Metalstorm News

Latest update going live Tuesday, April 8, 2025 8:00 AM PT. No client download required for this update.

[h3]General Update[/h3] Web Shop Update: We have added 4 Pilot Icons from the past to the web shop at playmetalstorm.com/shop. Each icon will be available for purchase at 200 Star Points until Tuesday, May 6, 2025 12:00 AM PT.

Mastery Update: The Mastery progress for Friends and Squadmates has returned. You can see how you compare by visiting your Mastery track page for a specific Aircraft.

[h3]New Content[/h3] Winged Fury Flight Pass: The latest flight pass goes live Saturday, April 12, 2025 9:00 AM PT.



Fear Nothing by grabbing the Epic Pilot Icon, Pilot Banner, and Color Changing Decal in the Fearless Bundle. Purchase from the store or on the web shop at playmetalstorm.com/shop when the flight pass goes live.

Bug Fixes
- Fixed some visual issues with the Hangar.
- Fixed issue with editing decals in some languages.

Issues & Feedback
Please report any issues or bugs you might be experiencing in our Discord, or contact us at [email protected]. Your feedback is welcome and appreciated as it helps us make Metalstorm the best it can be.

Flying at you fast and furiously,

Latest update going live Tuesday, March 25, 2025 8:00 AM. No client download required for this update.

[h2]General Updates[/h2]

New Hangar Scene
When this update goes live, the first thing you’ll likely see is our brand new hangar! This new scene is filled with a ton of new props, and we can’t wait to see what our community photographers are able to capture. Who knows what secrets may be revealed or discovered.



March Madness
Starting Friday, March 28, 2025 12:00 PM, we’re bringing back the limited 500 gold offers available exclusively at playmetalstorm.com/shop. There will be one daily offer available for 4 days, and each comes with 200 Star Points you can redeem for additional items as well. Enjoy!

Message Pruning
You will no longer be able to have more than 50 direct chats in your inbox. This is a preventative measure as there were issues caused from having too much in your inbox. Your history will still be there as you have people rotating in and out of what’s viewable so no worries on anything being lost.

[h2]Balance Adjustments[/h2]

Dev Notes: We’ve made some balance tweaks in this patch, based on both your feedback and our own internal data. Our goal is to make sure every aircraft in Metalstorm feels fun and fair to fly.

Instead of big, sudden changes, we’re taking smaller steps - slowly bringing overpowered planes down and boosting the ones that need a little love. This lets us see how each change plays out, without accidentally tipping the whole balance in the wrong direction.

One trend we’re still seeing: Attack aircraft are a bit too strong overall, especially the Su-25, and it turns out the A-10 as well. We're starting to dial them back a bit, but since we're making changes gradually, we will likely need to make more adjustments later on.

Thanks for flying with us - and keep that feedback coming!

NERFS

A-4 Skyhawk We’re dialing this one back just a bit due to its overperformance after receiving buffs.
Base Stats
- HP reduced from 165 to 155.
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 50 to 45.
- Blast Radius reduced from 10 to 9m.
- Rate of Fire reduced from 4.4 to 4/s.

A-10 Thunderbolt Despite feeling like a shock to some, the A-10 is one of the best performing planes in Metalstorm. We will be keeping a close eye on how all these changes affect our Attackers.
Base Stats
- HP reduced from 220 to 210.
- Turn Rate reduced from 36 to 35°/s. Note:Roll Rate has also been reduced, but this is not a player facing stat.
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 50 to 45.
- Blast Radius reduced from 10 to 9m.
- Rate of Fire reduced from 4.4 to 4/s.

MiG-19 Farmer Same as the A-4. Just a slight nerf to bring it more in line.
Cannons
- Max Damage reduced from 236 to 216.

Su-22 Fitter Only adjusting the Fitter ever so slightly in this pass of Attackers.
Rockets
- Blast Radius reduced from 7 to 6m.

SU-25 Frogfoot The Su-25 remains one of the most problematically overpowered planes in the game. As noted, these changes help, and we will keep an eye closely.
Base Stats
- HP reduced from 210 to 200.
- Turn Rate reduced from 36 to 35°/s. Note: Roll Rate has also been reduced, but this is not a player facing stat.
Cannons
- Ideal Range reduced from < 0.7 to < 0.6km.
- Reticle Range reduced from < 1.2 to < 0.9km.
- Now has the Expert Cannons trait. Note: This only affects the aim assist, not the damage, fire rate, or overheat time.
Heavy Rockets
- Blast Radius reduced from 20 to 18. Note: Accuracy has gone down overall.

Su-34 Fullback Just like the A-10, the Su-34 has been a sneaky good plane by our metrics so we’re giving it some slight adjustments.
Base Stats
- HP reduced from 185 to 180.
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 40 to 30.
- Blast Radius reduced from 9 to 8m.
- Rate of Fire increased from 6.7 to 8/s.

BUFFS

A-6 Intruder Giving these rockets just a slight adjustment, but watching closely.
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 30 to 25.
- Blast Radius reduced from 8 to 7m.
- Rate of Fire increased 6.7 to 8/s.

F-4 Phantom The Phantom still isn’t in line with where we’d like it, so we’re giving it a little more love.
Base Stats
- HP increased from 165 to 170.
- Ideal Turning Speed reduced from 684 to 666 km/h.
Now has the Cruising Altitude trait.
Hunter Missiles
- Damage increased from 85 to 90.
- Lock Angle increased from 7 to 8°.

F-100 Suber Sabre Similar to the A-6, and also a sneaky reliable plane–giving its rockets some love.
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 30 to 25.
- Blast Radius reduced from 8 to 7m.
- Rate of Fire increased 6.7 to 8/s.

J-10 Firebird We want to avoid spooking ourselves in overturning the J-10, so we are giving its guns a slight increase as well as a buff to its ability.
Cannons
- Max Damage increased from 108 to 115.
Special Ability: Phantom Missile
- Ability Cooldown has been reduced from 24/18/12 to 20/15/10.
- Ability Angle increased from 30 to 40°.

Jaguar GR3 The once dominant Jaguar has been pretty dormant since receiving nerf after nerf. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
Rockets
- Damage reduced from 30 to 25.
- Blast Radius reduced from 8 to 7m.
- Rate of Fire increased from 3.3 to 4.8/s.

MiG-21 Fishbed We’re giving the MiG-21 a slight increase to its guns to bump it up with its very competitive Light Fighters category.
Cannons
- Max Damage increased from 108 to 115.

MiG-31 Foxhound This Interceptor is getting a little spice to its trait and speed. Gotta go fast!
Base Stats
- Top Speed Increased from 1501 to 1648km/h.
- Cruising Altitude Max Height reduced from 4000 to 3500. Note: Slightly decreased the speed bonus.

Mirage F1 Despite its popularity, the F-1 is not winning as many matches as you might suspect. We are giving its ability a very minor buff to monitor.
Special Ability: Escape Artist
- Ability now makes missiles slightly less likely to hit you while active.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

Art:
- Fixed a bug with the F4 Mastery paint gold trim.
- Fixed a bug with the Su-25 299th Tactical paint.
- Fixed a bug where the left airbrake sometimes did not show on the Jaguar.
- Fixed an issue with the MiG-19 engine being super dark.
Gameplay:
- Fixed a bug with the F-15 manual missiles.
Localization:
- Fixed numerous localization bugs for Japanese.

See you in the skies!

Note: Deploying this week instead of next week so this way you have no expected maintenance to worry about for the next week or so. Oh, and you already know I come bearing gifts. Use promo code: LUCKYSTRIKE over at playmetalstorm.com/shop.

Code is valid one week from this message, enjoy!


Latest update going live Thursday, March 6, 2025 8:00 AM PST . No client download required for this update.


New Content
Lucky Strike Flight Pass: Get ready to test your luck when the new flight pass goes live Saturday, March 15, 2025 9:00 AM PST.



Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue with the MiG-19 Boneyard Skin.
- Mastery Gold Rewards Tier purchase now has the aircraft name and designation to more clearly show what aircraft you are purchasing for.
- Fixed overlapping text issues on the Mastery purchase page in some languages.
- Fixed multiple issues with languages other than English not appearing correctly.

Gold + Clovers!

Side note: We have some minor backend maintenance incoming February 25, 2025. This will not require a new client download.

Black Market Event Update:
BREAKING NEWS! Reports of roaring cannons, and a new aircraft too fast to handle expected to arrive in Metalstorm on February 26, 2025 12:00 PM PST. Time to put things into a new gear as the JF-17 Thunder is set to push pilots beyond their limits.

[h2]NEW PLANE: JF-17 Thunder[/h2]
While the Black Market event is active, you can unlock this plane at Hangar Level 8, afterwards it will return to its normal Hangar Level of 13. Role Type: Light Fighter (Max scaling in parenthesis)

Base Stats
- 100(200) hp
- Top Speed: 1,299km/h
- Acceleration: 55m/s²
- Turn Rate: 38°/s
- Ideal Turning Speed: 648km/h
- Afterburner Fuel: 13s

Traits
- Expert Cannons
These guns require more precise aim but make up for it with effectiveness!

Loadout
- 2x Short Range IR Missiles
Range: 2.9km
Damage: 75(150)
Speed: 3,240km/h
Turn Rate: 15°/s
Lock Angle: 8°
Lock Time: 1.3s

- 2x Medium Range Radar Missiles
Range: 7.0km
Damage: 80(160)
Speed: 3,960km/h
Turn Rate: 15°/s
Lock Angle: 6°
Lock Time: 1.4s

- Internal Precision Cannons
Max Damage: 226(452)dps
Ideal Range: < 0.6km
Reticle Range: < 0.9km
Spin Up Time: n/a
Spread: Very Low
Overheat Time: 2.5s
Ammo: ∞
Armor Piercing: Medium

- 3 Flares

Special Ability: Edge Boost
A brief burst of acceleration and speed and a slightly longer boost to maneuverability. The base cooldown is 30 seconds, but is shorter based on how close to terrain you are when you activate the ability, so skillful users can chain boosts together.
Max Speed: +80/100/120m/s and Acceleration: +60/70/90m/s²


I feel the need..

[h3]Balance Updates[/h3]
Missile Improvements:
Don’t let this deceptively small change fool you, this will impact every single aircraft in Metalstorm. Missile Turn-Rate Build Up Time determined how long it would take a missile to get from their Starting to Ending Turn Rates. With this value back down to 0, this means your missiles will once again turn at their maximum rate immediately after launch.

• Missile Build Up Times returned to 0.

Now that we are back to normal, we look forward to bringing you exciting new planes, maps, and modes, and balance updates that will be smaller and more frequent, to help keep combat both fair and dynamic.

Speaking of, this is also your general PSA to work on your flaring. You have been warned pilots, good luck out there.

Plane Balance: J-10 Firebird

There was an unintentional error previously that we are correcting. We’re also sprinkling in a slight range increase to add some potential spicy capabilities with the “Look and Shoot” trait.

• Short Range IRs
  • Lock Range increased from 2.8 to 3km.
  • Turn Rate increased from 37 to 45°/s.

Su-47 Berkut

The Su-47 is a dangerous plane on paper. Its faster rate of fire on radar missiles is reason enough for their additional tracking delay. We are now removing this and bringing them up to par with similar missiles.

• Medium Range Radar Missiles
  • These missiles now have no delay before they start tracking targets.

[h3]General Updates[/h3]“Reject and Mute” Invites: Tired when someone can’t get a clue? When this update goes out, you’ll now be able to reject an invite and put someone on mute for 15 minutes in a single button press.

High Quality Match Replays: Channel your inner-Spielberg in Match Replays with a new “Force HQ Animations” button. We’re looking forward to seeing what kinds of content you can come up with, and we’ll continue to put in work in enabling your creativity within Metalstorm.

Bug Fixes

• Art
  • Fixed an issue with one of the MiG-19 paints.
  • Fixed an issue with decal application on the Su-47.

• Matchmaking
  • Fixed an exploit with matchmaking. Note: You will no longer be able to change mods or plane levels while match searching. They will only apply upon re-queue or after that match has ended.

Last, but certainly not least..

[h3]Aircraft Mastery[/h3]Teased in our roadmap last year, Aircraft Mastery is finally here! This is a massive new feature to help you progress, celebrate, and show off your favorite aircraft in Metalstorm. There’s a good bit to unpack here, so strap in and check out the details below.

What is Mastery?
Mastery lets you earn rewards as you fly and refine your skills with each aircraft. Winning matchmade games earns you Mastery XP for the aircraft you are flying, with bonuses for performance and playing with friends. Each aircraft has 24 Mastery Levels full of rewards to unlock! Progress through a Mastery Pass and unlock exclusive cosmetics and valuable resources!

What kinds of rewards are available in the Mastery Pass?
Each plane in the game has their own individual Mastery Pass featuring both FREE + GOLD TIER rewards. These include:

FREE Mastery Rewards

• Unlocked through Mastery Levels
  • 4,400 Silver
  • 2,200 Parts
  • 2 Canopy Tints
  • 2 Mastery Decals

GOLD TIER Mastery Rewards

• Unlocked Immediately
  • Nose Decal Slot
  • Permanent 50% Mastery Bonus for Base Victories XP

• Unlocked through Mastery Levels
  • 12,500 Silver
  • 3,000 Parts
  • Tintable Mastery Decal
  • 2 Exclusive Canopy Tints
  • Empyrean Mastery Paint
  • Erebus Mastery Paint

How much does the Gold Tier cost?
To help you unlock the Gold Tier for your favorite plane, your first Gold Tier Mastery Unlock is 50% off! Every unlock after your first one will be the standard 269 Gold.

What happens if I unlock the Gold Tier after I’ve already completed all 24 Mastery Levels?
You will be able to unlock and claim the Mastery Rewards up to whatever point you’re currently at in the Mastery Pass. Note: These rewards and passes will remain forever.

Can I use any of these rewards for other planes?
Outside of Silver since it is a universal currency, no. These passes and their rewards are catered on an individual level of accomplishment with that plane. Any parts or cosmetics will only be applied to that specific plane you are working on.

What happens if I already have maximum parts for a plane I claim more parts for?
Any parts that go beyond what’s needed to reach Plane Level 20 will be converted into Silver.

Is there any limit to how many Mastery Passes I can work on at a time?
Nope! You will naturally be earning Mastery XP as you rotate and play all the aircraft you own in your hangar. Mastery XP is calculated at the end of match depending on the following:

• Match Victory
  • Gold Tier 50% Bonus
  • Party Size

• Placement
  • 1st
  • 2nd
  • 3rd

Trophy Scores affect the base value(s). The higher the risk, the greater the reward as you climb. Note: You can still earn Mastery XP in losses if you manage to get a Top 3 placement!

Which plane will you choose to master first, pilot?

[h3]Stay Tuned[/h3]
We know there’s a good bit to take in with this update, and we’re excited to get these changes and new features into your hands. I wish I could say that’s all for now, but the truth is we’re just getting started. More inbound this month, so be sure to keep an eye out for more updates later this week.
Love &