Pokemon Unite, the top-down MOBA game by Tencent Games is pumping out balance changes a lot recently to keep the challengers of Mer Stadium happy and content leaving no room for complaints. The much-awaited release of the newest Pokemon – Trevenant is finally here. The official patch notes released on 20th January 2022 mention a huge list of balance changes for a lot of Pokemon including but not limited to the likes of Dragonite, Tsareena, Lucario, Charizard, and Machamp.

Players can also expect to see a lot of new events and skins for pokemon coming with Lunar New Year on the way. New Hero Trevenant, a new Melee Physical Defender type pokemon coming to Pokemon Unite will be joining the game after the update on 20th January 2022. The new hero costs 8,000 Aeos Coins to get his Unite License from the shop. We will discuss more with him and the upcoming balance changes in this article moving forward. 

New Pokemon – Trevenant

The newest Pokemon coming to Pokemon Unite is Trevenant, the mysterious rooted Grass-type pokemon. Trevenant is coming to Unite as a melee physical tanky unit that fits into the Defender class perfectly. Trevenant follows the true meaning of a tree as he has amazing regeneration abilities. His passive Natural Cure states that if he deals or receives damage when his current HP is at 35% of his MAX HP or below 35% of his MAX HP, then he will get a continuous heal buff which heals him every 0.5 seconds for a maximum duration of 5 seconds. This buff will also reduce Trevenant’s skill cooldowns by 1 second every second. However, when this continuous recovery buff will end it will get a 100 second cooldown. Do not worry as players can reduce this cooldown by using Trevenant’s basic attacks and abilities on enemies which also include monsters.  

Trevenant also heals equal to 5% of his MAX HP from his boosted basic attacks. The real game-changer with Trevenant is his amazing Unite Move. This move is an AOE targeted crowd control spell that reduces the enemies’ movement speed and damages them. He also marks the enemies hit with this move and the marked enemies take higher damage from all basic attacks of all teammates in Trevenant’s team while Trevenant gains 50% increased healing efficacy. This means all the heals on him from his passive or through other pokemons get increased by 50%. This makes him a strong and top tier support/buffer unit in teamfights. He also gets a Shield buff when he attacks enemies who are marked with his Unite Move. His move sets and passives are as follows: –

Natural Cure (Passive) – When Trevenant deals or receives damage while at or below 35% max HP, a continuous HP recovery effect is triggered every .5s for 4s. This effect also reduces the cooldowns of Trevenant’s moves by 1s every 1s. When this HP recovery effect ends, there is a 100s cooldown. However, this cooldown is reduced by 1s each time one of Trevenant’s moves damage an enemy. This cooldown reduction cannot be triggered more than once every .5s.

Basic Attacks – Becomes a boosted attack with every third attack, dealing increased damage to enemies and restores 5% max HP when this boosted attack hits. Both normal and boosted attacks reduce the cooldown of Trevenant’s moves by 0.5s.

1st Move Set Chains

Will-O-Wisp – Shoots sinister flames in the designated direction, dealing damage to enemies hit and leaving them burned for a short time. This burn reduces enemy Attack and Sp. Attack by 5% for 3s. The first wisp to hit a target deals full damage, and subsequent flame hits deal 50% damage.

Wood Hammer (Can be chosen at Level 5) – Trevenant pulls back its arms and attacks, dealing damage to enemies in the area of effect, and pulls them in front of Trevenant, leaving them unable to act for .5s. If this attack deals damage to at least one enemy, a follow-up attack will be available for 5s. This follow-up attack slams down a giant wooden hammer in front of Trevenant, dealing damage to any enemy it hits, and leaving them unable to act for .6s. The lower Trevenant’s HP, the longer the enemy will be left unable to act. Every time this move is used, it consumes 10% of Trevenant’s current HP.

Curse (Can be chosen at Level 5) – Trevenant creates a cursed zone in exchange for 4% max HP per second for 6 seconds, dealing damage over time to enemies in the area of effect every .5s for 6s and decreasing their movement speed. The lower Trevenant’s HP is, the greater the decrease in movement speed. While using this move, Trevenant builds up curse power every time it deals or receives damage. Releasing this built-up power will deal additional damage to enemies in the area of effect. If the curse power is at maximum when it’s released, the cooldowns of Branch Poke, Horn Leech, and Pain Split are reset.

2nd Move Set Chains

Branch Poke – Trevenant jabs in the designated direction, dealing damage to enemies and decreasing their movement speed by 30% for 2s when it hits.

Horn Leech (Can be chosen at Level 7) – Charge forward becoming unstoppable, dealing damage to enemies, and stunning them while dashing in the designated duration. At the end of the charge, enemies that were shoved are dealt additional damage and then thrown. Colliding with an enemy while charging recovers Trevenant’s HP 3 times, and the lower Trevenant’s remaining HP the more HP that is recovered. After this move hits an enemy, Trevenant’s next three basic attacks deal more damage and reduce this move’s cooldown by .5s (for each enemy hit) when they hit.

Pain Split (Can be chosen at Level 7) – Creates a link between Trevenant and a designated enemy for 6s. While the link holds, a portion of the damage Trevenant receives is redirected to the linked enemy. The lower Trevenant’s remaining HP, the greater the percentage of damage that is redirected. Additionally, if Trevenant’s percentage of remaining HP is lower than the linked enemy, this move continuously deals damage and recovers Trevenant’s HP equal to the damage dealt every .5s. If Trevenant and the linked enemy are too far apart, the link will disappear. Using this move increases Trevenant’s movement speed for a short time.

Phantom Forest (UNITE MOVE) – Creates a cursed forest, dealing damage to enemies in the area of effect and marking them, throwing them, and decreasing their movement speed for a short time. For a short time afterward, the basic attacks of Trevenant and allies deal increased damage to enemies that were marked by this move. Trevenant is also granted a shield for 6s when this move hits an enemy; the shielding effect is strengthened for each enemy hit. While Trevenant is shielded, HP recovery effects applied to Trevenant are increased by 50%.

Trevenant definitely seems to be a meta-shaking unit with his extreme focus on being a damage dealer and tank at the same time. Players can choose to go the CC route with Wood Hammer and Horn Leech if they lack Crowd control in their team. More testing needs to be done to define Trevanent in any tier lists but the new Pokemon looks exceptionally strong in teamfights on paper. However, due to his low mobility, he might not be a good fit against Goal Getter compositions which focus on getting more goals instead of directly taking a head-on team fight. Trevenant will be available to purchase and obtain using 8,000 Aeos Coins or 460 Aeos Gems.

Balance Changes (Nerfs/Buffs/Adjustments)

With this coming update on January 20th, lots of new balance changes were introduced. These balance changes are targeting some of the hottest pokemon currently in meta like Dragonite, Tsareena, and Garchomp. Here are the balance changes in brief: –

Dragonite (NERFED and BUFFED)

Basic Attack ? Range Decreased.

Hyper Beam ? Damage dealt to enemy Pokemon decreased.

Extreme Speed ? Range Increased, Cooldown Reduced, and Bug Fixed.

Unite Move ? Increased the amount by which the Unite Gauge decreased.

Tsareena (NERFED AND BUFFED)

Basic Attack ? Attack Speed Increased.

Triple Axel ? Effects decreased; Damage dealt to enemy Pokemon increased.

Stomp ? HP recovery amount increased.

Grassy Slide ? Cooldown increased, Speed Reduction effect on enemies removed.

Talonflame (NERFED AND BUFFED)

Fly ? Cooldown reduced if this move hits an enemy Pokemon, Cooldown in general increased, damage dealt decreased.

Aerial Ace ? Controls adjusted; HP gain added to ability.

Lucario (NERFED and BUFFED)

Meteor Mash ? Damage dealt decreased and Effects on enemies weakened.

Extreme Speed ? HP restoration decreased

Close Combat ? Move Upgraded, now heals himself on a single target when using close combat.

Power-Up Punch ? Bug Fixed

Charizard (NERFED and BUFFED)

Basic Attack ? Movement speed decrease effect has been weakened.

Flamethrower ? Can now be used while moving.

Fire Blast ? Can now be used while moving.

Unite Move ? Range Increased.

Decidueye (BUFFED)

Basic Attack ? HP gain from basic attacks after Level 7 increased.

Spirit Shackle ? Total number of uses increased to 3. Bug Fixed as well.

Razor Leaf ? Damage Dealt increased.

Leaf Storm ? Area of effect increased, Effects on enemy Pokemon increased, Controls adjusted.

Unite Move ? Controls adjusted.

Machamp (BUFFED)

Basic Attack ? HP gain from basic attacks after Level 7 increased.

Karate Chop ? Damage dealt increased.

Dynamic Punch ? Range Increased.

Submission ? Move strengthened.

Gengar (NERFED AND BUFFED)

Hex ? Move can now be chosen at Level 5; Damage dealt decreased.

Dream Eater ? Move can now be chosen at Level 5; Cooldown reduced if Pokemon is knocked out effect added.

Hex+ ? Move upgraded at Level 11 now.

Dream Eater+ ? Move upgraded at Level 11 now.

Sludge Bomb ? Move can now be chosen at Level 7.

Shadow Ball ? Move can now be chosen at Level 7.

Sludge Bomb+ ? Move upgraded at Level 13 now.

Shadow Ball+ ? Move upgraded at Level 13 now.

Zeroara (BUG FIX)

Wild Charge+ ? Fixed an issue where the increase in the number of Spark attacks was canceled by Full Heal.

Volt Absorb ? Bug Fixed.

Garchomp (BUFFED)

Dig ? Move changed. Garchomp now goes underground and comes out when he comes in contact with enemy Pokemon or travels the maximum distance. He also gains Defense and Sp. Defense for a short duration of time when he comes out.

Dig+ ? Increases the length of time opposing Pokémon are thrown when the user jumps out from underground.

Earthquake ? Increased movement speed reduction to enemy Pokemons who are in the area.

Earthquake+ ? For a short time, further decreases the movement speed of opposing Pokémon that are in the move’s area of effect and especially close to the user.

BATTLE ITEMS

X-Attack (BUFFED)

Now increases Pokemon’s Attack, Sp. Attack, and Basic attack speed.

Slow Smoke (BUFFED)

Effects increased, new AOE effect added and effect duration increased. 

Fluffy Tail (BUG FIXED)

That is everything coming to Pokemon Unite with its newest update! Give us your thoughts regarding the new Pokemon Trevenant and the balance changes mentioned. Play Pokemon Unite on your PC using BlueStacks for a much better lag-free experience on a bigger screen using your keyboard and mouse.