Build 240
Treisk
Member, Administrator
Build 240
General Gameplay
Context: The changes to the Main Base Protector and Archive Tower should disincentivize skipping too many structures on the way to the Archive.
- Added health bars and timers for Titans on the UI
- Added measures to make it more difficult to accidentally select titans as a part of your army
- Reduced the detection range of structures across the board
- The Nexus destruction scene now plays even if a game is surrendered or forfeit
- The Main Base Protector now attacks Titans from further away
- Archive Tower
- Damage: 45 ⇒ 70
Economy
Context: Tech rushing was way too strong in the current build, so we're taking steps to make it a bit more difficult to get high tier armies out so quickly. We’re holding off on more drastic changes, since we're addressing other balance factors that were making tech rushes particularly potent. It's possible we'll need to make further changes here, so we'll be monitoring closely.
- Starting Energy: 70 ⇒ 60
- Starting BioShards: 50 ⇒ 30
- Starting Supply: 38 ⇒ 32
- BioShard generator value: 40 - 96 ⇒ 30 - 93
- Tech Level 2 cost: 100 ⇒ 150
- Tech Level 3 cost: 200 ⇒ 225
Creeps
Context: We think that the current build often has too few objectives up on the map at a time. Given the number of other changes in this patch, we're sticking with a very moderate increase in camp uptime. We'll continue to push in this direction if it looks promising.
- Respawn times have been reduced
- Easy: 6 minutes ⇒ 5 minutes
- Medium: 8 minutes ⇒ 7 minutes
- Hard: 10 minutes ⇒ 9 minutes
- Mantis Flower
- Energy pickup reward: 2 ⇒ 1
- Flying Flytrap
- Energy pickup reward: 2 ⇒ 1
- Pitcher Plant
- Energy pickup reward: 3 ⇒ 2
Critters
- Respawn time: 40 seconds ⇒ 30 seconds
Deckbuilder
- Hovering a unit's portrait in the topmost bar of the pregame deckbuilder now shows more information about the unit
Units
- Fixed several bugs that caused certain units to be stuck in an idle animation after casting their abilities
- Tightened the airspace around the sides of the map.
- Hero Kill Bounty: 4 Shard pickups + 1 per 5 Hero levels ⇒ 4 Shard pickups + 1 per 2 Hero levels
Blue
Context: We wanted to make Cannonball much less of a guaranteed wombo combo tool without jeopardizing the Aquadillo's ability to jump into a fight. We also wanted to make Hydros' level 20 ultimate a little less forgiving.
- Hydros
- Turn the Tide
- Health threshold: 30% ⇒ 20%
- Level 15 Power Spike no longer increases the duration of Turn the Tide
- Turn the Tide
- Aquadillo
- Cannonball
- Radius: 4.6 ⇒ 3.2
- Cannonball
Green
Context: We're giving quality of life improvements to the Grove Tender, Toxin Mystic, and Batterhorn to help them fulfill their roles more successfully. We've also got an eye on the power of Bramblethorn rushes, but we want to see how the other changes affect its strength first.
- Grove Tender
- Grow Needlefern
- Cooldown: 20 seconds ⇒ 12 seconds
- Duration: 40 seconds ⇒ 48 seconds
- Growth time: 8 seconds ⇒ 6 seconds
- Grow Needlefern
- Toxin Mystic
- Health: 175 ⇒ 220
- Movement Speed: 4.85 ⇒ 4.40
- Deadly Toxin
- NEW: Can now move while channeling with a 35% movement speed penalty
- Casting range: 12 ⇒ 13
- Leash range: 14 ⇒ 15
- Batterhorn
- Damage: 60 ⇒ 100
Red
Context: Dervish/Apocalyte was too safe and too strong, even against tanks. These changes should make that combination a little less guaranteed, while still keeping them as a legitimate threat.
- Eris
- Dis-Array
- Level 15 Power Spike
- Strikethrough damage: Full ⇒ 10
- Level 15 Power Spike
- Dis-Array
- Devilkin Dervish
- War Dance
- Cooldown: 20 seconds ⇒ 24 seconds
- Movespeed duration: 3 seconds ⇒ 2.5 seconds
- Movespeed buff: 30% ⇒ 25%
- War Dance
- Lancer
- Withdraw time: 1 second ⇒ 0.5 seconds
- Apocalyte
- Movement speed: 4.85 ⇒ 4.6
- Destructive Prophecy
- Cast recovery time: 0.4 seconds ⇒ 0.8 seconds
- Spell delay: 1.8 seconds ⇒ 2 seconds
- Damage: 200 ⇒ 150
- Pyrosaur
- Energy cost: 8 ⇒ 10
- BioShard cost: 85 ⇒ 100
- Health: 600 ⇒ 800
- Size reduced by ~8%
- Flamethrower
- Cast time: 0.2 seconds ⇒ 0.7 seconds
- Caster slow: 50% ⇒ 25%
White
Context: We want to improve the Precognitor's ability to protect fragile units against difficult to avoid burst damage without making it too easy to perma-shield high damage units.
- Precognitor
- Movement Speed: 4.75 ⇒ 4.6
- Unit Cap: 2 ⇒ 3
- Hamaliel's Blessing
- Damage Reduction: 90% ⇒ 100%
- Duration: 4 seconds ⇒ 1.5 seconds
- Cooldown: 18 seconds ⇒ 15 seconds
- NEW: Now grants 25% movement speed for the duration of the buff
Mercenaries
Context: The changes to the warp drone (along with the tighter airspace around the map) should clean up its behavior significantly. We're also making it a little weaker at straight backdoor attacks on the archive, but stronger as a tool for split pushing and retreating.
- Patchbot
- BioShard cost: 35 ⇒ 30
- Warp Drone
- Unit Cap: 2 ⇒ 1
- Tech Requirement: 3 ⇒ 2
- Matter Transposition
- No longer cancels the teleport on damage
- Immobilized units will no longer be teleported, and being immobilized will cancel the effect
- Warp Out time: 4 seconds ⇒ 3 seconds
- Warp In time: 2 seconds ⇒ 7 seconds
- Now holds formation and uses warp-in functionality
Art
Map
- Improved path clarity in critter areas and the adjacent brush-contained regions
- Minor texture improvements to various assets
UI
- Improved visual quality on map alerts (pings)
- New Portrait icons for Camp Creatures
Comments
I am looking forward to the change on red and blue, but I think the grove tender buff high be a bit too much, a bit less might have done. I don't know what do think about the precog change, it doesn't feel very good.
But I am really disappointed hat neither building skipping not titan scaling received a nerf.
Building skipping definitely got a nerf. You need to get hit by archive tower or base protector now with the titan, and archive towers do substantially more damage.
well, yes, in a sense, it did. I just feel like that doesn't make a lot of a difference. We'll see how it plays out though. Maybe together with a titan scaling nerf it would be enough :P
ah, just what white needed, a nerf to their best unit
Mhm, i've tested a bit and never got that 93 shards per 30 seconds, do i miss something ?
At the moment I'm getting 30 at T1, 37 at T2, 44 at T3 and 58 at T4
Thanks to Milea, got a little lesson about the BioShard generator :D Hero Level based not Tier Level based
Hi,
Grove tenders are so unpleasant to be around we banned them from custom games after 2 games.
I am not certain how to make this unit fun in its present form. And this is from someone who very much enjoys tower rushing people.
As tedster says, currently you can just throw down plants in the middle or anywhere where the enemy needs to go and rush down towers, it is fun to play but not so much when against it.
Spending most of your valuable time killing free units that only make you lose shards doesn't feel nice.
I don't believe that the change to precognitor is a nerf, it can still get you through most aoe and is maybe even better at it, the speed buff gives it a lot more utility for micro, the only unit that this nerf/buff affects negatievly would probably be conduits when they are in siege form.
The speed bonus for precognitor shield doesn't mean a lot for white units though. Which are the units you would use it most on? Purifiers in siege mode or Conduits when they are channeling, both of which cannot move. The speed will probably be useful for ally melee units that are trying to attack enemy ranged units. Having one more precognitor and reduced cooldown means that you can use it a lot more often though. We will see if it is a nerf or a buff in the long term.
The White change is insane.... In Theory.
It opens up a lot of strats in fact, I am going to play around with it. I think White's insane atm.
I 100% agree with tedster, Grove Tenders just make the game really boring.