EMBER
Since gaining new skills in V2.3, Ember has had a considerable boost in his pick rate. Match data has shown us that his Tactical Skill - Phantom Drifter is nearly always used for emergency escapes, even though its full potential is held back if not used in conjunction with his other Tactical Skill - Shadow Barrier. In this version, Ember will be able to throw a Smoke Bomb while unleashing Phantom Drifter. This allows Ember to better utilize his unique abilities to observe enemies and restore shield while inside a smoke cloud, improving his close-range combat capabilities.
Here's a few more tips! After unleashing Phantom Drifter, the weapon you're currently holding will automatically reload. You can also press RMB to cancel Phantom Drifter early. Knowing when to start and end Phantom Drifter is a crucial skill for playing Ember like a real pro!
Phantom
Phantom is designed around her stealth abilities. We want this hero to do more around this trait, making her a distinctive scout character. With this update, Phantom can now cast Tactical Skills and replenish her HP and shield while in her Ultimate's stealth mode. This will make it easier for Phantom to secretly approach a point of contention and wait in ambush.
Previously, her Tactical Skill - Origem Trap was used primarily as a long-distance crowd control ability, which caused some unintended overlap with Clearsight Grenade. Hence, we shortened the throw distance of Origem Trap and added a delay before it activates after landing. Additionally, it now slows enemies, making it function more like a trap.
Phantom players tended to use Sniper Rifles because of the bonus headshot damage granted to them by her passive. However, this had very little synergy with her other skills, so we decided to change it into a more general vulnerability effect that causes enemies to take more damage. This vulnerability effect can also be applied by any of Phantom's skills. This should give Phantom players more flexibility with weapon choice, as well as a clearer payoff for planning ahead.
Phantom's current Ultimate - Phantom Trick grants her squadmates enhanced movement speed, which is great for helping them on the assault or to retreat. The damage reduction granted by its Trait upgrade is intended to give Phantom added survivability, as she can now escape by casting her Ultimate even when enemies are close by.
The guiding idea behind these changes is to improve the synergy between Phantom's skills, while retaining her role as a stealth specialist.
This is also the first time we are featuring a vulnerability debuff in the game. The vulnerability only applies to damage inflicted by Phantom and does not affect her squadmates' damage. We are exploring ways of giving vulnerability effects to other Heroes too, so stay tuned!
Momoi
Due to changes in the game, Momoi's original ability to summon airdrops is no longer as salient as it once was. Hence, we have completely redesigned Momoi's skills so she can better assist her squadmates. Draco Joylift not only lets Momoi storm through the battlefield, but can even transport her squadmates.
Even though the dinosaur summoned by her Ultimate isn't quite as nimble as Nightwatch's Sheriff, it possesses incredible firepower and can protect Momoi.
All this makes Momoi a great choice for new Farlight 84 players, as her dinosaur helps her dish out loads of damage in addition to her weapons.
Freddie
Freddie's versatile teleportation ability has left a deep impression on many, but the animations of his Tactical Skills tend to interrupt his flow, making it hard to cast them in battle. We have thus updated the cast animations of both his Tactical Skills to reduce Freddie's downtime when casting them in various situations. Of these, E-Net is now cast from Freddie's left hand, giving him more opportunities to use it in combat. To balance this out, E-Net's area of effect and confinement duration now increase with its flight distance, giving nearby enemies a chance to avoid it.
We've observed that the previous Trait upgrade to Spectral Trap, which provided extra charges, did not significantly enhance the player's tactical options in battle. With the new Trait upgrade, the clone created by the skill will cast E-Net whenever Freddie does, which should allow for a lot of fun tactical plays. At the same time, we have reduced Spectral Trap's cooldown time.
Maggie
During the last community vote for Hero Balance, many players indicated that Maggie was overpowered. Her highly versatile movement ability proved especially difficult to counter, particularly on the mobile client, where opponents struggled to keep up with her rapid turns.
We wanted to retain Maggie's jetpack as her defining feature, while making her a more skill-based and competitive character. To do this, we changed the way she flies, so that her jet distance (including Jet Sweep from other characters) now scales with her current speed. The higher the speed, the farther she jets.
This means that opponents with skills that can slow Maggie can also restrict her jet distance, adding another layer of complexity to battle.
To balance this out, we are also giving Maggie new abilities to round out her kit. It can be easy for inexperienced players to lose track of enemy locations after using Maggie's jetpack. Hence, we've added a new Trait upgrade effect to her Tactical Skill - Jet Leap, allowing Maggie to sense the direction of enemies aiming at her. This should allow her to quickly locate enemies after a series of jets.
Other Heroes
Sunil
Added new double-jumps to provide Sunil with new strategic opportunities.
Ducksyde
The damage reduction granted to Ducksyde during Rolling Impact has been reduced, giving his opponents a chance to fight back when he's in that form.
Nightwatch
We increased Sheriff's movement speed so he can more effectively chase enemies when Nightwatch's Ultimate is activated. We'll also be giving him more fun mechanics in future patches.
Ceanna
Ceanna has two skills resupply herself and squadmates during combat. During the Vote for Hero Balance, she was considered one of the strongest Heroes in the game, and this is borne out by ranked match data as well.
When new players face Ceanna, they sometimes find her hard to challenge because her skill constantly increases the HP of herself and her squadmates. Therefore, in this version, characters will no longer benefit from Ceanna's healing when they take damage. This encourages players to strategize their actions more effectively and seek chances to use Ceanna's healing skills outside of combat.
Lucinda
Incendiary Bomb's damage has been slightly reduced to make it more of a crowd control or disruptive skill rather than a damage dealer.
Passive Skills
We are often asked to bring back Passive Skills. Actually, the Trait upgrade system is intended as an improvement to the original Passive system. The guiding idea is to allow every skill to be upgraded, giving players more room to experiment with their mechanics. Furthermore, some active skills now come with passive effects, so every Hero has at least three passive abilities in practice. We may consider bringing back the original passive effects of certain Heroes if they fit their specific roles.
We'll be bringing more improvements to the Trait system in future so every player can find a playstyle that suits them individually!
To conclude, we hope that these updates will give you more tactical options and lots of fun! Every change we make to our Heroes is based on player feedback and our design concepts, with the aim of improving the game's balance and playability. We thank you for your continued support, and hope that you'll be able to enjoy these updates on the battlefield while discovering new strategic combinations. Stay tuned for more surprises and challenges in the coming updates!
Farlight 84
