Welcome to another Developer Update. Normally we post an update on the blog whenever we release a new update to the game and detail the changes, but this time we decided we wanted to dig a little deeper into a change that has gone live today. As part of the balance changes and considerations we are making we have looked to address the buff and debuff mechanics. For more information here’s Alex, one of the designers on Combat Cards:
With this change, we want to clear up how buffs and debuffs actually work. Until now, readying has been affected by a rule which was never really clear to players – we called it ‘diminishing returns’.
With diminishing returns, when cards ready multiple times on the same attack type, in the same turn, the second and third buff (or debuff) would only be worth half as much as the first one. The idea was to keep a good balance between ready and attack.
You can probably tell from that last paragraph why we want to remove this rule: it’s just too complicated! It also doesn’t feel logical. Two buffs should be twice as powerful – not one and a half times.
So we’re getting rid of diminishing returns. From now on, buffing twice will always add twice as much boost to your attack.
To balance out this extra power, we need to make a slight reduction to the strength of each individual buff. This means a single buff will be less powerful than before, but buffing two or three times in the same turn will be more powerful.
| Readies performed | Old total buff value | New total buff value | Old total debuff value | New total debuff value |
| 1 | +20% | +17.5% | -40% | -35% |
| 2 | +30% | +35% | -60% | -70% |
| 3 | +40% | +52.5% | -80% | -105% |
We will be watching carefully to see how this change affects the different factions and listening to your feedback as we continue to balance the game.
Another change you’ll be seeing soon is a complete revamp of how the buff meters are displayed. When this update comes in, it should make it super clear exactly how much more (or less) strength you will have when you attack. I reckon it’s a big improvement, and I’m excited to see what you all think!
The improved bars now double (or even triple) to show just how buffed your attack will be.
As Alex mentions we’ll be keeping a close eye on the impact these changes have. We have other balancing coming soon with some tweaks to Warlord special rules. When those go live we’ll bring you some more information on what changes have been made and the reasons for them. In the meantime we’re gearing up for v29.0 which includes the new buff meters already mentioned, as well as the all new Ranked mode. Expect that update to be available towards the end of the week.
As always you can head over to our in-game forums, r/WarhammerCombatCards, and Discord for discussion and let us know what you think of the changes.
You can also get in touch via our Facebook page, leaving a comment here, or mailing [email protected].
See you on the battlefield!
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