Arena of Valor (AoV) - Taiwan Hero Changes and Commentary 11/6

November 9, 2018 Taku Bou Arena of Valor (AoV) 17

A patch has recently come out on Arena of Valor's Taiwan server. We take a peek at it to see what is coming to western Arena of Valor servers in a future patch.

The time has come once again for Taiwan to update their servers, and with that we get a preview of what is to come to the western servers of the game. These notes are completely comprised of hero changes, all of the game’s core systems remaining the same.

Hero Changes

Baldum

Wild Charge
  • Cooldown Time Reduced: 12/11.6/11.2/10.8/10.4/10 seconds → 10/9.6/9.2/8.8/8.4/8 seconds
Wild Stomp
  • Now deals double damage to monsters.
  • Damage Reduction Increased: 15/18/21/24/27/30% → 25/30/35/40/45/50%
  • Hitting monsters or heroes will now reduce the cooldown by 0.3 seconds rather than just heroes.

A number of nice improvements to Baldum here. Being able to use Wild Charge more frequently will make Baldum more valuable in setting up ganks and team fights. The star of the show is the additional damage reduction provided by Wild Stomp. This will allow him to greatly protect his team from the middle of team fights and give his allies a heavy edge.

Zephys

Death Rift
  • Base Physical Damage Decreased: 190/214/238/262/286/310 (+1.0 AD) → 175/200/225/250/275/300 (+1.0 AD)
  • Bonus Basic Attack Damage Increased: 85/97/109/121/133/145 (+1.5 AD) → 175/200/225/250/275/300 (+1.3 AD)
Death’s Flurry
  • Cooldown Time Rescaled: 8/7.2/6.4/5.6/4.8/4 seconds → 5 seconds

The first we’ve seen in a while that’s not just straight buffs for Zephys. This moves his power around, forcing him to normally attack his targets for full damage. That said, his overall damage will be quite higher should he succeed. The amount gained in the basic attack far outweighs what was lost in the dash. Death’s Flurry is rescaled, making it a bit less effective at max level, but making it more effective at almost all other ranks.

Rourke

Scattershot
  • Buildings no longer take reduced damage
Charged Shot
  • Duration of Enhanced Attack: 1.5 → 4 seconds

Rourke should be a bit better at taking down towers, something I’m sure many readers are rather scared of. He won’t be half as effective at it as he was when broken, however. This won’t make him even as effective as tower killers like Omen or Kil’groth. The longer enhancement on Charged Shot is really nice. It will make Rourke incredibly mobile and thereby help him when enemies try to escape his ultimate.

Riktor

Battle Instinct
  • Movement Speed Boost Increased: 40% → 50%
  • Duration of Movement Speed Boost: 1 second → 0.5 seconds
Jungle Strike
  • Physical Damage Decreased: 150~300 (+0.8 AD) → 125~275 (+0.8 AD)
  • Duration of Movement Speed Boost: 1 second → 0.5 seconds
  • Enhanced Normal Attack Magic Damage Decreased: 25~150 → 0~120
  • Range of ability with each buff reduced
  • Area of effect with grass buff changed from a fan to a rectangle. Range was reduced: 500 units → 450 units
Retaliate
  • Other abilities cannot be used while using the ability with grass or water buffs, as was the case with the land buff

We have less of an idea here on how this will affect Riktor, as he is not yet in Tencent servers. That said, his dominance in Eastern servers shows the need for a nerf, so seeing one come out so quickly is nice.

Tel’annas

Eagle Eye
  • Physical and Magical Damage Increased: 40/48/56/64/72/80 (+0.55 AD) → 50/58/66/74/82/90 (+0.55 AD)
  • Effect Removed: While active, normal attacks place an additional stack of the movement speed reducing effect
Penetrating Shot
  • Damage Increased: 180/210/240/270/300/330 (+1.0 AD) → 275/335/395/455/515/575 (+0.6 AD)
  • Effect Removed: The arrows lose 20% damage for each enemy hit, up to 40% damage loss.
  • Effect Added: Each enemy hit increases Tel’annas’ movement speed by 20% for 1 second
Arrow of Chaos
  • Effect Removed: Tel’annas gains 30% movement speed for 2 seconds.

Full disclosure, something might be missing from the Eagle Eye changes. The patch notes mentioned a bug, though whether the bug alone was removed or if the full effect was removed was unclear. Moving the movement speed to Penetrating Shot is nice, giving the girl a much-needed escape mechanism.

Yorn

Fierce Shot
  • Damage Increased: 75 (1 +4 per level) (+0.4 AD) → 75 (1 +6 per level) (+0.4 AD)

Some additional damage to Fierce Shot helps give Yorn back a bit more of his past late game power without making him overbearing. It’s good to see attention given to the immobile marksman after he fell behind others.

Ryoma

Wailing Blade
  • Damage Increased: 320/360/400/440/480/520 (+2 AD) → 350/395/440/485/530/575 (+2.1 AD)

I mean, I’ll take a bit more Ryoma power. Given his lower defenses for a side laner, it is important that he has damage to remain relevant. This shouldn’t put him over the edge. Shouldn’t. But pay Ryoma players a bit more mind after the patch.

Wonder Woman

Sword and Shield
  • Maximum Damage to Monsters Increased: 100 → 1000

This will help Wonder Woman when jungling or side laning. Epic creatures, in particular, will be much easier to tear down, allowing Wonder Woman’s team some extra control of the battlefield.

Lumburr

Rampage
  • Cooldown Decreased: 15/14/13/12/11/10 seconds → 12/11.4/10.8/10.2/9.6/9 seconds
  • Mana Cost Decreased: 80/90/100/110/120/130 → 75/80/85/90/95/100
Earth Splitter
  • Cooldown Decreased: 40/35/30 seconds → 36/33/30 seconds
  • Mana Cost Decreased: 150/180/210 → 120/140/160

Lumburr needed some extra love and being able to use his abilities more frequently is one of the best ways he could have received it. The ability focused support needs to be able to disrupt enemies frequently if he hopes of maintaining relevance throughout the match.

Ilumia

Divine Light
  • Added a Timer for when Enhanced Divine Light is Available.
  • Enhanced Divine Light Damage Decreased: 2x → 1.6x
  • Enhanced Divine Light now deals additional damage through it’s entire travel time and explosion, rather than just in the explosion.

I don’t fully know what to think about this one. We weren’t aware of the damage difference until this announcement so it is hard to say just how this will affect Ilumia. More consistent damage is always a good thing, however, and with how more people have been favoring the goddess lately, maybe this will give her some more room to shine?

Zanis

Tail Sweep
  • Attack Speed Bonus Increased: 50% → 200%
  • Attack Speed Bonus Duration Decreased: 5 seconds → 3.5 seconds
  • Cooldown Decreased: 9/8.6/8.2/7.8/7.4/7 seconds → 8/7.7/7.4/7.1/6.8/6.5 seconds
  • New Effect: Gain 10/12/14/16/18/20% Life Steal if an enemy unit is hit.
Dragon’s Wrath
  • True Damage Decreased: 80/130/180 (+0.4 AD) → 70/110/150 (+0.35 AD)
  • Cooldown Increased: 24/20/16 seconds → 24/22/20 seconds
  • Effect Removed: 20% Damage Reduction

A pretty substantial buff to Zanis, allowing for some rather heavy periods of burst damage. He won’t be quite as tanky now, but can use some of the spaces he previously used for attack speed to make up for that. This could lead to a popularity spike for the dragoon

Kriknak

Bite
  • Additional Damage Decreased: 100 (+1.0 additional AD) → 80 (+1.0 additional AD)
Terrifying Plague
  • Physical Damage Decreased: 410/465/520/575/630/685 (+1.6 Additional AD) → 360/420/480/540/600/660 (+1.5 Additional AD)
  • Magical Damage Decreased: 10 (+0.02 Additional AD)% of target HP → 8 (+0.02 Additional AD)% of target HP

Kriknak really needed toning down, far too explosive for most players to counter. while this won’t exactly neuter the assassin, it will help players resist his attacks and thereby survive long enough to fight back.

Y’bneth

Natural Affinity
  • Health Regeneration Decreased: 80 (+15/level) → 45 (+18/level)
Wicked Thorns
  • Physical Damage Rescaled: 270 (+40/level) (0.8 AD) → 250 (+50/level) (0.8 AD)
  • Cooldown Time: 5/4.7/4.4/4.1/3.8/3.5 seconds → 6/5.5/5/4.5/4/3.5 seconds
Branching Out
  • Physical Damage Rescaled: 340 (+45/level) (+0.85 AD) → 285 (+55/level) (+0.95 AD)

A very minor nerf that makes it a bit harder for Y’bneth to snowball. It doesn’t look like nearly enough to really affect him, so he should still be hilariously strong.

The Joker

Canned Laughter
  • Physical Damage Increased: 440/560/680 (+2.4 AD) → 530/715/900 (+2.4 AD)

Tencent continues to pump power into the Joker, refusing to let a DC hero fall too far down the tier list. This is a flat boost to his burst will will make The Joker even harder to approach.

Ignis

Fire Crash
  • Damage Decreased: 320/380/440/500/560/620 (+0.5 AP) → 340/380/420/460/500/540 (+0.4 AP)

For what may be the first time in the history of nerfing Ignis, this one is a bit justified. The mage received a huge power spike when his passive was adjusted, making him a terror in the right hands. This will help tone the mage down, making approaching him a bit easier and fighting him more reasonable.

Lindis

Piercing Gaze
  • Physical Damage on Third Strike Decreased: 125/210/295/380/465/550 (+0.2 AD) → 160/210/260/310/360/410 (+0.2 AD)
Lunar Champion
  • Physical Damage Decreased: 160/240/320 (+1.0 AD) → 160/220/280 (+1.0 AD)

Having long stood as one of the game’s best junglers, Lindis gets a bit of a hit to her all powerful damage. The marksman should still be able to rip enemies apart, but will need a bit longer to get there and a few items to hit the same power level.

Roxie

Wild Fire
  • Magic Damage Decreased: 35/45/55/65/75/85 (+0.16 AP) → 28/36/44/52/60/68 (+0.2 AP)
Agnie’s Grasp
  • 45/40/35 seconds → 50/45/40 seconds

Tencent won’t rest until they’ve taken away all of Roxie’s stats. The previous changes to Agnie’s grasp did a lot for her power, but the constant stat nerfs is getting close to knocking her out of viability amongst other side lane heroes.

Taara

HP per Level Increased: 278.3 → 328.3

Fighting Spirit
  • Attack Damage per 1% Life Lost Increased: 2-5% → 3-6%

A bit of additional attack to help offset all the survivability that she lost. This will help her out a bit, but players have yet to really figure out how this new Taara plays.

Raz

Power Surge
  • Magic Damage Decreased: 500/580/660/740/820/900 (+0.93 AP) → 500/570/640/710/780/850 (+0.9 AP)

Raz’s popularity seems to have caught up with him, catching Tencent’s attention and getting a nerf in the process. The amount is minor, allowing captain hands to stay one of the better mages, but players will have an easier time when struck with fireballs.

The Flash

Super Speed
  • Cooldown Decreased: 11/10.4/9.8/9.2/8.6/8 seconds → 10/9.4/8.8/8.2/7.6/7 seconds

A small cooldown reduction to help keep The Flash strong. Players had figured him out, making him less present in fight, but still rather effective. Hopefully this won’t push the hero over the edge as Tencent tries to keep DC heroes at the top of the tier lists.

Mina

Movement Speed Decreased: 390 → 380

Mina had become one of the most popular supports in organized play. Given her tendency to buy movement enhancing items, lowering her base movement speed isn’t a bad move. She should have an easier time keeping her ponytail holder in place as she dashes around the battlefield, at least.

Kahlii

Base Attack Increased: 157 → 167

A bit of an odd change, but not necessarily the worst. Kahlii players need to focus on their auto attacks more than others, so the added strength should help them keep that in mind. This will primarily lead to a stronger early game to help Kahlii keep up with the other, powerful mages in the game.

Natalya

Base Armor: 83 → 91

HP per Level: 190.8 → 202

Buffing the defensive powers of immobile mages is one of the best ways to keep them in stride with their more mobile counterparts. Natalya in particular can use the health well, having to stand completely still when channelling her ultimate. That said, she might not have been the best candidate for the buff, already having gotten some popularity due to her damage.

Mganga

Mganga

Movement Speed Increased: 350 → 360
Attack Speed per Level Increased: 1% → 2%

More mobility is always welcome and Mganga sure did need some. Being able to move between the lanes more swiftly will help loads when it comes to ganking. The extra attack speed additionally means more Voodoo Marks and more poison damage. Overall, this should help push Mganga up to being a more common pick in the middle lane.

Batman

The Dark Knight
  • The Dark Knight cannot be interrupted
  • Batman is untargetable when casting The Dark Knight

This all seems to apply to when casting the damage portion of The Dark Knight rather than the invisibility. Having a way to dodge fire can help with Batman’s survivability, something that he struggled with quite a bit. In addition, he will have even more of an upperhand in ganks. As the meta is moving more towards assassin junglers, making the Caped Crusader even more viable should help whichever team wasn’t able to lock in Kriknak.

Murad

Rift
  • Attack Power Bonus Increased: 5% → 24 (+ 3 per 2 levels)

This will need some observation before we fully understand how this affects the assassin. My first impression is that it will give him a stronger early game at the expense of his later game. This should help him get his items a bit faster, but turns him even more into a snowball hero. If players can’t get an early lead, they’ll have an extremely hard time catching up.

Elsu

Arena of Valor Elsu

Fixed a bug with Sentinel

The infamous bug that has been keeping Elsu out of the Tencent servers. I hope this doesn’t mean that we have to wait until the next patch for the Sniper to be released.

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17 Comments

  1. They must nerf natalya. natalya is now op, the damage of the first kill the range plus armor. while ignis is now a bit weaken. And now they keep releasing an op heroes like riktor and florentino. and we have only two bans in the draft mode. i think some players like are not convince with this latest version

    Reply

  6. I dont see that ybeneth will be really nerfed. His early game yes, but in lategame he will actually be stronger.since adc and mage hit powerspikes, lategame ybeneth is more managable, but still,i dont understand why not a straigt nerf as he was nore than powerfull enough

    Reply

  8. I think you understated Taara’s buff, that’s a LOT of Hp added onto her, and considering how low her base stats were before, it should massively help with the more aggressive Taara playstyle we’ve been given. Right now, she’s meant to have a strong initiate and good capability to deal damage, buffing her rather trash base Hp and damage is a massively needed boost on herm and I know because I’ve been playing her hardcore since the rework. She Has a TON of potential to play like an assassin-warrior, oddly enough, the main thing preventing that being how squishy she is without items, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this actually pushes her up a tier, assuming people realize she simply cannot be a tank while virtually every other tank in the game has support potential right now, and Taara purely focuses on damage.

    Also if Tencent is gonna keep nerfing Lindis they should try making her viable outside of the Jungle TBH.

    Reply

    • It is not clear if it is a nerf. It looked more like a rescaling, making her damage more consistent and a bit less powerful as a result. I think that she will come out a bit easier now, as she will be doing more damage to anyone who wasn’t landing her spells perfectly over 60% of the time.

      Reply

    • It is a total nerf to Illumia for no reason at all. Taking away 40% of the enhanced Divine Light power is just not okay. Illumia DL reward players with good skillshot with the double damage, stripping like 0.4 AP away just because you can’t aim is like an insult to those using Illumia regularly like me. Thus stripping away 0.4 AP affect her waveclear a lot which is one of her strenght point. Thus Illumia suffer from a case of high skill cap but low reward right now that she shouldn’t deserve this.

      Reply

      • So true, I do love Illumia and the skill mechanic is fine. This nerf no longer rewards player who can aim, but encourages the no-brain skill spamming. I think this nerf is not approriate.

        Reply

  10. I think that the patch, Elsu, and Richter will all be released simultaneously. It might be more convenient.
    Also, could you please make a Richter page? I plan on maining him. Thanks.

    Reply

  11. Hi, thanks for the dilligent work as always. Just wanted to point out that you listed Lindis’ first ability as Fire Crash, and double-listed Tel’Annas’ first ability.

    Reply