The Cycle: Frontier - Patch 2.2.0

Hey Prospectors!

Patch 2.2.0 is now live and with it a lot of gear and weapon balance changes. All details are available below, but first, a quick word from our dev team. Have a nice read!

Phew, quite a few balance changes in this patch!

So, what were our goals here?

Overall we've gotten quite a lot of feedback that especially late-game armor has not been impactful enough.
We want to be in a place where a lesser geared player can defeat players with better gear, if they outplay them and land their shots.
We also however want armor and gear to be something that matters and that is desirable, that does give you an advantage, and that feels impactful - and this goal we haven't quite been hitting in S2 so far.
What we've done here is essentially 2 things:

• Armor and penetration now increase linearly (+5) per tier (this means that where previously the jumps from grey to green and green to blue were the most impactful, now the difference is the same for each tier)
• The damage mitigation formula is tuned so that the difference between tiers is slightly increased - this means that a low tier gun will now be less effective against for example Exotic armor than previously

We're not talking huge changes here, but we hope the jumps in especially late-game armor tiers should be more noticeable and feel more impactful.

We've also slightly reduced K-mark prices of gear that is blue and above. In a nutshell, gear now matters more, but is also more accessible, to hit a better spot in terms of value-for-money.
Let us know how it plays!

In addition to the above, there are also many tuning changes to specific guns and systems (e.g. on the C32, Shattergun, and shotguns in general - let's get some SMG's back into the late-game mix!), based on the great feedback we've been getting from the community.

As always: keep that feedback coming! <3

And now, the patch notes!

CHANGES

• Karma SFX overhaul
• Spawn rules for map 3 got adjusted
• "Power of Looting" step added to the Tutorial.
• Increased Contrast of the EVAC on the map
• The map name will be shown on the ingame map now
• We have revised some of the mission texts to make it more clear
• We have improved the map selection screen. It now shows additional information.
• You will be able to see the maximum number of players on the selection screen now
• Removed the need to crouch when you enter the forge pipe room
• We added 3 new trio spawn points for Map 3 - Tharis Island
• Slightly increased brightness in darkest areas (more significant improvements to visibility coming next patch)
• Climbing or mantling an object will use less stamina
• Added and updated some of our anti-cheat detections.

WEAPONS & GEAR

• Armor and Penetration progression values have been rescaled throughout the rarity levels:
  • Common: remains at 10.
  • Uncommon: previously 17, now 15.
  • Rare: previously 23, now 20.
  • Epic: previously 27, now 25.
  • Exotic: remains at 30.
  • Legendary: remains at 33.

• Damage mitigation formula is reworked to increase the differences between low tier and high tier gear.
  • 5 points difference: from 11% to 13% damage reduction and amplification.
    • Example: 15 penetration vs 10 armor now has 13% damage amplification while 10 penetration vs 15 armor now has 13% damage reduction.

  • 10 points difference: from 20% to 23% damage reduction and amplification.
    
  • 20 points difference: from 33% to 37% damage reduction and amplification.
• K-28:
  • Increased damage from 12 to 13. Reduced recoil by 20%.

• C-32 Bolt Action:
  • Damage reduced from 57 to 50.
  • Price is reduced from 10,000 to 6,800 K-Marks

• B9 Trenchgun:
  • Movement speed is now reduced by 10% when the weapon is drawn.

• Scarab:
  • Reduced refire time between bursts from 0.34s to 0.26s.

• PKR Maelstrom:
  • Movement speed is now reduced by 10% when the weapon is drawn.

• Shattergun:
  • Now reaches its maximum damage reduction due to distance (50%) at 20 meters instead of 30 meters.
  • Movement speed is now reduced by 10% when the weapon is drawn.

• KARMA-1:
  • Increased magazine size from 2 to 5.

• Zeus Beam:
  • Reduced recoil by ~50%.

• Reduced buying price of Rare to Exotic Weapons:
  • Lacerator: From 41,000 to 31,000 K-Marks.
  • PKR Maelstrom: from 22,000 to 17,000 K-Marks.
  • ICA Guarantee: From 31,000 to 24,000 K-Marks.
  • Phasic Lancer: From 31,000 to 24,000 K-Marks.
  • Asp Flechette Gun: From 54,000 to 41,000 K-Marks.
  • Gorgon: From 76,000 to 58,000 K-Marks.
  • KBR Longshot: From 99,000 to 76,000 K-Marks.
  • Shattergun: From 54,000 to 41,000 K-Marks.
  • Advocate: 76,000 to 58,000 K-Marks.
  • Hammer: From 73,000 to 56,000 K-Marks.
  • Kor-47: From 210,000 to 161,000 K-Marks.
  • Voltaic Brute: From 149,000 to 114,000 K-Marks.
  • Kinetic Arbiter: From 412,000 to 315,000 K-Marks.
  • Basilisk: From 275,000 to 210,000 K-Marks.

• Reduced buying price of Epic to Exotic Helmets and Shields:
  • Epic Helmet: From 23,000 to 17,000 K-Marks.
  • Exotic Helmet: From 51,000 to 34,000 K-Marks.
  • Epic Shield: From 46,000 to 39,000 K-Marks.
  • Exotic Shield: From 103,000 to 79,000 K-Marks.

• Selling prices and repair costs are adjusted consequently.
  
• You can charge your heavy melee attack when sprinting again, setting you once more on a warpath to unbridled mayhem and fury.
  
• We reduced the effective range of the shotgun slug.
  
• Projectile velocities have been increased for different weapons as follows:
  • Pistols: +15%
  • ARs: +30%
  • SMGs: +20%

BUG FIXES

• Fixed some issues that could cause players to be stuck on a mission instead of being able to complete a mission. Prospectors should never agree to work for free after all.
• A glass roof in the Rock Pools area is finally went through some badly-needed maintenance and won't let rain drops pour through anymore.
• You can't break the landing animation anymore with a swing of your trusty melee weapon. Co-Tek thanks you for remaining seated for the duration of your incredibly dangerous drop.
• The Duel Challenge banner got its color adjusted.
• You will finally be able to escape the social overview window by pressing the ESC key.
• As specific as it sounds, the healing animation while crouched now plays properly when observing someone in third person.
• Meteor debris got their color corrected, to the amazements of Osiris geologists.
• The "Repair Successful" message now appears in white instead of yellow, as the elder gods of UI had always intended.
• Perks on helmets were not centered. They are now. And a collective sigh of relief was heard across the surface.
• You will be able to properly access Badum's Codex now after you have finished your tutorial missions.
• It could happen that you needed to turn your flashlight attachment on a weapon twice after switching away from the weapon. We replaced those shoddy flashlights and it's better now.
• The waterfall audio was fixed after pondering the issue for a good while.
• Your running motion and footstep sounds when carrying a Basilisk with a legendary Backpack got fixed.
• The main culprit for the Marauder teleporting at times got fixed, meaning those beasts finally lost their Ultra Instinct.
• The healing speed perks got fixed.
• Another fix for the EVAC ramps has been implemented preventing those ships from acting as homemade catapults.
• Fixed an issue where bullets would sometimes ignore armor. We will continue to monitor this issue and make sure that armors and bullets keep working on their unsteady relationship.
• Fixed an issue with broken storm sound effects. You could hear them more often than intended and they do not cut off anymore.
• Fixed several map exploits on Tharis Island.
• Stopped players from being able to phase through a door at the Water Facility, allowing that door to finally express its primary function.
• Stim and Medkit healing speed perks actually do something now.
• Fixed a bug that caused Alien Backpacks to mysteriously appear in the crafting station. And yet, the truth remains elsewhere.

MAPS

• We fixed a bunch of issues on all 3 maps, so you can expect less of the following:
  • "Stuckspots" A.K.A. death traps.
  • Object clippings.
  • Out of bound areas.
  • Accessing unreachable areas.

KNOWN ISSUES

• Alien Hunter Vision is being adjusted to be more in line with the original intentions and less overpowered than the iteration we had at the beginning of the season. We are testing those changes with the hope to re-enable that perk in the next patch if everything goes as planned
• Player Quarter upgrades may sometimes not complete on the player's end when the timer completes.
• No-reg hit markers occurring during combat is currently being investigated by the team. We hope to have a fix for this ASAP.
• The Sparkling Pool area on Tharis Island is spawning too many mushrooms. We're working with our horticulture team to get that more under control.
• Fortuna Pass daily quest XP not resetting for some users.
• Some users are experiencing an "unrecoverable error" crash, this is likely due to corrupt files on your system. Please reach out to the team via discord.
• Users can occasionally get stuck in a reconnect and crash loop.
• Some textures on Tharis Island can take extra time to load causing parts of the map to no render properly.
• Though it was addressed in a previous patch, some users are still report getting stuck during the FTUE tasks from Badum. If this happens, please reach out to a Community Manager via Discord DMs with your in-game name.

That's all we've got for you this time around. These balancing changes should make progression feel a bit more rewarding while still giving those first-time prospectors a fighting chance against those who have found success in their ventures planet-side. We will of course be monitoring these balance changes to make sure they have the impact that we intend, so please be sure to share your feedback after trying things out for a few drops. The team is still working hard on fixes and updates that will come with future patches. Happy prospecting to all those brave enough to venture onto Fortuna III. May the RNG gods be with you all.

As usual, don't forget to join us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) and make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheCycleGame)

Thanks for your time and attention. Fortuna III will open again once our maintenance is done and over with. Until then, take care of yourselves Prospectors.

Oh and of course, as you all know by now: Fortuna Favors the bold!