[2020] Update 1.4.4 - Test Server

: You can find the details for this event on the announcement page [url=https://steamcommunity.com/ogg/770720/announcements/detail/2785996724660670362]here[/url].

New Weapon Variant
Winfield M1873C Vandal Striker

• Variant of the shortened Winfield Vandal.
  
• The knife attached to its barrel can be used for both heavy and light melee attacks.

New Legendary Weapons
Martini Henry Marksman "Oberon's Hound"

• Martini-Henry IC1 Marksman

Description: "Named for a most fearsome and relentless hunter of the wood, in a bygone time this rifle won its renown taking down the prey etched on its receiver: egret, doe, buck, and bear. Now, this Martini-Henry IC1 Marksman sights itself on bigger, deadlier prizes. "

Martini Henry Deadeye “Sacrosanct”

• Martini-Henry IC1 Deadeye

Description: "Sanctified in something beyond mortal understanding; the work of this Martini-Henry Deadeye is hallowed. Unfortunates who find themselves sighted in the purview of the Sacrosanct will face their sins, all too soon."

Springfield Marksman “Archangel

• Springfield 1886 Marksman

Description: "In Christian scripture, archangels led the celestial host against the forces of darkness. In the bayou, this Springfield 1866 Marksman is used to the same purpose: to drive the creeping forces of darkness out of the bayou and return the region to the divine light."

Nagant M1895 Precision "Polar Star"

• Nagant M1895 Precision

Description:" Fyodor Brusilov was gifted this Nagant M1895 Precision to commemorate his first voyage as captain of The Polar Star. The ship never reached its final port of call, and all hands were declared lost at sea - until this pistol turned up in the bayou."



Audio

• Dead hunters no longer play the "healed" sound effect when they stop burning.

Gunplay
Sprinting

• Refactored controls to allow more fluid transitions between equipment actions and sprinting.
  
• Players are now able to sprint as soon as the aim input is lifted, even if a weapon is technically still in the firing process and applying recoil.
  • Previously the delay before players could sprint after firing a shot could only be circumvented by quickly switching equipment. This is no longer needed.
• Applies to Hunter and Gunslinger controls schemes and all combinations of Aim Down Sights or Sprint set to toggle or hold.

Shooting

• It is no longer possible to interrupt the firing process right after a shot, while it is still applying recoil.
  
• Switching to other equipment is queued and executed right afterward.

Aiming

• Pistols that enter the Aim Down Sight state have slightly increased sway, fading out over a short period of time.

Developer Notes:
As some of you probably noticed already at this point, we have been looking into the "Quick Swap Mechanic" which became an integral part of the game for some players and has been much discussed in the community lately. We acknowledge that, which is why it will stay in the game. However - like all other mechanics in the game - it must also subject to balancing changes. The changes we made are meant to solve multiple issues:

Players often found themselves unable to start sprinting instantly after a shot was fired because the weapon was technically still aiming until all recoil was applied and therefore locking movement speed. We reworked parts of the system to ensure more player agency over their hunters' mobility without the need for such workarounds. Overall the controls should feel a lot smoother and more responsive that way.

When we introduced the faster weapon swapping during Early Access, it was to try to remove some clunkiness from the controls. However - unintended by us - this change also gave rise to the dominant strategy to quickly swap to your second weapon after a shot and attempt to score a follow-up hit to finish your target off. While being a skill move, of course, it shifted the power of certain weapons, negating their built-in disadvantages like being a single-shot weapon too much. This strategy was further amplified around the 1.0 full release, where we reduced weapon sway across the board to make the game more accessible for newer players. Some players perfected this quick swap meta to the point that it started feeling abusive and "gamey" in a game that tries to use the rough mechanics and shortcomings of the weapons in a way to balance them against each other.

With these changes, we want to take one step back and reorder this part of the game a bit. Quick swap is meant to stay, but becomes a tad more difficult to pull off - hopefully making it less of a dominant strategy by veteran players and opening up the arsenal more to other options. Players will at least have to suffer the full recoil of the shot before they can change weapons, but on the other hand, they gain a lot of mobility out of the box.

Hunter

New Trait: Necromancer
"Using Dark Sight revive a downed partner from a distance, though at the cost of a small amount of health."

• Available at Rank 69.
  
• Costs 4 Upgrade points.
  
• Used similarly to the Serpent trait (25m range, 10s channel time).
  
• User loses 2.5 health per second during channeling.
  
• Starting channeling will NOT stop the burning state of the corpse-like a manual revive does.

Developer Notes:
We like what the Serpent trait brought to the game. It enables players to turn a tricky situation around, and it provokes new tactical decisions even when no one brought it into the match. In a similar fashion, "Necromancer" should make it more difficult to just wait an engagement out for teams that have the advantage anyway. It will require a better understanding of sightlines, positioning, and potential crossing points from all players involved. To keep the feeling of vulnerability during and after a revive we added the cost of health so that commitment is still key.

New Trait: Whispersmith
"Reduces noise when selecting equipment."

• Available at Rank 32.
  
• Costs 2 Upgrade points.

Bounty Hunt
Weapon Loot

• There is a chance for weapons to be found in bounty hunt missions now.
  
• Mostly but not exclusively low tier weapons (Unlock levels are generally below rank 10)
  
• All weapon categories (close to long-range) are represented.
  
• Weapons looted are marked as Contrabands.

Developer Notes:
We like that players can commit to highly effective loadouts before a mission. However, we also understand that looting weapons from other hunters can sometimes enable players to adapt to new circumstances and open up new immediate strategies. With this change, we want to introduce more situations for players to make smart decisions.

Quickplay
Expanded starting equipment for Quickplay
Global Changes

• Added a first aid kit to every Quickplay recruit.
  
• Removed First Aid kits from the spawn lists (they can’t be found anymore in Quickplay).

Random Class

• Added the Specter Compact as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Nagant M1895 Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Caldwell Conversion Pistol Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Nagant M1895 Silencer Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.

Medium Range Class

• Added the Nagant M1895 Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Caldwell Conversion Pistol Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Nagant M1895 Silencer Dual Wield as possible starter equipment.

Short Range Class

• Added the LeMat Mark II as possible starter equipment.
  
• Added the Specter Compact as possible starter equipment.

Training

• Optimized loading screen hints to better support new players with best practices and advice.
  
• Slightly adjusted equipment and outfits of the first free Hunters a new player can choose from.

Training Boss replaced with Butcher

• Players will now face the Butcher instead of the Spider in the training maps.
  • Basic: 25% health
    
  • Advanced: 50% health
    
  • Professional: Normal health.

Developers notes:
We realized that for newer players, facing off against the Spider, an extremely mobile opponent while learning the controls and gameplay ended up being too frustrating as their first experience with the game.

The Butcher will allow players to pick up the basics of fighting bosses (making use of weapons scattered around, frenzy mode, dangerously strong attacks to dodge, etc.) while being much easier to hit, allowing them to get used to the combat and still feel the satisfaction of taking down a boss.

We hope that this, amongst the other changes we have been working on, will help to improve the overall onboarding experience!


Leaderboard

• Player will be shown on the leaderboard only if they meet all those conditions:
  
  • Logged in within the last 30 days
    
  • Have at least 100 kill in Quickplay or 100 Kill or Assist in Bounty Hunt
    
  • Didn't opt out from showing their stats publicly
    
  • Not banned
    
  • Played at least 50 hours

Store

• Added Springfield Marksman “Archangel” for 400 Bloodbonds.
  
• Added Martini-Henry Deadeye “Sacrosanct” for 600 Bloodbonds.
  
• Added Martini-Henry Marksman “Oberon's Hound” for 600 Bloodbonds.
  
• Added Nagant Precision “Polar Star” for 300 Bloodbonds.

Miscellaneous
Double of Nothing DLC
The weapons in the "Double or Nothing" DLC have been split up. It is now possible to equip each pistol on its own, and mix and match with others of their type. They will still be shown as a unique weapon when the pair is equipped.

• Fixed a bug where the radius of the poison bomb was displayed as 8m instead of 3m.
  
• Fixed an issue where throwing knives would remain in the air after detonating a poison barrel.
  
• Fixed an issue where players could prematurely cancel the reload of the Mosin-Nagant M1891 Avtomat, shortening its reload animation.
  
• Immolator was wrongly playing 'bump into something' animation on dead AI.

(FULL LIST OF ISSUES WILL BE LISTED WITH LIVE RELEASE.)

• AI can attack a closer hiding player instead of the sound source that triggers it.
  
• AI is able to attack players during "waiting for players" message.
  
• AI are able to block headshots with their bodies.
  
• AI can die while in T-pose (and stay in t-pose afterwards).
  
• Butcher can sometimes be observed walking sideways or backwards.

~The Hunt Team