These are the patch notes for the War Robots: Frontiers build, which will be available following a period of maintenance on November 14, 2023. Update your game to the latest version and start playing in Early Access. Even if you haven’t got a Pioneer Pack, you can play for free and experience the Autumn Update from November 14 until December 5!
NEW CONTENT
- New Robot - Ravana: A high-durability vanguard Robot that unlocks its full potential in close-range team fights.
- Blessing: Ravana creates a cone-shaped protective area in front of itself, offering allies partial resistance to incoming damage. As long as at least one friendly target is affected by Blessing, Ravana cannot be destroyed (the durability of any of the Robot’s parts cannot be reduced below 1).
- New Ability Module - Grounded: Fires a projectile that depletes the target’s Fuel.
NOTE: The Tusk weapon will be removed from the game after the end of Early Access when it transitions to Open Beta. As of this update, Tusk cannot be acquired via the Shop or Account Level rewards. However, all previously acquired Tusks can be used throughout Early Access.
NEW GAME MODE: TEAM DEATHMATCH
Team Deathmatch is played until one team scores 30 victory points. Destroying an enemy Robot awards one victory point, and taking down a Titan adds two points. Side beacons are replaced by deployment areas, while the central beacon becomes a spawn point for Power-Ups.
Three types of Power-Up are available in the current version of the mode:
- Triple Damage: Multiplies weapon damage by three for 30 seconds.
- Instant Ability: Resets cooldowns for all equipped Abilities and instantly charges Chargeable Abilities.
- Orbital Strike: Adds a unique Ability available via the same button as Titan Deployment in Beacon Rush (default “C”).
All Robots (except for Titans) can be deployed multiple times in Team Deathmatch. Whenever your Robot is destroyed, a cooldown begins after which the same Robot becomes available again when you open the Robot selection panel. As long as at least one of your Robots is ready for deployment, it will be sent to the battlefield automatically after a short delay. You can spectate other players when all your Robots are on cooldown.
NOTE: The new game mode will become available in random rotation in the general matchmaking queue shortly after the update is released.
FEATURE OVERHAUL: ROBOT DAMAGE MODEL
We are introducing new, more intuitive damage mechanics in the Autumn Update. To take down a target, you now need to deplete its energy shield first and then destroy any of its parts.
All Robots, including Titans, now have a personal, tight-fitted energy shield that covers all of its parts. Dealing damage to any of the Robot’s parts is impossible until the shield is depleted. When the shield is at zero capacity, the Robot structure will begin to receive all incoming damage. Each Robot part takes damage separately and has its own Durability pool. Destroying any of the individual parts instantly destroys the Robot.
IMPORTANT: The stats of most Robot parts, Weapons, Abilities, and Pilots have been adjusted to better fit the new damage mechanics. Additionally, the Passive Shield and the Shield Dome Abilities have been removed from the game entirely.
NEW FEATURE: STEAM INVITES
Steam players can now invite each other to Squads directly via the Steam Friends system. We have also set up RichPresence, so you can display your status on other platforms (such as Discord) whenever you choose to appear online.
IMPROVED NEW PLAYER EXPERIENCE
This version of the game explains core Combat and Hangar features in a much more clear and consistent way than before. These are the most noticeable improvements:
- Updated Tutorial Map and mission flow.
- Updated starting Hangar setup.
- Updated settings for introductory matches played against AI Robots.
- Updated early level-up rewards.
- Added introductory Contracts and UI tooltips.
- Added embedded video tutorials in early matches explaining the basics of different game modes.
NOTE: You might want to complete the updated Tutorial even if you have sufficient experience with the game already. It will help you get accustomed to the new damage mechanics.
MAP OVERHAUL: MONT
Mont has received a major update. The worlds of the Wild Ten have arctic areas, too!
Apart from reworked visuals, the new Mont features a slightly changed layout to make navigation easier for all classes of Robots. Most noticeably, the streets of the industrial complex became wider, and access to the crucial central beacon was made easier from the right-side spawn areas.
GAMEPLAY CHANGES AND IMPROVEMENTS
On the combat side, we mainly focused on how controlling the Robot feels when you are in a match. This update includes a slew of tweaks to animations, physics, sounds, and Robot stats collectively aimed at conveying the feel of piloting a heavy, walking combat machine.
- Tweaked animations and speed of partial turns and turnarounds.
- Tweaked settings of Robot JetPack.
- Tweaked movement speed and acceleration settings on various Legs.
- Ledges of up to five meters in height will no longer cause Robots to slow down.
- Updated collision logic when bumping into various obstacles.
Other gameplay changes include:
- Loki is now more difficult to spot when using the Trick ability.
- Victory points in Beacon Rush are now rounded down. This will eliminate situations when a match continues despite the victory bar showing 100% for one of the teams.
GRAPHICAL IMPROVEMENTS
- Slightly updated visuals on the Crash Site Map.
- Slightly updated visuals in the Hangar scene.
- Updated multiple Robot and weapon animations.
- Added animations for the Instant Reload (Fury).
- Updated VFX for Map destructibles.
- Updated VFX for the Infinite Ammo ability.
- Updated VFX for the Blast Wave ability.
- Updated VFX for the Speed Boost ability.
- Updated VFX for the Smoke Wall ability.
- Updated VFX for the Lighter weapon.
- Added a new Sharpness setting to Graphics Settings.
SOUND IMPROVEMENTS
- Reworked sounds for multiple Robot parts, weapons, and Abilities.
- Added a new sound system for Robot steps and jump landings.
- Added sounds for movement in water.
- Added new sounds for destructible objects on Maps.
GENERAL UI IMPROVEMENTS
This update contains improvements to almost every part of the Hangar UI. Most importantly, we have reworked the Constructor menu:
- The Constructor now shows a schematic of a full Robot build, allowing you to start assembling the Robot from any part and save partial presets in the process.
- A dynamic Stats window was added, which reflects the change in build power as you replace any of its parts.
Other noticeable improvements include:
- Updated and expanded the post-combat statistics window.
- Updated stats windows for all weapons.
- Added purchase confirmation in Offers.
NOTE: The new Player Profile tab is a placeholder for a feature that is still in development.
BATTLE HUD IMPROVEMENTS
- Updated deployment tooltips and Map.
- Updated minimap for Crash Site and Mont.
- Updated color indication for the amount of ammo left for better visibility.
- Distance to target is now displayed on the target overtip.
- Added a heads-up when trying to hit targets out of range.
BUGS FIXED
- Fixed Trebuchet and Tusk projectiles disappearing mid-air.
- Fixed Tusk projectiles not dispersing as intended.
- Fixed z-fighting on trees on Crash Site.
- Fixed 3-digit numbers not fitting into the Contracts widget.
- Fixed pop-up damage numbers from Burning being displayed at the origin on the Map and not on the enemy target.
- Fixed on-hit VFX not being displayed on the enemy target.
- Fixed flickering on the Offers screen.
- Fixed various localization bugs and updated localization.
