October 30th – Reworking Starters and Character Identity
Hello everyone and happy Halloween Eve!
Guillermo here with another Hero Tactic Dev Thursday update. I’ve been heads-down this week reviewing, tweaking, and re-testing every card in the system using our new value model from last week. The goal? To make sure the numbers feel fair, the plays feel exciting, and the decks feel like they tell a story again.
Rebuilding the Starter Decks
Based on community feedback and a majority vote, we’ll be creating the “Starter” decks this week. These decks are meant to give new and returning players a more balanced matchup and a more comparable testing environment. Plus, let’s us get remote testers easier.
The plan is for all five starter decks to share a small pool of “Generic” cards – simple, clean, and effective tools that teach core mechanics and appear across multiple kingdoms. Think of them as your bread-and-butter abilities: not flashy, but always useful.
When we test again next week, you’ll see these generics appearing side-by-side with class-specific flavor pieces to create a smoother learning curve.
Giving Characters Purpose Again
One of the biggest pieces of feedback Donavin has been focusing on is that the heroes seem ‘lost’. So we’re going to work on giving them a stronger identity, and emphasizing more on the ‘Tactic’ side of the game.
We’re addressing that directly. Each class and character is being tuned to emphasize its role identity – whether that’s aggro, support, or control. Even small stat adjustments or keyword restrictions can go a long way toward making a hero feel distinct on the battlefield.
Our vision is that when you pick a class, you’re not just picking stats – you’re picking a playstyle. We don’t want it to just become a game of ‘max health’.
Example: Rebalancing the Healing Spell
Here’s a sneak peek at one of the first cards to get an update.
We found that the Healing Spell was too flexible. It could fit into nearly any deck and instantly swing a match, especially when used by damage-focused characters.
That level of versatility made it feel less like a strategic choice and more like an auto-include.
To fix that, we reworked it to make more sense thematically and mechanically.
Old Version (Left Side):
Healing Spell – Heal 7 Damage to the team. Pyro/Shadow can’t cast. Light Caster gets an additional bonus.
New Version (Right Side):
Healing Spell (Light Caster Only) – Restore 7 health to the team.
This small restriction creates a clear identity for Light Casters while maintaining the card’s usefulness in the right deck. It’s still powerful – just not universal. If you have to have it, you’re now sporting the Light side!
Looking Ahead
Next week, we’ll continue refining the class balance pass and expanding on how these archetypes interact. Expect:
Updated starter deck lists for consideration.
A few new generics to fill out early-game strategy.
More examples of how keyword restrictions shape identity.
As always, your feedback drives these changes.
Play, experiment, and let us know what feels right – or what doesn’t. The more detail you share, the faster we can fine-tune the next version. And remember – we’re down at Win Condition every week!
Thank you for your continued support, testing, and patience as we refine the world of Hero Tactics.
See you in the next update – and have a safe, spooky Halloween!
– Guillermo
