Killing Floor 2 Christmas Crackdown Update is live!

Event
Christmas Crackdown

• Happy holidays to all the mercs! We are happy to present the Christmas Crackdown seasonal update! Welcome to Elysium, a Limbo realm where souls of deceased Zeds won’t even let you rest in peace. Consider traveling to its different regions and discover the secret areas to fully clean this sacred place out of Zeds. Feel that you are not prepared enough? Don’t worry, the Horzine Research Group brings an anticipated gift for the well-behaved mercs: the HRG Vampire, a perfect tool to make a bloody fest with the wounds of those annoying Zeds. Have fun, be good, and enjoy the Crackdown!

New Additions and Highlights

• 1 New Community Map
  • Elysium
    • Compatible with Survival, Weekly, and Endless Game Modes.
    • The killing doesn't stop even in the afterlife. Fight the souls of deceased Zeds in this Limbo realm and uncover its secrets.

• 2 New Weapons
  • HRG Vampire for the Field Medic
    • An alteration of the Husk Cannon that absorbs the blood of the enemies in a short range, and then releases explosive blood balls that harm enemies and heal players, depending on the amount of blood absorbed.
    • Alt-fire shoots crystallized blood spikes with high speed and penetration.
    • This weapon is designed as an offensive option for Field Medics, and it performs better in close quarters.
    • Trader price is 1500 Dosh.

  • Frost Fang for the Support and Berserker
    • This is a paid DLC weapon. This weapon can be shared amongst players through our weapon sharing system.
    • It is a lever-action shotgun with an integrated axe blade. It serves both as a range and a melee weapon.
    • It has the capacity of freezing Zeds with its shots and shatters them with the melee attacks.

  
  

Trader price is 1200 Dosh.

• New Steam Achievements
  • Elysium related achievements

• Time-limited Objectives, Tickets, and Cosmetics
  • Seasonal objectives related to Elysium
  • Complete all seasonal objectives to earn the Tactical Elf-pack
  • Krampus Prize Tickets
  • Krampus Golden Prize Tickets

• Zedconomy
  • Frost Fang Weapon Bundle
  • Christmas 2020 Full Gear Bundle
  • Premium Christmas Ticket Bundles come in three sets of tiers:
    • Bronze - 5 Premium Seasonal Tickets
    • Silver - 10 Premium Seasonal Tickets and 1 Bonus Golden Seasonal Ticket
    • Gold - 20 Premium Seasonal Tickets and a 3 Bonus Golden Seasonal Tickets

  • Ice Breaker Weapon Skin Bundle Pack
    
  • Winter Gear Cosmetic Bundle
    
  • Spectre MKII HRG Weapon Skin Bundle Pack
  
  

Reminder since this usually comes up during update releases, the database update for ticket drops and setting up steam items for sale will occur at approximately 1pm EDT after all the patches go out in order to verify that the patches are deployed across platform.

Addressed Community Feedback
As mentioned in the 2019 Killing Floor 2 ‘State of the Game’ our goal is to bring to the community a continued stream of QOL changes for each update throughout the year. Please continue to report any QOL changes you believe should be added to the game by submitting your feedback in the ‘general’ section on our official forums at: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/forum/killing-floor-2

Important Web Admin Note for Community Server Admins:
In light of some admins modifying the Web Admin’s kick and ban functionality in an abusive manner, we have taken the temporary step to disable the following functionality on the Web Admin tool to prevent this behavior:

• Players tab: in the select "Controls" removed options related to ban or kick.
• Session Bans tab: no IDs can be added now, only removed.
• Banned Ids tab: no IDs can be added now, only removed.
• IP Masks tab: no IPs can be added now, only removed.
• Management Console tab: no commands related to "kick" or "kickban" can be used now.

Manual kick and ban commands can still be conducted within the game client and will be to access full servers via the following commands: Admins can enter a game at full capacity adding the parameter SpectatorOnly=1 when entering the game
Open ?SpectatorOnly=1

We will be reassessing when to enable this functionality in the future as we evaluate solutions to handle this issue on the matchmaking end of the equation but for now we decided to implement this restriction in order to provide a better overall experience for the players to avoid experiencing automated kicks. Thank you for your patience and understanding.

General

• Slung ammo visual indicator
  • A new visual indication feature is implemented in the game HUD for the weapons that use an underslung grenade launcher.
  • When the slung is not loaded, the background color of the HUD box turns orange, and the icon of the ammo is changed for a “no loaded ammo” icon.
  • Weapons affected:
    • HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle
    • HRG Teslauncher
    • M16 M203 Assault Rifle
    • HRG Incendiary Rifle

• Better Controller Aim
  • Some adjustment options are added in the Control Options Menu, for the gamepad sticks: a deadzone slider that controls the size of the deadzone and an acceleration jump slider that controls the amount of turn speed the player gets when the left stick reaches the left or right limit.
  • The deadzone was updated to have a circular shape instead of the previous square shape.

• Gear Menu Flow improvement
  • The Accessory Tab of the Gear Menu has been splitted into three distinct fields that players can populate with items independently.

• In-game discounts
  • Now, a “discounted indication mark” displays on the items that have discounts in the in-game shop.

Balance

• Weapons
  • Fire Axe
    • Light attack damage increased from 80 to 90
    • Heavy attack damage increased from 125 to 135
    • Stun rate of heavy attacks increased by 33%
    • Stumble rate of bash increased by 33%
    • Added additional force to Zed ragdolls on death to increase the impulse on their bodies

  • Seal Squeal
    • Weapon weight reduced from 8 to 7
    • Spare ammo capacity increased from 25 to 30
    • Fire rate increased by 50%
    • Altfire rate increased by 33%
    • Implemented reload interrupt when using the Altfire

  • Rhinos
    • Reduced shrapnel spread from environmental impacts by 50%
    • Increased shrapnel spread from Zed impacts by 50%
    • Bullet impact damage increased from 70 to 75
    • Elite Half reload rate fixed to match with the Elite Empty reload (was slower than intended)

  • HRG Buckshots
    • Projectile spread reduced by 20%
    • Vertical recoil reduced by 30%

• Perks
  • Gunslinger
    • Steady Perk Skill
      • Added 7.5% bonus damage with perk weapons when shooting using iron sight.

  • Survivalist
    • Faster Weapon Switch (new Perk Bonus)
      • Weapon switch speed is incremented by 35% for all weapons.
      • It does not scale with perk level.

    
    
  
  

Designer Notes :
We made some adjustments in the reload of the underslung in the previous update and it was welcomed, but we thought there was still lack of feedback about the secondary ammo load state of these weapons.
So we added a visual indicator to make it easier to recognize when the slung is loaded or not with just a quick view, but avoiding being too invasive.

We added new configuration options regarding the aiming with a controller, and improved the controller stick deadzones. With these changes we hope to improve the aiming experience with a controller for console players and for pc players who use a controller. Now everyone will be able to play with the sensibility they prefer.

About the Gear Menu improvement, we created 3 different accessory tabs to make it easier to change individual accessories without removing all of them. Now players will have more control of what cosmetics they want to equip or unequip.

We added the in-game discount indicator to make it easier for the users to identify the sales and to notice when a new discount arrives to the in-game shop.

The Fire Axe damage was boosted because it was underperforming compared to similar weapons, we hope that now its major drawback, the slow attack ratio, is compensated with higher damage output. We also boosted the stun capacity of heavy attacks to make it more consistent and relevant, as a unique feature that differentiates the weapon for other berserker options. With the stumble rate increment to the bash attack we try to give more utility to this action regarding its low damage.

With the Seal Squeal adjustments we aimed to make it faster and easier to control. First the capacity of interrupting the reload with the alt-fire, detonating the projectiles and cancelling the reload, a functionality requested by many players. Then, the fire rate adjustments, that improve the alternating actions of “shoot” and “detonate”.
Also, to improve the general balance of the weapon, the weight is reduced by 1, and the spare ammo capacity increased by 1 mag.

The Rhinos adjustments goals are to improve the gameplay experience regarding the shrapnel generation by making them more predictable when shooting to the environment, and also easier to land against backline Zeds when shooting directly to the frontline of a group. The bullet damage was slightly boosted to avoid punishing too much if the shrapnels doesn’t hit the enemies and only the main bullet does, even so, a more than valid strategy still is to shoot the ground in front of an enemy to damage it with shrapnels.

We think that the HRG Buckshots were in a good spot in terms of balance, but we made some slight tunes to improve the shooting experience. The vertical recoil is reduced and the spread is also reduced to mitigate some inconveniences that some players were having with them.

The Gunslinger’s Steady Perk skill was not offering as much as its counterpart, Quickdraw. With the inclusion of a small damage bonus when aiming with iron sights we hope to improve the performance of this skill while following the idea of rewarding shooting from iron sight, unlike Quickdraw that rewards shooting from the hips.

Finally, with the new Survivalist Bonus Perk we want to reinforce the use of different weapons, making it easier to switch between them during the game.

Bug Fixes
Also mentioned in the 2019 Killing Floor 2 ‘State of the Game’ our goal is to bring to the community a continued stream of community reported bug fixes for each update throughout the year. Please continue to report any bugs you discover by visiting our official forums at: https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/forum/killing-floor-2 and posting in the ‘PC’ or ‘Console’ sections.

Top Community Issues:

• Addressed an issue that was causing excessive logging which would disconnect all players from servers once it exceeded a set log size.
• Applied a fix to address Seasonal Objectives progress carrying over from previous events.
• Fixed an issue where invites would be applied to the first page of friends regardless which page you were currently on.
• Fixed an issue with all Christmas cosmetics being available in the gear menu.
• Fixed an issue where the UI would disappear during skip trader forcing the player to reboot the title.

Perks:

• Fixed an issue with the Berserker level 5 skill “Skirmisher” where it was only applying the movement speed bonus while wielding a melee weapon instead of all Berserker weapons as intended.
• Fixed an issue with the Support level 15 skill “Tight Choke” applying to the HRG Kaboomstick which is not intended.
• Fixed an issue with the Madman skill not increasing the Frost Fang’s shooting speed during Zed time.
• Fixed the description of the Inferno Skill to reflect its in game effect.

Maps:

• Hellmark Station:
  • Moved a number of ground and wall objects to bring them flush with the surface wall and floor surfaces.
  • Removed a head height invisible blocking volume.
  • Added textures to the bottom of multiple vertical wall pieces.
  • Moved a number of objects within the level to address various amounts of clipping.
  • Fixed an issue where some shadows would appear low res and stretched.
  • Fixed an exploitable spot in Hellmark Station where Zeds could not attack players.
  • Fixed an issue where part of the Stand Your Ground does not count though it was marked as part of the area behind the cashier’s counter.
  • Fixed multiple areas where dropped weapons would fall through the floor.
  • Fixed multiple areas where dropped weapons would hang in mid-air.
  • Fixed an issue where players were able to see through Zed spawn points out of the map.
  • Fixed an issue where the hanging lamps moved erratically when hit with rounds from a shotgun.

• Elysium:
  • Fixed multiple areas in the Castle Arena where ZEDs could not reach players.
  • Fixed a number of collision issues in the Castle Arena with various structural pieces.
  • Fixed multiple areas in the Forest Arena where ZEDs could not reach players.
  • Fixed a number of collision issues in the Forest Arena with the various ground clutter items.
  • Fixed multiple pathing issues with ZEDs in the Forest Arena.
  • Fixed multiple spots where weapons could be dropped out of the reach of players in the Forest Arena.
  • Fixed an issue where the cardboard boxes in the Forest Arena would glow when shot.
  • Fixed multiple areas in the Swamp Arena where ZEDs could not reach players.
  • Fixed a number of collision issues in the Swamp Arena with the various ground clutter items.
  • Fixed a number of pathing issues with ZEDs in the Swamp Arena.
  • Fixed an issue with the players taking damage from the toxic water while not being close to it.
  • Fixed a number of collision issues in the Desert Arena with the various ground clutter items.
  • Fixed multiple pathing issues with ZEDs in the Desert Arena.
  • Fixed a ZED spawn point in the Desert Arena where ZEDS would be stuck.
  • Fixed a number of collision issues in the Space Arena with the various ground clutter items.
  • Fixed an issue where the Spectator camera could leave the playable area in the Space Arena.
  • Fixed multiple LODs issues in the Virtual Arena.
  • Fixed an issue where the fog in the Virtual Arena would disappear when approached.
  • Fixed an issue with Zeds spawning in different zones of the map due to blocked spawn areas.
  • Fixed an issue where the boss spawns outside of the Main Arena.
  • Fixed a pathing issue with the gate in Elysium where Zeds would not follow players.
  • Fixed multiple pathing issues with ZEDs and Bosses in the Main Arena.
  • Fixed multiple areas in the Main Arena where Zeds were unable to get to the players.
  • Fixed multiple LODs of the towers in the Main Arena.
  • Fixed an issue where all of the grass in the Main Arena is hanging in the air above the ground.
  • Fixed multiple spots in the Main Arena where players could get to unintended places with the Shotgun Impulse jump.
  • Fixed an issue where shooting the water used blood effects instead of water effects.
  • Fixed an issue where players could see through the map if crouching in the water and jumping.
  • Fixed an issue where the hanging lamps moved erratically when hit with rounds from a shotgun.
  • Fixed an issue with the collision on the stairs in the Loremaster Sanctum where weapons and dosh passed through them.
  • Optimized multiple areas of the map to increase performance.

• Fixed an issue on Desolation in Vs. where players were able to fall out of the map while playing Zeds.
  
• Fixed an exploitable spot in Outpost where Zeds could not attack players.
  
• Fixed an exploitable spot in Santas Workshop where Zeds could not attack players.

Weapons:

• Fixed an issue with the Mine Reconstructor where the mines were unable to be detonated if completely out of ammo and sprinting.
• Fixed an issue with the HRG Teslauncher where the screen shake caused by the recoil would stop after firing multiple rounds.
• Fixed an issue with the HMTech-501 where the screen shake caused by the recoil would stop after firing multiple rounds.
• Fixed an issue with the HRG Arc Generator where the arc animation was inaccurately showing arcs to party members.
• Fixed an issue with the FN FAL ACOG where the magazine would clip into the weapon during the standard reload animation.
• Fixed an issue with the FN FAL ACOG’s 3rd person shot audio was not being audible.
• Fixed an issue with the HRG Kaboomstick using the Doomstick’s reload animation.
• Fixed an issue with the Boomstick where two additional shells were shown during the reload animation.
• Fixed an issue with the Caulk n’ Burn where the pilot flame would float in midair while playing on higher FoV settings.
• Fixed an issue where the HRG Kaboomstick was ejecting four shells instead of two.
• Fixed an issue where the Winchester 1894’s 3rd person shot audio was not audible.
• Fixed an issue with the HX25 Grenade Pistol where its firing sound fx were using the Kaboomstick’s audio cues.
• HRG Vampire
  • Fixed an issue where the audio for the consuming sound would trigger late for party members.
  • Fixed an issue with the reload animation where parts of the muzzle were not visible.
  • Fixed an issue where there was a syncing issue when spamming fire immediately after reloading the weapon.
  • Fixed an issue where there was excessive barrel shaking during the consuming of the ammo.

• Frost Fang
  • Fixed instances with the 1p reload animation that would lead to the hands being positioned on the weapon in an unnatural way.
  • Fixed instances with the 3p reload and weapon swap animations where they would break upon use.
  • Fixed an issue where the shells that were ejected versus those being loaded were different colors.
  • Fixed an issue where the ejected shell did not appear after firing the weapon.
  • Fixed an issue where the character animation would break when changing weapons between the Frost Fang and any others.

Cosmetics:

• Fixed an issue with various Mrs. Foster skins applying over the top of the Reaper Outfit.
• Fixed an issue with various Rae Higgins skins applying over the top of the Reaper Outfit.
• Fixed an issue where the Tactical Elf Backpack would hang in midair off of DJ Scully.
• Fixed an issue where multiple skins would override the Reaper Outfit and overlap with it.

Audio:

• Fixed an issue where DAR would not play any of it’s last man standing audio lines.

UI:

• Fixed an issue with teammate nicknames becoming unreadable to disappearing when the Friendly HUD scale is reduced.
• Fixed an issue where sometimes when trying to exit the Trader menu the UI would not disappear leaving the play stuck in the Trader menu.

Localization

• Fixed multiple instances of the wrong declination being used in Russian.
• Fixed multiple instances of Russian text exceeding the text boxes.
• Fixed multiple instances of Russian text using incorrect word wrapping.
• Fixed the declination of the words in the "Ammo Backpack Door repair" strings in Russian.
• Fixed the declination of the words in the "Button Layout" in the Controls menu in Russian.
• Fixed the declination of the words in the "Basic Training" in the main menu in Russian.
• Fixed the declination of the words in the new Steam achievements in Russian.
• Fixed an issue where part of the sentence for the new Steam Achievement was missing in Russian.

General:

• Fixed an issue where friend invites would cause a crash after extended play sessions when sent.
• Updated the copyright date and credits.
• Fixed an issue where XB/PSN profiles were not opening when clicking on the users name.

As always, thank you for your continued support!