To be honest, as an old viewer who has been following the game since S1, when I saw the update announcement of Bang Bang Legion for the S15 season, my first reaction was "Good guy, the Dinosaur King is going to change again." The new season is always one where some players are happy and others are sad. I think the balance adjustment of this themed season is worth mentioning. After all, it is directly related to the following BP ideas and the rhythm of the game.
Let's talk about the design of the newly added dinosaur type Doudin first. It can be seen that the planners have been trying to do “mechanical suppression” instead of simply and crudely stacking values.
What's a bit interesting about the dragon units updated this time is the positioning and cutting of Tyrannosaurus Rex and Velociraptor. I feel that the design idea of the Tyrannosaurus Rex unit is biased toward the core of positional warfare. It has the feeling of deciding the world with one blow. It is clear that you are required to build a propulsion system around it. The Velociraptor is more outstanding in mobility and harassment capabilities. It has the flavor of the old version of the assassin-like bean, and is suitable for pulling and raiding.
There is nothing wrong with this design, but the question is, if it is placed in the current competitive environment, will it directly lock the lineup pool?
Because you have to know that the current pace of qualifying is actually very fast, the laning period is very short, and the proportion of resource groups and mid-to-late stage operations continues to increase. In this kind of fast attack and semi-operational environment, the Tyrannosaurus Rex's stance output environment is actually very difficult to protect. If the opponent's control chain is stable enough, it can easily be eliminated by concentrated fire, leading to a vacuum period in the team battle. On the other hand, the Velociraptor's high mobility can better adapt to the current pulling rhythm. When combined with some veteran team-starting assists, it will make the squishy assists in the back row very uncomfortable if the timing of its entry is well grasped.
So I initially feel that in high-end games, the adaptability of Velociraptor may be better than that of Tyrannosaurus Rex, and the BP priority in the professional arena is expected to be higher. This will lead to a situation where the Raptors system can easily become a popular choice, while the Tyrannosaurus system requires more sophisticated teamwork to be effective. In other words, the popularity among new players will naturally stratify.
However, what interests me more is that the core of this wave of updates is actually to revitalize the ecology of "Dudinka Pool".
In the previous version, many players were benched and were almost eliminated because they could not keep up with the rhythm of the version. But after joining the Dinosaur Bond this season, I noticed that some of Doudin's shooting logic or energy cycle have been readjusted. For example, some control-type assists that were originally awkwardly positioned can now be combined with the Velociraptor's Assault Time and Space to form a very stable first-hand Combo, which was difficult to imagine in the previous competitive environment.
This approach of adjusting the overall battle rhythm through version updates is a bit like the "version answer" in the professional arena. Basically, it can be seen that in this balance, the plan is to speed up the kill feedback in the game, increase the intensity of confrontation in the early and mid-term, and try every means to avoid the "bladder game" where everyone holds back a wave of team battles in the later stage. Instead, it encourages more skill exchanges and operational games.
From the perspective of watching the game, this change will indeed make the game better to watch, because there will be more decisions, the rhythm will become tight, and it will no longer be as mindless as before.
Of course, I'm not saying this version is perfect. Judging from the preliminary feedback received from forums and groups, the numerical lower limits of several units are still too high. The passive stacking effect of the new Dinosaur Bond is a bit too strong in some component combinations, which may lead to the trend of "win by choosing new cards without thinking" in the middle and low segments, which is not a good sign. A reasonable operating strategy should allow players to widen the gap in detailed operations, rather than purely relying on version mechanisms to determine the outcome.
I can only say that the balance of this wave is mixed, but overall it is a brave attempt. After all, the last thing you want in a competitive game is a pool of stagnant water.
It's too early to say "set the tone" now. We have to wait until the game data comes out one week after the version is officially launched on August 6th to truly see where the upper limit of these new units is in the hands of professional players.If the performance of the Velociraptor series is outrageous by then, I think there is a high probability that the plan will issue an emergency balance patch. Anyway, major changes are needed to make it more topical. Commanders, if you have any experience in ranking, you are welcome to chat at that time. 😏