Patch Notes v0-7-1730

Patch Highlights

 * Celebrate the holidays with Wintertide cosmetics!
 * Omnidyne-M industries is proud to announce a partnership with Luau Larry's to present their very own vending machine coin! We have made 14 new and exciting pieces of technology and aesthetics available through this program that we're sure ARES pilots will be excited about, including the newest vehicle in New Eden: The Omnidyne-M LGV.
 * Added three new encounters that players may come across while adventuring in New Eden.
 * Open World zones will now have staged creatures. This was done so that the world has a feeling of progression about it. Any player can access the zones, though they will have a tougher time dealing with higher staged areas.
 * Fixed another issue regarding the drop rate of Melded Muscle Tissue and Melded Blood Samples. These should be seen more frequently now and at the intended drop rate.
 * Increased the Army cap to 100 players.

General

 * Celebrate the holidays with Wintertide items old and new!
 * Wintertide Present grants a bonus to a friend.
 * "Seasons Greetings" Fireworks
 * Candy Stripe armor pattern
 * The Chiller helmet
 * The Santa Hat
 * Reindeer Antlers
 * Tech Antlers
 * Elf Ears
 * Santa Beard
 * Elf pet
 * Wintertide item unlocks can also be won at the vending machine with Accord tokens!

Omnidyne-M Tokens

 * Omnidyne-M industries is proud to announce a partnership with Luau Larry's to present their very own vending machine coin! We have made 14 new and exciting pieces of technology and aesthetics available through this program that we're sure ARES pilots will be excited about:
 * Fedora
 * Visual Kit: Iceman
 * Visual Kit: Purple Haze
 * Aviator Sunglasses
 * Chewing Wheat
 * Recharging Sonic Detonator
 * Recharging Small Health Pack
 * OmniTech Crown
 * Phantom Mask
 * The Hunter
 * Omnidyne-M LGV
 * OmniHelm
 * Crystal Skull
 * Recharging Manufacturing Terminal

General Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue where autorun would not cancel when pressing the 'Move Forward' key ('W' by default).

Combat and Battleframes

 * Fixed an issue where allocating 350 or more surplus power in the Battleframe Garage would give an error.
 * Fixed an issue where health regen would cease to work in combat.
 * Battleframes are under review to increase the desirability/usability of some abilities in the open world. The main purpose is to have players to more carefully consider their options when deviating from their default kits, as well as have the default kit have a more desirable and effective set of abilities for the open world. Not all battleframes will be addressed all at once, but we plan on making adjustments as time permits.

Accord Assault

 * Updated the visual effects of Scattershot projectiles.

Tigerclaw
Missile Shot now has a new explosion effect. The mechanics of the Fusion Cannon's alt fire, "Nova Cannon" has been modified. Instead of clicking once to initiate the charge and clicking again to release, you press and hold alt fire to charge. Release alt fire to fire the Nova. Fixed an issue where the quality of Tether Field was not modifying the damage done to targets that leave it.
 * Disruption now causes affected targets to become lightning conduits, during which they will electrocute nearby enemies.
 * Context: Disruption was not used much in the open world because of its low damage and snare effect. These changes were made to spice up the ability a little more and make it a more attractive choice than its previous incarnation.
 * Missile Shot damage has been increased.
 * Context: Missile Shot was barely better than a normal shot unless there were many enemies grouped up, so it was too situational. It is a much better direct damage hit now, so it should always be more useful in terms of putting out damage.
 * The Fusion Cannon's alt fire, "Nova Cannon", now has a flat charge time of 3 seconds (previously ranged from 1.5 to 4 seconds) and deals full damage each time it is fired.
 * Context: Fusion Cannon was really confusing previously. It had some extremely long charge time (4 seconds) but you could fire at any point after one second, while charging didn't do anything to the damage. The visuals were also confusing where two charge bars were displayed to fire the Nova. We feel that it is much more intuitive to press and hold to charge.
 * Trailblaze now fires automatically when you activate it as opposed to overriding your ammo.
 * Context: We feel there is no benefit to making people override their ammunition/next shot and then fire Trailblaze. This behavior clogs up the player's weapon with no real purpose.

Firecat

 * Increased the DPS range of Incinerator. Previously the range was 30 to 60 dps, the current range is now 68 to 136 dps.
 * Inferno Dash's flame trial will now last 5 seconds, up from previously 2 seconds.
 * Inferno Dash's flame trail now deals 150 dps, up from previously 100 dps.

Biotech

 * Shortened the Poison Ball explode sound effect to match the visuals.

Accord Biotech

 * Fixed an issue where the Toxic BioNeedler's Alt Fire would not play the proper sound effect.
 * Fixed an issue where the Accord Chemical Sprayer Arcfold did not have a duration timer when activated.
 * Fixed an issue where the Accord Chemical Sprayer Arcfold did not have a holstering sound effect.
 * Fixed an issue where Poison Trail duration could potentially be longer than its cooldown.

Recluse

 * Adjusted the description of the Necrotic Poison passive so that it more clearly states that the poison is applied via the BioCrossbow alt fire and abilities.
 * Fixed an issue where high stages of the BioCrossbow did not have a muzzle flash.
 * Fixed an issue where visual effects were not displaying for the damage over time caused by the BioCrossbow's alt fire.

Dreadnaught

 * Fixed an issue where the Dreadnaught's weapon did not follow the player's aim in Turret Mode with Explosive Rounds activated.

Accord Dreadnaught

 * Barrier Heavy Machine Gun's alt fire should now play the proper sound effect.
 * Added a sound effect for when Accord Mortar Launcher is drawn after activation.

Arsenal

 * Fixed an issue where activating Combat Shotgun or Particle Beam would cause the owner's unused and deployed gliderpad to vanish.

Rhino

 * Dreadfield has been reworked. Previously it stacked bonus damage per nearby enemy. Now it is a flat damage bonus and the Rhino gains a rate of fire bonus for each nearby enemy. If at least one enemy is within Dreadfield, the Rhino's weapons no longer consume ammo.
 * Context: The previous stacking damage bonus of Dreadfield was not a sustainable design as players were using it to trivialize encounters. The rework should reign in this HKM while still keeping it desirable. The rate of fire boost in the new Dreadfield while not consuming ammunition while an enemy is within Dreadfield should still feel fun and good for shooting at high speeds at a long duration.
 * The Laser MG alt fire was slowed down slightly and its damage was increased to compensate. There should be no gain or loss of effective DPS.
 * Context: With rate of fire boosting effects like Turret Mode and Dreadfield, we wanted to reduce the amount of packets sent for performance reasons. As mentioned, the end result should be that the Laser MG should retain its effective damage per second.
 * The Laser MG alt fire now deals 1.5x damage on head shots.
 * Context: Any weapon that isn't splash damage should deal headshot damage. It gives the player more to do than just hold the fire button down.
 * Sundering Wave now plays an animation when activated.
 * Fixed an issue where using the Explosive Rounds with the Rhino's Laser HMG was making the laser disappear.

Engineer

 * Fixed an issue where after placing a claymore, the Engineer's main and alt fire animations would not play properly.

Accord Engineer

 * Fixed an issue where players leaving the range of Deployable Shield's ambient audio and returns, the audio would not play for the player.
 * Fixed an issue where Accord Engineer could pick up Ammos from stations although they already have full Ammo.
 * Fixed an issue where Turrets would ignore enemies in front of Quick Deploy Shield.

Bastion

 * Fixed an issue where the Fortify sound effects would play locally for a player when another player activated the ability.
 * Fixed an issue where Sentinel Pod was not properly targeting friendly deployables at times.

Recon

 * Proximity Response now plays an animation when activated.
 * Added a slight delay to Resonating Bolts to match their throwing animation.

Raptor

 * Fixed an issue where when scoped in with the Charge Rifle, the player's arms would appear to shake to other players.
 * Fixed an issue with Conduit not stacking correctly. Previously, after the Raptor reaching "Full Power" (3 stacks of Conduit), 2 stacks of Conduit would remain. Now, after the Raptor reaching full power, there will no longer be any Conduit stacks as intended.
 * Fixed an issue where the Raptor's HKM, Overload, was not giving the Raptor "Full Power" Conduit charges for its duration.
 * Fixed an issue where gaining 1 stack of Conduit and then waiting for it to expire would result in the Raptor reaching "Full Power".

Nighthawk

 * Fixed an issue where the Remote Explosive detonation and audio were not synchronized.

Open World

 * Added three new encounters that ARES Operators may come across while travelling Coral Forest: The Birds, "Super Bugs", and the Distress Beacon.
 * Added the Accord Thumper and Chosen Executioner encounters to the 'First Hour' new player experience in Coral Forest.
 * Modifications were made to the Road Ambush encounter.
 * Added an NPC that can be defended throughout the Road Ambush encounter, with Follow/Stay commands.
 * The Resource Vein Layer was not correctly scaling. You should see more veins at the edges of the map.
 * The repulsor event from Diamondhead is being removed and the Melding is being moved to cover a small portion of the north in preparation for the Warfront.
 * Open World zones will now have staged creatures. This was done so that the world has a feeling of progression about it. Any player can access the zones, though they will have a tougher time dealing with higher staged areas. There will be more features coming online or iterated upon in the future to help support this change.
 * Coral Forest will have Stage 1-2 creatures.
 * Sargasso Sea will have Stage 3 creatures.
 * Diamondhead will have Stage 2-3 creatures.
 * Antarctica will have Stage 4 creatures.
 * Thumpers will spawn minimum difficulty creatures depending on the zone they are called down in. For example a stock thumper in Antarctica will spawn Stage 4 creatures since that zone is a Stage 4 zone.
 * Added some variant sounds to Chosen weaponry so not all of their rapid fire weapons sound the same.
 * Some polish was made to the first 5 minutes of the New User Experience.
 * Chosen Drop Pod encounters should now reward bonus XP when defeated.
 * There should now be a noticeable difference between normal aranha sacs and the aranha sacs that contain the giant aranha.
 * Players may now only issue duel requests when alive.
 * Incoming duel requests will be auto-declined unless the recipient is alive.
 * Adjusted the Land Shark so that it is more threatening at melee ranges in a fight.
 * Made adjustments to the loot tables and drop rate of Melded Muscle Tissue & Melded Blood Samples. These items should drop a little more frequently now. Please note that they are still not to be regarded as common drops.

Open World Bugfixes

 * Fixed some areas in Diamondhead where Teleport Shot could be used to pass through areas that were not intended to be passed through.
 * Fixed an issue where players would take no damage at the bottom of a lava stream in Diamondhead.
 * Fixed an issue where the lavafall in Diamondhead was not damaging players.
 * Fixed an issue where new players would spawn inside the Melding upon their first visit to Diamondhead.
 * Fixed an issue where the Mag Lift mission in Sargasso Sea was giving less rewards than expected.
 * Fixed an issue where scouts could call down drop pods within 300 meters of Copacabana.
 * Fixed an issue where disarmed mines would still explode and remove players from their LGVs.
 * Fixed an issue where a public user sending back a completed thumper would have a long delay before the thumper is recalled.
 * Fixed an issue where Chosen Invasion music could drop out and restart repeatedly.
 * Fixed an issue where players could see the Arclight although they couldn't see what was between them.
 * Fixed an issue where the Brinewyrm attack sound wasn't playing.
 * Fixed few collision and textures issues.
 * Fixed an issue where the waterfall of Sunken Harbor didn't have any origin.
 * Fixed an issue where the locks above the boxes weren't centered.
 * Fixed an issue where the Bandit Cache's leader was referred as "Bandit Grenadier" instead of "Bandit Leader".
 * Fixed an issue where the Tornadoes were missing sound effects.
 * Fixed an issue where NPC names would display as gibberish.
 * Fixed an issue where the Crystite Aranha Sieger's ranged attack would ignore its range limit.
 * Fixed an issue where after starting the Sunken Harbor LGV race, Terremoto destroys the LGV.
 * Fixed an issue at a Mushroom Island ARES space where you could look through the walls at a specific spot.
 * Fixed an issue where a foreign object was a part of the player's shadow.
 * The Data-Worm should no longer appear to bleed when it takes damage.
 * Adjusted the water depth of the river in Cerrado Plains.
 * The aggressive Culex should now play the proper death animation when the giant Culex is defeated, as opposed to simply disappearing.
 * Fixed an issue where Chosen Grunt Scouts would not walk properly.
 * Fixed an issue where all Brontodons have the title "Herdmaster Brontodon".
 * Fixed an issue where Melded Culex would fly under the ground.
 * Fixed an issue where the beam visual effects at Incursions would not display properly at certain angles.
 * Fixed an issue where Whiptail Threshers had a silent idle growl.
 * Fixed an issue where one of the Glider Pads in Sunken Harbor was in the floor.
 * Fixed an issue where Terremoto's dialogue was not synchronized with the LGV getting arc folded.
 * Fixed an issue where Terremoto's LGV Race would end directly after you begin.
 * Fixed an issue with the 'Bombing Run' achievement where players would get credit towards the achievement if killing less than 5 enemies in a single glider flight.
 * Fixed an issue where a player would get stuck in the duel state if the other player logs out during the countdown.
 * After disconnecting during starting missions, Aero will no longer play generic dialogue.
 * Fixed an issue where Chosen Strifebringers did not have visual effects associated with their destruction.

Instances Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue where the UI for the Queue isn't clearing after quitting the squad during an instance queue.
 * Fixed an issue where the stats from running Blackwater Anomaly were not showing properly.
 * Fixed an issue where some Chosen weren't spawning properly in Blackwater Anomaly.

Crafting Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue in which players were unable to claim their research job in the printer.
 * Fixed an issue where the component preview wasn't showing the right weight.
 * Fixed an issue where the Research button in the Molecular Printer wasn't fully responsive.

Items

 * Updated collision volumes on vehicle wheels to help prevent other players and NPCs from pushing around vehicles.
 * Raw resources can now be traded.

Items Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue where decals were not being placed on certain battleframes properly.
 * Fixed an issue in using the inventory, items pending deletion were auto cancelled.
 * Modified the rear wheel of the Vapor LGV so that it wouldn't appear to continually change shape on low graphics settings.
 * Fixed an issue where the LGV sound wasn't playing properly for remote players.
 * Fixed an issue where wearing the Chosen Mask mouth gear would not have the proper warpaint applied when wearing the Astrek Monocle gear.
 * Fixed an issue where the decals couldn't be equipped on the Dreadnaught Battleframe.
 * Fixed an issue where the LGV physics were not working as intended (it felt as though the LGV was driving on a slippery surface).
 * Fixed an issue where the Mouth Breather wasn't shown properly in New-You.
 * Fixed an issue where the LGV's were throwing off grass when driving on dirt roads.
 * Fixed an issue where Personal Thumpers weren't splitting the rewards properly in squads.
 * Fixed an issue with the Holo-Headdress name.
 * Fixed an issue where zooming with the Sniper Rifle caused a brief lag spikes and a drop in frames.
 * Fixed an issue where crafting components would not have the proper icons when listed in the Marketplace.
 * Fixed an issue where the act of picking up resources that came from surface deposits would not play a sound effect.
 * Fixed an issue where only Stage I Accord Absorption Plating would show in the Battleframe Abilities Inventory tab.
 * Fixed a camera issue when spawning a LGV on top of a glider pad.
 * Fixed an issue where the Angel Wings visual effects would continue to display on a player after landing from a short flight.
 * Fixed an issue where Resonating Bolts could not be listed on the Marketplace.

Social

 * Increased the Army cap to 100 players.

Social Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue where non-existent players could be sent friend requests.
 * Fixed an issue where items on the Marketplace would display different stats than they did in inventory.
 * Fixed an issue where using different accounts will tie to the same Facebook account for sharing screenshots.
 * Fixed an issue where players could not share their screenshot upon their first Facebook login.

User Interface

 * New ambient sounds have been added to character creation.
 * The Marketplace shouldn't close on character's movement, as it isn't a Terminal.
 * The Marketplace UI will no longer allow purchases of items that cannot be afforded. Instead of a red button, the buy button will be greyed out if the item cannot be afforded.
 * Waypoints may now be doubled clicked to set focus!
 * Waypoints now bring up a context menu when right clicked.

User Interface Bugfixes

 * Fixed an issue where the Token Vendor displays more slots than the token actually grants.
 * Fixed an issue where the Space key wasn't shown properly in French and German.
 * Fixed an issue where the Action Bar wasn't showing in the First 5 minutes of the new player experience.
 * Fixed an issue where the American Flag decal wasn't showing in the list properly.
 * Fixed an issue where the Red Bean count was lowered to 0 when purchasing items in New-You.
 * Fixed an issue where the Battleframe progression isn't costing Crystite.
 * Fixed an issue where the surroundings of Luau-Larry were missing except for the terminals.
 * Fixed an issue where the paint applied on the armor of the Recon Battleframe was showing on the bodysuit and vice-versa.
 * Fixed an issue where the decals couldn't be equipped on the Dreadnaught Battleframe.
 * Fixed an issue where the decals on the Tigerclaw were mirrored.
 * Fixed an issue where the players were unable to type in the Username field after logging off an account.
 * Fixed an issue where the some UI elements weren't opening properly.
 * Fixed an issue where Bird's Eye View's Achievement was stuck at 8/9.
 * Fixed an issue with the text of the Horn of Plenty displaying on NPCs, even though the effect isn't applied on them.
 * Fixed an issue where the waypoint sound effect would continually play while in the Battleframe Garage.
 * Fixed an issue where Marketplace searches were not performed in the selected game client language.
 * Fixed an issue where the HUD did not show the amount of stackable items in the calldown slot.
 * Fixed an issue where the chat Red 5 icon would display within the character's name when messaging in the French or German localized game clients.
 * Fixed various issues where German and French text was truncated in the French and German clients.
 * Fixed an issue where the reward popup when claiming a finished manufactured item would not display any stats.
 * Fixed some tooltip typos in the Crafting interface.
 * Fixed a typo in the Battleframe Garage in regards to SMG I.
 * Fixed an issue where title regions on the Dashboard would appear to be clickable upon mouseover. There are no hyperlinks associated with these regions.
 * Fixed an issue where tooltips would not display in the inventory after opening a right-click context menu.
 * Fixed an issue where opening the Marketplace caused the Red Bean Balance button in Inventory to have width errors.
 * Fixed an issue where tooltips on the Character Sheet would not update properly after changing battleframes.
 * Fixed an issue where toggling the option for PvE: Fly camera to respawn checkbox in options, the respawn camera would be the same.
 * Fixed an issue where the Club Thumping achievement incorrectly displayed that the Squad Thumper I was required for the achievement. It should now properly reflect that it requires a Stock Squad Thumper.
 * The flashlight tutorial tip should no longer display when a player is in flight on a Dropship and unable to activate their flashlight.
 * Fixed an issue where the Thumper status element would disappear (Personal Thumper III).
 * Fixed an issue where the Thumper status element would appear oversized.
 * Fixed an issue where players could not use the Username field after logging off.
 * Fixed an issue where Engineers would not have the proper pose/stance when previewing them with a secondary weapon in the Battleframe Garage.
 * Corrected the splash damage tip on Drowning Damage.
 * The key for the Army screen can now be changed in keybindings.
 * Fixed an issue where opening the Character Overview caused crashes in the New Player Experience.