We’re excited to be releasing Ulgrim! If you’ve been following the hype on our Dev Streams we know everyone is excited to see him enter the fight. This patch includes a number of Server improvements, UI improvements, balance changes, and a slew of other things. As always, your feedback is appreciated!

New Legend!

Ulgrim – The Unyielding Anvil, Son of Ivaldi has entered Brawlhalla!

Weapons: Axe & Lance
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 3
Armor: 7
Move Speed: 6

Last Week for Valhallentine’s Skins and Colors

Valhallentine’s celebrations are winding down and while bonus gold is gone, we’re going to have one more week where Valhallentine’s Skins and Colors will be available! If you’ve been waiting, this is your last chance!  

New Weekly Legend Rotation

This week’s Legend Rotation consists of Brynn, Ember, Queen Nai, Sentinel, Scarlet & Thatch.

Brynn

Weapons: Axe & Spear
Stats: 5/5/5/7
Details: http://wiki.brawlhalla.com/w/Brynn

Ember

Weapons: Bow & Katars
Stats: 6/6/3/7
Details: http://wiki.brawlhalla.com/w/Ember

Queen Nai

Weapons: Katars & Spear
Stats: 7/4/8/3
Details: http://wiki.brawlhalla.com/w/Queen_Nai

Sentinel

Weapons: Hammer & Katars
Stats: 5/4/7/6
Details: http://wiki.brawlhalla.com/w/Sentinel

Thatch

Weapons: Blasters & Sword
Stats: 7/5/3/7
Details: http://wiki.brawlhalla.com/w/Thatch

Servers

We’ve been continuing our tests with new servers. Australian servers are looking solid, and the new Brazilian servers we’ve switched to are performing better than the old ones. Come to our Dev Stream on Thursday, March 3rd, at 3PM to talk with us about bringing these servers to Ranked and other topics related to the upcoming Ranked Refresh.

• US-West server option added to custom online games.
• Server performance improvements.    

Community Request

• Filters have been added to the public games list.
  • Show and hide games from different regions.
  • Show and hide different game modes.
• Added Dodge Out setting for bots in training mode, will attempt to dodge out of a combo on the first available frame.
• Damage summaries are displayed above the player instead of the target in training mode.
• When Show Stun is on, the frame difference from being a true combo will be shown when landing a string.   

Maps

• Small Kings Pass has been added to the New 1v1 list     
• The moving platform on Small Blackguard Keep now only goes down to about halfway down the main platform instead of going down below it like on normal Blackguard Keep.     
• The widths of the two main platforms in Big Great Hall have been greatly decreased and now match the size of the main platform in Small Great Hall.  
• Added a new Map Set for Timed and Stock modes called 3v3. It includes Grumpy Temple, Big Thundergard Stadium, Blackguard Keep, and (the new and improved) Big Great Hall. AUTO will *not* select this map set under any circumstances, and it must be chosen manually.
• Added two more spawn points to Blackguard Keep to make it more appropriate for 3v3    

UI  Improvements

• Menu bar paging buttons now position themselves better based on the total number of pages for the given tab

• Menu bar navigation has been changed: Left and Right inputs now change the tab while the shoulder buttons change pages. PS: Please don’t hate me, Love Dolchay <3
• Menu bar no longer animates to the left and the right when changing between mouse-keyboard-controller use
• Menu bar hotkey icons now correctly update to reflect which input device is currently in use
• “Enter room description” screen now has controller support
• Software keyboard added for controller users when entering room descriptions
• Social room player previews now use the same stat bar look as the character select.
• Test features are now shown under Custom Rules for the game list.
• A friend icon will now show up next to the number of players in a public game room to denote that a friend is either brawling or spectating inside that game room.
• Screen custom online options has received a minor makeover and has the options group up in a new format.    

Controller Support

• PC Support for Logitech Dual Action wired controller    
• Additional PC support for the Logitech RumblePad 2    

Art & Animation

• Adjusted Orion Lance N Sig animation to better match hitboxes.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug where mouse users would get stuck charging a throw in the beginning of games.
• Fixed a bug where remaining jumps could be reset without resetting whether the Recovery move has been used.
• Fixed a bug where sliding up a diagonal ceiling could allow your head to get inside the ceiling and let you throw items into it. This is most noticeable on the underside of Shipwreck Falls.
• Fixed a bug where the jump canceling code could cause you to get inside the right platform on Twilight Grove      
• Dominating! (and other killstreaks) no longer show up as a result of a suicide.
• Fixing an issue with the handle of Cupid’s Bow not color swapping properly.
• Fixed a crash in Keybindings when hitting no to “save changes”.
• Fixed bug causing “Enter room description” screen to not automatically gain focus on the text field when typing in a room description
• Fixed a bug where a spectating user could not leave a group if no players had not returned to the character select screen.             
• Potentially fixed a bug where games would get stuck on the games list, but actually not exist.
• Fixed a bug where the inputs on the game list screen would stop working after clicking no to spectate a full game.
• Fixed a crash when clicking/joining an empty row in the games list.    
• Fixed a bug where spectating a game in progress while in the social room will cause the UI to linger.     
• Fixed a bug where the inputs on the game list screen would stop working after clicking no to spectate a full game.  
• Fixed bug causing Koji’s portrait to not show up in the daily missions tab.  

• Fixed bug causing social room player preview to show a blank icon for the bow weapon
• Fixed a bug in the character select that causes the party menu to regain focus when it shouldn’t have.
• Fixed bug causing paging arrows to not correctly play their animations when the user changes pages within a tab      
• Fixed bug where Valhalla Pack wasn’t buyable for some accounts.

Balance Notes

Unarmed

The Unarmed moveset still contains some of our oldest and most generous hitboxing relative to what the animation shows, and is a frequent source of bug reports. We’ve shaved down a number of these and sped some up to help compensate.

• Unarmed Recovery: Reduced Hitbox width within the bounds of the character and fx.
• Unarmed Ground Pound: Reduced Hitbox width, especially at the top of the Hitbox; Decreased Time to Hit from 18 to 17.
• Unarmed Neutral Heavy: Reduced Hitbox width within the bounds of the character and fx; Decreased Time to Hit from 21 to 20.

Hammer

In the same vein as Unarmed, the Ground Pound Hitbox extended well outside the visible attack and is trading some threat for speed.

• Hammer Ground Pound: Reduced Hitbox width at top, Hitbox extends slightly less far downward beyond the visible weapon; Decreased Time to Hit from 24 to 23.

Axe

We’ve heard a fair bit recently that Axe gameplay is both too strong and too linear. We’ve tried to address this by increasing Recover Time on miss and significantly reducing the Damage and Force when not landing a clean hit on the Neutral and Down Airs, but instead giving more stun and follow up opportunity in those cases. The ground game is getting some momentum bonuses to movement and reduced Hitboxes.

• Axe Side Light: Movement is now variable based on momentum, increased from 60 to a range between 60 and 75.
• Axe Down Light: Movement is now variable based on momentum, increased from 75 to a range between 75 and 85; Reduced how far Hurtboxes extend backward behind the user.
• Axe Neutral Air: For frames 15-16 – Decreased Damage from 16 to 12, decreased Variable Force from 28 to 23, decreased Fixed Force from 60 to 47, increased Stun Time from 30 to 32; Increased Recover Time on miss from 28 to 30; Fixed a bug that could cause the on miss Recover Time to occur on a successful hit.
• Axe Side Air: Increased Recovery Time on miss from 33 to 34.
• Axe Down Air: Decreased Hitbox sizes to overlap less across multiple frames; Reduced Hit Window from 7 to 4; Increased Recover Time from 25 to 29; For frames 15-16 – decreased Damage from 15 to 10, decreased Variable Force from 37 to 25, decreased Fixed Force from 55 to 41, increased Stun Time from 17 to 23.

Lance

Minor changes on the Lance for now to address some cases in how fast it can follow up downward attacks.

• Lance Air Down: Increased Recovery Time on miss from 20 to 22.
• Lance Ground Pound: Increased Cooldown Time from 0 to 15.

Katars

Some increased Recovery Time to the Side Air from last patch is being partially reversed. Down Air is getting some recovery time on miss to help create opportunities to punish katar engagements, while the Neutral Light is losing some overhead threat.

• Katar Neutral Light: Reduced Hitbox coverage directly overhead; Adjusted Hurtboxes to better follow position during leap.
• Katar Side Air: Decreased Recover Time from 29 to 26.
• Katar Down Air: Increased Recovery Time on miss from 14 to 16 if it lands on the ground or 18 if it doesn’t.

Blasters

The Blasters are getting some faster but smaller Hitboxes on the ground and a slightly bigger difference in Recovery between successful hits and misses.

• Blasters Side Light: Reduced Hitbox size to not extend outside the shot radius; Reduced Recover Time on hit from 13 to 11; Increased Recover Time on miss from 13 to 19.
• Blasters Down Light: Rehitboxed to more closely match shot location and size; Reduced Time to Hit from 11 to 10; Reduced delay between first and second shot from 8 to 6.
• Blasters Side Air: Fixed a bug that would cause the on miss Recover Time to occur on a successful hit; Increased Recover Time on hit from 15 to 17; Increased Recover Time on miss from 26 to 27.

Spear

We’re increasing risk for a number of the Spear’s longer-range aerial attacks, but offering more ability to follow up the Side Air at low Damage and knockout with the Down Air at high Damage.

• Spear Neutral Air: Increased Cooldown Time from 0 to 12.
• Spear Side Air: Increased Time to Hit from 12 to 13; Decreased Recover Time on hit from 28 to 23; Increased Recover Time on miss from 31 to 33; Increased Cooldown Time from 12 to 16; Increased Stun Time from 18 to 22.
• Spear Down Air: Increased Variable Force from 21 to 28; Decreased Fixed Force from 55 to 44.
• Spear Ground Pound: Increased Recover Time from 23 to 28; Increased Recover Time on ground collision from 25 to 27.

Cassidy

Cassidy had a habit of aiming for the corners of the map with her signatures, which made her have to work harder for kills from the center of the map than her Force would suggest.

• Cassidy Neutral Blasters: Aimed direction of Force more upward.
• Cassidy Side Blasters: Aimed direction of Force more horizontal.
• Cassidy Neutral Hammer: Aimed direction of Force more upward.
• Cassidy Side Hammer: Aimed direction of Force more horizontal.

Orion

Orion’s Neutral Lance was missing a chunk of Hitbox to prevent too generous range against standing opponents. The shot has been angled up a little higher and the gap has been filled.

• Orion Neutral Lance: Angled more upward, added missing Hitbox coverage to the underside of the explosion FX.

Scarlet

Scarlet’s Side Lance rapidly covers a lot of distance with plenty of Force. We’re adding a small amount of startup to give more opportunity to get out of its way.

• Scarlet Side Lance: Increased Time to Hit from 16 to 18.

Lucien

Lucien’s Neutral Blasters had a shorter Recovery Time than many light attacks, making it very difficult to punish.

• Lucien Neutral Blasters: Increased Recovery Time from 15 to 20.

Ada

We’ve gotten a number of complaints about Ada’s spear recently. Her side signature has low To Hit and Recover Times, high Force, and enough overhead coverage to make punishing it especially difficult. The side light to neutral signature combo, while less rewarding than side light to down light to side air, is much easier to perform and offered nearly as much damage. We’ve toned down the side sig and traded some Damage and Force between them.

• Ada Neutral Spear: Reduced Damage from 26 to 21; Increased Variable Force from 60 to 63.
• Ada Side Spear: Decreased Hitbox coverage near Ada’s head; Increased Recover Time from 19 to 23; Increased Damage from 15 to 20; Decreased Variable Force from 60 to 56.

Barraza

In our last set of balance changes, we didn’t give Barraza enough buffs to compensate for what he lost. These changes to some of his weaker signatures should help a little.

• Barraza Neutral Blasters: Decreased Recover Time on Miss from 25 to 20; Increased Damage from 25 to 29.
• Barraza Down Axe: Increased initial movement speed of backward leap from 65 to 72 and decreased its duration from 12 to 9; Decreased Time to Hit from 26 to 21.

Azoth

Fairly minor changes on Azoth as we move some power from his Neutral Bow to Side Axe.

• Azoth Neutral Bow: Decreased Damage from 25 to 22.
• Azoth Side Axe: Increased Damage from 22 to 26.

Koji

We’ve gotten a lot of requests to shift power from Koji’s Bow to his Sword. We’re shifting some of the punishingly long recover from his teleport to his Side Bow.

• Koji Side Bow: Increased Recover Time from 18 to 22.
• Koji Down Sword: Decreased Recover Time from 30 to 25.

Updated Hurtboxes

• Katar Neutral Light: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation..
• Hattori Neutral Spear: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Roland Down Lance: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Roland Side Sword: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Roland Down Sword: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Scarlet Side Hammer: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Scarlet Neutral Lance: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Thatch Down Sword: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Thatch Side Blasters: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Thatch Down Blasters: Updated hurtboxes to better match animation.
• Drop Fixes
• Spear Neutral Air: Fixed some cases where target could be dropped before the final hit.
• Barraza Neutral Blasters: Fixed some cases where target could be dropped before the final hit.
• Barraza Down Blasters: Fixed some cases where target could be dropped before the final hit. (Credit Dobrein)
• Orion Neutral Spear: Fixed some cases where target could be dropped before the final hit. (Credit TheOnlyPersonInYourHarem)