Resistance is Futile
Hello friends!
A new month, a new dev blog, new progression system on the horizon and a new ladder to climb. Life is Great! As in the last balance patch dev blog, we are organizing the changes into three categories - nerfs, buffs to underused cards and strategic buffs. Refer to the last blog for a brief explanation on each category.
The balance changes will go out on the 10th of February, alongside all the changes to the progression and ladder systems, just in time for grinding the new ranks.
Overall, the current meta is in a pretty healthy state - no single deck is over performing and there are many viable decks out there to play with. Still, we want to nudge a few things in slightly different directions and give players a few more tools to deal with possible shifts in the meta. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
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[h2]Nerfed cards[/h2]
Seaforth Highlanders, more like Seaworth Highrollers, amIright? No? Okok, we are killing one of them off, so now only 7 Highlanders remain. There can be only one Seaforth Highlander.
We’ve contemplated this change for a long time, but didn’t want to pull the trigger until we were sure Japan control had legs to stand on. Now that the legs are in place, we are reducing the attack to 2, making this card exactly like East Surrey Regiment. Well, it costs one more and has 2 in operation cost, and it has a destruction ability and different name and nationality. But otherwise EXACTLY like East Surrey Regiment.
The Ki-83 has become a common sight on the Kards battlefields, so common in fact that seeing one comes as a surprise to asbolutely no one. Which makes it impossible for it to ambush anything, so this fact is being reflected here.
The Expeditionary Corps has decent stats, especially when taking into account that it frequently denies the enemy a draw ala Panther A. This has led to it showing up even in decks with just a slight resistance theme. So we’ve decided to tone it down a bit.
Resistance has been one of the more polarizing strategies in Kards, with a large portion of the player base either firmly entrenched in the love or hate camp. Due to this, we haven’t really been able to explore the mechanic fully. By tuning it down, we are hoping to open up the opportunity to develop resistance further in the future.
[h2]Buff to underused cards[/h2]
The imposing KV-2 has many things going for it, but finding itself in decks is not one of them. We’re hoping this changes with this change, as it is such a unique beast. After all, Heavy Armor 2 is nothing to sneeze at (we tried, didn’t make a dent).
The Marauder has an ability that can be extremely strong in the right matchups, but not really the body to back it up. We’re not anticipating any major shifts due to this change, but at least it now offers a bit better returns on the investment, when the right type of deck comes along.
Home Defense rarely sees play because for some reason players tend not to build decks aimed at losing. Dropping the cost makes this card much more appealing even when paying full cost and gives insane value with the discount. Remember kids, don’t leave home without some defense.
Poor Bologna Regiment. It always sets out with such high hopes, but then fellow soldiers start dying and they become depressed and despondent and very un-eager to join the fray. Well, through intense psychotherapy we have strengthened its backbone. Lets see if it is enough for them to finally see some action in some sort of an Italian control deck.
[h2]Buffed for strategic reasons[/h2]
The National Fire Service can be a lifesaver if you find yourself in an environment full of decks aiming to kill you in one huge swing. It can also buy slower decks a lot of time, so offers excellent service in the right decks.
German blitz tank decks need a little bit of love. We don’t want to strengthen their early game too much, as that can be very swingy, but this change to the Panzer III-E gives the small tanks much greater punching power in the mid to late game, where they have traditionally suffered.
Many Soviet decks have excellent late game, but lack a little bit in ways to defend themselves early on. Being able to utilize the two T-70s better makes it a much better tool for many of these decks.
We wanted to give players a tool to use against decks that are pumping the attacks of their units. This will of course not stop them the turn they are pumped, so Overwhelming Force is a little bit limited in nature. But at 0 cost and being able to remove many other annoying keywords, it is now a much more flexible tool than before.
That is all. As stated before, these changes will hit on the 10th, so until then, put your theorycrafting hat on (I hear it is made of foil) and hit the battlefield on the 10th with an edge. Please let us know what you think, your thoughts are invaluable to us.
See you on the battlefield, commander!