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Hey Reddit,
Here are the Balance Changes that will be live in-game on November 4th.
We focused the majority of the balancing on a specific subset of cards that had a large impact on the meta in Season 4. Read more about this decision here.
Without further ado - here are the Season 5 balance changes!
Witch
- Removed Area Damage
- Hit Speed reduced: 1.4sec > 1.7sec
- Slower first Skeleton spawn: 1sec -> 3.5sec
- Mass increased: 100% (no longer pushed by Skeletons)
Witch ended up being far too strong in a few different ways. When we discussed the role of Witch, she should grow in value & power the longer that she remains on the field. We felt then that she should start off rather vulnerable immediately after casting to allow a larger window for counterplay.
Her Skeletons will not spawn for several seconds, giving opposing players time to hit her with Spells. She will also not be an immediate blocking solution to Bandit, Prince, and other melee attackers. The increased mass will make her less likely to be pushed by her own Skeletons.
The goal of the reduced splash radius last month was to make Witch hit multiple Skeletons/Goblins/Minions but that would be about it. But this happens rarely enough that it seems unnatural or buggy when she does, so we are removing the Area Damage altogether. Also slowing down her DPS via Hit Speed accounts for her sturdy health and heavy damage output.
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Elixir Golem
- Hitpoints: -10%
- Affects all forms (Elixir Golem, Elixir Golemite, Elixir Blob)
Elixir Golem's initial win rate has been exciting – its always great to see new deck archetypes emerge. The general consensus is that the Elixir Blobs are a bit too strong, dealing consistent damage even in the face of a strong defense. Elixir Blobs will be less likely to reach their target, mitigating this concern and bringing Elixir Golem into line with other cards.
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Wall Breakers
- Damage: -19%
- Area Damage Radius reduced: 2.0 > 1.5
- Deploy slightly further apart (fixes true red/true blue issue)
We are thrilled to see Wall Breakers enabling new decks, but they are providing slightly too much value for their cost, so we are reducing their Damage. We also spread out their Deploy range slightly, to fix some inconsistency in how they split lanes.
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Fisherman
- Hook Range reduced: 7 > 6
- Hook Charge Time increased: 1sec > 1.1sec
Fisherman has proven to be a bit too useful in too many deck archetypes, so we are reducing the effectiveness of his Anchor pull. With a shorter range, it will be more difficult for him to pull big troops to the King Tower (though still possible for Giant/Golems) and less likely to completely neutralize an enemy's defense.
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Executioner
- Max Range: 4.5 > 5
- Axe Radius: -20%
- Axe Hover Time increased: 1.0s -> 1.2
Executioner's axe becomes narrower and slightly longer. Overall an 11% reduction to his hit box area. This should further separate him from large-circle splashers like Wizard or Princess and give decks like Lava Hound room to out-position him, while still allowing him to hit support troops behind his main target.
Hit Speed has been reduced 0.2sec to account for the axe hover time. This means that Executioner still has the same overall Hit Speed, but the Axe will stay in the air for a slightly longer period.
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Barbarian Barrel
- Damage: +8%
We are happy with Barbarian Barrel's interactions with most Troops, but felt that a small ground-only Spell should at least knock off the Shields of Troops like Guards. This Damage increase will allow +1 level Barb Barrels to destroy Princesses, but not at equal level – you'll need the Barbarian to finish off fragile ranged attackers.
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Baby Dragon
- Hitpoints: -4.5%
A few months ago we stated that we felt Baby Dragon was benefiting from a lack of competition in the area/splash damage role. After buffs that brought Magic Archer and Executioner into the meta, Baby Dragon remains extremely popular and holds a strong win rate so we are giving it a slight health nerf to even the playing field slightly.
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Let us know what you think about these changes below and get ready for Season 5 starting on November 4th!
The Clash Royale Team
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