Mass Effect Andromeda update 1.05's multiplayer balancing patch notes: no more punching everything to death
Mass Effect Andromeda has had a thorough mechanical tuning in addition to facial animation fixes.
Mass Effect Andromeda has been updated to version 1.05 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One.
The most immediately noticeable changes is major improvements to Mass Effect Andromeda's faces and animations, but there's a lot more going on under the hood than the initial Mass Effect Andromeda 1.05 patch notes suggested.
As promised, BioWare has now coughed up the full patch notes pertaining to Mass Effect Andromeda's mechanical balancing. This has most relevance to multiplayer, but the changes apply to single-player too.
Here's a short summary. For starters, some of each enemy faction's "heavy" units have been made more deadly. Hydras, Destroyers and Berserkers are now more likely to target nearby players, and Kett Anointed attacks will effect players standing close to them, too.
This puts a crimp in the current Mass Effect Andromeda meta of "punch everything", as does a reduction in effectiveness of repeat melee attacks against large targets. Additionally, melee attacks can now be interrupted.
The Outlaw faction, Mass Effect Andromeda's easy mode, has been souped up. Hydra sync attacks are now lethal, and Sharpshooters have had several tweaks to make them nastier foes.
It's not all bad news, though; on the player side, assault rifles and pistols have been improved thanks to the elimination of a bug on semi-automatic weapons. Fixing this turned the Mattock into a nightmare beast, so its damage has been nerfed a little - but it has a bigger ammo stash to compensate. Most semi-automatic weapons have had their damage adjusted upwards slightly.
Two enemies have been nerfed, too: the Remnant Overseer and Nullifier have been tweaked to make them less annoying, although melee won't work as well against Nullifiers any more.
The full Mass Effect Andromeda multiplayer balancing update 1.05 patch notes are reproduced below.
Mass Effect Andromeda 1.05 patch notes - player abilities
- Melee
- To reduce the effectiveness of repeated melees against tougher enemies, player melee attacks can now be interrupted by enemy attacks.
- Challenge Tracking
- Biotic, Tech, and Combat Detonation Challenges now update on the Challenges screen.
- Lance and Throw will now successfully increment the Biotic Detonation Combo challenge progress.
- Stealth Grid
- Fixed an issue that caused Stealth Grid to deactivate immediately after being used.
- Biotic Ascension
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Kineticist from gaining Biotic Ascension charges when not the host of the match.
Mass Effect Andromeda 1.05 patch notes - weapons balancing
- Assault Rifles
- Mattock
- Fixed an issue that prevented the Mattock from reaching its designed rate of fire
- Lowered damage per round to partially offset increase in rate of fire
- Lowered damage per round from 71–89 to 50–63
- Increased spare ammo capacity from 112–140 to 160–200
- Sandstorm
- Increased damage per round from 112–134 to 140–168
- Sweeper
- Increased damage per round from 60–72 to 64–77
- Valkyrie
- Increased damage per round from 80–93 to 86–99
- Halberd
- Increased damage per round from 73–90 to 92–113
- Pistols
- Predator
- The Predator also benefits from the rate of fire adjustment applied to the Mattock assault rifle.
- Increased damage per round from 38–51 to 54–72
- Decreased rate of fire from 500 to 450
- Carnifex
- Increased damage per round from 155–195 to 175–220
- Hornet
- Increased damage per round from 37–49 to 44–55
- Phalanx
- Increased damage per round from 106–113 to 133–142
- Scorpion
- Increased damage per round from 428–512 to 485–580
- Shotguns
- Hesh
- Ammo increased from 40–50 to 60–75
- Sniper Rifles
- Shadow
- Increased damage per round from 27–32 to 38–46
- Indra
- Increased damage per round from 84–101 to 105–126
- Vanquisher
- Fixed a bug that caused the Vanquisher to have an extra 100% headshot bonus
- Weapon Reloads
- Fixed some timings of reload actions so they better match their animations
- Boosters
- Assault Rifle Amp III
- The Assault Rifle Amp III booster now properly states that it gives a 30% boost instead of a 35% boost. This was a text error only. The functionality was always 30%.
Mass Effect Andromeda 1.05 patch notes - enemies
- Kett
- Kett Anointed
- Players can no longer avoid damage by standing up against a firing anointed
- Kett Ascendant
- Kett Ascendant’s Orb will now give 15 points when killed, instead of points equal to the Ascendant himself
- Kett Behemoth (Boss objective)
- Behemoths are more likely to target nearby players
- Outlaws
- Outlaw Adhi
- Adhi no longer attempt to chain sync attacks
- Outlaw Agent
- Outlaw agent’s holographic clone will no longer give points
- Outlaw Sharpshooter
- Sharpshooters now fire more frequently, especially against targets out of cover
- Sniper rifle damage increased by 44%
- Sharpshooters sprint more often
- Aiming time is now shortened at shorter ranges
- Aiming and impact audio are now clearer
- No longer pursue melee targets over long distances
- Outlaw Berserker
- Berserkers are more likely to target nearby players
- Outlaw Hydra
- Sync attack is now lethal
- Hydra is more likely to target nearby players
- Hydra now lose their target—but no longer cancel firing—when their target cloaks while locking on
- Fixed situations where the hydra’s body would reappear after being destroyed
- Remnant
- Remnant Observer
- Observers can now lose their target while firing when the target cloaks
- Maximum beam duration decreased from 6s to 5s
- Beam damage decreased by 10%
- Remnant Nullifier
- Rate of fire has been decreased against enemies in cover
- Projectile attacks now travel faster and hit harder
- Stays still and fires in more situations
- No longer flees in protracted melee situations
- [Single player only] Fires less frequently on lower difficulties
- Remnant Destroyer
- Destroyers are more likely to target nearby players
- Fixed situations where the Destroyer’s body and turrets would reappear after being destroyed