CD Projekt has rolled out a new update for the Witcher card game Gwent that adds 21 new cards to the draw, makes a few balance changes, and kicks off a new seasonal event called Saovine: Holiday of the Dead. Don't feel too badly if you haven't heard of that one—it's an elf thing.
"Elven tradition holds on Saovine's eve the dead crawl out of their graves and demand food," CD Projekt said. "The Toussaintais do not believe in such superstitions—yet this year, they were about to see the legends contain a grain of truth..."
The Saovine event will feature three "challenges and puzzles" with two difficulty levels, with a unique avatar, frame, and title, plus additional Ore and Meteorite Powder, for players able to complete them. There's plenty of time to get the job done—the event runs until November 21—but if you find yourself stuck and don't mind some spoilers, you can get help in this Gwent forum thread.
For three days after the release of the update—so, until November 3—the Harpy and Restore cards have been granted increased milling value, and will produce scraps and powder equal to the amount required to craft a new card of the same value. In other words, it's a straight-up trade: If you don't like these cards for some reason, you can grind something else out of them without taking a hit.
CD Projekt dug down into the update and the Saovine holiday event with a livestream that you can catch below. If poring over detailed notes is more your thing, the full patch notes are just a little further down.
Neutral:
- First Light: Clear Skies Boost value changed from 1 to 2.
- Unicorn will now be Agile.
- Chironex will now be Agile.
- Revenge keyword introduced for Deathwishes that only trigger during your opponent's turn.
- Tweaked the wording of cards such as Last Wish to clarify that they do not trigger 'Whenever you draw a card' abilities.
- Mardroeme: Mutagen now Heals rather than Resets.
- New card added: Avallac'h: The Sage.
- New card added: Ale of the Ancestors.
- New Card added: Hanmarvyn's Blue Dream.
- New card added: Wolfsbane.
- New card added: Muzzle.
- New card added: Germain of Fox Hollow.
- New card added: Mandrake.
- New card added: Foul Ale.
- New card added: Mahakam Ale.
- New card added: Crow's Eye.
Monsters:
- Arachas Behemoth will now be Agile.
- Imperial Manticore Power changed from 12 to 13.
- Harpy's passive has been reworked, is now: Whenever a Beast Ally is Destroyed during your turn, play 1 copy of this Unit from your Deck.
- Ghoul can now Consume Silver cards as well.
- Archespore now Heals rather than Resets.
- Renamed Katakan to Nekurat.
- New card added: She-Troll of Vergen.
- New card added: Slyzard.
Skellige:
- Restore now only Resurrects Skellige Units.
- Light Longship Power changed from 6 to 5.
- Light Longship now also triggers its passive ability once on Deploy.
- Herbalist now plays Bronze Hazard cards from your Deck instead of just Torrential Rain.
- New card added: Harald Houndsnout.
- New card added: Heymaey Battle Maiden.
- New card added: Gedyneith Flaminica.
Northern Realms:
- Tridam Infantryman trigger changed from Officer to Soldier.
- Margarita Laux-Antille Power changed from 5 to 6.
- Margarita Laux-Antille will now be Agile.
- Ves Power changed from 8 to 9.
- Nenneke Power changed from 8 to 9.
- Trebuchet Power changed from 6 to 7.
- Reinforced Siege Tower no longer requires Machines in your Hand to get a Boost.
- New card added: Ronvid of Small Marsh.
- New card added: Catapult.
Scoia'tael:
- If Braenn Destroys her target, she now Boosts all Ambush and Dryad Units in your Hand and Deck by 1.
- If Iorveth Destroys his target, he now boosts all Elves in your Hand by 1.
- Ele'yas Power changed from 6 to 8.
- Clarified that Morenn triggers after a Unit gains Armor.
- New card added: Hattori.
- New card added: Dol Blathanna Swordmaster.
Nilfgaard:
- Serrit Damage value changed from 5 to 6.
- Black Infantry Arbalest trigger changed from Officer to Soldier.
- Letho of Gulet Power changed from 9 to 12.
- Nilfgaardian Knight Power changed from 10 to 11.
- Alchemist now reveals up to 2 cards instead of 1.
- Combat Engineer now has Crewmen 1.
- New card added: Hefty Helge.
- New card added: Venendal Elite.
Game Fixes:
- Negative row effects (Weathers) renamed to "Hazards."
- New category for positive row effects named "Boons" has been added to the game.
- Necromancy has gained the following Category tags: Cursed.
- Ge'els has gained the following Category tags: Officer.
- Caranthir has gained the following Category tags: Officer.
- Vran Warrior has gained the following Category tags: Soldier.
- Kambi has gained the following Category tags: Agent.
- Hawker Support has gained the following Category tags: Elf.
- Corrected misleading Doomed keyword definition to clarify it only applies when Destroyed, not when Discarded.
- John Calveit playing Gold Special cards will no longer trigger Roach's ability.
- Fixed issue whereby opening Social Panel after Weather effect spawned by a Unit blocks ability to play cards.
- Fixed issue with Hemdall being boosted by Kaedweni Siege Support after Kambi's ability triggers.
- Fixed issue with Spying Units turned to Jade Figurines being treated as Agents.
- Fixed vibrations not working on gamepad on PC.
- Fixed issue with Regressing Units appearing with wrong Power when returned to Hand.
- Fixed premium Clan An Craite Warcrier display.
- Fixed issue with challenges not loading for some Players.
- Fixed issue with Whale Harpooner excluding face-down Ambush cards in ability calculation.
- Fixed issue whereby Allies damaged by Vabjorn were placed in opponent's Graveyard.
- Fixed issue with number of rounds won daily displaying incorrectly.
- Fixed issue whereby pressing Esc or B button on gamepad in Starter Pack menu would invoke quit game prompt.
- Fixed "Press any key" message on login in Polish version of game.
- Fixed issue with "Stop searching" button not working at times.
- Shield keyword now specifies Shield protects a Unit from next effect that Damages, Weakens or sets this Unit to a lower Power.
