The Mysterious Island/Changelog

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Minor Patch 1.5.c (23/JAN/2026)

NEW

- Added 2 repeatable quests allowing conversion of "Armor of the Damned" and "Ironfist of the Ogre" artifacts into 750,000 XP.
- Added custom Hero "Mitchave" (replaces Fiona), first content creator playing the Inferno faction (Orange). Only Conflux (Teal) remains if a content creator wants their custom hero on the map.
Bulwark (Blue) and Castle (Purple) factions are reserved at this date. They will be "released" if content creators ultimately don't take on the challenge. List on the official HotA discord.
- Added 1 additional Orb of the Firmament and 1 additional Orb of Silt. There are now 2x of each Orb on the map, to avoid the (unlikely) case where AI would retrieve one before the player.
- A new Green Two Way Portal has appeared, to facilitate access to a quest for a special hero (optional).
- Added an additional hint encouraging Purple player to dig their beaches to prevent a premature invasion by Pink pirates...
- Added a new sign on a frozen island: "Greenland? Iceland? Ireland?..." (find it to read the rest)
- ALLIES version only: boosted AI of playable factions in King difficulty (even more than in solo / standard mode).

UPDATES

- Events that restore movement in the Bloodbath teleporter area now directly restore ALL your movement points. It is no longer necessary to make back-and-forth trips on events to do +666 +666 +666 until reaching your maximum movement points.
Note: AI have their own event (Rook + Queen + King difficulty) that only gives +600 to avoid an "infinite loop" from an enemy hero going in circles.
- Skeleton Dragons (or Angels for Teal) in the Bloodbath area never flee anymore, to ensure the player retrieves the Wayfarer's Boots they give as reward when killed.
- Reworked all messages explaining each difficulty level on day 1. WARNING: Queen and King difficulties are BRUTAL.
- Updated Hall of Fame. NEW speedrun record by Hieu Tran: 54 days in King difficulty!

FIX

- Fixed several "favorable winds" events around "The Iron Bank" that only restored 6000 movement max instead of 60,000.
- Minor text corrections.

Minor Patch 1.5.b (08/JAN/2026)

- NEW: Added a new Witch Hut teaching "Earth Magic" in each of the 6 starting zones (requires having visited your colored keymaster to access it).
- Hero "Dalton" has been disabled as he can "break" the map's balance (T1 troops invincible in melee from level 26). He will be re-enabled later in the next version IF HotA Crew nerfs him. Note: I hesitated at length before making this decision, ultimately I'm doing it to be "fair" to all players in the Hall of Fame at the end of the map.
- The gold mine at 245,241,0 had been blocked during the scenery change of the previous update. Mine unblocked.
- A weak "anti-scout" garrison has been added before access to Blue player's main town (same strength as those before their secondary towns).
- A new quest for Blue player at the start allows upgrading Kobolds to gain some speed.
- Improved the Gremlin to Master Gremlin conversion quest at the beginning for Blue player to be able to convert ALL starting Gremlins (not just 30).
- Added a funny sign next to Blue's main town
- Hero "Captain" "Hieu Tran" (formerly "Elmore") Navigation specialist is now accessible to all playable factions (not only Green, Blue and Purple), so that Orange, Tan and Teal can have at least 1 Navigation specialist hero if they wish.
- Proofreading and correction of 10,472 lines of text (a huge thank you to Reddit user "Talos_the_cat" for his incredible work): Correction of phrasing, syntax, spelling, grammar...

Major Patch 1.5.a (01/JAN/2026)

Requires new HotA version v1.8.0.

WARNING: HD Mod does not update HotA, you must manually update HotA via the website.

- NEW Implementation of the new Bulwark faction for BLUE player.
- Blue player's secondary town "Falls River" is no longer Conflux but Bulwark
- All quests / accesses / heroes that had "placeholder" creatures / heroes while waiting have been updated for Bulwark
- NEW Teal player can now play Conflux (or Necropolis).
- NEW: special zones for "T6 specialists", similar to what exists for T4 and T5 creature specialists. Requires the black key for these new zones.
- The mysterious Elite Archer specialist hero is now level 10, fully equipped with artifacts, and with creature dwellings behind him that fill up from the first week...
- A new hero specialized in +350 gold with Estate is available to free in the Bloodbath area
- A new custom hero makes his appearance: Hieu Tran (replaces Elmore), new speedrun record holder with 62 days (surpassing Mundus who had 64 days). If you manage to do better, you can have your custom hero. To prevent any attempt at cheating, you will need to provide me with all the saves from the Run (the daily auto-saves that can be activated via the launcher) from day 1 to day 61 or less.
- Fixed Pandora boxes for T4 specialists, the artifact given is now the Torso of the Legion (instead of the Arms of the Legion).
- Removed starting spell "View Earth" from hero "Ayden" (Heretic), replaced by "Magic Arrow"
- Added an additional troop type to a special hero so they can properly help complete a quest (this line is mysterious, that's normal).
- One of the 5 Angelic Alliance items retrievable via quest now requires 1 additional unit type for balancing reasons
- Added a shrine with "Bless" next to Teal's starting town (Necro or Conflux), for balancing reasons if the player chooses "Conflux" (All other starting castles have Bless in their level 1 guild).

This is most likely the last major update for The Mysterious Island. Minor updates are planned to update the Hall of Fame, fix any text errors or minor bugs. I will soon start creating a new map...

Minor Patch 1.4.n (16/DEC/2025)

- Updated "favorable winds" events so they now restore the hero's full movement, even if exceeding 6000 movement points (avoids back-and-forth trips to reach maximum). The cost to unlock them has been slightly increased (from 7 to 9 rare resources).
- Updated Hall of Fame, we now have 40 heroes forever inscribed in the map's history! Thank you for sharing.
- Reorganized ending events (Acknowledgements, Hall of Fame, map history).
- Added an "ending" sign, just before the final castle:

"I'd love your feedback on {maps4heroes}
--
Love this map? Support the NEXT one!
Ko-fi helps me work less, map more ;)
{ko-fi.com/papyjama}
Cheers"

== Minor Patch 1.4.m (12/DEC/2025) - Added a new custom hero "Mundus" (formerly "Spint") for his incredible consecutive speedruns and his role as map tester between version 1.3 and 1.4
- Added a timed "backup" gate to reach a Pink hero if needed.
- Modified Bloodbath teleporter area: added alternative passages "being the player of a specific faction" alongside the Gates & Guards that require having visited a Keymaster. Thus it is now possible to enter the Bloodbath area WITHOUT having visited a keymaster. Especially useful for AI, the player will have naturally visited their Keymaster before coming here.
- Removed colored gates in front of mansion passages, AI will no longer be blocked if they send a hero there without having previously visited their keymaster (previous point).
- The Black Guard before Xeron has been moved a few tiles, just in front of HoldTheDoor to prevent Xeron from randomly blocking the passage.
- The "Spirit of Oppression" artifact has been added in the 6 starting zones, requires your Master of Coin to retrieve it.
- 3 items from the Armor of the Damned set are distributed among the following heroes to rescue:

• Scout = Rib Cage
• Master of Coin = Skull Helmet
• Eagle Eye Specialist = Shield of the Yawning Dead
• For the sword... you'll have to search!

Minor Patch 1.4.l (11/DEC/2025)

- NEW: special zones for T4 creature-specialist heroes! For players who want to play a special vampire, demon... or basilisk run!
Starting at level 24, these zones give T4 specialist heroes: access to dwellings of their creature (creatures accumulate from day 1), massive XP, +5 to all primary stats.
- Improvement to zones for T5 creature-specialist heroes: required level 25 (instead of 33 before), added an additional T5 dwelling (2 instead of 1 previously) - Changed starting secondary skills for the following T4 creature-specialist heroes to make them more diverse:

• Catherine: now has Armorer (Leadership removed)
• Roland: now has First Aid and a First Aid tent (Leadership removed)
• Sorsha: unchanged
• Vey: now has First Aid and a First Aid tent (Leadership removed)
• Krellion: unchanged
• Boragus: unchanged
• Vokial: who has had First Aid since 1.4.k (replacing Artillery) now has a First Aid tent.

- Hall of Fame: Merged v1.4 scores with previous ones as score differences between versions were not significant. Sorting based on fairer criteria in terms of achievement: Difficulty > lowest day count > highest score. - Queen & King difficulty: the startup difficulty selection message now indicates AI boosts (notably the 3x primary stats on locations that increase primary stats). - Added new elements at sea to make it more attractive:

• New islets with Mansions (level 9 required)
• New locations for T4 creature-specialist heroes (similar to what existed for T5 specialists)
• Slight reduction of guards in sea garrisons of the 6 playable factions (-10% creatures except neutrals and T7) to make a sea attack possible earlier (watch out...)
• Added decorations at sea, especially in empty areas around... you'll see ;)

- Balanced dragon-slaying quests:

• Satyrs = 540 (unchanged) concerns Green, Orange and Purple players
• Mummies = 800 (unchanged) concerns Teal player
• Nomads = 1000 (instead of 600) concerns Tan player
• Trolls = 360 (instead of 250) concerns Blue player
• The same balancing ratio was applied to "retrievable" garrisons before the Nautilus.

- Replaced the Vampire dwelling in the Bloodbath area with a Wraith dwelling (to help the Vial of Lifeblood quest / nerf vampire power). - Moved an event for a Pink hero, so they are less "afraid" of the player (it's mysterious, that's normal) and added a new one-way teleport portal for the same hero.
- Bloodbath area: Improved passage with and without penalty toward Teal player.
- Added several Watering Places for faster movement.
- Added Pillars of Fire to more easily see dragons to kill.
- Changed spell in level 4 shrine on Stronghold side (Resurrection instead of Counterstrike).
- Reduced keymaster access by 1 week (2-1-1 instead of 2-2-2)
- Removed "Air Shield" spell from a Pink hero so they equip their cloak.
- Removed "Sirens" location at sea to prevent AI from bugging on it. Only 1 remains in a location where AI is very unlikely to go.
- Added 3 additional Junkmans to avoid full inventories.
- Added additional decorations in some tunnels.
- It's snowing more and more on Blue player territory... Winter is coming! - Modified the very last message of the map, before Pink player's final castle:

Thank you for playing "The Mysterious Island"!
If you'd like to support my next maps, Ko-fi helps me take time off work to create free maps faster:
ko-fi.com/papyjama
Support = Faster maps creation + some rewards for you ;)
Thanks, and see you on the next adventure!
Take care :-)
--
Papyjama

Minor Patch 1.4.j (08/NOV/2025)

- Fixed 13 gold piles that contained 50,000 gold instead of 500.

Minor Patch 1.4.i (07/NOV/2025)

Major Changes

- It is now possible to obtain the "Town Portal" spell a bit earlier... Clues have been scattered throughout the map to figure out how.
- A new building, the "Town Gate", and the spell "View Air" are now accessible after obtaining the red key.
- Starting towns for Pink and Red no longer have taverns (their heroes are already placed on the map).
- The "Eagle Eye" skill can no longer be obtained randomly. Only Eagle Eye specialist heroes (which the player must free) + 1 optional special hero still have this skill.
- Heroine "Ash" now has Basic Fire Magic instead of Basic Eagle Eye.
- The Witch Hut that taught "Eagle Eye" on the northwest island has been removed.
- Improved secondary skills for the 12 T6 specialist heroes, which were previously underdeveloped for level 6 heroes.
- The "Diplomacy" skill can no longer be obtained since all monsters are ultra aggressive. Hero Melchior has been disabled. Heroes who originally started with Diplomacy now have a new secondary skill:

• Adela now has Basic Water Magic (to match her "Bless" specialty)
• Ryland now has Basic Armorer (to make his Dendroids even sturdier)
• Cyra now has Basic Air Magic (to match her "Haste" specialty)

- Hero "Vokial", Vampire specialist, no longer has the "Artillery" secondary skill, which was unrelated to his specialty. He now has "First Aid" (to help sustain his vampires).
- Added 6 sea mines (one per faction), each producing the resource required to unlock teleporters between secondary and main towns.
- King difficulty only: slight movement and/or primary stat & creatures boost for enemy AI.
- Re-added some gold piles in the starting area that were present up to version 1.3 but removed in 1.4.

Minor Changes

- Modified two donation events near the black Keymaster so they can only be triggered once instead of infinitely.
- A Junkman has arrived in the Red territory to help avoid full inventories.
- Added a new Dragon Utopia (accessible by sea).
- Added more shipwrecks and treasures at sea.
- Fixed minor typos in texts.
- Added a few new easter eggs.
- Updated the score table (new speedrun record: 95 days on King difficulty!).

Minor Patch 1.4.h (15/OCT/2025)

- Simplified path for a "boss" hero of Red player to prevent getting lost.
- Changed T7 troop type for the same Red "boss" hero to prevent merging with identical units and becoming too powerful.
- Fixed an unintended passage behind an optional special hero.
- Fixed an unintended passage to access the Goblin recruiter on the Stronghold/Factory islet.
- "Golem Foundry" quest near Tower town "Corral" now converts more Iron Golems into Steel Golems to balance the lower generation of Diamond and Gold Golems.
- Corrected a Krapulett text with a numerical error.
- Removed an old secret passage for Teal player granting access to their T6 dwelling.
- Queen & King difficulty: one of the pirate heroes has a new anti-magic cape — now has Recanter's Cloak.
- Pirate treasure increased again! Happy hunting!
- Hall of Fame updated.
- Updated description to note that Town Portal arrives (very) late, but alternatives exist (you've been warned!).

Minor Patch 1.4.g (6/OCT/2025)

- The last optional shortcut on the map now requires only 1 special hero (optional) instead of 2.
- Reduced resource cost for certain accesses.
- Moved a Hypnotize shrine a few tiles.
- Fixed a misconfigured gold pack for Purple.
- Hall of Fame updated.
- Added 2 new locations to obtain the Sphere of Permanence.

Minor Patch 1.4.f (30/SEP/2025)

- Prologue modified: the 6 factions are now split into two categories — "isolated" and those with neighbors, more suitable for expansions.
- Friendly creatures now provide an extra hint on the location of the "Master of Coin" hero in the dungeons (1 per playable faction).
- Master of Coin's troops are now 50/50 from each faction in his territory instead of 100% from one.
- Corrected the cost of certain information from Krapulett.
- All factions now have a friendly creature suggesting digging the coasts to prevent landings (added for Orange and Blue).
- Added a message explaining to players that the northern passage near the "Corral" (Tower) town sawmill is intentional due to zealous lumberjacks (not a mapmaking mistake).
- The shortcut to directly attack Teal's main town (bypassing secondary towns) is now protected by a substantial garrison belonging to Teal (troops cannot be removed).
- Added hints about the usefulness of certain optional quests, especially those only relevant to specific factions, to avoid disappointing other players.
- Hall of Fame updated!
- Minor text fixes.

Major Patch 1.4 (23/SEP/2025)

Now Requires HotA 1.7.3+

Major Changes

- Hall of Fame now split:

1. Current version (1.4)
2. Previous versions

- Enemy T6 dwellings no longer accessible.
- Added "special universities" for T5 creature-specialist heroes. They receive troop & XP bonuses at high level (optional).
- Iron Bank access now shared between enemies (or allies + enemies in co-op).
- Wraiths required for the Vial of Lifeblood quest reduced from 666 → 404.
- The spell "Force Field" is now easier to obtain/access (but still only after attacking Red).

Garrison Rework

- Troops in anti-magic garrisons guarding Keymasters reduced ~10–20%.
- 11 new "weak" garrisons prevent early-game scout captures.
- Troops in sea garrisons reduced ~10%.

Economic Changes

- No monthly income in King difficulty; unchanged in others.
- Some gold rewards removed in King; unchanged or higher in lower difficulties.
- 6 gold mines replaced with haunted "vampire" mines producing resources to unlock teleporters.
- Gold mine access conditions adjusted (easier on low, harder on high difficulty).
- Favorable Winds by ship quest guard cost changed: more wood, stone, gold; fewer rare resources.
- T6 creature specialist heroes now cost gold (not fights), with faction-check guard placed first.
- Nautilus "pistons" costs changed: less rare resources, more wood & ore.
- Pirate treasure now much more generous in rare resources.
- Slight increase in number of shipwrecks and resources at sea.

AI Improvements

- Extra paths for playable AI (Blue, Green, Tan, Purple) to retrieve Keymaster.
- Slight AI movement boost in Queen & King in some locations.
- King only: AI gets a one-time starting boost (extra movement + a few basic troops).

Minor Changes

- "Bless" spell always present in starting town.
- Some "author's notes" integrated into story or removed / visible on lower difficulties only.
- Disabled Dungeon's Portal of Summoning for balance reasons.
- "Power of the Dragon Father" artifacts added near 6 libraries, replacing weaker ones.
- New quest available after the Vial of Dragon Blood.
- "Master of Coin" troops reduced in King, increased in other difficulties.
- 4 pink pirates ~10% weaker (Queen & King only).
- Added 2 black gates to access high seas after black Keymaster.
- T6 neutral monsters in Blue player area now ultra-aggressive to avoid joining AI.
- Efreet Sultans guarding Town Portal shrine reduced to one third.
- Peasant quest (Purple) now grants Monks on 4th completion.
- Red hero "Octavia" no longer has access to Blind, Berserk, or Armageddon.
- Rescued scouts now have base troops split 50/50 between factions.
- Secondary skill "Ballistics" now available in 2 locations.
- Secondary skill "Leadership" now available in 1 location.
- Minor text fixes.
- Hall of Fame updated.
- New easter eggs added.
- Friendly, slightly drunk pirates appear at very end to help player finish map (optional).
- 5th content creator (Lexiav) finished map; custom hero biography updated.
- New content creator, Lord Cameron, starts adventure on version 1.4 (Fortress – Green). This faction now unavailable for custom heroes. Future content creators: Dungeon, Inferno, Stronghold, Castle remain (Conflux & Bulwark later).

Minor Patch 1.3.h (2/SEP/2025)

- Hero "Fafner" renamed "Lexiav" (first streamer to play Tower).
- List of first-streamer/YouTuber custom heroes updated.
- Troop & gold generation increased in Easy/Pawn weekly starting castle.
- Small week 3 boost for AI on King only.
- Fixed shortcut for Blue to help AI navigation.
- Tier 6 heroes: starting troop counts slightly nerfed; secondary skills no longer maxed when released from prison.
- Fixed minor events wrongly assigned to humans instead of AI.
- Added anti-pirate filter in Northern Sea.

Minor Patch 1.3.g (27/AUG/2025)

- Pirate schemes revised; returning streamers have surprise.
- Added several return portals.
- All 12 Tier 6-specialized heroes now receive: +1 evolved unit, -2 non-evolved units.
- Removed Rank 6 monsters from docks of underground rivers.
- Fixed minor text errors.
- Corrected troop type in one Orange garrison.

Minor Patch 1.3.f (25/AUG/2025)

- Balanced Cape of Velocity access; no random appearances elsewhere.
- Neutral town Port Balloon garrison more heavily defended.
- Added shortcut to Orange base for repeatable Butcher quest.
- Optional late-game shortcut to quickly retake two Pirate Castles if AI captures them.
- Adjusted repeatable quest at Teal's base (Sprites → Skeletons).
- "Force Field" spell less accessible on Queen & King (still obtainable around same progression).
- Added 4 extra Legion parts to ensure Statue of Legion assembly.
- New endgame surprise for replay comfort.
- Reminder messages at each enemy Keymaster: unlock grants reward, fast travel via Mansions, progression toward main objective.
- Hero rescue quest message appears 1 month earlier.
- Co-op version: slight buff to all AI, moderate buff to Red.
- Updated scoreboard.

Minor Patch 1.3.e

- Fixed bug preventing one Red hero from progressing.
- Orange player now has Satyrs for garrisons and dragon-slaying quest.
- Quest guards in front of Dragon Utopias show correct custom text.
- Added signs & in-game message encouraging players to sell minor artifacts (not required for quests).
- AI players now gain same extra movement bonus as humans in Bloodbath area (without movement penalty).
- Added teleporters for quick return to Bloodbath center after visiting each resource.

Major Patch 1.3

- Level 6–7 creature dwellings in player territory from day 1; enemy strength adjusted.
- Added 7 new archipelagos (6 factions + Iron Bank). Each island aids Part III adventure.
- Dwarven Treasury relocated to Iron Bank.
- Orange can choose Inferno/Dungeon; first Red castle adjusted.
- New special village added for Red player.
- New heroes to rescue: 2 Tier-6 specialists.
- Blue (Tower) Genie specialist hero rescue included.
- Logbook/journal added at end of each month.
- Minor changes: treasure hunt quest, speedrunner surprise, blue player unit exchange, 9th yellow portal, optional secret passage, faction behavior fixes, Skeleton Transformer adjustment, green sea portal repurposed, Bloodbath zone adjustments, 6 red dragons diversified, unique items replaced/removed, text corrections, Hall of Fame update, Easter eggs.

Minor Patch 1.2.l (02/JUL/2025)

- New quest: "My Sheep Have Run Amok!"
- Updated Hall of Fame.
- Removed rarely used events.
- Added 9 favorable wind zones to unlock.
- Startup message for difficulty guidance.
- AI alternative paths & bug fixes.

Minor Patch 1.2.k (29/JUN/2025)

- Updated leaderboard.
- Spell Hypnotize harder on difficulty 5.
- Reduced garrison strength at 6 ports (~10%).
- Fixed missing spells for Red heroes.
- Balanced guards in front of witch's hut.
- Moved Cover of Darkness causing AI bugs.
- Easiest difficulty reactivated.
- New Easter eggs added.

Major Patch 1.2

- Endgame overhaul & events redesign.
- Volcano event replaced by pirate attack.
- Red towns locked until final boss.
- Inferno town restricted; spell distribution adjusted.
- Pirate naval progression reworked.
- Blue faction rebalanced; Teal/Conflux restrictions.
- Pendants of Negativity added to reduce RNG.
- Faction artifact quest line implemented.
- Scouting heroes start with Pathfinding & Equestrian's Gloves.
- Northern underground university added.
- Lore texts & timed text revisions.
- Hall of Fame updated.
- Fewer dragons on paths to Captain Nemo.
- Sea garrisons added.
- Primary skill spots added at sea.
- Creature requirements updated for Vial of Lifeblood quests.

Minor Patch 1.1.d

- Hotfix: Fafner secondary skill corrected.

Major Patch 1.1.c (27/APR/2025)

- Revamped teleporter system (two-way, 3 cities per zone).
- Bloodbath access reworked (one-way portal chain).
- Final boss access redesigned; new riddle.
- Difficulty adjustments: Queen/King harder; casual easier.
- 3 new hero rescues.
- Boat shortcuts & secret passages added.
- Story-driven events