Vainglory 3.4 Update Analysis

Summer is here and full-fledged! Vainglory 3.4 boasts the most amount of gameplay and balance changes we’ve seen from an update in the past year. From a new hero and three fresh items to ability cooldown modifications and hero balancing, deciphering the ebb and flow of each change can be difficult. We have you covered on the latest in Vainglory 3.4 meta.

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New Hero: Kinetic

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Think twice before engaging! Kinetic ramps up in damage quickly when ignored in a team fight. She requires a careful and patient play style while she builds up damage before forcing an engage. Although her damage output can ramp up to become high, she is vulnerable to burst damage and dive compositions. Read up on our Kinetic hero reveal to gain an edge over your opponents during the first few days!

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General Gameplay Changes

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LANE MINIONS

Melee minions are now stronger, while ranged minions are very fragile. In addition, empowered minions deal twice their previous damage to enemy minions but no longer deal extra damage to turrets. Minions are also more susceptible to hero damage. This all means that during the farming stage, the furthest minion is easy to kill, while the others are harder to kill. Lanes will be frozen more often depending on how aggressive the carries are and will allow for more lane rotations when left alone. When an armory has been taken, minions will push faster but take turrets down at the same rate as if they were not empowered.

ARMORIES

Armories are slightly tankier and respawn after 210 seconds (3.5 minutes). Minions no longer gain a defense boost as well. This will make back-and-forth games even longer than before, as the destroyed armories will be a temporary advantage in the lanes.

TURRETS

The first two turrets in a lane will now be less tanky, but the third turret will be a bit harder to take down. With the minion wave changes, the first turrets will already be harder to get to, so bringing down the turret health will create a balance with how the turret objectives are taken throughout the game.

GHOSTWING (uncaptured)

Because Ghostwing already provides a performance buff, proffering the capturing team 300 gold per player provides too much of an advantage. Bringing down the gold reward will keep the capturing team at a reasonable advantage without being able to snowball just because they have the statistic buff and an additional 1500 gold lead.

3V3 SCOUT CAMS

In Vainglory 3.4, you can now use Scout Cams like you are currently able to in 5V5. You have a limit of one Scout Cam, so use them tactically every 140 seconds to avoid wasting vision! It’s worth noting is that you cannot purchase Scout Cam upgrades in the shop. You’re granted a single Scout Cam, and it refreshes once deployed with the cooldown indicated. Currently, only Scout Traps, Flares, and Contraption are available in 3v3 as vision upgrades.

COOLDOWN REDUCTION CAP

The cap to cooldowns is now easier to calculate and makes abilities slightly more powerful as seen in the hero balance changes. Buying a total cooldown percentage of over 45% will now be a “waste of gold,” since your cooldowns will not be affected anymore. For information regarding this topic, check out our full article detailing the change.

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Hero Balance Changes

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ALL HEROES

The movement speed changes balance out with the tweaks of the boots items, but heroes start out faster without the purchase of boots. The attack cooldowns, or the time between basic attacks, is an all-around attack speed reduction to tier three items. This will create more interesting and tactical team fights.

BAPTISTE

The crystal buff to Baptiste’s A ability balances out the strengths between his two damage paths. The burst damage from his Bad Mojo is greatly increased, allowing for a Reim-type gameplay style with his constant and powerful pokes.

CATHERINE

Catherine, with the upgrades to her A ability, is able to stun quicker as the game progresses. This change was made due to the cooldown cap. Her ultimate also has a much shorter cooldown following the removal of Echo. Catherine’s overall gameplay slightly changes with shorter cooldowns, though no massive changes have been made.

CHURNWALKER

When a chained victim takes damage, all other chained victims now take 30% of that original damage instead of 25%. This makes Churnwalker a more viable pick in the meta, but he will not be overpowered. His ultimate ability also brings enemies toward him, instead of him snapping toward his target(s). Subsequently, this does not force Churnwalker to be pushed right into the middle of the enemy team.

FORTRESS

Fortress still needed a bit of tweaking, but now we may have a balanced wolf. Although he lost some damage, he gained a speed boost at all levels with his A ability. This retains Fortress’s place in dive compositions.

GRACE

This cooldown change is due to the removal of Echo. No major gameplay changes — just a slightly lower cooldown. Grace will still be very strong in the Vainglory 3.4 meta.

 

KENSEI

Kensei is strong, they said; Kensei’s early game needed to be nerfed, they said. Kensei’s base damage is higher in the early game? No fear! His kit was nerfed heavily. His percent life damage nerf makes him less effective against tankier heroes, his barrier is less powerful when his heroic perk is active, and his bonus damage that comes when his perk activates was lessened as well. In addition, the stun duration on his ultimate ability when paired with Kensho is significantly lower. This balances his overall potential throughout the game. However, this does mean that Kensei will remain fairly strong in the meta with a higher damage output in the early game.

KESTREL

Crystal Kestrel received a much-needed nerf, as she overtook the 3.3 meta. Hopefully Kestrel will be a little less annoying now. Consider trying out her weapon path if you’re still itching to land snipes.

LYRA

Lyra’s burst heal again took a hit, making her healing less effective when she activates it again and goes on cooldown. Her Bright Bulwark doesn’t last as long either, allowing enemy teams to jump on her team’s backline a second quicker.

LORELAI

The cast delay of Fish Food (A) makes Lorelai’s stuns more reliable. She may be picked up more often with this change and the additional Heroic Perk for 5V5.

 

MALENE

Malene received another much-needed nerf, as she was still a priority pick/ban in the meta. The changes in Vainglory 3.4 were focused on her ultimate ability which swaps forms from light to shadow (or vice versa). Her damage outputs were also too high, especially with crystal power scaling. Malene should feel less powerful when she switches forms.

REZA

Reza was another priority pick/ban in the 3.3 meta, and his B ability dealt a lot of burst damage with just an Aftershock. Pick up more crystal items to make him feel as powerful as before.

SAMUEL

Samuel received a relatively small tweak in Vainglory 3.4, lowering his empowered Malice & Verdict crystal ratio. This change can be felt in-game from both the get-go and throughout the game. He will still be very strong, especially as a middle lane carry, when he gains his Dragon’s Eye stacks in a team fight.

SKYE

Skye is receiving a little bit of love in 3.4. She can move around a fight more often to reposition herself and kill the enemy backlines.

 

TAKA

Taka’s cooldown reduction is an addition to his kit when he gains House Kamuha stacks, which allows his abilities to be up quicker. His X-Retsu also gained a weapon ratio, incentivizing his alternate build path. Give it a shot!

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Item Balance Changes

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Three new items were added in Vainglory 3.4 that center around the captain role. Clockwork, Slumbering Husk, and Tornado Trigger also received major reworks to diversify itemization options that carries are presented with. Check out our analysis on the new items and reworks for the full details!

In addition to the major reworks, several items were fine-tuned to normalize the attack cooldown decrease to all heroes. These items are: Alternating Current, Bonesaw, Poisoned Shiv, Shiversteel, and Weapon Infusion.

ALL BOOTS

All heroes gained 0.1 base movement speed, so this change balances out movement once a boots item has been purchased.

AFTERSHOCK

Following the bonus health decrease to Fountain of Renewal and consideration of captains purchasing the three new items, Aftershock’s damage had to be scaled down. You’d be surprised at how much difference a single percentage makes!

COAT OF PLATES

Vainglory is changing the tier two defensive items to be focused on their respective defensive stats. Coat of Plates should be purchased for armor stats rather than shield stats.

 

FOUNTAIN OF RENEWAL

Captains became very tanky in the early-to-mid game with the purchase of Fountain of Renewal. This nerf will make captains a bit less difficult to kill. The addition of three defense/utility items with lots of health will balance this nerf, since Fountain synergizes well with them.

KINETIC SHIELD

Vainglory is changing the tier two defensive items to be focused on their respective defensive stats. Kinetic Shield should be purchased for shield stats rather than armor stats.

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Vainglory 3.4 is live NOW! Hop online to check out the three new items, four new skins, Ranked recall animations, Spoils of War improvements, and general meta changes. If you have any questions about the update, ask away in the comments below, and we’d be happy to answer them!