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[Locked] HW2 Upcoming Balance Changes - April 27

OP 4/17/2017

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Balance Change Preview - April 27
With the release of the Colony DLC today, there will also be another patch that includes a variety of bug fixes and improvements (check out the patch notes here) along with some design/balance changes in response to player feedback and game data-mining.

Please see below for a list of the next round of balance changes coming to Halo Wars 2: (note - due to forum post character limits the balance change info is split into two different posts)

Everything below is in-progress and subject to change!

ANDERS
Anders had some cheesy strategies with players turtling around their base, using the Lure beacons from Kodiak and Siege Cannon shells to hold up armies that should have destroyed her. With the reduction in Kodiak fire rate and the reduction in spawned Sentinel patrol duration, this should stop the cheese!

We’ve made Research and Development better by affecting the unit-specific upgrades too! This will give Anders a big advantage in getting better units, faster than other leaders.

The Retriever sentinel wasn’t very cost-effective, so that’s had an increase to general damage and survivability.

Ark Cleansing

Cooldown increased by 9%

Ark Defense

Level 1 Cost increased from 225/225 to 360/225
Level 2 Cost increased from 325/325 to 450/385
Level 3 Cost increased from 425/425 to 550/450
Cooldown increased by 20%

Retriever Sentinel

Cooldown increased by 9%
Retriever now receives a 20000 SP shield if the player selects Sentinel Synergy
Retriever Beam DPS increased by 50%
Retriever Large Beam damage increased by 20%
Retriever Y ability Area of effect rework

Anders research and development

Now affects unit-specific upgrades like UNSC Marine Grenades or Scorpion Canister Shell.

Lure beacon

Spawned sentinel patrol time reduced from 6 seconds to 3.5 seconds.

Leader power selection

Turret drop switched with Lotus mines:
Lotus mines are now level 2 leader power
Turret drop is now a level 3 leader power

CUTTER
Archer Missiles

Level 1 Cost increased from 275/275 to 450/275
Level 2 Cost increased from 375/375 to 550/400
Level 3 Cost increased from 475/475 to 650/525
Cooldown increased by 17%

Pelican Gunship

Pelican Gunship cooldown increased by 9%

Orbital Battle group

Orbital Battle group cooldown increased by 9%

ISABEL
Isabel was suffering from a low pick and win rate. For one of the most potentially interesting Leaders, this simply could not do! We’ve really pumped up her key abilities to let her stand amongst the other Leaders. For example Ghost in the Machine is now a very scary ability! Fancy losing control of your units for 13 seconds? No .. me neither!
By using Holograms to bait out enemy leader powers and armies, Isabel has the power to run riot like no other leader.
Ghost in the Machine

Cost increased from 1200/300 to 1400/750
Now controls all units for a flat 13 seconds
Area of effect increased by 12%

Heavy Metal

Level 1 Duration increased by 25%
Level 1 Damage resistance increased from units taking 60% to units only taking 40% incoming damage
Level 1 Slow modifier reduced from 50% basic speed to 60% basic speed.
Level 2 Damage resistance increased from units taking 50% to units only taking 35% incoming damage
Level 2 Duration reduced by 12%
Level 2 Damage resistance increased from units taking 40% to units only taking 30% incoming damage
Level 2 Slow modifier increased from 70% basic speed to 60% basic speed.

Holo Decoy

Cooldown decreased by 13%
Level 1 Cost reduced from 450/0 to 200/50
Level 1 Radius increased by 16%
Level 1 Max holograms increased from 4 to 6
Level 1 Lifespan reduced from 60 to 40 seconds
Level 2 Cost reduced from 650/0 to 350/75
Level 2 Radius increased by 16%
Level 2 Max holograms increased from 8 to 10
Level 2 Hologram Lifespan reduced from 90 to 60 seconds

Mac Blast

Cooldown Increased by 17%
Level 1 Cost from 250/250 to 400/250
Level 2 Cost from 350/350 to 500/385
Level 3 Cost from 450/450 to 600/500
Level 1 damage increased by 33%
Level 1 AOE from [10m(100%),15m(60%),20m(40%)] to [1m(100%), 5m(75%),11m(50%),20m(25%)]\
Level 2 damage increased by 35%
Level 2 AOE from [10m(100%),17m(60%),24m(40%)] to [1m(100%), 6m(75%),13.2m(50%),25m(25%)]
Level 3 damage increased by 30%
Level 3 AOE from [10m(100%),21m(60%),30m(40%)] to [1m(100%), 7.2m(75%),21m(50%),30m(25%)]

Leader power selection

Turret drop switched with Lotus mines:
Lotus mines are now level 2 leader power
Turret drop is now a level 4 leader power

FORGE
Heavy Metal

Level 1 Duration increased by 25%
Level 1 Damage resistance increased from units taking 60% to units only taking 40% incoming damage
Level 1 Slow modifier reduced from 50% basic speed to 60% basic speed.
Level 2 Damage resistance increased from units taking 50% to units only taking 35% incoming damage
Level 3 Duration reduced by 12%
Level 3 Damage resistance increased from units taking 40% to units only taking 30% incoming damage
Level 3 Slow modifier increased from 70% basic speed to 60% basic speed.

Scatter Bomb

Level 1 Cost increased from 275/275 to 450/275
Level 2 Cost increased from 400/400 to 525/450
Cooldown increased by 17%
Incoming strike warning time reduced from 2 seconds to 1.5 seconds

KINSANO
Kinsano was well received by the community, with a high pick and win rate. We’ve had to push back Turret drop to bit further back in the Leader Power radial for a few Leaders, it was just too strong early on in the game. We’ve made some fixes to bugs that were making her Redline ability perform much better than it should have done. With this and a few other issues fixed, Kinsano will settle in amongst the other leaders, instead of burning them alive!
Firestorm Battle Group

Cooldown increased by 9%

Kinsano’s Inferno

Cooldown increased by 10%
Initial damage reduced by 16%

Redline

Redline damage bonus reduced from 10% to 8%

Napalm Missiles

Cooldown increased by 18%
Level 1 Cost from 175/175 to 280/175
Level 2 Cost from 300/300 to 425/325
Level 3 Cost from 450/450 to 600/500

Leader power selection

Turret drop swapped places with Heat of battle

Please see the next post for the remainder of the balance changes. (pesky forum post character limits!)

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OP 4/17/2017

Guest

Balance Change Preview - April 17, continued.

DECIMUS
Decimus had the same issue as Isabel. A low pick and win rate. This combination tells us that we needed to do something Decimus to make him a competitive leader.

This pass has really given a boost to his combination of buffs and effects, making the final combination of an army affected by Killing Frenzy, Siphon and Fury, a scary prospect. Decimus is a very aggressive leader and needs to be played aggressively to make the most of his abilities.

Killing Frenzy

Duration reduced from 15 to 6 seconds
Damage dealt modifier from 5% to 50%

Siphon

Level 1 Heal percentage increased by 45%
Level 2 Heal percentage increased by 53%
Level 3 Heal percentage increased by 60%

Fury

Level 1 Radius increased by 25%
Level 1 Duration decreased from 18 to 12 seconds
Level 1 Speed buff increased from 10% to 20%
Level 1 Damage dealt buff increased from 40% to 80%
Level 1 Percentage Fury unit’s health drain from 30% to 50%
Level 2 Radius increased by 20%
Level 2 Duration decreased from 18 to 16 seconds
Level 2 Speed buff increased from 15% to 25 %
Level 2 Damage dealt modifier from 50% to 90%
Level 2 Percentage Fury unit’s health drain from 30% to 50%
Level 3 Radius increased by 16%
Level 3 Duration decreased from 18 to 20 seconds
Level 3 Speed buff increased from 20% to 30%
Level 3 Damage dealt modifier from 60% to 100%
Level 3 Percentage Fury unit’s health drain from 30% to 50%

Vortex Lighting

Cooldown increased by 14% Max speed increased by 14%
Level 1 DPA increased from by 50%
Level 1 Stun increased from 0.5 to 2 seconds
Level 1 damage buff increased from 110%/6 seconds to 130%/8 seconds
Level 1 Stun increased from 0.5 to 2.5 seconds
Level 2 damage buff increased from 120%/10 seconds to 145%/10 seconds

Glassing Beam

Level 1 Cost increased from 250/250 to 400/250
Level 2 Cost increased from 350/350 to 500/385
Level 3 Cost increased from 450/450 to 600/500
Cooldown increased by 17%

Decimus Drop

Cooldown increased by 9%
Decimus HP increased by 120%
Decimus SP increased by 60%
Decimus DPS by 50%

ATRIOX
Atriox is performing well with the top strategy making use of his invulnerability-styled powers. Whilst now still valid, the strategy will require a little more thought and planning with an overall reduction to the duration that his troops are invulnerable/not dying.

Eradication was a very effective base-sniping tool that wasn’t a whole lot of fun to play against. With the combination of Leader powers coming online a little later and the specific changes to Eradication, this shouldn’t be as widespread an issue.

Unbreakable

Cost increased from 1600/500 to 2000/1000
Duration reduced from 10 to 7 seconds

Dying Breath

Cooldown increased by 50%
Time that units stay alive after ‘dying’ decreased from 5 seconds to 4 seconds

Eradication

Cost increased from 800/800 to 1000/1000
Cooldown increased by 9%
Reduced damage to buildings Beam radius increased by 10%

Atriox’s Bullwark

Level 1 Invulnerability duration from 2.5 to 1.5
Level 2 Invulnerability duration from 3.5 to 2.0
Level 3 Invulnerability duration from 5.0 to 2.5

Glassing Beam

Level 1 Cost increased from 250/250 to 400/250
Level 2 Cost increased from 350/350 to 500/385
Level 3 Cost increased from 450/450 to 600/500
Cooldown increased by 17%

Atriox’s Chosen

Stun changed to a 20% slow

SHIPMASTER
Displacement was extending games and a very powerful tool in the right hands. Whilst still as useful as before, players will need to think about exactly when they want to use the power as the cooldown is a lot longer.

Shipmaster is generally playing well, with some amazing players doing some very impressive plays! Keep it up!

Displacement

Cost increased from 0/300 to 0/500
Cooldown increased by 100%

Mass Cloaking

Cooldown increased by 11%

Tactical Gateway

Cooldown increased by 11%

Glassing Beam

Level 1 Cost increased from 250/250 to 400/250
Level 2 Cost increased from 350/350 to 500/385
Level 3 Cost increased from 450/450 to 600/500
Cooldown increased by 17%

Spirit Support

Cost decreased from 850/375 to 800/300
Now drops off 2 x “Veterancy 1 Engineers”, instead of “2 x Veterancy 3 Engineers”

GENERIC
Fortify base upgrades
Bases were essentially out-buffing units through the Fortify upgrades. This led to long matches and difficult base assaults, so with this change players should find it slightly easier to attack enemy bases defended by turrets.

Affects all UNSC and Banished

Buff to building/turret HP reduced (Vehicles, Infantry, Aircraft)
Buff to building/turret damage reduced to match other global upgrades (Vehicles, Infantry, Aircraft)
Level 1 discount base reduced from 100 to 50 supplies
Level 2 discount base reduced from 100 to 50 supplies
Level 3 discount base reduced from 100 to 50 supplies

Command XP
The XP reward for building a new Base/Minibase were too high, leading players to farming XP by building lots of minibases. It also led to ultimate powers coming online before we really planned them too. This should pace out gameplay a bit more, allowing players to really feel the differences in army compositions and unit upgrades, before the top tier leader powers come online.

XP for building a new Base/Minibase reduced by 50%
XP Level boundaries changed so that levelling up and getting Leader points, takes a little longer.

BANISHED UNITS
Locusts

Basic damage reduced by 11%
Speed reduced from 11 to 9.5
Locust now do reduced damage versus air units
Locust now do reduced damage versus anti-vehicle counter units (Cyclops/Hunters)

Wraith

Cost increased from 525/70 to 550/75
Plasma Cannons damage reduced by 6%
Plasma Mortar damage reduced by 6%
Plasma Mortar area of effect size reduced

UNSC UNITS
Jackrabbit

Healing Drone delay before healing increased from 4 seconds to 10 seconds
Cost increased from 200/12 to 220/15

Scorpion

Cannister Shell increased by 30%

Turret Drop

Cooldown increased by 13%
Level 1 Cost increased from 350/0 to 400/25
Level 2 Cost increased from 500/0 to 550/50
Turret drop weapon now does reduced damage versus structures

Kodiak

Rate of fire reduced by 1 second, damage adjusted to compensate

As a reminder, these changes are subject to change and are currently slated to go live with the release of the next new leader - Colony.

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