More than just a bit of lore, this was meant to communicate that in our game, remaining vigilant is of the utmost importance.
That’s because, in addition to careful resource management, you also have to deal with enemies that can merge with each other during battle. This radically alters the dynamic of every encounter, with each Merge exponentially increasing its difficulty in real-time.
To that end, we made a short dev diary that details how the combat system in Cronos works in practice, while also addressing several key questions from our community:
Escalating threats: How merging transforms your enemies
In Cronos, enemies known as Orphans can absorb dead bodies to evolve into even stronger and more resilient foes, complete with new attack patterns.
This adds another layer of complexity to combat, because by killing Orphans you’re effectively providing fuel for other nearby enemies to evolve and become more powerful in the process.
Having the Merge as a fully integrated gameplay system fundamentally shifts the balance of combat, especially in a game where ammo is scarce and crafting opportunities are limited.
Most enemies in Cronos are capable of merging with each other. Your goal is to stop them at all costs, or deal with the consequences.
Arena Control: Turning the odds in your favor
The best way to counteract the Merge is by preventing it from happening in the first place. Often, combat in Cronos requires navigating handcrafted arenas filled with multiple enemies.
Since merging requires dead bodies to absorb, spatial awareness is critical. Space out your kills, lure foes away from fallen bodies, and be ready to interrupt merging attempts mid-fight.
When it comes to your gear, you’ll have an entire arsenal at your disposal for every situation. Weapons like the Javelin, with its rapid-fire capacity, are perfect for crowd control. Others, like the Hammer, deal heavy damage at close range – ideal for finishing off tough enemies before they can merge.
Rapidly switching between weapons according to their range and effectiveness in each situation is key to gaining the upper hand in combat.
Enemy Roles: Tips and tricks to defeat them
When it comes to enemy design, we wanted the Orphans to challenge players in distinct ways by featuring different attack patterns and fulfilling specific roles in combat. To take them down efficiently, it’s crucial to observe their behavior and adapt your strategy to counter their moves.
One enemy type you’ll encounter often is the Doppelganger. Scattered throughout New Dawn, not all Doppelgangers look or act alike. Instead, they can be grouped into different categories based on their combat style.
Some are runners, rushing towards the player to inflict melee damage. Others have ranged attacks, forcing players to approach them instead. Then there are the bruisers, heavy-hitting, durable foes who can soak up damage and are best dealt with using close-range shotgun blasts. And, of course, they all can merge with each other, gaining new abilities and attack patterns with each evolution.
Additionally, there are special enemies that only appear in select locations, but we will be revealing more about them in future updates.
That concludes our quick overview of how to approach combat in Cronos: The New Dawn. Through incorporating the Merge as a central combat mechanic, we aim to ensure that every encounter in the game feels both memorable and unpredictable.
This approach also reflects our commitment towards evolving the survival horror formula itself, by constantly pushing its boundaries and transforming what the genre can offer.
Cronos: The New Dawn will be available on PlayStation 5 in 2025.
Concept art from a long-canceled Batman Arkham Knight follow-up set to star Damian Wayne as the Dark Knight has surfaced online, giving us our best look yet at an aged Bruce.
Project Sabbath, as it was known, was in development at Batman Arkham Origins studio Warner Bros. Games Montreal after the launch of 2015’s Arkham Knight, and would have featured two Batmen — father and son.
Ultimately, however, the project was canceled by Warner Bros. and WB Games Montreal instead shifted focus to launch 2022’s poorly-received Gotham Knights, a game with no Batmen at all.
At the time, Sabbath was planned as Warner Bros’ next big Batman game, while Rocksteady itself explored concepts featuring other characters. Of course, Rocksteady itself circled back to its version of Batman (sort of) in its next project, the ill-fated Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
Images from a former WB Games Montreal artist who worked on the project have now popped up on Artstation, featuring a youthful-looking Damian, grizzled and bearded Bruce, plus concepts for Killer Croc and Huntress.
Whether this game would have been strictly part of the Arkhamverse canon has never been firmly established. On the one hand, some of the designs here — particularly a very different-looking Killer Croc — suggest this would have been something of a different take. That said, the same could be said of Poison Ivy’s appearance in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which definitely was part of the Arkham-verse. And, of course, WB Games Montreal did make Batman Arkham Origins, a prequel that is considered canon to Rocksteady’s core trilogy.
New concept art from WB Games Montréal’s cancelled 2015 Damian Wayne game “Project Sabbath” has surfaced, shared by character artist Rodrigue Pralier. The pieces clearly show Damian, an older Bruce, Killer Croc, and Huntress. The style and character designs further support the… pic.twitter.com/aRwTD7caYE
— Batman Arkham Videos (@ArkhamVideos) June 22, 2025
This isn’t the first time concept art from the game has hit the internet. Back in 2021, another former WB Games Montreal developer posted images of Damian Wayne in his Batsuit — a sleek outfit with red Bat signal emblazoned on his chest.
These designs also showed the same bearded older Bruce Wayne, although only inside his suit — meaning his newly-revealed face was obscured. Still, the designs suggest that, at some point, the older Bruce would still have suited up during his retirement.
“Project Sabbath”, a canceled Damian Wayne Batman game at WB Games Montreal, apparently has another wave of concept art revealed – this time by concept artist Goran Bukvic. The images match how the game was first described years ago.
Sorry, we’re not done yet, CD Projekt has said about a Cyberpunk 2077 update that also represents that same phrase, it being about the third patch to be labelled the final one the game’ll be getting. Update 2.3 was originally set to be dropping on this week, but now it’s been delayed so the devs can make it about the same size as its predecessor.
Yeah, they’re probably adding more stuff to the pile of new things we never thought Cyberpunk’d still be getting at this stage. We’re multiple encores deep in the Samurai gig at this point, but hey, the crowd’s still having a great time.
Kojima Productions has confirmed the global release times for Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the sequel to Hideo Kojima’s open-world delivery adventure game starring Norman Reedus.
While most people will be able to play from midnight local time this coming Thursday, June 26, Kojima Productions has confirmed that those who bought the digital deluxe edition are able to jump in two days early on Tuesday, June 24.
It’s at this point that we normally add in a handy map, but Kojima Productions hasn’t provided one this time. That said, you don’t really need a satnav to navigate this release — the game will unlock for most at midnight local time.
IGN’s Death Stranding 2 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a triumphant sequel that emphatically delivers on the promise of its original.”
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach global release times — early access:
Tuesday, June 24, 2025
PDT (Los Angeles):
12am midnight
CDT (Mexico City)
12am midnight
CDT (Chicago):
12am midnight
EDT (New York):
12am midnight
CLT (Santiago):
12am midnight
BRT (São Paulo):
12am midnight
BST (London):
12am midnight
CEST (Berlin):
12am midnight
GST (Dubai):
12am midnight
CST (Beijing)
12am midnight
KST (Seoul)
12am midnight
JST (Tokyo)
12am midnight
AEST (Sydney)
12am midnight
Death Stranding 2 global release times — standard access:
Thursday, June 26, 2025
PDT (Los Angeles):
12am midnight
CDT (Mexico City):
12am midnight
CDT (Chicago):
12am midnight
EDT (New York):
12am midnight
CLT (Santiago):
12am midnight
BRT (São Paulo):
12am midnight
BST (London):
12am midnight
CEST (Berlin):
12am midnight
GST (Dubai):
12am midnight
CST (Beijing):
12am midnight
KST (Seoul):
12am midnight
JST (Tokyo):
12am midnight
AEST (Sydney):
12am midnight
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Blood. Blood. Bloooooooooddddddd. Sorry, I’ve just watched Rebel Wolves show off the first look we’ve gotten at someone playing vampire RPG The Blood of Dawnwalker, and I think it’s rubbed off on me a bit.
To be fair, you can’t blame the group of ex-Witcher 3 devs for having put together a game that looks to use the B word more often than someone who’s just gotten a nasty paper cut while handling some packets of the red stuff at a blood bank.
Announced at Japan’s Championship tournament, as reported by PokeBeach, the two new sets featuring Mega Lucario ex and Mega Gardevoir ex mark the popular trading card game stepping away from its Scarlet and Violet era. It will release on August 1, 2025, in Japan, and September 26 in English markets (with preorders also supposedly taking place on September 13).
Instead of the long-running Scarlet and Violet block, it will now focus on the Mega Evolutions from the upcoming Pokémon Legends: Z-A game.
Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia will contain 63 cards each, before secret rares are taken into account, and officially kick off the new Mega block of cards. Visually impressive full-art Pokémon and item cards were shown off as well. These include Rare Candy, Night Stretcher, Bulbasaur, Vulpix, and Inteleon.
Both sets have been reported to have a Pokémon Center Mega set, including 60 packs of cards amongst two boxes, a card storage box featuring the respective set’s cover Pokémon, four dividers, a deck box featuring Acerola or Lillie, and card sleeves featuring the same character. This has been priced at 12,800 yen (around $87 today), although the official US pricing hasn’t been revealed yet.
Better quality images of Bulbasaur, Vulpix & Inteleon AR’s from Pokemon Mega Brave & Mega Symphonia pic.twitter.com/VTMqIui97d
There will also be a Premium Trainer Box releasing at 6,350 yen in Japan (around $47), with the official US pricing also currently unknown. This will contain 20 packs, 10 of Mega Brave & Mega Symphonia each, 51 unique cards, a storage box, a Poison/Burn marker, damage counters and case, and a damage storage box.
As also shared by PokeBeach in early June, The Pokémon Company informed tournament organisers at the time that pre-release allocations will be even lower than usual, adding to the TCG’s continued problem of stock shortages.
For when we have more concrete details on preorders for the Pokémon TCG’s English versions of Mega Brave and Mega Symphonia in the US and UK, we’ll update this article so you can try and get a jump on them right away.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
As we all know by now, the Switch 2 has been off to a rocket of a start in terms of its hardware sales, however, with regards to its current games lineup — and with a particular eye on its indie offerings — there’s certainly been quite a bit of heavy-lifting done by Mario Kart World in these early days and weeks.
If you’d been expecting a few more Switch 2 indie offerings at this point, though, you aren’t alone, and there’s at least a reason for the relatively slow-going in these early days. Speaking with GamesIndustry.Biz, a bunch of indie devs have been explaining the pre-launch dev kit access situation, with some getting their hands on the necessary tech ages ago, whilst others are still waiting.
If you’ve dreamed of what it might feel like to ride a superbike at full throttle, knee to the asphalt, engine roaring, speeding like a rocket. With VRider SBK coming to PlayStation VR2 on June 27, that dream is about to become a reality.
See it in action.
What’s in VRider SBK?
VRider SBK ignites the thrill of Superbike Racing on PlayStation VR2. Whether you’re chasing the podium or just the thrill of the ride, VRider SBK drops you into the heart of the officially licensed Superbike World Championship. Lean into every corner and blast down straights at over 200 mph across 14 real-world tracks, including Cremona and Estoril, alongside 23 official riders.
Ride five elite machines: Ducati, BMW, Kawasaki, Honda, and Yamaha using next-gen gesture-based controls designed for immersive VR. Go head-to-head in global PvP multiplayer, dominate the solo Tournament mode, or challenge the clock in Ghost races. With its unique “simcade” gameplay blend, VRider SBK delivers blistering speed, unforgiving realism, and pure two-wheeled exhilaration.
Built different for PS VR2
We’ve optimized the game with a specific quality setting to ensure a stable frame rate and smooth bike control. In racing games, motion sickness is primarily caused by input lag, the delay between controller actions and what’s rendered in the headset. This is often a result of demanding physics simulations, which require a consistently solid frame rate to avoid discomfort.
In the PS VR2 version, players can expect a range of exclusive features, including improved bike models, an animated skybox, more realistic tarmac, an animated crowd featuring flags and smoke bombs, as well as additional enhancements. This new version will also contain new, enhanced buildings and props in newly polished circuits, along with fully 3D trees, grass, and terrain transitions (e.g., gravel to sand and vice versa).
There’s more! VRider SBK’s PS VR2 version will also feature two additional tracks: Estoril and Cremona, which have been added to the circuit selection. The game will support PS VR2 Trophies and offer fully customizable visual quality profiles. In the single-player game mode, up to 23 players can ride on a single track. Isn’t that amazing?
Feel every turn: PS VR2 delivers the real rush
The computational power of the PS VR2 has allowed us to bring the scene to life and significantly enhance the realism of the race. A new rendering pipeline, compared to the initial release on other platforms, has enabled a much higher level of visual fidelity. What truly elevates the sense of presence and immersion, however, is the inclusion of 22 AI riders, representing the full championship roster. It’s now a real challenge to beat them all and become the new tournament champion!
Strap In. Burn rubber. Be legendary
This project was created with great passion and love. Some key members of the team are motorcyclists, and many bring real-life racing experience to the table. VRider SBK is a heartfelt tribute to a passion many of us have nurtured since childhood.
The development team is proudly Italian, and Italy is world-renowned for its mechanical heritage and passion for engines. We’ve got our fair share of wild stories: from an illegal ride on a Superbike as a teenager without a license, to swapping tuned bikes, all the way to our Game Director, who keeps a garage with three motorcycles, one completely custom.
To paraphrase a well-known book in the industry, at Funny Tales, we’ve poured in blood, sweat, and not just pixels — but pure bike passion.
MindsEye developers Build A Rocket Boy have reportedly initiated a redundancy process that could result in cuts affecting over 100 people.
This would follow the game’s dire launch, which was plagued by bugs and performance issues, contributing to a largely negative critical and player reception.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide developer Fatshark has released the Battle for Tertium update, with the new Adeptus Arbites class DLC also set to go live. Patch notes are below.
The Adeptus Arbites, Darktide’s first class DLC, goes live around 7am PDT / 4pm CEST time today, June 23, priced $11.99 / €11.99 across all platforms.
This comes alongside the free Battle for Tertium update. This reworks the core player experience “to provide a new clearer narrative focus, following the conflict of the Battle for Tertium,” Fatshark said.
Players will now experience a linear campaign with new mission debriefs and embedded cinematics. This new progression path is designed to “ease in new players and gradually unlock features that were previously gated by character level,” the studio added.
While previously each new player’s experience was completely random, the Battle for Tertium narrative presents maps, enemies, and characters in a specific order. This, Fatshark hopes, means players will discover all aspects of the game at a much better pace.
The story missions play the same as regular missions, except they have a tighter control over which enemies spawn. You might also hear some new VO lines during missions, Fatshark teased, and some brand new mission debrief cinematics when completing each mission.
Existing players with characters at level 10 or higher can choose to skip the story or play it from the beginning. Players who change their minds about playing the campaign can opt out by using the Personality Scourge at the Barber-Chirurgeon.
It’s worth noting that if you skip the story when you first log-in with this update, you cannot revert this decision. The only way to play the story after choosing to skip it is to create a new character. The option to replay story missions at any time is still in progress, Fatshark clarified.
Story wise, the Arbites’ arrival takes place after the events of the Battle for Tertium, so while you can absolutely play as an Arbites through the new campaign, some of the story scenes will not be addressed to your type of character. Fatshark suggests playing the Battle for Tertium for the first time with one of the core characters.
Elsewhere, there’s a new mission board system, which changes how you engage with missions and difficulties. Missions are no longer tied to a specific difficulty, allowing you to select a mission and then choose the difficulty you want. This will effectively increase the amount of mission options available for players of all difficulty levels.
Tied into this, the difficulty system has been overhauled. You now unlock new difficulties by completing missions rather than leveling up your characters. “You must prove your skills at your current maximum difficulty to unlock access to the next one,” Fatshark explained. “We intend to create a motivation for new players to master the game step by step, and for veteran players to feel assured that their teammates have earned the right to be there.”
You will make progress by playing missions at your current maximum difficulty. Completing missions advances your progress. Mission Failures reduce your progress slightly but you will never be demoted to a lower difficulty. Higher difficulties will require you to complete more missions to unlock them. For existing characters, your difficulty progression will be migrated based on their character level and completed missions.
Battle for Tertium is one of the most significant updates for Darktide yet, and comes as the co-op first-person Warhammer 40,000 game nears its third birthday. After a troubled launch, Fatshark has improved Darktide significantly, to the point now where it has a ‘mostly positive’ Steam user review rating.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide Battle for Tertium update patch notes:
Quality of Life Changes
Increased maximum number of operatives to 8.
Increased maximum number of weapon loadouts to 8.
Added a total of ~900 new banter conversations, both between the original cast and Arbites.
Weapon Balance Changes & Tweaks
Catachan “Devil’s Claw” Swords
This batch of changes for the Devil’s Claw swords aims at further reinforcing the crowd control and reliability of the family.
We increased the offensive properties of the Light attack profiles, while also significantly increasing the armour damage modifiers (“adm” from now on) of the Heavy Strikedown and Special Riposte profiles against specific armour types.
We improved the base Stamina statistic, reduced the minimum Block time (the amount of time that the Block stance must be maintained after performing the input) and allowed for most attacks and attack starts to be performed while sprinting. This will make the weapon snappier and more responsive in different situations.
Finally, we took a pass on all attacks to tweak active windows, ranges and hitboxes to be better aligned with their animations.
For the Mk I, we added a new Heavy Strikedown attack, only reached from Light 3. In turn, the Light 3 attack is now reachable also from the Push action, and has an increased baseline power multiplier.
These additions will grant additional options to a mark which was lacking in single target attacks.
For the Mk IV, we raised the power level multiplier of the Light 4 attack as it was very far into the attack chain and not particularly enticing.
For the Mk VII, we increased the power level multiplier of the Pushfollow and Light 3 attacks while also changing the possible combos after a Riposte attack.
Now after a successful Special Parry, the combo will chain into the Pushfollow attack instead of Light 3; as the Pushfollow attack still chains into Light 3, this will give the mark a new unique chain.
Detailed Changes – Catachan “Devil’s Claw” Swords
Damage profiles
Light Vanguard
1st target damage from {40, 80} to {60, 100}.
Dev Note: The change will also affect the Turtolsky Heavy Swords Special followup Light attacks.
Light Strikedown / Light Strikedown Stab
1st target adm vs Maniac from 1 to 1.25.
1st target damage from {100, 200} to {115, 230}.
2nd target damage from {25,60} to {40,80}.
Dev Note: The changes will also affect the Turtolsky Heavy Swords Pushfollow attacks and the Maccabian Mk V Duelling Sword Light 3 attack.
Heavy Strikedown
1st target adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.1.
1st target adm vs Unyielding from 0.75 to 1.25.
Riposte
1st target adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
1st target adm vs Unyielding from 1 to 1.25.
1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.5.
All marks
Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks and attack starts.
Block minimum time from 0.3 to 0.225.
Stamina template update:
Base Stamina from 4 to 4.5.
Tweaked damage windows, hitboxes and ranges for several attacks.
Updated Inspect screen to correct some attack gestalt icons (visual only change).
Mk I
Added a new Heavy Strikedown attack with 540 power level multiplier .
This attack will chain only from Light 3.
Light 3 chains now to Light 2 / new Heavy Strikedown instead of Light 1 / Heavy 1.
Push chains now to Light 3 / Heavy 1 instead of Light 1 / Heavy 1.
Heavy 2 chain time to Start attack from 0.55 to 0.5.
Push chain time to Start attack from 0.35 to 0.3.
Added 545 power level multiplier to Light 3 (from default 500).
Added 535 power level multiplier to Pushfollow attack (from default 500).
Mk IV
Heavy 1 windup from secondary start from 0.56 to 0.46.
Added 550 power level multiplier to Light 4 (from default 500).
Mk VII
Pushfollow damage profile from Light Strikedown to Light Strikedown Stab.
Riposte chains now to Pushfollow / Heavy 1 instead of Light 3 / Heavy 1.
Added 535 power level multiplier to Light 3 (from default 500).
Added 525 power level multiplier to Pushfollow attack (from default 500).
Atrox Tactical Axes
While sporting overall good mobility, the Tactical Axes had only average Sprint values.
We significantly improved their Sprint profile, while also allowing for most attacks and attack starts to be performed while sprinting.
We also significantly raised the damage of the Special attacks and added a new profile for the Heavy Strikedowns with a vertical or uppercut direction, with increased damage and Carapace armour modifier.
Finally, we took a pass on all attacks to tweak active windows, ranges and hitboxes to be better aligned with their animations.
For the Mk II, we added a power level boost to the Light 3 attack, as it is further into the attack chain, and to both Special attacks, as they are slower compared to the other two marks.
For the Mk IV, we upgraded the damage profile for both Heavy attacks and slightly lowered their chain timings, as they are both performed in a vertical or uppercut direction.
For the Mk VII, we added a power level boost to all Light attacks, as they inflict a higher movement speed penalty compared to the Lights of the other marks, and changed the Heavy 2 profile to the new Heavy Strikedown.
Detailed Changes – Atrox Tactical Axes
Damage profiles
Light Assassin
Added 3rd target.
Heavy Strikedown (diagonal)
Adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.3.
Added a new Heavy Strikedown profile for vertical and uppercut attacks, with the same. properties as Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) aside from:
1st target damage from {100,200} to {115,230}.
1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.3 to 0.5.
Special Stab
1st target damage from {25,50} to {70,140}.
Removed Crit Chance bonus.
Special Strikedown
1st target damage from {25,50} to {60,120}.
1st target impact from {8,16} to {10,20}.
Removed Crit Chance bonus.
All marks
Sprint template from “default” to “assault”.
Forward acceleration from {0.15, 0.4} to {0.4, 0.8}.
Forward deceleration from 1.25 to 2.1.
Sprint speed modifier from {-0.5, 0.5} to {-0.25, 0.85}.
Increased action total time for most Heavy attacks.
This will make continuing the combo chain after the attacks more forgiving.
Added Allowed during sprint to most attacks and attack starts.
Tweaked damage windows, hitboxes and ranges for most attacks.
Buffer time for the Special input from 0.2 to 0.4.
Mk II
Added power level multiplier 515 to Light 3 (from default 500).
Added power level multiplier 550 to Special 1 and Special 2 (from default 500).
Mk IV
Changed damage profile of Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 from Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) to the new Heavy Strikedown (vertical/uppercut).
Lowered chain times to Start Attack and Special Attack from Heavy 1 and Heavy 2 from 0.5 to 0.4.
Added power level multiplier 515 to Heavy 2 (from default 500).
Mk VII
Changed damage profile of Heavy 2 from Heavy Strikedown (diagonal) to the new Heavy Strikedown (vertical/uppercut).
Added power level multiplier 550 to Light 1, Light 2, Light 3 (from default 500).
Shock Mauls
The Shock Mauls, while being dependable in inflicting stagger, were also below average in damage output and overall not very exciting.
We increased the damage against the 1st target on most profiles, with a particularly large bonus to the Heavy Strikedown and Special attacks.
We also enhanced the base Stamina and Dodge templates, and tweaked hitboxes and active windows of some attacks to better align with their animations.
For the attacks with an uppercut direction (Light 3 on the Mk Ia / Light 4 on the Mk III) we slightly delayed the start of the attack active window to make it easier to connect with weakspots.
Finally, for the Mk Ia, we added power level multipliers to the Light 3 and Light 4 attacks, to make them a more enticing combo alternative to just returning to Heavy 1.
Detailed Changes – Shock Mauls
Damage profiles
Light Strikedown
1st target damage from {100,200} to {115,210}.
Light Vanguard
Cleave from “light” to “medium”.
From {3.0,6.0} to {4.0,9.0}.
1st target damage from {100,150} to {110,165}.
Heavy Relentless
1st target damage from {110,260} to {120,270}.
Heavy Strikedown
Cleave from “big” to “light”.
From {8.5,12.5} to {3.0,6.0}.
1st target damage from {140,350} to {160,390}.
4th target damage override removed (from 0 to {30,50}).
Light Relentless
adm vs Maniac from 0.8 to 0.75.
adm vs Carapace armour from 0.75 to 0.4.
1st target damage from {80,150} to {90,165}.
Special attack
Sticky damage tick from {10,70} to {30,80}.
Stun damage tick from {40,50} to {50,65}.
All marks
Stamina template update:
Base Stamina from 4 to 4.5.
Sprint cost per second from {1.5, 0.5} to {1.25, 0.75}.
Inner angle Block cost from {1.5, 0.5} to {1.0, 0.5}.
Dodge template update:
Effective dodges limit from {3, 4}, to {3, 5}.
From 4 to 5 maximum effective dodges at high Mobility stat.
Dodge distance from {0.85, 1.0} to {0.9, 1.1}.
Dodge speed from {1.0, 1.2} to 1.0.
Mk Ia
Light 1 damage profile from Light Relentless to Light Vanguard.
Added power level multiplier 530 to Light 3 (from default 500).
Added power level multiplier 550 to Light 4 (from default 500).
Tweaked hitboxes for Light 3 and Light 4.
Tweaked damage windows for Light 4 to make it easier to connect with weak spots.
Mk III
Tweaked hitboxes and damage windows for Light 1 and Light 2.
Tweaked damage windows for Light 3 to make it easier to connect with weakspots.
Tigrus Heavy Eviscerators
The Eviscerator’s thunder was in part stolen by the Relic Blades, which have overall better cleave properties while also being no slouch in the single target department.
To give these iconic Zealot weapons a deserved bump, we tweaked most of the attack profiles: we removed the damage caps on secondary targets for the sweeping Vanguard/Relentless attacks, but also increased several armour modifier values, significantly improved the damage on the Heavy profiles and normalised most of the Special active profiles.
For the Mk III, we changed the chain times to key actions after the Heavy 1 attack to make it more responsive but less spammable with swap cancelling, slightly increased the speed of the Light 2 attack and added a power level multiplier to the Light 3 and Heavy 2 attacks.
Detailed Changes – Tigrus Heavy Eviscerators
Damage profiles
Light Strikedown
adm vs Maniac from 0.5 to 0.9.
adm vs Infested from 0.75 to 1.
Removed adm reduction on 1st target vs Carapace armour; from 0.1 to 0.25.
Light Vanguard/Relentless
Upped damage on secondary targets.
Removed damage cap after 4th target.
Heavy Vanguard
1st target damage from {150,300} to {165,345}.
1st target finesse multiplier from 0.5 to {0.4,1.0}.
Upped damage on secondary targets.
Heavy Strikedown
1st target damage from {150,300} to {175,350}.
1st target adm vs Carapace armour from 0.25 to 0.5.
1st target finesse multiplier from 0.5 to {0.5, 1.0}.
Added power level multiplier 525 to Heavy 2 and Light 3 (from default 500).
Updated Heavy 2 and Pushfollow attack damage profiles on Special abort.
Mk XV
Updated Pushfollow attack damage profiles on Special active and Special abort.
Lucius Helbore Lasguns
The Helbore Lasguns suffered from a very long Wield action duration, making it hard to quickly swap to priority targets (especially accounting also for the charging shots).
While this behaviour was intended, it also became increasingly punishing as the enemy numbers grew in higher difficulties.
In this balancing pass we sped up the Wield action, walking the line of maintaining the cumbersome feeling while also allowing for the weapons to be easier to swap into.
Alongside this change, we improved some of the armour and Finesse modifiers for ranged shots, and extended the hitscan radius of the las projectiles*, to make it easier for the weapon to shine as a marksman tool.
* This will make the hitscan detection more generous and allow for shots that would have slightly missed the target to still be considered a hit.
For the Mk V, we slightly increased the camera zoom in ADS mode.
For the Mk IV, we increased the camera zoom in ADS mode to be equivalent as the Mk IIIa.
We also improved the speed and offensive properties of the Special Slash attack, to be more in line with the Special Stab used in the other marks.
Detailed Changes – Lucius Helbore Lasguns
Damage profiles
Near charged shot
adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.1.
adm vs Maniac from 1 to 1.25.
adm vs Infested from 1 to 1.1.
Far charged shot
adm vs Unarmoured from 1 to 1.25.
adm vs Infested from 1 to 1.25.
All shots Finesse Boost
vs Carapace armour from 0.1 to 0.2.
vs Maniac from 0.25 to 0.35.
vs Unyielding from 0.25 to 0.3.
Special Slash
Added Ignore stagger reduction.
1st target finesse multiplier from 0.75 to 1.
All Marks
Added time scale 1.5 to Wield action (sped up).
Added 0.05 radius to hitscan templates.
Buffer time for the Special input from 0.2 to 0.4.
Mk V
ADS Vertical Field of View from 65 to 55.
Mk IV
Chain from Special start to Special attack from 0.3 to 0.25.
Chain from Special attack to Special start from 0.7 to 0.645.
Tweaked Special attack hitbox and damage window.
ADS Vertical Field of View from 65 to 45.
Combat Shotguns
The Combat Shotguns have been in a spot where they are mostly used for their Special shells, while the normal shots felt underwhelming in most circumstances. They also suffered from long reload times relative to other weapons.
With this update we are trying to improve the overall usability without relying solely on the Special mechanic.
Along with increased base damage and reload speed, the Combat Shotgun family gets updated Sprint and Stamina templates, to enable a more mobile, close-range playstyle and not rely only on precision weak-spot shots.
We also significantly increased the ammo reserves for all marks.
Finally, we slightly increased the Cleave and Impact values to allow it to punch through lesser enemies.
For the Mk VII, we aligned the Finesse boost curve between hipfire and ADS modes.
For the Mk IX, we slightly extended the Near and Far effective ranges.
Detailed Changes – Combat Shotguns
All Marks
Sprint template from “killshot” to “assault”.
Sprint forward acceleration from {0.15, 0.4} to {0.4, 0.8}.
Sprint forward deceleration from 1.25 to 2.1.
Sprint sideway acceleration/deceleration from 5 to 7.
Sprint speed modifier from {0.5, 0.5} to {0.25, 0.85}.
Updated Stamina template
Stamina modifier from 2 to 4.
Sprint cost per second from {2, 1.5} to {1.5, 0.5}.
Increased Reload speed by around 10%
Affecting both regular and special shells.
Damage profiles
Zarona MK VI
Damage from {250, 500} to {300, 600}.
Cleave
Cleave attack From 0.01 to {2, 4}.
Cleave impact from 0.01 to {2, 4}.
Ammo reserve from {60, 80} to {70, 95}.
Agripinaa Mk VII
Damage from {200, 400} to {250, 480}.
Cleave
Cleave attack From 1.3 to 2.5.
Cleave impact from 1.3 to 2.5.
Ammo reserve from {75, 95} to {80, 105}.
Finesse boost curve shooting from HipFire increased to match ADS.
{0.6,1.2} to {1.25,2.5}.
Accatran Mk IX
Damage from {450, 700} to {550, 740}.
Cleave
Cleave attack From 2 to 3.5.
Cleave impact from 1 to 3.
Ranges
Close range from {6, 8} to {6, 11}.
Long range from {12, 16} to {12, 17}.
Ammo reserve from {45, 65} to {55, 85}.
Double-barreled Shotgun
To increase the reliability of the weapon against bigger targets, we increased the armour damage modifier against the Unyielding type at both Near and Far ranges.
Additionally, we slightly raised the ammo reserves to allow for more aggressive approaches.
Detailed Changes – Double-barreled Shotgun
Damage profiles
adm vs Unyielding
Near from 1.0 to 1.1.
Far from 0.5 to 0.65.
Ammo reserve increased from {40, 80} to {50, 90}.
Bug Fixes & Changes
Weapons and Blessings
Fixed an issue where the description for the ‘Run n Gun’ blessing was displaying incorrect prefixes.
Classes
Psyker
Fixed an issue where the Disrupt Destiny keystone sometimes failed to show stacks in the HUD.
Missions
Inter-Zone Void Sector Omega-12
Clandestium Gloriana
Fixed several places in Clandestium Gloriana where players could get out of bounds.
Rotated the door after the mid event in Clandestium Gloriana to avoid players getting trapped behind it when it opens.
UI/UX and Animation
Fixed an issue where an “additional objectives” string in the Penance menu would not localize correctly.
Miscellaneous
Deadzone options now apply to both sticks when playing on controller.
Cosmetics
Fixed clipping issue on the Zealot “Stygian Kantrael MK IVG Flak Helm” headgear.
Fixed clipping issue behind the arms on the Veteran “Stygian MK lll Flak vest” upper body.
Fixed longer hairstyles clipping issue with the Psyker “Stygian MK IV Psykana Collar with Rebreather” headgear.
Fixed an issue where the Psyker “Illius Pattern Battleshoud with Psykana Collar (Burn Sulphur)” headgear would remove the operative’s eyebrows.
Fixed issues with the Veteran “Militarum Field Jacket” upper body clipping with “Militarum Type 47” lower body.
Fixed issues where the following Veteran headgear cosmetics would clip certain hairstyles
Ock’s Blood Goggles
Tinker Zard’s Superior High-vis Goggles
Chasm Railer Goggles
Fixed corrupted texture on Veteran “Vostroyan Hat with Tox Guard Face Mask (Mountain Snow)” headgear.
Fixed clipping issue on the Veteran “Stygian Mk I Armoured Fatigues” lowerbody.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
