2018 is kicking off with a bang! With the removal of Iron and Lead Loadout Cards, Merc and Weapon Balance pass, brand new DLC, changes to View Kick and much, much more! It’s time to get into the details of our next update, launching next week.

Removal of Iron and Lead Cards and Associated Changes

We detailed the removal of Iron and Lead Loadout Cards in a news post last year. Well, we’re happy to announce that those changes are happening in this update! The first part of the process is stemming the flow; ensuring that Iron and Lead Loadout Cards no longer drop in-game.

This means that Equipment Cases will no longer exist. In their place are two new types of case: Loadout Cases and Fragment Cases. Loadout Cases contain Bronze, Silver or Gold Loadout Cards and Fragment Cases drop Fragments in various numbers (20, 50 and 165).

Both drop occasionally on the post-game screen and Loadout cases will also be purchasable for 5,000 Credits in the Store (or in bundles of 5 and 10). They do not give you the chance to get Cobalt Loadout Cards (which can still be crafted in the Store, or dropped via Weekly Rewards), but have a much higher drop rate for Bronze, Silver and Gold Loadout Cards:

Loadout Case Chances Bronze 75% Silver 20% Gold 5%

Introduction of Prime Loadout Cases

As Dirty Bomb gets more and more Mercs, we’ve been acutely aware of how difficult it can feel to get the Loadout Card you want from our old cases. In this update we’re introducing Prime Loadout Cases; a new line of cases that are Merc specific. Not only that, but Prime Loadout Cases only contain Gold or Cobalt Loadouts.

This means that if you want a Gold or Cobalt Loadout for, say, Stoker you can now purchase a case specifically for him. You will also be able to purchase Prime Loadout Cases as bundles of 5 or 10 – but these will not be Merc specific, but will contain only Gold and Cobalt Loadout Cards. Elite Cases will no longer exist after this change, but any you already have in your inventory will remain unchanged.

Prime Loadout Case

Cost – $5.99 Chances Gold 85% Cobalt 15%

Changes to Arsenal Crates

With this update, going forward we will be replacing the Arsenal Crates gained on leveling up (beyond Level 7) with the new Progressive Advancement Crates.

This change is needed because much of the current Arsenal Crate contents are being drastically reworked or removed with this update. The overall average value of the Crate is being kept the same.

These Crates still include a variety of content and are rewarded when levelling up, they will now contain one of the following rewards:

New Contents 1x Loadout Case 6h Credit Booster 1,000 Crafting fragments 5x Craftings Kits 2x Weapon Kits 1x All-Merc Prime Loadout Case 10x Crafting Kits

Previously gained Arsenal Crates and their contents will remain unchanged if you have them unopened in your inventory. This change only applies to rewards gained going forward.

Changes to Daily Play Rewards

With the removal of Lead and Iron Loadout Cards we are also reworking the Daily Play Rewards that contain them. The Weekly Mk I, II and III Cases are being replaced and will now offer 100 Fragments instead.

The Mk IV Case will now be known as the ‘Performance Bonus Case’, but the contents will remain the same.

All Merc Pack and new DLC

One of the biggest changes to come with this latest update is the introduction of three new DLC packs on Steam, and three more in game.

Squad Pack – £12.99 / US$16.99

The Squad Pack offers a low cost buy-in for players looking to get a broad spread of Mercs (covering all classes) to start their Dirty Bomb career.

All Merc Pack – £29.99 / US$39.99

Our players have been asking for a ‘Lifetime Purchase’ option in Dirty Bomb for a while, but we also wanted to ensure that our existing players (many of whom own a large number of the Mercs) don’t feel excluded by the package. While the bundle is great value for players with a handful of Mercs,

Obsidian Operative Pack – £39.99 / US$59.99

The Elite All Merc Pack offers every existing and future Merc, along with 5 Obsidian Operative Skins. Stoker, Arty, Phoenix and Fletcher’s Obsidian Operative Skins return and there’s the introduction of Aimee’s new look. This will be a bundle on Steam containing two items; the Obsidian Operative Pack and the All Merc Pack.

The Obsidian Operative Pack can be bought separately, and contains the 5 Obsidian Operative Loadout Cards and the respective Mercs, but is much cheaper as part of the bundle.

Obsidian Operatives

Aimee Obsidian

The French Femme Fatale Aimee is the next Merc to receive the Obsidian Operative makeover. She’ll be available as part of the Obsidian Operative Pack, or available on her own in the Store.

Returning Obsidian Operatives

One question we have been asked a lot by newer players is “Are Obsidian Operative Skins returning to the game?” As you can see, we’re bringing back a handful of them to the game with this update. They will be available both as part of the Steam DLC and purchasable individually in game. You may have noticed that these Obsidian Operative Skins are to the previously released versions, tailored towards newer players.

New In-Game Packs

Gold Squad Alpha – £16.99 / US$21.99

Contains:

Arty + Gold D43 Revised Rifleman

+ Gold D43 Revised Rifleman Phoenix + Gold KE42 Boosted Operative

+ Gold KE42 Boosted Operative Fragger + Gold K51 Revised Gunner

+ Gold K51 Revised Gunner Aimee + Gold P81 Enhanced Sniper

Gold Squad Bravo – £21.99 / US$28.99

Contains:

Redeye + Gold G75 Veteran Sniper

+ Gold G75 Veteran Sniper Fletcher + Gold A31 Guardian Close Assault

+ Gold A31 Guardian Close Assault Guardian + Gold HU52 Original Rifleman

+ Gold HU52 Original Rifleman Thunder + Gold MA42 Revised Gunner

+ Gold MA42 Revised Gunner Javelin + Gold SH41 Vintage Rifleman

Gold Squad Charlie – £21.99 / US$28.99

Contains:

Kira + Gold S81 Expert Rifleman

+ Gold S81 Expert Rifleman Rhino + Gold A61 Premium Close Assault

+ Gold A61 Premium Close Assault Sparks + Gold 172 Service Agent

+ Gold 172 Service Agent Proxy + Gold H23 Immaculate Close Assault

+ Gold H23 Immaculate Close Assault Phantom + Gold BL64 Premium Operative

View-Kick Changes

In a recent Dev Q&A Video we discussed Dirty Bomb’s implementation of In this update we are making the first changes to the view-kick system, detailed below:

View-kick (a.k.a. flinching, a.k.a. aimpunch) is a key mechanic in the gunplay of Dirty Bomb which is intended to create counter-play between weapons of different archetypes, as well as indicate to the player with a degree of urgency that they are taking damage. It is also intended to offer some benefit to the player who lands a shot first, .

One of the hard-learned lessons of DB’s live phase has been the risk of making changes with no telemetry, but due to our recent work in this area we’ve been able to take a more scientific look at the current implementation. The following are view-kick calculation changes which we hope will significantly improve the feel on the receiving end of this mechanic:

Problem Identified:

We have identified an issue with view-kick which would allow certain weapons to “stack” view-kick. This meant the player on the receiving end’s view would climb, rather than reset to the original position before the next shot hit.

This only impacted a few weapons, but was particularly noticeable on the Hochfir, Hurtsall 2K and Burst-fire Rifles.

What We’ve Done:

In order to address this issue, we have decreased time to recover by 40% for view-kick. This is a change that will impact all weapons, but should be a fairly noticeable improvement to the previously problematic weapons.

This change means that all weapons will no longer be able to climb by stacking view-kick. This should make the feel on the receiving end more controllable without losing the tactical feedback.

We will closely monitor telemetry and your feedback regarding this change once it goes live, and will iterate and improve on it as needed. As ever, please be sure to let us know what you think on the Official Forums or Reddit.

Merc Balance Changes

As part of our ongoing quest to improve game balance, this update’s Merc balance pass aims to address some of the more polarizing Mercs which are over- and under-used in all levels of play. Highly-used Mercs such as Fragger and Aura are significantly more in line with the rest of the Mercs now, although there are still some improvements which can made.

This update also aims to address a variety of common community concerns regarding some of the Mercs.

Aura

Aura still proves highly popular across the board and is out-performing other medics in Dirty Bomb. Repositioning the Healing Station is a core tactic for Aura, although her reclaimed cooldown is much higher than other Mercs – this should be consistent across the board with all reclaimable deployables. Also, at times it’s also a little too tricky to take out the Healing Station; because of this, it should be easier to take out with Sniper Rifles, as well as being easier to destroy overall, with abilities such as explosives.

Reclaim energy lowered to 65% (was 80%) for consistency with other reclaimable deployables

Healing Station health reduced to 75 (was 90)

Fragger

Our telemetry shows that Fragger is still a must-pick in many team compositions and out-performs many other Mercs in his role. His high health is a key aspect that makes him such a great pick over other Mercs; with a small health reduction, along with a speed increase to compensate, this will retain his fire-power and aggressive play-style, but reduce his ‘tankiness’ slightly.

Reduced

Movement speed increased to 390 (was 385)

Guardian

Guardian’s Bionic Pulse is a useful tool for reviving multiple allies at once, however its lengthy cooldown for a full charge means a lot of players tap-revive a downed ally, rather than revive them with higher health. With a lower cooldown it should make charging the Bionic Pulse for a full health revive, more optimal for Guardian than it is currently.

Reduced maximum cooldown on Bionic Pulse to 5 seconds (was 10 seconds)

Javelin

Javelin’s Rocket acceleration was a mechanic that was implemented to negate its effectiveness and speed at close range. This didn’t have the intended effect and overall made the Rocket a little too hard to control in the player’s hands. To compensate for the removal of this function, the charge-up time has been increased to give even more warning before the Rocket Launcher is fired.



Increased charge-up time to 1.5 seconds (was 1.2 seconds)

Proxy

Being 1-shot by a Mine can be frustrating and often feel unfair, so the damage reduction should reduce the chance of being 1-shot unless you are stood almost directly on the Mine. The recent radius reduction is also being reverted, as this caused her Mines to become much less effective as a trap, as it was easier to escape the blast radius before they detonated.

Damage reduced to 150 (was 180)

Damage radius increased to 240 (was 208)

Sparks

To encourage team work and a less selfish play-style from Sparks, her self-healing is being reduced slightly and her ally healing is being increased. Currently she is a little too good at escaping and quickly healing back up to full health, before reengaging before her enemy has had time to heal or regroup.

Medic and self-healing amount from Med Packs reduced to 25 (was 30)

Ally healing amount from Med Packs increased to 45 (was 40)

Thunder

With Fragger receiving a movement speed increase, Thunder’s slow speed makes him a little too slow to engage into fire-fights at times. This should allow him to get into the action a little quicker, as well as retain the same speed difference between Fragger and Thunder.

Movement speed increased to 380 (was 375)

Turtle

Turtle’s Shield Generator can play a pivotal role in defending an Objective or covering his allies. However, it can prove a little too effective at times in choke-points, with very little the enemy team can do to break past the barrier. A lower base unit health encourages Turtle to position his shield carefully, and the bullet multiplier increase will make taking out the shield with regular gun-fire a little easier.

Shield base Health decreased to 90 (was 120)

Bullet damage multiplier on Shield increased to 0.9x (was 0.8x)

XP Changes

Fragger

Enemy damaged by Frag Grenade increased to 30 XP (was 20 XP)

Kira

Call-in Orbital Laser reduced to 25 XP (was 30 XP)

Damage with Orbital Laser reduced to 15 XP (was 20 XP)

Redeye

Spotting increased to 35XP (was 20XP)

Thunder

Concussed enemy increased to 60 XP (was 40 XP)

Vassili

Spotted with Heartbeat Sensor increased to 80 XP (was 60 XP)

Weapon Balance Changes

Assault Rifles

Dreiss AR

The Dreiss AR is a little hard to control in its current state, with its large spread and horizontal recoil being the main contributing factors. Because of this, they have been lowered slightly to allow for a little more control over the weapon.

Maximum spread decreased by ~15%

Horizontal recoil decreased by ~20%

Burst-Fire Rifles

Our telemetry shows that Burst-Fire Rifles are under-performing since the recent balance update. We agree with the community feedback that there were a few too many changes at once, and the horizontal recoil increase impacted the performance of these a lot. Because of this, we have reduced the horizontal recoil to how it was prior to the recent balance update.

BR-16

Horizontal Recoil decreased by ~25%

Stark AR

Horizontal Recoil decreased by ~33%

Machine Pistols

Machine Pistols are often compared to SMGs because of their fire-rate and high damage output, however their intended purpose is to be secondary weapons. They should function as low damage, fast fire-rate side-arms which are useful for finishing off foes, but not have the sustained damage and accuracy of an SMG.

MP400

The MP400 did a lot of damage per shot compared to the other two Machine Pistols, which didn’t really fit with the behaviour of a machine pistol. Because of this its damage-per-shot has been lowered, while the fire-rate has been increased to ensure the DPS is roughly the same. It was also a little good at range compared to other Machine Pistols, so this has also been adjusted accordingly.

Damage decreased to 10 (was 11)

RPM increased to 667 (was 619)

Capacity decreased to 20 (was 25)

Minimum range decreased to 600 (was 650)

Maximum range decreased to 1200 (was 1300)

Tolen MP

Telemetry shows that the Tolen MP is under-performing in comparison to the other Machine Pistols. Tightening up its spread plays more into its accuracy niche, along with receiving similar alterations to the other Machine Pistols.

Capacity decreased to 25 (was 30)

Maximum spread decreased by ~20%

Minimum range decreased to 650 (was 700)

Maximum range decreased to 1300 (was 1400)

Empire-9

The Empire-9 is highly effective due to its fast fire-rate and large magazine, which maked its behavior a little too close to an SMG. Its role should be further defined as a Machine Pistol, so the magazine reduction and increased maximum spread will help contribute to this in its behavior.

Capacity decreased to 30 (was 35)

Maximum spread increased by ~15%

Revolvers

Simeon .357

Our telemetry showed that the Simeon .357 proved to be lowest performing secondary across the board, in high- and low-end play. Tightening up the spread and speeding up the reload will give it more of a lighter and faster niche of the revolvers, compared to the heavier and harder-hitting Smjüth & Whetsman .40.

Reload time decreased to 1.6 seconds (was 1.9 seconds)

Minimum spread decreased by ~20%

Maximum spread decreased by ~10%

Shotguns

The recent shotgun changes were a step in the right direction for the However, their long range was a little jarring in comparison with player expectations. They should retain their effectiveness as close and medium range, although their maximum range has been reduced so that it player expectations of a shotgun’s behavior. A faster reload time has also been implemented to negate more of the down-time between shooting, to allow for more sustained fire.

Hollunds 880

Total reload time decreased to 2.3 seconds (was 2.45 seconds)

Minimum range increased to 420 (was 380)

Maximum range decreased to 1450 (was 1750)

Remburg 7

Total reload time decreased to 2 seconds (was 2.3 seconds)

Minimum range increased to 350 (was 320)

Maximum range decreased to 1300 (was 1500)

Ahnuhld-12

Total reload time decreased to 2.45 seconds (was 2.7 seconds)

Minimum range increased to 500 (was 470)

Maximum range decreased to 1600 (was 2000)

Bolt-Action Sniper Rifles

Both the MoA SNPR-1 and the FEL-IX have received further adjustments to their fire-interval animation timings, to make to make it clearer when the next shot is ready to fire. Because of this, they have a shorter case eject period, which also means that when you switch away from your Sniper Rifle without loading the next round, it will be less punishing when you switch back to it.

In spite of the FEL-IX being the harder-hitting of the two Bolt-Action Sniper Rifles, the MoA SNPR-1 is still favoured in comparison. Speeding up the fire-rate of the FEL-IX slightly should improve its overall feel to play with, and lowering the MoA SNPR-1’s capacity should give the FEL-IX more of a niche by allowing longer, sustained fire. The MoA SNPR-1’s magazine capacity has been increased to ensure it has approximately the same ammo capacity overall.

MoA SNPR-1

Capacity decreased to 5 (was 6)

Starting magazines increased to 4 (was 3.5)

Faster case ejection animation (fire-rate unchanged)

FEL-IX

RPM increased to 36 (was 34)

Faster case ejection animation

Semi-Auto Sniper Rifles

PDP-70

The PDP-70 is in a better spot now, with less of a reliant on high fire-rate spam, and more of a focus of concentrated fire to take down your target quickly. It’s lower capacity magazine contributes to this, although its reload time was very lengthy in comparison to other semi-auto rifles, especially given its lower magazine capacity. Reducing recoil, reload time and damage-per-shot, brings it more on par with other semi-automatic rifles overall.

Damage reduced to 45 (was 50)

Reload time decreased to 2.5 seconds (was 2.8 seconds)

Vertical recoil decreased by ~25%

Grandeur SR

The Grandeur SR should be able to headshot and bodyshot combo a 110 HP Merc, which currently isn’t possible, meaning it would take at least 2 headshots, or 4 bodyshots to kill the majority of Mercs in Dirty Bomb. Because of this, the damage has been altered very sligthly in order to allow for this combo to be successful on 110 HP Mercs.

Damage increased to 38 (was 36)

Map Fixes

Chapel

New updated minimap bringing it in line with Castle and Vault’s

Moved objective markers to be either above or below likely player locations

Fixed issue where you could not throw packs over objects by the: CDA bridge Foundry balcony Warehouse backyard Defenders final spawn ramp Construction tunnel arches Tall walls in the restaurant yard

Fixed bug with Kira’s laser near the final objective not reaching the ground

Fixed bug where you could call in airstrike or orbital laser to kill players inside of the restaurant staircase wall

Fixed bug where you could call in airstrike or orbital laser inside the bell foundry

Fixed bug where you could call in artillery or orbital laser inside the construction arches

Removed two small lamps by final EV MG to prevent them interfering with arty and orbital laser placement

Stopped you being able to set deployables outside playing area near attackers spawn and restaurant back alley

Updated collision to prevent mid-air deployables in the EV lift

Fixed missing collisions on arch by final EV MG

Fixed an issue where angled collision made a unintended trick jump easier, infront of the first objective warehouse

Fixed several locations where you could see outside of the world Behind a construction barrier on low settings By the restaurant back alley By car park

Fixed missing shadows on secondary bridge

Fixed the end of the secondary bridge appearing black

Fixed LODing issues behind attackers spawn

Fixed missing texture on roof by secondary ramp

Fixed asset clipping through floor

Fixed z fighting issues across map

Fixed inconsistent texturing in restaurant back alley

Lightened final defenders spawn

New night time cubemap

Fixed railing lightmapping

Castle

Fixed Helicopter not playing audio

Fixed missing CDA Commander VO

Fixed Commanders Win/Loss VO not playing at the end of the match

Fixed missing Commander VOs and subtitles

Stopped the audio for completing objective 2 playing when completing objective 3

Made audio from secondary objectives doors 3d rather than 2d

Underground

New updated minimap bringing it in line with Castle and Vault’s

Moved objective markers to be either above or below likely player locations

Prevented you getting out of map via grenade jumps on first and second objective

Fixed issue where light penetrates into lift

Fixed missing texture in tunnel roof

Updated collision around tunnel in pump room landing

Fixed floating dirt pile in Overflow corridor

Fixed ground collisions in pump room

Fixed no water footsetps in running water

Fixed arms clipping through secondary barriers on second objective

Fixed ability to see out of world in Overflow corridor on min settings

Fixed incorrect minimap showing when around refugee tents

Fixed clipping issue near bottom of second elevator

Other Changes and Fixes

Fixed a bug with in-game language settings being reversed to English (default) after updating DB

Fixed a bug where completing the Assault Course with a score above bronze rank will not grant players the previous trinket rank or achievement

Fixed a bug where a few players were randomly kicked by EAC from a server

Fixed a bug where Skyhammer’s Airstrike loses FULL cooldown when Marker is destroyed by Sky Shield

Fixed a bug with Fel-ix cocking sound not playing

Fixed a bug with Airstrikes and Construct not counting for Job on the Side

Fixed a bug with Trinkets not displaying in game during a CMM match

Fixed a bug where players could not reconnect to Ranked games after a disconnect

Fixed a bug could still get ‘Abandons’ for leaving the match after last Objective is completed

Fixed a bug with the “Return to Party” button in CMM post-game triggering a match found/Accept audio

Fixed a bug on weapon skins, where the Simeon .357 , Clauden and Hoigat .224 had a texture covering the barrel hole

Fixed a bug where the muzzle flash on all Timik-47 weapon skin variants was flashing the entire gun model

Fixed a bug with Ranked mode unlocked referenced as Competitive Stopwatch

Fixed a bug with Recharge being still shown as 10%, even though this had been changed to 15%

Fixed a bug with Kira’s targeting the orbital laser, which made it incredibly tedious to target around slopes/terrain

Fixed a bug with Phoenix’s ‘Healing Pulse’ not counting towards the ‘Nurse’ achievement

Fixed a bug where the Starter Pack pop-up could re-appear once a week

Known Issues

Ranked Boosters are currently not displaying additional points. These points are still being earned but not displayed.

Hotfix – 25th January