This is a hero balance patch targeting six released heroes — Celeste, Venator, Silver, Graves, Rem, and Apollo — alongside a significant shrine/trooper system change. Celeste receives the heaviest nerfs with base weapon damage slashed 37% (28.75 → 18) and a new -6% Bullet Resist penalty, signaling Valve's concern about her early-game dominance. Silver and Venator receive substantial buffs to improve competitive viability, while Graves sees a kit restructuring that trades zone control duration for sharper spirit scaling rewards.
Celeste's dominance is being addressed through simultaneous nerfs to her weapon stats, aerial mobility, ability uptime, and team utility.
Weapon Changes:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Damage | 28.75 | 18 | -37.4% |
| Damage/Boon | +0.4 | +0.6 | +50% scaling |
| DPS | 47.9 | 30.0 | -37.4% |
| Sustained DPS | 33.8 | 21.2 | -37.3% |
| Bullet Resist | 0 | -6% | New penalty |
This is a fundamental shift in Celeste's power curve. Her early-game DPS drops from 47.9 (top-tier Marksman) to 30.0 (bottom of the roster). The +0.6/boon scaling (up from +0.4) recovers some ground over time, but the breakeven point where new Celeste matches old Celeste's bullet damage is ~54 boons — she never catches up in a normal game. The new -6% Bullet Resist penalty makes her uniquely vulnerable to weapon damage, compounding her already below-average health scaling (750 base, +35/boon).
Strategic Implication: Celeste can no longer bully lanes with raw weapon damage. She must rely on Light Eater procs and Radiant Daggers stacking to win trades, pushing her entirely into a spirit-dependent playstyle. Heroes like Haze, Wraith, and Grey Talon punish her even harder with the -6% bullet resist.
Air Acceleration: 25% → 18% (-28% reduction). Celeste's signature floaty aerial movement is weaker — she'll drop faster and have less precise aerial control, making her trajectory more predictable for opponents to track.
Ability Changes:
| Ability | Change | Before | After |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radiant Daggers | Base Damage | 65 (+0.49 spirit) | 55 (+0.42 spirit) |
| Radiant Daggers | Cooldown | 30s | 33s |
| Radiant Daggers | T2 CD Reduction | -12s | -15s (buffed to compensate) |
| Shining Wonder | Bounce Damage | 115 (+0.63 spirit) | 105 (+0.63 spirit) |
| Dazzling Trick | Explode Radius | 15m | 14m |
| Light Eater | T1 | -10s Cooldown | +15% Spirit Lifesteal (swapped) |
| Light Eater | T2 | +15% Spirit Lifesteal | -10s Cooldown (swapped) |
| Light Eater | Ally Lifesteal | Grants lifesteal to allies | Self-only (removed) |
Radiant Daggers loses 15% base damage and the spirit scaling drops from 0.49 to 0.42. The base CD increases by 3s, but T2's reduction was buffed from -12s to -15s, so fully upgraded the net CD is the same (18s). Without T2 investment, the ability is strictly worse.
The Light Eater T1/T2 swap delays the cooldown reduction to T2 (more ability points required), weakening early lane aggression. Previously Celeste could rush T1 CDR to spam Light Eater; now T1 gives lifesteal instead — useful for sustain but less impactful for pressure. The removal of ally lifesteal sharing eliminates a team-wide sustain mechanic that overperformed in coordinated play.
Meta Impact: Celeste drops from dominant lane bully to a scaling Marksman who needs stacks and time to come online. Her team fight power remains strong via Shining Wonder, but she'll struggle to reach that point through a much weaker laning phase.
Venator receives the largest set of changes, touching every ability and his base stats. The clear direction: shift power from Ira Domini into his basic ability rotation.
Base Stats: Health 720 → 750 (+30 HP)
Gutshot Overhaul:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 26s | 23s | -3s |
| Wall Stun Distance | 6.5m (hidden) | 7m (explicit field) | +0.5m |
| Wall Bonus Damage Scaling | 0.4× weapon | 0.9× weapon | +125% |
| T2 | -8s CD, +2.5m Range | -10s CD, +0.4s Stun Duration | Reworked |
The wall hit bonus damage scaling more than doubled (0.4× → 0.9× weapon). For a Venator with +50% weapon damage, the wall bonus goes from ~18 to ~43 extra damage. The T2 rework trades range for +0.4s stun duration (total 1.05s with T2), and the CD reduction improves from -8s to -10s. Total CD at T2: 13s (down from 18s). Wall stun distance now properly scales with ability range.
Hex-Lined Snap Trap Overhaul:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cooldown | 30s | 25s | -5s |
| Spirit Scaling | 1.6 | 2.2 | +37.5% |
| Reveal Duration | 5s | 6s | +1s |
| T1 CD Reduction | -12s | -8s | +4s (less impactful) |
| T3 Damage Amp | 20% | 25% | +5% |
| Cast Delay | 0.1s | 0.2s | +0.1s |
Net cooldown at T1: 18s before → 17s after (net -1s improvement). The real gains are in damage: at 40 spirit, trap damage goes from 144 to 168 (+17%). T3 damage amplification from trapped targets increases from 20% to 25%. The trap now spawns aligned with the crosshair instead of Venator's body orientation.
Consecrating Grenade: T2 now also increases debuff duration by +1s (total 4.5s burn/anti-heal). Internal rename from DebuffDuration to BurnDuration (same 3.5s value, clearer naming).
Ira Domini (Ultimate) — Significant Nerfs:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weapon Damage Scaling | 1.7× | 1.5× | -11.8% |
| T2 Bonus Damage | 150 | 65 | -56.7% |
The weapon scaling and T2 bonus damage are both meaningfully nerfed. At +50% weapon damage with T2, each stake loses ~30 damage from scaling plus 85 from T2. The ultimate goes from "delete button" to "strong finisher."
Strategic Implications: Venator becomes an ability-rotation hero who excels at zone control and positional punishment. The Gutshot wall stun build path is now genuinely terrifying: Snap Trap immobilize (1.5s) → Gutshot wall slam (1.05s stun with T2) = 2.55s hard CC chain with 0.9× weapon bonus damage and 25% damage amp from T3 trap. Counter-play: avoid tight spaces.
Silver receives across-the-board improvements that address her most significant weaknesses while opening new build paths.
Base Stats:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max Health | 725 | 800 | +75 HP (+10.3%) |
| Ammo | 6 | 7 | +1 shell (+17%) |
| Falloff Start Range | 16m | ~20m | +4m effective range |
The +75 HP is enormous — Silver now has the highest base HP of any Marksman at 800. The extra ammo shell directly addresses her biggest complaint, and the +4m falloff extension means full damage out to 20m instead of 16m.
Ability Spirit Scaling Buffs:
| Ability | Spirit Scaling Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boot Kick | 1.0 | 2.0 | +100% |
| Entangling Bola | 1.0 | 1.6 | +60% |
| Go For The Throat | Range 7m | 7.5m | +0.5m |
Doubling Boot Kick's spirit scaling opens up spirit hybrid builds. At 40 spirit power, Boot Kick bonus damage goes from 65 to 105 (+62% total ability damage). Bola goes from 80 to 104 at the same spirit investment.
Lycan Curse Adjustments:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Resist | 20% | 14% | -6% |
| Spirit Resist | 20% | 14% | -6% |
| T1 Resist Bonus | +15%/+15% | +14%/+14% | -1% each |
| Max Rage Scaling | 11.0/power | 9.4/power | -14.5% |
Total resists with T1: 35%/35% → 28%/28% (-7% each). The transformation is less tanky, but the base form improvements more than compensate. Valve is redistributing power from "transformation is everything" to "Silver is functional at all times."
Transformed State: Wolf form clip size set to 0 (infinite ammo), sustained DPS updated to 50.0 (no reload penalty). Quick Silver Reload and Mercurial Magnum now proc on non-spirit ability sources, expanding item interactions.
Meta Impact: Silver rises significantly in viability. Better laning (800 HP, 7 ammo, 20m falloff) and new spirit hybrid builds create a more well-rounded hero that doesn't depend entirely on Lycan Curse.
Graves receives changes that trade raw area coverage and duration for higher burst damage and spirit scaling rewards.
Weapon: Bullet Damage 4.2 → 4.0 (-4.8%), Falloff End Range 16m → 17m (+1m). Small DPS nerf partially offset by extended range.
Key Ability Changes:
| Ability | Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grasping Hands | Width | 20m | 14m | -30% |
| Grasping Hands | Duration | 7s | 5s | -29% |
| Grasping Hands | Spirit Scaling | 1.3 | 1.9 | +46% |
| Jar of Dead | Skull Lifetime | 15s | 10s | -33% |
| Jar of Dead | Damage | 16 | 20 | +25% |
| Borrowed Decree | Duration | 20s (+0.05 spirit) | 16s (+0.04 spirit) | -20% |
| Borrowed Decree | Spawn Interval | 5s | 4s | -20% faster |
Grasping Hands shifts from "massive zone denial wall" (20m × 7s) to "focused spirit burst trap" (14m × 5s with 1.9× spirit scaling). A spirit-invested Graves at 40 spirit power deals 166 damage (was 142) from the initial hit — the wall is smaller and shorter but hits harder.
Jar of Dead deals 25% more damage per tick but lasts 33% shorter. Net total damage over lifetime decreases (200 vs 240), but burst damage output increases.
Borrowed Decree produces the same 4 ghouls total but compressed into 16s instead of 20s with faster spawning. More concentrated burst of summoned pressure.
Meta Impact: Graves shifts from slow siege summoner to burst-oriented spirit caster. Spirit builds become more attractive due to the +46% Grasping Hands scaling, but reduced durations demand more precise timing.
Base Stats: Light Melee 50 → 58 (+16%). Heavy Melee scaling per boon 3.67 → 3.16 (-14%).
Pillow Toss:
- Time between charges: 12s → 10s (-2s)
- T2 now also grants +2m Radius (moved from T3)
- T3 now grants +1 Charge instead of +2m Radius
Getting radius earlier at T2 and an extra charge at T3 is a significant upgrade path buff. Two pillows in rapid succession provides devastating team fight disruption.
Lil Helpers Rebalance:
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo Trooper Soul Share | 50% | 100% | Doubled |
| Trooper Bonus Bounty to Killer | 0% | +20% | New mechanic |
| Following Trooper Heal | 14/s | 10/s | -29% |
| Trooper Heal Spirit Scaling | 0.1 | 0.125 | +25% |
| Trooper Resistance | 35% | 30% | -5% |
| T3 Resistance Bonus | +15% | +20% | +5% |
The headline: Lil Helpers now grant 100% of trooper souls when no allies are nearby (up from 50%). This directly enables solo-laning Rem, making helpers full-value income generators rather than half-efficiency placeholders. Troopers themselves are weaker pre-T3 but identical at T3 (50% total resistance).
Sinner's Sacrifice Interaction: Enemies attacking a sacrifice while helpers are on it scares them back to Rem — a defensive QoL change.
Naptime T3: -55s → -65s cooldown reduction (Naptime CD goes from 65s to 55s fully upgraded).
Meta Impact: Rem becomes viable as a solo laner with doubled helper soul income and improved Pillow Toss flexibility. The extra Pillow Toss charge at T3 transforms team fight utility.
Building on the Feb 12 full ability data population, Apollo receives incremental buffs.
| Stat | Before | After | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Damage/Boon | 0.6 | 0.75 | +25% scaling |
| Max Health | 700 | 740 | +40 HP |
| HP per Boon | 41 | 44 | +3/boon |
At 20 boons, Apollo's bullet damage reaches 32 (was 29), adding ~8 DPS.
Flawless Advance T2 now also grants 60% Bullet Resist during the hold/lunge phase (1.5s duration). This is a massive survivability upgrade — Apollo can lunge into enemies with 60% bullet damage reduction, transforming the engage from "risky dive" into "protected assassination attempt." Spirit damage and CC remain the primary counters.
- Troopers now get stronger for the specific lane where a shrine died, rather than requiring both shrines to fall
- When both shrines die, middle lane troopers also get improved
- Shrine HP reduced by 10%
This is a fundamental macro change. Previously, losing one shrine had no trooper impact — only losing both did. Now each shrine death immediately creates a trooper power spike in that lane, making individual shrine defense more critical. The 10% HP reduction accelerates shrine contests.
Implications:
- Split-push strategies become more punishing — losing a single shrine creates immediate lane disadvantage
- Defensive rotations to protect shrines become higher priority
- The 10% HP reduction makes shrines easier to take, accelerating mid-game transitions
Improved blue zipline attach speed and fixed various bugs. Minor QoL improvement for cross-map rotations.
The PropertyUpgrades item system rollout continues from the Feb 12 patch. No new item stat changes were detected beyond the existing infrastructure.
Ablative Coat (T4 Vitality): Confirmed deprecated — Name and Description set to null, IsDisabled: true.
- Now Recommended: Venator, Silver
- No Longer Recommended: Wraith
- Previously de-recommended in Feb 12: Drifter, Vindicta, Mirage, Pocket, McGinnis, Victor
With Gutshot's wall bonus at 0.9× weapon and T2 providing -10s CD + 0.4s stun, a weapon-focused Venator centered on wall stuns becomes terrifying:
- 23s base - 10s T2 = 13s Gutshot cooldown
- 0.65s + 0.4s = 1.05s wall stun
- Snap Trap immobilize (1.5s) → Gutshot wall slam (1.05s) = 2.55s hard CC chain
- T3 Snap Trap: +25% damage from all sources on trapped target
- Wall bonus: 0.9× weapon damage on stun
Best corridors for wall stuns: Side-lane alleys, underground passages, shrine approach hallways.
Boot Kick at 2.0× spirit scaling and Bola at 1.6× create a new build path:
- Early: Weapon items for laning (leverage 800 HP and 7 ammo)
- Mid: Spirit Strike, Extra Spirit for Boot Kick burst combos
- Late: Escalating spirit items to maximize Boot Kick + Bola damage
At 60 spirit power: Boot Kick deals 145 bonus damage (was 85), Bola deals 136 (was 100).
Despite massive nerfs, Celeste's 0.6/boon scaling and Radiant Daggers spirit amp stacking keep her mid-late game intact. Early game demands:
- Rush Extra Health and healing to compensate for -6% Bullet Resist
- Play passively, focus on denying rather than trading
- Scale toward Radiant Daggers stacking and Shining Wonder team fight power
- Celeste pick rate drops in competitive play. 30.0 base DPS with -6% bullet resist is too weak to bully lanes. She becomes a scaling pick that needs protection.
- Silver rises significantly in pick priority. 800 HP, 7 ammo, 20m falloff addresses every common complaint.
- Graves players shift to spirit builds to maximize the improved Grasping Hands scaling (1.9×).
- Rem solo lane split-push becomes viable with 100% trooper souls.
- Shrine contests become higher priority — teams will fight for shrines earlier knowing each one immediately buffs that lane's troopers.
This patch demonstrates clear balance philosophy: redistribute power from dominant early-game picks (Celeste) toward underperforming heroes (Silver, Venator), restructure kit identities (Graves from siege to burst, Venator from ult-reliant to ability-rotation), and accelerate game pacing through the shrine rework. Combined with Apollo's continued tuning and Rem's solo-lane viability, the patch diversifies viable strategies across the roster.