BALANCE UPDATES ( FEBRUARY )

Brawl stars just released a huge set of balance changes for this month. But this time, its super huge. Some brawlers got insanely nerfed and others got decently buffed. Let’s get right into it..

Colt

• Increased Main Attack damage from 300 to 320 per bullet

• Increased Super damage from 300 to 320 per bullet

Dynamike

• Increased Main Attack damage from 760 to 800 per dynamite

El Primo

• Increased Health from 5800 to 6000

EMZ

• Increased Health from 3600 to 3800

• Hype healing per enemy hit increased from 300 to 400

Frank

• Increased Health from 6100 to 6400

Leon

• Increased Main Attack damage from 103 to 178 at maximum range

Pam

• Increased Health from 4500 to 4800

Poco

• Increased Health from 3800 to 4000

Spike

• Increased Main Attack damage from 480 to 520 per spike

Tick

• Increased Main Attack damage from 640 to 680 per mine

8-Bit

• 8-BIT no longer has invulnerability bubble after respawning with Extra Life

Bea

• Honey Coat now triggers only once per match

• Invulnerability shield duration after Honey Coat triggers has been increased from 0.6 to 1.0 seconds

Carl

• Protective Pirouette damage reduction decreased from 40% to 30%

Darryl

• Steel Hoops shield duration decreased from 2.5 to 0.9 seconds

Mr. P

• Main Attack range decreased by 12.5%

HOW THE CHANGES AFFECT GAMEPLAY

COLT

Colt projectile bullet will deal 448 damage now which is the same as of Rico’s but Colt actually shoots of one more bullet which makes his damage more than Rico apparently. This change is not gonna be very huge, but he will be more viable in this medium-range meta. The only brawler’s that will require one less ammo which is different than a projectile right many projectiles per single ammo for Colt that means that the only brawlers are gonna be Mortis and Sandy that are gonna require an entire less ammo so this isn’t actually a very big buff

DYNAMIKE

His dynamite’s damage is gonna be 1120 now which is exactly the same amount as Nita’s attack. Now Dyna will be able to take out 13 of the 33 brawlers with one less projectile. That’s pretty big interaction change, he will be able to take out Darryl, Leon, Jessie with one less ammo. Like if you get hit by both Dynamite’s it’s like getting hit in the face by two Nita attacks instantly this means that dynamite will be able to take out 13 of the 33 brawlers with one less projectile one less dynamite but it’s actually going to change quite a few interactions with brawler’s.

PRIMO

His health has been increased by 280 hp but still makes him the 2nd most tankiest brawlers, he can also take one more projectile from brawlers like Rico and Colt which is not that impressive. El primo will be able to survive one more projectile from nine of the 33 brawlers which isn’t really that impressive. He’ll also be able to survive one complete attack from Jesse, Poco, Spike, and Tick now in total we’re talking about an additional 280 health a primo was arguably the worst tank in the game before balance changes and I think that this will help him but I don’t think it’s gonna help him very much.

EMZ

Her max health is now 5320. Which is the same as Mortis and Sandy. She is gonna be more viable in the next meta for sure. This means that she’ll be able to survive one more projectile from 14 of the 33 brawlers in the game and that does sound pretty good but what’s actually really impactful is the fact that she’s going to be able to survive one more complete attack from Carl, Frank, Max, Mortis, Penny, Sandy and Tara.

Now for her second buff, her hype star power is getting buff by 33% what that means is that the healing per enemy within her circle is going to increase from 300 to 400 health per second.I really like to compare this star power to Leon’s invisiheal star power which heals him for 1000 health per second or 6 seconds which is a possible six thousand health healed total and if he wants to he can actually choose to get all of that healing by not going visible until the time is up. On the other hand, hype star power heals 400 per second for 5 seconds which is a possible 2,000 healing with one enemy, 4,000 healing with two enemies and 6,000 healing with three enemies staying in her circle for all 5 seconds only.

FRANK

Frank who is also getting a health buff, even more health it’s going up by 5% which means that it’s increasing from 8540 to 8960 at the max level this means that with his sponge star power Frank is officially the first brawler to pass 10,000 health that is a lot of health but will it be actually good enough to make Frank pretty viable. We’ll talk about that this is going to make it so that 15 out of the 33 brawlers are going to require one more projectile to finish Frank off he will now survive one more complete attack from Bo, Tara, Mortis, Penny and Sandy. And honestly, I don’t actually know how much this is going to impact brings viability Frank was already super tanky and in games like brawl stars tanks are typically able to ignore attacks from enemy players but in brawl stars getting hit by enemies actually charges up their super which is bad for Frank and it’s also bad for his teammates now with all that said we are talking about a 420 health buff to the tanky is brawler in the game so I’m hopeful the Frank will be a little bit more viable.

LEON

Leon he’s getting a buff, Leon’s damage at max range is being buffed by 73% as a reminder max range is when he deals the least amount of damage before his projectiles would deal 144 damage at max range and that is being increased to 249 damage at max range now. Leon’s maximum damage when he’s like up close to a brawler that is not changing at all but this means that he’ll be able to do a much better job at a distance than he used to also this means that he’s going to be able to charge up his super much easier at a distance because his super actually charges up based off of how much damage he does so not only will Leon be able to deal with brawler’s at a distance and much better but he’s also gonna be able to use his super more frequently as well. Leon was one of the worst brawlers in the game before these balance changes and this is a pretty significant buff to his abilities. I’m actually really curious to see how this impacts him but one thing’s for sure this is gonna make him a lot more viable.

PAM

Pam is up next, getting a 7% health buff. She is really lucky in these health buffs, her health and max level is increasing from 6300 health to 6720 which is actually the same amount of health that Darryl currently has. This means that she’s gonna require one additional ammo from 16 of the 33 brawlers and that is pretty significant she’s now going to survive one more complete shot from other Pam, Bo, Mortis, Penny, Piper, Poco, Sandy and Shelly. Now Pam had one of the lowest pick rates in the game but she actually had a pretty decent win rate overall at least you know a decent one for having such a low pick rate. I think this is gonna encourage more people to use her and I think that she’s gonna go from being one of the worst brawlers in the game to being like average maybe slightly below average.

POCO

Poco’s health is getting a 5% buff at the max level his health is increasing from 5322 to 5600 health. And for reference that is the same amount of health as Nita. Now this means that Poco is gonna be able to survive one more projectile from 11 of the 33 brawlers and he will now survive one more complete attack from 8bit, Bibi, Crow and of course other Pocos no I don’t actually think that this is that great of a buff for Poco but I think that Poco is going to be much better now due to the fact that many brawlers are getting health buffs especially the tankier brawlers right is the da capo star power is like so strong right now and it’ll be even more useful now as the meta is gonna like start shifting a little bit more towards like a tank meta.

SPIKE

Each spike damage is increasing from 672 to 728 damage this means an attack lending three spikes worth of damage will deal 2184 damage and that is a lot of damage. Spike is now gonna be able to take out 11 of the 33 brawlers with one less projectile and he’s actually gonna be able to take out Carl, El Primo and Mr. P with one less ammo now that is assuming he hits them with like one complete max attack with like three damages worth of attack you get the idea now the number of interaction changes isn’t as impressive as like some of the other balance changes but the percentage is higher than most of the other changes overall I think that Spike started to become a little bit more like outshined by some of the newer brawlers and I think this is gonna help them a bit more. I don’t think he’s gonna be super amazing especially with so many tanks getting like health buffs and Spike is kind of like an anti-tank brawler but I do think this Spike is gonna at least be a little bit more worth it to play after these changes.

TICK

We got tick who’s getting a damage buff. Don’t worry it’s not as bad as you guys might think or maybe I don’t know his damage being buffed by 6% at max level the damage from each mine is going from 896 to 952 damage. Now this is actually going to hardly change any of his interactions with other brawlers. He’ll be able to take out only four of the 33 brawlers with one less mine and now only El Primo and Nita will require one less complete attack from tick assuming all three hits. Then I know that take is one of the most annoying brawlers to play again so I’m okay with him being not super great but he actually has a very low pick rate above 700 trophies and he has the second-lowest win rate above 700 rupees and the fifth-lowest win rate below 700 trophies. Tick simply just was not good, a six percent buff sounds like a lot but the interactions are what really matters with other brawlers so I think its gonna be super great still.

BEA

Bea’s honey coat star power is getting a buff and a nerf the shield duration is increasing from 0.9 seconds to 1 seconds which is exactly what it was when she was first released right and we remember how OP that was but it’s only going to be able to trigger one time per match just like eight bits extra life now the fact that Bea could actually survive one more shot before dying from every brawler no matter who they were for every life that she had
that was a kind of a cool mechanic but it was just game-breaking modes like bounty or duo showdown where she could get a ton of value out of it over and over and over again. This way she’s gonna be able to escape much easier because she’s gonna have more time to do that but she’s gonna have to be a lot more careful after using it that one time with this change I think the insta Bea load is actually going to be the better of the two-star powers most of the time but honey coat is still gonna get some use in bounty and duo showdown and maybe a little bit of other places as well.

8 BIT

8-bit with extra life was just game-breaking especially in a showdown this way he’s still gonna come back but he’s gonna have to try and escape as soon as he’s back. I’m actually really curious to see how this is gonna impact his star powers viability but I do think that it’s gonna be really helpful still in some modes since boosted booster doesn’t actually provide a ton of value and like showdown for example.

MR.P

Mr.P is getting a nerf to his attack range by 12.5% now, what this means is that without his handle with care’ star power and without any walls or objects or anything like that to increase his range his attack range is going from eight and 1/3 tiles down to seven and 1/3 tiles. He’s getting an entire tile nerf to his range which is a massive change. Most range nerfs or buffs actually only happened one-third of a tile at a time so this is actually really
significant now with his handle with care’ star power his max range is going from 11 and 1/3 tiles down to 10 and one-third tiles this means he’s going to have the same effective range as Brock which is still actually very impressive right. What this means is he’s going to lose that advantage against those long-range snipers like Piper B or even Brock. This is significant nerf to Mr. P, I don’t think he’s going to be the best brawler in the game anymore but I still think he’s going to be above average especially because people play him for his turret not necessarily for his range.

CARL

Carl’s protected pirouettes star power is getting a 20 five percent nerf – its damage reduction the damage reduction is going from forty percent down to thirty percent which is actually pretty significant. If you guys remember this is the same amount of damage reduction as it was way back before it got buffed in August of last year back then almost nobody used his this start power they were using power throw so I actually think this is gonna make protective pirouette and much less viable option. I think that Carl’s a really great brawler and more and more people are starting to recognize that I still think he’s gonna be really solid after this small change.

DARRYL

Darryl who’s steel hoops star power is getting a duration nerf by 64% that is right guys the duration of his shield is going from 2.5 seconds after he supers down to 0.9 seconds. Basically he’s only gonna be shielding while he’s rolling and then he’ll be right back to receiving regular damage once he’s reached his destination, in my opinion, This is a very significant nerf to this star power and I think that rolling reload is going to be my go-to star power until steel hoops gets buffed again.

That’s all for this month’s balance changes, comment down which changes you are most excited and sad about!