Royal Engineer needs his base numbers balanced

This is an arena game. Notice I’ve already killed 7 troops.

I know, yet another Arena troop balance post. But I’m going to keep this narrow. This isn’t about a troop being “too good” because it wins easily. It’s about a troop that is the epitome of a griefer troop. In the above game, the team is not winning, it’s just standing there not losing for as long as possible.

Now, is my team weak? Moderately so. But that’s not the point. Royal Engineer base gives 17 armor to all allies, and it summons a fresh new troop to block with.

There’s no reason its base should be giving that much armor. It is a bad troop and needs its stats adjusted.

Edit: I have no patience to keep going. I’ve killed 13 troops now.

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Actually, Royal Engineer’s Armor buff is (5 + Magic) but I’m going to bump this and suggest that maybe yes, “Royal Engineer OP plz nerf.”

I am willing to be proven wrong on the argument, but here’s my armchair analysis anyway:

I recognize how this is a moot point when you have access to True Damage (including Bleed or Poison) but it’s still one of the stronger Armor buffs in the game combined with a summon, and especially in Arena mode runs this makes it feel OP.

Yes, random teams are part Arena mode’s appeal so stuff like this will invariably happen, and forfeiting one battle due to a bad draw won’t ruin too many runs, but it still just … feels bad.

For comparison, here’s a (not quite exhaustive) list of other Troops that buff all allies:

Armor buffs by troop rarity

Mythic:

  • Dark Smith Drenza: (11 + Magic) Armor, all allies

Legendary:

  • Holy St. Astra, Tink Steamwhistle: (1+Magic) Armor AND Life, all allies

Epic:

  • Alistair: (0+Magic) Armor, all allies

Ultra-Rare:

  • Dark Smith: (1+Magic) Armor, all allies
  • Royal Engineer: (5+Magic) Armor, all allies, +summon
  • Sapphire Knight: (1+Magic) Armor, all allies (+3:1 convert Blue gems)

Rare:

  • Clockwork Sphinx: (2 + Magic) Armor, all allies (+3:1 destroy Gems)
  • Heronath: (1 + Magic) Armor, all allies (+4x Stryx Allies)
  • Summoner: (2 + 0.5*Magic) Armor, all allies, +summon
  • Templar: (0+Magic) Armor, all allies, (+5:1 convert Red Gems)
  • The Devoted: (1 + Magic) Armor, all allies

Common:

  • Humility: (1+Magic) random skill, all allies
Life buffs by troop rarity

Mythic:

  • Sycorax: (1 + Magic) Life, all allies

Legendary:

  • Divinia, Emperor Liang, Tinseltail: (1 + Magic) Life, all allies
  • Emperinazara: (1.5 * Magic) Life, all allies, +summon and possible Extra Turn
  • The Sun: (unsure, probably 2 + 0.5*Magic)

Epic:

  • Faunessa, Lady Anariel: (1+Magic) Life, all allies
  • Naga Queen: (0+Magic) Life, all allies
  • Ascendance: (unsure, probably 5 + 0.5 * Magic) Life, all allies
    (Ascendance underpowered plz buff?)

Rare:

  • Harpy, Monkey Disciple: (1 + Magic) Life, all allies

Common:

  • Loyalty: (1+Magic) Life, all allies
  • Orion’s Herald (0.5*Magic) Life, all allies, +summon

Now in trying to keep those lists succinct I did leave out many important secondary effects, so to make a more limited comparison and deeper analysis:

[Ultrarare] Royal Engineer: (5+Magic) Armor

  • Summons one Mech after the Armor buff

[Ultrarare] Sapphire Knight: (1+Magic) Armor

  • Boosted 3:1 by Blue Gems (avg +3 more Armor)
  • Converts all Blue to Yellow, possibly causing a Mana Surge / Extra Turn
  • Synergizes with Yellow troops (including itself), i.e. expect Sapphire Knight to cast twice in a row

[Rare] Clockwork Sphinx: (2 + Magic) Armor

  • Boosted (3:1) by Gems destroyed (avg +3 more armor)
  • Arcane trait increases the buff +1 per cast
  • Remaining gems can combo, possibly causing Mana Surge / Extra Turn
  • General-purpose Mana Generator that synergizes with almost any Troop color; selecting Purple or Brown gems can enable it to doublecast

[Rare] Hernorath: (1 + Magic) Armor

  • Boosted by 4x Stryx allies (including itself), thus the Armor buff is effectively (5+Magic) same as Royal Engineer, up to (17+Magic) depending on team composition
  • Creates a Leafstorm going forward

So maybe Royal Engineer isn’t OP generally … Heronath on a full Stryx team is a force to reckon with, Sapphire Knight will often get to doublecast, and Clockwork Sphinx is good at just stalling in general.

But this is Arena mode where if you’re having problems with the opposing team you cannot just build around it.

Maybe Royal Engineer could be removed from the Arena pool instead? Alternatively, maybe tweak Royal Engineer’s effect from “all allies” to “all other allies” so that Engineer is an easier target? At least he buffs first THEN summons…

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