Errata
ArcanistsOverall got off pretty light, but a couple things got hit in important ways
Order Initiates- -1 cost, makes them a bit more valuable in Marcus crews. I'm not sure just how far this will go but I can see one sneaking into lists a lot more
Steam Arachnid Swarms- I personally would've gone further, but what did get changed is an excellent start. Gone is effective stat 7 with built in Onslaught, now they get stat 5 (with -1 for effective stat 6) and no mask so they aren't insanely efficient beaters they're just good
Soulstone Miner- Reduced armour, reduced Mv and they now don't count for schemes until the activation after they unbury. It's definitely a very healthy change (and it still lets them do marker schemes)
Soulstone Cache changed so it now only adds stones if enemies within aura 3 are killed, so no longer triggers off of friendlies. Slight change but a bit healthier in terms of resource generation.
Outcasts
My main faction, I personally don't think there are many big issues with what changed and the buffs are really great. I won't mention Bayou Smugglers and the First Mate here cause they're under the Bayou section, but they did get changes which affect Outcast keywords.
Mad Dog went up to 10SS which reflects his role as a highly efficient blaster model
Rusty Alyce went down to Mv4 so she is harder to set up in shooting positions and easier to keep engaged so she won't be popping models off the table with her shooting as often
Pride got some clarifications, and his irreducible damage was halved. Stops him being an irreducible bot and opens up his actions a bit more
Aionus picked up a TN on Sever Timeline and lost his built in crow for pass tokens. This makes the crew a lot less consistent but all around makes them a bit more balanced IMO, especially as summoners tend to not have ways to generate pass tokens in-keyword and that is still a thing for Aionus, just harder
Ashes and Dust had a few changes, the biggest being losing Incorporeal (but gaining a new ability that gives him Incorporeal but without damage reduction) and losing his built in crow on melee. It makes him less of a mainline beater and more of a counter-schemer, but his role on a flank has pretty much not changed from before.
Now for the buffs! Some really great things here that open up playstyles
Johan gained Rush for threat range extension, Rebel Yell now has the tome built in (so he's a great counterpick for condition removal) but his Relic Hammer is a lower stat now (5 instead of 6). It puts him in a great niche though and he will definitely see play in Infamous crews while being a tech Versatile pick elsewhere.
Benny Wolcomb. Wow. In terms of most improved this is definitely it, cause Benny does a lot for a Hamelin crew now that makes him kind of not terrible. +1 Df and no longer needing to discard for his Sack O' Rats already works well to support the crew, but he also replaces Nihilism and Diseased (which are really not super useful anyway in Hamelin crews) with Covered in Rats (like Rat Catchers, he can gain Shielded for rats around him when his activation ends) and Loyal to the Very End which lets him discard a card to drop schemes (friendly or enemy) when any Vermin models die within aura 4 of him. This is really great because it helps you scheme in unexpected ways and when used on rats is effectively just card cycling with a scheme marker added in which is really great. He also gained an extra inch on his Loyal Rats with Tiny Hats pulse so he can counter scheme far better than he did before as well which gives him a role in Parker, albeit not a great one still, and makes him really worth taking in Hamelin. It also enables the Benny Engine a bit more but I think in general it is still almost always a major waste of AP and takes a chunk of your list for very average effect so I wouldn't bother with it unless you can incidentally summon a bunch of rats off pulses mid-late game. His gun is now more accurate with stat 6 and gains the Rat Bomb trigger although this isn't that great (needing the rat to be nearby to trigger it, but that then creates Friendly Fire) and his sword is now stat 5 instead of 6, so he is a bit more of a ranged piece but still I think he is better suited in melee because of the rest of his kit (and spreading Blight with his sword)
Bayou
Infamous got touched from the bottom and the top, bringing
their internal balance a lot closer. They also benefit from the Johan changes
in Outcasts
First Mate is now a Beast, but he lost built in Crit Strike
on his Anchor (so a lower damage ceiling, differentiating his role from Mancha
Roja) and lost Carry the Loot. The changes make him still a great
counter-schemer but not also a really good beater at the same time.
Bayou Smuggler got a lot of buffs that aren’t amazing in their keywords, but they’re better as Versatile models now. They now work as marker-based models, having lost Life of Crime, Change of Plans and Attuned for a kit that reflects them better more and just plain functions better. Not being able to use Soulstones now isn’t a huge loss, nor is the loss of Life of Crime when instead they get Carry the Loot (even though it’s once per activation its extra card draw which is very useful). Instead they get synergy with markers as they gain Full Pack to give Shielded 1 for every marker within aura 2 when they activate (great synergy with Zipp, Ophelia and Mah) and when they move they can choose one marker within aura 2 when they move(which would be any that trigger Full Pack for the first AP) and they can place it in base contact after they’ve moved. This works on any out of activation movement too which is really useful to relocate themselves and markers near them. They also lost the Forage bonus action and replaced it with Appraise, which is far better and gives them a bit more of a role instead of just stumbling around not accomplishing too much.
Big Hat
Som’er Teeth Jones can now only target Big Hat minions with
his “Make Me Proud, Boys!” to stop the Test Subject loop. That’s about the only
reason it happened, but it needed to happen.
Lenny Jones is a change I don’t fully understand to be honest. The original wording of the trigger is to draw the discarded card but the action doesn’t discard cards, so the change to being a flipped card reads like it actually works now.
Tricksy are affected by the Soulstone Miner change, but also Mah and Big Brain Brin both got changes to make them a bit more balanced
Mah’s Creative Cussing is now once per activation so she can’t
stack ridiculous amounts of focus on her crew turn 1, which was easily the most
unbalanced thing the crew had (positive flips will make everything good)
Big Brain Brin had his Calculate the Possibilities action reworked and reworded as well as being made once per turn. It can’t choose Jokers anymore so if you discard them that’s just bad luck, and the discard of 10 cards isn’t a cost, its an effect so if you fail the action and don’t cheat you don’t discard the cards. These changes are really just there to remove the super amounts of consistency in a Mah crew (but also any other keyword hiring Brin OOK) and he’s still good, just not ridiculous
Zoraida is the last model to have been affected and she got hit in a few ways. Her reach has been reduced a lot through her Mv going to 4 and Eyes in the Night becoming an aura range (so no more drawing LoS through things she can’t even see) which goes a long way to making her less oppressive on the table. She also gained +1 cost for if she’s hired as a 2nd master, and her Voodoo Effigy ability now triggers at the end of her activation instead of the start which is probably a sidegrade if anything- it means she isn’t getting out Voodoo upgrades for her activation but it means she can relocate to get those upgrades out where she wants them.
12 Cups of Coffee also changed the wording on Twitchy so it
no longer makes minions move wherever they want every turn. It now only
triggers when enemy models end their activations in aura 6 so is a big reduction
in movement over the course of a game but still definitely a good upgrade. Its
also traditionally been common on masters too (Zipp and Brewmaster in
particular) so for them its unchanged.
Ten Thunders
Minako Rei's Kharmic Debt trigger is now after succeeding, making it a bit harder to get out (but still built in on Df). She also had a +2 increase to the TN of Create Katashiro, but with +2 to the stat if she uses a Shadow Marker to do it. This means she is less valuable out of keyword (without further investment of Last Blossom models) but almost unchanged in a Misaki crew
The Manos nerf in Resurrectionists affects Yan Lo a bit but not massively, Manos is still excellent and so is Yan Lo.
Kitty Dumont had her Under the Table trigger change to enemy only, in a slight nerf that shuts down the Thunders card engines. Using her to hit your own models and draw cards wasn’t healthy and saw her being taken a lot OOK just for this, so it puts her back in a place where she isn’t an always take but will still be commonly seen.
Sensei Yu’s Brutal Sensei ability now specifies they need to be damaged by enemies, again affecting the trend to hit your own models and generate resources.
Lust changed in a few ways, mostly around her Lascivious Music action. It is now a bonus action, and only ever reveals 3 cards, but the opponent must also discard a card as a result of the action. Its still good (and now you'll always be taking it cause she has no other bonus actions) and helps shut down your opponent a bit more while playing into her kit. She is also now Df5 for extra survivability, and her Seduction action also now gained the Love Hurts trigger for some extra damage. Having the trigger on both regular attacks is nice and adds a bit more options
Yasunori got a big change in how he works but mainly to bring him in line with the Riders in how he functions. He now only gains masks for every 3 cards in the opponent’s hand instead of every 2 which mainly affects his damage reduction but also makes it easier to manage for an opponent in mitigating the output. +1 cost is small but noticeable, and he replaced Onslaught on his sword with Quick Reflexes so he now has to target different enemies with his mask trigger. All in all it definitely weakens him significantly, but he is still a very strong model in a lot of ways
Chiaki got a few specific changes to her Split the Soul trigger to make it less prevalent across the game. It now has to be a non-master Retainer model and costs a card to do, keeping it stuck to keyword and costing resources to get off (cause she can’t stone for the trigger, it’s not super reliable you’ll get it without cheating before needing to discard)
2 upgrades changed in Thunders, those being Fermented River Style and Masked Agent.
Masked Agent now only prevents resistance triggers of models engaged by a model with the upgrade, so is reduced range but still affects the models you would be getting most effect from anyway, and With Me changed to now be within 2” instead of 3. It’s still a really effective upgrade just not as massively effective as it was before.
Fermented River Style was the problem for Shen Long, and now that it has changed he is a much healthier model for the game. The only negative flips it converts now are its own action duel flips (not damage flips, not simple duels and not Shen being attacked) which is a huge change but one that needed to happen, because Drunken Kung Fu was really the worst part of the upgrade from a balance point of view. Falling Rave Kick no longer has a damage track and doesn’t move him 6” for a Chi, it instead places him in base with the target for a Chi. This is important because the action is now 2” range and doesn’t push him once it’s ended so he can’t push out and shoot through Demise anymore (its an either/or decision). The action now also has a TN to meet (needing a 6, or 4+Chi) and just does a flat 3 damage and Staggered which is still great but not as big as it was before.
Guild
The only faction to come out of this errata with more buffs than nerfs, Guild have overall been pushed up into a pretty good spot with what's changed. They got scheme pools that benefit them more and they got put into a better spot in terms of balance, their only issue is that they still have a few keywords that are low on 3E releases (Dashel isn't out, Nellie is missing half her keyword and Lucius is missing some key models). By the end of the year once they've all come out I think Guild will be pretty solid overall.
The Enslaved Nephilim adding card draw to Perdita is very welcome, cause she needed it big time in some way.
The Dispatcher I don’t really know what it did before and I haven’t looked at Dashel much, but the changes seem good. It’s harder to kill, and it’s a bit more open with Stay at Your Post, while they took out the ability for it to simply feed cards through other models interacting with it.
Greed traded her old Use It On Yourself for Guitar Bash, and gained extra range on Unchecked Avarice which gives her a bit more versatility and changes what was a bit of redundant kit anyway. All in all it doesn't skyrocket her into mass playability but it gives her a niche and makes her ok in Crossroads at least.
Agent 46 had his Inhuman Physiology change from an always-on ability to a bonus action. This competes with Mimic, and means you have to choose between taking someone else’s better actions or making the opponent not able to cheat against you. This either/or interaction I think is very healthy because there were some very unfriendly interactions with 46 and some of the high-powered guns he has access to.
Frontiersmen had Backup change to Deputy, which is mostly the same effect but once per activation and only works on Frontier models. You do now get a positive flip to the duel so it is great in Frontier crews, but you won’t see them OOK that often now I think. Their Tomahawk triggers changed as well so instead of being able to give themselves Shielded on a ram they now heal other friendly models on a tome. Its short ranged at aura 3 but a 1/2/3 heal in a crew with Survivalist is great.
Pale Rider is a model I personally had a lot of issues with before, although mainly the gun in combination with Mimic and his Devastation trigger. Devastation now being a turn earlier than before is not something I would be a fan of had the action not changed to be flat 2 irreducible damage (instead of 2/3/4) and for it to not give out Slow at all so it is a huge cut in effectiveness from what it was. The other 2 triggers both also got slight changes in wording (Hatred Unleashed now not being able to charge while engaged, but they can take a melee action instead) but mostly its Devastation that got affected. The Rider is still a very strong model, but more in line with the others in how it works now
No Prisoners almost got a complete rewrite, for what reason I couldn’t say. It still has On the Prowl, but the grenade has been replaced with Riot Gear which is great in the right matchups as it reduces damage from a lot of the more annoying ways of getting chip damage out (pulses, blasts, shockwaves and hazardous terrain). The minion ability is no longer Run and Gun, instead it’s a once per turn ability called “Catch Them!” which is a really strong ability that lets you place friendly models near the attacker into base contact with the target if the target is within aura 8. It costs a card to do it, but it’s amazing threat extension (imagine it on Lady Justice, Executioners or Witchling Thralls) and can work to your favour a lot.
Neverborn
Stitched and Inhuman Reflexes are the only pure faction changes, but they also have the changes from Agent 46 and Zoraida through dual faction.
Stitched got hits to both Fiendish Gamble and Gamble Your Life so they are in line with other attack actions (and Gamble is now an attack and able to be easier resisted) and they went down a Df. For a model that was tilting Dreamer crews so hard this is quite a good change because it doesn't shut down the action, but it does make them far more risk/reward in almost all respects.
Inhuman Reflexes doesn't have Butterfly Jump any more, instead having Scamper. It works now even if they aren't the target (just if models cheat near them) but it's harder to get out of engagement as soon as you cop a hit.
Resurrectionists
Archie had a few big changes in important ways, and all
around he is much less likely to be seen out of keyword now. He lost Ruthless replacing
it with Rush for a bit of threat range extension, although losing Ruthless means
with his terrible Wp stat he has gained a huge weakness against Terrifying
models and likely shouldn’t ever try and attack them unless you really want to
cheat for it. He lost built in suits on both his Hurl Corpse and Leap, but his
Leap is now stat 6 instead of 5, and he is now Mv4 instead of 5 so he’s slower most
of the time. He did gain a bonus action that gives him a suit of choice or positive
flip to his next action, but keep in mind this does compete with Leap and is a
big decision to make.
The Valedictorian had a little change but a meaningful one. +1 cost is the first thing, but Valedictory changed so you can no longer pick up Jokers. This change is really not massive but it means you can’t just pick up the Black Joker by discarding any card so you aren’t able to mitigate the danger of flipping a Black in that way.
Reva has had a ton of work done to make her work better as she was a bit odd before. The main additions are the change to Forgotten Dead (it doesn’t need a card now, and the Corpse Candle gains Burning 1 so it’s basically free resources) and Channeled Flame being added. She also gained Swift Action on Embrace the Flame so she reduces a lot of burning and can heal a great amount that way, but Channeled Flame is basically a much better version of Blaze of Glory that a few models already had (reduce burning on themselves for positive flips). Reva’s version is not only burning on herself though, as she can pull it off any friendly model in aura 8 to gain positive flips in duels so you’re far more able to manage burning and maintain the shielded the crew can get without having to worry about burning cancelling out that reduction. It may not be as huge a change to her crew and keyword as some would like, but its definitely enough to make Reva herself a solid master and she can play some great crews now depending on scheme pool
Manos the Risen had a big change to his Reliquary upgrade, with it no longer giving out Demise:Eternal and instead giving out Lantern of Souls (still excellent just different) and having its Regeneration dropped from 2 to 1. It’s still a great Reliquary to hand out, but this goes a long way to stop it just getting chucked onto Archie and enabling negative play experiences for the opponent.
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