Hello Warriors!
JC here again from the Fight Team, with an update to our plans for Year 5!
First, we’ll be releasing the Warden improvements we tested in Year 4 Season 4’s Testing Grounds. Feedback was positive, and we made minor improvements and bug fixes, but generally Warden is unchanged, kit-wise, from the previous Testing Grounds. For a full list of changes to the Warden, please refer to our patch notes coming on Thursday, March 11th.
We also have exciting news to share about Testing Grounds in Year 5!
Warden Improvements
Based on your feedback, we felt Warden was almost ready for release. We took extra time to look over the feedback we received, as well as parsed through our data, and ultimately felt that Warden could release almost as-is from the version that was present in the Testing Grounds.
Aside from bug fixes, the one change that stuck out the most was damage on Warden’s Side Heavy Finishers being too high, especially compared to the damage dealt by the Top Heavy Finisher, and so we adjusted it downwards to be more in-line with other attacks.
In addition to this, we’re also changing Thick Blood, which is present on Warden and Nuxia – it is a frequent subject of feedback from players as it invalidates the kit of certain heroes almost completely. To address this, Thick Blood no longer makes the hero immune to Bleed and Fire Damage, but instead heals the hero when they activate Revenge. This ensures that the feat is no longer a hard counter to certain heroes while keeping some utility in group fights.
Year 5 Testing Grounds
We are proud to announce that we aim to have the Testing Grounds open more frequently in Year 5 to test upcoming balance changes!
We are looking to bring up heroes that might be lower in viability – similarly to what we did in Year 4 Season 4 with Nobushi and Peacekeeper, the global aim is to improve on heroes considered weak to make them more in-line with the rest of the cast. We would love to see more diversity in hero picks, and this is a big step towards this goal.
Additionally, the feedback we received for Shugoki during the last Testing Grounds indicated players had issues with Demons’ Embrace and as such we’re giving it another go with a new round of changes, going in a similar direction as the last ones but with changes addressing feedback we received from you, our players.
In the next Testing Grounds, you will be able to test not only new Shugoki changes but also multiple other heroes we’re looking to improve. Stay tuned for more details!
"We are looking to bring up heroes that might be lower in viability – similarly to what we did in Year 4 Season 4 with Nobushi and Peacekeeper, the global aim is to improve on heroes considered weak to make them more in-line with the rest of the cast. We would love to see more diversity in hero picks, and this is a big step towards this goal."
If that is the case, then we should be seeing shinobi with a rework sooner rather than later, since he is the lowest in viability.
Please take a look at Lawbringer and address his shortcomings after you delivered the changes what you planned for the 7 heroes in the upcoming TG. After the CCU Lawbringer doesn't fit into the game's more aggressive and dynamic direction. You can't do a lot of things with him, you can't be that creative with him because he doesn't have the tools (he has bad neutral and chain pressure, limited ways to initiate attack chains which forces LB players to unnecessarily feint a lot of attacks) to do so. He is a really cool hero but if you want to make him truly work then you need to turtle, which is not fun for the opponent and kinda boring for the player.
There are a lot of ideas about him here on the Forums, feel free to take a look and use some of them when you decide to work on Lawbringer.
Thanks for reading, have a nice day!![]()
Lol they are beginning to start REALLY balancing the game but everyone will just come here to cry about what ISN'T being done.
If Shinobi and LB were being worked on instead of the 7 announced, then a different grouo would be here crying.
THEY ARE DOING 7 HEROES AT THE SAME-ISH TIME. SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP.
LB is the LAST hero that will be looked at. He was recently god mode so don't hold your breath.
Shinobi is just broken from a design standpoint. He will likely be a while before getting reworked.
Yo devs, ignore these guys. You're doing a great job!! Much better thanthe devs before you! You guys actually listen so thank you thank you thank you.
Well, I said somewhere else that I'm really happy about the upcoming reworks. 7 heroes being reworked/updated... that's just great, I genuinely respect the devs because of this. But they announced that there will be more TG's this year and they are doubling down on balancing the heroes, which means that there is the chance to work on most of (if not all) the heroes who needs some changes. Why shouldn't we ask the devs to work on more heroes after they finished with the announced 7?Lol they are beginning to start REALLY balancing the game but everyone will just come here to cry about what ISN'T being done.
If Shinobi and LB were being worked on instead of the 7 announced, then a different grouo would be here crying.
THEY ARE DOING 7 HEROES AT THE SAME-ISH TIME. SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP.
LB is the LAST hero that will be looked at. He was recently god mode so don't hold your breath.
Shinobi is just broken from a design standpoint. He will likely be a while before getting reworked.
Yo devs, ignore these guys. You're doing a great job!! Much better thanthe devs before you! You guys actually listen so thank you thank you thank you.
Also, you said that the devs are finally listening to us, but then you told them to stop listening to us (ignore us)... what's the logic behind that?
Shinobi complaints are a dime a dozen. It's old news. We all know (devs included) that shinobi needs work. At this point, shinobi posts are just spam.Originally Posted by Csodaszarvas_G Go to original post
LB complaints are just funny because those same players had zero issues with their hero being god tier before the nerfs. The majority of those players only pretend to care about balance when really they only care if their hero has a hard time winning. If it's easy mode for them, no complaints about balance then.
Honestly I'm just sort of sick of seeing the same people constantly whining about the same things over and over and over and over.
I agree that Shinobi needs work and I agree that LB should get another look at some point in the future, but they are not priorities right now. Shinobi simply because he basically needs to become a new hero. LB because he is still currently viable.
The devs are doing a great job at listening to the community as a whole, but yes they should ignore the whiners who only ever have negative things to say. The players who ALWAYS focus on what's wrong instead of what's right should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of them lack understanding of the game.
Don't get me wrong. I have had many complaints over the years, but you gotta know when to say enough is enough. They know how you feel. They will address it or they won't. Move on.
The fact is that many healthy changes are coming and that is fantastic news. Many weaker heroes will be made more viable (PK/Nobu) and hopefully the cancerous bits of other kits get removed or replaced with other options (like Shugo light attack losing HA but getting a chase move and side dodge headbutt or Warden losing back dodge SB but getting UB side finishers and more SB chain options).
As long as they continue in this direction, they are doing us all a huge favor.
Anyways, that's all for me on this topic.
I see. Thank you for the clarification. I'm sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to do that.Shinobi complaints are a dime a dozen. It's old news. We all know (devs included) that shinobi needs work. At this point, shinobi posts are just spam.
LB complaints are just funny because those same players had zero issues with their hero being god tier before the nerfs. The majority of those players only pretend to care about balance when really they only care if their hero has a hard time winning. If it's easy mode for them, no complaints about balance then.
Honestly I'm just sort of sick of seeing the same people constantly whining about the same things over and over and over and over.
I agree that Shinobi needs work and I agree that LB should get another look at some point in the future, but they are not priorities right now. Shinobi simply because he basically needs to become a new hero. LB because he is still currently viable.
The devs are doing a great job at listening to the community as a whole, but yes they should ignore the whiners who only ever have negative things to say. The players who ALWAYS focus on what's wrong instead of what's right should be taken with a grain of salt. Most of them lack understanding of the game.
Don't get me wrong. I have had many complaints over the years, but you gotta know when to say enough is enough. They know how you feel. They will address it or they won't. Move on.
The fact is that many healthy changes are coming and that is fantastic news. Many weaker heroes will be made more viable (PK/Nobu) and hopefully the cancerous bits of other kits get removed or replaced with other options (like Shugo light attack losing HA but getting a chase move and side dodge headbutt or Warden losing back dodge SB but getting UB side finishers and more SB chain options).
As long as they continue in this direction, they are doing us all a huge favor.
Anyways, that's all for me on this topic.
I agree. In terms of viability there are some heroes who should get an update sooner than LB for example. Luckily there are some heroes from the just mentioned group in the upcoming TG (like Shugoki and Aramusha). I understand that reworking/updating heroes requires a lot of time and work that's why I said that the devs should focus on the announced 7 heroes and after them work on the others.