Bellring Games has opened Solo Mode for Brandrgarde with the September 3 update. It's the single most requested feature since launch, and the studio bundled it with the fourth class balance pass and a long list of smaller fixes.

Solo Mode For Brandrgarde: What Changed

Brandrgarde now supports solo matchmaking on both Normal and Cataclysm as of September 3. The update shipped with no downtime at 08:00 UTC, though a client update through your platform's store is still required.

Bellring first confirmed the feature back on August 5 as part of the Wave 3 roadmap, framing it then as arriving "in the middle of Season 1 in September". It actually landed roughly four weeks after that announcement, closer to the front of the month than the middle: players waited a little longer than the original wording suggested.

The developers were upfront about the trade-off, too. Adding two new queues splits the playerbase further and introduces fresh balance questions for solo play, something Bellring says it will keep evaluating. No queue health numbers have been shared yet.

One line buried in the same patch already shows how seriously the studio is treating that split: Blackarrow's Steel Arrow cooldown got a reduction, but a noticeably larger one in Trio Mode than in Solo Mode. It's the first patch note ever to tune a number differently per queue, and it landed on the exact day the Brandrgarde solo queues opened.

Class Balance: Shadowstrix Takes The Hit, Sorcerer Gets A Boost

The fourth balance pass since launch lands hardest on Shadowstrix. Both Phantom Shift and the Free Movement talent get a longer wind-up, and a charged Flurry Strike now drains Energy continuously instead of being free to hold indefinitely. Bellring names the target directly: zero-cost pressure from players sitting in a charge state without any downside.

Two small Energy refunds soften the blow, one on a charged Flurry Strike under the Deep Charge talent, another at maximum Wound Buildup stacks.

Sorcerer comes out ahead this time. Thunderstrike loses its damage falloff toward the edge of its area entirely, so edge hits now deal the same damage as a direct centre hit. It's the biggest single change to any damage profile in this patch.

Mercenary gets a smaller but useful buff too: Perfect Block now staggers enemies harder, making follow-up damage after a block more consistent, and Block Damage Boost grants a bigger shield in Trio Mode. Paired with the August 28 change that stripped invincibility frames from Mercenary's dodges, the class is clearly being nudged away from dodging and toward blocking.

Season And Contract Tasks: The Grind Got Lighter On August 28

The previous update, on August 28, already eased the task grind, and the September 3 post confirms it as a finished pass rather than an ongoing one. Season Tasks now ask for fewer kills, and difficulty-mode restrictions that used to force players into a harder setting are gone.

The tasks that required players to "execute" enemy Gyldhunters got the biggest rework: a regular kill counts now, and the required number went down too. That condition was arguably the most frustrating one in the whole season, since an execution depends on the enemy squad's behaviour rather than your own aim.

A few more changes from the same pass:

  • Equipment value became equipment rarity: instead of a market-driven value threshold, tasks now check for a rarity tier, a far more predictable condition.
  • Contract Tasks: most completion counts went down, container-search objectives were removed entirely, and tactical-item tasks now accept any tactical item instead of one specific type.
  • Daily Task reward: raised from 30 to 40 Contract Sigils, a one-third increase on the task most players complete every single day.

Oceania Server, Elevator Railings, And An Anniversary Mail

Beyond Solo Mode and balance, the September 3 patch carries a handful of smaller but genuinely useful changes. Safety railings now line every elevator platform inside the towers, stopping accidental falls that used to end runs before they'd even started.

The red indicator above enemy players was also retuned so their gear level is readable at a glance, a small thing that matters more in solo play, where there's no teammate to call it out for you.

The August 28 update, referenced again here, also added a new Oceania server, the first regional addition since launch. Enemy nameplates disappeared from matches to cut down on cross-teaming, and Soul of Return now caps at a single stack, protecting players from having it stolen or destroyed by griefers.

To mark one month since launch, Bellring is handing out three days of anniversary mail: Pip's Rare Pouch Voucher (3 Days) plus a Pro Combat Bag on September 3, a Rare Repair Kit (7 Days) plus another Pro Combat Bag on September 4, and a Premium Legendary Material Selection Chest with an Elite Combat Bag on September 5. Reach level 5 before 16:00 UTC on September 13 to claim all three.

Is Mistfall Hunter's Solo Mode offline or PvE-only?
No. Solo runs are still fully online and share the same servers as the group modes. Playing alone still means facing the usual Corroded monsters and rival Hunters running in their own squads.

Which difficulties support the new Solo Mode?
Normal and Cataclysm, both of Brandrgarde's difficulty settings. Hallowgrove has supported solo matchmaking since launch; Brandrgarde was trio-only until September 3.

Did the Season and Contract Tasks actually get easier?
Yes, starting with the August 28 update. Bellring reduced kill requirements, softened "execute" conditions down to a simple "defeat", and raised the Daily Task reward from 30 to 40 Contract Sigils.