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‘Just Beginning’ to ‘Vainglorious’: Explaining Items Part 3: Defensive Items

Vainglory
|
Oct 27, 2016

Are you new to Vainglory? Or, are you perhaps struggling to keep up with your allies and enemies? This series will bring new players up to speed and help those 0-10 players break the slump and start consistently succeeding. Here, we’re going to explain defensive and utility items. We’ve already covered red (weapon) and blue (crystal) items in earlier articles, which we recommend players read first.

Have you ever been frustrated by an enemy SAW riddling you with bullets? Or wondered how to detect an enemy Taka? Or maybe you’re flustered by an enemy Skye’s ability to flee from you? Ever wonder why, when you attack an enemy, it never seems to do enough damage — but when they attack you, you die nearly instantly? Then read on, dear reader, because you’re in the right place! Today we’re talking about defensive items. Defensive items, simply, are designed to help keep you alive by giving you more life and preventing damage.

SHIELD, ARMOR & LIFE

The fourth tab in the Item Shop is dedicated to defensive items. There are three types of defensive items: Shield (which is yellow in color), armor (which is bronze) and health (which is green). While all three will keep you alive for longer, each focuses on something different.

Shield, meanwhile, is designed to counter blue (crystal) items. If your enemies are using their abilities to do damage to you, buying shield is always a good idea. In order to determine what kind of damage your enemy is doing, you can tap on the Scoreboard icon in the right corner of your screen. That will show you what items your enemies have purchased. If your enemy has a great deal of blue (crystal) items, then buying something like a Light Shield is exceptionally important. This is called “counterbuilding” and is a core concept of Vainglory.

Armor makes every point of health more effective. It’s a great counter to enemies who are using red (weapon) items. The best way to explain how armor works is to use an example: Let’s say you have 1000 health and are facing an enemy who has bought exclusively red (weapon) items. If you have 100 armor, it’s as if you have 2000 HP.

Simply put, armor and shield makes your base health/HP last longer.

Green items increase your base health. Buying green items is good against both weapon and crystal damage because it will take more hits to kill you. If an enemy hero’s basic attacks do 50 damage and you have 300 health, you’ll die in six hits. But if you have 500 health, you’ll die in 10 hits. That extra health grants you extra time to defeat the enemy hero or flee — in both cases, keeping you alive for longer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK3pC-_K_bY&feature=youtu.be

UNDERSTANDING THE TIER SYSTEM

As we’ve discussed in previous articles, you should think of purchasing items as purchasing ingredients; you want to have a powerful Tier III item in mind and then see what you need to buy first in order to get it. So, if you want to purchase that Fountain of Renewal — a great item to help revive the health of your team — you’ll first need to purchase a bunch of lesser items including an Oakheart and a Lifespring. Occasionally, you’ll have so much gold that you can buy both the ingredients and the final powerful item at once, but that’s probably an indication that you should have spent your gold a while ago! Better to increase your power in small steps than be weak for a long time and then have a massive power spike.

When you first start a game of Vainglory, you’ll start out with just enough gold to buy an Oakheart. An Oakheart is a Tier I item, meaning you can get it immediately without purchasing anything else. You’ll also notice that it’s an ingredient for several Tier III defense items in the game. After purchasing it, you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade it to a Tier II item if you have sufficient gold. In order to get more gold, you’ll need to kill minions, monsters and enemy heroes. The great thing about buying any lower-tiered item is that you’ll get the next tiered item in that progression at a discount — so there’s no downside in buying that Oakheart while you save up for that Tier II Dragonheart or Lifespring. Again, it’s always good idea to spend your gold.

So let’s say you’ve bought that Dragonheart. You now have 400 + health. That means you’re that much harder to kill AND if you’re roam/support, your healing abilities are that much more effective. We’ll talk more about who should be purchasing green items below.

WHAT HEROES BENEFIT FROM DEFENSIVE ITEMS

All heroes benefit from defensive items. Since there are three different types of defensive items, it is hard to generalize which heroes should purchase which. That said, roam heroes such as Lyra, Phinn, Adagio and Ardan benefit from green (health) items. As a roam hero, you want to buy items that help the team such as Crucible and Fountain of Renewal. It’s best to try to avoid things that are “selfish” that only keep you alive, such as Aegis.

Why do roam heroes purchase so many defensive items? Often, roam heroes like Lyra and Adagio have healing abilities that can bring their allies back from the brink of death. These healing abilities are based on their own life total. Essentially, by purchasing green items, they are not only augmenting their own health, but their allies’ as well.

Non-roam heroes also benefit from defense items, of course. How many defensive items you purchase, and which ones, largely depends on two factors: your opponents and your individual hero. If you’re a ranged hero, you might want to buy an item or two that is defensive oriented with at least one being a direct counter to your opponent’s builds. If you’re a melee, then you’re more likely to take damage and therefore should pick up two to three defensive items. Roam, in contrast, is usually buying five to six defensive items.

WHAT TIER III ITEMS TO BUY?

Fountain of Renewal: Currently, Fountain of Renewal is the most important item for team defense and is usually purchased first by nearly every roam hero. It grants a team-wide heal upon activation. The lower your team’s health, the more they’ll be healed. The great thing about Fountain of Renewal is that there is never a point in the game where they don’t need more health.

Crucible: Crucible is fantastic at blocking ultimates or large stuns. When Adagio is about to line up his ultimate or Celeste is about to unleash a core collapse or Joule is going for her rocket jump, Crucible can save the day. Tired of getting hooked by Phinn? Quick reflexes on Crucible is your answer.

Atlas Pauldron: Atlas Pauldron is used to reduce the attack speed of the enemy damage-dealer or harasser. Against an enemy Krul equipped with a Breaking Point? Then, Atlas Pauldron is the best item to counter-build. As soon as you see that an enemy has built a Breaking Point, build an Atlas Pauldron ASAP. But be aware that Pauldron is difficult to use — requiring you to activate it when virtually face-to-face with the enemy. While it counters anyone with high attack speed, you have to get close enough to use it. So usually only warriors, assassins and roam heroes will buy it.

Aegis: Aegis gives the player the highest amount of shield in one item. It also grants the player a Reflex Block to protect themselves from crowd control attacks.

Metal Jacket: Metal Jacket offers the highest amount of armor in one item and is used primarily to protect you from weapon damage. Keep dying to weapon damage? Buy a Metal Jacket or two. If remembering (or having the proper reflexes) to trigger Atlas Pauldron at the right time is too much, then this is the item to buy instead.

CONCLUSIONS

Everyone can buy defensive items, just remember the following:

Armor counters weapon
Shield counter crystal
Health makes you live longer but is especially important for roam characters
Roam heroes should buy a mixture of health, shield, armor and utility items
Fountain of Renewal, Crucible are high-priority purchases for the roam hero.
Tier III defensive items all counter some enemy strategy. Experiment to see which ones work best for you!

As informative as any guide can be, there is nothing better than hands-on experience. Play a game with bots to try out the different defensive items in real-time. Maybe you find success playing Ardan and focusing on building a ton of health to keep you and your teammates alive, or maybe you feel better buying shield to counter an enemy mage. The combinations are endless, and learning what works best for you is part of the fun!

Check back soon for another ‘Just Beginning’ to ‘Vainglorious’ guide to playing Vainglory.

Gwen Hero Breakdown – Get an Early Edge

Vainglory
|
Oct 17, 2016

Most heroes have to flee powerful crowd control abilities. Most heroes live in fear of being stunned, silenced or otherwise slowed. But not Gwen. Gwen can shake off negative effects, turning the tables in her favor due to her powerful Skedaddle ability. This “get out of jail” free card gives her a way to slip away from slows, roots, stuns and silences that no other hero possesses. Plus, her two blazing guns provide a perfect complement to her hit-and-run tactics. With her Buckshot Bonanza, she has one of the most reliable damage-dealing abilities in the game that also slows opponents — perfect for setting up the kill or ensuring her own escape. While not possessing the greatest range, Gwen has an intriguing mix of mobility and power. Read on to learn how to master this slippery sniper…

HERO ABILITIES

BOOMSTICK (HEROIC PERK)

After not attacking for 1.6 seconds, Gwen’s next basic attack deals 30-115 + (50% bonus weapon power) additional damage. Attack speed reduces the time before this empowered attack becomes available.

BUCKSHOT BONANZA (A)

Gwen blasts enemies in the target direction, damaging all targets in a cone. Enemies hit by this ability are slowed and revealed for 2 seconds

SKEDADDLE (B)

When activated, Gwen instantly removes negative effects from herself and blocks further effects for a short time. Additionally, she gains a temporary burst of bonus move speed.

Passive: Gwen gains bonus move speed. This effect is disabled for a few seconds upon taking damage from an enemy hero, but it is otherwise permanent.

ACES HIGH (ULTIMATE)

Gwen pulls an ace from up her sleeve and flings it in the target direction. The card deals damage to everything it passes through. The ace impacts and stuns the first enemy hero in its path.

DUELING

While Boomstick is a great heroic perk, when engaging with enemy heroes 1v1, you’ll actually do more damage stutter stepping. But, if you find yourself on the losing end of a battle, don’t stutter step in your retreat. Instead, wait for Boomstick to cool down, fire — and then run.

Her Buckshot Bonanza is one of the most reliable abilities in the game because of its large area of effect and guaranteed damage. But her range is somewhat limited. When you initiate against an enemy hero, you should get in range and attack with Buckshot Bonanza, which both damages and slows enemies. Then, Gwen should hit with her Aces High while the enemies are still slowed. While a powerful ability, Aces High is a slow-travelling projectile and therefore dodgeable. Combined with the slowing effects of the Bonanza, however, you increase the odds of actually hitting with Aces High.

Skedaddle is fantastic for getting a player out of bad situations by clearing CC debuffs and granting her a half-second immunity from further crowd controls (being rooted, slowed or silenced). She can also use Skedaddle to chase down enemies in order to finish them off. But be careful not to use Skedaddle and leave yourself in a vulnerable position. Without an escape route, Gwen can become a sitting duck.

TEAMFIGHTS

Gwen is a fragile character who prefers to be on the edge of a fight. Her Skedaddle has a long cooldown so it should really only be used in emergencies and to deal with major enemy crowd control.

Similar to her dueling strategy, Gwen players should use her Buckshot Bonanza + Aces High combo to secure a kill on the enemy carry. Alternatively, you can use this combo to peel for yourself. If you need to do more damage, you should stutter step. But if you need to be more mobile, utilize your Boomstick perk. If you’re using this latter strategy, then it’s recommended that you buy as much weapon damage as possible; stutter stepping will give you more constant damage output but being able to unleash a more potent attack every few seconds does have its benefits.

Let’s say you’re in a 1v2 situation not in your favor. This is a great opportunity to take advantage of your heroic perk. Stay mobile and fire back once the perk is ready. Once they’ve utilized a crowd control move on you, use your Skedaddle to escape. Alternatively, if you have vision, you can avoid an unfavorable fight entirely by using Skedaddle and heading back toward your turret.

If you’re part of a 2v1 scenario in your favor, then the same basic-attack principles for dueling and teamfighting apply: Use your Buckshot Bonanza to slow, your Aces High to stun and your Skedaddle to negate any slowing effects an escaping hero may throw at you.

While not recommended, Gwen can also build crystal items. Crystal items give her longer range but also a much slower rate of attack. Crystal Gwen strategies take advantage of her high movement speed and — through purchasing items such as Clockwork — the low cooldowns on her abilities. Essentially, Gwen’s approach to teamfighting is to stay far out and then run in and use her Bonanza to catch as many enemies as possible. After that, a Crystal Gwen should use her Aces High, and then Skedaddle away and out of range of retaliation. The benefits of this strategy is how well this utilizes her speed bonuses and the reliable and long-range damage-dealing abilities of her kit. The downside is that Gwen will be much less effective in sustained fights, so if she gets caught by Phinn’s anchor or some other enemy-slowing effect, she’s dead meat. Also, her heroic perk, arguably one of her best attributes, scales with weapon. It’s useful for last-hitting minions but with a CP build, it’s not going to help in the late game.

WEAPON BUILDS

Sorrowblade: A great pick for Gwen because it increases her base damage and scales with her perk.

Breaking Point: An item that offers more weapon damage over time and grants Gwen more attack speed. Plus, Buckshot Bonanza does weapon damage which gives you easy Breaking Point stacks.

Tyrant’s Monocle: Want more damage per second? Then look no further than Tyrant’s Monocle. If you critical hit with your initial hit, you’ll have a very strong burst opening. Unfortunately, perk damage is not being amplified by critical damage.

Bonesaw: If your enemy has a lot of armor, Bonesaw is a great choice. Plus, it will lower the cooldown on your heroic perk.

Aegis: Since Gwen is fragile, having a reflex block is exceptionally useful.

STRONG VERSUS

Ardan: Ardan’s ultimate is easily countered by Gwen’s Skedaddle, letting you walk through the gauntlet.

Krul: Gwen can get away from his heroic perk or his ultimate but not necessarily both. With her Buckshot Bonanza, she can also slow him.

Catherine: Gwen’s Skedaddle ensures she can’t be held down by Catherine’s silence or stun.

WEAK VERSUS

Ozo: Ozo has too many ways to close the gap between him and Gwen. He also has no abilities that her Skedaddle counters.

Reim: Reim’s abilities at maximum rank have too much range for her to contend with. Baron, similarly, has too much range for her to handle.

PRO TIPS

Skedaddle gives you a move speed boost so long as you’re not being hit by enemies. So, you can use it to move to objectives faster.
Her Buckshot Bonanza ability will reveal stealth. If you want to check bushes, why not fire and see what stumbles out?
Hitting multiple heroes with Buckshot Bonanza will give you multiple Breaking Point stacks. So Breaking Point should be a high priority for nearly all Gwen builds.

Gwen Abilities & Splash Art Revealed!

Vainglory
|
Sep 30, 2016

Gwen moves swiftly through the Fold, picking off enemies from a distance. She can shake off negative effects, turning the tables in her favor. Gwen is best played in the lane where she can earn gold and gear up for big fights.

Read on for Gwen’s abilities. …

HERO ABILITIES

Boomstick (Heroic Perk)

After not attacking for a brief time, Gwen’s next basic attack deals additional weapon damage. Attack speed reduces the time before this empowered attack becomes available.

Buckshot Bonanza (A)

Gwen blasts enemies in the target direction, damaging all targets in a cone. Enemies hit by this ability are slowed and revealed for a short time.

Skedaddle (B)

When activated, Gwen instantly removes negative effects from herself and blocks further effects for a short time. Additionally, she gains a temporary burst of bonus move speed.

Passive: Gwen gains bonus move speed. This effect is disabled for a few seconds upon taking damage from an enemy hero, but it is otherwise permanent.

Aces High (Ultimate)

Gwen pulls an ace from up her sleeve and flings it in the target direction. The card deals damage to everything it passes through. The ace impacts and stuns the first enemy hero in its path.

VIDEO TEASERS

Want to see more of Gwen? Check out the teaser trailers for this new hero:

https://youtu.be/hhFJZPBlXxk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_TgjbQF8_w&feature=youtu.be

Keep an eye on the in-game News section for more Gwen info and guides. Gwen will hit the Halcyon Fold in Update 1.23.

Squid Ink: Explaining Opals

Vainglory
|
Sep 29, 2016

In this regular column, Vainglory Senior Editor BicycleSquid highlights interesting, confusing, complex or obscure aspects of Vainglory. If you’d like to see a topic covered, let him know here.

Every time you start a new season, we want you to be excited for new, rewarding experiences. To that end, we introduced a new currency, Opals, which open up amazing opportunities for you to unlock Special Edition skins at whatever pace fits your playstyle.

What are Opals & how do I get them?

Opals are a super-rare currency that you may get from your Daily Chest and Season Chest. Use Opals to unlock Special Edition skins such as Moon Princess Celeste and Summer Party SAW.

How do I spend my Opals?

Visit the in-game Market and look for skins with an Opals icon and cost. Eventually, there will be a dedicated Opals section of the Market that only contains these Special Edition skins.

What Opals skins will be available and when?

So far, Summer Party Phinn is the only skin available to unlock with Opals. More and more Special Edition skins will be added over time, based on the phases below:

PHASE ONE: ICE PURCHASE

When a Special Edition (often seasonal) skin is first released, it will be directly purchasable with ICE.
That skin will also be placed inside the Season Chest. If you’re really lucky, you can instantly unlock the new Special Edition skin when you use a key to open the Season Chest!

PHASE TWO: OPALS MARKET (IN SEASON)

One update later (aprox. one month after release), the Special Edition skin will move into the Opals section of the Market and no longer be available for direct ICE purchase. At this point, the only way to get the skin is with Opals.

At this point, the skin is also considered “in season.” When a skin is first in season, it will be available at a significant Opals discount. I can’t stress this enough: If you can get a skin with Opals during its first season, do it!

PHASE THREE: OPALS MARKET (OUT OF SEASON)

When the next season launches, the out-of-season skin’s Opals cost may go up significantly. This may also vary from skin to skin. Note: A skin is only “in season” once; it won’t be at a reduced price again a year later.

Coming Soon: ‘Baewitched’ Celeste & ‘Pumpkin Spice’ Petal (Special Editions)

Vainglory has been cast into darkness by Petal’s eternal enemy, the Bleekos! Introducing the new Special Edition versions of ‘Pumpkin Spice’ Petal and ‘Baewitched’ Celeste — spooky new designs based on the original Limited Edition favorites.

What’s the difference between Limited Edition and Special Edition skins?

Seven Limited Edition seasonal skins were released in the past between Spring 2015 and Autumn 2016. These include fan favorites such as Gift-Wrapped Fortress, Pumpkin Spice Petal and Night Shadow Taka. Over time, we will be releasing new Special Edition versions of these skins that are distinctly different than the originals. And good news: If you already own the original Limited Edition skin, you will automatically get the new Special Edition skin at no additional cost!

Important note: These seven reissued skins only will skip the “direct ICE purchase” phase and go directly into the Opals Market upon release.

Moving forward, we will release Special Edition skins, often seasonal in nature. New Special Edition skins will follow the phases above, starting as a direct ICE purchase and then move into the Opals Market. So, your Opals can be used on any future Special Edition skin!

DISCLAIMER: EVERYTHING CAN CHANGE!

The Opals system is brand-new, and we’re going to learn a lot over time and hear feedback from the Vainglory Community. What we’ve stated above is the current plan of record, but we may need to tweak — or even overhaul — the plan for Opals and Special Edition skins as we learn what’s working amazingly well and what’s not. Please do not consider any statements about Opals or Special Edition skins as forever set in stone. That said, we’ll do our very best to alert players well in advance if any changes are incoming.

Opals are already in the game! Go play and collect them now and save up for that Special Edition skin of your dreams.

‘Just Beginning to ‘Vainglorious’: Explaining Items Part 1: Blue (Crystal) Items

Vainglory
|
Sep 22, 2016

Are you new to Vainglory? Or, are you perhaps struggling to keep up with your allies and enemies? This series will bring new players up to speed and help those 0-10 players break the slump and start consistently succeeding. Here, we’re going to explain crystal items, commonly referred to as “blue” items. Check back next week for our guide to red items.

You don’t want to bring a knife to a gunfight. So, you don’t want to bring the wrong item to the Halcyon Fold. Knowing what items to buy is pivotal to success in Vainglory. In simple terms: Items make you better. They make you run faster, strike harder, regenerate energy quicker and, in the words of Professor Snape: “put a stopper on death.” Not surprisingly, buying items is often the most confusing aspect of the game for new players. There are several different types of items — weapon, ability, defense and utility — that all have various advantages and counters.

If you find your hero can’t make a dent in another hero’s health, that might be because they’ve bought an item that counters yours. Similarly, if you’re befuddled by how an enemy hero keeps annihilating you with only a couple hits, you may not have the right defensive items or they may have vastly superior offensive items. We’ll start with the basics: weapon and crystal items.

WHERE TO SHOP

When a match starts, you’re already in your home base item shop. Here, you’ll have the chance to select your first items. The store has six tabs and starts in the “Recommended” tab. You’ll see your gold total in the bottom and this will increase throughout the game as you kill lane minions, jungle monsters and enemy heroes.

As a beginner, it’s always a good idea to just buy the recommended items as soon as you have the gold. As you move around the map, you’ll have many chances to kill stuff. Every time you kill something, you get gold — and gold is the key to your success. That’s because gold gets you items, and items make you more powerful. One of the biggest mistakes new players make is not spending their gold, so remember to shop often and use all of the gold you can!

Item recommendations are based on the hero that you’ve selected. So if you’ve selected Glaive, a warrior, the first recommended item is the Weapon Blade. But if you want to progress as a Vainglory player, you’ll have to move beyond recommended items. Vainglory’s recommendations for purchases don’t change based on enemy tactics, for example. It’s important you understand how items work so you can make intelligent purchase decisions based on your own character’s strengths and the strengths of your opposition.

CRYSTAL ITEMS

So what are crystal items? Crystal items make your unique hero’s three abilities more powerful. As an example, let’s look at Celeste, a mage hero. She has three abilities: Heliogenesis, Core Collapse and Solar Storm. These abilities all do a set amount of damage that items augment.

When examining an item, you’ll see that each comes with stats: “+20 CP”, “+50 CP”, etc. The best way to explain how crystal power (CP) works is to use an example. Let’s say you have a Crystal Bit. It’s an inexpensive item that you can immediately buy and is often a good purchase if you’re playing a mage. A Crystal Bit gives your hero +20 Crystal Power. If we look at Celeste, her Heliogenesis ability normally does does 120 Crystal damage. With the Crystal Bit, you’d do 140 damage. There are other calculations involved: what crystal ratios you have, what level you’re at, etc. But at its most basic, more crystal power means more damage with your abilities.

WHAT HEROES BENEFIT FROM BLUE ITEMS

Typically, the heroes that benefit most from blue items are spellcasting mages such as Celeste, Skaarf, Samuel and Reim. Heroes who focus on protection such as Lyra, Adagio, Ardan and Catherine also benefit from blue items. In Vainglory, most heroes are incredibly flexible and building blue items — even when not typical — can reveal surprisingly powerful playstyles. But for now, it’s best to focus on those heroes who most naturally and obviously benefit from lots of blue.

UNDERSTANDING THE TIER SYSTEM

Vainglory has some truly powerful items. Each of these items has ingredients that need to be purchased first in order to complete their recipe. So, if you want to purchase that Shatterglass — a powerful item for increasing your damage — you’ll first need to purchase a bunch of lesser items including Crystal Bit and a Heavy Prism. Think of purchasing items as purchasing ingredients; you want to have a powerful Tier III item in mind and then see what you have to buy first in order to get it. Occasionally, you’ll have so much gold that you can buy both the ingredients and the final powerful item at once, but that’s probably an indication that you should have spent your gold a while ago! Better to increase your power in small steps than be weak for a long time and then have a massive power spike.

When you first start a game of Vainglory, you’ll start out with just enough gold to buy a Crystal Bit. A Crystal Bit is a Tier I item, meaning you can get it immediately without purchasing anything else. You’ll also notice that it’s an ingredient for virtually every Tier III crystal item in the game. After purchasing it, you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade it to a Tier II item if you have sufficient gold. In order to get more gold, you’ll need to kill minions, monsters and enemy heroes. The great thing about buying any lower-tiered item is that you’ll get the next tiered item in that progression at a discount — so there’s no downside in buying that Crystal Bit while you save up for that Tier II Heavy Prism. Again, it’s always good idea to spend your gold.

So let’s say you’ve bought that Heavy Prism. You’re doing a lot more damage now! Let’s look at Celeste’s Heliogenesis ability again. As mentioned before, Celeste’s Heliogenesis ability would normally do 120 crystal damage at Level 1. With a Heavy Prism, it would do 50 points more of damage. So that 120 would suddenly become 170.

Next, you’ll want to purchase your first Tier III item. While any crystal-focused hero will usually buy the same Tier I and Tier II items, purchasing Tier III items depends a great deal on your hero. Since each Tier III items does something slightly different, all of these options can be especially daunting to new players.

WHICH TIER THREE ITEMS TO BUY

So you’ve selected your hero and decided that you want to focus your purchases on blue items. Now what? Deciding which Tier III items to purchase (and when) is also crucial to success.

Shatterglass: The highest CP value item, used to do maximum ability damage. Want to make a lot of stuff go boom? Then this is on your wishlist.

Eve of Harvest: Steals life from your enemy. If you keep dying, having some lifesteal helps because every time you do ability damage to the enemy, it will heal you back a portion of the damage done! In other words, Eve of Harvest hurts them and heals you!

Broken Myth: Does more damage the more you hit an enemy with an ability. Great for abilities with high base damage like Joule’s Big Red Button. Broken Myth is a must-buy for any mage class because they constantly hit people with their abilities.

Clockwork: Not getting to use your abilities enough? Look no further than Clockwork. If you find you don’t have enough energy to use your abilities, then Clockwork can help you recharge quickly.

Frostburn: Frostburn adds slowing effects to your attacks. This is great for keeping enemies right where you want them

Alternating Current: If you want your basic attacks to do damage while your abilities cooldown, this is a great option.

Aftershock: After activating an ability, your next attack does a percentage of the enemy’s maximum HP. Great to take on high health targets like Phinn, Ardan or any tank.

Remember: Yellow Counters Blue

All the items in Vainglory fall into categories based on their color. There’s a huge amount of strategy that goes into “counterbuilding,” which means buying items based on the enemy’s purchases. We’re not going to go into all that now, but there is one thing you can keep in mind: Yellow (shield) items protect against blue (crystal) items. So, if you see the enemy building a ton of blue, you can build yellow items. If you’re suddenly doing a lot less damage with your abilities than earlier in the match, chances are that enemy bought a lot of yellow items to protect themselves from you.

We’ll go into defense items in part 3 of our guide.

CONCLUSIONS

To summarize:

Crystal items improve your hero’s abilities.
Mages generally benefit most from crystal items, but other heroes will benefit as well.
To buy crystal items, kill enemies and collect gold so you can afford stuff.
The more gold you have, the more powerful the items you can buy.
Tier III items are powerful but varied. Try them out to see what works for your hero and playstyle!

As informative as any guide can be, there is nothing better than hands-on experience. Play a game with bots to try out the different crystal items in real-time. Maybe you find success playing Celeste and focusing on maximum damage with Shatterglasses, or maybe you feel better buying Eve of Harvest and restoring health with the stars you rain down on the enemy. The combinations are endless, and learning what works best for you is part of the fun!

Check back next week for our guide to weapon items — the red counterpart to crystal items.

Free Hero Rotation (September 20): Try Joule, Celeste, Lance & More!

Vainglory
|
Sep 20, 2016

Each week six heroes are temporarily unlocked for play in Casual and Private games. Try any of the heroes listed below before unlocking them with Glory or ICE!

LYRA (ROAM/PROTECTOR)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Drawing upon her training as a Gythian battlemage, Lyra uses healing and protective magic to turn enemy positions into powerful zones for her allies. Her portals also allow her team to bypass these positions entirely, avoiding defenses and terrain. Utility and defense items improve her role as a healer, while crystal items provide a devastating but fragile mage path.

PHINN (ROAM/PROTECTOR)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Phinn is an unstoppable tank who brings the fight to him. He pairs incredibly well with other heroes who don’t back down from battle. Phinn is strongest with defense and utility items, and he’s able to absorb immense amounts of punishment, protecting teammates while they dish out damage.

PETAL (JUNGLE/SNIPER)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Petal commands a flock of Bramblethorn Pets known as “munions” that she uses to swarm her enemies from long range. She excels at long, sustained fights where damage from her small army really adds up. She can even single-handedly take out important objectives such as the Gold & Minion Mines.

LANCE (ROAM/PROTECTOR)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Lance depends on both his courage and his wits to protect his allies. With his unique polearm-and-shield combat style, he breaks enemy lines and creates opportunities for his friends. Lance can build crystal or utility items to excel in his role as a protector, or he can build weapon items to deal more damage during battle.

JOULE (JUNGLE/WARRIOR)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Joule is a hardened front-line fighter with built-in defensive plating. All of Joule’s abilities require proper aim to hit the intended target, but they have a devastating effect if you can aim properly. Pick Joule if you have an uncanny ability to predict enemy player movements. Joule can start in the jungle or lane.

CELESTE (LANE/MAGE)

Hero info & lore
VaingloryFire guides

Celeste commands the stars, drawing upon their power to overwhelm opponents. Her star formations help keep enemies at a distance as well as finish them off as they flee. Start Celeste in the lane and fight from the furthest edges of battle.

ABOUT THE FREE HERO ROTATION

The free hero rotation unlocks six heroes each week to play as long and as much as you want in the Casual queue. It’s an opportunity to test drive heroes before using ICE or Glory to unlock them.

The free rotation changes every Tuesday and heroes in the rotation usually won’t return for a few weeks or months afterward, so unlocking heroes is always worthwhile. The free rotation does not apply to Ranked play to ensure players are already very familiar with the heroes they play in that try-hard environment with skill tiers at stake.

Jump into the Fold now with this group of great heroes!

Squid Ink: How Roaming Has Changed

Vainglory
|
Sep 15, 2016

In his regular column, Vainglory Senior Editor BicycleSquid highlights interesting, confusing, complex or obscure aspects of Vainglory. If you’d like to see a topic covered, let him know here.

The roam position is evolving in Vainglory’s meta. Traditionally, roamers have been the utility player — both the tipping point for teamfights and the tank for jungle levelers. A good roamer would cut between the jungle and lane as necessary. While roamers did not necessarily score tons of kills, they were the point guards of battle — big on assists, making their teammates better and using clutch activatable items when it counts most. Their role on the team was clear, but limited. The roam changes in Update 1.19 and beyond open up more possibilities … if you think differently about the position.

ROAMER EVOLUTION

In Update 1.19, we altered experience and hero balance as well as added new items and tuned others, all to create more depth and variety — especially at the roam position.

But these changes earned a mixed response from the Vainglory Community. Instead of giving plenty of options to players, some felt even more restricted than before. This can be linked to the tuning of the new contract items as well as mainstay roam items. It’s definitely fair to say that the position underwent some growing pains, as Zekent has stated that he was chiefly concerned with not destroying the meta with new overwhelming and overpowered options, opting instead for an initially conservative approach.

Of course, the goal of roamer changes in 1.19 was not to kill the position but rather the stigma of how roamers should be played. A roamer is no longer just a tanky front-line support. And as Updates 1.20, 1.21 and soon 1.22 unfold, the new role of the roamer is crystallizing. There are now more layers to the possible compositions that teams are playing and more choices for roamers to make.

OPEN-ENDED ITEMS

Traditionally, the first-buy for every roamer was Ironguard Contract. Then, the roam player would purchase Fountain of Renewal and Crucible/Atlas Pauldron before Warhorn/Contraption. Roams were the “Swiss army knife of team defense.” But since they were a utility-support-tank with set item paths, decisions around item building for roamers was fairly limited.

With the 1.19 changes, there was no longer a requirement to eventually turn that Ironguard Contract into a Warhorn or Contraption, so many more possibilities unfolded. For example, roamers can buy carry items like their lane brethren in addition to support items.

Roamers also don’t have to be a tank front-liner. As Lyra has proved, roam heroes can be effective even as a squishy backline presence. Lyra’s impact, in fact, was so large that she rocketed to the top of many players’ “Must Ban” lists.

INFLUENCE OF UPDATE 1.21

In terms of roamers, Lyra and Phinn have had an extraordinary influence on the current meta. Picking one or the other not only defined your team comp; it defined your collective playstyle and moments of opportunity within the match ahead. Meanwhile, Lance turned from a stalwart roamer into a popular flex pick, getting played more and more as a weapon jungler as it was popularized by stars like Team Secret’s Palmatoro and Phoenix Reign’s Statusbaked during Evil Eight esports broadcasts.

On a broader level, recent updates also introduced a larger change: roamers taking last hits will no longer have a large negative impact on a team’s gold net worth. Instead, they still generate the same amount of gold since there will always be a 100%/75% distribution to two team members near each other. Teams may now more strategically decide where to funnel gold when they have multiple heroes reaching item breakpoints.

HOW TO ROAM (NOW)

Before we get into the minutiae of “how to roam as x character,” there are some basic strategies that all roamers still adhere to. Most roamers start alongside their jungler for the first rotation, although where they go afterward is much more variable than before. They should help the jungler clear the early camps while trying to absorb the brunt of the damage. (Just how much damage is dictated by the roamer’s first-buy.) Despite the changes to gold distribution, roamers should still let their ally last-hit.

After an initial run through the jungle, some roamers will accompany their junglers toward the backs while others will press into enemy territory. Others, still, will “babysit” their lane ally and bully the other laner. Roaming in the current meta is far less linear than in the past. Roam decision are largely contextual. Who is your laner? Does your laner need help? Can your jungler clear safely alone? How aggressive do we want to be? Roamers can strategically approach the early game and early purchases based on the team’s overall composition, rather than just going through the usual motions.

Instead of routine jungle clears, the roamer is shifting to play the mid-map more, travelling up and down from lane to jungle shop. The more multidirectional your play, the larger your influence on the game. And don’t assume the roamer is the automatic face-checker of all danger locations on the map. The introduction of squishy roamers changes the rules, and if Lyra is leading the way instead of playing passively, she may be dead before the fight begins in earnest.

WHAT TO PURCHASE

A roamer’s first buy has transformed from the most obvious moment in the game to an interesting choice point that says alot about your intent. Ironguard Contract is still very much an option, allowing you to tank damage, heal up and stay close to your carry. But more and more, roamers are opting for early-game damage before transitioning into traditional items. A start of one (or even two) weapon blades is commonplace now, speeding up jungle clear times and putting you in a position to pick a Level 1-2 fight at the jungle shop.

Ultimately, Fountain of Renewal is still the cornerstone roam item. It’s very difficult to win a mid-game fight if one team has that heal and the other doesn’t. Some things never change.

WHO SHOULD ROAM (HERO INTRODUCTIONS)

Advanced players may skip this section, but ask yourself, “How many of these roamers would I feel comfortable using in a competitive match?” Perhaps pick one or two more to practice to expand your playstyle options and possible team comps.

Six heroes are roam-primary in the current meta, with others used as off-meta roam picks. In general, most of these heroes feature one trait in common: the ability to control a teamfight. Roamers provide an advantage for the team that is initiating the fight or counter the other team’s strategy in a teamfight. In addition, the roamer usually provides another advantage for his/her team. Either they heal their teammates or provide a great deal of damage absorption as a “tank.”

ARDAN

Ardan is great at initiating fights and staying alive long enough to win them. He initiates with his ultimate, creating a zone that separates enemies and isolates targets. A great Ardan will also stun enemes against his Gauntlet wall, providing an even larger starting advantage. Ardan is perhaps the most “clutch” roamer, using Vanguard to keep squishier allies alive. But in the current meta, Ardan can also opt for more damage to make his Blood for Blood ability really sting.

Catherine

Catherine can counter heroes who do lots of burst damage in the game and is therefore a valuable asset in teamfights. Her reliable stun and silence are unparalleled, making her a safe and valuable pick to just about any team. To initiate a fight with Catherine, you should send Blast Tremor into the enemy team. She can also stun in two ways: by locking down a target or peeling for your carry. The other aspect of Catherine is that with her Stormguard bubble, she can bodyblock all the poke heroes in the current meta. It’s essential to put yourself in front of Kestrel or other skillshot hero. This not only protects your teammates, but can nullify the enemy carry or force them to waste valuble time repositioning.

Fortress

Fortress is unique among roamers, as he’s rightly classified as a Warrior. He’s not there to tank damage (usually); he’s there to start fights and then start more fights and on and on, even accelerating allies into battle. He is considered one of the highest DPS roamers in the game and his ultimate is one of the strongest initiations in the game. (And if you’re roaming against a Fortress, prioritize War Treads so you can disengage when he uses Attack of the Pack!)

Lance

Lance is one of the tankiest heroes in the game and a real force in crowd control. To be successful as Lance, you need to know how to combo your moves. Impale is his primary initiation move for teamfights while Gythian Wall is his main form of peel. This ability knocks the target away, but if they hit a wall, they’ll be stunned as well. Combat roll lets him move around the fight — either initiating a fight from a distance or get to an ally to peel or protect. Playing Lance is all about creating the necessary angles of attack to land your Impale, which damages and roots the enemy target. It’s a hero that requires practice and precision, but he’s incredibly rewarding when it all begins to click. Lance is also a terrific representation of the current expanded nature of roaming in Vainglory. He can tank up. He can build damage. He can duo jungle. He can camp lane. It’s not what you can do, it’s why you do it.

Lyra

Lyra is the least tanky but also the best healer in the group. She also initiates teamfights in the least obvious ways. She establishes zones of control, heals allies in an area as well as halting enemies from initiating or chasing your allies. She, more than any other roamer, benefits from rushing Crucible first. Her Bright Bulwark is a slow zone for enemies, allowing a team to peel certain enemies. Her ultimate is tricky to use but can be deployed as both an initiation move (by getting Lyra toward a specific target) or an escape route. Lyra has provide immense harass hanging out in lane, and she must anticipate perhaps more than any other roamer. If she sees (or senses) an impending gank, her use of Bright Bulwark will change the terms of the fight … or completely nullify the engagement.

Phinn

Phinn’s impact on engagements and teamfights is just as large as Lyra’s, but in completely different ways. His Forced Accord is the ultimate engagement tool, pulling poor enemies into fights they never asked for. And the Fortified Health he grants allies, makes fights last just long enough to come out on top. Phinn is also great in teamfights because he can’t be crowd controlled. He moves where he wants to, free of the effects of a stun. He is perhaps the best late-game support because he gains 15% on item stats, which means he’s one tough troll to kill with the proper items. His abilities punish enemies and aid his allies, which always feels great as a roamer.

OFF META: ADAGIO

Adagio is primarily a lane-bound crystal mage, but his healing and buff making roaming an option for the adventurous spirit. Adagio can initiate combat in multiple ways. He can boot into the enemy’s ranks before casting Gift of Fire onto himself or an ally. Then, Adagio would trigger Verse of Judgement, looking for multiple stuns. Adagio also can initiate combat by utilizing Agent of Wrath on the highest attack speed ally or on a hero who can throw from range. Adagio is able to amplify the damage of his allies and ensure they live longer.

OFF-META: PETAL

Similarly, Petal’s healing on Spontaneous Combustion makes her a crystal-roam possibility. After a brief period of stupidity, Petal’s munion AI seems to get smarter and smarter every update, so sky’s the limit on what players might pull off in the future.

Hope this helps increase your roaming comfort level and expand your roam thinking. If you’re still playing the roam position like the “old days” or resisting playing roam, now’s the time to try, playing with more depth and choices than ever before. Pick a roam hero and head into the Fold!

Introducing Opals & ‘Original Skin’ Identifiers

Vainglory
|
Sep 08, 2016

We heard you: New plan for seasonal skin reissues

The new Sunlight-based progression system is now a season old, and we’re excited to take what we’ve learned and level it up for Autumn. We’re beefing up the Daily Chest rewards and adding a new Season Chest with some serious loot. You’ll need to get your hands on special keys, but each time you open the Season Chest, you’ll stand a chance of hitting massive jackpots or unlocking entire skins.

Season Chests may also grant a new currency called Opals, which is where things get really interesting. We’re at the point in Vainglory’s evolution where millions of players never had the opportunity to acquire the seasonal skins that have left the Market. For most, this was because they hadn’t joined the game yet, but we’ve also heard from players who missed out on a skin because of travel, illness, state-of-emergency displacement or other unavoidable situations. We want to give all these players a chance to participate in the fun … but not at the expense of the OGs who got these Special Edition skins when they first came out.

We think we’ve arrived at an answer that honors our early supporters yet creates a path for everyone else. Here’s how it works …

‘ORIGINAL SKIN’ IDENTIFIER & BONUS

If you acquired a seasonal skin when it was first released, all players will see an exclusive “Original Skin” identifier on the loading screen every time you use that skin. This gives you a special distinction of respect and badassery seen every match to show you were here from the beginning.
Players using skins with this identifier will get a 133% Sunlight bonus for matches played — and the faster you earn Sunlight, the more rewards you’ll get in the seasonal system. (The highest Sunlight bonus achievable with any other type of skin will be 100%.)
This “Original Skin” identifier and bonus will be active in Update 1.23.
“Original Skin” identifiers will only apply to skins from past seasons (Autumn 2015-Spring 2016) and are not intended for future skins.

INTRODUCING OPALS

Opals are a new currency that can be used in the Market to unlock Special Edition skins from prior seasons. (All seasonal skins will be classified as “Special Edition.”)
Skins acquired with Opals will never have the “Original Skin” identifier or bonus.
Opals are extremely rare and can only be found in your Daily Chest, Season Chest and Autumn level up.
Your balance of Opals will remain across seasons, allowing you to make constant progress toward unlocking Special Edition skins.
In Update 1.22, only the Summer Party skins will be available in the Opals Market. In the future, we’ll introduce more skins from past seasons.

Even with this new Opals system, it’s strictly better to have acquired the skin during its original release. Getting a Special Edition skin when it first comes out will always be the most straightforward and cost-effective route you can take. Acquiring Special Edition skins via Opals is a costly and/or long-term grind — usually spanning multiple seasons of play.

We hope you like this plan and the evolved seasonal system, and we look forward to getting your feedback. To hear from you and answer any questions you still have, we’ll be hosting an AMA on reddit shortly after Update 1.22’s release. Keep an eye on the in-game News section for an exact date and more details on what’s coming this Autumn.

Thank you for your continued support of Vainglory.

Here’s the complete list of Special Edition skins for which “original skin” identifiers will be granted. All skins listed will eventually be included in the Opals Market in-game:

SPRING 2016

Killer Bunny Rona
Night Shadow Taka

WINTER 2015

Gift-wrapped Fortress
Winter War Catherine
Red Lantern Koshka

AUTUMN 2015

Pumpkin Spice Petal
Baewitched Celeste

‘Apprentice’ Samuel is Coming Soon!

Vainglory
|
Sep 27, 2016

What if, rather than fostering with Lyra, Samuel was sent to the Mage Academy for his instruction? ‘Apprentice’ Samuel is a student of Nethermagic, ready to take the reins from the Headmistress.

CHECK OUT HIS 3D MODEL:

SKIN HIGHLIGHTS:

Wool coat emblazoned with the Gythian Mage Academy’s emblem
Wand holster with baldric
Krakenshell spectacles

ALTERNATE FATE LORE

The Door at the Top of the Stair

On the cold Haunting Night, the students at the Gythian Mage Academy tucked up in bed with hot bricks by their feet and fires glowing in the hearths, their doors locked. The most provincial students had shoved bureaus and chairs up against the doors, as if that would protect them.

Not Samuel. He had not even unbuttoned his uniform wool coat. His wand, Malice, was snuggled in his buckled baldric. At lights out he’d pulled his quilt up to his chin and waited, listening into the dark, until he heard the girl-ghost’s whisper: The supervisor’s poured his drink. He won’t bother you now.

In the pitch black he unfolded his spectacles and crept through the academy where he’d lived since he was four years old. There was not a secret passage he had not explored before. Only at the winding stairs did he dare allow Malice to cast a faint glow, illuminating the spirits that waited at the edge of the Nether, for when the moon was dark on Haunting Night, the dead came to life again during the Witching Hour.

Samuel jogged up the stairs in silence, skipping the creaky ones, the breath of the girl-ghost in his right ear.

At the top was a door. He pulled a pocketwatch from his coat and held it up to Malice’s meager light. Two minutes to midnight.

Will you really go inside?

Samuel wiped dust from the door with his sleeve. There was no knob and no lock, only an inscription in old Gythian which he translated out loud in a whisper: “Who holds Verdict wields the power of the academy.”

He felt the girl-ghost swirl around between him and the door. He could see her edges flash in the low light. You got a word wrong, she said. Who holds Verdict wields the responsibility of the academy.

“Whatever,” said Samuel, untying a ribbon around his neck from which dangled a key made of onyx. “A day of chaos is just what this school needs. Now go inside.”

The girl-ghost hesitated. What will you do?

“Nothing bad,” coaxed Samuel. “Just some last-year pranks. Color Mrs. Llanfair’s skin blue. Turn Mr. Chepstow’s corgi into a rat. Mix up all the exams.” He looked again at his pocketwatch. One minute to midnight. He knelt down and slid the key under the door.

Cool, airy arms wrapped around his neck. And if I do as you ask, you will do as you promised?

“My love,” crooned Samuel, “the prank is but an excuse to fulfill your desire.” He saw, in the glow, the outline of her crooked smile. “Hurry inside or our accord will be broken.”

The girl-ghost reached out to touch his face, but the incorporeal fingers passed through his cheeks.

At five seconds to midnight, the girl-ghost slipped through the locked door.

At midnight, the staircase came alive with a throng of people. There were former students in antique school uniforms, teachers with flouncing dresses and gentlemen in coattails and top hats, for they had been dressed handsomely for their coffins. They paid Samuel little mind; they had but an hour to cavort and dance together. They filed arm-in-arm down the staircase and through doors, which they had to open, to the ballroom, where eerie music played, and the scent of roses drifted all around.

Samuel stared down at the ribbon until it slid all the way under the door. He heard the lock in the door turn, for the door could only be unlocked from the inside, and it swung open wide. There in the dim light stood the girl, a ghost no longer, in a tartan skirt and uniform coat like Samuel’s, the key’s ribbon swinging from her fist. She was gangly and pale, her elbows, knees, hips, chin and nose all sharp corners, her mousy hair cropped to her shoulders, and at the back of her head he saw a great wound in her skull. She’d fallen from this very staircase, generations ago, before she could taste her first kiss.

Samuel strode past her to the glass case where the wand named Verdict was displayed. Without hesitation he snatched the wand and slid it into his baldric. “Well done, my partner in crime,” he murmured, turning, closing in on her. He tilted up her pointy chin and brushed his lips against hers. She shivered and sputtered when he let her go, which made him laugh. “Let us be off to the ballroom and have a dance.”

“What if the Headmistress catches you?” she whispered, startling at the loudness of her living voice.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m the Headmaster now,” said Samuel, and the two joined the throng of living ghosts, dancing away the Witching Hour until the moment when the ribbon dropped from the girl-ghost’s incorporeal fingertips.

CANON SAMUEL LORE:

The Nightmare
The Trial

‘Moon Princess’ Celeste (Special Edition) is Coming Soon!

Vainglory
|
Sep 09, 2016

Coming in Update 1.22, special-edition ‘Moon Princess’ Celeste has saved the moon bunny! This Autumn seasonal skin comes with a brand-new look and an entire new suite of effects.

RELEASE-WEEK SALE

‘Moon Princess’ Celeste will be available for direct ICE purchase during Update 1.22. Act fast: This skin is 25% off during the first 10 days of the update!

CHECK OUT HER IN-GAME FOOTAGE & 3D MODEL:

https://youtu.be/9fKe9P2PxEo

SKIN HIGHLIGHTS:

MODEL CHANGES

Glorious staff moon goes through blue and gold phases
Glowing star on her back
High-tech gravity boots

EFFECTS & ANIMATIONS CHANGES

Basic attack: Golden projectile stars with a rainbow trail
Heliogenesis: Drops a golden star surrounded by an aurora borealis
Helio Supernova: Stars fly out!
Core Collapse: Waxing moon that bursts when full
Solar Storm: Spinning crescent moon followed by a trail of rainbow sparkles
Staff leaves a trail of sparkles as Celeste moves
New recall and Solar Storm animations

ALTERNATE FATE LORE

‘Celeste Saves the Moon Bunny’

Celeste was walking home after studying late at the Taizen High School library one night when she heard a snivel-y weepy sound coming from the park. She followed the bawling to the swing set, where she found a brown-spotted bunny. The bunny was swinging super high, so high that Celeste was afraid he would go all the way around, then he jumped out of the seat with his four legs and floppy ears spread wide only to faceplant in the grass. With slumped shoulders and hiccup-y sobs he climbed back up into the swing and began again.

“Excuse me, bunny,” said Celeste, “but why are you crying?”

“I fell off the moo-oo-oon,” wailed the bunny, swinging higher and higher.

Celeste looked up and sure enough, there was the moon, big and fat and full and bright. “And you’re trying to jump back up?”

“Ye-e-e-es,” the bunny stutter-whimpered. Again the bunny leaped from the swing, its soft spotted belly open to the moon, but it fell again with a fluffy oof. With its whiskers in the grass he said, “I’m in charge of making all the peanut butter mooncakes for the world, and if I don’t get back soon, there won’t be any peanut butter mooncakes ever again.”

“Bunnies make mooncakes on the moon?”

“All mooncakes are made by bunnies on the moon,” wept the bunny.

“Then I need to get you back up to the moon,” said Celeste. She picked up the bunny and craned her neck to look up, squinted one eye shut to gauge the distance. Sometimes stars came down from the sky to play with her; it made sense that she could go up to play with the moon. It wasn’t so far away as a star, after all. So she stared up at the moon and spun in a circle, spun and spun, faster and faster, her long braids whipping into a whirlwind, and soon her feet weren’t on the ground anymore, and then if she’d looked down she’d have seen the swing set far below, and the tops of roofs, and then Taizen Gate turned into a sprinkling of pretty lights in the distance past the clouds, and then it became very quiet, and then they were on the moon.

They landed at the edge of the sparkling moondust falls where the bunny had tumbled off and were surrounded all at once by rabbits of all colors, even some striped like peppermint sticks, others polka-dotted like party dresses. The spotted bunny leaped from Celeste’s arms into his mother’s paws and the rest led Celeste off to the mooncake village, where all of the buildings were made of different flavors of mooncakes. The bunnies gave her super-tech moonwalking boots and a magical moon staff and made her the princess of the moon. Her most important princess duty was to taste all of the mooncake flavors, and she took to the task with great seriousness.

After a whole night of mooncake eating, she told the rabbits that she had to return home. The rabbits were sad and tried to make her stay. Celeste explained that her brother Vox would get into trouble without her there to care for him, but to show her dedication to her duties, she returned every week thereafter to be Moon Princess, and to teach the rabbits a little magic, and for the official mooncake taste-testing (even though peanut butter was always her favorite).

CANON CELESTE LORE:

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IV. OWNERSHIP

A. Intellectual Property. All rights and title in and to the Properties, and all content included therein (including, without limitation, user Accounts, computer code, titles, objects, artifacts, characters, character names, locations, location names, stories, story lines, dialog, catch phrases, artwork, graphics, structural or landscape designs, animations, sounds, musical compositions and recordings, audio-visual effects, character likenesses, and methods of operation) are owned by Super Evil or its licensors. The Properties, and all content therein are protected by United States and other international intellectual property laws. Super Evil and its licensors reserve all rights in connection with the Properties, including, without limitation, the exclusive right to create derivative works therefrom. You agree that you will not create any work of authorship based on the Properties except as expressly permitted by Super Evil. Additionally, except as otherwise set forth in this Section IV.A, Super Evil does not authorize you to make any use whatsoever of any Super Evil trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, domain names, taglines, and/or trade dress (collectively, the "Super Evil Marks") under any circumstances without a written license agreement. Any reproduction, redistribution, or modification of the Properties, or use of the Properties not in accordance with the this Agreement, is expressly prohibited by law and may result in severe civil and criminal penalties.

B. Game Assets, Virtual Items. When using the Game, you may accumulate in-Game assets associated with your Account, including, without limitation, objects, artifacts, currency, items, equipment, and/or other value or status indicators (“Game Assets”) that reside on servers operated by Super Evil as data. You acknowledge and agree that such Game Assets are accumulated as part of your Account and therefore you shall have no ownership or other property interest in any of those Game Assets. You further acknowledge and agree that Super Evil has the right, but not the obligation, to delete, alter, move, remove, or transfer any and all Game Assets, in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason, with or without notice to you, and with no liability of any kind to you. Super Evil does not provide or guarantee, and expressly disclaims any value, cash or otherwise, attributed to any data residing on servers operated by Super Evil, including without limitation the Game Assets associated with your Account.

C. Unsolicited Idea Submissions. Super Evil values your feedback on its services and products, but please do not submit any creative ideas, suggestions or materials. Neither Super Evil nor any of its employees and/or contractors accept or consider unsolicited ideas, original creative artwork or other works, including, without limitation, ideas or suggestions for new or improved games or technologies, game or product enhancements, marketing plans or names for new games (collectively “Unsolicited Ideas”). Please do not send your Unsolicited Ideas to Super Evil or its employees and/or contractors. This policy is aimed at avoiding potential misunderstandings or disputes when Super Evil’ products or services might seem similar to Unsolicited Ideas that are submitted. If you do submit your Unsolicited Ideas to Super Evil or to any of its employees and/or contractors despite this policy, then you hereby acknowledge and agree that, from the time of transmission or dispatch, you grant Super Evil and its designees a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, sublicenseable, transferable, assignable, non-exclusive and royalty-free right and license to use, reproduce, distribute, adapt, modify, translate, create derivative works of, publicly perform, publicly display, digitally perform, make, have made, sell, offer for sale and import your Unsolicited Ideas, including, without limitation, all copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, industrial rights and all other intellectual and proprietary rights related thereto, in any media now known or hereafter developed, for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, including, without limitation, giving the Unsolicited Ideas to others, without any compensation to you. To the extent necessary, you agree that you undertake to execute and deliver any and all documents and perform any and all actions necessary or desirable to ensure that the rights to use the Unsolicited Ideas granted to Super Evil as specified above are valid, effective and enforceable. You also give up any claim that any use by Super Evil and/or its licensees of your Unsolicited Ideas violates any of your rights, including but not limited to moral rights, privacy rights, rights to publicity, proprietary or other rights, and/or rights to credit for the material or ideas set for therein.

V. CODE OF CONDUCT

While using any of the Properties, you agree to comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations. You also agree to comply with certain additional rules that govern your use of the Properties (the "Code of Conduct"). The Code of Conduct is not meant to be exhaustive, and Super Evil reserves the right to modify this Code of Conduct at any time, as well as take appropriate disciplinary measures including Account termination and deletion to protect the integrity and spirit of the Properties, regardless of whether a specific behavior is listed here as prohibited. The following are examples of behavior that warrant disciplinary measures:

A. Impersonating any person, business, or entity, including an employee of Super Evil, or communicating in any way that makes it appear that the communication originates from Super Evil;

B. Posting identifying information about yourself, or any other user, to the Site or within the Game;

C. Harassing, stalking, or threatening any other users in the Game;

D. Removing, altering or concealing any copyright, trademark, patent or other proprietary rights notices of Super Evil contained in the Site, the Game and/or the Software. You also may not transmit content that violates or infringes the rights of others, including without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, publicity, personal rights or other proprietary or non-proprietary rights;

E. Transmitting or communicating any content which, in the sole and exclusive discretion of Super Evil, is deemed offensive, including, but not limited to, language that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, or racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable;

F. Transmitting or facilitating the transmission of any content that contains a virus, corrupted data, trojan horse, bot keystroke logger, worm, time bomb, cancelbot or other computer programming routines that are intended to and/or actually damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept or mine, scrape or expropriate any system, data or personal information;

G. Spamming chat, whether for personal or commercial purposes, by disrupting the flow of conversation with repeated postings of a similar nature;

H. Participating in any action which, in the sole and exclusive judgment of Super Evil, "exploits" an undocumented aspect of the Game in order to secure an unfair advantage over other users;

I. Participating in any action which, in the sole and exclusive judgment of Super Evil, defrauds any other user of the Game, including, but not limited to, by "scamming" or "social engineering;”

J. Using any unauthorized third party programs, including but not limited to "mods," "hacks," "cheats," "scripts," "bots," "trainers," and automation programs, that interact with the Software in any way, for any purpose, including, without limitation, any unauthorized third party programs that intercept, emulate, or redirect any communication between the Software and Super Evil and any unauthorized third party programs that collect information about the Game by reading areas of memory used by the Software to store information;

K. Accessing or attempting to access areas of the Game or Game servers that have not been made available to the public;

L. Selecting a name that is falsely indicative of an association with Super Evil, contains personally identifying information, infringes on the proprietary or non-proprietary rights of third parties, or that is offensive, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, sexually explicit, racially, ethnically, or otherwise objectionable. You may not use a misspelling or an alternative spelling to circumvent this restriction on name choices. Super Evil may modify any name which, in the sole and exclusive judgment of Super Evil, violates this provision without further notification to you, and may take further disciplinary measures, including Account termination, for repeated violations; or

VI. USER CONTENT

A. Ownership. “Content” means any communications, images, sounds, and all the material and information that you upload or transmit through the Site or the Game, or that other users upload or transmit, including, without limitation, any Forum (defined below) postings.

You hereby acknowledge and agree that you remain fully responsible for and are the owner of any and all Content. However, you grant Super Evil from the time of uploading or transmission of the Content through any channel, non-exclusively, all now known or hereafter existing copyrights and all other intellectual property rights to all Content of every kind and nature, in perpetuity (or for the maximum duration of protection afforded by applicable law), throughout the universe and you hereby grant Super Evil as a present non-exclusive license of future rights all such intellectual property rights to the extent owned by you. In the event that any of the Content is not licensable, you hereby grant to Super Evil and its licensors, including, without limitation, its respective successors and assigns, a perpetual, irrevocable, sublicensable, transferable, worldwide, paid-up right to reproduce, fix, adapt, modify, translate, reformat, transmit, or provide access to electronically, broadcast, communicate to the public by telecommunication, display, perform, enter into computer memory, and use and practice such Content as well as all modified and derivative works thereof, without compensation to you. To the extent necessary, you agree that you will undertake to execute and deliver any and all documents and perform any and all actions necessary or desirable to ensure that the rights to use the Content granted to Super Evil as specified above are valid, effective and enforceable. You also hereby waive any moral rights you may have in such Content under the laws of any jurisdiction to the maximum extent permitted by the laws of your jurisdiction. You represent, warrant and agree that none of the Content will be subject to any obligation, whether of confidentiality, attribution or otherwise, on the part of Super Evil and Super Evil will not be liable for any use or disclosure of any Content. You further acknowledge and agree that you shall not upload or otherwise transmit on or through the Site or the Game any Content that is subject to any third-party rights.

B. Consent to Monitoring. Super Evil does not, and cannot, pre-screen or monitor all Content. However, its representatives may monitor and/or record your communications (including, without limitation, Forum postings and/or Chat) when you are playing the Game or using the Site, and you hereby provide your irrevocable consent to such monitoring and recording. You acknowledge and agree that you have no expectation of privacy concerning the submission of any Content. Super Evil does not assume any responsibility or liability for Content that is generated by users of the Site and/or Game. Super Evil has the right but not the obligation, in its sole discretion, to edit, refuse to post, or remove any Content. Furthermore, Super Evil also reserves the right, at all times and in its sole discretion, to disclose any Content for any reason, including, without limitation (i) to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; (ii) to enforce the terms of this Agreement or any other agreement; (iii) to protect the legal rights and remedies of Super Evil; (iv) where someone’s health or safety may be threatened; or (v) to report a crime or other offensive behavior. Please take care to not provide any personally identifiable information in the Chat or the Forums and to abide by the Code of Conduct, understanding that you do not have an expectation of privacy in the Content you provide in the Chat or Forums, and that members of Super Evil and the Community, outside of those you play directly with or against in the Game, might have access to the information in the Chat or the Forums at any time.

C. Forums. If you have a valid and active Account, you may post communications and other content to the “forums” section of the Site (the “Forums”). You agree to abide by the Code of Conduct, as well as the policy concerning Links (found below) while participating in the Forums. You understand that much of the information included in the Forums is from other players who are not employed by or under the control of Super Evil. You further acknowledge that a large volume of information is available in the Forums and that people participating in such Forums may occasionally post messages or make statements, whether intentionally or unintentionally, that are inaccurate, misleading, deceptive, abusive or even unlawful. Super Evil neither endorses nor is responsible for such messages or statements, or for any opinion, advice, information or other utterance made or displayed in the Forums by you or the other users. The opinions expressed in the Forums reflect solely the opinions of you and/or the other users and may not reflect the opinions of Super Evil. Super Evil is not responsible for any errors or omissions in postings, for hyperlinks embedded in messages or for any results obtained from the use of the information contained in the Forums. Under no circumstances will Super Evil be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on the information in the Forums or your use of the Forums. You should be aware that, when you disclose information about yourself in a Forum, the information is being made publicly available and may be collected and used by other users. When you disclose any information in a Forum, you do so at your own risk. Super Evil reserves the right to, but has no obligation to, monitor the Forums, or any postings or other materials that you or other players transmit or post on the Forums, to alter or remove any such materials, and to disclose such materials and the circumstances surrounding their transmission to any third party in order to operate the Site properly or to comply with legal obligations or governmental requests.

VII. UPDATES AND MODIFICATIONS

A. Agreement. Super Evil reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to revise, update, change, modify, add to, supplement, or delete certain terms of this Agreement as the Properties evolve; provided, however, that material changes to this Agreement will not be applied retroactively. Such changes will be effective with or without prior notice to you. You can review the most current version of this Agreement by clicking on the “Terms of Use” link located at the bottom of the Site. You are responsible for checking this Agreement periodically for changes. If any future changes to this Agreement are unacceptable to you or cause you to no longer be in agreement or compliance with this Agreement, you must terminate this Agreement and immediately stop using the Properties. Your continued use of any of the Properties following any revision to this Agreement constitutes your complete and irrevocable acceptance of any and all such changes. If at any time you do not agree with any portion of the then-current version of a particular Super Evil policy, including but not limited to this Agreement, you must immediately stop using the Properties.

B. The Properties. In an effort to improve the Properties, you agree that Super Evil may change, modify, update, suspend, “nerf,” or restrict your access to any features or parts of the Properties, including purchased or unlockable content, and may require that you download and install updates to the Software, at any time without notice or liability to you. You also understand and agree that any such changes or updates to the Properties might change the system specifications necessary to play the Game, and in such a case, you, and not Super Evil, are responsible for purchasing any necessary additional software and/or hardware in order to access and play the Game.

VIII. LINKS

The Site may contain links to websites operated by other parties. Super Evil provides these links to you as a convenience, or other users might be posting these links as user-provided Content. Use of these links and the external websites are at your own risk. The linked sites are not under the control of Super Evil, and Super Evil is not responsible for the content available on the other sites. Such links do not imply endorsement by Super Evil of information or material on any other site, and Super Evil disclaims all liability with regard to your access to and use of such linked websites.

Should you choose to provide a link on the Site or within the Game (e.g., on the Forums or via Chat) to an external website, unless otherwise set forth in a written agreement between you and Super Evil, you acknowledge and agree to the following: (i) the appearance, position and other aspects of the link may not be such as to damage or dilute the goodwill associated with Super Evil’ and/or its licensors’ names and trademarks; (ii) the appearance, position and other attributes of the link may not create the false appearance that your organization or entity is sponsored by, affiliated with, or associated with Super Evil; (iii) when selected by a user, the link must display the external website on full-screen and not within a “frame” on the linking Site; and (iv) Super Evil reserves the right to revoke its consent to the link at any time and in its sole discretion.

IX. FEES

Some aspects of the Game may require you to pay a fee, and you agree that you will provide accurate and complete payment information to the third-party payment provider used by Super Evil. You further agree to pay all fees and applicable taxes incurred by you or anyone using an Account registered to you. Super Evil may revise the pricing for the Game or any item associated therewith at any time. All fees and charges are payable in accordance with payment terms in effect at the time the fee or the charge becomes due and payable. Super Evil may, from time to time, modify, amend, or supplement its fees and fee-billing methods, and such changes shall be effective immediately upon posting in this Agreement or elsewhere on the Site or in the Game. If there is a dispute regarding payment of fees to Super Evil, your Account may be closed without warning or notice at the sole discretion of Super Evil.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT ANY APPLICABLE FEES AND OTHER CHARGES FOR FEE-BASED SERVICES ARE PAYABLE IN ADVANCE AND NOT REFUNDABLE IN WHOLE OR IN PART. YOU ARE FULLY LIABLE FOR ALL CHARGES TO YOUR ACCOUNT, INCLUDING ANY UNAUTHORIZED CHARGES.

X. NOTICE AND PROCEDURE FOR CLAIMS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT (DMCA) If you are a copyright owner or agent thereof and believe that content posted on the Site by a Super Evil user infringes upon your copyright, please submit notice pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512(c)) to the Super Evil Copyright Agent with the following information:

A. An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright;

B. A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed;

C. The URL of the location on the Super Evil Site containing the material that you claim is infringing;

D. Your address, telephone number, and email address;

E. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

F. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf.

Super Evil’s Copyright Agent can be reached by mail at: Super Evil Mega Corp, 400 1st Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401, ATTN: Copyright Agent; or by email at: support@superevilmegacorp.com. Attachments cannot be accepted at the email address for security reasons. Accordingly, any notification of infringement submitted electronically with an attachment will not be received or processed. Please note that these notifications are legal notices, and that Super Evil may provide copies of such notices to the participants in the dispute or to third parties, at its discretion or as required by law.

XI. WARRANTY DISCLAIMER

THE PROPERTIES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, SUPER EVIL DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WHICH MIGHT APPLY TO THE PROPERTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ANY WARRANTIES THAT MAY ARISE FROM COURSE OF DEALING, COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE, AND ANY WARRANTIES AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR QUALITY OF ANY CONTENT OR INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THE PROPERTIES. SUPER EVIL DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE PROPERTIES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE PROPERTIES ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. YOU ASSUME ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR SELECTING THE PROPERTIES TO ACHIEVE YOUR INTENDED RESULTS, AND FOR THE INSTALLATION OF, USE OF, AND RESULTS OBTAINED FROM THE PROPERTIES.

Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the disclaimer of implied warranties, the forgoing disclaimer may, in whole or in part, not apply to you.

XII. INDEMNIFICATION

YOU HEREBY AGREE TO INDEMNIFY, DEFEND AND HOLD HARMLESS SUPER EVIL FROM AND AGAINST ANY AND ALL CLAIMS, LAWSUITS, DAMAGES, LOSSES, LIABILITIES AND COSTS (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) THAT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY ARISE OR RESULT FROM YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE PROPERTIES, OR ANY VIOLATION BY YOU OF ANY OF THE PROVISIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT. Super Evil reserves the right, at its own expense and in its sole and absolute discretion, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with Super Evil in asserting any available defenses.

XIII. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, AND UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, SHALL Super Evil BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOOD WILL, OR LOST PROFITS), OR ANY DAMAGES FOR GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES OR LOSSES) ARISING FROM YOUR USE OR MISUSE OF THE PROPERTIES, EVEN IF Super Evil KNEW OR SHOULD HAVE KNOWN OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IN NO EVENT SHALL Super Evil BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES IN EXCESS OF ANY AMOUNT YOU HAVE PAID TO Super Evil FOR GAME-RELATED TRANSACTIONS, IF ANY, DURING THE SIX (6) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRIOR TO THE TIME YOUR CAUSE OF ACTION AROSE.

Because some states or jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, in such states or jurisdictions, the liability of Super Evil shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

XIV. EQUITABLE REMEDIES

You hereby acknowledge and agree that Super Evil would suffer irreparable harm if this Agreement were not specifically enforced. Consequently, in addition to such monetary and other relief as may be recoverable at law, you agree that Super Evil shall be entitled to specific performance or other injunctive relief, without bond, other security, or proof of damages, as remedy for any breach or threatened breach of this Agreement. Additionally, in the event any legal or administrative action or proceeding is brought by either party in connection with this Agreement and consistent with Section XV below, the prevailing party in such action or proceeding shall be entitled to recover from the other party all the costs, attorneys’ fees and other expenses incurred by such prevailing party as the result of the action or proceeding.

XV. NEGOTIATIONS, BINDING ARBITRATION AND GOVERNING LAW

A. Negotiations. Disputes can be expensive and time consuming for both parties. In an effort to accelerate resolution and reduce the cost of any dispute or claim related to this Agreement (“Claim”), you and Super Evil agree to first attempt to informally negotiate any Claim for at least thirty (30) days (except those Claims expressly excluded in Section XV.F below). Super Evil will send its notice to the address it has on file to the extent that you have provided additional contact information to Super Evil (e.g. by participating in a promotion or survey, or contacting a customer services representative). Otherwise, Super Evil will send its notice to the email address associated with your Account. You will send your notice to Super Evil Mega Corp 400 1st Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401, Attn: Legal Department. Please note that this informal resolution procedure does not suspend any statutory limitation periods applicable to the bringing of a Claim.

B. Binding Arbitration. If the parties fail to resolve a Claim through negotiations, within such thirty (30)-day period, either you or Super Evil may elect to have the Claim (except as otherwise provided in Section XV.F) finally and exclusively resolved by binding arbitration by sending a written notice requesting arbitration to the other party. Any election to arbitrate by one party shall be final and binding on the other. The arbitration will be conducted under the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA Rules”) and, where appropriate, the AAA’s Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes (“AAA Consumer Rules”) that are in effect at the time the arbitration is initiated and under the terms set forth in this Agreement. Both the AAA Rules and the AAA Consumer Rules can be found at the AAA website, www.adr.org. In the event of a conflict between the terms set forth in this Section XV.B and either the AAA Rules or the AAA Consumer Rules, the terms in this Section XV.B will control and prevail.

Except as otherwise set forth in Section XV.F, you may seek any remedies available to you under federal, state or local laws in an arbitration action. As part of the arbitration, both you and Super Evil will have the opportunity for discovery of non-privileged information that is relevant to the Claim. The arbitrator will provide a written statement of the arbitrator’s decision regarding the Claim, the award given and the arbitrator’s findings and conclusions on which the arbitrator’s decision is based. The determination of whether a Claim is subject to arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and determined by a court rather than an arbitrator. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, (i) you and Super Evil may litigate in court to compel arbitration, stay proceedings pending arbitration, or confirm, modify, vacate or enter judgment on the award entered by the arbitrator; and (ii) the arbitrator’s decision is final, binding on all parties and enforceable in any court that has jurisdiction, provided that any award may be challenged if the arbitrator fails to follow applicable law.

BY AGREEING TO THIS ARBITRATION PROVISION, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU AND Super Evil ARE WAIVING THE RIGHT TO SUE IN COURT AND HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

C. Arbitration Fees. If we are initiating arbitration for a Claim, we will pay all costs charged by the AAA Rules for initiating the arbitration. Your share of all other fees and costs of the arbitration, including your share of arbitrator compensation, will be charged pursuant to the AAA Rules, and where appropriate, limited by the AAA Consumer Rules. Where your share of the costs is deemed to be excessive by the arbitrator, Super Evil will pay all arbitration fees and expenses.

D. Location. The arbitration will take place in your hometown area if you so notify Super Evil in your notice of arbitration or within ten (10) days following receipt of Super Evil’ arbitration notice. In the absence of a notice to conduct the arbitration in your hometown area, the arbitration will be conducted in Los Angeles, California, unless the parties agree to video, phone and/or internet connection appearances. Any Claim not subject to arbitration (other than claims proceeding in any small claims court), or where no election to arbitrate has been made, shall be decided exclusively by a court of competent jurisdiction in San Mateo, California, United States of America, and you and Super Evil agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.

E. Limitations. You and Super Evil agree that any arbitration shall be limited to the Claim between Super Evil and you individually. YOU AND Super Evil AGREE THAT (A) THERE IS NO RIGHT OR AUTHORITY FOR ANY DISPUTE TO BE ARBITRATED ON A CLASS-ACTION BASIS OR TO UTILIZE CLASS ACTION PROCEDURES; (B) THERE IS NO RIGHT OR AUTHORITY FOR ANY DISPUTE TO BE BROUGHT IN A PURPORTED REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY OR AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL; AND (C) NO ARBITRATION SHALL BE JOINED WITH ANY OTHER.

F. Exceptions to Negotiations and Arbitration. You and Super Evil agree that the following Claims are not subject to the above provisions concerning negotiations and binding arbitration: (i) any Claims seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of your or Super Evil’ intellectual property rights; (ii) any Claim related to, or arising from, allegations of theft, piracy, invasion of privacy or unauthorized use; and (iii) any claim for equitable relief. In addition to the foregoing, either party may assert an individual action in small claims court for Claims that are within the scope of such courts’ jurisdiction in lieu of arbitration.

G. Governing Law. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, this Agreement shall be governed by, and will be construed under, the laws of the United States of America and the law of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law principles. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. Other laws may apply if you choose to access the Game from outside of the United States. In such an event, those local laws shall affect this Agreement only to the extent necessary in that jurisdiction, and this Agreement shall be interpreted to give maximum effect to the terms and conditions in this Agreement. You are responsible for compliance with all local laws if and to the extent local laws are applicable. The New Zealand Consumer Guarantees Act of 1993 (the “Act”) may apply to the Game if you access the Game from, and are a resident of, New Zealand. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, if the Act applies then you may have other rights or remedies as set out in the Act which may apply in addition to or instead of those set out in this Agreement.

H. Severability. You and Super Evil agree that if any portion this Section XV is found illegal or unenforceable (except any portion of Section XV.F), that portion shall be severed and the remainder of the Section shall be given full force and effect. If Section XV.F is found to be illegal or unenforceable then neither you nor Super Evil will elect to arbitrate any Claim falling within that portion of Section XV.F found to be illegal or unenforceable and such Claim shall be exclusively decided by a court of competent jurisdiction within Los Angeles, State of California, United States of America, and you and Super Evil agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of that court.

XVI. TERMINATION

This Agreement (and all subsequent modifications, if any) shall remain effective until terminated. Both you and Super Evil may terminate this Agreement at any time for any reason or for no reason. Termination by Super Evil will be effective upon notice to you, termination or deletion of your Account, or its decision to permanently discontinue offering and/or supporting the Game, which it may do at any time in its sole discretion. You may terminate this Agreement at any time simply by not using the Site or the Game. If, however, you wish to terminate your Account, you must affirmatively do so by notifying Super Evil at support@superevilmegacorp.com as stated above. Upon termination of this Agreement, your right to use the Properties shall immediately cease.

XVII. MISCELLANEOUS

A. Assignment. Super Evil may assign this Agreement, in whole or in part, to any person or entity at any time with or without your consent. You may not assign the Agreement without Super Evil’s prior written consent, and any unauthorized assignment by you shall be null and void.

B. Customer Contact. If you have any questions concerning these terms and conditions, or if you would like to contact Super Evil for any other reason, please contact Super Evil support at support@superevilmegacorp.com, or visit the “support” tab on the Site.

C. Entire Agreement. This Agreement represents the complete agreement between you and Super Evil concerning the Site, the Game, and the subject matter of the Agreement, and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreements between you and Super Evil.

D. Force Majeure. Super Evil shall not be liable for any delay or failure to perform resulting from causes outside the reasonable control of Super Evil, including, without limitation, any failure to perform hereunder due to unforeseen circumstances or cause beyond Super Evil’s control such as acts of god, war, terrorism, riots, embargoes, acts of civil or military authorities, fire, floods, accidents, strikes, or shortages of transportation facilities, fuel, energy, labor or materials.

E. Location. The Site and the Game are operated by Super Evil in the United States. Those who choose to access the Site and/or the Game from locations outside the United States do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. The Software is subject to United States export controls.

F. No Partnership. You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Super Evil as a result of this Agreement or your use of the Site or the Game.

G. No Waiver. Super Evil’s failure to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall in no way be construed to be a present or future waiver of such provision, nor in any way affect the right of any party to enforce each and every such provision thereafter. The express waiver by Super Evil of any provision, condition or requirement of this Agreement shall not constitute a waiver of any future obligation to comply with such provision, condition or requirement.

H. Notices. Except as otherwise expressly provided herein, all notices given by you or required under this Agreement shall be in writing and addressed to: Super Evil Mega Corp at 400 1st Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401.

I. Reform and Severability. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be reformed to the extent necessary to make it enforceable to the maximum extent permissible so as to affect the intent of the parties, and the remainder of this Agreement shall continue in full force and effect. If, however, it is determined that such provision cannot be reformed, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

J. Section Headings. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of this Agreement or have any other legal effect.

K. Survival. The provisions of Sections IV, VI.A, IX, XI-XV, and XVII shall survive any termination of this Agreement.

YOU HEREBY ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THE FOREGOING TERMS OF USE AGREEMENT AND AGREE THAT SELECTING THE “ACCEPT” BUTTON BELOW AND/OR YOUR USE OF ANY OF THE PROPERTIES IS AN ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT.

Country	Address
Austria	DPR Group, City Tower, Brückenkopfgasse 1/6. Stock, Graz, 8020, Austria
Belgium	DPR Group, Place de L’Université 16, Louvain-La-Neuve, Waals Brabant, 1348, Belgium
Bulgaria	DPR Group, 132 Mimi Balkanska Str., Sofia, 1540, Bulgaria
Croatia	DPR Group, Ground & 9th Floor, Hoto Tower, Savska cesta 32, Zagreb, 10000, Croatia
Cyprus	DPR Group, Victory House, 205 Archbishop Makarios Avenue, Limassol, 3030, Cyprus
Czech Republic	DPR Group, IQ Ostrava Ground floor, 28. rijna 3346/91, Ostrava-mesto, Moravska, Ostrava, Czech Republic
Denmark	DPR Group, Lautruphøj 1-3, Ballerup, 2750, Denmark
Estonia	DPR Group, 2^nd Floor, Tornimae 5, Tallinn, 10145, Estonia
Finland	DPR Group, Luna House, 5.krs, Mannerheimintie 12 B, Helsinki, 00100, Finland
France	DPR Group, 72 rue de Lessard, Rouen, 76100, France
Germany	DPR Group, 3rd and 4th floor, Altmarkt 10 B/D, Dresden, 01067, Germany
Greece	DPR Group, 24 Lagoumitzi str, Athens, 17671, Greece
Hungary	DPR Group, EMKE Building, Rákóczi Út 42, Budapest, 1072, Hungary
Ireland	DPR Group, Phoenix House, Monahan Road, Cork, T12 H1XY, Republic of Ireland
Italy	DPR Group, BPM 335368, Via Roma 12, 10073 , Turin, Italy
Latvia	DPR Group, 4th & 5th floors, 14 Terbatas Street, Riga, LV-1011, Latvia
Lithuania	DPR Group, Vilniaus g.31, Vilnius, LT- 01402, Lithuania
Luxembourg	DPR Group, BPM 335368, Banzelt 4 A, 6921, Roodt-sur-Syre, Luxembourg
Malta	DPR Group, Tower Business Centre, 2nd floor, Tower Street, Swatar, BKR4013, Malta
Netherlands	DPR Group, Cuserstraat 93, Floor 2 and 3, Amsterdam, 1081 CN, Netherlands
Poland	DPR Group, Budynek Fronton ul Kamienna 21, Krakow, 31-403, Poland
Portugal	DPR Group, Torre de Monsanto, Rua Afonso Praça 30, 7th floor, Algès, Lisbon, 1495-061, Portugal
Romania	DPR Group, World Trade Centre, Piata Montreal no 10, Entrance F, 1st Floor, Sector 1, Bucharest, 11469, Romania
Slovakia	DPR Group, Apollo Business Centre II, Block E / 9th floor, 4D Prievozska, Bratislava, 821 09, Slovakia
Slovenia	DPR Group, Trg. Republike 3, Floor 3, Ljubljana, 1000, Slovenia
Spain	DPR Group, Puerta de las Naciones, Ribera del Loira 46, Madrid, 28042, Spain
Sweden	DPR Group, S:t Johannesgatan 2, 4th floor, Malmo, SE – 211 46, Sweden
United Kingdom	DPR Group, BPM 335368, 372 Old Street, EC1V 9AU, London, United Kingdom