Squad Busters December 2024 update patch notes: New game modes, Squad League changes, and more

The Squad Busters December 2024 update brings significant changes, featuring two new game modes, a festive Christmas event, and a revamped reward system. Players will no longer accumulate Chest Tickets or have their winning streaks tracked. Instead, they will earn rewards after every match, provided they finish in the top 8.

This article provides the entire patch notes of the Squad Busters December 2024 update.

New game modes in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

The Showdown game mode (Image via Supercell)

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1) Showdown

Showdown is a new 5-player game mode where the objective is to be the last Squad standing.
The Coin Mine in the middle can make you rich fast, but beware: others might want the same thing!
Mega Potions spawn around the Map and provide instant benefits when picked up, including healing the Squad and giving temporary boosts to speed, attacking, and damage resistance.
Squads have a Squad Health Bar above them along with a number indicating the total number of Characters currently belonging to the Squad.
Busting other players is more lucrative than ever! Busting Characters can get you a lot of Coins. You’ll also get more Coins for Busting Squads the bigger they are!
Golden Boxes have replaced Blue Boxes and give some Coins instead of granting you Turbo Boots.
Chests respawn faster and upgrade to higher rarity levels sooner to facilitate snappier Squad building. The minimum cost of Chests rises as the Battle progresses, but keep an eye out for random Free Chests if you find yourself short on Coins!
Vines are more unpredictable and quickly close in on a different position in every battle. Take too long and angry Vines will cover the whole map - watch out!
Parties are not supported at this time.
Trader and Bandit will not appear in Chests.
Certain Battle Mods will not appear for Showdown: Whack-A-Mole, Epic Overload, Angry Vines, Timeout, Gem Overload, 1-Coin Chests, Ring Grab, Gem Hot Pot, Crystal Forest, Hathcling Herder, Loot Machines.

2) Duo Gem Hunt

Duo Gem Hunt introduced in the Squad Busters December 2024 update is all about hunting for Gems together with another player. Victory is rewarded for beating 3 other teams in a match.
Four teams of two players compete against each other in a race to collect the most Gems before time runs out.
You’re in it together! Help each other or divide and conquer – what counts is the total number of Gems you and your teammate hold at the end of the Battle.
Work together by using Heal Spells, Rage Spells, and other area-of-effect buffs for mutual benefit.
Get busted early? Just respawn! As long as both teammates haven’t been Busted, you still have a chance. When respawning, you can pick a number of characters to start with. The further along the Battle, the more characters you will get!

Squad League changes in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Squad League changes (Image via Supercell)

Squad League has been moved from the end of the World Journey to its own ranked mode, and replaced by the Treasure Room.
The mode in Squad League is a 10-player Gem Hunt but features player-made Lineups and Trophy gain/loss based on position.
Squad League unlocks when the player unlocks 5 Characters of each rarity so that they can build a Lineup.
Parties are not supported, to keep the competition fair.
Gaining and losing Trophies is based on position and is more aggressive than previously, meaning that you lose more Trophies than previously on lower placements.
The first Squad League Season kicks off on December 16th and runs until February 1. Starting after that, new seasons will launch monthly. More information about end-of-season rewards is coming later on!

Also read: Squad Busters Squad update details

Reward changes in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Daily Win Rewards will be tracked on top of the Play Button. The track is 6 Wins long with a Gift Package at 2, 4, and 6 Wins.
Winning placements depend on the game mode played. Placements required for winning rewards depend on different modes(top 5 in Solo Gem Hunt and Squad League, top 2 in Showdown, top 2 teams in Duo Gem Hunt).
The Gift package is a random Reward that you gain at the end of the Battle flow. It can contain various Rewards from guaranteed Chest Multipliers to Coins, Style Tickets, and Star Tokens.
You’ll still get a bunch of Portal Energy for your first Win of the day, too!
Daily Win Rewards and your progress towards them reset every 24 hours.

Chest Ticket removal in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Chest Tickets will be removed from Squad Busters and will no longer be needed to earn Chests from Battles.
All players will receive 2000 Coins per Chest Ticket they own when they log in for the first time after the update.
Places where Chest Tickets were used as Rewards have been backfilled with other Rewards of similar value.

Win streak removal in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Wins will no longer contribute to a Win Streak.
Your highest Win Streak will be preserved on your Player Profile as a legacy achievement.
Every player who has hit Win Streak milestones of 0-9, 10, 25, 50, and 100 will be delivered exclusive Emotes as a farewell gift.

Chest Taps and battle loot changes in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

The amount of Chest Taps given out for different placements has been completely reworked due to the removal of Win Streaks and Chest Tickets.
All placements give out more Chest Taps than previously, with the exception of last placements that do not give a Chest at all.
The maximum number of Chest Taps you can earn from a Battle is now 9 (compared to 8 previously).
Top placements earn similar numbers of Gems, Portal Energy, and XP regardless of game mode and the Rewards for other positions have been scaled according to the number of players in each mode.

Treasure Room modification in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

The Treasure Room replaces the old Squad League as the final World in the World Journey.
As before, you will be able to progress in the Treasure Room and unlock Rewards by collecting Portal Energy from Battles and the Achievements Book.

Jolly Holiday event revealed in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Find Candy Canes in battle to open Winter Chests during this time-limited holiday Event!
Candy Canes drop from busted Monsters, but especially from Gift Critters. The Gift Critter modifier is also more likely to appear during the Event.
Prizes include special holiday-themed Skins such as Gingersnap Goblin, Nutcracker Greg, Plush Nita, and Arctic Barbarian King!

Also read: Squad Busters tier list: Best characters to build your Squad with

Balance changes in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

Barbarian receives a buff (Image via Supercell)

Characters and monsters

These characters have been buffed in terms of Health and DPS (damage per second):

Archer: Small Health increase, moderate DPS increase. Arrow Volley Damage moderately increased in the Squad Busters December 2024 update.
Bandit: Small DPS increase.
Barbarian: Small Health increase, small DPS increase.
Battle Healer: Small Health increase, large DPS increase.
Bea: Moderate Health increase, moderate DPS increase. Bee Damage moderately increased in the Squad Busters December 2024 update.
Bo: Small Health increase, large DPS increase. Damage to Monsters increased further in Classic form whereas in Ultra form, there is a large increase in extra Mine Damage to monsters in the Squad Busters December 2024 update.
Chicken: Moderate Health increase, moderate DPS increase.
Colonel Ruffs: Small Health increase, small DPS increase.
Colt: Small Health increase, moderate DPS increase. Bullet Storm Damage moderately increased.
Dynamike: Small Health increase, moderate DPS increase. Barrel Bomb Damage slightly increased in the Ultimate form in Squad Busters December 2024 update.
Goblin: Tiny Health increase, moderate DPS increase.
Heavy: Small Health increase, small DPS increase. Charged-up DPS moderately increased.
Ice Wizard: small Health increase, small DPS increase. Ice Fan Damage slightly increased.
Jessie: Small Health increase, small DPS increase.
Leon: Small Health increase, small DPS increase.
Max: Moderate Health increase, moderate DPS increase.
Miner: Small Health increase, moderate DPS increase. Burrow and Eruption Damage moderately increased.
Mortis: Moderate Health increase, moderate DPS increase.
Nita: Moderate Health increase, huge DPS increase.
Pam: Moderate Health increase.
Penny: tiny Health increase, small DPS increase.
Shelly: small Health increase, small DPS increase. Super Shell Damage moderately increased.
Witch: small Health increase, moderate DPS increase.
Wizard: small Health increase, moderate DPS increase.

The following characters have both buffs and changes to their Abilities:

Archer Queen: Small Health increase, large DPS increase. Attack Speed bonus to Ranged units has been moderately reduced, to increase the relevance of other ranged Characters in Lineups. In Classic form, exploding Arrow damage moderately increased.
Barbarian King: Small Health increase, small DPS increase. Attack Speed bonus to Melee units has been moderately reduced, to increase the relevance of other melee Characters in Lineups in the Squad Busters December 2024 update.
Frank: Small Health increase, moderate DPS increase. In Super form, Frank will charge much faster when taking damage, making it much more reliable to reach full charge during intense fighting. In Ultra form, Super Shockwave DPS moderately increased.

Spells

Direct attack Spells are also getting a large boost to Damage:

Lightning Spell: Large Damage increase
Bomb Spell: Moderate Damage increase
Log Spell: Small Damage increase

Gameplay balancing

Busting other players in Gem Hunt and Gem Hunt Duo is now more rewarding than ever! Busting Characters will get you a lot of Gems, even if the Squad isn’t holding many. You’ll get even more Gems for Busting Characters during the Final Stretch!
Lucky Find chances now ramp up gradually, instead of suddenly at 2:00, to make it a less reliable strategy to optimize for early Lucky Finds.
Damage from Vines has been increased and ramps more aggressively, to increase their impact on the Battle.
Hog Rider no longer gains a burst of Turbo from Vines to preserve the threat of Vines in Showdown.
In Battle Mod: Ring Grab, Squads drop only 1 Gem Ring at a time when a Character is Busted.
In Battle Mod: Loot Goblin Rush, Loot Goblins have a much higher chance to drop a Turbo Boot.

Bug fixes and improvements in the Squad Busters December 2024 update

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In Battle Mod: Loot Machines, Loot Machines are no longer destroyed if you try to open them with a Key, but don’t have enough Coins.
Spell Stick: Accuracy of Spell aiming has been improved.
Enhanced new players' experience.
The Plaza button layout has received a makeover for ease of use with a handy new game mode selection.
The flow for Teaming Up with other players has been reworked to support new game modes.
Weekly Quests and Achievements Book have been merged into a new Quests button.
Player profile pictures are now much larger and featured at the start of every Battle.
Daily Win Rewards are tracked during Battle results, which now also support the new game modes.

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Edited by Dinesh Renthlei