Contributors: Causew

Last Updated: Jul 3, 2026

Skill Balance Changes

This article will only cover the changes made to Skill balance, which is only a portion of the whole patch. For full details of the patch made to the game on the 7/1 update such as race mechanic reworks and Scenario updates, please stay tuned.

If you would like to see the changes as they are in the game's logic, without any analysis, you can go to this page.

Summary

If the patch could be summed up in one sentence, then the objective of the patch was to increase the minimum value of Skills that were previously unreliable and expensive.

Previously, many of the Skills in this patch were not strictly useless, but their activation conditions were often so niche they only activated in extreme circumstances - and even if they did proc their effects were hardly worthwhile. This patch now adds value to many of these Skills.

These changes will cause a major shift in the competitive landscape. The most significant shift is the viability of Late Surgers. Previously, Late Surgers were caught in an impossible situation where well-trained Uma were punished for escaping positional requirements, or the Skills simply provided no value in too many races. With Slick Surge/ On Your Left! and Position Pilfer/ Fast & Furious now being fully effective Skills, Late Surgers are able to keep a leg in any race.

This article will separate the changes to Unique Skills and regular skills.

Uma/Unique Skill Changes

Shooting Star

Summary

Before: Frequently activated in the Accel Zone, but Target Speed boosts are useless in the Accel Zone.
After: Target Speed bonus becomes Current Speed, making Shooting Star useful and very powerful in all situations.
Verdict: Special Week becomes a highly competitive Uma in every track. As an Inherit, Shooting Star can be considered at the Grandparent level.

Extended Analysis

Sky-High Teio Step

Summary

Before: Strict activation conditions meant Sky-High Teio Step would fail to activate at all in most races. Even if it did it would be right before the finish line.
After: Conditions changed to easier preconditions. Allows Tokai Teio to frequently activate Sky-High Teio Step as long as there is another Uma to pass.
Verdict: Tokai Teio becomes a competent Uma capable in Medium and Long Races.

Extended Analysis

Lights of Vaudeville

Summary

Before: Was frequently wasted in Accel Zone where it was useless, or failed to proc at all.
After: Preconditions are easy to satisfy and will always proc at 300m remaining, which is always useful.
Verdict: Fuji Kiseki becomes strong in Sprint and Mile. Lights of Vaudeville becomes a highly desirable Inherited Skill for all Pace Chasers and Front Runners.

Extended Analysis

The Duty of Dignity Calls

Summary

Before: Easy to activate but simply did not do enough to help Mejiro McQueen keep up.
After: Changed to +0.45 Target Speed for Long Races.
Verdict: Helps Mejiro McQueen succeed much more in her role as Front Runner or Pace Chaser in Long Races. The Duty of Dignity Calls remains a great Inherited Skill.

Extended Analysis

∴win Q.E.D.

Summary

Before: Strict conditions caused it to frequently fail in activating. Even if it worked it often wasn’t powerful enough to change the race.
After: Conditions relaxed to no longer require passing, allowing it to activate effectively on most Medium and Long tracks. Additionally buffed to +0.45 Target Speed if not Rushed.
Verdict: Biwa Hayahide becomes competent in Medium and Long Races. Now unviable in Mile Races.

Extended Analysis

G00 1st. F∞;

Summary

Before: Failed to activate in ~37% of Bourbon’s races purely from bad luck. Late-Race Target Speed is not the best skill effect for Front Runners.
After: Now only fails in 30% of Mihono Bourbon's races. Target Speed effect buffed to +0.45 if Mihono Bourbon maintains 2nd.
Verdict: Much better, but Mihono Bourbon remains outclassed by her Valentine's self.

Extended Analysis

Blue Rose Closer

Summary

Before: Strict conditions meant it failed to activate at all, or only activated right before the Finish Line.
After: Conditions have been relieved allowing it to activate in most races provided she can pass another Uma.
Verdict: Rice Shower has become better on the Medium and Longs she’s built for.

Extended Analysis

Schwarzes Schwert

Summary

Before: Failed to activate 37% of the time purely from bad luck.
After: Now only fails 10% of the time. If Eishin Flash stays 3rd-7th throughout the race, Skill is buffed to +0.45. Very strong for competing in the Final Straight.
Verdict: Eishin Flash becomes a fairly competent Medium Uma, especially alongside all the Late Surger changes. Schwarzes Schwert is also a usable but low priority Inherit for Late Surgers at the Grandparent level.

Extended Analysis

Pop & Polish

Summary

Before: Conditions were too strict so it failed to activate at all, or only if Tosen Jordan was in a losing position.
After: Conditions relaxed to be far more practical. Should activate in nearly all races now.
Verdict: Tosen Jordan becomes a fairly competent Medium Uma, especially alongside all the Late Surger changes.

Extended Analysis

I Never Goof Up!

Summary

Before: Activation range restricted to very small, often impossibly small portions of the map. Meisho Doto frequently missed its activation.
After: Conditions relaxed to be far more practical, allowing it to work all of Late-Race. Useful in essentially all races.
Verdict: Although the Unique will always give measurable value, it doesn’t necessarily let Meisho Doto succeed on its own. Nonetheless Meisho Doto becomes competitive in all Mediums and Longs.

Extended Analysis

Legacy of the Strong

Summary

Before: Strong effect but absurd conditions meant it never worked or only when Mejiro McQueen (Anime Collab) was losing.
After: Conditions relaxed to be far more practical. Should activate in nearly all races now.
Verdict: Mejiro McQueen becomes a powerful Uma for Long Races.

Extended Analysis

Barcarole of Blessings

Summary

Before: Easy activation conditions and significant Speed boost, but effect was too short - outcompeted by many other abilities.
After: Duration increased to standard 5s from 4s. Becomes an incredibly powerful Skill for all Medium and Longs.
Verdict: Opera O herself is good at Medium and Longs now, but the Inherited Skill becomes so valuable you will see her as a parent years into the future.

Extended Analysis

Arrows Whistle, Shadows Disperse

Summary

Before: Strict activation conditions meant it never activated, or would only activate when Symboli Rudolf (Festival) was losing. Effect was weak too.
After: Conditions relaxed so it can proc in most Medium and Long races. Duration increased from 5s to 6s, making it useful for escaping chasing Uma.
Verdict: Symboli Rudolf (Festival) becomes viable in Medium and Long Races - but she’s missing too many other elements in her kit to be a competitor without greater effort. She is no longer viable in Mile Races.

Extended Analysis

Break It Down!

Summary

Before: Intended to be an Acceleration Skill in Long Races, but the effect was far too weak to do that properly.
After: The +0.1 Acceleration is increased to +0.2 Acceleration. It is now significantly better at making Seiun Sky push her lead in Long.
Verdict: Seiun Sky (Ballroom) is stronger but still weaker than her competition. Kitasan Black does the same thing but better, and often Seiun Sky original version works perfectly fine too.

Extended Analysis

Presents from X

Summary

Before: Good effect at good timing, but positional conditions often bricked in Front Runner heavy lobbies.
After: Positional condition slightly relaxed, meaning it bricks in less scenarios (<5 Fronts).
Verdict: Doesn’t really change Biwa Hayahide's performance because even if it bricks less, Biwa Hayahide still needs to be strong enough to take 4th from the Fronts. If she was already 4th then it’s basically the same Skill as before.

Extended Analysis

Flowery☆Maneuver

Summary

Before: Flexible Skill which let Mayano Top Gun stay fluid between styles, but strict activation range meant she missed it in too many races
After: Conditions relaxed to work for the Final Corner or Beyond. Can now feasibly activate in all races.
Verdict: More powerful but remains difficult to use. Players need to commit effort in research for understanding of the track and Mayano Top Gun herself.

Extended Analysis

Every Rose Has Its Fangs

Summary

Before: Awkward conditions meant a well-trained Rice Shower would miss the skill, and a weak Rice Shower would not benefit.
After: Conditions relaxed to effectively always trigger in the Mid-Race provided positional is met (2nd-5th). Granted Speed effect (+0.25/5s)
Verdict: Rice Shower (Halloween) becomes an easy-to-build, friendly Uma for Long Races. However she still needs extraordinary effort to beat the best competition.

Extended Analysis

Guten Appetit ♪

Summary

Before: Good effect but difficult conditions meant it rarely worked correctly or at all.
After: Condition relaxed to only requiring two passes instead of three. This is far more reasonable and the Skill should activate in many more races now.
Verdict: Eishin Flash (Valentine) becomes a competent Uma in Medium and Long, especially alongside all the other Late Surger buffs.

Extended Analysis

Gold and White Skill Changes

This section is sorted into Great, Good, OK, Bad in terms of how much the skill has improved and their relative impact to the environment.

Great

Late Surger Buffs

Late Surgers had an extremely glaring issue: End Closers existed. End Closers were better, faster, stronger, and stole Late Surger Skill activation conditions. Not only are End Closers naturally faster than Late Surgers in the Mid-Race, End Closers have access to powerful Skills such as Daring Strike that would let them steal game winning positions away from the Late Surgers. What’s worse, if you trained your Late Surger to be as powerful as possible, many Late Surger Skills would fail to even work because they required the Uma to be 6th or worse. They lost when they were 6th because the End Closers were in better positions, and they lost when they were 5th because none of their Skills worked.

This patch aims to rectify this impossible doomed-if-you-do, doomed-if-you-don’t situation. Multiple key Late Surger skills have had their positional requirements loosened, allowing them to activate up as far as 4th and even 3rd for some skills. These changes lets Late Surgers keep their rightful position in front of End Closers during the Mid-Race.

The biggest impact to Late Surgers is the viability of Slick Surge/ On Your Left!. Late Surgers simply lacked a proper Acceleration Skills that were effective for them. Let's Pump Some Iron! and Moving Past, and Beyond existed, but, as mentioned above, End Closers would outcompete Late Surgers for the positional requirements of these Inherited Unique Skills and steal the Acceleration for themselves. Slick Surge and On Your Left! would not activate from 5th and better - and even if the Uma was 6th or worse, the random activation range was so wide the Skill would fail to be useful in over half the Uma’s races on most tracks. Now, Slick Surge/ On Your Left! is effective from 4th, and its activation range has been tightened so that it will always provide valuable Acceleration for the Late Surger.

Ultimately, Late Surgers are in a much better state and a player could opt to play their Late Surger Uma without feeling like they should have just made an End Closer instead. It should be noted that not all these skills individually are fantastic game changing buffs, but because the collective buffs across the board have moved Late Surgers from nearly unplayable to becoming real threats, all Late Surger buffs have been grouped into this upper tier of changes.