Hello, this is Hoochoo Game Studios. This update adjusts parts of the game’s core mechanics and will bring major balance changes. Alongside individual component changes, we’d also like to share the broader direction behind them.
The game has four attack types, defined by two axes: ranged versus melee, and area versus single target. Each attack type is designed to have clear strengths and weaknesses.
Among them, ranged area attacks are the most powerful. We have imposed many constraints, such as limiting access through special tiers and intentionally applying range related penalties. However, compared to other attack types, they still tend to be easier to build around and scale through deckbuilding, so we have to keep a close eye on them.
Enemies are an even bigger issue. There is a limit to how much “awkward usability” we can rely on when designing weaknesses for enemy units, so we felt the need for constraints at a more fundamental, systemic level.
Changes to Sturdy and Bleed
Sweeping through many enemies with area attacks, and quickly taking down key enemies with single target attacks
Sturdy now blocks only melee area and ranged area attacks. Single target attacks are no longer a weaker version of area attacks, and will take on a bigger role in defeating bosses and tanks. From lower curse levels onward, bosses will now have Sturdy.
This is not only about giving enemies more Sturdy. Most allied tankers have been adjusted to have significantly more Sturdy than before. But be careful: even Bears and Wild Boars that used to shrug off enemy area damage with high Sturdy can now be countered and fall quickly against large numbers of “Beans”.
Because Sturdy no longer applies to all damage types, we can relax some of the earlier design constraints that were preventing Sturdy values from becoming too high. As a starting point, two Artifacts related to Sturdy have been added.
• White Brick
• Red Brick
As melee tankers gain better combat uptime, we are also changing Bleed, which had the biggest impact on the combat uptime of ranged units. Bleed now decreases by 1 each time it triggers, so while high attack speed units may take damage quickly, low stacks of Bleed will no longer act like an unavoidable death sentence.
To keep the overall threat of the Bleed mechanic, enemies that already had Bleed, such as Vampire Bat, have been adjusted to inflict more Bleed.
Just like Sturdy, it is now possible to inflict higher Bleed values, so we are adding hats that apply Bleed.
• Witch Hat
• New Witch Hat
Changes
• Large scale adjustments to enemy Sturdy and Bleed
• Sharp Paper Plane Bleed applied changed from 1 to 2
• Hedgehog Artifact Thread adjusted
• Fishbowl effect adjusted
• Shooter Marten and Battle Reindeer effects removed and stats adjusted
• Both had their effects removed, with improved stats
• Gracious Bullets changed into a skill that grants Attack based on allies’ Mana
• Worker Ant rarity changed from Rare to Common
• Wild Boar Sturdy changed from 2 to 5
• Square Cookie increased Sturdy and Thorns granted
• Wisent Sturdy changed from 3 to 5
• Bullfrog Sturdy changed from 3 to 4
• Brown Bear Sturdy changed from 2 to 4
• Scratch cost changed from 2 to 1
• Battle Reindeer Sturdy changed from 2 to 6
• New Safety Hat Sturdy changed from 3 to 6
• Safety Hat Sturdy changed from 2 to 4
• Old Safety Hat Sturdy changed from 1 to 2
• Mammoth Sturdy changed from 2 to 4
• Vampire Bat attack speed changed from Normal to Fast
• Peck Mana changed from 2 to 1