Balance Update: Kate Bishop and Viv Vision
MCOC Team
Administrator, Admin [en] Administrator › Posts: 612
Hey all,
Balance Team here again with an update on the latest round of Champions up for review, Viv Vision and Kate Bishop!
So far, we’ve seen Viv shine in matchups where her Utility is most relevant and her primary damage loop has enough reach, like a same-rank Sauron, for example. However, against defensive threats she can’t completely solve, her performance lags behind the pack of Tech attackers. Additionally, even when played masterfully Viv is finding her loop’s damage is just barely too short against more Champions than we wanted, especially the extra stats of 7-Stars.
We’ll be making changes with the target of increasing how comfortable Viv is to play, as well as increasing her loop’s damage reach. We want players to feel they have the room to experiment with her abilities while still feeling a burden of execution, but without a single mistake meaning the fight is lost simply because it takes too long or is too dangerous to close out that final 8% of the opponent’s health bar.
Because our overall goal is to add reliability when playing as Viv, we’re looking at a larger number of smaller changes. Some key areas we’re looking at so far include:
On defense, Kate was meant to be an average defender with a few tricks to remember (be careful with her Special 2 Trick Arrow!) and so far we’re seeing her perform in range with other defenders of this type.
No changes incoming for Kate!
41.0 (August) + 41.1 (September) Beta
42.0 (October): Full release with changes
As a reminder, our other upcoming rebalance full releases are:
Absorbing Man and Baron Zemo in August
Ant-Man (Future) and Cassie Lang in September
Balance Team here again with an update on the latest round of Champions up for review, Viv Vision and Kate Bishop!
Viv Vision
Viv’s design has a specific vision: by sacrificing Ease of Use, Survivability, and sustainable damage, she brings exceptional control and fast damage in short fights like Battlegrounds! We wanted players to feel they have to execute her gameplay skillfully, but also that the payoff is rewarding and achievable in a fairly broad range of matchups.So far, we’ve seen Viv shine in matchups where her Utility is most relevant and her primary damage loop has enough reach, like a same-rank Sauron, for example. However, against defensive threats she can’t completely solve, her performance lags behind the pack of Tech attackers. Additionally, even when played masterfully Viv is finding her loop’s damage is just barely too short against more Champions than we wanted, especially the extra stats of 7-Stars.
We’ll be making changes with the target of increasing how comfortable Viv is to play, as well as increasing her loop’s damage reach. We want players to feel they have the room to experiment with her abilities while still feeling a burden of execution, but without a single mistake meaning the fight is lost simply because it takes too long or is too dangerous to close out that final 8% of the opponent’s health bar.
Because our overall goal is to add reliability when playing as Viv, we’re looking at a larger number of smaller changes. Some key areas we’re looking at so far include:
- Making her transition from Phase into a counter attacking combo safer
- Reducing the number of taps during Sp2 necessary to reach 15 Solar Energy
- Increasing the damage of Sp2 tap burst
- Adding more reliability to her Energy Vulnerabilities
- Expanding the 125% Ability Accuracy on her Phase to more abilities (sorry not sorry, Domino)
Kate Bishop
Trick Arrows + the return of the Perfect Release mechanic adds up to an attacker with plenty of Utility to choose from! We wanted players to customize their playstyle in order to adapt to a wide variety of encounters. As an attacker, Kate’s damage output wasn’t meant to be flashy in her day to day fights, but she comes equipped with high damage potential in fights where she can ramp her effects up. So far we’re happy with what we’re seeing in both scenarios!On defense, Kate was meant to be an average defender with a few tricks to remember (be careful with her Special 2 Trick Arrow!) and so far we’re seeing her perform in range with other defenders of this type.
No changes incoming for Kate!
What’s Next
Viv Vision’s timeline will look like:41.0 (August) + 41.1 (September) Beta
42.0 (October): Full release with changes
As a reminder, our other upcoming rebalance full releases are:
Absorbing Man and Baron Zemo in August
Ant-Man (Future) and Cassie Lang in September
35