Dev Diary - Free Cities, Baratheons & Event Updates
Greetings House Leaders,
With an update in the coming weeks, we reach the final steps of our major Faction rebalancing efforts. Over the past months, we've revisited, refined, and reignited the many houses and Factions across Westeros and beyond. Now, our journey brings us to two of the last: the proud and powerful Baratheons and the consistently aggressive Free Cities.
Both Factions have strong identities, but their Champions need sharper definition - and a little more strength - to truly compete in our evolving battlefield. This update will focus on helping them find their rightful place in the world of Game of Thrones: Legends without losing the heart of who they are.
As always, our goal remains the same: to offer a diverse, dynamic game where every Faction has a story to tell and battles they can win. Thank you for standing with us through this long march. We're excited for you to explore, experiment, and discover what these rebalanced forces will now be able to achieve.
Free Cities
The Free Cities have been known for their speed, cunning, and relentless aggression - but they’ve struggled to keep pace. With the rise of the Greens and their overwhelming BIRTHRIGHT-fueled power, the Free Cities’ trademark momentum has been outshined.
So, we’re working to strengthen the Free Cities’ presence across the battlefield. Our goals are to help them maintain pressure deep into the match, and to adjust their Faction bonus to close off some abuse cases while preserving the spirit of their rapid-fire style. Speed and ambition will still be their greatest weapons - but, they’ll soon have the staying power to match.
Daenerys Targaryen (Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea)
Khaleesi will offer even more healing support to the Free Cities at all stages of progression. Her Stamina healing will be boosted at lower ranks, ensuring she can sustain allies even when first unlocked. We’re also adjusting her HP Guard to trigger sooner, giving her a better chance to recover before falling. Lastly, her Leader ability should behave as described, letting her build Stamina properly alongside her team.
Skill Adjustments - Stamina healing increased, especially at lower ranks, and Stamina buff slightly reduced to balance the improved healing.
Passive Upgrade - HP Guard will trigger with more HP left, improving survivability. Guard trigger now provides Stamina to all allies.
Leader Ability Fix - Correctly grants her Stamina when allies use Skills.
Jorah Mormont
Jorah will be better equipped to hold the line for the Free Cities with increased durability and a more aggressive Skill profile. His Unnatural Resistance will be replaced with stronger defense buffs, making him more consistent against all types of enemies. He’ll deal targeted damage, letting him contribute more proactively to his playstyle’s fast-paced strategy, while his counter-strike will punish any who dare challenge him.
Skill Update - Deals single target damage, and his taunting counter will do more damage at high upgrade levels. Unnatural Resistance replaced with DEF buff.
Passive Upgrade - Grants Unnatural Resistance.
Leader Ability Buff - Increased damage bonus for Protectors.
Khal Drogo
The Khal’s updates will sharpen his role as a high-risk, high-reward damage dealer for the Free Cities. With faster Stamina gain and a powerful new critical strike mechanic, Drogo will have the potential to unleash huge bursts of damage - especially after claiming a kill. His stats will be rebalanced to better match this playstyle, with improved survivability and slightly reduced health to make his self-inflicted wounds more manageable.
Stat Balance - HP reduced, DEF increased, and ATK slightly increased.
Skill Updates - Faster ability, damage and self-damage increase.
(NEW)The Great Stallion (Passive) - After defeating an enemy, buffs his Crit Chance until he uses his Skill and hits with increased Crit Damage.
Leader Ability Adjustment - Reduced Stamina granted to Free Cities allies.
Xaro Xhoan Daxos
Xaro will receive a tuning pass focused on improving his consistency and support value. His shield and defense buffs will now be shared with his entire team, and his Passive will be reworked to trigger more reliably, ensuring he contributes crowd control after every enemy takedown. A small chance to apply RENEW will give him new self-sustain potential and allow his HP-based shield scaling to stay relevant longer into battle.
Skill Adjustments - RENEW effect added, HP Pool SHIELD slightly reduced at base levels, DEF buff granted to team (not just Xaro) is stronger but shorter in duration.
Passive Changes - Guaranteed DECEIVE to the Strongest enemy on enemy defeat.
Leader Ability Update - Stamina gained when an ally uses their Skill increased.
Dothraki Bloodrider
He’ll remain focused on protecting and empowering the team Leader, but we’ll be taking this opportunity to clean up his numbers and ensure his support effects feel more impactful. His damage will be nearly unchanged, but his shields made stronger, and Stamina support will be slightly adjusted down at max rank to bring him in line with the rest of the faction.
Dothraki Longbraid
The Longbraid thrives on delivering killing blows to unlock his hard-hitting follow-up strike, but he often falls just short. With his update, we’ll be giving him a boost to both his initial and follow-up damage to help him finish what he starts.
Baratheon
House Baratheon stands strong, but we know there’s more potential waiting to be unlocked. Our focus will be on cleaning up their numbers and laying the groundwork for future improvements. Their current Gem destruction abilities need more finesse and player control, and we’re not looking to rush that important work.
For now, expect some improved kits and simple tuning updates to keep them competitive - but know that we’ve got more in store for the Baratheons in upcoming updates - including some new mechanics and Champions to add to their team. In time, the Baratheons will return with renewed strength and a more distinct role in battle.
Barristan Selmy
Barristan is struggling to fulfill his role as a reliable tank. With this update, we’ll make him sturdier, give him better control over shield generation, and allow him to taunt on command. His new identity will pair beautifully with Brienne, forming a utility tank duo capable of shielding allies and manipulating the puzzle board with precision.
Faction & Color Change - Will become a Gold Baratheon
Stat Balance - HP and ATK increased, slight reduction of DEF
(NEW) Man of Honour (Skill) - Strikes an enemy 3 times with increased damage. If the target is SCOUTED, grants himself a Max HP SHIELD and TAUNTS.
(NEW) Heroic Entrance (Passive) - When an ally drops to 50% HP or an enemy becomes SCOUTED, Barristan grants 3 allies a Current HP SHIELD.
(NEW) A True Knight (Leader Ability) - When an ally’s SHIELD breaks, Barristan will sacrifice Current HP to spawn a Power-Up.
Brienne of Tarth
Brienne’s role remains focused on protecting her team, but soon, she will become more responsive, durable, and better aligned with Baratheon synergy - especially when paired with Ser Barristan. Her new Leader Ability makes her a powerful enabler, shielding vulnerable allies and making threats for Barristan to answer. Since she’s defense-powered, we’ll be shifting some of her stats power that way.
Stat Balance - HP and DEF increased, ATK reduced. ATK stat buffs swapped with DEF
Skill Updates - Faster ability, SHIELD power and DEF damage increased.
Passive Adjustments - Keeps her Gem destruction but with prioritized Power-Ups.
(NEW) Oathkeeper (Leader Ability) - SCOUTS enemies and replaces ally SHIELDS.
Lord Varys
Even the master of subtlety can be too subtle. Varys’ Leader Ability offers quiet resilience through Tenacity, but lacks the impact players would hope for in a leader. We’ll be giving the Spider a new way to protect those who serve the realm - shielding them from harm with well-timed stealth when their health dips too low. We’ll also be doing a small cleanup of his Skill and Passive to increase reliability at higher star ranks, and will give him a bit of a defense boost simply by fixing a bug.
Skill Adjustment - Small bump in DEF reduction at the top end.
Passive Change - Debuff removal chances slightly reduced at lower ranks, increased at higher ranks.
(NEW) Servant of the Realm (Leader Ability) - A few times per battle, when an ally drops below 50% HP, Varys grants that ally STEALTH.
Bug Fix - Varys’ star rank 3 DEF buff was only applying 5% instead of 10%.
Stannis Baratheon
Stannis performs well overall, offering strong utility and reliable damage. However, his Passive cleansing effect is making him a must include on teams outside his faction, and has become a tool to dominate PvE content more than intended. We’ll be tightening that up by limiting the debuff removal to Baratheon allies only - but to maintain his strategic value, we’ll be increasing his gem destruction to help him better control the board in every match.
Stat Balance - Slightly increased DEF and slightly reduced HP
Passive Adjustments - Only removes debuffs from Baratheon allies on enemy death, destroys 2 (4) Gems/Power-Ups instead of 1 (3).
Melisandre
The Red Woman will be realigned to better reflect her role as a Strategist rather than a frontline fighter. With a slight increase to her ATK and tweaks to her Skill damage and debuff potential, she should feel more impactful in combat. Her Leader Ability will also get a significant overhaul - broadening its trigger and usefulness to make her a more viable choice in a wider range of team compositions.
Stats Balance - HP slightly reduced, ATK increased, DEF slightly reduced
Skill Updates - Damage slightly increased, Fire Resistance debuff improved at higher levels.
Leader Ability Changes - Triggers on SCOUTED rather than FIRE. Removes all debuffs (not just DECEIVED), no longer restricted to Baratheon allies.
Davos Seaworth
The Onion Knight’s Passive isn’t quite delivering the reliable support that Gem destroying teams need. With this update, we’ll be increasing the consistency of his effects to make sure he feels like a dependable part of any team built around explosive momentum.
Passive Adjustment - Increased chance to destroy Gems on ally STEALTH
Robert Baratheon
King Robert has been swinging hard - but not always at the right targets. We’re retooling his kit to make him the Baratheons’ definitive answer to Beasts, especially dragons. His power will now scale massively when facing beast-class foes, with bonus damage overtaking his base skill strength, and his counters now scout the very creatures he’s meant to hunt. His Leader Ability has also been reworked, granting reliable pressure against beasts anytime Robert is buffed.
Skill Updates - Base damage reduced, bonus Beast-class damage significantly increased, Upgrades shifted to emphasize Beast damage.
Passive Adjustments – COUNTER damage vs Beasts increased, SCOUTS any Beast struck by his COUNTER.
(NEW) Pay the Bastard Back (Leader Ability) - When Robert gains a Buff, all enemy Beasts suffer a DEF Debuff and he destroys a Gem/Power-Up.
Sandor Clegane (The Hound)
The Hound is a bruiser, and we’re sharpening his bite with a big damage bump and improved Gem destruction. His Skill will now target the least common gem color to help create more Power-up or cascade opportunities, and his Leader ability will focus his destruction even further toward Blue Gems. At higher star levels, Sandor unlocks a crit bonus that lets him punch even harder - just like the early game powerhouse he’s meant to be.
Skill Changes - Damage significantly increased, Targets the least common gem color instead of random
Passive Adjustment - At higher star ranks, Sandor gains a Crit buff on enemy defeat.
Leader Ability Update - Bonus Gem destruction prioritized Blue Gems.
Dragon Egg & Battle of the Bastards Event Updates
We've heard your feedback - both the praise for Robb’s War and the concerns around optimal strategies that can make some of our other events feel a little too narrow in approach. While we love seeing players find clever paths to victory, we also want our events to feel fun, fair, and meaningful for a wide range of players - not just those with access to specific tactics or rosters.
Looking ahead, we’re working on broader improvements to how our events are structured and how they celebrate iconic Game of Thrones moments. We want every event to feel like an exciting, rewarding challenge, especially for those who play for the love of the story.
In the meantime, we’re making targeted tuning adjustments to two of our earlier events: Dragon Egg Quest and Battle of the Bastards. These updates will include scoring refinements, some difficulty adjustments, and mechanical tweaks to open up more specific strategies - especially for players not relying on the Greens faction carrying them through most events.
The Dragon Egg Quest event will be built around FIRE application teams, rewarding team comps and strategies that can defeat enemies using FIRE marks with more points.
The Battle of the Bastards event will lend itself to teams that are good at avoiding or cleansing BLEED, with scoring changes to reflect that.
More details will be included in the upcoming patch notes. We hope these changes will lead to a more engaging and competitive event experience for all.
And With That, the Storm Breaks
With these changes to the Free Cities and Baratheons, we close the chapter on our major Faction rebalancing efforts - a journey that’s taken us across the Seven Kingdoms and beyond. From tuning core mechanics like FIRE and BLEED, to introducing new systems like Treasury, this has been a labor of love aimed at making Game of Thrones: Legends a more strategic, exciting, and rewarding game for all.
We want to sincerely thank you - our players - for your patience, your passion, and your incredible feedback throughout this process. Your insights and enthusiasm have been instrumental in helping us shape this world, and they’ll continue to guide us as we move forward.
Though this may be the end of the great rebalancing, it’s far from the end of the road. We have more updates in store, from new Champions and features to refined events and surprises yet to be revealed. Keep playing, keep theorycrafting, and above all - keep sharing your thoughts. Your voice continues to shape the realm.
We’ll see you on the battlefield.
– BattleKitty, The Game of Thrones: Legends Design Director