Mechabellum News

[p] [/p][p]Hello, commanders![/p][p]It may be hard to believe, but Friday (September 26) marks the one-year anniversary of the release of Mechabellum 1.0! We have gathered some interesting statistics for you. Over the past year:[/p]

• [p]All players have played a total of 34,399,855 hours worth of games, which, if converted to years, is nearly 4,000 years.[/p]
• [p]We have released a total of 56 patches, carried out 10 major updates, including 4 season updates.[/p]
• [p]We have added 7 brand-new units, 3 new specialists, 5 new variants, and completely reworked 3 old units.[/p]
• [p]During this year, we made changes to every single unit, among which the most frequently changed were Arclight, Overlord, and Tarantula (all more than 10 times), and the least changed were Melting Point and Hacker (both only once).[/p]

[p]After these fun little stats, let's talk about Season 5! Mechabellum Season 5 has finally arrived! Season 5 will start on September 25 and end on December 18. To avoid introducing significant gameplay mechanic changes in the middle of the season, starting from Season 5, we will change our previous strategy of two major updates per season to one major update and multiple minor updates. In Season 5, we will slow down the release of completely new systems and focus more on improving existing content and adding quality-of-life features.[/p][p]Update 1.8 will take place at 8:00 AM UTC (4:00 AM Eastern Time, 10:00 AM Central European Time) on Thursday, September 25. During which the server will undergo approximately 4 hours of maintenance. The following are the main update contents of Update 1.8:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Many players wished for a game mode where they won't lose MMR, so they can test various strategies without stressing over MMR. Therefore, we have decided to introduce a new matchmaking mode in Update 1.8:[/p]

• [p]Before searching for a new match, players can now choose one of the two matchmaking modes: Casual or Ranked.[/p]
• [p]Players who choose casual matchmaking will neither lose nor gain MMR, but can still earn Combat Power and season rewards.[/p]

[p]There are three things to note:[/p]

• [p]Similar to games like StarCraft II, players in both the casual and ranked modes share the same matchmaking queue, and past research has shown that this does not significantly lead to MMR inflation.[/p]
• [p]For players ranked among the top 200 on the global Combat Power leaderboard, although you will not lose MMR in casual mode, you may still lose Combat Power.[/p]
• [p]In 2v2 battles, solo players without a premade team will not be able to use the Casual Mode during matchmaking at this time. We will change this in a subsequent update during Season 5.[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Casual Mode is the first step in our effort to improve the player matchmaking experience. In the coming months, we will continue to roll out more matchmaking-related experience improvements, which we will introduce in more detail in the subsequent update plan at the end of this announcement.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Brand-new model[/p]
• [p]Has become a core unit and can now be freely unlocked and recruited in all game modes[/p]
• [p]EXP required for upgrade 1000 → 1300[/p]
• [p]HP 5181 → 4589 ( -11 %)[/p]
• [p]Range 60 → 70[/p]
• [p]Movement speed 10 → 9[/p]
• [p]\[Napalm] Ground Fire duration 15s → 12s[/p]
• [p]\[Scorching Fire] Price: 200 → 300[/p]
• [p]\[Range Enhancement] Price 200 → 300[/p]
• [p]New Tech \[Counter-Fire]: Taking damage increases the Fire Badger's Range by 40 and ATK by 80% for 4s.[/p]

[p] [/p]

• [p]New Tech \[Scorching Charge]: Increases the Fire Badger's base HP by 50%. When its HP drops below 50%, it charges an enemy and detonates, dealing damage equal to its remaining HP to all enemies in a 40m radius and igniting the ground at the impact site.[/p]

[p] [/p][p]And here is a video about the new Fire Badger produced by MAG1, edited by Stoney, and voiced by RoosterPB.[/p][p]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYYH-rvkMxA[/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][p][/p][p]Searching for Battles, Unit Modification, Match Victory, Match Defeat, and Tournaments now all have corresponding music.[/p][p][/p][p]In Season 5, we have prepared many new exciting rewards for you, including many avatars, avatar frames, emoticons, and unit skins.[/p][p] [/p][h3]New Unit Skins[/h3][p] [/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][p] [/p][h3]New Avatars[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Avatar Frames[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Emotes and Emoticons[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][h3]New Medals[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]Sledgehammer[/p]

• [p]\[Mechanical Rage] Movement speed modifier +4 → +6, Attack interval modifier -1.5s→ -1s[/p]
• [p]\[Armor-Piercing Shell] Attack Interval modifier +30% → +40%, ATK modifier +200% → +225%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: In the previous version, the combination of \[Mechanical Rage], \[Range Enhancement], and \[Armor-Piercing Shell] was too well-rounded, allowing a large number of Sledgehammers to be effective against 80% of ground units, which led to an undesirable amount of Sledgehammer spam at certain MMR ranges. Now that Fire Badger has become a core unit, there are more options for countering light units in the early game. This finally gave us the opportunity to adjust the role of multiple Sledgehammer Techs. Now, \[Mechanical Rage] will be more focused on high movement aggressive play, while \[Armor-Piercing Shell] will be more focused on long-range sniping. We hope that through this adjustment, we can further strengthen the specialty of Sledgehammer in different upgrade directions, which will make players' Tech choices for Sledgehammer more strategic and also provide more opportunities to players to use other units in combination with Sledgehammer.[/p][p][/p][p]Phantom Ray[/p]

• [p]\[Sticky Oil Bomb] Ground fire duration after ignition 12s → 7s[/p]

[p][/p][p]All Ground Fire[/p]

• [p]Damage 350 per second → 290 per second[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Since Fire Badger has become a core unit, there is now a pretty good amount of chaff-clearing options in the game, which finally gave us the opportunity to reduce the damage to ground fire.[/p][p][/p][p]Specialist[/p]

• [p]The effect of \[Fire Badger Expert] has been adjusted to: Decreases Fire Badger's Tech Upgrade cost by 50. Get 1 Rank 1 Fire Badger in Round 3.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p]

• [p]Optimized the performance of some UI components[/p]

[p][/p]

• [p]Fixed some UI issues[/p]
• [p]Fix the data error issue caused by Shield Airdrop[/p]
• [p]Fixed the issue of incorrect range display for units with \[Elite Marksman].[/p]
• [p]Fixed some localization issues[/p]
• [p]Fixed some VFX issues[/p]

[p][/p][p]In addition to Update 1.8.0, Season 5 will also have multiple minor updates:[/p][p][/p][h3]1.8.1 Update (Expected to be released by the end of October)[/h3][p][/p][p]Unit Variants[/p]

• [p]New Hound Variant[/p]
• [p]New Raiden Variant[/p]

[p][/p][p]Combat Power Rule Changes[/p]

• [p]Even if a player loses a match, they can still gain a small amount of Combat Power.[/p]
• [p]Players will be able to gain Combat Power in PvE battles and custom lobbies.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Matchmaking Changes[/p]

• [p]Solo players will also be able to engage in 2v2 battles in Casual Mode.[/p]
• [p]In 2v2 Ranked Mode, solo players without a premade team will lose significantly less MMR if their teammates prematurely surrender.[/p]

[p][/p][p]UI Improvement[/p]

• [p]Building Damage Statistics[/p]

[p][/p][h3]1.8.2 Update (Expected to be updated by the end of November)[/h3][p][/p][p]Fire Badger[/p]

• [p]Fire Badger will be available in starter packs[/p]

[p][/p][p]Unit Variants[/p]

• [p]New Void Eye variant[/p]
• [p]New Farseer variant[/p]

[p][/p][p]UI Improvement[/p]

• [p]Players will be able to view past Reinforcement Card offers[/p]

[p][/p][p]That's all for the main updates of Season 5. And we haven't forgotten about the building layout. Currently, we're actively researching ways to further optimize the building layout, and we'll communicate more with you after making more progress. Thank you for all your feedback so far! That's all for today, commanders. See you on the battlefield![/p]

[p]Update 1.8 and Season 5 are coming soon. And before the new season, we still need to make some minor balance adjustments.[/p][p][/p][h2]Balance Adjustments[/h2][p][/p][h3]Sledgehammer[/h3]

• [p]EXP required for rank-up: 1000 → 1300[/p]
• [p]\[Electromagnetic Shot] Price 300 → 400[/p]
• [p]If any player in a match already has a Sledgehammer, the \[Extended Range Sledgehammer] variant will not appear in reinforcements cards.[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: After enhancing the anti-chaff capabilities of units such as Arclight and Mustang, we anticipated that Sledgehammer, as one of the few medium frontline units capable of simultaneously countering anti-chaff units like Arclight and Mustang as well as high-damage units like Melting Point, would become more popular in the new meta. Therefore, we buffed Raiden in the previous patch as a counter to Sledgehammer. However, buffing Raiden appears not to be enough, as statistical data show there are still too many Sledgehammers in the current meta, especially in the 1600 - 1900 MMR range. This 1.7.4 Update aims to slightly nerf Sledgehammer's late-game capabilities while maintaining its identity as a medium frontline unit, which will make strategies centered around Sledgehammer rely more on other units for coordination.[/p][p][/p][h3]Initial Unit[/h3]

• [p]\[Hound & Steel Ball Pack] Player HP modifier +100 → +200[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Future Tests[/h2][p]Currently, the content of Update 1.8 and Season 5 is undergoing a small-scale test on the Closed Beta Server, and Update 1.8 will be our last major update that primarily relies on closed testing. We are in the process of setting up a full-fledged Public Test Server, and starting from Update 1.9, all major updates will undergo public testing on the Public Test Server before their official release.[/p]

[p]Fixed multiple new issues caused by the new math library.[/p]

[p]After collecting feedback, we found that, compared with getting new units and new systems at a faster pace, most players value better balance quality and QoL features more. Therefore, in the next few months, we will avoid making disruptive changes and focus on making small adjustments to balance, adding new Tech to existing units, and adding small QoL improvement features.[/p][p][/p][h2]Balance Adjustments[/h2][h3]Crawler[/h3]

• [p]\[Loose Formation] Unit spacing 3.7m → 3.4m[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Currently, the number of Crawlers used in later rounds is still too high, so we have further nerfed \[Loose Formation], which will enable units such as Arclight and Hound to be more effective against Crawlers in the late game.[/p][p][/p][h3]Tarantula[/h3]

• [p]Attack 534 → 496 (-7%)[/p]
• [p]\[High-Explosive Ammo] ATK Modifier -40% → -45%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: This adjustment will reduce the threat of the Tarantula to medium units while maintaining its suppression against light units.[/p][p][/p][h3]Arclight[/h3]

• [p]HP 4498 → 4813 (+7%)[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: After last week's buff, the usage rate of Arclight has increased, but it still hasn't reached the average level of 100 supply units. After this HP buff, Arclight's survivability will be further increased.[/p][p][/p][h3]Phantom Ray[/h3]

• [p]HP 3159 → 3412 (+8%)[/p]
• [p]\[Stealth Cloak] Time to enter cloaked state 1s → 2.5s, ATK modifier +40% → +20%, HP modifier 0 → +20%[/p]
• [p]\[Armor Enhancement] Price 300 → 250[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: In the past, the cloak mechanic made players in the mid and low MMR range feels helpless when facing a large number of Cloaked Rays. As a result, we had to keep the Phantom Ray's HP at a low level, which in turn led to a very low usage rate of the Phantom Ray. After this adjustment, the Phantom Ray's \[Stealth Cloak] will be easier to counter, but its ability to withstand damage will also be better.[/p][p][/p][h3]Mustang[/h3]

• [p]\[High Explosive Ammo] Price 150 → 50, ATK modifier -30% → -35%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: This adjustment will make it easier for players to transform the Mustang into a specialized anti-light unit.[/p][p][/p][h3]Raiden[/h3]

• [p]HP 17476 → 18349 (+5%)[/p]
• [p]\[Fork] Range modifier -15 → -10[/p]
• [p]\[Chain] Price 300 → 250[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: The usage rate of Raiden among giant units remains low. This adjustment aims to make Raiden more effective against medium-sized units such as Sledgehammer and Phantom Ray.[/p][p][/p][h3]Sledgehammer[/h3]

• [p]\[Armor Enhancement] 300 → 250[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Sabertooth[/h3]

• [p]EXP required to rank-up 1000 → 1300[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: The adjusted rank-up speed of Sabertooth will be similar to that of Void Eye and Marksman.[/p][p][/p][h3]Starting Units Pack[/h3]

• [p]\[Tarantula & Void Eye Pack] Player HP modifier +100 → 0[/p]
• [p]\[Arclight & Steel Ball Pack] Player HP modifier +100 → +200[/p]
• [p]\[Fang & Sabertooth Pack] Player HP modifier +400 → +200[/p]
• [p]\[Crawler & Steel Ball Pack] Player HP modifier 0 → +100[/p]
• [p]\[Hound & Steel Ball Pack] Player HP modifier 0 → +100[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Math Library Improvement[/h2][p]Improvements have been made to the math library used by the combat engine, reducing performance issues caused by different CPU architectures.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed the issue where the turret would continue to attack units that were converted by friendly hackers while the turret was reloading.[/p]
• [p]Fixed the issue where Void Eye's \[Electromagnetic Armor] would activate before the flanking teleportation was completed[/p]

[p]The second balance patch for version 1.7 is here! As we mentioned in previous balance patches, in the coming weeks, we will continue to make frequent and fast balance adjustments based on the collected data and feedback. In addition to this balance adjustment, we have also stated some of our thoughts on future updates at the end of this post. We welcome you to leave your opinions and suggestions in the comments section of this post, Reddit, Discord, or the Steam Discussion Forum![/p][p][/p][h2]Balance Adjustments[/h2][p][/p][h3]Building Layout[/h3][p]Buildings now grant EXP when destroyed.[/p]

• [p]Defense Wall: 6 EXP per segment[/p]
• [p]Rapid-fire Cannon: 60 EXP[/p]
• [p]Anti-Armor Cannon: 60 EXP[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: In the previous version, buildings did not grant any EXP when destroyed, which made attacking buildings not very rewarding. After today's change, units that destroy buildings will receive a small amount of EXP. We hope this will make \[destroying enemy buildings] and \[avoiding enemy buildings] both have their respective advantages. In the future, we will continue to adjust building mechanics based on collected data and feedback.[/p][p][/p][h3]Crawler[/h3]

• [p]HP 277 → 263 (-5%)[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Among units that cost 100 supplies, Crawlers have the highest pick rate. The adjusted Crawlers will be more easily killed by units such as Fangs. Changes to basic units like Crawlers will have a relatively large impact on the meta, and we are likely to further adjust Crawlers based on feedback and data.[/p][p][/p][h3]Hound[/h3]

• [p]\[Incendiary Bomb] Price 300 → 250[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: The usage rate of the Hound's \[Incendiary Bomb] in the previous version was extremely low. We hope that the \[Incendiary Bomb], with a slight price reduction this time, will become a more viable option against light chaffs.[/p][p][/p][h3]Tarantula[/h3]

• [p]HP 13683 → 13273 (-3%)[/p]
• [p]\[Armor Enhancement] HP modifier +40% → +50%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: As one of the two most effective chaff-clearing units in the previous patch(the other being Vulcan), Tarantula has a high usage rate. We hope to slightly nerf Tarantula's early-game survivability while slightly strengthening its late-game tankiness without changing its effectiveness against chaff. At the same time, we have also buffed Tarantula's competitors, such as Arclight. In the future, we will continue to monitor Tarantula's situation and are likely to further adjust it based on statistical data.[/p][p][/p][h3]Vulcan[/h3]

• [p]ATK 90 → 88 (-2%)[/p]
• [p]HP 35332 → 33566 (-5%)[/p]
• [p]\[Ignite] 200 → 250[/p]
• [p]\[Scorching Fire] 100% → 85%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Vulcan, as one of the two most chaff-clearing units in the previous patch (the other being Tarantula), had a high usage rate. And Vulcan was also too strong against medium units. The goal of this adjustment is to lower its effectiveness against medium and heavy units while maintaining its suppression of light units. And we have also buffed Vulcan's competitors, such as Arclight.[/p][p][/p][h3]Arclight[/h3]

• [p]Range 93 → 95[/p]
• [p]HP 4204 → 4498（+7%）[/p]
• [p]\[Electromagnetic Shot] 300 → 400[/p]
• [p]\[Elite Marksman] ATK modifier per rank +22% → +17%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: The usage rate of Arclight among units that cost 100 supplies is relatively low. In the past, to prevent Arclight from being too effective against medium and heavy units, we have made multiple nerfs to it. This time, we have significantly buffed Arclight, hoping that it will be more effective against light units, while slightly nerfing its ability to fight against medium and heavy units. In the future, we may further adjust Arclight based on collected data and feedback.[/p][p][/p][h3]Stormcaller[/h3]

• [p]Unlock cost 0 → 50[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: After this change, Stormcaller, like other non-initial units such as Rhino, Phoenix, and Wasp, now also costs 50 supplies to unlock. We will closely monitor the strength of the Stormcaller after this change and may slightly buff it in the future.[/p][p][/p][h3]Steel Ball[/h3]

• [p]\[Armor Enhancement] Price 350 → 300[/p]
• [p]\[Mechanical Division] Price 350 → 300[/p]
• [p]\[Energy Absorption] Price 250 → 200[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Steel Balls have a relatively low usage rate among units that cost 200 supplies. We hope to encourage more use of Steel Ball by reducing its technology price.[/p][p][/p][h3]Void Eye[/h3]

• [p]HP 1371 → 1509 (+10%)[/p]
• [p]\[Energy Shield] price 300 → 250[/p]
• [p]\[Aerial Mode] price 250 → 200[/p]
• [p]\[Charged Shot] price 200 → 150[/p]
• [p]\[Suppressive Shots] price 150 → 100[/p]
• [p]\[Energy Absorption] price 0 → 50[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: Very surprisingly, the usage rate of the Void Eye in the mid-to-late rounds ranks last among all 31 units, only relying on the 0-cost \[Energy Absorption] to maintain a decent usage rate in the early rounds. Therefore, we have decided to give multiple buffs to the Void Eye and slightly increase the cost of \[Energy Absorption].[/p][p][/p][h3]Wasp[/h3]

• [p]\[Elite Marksman] price 300 → 400[/p]

[p]Developer's note: Wasp's \[Elite Marksman] is too cheap compared to most other units' \[Elite Marksmen] tech, so it needs a nerf.[/p][p][/p][h3]Fortress[/h3]

• [p]ATK 6213 → 6524 (+5%)[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Sandworm[/h3]

• [p]ATK 8906 → 9352 (+5%)[/p]

[p][/p][h3]Raiden[/h3]

• [p]ATK 5304 → 5570 (+5%)[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: The usage rates of giant units such as Fortress, Sandworm, and Raiden remain relatively low, and we hope to make minor enhancements to them.[/p][p][/p][h3]Mountain[/h3]

• [p]【Saturation Bombardment】 Price 400 → 500, Attack Interval 100% → 120%[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: \[Saturation Bombardment] was too powerful after buffs in the previous patches, so it needs a nerf.[/p][p][/p][h3]Abyss[/h3]

• [p]\[Swarm Missile] Price 450 → 500[/p]

[p]Developer's Note: We are planning significant adjustments to the Abyss's attack pattern. Before the planned adjustments arrive, we hope to slightly nerf the Abyss's most powerful technology to make it more balanced.[/p][p][/p][h3]Unit Reinforcement Card[/h3]

• [p]Reduced the rank of Rhino, Steel Ball, Mustang, Fire Badger, Fang, and Crawler in unit reinforcement cards.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Combat Speed[/h2][p]Now the speed-up button will show 20 seconds earlier during combat.[/p][p][/p][h2]Bugfixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed an issue related to Mountain.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple building-related issues.[/p]
• [p]Fixed multiple tournament-related issues.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Some Thoughts on the Future[/h2][p]Looking back, the biggest issue with the patch 1.7 update was insufficient testing. Although we conducted a 3-week Closed Beta Test for the patch 1.7, the number of participants in the Closed Beta Test was too small compared to the hundreds of thousands of players who are active in Mechabellum every month. The small number of test players meant that we were unable to collect statistically significant data, which made it difficult for us to make data-driven adjustments during the testing period. Right now, we are actively revamping our testing process and server architecture. Our goal is to open the test server to all players, which will take quite a bit of time, but we will do it as soon as possible.[/p][p]Regarding unit balance, many players have expressed their desire to utilize fewer chaff units, such as Crawlers and Fangs. We understand this desire, as everyone loves giant robots! However, light units are a very important part of the game's counter loop, so what we can do is add more options for players to counter light units. Several months ago, we began to rework the models, stats, and techs of Fire Badger and Typhoon. And they will become core units that can be freely recruited after the rework, which will significantly increase players' options for countering light units.[/p][p] About the update pace, in the past 12 months, we have probably been adding new content to the game too fast, which has led to us not having enough time to test new content or optimize old content. In the coming months, we will slow down the addition of new systems and focus more on balance adjustments, QOL improvements, and existing content remakes.[/p][p]In terms of collecting feedback, there was many useful feedback in the comment section of the last balance patch, and we have also collected a lot of feedback from Reddit, Discord, and Steam forums, which we are currently studying. Previous feedback has helped our development a lot, and we hope that you will continue to leave more of your opinions and suggestions in the comment section of this article this time.[/p]