Cathay Took a Hit? First Reactions to the Latest Changes
Army-building notes after the update
Sometimes a balance pass lands and our first reaction is just: well, maybe there’s no point playing that anymore. That was pretty much our immediate feeling looking at the latest changes to the Grand Cathay tools that had been causing the most frustration.
This is very much a first-impression post rather than a full verdict after lots of games, but honestly — these changes look like the kind of corrections people had been asking for.
The balloon got brought back down to earth
The biggest talking point for us was the balloon.
Previously it was:
- T5
- Unbreakable
Now it’s:
- T4
- Flammable
That is a very real downgrade, and it changes how confidently you can throw it into awkward situations.
On top of that, the bombs are now once per game, which is another major limiter. That alone makes the unit feel much less like an all-purpose answer to everything.
And there’s one more important detail: the balloon no longer has a champion, so it can’t answer a charge by hiding behind a challenge trick. That’s a small line in the rules, but in practice it matters a lot.
Ring of Jet finally got toned down
The other big offender in our chat was the Ring of Jet.
This was probably the most abused item in the list:
- it was a common item
- it cost 30 pts
- it let the bearer cast a spell at Wizard Level 2
- the spell dealt 3D6 hits at 15”
- and it ignored ward and regeneration saves
That’s the kind of item that immediately warps list-building, because if something is both efficient and widely available, people will spam it until everyone else is sick of seeing it.
Now:
- it is no longer common, so you can’t stack it across multiple characters in the army
- it went up to 35 pts
- its magic level dropped to 1
Again, these are exactly the sort of changes we would expect if the goal is to make the item still exist, but stop it from defining the whole faction.
These were expected changes
Our overall reaction was pretty simple: these are very welcome and very expected adjustments.
Nothing here feels random. It all targets the pieces that were easiest to abuse in army construction and in-game play. That’s usually a good sign, especially if you want list-building to stay interesting instead of collapsing into one obviously optimal package.
The only thing that surprised us a bit is that the balloon apparently didn’t go up in points on top of everything else. With this many direct nerfs, maybe that was considered enough. We’ll have to see how that plays out on the table.
What this means for army-building
From an army-building perspective, this kind of update is healthy.
It should mean:
- fewer auto-include gimmicks
- less item spam
- more meaningful character equipment choices
- less frustration when playing against the most abusive builds
That doesn’t necessarily mean Cathay is gone — just that the most irritating edges seem to have been sanded down.
And honestly, that’s usually better for everyone.
If we get some games in with the updated rules, we’ll definitely come back with a proper follow-up and see whether this was just a correction, or a real shift in how the army wants to be built.