Both versions have things I like and things I dislike.

DII: I like how they balanced and changed cards more so far compared to OG and GG. I like the newer cosmetic features. I dislike(or directly hate honestly) that they chose not to use BBS. It's like if they chose to just not include the starting mana tiles. Like its something integral to the game they chose not to add for very, very, very dumb reasons. Double draw also leads to a crazy tempo nightmare where if you lose tempo for one turn you lose pretty much instantly making games both faster and less complex. Most games just feel like im slapping units down or spamming spells to get rid of my opponent's board until one of us can't do that and then loses.

DGG: Having all the expansions is neat although as somebody who only played OG for the first couple it is extremely overwhelming to just have access to every single card in the game's history. BBS is amazing and how the game should be played. Kind of feels too same-y and has a lot of the exact same issues I had with OG Duelyst in regards to balancing (How is songhai still allowed to do what they do. But i also just hate backstab as a mechanic so dont take what I say seriously). Having everything unlocked is fun to try out cards i never got to use but also has the downside of killing a lot of my drive to play considering I don't have anything to work for.

I just want OG back tbh. or for DII to quit being.... unique.... about BBS. Idk is anyone else stuck in this loop? Because I just keep swapping just to swap back to the other every time I decide to get back into the game.

It's been a while. If you didn't know the devs have been swamped with IRL stuff so patch had to be delayed. That includes the expansion. Keep in mind the devs are mostly volunteers.

For the balance changes the devs did not include explanations stating that the changes were fall under either

1. Feel-good change
2. Make it less frustrating change
3. Increase playrate

So I'm including my own thoughts on the changes. NOTE I am not affiliated nor work with Dream Sloth Games. These are my own thoughts.

New keyword: Fading

Cards with Fading cannot be replaced and disappear at the end of your turn.

Afterglow, Blink, and Malice now have fading.

Divine Bond went from "3 Mana: Give a minion +Attack equal to its Health" to "1 Mana: Set a minion's Attack equal to its Health.

This is a change I personally advocated for. To lessen the silly high-roll of double bond on, say an Archon, or other minion with both high attack and health. Now this leans to more health heavy minions that would benefit the most from the buff such as Purgatos / Dioltas / Daybreaker.

Sunforge Advance went from 3/5 > 4/5 and now adds a Fading True Strike that costs 1 less to your hand.

Fairly simple buff. Not too much to say on this one.

Echo Mage now gives a Fading copy of the spell

Note the text in the patch notes is a typo and has been updated already.

Gorehorn went from 3/3 > 3/4

Another simple change to bump gorehorns playrate.

Onyx Bear Seal went from 3 > 2 mana

Rejoice ye red enjoyers for ye have been blessed with removal.

Portal Guardian went from 1/7 > 0/7

Vet's been very strong lately and while I don't have the stats I wouldn't be surprised to see it near the top. That and with Vet's current tools they no longer needs the base attack on portal guardian anymore.

Soulstone Obelysk now Removes the minion from the board rather than destroying it

Less of a pain to use this on Vorpal Reavers, Aymaras, and the rare Veteran Silithar.

Blood Siren's now heals for 2 and deals 2 damage down from healing 3 and dealing 3 damage.

Like Vet, Abyssian is really strong, especially there burn archetypes, and players have expressed a lot of frustration when it comes to this card. With the change here hopefully it becomes less predominant and more of a tool specifically for burn.

Gloomchaser can now choose where the wraithling is spawned.

A pretty massive QoL change as previously you could not play 2 Gloomchasers as P2T1 without losing a wraithling. Potentially a bit too strong at 3/1 though time will tell.

Predation went from "An allied unit fights an enemy minion nearby it" to "An allied unit attacks a nearby enemy minion"

The patch notes that were shipped are INCORRECT! The above is what it should do so no silly OTK combos. That said there is a difference between "Fight" and "Attack". Fight would not proc on attack effects such as Frenzy or War Talons text. Attack will.

There is also a known bug where Predation hits twice in some instances. It is being investigated.

Boundless courage can now target units. The damage increase is temporary.

A 'playrate change' but a really good one.

Coldbiter now hits "enemies"

So this can go face now. Another playrate buff though in my opinion one that wasn't needed.

Arctic Displacer went from 5 Mana 10/4 > 4 Mana 4/6

With the nerf to Spirit of the Wild, Arctic has been pushed to the wayside, as without any way to activate it most players tended to look towards other options. Previously adding stun helped but only a bit.

Now it has pretty good stats alongside the stun and airdrop. Good change.

Sarlac went from "3 Mana 1/1 | Dying Wish: Summon a copy of this on a random space" to "2 Mana 1/1 | Dying Wish: Summon a copy of this behind your general."

Since time in memorial people have complained about Sarlac and how aggravating it can be to face an army of them. This is no longer possible as this change increases the strength of a single Sarlac while preventing the buildup of eternal bois.

Whistling Blade went from "7 Mana 3/13 | Provoke" to "7 Mana 5/10 | Veil, Provoke"

One of the arguably worst cards in the game receiving quite the glow up. Potentially a bit hazardous into specific factions like Songhai but overall a neat change.

And that's it for balance changes. On the cosmetic side we have a very cool Dragonbone Golem skin and a new Songhai Dark Bundle in the shop.

There is also a Time Maelstrom rework in the works so look forwards to that next-ish patch (date not confirmed)

DGG Open #10 will be starting soon! with a prize pool of $150. Check our discord for more info.

Patch notes.

• Starhorn the Seeker: the card you draw now has its manacost reduced by 1. the opponents card remains the same.
• Vaath the Immortal: BBS now heals for 2 in addition to giving +1 Attack.
• Flash Reincarnation: mana discount reduced from 2 to 1. Damage dealt to summoned minion reduced from 2 to 1.
• Vespyrian Might: mana cost increase from 5 to 6.
• Wind Sister Maia: stats reduced from 4/5 to 3/4
• Hydrogarm: stats reduced from 2/3 to 1/3
• Grapnel Paradigm: stats reduced from 5/5 to 3/5.
• Shidai Stormblossom:

Kiyomori: General can move 2 additional spaces instead of 1.

Kotetsu: gives backstab 4 instead of backstab 2.

Tanahashi: now teleports an enemy 3 spaces instead of 1.

• Fixed an issue with the discord bot that prevented it from posting replays.

We're back again. Sadly due to time constraints it seems mid-month patch might be more of a near end of month patch. After all where getting another 1/3rd of the Sisters expansion at the end of the month.

As for balance changes we've got

• Penance can no longer target structures
• Inner Focus has been deleted and replaced with Assassination Protocol. Which is:

1 Mana | Spell | Activate an allied minion. It cannot DAMAGE or attack Generals this turn.

• Umbral Stalker went from a 3 mana 3/4 -> 4 mana 4/6
• Marrow Grinder went from a 5 mana 5/5 -> 5 mana 4/8
• Natural Selection is back to 2 mana
• Earth Walker went from a 3 mana 2/4 -> 2 mana 2/2
• Unbounded Energy Amulet is added

4 Mana | Artifact | Songhai | After your general moves or teleports, summon an Afterimage in the space they left

Afterimages are 1 mana 2/1s with Rush

For those not in the know this card is the winner of the culmination of all the custom card contests done by Navyer Seagull in the Duelyst Official Discord. This is most likely only staying for a month at most so enjoy it while it lasts.

• Some minor wording changes

And that's it. What are your thoughts on the patch. Personally i'm a bit let down that Hai received nothing for having another foundation card to their arsenal deleted. Hopefully the next 4 hai cards they receive rectify this.

So there is Duelyst GG, Duelyst 2, and some other versions too?

Is there an official licensed version? I'm confused if Duelyst 2 is an actual sequel?

Which one is the most played or popular?

Thanks for help explaining this. The community seems really cool.

https://news.duelyst2.com/duelyst-ii-patch-0-2-31/

TLDR: This is part 1/3 of a mini expansion. Over the next two months we'll get the other 2/3s of the expansion.

Below are all the cards, along with any "discoverable" bits that may not be obvious in how they work. For images just follow the link above, most of the text here is pretty much copies from there.

Lyonar:

• Penance | Spell | 3 Mana : Deal damage to all minions equal to an allied minion's health.

• Sunforge Advance | Minion | 4 Mana | 3 / 5 : When this attacks, add a True Strike to your action bar.

Songhai:

• Mask of Dominion | Artifact | 2 Mana : Your General has +2/+0 while a unit is behind them. When your General moves, the unit behind them moves to the space they were in.

• Umbral Stalker Minion | Minion | 3 Mana | 3 / 4 : After this moves or teleports, it gains “this cannot be attacked” until it attacks or the start of your turn.

Vetruvian:

• Counterpoise | Spell | 2 Mana : Give a minion -2/+2. Give a minion +2/-2.

• Soul Arbiter | Minion | 4 Mana | 4 / 4 | Your effects that add to the Attack or Health of enemies or subtract from the Attack or Health of allies do the opposite instead.

(Doesn't work with non-targeted effects like Isbee) (Makes Counterpoise give enemy minions -2/-2 or friendly +2/+2. Drain Morale would give friendly minions +1/0 and enemies -1/0)

Abyssian:

• Skinsolder Amulet | Artifact | 2 Mana | When you equip this and at the start of your turn, put a Malice into your action bar.
• Malice | Spell | Token | 0 Mana | This card cannot be replaced and disappears at the end of your turn. Destroy an allied minion to summon a Husk nearby. Deal 2 damage to your General.

(Husks are 1 Mana 4/4s)

• Marrowgrinder | Minion | 5 Mana | 5 / 5 | This can move onto allied minions to destroy them. When it does, draw a card and heal your General for 2.

Magmar:

• Predation | Spell | 1 Mana | An allied unit fights an enemy minion nearby it.

(Doesn't trigger on attack / counterattack effects. So no Pummy, Purgatos, ETC) (Doesn't trigger Frenzy as well)

• Matron of the Hunt | Minion | 4 Mana | 4 / 5 | Opening Gambit: Deal 1 damage to nearby allies. They can move an additional space this turn.

Vanar:

• Solidify | Spell | 1 Mana | Give your transformed and token minions +1/+1 and Provoke until your next turn.

(Currently bugged and affects enemy tokens as well. Will remove when patched)

• Permafrost Paragon Minion | 6 Mana | 3 / 8 | Allied Walls joined to this have +1/+1 for each allied Wall joined to this.

(Think of the effect like a chain. If you have two groups of two walls a tile apart, and you place Paragon between them, the walls will recieve +4/+4.) (In the same example if you were to play Gravity Well and summon 4 walls connected with any of them (Paragon is included as part of the chain) then the buff will be +8/+8.) (Breaking any part of the chain or removing Paragon will disrupt the effect)

Neutral:

• Manabinder | Minion | 3 Mana | 3 / 4 | Players have 1 less mana.

(This does retroactively remove the mana when you play it, so in order to play two of them in one turn you need 7 mana.)

• Tempting Mantella | Minion | 3 Mana| 0 / 5 | When a minion damages this, destroy that minion.

That's a lot of text. Now for balance changes, they are being moved to the middle of the month. That said, it is confirmed that Natural Selection is going back to 2 mana.

Thoughts on the cards? Theories on what the Sisters might be like? IDK this is mainly for the 2 or 3 people still interested in D2 but not willing to join or particiapte in DO.

What Im wondering is how do I get past the log in for that version of Duelyst 1 and just play it locally by myself. I am aware of duelyst 2 and duelyst gg and im awalre of duelyst 2 having legacy card options and stuff, that's not what im after. Im not interested in playing its pvp, I just want to be able to open the game and mess around with what is available to me by myself locally and play the parts of it that dont require other players. Do I have to host a local server just for myself to get the game working? Im not sure what needs to be done to get it to work.

• Ranged minions attack range is now limited depending on the strength of the Ranged keyword. Most ranged minions are Ranged (2), some have more. Small stat increases have been givin to certain ranged minions.

• Widowmaker now has equipment (Blacksteel Glave) that gives Range (2)

• Ephemeral Shroud mana cost increased from 2 to 3 and attack from 1 to 2.

• Reworked Plasma Storm. It now gives all minions Grow -2/-2

• EMP openging gambit changed to Ability 0.

• Blood of air. Removed the increasing mana cost effect. Mana cost increased from 5 to 6.

• Reworked Unstable Leviathan. It is now a 5 mana 12/12 that has Grow -3/-3 wich cannot be dispelled.

• Bloodtide Priestess now only summons wraithlings adjacent. Attack increased from 3 to 4.

• New Keyword: Echo. When a card with Echo is played from your hand, a copy of that card is imediatly added to your hand but the Echo keyword is removed.

• Dauntless Advance, Blind Scorch, Auryn Nexus, Auroraboros gains Echo.

• Increased max hand size from 6 to 7.

• Reworked Huldra. It now costs 4 mana. It now has Ability 2: Return a minion to it's owners hand. It gains Echo.

• Mana cost of all wall tokens reduced from 1 to 0. Gravity Well, Luminous Charge, Bonechill Barrier, Blazing Spines.

• Chittering Tiller opening gambit changed to: "Opening Gambit and Ability 1: Teleport the enemy General one space.". Note that it is one space in any direction as opposed to before where it was one space forward.

• Aperions Claim reworked. It now costs 6 mana. Now creates 3x3 hallowed ground. At the end of your opponents next turn kills any enemy minion standing on hallowed ground.

• Twilight Sorcerer reworked. "When this minion enters play it learns your Bloodbound Spell It can then cast it as Ability 1.". Mana cost also reduced from 5 to 4.

• Nightsorrow assassin reworked. it is now a 6 mana for a 5/5 that has "This minions mana cost is reduced by 1 for each minion killed during your turn."

• Golden Justicar rewokred. It is now a 5 mana, 5/5. It now has equipment (Justicar's Bastion) that gives Provoke, +3 Health and +1 movement.

• Decorated Enlistee reworked. It now has +2 Attack for each friendly minion nearby it.

• Sandburrower reworked. it's effect now reads "At the end of it's owners turn this minion deals 1 damage to and stuns the enemy minion infront of it."

• Gatekeeper's movement restriction now cannot be dispelled.

• Silverguard Knight now only has Provoke when he has Zeal.

• Reworked Dreadnaught. It is now a 4 mana 7/7 with Rebirth. It cannot move and this cannot be disppeled. It has an 2 mana Ability that allows it to move 1 space that doesnt exhaust it.

• Reworked Soboro. It is now a 2 mana 4/4 that has Echo and Opening Gambit: lose one mana crystal.

• Reworked Whisper of the Sands: It now transforms all friendly wind dervishes into Sand Howlers. It also has Echo.

• Reworked Azure Summoning. it now reads "Summon the highest mana cost minion from your deck. It costs 2 less and it returns to your hand at the end of your next turn";

• Swarmking Scarab. Damage reduced from 5 to 2.

• Cassava Soulreapers BBS now deals it's one damage at the end of the turn instead of imediatly.

• Whenever a tile would have overwritten an tile belonging to the other player, they are both destroyed instead. A visual indicator was added for this.

• Echoing Shriek reworked. now reads "Create a minor summoning circle under each friendly minion that dies this turn". It also has Echo.

• Wind Sister Maria now gives her +1/+1 buff to any friendly minion summoned on the opponents side of the field instead of friendly minions with infiltrate (this includes herself)

• Sand Sister Saon now gives your general Armour in addition to the +1 Attack.

• Juggernaut. Grow reduced from 5 to 2.

• Reworked wanderlust and changed name to Silent Intensity. for 1 mana. "Give a friendly minion +4 Attack during your opponents turn.". It also has Echo.

• Lionize. manacost reduced from 5 to 4. can now target any friendly minion (as opposed to friendly minion behind your genereal), but the minion cannot attack this turn.

• Skullprophet now gives your General +1 Attack in addition to taking 1 Attack away from the enemy General.

• Radiant Dragoon now gives a friendly random minion +2 health instead of +1. It also prioritizes the minion infront of it.

• Angered Okkadok, stats reduced to 0/1 from 1/2. intensify increased to +2/+2, up from +1/+1

• Spellshield now also blocks the Ability keyword from targeting an enemy minion. (It still wont block other minion effects like Opening Gambit)

• Reworked Dragonlark. it is now a 2 mana 0/2 with Celerity but it cant attack or counterattack. It creates Eruptive Eggs when it moves.

• Reworked Matron Elveiti. It is now a 5 mana 5/6. It has Infiltrate: All friendly minions on the oppoenents starting side gain +1/+1 at the end of each turn.

• Reworked Denadoro. It now reads. Infiltrate: Your General has Infiltrate: +1 Attack and Force Field.

• Reworked Lighting Blitz. It now has Echo and reads: Move an enemy minion up to 4 spaces backwards.

• Shadowcreep now does 3 damage instead of 1 but it now triggers at the end of the opponents turn instead of the end of your turn.

• Abyssal Crawler will now prioritize the space in front if there is no tile on it.

• Abyssal Juggernaut now read. This minion has +2/+2 for each Shadow Creep nearby it at the start of the turn.

• Abyssal Tormentor reworked. it now reads: At the end of your turn, each nearby friendly Shadow Creep that has open space becomes a 3/2 Shadow Creeper.

• Kindling and Owlbeast sage now only affects nearby frienly arcanysts

• Maehv Skinsoldier BBS now longer deals damage to herself.

• Painfull pluck can now target any tile (that doesnt have influence on it) instead of being random.

• Scioness Sajj's BBS now also reduces all damage she takes this turn by 2.

• Shidai Stormblossom BBS changed to Murasame. Murasame now changes your BBS to Kiyomori, Kiyomori to Kotetsu, Kotetsu to Tonahashi and Tanahashi back to Murasame. Aditionally all the spellswords can now be replaced.

• Alabaster Titan is now 8 mana 4/6 instead of 7 mana 5/7.

• Ayamara Healer no longer deals damage when she dies.

• Boneswarm changed to deal damage around your General instead of around the enemy General.

• Gold Vitriol now only triggers from healing originating from a friendly source.

• Sunforge Lancer. Bonus damage Given to General is now an aura (Meaning the bonus damage will be lost if the Sungorge Lancer dies or gets dispelled etc. In addition the effect will only trigger on healing originating from a friendly source.

• Sunriser's effect now only triggers from healing originating from a friendly source.

• Sunrise Cleric. Health reduced from 3 to 2.

• Grandmaster Kraigon: Reduced the grow on itself and your General from +7/+7 to +2/+2.

• Makantor Warbeast: Health reduced from 4 to 2.

• Mist Dragon Seal bonus stats reduced from +1/+1 to +1/+0.

• Proginitor now targets up to 2 friendly minions instead of working on all friendly minions.

• Ragebinder attack reduced from 3 to 2.

• Ragnora the Relentless BBS. Rippers no longer have celerity but they may move 2 additional spaces.

• Astral Phasing. A minion affected by Astral Phasing can no longer damage Generals.

• Kinematic Projection. A minion affected by Kinematic Projection can no longer damage Generals.

• Reworked Darkspine Elemental. It now reads: Opening Gambit and Ability 0: Relocate up to 2 shadow creep.

• Kolosus. Grow reduced from +4/+4 to +3/+3.

• Moloki Huntress. Now only affects nearby friendly minions.

• Oropsisaur. Now only affects nearby friendly minions.

• Coalfist reworked. It now has Ability 1: Friendly minions in a 2x2 area gain +3 Attack until the start of your next turn.

• Reworked Twilight Fox. It now reads: Blood Surge: Teleport to the enemy General's starting column staying in - the same row and gain +2 speed until the end of turn.

• Reworked Whiplash. it is now a 3/4 that reads: Opening Gambit and Ability 1: Deal 2 damage to anything.;

• Reworked Pupabomb. it now costs 3 mana and reads: Return all eggs to your hand. They gain echo.

• Eternity Painter, Sunset Paragon, Stars Fury, Saberspine Alpha, Necrotic Spere, Munch, Lost in the Desert, Inquisitor Kron, Hailstone Prison, Entropic Decay, Chromatic Cold, Circle of Life, Dark Transformation, Homeastatic Rebuke, Lightbender, Onyx Bear Seal, Bamboozle, Punish, Holy Immolation, Sunbloom, Natural Selection, Daemonic Lure, Aspect of the Ravager, Aspect of the Bear, Aspect of Shimzar, Decimate manacost increased by 1.

• Winters Wake, Obliterate, Ghost Azalea, Khanuumka, Wind Stopper, Rizen, Nimbus, Mnemovore, Lurking Fear, Grandmaster Nosh Rak, All 6 Trials, Flameing Stampede, Divine Bond, Divine Liturgy, Eclipse, Decimus, Evolutionary Apex, Carrion Collector has been removed from the game pending rework, nerf or reconsideration.

• 3D versions of 2 of the arena's has been created, any battles that take place on those arena's will have a moveable camera.

• Splash screen with summary of patch changes will now show up once when the game starts.

Challenge is Vanar: The Locked Library

The old strategy was to control the Owlbeast Sage with Zen'rui and use spells to buff a manaforger to 6 health, then use polarity to defeat the enemy general. I didn't have any issues with the challenge previously since it hasn't changed at all from the original Duelyst but with the new patch four things have changed:

1. The Frosthorn Rhino was replaced with a buffed Fenrir Warmaster. Before you could use celerity on the rhino to grab the mana spring tile, giving you enough mana to use hearth-sister a second time. Now that is no longer possible.
2. Manaforger only discounts the first three spells by 1 instead of discounting all spells. This means Aspect of the Fox costs 1 after using two Hailstone Prisons and a Polarity spell.
3. A Razorback was added to the board which buffs the attack of all minions by 2 when played. I'm not sure how this is supposed to be used as it costs 4 mana and with the amount it costs between the Hearth-Sister and Zen'rui, you have to choose between using those three minions.
4. The enemy general is now at 6 health which is less than the previous health total of 7.

If anyone has already figured out how to beat the new challenge please let me know. The Magmar one also changed with 0.2.29 but has stayed relatively similar to how it was previously. I'm currently stuck on this one.

https://preview.redd.it/9ftcf7w21ifd1.png?width=1286&format=png&auto=webp&s=40806ed114dff05dd74b48dc620a5bd822a00cd7

https://news.duelyst2.com/duelyst-ii-patch-0-2-29/

TLDR:

• 2 cards imported directly from legacy for each faction

• • Lyonar: Sunbond Pavise / Auroara
• • Songhai: Pandamonium / Onyx Jaguar
• • Vetruvian: Equality Constraint / Synaptic Arbitrage
• • Abyssian: Mind Lathe / Void Steal
• • Magmar: Rancour / Oropsisaur
• • Vanar: Iceshatter Gauntlet / Disciple of Yggdra

See the link above for details on what these cards do, incase you've forgotten, or weren't around for D1

As well as a slew of balance changes

• Spiral Technique, Spirit of the Wild, and Dark Seed all had their mana costs increased by 1
• Jux now switches the positions of two minions of the same owner
• Soulshatter Pact is reverted to legacy (because of Void Steals inclusion)
• Greater Fortitude and Primordial Gazer have had their nerfs reverted. Now giving +2/+2 respetively
• Fenrir Warmaster's token is now a 3/2.
• Temporal Sage, Lily can now affect generals
• Astral Crusader / Paddo / Deathblighter reverted

Also as a reminder there will be a survey conducted by the devs in approximately a week.

Also Also Duelyst Official Discord is most likely where the survey will be posted. I hope this isn't true but I'm not a dev so.

Sign up https://discord.com/invite/T9BFr9Ng , https://youtube.com/@zaow1?si=L3w_nwtxxlFg-hkU ill upload finals Hope to do more sponsorship in the future 😄

Edit shattered glass matched 20 so 40 for tomorrow !

We have a release date!! We will be releasing our big patch on the first of August!

Until then we will regularly release more videos to show off more of our new changes.

Drawing two cards per turn is too much: I always end up with a full hand, even while playing a deck with only a couple of cards costing more than 3 mana.

The mana-scaling of the game is bound to fill your hand, so that you feel COMPELLED to play stuff to get rid of what you have in hand rather than feeling ok with taking a tactical approach.

And with this, the "draw more" mechanic is super niche, while the low cost "return a card to the owner's hand" is OP because the hand is always full, so the cards get destroyed.

I have always loved Duelyst because it allows to take a TACTICAL approach rather than just spam cards, but with the draw-2 mechanic it just doesn't work.

I'd bring back the BB spells if needed, tweaking them so they aren't broken, but the draw-2 mechanic has to go.