Card Balancing is coming soon! There will about 30 cards affected and the majority of the cards are receiving a buff/positive change. The details are below and we expect to have this update come to Stormbound within a few weeks. Please be aware that any of these plans are subject to change. *** ### Card Changes *** **Neutral** * Victors of the Melee - Ability only damages units and structures, increased strength by 1 * Siegebreakers - Bordering at all levels, gains +1 strength per level * Voidsurgers - Required 2 bordering enemies, reduced damage by 2, set strength to 4 at all levels * Hearthguards - Also works when bordering your base * Freebooters - Reduced strength by 1 * Tegor the Vengeful - Increased strength by 1 * Trueshot Post - Increased strength * Kindred's Grace - Increase initial strength by 1 **Winter** * Frosthexers - Increase mana by 1 * Rockworkers - Increased strength by 1 * Lady Rime - Increased strength by 1 * Moment's Peace - Increased mana by 1, strength by 2, surrounding at all levels * Icicle Burst - Decreased mana and strength requirement by 1 **Swarm** * Vindicators - Also triggers when attacking the base itself * Queen of Herds - Increased strength by 1 * Pillars of Doom - Increased damage done by 1 * Moonlit Aerie - Increased strength at max level **Ironclad** * Overchargers - Lowered strength and increased ability damage at higher levels * Armed Schemers - Increased strength at higher levels * Debug Loggers - Increased strength by 1 * Eloth the Ignited - Decreased mana and strength by 1 * Mech Workshop - Increased strength at higher levels **Shadowfen** * Brood Sages - Ability also works on friendly units * Soulcrushers - Increased strength by 1 * Wandering Wyrms - Decreased mana, strength and damage done by 1 * Tode the Elevated - Decreased strength by 1, increased ability by 1 * Marked as Prey - Ability also works on friendly units * Curse of Strings - Decrease mana and strength by 1

alright alright alright

> _Originally posted by **[aspareforyou](/forums/941638/topics/1595248?page=1#12556246):**_ > LEVEL 4 UBASS, HERE I COME!! > > Okay let's break this down for some interesting ones > > Victors of the Melee: I think it would still have been balanced even without ability affecting base at current strength but I guess a little help doesn't hurt. > > > > Siegebreakers - Bordering at all levels, gains +1 strength per level > > You guys are going about it the wrong way. Unless structures ever see usage, these homies will never be used competitively. Maybe hearthguards and rockworkers emerging into meta might aid this but highly doubtful. > > Hearthguards: Nice. Good defensive unit now. > > Freebooters: Hmm. I guess it seems fair, given the 2 card draw at level 4. > > Frosthexers: I like it. It provides exceptional value for 1 mana but only at level 3 and above. Ah well. > > Rockworkers: A very nice card I'd like to see more of. +1 > > Vindicators: +1 Now it's more flexible to use. > > Devastators: I don't think more strength will help much. I think it needs a rework of sorts. > > Pillars: OH YES. Can't wait to try a swarm chip deck. > > Overchargers: This one was quite interesting to me. Need clarification on how it compares to mischiefs at higher levels. > > Eloth: Eloth too stronk. Yes Spare! Ubass lv4 confirmed, And them Vindicators╰( ˘ꈊ˘)╯sweet. Still dont know about structures tho so Pillars of Doom ._.? We'll see. Shame bout Frosties being 2mana. Yeah Eloth .... nah

No Spare Dragonling nerfs? Wandering Wyrms being for 3 mana now? Oh yessss I'm going to spend these sweet fusion stones to get these two at 5 at some point <3 Also, I love all the changes! Voidsurgers getting the Felflares v2.0 treatment. And all these structure buffs, it's gonna be fun!

> *Originally posted by **[aspareforyou](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556246)**:* > Overchargers: This one was quite interesting to me. Need clarification on how it compares to mischiefs at higher levels. At level 5, Misschiefs has 6 strength and deals 2 damage to the enemy base. Overchargers has 5 strength and deals 3 damage to the first unit in front.

That's great and good balances, but WHERE IS THE DEBUFF FOR NEEDLE BLAST????? Do the devs listen to the players? I read complaints and suggestions and advices in the forum that go way back to october 2017 about this card and still nothing changed. Seriously, it's a VERY CHEAP TRICK. You gonna say I can use the card, but I refuse to play relying on luck other then the real strategy, it's just a low blow that I can't use. I lost three matches in a row, to players that barely made to the middle of the board, they didn't even touched my first line, and kept spamming Needle Blasts and still won. Is this balance? Is this fair? I don't think so. I play the game since it's launch and that card really took a lot of the strategy away. I'm not thw first to complain and won't be the last. I think the devs should really listen to the players.

UBASSSSSSSSSSSS lets do this Thx for the balances, great job!

> *Originally posted by **[aspareforyou](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556372)**:* > So Overcharger's ability increases at levels 3 and 5, similar to Frosthexers yes? This is very interesting. If you don't mind my asking, was this change in any way to test the waters in making Ironclad Aggro strong enough to contend with Swarm aggro at higher levels? Or was Overchargers simply a low win rate card at the top? Ironclad is doing great at lower levels, but at higher levels they fall behind for most deck archetypes. Part of the reason is that they have damage abilities that don't fully scale up as nicely as those from other kingdoms. So some of these cards will level up slightly different and should be more efficient. These changes will help aggro decks, but should also help all the other archetypes.

As a Winter player I depend on cycling Frosthexers often, which makes the 1 mana very efficent. If it is in my hand early I usually play it so that hopefully I can get it back and use the Midwinter/ Wisp combo at some point. Winter only has one, I repeat one, unit card below 4 whereas the other factions have multiple unit cards below 4 so the only way to deal with the other factions is to be able to slow them down and the ability to cycle Frosthexers is key to that. Increasing it to 2 will slow cycling considerably and hinder winter players at higher levels. Starting at rank 15 I see swarm and shadow at my base with multiple units by the second or third turn. The only way to slow them is with a low cost Frosthexer unit. Since this is already happening I would ask you to consider reducing Wisp Cloud to 3 mana. This will mitigate the loss of cylcing of Frosthexers. Thanks.

I beg you, do something about broken truce... I loved it but its useless right now.

> *Originally posted by **[uwjerks](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556553)**:* > As a Winter player I depend on cycling Frosthexers often, which makes the 1 mana very efficent. If it is in my hand early I usually play it so that hopefully I can get it back and use the Midwinter/ Wisp combo at some point. Winter only has one, I repeat one, unit card below 4 whereas the other factions have multiple unit cards below 4 so the only way to deal with the other factions is to be able to slow them down and the ability to cycle Frosthexers is key to that. Increasing it to 2 will slow cycling considerably and hinder winter players at higher levels. Starting at rank 15 I see swarm and shadow at my base with multiple units by the second or third turn. The only way to slow them is with a low cost Frosthexer unit. > Since this is already happening I would ask you to consider reducing Wisp Cloud to 3 mana. This will mitigate the loss of cylcing of Frosthexers. > Thanks. I agree with this

> *Originally posted by **[uwjerks](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556553)**:* > As a Winter player I depend on cycling Frosthexers often, which makes the 1 mana very efficent. If it is in my hand early I usually play it so that hopefully I can get it back and use the Midwinter/ Wisp combo at some point. Winter only has one, I repeat one, unit card below 4 whereas the other factions have multiple unit cards below 4 so the only way to deal with the other factions is to be able to slow them down and the ability to cycle Frosthexers is key to that. Increasing it to 2 will slow cycling considerably and hinder winter players at higher levels. Starting at rank 15 I see swarm and shadow at my base with multiple units by the second or third turn. The only way to slow them is with a low cost Frosthexer unit. > Since this is already happening I would ask you to consider reducing Wisp Cloud to 3 mana. This will mitigate the loss of cylcing of Frosthexers. > Thanks. Even though I am a winter player, I don't agree. Frosthexers being 1 mana gave way to much value and definitely needed a nerf. Though I am sad to see it go, I see why they did it.

I agree with most of these changes but swarm chip decks shouldnt be getting any help.

In my honest opinion from looking at these supposed balance changes, it looks like it catering to players that sit in the top ranks. Yea, you try to make structures more viable but the other changes seem random and by not even addressing the current meta you created a trend. Neutral changes a bit random at most. Hearthguards can be used like Olf the Hammer. Random but ok? Really you nerfed Siegebreakers. That a joke. Freebooter nerf is whatever I guess. You nerfed VotM proc on base but give Vindicators the same proc on base that you just took away from Victors. The nerf to Victors makes a bit of sense because of Victors could damage base and damage any remain defense around the base with this proc but you make it easier Swarm to extra damage to the base. Changes to Voidsurgers are late but seem ok but I feel like there an unlying reason for this change. Winter, the nerf to Frosthexers seems reasonable at face value due to the players every now and then saying winter decks are strong at rank 1, but is the freeze combo really that strong at the top or are just players using Frosthexers in a rush deck stalling the enemies. Or it could be one of the many money decks that have every card maxed out. I don’t know, can’t say yes or no to this one. But it seems pretty dumb to me that one of Winter greatest control options that only good that could contend with the spam-ability of the rush deck were nerfed. Plus you didn't compensate it. Rockworkers don't need a strength buff but...... ok I guess. I run Rockworkers and I never once thought, wish this had more strength. Rockworkers' strength is on par with Gifted Recruits which already gives it a good start coupled that with the structure spawn which can be used to control the board in different ways and making it a decent card that overlooked by players (Bots use it a lot). The one thing it could have used was a mana reduction of 1. That would make a little more viable to play in different ways. Don't know you guys buff Lady Rime or even think she needs a buff. Anyone using her will mostly be waiting for late-game or have GoTW to combo with her so I really don't get this buff. Moment's Peace is still a dub, yea gives a surrounding freeze at all levels but that 6 mana just overcomplicated the card. You can't even combo with unless you at 9 mana. It only pr With Swarm, this just confirms to me that 1) You guys are fine with the current way chip is dealt 2) Swarm looks like your babe. That about it for Swarm changes really. IronClad, look a contend for aggro now. Overchargers is definitely going to be used to attack the base rather wasted on eliminating unit now due to its damage edge on Mischiefs. Schemers are just harder to take out now, not sure if people will use it solely for the increased strength. Debug Loggers needed an increase in the base strength it always seems to have lost more than what it gained, so this can help out. Eloth, welp let's see if this can help the little dragon that thinks it can. It would be nice to see some more synergy with the push/pull. Shadowfen, should have this be packaged with the balance changes from earlier this year? Can't say must but counter-poison is now a real thing. These are welcome changes but it could lead to into a lot more board flooding. It really sad to see that devs not even accounting for the current meta. By not even acknowledge it and even buffing a few cards that are part of that gameplay, you are said with this balance: "Oh, yea rush decks and chip decks are ok." Well with that I say just make an unranked mode already. You guys are not going to stimulate change, what the point in playing ranked other than to see the same decks types over and over again? What the point in have different cards if nothing but the same cards carry you to the top? What point in have different decks if they are all going to be virtually play the same? What the point in strategizing when the game can just be simply won by just rush and chip ? **#Where'sUnranked? ** **TL:DR: Supposed changes did nothing to shake up the meta.It may even go as far as to cement the meta and strengthen it. Structures are "stronger" now. And oh yea Swarm is Devs' babe.

> *Originally posted by **[AranoJ](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556478)**:* > > *Originally posted by **[aspareforyou](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556372)**:* **These changes will help aggro decks, but should also help all the other archetypes.** Help aggro???? But all I see is aggro

Queen of herds is still too weak when we see the other legendaries... I think this card need at least one movement

> *Originally posted by **[aspareforyou](/forums/955764/topics/1595248?page=1#12556781)**:* > Chill Hollow. I get you're irate about the Frosthexers nerf but like you mentioned, it did seem very strong for levels 3-5. Also, siegebreakers was buffed, not nerfed. > > > Well with that I say just make an unranked mode already. You guys are not going to stimulate change, what the point in playing ranked other than to see the same decks types over and over again? What the point in have different cards if nothing but the same cards carry you to the top? What point in have different decks if they are all going to be virtually play the same? What the point in strategizing when the game can just be simply won by just rush and chip ? #Where'sUnranked? > > Unfortunately agree. I'd very much like the dev insights we had that one time about card popularity and win-rate to get a handle on the big picture. I guess the devs want to go the path of stimulating other playstyles rather than simply nerfing aggro which is commendable but I personally doubt how effective it will be. I'm more mad about the buff to aggro/chip than the nerf to Frosthexers. There really no change to the current meta. They don't even have to nerf aggro but make the other playstyles a contend with the meta. Siegebreaker might get more strength it it leveling but it call only get about 4 buildings in my eyes that a nerf to it utility but more of a rework but there bare any re-works in this game

Balance changes as well?! Just when I thought that we’ll only be getting the community card for the update, we also get some cards buffed and reworked! Meta might change a little, with a new undead who’s ready to harvest some souls! Anyways, on to the card balancing analysis: Neutral: Victors of the Melee got a small nerf with the fact that it now can only hit enemy structures and units, but not the base (this is a brand new type of targeting for abilities, as the current ones are enemy [units, structures, and base] and enemy units/structures/base). Siegebreakers now increases in strength at higher levels, although it’s going to take some more changes to buff structures to make them viable, so Siegebreakers may still not be a viable unit to use. Voidsurgers may be more viable to use due to its easier requirement to trigger its ability, and with fixed strength, it will be a unit-damaging version of Siegebreakers. Hearthguards can now work when bordering at the base, so it can be used by itself without a structure. The nerf to Freebooters strength is alright, slightly decreasing the power of control decks, but balanced enough so that it’s still a viable card. Tegor’s strength buff makes it slightly stronger and same with Trueshot Post and Kindreds Grace, although it won’t have as much of an impact compared to other neutral changes. Winter: The nerf to Frosthexers is probably the most drastic change for this faction. With the unit getting an increase in cost to 2 mana, it will be slightly harder to utilize winter combos, although this balances out, as 2 mana for a Level 5 Frosthexer that freezes surrounding is much more reasonable than for 1 mana. The buff to strength for Rockworkers and Lady Rime makes them a bit stronger, while the other two freeze related spells, Icicle Burst and Moment’s Peace had their mana cost changed, making Icicle Burst the first 1 mana spell and reworking Moment’s Peace to freeze all surrounding enemy units at 6 mana. Swarm: Vindicators became a bit stronger with the fact that it not only does base damage when attacking units, but also when they attack the base, making them a strictly better version of Devastators. Even with the buff to Devastators base damage, chip decks will favor Vindicators over Devastators due to its increased versatility. And, although Pillars of Doom got an increase in base damage, it still won’t be as viable compared to other base damagers. Queen of Herds and Moonlit Aerie also got a strength buff making them a bit stronger. Ironclad: With increased damage, Overchargers are now a bit stronger due to their damage versatility. The increased strength for Mech Workshop, Debug Loggers, and Armed Schemers makes them a bit stronger but it may not be enough to make these cards viable. Eloth’s decrease in mana makes it a slightly comparable to Xuri, and might help make it a little bit stronger, but we have yet to see. Shadowfen: With the changes to Brood Sage and Marked as Prey, poison control decks will be more viable with the ability to utilize poisoned friendly units. Soulcrushers is also much stronger with its increased strength, as it’ll become a better version of Heroic Soldiers. Same with Wandering Wryms with its decrease in cost, as it can be played earlier and might end up being stronger than Conflicted Drakes, as long as you have another dragon to proc its ability. Tode’s increase in ability and decrease in strength might not do much to the legendary; same with Venomfall Spire’s increase in strength and Curse of Strings, although it will be easier to play for a cost of 8 mana. Can’t wait to see how these changes affect the meta! What’s your thoughts on these changes?