Update 1.7 - Now Live on the test server

Hunters,

Below are the details of Update 1.7:

Reconnect Support

Update 1.7 brings with it the introduction of the Reconnect feature – the ability to reconnect to a Bounty Hunt mission in cases where your connection has been lost or the game has crashed. There are two ways in which this will attempt to restore the connection:

• “On the Fly” 60 second reconnect:
  • In instances where you lose connection to the server, but the game client is still running, we will attempt to restore the connection and get you back into the mission.

• Game client crash/client restart/kick to main menu reconnect:
  • In instances where either the game client crashes, or if you restart the game while in a mission, a prompt will appear which will give you the option to reconnect to the mission or abandon your hunter.
  • This prompt will show the remaining mission time, the current state of you and your teammates:
    • Alive.
    • Downed – can be revived.
    • Dead – Redskulled/cannot be revived.
    • Burning while downed (better hurry, you might be able to get back and put them out!).

Developer Note:

This reconnect feature has been a huge undertaking, even bigger as it was something done post game-launch, but we are very happy to be able to bring this long-standing community request to you all. We feel this is a great addition and should allow many of you the opportunity to not lose hunters when losing connection to the game.

This feature has been a long time in the works and something we wanted to make as solid as possible before introducing it to the game. As this is a new system, we expect there may be some edge cases that might pop up. If they do, please make sure to forward them to our community managers and customer service team to ensure that we can address them as quickly as possible.

New Weapon: Berthier Mle 92

The Berthier Mle 92 is a new large slot, long ammo carbine rifle with a 3-round capacity 'en-bloc' clip loading mechanism. The Berthier adds a unique gameplay element to the current long ammo rifle lineup available in the arsenal. Originally, this was introduced as an alternative to the Lebel rifle with the rear echelon and cavalry troops in the French military (that is your fun history fact for the day folks). The Berthier excels as a lightweight yet powerful weapons that brings a lot of flexibility to the table.

Loading Mechanism Overview

The three round clips cannot be ‘topped off’ one bullet at a time, like some other weapons, and must be removed to reload, either through manual or auto ejection. Once the last round of the clip has been chambered, the clip will automatically be ejected from the bottom of the weapon (like the Bornheim). The clip can also be manually ejected through the breach with the mag release button on the front of the trigger guard.

Manually reloading with this weapon will take slightly more effort as it requires players to choose whether to fire the remaining rounds and go for the fast reload of a full clip or spend the extra time reloading manually by extracting the half finish clip.

Reloading

Performing a partial reload can eject up to 2 unspent rounds if timed poorly and without Bulletgrubber, which gives some extra value to this trait in combination with the Berthier. It is important to note that the complex loading mechanism means partial reloads take longer and the fastest operating speed can be achieved by cycling/shooting the 3 rounds and then reload.

This complex mechanism also has an impact on interrupting shots with a reload. Without the trait, you will not be able to save a round in this manner like with other weapons in Hunt. Players will need to be cautious when it comes to reloading but using this weapon in the manner expected ensures that it is a fast and competitive weapon choice.

Ammo switch

The Berthier will be the first weapon outside of the one-shot rifles that can utilize two different ammo types. Since the design brings a clip that must be empty before performing a reload, this opens the ability to easily switch between two types of ammo.

Ammo types (Custom Ammo)

• Basic - Ammo – 3/6 per slot
• Spitzer - Ammo – 3/6 per slot
• Incendiary - Ammo – 3/6 per slot

Developer Note:

Deciding on the main ammo is even more important than with other weapons that support multiple ammo types. Where other weapons give you an extra round, the Berthier gives you three extra rounds loaded directly into the weapon for the main ammo types. So choose wisely, if you’d prefer to have more Spitzer, Incendiary or basic ammunition.

New traits

New Trait: Vigor

• “While in Dark Sight, doubles the rate at which Health and Stamina regenerate.”
• Works in combination with Regeneration Shots
• Does not affect any delays before regeneration starts
• Unlocks at Rank 38
• 4 Upgrade Points

New Trait: Magpie

• “Receive a short effect similar to that of either the Antidote Shot, Stamina Shot or Regeneration Shot, when picking up a Bounty Token.”
• 150 Seconds effect duration
• Unlocks at Rank 1
• 1 Upgrade points

New Trait: Poison Sense

• “You can see nearby poisoned Hunters while in Dark Sight.”
• Also highlights teammates
• Unlocks at Rank 84
• 1 Upgrade Point
• 50m range

Loadout Presets

Another long-standing community request is being added with Update 1.7 - Loadout Presets. Now players will have the ability to create specific loadouts to allow you to quickly equip the items you want and get into the action as quickly as possible.

• Loadout presets can be accessed through the roster screen (a button marked ‘Custom’ can be found above your weapons on the equipment screen).
• This will open a new window that will show your loadout presets.
• Each player has been granted 3 loadout preset slots.
• Players will be able to unlock a maximum of 10 slots in total.
  • Extra slots are purchasable with Bloodbonds.

• Presets will be available to anyone that has completed the trainee mode (reach Bloodline Rank 11)
• Each slot can be renamed for better organization.
• If you do not have the required items in your inventory, the missing equipment will automatically be purchased.
  • Items will only be auto purchased if you meet the requirements (rank, money, trait points etc.)

Developer Note:

When it came to a feature like this, the team really wanted to ensure that something meaningful and useful was brought to the table, and not just a basic concept. The team has put a lot of thought into this feature, specifically trying to cover not only what is needed in a feature like this, but also what extra bits players might like to have. Therefore, we have added the “tickers” to ensure that players have as much control over their loadouts as possible.

These tickers will allow you to not only create full loadouts, but also consumable or tool only loadouts as well as an option to prioritize adding contraband items to your loadout to save some Hunt dollars. This level of detail will make creating your loadouts far more streamlined and will cut back on the downtime between missions. We are very happy with the design of this new feature and hope you will enjoy it as much as we do.

AI

• A major clean-up pass has been performed on the Butcher to fix several minor glitches and bugs. Below are the most notable fixes:
  • The Butcher should now correctly attack the target that it initially spots.
  • Fixed some erratic movement issues that could occur after a melee attack.
  • Fixed a rare issue that caused the Butcher to attack more aggressively than intended.
  • Fixed an issue where the Butcher could be lured out of the arena but then get stuck in the doorway.
  • Improved the anti-exploit behaviour when players are near the arena entrances.
  • Fixed some smaller issues that resulted in the Butcher not perceiving players correctly.
  • Fixed an issue where the dead Butcher would make a noise in reaction to player actions.

• We also took this opportunity to make some minor behavioral tweaks:
  • Improved the aim of the Butcher in instances where players are partially obscured from his view.
  • Improvements made to the melee attack of the Butcher to reduce the clipping issues that can occur when he performs an attack near a wall.
  • The Butcher’s hook will not re-ignite when receiving fire damage after it has been extinguished.
  • A piece of the cross and pig head of the Butcher will now break off when entering a frenzied state. This is now in line with the damage representation that is currently visible with Scrapbeak.

Audio

With this update we have performed a melee unification and sanity pass. Here is the dev note to give some more context on what this means:

Developer Note:

As part of the ongoing development of Hunt, we have made some improvements to the sounds tied to melee impacts. In this patch, we have adjusted the pre-existing melee sounds to be more consistent and to better represent the amount of damage that is being dealt by the respective weapons.

We have also assigned some sounds that are better fit for certain melee weapons. We have added unique impact sounds for slashing with a knife, stabbing with the pitchfork and heavy melee attack for the Bomblance.

These changes will ultimately give players a better understanding of what melee weapon is being used based on solely on the sound – and of course to make punching, slicing, and stabbing far more satisfying.

Gunplay

• Consistency pass made to all short-barrel rifle variants:
  • Slightly reduced the damage and range compared to the basic and long-barreled weapons.

• Increased the poison damage dealt by the Hand Crossbow to Armored and Concertina Armored.
• Reduced the duration of the Weak Antidote shot 600 seconds (previously 1800 seconds).
• Reduced the duration of the Antidote shot to 1200 seconds (previously 3600 seconds).

Hunter

• Banishing the boss will now remove the poison effect from any hunters in your team.
• Reworked Trait: Vigilant
  • “Nearby traps are highlighted in Dark Sight.” (Unchanged)
  • Significantly improved the visibility and reliability of all visual effects.
  • It is now possible to distinguish between the different types of traps (clearer at closer ranges).
  • Increased the range to 25m (previously 5m).

• Reworked Trait: Blade Seer
  • “Bolts, arrows, throwing axes, and throwing knives are highlighted in Dark Sight for better visibility.” (Unchanged)
  • Significantly improved the visibility and reliability of all visual effects.
  • Reduced range to 25m (previously 30m).

Menu

• Tier 1 Hunters now have unique weapon equip animations in the Lobby and Roster screens.

Meta

Reconnect Support

As mentioned in the Highlights section, we will be introducing a reconnect support feature to Hunt with this update. Previously, disconnecting from the servers usually meant a death sentence for your Hunter (unless you are in trainee mode). Now, you will be able to return to the Bayou and get back into the action right where you left off. Here are some of the finer details you need to be aware of:

• When disconnected, your hunter will stay where they are and crouch in place to ensure they are as small a target as possible. (Does not apply when down or dead).
• Teammates will receive a notification to show that you have lost connection. This will allow them to attempt to protect you while you reconnect.
• If you leave the mission (using the Leave mission button in the pause menu) or if you decline the reconnect prompt in the main menu, you hunter will be lost, and your teammates will be informed of your decision.
• You will be able to reconnect to the current mission for up to 10 minutes after the initial disconnect. If you fail to reconnect after this time, we will consider that you are gone/won’t be returning to this mission and will kill the hunter.
• This 10-minute timer will refresh for each disconnect. So, if you have multiple disconnects in a game for any reason, you will have 10 minutes to return after each one.
• The mission time will not be modified by these disconnects. If you lose your connection, the mission will continue as normal meaning the timer will also continue to count down. As an example, if you disconnect and only have 3 minutes left on the timer to extract, we will not extend the timer to allow extra time to get to the extraction.
  • We have done this in the interest of fairness and to avoid players trying to intentionally cut their connection to gain any kind of an advantage.

• If your connection drops but the game does not crash or kick you back to the main menu, we will attempt to auto-reconnect you for the next 60 seconds. If after this time the connection has not been restored, you will be sent to the main menu where you can try again through the reconnect prompt.
• For now, the reconnect feature is only available for Bounty Hunt. Quickplay matches are much faster and don’t carry the same stakes as the Bounty Hunt missions so the chances of reconnecting to a hunter that is still alive (and has a chance to get the wellspring) are a lot slimmer.

Developer Note:

We are very happy to be finally able to bring this feature and offer a way to reconnect to an existing mission. This has been one of the most requested features from the community since we launched in Early Access back in 2018.

We wanted to make sure that a feature like this gave you the ability to complete the mission as if you never even left, but since this is a very large addition to the game, we understand there may be edge cases that we were unable to encounter during out internal playtests. If you encounter any unusual behavior with this feature, please be sure to reach out to the team and provide a detailed description of what so we can reproduce and fix any issues that you do encounter. Remember, details are key to helping us ensure we can find and solve problems quickly so be as detailed as possible.

Traits Unlock Changes

• Hornskin now unlocks at Rank 1 (previously Rank 2)
• Salveskin now unlock at Rank 1 (previously 15).
• Bloodless unlocks at Rank 1 (previously rank 37).
• Mithridatist unlocks at Rank 15 (previously Rank 53).
• Whispersmith unlocks at Rank 38 (previously Rank 53).

Recruit Changes

• Reworked the equipment for Free Hunters to provide more variety.
• Bloodline Rank 79 to 100, you will now have the chance of two Tier 3 recruits per Hunter reshuffle on the recruitment page.
• Legendary Hunters can now be recruited for $200 (previously of $333).

Store

• Added the Berthier Carbine - Unlocked at Bloodline Rank 62 for $356
• Added the Berthier Carbine Incendiary Custom Ammo for $35
• Added the Berthier Spitzer Custom Ammo for $220
• Adjusted some weapon meta stats to better fit their timing (this is purely to line up the stats with how it is in-game, weapon mechanics have not been changed)
• Cavalry Saber unlocks at Rank 42 (previously 62)
• ‘Poison’ unlocks category changes:
  • Moved Weak Antidote Shot to Rank 2 (previously from Rank 48)
  • Changed the order in the Poison category: Antidote Shot (weak) and Poison Bomb switched places 1 and 2 in the unlock order.

• Antidote Shot (Weak) cost has been reduced to $30 (previously $50)
• Antidote Shot to $55 (previously $80).
• Decoy Fuses cost has been reduced to $30 (previously $60).
• Throwing Axe cost has been reduced to $30 (previously $60).
• Alert Trip Mines cost has been reduced to $30 (previously $60).
• Poison Trip Mines cost has been reduced to $30 (previously $60).

New Legendary Weapons

• Legendary Lebel 1886 “Swan Song” for 700 BB.
  • “An air of finality lingers in the smoke of this Lebel 1886, an urgent call to the afterlife in the ring of its shot. Known as the Swan Song, it heralds an early closing performance of those caught in its sights.  “

• Legendary Springfield 1866 Compact “Springs End” for 500 BB.
  • “Yellowing grass, empty nests, and rotten blossoms are the litter of spring’s end. Rebirth happens alongside death, and this Springfield 1866 Compact guarantees the cycle keeps turning.”

• Legendary Mosin-Nagant Obrez Drum “Gaunt” for 600 BB.
  • “This Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez Drum is a symbol of the haggard and hungry. Its bleached painting a reflection that the spoils are taken by those who want them most.”

• Legendary Martini-Henry IC1 “Siren’s Song” for 600 BB
  • “Those drawn towards the peal of this Martini-Henry IC1 realize too late that it rings with the sound of their own death. At the root of the Siren’s Song are only laments for the foolish and vanquished. “

UI

Leaderboard

• Leaderboard have been tweaked to reduce number of inactive players.
• This will only take affect once 1.7 reaches the live servers (test leaderboards are not updated in the same manner.

Developer Note:

Due to these tweaks, it may appear that the leaderboard may have less players or even appear empty for a brief period. The leaderboards have not been wiped, but due to the changes they will need some time to populate with the updated information based on the changes we have made.

Menu changes

• All standard non-legendary) items have been moved out of the store and into a new tab called “Arsenal”.

Developer Note: In a previous update, we mentioned that changes to the shop were some of the first steps being made towards providing more clarity. This is another one of those steps. Core gameplay items now have a space of their own, while store items (Bloodbond items, legendary and DLC’s) will now have their own separate section. We hope that this change will help to make these pages a lot clearer, especially for new players. We have many more ideas in store for the future, but we will also keep an eye on the feedback provided by the community for other possible changes.

• The Store now features a “Featured” page to present you the new Hunter available, the latest discounts and more.
• Improvements made to the in-game news feed.
• The leaderboards are moved to the progression tab, as a subtab

Visual Updates

• Visual update for the progress unlocks for bloodline and trails.
• Visual update for the statistic screen.
• Visual update for the last match screen.
• Visual update for quickplay gear selection buttons.
• Visual update for the hunter selection buttons.
• Visual update for the item slots. New backgrounds visuals.
• Visual update for the legendary items in the store. We improved the readability for the locked / unlocked states.
• Visual update for the items in the arsenal. We improved the readability for the locked / unlocked states.

Miscellaneous

• Added new Feature: Gamma Settings have been added to the settings menu. This option will also appear when you first launch the game (new players) and can be found in the settings menu after this.
• Scrolling through lists should feel much smoother with less item snapping.
• Cleaning a weapon will now play a sound.
• Reworked the header rank and currency icons.
• In-game map: the map will now display the correct coloured skull when a teammate is dead (red skull and white skull)
• Minor changes made to the text that appears when recruiting a Legendary Hunter

Level Changes

Stillwater Bayou:

Global:

• Reworked the islands between Blanchet Graves and Lockbay Docks. Added some loot to multiple of the crossing islands. Adjusted shallow water paths between islands so they will no longer slow down players using the walkways.
• Added some structures between Chapel of Madonna Noir and Scupper Lake to give more options to approach Scupper Lake from the south.
• Closed the gaps on the sides of 'Industrial' type window shutters.

Blanchet Graves

• Blocked off some large and small glass windows in the Church at Blanchet.

Lockbay Docks:

• On the upper floor, replaced the two large North facing windows with 1 central shuttered window and 2 smaller windows on each side. Previously these large windows were not very useable, but the change should add a new avenue for defense.
• Added a 2nd West facing window to the upper floor of the boss lair.
• Extended the outside roof to allow players to enter the compound on the upper floor from the new north facing shuttered window or west facing glass window.
• Added a few holes in the wall where players can defend the main floor from eastward attack.
• Added an elevator platform that connects the basement and the main building.
• Replaced the wooden floors of the basement with mud/concrete floor to help differentiate between footsteps on the main floor and basement.

Pitching Crematorium:

Interior:

• Added a barricade in the long corridor when approaching from the tunnel to help block line of sight and force defenders closer if they’d like to watch the tunnel entrance.
• Added a new door entrance to the boss lair near the previous tunnel entrance.
• Extended the elevator room to allow more space for all types of weapons.
• Reworked the North water side entrance. Adjusted the previously barricaded window to a full door offering 2 possible points of entry.
• Removed the short ladder previously used to enter from the North, both water entrances can now be entered by dropping in and exited by simply climbing up towards either doorway.
• Extended the walls from the elevator room to the boss lair to provide more cover for attackers.
• Disconnected the long corridor from main entrance and tunnel entrance.
• Moved the long corridor one room further so both entrances feel different and bring players to different rooms.
• Removed some items from the basement area to reduce overall clutter and help the flow of basement gunfights.

Exterior:

• Extended the eastern ruins of the compound closer to the forest between Pitching and Healing-Waters
• Decluttered the top of Pitching Crematorium by making the surrounding foliage smaller.
• Added a nice sniper spot on the top of Pitching Crematorium.
• Extended the jetty´s at the North water entrance allowing for more walkable space.
• Added more natural cover when leaving or approaching from West of the compound.
• Replaced the one-person elevator with the platform elevator to allow more players to enter or exit at the same time.

Cypress Huts:

• Reworked the southern ramp approach to Cypress Huts. Shorted distance hunters needed to take through water to reach ramp. Added more cover when approaching ramp, but still quite risky.

Port Reeker:

• Added a staircase entrance on the West side of Port Reeker to have a faster, but risky way into the perimeter.

Healing Water Church:

• Added a new staircase from inside the Healing Water Church into the Crypt below.

Scupper Lake

• Added more land around the compound to improve traversal.
• Reduced the amount of overall vegetation and grouped them more.
• Added a perimeter wall around the compound.
• Added new wooden walkways to the compound from Port Reeker and Madonna's Chapel.
• Removed some of the small windows with shutters on the Boss building.
• Moved some of the small windows with shutters on the Boss building to a different location for better access.
• Added new holes and more cover inside the boss building.
• Added a new accessible barn South of the compound.
• Updated the Hunting tower between Port Reeker and Scupper Lake.

Catfish Grove

• Added more land around the compound to improve traversal.
• Added new paths to approach the compound from the East side.
• Added a hunting tower and more cover on the East side.
• Added a new bridge and cabin on the West side.
• Added more cover around the Boss building.
• Added a new ladder to access the roof from inside the Boss building.
• Added a new window and stairs on the North side of the Boss building.
• Updated the vegetation around the North side of the Boss building.
• Added a new “remote crank” inside a hut on the eastern side for controlling the metal gate at the Boss building.
• Added a new "bridge" connection from the log pile to the Boss building on the South side.

Davant Ranch

• Moved the chicken cage further away from the white house on the East side of the compound and added a small fence around it.

Riding Hall Boss Lair:

• Elevated the small windows for defenders looking to the East towards Pitching Crematorium and Healing-Waters Church.
• Added two side small windows looking West towards Cyprus Huts and East towards Slaughterhouse.
• Added two small windows for defenders looking West towards Cyprus Huts on the bottom floor.

Reynard Mill and Lumber

• Added a break in the large log wall North-East of the compound to allow players to get into cover quicker while attacking.

Lawson Delta

Global

• Closed the gaps on the sides of 'Industrial' type window shutters.

Lawson Station

• Replaced all static (non-destroyable) lights with proper lights which can be turned on/off and can be destroyed.
• Added a few cover spots outside the waiting hall for the defending team.

Bradley & Craven Brickworks

• Added a Ladder from outside the compound onto the roof of the eastern Brickworks building.
• Added a Ladder from inside the compound onto the roof of the western Brickworks building.
• Both these roofs were already accessible, but not in a very useful or readable way.

Fort Carmick:

• Added some ruins in the forest East of Fort Carmick.
• Changed the layout of the Fort Carmick Northern building and Connection between the two main buildings. This change now makes the second floor of the northern building accessible.

Nicholls Prison:

• Opened the forest North-West of Nicholls Prison to allow more room for Hunters to maneuver between trees.

Windy Run:

Reworked the East and South side approaches of Windy Run to give more options when attacking the compound. The main building has also received some work, giving it a few more defensive options.
Removed the singleton white hut from the east of Windy in favor of 2 sets of abandoned stables in addition to a new eastern border wall.
Added a new staircase and falling red gate entrance to the south side of the Compound.

Maw Battery:

• Added a Watchtower to the mud-bunker west of Maw Battery.

Wolfshead Arsenal:

• Reworked the side buildings and added a few more small shutters and windows.
• Extended the boss lair to give players a few more defensive options (extra windows) when defend the building.
• Added another balcony to the North-East side building facing Fort Carmick.
• Replaced the old log walls with new models.
• Extended the roof around the north-western building of the compound to give players more movement-options around it.
• Added small windows to the two towers at the entrance of Wolfshead Arsenal.

DeSalle

Global

• Closed the gaps on the sides of 'Industrial' type window shutters.
• Polished sand and rock transitions on the terrain.

Kingsnake Mine

• Added some shutters to the upper windows.
• Various Level Art improvements and polishing.
• Improved vegetation around the south-east approach for better player leading and cover.
• Improved and cleaned up some of the geometry at the white house north of the compound.
• Adjusted the position of some Static Lanterns.
• Smoothed out player traversal and collision in a few spots.

Darin Shipyard

• Adjusted leaning boat ramp on the east side to allow players to crouch underneath.
• Improved player leading, cover and traversal at the west gate to the compound.

Upper DeSalle

• Improved the area west of Upper DeSalle and the train tracks towards Ash Creek.
• Various Level Art improvements and polishing.

Lower DeSalle

• Various Level Art improvements and polishing.

Weeping Stone Mill

• Extended the balcony at the building near river (southwest)

Forked River Fishery

• Added a new small window to boss lair looking to west. Before there was only 1 dangerous window. This gives the defenders a new peek hole.
• Re-designed the fish basin.

AI

• Made some adjustments in AI perception to make them more correctly assess visibility ranges.
• General pass on fixing some minor animation glitches on AI.
• Upwards and downwards sight-range decreased a bit on the Meathead so his escalation will be a bit more lenient when players are on top of buildings.
• Fixed an issue whereby Meathead was sometimes not responding properly to Leeches getting killed.
• Assassin will now properly take damage again from explosives when in his swarm state.
• More fixes to increase stability of AI navigation system to prevent server crash.
• Fix for Sticky Bomb sometimes not doing desired amount of damage to any of the bosses.
• Fixed an issue whereby the Immolator would sometimes explode a little bit later after death.

Gunplay

• Fixed an issue where a player could be seen empty handed or with an incorrect item on other players screens
• Fixed an issue where no visual effect would be played when retrieving sticking items from enemy players or AI (e.g.: when retrieving a throwing knife from a meatheat).
• Fixed an issue where weapons animation didn’t play in training or trials until the first weapon switch happened.
• Minor server improvement in performance for computing explosion fall-out.
• Fixed an issue where choke bombs could be destroyed by liquid firebombs in deep water

Please note, the reamining bug fixes and known issues will be posted in another post while the test server is live. This is due to the character limitations with the steam announcements.

~The Hunt team