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[Locked] July Balance Update (7/17/2018)

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343 Industries
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Hey Everyone,

The Season 11 balance update is being released 7/18 for Halo Wars 2 on Xbox One and Windows PC. Thank you to everyone who provided input and feedback to help shape this latest update. As well, a special thanks to a handful of players who helped participate in the Halo Wars 2 Public Test Server this time around! Check out all of the details below.

Global
A new season is upon us! With this update we are starting an entirely new season! As well, we are looking to make the title 100% crossplay enabled. To make that happen, we are making 2v2 War crossplay and removing the non-crossplay 3v3 War on Xbox One’s playlists.
  • Season 11 Start.
  • Making 2v2 War crossplay.
  • Removing non-crossplay 3v3 War from Xbox One.
  • Daily Login Blitz Packs are now awarded each day you play.
UNSC
Warthogs
Warthogs have been underperforming in many ways for a while. A slight DPS and Health buff of 5% is being done to help inch them up just ever so slightly.
  • DPS and Health increase of 5%.
Kodiaks
To help reduce the effectiveness of siege spam, we increased the build time and cost a while back on Kodiaks. This however has made Kodiaks a bit too ineffective. These build time nerfs are being partially reverted.
  • Build time reduced by 10%.
Jackrabbit
The Jackrabbit had a bug that people brought to our attention which decreased the LOS when you picked a leader power for Jerome. To fix this, the added line of sight has been moved to the spotter drone to fix it. As well, an adjustment to the damage a jackrabbit does to other scouts has been increased.
  • LOS Range Increase moved to spotter drone.
  • Modifier vs Scouts increased 1.4 -> 1.7.
Marines
Combat Engineer is a beastly upgrade for Marines. It however was a bit too impactful against vehicles. To help the bonus damage not be so anti-vehicle, we have made the rocket do the same damage as the marines themselves.
  • Weapon type for Combat Engineer rocket changed to Marine’s base weapon damage.
Banished
Rangers
So, when the Yappening happened, a fun idea was put in place to make Rangers really good. Well, they are a tier 2 anti-infantry unit so why not help them out even more! To make them better we have added an additional 3rd elite into the squad. However, to not make it 50% stronger, we have reduced the health and damage of the individual rangers by a bit to still make it a buff, but not a ridiculous one.
  • A Third Elite Ranger has been added to the squad
  • Base DPS reduced by 25% and Base Health reduced by 20% to compensate for the added unit.

Blisterback
Blisterbacks are doing enough damage, but they tend to die quite easily. We have increased the health of them to improve their survivability.
  • Health increased by 10%.
Leaders
Cutter
Spartan Jerome needed some love in terms of being able to kill vehicles and infantry. He has received a buff in both areas to help make him the best version of Jerome out there. Jerome is obviously better than Jerome.
  • Damage vs. Vehicles increased 15%.
  • Damage vs. Infantry increased 20%.
Isabel
To make Isabel a better leader we are increasing her Mac blast yet again and helping fix a bug where getting Best Offense made her Scorpions weaker.
Mac Blast
  • Level 1 10% damage buff.
  • Level 2 7% damage buff.
  • Level 3 5% damage buff.
Fixed an issue that would cause Best Offense to make Isabel’s Scorpions weaker.

Shipmaster
A fan request has been made right
  • Shipmaster now has 2 point Raid.
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Anders
Spartan Douglas’ Rocket launcher is a rocket-o-death to pretty much anything that is in remote proximity to the blast. We are lessening this impact by making the AOE damage a bit smaller. As well, her game winning shield and Retriever Sentinel combo is becoming less combo-e by moving some powers around, so you must wait until the 6th point to get the shield on your sentinel retriever. To compensate as well, some cost and cooldown changes are being made to the moved leader powers.
  • Spartan Douglas’ Rocket Launcher AOE ring reduced from a radius of 10 to 8.
  • Sentinel Synergy now swapped with Sentinel Network on the Radial.
  • Sentinel Network cost increased from 500/250 to 650/450.
  • Sentinel Network cooldown increased by 20 seconds.
  • Protector Sentinels do 5% more damage
  • Protector Sentinels population has increased from 3 to 4.

Decimus
All hail Mike BEASTon – the winner of the HWCL Invitational. He has requested for his balance change that the Warlord having boundless siphon be brought back as his balance change. This change along with some core changes to how boundless siphon works are being implemented on Decimus. His banshees aren’t going to be as strong anymore as we have made the siphon a bit lower on it compared to other units to help lessen the impact in the skies.
  • Boundless Siphon rework for all units.
  • Effectiveness of Boundless Siphon on Banshees reduced significantly.
  • Boundless Siphon once again affects the Warlord.

Forge
Forge is a solid leader, but he needs just a little bit of a kick in the pants to be more competitive compared to other leaders in the game. His hero unit had some discrepancies compared to others as well as scatter bomb is slightly lackluster. We have made some key changes to each.
Forgehog
  • XP required for Veterancy normalized compared to other Hero units.
  • Veterancy damage reduction bonus improved by 2%.
  • Hero Cost changed from 350/275 to 300/275.
Scatter Bomb
  • 7% Damage buff to each bomb.
  • Number of Bombs increased at each Tier.
  • Bombs projectile speed increased.

Kinsano
This lady is arguably the best UNSC right now. To help slow her down slightly we have adjusted her hog drop and her various flame abilities to be less deadly.
  • Flamehog Drop cooldown increased by 30 seconds.
  • Inferno and Napalm Missile damage versus Buildings reduced by 5%.
Colony
So, we fixed an issue last patch to his allow the Hunter Captain’s gun to hit infantry. However, this fix made him early game too strong. We have lowered the DPS of the opening weapon for the Hunter Captain and given him teleport as well due to fan requests.
  • Non-Upgraded weapon DPS reduced by 10%.
  • Teleport has replaced Mines on the Radial.

Johnson
Johnson still needs a little bit of help and there are a few areas we are targeting to help improve his toolkit. We have made his bunkers a bit more accessible, increased the buffs turrets receive from digging in, and helped the Mantis’ shield when you upgrade it.
  • Cost Reduction on Bunker Drop (50 each level).
  • Digging In turret DPS buffed by 10%.
  • 10% Increase to Mantis’ shield.

CommanderJerome
So, when you picked up Recon Training as Jerome the line of sight for Jackrabbits was reduced. We have fixed this. As well, we are making the garbage dump of enduring salvo better. As well, the damage from the missile attacks when Jerome pilots the mantis are a little bit stronger now.
  • Fixed bug with Jackrabbits when getting Recon Training.
Enduring Salvo
  • 8% Buff to damage.
  • AoE Rings on the bits of ship falling increased from 10 to 13.
Jerome Mantis
  • Damage increased on Missile attack when Jerome is piloting the Mantis.

Arbiter
The Arbiter’s hero cost has been normalized to put his hero in line with other leaders.
  • Cost changed from 350/275 to 300/275.

Serina
Serina has been bottom of the barrel for too long. We are hoping this host of buffs will help bring her up and help make her more competitive by improving her overall leader powers and helping buff some of her units.
Hero
  • Hero Unit Damage reduction buffed by 2%.
Frostraven
  • Frostraven Seismic Shot cooldown reduced to 45s.
Seismic Blast
  • Cooldown increased to 160s.
  • Second shot added to level 2.
Cryo Bomb
  • Cooldown reduced to 160s.
  • Second shot added to level 2 and 3.
Glacial Storm
  • Duration increased by 5s.
  • Effectiveness vs Ground Units increased.

Yapyap
We have investigated the grunt riders after watching some videos where abnormalities were appearing with them and we found a bug. Currently, there is a bug where the line damage dealt when ramming was dealing 2.5x the amount of damage it was supposed to. We have fixed this bug.
  • Grunt Rider ram damage bug fix.

Pavium
Pavium’s hero did not acquire XP for veterancy at a similar rate to other heroes. We have normalized this .
  • XP required for Veterancy normalized.

Voridus
Voridus is still quite low in terms of win rates so we spent some time making a few changes to his toolkit. This included making his grenadiers being actual anti-infantry. As well, we adjusted the cooldowns on various sources of infusion and adjusted his leader a bit.
  • Grenadier now has the correct weapon type to be effective vs Infantry.
Infused Engineer
  • Cost Reduction to match standard Engineers.
  • Decrease Y cooldown by 10 seconds.
Hero Buffs
  • 5% DPS increase.
  • Infusion trail duration increased by 5 seconds.
  • Cost changed from 350/275 to 300/275.
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Awarded to Spartans who match with 343 during Flight 2.0. Awarded to Spartans who match with 343 on Memorial Day Weekend 2018 Halo 5: Guardians MP Beta participant.
Blitz
We have spent a lot of time talking with various Blitz players across the game and received feedback on changes that people would like to see. Based on this feedback, card usage data, and win rates we have made quite a few adjustments across the board to costing of the units in game. We will be watching the impacts these changes have and hope to see win rates come in much closer across the board.
  • Blast units now do more damage to structures.
UNSC Global
These changes are being done to bring the UNSC up a little as they struggle vs. the Banished.
  • Warthog 60 > 40
  • Hornet 70 > 50
  • Hellbringer 10 > 20
  • Marine 20 > 10
  • Vet Jackrabbit 50 > 40
  • Trooper Warthog 110 > 100
  • Scorpion 120 > 100
  • “Rush” added to Veteran Jackrabbit
Banished Global
These are being done to shake up the meta by making vehicles and air more viable.
  • Banshee 60 > 40
  • Marauder 70 > 50
  • Wraith 110 > 90
Cutter
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Trooper Hornet 100 > 90
  • Close Air Support 180 > 160
  • Spartan Jerome 200 > 180
Isabel
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Armored Warthog 80 > 60
  • MAC Blast 140 > 120
  • Lockdown Scorpion 150 > 140
  • Ghost in the Machine 170 > 120
  • Spartan Alice 210 > 180
Anders
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable.
  • Protector Sentinels do 5% more damage
  • Aggressor Sentinel 30 > 20
  • Watchtower 50 > 30
  • Protector Sentinel 70 > 50
  • Ark Defense 130 > 100
Atriox
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Spike Turret 90 > 50
  • Enduring Blisterback 160 > 150
  • Eradication 190 > 180
  • Atriox Chosen 210 > 180
Decimus
Helping reduce the cost of a few leader powers.
  • Boundless Fury 150 > 140
  • Terror Chopper 60 > 50
Shipmaster
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Teleport 80 > 60
  • Prowling Marauder 90 > 70
  • Unstable Banshee 90 > 70
  • Spirit Assault 140 > 150
  • Glassing Beam 160 > 140
  • Honor Guard 170 > 180

Forge
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Pelican Transport 40 > 30
  • Heavy Metal 70 > 60
  • Scatter Bomb 90 > 80
  • Grizzly 160 > 150
  • Forgehog 200 > 180
  • Combat Salvage 170 > 100
Kinsano
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Flamehog 70 > 50
  • Veteran Flamehog 90 > 70
  • Inferno 180 > 160
Colony
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Goliath 50 > 40
  • Hunter Captain 230 > 190
  • Engineer Swarm 80 > 70
  • Skitterers can now attach correctly in Blitz
Johnson
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Mantis 80 > 60
  • Siege Turret 100 > 90
  • EMP MAC Blast 110 > 100
  • Mantis 110 > 90
  • Colossus 140 > 130
  • Sergeant Johnson 200 > 180
Arbiter
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Stasis 70 > 60
  • Plasma Bolt 90 > 80
  • Conduit of Rage 80 > 70
  • Mass Cloaking 200 > 180
  • Arbiter 215 > 200
  • “Rush” keyword changed to “Reflect”
Commander Jerome
Helping to his hero more viable and making his Vet Snipers just a little bit cheaper.
  • Sniper 110 > 100
  • Commander Jerome 215 > 200
Serina
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Seismic Blast 60 > 50
  • Frostraven 70 > 60
  • Cryo Bomb 110 > 90
  • Glacial Storm 170 > 130
  • Bison 220 > 190
YapYap
Changes to units that are not as effective as the cost suggested.
  • Grunt Riders 50 > 40
  • Shade Drop 80 > 70
Voridus
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Scarred Grenadier 50 > 40
  • Infused Engineer 60 > 50
  • Terror Wraith 150 > 140
  • Voridus 210 > 190
Pavium
Helping to make non-infantry and heroes more viable. As well, some LPs were too expensive.
  • Enduring Will 60 > 70
  • Wraith Invader 100 > 90
  • Mega Turret 160 > 120
  • Pavium 215 > 190
  • Lich Vanguard 200 > 180
  • Rain of Fire 80 > 120
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