Mercs,
As the ever-evolving fight against the outbreak continues, it’s time for a briefing on what is new and what is changing.
We must warn you about some changing conditions out in the field. Our eyes and ears on the ground have been monitoring areas where Zed outbreaks have occurred to let us know about any fresh threats and new obstacles that mercs may face on their missions. Alarming reports have come in about several areas we are giving the code name Contamination Zone.
Due to worsening conditions around the breakdown of several labs, masses of zeds, and other dangers from the collapse of cities, it’s possible to run into areas that are so unsafe that being there will harm the health of those exposed to them. We need mercs to brave these sites to continue our work to eliminate the mobs of specimens there.
To aid those that brave these zones, a variety of safe spaces will be marked. In these spaces, players will be protected from the damage that these contaminated zones inflict. HQ has found a way to protect you and your squad while getting supplies. Once done, there will be limited time to get to the secured area. Take care as getting distracted by the wave of zeds at these locations will be easy, but getting to the protected area is your priority.
Be sure to plan for this new threat before setting out to these locations, it will be challenging to defend yourselves in one spot. Survive the wave of zeds and defeat the boss threat to complete this mission!
Toggle Friendly Hud Keybind
While there is an option to scale the Friendly HUD, we feel players would benefit from the ability to toggle this HUD off and on as necessary.
PC players are able to bind the toggle to the key of their choice.
For console players, there’s an option to use it in the commands wheel by pressing the LB/ L1 buttons while in the command wheel menu.
After hearing an extensive amount of feedback regarding the Field Medic and how its speed, damage, and survivability feel out of balance compared to its expected role we have made some changes. One common call out was how its Level 5 skills made them virtually invulnerable in some specific situations. With the combined changes and the adjustments of the Healthblower, the medic should feel much more like the support role it was meant to have.
Currently, at max level Field Medics can get a 10% Movement Speed boost. This can be increased by Level 10 Perk Skill “Adrenaline Shot” to an extra 30%, getting an overall 40% extra speed. We feel the survivability around this could do with some adjusting to prevent massive healing while outrunning all threats.
The movement speed bonus will be lowered per level from 0.4% per level to 0.2% per level, reaching a 5% extra speed maximum.
Regarding balance, we have made tweaks to some weapons, following the State of the Year Survey:
The Minigun was a powerful weapon, but magazines were always empty by the time the fun started! Bigger mags and more spare ammo make the minigun a great option for its weight and price.
We felt the gun trio (Rhino, Winterbite, Spitfire) had a bit of a problem, and improving the bash attack would help. In the specific case of the Spitfires, due to the still nature of Sharpshooters, if they got trapped, having that weapon meant they wouldn’t have any good way to escape. Now, the bash speeds have been leveled with other pistols (9mm, Revolvers) and any class which uses them will have a way to defend themselves.
Players feel HRG Locust is an extremely powerful weapon by design. The price felt too low for all the weapon had to offer. After the changes for this update, the weapon should feel more balanced in all matches now.
Players felt the Reducto Ray wasn’t a weapon as powerful as its price suggested, so it became the Tier 2 alternative for the survivalist with a price adjustment.
The common opinion on HRG Healthrower was that it’s currently a weapon that does too much too well. It felt too strong for healing teammates and had the killing capacity of Firebug spray weapons.
The Debuff applied to this weapon was solely focused on the damage aspect of it. It’s now a weapon more oriented to healing and supporting teammates, still preserving the viability of using it in Solo mode.
The Mine Reconstructor needed a bit of love to show how great a weapon it is, so we increased its Fire Rate.
It was clear from survey results that players felt the Road Redeemer was a weaker choice when compared to other Berserker weapons in the same tier. It should now feel more in line with other weapons of the same tier.
Feedback on HRG Crossboom was that it was too weak. After checking and looking for what made it weak, we found out that the arrows took too long to explode after impact, and that the explosions weren’t as devastating as they should. That has been addressed!
The Head Hunter is a very special weapon, which forces the Sharpshooter to change its playstyle. However, the main gimmick of the weapon (pop heads with the alt-fire) was overly constrained. Now there’s room for more usage of that Alt-Fire.
As the ever-evolving fight against the outbreak continues, it’s time for a briefing on what is new and what is changing.
Contamination Zone Weekly Outbreak
We must warn you about some changing conditions out in the field. Our eyes and ears on the ground have been monitoring areas where Zed outbreaks have occurred to let us know about any fresh threats and new obstacles that mercs may face on their missions. Alarming reports have come in about several areas we are giving the code name Contamination Zone.
To aid those that brave these zones, a variety of safe spaces will be marked. In these spaces, players will be protected from the damage that these contaminated zones inflict. HQ has found a way to protect you and your squad while getting supplies. Once done, there will be limited time to get to the secured area. Take care as getting distracted by the wave of zeds at these locations will be easy, but getting to the protected area is your priority.
Be sure to plan for this new threat before setting out to these locations, it will be challenging to defend yourselves in one spot. Survive the wave of zeds and defeat the boss threat to complete this mission!
Item Search for Inventory
After 8 years of new items and cosmetics being added to the game’s inventory, we understand that players have accumulated quite a collection. To give players more control and aid them in finding that favorite hat or weapon cosmetic, a search bar is added to the in-game inventory. With the search bar, players will be able to narrow down their search with much more speed.
Toggle Friendly Hud Keybind
While there is an option to scale the Friendly HUD, we feel players would benefit from the ability to toggle this HUD off and on as necessary.
Field Medic Adjustments
After hearing an extensive amount of feedback regarding the Field Medic and how its speed, damage, and survivability feel out of balance compared to its expected role we have made some changes. One common call out was how its Level 5 skills made them virtually invulnerable in some specific situations. With the combined changes and the adjustments of the Healthblower, the medic should feel much more like the support role it was meant to have.
Run Speed Adjustment
Currently, at max level Field Medics can get a 10% Movement Speed boost. This can be increased by Level 10 Perk Skill “Adrenaline Shot” to an extra 30%, getting an overall 40% extra speed. We feel the survivability around this could do with some adjusting to prevent massive healing while outrunning all threats.
The movement speed bonus will be lowered per level from 0.4% per level to 0.2% per level, reaching a 5% extra speed maximum.
Level 5 Skill Changes
- Reduce the resistance cap from Resilience skill to 30%
- Reduce Symbiotic Health Self-Healing to 3%
Weapon Balance Changes
Regarding balance, we have made tweaks to some weapons, following the State of the Year Survey:
The Minigun was a powerful weapon, but magazines were always empty by the time the fun started! Bigger mags and more spare ammo make the minigun a great option for its weight and price.
- Minigun
- Magazine from 90 to 120
- Spare ammo from 540 to 600
- Ammo price per magazine from 90 to 120
We felt the gun trio (Rhino, Winterbite, Spitfire) had a bit of a problem, and improving the bash attack would help. In the specific case of the Spitfires, due to the still nature of Sharpshooters, if they got trapped, having that weapon meant they wouldn’t have any good way to escape. Now, the bash speeds have been leveled with other pistols (9mm, Revolvers) and any class which uses them will have a way to defend themselves.
- Spitfire + Winterbite + Rhino
- Sped up Bash animation 33% (1.5 play rate, around 2s)
Players feel HRG Locust is an extremely powerful weapon by design. The price felt too low for all the weapon had to offer. After the changes for this update, the weapon should feel more balanced in all matches now.
- HRG Locust
- Damage from 60 to 45 (Explosive)
- Bleeding Power from 20 to 15
- Poison Power from 25 to 20
- Upgraded from Tier 3 to 4
- Removed 2nd upgrade
- Trader prices from 900 to 1400
Players felt the Reducto Ray wasn’t a weapon as powerful as its price suggested, so it became the Tier 2 alternative for the survivalist with a price adjustment.
- Reducto Ray
- Trader price from 1200 to 900
The common opinion on HRG Healthrower was that it’s currently a weapon that does too much too well. It felt too strong for healing teammates and had the killing capacity of Firebug spray weapons.
The Debuff applied to this weapon was solely focused on the damage aspect of it. It’s now a weapon more oriented to healing and supporting teammates, still preserving the viability of using it in Solo mode.
- HRG Healthrower
- Damage on Spray end from 27 to 12
- Damage on Spray start (muzzle) from 30 to 15
- Damage Interval from 0.07 to 1.2
- Poison Power from 15 to 10
The Mine Reconstructor needed a bit of love to show how great a weapon it is, so we increased its Fire Rate.
- Mine Reconstructor
- FireInterval from 0.223 to 0.2
It was clear from survey results that players felt the Road Redeemer was a weaker choice when compared to other Berserker weapons in the same tier. It should now feel more in line with other weapons of the same tier.
- Road Redeemer
- Fast attack Damage from 68 to 75
- Heavy attack Damage from 90 to 100
Feedback on HRG Crossboom was that it was too weak. After checking and looking for what made it weak, we found out that the arrows took too long to explode after impact, and that the explosions weren’t as devastating as they should. That has been addressed!
- HRG Crossboom
- DamageRadius from 200 to 250
- SecondsBeforeDetonation from 0.5 to 0.2
The Head Hunter is a very special weapon, which forces the Sharpshooter to change its playstyle. However, the main gimmick of the weapon (pop heads with the alt-fire) was overly constrained. Now there’s room for more usage of that Alt-Fire.
- HRG Head Hunter
- AmmoCost (alt fire mode) from 100 to 25
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