Dear CEOs,

This is Kim Hyun Soo, the Head PD of CounterSide.

In the previous December developer's note, we provided information about the survey responses regarding the plans for Gauntlet balance adjustments. On the January 3rd update, we planned to modify the abilities of [Carmen] and [Full Moon Nanahara Chinatsu]. However, this modification has been excluded due to concerns raised by CEOs and internal discussions.

We apologize for any confusion caused by the hasty update decision and subsequent withdrawal, despite the topic's sensitive nature. 

After the decision to exclude the update related to healing abilities, the development team has thoroughly reconsidered the direction of future Gauntlet balance adjustments. After the reconsideration, we plan to proceed with a different approach than the one we initially announced.

▣ Future Plans on Gauntlet Balance Adjustments

As mentioned earlier, we have acknowledged the concerns expressed by CEOs regarding the previous balance adjustments which led to the establishment of a new direction for Gauntlet balance adjustments.

The initial balance adjustment plan mentioned in the previous developer's note focused on readjusting employees’ combat survivability stats, such as healing/barrier and cost-to-value ratios of high-value stats. However, this process led to nerfing stats for specific employees like [Carmen] and [Full Moon Nanahara Chinatsu] causing a loss of cost put into developing these two employees.

The development team has completely revised the initial Gauntlet balance adjustment plan. The new plan aims to preserve the value of the employees while providing a more enjoyable Gauntlet environment.

The initial direction of balancing was aimed at making adjustments to the abilities or stats of employees only in the PVP environment without affecting the existing PVE environment. However, with the recent balance adjustment patch related to the self-healing abilities of employees, we have acknowledged the concerns of our CEOs.

In response to this, we plan to establish a new direction for Gauntlet balance, for future balance adjustments do not result in specific employee skills or stats being nerfed. If there is an unavoidable need for a nerf, we will provide corresponding compensation.

Through this approach, we aim to respect the affection and cost invested towards the employees while aligning the Gauntlet balance. This announcement informs you about the preemptive measures and adjustments regarding the new direction outlined earlier.

As the first step in the new direction, we plan to enhance the existing employees’ attributes or introduce additional skills and stats based on classifications. 

The first adjustments will target [Stormbringer Jake Walker] and [Awakened Counter employees].

Stormbringer Jake Walker specializes in facing mech-type employees with his level 5 Special Skill and Passive Skill effect triggered by basic attacks. However, with the introduction of new employees whose abilities counter the Status Effects, the prominence of Jake Walker against mech-type employees has diminished. To emphasize his role as an employee who specializes in countering mech, Jake’s [Stun] effect on mechs will change to [Binding] effect.

In Counter Side, all employees, bosses, and monsters are composed of various types, and the intuitiveness of corresponding types to all these characters is somewhat lacking.

In response, the development team aims to clarify the use of employees by classifying them based on specific type categories. 

As the first step in this classification initiative, the [Awakened Counter Employees] have been categorized with a specialization in countering the Corrupted Object type, allowing them to gain an advantage over those opponents.

The Awakened Counter employees will gain additional stats of [Anti-C.O. DMG] +10% and [Anti-C.O. DMG RES] +10% per cost.

The list of employees receiving these additional stats is as follows.

If the opponent deploys a C.O. type employee in the Gauntlet environment, we expect Awakened Counter employees will create a refreshing meta with the new stat. 

Additionally, these new stats will also apply in the PVE environment to the Awakened Counter employees which will further enhance their potential in PVE combats. The development team plans to create further specializations to classify categories.

This update on [Strombringer Jake Walker] and [Awakened Counter employees] will take effect after the January 17 maintenance.

The second approach of the new Gauntlet adjustment involves prioritizing the buff for employees who are showing low performance in the Gauntlet environment. The development team will identify employees with lower rankings, such as those who were released some time ago or employees with skill structures that do not fit well in PVP environments. These employees will be sequentially adjusted to ensure they will fulfill their roles effectively in the Gauntlet environment.

During this adjustment process, if a new skill or attribute that the employee did not originally possess is introduced, then that employee will be granted an Alternium Reactor rather than through stat or skill adjustments. This approach aims to preserve the affection and value invested in developing these employees.

▣ Ban Penalty Enhancement

Employees listed in the ban list do not receive the leader bonus and will incur various penalties such as increased deployment cost, decreased DMG, and increased DMG taken.

Despite these penalties for employees listed in the ban list, using banned units is considered a valid strategy by the development team if the ban penalty level is low. 

However, employees with high stats and powerful skills continue to exhibit strong performance in battles despite the high ban penalties.

Furthermore, employees with the Fury do not suffer from the penalty of reduced skill haste, but only ASPD. On the other hand, employees without Fury suffer from both reduced skill haste and ASPD, creating an imbalance in the fairness of penalties.

In response to this, the development team aims to reinforce ban penalties and introduce new penalty effects. This enhancement will impose greater burdens on employees listed in the ban list, ensuring a more significant challenge for players who choose to use them. Additionally, the goal is to address the fairness of ban penalties with or without Fury. The updated ban penalty details are as follows.

Before

After

We hope that the enhanced ban penalties will encourage you to create more strategic squads in the Gauntlet. The ban penalty enhancement patch is scheduled to be implemented in the upcoming update on January 17th, 2024.

That concludes the plans on the enhanced ban penalties and the new direction for Gauntlet adjustments.

In addition to the information provided in this announcement, the development team is continuously working to make the Gauntlet environment more enjoyable and optimized for our CEOs.

Once again, we apologize for any confusion caused by the previous update rollback, and we strive to be a CounterSide team that listens to the opinions of our CEOs regarding all content, including the Gauntlet.

Thank you.