'Brawl Stars' Update: New Upgrade System, Landscape Mode And More

The latest Brawl Stars update is live and with it comes a pretty big shakeup for Supercell's upcoming game. Though the game is still is still in soft-launch status, with each new update it creeps closer to the actual worldwide release date. Below we've put together a quick overview of everything that changed in the latest update, including details about the new Upgrade system, which has seen its fair share of tweaks along the way.

Brawl Stars March 2018 Update: New Upgrade System, Landscape Mode And More

brawl stars update new landscape mode upgrade system controls joystick coins pins tokens supercell
Brawl Stars update switches to landscape mode as control scheme moves to joystick only. Player.One

Landscape Mode & Joystick Controls

The first major change players will notice after the latest Brawl Stars update is the new Landscape mode. The dev's gave the community a heads up that this mode would be coming in their last Brawl Talk. The move to landscape mode was primarily decided in conjunction with moving to a joystick only control system. Prior to the update, players had the option to use either joystick or tap to move controls. The devs discovered a significant favoritism towards Joystick mode and decided to move to this control system alone. Moving to landscape mode definitely makes this control style easier to use, though it may be an adjustment for players who favored the tap to move controls.

New Upgrade System

brawl stars update new landscape mode upgrade system controls joystick coins pins tokens supercell
The Brawler upgrade system has been completely revamped in the latest update. Player.One

Brawl Stars Upgrade system has received numerous tweaks over the last several months and with this update players will move to a Power Points system. Here's how it works:

  • Power Points: Players will now upgrade their Brawlers by collecting Power Points. These can be found in Brawl Boxes and in the shop. Once players have gathered enough Power Points, the Brawler can be upgraded with a new type of "Coins," all the way from level 1-10.
  • Keys : Brawlers will no longer use coins to open Brawl Boxes. They will now use keys. Keys essentially take the place of the old coins and require gathering 100 of them to open a Brawl Box
  • New Coins - with the old coins gone, an explanation of how new coins work is needed. Instead of serving as currency, Coins now act as resource. Coins are used to purchase Brawler upgrade and can be found inside of Brawl Boxes
  • Brawl Boxes- with the changes to the upgrade system, Brawler Boxes have been updated as well. Players can now receive the following from Brawl Boxes:
    • Coins
    • Power Points
    • Key-Doublers
    • New Brawlers
    • Star Powers (after reaching Brawler Level 9)
    • Tickets.
  • Tokens, Pins And Brawler Levels: Tokens become obsolete in the new system so for players with Tokens left in their account, these will be converted into Keys for opening Brawl Boxes. Additionally, your Brawlers will be converted to their equivalent level in the new system, and the leftover pins/badges/etc will be converted into extra Brawl Boxes. Here's a breakdown of all conversions:
    • 0 pin power -> level 1
    • 1 - 2 pin power -> level 2
    • 3 - 5 pin power -> level 3
    • 6 - 9 pin power -> level 4
    • 10 - 14 pin power -> level 5
    • 15 - 20 pin power -> level 6
    • 21 - 27 pin power -> level 7
    • 28 - 34 pin power -> level 8
    • 35 - 42 pin power -> level 9
    • 50 pin power -> level 10
    • Excess pin power after the level minimum threshold is converted to Keys where 1 excess power = 100 Keys/ 1 Brawl Box
    • Remaining Tokens are converted to Keys where 1 Token = 5 Keys
    • After conversion, total is rounded up to the next Brawl Box.

Game Economy

With the new upgrade system also comes changes to game economy. Here's what you'll now receive when winning events and matches. According to the devs, the changes will give players and additional 57 keys per day.

  • 3v3 Match - Win 10 keys, defeat 5 keys, draw 7 keys
  • 3v3 Practice - Win 6 keys, defeat 3 keys, draw 4 keys
  • More Keys are now awarded to the top 4 finishers in Showdown
  • More Keys are now awarded for completing each event slot (60, 40, 20)
  • New event Key reward is now always 10 Keys
  • First win Key reward is now always 20 Keys
  • Maximum Key reward from Robo Rumble from 40 → 32

Balance Changes

This update contains a small number of changes to game modes and characters. They are as follows:

  • Boss Mode: Boss now has health decay. Maximum survival time is approximately 5 minutes
  • Gem Grab: New map added! Welcome to Sapphire Plains
  • Pam: damage increased from 160 → 180
  • El Primo: health decreased from 5800 → 5600

Additional Update Changes

  • Shop overhaul - Many more timed offers available in the shop
  • Many graphical and UI improvements and changes
  • Mask added to ensure the same field of vision across all devices
  • iPhone X compatibility
  • All Coin Boosters will be removed and refunded (4 gems/day)
  • Spawn Protection added to Showdown
  • Game Rooms made by friends are now shown under the friends tab

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