Advanced Server 2.1.78 — Argus Auto-Ults, Ruby Hits Like A Truck, And Hirara Loses Her Ultimate

⚠️ Advanced Server only. None of this is live yet. Numbers can — and often do — shift before global release. Treat this as a preview, not a guide.

TL;DR

• Argus revamped into a fighter. Passive dash + 200 melee synergy, S1 slow, S2 grants AS + half-cost passive + crit, ult auto-fires on fatal damage if off cooldown.
• Ruby rebuilt around missing-HP lifesteal (scales up to 150%), with massive S1 side-hit and ult damage buffs — but ult cooldown is longer.
• Hirara loses her ultimate entirely. Full mechanics revamp: Crimson/Death energy reworked, S1↔S2 swapped, plays with two skills only.
• Lolita's last-week (2.1.77) changes reverted. Back to familiar Lolita.
• Support mana-economy pass: Rafaela / Estes / Angela / Floryn all cheaper to cast.
• Skill caching system-wide: enhanced basic attacks no longer get cancelled by follow-up skill inputs.

Directory

• Status & caveats
• The big reworks
  • Argus — auto-ult fighter pivot
  • Ruby — missing-HP damage rebuild
  • Hirara — full mechanics revamp
• Masha — earlier-cycle revamp, now confirmed
• Support mana-economy pass
• Other adjustments
• Battlefield & system
• Sources

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Status & caveats

Kazuki explicitly tags the patch as 2.1.78 on the advanced server. Elgin's two videos cover the same AS pass without naming it. None of this is live; expect at least one more iteration before global ship. The earlier AS cycle (Masha/Saber/Marcel) is covered in the previous AS preview — Masha appears in both because the revamp carried forward.

One whisper-attribution caveat: Kazuki credits a third hero with an "enhanced basic attack button glow after ult" QoL change, transcribed as "Iksha"/"Aeksha" — almost certainly Ixia, but flagged here as *[verify against patch notes]* since neither source spells it on screen.

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The big reworks

Argus — auto-ult fighter pivot

Moonton's stated goal: shift Argus from assassin-leaning into early-to-mid-game fighter with smoother scaling.

"Argus can no longer be easily deleted by high damage burst attacks." — Elgin

[source · 2026-05-01 · current] [source · 2026-05-02 · current]

Read: if this lands, Argus jumps from B-tier into S-tier ban-priority territory. Anti-heal still hard-counters him; Atlas/Khufra still suspend dashes through the auto-ult.

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Ruby — missing-HP damage rebuild

Devs felt Ruby's damage was too low; they buffed her damage but rebalanced sustain to keep her low-HP-survival identity.

• Spell vamp removed at base + base spell vamp ratio reduced.
• Lifesteal ratio scales with missing HP — increases by 1% per 1% HP lost, up to ~150%. Closer to dying = more lifesteal.
• Basic attacks now trigger lifesteal again — more natural fight sustain.
• S1 side-hit damage ⬆️ massively. Shockwave portion improved.
• Ult damage ⬆️ massively, but CD increased — commit windows hit harder, can't spam.

[source · 2026-05-01 · current] [source · 2026-05-02 · current]

Read: Ruby fighter pivot. No longer just sustain — enemies have to respect her damage now.

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Hirara — full mechanics revamp

The most disruptive change in the patch. Hirara is rebuilt from the ground up:

• Energy system reworked. Crimson + Death energy caps lowered. Basic skills no longer consume energy; combo skills consume once. Old immobilize-on-cast removed. Energy recovery now tied to S1 cooldown.
• S1 ↔ S2 positions swapped, then the combo system was rebuilt:
  • One combo moves in the joystick direction with a damaging spin + immobilize.
  • The other combo grants short invulnerability + heavy damage and lets her keep moving after.
• Ultimate removed entirely. Hirara now plays with only two skills — leveling one increases damage, leveling the other reduces cooldown.

"They swept the position of skill 1 and skill 2 then rebuilt the combo system... her ultimate is removed completely." — Kazuki

[source · 2026-05-02 · current] [verify exact skill names + numbers against patch notes]

Read: treat Hirara as a brand-new hero on launch. Any tier read on her right now is speculative.

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Masha — earlier-cycle revamp, now confirmed

Masha's revamp showed up in the earlier AS cycle and carries into 2.1.78 with cleaner naming. Three-part passive Primal Pack:

1. Bear's Blessing: 3 HP bars (dies only when all 3 are gone). HP-bar depletion removes CC, blocks the lethal hit, and grants fury. Out-of-combat fury → HP regen.
2. Power of Wildness: damaging enemy heroes leaves a wound mark. Attacking from the marked direction breaks it → bonus damage + heal + new wound nearby.
3. Feral State: breaking 3 wounds quickly enters Feral State (CC reduction, AS+MS up, every attack breaks wounds).

Skill names confirmed:

• S1 — Feral Swipe — line damage + 1s slow + wound mark.
• S2 — Claw Strike — dash + enhanced basic that releases a shockwave.
• Ult — Savage Maul — charge to enemy hero, 1s stun + knockback on nearby enemies.

Build (Elgin's gameplay test): attack-speed (or Trinity vs tankier comps), emblem Rapture + Master Assassin + Warcry.

"Old Masha was mostly about split-pushing... revamped Masha is now more focused on fighting, chasing enemies, and staying longer in combat." — Elgin

[source · 2026-05-01 · current] [source · 2026-05-01 · current]

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Support mana-economy pass

The whole pool got cheaper to cast. No new mechanics, just runway.

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Other adjustments

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Battlefield & system

Mostly clarity and control-feel — not balance.

• Skill caching (system-wide): enhanced basic attacks for a broad list of heroes now cache. Queueing another skill no longer cancels a charged enhanced AA. Many heroes will feel smoother instantly.
• Visual indicators (QoL): Pharsa's ult button glows post-ult; Harith's S2 icon glows after ult; Ixia's [verify] enhanced-AA button glows after ult. No mechanical changes — just easier to track ult states in messy fights.
• Nowhere to Hide (test mode only): midline crystal locations adjusted; crystals behind the Lord pit removed for cleaner testing.
• Fire Turtle (test mode only): Light Turtle attribute buffed — bigger threat when pushing solo.
• Roaming hero highlight notifications: unique per-hero highlight notifications added to a starting set of roamers; more heroes to follow.

[source · 2026-05-02 · current]

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Aggregate read

Big winners: Argus, Ruby, Masha, Hirara. Argus and Ruby in particular look like ban-priority candidates if numbers ship close to as-is. Hirara is a full reset — re-evaluate from zero. Support mana-economy pass is welcome but quiet. Skill caching is the sleeper system change — anyone who plays Aldous, Sun, Yi Sun-shin, Aulus, or any other enhanced-AA hero should notice it immediately.

Anti-heal stays mandatory.

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Sources

• Elgin — "Argus, Ruby, and Supports Got BIG Changes on the Advanced Server", 2026-05-01. [source · 2026-05-01 · current]
• Elgin — "Revamped Masha Is a Different Beast Now", 2026-05-01. [source · 2026-05-01 · current]
• Kazuki Official — "BIG UPDATE: ARGUS AUTO ULT? | 11 HERO CHANGES | FREE ROGER SPECIAL SKIN & MANY MORE", 2026-05-02. [source · 2026-05-02 · current]

Fan-made digest, advanced-server only. Numbers will shift. Re-check after the live patch ships.