So I had a video set to upload tonight about how to play Empire into Rebels and how Empire was still viable and then netmarble released their balance notes for the 1/20 update:
http://www.mobirum.com/article/detail?cafeId=StarWarsForceArena&bbsId=1571&id=673849
I started playing the game about a month ago during the soft launch and I’m really impressed with how good the balance team is for netmarble. They recognize issues and post balance updates quickly.
I’m really excited for the future of this game, I will post the Empire gameplays and commentary I had planned for today tomorrow but here are my thoughts on the balance update:
▶ Gigoran Rebel – Gigoran Rebel was originally designed to deal high damage to one target. Originally he was supposed to take time between finding targets and attacks (similar to Emperial Heavy Gunners), however this was not applied. He is supposed to be weak against many units. His High HP and missing features was not intended. To fix this issue we have modified the following things
- HP decreased 642 ▶ 482
- Attack Range decreased 8.5 ▶ 7.5
- Now takes 1 second to change targets
In my opinion this is the biggest balance update and what makes Rebels a stronger faction than Empire. They combined Heavy Gunners into one unit and gave it too much health so that all of the counters that work for Heavy Gunners didn’t work for Gigoran. Now he is more vulnerable, slightly less range and also important is that he takes time to switch between targets. He will still be strong unit to melt AT-ST’s if he is placed correctly but not a mass murder machine.
▶ Captain Cassian Andor – His very long range normal attack and his strong leadership has made Captain Cassian Andor a very strong Rebel Leader. He ended up being stronger than our original intention, so we feel that a change was in order. He will still be a long distance sniper character, but we are adjusting his stats to make him a little more manageable than he was previously.
- Attack Range decreased 13 ▶ 11
- After Attacking, animation delay decreased by around 30%. This will allow you to move slightly quicker after attacking
- Attack Power against Leader/Squad decreased 145 ▶ 131
- Attack Power against Buildings decreased 78 ▶ 66
This is the update that the community seems to have wanted most most. They were tired of getting shot from a mile away. They lowered his range a bit so he has to expose himself a little more and they also lowered his damage a bit so the poke is not as painful.
▶ MTV-7 Light Vehicle – MTC-7 is a necessary part of the Empires arsenal in the Early Tiers. This card was designed to have faster movement speed and a higher attack power than the MLC-3 Light Tank of the Rebel Alliance. We found however that early tier Empire decks lack units with high HP. By raising the HP of the Tank slightly, we are hoping that this will bring more balance to the early tiers, whilst not affecting the higher tiers in a significant way.
- HP increased by +5%
Not enough to warrant using LV over AT-ST in my opinion
▶ Tie Fighter – Right now, Tie Fighters have a higher attack power compared to the X-Wing, but its high energy requirement makes it less useful. We are making changes to the Tie Fighter to allow it to have a similar value to the X-Wing.
- Energy Requirement decreased 4 ▶ 3
- Attack Power against Leader/Squad decreased 260 ▶ 195
- Attack Power against Buildings decreased 104 ▶ 78
This is a big improvement to tie fighter. Tie Fighter was too expensive for 1v1 previously and now it can be used in both a 1v1 or 2v2 deck. I can see it replacing probe droid in a lot of decks.
▶ Director Orson Krennic – Krennic is the first ranged leader that is given to the Galactic Empire. Developing a team for him to allow his Special Ability to shine is incredibly difficult as it means that you have to be losing in order for it to work. This makes it harder to use in comparison to other Special Abilities. Therefore, we are raising his stats to allow him to be played effectively, without taking a hit to his towers.
- Attack Range increased 6.5 ▶ 7
- Attack Speed decreased 0.76s ▶ 0.7s
- Skill Cooldown Time decreased 25s ▶ 22s
Honestly I dislike leaders that require you to be losing to utilize their special. If you’re losing then I feel like you’ve already done something wrong and you will probably not come back from it anyways. For that reason I don’t like Dengar or Jyn or Krennic and I don’t see myself playing them even after these updates.
▶ Emperor Palpatine – We have made a slight change to Palpatine by giving him a small boost. The following changes should allow him to be a formidable foe.
- Special Ability lasts longer 15s ▶ 18s
- Special Ability boost Attack Power more 14% ▶ 15%
- Skill Cooldown Time decreased 36s ▶ 32s
Palpatine was a decent leader prior to these buffs, but his main issue is his 6.5 range and low health that require him to put himself into a lot of bad situations so I don’t think buffing his special will change much.
▶ Jyn Erso – Jyn Erso is a character who has a different style compared to other Leaders. As she is capable in both melee or ranged, she requires quite a lot of skill to play effectively. To help her perform a little better than she has been, the following changes will be made.
- Skill Power increased 400% ▶ 475%
Again, I don’t like leaders that require you to be losing to utilize your special.
▶ Sabine Wren – Sabine Wren has incredible movement speed with a great skill kit. We have been incredibly impressed with her impact, however we feel that her special ability is a little too strong, especially when paired with the Unstable GNK Droid (This trauma will most likely effect Empire Players for a long time). We are making a small change on her special ability, and will continue to monitor her performance.
- Special Ability stat decreased 25% ▶ 20%
I think Sabine will still be strong after this nerf, I just don’t care for characters that leap all over the place like Ezra and she’s in that same group.