Jul 4, 2023

[Announcement] Planned changes to clans, part II

Crossout - XO_Team

Hello again, survivors!

Not so long ago we published an article where we described our plans to improve the system of clans and weekly challenges. It’s time for part two, where we will share more details!

As you remember, we plan to introduce into the game the concept of a band — the initial form of clans, available to almost anyone, which can consist of up to 4 players. There will also be a new game mode titled “Clan skirmish”, which will be very similar to “Clan battles”, but with a vehicle power score limit. Weekly challenges will be transformed into clan activities, allowing you to complete them together.

We should note that all information, including the terms used in this article, is preliminary and may change by the time the improvements are released to the main servers. In addition, for the clarity of wording, we will refer to both clans and bands as “clans”, but everything described applies to both clans and bands.

Seasons and “Skirmish”

We plan to launch a season system similar to the one currently used in “Clan battles”. As the season progresses, each clan will accumulate a “fame rating”, thereby moving up through the leagues of the leaderboard. These are separate entities that have nothing to do with the existing clan rating.

The total fame rating of a clan is the sum of the fame rating of all clan members. Players earn it for useful actions (for example, destroying the enemy) in PvP missions, as well as in the “Clan Skirmish” and “Clan battles” modes.

This means that even those clan members who take part in standard PvP help the clan to progress. However, we note that taking part in the “Clan skirmish” and “Clan battles” modes adds more fame rating — at the moment, 10 times more.

The contribution of each player to the seasonal rating of the clan is calculated based on their five best battles of the season. This way, committed players will have an incentive to constantly improve and achieve better and better results, but those who don’t play as actively will also be able to bring considerable benefit to the clan.

A clan’s fame rating cannot drop during a season. On the contrary, it naturally grows all the time due to the fact that clan members simply play the game. Once a week, at the end of the season, the rating is completely reset. Accordingly, all clans move to the starting league at this moment.

Important facts about the “Clan skirmish” mode:

You can participate in the mode as a group or alone — for this you only need to be a member of a clan or band. In this case, you will enter a battle with random players, and at the end of the battle, each player will bring points to their clans
The planned maximum vehicle Power Score level for the mode is 9000
The mode will be available according to a schedule, but the exact time is not determined yet

Clan challenges

The higher the clan advances through the leagues during the season, the more challenges are available to it. It’s worth noting that the progress of these challenges is counted even before you reach the league these challenges are attached to. If the clan has already fulfilled all the conditions of the challenge, the reward for it will be received immediately upon reaching this league.

Rewards for these challenges will be received by all clan players who have scored the required amount of “activity points” — a new entity that displays the contribution of a clan member to the overall result.

Activity points are earned by dealing damage in any game mode, including raids. This way, active players will be rewarded even for those challenges in which they didn't directly participate. But this doesn’t mean that the reward is not deserved: after all, their activity has increased the fame rating of the clan, thus bringing it closer to receiving said reward!

We remind you that the Engineer badges will remain as a reward for these challenges and the maximum number of badges received per player will either remain the same or increase compared to the current values.

Other important improvements

The roles within clans have undergone some changes as well, now there are four of them: leader, officer, veteran and fighter. The first two haven’t been changed substantially, but the third and fourth should be described additionally. Let’s take a closer look.

By default, when joining a clan, a player becomes a fighter. This allows them to contribute to the completion of clan challenges, receive rewards for them, earn activity points and fame rating, as well as participate in the “Clan skirmish” mode. After the clan leader or officer promotes the player to a veteran, they get the opportunity to fight in “Clan battles” as well.

This change will allow clans to monitor the participation of their players in “Clan battles” more flexibly, as well as prevent potential cases of sabotage. In addition, new opportunities will open up for clans, such as recruiting less experienced players and practicing team strategies in the “Skirmish” mode before moving on to more serious battles. Or, for example, having a certain number of players who don’t participate in “Clan battles” at all, but contribute to increasing the clan’s fame rating and completing challenges.

For those players who want more privacy, we plan to add the ability to turn off the display of the clan tag in front of their nickname. This setting will be individual for each player and will not affect the clan as a whole.

We also note that, unlike a clan, bands will not have a name and tag, and their members will not have a corresponding prefix before their nickname.

We should also mention one more important point: the improvements planned at the moment will not affect the existing “Clan battles” rating system, as well as the reward in the form of uranium ore. Later in the future, there might be changes to these aspects as well.

For now, that’s all we can share — and you have the opportunity to express your opinion about these changes. We will appreciate your feedback very much!
See you soon!

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Jul 3, 2023

[Announcement] Planned balance changes

Crossout - XO_Team

Hello, survivors!

Closer to the middle of July, we plan to release the next update, in which we plan to implement the necessary balance changes. Today we will tell you what changes you can expect in the near future.

Please note that all the balance changes specified in this news are relevant at the time of publication and may not be final or not get into the game at all. Certain additional changes, if necessary, can be made after the announcement.

Bumpers

Reduced the resistance to melee damage from 90% to 65% for all bumpers, except for the “Impact” bumper.
Reduced the resistance to melee damage for the “Impact bumper” from 80% to 60%.

Comment: bumpers are very effective in countering melee damage, which is especially noticeable after the frequency of their use as armour has greatly increased.

All turret cannons from “Little Boy 6LB” to “ZS-52 Mastodon”

Ammunition increased to 14 shells.

All cannons from “Judge 76mm” to “CC-18 Typhoon”

Ammunition increased to 12 shells.

Comment: cannons are weapons that are highly dependent on ammunition and, in the current realities, there may not be enough ammunition for them.

Prosecutor 76mm

Penetration ability increased from 10% to 25%.

Comment: the cannon’s effectiveness decreased a lot after all the changes, but bringing back the 2-pin penetration of the structure would be an overly powerful enhancement. Therefore, we are improving its penetration ability.

Executioner 88 mm

Penetration ability increased from 10% to 30%.
Durability increased from 600 to 655 pts.

Comment: just like with the “Prosecutor”, the parameters of the “Executioner” were also greatly reduced. These changes will help restore the cannon to its effectiveness and relevance.

Elephant

Damage increased by 15%.
Penetration increased from 80% to 100%.
Improved accuracy.

Comment: the cannon’s effectiveness is noticeably lower than that of its epic equivalents.

“BC-17 Tsunami” and “CC-18 Typhoon”

Blast damage increased by 9%.
Penetration ability increased from 65% to 75%.

Comment: even after the change in damage dealing mechanics, the effectiveness of these cannons remained at an insufficient level.

ZS-46 Mammoth

Damage increased by 23%.
A direct hit now increases the cannon’s damage by 10% for 10 sec. (instead of 20% before).

Comment: with this change we make the cannon less dependent on its perk and preserve its maximum damage.

Cricket

Rate of fire increased by 28%.
Improved accuracy.

Comment: the “Cricket” was insufficiently effective when compared to other epic weapons. Increased accuracy and rate of fire will help in the implementation of its perk and inflicting the maximum possible damage.

Barrier IX

Shield activation time increased from 1 sec. to 2 sec.
Cooldown increased from 20 sec. to 25 sec.

Comment: these turrets have become an overly effective way of blocking damage. Reducing the possible frequency of shield deployment should bring the parameters in line with those expected. The implementation of the turret’s capabilities will become more dependent on thoughtful actions on the battlefield.

Synthesis

Penetration ability increased from 10% to 30%.
Damage increased by 10%.

Prometheus V

Penetration ability increased from 10% to 30%.

Helios

Penetration ability increased from 10% to 30%.
Damage increased by 12%.

Comment: the effectiveness of plasma emitters was greatly reduced after the change in the mechanics of dealing damage. Their penetration ability turned out to be too weak, and the projectile stopped its flight after colliding with the first part in its path. Also, the damage of “Synthesis” and “Helios” didn’t correspond to their rarity.

AC80 Stillwind

Damage reduced by 10%.

Comment: the autocannon’s ratio of damage to energy drain was too advantageous compared to other “legendary” weapons.

Cyclone

Damage increased by 5%.
Durability increased from 661 to 714 pts.

Comment:our statistics showed that the “Cyclone” needs small improvements aimed at improving damage and survivability in battles.

Draco

Damage reduced by 6%.

Firebug

Damage reduced by 8%.

Comment:by gaining the ability to deal damage through the parts that let damage through, the flamethrowers became very effective. We don’t want to deprive them of this feature, and therefore we reduce the damage they deal.

Kapkan

The delay before activating the mine has been increased from 1 sec. to 2 sec.

Comment: “delay” refers to the time from setting the mine until it is able to capture the enemy. This change should reduce the effectiveness of planting mines directly in front of the enemy and give him a little more time to react.

Aspect

Damage increased by 23%.
Now, when the machine gun is fully heated, its damage increases by 30% (instead of 60% before).

Comment: as with the “Mammoth”, we are making the weapon less dependent on its perk and preserving the maximum damage.

Pulsar

Changed the weapon’s perk. Pulsar will now deal 30% more damage to modules.

Comment: the previous perk of the “Pulsar” for increasing blast radius had almost no effect on the effectiveness of the weapon. Now successful hits will help you to quickly deprive the enemies of vital equipment on their armoured cars.

Parser

Durability reduced from 320 to 290 pts.

Comment: for a weapon capable of firing at long distances, the “Parser” had a very high durability parameter.

Scorpion

Damage reduction as parts are penetrated is now 6% faster.
Reloading time increased from 5 sec. to 5.5 sec.
Increased dependence of accuracy on movement speed.

Comment: with the old mechanics, the weapon’s damage was excessive, but this was offset by the “screen” armour. Now, it has become easier to implement damage and the average effectiveness of the “Scorpion” has increased. The changes should slightly increase the cost of a miss and make the weapon more dependent on the player’s skills.

Harvester

Damage increased by 50%.
Changed the perk: now damage is increased by 20% for every second of contact with the enemy. The effect stacks up to 5 times and gradually resets every 0.5 sec. when the weapon doesn’t deal damage.

Comment: the weapon depends too much on Tesla emitters, but even with them it shows insufficient effectiveness. We have decided to return the old perk to the “Harvester” while also rebalancing its parameters.

Follow our news — we will definitely inform you about any major changes in a separate publication.

Good luck in battles!

For more information on Crossout, follow these channels:

Jun 29, 2023

[Announcement] Question and Answers

Crossout - XO_Team

Hey, Survivors!

Some time ago, we collected questions that you would be interested in getting an answer from the developers. It's time for you to hear the answers.

Unfortunately in mid April there was a spacetime anomaly created by Waderkvarn engineers that delayed this post for two months, but we’ve decided to share the answers with you anyway.

“Hey! I’d like to know how statistics are collected on the test server, since a fairly small number of people play there. What’s the meaning of the statistics on the basis of which vehicle parts are then balanced (even on the test server), if all the battles are mainly played against bots. Plus, the players often use builds with old armouring. Or maybe the effectiveness against players and bots is determined separately?”

The data processing works the same as it does on the Live server. We check analytics, pickrates, winrates. Surely, we’d like more players to participate on a public test server. But unfortunately, it often turns out that players mostly play with bots. There are cases where with 8000 PS you can fight against cars with 17000 PS — this isn't good data. It’s worth mentioning that our volunteers also participate in the testing. In general, we observe all feedback — from streamers, YouTubers, and their audience. But if we talk about dry figures and data, unfortunately, for now these data are not enough. Therefore, we pay more attention to the reaction and opinion of the team that deals with the in-game balance, and our internal data that we have.
We encourage the players to take part in these tests. They often contain big features that change the game quite dramatically. However we don’t test each balance update publicly — there is no point in it.

“What are the wrecks for? Most often they cause negative emotions and interfere with gameplay.”

The wrecks were introduced during the official livestream when the “Supercharged” update was released, in order to add realism to the game, because before, the builds simply disappeared into nowhere. Secondly, there are new game situations. In some cases you can take cover behind a wreck, and it creates new gameplay events that will give you a new experience. Yes, not everyone likes this gameplay experience. But it’s still important. As for the negative feedback from the players, the main remark is that the wrecks are still too durable. It may remain on the player’s build and it’s difficult to get out from under. In the next update [note: at the time of the release of this material, the change is already introduced in the game] we will add a certain change: the wreckage will become more fragile — it will be much easier to shoot it off. But still, we don’t plan to abandon this gameplay mechanic. We think this is quite an interesting gameplay feature. At the moment we’re just refining it to make it more comfortable for the players.

“What role do clan battles and their statistics play in the balance of parts?”

When balancing weapons, we take into account both clan battles and random battles, because not all types of weapons are played in clan battles. In general there are legendary parts, relics, some parts of “epic” weapons, “Crickets”, “Locusts” or “Kapkans”. We can check what types of weapons prevail in CB. Movement parts as well. In balancing changes we leave comments for what reasons they’ve been changed. For example: “It’s effective in CB, so that’s why we implement these changes”. Plus, our balance department, as mentioned, mostly plays CB in different leagues, with different builds and styles of gameplay. There are those who prefer heavy cabins, who play on hovers and those who love to play on “melees” — all types of players to balance each other’s opinion. We’ve heard people saying, allegedly, we have a special “lobby” in CB. No, there are no such people who promote any of their own interests. We are trying to balance everything.

“We’ve got structural parts that provide durability, shield parts, in other words, they help in battle and therefore have PS. The higher the damage, durability and rarity of the weapon, the higher the PS, as this also helps in battle. Cabins and modules have their power score according to the same principle. All of the above parts HELP me in combat, make me EFFECTIVE. The higher my power, the higher my PS.
But there are 2 modules that absolutely USELESS — fuel tank and fuel barrel. I can leave the battle faster because of them. But I accept it. Makes sense. Fuel is worth it. But why are they given PS if they have no special use in battle? I just mount a barrel, my car becomes explosive, receives additional PS and, accordingly, I’m thrown against stronger players. I’m less effective in combat, but still fight against stronger opponents. There is a decor that can shield your parts and add small amount of power score.”

This has been the case for quite some time. There are builds where barrels are intentionally put forward as they cause damage in collisions. So, in some cases they’re used as weapons. Thus, this should also give additional power score. Plus, it allows you to farm the fuel that can be converted into coins. There must be some kind of balance. In this case, this is done with a power score.
And still the player has to sacrifice something. In this case it is survivability, instead of which the player gets the opportunity to farm fuel, and in some builds — it’s the possibility to deal increased damage.

“Why can't you add detailed battle statistics and player profile information? The information that is currently available in the game is not enough.”

We’ve already answered this question before. At the moment, there are certain statistics that can be viewed in the player's profile. What kind of statistics would you like to see? Winrates? Where exactly do you want to see them? In every raid or in missions? In clan battles?
Therefore, we don’t fully understand what personal statistics of the player we are talking about, and we would appreciate it if the feedback in this regard would be more detailed.

“Why isn’t it possible to increase the rate of fire of automatic weapons, even at the expense of heating or accuracy?”
Firstly, there are technical problems. This can cause some issues with effects, sounds, because they’re designed for a special timing, rate of fire, etc. Secondly, there needs to be a way to show this information to the enemy. Not only does the player have to understand what they are using, but also their opponents.
“Why is there no possibility to reduce the time of minigun rotation / charging for a shot (for example: time of pressing the button to fire from “Kaiju”)?”

Almost the same: sounds, effects, the impossibility to inform the opponent.
“Physical models of weapons. “Quasars” themselves are very large, plus their physical model is much larger than the visual one. The “Wasp” and “Locust” models are very similar, but the “Pyralid” is very different from them, so it’s difficult to install it so that it shoots fine and isn’t blocked by armouring parts. Why can’t I mount the “Gravastar” weapon even though visually I still seem to have enough space for it? Why does the top of the “Whirl” have the shape of a dome visually, and the model is cylindrical? This way, the weapon is easier to hit, and it receives much more damage than it could.”
We won’t consider every gun that the player described here — it will take lots of time.
Here's how it works: when you put the parts together, the system checks their collision. If there is an intersection — it’s impossible to mount them. You can see it in the descriptions of updates: “updated visual and collision models for certain weapons”. Your eye is an imprecise tool. It may seem to you that this part can be mounted, but in fact there is not enough space. And the game checks it and doesn’t let the mistake happen. Considering that there are lots of parts in our constructor, there can be a bunch of such combinations. If we receive a comment like: “This fender cannot be properly mounted with the wheels”, we change it. We monitor and fix these kinds of issues.

“Don’t you think that the energy consumption of “Varun” is too high? Especially after its nerf. Maybe it's time to give it 6 energy?”

Let's not talk specifically about “Varun”, but more about our approach to balance.
We check the analytics, statistics, how often a certain part is used, what percentage of the winrate the part has, at what power score levels, etc. If we find a mismatch — either the winrate is too high or too low we’re implementing changes. In some cases we can raise the amount of power score, somewhere — increase the durability, reduce the rate of fire, etc.
There are cases when a certain weapon performs poorly at 8300 PS, but it plays well at 9600 PS. Or some people say: “I don't play well with special weapons at 9000 PS.” Special guns shouldn't be there. Sometimes you can put simpler wheels, some cabin, or replace some modules, and you will already find yourself with a special cannon with 6000-7000 PS, and it will be comfortable to play.
We check statistics and look for deviations — we fix them, release balance changes, but there can be no perfect balance in a PvP game.

“What is the current status of the game lore? Why doesn’t the game’s plot move forward? Is it worth waiting for the development of the story of Hyperborea and the Mentor?”

The lore is currently being developed in several ways. First, you can see various events like the recent “Operation Radiance”. It had a story — Mentor and a story about the Ravagers. Sometimes we show it in our videos. We also advise you to read the description of certain weapons. When, for example, a new machine gun becomes available for a new faction, it has a detailed description. The lore can also be found in the descriptions of portraits. There are even special sources where you can read about our lore.
Let’s talk about the “Adventure” mode. This is information for April 2023 and it can change.
At the moment, there are no plans for further development of the “Adventure” mode. There are several reasons for that. The first is the development options that we’ve previously discussed are quite time consuming and difficult in development. These are new maps, new quests — all this is laborious work. Now we’re more focused on the development of PvP and PvE modes. In general, even our analytics showed that once the players complete the adventure, they rarely return there. Spending a half of a year or a whole year on the development in this case may simply be impractical. So… We apologize if we disappointed you. We’ve seen the suggestions of the players, some even offered us stories on how to develop the plot. But there are no plans for this yet.

“Is the possibility of changing the rarity of parts in different directions planned? For example, to spend a lot of time and resources to make “Docker” epic, or to “lower” the “Omnibox” to a special rarity?”

That’s an interesting suggestion.
However, firstly we need to understand the purpose of such mechanics. For example: a player sees that there’s an epic weapon. Then a player thinks that after spending resources, this part can be upgraded, like in other videogames, and it will have a higher rarity. Yes, such mechanics are found in other games, but there are a few simple technical questions that come to mind.
It’s necessary to display this with some kind of effect. It’s important to change the effects, models, sounds so that the opponent understands what weapon he is dealing with. The second point is balance. Every time new parts are added, it increases the complexity of the in-game balance as a whole, because the game is about a constructor. Thus, if we can change the rarity of all types of weapons, then the balance becomes even more complicated.

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