Preview of Some Balance Changes for 3.52

[Cerddorion]

they change cards for players anyway, so this isn't new

[Gondorian]

Hi, all. I've added a poll about Skervox. I promise to go with whatever is the most popular answer for 3.52 (though it may still change in future).

[Offspring]

I still hate nerfing cards, but if it's the main goal for v 3.52, then why don't we nerf:

- Braxnorian Soldier:
. Problem: almost 100% of human decks use it, even tribal ones, because it's OP (and completely breaks one hero, Lance)
. Solution: it could stop haste of all allies, then at least ppl would have to chose between him and Viska, so he would see less play

- Grave Resistance:
. Problem: it protects all your allies, for three turns, for free resource!
. Solution: make it 1 CC instead of 0, so at least players would have to wait to cast it on t4, and not t2 ally > t3 ally + grave
or
. Solution 2: you lose 2 life for turn instead of 1. Wanna protect all your allies? Then bleed instead of them! so the opponent may focus on attacking
hero while grave is on board (and the faster player will win)

- Necromancer's Shroud:
. Problem: Low CC, which allows you to play 2x or 3x on late game (as win condition) and there is no way to avoid being attacked by the revived ally,
as it isn't affected by cards which stop Haste, as Braxo, for example
. Solution: changing to 4 cc and/or changing it's ability to "that ally has haste until the end of turn"

These are my suggestions to balance what I really think was the meta till October

[Veles]

Hi, all. I've added a poll about Skervox. I promise to go with whatever is the most popular answer for 3.52 (though it may still change in future).

why not half way option. disable 3?

[Gondorian]

why not half way option. disable 3?

That's not the only difference, since targeting requires being able to target the allies. Current 3.51 version works on hidden allies or those behind protector and there are other cards related to targeted abilities too. Untargeted is a whole lot better.

[Blopi]

(…) Edited post, without interests. Thanks to Veles observation.

EDIT: The change to Ythan to ignore hidden as well has been removed. It is waaaay too complicated to code and will require about 300 file changes. Seriously! Not worth the time and risk of bugs.

I do not wish to be rude, nor coarse Gondorian, but the SE cards should not suffer from being not changed (or changed) for the lack of human SE resources. The Hero Ythan should keep its ability to ignore hidden, should the staff have to plan hours of coding and changing about more than 300 files.

I do like the new Loom of Fate. It is now well balanced, more on the SE spirit, specially for a neutral item.

About the others cards, well I'll let the community talk, as I do not have any others suggestions.

Thank you for the effort and the time consuming!

[Demnchi]

Hi all.

This is a subset of changes coming in 3.52. We're sharing these in advance of the others because of how they relate to the "stall" deck discussion that has been going on recently.


Skervox - Ability changed to "4SE: Up to 2 target opposing allies are disabled for 1 turn, all opposing allies are poisoned, and friendly Hunter allies have +1 attack until the start of your next turn."

I personally am on board with this change. Seems very similar to what he does now without making his ability so overbearing. He can't disable the whole board anymore, so swarming him becomes an option, but I'm sure the poison will still easily run its course in that case too.

Sorcerer of Endia - Ability changed to "0: If a player controls at least 3 items and/or abilities, you may exile one of them and Sorcerer of Endia is returned to your hand at the end of the turn."


Rapacious Vermin - Ability changed to "Sustain: 1HP. 2: If a player controls at least 3 items and/or abilities, you may destroy one of them and Rapacious Vermin takes 1 damage."

Not the biggest fan of these changes since they can still target pretty much everything, but at least they now have a window of reaction in most cases and seem solid enough to be used more regularly to discourage stall decks. Although as some have mentioned, SoE's might be a bit much, especially since he can get an attack in before he's returned to the hand. This makes hasting it with Portal or Lance an even stronger move than it would be if the ability either costs some resources, or made it go directly back into the hand. As it stands now, it can just trade up for anything that won't kill it, return to the hand while also destroying something.

Loom of Fate - Casting cost increased to 2cc (from 1cc). Durability set to 3 durability. Ability changed to "1D: All players draw a card."

I actually think this makes packing more than one of them more worthwhile and prevents it from being used endlessly.

The biggest changes are obviously to Sorcerer of Endia and Rapacious Vermin. Please read them carefully before replying! The intention is to make them more useful than the current versions without being so oppressive and powerful as the pre-nerf on-summon versions that looked for only 3 relevant cards.

As always, your constructive feedback is welcomed!


EDIT: The change to Ythan to ignore hidden as well has been removed. It is waaaay too complicated to code and will require about 300 file changes. Seriously! Not worth the time and risk of bugs.

Overall, as a player, I'm okay with these changes. I'm not sure why so many people think Skervox would be ruined by this change. It's not like in regular matches he would need to disable more than 2 allies anyways. Not to mention the poison mixed with Hunter's Gambit, The Perfect Shot, Krugal Butcher, Flame Arrow, Weapon's fire, and a bunch of other cards like DMT and even Arsonist should take down what you don't disable pretty handily. Besides, even if I am wrong, I think it would at least be worth the attempt to see if it makes a significant difference. He can always be buffed if he was nerfed too much.

[Ross013]

I'm gonna clear something up because a lot of people seem confused about sorcerer. It's ability isn't much more powerful because it's not an on summon effect. This gives the opposing player the chance to deal with it before it can get rid of anything

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[Veles]

First of all, thank you for offering updates and keep listening to players for the balance of the game. I do really enjoy to see a game that has more than 6 years still developed and updated.

Now, about the mentioned changes.
Apart from Shatter Ice, Groundshift, Sinkhole, and SoE, there is no card that can exile during the summon phase, all others need to be readied, or in play. So there are only four cards of this type in the game (maybe I am missing one?).

Shatter Ice, Groundshift, Sinkhole are all purely abilities. On the other hand, SoE, while having the possibility to exile at the summon phase with conditions, is an ally with 3 ATK and 5 HP.

Such cards that can exile one type of all items (artefact, weapon or armor) or one type of all abilities (attached or support) during the summoning phase while being an ally that, moreover, will be returned to the hand (if still alive) at the end of the turn for the only cost of 4cc is quite newly and uniquely over powered.

The desire to counter decks that rely on full items board is understandable, and enjoyable, imo, but maybe not on this form.
Making him a low ally (0 ATK with 3 HP) with the same cost?
Deleting the "is returned to your hand at the end of the turn."?
Specifying the types of items or abilities?



I do not wish to be rude, nor coarse Gondorian, but the SE cards should not suffer from being not changed (or changed) for the lack of human SE resources. The Hero Ythan should keep its ability to ignore hidden, should the staff have to plan hours of coding and changing about more than 300 files.

I do like the new Loom of Fate. It is now well balanced, more on the SE spirit, specially for a neutral item.

About the others cards, well I'll let the community talk, as I do not have any others suggestions.

Thank you for the effort and the time consuming!

SoE cant exile on summon unless you give him haste. Ability to destroy item is activate one, not a passive.

[Gondorian]

I do not wish to be rude, nor coarse Gondorian, but the SE cards should not suffer from being not changed (or changed) for the lack of human SE resources. The Hero Ythan should keep its ability to ignore hidden, should the staff have to plan hours of coding and changing about more than 300 files.

It's dropped from 3.52, which I'm trying to get out before the Regionals. And, when you see what else is in 3.52, then hopefully you will understand why other things have been prioritised above this work.