Balance vs New Heroes: Can Mobile Legends Keep Up Without Adding Too Much Complexity?

The buzz of a new hero in Mobile Legends has always rocked the community. New designs, new animations, new combat! This is where the fun begins. But when the novelty stacks up, well, it becomes a heavy lift.

The conversation around Mobile Legends balance vs new heroes is real. Especially for players who are good but not pros, or who experience a struggle all the time to keep up with the Mobile Legends new heroes. And then there is the ever-shifting Mobile Legends meta under your feet.

When Balance Struggles Against New Hero Releases in Mobile Legends

Mobile Legends has created a name for itself through its variety of heroes. Pretty much any time there is a brand new hero with unique mechanics in the game, the Mobile Legends meta is shaken up a little bit. Often, these heroes will come with multi-layered abilities, combo-heavy kits, or mechanics that are some deviation from more successful heroes from the past.

A prime example is Helcurt, the revamp in patch 1.8.78, as he was given a passive called Shadow of Styx, where he can enter into what is called a "Prowler State," which provides him more speed, health regeneration, and stealth when enemies are not within sight.
These new abilities, or what I will call effects, allow for more obligative heroes who can operate just faster than the casual player. This changes the meta for the competitive region and the semi-coordinated region and helps with the nature of the game, which is fun.
For players on a competitive team, this might be part of the fun. For casual players or players in the mid-tier who are tired of "grinding" and just click "Play" to ease their mind, this can turn the game into a cycle of learning they did not sign up for. It leaves playe

The Kill-Focused System Undermines Team Roles

With regards to balance, one of the major issues is not just new heroes, but how the game rewards players. The game rewards kills much more than assists in terms of KDA and MVPs, and this promotes hunting kills instead of playing their roles.

Just a quick look at how many assassins received buffs in patches - Ling, Hayabusa, Lancelot, Karina, Fanny, and Gusion receive buffs or less mana/energy costs, which lets them be more aggressive much earlier in the game.
The buffs are usually in the form of snowballable things for assassins. More kills early equals more gold/XP, which equals being far ahead in lane or jungle. If you are a mid-tier player who does not have those heroes unlocked or does not have mastery, it can feel like it is teamplay that doesn't matter and kills, turrets, and objectives are all that matter in the game. You can learn more about its mechanics in our Mobile Legends Guide.

Assassins Dominate Every Role

Assassins have quietly become the largest balance concern. They farm fast, they scale early, they burst down targets in an instant, and they can escape almost any situation. They are meant to be like glass cannons, but in practice, assassins have more mobility, sustain, and early game power to out-level/farm everyone else.
Take Helcurt, for example: after his revamp, he was given increased mobility when unseen, healing regen while hidden, and better follow-up damage that made him dangerous throughout the entire game.
With buffed assassins like Ling (better critical chance), Hayabusa, and Lancelot (lower mana/energy costs and buffs in the early game), some players believe that those heroes have fewer downsides almost every game.
Assassins often take over jungling, tower diving, and lane pushing (roles that other classes normally share). They can carry games alone, and therefore, they remove the need for tanks, supports, or even marksmen in something casual. And to add to it, when new heroes come into the fray and veer more to assassin-like designs, that imbalance gets worse. What do you think about the Mobile Legends Balance vs New Heroes conversation and which side are you on?

Team Fighting Is Becoming Rare in Casual Matches

Team fights should be the centre of a MOBA, but in many casual matches, there are almost no team fights that happen at all. In most solo games, unless the players are an organised group, you encounter many individual games with 1v1 duels on the map.

Look at the Helcurt revamp: because Helcurt can go into his third ability to conceal and re-engage or escape easily, I find casual matches often revolving around avoiding Helcurt or picking off seemingly unsuspecting targets instead of grouping up for team fights that I think the game is intended to provide.

Without a reliable tank and/or support, many casual games, even more so than ranked games, drift toward wild pokes and ultra-high risk skirmishes rather than lacking cohesion and team fights.

Keeping the Balance vs New Heroes Equation Stable

For the game to remain fair and fun, Moonton will have to slow down complex new heroes and focus more on balance. New heroes will be fun, but not if they replace the roles of older heroes. Reward systems could reward higher points for assisting and controlling objectives — not just kills.

If the balance vs new heroes battle can be monitored, the game can be fast-paced and fun, without punishing casuals and mid-tier players. This will allow Mobile Legends to continue growing without leaving behind the core player base.