MAINTENANCE NOTIFICATION
Contract Orders reset
Progress on all Contract Orders will be reset. Any Contract Orders that are not completed before the update will have to be restarted.
IMPROVEMENT
System changes
Removal of Uninterruptible Stance on Guardbreak Throws
- Guardbreak Throws no longer apply Uninterruptible Stance on the victim
Dev comment: There was an inconsistency with heroes where some Guardbreak throws had Uninterruptible Stance applied to the victim and some did not. We have normalized the behavior so that no Guardbreak Throws apply Uninterruptible Stance on the victim to help with the ganking potential of these moves; this way it will no longer be possible to land several attacks without damage reduction on victims from multiple players.
Feat Balancing changes
Tier 1 feat changes
- Kiai now deals 80 stamina damage (down from 100% stamina damage)
Dev comment: Kiai would always put an opponent out of stamina, no matter their current stamina; this proved to be very strong in many situations. We're lowering the feat to deal 80 stamina damage instead, which now requires the feat to be used more sparingly and with better knowledge of your opponent's current stamina.
- Sinister Shield
- Now sacrifices 30 health (up from 25)
- Now applies a shield for 8 seconds (down from 10 seconds)
Dev comment: Sinister Shield is a very powerful Tier 1 feat that synergizes with Shields while penalizing Black Prior's health. Both the duration of the shield and the downside of using the feat were too powerful, and we've adjusted both downwards to provide more consistency with other Tier 1 feats.
- Gravity Pull
- Now deals 15 damage (down from 20)
- Cooldown is now 90 seconds (up from 60 seconds)
Dev comment: Gravity Pull is a strong Tier 1 option for Afeera that helps her contribute to ganks. We're adjusting it so that it deals less damage and has a longer cooldown to ensure it can't be used as often as before to as great an impact.
- Take Shelter now heals 5 health on Superior Block (down from 10 health)
Dev comment: Take Shelter activates more often than anticipated, and so the healing it provides ends up being too high. We're reducing it to ensure it remains competitive but not overly strong.
Tier 2 feat changes
- Juggernaut
- Damage Reduction when the feat is active is now 20% (down from 50%)
- Cooldown is now 120s (up from 90s)
Dev comment: Juggernaut is a very powerful feat, with a low cooldown and very strong abilities. We've decided to lower the damage reduction it applies instead of removing the Uninterruptible Stance it provides so that it still is useful, but no longer should always trade as favorably as before. We've also raised it's cooldown so that it is less accessible and require more forethought when using it.
Tier 3 feat changes
- Speeding Comet
- Now deals 20 damage (down from 30)
- Cooldown is now 120s (up from 90s)
Dev comment: Speeding Comet is a very powerful feat, that guarantees Afeera's Heavy Finishers, as well as gains Full Block very early. With these nerfs, we expect the move to be more in-line with other Tier 3 feats, but we are also keeping an eye on it if further adjustments are necessary.
- Pugio now deals 15 damage (down from 25)
Dev comment: Pugio guarantees at least 26 damage when it lands, leading to a Tier 3 feat that deals a minimum of 51 damage and leading to mixups. We've lowered the initial damage by 10 to ensure the damage curve of the feat is more in-line with other Tier 3 feats.
- Fury
- Damage buff is now 20% (down from 35%)
- Damage reduction buff is now 20% (down from 35%)
Dev comment: Fury has been overperforming in many situations; both the damage buff and the damage reduction buffs were too strong, especially given the ability to tack on the damage buff to other feats. We've reduced both effects to be more manageable and lead to less snowballing in games.
- Invigorate now heals 4hp (down from 8hp)
Dev comment: Invigorate is a strong Tier 3 feat that cleanses and heals a significant amount of damage due to the fact that Qi Stance is more accessible than ever. With this change, Shaolin will still be effective at cleansing Fire and Bleed but will be a less efficient with healing, which should reduce the overall effectiveness of the feat.
- Oathbreaker no longer prevents target from gaining shields
Dev comment: Oathbreaker is a strong feat, and could be used in a variety of situations to prevent opponents from actively gaining shields, on top of its shield-stripping aspect. We've decided to keep the shield-stripping aspect, but we are removing the ability to prevent the target from gaining shields. This way, it can still be used reactively when an opponent has gained shields, but must be used at the correct timing to gain the proper effect.
Tier 4 feat changes
- Fire Flask now deals a maximum of 30 damage on impact (down from 50 damage)
Dev comment: Fire Flask has been one of the most powerful Tier 4 feats for quite a while, mainly due to its team-clearing ability in a single shot. To address this, we've lowered the maximum initial impact damage; this should help make surviving the feat easier as players should have more time to activate heals to cleanse the Fire effect.
- Spear Storm now deals 30 damage per wave, down from 70
Dev comment: Spear Storm, at 70 damage, was an instant kill in a lot of situations; if you get hit by the first wave of attacks, the others would be guaranteed. Since Highlander's rework, the hero has risen up in viability, and as such the popularity of the feat has also risen. We're taking steps to make sure that at 30 damage, it still is worthy of being a Tier 4 feat, but should no longer guaranteed kills on opponents with more than 90 HP left.
- Fear Itself now decreases Defense of opponents by 40% (down from 50%)
Dev comment: Fear Itself is a great team fighting tool, and when used in conjunction with Attack buffs it becomes extremely strong at helping teams deal a lot of damage without applying a lot of Revenge. We've lowered the debuff it applies by 10% so that it still is useful but should not be as powerful as it was at dealing with big groups.
Hero-specific changes
Nuxia
- Heavy Finishers no longer apply Uninterruptible Stance on the victim
- Adjusted input comfort for followup attacks during Heavy Finishers to land more consistently
Dev comment: In line with the system changes outlined above, Nuxia no longer applies UninterruptibleStance on her victim when landing Heavy Finishers. This should help ganking situations. We've also made it so you can buffer attacks much earlier during Heavy Finishers on hit to make landing a followup Heavy on wallsplat more consistently.
Berserker
- HP is now 125 (down from 130)
- Spin Chop is no longer Enhanced
Dev comment: Berserker has been overperforming at all levels, and we're slightly adjusting the hero downwards. Given the hero's extra agility with dodge cancels, we're comfortable lowering their HP slightly as they no longer require solely on trading to initiate offense, and we're nerfing Spin Chop as it is a very strong tool in group fights, letting players initiate offense off target-swapped Side Dodge attacks. With this change, Berserker must be more cautious when using Spin Chop, and should alleviate the issues with Dodge Cancelling Spin Chop's recoveries constantly in group fights.
Shinobi
- Removed the ability to backstep neutral Light Attacks
- Ghoul's Embrace now deals 30 Revenge (up from 14)
Dev comment: In the past, we've removed the ability for Superior Block neutral Lights to backstep to eliminate some option selects regarding these heroes. Shinobi, while not being able to option select with this attack, is still able to use their backstepped Lights to interrupt opponents quite effectively and can also use them to access their finishers with very little risk, so we're removing their ability to perform this. We're also increasing the amount of Revenge that Ghoul's Embrace generates; as it is a Bash and is widely used in ganks, setting it to 30 instead of 14 (which is the amount of damage it deals) should help alleviate long 100/0 ganks with Shinobi.
Hitokiri
- Charged Mangetsu and Charged Endless Myriad now deal 30 damage (down from 34)
Dev comment: Part of Hitokiri's strength is landing 34 damage charged attacks from various points in their kit, and lets them overperform in ganking situations. We're setting the damage to these attacks to 30 to ensure the damage Hitokiri can output is consistent with the rest of the heroes, as well as is not overly powerful in ganks.
Afeera
- Removed the ability for Astro Flips to bump players
Dev comment: In some cases, Afeera can perform Astro Flip into opponents and bump them, guaranteeing extra damage. We've removed this ability from the moves so they are consistent with normal dodges, where they can bump minions, but not players.
Centurion
- Removed strict timing requirement on Lion's Roar
Peacekeeper
- Increased range of Side Dodge attacks to be more in line with other attacks of similarly-sized weapons
BUG FIXES
GENERAL
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Shaolin's 2nd and 3rd strikes of zone attack get hit 66ms earlier when the attack is deflected by the opponent.
FIGHTERS
Nuxia
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Nuxia's Jade Ballet doesn't track when opponent dodges.
FH-5309 - [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Nuxia can't target swap Jade Ballet.
FH-5904
Centurion
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Centurion's heavy attacks do not cost any stamina when soft feinted to guard breakduring the charge portion of the attack.
Zhanhu
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Zhanhu regains defense back in their Out of lock attack's recoveries if players lock on during the attack.
Lawbringer
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Lawbringer's Shove doesn't connect to Orochi and Kyoshin after Long Arm.
Pirate
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Pirate's unique feats consume stamina if buffered from counter guardbreak.
FH-3844
Hitokiri
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where the Hitokiri can chain to Senbonzakura even when they are Out of Stamina.
Ocelotl
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Ocelotl's Remnant Chest neck piece (and it's variations) glitch through the model.
CUSTOMIZATION
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where Pirate Queen's helm's hair colors are inconsistent.
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where an incomplete texture is observed for Bandana present on Pirate Queen's Helm.
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where some Shugoki's Standards Paint Pattern aren't visible or displayed well on some chests.
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where some ornaments are misplaced on Medjay's left arm.
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where the game is stuck in a loading screen when the languages is set in Italian.
- [Bug Fix] Fixed an issue where some Peacekeeper's gears have the prod code name on their thumbnail on reward screen.
