Predecessor Patch v0.2
Hey everyone! Our first major update for Predecessor, Patch v0.2, is going live on Thursday the 15th of December 2022 and we wanted to outline all of the changes we’ll be shipping.
This update includes a range of new features and improvements as well as a range of balance changes that Bloodmordius will share below. This update is typically larger than we’d normally expect as many of these changes were mid-development or in testing as our Early Access launched.
This will be our last major update for 2022 so from everyone at Omeda Studios we wish you a great winter break and a happy 2023. See you in January for patch v0.3!
- alex, Lead Game Designer
Check out the video overview for Patch v0.2
https://youtu.be/AxGHrRjbE2c
NEW HERO ARRIVES
Our wonderful Vampiric Matriarch is here to feast upon her enemies! We find her most optimal in offlane or midlane, but feel free to try her out in the Jungle too!
COUNTESS:
Passive: Blood Tithe
Unique Hero Takedowns permanently grant her an additional 2% Magical Lifesteal, stacking up to 10 times.
Primary Ability: Shadow Slip
CD: 12/11/10/9/8
Cost: 70
Effect: Countess targets a nearby enemy and blinks to it, leaving behind a shadow, dealing 70/100/130/160/190 (+30% Magical Power) magic damage and slowing them by 40% for 1.25s. If the target is a Minion or non-epic Monster, it takes 300% increased damage. Retrigger within 4 seconds to return to the shadows position.
Secondary Ability: Eventide
CD: 12/11/10/9/8
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80
Effect: Countess sends out a cloud of darkness dealing 80/130/180/230/280 (+70% Magical Power) magical damage.
Alternate Ability: Blade Siphon
CD: 9/8/7/6/5
Cost: 50/55/60/65/70
Effect: Countess spins, dealing 70/105/140/175/210 (+80% Magical Power) magic damage to nearby Enemies and healing herself for 10/12/14/16/18 (+6% Magical Power) for each Enemy hit. Against Heroes the healing is increased by 400%.
Ultimate Ability: Feast
CD: 120/100/80
Cost: 100
Effect: Countess jumps to a nearby Enemy Hero, forcing them to look at her and suppressing them for 0.75 seconds before dealing 150/225/300 (+10%(+5% Magical Power) of the target’s maximum health) magic damage, as well as healing Countess for 50% of the damage dealt.
MAJOR GAME IMPROVEMENTS
Added Custom Matches selectable via the change game mode. Only supports 5v5 and all players need the same custom key to play together.
This is our first version of custom games and we plan to add more features to it so players can customise games further.
Players can now report other players via the in-game scoreboard, during the game.
It's currently not possible to report players after the game has ended, but we will be adding this in a later update.
The Camera has been moved back and up away from all heroes.
Based on community feedback we have adjusted the camera to enhance the experience and give a better view of the action, we will continue to monitor feedback so be sure share your thoughts on the changes.
Changed the name of Coins to Platinum and updated the icons in the game.
Coins are the currency gained from the EA bundles and the currency that will be sold in the store for real money. We changed the currency to Platinum to better distinguish the currency from the gold gained inside a match used to purchase items.
Added Hero voice lines when a Hero’s ultimate is ready for all heroes.
We want the personality of our heroes to shine so over time we will be adding in more and more of their voice lines into the game.
In-game team chat is now disabled by default but can be enabled in the options menu.
We have decided to disable in-match chat by default based on feedback from the community but it can be re-enabled through the options menu. Chat will still be available in draft as we have seen it used as a helpful tool to get players through Hero and role selection. We will continue to improve the overall chat experience over time with additional features.
A Hero selection will be automatically locked in if a player has already selected them during the draft and they are still available when the lock in timer reaches 0.
This change should reduce the amount of times a draft is dodged when someone is not focused on the game. We have also fixed some bugs that caused the sound effects in the draft screen to not play. We hope both these changes improve the draft experience and make it more likely a draft succeeds.
Added automatic scaling penalties for players that dodge draft or AFK in game.
Scaling Matchmaking Ban:
» 1st penalty results in a 30 second ban
» 2nd penalty results in a 5 minute ban
» 3rd penalty results in a 15 minute ban
» 4th penalty results in a 30 minute ban
» 5th penalty results in a 1 hour ban
» 6th penalty results in a 12 hour ban
» 7th penalty and onwards results in a 24 hour ban
When receiving a new penalty the system checks how many penalties have been given in the last 7 days to determine the new total.
To address players that are leaving games or going AFK we will automatically apply matchmaking bans to players. Reporting players that are AFK help to drive the process that identifies persistent AFK'ers so please report anyone AFK you see!
Fixed a bug where ranged auto attacks were desynced, this should improve the feeling of all ranged basic attacks.
We have fixed a range of bugs that should improve the feel of ranged auto attacks, including sound adjustments. Let us know how you feel about the changes.
GAMEPAD IMPROVEMENTS
● Gamepad users can now press the Y/Triangle button to activate the Play button without using the virtual cursor.
● Gamepad users can now press B/Circle to go back to the previous menu whenever the Back button is available.
● Gamepad users can now press LB/L1 & RB/R1 to switch tabs in menus.
● The Communication Wheel now displays the gamepad buttons used to navigate it.
● Added Gamepad vibration feedback when a hero takes damage from a tower.
OTHER IMPROVEMENTS
● Added a Social Banner and a link to our Patch Notes on the Main Menu.
● The in-game search bar now searches item descriptions as well as item names.
● Sentry now has a new VFX.
● Surrender vote now ignores AFK players.
● Added shop keybinding to the Hints panel on the left of the HUD.
● Added a sound when your party changes size.
● Muriel’s & Murdock’s Ultimate Ability are now forced to Normal Cast as they are unusable with Quick and Instant cast.
● Improved SFX for Sparrow Basic Attacks and Piercing Shot.
● Increased the base volume of all sounds.
● Adjusted the volume of Hero voice lines.
● Updated the recommended items for Sevarog.
● Melee Heroes now have the offset health bar by default to accommodate the new camera position, which can be changed to centre in the menu.
● Updated the error message a player receives when they are banned from match making, to better reflect the new bans.
● Added Kill Notifications to the centre of the screen, can be disabled in the Settings menu.
● Esc on the keyboard now goes back to the previous menu whenever the Back button is available.
BALANCE UPDATE
Hey guys o/, overall our win rates for our Heroes have been fairly solid, with no-one dipping below 47% and no-one creeping above 54% (looking at you orange man). For balance we’re looking to tackle some of our larger outliers amongst our current cast. Be aware that some item nerfs and changes (such as increased anti-heal) will also heavily impact the balance of our heroes and thus we expect to see a fairly large shift towards normality amongst the Heroes' win rates.
- Blood, Senior Game Designer
General:
Heroes with magical power scaling deal 50% of their magical power as tower damage instead of using a Hero's basic attack scaling.
HEROES
Crunch:
Crunch has been a terror since EA hit, however we want to retain his high uptime playstyle to keep his unique flair among the roster bright. We’re opting to heavily decrease his overall damage output and specifically target his healing when building physical power. Alongside this we’re shifting some of his magical scaling into his Right Crunch to allow a more utility/crowd-control oriented play when opting into high magical power itemisation.
Bear in mind, with these changes come anti-heal buffs and Mutilator nerfs (check item section). These should further decrease his effectiveness.
● Cross Crunch Physical Power Scaling decreased from 20% to 10%
● Cross Crunch Magical Power Scaling decreased from 20% to 10%
● Left Crunch Physical Power Scaling decreased from 115% to 110%
● Left Crunch Magical Power Scaling decreased from 65% to 50%
● Right Crunch Base Damage decreased from 70/110/150/190/230 to 70/105/140/175/210
● Right Crunch Magical Power Scaling increased from 40% to 60%
● Re-Crunch Physical Power Scaling decreased from 25% to 10%
● Re-Crunch 10% Magical Power Scaling added.
Dekker:
Dekker has been extremely disruptive, as is her nature. We’re looking to decrease her uptime, especially in the early to mid stages of the game. Additionally we opted into making her a little less durable in the later stages of the game, to better reward people who (somehow) catch her out.
● Physical Armor Growth decreased from 4 to 3.5
● Stasis Bomb Cooldown increased from 16/15/14/13/12 to 18/17/16/15/14.
Drongo:
Drongo has been on the weaker side of our roster, let alone our ADCs. We’re giving him a large QOL buff on his ultimate to stop it getting cancelled out too early and granting him some skill expression in teamfights. Additionally he's been given some buffs to his cooldown allowing his abilities to be available more often.
● Rad Rounds Cooldown decreased from 16 to 14
● Shrapnel Cannon Cooldown decreased from 110/100/90 to 100/90/80
● Shrapnel Cannon now provides 0.5s of CC immunity when casting.
Feng Mao:
Lil oopsie on Feng Mao’s descriptions, we’ll keep monitoring him balance wise but feel he has landed in a good spot thus far! There is also a strong QOL buff for his safeguard that will increase his burst potential when utilised by our skilled players.
● [Bug Fix] Hamstring Description now correctly states a 25% reduction of Reaping Dash Cooldown.
● Feng Mao’s Safeguard now resets his basic attack timer.
Howitzer:
Howitzer is the only mid laner we currently feel heavily out performs the rest of the roster. His abilities are not the hardest to hit and deal damage with, so we’re opting to decrease his scalings a little bit so he doesn’t snowball as viciously.
● Land Mine Scaling decreased from 50% to 45%
● Make it Rain Scaling decreased from 108% to 96%.
Muriel:
Muriel is one of our harder to play supports, but has also fallen a little flat on her defensive side. With Prophecy getting a little nerf, we’re comfortable buffing up her shields to better protect her ADCs. We’re also increasing the size of her Serenity to lend a bit more forgiveness in lane when attempting to poke skinnier targets.
● Serenity Projectile Radius increased by 33%
● Consecrated Ground Base Shield increased from 90/135/180/225/270 to 100/150/200/250/300
● Alacrity Base Shield increased from 40/65/90/115/140 to 50/80/110/140/170.
Riktor:
Riktor plays have been had left and right and we love to see it! However the big ol’ 2 chains is a bit too durable in the later stages of the game, so we’re bumping down his health growth and reducing his early mobility. Alongside this comes a huge QOL change making his ultimate a suppression over stun, meaning tenacity will no longer affect it. If he’s CC’d they have to be too!
● Health Growth decreased from 110 to 102
● Electrocute Cooldown increased from 8 to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8
● Skewer Stun changed to a Suppression.
Sevarog:
Sevarog is mostly getting some bump downs through his itemisation, however we’re pushing some of his health scaling from Reaper of Souls towards the late game and reducing it just a tad to keep him from coming online too fast. We’re hoping changes to his item recommendations also provide a more forgiving build path for fresh Reapers.
● Recommended Items Updated.
● Reaper of Souls Health per tier decreased from 60/80/100/120 to 40/70/100/130.
Sparrow:
Sparrow has been hard bound to Eviscerator as she needs the DPS to function. We’re bumping down Eviscerator and buffing her Heightened Senses so she may opt into more defensive crest options. Alongside this comes a lil QOL buff to her Piercing Arrow to make it match our current Basic Attack projectile speeds.
● Heightened Sense Attack Speed increased from 20/25/30/35/40% to 30/35/40/45/50%
● Piercing Arrow Projectile Speed Increased from 11000 to 18000.
Steel:
Steel is an overwhelming force in the mid game (largest win rate btw). He will be hit a bit from our itemisation nerfs but we’re also going to take down his mid-late game physical armor and shields a smidge to keep him in check.
● Physical Armor Growth decreased from 4.4 to 4
● Battering Barrier Scaling decreased from 2/5/8% to 2/4/6%.
ITEMS
Anti-heal items are all getting a bump up to counteract our high lifesteal and omnivamp builds that are being utilised by those pesky bruisers and ADCs. We’re opting for a 20/40% line instead of 15/30% which will also bump down our sustain based heroes that are overwhelming the meta (looking at you Crunch & Rampage).
General:
● Diminishing returns for Hunt and Support Crests has been removed at 20 minutes
CREST
Eviscerator:
As stated with Sparrow, we’re bumping down Eviscerator’s Attack Speed to remove it from her must-have acquisitions. Instead we’re bumping up the initial power scaling a bit so it isn’t too harsh when utilised with the rest of our cast.
● Rending Strikes Bonus Attack Speed decreased from 25% to 10%
● Rending Strikes Initial Power Scaling increased from 10% to 15%
Obelisk:
Obelisk has been a hidden power source for some sneaky mages. We’re decreasing its power scaling to stop it getting out of control too quickly when players opt to use the active to stack every time it’s available.
● Soul Stealer Magical Power per Stack decreased from 2 to 1
TIER 2
Horned Plate:
● Blighted Skin Healing Reduction increased from 15% to 20%
Loch Shawl:
Loch Shawl is an incredible T2 item for value. We don’t mind tanks sitting on it for a while but it scales up too fast and is not punishable by opposing Laners and Junglers before it turns the user into a towering goliath, including our mages.
● Colossus Health per Stack decreased from 4 to 2
● Colossus Maximum Stacks increased from 100 to 200
● Colossus Ability Haste at Maximum Stacks increased from 10 to 15
Serrated Blade:
● Blighted Strikes Healing Reduction increased from 15% to 20%
Spiked Birch:
● Blighted Spells Healing Reduction increased from 15% to 20%
CARRY
Ashbringer:
Ashbringer is a little underutilised as its stat line is fairly low for what an ADC requires, so we’re bumping up its attack speed a smidge to make it a more appealing option for attack speed based ADCs looking to burn down tanks.
● Attack Speed increased from 20 to 25
Tainted Rounds:
● Blighted Strikes Healing Reduction increased from 30% to 40%
ASSASSIN
The Perforator:
Perforator is also getting a small buff to its anti-tank capabilities to better allow heroes like Kallari and Feng Mao to deal with tanks when they get ahead.
● Calamity Bonus Damage increased from 0-35% to 0-40%
FIGHTER
Mutilator:
Mutilator is getting pseudo nerfed by the anti-heal changes, but we’re also looking to decrease its raw power to help prevent it being a catch-all pick up for bruisers.
● Physical Power decreased from 45 to 40
● Devour Percent Health Damage decreased from 1.5% to 1.25%
Tainted Blade:
● Blighted Strikes Healing Reduction increased from 30% to 40%
MAGE
Lifebinder:
Lifebinder has been problematic on our tankier heroes, so we’re reworking its passive to better synergise with our current Magical Bruiser itemisation.
● Leech Passive reworked:
"Damaging an Enemy Hero with an ability heals you over 5s based on your maximum health and magical power." to "Slowing or Immobilising an Enemy Hero restores (+30% magical power) health and grants 200 movement speed for 3s - 6 CD."
Megacosm:
We will monitor Gadget and Feys win rates after this fix :)
● [Bug Fix] Disintegrate DoT Damage Cap vs Monsters now works correctly (was previously uncapped)
Prophecy:
A small nerf to stop prophecy being an easy slot in for high DPS in standard mage builds (also to prevent Muriel abuse as she was buffed).
● Hasty Ability Haste Scaling decreased from 75% to 60%
Tainted Scepter:
● Blighted Spells Healing Reduction increased from 30% to 40%
SUPPORT
Tainted Totem:
Tainted Totem is an all around solid option for supports due to its double armor stat line. We’re opting to take down its physical armor a bit and decrease the effectiveness of its healing increase to flatten its effectiveness with the coming anti-heal buff.
● Physical Armor decreased from 40 to 35
● Chilling Blight Healing Reduction increased from 30% to 40%
● Nirvana Healing and Shielding increase decreased from 20% to 15%
TANK
Fire Blossom:
The most reliable first option for tanks is providing a little too much beef with that fire. So we’re opting to hurt its defensive capabilities to keep it a strong offensive option.
● Health decreased from 275 to 225
Leviathan:
Same adjustments as Loch Shawl but we’re also opting to shift a little of the ability haste into the items stack completion goal to delay the strength of rushing Leviathan and overall decrease its effectiveness with high health pools.
● Colossus Health per Stack decreased from 4 to 2
● Colossus Maximum Stacks increased from 100 to 200
● Colossus Ability Haste at Maximum Stacks increased from 10 to 15
● Hasty Colossus Ability Haste decreased from 1% of maximum health to 0.5% of maximum health
Tainted Guard:
Tainted Guard has been a little too effective at reflecting damage back at aggressive ADCs, especially when combined with Razorback. We’re bumping down its late game scaling but also reducing the health to keep it a more offensive option for tanks.
● Health decreased from 400 to 350
● Blighted Thorns Physical Armor Scaling decreased from 30% to 21%
● Blighted Thorns Healing Reduction increased from 30% to 40%
Warden’s Faith:
Wardens Faith is not only a great tank option, but a great tech option for Bruisers and ADCs. Increasing the price will let it be a bit more of an investment and less easy to knee-jerk buy vs snowballing ADCs.
● Cost increased from 3000 to 3200
JUNGLE
Fangtooth:
Fangtooth has been far too easy to take down across the entire game, so we’ve fed him a new brand of cheerios so that he’s ready to bulk up and take on whoever enters his pit.
● Health increased from 4200-9800 to 5800-12870
● Physical Armor increased from 20-34 to 20-48
● Magical Armor increased from 20 to 30
Mini Orb:
Mini Orb has been a challenge for many of our Junglers to survive, so we’re decreasing its basic attack damage a smidge to prevent any unlawful executions!
(TIP: you can dodge his knockback by walking backwards a little bit).
● Physical Power decreased from 60-340 to 60-270
BUG FIXES
Crunch
● Fixed a bug where Crunch’s Empowered Left Crunch dealt true damage to Towers
● Fixed a bug where Crunch’s basic attack animations would not play correctly with high Attack Speed
● Fixed a bug where Crunch’s jet back VFX would not trigger correctly when using Forward Crunch
● Fixed a bug where Crunch’s Re-Crunch would go on cooldown incorrectly when cancelled by Crowd Control
Dekker
● Fixed a bug where Heroes could get on top of Dekker’s Containment Fence
Drongo
● Fixed a bug where Drongo’s Boomerang didn’t play an impact sound when returning
● Fixed a bug where Drongo’s recall camera was offset incorrectly
Feng Mao
● Fixed a spelling mistake with Feng Mao’s Hamstring
● Fixed a bug where Feng Mao’s Earth Shatter would not grey out in the HUD when there wasn’t enough mana to cast it
Fey
● Fixed a bug with Fey’s Menu Ability Descriptions
● Fixed a bug where Fey’s Fly Trap was not interacting with spell shields correctly
● Fixed a bug where Fey’s Harvest Nettles targeting would turn red on targets through walls
Gadget
● Fixed a bug where Gadget's Seek & Destroy decal was not displayed while it was travelling
● Fixed a bug where Gadget’s Sticky Mine would not deal damage to Orb Prime or Fangtooth when slightly offset from the target
● Fixed a bug where Gadget’s Security Gate is not triggering Astral Catalyst’ Spellslinger passive
● Fixed a bug where Terminus’ passive Anon shield effect would not be removed if stacked with Gadget’s Shock Absorber
Gideon
● Fixed a bug where Gideon’s Torn Space was not correctly slowing enemies that used the portal
● Fixed a bug where Gideon would be offset when using Black Hole directly after Torn Space while on high ping
Grux
● Fixed a bug where Grux’s belly would show through the armour of the EA Galactic Raider Skin
● Fixed a bug where Mutilator triggers too many times on Grux's Double Pain
● Fixed a bug where Grux’s abilities would lock up when using Crush and Hunt’s Active: Slay together
Kallari
● Fixed a bug where Kallari would fly into the sky after using Guillotine into a Gideon’s Torn Space portal
● Fixed a bug where Kallari’s Death Mark was incorrectly removed when recalling
● Fixed a bug where Kallari breaks stealth when placing a Ward or using Sentry
● Fixed a bug where Kallari’s Death Mark activated state was not being shown
Khaimera
● Fixed a bug where Khaimera’s Cull would not interact correctly with some items
Lt Belica
● Fixed a bug where Lt Belica’s Void Drone was affecting heroes through walls
Murdock
● Fixed a bug where Murdock’s Long Arm of the Law would not remove ally nameplates and health bars
Muriel
● Fixed a bug where Muriel’s Reversal of Fortune could be used while rooted
Rampage
● Fixed a bug where Rampage Boulder was permanently scaling when using Saphir Crest’s activation
Riktor
● Fixed a bug where Riktor’s Shock Therapy now correctly functions as an AoE ability, it was functioning as an AoE previously but some subsystems believed it was a single target ability
Steel
● Fixed a bug where Steel’s Bull Rush would keep momentum in the air as opposed to being returning to Steel’s correct speed
Sevarog
● Fixed a bug where Sevarog’s Phantom Rush was not cancelled by root abilities
Items
● Fixed a bug where Heroes in Stasis could still be selected by targeted abilities
● Fixed a bug with Hunt’s Description
● Fixed a bug where Demolisher on-hit effect dealt too much damage when Critically Striking
● Fixed a bug where Terminus’s Anon passive was activating in some cases
● Fixed a bug where Rift Walker’s Active: Rift Snatcher caused Heroes to be displaced incorrectly
● Fixed a bug where Demolisher 'red hands' VFX was on permanently after getting a kill
Other
● Fixed a very rare crash that could sometimes happen when an Ability went on cooldown
● Fixed a bug for Gamepad where Aim Assist would cause the camera to move incorrectly
● Fixed a rare crash caused by aiming at certain camps on a gamepad
● Fixed a bug where wards would be displayed on top of all elements in the minimap
● Fixed a bug where the hero's health bars would appear above all other health bars
● Fixed a bug where the Play button would stay highlighted after being selected
● Fixed a bug where some settings would show the wrong options
● Fixed a bug where some abilities would ignore Silence
● Fixed a bug where the Blue Buff or Red Buff could get stuck on the stairs of their camp
● Fixed a bug where the wrong footsteps SFX played on marble
● Fixed a bug with clipping landscape near Red buff
● Fixed clipping issues with the stairs near Orb Prime and Fangtooth pits
● Fixed a bug where draft sounds are not playing correctly
● Fixed a bug where draft would load heroes on a black screen when a player failed to connect to draft
● Fixed a bug where Death Spectator Hud overlapped with the level up notification
● Fixed a bug where selling an item could cause the game to crash
● Fixed a bug where some settings descriptions were using the wrong font
● Fixed a bug where the health bar of heroes hiding behind a tower would flicker
● Fixed a bug where a Crest’s details tooltip was not displayed on the Crest screen when using a controller
● Fixed a bug where the damage types on enemies would not display in the correct colour
● Fixed a bug where Tenacity was not being capped correctly
● Fixed a bug where Hero stats wouldn't be displayed in the in-game shop until after buying an item
● Fixed a bug where players were unable to interact with other players in their party
● Fixed a bug on the practice mode map where the hero would get stuck when climbing stairs
● Fixed a bug where the Green River buff shield wasn't refreshing when collecting a 2nd Green River buff
● Fixed a bug where you could send friend requests to someone who already had a pending request
● Fixed a bug where Heroes spawn facing the wrong way
● Fixed a bug where players would only see 10/10 players while waiting to connect to the game
● Fixed a bug where a hero could teleport outside the map
● Fixed a bug where the Reset to Default button wouldn't appear after changing a setting
● Fixed a bug where the settings for Rebind a Key would not work correctly
● Fixed the practice mode map where some assets were missing in the lane
● Fixed a bug where players could not level up abilities while dead
● Fixed the practice mode map where the hero would get stuck when climbing stairs
● Fixed a bug where fangtooth would use melee attacks instead of range when a hero was at max range
● Fixed a bug where the scoreboard would not correctly update at the end of a match
● Fixed a bug where the Objective Kill Notification was sometimes not displaying
● Fixed a bug where the Core Under Attack Voice Over was not playing correctly
