Godtear Community Balance Pass COMPLETED!
Hello Champion!
It’s a very exciting day. It’s time to announce that the Community Balance Pass is COMPLETED! We have updated 15 champions chosen by the community to be better balanced so that they are more fun to play with and against. In this article we’ll first show you how to play with the new champions, then go over how the project went from our perspective, and finally touch on the major changes to each of the crews affected by this balance pass.
How to play with the Community Balance Pass
Online through Tabletop Simulator: We have a new TTS module for Community Balance. You can find it in this article: How to play Godtear online article: 2026 edition! The cards are already in the TTS module, just use those and have fun!
In person: Go to the godtear community .io page. Click Godtear Browser and then Champions and then the print button in the upper right. Select “All Community” and print the cards in Landscape mode from the generated PDF. Cut out and sleeve the new cards and voila, you’re playing the new balance pass.
Some support: The new FAQ is here. [Godtear Community Living FAQ - last updated 2026-09-28] It’s a living document that will be updated as new players ask questions it doesn’t already answer.
How did the Balance Pass go?
The council wants to address this question by running through our goals for the project:
We want to be as transparent as possible with the community on how and why we’re proposing any given changes. We’ll have an OH article every two weeks to present proposed changes.
We feel we met or exceeded this goal. We were clear about why we made changes, and we updated even more frequently than we proposed with the articles.
We want to work with the community to build something approaching consensus for any given change. To that end, we will not force changes on the community, but build trust that our efforts are valuable and reasonable.
To this end, we made 3 versions of two Champions to address concerns raised by the community. We also added the Codification process to the back end of the project for any major objections to be raised.
We want to keep the identities of the Champions and their followers intact. We’re not looking to create anything new, just nudge some numbers and text so that the models feel more balanced and fun.
So while some of our changes were rather intense (Skullbreaker’s defense profile comes to mind) we feel that we didn’t change any Champion identities. We feel like the crews chosen are now more balanced and fun to play with and against.
We want everyone to have fun. There are some deeply disappointing kits out there in Godtear, and some very powerful ones. We’re looking to change that so that everyone’s favorite champion can see tournament play.
While not every champion can be top tier, and not every champion fills every niche in a constructed tournament, we feel like Limited Pool Draft has many many more options available and that there are fewer, if not zero, “never pick” champions.
Our scope is limited. All champions should have a niche. We are tuning champions, not remaking them. No modifications to core rules, roles, or identities. If we can't fix it with a card reprint, we can't fix it.
This goal we might have brushed up against the edge of. We might have tuned Halftusk quite a bit by adjusting his kit, and those of his Froglodytes. We might have changed Skullbreaker’s identity a little by messing with his defensive profile. We might have given too much to some champions, and not enough to others. In the end though, we’re happy with what we’ve accomplished.
What all changed?
In alphabetical order, here we go:
Durthax: Twisting Grove no longer affects enemy banners. Wellspring is no longer a bonus action.
Grimgut: Flu and Goo Spew are now bonus actions. New Spew is a bonus action if Grimgut KOs a follower. Nom Nom Nom can now be repeated as a bonus action if Grimgut KOs a follower. Remember that you only get ONE bonus action per activation.
Halftusk: Fighting Fit is now +1 to both accuracy and damage, not +2 to only accuracy. Feint is now a bonus action if Halftusk recovered wounds during this phase. Froglodytes’ tongue lash now may move the target towards Halftusk. Froglodytes now have Tongue Strike, which moves either a Banner or friendly Halftusk in range 2 up to 1 hex.
Helena: Holy Light is now 5 damage, not 4. She now scores a ladder step if she ends the plot phase on an objective hex. Condemnation and Will of the People are now both range 2 and scale with the number of peasants within range of the target.
Jaak: Now 6 health, not 7. Battlefield Brew only triggers on Jaak’s activation. Eye of Newt is now range 1. Aggressive Chant now only moves the target if it is adjacent to a Cauldron Crony. Deploy Cauldron is now range 2, not 3.
Kailinn: Ult changed to Shredding Horn: Range 1 Crush an enemy banner in range. Flashing Blade now must target followers. Brutal Charge is now a bonus action only if Kailinn KO’d a follower during this phase. Virtues’ Justice no longer generates a bonus damage die when attacking champions.
Lily: Plot phase movement is now 2, not 3. Nature’s Wrath no longer gives a flat damage die bonus, but instead the Thornlings gain a boon and inflict a blight on the target. Clarification of Earth Call skill text.
Lorsann: +1 accuracy to Piercing Shot. Rangers base dodge is now 4, not 3. Fire is now Shoot; which is always 5 base accuracy. Deathblow is now a diceless autowound with a 6 accuracy autowound tacked on top of it.
Maxen: +1 damage on Shrapnel Shot. Shrapnel Shot now moves the target after the damage roll. Piercing Round now inflicts a protection blight as well as the autowound.
Morrigan: So Cool Mistress can now give Morrigan a damage boon. Forward Minions is now Onwards Minions, which is a bonus action that moves the Cold Bones 1 hex. Cold bones Snowblade Fight now allows them to have a frosty skeleton arise next to the target model.
Nia: Crystal Mirror and Crystal Glare are now range 3, not 2. She may now make 3 recruit actions after using her Ultimate Skill Geode. Erosion now gives a dodge blight as well as a protection blight.
Raith’Marid: Lost 1 range on Tsunami and one die of accuracy on Tide.
Rangosh: Now 6 health, not 7. Brutal Master is now range 2, not 3. Red Bandits’ clash phase Ambush has been replaced with Sabotage, an accuracy 5 attack with the hit effect: Protection Blight.
Rattlebone: Roll the bones has been totally reworked. Cursed Ground now removes Blights on friendly models in range. Hexlings’ Hexbolt is now 4/5/6 accuracy.
Skullbreaker: Out of My Way is now only on his activation. His defensive profile is now 3/2/8 rather than 4/1/8. Set up the Boss can no longer grant defensive boons. Go for the Belly now moves the target 1 hex, not 2. Damage on the Toothbearers is now 3/4/4 rather than 4/4/5.
Conclusion
With that we have come to an end for the first community balance pass! We want to thank you, the community, for joining us on this journey; for all your feedback, your play testing, your discussions and suggestions. You are why we have done this and how and why we have come this far.
We are excited for a lot more Godtear in the coming months, figuring out the new metas and new wombo combos that may emerge from the first balance pass.
You might ask: “So ehm..what’s next?” and that is a good question.
First we will take a break from more projects for at least 3 months to recharge our batteries.
Then we are planning to work on scenario rotation for the new year. We are also planning to kick off a scenario competition that will run for 3 months, so if you have any ideas, now is the time to write them down, and your scenario could be the one to be rotated sometime later in 2027.
And who knows, if the community wants it then we might look at a second community balance pass down the road, but that’s still uncertain.
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for joining us on this journey, and we’ll see you again soon.
Wooloolool!
The Council of Eldritch Judgement
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