Shadow Fight 3's 7th anniversary! Article 2.5

Hello everyone! It’s time for Article 2.5!

While working on the previous article, we realized that the planned event changes are extensive and deserve more attention. That’s why we decided to dedicate a separate article to this topic.

Over the past 7 years, we’ve changed our approach to events several times. What started as simple chains of battles with a small story have evolved into full-fledged activities, with some events rivaling the depth of main storyline chapters. However, this complexity made development more challenging and affected the quality of some events.

Events have long been one of the core elements of the Shadow Fight 3 world, where you spend a significant portion of your time.

This time, it’s not just an update to events—it’s a complete rework. Today, we’re unveiling this highly anticipated update!

We’ve already shared some of the goals we set for ourselves during the development of this rework:

Transparency
You should clearly understand where to obtain valuable resources, how to use them effectively to earn rewards, and how long it will take.
Accessibility
Events should be available to everyone. Regardless of skill level or progress, every player should find something personally engaging and enjoyable in them!
Depth
Each event should be carefully crafted regarding gameplay and its story, delivering cohesive and captivating narratives.
Variety and Evolution
Every event should stand out from the previous one. Even when a familiar event is repeated, its story should progress, and the rewards should remain exciting.

Based on these goals, the event rework will be implemented in stages:

This year, we’ll focus on updating the gameplay aspects of events.
After the update, we’ll regularly gather your weekly feedback to refine the gameplay further.
Once the gameplay reaches the desired quality, we’ll introduce the revamped storyline elements, detailed in a separate article.

All events will be divided into three types:

Regular Events Examples: “Deep Color,” “Sanguine Forest.”
Unique Events Examples: “Autumn Festival,” “Jewels of the North.”
Side Events Examples: “Campfire of Memories.”

Gameplay Update

Note: the information in this article is not final and may change by the time the update is released.

Event Structure

When you enter the game during an event, you’ll be greeted by an information window with the latest details about the event and the rewards you can earn. If needed, you can reopen this window anytime by clicking the banner in the lobby.

All events will now be moved to a separate map to avoid interfering with the main storyline progression.

Events will consist of two interconnected but independent parts: story and gameplay.

If it’s your first time participating in an event, you must complete the story part once to unlock access to the gameplay section.

Players who have already completed at least one story section of the event can skip the story and jump straight into the battles.

Don’t worry: you’ll always have the option to go back and replay any of the story sections within a week. You’ll also receive the rewards for completing the story part, even if you skip it.

For now, we won’t discuss how the event stories are structured. Instead, we’ll focus on the gameplay aspect.

Gameplay Innovations

Now that the gameplay section is less dependent on the story, we have more room to experiment with combat modes to offer you a unique and exciting experience!

You’ll immediately notice several new features in the gameplay section of events. With each new event cycle, the gameplay will feature a unique setup different from previous runs. We call these gameplay variations archetypes, and they allow us to create diverse and engaging battles within a single event.

For example, while every run of "Dragon Lesson" currently follows the same set of battles, with the new system, each restart will bring a fresh and unexpected experience!

Can you handle the "Hundred Schools Tournament" opponents in the "Threats" format, where each new stage introduces even stronger enemies?
Or will you challenge yourself by climbing the Tower, where each floor becomes more complex, testing your limits?
Will you face the "Master of the Blizzard" in a raid battle with different difficulty levels?
Will you assemble a team of allies and battle enhanced enemies, utilizing your allies' abilities?
Will it be a roguelike in the style of Slay the Spire?
Or will you take part in the battles with stakes this week?

We will strive to surprise you each time so that the events don’t get boring. We will test different archetypes, carefully considering your feedback. If you don’t like a particular format, it will be adjusted or replaced with another.

We value your time and understand that different modes require varying levels of effort. The key is that the time needed to earn rewards will be the same regardless of the chosen archetype. Whether battling in the Endless Tower or participating in a fishing tournament, the rewards will always be balanced with the effort spent.

Difficulty

Shadow Fight 3 has a huge player base with varying progress, skills, and goals. The new events aim to offer something for everyone, no matter their experience level.

We’ve already tested content for experienced players, starting with enemies linked to the release of new sets, and more recently, you faced 6th-level bosses. However, we understand that this type of content isn’t for everyone.

In the new events, regardless of the archetype, there will be modes with varying difficulty levels:

For beginners,
For experienced players,
And for those who are ready to challenge our balancing team!

These modes will differ in difficulty and the speed at which you can collect all the event rewards.

Sometimes, unique content appears in the events, which can only be obtained by those capable of defeating the most challenging enemies. However, such rewards are more often found in side events.

Don't worry—you can always switch the event mode if the current one turns out to be too difficult or, on the other hand, too easy for you. In doing so, you won't lose significant progress.

We closely monitor your chosen modes and how well they meet your expectations. We will make those changes if it becomes clear that more complex or current options need adjustments.

Now, let's move on to the rewards.

Rewards

The main issue with the current reward system is its unpredictability. Rewards vary from event to event, making it difficult for you to navigate and plan your progress.

We want to standardize the core elements of rewards to make them more transparent and predictable.

Previously, we reworked the unique sets, making them a viable alternative to legendary sets. This is especially useful for new players or those who want to develop a specific set reliably. Now, we’re taking this system a step further.

Each regular event will have fixed rewards divided into several parts. These parts will follow a consistent system for earning:

The first part of the rewards will be available for completing the story part of the event.
The subsequent parts will require more effort and time to unlock.

It’s important to note that rewards like sets will be distributed evenly across these parts.

Another new feature is the rotation system. For example:

In the event dedicated to the "Dead Forest Triad," the set items in the first run are arranged as follows: Ranged Weapon → Helmet → Armor → Weapon.
They will be shuffled in the next run, like Helmet → Armor → Weapon → Ranged Weapon.

This means that even if you only complete one storyline part of the event with each reset, you can collect the entire set over time.

Additional improvements

Now, events will be more closely tied to the shop, allowing you to choose how to spend the resources you've earned. We also plan to make the descriptions more informative, including where to gather resources and how to use them. The new structure will make finding useful information and navigating rewards easier.

Conclusion

The changes described above will begin to be implemented later this year, initially affecting regular events, allowing you to assess the updates and their impact on the gameplay quickly.

At the same time, we will start working on systematizing side events, which will also change. Special attention will be given to events that feature new sets. We aim to make them more logical, understandable, and appealing so that even the most demanding players can easily find the content they want and enjoy the experience.

Unique events, on the other hand, will retain their distinctiveness. We understand that events like “Autumn Festival” or “Jewels of the North” play an important role in the gaming experience and create vivid impressions that differ from regular events. Although their structure will be different, we will do everything we can to preserve the core principles: transparency, accessibility, depth, and variety.

Our priorities remain unchanged:

Ensure consistent quality of events.
Continuously improve them based on your feedback.
Introduce novelty and develop unique content for the most active and loyal players.

Thus, very soon, the world of Shadow Fight 3 will become even more prosperous, interesting, and diverse, and you'll be able to dive into the updated events, which will become a key part of your adventure. We are confident these changes will give you new emotions, open up additional opportunities for developing your character, and make the game even more engaging. See you this Friday!

Disclaimer: The planned update for in-game store prices has been postponed to next week and will be released alongside version 1.40.0.

Keep Fighting!