Balance Notes: Beta v 1.15.0

Dexterity

We've been in a spot where as we try to increase the speed of light attacks, it always has the side effect making signature moves unpunishable. This patch, we finally separated the two so that we can adjust them independently of each other. Our goal is to allow high dex characters to execute more pseudo combos by greatly reducing the amount of time they are in recovery. This is counterbalanced with cooldowns to make sure you can't just spam the same move over and over. We also lowered dexterity's effect on signature moves to hopefully give them a little bit more risk instead of all reward.

• Light attacks recover reduction from dex greatly increased.

• Signature recover from dex decreased.

• Increased dex scaling factor. High dex receives the largest benefit, 2/3 dex is essentially to same.

Axe

The Axe's air game has been very punishing lately with its fast, wide swings. This may require the Axe to slow down in the future, but we decided to try a different approach first. We've trimmed down some of the more unintuitive hitboxes and are tuning the axe to reward clean, intentional hits more than catching someone on the follow through of a swing.

• RemovedAxe RecoverySlightly reduced Hitbox sizes, Increased Damage and Force; Damage and Force decrease over the duration of the spin. Removed some hitboxes from end of swing.
• FixedAxe Ground PoundFixed misplaced Hitboxes.
• AdjustedAxe Neutral AirSlightly reduced Hitbox size. Decreased Damage; Increased Force; Greatly decreased Hitbox size on first frame of power; Damage and Force decrease after initial frame.
• AdjustedAxe Down AirSlightly reduced Hitbox size. Increased Damage; Increased Force; Damage and Force decrease over the duration of the swing.
• AdjustedAxe Ground SideIncreased Cooldown Time.

Katar

Nai, Sentinel, and Lucien all had a strong showing this patch, particularly in higher rank play. We've heard a lot of requests that katars be toned down, but just as many that they not be slowed down. Katars in 1.15 will continue to be as fast as ever, but are losing some of their priority and Damage.

• AdjustedKatar Neutral GroundSlightly reduced Hitbox size; Slightly reduced Damage.
• AdjustedKatar Air SideHitboxes changed to better match animation.
• AdjustedKatar RecoverSlightly reduced Hitbox size.
• AdjustedKatar Air DownSlightly reduced Hitbox size. Fixed a rare case where it could deal more damage than intended.

Lance

Lance Down Ground is a generally unpopular power, with a risk/reward tradeoff more suited to a signature. We're trying a rework that retains some of its utility for chewing up stacked targets while speeding it up and repurposing it into more of a spacing tool, at the expense of Damage. Lance Recovery is getting some minor changes that make it easier to land.

• AdjustedLance Down GroundGreatly Increased power; Decreased Hitbox Size; Decreased Damage; Decreased Force initially, increased Force towards end of power; User slides backwards during power.
• AdjustedLance RecoverySlightly increased Hitbox size. Travels slightly farther on minimum charge.

Combo Setups

Now that we've found a place where hard combo setups exist without dominating the game, we're relaxing the reductions on them a bit to make them feel a bit more fluid and valuable. Spear Ground Side hasn't been reworked into another combo setup power, but has been adjusted to more easily chain into other powers on a target in white health.

• AdjustedHammer Down GroundSlightly decreased Time to Hit and Recover Time on miss.
• AdjustedLance Ground SideSlightly decreased Force and aimed Force higher. Decreased Recover Time