These changes go live on Wednesday 9th December!

This is a bigger set of balance changes than usual, as we are changing the way that we balance cards in 2021. You can read more about this at the end of this post.

• Lifetime:

  Reduced 40sec > 30sec

• Hit Speed:

  Slower 0.25sec > 0.3sec

• Damage:

  +30%

• Hitpoints:

  -4%

X-Bow has been one of the most polarizing cards ever. We wanted to rework it to keep it a deadly threat but lessen its power as a defensive building. Now the X-Bow's attack is more powerful than ever, able to destroy enemies with fewer shots! But as a trade-off, the X-Bow is more fragile, and does not stay on the Arena for nearly as long a time.

• Hit Speed:

  +10% (1.1s > 1.0s)

• Hitpoints:

  -32% (same as Skeletons)
  

Hit This minor rework brings Guards down to the same Hitpoints and Attack Speed as Skeletons for consistency. This results in a significant DPS buff for the little guys with a Hitpoint trade-off that will not impact its most common interactions.

• Hitpoints:

  -22%

Back when we reduced all spawner Hitpoints after a spawner-heavy meta, Barb Hut was weaker and therefore got nerfed less than others.

The result – it is now the strongest! It now gets a Hitpoints nerf so it's not as effective a defense by itself.

• Initial Skeleton Spawn Time:

  Delayed 10% (2sec > 2.2sec)

This results in 1 less Skeleton being spawned.

Graveyard has just been too strong for too long. Its ability to be placed on top of towers makes it extremely consistent at dealing Damage. We are delaying the amount of time it takes for the first Skeleton to appear, allowing for quicker defensive reactions and also results in it spawning 1 fewer Skeleton total.

• Hit Speed:

  Faster 1.7sec > 1.5sec

We're speeding up the Goblin Giant’s attacks so he’s a real threat when he connects to a building!

• Damage:

  -69%

Heal Spirit is seeing widespread play because it's just as effective as Ice Spirit at countering cards like Skeleton Army.

Used defensively with a Tower, it can be an effective counter to Goblin Gang because of its splash damage.

Heal Spirit isn’t a combative soul, so we are reducing its Damage significantly. Zap + Heal Spirit also now does not kill a Minion Horde.

• Hitpoints -10%

Fisherman's pulling effect is very powerful and therefore we don’t want to hurt his main function. Fisherman’s popularity in the meta is partially because he works well as a mini-tank, so we are reducing his Hitpoints to make him more fragile against other mini-tanks.

• Faster Initial Skeleton Spawn:

  3.5sec -> 1sec

Witch struggles to find value at her 5 Elixir cost consistently. Letting the first Skeletons spawn faster provides a clearer use case (near-instant blocking). She should exist in the meta as a counter to P.E.K.K.A decks, which may return to prominence with Fisherman and Heal Spirit’s nerfs.

• Damage:

  -2.5%

Fixing some rounding errors, alongside the fact that the last nerf barely nudged the stats...

This changes a few small interaction inconsistencies across levels, like making the entry Zap + 1 attack not enough Damage to destroy both Archers.

• Hitpoints:

  -19%

Same Hitpoints as Skeleton Dragons/Magic Archer/Zappies – 440.

Due to its ability to almost always connect to a Crown Tower, Skeleton Barrel is currently very popular on mid-ladder for what's supposed to be a niche card.

• First Hit:

  Faster +0.2sec

A few months ago, Bats had their Hit Speed and First Hit slowed 0.2sec, this ended up being a larger nerf than expected, so we are returning some of the nerfed stats.

After Season 18, we are stopping monthly balance changes.

We are instead going to bundle balance changes alongside major content updates, which will result in bigger, more impactful changes.

This does not mean we are stopping card balancing. We will still be balancing cards when necessary, they just won't be attached to a monthly season change.

Due to the way progression works in Clash Royale, it can be potentially devastating to a deck if a card you have maxed is nerfed. Most players do not have a suitably levelled replacement card and this does not feel good! It may take another few months to have a replacement 1v1 ready which is not great.

Having your favorite card nerfed often has a negative effect and in some cases can stop you wanting to play altogether.

• What are we doing to fix this issue?

We are planning for our first update of 2021 to feature an overhaul to progression, making it easier than ever to level up your cards and decks.

But until then, we wanted to change the way that we balance to make the period between now and the new update as enjoyable as possible!