v0.2.6 — Chill Trace Rework & Skill Balance

This patch centers on a full rework of Chill Trace and a broad pass over skills that were falling behind. Chill Trace is no longer just a small slow on hit — landing active-skill damage now builds chill stacks, and a full stack detonates for burst damage and a stun. On top of that, a handful of skills got faster cooldowns, more damage, or bigger hitboxes. There's also a change to how Guardians handle slows: crowd control resistance now weakens the slow instead of blocking it outright. Have fun freezing things solid!Balance

• Skill: Chill Trace (Reworked)

  • Slow duration: 2s → 5s, and now refreshes every time you deal magic damage

  • Dealing damage with an active skill now adds 1 chill stack (max once per cast); each stack adds an extra -10% movement speed

  • At 4 stacks, the stacks are consumed to deal 100/140/180/220/260/300 magic damage and stun for 1.5s

  • Because the slow now scales by strength rather than duration, it also applies to crowd-control-resistant Guardians

• Skill: Backlash Force

  • Damage: 30/42/54/66/78/90 → 40/56/72/88/104/120

  • Range increased by roughly 33%

• Skill: Shock Blink

  • Damage: 70/98/126/154/182/210 → 100/140/180/220/260/300

• Skill: Fireball

  • Cast time: 0.2s → instant

  • Cooldown: 5s → 4s

• Skill: Frostwind

  • Cooldown: 7s → 5s

• Skill: Bolt Barrage

  • Cooldown: 10s → 8s

• Skill: Blizzard

  • Cooldown: 10s → 9s

• Skill: Fire Wall

  • Hitbox enlarged (1.5×6 → 2×7)

• Skill: Flame Surge

  • Area of effect increased by roughly 50%

• Skill: Concentrated Slash

  • Range increased by roughly 33%

• Skill: Battle Instinct

  • Bonus: 15/20/25/30/35/40% → 20/28/36/44/52/60%

• Skill: Equilibrium

  • Effect: 8/11/14/17/20/24% → 10/14/18/22/26/30%

• Skill: Momentum Shift

  • Effect: 2.0/2.8/3.6/4.4/5.2/6.0% → 3.0/4.2/5.4/6.6/7.8/9.0%

• Skill: Spell Echo

  • Echoed Triple Slash and Concentrated Slash now replicate the original cast's hit count and charge (including the just-frame charge)

• Guardian Soul: Wind Barrier

  • The barrier now follows the player instead of staying where it spawned

  • Projectiles that have already passed the player and are flying away are no longer counted when choosing the barrier's direction

• Guardian CC Resist

  • Crowd control resistance now reduces the strength of slows rather than their duration, so slows still land on resistant Guardians at a weakened effect (100% resistance fully negates them). Pure crowd control such as stun still has its duration reduced as before.

• Fixed passive skill slots appearing as if they could be rearranged