With Masters behind us, it’s time to get to work on those promised Viper and Yoru changes. Details are below, but remember that we’ll keep a close eye on how these play out once they’re live.
Slide on those headphones and enjoy HRTF, which helps pinpoint enemy footsteps, reloads, and Deathmatch respawns using a simulated surround sound space. Also, your love of Escalation means we’re returning the favor with some ability updates and loadout variations for the mode.
Oh my goodness, Bucky, look at your nerf.
In the wake of Masters we’re introducing some bigger updates to our Agents, with Viper first in line. We looked at a lot of possible changes for her, but ultimately landed on changes that pushed what makes Viper’s play pattern unique and still resonate with her theme. When compared to other Controllers, we want Viper to make big, committed decisions that truly alter the map and how both sides plan around her influence. She should claim ground with force and dare opponents to challenge her. The updates to Toxin should also project more threat on enemies who consider pushing her smoke and will hopefully add a significant bite to her marque Toxic Screen. Paired with a couple other buffs and some new tools for learning and practicing lineups, we’re excited to see if Viper can deliver on the deadly impact she promises while solidifying her spot on our roster.
Toxin (passive)
Enemies that cross through Viper's Poison Cloud, Toxic Screen, or Viper's Pit are instantly inflicted with at least 50 decay. Their decay level increases the longer they remain in contact with toxin. While in cloud, Decay over time decreased 15 >>> 10
When out of Viper’s cloud, delay before health regen decreased 2.5 >>> 1.5 |
Poison Cloud (Q)
Can now immediately be redeployed when picked up, but grants a temporary charge instead of a permanent charge If active when Viper dies, Poison Cloud now remains up for an additional 2 seconds, or until Viper runs out of fuel. Pickup distance increased 200 >>> 400 |
Toxic Screen (E) If active when Viper dies, Toxic Screen now remains up for an additional 2 seconds before deactivating Full blind distance from the wall increased to better match the blind distance from the edge of smokes |
Snakebite (C) Equip time decreased 1.1 >>> .8 |
Practice Tools In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Viper can hold down “activate” on Poison Cloud and Toxic Screen to recall them In custom games with cheats and infinite abilities enabled, Poison Cloud’s landing location is shown on the minimap while equipped |
Yoru carries a fantasy that you’ve been excited to see through, but we believe a few restrictions have made it harder to access. Although Yoru is a unique duelist on the roster, both in pace and in playstyle, we think he should still be a strong contender for good compositions and want to ensure the value he offers to his team is more consistent throughout a match.
Blindside (Q) Flash activation time decreased 0.8>>> 0.6 seconds Flash duration increased from 1.1>>>1.5 |
Gatecrash (E) Gatecrash is no longer refreshed on kills and is instead replenished every 35 seconds Lifetime of the Gatecrash fragment increased 20 seconds >>> 30 seconds The range at which the Gatecrash fragment is revealed from stealth decreased 7m >>> 4m Visuals for visibility range added to the moving fragment |
Dimensional Drift (X) Ult Points reduced 7 >>> 6 Yoru can now reactivate Gatecrash while in Dimensional Drift |
Nanoswarm (C) Killjoy can now pick up deployed Nanoswarm grenades during the buy phase to get the charge back |
We want to focus the Bucky more on it's actual primary firing mode (left click) and make that the strength you try to optimize when choosing a bucky vs its alternate firing mode (right-click). The right click should be more of a tool you can use when you can't get into that effective left-click range, or you just need some reliable chip damage. The spreads are reduced on both to increase reliability and smooth the damage curve. The alt-fire's significant reduction in pellet count is a trade off to being able to extend the range as much as it does for a shotgun.
We’ve taken a pass on a couple abilities to add depth to their gameplay and create some more dynamic combat situations, as well as added some spicy loadout variations to the mix.
Abilities
What direction did those Raze footsteps come from? Is she moving from in front or behind you? With HRTF on and a pair of headphones, you’ll be able to better pinpoint other players based on certain sounds.
HRTF processing relies on a profile that contains measurements such as head size and ear shape, among other things. This implementation uses a profile based on a single set of measurements, and may not feel natural at first to all listeners depending on how closely the profile matches their own measurements. We encourage users to give HRTF a few tries as it may take some getting used to. Focused ear training outside a high pressure game environment may pay off in better ability to interpret the HRTF processing. We suggest a custom game or training for this! Watch our video demo below.