Feb 21, 2023

Predecessor - Omeda Kari

Patch releasing February 21st, 2023.

Are you ready to make some noise?!

It's time to talk about Patch v0.4 dropping today [Tuesday, February 21st]! With it of course comes our headline act and the next Hero to join our roster - Shinbi

That’s not all however! This patch introduces major changes to Fangtooth and introduces Primal Fangtooth, a dangerous new version of everyone’s favourite deadly dino! This big brute provides a temporary buff to make games more dynamic whilst also providing teams more counterplay against early Fangtooth leads.

We’re also ready to open the doors to the new in-game shop, your one-stop shop for browsing awesome skins that you can spend your Platinum on.

The first version of our Player vs AI mode is also going live in this patch! You can play solo or with a party of friends, taking on Predecessor’s Artificial Intelligence. This mode is beginner friendly and will be expanded on in the future, so get stuck in and hone your skills or learn a new Hero!

On top of all of this we’re also making some slight balance changes to address some outliers, adjusting Omnivamp items and providing some support to Muriel.

Between the deadly roars of Fangteeth (Fangtooths? Fangsteeth? Fangles?) and Shinbi’s dazzling performances, the battlefield is about to sound very different.

Grab your tickets and let’s go, it’s time for The Shinbi Tour!

- alex, Lead Game Designer

Check out our video overview for patch v0.4 below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz30ALpj7is

SHINBI

It’s time for the performance of a lifetime!

Shinbi’s sellout tour of Predecessor begins shortly - and you’ve got front row tickets! This viral pop star lights up the stage with captivating shows, playing deadly tunes that summon powerful wolves during her gigs. She never disappoints her fans!

Shinbi's Abilities:

Passive: Biting Melody
Basic attacks deal an additional 10 (+12% Magical Power) magical damage on-hit. Periodically, Biting Melody deals 4x damage. Damaging an Enemy Hero with an ability decreases the cooldown by 1 second.

Primary Ability [Q]: Line Tempo
CD: 6/5.5/5/4.5/4
Cost: 30
Effect: Summon a Spirit Wolf that lunges in a straight line, passing through all Enemy targets and dealing 65/95/125/155/185 (+60% Magical Power) magical damage.

Secondary Ability [E]: Circle Rhythm
CD: 15/13.5/12/10.5/9
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80
Effect: Summon four Spirit Wolves that circle Shinbi for 3 seconds, granting a 40/60/80/100/120 (+35% Magical Power) shield for the same duration and after the wolves expire.

The wolves deal 12/19/26/33/40 (+12% Magical Power) magical damage per second to nearby enemies.

Alternate Ability [RMB]: Rushing Beat
CD: 18/17/16/15/14
Cost: 80
Effect: Dash forward a fixed distance dealing 40/60/80/100/120 (+40% Magical Power) magical damage to all enemies Shinbi passes through.

Rushing Beat can be retriggered within 3 seconds of casting to dash a second time.

Ultimate Ability [R]: All-Kill!
CD: 120/100/80
Cost: 100
Effects:
Passive: Dealing damage to Enemy Heroes with Abilities applies Track for 8 seconds, stacking up to 8 times.
Active: Summon a pack of Spirit Wolves to attack the Target with the most Track Stacks, dealing 50/85/120 (+18% Magical Power) magical damage per Spirit Wolf.

STORE

The in-game store is now open! You can find it by clicking the store tab in the main menu.

Here, you can spend any Platinum you’ve earned or purchased on skins, or top up your Platinum balance by purchasing more in your local currency. At the time of launch the store will have 12 skins that can be purchased, but more will be added in future patches.

As with many features that we’re adding during Early Access, this is only the beginning for the store. We will continue to expand and improve it as time goes on, and it’ll also benefit from the UI rework that’s going on behind the scenes.

FANGTOOTH UPDATE

Fangtooth:

Fangtooth has had a massive overhaul bringing new layers of depth to spice up the late game of Predecessor! The passive buffs remain mostly the same, but now cap out at 3.

Fangtooth still grants the following three passive buffs based on quantity killed:
1st - Jungle Buff Duration | +50% (capped at 30 seconds)
2nd - Out of Combat Movement Speed | +8%.
3rd - Increase Physical Power, Magical Power, Physical Armor, Magical Armor | +8%.

After this, no more passive buffs can be obtained.

Once three total Fangteeth have been killed in a single game however, the new Primal Fangtooth will begin to spawn!

Primal Fangtooth:

This new variant of Fangtooth spawns after three Fangteeth have been defeated in total by both teams. It will continue to grant the passive buffs on every take (up to the 3rd), but will also grant a new temporary buff called Primordial Blaze! This should help shift the strength of Fangtooth from constant permanent advantages, to something a team needs to use within a set window. It also helps create stronger chances for a comeback - the team that is behind can still access this powerful buff rather than being forced to crawl back up the permanent buff chain.

◆ Primordial Blaze
➢ Damage dealt to Enemy Targets will be set aflame, dealing (+2 per minute of game time) true damage per second over 4 seconds.
➢ This damage is increased by 50% against Enemy Heroes below 25% maximum health.
➢ This damage is capped at 80 True Damage per second (120 against targets below 25% maximum health).

◆ Buff Duration:
➢ 2 minutes (120s), which always leads to 2 and a half minutes (150s) due to first Fangtooth buff granting +30s.

PLAYER VS AI - BETA

The future is now! AI is here!

Queue up solo or team up with friends to take on a brand new game mode. The difficulty level is geared towards beginner players, so it’s a good place to start when introducing your friends to the game or trying out new builds and Heroes.

Please keep in mind that this game mode is currently a beta feature and is being continuously developed, so there may be bugs and issues.

GADGET BASE SKIN CHANGE

We’ve made the decision to change Gadget’s base skin to her Shellshock skin. We feel this provides the Hero with more character and a more battle ready aesthetic. Her original base skin may return in a future patch as a skin.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

◆ Total Damage to Heroes will now be displayed at the top of the other Damage to Heroes stats.
◆ Heroes can now be rotated in the Hero Screen & Post Match Screen.
◆ Updated Gadget’s recommended items.
◆ Visual effects for Sentry have been updated.
◆ Visual effects for Heroes dying have been updated.
◆ Client/server delay on Ranged Basic Attacks has been reduced by 50%.
◆ Impact Decals have been updated for most abilities.
◆ Gideon’s sound effects have been updated.
◆ Visual effects for Lane Guidance Indicators have been updated.
◆ Multiple Map improvements to help increase performance
◆ Fey’s jumping and landing sound effects have been improved.

HEROES

Crunch:

Crunch is finding himself in a decent spot following his previous nerfs, however his level 6 spike is still a bit too defining relative to his early and late game. With that in mind we’re moving strength from his mid game to these areas with some damage number shifts.

Left Crunch [Q]:
◆ Damage from 30/60/90/120/150 to 25/50/75/100/125.
◆ Total Physical Power Scaling increased from 110% to 130%.

Right Crunch [E]:
◆ Damage from 70/105/140/175/210 to 75/110/145/180/215.

Gideon:

With Truesilver being picked up early, Gideon is able to safely engage with his Ultimate and has felt a bit too safe and durable doing so. We’re bumping down his health a little bit to make the play pattern a little more high risk.

General:
◆ Health Growth decreased from 110 to 105.

Muriel:

Muriel has felt a little unloved recently, so we’re granting her some larger buffs and power shifts to help players access her more exciting moments. We’re increasing the overall values of her shields at the cost of a little cooldown so that she can prevent higher levels of burst from taking down her teammates. We’re also allowing her to access her Ultimate a bit more often and making it easier to use as a quick reaction. These buffs, alongside the Wellspring bug fixes, should help Muriel flourish a bit more in the Duo lane.

Serenity [Q]:
◆ Slow Magnitude from 25% to 35%.
◆ Slow Duration from 2s to 2.5s.

Alacrity [RMB]:
◆ Shielding Effect now has a 20% Magical Power Scaling.
◆ [Bug Fix] Now correctly scales with Heal & Shield Power.

Consecrated Ground [E]:
◆ Base Shield increased from 100/150/200/250/300 to 110/165/220/285/350.
◆ Cooldown increased from 16/14/12/10/8 to 18/16/14/12/10.

Reversal of Fortune [R]:
◆ Stun Duration decreased from 1s to 0.5s.
◆ Charge up Time decreased from 1.05s to 0.6s.
◆ Cooldown decreased from 180/150/120 to 160/130/100.

Narbash:

Since his recent buff, the Orc has been seeing far too much success in his early game when that Beatdrop hits. We’re looking to decrease the power of his early sustain to prevent non-interactive trades and create larger windows to punish his aggression.

General:
◆ Base Mana decreased from 480 to 420.

Beatdrop [Passive]:
◆ Nearby Ally Mana Regeneration decreased from 4 to 3.

Song Of My People Health [E]:
◆ Health Regeneration decreased from 9/13/17/21/25 to 7/10/13/16/19.
◆ Song of My People Scaling decreased from 10% to 8%.

Rampage:

Rampage has become an oppressive mid game force due to his innate durability and high damage output. We’re looking to take his mid to late game damage down, particularly with Rumble, to decrease his DPS and allow other Heroes a chance to fight back before he pummels them into the dirt.

General:
◆ Physical Power Growth decreased from 3 to 2.5.

Pounce [RMB]:
◆ Bonus Health Scaling decreased from 10% to 8%.

Rumble [E]:
◆ Base Damage changed from 100/140/180/220/260 to 110/140/170/200/230.
◆ Bonus Physical Power Scaling decreased from 60% to 50%.

Revenant:

Revenant has started to trade out his cowboy hat for a wizard hat, creating a playstyle with little counterplay due to his powerful lock-on burst. We’re going to shift a bit of power away from here to prevent the full magical power builds from snowballing too hard. We’re also buffing his late game physical damage builds a bit so he isn’t as outclassed when other carries catch up.

Bounty Hunter [Passive]:
◆ Bonus Physical Power Scaling increased from (+1% per 10% Critical Strike Chance) to (+1.5% per 10% of Critical Strike Chance).

Obliterate [Q]:
◆ Magical Power Scaling decreased from 100% to 75%.

Riktor:

Riktor remains at the top of the Support food chain alongside Narbash. We’re going to punish those missed hooks a little more so that he doesn’t feel like he can fish as easily without punishment.

General:
◆ Base Mana Regeneration decreased 2.3 to 2.

Riplash [RMB]:
◆ Mana Cost increased from 100 to 120.

Sevarog:

With Siphon’s base damage increasing, we can nudge the physical power scaling down as it will still continue to outpace his basic attacks. We’re also looking to tackle this reaper's early game sustain as the S Factor changes solidified his early game and made him a bit too safe whilst he claims the souls of your minions.

General:
◆ Health Regeneration decreased from 1.5 to 1.

Siphon:
◆ Physical Power Scaling decreased from 80% to 70%.
◆ Minion Healing decreased from 15% to 10%.

ITEMS

Tier 2

Divine Wreath:

Now you can stack Wreaths to your heart's content.
◆ [Bug Fix] Heal & Shield Power is no longer unique.

Tier 3:

This patch we’re taking a look at omnivamp.

Nightfall:

For Nightfall we’re moving its power into its consistent damage and putting the sustain into its passive. This will prevent players picking it up for easy additional omnivamp rather than playing for its isolation condition.

General:
◆ Omnivamp removed.
◆ Physical Penetration increased from 8 to 12.
◆ Isolation Range decreased from 600 to 500.
◆ Build Path Changed from Honed Kris+Bloodletter to Honed Kris+Honed Kris.

Dusk [Passive]:
◆ Omnivamp increased from 5% to 8%.

Mutilator:

Mutilator continues to Mutilate. We’re continuing to decrease Omnivamp here and put the power into its Haste instead.

General:
◆ Omnivamp decreased from 8% to 5%.
◆ Ability Haste from 20 to 25.

Tectonic Mallet:

Likewise, Tectonic has felt a bit out of place with the omnivamp, so we’re shifting it away and specializing it more into that bruiser magical armor option it was designed to be.

General:
◆ Omnivamp removed.
◆ Added 10 Ability Haste.
◆ Magic Armor increased from 30 to 40.
◆ Build path changed:
➢ Previously: Nullifying Mask+Bloodlust+Shortsword
➢ Now: Nullifying Mask+Temporal Ripper +Shortsword.

Wellspring:

Wellspring has not been working as intended. With these fixes, the item should feel far more impactful and help support players keep their teammates alive, even if they do not have access to heals or shields.

General:

◆ [Bug Fix] Wellspring no longer ceases to work when it comes off cooldown whilst the player is dead.
◆ [QOL] Now checks if there is a target ally nearby and if they are damaged before committing the cooldown of Soothing Waters.

◆ Fixed a bug where the UI showed a pending friend request even after it had been accepted.
◆ Fixed an issue where Prophecy’s On-hit Damage was triggering Wraith Leggings movement speed.
◆ Fixed a bug where Kallari’s Death Mark would still play the ‘pop’ sound even if it was cleansed.
◆ Fixed a bug where abilities like Revenant’s Q, Howitzer’s Ultimate and Gideon’s Ultimate were not pulling tower aggro.
◆ Fixed a bug where entering stealth during Revenant’s Ultimate would apply the wrong material for other players.
◆ Free-look camera has been removed from the controller for the time being as it was interfering with the Hero level up screen.
◆ Fixed a bug where Murdock’s Stimpack would fully remove Gideon’s Passive instead of just the slow.
◆ Fixed an issue where sometimes the lock in button was not able to be pressed in draft.
◆ Fixed a bug where Heroes were not playing their death animation.
◆ Fixed a bug where minions on the main menu would be invisible when they spawn on Ultrawide Monitors.
◆ Fixed a bug where Gadget’s Sticky Mine would pass through Dekker’s Cage.
◆ Fixed a bug where Crunch’s RMB and Grux’s E were affecting targets inside Revenant’s Ultimate.
◆ Fixed a bug where Heroes reviving from using Fenix were not getting CC’d by abilities on top of their respawn location.
◆ Fixed a bug where Gideon could not basic attack when damaging Enemy Heroes with multiple abilities.
◆ Fixed a bug where Revenant would gain gold when the Enemy Core kills him.
◆ Fixed a bug where using Blink whilst using Shadow Walk would remove Camouflage as Kallari.
◆ Fixed a bug where Sevarog’s Glowing VFX would not play correctly on higher tiers of shoulder pads.
◆ Fixed a bug where the Shield effect would not apply to Steel’s Shield when using Q and RMB.
◆ Fixed a bug where Drongo’s Shrapnel Cannon would not display the Impact Decal correctly when aiming at the floor.
◆ Fixed a bug where Revenant's Q would not chase targets through walls.
◆ Fixed a bug where players would remain “knocked-up” upon respawning if multiple were removed when dying.
◆ Fixed a bug where Gadget’s basic attack VFX was not playing.
◆ Fixed a bug where the minimap and scoreboard were not updating properly when a player had high ping.
◆ Fixed a bug where Rampage would be unable to use abilities when reviving from Fenix whilst in his Ultimate.
◆ Fixed a bug where footstep sounds were incorrect in certain areas of the map.
◆ Fixed a bug where basic attack animations were not correctly blending.
◆ Fixed a bug where players using a controller could not accept or decline surrender votes.
◆ Fixed a bug where players using a controller could interact with the Play button when the ‘Match Found’ pop-up appeared.
◆ Fixed a bug where Steel’s Ultimate sometimes caused him to fall through the world.
◆ Fixed a bug where there was an invisible collision on Duo Lane.
◆ Fixed a bug affecting Hero footstep sounds on the Practice Mode map.
◆ Fixed a bug where players could fall off the map in Practice Mode.
◆ Fixed collisions at Towers that could make Minions float.
◆ Fixed a bug that allowed Wards to be placed in high areas of the map.
◆ Fixed a bug where Dekker’s recall audio would repeat.
◆ Fixed a bug with Muriel’s getting hit SFX.
◆ Adjusted the volume of Revenant's Ultimate Bell SFX.
◆ Fixed alignment issue with the party widget.
◆ Made improvements to how party members disconnecting is handled.
◆ Fixed a bug where Countess’s hair would scale correctly with Saphirs Mantle.
◆ Fixed a bug with Revenant’s cloth physics that caused performance drops.

That's all this week!

Let us know what you think of these changes over on Twitter, the official Subreddit or our Discord server!

Feb 21, 2023

Development Spotlight: Game Modes

War Robots: Frontiers - Kaeden

When War Robots: Frontiers is released globally, we plan on having three game modes for players to dive into. Right now, we are focusing on developing and adjusting Beacon Rush, Elimination, and Team Deathmatch. Read on for an overview of their rulesets and the concept behind each mode.

As of the time of publishing, Team Deathmatch is still in development and the final versions of both Team Deathmatch and Elimination will probably look very different at release. Be sure to tell us what you think of these early visions of the two modes so that we can make them even more exciting further down the road!

BEACON RUSH

Beacon Rush offers the purest WRF experience by combining tactics of territory control and almost ceaseless Robot action. You win by filling your territory control bar faster than your opponents by capturing and holding beacons. At the same time, those beacons serve as beachheads for deploying Robots closer to—-or farther away from—-enemy lines.

The ability to deploy on beacons makes team movements less predictable. You rarely know where your opponent will strike next, so situational awareness and constant movement are key to successful play in Beacon Rush. Additionally, having multiple deployment areas to choose from helps you better play to the strengths of your build. Close-range brawlers can dive straight into the action, snipers can start from a safer distance, and fast-moving beacon-runners are always in demand, as they are the ones grabbing the best drop spots for the team. This is a very dynamic game mode where every Robot build can triumph.

To reinforce the dynamic nature of Beacon Rush, victory points are only added when your team holds more beacons than the enemy. There are five beacons on the map, so a brawl over the central one will be expected at the beginning of almost every match. Beacon Rush is no place for stalemates.

Your Titan is your ultimate weapon. To deploy it in Beacon Rush, you need to accumulate Titan Charge by destroying enemy Robots and capturing beacons. Unlike the other two modes, Beacon Rush allows replacing your currently active Robot with a Titan when you stand on an ally-controlled beacon. If you choose to deploy a Titan, your Robot will be transported away and instantly repaired. You can then deploy with that Robot again when and if your Titan goes down.

ELIMINATION

In Elimination, you focus on destroying enemy Robots. Territory control isn’t essential to this mode. For now, the mode still has beacons that you can capture and use as drop spots, but they do not bring you any victory points. A team wins if it has more Robots than the opposing team when the match ends. A match will end early if all the Robots of one team are destroyed.

The main difference between a classic Team Deathmatch in other shooters and War Robots: Frontiers is that Elimination encourages you to play safe. There’s no need to go on the offensive and rake up kills. Hunt down one or two lightly armored foes, take the lead, and turtle up until the end of the match—this can be a viable tactic. Moreover, when the enemy team realizes they now have fewer robots than you, they will have to take action. Time plays against them and all you need to do is to survive the onslaught. Of course, it will never be that simple. Elimination is a mode with lots of turning points.

You can use your Titan in Elimination, but unlike Beacon Rush, you can only deploy it when your previous Robot is destroyed. There’s no saving a badly damaged Robot in Elimination unless your team brought something for armor repairs.

TEAM DEATHMATCH

When Team Deathmatch goes online, it will be the only mode that focuses exclusively on kill count. Your goal is to reach the kill limit faster than your opponent or to have more kills when time is up.

In Team Deathmatch, destroyed Robots simply go on cooldown rather than getting locked until the end of the match. This means that if you play your hand well, you will be able to run two or three same builds for the entire match. It’s a ceaseless string of intense shootouts which will test your aiming and timing skills to the limit.

We are experimenting with different objectives, different match goals, and things like alternating attack and defense modes. We're even looking into destructible fortifications and whatnot—-but that's a conversation for another time. Right now, we are laser-focused on nailing down the very basics of War Robot fighting on a massive scale. Expect more news on that front soon!