Update 1.15

Update 1.15 was released on the 13th of December 2023.

This update includes an overhaul of Hunt’s Bloodline and Weapon Progression. Our goal with these changes is to make Progression easier, faster, and more convenient for both new and Prestige players. A note on terminology: a “weapon family” refers to the unlocks of a base item – e.g. the Nagant M1895 family includes the Nagant M1895 Poison Ammo, Nagant M1895 Precision, etc.

#### Bloodline

* All weapon unlocks have been removed from the Bloodline. All base weapons now unlock at Rank 1. Weapon variants and custom ammo are unlocked with XP.
* All Tools and Consumables now unlock exclusively through the Bloodline Rank Progression. Tool and Consumable families have been broken up and no longer depend on one another for unlocks.
* Hunt Dollar rewards in the Bloodline have roughly doubled.
* XP thresholds for Bloodline Ranks have been adjusted, with the overall XP required to reach Bloodline Rank 100 slightly reduced.
* To improve visibility, 3 Legendary Weapon skins that were free in the Bloodbond store (Vanguard, Hedera Mortiferum, and Bear’s Tooth) are now Bloodline rewards for reaching Ranks 34, 67, and 100 respectively. These are unlocked the first time you complete the Bloodline Progression.

Developer’s note:
In light of these changes, the unlock order for most items in the Bloodline has been changed. Our approach has been to make key gameplay items and Traits available earlier in the Bloodline. All gameplay items are now unlocked by Rank 64.

#### XP Balance Changes

* XP earned from Hunter kills has been standardized to 450 XP. Previously, XP per kill ranged from 300 to 550 XP, depending on the MMR of the player you killed.
* XP awarded from certain AI kills has been increased:
	+ Grunt: Increased to 20 from 10 XP.
	+ Hellhound: Increased to 30 from 20 XP.
	+ Hive: Increased to 60 from 30 XP.
	+ Immolator: Increased to 60 from 50 XP.
	+ Meathead: Increased to 300 from 200 XP.
* Players no longer share Weapon Progression XP with their teammates.
* Excess XP now overflows from one goal to the next. Previously, any XP earned in excess of a goal’s threshold was lost.

Developer’s note:
The changes we’ve made to Progression are balanced with the individual player in mind—increasing XP earned, reducing XP requirements, and ensuring easier access to key unlocks. With this in mind, we opted to remove team-shared weapon XP, both to improve the clarity of Progression and because it compromises the new system’s balancing. We’ll be closely monitoring player feedback and Progression data, considering measures to further assist Progression if needed.

#### Weapon Family XP

* A weapon's ammo type now determines the amount of XP required for each unlock in its family. As a rule, all unlocks in a weapon family require the same amount of XP.
	+ Each unlock in a Compact Ammo weapon family requires 450 XP.
	+ Each unlock in a Medium, Shotgun, and Special Ammo weapon family requires 600 XP.
	+ Each unlock in a Long Ammo weapon family requires 900 XP.
* For weapons with variants of different ammo types, like the Uppercut in the Caldwell Conversion family, the XP required to unlock the Long Ammo variants is that of the new ammo type—in this case, 900 XP.
* For weapons which use multiple ammo types, like the LeMat Mark II, the XP required to unlock shotgun Special Ammo remains the same as its primary ammo type—in this case, Compact Ammo, 450 XP.

Developer’s note:
The XP requirements have been rebalanced according to XP awarded for a player kill, 450 XP. This leads to an overall reduction in XP required to unlock the complete family and ensures no unlock is ever more than two kills away. The XP required to unlock all custom ammo and weapon variants has been reduced by 33% across all families combined. This change should make Weapon Progression easier to understand and more accessible, especially for newer players.

### Weapon Inspection

The second batch of Weapon Inspect animations is here! This batch includes all rifles and shotguns, as well as their variants and Legendary versions.
Triggering the action can be done by pressing the 'Weapon Inspect' input. The default bindings for supported platforms are:

* PC - 'I' (can be customized like other PC inputs)
* XBOX - Y (when the Weapon Wheel is open)
* PS - 'Triangle' (when the Weapon Wheel is open)Once triggered, any Inspect animation can be instantly interrupted by most other gameplay actions (aiming, attacking, quick-swap, etc.).

### New Controller Behavior

#### Input Curves

Input curves describe how the stick input is translated to camera rotation. We have added four new options for players to tweak the responsiveness of their aim input. Check the menu for detailed descriptions.

* Exponential (New Default)
* Steady
* Linear
* Dynamic

#### Aim Boost

The way we increase sensitivity when stick input is maxed out has been reworked, and new settings are now available. “Aim Boost” replaces the old “Turning Extra Strength” option, but aims to achieve the same result: to allow for high-turn speeds when needed without compromising carefully tweaked aim behavior.
It is now possible to set the threshold after which Aim Boost is applied.

* Aim Boost ThresholdThe following settings can be tweaked for each aim stage (Default, Shoulder Aim, Aim Down Sights) separately.

* Aim Boost Strength
* Aim Boost Delay
* Aim Boost Ramp Up Time

#### Deadzones

Inner deadzones can now be adjusted for the left and right stick individually. Adjusting these values can maximize the input value range of a controller and allow for more precise aiming.
Keep in mind that these are hardware-specific settings which should be adjusted for each individual input device. Excessively low values might lead to unwanted input (stick drift).

#### Select First Melee Tool

Double-clicking "Weapon Switch" ( Y / Triangle) will equip the first melee tool it finds in your inventory (regardless of the slot). If no Knives or Dusters are present, Throwing Knives and Throwing Axes are considered valid options.
Developer’s Note:
This is the first step to make equipment more easily accessible for players. This feature should make it more comfortable to switch back and forth between main weapons and melee tools while moving. It also allows players to assign a less frequently used Tool or Consumable to the quick slot (D-pad) which is usually used for the melee option.

#### Sprinting Behavior

A setting has been added which prevents a left stick click (L3) from stopping sprinting. In this case, sprinting can only be stopped by reducing movement speed.

#### Vibration

Controller vibration has been improved, and its strength has been reduced to create better contrast between key and secondary actions. Changes include:

* Standardized vibration feedback for firing weapons by ammo type.
* Improved and reduced strength of vibration for reloading and cocking of weapons.
* Added vibration support to the Bomb Lance, melee weapons, dual wield pistols, and throwables.
* Reduced vibration from status effects.
* Moved vibration from jump action to landing.
* Other minor adjustments to vibration.

### Traits

Two previous Event Traits are returning as permanent Burn Traits. They can now be found in the world, either dropped from Meatheads or by chance as a Trait Spur.

* Death Cheat: You will not lose your Hunter if you fail to extract, but equipment and missing Health Chunks will not be restored.
* Relentless: Your Hunter will not lose a Health Chunk when downed.

Developer’s Note:
The Traits are not tied to any Pact and will remain after the conclusion of Tide of Desolation. These Burn Traits have low drop rates and will remain exceptionally rare in the bayou.

## General Updates

### Gunplay

#### ADS Improvements

* Shooting can no longer be interrupted by entering Dark Sight.
* Bounty Icons are now hidden while in ADS.
* Weapon swapping is no longer possible while in ADS.

#### Balancing Changes

* When reloading the Drilling, all three barrels are now reloaded (bullets and shells).
* Reduced the recoil for the Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez, the Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez Mace, and the Mosin-Nagant M1891 Obrez Drum.
* Slightly increased the cycle time for dual wielding with the LeMat Mark II.
* Improved the LeMat Mark II and LeMat Mark II UpperMat shotgun to be in line with the Rival Handcannon.
* Decreased the sway for the Winfield M1873C Vandal Deadeye and the Springfield 1866 Compact Deadeye.
* Decreased the spread for the Dolch 96 while being dual wielded.
* Increased the muzzle velocity for the LeMat Mark II weapon family:
	+ LeMat Mark II muzzle velocity increased to 375 m/s from 300 m/s.
	+ LeMat Mark II UpperMat muzzle velocity increased to 530 m/s from 450 m/s.
	+ LeMat Mark II Carbine muzzle velocity increased to 460 m/s from 375 m/s.
* Increased the spread for the Caldwell Conversion Uppercut Precision and Caldwell Conversion Uppercut Precision Deadeye.
* Increased the Derringer Pennyshot extra ammo by 2.

### Gameplay

* Flare Pistol, Fusees, Starshell Ammo, and Dragonsbreath Ammo can now ignite downed and dead Hunters.
* While carrying a Bounty Token, an orange glow will show in Dark Sight if enemy Hunters are within 75m. The effect triggers regardless of the amount of Dark Sight Boost.
* Increased the Poison Bomb cloud duration to 8 minutes from 5 minutes.
* Reduced the light melee stamina consumption of the Heavy Knife to 9 from 15.
* Hunters now have increased control over the camera during the vault animation.
* Lightfoot no longer silences the jumping sound. Each jump is now audible, with or without Lightfoot.
* Reduced the heavy melee damage of the Baseball Bat to prevent one-shot killing Immolators. The damage against enemy Hunters has not changed.
* Increased the heavy melee damage for the Railroad Hammer and Sledgehammers found in-world.
* Choke clouds no longer trigger Bear Traps.
* Decoy Fuses now create a small explosion which can destroy windows and doors. Doors require multiple Decoy Fuses to be destroyed.
* Increased the Shovels found in-world's heavy melee damage and reduced the light melee stamina consumption.
* Decreased the Pitchforks found in-world's light and heavy melee stamina consumption.
* Added a 5s delay before Regeneration starts to the Regeneration Shot and Regeneration Shot (Weak).
* Weapon Charm movement range and sway have been reduced.

### Meta

#### Gun Oil & Blueprint changes

* Gun Oil now grants the next available unlock in the weapon family the user currently has equipped OR a random available unlock (respecting unlock order) if the player’s equipped weapon family is completed.
* Blueprints now provide 3 random unlocks (respecting unlock order) from any weapon family.
* Both items now spawn exclusively at workbenches, a new world entity that appears in every compound.

#### Traits

Several Traits with similar functionalities have been merged into new or updated Traits. Any updated or changed Traits currently equipped on Hunters will be automatically switched to their new or updated equivalents, or refunded as Upgrade Points.

* Scopesmith – Deadeye Scopesmith, Marksman Scopesmith and Sniper Scopesmith have been merged into a single, new Trait that is compatible with all scoped weapon variants. Cost: 2 Upgrade Points.
* Steady Aim – Steady Aim and Steady Hand have been merged into a single, updated Trait. Cost: 2 Upgrade Points.
* Iron Eye – Iron Devastator, Iron Repeater, and Iron Sharpshooter have been merged into a single, new Trait. Cost: 3 Upgrade Points.
* Hundred Hands – Hundred Hands and Dewclaw have been merged into a single, updated Trait. Cost: 2 Upgrade Points.
* Assailant – Assailant and Tomahawk have been merged into a single, updated Trait. Cost: 1 Upgrade Point.
* Lightfoot has decreased to 5 Upgrade Points from 6.

#### Equipment Prices

* Baseball Bat increased to 40 Hunt Dollars from 20.
* LeMat Mark II family:
	+ LeMat Mark II decreased to 83 Hunt Dollars from 95.
	+ LeMat Mark II UpperMat decreased to 370 Hunt Dollars from 440.
	+ LeMat Mark II Carbine decreased to 115 Hunt Dollars from 130.
* Dolch 96 family:
	+ Dolch 96 decreased to 690 Hunt Dollars from 750.
	+ Dolch 96 Precision decreased to 730 Hunt Dollars from 790.
* Melee Tools:
	+ Throwing Axes increased to 50 Hunt Dollars from 30.
	+ Knuckle Knife increased to 50 Hunt Dollars from 15.
	+ Knife increased to 40 Hunt Dollars from 30.
	+ Throwing Knives decreased to 30 Hunt Dollars from 40.
	+ Dusters increased to 30 Hunt Dollars from 15.
* Derringer Pennyshot decreased to 63 Hunt Dollars from 72.
* Flash Bomb decreased to 25 Hunt Dollars from 47.

### Bounty Hunt Recruits Changes

#### General

* Tier 1-3 Recruits have been reworked and are now presented as better deals out of the box, with more meaningful equipment and Traits that support their respective gear.
* Based on the player’s Bloodline Rank, available Hunter Recruits are now more closely linked to the current tier. Only upon reaching Tier 2 (Rank 34+) and Tier 3 (Rank 67+) will higher-tiered Recruits become available.

#### Equipment and Traits

* Weapons now have a higher chance of being directly supported by 1 assigned Trait.
* Even though all base weapons can now be purchased directly from the Arsenal, certain expensive weapons are withheld from Tier 1 Recruits.
* All Recruits now come with 2 random Consumables and 3 Tools:
	+ Random melee
	+ First Aid Kit
	+ Random Tool
* All Recruits now receive a fixed number of Traits, depending on tier.
	+ Free and Tier 1: 2 Traits
	+ Tier 2: 3 Traits
	+ Tier 3: 4 Traits

#### Legendary Hunters

* The Legendary Hunters recruitment cost has been decreased to 100 Hunt Dollars from 200.
* Legendary Hunters now receive 3 Traits when recruited. Up to two Traits can be tailored towards a specific playstyle—for example, Sniper—while the third Trait is completely random.
* The combined value of all three Traits on a Legendary Hunter should ideally reach a sum of 7 Upgrade Points at minimum. If the three Traits do not add up to reach this value, the difference is assigned directly to the Hunter in Upgrade Points and can be used as usual. It is possible that the three Traits can total a higher value than 7; in this case, no extra Upgrade Points are assigned to the Hunter.

#### Running Low on Hunt Dollars

* Free Recruits are now only offered when your Hunt Dollar balance drops below 20,000. The lower the account balance, the higher the number of Free Recruits there will be offered in the next reshuffle.
* If there are no Hunters in a player’s Roster, Free Recruits can be reshuffled an unlimited amount of times.
* If your Hunt Dollar balance drops below a threshold of 2,000 and you are about to make a purchase of 500 Hunt Dollars or more, a pop-up window will appear warning you that you are running low on money.

### New Equipment

During the Tide of Desolation Event, the newly added equipment outlined below will be unlocked by progressing through the Event. Once Tide of Desolation has ended, the following equipment will be moved to the regular Bloodline Progression:

#### Weapons

* Caldwell Pax Trueshot
* Dolch 96 Claw
* Dolch 96 Deadeye
* Drilling Handcannon
* Drilling Hatchet
* Katana
* LeMat Mark II Carbine Marksman

#### Custom Ammo

* Caldwell Conversion Uppercut – Full Metal Jacket Ammo
* Caldwell Pax – High Velocity Ammo
* Dolch 96 – Dumdum Ammo
* Dolch 96 – Full Metal Jacket Ammo
* Winfield M1873 – Poison Ammo
* Winfield M1873C – Poison Ammo
* Winfield M1876 Centennial – High Velocity Ammo

### Audio

* Various changes to the audio mix:
	+ Tweaked the Winfield 1893 Slate gunshot audio and its behavior over distance. This should be more in line with other shotgun audio levels.
	+ Tweaked the Sparks Pistol gunshot audio and its behavior over distance. This should be more in line with other pistol audio levels.
	+ Increased the volume of the Necromancer and Serpent sound effects for enemy Hunters and teammates.
	+ Lowered the volume of melee hits on Rotjaw.
	+ Lowered the first-person volume of the Vetterli Cyclone reload.
	+ Lowered the first-person volume of picking up a Stalker Beetle in the world.
	+ Lowered the volume of Hellhounds falling on the ground.
* Glass bottles (the Fire Bomb and all its variants) thrown into water now make a sound.
* Throwing Knives and Throwing Axes now have new unique collision sounds when hitting Rotjaw.
* Various audio design improvements made to the Dolch 96 reload animation.

### UI

* Two counters have been added to the Book of Weapons to help players track the number of unlocked entries.
	+ "Total entries unlocked" show the unlocks of all existing entries. All items unlocked on Bloodline Rank 1 are already considered.
	+ "Weapons Bibliophage entries unlocked" is the number of entries (50) needed to unlock the Achievement / Trophy "Weapons Bibliophage." Entries that are automatically unlocked at Bloodline Rank 1 due to the Progression change are not considered; only manually unlocked entries count. This counter is generally intended to help you keep track of your progress when working to unlock "Weapons Bibliophage."
* Updated Book of Weapons entries to be ordered alphabetically.
* Updated Roster -> Equipment entries for Tools and Consumables to be ordered alphabetically.
* Removed display of Rank 1 unlocks from the Progress tab.
* Updated Spectator Mode text and default keys.
* Players can now customize Spectator Mode keybinds without creating conflicts with other keybinds.

### World

#### Rule of Two Changes

The Rule of Two has been removed from Cash Registers, Envelopes, Purses, Traits, Blueprints, and Gun Oil. Moving forward, these objects will not disappear after two uses; they will remain in the world and can be interacted with once by each Hunter.

#### Generators

All Generators have been removed from all maps. The entry in the Manual that mentions the Generators has also been removed accordingly. Now the electric lights in each compound will have a percentage chance to be on when a Mission starts, on certain Times of Day. These Times of Day are Night, Serpent Night, and Ash Bloom. When on, the only way to turn off the electric lights is to shoot them.

#### Workbenches

Workbenches are new in-world entities that appear in every compound. They have a chance to spawn Gun Oil, a Blueprint, Hunt Dollar or Blood Bond Purses, and specific weapons. Gun Oil and Blueprints now spawn exclusively at workbenches. Any weapons spawned at Workbenches are variants, not base weapons – IE: Silencer, Bayonet, etc.

#### Elevators

The speed of all elevators has doubled, resulting in increased usefulness in specific situations.

#### Lawson Delta

Added new ladders to side buildings in Arden Parish.

#### Shooting range

The Shooting Range now has an area dedicated to showcasing Event weapons and Event Traits. These items are available for all to test for the duration of the Event.
Additionally, we’ve added the following equipment to the Shooting Range:

* Drilling.
* Springfield M1892 Krag Sniper.
* Choke Beetle.
* Fire Beetle.

### Challenges Pools Update

Added new Challenges:

* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Drilling
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Springfield 1866
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Mosin-Nagant M1891
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Springfield M1892 Krag
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Winfield M1876 Centennial
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: LeMat Mark II
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Scottfield Model 3
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Specter 1882
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Winfield 1893 Slate
* Deal damage to enemy Hunters using any variant of: Winfield 1887 Terminus

### New Legendary Content

* Choke Bombs – Ash Bound (600 BB)
* Concertina Trip Mines – Honor Shredder (600 BB)
* Nagant M1895 – Red Azimuth (300 BB)
* Sparks Pistol – The Gillnet (600 BB)
* Vetterli 71 Karabiner Cyclone – Steel Knot (700 BB)
* Winfield M1873 Aperture – Dark Insight (700 BB)
* Winfield M1873C Vandal – The Duke’s Contract (300 BB)
* Legendary Hunter – The Drowned Kid (800 BB)
* Legendary Hunter – The Drowned Rat (800 BB)

### Black Market Content Update

All three stores in the Black Market have been reset.

## Bug Fixes

### AI

* Fixed an issue that sometimes caused Meatheads to appear permanently on fire.
* Fixed an issue that caused Boss Targets to skip their ranged attacks.
* Fixed an issue in the Tutorial that caused The Butcher to remain stationary.
* Fixed an issue that caused Rotjaw to stay hidden after taking damage instead of surfacing.
* Fixed an issue that caused Rotjaw to become stuck after a charge attack.
* Fixed an issue that allowed The Butcher and Meatheads to get stuck on certain surfaces.

### Audio

* Fixed an issue that caused all sounds to become muffled.

### Hunter

* Fixed an issue where some Legendary Hunters caused frame drops.
* Fixed an issue with camera movement on controller while looking diagonally.
* Fixed an issue that caused Umpire’s Bane to appear bald.
* Fixed an issue that caused The Hornback to have extra bright hands with Dark Sight Boost.

### UI

* Solved a bug that caused barrel deaths to appear incorrectly in the Combat Log.
* Solved a bug that caused the Choke Beetle explosion to appear incorrectly in the Combat Log.
* Fixed an issue that showed enemy names in the Team Details screen to appear blank for some players.
* Fixed an issue that showed the incorrect Time of Day icons in the Wildcard Contract.

### Weapons

* Fixed a rendering issue with the Legendary Winfield Slate – Eulogy.
* Fixed an issue that might trigger unstoppable burning by getting hit by Incendiary Ammo at the same time as a Rampage Restoration.
* Fixed an issue that blocked progress on Nagant M1895 Challenges when using Nagant M1895 Officer variants.
* Added the Derringer Pennyshot to the “Pistol” filter in the Arsenal menu.
* Fixed an issue that blocked some custom ammo from being looted in Soul Survivor.

### World

* Fixed a bug that allowed the red “enemy” radius for Clues and Event Altars to be too large.
* Fixed a hole in the mudpile bunkers across the maps.
* Alain & Son's Fish: Closed off an unintentionally accessible area in the Boss Target Lair Building.
* Alice Farm: Closed off an unintentionally accessible roof.
* Alice Farm: Closed off an unintentionally accessible hay bale.
* Blanc Brinery: Fixed an issue that caused a wall to become transparent at a certain distance and angle.
* Bradley & Craven Brickworks: Fixed a spot that allowed a Hunter to be able to clip through the roof.
* Bradley & Craven Brickworks: Fixed a small spot in the Boss Target Lair that blocked shots.
* Catfish Grove: Blocked off a spot where you could get stuck.
* Darrow Livestock: Blocked off a spot where you could get stuck.
* DeSalle: Fixed some rocks across the map that had holes in them.
* Fort Bolden: Blocked off a spot where a Hunter could vault through a roof.
* Lower DeSalle: Fixed vault issues on some stone walls.
* Moses Poultry: Fixed an unreachable Rift in Soul Survivor due to a weapon box spawn.
* Nicholls Prison: Fixed a few windows that were not blocking sunlight.
* Pelican Island Prison: Fixed a floating dirt pile.
* Port Reeker: Closed a one-way peek crack.
* Reeves Quarry: Fixed a roof vault.
* Stanley Coal Company: Fixed an in-world ax that was unable to be picked up.
* Stillwater Bend: Fixed an unintentionally accessible spot in a tree.
* Upper DeSalle: Fixed vault issues on some stone walls.
* Weeping Stone Mill: Fixed some flames that allowed Hunters to hide inside of them.
* Wolfshead Arsenal: Fixed a roof proxy at that was too large on the outer building to the south.