September 2022 Balance Update - Details & Release Notes

Welcome to the September 2022 Balance Update!

We’re pleased to report that the August 2022 Balance Update — in which we toned down a few outlying performers, gave a boost to one struggling newcomer, and doled out buffs to a handful of older Heroes — did its job well! This month, we’re looking to do more of the same, with a slightly stronger focus on restoring Hero diversity to the top levels of play.

As many of our players have been noting, Defense Team compositions that revolve around maximizing the Kingdom Family Bonus are a bit too strong right now and are rapidly rendering all other setups obsolete. This is a very recent development, and one we were not able to foresee; just a few weeks ago, this particular setup was but one of several viable choices, and Hero diversity was at a reasonably healthy level.

For a bit of context: back in June, we gave significant buffs to the Sun, Moon, and Kingdom Families because they were not being used much at all back then despite being the newest kids on the block. That balance update was quite successful, as it managed to help them see more action without making any of them overly oppressive. A lot can change in three months in a game that receives constant updates, however, and it now seems that we had overshot by a bit back then in regard to the Kingdom Family.

We definitely want the Kingdom Family Heroes to continue to be a force to be reckoned with, but we don’t want them to be as overwhelmingly powerful as they are right now. As such, we will be scaling down a few parts of the buffs we gave to the Kingdom Family in June. Please note that this isn’t a complete rollback — all Kingdom Heroes will remain significantly stronger than they were prior to June.

Kingdom Family Bonus

  • Mana for 1/2/3 Heroes: 3%/6%/10% → 2%/4%/6%
  • HP for 1/2/3 Heroes: 4%/6%/8% → 3%/5%/7%

Zhuge Liang

  • Shu Soldier Minion HP: 18% → 16%
  • Shu Soldier Minion counterattack: 65% → 60%
  • Guerrilla Fiend attack: 65% → 75%

Liu Bei

  • Shu Soldier Minion HP: 18% → 16%
  • Shu Soldier Minion counterattack: 65% → 60%
  • Damage: 340% → 360%

Jing

  • Shu Soldier Minion HP: 18% → 16%
  • Shu Soldier Minion counterattack: 65% → 60%
  • Damage: 320% → 340%

We are also addressing one much older problem case this month: Xnolphod, who has long been a premier Hero in most (if not all) game modes due to the sheer strength and versatility of his unique mana boost.

Many powerful new Heroes have been introduced after Xnolphod’s release, but none of them have succeeded in meaningfully dethroning him in any way — and at this point, his tentacular iron grip on the game seems to be blocking more strategies than it facilitates. We believe that taking down his mana boost a notch, and letting him heal for a larger amount instead, will help bring some much-needed fresh air and excitement to top-level PvP, particularly Alliance Wars.

Xnolphod

  • HP recovery: 32% → 40%
  • Mana boost: 20% → 10%

And now, for this month’s round of buffs!

Once again, we took some time to read through our players’ varied opinions here on our forums. A big thanks to everyone who chipped in with their two cents! If you haven’t made yourself heard there yet, please join in on the fun.

Of course, we also noticed and appreciated all the warm responses to last month’s round of buffs. We’ll do our best to keep these coming in future balance updates.

Neith

  • Mana reduction: 10% → 20%
  • Damage to all enemies: 150% → 200%

Jean-François

  • Burn damage 302 →
    • 453 (max level; not Limit Broken; no Emblems)
    • 486 (Limit Broken max level; no Emblems)
    • 552 (Limit Broken max level; fully Emblemed with left-side nodes)
  • Burn duration: 2 turns → 3 turns
  • Defense Status Ailment Protection duration: 4 turns → 5 turns

Thoth-Amun

  • Damage: 235% → 280%
  • Undead Minion HP: 20% → 25%

Salmon Loki

  • Damage: 225% → 250%
  • Damage if enemy changes element to Holy 484 →
    • 528 (max level; not Limit Broken; no Emblems)
    • 570 (Limit Broken max level; no Emblems)
    • 612 (Limit Broken max level; fully Emblemed with left-side nodes)

Red Hood

  • Damage: 131% → 181%
  • Fox Minion HP: 14% → 20%

Please note that all of the above adjustments will go live on 2022-09-29T13:00:00Z.

We hope the adjustments above will help you field these particular fan favorites in a wider range of situations! If your favorite Hero missed the cut this time, please remember to let us know here on our Community Forum.

As always, we will continue to keep an eye on all Heroes affected by this update in case further adjustments become necessary. Please refer to our Hero Balancing FAQ for why we occasionally make post-release balance adjustments. If you wish to share your feedback and discuss this update with fellow players, please feel free to join the discussion here.

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