I think Russell is reasonably well-balanced overall
I think Russell is excessively weak, and needs a buff (increase of her strength)
I think Russell is excessively strong, and needs a nerf (decrease of her strength)
I’m not sure yet
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Discussion
If you think Russell is well-balanced, too strong, or too weak — why?
Are there specific, concrete suggestions you’d make to the game designers to alter Russell? Or are there specific reasons you think he should remain unchanged?
He just needs some more base damage. That’s all. Not really weak, but I feel they’re giving the can’t miss effect way too much credit.
As I mentioned, uraeus, as well as eiora & fluffy who are average single hitters deal so much damage even if they’re niche. Russel is niche even if burn is a common ailment, I’m sorry
Mana gain on burn is also really overrated as a skill. Yeah he can be fast or very fast depending on the enemy but so what if he can’t threaten anyone with that weak amount of damage? If c kad is out of the equation, he is the weakest fast sniper out there. Even Nemo can dish a 600% out in certain situations
For average I think he could hit harder specially considering newer heroes being released.
Otherwise we’ve got so many mediocre hotm that he’s pretty strong in comparison. Not missing the target is an exclusive feature for now but I’m pretty sure they’ll add a 600% damage sniper with that feature as well soon in some event or season 5.
Blah I said it dozens of times already, but day is slow.
He should hit as hard as your typical sniper (420-500%) while being average as a trade-off for his passives.
OR
He should be fast but hitting for lower than typical sniper (350%,what he does now) as a trade-off for his passives.
Now he enjoys both handicaps while the passives aren’t even that strong.
I mean, look at Malosi. Hits 1 target for 300% at VERY FAST speed and in the process counters that damn C Kadilen 100x better than this Russell guy. And it’s a 1.5 year old HotM we talk about.
But I made my peace with it already - seeing how he made it to live game, I ascended my dupe Gefjon so I have a comfort now that I can miss Russell and not even feel bad about it, as I already ascended a better hero with the mats that could be his. Quite disappointing that a dupe of 1-year old hero is 2 classes better than a new HotM but that’s the game, I can only but roll with it.
Russ needs to be fast that’d be the best fix but that’s never going to happen !! Has anyone ever known a hero to change mana speed through a balance change cuz I’m struggling to remember a single instance of that occurring !! With that in mind I can’t see the devs. starting now so the only other option is to increase his attack % to at least 400% or 225% to 3 to match the DoT. With all the new powerful heroes being released it’s the least they can do !!!
But Atomos was really, really rubbish. They tweaked his damage too. I still can’t bring myself to level mine even though he’s decent now…
I think it’s OK for Russell to be slower than his team mates so they place the burn damage first for him to spark off (as it were). I certainly wouldn’t complain if he got a few ticks more damage out of it though.
Of course !!! Atomos !!! Forgot about that guy !!! Can’t think of another but it does show they can & have changed mana speed in the past !! Maybe a change for Rus. ??
@Gorann@milkyjoe001
The Easter heroes also got a buff. Jack (4*) and Lepus (5*) both became fast after being released average.
But together with atomos those are the only 3 heroes I can remember a speed change in the live game.
So I wouldn’t really hope for Russell becoming fast…
He is weak. He either needs to be fast or his damage be increased if he remains average. He needs to be a stand alone hero and not rely on synergy with other burn heroes that in my experience with him and JF, it doesn’t exist.
I really don’t think there is an actual synergy with him and other burn heroes. Maybe with emilio being very fast and AOE but not with JF. In actual gameplay, they usually charge their mana most of the time (without the mana boost to JF from high leveled troops). If they both charge at the same time, either one of them should wait for the duration of the burn before the other fires because the their burns don’t stack. Most likely, russell should fire first to maximize his passive so JF will waste potential mana gain from red tiles for 3 turns just for russell to utilize his passive which is inefficient in my opinion.
As for pairing with GM, i don’t have him but a 15% mana gain for 2 turns may immediately charge russell after the 2 turn burn but after that, their skills may charge at the same time and the waiting game begins just like with JF. I am not sure of this but maybe others with both GM and russell will give a definite statement on their synergy.
Nevertheless, if russell will be good only if he is paired with emilio and GM, then he is definitely weak in my opinion since i don’t have the paywall heroes to synergize him with.
In Pokémon, there are moves that never miss as well. But you know what’s their base power, 60. And you wonder why nobody ever uses those moves in competitive Pokémon
Surely HotM shud get better not worse??? Isn’t that how ALL the event & season heroes have become, so why not follow suite & make Hotm’s better & better ??? For a lot of players it’s there only real chance to get a decent 5* but to be lucky enough to get a HotM then to be greeted by Russell , I mean talk about losing £1 & finding 1p !!!
Is this sampling bias where people answer different polls. Or is this us the community generally considering average to above average hero to be excessively weak?
I think he is too weak and would not be disappointed to not get him.
If I had to balance him however, I would not buff his speed or attack.
Personally, my proposed buff would be to tack on a dispel. This would not only provide a basic functionality red heroes lack (with reasonable accesibility unlike event heroes), but also make him an actual counter to cKadilen as he would then unerringly dispel her dodge. If this is judged to make him too strong, I’d even be okay with his damage being decreased to compensate.
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