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EA_Elryn
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5 years ago

September (Final) Update & Balance Notes

Here are the full patch notes for the end of September update. 

Balance changes are in the thread. 

General

  • Swarm characters (Wildflower and TV Head) will become available for purchase from Rux and can now be used in all game modes.
  • Wildflower and TV Head have gained a melee attack.
  • Added a new icon for vanquish feeds.
  • Text to speech button will be changed to Hold instead of Press.
  • Battle Arena is now available as one of many weekly events, it is no longer a default option within the Multiplayer Terminal.
  • The Time Warp crazy option is being removed from Private Play.
  • Modified bot AI field of vision and accuracy so that they behave more like an average player.

Gameplay

  • Character upgrades have undergone a major balance pass.
  • Added a new VFX to each character when an upgrade triggers.
  • Added in a multiple vanquish XP event.
  • Improved directional damage indicators.
  • Improved aim assist camera blending, targeting shape distance scaling, and increased camera assistance for player and enemy movement.
  • Improved hit box collision to help balance size differences between Plants and Zombies

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed issue that caused players to get stuck waiting for the game to start
  • Fixed issue that allowed Chomper to attack faster
  • Fixed players getting into enemy spawn zones in Giddy Park
  • Private Play will be accessible to console players without requiring PS+ or Xbox Gold
  • Fixed Levelling Up upgrade not working

Balance Changes

General

  • Added a new VFX to each character when an upgrade triggers
  • Improved Directional Damage Indicators
  • Improvements to Aim Assist including improved camera blending, targeting shape distance scaling, and increased camera assistance for player and enemy movement
  • Hitbox Collision improvements to help balance size differences between Plants and Zombies
    • Size increases to Foot Soldier, Action Hero, Electric Slide, Scientist, Captain Deadbeard, Goat, and all Brown Coat Zombies
    • Size decrease to Kernel Corn
  • Vanquish Streak XP event grants 500 XP for every 5 vanquishes against players
  • Added in a Multi Vanquish XP event
  • Decreased multikill window from 2->1 seconds
  • New “Jinx Vanquish” XP event for vanquishing a Jinxed enemy
  • Assist XP event triggers for any amount of damage dealt
  • Change logic of oak log roll XP event to not use multi-vanquish time
  • Heal Flower pot drops sun drops at a faster rate to match the heal rate of Dr. Heals.
  • Heal Zombie heals slower to match the heal rate of Heal Weed. 

Common Upgrades

  • Upgrade Rough Patch
    • Increased maximum overhealth granted from 1.3->1.47x
  • Upgrade Critical Blow
    • Increased refresh speed multiplier from 2->2.75x
    • Increased refresh multiplier duration from 1->2 seconds
  • Upgrade Refreshing Revive
    • Increased refresh speed multiplier from 1.5->5x

Attack Upgrades

  • Upgrade Low Life
    • Increased equip cost from 1->2
    • Now heals over time for 3 seconds instead of granting a chunk of health
    • Increased health threshold that is considered “low health” from 14%->20%
  • Upgrade Ready Up
    • Decreased equip cost from 3->2
    • Transition out of sprinting multiplier increased from 4->6.67x
  • Upgrade Vampiric
    • No longer triggers on Minion or Pot/Bot vanquishes
    • Now heals over time for 3 seconds instead of granting a chunk of health
    • Now gives overhealth
  • Upgrade Fearless
    • Now gives overhealth
    • Number of nearby enemies required to start healing decreased from 2->1
    • Healing now scales up based on number of enemies that are close to a max of 4
  • Upgrade Combo
    • Increased equip cost from 1->2
    • Increased refresh speed multiplier from 2.5->5x

Defend Upgrades

  • Upgrade Best Defense 
    • Increased equip cost from 2->3
    • Increased armor duration from 5 seconds to 10 seconds. Achieving another critical vanquish restarts this duration
    • Armor value is now shown on health bar
    • Armor value now stacks up to 3 times (10%, 19%, 27%)
  • Upgrade Adrenaline Rush
    • Decreased equip cost from 4->3
    • No longer triggers when vanquishing Minions or Bots/Pots
    • Decreased multiplier from 1.55->1.4x increased move speed

Support Upgrades

  • Upgrade Revive Reward
    • Also gain 10% armor while reviving
  • Upgrade Hard Target
    • Decreased speed multiplier 1.25->1.15x
  • Upgrade Rollout 
    • Always have max health when revived
    • Increased duration from 6->7 seconds
  • Upgrade Combat Aura
    • Decreased equip cost from 4->3
    • Damage multiplier increased from 1.2->1.25x
    • Increased duration from 7->15 seconds
    • Increased vanquish streak requirement from 3->5 vanquishes

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