V1.5.7 Patch Notes

Greetings, Champions!

Can you believe it? It’s already time for another balancing patch!

We’ve got a nice round of adjustments lined up - covering a multitude of items and Heroes, with a spotlight of course on Wukong, who’s somehow managed to be both the best and worst thing to happen to Predecessor (depending on who you ask).

You may notice that this balancing patch isn’t as packed with content as some of our previous updates. That’s intentional - we’ve chosen to place a stronger focus on the “balancing” aspect, reserving the bulk of new features and content for our larger milestone updates.

This approach helps us manage team workload more sustainably and sets clearer expectations for what each type of update will deliver.

That said, we still have a few exciting additions in this patch! Here’s what you can expect:

• New Skins, including an eSports-themed bundle!

• Skylar’s community-driven redesign!

• A surprise new Wukong announcer!

• A new, simplified Hero selection screen to help first-time players get started with ease!

So without further ado… let’s dive in!

Store News

New Skins

Fight Night Crunch [Epic]

As if Crunch didn’t hit hard enough already - now he’s got boxing gloves.
And to top it off? A fabulous new outfit that packs just as much style as his punches.

Bass Kitty Phase [Rare]

No matter your taste in music, you can count on Phase to drop the sickest beats mid-match - keeping the vibes on.

New Bundles

Fight Night Crunch Bundle

Fugitive Skylar Bundle

2025 Victorious Bundle

All proceeds from purchasing Victorious items go towards funding Predecessor Competitive Events. All Victorious items are only available for a limited time but will return again in the future.

All items available in this bundle are available to purchase separately.

Features:

Skylar Community Redesign

Skylar’s breaking the mold, with a bold new look reflecting a new lore direction as well as the will of the people (you, our community!).

Early this year we took to social media to discuss Skylar’s original design and it was clear that there was some room for improvement. So, with a lot of community brainstorming, feedback rounds and discussions we settled on a vibrant new identity for the Hero - an escaped convict with a past she’s not proud of and a future she’s uncertain about!

Liked old Skylar? Don’t panic! The classic Skylar design isn’t going anywhere either. 

If you owned her before this update you’ll automatically receive that original, legacy look as a FREE selectable skin, as well as her new look which will be her new default! And if you didn’t? Old-Skylar isn’t going far - her classic design alongside her launch skin (Starstruck Skylar) will remain available to purchase in the Store as well as being possible to acquire through Loot Cores.

Wukong Joins the Mic

To mark the milestone of the final Paragon Hero's release, we’re adding a little something extra!

We’ve heard all the feedback on the current announcer voice - some of you love it, some not so much, and some barely notice it anymore. But with V1.5, that’s about to change.

Starting in 1.5.7 the highly anticipated Monkey King will now talk to you! Seriously!

That’s right, Wukong is joining the game as an optional announcer voice! He’ll call the shots, hype you up, mock your enemies and even sing you to sleep! Wait, okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea.

The sound of Wukong driving you bananas? No problem - you can switch back any time in the settings.

The Wukong Announcer is only available for a limited time, so don’t miss your chance to have the Monkey King call your plays!

Will he return in the future? Well… that depends. If you enjoy hearing his voice and let us know, he might just be convinced to make a comeback.

New Hero Selection Screen for New Players

As part of the first-time player experience, newcomers will now be presented with a choice of three Heroes to pick from in their first game. These Heroes were carefully selected based on extensive data analysis, taking into account retention rates, popularity, and ease of use.

By streamlining the selection process and offering accessible, enjoyable kits, we aim to provide a smoother onboarding experience and a faster path to fun for new players.

Hero Changes

Aurora’s ability to be disruptive in fights while dishing out consistent damage currently provides her with too much presence in fights. Some increases to some of her key cooldowns are needed to ensure that she is still allowed to pack a punch should she get on top of her target, but that there is a greater window of down time between her ability rotations for opponents to fight within.

Countess is receiving a round of changes that are aimed at reducing the potency of her healing in the earlier stages of the lane, better allowing her opponents opportunities to poke and push her out. In return for this shift away from Blade Siphon potency, Countess is receiving some baseline durability increases and more uptime on her Eventide, ensuring she can still function throughout the lane and keep up in the damage department as a match progresses.

Drongo has continued to struggle to find his place amongst the other Carries, often getting outscaled by the likes of Kira and Murdock, while equally lacking the lane-bully strength of Heroes such as Revenant and Grim.exe. Given Drongo’s more utility and burst orientated toolset, we’re opting to increase his overall laning potency to better match other lane bullies, while simultaneously giving him the tools to keep the slower scaling Carries in check with his all-in attempts.

Gadget is receiving a minor round of changes, primarily targeting the efficacy of early Seek and Destroy spam since the previous increase to its homing speed has resulted in it becoming far more reliable (and oppressive) to deal with in the early levels. Likewise, we’re pulling back on some of the free power provided by her Passive Stacks, better ensuring Gadget does not become too oppressive in those late-game scenarios.

In combination with how powerful his ultimate can be at dispatching a single target, Howitzer’s Slow Grenades continue to deal far too much damage given their utility and ease of use. This time, we’re taking a heavier swing at Slow Grenades and trimming off some of Make It Rain’s damage to bring his all-in threat down to a more reasonable level.

Given his slow start, Iggy currently receives little benefit from investing points into his Flame Turret and Oil Spill, resulting in his ability progression throughout a match feeling a little flat and lacking choice. To open up some more variety to his ability levelling order, we’re providing more value to Flame Turret and Oil spill in the form of more Turret Uptime and more Burst, better allowing Iggy to spec into the style he wishes to play. Finally, Inferno is gaining an increase to its Movement Speed Buff at later Ranks, better allowing him and Scorch to stick to/space enemies and cause chaos in those late-game teamfights. 

Since the previous changes to Kallari, she has emerged as a strong performer, often running away with a match singlehandedly due to her potent snowball and all-in potential. Given how elusive and threatening she can be, we’re reducing Kallari’s general durability to better allow her opponents more opportunities to burst her down should she be caught out of position, while also reducing the damage offered by Shadow Dance to reduce the potency of her ambushes, given the confirmed nature of the ability.

Similar to Kallari, the previous round of changes to Kira were enough to push her to the forefront of power now that she is more comfortably finding her way through lane and cleaning up team fights. Given the nature of Kira’s more ability-based nature and how much of a late-game threat she can become should she find a Takedown in a fight, we’re opting to reduce the raw burst potential of Mercy so that her upfront damage isn’t as high, while also reducing the efficacy of Attack Speed items on her to ensure she must utilize her Abilities fully, rather than being able to rely on Basic Attacking her way to victory.

Lt. Belica has found herself occupying healthier ground with the previous sets of changes to her On-Hit builds. However, given how well she scales across a match, her general laning strength and push priority in the early levels leaves many other Mages unable to keep up. As a result, we’re nudging down how quickly she can shove a wave in the early levels with decreases to Void Bombs uptime and her general Attack Speed, while also dropping the health down on Void Drone to make it more worthwhile for her opponents to consider killing when it is deployed in the lane.

Mourn has found a return to form thanks to the previous set of changes he received, with many new players picking him up and enjoying him. Following up from this, we’re once again making some quality of life adjustments to his Abduct to improve its responsiveness. On the balance front, with this more responsive vine-toss, we’re reducing its speed slightly to ensure it does not become too easy to hit. Likewise, we’re decreasing the Armor Scalings on Contagion to reduce how frequently Mourn can feel unkillable when committing to tankier builds.

Thanks to his general versatility, Murdock continues to serve as a staple Carry. Further changes are being made to his general DPS output with reductions to his Hot Pursuit duration and Attack Speed scaling, better ensuring his general damage cadence does not exceed that of other Carries.

Muriel is receiving a small round of changes aimed at bumping up her overall agency, with her gaining some base health to better allow her to play aggressively in the lane, and Serenity gaining some increased damage scaling so that she may better contribute to focusing down a target in teamfights.

Alongside boasting a new killer look, Skylar is receiving a round of balance changes aimed at increasing her general gameplay consistency and throughout a match. In return, we’re decreasing her all-in effectiveness in the early stages of a lane when combining Air Assault and Hyperdrive as this typically feels oppressive to deal with unless her opponents possess a way of disrupting her flight.

Sparrow is also receiving a round of changes to help bring her further up to the level of the other top performing Carries, with both Heightened Senses and Inner Fire receiving further Scaling increases to ensure he damage potential matches the risk she bears when engaging in teamfights thanks to her lack of mobility.

Quick and simple for the ‘Blast. Given the more unreliable nature of his double-shot Basic Attacks, we’re granting him some additional Basic Attack Scaling to ensure he is adequately rewarded when taking duels and focusing down a target.

Wraith continues to be a menace in high-skill lobbies, often being able to snowball and blast through any foe should he achieve a few early kills. To help take the edge off, Peekaboo! Is receiving a hit to its Max Health Damage, better ensuring a single Snipe combo does not remove even the tankier targets from a fight, and therefore allowing them to have more room to pressure Wraith in a fight. Likewise, with the improvements given to Support Wraith last pass and how performant it can be during the lane, we’re shifting around his Mana Economy from Regen to Base Mana. This ensures his Mana Regen is not as excessive when stacking Supportive Regen Items, while largely canceling out the negative impact for his other roles.

With the Monkey King now loose and his power on full display, some adjustments are needed to reduce his general efficacy. Primarily, we’re starting with targeting his more frustrating gameplay loops in the Offlane. Reductions to his level 1-3 power now better allow opponents to duel him and punish him between rotations, with this loss of power ability uptime better positioning Wukong towards the Jungle where he can farm-up safely before coming online as the scaling menace he is.

Yin has largely fallen out of favor as of late, typically only finding success should she snowball from a large early lead. To provide her with greater consistency, we’re granting her additional ability potency via her Lash Kick and Deflect, better allowing her to rely on them as a source of damage alongside her Basic Attacks. Likewise, we’re returning some of the lost damage to Windburn to ensure Yin’s duels with the tankier targets she should deal well with are more in her favor, especially now that Sky Splitter has lost some of its power.

Given how potent Zarus can be at isolating an enemy and diving backline, he is receiving a range of changes aimed at reducing his overall burst potential and damage output in the early-mid game, better allowing Carries and Mages a chance at surviving his all-in attempts and slowing down the frequency at which he can secure a snowball. As Zarus tends to perform more strongly from the Jungle currently, to not harm Offlane Zarus too heavily, we’re offering him some increases to his Mana economy. This will better allow him to stay on the map and pressure his opponent with multiple rotations, despite the loss in damage output.

Zinx is receiving a range of changes that are pushing away from her currently more passive, heal-based gameplay loops, especially in the laning phase where she can choose to sit back and not interact if she desires, to a more active and aggressive playstyle. This is being done with shifts to her overall damage, durability, and mana efficacy in the early lane. The ultimate result of these changes is that Zinx will have to rely more on pressuring opponents with Bad Medicine, with excessive use of Infuse risking her exhausting her Mana supply faster.

Items:

Consumables:

Divine Potion currently provides too much value relative to its cost and the efficacy of Refillable Potion, allowing too much staying power for Heroes that pick it up. To resolve this, some small reductions are occurring to its Healing and Mana Regen to make it less of “must-buy”.

Crests:

Obelisk’s damage output tends to falter unless it is able to be stacked highly in a more drawn out match. Some additional Magical Scaling is being offered to allow its damage to curve in a more consistent manner, even in those lower stack amounts. 

A quick adjustment to Typhoons Dash Speed, with it now better matching the cadence of Pacifier and Nex’s dashes, and therefore being easier to track and react to.

T2:

Polar Treads is the first of several Movement Speed Items that are gaining back some of their lost speed. Specifically, Polar Tread’s Celerity Speed does not feel like a noticeable bump when it is purchased, so a little extra is being offered for those Heroes looking to fulfill a roaming playstyle. 

Carry:

Various Carry Items are receiving flat increases their immediate power, whether that’s through more Physical Power in the case of Imperator, Terminus, and Ashbringer to make them feel like more meaningful power-spikes compared to Attack Speed options, or Nuclear Round and Viper providing more upfront raw power on their effects when purchased early. While there is more work to be done on the Carry power-progression front, for now this should help Carries feel like they have a little more damage potential and agency before their full build is online. The only exception here is Onixian Quiver, which is losing some of its close-range damage as it tends to overperform relative to other options, and frequently blasts through Melee heroes with too much ease.

Assassin:

Similar to the changes to Carry Items, Deathstalker is also receiving some additional upfront Attack Speed to make it feel like a more meaningful power-spike if purchased eariler in a match.

Fighter:

Currently, many Fighters lean towards being too durable relative to the damage they output, with their damage falling off into the later stages of a match but their durability continuing to climb to excessive levels. While this is a larger topic to be wrestled with at a later date, for now we’re shifting around Salvation’s stat profile to be skewed more towards damage than Health, which will better serve as a happier durability to damage middle-ground for its users.

With the range of healing effects that have been reduced over previous patches, Tainted Blade no longer needs to possess as much health to be effective against these healer and is seeing a slight reduction so that it is less of a catch-all purchase.

Mage:

Despite serving as the burst option for dealing with Tanks, Noxia struggles to compete for its slot in builds compared to other Haste alternatives. A reduction to its cost should have it feeling more desirable for Mages to pick up when looking for an alternative to Megacosm. 

Similar to other Movement Items, Wraith Leggings is also receiving back some of its lost movement speed, better cementing its identity as a powerful pick-up for those Mages and Assassins that wish for some additional mobility.

Support:

Similar to Polar Treads, a small increase to Galaxy Greaves’ Movement Speed is occurring to make it feel more potent and desirable to purchase. 

Truesilver is also receiving a small shift to its stat profiler, with it losing some Health in exchange for a good chunk of additional Magical Power, better serving the likes of Narbash and Gideon, while potentially opening it up more to alternative Mages.

Tank:

Frost Guard is seeing a stat change, with it now gaining Health in exchange for less Armors and the removal of its Health Regen stat. Overall this is roughly a net neutral change in terms of raw durability offered by the Item, however, Heroes with Health Scaling in their kit will now find Frostguard more attractive to buy thanks to the flat Health present.

Tainted Guard currently offers too much damage when purchased in the early-game, which is especially noticeable for Heroes that attempt trading into a Support or Offlaner that owns it. To remedy this, we’re dropping its base damage down a notch and offering it some Scaling back in return to offset some of this loss as a Match progresses.

Given its relatively specialised use-cases and its lack of damage stats or Haste, we’re offering Unbroken Will a small price reduction so that it may better serve as a flexible counter-option for Melee Heroes that are looking for a strong response to CC-heavy comps.

Void Helm is also receiving a small price cut, and a pivot from Health to Magical Armor, allowing it to better suit Healing Heroes that should be favoring it as their Magical Armor item of choice when looking to build defensively against Magical-heavy comps. 

Bug Fixes:

• Fixed an issue where Feng Mao’s Earth Shatter could fully refund its own cooldown after a kill. 

• Fixed an issue where the incorrect Music could play at the start of a match.

• Fixed an issue where Wukong’s Clones could incorrectly display “Immune” text when out of range of a target.

• Fixed an issue where closing the game would take abnormally long.

• Fixed an issue where “Whisper” was incorrectly ordered above “Invite To Party” when selecting a friend.

• Fixed an issue where Kwang’s Recall was missing some additional Lightning VFX.

• Fixed an issue where Drongo’s Jump SFX would only play through 1 channel.

• Fixed an issue where Viper could deal the incorrect amount of damage.

• Fixed an issue where Echelon Cloak’s camouflage could be kept outside of its zone.

You’ve made it to the end - thank you for that!

We truly appreciate your ongoing engagement and support. As always, we’d love to hear your thoughts, so don’t hesitate to share any feedback you have!

There’s plenty of exciting content on the horizon, so be sure to follow us on social media to stay up to date with everything coming next.

Until then — see you in the game!

Rei & Omeda_Zuzu 

Game Design,and Community @ Omeda Studios

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