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Merc Report - Summer Field Improvements

Hello Mercs,

Following the recent Spring Cleaning Update (https://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/index.php?threads/killing-floor-2-spring-cleaning-2022-update-is-live.2338168/) the team has been working towards more Field Improvements touching on some common player interests & a new weekly mutation!



aa.png



Mercs, get ready for Arsenal Ascent. What is it you ask? A race to see who can quickly kill the most Zed’s with a predetermined set of 24 weapons, starting with the humble, but not to be underestimated knife and 9mm. After that kill quota with a weapon has been met, a stronger one pulled from a set of 3, will be immediately equipped and the race continues until one merc gets through the weapon list first!

You’ll find ammo and armor out there, disabled Trader Pods (and ability to drop weapons) and of course, an endless amount of targets until a victor is crowned! Try not to die, as you’ll be knocked back a few weapon levels depending on your progress...

Survivalists, we all know you have that preferred starting weapon and/or grenade that you wish would show up every time you are headed into the field. Worry no more, as you’ve been cleared to select your starting equipment, primary weapon and grenade!



survqol1.PNG



On your perk selection/overview screen, you will now find arrows that will let you cycle through the available options, including random. At level 15, you’ll choose either the Molotov or Healing Grenade joining the rotation based on your perk pick, so find that combination that works best for you and go kill some Zeds!



survqol2.PNG



Firebug’s will be pleased to hear that their level 25 Inferno skill is being improved. Now your fires and its damage over time, will spread to surrounding Zeds around it, immediately when the damage is dealt. So do what you do best, and light some fires!

Another Quality of Life improvement for those who like to change their weapon style, the inventory will now do a better job of sorting weapon skins, using the following rule set of ordered importance: by weapon (in terms of trader price), rarity (from common to rarest), then quality (battle-scarred to mint).



Notice the RPG grouping in the before and after examples below:
Before

wf_before.PNG


After

wf_after.PNG



And speaking of “arsenals”, the team will have more to share on some new Zed slaying tools coming your way in the days ahead, so stay tuned!
 
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I feel like that weapon selector needs to also be a thing for Prestiged Gunslingers. Perhaps this could be the available weapons based on prestige levels?


No prestige: Dual 1858 Revolvers
Prestige 1: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol
Prestige 2: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol, 1897 Winchester
Prestige 3: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol, 1897 Winchester, HMTECH-101
 
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It seems to me that you scored a dick on a berserker, because before he did not feel so calm in hell, and now he is ****ed in all the cracks, even on a murderous one. At least give him back the resistance. In addition, the gemobyte is taken not for the sake of damage, but in order to heal itself in battle. Do as it was before - 3 charges in the store and 12 with you.
 
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Great change for Survivalist, and glad to see you finally buffing the less-than-favorable Firebug skills! I hope the Inferno fire spread actually deals initial damage instead of just purely DoT -- that would be a good way to clear crowds quickly as opposed to burst-firing single targets with Pyromaniac.

It might be too late into your plans for me to suggest this, but it's best to make the two different skills at any junction have as distinctive and unique of benefits separate from one another as possible, as then there is less design overlap, less application overlap, and more potential for each one to shine in their own situations instead of one being overshadowed constantly. To that end, I was thinking that Inferno could have a nice chance of standing up to the immense firepower of Pyromaniac by actually granting you the ability to heal (perhaps proportionate to how much fire damage you're dealing or kills you're making), which would be unique for Firebug. But if the fire spread you're adding is good enough, it might rival it enough, anyway!
 
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PRAISE JESUS! Thank the gods for this!! I’ve been wishing for more reliable survivor spawns for so long.

Also, does this mean we will be able to use the H.E grenade past level 15, if we so choose? Or is it still restricted to either a Molotov or Medic ‘nade?

if we want to spawn with the Molotov, do we still have to pick the “weapon harness” skill, or would we get to choose between that, the medic grenade, and the H.E grenade when we reach level 15? If so, Ammo Vest may need a buff, as far more people took it just for the medic grenade rather than the 15% extra ammo.
 
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All good news. Too bad it took so long to have such basic improvements to the Survivalist, but at long last : they're here ! I wouldn't say that it suddenly makes the perk super interesting, but at least it fits its role much better now.

Same for the other QoL improvements : that's good news.

Not that hyped over what is basically just a "gun game" mutator, but hey... Those are usually fun. Can't wait to try it out. Plus, it's possibly the only time where you'll compete with your fellow players!
 
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Arsenal Ascent sounds...flawed. And not just from the fact that spawning in with only a knife and 9MM means everyone would stack Commando first round.

I have questions. It sounds like everyone is forced to use the same weapons as one another. Does everyone get an advance notice of what weapons the players have to use? Because only finding out what you get as each round starts would mean that anyone who guessed wrong on perks would be completely shafted for on-perk bonuses (ew) or would just have to assume running Survivalist is the best option (also ew). Playing SWAT only to wind up with a Benelli would be a sad state of affairs.

Also, since this is a technically competitive game mode, whoever guesses lucky on Firebug weapons wins by default. Unless your team is made entirely of coordinated hitscanner specialists (not in this game's lifetime) or Demos that got lucky on weapon spawns instead.


Inferno buff sounds...interesting, but it still wouldn't replace Pyromaniac for me. From the sound of things, the Inferno buff is primarily a buff to Thermite Bore choke campers, who really didn't need it anyway. :<


Also, does this mean we will be able to use the H.E grenade past level 15, if we so choose? Or is it still restricted to either a Molotov or Medic ‘nade?

if we want to spawn with the Molotov, do we still have to pick the “weapon harness” skill, or would we get to choose between that, the medic grenade, and the H.E grenade when we reach level 15? If so, Ammo Vest may need a buff, as far more people took it just for the medic grenade rather than the 15% extra ammo.
Same question I had.

From the wording here, emphasis mine:
At level 15, you’ll choose either the Molotov or Healing Grenade joining the rotation based on your perk pick, so find that combination that works best for you and go kill some Zeds!
So it sounds like Ammo Vest will include "HE grenade + Medic grenade" in your selectable loadout screen, and Weapon Harness will allow for "HE grenade + Molotov" as your selectable options.

But then again, "perk pick" is a different choice of words from "skill pick" and implies different things as a result, so...yeah. But this is a good QoL and I won't begrudge Survivalist players their QoLs, even if it ultimately amounts to another blanket buff for the perk.


I feel like that weapon selector needs to also be a thing for Prestiged Gunslingers. Perhaps this could be the available weapons based on prestige levels?


No prestige: Dual 1858 Revolvers
Prestige 1: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol
Prestige 2: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol, 1897 Winchester
Prestige 3: Dual 1858 Revolvers, HX-25 Grenade Pistol, 1897 Winchester, HMTECH-101
No. Why? Gunslinger has good enough starters with the 1858s and it's not a huge loss in eco if you want to sell them Round 2 for something else. Letting them spawn with a Winchester allows them easy early-game access to Rioter decaps, which is another buff for an already really strong perk.

And allowing players the option to spawn with HX-25 as a Gunslinger is only good in that it would let me know who to immediately kick in HoE servers. I hope I don't have to elaborate on that.
 
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PRAISE JESUS! Thank the gods for this!! I’ve been wishing for more reliable survivor spawns for so long.

Also, does this mean we will be able to use the H.E grenade past level 15, if we so choose? Or is it still restricted to either a Molotov or Medic ‘nade?

if we want to spawn with the Molotov, do we still have to pick the “weapon harness” skill, or would we get to choose between that, the medic grenade, and the H.E grenade when we reach level 15? If so, Ammo Vest may need a buff, as far more people took it just for the medic grenade rather than the 15% extra ammo.
You'll be able to pick any grenade available to you, even if you have unlocked the medic or Molotov via the perk choice.
 
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Arsenal Ascent sounds...flawed. And not just from the fact that spawning in with only a knife and 9MM means everyone would stack Commando first round.

I have questions. It sounds like everyone is forced to use the same weapons as one another. Does everyone get an advance notice of what weapons the players have to use? Because only finding out what you get as each round starts would mean that anyone who guessed wrong on perks would be completely shafted for on-perk bonuses (ew) or would just have to assume running Survivalist is the best option (also ew). Playing SWAT only to wind up with a Benelli would be a sad state of affairs.

The mode has every player set to Survivalist.
 
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I don't feel good about arsenal ascent. The co-op aspect seems diminished if everyone's competing for zeds and I get enough of that from survival with too many solo artists, door welding trolls and too many people throwing medic grenades through welded doors.

This weekly can be played solo can it? Or is it multiplayer only with the winner getting the prize (Sound very annoying if it's so...).

If I'm playing Survivalist, I usually pick my level 25 SWAT for extra armor, extra 9mm and MP7 first then switch to Survivalist next wave. Though I suppose the new change is more useful if you're coming in mid-game.
 
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