AFK Journey Version 1.1.17 Update: New Heroes, Fishing, and Major Fixes

I've been following the AFK Journey patch cycle closely, and Version 1.1.17 is one of those updates that touches almost every corner of the game. The maintenance window is set for August 2 from 7:00 to 8:00 UTC, and you will not be able to log in during that time. I always recommend finishing any important battles before the servers go down and making sure your account is safely exited to avoid data issues.

The headline addition for me is the expanded All Heroes Available event. Talene, Phraesto, Florabelle, Alsa, Soren, Ulmus, and Ludovic are joining the hero list. The login requirement for a hero draw is dropping from 7 days to 5 days, which means faster access to rewards. The developers will also provide compensation based on your event progress within three business days after the update, so if you already pushed through the old schedule, keep an eye on your mailbox.

I also like that the new-player flow is getting some attention. In Starter Story, the unlock conditions for map areas, Arcane Labyrinth, and Trial of Abyss are being adjusted. The Training Manual rewards in Primal Lord are changing as well. One quality-of-life tweak stands out: the starting level of Resonance Synergy will now display as 0 instead of 240. That sounds like a nerf at first, but the stats and level-up bonuses remain the same, so it is purely a clearer visual representation.

Beyond the early game, there is a new Hero Affinity reward tier that grants an Invite Letter when reached. That small change matters because Invite Letters feed directly into the summoning loop. The update also adds new skins for Odie and Cecia, plus new summer-themed skins in Cosmetics, which should give collectors something to chase.

The new fishing mode might be my favorite addition. You can now fish at specific Fishing Spots on the map. I'm hoping it adds a relaxing loop between AFK battles rather than just another menu system. There is also a new Story Quest called Before It Rains, so lore-focused players have fresh content to explore.

Several system changes should make daily play less frustrating. The ability to reclaim unused Instant AFK rewards from the past few days is a huge relief for anyone who forgets to collect before reset. New Daily Quests will provide extra rewards, and skill descriptions are getting images for key elements, which should make complex mechanics easier to understand. In Arena and Supreme Arena, you can mark friends and Guild members with tags, and in Dream Realm and Primal Lord, you can view challenge records. There is even a feature that can automatically change the heroes in your Squad, which should reduce manual swapping in certain modes.

I've also been asking for less visual disruption during fights, so I'm glad the screen brightness changes when heroes use Ultimates are being reduced in certain modes. The Tap to cast Ultimate option will now be disabled by default, but you can turn it back on in Settings if you prefer active control. For players below the top 100 on a server, Temporal Shards are being added to Dream Realm daily ranking rewards, and you can craft 10 Temporal Shards into 1 Temporal Essence. That makes the ranking grind more meaningful even if you are not pushing for the very top.

The patch also includes a long list of fixes and optimizations. The Arcane Labyrinth Merc Captain was too difficult because of frequent healing skills, so that encounter is being toned down. Some Solo Crucible challenges are having their combat difficulty adjusted so you can better use the buffs they provide. Certain AFK Stage battlefields are getting art improvements, and the display logic for viewable players on the map is being optimized. Red dot prompts should behave more logically, which I appreciate because unnecessary red dots have been a constant annoyance. New players will also get updated default recommended heroes for the Hero Wish List. The push boulder and pressure plate puzzles will disappear once solved, which is a clean map design change. Finally, a beta version of split-screen and multi-window mode is available on select Android devices, assuming you have the latest game version.

Hero balance is always the most sensitive part of a patch, and Version 1.1.17 includes several targeted fixes:

• Lyca – Keeper of Glades: The Nova Fall skill description is being corrected to match its actual effects.

• Thoran – The Fallen King: His Resurrection skill description is being optimized, but the actual effect stays the same.

• Shakir – Furious Howl: His Ravaging Claws Ultimate will no longer land on top of an enemy before being pushed aside in a fixed direction during auto-cast.

• Talene – Resurging Flame: Her Divine Conflagration Ultimate will now properly benefit from her Ultimate Power attribute. The target tile selection in the Skyclops Dream Realm fight is also improved so she can eliminate summons more efficiently.

• Ludovic – Wreathed Eternalist: His Ethereal Blooms skill will prioritize covering the weakest ally while covering as many enemies and allies as possible.

• Satrana – Ember Enchantress: Her Ignite Passions skill will now reliably ignite enemies who can revive, such as Thoran.

• Granny Dahnie – Forest Guardian: Her Haste will no longer reduce the control duration of her Threshold of Jade Ultimate on enemies.

• Viperian – Shadow Serpent: A Battle Drills issue that caused him to burn more HP than usual when creating Darkvipers is being fixed.

There are also a couple of display and item fixes worth noting. Power values will no longer appear abnormally high in certain modes after entering areas like Trial of Abyss. If your Power seems lower after the fix, do not panic: it is only a display adjustment, and your actual stats remain unchanged. Recruitment results will also be shown in the correct order without changing your actual pulls.

On the equipment side, some Epic Equipment is getting a strength increase, and using an Artifact that benefits only a specific hero will boost that hero's chances of appearing in the store. That is a welcome change for targeted team building.

Overall, this update feels like a broad quality-of-life pass rather than a single massive feature drop. The new fishing mode and expanded hero list are the obvious highlights, but the smaller fixes—auto squad changes, better skill descriptions, reduced red dot spam, and the Instant AFK reclamation feature—are what I expect to improve the daily experience the most. I'll be logging in right after maintenance to test the new event timing, check the fishing spots, and see whether the Talene and Viperian fixes make a noticeable difference in my rotations.