Scavengers News

Explorers,

We’ll be performing an update on Thursday, September 23rd, around 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST.

Scavengers will be unavailable for downtime starting at 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST. This downtime is expected to last for approximately 1 hour.

Here’s what to expect in this update:

[h2]Weapon Tuning[/h2]

• Opus
  
  • Damage reduced slightly
    
  • Reload duration increased slightly
    
  • A bit more recoil in hipfire
• Argonaut Splash
  
  • ADS (aim down sights) movement speed reduced
• Pistols
  
  • ADS movement speed increased
• Sniper rifles
  
  • ADS movement speed reduced
• Shotguns
  
  • Increased recoil to make super rapid shots less accurate

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

• Reduced the number of Rescue Beacons obtained from an Item Cache
  
• You can now equip Emotes into specific slots of your Emote Wheel
  
• You can preview Emotes while in the Explorer loadout screen
  
• New shotgun wildcard available in Research: the Grimalkin. For those of you who have been wanting a wildcard shotgun option, the Grimalkin has you covered!
  
• New throwable available in Research: the Bait Bomb. Toss one at your enemies to swarm them with Scourge enemies
  
• New Explorer skins, weapon skins, Keeper frames, emotes, and executions will be added to the Shop
  
• The slowdown applied to enemies hit by Reflector Shields has been reduced
  
• Research and seasons now paginate over when scrolling through the lists of items
  
• Explorer abilities now interrupt emotes
  
• Improvements to the VFX when Explorers warm up next to a fire
  
• New environmental locations to fill out the post-apocalyptic world of Cascade Springs
  
  • The abandoned Cinemaze theater
    
  • The Cluck King restaurant

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed: Players can sometimes use their ability while downed
  
• Fixed: High latency icon shows up even when the network connection is stable
  
• Fixed: Rin’s SHIN-48 Tsunami chain lightning proc chance does not respect its cooldown
  
• Fixed: Floating environment assets and supply chests clipping into the snow
  
• Fixed: Several client crashes
  
• Fixed: Some buildables in Horde Mode were not respecting the minimum time to build
  
• Fixed: The sprint reticle is vertically off-center
  
• Fixed: Growth Cluster does not provide heat while standing near it
  
• Fixed: Cazador Cheetah drains stamina from teammates
  
• Fixed: If a single team remains in the match and dies on the planet they still see “Successful Extraction” at the end
  
• Fixed: The message feed sometimes says “[X] pinged a Keeper interactable” when you ping objectives
  
• Fixed: Fog of War icons sometimes fail to clear off the map
  
• Fixed: Previously-cleared Fog of War icons no longer remain on your minimap gutter
  
• Fixed: Several Fog of War icons are guttering in the minimap when they should not
  
• Fixed: Players sometimes spawn in facing the wrong way
  
• Fixed: Some buildings are inaccurately represented on the map
  
• Fixed: Warsong hipfire recoil forces the gun upwards continuously
  
• Fixed: Fires on torches have distorted sound effects
  
• Fixed: Thresh play the wrong animation when they are knocked down, causing them to instantly drop to the ground
  
• Fixed: Bears are using the wrong LODs (level of detail) at a near distance, causing them to look blocky
  
• Fixed: Retch head detaches from its neck during attacks
  
• Fixed: Retch weak spot can be hit even when not exposed
  
• Fixed: Teammates sometimes appear to be floating when moving around
  
• Fixed: Some parts of the environment cannot be mantled upon
  
• Fixed: Sluka sometimes does not appear or looks very blocky on lower-end PCs
  
• Fixed: Clone Kit does not animate while it clones Explorers
  
• Fixed: The Voidbarrel unlocks at Research Tier 4 but can only be researched in Tier 5
  
• Fixed: Outlander shoulder pads sometimes detach while they shoot
  
• Fixed: Growth Cluster shows the wrong name on the map
  
• Fixed: Jae’s Overshield sometimes appears visually permanent (though the Overshield behavior is not)
  
• Fixed: 1-handed melee weapons have a chance to stun enemies again
  

Keep Warm,
Midwinter

Explorers,

Check out our latest Weekly Focus blog!

This will be a regular series where we’ll take a look at what the team is focusing their attention on this week, as well as their response to some of the top community feedback and suggestions we’ve received. You can also get a peek at the content and blogs planned for this week.

[h3]Developer Focus[/h3]
Here, we’ll talk about some of the top topics that the team is working on this week. This isn’t their only focus - we’ll be highlighting only the main topics they’re focused on:

• Console Closed Alpha Begins: We’re excited to announce that registration for our Console Closed Alpha has begun! You can find out more details about how to register and what to expect if you’re playing on Xbox or PlayStation in our recent blog.
  
• Controller Presets and Mapping: We’re creating different preset controller keybindings. Once these preset bindings are complete, we plan to introduce them in a future update.
  
• Update Notes: We’re rolling out another update this week. This update features the ability to preview emotes, the new Bait Bomb, a minor weapon tuning pass (including changes to the Opus!) and bug fixes.
  
• Previewing Emotes: We’re making it easier to see how the emotes work before equipping it. That’s not the only change we’re cooking up - you’ll also be able to equip multiple emotes onto an Emote Wheel. These changes will be going live with this week’s update!
  

[h3]Top Community Feedback[/h3]
We’re on this Scavengers journey with you, and we want to improve and refine the game with the feedback and suggestions from our community. Although the team is constantly going through your feedback and incorporating them into our updates and hotfixes, we haven’t had a really good way to let you know what might be coming in the medium to long term.

So, every week, we'll share our thoughts on some of the top community feedback topics that we’ve been seeing on our platforms. We may work on some of these for a future update; some of these could be part of a long-term plan and might not have a date for when they’ll arrive in Scavengers. Others, we may be investigating or considering adding, but can’t promise that you’ll see them in the game. Finally, for some, we want to continue hearing your feedback and thoughts on them, to ensure we’re considering the right way to approach it. Let’s break them down:

Interesting: We’re interested in adding these to the game and are currently looking into how it might work. We don’t have any definite plans, so they may or may not be added in a future update.

• Rescue Beacon & R.A.S.P: Currently, there are a plethora of Rescue Beacons available to loot from caches, leading to maps littered with R.A.S.P evacuation sites. The number of Rescue Beacons available is tuned a bit too high right now. We’re working on adjusting the quantity that you can find in the world, to hit that right balance between too many and too few.
  
• Friend Chat Messages: While it’s not currently on our roadmap, we agree that it would be interesting to allow you to send a message to others on your Friends List.
  
• Improving Hit Sounds and Visual Cues: We’ve heard you: the audio and visual cues for some actions, such as breaking a shield or landing a headshot, aren’t quite satisfactory. This is really good feedback and we’re interested in exploring how we can improve how it feels when you accomplish these key moments.
  

[h3]Blogs & Events[/h3]
Here’s where we’ll keep you updated on what events might be happening and what blog content you might see!

Events:

We’re back with our Mutator GunFu and Mutator Arsenal events! These are weekly events run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 9:30 AM PT / 5:30 BST and 3:30 PM / 11:30 BST.

We’ll be rolling out another update this week. This update will include bug fixes, the ability to preview emotes, new Researchable items, and more. Keep an eye out for the full patch notes later this week.

[hr][/hr]
We’re committed to creating Scavengers with our amazing players. Please share your feedback and suggestions and let us know your thoughts on our focus topics.

Explorers,

We’ll be performing an update on Wednesday, September 15th, around 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST.

Scavengers will be unavailable for downtime starting at 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST. This downtime is expected to last for approximately 2 hours.

[h2]Winter’s Fury Season and Rin[/h2]
Get ready for the Winter’s Fury season and Rin! Winter’s Fury is our first full-length Battle Pass with over 90 curated items that we hope you’ll enjoy discovering and trying out.

We’re also excited to introduce you to the first new playable Explorer since our Early Access launch - Rin. Armed with her trusty SHIN-48 rifle and Smoke Bomb, this fun-loving anarchist is ready to take on all threats to her team.

You can read more about Rin, what she brings to the team and the Winter’s Fury season here.

[h2]Controller Sensitivity[/h2]

When we reduced the controller sensitivity, we read many comments that the sensitivity was too sluggish, especially when turning. Since then, we’ve been working on improving the sensitivity, not only to increase it at the high end, but to give you the flexibility to choose what level feels the most comfortable.

• There are now 20 levels of controller sensitivity to select from
  
• The highest sensitivity level is a little over twice as sensitive
  

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• Fixed: Player sometimes gets stuck in a slide animation
  
• Fixed: Already purchased Shop items incorrectly shown as available
  
• Fixed: Growth Cluster map icon shows the incorrect color when the Keeper is engaged
  
• Fixed: Gorthokk is sometimes unresponsive
  
• Fixed: Clone Kit sometimes spawns players underground
  
• Fixed: In Horde Mode, AI enemies sometimes do not spawn correctly, ending the wave
  

Keep Warm,
Midwinter

Explorers,

Check out our latest Weekly Focus blog!

This will be a regular series where we’ll take a look at what the team is focusing their attention on this week, as well as their response to some of the top community feedback and suggestions we’ve received. You can also get a peek at the content and blogs planned for this week.

[h3]Developer Focus[/h3]
Here, we’ll talk about some of the top topics that the team is working on this week. This isn’t their only focus - we’ll be highlighting only the main topics they’re focused on:

• Winter’s Fury Battle Pass: The start of the Winter’s Fury season and our first full length Battle Pass begins on September 15th! The Battle Pass includes 90 curated items, including weapon and Explorer skins for the new Protector and Cyber Attack skin lines! Read more about Winter’s Fury here.
  
• New Explorer Rin: The miasmatic ambusher Rin joins the fray on September 15th. With her SHIN-48 rifle and Smoke Bomb, Rin is sure to be a great addition to any party. Find out more about Rin!
  
• Adjusted Controller Sensitivity: A couple of weeks ago, we reduced the controller sensitivity. Since then, we’ve heard your feedback that the sensitivity doesn’t feel quite right, especially at the highest level. We’re bumping up the sensitivity at the highest level to almost double what it is now. You will have 20 different sensitivity levels to select between once this change goes live.
  
• Improvements to Fog of War: Last week, we introduced Fog of War, which limits visibility on the map and mini-map. This week, we’re working on improving some Fog of War functions.
  
• Bug Fixes: We’re continuing to investigate and fix bugs and issues that crop up.
  

[h3]Top Community Feedback[/h3]
We’re on this Scavengers journey with you, and we want to improve and refine the game with the feedback and suggestions from our community. Although the team is constantly going through your feedback and incorporating them into our updates and hotfixes, we haven’t had a really good way to let you know what might be coming in the medium to long term.
So, every week, we'll share our thoughts on some of the top community feedback topics that we’ve been seeing on our platforms. We may work on some of these for a future update; some of these could be part of a long-term plan and might not have a date for when they’ll arrive in Scavengers. Others, we may be investigating or considering adding, but can’t promise that you’ll see them in the game. Finally, for some, we want to continue hearing your feedback and thoughts on them, to ensure we’re considering the right way to approach it. Let’s break them down:

Developer Thoughts: We love reading your feedback and sometimes, there are game reasons why certain elements are designed a certain way. When that happens, we’ll try to explain a bit of our thoughts around design.

• Weapon Balance: There’s been increased feedback to see more frequent general weapon balancing. We agree and we’re interested in taking another overall weapon balance pass. We’ve also heard concerns that adjustments are needed to the Opus. The Opus, in particular, is one weapon we’re looking into, to determine the best way to bring it in line with the other weapons, without over nerfing it.
  
• Anti-Cheat Methods & Reporting Cheaters: We take cheating very seriously. Both through improving the anti-cheat methods that we use and investigating player reports. From talking with the community, it appears that we’ve fallen a bit short of your expectations after you’ve reported players. We’re taking another look at our processes, to ensure we’re doing as much as we can to create a fun and fair environment in Cascade Springs.
  

[h3]Blogs & Events[/h3]
Here’s where we’ll keep you updated on what events might be happening and what blog content you might see!

Events:

We’re back with our Mutator GunFu and Mutator Arsenal events! These are weekly events run on Tuesdays and Thursdays, at 9:30 AM PT / 5:30 BST and 3:30 PM / 11:30 BST.

Our next update is coming this Wednesday, September 15th, bringing Winter’s Fury, Rin, and some bug fixes.

Blogs:

It’s time for another Community Roundup to showcase your creative fanart, videos and livestreams!

[hr][/hr]
We’re committed to creating Scavengers with our amazing players. Please share your feedback and suggestions and let us know your thoughts on our focus topics.

Explorers,

We’ll be performing an update on Friday, September 10th.

Scavengers will be unavailable for downtime starting at 8 AM PT / 4 PM BST. This downtime is expected to last for approximately 1 hour.

[h2]R.A.S.P Evacuation[/h2]
You know what to expect from matches by now: teams of Explorers collect data for Mother on Earth with a single Dropship sent to evacuate the survivors after the Expedition is finished. But while competition is a healthy part of the experience, we wanted to re-evaluate that approach, exploring new strategic opportunities for different playstyles. R.A.S.P evacuations are being introduced to Expedition Mode, and offer Explorers an emergency evac route, allowing those who have completed their mission to leave on their terms.

[h3]How to Use the R.A.S.P[/h3]

Explorers can use a Rescue Beacon to summon a R.A.S.P Rocket during a match for a quick evac with their Datapoints. A Rescue Beacon can be found in Item Cache (Backpack icon) camps. While you can store more than one Rescue Beacon in your Inventory, they do not stack.

When a R.A.S.P is summoned, there will be a global announcement within the match and an icon will appear on the map, alerting allies and enemy players. Interact with the R.A.S.P to start the evacuation sequence.

After starting the evacuation sequence, you have 20 seconds before the R.A.S.P leaves the planet. Anyone, allies or enemy players, who are within the evacuation zone when the countdown ends will be extracted.

[h3]Datapoints, EXP & Salvage[/h3]

When you leave on the R.A.S.P, any Datapoints that you’re carrying will be banked. If any teammates don’t extract with the R.A.S.P, your banked Datapoints will contribute to their score when the match ends.

You’ll earn EXP based on your performance and amount of Datapoints banked up to when you extract. If all teammates leave on the R.A.S.P, then you’ll EXP for all collected Datapoints. However, if anyone is left behind, you won’t receive credit for any unbanked Datapoints that they are carrying.

You will only extract with the Salvage collected by any teammates leaving on the R.A.S.P. You can read more about the adjustments made to how Salvage is awarded below.

[h2]Salvage Changes[/h2]

Originally, there was only one way to earn Salvage: by extracting on the Dropship. However, since the launch of Early Access, we have made it a bit less punishing, adapting it so you could receive Salvage not just by extracting, but also if you were eliminated or left on the planet.

Since then, we’ve added additional ways to earn Salvage and Research materials and components through Challenges and Battle Pass rewards. And in this update, we’re also adding a new extraction method with the R.A.S.P which will allow you to extract before the Dropship arrives.

These additional ways to earn Salvage and make progress on your Research projects have established a more meaningful and rewarding experience. To reflect that, starting with this hotfix, you will need to successfully extract in order to earn Salvage. You will keep whatever Salvage was collected by you and your teammates up to the point of extraction.

What does that mean? Let’s say that all three teammates have collected Salvage:

• Teammate A extracts on the R.A.S.P, leaving Teammates B and C behind. Teammate A will only receive the Salvage that they collected
  
• Teammate B and C successfully extract on the Dropship. Teammates B and C will each receive the Salvage collected by all three members of the team
  

[h2]Directional Sliding[/h2]

Getting around the map is simple: take a vehicle, run, walk, or slide. Sliding is enjoyable but it has been limited in direction - your movement moves you forward, with adjustments to the left and right.

Directional sliding brings an entirely new dimension to sliding. Now, you’ll be able to slide forwards, backwards, or sideways! You can even jump in any direction when sliding, making it easier for course corrections when you decide to head to a different location or avoid enemy attacks.

You also control your speed when sliding. Use the directional keys to build up momentum and gain speed or ‘tap the brakes’ by reversing direction to slow down.

Sliding isn’t just for getting around the map or evading enemies. You can also slide into the enemy camp, taking out opponents with ranged or melee weapons. Using a light melee attack won’t interrupt your sliding; however, you will stop sliding if you use a heavy melee attack.

[h2]Fog of War[/h2]

Storms aren’t the only hazard in Cascade Springs when Fog of War rolls in.

With Fog of War, locations on the map will be obscured until you get close to an encounter. Encounters found by teammates will also appear on your map. High value objectives, such as Sluka or Orbital Debris, Data Uplinks, R.A.S.P, and the Dropship will be visible even through the Fog of War.

When you first approach an encounter, you’ll see it pop up on your map but you won’t see many additional details. Once the encounter appears on your mini-map, more details will become clear, including the type of Cache or number of Datapoints available. You’ll also see a ring emanating from the map icon while a Keeper is engaging with it.

Depending on how you leave the encounter, the icon will show up differently on your map. If you leave without completing the objective, the icon will appear dimmed, indicating that the encounter was found but the information is out of date. Leaving after completing the objective turns the icon grey, as all resources have been depleted.

[h2]Weekly Challenges[/h2]

Challenges are a way for you to earn rewards simply by playing Scavengers. With this hotfix, we’re adding Weekly Challenges to the Daily and Career Challenges.

The Challenges for the week are fixed, with every player receiving the same set of Challenges. At the start of the week, new Challenges will be added.

[h2]Hotfix Changes[/h2]

• Fixed: Strike Rifle Vigor did not stun nearby enemies
  
• Fixed: No collision with many objects in while in Barricade Outpost
  
• Fixed: Sometimes unable to identify the active speaker in voice chat
  
• Fixed: For Horde Mode, only one Salvage per type (e.g. one Orbital Debris) would show on the rewards screen even though the players received the correct number of Salvage
  
• Fixed: For Horde Mode, Heavy Outlander Horde should now award correctly
  
• Fixed: For Horde Mode, spawning should now trigger more reliably
  
• Fixed: For Horde Mode, after the cutscene for Wave 3, the HUD stopped working correctly
  
• Changed: For Horde Mode, barriers now cost 50 Scrap, down from 75
  
• Changed: For Horde Mode, chests now always drop some Scrap
  
• Changed: For Horde Mode, Scrap from Orbital Debris decreased from 400 / 520 / 640 to 250 / 325 / 400
  

Keep Warm,
Midwinter