Running until Sunday, February 12 at 2pm PT/5pm ET, the For Honor Open Beta is now live on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC.
If this is your first playing For Honor prior to launch, you can download the 20+GB Beta client from the PlayStation Store (North America, Europe). If you participated in the Closed Beta, you’ll need to download a small update to play in the Open Beta.
Over on Reddit, Ubisoft Community Developer Eric Pope explained some of the changes from the Closed Beta to Open Beta:
Matchmaking
- Fixed a bug where some matchmaking requests bypassed all parameters creating unbalanced and cross-continent matches.
- Improved geo-localization of players.
Economy
- Increased the amount of Steel awarded at end of matches for all game modes. Example: a PvP Dominion match reward increased from 30 to 40 Steel.
Orders
- Contract Orders refresh frequency has been raised. You will have three updates throughout the Open BETA (initial ones + new ones on Saturday and Sunday).
Latency Kick
- Following the Closed Beta results, the latency kick feature was reconfigured with slightly lower latency values.
Teleport Exploit
- All Assassins type heroes can no longer deflect soldiers strikes.
- It was not an intended mechanic and it introduced a bug where deflecting a soldier strike while locked on an enemy hero would teleport you to the locked hero, even across the map.
Renown Balancing
- Vanguard Heroes: increased renown from objective related activities.
- Hybrid Heroes: decreased renown awarded to kills and kill streaks.
Hero Balancing
Kensei
- Base HP increased from 120 to 125
- Light Attack openers damage increased from 15 to 20
- Light Attack 2nd Hits In Chain damage increased from 15 to 20
- Helm Splitter damage increased from 15 to 20
- Swift Strike damage increased from 15 to 20
- Fixed a bug where you could perform a Swift Strike, then you could launch a Top Heavy that would come out way faster than usual
Warlord
- Headsplitter Leap startup can no longer be cancelled into Guardbreak
- Headsplitter Leap range reduced from 4m to 3.5m
- Headbutt stamina damage reduced from 40 to 20
- Full Block Stance Entry stamina cost increased from 5 to 15
Peacekeeper
- Zone Attack initial range reduced from 4,3m to 3,5m
- Dagger Cancel now all deal 1 damage point on top of Bleed (Left stance Cancel used to be 0)
Orochi
- Storm Rush now has the correct stamina extra penalty if parried
- Attack indicator is now visible during the run part of the Storm Rush Attack
Available in all countries and regions except for North Korea and Mainland China, the For Honor Open Beta lets you try four modes – Elimination, Dominion, Brawl, and Duel – and access War of the Factions, which gives you the chance to earn rewards for the full game.
“This Open Beta comprises a limited portion of the game and is a work in progress – it’s not the full nor the final game,” Ubisoft adds. “For Honor will include more Heroes, more modes – including a full-fledged story mode, more maps and more features when the game launches on February 14th, 2017.”
Because the servers are being used for the Open Beta this weekend, and the game requires an internet connection, For Honor review copies won’t be sent out until launch day.
[Source: Ubisoft Forums, Reddit (1), (2)]
