When any game jumps from version 2.x to a proper 3.0, the update has to include something big. Well, it usually works that way, and… no way, War Robots won’t be an exception. Our 3.0 update includes both new game mode and new combat interface, which are going to lay a solid foundation for things we never did before.
Some balance tweaks are here as well. We want to pull some older equipment back from obscurity, so here we go.
Beacon Rush
In Beacon Rush you can choose where to deploy after beacons were flipped blue: on your base or at any beacon that your team currently holds. Seemingly small at first, this change gives your team so much more strategic flexibility. Check out our preview for more details:
Combat HUD overhaul
After extensive testing on our beta server, our new combat HUD goes live. For now, it’s only a visual update. But being rebuilt from scratch tech-wise, new interface provides us with an amazing basis for further additions. Battlefield map, teammates’ HP bars, communication interface — all of these things we can start working on now.
Keep in mind that it is not the final iteration. So far we got rid of the most annoying issues, but there’s still a lot of work to be done. Keep the feedback going!
Balance changes: robots
- Vityaz. +10% durability
- Golem. +10% durability
- Gl.Patton. +10% durability
- Boa. +10% durability
These four belong to our “old guard“. None of these see much play in higher tier — once people get their hands on anything newer, they tend to lose these somewhere in the attic, coming back only to say “thank you” for good newbie times.
While it seems like a natural dynamic, we still want the older robots to have some niche. Will the raw power buff improve these robots’ performance against high-rankers? It will. Will it make them more fun to play? That we’ll see.
- Natasha. +10% durability, +10% speed
- Fury. +10% durability, +10% speed
Both Natasha and Fury historically performed best as snipers. Buffs to movement speed and durability won’t make these two any better at longer distances but might give them a so much needed edge when equipped with close-range weapons. With Beacon Rush appearing, it’ll be interesting to see if Natasha and Fury will be able to prove themselves as brawlers.
- Rhino. +20% speed
- Carnage. Energy shield: +200% regeneration rate, reactivation threshold doubled
With rising popularity of rocket weapons Rhino was put in a tough spot. Got a huge shield? Guess what — explosives don’t care. As many have asked, we allowed Rhino to move faster both in regular and Assault forms. Now it should do better at what it does best: rushing to the enemy and doing some backline magic.
Carnage tweak is mostly for consistency: its shield now regenerates at the exact same rate as Fujin’s and Ancile’s. Overall this made Carnage stronger, but with the current prominence of rocket weapons, it should feel more than appropriate.
- Raijin. +10% speed
- Fujin. +10% speed, +10% energy shield durability
To be effective, both Raijin and Fujin first have to reach a good spot to get stationary and prime their shields. Now we let them do it slightly more reliably increasing their movement speed. Similar to Natasha/Fury situation, this should be a big deal in the Beacon Rush as well.
- Butch. +10% speed
- Jesse. +10% durability
Among the Wild Bunch, Doc shows the best results, while others remain somewhat underwhelming. We slightly compensate their biggest weaknesses: Butch always took an eternity to move from place to place and Jesse died tad too fast. So here goes a slight nudge.
Balance changes: weapons
- Kang Dae. +10% damage
- Nashorn: +5% damage
A quick buff to help these two be better options for those sharpshooters who prefer kinetic weapons over lasers and explosives. If all goes according to plan, Kang’s and Nashorn’s time to shine will come next patch. Stay tuned!
ECU. Durability on lower levels increased (35 000 -> 76 000 at level 1, unchanged at levels 10, 11 and 12)
ECU always was a niche pick: sacrificing a big chunk of firepower for some nominal protection was far from a terrific trade. Now with significant durability increase ECU is still very niche (as it is supposed to be), but there should be more reasons to consider using it now — the concept of beacon capper ECU-Cossacks seems more and more terrifying.
Zenit. Reload time 22 s -> 15 s, min range 500m -> 300m
Zenit is a sniper weapon for hunting snipers, since at finding stationary targets it does its absolute best. However, picking it before was too much of a risk for the payoff you receive. Waiting for more than one-third of a minute to shoot again? Losing all ability to fight once in Tulumbas’ range? Like, come on!
We kickstarted Zenit’s journey back to relevance by making it less punishing to use. There will likely be more changes later on,
What else
— Turn rate of most robots adjusted. Controls should feel more responsive, especially on heavier robots
— Collision logic improved. Robots are much less likely to get stuck and slide on ramps. This change also slightly affected hitboxes: an actual area you can hit is now closer to the visible geometry of the robot. In simplest words: what you see is what you hit
— Fixed a bug causing explosive weapons to cause no splash damage
— Client stability improved
— New paint jobs for Cossack, Gl.Patton, Fujin & Fury
