Today, a new balance dataslate has arrived to update Kill Team with the latest tweaks, buffs, and nerfs to ensure the most competitive skirmish experience possible.
With rebalances for key kill teams and improvements to several underperformers, this season’s dataslate is a major bump for several popular factions. Download the document below and have a gander.
For a run-down of this quarter’s changes, we got hold of Elliot from the Kill Team design studio for a chinwag.
Elliot: First up are two changes to commonly picked Chapter Tactics of the Intercession Squad kill team – Methodical and Rapid. Although this team is designed for new players and is consistently the most played Kill Team, the Intercession Squad can still be a tough match-up for those who aren't familiar with them. These changes aim to rebalance those areas in particular.
Conversely, the Exaction Squad kill team hasn't been performing as well as we hoped, so we've given them some impactful adjustments to lift them up – an extra Wound for every operative, and more lethality on the offensive. We've tried to preserve their theme, however, by tying some of that extra lethality to their Ruthless Efficiency ability, and making the Execution Order Tactical Ploy easier to use.
Rubric Marines are often overshadowed in Warpcoven kill teams by other operatives – powerful Sorcerers and more expendable Tzaangors. We've re-adjusted how their APL characteristic works – previously they had 2 APL, and a nearby Sorcerer could give them one extra. Now your Rubrics have 3 APL to start with, but subtract one if a Sorcerer isn't nearby when they’re activated.
This might seem moot, but it has a few key implications that will make your accursed automata easier to use. For one, a single Sorcerer can now command multiple Rubric Marines within range, instead of needing to micromanage – it also improves their ability to control objectives outside of their own activation, making it harder for enemies to steal control off them. We've also given their melee weapons an extra attack.
Several recent releases aren’t covered by this balance datasheet – namely, the teams in Gallowfall and Ashes of Faith. In particular, the Fellgor Ravagers and Chaos Cult kill teams feature some unusual new mechanics to compensate for their limited ranged weapon options – we want to give these teams a little more time, and gather more evidence on the impact of these unique rules, before making any rushed balance adjustments.
That being said, there are a few changes that simply reflect shifts in the general Kill Team rules. The Chaos Cult Iconarch's Ruinous Invigoration ability now reduces damage to a minimum of 3, rather than 2. This is a consistency change – we did the same to similar rules, such as Ploys for Imperial Navy Breachers and Legionaries, in a previous balance dataslate.
The Hearthkyn Salvagers' Steady Advance ability has also been completely replaced, as a previous balance dataslate made this effect into a core rule for all kill teams. Unfortunately, the Hearthkyn were written before that change – so this new version of Steady Advance will help them keep pace around the killzone. We’ve also reinstated Relentless on the Elucidian Starstriders’ rotor cannon, to increase their offensive potential.
Finally, we’ve adjusted the Loot mission from the Critical Ops mission pack. Previously we raised the maximum victory points available from the mission objective, but the Loot mission limits the number of times you can perform the mission action – preventing players from reaching the new maximum. That's now changed.
Try out the new rules from today, and keep sending us your feedback – we appreciate every bit of it!
