Predecessor Patch v0.2.3

Hey folks!

It's our first balance patch of the year and this one is primarily targeting item build diversity with a sprinkling of Hero balance.

More changes and improvements are cooking, which you can expect to see soon in future patches. Until then we've heard community feedback and hope these changes not only help level out the meta a bit but also shake things up to keep you on your toes!

-import, Game Designer

Predecessor: Patchv0.2.3

HEROES:

Countess:
First up is Countess, we've mainly focused on giving her some small stat adjustments to tweak her late game durability, as well as her general slipperiness. Her healing potential is still something we're keeping an eye on, especially because we know that she'll be one of the Heroes impacted by some of the item changes that we've implemented in this patch. Rest assured that we'll be monitoring your feedback and will adjust her further if needed!

● Base Health increased from 550 to 560
● Health Growth decreased from 110 to 105
● Movement Speed decreased from 685 to 680

Shadow Slip [Q]
● Recall Duration decreased from 4s to 3.5s

Dekker:

Every team needs a good Support Hero so today we're also looking at Dekker - slightly improving her damage output to help her compete in her lane.

● Base Physical Power increased from 50 to 54

Drongo:

Shrapnel Cannon [R]
● [Bug Fix] Now correctly states the CC immunity in the description

Gadget:

Gadget is another Hero getting some attention this week. Specifically we've nerfed her Sticky Mine ability slightly but to compensate and level out her damage output we've also increased this ability's scaling slightly. As with all our Heroes, we'll be keeping an eye on her and making further adjustments if necessary.

Sticky Mine [Q]
● Scaling increased from 65% to 70%
● Cooldown increased from 8/7.5/7/6.5/6 to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8

Speed Gate [E]
● Root Duration decreased from 1.25s to 1s

Grux:

Grux has been naturally very dominant in the Offlane, with few Heroes able to meet his overwhelming aggression. Today we're lowering his durability a smidge to make playing him more of a challenge, giving more opportunities for Enemy Heroes to punish his hostile playstyle.

● Base Health decreased from 620 to 600
● Base Physical Armor decreased from 36 to 32

Howitzer:
Howitzer's Land Mine ability has been subject to some tweaks and improvements this week. We've lowered the distance an Enemy mine can knock you back to tackle some of the frustration of being mined from far away. In tandem to this we've also increased the self-inflicted knockback distance that comes from using the ability, letting Howitzer get back up to Midlane from the River. We hope you'll find these changes to be a blast to play with!

Land Mine [E]
● Knockback Distance on Enemy Targets decreased by 20%
● Knockback Distance on Self increased by 20%

Kallari:

Kallari's 1-2 Item power spike has been pretty substantial compared to many other Heroes, which has led to a few changes today that we hope will better balance her on the field. As ever, we'll be monitoring her performance and your feedback to make further tweaks if needed.

Death Mark [E]
● Base Damage increased from 40/65/90/115/140 to 40/70/100/130/160
● Scaling decreased from 25% to 18%

Guillotine [R]
● Base Damage decreased from 180/350/520 to 170/330/490

Khaimera:

Spirit Regeneration [Passive]
● [Bug Fix] In game description now correctly states the duration of 2.5s instead of 3s

Narbash:

Calling all Orcs! Narbash's late game healing is going up! We think this change will really help his ability to support his allies, but as usual we’ll be monitoring Narbash's performance going forward.

Song of my People [E]
● Scaling increased from 5% to 10%.

Sevarog:

Poor Sevarog has really struggled lately to survive the early game thanks to his low durability; something we've addressed slightly today. The goal is to help Sevarog effectively scale to become the tank his team needs, so we've bumped up his sustainability alongside his durability to help stop wild Rhinos from running him down.

● Base Health increased from 605 to 615

Siphon [Q]
● Minion Healing increased from 10% to 15%

Steel:

Everyone's favourite big orange cyborg continues to be a strong Offlaner thanks to his ability to comfortably scale into team fights. In today's balance patch we’re hitting his early game Mana pool, opening up opportunities for Enemy Heroes to punish him if he commits too hard.

Bullrush [Q]
● Mana Cost changed from 60/65/70/75/80 to 75

ITEMS:
CRESTS:
Rogue Crest:

● Physical Power increased from 6 to 8

Assassin Crest:

● Physical Power increased from 10 to 12

Tempest:

As part of our efforts to combat the many Tank/Mage builds that have cropped up lately (while keeping Gideon's Tempest/Truesilver build intact), we've tweaked the damage numbers on Tempest.

Overcharge [Active]
● Base Damage decreased from 30 to 20
● Scaling increased from 10% to 14%

TIER 2:

Loch Shawl:

Loch Shawl is getting reworked to fit larger changes to the Leviathan item, which you can find further down this page.

● Cost decreased from 1300 to 950
● Health decreased from 200 to 150
● Health Regeneration removed
● Added 15 Magical Armor

Passive Reworked
New Passive - Blighted Veil:
● Receiving magical damage reduces the Source’s Healing by 20% for 3s.

Recipe changed
● Was Vitality Crystal+Life Stream now Vitality Crystal+Wraps

TIER 3:

Astral Catalyst:
Long awaited, this is for Rei.

Ravenous [Passive]
● Ultimate CDR on Takedown decreased from 25% to 20%

Augmentation:

We've adjusted Augmentation's stats slightly to help it stand out from other items, giving it a more unique identity and hopefully paving the way for more unique builds with the item.

● Physical Power decreased from 30 to 20
● Attack Speed increased from 30 to 40

Demolisher:

Bursty ADC builds have been taking over and Demolisher is one of the larger contributors to this. With Revenant on his way and Crit Kallari showing up more, we feel comfortable taking Demolisher down a notch.

First Strike [Passive]
● Additional Damage decreased from 50% to 35%

Dust Devil:

We've given some nice quality of life buffs to Dust Devil to better emphasise the more fun perks of the item (the movement speed and attack speed). The aim is for the item to feel easier to buy, as it offers more bang for buck.

Menace [Passive]
● Attack Speed increased from 2% per stack to 3% per stack
● Movement Speed increased from 10% to 15%

Legacy:

Up until this point you lost 10 Physical Power from completing Legacy, so today we've given it the correct amount of Physical Power while adjusting its haste to compensate. This item was already very potent as a 2nd or 3rd option, so this should hopefully help it fall in line as more of a niche/tech option, rather than being a necessary pick up in every game.

● Physical Power increased from 30 to 40
● Ability Haste decreased from 20 to 10.

Leviathan:

Leviathan. From a design standpoint it's been problematic thanks to its potential for Mage abuse and its positioning as a must-have item as a haste capstone for Tanks.

To combat this we're shifting its identity to new (and much needed) anti-heal magical armour item. This provides a new option for Tanks who need solutions to help them counter Heroes like Countess as well as upcoming sustain-based magical damage Heroes that we'll be adding in the future. You can expect a rebrand/rename for this item in the next patch to help it stay on theme with other anti-heal options, and as usual we'll be watching for your feedback.

● Cost decreased from 3000 to 2850
● Health decreased from 400 to 350
● Health Regeneration decreased from 225% to 150%
● Added 30 Magical Armor

Passives Reworked
New Passive - Blighted Veil:
● Receiving magical damage reduces the Source’s Healing by 40% for 3s
New Passive - Colossus:
● Gain 5% Damage mitigation, doubled vs Targets affected by Blight

Recipe changed:
● Added Wraps

Malady:

Combined with other compounding effects, Malady has been one of the biggest factors behind Kallari’s recent dominance. Increasing this item's cost will hopefully alleviate this a bit.

● Total Cost increased from 2800 to 2900

Mutilator:

The Mutilator’s anti-tank identity and overall stat line has made it feel like a must-buy for many characters. We’re hoping that today's nerfs open up more build paths and more diversity for more bruisers.

Mutilate [Passive]
● Damage decreased from 1.25% of the targets maximum health to 1% of the targets maximum health
Devour [Passive]
● Maximum Health Steal decreased from 8% to 5%

Nightfall:

This change is actually more of a bugfix in disguise, as previously you were losing stats for completing this item before today. Nightfall now has a brand new recipe, and we've also lowered its cost a bit to make it easier to buy.

● Total Cost decreased from 3100 to 3000
Recipe changed:
● Was Honed Kris+Crimson Edge+Sabre now Honed Kris+Bloodlust

Raiment of Renewal:

These Raiment changes are part of a continued initiative to combat abuse cases from characters with innate sustain.

Synthesis [Passive]
● Increased Healing decreased from 20% to 15%

Tainted Guard:

Tainted Guard has been the subject of some big nerfs along with Tank itemisation and now, with the changes to Leviathan, we're looking to slot in a bit of Ability Haste to allow Tank builds to offset the overall Haste loss. This should hopefully maintain this item's usefulness as a competitive option if you need anti-heal.

● Ability Haste increased from 10 to 15

Tainted Rounds:

On-hit focused builds haven’t seen as much play as we’ve wanted, so today we've adjusted Tainted Rounds to try and make it more appealing for people to buy and try out!

● Attack Speed increased from 30 to 35

Tainted Totem:

This change is directly targeting abuse cases from non-support characters. That's right Crunch, Rampage & Countess, we're looking at you!

Nirvana [Passive]
● No longer applies to the holder of Tainted Totem

Tectonic Mallet:

Tectonic Mallet had a major bug that meant it was almost a a deficit to pick it up. Now we've fixed this, making this mallet a very powerful item for bruisers that synergises well with items like Augmentation or Void Helm.

● [Bug Fix] Description now correctly states that Tectonic Mallet grants 5% additional Movement Speed
● Magical Armor decreased from 40 to 30
Magnitude [Passive]
● [Bug Fix] no longer factors in the combat penalty for Bonus Power

Terminus

Terminus terror no longer!

Anon [Passive]
● [Bug Fix] Fixed bug the shield could be stack infinitely

Truesilver Bracelet
This is another change targeting the Mage/Tank builds that have been cropping up more and more lately. We'd love for this to remain a staple pickup for Narbash and Gideon, so these changes are there to help position this item as a less enticing first buy for characters like Gadget.

● Health decreased from 250 to 200

Void Helm:
Finally we have some nice quality of life improvements for Void Helm. Keep in mind that movement speed has diminishing returns, so generally while this is nice we're mindful of and will be monitoring movement speed creep.

Justicar [Passive]
● Movement Speed increased from 10% to 15%