Mechabellum News

[p]Greetings, commanders![/p][p]Over the past few weeks, we have been testing the 1.7.0 patch on the test server. Since the number of BUGs found during the test is more than we expected, we have decided to reschedule the release date of Update 1.7.0 from the originally planned August 21st to August 28th, so that we have enough time to ensure a stable launch of 1.7.0.[/p][p]Players on the test server have also raised many questions regarding the building layout. So I would like to take today's preview post as an opportunity to answer these questions. Today's preview is like a short essay explaining our design goals, and you can be the professor if you want.^_^[/p][p][/p][h3]What is the building layout?[/h3][p]The building layout consists of a series of buildings on the map. In version 1.7.0, there are 8 different building layouts, and currently, all building layouts are composed of the following 3 types of buildings:[/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Defense Wall: Defensive walls that block enemy fire. They retract into the ground when friendly units approach, allowing them to pass through.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Anti-Armor Cannon: A slow-firing cannon that's effective against heavy units. It takes 10 seconds to reload after every 6 shots.[/p][p][/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Rapid-Fire Cannon: A fast-firing cannon that's effective against light units. It takes 2.5 seconds to reload after every 6 shots.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]What is unique about buildings compared to units and devices?[/h3]

• [p]Currently, the building layout only appears in 1v1 and 2v2 battles.[/p]
• [p]At the start of each game, the system selects 1 from 8 building layouts.[/p]
• [p]Buildings appear on the battlefield in round 1.[/p]
• [p]The building layouts of the two opponents are always mirroring or flipping each other.[/p]
• [p]All destroyed buildings will be rebuilt at the start of a new round.[/p]
• [p]Buildings cannot be upgraded or moved.[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Why is the building layout designed this way, and what are the design goals of the building layout?[/h3][p][/p][p]At the design phase of the building layouts, we had three different levels of goals:[/p][p]Main Goal[/p]

• [p]Add more information to the round 1 board, reduce the randomness of round 1, and make round 1 gameplay more strategic.[/p]

[p](Note: In the past, the positions of all units of a player were completely hidden from the opponent in round 1, which led to insufficient information available for strategic decisions to be made. As a result, the deployment phase of round 1 is more or less like a game of rock-paper-scissors, with too much randomness and too little strategy. The main objective of introducing building layouts is to add more information to the battlefield in the first round, enabling players to determine their unit selection and position based on the building layout, thereby reducing the rock-paper-scissors nature of the first round.)[/p][p]Secondary Goal[/p]

• [p]Encourage less formulaic and more emergent strategies by having a different building layout for every game.[/p]

[p]Optional Goals[/p]

• [p]Reduce the snowball effect in the early rounds of a game.[/p]
• [p]After adding more info to the round 1 board, we may now take the opportunity to remove some special rules introduced to counter the random nature of round 1.[/p]

[p](Note: In the past, to battle the random nature of round 1, we reduced the deployable area of round 1 by 20m. After introducing the building layout, we can now remove this special rule.)[/p]

• [p]Utilize the building layout as a new balance tool for starting units.[/p]
• [p]Reduce the impact of buildings on later rounds to ensure that the final outcome of a match is still determined by units.[/p]

[p]As you can see, the building layouts are mainly designed to address issues from earlier rounds, and we try not to change the game too much while doing so.[/p][p][/p][h3]Why not design more powerful buildings, and why can't buildings be upgraded?[/h3][p]Mechabellum's battle is automated, where powerful defensive structures will encourage both players to build a large number of static defenses in their own half of the battlefield, thus easily leading to the awkward situation where both players wait for the other to attack.[/p][p][/p][h3]Will there be more building types in the future?[/h3][p]In the future, we will gradually add more building types through updates. These future new buildings will not be overly powerful, but each will have its own unique and interesting aspect.[/p][p][/p][h3]How does the addition of building layouts affect the balance of offensive and defensive strategies?[/h3][p]With the introduction of building layouts, some of the more formulaic strategies will be forced to adapt. According to the test server matches, if properly utilized, these buildings can provide some interesting new opportunities for both offensive and defensive tactics. Both offensive and defensive strategies are pretty viable on the test server.[/p][p][/p][h3]What will be continuously tested and adjusted in the next 7 days?[/h3][p]We have been making experimental changes on the test server over the past few weeks. The following are things that we are still experimenting with:[/p]

• [p]We are currently testing different selling prices for buildings. The goal is to ensure that players can sell buildings they don't like while not significantly accelerating the game's economic pace. We will decide on this within the next few days.[/p]
• [p]We are currently testing the impact of removing Sticky Oil Bombs from the Research Center. And we will make a decision on whether to remove it within the next few days.[/p]
• [p]We are testing the impact of the building layouts on units such as Fang, Crawler, Steel Ball, Stormcaller, Mustang, Sledgehammer, Fortress, and Sandworm, and we will finish adjustments to these units within the next few days.[/p]

[p]The above is all the information I can share about the Building Layout System for now. The actual 1.7.0 patch includes content beyond the building layouts, which we will share in detail in the patch notes to be released next week.

See you on the battlefield, commenders![/p]

[p][/p][p]Hello, Commanders!

This week, the battlefield is going to get messy. We have an action-packed next few weeks ahead of us, starting with the second event of the community-hosted Mechabellum Mini Masters, and wrapping things up with the BeastyQT Mechabellum Invitational. [/p][p][/p][p]More on that below. Here’s the full calendar with everything on it, just to give you an overview before we dive in.[/p][p][/p][p]📅 Friday, August 8, 6pm PST | Mechabellum Mini Masters[/p][p]📅 Saturday, August 9, 7am PST | MAG1 Finals[/p][p]📅 Sunday, August 10 - Tuesday, August 12 | Invitational Coaching & Creator Streams[/p][p]📅 Tuesday, August 12, MechaBuzz Podcast[/p][p]📅 Wednesday, August 13, 7am PST | Invitational Day 1

[/p][p]📅 Thursday, August 14, 7am PST | Showmatches Day 1[/p][p]📅 Friday, August 15, 7am PST | Invitational Day 2 & Team Draft[/p][p]📅 Friday, August 15, 6pm PST | Mechabellum Mini Masters[/p][p]📅 Saturday, August 16, 7am PST | Showmatches Day 2 & Lower Team Champs[/p][p]📅 Sunday, August 17, 7am PST | Captain’s Cup & Upper Team Champs[/p][p]📅 Tuesday, August 19, 7am PST | MechaBuzz Podcast[/p][p][/p][p]For more details about each of these events, keep reading, or tune into the Discord for daily event updates![/p][p][/p][h3]Mechabellum Mini Masters[/h3][p][/p][p]📅 Friday, August 8, 6pm PST[/p][p]📅 Friday, August 15, 6pm PST[/p][p]
Mechabellum Mini-Masters is a community-hosted tournament featuring skilled players in the 1.8K-2.2K MMR range, showcasing the community's rising stars and highlighting their exciting and unique play styles. This tournament will take place over three weeks, where only one champion will rise from the ashes of an eight-player Double-Elimination B03 bracket.[/p][p][/p][p]💰$250 Prize Pool[/p][p]📋See the Bracket.[/p][p]📜Join the MMM Discord.
📺 Twitch Links & Returning Casters can all be found in the Discord Event details! [/p][h3] MAG1 Season 4 Finals, featuring Flower fairy and Shark Hunter![/h3][p][/p][p]📅 Saturday, August 9, 7am PST
[/p][p]In the finals, we’ll see Flower Fairy and Shark Hunter, who's seen the mecha ocean before but never quite made it this far until today, competing for their share of the $2k cash prize pool. [/p][p]Will Shark Hunter’s bloodthirst be enough to take down Flower Fairy, or will Flower Fairy prove once again, that he can tread the battlefield with ease?
[/p][p]Mechabellum Advanced Group 1 is a community-owned and driven Mechabellum esports league, producing high quality broadcasts with pro casters, pro players, and some of the biggest names in each division. They run cash-prize tournaments, provide pro-level strategy guides and coaching sessions, and unite top players across the globe to elevate Mechabellum as a serious and competitive esport.[/p][p][/p][p]They have also been huge contributors and producers of our YouTube channel, where you’ll find the PlayPerfect, Clinic, and MechaIn30 series, and our Official Game Trailer and Unit Preview videos![/p][p][/p][p]📺 Tune-in to MAG1.LIVE at 7am PST on Saturday, August 6th, to watch the showdown![/p][p][/p][h3]MechaBuzz Podcast w/ Gretorp and Vibe[/h3][p][/p][p]📅 Tuesday, August 12 [/p][p]📅 Tuesday, August 19 [/p][p]
MechaBuzz brings Gretorp and Vibe, long-time friends and iconic Mechabellum duo, front and center, discussing the current meta and Patch Notes updates, answering your questions live, and solving in-game puzzles and challenges!
[/p][p]Catch up on the first and second episodes, where they do all of that, and more – including a tier list you can’t miss![dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]📺 Watch it live on Vibe’s Twitch![/p][p][/p][h2]Last, but not least: The BeastyQT Mechabellum Invitational[/h2][p][/p][p]The BeastyQT Mechabellum Invitational is a full week of chaos, with tactical mind games, top-tier creators, a $10k cash prize pool, and special creator-focused events – hosted by none other than Serbian Age of Empires IV pro and former StarCraft II pro player BeastyQT, who has a knack for picking up new games and dominating. [/p][p][/p][p]The full event schedule and details are below! [/p][p][/p][p]📅 Sunday, August 10 - Tuesday, August 12 | Invitational Coaching & Creator Streams[/p][p][/p][p]Top players from the Age of Empires and StarCraft communities will be playing, streaming, and getting coached in Mechabellum! Join discord.gg/mechabellum for notifications as they go live![/p][p][/p][p]📅 Wednesday, August 13, 7am PST | Invitational Day 1
[/p][p]The first creator broadcast of the BeastyQT Mechabellum Invitational kicks off on Wednesday, August 13 at 7am PST. Invited players will be playing throughout the broadcast on a private ladder with an overall prize pool of $10k cash prizing. [/p][p][/p][p]📅 Thursday, August 14, 7am PST | Showmatches Day 1[/p][p][/p][p]MAG1 will also be hosting the first day of BeastyQT Invitational Showmatches, where invitees have the chance to win cash prizes![/p][p][/p][p]📅 Friday, August 15, 7am PST | Invitational Day 2 & Team Draft[/p][p][/p][p]One of the most exciting days of the invitational ladder event is going to be Friday! This is the day that team captains will be selected, and those captains will be choosing the teammates that will progress into Saturday and Sunday’s Team Championship Events.[/p][p][/p][p]📅 Saturday, August 16, 7am PST | Showmatches Day 2 & Lower Team Champs[/p][p][/p][p]Saturday we will see our first of two team events, with the Lower Team Championship featuring players from the bottom half of the ladder competition! Our last showmatches of the event will also wrap up today, as we prepare for the big day on Sunday![/p][p][/p][p]📅 Sunday, August 17, 7am PST | Captain’s Cup & Upper Team Champs
[/p][p]On Sunday, the final day of the BeastyQT Mechabellum Invitational, we’ll start with the Captain’s Cup, a 1v1 competition featuring all of our selected Team Captains. We’ll wrap the entire event up with the final showdown: the Upper Team Championship.[/p][p][/p][p]📺 Tune in every day to watch on Twitch or Bilibili.[/p]

[p]This is a non-mandatory update. The update will be applied next time you launch the game.[/p]

• [p]Fixed a display issue in battle records[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where the MMR leaderboard is not correctly displayed[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple Discord-related display issues[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where changing game settings would cause the game to freeze[/p]

[p]This update will be carried out at 03:00 AM on August 1, 2025, UTC time. At that time, the server will undergo update maintenance for approximately 30 minutes.[/p][h3]Unit HP Bar Visual Change[/h3][p]Optimized the visual of Units' HP bar, it now highlights the most recent damage the unit has taken.[/p][h3]Discord Friend[/h3][p]Now you can connect your Discord account to find your Discord friends in the game.[/p][h3]Balance Adjustments[/h3][p]Damage to Player HP[/p]

• [p]Scorpion's damage to Player HP 300 → 250[/p]
• [p]Typhoon's damage to Player HP 150 → 125[/p]
• [p]Farseer's damage to Player HP 300 → 250[/p]
• [p]Wraith's damage to Player HP 300 → 250[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Units with a price of 300 were dealing too much damage to players' HP, only 50 points less than giant units like Fortress. This change will give players a better chance against strategies involving these units.[/p][p]Farseer[/p]

• [p][Burst Mode] Attack Interval Modifier +150% → +200%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: After the last overall buff, the usage rate of the Farseer has risen to a level close to that of other units, as we expected. However, as many players have reported, the buffed [Burst Mode] lacks an obvious countermeasure. Therefore, we have decided to, while retaining its cost reduction, revert the Attack Interval Modifier change of the [Burst Mode] to +200%, to make it less efficient against smaller units.[/p][p]War Factory[/p]

• [p]ATK 8355 → 7520(-10%)[/p]
• [p][High Explosive Ammo] ATK -30% → -40%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: After the upkeep reduction, the usage rate of the War Factory has significantly increased and is now approaching the level of the Fortress, which is too high for a Titan unit.[/p][p]Specialist[/p]

• [p][Typhoon Specialist] Player HP Modifier 0 → -100[/p]

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• [p]Fixed the issue where Abyss's [Wreckage Recycling] would increase the damage of [Swarm Missiles].[/p]