Balancing is Live!
Greetings Lunacians!
We’re happy to announce that a round of balancing changes has just been deployed!
Balancing the battle system is a critical aspect of enriching the Axie ecosystem and we take it very seriously.
Our approach to balancing is both quantitative and qualitative. We analyze data related to trends from Arena and tournament play while also keeping a close eye on feedback coming from the community. We also notice the pretty transparent attempts at lobbying that happens so we take much of the feedback with a grain of salt.
We’re also willing to take risks and possibly break things to perform experiments. An overly cautious mindset to balancing can be a risk in the long run as it limits creativity and design space.
If you have any feedback on the PvP experience in Axie make sure to join the discussion in our #battle-balancing channel in Discord!
Bamboo and Merry
We made the “chain” bonus for Bamboo and Merry easier to trigger. Players correctly pointed out that requiring the bonuses to be triggered by another Merry or another Bamboo card was too limiting. For example, the extra defense provided by merry is almost always only relevant if an Axie is positioned up front. This meant that the bonus was only meaningful for one of the Axies in the chain.
Healing
We increased the amount of healing done by Silence Whisper and Strawberry Shortcake. These cards had lost much of their relevance recently and think that the boosts will make them more viable.
Speed Manipulation
We understand that striking first is a huge advantage in the battle system and wanted to provide some new mechanisms for speed manipulation. Lagging, Arco, and Incisor have been modified for this purpose.
Reflect Damage
The reflect damage cards have been modified to be a bit more punishing to attackers. Going on an “all out attack” should not be a no-brainer and these cards should help increase the mind games around this tactic. Bulwark was seeing limited use relative to options such as Red Ear and Pumpkin and hope to see this iconic part back in the mix moving forward.
Wall Gecko
We found that the Wall Gecko effect was a bit confusing and could be achieved through a simpler mechanism.
Critical Strike Chance
One issue that was showing up both in the data and the community’s feedback was the very high critical strike rate for birds and aquatic Axies. These Axies already have high damage output and a speed advantage— having a healthy amount of critical strike chance meant the drawback of playing these classes was very low. We’re currently testing a way to balance this mechanic, it didn’t make it into today’s changes but expect something soon!
That’s it for now!
The Axie Infinity Team
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