Welcome to the May 2022 Balance Update!

First things first — the recap. Just in case you’ve missed the adjustments that were listed in our Version 48 Release Notes, we’re copy-pasting them here. Please note that these changes are already live:
  • Atlantis Family Bonus
    • Bonus for 2/3/4/5 Heroes → Bonus for 1/2/3/4/5 Heroes
    • +5%/+10%/+15%/+20% Defense → +5%/+10%/+15%/+20%/+25% Defense
  • Gargoyle Family
    • Stoneskin (Passive) durability now corresponds to Mana Speed
      • The slower a Gargoyle is, the more instances of incoming damage their Stoneskin will nullify; this value scales incrementally (Hero is Very Fast / Fast / Average / Slow / Very Slow = Stoneskin will block 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 instances of damage)
    • Gaillard
      • Added to the Gargoyle Family (previously did not have a Family)
      • Attack: 836 → 842
      • Defense: 718 → 725
      • HP: 1444 → 1458
    • Peñolite
      • Added to the Gargoyle Family (previously did not have a Family)
      • Attack: 811 → 817
      • Defense: 741 → 747
      • HP: 1458 → 1472
In addition to the above, we will be making a few more changes this week. The adjustments below are set to go live on 2022-05-13, 08:00 UTC:

Kingdom Heroes

We recently discovered that the Kingdom Family's Rare and Epic Heroes had been using slightly higher base stats and slightly lower scaling compared to other Rare and Epic Heroes in the game.

To be clear, this did not affect live balance overmuch — the two factors balanced each other out and the Heroes' max level stats reached their intended levels. For the sake of consistency, however, we will be adjusting the base stats and scaling multipliers of these Heroes.

Please rest assured that this change should not affect maxed Heroes' power by much, if at all. While Limit Broken AND maxed Heroes may see a very slight decrease to their stats, the differences will still be minimal (between 1 to 7 points).
  • Sun Shangxiang
    • BASE Attack: 412 → 368
    • BASE Defense: 287 → 257
    • BASE Health: 644 → 576
  • Wang Yuanji
    • BASE Attack: 355 → 318
    • BASE Defense: 373 → 334
    • BASE Health: 616 → 551
  • Xiahou Dun
    • BASE Attack: 337 → 302
    • BASE Defense: 393 → 352
    • BASE Health: 621 → 555
  • Zhou Yu
    • BASE Attack: 336 → 301
    • BASE Defense: 353 → 316
    • BASE Health: 703 → 629
  • Jing
    • BASE Attack: 355 → 288
    • BASE Defense: 325 → 279
    • BASE Health: 514 → 441
  • Li
    • BASE Attack: 322 → 277
    • BASE Defense: 326 → 280
    • BASE Health: 545 → 468
  • Yao
    • BASE Attack: 326 → 280
    • BASE Defense: 333 → 286
    • BASE Health: 521 → 448

Sand Empire Heroes

To celebrate Roc finally getting a Costume, we're applying a new shine to Rana and Yunan's ones as well. All of the Sand Empire legendaries should now be decked up to hit the beach!
  • Costume Rana
    • Water damage: 438 → 584
    • Water damage duration: 3 turns → 4 turns
    • Healing reduction status ailment duration: 2 turns → 4 turns
  • Costume Yunan
    • Sand damage: 360 → 600
    • Sand damage duration: 3 turns → 5 turns
    • Mana generation status effect: 3 turns → 5 turns

Season V Heroes

We're happy that many of our new Season V Heroes have been well-received, but it's looking like they could stand to perform slightly better in game — with the notable exception of Azmia, who seems to already have carved out a bit too large a niche for herself.

We will be gently tuning down Azmia's excess strength — just like how we addressed Ferant in March — while giving some of the less prominent Heroes a tiny stats boost.
  • Azmia
    • Attack: 539 → 584
    • Defense: 830 → 745
    • Health: 1266 → 1326
    • Direct heal reduced: 20% → 15%
    • Counterattack damage reduced:
      • Base damage: 120% → 100%
      • Maximum damage: 150% → 130%
  • El Naddaha
    • Attack: 821 → 828
    • Defense: 764 → 772
    • Health: 1431 → 1446
  • Khonshu
    • Attack: 830 → 838
    • Defense: 743 → 751
    • Health: 1450 → 1464
  • Khufu
    • Attack: 788 → 795
    • Defense: 768 → 776
    • Health: 1505 → 1520
  • Papyros
    • Attack: 780 → 788
    • Defense: 788 → 795
    • Health: 1487 → 1501
  • Sobek
    • Attack: 826 → 834
    • Defense: 716 → 723
    • Health: 1516 → 1532
As always, we will keep an eye on live metrics following the update to determine whether further adjustments will be necessary. Please refer to our Hero Balancing FAQ for why we occasionally make post-release balance adjustments, and our Beta Program FAQ for why such adjustments sometimes do not pass through beta.

If you wish to share your feedback and discuss this update with fellow players, please feel free to join the discussion here. Best of luck in the battles!