HOLIDAY RUMBLE PATCH NOTES
Agents, it’s time to get into the holiday spirit! We have a new update with our first ever live event, a silver reef overhaul and a hearty helping of fixes and tweaks. Let’s get into it right away!
General
Holiday Rumble Event
Holiday Rumble is our first live event and brings with it 10 free rewards to unlock as well as a new holiday look for the lobby and the maps!
To unlock your holiday rumble rewards, you will have to look for gifts spread through the map and loot them for event points. Grab enough gifts and you’ll be able to forcefully bring the holiday cheer into your foe with the coveted Santhans skin!
Silver Reef Vault Rework
With this update, we are starting a longer term commitment to update existing maps and locations to make them flow better with what we learned about the game since launch. The first part of this initiative is mostly focused on Silver Reef’s vault area.
Let’s get the obvious part out of the way: Long winding corridors with no alternate routes are not fun.
Our main focus with this vault update was to transform the long corridors leading to the submarine into actual play spaces with verticality and flank routes. You will find that you have many more options to change direction and leverage good positioning.
We have also added a restroom on the opposite side of the vault to make sure players have good access to healing no matter the side they choose to pick.
While the vault was our focus this update, we have one last little surprise in store. Vault terminal C room is FINALLY getting an alternate exit. This should help alleviate un-interesting camping scenarios happening around this terminal.
We hope you enjoy this rework and we look forward to the feedback around it to help us better target our future reworks for existing maps.
Spectacting UI Overhaul
We are overhauling the spectating UI to give much more information on who you are currently spectating. With this update, you will have access to ALL information about the player you are looking at. This includes cooldowns, all lootables in their possession and even the health of their allies in team modes.
We hope this helps players to better read what happened after dying and just make the spectating experience overall more interesting and engaging.
Gamepad ‘look rotation’ overhaul
We have changed the look rotation axis on Gamepad to a single 2D axis instead of two separate 1D axis. This allows us to properly manage acceleration on both axes as a whole rather than treating horizontal and vertical rotations as separate actions.
The result is a much smoother experience when looking around, particularly when rotating along both axis in diagonal movements where previous implementation would not apply acceleration. We hope this makes the experience for our gamepad user much more pleasant and we look forward to your continued feedback on the topic!
Guard Aggro Overhaul
In this update, we have a substantial upgrade on how guards handle aggro in situations involving multiple spies. We’d been gathering clips and feedback from players on situations that felt off with guard aggro and managed to find the root issues of a lot of those behaviors.
What that means in practice is overall better handling of who they should target, fixing situations where guards would focus on a single spy in a fight involving more than one.
NPC behavior tweaks
In this update, both staff and technicians are getting an updated behavior. Staff being able to open drawers has been unreliable for a while now, and we have a fix in this patch. That means that staff opening drawers left and right won’t necessarily be a spy anymore.
A new addition with this fix is that technicians can now do the same! This makes the technician cover more valuable inside the vault as you can now look into drawers without arousing suspicion.
We hope this fix and addition makes the game more nuanced and interesting on the stealth front.
Balance
Balance changes in this update are focused around an overarching goal of reducing the amount of shots required to down rival spies while keeping time to kill at about the same length for other players to react on a variety of weapons.
We think this direction will make fights feel better overall and make gunplay more engaging while also making landing the first shot with a good guess on a spy more rewarding.
Ace:
Base Weapon: Queen of Diamond
- Fire Rate: 1.3 --> 1.1
Passives
We have reduced Ace’s passive charge time in the past before but we are pushing this much further with this update. Our overall idea with this change is to make using ADS a more integral part of Ace’s toolkit beyond the opening shot of a fight. To better accommodate this, we’ve reduced the duration of the inflicted status effect since you will be landing charged shots more often.
- Time to charge: 1.15 --> 0.35
Base Passive: Diamond’S Bet
- Effect Duration: 20s --> 12s
Passive Mod 1: Crippling Shot
- Effect Duration: 7s --> 4.5s
Passive Mod 2: Neutralizing Shot
- Effect Duration: 12s --> 8s
Cavalière
Base Weapon: Dragoons
- Fire Rate: 5 --> 4
- Damage: 12 --> 14
- Reload Time: 1.7 --> 1.8
- Mag Size: 16 --> 14
Chavez:
Beyond following the goal outlined at the outset of reducing shot to kills while keeping time to kill similar, Chavez is getting more tweaks to further differentiate his weapon options. The vigilante in particular has fallen behind quite a bit and is getting a faster firing identity in thi update to make it a more unique option.
Base: Sentinel
- Fire Rate: 1.3 --> 1.1
- Damage: 25 --> 30
- Crit Multiplier: 1.75 --> 1.7
Mod 1: Vigilante
- Reload Time: 1.65s --> 1.15s
- Fire Rate: 2.3 --> 2.8
Mod 2 :Duke
- Reload Time: 3.1s --> 2.7s
- Fire Rate: 0.75 --> 0.65
- Damage: 35 --> 40
Squire
Base Weapon: Lance
- Fire Rate 3.2 --> 2.5
- Damage: 17 --> 20
- Mag Size: 12 --> 10
Mod 2: Javelin
- Damage: 20 --> 25
- Fire Rate: 2 --> 1.9
Larcin
Base Weapon: Silence
- Fire Rate: 5 --> 4.25
- Damage: 10 --> 12
- Max Ammo: 5 --> 4 mags
Octo
We wanted to highlight that while you won’t find balance changes here directly, multiple balance affecting bugs around Octo have been fixed in this update. You will find all the details in the bugfix section.
We will keep an eye out on how Octo performs with these issues settled to have a better idea of where to take him next since some frustrating elements of his kit were due to specific issues rather than intended mechanics.
Gadgets
The balance of the bounce mat and shield-brella have always been hot topics of balancing discussions. In this update we are taking further steps to reduce the all–encompassing flexibility of the bounce mat and calm down the shield quick-swap tech further.
Bounce Mat
The crux of the bounce mat issue is in its flexibility. It does everything: It gives mobility, allows blocking of areas and can force spies to blow their cover to get it out of the way. The change we are introducing is aimed at making the bounce mat focused much more uniquely on mobility rather than being an efficient block tool. We think this change keeps the essence of what makes the mat great, while diminishing its overreach on the meta.
- Will now deflate by itself after a second to limit use as a blocker.
- Now has a small cooldown before being inflatable again to prevent spam.
Shield-brella
We are adding additional limitations to alternating shield and shooting. We’ve introduced in the past a delay to shooting after having the shield up. We are now introducing a secondary delay to opening the shield after shooting. Splitting the delay in two like this allows us to really limit the overall DPS output of players using this strategy while making sure the shield does not feel sluggish to use in normal use.
- Added a .5s delay to open after shooting.
- Delay to shoot after opening increased .3s => .4s
Bug Fixes
General
- Fixed an issue where mashing the expertise button match start could allow you to use it before the start of the game.
- Fixed the shield-breall not blocking shots from guards.
- Fixed voice chat not working in private lobbies for teams beyond foxtrot
- Fixed Red “a view to a kill” description not being translated in other languages
- Fixed text that would overflow UI elements in multiple languages
- Fixed intro-poses not appearing in intro when selected during pre-game lobby.
- Fixed players respawning with the ammo they had in their weapon before dying at a revive station.
- Fixed weapons disappearing in the main menu when selecting an intro pose without a weapon.
- Fixed calling card loadout resetting when purchasing a new one.
- Fixed a variety of gadgets sounds that were not affected by audio sliders in options.
- Fixed the inspect profile function on PC.
- Fixed field upgrades icons not updating when changing your deck in the pre-game lobby.
- Fixed victim effect notifications overlapping health numbers in the UI.
- Fixed low health feedback staying stuck even after healing in spectator mode.
Agents
Ace:
- Fixed an issue where Ace ADS shots would not deal damage or not apply the status effects under certain circumstances.
Larcin:
- Fixed an issue where shooting while inside the smoke cloud of grande finale would make shooting animations not play.
- Fixed an issue where Arsene Larcin’s cape would go over his body when using the “sieur volecoeur'' intropose.
Octo:
- Fixed an issue where victims of “on the house” would stay affected even outside the range.
- Fixed an issue that caused damage even through walls and floors with the Nautilo.
- Fixed an issue where the “on the house” visual effect could stay stuck for the victim forever.
- Fixed an issue where the intel drain VFX would randomly appear on players not playing Octo.
- Fixed an issue that made the Nautilo AOE not break gadgets.
- Fixed an issue where the Nautilo would not spend intel in training mode.
- Fixed some inks not applying correctly to Octo’s weapons.
Sasori:
- Fixed an issue where positive status effects would scale the damage on Yuki & Hikari.
- Fixed an issue where Yuki & Hikari would only deal base damage to opponents in cover.
- Fixed an issue where Yuki & Hikari damage would stack with every drone trace if the drone is picked back up in between traces.
- Fixed an issue where holding melee then pressing and releasing ADS would make Sasori hold a dart even when having no ammo.
- Fixed an issue where using Noxious Gas while getting neutralized would make the expertise go on cooldown and remain in Sasori’s hand.
- Fixed an issue where victims of poison could not pick their gadgets back up.
Madame Xiu:
- Fixed an issue where getting eliminated while teleporting could leave you stuck in the teleport stance on revive.
- Fixed an issue where the Queen/Monarch skin’s nails could clip while hacking.
- Fixed an issue where the sleeves of the Suan Ming costume could clip through Madame Xiu’s body in the main menu..
Yu-Mi
- Fixed an issue where mashing shots could break her animations and fire rate.
- Fixed an issue where the midnight protector’s skin could lead to clipping in the endscreen car.
Maps
All maps
- Fixed several locations where players could hug purple room walls to evade the vault terminal alarm in all maps.
- Overhaul of navigation mesh around all levels to reduce npc stuck spots and open path that were previously impossible to them.
Hard Sell
- Fixed a location in Hard Sell where players could clip inside a column.
- Fixed an issue where the fountain statue in Hard Sell had a zone around it that would block weapon shots.
- Fixed multiple issues with clipping assets.
Silver Reef
- Fixed an issue where NPCs standing on the extraction when the car arrives would walk in place.
- Fixing the bar inside the vault that was lacking some textures.
- Fixing some plants inside the aquarium that would only be visible from certain viewpoints.
- Fixing a couch that could not be sat on inside the staff rooms.
Diamond Spire
- Fixed the central purple room in the vault having no NPC.
- Fixed lightmap issues on glass walls.
- Fixed invisible collision on top of some railings.
- Fixed multiple walls that could be seen through by walking close enough to them.
Fragrant Shore
- Fixed navmode not giving a path to vault terminal E.
Sound Eclipse
- Vault Doors now have collisions when opened.
- Fixed a location where teammates could spawn very far from each other.
- Fixed a large list of non-sittable chairs. Sit away!
- Fixed certain drawers that could not be open if a level 3 intel spawned on top of it.
- Fixed collision on multiple assets inside the galleria.