Epic’s multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) Paragon has just introduced a new update, The New Dawn. The patch increases attack speed and character movement for all heroes, resulting in a dramatic pick-up in the pace of games.
Paragon is still in open beta on PlayStation 4 and PC, and it has been available in some sort of early access form since March 2016. It’s common for MOBAs to have extended testing periods, which enables developers to introduce big updates like this to address issues with gameplay. Even in beta, Paragon has attracted almost 1 million players. But this doesn’t put Epic’s game at the heights of hits like League of Legends and Dota 2, which are at the top of the $19.8 billion MOBA market.
Not all of Paragon’s players seem happy about this big change. Posters on Paragon’s Reddit are complaining that the faster action has made matches too short, removing strategy and encouraging players to just focus on killing each other. Of course, negative snap judgments for big changes are common among gaming communities. It could take a few weeks of playing (and developer tweaks) to see what impact this update will have.
The New Dawn update also reworks Paragon’s card system. The game uses cards as a way for players to upgrade and modify heroes. The patch introduces 100 new cards and a new gem-based system that lets players augment stats and unlock unique abilities.
This isn’t the first time Epic has introduced a big Paragon update designed to make the game faster. December’s Monolith patch replaced the original map with one that was 30 percent smaller.
The New Dawn also introduces adjustments to many of Paragon’s heroes. You can read about the full changes here.