Early Access Update 5.10.17

Greetings, Quakers!

Today we're deploying our major update for October that includes numerous changes and improvements for Quake Champions.

In addition to this update, we will also be holding a DOUBLE XP WEEKEND from today, October 5, until October 9, so clear your calendar and get ready to frag your opponents!

Check out the full patch notes:

Game Balance

• Small Health and Light Armor now grant a consistent value of +25 HP/AP respectively
• Improved issues with predictive spawns in Duels

Game Options

• Added Auto Weapon Swap option in Game Settings. Players may now automatically switch to a weapon upon pick-up.

Projectile Updates & Fixes

• Numerous issues resulting in Rocket Launcher miss hits resolved
• Addressed issues when Rocket Launcher might have miss hits after player used active ability
• Resolved desync for the projectile that was shot in midair right before players death
• Rocket Launcher client-side hit prediction and server-side validation have been improved
• Deterministic shot simulation for rockets implemented
• Fixed issue where Rocket Launcher projectiles could fly sideways, such that the projectile would be sidewise, not the trajectory

Game Client Fixes

• Various memory leaks fixed
• Outgoing client traffic optimization improved
• UI can now show more than 20 friends in friends list
• Addressed issues where users sometimes were unable to fire weapons and lost other functionality, such as only being able to shoot the machinegun (mostly reported by and affecting Canadian players on certain ISPs)
• Fixed issue when client could freeze when user changed target display
• Load on demand memory optimization support added

Champions Balance

• All Champions
  • Hero Lighting updated to colorize teammates and enemies at a closer range https://youtu.be/LmGz3cavVbg
  • Auto-outlining enemies within 256u now instead of 120u

• Anarki
  • Updated animations to reduce lean while strafing https://youtu.be/RmNgm7ko5Y4

• BJ Blazkowicz
  • Reduced Dual Wield cooldown from 50 to 48 second
  • Increased Dual Wield rate of fire for Shotgun, Tri-bolt, Rocket Launcher, and Railgun

• Clutch
  • +25 Health Points
  • Removed movement penalty while using the Mining Drill

• DOOM Slayer
  • Improved Leap Strike while in Berserk

• Scalebearer
  • +25 max Armor Points

• Slash
  • Plasma Trail can now be performed in any direction

• Sorlag
  • Increased the weapon fire delay after Acid Spit from 600 ms to 1 second
  • Reduced Acid Spit damage over time (DOT) from 10 to 7, reducing a max of 50 damage to 35 damage

• Visor
  • Changed Piercing Sight VO announcement from global to client-side only Reduced the cooldown for Piercing Sight from 45 to 43 seconds

Weapon Balance

• Nailgun (Starting)
  • Increased rate of fire, resulting in 100 to 133 DPS

• Super Shotgun
  • Lowered spread from 800 to 750

• Tri-bolt
  • Improved visibility of bolts
  • Bolts explode on impact with enemies (full 50 damage)

Economy Updates

• Double XP Weekend from Thursday, October 5th to Monday, October 9th
• Reduced price of Vanity from 600 to 500 platinum
• Reduced the dismantle shards for vanity from 150 to 120
• Increased the drop rate for icons & nameplates in backpacks
• The following bundles will be removed from the store as of October 5, 2017:
  • Quake 1 Rocket Bundle
  • Quake 2 Railgun Bundle
  • Quake 3 Machinegun Bundle
  • Quake 4 Lightning Gun Bundle
  • El Diablo Shotgun Bundle
  • Vanity – Phase Projector

• The following new bundles will be added to the store as of October 5, 2017:
  • Ranger Raider Complete Set
  • Ranger Shambler Head
  • QR3-LL Rocket Launcher
  • Starter Shader Pack

Vanity Updates

• Added Flames head and torso attachments to Anarki’s Bone Daddy costume

Lore System Updates & Fixes

• VO "Lore Found" will now only play for the player who reveals the Lore Scroll
• Players can no longer earn lore scrolls without completing the match
• Lore scroll fixes made to mitigate the farming of scrolls

Gore System Updates

• Fixed issue where rag doll could clip through the floor
• Fixed issue where no death animation would play upon certain deaths

Audio Updates & Fixes

• Win / Loss music added to the post-match Victory Podium
• Jumppads now trigger a sound when a player jumps onto the pad, in addition to stepping onto it.
• Constructor (Q4 Nailgun) had an in-world audible hum, that is now client-side only

UI Updates

• Home screen Champion VO and animations added
• Both icons and nameplates are now present on the contact list
• Visual update to the post-match Victory Podium, including nameplates
• Invite to party now present in context menu in in-menu chat
• Store tab art updated
• Discounts are shown on price tags in the Store UI

Champion Fixes

• All Champions
  • First person weapon animations are no longer missing
  • Lore sets can no longer be mixed with other costume sets
  • Fixed issue where some shaders could be applied to some lore sets including Ruby-Nyx
  • Active abilities can now be used while crouched
  • Active abilities issued immediately before a player’s death, no longer activate upon respawn
  • Enemies no longer collide with each other when both players are in motion

• Anarki
  • Should no longer float above his board while in the Match Lobby

• DOOM Slayer
  • Added the Silent Protagonist passive ability to the UI
  • Fixed issue where Leap Strike would lock onto a moving enemy but the punch would fail to connect
  • Model should now be correctly displayed during Battle Report
  • Fixed the 4 second delay after Berserk ends where the player couldn't zoom weapons
  • Fixed issue where head and helmet could not be shot due to misaligned hitbox
  • Crosshair should now turn red when locked onto an enemy

• Nyx
  • Fixed issue where the screen animation was missing transparency on her hand

• Ranger
  • Fixed issue where Ranger could teleport twice during one Dire Orb throw in rare conditions
  • Fixed issue where Dire Orb would make no sound when thrown out or when flying through the air

• Scalebearer
  • Fixed low resolution textures in Main Menu

• Sorlag
  • Fixed issue where enemy and teammate arrows sometimes were not visible
  • Fixed low-resolution textures in Main Menu

Weapon Fixes

• All Weapons
  • Fixed issue where players received too much ammo when picking up weapons already in their inventory
  • Corrected weapon respawn times in newly released maps
  • Fixed issue where HUD overlay could disappear from zoomed weapons when weapons where switched back and forth while remaining zoomed

• Shotgun
  • Fixed the DOOM 2 Super Shotgun reload animation
  • Fixed issue where sometimes the shotgun would fire without animating the hands

• Rocket Launcher
  • Fixed issue with the Q3R-LL Rocket Launcher excessive bloom while power-up shader was applied

• Lightning Gun
  • Fixed issue where LG could mishit with very fast mouse flicks.

• Railgun
  • Fixed issue where hit detection on enemies was inconsistent when shooting near the corners of geometry

Medal & Rune Fixes

• Combo Kill and Headshot medals should now be rewarded properly

Economy Fixes

• Fixed issue where duplicate items awarded inconsistent amount of shards
• Fixed issue where some vanity Items were invisible when dropping from loot boxes
• Fixed issue where prices on vanity items could appear in shards instead of platinum
• Fixed issue where players could not purchase items with discounts

Map Updates & Fixes

• Blood Covenant
  • Scrags now roam outside the map environment
  • Glowing effects removed near Rocket launcher pick-up locations
  • Ranger can no longer use Dire Orb to transport into a pillar near the jumppad at Obelisk A
  • Ranger can no longer use Dire Orb to transport under map and teleport inside of Obelisk A
  • Fixed various reported holes

• Blood Run
  • Addressed issue where players could respawn too close to their attacker

• Burial Chamber
  Addressed issue where players could get into restricted Obelisk areas when not playing Sacrifice