Hi, everyone!
This is the second part in a two-part series about all the balance changes coming to Monster Train 2! If you have not read the first part and would like to do so, you can find the post here!
Now, onto the rest of the balance changes! But first, please know that the following text does contain some spoilers for Monster Train 2 so only keep reading if you are alright with that.
Challenges
Reworking existing and beloved cards can pose the risk of turning what was once an interesting card to one that is worse or less fun. We ran into this, for example, in the case of Hallowed Halls. We experimented with making it into a Room Card, instead of killing units and reforming them to fill your room when you used it, it would do the same effect automatically at the end of each combat. Testers found that it simply wasn’t as fun to play. Ultimately that change never made it through.
However we decided to update a card, we had to be cognizant of not straying too far from the card’s original identity. Consumer of Crowns, for example, need to have something to do with imps, if not just to match with the pre-existing theme and lore for the card, but also to continue to prop up Imp builds. With certain cards that didn’t have a strong identity, such as Husk Hermit or Lady of the House, we felt more freedom to give them a unique identity.
Another challenge we ran into was with addressing infinites. There are plenty of infinites that exist that we’re aware of, and there’s probably way more that we aren’t aware of. There is even a wiki page for infinites that players have found. When they’re too easy to achieve, infinites can trivialize the game and completely remove the tension of a run.
But, sometimes stumbling into an infinite can be fun, especially ones that require a really specific combination of cards that you’re unlikely to run into again. And other times, the solution to removing an infinite can lead to something less fun in the majority of use cases, in exchange for fixing a really small set of interactions. Fixing infinites can be a bit of a game of whack-a-mole, so our approach is to try to address the most egregious and reliable infinites, while taking less of a hard-line stance on the more niche or esoteric ones.
For example with Deep Offering, one of the ways to achieve an infinite is to upgrade it with Eternalstone and Smolderstone, and duplicate it, which could be achieved quite reliably in a run. To address it, we tried adding “This card’s Consume cannot be removed.” However we quickly realized that an effect that essentially negated a spell upgrade felt too restrictive, and a bit antithetical to Monster Train’s ethos. So instead we increased its cost, making this specific combo of upgrades no longer infinite. But, It’s still entirely possible to achieve an infinite with Deep Offering, you could simply use Entropic Energy instead of Smolderstone, but it would be a bit more difficult to reliably pull off.
The List
Awoken |
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Animus of Speed |
Added ability: “Swiftshot: Attack any enemy immediately.” |
Awake |
Converted from a Spell to a Room card. Renamed to “Awkening Thicket”. “Restore 40 health. Apply Regen 3.” >>> "Friendly units have +20 max health and restore 10 health on Resolve." |
Awoken Hollow |
15 HP >>> 25 HP |
Awoken Railspike |
Added effect “Cannot draw additional cards this turn.” This is to address a long-standing infinite that was slightly to easy to run into. |
Edge Prior |
Healing spell cost reduction now also applies to Regen spells. |
Ensnare |
Can now target friendly units. There were situations where the player might have wanted to use Ensnare for card draw, but with no way to use it if there were no enemies on the floor. |
Focused Growth |
"Restore 25 health. Draw +2 next turn" >>> "Restore 20 health, twice. Draw +2 next turn." |
Husk Hermit |
We wanted to touch up Husk Hermit and differentiate them a bit more from Shattered Shell. HP increased from 30 >>> 35. Added new effect: "Revenge: +3 attack. |
Razorsharp Edge |
10 atk >>> 12 atk. |
Restore |
Regen 1 >>> Regen 2. |
Restoring Retreat |
Cost increased from 1 >>> 2. Heal increased from 10 >>> 25. At 1 cost, Restoring Retreat was an easy way to overstack a floor, making it extremely valuable to use with Awoken units. Reverting it back to its MT1 cost but increasing its healing. |
Sharpen |
+4 ATK and Spikes 5 >>> +6 ATK and Spikes 6 |
Spreading Spores |
Regen 2 and Spikes 2 >>> Regen 3 and Spikes 3. Now also restores 3 health |
Steelsinger |
Permanent 1 attack on Rejuvinate >>> Permanent 3 attack on Rejuvinate |
Thorned Hollow |
15 HP >>> 25 HP. Rejuvenate: Gain Spikes 3 >>> 4. |
Thornlord Wyldenten |
Converted effect into an ability. “Summon: Add 3 Sting spells with Frozen to your hand.” >>> “Ability: Needlebloom. (Add 3 Sting spells to your hand).” |
Vinemother |
Converted effect to an ability "Resolve: Add a Sting spell to your hand" >>> "Ability: Vinewrath (Add 2 Sting Spells to your hand. CD 2.). Resolve: Sting Spells in your deck gain +4 magic power." |
Wildwood Sap |
“Apply Regen 5” >>> “Apply Regen 4 and +4 max HP” |
Banished |
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Penitent's Bloodsuit |
1 cost >>> 0 cost Penitent’s Bloodsuit had been underperforming in terms of pick rate and win rate. It’s quite strong early, but falls off due to a lack of scaling. Needed a decent bit of extra help to be useful. |
Spike of the Banished |
3X Valor >>> 4X Valor At 3 cost it gave you less Valor than Divinity, needed to be made comparably stronger. |
Hellhorned |
|---|
Imp-olate |
20x imps >>> 25x imps |
Alloy of the Ancients |
25 armor >>> 30 armor. |
Branding Rite |
Deal 5 damage >>> Deal 3 damage |
Consumer of Crowns |
Converted effect into an ability. Cost reduced from 8 >>> 4. "Costs -1 EMBER per Imp unit in your deck." >>> Ability: Warlord's Tithe. "Sacrifice Imp. Attack immediately." Consumer of Crowns needed to be updated from MT1 to MT2 due to its old effect not working well with Deployment Phase. We weren’t entirely happy with the new effect though, and took a playtester’s idea to update it into a more interesting ability. |
Fortify |
Converted from Spell >>> Equipment card. Renamed to "Fortified Pauldrons". "Apply Armor 8" >>> "Armor 6. Resolve: Gain Armor 6." |
Hornbreak |
5 dmg >>> 8 dmg |
Hornbreaker Prince - Reaper |
Added ability. "Culling: Attack immediately." Cooldown 6/3/1. |
Hornbreaker Prince - Wrathful |
Stats updated from 15/15, 25/25, 40/40 >>> 25/25, 35/50, 45/75. "Revenge: Gain Rage 3/4/6 >>> 4/5/6." |
Inferno |
100 damage >>> 120 damage |
Molting Imp |
8 damage >>> 10 damage |
Shardtail Queen - Royalty |
Stats updated from 10/10, 10/20, 10/40 >>> 10/15, 15/30, 25/60. |
Shardtail Queen - Imperialist |
Effect converted into an ability. "Action: Kill all Imp units. Deal 20 damage per Imp to enemy units." >>> “Ability: Queen's Culling. CD 1.(Kill all Imp units. Deal 20 damage per Imp to enemy units).” |
Spike of the Hellhorned |
3X Armor and Rage >>> 4x Armor and Rage |
Vent |
3 damage >>> 5 damage |
Lazarus League |
|---|
Baron Grael - It Hungers |
Baron Grael It Hungers HP reduced from 25/45/85 >>> 20/40/80 |
Baron Grael - Learning Limb |
Stats updated from 15/25, 30/40, 60/60 >>> 10/25, 20/45, 40/80. Permanent attack granted to equipment increased from 2/4/6 >>> 3/6/9. |
It’s Alive |
+10 ATK >>> +7 ATK. Was one of the strongest common cards, at 10 attack was objectively a better Razorsharp Edge. |
Organ Harvester |
Ember cost increased from 1 >>> 2 |
Pincushion |
6 ATK/6 HP >>> 12 ATK/12 HP |
Test Subject Alpha |
Cost increased from 2 >>> 3 |
Luna Coven |
|---|
Arduhn - Hierophant |
"Silent units gain double armor" >>> "Silent units gain +1/2/3 atk." |
Ekka - Silver Empress |
15/10, 20/15, 30/20 >>> 20/20, 25/25, 30/30. Silver Empress I conduit increased from 15 >>> 20. Silver Empress was slightly too difficult to play in earlier rings, so giving her a slight boost in her 1st tier. |
Hexscalation |
Cost reduced from 2 >>> 1 |
Nightingale |
New Moon: Multistrike 1 >>> Multistrike 2. |
Melting Remnant |
|---|
Rektor Flicker - Dark Calling |
Converted effect into ability. "Resolve: Reform 2 random units and apply +10/15/25 atk." >>> Ability: Cryptcall. "Reform 3 random units and apply +10/15/25 atk." |
Draff |
10 ATK >>> 15 ATK. |
Hallowed Drippings |
"Apply Burnout 5 to friendly Burnout units." >>> "Apply Burnout 5 and +5 attack to friendly Burnout units." Cost increased from 0 >>> 1. Hallowed Drippings was one of the lowest picked cards, since just straight Burnout application was a bit niche. Burnout is still important for certain Melting Remnant builds, hopefully with a more broadly useful buff, and the Lady of the House change, it’ll be less of a niche card to use. |
Hallowed Halls |
Cost increased from 2 >>> 3. |
Lady of the House |
Added effect “+5 attack for every stack of Burnout”. Base health reduced from 45 >>> 25. Similar to wanting to differentiate Husk Hermit from Shattered Shell, we wanted to differentiate Lady of the House from Lady of the Reformed a bit more. |
Legion of Wax |
Base stats increased from 8/8 >>> 16/16 |
Little Fade - Little Icarus |
Spikes 5 >>> Spikes 7. |
Memories of the Melted |
Convert to Room card. Renamed to “Memorial for the Melted”. "Gain 1 EMBER for each friendly unit death this battle." >>> "Friendly units have Endless." Cost increased from 0 >>> 1. |
Resin Removal |
Cost 1 >>> 2. One of the most picked cards, solves a lot of problems for very cheap. Want to gently push to needing to invest an upgrade or two to get the most value out of it. |
Votivary |
"Extinguish: Draw 1." >>> "Extinguish: Draw 2 next turn." This was updated to address an infinite by upgrading with Endless and using Surgical Strike. |
Pyreborne |
|---|
Devilish Details |
Pyre damage decreased from 10 >>> 8. |
Pyreblooded |
Cost reduced from 2 >>> 1. Pyreblooded has a strong effect, but needs investment (pyregel). Want to keep it slightly niche (not bump up its base stats), but still a valuable pick for pyregel runs. |
Pyre Hearts |
|---|
Heart of the Pact |
HP increased from 55 >>> 65. |
Wyngh's Spirit |
HP increased from 70 >>> 75. |
Stygian |
|---|
Cuttlehex |
Converted effect into ability. "End of Turn: Apply Frozen to a random card in hand" >>> "Ability: Freeze Ray: Apply Frozen to a card in hand." |
Deep Offering |
Cost increased from 2 >>> 3. |
Energy Siphon |
Can now also target friendly units. This is to address a niche scenario where there are no enemies on the floor but the player still wants to trigger incant. |
Gifts for a Guard |
Added Consume. |
Offering Monument |
"Incant: -5 hp. Draw 1." >>> "Incant: Draw +1 next turn." Updated to prevent existing infinites with Reform mechanic, and to prevent infinites with Awoken’s new and updated cards granting Max HP. |
Siren Song |
Converted from Spell >>> Room card. Effect now happens at the start of combat and only affects non-boss units. Cost increased 1 >>> 2. |
Tethys Titansbane - Handheld Totem |
Added ability. "Runespeak: Draw a damage spell and apply +5/10/20 magic power." |
Titan's Gratitude |
35 damage >>> 60 damage |
Unnamed Tome |
Mute 5 >>> Mute 3. |
Solgard the Martyr - Titanchannel |
Converted effect into ability. "Incant: Gain Shard 1. At 4 Shard stacks, remove Stasis." >>> "Incant: Gain Shard 1. Ability: Resurgence. (Remove Stasis and gain +6/10/15 atk/hp per shard.)". Base stats reduced from 60/60, 120/20, 250/250 >>> 0/5, since it gains scaling stats based on Shard stacks now. |
Umbra |
|---|
Alloyed Construct |
Starts with Fuel 2 |
Blazing Bolts |
Damage at all tiers increased from 40 damage >>> 60 damage. |
Crucible Collector |
20 HP >>> 35 HP. |
Crucible Extension |
Converted from Spell >>> Room card. “+1 capacity on this floor” >>> “+4 capacity”. |
Engine Upgrade |
Converted from Spell >>> Room card. Cost reduced from 1 >>> 0. |
Forever Consumed |
40X >>> 80X damage This is a big buff, but the card needed it, considering how much healthier certain frontline enemies are compared to MT1. |
Mine Collapse |
Can now also target friendly units. |
Morsel-made |
Gorge: +2 attack and +2 health >>> +4 attack and +4 health |
Overgorger |
25 HP >>> 35 HP |
Teeth of Gold - Artifact |
Updated from hitting the “back enemy unit” >>> “lowest health enemy unit”. |
Penumbra - Glutton |
Stats increased from 20/20 (all ranks) >>> 20/20, 35/35, 50/50. Glutton needs time to scale, and at 20 HP, it would die too quick in later rings before it can feasibly scale up. |
Primordium - Stalwart Snack |
Stalwart Snack III stats updated from 3/3 >>> 10/10 |
Underlegion |
|---|
Bolete - Executioner |
"Harvest: Gain Regen 2/3/5 and Rage 2/3/5." >>> "Siphon: Spawn 2/2/3. Funguy gain +0/2/3 health per stack.” Stats updated from 10/30, 30/60, 50/120 >>> 30/20, 50/50, 80/100. |
Bolete - Headsman |
Headsman III attack increased from 100 >>> 160. |
Madame Lionsmane - Sporesinger |
Sporesinger III: "When a unit gains Decay, it gains 4 >>> 5 stacks." |
Conclusions & Thanks
We’re really excited for you all to experience these balance changes firsthand once Lost Arsenal goes live. Our hope is that they will make your Monster Train favorites feel fresh again and will provide new strategic opportunities. Please let us know what you think about these changes in the comments or in the Shiny Shoe Discord server.
To those who are wondering, “What about new cards? Are those going to be revealed?” The answer is yes but they’ll be next week!
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Finally, as always, thank you so much for supporting the Shiny Shoe team and for playing Monster Train 2!