Update R85: Season Golf and new PTB mode

Hi there, Shatterliners!

It's time for a major update! And people, there's a lot of great stuff to savor!

SEASON GOLF

Like the previous Season Foxtrot, the new game season is 2-month long, free, and abundant with cool rewards.

PVE EPISODE

A new short PvE episode: Portal. We need to look into the "teleportation" tech that the Strafers are using. Our theory is that they are creating microclusters within the Red Realm. You shall infiltrate their research facility and investigate.

WEAPONS AND WEAPON PROGRESSION

A new Karambit knife was introduced in PvP for all operatives as an additional melee weapon (as an option in the session shop for the PTB mode). Movement speed with the Karambit is 15% faster than movement speed with a firearm.

Weapon progression speed for all weapons in all tiers increased, especially for sidearms, while the weapon and weapon attachment unlock price considerably decreased.

The G9 Kungen pistol and the Λ-7 Ghost assault rifle were moved to the new Tier 6 which unlocks together with Tier 5.

And great news for new players: all primary Tier 1 weapons got default Clearsight RDS attachments.

RANKED MATCHES

Quite a few changes found their way into the Ranked Matches:

• We added the Ranked Rules screen so you could familiarize yourself with all the rules applicable to the Ranked Matches. Also, you can check the Ranked season rewards in the special Rewards tab in the menu.
• The leaderboard of the Top 100 players is now accessible in the game.
• In the unlikely event you leave a ranked match, you will be banned from playing Ranked for a specified time. Leave a ranked match again, and the ban time will be extended progressively.
• You can no longer spectate the game from your own body.
• We added the option to vote for surrender if you see no point in fighting anymore against the other team. The surrender will take effect only if the whole team agrees to surrender. 

In addition to all weapon perks being restricted in Ranked, the following attachments are restricted as well:

• Flashbang Ammo for the Lupara Compatta secondary shotgun.
• Flechette Ammo for the R60 Gevaudan shotgun.
• Incendiary Ammo for the Black Falcon II shotgun.
• The TL-190 tactical flashlight for the R21 Brute shotgun.
• The FS Assassin extender and Cordite Powder for the U44 Culverina revolver.
• Cordite Powder for the Zenith assault rifle.
• The Grab 840 grip for the XM-40 Conciliator assault rifle.
• The Improved Burst Disconnector modifier for the Dragonfly sniper rifle.
• Improved Bolt for the Presarm VX-7 sniper rifle.
• Universal Receiver for the Tornado submachine gun.

GAMEPLAY AND BALANCE CHANGES

Changes for all game modes:

• You can no longer stand on Strix's and Kite's crystalline walls, while crystalline walls take extra damage from melee weapons and grenades.
• Quick melee damage decreased from 120 to 75. Quick melee snapping distance decreased as well.
• Damage to the body at long range from the Presarm VX-7 sniper rifle equipped with the Improved Bolt attachment decreased by 57%.
• The delay between shots for the G5 Earl pistol equipped with the Modified Trigger attachment increased by 12%.
• The long jump was nerfed (now the jump speed is limited to the sprint speed with a melee weapon in hands) except for Exo class operatives to remove the exploit where the character received an additional impulse on canceling the slide and jumping right after that.

PvP-only changes:

• Damage to the head decreased by 20% while body damage decreased by 30%.
• Area-of-effect damage (for instance, Mongoose’s ultimate) decreased by 20%, and damage over time (for instance, Brisa’s mine or Kite's ultimate) decreased by 30%.
• The Presarm VX-7 sniper rifle’s damage to the head decreased by 36% for the 40-meter range.

Ability Tweaks

Mongoose

• The screen shake radius from the ultimate’s grenades decreased.

Malva

• Pinscher Drone’s size increased by 20% while its health increased from 115 to 150 points.
• Pinscher Drone cannot be spectated on.
• Damage reduction inside the Healing Station orb increased by 14%.

Strix

• The Crystalline Grenade’s damage decreased.
• The Fire-wave Grenade’s segment radius decreased from 3 to 2 meters.
• The ultimate ability’s duration decreased from 30 to 12 seconds while its damage drop over distance increased in all PvP game modes.

Kite

• Two claymores instead of one, but the claymore became less lethal (you need two claymores for a guaranteed kill) albeit claymore activation delay time decreased twofold.
• Crystalline Revolver ray’s damage and enemy movement slowdown decreased.
• The Remote Mine can only be triggered when it’s attached to a surface. Furthermore, the radius of its lethal action decreased from 5 to 4 meters.

Brisa

• Crystalline Rifle’s zoom-in time and hip spread increased.
• Glass Mine and Shock Charge quantity increased from 1 to 2.
• Using the weapon scope while cloaked does not trigger invisibility deactivation.

Pill

• Quantum Nullifier’s visibility decreased while its duration increased from 3 to 5 seconds.
• The enemy under the Stasis Field effect can no longer zoom in. Stasis Field's radius decreased from 6 to 4 meters while its duration decreased from 5 to 3 seconds. 
• Crystalline Flamethrower’s damage was tweaked where damage over time decreased but the time of the effect increased. The lasting damage of Pill’s ultimate can now be removed by sliding.

Orbit

• Swarm Grenade flies’ hitbox increased while their number decreased from 8 to 6 and their lifetime decreased by 33%.
• If Orbit destroys his own Spy Drone, no explosion damage ensues, but if the drone explodes by cooldown, the explosive damage applies, albeit at a reduced rate. You can no longer spectate over the drone.
• The Dimension Leap doesn’t provide invulnerability anymore, and you cannot leap vertically.
• Ultimate's armor damage reduction decreased from 70% to 60% in PvP modes.

Ram

• Explosive Axe cannot be picked up.

HUD

In the PTB and 3v3 PvP modes, the players' icons on top of the screen now show if the player’s ultimate ability is ready. The icon will glow amber when the ultimate is fully charged.

MISCELLANEOUS

• New initial tasks were added.
• We introduced the task reroll. If an allotted daily task is not to your liking, you may now reroll it and get a new random one.
• Iron sight and scope shake when shooting and aiming down sights decreased.
• We tweaked game fonts and styles for Steam Deck to improve game readability on the device.
• You can inspect your weapon (default “R” key) during the pre-round time and when sprinting.
• We added weapon inspection animation for the X-Treme Lone Wolf sniper rifle skin.
• Improved animation of the G5 Earl pistol, the Impala sniper rifle, and the Z-940 Drachen submachine gun.
• New instant awards. Two PvP instant rewards for revolvers: Sheriff, for killing an enemy mid-air, and Cowboy, for two revolver kills in a row. And two Expedition instant awards: Detox Master, for decontamination, and Business Partner, for contract completion.
• The Domination PvP mode was removed from the PvP playlist for a while. 

PLANT-THE-BOMB MODE

We tried the PTB concept in the Demolition mode early after the Early Access launch to gather feedback on what needs to be implemented for the mode to become a truly competitive one. The result of this work is the new Plant-the-Bomb mode.

Four maps fully redesigned to suit the competitive nature of the mode are at your disposal: Old Town, Promenade, CQB, and Nisida. During the first week of the update, the PTB mode will be a part of the PvP playlist. After that, it will be played in the Ranked Matches season exclusively.

Here’s an overview of the mode changes.

Basic game mode rules

• 5 vs 5.
• Round time: 1 minute 40 seconds.
• The bomb can be picked up, dropped, or planted by any player.
• Bomb arm time: 3 seconds.
• Time to detonation: 45 seconds.
• Bomb defuse time: 6 seconds (5 seconds if disarmed by a trooper class operative).
• In non-ranked matches, there are 6 rounds per half, and your team must win 7 rounds to prevail (MR6). In Ranked, there are 9 rounds per half, where you must win 10 rounds (MR9).

Restrictions

Only one support class operative is allowed per team (Pill or Malva).

Abilities

Each player starts the match with discharged abilities. The abilities charged during the round but unused at its end will be discharged at the start of the next round, except the abilities charged through the session shop purchase.

Furthermore, the abilities charging time increased vis-à-vis other game modes, while instant rewards, kills, and kill assists contribute less to the abilities charging.

Session shop

During the pre-round time, you may use the special session shop (default “P” key) to purchase weapons (including the Karambit knife), armor, or charge an ability. Pay heed that there are two pages of items in the shop.

Surely, to purchase an item, you’ll need resources we call materials. Everyone starts with 30 initial materials. You get 120 for a lost round, 200 for a won one, 40 to all team members for planting the bomb and 40 to the person who defused it, 10 for a kill, and 5 for a kill assist. The materials cap is 1,000. You can check your resources on the TAB screen.

There is also a losing streak bonus which allows the team to receive more resources, the more rounds they lose. If the team loses two rounds in a row, they will receive 160 instead of 120 materials. 190 for the third loss in a row, 230 for the fourth, and 240 for the fifth.

Health regeneration

The HP regen rate is quite slow if you are severely wounded, but it gains pace the more HP you have. Additionally, there is a 10-second delay between the time you took your last damage and the regen start (8 seconds for the trooper class).

Armor

Each player has an armor vest to be fitted with armor plates. The armor plates are available for purchase in the session shop as two options: two armor plates with additional 60 HP or three armor plates with additional 90 HP.

When you receive damage, your armor plates are depleted first, but some abilities like Pill’s ultimate or Malva’s Pinscher Drone ignore the armor and deal damage directly to your HP.

HUD

We added the HP and armor indicators above enemy heads that appear when you hit the enemy and dissolve after a short time. They won’t show if the health and armor points are full or when the enemy is hidden behind an obstacle.

Radar. When you walk, the enemy will see you on the radar only within a 9-meter radius (vs 20 meters in other game modes). When crouching or idle, you cannot be spotted on the radar.

Weapon drop from fallen players

When players are down, the weapon they were holding is dropped, and any other player can pick it up, but cannot change its attachments. You may also ping the weapon on the map for your teammates.

Ability tweaks

Mongoose

• The number of grenades in the R40 Supersling ultimate decreased from 6 to 5.
• The ultimate ability’s duration decreased from 30 to 12 seconds.

Malva

• The Medkit and Medi-spray abilities cooldown increased from 15 to 30 seconds.

Kite

• The ultimate ability’s duration decreased from 30 to 12 seconds.

Brisa

• The ultimate ability’s duration decreased from 30 to 12 seconds.
• For characters with progression at level 3 and higher, the additional ammo for the Crystalline Rifle decreased from 2 rounds to 1.

Pill

• The ultimate ability’s duration decreased from 30 to 12 seconds.
• Med Drone’s cooldown increased from 40 to 120 seconds.

Ram

• Gravity strike cooldown increased from 12 to 30 seconds.
• The quantity of Throwing and Explosive Axes decreased from 3 to 2.
• The ultimate ability’s charging time increased by 50 seconds.

Weapon tweaks

The Λ-1 Centurion and Firespray submachine guns' damage to the head decreased by 15%-20% at close range.

Miscellaneous

Quick team chat call-outs (F1-F3 keys) were added to indicate if the player is going to Plant Site A or B or Mid.

FIXED ISSUES

• Multiple crash fixes.
• Fixed issue in Expedition where the Queen boss could sometimes get stuck in its invulnerable state during the Envoy encounter.
• Fixed issue in Expedition where terrain bumps hindered smooth character movement in the area around the lava river.
• Fixed issue in Expedition where a grey strip appeared at the bottom of the screen when the player performed sliding. 
• Fixed issue where Strix's audio in the game lobby was muffled.
• Fixed issue with a missing sound when Strix threw a Fire-wave Grenade.
• Fixed issue with the Smart Zeroing Device attachment for the XM-40 Conciliator assault rifle where weapon stability improved instantly, not after a precision kill as designed.
• Fixed issue with the RST Rage attachment for the XM-40 Conciliator assault rifle where the reloading and aiming speed buff was slightly lower and applied instantly without the need to perform a kill while at full health. 
• Fixed issue where the Pinscher Drone could disappear in PvE and Expedition if Malva had the maximum drone perk enabled.
• Fixed issue with an incorrect Determinator weapon perk's image in the Craft Machine.