Update R76: PvE Perks & Ranked PvP

July 25, 2023 update

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Greetings, Shatterliners!


Are you ready for the biggest update since the Early Access launch? Here's Update R76.



PVE PERKS


In this update, we introduce a big change: operatives perks progression ladder in PvE. Each operative now has a unique progression of five PvE perks that will make your forays into higher-threat Expedition sectors a lot easier and more comfortable, and will ultimately enable you to reach further and further into the Zone and study its secrets. All perks work in PvE Episodes as well.




To climb the progression ladder, you will need to spend some resources that you extract from expeditions. There are five such new resources: Shards, Spores, Capacitors, Energy Cores, and Red Matter, and various progression perks will require you to spend a different combination and amounts of these resources.


EXPEDITION


We are sure you would like to see more unique melee weapons in PvE. We start with Brisa, who now wields a beautiful and deadly Crystalline Katana, and Ram, with a mighty axe. Additionally, as a perk from the Operatives Expedition Progression, Strix may be equipped with a shield and hammer. From this release on, the unique melee weapons can also be used in PvE episodes.


We added a new encounter, the Gravity Tower, along with two new activities, two new dungeons, and new contracts. 


Other Expedition changes:

  • The Contract and Main Goal rewards are now guaranteed and don't require a successful extraction.
  • Now you can use refill points to detect the nearest dungeon in your vicinity if you acquire dungeon intel.
  • Players can now locate and extract five unique resources needed to unlock Expedition progression levels.
  • The Expedition win/lose screen also features your rewards and completed objectives.
  • The amount of rewards for completing quests now depends on the threat level. The higher the threat, the bigger the reward.


Several Expedition weapon keys were rebound:

  • The dedicated melee weapon is now called by the "3" key (used to be bound to the long-pressed "v" key). Use the "Y" button on the game controller.
  • The power weapon is bound to the "4" key (used to be "3"). Press the D-pad down on the game controller.



BALANCE CHANGES


Operatives balance tweaks


  • Malva. The cool-down time of her ultimate ability, the Healing Station, increased. Hit points restored from the medi-spray decreased from 100 to 50.
  • Pill. The Crystalline Flamethrower's plasma now flies in a straight line.
  • Brisa. Melee attacks do not decloak you anymore while the Tactical Cloak ability's cool-down time increased. The Glass Mine can now be thrown, similar to Kite's Remote Mine, and not just planted at your feet.
  • Kite. The Remote Mine's cool-down time increased.
  • Ram and Strix. There is no cool-down timer anymore to use the exoskeleton speed boost ability. The ability works as stamina now, so you can use it unless the stamina is fully depleted. The HUD icon for this ability was overhauled.

Weapon balance tweaks


  • Dragonfly sniper rifle: damage in PvE increased by almost 75%.
  • Λ-3 Pilum assault rifle: accuracy decreased by 15% and aiming speed decreased two-fold.
  • Zenith assault rifle: the rate of fire decreased by 5% and stability decreased by 10%.
  • Tornado submachine gun: the effective distance increased by 15%, accuracy decreased by 15%, and the rate of fire increased slightly.
  • U22 Svarog revolver: the base damage in PvE at long range decreased by 15% while the PvE base damage at close range increased by 5%.
  • U44 Culverina revolver: the base damage in PvE at long range decreased by 25%.

Weapon attachments tweaks


  • HOLDEX magazine for the Berlington TAC shotgun increases the reload speed by 20% (used to be 30%).
  • Selenium ammo for the XM-27 Pacifier assault rifle: the extra damage to Crystalline creatures tripled.
  • Selenium ammo for the G9 Kungen and G7 Springer pistols, M2 Tactical SAS shotgun, Tornado submachine gun, and Λ-7 Ghost assault rifle: the extra damage to Crystalline creatures doubled.
  • Tungsten carbide bullets for the G9 Kungen pistol and Tungsten carbide pellets for the R21 Brute shotgun: extra damage to Strafers doubled.
  • Combined receiver for the G7 Springer pistol: after a precision kill, footstep sound volume is reduced by 80% for 15 seconds (used to be 10 seconds).
  • Momentum booster for the Λ-9 Legatus assault rifle: refills 20 rounds in magazine upon a slide kill (used to be 10 rounds).
  • Exploding mag (empty magazines explode upon reload) for the R60 Gevaudan shotgun: explosion radius and damage were significantly increased.


RANKED MATCHES


The long-awaited and frequently-asked-for Ranked Matches have finally arrived!


  • Please note that this is just the first iteration of Ranked Matches, therefore some things are basic, and others are missing for the moment as we want to test everything with you as soon as possible before moving forward. For instance, there is no leaderboard nor rank progression visualization on the match result screen.
  • Ranked Matches are season based, and the duration of the first testing season is one month.
  • Ranked Matches are played in Escort Mode featuring three maps: Escort, March, and Barracuda. The team size is 5v5.
  • There are five leagues: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond, each one consisting of four levels - from Level IV (the lowest) to Level I.
  • The player starts with 300 ranked points and needs 1,000 points to progress to another level. The current rank points scheme is simple: 200 points for winning, minus 90 points for losing, and 50 points for ending a match with a draw. This scheme is a testing ground for the ranked matches and will be improved in the future.
  • When you reach the Silver, Gold, or Platinum League, you won't roll back to the previous one. When you reach the Diamond League, you can roll back to the Platinum one, but you will still have 3 lost-games protection.
  • After progressing to each new league and after reaching Level I of the Diamond League, you will receive a special badge as a reward. The match rewards are increased by 20% for ranked matches in comparison with Versus matches.

MISCELLANEOUS


  • When a player joins or leaves a game session, this information is displayed in the game chat.
  • Two new seasonal tasks that will reward you with a unique nameplate and badge.
  • Ram's Shellguard Visor cosmetic item had one small inherent issue. While being technically a headgear item, it combined a helmet and goggles, thus blocking the use of the face accessory slot. We resolved this by splitting the item into a separate helmet and goggles, so you may now use them in combination with each other or with other headgear or face accessory items.
  • We added audio for weapon inspection of XM-40 Conciliator, Λ-3 Pilum, Λ-9 Legatus, Firespray, Λ-1 Centurion, U44 Culverina, and G7 Springer.
  • Twitch drops support was added.
  • The Operatives Cosmetics Screen design was overhauled to be in line with the overall user interface design. When customizing your operative, you will see a separate screen where all the items are grouped into two categories: "All" and "Owned".

New instant awards:

  • Air Defense, for killing opponents who were mid-air (in a jump, for instance).
  • Bombs Go Boom, for killing 10 Seeker Mines or Glass Hounds (aka Bomb Dogs) in PvE.
  • Eagle Eye, for 3 headshot kills of snipers in PvE.
  • Three instant awards for hip-fire kills: Hip Killer, for killing 5 opponents in PvE or 2 in PvP with hip fire, No Scope (15 opponents in PvE or 5 in PvP), and Hip Shooter (30 in PvE or 7 in PvP).



BUG FIXES


  • Fixed crash at match join.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where you could shoot through several boulders.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where a player could reach non-playable areas.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where a player could get stuck at the entrance to the Strafer Vault.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where several trees were hanging in the air.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where Chosens' stashes could spawn half-buried in the ground, under Strafer Depots, or hanging in the air.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the operative's gear was present on the mission result screen as rewards.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the Crystalline Storm could enter the observatory building.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the air strike could happen inside a portal.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where Strafers in Sector Delta were spawning underground during extraction.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where a player could get stuck in a crystalline formation in the area next to the observatory dome.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the Gomorrah weapon could be resupplied from the ammo drops from AIs.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where weapon skins were not applied to weapons in the match.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the first supply box didn't provide any primary weapon.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where a player could get through a concrete flower bed at the corner of the house on the rock, through boulders in the lava river, and through the edge of the roof of the building next to the parking lot.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where a player could climb onto a void space that the destructed turret used to take. We also fixed an issue with several invisible objects on the Expedition map.
  • Fixed issue in Expedition where the Glasshead Nursery encounter could be completed without defeating the boss.
  • Fixed issue on the March PvP map where a player could peak into an overpassing tube and kill an opponent who was there. We also fixed another issue on this map where Kite could get into a non-playable location by using the wall ability.
  • Fixed issue with the "Smoke and Mirrors" task where the task description differed in the task description in the menu and the task itself.
  • Fixed issue where the "Watch Them Burn" task didn't count the Lava Galassheads kills.
  • Fixed issue where Pill's Stasis Field grenade could fail to freeze AIs under certain conditions.
  • Fixed issue in the Armory where the weapon reload time didn't display the correct value when any attachment affecting the reload speed was equipped.
  • Fixed issue where the equipped weapon perks or attachments didn't affect the weapon parameters on the Weapon Customization Screen.
  • Fixed issue where the Adrenaline Rush perk for the Z-940 Drachen submachine gun had an epic perk icon instead of a legendary one.
  • Fixed issue where the UI recent item icons were still present after purchased customization items were equipped on the preview screen.
  • Fixed issue on the Island PvP map where Crystalline shards appeared when a player shot at the bush.
  • Fixed issue where Ram's Throwing Axe dealt only 10 damage to the Stilt and Queen bosses.
  • Fixed issue with broken weapon selection animation after the use of the climbing ability by the Recon class.
  • Fixed issue with quick melee animation which played twice if quick melee was used right after an attack with the Tactical Kukri.
  • Fixed issue where players couldn't enter the Shooting Range if they left the squad after a game session.
  • Fixed issue with broken Pill's drone animation in the game lobby after a player left a match and returned to the lobby.
  • Fixed issue where the operative figure in the lobby could become invisible when a player visited the Profile Info screen and returned back to the lobby.
  • Fixed issue with the non-working Smoke Mag weapon attachment.
  • Minor localization fixes.