Second Wave News

Heroes of Armantia,

We know that many of you that are interested in Second Wave may not be on our social channels such as Twitter, or our Discord server. We are currently experiencing some technical difficulties with the game. We've been making sure to bring you a smooth experience with Second Wave, but unfortunately, we have found some issues that we need to resolve. As such, the Beta is postponed until October 6, 5:30 AM UTC / October 5, at 11:30 PM PDT / October 6, at 1:30 AM EDT.

Please stay tuned for our "Welcome to the Beta" post, which we will have live once the Beta is ready to be launched.

Thank you for your understanding and your patience.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Thank you for participating in the Second Wave Beta! In this beta, we are introducing new Heroes, Game Modes, major out-of-game systems, and a variety of other features.

Please remember that everything in the beta is still in development! Just as we did during Alpha, we will continue to develop the game by listening to your valuable feedback during the Beta. Thank you for your interest and we look forward to interacting with you and making Second Wave even better!

For now, enjoy the beta!

[hr][/hr]


[h2]JEMMA JOHANNES[/h2]

Meet Jemma, the adorable long-range DPS. She’s an adolescent girl armed with an Arcane Rocket Cannon. She can jump higher than a rabbit and is as strong as a brown bear. She hates spinach and loves bunnies! She wants to become the Animal Sheriff of Swarije. Her favorite animal in the world is her pet bunny, Clover. She may be pocket-sized, but don’t underestimate Jemma. She can carry artillery that weighs more than you or me, and she can leap six meters into the air. Whatever the crisis, she’s ready to rise to the challenge and run like a rabbit. Show your enemies who’s boss with the power of the cute and terrifying Arcane Cannon.

[h2]JACK TAYLOR[/h2]

Masked, self-proclaimed explosives artist, bomb-loving psychopath Jack joins us as a goal-shooting companion. Hobby: Imagining landmarks around the world exploding. His specialty: making “cute” bombs to make it happen. To him, bombs are toys and explosions are a rush. He gets a thrill from those pyrotechnic moments when enemy blood splashes everywhere. So don’t pick up any of the dolls he throws because they’re cute – they’re gas bombs disguised as dolls, and they can be deadly. Like Hansel’s loaf of bread, Jack’s bombs don’t just go off when he hits the detonator – they go off all at once! When you see Jack, be prepared. You could be the target of one of Jack’s powerful bombs, including grenades, sticky bombs, and flaming flasks.

[h2]SPADE FOUR[/h2]

The mysterious Pierrot behind the red circus tent! Spade Four, the ‘offensive supporter’, has joined the party. Likes: Performing card tricks for a rabbit audience. Dislikes: Toughness and stubbornness. The circus troublemaker, don’t tell Spade Four! Hates interference and will turn you into a rabbit. Spade Four is hard to catch, bouncing in the air with the jump pad or floating around in a giant balloon. Annoy Spade Four and fireworks will be thrown at you. Your hair will go up in flames! Make Spade Four your ally and wreak havoc on your enemies with sneaky attacks.

[h2]JEREMY RENNON[/h2]

The mysterious Pierrot behind the red circus tent! Spade Four, the ‘offensive supporter’, has joined the party. Likes: Performing card tricks for a rabbit audience. Dislikes: Toughness and stubbornness. The circus troublemaker, don’t tell Spade Four! Hates interference and will turn you into a rabbit. Spade Four is hard to catch, bouncing in the air with the jump pad or floating around in a giant balloon. Annoy Spade Four and fireworks will be thrown at you. Your hair will go up in flames! Make Spade Four your ally and wreak havoc on your enemies with sneaky attacks.

[h2]AEGIS TEFNUT[/h2]

Second Wave’s First Transformation Character Arrives!
Aegis, the priestess, has aligned herself with Ra, the Sun God, and Shu, the God of Darkness, as a “Support” who protects her allies with the power of both Gods. Aegis is a living temple in her own right, as both Ra and Shu live within her body. Ra and Shu manifest through Aegis’ body. When Aegis speaks warmly, Ra takes control of her body, and when she speaks seductively, Shu takes control of her body. As the Sun God, Ra saves her allies with the power of the Sun’s life-giving light, Shu, the God of Darkness, strips her enemies of their defenses like an assassin lurking in the depths of the night. Use the power of Aegis to save your allies and wear down your enemies. Harness the power of both Gods to win the Arcane War.

[hr][/hr]

[h2]NEW GAME MODE - STONE-GRAB[/h2]

Introducing Stone-Grab, a competitive game of “take it or leave it” in the unoccupied Arcane Stone Quarry! Four teams of three players compete on a single battlefield to collect Arcane Stones and fend off attacks. To win, work with your teammates and stand strong against attacks. Beware of being overpowered by another player, as you’ll lose all the Arcane Stones you’ve collected.

• Requires 4 teams of 3 players on each team, for a total of 12 players.
• Arcane Stones can be acquired by approaching them spawned throughout the map.
  • Arcane Stones will spawn regularly in the center of the map until mid-game.
  • There are also hidden Arcane Stones inside some destroyable structures.
• If a player dies while holding an Arcane Stone, all Arcane Stones they were holding are dropped on the spot where they died.
• If the total number of Arcane Stones held by teammates reaches 24 or more, a Guard Time is triggered to protect the Arcane Stones.
  • If you remain in Guard Time for 40 seconds, you win the game.
  • If a teammate dies during Guard Time and the total number of Arcane Stones drops below 24, Guard Time is canceled.
  • If you retrieve an Arcane Stone within 1.2 seconds of Guard Time being canceled, you will trigger a Save Chance to continue Guard Time.
• Depending on the number of Arcane Stones you possess, you can receive buffs that enhance your attacks.
• In Stone Grab, once you leave Base Camp, you can’t return there until you respawn.

[hr][/hr]

• Hero Rebalancing
• Movement and Combat System Improvements
• New Camera Shaking and Hit Feedback Functionality
• Knockback and CC Animation Improvements
• Skill Chain Animation Improvements
• Controller Support
  • Controller Vibration has been added when a controller is plugged in.
• Skill Mana System Revamp
• Tutorial System Added
• Domination Mode Rebalance
• Item Changes
  • New Item Skills and Passives
  • Item Balance Adjustments
• New UX Changes
  • HUD UI Improvements
  • Crosshair / Aim Customization
• In-Game Store Revamp
• Keybinds Added
• FPS Limit Support
• New AFK System
• New Match Surrender and Voting System
• New Killfeed Announcement System
• Improved Death Camera Controls
• New Reward Notifications Features
• Hero Select Screen Revamp
• New Patch Notes UI
• New Latest News UI
• New Known Issues UI
• Improved Loading Screen
• Overal Visual Polishing
• ...And more!

 
Read the full patch notes for our first Beta for Second Wave in our Beta Patch 1.0 Notes post.

[h5]To our Heroes of Armantia,

Greetings.

This is Koji, your producer and studio head at Challengers Games and Second Wave.

First of all, I would like to say thank you very much for taking part in the Alpha Test!

Since August 2022, when we started making Second Wave, we've been working non-stop for about 10 months. As scheduled, we held the "First Alpha Test" in late May and the "Second Alpha Test" in early June.

The first and second tests lasted 48 hours each, for a total of 96 hours with you.

Our goal for this Alpha Test was to have a test with a more improved game than the build we showed at GDC 2023 in March. Since there are latency issues, we were more concerned with smooth gameplay than securing a matchmaking pool. We've set up servers in five regions: NA East, NA West, Europe, Asia, Korea, and Japan, and prepared for more stable gameplay. But contrary to our expectations, Alpha 1 and Alpha 2 had access, matchmaking, and social bugs that disrupted the Alpha gameplay, and we apologise for that.

The test was run without any publicity, advertising, or marketing, and so we were worried that the queues would not match very well. However, we were pleasantly surprised by the number of people who showed up, with 16 games running simultaneously at the peak.

We made some invaluable connections that helped us get to where we are today. With these connections, we founded the company in August 2022. It felt as if the stars had aligned, and thankfully we were able to prepare our protype for Second Wave, which led us to GDC, and then finally to the Alpha Test. I believe this Alpha Test is a time where you and our team established bonds. We don't want to lose that bond by the time the beta test rolls around. We want to continue this relationship through Early Access and Official Launch, building your "trust". Only then will we have a real Second Wave.

We sincerely hope that the Alpha Test has given you the feeling that "Second Wave is a fun game!" and that you feel that this is a game that is worth looking forward to. This Alpha experience has given our team a lot to learn and think about.

Once again, I would like to thank everyone who participated in the alpha test.

The Alpha Test survey will close in 24 hours. Your feedback will be our compass that will guide us in the direction we need to go with Second Wave, so we hope to see you in the Beta Test soon.

You can also follow us on Discord, Twitter and Facebook to keep up with our development.


Thank you.
Tamura Koji, CEO[/h5]

We have a smaill build update that has been done today. Please update your game to the latest release.

• Game mode settings often being set to 5v5 Domination Mode in the lobby

We have a smaill build update adding a string shown below

• "Failed to retrieve data due to an unexpected error. You will be redirected to the lobby."

We have a few more fixes for the game results window, which we'll update when we're done testing.