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Halo MCC Update 1.1305 Released, Here’s the Full Patch Notes

343 Industries has released the big Halo: The Master Chief Collection (MCC) January update! Halo players will see this as the Halo MCC Update 1.1305, and before you dive in, note that some stuff included are scheduled to go live in February (more on that after the notes). Read up on the full Halo MCC update 1.1305 patch notes below.

Halo MCC update 1.1305 patch notes:

NEW FEATURES & CONTENT

Additional details for the New Features & Content items can be found below in the design update section for rotational playlists, featured content, and events for the month of February.

  • Featured playlists in Match Composer
  • New nameplates for future events
  • New upcoming Matchmaking content

ACCESIBILITY BUG FIXES

PC ONLY

  • Fixed an issue where pressing the spacebar would search for a player while typing a Gamertag in the “Find Player” prompt.

GLOBAL

  • Fixed bugs where pop-up messages were not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.
  • Fixed bugs button prompts were not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.
  • Fixed bugs where on-screen text was not read properly by Narrator & Xbox Game Transcription.

GENERAL FIXES

XBOX ONLY

  • Fixed an issue where the Main Menu would not appear after passing the title screen when launching for the first time.

GLOBAL

  • Fixed a rare crash related to player stats and leaderboards.
  • Reduced some excessive diagnostic reporting to improve performance.
  • Improved player reporting on dedicated servers when identifying potential anti-cheat violations.

PLAYLIST UPDATE

SOCIAL 1V1

  • Removed Magnum secondary from Halo: Reach Head to Head based on community feedback.

Social 1v1 is intended as a warmup arena for the Halo: Reach Hardcore playlist, so it’s important that the settings match.

SOCIAL 4V4

  • Team Slayer option has been replaced with “Precision Slayer” and “Auto Slayer.”

Historically, we’ve compromised by combining these into a single selection. We fully understand that different players have different preferences here, so now we offer players choice over their starting weapon/experience.

  • Precision Slayer includes weapon starts of DMR, BR, or Magnum.
  • Auto Slayer includes weapon starts of AR, SMG, and Halo 4 loadout starts.
  • Rotated in featured Halo: CE Anniversary category for Halo: Reach which contains maps and game settings which emulate Halo: CE.

This has been a commonly requested addition and rotational categories provide great opportunities to expose this sort of content.

SOCIAL 8V8

  • Reduced hill movement timer from 120s to 90s and reduced score to win from 250 to 200.

Out of the box, Reach’s base King of the Hill variant does not support a 90 second hill rotation option. The 120 second timer was longer than we liked so we took the opportunity to add the option for this variant. As the hill spends less time in each location, players will spend a bit more time moving between hills, so it was important that we reduced the score to win slightly to match this. We weren’t able to add the 90 second option globally as this would require all King of the Hill variants in the game to be rebuilt, but players seeking a 90 second timer for custom games can use the Big Team King variant as a base.

  • Replaced Territories with 3-plot Territories on Tempest.

As a symmetrical map, Tempest is well-suited to 3-Plot Territories. In 4v4, this game type was already paired with this map and, after seeing some intense matches of it played in the recent Big Team Battle Throwback Throwdown tournament, we wanted to make it official for 8v8 as well.

  • Rotated in experimental AR starts category containing AR start versions of all core Halo: Reach 8v8 map and game variants.

The range utility of the DMR makes it incredibly effective on some of the more open battlegrounds common in Big Team Battle. This leads to many engagements occurring at extreme range and can result in stagnation where players are discouraged from using certain movement options. Many players have requested that DMR starts be replaced with AR / Magnum starts in 8v8. We have concerns that this would leave players too vulnerable off spawn, leave them ineffective against vehicles, not provide enough starting ammunition, and lead to “snowballing” (where the score gap between two teams grows exponentially) when some players gain control of long range rifles. However, we wanted to give players a chance to try it for themselves. Depending on feedback and data, we’ll consider pulling Big Team AR starts into the core categories more permanently.

For a detailed look at the changes from the dev’s perspective, head on over here.

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Alex Co

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DayZ Experimental 1.07 Update Now on PC, Full Notes Listed

DayZ PC players, you have something new to test starting today! Bohemia Interactive has released the DayZ Experimental 1.07 update and it’s live now. Check out the full DayZ Experimental 1.07 patch notes below.

DayZ Experimental 1.07 patch notes:

OTES

  • Consider using the Steam client option to verify the integrity of the local game cache to avoid corrupted data after downloading this update.
  • Consider de-fragmenting your HDD after downloading large updates.
  • In case of problems, please check the Bohemia Interactive support F.A.Q.DayZ F.A.Q., or BattlEye F.A.Q.
  • You can help us to further improve the game by posting your feedback on the Feedback Tracker.

 

Game Update 1.07.152928

GAME

ADDED

  • Added: Repeater Carbine
  • Added: .357 Rounds
  • Added: 12ga Rubber Slugs
  • Added: Amusement park locations throughout Chernarus

FIXED

  • Fixed: Several types of inventory interactions related to item reservation
  • Fixed: A client error caused by re-encountering the weapon you dropped during a previous death
  • Fixed: The map always used to open at the top left corner (now remembers the last opened position)
  • Fixed: Disabled “Jump out” action for back seat passengers of the ADA 4×4
  • Fixed: Action circle was missing while dismantling the oven
  • Fixed: The player can no longer attach both the suppressor and compensator to the SG5-K
  • Fixed: Issue caused by starting an action with a different item in your hands between client and server
  • Fixed: An animation glitch related to throwing
  • Fixed: Water bonus from wells was added to early in the action
  • Fixed: Infected would not cause bleeding as intended
  • Fixed: Issues with doors in the aircraft hangar, hospital, school, harbour crane
  • Fixed: Issues with the sounds of doors in the fire station and big ATC buildings
  • Fixed: Issues with a ladder on the construction site
  • Fixed: Piles of wooden planks could spawn on top of each other
  • Fixed: The big doorway of the sawmill had bullet collision
  • Fixed: Object placement fixes for Enoch and ChernarusPlus terrains
  • Fixed: A yellow heat comfort was giving a penalty on health regeneration
  • Fixed: Position of the combination lock widget, LODs and textures
  • Fixed: The player could collide with individual ivy parts
  • Fixed: The Denim Skirt showed the wrong colour in 1st person mode
  • Fixed: Infected could not navigate into the large grey shed
  • Fixed: The Construction Light behaved weirdly when thrown
  • Fixed: It was not possible to empty liquid containers in interior spaces
  • Fixed: Blue Athletic Sunglasses had a green texture (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T148324)
  • Fixed: The Thermometer would always display 0 degree (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T146710)
  • Fixed: Night vision was darkened when someone entered the players network bubble (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T147106)
  • Fixed: Base building actions could be mixed up resulting in building the wrong part
  • Fixed: Larger quantity numbers were not fully visible in the hand slot
  • Fixed: Barrel with holes was still able to store liquids (https://feedback.bistudio.com/T148495)

CHANGED

  • Changed: Global lighting changes (ground-lighting addition, brightness of day and night, shadow contrast during clear weather, rain visual tweaks, darker clouds during overcast)
  • Changed: Updated the inventory attachment icons (missing icons added, some icons tweaked and unused removed to free space for more in future)
  • Changed: Clean-up of the car damage zones
  • Changed: Lowered the amount of leaked coolant when the radiator is destroyed in the car
  • Changed: The open option for the fence gate can be accessed easier
  • Changed: Removed the collision from Barbed Wire
  • Changed: Barbed Wire now causes bleeding sources instead of shock damage
  • Changed: The fence and watchtower kits can be dismantled
  • Changed: Heavy items (with collision) are dropped using physics
  • Changed: Rework of the combination lock destruction (requires more time, but in shorter cycles)
  • Changed: Sawing a pile of wooden planks is now a truly continuous action
  • Tweaked: Decreased range of the night light, and changed its colour, position and brightness for better immersion
  • Tweaked: The fence gate opens and closes slower
  • Tweaked: Inventory view of the Assault Helmet Visor
  • Tweaked: You receive one additional plank when cutting down a wooden log
  • Tweaked: You receive one more wooden log when cutting down most trees
  • Tweaked: Base building materials are now placed more clear
  • Tweaked: Sorted the attachments icons of firearms
  • Tweaked: The base building build action won’t show up at all when it is being blocked (previously allowed to execute without result)
  • Tweaked: Adjusted the logic behind obstacle checks when building base building parts
  • Tweaked: The map is now full screen
  • Tweaked: Removed the collision from tourist trail poles

SERVER

  • Added: Ability to choose between bright and dark nights through a server config parameter lightingConfig (0 for bright, 1 for dark)
  • Tweaked: limitFPS is now logged and default crop value raised from <1..50> to <1..200>, by default it’s unlimited

LAUNCHER

MODDING

  • Added: Curl context can store results into files + API
  • Added: Livonia ruined houses variants without overgrown ivy
  • Added: Named selection for the bear (Body_Injury)
  • Added: Named selections for all ivy parts (leaves)
  • Added: GetGame().GetWorld().LoadNewLightingCfg(“filepath”) can reload the global lighting config during runtime
  • Added: SetSoundMaxVolume() to change the volume max level
  • Added: Functions InventoryItem::EnableCollisionsWithCharacter & InventoryItem::HasCollisionsWithCharacter
  • Added: Exposed rigid body functions to script
  • Added: Missing dGeomCreateCylinder implementation
  • Added: Script method Object::SetDynamicPhysicsLifeTime
  • Changed: inventorySlot changed to inventorySlot[] (string to array of string) to allow slot extensions
  • Changed: Livonia terrain files *_ce, *_data and *_navmesh changed from *.ebo format to *.pbo
  • Changed: Commented out transferToZonesThreshold]
  • Changed: Changed: Renamed OnEventFromRemoteWeapon event to OnEventForRemoteWeapon
  • Removed: Obsolete pond/well drink actions

KNOWN ISSUES

  • Individual texts might not be localized yet

Bohemia notes that this is only a “provisional” changelog, and that the full patch notes will be released once the stable update for 1.07 is out.

Console players, once the stable update is out, you should be getting this patch soon-ish.

Source: DayZ forums

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Report: Blizzard Banning Users on Forum for Helping People With Warcraft 3 Reforged Refunds

If you’re a real-time strategy (RTS) fan, chances are you’ve played Warcraft III (stylicized as Warcraft 3) when it was released way back in 2002. In case you haven’t, Blizzard Entertainment has released a remastered edition of Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos called Warcraft 3 Reforged.

Released yesterday, Warcraft 3 Reforged has been met with mostly negative feedback by gamers due to technical glitches, gameplay issues and more. If you’re one of the people who want a Warcraft 3 Reforged refund and need help, you might not want to talk about it in Blizzard’s official Warcraft forums.

Multiple reports have surfaced that Blizzard is actively banning people on the official Warcraft forums for helping other people get a Warcraft 3 Reforged refund!

Even on the Warcraft 3 subreddit, users have jumped in regarding this ban wave, with one user stating that Blizzard doesn’t want to talk about refunds on the forums in the first two hours of launch.

People are getting banned
by inwarcraft3

Checking the official Warcraft 3 forums, you’ll see a lot of disgruntled customers and gamers all chiming in with negativity.

We’ve contacted Blizzard about this and will update the post if we hear anything back.

While some might argue that Blizzard has the right to do this given it is happening on their official forums and all, it doesn’t look good on them for sure.

Do you think Blizzard has the right to ban users and that if gamers want a refund they should do it outside the studio’s official forums? Or should gamers and buyers have the right to talk negatively about the game and what the best course is in terms of getting their money back if they’re not satisfied with the product? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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Alex Co

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Battlefield V Multiplayer Producer Leaves DICE After 11 Years

While it’s easy to see game studios as just entities that we can complain to about everything we find wrong with their games, we mustn’t forget that these studios emply people that are more often than not, are fans of that studio’s games. For fans of Battlefield in general, a familiar name will be leaving DICE, and that’s Battlefield V Multiplayer Producer, David Sirland.

Sirland, also known as tiggr_ over on Twitter, and on Reddit, has posted a rather good bye letter to the Battlefield community, where he also mentioned that he’s moving on to the studio after 11 years of service.

Read his entire message below.

This is a weird post for me to make, simultaneously bittersweet and exciting. Hard to know what to lean into really :). 

I am writing this little bookend post inspired by Dan’s very nice exit as Battlefield community manager from last year. I think it was a great way to inform in a public and more personal way and let me reminisce at the same time.

Channeling Dan’s spirit, I’m just blurting out the bittersweet part… I am moving on from DICE and Battlefield. My last day in the studio will be on March 3rd this year. 

I’ve been with DICE and on Battlefield for ~11 years, in two stints, with the most recent one by far being the most rewarding. I remember fondly all the fun and awesome ideas we got to put forward and in players hands, and co-experience with the players starting with the Battlefield 4 Premium and the first incarnation of the CTE.

Looking back, I am really proud of the teams I’ve been part of, from Los Angeles to Stockholm, through failure and success. They’ve always been passionate, active and ready to help me make better games and experiences, dealing with my sometimes hyperactive tendencies and high-velocity direction and subsequent demands :).

I’m also really proud of what we achieved in terms of stifling the worst offender issues around the famed “Netcode” (networking, input latency, simulation rates/tickrate & related core gameplay quality) starting with said game. Which since we started is something that has been constantly improving in each title we’ve put out – nerd-yay!

Even cooler, our efforts spawned & instigated a new industry standard of sorts which increased the quality across many games (spot the HUD-networking icons in your fave game!).Since I live by the creed: No-one deserves to play with bad netcode – I love the fact that this, previously overlooked, highly technical, almost neglected and very niche area now is something players care about and actually value when looking at new titles… Times do change indeed!

To my DICE colleagues both in LA and Stockholm: I salute you! You are some of the most talented girls and guys I’ve had the pleasure of working with, and I know your coming games and releases are going to be awesome!

To play my old-geezer-game-dev role to it’s fullest, I’ll dispel some advice as well:

Keep on doing what really excites you, push for change take those take risks when needed and really embrace that passion of your fellow devs. Always aim to constantly improve, and you can’t really fail.That’s just part of this trek to reach higher and deliver so much better things – just beperseverant about it!And finally – It’s cheesy, but “Players first” really does hit the mark.

Speaking of memories of the last decade or so  – let me know your favorite memory in the comments below!I think my personal fave has to be the Community Map Project (Battlefield 4, CTE timeframe). Such a fun and really cool project to dream up and deliver, and in a very unheard of way (at least back then).

So, I am moving on – but, I am not going anywhere. I will very much be utilizing the same channels, same transparent development and communication in my new gig as soon as possible. I can’t tell you any details yet, but rest assured you won’t miss when I can :). 

And of course, I am still going to play Battlefield (and lots of other games), I will just be a very vocal player instead of a very vocal dev going forwards!

If you want to get in touch, feel free to follow me or contact me on the appropriate channel: 

https://twitter.com/tiggr_

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidsirland/

And of course, since imitation is the highest form of praise (high five Dan!): Remember to ALWAYS play the fucking objective!

David Sirland, (Soon to be former) Battlefield Multiplayer Producer

Sirland will officially be out of DICE by March 3, 2020. So if you have any qualms or issues with Battlefield V, now might be the time to tweet him (nicely, of course). That said, someone will step up once he’s out, and let’s hope that person is as transparent as Sirland is.

As a big-time Battlefield fan, I appreciated Sirland’s candid response to the franchise’s massive player base, and how he understood where players are coming from. We don’t know where he’s headed next, but we wish Sirland nothing but the best.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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PlayStation Plus February 2020 Free Games Revealed

Members of Sony’s premium online service PlayStation Plus, the moment you’ve been waiting for has come! Sony has announced the PlayStation Plus February 2020 free games lot, and they’re none other than BioShock: The Collection, The Sims 4, and Firewall Zero Hour!

While this was announced by the EU PlayStation Blog, given that EU and US PS Plus free games are 99 percent the same every month, we’re going to hazard a guess that US gamers will see the trio of games as this month’s freebies too.

BioShock: The Collection

From the undersea city of Rapture to the airborne metropolis of Columbia, BioShock: The Collection takes players on monumental journeys through awe-inspiring, deceptively dangerous places that are simply unforgettable. BioShock: The Collection features all three games in this award-winning series – BioShock, BioShock 2, and BioShock Infinite – remastered in 1080p, including all single-player add-on content.

The Sims 4

The Sims is celebrating its 20th birthday this February, and you’re invited to join the party! Now’s your chance to play with life in The Sims 4, where you can unleash your imagination and create Sims in a unique world that’s an expression of you.

Firewall Zero Hour (PlayStation VR required)

Become a hired contractor and expertly seize – or protect – sensitive information from opposing teams in Firewall Zero Hour, a 4v4 tactical shooter developed exclusively for PS VR. Dive straight into these intense multiplayer battles when Firewall Zero Hour’s new season – Operation: Black Dawn – also begins 4th February, featuring a new map (Oil Rig) available for all players, and other free content!

All three games will be available for download this February 4, 2020, which is this coming Tuesday. Same as always, once the games are available for download, we’ll let our readers know.

More PlayStation Reading:

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Alex Co

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Fortnite Update 2.54 Released, Here’s What’s in Fortnite Update Today

Those firing up Fortnite today, Epic Games has released a new Fortnite update today. Console gamers will see this as Fortnite update 2.54, and there’s no version number tied to this — at least from what we kno. Those looking forward to balance changes and whatnot, there’s sadly none of that in this 1GB download.

Unfortunately, Epic Games doesn’t share any Fortnite changes or patch notes anymore (nor has the official Fortnite Trello board has been updated), but having said that, we do know what’s in Fortnite update 2.54 — at least on the front-facing part. A bunch of new character skins and an emote has been added.

https://twitter.com/shiinabr/status/1222518700957487106?s=21

And as far as we know, that’s basically it. We’re still digging what else is included in this stealth update and once we know more, we’ll update the post. Just two weeks ago, Epic Games released Fortnite patch v11.40.1 (2.53) and here’s what we know it does.

In other Fortnite news, Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2 releases this mid-February, which explains the lack of new patches recently. You can check out details of that here.

If you spot any gameplay changes included in this update (be it in Creative, Save the World or Battle Royale), let us know via email or in the comments and we’ll credit you.

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Alex Co

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Rainbow Six Siege Update 1.81 Fires Out, Here’s the Changes in Y4S4.3

While PC players got it yesterday, the big Rainbow Six Siege Y4S4.3 (Year 4 Season 4.3) patch is now out for consoles  as well. Console gamers will see the Rainbow Six Siege update today as Rainbow Six Siege update 1.81, as a a patch for the shooter was released last week.

Rainbow Six Siege update 1.81 patch notes (Y4S4.3):

BALANCING

ADS

  • ADS time increased for all weapons.

  • Assault rifles: from 0.30s to 0.40s

  • DMRs: from 0.30s up to 0.40s

  • SMGs: from 0.20s up to 0.30s

  • LMGs: from 0.40s up to 0.45s

  • Pistol: 0.10s up to 0.20s

  • SMG in secondary slots: 0.10s up to 0.275s*

  • Shotguns: 0.20s up to 0.25s

*(Modified based on feedback from Test Server)

BLACKBEARD

We support great beards and more decision-making.

  • ADS penalization will only apply when Blackbeard’s Gun Shield is equipped.

  • Weapons without the Gun Shield will maintain the same ADS timings as any other AR.

  • Weapons with the Gun Shield will retain the same ADS timings from before.

  • The Angled Grip will affect the SCAR with and without the Gun Shield equipped.

ECHO

Echo forgot to activate 2SV.

  • Echo can now be called by Dokkaebi.

  • Echo now drops a phone when killed with Dokkaebi present.

  • When hacked, access to the Yokai cameras is also granted for Attackers.

  • Yokai now has lights that show only when NOT cloaked, and Yokai drone lights will change to reflect it is hacked.

ELA

A little more princess, a little less Nerferella.

  • Reduced recoil on Scorpion Evo3 for the first 16 shots, any proceeding shots will retain previous recoil pattern.

FINKA

The juice is loose.

  • Increased Finka’s Spear .308 damage to 42 (up from 38).

JAGER

Wamai giving Jager a run for his money.

  • Reduced Jager’s 416-C damage to 38 (down from 43).

MAESTRO

Maestro joins the No-ACOG club.

  • ACOG removed from Maestro’s ALDA.

YING

New and improved Candelas! Great for flashing enemies and not just your team!

  • Candela’s now have a new outline that is visible only to Ying.

  • Improved distribution of Cluster Flashes to make the flash more reliable.

  • Number of pellets per Candela increased to 7 (up from 6) – (1 at floor level, 3 at around hip level and 3 at head level).

  • Pellets detonation time reduced to 0.3s (from 1s on throw and 2.5s on deploy).

  • Pellets that bounce on environmental props maintain their velocity instead of falling and detonating on the floor.

  • Candela explosion minor VFX improvements.

FMG9

  • Increased FMG9 damage to 34 (up from 30) for Nokk and Smoke.

BUG FIXES

GAMEPLAY

  • FIXED – Attachers can sometimes go through barricaded windows while attempting to hotbreach without detonating the breaching charge.

  • FIXED – Crashing if Lesion is pushed back by an airjab while trying to pull out a GU mine at the same time.

OPERATORS

  • FIXED – Jackal can’t scan footsteps while within the warning area of a Mute jammer. He can now scan footsteps while in the warning area – making it more in alignment with all other Operator gadgets and abilities that can be used while still in the warning area of a jammer.

  • FIXED – A rolling Candela that stops on a staircase will slide downstairs before detonating. Candelas will now stop and stay in place where they activated, even on stairs or uneven surfaces.

  • FIXED – Glaz’s Holographic Sight has a larger and thicker red reticle than other Russian Holographic Sights.FIXED –

  • FIXED – After being affected by Thatcher’s EMP, Yokai’s blue lights remain dark even when being operated.

  • FIXED – Castle’s Nail Gun remains present and clips while deploying his Armor Panels.

LEVEL DESIGN

  • FIXED – Invisible collision at the skylight of EXT Roof Top of Kafe for sticky deployable gadgets.

  • FIXED – Wall studs are not destroyed when a reinforced wall is first broken by Maverick and then shot by Zofia’s impact grenade.

USER EXPERIENCE

  • FIXED – Thunt matches count towards the “Match Win Streak” Battle Pass Challenge.FIXED – Battle Pass progression does not update properly on end-match screen, but shows correct progression in the main BP HUD.

  • FIXED – Various minor HUD and menu visual issues.

  • FIXED – Various minor shop and cosmetic visual issues.

  • FIXED – If a player mutes a teammate, they can still hear muted teammates after switching sides, even though the HUD indicates they are muted.

  • FIXED – In Caster or support mode, Nomad’s warheads pops in her hand while switching/reloading.

  • FIXED – Bandit’s shockwire gadget appears offset when he holds it in his hands.

  • FIXED – Incorrect animation for Ballistic Shield ops when being pushed back.

  • FIXED – Zofia’s KS79 Lifeline grenade launcher’s ammo faces the wrong side.

  • FIXED – Swapping weapons while vaulting will cause the operators arm to appear broken from a 3rd person POV.

  • FIXED – Weapons don’t sway back and forth while in rappel and moving L/R.

  • FIXED – Operators can appear to be floating over a shield from 3rd person POV if they vault over a shield twice.

If Ubisoft once again sneaks out a game update later in the week or not, we’ll be sure to let our readers know.

Source: Reddit

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Gran Turismo Sport Update 1.55 Now Out and Fixes Bugs

Polyphony Digital has released a new Gran Turismo Sport update today, and it fixes a few stuff! Usually, when a new unannounced patch drops, it’s for bug fixes and technical improvements, and that’s the case for this patch.

Nope, there’s no new car, new tracks or any new piece of content at all.

Gran Turismo Sport update 1.55 patch notes:

Main Features Implemented

Sport Mode & Lobby
– Fixed an issue wherein collisions between cars were not incurring a penalty, even for incidents where they should have.

And that’s basically it. Those looking for new content and whatnot, we’ll probably have to wait for February 2020’s big patch for a new slate of cars and more.

We’ll keep an eye out on new Gran Turismo Sport news, which we’re hoping involves a new track or track variant. The FIAGTC (FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships) will be kicking off soon this February, and we’re expecting new content to be released for the game alongside it.

Source: Gran Turismo

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The Division 2 Episode 3 Trailer Gives Us an Overview of the Chaos

While we already know what’s included in The Division 2 Episode 3 (for the most part, at least, we now have our first look at what’s coming down the pipeline in Ubisoft’s looter shooter! The publisher released a The Division 2 Episode 3 trailer that gives us an idea what to expect next month!

The Division 2 Episode 3 takes agents to Coney Island in search of a cure to the virus that started everything. This FREE update is coming in February 2020. Get 1 week early access with the Year 1 Pass.

In other The Division 2 news, Ubisoft Massive has already talked about Skill Power and recalibration changes, thought has confirmed that we won’t see those take effect in the game until after Episode 3 has been released.

No release date for Episode 3 has been announced so far other than February 2020, though we do know that it won’t contain a new raid.

Are you hyped for Episode 3, agents? What do you want to see from Ubisoft when it comes to new content and balance changes?

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Alex Co

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Xbox Live Games With Gold February 2020 Titles Announced

Xbox Live Gold members, the time you’ve been waiting for has come! Microsoft has announced the Xbox Live Games With Gold February 2020 titles! Same as before, there are titles headed for free for the Xbox One and Xbox 360!

Xbox Live Games With Gold February 2020 Titles:

  • TT Isle of Man ($59.99 ERP): Available February 1 to 29 on Xbox One

TT Isle of Man
Take on the challenge of Snaefell mountain in the motorcycle racing game, TT Isle of Man. All 37.73 miles of the legendary course is faithfully reproduced in this realistic moto-racing title that will challenge your skills and reflexes. Memorize each section and corner each bend to perfection, all while hurtling along at 180 mph.

  • Call of Cthulhu ($39.99 ERP): Available February 16 to March 15 on Xbox One

Call of Cthulhu
Plunge into a world of cosmic horror and creeping madness in Call of Cthulhu. In the official videogame inspired by the classic pen and paper RPG, investigate a family death on an isolated island where nothing is as it seems. Trust no one in a story filled with strange creatures, weird science and sinister cults, set within the iconic universe of H.P. Lovecraft.

  • Fable Heroes ($9.99 ERP): Available February 1 to 15 on Xbox One & Xbox 360

Fable Heroes
Get in on the highly addictive, hack-and-slash adventure title, Fable Heroes. As the heroes of Albion, play up to four players, either competitively or in co-op mode, and collect as many gold coins as you can. Defeat familiar foes and new enemies alike in this fresh spin on the beloved franchise and take playful competition to the next level.

Star Wars Battlefront
Experience an all-time classic with Star Wars Battlefront. Participate in memorable battles from the first six Star Wars films as you fight on the front lines with every weapon and vehicle you see at your disposal. Either by yourself or with an army behind you, the choice is yours to topple the Empire or crush the Rebellion. Note: No online gameplay support.

Are the games coming thie February 2020 worth it or are you disappointed with the lot?

Source: Xbox

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Need for Speed Heat Update 1.05 Skids Out, Here’s What’s in the January Update

Ghost Games released a new Need for Speed Heat update today (as expected), and this includes wheel support, a bunch of quality of life improvements and lots more. Clocking in at 3GB on PC, 5.5GB on PS4, and 4.9GB on Xbox One, you can check out the full Need for Speed Heat update 1.05 patch notes below.

Need for Speed Heat update 1.05 patch notes:

Additions

Steering wheels

We know those of you that own a steering wheel are enjoying all kinds of racing games, and we want to give you the option to use your equipment in Need for Speed, too. We have been testing some steering wheels, but a few others that are not on this list might also work:

  • Thrustmaster T300RS (PS4, PC)

  • Thrustmaster TX (Xbox, PC)

  • Thrustmaster T150 (PS4, PC)

  • Thrustmaster TMX (Xbox, PC)

  • Logitech G29 (PS4, PC)

  • Logitech G920 (Xbox, PC)

  • Fanatec CSL Elite Racing Wheel (PS4, PC, XB1)

For PC players: Make sure to install the Logitech G Hub, regardless of the wheel manufacturer and model you are using.

For Console players: Make sure that your steering wheel is assigned to your console profile before launching the game. When launching the game, press the respective steering wheel button on the title screen to enable steering wheel play: A on Xbox, X on PlayStation.

Please note that in order to access all features in the game, you will need to use a combination of steering wheel and controller.

Chat Wheel

To make communication in-game easier, we are implementing a chat wheel. That means you will be able to send pre-made text messages to friends or rivals. From saying hello, challenging players to a race or just asking them to follow you, we hope this feature makes communication easier for you. It also helps to cross language barriers, as incoming messages will be displayed in the same language that your game is set to. You can also turn the chat messages on or off at any time.

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Chat Wheel

Keys to the Map

You might notice a new tab in the menu, the in-game store. It will feature the “Keys to the Map”. This is a real-money purchase which will uncover the locations on the in-game map, including collectibles, activities, and gas stations. You will still have to complete the activities like smashing billboards or 3-star jumps, but you won’t have to look for the locations. This is one of the things we announced around Gamescom, and you could also call it a time-saver pack.

Please note that one thing will not be revealed by the Keys to the Map: One safe house location will be uncovered and unlocked upon reaching a certain point in the campaign and is not included here.

The activity and collectible locations will uncover once you hit the REP level that unlocks the corresponding activity in the game.

Gas Stations, Safe Houses and Billboards will show after completing the prologue and reaching REP level 2.

The other icons will show at these REP levels:

Speed Traps: REP level 3
Street Art: REP level 5
Jumps: REP level 9
Drift Zones: REP level 11
Flamingos: REP level 13

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Keys to the Map

Quality of Life improvements

Using a controller with manual transmission

  • You have been bringing this one up a lot. When you’re driving using manual transmission on a controller, the bumper buttons not only are shifting up and down, but share a lot of different functionalities depending on context. You can bribe a cop, enter the garage, start an event, swap a car and more. Especially when shifting up after leaving the garage, this can be slightly awkward.To improve the experience, all actions except shifting up and down now require you to hold the button for a short while to prevent accidental presses.Note that this change only affects players that are using manual transmission.

Gas Stations

  • You’ve been clear on that one: You want to showcase your cars in the best light, without any damage. We added some functionality to the gas stations to give your car a complete repair when driving through a gas station. Functional damage will be fixed, but also dust will be washed off and scratches repaired.

UI

  • After finishing a night event, some UI elements will now stay on your screen. Both the minimap and the speedometer will remain visible, to make it easier to find your way to the nearest safe house if you want to bank your REP. Or to the gas station, if you need repairs and want to go again.

  • We added a notification to the garage that will inform you if a server will be shutting down soon.

  • Moved the “Escaped” notification to the bottom of the screen. It will now be shown in the same location as the “Escaping” notification after you escaped successfully. That should prevent a few accidents.

  • There was no button prompt for “Back” in the decal menu, so we added one.

  • The VoIP status bar is now visible on all screens if you’re in a party.

  • When you quit a mission or event, the UI will now prompt you that all of your progress will be lost.

  • We implemented a new waypoint icon and also polished some icons and notifications around the minimap.

Rewards for Drift events

  • We updated the way rewards work for drift events. Now you will receive a reward even if you don’t hit the target score.

Bugfixes

Missions

  • During the “Got Your Back” mission, Lucas no longer mentions the grille of Papi’s Camaro before offering you the mission to acquire it.

  • Pushing Shaw into the water during the “Got Your Back” mission should no longer result in the inability to finish the mission.

  • When restarting the second part of “Follow the Law”, Ana’s subtitles will now be synced with the voice lines.

  • In the “Home Base” intro, the music should now correctly play throughout the cinematic.

  • It shouldn’t be raining during the “Party Crashers” intro cinematic any longer.

  • When you’re playing “Party Crashers” and quit during the “Ambushed” part of the chapter, the pursuit music should no longer be playing after you’ve quit the mission.

  • In a different part of the mission, we moved a video wall and a speaker system so both you and the AI drivers are less likely to jump into them.

  • Also during “Party Crashers”, near missing checkpoints will now correctly trigger mission events.

  • Fixed an issue that would trigger incorrect voiceover lines by honking repeatedly during the final Chop Shop cinematic.

  • When you’re in first place during the “Pit Potential” story, nobody should tell you “This is not looking good for you” anymore.

  • We fixed an issue that would show the world in a very bright light that could be noticed as flash during the “Let it slide” mission.

  • Ana should no longer get lost when driving to the “Make a name” event when you’re speeding too far ahead.

  • When restarting “Get noticed”, Ana’s car will now spawn in the correct location.

Events

  • The final cinematic of the “Birds Eye” drift trial will now be playing correctly.

  • During the “Brake or Break”, a larger crowd will be cheering for you now.

  • We reinforced the barriers in the start area of “Ceryneian Hind” so you should no longer be able to drive into them or get stuck.

  • “Discovery” event should now start correctly after the countdown ends when “Challenge all” has been selected.

  • A spectator at the start of the “Foxbat” event was defying gravity as he jumped down a light in an instant. He adheres to the laws of physics now.

  • You should no longer be reset to jump in the water over and over and over and over when you fall into the water at the first jump of the “Heights” time trial. Or the last jump.

  • The night event “Krom” now shows the night event outro and rewards.

  • “Moonshine” Drift Trial should now be concluded by the correct cinematic.

  • All AI racers should now follow the correct route during the “Needletail” event.

  • During the event “Rollercoaster”, one checkpoint was missing flags, barriers and spectators, which have now showed up to cheer you on.

  • The “Springbok” event is now correctly unlocked only after finishing the driving story.

  • The game should no longer show a permanent black screen after the end of the “Yoshikazu” race and before the result screen.

  • We fixed an issue that could lead to a spectator floating, which would only be visible when playing with other players and starting on the left side of the grid.

  • When restarting an event multiple times, they should now have a countdown every time.

  • Completing an event in a personal best on the challenge level should now be properly reflected on the leaderboard.

  • During one of the off-road events, you could encounter Rokkit & Rokkit. They probably thought they had better chances of winning when signing up for the race twice. We had a chat with them and one of them agreed to give up their spot for another driver.

  • Fixed an issue that could lead to AI drivers floating without cars when restarting events.

  • When two players want to start the same event but each their own race, the countdown timer will now count down to 0 before the second player can start their race.

  • On PC, you can now decline an event invitation with the key you have rebound that action to.

UI

  • Activating photo mode in online play should no longer start the engine.

  • In the snapshot gallery, your snapshots will no longer appear in the friends tab, but only in your tab.

  • Before you can share a snapshot, a confirmation prompt will now appear.

  • The camera will no longer be outside of the garage when triggering snapshot and entering a garage at the same time.

  • When crashing a cop car, the “Crashed a Cop” wouldn’t always show, this should now be working correctly.

  • In the Song display, “MNKYBSNSS – Otro Lugar” was not showing the artist and title when the song started playing – we fixed that.

  • When “Novocaine” is playing, the artist will now be displayed correctly without underscores.

  • Updated the Engine Swap UI in the garage for widescreen resolutions so text should no longer be overlapping.

  • Fixed text of daily challenges that was overlapping the speedometer.

  • The objective list will now automatically be presented on the screen after leaving the garage.

  • The Racer challenges menu will stay on screen after one of the challenges is completed.

  • Updated the Racer challenges menu on PC to display the button that closes the menu.

  • After completing a daily challenge, the “tick” icon is no longer overlapping the daily challenge icon.

  • The Objective menu that can be opened on the right side of the screen is no longer accessible while in the dealership or part shop.

  • Some events have different car performance level recommendations. The lower one is the base level and the higher one is the challenge level. Looking at the crew leaderboard before starting an event could prevent the ability to switch between base level and challenge level of an event, which we now resolved.

  • In rare cases, when crashing the car after a jump at Heat level 5, the car and UI would disappear, which should now be fixed.

  • Updating a crew description with a text containing profanity would prompt you with “Operation successful”, it should now say “Operation failed”.

  • Searching for a specific crew should now work correctly.

  • You can now use an apostrophe when creating a crew.

  • Some crew leaderboards were a bit slow to update, this will be quicker now.

  • Fixed a typo in the Crew invite menu.

  • When you’re in a cop chase and hit a cop car without crashing it, you should no longer be prompted with a message implying you did crash the cop.

  • When getting busted during night with less than 10,000 Bank, there will now be a countdown to 0 instead of just 0 being displayed.

  • We improved the readability of the “The League” notification you’re prompted after completing the respective chapter, increasing the opacity of the background.

  • When you unlock a new car by completing the main story or one of the side stories, the banner will now no longer say “Leveled up”, but only “New Cars unlocked”.

  • When you’re looking at the collectibles overview page of a district that has more than 8 collectibles of one kind, the items will now be scrolling.

  • The scrollbar in some menus will no longer move beyond the background of the scrollbar.

  • Toggling the the subtitles on or off in the settings will now toggle the option in the accessibility settings and vice versa.

  • The Bank and Rep widgets will now appear in the same place across all menus.

  • Removed the prompt for the player list while you’re in the Part Shop, as it is not accessible from there.

  • Removed some duplicate button prompts in the dealership.

  • In the event invite notification, the car rating of the player sending the invite will now be correctly displayed if it’s 400+.

Cars / Garage

  • Starter cars will now show customization ratings.

  • Cars should no longer be shown with car parts missing in the garage.

  • When cycling through the cars in the warehouse and selecting one quickly, the correct car should now be swapped to the garage main spot.

  • When playing on PC with a controller, pressing LB should no longer trigger the horn in customization menus.

  • Spamming the Skip button while entering the garage should no longer place the car below the garage.

  • Vehicles with gloss paint finish should now show correct shadows if showcased in the garage.

  • The camera should no longer switch from the bonnet camera to the near chase camera when crashing into objects at high speeds.

  • Removed the light letterbox in the garage.

  • Updated the description of crew members’ Deluxe Edition cars in the garage showcase.

  • When looking at car parts, the currently equipped part should now be counted towards the total amount of copies you have.

  • When you’re in a high gear and are switching to a gearbox with fewer gears than the one previously equipped, the gear will now be switched to the highest possible gear available on the new gearbox. Example: If you are in 7th gear and switch to a gearbox with 5 gears, it should now display that you’re in 5th gear.

  • We improved the readability of the “Need for Speed Rivals” license plate option in the customization menu.

  • We fixed an issue that would prevent you from unlocking the Drift Story introduction. This could happen when you had a very, very specific combination of car parts that were just below the requirements to unlock the story, which was not reflected in the UI before.

  • We bolted on some car parts of vehicles that shouldn’t have been removable in the first place.

  • You can no longer select “Swap Car” in the garage if you don’t have a car to swap to.

  • The message prompt instructing you where to share a custom wrap from will now correctly refer to “Library” instead of “My Wraps”.

  • Customizing the fifteen52 rims on some car models will now apply the primary and secondary colors correctly.

  • fifteen52 rims should no longer be clipping with brake discs when you’re changing the rim size to maximum.

  • Improved the alignment of NOS visual effects for some exhaust models.

  • When you’re in the garage, looking for part upgrades, have 2 parts for a specific slot, the stock part equipped and are hovering over the other (better) part, it will show the potential performance improvement. If you now sell the highlighted part, you would keep the stock part, but the potential improvement would still show in the UI. This has now been fixed.

  • Rotiform Forged LVS rims now are visually consistent on different levels of detail.

  • Scaling down the rim size of the BBS CH-R rims will now correctly affect the spokes.

Car-Specific

  • Fixed an issue that could lead to a flickering texture when you’re customizing the color of the BMW i8 Coupe.

  • Fixed a visual issue affecting the trunk of the BMW M4 Convertible when a decal was applied.

  • The license plate interaction point of the BMW M4 GTS in the garage has been correctly aligned.

  • Applying a decal to the BMW Z4 M40i with the Alchemist roof equipped will now fit the designated space.

  • The “Speedhunters” exhausts will no longer clip through the “Speedhunters” rear bumper when equipped to the Chevrolet Bel Air ‘55.

  • The Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 ‘17 is no longer floating when you view it in the showcase.

  • The camera won’t pass through the side of the Dodge Charger ‘69 anymore during a night race intro. Nice.

  • Designing a Ferrari 458 Spider ‘11 in the NFS Studio App using stock parts only and importing it to the game will not charge you any Bank.

  • The windows of the Ferrari 458 Spider ‘11 will now be down when the roof is down. The same goes for the Lamborghini Huracan Spyder ‘18 and the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which will also have the convertible roof equipped by default.

  • The wing mirrors of the Ferrari F40 ‘87 are no longer floating and twitching when the side of the car is damaged.

  • The Ferrari F40 ‘87 will no longer have a preview of the underglow in the “Swap Car” menu.

  • When critically damaged, the rear bumper of the Ferrari FXX-K Evo ‘18 will no longer be shaking.

  • Improved the mapping of decals applied to the rear window of the Honda Civic Type-R ‘15.

  • Applying a decal to the side of the Honda NSX Type-R ‘92 will no longer affect the headlights when the “Rocket Bunny” side skirt is equipped.

  • Fixed a visual issue that made the rear tires appear partially transparent when equipping the Speedhunters rear fender to the Jaguar F-Type R Convertible ‘19.

  • If you’re taking the Jaguar F-Type R Convertible ‘19 for a ride, use the bonnet camera and the car is in a critical state, the hood will no longer block your sight.

  • Improved the mapping of decals applied to the sides of the Koenigsegg Regera.

  • The default spoiler of the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster ‘19 should no longer be raising when driving at high speeds.

  • The camera won’t clip through the garage floor anymore when selecting an exhaust for the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary.

  • The player character shouldn’t be clipping through the bottom of the Lamborghini Diablo SV anymore.

  • The trunk lid of the Land Rover Defender 110 is no longer clipping with the default roof when the car is damaged.

  • We toned down the exhaust popping for the Lotus Exige S ‘06 a bit to make it sound less resonant.

  • We fixed a visual issue that would show on the rear fenders of the Mazda MX-5 when you equipped Pandem rear fenders with a Speedhunters rear bumper.

  • Toned down the exhaust flames of the McLaren P1 ‘14.

  • When the Mercedes-Benz AMG GT R ‘17 is damaged, the grille should no longer be clipping with other parts.

  • The camera view in the rim selection menu for the Mercury Cougar ‘67 now focuses on the rims.

  • Equipping the Pandem front bumper and the Pandem front fenders will no longer make the bumper disappear on the Nissan GT-R ‘17.

  • Fixed a visual issue with the second Nissan front bumper in the menu which could make it transparent in a spot where it shouldn’t be on the Nissan Skyline GT-R ‘99.

  • When the Porsche 911 GT3 RS is damaged, its license plate will no longer clip inside the rear bumper.

  • The Porsche 991 GT3 RS is now showing deformation properly when damaged.

Visual

  • We took another look at the lighting in the garage. Sometimes, your character and one side of the car would appear darker than the other side of the car, this should now be fixed.

  • Improved a cutscene with Ana, so her hair doesn’t clip with her neck anymore. Did you know that Ana is a real person, and her name is – Ana?

  • Updated the look of the JuiceBox logo.

  • Added Big Country Labs decals.

  • While wearing the blue bandana, changing the hair color in the menu will now actually change the hair color.

  • There were two pairs of pants that would clip through some tops. We’ve ironed that out.

  • Two bermuda shorts had a pretty similar look, we added some color to make them more distinguishable.

  • Some glasses would cause its wearer’s lashes to clip through them, which is now resolved.

  • Fixed an issue where the camera would clip through the floor of the garage.

  • Removed the background of a decal which was showing a square when it shouldn’t have.

  • When using the Protanopia colorblind setting, all routes will now have the correct color.

  • On PC, when you choose a different resolution and are prompted to confirm your choice, the confirmation selection prompt will now highlight an option.

  • Added subtitles that were partially missing for one of Lucas’ phone calls.

  • Put Italian subtitles back in sync during the prologue.

  • Korean subtitles are now in sync during the “Proposition” chapter.

  • “Did he just say Numero Uno?”: The subtitles are now synced with the voice line. Good old Kenny.

  • Improved the Russian wording on the outro screen for Time Trial events.

  • Increased detail on some ground textures in Port Murphy.

  • Some AI characters that take photographs before race events just vanished after a while. They will now no longer disappear mid-scene.

  • Fixed a rare issue that could lead to bright light overexposure in the garage.

  • The pulsating light in the loading screen before night events should now be in sync with the music for all songs.

  • You should no no longer be able to move the cursor out of bounds when looking at the map.

  • Background images in the crew menus will now fit the chosen aspect ratio.

  • Fixed an issue where some combinations of hairstyles and hair colors could result in slight flickering of the hair.

  • When purchasing a car in the dealership and using it straight away, mission markers should no longer be visible in the loading screen.

  • We replaced the image that’s displayed when you unlock the Polestar 1 ‘20 Hero Edition with a higher resolution image.

Audio

  • Lucas could be a bit pushy when reminding you about going to race when you were close to it anyway. We talked to him and he should be more lenient now.

  • There was a voice line playing in the garage that was triggered by the wrong event, so we removed it.

  • We lowered the volume of the sounds the metal surface of the bridge between Westside and Eden Shores would make when driving over it.

  • The large waterfall in Fort Callahan now makes a very calming peaceful sound.

  • Blue barrels and big white tires now make a sound when a car is colliding with them.

  • A sound should now be playing when receiving an event invitation.

  • The helicopter cop chatter in the prologue now is more distinguishable and in line with the other cop chatter.

  • When you restart an event using the prompt after the race ended, sometimes free roam music would start playing. This should no longer happen now.

  • Improved the audio mix during Daytime race outros to make the music more audible.

  • Cops should no longer talk about your Mercedes C63 AMG K.S Edition as “Mercedes G-Wagon” on the radio.

  • Improved the audio quality of the cop chatter on PS4 controller speakers.

  • Sometimes when the car would tumble and take off into the air, some audio effects would be missing. We fixed that issue to make it sound more immersive.

  • When scrolling through the news articles in the main menu, you will now receive audio feedback.

  • After completion of “Shattered Dreams”, the volume of the banter has been increased slightly to be in line with the other voice lines.

  • After finishing an daytime event, if you press retry, the celebration sound should no longer play during the loading screen.

  • Adjusted the mix of some voice-over lines to better fit the cinematic setting and reflect the environment during the “Ambushed” intro.

  • Starting an event while listening to a phone call should now interrupt the phone call.

  • During the Drift story tutorial, Wayne’s voice will now have a more consistent volume.

  • When fast traveling, the fast travel sound should no longer be cut off.

World

  • Bayview Park: Moved a respawn point further away from a ramp to allow players’ cars to build up enough speed to jump across the water.

  • Port Murphy: Moved a respawn point, you should no longer be able to become stuck in a respawn loop when driving into water in a specific location.

  • In a very, very specific scenario that would take too many lines to explain, it was possible to spawn under the map at the Fairview Fields gas station. This should no longer happen.

  • There is a jump in Downtown that wouldn’t track any progress if attempted with a very high speed, this has now been corrected.

  • Similarly, a jump in Grenada Wetlands should now award you with three stars if the cinematic is playing and you achieve the required distance.

  • A cop car could get stuck in a loop on a bridge in Mendoza keys. We updated the logic, so they should be able to get out of there without making overtime.

  • When entering a cop chase with a helicopter, escaping and coming back to the helicopter, it should no longer hover just above the ground.

  • Cops should no longer start chasing you when you’re driving on the monorail tracks and they drive below you and shouldn’t notice you.

  • The routing on the map during Chapter 5 will now start at the correct garage when using Arabic language.

  • If you’re in a cop chase, the “Busting” meter is filling and both you and the cop crash into water, you should no longer be busted after being reset.

  • Improved the cop logic in situations when you’re close to roadblocks.

  • AI drivers will stick to the road when taking a specific turn in Sandpiper Forest.

  • The same goes for a scenic location on Frontera Hills.

  • And one in Grenada Wetlands.

  • Improved a ramp in Palm City Raceway so you can no longer get stuck under it.

  • One flamingo was hovering above ground in Frontera Hills, another one in Blackwood Heights, but they’re grounded now.

  • To keep the balance, we also raised one flamingo that was partially dug into a Rockville hill.

  • Billboards shouldn’t get smashed anymore when jumping above them and not hitting them.

Performance

  • Improved client stability

  • Fixed a crash that could occur during the “Breaking the Law” mission when you reached the starting line before Ana.

  • Fixed a crash that could occur when reporting a player for an offensive wrap when the player didn’t have a wrap on their car.

  • Fixed a few crashes that could occur in the garage.

  • Fixed several other instances where the game could crash.

  • Opening the world map should now be smoother than before.

  • Fixed an issue where the game could hang when your car was pushed by the AI, resulting in jumping in the air and reaching extraordinarily high speeds.

  • Jumping into an inaccessible part of the map and wrecking the car in the process should no longer lead to the game hanging.

Other

  • The achievement “Swappin’” should no longer be awarded when the user wins an event with a stock engine vehicle.

  • The achievement “Benefits are nice” is now correctly unlocked after finishing 25 events.

  • Cops should behave smarter when they’re chasing a player that is then leaving the game.

  • It should no longer be possible to enter the garage after accepting a party invitation to an event.

  • When joining a party or inviting players to one, they should now be unmuted by default.

  • Changing the controller vibration settings when using an Xbox controller on PC will now work as intended.

Source: Reddit

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

Home > News

Battlefield V Chapter 6 Details – Everything You Need to Know

Earlier today, DICE gave us our first look at Battlefield V’s Chapter 6 “Into the Jungle” content via  a new trailer. If that’s not enough for you, DICE has opened the lid on the Battlefield V Chapter 6 details!

New map: Solomon Islands

Danger and opportunity are everywhere. On Solomon Islands, you’ll fight through a jungle environment where you never know what’s lurking around the riverbend, by the dark mangroves, or in the hidden bunkers.

Whether you’re launching an American attack or defending the Japanese lines, the terrain can be your best friend – or your worst enemy.

Rivers and marshes block the path for infantry and tanks, but savvy soldiers can make the bottlenecks work for them. You’ll charge through narrow paths winding through dense jungle and fight over covered strongholds.

We’ve designed Solomon Islands for intimate jungle infantry combat combined with land and sea vehicle warfare. You’ll notice how a mode like Breakthrough shines when played on this map. Defenders can stay hidden and use the terrain to hold the line, but attackers will have several options: flanking, sending in infantry, or utilizing landing boats for a frontal assault.

New weapons

Three new weapons and two new gadgets will be part of the rewards for Chapter 6! Same as before, you’ll earn them as Chapter Rewards.

Support class – Type 11 LMG, and the Model 37 shotgun

Assault class – M2 Carbine

Gadgets

Assault class – M1A1 Bazooka (anti-tank tool for long range)

Assault and Support classes – Lunge Mine Gadget (counter for tanks)

Three new Elites will be dropping too!

Three new Elites featuring signature looks, personas, voices*, and melee weapons are coming with Chapter 6: Into the Jungle.

Misaki Yamashiro

Focused and unrelenting, Misaki is a highly skilled assault specialist. Despite her young age, she’s experienced in jungle and tropical theaters of war. Misaki’s truly deadly in close quarters, where she wields a Commando Machete as her signature melee weapon. This Elite will be unlockable in a unique way. Instead of purchasing Misaki in the Armory, earn Chapter Rank to unlock her as a Chapter Reward. Reach Chapter Rank 40 before Chapter 6 ends and deploy as this fierce warrior.

 

Steve Fisher

When Steve’s not chasing down enemy fighters in the air, you’ll likely find him quoting his favorite film stars. This fearless but light-hearted pilot embraces combat as if there was never any danger to his life. Steve has a habit of finding himself in underdog situations, where he often makes good use of his melee weapon, the Knuckle Duster.

Akira Sakamoto

Young and excited. Though these are Akira’s main traits, he always wants to do the best job and follows orders to a T. He’s known for being in the right place at the right time when his wingmen need him. An accomplished Zero pilot, Akira has exceptional reflexes and ingenuity and has a repurposed Control Stick ripped from a destroyed airplane to function as a deadly melee weapon.

In case you didn’t know, Battlefield V Chapter 6 will start this February 6, 2020 on all platforms and will most likely be preceded by a patch. Once we know that, we’ll be sure to let you know.

Source: EA

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

Home > News

Modern Warfare January 28 Update Includes Weapon Nerfs, Exploit Fixes & More

While Infinity Ward released a rather chunky Call of Duty: Modern Warfare patch (1.13) just last week, the studio released a Modern Warfare January 28 update today, and it’s live now! Thankfully, this is a server-side update which means there’s no big file to download.

Included in this Modern Warfare update today are weapon nerfs, exploit fixes, playlist updates and more! And yes, this update introduces Deathmatch Domination to Moderm Warfare as teased previously.

Modern Warfare January 28 update patch notes:

Playlist Update

  • Added Deathmatch Domination!
  • Added Gunfight Custom!
  • Shipment 24/7 is back! (Replaces Shoot the Ship)
  • Removed Winter Docks
  • Moved Capture the Flag into the Quick Play Filter

 

GENERAL FIXES:

  • Weapons:
    • MP5: Reduced headshot multiplier, Small reduction to 10mm range
    • M4: Small damage decrease to reduce headshot effectiveness, Small range decrease
    • M13: Range increase, Small reduction to horizontal recoil, Small damage increase to boost headshot effectiveness
    • Crossbow: Players are able to shoot down an enemy Support Helo with only 3 Thermite Bolts. This has been adjusted; 5 to take down a VTOL and 6 to take down a Support Helo and Chopper Gunner
  • Fix for an exploit in Ground War via ATV
  • Fix for missing character model on the LA OpTic CDL skin
  • Shipment: Spawn tuning to reduce the frequency of instant deaths and spawn traps. Adjustments to spawn positions around the edge of the map for all modes. New spawn logic for Domination.
  • When using keyboard and mouse, a controller button prompt will appear to access the Social Menu while matchmaking. On PC with a PS4 controller, the button prompt will appear as an Xbox prompt. This has been fixed

Hopefully, nothing else is broken via this server-side patch, and there’s no stealth changes implemented as well/

Source: Infinity Ward

More Modern Warfare Reading:

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Ghost Recon Breakpoint Terminator Trailer Hypes Up Tomorrow

The ongoing war for humanity’s future begins tomorrow! In case you didn’t know. the Ghost Recon Breakpoint Terminator event starts tomorrow, which will bring in new content for players to chew on. While we got a teaser yesterday, the Ghost Recon Breakpoint Terminator trailer has today been released by Ubisoft!

The first part of the live event officially kicks off tomorrow and will be free for all players to participate. We don’t have a lot of details surrounding the missions story, other than a women named Rasa Aldwin has traveled back in time to stop Skynet’s plans. Judging from the trailer,  it’ll feature plenty of action against the formidable Terminator. Sadly, it doesn’t appear that Arnold Schwarzenegger’s likeness will be used at all during this cross-over event.

As mentioned the first part will be tomorrow, followed by the second part being available on Feburary 1. In this time players can also participate dialed challenges and earn unique rewards based on the Terminator series.

I’ll be jumping on tomorrow and provide a full playthrough of the missions. Fingers crossed they are in the least decent.

Make sure to check out today’s Breakpoint patch to see all the gameplay changes Ubisoft has made in preparation for tomorrow’s event.

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James Lara

A gamer at heart, James has been working for MP1st for the last decade to do exactly what he loves, writing about video games and having fun doing it. Growing up in the 90's gaming has been in his DNA since the days of NES. One day he hopes to develop his own game.

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GTA Online & Red Dead Online Free Rewards Given as a Thank You for Record-Breaking Holiday

While Rockstar Games doesn’t really a lot of titles in each console generation, the studio doesn’t really need to, as every game they release becomes a multi-million best-seller even years after its release. Case in point? Both GTA Online (via Grand Theft Auto V) and Red Dead Online (via Red Dead Redemption 2) are doing very well — to the point that Rockstar is even giving out GTA Online and Red Dead Online free rewards as a thank you!

In the press release, Rockstar Games announced that both titles had a record-breaking holiday season in 2019! Here’s some of the achievements of both:

  • The highest players numbers in GTA Online ever, following the December launch of The Diamond Casino Heist which set a new high in player numbers (surpassing previous records for daily, weekly and monthly average players set in July and August 2019, following the release of The Diamond Casino & Resort).
  • Red Dead Online hit a new peak in player numbers in December following the release of the Moonshiners update, topping those numbers again in January.
  • GTA V’s biggest year ever for views on YouTube, with December 30th to January 5th being the biggest seven-day period ever, along with a new record for engagement via likes and comments in the week ending January 12th, 2020.

As a thank you, the studio is offering the following as free rewards and bonuses for GTA Online and Red Dead Online:

  • GTA$2,000,000, the biggest cash giveaway yet
  • Free access to Red Dead Online Frontier Pursuit roles, special role item giveaways and much more

NEW REWARDS AND BONUSES

To celebrate these milestones, we will be offering huge bonuses in both games:

GTA Online will feature bonus cash of up to GTA$2,000,000 in its biggest cash giveaway yet. Starting on January 30th you can earn GTA$1,000,000 just by playing before February 5th and will be able to earn another GTA$1,000,000 by playing between February 6th and February 12th.

Red Dead Online players will receive a series of gifts including free access to select roles, special role item giveaways and more, including:

The Gunslinger’s Cache: Play between January 28th and February 3rd to get a Free Schofield Revolver, a Free Varmint Rifle and the Devastating Ammo Bundle, which includes 100x Split Point Revolver Ammo, 100x High Velocity Pistol Ammo, 100x Express Repeater Ammo, 100x Slug Shotgun Ammo, and 20x Explosive Rifle Ammo.

The Bounty Hunter’s Kit: Play between February 4th and February 10th to get a Reward for a Free Bounty Hunter license, 25x Bolas, and 25x Tracking Arrows.

Also included in the press release is Rockstar teasing what’s to come for both games this 2020! GTA Online will get an open wheel racing series featuring all vehicle types. As for Red Dead Online, the studio will expand on Frontier Pursuits with additional roles, new missions, and more.

Same as always, stick to MP1st for the latest GTA Online and Red Dead Online news.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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New Destiny 2 Weekly Reset – January 28, 2020

Thanks to Bungie’s on-going maintenance of Destiny 2, this week’s new Destiny 2 weekly reset is a wee bit late given, y’know, we have to wait for the actual servers to go up before we know of these, but here it is!

New Destiny 2 Weekly Reset – January 28, 2020:

Nightfalls:

Ordeal

  • Scarlet Keep

Legacy

  • Strange Terrain
  • Will of Thousands
  • Broodhold

That’s basically what you need to know right now. We’ll update the post with the rest of the info once we can or at least when the Reddit bot stops reacting to the server maintenance.

Don’t forget that a new Destiny 2 patch has been deployed, and there’s quite a fair number of fixes. You can check that out here. Also of note, that latest patch might have affected the way you approach Nightfalls for this week’s reset of activities (just a hunch).

Once we get the list sorted, we’ll update the post to reflect the changes and new activities.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Destiny 2 Update 1.46 Released, Here’s the Changes in 2.7.1

As promised by Bungie last week, a new Destiny 2 update has been released just now after the maintenance period. Called the Destiny 2 update 2.7.1, console gamers will see this as Destiny 2 update 1.46. Clocking in at just 390MB on PS4, check out the full Destiny 2 update 1.46 patch notes below.

Destiny 2 update 1.46 patch notes:

ACTIVITIES

PIT OF HERESY

  • Improved some performance issues in the Chamber of Suffering encounter that could reduce framerates.
  • Fixed an issue where players could die when transitioning from the Necropolis encounter to the Tunnels of Despair.
  • Fixed an issue where players could get out of the environment in the Tunnels of Despair.

GARDEN OF SALVATION

  • Improved a performance issue that could occur when chunks of land return, or are removed during the Sanctified Mind encounter.
  • Improved the visual indication for when a tether source hub is on or off.
  • Added text notification when a Vex sacrifices on a relay.

NIGHTFALL: THE ORDEAL

  • Reduced weekly completions needed to bring it in line with other challenges.
      • Players now need three completions on Adept, two completions on Hero, or one completion on Legend or Master.

DIRECTOR

  • Players can now shortcut directly to their Roster by selecting their empty fireteam slots, or by invoking the Roster shortcut on Director Map screens.
  • When an activity is selected, fireteam leaders can navigate left and right to get to Quests and Roster respectively, then back to return to the selected activity.

REWARDS

WEAPONS

  • Seasonal Bow mods should now work reliably with Hush.
  • Fixed an issue where Onslaught would reduce damage at 2x Rampage stacks despite not increasing Rate of Fire.
  • Adjusted scope feedback and camera shake on Hard Light firing.
  • Eriana’s Vow no longer gets more ammo when swapping from other Special ammo weapons in Gambit. Starting ammo in Gambit increased from six to ten.
  • Fixed an issue where swapping from Two-Tailed Fox to another Power weapon would generate more ammo than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where Leviathan’s Breath started PVE activities with more ammo than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where Xenophage started PVE activities with more ammo than intended.

ARMOR

  • The Empowered Finisher Dawn mod will no longer consume Super energy if you do not have a mod equipped that is capable of benefiting from the Charged with Light buff.
  • The Ever Ready Dawn mod will now stack correctly with weapon dexterity leg armor mods applicable to the weapons it covers.
  • The Heavy Handed Dawn mod will no longer trigger after the death of Telesto bolts. Increased the number of enemies that must be near the player to trigger the ammo-granting benefit from two to three.
  • Several class item armor mods will now correctly provide diminishing returns when multiple copies of the mod are equipped. These mods include Perpetuation, Innervation, Invigoration, Insulation, and Absolution.
  • Wormgod Caress and Winter’s Guile no longer retain the status of their buff if the armor piece is unequipped.
  • The perk on Synthoceps now deactivates immediately when the armor piece is unequipped.
  • The Transcendent Blessing Outlaw mod will now correctly appear in players’ inventory; previously, it would only be visible in the mod flyout when socketing a mod.
  • Grenade Launcher Scavenger will no longer award Special ammo for Grenade Launchers when the player picks up Primary ammo bricks.
  • The last finisher removed from favorites will no longer override the fallback default class finisher.
  • Giddy Laugh rare emote now has a valid icon and can be selected for equipping on the emote wheel.
  • Shadowkeep campaign Exotic armor no longer has a potential to show up in Xur’s weekly inventory.
  • Gunsmith now properly assesses the owned status of Unflinching Machine Gun and Unflinching Hand Cannon mods.

POWER AND PROGRESSION

  • Fixed an issue that caused the amount of XP earned not to show up next to the XP progress bar.
      • NOTE: This issue may still exist for players after they reach Seasonal Rank 100, but all XP earned will still apply to Seasonal Ranks above 100.
  • Changed the progress bar description on the Weekly Strike challenge from “Bounties completed” (which was incorrect) to “Strikes completed”.
  • Completion values for some of the destination Obelisk Weekly Bounties have been reduced.
  • Fixed an issue where the “Green with Envy” pursuits could stop progressing correctly.
  • Players who were in this state should have their progress updated retroactively.

COMBAT

GAMEPLAY

  • Fixed an issue in which Roaring Flames was buffing Solar Weapon Damage while standing in a Well of Radiance.
  • Fixed an issue in which Sunbreaker Titans were able to self-heal by bouncing a Throwing Hammer off a wall.
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Warlocks from using Blink after switching weapons or cancelling sprint.
  • Fixed an issue that would sometimes cause the Sunbreaker Titan’s Mortar Blast to deal little to no damage.
  • Fixed an issue that allowed Sunbreaker Titans to gain stacks of Roaring Flames by destroying Telesto projectiles.
  • Increased the Sunbreaker Titan’s Mortar Blast damage by 70 percent in PvE.
  • Crucible
  • Players will remain in spaceflight instead of going to a black screen when they load into a PvP match faster than their peers.

BOUNTIES AND PURSUITS

  • Fixed an issue that could prevent players from obtaining the Black Armory Key Mold quest from Ada-1 on multiple characters.
  • Acquisition of Black Armory rare bounties significantly improved.
      • Players that complete all available weekly and daily bounties will acquire a rare bounty within five days.
  • Black Armory Keys taking up space in Pursuits will be removed if a player has already completed the Mysterious Box Izanagi’s Burden quest chain and unlocked the Exotic in their Collections.
  • The Gambit Prime “Collector” bounty will now progress from picking up Luna destination materials.
  • Fixed an issue affecting the “Newest” sorting option in Pursuits.
      • Newly acquired quests, or quests that get updated, will now be properly sorted to the top.

GENERAL

  • In Collections, the “Playin’ the Odds” Gambit emblem will now properly register as unlocked and can be reacquired accordingly.
  • Fixed an issue that was impacting the Unveiling Triumph.
      • Eris is now ready to present her final Lore entry to players who need it.
      • The Unveiling Lore Triumph now correctly reads #/11 Lore pieces and will unlock upon obtaining the final Lore piece.
  • Fixed an issue where certain randomized dialogue would play more or less frequently than intended.
  • Fixed an issue that was causing notifications to appear again after transferring items using the Bnet D2 API.
  • Improved performance when receiving certain messages from the server.
      • Largest impact will be in the Tower, but should help everywhere.
  • Fixed an issue that caused FOTL items to be stuck in the postmaster as invisible  items for some players.

In other Destiny 2 news, don’t forget to check out this fan-made Ghost 2.0 thing that Bungie themselves acknowledged was a good idea.

Source: Bungie

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Alex Co

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Dead by Daylight Update 1.82 Rolled Out, Hotfix 3.5.1 List of Fixes

While Behaviour Interactive has just released a Dead by Daylight update last week to mark the Lunar New Year event, the studio has released a new Dead by Daylight update today, and it’s now live! There are loads of changes included in this hotfix for all platforms. Check out the full Dead by Daylight update 1.82 patch notes below.

Dead by Daylight update 1.82 patch notes:

HOTFIX 3.5.1

BALANCE – Treatment Theatre map changes

The following changes were done based on PTB feedback where it was found that some window vaults were too strong in the large rectangle rooms so we reduced the strength of those window loops and increased the strength of the pallet loops in those rooms to compensate:

  • Tile Rec_Bath_1P_01: Reduced window loop safety, increased pallet loop safety to 80+.
  • Tile Rec_Bath_1P_02: Reduced window loop safety, increased pallet loop safety to 82.
  • Tile Rec_Bed_2P_01: Reduced window loop safety, increased pallet loop safety to 82.
  • Tile Rec_Wait_1P_01: Reduced window loop safety, increased pallet loop safety to 80+.

BUG FIXES

  • Fixed an issue that caused the movement extrapolation system (tested during the 3.5.0 PTB) to have a slight effect on Survivors movement (although it was meant to be fully disabled).
  • Fixed an issue causing the Alpine Ski Vest Meg cosmetic to be automatically granted to all players. The cosmetic will now be granted after reaching level 35 in The Reckoning’s Rift.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Nea’s prestige torso to be missing the effects on her arms.
  • Fixed an issue that caused The Plague’s vomit splashes to be very loud.
  • Adjusted the distance and intensity at which players would hear the fireworks SFX from hooks and generators.
  • Fixed an issue that caused The Legion’s Fairview Varsity Jacket (Graffiti) to play the wrong audio if a Julie or Suzie body cosmetic was previously selected.
  • Tentatively fixed multiple crashes relating to the Archives The Doctor changes.
  • Partially fixed an issue that caused The Doctor’s Iridescent Queen add-on VFX to be displaced in front of the Survivor if they were moving. The VFX is still displaced when turning.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Survivors not to see illusionary pallets created by The Doctor’s “Order” – Cater’s Notes add-on.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Decisive Strike perk not to work against The Doctor if the Survivor has an insane skill check.
  • Fixed an issue that caused succeeding a Snap Out Of It skill check to grant extra progress.
  • Fixed an issue that caused The Hag’s red stain to change brightness when teleporting to a trap.
  • Fixed an issue that caused The Nightmare’s Dream Snare placement animation to be slower.
  • Fixed an issue that caused an impassable gap between a hooked Survivor and a hospital bed in one of the hallways in the Treatment Theatre map.
  • Fixed an issue that caused Survivors to get temporarily stuck when cleansing a specific totem in a bathroom in the Treatment Theatre map.
  • Fixed multiple collision issues on the second floor of the Shock room in the Treatment Theatre map.
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Entity VFX to be missing on a specific hook in the Treatment Theatre map.
  • Fixed an issue that caused multiple unreachable totems and pick up spots in the Springwood maps. Shortly after the 3.5.0 update, the maps were removed from the rotation because of these unfair and exploiting issues. With this bug fix in 3.5.1, the maps have now been re-enabled.
  • Fixed an issue that caused an invisible collision on the right side of the basement stairs when exiting the basement in The Underground Complex map.
  • Fixed an issue that could cause party members to see a corrupted lobby briefly after the Offering burn sequence.
  • Fixed an issue that caused corrupted lobby UI when queuing for a match as a Killer without PS+.
  • Fixed an issue that made it impossible to switch between Killers for the first 10 seconds after queuing for a match.

If you want to check the patch notes for each specific platform, head on over here.

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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Battlefield 5 Chapter 6 Trailer Brings Us “Into the Jungle,” Starts February 6

As promised, DICE has released our first look at Battlefield 5 Chapter 6! Called “Into the Jungle,” the latest Tides of War chapter will bring fresh new content in the form of weapons, maps, weekly Assignments, and more! Not only that, but the Battlefield 5 Chapter 6 release date has been announced for February 6, 2020!

Check out the Battlefield 5 Chapter 6 trailer below.

Head into close-quarter Pacific battles with Battlefield V Chapter 6: Into the Jungle, coming February 6. As the fight moves into the thick and treacherous vegetation of Solomon Islands, the outcome is uncertain for both sides.

The trailer shows us dense new areas to fight in, a new LMG, a new assault rifle, new gadgets, new skins and lots more! It also confirmed that We’ll see Battlefield 5 patch 6.0 in the first week of February, though note that these things change so don’t be surprised if the release gets pushed back.

Are you excited for Chapter 6? What do you hope to see in this new Tides of War chapter? Expect a more detailed look into Battlefield 5 Chapter 6 later today here on MP1st!

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.

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SMITE Update 11.27 Brings Season 7 Content, Here’s the Patch Notes

Hi-Rez Studios has released a SMITE update today, and this is a big one! There’s new content, new skins, new gameplay changes, and lots more! Check out the full SMITE update 11.27 patch notes below.

Estimates for each platform is as follows when it comes to patch size:

  • PC (Steam): ~16,5 GB Xbox One: ~23 GB PlayStation 4: ~30 GB Nintendo Switch: ~ 10 GB

Thanks to Reddit user BluesUltra, there’s a very big infograph (and I mean big!) that lists the changes and new stuff in one handy image, or you can read the full notes below too.

SMITE update 11.27 / SMITE Season 7 patch notes:

NEW DLC
Get all the Season 7 Gods and incredible content for each, all-year long, with the SMITE Season Pass 2020. Plus: You’ll immediately unlock the Limited Eternal Tormentor Zeus skin, Eternal Tormentor Loading Screen, and 1000 Gems!
  • Season Pass 2020 – $39.99 USD, Includes the following items:
    • 1000 Gems
    • Eternal Tormentor Zeus Skin – Limited
    • Eternal Tormentor Loading Screen – Limited
    • Godslayer Title
    • Provides the following for each new god in 2020 as they are released:
      • Unlocks gods for gameplay
      • Base recolor
      • New limited recolor
      • Voice pack
      • Wave and Clap Emotes
  • Digital Deluxe Edition 2020 – $59.99 USD
    • Ultimate God Pack
    • Season Pass 2020
UPDATE RELEASE SCHEDULE
January 28
  • Enchanted Chronicles Battle Pass
  • Enchanted Chest
  • Albert Hammond Jr. Red Bull Records Bundle
  • Season Pass 2020
  • Digital Deluxe Edition 2020
  • Alexandrite Isis
  • Unbreakable Anhur
February 11
  • Valentine Chest
  • Jade Corruption Bundle 1
  • Easy Freezy Chest
BATTLE PASS UPDATES
System Changes
  • Removed the Prestige Track
    • No longer has prestige recolor skin
    • Moved prestige rewards (profile cosmetics, gems, etc.) into the base track
  • Decreased the total BP required to reach level 60 from 75,000 (RWBY) to 60,000
  • Battle Pass Quests are now accessible to all players
  • Players can now earn a skin in the Free Track
  • Added unique backgrounds to battle pass UI screens
  • Free vs Premium tracks have more clear color differentiation
  • Increased the number of levels visible per screen from 8 to 10
  • Chests earned from the Battle pass are being changed to make them clearly visually distinct as they will only be available from the Battle Pass. The Victory chest change is mostly aesthetic, the Battle chest is adds a chance for newer exclusive skins that old Battle Pass chests did not have.
  • Champion Chests earned in the Battle Pass have been replaced with new Victory Chests.
    • Victory Chest Contents
      • Avatars
      • Ward Skins
      • Recolor Skins
      • Tier 2 Skins
      • Boosters
      • “Head Over Heels” Cupid Skin
  • Hero’s Chests & Enigma Chests earned in the Battle Pass have been replaced with new Battle Chests, which have been updated to include new skins from the Awesome Chest.
    • Battle Chest Contents
      • All Victory Chest items
      • Awesome Chest Exclusive skins
      • Tier 3 Skins
      • Tier 4 Skins
      • Voice Packs
      • Announcer Packs
      • Emotes
Free Track Items
  • Strix Beast Avatar
  • Strix Beast Loading Screen
  • Lord Bifrost Avatar
  • Floof! Ward Skin
  • Ares Skin (Primal Steel)
  • “The Adventurer” Title
Premium Track Items
  • Heimdallr Skin (Lord Bifrost)
  • Floof Gully! Loading Frame
  • Lord Bifrost Announcer Pack
  • The Morrigan Skin (Charm Caster)
  • I Win! Death Mark
  • Floofs! Recall Skin
  • Adventurous Music Theme
  • 1v1 Me! Global Emote
  • Lord of the Bifrost Loading Screen
  • Castle Defender Level-Up Skin
  • Charming Caster Jump Stamp
  • Fenrir Skin (Strix Beast)
NEW EVENT – JADE CORRUPTION
  • A new event is launching along with Season 7 and the new Joust map: Jade Corruption
    • The event introduces a mysterious new character who will lead us through an all new story in the SMITE universe.
    • A strange occurrence is happening in China. Jade, the sacred gemstone, usually imbued with healing powers and divinity, has turned into something sinister.
    • Features 3 exclusive god skin bundles
    • Each bundle contains 2 skins, 2 additional cosmetic items, and an Imperial Coin
    • All players will be able to progress through the quest line for free rewards
    • Additional exclusive rewards can be unlocked with Imperial Coins at certain quest milestones
    • Buying all 3 Bundles will unlock an Unlimited Poseidon Skin
BUG FIXES
General
  • Fixed an issue in all modes where Swordsmen and Archers in lane would sometimes stand further apart than intended. They should always stand about 35 units away from each other now.
  • Fixed an issue in Arena where parts of music packs would not play
  • Fixed an issue where the Bull Demon King had much lower HP than intended in Duel
  • Fixed an issue where the Elixir of Speed was displaying a long string of numbers for its duration
User Interface
  • PC Mode UI Keybinds can now be bound to gamepads
  • Reverted Scoreboards to their previous art and layout
  • Commendations messages now specify what players were commended for
  • Fixed an issue where PC Controller layout would reset at unintended times
  • Fixed an issue where the “reset keybinds” button would not properly reset keybinds to default
  • Fixed an issue where PC Controller HUD would not show button prompts for ranking up abilities
  • Fixed an issue for console KB&M where mouse cursor can be used to highlight UI elements in all screens outside of game/settings menu
  • Fixed an issue where players could get stuck in the Item Builder
  • Fixed an issue where MMR would sometimes be displayed as “–” in the Ranked section
  • Fixed an Issue where End of Match Lobby Chat would not be visible to many players
  • Fixed an issue where match lobby UI could get into a bad state if you previously disconnected during a match lobby
  • Fixed an issue where selected skins in match lobby were not highlighting in the intended way
  • Fixed an issue where selecting an evolved item in the item menu would take you to a separate page with only the evolved item visible. Selecting an evolved item now will take you to the page and item tree with the base item.
Gods
  • Heimdallr
    • Fixed an issue where Heimdallr would turn invisible while basic attacking on his Mastery skins
    • Fixed an issue where his auto-level would not properly rank up abilities
    • Fixed an issue where basic attacks would not match his animation if used directly after firing his 2nd ability
    • Fixed an issue where his 3rd basic attack would not match his animation at max attack speed
    • Fixed an issue where Heimdallr mastery skins were missing hit FX
    • Fixed an issue where Heimdallr’s “Far Seeing Sight” achievement could not be unlocked
    • The Gjallarhon ability now costs the intended amount of mana at rank 5
    • Through the Realms (Ultimate)
      • The Audio gods hear when hit by Heimdallr’s ultimate will now be more consistent
      • Enemy gods will no longer fly across the minimap when hit by this ability
      • Fixed an issue where players could get stuck if hit by Heimdallr’s ultimate at specific times
      • Fixed an issue where Crusher could trigger multiple times
      • Fixed an issue where the environment would sometimes be invisible during this ability
  • The Morrigan
    • Fixed an issue where this god could not select a target for her ultimate when using PC Controller mode or Console KBM Mode
  • Kali
    • Fixed an issue where this god could not select a target for her passive when using PC Controller mode or Console KBM Mode
  • Yemoja (Hotfixed in live)
    • Fixed an issue where Yemoja could lose 2 Omi unintentionally
    • Fixed issues where her 3rd ability would cause strange movement interactions if players were affected by intoxicate or tremor
  • Ah Muzen Cab
    • Fixed an issue where his achievements were missing text
  • Persephone
    • Fixed an issue where her Ultimate would sometimes fail to “Bind” enemies even when they were in the affected radius
    • Fixed an issue where Death Recaps from some of Persephone’s abilities were showing unintended text
  • Xbalanque
    • Fixed an issue where his achievements text would not appear in the Steam UI
  • Fafnir
    • Fixed an issue where allies and enemies could not see Fafnir’s gold pouch glow FX
  • Achilles
    • Fixed an issue where his 3rd ability could be fired multiple times in certain situations
  • Sylvanus
    • Fixed an issue where his 3rd ability would not go through player made walls (it has always gone through map-based walls)
Skins
  • Da JI Senpai
    • Audio has been adjusted on ability 3 and 4 for better clarity
  • Anhur Royal Fury
    • Audio has been adjusted on ability 1 for better clarity
  • Artemis Recon Skin
    • Audio has been adjusted on ability 4 for better clarity
  • Isis Crystal Fae
    • Audio has been adjusted on all abilities for better clarity
  • Sol Sweet Tooth
    • Audio has been adjusted on basic attacks for better clarity
  • Thoth Geek Beak
    • Audio has been adjusted on ability 2 for better clarity
PROJECT OLYMPUS
Daily Login Updates
  • Daily Logins will now be automatically claimed when players first arrive at the home screen.
  • Added a new UI element to the acquisitions screen that will show players which daily reward they claimed, and what day they are on.
  • Removed all information about daily logins from the Shop
  • Reward amounts and the days they are awarded on have not changed
“NEW” Tags on Home Screen
  • Certain elements on the home screen will now be tagged as “NEW” to highlight events and content that was turned on throughout the patch
  • “NEW” tags will go away after a section is visited for the first time
Engine Updates
  • Engineering changes have been made to our build process (how the game and its updates are packaged for distribution to players) to improve the installing, storing, and loading of game files.
    • Decreased update sizes. This will not be present in 7.1 as a full download is required on PC to pick up these changes. Consoles will not require a full download, but it this update will still be larger than usual to pick up these changes. Future updates in Season 7 should require smaller downloads than they did in Season 6, depending on how much content is changed in each update.
    • Decreased total install size on PC, cutting it down by almost 50%.
    • Decreased load times and start up times on PC. This could be a significantly large improvement (faster by up to 1-2 minutes!) depending on players PC specs and anti-virus software. Console should also see slight improvements from this, but not as intense as PC.
    • Graphical Improvements – the high quality texture pack will now be downloaded and installed by default in SMITE PC, which will improve the look of the game when at “high” settings. Maximum will also be improved (unless you already had the texture pack installed).
    • Future updates this year will include more changes like this. It will be an ongoing process.
Updates Surrender Vote Rules
  • In 5-player modes (where no players are disconnected), 1 or more players not voting will decrease the required surrender needed count by 1.
  • The makes games slightly easier to surrender.
  • 3 yes, 1 no, and 1 not voted: will now cause the game to be surrendered, when previously it would cause the game to continue being played.
VGS
  • Added “Attack the Minions” VGS line to all other modes, previously it was only accessible in Arena.
    • Use keys VAN or gamepad button tree “Attack – Attack Objective – Attack the Minions” to sound this line to your allies.
    • This new combination works in Arena as well, in addition to the original VAM
New Minimap Icons
  • Added new minimap icons to depict Oni buffed minions and Fire minions
    • These will also work in combination for Oni+Fire buffed minions
    • To better differentiate this, the basic minion icon has also changed so have a black border
Jungle Camp Timer Updates
  • Players will now get jungle camp timer mini map information immediately when they view an enemy kill the camp or they view the enemy dropped buff on the ground. Previously this information would not show up until the buff was picked up or faded. This affects all game modes.
New Skins Added to the Awesome, Godlike, and Battle Chests
  • Depths of Atlantis
  • Valkyrie’s Rage
  • Snuggly
  • Itsy Bitsy Chibi
  • Blood Axe
  • Oasis Djinn
  • Divine Beats
  • Cove Queen
  • Howler Demon
  • Unichrome
  • Luminous
  • Sashimi Neko
  • Pendragon
  • Fabled
  • Marrow Eater
  • Pop Punk
  • Blinky Chibi
  • Death Lotus
  • Tiger’s Fury
  • Plushie Jorm
  • Biohacker
  • Biohacker
  • Vigilante
  • Clockwork Chaos
  • Mothman
  • Seraph
  • Great Tengu
  • Zappy Chibi
  • Spirit Sun
  • Infantree
  • Molten Shogun
  • Snow Strix
  • Star Tyrant
  • Pillow Fight
  • Infinite Ruler
  • Gizmo
  • Calavera
  • Spooky Nightmares
  • Spooky Dreams
GAME MODES
All Modes
  • Swordsman and Archers in lane will now stand slightly closer together
Conquest
A new season of Conquest comes with many changes. We approached these changes with a problem and solution methodology. As always, our core goals with Conquest are to make sure all 5 Roles have a positive experience and feel impactful, with as many gods, items, and strategies being viable at one time. For more details on the specific goals of Season7 Conquest, see this more detailed writeup:
  • Added a new objective to the jungle for each team: the Jungle Shrine
    • The Shrine gains a stack for every 3 jungle camp monsters your team kills, up to 7 stacks
    • Attacking the Shrine consumes one stack and rewards each player on your team with 5 gold
    • 3 quick basic attacks will clear the Shrine of all stacks
    • Each team’s Shrine cannot be attacked by enemy players
    • Clearing camps in the enemy jungle will contribute towards your Shrine’s stacks, but at half the rate
  • Added two single Alpha Harpy camps next to duo lane
    • Base Health: 700
    • Base Physical Protection: 8
    • Base Magical Protection: 6
    • Base Physical Power: 24
    • Base Gold Reward: 35
    • Base XP Reward : 40
  • Split the mid XP camp near Oracles into two camps
    • Each camp contains two Small Harpies
  • Removed Gold Fury from the fury spawn pool after 20 minutes
  • XP split bonus increased from 20% to 25%
  • Adjusted initial jungle camp spawn delays
    • Speed – 00:20 (from 00:23.25)
    • Void – 00:20 (from 00:32.3)
    • Damage – 00:30 (from 00:34.12)
    • Mana  – 00:30 (from 00:33.64)
    • Back Harpies – 00:30 (from 00:32.237)
    • Mid Harpies – 00:35 (from 00:32.237)
  • Increased base health and protections of jungle monsters:
    • Elder Harpies
      • Base Health increased from 440 to 485
      • Base Physical Protection increased from 8 to 9
      • Base Magical Protection increased from 5 to 6
    • Small Harpies
      • Base Health increased from 130 to 155
      • Base Physical Protection increased from 5 to 6
      • Base Magical Protection increased from 5 to 6
    • Large Buff Camp Minions
      • Base Health increased from 380 to 420
      • Base Physical Protection increased from 8 to 9
      • Base Magical Protection increased from 5 to 6
    • Small Buff Camp Minions
      • Base Health increased from  100 to 120
      • Base Physical Protection increased from 6 to 7
      • Base Magical Protection increased from 5 to 6
With the addition of the Jungle Shrine and more jungle camps, we need to adjust the map elsewhere to prevent players from gaining gold and experience resources too quickly. Killing towers provides a huge positional advantage to a team, effectively reducing the enemy gods territory and allowing for more jungle control. This tactical effect is strong already, so this is an optimal spot to decrease team gold.

 

  • Decreased Team Gold reward of Tier 1 Towers from 100g to 75g
  • Decreased Team Gold reward of Tier 2 Towers from 300g to 250g
It feels great when your solo laner gets the totem for the team. This movement speed and MP5 helps all other laners stay strong through the early game, and also provides a nice morale boost. This effect felt overly important in the first few minutes of the game, which constrained solo lane picks to only gods who could secure this early. This is being shifted to provide weaker effects that ramp up over time. With these changes it should have an impact but not dictate the meta as much as it currently does.

 

  • Adjusted Totem of Ku rewards:
    • Decreased team gold reward from 25g to 20g
    • MP5 buff scales over time with 3 tiers:
      • Grants 10 MP5 from 0 to 5 minutes
      • Grants 20 MP5 from 5 to 10 minutes
      • Grants 30 MP5 from 10 to 15 minutes
  • Added assist cards for the Totem of Ku and the new jungle features
  • Decreased attack range of the Spirit Archer in duo lane
  • FX have been updated across the entire map
One of the key changes we did not go over in the Conquest post are the changes to Jungle Buffs. Each buff is being adjusted to solve problems and change up the gameplay for next season.

 

  • Jungle Buff Changes
First, Blue Buff is losing its flat mana regen and instead getting increased MP5 as mana gets lower. Solo lane is intended to have some tricky resource management, and in Season 7 we want to make mana management more important. This fits in line well with our changes to health management through items and consumable adjustments.

 

  • Mana(Blue)
    • Removed flat +20 MP5 increase
    • Now grants +2 MP5 per 10% of missing Mana
Next, Red Buff is seeing a simple damage nerf to make it less snowbally. This buff is already extremely coveted at all stages of the game, so we feel the nerf is necessary to allow players to implement more strategies across the map.

 

  • Damage(Red)
    • Removed 5% Power bonus vs. enemy Gods
Speed Buff (which is definitely yellow) is gaining a new stat of CCR to help make junglers harder to lock down. In this way we can improve the buff but with lower risk of creating high snowball situations.

 

  • Speed(Yellow)
    • Added 10% Crowd Control Reduction
Finally, the purple buff is being adjusted to provide less protection reduction, and instead provide a combination of attack speed with with protection reduction. This makes the buff more versatile and obviously, more attractive to hunters.

 

  • Void(Purple)
    • Removed +2 Protections Reduction per enemy God within the aura radius
    • Removed  5% additional Protections Reduction
    • Added 10% Attack Speed
Joust
  • New NPCs
    • Tree folk (Speed Camp and Demon King)
    • Jade Chaos minions
  • Art update for Tigers, Turtles, Structures, and Titans
  • Added two Speed Camps near each team’s Phoenix
  • Added two XP Camps that flank the Damage Camp
  • Delayed Damage Camp spawn to 02:00
  • Added global death alert for the Demon King
  • Added 33% XP Split Bonus
  • Added invasion penalties for camps
    • 50% Gold and XP reduction upon killing a jungle minion on the enemy’s side of the map
    • This penalty is slowly reduced over time, becoming 0% at 20 minutes
  • Reduced Team Gold reward of Towers from 150g to 75g
  • Reduced Team Gold reward of Phoenixes from 150g to 100g
  • Reduced base player kill Gold reward from 300g to 200g
  • Minion stat changes
    • Melee
      • XP reward decreased from 65 to 55
      • Gold reward increased from 17 to 18
    • Brute
      • XP reward decreased from 65 to 55
      • Gold reward increased from 17 to 18
    • Large Camp Minion
      • XP reward decreased from 185 to 135
    • Small Camp Minion
      • Gold reward increased from 13 to 15
    • Small XP Minion
      • XP reward decreased from 75 to 45
      • Gold reward increased from 13 to 20
  • Buff Changes
    •  Damage (Red)
      • Increases Physical and Magical Power by 10%, plus an additional +10 Magical Power and +5 Physical Power
    • Mana (Blue)
      • Grants +20 MP5 and 10% Cooldown Reduction
    • Speed (Yellow)
      • Grants 10% Movement and Attack Speed
  • Added a 40% Movement Speed buff for 10 seconds upon leaving the fountain during the setup phase
Duel
  • Titans now have the same base Health value as they do in Joust (6000)
Clash
  • Added a 40% Movement Speed buff for 10 seconds upon leaving the fountain during the setup phase
Assault
  • Added a 40% Movement Speed buff for 15 seconds upon leaving the fountain during the setup phase
QUEUES
It is time for Season 7 Ranked! Through Season 6 we experimented with adjusting queue times, how and how often we reset, and how that impacted Matchmaking and the experience as a whole. We plan to use the knowledge learned from these experiments to really bring the best Ranked experience possible. The first major change is that when a new split begins, players MMR will not reset with it. Instead, we will be more heavily adjusting Variance. Variance is something that we have mentioned in blog posts of old, but we are making it a visible stat to give players a clear view of what is happening to their rank after each match.
Simply put, Variance is how well the system has narrowed down onto your skill level. The higher it is, the quicker you move up AND down through the ranks until the system has enough information about your skill to feel confident about your MMR. MMR is the absolute metric when it comes to matchmaking, but Variance controls how fast your can move to your true skill rating. Rather than resetting and losing out on the data gathered over hundreds of matches (resetting MMR) we will be increasing Variance at the start of each split. If you have improved as a player, this will allow you to climb and prove it. If you have not, no big deal. Variance should decrease as you stay at the same MMR. This should allow for healthier matching in the long term, and opportunities to prove a new level of skill rather than having to climb every 2 months.
The final large change is around the God Leaderboard. Resetting this leaderboard so frequently made it difficult for players to have enough time to really show their skill with a particular god and show off their fancy border in the lobby. We want to extend that window, giving more time for bragging rights as well as fiercer competition for the top slots.
  • A new player metric will be revealed to Ranked players: Variance
    • Variance will be visible in the same way that their MMR value is on the Ranked Profile page.
    • It will update every match, it can reach a cap of 5% after many games played
    • Higher variance results in larger MMR changes based on wins and losses
    • Variance decreases the more matches you play
  • MMR will no longer be reset at the start of each split
  • Instead, Variance will reset
  • This should provide a much more stable environment for ranked matchmaking
    • Players will be able to reach their more accurate MMR and stay there longer
    • Players will get a variance reset on a regular interval, giving them the power to break free of their current MMR
  • Changed each split gem rewards quest from win 50 games to play 50 games
  • God Leaderboards will now only reset at a new season and at mid-season
ITEM BALANCE
Blessings

SPECIALIST’S BLESSING/EVOLVED SPECIALIST’S BLESSING
Specialist’s had some niche uses but was overall underwhelming compared to other choices. Early HP5 to stay out and fight will help it compete as a first item.
  • Now provides +10 HP5

GUARDIAN’S BLESSING/EVOLVED GUARDIAN’S BLESSING
Guardian’s Blessing is intended to empower support players who choose to assist an ally during the early game. Solo lane players found that using minions and towers to kill a target granted them an assist and when combined with a passive playstyle was safe and effective. The health and mana restored by this item will now require players to stand near an ally god to gain this benefit, making it more difficult to use outside of a supportive nature.
  • Removed MP5
  • Removed +7 HP and Mana Restore per Minion Assisted
  • Now Provides +7 HP5 & +7 MP5 while within 60ft of an ally god
    • Last for 10s. Refreshes duration when near an ally god.

ASSASSIN’S BLESSING/EVOLVED ASSASSIN’S BLESSING
The Jungle Monsters as a whole have become more difficult to defeat to ensure that they provide a challenge to non-junglers attempting to clear camps. This boost to Assassin’s Blessing should help offset this increased difficulty of camps.
  • Increased Damage vs. Jungle Monsters from +35% to 40%
Relics

NEW – VISION SHARD
We need wards! Vision is a key aspect of SMITE, providing insight that allows for smarter decision making. We want to provide an avenue for players to gain some additional vision that also teaches players the importance of warding and strong ward locations. Its duration and range are less than a normal ward to ensure there is still uncertainty that will allow for aggression and rotations. Starting at level 12 players will be able to hold onto it or replace it with a different relic, their choice.
  • This is a new Relic that players start with in their 2nd Relic slot. At level 12 you can replace this relic with any other relic for no cost.
    • Wards placed have a 1min duration
    • 120s Cooldown
  • These wards provide no gold reward
  • Players can teleport to these wards
  • Wards placed count towards the normal ward limit
  • Replacing Vision Shard while it is on cooldown will share the cooldown with the new Relic
Consumables

NEW – HAND OF THE GODS
A stated goal of Season 7 was to address the invade meta. While multiple changes really drive that goal home, a new consumable with a familiar name is one of the largest changes. Hand of the Gods will provide players with a way to deal a significant amount of damage to jungler monsters on their side of the jungle. If you think an invade may occur, or simply want some extra clear speed, this is the pickup for you. As an added benefit for Junglers, their Assassin’s blessing will further boost this damage making it difficult for anyone to steal from this burst.
  • 100g
  • This consumable deals 150 true damage around you.
    • This only affects Monsters on your side of the Jungle.
  • Can only carry one at a time.

REWORK – POTION OF POWER
Magical and Physical Power Potions are being reworked into a single potion. This is being done to streamline the effects of these potions. Previously we had added some bonus effects to them which made them more complicated but not necessarily more desirable. This also helps make it easier to find new consumables, like Hand of the Gods, in the shop UI.
  • 70 Magical Power
  • 40 Physical Power
  • 10% CDR
  • 5 min duration or until killed

CHALICE OF HEALING/HEALING POTION
Chalice of Healing and Healing Potions previously stacked, allowing for Solo Laners and invading Supports to gain access to a high amount of on demand sustain. This turned moments of tension and risk into safe moments with little risk. These potions (as well as their Mana equivalents) will no longer stack. Multi Potion will stack as they always have.
  • These effects no longer stack with each other
  • The fountain volume will now overwrite all heal potion effects

CHALICE OF MANA/MANA POTION
  • These effects no longer stack with each other
  • The fountain volume will now overwrite all mana potion effects
Neutral Items

MYSTICAL MAIL
Mystical Mail is difficult to purchase due to its high price, and it comes at a high price due to its effective defense combined with strong early offense. We are lowering the cost of Mystical Mail making it easier to rush and focusing on its unique aura as its major strength. This means its health is coming down to balance its new cost.
  • Decreased Cost from 2700 to 2450.
  • Decreased Health from 300 to 200.

WITCHBLADE
This item can be a powerful situational counter, but tanky characters were usually opposed to buying it due to the aggressive stats such as Attack Speed. We are increasing the amount of Health on the item to help make it a more reasonable option for supports who happen to be facing a basic attack focused team.
  • Increased Health from 200 to 250.

SHOGUN’S KUSARI
Shogun’s Kusari is an effective way for a support player to help their team, especially when it comes to pushing objectives or just in extended team fights. We want to ensure this item competes compared to more traditional defensive choices.
  • Increased Attack Speed Aura from 20% to 25%.

SOVEREIGNTY
Sovereignty and Heartward provides strong defenses, but also sustain that can be important when it comes to extended fights. Rather than boosting raw defense, we want to highlight this additional utility and are bringing up their HP5 and MP5 respectively.
  • Increased HP5 from 25 to 35.

HEARTWARD AMULET
  • Increased MP5 from 20 to 30.
Magical Items

DYNASTY PLATE HELM
Dynasty Plate Helm will now have a tier 3 counterpart, the Tyrannical Plate Helm! We have updated the cost and stats on this item to better match this new item.
  • Cost decreased from 1700 to 1400
  • Magical Power decreased from 50 to 40
  • Physical Protections remains at 30
  • Added +50 Health
  • Removed 10 Magical Penetration

NEW – TYRANNICAL PLATE HELM
A new item is being added to the helm tree! Tyrannical Plate Helm has high Magical Power and an interesting new passive. This item is intended for offensive supports, guardian solo laners, or even could be splashed on certain mages. Its passive explores a new effect that no other item provides: minion interactions! Wearing this helm will buff your minions HP, making them more effective at pushing structures or gaining you lane pressure. When they die they will disappoint you like the true tyrant you are, buffing you with additional Magical Power.
  • Costs 2400g
  • 85 Magical Power
  • 40 Physical Protections
  • 100 Health
  • 20% CCR
  • Passive
    • If there are ally minions around you they gain 20% Max hp and 20% attack speed
    • Whenever an ally minion dies around you, you gain 5 power per stack up to 6, lasts 15 seconds

REWORK – STONE OF FAL
Stone of Fal has been waiting for a rework for a while. The goal of creating an anti-burst item was a valid pursuit, but in game it felt weak and its description was confusing. This item is being pivoted toward a similar goal. This item is intended to be a Mage item that helps protect you from other Mages. This new passive will allow you to do that by providing a new type of effect: sharing Protections! Mages who buy this item will gain a large amount of additional Magical Protections as long as they are near their support.
  • Cost increased from 2300 to 2600
  • Increased Magical Power from 70 to 100
  • Magical Protection remains at 40
  • Cooldown Reduction remains at 10%
  • New passive
    • You gain 20% of the Magical protections of the nearby allied god with the highest Magical protections within 70ft

NEW – RING OF HECATE
Mage ADCs have been asking for this item for a long time. A dedicated Magical Power item with Attack Speed and Lifesteal. This item will allow Mage ADCs to round out their stats nicely and should open up more build paths. With this item providing a strong start in all core stats, these gods should have more viable Magical Power options to fit in their builds.
  • Costs 2600
  • 80 Magical Power
  • 20% Attack Speed
  • 12% Lifesteal
  • Passive
    • Hitting enemy gods with basic attacks gives you 1 stack of 2% Lifesteal. Stacks up to 5 times, stacks last 5s.

NEW – CHARON’S COIN
Charon’s Coin is a 20% Magical Penetration item that focuses on long term investment and extended engagements rather than raw upfront burst. Once purchased, each kill and assist will provide a permanent stack of either Movement Speed or HP5, both allowing the holder an extended lifetime or strengthened rotation speed.
  • Costs 2700
  • 80 Magical Power
  • 20% Magical Penetration
  • 20 MP5
  • PASSIVE – On god kill or assist a coin is flipped. If heads, you gain a stack of 7 HP5. If tails, you gain a stack of 2% Movement Speed. Each effect can stack up to 4 times and at 8 stacks this item evolves. You also gain 1 gold.
  • Evolution – On god kill or assist a coin is flipped. If heads, you gain 150 Health over 6 seconds. If tails, you gain 5% Movement Speed for 6 seconds. You also gain 1 gold.

REMOVED – SHAMAN’S RING
he Ring Tree was largely focused around go to items for Magical ADCs. Shaman’s Ring however felt like the odd item out, and when compared Mathematically to items like Spear of Desolation, filled the same role but less effectively. We are removing this item to make room for the Ring Of Hecate, but we do think the tech is interesting behind this item and will be looking at it for future items
  • This item has been removed from the game

SHOES OF THE MAGI
The raw penetration provided by the Shoes of the Magi have allowed some mages, but often Guardians to spike their damage early. In adjusting Penetration these shoes needed to be adjusted as well. These shoes will now serve mages who have high scaling values, especially assisting on clearing the wave which have less than 10 Magical Protections. We are watching this carefully to ensure this early game strength allows it to compete with Shoes of Focus.
  • Decreased Cost from 1600 to 1550
  • Removed 10 Magical Penetration
  • Increased Magical Power from 55 to 75

SHOES OF FOCUS
Shoes of Focus provide a large spread of stats that are effective at different points of the game. With decent Magical Power, Mana for extra ability casts, and Cooldown Reduction made it a safe choice that scales well. We are increasing its cost to better reflect its strength.
  • Increased Cost from 1550 to 1600

SPELL FOCUS
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Removed Passive

OBSIDIAN SHARD
Obsidian Shard makes the first item in our Magical Penetration changes for Season 7. We highly recommend if you are interested in learning more to check out our deep dive into these changes on our Magical Penetration Dev Insight. Obsidian Shard became the mandatory Mage Item, allowing for them to deal effective damage to tanks immediately and with little downside. While it is important for Mages to have a build path to deal with tanky threats, it is equally important for tanks to have opportunities to react to build decisions. % Magical Penetration is now a stat with a cap of 40%, with many mage items gaining either 10% Magical Penetration or in specific cases 20%. Obsidian Shard is one of the 20% items. Obsidian Shard is gaining a new passive to assist in these changes, providing an extra spike of Magical Penetration to a single ability. This helps it serve its older purpose of threatening tanks without it being too effective over a whole volley of abilities.
  • Increased Cost from 2300 to 2550
  • Added 20% Magical Penetration
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • 15-45% Magical Penetration dependent on Magical Protections
    • To
      • Your first ability cast gains 10% Magical Penetration. This can only occur once every 10 seconds.

SPEAR OF THE MAGUS
Spear of the Magus was the second main item regarding Magical Penetration. Mages who could utilize this item effectively were often the go to picks, simply due to how effective this item is. Many mages, even without true damage over time effects, could bring targets to 0 protections which causes damage to spike quite early into a match. We are adjusting its passive to focus more on boosting true Damage over time effects without shredding away a targets protection from larger bursts of damage.
  • Increased Magical Power from 65 to 75
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • Your damaging abilities reduce your target’s Magical Protection by 10 for 5s (max. 5 Stacks).
    • To
      • Subsequent hits of the same ability deal 5% increased damage, stacking 6 times

PYTHAGOREM’S PIECE
Pythagorem’s Piece is a staple of bruiser solo laners or Magical ADCs who need a bit of bulk. This item was a natural choice to provide % Magical Penetration to these types of gods.
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Removed 10% Cooldown Reduction

TYPHON’S FANG
Typhon’s Fang enables lifesteal builds to compete, assuming you heavily invest into that type of build. In our changes to Magical Penetration we wanted to make sure players who chose different build paths still had options for Magical Penetration or were rewarded for trying a different playstyle out.
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Decreased Magical Power from 80 to 70

SOUL REAVER
Soul Reaver has traditionally been used to attack high health targets. If your goal is to deal damage to these targets this is a strong item that will also get through some protections. The cost and power adjustments make sure this item is a flex options for a specific purpose rather than a must build in nearly all cases.
  • Increased Cost from 2750 to 2850
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Decreased Magical Power from 130 to 110

STAFF OF MYRDDIN
This item caused quite a stir when it was first announced, but players quickly learned that utilizing the passive was more difficult than it sounded. This item, as mostly a true power option, is also being added to the pool of percent pen items.
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Decreased Magical Power from 120 to 110

SORCERER’S STAFF
  • Reduced Base Health from 175 to 100

WARLOCK’S STAFF
Warlock’s Staff is one of the items gaining some % Magical Penetration. This item traditionally has been a high health option for Mages that often dictates the meta or is ignored. We are pivoting its focus from being a high defense choice with some offensive capability, to a high offense choice with some defensive capability. This should help it see more general use with lower risk of a tanky meta.
  • Added 10% Magical Penetration
  • Reduced Base health from 200 to 150
  • Adjusted passive
    • From
      • +3 Health and +.5 Magical Power per stack (100 stacks)
      • 300 Health and 50 Magical Power
    • To
      • +1 Health and +1 Magical Power per stack (75 stacks)
      • 75 Health and 75 Magical Power

EVOLVED WARLOCK’S STAFF
  • Due to the changes to Warlock’s Staff, this item now provides
    • 140 Magical Power
    • 225 Health
    • 200 Mana
    • 10% Magical Penetration

SPEAR OF DESOLATION
Magical Penetration often overtook Magical Power when it came to being a primary damage stat. Along with the changes to Magical Penetration (especially % Magical Penetration) we are bringing up Magical Power to want to ensure Mages who build power feel effective. Key Magical Power items have their power increased to help with that goal. Spear of Desolation is such an item.
  • Increased Magical Power from 100 to 110

ROD OF TAHUTI
Rod of Tahuti is the premier power item, but it has struggled to make builds since its changed passive some time ago. We have seen success in these high power items (Doom Orb for example) and feel Rod of Tahuti just needs a small push. This also assists mages in hitting a higher Magical Power total when focusing on that stat.
  • Increased Magical Power from 150 to 160

SOUL GEM
Soul Gem scales well with a high power build but as an individual item didn’t bring much to the table to help itself. We want its consistent power to be more potent and allow gods to have a strong go to item to synergize with high power.
  • Increased Magical Power from 65 to 80

POLYNOMICON
Polynomicon has a similar story to Soul Gem. It brings a strong proc but was a bit underwhelming in its Power, making it difficult to fully invest towards except for a few gods. This extra power should help it be more consistently strong.
  • Increased Magical Power from 75 to 85

CHRONOS’ PENDANT
Chronos’ Pendant was just underwhelming. The potential extra cooldown reduction is nice for some gods, but in general high penetration builds made it difficult for this item to make sense with other choices. We are making this item easier to build into a more rewarding when it is completed.
  • Decreased Cost from 2800 to 2700
  • Increased Magical Power from 90 to 100
  • The item icon has been updated

TELKHINES RING
Magical ADCs are also affected by the penetration changes, also to a lesser degree due to some additional build considerations. Telkhines however focuses on rewarding Magical ADCs for building power, and just like Polynomicon and Soul Gem before this, a boost here pushes that type of build into a stronger position.
  • Increased Magical Power from 90 to 100

RESTORED ARTIFACT
Restored Artifact is the gateway toward some of the highest power options, but was exceedingly difficult to build towards with not much power behind it. This change will help ease into these high cost and power options.
  • Decreased price from 1600 to 1400
    • The price of the Tier 3 items in this tree remain the same
  • Increased Magical Power from 50 to 60

ENCHANTED RING
The ring tree traditionally held the attack speed items for Magical ADCs but oddly enough this ring did not provide any attack speed. With Shaman’s Rings removal and the additional of Ring of Hecate, the full tree now provides Attack Speed allowing the Tier 2 item to do the same.
  • Added 10% Attack Speed
  • Decreased 5 Magical Power

DEMONIC GRIP
This item is also being adjusted as part of the magical penetration pass. Demonic grip has some of the highest amount of penetration on a single item, so its only fitting that it sees a slight decrease to fit our current goals. Mage ADCs are not the exact same case as burst mages, as their damage generally takes longer to dish out, so slight nerfs are being applied instead of a larger redesign.
  • Decreased passive Magical Protection Reduction per stack from 12% to 10%

WARD STONE
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Magical Protection reduced by 8.
    • To
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Magical Protection reduced by 5%

VOID STONE
Void Stone is core when it comes to high damage guardian builds. The flat penetration aura provides strong defense combined with even stronger offense, making guardians in modes like Arena and Joust powerhouses that had little counterplay. We have adjusted Void Stone to benefit higher scaling values more while bringing percentage penetration as its utility. This should make it rewarding to build in the right situation rather than a default choice.
  • Increased Magical Power from 20 to 40
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Magical Protection reduced by 15
    • To
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Magical Protection reduced by 10%

STONE OF BINDING
Stone of Binding was an additional source of early guardian burst. The utility provided for a team bring a unique benefit, but it was too impactful when only the Guardian was dealing damage.
  • Decreased Physical and Magical reduction from 15 to 10
Physical Items

NEW – CADUCEUS SHIELD
Contagion provided a long since requested mirror to Pestilence, allowing for flexibility in composition and counters. While Physical Healers are more niche, augmenting your teams healing can be quite potent. Caduceus Shield is intended to allow Physical gods to bring this utility previously only provided by Rod of Asclepius.
  • Branches off of Warded Shield
  • Costs 2500
  • 30 Physical Power
  • 35 Physical Protection
  • 35 Magical Protection
  • 100 Health
  • AURA – Allied gods within 70 units have their Healing increased by 10%. If you have taken or dealt damage in the last 5s, their Healing is increased by an additional 15%.

NEW – CURSED BLADE
The Blade tree has two items that were defensive and utility oriented in nature, and two items that focused more on debuffing opponents and providing additional attack speed to the wielder. These two sets of items previous shared a common tier 2, but we are splitting that item up. Toxic Blade and Witchblade will now build off a Cursed Blade, allowing players to smoothly transition into these items with stats they are going for.
  • Costs 1250
  • 75 Health
  • 10% Attack Speed
  • 5% Movement Speed

GLADIATOR’S SHIELD
Gladiator’s Shield has been a staple of the Solo lane since its introduction. Its power to sustain off aggressive play is positive when it comes to encouraging smart aggression, but the way it scales on specific gods with access to AoE abilities pushes its power too high in teamfights. We want to even the difference between these two scenarios, and bring gods who use it too effectively more into line. Now when an ability triggers this heal, subsequent heals from the ability will only heal for 50%, rather than the full amount an additional time.
  • Reworked passive from only triggering once per ability
  • To – Subsequent heals after the first from a single ability only heal for 50%.

VOID SHIELD
Similar to Void Stone, this item provided strong defense with even stronger offense. Warriors and Assassins could rely on diving Physical Damage dealers with this item, making them difficult to effectively fight against. The shift to Percent Penetration will make it more applicable for high physical damage teams as a support option rather than a default choice.
  • Increased Physical Protection from 50 to 60
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Physical Protection reduced by 20
    • To
      • Enemy gods within 55 units have their Physical Protection reduced by 15%

SPIKED SHIELD
  • Reworked passive
    • From
      • Reduces the Physical Protection of enemies within 55 units by 8.
    • To
      • Reduces the Physical Protection of enemies within 55 units by 5%

SILVERBRANCH BOW
Silverbranch Bow rewards theorycrafting and planning, giving gods who often break the attack speed cap a way to harness what would be lost power. We are increasing that reward to allow more gods and item combinations to see this as a viable build path.
  • Increased power provided from passive from 1 to 1.5 Physical Power

THE EXECUTIONER
Executioner’s changes tie closely to Titan’s Bane and Demonic Grip. As we look at Season 7 we want to make sure all classes need to itemize more intentionally against tanks. Executioner is still likely to be a staple item of the hunter class, but hunters should have to be more mindful of the rest of their build depending on the targets they want to focus on killing.
  • Decreased passive Physical Protection Reduction per stack from 12% to 10%

WARRIOR’S BANE
  • Decreased Passive % Physical Protection reduction from 15% to 10%

TITAN’S BANE
Titan’s Bane highlights the difference between Physical Damage/Penetration and Magical Damage/Penetration. Physical Damage often is more consistent with less burst (Compare how Hunter’s deal damage vs. Scylla’s Sic’ Em + Crush Combo) as well as the amount of Physical Protection gods gain baseline by the end of the game. While Titan’s Bane is also a very effective single item, the level of effectiveness compared to Obsidian Shard is different, so we adjusted it accordingly. With a decreased minimum and maximum Titan’s Bane will retain its ability to shred tankier targets, but allow for tank defenses to matter more against this particular item.
  • Decreased base Physical Protection reduction from 15% to 10%
  • Decreased max. Physical Protection reduction from 40% to 35%

HYDRA’S LAMENT
Hydra’s Lament makes Basic Attack weaving incredibly potent and difficult to counter. We are taking some of the edge off of its proc, allowing skilled players to still benefit from mixing abilities and Basic Attacks but provide more opportunities for enemies to react.
  • Decreased additional damage after Basic Attacks from 50% to 40%

POISONED STAR
Poisoned Star and Wind Demon are situational choices for Hunters, seeing some use but often being overlooked. We are bringing up the power of both of them, allowing for them to contribute more in Crit based builds.
  • Increased Physical Power from 20 to 30.

WIND DEMON
  • Increased Attack Speed from 10% to 15%.

MALICE
Malice fulfills a narrow niche, a Critical Strike choice for ability based gods. While its proc has moments to shine, its consistent power felt underwhelming. A small boost in Cooldown Reduction will bring that consistent power.
  • Now provides 10% Cooldown Reduction.

SOUL EATER
Soul Eater is the sustain choice for Physical gods, but requires ability usage to really make use of it. Physical gods, even ability based ones, often fill in their damage with Basic Attacks. A small boost to the lifesteal when evolved should further cement this item as the sustain choice while helping it shine as an option.
  • When this Item Evolves, it now provides an additional 5% Physical Lifesteal in addition to the Physical Power and the Ability Lifesteal effect.
Masks

LONO’S MASK
Lono’s Mask, like all masks, encourages a heavy shift in class and role identity. While most masks see some level of experimentation Lono’s Mask has seen almost none. The negative of this item has made it too restrictive. We are lowering the penalty to see if players can find applications for this Mask.
  • Decreased Damage Dealt from -25% to -20%
  • Decreased Healing Done from -25% to -20%

FIGHTER’S MASK
  • Removed 10 Penetration
  • Increased Physical Power from 20 to 30
  • Increased Magical Power from 50 to 60

RANGDA’S MASK
Rangda’s provides a large spike in Penetration when combined with the percent damage increase really pushed a lot of the issues discussed in our Magical Penetration dev post. We are removing the Penetration from it and bringing up the Power by a significant portion to make up for the change. Rangdra’s will also synergize with many of the Season changes, so we will be keeping a close eye on this item in particular.
  • Removed 15 Penetration
  • Increased Physical Power from 35 to 50
  • Increased Magical Power from 70 to 85
GOD BALANCE
ODIN
The Allfather is getting a rework fitting of the leader of the Norse pantheon. We focused on really highlighting his mastery of Runic Magic in a reworked Gungnir’s Might where he finally gets to throw the named spear, Gungnir. In addition, his ultimate is gaining counterplay while punishing enemies who choose to cowardly flee over and through his ring of spears. These changes will allow Odin to have a higher depth to his play, a more consistent teamfight ultimate, and most importantly has kept his iconic Bird Bomb intact. For more detailed insight into this rework, how we approach reworks as a whole, and a deep dive into each ability check out the developer insight for Odin.
https://www.smitegame.com/news/developer-update-odin/

GUNGNIR’S MIGHT – FULL ABILITY REWORK
  • Odin begins empowering Gungnir with Runic Magic, becoming immune to knockbacks. Every .7s Gungnir changes runes and Odin pulses out damage around him, slowing enemies for 2s. When Odin releases Gungnir it travels forward, damaging enemies and stopping on the first god hit. The first rune causes allies around Odin to gain Attack Speed for 3s. The second allows Gungnir to home onto enemy gods. The last rune allows Gungnir to stun.
    • Pulse Damage: 45/65/85/105/125 (+30% of your Physical Power)
    • Pulse Slow: 20%
    • Gungnir Damage: 90/150/210/330 (+75% of your Physical Power)
    • Attack Speed: 30%
    • Stun Duration: 1.2s
    • Cooldown: 12s
    • Mana Cost: 70/75/80/85/90

RING OF SPEARS – FULL ABILITY REWORK
  • Odin summons a wall of spears that blocks his enemies movement. Enemies inside the ring cannot heal. Odin is immune to Slow and Root effects while in his Ring. A portion of the wall can be destroyed when hit by 5 Basic Attacks. Enemies that leave the ring through or over a wall are chased by Gungnir, taking damage and becoming slowed for 2.5s. Enemies that die inside Ring of Spears grant Odin a permanent bonus to Physical Power.
    • Damage: 140/210/280/350/420 (+75% of your Physical Power)
    • Duration: 4/4.5/5/5.5/6s
    • Physical Power: 5 Power per stack, max 10 stacks.
    • Healing Reduction: All Healing
    • Slow: 25%
    • Cooldown: 75s
    • Mana Cost: 100
BASTET
Bastet has realized that simply sending her cats out to fight isn’t the strongest of ultimates. She has done some pet training and is starting of the Season with some new tactics. Her base kit is better suited towards an Assassin, gaining tools to better chase enemies and engage fights from a distance. Her new Ensnaring Claw ability also allows Bastet to bring cats into the playspace more often, keeping a familiar playstyle of Bastet intact. Her new ultimate augments her playstyle, spawning in trained Guardian’s of Bast that emulate her movements and attacks, giving her large AoE capability, bonus damage, and of course the ability to summon more cats. For more detailed insight into this rework, how we approach reworks as a whole, and a deep dive into each ability check out the developer insight for Bastet. https://www.smitegame.com/news/developer-update-bastet/

NEW PASSIVE – TRACKING SCENT
  • When Bastet hits an enemy she marks the target for a brief time. Marked targets leave behind a scent trail Bastet can follow, gaining Movement Speed while in the scent trail.
    • Scent Duration: 3s
    • Movement Speed: 20%

RAZOR WHIP
  • Changed this ability from a sweep to an instant cone
  • Updated the FX to accurately show where the ability deals damage
  • Updated the weapon trail FX so it does not linger after the ability fire

NEW ABILITY 3 – ENSNARING CLAW
  • Bastet sends a cat forward at her enemies. If a cat finds an enemy it ensnares them, damaging them and briefly rooting them. The cat persists for 4s or until defeated, continuing to attack nearby enemies. The cats attacks will apply a 2s slow to the enemy. If Guardians of Bast is active, she will command her guardians to also charge forward.
    • Root Damage: 60/95/130/165/200 (+65% of your Physical Power)
    • Cat Damage: 20/25/30/35/40 (+30% of your Inhand Power)
    • Cat Hit Points: 2
    • Root Duration: 1s
    • Slow: 25%
    • Cooldown: 12s
    • Mana Cost: 60/65/70/75/80

NEW ULTIMATE ABILITY – GUARDIAN OF BAST
  • Bastet calls her loyal Guardian cats to her side. These guardians will follow Bastet’s order, assisting her in any ability she casts. When these guardians deal damage they will deal a percentage of the damage Bastet would have dealt.
    • Damage: 30/35/40/45/50%
    • Duration: 12s
    • Cooldown: 90s
    • Mana Cost: 80/85/90/95/100
ACHILLES
The hero of the Trojan War was also the hero of the SMITE World Championships. Ever since Achilles’ most recent adjustments the god has been ever present in the Solo lane. This god rose in popularity even faster than in performance, most likely due to his constant use by SPL team, SK, on their rise to victory. Achilles tends to output huge amounts of damage, even in tankier builds, so he will be seeing a large reduction to his self power buff to make sure we other gods have a fair chance against him at the start of this new season.

RADIANT GLORY
  • Decreased Physical Power Buff from 10/11/12/13/14% to 6/7/8/9/10%.
ARTEMIS
Artemis has fallen out of favor recently. This goddess dates back to SMITE’s closed beta launch, and is known for her risky yet rewarding gameplay. For a goddess who is known for her damage output, she has been doing surprisingly low amounts lately. Her primary poke and lane clear ability is receiving a large Power Scaling buff to make her more threatening within the Hunter class.

SUPPRESS THE INSOLENT
  • Increased Physical Power Scaling from 40% to 60%
BARON SAMEDI
Baron’s launch party rocked the house of the gods! However, by now the party is dead, everyone either left or passed out, and the Baron needs some adjustment to get the good times rolling again. Baron Samedi is strong on paper but tends to struggle due to being split between multiple roles. We are buffing the base damage on his core lane clear ability to help him play mid lane more clearly and effectively.

VIVID GAZE
  • Increased Base Damage from 60/105/150/195/240 to 80/120/160/200/240.
CU CHULAINN
Even a berserker needs some love. Cu Chulainn has largely fallen out of the meta in solo lane, and adjustments are being made to get him back in the action. The nerf to Physical Power on his passive looked like the nail in the coffin for him, causing him to drop off more than previous nerfs, so that is being partially reverted. We are also allowing him to gain a larger burst of rage through his ultimate ability which should help ensure that Cu Chulainn makes an impact on each and every team fight.

BERSERK
  • Increased Power per Level from 2 to 3.

SPEAR OF MORTAL PAIN
  • Increased Rage Gain per God hit from 16 to 26.
FREYA
The Freya revert has largely been a success. Her popularity skyrocketed and her balance metrics remained at a reasonable level. However, the goddess is still prone to unexpected power spikes in the right scenario, so a small nerf is being applied to prevent her from breaking the meta at the start of the next pro season. The amount of lifesteal she gets for free from her passive is especially powerful in her kit so this is being lowered to make her early game more risky.

BRISINGAMEN’S BLESSING
  • Decreased Magical Lifesteal from 15% to 10% + 0.25% per Level (Capping at 15%).
GUAN YU
Guan Yu is the prominent physical power healer. This gives him a unique role on any squad. He is powerful in extended combat scenarios due to his passive and he can run down almost any god with his ultimate. Even with these features he tends to be underplayed. To help make him feel even better to play we are giving him some small yet impactful base stat changes. With faster attack speed per level, Guan Yu’s powerful hit chain should be especially potent in the lane phase. With more mana per level Guan Yu should be able to more effectively use his whole kit through those longer fights, which he is designed to excel in.

GENERAL
  • Increased Base Attack Speed per level from 0.9 to 1.2
  • Increased Mana Per Level from 35 to 39.
HADES
Hades’s realm is the unique space between Mage and Guardian. He deals large amounts of burst damage but he has to be very close to enemies to do it. This creates a risky play style that is often punished at high levels of play. We are making Hades even tankier through his base HP adjustment, putting these stats into a unique area truly tankier than any mage, but not quite a guardian. He is also gaining the long awaited damage mitigation while firing his ultimate. He already gains a massive amount of protections so this number is starting off small and should be quite effective. As they say: why not both?

GENERAL
  • Increased base HP from 450 to 475
  • Increased HP per level from 80 to 85

PILLAR OF AGONY
  • This ability now provides Hades 10% Damage Mitigation at all ranks in addition to the Protections he gains.
HEIMDALLR
You didn’t need to be Heimdallr to see these nerfs coming. Heimdallr launched with heavy experimentation but players quickly found combos and builds that allowed him to really chunk. We are reducing his overall scaling due to his passive and then targeting his primary combo, Through the Realms initial damage and Piercing Sight as the follow up hit as gods land. While the trip is dangerous, gods a high health should be able to survive their journey through the realms more often, requiring Heimdallr to bring more to the fight to ensure a kill.

THE VIGILANT
  • Decreased Physical Power Scaling per stack from 3% to 2%.

PIERCING SIGHT
  • Decreased Physical Power Scaling from 95% to 85%.

THROUGH THE REALMS
  • Decreased Initial Hit Physical Power Scaling from 110% to 90%.
ISIS
Isis has a great new look and apparently the win-rate to go with it. Before mid-season 6 she was a bottom tier goddess, but recently she has held strong even through continuous nerfs. This time we will target her primary damaging ability to bring her down yet again without undoing any of the mechanical changes she received last year.

WING GUST
  • Decreased Damage from 35/55/75/95/115 to 30/50/70/90/110
  • Decreased Magical Power Scaling from 40% to 35% of your magical power per hit
IZANAMI
Izanami is known for her strong lane clear, but even that hasn’t been enough to make her an attractive pick. We are taking those defining elements and making them stronger. Her basic attacks are quite unique and take some getting used to, and now they will deal even more damage on their return path. Spectral Projection having lower cooldown will ensure that Izanami keeps pressure on her opponents.

BASIC ATTACKS
  • Increased return projectile damage from 25% to 35%

SPECTRAL PROJECTION
  • Reduced cooldown from 16/15/14/13/12 to 14/13.5/13/12.5/12
JING WEI
This tenacious youngster never really drops out of the meta. Jing Wei’s passive makes her a safe pick in any scenario. Her damage and utility feel quite balance but often time the goddess feels just too safe, unable to be punished even by skilled opponents. We are decreasing Jing Wei’s mobility in multiple ways to make her have more counterplay.

AGILITY
  • Decreased Movement Speed Buff from 20% to 15%.
  • Decreased Air Movement Speed Buff from 30% to 25%.

AIR STRIKE
  • Decreased Landing Range from 55 to 45.
NEMESIS
Nemesis has received a few small buffs lately that have failed to produce results for her. Slice and Dice and Divine Judgement have high potential for frustration due to their hit area. We feel the past nerfs to those abilities were merited and we do not plan to revert at this time. Instead we will be looking at another one of her damaging abilities: her dash, Swift Vengeance. This ability can be used to output a decent amount of damage at the cost of using your movement ability. This adds some reasonable damage to Nemesis’ kit in a way that should also encourage strong counterplay.

SWIFT VENGEANCE
  • Increased Physical Power Scaling from 30% to 35%.
NIKE
The Goddess of Victory received an ability rework in the Mid-Season 6 Update. This was met with a lot of positivity, but it actually nerfed the character. This was intentional and the amount of win-rate she was accumulating from her passive was too much, preventing the goddess from receiving meaningful buffs. With that problem solved we feel comfortable adding some strength to this goddess to help her feel as powerful as her former self. Her base HP5 is being buffed to make up for the regen she lost in the rework, and damage is being increased on Rend and Barrier Formation to make sure that enemies feel her presence.

GENERAL
  • Increased Base HP5 from 7 to 10.

REND
  • Increased Damage from 50/80/110/140/170 to 60/90/120/150/180.

BARRIER FORMATION
  • Increased Refire Damage from 65/120/175/230/285 to 85/140/195/250/305.
RAMA
SMITE’s resident sniper has been struggling lately. Rama relies heavily on his basic attacks and difficult skill shots, which can make him more risk than reward to play. In Season 7 he is getting buffed in two different ways to let him better dish out basic attacks. His base movement speed is being increased, which has high potential to boost his boxing ability, and Astral Quiver will now be full on respawn. This allows Rama to jump into fights immediately after respawning and should help his performance in non-Conquest modes. The design team is aware that many players feel that Rama’s passive is lackluster and could benefit from a rework. This option is being considered for future updates.

GENERAL
  • Base Movement Speed Increased from 365 to 370

ASTRAL QUIVER
  • Rama now starts the match and respawns from death with a full quiver of arrows

ASTRAL BARRAGE
  • Decreased Mana Cost from 100/110/120/130/140 mana to 80 at all ranks
SERQET
Serqet brings two major strengths. As a Jungler, her clear speed is unrivaled. As a Support, Last Breath ensures she remains a relevant threat. Both of these strengths are difficult to counter as they allow Serqet to be effective mostly regardless of decision making. We want to tone down both of these strengths, ensuring her clear speed is more in line with other gods and requiring some Physical Power to keep Last Breaths damage relevant.

DEATHBANE
  • Decreased Damage from 60/80/100/120/140 to 50/70/90/110/130.

LAST BREATH
  • Decreased Damage and added Physical Power Scaling.
    • 180/300/420/540/660 to 140/230/320/410/500 (+55% of your Physical Power).
    • This ability still deals True Damage.
SUN WUKONG
Everyone loves a good Sun Wukong buff. This Warrior is mobile and evasive, but struggles to make an impact on larger team fights. Master’s Will is gaining a new component and will now slow the attack speed of enemies hit by it. We are also increasing the damage Somersault Cloud deals, as it was much lower than most Warrior ultimates. These two changes should encourage Sun Wukong to fight to the bitter end of each engagement.

MASTERS WILL
  • This ability now applies an attack speed slow along with the movement speed slow.

SOMERSAULT CLOUD
  • Increased Damage from 200/250/300/350/400 to 200/275/350/425/500.
THOR
Thor excels at early pressure and using ultimates to secure kills. As a semi-global ability, the longer cooldown will create bigger windows to make plays, knowing the God of Thunder isn’t about to bring the hammer down.

ANVIL OF DAWN
  • Increased Cooldown from 90s to 110/105/100/95/90s.
JANUARY 10 PTS BALANCE UPDATES
Since Season 7 Patch Notes and PTS have gone live we have received tons of feedback and watched hours of PTS gameplay. We plan to act quickly based on this data and feedback to make PTS testing as meaningful as possible. Most of the changes we are making today are focused toward one goal: Allow as much wide-spread experimentation as possible. We want to nerf top meta picks, and open up strategies, roles, and items to the most gods and items we possibly can.
BASTET
Bastet’s new abilities look very successful on PTS so far, but most likely too successful. As she gained significant AoE and a new form of CC, so damage needs to be removed. This occurred through her passive but was not a sufficient shift. She is seeing a few more damage decreases to even out her new design.

POUNCE
  • Decreased Base Damage from 80/145/210/275/340 to 80/135/190/245/300

RAZOR WHIP
  • Decreased Base Damage from 30/50/70/90/110 per tick to 30/45/60/75/90
  • 120/200/280/360/440 total to 120/180/240/300/360
ODIN
The Allfather is looking almighty in PTS. Gungnir’s new might is clearly overperforming, so a few damage decreases are being applied. In this way Odin is still a warrior with new combat tools, but we want to move him back from playing like an Assassin.

GUNGNIR’S MIGHT
  • Decreased Base Damage per Pulse from 45/65/85/105/125 to 35/55/75/95/115
  • Decreased Physical Power Scaling per Pulse from 30% to 20%
  • Decreased Physical Power Scaling on Throw from 75% to 65%
ACHILLES
From the update notes it was clear that the Achilles change was not sufficient. Achilles is a top pick right now, and although the power decrease we have already shipped was impactful, we are willing to nerf him more. We were hesitant to overnerf characters when the meta might nerf them as well, but we need Achilles to move down a bit further to make room for more gods to test this new Season 7 meta.

COMBAT DODGE
  • Decreased damage from 50/90/130/170/210 to 50/85/120/155/190.

RADIANT GLORY
  • Decreased Healing from 24/28/32/36/40 to 20/23/26/29/32.
SUSANO
Susano was the other god we feel received the most feedback on missing a nerf. Susano is a top ban god and that usually moves us to apply nerfs. We were more careful with him since he received multiple scaling nerfs recently, and for similar reasons as Achilles (meta changing). However, to be safe and make sure more Junglers can explore the new season, we are nerfing his damage and early-game mobility even further.

JET STREAM
  • Decreased Physical Power Scaling per tick from 30% to 25% per tick
  • Increased Cooldown after teleporting to an enemy from 8s to 10s

CONQUEST BLUE BUFF
We had a lot of feedback regarding the Solo Lane, and after PTS testing we agree that more adjustments need to be made. We plan to continue to monitor this role closely and make more itemization changes before 7.1 launch. For now, we are buffing the Blue Jungle Buff to ensure that Solo Laners have the Mana to fight effectively so we can get more feedback and data about the current matchups in the lane.
  • Increased MP5 per 10% missing mana from 2 MP5 to 3 MP5

DYNASTY PLATE HELM
There has been a very strong reaction to Tyrannical Plate Helm and its T2 version, Dynasty Plate Helm. These are both being nerfed significantly. We want new items to be attractive and exciting, but not overbearing. This can be a tricky middle ground to design for as players tend to mostly ignore new items unless they really turn heads. The key change for the T2 is increasing the cost so it cannot be bought as a starter item.
  • Increased cost from 1400 to 1600

TYRANNICAL PLATE HELM
This item brings a very new and unique effect, but its strong stat spread was overshadowing that. The main thing we want this item to do is encourage aggressive tactical plays, so the minion attack speed is remaining unchanged, but with its description fixed. Many other aspects of this item are being nerfed to ensure that this Minion Attack Speed feature is the defining one, not the base stats.
  • Fixed an item description error where it listed 10% Minion Attack Speed rather than the actual 20% increase. (20% is the intended number and its currently functioning like this in PTS)
  • Increased cost from 2400 to 2600
  • Decreased Magical Power from 85 to 70
  • Decreased Minion health bonus from 20% to 10%

STONE OF FAL
The changes to Mage itemization have mostly been received positively. There are definitely a few concerns and we want to take those seriously. There is also some confusion. One key thing we want to avoid is overpowered hybrid items. Mages are getting major nerfs in the 7.1 changes, which we attempted to offset with some interesting buffs too, but putting too much power on tanky items is not the right way to do this. Another notable exception was Yemoja. Her pick, ban, or win-rate stats are not nearly as high as Susano or Achilles. She is definitely being watched closely, though.
  • Decreased Magical Power from 100 to 80

HIDE OF THE NEAMEAN LION
This change mostly focuses on Hunters. The viable pool of Hunters is constrained by this item’s reflect damage amount. Reflect damage can be frustrating and difficult to play around. Kuzenbo and Thorns have cooldown and visual cues to help counterplay, but Nemean is always on. Due to that fact we are decreasing is reflect damage significantly to allow more Hunters to experiment in this new meta.
  • Increased Physical Protection from 70 to 75
  • Decreased Damage Reflected from 25% to 15%

WARRIOR’S BANE
A key role of game design is to anticipate future results of design changes and adjust for them now, instead of waiting for the dominoes to fall. This is what the team attempted to do here. With Mages seeing significant penetration nerfs, we expected lots of discussion for Physical gods as well. However, concern over Hunter’s position in the meta largely overtook that concern, so we are reverting all of the changes. We will continue to evaluate Physical Penetration in the upcoming updates, possibly even considering similar changes to their items as Mages had.
  • Increased % Physical Protection reduction from 10% to 15%

TITAN’S BANE
  • Increased Base % Physical Protection reduction from 10% to 15%
  • Increased Base % Physical Protection reduction from 35% to 40%

THE EXECUTIONER
  • Increased % Physical Protection Reduction from 10% to 12%

RAGE
This buff is being added to open up Hunter build paths. Hunter builds tend to be optimized quickly then become quite rigid, and lately crit has not been part of the equation. One of the main issues this problem exists is because Crit requires a reasonably high % chance before it is effective. Rage exists to be the enabler for Crit builds by providing the highest % chance in a single item. We are pushing that slightly higher to let Hunters experiment with Crit-Pen hybrid builds that feel good even when only 2 Crit items are built.
  • Decrease Cost from 2400 to 2300
  • Increase Crit Chance % per stack from 2% to 3%
JANUARY 14 PTS BALANCE UPDATES
As 7.1 PTS nears its end we are adjusting a few more things. These changes pertain to things that were already planned to be changed in 7.1. We have been closely monitoring the community discussion and PTS gameplay for input about the update. During PTS we need to be careful about our changes. Ones that require additional art and code could cause issues to delay the launch, so these are being planned for 7.2. There is discussion of design concerns and balance concerns we have not yet addressed, and many of those are reasonable concerns but will need to be looked at in 7.2. Thank you for all your communication and PTS testing during this time. It has certainly made 7.1 a better update!
BASTET
Bastet is performing well on PTS and nerfs were necessary, but many Bastet players voiced their concerns about our most recent adjustments. We are reverting those, then adding another nerf to her new ultimate. Bastets jungle clear speed and base damage on her 1-2-3 is already lower than usual, so lowering those further caused some negative experiences. Instead damage is being shifted off the ultimate to lower her top end damage and encourage her to rely more on her base kit.

POUNCE
  • Increased Base Damage from 80/135/190/245/300 to  80/145/210/275/340

RAZOR WHIP
  • Increase Base Damage from 30/45/60/75/90 to 30/50/70/90/110 per tick
  • Decrease Mana Cost from 60/65/70/75/80 to 40/45/50/55/60

GUARDIAN OF BAST
  • Decreased Bonus Damage from 30/35/40/45/50% to 20/25/30/35/40%
ODIN
Odin’s new groove is quite a powerful one. He continues to dominate the PTS with his new ability. This ability can stack a very high amount of damage if players manage to hit an enemy with all 4 instances of damage, so the damage is being lowered. This ability is still a relatively long total channel time, so it does need to maintain slightly higher damage, but it was clearly overtuned.

GUNGNIR’S MIGHT
  • Decreased Pulse Damage from 35/55/75/95/115 to 25/45/65/85/105 Per Pulse
  • Decreased Spear Throw (Base and Scaling) from 90/150/210/270/330 (+65% of your Physical Power) to 80/130/180/230/280 (+60% of your Physical Power)
SOLO LANE
Many pros, olympians, and players have expressed concern with the Solo lane. We want to make the 1v1 in that lane more impactful and make sure we reward aggressive laners, but some of our proposed changes were having unintended effects, and discouraging fighting. With other classes also gaining significant buffs, Solo lane felt especially underpowered. We are reverting the change to Blue Buff and buffing Totem of Ku, while retaining the scaling effect. We want each role to feel fun and impactful as the update launches, and after some 7.1 live data is accumulated we will be able to make more confident adjustments.
  • Reverted Blue Buff to provide:
    • Grants 20 Mana healed every 5s and 10% cooldown reduction. Each time you hit an enemy God with an ability you regain 2% of your missing Mana.
  • Increased Totem Reward from 10, 20, 30 to 20, 25, and 30 MP5 to the team depending on when it is taken.

Source: SMITE

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Alex Co

Father, gamer, games media vet, writer of words, killer of noobs.