Quick Summary
The Olden Era beta patch introduces a new Attack vs Defense damage formula. Instead of comparing the absolute Attack and Defense values, damage now depends primarily on the difference between them, helping high-tier creatures and combat stats remain relevant throughout the entire game.
This change is currently available only in the v0.82.02 BETA and is not final. The developers may adjust or revert it during testing.
What Changed in the Olden Era Damage Formula?
The current live version uses the following multiplier:
Multiplier = (20 + ATK) / (20 + DEF)
The problem is that as heroes gain more and more Attack and Defense, the difference between creature base stats becomes less important.
The new beta formula instead looks at:
Delta = ATK − DEF
This means that a creature with naturally higher Attack continues to preserve that advantage even when both heroes reach very high combat stats.
How Does the New Attack and Defense Formula Work?
Each point of difference between Attack and Defense changes damage.
The first point gives approximately 4%, while every following point gives slightly less:
- 1st point: +4.00%
- 2nd point: +3.96%
- 3rd point: +3.92%
- each following point: −0.04 percentage points
- differences above 100 no longer increase the effect
If Attack is higher than Defense, damage is multiplied by the resulting coefficient.
If Defense is higher than Attack, damage is reduced using the same system.
The important part is that the calculation depends on the difference between the two stats, not on how large both numbers have become.
Why Is the Damage Formula Changing?
The developers highlighted several problems with the current system.
As hero stats increase, the natural Attack and Defense differences between creatures become progressively less important. This means high-tier creatures can lose much of their relative advantage over large low-tier stacks during long games.
Combat-stat artifacts also become less impactful as total stats increase.
The developers summarize one of the main goals directly:
“One stat point gives the same effect regardless of the total number of stats.”
Under the beta formula, the relative advantage between two creature stacks should remain much more consistent from the early game to finalka.
Troglodyte vs Waurm Example
The official patch notes use troglodyte vs waurms to demonstrate the problem.
Under the current system, one week of waurms deals roughly 2.67 times more damage than one week of troglodyte early in the game.
As hero stats increase, that advantage gradually falls:
- Early game: 2.67x
- Mid game: 1.68x
- Late game: 1.24x
With the new beta formula, Waurms deal approximately 2.28x more damage, and that relative advantage stays the same as hero stats increase.
In other words, hero progression no longer slowly erases the difference between the creatures themselves.
What Does This Mean for the Meta?
The change could significantly affect how players value armies, artifacts, and hero stats. We'll keep and eye and update our Tier Lists and Guides!
High-tier creatures should retain more of their natural advantage in long games, while building around a powerful creature stack may become more rewarding.
Low-tier creatures are not simply being removed from the meta. The developers actually expect them to be slightly stronger in the early game — they just should not gain as much relative power from extremely high hero stats later.
It may also increase the value of Attack and Defense bonuses, since an additional stat point should now remain meaningful regardless of the stage of the game.
The real competitive impact will become clearer as players test the formula across different factions, templates, and finalka compositions.
Is the New Damage Formula Already in the Main Game?
No.
The new formula is currently available only through the Olden Era public beta branch. The developers expect the beta period to last several weeks and may change the formula based on testing and player feedback.
Learn How to Join the Olden Era Beta