Apr 25, 2024

Summoners War - GM_ELLIA

Greetings from the Summoners War Dev Team.

A series of events are currently held in Summoners War in celebration of its 10th anniversary.
We are delighted to see many Summoners enjoying the events we have prepared.

We are both surprised and grateful for all the love we received over the past 10 years.
We had our ups and downs, but your continued support and feedback have led us to this point.

We extend our sincerest gratitude to all Summoners who love our game,
and we promise to strive for better service moving forward.

Today's Dev Note will mainly discuss the Siege Battle revamp.

Siege Battle is core PvP content in Summoner War
and also major guild content that marks the 7th year of its release this year.

Siege Battle requires cooperation among guild members.
This aspect introduced both deeper strategic fun and the burden of coordination into the game.
We believe lifting some of this burden and easier operation will take Siege Battle to another level.

We had a Siege Battle revamp update to that end in 2022
by adjusting the duration of the Siege Battle and Siege Points earned.
However, this change was unsuccessful in satisfying many Summoners and we had rolled back some of the updates.

Our team has been rather discreet in updating Siege Battle since the rollback,
but maintained the belief that Siege Battle could be more entertaining.
And here we are, taking another shot at revamping Siege Battle after digesting precious feedback from Summoners.

We hope this attempt will upgrade Siege Battle which remained unchanged for years into more interesting content.
This will not be a one-off revamp; more updates will follow until Siege Battle successfully meets your standards.
Please look forward to these changes.

Now, we will walk you through the Siege Battle revamp we have prepared.
Let's first take a look at the summary of key changes.

===================================================

[April Updates]
▶ [Siege Battle] The architecture of points given to guilds based on the Siege Battle result will change.
- The 1st place guild will win more points, which will allow the Siege Battle Season Ranking to be more distinguishable.

▶ [Siege Battle] New rewards will be added.
- The EXP Reward that allows you to earn various rewards by playing Siege Battle will be added.

▶ [Siege Battle] The AI for attack skills of defense decks will be improved.

▶ Other Improvements
- [Push Notification] You will be able to monitor Siege Battle easily by choosing whether to receive or turn off game notifications based on the detailed progress of the ongoing Siege Battle.
- [Free Rune Removal Coupon] Free Rune Removal Coupon will be added to Guild Shop.

[Updates Under Preparation]
▶ A UI menu that displays participation rate and victory rate statistics of guild members at a glance will be added.
- A menu that allows you to view the overall Siege Battle data of guild members, such as their victory rate, defense rate, remaining attack chances, and owned Monsters, will be added to help you better understand the Siege Battle status.

▶ A test mode battle area exclusive for guild members will be added.
- A guild battle lab where guild members can test out various offense and defense decks through test battles will be added.
- A bulletin board-type battle test menu where guild members can battle each others' defense decks and leave comments will be added to the guild battle lab.
- In the guild battle lab, you will be able to remove Runes and Artifacts for free. This will allow you to test out different Rune and Artifact settings.
(This feature will be available only at the guild battle lab.)

▶ [World Guild Battle] You will be able to save the Rune and Artifact settings used in defense decks separately. This will allow you to use Runes and Artifacts more freely for Siege Battle offense decks.

===================================================

As you may have noticed, the upcoming Siege Battle revamp will be updated sequentially.
Instead of packing all revamp details into a single update, we would like to introduce changes and improvements as they are ready through multiple updates. This will be an efficient way to implement the changes to the game and incorporate feedback from Summoners.

Please continue reading for details on the Siege Battle improvements.

■ The architecture of victory points given to guilds based on the Siege Battle result will change.
* Applied to Siege Battles that open following the v8.3.2 update patch

▶ The amount of victory points given to each guild in Siege Battle will change as below to allow the 1st place guild to take more points.

* Victory points will be awarded based on the difference between [the average victory point of the three guilds participating] and [the victory point of your guild].

The difference in victory points earned between 1st place and 2nd place is rather insignificant under the current point distribution system.
Plus, the point distribution among 1st - 3rd place guilds is further adjusted based on the difference in points among those guilds.
Such a system would award too few victory points to the 1st place guild if the guild had a solid lead ahead of the two guilds in terms of points,
making it difficult for such guilds to extend their lead, thus putting unnecessary weight on the final Siege Battle of each season.
The revamp will raise the amount of victory points 1st place guilds earn by a big margin, allowing 1st place guilds to advance to higher ranking faster and secure their position in the high ranking.

We will update the Help menu to add the changed Siege Battle victory point information. From here, you will be able to see and predict how high your guild can rank for each season.

▶ The extent to which victory points are reset for new seasons will be relaxed.
This change is adopted in the same context as the new victory point distribution system mentioned above.
Currently, victory points are reset harshly at the beginning of a new season, and guilds start the new season with a small difference in points.
Adjusting the victory point reset system will highlight the point difference more and make the starting victory point difference among guild grades more distinguishable.
Because this change cannot be implemented mid-season, it will be in effect when the ongoing season ends.
However, since it may be difficult for new guilds to climb to higher ranking if the starting victory point difference is too big, the point reset rate will be adjusted at certain periods to manage the point difference among guild grades.

Now, we will discuss the new rewards.

■ The EXP Reward that allows you to earn various rewards by playing Siege Battle will be added.
Siege Battle is strategic PvP content that requires coordination, effort, and time from many guild members.
We have been offering Siege Battle-exclusive Transmogrifications and Appearance Effects,
but the increasingly intensifying competition in Siege Battle led us to consider better rewards.

We thought about improving the Trophy Box or introducing a special reward system that the guild admins can distribute to strengthen their authority, but concluded that the reward has to be more specific.

This led us to EXP Reward because it would take both the results of each guild member's battle and the Siege Battle into account
and convert them into an EXP item that rewards Summoners accordingly.

You will obtain Siege Battle EXP based on the results of your Siege Battle attack battles, Siege Battle rank, and the season record of your guild.
The EXP Rewards will be available according to your accumulated Siege Battle EXP.

The Siege Battle EXP Reward system is very similar to World Guild Battle's EXP Reward or Arena Interserver Battle's Glory Reward.
The difference in Siege Battle EXP Reward is that your guild's Siege Battle grade and result affect the EXP Rewards more than your individual battle results.
You will be able to collect more EXP Rewards as you battle more often at a higher grade.

The EXP Reward menu will be added to [Siege Battle battlefield - Reward].

▶ EXP Acquisition Method
- You can claim the below EXP for a successful/failed attack.

[Successful / Failed Attack EXP]

* The successful/failed attack EXP is based on an attack using three Monsters.
(1/3 to 2/3 of the above EXP is granted if your attack succeeds/fails using one to two Monsters)

- You can claim the below EXP based on the Siege Battle result.

[EXP Based on Siege Battle Results]

- Guilds that participate in the Siege Battle Tournament can claim the below EXP based on the tournament result.
- 50,000 Siege Battle EXP will be awarded to the guilds that earn a seed in the Siege Battle Tournament by finishing 4th or higher in a season.

[Siege Battle Tournament Successful / Failed Attack EXP]

[Siege Battle Tournament Victory / Defeat EXP]

- Guilds participating in the Special Match will receive equal to that of the existing ongoing Siege Battle season, and the battle loss EXP will be the Siege Battle EXP earned by the 2nd place guild of that season.

The EXP earned from a Siege Battle battle will be sent to your Inbox along with Guild Points and Crystals after the Siege Battle ends.
Please note that Siege Battle EXP will only be sent to guild members who earn at least 40 victory points in each Siege Battle.

▶ EXP Reward List

EXP Rewards include: Legendary All-Attribute Scroll, Reappraisal Stone, Legendary Summoning Piece, L&D Summoning Piece, Immemorial Gem, and Grindstone
EXP Rewards can be claimed repeatedly. Your Siege Battle EXP will reset once you MAX the Siege Battle EXP.
The balance we are considering will allow a Guardian 3 grade guild to claim the EXP Rewards three to four times each season. (May vary depending on the number of successful attacks)
We will be looking into the reward balance to the last minute for optimization.

You will get a certain amount of EXP even if your attack fails, so do not hesitate to play Siege Battle.

■ The AI for attack skills of defense decks in Siege Battle will be improved.
We are aware that Summoners put in a lot of time in composing their defense deck.
For example, one might place Clara, Savannah, and Tesarion in the defense deck and expect Savannah to use [Gigantic Roar] after Clara uses [Wheel of Fire].
But because of the inconsistency in AI of defense decks, such defense strategy may not work from time to time.

It is normal for offense decks to have higher victory rates due to the nature of asynchronous PvP.
But in Siege Battle, their victory rates have risen unusually high from years of deck research and defense AI inconsistency.

Many Summoners have also pointed this out and highlighted the negative implications that unusually high offense deck victory rates may pose.

Among the various methods we considered to increase defense deck victory rates, we will first implement the improved AI defense decks and see how they will turn out.
We will be taking note of how the improved AI for attack skills of defense decks will adopt the defense strategies of Summoners and affect the victory rates of offense decks.

We will then decide whether or not to develop the defense AI further or find a different method to raise defense deck victory rates.

Please continue reading for details on QoL improvements.

■ Other Improvements

▶ [Push Notification] You will be able to choose to receive or turn off game notifications based on the progress of the Siege Battle.
The existing push notification was combined into a single notification setting, which made it impossible for Summoners to customize the notification settings.
We will be dividing the notification setting per game content moving forward, and you will be able to customize notifications for Siege Battle.
You will be able to receive notifications for various situations, such as when one of your bases has been occupied or you have a base that needs to be rebuilt.
This change should allow you to monitor the status of the ongoing Siege Battle more conveniently.

Such detailed notification settings will also be available for World Guild Battle, Tartarus' Labyrinth, Arena, and World Arena.

The below notifications are for Siege Battle only, and detailed notification settings for other content will be notified via an update notice.

▶ Free Rune Removal Coupon will be added to Guild Shop.

We will close this Dev Note after we skim over the Siege Battle revamps scheduled for a later date.
We were unable to include these in the upcoming update because they are still developing, but please do look forward to them.

■ Updates Under Preparation

▶ A UI menu that displays participation rate and victory rate statistics of guild members at a glance will be added.
The integrated menu will display the activity status of guild members more conveniently.
This menu will allow you to view the overall Siege Battle data of guild members, such as their victory rate, defense rate, remaining attack chances, and owned Monsters.
This menu will also let you view records of not only the ongoing season but also previous seasons, allowing your guild to come up with sophisticated strategies.

▶ A test mode battle area exclusive for guild members will be added.
- A guild battle building where guild members can test out various Rune and Artifact settings for free for different offense and defense decks in test battles will be added.
- You will be able to even use the Monsters you do not have at this building and run test battles against defense decks of guildmates to try out your strategy.
- A replay feature will be available for thorough reviews, and you will be able to leave comments on replays to discuss different deck strategies with guildmates.

▶ [World Guild Battle] You will be able to save the Rune and Artifact settings used in defense decks separately.
This will allow you to use Runes and Artifacts more freely for Siege Battle offense decks.
This will be a convenient feature, especially for Summoners who are irritated to see Runes and Artifacts engraved to [World Guild Battle] defense decks get removed while setting up Siege Battle offense decks.

This concludes our Dev Note. We hope the items we covered have been useful.

(Please understand that the details discussed in the Dev Notes are for information-sharing purposes and note that they may vary from the actual game.)

Siege Battle is real-time PvP content with many different variables occurring for each server and time zone.
We have been extremely cautious in our discussion for the Siege Battle revamp as we strived to consider multiple variables simultaneously.
We are aware of the fact that some Summoners have found this approach frustrating and overly discreet.

Such feedback made us think back and reflect on our method of approach.
We promise to continue bringing more updates to appeal to Summoners aside from the ones discussed above to further develop Siege Battle.

We plan to bring well-thought-out changes and rapid development for Siege Battle which stayed very much unchanged for a long time.
Please keep close tabs on our endeavor and send us lots and lots of support and feedback.

We hope you have a great time playing Summoners War until the next Dev Note.

Thank you.

Apr 25, 2024

v7.4 Invitation To The Mad Banquet Update Announcement

Honkai Impact 3rd - mi_qianyu.wang

Raise your glass at her command — representing your participation in this mad banquet!

Update Content
★ New MECH-type S-rank Battlesuit Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer
Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer is a MECH-type Ice DMG dealer. With a diverse range of techniques and a whimsical combat style, she keeps her foes on their toes. After casting Ultimate, she traps enemies in a cage of chained blades for a lethal strike.

*You can obtain the new battlesuit and her recommended equipment in the following ways:
After the v7.4 update, you can participate in the Battlesuit Supply Dancing With Shadows to obtain Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer, with 50% off the first 10x drops.

Meanwhile, Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer's recommended Equipment Supply will also be available, with increased drop rates for Chained Blades Banquet Rose, and Splendors of Amber stigma set.

★ Part 2 Main Story Chapter II: The Seven Shus in the Maze
Led by Songque, they embarked on a journey to Tombstone Library and Masquerade Corridor, hoping to awaken the dormant Shu. Meanwhile, a bullet was silently loaded...

Explore the main story and complete specific missions to get Crystals, Source Prisms, Ancient Willpowers, Phase Shifters and more.

★ Character Event: Banquet Dance of Shade
To learn the Shus' secrets, they will have to unravel a century-old memory...

Banquet Dance of Shade Phase 2 is available. Play the event and complete specific missions to get Crystals, Honkai Shards, Phase Shifters, Ancient Willpowers, ADV Skill Materials and more!

★ Featured event: Flying to Oxia Invitation Contest
If I ever stand on the field and compete for the championship, I'll undoubtedly play the most remarkable game of my life, welcoming the fireworks reserved for the victor.

Flying to Oxia Invitation Contest will be released in v7.4. Play the event to get Sugary Starburst's new outfit Fuzzy Pink Love, emblem The Top of Oxia Trophy, Crystals, Source Prisms, Honkai Shards and more!

★ Bonuses Event: Back to Your Roots
Complete 4 of the 6 event missions to get Herrscher of Origin Character Card.

★ Login Event: Banquet Invitation
During the event, log in 7 days to get Splendors of Amber Stigma Option, Crystals and more. Open Splendors of Amber Stigma Option to choose from one of Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer's recommended stigmata.

★ Outfit Supply: Mountainous White Feather
During v7.4, you can pull drops in the Outfit Supply Mountainous White Feather to obtain the featured outfit (Fenghuang of Vicissitude's outfit Crane of Taixuan) in 10 drops (costs 9600 Crystals).

★ More Outfits
Sugary Starburst's outfit Fuzzy Pink Love

Chrono Navi's outfit Indelible Memories

★ Hyperion Arsenal
New weapons: Chained Blades Banquet Rose, Phantom Seafarer, Rattlesnake; PRI Chained Blades Banquet Rose: Faux Crown

New stigmata: Splendors of Amber set

Game Adjustments & Optimizations
☆☆☆☆☆ Characters ☆☆☆☆☆
The following data are at max skill level:

◆ Deepspace Anchor: First Light
1. Unlocked Astral Ring Attribute Harmonized Shadow Star and Astral Ring skill Custom Module: Radon.

2. Increased her Ignore Interrupt during Basic ATK Luoxing Spin: Stardust Flux.

3. Increased her follow-up distance and attack range of the weapon skill Dazzling Moment: Galactic Pulsation in Thunderous Blazar.

4. Fixed an issue where she could be pushed by certain enemies when casting weapon skill Dazzling Moment: Galactic Pulsation SEQ 3 in Thunderous Blazar.

5. Fixed an issue where Initial SP restoration was sometimes erroneously triggered.

6. Fixed an issue where weapon skill icon would sometimes be highlighted but unresponsive.

7. Fixed an issue where the character's animation sometimes glitched when jumping in mid-air.

8. Fixed an issue where her passive skill Aux Module: Hydrogen did not work sometimes.

9. Fixed an issue where the model sometimes glitched in some stages.

10. Fixed an issue where the model sometimes glitched during bridge interactions.

11. Fixed an issue where the weapon model sometimes glitched on the finalization screen.

12. Optimized the sliding mechanic. You can hold [EVA] and then release to continue sliding now.

13. Optimized the attack VFX while sliding and in Thunderous Blazar.

◆ Valkyrie Blastmetal
1. Fixed an issue where her model's animations sometimes glitched in some stages.

2. Fixed an issue where Ai-chan's avatar sometimes glitched in tutorial stage.

◆ Valkyrie Boltstorm
1. Extended the Invincibility duration when casting Ultimate.

2. Fixed an issue where interrupting the action of throwing an explosive device could incorrectly trigger the weapon skill CD.

3. Fixed an issue where the blink animations went missing during switches and standby animations on the Valkyrie screen.

◆ Fenghuang of Vicissitude
1. Fixed an issue where casting QTE skill Lifelong Sincerity sometimes failed to trigger global Time Fracture.

2. Fixed an issue where her model sometimes glitched when casting Ultimate Eruption That Churns Tides and Clouds.

3. Fixed an issue where her teammates' animations sometimes glitched when she was deployed as a support battlesuit and cast Ultimate Eruption That Churns Tides and Clouds.

◆ Cosmic Expression
Fixed an issue where the character sometimes fell out of the scene when casting Ultimate Crystal-clear Determination.

◆ Lunar Vow: Crimson Love
Fixed an issue where obstructions sometimes occurred when casting Ultimate Confession That Transcends Destiny.

◆ Herrscher of Finality
Fixed an issue where the model VFX sometimes glitched under certain circumstances.

◆ Jade Knight
1. Fixed an issue where the number of sword shadows sometimes glitched after tapping [ATK] during Sword Array to cast Cloud Cutter when she was in outfit Midnight Moon.

2. Fixed an issue where Light Chaser did not work during Ultimate Evasion Skill when she was in outfit Midnight Moon.

3. Fixed an issue where her animations sometimes glitched when she had specific bridge interactions.

◆ Herrscher of Human: Ego
Fixed an issue where the casting of her Ultimate sometimes glitched.

◆ Herrscher of Reason
Fixed an issue where her model sometimes glitched when she entered bike mode.

◆ Violet Executer
Fixed an issue where her animations sometimes glitched on the Valkyrie screen when she was in outfit Verdant Sky.

◆ Valkyrie Gloria
Fixed an issue where her model sometimes glitched when she was in outfit Lord Paramount.

◆ Other
1. Added short descriptions for the main skills of Deepspace Anchor: First Light, Valkyrie Boltstorm and Valkyrie Blastmetal.

2. Adjusted the enemies in the tutorial stages for Deepspace Anchor: First Light, Valkyrie Boltstorm and Valkyrie Blastmetal.

3. Fixed an issue where the entry animations sometimes glitched while certain Fist users were the team leader.

4. Fixed an issue where the attack sound effects of some characters were missing during combat against SD-type enemies.

5. Fixed an issue where some characters' skill demos were displayed abnormally.

6. Fixed an issue where some Leader skills were displayed abnormally when using certain characters to assist.

7. Fixed an issue where the completed tutorials sometimes still appeared incomplete.

8. Fixed an issue where the buttons glitched after exiting the tutorials.

9. Optimized the description of Astral Ring attribute Omniscient Star. This is only a text correction and does not affect the actual effects.

☆☆☆☆☆ Weapons ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Star Destroyer 19C-X
Fixed an issue where the weapon icon for other characters sometimes glitched after Black Nucleus was defeated by enemies while equipped with this weapon and in lock-on mode.

◆ Other
Fixed an issue where some Heavy weapon VFX sometimes glitched during charging.

☆☆☆☆☆ Stigmata ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Other
Adjusted the effects of some stigma affixes: "Blade and Cross wielders gain bonus ATK" to "Blade, Cross, and Chained Blades users gain bonus ATK”.

☆☆☆☆☆ AstralOps ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Songque
Adjusted the effects of some skills, including:
Recharge Skill: Born to Wander the World Freely. The Elemental DMG taken by Shadow Plagued targets increases by 30% now (previously 20%).

Passive Skill: How to Foretell Good and Bad Luck Apart. Increased the pulling range of the magic circle during Assist ATK.

Passive Skill: Too Busy Traveling to Count Years (at max level). When Deepspace Anchor: First Light is on the team, initial Astral Ring Intensity increases by 25 now (previously 20).

Passive Skill: Worry Not About Those Outside Yourself (at max level). When Stellar Outburst ends, if the team has 1/2/3 members with Domain Resonance, Astral Ring Intensity restores by 10/20/30 (previously 7/14/21). CD: 40s.

◆ Dreamseeker
Adjusted the effects of some skills, including:
Passive Skill: Scarlet Dream. Team Total DMG increases by 12% now (previously 5%).

Passive Skill: Pact of Stars (at max level). During Stellar Outburst, enemies take 7% more Total DMG now (previously 5%).

◆ Other
Fixed an issue where AstralOp's team skill was displayed abnormally with the team buffs on the lineup screen.

☆☆☆☆☆ Enemies ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Husk - Existentialism
Fixed an issue where the camera perspective sometimes glitched during combat.

◆ Deliverance Kevin
Fixed an issue where Fallen's Glory VFX was missing.

◆ Other
Starting from v7.3, the camera lock-on system has been revamped to better suit combat scenarios in Part 2's sand box.

☆☆☆☆☆ Gameplay ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Main Story Part 2 Sand Box
1. Added some of the new areas in Langqiu.

2. Added the "Quick Claim" function to the Achievement screen and the challenge reward screen of Sea Mirage.

3. Added tags for trial battlesuits.

4. Added a Settings button to the sand box menu.

5. Added Data Turbulence: Beast of Sacrifice stage effect: Team starts with 60 Astral Ring Intensity.

6. Fixed an issue where puzzle pieces for the Photographic Memory in Langqiu could not be placed correctly.

7. Fixed an issue where missions for Photographic Memory in Langqiu could be completed without the puzzle pieces being correctly positioned.

8. Fixed an issue where abnormal overlapping of irregularly-shaped colored blocks could occur in Photographic Memory in Langqiu.

9. Fixed an issue where obstructions sometimes occurred in Langqiu.

10. Fixed an issue where character animations sometimes glitched after sitting down and then standing up in Antares Building, Oxia.

11. Fixed an issue where text display sometimes glitched in Antares Building, Oxia.

12. Fixed an issue where the chat window sometimes glitched in Antares Building, Oxia.

13. Fixed an issue where some music tracks in the Ore Jukebox within Dreamseeker's Home did not match their names.

14. Fixed an issue where the music playing progress sometimes glitched in the Ore Jukebox within Dreamseeker's Home.

15. Fixed an issue where the music played sometimes glitched in the Ore Jukebox within Dreamseeker's Home.

16. Fixed an issue where the joystick sometimes did not work in Dreamseeker's Home.

17. Fixed an issue where multiple Dreamseeker models could appear in Dreamseeker's Home.

18. Fixed a clipping issue with certain decorations in Dreamseeker's Home.

19. Fixed an issue where the music in the Ore Jukebox within Dreamseeker's Home would sometimes play on the bridge screen.

20. Fixed an issue where standby animations and standby VO glitched in story dialogue.

21. Fixed an issue where the music of ELF screen sometimes glitched.

22. Fixed an issue where Duonigue model sometimes was wrongly positioned in Part 2 Main Story Chapter I Hundred Years of Solitary Shadow during the mission Bygone Wish.

23. Fixed an issue where the ground kept flashing in Antares Building, Oxia on specific Huawei devices.

24. A text correction for the effect of Shadow of Misfortune: The Truth is the Truth in Gadget: Shadow Remnant has been made, and it does not affect the actual effects.

25. Optimized the opening speed of automatic doors within Antares Building, Oxia.

26. Optimized the finalization speed of Dream of Loss.

27. Reduced the number of Antares Cinnabar required to enhance Creature Aspect in Gadget: Shadow Remnant in Part 2's sand box.

◆ Banquet Dance of Shade
Fixed an issue where the Leap button sometimes did not work in the event.

◆ Superstring Dimension
1. New stage: Frosthelm: Perilous. Main enemy: Raven.

2. New stage: Concerto: Perilous, featuring Immortal Blades: Saboteur, Lance Rider and Hellmaru as the main enemies.

3. New stage: Bloodlust: Perilous, featuring Eclipse: Stardust Sentry, Alien Guard - Amendment, and Eclipse: Suspended Eye as the main enemies.

4. Adjusted the mechanics and stats of boss Meteoroid: Guaymas in Stardust: Perilous.

5. Fixed an issue in Stardust: Perilous where Meteoroid: Guaymas abnormally became immune to certain debuffs cast by some characters during Phase 2. This includes Herrscher of Human: Ego's Pristine Bloomage, Herrscher of Thunder's Blitzlock, and Argent Knight: Artemis's Ice Cell.

6. Fixed an issue where boss Herrscher of Ice could repeatedly use the skill Hoarfrost Hail after phase change in Fuel: Perilous.

◆ Elysian Realm
1. New playable battlesuit: Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer

2. New support battlesuit: Cosmic Expression

3. New boss Dark Jixuanyuan for Floor 17 of Deep Sequence. Now the boss Husk - Mysticism for Floor 17 has been replaced by Alien Guard - Supplement.

4. Updated the stage effects and buff effects of Deep Sequence.

5. Adjusted the support skill effects of Deepspace Anchor: First Light, adding the new effect: After the first release, when the deployed character has activated Astral Ring Specialization: Wheel of Destiny, she deals 12% more Elemental DMG during Stellar Outburst on this floor.

6. Fixed an issue where the camera sometimes glitched on the finalization screen.

7. Fixed an issue where the lineup screen sometimes glitched.

8. Optimized the short description of Decimation's Enhanced Signet: Burden, Difficulty, and Calamity. This is only a text correction and does not affect the actual effects.

◆ Realms of Battle
Fixed an issue where the lineup sometimes glitched in certain stages.

◆ Memorial Arena
1. New SSS boss: Beast of Sacrifice.

2. Fixed an issue where SS boss Herrscher of Ice's position sometimes glitched.

◆ Open World
1. Fixed an issue where enemies sometimes fell out of the scene after Carole cast QTE in APHO Chapter 2.

2. Fixed an issue where the camera perspective sometimes glitched after characters jumped in Sakura Samsara.

3. Fixed an issue where the animation sometimes glitched after activating Storm in Schicksal HQ.

◆ Main Story
Fixed a visual obstruction issue with Mark 2 in main story Chapter XXXII's Iron Mirage due to overhead walls.

◆ Expedition
Removed the Assist function.

◆ Character Trials
Fixed an issue where the animation resource download prompt could mistakenly appear during finalization in Stress Test VII stage Testing Blade.

☆☆☆☆☆ Shop ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Exchange House
Added weapon Iris of the Dreams and stigma set Irene Adler.

◆ Dorm Shop
Added Sakura Crystallum.

☆☆☆☆☆ Battle Pass ☆☆☆☆☆
1. Added the following purchasable items to BP Works:
[Character Card/Rank-up Stamp] Palatinus Equinox Character Card/Rank-up Stamp

[Weapons] Lance Midnight Eclipse and blade Key of Limpidity

[Stigmata] Equinoctial Wonder set: Bianka: Theatre (T, M, B) and In the Name of Origin set: Raiden Mei (T, M, B)

[ELF] Elf Elysia or Blade Durandal

2. In the new BP season of v7.4, battlesuit fragments/souls in BP Rewards will be replaced by Palatinus Equinox Souls.

3. Unlock Paladin BP to get Luxurious Banquet Ribbon.

4. Unlock Knight BP/Paladin BP to receive Chrono Navi's new outfit Indelible Memories.

5. Sakura Crystallum will become the new token starting v7.4. You can boost your BP Level and visit the Dorm Shop to obtain Sakura Crystallum.

6. BP Works Vintage will be available in the BP Season of v7.4 and will sell all weapons and stigma sets that were sold by BP Works from v7.0 to v7.3. You can spend Golden Crystallum to purchase what you did not buy from v7.0 to v7.3.

7. In the new BP season of v7.4, you can exchange Sakura Crystallum for 10 Golden Crystallum at most.

☆☆☆☆☆ System ☆☆☆☆☆
◆ Foundry
1. You can now craft G3 stigma set Moonwatcher directly.

2. You can now craft Prism Stigma Splendors of Amber set directly.

3. You can now craft basic Chained Blades Phantom Seafarer.

◆ Battle Screen
1. Adjusted the bar visuals of the character's HP, SP, KE, and enemy HP.

2. Adjusted the size and layout of screen buttons for character controls at the lower right corner.

◆ Achievements
Added the achievement for obtaining Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer.

◆ Bridge Interactions
Added interactive animations and voice lines for Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer.

◆ Dorm
Mad Pleasure: Shadowbringer can now move into the Dorm. Her interactions and events are now available.

◆ Collection
1. Fixed an issue where the total number of weapons collected sometimes glitched.

2. Fixed an issue where Enemy Album sometimes couldn't switch to Background tab.

◆ Other
1. Launched Honkai Impact 3rd for Mac, and you will have a new platform to play! (Currently, Honkai Impact 3rd on the Mac platform only supports Mac devices equipped with M-series chips.)

2. Added "Quick Upgrade" function for equipment: When you have sufficient enhancement and upgrade materials, weapons or stigmata can be directly upgraded to the max level by tapping the "Quick Upgrade" button.

3. Added a trial tag to the interactive battlesuit on the bridge when using the bridge Antares Building, Oxia. If you own the battlesuit, you can increase the Affection points for the corresponding battlesuit when the trial battlesuit or your owned battlesuit is on the bridge.

4. Added term explanations to the equipment details page and the Astral Ring skill screen of AstralOp/ELF.

5. Added key icon operation descriptions to the Key Settings screen.

6. Set the default keybinding mode in Settings to Classic mode. For Captains who logged in during v7.3 and didn't reinstall the game, the keybinding choice will remain unchanged.

7. Adjusted the Stigma Salvage screen: Added classification tags to filter between Prism Stigma or Regular Stigma. Added a "Prism" label on the top right of Prism Stigma. Show Prism Stigma first during the Stigma Salvage.

8. Fixed an issue where the AstralOps and ELFs in the recommended lineup couldn't be quick added to the team.

9. Fixed an issue where setting "Rendering Accuracy" on PC to "Ultra" caused abnormal GPU usage on some 4k resolution devices.

10. Fixed an issue where dynamic effects sometimes glitched on the Hyperion Bridge. You can fix it by toggling "Physics" under the "Other" tab in "Settings".

11. Fixed an issue where the holo-projection image sometimes glitched on the bridge screen.

12. Fixed an issue where Bonuses screen display sometimes glitched.

13. Fixed an issue where pressing "History" during dialogues would accidentally trigger the next line in controller mode.

14. Fixed an issue where switching from PC mode to controller mode could lead to abnormal movement control with the left joystick.

15. Fixed an issue where players couldn't select dialogue options in the main story of Part 1 in controller mode.

16. Fixed an issue where [EVA] prompts sometimes glitched in keyboard and mouse mode.

17. Optimized the loading time and the visuals of the loading screen.

18. Optimized the Japanese voice-over for Dreamseeker.

*Some Japanese voice-overs for Astral Ring battle will be updated in the midst of v7.4.

Apr 25, 2024

Update 15 is OUT NOW | Dev Brief #200

Hell Let Loose - G_Medlin

Hello everyone,

Update 15 has deployed on all platforms!

This update brings Mortain to Hell Let Loose – a new map and exciting environment to experience for all modes, based on the US defence of the French town of Mortain.

Mortain is our first map release; a significant milestone for us, created and refined with your feedback. Your dedication to Hell Let Loose helps us deliver content that serves an authentic WW2 experience. We’re delighted to see you all jump in and play today!

We’ve also updated Sainte-Marie-du-Mont – increasing overall playable space around the town to produce a better gameplay experience. Delving into these changes below, you can see how we’ve provided more routes in and out of the capture point, creating more viable outpost/garrison options and flanking opportunities.

Two new Skirmish mode maps are now available to play: Mortain and SMdM

Please scroll down for the full changelog and U15 information, including a look at the new German “Oak Leaf” Paid DLC.

About Mortain

Mortain sits in a shallow valley – where the US rallied against German troops amid Operation Lüttich. The battle took place in August 1944, in Normandy, France.

Units from the 30th Division, including the 2nd Battalion, 120th Infantry, and two tank destroyer platoons, were dispatched to relieve the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry. Their directive was to defend the town of Mortain, strategically utilising Hill 314 (also known as MontJoie) as a tactical defensive and overlook position.

During Operation Lüttich the town was destroyed, left in ruins with only a few buildings standing. The destroyed version of the town will be featured in the map.

Offering a plethora of notable locations – both historical and natural – Mortain features themes of contrasting areas throughout. Rock formations permeate the map alongside hilly areas of countryside and farmland.

Mortain - New Map

Mortain - Environment Art

It brings the team great pleasure to finally release Update 15 and our new map, Mortain.

Since joining the project, the team at Expression Games have worked with our partners to deliver a map that offers a new and exciting world to experience in Hell Let Loose, while honouring the legacy that Black Matter had left for us.

Being our first map release, we wanted to gather feedback from the community early on, and as previously mentioned in other briefings, we cannot thank you all enough for supporting the PTEs that helped shape this map. Hell Let Loose has one of the most dedicated fanbases within online gaming, and although there have been some challenges bringing it to the standard previous Normandy maps have set, you have been instrumental towards its development and have made us accountable in creating quality gameplay and visuals.

Since the last PTE, the Environment Art team have been focused on fixing as many bugs and visual issues as possible for release, as well as incorporating some new dressing and polish. We have also supported Technical Art in producing some crucial optimisations, within Mortain and in particular textures across the game. We hope that these efforts mean you’ll enjoy the varied terrain and vast forestry of Mortain at its best performance yet.

To read the developer briefing from the PTE, which has additional details about Mortain Environment Art, Level Design and Front End Updates, click here.

During the last Mortain PTE, there was a known issue where aiming down sights caused noticeable discrepancies between LODs across the map, with foliage, in particular, losing shadows or changing silhouette significantly. This is an issue that is present across the game, however, due to the high contrast lighting used in Mortain, this was much more noticeable to the point where this was impacting gameplay, particularly with longer-range weaponry. There was a collaboration between Code, Technical Art and Environment Art to look into this issue, and a fix was finally found and implemented by Gage Griffiths - Senior Programmer at Expression Games.

The fix consists of two console commands that are run when you join a game within Mortain. To keep performance across Xbox Series S/X, PS5 and PC consistent, different values for these commands are set based on the platform.

Firstly, the density of foliage was scaled down slightly across the map. This was fine-tuned to ensure there is not a noticeable loss in visual quality, but enough to where we retain performance. The commands and values we used for this are:

PC - foliage.DensityScale 0.8
Console - foliage.DensityScale 0.65

Secondly, Unreal Engine uses a calculation based on how much of the screen a particular asset takes up, to determine what level of detail that asset renders. When you aim down sight, a tree appears larger on the screen so the game renders a high-detail version of it, but when you stop looking down sights the tree takes up less of the screen so a lower-detail version is rendered instead.

The fix essentially alters the distance from the player where the higher detail foliage would swap to a lower detail asset. These are not exact figures, but as an example, previously a tree may have been 10,000 triangles at 10 metres away, swapping to 5000 triangles at 20 metres. This has shifted so that the tree would still be 10000 triangles at 20 metres away, with the swap to 5000 triangles happening at 40 metres, meaning a tree has to be much further away before the lower detail asset is rendered.

The exact values we set are:

PC - foliage.LODDistanceScale 2
Console - foliage.LODDistanceScale 1.3

The results of our testing are extremely positive, and we hope that if you managed to play Mortain during a previous PTE you will notice that this is a huge improvement from before.

As this is an issue that has been in the game for a long time across all maps, and the results have been promising on Mortain, I can confirm that this is a fix that we are looking to implement across the entire game, which should improve foliage LOD issues on all maps. We are also confident that this would bring huge improvements to some urban maps, in particular, Stalingrad, as a large portion of the map including buildings are technically rendered as foliage, which was a performance-saving technique used by Black Matter.

Due to this being a game-wide change, we want to ensure there is adequate testing and feedback before it’s live across all maps, so Mortain will be the only map in Update 15 to support this change. However, if feedback is positive and the consensus is that assets are ‘popping’ less for players without performance impact, this is something we are eager to implement in a future update for all maps.

We have made every effort to ensure Mortain is ready for release, but if you experience any issues while playing, please don’t hesitate to give feedback through the appropriate discord channels or social media. The team frequently reads comments and shares videos with each other, so if there are any comments or issues you have surrounding the map we want to hear them.

Lastly, I’m pleased to share and hope you enjoy some final renders of Mortain. I’m incredibly proud of what the team has produced, and I hope these images showcase a new benchmark for content in Hell Let Loose going forward.

Ryan Thomason-Jones - Senior Environment Artist, Expression Games

Mortain - Technical Art

The Technical Art team have been fine-tuning the performance around the Mortain town area to accommodate the additional enterable buildings. This was a combination of LOD merging, forced distance culling and removing shadow casters on any object already in shadow. This was to ensure we retained the detail and storytelling of the interiors while reducing the cost of the extra detail.

Throughout the town, the Environment Art team made a wonderful set of modular destroyed building assets, creating a wide variety whilst keeping material and texture costs to a minimum. This, in turn, meant that we had smaller assets, however, this also increased the mesh draw calls, especially with shadow and occlusion checks. To address this as we did not want to create combined render meshes driving up the memory cost and with that texture cost, we created a series of shadow proxy assets that were lower in complexity and limited to one simple shader meaning a single shadow and occlusion call.

Many combinations of walls and buildings benefited from a Hierarchical Instanced Static Meshes pass, similar to that done with buildings in El Alamein (HISM is an instancing method that allows for better memory performance, supports LODs with good asset culling which results in better rendering performance).

On this map, we also limited the use of HLODs (Hierarchical LODs). One of the drawbacks to using HLODs extensively was increased memory overheads. This was limited to the town area and only used for medium-sized buildings.

In addition, the Technical Art team ensured that there were no unnecessary occlusion checks and unique assets, which were not adding to storytelling to save on mesh and texture memory.

To create a believable atmosphere for the destroyed part of town, we had to take into account the amount of dust that would be present in the air. However, adding a large number of dust particle effects can negatively impact performance due to overlapping translucent sprites creating overdraw.

To achieve the desired effect, we decided to create a fog to simulate the presence of thick dust around the buildings. Since using volumetric fog would cover the entire map, we opted for shader-based localized fog volumes instead. By placing a single volume over the destroyed area and adjusting the shader controls, we were able to control the fog's height, density, and colour. This approach helped to achieve the desired effect without the need for a large number of particles.

Although the fog worked well, it lacked movement. To fix this issue, we added a few variations of dust particles. However, we kept these fairly limited and added a couple of shader tricks to improve performance. The main shader trick we used was to scale the sprites down based on the player's distance from the effect, which reduced overdraw. Scaling the sprites down to nothing eliminated any render cost.

We also had to be mindful of when the player walks through the dust particles. Lots of large translucent sprites filling the screen could significantly impact performance. To tackle this problem, we used a similar method as the distance from the player. Only in this instance, we faded the alpha and scaled the particles as you moved through them, reducing the chance of frame drops. Having long sightlines with lots of particles could be costly. However, a combination of optimized VFX with a few shader tricks allowed us to create an area that looked heavy in dust with minimal impact on performance.

Technical Art team, Expression Games

Mortain TacMap

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont - Map Updates

To coincide with the release of a Control Skirmish mode for Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, we looked into issues commonly brought up about the map as a whole across various community forums. Keeping in mind that the map is a fan favourite we chose to focus solely on the most impactful changes, those being to address the lack of enterable areas within the town and the inaccessible Brécourt Manor courtyard.

When tackling the updates to the town centre in Sainte-Marie-du-Mont, we started by focusing internal playtests on just that space. Utilising feedback from these playtests, along with community sentiment derived from various social media platforms, we were able to help find and improve the key problems on just those areas of the map.

Our biggest focus was on increasing the overall playable space around the town, helping to provide more routes into and out of the capture point. This increase in playable space also lends itself to creating more viable outpost/garrison placement options, and more flanking opportunities for attackers and defenders alike. Within these newly opened spaces, additional enterable buildings were placed to further increase the opportunities for attackers and defenders to seize the capture area around the church.

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Updates - Before and after, newly opened up spaces

The above GIF showcases the reduction in blocking volumes throughout the town centre, in turn showing the extent of the newly opened space. These changes should not only improve navigation throughout the town but also help drastically reduce instances of being stopped from entering an area because of an invisible wall.

The following images show before and after shots of the four main quadrants of the town, North West, North East, South East and South West. The areas captured highlight the largest scale changes to the playable space, with new routes that lead directly into the town.

Kienan Southern - Junior Level Designer, Expression Games

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont - Control Skirmish

The set-up for this Control Skirmish mode is focused around the Cattlesheds capture point from Warfare and Offensive, allowing us to capture a nice balance of spaces that should make both infantry and vehicle combat intense.

The bocages surrounding the Cattlesheds provide cover and routes into the capture point and the space within it provides engineers ample opportunity to bolster your team’s defences.

For tanks, the nearby open fields afford the space to bombard the opposition from a distance, or to act as support for the infantry pushing the objective.

Kienan Southern, Junior Level Designer - Expression Games

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Updates - Town Area, North West

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Updates - Town Area, North East

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Updates - Town Area, South East

Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Updates - Town Area, South West

Oak Leaf [Paid]

Also known as Eichenlaubmuster, this was one of the many types of camouflage patterns used by several divisions within the German forces. Often worn in the autumn, it is unique with its distinct colourisation.

For players, wishing to combine this uniform and match it with headwear of the same pattern, we would recommend using the Leopard Covered M42 helmet, already available, in-game.

Matt White - Creative Director, Expression Games.

Update 15.0 Changelog:

New Map Mortain - day & overcast variants (This supports Warfare, Offensive & Control Skirmish)
New Control Skirmish - Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Skirmish - day, night & rain variants
Sainte-Marie-du-Mont Warfare - night variant
Mortain Themed Front End Menu
German “Oak Leaf” - Paid DLC
Muzzle Flash Improvements
- - - Added multiple light sources resulting in a more dynamic muzzle flash and physically accurate reflections
Additional Nameplate Occlusion Settings
- - - A player-requested feature whereby the user can toggle nameplate occlusion on friendly players in their team and/or squad
In-Game Store Improvements
- - - Implemented a “Purchased” label on any DLC item that has already been redeemed on the player’s account.

Bug Fixes:

General

[In Game Store] The UI will lose focus if entering and leaving the ‘Featured’ tab
[Barracks] Character previews in the ‘Select Your Role’ menu appear too large when playing in ultrawide
[Uniforms] The German Africa Corps DAK Uniform has an incorrect belt buckle
[Vehicles] The Churchill MkIII gun will clip into the body of the tank if the gun is rotated 180° backwards and depressed to its lowest level while zoomed in
[Skirmish] The map key may not be present for certain players
[Weapons] The German Satchel placed on the back of the tracks on Stuart M3 ‘Honey’ is not defusable
[Field Manual] In the Equipment > Watch tab there is no mention of the Forward Positions.
[Field Manual] Incorrect information regarding Recon Vehicles is present in the Vehicles section
[Field Manual] In the Equipment > Ammo Boxes tab in the explosive ammo section the rifleman is not mentioned
[Field Manual] Small grammatical error present in the Field Manual > Deployment > Spawn Locations
[Field Manual] The Forward Position description in the Field Manual says it can't be placed if too close to another Garrison
[Field Manual] The summary at the top of the Outpost, Garrison & Forward Position Field Manual page does not mention Forward Positions
[Weapons] Weapons that are held with two hands become misaligned with the player's hands in TPP whilst leaning
[Locomotion] Dive to prone is playing multiple instances of footsteps during the transition
[Weapons] Commonwealth faction weapons have no audio feedback when reloading
[Weapons] Animations were not playing correctly when the user performed certain sequences of firing and reloading with the Webley Mk VI Revolver
[Console] The 'Skirmish' activity does not appear in 'History of completed activities' following a network disconnection
[RCON] Restarting a server also resets the map shuffle option to ‘TRUE’
[Vehicles] Destroying a T-70 tank does not award any combat points
[Skirmish] "Enemy Forward Position" & "Place Forward Position" tac map markers are only visible to the user that places it
[In Game Store] Selected DLC shifts onto the featured DLC by itself when entering
[In Game Store] The Uniforms tab is missing localisation in all supported languages
[Equipment] TPP Animation for using the Watch is broken on all Factions
[Weapons] TPP M1A1 Thompson reload animation causes the character's elbow to twist unnaturally
[Console] In-game store does not populate after a suspended user change.
[UI] The Back button loses functionality if the menu and the scoreboard are opened at the same time
[Uniforms] British helmet names in the Barracks & Loadout screens have historically inaccurate formatting
[UI] Grammatical error in the loading screen tip regarding the Ammo Carrier loadout
[UI] Kick player prompt remains on screen for the Officer if a player leaves its unit
[UI] The Enlist Screen is only showing up to 100 servers

Practice Range

The map is unaligned to the out-of-bounds parameters of the tactical map by 10m
Garrison cannot be placed in the Practice Range
The Half-Track tactical map icon always appears at the far top-left of the map
Missing grass foliage in the Practice Range
Tank turrets have no audio when moved
The scarecrow on the shooting range at the 75-metre mark has its feet sunk into the ground

Driel

The Driel Skirmish - Day loading screen shows a different game mode name than the other variants

El-Alamein

[Skirmish] The setup time blocking volume is in the wrong position
[E4] Players can use an Airhead to spawn into an inaccessible area

Foy

Metal SFX and PFX encountered when shooting the dead cows

Utah

Metal SFX and PFX encountered when shooting the dead cows

Purple Heart Lane

[C2] Players can drown when crouched in a small body of water

SMDM

A blocking volume extends into the playable area on the north side of Saint Marie du Mont updates
Trees render as large blocks in the distance
A specific plane asset is missing player collision
The grass is culling at around 40 metres

Utah

[G6] The player drowns near a hedge

Play Update 15

https://store.steampowered.com/app/686810/Hell_Let_Loose/