Mage Class, 2 New Maps & More

Hey guys!

Sorry it's taken a while to get this one out. This patch introduces the first class addition to the game. I've been wanting to do this since forever and it's finally here! Please bear in mind this is just the first iteration, there will still be many changes going forward. I've now got the systems in place to make new classes, weapons and abilities, so you can expect more classes coming out soon. Expect classes such as Warrior, Rogue & Priest first!

Important note on matchmaking:

Starting off the patch with a bit of bad news. Our third party matchmaking provider is no longer running. This means matchmaking has and will remain unusable until we re-do how it all works. This will take a while but will come back again soon. Sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime. Custom games, training range and the tutorial all work as normal. If you're looking for people to play with, everyone is welcome in our discord !

New Mage Class Preview:

Please note, this is just the first iteration, I will be expanding on the class to make it feel more unique in upcoming patches, along with adding new abilities for the different ability/ultimate slots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BeF5HkFhFC0

Combat & Abilities:

LMB: Frostbolt, 0.5s draw time (10 - 25 damage)

RMB: Fireball, 3.0s draw time (25 - 125 damage)

Ability 1: Icebound Orb: Throw out an orb which will detonate after 5s, can be shot to detonate early. Applies a brief slow and deals 50 damage to anyone hit

Ability 2: Iceblock: Become immune to all damage and regenerate health every second whilst active

Ability 3: Alter time: Activate to create a position in time, after 6 seconds recall back to the position. Can be activated early

Ultimate: Glacial Ascension: Charge up a strong attack that propels you upwards and briefly slows players around you

Movement:

Blink: Teleport a short distance in either the facing direction or key direction. This ability has 2 charges.

Blazing Speed: Light your boots on fire and greatly increase you move speed for 2 seconds

Void Rift: Throw out a portal in front of you and after a short delay teleport to it. This ability has 2 charges

New Maps: Gladiator Isle & Sanctum (S)

The goal with Sanctum (S) was to make it more of a duel map rather than be big enough for 2v2 and 3v3 as well. I'll be doing more duel maps in future patches!

Main Menu:

New intro animation when entering the main menu

New idle animation pose for the menu character

New idle animation for the character on the main menu screen

Only one player will show on the main menu screen until a player joins your party

Updated menu styling, sfx and vfx

General Gameplay Changes

Reduced round timer from 90s to 45s (this is when the zone will come into play as well)

All cooldowns now reset when the gates open

You can now swap to knife by pressing 2 or 3, making you run slightly faster

Increased loadout phase duration from 5s to 7s

Buff now takes 3 seconds to capture instead of being instant

Added functionality to give charges to abilities

Ultimates are now available at the start of each round. The goal of ultimates in this game are to be slightly stronger abilities, not one shot kill buttons

The zone vfx has been updated

Class Changes

Void rift now has 2 charges

Increased void rift cooldown from 10s > 16s

Void rift only available on mage class

Explosive arrow explosion now has LOS check added from centre of the explosion

Shadowform, reduced cooldowm from 110s > 50s

Shadowform, duration reduced from 12s > 6s

Powershot, reduced damage from 200 > 85(50 physical and 35magical), cooldown reduced from 140s > 60s

Updated Powershot SFX

Server Locations:

Two new server locations have been added this patch, Dubai and Johannesburg.

Custom Games:

We've added a new server browser to view active game lobbies. Some extra information and fixed some syncing issues between party data in the lobby.

Training Range:

The training range has been adjusted and polished up a bit. Making it easier to test abilities and practice against bots. You can now press ALT to open up the hero tools to remove cooldowns. Expect more to be added into the hero tools soon, if you have any ideas let me know!

UI/UX

Class icons added

Class icons update on the vitals, scoreboard and arena scoring panel

New ability ready sfx & vfx

New ability layout, making it clearer and visually easier on the eyes (there is a cantered layout coming soon as well)

Each class has a respective UI color

Move the ultimate ability to middle of the screen to keep it different and away from normal abilities

Added current weapon selected to the UI with ammo counter

Changed the way lens/camera effects work, they are now more performant and shouldn't bug out as much. Added new camera lens effects for: Shadowform, Blink, Void Rift, Alter Time & Ice Block

New Dynamic Entities:

I've added a new dynamic entity to the game, currently this is just a gate on the Gladiator Isle map. There are 2 triggers on the map which control different gates that open & close. Expect other dynamic entities to be added, such as different types of traps and other gates in the future. Maps will have unique dynamic entities.

These also have cool uses for abilities. The mage's blink ability is currently the only ability that can go through the gates.

Misc:

Updated multiple sound effects

Bug Fixes:

Fixed a bug where using melee on someone close to a wall would sometimes fail (melee, kick (any hitscan)

Fixed menu character clipping

Fixed a bug with third person camera projectiles not going to the correct cursor location

Fixed a bug with zipline enter/exit sfx not being played

Fixed a bug where using a movement ability wasn't clearing the knockback effect properly, resulting in being stunned from kicks

Fixed a bug where the grapple wouldn't cancel if kicked

Fixed a bug with camera lens effects being in the wrong position in spectator/3p

Fixed a bug where void rift felt laggy on high ping

Fixed a bug with void rift end sfx sometimes playing at the start location instead of the end location

Fixed grapple ability not showing in character information panel

Fixed a bug where explosive arrow would explode in it's previous hit location

Fixed bug with custom game data not being correct to non-party leader members

Fixed a bug where players landing sfx wasn't playing correctly

Fixed custom game key input text not being very visible

Known Major Issues:

- Audio volume becoming low sometimes when transitioning to a new level - Sometimes getting small lag / player rubberbanding when firing projectiles