The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch is Now Live

After launching The Walking Dead Onslaught in September, we have been listening and processing the valuable feedback we’ve received from our player community. Today, we’ve just pushed a major Combat Rebalance Patch, which is now live.

Before we dive into the details of the Combat Rebalance Patch, we do want to give a big shout out to the many players who gave their time and energy to provide constructive feedback and submit bugs to our studio. We’ve spent a lot of time evaluating what we could do to help players achieve our goal of walker-slaying fun, and have made significant changes to our Combat System and Walker Behavior as a result. We’ve got the full details to share with you below:

The Walking Dead Onslaught Combat Rebalance Patch

1) Significant Ranged Weapon Combat Overhaul

• All ranged weapons have been tuned to allow for one-hit kills to the brain at close range; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
• Ranged weapons now have custom fall-off damage over distance, which can be improved via weapon upgrades ("Refined Powder"). This excludes the Lever Action Rifle, Revolver, and Crossbow.
• Simulated weight on heavier / longer ranged weapons has been adjusted for better usability; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
• Ammo Pickups now grant less ammunition per weapon, increasing ammo scarcity.
• All ranged weapons have had their maximum ammunition and upgraded ammunition capacities re-balanced to the new weapon damage values.
• Ranged weapons brought into a Scavenger run as part of the player loadout now start with a single magazine's worth of ammunition rather than the maximum for the weapon.
• The ammo bonuses granted by The Forge have been increased from +40% at max level to +125% (+25% per upgrade).
• Increased blunt melee damage on all ranged weapons (pistol whipping).
• The "Copper Tips" upgrades for the Heavy Pistol, Lever Action Rifle, and Crossbow are now more effective; penetration values have been increased.
• The Basic Pistol is now less accurate at range to compensate for its new one-hit kill capability.

2) Significant Melee Weapon Combat Overhaul

• All melee weapons have had their damage values tweaked; less damage is dealt to the jaw and significantly less damage is dealt to the neck and below.
• Sharp melee weapons (blades and axes) now stick inside of a Walker's skull on kill and will resist easy removal; higher quality sharp melee weapons such as the Katana and Battle Axe have the least resistance of removal.
• Dead Walkers no longer automatically detach from sharp melee weapons when impaled.
• While impaling a Walker with a sharp melee weapon, player movement is restricted for as long as the weapon remains stuck in the Walker.
• Additional simulated weight has been added to heavier / longer melee weapons; this weight can be neutralized by stabilizing (two-handing) a weapon.
• Reduced blunt melee damage for sharp melee weapons when striking with the hilt or other non-sharp surfaces; the Crowbar, Battle Axe, and Shovel have retained higher damage for these blunt attacks.
• The Knuckle Knife has been completely re-tuned to better emphasize blunt damage (two-hit punch to the head, one-hit when upgraded); the knife end is no longer an instant kill head strike but also does not stick in skulls on kill.
• The "Impact" upgrades for the Hammer, Bat, and Battle Axe are now more effective; explosive damage values have been increased.

3) Walker Aggression and Difficulty Increased

• Walker perception and aggression has been increased.
• Walkers now deal significantly more damage when biting.
• On Survivor and Veteran difficulty, Walkers now also deal initial grapple damage before biting starts.
• Increased number of Walkers in Campaign Chapter 1.
• Armored Walkers and Spiked Walkers are now more difficult to kill.
• Spiked Walkers are now noticeably more deadly than other walkers.

4) Progression Has Been Eased

• There is more Food in the early game to allow for smoother level progression.
• Changed the first time user Scavenger site mission from Main Street Supply Run to Military Checkpoint Supply Evac.
• Reduced the speed of the Scavenger Herd Wall when playing on Novice or Survivor difficulty.

5) Additional Changes

• Added an option for Left-hand Dominant players who use Smooth Locomotion to swap the Movement and Turning inputs with each other.
• Reversing grip on a bladed weapon will no longer cause a choked Walker to detach.
• Choked or impaled Walker corpses have increased simulated weight, but no longer automatically fall to the floor.
• Increased velocity when throwing Walker corpses..
• Choked Walkers can now be brought closer to the player's face.

Also a reminder to our Quest and Quest 2 users: Virtual Desktop has released Update 1.16.2, which includes compatibility for The Walking Dead Onslaught.

Lastly, we’ve seen a handful of Valve Index users request grip controller compatibility and have published an alternative controller scheme which allows players to interact with the environment, grab pickups, and choke walkers using the Index’s grip sensor in addition to the default trigger input.

If you have any additional questions, feedback or bug reports, please send them to [email protected]. And let us know what you think about this new Combat Rebalance Patch on social at @Survios + #TWDOnslaught, or join us on our official Survios Discord.