It’s been weeks since your operatives finished their Easter eggs, now it’s time to send them back into the field with the new changes from the Kill Team Balance Update. Here’s Leila from the Warhammer Studio to take us through the big changes.
Leila: After the changes to Murderwing in March, we’ve seen a much-improved meta, with many teams able to confidently go for the win at larger events. The spread of teams in the healthy winrate window has widened, However, there are still some elements of the current game balance to address.
A handful of stronger elite teams are proving particularly potent, able to exert too much threat against the opponent and control the game around them with stronger operatives and rules. This balance dataslate is most focused on providing other teams ways to combat these stronger teams, and free up several teams who suffer from too many restrictions to be able to proactively use their rules, but several changes will focus on those oppressive teams and reduce their control of the game. The biggest changes are highlighted below.
Two Seek & Destroy tac ops, Dominate and Sweep & Clear, have received buffs. Dominate now provides an additional token when incapacitating operatives with higher wound counts, making it a viable choice when playing against elite teams. Sweep & Clear’s victory conditions have been loosened to make it more likely to score at least 1VP.
Battleclade has received a variety of improvements. Their Incantation of the Iron Soul strategy ploy has been made more reliable (now only requiring a 4+ to reduce damage), and the Underseer can now use its Network Override action twice during an activation, and can have the selected friendly operative either Dash or Network Counteract. The Concealed Apparatus equipment now allows your Combat or Gun Servitor to use a weapon option they didn’t select for the battle, letting you summon a meltagun, sweeping heavy bolter, or another option for a critical shot.
The previous change affecting how Hierotek Circle interacted with the kill op has been reverted. With a number of their other rules in the kill team weakened, this change was no longer necessary to keep the team balanced, and had gone too far in preventing them from winning games on the kill op.
Scout Squad Heavy Gunners now get their Heavy Weapon Bipod as a free part of their datacard. The new equipment option for the kill team, Tactical Vox-link, allows your Sergeant to provide select firefight ploys for free during each turning point. The Sergeant also no longer needs an operative to be visible to add to its APL stat with Guidance and Experience.
Wolf Scouts were likely the most oppressive faction remaining in the game, able to enact a very robust game plan with too low a skill floor for their strongest plays. Their faction rule, Elemental Storm, provided incredible buffs, but they were also able to use many rules without needing the Storm at all. To compensate for this, Wolf Scouts with a Conceal order can now only perform a Charge if it ends within your Storm. The Frosteye loses the 2+ Hit stat profile of its instigator bolt carbine. The Fangbearer no longer prevents Stun or Shock. Frost Weapons, Runic Charms, and Talismanic Trophies equipment options have all been restricted to being used wholly within your Storm. In addition, Frost Weapons no longer affects the Pack Leader’s power weapon, and Talismanic Trophies no longer affects critical successes.
The XV26 Stealth Battlesuits Designator operative has a new Focused Markerlight action, which provides a one-time 3+ Hit stat for critical Shoot actions. In addition, the Neutraliser’s Multispectrum Sensor Package can now be used without visibility, and the Counter-network Jammers equipment has been reworked to provide benefits in a greater range of matchups.
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Thanks, Leila! It’s an exciting time for Kill Team fans, and we’ll be taking a look at the Terror on Devlan boxed set and Nemesis Operatives book – both revealed at AdeptiCon – soon. Sign up for our newsletter to ensure your kill team get all the latest updates, even while they’re in the field.
