Hello Citizens.
It’s been a while since our last Balance pass, and I’m thrilled to be at the head of this one, bringing a much needed shake-up to the current meta.
We’ve been doing a really careful review of where things are in need of adjustments. Beyond a few very targeted adjustments for specific decks that were powering through every opposition at a rate of knots (I’m looking at you, Inquisitor Greyfax), by and large the theme of this pass is to shine a light on some more underappreciated cards.
As mentioned in my previous blog, where I spoke about balancing in general, having all cards find their niche is very important to us. Card selection shouldn’t be as simple as finding a bigger number, and the more we can do to give each card its own unique identity, as close to the lore and tabletop game as possible, the better.
Not every faction features, and this is because we’ve focused only on the extremes. Some factions are simply in a healthier place when it comes to internal balance! Rest assured – every faction will see adjustments in the future as we return to a more regular cadence of balancing.
Without further ado, let’s get into the change list:
Warlord Rule Adjustments:
Illic Nightspear
Bringer of True Death – Kill trigger threshold 75% of max health -> 65% of max health.
This one simple change to Illic’s rule should make his decks far more deadly, especially at clearing out smaller cards much more proficiently.
Parasite of Mortrex
Explosive Infestation – First attack damage reduction 50% -> 40%.
Harder hits on the parasite’s first attacks will enable the explosions to trigger earlier, making for a snappier and more impactful battle. The Parasite also receives a cost decrease, allowing you to bring a few more cards to bear.
Card Stat Adjustments:
T’au
Shas’o Maisos – Commander in XV86 Coldstar Battlesuit
-2points, +3 Ranged, +8 Wounds
Kor’el Kai’naar – T’au Sept AX-5-2 Barracuda
-10 Ranged
Servants of the Emperor
Magos Dominus Ivasnophon – Adeptus Mechanicus Tech-Priest Dominus
-3 Points
Inquisitor Greyfax – Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus
+3 Points
Canoness Veridyan – Adepta Sororitas Canoness
+2 Points
Sergeant Stonetooth Harker – Catachan Sergeant
+20 Wounds
Jarran Kell – Right Hand of Creed
+25 Wounds
Haldron-44 Stroika – Kataphron Breacher
-10 Melee, +10 Ranged
Space Marines
Captain Karludo – Iron Ravens Captain
+7 Melee, -7 Ranged
Ranged buff ready -> Ranged debuff ready
Brother Heraklion – Ultramarines Primaris Invader ATV
+4 Ranged
Trait: Outflank -> Precision Shot
Brother Ezio – Blood Angels Death Company
+15 Wounds
Tigurius – Ultramarines Chief Librarian
+11 Melee, -14 Psychic, – 10 Wounds
Njal Stormcaller – Space Wolves High Rune Priest
-10 Psychic, +8 WoundsPsychic buff ready -> Psychic debuff ready
Chaos
Clinkerfiend – Skull Cannon of Khorne
+7 Ranged, -10 Melee, +20 Wounds
Phrenzyx Shatterhowl – Noise Marine of Slaanesh
-4 Points
Qizhrak – Flamer of Tzeentch
-2 Points
Tyranids
The Parasite of Mortrex – Hive Fleet Leviathan Winged Parasite
-4 Points
Specimen: LV-ζ-40291 – Hive Fleet Leviathan Toxicrene
-2 Points, +6 Melee
Trait: Poison -> Deathblow
Specimen: BH-δ-20115 – Hive Fleet Behemoth Ravener
+20 Wounds
Trait: Outflank -> Furious Charge
Specimen: LV-400-HF-Θ -Hive Fleet Leviathan Exocrine
9th Level Upgrade: Melee -> Wounds
-10 Wounds
Necrons
The Corpse Lord – Sautekh Dynasty Overlord
-1 Points
Trait: Regeneration -> Medicae
Orks
Bignatz – Bad Moons Clan Killa Kan
+23 Wounds
Big Dakka’s Mega-kannon – Bad Moons Clan Kustom Mega-kannon
-1 Point
And that’s it for this Season! As always, make your thoughts known – and show us your newest deck builds!
We’ll be carefully monitoring the performance of all of the affected cards going forward, and this is part of my commitment to more informed and deliberate balancing going forward. This might mean it’s slightly less frequent, but it will certainly remain impactful.
To WAR!
- ThisCaptain
Thanks for buffing Parasite, but is there a reason you didn’t just fix its ability instead? It still triggers on WLs even though it has no effect on them, and that just feels bad.
Potete potenziare abaddon? Risulta poco forte nel meta. Grazie
Potete potenziare Abaddon?
Non risulta performante nel meta
Next time around please consider reducing damage caused by Badrukk’s second ranged attack. Players abuse this imbalance in my opinion. Thanks Devs! 🙂
Mortrex is still not playable on high ranks. Why not to rework his ability: let destroyed cards also infestate cards when they deal dmg to nearby cards + dmg, this would be interesting.
Yes, this, or make both melee and ranged attacks apply the effect, so we don’t have to play samey one-button decks (which is also a problem with many other WLs, but that’s another topic).
Also please just fix the ability so it doesn’t trigger on the enemy WL. MadEmp said on Discord this would be fixed – that was two patches ago.
Ia it possible to buff the avatar? His stats and Grimnars are nearly identical despite over a 20 point cost difference. With Grimnar having better initiative and arguably a consistently better passive. Is his inspiring presence alone worth him being 24 poimts more expensive?
Honestly honored Aun’va 50 buff is still way over powered 50 percent extra ranged damage I have had dreadnoughts killed in one hit
Still no Darkstrider Debuff? It’s such an insanely broken ability. The fact that cards aren’t affected by the Terror ability when moving in front of a card with that ability is so unfair. There could at least be a limit of 2 movements per card.
I appreciate the attempt to adjust some inequalities in the game and I’ll have to play test the changes. But I fear the Parasite is still bad, I’m pretty sure the Corpse Lord is still really bad and Greyfax is still Greyfax.
even possible inequalities still on Game after the balance. i really apreciate t’he effort!
Jeep on pushing anda Blood for them good if Blood!
Can you list the reasons for each change.
The changes make no sense. OP cards are still OP, bad cards are still bad.
The changes above felt like they are made on a whim.
Klasss
This might be the single most useless patch yet, which is an achievment in itself… Guys, there is a reason why most companies only have a certain amount or percentage of diversity hires, and looking at how this game is managed makes that reason perfectly obvious. And on a more serious note: if you have no idea what to do to fix broken stuff, take your time and actually find a solution. Adding 3 points to the cost of Greyfax is NOT the solution, it’s a sad attempt at pretending you are actually doing something. Guys, it’s time to GIT GUD, before you loose your complete playerbase!
Ahum, try working on pvp matches. They are slow as hell and clunky. I’d like to do the pvp events but i just pass on them. Matches take too long to finish.
How do I get rid of the Christmas snow background? For the life of me I can’t get rid of it and after several attempts I’ve had had no reply from the tickets.