Patch 0.1.6 introduces a number of very relevant mechanical changes. Once again, the devs have made some key adjustments that reshape how we play the game. Before we get into the details, overall I think this patch is a step in the right direction.
While there certainly are some numbers that need fixing, it feels like we're getting closer to a more stable baseline of The Bazaar. After all, the level-up rewards structure has mostly remained the same, which is a pretty big deal given how many iterations we've seen.
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Enchantment Changes
First and foremost, by far the biggest impact of the patch is the single adjustment they made to level-up rewards. The level 10 (and 19) guaranteed enchantment reward now no longer gives three options to choose from. Instead we're offered one random visible option, or the choice to apply a random enchantment to an item.
This takes away the "opportunistic enchantment" play-style of the prior patch, and is ultimately a good change. Having the choice between three options led to some very skewed games where the one lucky enchant could define the entire run. It was to the point where players would hoard items just in case a particular enchantment showed up, which isn't exactly ideal.
While there was some strategy behind making these opportune purchases, overall there really wasn't much agency for the player. It felt especially bad when all three options were useless, because if you missed, you still had to fight players who didn't miss their's. These changes do add more RNG, but overall feels more balanced since your opponents won't always find what they need either.
One exception to this is items like Robotic Factory that have few possible enchantments. "The Artist" can roll the rare Shiny enchant, which doesn't appear as a selectable enchant option like everything else. In the case of
Robotic Factory you get a 50/50 shot at getting Shiny which is an insane power spike. Thankfully this isn't a big issue due to item rarity, but it is a unique example of where these changes can technically be a buff.
Last but definitely not least, the changes to make the Fiery and Toxic enchants scale to an item's Damage/Shield/Heal values (usually 10%) is a huge buff to enchantments as a whole. These were powerful picks for certain items, but absolute garbage for others. Following a similar belief to the Restorative and Shielded enchants, it's now possible to create some wildly powerful Burn/Poison items.
Bronze Buffs
Many items have been rebalanced to have stronger base values at Bronze and Silver, but weaker values at Gold and Diamond. This is a big buff to early game builds while only slightly harming later viability. This is because much of a build's late game power usually comes from scaling skills. A small boost to base Damage is nowhere near as important.
This has made the Day 1 level-up strategy (picking the XP option twice, shopping once) even more preferable, as having the extra board space is much more relevant when Bronze items are more impactful.
Drop rate tables have also been adjusted to offer higher tier items earlier in the game. So while Bronze items are a lot stronger, it won't take long until you start picking up Silver items (or better).
Other Changes
The XP rate has actually been slightly reduced. Previously there was a bug which granted players an additional 1 XP during certain level-up rewards.
When offered the choice between three options that included an item, gold + Loot, and a random third option... choosing option one or two would grant an additional 1 XP. This is now fixed, and worth noting as it does actually impact the rate at which players level-up.
A large amount of Freeze items and effects now only apply to items of their size or smaller. This is an indirect buff to Large items as they are now far less vulnerable to Freeze (or at least most repeatable ones).
It's definitely a big nerf to the previously overpowered Freeze enchant, and is a good fix since the Rapid Thaw (reduces Freeze duration) skill no longer exists.
Lastly, Crit Chance is quite a bit harder to come by now that Building Crescendo is finally nerfed. The builds that rely on Crit will often need to lean more into items in order to reach 100%.
Other builds will often need to combine certain skills and/or enchants if they want to solely rely on skills for scaling. For everything else, just pickup whatever flat buffs you can find (ex. Keen Eye) and hope you get some Crits every now and then.
Closing Thoughts
There are a ton of viable builds right now across all Heroes, but many of them need to win earlier or else they can fall off in the late game. With Property builds on the rise, Pyg's late game prowess is really coming to life, so it's important to learn how far a build can go in case you need to pivot to a different strategy.
The following builds are just a few examples of what you can expect to play and encounter in The Bazaar. There are far more variations than what can realistically be included, so take the placements with a grain of salt and embrace the game's random nature!