We're super excited to introduce our first Balance Update for y'all today. This update will shake up the overall strategy for both regular games and competitive matches in the PCL. Accompanying those balance adjustments are a handful of bug fixes and other improvements. For a condensed list of patch notes, check the bottom of this announcement.
Our goal with the following balance adjustments are not to make the game "more balanced". Instead, we are aiming to refresh the meta by shifting the balance, creating new and refreshing strategies for players. Starting on January 1st, there will be a new Balance Update every 3 months to match each new POLYGON Competitive League season. Each Balance Update, we will be nerfing some of the stronger guns, and buffing some of the weaker guns to create a new meta.
Our goal is to completely remove the G36C from the competitive meta. Its been at the top of the food chain for way too long, though we're sure it'll eventually find its way back to the top in a future meta. This however, is not that time.
(-) Reduced damage from 25 -> 24
(-) Reduced rate of fire from 750 -> 725
(-) Reduced bullet velocity by 10%
(-) Reduced mobility from 107 -> 105
While the AK12 wasn't overpowered, we wanted to knock it down a bit to give way for new guns in the meta. It's power is still within the same range as some of the other 'balanced' guns like the M16A4 and AK74M
(-) Decreased rate of fire from 650 -> 630
(-) Decreased mobility from 105 -> 100
We want the ASVAL to fit a niche role as a fast paced assassin like weapon. Quick, silent, and finally deadly. We believe this buff, while not making it super strong in all maps, will finally give the ASVAL a place in the meta.
(+) Increased damage from 24 -> 25
(+) Reduced tactical reload speed from 2.85 -> 2.73
(+) Reduced empty reload speed from 3.35 -> 3.07
(+) Increased magazine capacity from 20 -> 25
(+) Increased mobility from 104 -> 107
We're giving the AK47 a big damage boost, especially for headshots. Additionally, there's some extra recoil to compensate, and some extra movement speed. The AK47 is finally good again, and especially rewarding for high skill players.
(+) Increased damage from 31 -> 32
(-) Increased recoil from 25 -> 28
(+) Increased mobility from 100 -> 105
(+) Increased headshot multiplier from 2 -> 2.2
(+) Increased rate of fire from 600 -> 615
The goal with the Scar is to nudge it in the direction of meta. We want to increase its power at high level play, and make it better at range.
(+) Increased headshot multiplier from 2 -> 2.25
(+) Increased bullet velocity multiplier from 1 -> 1.05
(-) Increased recoil from 27 -> 30
To go along with the cycle animation fix from last patch, we wanted to make the M24 feel a bit cooler to play. With this one change, headshot collaterals will finally kill. This mostly guarantees a kill any time you hit a headshot with the M24. Time to get clips!
(+) Increased headshot multiplier from 2 -> 2.55
Our goal is to provide a proper middle ground between scopes like the ACOG and small sights like the Red Dot. The Holographic Sight will now give a noticeable amount of magnification, without being a long range scope. Keep in mind, sights in POLYGON don't use a realistic magnification, rather they change the FOV of the camera.
(+) Increased the FOV magnification of the Holographic sight from 80 to 70
Cargo has been a staple in the POLYGON Competitive League since the beginning. But, it hasn't been the most balanced battleground. With these small changes, we hope to make the map a little more balanced for both sides, by reducing the amount of angles in certain powerful positions. While this more than likely won't "fix" the balance of the map, it should be a step in the right direction. Let us know what you think!
Ever wanted to play against the top rated players in a competitive environment? Join the PCL and queue up for ranked! We now have the PCL Ranked Leaderboard in the main menu to flex your ranking on to the entire POLYGON Community. The next PCL season will begin on October 1st, it will feature new rewards (skins, patches, and more) as well as a revamped ranking system. Join the POLYGON Competitive League!
Additionally, the Pro League standings are now displayed in the main menu!
Added the current health number to the health bar
Added the POLYGON Competitive League leaderboard to the main menu
Decreased the amount of time you are blocked from new actions, like shooting and sprinting, after throwing a grenade
Adjusted the M16A4 shoot audio to be a little deeper
Lower Arm hits now deal full damage rather than 93%
Increased the damage grace period after death from 1 second to 1.5, you should see fewer "no-regs" after death. We'll be monitoring the effect of this change.
Slightly increased opacity of the borders
Stamina no longer decreases when jumping at slow speeds
Cargo balance adjustments
Significantly improved the hit registration of grenades
Fixed the wall climbing exploit
Fixed an issue where changing player skins was not working properly
Fixed some incorrect collisions on Storage
Further fixed the rechambering cancel bug on M24
Fixed a bug that caused reload animations on pistols to cancel
Fixed more bugs regarding to changing teams and re-enabled the Change Team button
Fixed the display name of the Pirate patch
Fixed a bug that caused a single bullet to sometimes hit a player twice (this was the cause of the M24 one shot body issue)
Nerfed the G36C, worse time to kill and worse at range
Nerfed AK12, slightly worse time to kill, slower movement
Buffed the ASVal, better time to kill and faster pace of play
Buffed the AK47, more damage overall and faster movement
Buffed the ScarH, more rewarding headshots and better at range
Buffed the M24, far more damage on headshots to allow collateral kills
Increased the FOV magnification of the Holographic sight from 80 to 70
Our next update will take a bit longer to come out than the last few. We don't want to give out all of our plans just yet, but we expect 0.7.10 to take us about 1 month. It will feature some cool map adjustments, including Crash Site King of the Hill. Stay tuned!