First look at upcoming hero rebalance

02 October 2015

Dear nobles!

The upcoming patch 10.6, as you might have heard, will bring not only additional talent tabs, but also a massive hero rebalance. We took a very deliberate and large-scale approach to this overhaul – not only will some heroes and their heroes change, but also a part of general mechanics, which will make the game more comfortable and balanced overall.

Today we allow you the first sneak-peek at the coming rebalance. We’ll start with the global defense overhaul.

Change in defense growth mechanics (Stamina and Will)

At the moment, the defense attributes increase in the following fashion: half of the difference between Stamina and Will is added to the lower of the two. This means that it is ineffective to increase the defense off-stat, since the higher the difference, the more the lower stat is increased. This system preempts variance and adjusting to a particular enemy – even if you hold the lane against a hero with magic damage, activating talents for Will while Stamina is the main defensive attribute is not effective. We decided to change that and introduce more defense variance back into the game.

Now, here’s what awaits the defense attributes in the future, beginning with Patch 10.6: the difference between the stats affects nothing. When Stamina or Will increases, 30% of the increase is used when calculating the respective other defense. E.g. when activating a talent with +20 Stamina, the hero receives +10% Physical defense and +3% Mental defense. This will allow for in-battle adaptation of the hero to the specific opponent by choosing the relevant defensive stat.

Melee heroes defense increase

At the moment, melee heroes without means to quickly replenish their health without leaving their lane are at a disadvantage, while those with such abilities are much more popular. Moreover, almost all melee heroes appear disadvantaged against ranged opponents – especially so, if the opponent has powerful spells and the assistance of two gankers.

To simplify the lane stage for such characters, the starting defense of almost all melee characters will be increased by 15% on average.

Since this change is primarily geared towards strengthening heroes without own healing and not to make the already powerful Ha’Ka/Da’Ka or Witcher into mass-murdering deathmachines, the healing abilities will be nerfed.

• Abilities that restore health for melee heroes decrease by 15%
• Abilities that restore health for allies also decrease by 15% (Specifically, talents of: Healer, Artiste. Angel is excluded from the nerf)
• Abilities that temporarily increase health, such as shields, also decrease by 15%
• The effectivity increase of some class talents of melee heroes will lower, specifically for: Naga, Maiden, Warchief

Thus heroes counting on constant healing like Ha’Ka/Da’Ka or Witcher will see barely any change, while heroes with periodic healing, such as Warchief or Meijin, the lane will become a viable option and surviving double ganks with such heroes will become viable.

The below figures are calculated using the following parameters:

1. Base increase of defense stats with hero level at Power 1945
2. No mastery points, Hero Halls etc.
3. Hero did not activate general talents that increase defense stats
4. The graphs already account for the increase of defense stats of melee heroes

 

We will continue sharing details about the upcoming rebalance next week!

Stay tuned!