Heroes 5.5 balance patch with a lot of new skills and features (RC15 Beta 7)

Author: Liso1 July 11, 2022 0 Comments

Since there has been a significant increase in PvP games and streams, a lot of remaining balance issues were discovered (mostly war machines).  A lot of new tech was discovered and too valuable to not implement before releasing the campaigns, so today Heroes 5.5 team release Beta 7. A balance patch with a lot of new skills and features.

Earthquake can be cast outside sieges and inflict a small amount (20 + 2 * SP) of physical dmg to all creatures (this tactically serves to counter low tier 1-unit stacks)

Heroes 5.5 RC15 Beta 7 changelog:

Summoning magic
Earthquake can be cast outside sieges and inflict a small amount (20 + 2 * SP) of physical dmg to all creatures (this tactically serves to counter low tier 1-unit stacks)
tremors perk no longer exists as it is now part of earthquake spell, mana burst perk teaches earthquake spell
summon elementals now always summons earth by default.
added 3 new perks in summoning magic each allowing to select another elemental type to summon.
rearranged DBC bonuses in summoning magic
nerfed summon elementals amount from 1.8 * SP to 1.5 * SP at expert level and increased mana cost to 20
you no longer get a 40% bonus for fire elementals
air elementals -1 initiative
nerfed tieru and zehir amount of summons
increased wasp swarm dmg to 10,12,15,18 * SP
increased initiative of wasp hive by 1
set wasp swarm atb reduction to 0.2,0.25,0.3,0.4
increased multiplier of swarm queen specialization to 0.02
probably fixed hero specs summoning extra stacks in HvH LAN fights

Destructive magic
elemental balance perk is moved to destructive and placed after master of storms
buffed effect of master of storms to x0.5 ATB reduction
increased damage of meteor shower to ice bolt level and mana cost to 32
increased damage of stone spikes to eldritch arrow level with lower base and increased cost to 12
ignite perk adds 50% instead of 33% dmg per round.
decreased mana cost of fireball to 20 mana, ice bolt to 8 mana, circle of winter to 24 mana
adjusted various mana pools of creatures and hero specs to the new spell costs
the evercold icicle, emberstone necklace and emerald slippers also regenerate 2 mana per day
banish base damage is a bit higher

SP and mana buffs are moved around to have skills compete better with each other
secrets of destruction now gives knowledge per level and replaces pariah.
occultism gives spellpower bonus based on level and also works for destructive.
arcane brilliance perk also gives spellpower per level instead of mana regen.
twilight and dark exaltation give mana regen instead of SP at higher level.
swapped knowledge and spellpower bonuses between detain and weaken perks in process of reducing their text.
chieftains can now learn casters luck and gain +12 spellpower from it.
tribal rituals now also gives +4 mana regeneration.

New spymaster and siege master perk
New perk: Siege master now merges quadruple catapult with +3 movement speed in sieges in one perk.
New perk: Spymaster, supports games where heroes can never return to town (see screenshot)

Other
changed ARMG ladder template B to have T5 dwelling on zone 1, T6 in zone 2 and T7 in zone 3
unupgrade brawlers made more durable +5Hp, -1 initiative, +Bash ability
modified all ghosts to be less tanky and more aggressive, -5Hp,+1dmg/-3HP,-1D,+1maxdmg/-4HP,+1 initiative
reduced hydra/wyvern regeneration to 40-60HP per turn
nerfed regeneration spell from 60% + 6% per SP to 60% + 4% per SP at expert level
mining skill is a bit better as it no longer has a chance for 1 gold
counterspell now cost x2 the opposed spell again, because it is much stronger after being moved
resurrection artifacts no longer work per stack, but overall

BUGS
fixed staff of saint resurrection looping
fixed band of conjurer giving DBC bonus
fixed evercold icicle not obtainable in battle sites
fixed bart still boosting summon elem spell power
fixed calid starting with too much knowledge
fixed sylsai not called trickster
fixed orson getting extra zombies per week
fixed laszlo not getting extra swordsman on duel template
davius and malustar no longer start with war machines
fixed luck penalty on unicorn hornbow and penalty can now be removed with treebron quiver
fixed a lot of wrong creature names in hero spec and building descriptions
fixed description of enlightenment and learning giving the impression all primary stats are increased
fixed mysticism and refined mana text