Test 17 - Patch Notes

New Changes

Matchmaking & Queues

• Split queues implemented. Change your party set up from the Mission Select map.
  • It is now possible to queue up as a solo player, to only meet other solo vaultbreakers.
  • The duo queue can be selected to play with your friend. You can also queue here as a solo for an extra challenge!
  • Party UI updated to support the new split queues and matchmaking rework.
  • The Lone Wolf perk has been removed as solos no longer need to compete with duos unless desired.
  • Dev note: Playing solo and encountering duo teams has been one of the biggest issues that players reported. This initial test gives solos the choice to play against only other solos, or to go into the duo queue if they want more challenge.
• Simple onboarding queue added for new players.
• Reworked matchmaking system.
  • This will provide a smoother queuing experience.
  • It also facilitated us providing split party types.

Haven & Progression

• Haven upgrading added
  • The Haven where you start your adventure can now be built from the ground up.
  • Building the various buildings provide both visual changes to your base and new gameplay mechanics.
  • Resources found in missions can now contribute towards upgrading the buildings with choices to be made on which boons to keep.
  • Multiple new NPCs with questlines intertwined with the Haven and its upgrades have been added.
  • New crafting recipes and options added to various NPCs.
  • Loads of new 3D models, VFX, SFX and voice work added to bring the Haven to life.
  • Dev note: The progression systems we had in the game were all fairly abstract that were not grounded in the world that much. The haven upgrades should now tie in better with the story of what you are doing, give you the option of seeing many more long term goals you can pursue, and feel more rewarding that upgrading a button in a feature hidden in UI.
• The quest and progression flow has seen large updates to focus the Vaultbreaker journey.
  • Most NPCs have to be found in the mission and freed.
  • Some NPC related Quest markers indicated with a “!” can now be seen on the map while in a mission.
  • Wishy the Wishlister Puff has been added to the Haven. He’d love you to wishlist us on Steam!
  • Quest items are now of legendary rarity to stand out more.
• Onboarding tutorial changes added with extra guidance.
  • New steps added to support all the Haven upgrade and quest changes.
  • Special focus placed on extraction to help clarify the mechanic.

Gameplay Systems & Mechanics

• New PvE/PvP mode selection screen on startup.
  • Dev comment: This is a teaser for what’s to come. At present, only PvP is selectable.
• Colours and activatable items added to gear scores.
• You can now hover over collected gear to compare it with what you have equipped.
• Challenges now require 150 Ley-line energy to unlock.
• Context-specific interactions with objects and NPCs added to the ‘F’ button.
• Characters now flinch when hit.
• Health bars now only appear in combat.
• All damage taken is now as 90% recoverable wounds.
  • This makes items such as bandages more relevant.
• Major perk rebalances with many new and some removed.
  • Perks now directly suit character building, ability customisation and playstyle expression.
• New activatable items added for further playstyle expression.
• Some artifacts have been removed and corresponding quests updated.
• New Named Items with unique abilities added.

World & Enemies

• Many Wolfswood areas have seen difficulty balance changes.
• Many enemies (such as Werewolves) have been made more difficult.
• More enemy patrolling. You will see a larger amount of enemies roaming around the map.
• Randomized enemy, loot and mining vein spawns.
  • You will now see a more dynamic influx of different enemies, chests, ores and drops!
• Enemies no longer spawn at activated extraction portals.
• Changelings now take their true form on death.
  • Added new supporting SFX, VFX, 3D model and animations.
• Changeling aggro range reduced
• Ironback Bear, Moonveil Stalker Werewolf, Rubble Golem and Vine Zombie enemies added to Wolfswood.

UI & Visuals

• New Thora art added to her character selection screen.
• Updated error reporting systems and messages you receive.
• “Robust” graphical setting choices added to the Settings menu.
  • Frame scaling and other more diverse graphical support included.

Playable Character Balance Changes

Nymera

• Re-work of Basic Attack, Innate, and Emerald Barrage for more control of Energy
• Soaring Strike can cleanse Roots

Thora

• Base AD up from 72 to 76
• Rework of Earthquake and Innate for more control of Energy
• Earthquake has a slightly longer forced winddown
• Rage Spin re-scaled
  • Cooldown 13 to 5
  • Less base damage 110 to 30
  • Movement speed lowered 3 to 2.8
  • Duration increase reduced from 1 to 0.5s
• Rager Whirl slow delay added from 0 to 0.87

Sparkwing

• Re-work Electric Form to require Energy for 6 Orbs instead of cooldown
• Re-applying Zap gain upped from 5 to 10 Energy
• Power Vortex base damage upped from 200 to 250
• Power Vortex Energy on Zap down from 20 to 15
• Electric Form energy gain re-scaled from +25% for 3 sec. to +10% for 4 sec.

Lumiri

• Base AD down from 70 to 64
• Bramble Wall initial delay added from 0 to 0.6

Bjornir

• Re-work Frostfeather Flyby to drain Energy
• Power Chop has a slightly longer forced winddown
• Ice Block re-scaled
  • Cooldown 17 to 5
  • Less energy gain. 20 to 5 per
  • Less base damage 100 to 25
  • No Frostfeather Boon refresh

Bug fixes:

• Matchmaking & Lobby
  • Fixed several matchmaking errors, including timeouts, cancellations, and friend team queue issues.
  • Resolved a bug where changing maps mid-selection could cause queue failures.
  • Fixed an issue where players could see or interact with quest elements prematurely in the lobby (e.g. Lanathar and the cart quest).
• Crafting & Recipes
  • Corrected crafting recipes that were not set to the correct rarity.
  • Fixed crafting UI issues like missing icons or incorrect reward items (e.g. Small Bandage Shipment, Infused Silver Ingot).
  • Added missing configuration for explosive barrels and other upgrade-related recipes.
• UI & Text Issues
  • Resolved various placeholder and missing text bugs in tutorials, item descriptions, and building upgrade menus.
  • Fixed tooltip and icon display issues in inventory and building upgrades.
  • Fixed bugs related to item delivery UI and controls.
  • Replaced placeholder text in the Open Map tutorial.
  • Addressed an ANR (App Not Responding) issue when dismissing the Tutorial pop-up.
• Visuals & Models
  • Resolved multiple T-posing NPCs and characters clipping into the ground.
  • Improved enemy death presentations to better match their animations.
• Quests & Progression
  • Fixed issues where quest items could be lost on death.
  • Corrected challenges not tracking progress, such as defeating specific enemies.
• Performance & Stability
  • Fixed performance spikes caused by bot spawns and early match logic.
  • Addressed a major freeze during the first minute of match.
  • Fixed several backend errors that led to crashes or unexpected behavior.
• Gameplay Mechanics
  • Resolved enemy AI vision ignoring walls.
  • Fixed Changelings pathing through closed gates and bounce flowers causing errors.
  • Fixed the "Defeat 3 Imp Pillagers in a mission" challenge not counting progress.
  • Activatable items with the same effect are now mutually exclusive to equip.
  • Changelings now take the same damage from explosive barrels as players.
• General Improvements
  • Fixed sound issues where multiple effects played simultaneously in the lobby.
  • Cancelling matchmaking now correctly exits the queue without throwing an exception.
  • Fixed audio bugs where all Ley-line upgrade sounds played at once in the Lobby.

Known issues:

• Boss portrait borders show up on the map without having the "Enemy Awareness" building upgrade from Library Tier 4
• Dr Quenlin and Thalindra are missing their nameplates.
• Vulkaryn is missing animations.
• Changeling corpse can spawn for player characters on death.
• Research Station Tier 4 movement boost upgrade has incorrect values.
• On abandoning a quest, quest items are only destroyed for the active character, not for other characters that hold the item.