As a regular spectator of mobile e-sports events, I am used to watching the team battles of KPL and LPL, but recently my friend bought an SRPG called "Battlefield Hero Story". I originally thought it was a purely stand-alone story game, but I found out that it actually has a PVP ladder mode, and the season reward system has been recently updated. This surprised me a bit. After all, the competitive logic of SRPG and traditional MOBA is quite different, so I wanted to open a post to talk about its balance issue.
Let's talk about character design first. The settings in the game, such as the "hairy heroine", the "scheming sniper queen", and the "ninja sister control", seem to be selling characters, but the actual skill mechanisms are very different. For example, the Sniper Queen's basic attack range is full-map penetration, and combined with the passive critical strike bonus, it is almost impossible to solve on long maps, but she becomes squishy when a melee character touches her face. This extremely restrained relationship is actually quite dangerous in traditional competitive games, and can easily lead to a situation of "whoever chooses the stronger version first wins". However, there is one detail of "Battlefield Hero Story" that deserves recognition: its map design has height differences and obstacles, and the straight-line trajectory of the Sniper Queen can easily be blocked by walls. This encourages players to use terrain countermeasures instead of purely relying on numerical values to crush them.
Look at the frequency of version updates. The developer Aoju Technology makes major updates about once a month. Recently, it has reduced the AOE range of the Technological Sword Fairy and added a shield attenuation mechanism for the Overbearing President. To be honest, the idea of this change is relatively sophisticated-Sword Fairy used to kill randomly in the middle and low segments because the novice was not used to positioning. Now after narrowing the range, she must cooperate with the control hero to deal full damage, which can be regarded as raising the upper limit of operation. However, there is a hidden danger: The Overbearing President's shield was originally the core survival method for the tank position. Now that it has weakened, he is easily killed in high-scoring rounds, resulting in a narrow lineup system. I hope the next version can adjust the basic value a little bit.
The ladder scene is a bit polarizing right now. At low levels, everyone likes to pile up output. Whoever has the most explosive power wins. The pace is fast but there is no game. At high levels, people tend to control the chain and replace resources. For example, using the treacherous and vicious armor reduction combined with the ninja's stealth to sneak around behind and use time to steal strongholds. This layering shows the depth of the game design, but the problem lies in the matching mechanism: in the same segment, there are often repeated character combinations. For example, the survival flow of "Sniper Queen + Wet Nurse" accounts for 30% of the diamond games. The same play style only reduces the competitiveness. It is recommended that the official introduce the Ban/Pick stage, or limit the number of characters of the same type to increase the diversity of the lineup.
Overall, the competitive environment of "Battlefield Hero Story" is still in the growth stage, and the balance has not been significantly broken. However, there is a problem that some characters are too strong on specific maps. For example, the automatic-aiming explosive heroine is almost certain to hit in narrow passage maps, while the ninja is powerless when facing open terrain. Planners may need to alleviate this difference in map adaptability by adjusting map elements (such as adding grass or moving mechanisms). As a mobile game competitive enthusiast, I think it has the potential to develop into a small e-sports project, but only if the official is willing to add more strategic depth to the PVP mode, such as season-specific equipment buffs or weather systems.
One final comment: free blacklisting and multi-platform support, the price-performance ratio is indeed good, but if the balance team can listen to more feedback from high-scoring players, it is estimated that the ladder experience can be improved to a higher level. I hope the next update can optimize the ballistic determination of Sniper Queen, otherwise some of the images will really feel like playing a "hide and seek simulator" 😂.