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Patch Notes: April 15, 2026

Patch Notes: April 15, 2026

By 1DigitalC

This is one of the biggest patches we've shipped. A complete lobby redesign, a guest play system for VibJam visitors, a new support ticket system, a full Rift Rating overhaul, and over a dozen bug fixes across schools, scoring, and UI.

Guest Quick Play (VibJam)

Rift Wars is now in the Cursor VibJam 2026. To make sure anyone can try the game instantly, we built a zero-friction guest system.

  • One-click QUICK PLAY button for new visitors. No sign-up required.
  • Guests are instantly matched against real AI bot opponents with full decks, schools, and portraits.
  • Post-match sign-in prompt: "Want an edge? Sign in and claim your bonus EXP and Credits."
  • PLAY AGAIN button for instant rematches.
  • Guest accounts auto-purge after 24 hours.
  • IP rate limited: 10 guest sessions per hour to prevent abuse.

Complete Lobby UI Overhaul

The old splash screen is retired. The new lobby is a full-screen experience.

  • Hero portrait front and center with player info sidebar.
  • Video background behind the main character.
  • Live match ticker feed across the top bar.
  • Currency display (M-Credz + Meta Crystals) in the top bar.
  • Shop area with vendor art and bounty board preview.
  • Clan logo display for clan members.
  • School and threat level display in the player info panel.

If you haven't logged in since last week, you won't recognize it.

Support Ticket System

Players can now report bugs directly from the game.

  • New SUPPORT button next to MATCH LOGS in the Rifter ID stats panel.
  • Submit bug reports with an optional match ID reference.
  • Tickets stored in the database for admin batch review.
  • 5 tickets per day limit per player.

Rift Rating System

Raw ELO is no longer the leaderboard sort. We've replaced it with a composite Rift Rating that rewards consistency, not just peak performance.

  • Formula: ELO (65%) + Win Rate (20%) + Games Played (10%) + Win Streak (5%).
  • Only ranked PvP games count toward Rift Rating.
  • Rank arrows show movement: green up, red down, cyan for NEW.
  • ELO-banded matchmaking: +/-150 at 5-10s queue, +/-300 at 10-15s, open at 15s+.

School Skill Fixes

Eight school skills were rebalanced or fixed.

  • Fixed hidden card selfScale exploit. Hidden unrevealed cards were scaling on every placement.
  • Tidal Stance (Mizu hero) now resolves triggered hidden ally abilities and reveals them.
  • Battle Medic (Iwakami) now only triggers on green cards, not all cards.
  • Relentless Pressure (Kazen) discount now applies next turn, not same turn.
  • Swift Draw (Kazen) uses tile crystal count instead of card cost.
  • Rift Siphon (Mizu) missing +1 Shinpodo boost added.
  • Overcharge (Seika) checks tile crystal count instead of card cost.
  • Blitz Protocol (Kazen) takes MAX of firstStrike amounts instead of stacking.

Artifact & School Timing Fix

Pre-match artifacts (e.g. Divination Scroll +1 card) now fire AFTER mulligan, not before. School draw bonuses (e.g. Kazen Swift Draw) also moved to post-mulligan. Players mulligan their base 6 cards, then receive bonus draws when the match starts.

Shinpodo Scoring Overhaul

  • Counter now shows total Shinpodo POINTS GAINED, not cards placed.
  • Display changed from "x{count}" to "+{points}."
  • Gold threshold raised from 5 to 30.

Other Fixes

  • Desktop PWA fix: installed desktop app no longer shows mobile layout.
  • Rankings panel: list no longer scrolls behind action buttons on desktop.
  • IP tracking: login IPs now recorded on every auth for anti-cheat and fair play.
  • Tally screen row scores switched from flex to CSS grid for proper alignment.
  • Shinpodo callout animation delay fix (appears after rows collapse).
  • Hidden card board visibility fix (own hidden cards were invisible).
  • Desktop PWA hover fix (no longer forces double-tap).
  • Mizu hidden buff cap: Deep Current + Redirect capped at baseShinpodo x 3.
  • DQ timeout exploit fix: forfeit player always loses regardless of score.
  • Prestige system fix: calculates from XP past level 50.
  • Discard UI overhaul: dark overlay + pulsing warning on hand overflow.
  • Placement preview now respects school cost reduction.
  • Hero ability school-colored tile effects added.
  • Inferno Stance kills now trigger on-kill school effects.

What's Next

The Rift Wars tournament is live. The leaderboard is active. Chaos Mode is running. Every fix here came from player reports and live match data.

Found a bug? Hit the new SUPPORT button in your Rifter ID panel. Your reports directly shape what we fix next.

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