They just cannot balance Duels, huh?

Submitted 3 years, 4 months ago by

I may just be a negative nancy here but the balance changes seem to not do anything to the mode other than remove some high rolls (and kill rogue for some reason). Demon Hunter in Duels wasn't overpowered because of the treasures (although they did contribute) but rather because the Outlander Heropower is just plain overpowered and abusable in that class. In general it feels like every class has one good deck and that is the deck you will face, few exceptions apply. You run into Hunter, it will be Deathrattle. You run into warlock, it will be discard with C'thun and killmox (yeah I know kilmox will be nerfed but it will be run nontheless). The hero powers just kind of decide how you play the game and there is very little you can do to change it due to the limited card pool.

Not to mention how far apart the power level of treasures are. There are the ones that actively reduce the cost of your cards or give them rush while others barely do a thing (how is "make your weapons cost 1 less" a treasure?).

And then there is the whole issue of chain-queuing into the same person multiple times.

 

I don't know, I love the mode but after a few games it feels extremly same-y where even standart feels more versatile. Maybe that will change once all the hero powers and treasures are revealed but so far it just plays like an elaborate tavern brawl.

  • ArchSpike's Avatar
    530 165 Posts Joined 06/24/2019
    Posted 3 years, 4 months ago

    I may just be a negative nancy here but the balance changes seem to not do anything to the mode other than remove some high rolls (and kill rogue for some reason). Demon Hunter in Duels wasn't overpowered because of the treasures (although they did contribute) but rather because the Outlander Heropower is just plain overpowered and abusable in that class. In general it feels like every class has one good deck and that is the deck you will face, few exceptions apply. You run into Hunter, it will be Deathrattle. You run into warlock, it will be discard with C'thun and killmox (yeah I know kilmox will be nerfed but it will be run nontheless). The hero powers just kind of decide how you play the game and there is very little you can do to change it due to the limited card pool.

    Not to mention how far apart the power level of treasures are. There are the ones that actively reduce the cost of your cards or give them rush while others barely do a thing (how is "make your weapons cost 1 less" a treasure?).

    And then there is the whole issue of chain-queuing into the same person multiple times.

     

    I don't know, I love the mode but after a few games it feels extremly same-y where even standart feels more versatile. Maybe that will change once all the hero powers and treasures are revealed but so far it just plays like an elaborate tavern brawl.

    3
  • Sparkinarius's Avatar
    Crossroads Historian 715 471 Posts Joined 07/18/2019
    Posted 3 years, 4 months ago

    Personally, I've been enjoying Heroic Duels more than standard recently. This doesn't mean that I don't have any problems with the mode, I certainly do. Mainly, beyond Warlock and DH, I think the sameness you are referring to is mainly a result of how powerful C'Thun, the Shattered is in Duels. If you aren't a super aggressive deck like Hunter or DH, then running C'Thun helps you have a consistent win condition to make it into higher wins. For me, the higher wins I get, the more I see opponents running C'Thun. I'm honestly surprised that Team 5 didn't ban C'Thun in the most recent Duels balance update, C'Thun's presence adds another expensive angle of Duels to remain viable in an already expensive mode.

    In terms of my other gripes with the mode, I'm a little sad they didn't balance any of the passives in the recent update. Double Time by far is the most powerful standalone passive and most, if not all, of my opponents north of 7 wins have it (with the exception of Hunter). I also really hate the passive combination of Cannibalism and From the Swamp, as it creates a non-interactive experience where if you don't have multiple board clears that remove all of your opponents minions at once or go face before they remove your minions, you just lose. I have no doubt Team 5 will continue to balance the classes for Duels, but I really hop they take a look at the passive treasures.

    I've also experienced the chain queueing issue where I've queued into the same person 2-3 times in a row. It's not a fun experience either way and it goes to show how few people are playing Heroic Duels, probably because of its inefficient reward scheme.

    Overall, I think Duels has the potential to be a really fun mode for most players, but they need to make further balance changes, make the mode more accessible to people, and make it more rewarding for Heroic Duels.

    For glory, honor, and gold!

    2
  • AbusingKel's Avatar
    HearthStationeer 785 294 Posts Joined 02/02/2019
    Posted 3 years, 4 months ago

    Outlander definitely needs to be nerfed somehow. It's busted with all the very good, low cost cards available to DH. It doesn't feel good to win with it or lose to it. The game below was at 5-1 and it was disgusting.

    https://hsreplay.net/replay/q9aWceaarAUPEj2GPyDxmA

     

    Now you kids are probably saying to yourselves, "Hey Matt, how can we get back on the right track?" 

    0
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