Hello everyone,

Today we're pleased to release the v3.5.3 mid-year balance patch!

As we discussed in our last patch notes, we're now switching to doing a single mid-year balance patch, with smaller hotfixes in-between, and no changes to rulebooks between editions. This balance patch features all of the changes based on feedback given to us over the last 6 months, so this is going to be a juicy one.

The main theme for this balance patch has been about toning things down. Since the release of v3.5, we've received a ton of feedback from players saying that everything has become a little too much: everything moves a little too fast, hits a little too hard, there are too many new special rules, and the games have just generally become a little more clunky. With this in mind, this patch is meant to bring things to a more stable place, with even more streamlining coming with v3.6 in September.

Mid-Year Patch & Road to v3.6

Before we get into the meat of this patch, we should speak about what this update is not, and how things will be changing with v3.6 in September.

Due to our commitment to not updating rulebooks between editions, there are certain changes that we can't make during our quarterly patches/hotfixes, because they would require us to change special rules that are present in those rulebooks. Because of that, we're applying interim solutions for a few things, to hold players over and make sure the games can be as balanced as possible whilst we wait for the next edition.

• Army-Wide Rules: We've heard your feedback that offensive army-wide rules have made the games a little too deadly, and that generally players are not enjoying the various "over 9" away" rules conditions that are littered throughout the games. With the next edition, we're going to be replacing all of those conditions with much simpler conditions based on unit actions (like Hold, Charge, etc.), which will make the games more streamlined and easier to play. Since we can't make those changes yet, we're adding conditionals to offensive army-wide boosts, so that at least the boosted lethality is a bit more in check.
• Weapon Special Rules: We've heard your feedback that there are too many weapon special rules in the games now, and that many of them are so similar too each other that things have become confusing. With the next edition we're going to be cutting the total number of weapon special rules by half, and we're going to be changing about half of those to be more unique and interesting as well. Since we can't make those changes yet, for now we've drastically cut down on the amount of weapon special rules available to the armies, so that things are more manageable.

Whilst these solutions are not perfect, we hope that they can hold you over until September, making the games more enjoyable for now.

Point Cost Changes

At the core of our games lies the point calculator, which determines the costs of everything in the game. With patch v3.5.3 we're both fixing and changing a lot of costs in the games, which means that you will need to tweak your armies a little before you play your next match.

Whilst we generally want to avoid changing point costs too much mid-edition, lots of these changes felt necessary to ensure things are more balanced, so that the games are in a healthy state. Here are a few highlights.

• Toughness Scaling: Units with Tough have an extra cost added to them, to account for the fact that they don't lose effectiveness when taking wounds compared to units without Tough. When v3.5 launched we had heavily lowered this extra cost, making Tough units much cheaper, perhaps a little too cheap. In this patch we're increasing the cost of this scaling again, trying to strike a better balance between the cost of Tough units vs non-Tough units. This means that many of your units with higher Tough (like vehicles and monsters) will be more expensive now.
• Aura Costs: Until now, the cost of Aura rules on multi-model units were all costed the same, regardless of which unit they were on. This means that an Aura cost the same on a unit of 5 models as it did on a unit of 10 models and even on a unit of 3 Tough(3) models, leading to some units severely underpaying for them. In this patch we're now basing the cost of Auras on the actual size and Tough of the unit, making things more fair for everyone. This means that many of your units of 10 models or of 3 Tough(3) models will now be paying more for their Aura upgrades (like medics and banners).
• Cost of "on 6 / re-roll 6" Rules: Thanks to the great feedback of our more mathematically-inclined, we've been able to fix the formulas behind the costs of rules that trigger on 6s (like Rending, Surge, etc.), as well as those that make enemies re-rolls 6s to block (like Bane, Lacerate, etc.). Until now, those rules were not properly taking into account the unit's Quality or the weapon's AP, and so they were undercosted on certain units and weapons. Now that we've fixed the formulas, you will see certain weapons and rules being more expensive depending on what units or weapons they're on.

We've also fixed broken costs of other rules that are not as common, as well as increased the cost of a lot of utility rules that were a little too cheap, plus we've decreased the cost of AP/Blast/Deadly scaling, which was too punishing at higher values.

Special Rules Changes

Whilst lots of changes are made on the individual army level, there are some important changes that we're making to special rules overall, to address some of the balance issues players have reported with v3.5 as a whole. The goal here was to tone down the stacking of effects, as well as making a few interactions a little bit more conditional so that they're not so easy to pull off to the point of becoming oppressive. Here are a few highlights.

• Marks/Debuffs: Whilst Marks and Debuffs have added some interesting new strategies to the games, they feel a little too easy to pull off. With that in mind, Marks and Debuffs now require line of sight to the target, so that you can't hide units behind terrain and spam them without exposing yourself.
• Dangerous Terrain Debuff: We've received lots of feedback about Dangerous Terrain Debuff, and how it causes some weird interactions with other rules, as well as generally being too powerful as a direct-damage rule compared to other Debuffs. With that in mind, Dangerous Terrain Debuff now makes the target count as being in Dangerous Terrain, instead of immediately taking a Dangerous Terrain test, curbing its power.
• Martial Prowess: There has been a lot of buzz lately about the Martial Prowess rule, and how it can be used to create really oppressive army lists which are breaking the games. In part we're solving these issues by changing access in the armies that use them, but we're also limiting the amount of units that can use Martial Prowess in a single round to one third of your army, so that they still have a significant advantage, without being impossible to beat.
• Shrouded: Since the Shrouded rule has been introduced we've been getting feedback that it can be disproportionally hard to deal with for armies that mainly rely on Slow units, or weapons with lower ranges, to the point where Shrouded units become untouchable. To tackle this issue units can't be reduced to a lower shooting/charge range than 6" when targeting Shrouded units, giving them a chance to fight back.
• Surprise Attack: This is a rule that has been a source of debate for many years, because it has no counter-play, and allows units to be attacked even if they're safely hidden behind blocking terrain. With this patch Surprise Attack now only triggers when the unit is first activated, giving units a chance to run away if they go first, and the attack now requires line of sight, so it can't hit hidden units anymore.
• Teleport: Whilst not a rule that is talked about a lot, Teleport has been incredibly powerful until now,  since it adds a flat 6" move that ignores units/terrain, making it the best movement rule there is in the game. To bring Teleport to a more balanced place, it now only allows a 6" move when using Rush actions, and only a 3" move when using Advance/Charge actions. This still keeps it very powerful as a whole, but makes it a little less powerful when attacking.

There are lots of other tweaks to special rules in this patch, but the above are the most important ones for sure. We're going to keep monitoring the feedback we get, and make more changes as needed in the next update.

Army Changes

In order to tone things down, we've changed lots of things based on feedback for each individual army, however there are also changes that we generally made across all armies, which bring everything to the same level. These changes are frequent enough that we didn't log them in each individual army's updates list, but instead are giving you a general overview about, and then you can see the individual changes as you tweak your lists in army forge. Here are a few highlights.

• Army-Wide Rules: A couple of army-wide rules have been heavily reported as being a little too powerful, so we've tweaked them. Prime Brothers now have Reinforced as their main army-wide rule, instead of having both Battleborn + Reinforced, making them a little easier to kill. Dark Brothers now have Shrouded as their army-wide rule, avoiding especially nasty combos they had with Versatile Reach. Lustbound and Royal Legion were tweaked to give a little bit more shooting range, and a little less movement range, making them a little less oppressive. Chivalrous Kingdoms now have Vale Oath which is a morale rule, so that they don't have faster-than-light cavalry anymore.
• Specialties/Marks/Debuffs: We've generally reduced the access to Army Specialties on certain units, as well as generally removed Marks/Debuffs from multi-model units, so that they're now harder to spam. This reduces the amount of tokens in the game, as well as fixes some overpowered combos.
• Fast + Ambush/Scout: For a long time the combination of Fast with Ambush/Scout has been quite powerful in the games, but with the addition of army-wide rules it has finally become a little too problematic. To fix this players will now have to choose between some units having either Fast or Ambush/Scout, whilst for some other units Ambush/Scout was replaced with Vanguard instead.
• General Exploits: Without going into specifics, we've generally removed some exploits that were present in the games, especially when it comes to heroes that could upgrade with certain rules. If you've noticed that your heroes don't have access to certain rules anymore, they likely were removed to avoid exploits.
• 6+/6+ Units: Some units with Qua 6+ / Def 6+ were a little too cheap and a little useless beyond some annoying strategies, so we've upped their Qua to 5+ making them a little bit more useful and expensive.

There are of course lots of other changes on the individual army level, and we highly recommend you check out the full patch notes to see everything that's new before you delve into army forge. Overall, we believe that this patch does a ton to make the games more balanced and enjoyable, and lays the groundworks for more interesting mechanics to come with v3.6 and beyond.

General Updates

• All Marks and Debuffs now require line of sight
• Brutal/Vicious/Violent Boost and derivatives now only work when shooting/charging enemies over 9" away
• Courageous and derivatives now only work on morale tests from shooting/melee
• Crossing Attack now deals wounds instead of hits
• Dangerous Terrain Debuff now makes the unit count as being in Dangerous Terrain (instead of taking a test)
• Feats now all give a smaller bonus (depending on the feat)
• Frenzy rules now only give one bonus each, and bonus type was shuffled around between armies
• Growth rules have been re-worked to give +1 on rounds 2-3, and +2 on round 4, if the unit isn't Shaken
• Infiltrate now deploys up to 3" away from enemies
• Martial Prowess now only allows up to one third of units with it to activate twice per round
• Nimble and derivatives now place models within D3"Piercing/Precision Spotter/Tag/Target now have a range of 30"/24"/18"
• Clarified that Piercing Spotter/Tag/Target only apply to weapons
• Clarified that Retaliate is X hits per wound taken
• Shrouded and derivatives now can't make enemies go lower than 6" range and 6" charge
• Slayer now works when charging, or when shooting at enemies over 9" away
• Spell Conduit/Accumulator now only work whilst the unit isn't Shaken
• Surprise Attack now deals hits the first time the unit is activated, and targets one enemy within 6" and line of sight
• Surprise Piercing Shot/Strike now only give AP(+1) when deployed
• Surprise Precision Shot/Strike now only give +1 to hit when deployed
• Teleport now gives a 3" placement when using Advance/Charge, and a 6" placement when using Rush
• Versatile Attack and derivatives now only work when shooting/charging enemies over 9" away
• AoFR - Quick Shot now allows the unit to use Rush actions also when moving sideways/backwards
• GFSQ/AoFQ - Frenzy rules now gives +1 for every three units that are destroyed
• GFSQ/AoFQ - Growth rules have been re-worked to give +1 on rounds 3-5, and +2 on round 6, if the unit isn't Shaken

Point Cost Updates

• Toughness scaling has been tweaked
• Cost of aura-type rules now scales with unit size
• Fixed cost of "on 6 get effect" weapon rules (Rending, Surge, etc.)
• Fixed cost of "re-roll 6s to block" weapon rules (Bane, Lacerate, etc.)
• Fixed cost of Evasive and derivatives
• Fixed cost of Feats
• Fixed cost of Quickstrike
• Fixed cost of Self-Destruct
• Fixed cost of Shrouded and derivatives
• Fixed cost of Transport/Spawn on Aircraft
• Fixed cost of Unstoppable
• Increased cost of Ambush and derivatives
• Increased cost of Ambush Re-Deployment
• Increased cost of Coordinate
• Increased cost of Counter and derivatives
• Increased cost of Fast and derivatives
• Increased cost of Flying and derivatives
• Increased cost of Hazardous
• Increased cost of Reinforcement
• Increased cost of Scout
• Increased cost of Shred and derivatives
• Increased cost of Spell Accumulator and Spell Conduit
• Increased cost of Strider
• Increased cost of Transport on Aircraft
• Increased cost of Versatile and derivatives
• Decreased cost of AP scaling
• Decreased cost of Blast and Deadly scaling
• Decreased cost of Indirect

General Army Updates

• Reduced access to army specialties to be on fewer units
• Reduced access to marks/debuffs to be on fewer units
• Army Standard Bearers and similar now have Fear(2)
• Hero upgrades that give Repel Ambushers are now part of the "mount" category
• Crossing Barrage and Crossing Strike were replaced with equivalent weapons
• Crush was replaced with Ravage
• Shatter now works against units with Tough(3) or higher
• Tear now works against units with Tough(9) or higher
• Wreck, Thrash, Bash, and Smash were replaced with Lacerate
• Slash and Butcher were replaced with Surge
• Fracture and Break were replaced with Crack
• Pulverize, Pierce, Perforate, and Rupture were replaced with Destructive
• Slam and Quake were replaced with Shred
• Sever, Reap, Fragment, Decimate, and Purge were replaced with Disintegrate
• Scratch and Demolish were replaced with Shatter
• Splinter, Puncture, Impale, Skewer, and Chop were replaced with Tear

Grimdark Future

Alien Hives

• Hive Protector now gives Regeneration
• Assault Grunts don't have Fast anymore
• Adrenaline Fuelled now gives Fast instead of Agile
• Soul-Snatchers may now have either Fast or Scout
• Regeneration is now only on venom-type units
• Resistance is now only on synapse-type units

Battle Brothers

• Commander now gives Re-Deployment
• Lieutenant now gives Rapid Rush
• Re-Shuffled access to Hero auras
• Assault Brothers can now take Dual Energy Claws, Plasma Rifles, and Fusion Rifles
• Pathfinder Bikes may now have either Fast or Scout + Strider
• Unstoppable Shooting Mark was replaced with Unstoppable Mark
• Dark Brothers - Darkborn now gives enemies -4" range when shooting and -2" range when charging
• Dark Brothers - Brother Bikers can now upgrade with Vanguard instead of Scout

Blessed Sisters

• Fixed Procession Altar breaking balval

Custodian Brothers

• Envoy Banner now gives Dash

Dark Elf Raiders

• Heroes don't have Martial Prowess anymore
• Hoverboard Riders now have Agile
• Pathfinder Beast Handler now gives Vanguard instead of Scout
• Dark Sails now give Agile instead of Speed Boost

Dwarf Guilds

• Powersuit units now have Infiltrate instead of Ambush
• Bikers and Support Bikers may now have either Fast or Scout
• Assault Drill doesn't have Fast anymore

Gangs of New Eden

• Icon Bearers are now in the same upgrade category as hero auras
• Shuffled around which heroes get access to Fear, Caster(3), Mend, Takedown Strike, and Delay Action
• Badland Nomads - Heroes can now be upgraded with Beasts and Great Beasts
• Badland Nomads - Nomad Signalling now places only 1 token
• Berserker Clans - Heroes can now be upgraded with Maw-Bikes
• Berserker Clans - Piercing Assault Mark was replaced with Piercing Fighting Mark
• City Runners - Heroes can now be upgraded with Sky-Cutter Jetbikes
• City Runners - Rooftop Spotter now places only 1 token
• City Runners - Thrust Mark was replaced with Rapid Charge Mark
• Mega-Corps - Heroes can now be upgraded with Grav Hoverboards, Spider-Suits, and Heavy Spider-Suits
• Psycho Cults - Heroes can now be upgraded with Biped-Rigs and Heavy Biped-Rigs
• Security Forces - Impact Mark was replaced with Surge Mark
• Shadow Leagues - Heroes can now be upgraded with Squid-Jetbikes
• Worker Unions - Heroes can now be upgraded with Jetpacks and Quadbikes

Goblin Reclaimers

• Added new unit: Mega Walker
• Scout Bikers may now have either Fast + Vanguard or Agile + Scout
• Killer Tanks and Super Tanks can now upgrade with Self-Destruction Payloads
• Piercing Shooting Mark was replaced with Unpredictable Shooter Mark

Havoc Brothers

• Lustbound now gives +4" range when shooting and +2" range when charging
• Mutated Brothers may now have either Fast or Ambush + Flying
• Despoiler Walker weapons were tweaked

High Elf Fleets

• Retributors now have Fearless
• Revenants now have Agile

Human Defense Force

• Tank Company Leader is now Tough(15) and has a Pintle-Machinegun
• Tank Company Leader now has General instead of Munitioner
• Veteran-style upgrades are now to limited to one per unit
• Armored Trucks can now replace their sponson weapons for extra Transport space
• Attack Vehicles can now take Gatling Guns, Battle Cannons, and Laser Cannons

Human Inquisition

• Surveillance Ministry Assassin now has Takedown Shot instead of Fortified
• Bearer of the Core now places only 1 token

Infected Colonies

• Rabid Dogs may now have either Fast or Scout

Jackals

• Hounds may now have either Fast or Scout
• Hunter's Mark now places only 1 token

Machine Cult

• Added new units: Cult Gunners
• High Cyborg-Priests now have Quality 4+, Defense 4+, and Tough(6)
• All vehicles now have Quality 4+
• Destroyer Cyborgs don't have Slow and Relentless anymore
• Raider Cavalry may now have either Fast or Scout
• Piercing Shooting Debuff was replaced with Piercing Debuff

Orc Marauders

• Killer-Rocket Pods now have lower range
• Overclocked Engines now give Agile instead of Speed Boost
• Rending in Melee Mark was replaced with Rending Mark

Prime Brothers

• Reinforced was re-named to Primeborn, and replaces Battleborn
• Commander now gives Re-Deployment
• Lieutenant now gives Rapid Rush
• Re-Shuffled access to Hero auras
• Unstoppable Shooting Mark was replaced with Unstoppable Mark
• Dark Brothers - Darkborn now gives enemies -4" range when shooting and -2" range when charging

Ratmen Clans

• Cult Leaders can now upgrade with Spy-Assassin Sniper
• Pathfinder Rat Master now gives Vanguard instead of Scout
• Burrower Tanks now have Tough(9), don't have Fast anymore, and can take a Twin Heavy Machinegun or Twin AA-Cannon

Rebel Guerrillas

• Resistance Spirit now gives Shielded
• Spotting Beacon now places only 1 token

Robot Legions

• Robot Snakes can now upgrade with Shock Whips

Saurian Starhost

• Pterodactyls, Ripjawdactyls, and Vulturedactyls don't have Fast anymore

Soul-Snatcher Cults

• Soul-Snatchers may now have either Fast or Scout
• Mutant Soul-Snatchers may now have either Bounding or Ambush

Titan Lords

• Titan Havoc Disciples are now split into individual factions
• Added new unit: Paladin Light Titan
• Micro-Titans now have Caster(1), Titans have Caster(4), and Heavy Titans have Caster(5)

Wormhole Daemons

• Lustbound now gives +4" range when shooting and +2" range when charging
• Daemonic Incursion is now part of the "mount" category
• Change Screechers now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• War Hounds may now take either Fast or Scout

Age of Fantasy

Beastmen

• Sambari Hounds may now have either Fast or Scout
• Coordinated Hunt now places only 1 token

Chivalrous Kingdoms

• Vale Oath now allows units to stop being Shaken on 4+ at the beginning of the round
• Vanguard Master now gives Rapid Rush
• Peasant Levy, Peasant Longbowmen, Mounted Bowmen, and Grail Relic now have Qua 5+ / Def 6+
• Errant Knights now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• Impact Mark was replaced with Surge Mark

Dark Elves

• Retreating Strike now always rolls one die per model and deals X wounds
• Thrust Mark was replaced with Rapid Charge Mark

Eternal Wardens

• Warden Knights, Wardens, Winged Wardens, Paladins, Warden Shooters, Warden Hunters, Warden Marksmen, Gryph Hunters, and Drake-Lion Paladins now have Qua 3+
• Drake and Dragon mounts now have Tough(6)
• Hunting Hawks don't have Fast anymore
• Beast-Hounds may now have either Fast or Scout
• Gryph Hunters now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• Unstoppable Shooting Mark was replaced with Unstoppable Mark

Ghostly Undead

• Dread Knights may now have either Fast or Ambush

Giant Tribes

• Giant Havoc Disciples are now split into individual factions
• Half-Giants now have Caster(1), and Ultra-Giants now have Caster(4)

Goblins

• Piercing Assault Mark was replaced with Piercing Fighting Mark

Guilds of the Nexus

• Icon Bearers are now in the same upgrade category as hero auras
• Shuffled around which heroes get access to Fear, Caster(3), Mend, Takedown Strike, and Delay Action
• Crazed Zealots - Heroes can now be upgraded with Great Stilts
• Furious Tribes - Heroes can now be upgraded with Spider Rigs and Great Spider Rigs
• Hired Guards - Heroes can now be upgraded with Horses
• Merchant Unions - Heroes can now be upgraded with Mechanical Steeds
• Outskirt Raiders - Heroes can now be upgraded with Beasts
• Outskirt Raiders - Hunter's Mark now places only 1 token
• Trade Federations - Heroes can now be upgraded with Horses
• Treasure Hunters - Heroes can now be upgraded with Flight Rigs and Great Flight Rigs

Halflings

• Townfolk now have Qua 5+ / Def 6+

Havoc Dwarves

• Cultists now have Qua 5+ / Def 6+ and don't have Slow anymore
• Cultists can now take Command Groups
• Bull Construct now has Tough(9)

Havoc Warriors

• Lustbound now gives +4" range when shooting and +2" range when charging
• Barbarian Horsemen now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• Barbarian Horsemen can now take Command Groups
• Havoc Hounds may now have either Fast or Scout

High Elves

• Reaver Cavalry can now either have Fast + Impact or Bounding + Vanguard
• Light-Beacon Conjurer now places only 1 token

Human Empire

• Added new unit: Hunting Hounds
• Griffon mount now has Tough(9)
• Horse Marksmen now have Vanguard instead of Scout

Kingdom of Angels

• Angelic Blessing Boost now ignores spell wounds on 2+ instead

Mummified Undead

• Royal Legion now now gives +4" range when shooting and +2" range when charging
• Skeleton Horsemen can now upgrade with Vanguard instead of Scout
• Snakemen, Snake Riders, and Giant Snakes may now have either Fast or Ambush
• Ammut Titan doesn't have Furious anymore

Orcs

• Added new units: Hobswampling Leader, Vulture Riders
• Both the Orc Boss and Orc Leader can now be Iron Masters or Bone Masters
• Orc Boss can now upgrade with a Fang-Beast, Fang-Beast Chariot, and Tusk-Beast Chariot
• Great Vulture mount now has Tough(9)
• Tusk-Beast Bone Riders now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• Giant Tusk-Beast now has Tough(9)
• Rending in Melee Mark was replaced with Rending Mark

Ratmen

• Militia now have Qua 5+ / Def 6+
• Pathfinder Rat Master now gives Vanguard instead of Scout
• Blessed Platform now has Tough(9)

Rift Daemons

• Lustbound now gives +4" range when shooting and +2" range when charging
• Daemonic Incursion is now part of the "mount" category
• Change Screechers now have Vanguard instead of Scout
• War Hounds may now take either Fast or Scout

Saurians

• Frog-Mages can now be upgraded with Celestial Palanquins
• Pterodactyls, Ripjawdactyls, and Vulturedactyls don't have Fast anymore

Shadow Stalkers

• Flayer Cavalry doesn't have Tough(3) anymore
• Fang Swarms now have Strider instead of Melee Evasion
• Maze Walker now gives Strider

Vampiric Undead

• Zombie Wolves may now have either Fast or Scout

Volcanic Dwarves

• Piercing Assault Mark was replaced with Fatigue Debuff

Wood Elves

• Added new unit: Eternal Guardian Titan
• Treeman Elder can now be upgraded with a Weaving Branch
• Deer Riders may now have either Fast or Scout

What Next?

The v3.5.3 balance patch has been a super-juicy one, and with that you can expect no big changes anymore until the release of v3.6 in September. There is a slot for a hotfix change around June/July, but if we don't see the necessity we simply won't make it. In any case, if there is a hotfix, it will only be to fix small issues or provide quality-of-life improvements, so you shouldn't expect your armies to be updated again until September.

Thank you everyone for your feedback, these games would not be where they are without the help of our amazing community!

Happy Wargaming!

– OPR Team

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