Hello Prospectors! Patch 3.4.0 has been cooking behind the scenes for a little while now, and it's finally ready to be served. Complete with seasonings, a tall drink, and a few changes that might catch your interest, we're following up on some changes from 3.2 and 3.3 while also addressing some issues that have been highlighted by our community. On the menu today will be additional AI changes, a balance pass on some of our early game weapons, the usual stomping of a few pesky bugs and exploits, an adjustment to Tharis storm cycles, and yes, an adjustment to Progenitor Slags. We recently discussed in our Discord Server that we're taking some time to focus on repaying technical debts and relooking into systems to have more flexibility with our code in order to make things more smooth, however a lot of these things are not necessarily "player-facing" so we will use these notes to focus on changes that you will see and experience directly within the game. As always, be sure to let us know what you think of the new changes after you've downloaded the new update, and we will continue to monitor and address them as soon as we can. Onto the notes! [h1]Balancing/Weapons[/h1] Weapon Balance, my old friend, it's nice to see you again! As a fun fact from our data, the three weapons that are the most requested to receive a balance pass are the Manticore, AR-55, and C-32 Bolt Action. This is something that we are always investigating and keeping tabs on behind the scenes, but after our feedback from the 3.2 patch, it seemed there were a few weapons that needed a bit more than just a damage value changed, so we've made a few more changes to lightly poke the meta to encourage a nice mix of weapons and keep things feeling fresh with your encounters. The vision that is planted in our brains here is to make sure our early game weapons feel like early game weapons without nerfing them into the ground or making them unusable in engagements with higher-geared players. However, with a TTK this short, sometimes that perfect balance can be hard to find. Having said that, minor changes are the plan for this one, let us know what you think! [b]Manticore (MK1 & MK2):[/b] [list] [*] Magazine size: 24 -> 22 [*] Headshot multiplier: 1.5 -> 1.4 [/list][b]AR-55(Rusty, MK1 & MK2):[/b] [list] [*] Projectile speed: 36400 -> 34200 [/list][b]PDW (Rusty, MK1 & MK2):[/b] [list] [*] Increased hip shot spread by 15% [*] Damage falloff multiplier: 0.7 -> 0.6 [/list][b]C32(MK1 & MK2):[/b] [list] [*] Damage falloff multiplier: 1.0 -> 0.7 [/list] [h1]Matchmaking Changes[/h1] We've heard your feedback that something just doesn't feel quite right, and we've noticed it in our matches as well. In order to address it, we've done some deep dive investigating to answer a few questions: Is matchmaking working as intended? Is "beginner matchmaking" working properly? Now this covers a really wide range of variables and not every player's reported issue can lead to the same outlier in the way our game matchmakes, but we've made some major changes to the way our matchmaking registers and removes players on a server, to prevent server over population, which we believe should fix squad separation issues as well. We intend to continue keeping a close eye on this topic, so please don't hesitate to reach out and let us know if you experience or notice any differences! [h1]Anti-Cheat Improvements[/h1] Fighting cheating is our number one priority, and we are aware that for some of our players the current state of the game is not ideal. As with every patch, 3.4.0 will contain various backend improvements and tweaks to our anti-cheat formula. In addition, we have added new systems to the game to help detect and prevent the kinds of cheats we have found to be the most common. While we would love to go into detail about exactly what is being changed, any info we give on our methods is unfortunately information that can be used to circumvent those methods. Regardless, we do expect that these changes should have a noticeable effect on the state of the game, and we will be monitoring them closely after they go live and adjusting them as necessary. If you would like to contribute to the games anti-cheat efforts, reports are always one of the most useful resources at our teams disposal. Simply sending a report in-game can go a long way, and you can also make use of our #reports-and-appeals channel in our official Discord server if you would like to give some more detailed information to our anti-cheat team or would like to include a video clip with your report. We hope these changes go a long way towards improving your experience on Fortuna, until next time Prospectors! [h1]Changes[/h1] [list] [*] Insurance payout timer has been increased from 45 minutes to 6 hours in order to combat a known item duplication exploit [list][*] This one is a significant change for us, and we discussed methods to address item duplication in a way that was quick and impactful. This change will ensure the game instance has shut down and all players have left the instance before dishing out insurance reimbursements. [*] Additionally and for clarity, players participating in this exploit will receive a ban if they are found to be duplicating items. Don't give into the temptation![/list][*] We've adjusted tuning of creature proximity senses as a follow up from patch 3.3.0 [*] We've adjusted Crusher and Marauder aggro so that disengaging with the fiercest of terrestrial creatures isn't as difficult. No more Jeffs launching interplanetary acid bombs across the map as you run away clutching your last stim [*] Storm cycles on Tharis Island have been shortened by lowering the time between storms from 25 minutes to 21 minutes to make forging feel less tedious. Duration of the storm remains unaffected [*] Slightly increased the probability of receiving Progenitor Slag as a byproduct of forging from 10% to 13% [*] Decreased the required amount of slags for final safe pocket upgrade from 3 to 2 [*] Windfall's Shop received some swanky new images to showcase item bundles [/list] [b]Bugfixes[/b] [list] [*] Weapon, melee, and consumable textures should no longer disappear after using a throwable consumable. For real though this time [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit above Green's Prospect Garage [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit near Osiris Research Center [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit near the lab at Rock Pools [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit at Pinnacle Labs [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit near Favela [*] Fixed an out of bounds exploit near Skeleton Observation Site [*] Fixed an unintended area near Waterfall Labs [*] Fixed an unintended area near Korolev HQ [*] Fixed an unintended area near Rock Pools [*] Fixed a "stuck spot" at Root Rock Tunnel [*] Fixed a "stuck spot" at Fallen Tree [*] Fixed a "stuck spot" at a specific building near Hay Fields [*] The Howler took a few more aviation lessons and should no longer get stuck on environmental objects [*] Fixed several hiding spots that could be abused by using certain emotes in bodies of water. [*] Fixed an area where players could clip through and hide on the Laser Drill [*] Fixed an exploit that allowed players to climb to the top of the dungeon on Crescent Falls [*] Adjusted a spawn point on Tharis Island that was a bit too close to AI creatures [*] Fixed a damage mitigation bug that could occur with the Jungle Bandit archetype [*] Fixed a rendering/collision issue with a vehicle in Pumpkin Fields [*] Fixed an issue that allowed players to move while emoting [*] Fixed an issue with some keybinds not being present when using an AZERTY keyboard. Don't get caught inspecting your weapons too often now though [*] Fixed an issue that could cause the game to crash in the event a Player Report came back with an error [*] Fixed a exploit regarding Free Loadout Runs and claimed insurances [*] Fixed a collision issue with a tree root near Pumpkin Fields and Starport Landing Pad. We're prospectors, not termites [*] Fixed an issue with a weapon's weight being affected by the ammo weight reduction perk. [*] Fixed an issue with the explosive damage perk reducing damage from storm strikes and fauna damage [*] Fixed a visual issue with the "Top Tiktok Howler Creators" decal on the station [*] Fixed an issue where a player would be redeployed to the same map if foamed while disconnected instead of being sent back to the station [*] Addressed missing localization for the "Email" textbox in the Newsletter (DE, ES, FR, IT, JP, KR. PL. PT, RU, CN) [*] Fixed an issue with faulty SFX when attacking Blast Ticks with a melee weapon [*] Fixed an issue with the Fortuna Pass displaying incorrect rewards when skipping levels using Aurum [*] Relocated a mysterious floating rail at Favela to its proper location [*] Fixed an issue with broken armor UI still showing the broken icon after being repaired [*] Fixed an issue causing Error Code ## with some players when dropping [*] Fixed an issue with squad separation not functioning as intended. You should only see parties of the same size deploying to the planet in Trusted Matchmaking[/list] [list] [*] Known Issues & Things We Are Working On™ [/list] While some of these issues might take a bit longer, we are still investigating and aim to find fixes and address these as soon as we can. [list] [*] We are aware of your feedback that you want to see a default weapon skin setting. [*] We are investigating changes to the process of selling items smoother. [*] Deysnc Issues - we are cautiously keeping an eye on this topic and working with players where possible to investigate these instances. [*] Getting kicked back to the lobby is currently under investigation. [*] We received a bunch of reports that performance has taken a hit in Season 3 and are investigating. [*] Our Welcome Packs descriptions need to be reworded to reflect the disappearance of mandatory wipes. [*] Streaming tools can lead to crashes for some players. [*] Additionally for those of you who read our little messages at the bottom, Patch 3.5.0 is scheduled for June 28th, so no need to wonder which Wednesday it'll be! Also, you're wonderful and don't ever forget that. [/list] As usual, don't forget to join us on Discord (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) and make sure to follow us on Twitter (https://twitter.com/TheCycleGame) Don't forget: Fortuna Favors the bold!