[MEGA] Road Ahead: July 2021

DEV POST

"CG_SBCrumb;d-202379" wrote:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yFhIaOAAk

Hi Holotable Heroes,
This month we are experimenting with a new format for Road Ahead! DojaFett and myself present the important announcements in video form, but we have also posted some of the highlights and major details in this forum post. We would love to hear your feedback on this format and let us know if you want to see more videos like this.

There’s a ton of information on upcoming units, features and dates. It goes without saying that these details and times are subject to change as we get closer to release.


New ship: Executor
Available from a new Advanced Fleet Mastery
Requirements to View and Begin the Event:

• Vader Relic 7
  
• Piett Relic 8
  
• Boba Fett Relic 8
  
• TIE Pilot Relic 5
  
• Bossk Relic 5
  
• IG88 Relic 5
  
• Dengar Relic 5
  

Ships Required to Begin the Event:
This section has been updated

• Razor Crest (5-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• Slave I (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• IG-2000 (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• Hound's Tooth (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• TIE Advanced (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• TIE Bomber (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  
• Imperial TIE Fighter (4-stars) (7-stars to complete)
  

New Character: Maul
Available from Conquest

New Galactic Legend Lord Vader
Lord Vader Requirements Group 1:

• Hunter - Relic 5
  
• Tech - Relic 5
  
• Wrecker - Relic 5
  
• Tusken Raider - Relic 5
  
• Padme Amidala - Relic 8
  

Lord Vader Requirements Group 3 Sneak Peek:

• General Skywalker - Relic 8
  

Conquest #7 Preview
New Data Disks

Steadfast Focus - 2 Capacity - Common: Allies are immune to Ability Block, Daze and Stun for 2 turns at the start of battle

Opportunistic Support III - 1 Capacity - Epic - Whenever an ally attacks out of turn, all allies gain 6% health

New Boss Modifiers
Kenobi! - Whenever the allied Leader is damaged, all other allies gain 10% Offense until the end of their next turn. At the start of the allied Leader's turn, they dispel all debuffs on all allies and all buffs on all enemies. Whenever an ally drops below 50% Health, the allied Leader gains 100% Turn Meter. The first time the allied Leader is defeated, all enemies recover 50% Health and Protection and reduce their cooldowns by 3.

Mandalore - All allies start the encounter with 3 stacks of Beskar Armor, which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented.


Defense and Character Raid Boss Changes
Defense Changes
The details of what’s getting changed and added are available below, but this won’t be going into effect for about another month in order to give you time to make an informed decision on whether to re-relic those characters up to Relic 8 or use those resources somewhere else.


Darth Vader

• Basic: Terrifying Swing
  
  
  
  • Increase damage multiplier across all tiers by 20%
    
  • Increase final upgrade chance to inflict Ability Block to 100% against Jedi and Rebel enemies
    
  • Final: Deal Physical damage to target enemy with an 80% chance to inflict Ability Block for 1 turn, increased to 100% if the target is Jedi or Rebel. This attack can't be evaded or resisted by Jedi and Rebel enemies.
    
  • Tier 7 Upgrade: +15% Damage, +15% Ability Block chance, and +20% Ability Block chance against Jedi and Rebel enemies
    
  
  
• Special 2: Culling Blade
  
  
  
  • Reduce damage multiplier on all tiers by 40%, increase debuff damage scaling to 100% against raid bosses on final tier, final tier has +25% Critical Chance when used
    
  • Final: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and dispel all debuffs on them. This attack deals 50% more damage for each effect dispelled, increased to 100% against raid bosses, and grants 100% Turn Meter if the target is defeated. This attack has +25% Critical Chance and can't be evaded.
    
  • Tier 7 Upgrade: +10% Bonus damage, +50% bonus damage against raid bosses, and this attack has +25% Critical Chance and can't be evaded
    
  
  
• Special 3: Merciless Massacre
  
  
  
  • Increase Merciless' Critical Chance increase to 50%
    
  • Tiers 5-7: ... Merciless: +50% Offense, +50% Critical Chance...
    
  • Tier 5 Upgrade: +35% Critical Chance
    
  
  
• Unique 1: No Escape
  
  
  
  • Add 2% Protection recovery when Damage Over Time effects expire to the final upgrade
    
  • Final: At the start of each encounter, Darth Vader gains 8 Speed until the end of the encounter for each of the following: Empire ally, Sith ally, Jedi enemy, and Rebel enemy.\n\nDarth Vader is immune to Turn Meter reduction and recovers 5% Health and 2% Protection whenever a Damage Over Time effect on an enemy expires. Whenever Darth Vader activates Merciless Massacre, dispel Stealth from all enemies.
    
  • Tier 7 Upgrade: Darth Vader is immune to Turn Meter reduction and recovers 5% Health and 2% Protection whenever a Damage Over Time effect on an enemy expires; whenever Darth Vader activates Merciless Massacre, dispel Stealth from all enemies
    
  
  

General Skywalker

• Basic: Furious Slash & Granted: Telekinesis
  
  
  
  • Remove "ignores Defense" on both abilities; add Defense Penetration to the basic, ramping if all allies are 501st
    
  • Tiers 0-6: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. This attack can't be evaded and has +65% Defense Penetration, tripled if all allies are 501st.
    
  • Tier 7: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. This attack can't be evaded and has +65% Defense Penetration, tripled if all allies are 501st. \n\n If this is the first ability General Skywalker uses during his turn, he immediately uses the Special ability Telekinesis, if able. \n\n Telekinesis: Deal Physical damage to target enemy. If possible, this attack will critically hit enemies with Armor Shred. If the target enemy is Dazed, reduce General Skywalker's ability cooldowns by 1.
    
  
  
• Leader: General of the 501st
  
  
  
  • Increase Protection recovery for allied 501st turns while in Cover to 20%
    
  • Recover 100% Protection when exiting Cover due to all other 501st allies being defeated
    
  
  

Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker

• Basic: Prevailing Strike
  
  
  
  • Add additional true damage if target enemy is a Tank (excluding raid bosses and GLs)
    
  • Tier 7: Dispel all buffs and deal Physical damage to target enemy. If they are a Tank, also deal true damage to them (excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends). Then reduce their critical damage by 10% (stacking). Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gains 10% Max Protection (stacking, max 100%) until the end of the encounter. This attack can't be countered.
    
  • Tier 7 Upgrade: If target enemy is a Tank, also deal true damage to them (excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends); Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gains 10% Max Protection (stacking, max 100%) until the end of the encounter
    
  
  
• Special 1: Stalwart Advance
  
  
  
  • Remove "and all attacks ignore Defense" from Jedi's Will
    
  • Increase Offense to 50% and add 25% Tenacity to Jedi's Will
    
  • Tiers 0-6: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and call another target ally to assist.
    Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gains Jedi's Will for 2 turns, which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented. If target other ally is a Jedi, who is not Old Republic, they also gain Jedi's Will for 2 turns.
    Jedi's Will: +100% Counter Chance, +50% Offense, +25% Speed, +25% Tenacity
    
  • Tier 7: Deal Physical damage to target enemy and call another target ally to assist. Target enemy is inflicted with Blind for 2 turns.
    
    Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker gains Jedi's Will for 2 turns, which can't be copied, dispelled, or prevented. If target other ally is a Jedi, who is not Old Republic, they also gain Jedi's Will for 2 turns.
    
    Jedi's Will: +100% Counter Chance, +50% Offense, +25% Speed, +25% Tenacity
    
  • Base Stats
    
    
    
    • Add 195 Armor Penetration to his base stats
      
    
    
  
  
  

Wat Tambor

• Unique 2: Mass Manufacture
  
  
  
  • Remove "attacks ignore Defense and" from the BlasTech Weapon Mod
    
  • Tiers 0-7: .... BlasTech Weapon Mod: Gain 15% Turn Meter at the start of each enemy's turn; enemies defeated by this character can't be revived
    
  
  

Character Raid Boss Changes
The following abilities are being updated to include Galactic Legends to the Raid Boss exclusion: "(excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends)"

• Bastila Shan (Fallen) - Unique 3 - Force Bond
  
  
  
  • Tier 2: If Darth Revan is in the leader slot: Bastila and Darth Revan have +70% Max Health and +70% Health Steal, and Darth Revan also recovers Protection from Corrupted Battle Meditation. Allies are immune to all debuffs during any ability used by an enemy with Corrupted Battle Meditation (excludes debuffs from raid bosses and galactic legends). If Jedi Knight Revan is on the enemy squad: Bastila gains Advantage and Foresight for one turn at the start of Jedi Knight Revan's turns.
    
  
  
• Darth Malak - Unique 1 - Gnawing Terror
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... Sith enemies can't gain bonus Turn Meter (excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends). ...
    
  
  
• General Grievous - Special 2 - Skittering Horror
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... they lose 10% of their Max Health (excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends) ...
    
  
  
• General Skywalker - Unique 1 - The Chosen One
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... increase their cooldowns by 1 (excluding raid bosses and Galactic Legends) ... reduce their current Max Health by 20% for the rest of the battle (stacking, excluding raid bosses and Galactic Legends) ...
    
  
  
• Grand Admiral Thrawn - Special 1 - Fracture
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... Fracture on Raid Bosses and Galactic Legends: ...
    
  
  
• Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker - Special 2 - Repulse
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... Repulse on raid bosses and Galactic Legends: ...
    
  
  
• Moff Gideon - Unique 1 - Know Your Adversaries
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ... he inflicts Demoralized on all enemies (excludes raid bosses and Galactic Legends) until they are defeated ...
    
  
  
• C-3PO - Basic - Baffling Trick
  
  
  
  • Tiers 0-7: ...(raid bosses and Galactic Legends:)...
    
  
  

Galactic Legend Changes
Rey - Special 2: Sudden Whirlwind

• Tier 2: Deal 2x massive damage to target enemy. Then, deal Physical damage to all enemies. Enemies defeated by this ability can't be revived. This attack can't be countered or evaded and deals 7% more damage with massive damage per Relic Amplifier level. ....
  

Sith Eternal Emperor - Leader: Sith Eternal

• Added "Sith allies gain 5% Turn Meter whenever an enemy gains a buff that can't be dispelled" to final tier
  
• Tier 2: Dark Side allies have +25% Mastery, +30% Potency, and +20 Speed, doubled for Sith allies.
  
• Whenever a Deceived or Linked enemy uses an ability, Sith Eternal Emperor gains 10% Mastery (stacking) until the end of encounter and other Sith allies gain half that amount. Whenever a Linked enemy uses an ability, Sith Eternal Emperor gains 8% Ultimate Charge.
  
  After the start of each encounter, whenever an enemy gains a buff that can't be dispelled, Sith allies gain 5% Turn Meter.
  
  Whenever a Sith ally is defeated, dispel all debuffs on other Sith allies and they recover 100% Health and Protection. Sith allies can't be revived, and they ignore defense when targeting a Jedi enemy.
  

DEV POST


UPDATE 07/26/2021

Doja and I spent most of the weekend gathering sentiment and feedback regarding the Road Ahead. Below are some of the most recurring comments we noticed, and hopefully the following responses will help clarify some of the questions and concerns you have.

We also appreciate the vast majority of you separating the video format from the news contained within the message. Hopefully we can deliver more videos in the future and work toward expanding the ways we interact with the SWGoH community.

Galactic Legends and non-GL counters/interactions:

The community has always been excellent at puzzle-solving, theory-crafting, and finding ways to maximize the effectiveness of their rosters. The changes are meant to not only allow for more design space for powerful characters below Galactic Legends, but also to prevent situations in which a non-GL could one-shot or otherwise severely and regularly reduce the effectiveness of a Galactic Legend.


As we mentioned in the video, changing characters post launch is a last resort. There needs to be a balance between how consistent a counter is and how powerful the squad they are facing is in comparison. This is not just for squads with GLs, but for any squad that is able to counter another. For a healthy balance to the meta, counters should require a similar amount of resources to the team they can beat, whether that’s mods, gear/relic level, and/or specific units.

GLs require a large amount of time and resources to unlock and their place in the meta should reflect the difficulty involved in unlocking them. They are late-game units and it makes sense they would be commensurate in power and effectiveness to their status as late-game roster acquisitions that take a lot of effort to acquire.

Difficulty of Events Post-Character Changes:

We are reviewing existing Journey Guide events for any unintentional side effects. Our goal is to keep these events around the same level of difficulty as before.

Three of the characters had specific updates to their kits to maintain the character’s utility as a high-end unit in other areas of the game, such as PvE events, etc. General Skywalker, for example, had things added to his kit because we wanted to offset the changes and make sure he remained highly effective - especially when leading a full 501st squad - in other areas of the game.

Dark Trooper:

We noticed some confusion surrounding Dark Trooper and wanted to clarify that DT is not getting any direct changes to its kit. Rather, the changes to Sith Eternal Emperor reduce Dark Trooper’s effectiveness in this matchup and that is why we specifically decided to return resources for Dark Trooper.

Relic 9 Timing:

Relic 9 is further out and will be coming to the game after the character changes are implemented, not before. We’ll share more details on R9 as it gets closer. Having said that, the character changes needed to happen before R9, otherwise the underlying issues surrounding defense being ignored would only be exasperated.

Razor Crest Shards and Conquest 7:

More details on obtaining Razor Crest shards will be coming soon. As far as Conquest 7 (and the concern of no August Conquest), as mentioned in the video, Conquest 7 will experience a slight delay. Three Conquests over the next three-ish months is still the plan. This should result in little to no interference with the timeline of playing through the next three Conquests and reaping the resulting rewards of your efforts there.

Executor Requirements:

We saw a lot of discussion surrounding the requirements for Executor and it’s place in the fleet meta. It is our intention that the Executor will be commensurate in power to the difficulty involved in acquiring it.

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I hope this response sheds some light on our perspective. We will continue to escalate your feedback to the team and be here to answer as many questions as possible.