Powers
We determined that the base damage of powers were too low, which caused them to be underpowered in the late stages. We’ve now increased the base damage of powers and improved some of the bonuses granted by additional skill points. We’ve also improved damage from passive skill trees.
Combo detonations on Gold and Silver difficulties also received a buff because they inflicted less damage than intended.
Weapons
Mass Effect multiplayer is more fun when it’s fast-paced, but low weapon damage limited that pace on Gold and Silver difficulties. There was also a noticeable imbalance between weapon classes, particularly for shotguns and assault rifles.
We’ve boosted the base damage for several underperforming assault rifles, pistols, and shotguns to make them more effective. In particular, we wanted shotguns to become better skirmish weapons, so we boosted their damage and accuracy outside of cover, while reducing the extra accuracy bonus when firing from cover.
Finally, we reduced the damage of the Vanquisher sniper rifle to make it comparable with other weapons. Its overwhelming damage far outclassed other weapons and made this particular sniper rifle a must-have. We’ve now evened the playing field so players feel more comfortable bringing something besides the Vanquisher to a Gold-level game.
We’ll continue to consider potential adjustments for some weapons.
Enemy Factions
We’ve also changed how difficult some enemy factions are to fight.
Due to their individual survivability, the kett were the most difficult faction. To combat this, we reduced their health and defenses. We also lessened the chance the Fiend will sync-attack on Silver and Gold difficulties. We’re investigating latency issues that cause the Fiend to appear like it teleports when it jumps.
We wanted to make the Outlaws more challenging, so we improved the ability of Sharpshooters and Hydras to push players into cover. We also made the Berserker easier to fight from cover and the Hydra is now stronger and more dangerous.
We left the Remnant untouched and continue to monitor their performance.
*Changes apply to both single player [SP] and multiplayer [MP] unless otherwise specified
- Player:
- Fixed a bug that made Silver and Gold difficulties use normal stats for Shield Gate and Health Gate
- Fixed a bug that made Silver and Gold difficulties use normal stats for damage reduction due to armor. Enemy armor now reduces 15 damage per hit on Silver and 20 damage per hit on Gold, to a minimum of 10 damage per hit
- Powers:
- All Damage Powers
- [MP] Raw damage upgrades increased by a cumulative 25-35% per power
- All Offensive Passive Lines
- [MP] Power damage upgrades increased by a cumulative 20% per line
- Power Combos
- [MP] Fixed an issue that caused combos in Gold and Silver difficulties to inflict incorrect base damage
- [MP] Increased base combo damage by approximately 60% in Bronze, 140% in Silver, and 200% in Gold.
- [MP] Increased the value of combo damage upgrades in all passives from +30% to +50%
- Combat Powers:
- Barricade
- Increased base duration from 12s to 13s
- Decreased Rank 4 duration bonus from 40% to 35%, although the end duration is still greater than before
- Increased Rank 5 buff from 20% to 30% power damage bonus
- Flak Cannon
- [MP] Increased base primary damage from 180 to 250
- [MP] Increased base power cell count from 2 to 4
- Tech Powers:
- Assault Turret
- Increased the Rank 5 flamethrower’s damage per second from 45 to 150, and burn damage over time from 22 to 35 damage per second
- Increased the Rank 2 health upgrade from +30% to +50%, and the Rank 4 health upgrade from +50% to +75%
- The power’s cooldown now triggers when the turret spawns, instead of when it is destroyed.
- Increased base bullet damage from 20 to 36 for [MP], and from 20 to 23 for [SP]
- [MP] The cooldown is now 30s, but can be reduced to 10s with the Rank 4 cooldown upgrade.
- [MP] Fixed a bug causing the Rank 6 cryo ammo to inflict no damage
- Incinerate
- [MP] Increased the base damage from 120 to 350
- [MP] Decreased the damage over time from 50 to 45 damage per second
- Overload
- [MP] Increased base uncharged damage from 150 to 200, and charged damage from 200 to 300
- Flamethrower
- Increased base damage from 220 to 240 damage per second for [MP], and from 220 to 225 dps for [SP]
- Cryo Beam
- [MP] Increased base damage per second from 135 to 150
- Energy Drain
- [MP] Increased base damage from 160 to 175
- Shield Boost
- Increased base radius from 6m to 8m
- [MP] Increased support score generated by successfully giving another player shields from 10 to 20
- Invasion
- Improved Rank 4 infection radius and Rank 5 spread radius
- Remnant VI
- Increased base health from 500 to 800
- Increased Rank 2 health upgrade from 15% to 65%
- Improved Rank 4 health regeneration rate and delay
- Increased Rank 5 close-combat health upgrade from 120% to 200%
- Increased the Rank 6 missile damage from 90 to 450
- Decreased the Rank 6 missile cooldown from 10s to 5s
- [MP] Increased base beam damage from 70 to 100 damage per second
- [MP] Fixed issue where VI would occasionally get stuck
- [MP] VI will now teleport to player if its path is too complex
- Biotic Powers:
- Pull
- [MP] Increased Rank 5’s crushing grip damage over time from 35 to 60 damage per second
- Throw
- Increased base damage from 225 to 240
- Shockwave
- Increased base damage from 225 to 245 for [MP], and from 225 to 260 for [SP]
- Singularity
- Decreased base cooldown from 24s to 20s
- Increased Rank 5 recharge rate bonus from +25% to +40%
- Backlash
- [MP] Increased base aegis health from 350 to 400
- [MP] Increased base reflection damage bonus from +180% to +200%
- [MP] Increased Rank 4 and Rank 5 bonuses
- Charge
- Increased base damage from 250 to 275
- Nova
- Increased base damage from 400 to 420 for [MP], and from 400 to 450 for [SP]
- Annihilation
- Increased the base cooldown penalty from 60% to 75%
- Decreased the Rank 4 radius bonus from 50% to 35%
- Damage and bonuses from different users will now stack on the same target
- Lance
- Slightly improved aim assist at longer ranges
- Passive Powers:
- Barrier
- [MP] Barrier Drain: shield regeneration value from melee attacks decreased from 20% to 15%
- [MP] Biotic Link: can now only apply its effect once every 5s
- [MP] Saving Barrier: cooldown on the automatic shield regeneration increased from 10s to 15s
- Biotic Ascension
- [MP] Improved the bonuses for Rank 6 evolutions
- Character Stats:
- Asari Adept
- [MP] Decreased base shields from 250 to 200
- Krogan Vanguard
- [MP] Decreased base shields from 180 to 150
Weapons
- Assault Rifles
- Avenger
- Increased damage from 35–47 to 39–50
- Mattock
- Increased damage from 50–63 to 90–113
- Increased magazine size from 16 to 20
- Zalkin
- Increased damage from 60–76 to 79–99
- Valkyrie
- Increased damage from 86–99 to 164–190
- Increased magazine size from 16 to 20
- Increased total spare ammo from 128–160 to 140–175
- Soned
- Increased damage from 51–59 to 70–81
- Improved rate-of-fire charge time from 1s to 0.5s
- Improved accuracy when firing from the hip or firing blindly over barriers
- Maximum accuracy while aiming down sights was slightly decreased; the accuracy penalty for firing was reduced.
- PAW
- Increased damage from 35–40 to 58–67
- Halberd
- Increased damage from 90–113 to 150–180
- Pistols
- Carnifex
- Increased damage from 175–220 to 255–321
- Hornet
- Increased damage from 46–55 to 101–121
- Sidewinder
- Increased damage from 150–180 to 167–200
- Hurricane
- Increased damage from 49–57 to 65–75
- Eagle
- Increased damage from 69–80 to 96–111
- Improved accuracy
- Rozerad
- Increased damage from 48–56 to 73-84
- Increased rate of fire from 420–525 to 490–613
- Improved rate-of-fire charge time from 2s to 1s
- Improved accuracy
- Ushior
- Increased damage from 463–535 to 775–896
- Increased magazine size from 1 to 2
- Increased total ammo from 18–23 to 20–25
- Reduced weight from 0.25–0.13 to 0.2–0.1
- Charger
- Accuracy slightly reduced
- Shotguns
- Katana
- Increased damage per pellet from 46–61 to 64–85
- Piranha
- Increased damage per pellet from 54–62 to 59–68
- Disciple
- Increased damage per pellet from 60–76 to 79–99
- Ruzad
- Increased damage per pellet from 98–123 to 171–215
- Crusader
- Increased damage from 382–442 to 699–808
- Bullet trails added to the slug
- Hesh
- Increased damage per pellet from 55–66 to 66–79
- Scattershot
- Increased damage per pellet from 46–55 to 66–79
- Dhan
- Increased damage from 595–688 to 850–983
- Increased magazine size from 2 to 3
- Increased total spare ammo from 20–25 to 21–26
- Deals extra weak point damage
- Venom
- Increased damage from 290–348 to 352–422
- The initial round will now explode on contact with a target and the fragments will travel faster and longer before they explode
- Sniper Rifles
- Vanquisher
- Reduced damage from 675–810 to 600–720
- Shadow
- Increased damage from 38–46 to 85–102
- Increased damage as the Shadow gets closer to overheating; weapon will overheat faster
- Valiant
- Increased damage from 463–535 to 550–636
- Total spare ammo increased from 35–44 to 45–56
- Naladen
- Increased damage from 496–574 to 650–752
Enemies
- Kett
- Wraith
- Chosen
- Anointed
- Destined
- Fiend
- Decreased the chance that a Fiend initiates a sync attack on Hardcore and Insanity difficulties in single-player and Silver and Gold difficulties in multiplayer
- Ascendant
- Cobra RPG can now damage the Ascendant after its Orb is destroyed; on Normal or Bronze difficulty, the Cobra RPG can kill the Ascendant in one shot
- Increased effectiveness of powers and weapons that lack extra weak point damage against the Orb
- Outlaws
- Angaran Saboteur
- Turian Anarchist
- Increased armor by 33%
- Increased weapon damage by 20%
- Salarian Agent
- Increased armor by 33%
- Now fires more frequently
- Asari Pariah
- Increased armor by 33%
- Increased weapon damage by 20%
- Sharpshooter
- Increased shields by 60%
- Increased frequency of firing at targets in cover
- Decreased aiming time against out-of-cover targets at higher difficulties
- Decreased sniper rifle damage by 18%
- [SP] Fixed a bug that caused Roekaar Sharpshooters to deal 75% more sniper rifle damage than intended
- Krogan Berserker
- Hydra
- Increased armor by 38%
- Weak point health now scales per difficulty in proportion to base health, effectively making it harder to break the weak point on Hardcore and Insanity difficulties in single-player and on Silver and Gold difficulties in multiplayer
- Bonus damage from destroying the weak point now also scales with health
- Increased normal shot damage by 67%
- Normal shot projectile speed doubled
- Bug Fixes
- The Destroyer and Hydra’s remains will properly disappear after being defeated
Matches / Missions
- Match Medals
- Score required to achieve a Support Medal for Bronze, Silver, and Gold difficulties increased from 400/800/1,200 to 800/1,600/2,000
Store
- Item Store
- Added Experience Boosters to the Item Store
- Equipment
- Adaptive War Amp
- Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%
- Engineering Kit
- Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%
- Enhanced Munitions
- Increased damage bonus from 15% to 30%