Update 4.0.1

For all alliance members using iOS devices:  the 4.0.1 update is available on the App Store and should address the issue with crashing when trying to load the game.  You shouldn't need to uninstall the previous version.

Master Class Eligible Characters

On May 1st, it was announced that there will be a new Event Campaign for the newest character, Taskmaster.  The announcement came with news that you would need the limited time "Covert" team to use in this campaign.  With the 4.0.0 update that was released on May 5th, the list of characters that are "Covert" eligible was released:

- Agent Coulson
- Ant-Man
- Black Widow
- Bullseye
- Cable
- Captain America
- Crossbones
- Deadpool
- Elektra
- Elsa Bloodstone
- Falcon
- Gamora
- Karnak
- Loki
- Mercenary Lieutenant
- Mercenary Riot Guard
- Minn-erva
- Mystique
- Nebula
- Nick Fury
- Psylocke
- Quake
- Red Skull
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Assault
- S.H.I.E.L.D. Trooper
- Taskmaster
- Wasp
- Winter Soldier
- Yo-Yo

Taskmaster: The Master Mercenary

Your soldiers of fortune are about to hit the biggest score of their lives because Taskmaster, the Master Mercenary, has arrived to lead them into battle. Tony Masters -- a.k.a. "Taskmaster" -- was born with the ability to perfectly mimic the movements of others after brief observation. Taskmaster has copied the fighting styles of numerous heroes and used his elite fighting skills to wreak havoc and train the henchmen of premiere villainous organizations. As you’ll see in his abilities, Taskmaster has copied the fighting styles of some of S.T.R.I.K.E.’s greatest fighters.

Taskmaster joins the Mercenary team as a Controller who steals enemy positive effects, applies Bleed and Stun, and overwhelms foes with Mercenary assists. Taskmaster also transforms the Mercenary team into Alliance War defensive specialists with additional synergies and a relentless Passive ability that applies Taunt to the enemy with the highest Damage each turn.

Behold the ultimate merc:

Traits: Villain, Global, Skill, Controller, Mercenary

Basic - Imitating Strike

-          Attack primary target for damage

-          Steal 3 positive effects

Special - Adaptive Assault

-          Energy Cost: 3/5

-          Attack primary target for damage and apply Stun.

-          Rebound chain to 3 additional targets for damage and apply Offense Down; Counterattack breaks this chain.

Ultimate - Incendiary Arrow

-          Energy Cost: 6/6

-          Attack all enemies for damage. Apply Blind to primary target and 3 secondary targets. Apply Bleed for 2 turns to all enemies. This attack is unavoidable.

-          Bonus attack all targets with Bleed for Piercing

Passive - Copycat Criminal

-          On Spawn, gain Offense Up for 2 turns

-          Gain Assist Now on each MERCENARY VILLAIN ally's turn.

-          Gain Block Chance

-          Gain Block Amount

-          Gain Counterattack per MERCENARY ally.

-          Gain Damage per SKILL enemy.

-          Gain Damage. MERCENARY VILLAIN allies gain Damage.

On WAR DEFENSE

-          On Spawn, fill Speed Bar of self and all MERCENARY VILLAIN allies per MERCENARY ally.

-          On turn, apply Taunt to the enemy with the highest Damage

o   This is unavoidable

o   Gain extra Focus for this

-          Assist allies on non-attack abilities

Accompanying Taskmaster’s arrival are updates to his fellow Mercenaries. We’ll have a complete breakdown of their upgrades in the upcoming 4.0.0 Release Notes.

MASTER CLASS

One of your first chances at recruiting Taskmaster will be via his upcoming Event Campaign, Master Class. Go on a secret S.T.R.I.K.E. mission to discover the whereabouts of Taskmaster after he’s gone missing. You’ll need a team with the limited-time “Covert” trait for this mission, which you can filter via your roster.

Each node in the Master Class Event Campaign will reward Master Class Orb Fragments that contain select characters with the limited-time “Covert” trait, which excludes Legendary characters, Agent Coulson, Minn-Erva, Yo-Yo, and Red Skull.

Special Supply Drop

FoxNext wants to thank the heroes amidst this current pandemic: the healthcare workers and first responders of the world.  To help honor their contributions, a special login calendar is being created featuring shards of characters with healing-based abilities as well as bonus resources.  Be sure to thank your local IRL Night Nurse.

Day 01 - 200 Campaign Energy
Day 02 - 15 shards of Hydra Scientist
Day 03 - 200 Blitz Charge
Day 04 - 15 shards of Groot
Day 05 - 250 Raid Health Pack
Day 06 - 15 shards of Night Nurse
Day 07 - 200 Blitz Charge
Day 08 - 15 shards of Mister Sinister
Day 09 - 100 Raid Energy Refill
Day 10 - 15 shards of Doctor Strange
Day 11 - 250 Raid Health Pack
Day 12 - 15 shards of Scientist Supreme
Day 13 - 150k Gold
Day 14 - 15 shards of Minn-Erva

Second Strike Celebration

Break out the balloons and put on your favorite party hat (or regular hat) because this week we're preparing for our upcoming second anniversary festivities! We've also got the latest on a red-hot upcoming Blitz, 2x excitement, and a returning Legendary Event. But first, S.T.R.I.K.E. up the band and get ready to celebrate!

SECOND STRIKE CELEBRATION
It's been two years since our worldwide launch and we wouldn't be here today if it weren't for the passion and support of the community. We love a party, so to help blow out our birthday candles, we have a full slate of events and rewards. Here's what we have planned:

ANNIVERSARY MILESTONES
Open Anniversary orbs to earn shards for some of the top characters released during our second year along with Campaign Energy, Gold, Red Star Promotions, and other resources.

RETURN OF THE MAD TITAN EVENT
One of our original events, "The Mad Titan" is making its return! This time around we've snapped away the original rewards of Infinity Orb Fragments and instead will be directly rewarding Thanos character shards. The event will appear for everyone that didn't complete all of the missions during its original run. Recruit and rank up Thanos with this blast from the past opportunity!

FESTIVAL ORBS
Cash in on the anniversary festivities with limited-time Anniversary Credits and Festival Orbs. You can earn Anniversary Credits via Blitz battles, Campaign nodes, and Daily Objectives, then use this special currency to open Festival Orbs in the Raid Store for Orange, Purple, and Blue gear rewards.

LOGIN CALENDAR
Cheers to two years, with 10 days of login rewards! Log in every day for 10 days to earn Gold, gear, Anniversary Credits, Thanos character shards, and more.

BONUS EVENTS
Be on the lookout for these one-day events that'll double your fun during the anniversary celebration:

Energy Overload -
Stay in the battle longer with 2x Campaign Energy refreshes.

Re-Energize -
Get ready to use those Power Cores! Campaign Energy refreshes will only cost 50 Power Cores for the duration of this event.

Seeing Double -
Enjoy 2x shard rewards in Campaign nodes for all characters released during our second year.

Raining Gold -
Stock up on Gold with 2x Gold rewards from Campaign nodes.

Be on the lookout for inbox messages with event start times and more information. You don't want to miss this party!

HAIL HYDRA BLITZ
Red Skull has infiltrated Blitz! The leader of Hydra will be around for two Blitz events and because he's a 3-Star unlock, the second Blitz will reward his character shards for all ranks. As we mentioned inlast week's blog, Red Skull and his Hydra minions will make your Helicarrier more secure than Stark Tower. Don't miss this chance to earn Anniversary Credits along with recruiting and ranking up Red Skull.

COLOSSUS 2X EVENT
Yes, the party continues as we congratulate Dark Dimension III's first finisher, 只野マックJAPAN (Tadano Mac JAPAN)! This week, enjoy 2x Colossus shards in his Campaign node: Heroes 7-9. Add this heavy metal mutant to your X-Men and create uncanny possibilities in Arena.

RETURNING LEGENDARY EVENT
The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. himself, Nick Fury, is leaving his desk and joining the fight again with his returning Legendary Event, "Chasing Fury." He's a vital member of the Coulson S.H.I.E.L.D. team on War Defense, so gear up and level up your top Kree Minion team for a chance at recruiting Nick Fury.

MERC MAYHEM
It's that time again! Prep your team of mercenaries for their upcoming Pay Day mission with the Merc Mayhem Event. Get 2x character shards for Mercenaries in their respective Campaign nodes.

Enter The Black Order

The Controller for the Black Order is on the way: Proxima Midnight!  Be on the lookout for the first chance to recruit her in the upcoming Event Campaign: Enter the Black Order.

Slay enemies in the name of Thanos:

- Controller for the Black Order
- Corvus Glaive always assists Basic attack
- Ultimate reduces enemy Speed Bar and applies Stun & Glow
- Grants Thanos the Space Stone & Speed up

Event Requirements:  Cosmic Heroes

Start building your Black Order team with Proxima Midnight!

Widowmaker Calendar Returning For New Players

An Inbox message was sent announcing that the Widowmaker Calendar is returning for players that created new accounts subsequent to the first one ending. For context: this is a login calendar to celebrate the first player to complete Dark Dimension II, similar to the Tadano Mac calendar that ran for the first completion of Dark Dimension III. This message was published early but will be going into effect for all eligible players this week.

There have been a few reports of players that should be eligible not seeing the calendar, and that is being investigated.

There have also been questions from players who started a new account close to the end of the first Widowmaker Calendar who weren’t able to claim many of the rewards. For these players, the developers are discussing the situation and will make a decision on how to best compensate them. More to come on this outlier issue.

Thanos & The Black Order

It's time to prepare for Thanos and his team, The Black Order!  The power of the Black Order will be overwhelming and they're set to dominate Arena.  You do not want to miss out on recruiting them.  Here's the rundown:

Infinity Gauntlet Form of Thanos

All four members of the Black Order each grant Infinity Stones during battle for Thanos' gauntlet.  When he as all of the Infinity Stones - requiring all four Black Order Members - Thanos becomes "Empowered," which unlocks a new set of powerful abilities.  The four members of the Black Order are Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Cull Obsidian and Ebony Maw who will be released within the next two updates.

Ebony Maw

The newest Legendary member of the Black Order is Thanos' right-hand general, Ebony Maw.  To recruit him, you'll need Black Bolt and four other Inhumans at 5-Stars.  Inhumans will be on their way to the Store or Campaign nodes to help in your recruitment effors.  The Ebony Maw Legendary event is currently scheduled for mid-May, so start preparing now.

Black Bolt

To recruit Black Bolt, you'll need a 5-Star Asgardian team.  To help build your Asgardian team, you can now recruit Hela in Villains 7-6.  The next Black Bolt Legendary Event is currently scheduled for mid-April, so continue powering up your Asgardian team!

Look out for more opportunities to earn additional shards of Inhumans, Asgardians, and Thanos in the coming months!  Prepare now, and rule Arena with Thanos and his Black Order team!