Curative Surgery to Remedy a Problem
Support Keywords was one of the most polarizing changes we made in Season 6, so as we release Season 7, we want to address it. Starting with Furia & Grohk in 7.2, we are planning to phase Support Keywords out of the game as feasible. Our goal remains to keep the balance between traditional team composition and double support strategies healthy, however players have given us ample feedback that Keywords did not feel to be the deciding factor in that. We know many players desired their removal quickly, however we wanted to ensure that all 4 Supports affected are still viable and become more interesting due to this transition, so we are focusing on each individual case and taking our time.
For Furia, the 2 significant changes to base kit are restoring Kindle Soul’s base healing value from before Keywords released (900 ➡️ 1000) as well as nerfing Inflame’s charge gain from healing and dealing damage by 15%. These changes alongside the removal of Curative, Remedy, and Surgery ensure that she is still potent as a hybrid healer but her Ultimate requires more thought to utilize best.
As for her Talents, Exterminate will remain as is minus the damage bonus, but both Cherish and Solar Blessing will be receiving small buffs to help them out of Keywords. Cherish’s AoE range will be increased to 50 units, making it a bit better at allowing Furia to pocket while not ignoring the rest of her team. Combined with Cards, this allows her to share some effects wider than a single target like Shielding. Solar Blessing will see its heal increased from 150 ➡️ 175 per tick, meaning that it's actually receiving a healing buff from its Keywords state. This Talent is niche but we want to reward those who spend time mastering the different beam mechanics.
As for Grohk, this opportunity led us to reassess his relationship between his base kit, Talents, and Cards to make him a more compelling choice across the board. At base, we’ve increased the frequency of his Healing Totem’s healing ticks from 6.6 per second to 10 per second, allowing him far more burst healing when committed to a fight. This change is mainly to prevent Grohk from losing all value out of quickly destroyed Totems, but also means he can heal much more effectively when stacking his Totems together.
As for his Talents, we removed Totemic Ward’s bonus to healing as basekit Totems become more potent, shifting its power into the additional charge it can provide. Spirit’s Domain will now also provide a Movement Speed buff to allies it hits to make it a more efficient dive tool and provide Grohk a more utility-centric playstyle outside his Cards. Finally, Maelstrom is receiving a small buff to help it not fall too far from where it was with Keywords.
These changes may be hard to fully understand without playing them, so make sure to test them out heavily when PTS comes later in March. These are just 2 of 24 Champions seeing balance adjustments in 7.2, but we wanted to provide a preview into this topic as we know players have been looking forward to this potential outcome. As we look forward to Season 7, stay tuned for more insights and previews!
This Week's Community Creations
Sunny Day Rei
Artist: MrDorian
House Aico Visage
Artist: angryraccoon
Deepening Corruption
Artist: KIIL
Weekend LTM: Swift Siege
Return to the quickest way to play Siege as Swift Siege returns as the LTM. play up to 2 rounds on some of our smallest and most fast-paced maps to enjoy our primary mode in bite-sized matches!
- EvilMojoKryptek
