Summary

  • Ubisoft's XDefiant update gives players new ways to tackle DedSec's Spiderbot ability, improving gameplay experience.
  • The latest patch for XDefiant includes game balancing changes to weapons, game modes, and factions, providing a more balanced gameplay experience.
  • Despite some bugs and launch window issues, Ubisoft is actively working on improving XDefiant through patches, keeping players updated on progress.

Ubisoft reveals patch notes for the latest XDefiant update, which gives players another option for dealing with the DedSec's Spiderbot ability. Ubisoft's fast-paced arena shooter has gotten off to a great start as XDefiant not only became the company's fastest game to reach a million unique players, but has managed to pull in 11 million in total at the end of June. The free-to-play title continues to update and add new content through weapons, maps, and factions, to help the experience continue to feel fresh.

However, for all of the good news, XDefiant's launch window hasn't been perfect. Players have experienced everything from login errors to odd gameplay quirks and bugs at times. Ubisoft continues to work on addressing these issues with patches, and XDefiant's executive producer, Mark Rubin, has been keeping players updated with what the team is working on. In the meantime, Ubisoft has released its latest patch for XDefiant, addressing issues with the game and balancing weapons in an attempt to create a better overall experience.

For many XDefiant players, the biggest piece to this update will be to the DedSec faction. Recently, there has been plenty of discussion around the Spiderbot ability, which has left plenty of fans frustrated over the lack of counters to it. After Ubisoft confirmed upcoming changes to XDefiant's Spiderbot, the update has confirmed that players can once again shoot the bots off their faces, a recent bug which was left in before being accidentally fixed. In addition, Ubisoft has modified the behavior of the bot where it would ignore players who were previously targetted. As the patch notes indicate, the little robot will now attempt to hug the faces of any enemy equally.

The latest patch for XDefiant also features plenty of game balancing changes as well to game modes, weapons, and operator abilities. In terms of weapons, most of the ones listed in the patch notes are getting a boost to damage like the M4A1, MDR, and MP5A2, while a trio of sniper rifles are getting a couple of changes to Sprint Out Time and bullet spread when hip firing. The intel suit for the Eschelon faction has also gotten what many will consider additional nerfs, pulsing every 4 seconds and highlighting enemies for only 1 second instead of the original 2.7. One other notible highlight from the update is that Ubisoft changed name of XDefiant's recently added Team Rainbow GSK Faction to GS-Kommando due to an agreement made with a real pharmaceutical company also named GSK.

While the update will certainly help players having issues with DedSec, many continue to wonder what bigger surprises XDefiant has on the horizon. Even with additional content still set to arrive in Season 1, dataminers have seemingly pieced together what else the game has planned with new factions ranging from Far Cry New Dawn and Assassin's Creed among others. Upcoming seasons will apparently also add new weapons like the FAMAS and PP19, thoughf or now, fans should take the leaked information with a grain of salt until officially revealed by Ubisoft.

XDefiant Year 1 Season 1.2 Patch Notes

Gameplay

  • Fixed a delay in reloading, swapping weapons, or deploying devices caused by players rapidly tapping the Fire and Ability buttons.
  • Players who took advantage of a speed hack will now find themselves locked in place, which is the opposite of what they were going for.

Factions

  • After coming to an agreement with pharmaceutical company GSK, the Team Rainbow faction will hereafter be known as GS-Kommando. Feel free to continue calling them Grenzschutzkommando as a handy time saver.
  • Fixed an issue where DedSec's Spiderbots were ignoring victims previously targeted by the deploying player. Now they'll spiderhug faces new and old with equal enthusiasm.
  • Players can once again shoot DedSec Spiderbots off their own faces. Not sure why; everybody loves Spiderbots.
  • Tuned the functionality of Echelon's Intel Suit. Now it pulses every four seconds instead of every three. Enemies remain highlighted for 1 second instead of 2.7 seconds, so everybody pay attention.
  • Some abilities such as Firebomb, the Digital Ghillie Suit, and BioVida Boost weren't always activating or occasionally stopped working. That's fixed.

Maps

  • Fixed a weird issue letting players exit a Times Square spawn zone early by jumping off a picture frame.

Game Modes

  • Updated the Playlist screen to show all the available game modes.
  • Added menu text clarifying that the Bronze rank unlocks at the first victory.
  • Fixed an issue that was displaying the little padlock icon on Ranked Rewards despite players earning them fair and square.

Weapons

  • Tuned various weapons for gameplay balance. Here are the spec changes for your records:
    • M4A1 short-range damage increased from 17 to 18.
    • MDR short-range damage increased from 17 to 19.
    • MP5A2 medium-range damage increased from 13 to 14. Its headshot-damage multiplier increased from 1.35x to 1.4x.
    • The MP5A2's short range increased from 16m to 18m. Its medium range increased from 25m to 27m.
    • MDR ADS speed improved from 300ms to 250ms.
    • M44 Sprint Out Time (sprint-to-shoot time) increased from 350ms to 400ms.
    • TAC-50 Sprint Out Time increased from 600ms to 625ms.
    • L115 sprint-shoot time increased from 550ms to 575ms.
    • The sniper rifles (M44, TAC-50, and L115) got a small increase in spread when shooting from the hip (as opposed to aiming via the optics).

  • Improved the visual presentation of tracer fire and ammo-case ejection so both depart more accurately from their respective weapon.
  • Adjusted how the aiming system detects player input so that recoil recovery returns to center rather than being thrown off by unintended player jitters in the heat of combat.
  • Fixed a glitch that allowed players to fire automatically upon respawning if they jammed on the Fire and Sprint buttons while dying.

Audio

  • Graphical and audio fixes, various.

Miscellaneous

  • Corrected the Killscreen HP value (from one to zero) of players who killed other players post-mortem (via a well-placed proximity mine, incendiary rounds, or similarly persistent offensive strategies).
  • Previously, players with pings greater than 150ms were kept waiting an un-fun amount of time in matchmaking. We've improved the matchmaking parameters so their ping is assessed more frequently, which should greatly reduce matchmaking wait times. Also, players of any ping quality can now instantly jump into the Practice Zone, where they can take out their ping frustrations in a healthy and constructive way.
  • Crash fixes, various.
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XDefiant Tag Page Cover Art
XDefiant
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FPS
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1 Xbox-1
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Released
May 21, 2024
ESRB
T For Teen due to Mild Language, Violence
Developer(s)
Ubisoft San Francisco
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XDefiant is a free-to-play, first-person online arena shooter where you compete in fast-paced clashes. With cross-play available at launch, you will be able to play with friends on a variety of platforms.

Season 1 introduces the Team Rainbow operators of GS-Kommando leveraging their counter-terrorism training to disrupt their enemies. They can deploy electrified barbed wire for area denial, counter incoming enemy devices with their Active Defense System, and dazzle multiple foes with flash charges mounted on their G52-Tactical Shield.

While GS-Kommando operators pride themselves on using non-lethal force whenever possible, they are as capable on the battlefield as any spec ops group.

Customized Loadouts: Choose from a large arsenal of weapons, attachments, and devices to optimize the way you play. Combine any weapon with any faction, and unlock new options as you play to perfect your playstyle.

Factions: Factions are drawn from iconic Ubisoft worlds and represent distinct classes, each with unique abilities and ultras. Choose any character from any faction to assemble your team of six players. Change your faction at any point during play to adapt to your strategy.

Maps, Modes, and Mayhem: Play in a diverse range of 14 maps at launch across several different arena and linear modes including Zone Control, Escort, Occupy, and more. Fight in casual matches or climb the tiers in competitive ranked mode.

Publisher(s)
Ubisoft
Genre(s)
FPS