Epic Class Revival on Artix Entertainment

Since the big Passive Skill update last spring, there hasn't been many Earth...er...Delta V-shaking updates to balance. A big goal for the year was to differentiate all the class skills, even if it was just an aesthetic change. Today, we've made a huge step toward that goal with 8 revamped skills for the evolved classes (Cyber Hunter, Tactical Mercenary, and Blood Mage).

Balance

The evolved classes are getting some major updates that should shake up gameplay and builds quite a bit. We altered and adjusted the skills throughout testing, but live data will be the best data so expect more changes in the weeks to come!

Tactical Merc:
- Double Strike >>> Crippling Strike: Attack for 120% damage; Reduces % defense for 2 turns
- Artillery Strike >>> Suppressing Fire: New animation to differentiate between Artillery Strike
- Stun Grenade >>> Barbed Grenade: Inflict physical damage with a 25% base chance to stun and crit. Ignores 15% defense; 20 less damage
- Toxic Grenade: Functionally the same, but improves with 2 Support; 20 Less damage per leve; Requires Strength
- Blood Shield>>> Swapped for Energy Shield

Cyber Hunter:
- Shadow Arts >>> Gene Augment: Hack your own DNA to boost your highest stat.
- Defense Matrix >>> Nanotech Shield: Activate a powerful shield that negates a % on incoming damage.
- Multishot >>> Adaptive Offense: Inflict damage based on primary damage type to all enemies. Deals 85% damage against multiple targets.
- Venom Strike >>> Memory Leak: Target loses fixed Energy and HP for each level similar to Screaming Soul Spears

Blood Mage:
- Overload >>> Brutal Strike: Summon your strength for a devastating strike with a 25% chance to stun.
- Energy Shield >>> Swapped for Blood Shield

This seems like a big change, but it's a small step toward expanding build diversity and making each class truly unique. Unfortunately, with all the work that when into these changes and testing, the content (arcade, styles, and gear) had to go on hold until next week. Plus, our work is far from done with skill differentiation and there are still several new skills in the works, including new ultimates!