Heroes Reforged is a major update designed to make heroes easier to understand, collect, and build. Every hero will have a unique identity, while keeping the progress you've already earned.
The main problem this change is intended to solve is Hero/Class identity. Before, a Hero had three interchangeable subclasses and the perceived rarity of that hero changed with ascension.
This upcoming change gives every Hero one fixed identity (abilities, skill tree, rarity), making each hero distinct while clearly defining a hero's rarity and their progression.
Here's what that means for players:
The Heroes Reforged Update is planned for release to all existing players in November. If you'd like to choose a different subclass for any existing hero, you can use the Free Subclass Respec available until the release of this update.
Not a nerf. For most heroes, it's not a buff either: you keep the exact subclass you already had selected, along with its abilities, perks, stats, level, and trinkets, nothing is removed.
The one exception is Aspirant heroes, which gain a full subclass they didn't have access to before, so that's a genuine gain for them.
You may notice some heroes will display a different color after the update. This does not mean they were downgraded. Colors now represent Hero Rarity instead of Ascension progress, while your hero's power and advancement remain the same.
Before, a hero's color showed its Ascension level and the color changed when you ascended the hero. This made it hard to tell how rare a hero really was. Now Rarity is separated from Ascension, making it easier to understand a Hero's true value.
Heroes now belong to one of five rarities: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, or Mythic.
These help show how rare a Hero is and better reflects their potential power, though every hero can still be effective with the right team composition and tactics.
Mostly, yes. Militia are Common, regular Heroes are Rare or Epic, Dawnseekers are Legendary, and Midnight Court, Starweaved, Chosen are Mythic.
The one exception is the "Heroes" group, where individual heroes can be Rare or Epic.
Although Dawnseekers are stronger than regular heroes, they are not quite as strong as other factions and are easier to obtain; this is reflected in each faction's new Rarity.
Rarity isn't random or automatic. It is set individually for every hero, based on factors like the hero's abilities and potential power.
No. Once a Rarity is set, it's permanent. Ascension and other upgrades don't change it.
Ascension Marks show your hero's Ascension progress across three states: Available, Attained, and Ascended. Ascending heroes works the same as before, although they now have a different look, that shows your heroes' ascension potential and progress together.
Ascension shows that hero's progression potential and is represented by the number of Ascension Marks the hero has when recruited.
When recruited, Heroes will start with Attained Ascension Marks based on their Rarity and can be ascended further to their Max Ascension level.
Possible number of Marks on recruitment:
Don't worry, your hero did not get weaker. The color used to indicate Ascension, now it will always show the hero's Rarity and Ascension Marks, clearly representing the rarity and current progression of your hero.
For example; under the new system, a level 80 Ascended Hero could become Epic with 5 Attained Marks and 3 Ascended Marks.
This is only a visual change, your hero's actual power and progress has not been reduced.
Before, each hero had three subclasses you could switch between. Now, each hero has just one skill tree, the moment you recruit them.
This gives every hero its own clear identity and helps reinforce the rarity of that specific version of the hero.
Heroes now only have a single skill tree. The previous subclass system has been removed. While you can still level up your skill tree through Skill Mastery, you cannot switch between perks and abilities.
No, new skill trees are not being added. Currently, we are focused on existing heroes and making sure their skill trees are distributed properly with our new Rarity system.
However, this change gives us the opportunity to release versions of existing heroes with new and unique skill trees going forward.
For your existing heroes that already have a subclass assigned, nothing changes. Whichever subclass is active before the update is the one your hero keeps, with the same Skill Mastery progress.
Your hero's skill tree is decided by whichever subclass its Ability belongs to, this also applies to Aspirants; any previously undiscovered Perk will be assigned to your hero.
No. You won't lose any heroes, any progress, or any resources invested in your existing heroes. Your hero keeps their current abilities, equipment, skill mastery, Ascension level, and equipped trinkets.
Until Heroes Reforged releases, you can respec all heroes for free to any unlocked abilities and perks, along with a full return of resources spent on Subclass Mastery.
No, you won't end up with three different heroes. Behind the scenes, each hero's data is split into three possible versions (one per skill tree), but only the one matching your active subclass will become your new hero.
Each Aspirant hero is assigned the skill tree that their Ability belongs to, based on the same rule described above ("Which subclass did my hero end up with?").
Previously, Aspirant heroes didn't have a subclass at all, so this gives them a skill tree they now have full access to.
Faction Heroes will convert using their current subclass selection, with their progression preserved. The Rarity of a Faction Hero will be based on their faction and not their previous subclass.
No, Ascension stays the same. Only how it's displayed changes. It'll now show through the number of Ascension Marks instead of color, since color now represents Rarity.
Names are now a part of a Hero's identity. This means that heroes in your Barracks, and any new heroes that you recruit will have a specific name that you expect to see for that rarity, skill set and faction.
For example; if you recruit a Dawnseeker Barbarian Clanlord, he will always be called Preben.
Before, you couldn't be sure which subclass you'd get, and there was a real chance you'd recruit an Aspirant hero instead of a complete one.
Now every recruit gives you a Hero with a matching ability and perk already unlocked, so you know exactly what you got the moment you recruit it.
Here's how it used to work:
Now every hero comes with its ability, perk, and skill tree already set from the moment you recruit them. There's no discovery step, no separate unlock, and no need to match abilities and perks.
Yes, this allows us to provide recruitment caravans with a smaller, focused and more intentional pool of heroes to recruit from. Instead of every hero being available at once, each caravan will have its own set of featured heroes that change with each update.
We are making shards easier to understand. Instead of having many different hero shards, shards will now fit into three simple groups: Rare, Epic, and Legendary. This keeps shards simple and helps them work smoothly with the updated hero system.
When the update arrives, they will automatically move into the shard group that matches their rarity. You do not need to spend, move, or convert anything yourself.
All shards will move into one of the three new groups. Dawnseeker shards are included in this change and will become Legendary Shards. See the breakdown below.
If something seems wrong with a hero you own after the update, please contact our support team through the Contact Us option in your Player Profile with details of your issue.
