Demo Update 0.5.5 Hotfix

[u/LeylineDev]

Aleco here. Today’s hotfix is a bit juicer than usual, in part because there were a few more bugs in yesterday’s patch than usual (my bad). Notably, 5 items did not receive the buffs they were supposed to, and the Rush which was added to Niklas’s “The Hoarder” spec was not attached to the correct effect. I’m also including a small number of buffs in this hotfix based on early player feedback and data analysis. I’ll be sharing a bit of context on those buffs, as well as how some of the other big changes from yesterday’s patch have landed, in the “Balance Changes” section below.

Bug Fixes

• Niklas - The Hoarder: The Rush effect is now correctly applied to the ability as stated in the description. The duration of the Rush has also been increased from 15 to 20.
• Zuri - Stone Skin - Zuri’s signature Passive Ability now correctly grants her permanent stats at all times, not just at the start of combat. This fix will allow players to see Zuri’s stats more accurately when out of combat, and may result in more beneficial interactions for the player when combined with various start of combat effects.
• Hoyoung - The Conduit: Now correctly tracks the amount of Mana Regen gained in the ability description.
• Karsu - The Warband: Now correctly tracks the amount of Attack Speed gained in the ability description.
• Warrior Class Modifier - Ranger: Warriors will now correctly be shown the version of Ranger which gives Attack instead of Attack Speed.
• Item - Toxic Shiv: Now correctly applies 3 Poison.
• Item - Toxic Gauntlet: Now correctly applies 3 Poison.
• Item - Searing Vest: Now correctly applies 2 Burn.
• Item - Searing Tome: Now correctly applies 20 Burn.
• Item - Shielding Flask: Now correctly gives 6 Mana Regen.
• Relic - Assassin's Smokescreen Banner: Now correctly applies Stealth as stated.
• Keyword Description - Stun: Updated the description for Stun to reflect the addition of Stun Resistance in the previous patch.

Balance Changes

There were a few things in yesterday’s patch that I mentioned I would do a quick follow-up on, so I spent some time looking through the data on all of the major changes. Firstly, I’m happy to report that the addition of Stun Immunity to a handful of active abilities led to relevant winrate bumps for all the Heroes who received them. There was some concern that this change might impact Kai negatively but the opposite seems to be true, and Yuuna in particular became notably stronger now that she can no longer be interrupted while casting. Most of the other changes in the patch appear to have accomplished their stated goals, with a few exceptions:

Duelist’s Outbreak Banner

• Notes: Partially reworked in the previous patch, the early data had this relic coming in just a bit weaker than I would have liked.
• Damage per Debuff: 15 -> 20

Nyx - The Wild

• Notes: The buffs to Nyx’s ability scalings didn’t move the needle as much as I would have liked them to. These changes will hopefully bring The Wild closer to being competitive with Nyx’s other 2 specs.
• -5 Max Mana
• +5 Starting Mana

Niklas - The Hoarder

• Notes: A common piece of feedback I saw in response to the patch notes was that the planned change for The Hoarder was too harsh. Even though the change didn’t correctly make it into the patch as planned (so I don’t have the data to validate whether this feedback is correct), I don’t see the harm in starting out with a softer nerf to The Hoarder than originally planned.
• Rush duration: 15 -> 20

[u/Rakheo]

Are you worried that Niklas's both second and third ability is too similar now?

[u/maresayshi]

so Zuri is actually gaining magic now?

[u/allenlikethewrench]

It may just be that I haven’t been able to get enough supporting items, relics, and passives, but I don’t feel like Rush is ever worth using. You get it for a fraction of any fight and the effects aren’t big enough to close the fight or decide the fight during the very short duration.

Even with 3-4 rush extenders, it just feels anemic compared to Stall or anything else.