Hello Prospectors! It is time for the next update. Patch 1.3.8 is here, and we have a bunch of fixes and changes for you. Huh, 1.3.8? Didn’t we skip a few numbers? Yes and no.Some stuff is too small for a full patch, like quick hotfixes and ninja updates that don’t require maintenance. Those still get a version number though, hence the discrepancy between the last patch and this one. Hope that’ll clear up some confusion! Anyhow, let’s just dive right into those patch notes! [h2]Changes[/h2] [list] [*] We have reduced some of the PVP mission requirements. [*] Kills required in the adjusted missions now require 1 or 2 fewer victims. [*] A similar change to PvE: we have tweaked some of the numbers for mid and late-game hunting missions. [*] Epic Shield: Reduced Smart Mesh and Hardened Bone Plates requirement from 3 to 2. [*] Laser Drill Beacon: Reduced Smart Mesh requirement from 4 to 2. [*] After further analyzing our data on PvP encounters, the maximum number of players active on an instance has been reduced by 1, for both maps. [*] We have tinkered with our matchmaking to protect fresh players better and to increase the challenge for good squad players. This adjustment will also slightly adjust the experience for good solo players. [*] We’ve given Jeff, our beloved Marauder, a brand-new attack. Watch out for his antics. [*] Players in the tutorial will now wear blue armor instead of green armor. A dead recruit isn’t a great recruit after all. [*] Weapon Adjustments [list] [*] Bulldog: Increased spread by 30%. [*] Advocate: Reworked the recoil pattern. [*] Horizontal recoil does not go back and forth like a feral animal anymore. [*] Kor-47: Reduced initial vertical recoil. Vertical recoil is more consistent. [*] ASP Flechette Gun: Reduced horizontal recoil. Vertical recoil is slightly increased for the second half of the magazine. [*] Voltaic Brute: Reduced horizontal recoil. Vertical recoil is slightly increased for the second half of the magazine. [/list][/list] Some additional words from our Creative Director Daze on the state of balancing: [i]"Where are we in terms of balancing at the moment? In general, we see that people are starting to use late-game gear increasingly, as we get further into the season (great!).We also see that the better the gun and armor, the more likely you are to win a fight (by quite a bit).This data is a bit tricky to interpret, as it is muddled, somewhat, by the fact that the better gun you have, the more experienced in the game you are likely to be - but:Overall, we are getting to a spot where guns perform roughly as we would want them to, where: [list] [*] If you have higher-tier gear, you are significantly more likely to win a fight... [*] ...but not by so much that a player with grey gear has zero chance even when outsmarting their opponent[/list]What we are tuning weapons-wise for this patch is the recoil of late-game guns, making them slightly less "across the board unruly" (what we want is more of a mix in each tier of different recoil behaviors). When it comes to armor and pricing, we are making Epic armor slightly easier to craft. We want to be in a place (once again, it is a tough balance to strike!) where: [list] [*] Late-game players do take their top-tier gear into raids... [*] ...but not always (we do not want it to be a no-brainer either)[/list]Basically: We want it to be a tactical choice, when and if to bring what gear, also at late-tier play.(Of course, a big deterrent from going in with the most expensive gear is getting killed by a cheater - more on that below.) Let us know what you think and keep the feedback coming!"[/i] [h2]Bugfixes[/h2] [list] [*] We have fixed an exploit in the final area of the Crusher Caverns. [*] Fixed some specific cases where the audio profile of a player did not reset when exiting a cave. [*] Fixed an issue where a Crusher’s projectile would just remain stuck on them after being shot in their weak spot. The pain dishing will resume appropriately. [*] Fixed an issue with the pathfinding of Striders. They finally learned to read a map. [*] Fixed an issue that would appear when skipping Tech Tree upgrades. [*] Fixed an issue where sounds just disappeared, like the cries of a helpless Prospector lost in the vacuum of space. [*] Improved server performance and applied a fix for server crashes. Your overall experience should be smoother now. [*] A couple more fixes were applied previously, so just in case you’ve missed them: [*] Players who owned the Ronin in the previous version of the game will now have access to all their outfit pieces. [*] Players who owned the Troublemaker in the previous version of the game will now have access to all their outfit pieces. [/list] [h2]MISC[/h2] [list] [*] After reviewing our data, we have reduced some detection thresholds for our internal anti-cheat measures. Reducing these thresholds means the security gets tightened. [/list] [h2]Known Issues[/h2] [list] [*] The Biker Queen image shows black hair, though she has white hair. [*] A Player Quarter upgrade may take longer than expected, this can take up to 24h longer than usual. [*] We have changed the Player Support tool in the game already, but it is currently not possible to send us tickets on the website. [/list] Finally, we’d like to share a quick update on something Daze mentioned above (you folks in here most likely have seen the cheater dev update video already): https://youtu.be/BWqObcONL6w We are currently working on a lot of improvements on the anti-cheat front, as outlined in the video below. We recommend giving it a quick watch if you haven’t yet. The compensation feature is on a good track and we are looking into some additional methods to provide an experience as tedious as possible for cheaters and RMT folks alike. Make sure to join our Discord server (https://discord.com/invite/thecycle) and our subreddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCycleFrontier/) Do not forget – Fortuna favors the bold!