Hello and welcome to Patch 2.79! In this patch we’re adding a new podium, networking improvements, sound adjustments, a new Brawl of the Week, game balance improvements, and more! We’re also adjusting test features this week, and hope you’ll take the time to check them out and let us know what you think!
Mallhalla
- New Podium: The Upstage - “A killer pillar.”
- This is the last week the Dragon Chest will be available in Mallhalla.
Brawl of the Week - KO Mania!
- 1v1
- 300% Damage
- First to 5 KOs wins!
Networking
- Further improvements to the algorithm that tries to handle lag spikes. More sampling is done during laggy periods to try to detect when it goes away. Increased the pool size so that more samples are required before treating the lag as an extended spike. Please let us know if your experience has improved!
- Server notifications are no longer in all caps.
- "Reconnected" and "Disconnected" are now spelled out properly in the player/controller gameplay prompts.
Sound
- Reduced the overall volume of the character lock in audio effect.
- You no longer hear an additional sound effect for the ready banner during character select.
Test Features
The cooldown reduction on hit that is currently in test features is undergoing review for edge cases with balance concerns. During this initial pass, a number of the Ground Pound attacks were found to be too oppressive at the current test values, particularly in light of each weapon’s other available downward aerial attack options. We have adjusted these powers to be in a more reasonable range, while still being a reduction over the standard values. We expect there to be one more pass for the aerial light attacks next week.[/i]
- Unarmed Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 6 to 11 (compared to 19 on live).
- Sword Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 12 to 14 (compared to 18 on live).
- Lance Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 7 to 10 (compared to 15 on live).
- Katar Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 10 to 12 (compared to 22 on live).
- Bow Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 6 to 10 (compared to 14 on live).
- Gauntlets Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 7 to 11 (compared to 16 on live).
- Scythe Ground Pound: Cooldown Increased from 5 to 9 (compared to 12 on live).
Balance
As balance begins to settle after the addition of dash and the included dodge and power changes, we have made a few adjustments to increase the ease of use or reward of some of the underperforming weapon kits to help them better compete on the battlefield. We have also reined in some weapons that have grown in strength beyond their peers due to the changes in game mechanics. As we draw closer to the World Championship in November, we will have another rapid balance patch before initiating a balance lock so all competitors may have ample time to practice for BCX.
Hammer
The Hammer is hanging around the middle of the pack, meeting expectations in most cases as a large, powerful weapon. We have given it a minor boost to the lower range of damage on one of its most used attacks, the Side Light, in order to help this weapon gain more reward without altering its flow of gameplay.
- Side Light: Increased Damage of the later soft-hit from 12 to 14.
Spear
The Spear has slightly fallen behind the other weapons with the addition of dash, so we have increased the utility of the Side Light, restoring some of its lost relative range and stage control.
- Side Light: Increased speed bonus gained during a dash/chase dodge.
Blasters
As another weapon that is currently meeting expectations, we have increased the reward for its grounded approach option for slightly easier followups or gain of stage control.
- Side Light: Increased Stun from 20 to 21.
Lance
The Lance can currently build damage a bit too quickly, so we have reduced the reward on the Side Air. As this power is a common choice for following up a Side Light, as well as being very popular in general combat, this should result in a moderate decrease in the Lance’s damage potential over the course of a match.
- Side Air: Decreased Damage from 20 to 18.
Katars
The Katars have seen a good deal of tournament play, and have benefited greatly from the new dodge and momentum adjustments. We have opened up some interactions, focusing on the flow of attacks with consideration of common use for interrupting opponents. Followups from a Neutral Light will have slightly larger gaps for escape or counter attacking, while the Down Light has had its risk increased in the form of Recover time on miss. The Side Air now attacks a bit slower, resulting in slightly larger gaps during aerial strings, as well as less power when attempted as a high-force interrupt attack.
- Neutral Light: Decreased Stun from 16 to 15.
- Down Light: Increased Recover time on miss from 2 Fixed/18 Variable to 4 Fixed/18 Variable.
- Side Air: Increased Time to Hit from 10 to 12.
Axe
We have adjusted the speed bonus on the Axe’s Side Light, as it was too generous and became overused in the kit. While keeping it a useful approach option, we have also reduced the reward to be more in line with other similar attacks.
- Side Light: Decreased speed bonus from a dash/chase dodge; Decreased Damage from 13 to 12.
Bow
The Bow is currently underperforming when compared to other weapon kits, so we have increased the responsiveness on some of its key grounded attacks. Less Time to Hit on both the Neutral Light and Side Light will give this weapon faster anti-airs and grounded approaches, helping it keep up with the pace of other movesets.
- Neutral Light: Decreased Time to Hit from 9 to 8.
- Side Light: Decreased Time to Hit from 13 to 12.
Signatures
We are adjusting a few notable Signature attacks in this pass, aimed at increasing the risk for some overly safe options to match the potential reward in the case of Caspian and Jhala. We have also given a boost to a couple underperforming legends who had Signatures that were too stiff after use, bringing their utility and appeal up to par with other similar attacks.
- Ada Down Spear: Decreased Recover time from 13 to 11.
- Caspian Side Katars: Increased Minimum Charge Time from 5 to 7; Increased Recover time on miss from from 8 to 10.
- Azoth Neutral Bow: Decreased Recover time from 18 to 16.
- Jhala Down Sword: Increased Recover time from 4 to 7.
New Legend Rotation
This week’s new Legend Rotation features Ada, Cassidy, Mordex, Ragnir, Scarlet, and Val.
Bug Fixes
- Fixed a training bug where the bots last input would continue to be held down if you switched them from an AI mode to either Mimic or Mirror.
- Fixed a bug where sword side sound effect would play incorrectly.
- Fixed bug causing paging arrows to play audio feedback twice.
- Fixed bug causing podiums primer to remain displayed when switching from the Podiums store tabs to the Chests or Avatar tabs when there are no podium items for sale.
- Fixed a bug where holding down a controller button while watching a replay would repeatedly play the UI click noise, making an awful buzzing sound.
- Fixed a long-standing bug where your Account Level and Gold could erroneously be set to 0 after a game of Strikeout or Switchcraft.
- Fixed a rare bug that could cause the server to erroneously show everyone as getting 0th place on the scoreboard screen.