Blitz Balancing

Ayo.

There has been a whole whack of threads discussing balance issues related to standard death match, but I haven’t seen any pertaining to Blitz, so I thought I would throw one together. I want to make clear that I am, by no means, good at Blitz, I am rather mediocre, to be honest. Nonetheless, I have noticed some issues in Blitz that I believe could use some adjusting.

1. Ironclad Hunters + Bunker Drop

  • my biggest balance issue with Blitz at the moment. Can be near impossible to break, especially if properly supported - recommend that Bunker Drop cannot be affected form the Guard trait2. Teleport (Displacement)

  • way too powerful of a card in the Blitz environment - two main issues - (issue 1): Teleport opponent’s army onto Suicide Grunt. If executed properly, will result in a complete army wipe, with next to no counter play by most leaders - (issue 2): Teleport opponent’s army into friendly base. In this scenario, all friendly units will be receiving massive healing from the base (near invincible), while the opponent’s army (or armies) are completely vulnerable. Again, little to no counter play available against this - recommend making Teleport only affect the player’s units (remove displacement characteristic) and lower energy cost3. Kodiaks in base

  • with the range buff Kodiaks received a couple patches ago, it allowed Kodiaks to attack objectives A and B from inside the player’s home base (constantly being healed). This is incredibly difficult to break and can be extremely frustrating to play against - recommend reverting Kodiak range to what it was pre-buff (for Blitz only). This would allow the Kodiak to still be usable, but not be able to attack most of the map from the safety of the home base, resulting in more strategic placement and players having to protect their artillery4. Specialty cards

  • one of the most important type of cards to posses in Blitz, however, Banished has access to two universal rush cards (Assault Elites/Grunt Mob) while UNSC only has one (Vanguard Wolverine) - recommend adding the Rush trait to another universal UNSC card. I believe one of the anti-vehicle cards (Cylclops) would make a great option - two other important card types are the Blast and Guard cards. Banished has both a universal Blast card (Suicide Grunt) and a universal Guard card (Ironclad Wraith), offering the Banished far more diversity in deck setups - recommend adding universal Blast and universal Guard card to UNSC5. Hero cards

  • from my limited time playing Blitz, one thing I have learned, is that hero cards are absolutely awful. They are far to expensive and accomplish far too little for their cost. With each leader having unique hero units, it would be nice to see these cards becoming viable to add more diversity among the leaders - easiest solution is to simply lower hero card energy costs, though, not too much, as we risk them becoming too cost effective6. Energy Collection

  • one of the most important lessons I learned from Blitz, is that the player(s) who collect the first few energy drops will likely win the match - unfortunately, I don’t see any solution that doesn’t involve reworking the entire energy collection mechanic, but it’s something to keep in mind7. Starting Armies

  • certain starting armies are far superior to other starting armies (looking at you Atriox and Shipmaster) - as with previous issue, I don’t see any solution that doesn’t involve reworking starting armiesAnyways, that wraps up my list. I will add more to this as I think of more and see the suggestions of others. All of this is from my own experience, so some may disagree with me and I welcome the opinions of others here.

I also understand that most of these suggestions aren’t possible (i.e. adding Rush trait to a UNSC card), but I figured I would touch on it, nonetheless.

Thanks for reading!

> 2533274869891714;1:
> - (issue 1): Teleport opponent’s army onto Suicide Grunt. If executed properly, will result in a complete army wipe, with next to no counter play by most leaders

I pointed this out in January of last year in this thread. But, nope, no one thought it was a problem. :frowning:

> 2533274830489835;2:
> > 2533274869891714;1:
> > - (issue 1): Teleport opponent’s army onto Suicide Grunt. If executed properly, will result in a complete army wipe, with next to no counter play by most leaders
>
> I pointed this out in January of last year in this thread. But, nope, no one thought it was a problem. :frowning:

Reading some of those comments made my brain hurt.

> 2533274869891714;1:
> Ayo.
>
> There has been a whole whack of threads discussing balance issues related to standard death match, but I haven’t seen any pertaining to Blitz, so I thought I would throw one together. I want to make clear that I am, by no means, good at Blitz, I am rather mediocre, to be honest. Nonetheless, I have noticed some issues in Blitz that I believe could use some adjusting.
>
> 1. Ironclad Hunters + Bunker Drop - my biggest balance issue with Blitz at the moment. Can be near impossible to break, especially if properly supported - recommend that Bunker Drop cannot be affected form the Guard trait2. Teleport (Displacement) - way too powerful of a card in the Blitz environment - two main issues - (issue 1): Teleport opponent’s army onto Suicide Grunt. If executed properly, will result in a complete army wipe, with next to no counter play by most leaders - (issue 2): Teleport opponent’s army into friendly base. In this scenario, all friendly units will be receiving massive healing from the base (near invincible), while the opponent’s army (or armies) are completely vulnerable. Again, little to no counter play available against this - recommend making Teleport only affect the player’s units (remove displacement characteristic) and lower energy cost3. Kodiaks in base - with the range buff Kodiaks received a couple patches ago, it allowed Kodiaks to attack objectives A and B from inside the player’s home base (constantly being healed). This is incredibly difficult to break and can be extremely frustrating to play against - recommend reverting Kodiak range to what it was pre-buff (for Blitz only). This would allow the Kodiak to still be usable, but not be able to attack most of the map from the safety of the home base, resulting in more strategic placement and players having to protect their artillery4. Specialty cards - one of the most important type of cards to posses in Blitz, however, Banished has access to two universal rush cards (Assault Elites/Grunt Mob) while UNSC only has one (Vanguard Wolverine) - recommend adding the Rush trait to another universal UNSC card. I believe one of the anti-vehicle cards (Cylclops) would make a great option - two other important card types are the Blast and Guard cards. Banished has both a universal Blast card (Suicide Grunt) and a universal Guard card (Ironclad Wraith), offering the Banished far more diversity in deck setups - recommend adding universal Blast and universal Guard card to UNSC5. Hero cards - from my limited time playing Blitz, one thing I have learned, is that hero cards are absolutely awful. They are far to expensive and accomplish far too little for their cost. With each leader having unique hero units, it would be nice to see these cards becoming viable to add more diversity among the leaders - easiest solution is to simply lower hero card energy costs, though, not too much, as we risk them becoming too cost effective6. Energy Collection - one of the most important lessons I learned from Blitz, is that the player(s) who collect the first few energy drops will likely win the match - unfortunately, I don’t see any solution that doesn’t involve reworking the entire energy collection mechanic, but it’s something to keep in mind7. Starting Armies - certain starting armies are far superior to other starting armies (looking at you Atriox and Shipmaster) - as with previous issue, I don’t see any solution that doesn’t involve reworking starting armiesAnyways, that wraps up my list. I will add more to this as I think of more and see the suggestions of others. All of this is from my own experience, so some may disagree with me and I welcome the opinions of others here.
>
> I also understand that most of these suggestions aren’t possible (i.e. adding Rush trait to a UNSC card), but I figured I would touch on it, nonetheless.
>
> Thanks for reading!

I think adding 10 secs before the first energy drops will help. It is harder to react and obtain energy for slower units at startup compared to Cutter Hog and Shippy Ghosts.

Although these suggestion are great and would improve the balance in blitz, its also too late.
Some of these issues where pointed out long ago and by some of the best blitz players but, they where generally ignore or forgotten by the devs.

Good Luck on getting support for these changes but i wouldn’t hold your breath,
I’ve only seen 1 maybe 2 patches that touch on blitz and most of them where early in its development and vary small changes…

I agree with almost everything you said, except for the starting armies: Forge, Pavium, Anders, Sería and Colony have good openers, I’d rather add stuff on bad starting armies such like Kinsano or Cutter.

Even though it’s virtually imposible, as the game mode looks pretty P2W, balance regarding the card’s level, trust me even 50+ strugle if an enemy starts droping level 12+ card’s.

> 2533274847730244;6:
> I agree with almost everything you said, except for the starting armies: Forge, Pavium, Anders, Sería and Colony have good openers, I’d rather add stuff on bad starting armies such like Kinsano or Cutter.
>
> Even though it’s virtually imposible, as the game mode looks pretty P2W, balance regarding the card’s level, trust me even 50+ strugle if an enemy starts droping level 12+ card’s.

The starting armies of Shipmaster and Atriox are far better than any of those you mentioned. They offer very high energy returns when the units die and are among the best at stealing energy (especially Atriox).

Funny enough, Kinsano and Cutter have very solid starting armies. Kinsano’s starting army with two Flamehogs and a JR is very good at stealing energy and allows for quick navigation of the map. Both of Cutter’s starting armies are solid, as they offer quick mobility (Nightingale/Warthogs). Starting armies are all about energy collection, not actually fighting other units. And you want these units to die, anyways, as they are level 1 and give you an energy return.

Forge and Anders have okay starting armies, but the others you mentioned are far too slow to properly steal energy. Also not high energy returns.

Card levels are a factor, but theyre not that important. Player skill will always trump card level. To prove my point, a friend of mine, Shandi lp, took a new account (level 1-3 cards) all the way to champion a couple of times. Along the way, he walked over many, many players having much higher level cards. Having high level cards is cool and all, but proper energy control, micro, macro, deck setup, decision making, map control, and general game knowledge is far more important.

> 2533274869891714;7:
> > 2533274847730244;6:
> > I agree with almost everything you said, except for the starting armies: Forge, Pavium, Anders, Sería and Colony have good openers, I’d rather add stuff on bad starting armies such like Kinsano or Cutter.
> >
> > Even though it’s virtually imposible, as the game mode looks pretty P2W, balance regarding the card’s level, trust me even 50+ strugle if an enemy starts droping level 12+ card’s.
>
> The starting armies of Shipmaster and Atriox are far better than any of those you mentioned. They offer very high energy returns when the units die and are among the best at stealing energy (especially Atriox).
>
> Funny enough, Kinsano and Cutter have very solid starting armies. Kinsano’s starting army with two Flamehogs and a JR is very good at stealing energy and allows for quick navigation of the map. Both of Cutter’s starting armies are solid, as they offer quick mobility (Nightingale/Warthogs). Starting armies are all about energy collection, not actually fighting other units. And you want these units to die, anyways, as they are level 1 and give you an energy return.
>
> Forge and Anders have okay starting armies, but the others you mentioned are far too slow to properly steal energy. Also not high energy returns.
>
> Card levels are a factor, but theyre not that important. Player skill will always trump card level. To prove my point, a friend of mine, Shandi lp, took a new account (level 1-3 cards) all the way to champion a couple of times. Along the way, he walked over many, many players having much higher level cards. Having high level cards is cool and all, but proper energy control, micro, macro, deck setup, decision making, map control, and general game knowledge is far more important.

Don’t forget the fact that abilities start on cool down rather than be active right away, this makes the “Vicious Blades” Starting army (The Arbiter only) close to nothing.

> 2533274973993017;8:
> > 2533274869891714;7:
> > > 2533274847730244;6:
> > > I agree with almost everything you said, except for the starting armies: Forge, Pavium, Anders, Sería and Colony have good openers, I’d rather add stuff on bad starting armies such like Kinsano or Cutter.
> > >
> > > Even though it’s virtually imposible, as the game mode looks pretty P2W, balance regarding the card’s level, trust me even 50+ strugle if an enemy starts droping level 12+ card’s.
> >
> > The starting armies of Shipmaster and Atriox are far better than any of those you mentioned. They offer very high energy returns when the units die and are among the best at stealing energy (especially Atriox).
> >
> > Funny enough, Kinsano and Cutter have very solid starting armies. Kinsano’s starting army with two Flamehogs and a JR is very good at stealing energy and allows for quick navigation of the map. Both of Cutter’s starting armies are solid, as they offer quick mobility (Nightingale/Warthogs). Starting armies are all about energy collection, not actually fighting other units. And you want these units to die, anyways, as they are level 1 and give you an energy return.
> >
> > Forge and Anders have okay starting armies, but the others you mentioned are far too slow to properly steal energy. Also not high energy returns.
> >
> > Card levels are a factor, but theyre not that important. Player skill will always trump card level. To prove my point, a friend of mine, Shandi lp, took a new account (level 1-3 cards) all the way to champion a couple of times. Along the way, he walked over many, many players having much higher level cards. Having high level cards is cool and all, but proper energy control, micro, macro, deck setup, decision making, map control, and general game knowledge is far more important.
>
> Don’t forget the fact that abilities start on cool down rather than be active right away, this makes the “Vicious Blades” Starting army (The Arbiter only) close to nothing.

That starting hand has a much higher energy return than the alternative, so I wouldn’t say that. It’s not the best starting army, but that energy return is amazing.

Teleport is literally what makes ship strong. Take that away and you effectively gimp him. The only other good card he has is Spirit Support. Glassing beam used to be powerful before the nerf, it can’t kill an ironclad wraith supported by an engineer shield, so its totally useless now. So in doing this you unintentionally make the best blitz leader crap.

At most, only make it so it doesn’t teleport enemy units but still works on allies, this is another big part of team play and an advantage of communication.

> 2533274807562680;10:
> Teleport is literally what makes ship strong. Take that away and you effectively gimp him. The only other good card he has is Spirit Support. Glassing beam used to be powerful before the nerf, it can’t kill an ironclad wraith supported by an engineer shield, so its totally useless now. So in doing this you unintentionally make the best blitz leader crap.
>
> At most, only make it so it doesn’t teleport enemy units but still works on allies, this is another big part of team play and an advantage of communication.

Short answer: no.

Long answer: Teleport(displacement) is what makes Ship the best leader, but it’s not the only thing that makes him good. Ship has one the best starting armies (rivalled by only Atriox), Glassing Beam is still strong, Spirit Support is one of the best cards, and Cloak is VERY powerful, if used well.

Simply put, Displacing an army in Blitz is broken for two reasons (as stated above).

  1. Teleport + Sui Grunt
  2. Teleport enemy units to your base

Both of these have next to know counter play. A well placed Bulwark can prevent your army from being wiped by a Sui, but only Trox has access to this, so that’s not fair.

As for Displacing an army to your base, the only real counter play is having a Teleport of your own. Even if you manage to not lose all your units, the cost effectiveness of TP in this scenesrio is insane.

If TP only worked on friendly units, that would be fine. I have no issues with that, as Displacing enemy armies is the real issue.

All in all, Ship will still be good if this change were implemented, though, he may lose his top spot.

> 2533274869891714;11:
> > 2533274807562680;10:
> > Teleport is literally what makes ship strong. Take that away and you effectively gimp him. The only other good card he has is Spirit Support. Glassing beam used to be powerful before the nerf, it can’t kill an ironclad wraith supported by an engineer shield, so its totally useless now. So in doing this you unintentionally make the best blitz leader crap.
> >
> > At most, only make it so it doesn’t teleport enemy units but still works on allies, this is another big part of team play and an advantage of communication.
>
> Short answer: no.
>
> Long answer: Teleport(displacement) is what makes Ship the best leader, but it’s not the only thing that makes him good. Ship has one the best starting armies (rivalled by only Atriox), Glassing Beam is still strong, Spirit Support is one of the best cards, and Cloak is VERY powerful, if used well.
>
> Simply put, Displacing an army in Blitz is broken for two reasons (as stated above).
>
> 1. Teleport + Sui Grunt
> 2. Teleport enemy units to your base
>
> Both of these have next to know counter play. A well placed Bulwark can prevent your army from being wiped by a Sui, but only Trox has access to this, so that’s not fair.
>
> As for Displacing an army to your base, the only real counter play is having a Teleport of your own. Even if you manage to not lose all your units, the cost effectiveness of TP in this scenesrio is insane.
>
> If TP only worked on friendly units, that would be fine. I have no issues with that, as Displacing enemy armies is the real issue.
>
> All in all, Ship will still be good if this change were implemented, though, he may lose his top spot.

Teleport + Suicide is a gimmick that doesn’t work if you’re a good player who runs guard units in your army. I agree that more leaders need guard units to combat this. The only issue here is teleport to your main base. But again, a good player will micro and space his units out so displacement is not effective. If you’re sitting at your main with an army waiting for Me to bunch my units up so you can snag them and bring them to your base while I have all the points controlled on the map with three different armies, then you’re doing it wrong. This is coming from someone who managed to make it to the rank of champion without ever buying a single pack. I could see this being more of an issue in threes though.

> 2533274807562680;12:
> > 2533274869891714;11:
> > > 2533274807562680;10:
> > > Teleport is literally what makes ship strong. Take that away and you effectively gimp him. The only other good card he has is Spirit Support. Glassing beam used to be powerful before the nerf, it can’t kill an ironclad wraith supported by an engineer shield, so its totally useless now. So in doing this you unintentionally make the best blitz leader crap.
> > >
> > > At most, only make it so it doesn’t teleport enemy units but still works on allies, this is another big part of team play and an advantage of communication.
> >
> > Short answer: no.
> >
> > Long answer: Teleport(displacement) is what makes Ship the best leader, but it’s not the only thing that makes him good. Ship has one the best starting armies (rivalled by only Atriox), Glassing Beam is still strong, Spirit Support is one of the best cards, and Cloak is VERY powerful, if used well.
> >
> > Simply put, Displacing an army in Blitz is broken for two reasons (as stated above).
> >
> > 1. Teleport + Sui Grunt
> > 2. Teleport enemy units to your base
> >
> > Both of these have next to know counter play. A well placed Bulwark can prevent your army from being wiped by a Sui, but only Trox has access to this, so that’s not fair.
> >
> > As for Displacing an army to your base, the only real counter play is having a Teleport of your own. Even if you manage to not lose all your units, the cost effectiveness of TP in this scenesrio is insane.
> >
> > If TP only worked on friendly units, that would be fine. I have no issues with that, as Displacing enemy armies is the real issue.
> >
> > All in all, Ship will still be good if this change were implemented, though, he may lose his top spot.
>
> Teleport + Suicide is a gimmick that doesn’t work if you’re a good player who runs guard units in your army. I agree that more leaders need guard units to combat this. The only issue here is teleport to your main base. But again, a good player will micro and space his units out so displacement is not effective. If you’re sitting at your main with an army waiting for Me to bunch my units up so you can snag them and bring them to your base while I have all the points controlled on the map with three different armies, then you’re doing it wrong. This is coming from someone who managed to make it to the rank of champion without ever buying a single pack. I could see this being more of an issue in threes though.

Again, just no.

UNSC doesn’t have access to a universal guard card, so automatically 50% of the leaders are vulnerable to this. Moreover, the universal guard card that Banished have, Ironglad Wraith, is often not cost effective VS TP + Sui.

And to say that players always always have their units perfectly split is hilarious. I play with many of the top Blitz players, and none of them always have their units perfectly separated to avoid TP. Often, a player will have their scout units scattered around the map to collect resources, while their main force is around the ridge of B. Again, to say that units should always be perfectly separated is an absolute joke. Get real.

Congrats on getting Champ, we’ve all been there, so not sure what your point is.

You’re right about half of the leader being unviable. But that’s 343s fault on not giving every person a guard card. Doesn’t mean shippy needs to be nerfed into the ground.

> 2533274807562680;14:
> You’re right about half of the leader being unviable. But that’s 343s fault on not giving every person a guard card. Doesn’t mean shippy needs to be nerfed into the ground.

Removing one mechanic from TP isn’t nerfing him into the ground. He may no longer be the best, but he’ll still be very strong.

TP should go back to 60 power if it’s only going to be able to teleport your own units.

> 2533274811417927;16:
> TP should go back to 60 power if it’s only going to be able to teleport your own units.

Fair enough. Sounds reasonable to me.