Gems of War Major Troops NERFED! DOWNGRADED! RIP Looping Teams?

Uh oh! Huge downgrade in spell for a whole bunch of Troops! This is going to kick up a stir!
Gems of War New PVP Full Guide and Tutorial! • Gems of War NEW PVP Fu...
Gems of War New Player Guide Full Playlist! • Gems of War New Player...
If you enjoyed the video please Like and Subscribe for more Gems of War content!
Join the Clan! Support this channel to get access to perks from just 99p a Month!!!
/ @honestrob
My channel has Explore Level 12 videos, Guild Wars battles with commentary, New Player Guides, Beginner Tutorials, best teams for Delve, Pure Faction, Tower of Doom, Raid Boss, Mythic Troops, World Event, Invasion, Class Trials, weekly Soulforge reviews, general strategy and more!!
#honestrob #gemsofwar #nerf #soulforge #worldevent #robslayer #gemsofwarguildwars #gemsofwargameplay #gemsofwarexplore12 #gemsofwarexplorelevel12 #soulforgereview #guildwarsgameplay #gemsofwarbestteams #gemsofwartips #gemsofwarguide #factionassault #gemsofwarstrategy #gemsofwarteams #gemsofwarbeginnerguide #gemsofwarnewplayerguide #explore #e9 #e10 #e12 #d12 #gemsofwarbestteam #gemsofwarspoiler #gemsofwartutorial #hr

[@gearwax]

Saw it coming. Might be a good move to balance things. I hate just watching while loopers peck me to death.

[@honestrob]

Yep they can be annoying, but is usually the players fault for not using Freeze! But can see why they did it too 🙂

[@vinnynovak9927]

Basically, Loopers are now generating mana for your opponents team.

[@lindenhoch8396]

So true. The new journey troop in this week's event is pretty much useless, he's just there for the score. That's a kick in the teeth, I was no fan of journey event before.

[@honestrob]

Yep... unless the board is already heavy with the required colour, it is a risky cast for sure

[@honestrob]

@@lindenhoch8396 Indeed! I hardly cast it in my Journey run!!

[@steve_broxi]

I get why they did that, It was getting abused in PvP a lot (seekra team infinitely casting) but all they had to do was change the AI a bit so they used a different card. Because of the AIs entire team can be cast, they’ll ONLY use the loop one, over and over. Just make it so they use something else. Boom sorted, but now delves are going to be a massive hassle

[@honestrob]

There may be workarounds to make the troops still semi-useful - like I did in the Journey vid, time will tell!

[@chrisfrisch1347]

i notice the ai plays completely dif for the computer than it does for you

[@honestrob]

@@chrisfrisch1347 Oh yes that has been the same for a while, kinda have to take that into consideration when creating teams!

[@lindenhoch8396]

I say it's only fair if the journey events point required are adjusted accordingly. It's not an easy feat to complete the event even with the loopers, now it's going to be nigh impossible for all but the most hardcore guilds.

[@honestrob]

I have not yet checked that the rules are still the same - I didn't drop any miles (I don't think) in any of my battles, but didn't count my turns either, everything always seemed pretty fast with my team 🙂

[@TheMooballs2]

On the changelog, it states "dropped the difficulty by about 10%" Clearly not enough. I'm leaving my guild and will more than likely uninstall. I can't make it to HALF of our weekly requirement.

[@markdouglasmckay-mu2iy]

Should have happened before the 2nd journey event. The cheese loops halved the enjoyment while increasing my frustration by 200 % for me. I went from 20 game play hours down to 8 hours per week.

[@honestrob]

Yes, some will love this, others not so much!

[@vigilantcrow65]

Now folks get to spend more money (or far more time with vault weekends) getting gems in order to complete Journey. The joys of Live Service games.

[@honestrob]

My Journey team makes mincemeat of the Journey Event with little participation from the Pathfinder 🙂

[@kcollier2192]

I would have preferred that the devs increased the mana cost and maybe cut the gems produced to 12 instead of 15. Time will tell- maybe they'll make that adjustment in the future.

[@honestrob]

Yea I think Gem creation to 12 not 15 would have been better. Still makes them usable, but without the mega reliability. Hopefully they tweak things again a bit 🙂

[@ash470]

I agree that these changes are hitting these particular troops to hard making them far less viable. I personally invested moderately to get them all raised to mythic for their events as well as getting their elite levels up for the extra stats... heck I even burned Shiny Keys to get the ones that could be up to Shiny 2 for the spell enhancement. And I get that loopy teams are a problem I have lost plenty of PvP fights to them in the past... I actually wonder whether or not looping as a Strategy should be slightly restricted. Perhaps a player is only allowed to Loop X times in a row before having a forced turn stop and allowing the opponent a response turn. (Or if that seems like to much of a step then perhaps the limit is colour based so you can only loop matching Red gems X times but if you can find other 4+ matches on other colours you can extend the run resetting the counter itself might be to much but could be an option making loop teams be more viable if dual colour like a Queen Beatrix team.)

[@honestrob]

Limited turns is maybe too hard to implement with all the other stuff going on in the game. Just reduce Gem generation to 12 max would have been better for me, but they may tweak it a it further, have to see

[@kencooney1082]

They could have made the bonus gems only happen in Journey and give that an effect name. Basically the effect description could say "bonus 3 gems per troop that matches this troop type". Or simply make the troop a Journey Only troop.

[@honestrob]

Yea I think there were better options than 'kill everything!' 😂😂

[@kencooney1082]

@@honestrob They're just putting the square peg in a round hole.

[@TheMooballs2]

No worries, they'll release a new overpowered troop in the near future that we'll all spend loads of money on.

[@honestrob]

@@kencooney1082 Shame the nerf was so harsh, didn't have to hit them QUITE that hard!

[@honestrob]

@@TheMooballs2 I get it for game balancing purposes, but still think the nerf was too much

[@kf6dbs]

I was going to say that they made it so you would need the shiny 2 upgrade to get the same spell as what you had before (and that is true). However, I also note that they increased the mana cost of the spells as well (by three, I think). So even the shiny level 3 pathfinders will never be as good as the original three (Chalcedona, Seekra Darkwood, Tood Greenwood) ever were. I would not hold out even the slightest bit of hope that the devs care at all what the community has to say about this as they have stayed silent after much less defensible decisions.

[@honestrob]

Indeed. I think from 15 max Gems created down to 12 would have been fine. Still can loop, but not near as reliably as with 15 Gems. Have to wait and see what they do (if anything!)

[@PsyberKayos]

I used shiny keys on Egris and am pretty miffed. I had 0 problems with looping troops as long as i could use freeze in PvP. And i hate that they nerfed its usage everywhere else just for some PvP issues.

[@PsyberKayos]

Nerf was too harsh.

[@honestrob]

Same! This could have been handled better I think. So many better options

[@honestrob]

@@PsyberKayos Yep. 15 to 12 Gems would have been fair for me

[@KarelPKerezman]

I've always had Czernobog in my Chalcedony team, so I feel like that team will be okay-ish going forward. I didn't build any other general-use teams around looping (though I considered having a Todd team). Quite a move, and I suspect this was coming when you pointed out that this week's new pathfinder had less gem generation. Woof.

[@honestrob]

Yep maybe with troops that force a constant storm the Pathfinders 'may' still be semi-quasi-wee-bit viable.... Have to see 😀

[@danielsnoddy4099]

From what i have seen they only creat 8 gems now because they nerfed the multiplier and the spell

[@honestrob]

It should be 10. The starting 2 from the spell and then the +2 for each correct troop type (including the Pathfinder)

[@wcellon]

I just used my Todd team in PVP - Essence of Evil, Todd Greenwood, x2 Persistence. I still won every time. It seems like it just took it a little longer to get started. Just depends on how much green you have on the board to start with.

[@honestrob]

With the correct storm for the team, they may still work - have to do some testing 🙂

[@clockmonkey]

I'm wound up.

[@Zeroswitch42]

Me too :/

[@honestrob]

Wound up like a clock monkey!!

[@honestrob]

@@Zeroswitch42 Ya nerf is wayyyy too much!

[@Zeroswitch42]

@@honestrob 🙈🙈🙈

[@honestrob]

@@Zeroswitch42 😆🤣

[@kajkorthout677]

The loop teams were fun for a while in the events, but it feels like you were forced to create them. after the 30th battle spamming only one skill, it got boring. Thanks to this video i got a lot of traitstones back to use on more versatile characters... JK, on to building the next event team

[@honestrob]

Agreed! I like it in the way it makes people think more again - was too easy to make a team using any of the required colour and making the game a breeze 🙂

[@davitanuri]

This shows how badly designed journey events were from the start. The least enjoyable event became even worse, they gotta rework it or change how scoring works. They claim these changes were to balance pvp and mostly ignored the changes that would come to the event. It feels like bounty 0.5, you put the captain last fully traited just to get more score.

[@utalotharingia]

They could have just banned journey troops from pvp. Plus I reckon once it actually works that the teams people used are the defences we find, journey troops would crop up quite rarely as they are safe, but long winded, and skull teams, or troops like zuul/diamantina are arguably worse anyway.

[@honestrob]

Indeed. Just bring it down from 15 to 12 Gems total max generation and it would not be 'as' reliable... Down to 10 is making them near useless!

[@honestrob]

@@utalotharingia Yep. Stacks of teams are overpowered. Seems a shame to remove this option effectively, as it gave newer players a chance to do something they maybe cannot otherwise achieve

[@MichaelBurch-gm3eb]

Not much of a pvp player so it don't effect my pvp play lol. But i did use them in events and delves that they could make it safer and bit easier. Just have to have different team set ups for those things in the game. Will miss those good journey teams in other things 😕

[@honestrob]

Yes exactly! Hopefully they wil do a small re-fix on these troops. Nerf was too big!

[@chrisfrisch1347]

i have 2 accounts and the whole thing caused me to quit, i spent alot of time build ing teams around them. guess ill spend my time in more usefull ways. this is part of why i dont really like online games anymore. you have no real ownership or say in what goes on and they can change the rules any time they want.

[@honestrob]

Yep this is going to happen at times. I think across all the colours they were overpowered, so maybe a middle ground would have been better rather than near killing them completely!

[@mareksbelevics]

They want players to pay more money for the game! Will end up many good players will leave the game.

[@u.ppredatorx2394]

You hit the nail on the head.

[@honestrob]

Sometimes it seems for every 'good' thing they do, they do another 5 'bad' things to upset people. Not the best strategy in the world ever!

[@redkelly5187]

dang, glad I am only waiting on the last shiny cheevo then I'm out of this game for ever...maybe....

[@honestrob]

This change forced people to think differently is the only good thing maybe. My Journey team is super effective - it would have probably been totally different if the Pathfinder had the usual abilities. I see good and bad in it overall, but think the nerf was overall too harsh

[@chrisfrisch1347]

now why not nerf teams like the turnip teams or any goblin team . 2 gobtruffles a shamen and a hammer. or same team with 1 or 2 queen b's in place of gobtruffle. imo if you are going to nerf the pathfinders you need to nerf gobtruffle and queen b, especially queen b as you cant even reliably freeze this bitch as she cleanses whole team on every 4+ match

[@honestrob]

Yep certainly are a lot of teams/troops that are overpowered! Seems odd to pick on the Pathfinders who are easy to stop with Freeze. Maybe it's something else - players whizzing through Underworld factions too fast etc... Queen Bee I stop with Stun. Screws up her Cleanse 🙂

[@personalspace6270]

For me this is probably the end of Gems of War im quitting while im ahead it's taking to much of my time and the monetization is getting worse and worse now with more and more in disguise loot boxes. Without the loop its almost undoable or impossible for the normal player to get it done without spending money for the yourney trophy. I'm happy i done the trophy already and I guess im not going to spend much more time and money on this game. I played it years and almost 1800 hours maybe it's time to retire I just don't want to sink in more time in this.😅

[@honestrob]

They may reverse the nerf, or at least make it less harsh, have to see!

[@personalspace6270]

@@honestrob let's hope I really used it a lot

[@historiknot]

It was about time!

[@honestrob]

Yep some people will love this change, others will hate it! 🙂

[@personanonmaga5178]

I was 100% in support of nerfing futute journey troops. but this retroactive nerf feels bad. luckily I didnt buy any of these or resources to upgrade

[@honestrob]

Yes exactly. Future troops for sure, but killing the ones already there seems off. Have to see what happens going forward!

[@ahriman747]

I'm not pleased, but looping teams shouldn't be the only tool in your toolbox, you know? I play this game because it lets me put my brain in autopilot when I really need to and it scratches the old MtG/WH40k itch at a far, far lower price point. There's no one forcing me to spend a dime on it and I have no particular urge to compete for the #1 spot on the leaderboards with the terminally online, so my purchases are only occasional to begin with.

[@honestrob]

Indeed. I can see both sides, and good and bad, so overall I'm more... 'well, it is what it is'! 🙂

[@wcellon]

I don't know how nerfing is even legal. It would be like me buying a car with power steering and power brakes and a few weeks later the dealer sends someone out and removes all that and says, "We noticed that it was too easy for you to drive the car, so we removed some features." Todd Greenwood was one of my favorite troops. I used him for every green or brown delve, which made them super easy. Luckily, I have them all to level 500 now, so don't need him as much. He also is part of the Epic Trials for Vulpacea, which I already have done. But nerfing these makes it harder for new players that didn't get to experience them in all their glory. :)

[@honestrob]

I get why it has to happen for game balancing reasons, but this is not a small game adjustment, it's total annihilation of these troops! Maybe the dev's thought everyone was doing Delves etc too easy with these troops?

[@adamcarter6862]

PvP kind of sucks. In my opinion it punishes you for doing well. I've been in brackets with players who play 24 hours a day somehow. There's no way to be in the top 3 in those brackets. I'm just going to play it to collect those pets.

[@honestrob]

I quite like PVP! Makes you play troops/teams that you would not ordinarily look at. And if you're in a bracket with players determined to get top 3 then just do enough to stay in the middle of the bracket and see what happens next week - you won't get super hardcore players every week 🙂

[@wcellon]

I agree with Rob on this. I like the new PVP way better than the old one. I know I'm not going to grind it enough to finish in the top 3, but it is easy enough to stay in the middle and not get demoted. I just grind it enough each week to get the two pets that cost silver marks and use the gold marks to get one Book of Deeds each week.

[@adamcarter6862]

@@wcellon That's a good plan, that's what I'm going to do too. It's impossible to be n the top 3 sometimes. There are shared accounts and it's running all day.

[@utalotharingia]

Ugh. Might as well nerf goblins and all the new hourglass stuff too then.

[@honestrob]

Yea crazy powerful hourglass Gems etc and stop basic 'looper' troops that can stopped with basic Freeze 🤭😂😂

[@utalotharingia]

@@honestrob I can't get rid of the feeling this is a monetisation move, since journey loopers are only really advantageous at lower levels, when you haven't got OP troops yet. There are much better options once you have a decent selection of mythics, weapons and bosses to choose from.

[@Cl1pbmb1361]

[@honestrob]

[@brittinfrielink4626]

Matches will take longer now, but its still possible to score high in events. We'll see how it goes.

[@honestrob]

Yes it made me think differently for the Journey team, so I like it in that regard, stops it being too easy to pick a basic loopy team

[@brittinfrielink4626]

That's a good point too. I'll admit I get tired of casting the same troop 15 times in a row with no strategy otherwise.

[@honestrob]

@@brittinfrielink4626 Yes exactly! Made these Events boring auto-pilot. Need to think a bit more now! 🙂

[@brittinfrielink4626]

@honestrob Random question if you don't mind... When a new mythic comes out such as the latest troop Mandragora, how long is it the sole mythic available from gem keys? Is it just the same week it's released? I already got it and do not want another so I don't want to waste more keys on another copy. I know you explained this before in other videos but I forgot. Is it safe to open my gem chests now since it's a new week? Thanks Rob!

[@K-K-Canada]

I see why too and am just as happy with this. The looping was getting out of hand and is actually quite boring to play. As long as they don’t mess with my Bees or Tesla, I’m good

[@honestrob]

Tesla and Beetrix are totally and utterly OUT OF BOUNDS for nerfing 🤣🤣🤣

[@K-K-Canada]

@@honestrob It’s interesting to see the different comments on the change. Looks like those who relied on the Loopers are the angriest. I’m dropping in and out of the game today and tomorrow. I was the lucky (?) recipient of a new hip today so as the meds kick in, I drop out. LOL..Carrying on as if I was in my right mind. Thank the Lord for IPads and WIFI!

[@honestrob]

@@K-K-Canada Good and speedy luck on your recovery K-K! Wi-Fi is indeed the savior at times haha!

[@K-K-Canada]

@@honestrob Thanks very much Rob!

[@omnivision616]

Nerfs are part of gaming. I've been into Warhammer over 20 years. Constant nerfs to units and whole armies all the time. It's just the way it is.

[@honestrob]

Yes indeed, but this is from 'amazing to almost unusable', I think they went a little far with it 🙂

[@omnivision616]

@@honestrob Oh trust me I know that game. I've had whole armies worth $800+ go from decent to complete trash. Other times units that are weak as hell get buffed to be an auto include. So more $$$ have to be spent if you want to keep up. It's one reason I got out of competitive meta chasing. Just get too expensive.

[@wcellon]

It shouldn't be accepted by the gamers. Anyplace else, this would be considered illegal. I don't know why it is legal for game companies to do it! They sell you something and then they take it away.

[@omnivision616]

@@wcellon Been that way for decades. I've never seen a case brought in front of a court. Maybe consider it.

[@wcellon]

@@omnivision616 Not worth it for a few cards in a game. They are also a foreign company (to me). So probably even more difficult to take them to court. I'm 56. Sometimes I miss the old days. You bought a game on cartridge and you got what you got. There was no support and games didn't last for years and years with dozens of upgrades. I played E.T. on the Atari 2600 for months because that is all I had to play! 😄

[@TheMooballs2]

Yes they were annoying in PvP and even boring to use in PvE, but to force us to use the useless nerfed troops in WE? Come on. The best team I can find for this event feeds the enemy team way too much.

[@honestrob]

The team I used in the Journey event has been super reliable so far, as long as you only cast the devour troop when there is enough brown on the board. I like the way this has made people think about the team a lot more rather than any get Pathfinder charged, loop, done, but do think the nerf was too much overall! 🙂

[@TheMooballs2]

@@honestrob Rob I literally got over 20 failed attempts in a row and I only get 1 in 10 on average. I've lost most of my sigils at 5000 miles. Casting Stone Viper just gave the enemy 17 extra turns in a row and multiple skull hits and casts. And Aldewing is just a feeding troop period. I can't deny this is the best team I've seen for this event. But I am done playing this game now. Over the life-consuming money-grabbing tactics.

[@TheMooballs2]

@@honestrob I dislike overpowered META troops but there was no reason to make this event so difficult. If it's not 100% it's 5%. If 50% meant 50% there would be no issue.

[@honestrob]

@@TheMooballs2 Sounds crazily unlucky? Definitely 13+ Brown on the board when casting? If not the Devour can't happen!

[@honestrob]

@@TheMooballs2 Yep. 50/50 is very easy to follow... And after a number of attempts should start to even itself out. For me, I find it is about 50/50 to be fair

[@AboveOmnipotence]

But, we can have "Boss" Troops that can 1-shot? LOL

[@honestrob]

Indeed. Seems too harsh to me!