximum remains 2200 at 40 minutes. Trooper bounty changes from 116 + 1.16 per minute to 100 + 2 per minute, less before 20 minutes and more after. Rejuvenator duration drops from four minutes to three. Respawn ramp changes from 8–30 seconds over 5–19 minutes to 8–35 seconds over 5–20 minutes. Health per boon is reduced by 5%, ultimate base and upgrade cooldowns are nerfed by 15% rounded to five-second increments, and the boon reward table is reworked.
How to adapt: Recheck early bounty and trooper-income assumptions, especially around the stated 20-minute crossover, rather than assuming one source is always more valuable. Inspect the reworked boon rewards in the client; the notes provide no reward-table details from which to calculate a universally preferable route.
Adjust Shiv's Killing Blow range and follow-up
What changed: Killing Blow's base range falls from 18m to 12m, while T1 adds six metres, making its range 18m with that upgrade. Its T3 hero-kill recast within 20 seconds becomes part of the base ability, and executing a hero instantly fills the rage bar. Full-rage damage bonus falls from 12% to 8%; T2 bonus rises from 10% to 16%, and T3's enemy-health threshold rises from 5% to 10%. Killing Blow can now damage troopers and neutrals along its path.
How to adapt: Test the 12m base range before relying on an old engagement distance, then weigh T1's six-metre increase against other upgrade choices. Treat the recast and instant rage as follow-up options, not guaranteed kills; the notes give no matchup or outcome data.
Review Paige and Rem upgrade changes
What changed: Paige's health per boon rises from 29 to 33. Bookwyrm T1 changes to -12 seconds cooldown; T2 changes to +1 charge, +1m radius, and +2 seconds trail duration; T3 retains +100 damage and +30 DPS but replaces +1 charge with +12m travel range. Plot Armor T1 fire-rate Spirit scaling rises from 0.13 to 0.16 and T3 barrier rises from 75% to 100%. Rallying Charge's T3 maximum amp rises from 50% to 70%; it now properly counts as a miss for the -50% cooldown reduction when only non-heroes are impacted. Rem's Lil Helpers Spirit Resist falls from 15% to 12%. T1 adds +1 helper and +1.5m/s move speed; T2 changes to +1 helper and +15% trooper damage and resist; T3 changes to +1 helper and +15% Spirit Resist.
How to adapt: Read the revised talent descriptions before allocating points, especially where benefits moved between tiers. For Rem, compare the revised helper and resistance options against the reduced Spirit Resist, then test in the situations you expect rather than assuming one allocation is best.
Check Apollo Riposte and item adjustments
What changed: Apollo's Riposte T1 cooldown reduction increases from seven to eight seconds. Its post-channel target grace window rises from one to 1.3 seconds, cast range from 25m to 35m, and targeting angle from 70 to 90. Mystic Shot cooldown rises from eight to nine seconds. Scourge max-health DPS falls from 3.5% to 2.6% and now scales with Spirit Power at 0.0055.
How to adapt: If using these abilities or items, verify the updated timing, reach, and angle in the client before relying on old setups. Test Scourge's Spirit scaling rather than assuming a particular build is stronger, since the notes do not establish a comparative outcome.
Follow the affected decisions
- Apollo build and counter guide
- Paige build and counter guide
- Rem build and counter guide
- Shiv build and counter guide
- Mystic Shot item reference
- Scourge item reference
Verify your match build · How current recommendations are checked
Earlier and later records
Archive coverage currently ends 2026-10-30; sources last successfully checked 2026-11-01. A source check does not establish a post-patch win rate.