March 1, 2017

Patch 2.50 – The Skysail Chest

Welcome to Patch 2.50! We’ve added the new Skysail Chest to the store, updated Test Features entirely, improved custom lobbies for tournaments and improved game balance! This update to game balance has a focus on improving Legends whose individual power may have been left wanting in light of other gameplay updates. We’re also excited to make tournaments easier on both organizers and participants by implementing official rule settings straight into the UI. We hope you enjoy these changes and look forward to your continued feedback!

Additions to Mallhalla

New Skysail Chest!

The new Skysail Chest includes three chest exclusive skins, alongside 15 pre-existing skins for your collection,

Corsair Orion
Airship Scarlet
Sky Scourge Azoth

Nix Gold Price Reduction

Nix Gold Price reduced to 5400 gold.

New Avatar

Bragnarok South – Brawlhalla 1320. PAX South: 218. 1v1 Stock count enshrined!

Ranked Season Changeover Coming Soon!

Season 3 will end and Season 4 will begin with the update on March 15!

Test Features

Modified Test Features:

We feel like the more extreme change of Signatures interrupting chain dodge invulnerability has some strong upsides. It keeps players from being completely safe when stretching out chain dodges to their maximum duration. Rather than having to wait until an attacker chooses to leave dodge, the defender can counter by performing a signature, which itself can be countered if the attacker stops short and punishes. We haven’t noticed any deviations between legend performance in the experimental queue vs ranked 1v1 that would suggest certain types of signatures overperform with the change. However, we worry that if the defender’s other options for disengaging and punishing don’t have better counterplay before this change gets added, players who can rely on the safety of the chain dodge currently would be more hesitant to engage.

This week, we’re testing just the smaller-impact portion of the change in hopes that can go live more quickly. Since Signatures beat light attacks in a clash, it shouldn’t dramatically affect those interactions, but will make the timing easier for Signatures with less active frames.

Removed: Invulnerability from Chain Dodges no longer prevents hits from Signatures.
Signatures will still ignore the invulnerability period after a Speed Dodge is canceled into an attack.

Graduated from Test Features:

This should make the controls feel a little more responsive when players miss the timing for a fast fall. Should be a subtle improvement to quality of life for most players.

While holding the down direction when airborne, your max downward speed is the same as when fast falling.

This should address some cases that can feel like a bug where players attempt a jump down air off of a soft platform and lose a jump by falling through first. The player suggestion of a similar change for down-diagonal speed dodges sounds like a good idea to try as well.

Added a 12 frame forgiveness period after dropping through a soft platform where jumps will snap back to the platform and be treated as a ground jump. This is not applied unless the player was standing on the platform.

Added to Test Features:

This is the first of several proposed changes to address some concerns with gadgets. By separating weapon and gadget spawning, the availability of both should be more predictable. This should reduce cases of too many or too few weapons on the field. It should help make switching to a gadget more consistently a deliberate choice and less frequently a case of only having gadgets available at that moment. Telegraphing gadget drops give players more time to react to the appearance of a gadget, making them easier to contest or crowd.

Weapon and Gadget spawns now use separate timers and item limits.
Gadgets telegraph for about a second before spawning in, the same as weapon drops. They use a blue highlight as a placeholder for a spawn-in animation.

Remaining in Test Features:

Development focus has been elsewhere last week. We’re still curious if the recent changes to this feature helped address concerns for slower Legends.

Increased run speed by 15%.

Custom Game Improvements

The Lobby Tab in Game Settings has been reworked to completely separate Custom Online and Matchmaking instead of including Custom in the same list as the Matchmaking Queues.
The official Brawlhalla Circuit tournament settings for 1v1 and 2v2 are now options for a type of Custom game in both Custom Online and Couch Party. Selecting either of these options will completely lock you into the correct settings (only Region is changeable) so that tournament organizers can be sure that everything is correct.
Updated the header text during Tournament Striking to say “Loser of last game (higher seed if none) strikes until 3 maps remain.” while the first player/team is striking, and “Strike [n] more maps to begin.”, where n is the number of maps remaining – 1.
Matchmaking lobbies that allow more than 1 player will now show the “Manage Party” menu.

Gameplay

Landing on the ground while performing a Recovery power will not reset whether the Recovery has been used.
If a player drops through a soft platform within 12 frames of being hit by a power, they will snap back up to the platform as the hit is applied. Should fix some cases of players being saved by bouncing off the inside edges of Thundergard Stadium. (Note: is not applied to setup hits like the early hits in a multi-hit power, to prevent drops)

Controller Support

Mac support for the Rock Candy controller for PS3

Balance

As gameplay and mechanics have shifted, there are some Legends whose individual power has been left wanting. We have made a pass to bring a number of lesser-used Signatures in line with the current era of Brawlhalla by increasing their ease of use, reward, or a mixture of both to be more desirable in gameplay.

Kor

Kor’s Down Hammer works best when used at close range, however the risk was rather substantial due to its lengthy total commitment time. We have reduced the total duration of this power for increased ease of use, as well as slightly increased the Damage reward.

Kor Down Hammer: Decreased Minimum Charge from 6 to 5; Decreased Recovery from 24 Fixed to 22 Fixed; Increased Damage from 31 to 33.

Jhala

While Jhala has some very useful Signatures, the Down Sword has less range and coverage than most other Signatures. We have increased the reward to better emphasize use of this powerful attack.

Jhala Down Sword: Increased Damage from 26 to 29; Increased Force from 51 Variable/68 Fixed to 52 Variable/68 Fixed.

Diana

Diana’s Side Blasters does have a bit more range than other Blasters attacks, however the risk and reward were out of line given the attack’s considerable dead-zone and moderate startup. We have increased the Damage reward and slightly lowered the risk to be in line with other similar powers.

Diana Side Blasters: Increased Damage from 25 to 27; Decreased Recovery from 6 Fixed to 5 Fixed.

Ulgrim

With the introduction of additional game mechanics since Ulgrim’s release, his Side Signatures have fallen behind the curve. We have increased the ease of use of his Side Lance and increased the reward of the Side Axe to better fit current gameplay.

Ulgrim Side Lance: Decreased Minimum Charge from 15 to 13; Decreased Recovery from 16 Fixed to 15 Fixed.
Ulgrim Side Axe: Increased Damage from 24 to 26.

Azoth

Azoth has several niche Signatures, that perform a specific task very well, however some of these Signatures are overly punishing to the user when they fail to perform that task, if even by a slight margin. We have decreased the risk involved on some of his more iconic Signature’s to be in line with their potential reward.

Azoth Down Axe: Decreased Recovery on miss from 14 Fixed to 13 Fixed.
Azoth Neutral Bow: Increased Damage from 22 to 26; Decreased Recovery from 20 Fixed to 18 Fixed.

Koji

Koji has a great set of Bow Signatures, however his Sword kit has proven to be less desirable. We have increased both the ease of use and the reward for his Down Sword given its more visibly telegraphed nature.

Koji Down Sword: Increased Damage from 21 to 24; Increased Force from 51 Variable/65 Fixed to 53 Variable/65 Fixed; Increased Stun from 21 to 22; Decreased Recovery from 25 Fixed to 24 Fixed.

Barraza

We have given a boost to the utility in both of Barraza’s kits, with the Blasters receiving a faster rotation to other options after a Neutral Signature, while the Side Axe has been given an increase in travel speed to better fit the current pace of the game.

Barraza Neutral Blasters: Decreased Recovery on miss from 11 Fixed to 10 Fixed.
Barraza Side Axe: Slightly Increased initial travel speed during the leap.

Thatch

Thatch’s Neutral Blasters has always been a rarity as it is a stacked option while Blasters aim to keep their opponent at range. We have increased its ease of use given its specific purpose and low initial range, while maintaining its substantial reward.

Thatch Neutral Blasters: Decreased Minimum Charge from 12 to 11; Decreased Recovery from 23 Fixed to 20 Fixed.

Lord Vraxx

Like a number of other Signatures on this list, Vraxx’s Side Lance did not have a reward in line with the current state of the game. We have increased this reward to provide a more reliable option for scoring knockouts that is comparable with other similar Signatures.

Lord Vraxx Side Lance: Increased Force from 50 Variable/65 Fixed to 53 Variable/65 Fixed.

Ada

Many of Ada’s Signatures have great utility, however there are a couple that have proven to be less useful. Ada’s Neutral Blasters have had their reward increased to better fit with this Signature’s unique use and range, while the Side Spear’s reward has been increased to better fit with other similar Signatures.

Ada Neutral Blasters: Increased Damage per shot from 8 to 9; Increased Force from 47 Variable/50 Fixed to 49 Variable/50 Fixed.
Ada Side Spear: Increased Damage from 20 to 25.

Gnash

Although Gnash’s Neutral Signatures have great utility, their reward had fallen behind more recent entries into Brawlhalla. We have increased their reward to be in line with other similar powers, while maintaining their great coverage and ease of use.

Gnash Neutral Spear: Increased Damage from 19 to 24; Increased Force from 55 Variable/45 Fixed to 56 Variable/50 Fixed.
Gnash Neutral Hammer: Increased Damage from 20 to 25.

Sir Roland

Similar to Gnash, the reward on a few of Sir Roland’s Signatures had fallen behind the curve of more recent attacks. We have brought the Neutral and Side Lance to be in line with other similar powers that have a unique range and use.

Sir Roland Neutral Lance: Increased Damage from 20 to 25; Increased Force from 51 Variable/71 Fixed to 53 Variable/71 Fixed.
Sir Roland Side Lance: Increased Damage from 21 to 23.

Queen Nai

Queen Nai’s Down Spear had previously been a low reward attack with high range. However, as the pace of the game has increased and new mechanics have been introduced, the range has become significantly easier to navigate around, making the low reward misplaced. Therefore, we have increased the reward to better fit the current landscape and utility of this power.

Queen Nai Down Spear: Decreased Recovery from 25 Fixed to 23 Fixed; Increased Force from 40 Variable/43 Fixed to 48 Variable/50 Fixed; Increased Damage from 21 to 27.

Nix

A couple of Nix’s Signatures have been over-performing, so we are reigning them in slightly. The Down Scythe provides a moderate-range option, but could fire off rather quickly for its knockout potential. We have both slowed down the Time to Hit and decreased the Force to bring this power in line with other similar options. The Side Scythe scored knockouts fairly early given its considerable travel distance and range, so we have decreased the Force to a more reasonable level.

Nix Down Scythe: Increased Minimum Charge from 15 to 17; Decreased Force from 56 Variable/72 Fixed to 54 Variable/72 Fixed.
Nix Side Scythe: Decreased Force from 61~63 Variable/72~80 Fixed to 58~60 Variable/72~80 Fixed.

Quality of Life

With the introduction of steering on Slide Charged Signatures and those that are airborne during their charge, there were some individuals that stood out. We have tuned the amount of steering allowed on Azoth’s floating Signatures to be more consistent with other Signatures that float during their charge, such as Orion Side Lance and Scarlet Side Lance.

Azoth Down Bow: Reduced the amount of steering control while charging.
Azoth Side Axe: Increased the amount of steering control while charging.