Dirty Bomb’s fourth medic has arrived to heal the sick and shred the healthy, and he’s bringing along a crap-ton of new features as well! Check it all out below!
New Merc: Phoenix
Phoenix is a Doctor. A healer. A saver of lives. An arrogant bastard who broke his Hippocratic Oath ten minutes into his first surgery and thought self-replicating nanomachines would be an exceptional instrument for face-lifts and nose-jobs. After the Spanish medical community banished him for ethical violations bordering on mad science, Phoenix has risen again, finding his way to London to see what his special little friends can do on the battlefield.
His prototype nanites mend the wounds of himself and his nearby allies, and trigger the ability that lends him his name. More offensive-minded than Aura and Sparks, Phoenix heals his teammates by being right in the thick of things.
SPECIAL ABILITY: SELF REVIVE
The problem with needing to be near the people getting shot is that Phoenix can become something of a target himself. Luckily, those helpful nanites can revive him once downed, fully restoring his health. It takes a few seconds to trigger, so make sure that the enemy isn’t closing in to finish the job.
PRIMARY ABILITY: HEALING PULSE
Phoenix can trigger his experimental nanites to spread to nearby allies, instantly mending their wounds, and his own as well. The longer he spends charging the ability with the Q key (default), the more health the Healing Pulse restores, triggering an increased cooldown. But that’s not all the nanites do…
SECONDARY ABILITY: DEFIBRILLATORS
Just like Aura and Sawbonez, Phoenix can also revive incapacitated allies with Defibrillators, bringing them back into the fight and restoring health based on how long the paddles have charged.
LOADOUT CARDS
Phoenix’s SMG’s and Semi-Auto Pistols are effective close-to-medium-range workhorses. He has a full array of Loadout Cards, featuring Augments and other Weapons that let him hold his own in battle.
Each of his Bronze Loadout Cards can be purchased directly for 17,500 Credits or $3.49 USD, or all of them in a bundle for 100,000 Credits or $19.99 USD. As with all Mercs, every current combination of weapons and augments available for Phoenix is available as a Bronze Card, and Phoenix himself can be purchased from the Barracks for 50,000 Credits, or $9.99 USD.
New XP Reward: Health Insurance
Phoenix’s messiah complex extends to his new ‘workplace’, along with his need to share the spotlight. He introduces the new “Health Insurance” XP Reward, which also applies to other medics that put themselves in the line of fire for their teammates.
After healing or reviving a friendly player, you’ll be rewarded with an XP bonus based on the XP your patient earns for the 10 seconds after being revived.
Player Reporting (Alpha)
While we’re keeping it as up-to-date as possible, our new anti-cheat system NGS is only one layer of protection. To support NGS, we are adding in the much-requested Player Reporting system. Accessible by right-clicking on another player’s name in the scoreboard, doing so will send a report to our team.
Due to the high impact of this system, Player Reporting is being released in an Alpha state. While we will be punishing players in submitted reports as soon as possible, we do ask that you remain patient as we gather data and tweak the system’s parameters.
Updated Stopwatch Rules
We’ve improved the rules in Stopwatch Mode, properly rewarding teams who progress through the objectives the furthest.
A few edge case situations are now accounted for, including the allowance of draws where appropriate:
[ul]
[li]If neither team completes the map, only Primary Objective progression is now taken into account; the team who progressed the furthest will win, for example:
[/li][LIST]
[li]On multi-stage C4 objectives, like the second objective in Terminal, destroying one Container is better than none
[/li][li]On multi-stage Delivery objectives, like the last one on Trainyard, delivering one Data Core is better than none
[/li][li]If both teams are held on an EV Escort Objective, such as the one in Bridge, the team who gets the EV closest to the destination will win
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
[ul]
[li]If both teams reach the same point in the same amount of time, the match is a draw, regardless of time taken to complete previous objectives, for example:
[/li][li]If both Teams only manage to destroy one Container in the second half of Terminal after 15mins, the match is always a draw
[/li][li]At the end of the first half of a Stopwatch match, Overtime can now activate. Any extra time added due to Overtime is added to the clock in the second half of the match, for example:
[/li][LIST]
[li]If a C4 is planted in the first half and the timer runs out, the game will continue until the C4 explodes or is disarmed
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
Private Matches (Alpha)
Want to set up scrims with friends to practice strats, or defend your team’s honor against your rivals? The new Private Matches feature lets you organize your own match, invite members of your Steam Friends list, select whichever Map and Game Mode you want, and more!
Earning is disabled in Private Matches, turning off XP, Credits, Equipment Cases and Missions.
We’re releasing Private Matches in Alpha in order to better test the systems involved, as all matches played through Private Matches will still be on our dedicated servers. If you have any feedback, or encounter any problems, please let us know on the official Dirty Bomb Forums.
Friendly Fire (Private Matches Only)
Private Matches will give you the option to enable our new Friendly Fire setting. No standing in Airstrike territory or sending an Orbital Laser careening over the map willy nilly, your teammates will take damage from almost every source. Even more, allied players will have full collision with you, preventing you from running through them and their deployables.
As the scramble to finish and revive incapacitated players is a staple of Dirty Bomb, Friendly Fire does not apply to friendly incapacitated players. Defibrillators will also never harm friendly players.
We’re also trialing a punishment system for players abusing the Friendly Fire rules. When you are killed by one of your teammates, you will be prompted to sound off on the death:
[ul]
[li]If the team kill was accidental (or entirely your fault!), then type in “/f” to Forgive them, and all is well.
[/li][li]However, if you felt your teammate did it intentionally, then you can type in “/p” to Punish them, docking them 300 XP from their game score.
[/li][LIST]
[li]Once there have been 4 complaints against a player, a Vote Kick will automatically be started.
[/li][li]Once there have been 8 complaints against a player, they will be immediately kicked from the game, without the need for a vote.
[/li][/ul]
[/LIST]
Let us know how you get on with Friendly Fire, as we expect to tweak it based on your feedback!
Weapon Inspection
Finally get your hands on a Cobalt and want a closer look at your shiny new weapon? Now, by pressing the G key (default), your Merc will take a moment to admire their currently equipped primary, secondary or melee weapon. Any other action will instantly interrupt the animation, so you’ll never be left with your pants down.
New Premium Cases
This update brings five new premium Loadout Card Cases, giving you more options and better chance of getting a Loadout Card for the Merc you want!
Elite Cases A and B
The Elite Case has been split up into two separate Cases, each containing Loadout Cards for half of the Mercs in Dirty Bomb. There’s no change in price, no change in Loadout Card quality or odds, just a better chance of getting a Loadout Card for the Merc you want, still for US $4.99 (or local equivalent)!
Expert Cases A, B and C
We’re also introducing an all-new set of Loadout Cases, the Expert Cases, which splits the Mercs into three groups. These new crates only cost US $2.49 per Case and can reward Loadout Cards from Bronze up to Cobalt rarity!
Balance Changes
Redeye
[ul]
[li]Increased Smoke Grenade radius by 10%
[/li][li]Smoke Grenades now take 200 explosive damage to dissipate (from 150)
[/li][li]Players are now unspotted if Redeye is killed whilst spotting
[/li][/ul]
MoA SNPR-1
[ul]
[li]Reduced magazine size to 5 rounds (from 6)
[/li][/ul]
FEL-IX Sniper Rifle
[ul]
[li]Increased magazine size to 6 rounds (from 5)
[/li][/ul]
MP400
[ul]
[li]Reduced effective range by ~10%
[/li][/ul]
Tølen MP
[ul]
[li]Reduced effective range by ~10%
[/li][/ul]
Empire-9 MP
[ul]
[li]Reduced effective range by ~10%
[/li][/ul]
Everything Else
User Interface
[ul]
[li]Map voting in lobby is now disabled until there are enough players to start the game
[/li][li]Halved the opacity of Objective HUD indicators
[/li][li]Fixed bug where Party leaders were not able to search for a new match after completing one
[/li][li]Fixed bug where the initiator of an Objective would show up on the HUD rather than the player who completed it
[/li][li]Fixed bug where keys could become unbound if the player changed bindings while dead/spectating
[/li][li]Fixed bug where the voting bar could extend beyond the voting box
[/li][li]Fixed bug where spectators were counted as voting players
[/li][/ul]
Audio
[ul]
[li]Kill confirmation beeps are now included in the Hit Beep audio option
[/li][li]Updated the Hochfir SMG firing audio to make the weapon sound slightly punchier
[/li][li]Fixed bug where two music tracks could play at the same time
[/li][/ul]
General Gameplay
[ul]
[li]Reduced view kick speed by ~10%
[/li][li]Increased amount of freedom when moving/looking away from Objectives before the interaction is cancelled
[/li][li]Fixed bug where elevators counted as Secondary Objectives
[/li][li]Fixed several synchronisation issues with Carryable Objectives
[/li][li]Fixed bug where Deployables could be placed inside the EV
[/li][/ul]
