Early Access Patch v0.8
Early Access Patch v0.8

Early Access Patch v0.8

We’ve seen a largely positive response from the community regarding the new direction of Time To Kill (TTK) and it’s great to see players enjoying the new pace. Of course balance is never truly a done deal, so we’ll continue to monitor the state of the game and ensure we keep pushing towards the best game state possible in this new TTK environment. 

For this patch we’re primarily looking at addressing some outliers we’ve identified as the dust continues to settle. This includes changes aimed at toning down Rampage’s durability during his ultimate, taking a look at Sevarog’s damage output, as well as shifting down the damage profile of Fangtooth and Orb Prime respectively!

HOTFIXES

Hotfix V0.8.1 (16/06/23)

◆ Fixed an issue with audio sometimes disappearing during the gameplay.
◆ Fixed a rare crash during reconnect.

ORIGINAL UPDATE


Patch releasing 09.00 GMT June 13th, 2023.

Please note - there will be a slightly longer period of downtime during this game update due to necessary server maintenance. This shouldn't take longer than 30 minutes, but keep an eye on our social channels where we'll announce when the update is live and the servers are back online!

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A NEW HERO APPEARS

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Sharpen your blades, Champions, Content Update V0.8 is nearly upon us!

Before all that however, we wanted to thank you all for your ongoing support following the recently announced changes to our Season 2 roadmap. Focusing on our long-awaited user interface improvements in the short term will be a game changer for Predecessor, allowing us to speed up console fulfilment while drastically improving the overall feel of the game.

In this patch we’re excited to be deploying the first part of this new and improved UI, all-new pre-game loading screens! Okay, so we know that might not sound too exciting but still we hope you’ll appreciate this first taste of what our visual vision is for Predecessor’s future.

Aside from the new loading screen and our valiant new Hero, this game update also scrubs up a few balance outliers following our recent quest to tackle Time To Kill (TTK). We’re pretty happy with the direction that Heroes are moving in and will of course continue to monitor and iterate as needed.

We hope you enjoy Greystone as well as the other changes and additions in V0.8. Catch you in the next patch!

- Kari, Community Manager

GREYSTONE RAISES HIS SWORD TO FIGHT!

Blaze into battle with the mighty warrior, Greystone - the latest Hero to join the Predecessor roster!

A heroic fighter with an iron will, Greystone never backs down and never gives up, evidenced by a skillset forged in bravery and tenacity!

ABILITIES

Stoicism [Passive]:

Effect: Greystone deflects the next incoming basic attack every 14s (-0.4s per level).

Additionally, when he deals Physical Damage with Basic Attacks or Abilities, he gains 0.8 (+0.1 per level) Physical Power (stacking up to 8 times). At maximum stacks, this bonus power is doubled.

Noble Strike [Basic Attack] [LMB]:

Melee basic attack dealing physical damage.

Make Way [Primary Ability] [Q]:

Cooldown: 16/14.5/13/11.5/10
Cost: 60/65/70/75/80
Effect: Greystone summons a fiery whirlwind that deals 70/115/160/205/250 (+100% Bonus Physical Power) physical damage over 4s.

Greystone may extend Make Way's duration by 0.5s for each successful basic attack against Enemy Heroes or Monsters, capping at an additional 3s.

Sacred Oath [Secondary Ability] [E]:

Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8
Cost: 40
Effect: Greystone ignites his blade, causing his next 3 basic attacks to deal 25/40/55/70/85 (+20% Bonus Physical Power) additional physical damage and apply a 15% Slow for 1.5s.

Additional applications of Sacred Oath will refresh and stack the Slow debuff.

Assault the Gates [Alternate Ability] [RMB]:

Cooldown: 18
Cost: 60
Effect: Greystone leaps a large distance, crashing down and dealing 90/135/180/225/270 (+80% Bonus Physical Power) physical damage to nearby enemies.

Stone Forged Soul [Ultimate Ability] [R]:

Cooldown: 140/110/80
Cost: 100
Effect: Greystone turns to stone and enters Stasis for 2.5s, slowing nearby Enemies by up to 70% and restoring 14/17/20% of his maximum health over the duration (increased by up to 300% based on missing health).

After the duration, Greystone's soul crashes down into the stone form, dealing 250/350/450 (+80% Bonus Physical Power) physical damage to nearby Enemies and granting himself maximum stacks of Stoicism.

NEW

NEW SKIN


Now that all Heroes have an additional, purchasable skin available in the store, we’re going to ease up on the frequency of adding new skins to one every patch. 

When this would coincide with a new Hero release such as V0.8 and Greystone, that patch’s new skin will be of the new hero.

So without further ado, here’s the additional Greystone skin that’s coming in V0.8!

Dragonlord Greystone [Common]

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NEW UI - LOADING SCREEN


As mentioned this update will give you the first taste of our all-new user interface, the loading screen! 

Okay, so as previously mentioned we know that probably doesn't sound all that glamorous but we promise it’s an important first step. The new screen will display all the relevant details regarding other players in the upcoming match and it features some spicy new images of our Heroes that the cinematic and marketing art teams have been lovingly working on for the last few months.

Right now we've only implemented a single image for each Hero meaning that selected skins won't show, but rest assured unique images for each skin is on its way!

We really hope you enjoy this initial glimpse at what’s to come and don’t forget, this is just the first step and the first iteration of bigger changes that we hope to deliver soon!

BALANCE CHANGES

◆ Chat is now available during Role Selection.
◆ We've made improvements to collision detection when using dash abilities and blink.

Heroes

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We’ve made a quick shift to Dekker’s damage profile to better reward skilful usage of Photon Disruptor, while giving her a slight knock in durability to offset some of her elusiveness. 

General:
◆ Armor Growth decreased from 4.5 to 3.8.

Photon Disruptor [Q]:
◆ Magical Power Scaling increased from 50% to 55%.

Ion Strike [R]:
◆ Magical Power Scaling decreased from 80% to 75%.

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Khaimera’s Unleash ability could be reactivated twice, causing him to lose two times the mana when the input was spammed. This is now fixed and Khai’s mana consumption should be back to normal!

Unleash [Q]:
◆ [Bugfix] Fixed an issue causing Unleash to cost double mana.

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Lt. Belica’s Void Drone is an incredible source of (often under-appreciated) strength, and can be extremely oppressive to deal with both in the laning phase or in team fights. By lowering some of its effectiveness and uptime, it should quench some of the mana thirst that many Heroes experience fighting against Belica in early stages, while ensuring that her Drone cannot solo carry a teamfight as easily in the later stages of a match. 

Void Drone [E]:
◆ Mana Drain decreased from 3/3.75/4.5/5.25/6% to 2/3/4/5/6%.
◆ Magical Power Scaling decreased from 30% to 25%.
◆ Duration decreased from 10s to 8s.

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Murdock can often DPS-race his enemies as a result of his inherent attack speed and the uptime of his Shots Fired Passive. Paired with his great overall versatility and map presence, he ends up serving as the complete Carry package with very few downsides. To tackle this we’re firing a few shots of our own his way, just to ensure that his damage profile leans heavier towards slower, more deliberate hits, which should give other Carries a fighting chance. 

General:
◆ Attack Speed Growth decreased from 2.8 to 2.2.

Shots Fired [Passive]:
◆ Cooldown increased from 12.5 (-0.5 per level) to 12 (-0.3 per level).

Stimpack [E]: 
◆ Movement Speed Duration decreased from 2.5s to 2s.
◆ Bonus Movement Speed increased from 30% to 35%.
◆ Siren Particle Playrate increased by 1.95x.

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Rumor has it that this Orc’s been busy cookin’ up a new mixtape.

March [Q]:
◆ Rhythm Stacks on use increased from 6 to 8.

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While it makes sense for Rampage to be King of the chonkers, his ability to become nigh on untouchable during his Ultimate ability is rather overbearing. By adjusting his Passive’s power, due to how it compounds, Rampage will see a roughly 20% reduction in healing while using his Ultimate, which should give his Enemies a much fairer chance to punish him should he overstep. But hey, it’s not all bad! We’ve also given him a little extra upfront regeneration to liberate our Lanepage aficionados from being so bound to Fog Wall camping shenanigans to survive, which should offer him a little more presence in a variety of match-ups. 

General:
◆ Base Health Regen increased from 1 to 1.6.

King of the Jungle [Passive]:
◆ Max Health Regeneration increased from 0.35% to 0.5%.
◆ Out of Combat Multiplier decreased from 4x to 2x.

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While we’re generally happy with Sevarog’s majestic return to Jungle viability, his damage output when paired with his overall tankiness has led to Sev’ rolling over his prey a bit too frequently. By reducing the uptime on his Siphon, Sevarog will have to think twice about his trade windows in tandem with stacking Souls, meaning the reaper will no longer be hunting down unsuspecting foes as easily when emerging for a gank.

General:
◆ Physical Power Growth decreased from 3.2 to 2.4

Siphon [Q]:
◆ Cooldown increased from 6/5.5/5/4.5/4 to 6/5.75/5.5/5.25/5.

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Shinbi’s relative frailty when opting for more damage-oriented builds leaves her feeling a lack of reward for the risk she puts herself in when diving towards an enemy team. To help close this gap, we’re shifting around her scalings to better incentivise her to commit to damage-heavy builds over tank itemisation.

General:
◆ Health Growth decreased from 109 to 102.

Circle Rhythm [E]: 
◆ Base Shield decreased from 40/60/80/100/120 to 30/50/70/90/110.
◆ Shield Magical Power Scaling increased from 35% to 45%.

Rushing Beat [RMB]:
◆ Base Damage decreased from 40/60/80/100/120 to 40/55/70/85/100.
◆ Magical Power Scaling increased from 40% to 45%.

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Utility:

Hunt: 

In order to keep duo lanes from falling behind solo lanes, two Heroes sharing XP grants an overall net increase to the total XP gained. This has become a problem when a Jungler assists in pushing out solo lanes and leeching significant XP, snowballing their levels ahead of all other roles. We’re putting in early-game preventative measures to disincentivize taking lane XP to acquire these significant leads, and keep pushing out allied lanes towards the goal of driving the lane for them rather than personal advantage.

◆ Now decreases XP from Lane Minions by 30% when equipped.
◆ This reduction is removed after 20 minutes.

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Crests:

Rift Walkers: 

A quick knock in damage amplification for the Rifties.

◆ Rift Snatcher Damage Amplification decreased from 15% to 10%.

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Tempest:

Tempest was found to possess a rather nasty bug that was causing its Overcharge effect to not deal its full, intended damage to isolated enemies. This resulted in the Crest feeling underwhelming in 1v1 scenarios, but extremely strong in multi-man skirmishes where its full potential was realized. By squashing this bug, Tempest should now feel much stronger when zapping a single enemy, but more reasonable in teamfight scenarios where the healing could prove overwhelming in our post-TTK update world. 

◆ Overcharge Healing from damage dealt decreased from 100% to 75%.
◆ Overcharge Magical Power Scaling decreased from 14% to 10%.
◆ [BugFix] Overcharge now deals the correct damage when hitting a target with multiple strikes.

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ADC:

Storm Breaker:

Storm Breaker’s new Thunderstruck conversion effect provides a little too much bang for its buck compared to traditional Critical Strike options, and needs dropping down a peg.

◆ Thunderstruck On-hit Conversion decreased from 1.5 per 1% Critical Strike Chance to 1 per 1% Critical Strike Chance.

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Mage:

Alchemical Rod:

Sitting on an Alchemical Rod (apologies for that mental image) is less of an investment than it should be due to its general efficiency in statline. We’re shaving off some of its value to provide a steeper power curve and give opponents a larger window of opportunity to capitalise on an enemy that’s looking to scale up. 

◆ Magical Power decreased from 20 to 15.
◆ Mana decreased from 200 to 150.

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Support:

Dynamo:

The damage amplification on Dynamo lingers a little too long and provides too much forgiveness for teams that do not promptly follow up their CC. 

◆ Immobilizer Damage Amplification duration decreased from 4s to 3s.

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Jungle:


We’re making some small adjustments to the damage potential of Fangtooth, Orb Prime, and their respective variants as it can often feel a little too punishing to make proactive Objective plays due to the damage they dish out.

By slightly pulling back their damage, these changes should increase the number of opportunities to comfortably risk attempting an Objective, and likewise provide more freedom when baiting the enemy team in with a tactical leash. 

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Fangtooth:

◆ Health decreased from 5800 (+505 per level) to 5800 to (+480 per level).
◆ Basic Attack Timer increased from 1-1.25 to 1.25.
◆ Basic Attack Current Percent Health damage decreased from 4-8% to 4-6%.

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Primal Fangtooth:

◆ Basic Attack Current Percent Health damage decreased from 8% to 6%.

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Mini Prime:

◆ Base Physical Power decreased from 60 (+15 per level) to 60 (+10 per level).

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Orb Prime:

◆ Base Physical Power decreased from 140 (+10 per level) to 120 (+8 per level).
◆ Knockback Damage decreased from 200 (+15 per level) to 150 (+5 per level).

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BUG FIXES


◆ Morigesh’s doll now correctly shows when using Mark against a Peppermint Kallari.
◆ Using Hive (Q) while not seeing it land now correctly plays its audio.
◆ Players are no longer able to clip into a wall in Jungle near Orb camp, or near mid-lane Dusk Tower during a match.
◆ Wards are now no longer able to be placed in walls, through walls etc.
◆ Improved indication for Sparrow’s Inner Fire (R) ability.
◆ The Aegis Steel skin now correctly displays its full name.
◆ User will no longer be locked into the Crest Select screen if they press G whilst the menu is up.
◆ Fixed a missing buff icon for allies linked to Phase via Telekinetic Link.
◆ Overlord and Breach no longer incorrectly trigger on Purge (R).
◆ Kira’s ultimate ability now has the correct audio and enemy indicator when hitting through a wall.
◆ Dying to Razorback’s first tick no longer causes a permanent area of effect on the floor.
◆ Players no longer briefly lose Auto Attack functionality on respawn.
◆ The rock thrown by Boulder Throw no longer disintegrates before its time.
◆ Void Drone now has the correct materials applied to it for alternative skins.
◆ Improved animation snapping for Phase’s Telekinetic Link ability.
◆ Removed unintended punishments for dodging draft in single player game modes.
◆ Fixed an issue involving the use of LS pings on controller.
◆ Players are no longer able to block other players from spawning.
◆ Resolved an issue where Tonic was sometimes being shown as purchasable but wasn’t actually able to be purchased.
◆ Resolved an audio issue when selecting the Store tab.
◆ Fixed some missing audio cues when clicking Hero skins in Store tab.
◆ Fixed the 'Double XP' prompt that could sometimes incorrectly appear when completing a match with a party.


That's all this week!

Let us know what you think of this update over on Twitter, the official Subreddit or our Discord server!