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WWAUT - Heading Towards (an opt-in) Beta

Yoshiro

Senior Community Manager
Staff member
  • Oct 10, 2005
    14,524
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    Hello everyone!


    I want to talk about some upcoming perk changes we have in the pipe! With the last update we took a pass at some of the older perks and brought them more in line with some of the more recent additions and incorporating community feedback. Below you’ll find the changes we are working on and the reasons we are making them!


    Now to help test these changes, as well as the new content we’ve been working on, we are gearing up for another opt in beta. This means internally we are wiping our staging branch (no more QoL updates until the next content release) and instead making it our beta/RC branch for that update. We expect we will have the beta ready in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. We will have more information as we get closer!


    We also have some Zedconomy changes that are going live today. We’ve re-balanced the drop tables so players should see much more variation in the items they see as well as increased the odds on weapon skins and cosmetic items dropping. We have also increased the drop rate so that players should receive a new drop daily.


    Changelog:

    Berserker

    We've collected lots of data since we released the latest Berserker perk and have decided to buff some of the skills that were not getting selected very much and made them a much more enticing.


    Perk Changes

    LvL5 Dreadnaught

    • Increase total Health 75%. (was 50%)

    LvL10 Vampire
    • Heal 4 points of Health for every Zed you kill with perk weapons. Attack 20% faster with perk melee weapons. (was 15%)

    LvL15 Parry
    • Parry an attack will now reduce incoming damage an additional 75% on top of weapons base parry resistance.

    LvL20 Massacre
    • Light attacks do 30% more damage (was 20%)
    • all attacks are 5% faster (was only light attacks)

    LvL25 Berserker Rage
    • Zeds close to you will try to flee because you're so scary with your berserker rage




    Commando

    The following skills weren't picked very much so we've buffed the following skills.


    Perk Changes

    LvL5 FallBack skill

    • 9mm and knife now do 2.1x more damage (was 0.6x)

    LvL15 Prepared
    • Get 20% extra ammo (previously was 2 mags)

    LvL20 Rock n Roll
    • Mag capacity increased to 100% (was 50%)



    Gunslinger

    We're pretty happy with gunslinger skills but felt it wasn't to the refinement level the last few perks were at so we've modified some skills and redid others. Gunslinger fans should really like these changes!


    Perk Changes


    New Passive added

    • Zedtime reload: 2% increase in zedtime reload speed per level max 50%

    Passive change
    • Movement speed: gain 4% every 5 levels to max 20% (was max 25%)

    LvL 5 Quick Draw
    • No recoil penalty for shooting in hip while moving.
    • Move 5% faster

    LvL 10 Rack em Up
    • every head shot you get increases damage by 10% up to 5 head hits maxing at 50% extra damage. Now if you miss a shot the counter doesn't go down, as long as you get another head shot every 2 sec your counter will keep going up.

    LvL 10 Bone Breaker
    • arms and legs now take additional 30% extra damage on top of the 20% general extra damage.

    LvL 15 Line em Up
    • no damage reduction for shooting through any zed.

    LvL 20 Skull cracker
    • Head shots on zeds will slow their speed by 30%

    LvL 20 Knock em Down
    • Shooting zeds in the legs while sprinting will knock them down and chest shots massively increase stumble.




    Demolition

    Shock Trooper wasn't selected enough and Destroyer of worlds had some major balance issues, so we've done another refinement pass on the perk. We believe all Demo fans will be a fan of these changes.


    Perk Changes


    New Passive added

    • Reactive armor: when you take your killing blow your armor explodes doing massive damage and leaving you with 1 health.

    LvL 5 Shock Trooper
    • you reload your weapons faster and also increase Stumble and knockdown power by 25%

    LvL 25 Destroyer of Worlds
    • We fixed this skill and had to rework it. The Nuke still does the same amount of direct damage but damage over time has been fixed so it doesn't wreck big zeds and the boss like it did before. Also your rounds will explode at any range.

    LvL 25 Mad Bomber
    • The skill remains the same, but with the added benefit of your rounds exploding at any range.



    Medic

    This was one of our first perks we've done and we didn't feel it was as good as it could be so we've done a complete rework. We've taking a lot of feedback from the players gathered in our forums to do this. Thank you to everyone involved! The new Perk tree has two major paths. First, the left side is all about becoming a great supporting medic, buffing your teammates so they can be more effective. The right side is all about being a combat medic, with skills that allow you to survive better and kill zeds easier.

    Perk Rework


    Passive Skills

    • 8% faster syringe recharge rate per level (max 200%)
    • 2% more potent medical injections per level (max 50%)
    • 2% less damage from poison per level (max 50%) (with reduced visual effect – uses the light effect)
    • 2% increased movement speed every 5 levels (max 10%)
    • 3% more armor each level (max 75%)


    Level 5 Symbiotic Health
    • Increase your total Health by 25%. When you heal a teammate, you also heal yourself 10% of your maximum Health.

    Level 5 Resilience
    • Increase your damage resistance by 1% per Health point lost, max out at 50% resistant to damage

    LvL 10 Adrenaline Shot
    • Healing your teammates increases their movement speed by 10% for five seconds. This can stack up to 3 times for a 30% movement speed bonus

    LvL 10 Combat Doctor
    • Increase the magazine capacity of your Medic weapons by 50% and your movement speed by 10%.

    LvL 15 Focus Injection
    • Healing your teammates increases their damage by 5% for five seconds. This can stack up to 4 times for a 20% damage bonus.

    LvL 15 Acidic Rounds
    • Your Medic weapons can poison Zeds, doing damage over time

    LvL 20 Coagulant Booster
    • Healing your teammates increases their damage resistance by 10% for 5 sec. This can stack 3 times for a 30% damage resistance bonus.

    LvL 20 Battle Surgeon
    • Increase your damage with your Medic weapons by 20%.

    LvL 25 Zed Time - Airborne Agent
    • You release a healing gas from your location During Zed time, healing teammates close by.

    LvL 25 Zed Time - Zedative
    • Damaging Zeds during Zed time with Medic weapons will slow their movement speed by 30% and do massive amounts of poison damage.




    Firebug

    This is another perk that has been massively overhauled. the left side is all about direct damage and killing things faster while the right side is all about holding hordes back and keeping enemies on fire longer.


    Perk rework


    Passives Skills
    • 0.8% increased Perk weapon damage per level (max 20%)
    • 0.8% faster reload for firebug wep (max 20%)
    • 30% resistance to fire, additional 2% resistance per level (max 80%)
    • 25% resistance to personal fire damage, additional 3% resistance per level (Max 100%)
    • 10% more starting ammo for every 5 levels (max 50%)



    Level 5 Bring the Heat
    • Increase the damage you inflict with fire weapons by 35% more damage

    Level 5 High Capacity Fuel Tank
    • Increase the fuel tank and ammo capacity for your Firebug weapons by 100%.

    LvL 10 Barbecue
    • Your Firebug weapons’ burn effect lingers 2.5x longer, inflicting more damage over the extended duration.

    LvL 10 Ground Fire
    • When you shoot the floor, the ground fire does massive more damage and reduces Zed movement speeds by 30%.

    LvL 15 Napalm
    • Zeds that are burning will set other Zeds on fire when they make contact with them, burn effect lingers 2.5x longer

    LvL 15 Zed Firebomb
    • Any Zed you kill with fire has a 20% chance to explode, causing damage to and knocking down nearby Zeds

    LvL 20 Heat Wave
    • Enemies struck at point blank range with Fire will stumble back.

    LvL 20 Firestorm
    • Increase the range of your Firebug weapons.

    LvL 25 Zed Time - Pyromaniac
    • During Zed time you attack with Firebug weapons in close to real time and never run out of flame

    LvL 25 Zed Time - Inferno
    • During Zed time the movement speed of any Zeds hit with fire is reduced 30% and those Zeds suffer 50% more damage






    Support

    For the longest time high level players have felt that support wasn't were it should be, we've received lots of great feedback on the perk from our forums and this is what the rework looks like. The left side of the tree is all about crowd control while the right is about direct damage and dealing massive damage to a single target.


    Perk rework


    Passives Skills
    • 2% increase in ammo per level (Max 50%)
    • 3% increase in welding speed per level (Max 75%)
    • 1% increase in shotgun damage every level (max 25%)
    • 25% increase in shotgun penetration every level (max 625%)
    • Every 5 levels get one extra weight block to carry more weapons
    • Fix destroyed doors
    • Once per wave players can get ammo from you



    Level 5 High Capacity Mags
    • Increase the magazine capacity of your Support weapons by 50%.

    Level 5 Tactical Reload
    • You reload Support weapons faster and look more elite while you're at it.

    LvL 10 Fortitude
    • Increase your total Health by 50%.

    LvL 10 Salvo
    • Increase the damage of your Support weapons by 30%. .

    LvL 15 Armor Piercing Shot
    • Greatly increase the penetration of your Support weapons.

    LvL 15 Tight Choke
    • Decrease in the shot spread of your Support weapons by 50%

    LvL 20 Resupply Pack
    • Your teammates can get 30% of their ammo and 20% of their armor restored by interacting with you once per wave. You also can carry 20% more ammo for yourself

    LvL 20 Concussion Rounds
    • Increase stumble power for all Support weapons by 150%.

    LvL 25 Zed Time – Penetrator
    • During Zed time, your Support weapons penetrate through any targets they hit.

    LvL 25 Zed Time – Barrage
    • During Zed time, your Support weapons shoot in near real-time






    Sharpshooter

    The following skills weren't picked very much so we've buffed the following skills.


    Perk Changes


    LvL10 Stability
    • Increase your damage by 30%, your movement speed by 50%, and your reload speed by 20% while crouching and using Sharpshooter weapons.

    LvL15 Rack em Up
    • Each consecutive headshot with a Sharpshooter weapon increases your damage by 10%, up to a maximum of 50%
      • When you miss a head shot the bonus is no longer lost. It's on a 2 sec timer now, so as long as you get another head shot every 2 seconds, it will keep going up to a max of 50%

    LvL25 Assassin
    • Any head shots with Sharpshooter weapons have a 5% chance to trigger Zed time. During Zed time, increase head shot damage with Sharpshooter weapons by 35%
     
    For the commando changes:

    LvL20 Rock n Roll

    • Mag capacity increased to 100% (was 50%)
    How about leave it at 50% but add bullet penetration through two Zeds?
    Then Change the name to "FMJ rounds" since the other skill is called Hollow point rounds.
    It just makes so much sense.

    EDIT* Loving the Support changes, especially fixing broken doors!
     
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    Upvote 0
    Paronine;n2264822 said:
    Those Support changes are giving me funny feelings in my downstairs area.

    Yoshiro;n2264814 said:
    LvL 25 Zed Time – Penetrator

    During "sexy time", your Support weapons penetrate through any targets they hit.
    Naamloos-2.png
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Shining Wolf
    Upvote 0
    Interesting perk overhauls, but some are really unneccessary. Lets start with a list from top to bottom and starting with zerker.

    Zerker:
    the hp buff is totally not needed. Hes bulky enough. The level 15 damage resistance should even with sonic and bloat should just be passive and thats it. Parry change is good.

    Commando:
    100% more ammo capacity? well like RUSTIK said, just add bullet penetration.
    Backup damage buff, well not sure about that, have to see it in action.

    Gunslinger:
    The skills are just perfect now. Keep them how it is.

    Demo:
    Demo sounds great, but need to see it in game.

    Medic:
    Totally disagreeing where Medic is going. Hes now a buffer instead a field medic, he will focus more on adding damage and movement speeds and stuff like that. Just too much.
    I suggest to remove the damage bonus and damage reduction buffs, keep the movement speed but 5 seconds are a lot. 1-2 seconds are more viable to it.
    Medic sounds really OP. The syringe recharge speed shouldnt be increased that much per level, but the syringe power should be 200%, not 50%.
    He will be even more brainless now. From healbot to buffbot, spamming mittle mouse, too keep your mates "happy", so they dont cry for a damage buff or something.
    Should be looked into.

    Firebug:
    Sounds interesting.

    Support:
    Sounds really nice, but doors repairing? You guys wanted to make people move once a wave, now you (TWI) change the route to what exactly?
    The bullet penetration skills are double (passive, level 15 skill and leve 25 skill.)

    Sharpshooter:
    Why would you buff Sharpshooter? :(


    All in all zeds will get even more destroyed, game will be even easier than it is right now and casuals can now be happy :confused:.
    I dont like this, I mean, it was already easy. People didnt reach the boss, because of the difficulty ramping up after wave 7 to 10. Wave 1-6 is like hard difficulty on HoE...
    I miss the difficulty right after the launch. With the insanly fast zeds and strong scrakes (ofc there were some bugs and annoyance).
    Please look into this TWI! :)
     
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    Upvote 0
    FoolishNinja;n2264831 said:
    Gunslinger:
    The skills are just perfect now. Keep them how it is.

    Medic:
    Totally disagreeing where Medic is going. Hes now a buffer instead a field medic, he will focus more on adding damage and movement speeds and stuff like that. Just too much.
    I suggest to remove the damage bonus and damage reduction buffs, keep the movement speed but 5 seconds are a lot. 1-2 seconds are more viable to it.
    Medic sounds really OP. The syringe recharge speed shouldnt be increased that much per level, but the syringe power should be 200%, not 50%.
    He will be even more brainless now. From healbot to buffbot, spamming mittle mouse, too keep your mates "happy", so they dont cry for a damage buff or something.
    Should be looked into.

    Support:
    Sounds really nice, but doors repairing? You guys wanted to make people move once a wave, now you (TWI) change the route to what exactly?
    The bullet penetration skills are double (passive, level 15 skill and leve 25 skill.)

    Gunslinger: Yeah, isn't it just beautiful?

    Medic: Kinda agree that he seems to provide a bit too potent buffs (at least on paper) that you really can't switch out or you will be instantly called selfish or noob etc.

    Support: This video should suffice as an answer.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAtD7YlJDRM
     
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    Upvote 0