In addition to new champions, new traits and origins, or new units, Teamfight Tactics: Galactic Invasion introduced by Riot will have a unique mechanism called Galaxies or Universes. Essentially, each match will transport you to a different Galaxy, each with its own set of rules, and players must leverage the advantages provided by this to find the best strategy. In a previous introduction, only Neeko had a galaxy named after her.
Although it has been tested on the PBE server for quite a while, the limitations of these Galaxies have started to emerge. The biggest weakness is that there are too few Galaxies applied in the game, and their appearance rate is too low. During my experience on the PBE server, about 2 weeks with nearly 80 matches, I only played 4-5 matches in the Neekoverse Galaxy (starting the match with 2 Neeko assists) and 2-3 matches in the Lilac Nebula Galaxy (the initial shared pick round is all 4-cost champions).
The limited number of matches influenced by the Galaxies has led to a gradually dull gaming experience for players. Too many gamers spam the Pilot – Spy or Pilot – Sorcerer compositions, making the diversity and freshness that Riot promised as the goal of season 3 diminish. Therefore, in the latest announcement from Riot Mortdog, the lead designer of Teamfight Tactics, he announced that many new Galaxies are set to arrive in the game.
Riot Mortdog: “Hello, Captains!”
“We want to thank everyone who helped out by playing Teamfight Tactics: Galactic Invasion on the PBE server and provided us with a lot of feedback. We want to take some time to talk about the Galaxy mechanism and provide you with an update based on how PBE has been functioning.”
“We introduced 2 Galaxies on the PBE server (Neekoverse and Purple Haze) as a test of its impact, more importantly, whether it is fun. Overall, everything went quite well, leading to unpredictable situations, interesting decisions, and often humorous results. We also received feedback that you were quite disappointed to play matches without any Galaxies, which is a good sign because you want to diversify your experiences, and Galaxies provide that.”
“We have received a lot of feedback from this, and we have decided to make the following changes:”
“No Galaxies will be applied in patch 10.6, and this mechanism will only be implemented from patch 10.7 onwards. The reason is quite clear, a version lasting 2 weeks is time for players to familiarize themselves with the new champions, traits, and origins of season 3, especially those who have not played on the PBE server. Therefore, we will not apply Galaxies in patch 10.6.”
“This delay is the time for us to create more new Galaxies, rebalance the appearance rates of this mechanism, and how players will know which Galaxy they will be in. We want this mechanism to start with more than 2 Galaxies, and the team is actively testing and accelerating production to bring players the most complete experience possible.”
“Finally, in patch 10.7 (possibly patch 10.8), here are the Galaxies you may experience:”
“Neekoverse: Start the match with 2 Neeko Assists.”
“Lilac Nebula (formerly known as Purple Haze): The first shared pick round will contain only 4-cost champions.”
“Trade Sector: The first roll of each round will not cost any gold.”
“Superdense Galaxy: Players will receive Natural Armor when their companion reaches level 5.”
“Not so Little Legends: Companions will be larger and have more health.”
With these announcements, Riot Games seems to want to use patch 10.6 as a large warm-up run to help players get familiar with the new character systems, traits, and origins of season 3 before adding the Galaxy mechanism in patch 10.7. Hopefully, Riot will use this longer testing period to create truly engaging Galaxies for players.