Balrog overnerfed?

[Spooky]

Balrog almost every patch got some kind of nerf. Isn't it too much? I remember when he was obviously OP I've created quite opposite topic then. But now he got little bit too much on his back. Lets check out all changes which affects his gameplay since then:

- nerf to stack items - item isn't viable anymore unless u already ahead. Early hp boost was great for Balrog which was stacking too well with his ultimate stacks. (He could reach 5k hp at level 16 with only one item)

- nerf to his ultimate (+100, +200, +300) -> (+100, +150, +200). Basically its 500 hp less on level 16

- nerf to his heroic (5% -> 4%). It scale with his current health, which he already has much less. His damage output was ridiculous before because he could reach 5k health mid game (+250 physical damage) which allowed him to easily take down any INT hero.

- nerf to his vampiric aura (10%, 15%, 20%, 25%) -> (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%). Great aura for dps heroes

- increased cooldown on screetch by 4 seconds on every level and mana cost increased. I agree with mana cost change, but cooldown is too high now. If Balrog use it to damage enemies then he has no option to use it to support his allies, at least not in same teamfight. It also makes Balrog much easier to kill

- ulti damage reduced quite a bit - his ulti was useful only against low armor heroes anyway.

 

Balrog still can be strong if got a lot of farm early game (which is much harder to get because of heroic nerf), with some specific composition or his area debuff immunity still can be very useful against some heroes like rory or toxi. I can agree with some nerf to his utility (Vampiric Aura, Screetch) and to his damage output, but why his tankiness got nerfed so much? Now again he can't tank too much. His hp pool is already less by about 1000-1500 hp late game because of stack items and ulti change. Huge amount of HP was sth which was making Balrog a true tank. He hasn't any build in resistance besides. I think his ultimate stacks change should go back to previous state at least. Without stack item his HP pool isn't ridiculous how it used to be. Now usually there is no reason to get Balrog instead of Drake for example which can tank more and has great initiation potential.

[Revolution]

drake was always picked before balrog if not banned. balrog is still very strong i don't think a 5% leech nerf affected him to much.

[Spooky]

nerf to stack items and his ultimate took a lot of HP from him early-mid game (lvl 11). He still can be almost invisible if able to get full stacks of Valor's and Torch, but in inhouse it wont happen. Vampiric Aura nerf is more against his allies than him. He hasn't huge benefit from it. I wish his ulti stacks go back to the old state (100,200,300).

[Revolution]

yes those nerfs were quite a bit ago. and even after them he was still very strong. Going 2 snowball items is pretty dumb unless its a pub game and if u were to get 2 of them for balrog id probably go with torch and blue gene.. int is better for balrog than agi..

 

The lifesteal nerf affected him just as much as his allies. Balrog has a huge benefit from it lmao.. he does a ton of AA damage so he can leach back quite a bit of hp in fights which is very good.

 

When his stacks were that high he had entirely to much hp. He's very balanced right now.

[Doom]

Just played him to see. As good as ever, really, I would just run right through an enemy team, take all their damage, and kill a raynor/ nova/ null, over and over again. Eventually nova got maxed and carried them (we had no AA, and they also had a good Tychus and ok Drake) but I still finished 28-9 or something close, with at one point a 22-2. Not at all underpowered. Tanks like a boss, and deals damage rivaling Cyprus.

[Spooky]

yes those nerfs were quite a bit ago. and even after them he was still very strong. Going 2 snowball items is pretty dumb unless its a pub game and if u were to get 2 of them for balrog id probably go with torch and blue gene.. int is better for balrog than agi..

 

The lifesteal nerf affected him just as much as his allies. Balrog has a huge benefit from it lmao.. he does a ton of AA damage so he can leach back quite a bit of hp in fights which is very good.

 

When his stacks were that high he had entirely to much hp. He's very balanced right now.

In one hand u saying that INT better for Balrog than AGI, after that he has huge benefit from lifesteal... well, without AGI u have no attack speed, ergo lifesteal doesn't affect u too much. Besides more AGI is more physical resistance. If u want play as a tank u gonna need it. Thats why Torch and Valor's are the best stack items for Balrog. They not only increase his hp and resistance but increase his damage output a lot, so he can benefit from lifesteal little bit (not very noticeable though because of high hp pool). I used get both in inhouses (in order: Spell Buffer, Torch, Valors) long time ago and I can ensure u I was totally invisible entire mid-late game after I had got full stacks. It wasn't hard to get all and then u was snowballing really hard - thats why Balrog was so OP. Moreover Balrog did more damage from his Vampirism, so he was much better during laning faze (more damage, more leech -> better sustainabilty, better farm). Besides his Screetch had shorter cd and lower mana cost. So u could afford all those items much faster. I never lost inhouse with Balrog that days, even if I had really bad start. Now its much harder to farm with him (creeps gives less minerals while he has very low attack speed, less time between waves to get neutrals), enemy jungler carry will get ahead over u quite fast. So even last meta changes affects Balrog in negative way. He suppose to tank but if he not get ahead early game or your carry not get enough farm, its gg for u.

 

Just played him to see. As good as ever, really, I would just run right through an enemy team, take all their damage, and kill a raynor/ nova/ null, over and over again. Eventually nova got maxed and carried them (we had no AA, and they also had a good Tychus and ok Drake) but I still finished 28-9 or something close, with at one point a 22-2. Not at all underpowered. Tanks like a boss, and deals damage rivaling Cyprus.

U had no carry, so I may guess it was a pub, wasn't? Yesterday I decide to play one as well. I end up with 16-0-16. My team was feeding Boros little bit, but still he couldn't do nothing to me. How it was possible with overnerfed Balrog? Simply, enemy team hadn't good teamplay so I was able to get full Torch and Valor's stacks early game. At level 11 I had already 4k hp and significant damage output. When game was ending I had 6.5k HP, almost 60 armor and lot of spell resist and still was 2 items to my final build. So i can agree Balrog can be very strong if enemy team let him. But in competent environment it simply not possible.

[Reaper]

wouldnt it be nice if when u upgrade your ulti and u ulti a creep that little extra bit of hp u missed out on having lvl 6 ulti

[FruitNinja]

I just don't get why balrog's survivability gets nerfed whereas drake stays unkillable while dealing more damage and having a lot more CC.

 

Balrog's pretty good and the 5% leech nerf doesn't hurt him much. It just naturally follows with the general nerfs leech has been getting in the past months. But with all the tanks getting nerfed recently, I don't know why some are getting nerfed harder than others.

[Ironsights]

I just don't get why balrog's survivability gets nerfed whereas drake stays unkillable while dealing more damage and having a lot more CC.

 

Balrog's pretty good and the 5% leech nerf doesn't hurt him much. It just naturally follows with the general nerfs leech has been getting in the past months. But with all the tanks getting nerfed recently, I don't know why some are getting nerfed harder than others.

 

To be fair, drake can't hurt you without hurting himself whereas balrog is a beast.

 

That being said, I do feel like rog has been over nerfed. His damage output has been heavily reduced, as has his survivability. Really, oen or the other should be nerfed, not both, and since he's a tank it should be his damage out put that gets nerfed.

 

therefore, in order to even out his loss of health bonuses, damage, and leech, I suggest making it so that only one stack of bloodbath is lost per death.

[Spooky]

And he just got another nerf :(

[Legacy]

Honestly, if people are nerfed because they played too much, then that doesnt mean they are op. Maybe they just liked how he was built?

If you do a 1v1 fight, drake vs balrog, drake will probably win.

Balrog imo wasnt that powerful, just required time.

If he could burst down casters easily, then isnt that thier fault for being out in the open?

[Revolution]

Balrog isn't just a tank.. He should be built hybrid. His ult stacks allow you to do this efficiently.

 

@Spooky

Balrog has mana issues and his W and R scale with INT. His W and R are both very important skills for balrog. AoE debuff removal for his team and a burst damage ult that gives him a big chunk of life back. If you really wanted weaponspeed and armor get a timesplitter. Balrog wasn't only OP because of the snowball items. His ultimate was giving him way to much hp. And balrog is very easy to farm with and kill with. Paired with a ranged hero in lane and you should have an easy laning phase.

 

@Legacy

Look at league of legends. When things become top picks Riot will eventually nerf them to freshen the champion selection. Generally the top picks are the strongest heroes/champions at the time.

 

Balrog should never lose to a drake in late game. And if you didn't think balrog wasn't that strong then your opinion is wrong because balrog has been very strong for awhile now. It's not that he can burst down casters easily... Many heroes can do that, but balrog can do high amounts of damage, while being almost unkillable if you are properly itemized.

[CheekyKunt]

i think he needs more nerf

[MaximuuuS]

Nerf to Pyre has even overcompensated his nerf.