New year, new Megazord Balance changes!
OVERALL CHANGES
- Counter Attacks: All counters now reset EP cooldown when the ability is activated.
- Breakers: All breakers now have a dash branch at the end of the attack. This will improve the pacing of matches, subtly affecting the mobility and EP regeneration of all Zords.
BALANCE CHANGES
Dino Megazord
Power Sword was great for setting up damage, but couldn’t do much damage itself and was so slow that even its range wasn’t able to compensate for it. Speeding up the attack helps him use it to counter a disruptor before the opponent can recover from it.
Power Sword
-Startup speed increased
Thunder Megazord
Thunder Megazord could be used either aggressively or defensively but had little reason to deviate from the simple primary cycle and Saber Parry gameplan. By upping the costs of his key moves, he won’t be able to use them repeatedly in the same way. To offset the increased costs of other moves, Whirlwind had its cost reduced and speed greatly improved to make it more viable overall as an attack.
Saber Parry
-Damage increased by 25%
-Cost increased from 3 to 4
Lion Surge
-Damage increased by 20%
-Cost increased from 4 to 5
Whirlwind
-Cost decreased from 4 to 3
-Startup speed increased
-Can act sooner after the attack
Mega Goldar
Mega Goldar has always had fine damage numbers, but his attacks were so slow and easy to counter that he rarely got to show off that damage. The increased speed on his attacks gives him more of a fighting chance against other Zords and the hitreaction change to his Ultimate creates powerful new combos.
Ultimate
-Can now hit opponents with the sword slash as well rather than only the projectile. If you’re up close, you’ll inflict the enemy with a Downed state. If you’re at range, the projectile will only inflict a Stagger state as it did before.
Savage Strikes
-1st hit’s startup speed increased
-3rd hit changed from Interrupt to Downed
Giant Backhand
-Attack startup speed increased
Swooping Tackle
-Pre-flight speed increased
-Flying travel speed increased
Predazord
With each slot dedicated to a clash type, Predazord has a linear gameplan: attack with strikes until he’s countered, back off then counter when he’s attacked. By increasing the cost of Crescent Boomerang, his onslaught of strikes won’t last quite as long and he wont have as much energy leftover if he’s countered.
Crescent Boomerang
-Cost increased from 3 to 4
-1st hit’s damage increased by 100%
Hammerhead Smash
-Damage reduced by 10%
Mega Black Dragon
Similar to Goldar, Mega Black Dragon’s biggest issue was speed. Tail Swipe and Negabeam were made faster, so using them either aggressively or to counter a breaker should be much more reliable. Missile Charge’s hitreaction change means you’ll cause a long stun if you use it up close but combo into more damage when used from afar.
Ultimate
-Duration increased by 50%
Tail Swipe
-Attack startup speed faster
Missile Charge
-1st hit changed from Interrupt to Downed
-Gets up from the ground faster during attack recovery
Negabeam
-Attack startup speed increased
Pounding Pummel
-Cost reduced from 4 to 3
Samurai Megazord
Samurai Megazord had the best counter attack in Megazord Battle Mode but little else. Most of his other attacks received various improvements to give players reason to do more than just turtle and wait for an opportunity to counter. To compensate for the improvements to his other attacks, Samurai Focus had its damage reduced.
Shield Bash
-Pre-run speed increased
-Running travel speed increased
-Bash speed increased
Blade Storm
-Damage redistributed so half of the damage is on the first hit. New distribution is as follows: (50, 10, 10, 10, 20) changed from the original distribution: (9, 19, 19, 19, 34)
-Attack speed between 2nd and 3rd hits is faster
Ape Assault
-2nd hit changed from Interrupt to Stagger
Samurai Focus
-Damage reduced by 20%
-Fixed damage display issue on stats screen
Samurai Strike
–Startup speed increased
Delta Squad Megazord
Delta Squad Megazord is effective at a distance, so the new Stagger hitreaction on Delta Dive will compliment that by creating just that little bit more space. He could at times feel clunky to use, so he received earlier branch windows on Delta Strike and Crime Scene Tape that go a long way toward him feeling more responsive and fun to use.
Delta Strike
-Can act sooner after the attack
Crime Scene Tape
-Can act sooner after the attack
Delta Dive
-1st hit changed from Interrupt to Stagger
Dragonzord
With relentless attack speed and more Downed and Destabilize attacks than any other Zord, Dragonzord was very difficult to fight against. Dragon Frenzy and Tail Stinger were both strikes that were fast enough to interrupt other strikes, but were too fast to be interrupted. To give only one of these attributes to each strike, Dragon Frenzy was kept fast at the start but made slow at the end, then Tail Stinger was made slow at the start but kept fast at the end. To mitigate Dragonzord’s ability to keep other Zords stunned for long periods of time, Missile Storm and Fin Slash had their hitreactions changed to let opponents get back in the fight sooner.
Fin Slash
-Changed from Downed to Stagger
-Cost decreased from 5 to 4
Dragon Frenzy
-Attack speed between 2nd hit and 3rd hit made slower
Tail Stinger
-Cost increased from 3 to 4
-1st hit slowed down
-Damage decreased by 15%
Missile Storm
-5th hit changed from Destabilize to Knockdown
Dino Megazord (2017)
Dino Megazord 2017 has always had a few cool tricks, but relied too heavily on his Ultimate to get big damage and had some very easy to counter attacks. He’s getting big improvements in the 3rd slot for this update, with Tyrano Assault now being guaranteed after the initial hit and Dino Drop being made much faster. Dino Drop saw an increase in cost to keep the third slot from getting too spammable, but most of the same combos involving the attack still work. Tricera-Strike is not a counter attack, so it no longer resets EP cooldown to keep the EP cooldown rules consistent across Megazord Battle Mode.
Dino Drop
-Cost increased from 5EP to 6EP
-Speed increased
-Hitbox deactivates sooner
Tricera-Strike
-No longer resets EP cooldown
Tyrano Assault
-2nd hit changed from Stagger to Destabilize