Paladins News

Greetings Champions, and welcome to Year 8 of Paladins! We wanted to take a moment before we dive into our first update of the year, Wekono's Wake, to talk about where we are and our direction moving forward. Over the course of Year 7, we focused our small team's efforts more and more on improving the systems and features that make Paladins a standout in the genre: an emphasis on customization through Items, Talents and Cards, updating and deepening Champion kits, and bringing together older concepts and new features to enrich our Realm.

Headed into 2025, we plan to continue these types of efforts while also aiming to shift to smaller, more frequent updates and hotfixes to further improve our ability to adapt development to player feedback while ensuring our team can stay nimble. This will be most evident in our shift in cosmetic additions and a larger effort towards the aforementioned customization and gameplay focus. Without further ado, let's dive into our first update of Year 8: Wekono's Wake, launching January 29th and live on PTS later today!

[h2]Experimental Queue: Subclasses[/h2]
Throughout the year, we want to test out various ideas we’ve had that are more drastic gameplay shifts than we usually release. These features are meant to be explorations of directions to take Paladins that could lead to new modes or enrichening existing experiences. The first of these we plan to tackle is Subclasses, a role within your class that provides a powerful effect to a specific aspect of your gameplay. You select these prior to selecting your Talent, and their effects stack with other customization options. We’ll be testing these in their own Siege queue for players to compare to normal Siege, as well as considering them for alternative modes like Arcade or Wave Defense. Here’s the list of Subclasses releasing this update:
[h3]Damage[/h3]
Predator
On earning an Elimination, reduce the cooldown of your Movement ability by 40%. Imani, Saati, and Strix gain 20 of their resources.
Shock Trooper
While on the Objective, gain 10% Damage Reduction.
Triage
On earning an Elimination, drop a healing deployable at your current location.

Note: Octavia does not select a Subclass, instead opting for her own Commander options.

[h3]Flank[/h3]
Duelist
Gain 10% Crowd Control resistance for 3s after dealing 1500 damage.
Rallyman
On earning an Elimination, regenerate involved allies ammo by 10%.
Skirmisher
Heal for 4% every second while on the Objective.
[h3]Frontline[/h3]
Fireteam Leader
After using your Q ability, provide allies within 50 units 30% Slow resistance and 20% Movement Speed for 2s.
Dug In
While on the Objective, gain 15% Crowd Control resistance.
Wanderer
You exit combat 1.5s faster and have 15% Movement Speed while out of combat.
[h3]Support[/h3]
Rabid
For every 2,000 damage you deal, gain 30% Reload Speed and 10% faster cooldowns for 3s.
Skulker
You exit combat 1.5s faster and your Cooldowns are 10% faster while out of combat.
Spotter
You can no longer apply Anti-Heal, but damaged enemies take 20% more Headshot damage for 1.5s.


[h2]Map Refresh: Serpent Beach[/h2]
Wekono has reawakened as her temple sees growth! This version of the map shares almost identical sightlines and pathing as the version most players are used to, which will remain in game as Serpent Beach (Classic). However, various aspects have been visually updated or adjusted to bring Serpent Beach into the modern era. Decorations have been added to adorn the walls with effigies to Wekono as well as her Champion, Mal'Damba. Sand is more prevalent, with walking trails connecting the temple structures and washing ashore the beaches. Vegetation has been updated to bring out the beach, with palm trees lining the skybox. Looking out into the sea will let players bask in the greatness of a new Serpent, whose body coils around the map to create archways. You'll also catch glimpses of Jaguar Falls and Frog Ilse outside the bounds of play!


[h2]Newcomer Queue[/h2]
We’ve slowly been working to improve various aspects of playing Paladins for the first time & to have a place to learn how the game works without frustration. The Newcomer queue is our latest addition to this process, a Siege queue that is available exclusively to accounts below Level 35. This provides those Champions starting out an option to play that gives them a space to discover their favorite characters and understand the game with lower pressure. This does not prevent them from queueing for normal Siege, it’s simply a choice we want to offer to allow people to learn at their own pace. The gameplay of the Newcomer queue is identical to casual Siege so it’s the perfect way to transition from new to dedicated!
[h2]New Customs Settings[/h2]
We’ve added a few more settings to Custom Matches for those looking to play with a variety of LTM and Experimental features!

• Enable/Disable Subclasses
  
• Enable/Disable Beyond Store
  
• Override Loadout Card Level
  • This allows people to play Cards to the Max in Customs at any Card level!
• Talent Selection
  • This will allow players to use the Truly Talented selection in Customs. Note: Any Champion who is not in Truly Talented will use their normal Talents.

Welcome to Season 8 of Ranked! Our goals with this Season are to make systemic changes that make the mode more enjoyable to grind as well as easier for players who have historically shied away from the queue to join. It’s some of the largest adjustments to the system we’ve made in recent years, and we’re excited for players to get their hands on it and give us feedback!
[h2]Requirements[/h2]

• Increased the number of Champions required from 18 ➡️ 24

[h2]Tier Points System[/h2]

• The base amount of Tier Points players can move has been increased from 11 ➡️ 15
  
• The maximum amount of points players can move has been increased from 16 ➡️ 23
  
• The maximum amount of points players can lose has been increased from 16 ➡️ 23
  
• The severity of which favored teams lose Tier Points on a loss is decreased by 33%.

[h2]Map Frequency[/h2]

• Serpent Beach (Classic) has the same frequency as Serpent Beach in Season 7.
  
• Serpent Beach will have higher frequency during Split 1.

[h2]Draft Changes[/h2]
We’ve heard a lot of complaints about the time spent in Ban Phase & its usage across skill levels, so we’re planning to implement a system that dynamically scales the amount of bans based on the skill of the lobby.

• Gold & below lobbies will have 2 bans per side
  
• Platinum will have 3 bans per side
  
• Diamond+ will have 4 bans per side

Our goal is to finetune this system to allow players to slowly learn the priorities of banning as they climb the ranks as well as giving lower skill players faster matches and more Champions to pick from to encourage them to give Ranked a fair shot!
[h2]Rewards[/h2]
We’ll continue to have expected rewards both for the Season and the Split, provided at the usual milestones.

• Play 100 Matches - Avatar
  
• Win 75 Matches - Subjugator Zhin, a recolor of Conqueror Zhin
  
• Place in a Split - Golden Cache
  
• Play 25 Matches in a Split - Avatar

In addition to the traditional rewards offered via Ranked, we’re now also offering new rewards in addition to what was done prior!

• Reach Masters in Season 8 Ranked to receive a Limited Skin Token
  • We’ve converted the Anniversary Store into the Limited Skin Vault and will be rotating skins in and out of the Vault occasionally so stay tuned!
• Play 25 Games on a Class to receive their Class Chest
  • If you own all the contents of the Class Chest, you’ll instead receive 100 Crystals.

This update, the Event Pass we're offering has some changes to accommodate our focus on gameplay as well as simplify how we handle Flashbacks.

This pass will be 30 levels of exclusive Titles, currency, and for the first time ever multiple Diamond Troves and several other chests containing cosmetics from across the game. While there aren't many new contents, the value offered in this eclipses Flashback Passes and allows us to focus our time on other aspects of the game.

We did want to offer something new for the players who own almost everything or those looking for a chase, so at the final level of the pass you can earn Loci-Buster Ash, a recolor of Xeno-Buster that sees the fight taken to a more Arctic aesthetic.

[h2]Arcade[/h2]

• Onslaught removed from the rotation of modes.
  • Moving forward, whenever we swap which mode is featured outside Arcade, that mode will no longer be featured in Arcade.
    
  • Next update, we plan to swap Team Deathmatch and Onslaught so TDM will be featured as the standalone queue.

[h2]Limited Time Modes[/h2]
[h3]Truly Talented[/h3]
Jenos

• Illuminated Talent from Reality Warp added.

Maeve

• Swapped Artful Dodger for Street Justice.
  
• Increased execution threshold during Midnight from 40% ➡️ 75%

[h2]General[/h2]
[h3]Anti-Healing[/h3]

• Decreased the starting value from 30% ➡️ 25%

After watching our changes to Anti-Healing’s ramp speed from the latter half of Season 7, we saw the desired improvements in the late game distribution of healing. However, the effect on the early & middle game was a bit more heightened than we intended and led to some matches lacking proper pacing. To alleviate this, we’re shifting the starting value for Anti-Heal down a single interval to allow a bit more time in these earlier stages while still keeping the scaling fast.

[h2]Items[/h2]
[h3]Blast Shields[/h3]

• Decreased cost from 300/600/900 ➡️ 275/550/825

[h3]Bulldozer[/h3]

• Increased scaling from 30/60/90 ➡️ 50/100/150

[h3]Deft Hands[/h3]

• Level 3 now also raises increased Reload Speed cap from 60% ➡️ 75%

[h3]Guardian[/h3]

• Increased scaling from 15/30/45 ➡️ 20/40/60

[h3]Returning Item: Resilience[/h3]

• Reduce the duration or effectiveness of Crowd Control effects by {25|25}%.
  
• Replaces Unbound

[h3]Rejuvenate[/h3]

• Reworked to “You can be Overhealed by allies when at max Health, gaining a 150 Health Shield for 5s every 375|-75 Overheal received. Stacks up to 5 times.”

[h3]Sentinel[/h3]

• Reworked to “Gain a 300|300 Health Shield for 5s after being afflicted by Crowd Control. Has a Cooldown of 5s.”

[h3]Wrecker[/h3]

• Increased cost from 275/550/825 ➡️ 300/600/900
  
• Increased scaling from 30/60/90 ➡️ 60/120/180

To kick off the Season, we’re bringing a whole host of Item changes with two goals in mind: making Items a more powerful part of our gameplay loop as well as merging together various eras of Items to curate the most diverse offering we could have. The headliner changes are those around Wrecker, Guardian, and Shields. Shields used to be a much more prevalent part of Paladins’ sandbox, with the health values higher and Wrecker more impactful than has been the past few Seasons (circa Season 3 onward). As part of Season 8, we’re returning closer to that style of defensive gameplay, with some new additions as well!

Wrecker is having its price increased slightly, but its scaling doubled to make it the new standout item of the Offense category and a powerful counterplay to Shields. Guardian is also getting a minor bump to still allow it some room to either encourage a Wrecker purchase from your opponents or augment a Shield-heavy composition. Speaking of, Resilience is returning as the premiere CC counter Item! With that change, Sentinel has been re-envisioned as a CC damage mitigation Item, making when you do get locked up less lethal if purchased. We also have a new version of Rejuvenate that both pushes it back into the hands of the person receiving heals but instead of countering Anti-Heal, it allows you to gain Overheal in the form of Shields. These changes are meant to finally bring Shielding to almost any character, even those whose kits and Cards don’t feature a large amount.

Alongside these larger changes, we’ve also finetuned the pricing of Blast Shields to accommodate its slightly more niche use and Bulldozer is being reverted to its S2 values to encourage its purchase when team composition leans heavy into Deployables.

[h2]Effects[/h2]
[h3]NEW: Shock[/h3]
On various Champions in the balance notes below, you’ll notice a callout to Shock damage. We’ve been working on various ways to expand the way Champions kits interact and ways for them to influence drafting beyond Items or Class. Shock is our first foray into these goals, with select Champions now having a VFX on targets they hit and Kinessa having a Talent that interacts with these jolts similar to Tribunal Upgrades on VII, but with no additional effect at base.

This is a limited implementation that is meant to allow players to test the effect and give feedback on if the direction is something worth expanding or moving away from. Paladins is already an Effect-heavy game on the CC side, but expanding our Effects into more unique damage types and applications could allow for more interesting nuance. As always, community feedback will be key!
[h2]Champions[/h2]
[h3]Androxus[/h3]
Revolver

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.3s ➡️ 1.2s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

[h3]Ash[/h3]
Siege Shield

• Increase from 4500 ➡️ 4750

Fortress Breaker

• Increase bonus from 2500 ➡️ 2750

Due to the changes to Wrecker, we'll be adjusting most base Shield abilities slightly upward to compensate for the early game pressure Wrecker may cause. Our goal with the Shielding changes are not to make Shields irrelevant, so we'll be watching closely to make sure the push and pull still remains both with and without Items.

[h3]Barik[/h3]
Blunderbuss

• Increased accuracy from .8 ➡️ .85

Barricade

• Increase Shield amount from 4000 ➡️ 4500

Dome Shield

• Increase Shield amount from 10,000 ➡️ 14,000
  
• Increase duration from 6s ➡️ 8s

Accelerator Field

• Duration increased from 4s ➡️ 5s

Bowling Ball

• Scaling increased from 150|150 ➡️ 175|175

Bunker

• Scaling increased from 200|200 ➡️ 250|250

Combat Repair

• Scaling increased from 90|90 ➡️ 100|100

Double Time

• Scaling increased from 50|50 ➡️ 65|65

Failsafe

• Reworked to "Reset the Cooldown of Rocket Boots when you are at or below 40% Health" ICD 30|-3

Field Deploy

• Scaling increased from 20|20 ➡️ 45|45

Forged Alloy

• Scaling increased from 140|140 ➡️ 150|150

Healing Station

• Scaling increased from 25|25 ➡️ 40|40

Palisade

• Scaling increased from 0.4s|0.4s ➡️ 0.6|0.6s

Barik has slowly slipped from his comfortable spot as a safe Frontline pick to struggle to stay competitive against most compositions. After assessing where the weaknesses in his kit reside, we've decided to amp up his Cards to be more impactful and provide him stronger build options. We also are increasing Dome Shield's efficacy substantially to make it a larger threat to handle for opponents.

[h3]Betty[/h3]
Cluster Grenade

• Now also detonates on contact with enemies or Shields
  
• Decreased secondary detonation timer from 3s ➡️ 2s

[h3]Buck[/h3]
Net Shot

• Decreased cooldown from 10s ➡️ 8s

Recovery

• Decreased cooldown from 10s ➡️ 8s.
  
• Decreased channel time from 1.5s ➡️ 1.2s

Bulk Up

• Increased healing from 400 ➡️ 600

Ensnare

• Increased bonus damage from 20% ➡️ 25%

Concussion

• Scaling decreased from 1s ➡️ .6s

Giga Siphon

• Reworked to "Increase your Movement Speed by 8|8% for 3s after using Recovery."

Reconstruction

• Scaling decreased from 1s ➡️ .6s

Buck is a strong yet niche Flank, mostly owing to his heavy reliance on Cards and Talents to cover gaps in his base kit. While this design is enduring and we intend to preserve most aspects of it, it has also led to his popularity and play rate dropping over time. We're shifting some of his cooldown Cards effects slightly into base, giving him a bit more room to create builds that don't spend the majority of points on those options. We've also reverted Bulk Up back to one of its stronger states and partially given Ensnare some damage back to bring back the version of Buck that lives in many veterans memories.

[h3]Caspian[/h3]
Love & War

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from .8s ➡️ .7s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .3s ➡️ .4s

After the changes we made to Vatu's animation canceling, we wanted to go across the roster and ensure the cancel timings made sense for both animation and gameplay balance. As a part of that investigation, we found several cases where we could make animation canceling better and more fluid for several Champions. Any change you see like this one on Caspian is meant to make timings consistent across the game!

[h3]Cassie[/h3]
Crossbow

• Decreased reload time from 1.4s ➡️ 1.2s
  
• Decreased time for reload pre-load from 1s ➡️ .8s

Dodge Roll

• Reduced cooldown from 7s ➡️ 6s

Big Game

• Increased Max Health damage percentage from 8% ➡️ 9%

Drain Life

• Scaling increased from 75|75 ➡️ 85|85

Onslaught

• Scaling increased from 75|75 ➡️ 85|85

Intense Training

• Duration increased from 1.5s ➡️ 2s

Incitement

• Scaling reduced from 1s|1s ➡️ 0.8|0.8

Cassie has been in a similar spot to Buck, however her popularity remains higher despite lower efficacy. These changes are meant to buff the playstyles on Cassie that haven't had as much room for success, specifically ones that focus on her sustaining herself and surviving duels. Big Game is also getting a slight increase to also have its value on lower-health targets a bit more competitive with Exaction.

[h3]Corvus[/h3]
Officer’s Pistol

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from .85s ➡️ .8s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .35s ➡️ .4s

[h3]Dredge[/h3]
Movement Speed

• Increased from 340 ➡️ 350

Broadside

• Decreased postfire from 1.2s ➡️ 1s

Scuttle

• Now also reduces Abyssal Reload’s damage to 700

Reworked: Hurl

• Hits with Harpoon refund its Cooldown and generates 50% more Ultimate Charge.

Mortal Skewer

• Scaling increased from 70|70 ➡️ 80|80

Abyss Cannon

• Scaling increased from 1|1 ➡️ 2|2

Gun Deck

• No longer also increases maximum ammo
  
• Scaling increased from 3%|3% ➡️ 4%|4%

Plank Walker

• Scaling increased from 100|100 ➡️ 120|120

Haul on the Bowline

• Scaling increased from 7%|7% ➡️ 8%|8%
  
• Duration increased from 3s ➡️ 4s

Heave Away

• Scaling increased from 0.2|0.2 ➡️ 0.6|0.6

Dredge has been performing well for himself after the return of Blast Shields, however there have been some long-standing areas of tension between his design, his balance, and his fluidity. We want to make Dredge more dynamic to play and also more interesting to fight, as such we're adjusting his Talents to reduce some of the efficacy of Scuttle and turn Hurl into a skill shot reward as opposed to a spammable option. We also are buffing a variety of his Cards to give him alternative build choices and to play around with and potentially surprise opponents with new game plans.

[h3]Drogoz[/h3]
Rocket Launcher

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.4s ➡️1.2s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .6s

Salvo

• Decreased cooldown from 20s ➡️ 18s

Follow the Scent

• Reworked to “Generate 1|1 Ammo after using Fire Spit.”

[h3]Fernando[/h3]
Flame Lance

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.8s ➡️ 1.5s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .7s

Chivalry

• Increase from 3500 ➡️ 4000

[h3]Furia[/h3]
Cherish

• Now also heals Furia herself if in range
  
• Cards that affect Kindle Soul targets also work with Cherish

Light Forge

• Increased duration from 1.5s ➡️ 2.s

[h3]Grohk[/h3]
Lightning Staff

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 2.5s ➡️ 2s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .9s

Spirit’s Domain

• Healing now scales up to 30% increased healing if held on target.

Shock Pulse

• Now applies a Shock effect for 1.5s

[h3]Imani[/h3]
Pyromania

• Removed decrease to Pyre Ball’s damage

Affinity

• Reduced ICD from 5s ➡️ 3s

Arcane Ice

• Increased scaling from 15|15 to 25|25

Elemental Barrier

• Reduced ICD from 5s ➡️ 3s

[h3]Inara[/h3]
Crag

• Removed ICD

[h3]Io[/h3]
Light Bow

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.2s ➡️ 1.1s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

[h3]Jenos[/h3]
Star Splitter

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.2s ➡️ 1.1s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

Luminary

• Decreased bonus healing from 285 ➡️ 270

[h3]Kasumi[/h3]
Yokai Doll

• Increased cone targetter size from 1 ➡️ 2

[h3]Khan[/h3]
Heavy Repeater

• Decreased post-fire from .24s ➡️ .22s

Bulwark

• Increased Shield health from 4400 ➡️ 4500

Overpower

• Reduced pre-pull time from .5s ➡️ .25s

Storm of Bullets

• Reduced bonus firerate from 60% ➡️ 40%

Vortex Grip

• Now also Weakens the target to weapon attacks by 15% for 1.4s.

Shield Wall

• Increased scaling from 200|200 ➡️ 250|250

Khan has been a bit stagnant in his loadout useage with Storm of Bullets providing a significant DPS that outweighed his other benefits. To shift him away from this, we've partially put Storm of Bullets into base kit while reducing its effect to match the Live version. In essence, this is a buff to his other Talents. Vortex Grip is also seeing an additional change, allowing Khan to enable his team to burst a foe he grabs by Weakening them. We've also tightened up his Ultimate pull time to make it feel more consistent on both sides of the cast. P.S. We're keeping an eye on Lian's Shield and still considering directions to take it into the future

[h3]Kinessa[/h3]
Bag Em & Tag Em

• Now applies a Shock to enemies instead of a Mark

Oppressor Mine

• Now classified as Shock damage

NEW: High Voltage

• Carbine Rifle now deals 25% increased damage against Shocked targets.
  
• Replaces Crystalline Battery.

Here we go again. After Crystalline Battery's niche, fun but ultimately ineffective time in Live, we took a step back and considered all the change we've made to her the past few years as well as success we have had with designs elsewhere. This new Talent, High Voltage, gives her a flexible Carbine playstyle that synergizes both with her kit but select Champions across the roster to gain a potent damage buff.

[h3]Lex[/h3]
Magnums

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1s ➡️ .9s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

[h3]Lian[/h3]
Heirloom Rifle

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.3s ➡️ 1.1s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .6s

[h3]Maeve[/h3]
Artful Dodger

• Activating Nine Lives interrupts and cleanses all Crowd Control effects. You have an additional midair jump.
  
• Replaces Street Justice

[h3]Makoa[/h3]
Shell Shield

• Increase from 4000 ➡️ 4500

Ancient Rage

• Reduced prefire from .15s ➡️ .05s
  
• Shifted mesh scaling to Leviathan
  
• Removed headshot damage protection

Half Shell

• Also provides 500 bonus Shield health

Leviathan

• Now also has Makoa grow by 50% and resets Shell Shield’s cooldown as well

Barrier Reef

• Increase trigger threshold from 900 ➡️ 1000

[h3]Moji[/h3]
Sparkle

• No longer Self Slows while firing

Magic Shield

• Increase instant Shielding given to allies from 100 ➡️ 200
  
• Moji now will give a total of 600 Shielding to all allies in range
  
• Increase Shields given duration from 4s ➡️ 5s

Jubilation

• Increased maximum stack damage from 350 ➡️ 550 (800 ➡️ 1000)

Morning Breath

• Reworked to “Sparkle has a 20|20% chance to not consume Ammo when hitting an enemy.”

Shimmering

• Increase duration from 4s ➡️ 5s

[h3]Nyx[/h3]
Abyssal Fortress

• Increase from 1500|3000|4500 to 2500|3750|5000

Unyielding Advance

• Increase scaling from 200|200 ➡️ 250|250

[h3]Pip[/h3]
Potion Launcher

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.1s ➡️ 1s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

Healing Potion

• Increased healing from 1000 ➡️1200

Weightless

• Increased duration from 2.5s ➡️ 3s.
  
• Pip has an additional midair jump during the ability.

Mega Potion

• Healing bonus changed from 100% ➡️ flat 1000 bonus

[h3]Raum[/h3]
Hellfire Gatling

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 3s ➡️ 2.75s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from 1s ➡️ 1.25s

[h3]Ruckus[/h3]
Miniguns

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.1s ➡️ 1s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

Emitter

• Increase Shield health from 2000 ➡️ 2500

[h3]VII[/h3]
Heavy SMG

• Standardized reload timing across fire modes
  • Mag Dump’s reload time is decreased from 1.4s ➡️ 1.2s
• Reduced time for reload pre-load from .85s ➡️ .8s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .25s ➡️ .3s

Tribunal Upgrades

• Burst Mode transitioned to Shock damage

[h3]Sha Lin[/h3]
Passive

• NEW: Hazy Vision
  
• While Stealthed, Sha Lin has 20% increased Movement Speed.

Longbow

• No longer slows Sha Lin while charging
  
• Increased minimum damage from 30 ➡️ 100

NEW: Desert Shadow

• Eliminations enter you into Stealth for 2s. Shots from Stealth deal 200 increased damage.
  
• Replaces Desert Silence.

Sand Trap

• Removed 1s Cooldown penalty
  
• Reduced effective blast radius from 20 ➡️ 12

Poise

• Reworked to “While in Stealth, gain 40|40 increased Jump Height.”

[h3]Skye[/h3]
Tactical Reload

• Reworked to “Increase your maximum Ammo by 2|2.”

Twilight Armor

• Reworked to “Increase your maximum health by 50|50.”

[h3]Strix[/h3]
Talon Rifle

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 2s ➡️ 1.6s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .8s

Pistol

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1s ➡️ .9s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

[h3]Talus[/h3]
Veracharger

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1s ➡️ .9s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

[h3]Tiberius[/h3]
Combat Trance

• Reduced prefire from .2s ➡️ .09s

NEW: Borrowed Luck

• Combat Trance now resets your other abilities' cooldowns when activated.
  
• Replaces Predatory Instincts.

[h3]Torvald[/h3]
Health

• Increase base Health from 2800 ➡️ 3000
  
• Decreased base Shield from 2700 ➡️ 2500

Gauntlet

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1s ➡️ .9s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

Nullify

• Now classified as Shock damage

Protection

• Increase duration from 4s ➡️ 5s
  
• Decrease cooldown from 9s ➡️ 8s

Recharge

• Increase from 2700 ➡️ 2750

Hyper Beam

• Torvald now goes CC immune during the windup animation

[h3]Viktor[/h3]
Cardio

• Now also increases Jump Height by 150% during Hustle

Shrapnel

• Now also deals an additional 150 damage

[h3]Vivian[/h3]
Light Machine Gun

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 2.6s ➡️ 2s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ 1s

Sentinels

• Now classified as Shock damage

Suspect Everyone

• Removed Shield health bonus
  
• Removed ICD

[h3]Willo[/h3]
Wand of Overgrowth

• Reduced time for reload pre-load from 1.3s ➡️ 1.2s
  
• Increased time for reload post-fire from .4s ➡️ .5s

Fauna

• Reworked to “Increase the Knockback you receive from Wand of Overgrowth by 40|40%”

[h3]Yagorath[/h3]
Piercing Quills

• Increased cooldown from .5s ➡️ .75s

Devour

• No longer refunds 30% energy if the target takes 1000 damage and is dropped due to collision
  
• No longer has Critical Hit spots on her Tail
  
• Modified how Yagorath checks for sight on targets to not allow her to Ultimate people through walls

Unnatural Persistence

• Reworked to "While in Hardening, receive 50% increased healing from others."
  • Out of Time considers this an effect of Hardening, reducing the effect to 25% but allows it to linger.

Sight Begets Strength

• Increase Shield health from 900 ➡️ 1000
  
• Increase duration from 4s ➡️ 5s

[h3]Ying[/h3]
Ephemeral

• Reworked to “Reduce the cooldown of Dimensional Link by .5|.5% for each hit with your weapon.”

[h2]Cards[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where some Card decks were misnamed or poorly ordered after recent balance adjustments.

[h2]Effects[/h2]

• Fixed various instances of effects not being highlighted in our recent update to Status Effect indication.

[h2]Skins[/h2]

• Fixed an issue where Shikoa Makoa’s hook chain was not textured as intended. This skin has had its visual textures and colors updated slightly.
  
• Fixed an issue where Street Style: World Tour and Ska’drin Celebration skins had temporary or blurry Loading Art

[h2]Champions[/h2]
[h3]Drogoz[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where Fire Spit erroneously stated that its Weaken was to all attacks, it is only to weapon attacks.

[h3]Lillith[/h3]

• Fixed an issue where Blood Hex’s damage was not scaling down properly after targets began to lose health.
  • We’ve heard some player feedback that enjoyed this accidental change to Lillith. We’ll be investigating ways to allow her Hex to be a more aggressive option in her kit in a future update

Enjoy up to 20% Crystals for the holidays! This sale is ongoing until January 3rd, 2025.

• Fixed an issue where the new Title for Trials of the Realm wasn't visible or available.
  
• Fixed an issue where the new Titles from the Flashback Pass weren't equippable.
  
• Fixed an issue where the Street Style World Tour Event Pass Buy All wasn't providing all of the levels of the pass. It is now back available for purchase!
  

• Fixed an issue where Grover's passive Blossom aura wasn't providing healing on Ferocity or Deep Roots. These Talents are now re-enabled.
  
• Fixed an issue where Kinessa's Crystalline Battery erroneously stated it could target enemies. We're actively working on a buff or rework for this Talent in the near future.
  

[h2]Ska’Drin Celebration Event Pass[/h2]
For our final Event Pass of this year, we've commissioned community artists for our 2D cosmetics as well as created 5 recolors in the Event Pass that bring some Limited Skins forward with new looks!

• Makilla Makoa (Volcanic)
  
• Shaman Grohk (Chieftan)
  
• Exhortation Fernando (Ultimatum)
  
• Infernal Lord Drogoz (Abyssal Lord)
  
• Coastline Cony Rei (Beach Bunny)
  

In addition to these skins, there is another recolor of Volcanic Makoa available for Direct Purchase, called Shikoa! In total, there are 6 new skins players can get their hands on right away as a present from us to the community!
As for the 2D cosmetics, there are 6 in total you can earn as part of Ska'drin celebration from 4 different artists from the community!
[h2]Into the Cosmos Spray by Paulo Munir[/h2]

[h2]Rallying Cry, Stoic Shield, and Lifting Off by DanTheBros[/h2]

[h2]Stary Stare by Sailie[/h2]

[h2]Tigron's Might by PangoBoy[/h2]

[h2]Merry Mayhem Returns![/h2]
The Ska’Drin aren’t the only ones celebrating! Merry Mayhem returns as a Special questline for the holidays, allowing players to earn some exclusive rewards as well as Chests and Gold. Here’s the order of things you’ll be asked to complete and the rewards:

• Play 1 Match
  • “Happy Holidays!” Title
• Capture 2 Siege Objectives
  • 750 Gold
• Deal 50,000 Damage in A Match
  • 750 Gold
• Play 3 Arcade Matches
  • 1500 Gold
• Heal for 30,000 Health in A Match
  • 2500 Gold
• Win 2 Matches
  • 50 Crystals
• Earn 20,000 Credits
  • Flair & Style Chest
• Earn 100 Eliminations
  • Golden Cache
• Play 25 Matches
  • Festive Presents Chest
• [REDACTED]
  • Limited “has saved Realm-mas!” Title

Across the game, we’ve added highlights and callouts to various effects and unified how we describe them across all Champions. There are a few new examples as well as changes to existing effects:

• Zhin’s new version of Yomi (spoilers) uses the word Ignite instead of Burn. This is to indicate that the flames he attaches to a target deal no damage & instead act as a damage amp for him.
  
• Displacement effects have been broken up into the following subcategories: Knockback, Knockup, Push, Pull, and Lift. Knock and Push effects are currently countered by Sentinel and Pull and Lift effects by Unbound.
  
• Older instances of phrases that mean the same as an Effect have been replaced by that Effect (e.g “reduces Movement Speed” have been replaced with Slows) for clarity.
  

Crowd Control is a very core part of the Paladins experience, from fueling part of the ability loop to a major frustration point as the tension of between the amount and severity of CC effects evolved over time. This is the first step in a series of changes we hope to make to communicate Crowd Control more clearly, eventually with the goal of updating and improving Crowd Control to be both more robust and less frustrating. This starts with calling out similar effects that players can reliably expect to behave the same and also highlighting specific effects that can act differently based on context. Generic highlights have been given to widespread effects, with certain more niche effects having unique tags. (e.g. Rei’s Spirit Link)

Our vision moving forward is a more dynamic way to interact with these effects beyond the Items currently used to counter them, like Ignite and Burn having interplay where teams can combine them for unique effects, or Allies can stack things like Linked and other defensive buffs to shutdown less-coordinated pushes. Stay tuned for more on this front in Year 8!

[h2]Siege[/h2]

• When looking for a match, casual Siege will now prioritize matching parties of 3 or less with each other. Parties of 4 or 5 will be prioritized towards other larger parties. After a significant time in the queue, this restriction will be dropped.

After testing what this would look like within Onslaught and Arcade, we are now expanding this out to casual Siege to see if it aids issues around party matchmaking and helps prevent unfair matches!

[h2]Limited Time Modes[/h2]
[h3]New[/h3]
TDM Roulette

• Draft your team carefully in this Gun Game-inspired Throne TDM! Everytime you die, randomly swap to another Champion on your team and quickly adapt to overcome your opponents!
  

[h3]Updated[/h3]
Truly Talented
Champions

• Added Atlas to the Champion Pool.
  • Flashback Fissure: Activating Second Chance leaves behind an unstable fissure that explodes after 3s, dealing 1,000 damage.
• Removed Yagorath from the Champion Pool.

Game Rules

• Starting Credits decreased from 500 ➡️ 400
  
• Credit earn rate from the Objective has been reduced from 4 ➡️ 2
  

Map List

• Replaced certain maps with their Classic variations
  • Stone Keep
    
  • Warder’s Gate
    
  • Timber Mill
• Removed certain maps released or reworked after Season 2
  • Frozen Guard
    
  • Dawnforge

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where certain Talents were not available for players to select, softlocking them.

Truly Talented is receiving yet another sandbox update, this time focused on shifting the LTM from simply about Talents to a different speed of play. As the notes may suggest, we’re pushing this mode to fulfill what many players felt when they initially played it: nostalgia for a prior version of Paladins. Instead of being about emulating exactly what Season 2 was like, Truly Talented provides a heightened version of gameplay that hits that same feeling of basic kits with deeper customization. Initial Credits as well as earn rate are reduced to lean into power plays and thoughtful Item purchasing, and Yagroath has been removed for Atlas to have the roster match the era we’re aiming for. Maps have also been adjusted to reflect this direction while keeping ones players love!

[h2]General[/h2]
[h3]Damage Types[/h3]

• Refactored various weapons & abilities to properly use the correct damage type between Direct & Area.
  
• Added new callouts on various effects to note when they swap damage type due to Talent selection.
  • Example: Ash’s Slug Shot Talent now informs players it swaps her weapon from Area to Direct damage.
  
• Moved a select number of abilities from one type to another to accommodate new consistency guidelines.
  • Example: Azaan’s Conviction now is classified as Area, Lian’s Valor is now classified as Direct. Our guideline on abilities that hit multiple targets is whether it deals the damage in a single fire (e.g. dashes, Piercing) or if it’s firing multiple smaller attacks for each person (e.g. Valor, shotguns)
    

When we originally removed Blast Shields, we stated consistency in the Direct & Area systems as our biggest concern. Behind the scenes, we had a lot of abilities that were not categorized at all, under the wrong umbrella, or hybrid damage types on one ability that made readability difficult for the average player. This system was left behind as well, with newer Champions either ignoring or breaking previous conventions due to irrelevancy to the end user. Revisiting this system allowed us to re-conceptualize the divide and do a pass over all the abilities to create new guidelines to make things more predictable and learnable for players as well as easier for us as developers to upkeep. Obviously, these changes mean very little unless…

[h2]Items[/h2]
[h3]Returning Item: Blast Shields[/h3]

• Reduce your damage taken from Area of Effect attacks by 6|6%.
  
• Costs 300|300 Credits, replaces Arcane Warding.

[h3]Returning Item: Haven[/h3]

• Reduce your damage taken from Direct attacks by 6|6%.
  
• Costs 300|300 Credits, replaces Armor Plating.

The legendary pair return! Haven and Blast Shields both are being brought back and will be able to interact with the expanded Item Store for the first time, allowing for a mix of classic and brand-new builds. Our goal with the reintroduction of the Direct/Area damage system is to offer Champions and loadouts that have lost relevancy since its removal to shine in certain compositions once more (e.g. blasters, damage type swap Talents), as well as reduce the overall amount of effective DR closer to what players were used to in S2/early S3. We expect this change to initially make the overall TTK a bit quicker, but as players adapt and learn it should level out closer to current feels.

[h3]Hoard[/h3]

• Gain 5|5 ➡️ 7|7 Credits on getting an Elimination.
  
• Now transforms at Level 3 to instead provide 10% Movement, Mount, Cooldown, and Ultimate Charge speed.
  
• Cost increased from 150|300|600 ➡️ 200|400|1750 Credits.
  

Since its release in 7.1, Hoard has been topic of debate amongst the community. Late game value vs. early game efficiency in a hectic match of Paladins was the original design goal and we felt it hit the mark for the experiment - at first. Once the dust settled the item became much more binary, only really seeing play in the most greedy of builds. This was partially due to the fact that the Item had no payoff, the trade-off of increasing your economy for a dead item slot became too much for most players and Hoard soon fell off the radar for most Champions. With all that said, we’ve given Hoard a bit of an overhaul. Now at max level - which you’ll notice is much more expensive than anything else in the store - Hoard replaces its economy effect with a powerful 10% strength version of all other yellow Items. While the original design heavily valued the dead item slot as part of the trade off, this new version places value in Hoard as a late game item. A gamble to see if you can prolong the game long enough to really ramp up your stats vs other more traditional end-game builds. It still technically has the same trade-off as before, but now rewards making the commitment for sticking through the game as a hoarder instead of punishing you.

[h3]Nimble[/h3]

• Increased scaling from 7|14|21% to 10|20|30%

In the spirit of popular community requests and leaning into our past, Nimble is also seeing its value brought back up to where it was in the early days of Paladins, but without a price increase. Enjoy the slightly faster pace of play!

[h2]Cards[/h2]

• Various cards that were equivalent to raw damage amplification have been reworked.
  • Betty La Bomba’s Ride the Rocket
    
  • Kasumi’s Essence Drain and Deadly Traps
    
  • Nyx’s Center of Combat
    
  • Omen’s More More More and Void Choke
• Select Champions are receiving focused shifts between their base kit and Cards to rebalance where their strengths come from.
  • Saati
    
  • Rei

Over the years, the design philosophy behind Cards has shifted and evolved alongside the system itself. After our recent efforts on modernize and standardizing other systems has proven fruitful, we’ve been turning our eyes towards more Card reworks and adjustments to slowly shorten the gap between various Champion’s loadouts and improve the overall interest in Cards for both new and experienced players. These changes are first steps into future adjustments spurred by the pain points modern Champions have had with damage amplification Cards as well as Card designs and scaling that didn’t hold up to older Champion options. Over the next several updates, we’ll continue to take a look at specific types of Cards or specific Champions that could see their options improved to fall into our new standards and expectations across the roster.

[h2]Champions[/h2]
[h3]Barik[/h3]
Talents

• Forgefire
  • Increased single turret damage from 350 ➡️ 400
    
  • Increased double turret, single target damage from 450 ➡️ 666
    
  • Increased range from 22 ➡️ 30 units
    
  • Now is Barik’s Level 8 Talent
• Fortify
  • Now is Barik’s Level 1 Talent

Barik has been struggling slightly the latter half of this year, mainly as the meta shifts around him yet he sits static with some key QoL issues. While this is not as comprehensive as we’d like to give him, it’s a very popular community request to swap these Talent unlocks, and it will push him into a better spot for us to assess the next areas we can tighten up his gameplay loop. Forgefire hasn’t been feeling quite as impactful as we’d like, so we’re also giving it some targeted buffs to up the threat level of his mini–Flame Turrets to add some risk if they are ignored. We’ll continue to keep an eye on his performance into the new year!

[h3]Betty La Bomba[/h3]
Ultimate

• Long Live the Queen
  • Now provides CC Immunity during windup
    
  • Once Betty dismounts, the Rockets speed increases from 80 units/s ➡️ 100 units/s

Cards

• Ride the Rocket
  • Reworked to “Increase the projectile speed of Cluster Bomb by 6|6%”

Betty’s Ultimate has often felt underwhelming compared to her other bombastic peer, and her flight struggles compared to someone like Drogoz due to her windup being so vulnerable. We’ve decided to give her immunity the second she hits her Ultimate so she can try and get the Rocket out before taking lethal damage, as well as having it fly faster after she jumps off to encourage her to use it a bit different than the King himself. Ride the Rocket was also one of the stranger damage amplification cards, which we have reworked to give a beloved older effect to this newer blaster. She also will benefit quite a bit from the return of Haven & Blast Shields if teams do not Itemize around her, so watch out for the Queen!

[h3]Bomb King[/h3]
Talent

• Accelerant
  • Now also deals 200% bonus damage to Shields

[h3]Evie[/h3]
Talents

• Snow Globe
  • Decreases Slow on Ice Storm from 60% ➡️ 30%

Cards

• Cold Acclimation
  • Reworked to “While within your Ice Storm, Heal for 32|32 every 1s and gain 10|10% Movement Speed. The Movement Speed lingers for 3s after leaving Ice Storm.”

Snow Globe had some oppressive matchups when fighting Evie - constantly getting bombarded by her powerful CC led to incredibly lopsided matches. We’ve reduced the strength of the Slow on these mini-versions to allow more opportunity for escape. On another Ultimate note - Cold Acclimation as a Card quite literally never saw play, so we’ve taken a big swing at it and made something entirely new. Cold Acclimation facilitates aggressive play within your Ultimate and gives Evie that extra little bit of survivability to outlast a big team fight.

[h3]Grover[/h3]
Cards

• Chopper
  • Increased scaling from 50|50 to 100|100

[h3]Io[/h3]
Ultimate

• Begone
  • No longer explodes on walls, instead will continue along wall after dropping targets on collision for a few seconds.

It was incredibly frustrating as Io to launch your Ultimate and have it instantly detonate on errant collision. Begone frustration! Now Io’s Ultimate travels along the surface it hits, leading to sneaky shots that can send people flying and generally more successful Io Ultimates.

[h3]Kasumi[/h3]
Weapon

• Yokai Doll
  • Adjusted targetter to be more precise, allowing aim control in scenarios with multiple targets.
    
  • Decreased effective range from 100 ➡️ 80 units
    
  • Increased max range from 100 ➡️ 120 units
    
  • Reduced overall cone size from 6 ➡️ 1
    • Against most Characters, Kasumi will be required to aim within 1 unit of their body. She’ll maintain a level of forgiveness in close quarters, but at range will ask more to land blows.

Talents

• Haunted Ground
  • Decreased cooldown after activation from 8s ➡️ 6s.

Cards

• Deadly Traps
  • Reworked to “Increase the duration of Spirit Trap's Crowd Control effects by {0.2|0.2}s.”
• Essence Drain
  • Reworked to “Increase your Movement Speed by {6|6}% for 3s after using Savage Tear.”

Kasumi has been in a much stronger spot since our last set of changes, but there are still lingering issues on both sides of her duels. We're continuing our work on Yokai Doll's behavior, now adjusting the cone at multiple levels to function a bit closer to a hitscan weapon. Kasumi will now have to be much more precise (within a Cassie arrow of her target) as well as have more control on who she is aiming at when enemies are bunched together. This in conjunction with the addition of damage falloff will preserve a bit of her special targeting while not feeling too out of place in a shooter-centric environment. We've also adjusted a few of her Cards to no longer affect the damage output of her abilities but still offer helpful buffs, including rolling old functionality into Haunted Ground! Overall, we think these changes will make Kasumi more consistent and enjoyable but we'll continue to look at feedback on her!

[h3]Lex[/h3]
Weapon

• Magnums
  • Reduced camera shake while firing by 65%

Talents

• Heroism
  • Reworked to “Gain Crowd Control Immunity during Combat Slide”.
• Death Hastens
  • Adjusted camera shake to mirror base Magnum changes

Lex has been underperforming ever since Heroism was shifted in the Banners Fall Update to increase the cooldown substantially and Wicked Don't Rest was nerfed. Instead of retreading older ground, we decided to simplify and streamline this playstyle. Heroism now is back to being the CC-immune, on demand parry pick but with no resistance to damage. This also allows us to bring the cooldown back to normal values.

We also finally got to dig deeper into how Lex's recoil and camera works, reducing the amount of shake by 65%. We've left some in for feels and balance implications, but Magnums should now perform similarly to other fast rate of fire weapons in this department. Death Hastens also was finetuned to have recoil that matches stronger handguns like Androxus and Saati, while still having lower camera shake overall.

[h3]Mal’Damba[/h3]
Cards

• Pungent Gourd
  • Increased scaling from 5|5 ➡️ 8|8%

[h3]Nyx[/h3]
Cards

• Center of Combat
  • Reworked to “Royal Presence’s Poison now lingers on enemies for 0.8|0.8s”

Back with a vengeance, we’ve given Nyx players the ability to facilitate a Poisonn game plan with this card after removing the functionality at base. Its a cheeky card that lets you sneak in that extra % of Health that could turn a fight in your favor.

[h3]Omen[/h3]
Weapon

• Aphotic Reaver
  • Reduced number of shots to enter Anteumbra Mode from 2 ➡️ 1

Cards

• Everlasting Power
  • Reworked to “Whenever you mark an unmarked enemy with Ominous Brand, gain 8|8% Movement Speed for 3s.”
• More, More, More!
  • Reworked to “While at least 2 enemies are marked by Ominous Brand, heal for 60|60 every 1s.”
• Void Choke
  • Reworked to “Increase the lift height of Gravity Vice by 30|30%.”

Omen has been performing relatively well, and so we’ve taken the opportunity to shake up his kit and remove some frustration points when fighting against him. We’ve reduced the ramp time on his weapon to smooth out his game flow, but reworked some of his more problematic cards into mark-focused functionalities. These reworks encourage mark management in a way Omen never really had to do before, rewarding him with powerful effects if the uptime is kept high. This has long been a part of his kit players could ignore, and we’re excited to give Omen more varied playstyles.

[h3]Rei[/h3]
Passive
NEW: Mana Drain

• Hitting enemies with Sigil reduce the cooldown of your next Chain Heal by .4s. This effect stacks.

Abilities

• Spirit Link
  • Increased time to break from 2.25s ➡️ 3s
• Envelop
  • Removed damage done while close to enemies.
    
  • Increased Jump Height bonus from 50% ➡️ 75%

Talents

• Focus
  • Reduced Link duration from 4s ➡️ 3s.
    
  • Reduced cooldown from 7s ➡️ 6s

Cards

Greetings Champions! Ahead of Wednesday’s release of the Ska’drin Celebration Update, we wanted to sit down and talk about some of the feedback we received during the recent PTS cycle and what we’ve adjusted based on the testing you all took part in! Let’s hop right in:
[h3]Hoard[/h3]

• Cost at Level 3 reduced from 2000 ➡️ 1750
  
• Passive earn amount reduced from 15 ➡️ 10
  

The ideas we’re exploring with this update to Hoard seemed to be something a majority of PTS players were intrigued by, but the balance state wasn’t in a place where the value of the Item would be worth the wait. To help ease this, we have brought down the final tier price to be a bit earlier in the match at the cost of the passive earn buff we were going to do. This is to incentivize a very conscious playstyle with Hoard: you’re behind on Items compared to your foes but with aggressive play will be rewarded. This type of asymmetrical Item design is a brand new idea and one we will be watching quite closely to see if it has a place in Paladins!

[h3]Barik[/h3]

• Nothing new…yet

We’ve heard loud and clear that people want QoL buffs for our beloved dwarf! He’s been slowly slipping from his staple safe meta status and his painpoints are becoming more prevalent with age, so we plan to take a look at the various Cards and other buff areas suggested to us in Discord and across socials. However, this update was already quite heavy on balance and with our time before the holidays, we wanted to focus on improvements to existing PTS changes. We will come back early next year with him at the top of our list!

[h3]Grover[/h3]

• Chopper scaling increased from 80 ➡️ 100
  

We know, we know. This Card sees near nonexistent play and wouldn’t be on most player’s radar for a buff. However, we’ve been making it a slow and steady goal to revisit unimpactful Cards across the game and give them a bit more oomph. This one was an old nerf that in the modern game makes little sense to preserve and perhaps can be an interesting filler in a few loadouts.

[h3]Io[/h3]

• Improved Begone collision changes to restore floor grind tech
  

For those worried we’d be taking away a very niche yet beloved aspect of Begone, no worries! After PTS we went back into the changes we were making and adjusted the threshold that her Ultimate would break to allow her to floor grind once more. For those out of the loop, Begone has a unique interaction when aimed directly at the ground, where its speed is significantly slower and it travels less distance. This is something we slot into the Vine Tech category of “original unintentional, but now adopted into design” so enjoy it! Just know Begone will always self-detonate after 4s.

[h3]Kasumi[/h3]

• Yokai Doll now has damage falloff, starting at 80 units linear until 120 units at 40% DMG
  
• Reworked Essence Drain to instead provide 6|6 Movement Speed for 3s after Savage Tear
  

We’ve accelerated some of our work on Kasumi’ Yokai Doll based on continued feedback around her weapon. We want to directly address the common point around making her weapon a hitscan first: A large amount of how Kasumi functions is intrinsically tied to her targetter (e.g. Savage Tear and Bitter Betrayal cannot function without it) and the work to reconfigure her to move that tech elsewhere isn’t practical or even necessary for what most players actually desire (fair aiming & consistent conveyance of her threat levels). So, that takes us to the addition of damage falloff to Kasumi’s kit. This change is designed to bring her even more in line with other Flanks with similar threat ranges and allow her some more poke at the cost of reduced effective range. Combined with the targetter adjustments we’ve made on her, this will be the most precise Kasumi has ever been asked to be. On top of that, we heard feedback around Curse and DR feeling too oppressive when able to be stacked so easily, so Essence Drain has been shifted over to Movement Speed to allow a bit more mobility in her customization.

[h3]Khan[/h3]

• Reverted changes to Lian's Shield
  

This concept simply missed the mark on how Khan currently plays and what players feel he needs to be viable off of Storm of Bullets. Similar to previous PTS reverts in the past few updates (e.g. VII), we’re gonna take some additional time to iterate on changes to his Talents that better match what players want to see on him.

[h3]Lex[/h3]

• Reverted changes to Wicked Don’t Rest
  

With the removal of DR and cooldown penalty on Heroism, this change felt a bit too harsh and impacted many more playstyles than we intended with the alteration. Lex is someone we’d like to revisit next year after we see the changes to Magnum’s recoil and screen shake in Live for a bit, mainly as he has lacked a healthy variety of Talent selection no matter which is predominant in a given period while also being one of the weaker Flanks in the current meta.

[h3]Rei[/h3]

• Reverted Envelop Movement Speed nerf
  

Historically, we’ve always been very wary of Envelop buffs as the ability can be quite potent when used in the best case as well as provides a lot of effects through Spirit Link. However, this nerf in particular felt unnecessary after watching PTS and hearing the feels issues it caused on the character. We’ll still be watching Rei closely to ensure that the Card pass she has received doesn’t shift too much power into Envelop overall.

[h3]Saati[/h3]

• Reverted Steady Predictions nerf
  

Hitting the Ricochet explosion proved a bit harder than we expected for most players on PTS, so this nerf to Ult generation feels less necessary than we anticipated. It’s worth calling out the way this card interacts with the explosion is it procs for every enemy within the blast, so the newer Cards will synergize well with this and the frequent Wallbang playstyle will be alive and well, just with a bit more skill required.

[h3]Seris[/h3]

• Replaced Volatile Rift with a new Talent, Resuscitate
  • "Increase your Soul Collector Health and Weapon DMG bonus to 2% per charge."
• Buffed Bane from 4s ➡️ 5s, can now stack 16 times.
  

At various points throughout the year, multiple corners of the community have described our recent balance style as “tons of cooking, but sometimes things get burnt”. In this case, we could tell aspects of Seris came in burnt onto PTS. Basekitting Soul Collector was a step too far to some, and Volatile Rift as a concept simply was too much power into an Ultimate talent (the opposite of the problem we normally have with those designs), as well as a catalyst for a long discussion on Discord and socials about basekitting Talents and the effects it has had over the years.

After talking amongst ourselves as well as weighing all the critiques and feedback, we had both a solution for this instance and a goal moving forward. We often have leaned on basekitting Talents for a few reasons, from not wanting to nerf/remove playstyles that players really enjoy but trivialize choice in customization (Soul Collector, Aegis, Adrenaline Junkie, etc.) or taking particularly underwhelming gameplay loops and providing them with more options (Hell or High Water, Life Link, etc.). Seris has had potentially more basekitted Talents than any other Champion, a problem that stems from a meeting of those two painpoints. She often finds herself either reliant on 1 Talent over all others or requiring shifts into base to make up for aspects of her design that are limiting in the modern game (i.e. channeled healing).

We’re still going forward with our basekitting of Soul Collector, with a very different perspective on basekitting Talents as well as renewed goals for her moving forward. While we could attempt to buff or design even more Talents to rival it, Seris has had 3 different Talent reworks this year alone taking a stab at that exact issue. Meanwhile, Soul Collector not only remained the best (though Forsake has rivaled it in niche scenarios) but also the most fun pick for Seris every time we reference surveys. At base, the character’s loop just lacks that level of engagement due to her very passive style of heal and escape tools, so we stand by this being the better move for her into the future. However, we also are instead giving Seris a Talent that once again mirrors Furia, with Resuscitate being her version of a Passive Talent ala Exterminate. This will restore Soul Collector to its strongest form by augmenting her % per stack back to current Live values while also allowing 16 stacks.

That said, we want to move away from basekitting Talent unless there is a clear design issue that it resolves better than alternative solutions. Recently, we simply removed Rampant Blooming from Grover for this exact reason. We explored all options (including basekit) but deemed it unnecessary due to both the playstyle it would encourage at base as well as overtuned Healing output. We love that the community is so engaged not only with the surface level “X Champion is getting stronger” but are concerned about concepts like kit bloat and technical debt. It's something we plan to continue to work on with you all!

[h3]Sha Lin[/h3]

• Reverted Sand Trap nerf
  

While we have still seen a lot of feedback of this Talent being too frustrating to fight against, this was not the time to take a swing at it as Sha Lin is underperforming by most metrics and players utilizing this Talent are fighting an uphill battle more often than not. We want to take a more holistic look at Sha Lin in the future as our previous Dev Notes commented on, so expect an update on his status in the future!

[h3]Torvald[/h3]

• Buffed Recharge from 2500 ➡️ 2700 to match Base Shield shift
  

Torvald has been one of if not the most dominant off-tank Frontline for a long while now statistically, even when his pickrate fluctuates or Champions like Terminus and Yagorath rival him in some situations. That said, our goals were not to make him feel worse to play but to lean him further into Itemization and customization. So, Recharge is being adjusted to still provide his full Shield back to allow those smooth recoveries while preserving our want to make him more susceptible to Wrecker. Seriously, buy Wrecker against him. Please?

[h3]Zhin[/h3]

• Buffed Yomi scaling from 15% ➡️ 20%
  
• Now shows Critical Hit UI when active
  

This Talent is us experimenting early with ideas we have for 2025, similar to Hoard, but we heard players concerned its bonus was a little too weak for how situational it could be and the investment of spending your movement to engage. We’ve given it a slight bump to change some breakpoints into Zhin’s favor as well as indicate to the user when the bonus is active. One last reminder: With Haven & Blast Shields coming back, Zhin has a very mixed amount of damage output. Buying either one will weaken about half of this combo (Haven for the two weaker swings, Blast for the Whirl and heavy swing) so Zhin players will want to keep that in mind when deciding their targets.

And that's all! There are some additional bug fixes that we've made as well as some minor known issues headed into update day, but we'll make sure to communicate those to you all as we work to end off the year best we can! Thanks for reading and your support! 💚