# January Dev Q&A Summary **URL:** \ **Category:** Official News\ **Created:** [January 19, 2018, 3:12am UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083 "2018-01-19T03:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Lilith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e36b37/32.png) [@Lilith](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Lilith)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:31pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/81 "2018-01-19T18:31:26Z")
I have had Drakulis and Xathenos on over 100 life for an almost dead infernus to cast 3 times in a row and wipe them both… Basically he explodes too much, coupled with storm for a high chance at extra turn, he can cast successively… So yeah, I want him nerfed to death, then made undead so we can nerf him some more Only good thing about him is you can skull him to death and once dead, stays dead, unlike some other (thankfully lesser powered) troop. Oh yeah congrats on Immortal King for getting his legendary trait back ---
**Author:** ![awryan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/awryan/32/74650_2.png) [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:48pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/82 "2018-01-19T18:48:43Z")
Your beef is with the unbalanced RNG. Not with my Infernus. Unlimited Cascades are not supposed to happen. Think Goblins… Weak casts right? Well anything that casts a hundred times in a row will eventually take down any troops. Always remember that “nerfs” hurt the players more than the actual AI. Everyone loved using Fizzbang on offense for one day after she came out. After Nerf she is still OP but just for the AI… So evidently that’s okay. ---
**Author:** ![Slypenslyde](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/slypenslyde/32/30373_2.png) [@Slypenslyde](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Slypenslyde)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:54pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/83 "2018-01-19T18:54:44Z")
Let me be careful how I answer, @awryan! Due to how matchmaking works, it’s _very possible_ you’re seeing completely different defense teams than I’m seeing. So everything I say could, in theory, apply to JUST MY account, or someone else at my level. Let me describe that level. You can peek at it here: [http://gowdb.com/collection/735298d28fc81211eaa16ddc8786a3d1](http://gowdb.com/collection/735298d28fc81211eaa16ddc8786a3d1), but in summary: I’m level 827. My two mythics are Stonehammer and The Worldbreaker. I’ve got Mab, TDS, and a handful of other useful legendaries, but not quite any T1 teams. My go-to has been Dragotaur, TDS, Venbarak, Worldbreaker, but lately I put Gorgotha at the top and I like how that rolls. Psion and Krystenax are two troops I wish I had, but I chose Mab over Psion when they were both in Soulforge and didn’t feel like getting both. (I sort of had a feeling a Psion nerf was coming.) TDS was EVERYWHERE when I was about 400-600. I hated TDS teams and even griped about them on the forums. It only stopped when I got a TDS of my own. I think most people don’t go farm traitstones and max it out ASAP. I did, and formed an all-dragons team, and it seems like somewhere shortly after I elevated myself above most of the half-assed TDS teams that had been a menace. I don’t _feel like_ Psion shows up much more often than Dwarves or a handful of other “I have one good team” setups. We’ll see how data goes. I know there’s one dang Psion/Mab team in particular that obliterates me every time, but it’s what I get for being cocky and challenging 9,700 power level 3-trophy teams. ---
**Author:** ![Venar](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/venar/32/36634_2.png) [@Venar](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Venar)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 6:58pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/84 "2018-01-19T18:58:50Z")
Well, at least exploders are under surveillance. Problem is, before, we had a few exploders that did just that. Gorgotha, Ragna, Carnex, etc. So it was a gamble: I explode and get lots of mana, and maybe a chance to replay VS give a good field to the opponent. Risk VS Benefit. But, the game introduced exploders that do more. Massive damage (TDS, Infernus, World Breaker), affect the opponent (Azura) or just a free extra-turn (Fizz and Nobends), basically shifting the balance deeply toward « benefit » We’ll have to see. I wonder if it is possible to code various % of mana. For example, small exploders (1 gem, 1 row) could stay at 70%, but big exploder with side effect could be lowered. Or make Disease permanent like poison until healed. ---
**Author:** ![Courtaud](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/courtaud/32/20160_2.png) [@Courtaud](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Courtaud)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:11pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/85 "2018-01-19T19:11:48Z")
> [@Venar](#): > > Or make Disease permanent like poison until healed. Can’t do. Poison works on a 50% chance at each turn. > [@Venar](#): > > before, we had a few exploders that did just that. Gorgotha, Ragna, Carnex, etc. > But, the game introduced exploders that do more. Massive damage (TDS, Infernus, World Breaker), affect the opponent (Azura) or just a free extra-turn (Fizz and Nobends), I think this timeline is a little messed up. Also, Nobend and Fizz are Goblins, what are they supposed to do? > [@Slypenslyde](#): > > I hated TDS teams and even griped about them on the forums. It only stopped when I got a TDS of my own. Yes, I guessed you got one when you stopped griping. 🙂 > [@Slypenslyde](#): > > I don’t feel like Psion shows up much Yet. ---
**Author:** ![Rickygervais](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@Rickygervais](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Rickygervais)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:46pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/86 "2018-01-19T19:46:25Z")
Well at least the mana shield is a good thing against psion, i would like to test new pvp team but for the momen it’s not doable since everyone use it but when the shield will work it would be nice to try different combo, yeah he will still drain but if you put amira in 2nd or third spot she will be able to finish him very quick I also wonder what impact it gonna have on famine since he won’t be able to drain mana shield it mean his strengh will decrease ---
**Author:** ![Slypenslyde](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/slypenslyde/32/30373_2.png) [@Slypenslyde](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Slypenslyde)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/87 "2018-01-19T19:57:55Z")
Yeah, I agree with most points there and that’s the thing that makes it really hard to have empathy across the playerbase. TDS is a problem in some chunk of every player’s journey. But once you get a team that can deal with TDS, you ascend to a different chunk. Right now I’m in a nice little niche where Psion isn’t a major hassle. But if I make a slightly better PvP team, I could find myself in a situation where it is. That makes Psion kind of a weird place: only very powerful players are seeing the chunk where it’s a menace. That’s probably not the majority of players. TDS “feels worse” because more people are in or have gone through that phase. This is the strangest thing about how PvP matchmaking works. The hardest thing to explain to a new player is that they should NOT be trying to make better PvP teams if they’re happy with how much they are winning. I’m actually kind of worried to try a new, more powerful PvP team because of it. I don’t want the game to feel like it did when TDS was my biggest foe again. The best way I can guarantee it right now is “never change my PvP team again ever”. Weird. So I’m happy to hear a lot of stuff is getting shook up. I’m happy to hear about a lot of new troops. I think the only way to have more variety at any level of PvP is to make sure there are multiple viable teams at that level. I love my TDS, but looking at just how much it boosted my power I understand the assumption that it’s “broken”. I write weekly stuff for my guild and pointed out when TDS was in Soulforge that anyone who didn’t have it should abandon all goals to get it. It’s not healthy for one troop to be that important. (The same could be said about Pharos-Ra but it’s important for a very different, less damaging reason.) By comparison, all the Famine/Death/Plague etc. kind of troops I can’t say any one of them is so important you should abandon one for the other: you want them all. TDS sticks out as a legendary so powerful you should almost ignore Soulforge legendaries until it’s available. I’m real curious what it’s like after the change. And also hoping I get some good troops in the month or so I have left with it 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Razzagor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/razzagor/32/50037_2.png) [@Razzagor](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Razzagor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/88 "2018-01-19T20:39:47Z")
> [@Venar](#): > > But, the game introduced exploders that do more. I say things got out of control with the storms. They are very weak when you keep taking 3~5 gems on match, but when you get our ol’boy Ragnagord and his new pals, which you already mentioned, we can clearly see that exploding gems during storms will surely grant a huge amount of mana and probably an extra turn. Wanna imagine something crazy? Add a goblin that creates purple or red storms… 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Nephilim](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/nephilim/32/29092_2.png) [@Nephilim](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Nephilim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/89 "2018-01-19T20:40:49Z")
They’re very risky though and can hand over to the ai a board full of mana and extra turns for the taking. ---
**Author:** ![Jainus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jainus/32/34949_2.png) [@Jainus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jainus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:44pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/90 "2018-01-19T20:44:33Z")
Well done and thanks @Sheba Devs chuck that girl some gems. ---
**Author:** ![Razzagor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/razzagor/32/50037_2.png) [@Razzagor](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Razzagor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/91 "2018-01-19T20:46:23Z")
From my experience it’s really risky only when you generate a storm that can be benefitial to your opponents. Which is not uncommon, considering the usual teams we see being fielded, but as long as the exploder is well paired with the storm you have a decent consistency of loops. Ragnagord + Infernus Skadi + Azura ---
**Author:** ![Jainus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jainus/32/34949_2.png) [@Jainus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jainus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:52pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/93 "2018-01-19T20:52:41Z")
I hate these skill-deficient loops. I’ve always loved converter loops which take skill to maintain. These exploder/storm loops take almost no skill - meaning the AI can spam them at you repeatedly. You not even have to look at the board. More de-skilling and accelerating of the game. ---
**Author:** ![awryan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/awryan/32/74650_2.png) [@awryan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/awryan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:53pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/94 "2018-01-19T20:53:37Z")
> [@Rickygervais](#): > > I also wonder what impact it gonna have on famine since he won’t be able to drain mana shield it mean his strengh will decrease Famine’s third trait will be “stun” all troops on 4-5 gem matches. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![Stan](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/stan/32/29888_2.png) [@Stan](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Stan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/95 "2018-01-19T20:54:11Z")
> [@Zippity](#): > > This pains me as a collector. With the current rate of key and traitstone gains, I feel like I will come to a point that getting all these new troops up to mythic and fully traited will start becoming very slow. The troop pool is already becoming very saturated. Now if you add a lot of common to ultra rare troops, you will be bloating the drop pool of gold and glory keys. Me too. Some time back, they said they were making a big push to get to 300 troops, and then were planning to slow down (which they did). Now, with something around 450 troops already, they want to _increase_ the rate of release? Never mind collecting, it is hard to just keep track of all the troops in the game and have some idea what they do. > [@Nephilim](#): > > I absolutely knew that the ai was getting too much mana occasionally. That’s why I even started a thread about it! Turns out you (and @KrudlerTheHorse and probably some others I’m forgetting) were right, but it wasn’t happening all the time. I did run some tests a few times to verify, but whenever I did, things always came out as they should (subject to rounding). Now who knows if it is ever working as intended… ---
**Author:** ![Razzagor](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/razzagor/32/50037_2.png) [@Razzagor](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Razzagor)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 8:57pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/96 "2018-01-19T20:57:45Z")
> [@Jainus](#): > > These exploder/storm loops take almost no skill - meaning the AI can spam them at you repeatedly. That’s mostly what i observed with the goblins, Nobend and Fizzbang don’t even need too much luck to explode twice, because they always have an extra turn and can keep looping mostly out of sheer repetition of 4/5 matches and cascades. If you started a storm that don’t benefit them, they’ll simply take extra turns until they can fire spells again. ---
**Author:** ![Jainus](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/jainus/32/34949_2.png) [@Jainus](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Jainus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 9:00pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/97 "2018-01-19T21:00:24Z")
Famine is still one of the most brutally powerful troops in the game. Having a handful of troops resist his reset and kill spell won’t make much difference unless large numbers of troops gain the trait. Having one or two troops that can stand in the way of Psion’s inevitable sky skull hits will be useful at least… ---
**Author:** ![Strawnyy](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/strawnyy/32/30688_2.png) [@Strawnyy](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Strawnyy)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 9:52pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/98 "2018-01-19T21:52:23Z")
So whats going on? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Courtaud](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/courtaud/32/20160_2.png) [@Courtaud](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Courtaud)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 11:09pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/99 "2018-01-19T23:09:15Z")
> [@Slypenslyde](#): > > TDS is a problem in some chunk of every player’s journey. Well, not for me. I got him very early, before being in a Guild and before starting doing serious PVP. He has been nothing but delight. > [@Slypenslyde](#): > > I love my TDS, but looking at just how much it boosted my power I understand the assumption that it’s “broken”. You think people clamored to have him nerfed because he gave them too much power? Nope. > [@Slypenslyde](#): > > I think the only way to have more variety at any level of PvP is to make sure there are multiple viable teams at that level. The only way to have such a variety is to force players to set more variated defense teams. I was a kind of ‘set and forget’ player, then a ‘help with weekly tasks’ player. Now I see the advantages of giving grief. > [@Slypenslyde](#): > > The same could be said about Pharos-Ra but it’s important for a very different, less damaging reason. Pharos is important for extremely damaging reasons. You don’t see him in defenses because AI is crap in defense. In short, it was vital to the game to nerf a troop Lord Ironbeard can take out at the first turn. Yep. > [@Jainus](#): > > These exploder/storm loops take almost no skill - meaning the AI can spam them at you repeatedly. While the opposite is not true. Good luck to have a battle in a thousand where you can sit and watch your team autopiloted to killing everybody. > [@awryan](#): > > Famine’s third trait will be “stun” all troops on 4-5 gem matches. That’s Stonehammer. Let’s give him something oh so unique! I don’t know, he can resurrect as a Ghoul. Once. ---
**Author:** ![Rickygervais](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b77776/32.png) [@Rickygervais](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Rickygervais)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 11:23pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/100 "2018-01-19T23:23:08Z")
> [@Jainus](#): > > Famine is still one of the most brutally powerful troops in the game. Having a handful of troops resist his reset and kill spell won’t make much difference unless large numbers of troops gain the trait. I know im just saying 1 or 2 troop with mana shield could make the difference for 1 shot kill ---
**Author:** ![Sheba](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/flex019/user_avatar/community.gemsofwar.com/sheba/32/45190_2.png) [@Sheba](https://community.gemsofwar.com/u/Sheba)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083/101 "2018-01-19T23:29:54Z")
> [@Courtaud](#): > > The only way to have such a variety is to force players to set more variated defense teams. I was a kind of ‘set and forget’ player, then a ‘help with weekly tasks’ player. Now I see the advantages of giving grief. I actually think that if the system would just keep players not doing PVP anymore in the defense lineup for longer would give more variety. Right now it seems like five battles you do give you one or two defense battles max (based on me getting that result after GW every day and then it stops). If people wouldn’t be removed from the list of available opponents so quickly, we would see more variety in whom we can fight. Right now, we see the PVP teams of people constantly doing PVP (hence their teams remaining available) and, with that, the ones most likely caring about the leaderboard and their standing, hence setting a meta team. If the rest of the bunch would stay in there as well instead of being removed, we’d see more teams, even if meta wouldn’t change. [Previous page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083.md?page=4) [Next page](https://community.gemsofwar.com/t/january-dev-q-a-summary/35083.md?page=6)