May 28, 2024

KartRider: Drift - ColonelPanic

New Updates

New Tracks

4 New Tracks:

Forest: Training Grounds
- Difficulty: ★★★
- Supported Game Modes: Item and Speed Mode
World Tour: Dubai Downtown
- Difficulty: ★★★
- Supported Game Modes: Speed Mode
Desert: Forgotten City
- Difficulty: ★★★★
- Supported Game Modes: Speed Mode
WKC: Gangnam Circuit
- Difficulty: ★★★★
- Supported Game Modes: Speed Mode

Custom Race Updates

Custom Race UI has been updated:
Game Mode Settings for Custom Races have been added:
- Game Mode Settings can be changed in the [Options - Mode] menu, and current settings can be viewed by those in the Custom Race Lobby with the [Game Information] menu.
Additional Custom Race Host controls have been added:
- Close Empty Slot: Hosts can now close empty slots, preventing new Racers from joining the match in that slot.
- End Race: Hosts can now end a race prematurely while it is still in progress.
  - Race cannot be ended if a Racer has completed the final lap.
  - Consumed balloons will not be restored if a race is ended prematurely.
  - End Race Buttons:
    
    PC
    
    Xbox
    
    PlayStation
    
    Mobile
    
    Tap
- Track Roulette: Can now select "Track Roulette" as the track option. When selected, a 20-second Track Selection pop-up will appear when the race begins, where everyone in the room will be able to select a potential track for the race, one of which will be selected randomly once the timer has elapsed.
Additional Modes have been added to Custom Races:
- Solo Crossover, Squad Crossover, and Squad Flag Mode are now playable in Custom Race lobbies.
  - AI Racers are not available for Flag Mode races.
- When one of these game modes is selected, the list of available tracks will be updated to the available tracks for that game mode.
Graphic quality settings are now available in the Custom Race Lobby under [Settings - Graphics].
The Custom Race Lobby host can now enable the Hide Custom Race Key option in the [Settings - General] menu.
Lucci can no longer be obtained from Custom Races.

Game Balance Changes

Karts

Base Drift Acceleration values for all karts have been increased.
Decreased the effect of the Drift Acceleration stat tune-up.
- The total Drift Acceleration from a kart with maximum Drift Acceleration tune-up is unchanged (based on Drift Acceleration 7).

New Character Skills

Character Skills have been added for the following characters.
- Learn more with the in-game [Item Mode Skill] menu, or in the Character Skills Encyclopedia.

Character

Category

Difficulty

Skill Name

Description

Draky

Active Skill

Intermediate

Gauge Drain

Absorb the Active Skill gauge of all opposing Racers ahead of you, increasing Draky's acceleration based on the number of Racers hit (maximum of 4 opposing Racers). Targets available for the absorption are marked with a bat icon.

Uni

Active Skill

Expert

Tempest Tantrum

Create a whirlwind that tracks the targeted Racer. Opposing Racers are strongly knocked by the whirlwind once. After the skill ends, Uni decelerates for a short time.

Active Skill Changes

Slippery Snowflake (Pim):
- No longer affects Racers on the same team as Pim.
- Skill cooldowns have been increased:
  - Common: 26s (Previously 22s)
  - Fine: 24.7s (Previously 20.9s)
  - Rare: 23.4s (Previously 19.8s)
  - Heroic: 22.1s (Previously 18.7s)
  - Legendary: 20.8s (Previously 17.6s)
Awful Avalanche (Vivi):
- No longer affects Racers on the same team as Vivi.
- Skill cooldowns have been increased:
  - Common: 27s (Previously 22s)
  - Fine: 25.6s (Previously 20.9s)
  - Rare: 24.2s (Previously 19.8s)
  - Heroic: 22.2s (Previously 18.7s)
  - Legendary: 21.4s (Previously 17.6s)
- Developer's Note: Pim and Vivi's skills were restrictive in that they did not differentiate between friend or foe. It was originally designed to limit the skill's use timing, but this restriction meant that there weren't a lot of moments when the skill could be safely used to create an advantage in Team Races, and created stress for Racers on their team who were unintentionally impacted.
  
  So we aimed to increase the opportunities for Racers to use their skills and alleviate the pressure allies might feel by making it so that Pim and Vivi's snowballs and snowflakes only affect opposing Racers and not their allies. However, the cooldown times for both skills have been slightly increased.
Help Me, Sweeper! (Tobi):
- Opposing Racers colliding with Tobi's Sweeper will now be knocked back by the impact.
- Developer's Note: Tobi's skill is summoning a Sweeper that acts as a kind of mobile Barricade to disrupt the route of opposing Racers.
  
  It can be a powerful skill based on how it's used, but there is a risk of the skill backfiring on the user or on Racers on the user's team, so we thought that the previous version didn't have enough of an impact on opposing Racers.
  
  Sweeper will now have a different effect depending on if the target is friend of foe. An allied Sweeper will only act as a Barricade like it did before, but against opponents, Sweeper will attack them and knock them into the air.
Prettion Power (Tiera):
- When used on opposing Racers, Prettion Power will now apply a deceleration effect.
- Developer's Note: Tiera targets both friends and foes alike and gives herself a boost. This skill is powerful and can create various interesting situations, but some improvements were needed based on that Tiera's skill couldn't be effectively used in Solo races.
  
  As such, Tiera's skill has been re-tooled so that when it's used against opposing Racers, it decelerates them instead of giving them a boost.
Terrible Time Bomb (Viktor):
- Bombs can only be attached to opposing Racers.
- Developer's Note: Viktor's skill places a time bomb on the targeted Racer and deals damage to all Racers caught in the explosion. As part of that, we made it so that if needed, bombs could be placed on allied Racers.
  
  However, when a bomb is placed on an allied Racer by a Viktor player when communication is limited, we were concerned that bombs might be placed to harass other players, or otherwise cause misunderstandings, so we have removed that functionality.
Leaps & Bounds (Dao):
- Jump strength is changed based on the number of items owned:
- Developer's Note: After the increase in cooldown time for Dao's skill in a previous patch, his win rate started to climb faster compared to other characters. However his pick rate is still too high compared to the other characters, and we deduced this was a result of his skill being too easy to use, given how impactful it is.
  
  We wanted to find a way to maintain the skill's utility while changing how it's used, and decided to have it function differently based on how many items Dao has.
  
  From now on, depending on how many items Dao owns, the height and distance of his jump will become lower and shorter. If you don't have any items, then the jump will be the same as it was before the update.
Wave of Justice (Neo):
- After being hit by Neo's skill, the period during which Instant Boost can be used is now the same as the Instant Boost Recovery period for all other attacks.
- Skill cooldowns have been increased:
  - Common: 13s, 6.5s after first use per race (Previously 10s / 5s)
  - Fine: 12.3s, 6.1s after first use per race (Previously 9.5s / 4.7s)
  - Rare: 11.6s, 5.8s after first use per race (Previously 9s / 4.5s)
  - Heroic: 10.9s, 5.4s after first use per race (Previously 8.5s / 4.2s)
  - Legendary: 10.2s, 5.1s after first use per race (Previously 8s / 4s)
Brodi's Boost Zone (Brodi):
- Skill cooldowns have been increased for all ranks:
  - Common: 21s, 10.5s after first use per race (Previously 19s / 9.5s)
  - Fine: 19.9s, 9.9s after first use per race (Previously 18s / 9s)
  - Rare: 18.8s, 9.4s after first use per race (Previously 17s / 8.5s)
  - Heroic: 17.7s, 8.8s after first use per race (Previously 16s / 8s)
  - Legendary: 16.6s, 8.3s after first use per race (Previously 15s / 7.5s)
- Developer's Note: We concluded that Neo and Brodi's skills had cooldown times that were too brief, especially considering how effective and game-changing they can be. As a result, we have increased their cooldown times so bring them more in line with the other characters.
  
  Additionally, when Racers are hit by Neo's skill, they had a larger window of time to use an Instant Boost compared to when they are hit by other items. As such, we have also adjusted the skill to have the same activation window as other items to maintain consistency.

Passive Skill Changes

Relentless Revenge (Rex):
- This skill is now activated upon successfully using an Instant Boost after being hit by an attack that knocks Rex into the air.
- Skill Activation Chance has been increased for all ranks:
  - Common: 70% (Previously 48%)
  - Fine: 72% (Previously 50%)
  - Rare: 74% (Previously 52%)
  - Heroic: 76% (Previously 54%)
  - Legendary: 78% (Previously 56%)
- Developer's Note: Rex's skill has a chance of activating the Siren effect after being hit by a missile and then using the Instant Boost. However the number of times when characters get hit by missiles in game is quite low, and that has made the skill less effective.
  
  So we have changed the activation condition from 'after getting by a missile' to 'after using an Instant Boost upon landing on the track following an attack' so that it has more opportunities to be activated.
  
  The function that triggered the Siren after using the Instant Boost after spinning out when hit by a missile with a balloon equipped has been removed, because it had an awkward window of using an Instant Boost after spinning out, and because it could be confused with spinning out after being hit by other various other items such as Bananas, Sirens, etc.
Water Bomb Bouquet (Airi):
- Water Bombs are now obtained at set intervals:
  - Common: 42s
  - Fine: 40s
  - Rare: 38s
  - Heroic: 36s
  - Legendary: 34s
Dispatched Detective (Brian):
- Sirens are now obtained at set intervals:
  - Common: 44s
  - Fine: 42s
  - Rare: 40s
  - Heroic: 38s
  - Legendary: 36s
- Developer's Note: When Airi and Brian obtain a Water Bomb and Siren respectively, they have passive skills that upgrade them to a Water Bomb Bouquet or an Enhanced Siren. Since it's only activated after obtaining specific items, we thought that it was lacking in effectiveness compared to other skills.
  
  To better ensure Brian and Airi to use enhanced versions of the items more often, we have made it so that they obtain the Water Bomb and Siren items at regular intervals.
Extreme Velocity (Derek):
- At Lv. 0, base speed is decreased.
- Developer's Note: Derek's skill overcomes the item slot limit and collision restrictions and allows him to race through a track by using stacks.
  
  Despite our concerns on that the stacking mechanic would be too difficult, we found that a lot of Racers were choosing to play as him and, according to the data, he has a higher win rate compared to other characters, so we have concluded that he's a character that's fun to play and has some good functionality.
  
  But we have found that players are able to use the early speed advantage to increase the gap between them and whoever is in second place, and some believed that his playstyle was too efficient while also making the skill less interesting to use. As such, we adjusted the skill so the stacks have to be maintained throughout the race.
  
  At Lv. 0 (no stacks) he will now have a slightly lower speed compared to the other base speeds.
Clairvoyance (Rivaski): The item status for Racers ahead and behind you will be easier to identify, regardless of distance.

Game Modes and Matchmaking

Mode Lab

New Modes have been added to the Mode Lab where character skills are available:
- Skill Flag Mode Squad:
  - Base rules are the same as the standard Flag Mode, but all character skills are available.
  - Flag carriers will drop the flag when hit by skills.
  - Upon entering Overtime, cooldown times for all skills are reset.
  - Items that don't naturally spawn in Flag Mode won't have any effect when used, even if they are obtained through skills.
  - Some character skills function differently in Flag Mode (for example: Draky's Gauge Drain skill will absorb the Active Skill gauges of all opposing Racers, regardless of place).
- Skill Crossover Mode (Solo):
  - Base rules are the same as Solo Crossover Mode, but all character skills are available.
- Dao's Jumping Jamboree (Solo):
  - Base rules are the same as Solo Speed Mode, but all Racers play as Dao and can use his character skill.
  - Character outfits are applied at random, regardless of whether the Racer owns that outfit.
- Hit and Run Squad:
  - Base rules are the same as Squad Item Mode, and Racers will be assigned a character to play as:
    - Red Team: Miso, Neo, Viktor, Airi
    - Blue Team: Dao, Derek, Lucid, Spirit Kid
  - Character outfits are applied at random, regardless of whether the Racer owns that outfit.
- Brodi's Big Time Blast (Solo):
  - Base rules are the same as Solo Item Mode, but all Racers play as Brodi, can use his character skill, and his skill cooldown is reduced by 20%.
  - Character outfits are applied at random, regardless of whether the Racer owns that outfit.
Upcoming Mode Lab schedule is as follows (all periods begin and end at 12:00 AM UTC unless otherwise noted):
- Thursday, May 30th (End of Maintenance) - Thursday, June 6th: Solo Dao's Jumping Jamboree (Note: This has been changed from the previously announced Solo Crossover Mode)
- Thursday, June 6th- Thursday, June 13th: Squad Skill Flag Mode
- Thursday, June 13th - Thursday, June 20th: Squad Hit and Run
- Thursday, June 20th - Thursday, June 27th: Solo Skill Crossover Mode
- Thursday, June 27th - Thursday, July 4th: Solo Brodi's Big Time Blast

Other Game Mode Changes

The collision physics for Racers colliding with objects on the track has been improved.
- Fixed instances of Racers going through certain objects when colliding with them.
Joy's Surprise Test has been removed. We will let you know if it will return.

24 new Track Awards have been added:

Dubai Downtown Racer (1, 2, and 3)
Dubai Downtown Attack (1, 2, and 3)
Forgotten City Racer (1, 2, and 3)
Forgotten City Attack (1, 2, and 3)
Gangnam Circuit Racer (1, 2, and 3)
Gangnam Circuit Attack (1, 2, and 3)
Training Grounds Racer (1, 2, and 3)
Training Grounds Attack (1, 2, and 3)

Convenience and Functional Changes

Chat System

A Chat Report system has been added.
- Use the Report button in the Chat Window and select a Racer from the list to submit a report.
- An "Inappropriate Chat" category has been added to the Report form.

Convenience Improvements

Track Selection UI has been updated:
- Track thumbnails now include a mini-map of the track layout.
- The Theme filter has been replaced with a Theme category.
- Difficulty filter has been removed, and a sort system has been added with the following options:
  - Lowest Difficulty: Tracks will be sorted by difficulty, easiest to hardest.
  - Highest Difficulty: Tracks will be sorted by difficulty, hardest to easiest.
  - Newer Releases: Tracks will be sorted by release date, most to least recent.
  - Older Releases: Tracks will be sorted by release date, least to most recent.
  - Common Tracks: Tracks available for both Speed and Item Mode will be shown first.
  - Speed Tracks: Tracks available for only Speed Mode will be shown first.
The "Options" menu has been added to the Time Attack UI.
- This will allow easy swapping of karts, characters, balloons, settings, and more.
Sound Settings now previews the new audio levels for each option.
Ranked Queue MP information has been improved.
- In addition to current MP information, MP needed to reach the next rank will be displayed.
The View Info pop-up in the Custom Races menu has been updated to show the Ranked Queue rank, equipped character, and kart of the the selected Racers, in addition to their racer level and profile tag.

Other Changes

(Mobile Only) Items can now be used while tapping and holding the Item Slot.
- Note: Items that require aiming, such as the Missile, will still require an additional tap to complete its use.
- To ensure fairness across all platforms, there will be a 0.1s delay when consecutively using items through tapping and holding.
Item and Skill Crosshairs now have different appearances, and Crosshair UI has also been changed.

Item Crosshair

Skill Crosshair
After a Decal Market report has been reviewed, the same entry can no longer be re-reported.
Modes where Bonus Tickets are not applied will no longer display the Bonus Ticket Effect UI in the loading screen.

Bug Fixes

Fixed an issue where the Shield animation and the actual block effect durations would be different.
Fixed an issue where the Tuning description was centered on the Tuning phase.
Time Attack: Fixed an issue where the "Time Attack” text and Character Model would disappear in some phases.
Fixed an issue where the Racer Report UI would display differently on PC.
Fixed an issue with the sorting feature for the Place UI in [Ranked Queue Details > Leaderboard].
Fixed an issue in the Personal Shop where following a particular sequence of steps could make the Refresh Shop button function while matching.
Fixed an issue where the spacing was applied inconsistently in the Feature Description of Balloons.
Fixed an issue where the buttons would disappear when a party member enters the Settings while the Party Leader begins matching.
Fixed an issue where the View Contents button does not function when obtaining items through coupons.
Northeu: Express: Fixed an issue where Racers could collide with an invisible wall in some locations.
Northeu: Perilous Shortcuts: Fixed an issue where Water Bomb locations would overlap with Racers.