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WARRIOR'S DEN RECAP - JULY 30



Greetings, Warriors!

We hope you’ve been enjoying the Rise of the Warmongers event, A Tyrant’s Test! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out yet, the event runs until August 6th.

Warmonger


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The Warmonger will be playable next week! We suggest watching this week’s Warrior’s Den to stay informed on how she’ll impact the game on August 6th. We go into her moveset, her corrupt Feats, and her wide spectrum of customization (including Apollyon style armor).

Core Combat Update


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In this video, we break down exactly what will change in the Core Combat Update, and the reasoning behind these changes that will improve offense. We also cover adjustments made since the Testing Grounds, especially with regard to light spam. While we don’t get into the specific value changes for each hero, this video will give you a useful overview as we head towards August 6th.

Fight System Improvements Debrief




To prep for the Core Combat Update, we released a lengthy blog post detailing what we learned from the most recent Testing Grounds!

Emote Horkos Grimoire




A new emote has been released for all heroes! Head on over to the in-game store and check it out.

Thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you again at the next Warrior’s Den Recap!

If you haven’t already, join the For Honor Community on Twitter, Twitch, and Reddit.

Stay safe, and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

TESTING GROUNDS: FIGHT SYSTEM IMPROVEMENTS DEBRIEF



Hello Warriors!


We hoped to get back to you sooner on our Fight System Improvements Testing Grounds. May was a bumpy ride for us all as we transitioned into our new work from home setup. Now that we’ve settled into this new normal, it is time to give you an update on our latest Testing Grounds.

First off, we want to thank you all for your participation. The Fight System Improvements Testing Grounds was our most successful edition in terms of attendance with 25% of the active players participating!

We also want to give a special thank you to The Arena for organizing a tournament in the Testing Grounds context. We did not expect this. This was very interesting and fun to watch, and it also reinforces our belief in the validity of these changes for the future of the game.

WHAT DID WE LEARN?


  • This Testing Grounds changed many things in order to make combat more offensive:
  • New system makes fight moves look consistently faster over the network:
  • We removed the visual variability of opponents’ fight moves speeds caused by timing of the inputs
  • As a result, for all fight moves, the first 100ms of animation / UI are consistently skipped over the network (whether delayed or buffered)
  • As a result, feints are more believable


  • Stamina penalties were removed
  • Damage was adjusted (with a second pass during week 2)
  • Recoveries were normalized for light attacks and heavy finishers
  • Zone Attacks were more comfortable to perform


For more details on all these changes, you can go back to the articles we already published:


Testing Grounds: Fight System Improvements Testing Grounds: How Attacks are Changing

As expected, data shows the game was more offensive during the Testing Grounds. Attacks hit more across platforms on average, especially chained lights, which saw the highest increase. Chained heavies and Special attacks remained stable:

  • Neutral lights:
  • Console hit% went up from 53% to 55%
  • PC hit% went up from 50% to 55%


  • Chained lights:
  • Console hit% went up from 61% to 66%
  • PC hit% went up from 57% to 63%


  • Neutral heavies:
  • Console hit% went up from 33% to 35%
  • PC hit% went up from 32% to 33%


  • Dodge attacks:
  • Console hit% went up from 38% to 40%
  • PC hit% went up from 38% to 41%


By making attacks faster, most of them became harder to block on reaction. For the fastest ones, they could only be blocked on “read” (the act of anticipating your opponent’s next move). A positive side effect of this was a shift in attack usage with neutral light being less used on average and an increase in chained heavies. Chained lights, neutral heavies, dodge attacks and Specials remained quite stable with some exceptions for very specific attacks.

  • Neutral light:
  • Console and PC use% went up from 21% to 23 %


  • Chained heavy:
  • Console use% went up from 12% to 14 %
  • PC use% went up from 11% to 14%


The switch to a more offensive meta came out quite clearly in our survey where a majority of respondents confirmed the game felt more offensive than Live.

Respondents also felt overwhelmingly positive about the removal of stamina penalties, despite more mixed feedback on the parry penalty specifically.

Now regarding damage changes, results were mixed, even though we saw a slight improvement with the release of our week 2 patch.

More generally, when asked to judge whether the Testing Grounds experience was better or worse than Live, we saw results that were overwhelmingly positive on PC but mixed on Console.

In the surveys, the main source of player-reported frustration was on the topic of “light spam”. This was similarly visible for both Console and PC players.

WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?


After going through the statistical data and the qualitative survey feedback, even though a majority of respondents loved the changes, the amount of people who didn’t cannot be ignored. This is why we did not deploy the Testing Grounds changes into the game earlier.

We know that complaints about “light spam” at certain skill levels are not a new issue that only popped up with our Testing Grounds changes - we have heard complaints from segments of the player base on this topic since launch - and have heard the same complaints whether the attack speeds are as slow as 600/700ms, or as fast as 400ms. We are aware that there will always be a certain amount of frustration from players who expect to be able to react to all incoming attacks - we still need their own attacks to be effective - yet we also want to reduce the sense of how overwhelming it can feel for some parts of the player base. We want players to use Light Attacks and encourage pressing buttons as one part of a fully functioning offense. This will allow players to experiment with the combat system, new heroes, and it makes combat more dynamic. We know "light spam" is certainly not a winning strategy for high level competitive players, but we also don't want it to be too effective for regular players, so part of our edits is to make light attacks feel more fair.

Making light attacks feel more fair

The first step to making light attacks feel more fair at the level of regular players, is to work toward clarifying their functions in the combat system, especially with regards to heavy attacks. In theory, it goes like this:


  • Light attacks: fast, hard to block, meant to open
  • Heavy attacks: slow, easier to block, meant to deal damage, bait


So, to serve their purpose, light attacks need to have a fair ratio of damage, stamina cost and recovery timing and these are the parameters we’ll be iterating on.

DAMAGE


For damage, the global approach is to make sure we adjust light and heavy damage based on the intended functions of attacks. Generally, this means that Lights often are nerfed in damage, while Heavies and especially Heavy Finishers retain their higher damage values. In addition to this, there are certain attacks on certain heroes that we nerfed in terms of attack speed to limit their ability to hit opponents, and therefore reduce “light spam” complaints.

Now, if you are being “light spammed”, it will do less damage to you.

STAMINA

On Live, there are some heroes that can kill an opponent who fail to block all light attacks without spending much stamina. In the Core Combat Update, we will nerf light attack stamina costs globally to 12 stamina cost (from 6) to reduce the effectiveness and ability to kill a player who is unable to block any lights.

We will still remove the stamina penalties on Block/Miss/Parry, as this was a very important step towards making players feel more comfortable about throwing attacks. It’s a very positive change to make the game more accessible and dynamic. We feel that the overall increase to light attack stamina cost should limit the effectiveness of “light spam” at lower levels of play even with these stamina penalties removed, as there was never a stamina penalty for Hit before, anyway. This means that someone who cannot block is much better off in the Core Combat Update than they ever were on Live.

TIMINGS

Timing is an essential component in making the game feel more offensive and we’re satisfied with how the new system has made neutral game less static than it is on Live.

That being said, there are particular attacks that may not need to be as fast as they were on Live – such as the neutral 400ms attacks, which we will nerf to 500ms. Additionally, Orochi is singularly blamed by light spam complainants, so we will nerf parts of Orochi’s Light Attack kit, with some compensation on the Heavy Finisher.

Now, we provide the ability to dodge out of most light>light chains, and give you frame advantage after most light chains end. This means that you have more abilities to counter “light spam” than ever before – whether that’s dodging away, or by using frame advantage after their chain to “take your turn” – now you should be able to prevent continuous “light spam”.

WHAT'S COMING NEXT


With these changes to address the risk / reward of using light attacks, we are confident we’ll be able to get the vast majority of our players, across all platforms and all skill levels, to adapt to our new offensive meta.

We are not planning to do a second Testing Grounds. We feel confident that the first Testing Grounds provided enough data to allow us to identify the major pain points to address, and therefore, these changes will be in the game on August 6th, 2020, as the Core Combat Update. Once released, we will be monitoring the situation closely to make the necessary adjustments as swiftly as possible, and we will be relying a lot on your feedback, so we’ll be counting on you to keep it coming.

The team is super excited for these changes to go live. We’re confident this will make For Honor healthier, with more dynamic games that are more fun to play and watch, especially in Competitive settings.

Please note that the changes mentioned in this article are not the only changes that will be part of the Core Combat Update, but we’ll share more details about the specifics as we get closer to August 6th. Until then, stay tuned!



For Honor Free Weekend Starts July 23



For Honor will be free to download and play on Steam from July 23-26, giving players the chance to cross swords with Vikings, Samurai, Knights, and Wu Lin across a wide variety of battlefields and game modes. The free weekend is also a chance to check out some of the recent additions of the Year of Reckoning, including a new Battle Pass and a rework for the Centurion.

The free weekend kicks off at 10:00 AM PDT via Steam. PC players can keep battling until 1:00 PM PDT on July 27.



If you decide you want to keep your momentum going after the free weekend is over, For Honor will be on sale for up to 80% off during the free period, and any progress you make will carry over to the full version should you decide to purchase it.

For more on the game, including details on the new season, Tyranny, check out our previous coverage.

WARRIOR'S DEN UPDATE - JULY 16



Hello Warriors,

We hope you’re staying cool this July, as every day more closely resembles the swamp climate of Point C on Temple Garden.

Fortunately, we have a refreshing breeze of sales blowing in this week:

Summer Sale




Over 3,000 items at 25% off! Get new threads, new Effects, and new Emotes for the hero you’ve been repping up!

Champion Status Sale




With Champion Status, you can claim to your friends that you are an actual For Honor champion…and technically be correct! If they play For Honor with you, they will directly experience the bonuses provided by your championship. You have until July 23rd to take advantage of this sale!

Winged Anomaly Ornament




These Winged Anomaly Ornaments may be just what you need to spice up your drop attacks. While they do not actually change your hero’s ability to dunk on enemies from the crow’s nests at Point B on Harbor, having wings will certainly help you gain the upper hand psychologically.

Thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you again at the next Warrior’s Den Recap!

If you haven’t already, join the For Honor Community on Twitter, Twitch, and Reddit.

Stay safe and we'll see you on the battlefield!



WARRIOR'S DEN UPDATE - JULY 9



Hey there, Warriors!

Last week we unveiled our official roadmap for the month of July! Check it out below – there’s also an Extra XP Fest on the 17th:

July Roadmap




Mood Effect – Fumes of Horkos




The new “Fumes of Horkos” Effect is out this week! It’s certainly an intimidating way to make a statement on the battlefield.

Battle Outfit – Anomaly of Horkos




The Anomaly of Horkos outfit is available for all heroes now! Head to the in-game store and check out the mysterious new threads.

Ranked Vanquisher Challenge




Rounding out this week’s activities is the Ranked Vanquisher Challenge! Starting tomorrow, fight for your faction to win the most Ranked matches to earn the best rewards for your faction.

Thank you for joining us, and we’ll see you again at the next Warrior’s Den Recap!

If you haven’t already, join the For Honor Community on Twitter, Twitch, and Reddit.

Stay safe and we'll see you on the battlefield!