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Merc Report - Spring Into Field Improvements

Hey Mercs,

With your next assignment heading this way, we felt you were due for a briefing on updated and changing conditions in the field. So let's take a look at the upcoming Quality of Life improvements for all our favorite Zed slayers.

Medics, you know the drill, you do your best to keep the team alive and are often left holding all the complaints. Well this one's for you and your teammates to enjoy together: HUD indicators for medic buffs.

medicbuff.png


Medics using Adrenaline Shot, Focus Injection and Coagulant Booster will now trigger the following HUD indicators when the effects are in play.

The initial DOSH a player is granted on joining a mission has also been updated. Horzine has decided to be a little more generous so that those joining late in a mission have more opportunity to provide a meaningful impact and not just another meal for a hungry Zed.

Value Changes:
  • Short:
    • Wave 1 - from 550 to 700
    • Wave 2 - from 650 to 850
    • Wave 3 - from 1200 to 1650
    • Wave 4 - from 1500 to 2200
  • Medium
    • Wave 1 - from 450 to 600
    • Wave 2 - from 600 to 800
    • Wave 3 - from 750 to 1000
    • Wave 4 - from 800 to 1100
    • Wave 5 - from 1100 to 1500
    • Wave 6 - from 1400 to 2000
    • Wave 7 - from 1500 to 2200
  • Long
    • Wave 1 - from 450 to 600
    • Wave 2 - from 550 to 700
    • Wave 3 - from 750 to 1000
    • Wave 4 - from 1000 to 1300
    • Wave 5 - from 1200 to 1650
    • Wave 6 - from 1300 to 1800
    • Wave 7 - from 1400 to 2000
    • Wave 8 - from 1500 to 2200
    • Wave 9 - from 1600 to 2400
    • Wave 10 - from 1600 to 2400

Several weapons and perks have also been adjusted to help improve the merc experience. Please keep in mind that these values are subject to change as we progress through our internal testing and public beta process. First up, the weapons:

  • SA80 L85A2 Bullpup
    • Weapon weight reduced from 6 to 5
    • Bullet damage increased from 30 to 32
    • Initial spare magazines on Trader purchase reduced from 4 to 3
    • Ammo price per magazine increased from 30 to 32
  • Freezethrower
    • Rate of fire of default fire reduced by 30%
    • Minimum ammo consume of default fire reduced from 4 to 3
    • Alt-fire damage type changed from “Freeze” to “Ballistic_Shotgun”
    • Alt-fire base damage increased from 20 to 35 per ice shard.
    • Number of shards of alt-fire reduced from 12 to 9
    • Spread of alt-fire shards reduced by 20%
    • Default fire horizontal recoil reduced by 30%
    • Alt-fire vertical recoil increased by 50%

And the perks, starting with the Dual 9mm, which has had several perk skills reactivated for use, which are:
  • SWAT's Tactical Movement, Suppression Rounds, Rapid Assault and Tactical Reload
  • Support's Tactical Reload
  • Sharpshooter's Tactical Reload
  • Demolitionist's Tactical Reload
  • Commando's Tactical Reload, Prepared, Machine Gunner and Tactician
Other perk skills that have been updated to help provide more meaningful perk choice are:
  • Berserker
    • Dreadnaught
      • Total Health bonus increased from 75% to 100%.
    • Resistance
      • Resistance to all damage increased from 20% to 25%.
      • Additional resistance to Poison and Sonic damage increased from 20% to 25%.
  • Field Medic
    • Resilience
      • Max amount of resistance increased from 50% to 70%.
  • Sharpshooter
    • ZED TIME - Ranger
      • Updated the way this perk skill applies the stun, to be more consistent. Now every shoot of any perk weapon will stun any Zed.

Have you ever ended up on a server that may have their own set of rules that may be different from the standard gameplay rules and found yourself removed from the server? This last change brings a new filter and menu element, for PC players, to the server browser and matchmaking. It’s now labeled the “No Local Admin” filter. With this new option, players will be able to look for- and filter out- servers that are using web admin kicking and banning features.

localadmin.png

The last thing we would like to bring to your attention is an upcoming new option for how you can obtain weapon DLC , as we experiment with another optional solution to better meet some player expectations. We are doing this in the form of an Armory Season Pass. Starting at $29.99 USD with regional pricing available for supported markets, it would grant players all of 2021’s new paid DLC weapons as they become available, and this first season pass will also include all previously released DLC weapons as well. Upcoming weapons will continue to be available to purchase via individual packs and double bundles when applicable to the update but this should provide players a one stop-shop solution at a bulk discount.

Keep an eye out next week for the latest news in the world of Zed slaying tools.
 
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Dang 30 bucks for all added weapons up to 2022, doubt anyone - such as myself - will benefit at all from prior purchasing?
Also find it amusing Dreadnaught is getting upped when I was lambasted for suggesting such a while ago, tbh after the Minigun got added it seemed anything was possible, within reason that is.
Glad to see some much-needed TLC mentioned above, looking forward to getting hands-on when the time comes 🙂
 
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WTF TRIPWIRE? buffing Zerks and medics?! These perks are already strong enough... While SWAT, SURVIVALIST and other perks really need buffing.. the sharpshooter could use a real buff. And who the **** would say that berserkers and medics need a buff?! You're doing what you guys want... Not giving a **** about what players want
And the sharpshooter buff is not really a buff.. you fixed an issue with the game..
This perk balancing is a complete bull**** .. tripwire treats its players like idiots.. that's why KF2 won't be going anywhere .. looks like the developers only listen to themselves
 
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$30 for DLC weapons Season Pass where mentioned early we got in 2021 only 1x weapon as a ,,bundle,, this means 4x weapons in year im say NO !

bring back old system 2x weapons bundle (starting with upcoming cyber revolt event) this means 8x DLC weapons in year and $30 for this armory season pass is fair price
 
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I should point out that the team is aware that some perks are in need of a balance pass to bring them more inline with the other perks. However the changes here are to make sure that the perk choices between existing perks choices is more evenly split under the current balance.
I hope what you're saying will happen.. if you do that properly then you won't need to release a killing floor 3
 
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  • Berserker
    • Dreadnaught
      • Total Health bonus increased from 75% to 100%.
    • Resistance
      • Resistance to all damage increased from 20% to 25%.
      • Additional resistance to Poison and Sonic damage increased from 20% to 25%.
  • Field Medic
    • Resilience
      • Max amount of resistance increased from 50% to 70%.

I understand the idea behind the changes but they're completely unwarranted. Dreadnaught, even if it's underused compared to Skirmisher, is a perfectly powerful skill because having much higher base HP makes you unbelievably survivable, especially on Zerk who already has ridiculous amounts of ways to mitigate damage(not to mention Medics exist). Making Resistance stronger as well just exacerbates the problem, you may make these individual skills more powerful and popular but you push Zerk even further away from every other perk than it already is.

The Resilience change is similarly unnecessary but it's not as bad. Resilience isn't used often and is seen as "underpowered" because it's fighting Symbiotic Healing, which allow you to grant buffs to yourself extremely easily, not just because Resilience isn't seen as powerful. Again, you might make the skill stronger and more appealing but the problem here isn't that Resilience is weak, it's that Buffs from self-healing are too good to pass up.
 
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  • "HUD indicators for medic buffs" Lmao, finally.

  • "More dosh" Why?
  • "SA80 L85A2 Buff" FINALLY. Do more stuff like this.

  • "Freezethrower" Sorry, don't care.

  • "Dual 9mm buff" YES! Please do same for syringe and welder, it doesn't make sence why Zerk can't run properly with them and SWAT's Tactical Movement doesn't work.

  • Not sure about Zerk and Medic buffs, but will see.

  • "Now every shoot of any perk weapon will stun any Zed." If it actually doesn't do that, I swear to god...

  • So let me get this straight - you want to prevent people from joining my server because I use webadmin?
    Now it doesn't matter if server has spectating bot admin or not, and it will only support trolls/griefers.
    Don't you understand that most of the playerbase are oblivious about 90% of features this game has and not going to bother looking in options?
    That's why they use matchmaking in the first place - they don't care enough to look at server browser, but they know how reddit works so they complain about "randomly kicked from server" every other day.
    And if you make this option active by default, you just going to make servers like mine completely obsolete.
    And don't get me wrong - I would remove my server already but there's no quicker way to set up game HOW I WANT and play with friends once a year.
    You need to encourage new players to use server browser more. What you are doing right now is just give more attention to that douchebag with his servers and nothing else.


  • As much many people will disagree with me but I think battle pass is a good idea. Obviously, Im not gonna buy it (because you lose any credibility as a game company for me but I digress) but I know some people are and it's still beneficial for "some kind of" future of this game and me, in a way...
 
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Think some people need to relax, remember this year we're getting EIGHT more Outbreaks as well as more toys to use and places to use them.

As has been stated above, it may be worth sacrificing seismic changes now and consider that for the next game - granted it may not be ideal BUT imagine the next entry dropping sooner as resources are spent more appropriately - big picture and all that.

I'm curiously optimistic about this year's content and hope that sometime in the near future we'll get a small preview of what's next.

EDIT - will the boosted spawn dosh also count in Endless? Ask because you could drop into a game and inadvertently derail their momentum.
 
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-Okay, that season pass idea is a real blessing. 30 bucks for merely four DLC weapons would still be fairly expensive, but if we're getting everything released prior? That's like 30 bucks for more than a dozen new toys. That's definitely fair and I'm kinda wondering why you haven't thought so earlier! I'm a bit sad for the people who actually spend money already... But considering I always found the base price way too expensive, I'm a bit in a "sucks to be them" mood. When we tell people to "vote with their wallet", that's exactly what you should do : hold on until something fairer appear.

Not much else to say, that's a very good move. I'll more than likely succumb to it !

-I won't be as vocal as @Humam2104 , but I also believe that buffing both the zerk and medic to such extent wasn't required at all. I understand that the zerk is always in the heat of battle, but he'll be nearly unkillable at that point. I follow @MrFailology about that : it's just too much. Resistance and Dreadnaught doesn't need to be buffed : Skirmisher needs to be slightly nerfed. Meanwhile, a lot of people on these forums are saying that the medic is already more than great, so buffing him further sounds incomprehensible. At least I can praise the extra visual indicators on his buffs.

-I've always been a strong user of both the Freezethrower (ever since he had that goddamn OP ice shards !) and SA-80 (just out of nostalgia for KF1) and it's great they're both getting a slight buff. I don't know if many more people will grab that SA-80 even with a slightly lighter weight. But I know I'll love it even more.

-I pretty much NEVER join a playthrough in the middle of it (always feels like I'm just dropping out of nowhere, being a nuisance more than extra help). So I genuinely don't know if having that extra dosh is good or not. I mean, I guess it would definitely help those people showing up late ? But wouldn't that make the game a bit too easy as well? A lot of veterans are already saying that the game doesn't really offer challenges anymore. Plus, I personally believe that in a team-based game, handing out dosh at your friends should be a key component. Even if, obviously, some dum-dums will keep everything to themselves instead...

-I'm surprised you still haven't showcased the new guns coming with the update... Are you somewhat ashamed of them or what? This or they're so damn mind-blowing that you're saving them for last ! Or it's just random and I'm looking too deep into it. I'm just used for new guns to be shown either in the first or second Merc Report
 
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