[img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42506090/b21804f1d943de3d8b17a39253bb790b95d4f6a5.png[/img] Welcome to Stormgate Early Access, now in version 0.0.2! We're excited to roll out our second update since releasing into Early Access, and we've got a lot to cover. We’re addressing some important bug fixes and also including a new balance update. [url=https://playstormgate.com/news/august-8-balance-community-update]As we did with our first update[/url], which came just a few days after our Early Access preview, we're sharing insight into the strategic thinking behind these changes direct from the desk of our lead competitive designer, Kevin 'monk' Dong. Get ready for another insider’s peek at how we’re continuing to evolve the core gameplay experience in [i]Stormgate[/i]. [b]How to Install the Update on Steam:[/b] [list] [*] Open Steam [*] Click on Library to see your games list [*] Click Downloads at the bottom of the Library window [*] If the new build does not download automatically, click the Download Now button to manually download the new update [/list] How to report a bug or provide feedback on the latest build: https://playstormgate.com/feedback Still having trouble? Visit our [url=https://support.playstormgate.com/hc/en-us]Stormgate Help Center.[/url] [quote=author] Please Note: As part of updating to this new build, replays from previous builds will no longer function. [/quote] [h1]Bug Fixes[/h1] [list] [*] Improved Co-op Hero Selection UI to better convey that all Heroes are playable for free up to level 5. [*] Fixed an issue in late game Co-op matches where units could become invulnerable. [*] Fixed some crashes in Campaign missions when playing with DX12. [*] We’ve removed Infested Crater from the map pool due to ongoing performance concerns. [/list] [h1]Balance Notes[/h1] [h2]General[/h2] [list] [*] Fixed an issue where the Shadow Mastiff was doing more damage than intended to air units. (should be 5 damage, down from 6). [*] Health camp active healing amount decreased from 8 per second to 4 per second. [*] Speed camp active speed bonus decreased from 30 seconds to 20 seconds. [*] Creeps generally grant 25% less bounty across the board. [list] [*] Slime base bounty decreased from 40/0 to 30/0. [*] Ooze base bounty decreased from 40/40 to 30/30. [*] Shadow Demon base bounty decreased from 80/0 to 60/0. [*] Shadow Mastiff base bounty decreased from 40/0 to 30/0. [*] Bruiser base bounty decreased from 80/0 to 60/0. [*] Cleaver base bounty decreased from 40/0 to 30/0. [*] Piper base bounty decreased from 0/40 to 0/30. [*] Major Galt creep bounty decreased from 80/40 to 60/30. [/list][/list] [h2]Vanguard[/h2] [list] [*]Hornet [list] [*] Fixed a bug that prevented it from dealing bonus damage to air units correctly. Effective anti-air damage increased from 13 to 13 (+13 vs. Light). [/list][/list] [h2]Infernals[/h2] [list] [*] Nightfall Infestation [list] [*] Now requires a Greater Shrine. [*] Animus cost decreased from 25 to 20. [/list] [*] Imp [list] [*] Flame On ignition duration decreased from 1.5 seconds to 1 second. [/list] [*] Gaunt [list] [*] Primary damage increased from 6 (+3 vs Light) to 8 (+2 vs Light). [*] Secondary damage decreased from 2 (+1 vs Light) to 2 (+0.5 vs Light). [*] Weapon period increased from 1 to 1.3. [/list] [*] Hexen [list] [*] Miasma radius decreased from 5 to 4. [/list] [*] Magmadon [list] [*] Magmadons can no longer stun each other with their Trample ability. [/list] [*] Weaver [list] [*] Anti-structure damage decreased from 10% to 7.5%. [/list][/list] [h2]Celestials[/h2] [list] [*] Arcship [list][*] Supply cost decreased from 5 to 0.[/list] [*] Arcstation [list][*] Supply cost decreased from 7 to 0.[/list] [*] Arcfortress [list][*] Supply cost decreased from 10 to 0.[/list] [*] Collection Array [list][*] Health increased from 500 to 800. [*] Flying Mode to Collection Mode morph time decreased from 30 seconds to 20 seconds.[/list] [*] Vector [list][*] Movement speed decreased from 6 to 5. [*] The Recall upgrade now increases the movement speed of Vectors by 30% (from 5 to 6.5).[/list] [*] Scythe [list][*] Fixed an issue where it wasn’t dealing the correct amount of damage to air units. It was previously dealing 7 (+7 vs Heavy) instead of the intended 12 (+12 vs Heavy). [*] Scythe damage versus ground units decreased from 8 (+8 vs Heavy) to 6 (+6 vs Heavy).[/list] [*] Saber [list][*] Damage changed from 52 (+52 vs Heavy) to 60 (+30 vs Heavy). [*] Area line damage increased from 25% of primary damage to 50% of primary damage.[/list] [*] Archangel [list][*] Bonus health provided by Avatar increased from 250 to 400. [*] Can no longer target units with Meteor Strike. Instead, it must target a location. This fixes an issue where if you target a unit, it will deal damage to the original location of the unit.[/list] [/list] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//42506090/524d6932cf5d27a52d5e7c3248b5a23ba31be4e4.png[/img] Hey Gaters from the Storm! Time for everyone’s favorite thing, a balance update! Whoo! Before we begin, we’d like to congratulate [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/YaY5s8N/parting?faction=celestials&view=ranked_1v1]Parting [/url]for winning the [url=https://liquipedia.net/stormgate/EWC_Showmatch]EWC Stormgate Invitational[/url] tournament last week over some very solid competitors! Grassroots tournaments have been buzzing as well, with [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/Ay7tHAx/3disanych?faction=infernals&view=ranked_1v1]iSanych [/url]and [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/Wvdf6U6/msrm?faction=infernals&view=ranked_1v1]msrm [/url]taking home victories in the [url=https://liquipedia.net/stormgate/The_Alpha_Navigators_Cup/16/EMEA]TANC [/url]tournaments. [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/KQU6Los/photon-cannons-enjoyer?faction=celestials&view=ranked_1v1]Captain_Alex[/url] claimed the title at [url=https://liquipedia.net/stormgate/Czech_stars/4]Czech_stars 4[/url], and [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/iJe2yAJ/am-snoxtar?faction=infernals&view=ranked_1v1]Snoxtar [/url]emerged victorious at [url=https://liquipedia.net/stormgate/Goblin_Cluckfest/1]The Goblin Cluckfest Open #1[/url]. Special shoutout to [url=https://stormgate.untapped.gg/en/players/YDXB9Ui/mixu?faction=vanguard&view=ranked_1v1]Mixu[/url], who finished second in two consecutive TANC events. With the celebrations aside, I’d like to take a moment to share some insights about the team’s thinking on the current balance of the game and explain the rationale behind the changes in this patch. Let's begin with one of the hottest topics: Creeps. [h2]Creep Snowballing[/h2] In our last balance patch, we made adjustments that lowered the overall difficulty of taking Creeps while increasing the bounties they granted. The aim was to speed up the early game by injecting additional resources into the economy and encouraging players to build larger early-game armies to help contest the map. In these respects, the changes were highly successful, and we're pleased with how the early-game pacing has evolved. However, these changes have also brought two significant downsides: [olist] [*] Creeping has become more rewarding than expanding, which isn't our goal. Ideally, both strategies should be equally viable. [*] A unit’s strength is now more tied to its effectiveness at Creeping. Units that excel at Creeping, such as SCOUTs, Gaunts, Vectors, and Seraphims, are able to dominate the map and snowball the game. [/olist] To address these issues, we’re implementing a change that will hopefully strike a balance between Patch 0.0.0 and patch 0.0.1. [h3]Changes:[/h3] [list] [*] Creeps will now grant 25% less resource bounty across the board. [/list] Additionally, we’re making the following adjustments to specific camps to reduce their "win-more" potential: [list] [*] Health camp active healing reduced from 8 to 4 per second. [*] Speed camp active speed bonus duration reduced from 30 to 20 seconds. [/list] We're taking a cautious approach to these creep changes to stabilize the game, but we have several ideas for future improvements, and we’d love to hear your feedback on them! [list] [*] Maintain current Creep power levels, but make them take longer to kill and reduce their damage output. [*] Further differentiate Creep camps by varying their starting power levels. [*] Prevent non-resource Creep camps from being able to be recaptured by the opposing team. [*] Adjust the rate at which resource bounties increase as Creep camps level. [/list] [h2]Matchups[/h2] According to our internal metrics, Infernals are currently the leading race with a 52% win rate in non-mirror matches, followed by Vanguard at 50% and Celestials at 48%. This is a shift from the previous patch, where Celestials held a 53% win rate, Infernals were at 50%, and Vanguard were at 47%. Although overall win rates seem reasonable at first glance, matchup-specific win rates remain heavily skewed, showing similar patterns as before: V > I > C > V. Before diving deeper into each matchup, I want to touch on our approach for this patch. Given the significant impact that Creeps are having on gameplay, we expect the game to enter an unpredictable state after the upcoming Creep changes. For this reason, we’re focusing on releasing a patch quickly to address Creeps and make some adjustments that we feel confident about. After we’ve seen the effects on the metagame, we’ll be better positioned to make more informed decisions and changes in the upcoming planned content patch in September, which will include additional bug fixes and code improvements. Now, let’s get into the specifics of each matchup: [h2]Vanguard vs. Infernals[/h2] Despite changes in the last patch, Infernals continue to hold a strong early-game advantage, while Vanguard tends to gain the upper hand about 10 minutes into the game. The primary shift between patches seems to be at the highest level of play, where Infernal players have been having great success with the Hexen’s Miasma. Those who use it effectively are seeing very high win rates against Vanguard. Although we believe the metagame has not fully developed to reveal which faction is favored at the top level, our interpretation of the matchup data is that the average player finds the Infernals vs. Vanguard matchup difficult to navigate intuitively. We plan to make a few small changes to address the following issues: [h3]Issue #1: Infernals’ early-game advantage is too strong.[/h3] [quote]Nightfall Infestation - [list] [*] Now requires a Greater Shrine [*] Animus cost reduced from 25 to 20. [/list][/quote] One of the Infernals' major power spikes is the ability to summon five Fiends from the first Nightfall Infestation, making it challenging for opponents to compete on the map with this timing. We’re moving this ability to tier 2 while also buffing it, as it sees limited use beyond the initial creeping phase. A rework of this ability is planned for a future patch. [h3]Issue #2: Vanguard Infantry balls are too powerful, and countering them requires more skill than using them.[/h3] [quote]Imp - Flame On ignition duration decreased from 1.5 seconds to 1 second.[/quote] We’re adjusting Flame On to provide a more dynamic counter to Vanguard Infantry balls, returning the ignition timing to that of the "Elephant" beta patch. [quote]Gaunt - [list] [*] Primary damage increased from 6 (+3 vs. Light) to 8 (+2 vs. Light). [*] Secondary damage decreased from 2 (+1 vs. Light) to 2 (+0.5 vs. Light). [*] Weapon period increased from 1 to 1.3. [/list][/quote] While many refer to Vanguard’s "Exo Balls," we believe "Infantry Balls" is a more accurate term since Lancers contribute as much to the issue as Exos do. Infernals struggle to break through Lancer walls and reach the vulnerable Exos. These changes will improve the Gaunt’s performance against Lancers while reducing their power in other situations. With these adjustments, the Gaunt will: [list] [*] Deal 26% more damage to Lancers. [*] Trigger Kinetic Redirection 30% less often. [*] Deal 8% less damage to non-Light, non-Lancer units. [*] Deal 30% less damage to Light units. [/list] [h3]Issue #3: The Hexen’s Miasma is too strong at its current tech level and is oppressive on our current maps.[/h3] [quote]Miasma radius decreased from 5 to 4[/quote] This ability is too effective at forcing Vanguard players into checkmate situations, particularly due to its AoE size relative to the narrow corridors on our maps. We plan to revisit this ability in future patches. [h3]Issue #4: Weavers are killing Command Posts faster than intended.[/h3] [quote]Weaver - Anti-structure damage decreased from 10% to 7.5%.[/quote] [h2]Vanguard vs. Celestials[/h2] This matchup is currently dominated by aggressive early-game openers like Proxy Vectors and Seraphim. We believe this is exacerbated by the amount of resources provided by Creeps, though these strategies would still be problematic even without Creeps. [quote]Vector - [list] [*] Movement speed reduced from 6 to 5. [*] Recall upgrade now increases movement speed by 30% (from 5 to 6.5). [/list][/quote] This change should help early-game SCOUTs compete with Vectors while still allowing Vectors to function as effective anti-air units later in the game. We are monitoring the position of the Ascension Chamber on the tech tree, as it could impact this dynamic. [quote]Hornet - Fixed a bug that prevented it from dealing bonus damage to air units correctly. Effective anti-air damage increased from 13 to 13 (+13 vs. Light).[/quote] This bug fix should make Hornets a strong counter to Seraphims. We’ll be closely watching their effectiveness against Prisms as well. [quote]Scythe - Ground unit damage reduced from 8 (+8 vs. Heavy) to 6 (+6 vs. Heavy).[/quote] Players have expressed that Scythes are generally too strong, particularly against Vanguard, which lacks a solid anti-Light, anti-air ground unit. While the new Hornets will help counter Scythes, we want Vanguard’s ground options to be more competitive while sharpening the Scythe’s role. This is a matchup we expect to change drastically after these changes, and our hope is that we’re able to receive better matchup data about how a standard macro game plays out after these changes. [h2]Infernals vs. Celestials[/h2] While Celestials received some much-needed late-game buffs in the last patch, they lost their ability to secure early-game wins through rushes and Kri runbys, both of which were rightfully nerfed. As a result, Infernals remain favored in this matchup, but the advantage is now more consistent across all stages of the game, not just the late game. We believe the main reasons for this are: [h3]Issue #1: Celestials lose mid-game Creep wars due to Gaunts excelling at both Creeping and frontal engagements.[/h3] Our current plan is to implement the aforementioned changes to Creeps and Gaunts, then evaluate their impact on this matchup. [h3]Issue #2: Celestials struggle in straight-up fights against Infernals for a few key reasons:[/h3] [list] [*] Lack of a reliable frontline. [*] Inability to handle the constant spawning of Fiends. [/list] We’re making the following adjustments to help address these issues: [quote] Scythe - Fixed a bug that caused it to deal incorrect damage to air units. It was dealing 7 (+7 vs. Heavy) instead of the intended 12 (+12 vs. Heavy).[/quote] [quote]Saber - [list] [*] Damage changed from 52 (+52 vs. Heavy) to 60 (+30 vs. Heavy). [*] Area line damage increased from 25% to 50% of primary damage. Effective damage increased from 13 (+13 vs. Heavy) to 30 (+15 vs. Heavy). [/list][/quote] This will allow Sabers to more effectively deal with Fiends spawned from Gaunts. [quote] Archangel - [list] [*] Bonus health provided by Avatar increased from 250 to 400. [*] Meteor Strike can now only target locations, not units. This prevents a bug where the damage would be applied to the unit’s original location. [/list][/quote] This change gives Celestials a more reliable late-game frontline but does not fully address the issue of Magmadons being able to push Archangels. We plan to prevent Resilient units from being pushed in a future patch. [h3]Issue #3: Celestials’ maxed-out army is weaker than that of the Infernals.[/h3] [quote]Arcship - Supply cost reduced from 5 to 0.[/quote] [quote]Arcstation - Supply cost reduced from 7 to 0.[/quote] [quote]Arcfortress - Supply cost reduced from 10 to 0.[/quote] In addition to unit-based changes, we want to give Celestials more supply flexibility in late-game situations and encourage more Arcship production. We plan to further rebalance Celestial supply costs in future patches. Something we could foresee happening is massed Arcships or Arcfortresses in maxed-out late-game situations, so we’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that. [h2]Infernals vs. Infernals[/h2] Magmadons are currently the dominant force in this matchup. A common piece of feedback is that the way Magmadons interrupt each other’s Trample ability feels random, so we’re implementing the following change: [quote] Magmadon - Magmadons can no longer stun each other with their Trample ability.[/quote] Weavers are intended to counter Magmadons, and we’re planning an update that will allow Weavers to move over other units again. However, we’ve also received concerns that even with this change, Weavers may still struggle to counter Magmadons effectively due to their low mobility. We’re exploring additional options to address this issue. [h2]Collection Array Vulnerability[/h2] Collection Arrays are a bit more vulnerable to harassment than we’d like. This is most notable in the Celestial mirror with Argent runbys being incredibly powerful and against Shadowflyers, which can get easy kills from Divebomb. [quote]Collection Array - [list] [*] Health increased from 500 to 800. [*] Morph time decreased from 30 seconds to 20 seconds. [/list][/quote] [h1]Looking Forward[/h1] Though we aren’t making any changes that directly impact the following issues, here’s a few more items we’ll be keeping a close eye on. [h2]Vanguard vs. Vanguard[/h2] This matchup is currently dominated by mass SCOUT openings, a trend that has been amplified by the increased strength of Creeps. SCOUTs offer significant harassment and Creeping potential, while Lancers don’t counter them effectively enough—especially in comparison to how easily Exos defeat Lancers. We plan to make adjustments to the interactions between these units in the future, but first, we want to observe how this matchup evolves after the Creep changes and see the degree to which SCOUTs remain the central focus. [h2]Celestials vs. Celestials[/h2] The main issue we see in this matchup is that players are often locked into Argent vs. Argent battles for too long, particularly on smaller maps. We believe this is due to Argents being too strong without upgrades and Kri no longer serving as an effective counter to Argents compared to the previous patch. Since Argents are a core unit of the faction, we’d like to wait for the early-game meta to stabilize across all Celestial matchups before making any major changes. [h2]Kri[/h2] The Kri are currently in a peculiar situation across all three matchups. We've received feedback indicating they feel underpowered, though we believe the situation is more nuanced. Against Vanguard, the Kri can still be extremely strong at key moments, but their effectiveness seems to wane as armies grow larger. When facing Infernals, opinions on their performance vary, though there's a general agreement that they struggle as frontline units, particularly when Magmadons enter the field. Against Celestials, the Kri are intended to counter Argents in the mid-game, but they are not fulfilling this role as effectively as intended. Given the complexities surrounding this unit, we're holding off on making changes for now as we gather more data [h2]And More![/h2] In addition to the major points mentioned earlier, we'll be working on streamlining upgrades and boosting certain underperforming units in the upcoming patch—specifically, Graven, Spriggan, and the Aeon Gate. During this period, we'll be closely monitoring tournament results and gameplay data to assess the impact of these adjustments. Speaking of tournaments, if you'd like to watch top-tier Stormgate play immediately after the patch, tune into the [url=https://liquipedia.net/stormgate/Aureil_Stormgate_Tournament]Aureil Stormgate Tournament[/url] tomorrow, Friday, August 23, at 5 PM CEST/11 AM ET/8 AM PT on one of the following channels: [list] [*] BeoMulf [EN]: [url=https://www.twitch.tv/beomulf]https://www.twitch.tv/beomulf[/url] [*] IndyStarCraft [PL]: [url=https://www.twitch.tv/indystarcraft]https://www.twitch.tv/indystarcraft[/url] [*] ProMeTheus [FR]: [url=https://www.twitch.tv/prometheus112]https://www.twitch.tv/prometheus112[/url] [*] AdnelloK [DE]: [url=https://www.twitch.tv/adnellok]https://www.twitch.tv/adnellok[/url] [/list] If you've made it this far, we truly appreciate your time and support, and we look forward to chatting again soon. Cheers, Kevin Dong Lead Competitive Designer