With Update 344 (week of July 20th), we will be releasing our first batch of 1-3 Star character rebalances. We will continue to release a new batch along with each update until we’ve got through the work that needs doing.
We started out with a handful of characters who appear quite early in the game for buffs, with the vast majority of changes to bring the characters concerned up to a modern power level and (hopefully) make them more relevant to the game. We’ve provided summaries of the changes to this group of characters below.
Please note, there may be minor changes to these numbers in the coming days, and 2-Star Captain America will be getting his proper details shortly.
This batch also includes changes to two infamous heroes that many, many players have been requesting we review because they are far too toxic and dominant to the current metagame.
We hope what we’re doing here will relax them back to a more sensible place in the meta game and let some other heroes have a turn:
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3-Star Aunt May (Iron May) is having her power brought down generally, and has been rebalanced so it makes sense to Ascend her above 4-Star
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1-Star Hawkeye (Classic) was like Mentos being dropped in a cola bottle when Ascension was introduced. He has been rebalanced to take the current Ascension structure into account and back to a more sensible level
The full details of the changes to Aunt May and Hawkeye are provided below.
We will have a blog coming soon with more about our design thought process and where we’re ultimately trying to get to with the game, but for now, here’s a look at how we’re directly tackling some of the game’s most notable characters.
1 - 3 Star Character Buffs
Championed Stats
Level 50/166
Level 266 (3 Star Rarity Only)
Rebalanced Powers
1-Star Black Widow
Just a general numbers rebalance to make them more in line with what a modern 1-Star should be.
Bit of a challenge to balance abilities like Aggressive Recon, where the fundamental balance system (AP cost) changes as it levels. It’s a neat idea but very tricky to get right
Aggressive Recon
Lowered initial cost from 10 to 8, reduced final cost from 16 to 14, reduced amount of overall AP stolen
Widows Sting
Lowered cost from 9 to 8
Reduced overall amount of stuns.
Sabotage
General Damage buff
1-Star Iron Man
Just needed a general numbers rebalance to align more closely to what Marvel Puzzle Quest plays like after 13 years.
Repulsor Blast
Lowered cost from 10 to 7
Raised damage
Armored Assault
Raised strength of protect tiles and damage
Ultra-Freon Beam
Lowered cost from 19 to 10
Raised damage
1-Star Spider-Man
A note about what you think this character needed if necessary
General damage and health boost as well as a raising of ability costs to account for the different effects each ability does.
Web Swing
Increased Damage
All Tied Up
Raised cost from 6 to 7
Increased damage
Spectacular Strategy
Raised cost from 6 to 8
Increased Damage
1-Star Venom
Overall, just needed the cost of their biggest attack lowered and its damage in general brought up a bit; it’s too expensive for what it does
Devour
Reduced cost from 12 to 8
Reduced damage
Symbiote Snare
No change
Symbiotic Rush
Increased damage
1-Star Yelena
Just a general numbers boost and bringing down of costs
Lethal Recon
Reduced cost from 13 to 10
Removed scaling AP cost for ability
Reduced damage to match ascended versions of character
Payback Mission
Reduced cost from 13 to 7
Increased damage
Stealth Explosion
Increased damage dealt by traps
2-Star Captain America
Details coming soon.
Sentinel of Liberty
TBC
Star-Spangled Avenger
TBC
Peacemaker
TBC
3-Star Luke Cage
Just a general numbers boost and bringing down of costs
Righteous Uppercut
Reduced cost from 13 to 9
Increased damage
Unbreakable
Increased protect tile strength
Jab, Jab, Cross
Increased cost from 6 to 7
Increased damage
3-Star Deadpool
General numbers rebalance to bring his abilities more in line with current expectations. Overall, his kit is pretty well liked and fun to mess around with, just very low so were wanting to bring it up.
A Little Off the top
General damage boost.
WHALES! WHALES! WHALES!
Reducing the cost from 14 while still reflecting some of the potency that his Deadpool points allow for
Life of the Party
Making the 1 turn Countdown tiles feel a bit more impactful.
Nerfs
Every end game player has undoubtedly seen these characters’ destructive power. The recognition of how pushed these characters comes up often in feedback and on the forums. Many new releases and rebalances often get compared to them which in itself provides an issue within the game since their existence at their power level pushes out so many other characters and their viability. It is for this reason that we’ve decided to take these characters down a peg. We’re hoping that by doing so, other teams become viable, and characters that should have a bigger impact on the meta come to be used. This is absolutely intended as a meta shake up and though we really wanted to try and keep characters where they are by introducing more counter mechanics, we’ve recognised that for the health of the game, it’s time to recalibrate to a better state. We hope that you see this as an exciting time where you can redefine what the meta looks like and bring some excitement back into what you’re fighting against and with.
We also recognise that these aren’t the only major balance perpetrators and based on how these changes go, we also plan to have a look at other problematic heroes that are definitely overtuned in the future; the aim will be to bring the relative power level to a point where a much larger amount of the roster can be viably used.
3-Star Aunt May (Iron May)
Having a 3-star that gets ascended to 4-star, getting a crazy high match and ability damage boost, and then it coming down again when it gets to 5-star, leaving players stuck with a 4-star at the top of the roster pick is not something we’re particularly thrilled about having in the game. We also want to promote more interesting rosters being made that aren’t just about pure numbers scaling.
To give some perspective on just how big of a problem little Aunt May is in the meta-game, she is used more than Hawkeye, Juggernaut, and Omega Red (Pestilence) combined, and over 50% more than the next most-used character (Polaris).
With that, we are bringing their buff power down to a reality where they’re not always the top pick. Their match and ability damage boosts to their team pretty much make them required, and their 4-star ascended values make it not worthwhile for players to ascend further.
Now there’s a smaller gain in match and ability damage as you ascend them to make it worthwhile going for the full upgrade.
Iron Wisdom
Reduced overall Match and Damage boosts applied; they’re still high but not breaking into the 100%+ match damage
Enduring Ordnance
Damage values revised with modern damage scaling
Still Spry
Damage values revised with modern damage scaling
Iron Wisdom
(PASSIVE) Aunt May draws upon a lifetime of experience and wisdom to guide her team. Aunt May grants her team 40% increased match damage, 45% increased ability damage, and 5% increased maximum health. If Aunt May is below 40% health, the match and ability damage bonuses are increased by 15%.
Enduring Ordnance
6 RED AP
Aunt May employs the full potential of her Stark weaponry. Deal 848 damage to the target, then create 13-turn Ordnance Countdown tile(s). When an Ordnance tile expires, Aunt May deals 191 damage to a random target.
Still Spry
8 BLUE AP
Deal 191 damage to the target. Then, reduce the timer of 2 random friendly Countdown tiles by 1. If this causes any friendly Countdown tiles to expire, also stun the target for 1 turn(s).
1-Star Hawkeye (Classic)
Being able to ascend Hawkeye really let the cat out of the bag with what his kit can do. To help curb some of the winfinite insanity that is this character, we’ve raised some of his ability costs while also nerfing the AP he gets back from his passive.
By applying these nerfs were hoping to create a healthier space where Hawkeye can still feel useful, but not be a turn-1 all-star pick every time.
Take Aim
Raised cost from 5 to 7
Arrow Stab
Raised cost from 9 to 10 so at higher levels it still costs more
Smart Shot
Reduced overall AP gain at max level, specifically targeting Purple AP gain to curb getting his winfinite going as easily.
Champion Levels
Take Aim
5 PURPLE AP → 7 PURPLE AP
Hawkeye prepares to place the perfect shot, turning a selected basic tile or Protect tile into a Critical tile.
Arrow Stab
9 RED AP → 10 RED AP
No bow, no problem. Clint lunges forward, arrow in hand, clearing a selected row and dealing damage (but not generating AP).
Smart Shot
0 YELLOW AP
(PASSIVE) Hawkeye is a master at reusing and repurposing his spent arrows. Whenever Hawkeye fires a Red ability, gain 1 Red AP. Whenever Hawkeye fires a Purple ability, gain 1 Purple AP.
