Patch Notes - Update 1.9
- Raph
- 4 days ago
- 8 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Weapon System rework and Heroes Talents.
Quick note from our Game Lead:
As we tested and iterated more, a few things, however, became apparent :
On the surface level, it seemed that players generally found a set of weapons that they liked and stuck with those. Generally, this set tended to be the one with the broadest possible utility: long- and short-range damage for instance, in the same loadout.
While this is absolutely normal, our goal is for players to adapt their loadouts to the various situations that the game presents now, and will present with new game modes in the future. This is because we believe that these decisions and tradeoffs are what make games like Ranger Rumble more engaging and memorable for most players.
However, with a hero and 2 weapon slots freely changeable, our game ended up in a spot where whatever the problem thrown at players, they would not have a real reason to switch out their loadout. To encourage this, we can for instance, create missions for them to try new things, and we did, but this tended not to have any meaningful impact on whether or not new players felt like they wanted to come back after downloading. So our analysis is that the current loadout system does not cause any real arbitration to have to be made from the player. Builds are not required to be specific for a usage, so we have created the systems and incentives for their "broadness of utility" to be maximized.
As an example: in most games, equipping a sniper rifle will require you to play a certain way to maximise damage: stay hidden, long range, and be precise. In our case, simply equip a Burst Pistol along with your Headhunter, and suddenly all the strategic downside that comes with the powerful upside of the sniper weapon disappears.
Subsequently, in our view, this creates another issue: players don't seem to be really engaged in wanting to unlock new content in the future after just a few days of playing. This tends to tell us that the novelty factor wears off very quickly and doesn't translate to real engagement with the game. For a live service mobile game, this is obviously not ideal. We believe that this is because, given the limitations mentioned above, new content doesn't really "change" anything in the experience.
As an example of what I mean: If you unlock, say the buzz blades currently, you can equip them in the second slot, use them a little in a fight, but switch back to your sniper as soon as you're out of range. This could be said of a multitude of combinations. You will perceive some variety for sure, but will this be memorable? Will it cause you to think differently about the map, other heroes? For the very most engaged players, that would very likely be the case, but for most players we believe that it wouldn't.
Now, say you unlock Celeste post 1.9.0 update, the buzz blades are the single weapon you have, and you have a gadget that shoots a serious-damage Cryoslider projectile that can enable you to catch up with a target, or get them out of cover. But the usage of this gadget is limited and needs to be strategically thought out. Suddenly, trying out this character will offer a significantly different experience from a previous hero you might have used, which is very effective at long range only.
What we hope is that this will make it clear for new players and old alike that unlocking new characters creates real, engaging differences and makes people want to stick around.
Also, there is an additional thing we think makes this change worthwhile :
An often overlooked but essential part of shooter games is understanding what the opponent CAN do when you see them. "What's their range? What sort of behavior can I expect?" sort of quick questions you ask yourself before engaging
The freeform loadout system that we have built currently completely removes the possibility for this to be possible. Not only can any hero equip any weapon, but they can also have another hidden one!
Very experienced players will be able to tell which weapon is which, but the hero silhouette is much more telling, especially on smaller mobile screens, and therefore focusing on the hero as what determines the overall loadout will also help there!
⚠️ You will need to update your HUD as it will be reset; remember to do it before jumping into Battle! ⚠️
New Heroes Loadout:
Heroes now have a fixed loadout of one Main Weapon and one Gadget. Gadgets have a short cooldown between uses.
Hero | Weapon | Gadget |
Widget | Burst Pistol | Drill Thruster (new) |
Celeste | Buzz Blades | Cryo Slider |
Sprocket | Shatterbomb | Hoverboots |
Sparky | Pyrocitor | Hunter Mine Launcher |
Lil Ann | Blitz Gun | Whirling Blades (new) |
Chip | Tesla Claw | Glove of Doom |
Tempest | Cold Snap | Void Repulser |
Zed | Warmonger | Bombardier |
Mopz | Blackhole Storm | Voltage Drop (new) |
Grimshot | Headhunter | Holoshield Glove |
Lump | Lava Gun | Amoeboid Launcher |
The Enforcer and the Plasmastriker will be converted to Raritanium, as they are not yet assigned to a hero.
New Heroes Talents:
Hero | Talent 1 | Talent 2 |
Widget | Widget: Widget regenerates faster than other heroes. | Burst Pistol: Each shot now fires two projectiles instead of one. |
Celeste | Celeste: Celeste’s dash recharges faster. | Buzz Blades: The number of rebounds from the blades increases. |
Sprocket | Sprocket: Sprocket jumps higher from the ground. | Shatterbomb: Grenades release two bomblets after exploding. |
Sparky | Pyrocitor: After holding fire for a sufficient duration, the flame turns blue and inflicts more damage. | N/A |
Lil Ann | Lil Ann: Knocking out another ranger grants Lil Ann a temporary speed bonus. | Blitz Gun: Firing shortly after a dash delivers a more powerful shot. |
Chip | Glove of Doom: Each use now generates one additional Agent of Doom. | Tesla Claw: The Tesla Claw can now hit two enemies at the same time. |
Tempest | Void Repulser: When the shield breaks, it deals damage in an area in front of it. | Cold Snap: Projectiles leave ice shards on the ground after exploding. |
Zed | Zed: Zed is no longer slowed down when firing his weapon. | Warmonger: Fires two minirockets in addition to the usual one. |
Mopz | Blackhole Storm: The rate of fire can increase even further. | N/A |
Grimshot | Holoshield Glove: Shields now heal allies directly behind them. | Headhunter: Rivals are displayed through walls at the center of the reticle. |
Lump | Amoeboid Launcher: Small allied Amoeboids now spawn an acid puddle on death. | Lava Gun: Firing leaves lava on the ground, burning enemies standing on it. |
More Talents will be added in future updates.
New Heroes Upgrade Costs:
Level | Lorbs | (Common Hero) Qredits | (Rare Hero) Qredits | (Epic Hero) Qredits |
2 | 100 | 400 | 600 | 800 |
3 | 300 | 1,200 | 1,800 | 2,400 |
4 | 600 | 2,400 | 3,600 | 4,800 |
5 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 |
6 | 1,500 | 6,000 | 9,000 | 12,000 |
7 | 2,500 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 |
8 | 4,000 | 16,000 | 24,000 | 32,000 |
9 | 6,000 | 24,000 | 36,000 | 48,000 |
10 | 9,000 | 36,000 | 54,000 | 72,000 |
Total | 25,000 | 100,000 | 150,000 | 200,000 |
Changes to Lorbs:
Lorbs were replaced with dedicated Hero Lorbs you will need to collect to level up a chosen Hero.
You will get Hero Lorbs on the Medal Road, the Ranger Road, and in the shop as free items, or purchasable with Qredits or Raritanium, as well as offers.
Hero level conversions and ressource refund policy:
As we’re making major changes to the progression of the game, we wanted to clarify how we will refund the ressources that have been spent on weapons and heroes.
Here’s how the conversions will work
All Heroes will keep their level. A level 5 hero will remain level 5 in the new version.
Weapons that have been associated with a hero will be matched to that hero’s level.
For instance, if prior to the update you had
A level 1 Shatterbomb, and a level 5 Sprocket
You will keep you level 5 sprocket and your Shatterbomb, which is now linked to Sprocket, will also be level 5
Additionally :
All of the weapons that had been unlocked will be converted according to their level into specific hero lorbs and raritarium.
This means that all of the effort and time you’ve spent unlocking and upgrading your weapons will be converted into resources to upgrade your heroes
All of the unspent blueprints you own will be converted into Qredits, according to their rarity and quantity
All enhancements on weapons will be refunded in Power Cores that you can spend on your heroes
New Reebos drop rates:
Item | Common Reebo | Rare Reebo | Epic Reebo |
Qredits | 45% | 45% | 45% |
Raritanium | 1.67% | 1.67% | 1.67% |
Fashionium | 1.67% | 1.67% | 1.67% |
Lorb Common | 30% | 15% | 5% |
Lorb Rare | 15% | 20% | 15% |
Lorb Epic | 5% | 15% | 30% |
Core | 1.67% | 1.67% | 1.67% |
Note: Heroes will no longer appear in Reebos
Balancing:
Weapons turned into gadgets
Some weapons have been turned into gadgets. This change has resulted in a complete rebalancing of their values. These weapons are: Amoeboid Launcher, Bombardier, Cryoslider, Glove of Doom, Holoshield Glove, Hoverboots, Hunter Mine Launcher and Void Repulser.
New rarities
Rarity affects a weapon's damage. Now that weapons are assigned to heroes, some damage values have been adjusted to match their hero's rarity.
Blitz Gun
🔀 – Damage increased: 90 → 104
Buzzblades
🔀 – Damage increased: 10 → 13
Pyrocitor
🔀 – Damage increased: 25 → 33
Reload time and ammo
Reload times have been reduced since weapon switching is no longer possible. Some weapons have received additional ammo adjustments.
All weapons
📈 – Reload time decreased: approx. -40%
Tesla Claw
🔀 – Ammo decreased: 12 → 10 (but reloading is faster)
Pyrocitor
🔀 – Ammo decreased: 14 → 12 (but reloading is faster)
Lava Gun
🔀 – Ammo increased: 50 → 60 (but reloading is slower)
Range
We had previously significantly increased the range of weapons. This change still stands, but its impact has been slightly reduced. Also, the Warmonger’s range has been further reduced to counterbalance the weapon's multiple strengths.
All weapons
📉 – Weapon range decreased: approx. -12%
Warmonger
📉 – Range decreased: 40 → 30
Speed
Previous speed reductions were a bit too drastic. We've toned them down to preserve a smooth gameplay experience.
All weapons
📈 – Slowdown when firing decreased: approx. -25%
Other changes
Other weapons have received minor adjustments.
Shatterbomb
📈 – Damage increased: 73 → 75
Blackhole Storm
📉 – Damage decreased: 17 → 16
Headhunter
📉 – Damage decreased: 117 → 112
Cold Snap
📈 – Damage increased: 82 → 85
Buzzblades
📈 – Fire rate increased: 2 → 2.5
➡️ All values are expressed at level 1.
Q&A:
Q: What happens if I have a maxed hero before 1.9?
It stays maxed.
Q: What happens to my weapons?
Your weapons will be converted into the corresponding hero's lorbs (the hero who wields that weapon). You won't need to upgrade weapons anymore.
Blueprints will be converted into credits.
Plasmastriker will be converted to Raritanium, as it is not yet assigned to a hero.
Q: What's the new drop % for hero lorbs?
It's the hero lorbs drop % divided by the number of heroes you own.
Q: What happens if I have a maxed hero before 1.9?
Your weapon will still be converted into hero lorbs. The lorb count for that hero may exceed the current max level, since more levels might be added later.
Q: Will Weapon mods be refunded?
Yes, you will get the amount of Cores you invested.
Q: What will happen to the Plasmastiker? Plasmastriker will be converted to Raritanium, as it is not yet assigned to a hero.