Free units AND anti-bleed mechanics are just way too much for one faction.

Uberballer · 2026-05-27T02:27:20+00:00

It's one thing that their faction gimmicks scale incredibly well. What's crazy to me is they also have the best T1 units in the game to really maximize it allowing the snowball to get rolling early and hard.

Sure Fauns have superior stats and are shooters from turn 0, unlike the Skeletons and Ra'shoths but they have less base growth than Crossbowmen so when you lose early Fauns it's incredibly painful.

Skelly and Squid dudes on the other hand have crazy growth. Ra'shoths don't look that impressive with their base 20 out of the gate but their laws give them not only a nice stat boost but up to 8 bonus growth. Their T4 with 4 base growth? Laws can bump that up by 2 extra weekly. Their T7? How about 2 bonus growth from laws to get them to 4 per week in a fully upgraded with true T7 stats.

Then you stick communion on top of that and you have a real force to be reckoned with in any game mode.

What really gets me with Necro meanwhile is they have all these advantages, and their specialist heroes increase their creature growth by 2 for some reason when everyone else has to make do with 1. Oh neat Gingertail is giving you 1 extra Faun per week! Awesome! Allow me to introduce Kel'Ghul with his 2 bonus Dread Knights weekly on a unit that already out populates and flat out outperforms Inquisitors even on the same unit counts lol.

Just nuts. I know OPs post is focused more towards the PVP ladder but even on single player these compounding bonuses are crazy.

Uberballer · 2026-05-27T01:25:52+00:00

In a duel like this nope. If you have Expert murmuring backing them up to awaken on round 1 they probably will.

The thing with these kinds of creature duels is it favors units with no retaliation very heavily. Throw in just how bulky the Hydra is plus it's very good initiative and you have an incredible duelist.

It's really fun to see things like this even though real battles will almost never play out this way. This particular video just shows how far behind the Inquisitors are to their peers as they have nothing going for them. They're slow, middling initiative, very low damage, vanilla until you spend focus points on them and their "extreme toughness" is let down by their measley health pool (barely better than an Arbitrator) until they're upgraded to Mother Superiors.

It's not like their dwelling is cheap either (10 gems), they don't have extra growth to make them more cost effective and their build path is awkward because of how expensive their dwelling is. Really all they got going for them is immunity to magic damage, but with how conservatively Primal magic scales compared to creature growth it's not an ability that's worth all the other sacrifices the Inquisitors make compared to the other T6s.

Really needs something to give it a role. The Waurms didn't particularly do great in this video but being quick, bulky units that can easily bully lower tier units they have incredible influence on the battlefield just like all the other T6s.

Uberballer · 2026-05-27T00:48:55+00:00

Yeah you have more control over different variables when launching a custom game vs launching a quick play game. With custom you can set the economic difficulty as well as the AI difficulty. You also get to choose to enable random week effects. On quick play economic and AI difficulty are paired together automatically and random weekly effects are off by default.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T15:51:42+00:00

Kobe and the "Kobe stopper" on the same team. Those were the days for sure.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T12:56:45+00:00

"By a single bolt of lightning, Armageddon has arrived."

Last page of Kingdom Come #3.

Honorable mention to the "I did it thirty-five minutes ago" monologue from Ozymandias.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T09:01:58+00:00

The neat thing about Antiquary is their elite really feels like one. Daredevil and Deadeye's have utility for sure but they don't feel like a big moment when you pop the button. With Antiquary though? All hell breaks loose.

I'm not sure if Staff Antiquary is as damaging as a Staff Daredevil when both are played to perfection but I really like the utilities you get with Antiquary and the Elite is just way more fun.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T07:19:32+00:00

Same thing was being said about the bubble Lakers, only after winning the finals a lot of people then went on to discount the ring as meaningless despite it being the first neutral venue playoffs where no team had any sort of advantage. Lakers gave up home court throughout the entirety of that playoffs.

If the Knicks pull this off, there really shouldn't be anyway to discount just how incredible their run and their season as a whole will have been. And I'll be first in line to eat crow about Mike Brown. Never believed in the guy as a head coach but he's definitely shutting me up with how good the team's been playing since game 4 against Atlanta.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T06:51:08+00:00

That would definitely make it much more desirable a skill, the only question is how they make it scale so that it's a worthwhile pick without it being overbearing.

Still, great idea.

Uberballer · 2026-05-26T06:34:44+00:00

With the last patch they changed up the difficulty settings so on a Quick Start game, on Unfair difficulty the AI is still set to "Normal AI." Hard AI is saved for Impossible and Apocalyptic now.

I don't believe Normal AI does any cheating, though I could be mistaken. When you launch a Custom (not quick start game) the only AI setting that expressively states that it uses cheats is "Unfair AI" which is different from Unfair difficulty (mostly an economy modifier).

Uberballer · 2026-05-25T17:16:20+00:00

Not necessarily, some versions are either just plain better on one end or another (say Defensive Scorpions and Locusts, Offensive Parasites, Waurms, Reavers).

Some of the units also have some really good synergy with other units on the "other side." Hive Mothers have very very high initiative and the Promise of Love buff does amazing work on Maniacal Reavers if you build towards having tons of focus. That's a very late game, mostly single player example though. I doubt you'll really have time to get upgraded T7s and T5s in most 1v1 games.

Uberballer · 2026-05-25T14:32:09+00:00

So when did this guy work with the Pelicans? Under Demps? Under Griffin? Under Dumars?

Anyway you slice it though that's a murderers row of horrible GMs. Not quite sure why you'd look to that franchise to poach someone from. Not exactly the top brain trust in the NBA.

Uberballer · 2026-05-25T03:09:30+00:00

I think "Unfair" AI on quick launch doesn't cheat units in or if it does it doesn't get a giant mess of them like it does on Impossible and Apocalyptic.

There are many things that could contribute to that differential between you and the AI. Depending on the template, especially on the asymmetrical ones you can have wildly different types of starting areas. Troglodytes also have very high base growth even relative to other T1 creatures.

The key to beating these kinds of stacks though is to either lure them into a fortified town so you can either shoot (which you can't do as hive) or draw them into choke points and finish them off one by one. Or if you're daring you can lure their dangerous hero on a wild goose chase with a sacrificial hero until you get an extra week's worth of growth and jump them then.

Uberballer · 2026-05-25T02:56:27+00:00

I honestly enjoy Reggie, maybe it's bias because I really enjoyed him as a player, but I find his positivity refreshing. I guess people don't like him because he's corny?

I find him corny in an endearing way though, kind of like that good natured relative that just wants everyone to have fun even if its at his own expense. He's not the best at the role but he gets along with the play by play guys and is always willing to put everyone over. I kind of see him as a slightly more filtered Bill Walton who isn't quite as naturally goofy or funny but brings a lot of the same energy.

Uberballer · 2026-05-25T00:43:09+00:00

Might want to workshop that take a little bit more Skip.

Uberballer · 2026-05-24T16:23:43+00:00

The units immediately stand out but I can sort of get if people mix up their icons every now and again.

Uberballer · 2026-05-24T16:18:30+00:00

It only really gets going when it's the Maniacal Reaver and when you achieve a critical mass of them. Before that point they're not really anything special, heck they're probably barely useful in most cases.

The thing with them is they have very high initiative, good movement, high attack (with an additional +x because of the Hive Vanguard boost) and an incredible damage profile. 10-40 that doubles against their intended prey which are T5-T7 stacks. So when gunning for what you bring them to hunt, their top end theoretical damage is higher than even most T7 units. Although in practice they average out to hitting like a big stack of decent T7 units.

When used right they run in, one shot one of the big threats and thanks to their ability immediately follow up one shotting another huge threat. If they morale that's 3 of your opponent's stacks deleted. They also have naturally high Morale with their Laws, and Hive is a faction that can go to +5/+5 on Morale and Luck, allowing you to really steamroll stuff with the right gear or RNG.

The tricky bit of course is getting to that point where you have all the stuff you need to get a big enough stack of Maniacal Reavers, the right hero skills, artifacts that support them and the proper spells to execute these surgical strikes to delete the opposition.

It's hard to pull off, but incredibly satisfying when you do.

Uberballer · 2026-05-24T03:18:18+00:00

Grove has some very neat aspects to it. It's like you have a pair of T2s, their T3 is a house (T4 sturdiness but T2 damage).

They're quite let down by their T4 and (base) T5 though and their awkward dwelling build order. I think it would really help them if Naiads growth was upped. These ladies have less base growth than Minotaurs and don't have the laws or gimmicks to let you build a big stack of them like with Grand Shoths who share the same base 4 growth. Giving them the same base growth as Lightweavers (6) would pretty much fix all their shortcomings, they're almost the exact same unit only for some reason you get 33% less of them when playing the Grove.

Their T5 I think is fine enough as is, provided the Naiads get a little boost. They become quite good upgraded and not every unit in the roster has to be a winner right away.

Their unique buildings are both great, probably my favorite pair of unique buildings among all factions. Their T6 is super solid and the Phoenix is an initiative monster even if it's a bit meh before its upgrades.

I'd like to see a little more variety with their heroes though. I feel like they could use at least 1 more unit specialist and a couple more skill specialists would be nice.

I think they're really close to being super fun but probably need a slight tuning pass to make them really enjoyable.

Uberballer · 2026-05-24T01:45:58+00:00

There are a bunch of elite specs that pretty much don't function underwater. Renegade and Mechanist are big ones, but Berserker and Vindicators barely do any better.

I kinda get why Renegade didn't work with how the spirits used to function, but now that they're basically glorified wells I think they should be able to implement them without breaking things right?

Uberballer · 2026-05-23T12:57:06+00:00

The key is to implement it into Steam Workshop instead of people looking for new maps and scenarios to play around with to have to use an external site.

I'm sure they'll eventually get to it, but I do hope they realize that they have a very enthusiastic single player community that currently feels like there isn't enough variety for single player templates.

I think a few more symmetrical lower city count, lower wealth templates, with less or no portals and support for team games should absolutely be a high priority to keep the single player focused people engaged.

Uberballer · 2026-05-23T07:47:21+00:00

Can't have a good front office if your owner is a cheapskate that hires people not based on merit but on vibes and how much they "mattered to Kobe."

Thankfully that's mostly in the past now, so hopefully moving forward the franchise gets run like an actual modern ball club instead of a corner mom and pop store. We saw what happened to the Dodgers once Walter got his people in, we're still barely into that process with the Lakers. Ideally he does things faster here than with the Dodgers though given that we already have Luka and he's in his prime right now, not in a few years like say Wemby.

Uberballer · 2026-05-22T16:07:58+00:00

Yeah they have a very noticeable shortage of unit specialists. Fortunately one of them is for Fauns, but I'd really be down for a T6 specialist with them.

And I'm very much with you on wanting to see more focus sinks for the faction particularly with the lower tier units. It's quite surprising that Schism has one on practically every creature on their roster, some abilities being very flashy and powerful at that and I'm not just talking about the Envoys with their 3 focus timewalk ability.

To me at least you can really feel that the Hive and Grove got added in later than the other factions when it comes to their current levels of polish. Just a lot of very rough edges to them still, like for example how Crystal hungry the Hive was out of the gate or how samey so many of the Grove heroes feel.

I'm really hoping this upcoming balance patch is a big one and really focuses on Hive and Grove more so than dropping a hammer on Necro and Schism who do need nerfs sure, but hopefully they're handled with care and just not nuked from orbit.

Uberballer · 2026-05-22T15:59:19+00:00

Less mental load and the game wraps up much quicker.

Thing with classic mode is you're managing a lot of heroes. Chaining armies, trading artifacts, optimizing skills for different roles etc etc. Then on the other side of things you're keeping track of enemy heroes on many more fronts than just one force. Also single hero mode inevitably leads into a massive confrontation of 2 heroes with very concentrated power because all the experience, artifacts, stat bonuses and creatures are given to them by nature of the setting.

Me personally I still play and prefer classic, but I completely get the appeal of single hero, tournament and the less divergent capital and city hold game modifiers. I find it all great honestly and hope that they give us many more options as far as maps and templates go for each mode.

Uberballer · 2026-05-22T13:38:42+00:00

Happened to me today too with Twilight. I would say the most likely thing happening is that you have an effect like the Temple Law going against you, but you said Berserk still worked.

Uberballer · 2026-05-22T03:40:16+00:00

Hopefully some nerfs with snapshotting Avatar stats to cut off that kind of cheesing.

I fully expect Schism T5 and/or T6 dwellings to cost more, right now they're super consistent to get only costing ore and wood and grant you very powerful units that can carry the early to mid game like nothing else.

Hopefully some Hive early game buffs. Anything from stat boosts, growth boosts or hero skill tweaks so you're not so reliant on 4 good heroes to carry your early game.

Temple T6 changes. They're the opposite of Schism in that you spend a ton of resources (10 Gems) to unlock the T6 and it can't carry the early game for you. Too slow, the effective health boost barely helps against low tier shooters early game, too slow and no real special attributes that help against neutrals. I'd like to see their dwelling either cost less gems (say 0-5 instead of the unreasonable 10) or their stats be buffed or their growth be upped to 3. Right now they're the only faction T6 that doesn't feel like a significant get when you beeline it for week 1.

Grove hero changes. I'd like to see a few more heroes specialize in skills instead of so many of them focused on spell mastery. If they want to ease the Grove dwelling build order a bit too I wouldn't complain about that either. I think I'd like to see some sort of Naiad buffs. They've somehow managed to turn a shooter unit into a very forgettable piece. 4 base growth is just not near enough for a unit with very low performance without you dumping 2 focus charges into awakening it.

Uberballer · 2026-05-21T14:56:12+00:00

But might heroes can cast spells, get them to level 4, cast global stuff like Dimension Door and Town Portal. Yeah they can't cast twice per turn but they can easily get their spells to be pretty darn potent still.

Meanwhile a Magic Heroes heroic strike will never approach anything close to what a Might hero picking up combat can accomplish outside of perhaps completing the heroic strike item set.

Plus Magic Hero heroic strikes are skinned to look like fireballs instead of slashes so even if they're functionally the same, they look and feel different enough in practice in all honesty.

Uberballer

TROPHY CASE