Patch 2026.10.19 — Rot and Claws
Highlights
- Instant cards: popping claws or taking flight no longer costs your turn. Pick it, it happens, then pick your real card.
- Every card now moves you 3, 4 or 5 steps, and Dizzy costs your very next action.
- Wither and Dust have new kits, and X-23 and Honey Badger can finish a fight together with Weapons XX.
- Try any character from their own page: a playable Danger Room demo sits at the bottom of every Combat tab.
New Features
- Character page demo: at the bottom of every character's Combat tab, open the vault door and try that character against a Hand Operative. Every card and rule is the live game's. Lose, and Go again.
- Friendly fire is now a host setting (⚙ Host → Friendly fire). Off: area and line attacks pass over the attacker's allies.
- Summons say their lines by moment: when they arrive, when they leave (a Dismiss move, or their time runs out) and when they are knocked out.
- Patch notes like these are posted on the Combat System board.
Combat Rules
- Changed: every card moves you 3 (poor), 4 (standard) or 5 (good) steps before you act. It is the card's own number: Athletics no longer adds to it.
- Changed: every card has movement. Cards that had none (Block, leaps, Backflip Kick), slower cards (Heavy Strike) and grabs move 3; the usual cards (Light Strike, most powers) move 4; cards that were quicker than usual move 5.
Dev note: Light Feet, Lightness and the music still add on top. Holding someone still pins you in place, and flying still moves you by your Endurance.
- Changed: Dizzy costs your next action, not your next turn. If you have not acted yet this turn, you lose this turn's action on the spot; if you already have, you lose next turn's.
- New keyword, Instant: the card happens the moment you pick it, without using your turn, and you pick a normal card after it. Each Instant card once per turn. Whatever it gives works right away.
- Changed: every Flight card is Instant.
- Summons: when a summon comes into play it plays its Instant cards, then attacks the closest enemy it can hit from where it landed. It takes its normal turns after that, and never picks Block.
- Changed: a summoner and everything they summoned are never enemies of each other, whatever team each of them ends up on.
- Changed: rush and spin attacks (Chariot Charge, Psycho Crusher, Hurricane Kick, Spinning Clothesline, Tumbling Attack, Cartwheel Kick) only hit enemies and pass over your own side. A Friendly Fire card, or a fighter who has lost control, still hits everyone.
- New keyword, Friendly Fire: the attack hits allies even when the host has turned friendly fire off.
- New keyword, Finisher: double damage against a target at 25% Health or less.
- New keyword, Dismiss: your companion heads home afterwards.
- Changed: the old "Finisher" (only on a knocked-down or dizzied target) is now called Needs Down. Same rule.
- New Nature, Inorganic: bodies with no life in them (Mercury, Rockslide). A living body laced with metal (Wolverine) is not Inorganic.
- Once-per-fight attack cards are greyed out in your hand after you use them.
- Removed: the Movement card. Every turn is Move, then Action.
Characters
Dust
- Changed: Sand Spout is now Sand Scourge: Line 3, Piercing, Damage 2 (Perception). It Envelops everyone it hits (Fortitude save).
- Changed: Dust Devil is now Sirocco (storm only): Line 4, Piercing, Damage 3 (Perception), Corrosive. It Envelops everyone it passes and carries her to the end of the line.
- Changed: Sand Tomb is now Desert Burial: 2 → 1 Stamina, Reach 4, only on an Enveloped target (and spends it), Lacerating.
- Changed: Sand Shield is now Prayer of Protection (1 Stamina, Reach 4): Shield 3, and the ally is held fast (Immobile) for 1 turn.
- New: Friendly Warning (free, Speed 6, Reach 6): an ally gets +2 to Reflex, Fortitude and Willpower saves for 1 turn.
- Buff: Living Sandstorm costs 2 → 1 Stamina. Leaving the storm Settles it: every enemy next to her is Enveloped (Fortitude save).
- Changed: Scatter also puts her into Living Sandstorm as the cards are revealed.
- Removed: Sandblast.
Honey Badger
- New: Rolling Badger (free, Speed 4, Damage 4, Brawn, Concussive). Rolls 3 hexes down a line through every foe in the way (allies are untouched) and ends where the line ends.
- New: Kneecap (free, Speed 5, Damage 2, Agility, Piercing, Reach 4). A shot low: Slow 2 for 2 turns.
- Buff: Bone Claws is Instant (1 Stamina, +1 Damage on punches, kicks and strikes). She pops them the moment she arrives.
- Buff: Dynamic Entry keeps her in the fight 3 → 4 turns.
- Changed: if X-23 falls and Gabby frenzies, she stays until she is downed.
- New lines: "I'm outta here!" when she leaves, "I don't feel so good, Laur..." when she goes down.
- Removed: Feral Attack.
Rockslide
- Changed: Rock Bottom's "Finisher" keyword is now Needs Down. Same rule.
Wither
- Removed: his shadow powers (Grasping Shadows). He is all rot and withering now.
- Changed: Hunger is fuel. No more +1 Damage dealt and taken per stack, and no Starving at 3.
- New: Hungering Draw (1 Stamina, Speed 4, Reach 4). Drags the target to his side and Taunts them for 2 turns. +1 Hunger.
- New: Death and Decay (free, Speed 5). A rot that moves with him: at the end of every turn it burns 1 Hunger and everyone next to him takes 3 Corrosive, allies included (Friendly Fire). Inorganic bodies don't rot. Ends when his Hunger runs out.
- Changed: Ravenous Touch is now Withering Touch: Damage 7 → 5 (Brawn), Corrosive, heals him for all it deals, no save. It never harms Inorganic targets, and it no longer clears his Hunger.
- Changed: Shadow Puppets is now Command the Rot: a fallen enemy NPC within 3 hexes gets back up and fights for him. +1 Hunger.
X-23
- Buff: Pop Claws is Instant (1 Stamina, +2 Damage and Lacerating on punches, kicks and strikes), and it is one card on her sheet.
- New: Weapons XX (free, Speed 3, Damage 8, Brawn, Leap 4, once per fight). Only while Honey Badger is in the fight: both sisters leap on one enemy, Laura hits and Gabby piles in with her own strike. Spends both their turns. Finisher, Dismiss.
Interface
- When a buff, debuff or transformation lands, its name floats up with the arrows ("Dizzy" included).
- Dizzied fighters have stars circling over their head until the turn they lose is over, and a few birds chirp the moment it happens.
- When you act with a card that picks a target, every hex it reaches is outlined on the map, even when no one is in it. Your turn no longer ends by itself when no one is in reach: press PASS when you are done.
- NPCs and summons wait for the last action to finish on screen and take a short breath before they act. A summon's arrival strike always lands first.
- Every turn ends with a short pause, so hits, stars and arrows can be read before the next turn begins.
- Summons that leave stay a moment, say their goodbye in a speech bubble, then float away.
- Big on-screen titles (K.O., WINS!, summons) shrink to fit the window.
- The ⚙ Host menu has a Friendly fire switch.
Site and Wiki
- Every character's Combat tab ends with a playable Danger Room demo inside the vine frame: the vault door is the size of the fight, opens straight onto the arena, and the arena fills the frame.
- Character page cards show their Danger Room keywords, each explained the same way as the wiki's keyword list.
- Staff can edit a character's quote, summary, background and identity details by clicking them on the character page, and the powers, quote and summary in the Cerebro Files spotlight.
- Summon Lines on a character sheet can start with SUMMONED:, DISMISSED: or DEFEATED: to choose when they are said. A line with no label is said on arrival.
- The combat rules explain the 3 / 4 / 5 steps and the new Dizzy. The keyword list adds Instant, Finisher, Needs Down, Dismiss, Friendly Fire, Pull, Spends Hunger, Raise Dead and Never harms Inorganic.
Bug Fixes
- Tarot's Arcana fought each other: The Chariot ran down Strength and Tarot on its way to the enemy.
- Summons stood around blocking instead of attacking.
- Dust Devil (now Sirocco) dealt no damage.
- Self-powers that fire on their own (Dynamic Entry, Death and Decay and the like) could do nothing in a second fight, leaving you with only PASS.
- NPCs no longer pick a Throw or a grab they can't make when the target's hex is full, and they no longer favour Throw above everything else.
- An NPC whose action failed once could stop the whole fight.
- The Danger Room loads its fighters about 3 seconds faster.
- Character pages could fail to load right after a server restart.
Known Issues
- The AI doesn't use Wait, Turn the Card or The Fool's Swap yet.
- Instant cards: popping claws or taking flight no longer costs your turn. Pick it, it happens, then pick your real card.
- Every card now moves you 3, 4 or 5 steps, and Dizzy costs your very next action.
- Wither and Dust have new kits, and X-23 and Honey Badger can finish a fight together with Weapons XX.
- Try any character from their own page: a playable Danger Room demo sits at the bottom of every Combat tab.
New Features
- Character page demo: at the bottom of every character's Combat tab, open the vault door and try that character against a Hand Operative. Every card and rule is the live game's. Lose, and Go again.
- Friendly fire is now a host setting (⚙ Host → Friendly fire). Off: area and line attacks pass over the attacker's allies.
- Summons say their lines by moment: when they arrive, when they leave (a Dismiss move, or their time runs out) and when they are knocked out.
- Patch notes like these are posted on the Combat System board.
Combat Rules
- Changed: every card moves you 3 (poor), 4 (standard) or 5 (good) steps before you act. It is the card's own number: Athletics no longer adds to it.
- Changed: every card has movement. Cards that had none (Block, leaps, Backflip Kick), slower cards (Heavy Strike) and grabs move 3; the usual cards (Light Strike, most powers) move 4; cards that were quicker than usual move 5.
Dev note: Light Feet, Lightness and the music still add on top. Holding someone still pins you in place, and flying still moves you by your Endurance.
- Changed: Dizzy costs your next action, not your next turn. If you have not acted yet this turn, you lose this turn's action on the spot; if you already have, you lose next turn's.
- New keyword, Instant: the card happens the moment you pick it, without using your turn, and you pick a normal card after it. Each Instant card once per turn. Whatever it gives works right away.
- Changed: every Flight card is Instant.
- Summons: when a summon comes into play it plays its Instant cards, then attacks the closest enemy it can hit from where it landed. It takes its normal turns after that, and never picks Block.
- Changed: a summoner and everything they summoned are never enemies of each other, whatever team each of them ends up on.
- Changed: rush and spin attacks (Chariot Charge, Psycho Crusher, Hurricane Kick, Spinning Clothesline, Tumbling Attack, Cartwheel Kick) only hit enemies and pass over your own side. A Friendly Fire card, or a fighter who has lost control, still hits everyone.
- New keyword, Friendly Fire: the attack hits allies even when the host has turned friendly fire off.
- New keyword, Finisher: double damage against a target at 25% Health or less.
- New keyword, Dismiss: your companion heads home afterwards.
- Changed: the old "Finisher" (only on a knocked-down or dizzied target) is now called Needs Down. Same rule.
- New Nature, Inorganic: bodies with no life in them (Mercury, Rockslide). A living body laced with metal (Wolverine) is not Inorganic.
- Once-per-fight attack cards are greyed out in your hand after you use them.
- Removed: the Movement card. Every turn is Move, then Action.
Characters
Dust
- Changed: Sand Spout is now Sand Scourge: Line 3, Piercing, Damage 2 (Perception). It Envelops everyone it hits (Fortitude save).
- Changed: Dust Devil is now Sirocco (storm only): Line 4, Piercing, Damage 3 (Perception), Corrosive. It Envelops everyone it passes and carries her to the end of the line.
- Changed: Sand Tomb is now Desert Burial: 2 → 1 Stamina, Reach 4, only on an Enveloped target (and spends it), Lacerating.
- Changed: Sand Shield is now Prayer of Protection (1 Stamina, Reach 4): Shield 3, and the ally is held fast (Immobile) for 1 turn.
- New: Friendly Warning (free, Speed 6, Reach 6): an ally gets +2 to Reflex, Fortitude and Willpower saves for 1 turn.
- Buff: Living Sandstorm costs 2 → 1 Stamina. Leaving the storm Settles it: every enemy next to her is Enveloped (Fortitude save).
- Changed: Scatter also puts her into Living Sandstorm as the cards are revealed.
- Removed: Sandblast.
Honey Badger
- New: Rolling Badger (free, Speed 4, Damage 4, Brawn, Concussive). Rolls 3 hexes down a line through every foe in the way (allies are untouched) and ends where the line ends.
- New: Kneecap (free, Speed 5, Damage 2, Agility, Piercing, Reach 4). A shot low: Slow 2 for 2 turns.
- Buff: Bone Claws is Instant (1 Stamina, +1 Damage on punches, kicks and strikes). She pops them the moment she arrives.
- Buff: Dynamic Entry keeps her in the fight 3 → 4 turns.
- Changed: if X-23 falls and Gabby frenzies, she stays until she is downed.
- New lines: "I'm outta here!" when she leaves, "I don't feel so good, Laur..." when she goes down.
- Removed: Feral Attack.
Rockslide
- Changed: Rock Bottom's "Finisher" keyword is now Needs Down. Same rule.
Wither
- Removed: his shadow powers (Grasping Shadows). He is all rot and withering now.
- Changed: Hunger is fuel. No more +1 Damage dealt and taken per stack, and no Starving at 3.
- New: Hungering Draw (1 Stamina, Speed 4, Reach 4). Drags the target to his side and Taunts them for 2 turns. +1 Hunger.
- New: Death and Decay (free, Speed 5). A rot that moves with him: at the end of every turn it burns 1 Hunger and everyone next to him takes 3 Corrosive, allies included (Friendly Fire). Inorganic bodies don't rot. Ends when his Hunger runs out.
- Changed: Ravenous Touch is now Withering Touch: Damage 7 → 5 (Brawn), Corrosive, heals him for all it deals, no save. It never harms Inorganic targets, and it no longer clears his Hunger.
- Changed: Shadow Puppets is now Command the Rot: a fallen enemy NPC within 3 hexes gets back up and fights for him. +1 Hunger.
X-23
- Buff: Pop Claws is Instant (1 Stamina, +2 Damage and Lacerating on punches, kicks and strikes), and it is one card on her sheet.
- New: Weapons XX (free, Speed 3, Damage 8, Brawn, Leap 4, once per fight). Only while Honey Badger is in the fight: both sisters leap on one enemy, Laura hits and Gabby piles in with her own strike. Spends both their turns. Finisher, Dismiss.
Interface
- When a buff, debuff or transformation lands, its name floats up with the arrows ("Dizzy" included).
- Dizzied fighters have stars circling over their head until the turn they lose is over, and a few birds chirp the moment it happens.
- When you act with a card that picks a target, every hex it reaches is outlined on the map, even when no one is in it. Your turn no longer ends by itself when no one is in reach: press PASS when you are done.
- NPCs and summons wait for the last action to finish on screen and take a short breath before they act. A summon's arrival strike always lands first.
- Every turn ends with a short pause, so hits, stars and arrows can be read before the next turn begins.
- Summons that leave stay a moment, say their goodbye in a speech bubble, then float away.
- Big on-screen titles (K.O., WINS!, summons) shrink to fit the window.
- The ⚙ Host menu has a Friendly fire switch.
Site and Wiki
- Every character's Combat tab ends with a playable Danger Room demo inside the vine frame: the vault door is the size of the fight, opens straight onto the arena, and the arena fills the frame.
- Character page cards show their Danger Room keywords, each explained the same way as the wiki's keyword list.
- Staff can edit a character's quote, summary, background and identity details by clicking them on the character page, and the powers, quote and summary in the Cerebro Files spotlight.
- Summon Lines on a character sheet can start with SUMMONED:, DISMISSED: or DEFEATED: to choose when they are said. A line with no label is said on arrival.
- The combat rules explain the 3 / 4 / 5 steps and the new Dizzy. The keyword list adds Instant, Finisher, Needs Down, Dismiss, Friendly Fire, Pull, Spends Hunger, Raise Dead and Never harms Inorganic.
Bug Fixes
- Tarot's Arcana fought each other: The Chariot ran down Strength and Tarot on its way to the enemy.
- Summons stood around blocking instead of attacking.
- Dust Devil (now Sirocco) dealt no damage.
- Self-powers that fire on their own (Dynamic Entry, Death and Decay and the like) could do nothing in a second fight, leaving you with only PASS.
- NPCs no longer pick a Throw or a grab they can't make when the target's hex is full, and they no longer favour Throw above everything else.
- An NPC whose action failed once could stop the whole fight.
- The Danger Room loads its fighters about 3 seconds faster.
- Character pages could fail to load right after a server restart.
Known Issues
- The AI doesn't use Wait, Turn the Card or The Fool's Swap yet.