Welcome to the Summer Heatwave! In this update we’re introducing a load of cool summer items to celebrate the hottest days of the year. So grab your sandals, beach chairs, any nearby weapons, and join the fun! We are introducing a new camera in features we’d love to get your feedback on. Balance improvements hot off The Forge are coming in this patch, along with the normal slew of improvements, adjustments, and fixes. Thanks for playing Brawlhalla and we’ll see you at the Beach Brawl!

Heatwave Summer Event!

• Heatwave Colors are back in the store for 1500 Gold each!
• Ice Kor-eam Avatar for 6000 Gold!
• Atlantean Orion – “Fierce protector of deep sea mysteries.”
• Dog Days Mordex – “Every dog has its day…at the beach!”
• Wipeout Nix – “Sharks aren’t the most dangerous thing in the water anymore.”
• Endless Heat Wave Avatar – “Catch a wave and cruise through the heat!”
• Heatwave 2017 Podium – “Celebrate the Summer Heatwave with this Tiki Tower!”
• Hot Lava KO Effect – “Melt your opponents with this hot KO!”

Brawl of the Week

• Beach Brawl!
• 3v3
• 2 Minutes

New Test Feature: Action Camera

We’ve been experimenting internally with improvements to the in-game camera and we think we’re onto something! The new camera changes zoom closer on the action, keeps more focus on the players, and helps the art on Legends and signatures shine.

We don’t think it’s 100% ready yet, but with your help we’re hoping to improve the way the in-game camera makes Brawlhalla players look their best!  We’re looking for your feedback on it, along with replays, GIFs, and other things listed below.  

The camera in test features has the following differences from live:

• The new camera can zoom in much closer to the characters.
• After being zoomed out, the new camera will spend less time before zooming in again.
• The speed at which the camera will zoom in is slightly slower to make up for how frequently it will zoom, and how close it will get.
• It will make sure that at least one platform or wall is always visible since it now can zoom close enough that it would be possible for no platforms to be visible.

Feedback we’re looking for:

• Does it feel good while you’re playing?
• How does the new camera feel if you have an opponent with a poor connection?
• Were there any weird pops or jitters or did the camera feel smooth for you?
• Additional feedback is good!
• If you’ve taken video / GIF recordings you want to share hit up the Brawlhalla Twitter or email them to support@brawlhalla.com

User Interface

• The Clan chat box will no longer eat Enter key presses when trying to enter the Keybinds screen.
• Removed foreground clouds in the character select to make room for the modified podium information.
• Improved keyboard navigation of the Keybinds screen. It will now wrap around both vertically and horizontally, and moving the bottom row will now default to the Apply Changes button instead of the Close button if you’ve made any changes.
• Revised character select UI information to better suit customizable podiums.
• Redesigned the post match scoreboard to make nameplates more cohesive with podiums. The UI now contains a new item asset for the scoreboard to improve integration with nameplates and the combat broadcast plate.

Performance Improvements

• Reworked the internal animation system to have fewer frame spikes by spreading out the load better.
• Generally improved performance of the animation system.
• Reduced runtime allocations in animation system.
• Lowered size of animation files by ~10%.

MultiKeyboard

• In -multikeyboard, removing a keyboard while it is rebinding keys will now gracefully exit the Keybinds screen instead of getting stuck or crashing.
• In -multikeyboard, other keyboards can no longer enter a new keybind while one of them is rebinding a key.

Balance Changes

This week we have a large number of Legend adjustments directly from your feedback in the Forge! All of you have been participating in the Signatures channel and compiling a detailed list, and here is the first round of those requests. It is worth noting that a number of the rehitboxing passes on Signatures have a fairly large effect on their balance, which is why they are included in this section and will be accompanied by a brief overview of what those changes alter in gameplay. We also have included a few weapon changes from the Forge, as the community has requested a bit more time to adapt to the recent changes.

Axe

Axe users have requested pushing Side Light towards having more varied followups at different health ranges, following the direction from the previous balance pass. We have altered both the Variable Force and its angle to create a transition point around orange damage that favors Neutral Air followups over Down Light followups.

• Axe Side Light: Redirected angle of knockback to be more vertical; Increased Force from 16 Variable/54 Fixed to 20 Variable/54 Fixed.

Spear

As an anti-air attack, we have decreased the Recover time on miss for Spear Down Light significantly to add more power against airborne opponents, increasing utility to be in line with other similar powers such as Axe Down Light and Bow Neutral Light.

• Spear Down Light: Decreased Recover time on miss from 25 Variable/7 Fixed to 25 Variable/4 Fixed.

Rocket Lance

In its rehitboxing, the Lance Neutral Light lost a significant amount of coverage near the user, pushing its use further from that of the Down Light. We have shifted some of this power within the Neutral Light by reducing the amount of time between the initial two hits for a quicker overall attack duration.

• Rocket Lance Neutral Light: Rehitboxed to better match animation, resulting in less coverage near the user; Decreased time between the first two hits from 15 to 14.

Gauntlets

Ground Pound is a core attack within the Gauntlets kit, given the steering allowed during the attack and the weapon’s general off-stage prowess. Typically, the proper escape from Gauntlets edge-guarding pressure is to delay your jumps and move around the back end of the Ground Pound, as immediate panic jumps can be heavily punished. We have leaned into this counter-play by significantly reducing the backwards steering available during this attack.

• Gauntlets Ground Pound: Decreased steering in the backwards direction by an additional 15%.

Hattori

Hattori has received a shift in power within her Sword kit, with the Neutral Sword losing some horizontal coverage via decreased travel speed after the teleport. In compensation, the Down Sword has received faster Time to Hit for more responsive use, although those frames have been added to the end of the attack as Recover time. This should make the Down Sword both easier to hit when used properly, but more punishable when used improperly. The Down Spear has received a significant increase in minimum Stun time to prevent being punished for hitting an opponent, as Hattori was at a disadvantage in certain cases when the opponent was left at close range after being struck.

• Hattori Neutral Sword: Decreased horizontal travel distance during the sword swing.
• Hattori Down Sword: Decreased Minimum Charge time from 21 to 18; Increased Recover time from 18 to 21.
• Hattori Down Spear: Increased Stun from 13 to 22.

Barraza

Barraza has received a quality of life improvement for his Neutral Blasters. Previously, the backward roll from his final shot resulted in a rather large descent when used as a Gravity Cancel, or done with his back towards an edge. We have adjusted how this ending behaves resulting in less of a vertical drop, leaving Barraza in a better position for easier recovery back to the stage.

• Barraza Neutral Blasters: Decreased vertical drop after mid-air hits, such as Gravity Cancels.

Cassidy

We have shifted some power from Cassidy’s Side Hammer into her Down Hammer. The Side Hammer is a very fast attack so we have decreased the knockout potential as requested. To compensate, we have decreased the Time to Hit for the Down Hammer, making that attack more responsive in combat.

• Cassidy Side Hammer: Decreased Force from 54 Variable/75 Fixed to 51 Variable/75 Fixed.
• Cassidy Down Hammer: Decreased Minimum Charge time from 19 to 17.

Azoth

Azoth’s Neutral Axe has received increased power as one of his primary anti-air attacks. Given this Signature’s diagonal direction of force that can hinder knockouts, we have increased both the damage and variable force for more meaningful use and both low and high health values.

• Azoth Neutral Axe: Increased Damage from 24 to 26; Increased Force from 54 Variable/71 Fixed to 56 Variable/71 Fixed.

Gnash

Gnash has received rehitboxing on his Neutral and Down Spear, resulting in notable changes for both attacks. The Neutral Spear will find slightly less stacked coverage, while increasing its maximum range and overhead coverage. The Down Spear also ends up with a reduction in stacked coverage but an increase in vertical coverage.

• Gnash Neutral Spear: Rehitboxed to better match the animation.
• Gnash Down Spear: Rehitboxed to better match the animation.

Jhala

Jhala’s Down Sword is generally underused, due to its fairly low vertical and horizontal range. With a moderate recover time already built into the animation, we have slightly decreased the Recover time value for this Signature to shift the risk/reward more in its favor.

• Jhala Down Sword: Decreased Recover time from 6 to 4.

Koji

Koji’s Down Sword comes with a fairly long Time to Hit and generally low reward. Although slightly offset by its healthy range, this Signature has felt a bit underwhelming in reward and ease of use. We have made it slightly faster with a moderate increase in damage to reward those with a practiced hand.

• Koji Down Sword: Decreased Minimum Charge time from 12 to 11; Increased Damage from 24 to 26.

Queen Nai

Queen Nai sees a great deal of changes, both in hitboxing and in traditional balance values. The Side Spear and Side Katars have both been rehitboxed, generally resulting in increased coverage near the user. The Neutral Spear has excellent utility and great application when Gravity Canceled, particularly after a Down Light, so we have shifted some of its power to bolster reward for the underused Down Spear.

• Queen Nai Side Spear: Rehitboxed to better match the animation (resulting in greater coverage along the spear).
• Queen Nai Neutral Spear: Decreased Force from 52 Variable/65 Fixed to 50 Variable/65 Fixed.
• Queen Nai Down Spear: Increased Force from 48 Variable/50 Fixed to 50 Variable/50 Fixed.
• Queen Nai Side Katars: Rehitboxed to better match the animation.

Ragnir

Ragnir’s Down Axe can be difficult to use, with a generally higher risk than reward. As requested, we have reduced the risk to be more in line with its straightforward coverage and niche use.

• Ragnir Down Axe: Decreased Recover time on miss from 22 to 18.

Scarlet

Scarlet’s Down Lance is no longer able to move during its Recover time, as players could have an overly difficult time approaching against this Signature. Scarlet’s Neutral Lance rehitboxing sees a moderate decrease in horizontal coverage, although a minor increase in vertical coverage.

• Scarlet Down Lance: Can no longer move during Recover time.
• Scarlet Neutral Lance: Rehitboxed to better match the animation.

Teros

Teros’ Down Hammer has received a slightly slower Time to Hit to compensate for both its coverage and damage. This increase in startup also opens a moderate dodge window when used after a Hammer Down Light.

• Teros Down Hammer: Increased Minimum Charge from 6 to 8.

New Legend Rotation

This week’s new Legend Rotation features Ada, Bodvar, Ember, Jhala, Mordex and Ulgrim!

Bug Fixes

• Fixed bug causing victor podiums in the scoreboard to float above the cloud line when five or more players are present at a time
• Fixed a bug where the option to ban gadgets in a ranked queue would be hidden instead of locked when a player hadn’t completed a game in that queue that season yet.

PS4 Note: We’ve got a patch coming out this week that is a minor hotfix/bugfix patch. We are submitting a much larger content patch that will include Artemis and other content, but we’re not sure how long that process will take. We’ll keep you updated! Thanks again to all our PlayStation Beta Testers!