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[Scapes]

Coming April 18, the Technician Update introduces HAWKEN's first support mech, the Technician, in addition to the Service Award achievement system and the new Front Line map along with important balance tweaks, new cosmetics, and an overhauled Radar Minimap.

Overview

We have an ongoing goal of more clearly defining our class roles and weapons, and the release of the Technician gives us a great chance to accentuate that process. Trust us, we haven't been deaf to your feedback! In terms of general balance, this patch brings reduced burst damage and you'll find that automatic weapons play a bigger role within specified combat ranges. We've also made a LOT of changes to the way the game communicates information to you, including the ability to see mech identity icons next to player names and a significant update to the way the Radar Minimap works.

More than anything, you'll find the game more tactical in large part because you now have the information to make on-the-fly decisions about who to cover on your team or who to attack on the enemy team. Use this information to achieve victory!  Additionally, you'll find yourself having to make the tough choice between walking and staying hidden or boosting and giving away your position on radar. Battles around the capture points have just become much more interesting.

The Technician is our big addition to the game, and this will obviously change the way some of you play. For others, it'll mean you can have increased sustain to rush in head-first. Don't mistake the Technician for a harmless medic: heat management, a dual-mode secondary weapon, and an always-available primary weapon means the Technician plays very differently than what you might expect. It's fun!

Overall the biggest change we've found with this patch is that players tend to naturally play as a team much more often, regardless of the team composition. PROTIP: Stick together and kill the Technician first.
-- David "[HWK]Saunders" Saunders and Dave "[HWK]Vitquay" Nguyen

Special Notices

[*]Many non-critical player profile stats have been reset with this patch. PLEASE NOTE: XP, METEOR CREDITS, and HAWKEN CREDITS HAVE NOT AND WILL NOT BE RESET. This was necessary in order to allow all players to receive the same experience and benefits from the new Service Awards achievement system, as well as future features.
[*]Since the new Service Awards reward HAWKEN Credits, new accounts no longer start with 5000 HC. The accrual rate of HC for just playing the game is also slightly reduced. Overall, players should earn more HC.
[*]After the initial launcher login for this patch, players will now login from the client. Consequently, a EULA has been added after logging in. We've also included a "Create Account" button for easy account creation.
[/list]Features

[*]NEW Service Award Achievement System

[*]Over 300 Service Award achievements!
[*]Play for one hour and unlock a special Service Award that rewards Meteor Credits.
[*]Receive HAWKEN Credits and Achievement Point rewards for unlocking Service Awards.
[*]Unlocked and locked Service Awards can be viewed on the Service Awards tab in your Profile.
[/list] [/list]Maps

[*]NEW Map: Front Line

[*]A large-scale map that supports all game modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Missile Assault, and Siege.
[*]Some pilots may recognize this as a skinned version of Valkyrie, one of our Alpha maps, and have been asking to see this map make a triumphant return. Enjoy!
[*]Preview the new Front Line map!
[/list] [*]Facility (Test Map)

[*]This map now has the Deathmatch game mode available.
[*]Cleaned up some exploits, collision, and awkward terrain.
[/list] [/list]Mechs

[*]NEW Mech: Technician

[*]Tandem support vehicle, specialized in focused ad hoc repair.
[*]Lore: Though the L5 Zos chassis may appear to be modestly constructed, only the experienced can truly appreciate the beauty of its design concept. As repair tools became more viable for battlefield use, alloys were developed that could maintain a structurally protective state while remaining malleable enough to facilitate the reconstruction process. However, since these metals hardened over time and were extremely expensive to produce, the casings found on most Technicians in service today possess no added benefit.

[*]"I remember it as if recalling a dream, hazy from the wake of sleep. We were crashing, our systems failing. With my demise imminent, I begged deliverance from the quickly encroaching halo. As the figure materialized from the clouds of dust, I saw the doctor's face and smiled. He saved our troops." -- Commander A.A.
[/list] [*]Preview the new Technician mech!
[*]Chassis: Zos (Type-A)
[*]Difficulty: 3.5/5.0
[*]Summary: Close-Range Repair Specialist
[*]NEW Ability: Amplification

[*]Greatly increases the repair rate of the Helix Repair Torch for a short duration, including reconstruction to self.
[/list] [*]NEW Primary Weapon: Redox-O2

[*]A quick firing projectile weapon. Reagent infused chemical rounds cause enemies to take increased damage for a short duration. Effect stacks up to 3 times.
[*]Specs

[*]Damage: 2/6
[*]Rate of Fire: 3/6
[*]Accuracy: 2/6
[*]Effective Range: 2/6
[*]Heat: 2/6
[/list] [*]Upgrades

[*]Increase Projectile Speed
[*]Decrease Heat Generation
[*]Increase Effect Duration
[/list] [/list] [*]Alternative Primary Weapon: Hawkins-RPR

[*]A rapid fire, sawed-off twin cannon. Nicknamed "The Ripper" for a few good reasons.
[*]Specs

[*]Damage: 2/6
[*]Rate of Fire: 5/6
[*]Accuracy: 3/6
[*]Effective Range: 3/6
[*]Heat: 3/6
[/list] [*]Upgrades

[*]Level 1 Upgrade: Reduce Weapon Spread
[*]Level 2 Upgrade: Increase Effective Range
[*]Level 3 Upgrade: Improve Spread Stabilization
[/list] [/list] [*]NEW Special Weapon:  Helix Repair Torch

[*]A dual mode, short-range tool that repairs allies or deconstructs enemies. Repairing allies or deconstructing enemies also repairs the Technician.
[*]Middle Mouse Button Function: Switch between reconstruction and deconstruction modes.
[*]Specs

[*]Damage: 2/6
[*]Rate of Fire: 6/6
[*]Accuracy: 6/6
[*]Effective Range: 1/6
[*]Heat: 2/6
[/list] [*]Upgrades

[*]Level 1 Upgrade: Increase Effective Range
[*]Level 2 Upgrade: Increase Lock On Width
[*]Level 3 Upgrade: Reduce Mode Change Time
[/list] [/list] [*]Designer's Note: We will announce the Prestige Primary Weapon for the Technician at a later date.
[*]Starting Item: Blockade

[*]See below for details.
[/list] [/list] [*]Mech sizes, previously labeled as Class A, Class B, or Class C, will now be labeled Type-A for light, Type-B for medium, and Type-C for heavy. The type will be listed with the chassis name.
[/list]Customizations

[*]NEW Chassis: Zos (Type-A)
[*]NEW Repair Drone: RD-W3LD
[*]NEW Thruster: JT-IGNITE
[*]NEW Camouflages: Jungle-Grn, Shoreline-Blu, Desert-Tan, Digital-Sand, Scrapyard-Trqs, Speckled-Egg
[*]NEW Holo-Taunts: Run Piggy Run, Robo Nono, Green With Envy
[*]NEW Mech Taunts: The Tea Spot (Type-A), It's In The Bag (Type-, Double Bag Brag (Type-C)
[/list]Weapons

[*]Hellfire Missiles

[*]Designer's Note: Hellfire Missiles should be a bit easier to dodge.
[*]Reduced Damage by about 5%
[*]Reduced homing strength by about 15%
[*]Level 3 Upgrade Affected by homing strength change
[/list] [*]Point-D Vulcan

[*]Designer's Note: You'll find the Vulcan more powerful in close and mid ranges, but much less so at long distances.
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 10%
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 5%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 50%
[/list] [*]Sub Machine Cannon

[*]Designer's Note: Overall, you'll find the SMC to be much better at short-range fights, but less so at longer distances.
[*]Increased heat generation by about 5%
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 7%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 35%
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 7%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 60%
[*]Level 3 Upgrade affected by falloff distance changes
[/list] [*]Assault Rifle

[*]Designer's Note: We increased the close and medium-range viability of the Assault Rifle, but decreased its long-range damage.  Overall you'll still find the AR as one of the longer-range Trace weapons but less exceptional at extreme ranges.
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 8%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 40%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 16%
[/list] [*]Hawkins-RPR

[*]Designer's Note: The RPR now has a slightly longer range, but does less damage beyond that range.
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 2%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 9%
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 18%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 35%
[*]Level 2 Upgrade affected by falloff distance changes
[/list] [*]SA Hawkins

[*]Designer's Note: You'll find the SA Hawkins to be an exceptional long-range automatic weapon.
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 6%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 15%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 40%
[*]Level 2 Upgrade affected by falloff distance changes
[/list] [*]AM-SAR

[*]Designer's Note: We decreased the long-range damage of the AM-SAR, but you should find it a bit stronger at medium ranges.
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 35%
[*]Decreased falloff end distance by about 20%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 35%
[*]Level 3 Upgrade affected by falloff distance changes
[/list] [*]Mini-Flak Cannon

[*]Designer's Note: We bumped up the close & mid-range viability of the Mini-Flak Cannon pretty significantly, but the weapon generates quite a bit more heat.  This should put it more in-line with the Flak Cannon.
[*]Increased heat generation by about 25%
[*]Increased maximum damage by about 10%
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 18%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 30%
[/list] [*]ReFlak-35

[*]Designer's Note: We increased the damage and range of the ReFlak pretty significantly.  You should now find the ricochet much more useful.
[*]Increased minimum damage by about 12%
[*]Increased falloff begin distance by about 15%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 115%
[/list] [*]T-32 Bolt

[*]Designer's Note: The T-32 now has a slightly longer range.
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 30%
[*]Level 1 Upgrade affected by falloff distance change
[/list] [*]Flak Cannon

[*]Designer's Note: We slightly increased the short-range viability of the Flak cannon but decreased its long-range viability.
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 9%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 65%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 30%
[*]Level 1 Upgrade affected by falloff distance changes
[/list] [*]Slug Rifle

[*]Designer's Note: Made the Slug just slightly better at medium-range engagements.  Be sure to see info on the damage reduction to the Sharpshooter's Power Shot ability.
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 15%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 2%
[/list] [*]Sabot Rifle

[*]Designer's Note: Overall the Sharpshooter's Sabot will put out less burst damage than before but will continue to excel as an extremely long range weapon.  Be sure to see info on the damage reduction to the Sharpshooter's Power Shot ability.
[*]Increased rate of fire by about 10%
[*]Decreased maximum damage by about 10%
[*]Increased falloff end distance by about 70%
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 6%
[/list] [*]KE-Sabot

[*]Designer's Note: The KE-Sabot can now be fired more often, but has had its long-range damage decreased.
[*]Increased rate of fire by about 10%
[*]Decreased maximum damage by about 5%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 20%
[*]Decreased falloff begin distance by about 20%
[*]Decreased falloff end distance by about 5%
[/list] [*]Rev-GL

[*]Designer's Note: Due to bugs related to explosive damage we had nerfed the Ref-GL pretty significantly in previous patches.  This change puts it back in line with the other weapons.  The Rev-GL is great for breaking up anyone trying to camp around capture points, but its relatively high heat generation means it will overheat quickly.
[*]Increased rate of fire by about 10%
[/list] [*]Grenade Launcher

[*]Increased projectile speed by 12.5%
[*]Increased projectile bounciness by 20%
[*]Decreased explode time after contact by 7.5%
[/list] [*]TOW Launcher

[*]Designer's Note: With our rework to explosive weapon damage the TOW became much harder for most players to use.  We've increased the rate of fire to give them more opportunities to make up for missed rockets.
[*]Increased rate of fire by about 20%
[*]Decreased maximum damage by about 20%
[*]Decreased minimum damage by about 17%
[/list] [*]Corsair-KLA

[*]Designer's Note: We also made some changes to the Raider's Blitz ability.
[*]Decreased primary mode damage by 3%
[*]Decreased primary mode minimum damage by 3%
[*]Decreased secondary mode damage by 12.5%
[/list] [*]EOC Repeater

[*]Designer's Note: I think we can all agree the EOC was a bit too strong.
[*]Shifted direct damage to be more rewarding: direct hits deal 30 damage per puck.
[*]Decreased overall damage by 15%
[*]Decreased mine damage by 33% (20 damage per puck)
[/list] [/list]Abilities

[*]Power Shot (Sharpshooter)

[*]Decreased base ability bonus by about 23%
[*]Level 1 Upgrade bonus increase was decreased from 10% to 3%
[*]Level 2 Upgrade bonus decreased from 1 second to 0.5 seconds
[/list] [*]Fortified Turret (Brawler)

[*]Base ability no longer gives damage reductions
[*]Level 1 Upgrade decreased from 2 to 1 armor regeneration per second
[*]Level 2 Upgrade changed from explosive damage reduction to increase 1 armor regeneration per second
[*]Level 3 Upgrade now reduces both explosive and trace damage by 5% from the front
[/list] [*]Blitz (Raider)

[*]Decreased base ability movement bonus by 20%
[*]Level 2 Upgrade affected by bonus decrease
[/list] [/list]Items

[*]NEW Defensive Item: Blockade

[*]A thin destroyable wall that cannot be penetrated by weapons or players.
[/list] [*]Rocket Turret

[*]Decreased Damage by about 20%
[*]Increased rate of fire by about 50%
[/list] [*]Repair Charge

[*]Decreased armor restored by about 10%
[/list] [*]Portable Radar

[*]Decreased radar range by about 20%
[/list] [*]Detonator

[*]Decreased damage by about 15%
[/list] [*]EMP

[*]Increased projectile speed by about 20%
[*]Hitting a Blockade with the EMP will immediately deactivate the Blockade.
[/list] [*]Shield

[*]Shield now blocks all incoming damage
[*]Increased Shield size by about 10%
[/list] [/list]Internals

[*]Brand-New internals now degrade as the mech levels. No effect after level 21.

[*]Brand-New Radiator degrades to Worn-Out Radiator
[*]Brand-New Cage degrades to Worn-Out Cage
[*]Brand-New Regulator degrades to Worn-Out Regulator
[/list] [*]Repair Kit text updated to specify that the it affects the repair rate of the repair drone.
[/list]Gameplay

[*]Radar

[*]Walking or running while not in line-of-sight will no longer generate a radar signature.
[*]Radar minimap diameter now brought in closer to equal the range at which you can detect an enemy boosting that is not within sight.
[*]Enemies within line-of-sight are detected by radar at a greater distance than when they are out of sight.
[*]Friendly Turret, Scanners and Scramblers show up on radar.
[*]Enemies and allies detected beyond the radar map range have a separate indicator that shows they are out of range.
[*]Eliminated allies now have a grayed "X" symbol of where they fell for a short duration.
[*]Improved presentation/visibility of "Enemy Sighted" indicator.
[*]Radar Scrambler now shows indication of area being affected.
[/list] [*]Mech Indicators

[*]Added Class Ability icons to in-game health and name indicators so as to effectively identify a Mech while in combat.
[*]An Icon will appear on the Mech Indicator when that person is using voice chat (only you are able to hear them).
[/list] [*]New players now begin at 1250 Player Rating.
[*]Teams will now be auto-balanced before the match starts at the ready screen
[*]Increased the multikill time limit from 6 to 10 seconds.
[*]Experience for Team Deathmatch increased to be in-line with the other modes.
[*]Holo-taunt cooldown decreased. Players can now toss out holo-pucks more frequently.
[*]Ongoing improvements to spawning logic.
[*]Slightly increased length of the kill-cam.
[*]Added a swipe that matches your cockpit UI color to indicate when an ability is activated.
[*]Added option to lower master volume when push-to-talk is active.
[*]Brought back the objective list on Siege and added a game option for turning it on/off. Defaults to off for now.
[*]Changed "Match Lost" HC award to "Match Complete".
[/list]General Improvements

[*]Ongoing optimization improvements involving maps, VFX, etc.
[*]Ongoing audio improvements including directional audio, turret mode sounds due to timing changes, siege mode ship launch music, radar and scrambler audio volumes and falloff, feedback, etc.
[*]Ongoing visual improvements including mini mech icon in Friends List for friends playing, RD-Qu4rternion animation in Garage, weapon mode switching animations, mech weapon and part shimmer when changing parts in Garage, etc.
[*]Ongoing gamepad improvements including controller sensitivity, key bindings, etc.
[*]Server Browser

[*]Checkbox added to hide unavailable server listings.
[*]Added text to show why server browser servers are disabled for player ranking or game mode lock.
[*]Server name more readable in scoreboard.
[/list] [*]Added Advanced Graphics options back by adding a new checkbox for enabling custom settings. The Advanced Graphics pane options are preset by the Graphics Quality level and then the user can override the settings.
[*]Profanity filter improved.
[*]Assorted grammar and punctuation corrections.
[/list]Bugs Fixed

[*]Turrets placed in a specific area on the Prosk map being difficult to destroy.
[*]Players clipping through a sign on Prosk.
[*]Previews not displaying when player uses keyboard arrow keys to navigate Body and Style shop offers.
[*]Undefined placeholder text displaying above mech level in Staging when first joining server.
[*]Profile info not glowing upon mouse-over.
[*]Players being able to shoot through some walls on various maps.
[*]Debug text displaying onscreen during Training Mission.
[*]Textures flickering in Bazaar base.
[*]Small ramp in Prosk preventing mech movement.
[*]Ragdoll twitching.
[*]Count for 0 HC and 0 MC not displaying.
[*]Missile Silo deaths displaying suicide message.
[*]Type-C turret mode armor appearing to float.
[*]Startup movies not playing when fullscreen is enabled.
[*]Raider missing a part on the left foot in "Your Mechs" or "Mech Store" view.
[*]Rev-GL not showing the red glow of being overheated.
[*]Corsair-KLA lob projectiles not appearing on low Graphics Quality.
[*]Boost icons not lighting up when Post-Game Earnings tab is revisited.
[*]Decals sometimes not appearing.
[*]Items in the garage being frequently unresponsive to double-clicking when attempting to equip or unlock.
[*]Pressing ESC to cancel a key binding while out of gameplay dismissing the settings menu completely.
[*]Previews not disabling after pressing ESC when viewing repair drones and paint patterns.
[*]Game Chat window glitching when the player resizes it.
[*]Mech customizations not saving when joining a friend's server via an "Invite To Game" request.
[*]Test Drive mechs not unlocking correctly.
[*]Missing hangar in Training Mission.
[*]A wall in Origin missing weapon collision.
[*]Countdown timer not showing on Post Match results screen for all languages.
[*]Players being able to get up really high on Origin, allowing them to jump up on top of the battle ship.  
[*]Many incorrect translations for Spanish.
[*]Players being able to get into the bases by scaling a wall in Bazaar.
[*]Test Drive expired mechs not being available to Test Drive again once they are on trial again.
[*]Motion blur missing on high and ultra settings.
[*]Antennas disappearing at a distance on Origin and Bazaar.
[*]Mechs getting stuck from moving forward on a floor panel on the top left area of the Alleys map.
[*]Dragging mech icon past top or bottom of "Your Mechs" list not always automatically scrolling list.
[*]Missile Assault base health appearing full when player respawns.
[*]Gray hit box being visible around enemy mechs.
[*]Fixed some minimap and rendering issues for Bazaar boundaries
[*]Master volume slider number being inconsistent.
[/list] Click here to view the article

[PScribs]

YAY!  PATCH NOTES!

[Conquistador]

Patch notes!_!

Scapes, on April 15 2013 - 06:08 PM, said:

Grenade Launcher

• 
  
  • Increased projectile speed by 12.5%
    
  • Increased projectile bounciness by 20%
    
  • Decreased explode time after contact by 7.5%

... HOW DO YOU QUANTIFY BOUNCINESS_

Edited by Conquistador, April 15 2013 - 07:05 PM.

[Frouste]

I like (ran out of likes), but "non-critical player profile stats," does that mean the negligible details of our stats, or what_

Edited by Frouste, April 15 2013 - 06:20 PM.

[DER3Z]

Awesome!!!!!!!!!

[FussyBadger]

Better play the fuzzy bunny out of my EOC Rocketeer while I still can! Eeek!

[BiO]

Thanks!! waiting to see how well all the changes affects the game.

[deBoru]

Yus!!! Patch Notes!

[Xenogear]

The tech mech looks a lot of fun, gonna save HP for it !.

Play for one hour and unlock a special Service Award that rewards Meteor Credits. <-- what does this exactly means_, are we gonna get meteor points by completing achievments_.

[Jaquio]

My body is ready.

[Scapes]

Xenogear, on April 15 2013 - 06:38 PM, said:

Play for one hour and unlock a special Service Award that rewards Meteor Credits. <-- what does this exactly means_, are we gonna get meteor points by completing achievments_.

For certain achievements, correct!

[Maniac]

The wait for the last week has been KILLER, but these notes are totally worth it. This looks like the makings of a great patch! Great job guys!

[PScribs]

Scapes, on April 15 2013 - 06:40 PM, said:

Xenogear, on April 15 2013 - 06:38 PM, said:

Play for one hour and unlock a special Service Award that rewards Meteor Credits. <-- what does this exactly means_, are we gonna get meteor points by completing achievments_.

For certain achievements, correct!

Are these going to be retroactive, or are we starting with a clean slate_

[Jaquio]

I think I'll be dabbling with SA Hawkins Brawler and Miniflak Cupcake over the next few days.

[Scapes]

PScribs, on April 15 2013 - 06:46 PM, said:

Are these going to be retroactive, or are we starting with a clean slate_

The latter.

Scapes, on April 15 2013 - 06:08 PM, said:

Special Notices

• Many non-critical player profile stats have been reset with this patch. PLEASE NOTE: XP, METEOR CREDITS, and HAWKEN CREDITS HAVE NOT AND WILL NOT BE RESET. This was necessary in order to allow all players to receive the same experience and benefits from the new Service Awards achievement system, as well as future features.

[Frouste]

Ah, thanks for clarifying...

Edited by Frouste, April 15 2013 - 06:51 PM.

[c0mad0r]

Oh Valkyrie, how I missed the....

Blockade_ Like the forcefield one we had in Alpha_

[Xenogear]

Overall i just cant wait for this patch, good job Meteor.

feel a lil bad about hellfire missiles though , oh my poor Bruiser/Rocketeer.

[Frouste]

Oh, they're going to be fine...

I hope...

[Guiotine]

YES I have been waiting for these, I am way too excited for this