No, you still have this aspect, it just evolved. You’re still thinking your draft with a 1.08 mindset, which leads to frustration (I’ve been there, as seen a few posts above ^^). Free your mind from your 1.08 habits and embrace the new meta! You will find that there are still as many subtleties and intricacies to a successful draft and run as ever (arguably more than ever, even, since the troop and weapon pools are so huge now). You just need to build your team around your Hero, since the Hero is back to being the driving force it used to be before 1.08. If you keep your focus on balancing the three other troops and then pick your Hero’s weapon accordingly, as a supplement, you’ll have a much weaker draft most of the time.
Yes and no. Ever since troops were bumped from Level 10 to 15, the Hero has retained better overall stats than almost any given Arena troop, yes, but not by a huge margin, and multiple troops beat it in one or two areas. The Druid’s spell is better than any weapon’s spell (without the new class bonus). The Berserker is tankier (and eventually hits much stronger with skulls as well). Multiple troops hit harder by default (or just as hard, if you’re Level 1,000 and your Hero has 9 attack). So in the 1.08 Arena, the Hero was one troop among others, like I said. More often than not, the best one, or at least one of the top two of the team, but hardly ever the powerhouse it used to be up to 1.07, when the others could barely muster 6 attack at best, and their spells did around the same damage wise.
This brings back a Hero-focused meta, as expected. It’s not a bad thing, it’s a nice change of pace once you consider the new, bigger picture.
Also, many troops were changed, for better and for worse, and some very neat new ones were introduced. Your Wolf Knight hits for 11 True Damage now! Your Musketeer hits for 8, still at a bargain 2 regular moves mana cost! Every other troop gives you a now-deadly Burning or Poison effect! This is not the place for a moderate Hero. This is a place for a STRONG Hero.
Incorrect. That was my first analysis as well, but I was utterly wrong. If anything, this will widen the gap between the top Arena players and the kind of guys who take Imperial Jewel no matter what and still put their Hero in the first position. There’s so much more to the Magic boost than “be a Necro with Burning Scythe and kill everyone”, now that I’ve given it some thought. I’ve just had a no-loss 8-wins run with Crescendo as an Archer. Now I’m well on my way to a third no-loss 8-wins run with Slay Bells and I can’t wait to try Yasmine’s Chalice! Among many others. In all of these runs, I faced a truckload of lazy, uninspired drafters who had the 11-12 damage Burning Scythe or the 17-18 damage Imperial Jewel, and no oomph! beyond that. A few of them even fired their weapons a couple of times before I killed them dead. It was fun! =)
No, it was always announced that the Hero would become stronger for the Arena too. Trust me, that’s something I followed closely. We just didn’t know what we would get exactly. Again, since this specific buff is the only one to have appeared in the Arena, I’m now convinced that this was always part of the plan and I don’t think it’s a bug at all. It makes sense, too, as it’s focused on your weapon choice, which is the most crucial aspect of the Hero in the Arena.
If the devs eventually remove this, either because it turns out to have been a bug all along, or due to our hasty wolf-crying (mine first and foremost, once again, and I’m still blushing for it), I’ll be very disappointed.
New patch, new meta! Enjoy! =)