Sparkypants Studios have released the latest update to the strategy MOBA Dropzone. The new update, which is currently available for download, brings some changes to Kavash Boss, gear and pilot changes and various other bug fixes. The game is currently available as a free-to-play title on PC via Steam and since its release has maintained a "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam.
Here are the full patch notes, courtesy of Sparkypants Studios:
Gameplay Notes
- Kavash Boss
- Bosses will no longer aggro units via proximity. The boss will now become aggro'd only after being attacked by a unit
- The boss no longer has minions
- Boss auto attack range reduced from 25m to 21m
- Boss auto attack DPS increased from 110 to 150
- Each time the boss respawns, it gains a stacking Max Health + Damage boost: +100 HP and +20 weapon DPS for each time the boss has respawned
- This boost does not apply the first time the boss is spawned in the match
- Bosses now have two abilities they can cast
- Quick Ability - Deals 100 damage and slows enemies in a wide frontal cone, up to 25m away. Slow debuff lasts for 1.5s and lowers speed by 10%
- Ultimate Ability - While charging up, the boss will continuously release chain lightning at the closest enemy. Chain lightning:
The boss will reach full charge after 3.6 seconds. Once fully charged, the boss will discharge lightning in a 25m AoE around itself, dealing 200 damage to each target struck and stunning them for 1.5s
- Deals 75 damage
- Chains to up to 3 targets in a 15m range
- 20% damage fall off between targets
- Boss powerups will now disappear if they have not been collected before the new boss spawns, which is every 2 minutes. The 90s buff status you receive once you have clicked on the powerup remains unchanged
Comments: We wanted to make the act of bossing more gradual over time, with a clear ramp up in the boss's strength (much like the hives) to better scale with player unit progression during a match. We also wanted to make the boss a more interactive fight and less about just having your tankiest rig stand in front of it and soak up damage, while your DPS whittled down its health. Now, players will need to be mindful of their unit positioning and rotation when the boss is activating its abilities.
- Queuing up orders after issuing a back-to-base order will now wait for the rig to fully heal before resuming the remaining queued orders
Gear Changes
- Positron Condenser (Mechanic Weapon)
- AA release point moved from 350ms to 250ms
- AA resume time lowered from 600ms to 500ms
- Ability release point changed from 280ms to 200ms
- Ability cast point moved from 0 to 100ms
- Ability resume point lowered from 350ms to 300ms
- Graphene Matrix (Mechanic Body)
- Now an object-targeted ability
- Attack negation buff duration reduced from 2s to 1s
- Speed buff duration unchanged at 2s
- Cooldown has been changed to 8s
Pilot Changes
- Recon
- Recon’s default body slot gear has been changed from Stealth Plating to Thrusters
- Vise
- Vise’s default utility gear slot has been changed from Frequency Adaptation to Momentum Shifter
- Widget
- Widget’s default body gear slot has been changed from Nanite Amplifiers to Graphene Matrix
Comments: We heard your feedback! Many new players felt that some pieces of default gear for Recon, Vise, and Widget just didn't feel as fun as some other options. (For example, Frequency Adaptation and Nanite Amplifiers are both passive abilities.) While we still feel that those pieces of gear have their uses in builds, we agree that new players should get some cool, more interactive gear when first starting out.
- Cortex’s Special Move: Drone Strikes
- Drone Strikes is now a channel ability
- Players can move-cancel their channel after the first drone strike wave (1000ms)
- Interrupting this channel will cease further drone strikes
Comments: Drone Strikes is a great ability for denial of a large area, which was made all the more powerful by Cortex being able to drop it and still move around and cast other abilities! Drone Strikes now requires Cortex to be completely focused while calling in his drones, which requires players to be a bit more judicious about how and when they use it.
Miscellaneous Notes
- Ranked Divisions have been updated
- A ‘Ranked’ page has been added to the Player Profile section. This page shows the player’s current Division, as well as their current Reputation Points (Rep) and the Rep they will need to get to the next Division. (You must be level 15 or higher to access this page)
- 10 Provisional games must be completed to determine what Division you belong in
- Once you are in a Division, each game you win or lose will adjust your rep points closer to a higher or lower Division
- When you reach the maximum points of your Division you will be placed in ‘Promotional Mode’. In this mode you must win 3 games to confirm your transition into a higher Division
- If you reach zero points of your Division you will be placed in ‘Critical Mode’. In this mode you will have three chances to win a match to keep you in your current Division. If you lose all three matches you will be demoted to a lower Division
- Rep and Division information is also now displayed in the Post Match Results screen
- Only Bronze and Silver are available at the moment. Remaining Divisions to come in the future.
- Changes to the Play Menu flow are underway and are still WIP
- A ‘Learn’ option has been added to the Main Menu that features Academy videos, geared towards teaching players tips and tricks while playing Dropzone. (WIP)
- A ‘Custom Games’ option has been added to the Main Menu, players can now navigate here to create custom lobbies
- In 3v3 Matches, clicking the upgrade button will now automatically upgrade the player’s owned pilot, rather than making them choose their pilot to upgrade
- Difficulty buttons have been added to Solo VS AI play flow panels. These buttons have hover text explaining the difficulty and reward percentages earned based off the chosen difficulty
- Armor stats have been added to the Pilot Stats panel shown in the Builder
- ‘Enable Latency Adjustment’ option has been added to improve performance for slower connections
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where pilot default gear and the same non-default gear would play different FX in the Builder
- Fixed an issue where the incorrect rig would show on the dropship in Draft if the pilot choice was changed before being locked in during the ‘pilot picking’ phase
- Fixed a crash that could occur for players with many available scenarios / missions on their account
- Fixed an issue where players could resign from Test Loadout. Players must now click ‘Return to Builder’ to leave Test Loadout
- Fixed a sim server crash that could occur if multiple Nanite Walls were placed in the same location
- Fixed an issue with Thrusters that prevented chain-casting all three charges, depending upon input timing. Thrusters should feel more responsive when multi-casting now
- Fixed an issue where Crazed Banshee’s targeting decal would remain on the intended target if the ammo was redirected with Black Hole Shell
- Minor SFX fixes
- Minor localization fixes and updates
Known Issues
- AVG antivirus software may incorrectly flag the Dropzone client as malicious. We have reached out to them to whitelist the client. In the meantime, you should be able to manually allow your antivirus software to allow the Dropzone client to run.
- There are known issues with words bleeding outside of their bounding boxes for every language other than English. Fixes are on the way
- Locking Observer slots in Custom Matches only works when both slots are empty
- The Private Match setting only works when the game is already created, so someone can join in-between
- Hive Link does not have a cast ring around hives to show where the ability can be cast
- The ‘Easy Pickings’ achievement does not count Hives killed by a teammate towards the goal
- Global Chat does not reflect your changed name until you have restarted the game
- Party members that did not initiate a seek will see incorrect checkboxes sometimes (WIP)
Dropzone recently went free-to-play and is currently available on PC via Steam.