Predecessor Patch v0.3.2
Patch releasing February 7th 2023.
Hey all! Time for another balance update!
In this patch we’re continuing our work improving Mages and their itemization, along with reducing the viability of Mages running tank items. We’re also tuning some Tanks and Assassins, and looking to give Revenant some post-release love.
We’re also slightly increasing the length of the early game by bumping up the health and mana per level that all Heroes receive early on, but reducing the amount they receive later. Towers are also getting a slight durability boost in the first part of the game to lengthen the laning phase a bit.
So what’s next? In addition to our usual monitoring of feedback and data from this patch, as well as our upcoming release of a certain pop star, our eyes are now fixed on the Carry role as the focus for our 0.4.x balance update where we will be looking to vastly improve their itemization and build paths. This has been pushed back due to a ton of new features being implemented in patch 0.4 in a few weeks.
- Demonde, Junior Game Designer
Balance changes
MATCHMAKING IMPROVEMENTS
We’ve heard your feedback regarding matchmaking and the changes we made in patch V.0.3. With that in mind, we’re looking to make further adjustments.
It's clear we over shot a bit on the party modifier - it's too aggressive, and also had a larger impact on the top end of our MMR brackets than desired. Matchmaking is a complicated beast and we were bound to slip up sooner or later. We appreciate your patience and feedback when we miss the mark like this, and hope the following changes improve the experience for all players.
◆ We’ve tightened matchmaking search parameters. Our goal as always is to increase match quality, though this change may also lead to slightly longer matchmaking times. In addition, full parties of experienced players will have longer queue times, but should allow more time for the system to find the most-fair matchup. We will be monitoring these changes closely.
◆ We’ve reduced the impact of the Party modifier, hopefully leading to better quality matches across the majority of the player base. We'll continue to monitor this change.
HERO CHANGES
Continuing on from the above we’re increasing fountain regen to help players get back into the action quicker. Also, due to item changes, some Heroes’ recommended items have been updated to reflect recent changes.
◆ Health & Mana Regeneration in Base increased from 12.5% per second to 18% per second.
◆ Various Hero Recommended Items updated.
S-Factor:
A Hero’s S-Factor is their Scaler. This determines how much of their stats they get from their growth. A Hero with a larger S-Factor will get more of their growth stats earlier in the game. On average, the changes made with this patch will create less variance in per level stats and increase the amount of stats Heroes are receiving in the early game. This will affect Health and Mana the most, meaning TTK should rise a little bit in the early stages of the game.
◆ Hero S-Factors compressed and increased.
Countess:
Here we are looking to stop the Tank Countess abuse case that was causing her to become a near-unkillable force. This should return her to being the high damage, squishy, burst Mage that she is.
Blood Tithe:
◆ Magical Lifesteal per stack decreased from 2% to 1.5%.
Blade Siphon [RMB]:
◆ Base Healing per target decreased from 10/12/14/16/18 to 10/11/12/13/14.
◆ Healing Scaling increased from 5% to 6%.
Eventide [E]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 80/130/180/230/280 to 80/125/170/215/260.
◆ Scaling increased from 70% to 75%.
Feng Mao:
Feng Mao has been seeing slightly too much success with Bruiser builds, so we’re shifting some of the power scaling from his Ultimate into penetration. This will help retain the strength of his execute and reset playmaking capabilities with Assassin builds, all whilst keeping his Bruiser builds in check.
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Feng Mao’s Passive stated it had a Physical Power Scaling.
Earth Shatter [R]:
◆ Physical Power Scaling decreased from 80% to 70%.
◆ Execute Physical Power Scaling decreased from 100% to 80%.
◆ Execute Physical Penetration Scaling increased from 250% to 350%.
Fey:
Boxing with Fey’s trading pattern was a tad too difficult, so this patch she is getting a scaling increase to bring her inline with other Mages.
General:
◆ Base Health increased from 560 to 590.
Bramble Patch [Q]:
◆ Scaling increased from 55% to 60%.
Gideon:
Gideon has been able to ignore building too much mana early game, often opting instead into the higher durability builds with little trade off. We’re increasing his costs a bit on his main damage and mobility to incentivise a little more mana in his item builds or to force more careful play when utilizing the magical Bruiser itemisation. We’re also increasing his scaling a bit like we’ve done with Fey, just to make sure he can compete in the later stages of the game.
Cosmic Rift [Q]:
◆ Scaling increased from 65% to 70%.
◆ Mana Cost increased from 80/85/90/95/100 to 80/90/100/110/120.
Torn Space [E]:
◆ Mana Cost increased from 60 to 80.
Howitzer:
As with other Heroes, we’re increasing Howitzer’s scaling a bit to ensure that he can keep up.
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Howitzers Slow Grenades [RMB] description was displaying the incorrect amount of bombs.
R2000 Missile [Q]:
◆ Scaling increased from 70% to 75%.
Kallari:
Kallari’s first clear has become infamous for its speed and how quickly she can come online. We’re looking to slow it down a bit as well as slightly decrease her dagger scaling to tackle her tendency to snowball. Her Death Mark was also functioning incorrectly and is also getting fixed and her core item Malady is being targeted a bit to make her feel a little more fair to fight in normal matches.
General:
◆ Base Attack Speed decreased from 120 to 110.
◆ Attack Speed Growth decreased from 3.3 to 2.8.
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed a bug causing Death Mark to scale with 5.5% of your Physical Power instead of 3% of your Physical Power.
Crippling Dagger [RMB]:
◆ Scaling decreased from 90% to 85%.
Lt Belica:
Belica is needing a bit of a boost, so we wanted to give her a little more oomph in her core loop. We’re giving her a little love by increasing the uptime of her stun to benefit both support and mid, whilst also increasing her base damage on Void Drone to help her keep up with other Mages in the earlier stages of the game. As with other Mages she’s also getting some handy scaling increases too.
Seismic Assault [Q]:
◆ Scaling increased from 65% to 70%.
◆ Cooldown decreased from 16/15.5/15/14.5/14 to 16/15/14/13/12.
Void Drone [E]:
◆ Scaling increased from 20% to 30%.
Void Bomb [RMB]:
◆ Base Damage increased from 80/125/170/215/260 to 80/130/180/230/280.
Murdock:
Murdock has fallen off a bit recently when it comes to the later stages of the game. With the aforementioned S-Factor changes we’re giving him a bit more health to help him survive the onslaught.
General:
◆ Health Growth increased from 84 to 88.
Muriel:
A small mana buff for Muriel should help her out when she maxes her Consecrated Ground. This also helps Support Muriel stay relevant.
Consecrated Ground [E]:
◆ Mana Cost decreased from 100/110/120/130/140 to 100/105/110/115/120.
Narbash:
Narbash has been a touch offbeat with his Song of my people ability and it has generally felt tough to invest into. With these changes he should feel more comfortable maxing out his healing either first or second, as well as helping him sustain his stacks in the mid-to-late game when he can keep that ability rolling.
General:
◆ Base Mana increased from 380 to 480.
◆ Mana Growth decreased from 70 to 60.
◆ Base Mana Regeneration increased from 1 to 1.5.
Song Of My People [E]:
◆ Mana Drain per second changed from 10/15/20/25/30 to 20.
◆ Healing per Second increased from 5/10/15/20/25 to 9/13/17/21/25.
◆ Beatdrop stacks per second increased from 1 to 2.
Thunk [RMB]:
◆ Mana Cost increased from 50 to 60.
Revenant:
Based on feedback we’ve received from the community we’re increasing his rate of fire. We’re also looking to increase the damage on his 4th shot specifically against high health targets to emphasize his trading pattern in lane and to make sure that his 4th hit feels much more impactful. His base power and Obliterate damage have been reduced to compensate and make him more about poking with his 4th auto rather than just shoving. Alongside this comes QoL changes to make Obliterate better track your target to help avoid those pesky near misses. Speaking of Obliterate, magical power scaling has been increased and has been added to Scar to better pair with enchanters that can build Crystal Tear to increase his damage. What this means is that magical power Revenant may now be a thing if you’re feeling spicy!
General:
◆ Base Physical Power decreased from 57 to 52.
◆ Base Attack Timer decreased from 1.1 to 1.01.
◆ Base Attack Timer reduction per level decreased from 0.018 to 0.014.
Obliterate [Q]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 60/85/110/135/160 to 50/70/90/110/130.
◆ Scaling decreased from 50% to 40%.
◆ Consecutive Missiles Modifier increased from 15% to 20%.
◆ Magical Power Scaling increased from 75% to 100%.
◆ Range increased from 1500 to 1750.
◆ Cone Angle decreased from 60 to 55.
Hellfire Rounds [RMB]:
◆ Base Missing Health damage decreased from 6% to 4%.
◆ Modified Critical Damage changed from 125/135/145/155/165/175% to 140/147/154/161/168/175%.
Scar [E]:
◆ Bonus Magical Damage decreased from 15% to 10%.
◆ Added 80% Magical Power Scaling.
Riktor:
We’re bumping down Riktor’s health just a smidge to compensate for the S-Factor changes that are now giving him more health in the early game.
General:
◆ Base Health decreased from 560 to 540.
Sevarog:
Sev is getting plenty of compensation in this patch due to Fire Blossom nerfs. We’re increasing his overall survivability and helping out his early Siphon damage a little bit to make stacking and trading feel less punishing.
General:
◆ Health Growth increased from 92 to 102.
◆ Base Physical Armor increased from 28 to 31.
Siphon [Q]:
◆ Base Damage increased from 25/45/65/85/105 to 30/50/70/90/110.
Phantom Rush [RMB]:
◆ Cooldown decreased from 24/21/18/15/12 to 20/18/16/14/12.
Steel:
Steel continues to be a menace due to his easy trading pattern and powerful jack-of-all-trades kit. We’re knocking down his damage a bit and decreasing his potency when trading with Shield Bash to force him to commit a little bit more to get the value he desires.
Shield Bash [RMB]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 50/80/110/140/170 to 40/70/100/130/160.
◆ Stun Duration decreased from 0.5s to 0.3s.
◆ Range decreased from 325 to 300.
Force Shield [E]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 60/100/140/180/220 to 30/50/70/90/110.
ITEM CHANGES
Crests:
Fenix:
Due to community feedback we’re lowering down the time it takes for Fenix to expire to better allow players to wait out the effect rather than feeling like they have to force a kill.
◆ Rebirth Location Marker Duration decreased from 6s to 4s.
T2:
Brimstone:
Brimstone has been seeing abuse on more than just Tanks, so we’re bumping down its damage output whilst maintaining the jungle clear to ensure that Tanks don’t fall out of the role.
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue that was causing Brimstone to draw Tower aggro.
Blaze [Passive]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 20 to 12.
◆ Additional Damage vs monsters increased from 50% to 100%.
Assassin:
Malady:
Malady has also seen abuse outside of its intended class, so we’re decreasing the scaling to help prevent exploitation from Carries and Bruisers as well as to stop Kallari’s first item spike being too egregious.
General:
◆ Demise Scaling decreased from 30% to 10%.
Nightfall:
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where the Eclipse passive was granting 10% omnivamp rather than 5%.
Mage:
Mage itemization is getting a big shift to allow Mages to access more magical power in the later stages of the game without affecting their power in the early game. Some of the early game items like Azure Core have had their scalings increased for this purpose.
Astral Catalyst:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 50 to 60.
◆ Mana decreased from 350 to 300.
Azure Core:
Arcane Magic [Passive]:
◆ Scaling increased from 3% of maximum mana to 4% of maximum mana.
Combustion:
Pyro [Passive]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 80 to 70.
◆ Scaling increased from 10% to 18%.
Dreambinder:
We’re shifting Dreambinder to give it more offensive applications rather than defensive ones, to make it more viable on Mages and not just magical power Bruisers.
General:
◆ Cost increased from 2900 to 3000.
◆ Magical Power increased from 60 to 80.
◆ Health decreased from 350 to 250.
◆ Build Path changes from Scepter+Tenacious Drape+Codex to Scepter+Tenacious Drape+Scepter.
Golems Gift:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 60 to 70.
Magnify:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 50 to 60.
Oathkeeper:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 60 to 70.
◆ Health decreased from 250 to 200.
Celestial Spellblade [Passive]:
◆ Magical Power Scaling increased from 40% to 50%.
Oblivion Crown:
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Oblivion VFX now correctly displays on the target.
Spellbreaker:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 55 to 60.
Tainted Scepter:
General:
◆ Magical Power increased from 65 to 70.
Timewarp (Reworked):
Timewarp has been reworked due to its problematic nature, pushing this to more of a late game tech option due to a higher statline. We understand that this will be less viable on Supports as a result and we will be looking to improve Support itemization in a future balance pass.
General:
◆ Cost: 3300g.
◆ 100 Magical Power.
◆ 15 Physical Armor.
◆ 15 Ability Haste.
◆ Ferrumancer: Casting an ability grants 6 magical power and 3 physical armor for 5s, stacking up to 5 times.
◆ Chime: Every 5s, subtract 0.5s from all current Ability Cooldowns.
Builds from: Abyssal Bracers+Chaotic Core.
World Breaker:
General:
◆ [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where the Fiend Passive would stack up to 5 times instead of 4.
Tank:
Dynamo:
A small damage decrease to one of Steel’s favorite items.
Immobilizer [Passive]:
◆ Scaling decreased from 5% to 4%.
Fire Blossom:
We’re making similar changes to Fire Blossom as we did to Brimstone. We are also blocking Brimstone from being bought in conjunction with Fire Blossom to avoid abuse cases.
General:
◆ Now blocks Brimstone from being bought whilst owned.
Blaze [Passive]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 25 to 15.
◆ Additional Damage vs immobilized targets increased from 50% to 100%.
Raiment of Renewal:
This is a way to reduce the potency of burst healing Heroes like Countess. Raiment now works better with sustained healing and will be better utilized on Tanks.
General:
◆ Haste decreased from 15 to 10.
Regenerator [Passive]
◆ Passive Healing from Damage Taken increased from 10% to 15%.
◆ Synthesis reworked from: Increase all Healing received by 15% to Gain Health Regeneration equal to 1% of your bonus health.
TOWER CHANGES:
While you are there to protect your towers, we wanted them to pack a little bit more of a punch themselves. We're upping the base and the max damage for all 3 turrets, while slightly adjusting their damage per level scaling. Keep an eye on those tower diving interactions and we'd love to hear feedback!
Outer:
◆ Base Damage increased from 118 to 130.
◆ Damage per Level decreased from 12 to 10.
◆ Damage Cap increased from 238 to 250.
Inner:
◆ Base Damage increased from 140 to 154.
◆ Damage per level decreased from 14 to 12.
◆ Damage Cap increased from 280 to 286.
Inhibitor:
◆ Base Damage increased from 140 to 154.
◆ Damage per level decreased from 14 to 12.
◆ Damage Cap increased from 280 to 286.
Bug fixes
◆ Fixed a bug that caused the game to continue running even after closure.
◆ Fix improper aura stacking.
⬩ Offensive auras should only apply once to enemies.
⬩ Allied auras should apply those of the owner and one more.
◆ Legacy in game and menu description should now correctly state 40 Physical Power and 10 Ability Haste instead of 30 Physical power and 20 Ability Haste.
◆ Iceskorn in game Description now correctly states a 40s Cooldown instead of a 30s Cooldown.
◆ Wellspring in game Description now correctly states a 20s Cooldown instead of a 15s Cooldown.
◆ Fixed an issue where players could not buy Azure Core after buying Vanquisher.
That's all this week! Let us know what you think of these changes over on Twitter, the official Subreddit or our Discord server!
