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Press like and follow, and you'll always find your way in the game~ Hi, it's Game Xiaodi. The S43 season is now about halfway through. How's your climbing going? Recently, the devs have shared the next season's preview, which contains quite a few changes. In this video, I'll focus on the new limited-time item for next season—the Formless Artifact.

Limited-Time Equipment - Formless Artifact

This item is quite special—its stats adapt automatically based on the hero's class, and using the ultimate triggers a corresponding special effect. It's somewhat similar to this season's limited summoner spell "Converge as Soldiers," but in equipment form.

Specifically, there are six classes in Honor of Kings with corresponding effects: Tank—grants cooldown reduction, physical defense, magic defense, and max HP; the passive triggered by the ultimate summons a blizzard dealing magic damage and slowing enemies. Warrior—grants physical attack, cooldown reduction, and max HP; the passive grants healing and attack power, with extra bonuses when more enemy heroes are nearby. Assassin—grants physical attack, cooldown reduction, and movement speed; the passive grants increased movement speed, and the effect refreshes upon getting a kill or assist.

Mage—grants magic attack, cooldown reduction, and max HP; the passive reduces cooldown and provides additional cooldown per second. Roamer—grants magic attack, cooldown reduction, and max HP; the passive grants nearby allied heroes multiple instances of health and mana recovery. Marksman—grants physical attack, attack speed, crit rate, and physical lifesteal; the passive provides attack speed and summons several flying swords that orbit around the hero to attack enemies.

If these passive effects seem too complicated, they can be compared to existing abilities. The tank's effect is similar to Wang Zhaojun's ultimate; the warrior's resembles Kuang Tie's fully charged mechanics; the assassin's is like A Ke's ultimate but without invisibility; the mage's cooldown reduction is essentially the main effect of the current "Converge as Soldiers"; the roamer's dual-recovery effect is comparable to Star Spring; and the marksman's is akin to Mi Yue or Zhuge Liang's orbiting projectiles. Of course, they are not identical; this is just a simplified understanding.

Benefits of Limited-Time Equipment/Spells

From the earliest Grass Spirit to the later starting buff, then this season's "Converge as Soldiers," and next season's "Formless Artifact," it seems the developers are increasingly leaning toward these limited-time effects. What are the benefits?

First, it brings a strong sense of novelty to players. If all game content remains unchanged for a long time, some players will gradually grow bored. Regularly adding new content—whether new events, new modes, or new equipment and spells—helps keep players engaged.

Second, it improves universality. Early features like Grass Spirit and the original "specialized items" had a narrow scope—only certain heroes could use them well. The current approach better suits heroes of different roles. This season's "Converge as Soldiers" was a good attempt, but it had limitations: some positions rarely used it, such as the jungler who must take Smite, or heroes heavily reliant on Flash. Next season's "Formless Artifact" becomes an equipment item, thus avoiding that issue. Of course, players will still need to choose between existing items and the new one.

Third, it avoids excessive imbalance. Whenever new content is introduced, the game's dynamics inevitably shift and hero strengths change—it's like pulling one hair and affecting the whole body. If every season added permanent new content, balancing would become increasingly difficult over time because there would be more factors to consider. Limited-time content solves this neatly: by the time the next new content arrives, the previous one has already been removed, so there's no need to balance it further.

That's all for today's content. If you found it interesting, feel free to leave a like to support me. If you have anything to say, ask, or want to see, leave a comment—I'll check them all!

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