Merc Report - Fall Field Improvements 2023

As we near Autumn and the Halloween Seasonal Event, it’s time to talk upcoming quality of life improvements and additions for everyone joining the fight against the outbreak. Horzine wants more than candy; they are looking for zeds with new tricks. New matchmaking options and the usual balance based on community feedback are incoming!

Bounty Hunt Weekly Outbreak

Horzine is locating and targeting zeds exhibiting advanced behaviors in this new mission for mercs code-named Bounty Hunt and is looking for fearless mercs to step up! These zeds are more formidable and have developed different instincts, making them harder to take down. Upon discovery, the first oddity our research has uncovered is that these zeds flee when approached. Unlike their counterparts who attack endlessly, seeking out any life to extinguish without concern for themselves, these zeds run away. This sign of self-preservation isn’t the only new concerning behavior! Reports claim they began requiring more firepower as those in the field killed more of their surrounding mobs. It’s as if the extermination of their fellow clones triggers a heightened state. Those who have made contact with these strange zeds also claim them to be more aggressive, dealing more damage as the mindless hoards dwindle. The team recommends dealing with these specific zeds as soon as possible to prevent these effects.

Not all zeds types exhibit this behavior. The reconnaissance informs us they can only confirm Rioters, Quarter Pounders, Gorefiends, and Scrakes. To make further endangering your lives worthwhile, Horzine will reward Dosh per Bounty Zed kill to each member of squads on these missions. However, to keep your focus on these dangerous new threats, there will be no dosh reward for the Non-Bounty Zeds. Don’t worry! There will still be a general Dosh reward for the squad at trader times. To increase security for each merc that steps up, the HUD will reflect how many Bounty Zeds are left and mark them according to the threat level.

• Yellow: no buffs regarding how many Zeds are left currently applied

• Orange: 50% or less wave Zeds remaining

• Red: 10% or less wave Zeds remaining

Each merc that can successfully meet this challenge will receive 500,000 Vault Dosh and a new look for their Desert Eagle!

Quality of Life Additions Weekly Mode Selector Tripwire and Saber have enjoyed bringing new unique, and exciting ways to play Killing Floor 2 with the editions of The Weekly Outbreaks. Since the first Weekly Outbreaks edition in the 2017 Summer Sideshow, 21 modes have been dreamed up and added to the game! Just as it sounds, these modes rotate weekly. That’s a lot of time for players to wait for their favorites to be active. Now players will be able to choose their best-loved Weekly Outbreak anytime!

Now, after choosing “Weekly” as the game mode, players can select which Weekly Outbreak they want to play using a dropdown menu. The menu will include a “Current Weekly” option to highlight which Weekly Outbreak is active per the regular rotation. Only current Weekly Outbreaks will grant the Weekly Outbreak Rewards.

FIND A MATCH

This option prioritizes finding a populated weekly server regardless of the type first. If it needs to perform a server takeover to give the player a weekly server within their region, it will then set to the current active weekly index rather than any hidden preference set within Create a Match or Solo.

CREATE A MATCH

Creates a match with the chosen Weekly Outbreak, taking over an existing empty server enabled for takeover based on the requested Weekly Outbreak chosen.

SOLO OFFLINE

It lets you play locally in Solo mode for any Weekly Outbreak. Pick your favorite one using the selector (same filters as Create a Match).

SERVER BROWSER: Allows the player to search for a specific weekly mode, showing an icon in the main list and indicating the weekly that the Server hosts within the details.

Additionally, here are details for server admins to set their preferred weekly:

How to configure your server Add the following line to your batch file: "?WeeklySelectorIndex= " The will correspond to the desired Weekly. The list is the following: 1: Boom 2: Cranium Cracker 3: Tiny Terror 4: Bobble Zed 5: Poundemonium 6: Up, Up, and Decay 7: Zed Time 8: Beef Cake 9: Blood Thirst 10: Coliseum 11: Arachnophobia 12: Scavenger 13: Wild West London 14: Abandon All Hope 15: Boss Rush 16: Shrunken Heads 17: Arsenal Ascent 18: Primary Target 19: Perk Roulette 20: Contamination Zone 21: Bounty Hunt

The current Weekly Outbreak rotation will continue working as it was, updated weekly as usual. Weekly rewards will only be granted if the Current Weekly is chosen. Playing any custom Weekly Outbreak won’t grant any reward.

Weapon Balance Changes

The Killerwatt was powerful but could be more comfortable to use. We sped up its alt-fire charge rate, increased the default fire mode damage, and made it easier to control while alt-firing.

Killerwatt

• Default fire mode damage from 50 to 55

• Alt-Fire charge time 30% reduction

• The camera turn ratio is now x5 faster than the previous version when alt-firing

• Spare ammo increased from 300 to 450

The Head Hunter and the Reducto Ray had a shared problem: it took too long for Zeds with altered sizes (heads or entire bodies) to return to their original state. Now recovery rates are sped up.

Reducto Ray

• Reduction effect removal speed x2

Head Hunter

• Time to start head reduction x5 times quicker

• Head reduction rate decreased by 10%

HRG Vampire

• Crosshair added

Perk Balance Changes

We heard your feedback regarding the ammo price for one of the most ammo-consuming perks of the game, the SWAT. All the ammo now costs 10% less (except for the HRG Nailgun). Many players also expressed that 3 Support skills weren’t being used as they did not feel enticing enough alternatives to their counterparts. Those have now been updated as follows:

• Fortitude - 10% damage reduction in addition to the 50% health increase

• Armor Piercing Shot - 5% Perk Weapon damage increase in addition to the penetration buff

• ZED TIME - Penetrator - Now allows the player to reload in real-time in addition to the existing buffs.

Player input suggested that Acidic Rounds is a skill that caused more harm than helped the cooperative playstyle. We’ve taken that feedback and revamped the skill, maintaining the poison theme: now the darts shot from Medic weapons cause more damage over time, allowing the Medic to help in specific situations instead of poisoning zeds in unwanted scenarios.

Stay tuned for more reports to come detailing some new treats coming mercs way!