Hi, PVKII dev team here. We've been rather silent for quite a while but now we have some scrumptious balance changes for those who’ve stuck around!
This update introduces a revamped Combo System with an additional focus on special rebalance. As always, we’ll be monitoring these changes and will make adjustments as necessary, so feedback is greatly appreciated.
This update is also a precursor necessary for other things to come, like Buccaneer and Alternative Weapons! So that stuff will be right around the corner, how about that.
Changelog:
Disclaimer:
Due to some of the contents of this update, certain workshop mods will be rendered obsolete. These include player model changes and model / animation changes to the Skirmisher’s Flintlock. You will need to disable them, so please accept our sincerest apologies in the form of these many changes to the game instead!
General Changes:
- Thirdperson is no longer enabled on the classic ruleset by default
- Bunnyhopping added under mp_allow_bunnyhop
- Added third person animations for weapons with holstered/broken shields
- Explosions now gib based on a few calculations as opposed to only damage
- Removed Ninjabrine
Balance Changes:
Blocking
- The 30% slow down when blocking with a weapon now occurs after a 0.35 second delay
- The 20% slow down when blocking with a shield now occurs after a 0.225 second delay
A quality of life change to prevent attack canceling from immediately lowering move speed.
Perfect Parry
- Changed the flat move speed bonus granted by performing a perfect parry to a range of 30-50 H/U; faster classes receive less bonus move speed, slower classes receive more
- Stuns now slow you down by a flat 50 H/U
Melee Attacks
- Removed the momentum damage modifier
This was an often unknown or misunderstood mechanic that led only to inconsistencies in damage calculation. The system would increase your damage based on moving in the direction of your swing. However, all directions aside from thrusts generally suffered due to a conflict of practicality, so we just removed it entirely.
Combo system overhaul
General
The Combo System used to only apply a minor damage buff to consecutive attacks, but this update overhauls the Combo System to be more impactful and interesting. The primary goal in this overhaul is to give players a partial solution to combating the “Full Charge Meta”, wherein players forgo using uncharged/partial charged attacks to fully charge every attack they unleash. This new Combo System runs parallel to full charging and offers an alternative combat style that can be utilized at opportune moments.
- Increased Combo damage modifier from x1.02 to x1.0875 per combo, up to x1.3 at 4+ Combo
- Combo now increases attack speed by x1.0875 per combo, up to x1.3 at 4+ Combo
- Combo is now gained when attacking someone parrying with a mismatched parry
- Combo is now gained when attacking someone parrying with a lower weapon weight
- Combo begins to decay quickly after 2 seconds of not landing attacks
- Attacking someone blocking with a shield refreshes the Combo decay timer
- Missing an attack or being perfect parried reduces Combo decay timer by 0.75 seconds
- Landing or missing a fully charged attack ends the Combo
By racking up a Combo, one can unleash a flurry of strong attacks. But keep in mind that careless attack spamming is risky as missing repeatedly is a quick way to lose the Combo entirely, and it also leaves one vulnerable to perfect parries. A Combo is finished when a fully charged attack is performed, regardless of whether or not it lands its mark. A fully charged, high Combo attack is quite powerful, but risky to achieve and perform.
Base Class Balance
Specials
Specials in general have been too effective relative to their ease of use and lack of risk or counterplay. In more extreme cases, classes with very strong specials are almost dependent on them to be effective, leaving their base kits lacking. This patch alters many of the specials to require more skillful play on the part of the user and to reward skillful counterplay on the part of the victim.
- All melee specials now only stun after a specific quota of hits (ticks) has been met per player
The immediate stuns applied by specials like the Gestir’s or Skirmisher’s made them instantly effective and debilitating. Now, players will have to be a bit more accurate and follow through with some specials in order to incapacitate their targets.
- The extra damage from headshots, crits, or backstabs no longer counts towards special gain
At their core, the whole purpose of specials is to “level the playing field”, so rewarding highly skilled players by rapidly and repeatedly granting them specials was counter to their inclusion.
- Increased the cost of many specials
Specials in general were too easy to get, with many requiring less damage than needed to kill even an Archer.
Skirmisher
Special:
Due to the sheer immediacy of his special, the Skirmisher is far more reliant on it than other characters are to theirs. To address this, his special has been reduced in immediate strength and risklessness, but the Skirmisher as a whole has been buffed to compensate.
- Increased special cost from 165 to 210
- Decreased damage per tick from 25 to 18 (max damage remains unchanged)
- Now only stuns an enemy after landing at least 4 ticks
- After the special ends, the Skirmisher is slowed by 75% and recovers over 0.35 seconds
Cutlass:
- Reduced draw and holster times
Flintlock Pistols:
The random spread of Skirmisher’s pistols led only to confusion and frustration, and was not a mechanic that rewarded skillful play. Now, the difference between a hit and miss is always down to aim and dodging. To offset this, pistols now deal increasingly less damage as distance increases. Additionally, the Skirmisher can now aim down sights to trade move speed for increased effective range.
- Updated first person animations (Remove any Flintlock remodels / animation mods, they will break!)
- No longer has random bullet spread (except while airborne)
- Removed damage ramp-up
- Now has damage fall-off
- Can now aim down sights by pressing Secondary Attack
- Aiming down sights reduces the damage fall-off penalty
- Changed the crosshair from a ring to a dot
- Reload can be canceled by tapping Secondary Attack
Captain
Special:
- Increased special cost from 190 to 210
- Pressing the Special Key with another weapon equipped will auto swap to the Blunderbuss to load it
- Increased projectile speed and gravity
Blunderbuss:
- Spread reduced from 30 degrees to 25
- Reduced draw time
Sharpshooter
Special:
With a rifle that can’t be fired repeatedly, a pistol with built-in unreliability, and a worthless melee weapon, it’s no wonder Sharpshooter was so reliant on his special. To reduce his dependency, his weapons have been adjusted to be more reliable, and the powderhorn has been reworked to no longer explode on impact with the environment. Now it explodes only after the fuse expires or if it collides with an enemy, thus requiring a great deal more planning and timing to use appropriately.
- Increased special cost from 165 to 210
- Now explodes only after the fuse expires or on direct contact with an enemy
- Updated fuse sound effect
- Updated first person animations
Artisan Flintlock:
Much like the Skirmisher’s pistols, the Sharpshooter’s pistol has been changed to prioritize skill through the removal of random spread. This change also reinforces Sharpshooter’s role as the Pirate ranged specialist, as before he would struggle to maintain pressure at the distance favored by Archers and Bondis, neither of whom suffered from spread.
- No longer has random bullet spread (except while airborne)
- Now has damage fall-off
- Aiming down sights removes the damage fall-off penalty entirely
- Updated first person animations
Long Rifle:
Despite its high damage output and long reload time, the Long Rifle’s knockback was inferior to the Archer’s crossbow. The knockback has been increased to more or less match the Crossbow.
- Increased knockback by 50%
Fancy Dagger:
The Fancy Dagger has always been unnecessarily awful. Thanks to a few tweaks and the Combo System rework, it has become a competent accessory in the Sharpshooter’s kit and a properly lethal defensive option in cases when one achieves a parry or high Combo.
- Reduced draw time
- Increased range from 45 to 47
- Increased swing speed slightly
- Increased counterattack speed and damage by 33%
- Missing an attack reduces Combo decay timer by 0.35 seconds, rather than 0.75
- The 30% slow down when blocking now occurs after a 1 second delay
Berserker
Special:
The Berserker’s special essentially does nothing but double down on all of Berserker’s strengths without requiring any consideration. On top of this, his special is often used to retreat rather than engage, a shameful act for such a proud warrior. To address these issues, Berserker’s special has been given a wind-up period that renders him more vulnerable, and most of the special’s power has been integrated into the new Combo System so that players have to engage in battle in order to benefit from it.
- Increased special cost from 190 to 240
- Buffs now apply after a 1 second delay, during which the Berserker is slowed by 25%
- HP buff now decays over the course of the special rather than all at once when the special ends
- Now buffs max Combo from 4 to 5 while active, allowing for a higher Combo multiplier
- Removed intrinsic damage buff in favor of the higher Combo damage buff
- Reduced attack speed multiplier from 1.25 to 1.1, as max Combo increases speed greatly
Big Axe:
- Combo begins to decay after not landing attacks for 2.5 seconds, rather than 2
Sword & Axe:
The Sword & Axe has generally been regarded as the worst melee weapon in the game due to its lack of effectiveness, reliability, and overall practicality compared to the Big Axe. The Combo System rework has given us an opportunity to finally redesign the Sword & Axe and give it a reason to exist.
- Left and Right attacks now have diagonal traces instead of vertical traces
- Back attack now has doubled X-shaped traces instead of horizontal traces
These changes increase the Sword & Axe’s general consistency, and the doubled traces of the back attack give it the potential to deal double damage.
- Changed attack weight class to small, but retains medium parry weight
Without this change, the Sword & Axe would stun enemies with a mismatched medium parry, rendering it almost impossible to counter for the majority of the roster. This also means the Assassin and Sharpshooter can now perfect parry the Sword & Axe.
- Combo begins to decay after not landing attacks for 1.5 seconds, rather than 2
- Missing an attack reduces Combo decay timer by 0.35 seconds, rather than 0.75
- Being stunned ends the Combo outright
The Sword & Axe is an outlier in the reworked Combo System, as it is designed to suffer heavy penalties for thoughtless usage. Combo is lost faster with inactivity, and lost entirely simply from being parried or bashed. Without these risks, the Sword & Axe would be ridiculously powerful and forgiving, while also less interesting.
Huscarl
Special:
- Increased special cost from 200 to 210
- Increased horizontal knockback by 50%
- Decreased vertical knockback by 25%
- Added a 0.25 second wind-up
- Now only stuns an enemy after landing at least 2 ticks
Two-Handed Axe:
- Combo begins to decay after not landing attacks for 2.5 seconds, rather than 2
Throwing Axes:
- Can now begin charging while airborne
Gestir
Special:
Gestir’s special is at times both frustrating and confusing. Its silence makes it difficult to anticipate and adapt to, and the quickly reached damage cap leads to situations where enemies are harmlessly tossed about and pinned to walls. Both of these issues have been amended.
- Decreased damage per tick from 25 to 10 (max damage remains unchanged)
- Now only stuns an enemy after landing at least 4 ticks
- Added charging voicelines
- Now plays a stun voiceline when the special ends prematurely
Bondi
Bondi has struggled a bit with having a defined identity beyond just “Viking Archer”. To that end, we’ve adjusted him in several ways to push him into the more distinct style of a mobile and adaptive fighter. Bondi can now swap to each of his weapons more quickly, his Atlatl has been redesigned to no longer run counter to his role as a mid-range marksman, and his special has been reworked to be more accessible. This is all on top of him already having a competent melee weapon and him not being slowed as much while using his Flatbow.
Special:
Bondi’s special was both the weakest and strongest special simultaneously, “balanced” only because its insane killing potential was offset by its unreasonable difficulty to use effectively. His special has since been reworked to be much less lethal and much more practical by making his arrows explode.
- Arrows now explode in a small area on contact
- Direct arrow hits deal 15 damage
- Explosions deal 65 max damage with linear damage fall off
- Removed Combo integration
- Now consumes 5 arrows instead of 1
- Reduced fire rate slightly
Flatbow:
Atlatl:
The Atlatl was overly strong and weird. The zoom and intense slow while readying the Atlatl would heavily punish Bondi for using it in his preferred range, and the rapid reload rendered it one of the highest DPS weapons in the game. Instead of removing the option to use the Atlatl at long range, we’ve given it an alternative free-moving firing method reminiscent of Gestir’s Javelins.
- Reduced draw time
- Can now be charged with Primary Attack, this takes longer but does not zoom or slow Bondi down
- Increased reload time
Seax:
Heavy Knight
Special:
- Now only stuns an enemy after landing at least 4 ticks
Unlike other classes who had their specials changed to inflict the stun after a tick quota is reached, Heavy Knight can actually benefit from a delayed stun since it takes longer for his special to push enemies away. Of course, this also gives enemies more time to react as well.
Two-Handed Sword:
- Combo begins to decay after not landing attacks for 2.5 seconds, rather than 2
Archer
Special:
The Archer’s special was unnecessarily impactful and riskless on an already powerful class. This rework requires more dedication, patience, and aim on the Archer’s part to achieve the same effectiveness as before. Now the Archer has to charge his special to reduce its spread so that he can deal max damage on a single target. Quick use of the special is still practical as a last resort or when shooting into a crowd, but it is no longer easy burst damage.
- Increased special cost from 165 to 210
- Increased max arrow spread from 4 degrees to 6.5 degrees
- Can now be charged with Primary Attack to reduce arrow spread, down to a fixed point
- Reduced the damage of each arrow from 120 to 40
- Enemies can now take damage from more than one arrow
- Now fires when Primary Attack is released rather than when the Special Key is released
- Now consumes 3 arrows instead of 1
Man-at-Arms
Halberd:
- Combo begins to decay after not landing attack for 2.5 seconds, rather than 2
Assassin
Special:
Assassin’s weak and bizarre special has been reworked. Instead of doing nothing more than making her fast and invisible for the duration, she now has access to a strong single-target attack on top of the speed boost and invisibility. Performing this attack cancels her cloak, adding much needed risk and reward to the special. Her target, assuming they’re aware of her presence, can bait and dodge the attack like they can other specials.
- Increased special cost from 165 to 210
- Quickened cloak bomb draw and throw animations
- Cloaking now forces the Assassin to equip the Stiletto and only the Stiletto
- Replaces Primary Attack with an attack that has an X-shaped trace and deals a flat 105 damage
- Performing the attack ends the cloak prematurely
Stiletto:
- Finally fixed the super serious facestab bug that made us mad!
Crossbow Pistol:
- Reduced reload time from 2 seconds to 1.75
Caltrops:
- Damage per caltrop lowered from 5 to 3
- Caltrops now have a lifetime of 60 seconds (Sorry, this was long overdue)
Hud Changes:
- New HUD advanced options menu
- New HUD ConVars:
- hud_draw_ammo
- hud_draw_chat
- hud_draw_blockindicator
- hud_draw_chargemeter
- hud_draw_deathnotice
- hud_draw_damagedisplay
- hud_draw_gamehud
- hud_draw_gamemodehud
Misc. Code Changes:
- Engine has been updated with recent security fixes and misc. performance enhancements
- Fixed not being able to click on certain UI buttons under Linux
- Fixed SourceTV being counted as a bot for hiding servers
- Fixed a crash that happened when model quality was set to low
Feel free to ask us devs for clarifications on the Combo System directly, a comprehensive video demonstration will be released in time. You can contact us in the PVKII Discord! https://discord.gg/pvkii
Stay tuned! Bigger, better things will come soon!
