March balance update: Rehgar and Xul nerfs, Nova buffs

Xul's incredible power level is being toned down, while Nova is slowly creeping back to her former power level. Rehgar on the other hand...

Community manager Spyrian posted this latest forum post regarding a new balance update coming soon. Scheduled to go live on Wednesday, March 16th, this update is the same patch that will be used during the Spring Global Champioship in April, a detail that Blizzard should be praised on including, as it helps the competitive community prepare for such a big event without fear of the meta changing right under their noses. 

The balance update, while short, includes very impactful changes. Nova is getting some clear buffs in the form of more Health, more Health Regeneration, Snipe reduced cool down and mana cost, and an increased slow amount on Pinning shot.

Developer Comments:

We have been giving Nova slow and steady buffs in order to increase her viability without pushing her burst damage to uncomfortable levels. Each round of changes has shown us positive results—albeit not large ones. A lower cooldown on Snipe and a stronger slow on Pinning Shot should help Nova players secure kills more frequently while also helping her to contribute more during engagements and skirmishes.”

In a similar but different vein, Xul is getting very clearly nerfed. His most powerful Raise Skeleton talents will all do less damage and the base damage on Spectral Scythe was lowered drastically. Perhaps the heaviest part of this particular nerf hammer comes in the form of Cursed Strikes now only reducing attack speed by 40% down from 50%. It may seem like a small nerf, remember what happened to Imposing Presence's popularity once the attack speed slow was reduced. It plummeted.

Developer Comments:

 

Xul deals too much damage for the amount of utility he has in his kit, and his pushing Talents are vastly outperforming their competitors. He also has the highest win-rate currently and it’s still climbing, so we needed to be pretty heavy-handed with these nerfs.”

And as for the Rehgar change? I'll let Dunktrain do the talking:

Or perhaps you want to hear from another star support player, Bakery:

One more disgruntled veteran support player for good measure?

R.I.P Rehgar, you will be missed.

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