From December 14th to the 21st, the gates to the Testing Grounds shall open once more! Everyone will be able to try out the changes to 3 characters this time: Medjay, Peacekeeper and Highlander.
Let's have a look at what is in store for our fellow warriors.
Medjay
Our vision for Medjay is to be a hero that uses both of his Modes seamlessly and switch up between them depending on the current situation. While this is accomplished with using the hero's recovery cancel Transforms, it can be difficult to use in some situations and leave Medjay too vulnerable. To address this, we're adding a new move in this Testing Grounds that allows Medjay to Transform and switch modes mid-chain; this should let the hero have better access to his different attacks and be less vulnerable.
We're also addressing some other issues the hero is facing, such as a lack of mixups while in Axe mode, as well as being too safe in Staff mode.
New Move: Mid Chain Zone Attack
Staff Mode Version
- Performed by pressing Zone Attack after any Staff Mode Opener or Chained attack
- Performing the attack Transforms and changes Medjay's mode to Axe
- Chains to Axe Mode chained attacks (counts as a Heavy Opener)
- 500ms attack, deals 12 damage, costs 12 stamina
Axe Mode Version
- Performed by pressing Zone Attack after any Axe Mode Opener or Chained attack
- Performing the attack Transforms and changes Medjay's mode to Staff
- Chains to Staff Mode chained attacks (counts as a Heavy Opener)
- 500ms attack, deals 12 damage, costs 12 stamina
Balance changes:
Staff Mode:
- Chained Lights no longer have Uninterruptible Stance
- Light Finishers no longer have Uninterruptible Stance
Axe Mode:
- Light Finishers are now Undodgeable
- Light Finishers have increased movement
We wanted to address Staff Mode's safety by removing the Interruptible Stance from Medjay's Chained and Finisher lights. With this change, if players want to use the hero's infinite chain, they must make a choice to purposefully leave themselves open to a peeling attempt from opponents.
Axe Mode also suffered from issues where after landing a Throne Room Tackle and performing the confirmed Light Attack that opponents could dodge all three options Medjay could use on a single timing, and the only possible counterplay on Medjay's side was feinting a Chained Heavy to defeat the dodge. We've decided to add the Undodgeable property to the Light Finisher to force players facing Medjay to make a read in this situation, giving Medjay better mix up potential.
Peacekeeper
Peacekeeper is currently underperforming in Dominion because she requires her opponent to be Bleeding to have pressure. Since in Duels her potential for applying Bleed is greater, we're adding a new move to her arsenal to let her apply Bleed more consistently when she is in a group fight. This move is made especially for group fight situations and is reactable in 1v1 scenarios on purpose to keep the hero's identity and have her use a variety of tools instead of one to apply Bleed consistently.
We're also addressing some other Quality of Life issues with Peacekeeper in this Testing Grounds.
New Move: Iron Mountain
- Performed by pressing Guardbreak while dodging Forward
- 766ms Melee Attack
- Can be performed 100-500ms into Front Dodge
- Chains to Deep Gouge
In addition, we're also testing several quality-of-life changes:
Stab & Deep Gouge
- No longer requires strict input
Riposting Stab
- Input changed from Heavy Attack to Light Attack
We made a change to this input in the past to ensure that players always got their input correct after a Dodge, no matter if they Deflected or not. This created an inconsistency with the hero where all of her attacks that apply Bleed on their opponents are performed with her dagger and are all on Light inputs;
Zone Attack
- Stamina cost reduced from 40+10 to 20+10.
Heavy Attacks
- Adjusted weapon trajectories to hit external targets more consistently
Highlander
We received a lot of feedback in our previous Testing Grounds regarding Highlander. Many changes were appreciated, but there were still some points that needed to be addressed further. Because of this, we're trying a second iteration of Highlander with some further changes.
We're focusing on the changes to Offensive Form Side Dodge attacks, as well as adding extra safety to entering Offensive Form. We're also addressing some small Quality of Life issues.
Previous Changes
- Any change not listed below remains from the previous Testing Grounds. For more information, check out the Y7S3 Testing Grounds article.
New Changes
Offensive Form - Side Dodge Attacks
- Offensive Form Side Dodge no longer leads to Caber toss.
- NEW ATTACK: Side Dodge Heavy
- Performed by releasing Heavy Attack during a Side Dodge
- 600ms attack
- Deals 14 damage
- Fast flows back into Offensive Form by holding Heavy Attack during the attack
Caber Toss as a side dodge attack was overperforming, leading to knockdowns and big damage from allies. We've changed the attack to be a more regular side dodge attack, with standard damage that flows back into Offensive Form. This should give Highlander a more balanced side dodge attack that does not deal too much damage but is still adept at counterattacking.
Caber Toss
- Caber Toss animation & duration changes have been reverted.
Entry into Offensive Form
- Can now Dodge 266ms earlier while entering Offensive Form
This allows Highlander to defeat attempts to interrupt the hero with Light attacks from opponents in reaction to the hero entering Offensive Form from neutral - with this new option, the hero can now attempt to enter Offensive Form from neutral and dodge any incoming light attack and punish the opponent accordingly.
Offensive Form - Top Light
- Attack Speed is now 400ms, down from 500ms
Zone Attacks
- Adjusted weapon trajectories to better fit the animation. It should now reliably hit opponents and minions externally.
As always, you can send us your feedback on the For Honor subreddit where you will find the latest TG megathread stickied. You will also find the link to the latest TG Feedback Survey in the stickied TG megathread.
That's all for today. We hope to see you all on the battlefield!
