The 1.1.14 update for AFK Journey is arriving on May 10, introducing the new Song of Strife season to eligible servers. The update patch notes reveal major additions coming with the game’s first seasonal update, but the real highlights are the buffs to Smokey & Meerky.
AFK Journey 1.1.14 patch notes, explained
All of AFK Journey’s new seasonal content in the 1.1.14 patch notes is cute and interesting, but why on earth would the only significant change to the 46-character roster be making Smokey & Meerky’s aroma continue through Immobilizing and Blinding effects?
The developer refers to these effects as “non-interruptive control effects,” and that’s why the duo should be able to continue using its aroma cloud through them. This means characters like Atalanta, Eironn, and Korin now can’t stop the duo’s massive healing with the same effectiveness, which might not seem like a big deal at first, but it further limits the team compositions you can use against Smokey & Meerky teams in Arena and other PvP modes. Cecia, the most common counter to the duo, fortunately applies Entangle, so she will continue to interrupt their healing.
Other heroes like Vala, Cassadee, and Damian received minor adjustments and bug fixes. Florabelle got a small buff as well, with the removal of the cooldown for the activation of Protective Blessing, which will make her Mythic+ versions even stronger.
While it’s nice to enter a new AFK Journey season knowing the power balance will be very similar to how it’s been since launch, it’s disappointing to not see Lilith Games experiment with even minor tweaks to some heroes’ power. For now, it’s likely we’ll continue to see the usual Brutus, Antandra, Rowan, Koko, and Cecia team compositions dominate both AFK and PvE stages. These are the only team compositions that can effectively win high-level stages even when severely under-leveled, turning them into a way for free-to-play players to cheese fights and speed up their progression.
We’ll have to wait and see how heroes from the next banner, Alsa and Soren, will fit into the AFK Journey meta.
