Early Access Balance Patch V0.9.1

Happy Friday Champions! Let's jump right in with what you can expect from Predecessor V0.9.1!

The goal of this balance pass is to fine-tune various outlier Heroes & Items, with some post-release adjustments to TwinBlast and his Ventilate dominance, as well as some additional changes aimed at toning down the oppressiveness of Dekker’s close range crowd control. And of course, what would a balance pass be without a slew of item adjustments?

In the absence of larger balance changes this patch, you can look forward to a subset of Assassin Item reworks dropping in a few weeks alongside V0.10, as well as some broader Gameplay & Itemisation shifts on the horizon as we approach Season 3 and beyond.

Speaking of going beyond, it’s full steam ahead here at Omeda HQ as we prepare for V0.10 and the release of our next Predecessor Original Hero - known throughout the lands as the devastating Champion Of Nyr! What are you hoping to see from this brutal new Hero?

Until next time,

~ Rei, Game Designer

Matchmaking Improvements

Thanks to your feedback and using the data at our disposal, it's become clear that our current matchmaking adjustment factor for parties needed work.  The adjustment is extremely effective at balancing out parties of 2 and 3 in most skill ranges, but the max adjustment for parties of 4 and 5 has just proven to be too strong for teams of newer players (and not strong enough for very skilled parties).

Luckily we've been working on a brand new system, which we'll be unveiling in V0.9.1!

This new system uses a formula that accounts for both the party size and the party’s average Matchmaking Rating when calculating the adjustment factor, and is scaled to better align with the match data we’ve collected over recent months.

This should be much more forgiving of newer players, but does mean there might be a slight increase in queue times for large parties of our best players as the system attempts to compensate for their advantage.  

Learn more about additional matchmaking improvements we're working on in a dedicated Matchmaking Blog which we're aiming to share on Monday!

STORE

Monarch Murdock

This is a red-hot new skin that is definitely worth getting hot and bothered about!

Fire upon enemies in style with the new Monarch Murdock Skin [Common], arriving in store with V0.9.1!

BALANCE CHANGES

HEROES

We’re making some changes to the efficacy of Dekker’s overall lockdown in a bid to increase the counterplay available to her crowd control potential. By normalizing the Minimum Stun Duration of her Stasis Bomb, Dekker will no longer be overly rewarded at short ranges in the late-game (the maximum duration still increases with rank), especially after a Blink or Rifties pull. 

Stasis Bomb [RMB]:

◆ Minimum Stun Duration changed from 0.6/0.7/0.8/0.9/1s to 0.75s at all ranks.

Containment Fence [E]: 

◆ Duration decreased from 2.4/2.6/2.8/3/3.2s to 2.4/2.55/2.7/2.85/3s.

Gideon’s Mana Costs leave him feeling rather restricted in the mid-to-late-game, constantly running dry even with a heavy Mana build. To remedy this, we’re trimming back some of his Ability Costs at the expense of a small damage nerf to better facilitate his spell-slinging identity.

General:

◆ Base Mana decreased from 420 to 380.
◆ Base Mana Regeneration increased from 1.3 to 1.5.

Cosmic Rift [Q]:

◆ Mana Cost decreased from 80/90/100/110/120 to 80/85/90/95/100.
◆ Damage decreased from 100/160/220/280/340 to 100/155/210/265/320.

Void Breach [RMB]:

◆ Mana Cost decreased from 60/70/80/90/100  to 60/65/70/75/80.

Greystone struggles in the earlier stages of the game due to a lower Base Stat profile. By adjusting his Growth Scalar (a lever we use to distribute Stat Growths), Greystone will be receiving slightly more stats upfront when he levels up, and should find himself enjoying a more stable early-game. 

General:

◆ Growth Scalar from Levels 1-18 increased from 77-123% to 82-118%.
◆ Physical Power Growth increased from 2.8 to 3.2.

While Phase’s identity as a pocket Enchanter is great, currently she can sit back a bit too safely while still having access to her Pull. To bring better balance to the safety she provides we’re adjusting the range at which Phase can switch targets with her Link, as well as reducing the break range. This will result in Phase having to position herself closer to her Allies and play with more care, lest she find herself caught out - creating a higher skill floor and more room for punishment.

Telekinetic Link [RMB]:

◆ Target Select Range decreased from 1800 to 1350.
◆ Link Break Range decreased from 2200 to 2050.

Rampage’s previous healing reductions have had a significant effect on his overall efficacy but the King still dishes out slightly too much damage given his durability. Some slight damage nerfs are in order to further slow down his clear speed and ensure he can’t run down his foes quite so easily. 

General:

◆ Physical Power Growth decreased from 2.5 to 2.1.

Rumble [E]:

◆ Damage decreased from 100/130/160/190/220 to 90/120/150/180/210.

While it was a useful experimental change, it’s clear that the previous changes to Steel’s Cleave were a buff too far and overly propped up his ability to deal with mobs in conjunction with his Mana increases. It’s time to pull it back.

General:

◆ Basic Attack Cleave decreased from 30% to 20%. 

While TwinBlast has landed in a pretty solid spot, two key issues have emerged. 

On the one hand, TwinBlast has been struggling in lane due to his relatively low damage output prior to acquiring an item. And on the other, he can melt a target with his Ultimate in a way that would make even our next Hero jealous.

To better define TwinBlast and to bring him into a healthier spot, we’re bolstering his early strength while reducing some of his Scaling capabilities. In turn we’re allowing him to Rocket Dash more frequently to better fulfil his identity as a highly mobile gunslinger. 

General:

◆ Base Physical Power increased from 48 to 52.

Vaporize [Q]:

◆ Damage increased from 40/60/80/100/120 to 40/65/90/115/140.
◆ Bonus Physical Power Scaling changed from 40%/45%/50%/55%/60% to 50%.

Rocket Dash [E]:

◆ Cooldown decreased from 20/19/18/17/16 to 18/17/16/15/14.

Ventilate [R]:

◆ Damage per Bullet changed from 12/20/38 to 12/21/30.
◆ Bonus Physical Power Scaling decreased from 20% to 18%.

ITEMS

Crests:

Pacifier: 

More boom. More resets. What’s not to love?

◆ Adrenalize Bonus damage decreased from 40 to 35.
◆ Adrenalize Bonus Physical Power Scaling increased from 25% to 30%.
◆ Adrenalize Bonus damage multiplier increased from 2x to 2.5x.

Rift Walkers:

As you may have noticed, we’ve been slowly trimming down many of the Damage Amps’ across our items. The ability to facilitate an engagement with a dash and displace an enemy for a free CC-chain is more than enough to justify Rift Walkers as a strong Crest choice, meaning it’s time these booties finally lost their Damage Amp.

◆ Rift Snatcher Damage Amplification removed.
◆ Rift Snatcher Pull Radius decreased from 600 to 550.

 

Tempest:

Tempest’s Healing lingers on the strong side so we’re pulling back on it further to prevent its excessive wind of durability and compensating it with greater damage potential to ensure it remains relevant in the later stages of a match. 

◆ Overcharge Healing decreased from 75% to 50%.
◆ Overcharge Magical Power Scaling increased from 10% to 12%.

Carry:

Dust Devil:

A quick bump in Movement Speed to make the zoomies feel a little more rewarding to achieve. 

◆ Menace Movement Speed increased from 15% to 18%.

Assassin:

Mindrazor: 

Mindrazor’s Cleave tends to feel a little underwhelming in the damage department compared to other Cleave items, despite the investment required to get it online. We’re upping its scaling to bring it into better contention with other options.

◆ Ingenious Cleave Total Physical Power Scaling increased from 25% to 30%.

Fighter:

Augmentation:

Rejoice my friends, Augmentation’s recipe has changed! The dark days of not being able to purchase a Shortsword are over!

◆ Recipe changed from Greatsword + Violet Brooch to Temporal Ripper + Banded Emerald.

Tainted Blade:

A slight bump in health to make Tainted Blade feel a little juicier when you’re required to pick it up. 

◆ Health increased from 200 to 250.

Support:

Hallowed Braid/Requiem:

The ability to sit on a Hallowed Braid and cheat Mana Regen as the world burns around you can lead to some non-interactive plays and provides too much efficiency in high-kill games. It’s due a hit on the Regen’ front to limit cross-class abuse until we deliver on larger Support itemisation changes. 

◆ Elegy Base Mana Regeneration per Stack decreased from 10% to 5%.

Wellspring:

A quick nudge down in the healing potential of Wellspring as it can provide too much uptime to allies as a result of its percent healing component, and it becomes especially powerful when used to juice up a frontline Tank. 

◆ Soothing Waters Max Health Healing decreased from 10% to 8%.

BUG FIXES

Additional bug fixes may be added to this blog after the patch is live. 

◆ Fixed a bug where XBOX prompts would display in-game when using DualSense controllers.
◆ Fixed a bug where Murdock’s Long Arm Of The Law would not play its SFX correctly.
◆ Fixed an error with Wild Hunt’s Description.
◆ Fixed an error with Salvations Description.
◆ Fixed an error with Tainted Scepter’s Description.
◆ Corrected the name of Murdock's newest skin.

That's all this week!

Let us know what you think of this update over on Twitter, the official Subreddit or our Discord server!