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The balance patch for Duraludon for Pokemon Unite will practically affect half the cast.
Fans of the game might agree that certain characters were in desperate need of a buff. Decidueye, Cramorant, and even Tsareena were falling lower and lower on tier lists. All of these characters, though, got touched up a bit. Other overpowered Pokemon got nerfed too.
Which Pokemon got nerfed and buffed?
Perhaps the biggest change in this patch was made to Slow Smoke, the new essential battle item that practically finds its way on to every team. The cooldown on Slow Smoke was increased to 45 seconds, so this might make the item less dominant.
Decidueye was in a really tough position beforehand, and therefore got buffed heavily in this patch. Spirit Shackle received a damage buff along with some move alterations (minimum damage from 227 to 248). Its Unite move, Nock Nock, also has increased damage from 90 damage to 100 damage for each quill.
Tsareena also saw some buffs, but they were to its least used moves. Trop Kick and Stomp each got a damage increase, with the former also getting a cooldown reduction from 10s to 8.5s. This set will definitely be experimented with, but gamers might still end up using Grassy Glide and Triple Axel as they have been doing.
Alolan Ninetails received a very interesting boost. Aurora Veil now acts as a dash that will give Alolan Ninetails its boosted attack. It’s definitely been a while since Pokemon Unite players were using Aurora Veil, so this move might return to its dominance.
Other Pokemon to get buffs are as follows:
- Cramorant: Damage increase on Dive, adds bonus damage on first target hit, Air Slash cooldown increased from 5s to 7s.
- Trevenant: Pain Split effect strengthened and Wood Hammer stun increased
- Gengar: Boosted attack deal 160 damage now
- Blastoise: Water Spin can be held down while using Rapid Spin
- Zeraora: 50% damage increase added to the return dash of Volt Switch
As for nerfs, it’s time to address the Steel/Fighting-type elephant in the room. Lucario’s Close Combat finally got its damage and lifesteal nerfed. It now only does 60 damage and takes 20 health. It still might manage to be a top pick, but at least it won’t feel as broken in Pokemon Unite.
Greedent also got its general movement speed reduced, as well as a weaker shield from Defense Curl and cooldown increase on Tackle, which is now 5.5 seconds instead of 4. This should make early jungle invasions from Greedent a lot tougher to pull off in Pokemon Unite.
Hoopa, who has been dominating ranked since it was released, saw several changes. Its basic attack in Unbound form, as well as its Hyperspace Fury, got nerfed. The cooldown on Hyperspace Hole has also increased to 12 seconds, and Shadow Ball deals less damage.
Eldegards also got the shields from Cotton Guard weakened. The charge for Eldegoss’ Unite move got longer as well. Finally, Mr. Mime’s Confusion got a damage reduction. Guard Swap also deals damage and heals quicker, though. On top of that, Mr. Mime can now attack while casting Psychic.
This patch comes just as Duraludon arrives in Pokemon Unite. So far, it looks like Dragon Pulse has tons of damage output, so that might be the next move that needs patching up.
