Patch 9: Hotfix and Balance Changes

1 hour ago

Greetings, Heroes!

Following the major changes introduced in yesterday’s update, we are rolling out a targeted hotfix to refine the experience based on your vital feedback.

After analyzing the post-Patch 8 data, it became clear that several adjustments—particularly those concerning the Schism faction—had an unintended impact on Single Hero mode. Today’s patch walks back a few of those changes while recalibrating others to better align with our vision for a balanced game. Furthermore, we’ve accelerated the rollout of several Hive faction improvements that were originally slated for a future update.

This patch also addresses various technical issues introduced in Patch 8 and includes a necessary boost for the Dungeon faction within the Arena.

Read on for the complete changelog. May fortune favor you on the battlefield!

Changelog

v. 0.80.19

Bug Fixes

Jebus Cross: Resolved an issue where Taverns and Mage Guilds were incorrectly spawning in central cities.
Sand Clover: Fixed a missing guard generation issue.
Exodus: Corrected a bug that allowed the generation of excessive high-tier dwellings.
Fixed inconsistent hiring costs for upgraded Cultists.
Corrected the displayed mana cost for the Death Merchant’s “Ensnare Memories” skill.
Resolved model and Heroic Strike ability issues for Tavi and Pauper.
Fixed the display error for bonus attributes granted by the Temple’s “Strong Faith” sub-skill.
Resolved a UI conflict during troop/item exchanges that caused multiplayer desyncs when buffs or debuffs were active.
Fixed an issue where force-closing the game (Alt+F4) during the draft phase resulted in incorrect match statistics.
Addressed an AI bug involving unit growth for the Schism faction’s “Communion of the Abyss.”

Balance Adjustments

Your feedback regarding yesterday’s patch has been instrumental. While our initial goal was to revitalize gameplay and bolster the Schism faction for Classic mode, it is evident that these adjustments inadvertently hindered the Single Hero experience. Today, we are reverting select changes and implementing finer tuning to ensure the Schism remains viable in Classic while maintaining better performance in Single Hero scenarios.

Simultaneously, we are prioritizing the Hive faction. While they excel in Arena and Classic formats, they struggle in Single Hero mode due to the high-maintenance nature of their combat, which often demands excessive effort to mitigate losses. We are implementing several planned improvements ahead of schedule to help bridge this gap.

Skills

The “Summon Avatar” skill has seen a shift in usage patterns, effectively curbing previous exploits. While it remains a potent tool in the Arena, we are slightly toning down its damage scaling to keep it in check.

Summon Avatar: Damage scaling from Spell Power reduced: 12–12/18–18/24–24 → 12–12/16–16/20–20.

Hero Specializations: Hive

We have re-balanced the starting skills for Hive heroes to optimize their early-game progression, specifically to aid their viability in Single Hero mode:

Pauper: Starting skill changed from Luck to Battlecraft.
Maelstrom: Starting skill changed from Insight to Luck.
Nor: Starting skill changed from Battlecraft to Insight.
Zoran, the Self-Founded: Starting skill changed from Nightshade Magic to Defense.
Lo: Starting skill changed from Defense to Recruitment.
Leira: Starting skill changed from Battle Magic to Nightshade Magic.
Oriax: Starting skill changed from Recruitment to Battle Magic.
Tavi: Adjusted Fire Larvae summon bonus: 4% + 1% per two hero levels → 4% + 2% per three hero levels.

Factions: Creatures & Buildings

We’ve revisited the balancing of creature abilities, which has prompted updates to Pandora’s Box yields, recruitment costs, and construction requirements. These adjustments primarily provide a slight nerf to Schism while offering a needed buff to the Hive. Additionally, we’ve included long-overdue Pandora’s Box updates for the Dungeon faction.

Pandora’s Box Adjustments (Standard/Upgraded):

Necropolis: Tier 4 (Graverobber): 30/21 → 31/21.
Hive: Tier 3 (Hornet): 30/22 → 28/20; Tier 4 (Scorpion): 29/20 → 32/22; Tier 7 (Hive Queen): 7/4 → 8/5.
Dungeon: Extensive rebalancing across all tiers (e.g., Troglodyte: 60/45 → 50/35; Minotaur: 20/14 → 23/16).

Faction-Specific Highlights:

Necropolis: Vampire Lord/Scholar stat buffs; construction costs for Tier-4 dwellings reduced.
Grove: Faun damage output increased; Tier-5 dwelling cost reduced.
Schism: Significant nerfs to initiative and speed across multiple tiers (Ra’Shoth, Cultist, Rift Arbitrator) to balance power; “Involuntary Summons” now again requires “Mage Guild III.”
Hive: Tier 1-3 damage buffs and increased weekly growth; “Corpse Eater” passive now restores 120 health (up from 65).

Spells

Day Magic: “Riposte” can now be cast on Magical creatures.

Arena Mode

To reflect the wider creature balance changes, we have adjusted unit availability in the Arena. Notably, we have increased starting army sizes for the Dungeon faction to improve their competitiveness.