Amid the whispers of suppressors and telltale ticking of timed charges, the elite intelligencers in charge of Kill Team have once again rappelled into the Warhammer Community command bunker, delivering a top secret dossier on the latest Balance Dataslate, which was released last week. They also shot a video – a must-watch episode for killzone commanders.
Elliot: We feel that the meta is in good shape at present. We have more factions than most game systems, and the parities between them are closer now than in previous Dataslates – which means more and more factions have a shot at doing well. There are still some outliers – some of them recurring – and there are always improvements that can be made!
We’ve recently had a new season drop with a whole new killzone. Its overall impact is yet to be determined, but there’s some early feedback that’s made its way into this Balance Dataslate to ease some of the more powerful interactions. Kill Team data isn’t as reliable as Warhammer 40,000, for example, so we use it to inform us but not direct us. We primarily talk to key members of the community to keep us informed on the state of play, and look at win rates, pick rates, and top 10 placements at tournaments.
Balancing Bheta-Decima
Bheta-Decima is still being adopted by our communities. There’s often a delay as people need to build and paint their terrain, and then experiment with it, before they feel comfortable using it at an event. That being said, we’ve adjusted some things for those who have an early lead.
Firstly, the restricted Line of Sight created by Hazardous Areas results in operatives being Obscured. Some teams have more tools to ignore Obscuring than others, however – so we’ve changed these rules to prevent Visibility instead. Now players can better position their operatives against factions that have ways to ignore Obscuring.
Secondly, manoeuvring around the gantries is a key part of the play experience. However, this can leave players feeling they’re at an insurmountable disadvantage when facing kill teams that can more easily scramble up, over, and off these platforms. There are a few changes we’ve made to help here.
Reduced range on forward deploys in Bheta-Decima. This prevents operatives from locking down hard-to-reach objectives too early. It also keeps the likes of a Snipa Boy from securing an immediate sniper nest on the Ferratonic Furnace and gunning downwards from the safety of Da Best Spot.
Jump tests have been removed. Dynamic movement is fun, and in Bheta-Decima it’s necessary. It feels particularly bad when you fail the test and are just left stranded in the open, waiting to be shot. Now your operatives can jump across gantries without fear of failure.
The Void-Dancer Troupe loses FLY. A team-wide ability to freely bound across Bheta-Decima was feeling a little oppressive. We’ve given them a new rule called Flip-belts to preserve their sense of agility, but they now aren’t quite as threatening from the other side of a large building – which could feel non-interactive.
Tweaks and Adjustments
We’ve had some melee teams looking strong for a while, so we’ve done some adjustments to rein them in further.Chaos Cults have one fewer Devotee to begin with, which means one less potential mutation, and one less operative to keep an eye on those all-important objectives. The Winged Accursed Gift no longer ignores changes to the Movement characteristic, which slows your more formidable fighters down a little – particularly when injured.
Fellgor Ravagers have had some targeted changes. The Ironhorn’s Call the Attack has a distance limit, and the Gnarlscar must now use its autopistol for Uncompromising Attack – so no more handing an enemy operative a krak grenade without the pin! War Paint goes up to 2EP, and the Deathknell’s War Gong ability doesn’t work if they’re frenzied.
Ork Kommandos have been a tried and trusted team since day one, and their popularity remains very high. We’ve made three changes. Firstly, Just a Scratch now works on normal hits only. This was one of the best ploys in the game – Kommando players would always keep a CP in their pocket to use it – but now it’s not as guaranteed as it was. If your opponent could kill your Kommando with a critical hit, it can’t save them anymore. We’ve reduced the blast radius on Bomb Squigs – your opponent is now a bit safer from catastrophe, particularly in the tight spaces of the Gallowdark. Finally we’ve reduced the Attacks characteristic of Choppas by 1 when they’re bought as equipment, to reduce the flexibility of dedicated gunner operatives.
We’ve also made some changes to Veteran Guardsmen. No longer can the Demolition Veteran plant a mine behind a wall and threaten people from the other side. The Spotter action meanwhile no longer works if the enemy operative is in cover provided by Heavy terrain. It gives your opponent more ways to avoid being exposed, and makes the Spotter a more considered operative.
Improvements to Weaker Teams
Warpcoven kill teams have long been overshadowed by their less dusty counterparts. We’ve made numerous changes to push Tzeentch’s Legion further into the pack. Some of the highlights include:
Tzaangor get an extra wound, closer to their Fellgor cousins.
Similar to the changes we made to the Hierotek Circle’s Cryptek actions, psychic powers now last longer. This makes them easier to use and gives you more threat either side of the Turning Point.
The Exalted Astartes Strategic Ploy now costs 0CP. Sharpen your khopeshes and load your bolters – you can more freely attack the enemy, and have more CP spare for the other ploys.
We have slightly reduced the effectiveness of the Ephemeral Instability power. While it now lasts longer, it slows the target less. This is a healthy change, particularly against the slower teams.
We’ve also increased the distance requirement for Sorcerer’s Command so your Rubric Marines don’t need as much babysitting as before!
The Farstalker Kinband are mercenaries who frequently interact with other factions in the 41st Millennium. In their design we intentionally moved away from the more primal characteristics you might expect from Kroot Carnivores for a sneakier pirate-like playstyle. Therefore they shouldn’t be melee powerhouses, but can flex to this playstyle when they need to bully lesser operatives.
We’ve improved their reliability by upping the Attacks characteristic of certain operatives, allowing you to present more of a threat in this part of the game. Kroot Hounds have a GA of 1, so you not only have more activations to out-activate your opponent, but you also have twice the waiting threat now with a fast hound waiting to pounce. We’ve also relaxed the restrictions on the Tracker’s unique actions.
Hierotek Circle can feel strong with certain specific builds, but we’ve made some changes to improve their internal balance and lift them overall. Reanimation Protocols now work on a 2+, while the Technomancer’s Rites of Reanimation is now a reactive ability, allowing you to respond to fallen operatives rather than requiring you to spend your action points up front.
The Psychomancer’s Conjure Trauma action now also has a Stun-like mechanic to reduce the target’s APL. The Apprentek now has an APL of 3, giving them more capabilities and freeing up your Cryptek. Finally we’ve reduced the effectiveness of the Countertemporal Nanomine. Similar to the changes for Ephemeral Instability, this is a health change and brings the Chronomancer’s power closer towards the Psychomancer and Technomancer.
Finally we’ve made some improvements to the Hearthkyn Salvagers. The Dozr can now Charge after performing a Knux Smash, which is a really fun change. They can follow up their target, or charge someone else. This keeps the pressure on, but also keeps them safer, rather than standing in the open waiting to be shot. We’ve also improved the Lokatr’s Early Detection ability and Pan Spectral Scan action to make them more usable in different situations.
What’s Next?
Melee teams can be more disadvantaged on Bheta-Decima than the Gallowdark, so it remains to be seen what the community standard is for Kill Team. Do communities play equally across Gallowdark, Bheta-Decima, and Octarius-like killzones? Or does one of those killzones remain more popular than others? We will follow things closely to ensure the game is balanced in a way that feels satisfying for our players.
We’ve also got Night Lords and Mandrakes dropping very soon, closely followed by Hernkyn Yaegirs and Brood Brothers. These teams have some really unique mechanics, so they’ll land with a bang. The design direction we’re taking with Kill Team is that every faction should feel unique with creative rules. Players will have much more to sink their teeth into with every release, and will have to re-evaluate the way they play with and against the new factions. This gives the game great depth and flexibility to keep it fresh and interesting. As always, we’ll closely follow how things go, so we encourage players to keep rolling dice and experimenting!
Thanks Elliot! We’ll have more from Metawatch in a few weeks, when we return with points changes to Warhammer 40,000.
