Yesterday afternoon Epic released details of their upcoming patch, The Age of Intellect. There were tons of changes in the update, including a new hero: Phase. Although the update doesn't go live until Tuesday (next week) it's looking incredibly promising. Here's a TL:DR of the patch notes, thanks to JShreds. Full details also below. 

Phase

• Telekenetic link (RMB/R1) - Link with ally for health regen, can re-activate to pull ally to her

• Psychic Flare (Q/Square) - Blind and damage from Phase and linked ally

• Energy Lance (E/Circle) - Stacking slow and damage in stream. Eventually stacks to root.

• Hyperflux (R/Triangle) - Phase and linked ally gain movespeed/attack speed/mana regen/CDR boosts.

Hero Changes

• Kallari/Steel/Murdock reworks

• Aurora issue with Cryoseism dealing unintended damage fixed

• Feng Mao Reaping Dash damage bonus massive increase, but can no longer crit. Reminder that shields now affected by armor.

• Gadget Speed Gate initial speed boost, now decays over duration

• Greystone Stoic changed to blocking basic attack instance every 9/7/5/3 s, no longer health/armor

• Iggy & Scorch turrets now have 200-650 health instead of pips, turrets take reduced ability damage.

• Lt. Belica void drone damage/scaling reduced significantly. Has 200-725 health instead of pips, takes 60% reduced ability damage.

• Kallari dagger moved to RMB/R1, damage increased. Backflip now on Space/X up to 3 times for 0 mana (but with cooldown). New ability Shadow Dance (E/Triangle) adds regen in stealth, and jump cooldown. Auto-stealth below 35% health every 60s. Big slow to target of her ult.

• Morigesh ability armor base and per-level reduced slightly.

• Muriel Alacrity speed boost huge initial buff, but speed decays over 2s duration. Also, reminder that shields are now affected by target's armor (not caster's armor).

• Murdock bump/trap gone. Buckshot remapped to RMB/R1, now pushes if enemies are close. New Q/Square Hot Pursuit movespeed boost when charging visible Critically Wounded enemies. New E/Triangle Passive Shots Fired! gives extra range and basic pen to basic attack every 10/8/6/4 seconds.

• Narbash March! move speed major buff to initial speed, duration reduced slightly, speed decays over duration

• Riktor Shock Therapy cooldown reduced to 12s

• Shinbi line tempo projectile speed up, ult stack duration increased from 7-10s, can still dash again after stun.

• Steel Force Shield gone, Bulwark reworked to deploy smaller attached force shield. New E/Triangle Passive Ablative Armor grants four stacks of ability armor (each set adds to the previous). Taking ability damage removes a stack, stacks refresh every 6/5/4/3s from last instance of ability damage.

• The Fey consecutive Harvest Nettles shots within 9s deal extra 15%/hit, stacking to max of 60%

• Yin Lash Kick range reduced, Windburn mana cost doubled/cooldown increased

Card Reworks

• 36 cards reworked

• Health/CP increased to 60 from 50, Basic Armor increased to 8 from 7, Ability Armor increased to 6 from 4. (paging /u/Sevrahn, /u/Sylphin_Paragon, /u/Narendur)

• Hemorrhage "Berzerk" active +attack speed +movespeed, but also +damage taken

• Nanoplasm passive 20% spell vamp on heroes, 5% spell vamp on minions

• Tainted Magick passive spell burn (8% of target's current health over 3s, does not stack, can be refreshed)

• Wards now have 150 (scout) and 225 (shadow) health instead of pips, take 60% reduced ability damage

• Circlets of Health and Mana applied globally when maxed

• Stasis Gem universal

• Empyrean mask all stats buffed

• Infinity stream now based on missing mana, not current.

• Madspore sash/radiant mantle range/damage buffed (HYPE)

• Purity Censor cooldown increased to 120 from 90s

• Shockwave now deals 50 damage in large radius and slows enemies by -250 for 3s, costs 50 mana to cast.

• Stab link health/blink reduced to 15% from 20%

• Thermo-bond no longer works on Dekker cage

• Lots of other small changes to cards

Mechanic/Jungle Changes

• Shield reworks - mitigates damage based on armor

• Core damage rework - no longer splits damage, instead deals 110 basic damage, attack speed decreases as inhibitors are destroyed

• Jungle minion changes - more difficult to kite minions, but they do less damage and award more CXP

• Gold Buff - gold version of river buff, instant 300 CXP

• Green buff - boosted damage reflect, reduced explosion damage

• Raptors - respawn up to 5 min, reward/raptor down to 650 CXP

• OP Buff - duration up to 150s

Other Cool Stuff

• Space knight "Novaborn" Greystone skin

• Double XP one-week event. Awards Sluggo "So Sorry" banner for 10 PvP/Co-Op matches played.

• Monthly vault reward

• Golden Key (guarantees rare or above)

• Community tab in-game (current events and community members)

Paragon - The Age of Intellect Update

Today, Epic Games has announced its next major update for its third-person PlayStation 4 and PC MOBA, Paragon, which is now available in free open beta.

Available as a free update on Tuesday, May 16, “The Age of Intellect” update (v.40) brings a new Hero to the mix, reworks for several popular Heroes, changes to several cards, new ways to earn in-game rewards, and more. A quick overview of some updates can be found below, and more in-depth information and the full release notes can be found here.

Phase: Paragon’s newest Hero 

Phase began to exhibit powers at a young age and was sent to Tryon Industries for special “care”. When the other subjects staged a break out, she joined the cause. Once free, she hid her powers blending in with everyday life in Omeda City, until that is, she was led to Agora.

Unleash your ally’s true potential with extraordinary abilities that can only be harnessed through the power of Phase. Link to your allies and empower them to fight longer, harder and more fiercely than you ever thought possible.

Heroes Updated

Several popular Heroes have been reworked or changed in ways that improve usability, and will change how players approach the battlefield. Some of the oldest Heroes like Steel and Murock have had kit updates to make them more viable in combat; even some newer Heroes like Shinbi has seen changes to unlock her full potential.

Cards Reworked

While Paragon’s card system is being completely reworked, Epic continues to update existing cards to reflect the general direction for the future. This includes several reworks of niche cards alongside updated functionality and balance across the full library.

And more!

Additionally, Monthly Vault Rewards have been added, the Jungle sees a number of gameplay-impacting changes, and so much more. For full information, be sure to check out the release notes over at Paragon.com.