A Message From Pandaroohoo

Hail friends, I’m Pandaroohoo, a gameplay designer here at S2 Games.

 I’m going to shed some light on the focus of this patch to give you an idea of our design principles and the direction our game is headed in. The focus of this patch is the never-ending goal of hero diversity from all aspects that encompass a hero, including its strengths, weaknesses, roles, play styles, niches and even item choices.

 There are a large number of changes aimed at this direction. The first is against unskilled burst damage and also a reconsideration of the counter-play and frustration that some of our popular heroes may be causing. We also have some substantial buffs targeted at emphasizing the unique concept and mechanics of some heroes. We want to be sure that when you’re picking a hero, there is a defining reason for that pick, not just instant kill power.

 Parasite is an example of lowering burst. Parasite has some unique mechanics: jumping inside creeps, reducing enemy damage and stealing buffs. All of these mechanics become second rate once Parasite obtains a Codex. Why worry about utility when you can always kill whoever you want by just clicking on them. By toning down Parasite’s damage specifically with Codex, we can begin looking into putting more emphasis on his other mechanics, keeping him still as a burst hero, but reinforcing the reasons you pick him up over others.

 Night Hound is our example of alleviating frustration. We made a substantial change to his pounce skill, no longer always appearing behind the target. This puts a large emphasis on the decision for the enemy to play against Night Hound, allowing them to effectively turn and fight avoiding backstab entirely. By adding a counter play aspect, it gives us avenues to even increase the effectiveness of backstab or pounce later on but still reserving the concept and counter play.

 An old icon and a good footprint in the game, Maliken has some interesting mechanics about him that have fallen behind in strength. With our reinforced focus towards his passive Hellbourne Zeal, Maliken is much stronger when he is low on hit points, putting more emphasis on the punishment for enemies not finishing him off while allowing the Maliken to experience more power unique to his concept. I could go on for days about the values and reasoning for our changes – in the end, this patch is given to you guys with the hopes of the never-ending improvement and longevity of our game. We will be monitoring these changes very closely and look forward to any feedback you may have.

Thanks friends!