Admittedly “pretty light weight in terms of gameplay changes,” LawBreakers update 1.1 for PlayStation 4 and PC was pushed live earlier today at 7am PT/10am ET. It’s a quality of life update that fixes some crucial bugs, makes some balance tweaks, and lets you open Stash Boxes while waiting in matchmaking.
Here’s the full list of patch notes:
New Additions
- Open Stash Boxes while waiting in matchmaking lobby and queue!
Role Changes
Gunslinger
- Horizontal warp impulse increased 300 → 500
- New mechanic: landing a fully charged Omega headshot now replenishes a Warp ability charge.
- Reduced Headshot damage multiplier on TAC Knife from 1.5 → 1.25.
- Reduced fully charged Omega max damage from 160 → 150.
Harrier
- Decreased Harrier’s Convergence ability damage per second from 500 → 400.
Wraith
- Wasp stab base damage reduced 125 → 75
- Stab precision damage → 125
Bug Fixes
Gameplay
- Fixed a bug where Gunslinger would sometime’s get stuck in a state where they could not shoot.
- Fixed an issue where Harrier’s Shoc-Croc may not have applied damage in certain situations.
- Fixed an issue where Crisper was dealing extra damage briefly after coming out of Berserk mode.
- Enemy impulses now affect Wraith’s Wasp Stab and Slide abilities.
Animation
- Fixed in game animdynamics on all characters – Dynamic character elements such as hair, ammo packs, and belts will now animate in game and not just in the menus.
Controls
- Fixed an issue where selected gamepad presets wouldn’t reset to default correctly.
Text/Languages
- Updated text for supported languages to fix issues related to achievements, scoring events, and menus.
General Additions/Improvements
- Greatly improved match filling logic – Most cases where a game was unable to fill to 5 players have been addressed.
In terms of known issues on PS4, developer Boss Key Productions noted that “voice chat is still currently disabled as we work on a fix,” and “the Weapon Sticker menu can be unresponsive or skip entries when navigating.”
At the moment, Boss Key is gathering feedback and evaluating the state of the game. “Our goal with these changes is to make sure that LawBreakers delivers on it’s promise of deep gameplay and skill expression,” they added.
Answering some questions on Twitter, Boss Key said tutorials are coming soon to PS4, reminded everyone that post-launch maps and modes and roles will be free, and, when asked why this patch didn’t have new maps/Kill Cam/Character limit, they replied, “Still lots to do. This is only the first patch, lots of quality of life updates first.”
[Source: LawBreakers (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)]
lawbreakers excited
-
Why You Should Be Excited for LawBreakers
-
It Brought Cliffy B Out of Retirement
Cliff Bleszinski was understandably pretty jaded with the games industry after spending his whole adult life in it, and once he retired many thought it would be for good. He still had a desire to create, though, and LawBreakers is the result of that. It's his first multiplayer-focused first-person shooter since his Unreal Tournament days, and if that doesn't get you excited then I don't know what will.
-
Innovative Gravity Mechanics
It's almost cliché at this point to have maneuverability as a selling point, but while most shooters are adding jetpacks, LawBreakers is allowing players to defy gravity. Other games might allow players to move around, but LawBreakers really takes it to the next level. There's a level of depth to just the movement alone that other shooters rarely have.
-
Four Unique Modes
There'll be four modes in the multiplayer shooter when it releases, and each of them put a different spin on combat. Uplink, Blitzball (not that one), Turf War, and Overcharge all have different rules to learn, and were a blast in the beta.
-
Joy of Learning
As I previously wrote about, one of the things I enjoyed most about Boss Key's shooter is that it feels genuinely refreshing in a genre filled with retreads. No matter what shooters you may have played in the past, everyone is starting from level one here. There's a ton of concepts to grasp, and figuring them out is part of the fun.
-
5v5 Combat
All of the multiplayer modes in LawBreakers are five-on-five. It's the perfect balance between having a enough players that action is always happening, but small enough that true teamwork can really be implemented. While games started to go in the direction of "bigger is better" for multiplayer, we're seeing developers figure out that smaller matches can be just as satisfying.
-
Fast-Paced Action
If you're like me, and grew up playing PC shooters like Quake and Unreal Tournament, then a lot of today's shooters feel pretty slow in comparison. That definitely isn't the case here, as the action in LawBreakers is fast-paced and frenetic. It's rare for an arena shooter on console to really nail that feel, but Boss Key managed to do just that.
-
Overcharge
All four of the shooter's modes are fun to play, but Overcharge is a really interesting spin on capture-the-flag. Players have to take a battery and charge it at their base, but that same battery (and the charge it has obtained) can be stolen back by the opposing team. It paves the way for some incredible comebacks.
-
Nine Roles to Master
There are nine roles to learn in LawBreakers, with two characters in each type. That means there are a ton of skills that players will have to master. The nine roles are: Assassin, Battle MEdic, Enforcer, Gunslinger, Harrier, Juggernaut, Titan, Vanguard, and Wrath.
-
Team Experience
This isn't a deathmatch shooter. Every game type is centered around fulfilling your role, and completing the mode's objective. In an era of multiplayer shooters that largely are based around shooting everything that moves (which is admittedly still fun), LawBreakers provides a different type of experience. It's a more focused game that'll require teams to work as a cohesive unit.
-
It's Cheap
Like Hellblade, LawBreakers will only cost $29.99 when it releases August 8. That's a dope price point that will ensure that more players will be able to afford the shooter, and it should lead to servers being filled with active players for the foreseeable future.
