History Main / BalanceBuff

** Bow-users, formerly seen as a TierInducedScrappy for most of the series, got buffed in Fates by giving bows a huge increase in power along with some useful class skills. ''VideoGameFireEmblemThreeHouses'' would buff bow users even more by giving them the Close Counter skill (removing their biggest weakness: the inability to counter melee attacks) and the Bowrange+ skills allowing them to attack enemies from beyond 2 range.

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'': While the balance changes of items are too many too list, many of the characters received significant buffs or revamps throughout the game's release:

* ''VideoGame/TheBindingOfIsaac'':

** [[spoiler:Tainted Jacob]] was deemed the hardest [[spoiler:tainted character]] to play as because his gimmick was downright brutal. He turns into The Lost with no protection if he gets hit by [[spoiler:Dark Esau]], whether from his constant assault or his [[TakingYouWithMe on-death explosion]], the latter which is extremely common late game, and just to rub salt on the wound, health up items were worthless while you were in your Lost form. A patch changed [[spoiler:Dark Esau]] to be much less detrimental. He's now completely invincible, his attack pierces damage reduction, he had his pattern more, and any health up you gain in your Lost form now carries over.

** ???, the original JokeCharacter, fell behind on potential compared to every other character in the game, and his gimmick of only being able to pick up soul hearts and a very [{{Pun}} crappy]] starting item gave him no real upsides in return. The same patch that buffed Lazarus gave ??? slightly cheaper Devil Deals and an innate Lil' Larva effect, spawning a blue fly for each poop destroyed, letting him catch up in power level a bit more.

** Dante's Gunslinger Style receives a pretty solid buff in this game. Previous iterations of the style have been lacking in comparison to the other styles; Swordmaster gives access to numerous powerful and high-damaging moves, Trickster provides extremely safe mobility, and Royal Guard is an effective blocking tool. Meanwhile, Gunslinger just offers extended gun functions and crowd control. While this isn't necessarily bad, guns deal weak damage and don't tend to rack up a lot of style points, making it sub-optimal compared to the other styles' more overt uses. This was even worse in ''Devil May Cry 3'', since using Gunslinger forced you to give up the three other styles. ''Devil Mayy Cry 5'' gives Gunslinger several high-damage skills and reworks many of Dante's guns to become more specialized. For example, Ebony & Ivory now automatically [[ChargedAttack charge up]] if equipped while in Gunslinger Style and Coyote-A's "[[DashAttack Gun Stinger]]" now allows multiple follow-up shots to duck and weave through foes while piling on the damage. Special note goes to the moves exclusive to Double Kalina Ann and Dr. Faust; the former can punch a hole through even the toughest {{Elite Mook}}s, and the latter can one shot ''bosses''. As a result, players may now find themselves using Gunslinger to actually ''increase'' their damage potential rather than just extend their combos.

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* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts'':

** Each race's WorkerUnit was given the ability to defend itself against attack: Peasants can become Militia (a slightly weaker version of a Footman), Peons can bunker down in Burrows, Ghouls are the Undead's lumber harvesters and basic melee unit, and Wisps can selfdestruct to cause damage to summoned units and remove magic buffs in an area.

* ''TabletopGame/XWingMiniatures'' prefers to release new cards to upgrade weak ships, rather than directly errata specific cards and vessels - X-Wings were improved by the Integrated Astromech card, for example.
* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' added a ton of extra class features to most classes in an effort to reduce the incidence of EmptyLevels from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' and make martial classes in particular more useful at higher levels. Paladins also had their Smite Evil feature turned into a permanent effect against a particular target from something, buffing a single melee attack. This had the consequence of making {{Prestige Class}}es significantly less useful, since shifting from a base class to a prestige class meant missing out on many more features.
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* ''VideoGame/DissidiaFinalFantasy'', the prequel ''Dissidia 012'' gave many characters a quick, short-ranged attack to give them more reliable defenses, as their other attacks were slow to execute and left them vulnerable.

*** The international version of ''II'' increased the damage of the Reflect spell from the original Japanese version, while the ''Final Mix'' version increased it even further.

** :
*** The animation for using items in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' -- such as Potions -- is a lot shorter than ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', making them much easier to utilize in battle without getting interrupted. Potions also heal a fixed percentage of the target's HP, making them useful throughout the game.

** : Guarding in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' would only provide invincibility for a set time, making it less useful against large groups of attacking {{Mooks}} and bosses with long-lasting attacks. In ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'', the invincibility granted will now refresh if the player is hit while the blocking animation is still playing, making the ability much safer.

* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories'': The UsefulNotes/PlayStation2 remake increases the effect of leveling up Riku's Attack Points, making him stronger than the original.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'':
** The animation for using items in battle - such as Potions - is a lot shorter than ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'', making them much easier to utilize without getting interrupted. Potions also heal a fixed percentage of the target's HP, so they're useful throughout the game.
** The international version of the game increases the damage of the Reflect spell from the original Japanese version, while the ''Final Mix'' version increases it even further.
* ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts358DaysOver2'': Guarding in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI'' and ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' would only provide invincibility for a set time, making it less useful against large groups of attacking {{Mooks}} and bosses with long-lasting attacks. The invincibility granted will now refresh if the player is hit while the blocking animation is still playing, making the ability much safer.

** In Gen VI, many Pokemon got a Mega Evolution, a new SuperMode that gives them stat buffs, new abilities, and sometimes different typing. The overall developer intent with this was to take older Pokemon that had been subject to PowerCreep, and give them a boost to be more useful.

** The biggest one that completely upended the gameplay was the physical/special overhaul in Gen IV. In the first three generations, the type of an attack determined whether the attack ran off of Attack or Special Attack. This resulted in many 'mons who had movepools and typing that relied on the "wrong" stat. In Gen IV, this was overhauled such that the moves themselves were designated to either be physical (using Attack) or special (using Special attack), and every type had at least one attack of each type (though many types more strongly favored attacks of one type). ''Many'' Pokemon suddenly found their offensive capabilities dramatically improved. [[ZigZaggedTrope Zig-zagged]] in that this did end up being a {{Nerf}} to some Pokemon instead (Alakazam most famously).

*** Leech Life is another special case. Before Gen VII, it had a rather weak 20 base power, which was then ''quadrupled'' to a much more respectable 80 base power. This, of course, also caused it to be taken away from many Pokemon's movesets until a much later level.

** Newer generations also tend to be kinder towards pre-evolved Pokemon, with exclusive attacks and items such as the Eviolite so the players who prefer their cute baby Pokemon can still keep up with their evolved brethren. Even the likes of [[MagikarpPower Magikarp and Caterpie]] have been thrown the odd bone so they can be halfway decent battlers.

** VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee has this for the starter Pikachu and Eevee to counteract them being unable to evolve and end up horribly outmatched by any Pokemon that can be caught later in the game like in ''Yellow.'' This includes moveset changes like in ''Yellow'' with Pikachu being able to learn the Fighting-type move Double Kick (perfect for the Pewter City Gym), and general stat buffs.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' added a ton of extra class features to most classes in an effort to reduce the incidence of EmptyLevels from ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragonsThirdEdition'' and make martial classes in particular more useful at higher levels. Paladins also had their Smite Evil feature turned into a permanent effect against a particular target from something buffing a single melee attack. This had the consequence of making {{Prestige Class}}es significantly less useful, since shifting from a base class to a prestige class meant missing out on many more features.

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** Tachanka, almost universally considered the worst operator in the game, received a shield on his mounted LMG. It didn't help too much though.

** In ''Melee'', Fox went from an unremarkable fighter to a speed demon, considered by many to be one of the best characters in the game thanks to his incredible combo ability, power, and speed.

*** Bowser went from being one of the worst characters in the series to one of the best, thanks to a huge boost to his overall speed among other changes.
*** Link was often considered to be one of the worst characters in the series, but these games gave him some huge buffs by improving his speed and making his weapons much better in combos.
** In ''Ultimate'', most characters receive a number of buffs, to try and make them, for the most part, all pretty good. A few characters such as Bayonetta and Cloud have been largely nerfed, but overall the approach to balance appears to give most characters both stronger options and better speed than they had before.
*** One notably buffed character is Pichu, last appearing in ''Melee''. In ''Melee'', it's a JokeCharacter; while in ''Ultimate'', it's a GlassCannon.

** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5'' finally lets monster units do some throwing of their own. While they can't lift things, Mon-Toss lets them throw their allies to cover more ground. Fusion is gone, but up to four monster units can Magichange into the same unit to boost them further.

* Monster units in the first ''[[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Disgaea]]'' game were meant to be {{Mooks}} for the player to fight moreso than viable player units, [[StoneWall Galactic Demons]] maybe being the only exception. Their potential were very limited compared to humanoid units in both combat power and utility. Every following game has given them something extra to give them more equal footing.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea2'' added INT-based monster weapons, something which the first game lacked and gimped magic-using monsters. They also got a bit more potent equipment aptitudes and stronger passive skills compared to human units. However, their inability to Lift/Throw meant grinding Felonies was harder for them than with humanoid units, making leveling with them more time-consuming.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea3'' introduced [[EquippableAlly Magichange]], which adds a portion of their stats to the ally they Magichange with and gives them their abilities for a few turns. This made monster units more important for maxing out combat potential, and also made high-level monsters important for grinding because they share XP gains. However, the system favored Fist or Staff Magichange monsters more because those two weapons are the only generic source of 3x3 attack skills. Monster units also gained the ability to Receive throws, bouncing a unit further if another unit throws something directly at them.

** ''VideoGame/DisgaeaD2'' uses Mounting instead of Magichange, which is similar to Magichange but isn't a temporary one-way action.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5'' finally lets monster units do some throwing of their own. While they can't lift things, Mon-Toss lets them throw their allies to cover more ground.

* Monster units in the first ''[[VideoGame/DisgaeaHourOfDarkness Disgaea]]'' series were meant to be {{Mooks}} for the player to fight moreso than viable player units, [[StoneWall Galactic Demons]] maybe being the only exception. Their potential were very limited compared to humanoid units in both combat power and utility. Every following game has given them something extra to give them more equal footing.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea2'' added INT-based monster weapons, something which the first game lacked and gimped magic-using monsters. They also got a bit more potent equipment aptitudes and stronger passive skills compared to human units. However, their inability to Lift/Throw meant grinding Felonies was harder than with humanoid units, making leveling with them more time-consuming.
** ''VideoGame/Disgaea3'' introduced [[EquippableAlly Magichange]], which adds a portion of their stats to the ally they Magichange with and gives them their abilities for a few turns. This made monster units more important for maxing out combat potential, and also made high-level monsters important for gridning because they share XP gains. However, the system favored Fist or Staff Magichange monsters more because those two weapons are the only generic source of 3x3 attack skills. Monster units also gained the ability to Receive throws, bouncing a unit further if another unit throws something directly at them.

** ''VideoGame/Disgaea5'' finally lets monster units do some throwing of their own. While they can't lift things, Mon-Toss lets them move their allies to cover more ground.

* VideoGame/DragaliaLost: During the Version 1.15.1 patch a new level of the Mana Circle was added known as the Mana Spiral which granted stronger skills, significantly shaking up the rigged meta from before the update.

** The fully upgraded Red9 does 6.5 damage instead of 5.