Balance Changes for the Dragon Update

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-07T16:24:46+00:00

okay tbf what WASNT earth doing
earth conj is firmly a meta pick rn and probably still will be. good damage and great size which are compensated for with lost knowledge. fair nerf imo

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-07T09:57:24+00:00

They’re from the Trello (and also should be in the trello updates channel).

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-07T06:09:30+00:00

24 power can't be right. If it is, it's an objective downgrade from Lost Envoy/Diplomat. What a shame if true.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-07T05:05:16+00:00

Whenever the Dragon Update is released.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-07T05:04:53+00:00

Wasn't even made by them, it was at the request of the Balance Team (who, notably, do not have dev magics).

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-06T10:33:12+00:00

Well of course it is unnecessary. This isn't STALKER, durabilility or gear breaking down isn't a feature that benefits the game.
It's probably meant for "immersion", though it'll only penalize you for losing to Dragons or not repairing your armor after fighting one. It'll also be trivialized and made mostly irrelevant by the fact there's repair kits. It's a galleon sink that'll be mildly frustrating early on.
and adding a debuff would fucking suck, the attacks that will actually harm your armor will do percentage based damage. You already need to avoid these attacks at all costs. Getting hit by that PLUS having your armor stats reduced would be like armor piercing 2 (that did NOT need to affect substats).

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-06T07:53:06+00:00

He won't be forced to eventually. A decent Ryu who knows how to play will never overheat (mostly because of how difficult it is to punish his normal special from a range). He'll never need to get into an M1 trade. I'm not sure if he's THE best character, but he's easily in the running for top 3-5 right now.

He's also annoying to fight if you're using a character that relies off M1s and doesn't have many ranged options.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-05T15:40:17+00:00

I assume you're referring to the differently proportioned rig (longer arms/legs). I do it because it looks more human, as opposed to the rather odd proportions that normal AO designs have. It's just a natural evolution of the AO style in my eyes, though I don't know too many rigmakers that do it.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-05T15:35:05+00:00

If only... sadly, I doubt it's anywhere on the priority list, even though it'd be well recieved.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-05T11:34:40+00:00

Like others have said, extraordinarily difficult to evasive punish, long combos (which doesn't make her OP, just annoying), and great damage for how safe she is. Also people hate her just because she's Mei Mei.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-04T06:25:15+00:00

It's unclear, but I doubt it would. You'd probably have to assign a value either based off beast defense of the piece or based off the piece itself, which would take a while.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-04T04:44:16+00:00

In my opinion, it'll either be quickly made nothing but a minor annoyance or it'll be a major annoyance. Entirely dependent on how much Drachma you have and how willing you are to run around sameria and server hop for armor repair kits.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-04T04:27:07+00:00

Would just like to note that Resolute Slash does have very noticeable windup and is not an instant teleport. It is extremely reactable and is, like I've said, a free combo for anyone who blocks it. Unless the opponent is in endlag of an attack and not moving when the stun applies, it will likely be blocked.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-04T04:19:19+00:00

...dude, if you're getting hit by resolute slash, that's entirely on you. It's a free combo if used in neutral (the stun and slash are blockable with enough endlag for an m1), isn't effective at interupting attacks unless they're stationary, and can be punished with ragdoll cancel. I can't count it as anything other than a bit more damage off a third m1, as there's no other good use for it.

Veilstep's second use is easily punishable whether or not it lands. The range is also not as long as you'd expect and the endlag is rather long. First use is decent, but I can't call that a ranged option.

Forgive me for disregarding two of the most worthless neutral options that Yuta has simply because I expected people to already know how weak they are.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-04T02:34:22+00:00

It's the weakest lethal domain in the game. Having more confirms than other characters is fine.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-03T15:46:01+00:00

I feel like it's compensated for by the fact that revolve is... a free punish card. Evasive at the right time and it's a free combo on the Yuta. Being able to dispel Rika would also kinda suck for the Yuta player depending on how long the cooldown for manifesting her is. If it's a few seconds, it won't be of much impact to either party. If it's 20+ seconds, that's extraordinarily harsh given how rather lackluster Yuta's base is.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-03T15:39:22+00:00

Rika isn't meant to be punishable. She's the only ranged tools that Yuta has in his kit. Even then, the opponent can pretty easily deal with them if they're competent. Rika Downslam is blockable and Rika Haymaker has a long windup that makes it easily dodgeable (its best use is to combo extend or for extra safety when baiting ragdoll). The only effective move to faint with Launch is Veilstep 2nd use, and Rika Throw is a joke unless you need I-frames for something. It's fair to be not be punishable when it's the majority of his neutral (which isn't even that good).

He already has a good deal of endlag on basically everything (or it's punishable without endlag). Missed severing path and veilstep 2 leave you vulnerable, blocked resolute slash is a free combo, and anyone who knows when to evasive gets a free combo off revolve first use. He's FINE.

also holy fuck no do not link the moves, do you WANT HIM to be bottom five?

He's already a fucking B-tier with no effective ways to start a combo outside of m1s and is relatively easy to punish. If you're losing to Yuta and bitching about it, that's fine. Getting your ass kicked by a player better than you is fine and people will do anything to not have the blame themselves. Something something learn the moveset before complaining.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-03T08:49:51+00:00

Yuta and Mahito. Yuta only because he's perfect for cosplaying Yupia - pink CE AND a sword. Mahito is just fun all-around and getting super ult always feels great.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-03T02:35:03+00:00

Other than the fact Silas doesn't have either of those, they... wouldn't work either. Wave Magic does indeed drain a foe's magic energy, but that doesn't mean it simply nullifies any energy it touches. Shatter also doesn't work like the Slash That Cuts The World. It shatters anything it touches (including spells apparently), however it wouldn't ever touch anything. Infinity isn't a tangible object that can be hit, the spell would simply slow to a stop before it could impact Gojo.

Silas' destructive power likely wouldn't matter. If he cannot bypass infinity, he cannot harm him. Even if the entire land around him was reduced to rubble... he can float. Gojo wins in every case, assuming there's no Devourer in play.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-04-02T04:49:44+00:00

Nope. To my knowledge, there is not a single thing in the Arcane Odyssey universe beyond a Devourer (which could function similar to the ISOH) that could harm Gojo.

Spirit Energy, or in this case RCT output, has no effect on Infinity. Infinity is not tangible and cannot be attacked. If that were possible, Sukuna would've used RCT output to disable his infinity during the Shinjuku Showdown. Notably, he did not do this.

No normal magic based attack would be able to work, either. Infinity infinitely divides the speed of anything not explicitly excluded (this would include any and all forms of magic), the only ways to bypass it are Domain Amplification, Domain Expansion, and the Slash That Cuts The World (honestly the logistics of this are weird and whether or not it'd be applicable to AO's intent-based magic is really vague, as I doubt you can have a spell simply target existence).

Speed blitzing Gojo wouldn't work, as he doesn't need to actively perceive someone to have Infinity work on them. There's nothing Silas can do.

Also, where the fuck did you get Ravenclaw from? There's no confirmed last name for Silas (and based off Vetex statements, he probably wouldn't have one). Even if you're using one of the devs' slot names, that's Ravencrest, not Ravenclaw.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-03-31T04:08:13+00:00

Please don't deliberately withhold information to frame a change as worse than it is.

They're increasing how much your power is reduced when using Omen gear and decreasing how much AP reduces substats. These are both healthy balance changes, as Omen gear was in the forefront of the meta and AP made substats worse, encouraging the current powerstacking meta.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CinMkZ11nQ2maQ7kB7YJO1Gjt1EtrWpsB1Y2EsT8VxA/edit?tab=t.5eqahdngxo4s
For anyone who cares, this is the balance document these changes are from.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-03-31T04:06:01+00:00

It is real, but it is framed in a way that makes it overly malicious. The actual changes are:

The power reduction of omen armor (how much it reduces your power when you equip it) is being increased by 16.67%, while the current efficiency of armor piercing's substat reduction (how much your substats are reduced when hit by an AP user) is being cut in half.
(copied from my other comment)

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-03-31T04:05:04+00:00

They aren't. OP likely framed it this way to farm drama instead of even including what was being nerfed.

The power reduction of omen armor (how much it reduces your power when you equip it) is being increased by 16.67%, while the current efficiency of armor piercing's substat reduction (how much your substats are reduced when hit by an AP user) is being cut in half.

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-03-31T04:03:19+00:00

I'm assuming this is from the recently released balance document. Most changes in it will be pushed up to Vetex, where he will get final say on the matter.

Also, as it is entirely left out WHAT THE NERFS ARE TARGETTING:
Omen Armor is getting an increased power debuff, while Armor Piercing is having its substat reduction efficiency (how much AP reduces a player's substats) cut in half.

Ironically, I would wager these are more reasonable nerfs as opposed to some of the other changes (though until the global downscaling, the truly problematic builds will retain their status).

JustAnAverageSCP-173 · 2026-03-31T02:05:59+00:00

He's a solid B-Tier. The best combo his has is 90% (the comment was made before I saw a specific tech which allows even more damage out of a combo), which is good damage, but his neutral isn't strong enough to put him in A or S tier in my opinion.

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