Best Of

There are obvious champs that we may never see as 7* (Quake, Herc) and some that may only be released as 7* in monetized events or as special prizes (Magik, Kitty, Wolverine, e.g.) while still others may be on hold because they could be too effective with 7* stats (Hulkling, Scorpion, Valk, e.g.).

But there’s a large-ish group of good to very good champs who aren’t game breaking but can still be effective in their current state as 7*.

For example:

Tech: Nimrod, Silver Centurion, Star-Lord
Mutant: Toad, Jubilee, Cable
Science: Cassie, Miles, Wasp, YJ
Skill: Agent Venom, Stealth Spidey
Cosmic: Champion, Thor, Ikaris
Mystic: Mephisto, Morningstar, Claire Voyant

What’s holding back releasing champs like this in a special crystal or generally?

Dr. Zola

I noticed reading reviews on Apple Store and android store, that newer people seem to be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information they need to know to take stuff on. I’ve read a lot of 2 and 3 star reviews that complain of pay to win suggesting that they need to pay to overcome an event, or that too much knowledge is needed etc to take on bosses.

I can totally see why new people will struggle. The learning curve from start to valiant is extremely steep, and without offering newer players some form of assist with knowing what to do in quests, I fear it will continue to push away newer players. Only very committed new players will reach out to global or forums or YouTube.

Most will just think “damn….this game is tough..I don’t like it any more.”

I wonder if there needs to be a new “training ground” for new players, that helps them with mid game also. The implementation of the parry training ground etc was a good start. But it really needs something like a testing ground, where people can select nodes, and get an assist with in game explanations.

Let’s be honest. Some of the in game descriptions of nodes and abilities are just horrid. They don’t explain things properly. They can be very ambiguous, and sometimes just confusing. It can be hard to work out how different node and abilities interact because of poor description.

I’ve lost count of the number of times in alliance we’ve said

“Does this champs abilities work on this node to counter it?”

And the general reply is
“No idea…it should do….guess we will have to test it ourselves and find out in war….good luck.”

Given that the end game players would like some sort of test ground, and it’d be great for newer players too, can this sort of stuff be implemented ?

We posted about the shift to Batch Updates a few months ago. There are various reasons why we shifted to Batch releases instead of the old system - one of them being, it does give us more time for full review where we can make sure if a Champion needs a tune up they get one.

...

It isn't about "waiting" to release his buff, it's about having an orderly process that allows the team to do their best work without having to crunch to unrealistic timelines.

I am pretty apologetic for my stance here Kabam - but you can't have it both ways. You can't say "it didn't take us seven months to rebalance Patriot" while also saying "we didn't have Patriot rebalanced before the seven months was over and just choose not to release him".

Like... okay I get the whole rebalance program cadence but, it really felt bad with Patriot here. I can appreciate that perhaps the old cadence was getting to be too much for the developers and something needed to give; but Patriot was released over a year ago and the people who do play him quite hard have been waiting for this almost as soon as he was released.

Waiting an entire year to find out how my champion will be adjusted is kind of wild.

Now, I'm not suggesting that you give us updates during the process, because with this community that would clearly be a nightmare. I'm also not suggesting that you go back to what it was. Yes, that rebalance cadence worked for the community but clearly it didn't work for the developers and frankly - they're the ones who matter here.

But can we please find some middle ground where, sure there's a standard and orderly process, but if there's a character like Viv Vision or Patriot who end up not taking the whole process to tweak... maybe give the community a treat and say "Hey, we're actually done early and pretty pleased with what we have. Here are some notes to look forward to." or... if actually possible, just push them live rather than wait for the deadline.

~*~

Now, on to the actual thread.

Stronger and longer physical Vulnerability, ruptures now last less time but do the same amount of damage for shorter fights, extended heavy charge duration and the lower threshold for steadfast

So nothing meaningful. Got it

Okay, I'm clearly all aboard the train in saying that Patriot shouldn't have taken this long to release. But if you actually think that:

Increasing the potency of his physical vulnerabilities by over 100% and extending their duration by 50% is "nothing meaningful" then respectfully, you either don't understand the character and numbers, or just never had realistic expectations for his rebalance.

The extended heavy alone is actually pretty huge piece of utility that transformed his Reversal from being "nice, but kind of niche" to "this is actually useful".

The shorter timeframe on his ruptures while leaving the potency the same as they were is another increase in damage.

He's doing much more damage overall in shorter windows and he's a lot smoother.

Patriot's rebalance may seem like only a few numbers were changed and a line was moved, but that's actually both quite meaningful as well as suggestive that his core kit was already quite good.

Guys don’t sleep on this buff, it’s actually quite good
https://youtu.be/hUKdYYbg3og?si=Cl02Khh0Gn5Fo25_

In the whole video patriot is not fighting any "actual defenders"
Other than his intended matchup of Photon, in the whole video he's fighting the fights that everyone else can fight but better 🥴

Like what?

The only other good thing he mentioned is that aside from Photon, the only two relevant defenders he'll be able to handle are High Evo because of the combo counter thing he basically won't have to deal with the autoblock, and then eventually when Scorpion is released as a 7* he won't have to deal with the evade at all. That's basically it tho, his only uses for BGs for now will he Photon and High Evo which he will nuke in 40 secs, other than that no reason to use him. Personally I will keep him in my deck once High Evo is in the Titan because he will be one of the fastest counters for that, but if you want him only for Photon not worth it.

My issue isnt even the "buff". Its his kit to begin with. He's basically created to kill Photon. Problem is he's not good against the science class in general. He puts debuffs on himself but doesnt remove debuffs which is a no no for some science champs bc they benefit from you having debuffs on said champ. Hes not good against the mystic class in general bc he still gains buffs. Throw mutant out of course. This is the issue with these super restrictive defenders. We need tough defenders but with the game going in the direction of needing a hard counter for these newer defenders to have success, the new attackers/counters that come later can sometimes end up being a good counter for that champ and not necessarily good in other places in general. Some are but this is how we end up with a Patriot or Falcon Joaquin. Im not ranking up Patriot up just to kill Photon and not really have use for him anywhere else. Wish he had more utility like an anti evade mechanism of some sort. Just my opinion. Everyone is respectfully entitled to theirs.

I re-read his kit today before I took my sig 60 Patriot for a spin, and it really is ridiculous how directly it matches Photon. Seems like a joke almost. Vigilance if you parry, steadfast for unblockable specials, can’t reduce his regen, applies weakness to the opponent to reduce block damage, etc etc. I really don’t know if DLL designed him over a weekend or what.

And the whole reversal mechanic still seems like it’s supposed to be some kind of big deal, but it’s just a gimmick. All I want is to gain the fury and precision so I can do some real damage. But to do it I have to back off, charge a heavy, hope the AI cooperates, and then after they get back up, you have to get another opening to actually use those juicy buffs.

Isn’t it the same?

Old anti-venom had 10% personal debuff potency increase for every 10 hits, and 5% increased non personal debuff potency for every 10 hits. This capped at 50 hits so 50% debuff potency for personal and 25% for non personal.

Exacerbate (2.5% non damaging debuff potency for new debuffs) whenever he inflicts a personal debuff, and personal debuffs gain an extra 2.5% potency for 5% total, maxing out at 10 stacks. That’s still 50% personal debuff potency.

The fact that you can’t lose progress on this ability is a good thing. It means nodes that reset your combo or mess with it in some way, now do nothing. Now it’s consistent and reliable and still very effective at providing debuff potency. And they’re passive so they’re literally not going away.

And the fact that you get them up when you apply a personal debuff is good, you can use the petrify and staggers to get them up so quickly, rather than having to reach 50 combo.