[To Be Removed] Haze and Hero Balance Suggestion

[PanDiman]

Over several months of playing the game, I noticed that Haze has some of the highest pick and win rates in Deadlock (according to https://tracklock.gg/heroes).

Naturally, the simplest way to balance Haze would be to nerf her. However, I believe Haze is already a very enjoyable hero to play due to her mobility, precision, and versatility, and her core gameplay doesn't necessarily need drastic changes.

Instead, I propose buffing other heroes—starting with those with the lowest win rates—until they are balanced enough to compete with Haze. This approach aligns with the "buff till balanced" philosophy in games like Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, where rather than nerfing the most powerful characters, which risks alienating their players, Capcom developers enhanced weaker characters to create a more enjoyable experience for everyone.

Hopefully, this strategy could make Deadlock more satisfying for non-Haze players without compromising Haze's identity as a fun and dynamic hero.

 

[PanDiman]

It appears I posted this thread in the wrong category, and there is no way for me to remove it, so I made another one here:

https://forums.playdeadlock.com/threads/haze-and-hero-balance-suggestion.50147/

 

[Jokerx71]

I personally like this approach. Take a look at overwatch. It use to have some fun heroes. Roadhog started out super fun, very enjoyable hook and secure kill hero. Blizzard went around pretty much nerfing the fun out of every hero.

I think to devs it makes more sense to try to balance the most broken aspect of a hero, to be in line with the balancing economy they have already fostered amongst the entire pool of heroes. Rather than create a work-load around buffing every single hero.

Im not a game dev so I don't really know, its just a thought.

Im always in the camp of buff characters in games first, before nerfing the current flavor.

1. Something will always be busted. It is our goals as players to always figure out the biggest by-design exploits
2. The devs already put so much great work into a hero like Kelvin, just for him to be super sidelined for months at a time.

 

[JisBeanGaming]

Not gonna lie, i think the main reason why the game feels so unfun to me is because they have been doing the opposite of what icefrog did in the earliest years. And this design philosophy is actually being applied to dota 2 atm. They nerf heroes to the point that its weak and unplayable (because of how nerfed the characters become).

I guess it can work in Dota because you still have a plethora of heroes pool. But dear god nerf haze, and every single deadlock player who main haze will just drop the game instead. Look at bebop, i stop playing bebop after they nerfed him to where he currently is now. I bet the people who even complained about bebop are not even playing the game anymore.

 

[1012799085]

Buff characters isn't always a good idea. It depends on the game. It highly impacts TTK and how people could interact with other characters. Buffing characters on their control or damage is pretty dangerous in my opinion. Considering Haze already has 100% pick rate and 53% win rate. She deserves a huge nerf. It feels like the job of those players who don't play HAZE is meant to play with Haze players and let them win.

 

[gibnewitems]

Haze only has that high pick rate last patch because there's genuinely zero alternative carries with wraith, infernus and mirage being in the gutter.