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GARRA HOOK AND VOLCÁN SHIELD – RD REPORT



GARRA HOOK AND VOLCÁN SHIELD – R&D REPORT


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1rfxazAwbg

"Harry -
I understood that our new Operator’s grappling hook made her fast, but I never expected it would have that much of an effect on the pacing of our training matches. In less experienced hands (mine), the Garra Hook is a slightly-more-convenient way of scaling a wall or breaking through a barricaded window. But for her, it’s an extension of her body. The way she swings her legs, the way she tucks her arms into her sides, everything is geared toward making her as agile as possible. I made the mistake of challenging her, one-on-one. Then for a rematch. Each time, she took me down from an angle I wasn’t expecting, with a speed I couldn’t adapt to. I have to adapt to it.

My only consolation is that she works best when her opponents are distracted. If she goes charging in, she’s going to get a bullet to the face. And she’ll deserve it. But for now, with her unpredictability, she’s set to turn our whole routine upside down. I can’t wait.

Our other new Operator is a special one. He’s quiet, but thoughtful. I’m not surprised his invention is the same. In both cases, if you underestimate or misjudge he’ll be on you like lightning.

I appreciate fielding another defense that more than one person can use. We have our cameras, and we need to check them, but the Volcán gives us something else to keep an eye on. Plus, it’s impressive. Smoke’s “toxic babes” keep people at bay, and do it well, but an unexpected explosion causes a split-second of disorientation that leaves you vulnerable to attack. When I’m right there behind my mirror, protected from the blast, that split-second is all I need.

You asked if they’re ready. They are. As for how they’re going to change the way we approach each other, we’ll just have to wait and see."

-- Specialist Elena “Mira” María Álvarez, Rainbow R&D Director

Visit our Rainbow Six Twitch Channel on August 18th for the full reveal of Operation Ember Rise during the Six Major Raleigh.

TOP ISSUES AND COMMUNITY CONCERNS



TOP ISSUES AND COMMUNITY CONCERNS

Updated: 22 July 2019

We will be updating the following list regularly to outline the status of certain issues that are currently pressing for our community. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and should only be used as a reference to give a general idea of where our focus currently is.

TOP ISSUES
SOUND BUGS Description: Muffled, missing sounds + various sound issues.
Status: We have identified a bug that allows sound to travel more easily that intended through solid objects/walls. We are also continuing to go through videos that are sent to us to identify standalone sound/audio issues.

CONNECTIVITY Description: Players are losing control on their Operator and then being disconnected and presented with an error message.
Status: We have dedicated a team specifically to these connectivity topics, and have identified a couple of issues that are sometimes interpreted as a “Denial of Service” attacks. These issues are a priority for us.

RANK DISPARITY IN RANKED MATCHMAKING Description: Players are able to take advantage of the Matchmaking algorithm to play against lower skilled opponents.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] Currently in progress. We have detailed the approximate values that we want to restrict parties to, and are working on the implementation.

TOXICITY REPORTING Description: We currently offer a single option for reporting toxicity.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] We have finalized the design and process for handling additional reporting options. The UI/UX is in progress.

TOP GAMEPLAY TOPICS
SMOKE GAS CANISTER PROPAGATION Description: Gas from Smoke’s Gas Grenades clips through walls.
Objective: Our goal is to rework the propagation so it is similar to the new Capitao fire bolt, and use this as an opportunity to revisit the visual.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] We have encountered an issue and will be pushing this change to Season 3 to ensure that it is released in a more comfortable state.

WEAPON SIGHT ALIGNMENT Description: Weapon optics are a few pixels off center in some situations.
Objective: We want to implement a system to prevent most misalignment issues in the future. At the same time, we are improving the look of the guns in ADS by adding secondary motion, which is now possible due to the tech that keeps the scopes aligned with the reticule.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] Feedback is currently being gathered in internal play sessions.

SHOTGUN WALL DESTRUCTION IS UNRELIABLE Description: Shotguns are inconsistent when being used to destroy wooden beams.
Objective: We want to ensure that the destruction of wooden beams is reliable, for both player comfort and ensuring we do not force players to spend extra time attempting to destroy wooden beams.
Status: [Target: Y4S3] We have it implemented and turned off while we address remaining bugs. Once those are fixed, we will turn it on.

OPERATOR/GADGET KILL SWITCH Description: Operators that are disruptive due to exploits being removed from play.
Objective: When an Operator or Gadget is disabled, provide players with feedback on what/why.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] We have a bit of programming work left, and some UI work as well.

DEBRIS STUCK IN WINDOW/DOOR BARRICADES Description: Debris sometimes remains stuck in the barricades on doors and windows, causing players to have different sight lines.
Objective: Provide consistency for all players for barricade destruction.
Status: [Target: Potentially Y5S1] We are currently in the design phase to determine how we want to approach this topic. We are exploring and prototyping different options.

TOP BALANCING TOPICS
MAP POOL Description: We have too many maps available in the Ranked map pool.
Status: [Target: Y4S3] We are in the process of reassessing the number of maps present in the Ranked map rotation. Additionally, we are determining which maps to include in this reduced map pool.

OPERATOR BANS Description: We have seen a high ban rate for Blitz, Jackal, Echo, and Caveira in Ranked.
Status: We are discussing how we want to approach topic of balancing around Pick/Ban in Ranked, and the Operators that are affected the most by it.

SMOKE Description: Adjustments to the damage curve for Smoke’s Gas Canister will move Smoke further towards an area denial role.
Status: [On Hold] We are satisfied overall with how this is developing, but but need to put it on hold until other dependencies are delivered.

Y4S2.3 PATCH NOTES



The primary focus of the Y4S2.3 patch brings balancing around shields, Glaz buffs, Jackal nerfs and a QOL change for Maverick torch SFX. There’s also a few other balancing tweaks as well as further improvements to the RFF system to moderate griefing teammates. Check out more detailed explanations on the balancing changes in our Designer’s Notes.

The Y4S2.3 patch will release to PC on July 22nd and console on the 24th.

GAMEPLAY UPDATES


RFF ANTI-GRIEFING
  • Addition of further RFF parameters to take into account damage history to a player from the offender over multiple rounds in a match.
    - Continued chip damage to an individual from another teammate over several rounds will stack RFF points more quickly.
  • Putting a teammate into DBNO will activate RFF.
    - Reviving the DBNO teammate will remove the RFF activation.
    - Bleeding out from DBNO will prompt the dead player to mark the TK as intentional or not.


IDLE KICK TIMER
  • Idle kick warning timer will display 10 seconds before a kick.


LAN VOICE CHAT
  • LAN/Offline modes in-game voice chat has been removed for optimization purposes.
  • PvP/Online voice chat will not be affected.


BALANCING


SHIELD HIP-FIRE
  • Hip-fire cone increased.
  • We have standardized the hip-fire penalization when you have a Ballistic Shield equipped. Having a shield equipped will now increase it by the same amount. Spread has increased for every Operator when a shield is equipped, but Fuze, Montagne and Blitz will be the most impacted by the change.


BALLISTIC SHIELD MELEE
  • Performing a melee attack with a Ballistic Shield equipped will now only injure and DBNO the opponent, instead of killing them.
  • The new changes for melee attacks while using a Ballistic Shield will impact Blitz, Fuze, Montagne and Recruit.


ECHO
  • Reduced Yokai Sonic Burst disorientating effect base duration to 7 seconds (down from 10s).
We are running low on AAA batteries, so to save energy we’re tuning down Yokai’s power a bit.

GLAZ
  • Reduced time it takes to trigger the vision penalty when moving or rotating, lowering the overall vision penalty when moving.
  • Movement time before complete vision is lost is now 6 seconds (up from 2.5s).
  • The speed at which the vision penalty is applied when rotating has also been slowed down.
Glaz has been feeling a bit left out so we gave him some incentive to join the party.

JACKAL
  • Reduced the number of pings from a scan to 4 (down from 5), reduced time being tracked by 5 seconds.
You can rest easier now. Maybe.

MAVERICK
  • Modified breaching torch sound SFX.
  • Breaching torch sounds will now be easier to hear when Maverick is making a hole close to you.
Can you hear me now?

NØKK
  • Increased Nøkk's ability duration to 12 seconds and increased the refill timer to 12 seconds.
  • With the longer duration, and cooldown, you’ll be able to better leverage her ability.
As per the law of equivalent exchange, you can now spend longer being spooky, but also spend longer getting a full refill.

BUG FIXES


GAMEPLAY
  • FIXED – Under certain circumstances, after emptying the magazine, weapons cannot be reloaded.
  • FIXED – After joining in progress, any Yokai drones or hacked Mozzie drones outside will not display the jammed VFX to the player who joined midway.


OPERATORS

CLASH
  • FIXED – Missing SFX for Clash when equipping her CCE Shield.
MIRA
  • FIXED – Sometimes placing Mira’s Mirror on a reinforced wall may not breach both sides of the wall.


LEVEL DESIGN

KAFE
  • FIXED – Players can spawn peek the Docks.


USER EXPERIENCE
  • FIXED – Starting any situation after completing a Custom Online game will start a Thunt Lone Wolf on the same map and mode as the Custom Online game.
  • FIXED – Players are unable to reconnect to a Ranked session via the dynamic Play button and remain in queue unless they relaunch.





Y4S2.3 DESIGNER'S NOTES



The constant work of our balancing team aims at improving the game experience and the overall game balance. Statistics gathered since the beginning of Operation Phantom Sight have played a major role in the upcoming changes detailed below.

Balancing changes are also motivated by community feedback, which is often an indicator helping us to pinpoint specific issues. A careful analysis relying on data gathered with our internal tools help us to picture what needs to be done. We are about to give you an insight about these statistics and to explain why certain changes have been made.

ATTACKERS
DEFENDERS
Note: these statistics are using a pick rate projection taking into account the Operator ban rate.

CURRENT STATUS
TWITCH
With Phantom Sight release, we have increased the recoil of the F2 assault rifle. Therefore, her pick rate has reached a more acceptable level: from 60% to 43% presence per round. However, she continues to boast a high Kill / Death ratio from 1.25 to 1.17 and is still a very lethal attacker.

FROST
Along with Twitch’s F2 recoil adjustment, we reduced Frost Mats health points, this lead to Frost Mats to be destroyed more often as they are now destroyed 75% of the time instead of 68% before Phantom sight release.

KAID
To increase Kaid’s versatility we added the Nitro Cell to his loadout. This option has become more popular with 65% of people using it against 51% using barbed wires during Wind Bastion.

UPCOMING CHANGES
GLAZ
  • Glaz’s focus gauge will now be depleted in 6 secs (from 2.5secs).
  • Glaz’s focus will start depleting after a 120° rotation (from 90°).

Following Glaz’s rework during update Y4S2 and according to the statistics we gathered, Glaz’s rework appeared too drastic and is currently under picked and underpowered.

We are planning on tweaking the penalization while moving and to allow him to hold several angles simultaneously, it is now possible to rotate your camera up to 120° without any penalty.

JACKAL
  • Lowered the number of pings from Jackal’s ability to four (five previously).

Jackal found himself in a situation comparable to Lion. Many comments and feedback from the player base deemed his ability slightly unbalanced.

We are aware that he has been identified as one the most frustrating attackers to play against; we are starting to explore how we can address the situation without making him irrelevant.

This change should give more leeway for tracked opponents to survive and lessen the negativity generated by his ability.

ECHO
  • Reduced the duration of Echo’s Sonic Burst to 7 secs (10 secs previously).

Echo appears is one of the most reliable and efficient anchor in the game now thanks to his intel gathering and plant denial abilities. We aim at reducing the effect of his Sonic Burst and are also looking at other options for the future.

We also hope that Echo will be less targeted by Operator bans, as he is quite powerful and at the source of frustration in his current form.

SHIELDS
  • Increased the hip fire spread when using a ballistic shield.
  • Using melee successfully with a ballistic shield will now put the enemy in a DBNO state.

Ballistic Shields have been an important source of frustration for players and lead to certain behaviour that were not initially intended. By reducing the hip fire accuracy, we want to reduce chances of shielded operators to score headshots too easily without exposing themselves.

The decision to change the shield melee attack, from lethal to non-lethal was decided to avoid players rushing towards an Operator hoping for a trade. We want to reinforce team play and synergy when using these Operators.

MAVERICK
  • Changed Maverick’s blowtorch sound to a louder one.

Since Maverick has been released, the sound generated by his gadget was often said to be too silent.
We have decided to tweak the sound of his blowtorch and recorded and new sample that should be heard more easily by defenders. Let us know what you think!

NØKK
  • Increased the duration of the HEL device to 12 secs (from 10 secs).

We would like to increase Nøkk’s performance and to make her slightly more efficient.
We have decided to increase the duration of her ability to allow players to use her full potential.


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TOP ISSUES AND COMMUNITY CONCERNS



TOP ISSUES AND COMMUNITY CONCERNS

Updated: 15 July 2019

We will be updating the following list regularly to outline the status of certain issues that are currently pressing for our community. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and should only be used as a reference to give a general idea of where our focus currently is.

TOP ISSUES
SOUND BUGS Description: Muffled, missing sounds + various sound issues.
Status: We have identified a bug that allows sound to travel more easily that intended through solid objects/walls. We are also continuing to go through videos that are sent to us to identify standalone sound/audio issues.

CONNECTIVITY Description: Players are losing control on their Operator and then being disconnected and presented with an error message.
Status: We have dedicated a team specifically to these connectivity topics, and have identified a couple of issues that are sometimes interpreted as a “Denial of Service” attacks. These issues are a priority for us.

TOP GAMEPLAY TOPICS
SMOKE GAS CANISTER PROPAGATION Description: Gas from Smoke’s Gas Grenades clips through walls.
Objective: Our goal is to rework the propagation so it is similar to the new Capitao fire bolt, and use this as an opportunity to revisit the visual.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] We have encountered an issue and will be pushing this change to Season 3 to ensure that it is released in a more comfortable state.

WEAPON SIGHT ALIGNMENT Description: Weapon optics are a few pixels off center in some situations.
Objective: We want to implement a system to prevent most misalignment issues in the future. At the same time, we are improving the look of the guns in ADS by adding secondary motion, which is now possible due to the tech that keeps the scopes aligned with the reticule.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] Feedback is currently being gathered in internal play sessions.

SHOTGUN WALL DESTRUCTION IS UNRELIABLE Description: Shotguns are inconsistent when being used to destroy wooden beams.
Objective: We want to ensure that the destruction of wooden beams is reliable, for both player comfort and ensuring we do not force players to spend extra time attempting to destroy wooden beams.
Status: [Target: Y4S2.3] We are assessing the initial results of the change, and continuing to fine tune the destruction..

OPERATOR/GADGET KILL SWITCH Description: Operators that are disruptive due to exploits being removed from play.
Objective: When an Operator or Gadget is disabled, provide players with feedback on what/why.
Status: [Target: During Y4S3] We have a bit of programming work left, and some UI work as well.

DEBRIS STUCK IN WINDOW/DOOR BARRICADES Description: Debris sometimes remains stuck in the barricades on doors and windows, causing players to have different sight lines.
Objective: Provide consistency for all players for barricade destruction.
Status: [Target: Potentially Y5S1] We are currently in the design phase to determine how we want to approach this topic. We are exploring and prototyping different options.

ECHO YOKAI CLOAKING Description: With the deployment of the Y4S2.2 patch, we implemented a fix for Yokai being seen through the glass sections of Attacker’s shields. This had the unintended effect of making Echo's drone invisible.
Objective: Our balancing team’s intent is to make Yokai Drones more easily spotted in a later update.
Status: [Target: TBD] We will address this issue in a future patch. Once we have more information, we will provide an update.

TOP BALANCING TOPIC
S
OPERATOR BANS Description: We have seen a high ban rate for Blitz, Jackal, Echo, and Caveira in Ranked.
Status: We are discussing how we want to approach topic of balancing around Pick/Ban in Ranked, and the Operators that are affected the most by it.

SMOKE Description: Adjustments to the damage curve for Smoke’s Gas Canister will move Smoke further towards an area denial role.
Status: [On Hold] We are satisfied overall with how this is developing, but but need to put it on hold until other dependencies are delivered.