Fight
Guard Switch
- Centurion’s guard switch cancel from guard switch reduced to 100ms (from 300ms).
- Lawbringer’s guard switch cancel from guard switch reduced to 100ms (from 300ms).
- Raider’s guard switch cancel from guard switch reduced to 100ms (from 300ms).
- Nobushi’s guard switch cancel from guard switch reduced to 100ms (from 300ms).
- Shugoki’s guard switch cancel from guard switch reduced to 100ms (from 300ms).
*Developer comments: These five characters had a longer guard switch to guard switch delay. We wanted to try and accommodate gameplay and fidelity by increasing this delay so that guard switch spam wouldn’t look too glitchy on these characters. The side effect was that these characters had a higher challenge on defense since it took them more time to correct their guard. We’ve decided to bring these guys to the same level as others with 100ms guard switch to guard switch so that the defensive challenge is levelled across characters. *
Guardbreak Follow ups
- Guard Break follow ups are now consistent throughout characters.
Developer comments: After fixing a bug that caused the Warden, Nobushi and Orochi to be able to chain a Drop Attack from Guard Break, we introduced some regressions on the Guard Break follow ups. The regression caused some out of Guard Mode follow up attacks to use a different Guard than the default one. At the time, we decided it was a fair trade off in order to fix the Drop Attack bug that caused one-hit kills. Now we’re following up on that and fixing the regression.
Guardbreak to Air Attack
- [Bug Fix] Removed Guardbreak to Air Attack exploit in Campaign.
Developer comments: At the time we fixed the Guard Break to Drop Attack bug, we needed to act fast and decided to only fix it for Multiplayer where the bug caused the most annoyance. The fix is now replicated in Campaign as well.
Fighters
Kensei
- Helm Splitter no longer interrupted on Block.
- Swift Strike no longer interrupted on Block.
- Swift Strike Interrupt Block reaction duration shortened to 800ms (from 900ms).
Developer comments: In an effort to try and improve the Kensei’s initiation game, we’re making Helm Splitter and Swift Strike uninterruptible on Block. This allows Kensei to have easier access to their Top Heavy Finisher cancel mix-up game and force reactions. The shortened Interrupt Block on Swift Strike is still relevant against Superior Block. Kensei had an extremely difficult matchup against Conqueror, so this short reduction allows Kensei to no longer give up a free Guard Break if the Conqueror blocks the Swift Strike.
Warden
- Shoulder Bash can now be cancelled into Guard Break or Idle only at the start of the charge. The cancel will be performed at the 400ms mark of the charge.
- Shoulder Bash Min stamina cost increased to 20 (from 10).
- Shoulder Bash Max stamina cost increased to 30 (from 15).
- Shoulder Bash cancel to Idle stamina cost increased to 20 (from 18).
- Visual FX for fully charged and super armor now more visible on fully charged version.
Developer comments: In patch 1.06, we made a change so Wardens could cancel the Shoulder Bash no later than 300ms before the Shoulder Bash would make impact. The intention then was to remove Warden’s ability to react to what an opponent would do, and instead force both players to make a prediction.
We’ve been keeping an eye on this, and found that the Warden’s ability to hold the Shoulder Bash’s charge and wait to Guard Break, allows the Warden too much opportunity to react to a dodge and punish it with the Guard Break.
Now, we’re changing this so that the Shoulder Bash cancel into Guard Break or Idle can happen at one set timing: 400ms. This change should force Wardens to have to commit to Shoulder Bash or cancel it based on a prediction, not a reaction.
Additionally, we’ve increased the stamina costs to prevent spamming.
Shinobi
- Double Dodge can no longer connect to Guard Break during last 300ms.
- Double Dodge Kick area of effect is now smaller.
- Double Dodge Kick stamina cost increased to 20 (from 5).
- Double Dodge Front Kick range reduced to 4m (from 4.75).
- Double Dodge Front Kick Uninterruptible stance duration changed to 300 - 600ms (from 200 -600ms).
- Double Dodge Side Kick startup duration increased to 600ms (from 400ms).
- Double Dodge Side Kick Uninterruptible stance duration changed to 400 - 600ms (from 200 -400ms).
Developer comments: We’re adjusting Shinobi’s Double Dodge Kick in order to make it less dominant. The startup, range and area of effect adjustments should make it easier to dodge. We reduced the Uninterruptible Stance duration to make it more punishable with good timing. We’re also removing Guardbreak from Double Dodge as it was too easy to punish enemies anticipating to dodge the Kick. Finally, we’ve increased the stamina cost to prevent Shinobis from constantly spamming Kick – Back Flip.
Warlord
- Throw Back run duration reduced by 400ms.
- Throw Left / Right run duration reduced by 300ms.
Developer comments: Warlord’s throw game has been very strong from the very beginning and after multiple adjustments to his core combat abilities, we felt it was time to address throws. These changes reduce the side Throws by about 3 meters and the back Throw by about 4 meters.
Revive
- Revive duration increased to 3 seconds (from 2) in Skirmish & Elimination
Developer comments: At 2 seconds, it was very difficult to interrupt a revive. Adding feats or gear on top of that made it impossible to interrupt. By adding a full second to the duration, we make it easy to interrupt someone without a buff and still manageable to interrupt someone with all the buffs (considering the nerf to revive faster mentioned below). Revive duration was already set to 3 seconds in Dominion.
Feats
Revive Faster
- Revive speed reduction decreased to 25% (from 50%).
Developer comments: This change plus the revive duration to 3 seconds means that with the feat the revive time is still 2.25s which is still easily interruptible. If we add the max gear buff, we get a minimum duration of 1.4s which is still interruptible by most light attacks.
Auto Revive (Warlord)
- Health gain upon Revive decreased to 50% (from 100%).
Developer comments: We like the idea of this feat but providing 100% of health is clearly overpowered. We hope that by nerfing this by half, we are going to keep a cool feat but provide a better chance to the enemies at dealing with an auto revived Warlord.
Revenge Attacks
- Successful Light Attacks Revenge gain reduced to 2 points (from 5).
- Successful Heavy attacks Revenge gain reduced to 4 points (from 10).
- Added a 10% damage reduction to all attacks.
NOTE: The feat’s description was not updated
Developer comments: We like that this feat pushes players to be more aggressive but it was too much of an obvious choice and was too strongly impacting the revenge gain. By adding a damage reduction as well as a nerf to the revenge provided we hope to make it more balanced.
Second Wind
- Health Gain increased to 50 HP (from 40 HP)
- Set as a one-time use
- Unique cooldown set to 60 seconds
Developer comments: The Second Wind feat provided with a full heal in 20 seconds which was really too much for a level 3 feat. We decided to remove the multiple uses and set a shorter unique cooldown (Previously, there was a 5 seconds cooldown between uses + a 120 seconds cooldown when uses were depleted) This will make the feat easier to use and to predict while keeping it a very useful healing feat.
Body Count
- Health gain per soldier killed reduced to 3 HP (from 5 HP).
NOTE: The feat’s description was not updated
Developer comments: The Body Count feat provided a crazy advantage especially for characters with very wide AOE attacks. This is a first attempt at nerfing it, we will continue to monitor it and see if it needs further changes.
Heal on Block
- Light Attack Block Health gain reduced to 5 HP (from 10 HP).
- Heavy Attack Block Health gain reduced to 5 HP (from 15 HP).
- Soldier Attack Block Health gain reduced to 3 HP (from 5 HP).
NOTE: The feat’s description was not updated
Developer comments: We hope to lower a bit this feat’s effectiveness but keep its behavior for now. This is a first attempt at nerfing it, we will continue to monitor it and see if it needs further changes.
Fiat Lux
- Area of Effect radius increased to 4 meters (from 3 meters).
- Stun duration increased to 4 seconds (from 3 seconds).
- AOE now deals a consistent 25 damage regardless of distance (previously the AOE was using damage falloff making the damage really small on the outer ring of the AOE).
Developer comments: We felt that Fiat Lux was underwhelming, a big part of it was that it was a bit too easy to evade and that it didn’t give you enough of a chance to attack after the effect hit your enemy. By boosting the AOE’s size, we make it a bit more difficult to evade and by removing the damage falloff and boosting the Stun duration, we are making it more punishing to get caught in it.
Projectile Feats
Long Bow
- Damage reduced to 50 HP (from 80 HP).
Javelin
- Damage reduced to 50 HP (from 80 HP).
Crossbow
- Damage reduced to 25 HP (from 30 HP).
- Set as a one-time use
- Cooldown set to 60 seconds
Throwing axe
- Damage reduced to 25 HP (from 30 HP).
- Set as a one-time use
- Cooldown set to 60 seconds
Kunai
- Damage reduced to 15 HP (from 25 HP).
- Set as a one-time use
- Cooldown set to 30 seconds
Developer comments: We have lowered and rationalized the damage output from projectile feats. We also have removed the concept of multiple uses like we did with Second Wind. We hope this helps remove a bit of the frustration related to the feeling of being one-shot killed by a projectile and brings them more in line with the other feats on their respective levels.
Gear Stats
Defense Penetration
Value Changes
- The highest available Defense Penetration bonus has been reduced from 17.5% to 15.2%. All gear with Defense Penetration as a main bonus has been updated proportionally.
- Defense Penetration penalties have been reduced by the same proportion.
- The highest available secondary bonus for Defense Penetration has been reduced from 13.1% to 9.5%. All gear with Defense Penetration as a secondary bonus has been updated proportionally.
Developer comments: Community feedback regarding Defense Penetration was relatively strong. However, data analytics shows us that players do not choose it in overwhelming amounts. The data also tells us that it only gives a moderate advantage to players who use it. This advantage is still somewhat larger than we would have liked, especially for gear that gives Defense Penetration as a secondary stat bonus. As a result, the secondary Defense Penetration bonus has been reduced considerably more than the main bonus. This should make the choice more meaningful of whether to take it as a main bonus or secondary bonus.
For additional patch notes, visit www.forhonorgame.com/patchnotes
