User blog:Luminous Gaming/Balance Changes in Context (for those who are lazy)

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Balance Changes in Context (February Update)
Continuing in the spirit of openness about card balance, here are the changes we've made and why:

Arrows: Damage decreased by 4%

Arrows are the most popular spell card in the game, and we felt you simply get too much value for the three Elixir cost.

Freeze: Radius decreased to 3 (from 4), duration increases by 0.3 seconds per level (from 0.4 seconds)

Freeze is one of the most popular cards in the game. High level Freeze was too powerful due to the long duration of the spell. Additionally, the big area of effect makes it too easy to Freeze the tower and catch all defending troops at the same time. Freeze will still be a strong play, but it's now more open to counters.

Wizard: Damage decreased by 7%

Wizard is the most used troop among the top players. It's slightly overpowered and has made the Bomber and Musketeer nearly obsolete.

Barbarians: Hitpoints decreased by 4%

Barbarians are the second most used troop at the top, and are also a bit too strong. In a lot of cases they simply offer too much value for 5 Elixir.

Bomber: Attack speed increased to 1.9 seconds (from 2 seconds)

Bomber's use rate is quite low – partly because of the Wizard is a much stronger alternative. After this boost, the Bomber should be a more enticing option.

'''Golem: Hitpoints, damage and death damage increased by 43% Golemite: Hitpoints, damage and death damage decreased by 43%'''

Many Clash of Clans players felt that the Golem didn't live up to its lore. Golemites were way too strong and often dealt more damage than the Golem itself! We're transferring damage and hitpoints directly from the Golemites into the Golem.

P.E.K.K.A: Hitpoints decreased by 13%, cost decreased to 7 (from 8)

P.E.K.K.A is one of the most iconic Clash characters, but unfortunately it wasn't visible due to low use rates. You rarely encountered P.E.K.K.A in the Arena. It's a massive risk to invest 8 Elixir into a card that’s so easily distracted by small troops. 7 Elixir should reduce the risk enough to make P.E.K.K.A a solid addition to some decks.

X-Bow: Hitpoints decreased by 15%, only targets ground (from air & ground)

Players with the X-Bow card unlocked have used it in almost half of their matches. Seeing as the X-Bow is quite a specialized card, both to use and to deal with, we didn't think it was cool to see it in so many matches. Making it only target ground units will give more countering options to use against it.

Inferno Tower: Lifetime decreased to 45 seconds (from 60 seconds), re-targeting 50% slower

One of our balancing principles is, "offense over defense", but the Inferno Tower's very high use rate among top players doesn't match this principle. Top players are facing Inferno Towers in roughly half of their matches and the battle can become more about getting the Inferno Tower down instead of the Crown Tower. A shorter lifetime makes it harder to build a new one as soon as the previous one is destroyed. Increasing the time it takes to find a new target will make it weaker to swarms and give the attacker better countering options, tipping the scales back in favor of offense.

Cannon: Cost decreased to 3 (from 6), range to 6 (from 7), lifetime to 40 seconds (from 60 seconds) and hitpoints decreased by 55%

Cannon has been one of the least used cards, so we wanted to re-work it and give it a clearer purpose. A cost of 3 should make it more interesting and a significantly different alternative to the Inferno Tower.

Mortar: Cost decreased to 4 (from 6), damage decreased by 40%, lifetime to 20 seconds (from 40 seconds) and range decreased to 12 (from 13)

Mortar has also been one of the least used cards, as the X-Bow is simply a more compelling choice in most cases. A cheaper cost, shorter lifetime and lower range should clearly differentiate it from the X-Bow, and make it a tempting play on both offense and defense.

Mirror: Level of mirrored Common Cards increased by 4 and mirrored Rare Cards by 2

Mirror is a super fun card, but unfortunately it doesn't see much use. Because it's an epic card and almost always a lower level than your commons and rares, it makes sense that it would also boost those cards to appropriate levels.

Bomb Tower: Attack speed increased to 1.7 seconds (from 1.8 seconds)

Bomb Tower has been one of the least used cards. We hope this small boost encourages more people to try it out.

Barbarian Hut: Hitpoints increased by 10%

Since Barbarians are losing some hitpoints, the Barbarian Hut's hitpoints are being increased to compensate.

Elixir Collector: Production speed increased to 9.8 seconds (from 9.9 seconds)

Bug fix: A rounding error in the logic caused the Elixir Collector to produce 6 Elixir over its lifetime, rather than the intended 7. This change will make it produce 7.14 Elixir over 70 seconds.

Please leave your thoughts and feedback below

See you in the Arena, The Clash Royale Team":3