Special Balance Update

Happy upcoming holidays, Stormgaters!

As we get ready to enter the new year, we’d like to give one final report on how balance is and one final game update to close out the year. In the last month, since the last big balance patch, all three factions have taken turns being both the leading race and the lagging race. Over the last month overall, Vanguard is at 48.6%, Infernals is at 51.31%, and Celestials is at 50.64%. Balance is better than it has ever been since EA launch, but we can certainly make some improvements. Before the holidays, we’d like to put out an update with the primary goals of shaking up the game, reducing player frustration in specific situations, and providing more rewarding interactions. With that, let’s talk about all the matchups.

Vanguard vs Infernals
Since the last big patch, Infernals have been slightly favored with a 50.5% advantage, but the favored faction flip-flops weekly. This is a very even matchup overall, but we’d like to address some frustration points from both sides.

Brute

• Weapon damage increased from 20 to 24.
  
• The Sundering Soul Craze upgrade now increases the attack speed of Fiends when they split from 50% to 100%.

Brutes were slightly over-nerfed in the previous patch, impacting their early-game presence, especially against Vanguard Lancers. These changes aim to enhance Brutes’ overall power and create more impactful gameplay moments with the Sundering Soul Craze upgrade.

Magmadon

• Weapon damage increased from 30 to 30 (+20 vs Heavy).

The Magmadon is currently seen as underwhelming, largely due to Weavers being considered a more powerful option in a similar tanking role. By boosting its attack damage, particularly against Heavy units, we aim to make Magmadon a stronger option against units like Lancers.

Weaver

• Cost increased from 100/150 to 125/200.
  
• Supply cost increased from 4 to 5.
  
• The Soul Ripper trait now increases the weapon damage of Weavers from 15% against units to 20%.
  
• The Soul Ripper trait now increases the weapon damage of Weavers from 7.5% against structures to 10%.
  
• Weapon damage is now clamped between 5 damage and 200 damage.

Despite previous nerfs, Weavers remain too cost-efficient and massable, leading to noninteractive gameplay due to overuse of the Lash ability. Increasing their cost and supply while boosting their weapon damage shifts their utility towards quality over quantity of Lashes. The new damage clamp also prevents extremes, such as dealing 0 damage to Healing Flowers or hundreds of damage against High Commands.

Graven

• Graven weapon damage reduced from 10 (+15 to Light) to 10 (+8 to Light).
  
• No longer disables Top-bars when you Infiltrate a Command Structure.

Partly due to the dominance of Weavers, Gravens have been able to be massed in this matchup as they have a positive armor matchup against them. We’d like to push this unit to more of a specialist role, so we’ll be greatly reducing its damage. In addition, we feel the disabling of the Top-Bar when you Infiltrate a Command Structure was confusing as there’s not enough fanfare around what is happening, so we’ll be disabling this for now.

Vanguard vs Celestials Celestials currently hold a 55.29% win rate against Vanguard.

Vector

• Recall no longer restores the health of the Vector to its previous health.

Vector rushes remain a frustration for Vanguard players because it’s possible to harass without taking damage due to the recall ability. Removing the free “heal” effect from Recall ensures more counterplay.

In addition, another common feedback about this matchup is that the irregular pace at which the Celestial economy scales due to a variety of factors lets Celestials get ahead very quickly. But since economy is such a tricky and fragile topic, this is something we’re looking to address more in the next big patch.

Infernals vs Celestials Infernals currently have a 54.8% win rate over Celestials. We’ll address some degenerate rush strategies first:

Meat Farm

• Health decreased from 500 to 400.
  
• Armor decreased from 15 to 5.

Meat Farm-based rushes were a bit too strong against Celestials who struggle to cover a lot of area with either static defense or Argents in the early game. We’ll be bringing down the vitality of the Meat Farm to similar levels as the Habitat so that it’s more feasible for Celestials to cancel a Meat Farm before it completes.

Therium Purifier

• The Celestial Hyperdrive upgrade now requires Arcstation.

Morph Core rushes can hit extremely quickly and instantly end games for unsuspecting players. Delaying the Celestial Hyperdrive upgrade prevents Morph Cores from being transformed into a deadly combat unit too quickly.

General

• Fixed an issue where units were sometimes not correctly prioritizing their more powerful weapon. Units affected include Hornets, Flak Cannons, Gaunts, Vectors, and Scythes.

Vector

• Anti-air damage increased from 6 (+6 vs Light) to 8 (+8 vs Light).

Scythe

• Scythe air weapon damage increased from 12 (+12 Heavy) to 16 (+10 Heavy).

The primary macro feedback we get about this matchup is that Celestials lacks powerful enough tools to fight Infernals air units, specifically the Spriggan and Flayed Dragon. First, we’re going to fix an issue that caused Vectors and Scythes to more often use their weaker anti-ground weapon than intended. In addition, during unit testing, we felt Vectors and Scythe should be stronger anti-air counters in a straight-up fight.

Vanguard vs Vanguard
Hedgehog

• Weapon damage changed from 10 (+5 vs Heavy) to 8 (+7 vs Heavy).

Hedgehogs are intended to excel in hit-and-run scenarios but currently perform too well as all-around units. Specializing their damage profile allows for clearer counterplay, particularly in Vanguard mirrors where Exos should counter Hedgehogs more effectively.

Fun Stuff Perhaps because it’s the holidays, we’ve added a few fun updates to enhance the pace and feel of the game:
Solar Habitat

• Cost decreased from 100/0 to 75/0.
  
• Solar Charge can now stack!

MedTech

• Nanoswarm upgrade research cost decreased from 100/100 to 50/50.
  
• System Shock radius increased from 2 to 3.

Infernal Top-Bar

• If you summon an Effigy on Shroud, the cooldown will now be decreased by 12 seconds, down to 8 seconds.

Looking Towards the Future Finally, a message to our 1v1 fans. So far in 2024, the competitive team has primarily been focused on addressing standout balance issues as we discover them. As we approach the new year, I’m very excited to announce that we’ll be adopting a more proactive strategy; in addition to incremental adjustments, we’ll be looking to deliver comprehensive overhauls of entire systems and mechanics.

In the meantime, we hope these changes keep the game fresh and exciting during the holiday season. Thanks for being part of this journey, and as always, we’ll see you on the battlefield!

Lead Competitive Designer,

Kevin Dong

Changelist General

• Fixed an issue where units were sometimes not correctly prioritizing their more powerful weapon. Units affected include Hornets, Flak Cannons, Gaunts, Vectors, and Scythes.

Vanguard Solar Habitat

• Cost decreased from 100/0 to 75/0.
  
• Solar Charge can now be stacked multiple times on the same structure.
  
  • Note that Med Stations and Repair-o-Matics will currently still only benefit from 1 Solar Habitat and Ambush Posts currently do not benefit from Solar Charge.

MedTech

• Nanoswarm upgrade research cost decreased from 100/100 to 50/50.
  
• System Shock radius increased from 2 to 3.

Hedgehog

• Weapon damage changed from 10 (+5 vs Heavy) to 8 (+7 vs Heavy).

Graven

• Graven weapon damage reduced from 10 (+15 to Light) to 10 (+8 to Light).
  
• No longer disables top-bar abilities when you Infiltrate a Command Structure.

Infernals Infernal Top-Bar

• If you summon an Effigy on Shroud, the cooldown will now be decreased by 12 seconds, down to 8 seconds.

Meat Farm

• Health decreased from 500 to 400.
  
• Armor decreased from 15 to 5.

Brute

• Weapon damage increased from 20 to 24.
  
• The Sundering Soul Craze upgrade now increases the attack speed of Fiends when they split from 50% to 100%.
  
• Weapon damage increased from 30 to 30 (+20 vs Heavy).

Weaver

• Cost increased from 100/150 to 125/200.
  
• Supply cost increased from 4 to 5.
  
• The Soul Ripper trait now increases the weapon damage of Weavers from 15% against units to 20%.
  
• The Soul Ripper trait now increases the weapon damage of Weavers from 7.5% against structures to 10%.
  
• Weapon damage is now clamped between 5 damage and 200 damage.

Celestials Therium Purifier

• The Celestial Hyperdrive upgrade now requires Arcstation.

Vector

• Recall no longer restores the health of the Vector to its previous health.
  
• Anti-air damage increased from 6 (+6 vs Light) to 8 (+8 vs Light).

Scythe

• Scythe air weapon damage increased from 12 (+12 Heavy) to 16 (+10 Heavy).