Updates

Objective

• Warheads
  • Cooldown penalty on interrupt reduced from 10 to 5 seconds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Heroes to not be revealed while launching a Warhead.
• Fixed an issue that caused the Warhead's channel beam to persist when interrupted.

Updates

Objective

• Warheads
  • Cast time increased from 2.5 to 3 seconds.
  • Cast time now breaks upon taking damage.
  • Damage over time increased by 100%, from 60 to 120 damage per second.
  • Damage over time scaling increased by 100%, from 2.4 to 4.8 damage per minute.
  • Damage bonus to Forts, Keeps, and Core increased from 100% to 125%.

Updates

General

• Watch Towers
  • Watch Towers will now reset to neutral after 45 seconds of not being occupied.

Objective

• Warheads
  • The burn duration is now displayed on Structures affected by a Warhead.

Updates

Objective

• Warheads
  • Heroic Basic Attacks against Structures recently hit by Warheads no longer set the burning's duration to 5 seconds.
  • Heroic Basic Attacks against Structures recently hit by Warheads now pause the burning's duration for 3 seconds.

Updates

Objective

• Warheads
  • Heroic Basic Attacks against Structures recently hit by Warheads no longer set the burning's duration to 5 seconds.
  • Heroic Basic Attacks against Structures recently hit by Warheads now pause the burning's duration for 3 seconds.

Updates

Structures

• Fallback Towers
  • Fallback Tower added behind the top Fort.
  • Fallback Tower added behind the bottom Fort.
• Keep's Gates
  • The middle Keep's Gates have been slightly moved towards the center of the battlefield.

Objective

• Warheads
  • Warheads now deal flat damage 1750 (+70 per minute) damage and 60 (+2.4 per minute) damage over time.
  • Scaling is now updated when a Warhead is picked up.
  • Warheads now deal double damage to Forts, Keeps, and Core.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue causing Warheads damage dealt tracking to not work correctly.

Updates

Mercenaries

• Siege Camp
  • Initial spawn delay reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.
• Bruiser Camp
  • Initial spawn delay reduced from 60 to 30 seconds.

Objective

• Warheads
  • There will now be fewer Warheads that spawn.
    • The 1st Objective phase will have from 2 to 3 Warheads.
    • The 4th Objective phase will have from 3 to 4 Warheads.
    • Any other Objective phase will have exactly 2 Warheads.
  • Cast time increased from 1.5 to 2.5 seconds.
  • Damage updated from 2300 to 1000 plus 12.5% of the target's maximum Health.
  • Warheads now ignite Structures, dealing damage equal to 0.8% 1.2% of their maximum Health per second over 12 10 seconds.
  • Heroic Basic Attacks will refresh the duration to 8 5 seconds if lower.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Healing Fountains near top Keeps were not symmetrical on the battlefield.

Bug Fixes

• Sewage Tunnels are now clickable while they are in the fog of war.
• Warheads now interact with physics objects.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Hellbats to reduce the Armor of enemies before damage was dealt.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that caused Hellbats to reduce the Armor of Evading targets.

Updates

General

• Watch Towers
  • A new Watch Tower has been added below the middle lane.
• Sewage Tunnel
  • Sewage Tunnels have been added to the top and bottom of the battlefield.

Mercenaries

• Boss Camp
  • The bottom Boss Camp has been removed.

Developer Comment: Since the release of the Battleground, we have been hearing two resounding pieces of feedback: the map is very large and teams find it difficult to engage with each other due to the amount of ground needed to cover while picking up Warheads, and very often the game either ends up being a base-race as each team takes a Junk Swarm Host and tries to push opposite lanes to end fastest. To address this we have added a couple of Sewage Tunnels (think teleporters) to the map, one of which replaces the bottom Junk Swarm Host, and added an additional Watch Tower to allow teams to keep an eye on the bottom tunnel. We feel like these changes have been a breath of fresh air for Warhead Junction and are excited to hear your feedback!

Updates

Climate Phenomena

• Weather events will occur periodically every 4 minutes, with the first event starting at the beginning of the match. Each weather event lasts for a few 2 minutes at a time before clearing up. While these weather events are active, Heroes can gain a unique buff based on the type of active weather.
• Rain Storms
  • Periodically Every 25-40 seconds strike all Heroes with lightning, increasing Movement Speed by 25% 15% and granting a Lightning Shield that hits nearby enemies for 64 46 damage per second for 8 seconds.

Updates

A Call For Help

• Cores (Warhead Junction)
  • Every 18 seconds, the Core launches a Nuke at a nearby enemy Hero, dealing 30% maximum health to enemy Heroes hit.

Developer Comment: We've heard feedback over the years that a lot of you would like to feel more protected by nearby friendly Structures. Currently, Minions, Summons, and non-Heroic units can hold a Structure's attention for so long that defending players feel that they're offered no additional protection when taking refuge under their Towers, Forts, Keeps and Cores. Furthermore, we want fights around the Core to feel like exciting ends to cap off great games, and we feel like we can do more to deliver on that front. To that end, this Nexus Anomaly will introduce themed abilities to non-ARAM Battleground Cores.

Updates

Mercenaries

• Siege Camp
  • Experience increased by 100%.
• Bruiser Camp
  • Experience increased by 100%.
• Boss Camp
  • Experience increased by 100%.
  • Now flagged as Elite, making it Unstoppable and Unbribable.

Bug Fixes

• Visual effects created by the Slime Boss and their Podling Abilities are no longer visible through the Fog of War.

Updates

Objective

• Warheads
  • Bonus damage has been removed and Nukes now deal a flat amount of damage across the entire area of impact.

Developer Comment: The bonus damage dealt by Warheads had very little counterplay in late-game situations. Teams could hoard Warheads and kill any Structure (including the Core) very quickly. Although this center bonus damage presented players with interesting decision points, the mechanic's problems outweighed its positives. We feel encouraging players to hit as many Structures as possible is a similarly fun mechanic that is healthier for the game.

Updates

Mercenaries

• Boss Camp
  • Slime Boss
    • Overall
      • Slime Pods impact locations will now display warning indicators on the terrain.
      • Slime Pods now explode immediately on impact, and no longer spawn Podlings.
      • Increased the number of Slime Pods launched per cast.
    • Defender
      • Slime Boss can no longer burrow.
    • Laner
      • Slime Boss no longer uses Slime Trail.
      • Slime Pods can now target Structures.

Developer Comment: We believe the Warhead Junction boss is a cool variant of the standard Boss found on most Battlegrounds, but it had some inconsistencies that needed addressing. These changes essentially make the Boss a better version of itself—its neutral and captured versions are closer in power, and its Slime Pods create a cooler moment than its Podlings did previously.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue that could cause Heroes to teleport back to the Hall of Storms after moving to a specific area of terrain on Warhead Junction before the game begins.

Updates

Mercenaries

• Siege Camp
  • Hellbats
    • Overall
      • Armor reduction amount reduced from 5% to 4% per stack.
    • Defender
      • Health reduced from 4275 to 3420.
    • Laner
      • Health reduced from 4700 to 3760.
      • Health scaling for minutes 1-5 reduced from 50 to 40.
      • Health scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 75 to 110.
      • Health scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 100 to 150.
      • Health scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 125 to 235.
• Boss Camp
  • Ice Giant
    • Laner
      • Stats
        • Health reduced from 20000 to 16000.
        • Health scaling for minutes 1-5 increased from 630 to 500.
        • Health scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 945 to 1050.
        • Health scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 1260 to 1400.
        • Health scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 1575 to 2250.
        • Basic Attacks damage reduced from 400 to 320.
        • Basic Attacks damage scaling for minutes 1-5 increased from 10 to 8.
        • Basic Attacks damage scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 15 to 17.
        • Basic Attacks damage scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 20 to 23.
        • Basic Attacks damage scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 25 to 38.
      • Acid Spit
        • Impact damage reduced from 250 to 200.
        • Impact damage scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 5% to 6.25%.
        • Impact damage scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 6% to 7.25%.
        • Impact damage scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 6% to 8.25%.
        • Damage over time reduced from 150 to 120.
        • Damage over time scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 5% to 6.25%.
        • Damage over time scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 6% to 7.25%.
        • Damage over time scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 6% to 8.25%.
      • Acid Trail
        • Acid Trail's damage reduced from 80 to 64.
        • Acid Trail's damage scaling for minutes 6-10 increased from 5% to 6.25%.
        • Acid Trail's damage scaling for minutes 11-15 increased from 6% to 7.25%.
        • Acid Trail's damage scaling for minutes 16-20 increased from 6% to 8.25%.

Developer Comment: As expected, our Gameplay Update for 2018 resulted in large changes to many of our game systems. While we're overall happy with the direction of the update, there have been some unintended side effects that we're hoping to remedy. We overestimated how much more powerful unlimited ammo would be for Structures, and as a result pushing mechanics have become too strong, resulting in lower game times on nearly all Battlegrounds. We're giving Structures some of their teeth back with this update, which should help teams hold pushes from Mercenary Camps and Objectives. We're also making some tuning changes to some of our Mercenary Camps now that we have had some time to see how they have been performing. Hellbats and Knights in particular are pushing harder than we would like, so we're reducing their power. We're also taking a look at the Slime Boss on Warhead Junction and reducing its early and mid-game pushing power, as right now it is too strong when combined with Warheads. Lastly, we are reducing the power of Regeneration Globes. While we like the new mini-game that neutral ones provide in the laning phase, we are not comfortable with how much they are currently benefitting the team that is ahead while they are pushing into a defending team. We're also seeing players picking up more Regeneration Globes in general, so this will help to keep the game's overall sustain in check. These are some hefty changes, and it's likely that there will be more needed to be done over time as things continue to settle. We'll be keeping an eye on things, and are prepared to make more updates as they're needed.