Balance Update

Hi everyone!

There is a moderate amount of balance update this time. I shall go through the rationale of the changes below:

1. Blast is reworked. It now deals 1 Incoming Damage to all other enemy models within 1" of the primary target on damage, ignoring LOS and Cover.

   • Rationale: Blast has been underwhelming so far. It has always teetered between too strong and too weak in our balancing process, and the old Blast mechanic was clunky to execute, with a long and unintuitive description. The new Blast rule is a lot simpler in comparison, not to mention stronger too.

2. Cleave is temporarily removed from the game until minion release.

   • Rationale: Cleave was initially designed to be a melee counterpart to Blast. Similarly, it was teetering between too strong and too weak. Since it's easy to position a friendly model to be within 1" of two enemy models, it was even harder to balance than Blast. With the changes to Blast, Cleave needs to be reworked. It is currently being revised and will be reintroduced when minions are released.

3. Unmodifiable keyword no longer affects RNG.

   • Rationale: This does not affect our existing models. This change was made merely to ensure better design space.

4. Barkskin Potion now stacks with other ARM/RES.

   • Rationale: Barkskin Potion is a very situational item, and was fully countered by Pierce/Intensity. The old description was unnecessarily convoluted in order to prevent ARM/RES stacking for some lengthy reasons. Due to Stone Shield changes (see below), the description for Barkskin Potion was streamlined alongside and can now stack with other ARM/RES. This allows tanks such as Defender and Stone Giant to benefit from Barkskin Potion.

5. Renamed Azoth Knight's Drink Solution to Metal Solution and tweaked its wording.

   • Rationale: This is primarily to make the skill description easier to comprehend. Functionally, the skill and its related talents remain the same.

6. Renamed Cannoneer's Boosted Aim trait to Locked On. It no longer costs Amber Elenium to reroll attack dice.

   • Rationale: Boosted Aim didn't cost Amber Elenium when resolving Energy Cannon attacks anyway. The change here is merely to simplify the description for Energy Cannon, and provide Cannoneer with slightly better Elenium economy, given the somewhat restrictive requirements for Boosted Aim. Since it doesn't cost Amber Elenium anymore, there's nothing to "boost", hence we are renaming it to Locked On. Given this buff and the change to Blast mechanic, Cannoneer becomes slightly more fun to play.

7. Rephrased Stone Giant's Stone Shield. It can now stack with other ARM/RES but can only target friendly non-Stone Giant models.

   • Rationale: Stone Shield has the same issue with Barkskin Potion, the old description was unnecessarily convoluted to prevent ARM/RES stacking for some lengthy reasons. Stone Shield's spell description is now simplified and can stack with other ARM/RES increasing effects. Naturally, Stone Shield doesn't work on Stone Giant due to balance reasons.

8. Reworded Stone Giant's Natural Armour trait. It can now gain +1 ARM/RES against Attack of Opportunity from Barkskin Potion

   • Rationale: Since Defender can now benefit from Barkskin Potion, and given the potion's limited application, it seems fair to allow Stone Giant to benefit from it as well.

9. Reduced the Elenium cost of Lava Fissure by 1. (Elemental Combo Spell — Magma)

   • Rationale: Lava Fissure is functional but slightly on the weaker side. The Elenium cost reduction should make it a bit more enticing to choose Lava Fissure over other Elemental Combo Spells.

10. Reworked Magma Shield and renamed it to Magma Ward.

    • Rationale: Magma Shield was too similar to Stone Shield. The new Magma Ward provides a more dynamic gameplay experience, and its Elemental Shield keyword was removed, allowing Magma Ward to stack with Stone Shield and other spells.

These changes are documented in the changelog.

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