April 16, 2019 Patch

The **April 16, 2019 Patch** is a major patch mainly issuing balance changes. This is one of two major patches that didn't happen in conjunction with an Event.

## Balance changes

* Added  Fortified Passive Perk for Gibraltar and Caustic which reduces damage taken by 10%.

 Caustic
* Gas Damage per tick increased from 1 to 4.
* Nox Gas Grenade Throw distance increased from 28m to 33m.

 Gibraltar
* Gun Shield health increased from 50 to 75.

 G7 Scout
 Triple Take

* Lowered leg shot damage reduction from 25% to 10%.
* Reduced base weapon sway by about 33%.
* Reduced base sway speed by about 25%.

 Longbow DMR
* Increased fire rate from 1.2 to 1.6.
* Increased magazine size from (5 / 6 / 8 / 10) to (6 / 8 / 10 / 12).
* Lowered leg shot damage reduction from 25% to 10%.
* Reduced base weapon sway by about 33%.
* Reduced base sway speed by about 25%.

 HAVOC Rifle
* Increased base magazine size from 25 to 32.
* Selectfire Receiver single-fire:
	+ Reduced cost per shot from 5 to 4.
	+ Increased close range damage from 55 to 60.
	+ Increased damage at range from 45 to 50.
	+ Close range damage falloff increased from 35m to 75m.
	+ Ranged damage falloff increased from 75m to 125m.

 Wingman
* Mag size reduced from (6 / 8 / 9 / 12) to (4 / 6 / 8 / 10).

 M600 Spitfire
* Reduced base damage from 20 to 18.
* Magazine extender attachments reduced from (35 / 45 / 55 / 60) to (35 / 40 / 45 / 55).

Fully kitted weapons

* HAVOC Rifle: Now has  Turbocharger and  1x-2x Variable Holo instead of  Selectfire Receiver and  2x-4x Variable AOG.
* R-301 Carbine: Now has  1x-2x Variable Holo instead of  2x-4x Variable AOG.
* Wingman: Now has  1x Digital Threat instead of  1x-2x Variable Holo.

## Quality of life

* Players will receive an entire  Battle Pass Level for their first Top 5 finish of the day. Runs 4/16-4/18.
* Increased the speed of the jump ship by about 50%.

## Bug fixes

* Fixed UI bug where the wrong percentage would be displayed for all boost badges.

## Developer notes

1. ↑ On the weapons side of the equation, we’ve made a number of changes to try to improve the power of long-range gameplay. We’re reducing leg shot damage reductions on sniper category weapons, so you’re not punished for landing inaccurate shots at long distances. Given the semi-auto and low damage nature of our current sniper suite, coupled with the general speed and evasiveness of many Legend kits, it already takes several challenging shots to down someone at range. Because of this difficult sniper environment, we’re also reducing general sniper weapon sway and hitting the Longbow DMR with a few targeted buffs to make it more viable to engage Legends at range.

Separately from the sniper category, we are nerfing the Spitfire a bit, but our goal is to still keep it strong, as it’s a rarer spawning weapon. The Wingman is receiving a few magazine size nerfs so that it doesn’t dominate the stock gun vs. stock gun battle early on due to its super high damage per bullet. Lastly, the Havoc is getting some general ammo and charge beam buffs to bring it in line as a viable  Energy Ammo AR that competes with the R-301 and Flatline/Hemlok. The end goal is that the Havoc pressures a player’s ability to find Energy ammo, but is less dependent on finding attachments, whereas the R-301 and Flatline/Hemlok have less ammo pressure, but a higher reliance on finding more attachments to achieve power.
2. ↑ At the start of  Season 1, we previously talked about how our beloved Thicc Bois (Pathfinder, Gibraltar, and Caustic) were getting crushed due to their hitbox size compared to other Legends. We first wanted to try adjusting hitboxes to better fit the model. For Pathfinder, this change worked very well. (Note: separately, we are actively investigating and working on fixing unrelated hit registration issues sometimes affecting all characters). However, after looking at the data and player feedback, Gibraltar and Caustic only improved slightly with the hitbox adjustments.

We don’t believe that hitbox and character kit tuning is sufficient to bring Gibraltar and Caustic in line with their smaller competitors. Starting with Patch 1.1.1, Gibraltar and Caustic will get a new perk added to their passive –  Fortified, which reduces damage taken by 10%.

Over the week or two following this change, we will be watching how they perform with this additional protection and aggressively tune it if they are still underpowered relative to their size. Our goal is to ensure both Legends are viable picks by the end of this process.

Additionally, we’re also making a few quality of life kit adjustments to ensure their marquee abilities are a more impactful part of their individual playstyles.
3. ↑ In honor of Thicc-boi buffs, we’re going to be running a bonus Battle Pass XP event. From approximately 10 a.m. PST 4/16 through approximately 10 a.m. PST 4/18, your first Top 5 of the day (your squad places fifth or better in a match) will grant you one full bonus Battle Pass Level (29,500 BPP), up to a max of level 110. You can earn this once per day.
4. ↑ We felt that the ship was moving a bit too slow after watching player behavior, so we’re speeding it up so players that like to drop later in the flight path don’t have to wait so long.